Anna Desogus Health Coaching

For anyone who is experiencing negative emotions around body image - I highly recommend the strutology dance class with Zoe McNulty! I tried it today at Pineapple studios in covent garden and loved it! It was an awesome way to spend my Friday evening.

Zoe is an amazing advocate of the right for every woman to feel amazing and sexy and happy no matter what age or size you are. She's a fantastic dancer and instructor.

Next Strutology Class at the Pineapple studios is on 28 September and you can book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/strutology-pineapple-tickets-42547291093?aff=erelexpmlt

Zoe is also organising a special event with lots of various classes on 6 Oct, you can find all details here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/strut-summit-6-tickets-48796521710?aff=eac2

Even if a dance class seems out of your comfort zone, or maybe especially if it does - try it! You won't regret it!

On my way home from the class the first shop I passed had these awful mannequins - unnaturally looking female figures. Yes, some people are very thin, but these mannequins are not only very thin they also have unnaturally long necks and even unnaturally long fingers! Who looks like this? No one! So do they sell their clothes to no one or to real people? If it's the latter then it would be nice for real people to be represented in the shop windows. Otherwise a real person comes in, tried the clothes on and they look not great. Why? Cause they don't look like on the mannequin. Why cause the mannequin is faulty! But lots of women think it's them, they are faulty.

Zoe is doing an amazing job empowering women. And by the way, I find it is a good exercise to say f**k you to all the crazy looking mannequins you pass on the streets. Just out of principle :) Just make sure no one is standing between you and the shop window as you might get in trouble if someone thinks you were talking to them!

Mums Without Limits I think you and your tribe would love Zoe's classes. Merton Ladies Health & Fitness I think you and the ladies who attend your classes would enjoy it very much too!

Interesting article about work - life balance (or rather the lack of it!). Are the super mums with big careers airbrushing their stories and not telling the whole truth because of the pressure and the existing expectations?

if you want to read the whole article, and I highly recommend it, you just need to create an account to have access to 2 full articles per day for free.

Why working mums are being sold an impossible dream about work/life balance — and how to set the record straight My friend had called at 7.40am to say she couldn’t cope. “I got up at 3.30am, my mind was on fire, I couldn’t stop worrying, so I got out of bed and cleared my email backlog for the first time in...

Good article related to the issue of body image, the current ideal of female beauty and the impact of social media on self perception. Where do I even begin commenting on all this? Just read it if you can find a few minutes.

My conclusion and advice is - pay attention to what you feed your mind with. Who you observe on social media and how you react to what you see. And if you are a parent - pay attention to what your children (both girls and boys) feed their minds with.

'I tried 'Instagram face' for a week and here’s what happened...' - BBC Three “It looks 3D,” is not how I’d generally like my make-up to be described. I feel a deep blush spread up my chest and onto my face. If I wasn’t wearing full-coverage foundation, concealer, bronzer, setting powder, two types of contour, highlighter and six shades of eye shadow, I’d be worried...

A good documentary about sports is always a good idea :)
"We are triathletes" promises to be an inspiring film. I've just booked to see it in Wimbledon on Tue 11 Sep at the Odeon. It will be shown in various other locations in London and the UK. Click below for the trailer and links to tickets.

Does anyone want to join me to see it on the 11th Sep in Wimbledon?

We Are Triathletes - Demand.Film UK Host a screening of We Are Triathletes near you. This film follows 6 triathletes from 4 countries (U.S., China, Germany, and Australia) and tells their stories of how they train and prepare for the world’s largest long distance triathlon race - the legendary CHALLENGE ROTH in Germany. The history ...

This looks interesting. I have never done any sessions with them, but perhaps it's worth checking out. Always good to look into new ways to improve your relationship with food and with your body. Here is their website: https://www.eatbreathethrive.org/

Mark your calendars: Eat Breathe Thrive is coming to London this Autumn/Winter!

Join us to explore an innovative approach to mindful eating, body confidence, and emotional resilience. Pre-register now at www.eatbreathethrive.org/find-a-program -register

It was a great pleasure for me to coach the Morden Running Group for over a year. I will no longer be involved in this group, but sessions will continue every Wednesday 7:30PM - 8:30PM with other coaches, so if you're interested have a look here: runtg.co/WVM

This group is part of the Get Active Wandle Valley programme. Their full timetable can be found here: https://wandlevalleypark.co.uk/activewandle/

I got to train over 70 people between May 2017 and May 2018 and gained some very valuable experience as a running coach. Thank you so much to every single runner and especially to those who organised the wonderful flowers, photos and card for me last Wednesday!

