Simple stuff
Jul0
Many of you ask me for help with diets and particularly diets when you are travelling. It is a tough one, I know from experience, I spend enough time on the road myself!
For me the rule is simple, I try and stick with foods that are as close to natural as possible. No cakes, biscuits, muffins but bananas, bags of nuts or raisins or a mix of those two, salads and simple sandwiches if you must get something solid. In terms of drinks, green tea is fine, water obviously is perfect and ... Read More
Lose weight or else…
May0
Here’s one site I just came across that I just love – it’s hilarious.
The picture: you have tried everything to lose weight, you have sworn off food for life, you have bribed your husband/wife to only cook you healthy foods, you have tinkered with the scale to show that number you desperately want to see and/or you have set fire to your old wardrobe trying to kid yourself into one that is at least 2 dress sizes smaller…and none of it has worked.
The ... Read More
Healthy foods
May4
My last blog resulted in a number of comments and emails showing that you all do care about WHAT you eat, not just when or how much. In replying to some of you, I talked about food combinations, which can help you lose weight more quickly then just eating or leaving out one staple food item. For instance, if you are losing weight, you will need to make sure that despite the fact that it seems easy to cut out carbohydrates completely – this is not a good thing at all. You need ... Read More
Fuel your body
Apr4
What I have noticed, and definitely like to see, is that there is a growing awareness of the need to feed your body the fuel it needs to perform. I know, it’s been around forever – sportsnutrition is definitely not a new phenomenon and no, I am not so old that I have forgotten that! But even though I have been around in the sports world for 25 years (and a bit more), it strikes me that now, finally, even the average person is starting to understand that food does make a huge ... Read More
Healthy options
Mar1
Giving people advice on eating and sports is my passion – I am happy to answer questions and make suggestions any day. But sometimes I have to admit to wondering why I am doing it. Those days you see that you have shared all you know on good food, and then the person who asked turns round and makes choices that make you wonder if they listened to anything you said.
Eating healthily is not boring, does not have to be hard, and is certainly not about sacrificing great flavour. ... Read More
the importance of Protein
Feb0
There are tons of myths about protein and sports. For instance, that simply eating more protein will increase your muscles. Now – it would be nice if it worked like that but then again, when have you ever found something to be that easy? No, unfortunately, eating protein alone will not build all that nice toned muscle for you – you have to work at it yourself!
But protein is a very important nutrition source for muscles and you should look closely at your diet and ensure ... Read More
Paleo Diet
Dec2
I passed on information two days ago on the benefits of a diet that followed certain guidelines. Since then I have been doing a lot more reading about the benefits and have found some additional information that I want to share …
The info was a summary of what is called the Paleolithic Diet – which is also called Cave man diet or Hunter/Gatherer diet. Unlike Atkins which is based on not mixing your proteins and carbs – this “diet” is based on ... Read More
Healthy diets….
Dec1
Diet is a huge part of being healthy and fit and looking great! 
But what is the right diet, there are so many rules and so many myths to bypass. I have mentioned before that staying as close as possible to natural foods, so nothing processed, is one golden rule that will help you navigate safely through the food maze.
Now the below just came to me by email – it ... Read More
Timing your supplements!
Oct0
Following my blog yesterday on B Complex, I got an immediate response from Jody de Groot on when to take these supplements to get the best result… so here goes!
There are many schools of thought on when to take supplements and I think some of this will be down to personal preference as much as anything else. But there are a number of things that might be good or even fun to know…
In general it is best to spread out your vitamins and mineral intake during the day ... Read More
Supplements – B Complex
Oct1
This time of year, tons of people on the Northern Hemisphere start suffering from the winter blues. As I wrote in my last post, getting out in the fresh(est) air is still a good idea as you will get some oxygen but also a little bit of light which can be amazingly good for you. But there are other things that will help you get through those winter months with spirits lifted and body in great shape.
One of these supplements is Vitamin B. There is a range of different B’s in the ... Read More
Sleep your way to lower weight…..
Oct0
Now here’s a study that will make a lot of people happy – it has been clinically proven that if you sleep well, you can lose more weight then if you don’t! Or reversely – if you do not sleep well – you will gain weight, but let’s focus on the positive!
It’s all to do with a couple of hormones, one that helps you feel full and one that makes you feel hungry. The akward thing is that as you get more sleep deprived, the one that makes you feel ... Read More
How to avoid Calories in food….
Sep1
Women all know this particular bit of wisdom and use it to their greatest advantage….
Ever noticed we women love to eat of your plate? When it is time to order, we tell you to go ahead and have those chips, or that dessert whilst we order the mixed salad or maybe some fruit for afters, feeling very good about ourselves. But when those wicked chips come out, ofcourse we have to have one, oh go on, maybe even two or ten or half your portion.. and the icecream obviously is meant for ... Read More
Keep that Fuel Tank topped up!
Sep0
By Guest Blogger Coen van Schijndel, Topvorm - www.topvorm.com
Keep your Energy Tank fuelled!!!
An important concern of cyclists, as well as marathon runners or triatletes and all those that go for the longer nuance races is their energy supply. The energy sources which you have available to support your effort, are your body fat store and the storage of glycogen (carbohydrates) in your liver and muscles together with whatever you manage to consume and add during the actual ... Read More
Summer sweetness
Aug0
It’s summer fruit time! I love it – lots of sugar and sweetness and you can always pretend you are eating your five portions of vegetables and fruit in one sitting because it is GOOD for you
So two great sorbets* I like to make because they are totally refreshing and ofcourse wickedly sweet…
Pomegranate Sorbet
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup ... Read More
Calories
Aug0
Here’s another one of those great topics that you could spend hours on…Calories. We all know what they are used for – basically as a measurement of the richness of food in the sense that if you eat too many calories, you will gain weight and if you eat less – you will lose some. But then I got the question – what is a Calorie? Hmmmm, nice subject for a Saturday morning.
So a Calorie is indeed a measure of energy – to be exact, originally it was a ... Read More
Block training for strength
Jul0
If you are looking to build strength and resilience – you might want to consider block training. Simple word – very hard training! I do block training on the bike in the gym since this is one training session that I really like to control v. closely in terms of effort and time.
The idea is simple – you alternate between high RPM (revolutions per minute) with a low resistance, and low RPM with a very high resistance. Aim for 3 mins. for each block but you can build up ... Read More
Treat time…
Jul0
If you read my blog over the weekend, you can imagine that when I opened the washing machine today and took out my stuff, I found myself spraying sand all over the place. After my great, fun, brilliant bike ride on Saturday I added a beautiful run through a quiet Sunday morning wood – catching deer at their breakfast. And a hike today to kick off the day… what a way to start the week.
In any case, after all that, I figure it’s treat time!!
Here’s two ... Read More
Peanut Butter- friend or foe?
Jul0
Always a great debate about Peanut Butter, is it GOOD for you or not??
Well – let me help you a little – Peanut Butter is definitely packed with calories, so eating a jar will make you gain weight. However, it is packed with the good kind of oil/fat – the non-saturated fats that you also find in olive oil and avocados etc. and you don’t need to avoid all of them. It is classified as a vegetable fat, rather then animal fat.
You do need to look at the jar ... Read More
The Light in your Eyes…
Jul0
During the summer I exercise outdoors as much as I can. The feeling of air and sun on your skin is the best there is and only enhances the work-outs I do.
More and more people are aware of the fact that the sun, whilst great and healthy and necessary in a lot of ways, can also be harmful to your skin and we are beginning to all plaster ourselves with the appropriate SPF’s. But one thing you do need to be aware of when exercising outdoors is the effect on your eyes too! Your eyes ... Read More
