comfort zone challenge

Week 22: Knit and Natter

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Week 22, I was invited to Cheneys Lodge in Seaford, for a Knit and Natter session. Cheneys lodge is block of properties, ran by Sussex Housing and Care to help support senior residents.

The purpose of the session is to help the older residents make friends and interact, so they don’t feel lonely in their later life. I was invited by Rebecca who organises the sessions, and was told the lovely people would teach me to knit. She wasn’t wrong.

Needless to say, I have no knitting experience on my CV. I still require my mother to sew on the spare buttons on my shirts, yet alone knit a scarf. I can natter to be fair, so if in doubt I’ll talk my way out of trouble.

At this week’s session we had Diana, Rita, Sue, Ann, Pete, Rebecca and myself. Nice numbers, as it meant I could at least remember everyone’s name. Diana would be my teacher, a genuinely lovely lady. Armed with my orange wool and two needles I was ready to go. Though I had no idea what to do.

Diana would ‘cast on’ for me, and then proceed to show me what to do. “Through the hole, around, back through, off, repeat”. She showed me a good ten times, and it was one of those moments when I went “yeah, got you” then as soon as she gave me the needles it was like I hadn’t been watching her for the past five minutes. Fortunately, she was very patient (she needed to be) and kept talking me through it. “Through the hole, around, back through, off.”

Slow start
Slow start

Despite these simple instructions, I managed to mess it up a lot. Diana would repair the damage in seconds everytime. I did slowly get the hang of it, only with intense concentration however. I looked around the room, and the others were knitting all sorts of shapes with such ease. I can’t even begin to work out how you knit shapes a line was tough enough.

The nattering part was also fun, Diana asked why I had to do a challenge every week. I explained I didn’t have too (didn’t want her thinking I was on community service or anything like that) but that it was my new years resolution and explained some of the things I had done. She told me some of the things she had done… Sky dives, white water rafting, mountain expeditions, bungee jumping, she actually had done loads of cool things that I’d love to do.

So after an hour, what did I knit? A slug’s scarf. Big enough to keep any slug warm in the winter. Yeah I was terrible, but it’s harder than it looks. They told me I was good (being nice of course).. Fair play to all you knitters out there, this requires a bit of skill and patience, neither of which I’m blessed with!

My Slug Scarf
My Slug Scarf

Week 21: Facial Massage

~ Tom Rose ~ Leave a comment

Straight away, I know what you’re thinking, massage… Outside my comfort zone? This definitely is. Those that know me, know I cannot stand my Adam’s apple being touched, or even be flirted with being touched. In fact, I get uncomfortable even writing about touching it. I’ve also never had a professional massage, which is something I’ve always been intrigued by.

I have to admit I found the whole process extraordinarily awkward. Walking into the spa, a place that’s awkward for any guy to walk into (though it probably shouldn’t be). I tried to make out that the booking was a present to the girls working there, that’s how awkward I had gotten.

Before the massage started, I was asked all sorts of questions about my skin, to which I had no idea on the answers. I’d never thought about if my skin is oily or dry before, and what my perfect skin would be. All the while, there was this strange soothing music in the background, to help you relax.

Massage

I took of my top, and went under the towel and waited for the lady to come back into the room. She then wrapped me up into the towel, so I was almost in a cocoon. Dimmed the lights down, and then began.

I shut my eyes, as she began and let her do her work. I have literally no idea what she put on my face, loads of different oils and creams, some warm, some cold. Occasionally, she put something on my eyes… I THINK this was cucumbers? That happens right? I didn’t want to ask. It was all fine and dandy whilst the oils were going on my face, and was actually bliss when she started giving a head massage. But she had to go the neck and touch the Adam’s apple. She wasn’t to know to be fair. I’d find myself almost cringing everytime she touched it. Fortunately, she ended up with the head massage once again, and I left in a relaxed state. (Almost fell asleep a couple of times).

Don't touch my Adam's Apple

After the massage, I got out of there as quick as possible. It was nice, but so weird. Not sure I’d do it again, and not sure I understand why people go regularly. Just a generally strange experience I thought. Mind you, my face did feel so soft for the rest of the day, and smelt incredible. Maybe that has something to do with it?

