Big bum and thighs is good for you
Carrying extra weight on your hips, bum and thighs is good for your health, protecting against heart and metabolic problems, UK experts have said.
Hip fat mops up harmful fatty acids and contains an anti-inflammatory agent that stops arteries clogging, they say. Big behinds are preferable to extra fat around the waistline, which gives no such protection, the Oxford team said.
Science could look to deliberately increase hip fat, they told the International Journal of Obesity.
And in the future, doctors might prescribe ways to redistribute body fat to the hips to protect against cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as diabetes.
The researchers said having too little fat around the hips can lead to serious metabolic problems, as occurs in Cushing’s syndrome.
Shape not weight
Evidence shows that fat around the thighs and backside is harder to shift than fat around the waist.
Although this may sound undesirable, it is actually beneficial because when fat is broken down quickly it releases a lot of cytokines which trigger inflammation in the body, say experts.
These cytokines have been linked to cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and diabetes.
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Lead researcher Dr Konstantinos Manolopoulos |
Fat around the hips and thighs is good for you but around the tummy is bad 
The slower burning hip fat also makes more of the hormone adiponectin that protects the arteries and promotes better blood sugar control and fat burning.
In comparison, carrying excess fat around the stomach, being “apple shaped”, raises the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Lead researcher Dr Konstantinos Manolopoulos, of Oxford University, said: “It is shape that matters and where the fat gathers.
“Fat around the hips and thighs is good for you but around the tummy is bad.”
He said in an ideal world, the more fat around the thighs the better - as long as the tummy stays slim.
“Unfortunately, you tend not to get one without the other,” he said.
Fotini Rozakeas of the British Heart Foundation said: “This research helps us better to understand how fat acts in the body in order to develop new approaches in reducing heart and circulatory disease.
“If you are overweight, obese, or if you have a waist size that is increased, it is important to make changes to your lifestyle, such as eating a healthy diet and doing regular physical activity, to reduce your risk of heart health problems.”
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8451674.stm
healthy eating over winter
At this time of year, it’s important to review our shopping list and ensure we are eating enough of the good stuff to keep winter bugs at bay and energy at it’s best. It doesn’t mean to say we can’t enjoy a few treats but if we make sure we get the basics in first then we know we are looking after our body, mind and mood properly. I’m printing this off for the fridge:
Take 1 heaped tbsp of ground seeds or one tbsp of cold-pressed oil.
Please feel free to contact us at Miss Fit if you would like us to put together a personalised diet and exercise plan to get you into top shape for Xmas!
New Year Offers!
New year, new you? Why not make 2010 the year where you create the body you really want, inside and out. To help get you started in the right direction, here are some special offers we’d like to pass on to new and existing Miss Fit clients. Remember, all personal training is done from your home, park or seafront making it the most convenient way to get into shape!
New clients
* Book 20 sessions (please ask for quote), and gain unlimited FREE entrance to our Saturday group exercise class until the 31st March 2010
Enjoy an invigorating hour of running, circuits, abs, boxing, ALL LEVELS OF FITNESS. Beginners to advanced, different challenges set for everyone!
For cost of courses, please see http://missandmrfit.co.uk/MissFit/misstrimmer.php
For details of group exercise, please see http://missandmrfit.co.uk/category/news-and-events/
Existing clients
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to training with us
* Book 20 sessions, gain unlimited FREE entrance to our Saturday group exercise class until the 31st March 2010
For details of group exercise, please see http://missandmrfit.co.uk/category/news-and-events/
PLUS
* Refer a friend and gain a FREE personal training session if they sign up to a new 12 session course ANY TIME
Please call Sam on 07876 764447 or email sam@missfitpersonaltraining.co.uk
Feeling Bloated?
We all feel a little bloated at times so here are five easy steps you can take now to maintain healthy digestion:
1. Go wheat free - swop your usual sandwich for rye bread, oat cakes, wheat-free pasta and brown rice. Will be less irritating on your gut.
