016 Wellness Rituals = Workplace Results

Fit for Work

WELLNESS RITUALS = WORKPLACE RESULTS

• Are you an all or nothing person when it comes to your health?
• Do you snap back from your sedentary slumber to tackle a triathlon?
• Do you try and eat the elephant in one go believing that the will power and mental fortitude you exercise at work will win over your body …this time round?

Here to convince you that compounding rituals might be a smarter way to eat the elephant (maybe the wrong metaphor in this context) is Paul Taylor. Paul is an Exercise Physiologist, Nutritionist and Neuroscientist making his mark on the world through his body-brain approach to wellbeing. Former British Navy Officer, Founder of the BioAge Test, the Ritualize health app and director of the Body-Brain Performance Institute, Paul is a big advocate of integrated health. Voted as Australian Fitness Industry Speaker of the year, Paul has starred as a guest on the Biggest Loser and co-host of the TV series Body and Brain Overhaul.

In this interview we explore how to design, measure and evaluate workplace wellness programs and how wellness rituals promote workplace results. Paul also shares some pretty unbelievable case studies of clients dropping over 1kg a week plus beating mental illness through his Ritualize workplace wellness programs.

Keep listening to learn more about our body-brain connection and how Wellness Rituals = Workplace Results…

AN INTEGRATED HEALTH APPROACH
It’s not just about exercise
It’s not just about diet
It’s not just about mind set
It’s not just about sleep
It’s not just about the gut

Health is SOOOO much more than the sum of its parts
There are interactions between ALL of these things

We become quite siloed in our health habits.
We become quite siloed in our education of health

BUILD GATEWAY BEHAVIOURS OR KEYSTONE HABITS
– When I start to exercise my self-concept changes and my habits start to change in line with my new self-concept
– Right side of the brain enlarges with exercise which is where willpower lives
– The more you exercise your willpower the more it grows
– Set yourself for a win by creating rules

BUILD WILLPOWER
1. Engineer a healthy environment
2. Have non-negotiable rules
3. Set up rituals to support healthy lifestyle

MIND-BODY CONNECTION: THE MYSTERY OF PLACEBO SCIENCE
When given treatment placebo science tells us know that:
– Big pills work better
– Blue pills work better
– Capsules work better
– 3 doses work better than 2
– Expensive treatments work better than
– Injections are better than pills
– Telling someone that this WILL rather than MIGHT help works better

EXAMPLE 1
Anti-depressant medication has a 40% positive impact on patients
Placebo ‘anti-depressant medication’ has a 30% positive impact on patients
meaning the real thing only has 10% improved benefit!!!

EXAMPLE 2
An extreme example is that an orthopaedic surgeon is performing placebo back operations coupled with placebo pain medication for chronic back pain sufferers with a 50% success rate = SAME as regular back surgery success rates!!!

The mind is a powerful thing!

THE 80/20 LIFESTYLE PRINCIPLE
– Embrace the Low HI (Human interference) Diet
– You don’t have to be ALL or NOTHING
– Going ALL out and eliminating EVERYTHING you love to eat will lead to high cognitive dietary restraint (University of Yale) = obsession over the things you’re NOT eating which will eventually derail you.
– This isn’t a new diet, this is a healthly lifestyle.
– Aim for new versions not complete overhauls: YOU Version 1 => YOU Version 2 => YOU Version 3: like the upgrades on your iPhone only allow yourself multiple upgrades so you avoid the all-or-nothing mind set.
– A great resource explaining the 80/20 Principle in action is Pauls OH! Magazine

MEASURE WORKPLACE HEALTH PROGRAMS
– Baseline for physical and mental health
– Habits
– Social interaction
– Engagement
– Presenteeism – at work but not effective with largest contributor being poor health
– Absenteeism
– Retention/Turnover rates
– Health and medical costs
– Employer of choice culture

WOOLWORTHS CASE STUDY

Video Testimonials:

https://vimeo.com/112127784

https://vimeo.com/150766022

First Group received just the Ritualize App.
Second group of 23 high risk people engaged in a more intensive program which included a 2 day workshop about integrated health to improve health literature, accountability sessions, Pre and post BioAge tests.
Measures:
BioAge, Inflammation, Cholesterol, Blood Glucose, Waist circumference, PSYCAPS (HERO model – hope, efficacy, resilience, optimism), G12 Gallup Survey. Metabolic Syndrome was measured. 10 year heart attach risk.
Results:
– 1^st group: average of 2.5yr improvement in BioAge
– 2^nd group 8.9yrs over a 12 week program.
– 19 out of 23 had metabolic syndrome at the start and NONE had it at the end.
– Weight loss 9kg average with some that lost over 20kg
– Many came off their anti-depressants.
– Many took up meditation
– Engagement improved
– PSYCAP improved

WORKPLACE WELLBEING
1. Lead from the front by modelling the behaviours
2. Get experts if in your budget
3. Create a connected approach rather than adhoc
4. Invite people to engage rather than telling people what to do

DOWNLOAD Pauls PhD Literature Review on Workplace Health here

I think Pauls interview really reinforced that the mind and body are inseparable
When one thrives, so does the other.
When one is neglected, the other suffers.

What ritual will you introduce today to move towards YOU Version 2?

QUOTES
“It’s not the cards your dealt, its how you play the hand” – Randy Pausch
“When you’re not motivated, just do something…every day!” – Paul Taylor

CONNECT WITH PAUL
Ritualize.com
[e-mail]
BioAge Test
Body-Brain Performance Institute
Personal Training Academy
Paul on LinkedIn

RESOURCES
OH! (Optimal Health) Magazine
Body Brain Overhaul TV Series
WHAA (Workplace Health Australia Association)
HIIT High Intensity Interval Training– 2, 4, 8 mins
Weight Loss for Food Lovers – Dr George Blair-West
Presenteeism Questionnaires: WPAI and Stanford Presenteeism Scale

DOWNLOAD Pauls PhD Literature Review on Workplace Health here

WOOLWORTHS CASE STUDY VIDEOS: https://vimeo.com/112127784 & https://vimeo.com/150766022

I’m so happy to be bringing you this thought leadership and I trust you got a lot of value out of todays episode with Paul.

Until next time, continue being part of the solution in taking your workplace from good to great…

Continue the conversation at www.fitforworkaustralia.com.au, say hi on LinkedIn or flick us a personal note at [e-mail].

I’d be so grateful if you could jump onto iTunes or Stitcher and subscribe, rate and review the Fit for Work Podcast in just 3 easy steps.