30/11/2009 by admin.

My day started when the alarm clock went off at 5.30 am.  I started the day off with some core strength exercises as I do most days.

I met my first client of the week at 6.30 am.  We did a fartlek run.  “Fartlek” is a Swedish word for speedplay, this means you go fast for bursts and slower in between.  It is a good way to improve your running speed once you have a base of some miles in your legs.  My lucky client then did various exercises using some of my favourite pieces of kit, ie the bosu ball, the bosu ballast ball and medicine ball.  So many balls and so little time!!!

Then I did some of my own training which included a cycle test plus some weight training.   I’ve been working on some new exercises involving the bosu ball and weights so was practising those routines ready to deliver to clients.

I trained more clients later in day and introduced the new exercises I had been practising to some of them.  They seemed to go down well and were extra challenging from a balance point of view.  This meant that their core was working hard just to stabilise them.  All good fun and it’s great to keep it fresh.

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30/11/2009 by admin.

Christmas is the time of year when we feel we can over indulge without feeling too guilty.  With lots of socialising, if you don’t want to put on excess pounds then you need to cut down in some areas.  The dessert is an obvious place to start.  Let’s face it, how many of us are actually hungry when it comes to selecting a dessert?

Why don’t you have a break of at least 10 minutes between your main course and selecting your dessert.  This will allow your stomach time to catch up and let your brain know that you’ve had sufficient food.  If you still have the desire for a dessert after this period, select fruit salad or a light dessert such as sorbet although bear in mind that sorbet does contain sugar.

Although cheese plates could be a good choice for vegetarians due to the protein content, they do contain a lot of fat so, if you take that option, have just a modest amount of cheese – no more than matchbox size in total - and opt for the less fatty cheeses such as brie, camembert and edam, which are classified as medium fat cheeses.

An alternative to having a dessert is to choose a drink such as tea or coffee.  Espresso is low in calories due to the fact it does not contain any milk.  However, as a general rule, avoid lattes, cappuccinos and hot chocolates.  Oh, and skip alcoholic liqueurs as they are also high in calories.. 

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