2. Chew Your Food - stage one of digestion starts in the mouth so it’s important to take your time to chew properly. It also helps to turn off the TV and avoid distraction so that you are more aware of how you are eating. If you are munching on the run, you probably won’t be chewing enough.
3. Cut down on sugar - these encourage bad bacteria like Candida and can leave you feeling low on energy and craving more and more sweet things. Reduce your alcohol levels too as this can have the same effect.
4. Up your intake of fruit and vegetables - these help to encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria in your gut.
5). Try eating live natural yoghurt every day - again, will help to balance your bacteria levels.
Following the above together with doing regular core area exercise can dramatically reduce the appearance of a bloated tummy. We are happy to give you plenty of dietary advice to run alongside your Miss Fit exercise plan so please ask us more details. Here’s to flatter tummy’s, more energy and looking fab in that party dress!
Want beautiful skin?
Want to achieve glowing skin the natural way? Read on for ten easy steps you can take now to maintain beautiful skin:
1. Drink more water (6 - 8 glasses a day)
2. Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables in a wide variety of colours - five servings that include red/orange/yellow vegetables and fruits, purple foods, green foods, ’seed’ foods such as peas or broccoli, onions, leeks and garlic.
3. Eat more antioxidant-rich foods such as carrots, pumpkin, watercress, berries, broccoli, fish and seafood.
4. Boost your intake of essential fats that help to keep your skin soft and supple - so eat a handful of unsalted nuts and seeds each day and have oily fish a few times a week.
5. Eat plenty of vegetable sources of protein - enjoy foods such as soya, beans, lentils and sprouted seeds.
6. Eat fibre-rich foods - rather than white refined foods, enjoy whole grains, root vegetables, lentils and beans.
7. Eat natural yoghurt - choose low fat, live and organic
8. Limit your intake of alcohol, tea and coffee, red meat, cheese and milk and have no more than two portions of grain foods (those made from wheat, oats, rye etc)
9. Exclude: sugar; refined carbohydrates; chemicals added to food; fried and fatty foods; trans and hydrogenated fats and smoking.
10. If you experience other health issues - particularly with digestion or hormone balance - these can manifest in skin problems, so take steps to find out more and address these.
What supplements to take for super healthy skin?
1. An ‘optimum nutrition’ strength multivitamin & mineral
2. 1000mg of vitamin c, with berry extracts and zinc
3. Omega 3 & omega 6 essential fats
10 Things You Need To Know About Losing Weight
Taken from the recent BBC1 programme with the above name, here is a list of useful tips which could help you significantly on the road to weight loss:
1) Don’t skip meals
If you wait to get hungry, your brain will crave high calorie foods as these provide the quickest source of energy…but also the highest amount of fat
2) Use a smaller plate
Swopping your usual 12” plate for 10” could result in you eating up to 22% less food
3) Count calories
Or at least be aware of healthier choices. For example: A black coffee = 10kcals / cappuccino = 300. 2 apples = 120 kcals / small chocolate bar = 300. Women need 2000 calories a day and men 2500 so if you are looking to lose weight you need to reduce this by approx 500 a day through a combination of diet and exercise to lose 1-2 pounds a week.
4) Don’t blame your metabolism
With the exception of ineffective thyroid function, generally speaking we all have normal metabolic rates (the rate we burn calories at rest). Therefore if you find you cannot lose weight, you are probably eating more than you are burning off. You may innocently feel that you are already eating all of the right foods but may not be aware that your portion sizes are too big. Try a week of cutting down and it may just be the kick-start you need to shifting those stubborn pounds.
5) Increase your protein by 10% in each meal
To balance blood sugar levels and stay full up for longer (the key to weight management), you need to include some protein every time you eat. This blocks the hunger signal to the brain thus reducing the risk of over eating. Opt for lean cuts of meat, low fat cheese and yoghurt, eggs, seeds and nuts. Eating an omlette or scrambled, poached or boiled eggs is an ideal way to start off the day.
6) Soup keeps you fuller for longer
If you blend your useful meal with a glass of water or stock and eat it as a chunky soup, it will stay in the stomach for longer thus keeping you full up and away from the biscuit tin. A real tip for dieters!
