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The Importance of Habit with La Pochette

19th May 2022

19th May 2022

With intelligent design and environmental consciousness as a priority, La Pochette creates gym and travel accessories designed to be by your side no matter where your plans happen to be taking you - rather than hidden away in a gym locker for days. Read on to join La Pochette in exploring the importance of creating regular, manageable habits to assist busy lifestyles, and how to do just that.

Creatures of Habit

As humans, we’re creatures of habit.  Whether we realise it or not, we are what we repeatedly do, and it’s this we’re told that influences our ability to achieve life’s goals. 

Conventional wisdom teaches us to ‘reach for the stars’ and ‘focus on the end goal’ to achieve results.  This is all well and good, but how do we actually get there?  Whilst our aim may be to possess the abs of Zendaya for example, we need to know how to get there.

In his bestseller ‘Atomic Habits’, James Clear acknowledges the impact habits have on our achievements in life.  As creatures of habit, he states we can take ownership and structure our habits to enable us to reach our goals.  Whilst this may sound like a lot of work, the action or habit which helps us arrive at our goal can be small.  Research has proven it’s more likely we’ll stick to something if it’s ‘doable’, or a nudge, rather than a gargantuan chore.  After all, changes that seem small and insignificant compound to form consequential results over time.

Health and Wellbeing 

Dr Becky Gillaspy, a US based science and nutrition specialist, has taken this a step further.  Far from thinking about habits as predominantly bad or unyielding (Ed Sheeran!), Gillaspy talks about making habits work for you, particularly when it comes to health and wellbeing.  This is where brands like Innermost, and luxury lifestyle accessories brand La Pochette can help, providing solutions that make creating new and healthy habits effortless.

Referencing Clear’s book, Gillaspy cites the example of a test group who wanted to increase their exercise levels.  Whilst the entire group were given material on the benefits of exercise, half were also asked to commit to planning when and where they were going to exercise.  In other words, they were asked to come up with a plan, or ‘how’ to achieve their end result.  In doing so, this group realised double the exercise time of the group who weren’t asked about their intent.  This is known as ‘Implementation Intent’, and improves the likelihood of following through on an intention or idea.  

Making It Stick

You might be thinking, this is great in theory, but how do we make it stick?  As Clear states, we need to ensure we make it easy by removing any potential barriers, and giving ourselves mental cues. 

One way of doing this would be to pack your gym kit in your La Pochette Sweat Bag, or La Pochette Shoe Carry the night before a workout, and to leave that kit by the door ready to go.  Practical, water resistant, antibacterial and machine washable, both provide clever functionality without compromising on style. 

Think about booking into a class ahead of time, and paying for it, making it far more likely you’ll attend.  Roping a friend in too means you’re more likely to commit and make it happen. 

Keep your swim kit with you in the waterproof La Pochette Wet Bag, and squeeze in a swim session during your busy day knowing so are always ready to work out, no excuses.

Behavioural change comes about when habits are not only easy, but also attractive and gratifying.  This gave rise to Vogue labelling the La Pochette brand as their ‘Gym Bag Hero’, because as well as being chic, the collection utilises sustainable materials.  The products themselves also enable sustainable practices, replacing single use plastic bags used post-workout or swim.

Today’s hybrid living means multiple transitions throughout the day from offices to gyms, to our social lives, and with it the burden of carrying all the kit and equipment necessary to achieve that day. La Pochette provides intelligently designed, stylish, environmentally sound solutions to enable you to become a creature of good habit. 

As renowned Philosopher and Sage Confucius once said, (and who better to take life lessons from), ‘All people are the same, only their habits differ”.  Let’s grab our bags, book that abs class and go….

To hear more about the La Pochette story, and to visit the shop, go to https://lapochette.co/

 

References

Clear, J (2018) Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, Penguin Publishing Group, USA

Dr Becky Gillaspy (2019) 2 Habit Hacks You Can Use to Exercise More | How To Stick To Habits

Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed-8URqxyH0&t=154s (last accessed 16th May 2022) 

 