Happy Running Morden, Happy Running Wandle Valley!
Wandle Valley Regional Park Trust

The Elevate conference starts tomorrow and I am sitting and studying the full programme now and it's so hard to choose what seminar to go to as there are so many good ones taking place at the same time!

Here is the full programme: https://www.elevatearena.com/sessions

Already the first two sessions - one on air pollution vs active travel and the one on breathing are two which I'd like to attend!

Choices, choices... so many choices to make every day!
Are you good with making decisions? How much of your standard every day choices have you turned into habits and are you happy with your existing habits or not? Are you even aware of them?

Elevate - the arena of physical activity, health and performance The UK’s largest trade event dedicated to physical activity. Taking place between 9-10 May 2018 at ExCeL London, bringing together the physical activity sector, academia, healthcare, government and performance experts.

Media literacy is key in the modern digital era. Conversations with children about media & advertising are very important. Moreover, adults need to model the right behaviors: critical thinking, intelligent scepticism.

It was great to attend an event yesterday at Portcullis House, organised by Media Smart. Great short film presentation and debate.

If you're a parent I recommend the resources provided here:
http://mediasmart.uk.com/

This Sunday is EARTH DAY!
Yes, it's London Marathon too, but don't forget about EARTH DAY!

What are YOU planning to do to strengthen your and your family's commitment to protect the environment?
Or to broaden your understanding of the current crisis created by human consumption and the production of incredible amounts of non biodegradable, mainly plastic, waste?

If you feel you'd like to learn more about the issues to your motivation for change is rock solid, I highly recommend 2 documentaries:

A Plastic Ocean - you can watch the trailer here: https://plasticoceans.org/watch-trailer/
and on the same website you can pay a few pounds to watch the full film online - rent or buy

the other film is TRASHED by Jeremy Irons
you can watch the trailer here: http://www.trashedfilm.com/

Where to watch: you need to look for it, I don't have a link to share. I saw the film some years ago at a screening.

On my side, I can share that I have started to transition away from plastic bottles. It is a transition that has quite many steps: water bottles, soft drink bottles, washing up liquid bottles, shampoo bottles, shower gel bottles, cleaning products bottles, laundry liquid bottles... Lots of plastic bottles in most households including mine. But I am taking it one step at a time.

I just got some wonderful charcoal to filter water naturally to make sure we never ever buy bottled water in the future. Actually tap water is absolutely OK to drink in London without the need for any filtering, but the charcoal can make it even better than it already is :)

My charcoal arrived in a cardboard box - see attached photos - box closed with paper tape and filled with old newspapers, so no plastic at all in the packaging. Loved it!

Here is where I got the charcoal from:
http://www.boobalou.co.uk/bamboo-charcoal-water-filters-8-p…

When I chat to people about how our modern lifestyles are killing the environment, the planet, the plants, the animals and ultimately the human race and when we talk about the need for change, people's first reaction is often this: But will it make a difference? Will me not using that plastic bottle or plastic bag make a difference? My answer is ABSOLUTELY! It will have a huge impact on you, your family, your friends and your life.

I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. And I don't think I have to wait for the whole world to catch up before I can start doing my part.

How about you?

Get out and get moving no matter what the weather is like! Your afternoon cup of tea will taste much better if you do some form of physical activity outdoors in the morning!

I enjoyed an run on Wimbledon common testing my new trail shoes this morning. By now they are all covered in mud :-)

Who else is enjoying outdoor exercise this weekend?

I attended a very interesting lecture today by Dr Tom O'Bryan at

First I had the amazing and super tasty rainbow salad and then listened to Dr Tom speak about autoimmunity. I loved his approach "base hits win the ball game" meaning little steps will get you where you need to get. Reversing disease or figuring out what is not quite functioning well in your body is a complicated process. You won't get all the answers within a week. But if you persist and gradually progress you will get there and it will be worth it!

I'm feeling inspired today!

Salmon fillet in the oven, potatoes cooking and wanted to serve it all with sauerkraut but then decided to go for a fresh salad and here it is- this is one portion of the side salad for tonight's dinner: green leaves (wish I had more variety but just used the gem lettuce and some spinach I had in the fridge), thinly sliced fennel, shavings of chevre goats cheese, pomegranate seeds and all this with a bit of the thick balsamic syrup. Let's see if it's as good as it looks!

Does anyone else ever put culinary experiments like this together? Led more by the colours rather than knowing which flavours go together well??