It's finding the time...

Someone busier than you is getting fit,

RIGHT NOW! 

Find the time.

Best exercises for a beach bum.

The curent weather is making me dream of sun-drenched sand, turquoise seas and cocktails by the pool.  And of course the perfect fit, toned body to go with it!


Here are my top exercises you can do at home for that beach-ready, buff body.  And the good news?  If you start now, there is time to achieve it by the summer holidays!  (But only if you aren't snaffling burgers and chips all the time!  Remember it's 90% nutrition!)

1     For that perfect beach bum...
Squats.  Place your heels on something that will raise them up an inch or so, a book or something, to really engage those glutes and tone and lift those wobbly bits!  Make sure you can see your toes when you squat.
Do 3 sets of 15, 3 times a week.
2     For toned thighs...
Lunges.  Try lunges with a glute raise for added bottom tightening, side lunges to target those inner thighs and normal lunges for toned hamstrings.  Make sure your hips drop straight down rather than moving forwards.
Do 3 sets of 15 , 3 times a week.  Mix it up with different types of lunges.
3     For shapely calves...
Calf raises.  Stand on the stairs and drop your heels over the edge, lower as far as you can and push up onto your toes.
Do 2 sets of 12, 3 times a week.
4     For a trim waist and toned stomach...
Woodchops.  Holding a big bottle of milk or some other weight, stand with feet shoulder width apart and your arms in the air to the left of your head.  Swing your arms down to your left and as your arms come past your hips squat at the same time.
Do 2 sets of 15, 3 times a week.
5     For eliminating bingo wings...
Triceps dips.  With you hands facing forwards on the edge of a chair, begin with your heels on the floor in front of you, knees bent, drop your body down and push up again using your arms.  Once you can do this, straighten your legs.  Once this is easy, raise your legs onto another chair or coffee table.
Do 3 sets of as many as you can do.
6       For toned arms...
Bicep curls.  Holding two bottles of milk or some other weights, stand with your feet shoulder width apart, keep your elbows tucked, avoid swinging, with palms facing up, raise and lower the weights slow and controlled.
Do 3 sets of 15, 3 times a week.
7       For all over buffness...
Press ups.  Begin with press ups against the wall, progress to incline press ups, against the arm of the sofa.  Once you can do these with good form, go for press ups on your knees and once you've mastered these, normal press ups.  If you can do these well and you want to mix it up, try decline press ups where your feet are higher than your arms, on the sofa for example.

If you only do 2 exercises, pick squats and press ups.

The most important thing is good form.  This is more important that how many you do.

Until we get some videos up on this blog, you can find examples of how to do each of these exercises on youtube.

Good luck!
Krish x

It may not be easy but it really is simple.

If you are determined to make a change for the better, then this is what you need to do:

Eat clean, do more, sleep well, get outside.  


It's so simple, right?  I didn't say it was necessarily easy but it is simple.


And the good news is you don't need to join a gym or run anywhere to get fit!

You can do a great body-weight workout at home and if you want to up it a bit, you can get an inexpensive resistance band for around a tenner or invest in a set of free weights.

If you want to burn fat, body-weight workouts need to focus on major muscle groups, so if you want to trim down, tone up and improve your strength, endurance and balance, you can't do better than squats, lunges, planks and press ups.  You get a full body workout with these exercises.  If you can chuck in some pull ups, all the better.  You can also isolate your triceps (bingo-wings, ladies) by doing triceps dips on the edge of your stairs, bed or sofa - the longer the lever you make with your legs, the harder they will be.

If you have access to a resistance band, you can include all sorts of other exercises, like rows, bicep curls, triceps pull downs, lateral hip extensions etc.

If you have a set of free weights, you can do endless exercises and increase the intensity much more easily!

Along with resistance work, you need to include some cardio, for a number of reasons.  It improves your cardiovascular health, meaning reduced risk of coronary heart disease; lowers blood pressure and improves performance.  It also releases masses of endorphins so makes you feel really good.   The good news is that going for a long, brisk walk, fast enough to get you hot and sweaty, can raise your heart rate enough to burn fat and improve lung capacity and resting heart rate.

If you like to run, swim or cycle, they are excellent cardio too, but walking can be enough!

Of course, if you lack the motivation, a personal trainer is a great way to make sure you stay focused and on-track and they can design a program specifically to fit your lifestyle and goals but simply getting a friend along with you can be enough to keep you motivated.

Getting fit and healthy isn't rocket science.  It might not be easy but it is simple.  Anyone can do it if they have the determination to do so.  So change your priorities and push your health and wellbeing further up that list!

And remember: eat clean, do more, sleep well and get outside!


Krish x

Easter cake doesn't have to be...simnful...do you see what I did there?

Fun-free Simnel cake.


Here is a recipe for fruit cake that involves no flour and no refined sugar.  It isn't, however, calorie free, so you still have to exercise a little restraint...





