This Movember, Coach JP Siou takes on a 300+ km (MAYBE 600 km?) challenge to raise awareness for men’s health and mental health. Follow his journey of movement, reflection, and healthy masculinity as he shares honest stories, daily updates, and conversations that remind us real strength means showing up and lifting others.
Holidays don’t have to derail your progress. Learn how to enjoy Thanksgiving meals with intention, balance, and zero guilt. From mindful eating habits to simple portion cues, this Fit Foodie Friday guide shows how to celebrate food for joy and connection while still honouring your goals — no restriction required.
Buying local produce in BC isn’t just about tariffs—it’s about fresher, more nutritious food, a stronger local economy, and sustainability. Learn why choosing BC-grown fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, and seafood supports your health, community, and environment. Discover where to find the best local options and how small changes can make a big impact.
Discover practical tips for better sleep, whether you’re a Night Owl or an Early Bird. From creating healthy routines and optimising your environment to using tools like sleep tracking, supplements, and napping, this guide will help you wake up refreshed and energised every day.
Exploring the role of feasts throughout history, highlighting how they foster connection, reinforce cultural values, and celebrate abundance, this post examines our evolutionary tendency for overconsumption during feasts and offers strategies for enjoying these occasions mindfully without compromising health. By approaching communal meals with intention, we can maintain balance and celebrate without overindulging.
OK - I’m Struggling
Over the past couple of months, but this past eight days in particular, I’ve experienced what I would describe as the culmination or confluence of a number of different stresses and struggles. It’s felt as if the sum of all the difficulties and challenges of this past 14 months has finally burst the floodgates and beaten me down. As a result, I haven’t been journaling this past eight days because I didn’t want it to be just a repeating message of negativity.
I’ve been struggling this past month with a feeling of…ambivalence, I guess would be the word (or maybe indifference?), when it comes to my own training and nutrition. This may seem a strange thing to hear from a personal trainer and nutrition coach, but hey…I’m just as human and fallible as any of you!
I made a commitment to endeavour to lead by example this year, and this is hardly the example I want to set, so I’ve been keeping these thoughts / feelings to myself and just trying to work them out behind the scenes. Again, though - sometimes I just need to get stuff down on “paper” (or the current digital equivalent) to work stuff out, so here goes…
As I sit here, NOT running my first training sessions of 2021 this morning due to a gout attack (something which is, thankfully, quite rare for me these days, but this one was particularly ill-timed), I find myself reflecting on what I plan to do with myself this year, and the challenges I may face.
I have set myself four main tasks to work on this year to help me become a better coach and leader, and in particular to aid me in leading by example with those over whom I have some influence (however small):
Practice and improve my craft as a Nutrition Coach.
Explore my limits as a Multi-Disciplinary Athlete.
Further develop my skills as a Cook and Baker.
Practice and improve my craft as a fitness, nutrition and lifestyle Content Creator.
Here’s what I’m thinking…
At The BTG, the majority of our members are not competitive athletes, nor do they have jobs that require them to maintain a high level of fitness year-round (E.G. front-line first responders, active duty military, etc.). As a result, we’ve often had folks ask “what the heck do you guys train so hard for?”
The short version is pretty simple - to just kick ass at life, able to meet any challenges that come our way with a balanced spectrum of physical abilities, and to maintain those abilities for as long as possible. To borrow a phrase from Dr. Peter Attia, our aim is “to be the most kick-ass 100-year olds possible.”
Where that gets a bit more complicated is in the details. What constitutes a “balanced spectrum of physical abilities”? If we have no specific demands from a sport or our work, how do we determine where we need to focus our energies?
To understand that, I need to tell a different story…
