Just to depress you if you're still in Blighty, I'm in France and about to head down to San Sebastian in Spain tomorrow, woot!! Anywa, I was most happy that I packe my Betty sun visor as frankly, my run this morning would have been a blinding, sunburn-y outing, and nobody needs that!!!

So here's a pic of me, with my Betty visor!!

Au Revoir!!

Fit Girl About Town musings...

Believe it or not, food is the difference between a six pack and not!!! High carb, low carb, no carb!!! Where to begin? Let’s first take a look at the difference between general weight loss and nutritional weight loss. A good friend of mine lost two stone by eating light pasta each evening and not eating a huge amount of protein and veggies!! She won the ‘calories in’ v. ‘calories out’ war!! It’s a simple equation that works, you burn off more than you consume. Let’s call it the French Connection of weight loss. But what if you lose the same amount of weight, by eating foods that are fabulous for you? We’re talking lean meat and fish, tons of veggies, and some fruit! You can lose the same amount of weight but feel amazing. So why go for French Connection when you can have Valentino! You look good and feel fabulous with clearer skin and a brighter mind!!

Some simple food rules to follow:

1. Eat plenty of lean meat and fish, vegetables and some fruit. Going crazy on smoothies because it is fruit and therefore good for you is a little trap that many people can get themselves into. Your body recognizes fruit as sugar, and in excess it will be stored as fat. Tropical fruits are the worst offenders in this department. Stick to antioxidant packed, low in sugar, berries instead! With veg the more colourful the better. The Queens of vegetables are broccoli and spinach, a girl can never eat too much!

2. Ensure you get enough protein. Protein contains amino acids which are the building blocks of our physical structure. Also digesting protein requires a lot of energy in the breaking down process and so in fact burns extra calories while you eat! Protein also reduces the rate of sugar absorption into the blood stream from carbohydrates, reducing excess fat storage. Hoorah!!

3. Make friends with fat. Again the old food pyramid had us believe that fat was bad. And more recently we have come to discover that eating the right kind of fat (particularly omega 3s) can help us shift the bad fat. Not to mention the daily oiling it gives to our joints.

4. Eat breakfast. This gets your metabolism going at the start of the day and you are more awake as a result.

5. Follow the 80/20 rule. A restrictive diet is no fun for anyone. But if you eat right 80% of the time and relax for 20% of the time you’ll be doing good! This means that if you have 35 meals per week (breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 snacks per day) – you can have 3 meals and 4 snacks that are a little more relaxed. Of course if you err on the side of virtue, you can follow the 90/10 rule!

6. Drink 1.5-2 litres of water per day. Since we are made up of 70% water, it’s pretty important to drink it in order to aid proper function. Of course if you are getting your fill of fruit and vegetables then you are naturally increasing your water intake and so don’t have to guzzle litres in order to fill your daily quota.

7. Don’t obsess over calories. A 500 calorie burger, is less healthy for you than 1,000 calories of fresh veggies. Count your nutrients, not your calories.

Fit Girl About Town musings...

I used to think that 8 hours sleep was the magic number! Ooh, if I get my 8 hours my skin will be lovely, and my attention span will be on flying form. Now that's not to say of course that I do ever get 8 hours, if I'm honest it's 6.5-7 in the week and I manage to get maybe 9 at weekends. Anyway according to a study of over 30,000 adults, by researchers at West Virginia University’s (WVU) faculty of medicine, 7 hours of sleep is the magic number!

People who sleep for less than seven hours a day, including naps, are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Whilst those sleeping fewer than five hours a day, including naps, more than double the risk of angina, heart attack, or stroke. Those at the highest risk are the over 60s, but it's good to get into good habits now I feel!

The study also found that those sleeping for more than seven hours, also increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, with those who slept for nine hours or longer being one-and-a half times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than those who slept for seven hours.

Whilst the authors of the study were unable to determine the causal relationship between length of sleep and the risk of cardiovascular disease, they did point out that lack of sleep affects endocrine and metabolic function, as well as causing high blood pressure, impaired glucose tolerance and reduced insulin sensitivity. These can all lead to hardening of the arteries and thus cardiovascular disease.

Remember, sleep is the time during which your body really reaps the benefits of all of your hard work. Little time to grow and repair, means problems in the future.

Fit Girl About Town musings...

Fit Girl About Town musings...

Fit Girl About Town musings...

Fit Girl About Town musings...

Fit Girl About Town musings...

Hey Betties, this little post is about mindset.  It's about how once the slippery slope starts, we just keep on slipping!! Oh dear!!  So take me for example.  Now whilst this wasn't a big dash onto the slope of slipper-age, eating out three nights on the trot, it's more than I ever do, so I want to share my mindset with thee!

