So, it's my first post since I went away, and it only feels right to link it up to my holiday in the Caribbean. Not because I want to show off, or devastate you over how nice the weather was, but because whilst I was there it made me realise just how lazy & unhealthy the English are!!
In Tobago they swim, they fish, the build, they grow, they drum... everything they do seems to be physical in some way or another!In the UK we take the tube, drive our car, get a supermarket delivery, watch tv, stay inside.
The island has only had electricity for the past 20years, and the first thing they have right is that they have yet to conform to becoming a telly-watching, internet obsessed nation. The children go outside and play in the garden come rain or shine, they swim in the sea after school, or play on the beach with their parents & friends. Okay, so we could argue that we don't have the luxury of great weather to enable this lifestyle, but that is what coats were invented for - kids should be out playing in puddles, not cooped up watching cbeebies!
For an outdoors type of person, something else which really struck me was that the majority of people walk everywhere. The kids walk to school, people walk to work, they walk to the shops. There is no opportunity for rest in Tobago, there are hills everywhere, even the shortcut to the local mini supermarket involves several steep pathways. Their cars are only used when travelling outside of the village, and even then that seemed quite rare.Whilst majority of the people in the UK stroll into work at 9am, some of the locals in Tobago are already on their second job of the day! The men are up at 4am doing hard labour down by the beach, out on fishing boats; by 9am, most of the men have had breakfast and are ready for their second job of the day, which for some is construction work. Their work is tough and physical and added to this is the blistering heat and lack of automatic machinery which we rely upon in the UK.
Even their pastimes are physical. Forget tv, or board games. These people play, drum, limbo and dance! They are forever on the go and are hard to keep up with, by the end of the day your average Brit would be exhausted; they, on the other hand, can't wait to do it all again!On top of this, their diet is one of the cleanest I have seen in a long time. Every home grows their own fruit or vegetables, they catch their own fish or farm their own chickens. They eat as naturally as mother nature gave it to them and it works perfectly.
The people of Tobago keep fit and stay healthy without even realising; morning noon and night. They don't have fancy gyms or crazy diet pills, they just have a natural lifestyle and it works.
So stop and think, do you need to drive to the supermarket? It's raining? Too much to carry? So what, stick on your coat and dig out a big rucksack to carry the shopping home in.
If work is a desk job, then cycle in or get off the tube a few stations early and walk the rest of the way.
Can't resist the biscuit isle or alcohol? Shop at the local farm shop instead or if there isn't one near you head to the butchers, fishmongers, grocers and bakery; no temptations there!You get home from work, stick on the tv, and pop a ready meal in the oven. Get off your bum, and instead of watching tv for half hour, cook yourself up a nice healthy feast.
Detest the gym? Then take up a new hobby or sport, join in a new class or get outside and play.
You're idea of a night out is sitting down in a cocktail bar? Find a place that plays good music, somewhere you can dance, drink water & have fun.
Plenty of small changes to our lifestyle make huge differences overall. There's no excuse to live unhealthy. Start making changes NOW and take a few tips of our caribbean friends!