7) The wider the choice, the more we eat
Avoid ‘buffett’ style eating which involves lots of dishes to choose from in any one meal. Evidence shows that the more choice we have, the more we will end up eating (be warned if you are going on a cruise or an all inclusive holiday..take your gym gear if you don’t want to gain weight!)
Eat low fat dairy
A trial showed that those who ate dairy products every day such as skimmed milk, low fat cottage cheese, yoghurts and creme freche, actually lost more body fat as a result. The dairy calcium works by binding with the fat molecules which subsequently get excreted and therefore not absorbed! This can result in approx 2kg of extra weight loss over a year!
9) Exercise goes on burning fat at rest
You would expect to burn some fat during exercise but it’s been proven that in the 22 hours that follow a workout, you go on burning up to 3 x more fat without having to do a single thing! So you could sit down all day after exercise and still go on burning fat, an extra reason to get exercising every day!
10) Keep moving to lose weight
It’s true that by moving around a little more during the day, it can make a big difference to weight loss. For example, a sedentary person was asked in one day to take the stairs, get off the tube one stop earlier and walk around whilst on the phone. This resulted in her burning another 240 calories which over a year = 2 stone weight loss. So get moving…but don’t eat more!
Good luck following these tips…they really work and if you would like more help and support with losing weight, please do not hesitate to get in touch, we’d love to help. We are fully qualified and experienced in a wide area of exercise prescription and nutrition so can devise an effective weight loss diet and exercise plan for you in a matter of days!!
Your Top Tips!
It’s always good to share tips with others who are working on similar health and fitness goals. Read on for some top tips from other Miss Fit clients who say making these changes to their lifestyle, as well as fitting in their training sessions, has helped them get results:
”Snack on fruit and cereal bars for children. There are some really healthy natural ones out there like ‘Organix’ and ‘Nakd’. Available from supermarkets.” Nicky
”Have a good sized lunch including carbs, then for dinner eat just lean meat and veg. Oh and cut down on the alcohol each night!” Jenny
”If your weight has plateaued, go for a 28 day ‘drop the rubbish’ from your diet plan and it will shift those stubborn pounds” Rebecca
”If I have morning training, I always have an apple and filter coffee and hour before. This gives me a real boost and the energy I need to train hard at that time of day” Simon
”Exercise with other people - in a class, with a friend - much more fun and adds that competitive edge! Carry handbag snacks (bags of nuts, cereal bars) to stop you buying that Mars bar at the bus stop!” Clare
”Eat fruit all morning long and do the Wii Fit when you can’t get outside to exercise” Dayna
”Put on some uplifting music when you exercise, so much more motivating!” Lorraine
”Water water water, all day long! You’ll pee a lot at first and then you’ll look fantastic.” Sarah
”Schedule exercise in between your training sessions by writing it like an appointment in your diary. Then do it, nomatter what”. Debbie
For more top tips, please email us at Miss Fit with ‘TOP TIPS PLEASE’ in the header and we will send you more!
It’s Never Too Late to Start Exercise
People who put off regular exercise until they hit the age of 50 can still benefit from physical activity but it appears to take 10 years for the effects to kick in, Swedish researchers report.A study of 2,205 Swedish men followed for more than 20 years from the age of 50 showed that exercise made no difference in premature death rates for at least a decade for those who waited until later in life to start physical activity.
“It has been shown that young people benefit from exercise but this is the first time we have been able to show that older people can also benefit from increasing their physical activity,” Lisa Byberg, researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden.
“It’s not too late to start.”
The researchers put the volunteers into low, medium and high activity groups. About half the men underwent a high level of exercise, corresponding to at least three hours of sport or heavy gardening each week.
About a third said they exercised moderately, such as taking walks and cycling, while the rest did little or no exercise.
Not surprisingly, death rates were highest among the sedentary group and lowest among the most active volunteers in the first five years of the study. But after 10 years people who began exercising at 50 had similar death rates to people in the high activity group.