So here's the thing.  I had a little birthday celebration on Tuesday and also decided to be greedy and eat out for dinner on both Monday and Wednesday too!  Who knew that one could drag out ones birthday celebrations to such great length!!  Anyways, so dinner was at least 8pm or afterwards each evening, so the whole not eating late promise...gone!  Next, I'm not gonna lie, there were bubbles, be it cava, champers or prosecco, I did the bubbles and enjoyed every sip!!  What girl doesn't like bubbles??  So I arrive at today, Thursday, and am like, wow!!  I ate out every night, one could almost say this week had been a write off!!!  But STOP!!!  There are seven days in a week...with 4 days left the virtue can and will be redeemed!!!  And here I sit, munching on some pomegranate seeds and a few almonds, about to train hard!!  Yes there are four days left in this week, and it is not about to take a nose-dive!!!

If I can do this after 3 days, then so can you!!!!  Turning things around can start on any day, even with the weekend approaching!  And here Betties is that beautiful word - Balance!!!  It's about knowing that you're not gonna head to jeans-rips-ville after a few nights out to dinner!  So you do that every week and it's a different story, but once in a while doesn't need to be a disaster! 

So go forth and exercise some balance, and enjoy those occasional nights out, you deserve them!!!

Fit Girl About Town musings...

Hey Betties, have you ever wondered just exactly what you should be doing in the gym. I mean do you leave the gym feeling like you could have worked a little harder or done a bit more? You see there is such variability in the types of fitness components that you need to cover, it's hard to know where to start.

So here's what I squeeze into my clients sessions that generally take an hour. You can squeeze this down to 30-60 minutes just reduce the times designated for each.

Warm up - this should be movement based rather than cardio based. Cardio warm ups ready your heart for action but not necessarily your muscles. You want to include lots of twists, bends and shoulder mobility in this to get you going.

The following video does just that:

http://www.fitgirlabouttown.com/2009/08/24/dynamic-warm-up/

Rehabilitation component - If you have an area of weakness, now is the time to give it some TLC. Got tight calfs? Spend some time stretching them. Is your lower back weak? Spend some time doing some gentle bodyweight exercises to strengthen it up before the main body of the session. Recovering from a sprained ankle? Spend some time mobilising and strengthening it. This only needs to take about 3-5 minutes, but doing so will ensure that your weak areas are taken care of.

Strength component:

You really need to make sure that you are getting the following moves in - a squat or deadlift; a lunge or step up; a row; a press up or a chest press; and a chin up or a lat pull down. Doing so takes care of all of the movements that your body must do. They can be broken down into a bend; a lunge; a horizontal pull; a horizontal pull; a vertical pull; and a vertical push. If you are not sure how to do these movements correctly, it is worth investing in an hour with a good trainer to help you do so. In terms of sets and reps, 3 sets of 8 repetitions is a good place to start. And you can couple the exercises up in the order that they are listed, so that you are doing a squat and a lunge back to back, resting for 60-90 seconds, and repeating that for 3 sets.

Cardio component:

This part should be fun. Do what you love!!! It can be skipping, boxing, sprinting....whatever you like do it. It should make you sweat, but if you enjoy it you won't want to give up!!

Cool down:

This is the part where you again mobilise your body. Be careful not to over-stretch the hamstrings or lower back, these areas are often weak anyway if you are sat down at a desk all day. Areas to definitely stretch are the quads, hip flexors and chest.

And there you have it!! The perfect gym session!!!

Fit Girl About Town musings...

1. Make sure you are well hydrated before you run, drinking between 1.5 and 2 litres per day at regular intervals throughout the day will do this. Your urine should be a light yellow colour by lunch time, any darker than this and it is a sign that you are dehydrated.

2. Use an electrolyte drink during running to ensure that you maintain the right salt water balance in your body. When you sweat you lose salty water, and often it is only replaced with plain water which can cause an imbalance. Something like gatorade will do the job, or for an all natural option, go for Vita Coconut Water.

3. Don't run on an empty stomach. Even if you are running first thing, half a banana or a small glass of juice will make sure you do not deplete your energy stores straight away.

4. Wear the right clothes, make sure your running gear is breatheable and able to soak up moisture as you need to be ready to sweat in the heat. A cap is highly recommended just to prevent the sun beating down on your head.

5. Wear sunscreen! This is a must, you don't want to add sunburn to weary legs post-run.

6. If for any reason you feel light headed, dizzy or faint, stop immediately, sit down and ask for assistance if it is safe to do so.