Your Ultimate Inspirational Guide To Running

Pin It Now!

Image from Google

Ladies, you are going to love my first recommendation.  Being a woman, it’s no surprise that I think a shopping spree is in order to get your running outfits organised.  And who doesn’t feel inspired and energised after an excellent day at the shops?

It’s finally sunny and the department stores are heaving with the madness of sales.  So hit the high streets and stock up on cotton or Dri-Fit  t-shirts, shorts, leggings or whatever makes you feel good and comfortable when you are out running.

Don’t forget to pop into your favourite sports store for a pair of well fitted shoes.  I love the Asics range, I always have.  BUT I am definitely not impressed with the enormous toe hole that keeps recurring above my left toe.  Perhaps a shoe re-fit is in order!  I usually find that if I keep getting fitted by the same pair, then I can purchase this for a significantly lower price at Lillywhites in London.

Now the only other single most important item that you will need (other than your motivated and inspired self of course) is energetic music to make your running experience truly unforgettable.  Running is about time for you.  This will quickly become your chance to de-stress, gather your thoughts, reflect about your day (if you run after work) or to plan ahead if you are an early riser.

For confidence and direction, always plan your route.  I love WalkJogRun for help with planning routes and calculating distance.  If you are a creature of habit, then you may end up choosing the same routes after work for that truly relaxing experience when you are out pounding the streets.  Mix your routine with hills and beautiful scenery for a change in the weekends to avoid boredom.

Preparing playlists that are dedicated to your favourite running tracks are essential for a smooth running experience.  No one wants to be interrupted by Frank Sinatra’s ‘New York, New York’ when you are deep in thought, enjoying the giddy sensation from the lovely endorphins that running can shower you with.  We do love Frank Sinatra but he is definitely not appropriate as running tracks.  Instead, choose plenty of upbeat music with great rhythm.  I do love remixed tracks for that extra speed in my stride.

I rarely listen to music when I am not exercising, so I really do look forward to exercising for this reason alone.  Always be prepared.  So remember, gear up, plan your route, organise your music and then out that door you go.

Last but not least, ensure that you eat a light snack an hour before such as a banana or a delicious large orange.  Ensure that your usual lunch or dinner meal is at least a few hours earlier to give you plenty of time for easy digestion. 

Finally, drink up!  Stay hydrated and smile knowing that you will sleep like a baby after your refreshing date with yourself out in the park or on a treadmill.  All you ever need for a brilliant run is you, a bit of fuel and good music.  It doesn’t matter if you run for 20 or 50 minutes, just get out there, enjoy and move your body!

Lovely readers and runners, do you have any tips to share? 

Image from Google

Beer, Butter & Chocolate: The Unexpected Threesome For A Six Pack?

Pin It Now!

As promised, an article for Andrew on ‘how to get a six pack on a beer, butter and chocolate diet’.  Isolated case of fearless eating you say?  You may be right, but before you think entirely impossible, apply the principles of moderation and almost anything can be possible.

Right now, my assumption is that Andrew is regularly sweating it out on a treadmill and completing high volumes of planks, plank walks, toe touches, modified side planks, full extensions, v-ups, suitcases and your old fashioned crunches.

Let’s face it; women aren’t the only ones watching their figures these days.  I blame celebrities again (naturally), but with the high publicising of Barbie figures, it’s not surprising that all are feeling the pressure to look good.  If you are serious about ‘feeling good in your skin’, in addition to exercising regularly, a fitness regime that incorporates a healthy, balanced diet can be the winning combo to a lean and beautiful body.

A Scraping Of Butter

The bad news is - if you must have butter, be warned that this is full of saturated fats.  Eat this liberally and expect your doctor to grimace over your high total cholesterol levels and your risk of heart disease.  Team this with regular takeaways, deep fried foods, baking and other high fat products and you are well on your way to an early grave. 

If your heart is ready to acquiesce, then choose margarine.  Based on vegetable oils, this is the safe option.  Rich in poly and mono unsaturated fats, they work hard to combat the damaging effects of saturated fats.  

But before you rush ahead to slap on the margarine, remember that how much fat you eat is equally important, regardless of type.  

If your weight is in the healthy range, chances are that you are already eating ample fats.  A switch from butter to vegetable oils may be all that is necessary to change the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fats.

Breakfast – don’t skip it

Butter addicts, don’t fear.  Reduce your takeaways, cakes, biscuits and deep fried foods and trade it for a scraping of butter.  Then have it with breakfast.  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  A recent article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in March this year, indicated that men who skipped breakfast were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.  

A study by Antonogeorgos et al, in Paediatric Obesity, also showed that children who ate breakfast daily were more likely to prevent overweight and obesity.  It should really come as no surprise that eating breakfast will decrease the temptation to over-indulge in high fat & sugary foods later.

If you plan to use your quota of butter for a fry up, then think again.  An interesting article published in ‘Nutrition Research and Practice’, in February 2012, compared Korean and Western diets.  Those who chose ‘potatoes, fruit and nuts’ at breakfast, showed lower risks of high blood pressure and blood glucose levels, when compared with adults who chose ‘eggs, breads and processed meat.’ 

These are just some of the latest findings from around the world.  As it turns out; you can be slimmer and healthier simply by eating breakfast.  Team your breakfast with smart food choices and you’ll also help protect your heart and risk of diabetes.  What’s more, if the thin scraping of butter on your toast encourages you to eat breakfast, then this could be the saviour from a monster munch attack later in the day.

