A couple of weeks ago, I was flown to Italy by MSC Cruises as part of the promotion for their new ‘Wellness Experience’ – which will be rolled out on board their ships very soon. It was a bit of an intriguing collaboration for me, because I’ve never been on a cruise and I’m also a bit of a gym-o-phobe (yes, that’s definitely a word) – yet the itinerary specified we’d be visiting the Technogym HQ in Cesena.
However, I’d never been to that part of Italy before (and hey, I do love to travel) and I wanted an excuse to kick start my gym routine in the run up to summer (and my impending trips to Mykonos and Thailand – eek). Well, I’m being honest. What I didn’t expect, was that the trip would end up giving me a new perspective on the idea of wellbeing and wellness. So while I planned an article about authentic Italian pizza and the gym (quite contradictory aspects, I know), what I’ve ended up putting together is something entirely different. I guess that’s the beauty of blogging though. You’re not restricted to writing about what an editor tells you to, nor are you bound to put together a traditional report of every trip you go on. So without further ado, here we go…
After a short flight, a night in a rustic hotel and a mammoth italian dinner (who knew pasta was a course on it’s own – with MORE to follow) – I hopped on a bus, alongside a number of journalists and two lovely blogger girlies Hannah and Chloe, and headed to the HQ.
Situated in ‘Wellness Valley’, the Technogym offices look like something out of the future, with huge curved glass buildings nestled into the adjoining greenery. From the moment we stepped inside, I knew the day would be far more interesting than just your average ‘gym induction’. In case you’re not familiar with Technogym as a brand itself (don’t worry, you haven’t been under a rock, I wasn’t either), they’re basically the top dog in the world of gym equipment. They supply for all the Olympics (their equipment will be in all of the training facilities over at Rio) and they develop the new snazzy machines that are eventually rolled out in all our gyms.
But rather than just being a gym, they have a rather unique ethos which really got me thinking about the way in which we live our lives over here.
Everything they do – even within their offices – is centred around wellness and looking after your mind and body. Office workers don’t sit on those basic swivel chairs, in fact they don’t sit on chairs at all, as they’ve all been replaced by these rather interesting looking gym balls. Here’s me enjoying said ball for reference purposes…
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Anyway, they all sit on these gym balls while at their desks and in meetings, because they help with your core muscles and posture. Plus, they encourage you to get up and move about regularly – rather than sitting slumped at your desk unhealthily all day.
All those working at the Technogym have a free membership to the HUGE gym on site, with classes at lunchtime and showers and lockers to use. Plus, the canteen is stocked with amazing healthy salads, fish dishes, pasta dishes, grilled chicken, steamed kale and delicious looking veg – every day. There are no mars bars, crisps or sandwiches in sight – or even pre-packaged ‘healthy’ options which are often laden with sugar. Everything is fresh, cooked on site and portioned out to be in keeping with a balanced diet. No-one eats at their desks, but they get together on long benches at lunchtime to chat over food.
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It opened my eyes because it’s so unusual for a flourishing company these days to be concerned with their employees wellbeing and wellness, rather than solely what they can offer in terms of monetary value and hours. I appreciate that a company centred around wellness has to offer this as part of the package, however surely this kind of ethos isn’t difficult to implement. Plus, a healthier, happier workforce is surely beneficial to the overall working of the company?
Wellbeing and wellness is SO important these days. But it’s also SO easily overlooked.
Mental health is slowly becoming more spoken about and more accepted in the workplace but there’s also a massive gap in employers looking after their employees. I suppose there’s no legal responsibility and they want value for what they’re dishing out in salary every year, but it just doesn’t make sense to me to be working everyone to the bone – without a thought for their overall wellbeing.
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As a society, we’re force-fed information about how to be healthy – how many fruits and vegetables we should eat, what our calorie intake should be, how we should relax and unwind after work, take time for ourselves, exercise regularly – but there’s no legal obligation on behalf of the places we spend the majority of our week, to make sure this is the case. I know to many, it sounds like an excuse not to be able to fit all these things in, but for lots of people – it’s physically impossible.
I suppose what I took away from seeing how this amazing workplace functioned, was that we really do need to pay more attention to wellness. We need to prioritise our wellbeing. Our bodies aren’t machines and we do have to treat them well. Mind, body and soul. They all have to be fed the right things.
At a further level, with a dairy and egg intolerance – I have to pay extra attention to what I’m putting into my body, because I know if I eat either of the above, I will be out-of-action with crippling stomach pains and various toilet trips (sorry if that’s TMI). The majority of food in the UK and commercial cafes/restaurants, are completely out of my remit. I usually have to make do with a banana. Which is obviously fine on the odd occasion (although a girl can’t survive on bananas alone) – and I suppose it means I choose a healthy option as a snack, however it astounds me that we pump ourselves with so much rubbish, yet the shops are unfairly labelling it as good for us or low calorie. Milk and cream are in so many things it’s ridiculous. Dairy is good for you, but we don’t need that much. It’s usually added for flavour and to bulk it out.
It just seems that we’re being fed the ideal but not the tools to fulfil it – and it frustrates me lots.
Anyway, I suppose my rant-y article isn’t going to change this, I just thought it was an interesting topic of discussion – and I wanted to gage your opinion on the matter too. Although I can’t implement this fantastic wellness programme in each and every one of our workplaces (I wish I could), I did pick up some tips which I think we could all implement individually.
