Coping
with Easter!
There are many
reasons why Easter is tricky for those of us trying to lead a healthy
lifestyle. 1. Easter eggs – masses of
chocolate which you feel obliged to eat in one day. 2. Mini eggs (definitely need their own
category) which appear not long after Christmas until the start of May – and
often form a ‘token’ gift from husband/boyfriend on a Friday night (usually in
a large share size bag … which never seems to get shared). 3. The large family meal (which is basically
Christmas dinner minus the turkey) followed by desserts and more chocolate.
So … how do we cope? Well, here are a few ideas:
·
Melt your Easter eggs down and use
them to decorate a cake/cup cakes and share around generously. Use mini eggs in similar way.
·
Give your Easter eggs away to
friends’ kids (at the same time this will make you the favorite ‘aunt’) or hand
in to a collection point for Easter eggs for children from poor backgrounds.
·
PLAN your meals over Easter. Meats
like chicken and lean ham are great with some veggies (just avoid all the
gravy, stuffing, yorkshire puds etc). Make a starter of lentil or black bean
soup – so that you don’t over-eat the main course. And as for dessert … there should be no room
left!
·
After lunch and you’ve started
thinking about having just a little bit of Easter egg? How about having a glass of water first? By the time you have drunk this – and your
stomach has expanded – you’ll be less likely to eat as much chocolate as you
would have!
What’s
in season?
The main veggies
in season this month are kale, cabbage, cucumber and cauliflower!
Cauliflower
With only 29
calories per portion don’t be tempted to cover it in cheese sauce! Instead try this healthier, but very tasty,
way of cooking cauliflower!
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 8 cups of bite-size cauliflower florets, or you can
use broccoli florets in the same way (about 1 head of cauliflower)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- Lemon wedges (optional)
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Place florets in a large bowl with the
oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat. Spread out on a baking sheet. Roast
the vegetables, turning once, until tender, crisp and browned in spots, 15
to 25 minutes.
- Serve hot or warm, with lemon wedges if desired.
Nutrition per
serving of cauliflower: 113 calories; 7g fat ( 1g sat , 5g mono
); 0mg cholesterol; 7g carbohydrates; 4g protein; 4g fibre; 327mg sodium; 433mg
potassium.
Body sculpting for the beach
So summer holidays
are already looming and everyone is thinking the same …. I wish my tummy was
just a little bit flatter. Well, it’s
very achievable, but what would this really involve?
1. Lose body fat
2. Tone up muscles
Lose Body Fat
The only way that
this is going to happen is by losing body fat in general – just because you do
300 sits up does not mean that you are going to lose fat around your middle! Going out walking at a good steady pace will
burn fat as this puts your heart rate in the fat burning zone – so get out
there this EASTER WEEKEND and walk off some calories! This works brilliantly for many people, however,
recent studies have shown that high intensity interval training (HIIT) including
methods such as Tabata can produce the same outcome or even better. Similarly, by doing some resistance training
(eg. body weight exercises – dips and press-ups, or free weight exercises like
bicep curls and weighted squats) you can increase your metabolic rate – thereby
burning more calories throughout the day! As Tabata training only takes 16 minutes (plus
a warm-up and cool-down) this type of training is ideal for people with little
time to spare … no excuses!
Tone Up Your Abs
Doing proper sits
ups (i.e. do not have your feet held) and doing back strengthening exercises
will help with core stability – especially if you can engage your core muscle
(you learn how to do this on boot camp). However, if you want to get definition on your
abs then you need to add more resistance to your training (i.e. weights) and
work at lower repetitions (hypertrophy training). For example, hold on to a weight whilst doing
twist sits, use a kettlebell to do high reaches, or hold a swiss ball between
your legs to do reverse crunches! You
won’t be able to do as many as you would without the weight but you will start
to build those abdominal muscles (rec abs) underneath which are the muscles of
the elusive six pack!
Any questions
about losing fat and toning abs – feel free to drop us an email at BODYsculpt@enhancebodybootcamp.co.uk
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