Winter Wouldn't Be Winter

Or rather, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without:

Copious amounts of sweet treats stalking you around the house

Fairy lights and decorations all around

Condensation lining the windows

Cosy knits stolen from my brother, and sniffly noses (and demonic eyes, apparently)

Thick winter-warming soup (be it cup-a-soup or homemade, any fits the bill)

Coming down with another case of the sniffles and feeling considerably sorry for myself, yet again. Belly full o'soup, and exercise off the cards once more - one of the many reasons I can't tolerate illness (excluding the soup part). Sympathy welcome; hope everyone else is lurgy-free and making the most of the run-up to Chrimble. ♥

Cheat Meals

It's inevitable that working in a hotel with a Michellin-star restaurant brings with it copious temptations of the edible kind. On Friday, this came in the form of a magnificently decadent dark chocolate torte. And btw...it. was. amazing. Almost good enough to redeem the 13-hour shift from hell (followed by another 13 hour shift yesterday).

So this brings me on to discuss the importance of CHEAT meals, the fundamental concept being that you needn't restrict your diet 100% - you can slip in the odd 'fave' without having to worry about gaining weight or getting a rough case of the diet sweats. (Not sure if that last one exists, but hey - it seems logical enough)

Before I get into the science bit, I just want to reiterate the meaning of a cheat meal. It doesn't come in the form of some flimsy supermarket diet brand food - so throw those low-fat biscuits or Weight Watcher's chocolate away (how does that even exist in the first place?!), and let's get down to the good stuff - because after all, we deserve it for sticking to the clean-living diet 90% of the time.

While you should really live, love and breathe your standard clean eating diet, this acts as a kind of side-benefit for the ultimate motivation boost, and further incentive for your next kick-ass workout. Basically, it's the one time of the week you can fully tune into your cravings and just annihilate them - without feeling the need to binge.

Not only is this an essential remedy for satisfying your body and mind (after all, eating is part psychological and part physical), but believe it or not, it's actually good for your body because it can help to boost metabolism in response to the slight temporary increase in your bodies caloric intake.

Cheating is an essential part of your weekly diet. If you don't believe me, then listen to the wise words of Cassey (I don't mean to reference her in every single blog post btw - it just seems to happen by itself!):

if you’re eating clean all the time, having cheat foods is actually good for your metabolism! It keeps your body guessing for what’s next. It doesn’t get comfortable with how to burn calories – it has to continuously work hard to figure out new ways to function so that you don’t plateau. Much like with working out and how you should change your routine every 4 weeks to keep your body shocked, you need to do the same with your diet every once in a while.

There's only one rule I'd advise: moderation. But above all, enjoy - and don't regret!

1000 Workout: A Review

Note: Watch the vid here for exercise demonstrations (just don't lose heart whilst trying to compete with Cassey - you probs won't win. She's some kind of miniature hulk, I swear).

If, like me, you enter this workout encouraged by thoughts that go along the lines of, 'oh, 10 exercises for 100 reps? Yeah, sure, no problem" - then be ready to swallow your words in a matter of minutes, for this workout is most definitely a recipe for pop-eye muscles if I ever did see one. I'd go as far as stating that it's the simplest workout of all workouts - and by simple, I mean easy to follow (not so easy to actually complete without breaking down physically and emotionally a few times).

In fact, I only managed to reach exercise number 8 before feeling slightly too nauseous and light-headed to continue (potentially a factor that wasn't aided by the fact I was exercising in my cramped and stuffy bedroom, scented with the heady aroma of l'eau du nuit (in English terminology, overnight sweat). However, the excuse I'll use to disguise my failings is that I had to get ready for work (that's true, honest).

Anyway, on to the beauty of this workout, and why it works your muscles so bloody well. It all lies down to the wondrous method of HIIT - that being High Intensive Interval Training - something that professional athletes go crazy for, and it's no surprise - if you want to see fast results, then this is certainly the way to go.

There's a lot of theory behind it, but to summarise - this kind of short, intense session works all three types of muscle fibres (slow, fast and superfast), positioning it in the 'anaerobic' mode of exercise, where you're basically working out to the max (a good indicator is the inability to breathe or talk, replaced by teenage-like huffing and puffing).

This kind of wild exercise can only be done for around 25 minutes TOPS, 3-4 times a week, as it's designed to burn the body's glycogen stores before moving its way to target body fat - and this can last from 24-36 hours, meaning that a few rest days are absolutely necessary throughout the week to avoid heightened stress and unruly cortisol levels (which can play havoc with your metabolism and general health).

With this particular routine lasting 30 minutes, it's a bit longer than your average HIIT workout, but it incorporates cardio moves between exercises that require the strength of specific muscle in order to keep the heart rate UP!, despite deceiving your body into thinking it's in rest mode. It certainly is not, and will not be until the following day or so (I'm still feeling soreness 2 days later - HELLO HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE!).

And that's an entire new matter in itself. HGH to be discussed soon. Miss it = miss out. <3

An Ode to the Traditional Sunday Roast

Image courtesy of Rosadae on Flickr

The imminence of Christmas brings with it vivid memories of the traditional Christmas day lunch - which, for myself is one of the most satisfying meals of the whole year (subtracting the generally heightened stress levels).

It brings immediate thoughts of family, ultimate belly satisfaction (if not a little/lot of belly bloat), and harmonious happiness all-round.

For as long as I can remember, the traditional Sunday Roast has been my ultimate meal of choice. With this in mind, I'm extremely lucky that my Mum still bothers to go the vast lengths she does to dish up weekly platters of delicious, chunky roasted meat, complete with heaped piles of vegetables of every hue, not forgetting her amazing roast potatoes that always maintain the perfect balance between crunchy and soft (though I tend to feast on the veggies more so).

But with recent research stating that just 2% of the UK population have remained loyal to the beloved weekly traditional Sunday lunch, it appears that my family are one of very few who get to enjoy this kind of 'family time' over the dinner table.

For me, this is pretty shocking - I think food should naturally bring the family together, and that effort should always be made to subsidise a little bit of quality time that everyone can benefit from.

I've always associated food with family - it goes hand in hand, and our dining table is quite naturally the heart of the home. It's a rarity that I miss an evening meal (besides those days where I'm working an evening shift, of which a staff meal must suffice - begrudgingly so). Knowing that I'm one of the lucky few who get to experience this has opened my eyes to how it's really influenced my positive attitude towards food, healthy eating and nutrition in general (as well as appreciate my Mum's homemade cooking approach a whole lot more!).

Of course, it's understandable that for many families it's just not always possible to sit down and eat at a table - but, even if it's just a once-a-week arrangement, making the time for a hearty family meal with no distractions is an experience that shouldn't be taken for granted, nor should it be thought of as an outdated, past-generation thing (And that rule especially applies to Christmas day lunch!).