- Don’t be fooled by ‘low fat’ or ‘diet’ options in the supermarket or on the shelves of cafes. They might indeed live up to their claim – but it’s only because they’ve been pumped with something else to cover for the removal of the flavour. Fat isn’t bad for you. You just want to make sure it’s the right fat. Always buy the full fat version, just eat less of it. I think the ‘diet’ option has a tendency to make us assume we can eat more of something, but everything should be enjoyed in moderation.
- Healthy food is delicious. So much so, I wish it wasn’t even referred to as ‘healthy’ because I think often that’s what is off putting – and what makes us assume it’s a temporary thing or us being ‘good’. When I visited Cesena, we had grilled chicken with a crispy fennel bake. There was also quinoa and cucumber and shrimp. Everything was so incredible and had so much flavour. I wish I could re-create it at home. But that’s the beauty of it – you can experiment and get creative. Since becoming dairy free nearly a year ago, I’ve had to try so many new things, but I’ve discovered flavours I never knew I loved.
- Yes, we should exercise X amount of times a week, but sometimes it’s not always feasible. Instead, make sure that you stay as active as possible doing your normal daily activities as you can. I’m just at home doing my dissertation at the moment (joy) and so I’m probably not the best person to be dishing out advice because 90% of the time I’m horizontal on my bed with a laptop on my chest. However, I do run up and down 2 flights of stairs once an hour to grab a drink of water and I make sure whenever I do go in for meetings in London, I walk to the station. I make sure I get up and do something at least once an hour.
- Know your numbers. One of the really interesting things I took from the visit to the Technogym was that we had all of our body fat, water percentages, BMI’s, muscle mass etc calculated. It’s something I’ve never had done before – but it helped me to figure out what I wanted to improve upon. I weighed in at 24% body fat, which isn’t too bad, but it’s definitely something I’d love to improve upon. When it’s not the actual ‘weight’ you’re focusing on, it’s actually more rewarding because you’re working toward a goal rather than trying to cut down what the scales say. Our bodies fluctuate so much in terms of water retention, it’s usually the ‘fat’ part that we’re concerned about from an aesthetic level.
- Switch off your notifications. Yep, that’s right. Just switch ’em off! You don’t need to be updated every time someone tweets you or likes your photo. I find these things in particular make me more on edge and anxious – and since muting them, I can actually take some downtime away from the online world. Obviously still have your texts on, just in case there’s a real emergency. Like the time my dad rang me umpteen times (and worried the hell out of me when I saw I had 8 missed calls) and then I received a casual text ‘shall we go food shopping this evening?’.
- Those weird diet things where you literally drink loads of soups and shakes that cater for your entire daily nutrition values etc? Yeah, don’t bother. Honestly, I’ve tried them all – and they completely ruined my skin, made me feel like crap and I didn’t stick to them. The weight came off initially, but it’s all water weight and I put it back on within a few weeks. Things like that can’t be sustained. I understand in certain circumstances (like kick starting a routine) they might be helpful and of course, I’d never judge someone’s personal situation but coming from someone who has tried them all before, they’re so not worth wasting your money on. I’d recommend cutting down on your dairy intake and your sugar intake and getting creative with new flavours. Stick to simple foods and jazz them up with herbs and spices.
- Total wellness includes looking after your mind. Which is such a fragile thing – and we know very little about it really. There are times when we feel like bursting into tears, times when we feel like the whole world is collapsing over something you normally could handle, times we are anxious, times we are happy beyond belief and times we wish we could treasure forever. We all take things differently and that’s totally okay. It’s not a bad thing to experience an array of emotions in one day. And it’s not a bad thing to sometimes feel down in the dumps. When this happens, take yourself out of the situation (where possible), run yourself a bath (or have a steaming hot shower – to refresh yourself) and delve into doing something you can escape to. For me, it’s writing a post or reading a book. Something where your brain is completely occupied by something else. It doesn’t have to be a hobby – or anything taxing. But you need time to chill, switch off and zone out.
- And at a further level, talking to people about feeling stressed and down in the dumps isn’t bad either. I suffer with really bad anxiety at times – and I do find talking about it, although intimidating at first, helped massively. There will always be people who don’t understand – or who undermine it and don’t take you seriously. But I guess we all have differing levels of anxiety. Some of us think about things in greater depth – and worry more. It’s not a bad thing, it probably means you are a more conscientious person and you’re creative. We all have our strengths and we all have our weaknesses. Not being able to cope at times, doesn’t make you weak though. It makes you human.
What do you think about wellness – and the wellness experience I visited? Do you agree with my point of view, or do you think it’s our responsibility to look after our wellbeing?
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I was taken on an expenses paid trip to Italy on behalf of this article, however as I’ve said above – this didn’t dictate what I wrote by any means. My views and opinions and creativity would never be compromised by something I’ve been given (nor would they ever be). I am very appreciative that I’m able to go on fantastic trips and travel lots, but it would never influence what I was going to write.
MSC Cruises are rolling out the wellness experience on board their ships, to ensure that passengers don’t have to miss out on achieving their fitness and wellbeing goals while travelling. A full technogym will be available to each passenger, with a health screening beforehand and a plan implemented depending on their fitness aspirations. Nutritious food will also be available on board, keeping in line with their new ‘shape’, ‘power’, ‘fun’, ‘sport’ and ‘look’ goals.