Week 20: ‘Disability Day’

Image ~ ~ Tom Rose ~ 3 Comments

Week 20 of my comfort zone challenge – The Sussex Cricket in the Community Disability Day. A day designed get disabled groups, whether it be mentally, physically or emotionally, active and having fun, through the use of cricket. Disabled groups are invited from all over Sussex, to the home of Sussex Cricket, the BrightonandHoveJobs.com County Ground, to partake in many activities from throwing, batting, bowling, table cricket, deaf cricket and much more.

I volunteered to help out at the disability day, having shamefully, never done anything like this before. My role was to run one of the stations of activities. I was given the inflatable target throw… They simply throw the ball through the target, making it harder each time.

Disability Day

One of the full time coaches, before the event had started, gave me the advice “Just make sure you are enthusiastic” which turned out to be pretty good advice. Groups aged from young school children about 8 to 80 year olds. The reactions as I ran my station from each and every person varied, all making me smile in a different way, but three people in particular are worth mentioning:

Chaz – A young 11 year old child, in an electric wheel chair. Chaz instantly asked my name, and wanted to keep a tally of everyone’s score to see if they would beat his score of 5. Rather than wanting to win though, he was encouraging all the others in his group to beat him. Which I thought was really refreshing in what seems to be an ultra competitive world we live in! Chaz became my mate over the day, he supports Arsenal and his favourite player was Theo Walcott, he even taught me a new handshake/fist pump combination. To say goodbye, he said “If I don’t see you before, have a great half term”. What a nice kid.

Disability Day 3

Andrew – After being the best in his group at my target throw, he wanted to go even further back to see how far he would go. This sparked a competition with him and one of our coaches from across the other side of the hall. After a few attempts, Andrew managed to win this competition, and as it went into the hole, he ran at my full pace and gave me the biggest of high ten’s as we both celebrated like he had won the world cup. He could hardly contain his excitement as he kept walking around with a smile on his face, and occasionally high five-ing me again!

Chloe – Chloe, was a women with Downs Syndrome, who managed to throw it in the target from the hardest cone, despite her saying she’d never do it. After she did it, I gave her a big high five and told her that was brilliant. She then proceeded to blush and told me I was gorgeous. To my dismay, I found out later in the day, she had already asked out one of the coaches on a date three times!

Disability Day 2

There were plenty more stories, and plenty more characters. All the cliches came through, this really did remind me of how lucky I am and it really was rewarding. Selfishly, making these guys days was making my own. Furthermore, the bonds some of these people had with their carers was really heart warming, and did restore a lot of my faith in humanity. I felt extremely glad I had helped out in this event, and despite rain scares, it was a brilliantly organised event. I just felt bad that I hadn’t ever helped out in anything like this before! I’d strongly recommend this if you haven’t done anything like this before.

Disability Day 4

It just highlights some worlds that I’ve barely even considered over the years, and there are plenty of ways to help people on a small scale, this being an example of one. I’ll finish this post from a good quote from Winston Churchill “We making a living in life by what we get. We make a life by what we give”. A good one to live by I recon.

P.S If you want to see a high ten fail.. watch the Meridian news piece 28 seconds in! http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2015-05-18/cricket-club-opens-its-practice-nets-to-the-disabled/ 

Week 19: Modelling

~ Tom Rose ~ Leave a comment

Before I start writing anything, I must say this weeks challenge was ‘Modelling’ in the loosest sense of the word. I think it was more a ‘take pictures of any Tom, Dick or Harry, that is up for wearing a ridiculous outfit.’ I happened to be that Tom. When referring to myself as a model through this, I’ll put it in inverted commas, as it would be an insult to all models in the world to label myself in the same category.

The opportunity came about via LinkedIn, as Kate was after amateur models (not sure I could even class myself as that). Not knowing what I was signing up for, Kate gave me a call to explain what I would be ‘modelling’ for. Wait for it. The Crazy Golf World Championships. Once I stopped laughing, I could hardly turn down such an opportunity.

