So you have aspirations to get fit this year. Maybe you have written down some new year’s resolutions to go back to the gym. You may have been a regular gym-goer in the not-to-distant past or maybe you were even an athlete at one point. But you aren’t exercising now and you can’t seem to get started. You know you should because you constantly hear your friends mentioning how they run 10K every morning; or
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4 days in Whistler, Canada, 100 ambassadors from around the globe, 2 long-haul flights, 1 snowboard adventure and tons of amazing people were just some of the highlights of lululemon’s global ambassador summit that took place last week. What an honour it was for me to represent the China region and attend this phenomenal event that holds such an awe-inspiring reputation to those who know about it. Whistler, B.C., Canada, home of the most famous
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This answer from Quora is one of the better pieces I've read online for a while. Although, the piece veers slightly away from fitness and nutrition, the advice is all about improving oneself - and that is the fundamental mission of Olive Branch. It is a bit lengthy, but it’s completely filled with nuggets of wisdom that will benefit you. Read it - and let’s discuss! Comments welcomed! Read Matt Bodnar's What does the 1%
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I’ve blogged a lot about mental toughness (you can read about them here, here, here, here, here, and here), but I’m going to start the new year with a Member Spotlight blog on a Olive Branch member, a mentor and a friend, Cary Cheung. A story on real mental toughness put into practice. Although Cary doesn’t regularly attend ACT class here in the Shanghai Olive Branch studio, he does train ACT regularly at his home
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Are you’re feeling just a bit slow and sluggish these days? Do you find that you crave sugar and refined carbohydrates a lot more than before? Has your workout schedule fallen by the wayside? Perhaps, even your waistline has increased a bit. Inevitably, you feel a bit guilty for letting yourself go - maybe even a bit self-loathing at the extreme. While it’s not ideal that you gained fat and lost a bit of muscle,
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“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” In the Information Age, the unique skill that will determine your success is your ability to stay focused. But there are just so many distractions and temptations trying to steal your attention. Temptations exist in all forms and they always derail you from your long-term goals. They may come in the form of a chocolate cake, or a cold beer, a WeChat group
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Last blog we talked about how willpower is a construct of the mind. If you believe it is capped, then you have just capped yourself. On the other hand, if you don’t believe there is a willpower limit, then you will continue to do things that are good for you and for your future. This trains your dorsal striatum to side more with your prefrontal cortex of your brain - the logical side. This blog
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Continuing from last week’s blog on why it’s so hard to go to the gym, we explore the topic of willpower. As mentioned last week, the ego depletion theory has been challenged numerous times to the point now where I no longer believe it to be true. I must admit, that at one point I did believe in it. It made sense and had some studies done by psychologists that support the theory. But
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Entering China, lululemon style You may be surprised to hear that lululemon’s Unroll China event is their main event to showcase to the world that they’ve officially entered the China market. That’s because they’ve been very slowly, but deliberately planting the seeds of their core values in Shanghai and Beijing for the last four years! I remember that early beginning very distinctly because they reached out to me before they even had a store, a
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The Body Mass Index (BMI) has long been used by doctors and health professionals as the main screening tool to determine your health risk of metabolic disease. Even to this date, your physical check-up examination will tell you your BMI results. Unfortunately, studies have shown it to be highly unreliable and that there are better screens out there for you to check if you are at risk. Firstly, why is the BMI screen unreliable? The
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