Month: May 2019

Have you plateaued on your weight loss and fitness goals despite cutting calories and endlessly weighing out foods and counting calories whilst pounding the treadmill?

Perhaps a closer look at the types of foods you are eating and a new exercise regime is your next step.

According to expert Shawn M. Talbott, PhD, nutritional biochemist and former director of the University of Utah Nutrition Clinic “As a rule of thumb, weight loss is generally 75 percent diet and 25 percent exercise. An analysis of more than 700 weight loss studies found that people see the biggest short-term results when they eat smart.”

With food quantity and type being such an important part of weight loss or weight management I was interested to read a recent article from the BBC about a study on the effects of processed food versus a non-processed food diet.

In summary:

Twenty people gave up a month of their time to live in a laboratory.
For a fortnight they were given either ultra-processed meals or unprocessed ones and then the diets were switched for the second half of the study.
The participants were allowed to eat as much as they wanted and researchers closely monitored what passed their lips.
During their ultra-processed foods fortnight, the volunteers, on average, ate an extra 508 calories a day and put on 2 pounds.

The processed food group also had higher levels of the hunger hormone – ghrelin

The 2 pounds of gained weight would most likely be fat. Each pound of fat consists of 3500 kcal so an extra 500 kcal per day over 7 days or 1 week equates to a pound of fat and over 2 weeks- you guessed it – 2 pounds of fat just as experienced by the volunteers.

The meals were matched for sugar, other carbohydrate, fat and fibre content. That is a very interesting point don’t you think? The experts don’t understand the reasons behind the weight gain for the processed food group.

“I don’t eat much processed food” I hear you all shouting in unison!! The food consumed in this study was not the fast food burger and chips, pizza and chips that we instantly think of when we think “processed food” . Basically anything with more than 5 ingredients is a marker for a potential “processed food” – something which I’m sure we could all find in our cupboards if we looked! Looking at a loaf of bread from a supermarket marketed as “ancient grain”, “farmhouse” and “super seeded” (so seemingly quite healthy then) revealed no less than 28 ingredients

This study shows how complex our bodies are and how the quality of the fuel we put into it matters to hormone balance, body composition, weight and overall health.

Have you plateaued on your weight loss and fitness goals despite cutting calories and endlessly weighing out foods and counting calories whilst pounding the treadmill?

Perhaps a closer look at the types of foods you are eating and a new exercise regime is your next step.

With new personal training clients I offer a full diet review giving recommendations for diet improvements including food swaps. We then embark on a tailored fitness program after carrying out a full postural analysis identifying muscle imbalances, over-tight, overly dominant and/or weak muscle groups. You will build your cardiovascular fitness, overall strength and improve body composition, health and posture.

What are you waiting for? Get in touch today to start your road to meeting your goals and being the best version of you.

Read the BBC news article detailing the study by clicking this link.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48280772

See below for a delicious healthy vegetarian recipe for a mid week dinner. 

I tried this recipe card from Waitrose tonight with a few modifications (see below the photos for swap details) and all the plates were clean! That’s not bad for teenage boys faced with a nutritious plate that includes the words “quinoa” and “spinach”

I love this for a veggie day. It’s easy, quick, tasty and healthy.

• Quinoa and sweet potatoes great source of slow release carbs and fibre
• Quinoa and pecans are sources of high quality protein
• Pecans and quinoa are good sources of essential and good fats and between them contain more than 20 vitamins and minerals – including vitamin A, vitamin E, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, several B vitamins and zinc and copper. Pecans also contain fibre.
• Combine this with the great array of vitamins and minerals provided by the sweet potato, goats cheese, spinach and health busting properties of the red onion and this plate is packing a huge nutritional punch!

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I swapped Pre-cooked quinoa in recipe for organic quinoa which I cooked with a vegetable stock cube for about 15-20 mins until all the liquid absorbed

I also swapped out olive oil and cooked the sweet potato and onion in organic cold pressed virgin coconut oil. Why? I never cook with olive oil these days – more on that another time……….

This week in Yoga, Pilates and PT. 8th May 2019 it’s all about Posture!

Great posture makes you look and feel more confident, clothes sit better on your frame, you move better, you perform better in sport – it’s a win win win. Read on to find out how we looked at postural work this week in yoga, Pilates and Personal Training.

This week we have worked on strengthening the musculature of the posterior chain (think all the way down your back, bottom and back of legs) whilst opening and stretching the anterior chain (think chest, abdomen, hip flexors , front of thighs). 

Yoga:
This week we worked on deepening our understanding of Urdhva Mukha Svanasana or upward facing dog. 

Upward facing dog is an difficult pose to get right, especially if the shoulder position is naturally a little rounded so we first worked on opening the chest and mobilising the shoulders. We made good use of the mirrors in the studio to observe those pesky winging scapula and bring them into correct alignment. 

But it’s not just about shoulders – the entire trunk both front and back work very hard in this position to keep the correct spinal alignment and prevent over extension in the lower (lumbar) spine. The legs are working hard too to maintain alignment and not roll out. The pose is working the whole body to get the lift and curving extension to the spine. As beginners we stayed for a few breaths, advanced practitioners may stay for several minutes. 

Pilates:
This week we worked with single leg kick to work into the glutes (bottom muscles). Again the set up of this exercise is crucial to achieve the correct action into the glutes and hamstrings whilst protecting the lumber (lower) spine. Collapsing through the abdomen or losing the lift of the thighs results in losing the benefits of the exercise altogether. I am certainly feeling aching bottom muscles today!!

Personal Training:
There are many gym exercises that target the posterior chain. For one client we worked on first stretching and opening the chest and then with the bench for the dumbbell reverse fly, among many exercises in this session, which targeted the scapula retractor muscle group. We kept the weights very low and focused on correct set up of the shoulders at the start of each movement. Focus was then on controlled movement and strong scapula retraction. The aim here is to improve posture and counter the hours spent training on the bike – this client is a keen road cyclist and the hours spent in a forward, flexed position on the bike can lead to poor everyday posture if it is not complemented with a balanced program of weights and stretching.

Summary:
Strong functioning glutes, an open chest and strong back are huge contributors to great posture as well as better performance and endurance in your chosen sport. 

Great posture makes you look and feel more confident, clothes sit better on your frame, you move better, you perform better in sport – it’s a win win win

As an advanced level 4 personal trainer, and a yoga and Pilates teacher I often combine the synergies of these three disciplines to achieve an end goal. I bring Pilates principles into gym based, weight based exercises, I bring yoga knowledge and breathing into our stretching and cool down. Sometimes you may spot a yoga based movement in a Pilates class and I certainly use Pilates principles in teaching correct yoga asanas (poses). 

If you think you could benefit from improved posture and a more targeted personalised approach to your fitness then get in touch. 

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