I arrived to the ‘shoot’ 5 minutes late, to which Kate said to me “Tom, you’re such a rockstar” to welcome me. Believe me, what came about in the next 3 hours was not rockstar behaviour.

Dressed in ill-fitting golfers outfit from the 50’s, I would proceed to pose in some crazy positions around the 3 crazy golf courses. From the windmill, to the pirate boat, to the house, to even on the beach. Simon (the other ‘model’) and I, put on our best picture faces here, there and everywhere. Our photographer, put us in all sorts of poses, and as the morning went on, the poses started to become camper and camper! Maybe we just got too into it. At times I would be lying on the floor, at times crouched down and at times with my legs standing out, and doing my best to look over the top excited.

What have I signed up for here?
What have I signed up for here?

I’ll admit, there were absolutely times where I thought “I’ve gone too far this week”. Especially as the course was starting to get busy, and there were a few looks. All in the name of PR though. Besides, it was absolutely hilarious at times. If you can’t laugh at yourself, then who can you laugh at?

One thing I completely under rated just how long it takes to get some good pictures. I thought it would be a 20 minute, take a couple of pictures, gig and shoot home. Three hours and hundreds of pictures later, I was quite relieved to be finished. Maybe it was more the ‘modelling’ that was the issue. It needed all that time to get the one picture they used.

Crazy Golf Modelling
It’s safe to say I won’t be the face of Calvin Klein anytime soon, but you’ll probably see my face in the local media promoting the World Crazy Golf Championships at Hastings Adventure Golf in the coming weeks. There’s a sentence I’d never thought I’d say.

NOTE: I’ll upload a few of the professional pictures once they have hit the media. I’m not allowed to leak them early!

Week 18: Spinning

~ Tom Rose ~ Leave a comment

Week 18 of my comfort zone challenge, I decided to take seat onto a bike, and do a bit of spinning.

As a good way to train for my London to Brighton bike ride coming up, I thought spinning would be a good challenge. I applied online for GlowBike in Brighton, and took up the session with no real idea of what spinning was like. My mum told me I would love it, and the a couple of colleagues left me with the message, to just stay at my level and take water (I ignored both and regretted both, especially the water!)

glowbike spin

I’m not great with exercise, I tend to do as little as I can get away with, just to get me by. I’m brilliant for paying my monthly gym membership and not being seen in months, and when I am seen I’m in the jacuzzi.

GlowBike was a place I hadn’t been to before, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t know anyone there. The glow of the place was quite clear, there was glitter and fake diamonds everywhere. Even the hair dryer in the mens changing room was full of glitter. There was quite a camp feel to the place, but not sure what I expected in Kemp Town in Brighton. I was professionally welcomed and dealt with brilliantly as I went to the beginner session.

Once we were all set up, Tam, our instructor started to talk us through what was going to happen. 20 of us, all different abilities, would start to ride to some disco music, alongside strobe lighting and orders from Tam. As the song would ‘drop’, we would sprint, and as the song started to get slower, we would up the resistance and ride slower. Having ridden a bike in the gym, it’s safe to say this session worked me out harder than any gym session. People around you and music make you give it your all. I definitely felt like a guy that had no clue at points, as the experienced women around me, made it look easy.

We then went onto the floor beside, for floor exercises. Tam told beginners to pick up the pink weights. Of course, by the time I got to pick weights, there were no pink weights left. No problem, I’m a strong bloke.

Yeah, I’m not strong. I did well to make myself look like an idiot with the weights. I had to put them down at points because my whole body felt like jelly. This was a real workout, and for a guy that hasn’t done any real workout for months, I felt the effects. My Gluts (arse) were in pain the next day, I could barely walk.

BROKEN
BROKEN

What must be said, I hate working out, and this was a good way to do so. Everyone loves music, and the effect it has on you keeps you going. On my little training plan for the London to Brighton bike ride, I will definitely incorporate spinning.

Week 17: Networking

~ Tom Rose ~ Leave a comment

Business networking is common practice in the professional world. Working professionals meet up, at events, with the intention of purely talking about business, with the hope they make take leads to improve their business in the future. This could be a new customer, a new supplier, meeting a new stakeholder or could meeting key members in the chosen field they work in. It can be whatever people want it to be.