Breakfast suggestions 

• cereal with reduced fat milk 
• high fibre bread with a scraping of butter (or margarine) or other spreads.  
• another delicious breakfast selection is fruit salad with yoghurt. 

Lunching?

Base the rest of your meals around carbohydrates, protein, fruit and vegetables.  Sandwiches packed with salads or soups and pasta salads bursting with coloured vegetables will help you meet your target of five fruit and vegetables a day.  Choose no bigger than a palm sized portion of meat, chicken or fish per day.  Don’t forget that lentils, beans and chick peas are a great alternative source of protein.

Combat Chocolate Cravings

After your gym work-out, why not treat yourself to a glass of low fat chocolate milk?  What a clever way of replacing muscle glycogen stores after exercise.  If you don’t do this, you run the risk of post work-out dives in blood sugar levels (and thus the danger of raging chocolate cravings). 

In addition to restoring the much needed carbohydrates, you’ll find that you’ve just satisfied your sweet tooth and potentially prevented a major pig out.  Have this drink immediately after a work-out (ideally within 30 minutes) for maximal absorption and replacement of glycogen stores.  Eat your evening meal as soon as you can.

What About Beer?

How could I forget!  After your hard work of healthy eating and commitment to exercise, I think you’ve earned yourself a can of beer this weekend! 

If you decide to give the can a miss, I found Delia's braised steak and mushroom recipe online which could also be prepared with beer.  Just go easy on the butter!

Enjoy!


Please comment below, I really love and read all of your comments!

A Chocolate Dilemma: When To Use A Food Diary

Pin It Now!

Girls, the most important thing that you need to know about Easter is that we don’t get any slimmer after stuffing our faces with chocolate.  

Today, I am a successful baker (believe me, it took me years to understand that baking equates precision), but alas, I am now faced with a rather monstrous devil’s chocolate cake and an equally luscious lemon drizzled gateau sitting on the kitchen table.

I had high hopes for the four day weekend.  I planned to run 9 kilometres daily in my local park and to eat ‘very healthy’.  My heart even skipped a beat as a vision of me in the sexy purple dress flashed across my eyes.

But, who was I kidding?  The minute I googled “Nigella Lawson’s chocolate cake”, I knew that my fate had been written and set in stone.

There’s a conversation that I keep having with myself that really has to stop.  I warned myself that baking one of Nigella’s delicious cakes would literally be death by chocolate.  And yet, somehow, the she-devil in me won.  I paused.  I thought.  And then I smiled.  “Of course”, I said to myself in confidence, “Of course I will eat only one slice”. 

Lies, lies, lies!

If you are having this same conversation, then stop right now!  A very good friend once said to me, “darling, a minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips”.  Out of the many lessons that I’ve learned in life with regards to looking good is that every woman suffers from the same fatal mistake – denial.  A calorie eaten but never spoken about out loud is a calorie dismissed. 

If this was true then why does my dress stubbornly refuse to get past my monstrous bottom?

There’s only one thing left to do.  The same vision of me in the tight purple dress flash across my eyes – only this time, my heart sinks.  But then I remember what it means to me to look and feel like a million dollars.  A chocolate dilemma today perhaps, but only a small (um, OK a rather large hiccup) in my weight loss plan. 

Girls, the only advice that I want to share with you today is, realise and acknowledge what you’ve done.  I reach for my food journal.  I cringe.  Yes, the precious and hateful diary.  The desire to lie is stronger than ever.  My heart races as calories and numbers get tallied.  “Was it one or two slices I ate hon?” I ask my boyfriend.  A great, GREAT mistake. 

An awkward silence later, I accurately record the actual amount eaten (which I cannot reveal to a single soul).  Uh-oh, here it comes.  I panic and am truly horrified as the total calorie intake is computed.  It has been 24 hours of carnage.  I blame celebrities (naturally). 

No pain, no gain.  Not ideal, but I set the alarm for a Sunday morning run.  You could say that I should just skip dinner and trade it for the morning run.  Lovely thought yes, but I am after all a health professional and the benefits of exercise taunt me (details to be discussed in a subsequent article). 

In some ways I am relieved that I have a plan.  It takes the pressure off from the actions of earlier today.  I am so glad that I am determined.  I believe that the vision of the girl in the purple dress is the catalyst to this inner drive.  The power of visualisation should not be ignored.  I have already shed one out of the five kilograms since commencing the food journal. 

As I recall, I’ve always used a food journal.  It’s one of my favourite but difficult things I use when I am determined to win this battle of emotional eating.  This is certainly not the moment to shy away from reality.  

Most women make excuses when I request that they keep a diary.  It’s easy to see why, but I find that this is one of the most effective tools for weight loss.  The journal will help you explore and nurture the much needed relationship between food and you.  If old fashioned paper diaries are not for you, then look into online journals or apps for smart phones such as ‘MyFitnessPal’ or ‘MyNetDiary’.
www.myfitnesspal.com

So, it may be a chocolate dilemma today, but I would be naive if I believed that any journey was hurdle free.  Soon ladies, I hope I’ll be “shakin’ my ting” in that purple dress.  That’s when I know I’ve really made it!


Please comment below, I really love and read all of your comments!