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When it comes to improving your fitness levels, lifestyle and nutrition are key. From the number of hours of sleep you get each night to your daily nutrition and everything in between, each is as important as the other. This extends to finding the right protein powder to fuel your workout routine. Yet today more than ever, what goes into that shaker bottle now goes beyond macros and muscle; more and more people are asking themselves – ‘how does this protein powder align with my religious values and beliefs?’ While we’ve spoken before about our clean, research based and ethically sourced ingredients here at Innermost, this time we want to get a little more specific with a focus on halal and halal protein powder. With so many voices and fluff information around, it can be difficult to know exactly what protein is and isn’t halal friendly. That’s why we’ve put together this nifty guide. We’re going to break down all the myths and everything you need to know about halal protein. What you should be looking out for, what makes proteins like whey halal friendly as well as the benefits that halal friendly protein can offer to your body.  Right, let’s get into it. What is halal protein? I’m sure most of you are already aware of halal, but for the 1% of you that might not be, let’s take a step back and ask: what is halal protein? Halal – meaning ‘permissible’ in Arabic – refers to any food product that complies with Islamic dietary laws as stated within the Qur’an and Islamic jurisprudence. This makes it a core element of Islamic faith and a key cornerstone of their commitment to leading a pure and disciplined life under the guidance of Allah. Some of the key guidelines for halal foods include: Halal friendly ingredients – certain ingredients are not permissible under a halal diet, including pork (and any byproducts), alcohol and blood. Other animal products can be halal as long as they are killed in accordance with the ethical treatment guidelines below. Ethical treatment of animals – For non-pork meats to be considered halal, animals must be treated humanly and responsibly during their life. This includes: Having access to clean water and nutritious food. Being raised in a free-range and stress-free environment. Not being subjected to cruelty, abuse, or unnecessary suffering. The process of killing any animal must also be quick and humane to be considered halal, with any suffering kept to the complete minimum. Importantly, to be considered halal, the name of Allah must be pronounced during the humane killing to ensure the sanctity of life is recognised throughout the process. No cross contamination - During the preparation process, halal foods must never come into contact with non halal foods. This means no cross contamination between preparation surfaces, equipment used, the handling of foods and storage. As such, ingredients such as milk can be halal however it depends on the production process and if additional non-halal additives (such as gelatin) are added. So, what does this mean for protein?  Essentially any animal protein is halal as long as it adheres to the guidelines we’ve mentioned. The best way to tell is that products – such as Innermost proteins - will be certified halal friendly on the packaging. Is protein powder halal? So, with that said you might be wondering: is my choice of protein powder halal? The truth is that protein powder can absolutely be halal, however it entirely depends on the ingredients used as well as the overall production process. Common protein sources like whey, casein, egg white, and plant-based proteins (such as pea, soy, or rice) can all be halal if they are sourced and manufactured in compliance with halal standards. While many of the larger brands do not meet these standards and cannot claim to offer halal protein, our range of Innermost protein powders and supplements are all certified halal, emphasising our dedication to ethical sourcing our use of clean sourcing without additives. From our pea protein fuelled (and vegan) The Health Protein, The Fit Protein, to our whey protein powered The Strong Protein and The Lean Protein, all our products are sourced in a halal-compliant manner. Benefits of halal protein powder You hear it all the time when it comes to ethical and dietary beliefs – ‘a vegan diet isn’t good for you’ or ‘a vegetarian mix can’t possibly have the nutrients you need. The reality is, that adhering to these sorts of values within your fitness routine and diet can have great benefits for the body. Halal protein powders are no different; they offer a range of benefits for individuals who are conscious of both their health and dietary requirements. Just some of the benefits of halal protein powder are: Clean ingredients: With halal protein powders, you can be confident that there will be no harmful or questionable ingredients/ additives such as silica. What does this mean? Your body has an easier job digesting and absorbing all the good stuff, ensuring you get the most out of your supplements. Quality protein: Halal protein powders use complete protein sources, ensuring your body gets all the amino acids it needs for effective muscle repair and growth.  Ethical production: We’ve mentioned plenty of times already, but that’s just how key ethical and clean production is to making protein halal. By avoiding things such as additional additives and cross contamination, your body is fuelled with a safer and more trustworthy supplement. Supports fitness and wellness goals: Whatever your fitness goals; halal protein has you covered. From building muscle to losing weight, the absence of excess sugars or fillers ensures you are best placed to smash your targets. Common misconceptions about halal protein powders With so much noise and no real answers around halal proteins, we thought it would be helpful to list of some of the key misconceptions regarding the diet and what the actual truths are. All vegan protein powders are halal Given that so much of halal is driven by animals and their ethical treatment, you might just assume every vegan protein powder is halal because it is made of.. well, plants. The reality however is that vegan proteins aren’t necessarily halal – it all comes down to the production process. While Innermost vegan proteins are proudly halal certified, other protein powders can be produced with alcohol-based flavourings, non-halal emulsifiers, or might be processed in facilities that handle haram products – leading to cross contamination – not good! Is whey protein halal? On the other side of the spectrum, whey protein – being a byproduct of milk – is generally considered to be haram. Again, the truth is that whey protein can be halal provided that the milk is taken from cows that were treated ethically and within halal principles. Today, there are many halal-certified whey protein powders that are safe and effective for Muslim consumers. Halal certification doesn’t matter There is often an assumption made that if the ingredients look clean then the protein must be halal – regardless of certification. The truth is that what makes something halal goes beyond ingredients. Production and sourcing our also key factors that many companies do not consider. With halal certification on your favourite protein powders, you can be sure that every step—from sourcing and production to packaging and distribution—has been reviewed and approved according to strict halal standards.  Is Innermost protein powder halal? In short, yes. We at Innermost make it our mission to not only aid in muscle growth and recovery, but also to create protein supplements that are ethically sourced and rigorously tested to ensure individuals of any faith can smash their fitness goals.  Unlike competitors, our proteins are clean and built with the highest quality of ingredients and free from unnecessary additives and artificial ingredients.   We are proud to say that all our products are officially halal certified making them a suitable choice for those following the halal beliefs. This certification ensures that all ingredients and manufacturing processes meet Islamic dietary laws, with no use of haram substances such as pork derivatives or alcohol. With this in mind, why not check out our range of Innermost supplements to find out more about our halal proteins?     Read more
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