What I have always thought, however, is that you need to be a certain type of person to do it. You know the type, extrovert, confident, suited, businessman. It’s no easy task just talking to strangers, talking about you and what you represent, and then letting the other person decide if it’s of any use to them. I’m terrible at talking to strangers, my usual conversation piece ends up talking about whatever the weather is doing outside.

So over the last few months, I’ve been making a conscious effort to attend our networking at events where I work, called The Boundary Club. My thought being, if I keep chucking myself in this situation where I meet strangers, I’ll get better at it.

A few unwritten rules I’ve picked up early doors:
1) Dress up smart – You’re representing both yourself and your business, first impressions are key. More than 90% of impressions are made within the first 60 seconds of meeting someone by appearance and body language.
2) Be prepared to talk and listen – Communication is a two-way process, nobody likes people who do too much of either.
3) Bring business cards – You’re not living in the corporate world if you don’t bring business cards.

The way the Boundary Club works, is you have a 3 course sit down meal, which also incorporates a guest speaker and sitting and watching some cricket as a backdrop. It feels quite relaxed, and it helps as when things start to get awkward, you have either the speaker or the sport as a go to in conversation.

networking
The environment is made for networking, a mixture of good food, good speakers, a few jokes from the MC, cricket and a few glasses of wine in the room make the environment quite relaxed. It’s common to just say hello to anyone in the room and introduce yourself, I still find this odd, but I’m getting there.

I’m not sure if there is a set way to network, but I just used it to chat to people. Chat to people with some similar interests, if I don’t really know the industry they work in, just ask and use it as a tool to learn. Conversation is much easier when you actually take in interest in what they are talking about. I found myself talking about beauty therapies, the best way to keep my skin great to talking about civil service motoring insurance. I’m still no expert on either.

I’ve always told myself I’m rubbish at meeting new people, and it goes back to last week’s fire walk, you tell yourself something enough your mind sends out that energy. I’m no master at networking, but I’ve had enough random conversations over the years to be okay chatting to new people. The stigma that goes with talking to new people is something that is getting easier, and will only improve as I do more of this. The brain really is fascinating.

Week 16: Fire Walking

~ Tom Rose ~ Leave a comment

Week 16 of my comfort zone challenge saw me do a Fire Walk for the Sara Lee Trust.

A bare foot walk over red-hot wood embers measuring around 800 degrees. No tricks, no special effects. Just me and the fire.

Burning Embers

I originally got an email informing me of the fire walking idea. The subject line being ‘BRAVE AND FEARLESS PEOPLE NEEDED’.. of which I am neither. Though, when I read about it, I entered without hesitation. The only time a little bit of fear came around was a couple of weeks after signing up, on a tube journey with my friend who said “yeah, but what happens if you trip up?”… Bloody good point I thought.

I have to admit, I did have the attitude of they wouldn’t let me do it if it was dangerous. It was only on seeing the ambulance upon arrival, I remembered this is dangerous, and the nerves kicked in. Granted, the physics are there. Both wood and the human foot are poor conductors of heat. The time that the moving feet having in contact with the wood isn’t enough to cause real damage, and if your feet sweat, the moisture can help to prevent any burning.

The un-nerving ambulance
The un-nerving ambulance

That said, you are still walking on fire. Your brain still tells you, you should not be doing this. That was until we went through the 2 hour training session that is. This training session had nothing to do with walking techinque. It had no practice on any fire. There was no rubbing the feet with any moisture. This was all about getting into the correct state of mind.

For an hour and a half, we went through a mental journey. Starting from posture , what you say in your mind, to physically shouting. You know that posture you have, when you feel like you can take on the world in the morning. Recreating that. You know that voice, that says you can’t do something. Telling that to shut up. Making sure everything in your power is telling you, you can do it.

Cliff, our instructor, was one of the most motivating people I’ve ever met. Through posture, visualisation and voice he took me to a place where my body was genuinely tingling and I felt I could take on the world. By the time we had finished the training, I honestly felt as if I could take on a round with Muhammed Ali in his prime. I felt invincible and more pumped up than I’d ever been in my life.