Ingredients
1 cup of halved glace cherries
1 cup of raisins
1 cup of currants
1 cup sultanas
1/2 cup mixed peel
1/2 cup of brandy

You can add whatever you like to the mixture as well, in the way of other dried fruit and chopped nuts etc.

Soak fruit in brandy overnight in a covered bowl.

Ingredients
250g ground almonds
1 eggs
squirt of agave nectar or honey

Mix these ingredients together to make the almond paste. Put aside.

Ingredients
1 tin chickpeas, drained
1 tin black beans (or kidney beans at a push) drained
1 cup milk powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
60 g cocoa powder
1 cup ground almonds
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp olive oil
3 eggs


Method
Add beans and chickpeas to food processor and whizz until smooth.  Add eggs.  whiz.  add dry ingredients and olive oil.  whiz until just combined.

Tip into a bowl and add brandy-soaked fruit.

Pour half the mixture into a lined tin.

Roll out half the almond paste (you need to use some ground almonds to prevent the paste from sticking to your surface and rolling pin) to the size of the tin and place on top of the mixture in the pan.

Pour the rest of the cake mixture on top.

Bake in a preheated oven at around 150 degrees for around 1/2 an hour, until a skewer comes ut clean and the top bounces back.


Wait for the cake to cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Roll out the rest of the almond paste, reserving a little for the 11 balls on the top.  Brush top of cake with jam and place the almond past circle on top.  Stick 11 almond past balls around the top and grill until golden.

Krish x

I passed my level 2 exams last week.  
                                                        Am now fully-fledged fitness instructor!

Last week I was also on my PT course with Lifetime and learnt so much; the instructors were brilliant. It was a lot more interesting and fun than the level 2 stuff.  I have still to complete a case study on a client (husband has volunteered) I have a nutrition exam in 2 weeks, a gym practical in 5 weeks and my anatomy and physiology in July.  I also have a business module and a first aid course to complete and then I'll be a PT!

I've learnt a lot more about nutrition and advanced CV and advanced resistance, core and stretching techniques.  Gonna try them all out on Russ!

Krish x

Here is the recipe for flour-free, sugar-free, almond, pecan and raisin biscuits I promised Katie.

Preheat oven to around 160 degrees

200g ground almonds
50g ground oats
1tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
50 g pecan nuts, chopped
100g raisins

Mix together to forma ball of dough.
Roll out onto a board floured with rye flour or ground almonds

Cut into biscuit shapes

Bake for around ten minutes, or until golden.

Once you have cut sugar from your diet for a while, these will be sweet enough to have with a cup of tea or coffee! Great snack, full of healthy fat and protein.

Makes about 18 - 20

Krish x

Comfort Food Doesn't Have to be Bad and Treats can be Good

I want to look at comfort-eating habits, how and where they begin and why.  

I've said in previous posts that food can often induce the reward centres in our brains to deliver the feel-good chemical, dopamine and that even thinking about and preparing food can release endorphins to promote this.

These feelings about food can stem from childhood memories of comfort and safety and the foods associated with these times.  Some of our comfort foods are fine: soft boiled egg, marmite on toast, soup.  Others are less good: biscuits, cakes, ice cream.  

Childhood can also shape our attitudes towards incentives and rewards.  How often do you reward yourself with an edible treat?  How often is that edible reward 'naughty but nice'?  Is it ever healthy and nutritious?  Do you ever reward yourself with a walk on the beach or a tramp through the woods?

Rewarding children with anything edible is not a great habit to get into as when they reach adulthood and feel they have done a good day's work, they are going to reach for what they have observed and learnt from us to be a reward.  

It may be difficult to change what we, as adults, see as comfort food and ways of rewarding ourselves (though not, I suggest, impossible) but it isn't too late for our children.

The point I'm trying to make is that we are in a position to shape the future comfort foods of our children.  Do we want our children, when they are older, reaching for the ice cream, cakes and biscuits when they are feeling a little low or would we rather they munched their way through a bowl of fresh fruit or veggies?  Would we rather they treated themselves with a family sized bar of chocolate or a tramp through the woods?

There is another way.  We need to practise what we preach, lead by example and show that healthy, nutritious treats are just as rewarding, if not more rewarding than empty calories.

I'm going to be taking more notice from now on, of the way I give treats to my children. If my husband and I are making an effort to eat clean for health reasons, then why would we want to feed nutrition-free junk to our kids, especially in order to treat and reward them?  It seems bizarre that the very foods we know to be bad for us, we voluntarily give to our children to say, 'Well done!' or, 'there, there.'

I'm not saying my kids never get cakes.  Sometimes they eat sweets and they have even been known to have pizza and Coke (never diet, of course!)  

But they are equally happy to accept sardines on granary toast as comfort food and a new book and a box of raw veggies as a dopamine-inducing treat.

Krish x