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Winter warmers . . .

This month began on a high following the birthday celebrations of my 80-year-old Mum! Considering she had a health scare a few weeks earlier, I’m happy to report she was in fine form, surrounded by her brood of eight children, eight grandchildren and various in-laws – it was wonderful for the whole family to show Ivy our appreciation and love; I’m sure you’ll agree – Mums are special people.

Exercise – Circuit training

If you’re having problems getting into an exercise routine before the winter sets in or want to add a bit of variety to your weekly routine then a group exercise session could be just the ticket. I’m really into whole body conditioning and circuit training or classes which offer you the chance to try different exercises without getting bored. This is not to say that the workouts are easy – quite the reverse; they are a mixture of cardio moves with weighted resistance exercises, which are fairly high intensity. Circuit training is a great fat buster too and as temperatures drop we all need a bit of fire in our lives to keep our energies high as well as keeping us fit.

This season, clients are enjoying the challenge of these sessions but you can join my class starting January 7th 2012 – get in touch to reserve your place!

Increase protein in your diet without eating more meat

As a fully signed up carnivore in the middle of game season, it’s difficult for me to cut back on animal produce. But with so many reports suggesting that high meat diets are unhealthy and contribute to diseases like fatty liver, heart disease and certain cancers, etc, I’m always interested in ways of lowering my intake. To be fair, I only eat red meat or chicken once a week and otherwise I will choose fish, eggs and tofu and beans if I’m pushed as protein options.

The main issue is what to eat to increase your protein intake and gain the full eight essential amino acids which our bodies need to get from food. Animal produce offers this in one hit and are called complete proteins.

  • Oats, quinoa, beetroot, tofu and avocados, should be your first port of call – these foods offer complete protein packed with other high value nutrients, such as fibre, vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids.
  • Brown rice, fresh and frozen green peas; chick peas and lentils all have fairly good levels of protein, but need to be combined with each other to form a complete protein – most cultures have a version of this; rice and peas are the great West Indian combo, and three bean salad or rice and lentils are other good options.

Assess your diet and think about adding a few of the above foods a couple of times a week – at the very least you’ll add more variety and nutrients to your daily intake while reducing the load on your digestive system which can’t be a bad thing!

We’re on the run into Christmas next month so be sure to look out for my tips on how to survive the parties in one piece.

Until next time

Jacqueline x