By the time we got around to walking on fire, there wasn’t a single nerve in my body. It was just a formality of ‘I’m going to do this’. All I needed to do, was visualise my place of conquer, remind myself I’m doing this, and sing ‘Roll with it’ by Oasis (my personal sound track to my visualised place)

The first five walkers went immediately after each other, and even when Cliff stopped me for what felt like 10 minutes before my go, to heat up the embers, I was 100% walking through that fire. “What’s your name?!” Cliff shouted. “TOM” I belched back and then before I knew it I was on the other side, giving the biggest fist pump of my life.

The release was incredible. It sounds ridiculous, but I felt so alive. Adrenaline flying through the body and it took me a good couple of hours to come back to reality. What’s more, these techniques to over come the fear, weren’t hard. This is something replicable in everyday life, every time nerves take over your body. It’s amazing how much your brain controls what you do. My brain sent out those tingling feelings and the feeling of invincibility, not Cliff. There was no hypnotism, no tricks, just the brain opening up your body.

I challenge you, next time that voice that talks to you in your head says “I can’t do this” put another voice in there to tell it to shut up and tell yourself 5 times that you can. Once you get over your inner demon, half the job is done.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this, and further to this I managed to raise some money to a great cause, The Sara Lee Trust. I must thank all those that have donated and all those that came to support me. I must also mention, Rob Marchant’s stag do which I missed to do the fire walk, many congratulations sir.

For those interested, I did have 3 small burn blisters on my left foot after the walk, a small price to pay for a great experience.

If you would like to donate still please visit my just giving page https://www.justgiving.com/Tom-Rose-comfortzone 

BELOW IS MY VIDEO OF THE WALK (You’ll have to excuse random bits of darkness at points)

Week 15: Brighton Marathon (Water boy)

~ Tom Rose ~ Leave a comment

Week 15 of my comfort zone challenge, and this week I volunteered down at the Brighton Marathon. Not quite in the physical condition to do a marathon myself, I thought I’d at least help out those who are!

My role would be to be at the drink station at mile 19 of the marathon. This meant setting up, filling up, giving out and clearing up.

The briefing time for the volunteers was 8am, so this meant a 6am alarm, and me being completely sober on a Sunday morning. That alone constitutes outside the comfort zone.

I met at the King Alfred Leisure centre, signed in, received my volunteer bib and packed lunch and then waited for instructions. I was told my team were going to be short, which didn’t make me happy when I looked at the items we needed to move (below). We were briefed and the first instruction from our leader was “we need a couple of strong guys to take the Gazebo to the mile marker, about a mile away.” Somehow I ended up with Gazebo, despite not meeting his qualifications.

Station 19 Boxed up
Station 19 Boxed up

We moved all the gear to the 19 mile mark, set up the Gazebo, all the tables and separated the Gatorade and Water to each section. The next thing to do was to pour all the drinks, from the bottles, into plastic cups. This would need to cater for the 16 000 people that run Brighton Marathon. We started working in pairs, one placing and holding the cup, the other pouring. You’d need two people as the wind was a nightmare, and it was a comedy show trying to do it by yourself. Don’t worry, I tried.

Before...
Before…

As a team of about 15 volunteers, there was soon as sense of camaraderie as we soon started getting on whilst pouring the water/gatorade. The highlight of this being a sing-a-long to Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chilli Peppers together, amongst other 90s rock tunes. Fortunately, for the volunteers not the runners, we were blessed with sun. This made life a lot more pleasant as we sang in the sun and poured water.

... and after!
… and after!

10.40am the elite runners would start to go past, our volunteer numbers had doubled, and all 30 of us stood holding our arms out with water hoping the elite runners would take one. It was a bit of competition to begin with, as the runners were so few to begin with.

The Front Runner
The Front Runner

Slowly but surely, the pack started to build and the job started getting harder. The faster runners would get you drenched as they’d try and take the water as they’re moving too fast. You’d be turning as quick as possible to make sure both hands are full of water, all the while you’d be shouting as loud as you can to encourage these guys. This continued for hours, and as time went on, people seemed more and more grateful. Shouting out someone’s name on their shirt always got a smile. I may have shouted “Well done” a few thousand times, once I had started shouting it, I felt everyone needed some of my motivational shouting.