The impact was similar to giving up smoking and the findings suggest further research to see what amount of physical activity makes a difference on health, the researchers said.
“There is an effect but there is a bit of a delay,” Byberg says.
(Source: Reuters UK)
At Miss Fit, we specialise in prescribing exercise for women of all ages including the over 50’s, so if you:
* Are 50 and above
* Want a boost of energy and more ’get up and go’
* Are interested in reducing the risk of major disease and want to extend your life expectancy
* Want greater flexibility, strength and cardiovascular fitness
Give us a call today! And remember, ours is a personal service so please don’t hesitate to arrange a meeting in the comfort of your own home for the opportunity to chat things through and ask any questions you may have.
Guilt free biscuits
Following on from my last article ‘Got A Sweet Tooth?’, I have been looking at some alternative mid afternoon sweet snacks to go with your cup of tea. Here’s a recipe for some deliciously moist shortbread which I promise will fill you up without all the calories. It’s also dairy, sugar and wheat free (and I promise not flavour free, it’s really tasty and I’ve just finished making mine!)
Ingredients for 12 squares:
125g (4oz) dairy free spread
125g (4oz) honey or Agave Syrup*
150g (5oz) rice flour or ground rice
125g (4oz) wheat-free flour
125g (4oz) ground almonds
Pre-Heat Oven to 160 C / Gas Mark 3
Line a square baking tin with a little extra spread
Cream the spread with the honey or Agave until smooth
Stir in the flours, add the almonds and combine using a wooden spoon
Gather the dough into a soft ball and press down into the baking tin
Bake for 20 mins until golden brown, leave to cool and enjoy with a nice cup of tea!
* Agave is a natural sweetener, is sugar free and low in calories. It is low G.I. so won’t spike your blood sugar levels. It is also a key ingredient in making raw chocolate…watch this space for more coming up about that!
Got a sweet tooth?
Got a sweet tooth?
Crave sugar at certain points of the day? (Mid afternoon and evenings perhaps?)
Feel like nomatter how many sweet things you eat, you never feel satisfied and end up wanting more?
Don’t panic! This situation is really common and the cycle is actually easier to break than you think…
Part of your cravings exist due to habit. You must have satisfied this craving in the past - following a meal with something sweet. Then suddenly it becomes a part of your mindset. After every meal must come dessert. The good news is that ALL habits are learned, and therefore can be unlearned as the result of practice and repetition. Just like exercise.
Your cravings will continue to exist if you eat simple, refined carbohydrates or high sugar foods. The day you cut out the sweets is the day you take control and stop the cravings. Cravings exist because we feed them and allow them to exist. Yes, it is an addiction, but one we choose to have.
And of course, as soon as we can cut down or remove refined sugars from our diets, we significantly reduce the risk of Diabetes as our insulin levels are able to self regulate again. Plus, our calorie intake dramatically reduces and we find it easier to lose weight. I often see food diaries which are full of healthy meals but the snacking part is full of sugar. This often means that people feel that they are eating really healthily, may not be losing weight despite exercising regularly and are feeling frustrated that their good efforts aren’t paying off. This is totally down to an excess in calories every day!
So what are the substitutes? Here is a list of alternatives to satisfy even the sweetest tooth out there:
Cakes and biscuits - Swop for homemade cakes like fruity flapjacks (made with honey not sugar and syrup)
Chocolate - Swop for liquorice bars, raw ’sugar free’ chocolate, sesame snaps, cereal bars
Confectionary - Swop for fresh and dried fruit
Also, read my previous article ’snacking is good for you’ to see more suggestions for snacking
I have to admit that sometimes I am prone to eating a little too much sugar myself, especially if I am feeling tired, so every now and then I try this method of substitution and it really works. It usually takes 3-5 days to feel the effects whereby I notice:
Noticeably less bloating
Weight loss
More satisfaction from eating, feeling fuller for longer
Less or no cravings for sweet food
So why not give it a go, try it for a week? I’d love to hear from you and how you’ve got on so please email me and let me know..
Good luck!