I shouldn’t write this, as it’s so wrong considering the runners ran 26 miles, through complete pain and agony, but I have to say my arms and back were aching like mad by the end of the day. Not to mention my voice going. This was by no means an easy day out, and ironically despite handing out thousands of drinks, I didn’t stop for a drink myself.

What I loved about the marathon, is the sense of community that it brings out. Everyone, is out there cheering people on, people they have never seen before, and may never see again. They may even pick up the phone and be rude to them tomorrow, but for one day, the whole of Brighton are in it together.

Once the majority of people had gone past our station, and it was time to clear up. You wouldn’t believe how many plastic cups were on the floor. Snow ploughs we needed to clear it all up. Half an hour of scraping plastic cups off of the floor and the station was stood down. 2.30pm, I ate my lunch and returned all our gear back to HQ.

I happened to watch my mates play football the day before the marathon. One of the opposition team was injured and needed to come off. They called for a substitute to come on to replace him, and asked “Can you bring some water for him as well please?” To which the sub replied “I ain’t no f***ing water boy” and ran past the water, onto the pitch. Well, I’m proud to say I was a water boy at Station 19 today, and bloody enjoyed it. We received at Brighton Marathon 2015 hoody for our work, but the sense of doing good and well being was the real thing we all took away from it.

I guess what’s clear is that I should do something like this myself – WATCH THIS SPACE!

Week 14: Radio

~ Tom Rose ~ Leave a comment

Week 14 of My Comfort Zone Challenge and this week I delved into the world of radio, by making a guest appearance on Brighton station, Juice 107.2.

Juice 107.2

Before I describe the events of what happened on the day, I will first take you back to my final year at Bournemouth University. My housemate, Andy, and I were offered a radio show on the University radio station. A great opportunity and experience to do something different. We both liked the idea, and even came up with a brilliant name for the show, Bants and Decs (tell me that isn’t genius?!). However, despite there only being 27 listeners at peak times, I bottled it as I was worried about embarrassing myself. I can’t speak for Andy here, but neither of us did the show, and to this day I regret not doing it. LIFE IN THE COMFORT ZONE!

So I was really keen to right a few wrongs, overcome a previous demon. I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to interview on the drive time show, for which, I’m extremely grateful to the Juice team, particularly Hannah and Guy. I was also lucky enough to have something worthwhile talking about for a radio interview, something I’d never have had previously.

It’s fair to say the butterflies were flying in my stomach before this. In an attempt to settle them I went to Nando’s, on my own, with a notebook. I made a couple of pages of notes about all the tasks I’d previously done, as I knew I would freeze on the spot. Honestly, I’ve got a memory of a goldfish at times. I finished my butterfly chicken, and sat there like, what happens if I freeze? I was told it would be set up as a friendly chat style interview. I love a friendly chat normally, I could talk for days, but not under the pressure of thousands of people listening. It was too late by this point to change anything. I have to say writing notes was one of the better ideas I’ve had in my time, unlike eating a phall, as it was my go to throughout the interview.

Radio Interview

Once I was there, everything seemed to go a million miles an hour, about the same speed as my heart. Two glasses of water to clear my throat, a quick run down of how the interview would go, The Kooks and Route 94 later and I’m being introduced on air. I couldn’t really remember what I said until I listened to the interview back. ‘Hopefully I’ll make a few people’s life more comfortable, by making mine uncomfortable’ Where did that come from? Though I was only on air for a couple of minutes, it really did seem like ages. It’s very strange talking about yourself for people.

Myself and Guy Lloyd
Myself and Guy Lloyd

Once I finished on air, I was in a bit of a trance. My phone was going mental with people contacting me, and I just walked aimlessly through Brighton whilst my heart was pumping. It took me a while to come down back to reality. Not sure my heart would have been able to take that on a regular basis if I had have done a show at Uni.

My only regret is that I didn’t request a bit of Oasis Rock N Roll Star or Live Forever to play me out. Instead, I got a bit of Gwen Stefani, Ain’t No Holla Back Girl. I suppose I ain’t no Holla Back Girl, whatever that is.

In all honesty though, I’m glad I went on, and more importantly it was a great platform to promote the money I’m trying to raise for the Sara Lee Trust with my fire walk on the 18th April. https://www.justgiving.com/Tom-Rose-comfortzone

Anyway, have a listen for yourself below. Let me know what you think!

Week 13: The Matcha Challenge (No Tea/Coffee)

~ Tom Rose ~ Leave a comment

Week 13 of My Comfort Zone Challenge, and for 10 days, I replaced all Teas and Coffees with Matcha.

First things first, what on earth is Matcha? Don’t worry, I’d never heard of it either, until we received a staff presentation on it. Matcha is a green tea that originates in Japan, and has been used by Zen Buddist monks as a meditational drink for hundreds of years. It’s only recently that the western world have decided to tap into the ‘superfood’, that some people have described as Japan’s best kept secret.

In doing the research before the challenge, the advertised benefits of this powder are actually crazy. Matcha is very high on anti-oxidants, particularly EGCg, which I’m told is recognised for it’s cancer fighting properties. Matcha increases the metabolism and helps burns calories. Match detoxifies the body due to it’s chlorophyll content. Matcha calms the mind and improves concentration due the to L-Theanine, which boosts the alpha waves in your brain that aid relaxation. Matcha improves the levels of serotonine that the brain has, and therefore improves your mood. Matcha does pretty much everything but turn bread into wine. Read them all for yourself here.

That’s all the science stuff behind it, I’m not sure about you, but none of that means anything to me. Will it make me feel better at work in my day to day working life? That’s all I really care about.

So to give this a fair crack, I decided to do the challenge for 10 days rather than 7. I also decided to remove all other tea and coffee from my daily routine, to make the challenge a bit harder. Seeing as I have roughly 7-8 teas a day mixed in with a couple of coffees, this would certainly make my life tough.

Half a teaspoon of Matcha powder, a squeeze of lemon and hot water were the orders from my Matcha expert Katherine. It’s important that the water isn’t boiled as this kills the nutrients, and the lemon not only helps the taste, it boosts the positive effects. I’d have this twice a day, one first thing in the morning, and one just after lunch. The tough part is getting the little bits out of the bottom, so an electric frother became useful to mixing it all in.

I wasn’t too worried about the taste of Matcha, as I used to hate coffee, and nowadays it seems to be nectar down my throat, despite the taste not changing over the years. For what it’s worth, I actually didn’t mind the taste of Matcha at all.

Matcha

I have to admit, the first 3 days were hard. Whether it was a continued hangover from Berlin mixed with less caffeine in my diet, I did have a couple of headaches. After this little 3 day period, like magic almost, I started to feel good. I had one of the most energetic Mondays I’ve ever had, actually concentrating on work, rather than my usual Monday meltdown, where I plan on packing everything in and moving to the Caribbean.

This stuff works, there’s no two ways about it. I’ve gone in with a completely unbaised opinion of this stuff, and it certainly does give you a feel good factor. I’m a big believer in the placebo effect, so I have no doubt perhaps my mind wanted me to feel good, but if I feel good I don’t really care if it’s placebo or science.

What I have really learnt from this task…. Is I BLOODY LOVE TEA. Nothing can replace the taste of a good cup of tea. Waking up hungover on a Sunday and not having a cup of tea to warm away all my woes was tough. I didn’t think I had an addictive personality, but it’s fair to say I’ve learnt I’m addicted to tea. In fact, I’m drinking a tea as I write this.

Which one is the mug?
I’ll be making sure I drink my Matcha on Thursday, as I’ll be heading on the radio, so I’ll need my mind firing on all cylinders. I’ll be appearing on Juice 107.2 Brighton radio station on Thursday afternoon (3.30pm)… You can tune in via http://www.juicebrighton.com/, I’ll attempt to video it for those who can’t tune in live.

If you want to try Matcha, I would recommend giving it a go. I used OMG TEA from www.naturem.co.uk, you don’t need to give up tea/coffee like I did. Just incorporate it in your daily routine, I’ll be mixing the two from now on.