If you’re looking to make some healthy changes to your life but are not sure where to start, take a look at my Weekly Plans for some inspiration.
The permanent changes suggested in the plans will help you become slimmer, healthier and fitter. The 4 week plan introduces healthy habits by changing small things in your life that you can stick to and which will become part of your healthy lifestyle. Goodbye bingo wings – Hello to skinny jeans.
A nutritionist talks about food, sport and lifestyle
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I’ve read some inspiring running books lately so I thought I’d share my favourite 3.
- ‘Born to Run’ by Christoper McDougall. A little obvious this one but it is truly inspiring whether you subscribe to the barefoot running school of thought or not. It’s a lovely mix of travel, adventure and running. Well written and the only book I’ve finished and then read again immediately from cover to cover.
- ‘Ultra Marathon Man’ by Dean Karnazes. Regardless of what you think of Dean you’ve got to applaud the man’s achievements. This book covers his humble beginnings right through to the Badwater and Western States races. An easy to read and quickly devoured book.
- ‘How to Run’ by Paula Radcliffe. I’m cheating here a little as I only got this book yesterday and haven’t finished it. It’s a coffee table book with loads of illustrations and beautiful looking rather than the word heavy paperbacks of the other 2 books in my list. It covers everything from goal setting, choosing the right shoes to how to become a successful marathoner.
So, if you’ve lost your running mojo, pop along to your local bookstore and get inspired!
My training has ramped up a gear as there are only 4 weeks left until I leave the UK to spend 10 weeks in Chamonix running, riding, hiking and swimming in the Alps. Last year I arrived with adductor tendinitis which is not something I’d ever care to repeat, so this year I have been gradually increasing my training to try to avoid injury.
As you will know from my previous post, I have been to see a running coach and we have totally ripped up my previous running style for a much more efficient, body friendly one. At 43, I have to look after my body as I want to be running into a ripe old age, not bent over with bad feet and a bad back! It’s been hard to change my running style but an invaluable tool has been video. It turns out that what I think I’m doing is nothing like what I am actually doing! I thoroughly recommend getting a friend to video you as it’s a great insight. I made a rookie mistake of trying out my new style for the first time on my long run – stupid, stupid girl. I came back from that run with a nice new hip injury! Learning from that mistake and after a week of rest, I cut down the length of my runs whilst I got to grips with the new technique. That meant only running for 20 minutes at a time and gradually building it back up. Today, I ran 5.5k in 35 mins without any hip pain and I’m pleased with that. I can now build on that distance over the next 4 weeks and will hopefully arrive in France in better condition than last year!
Yesterday, we also christened the mountain bikes for their first off-road ride of the year. We tried to do it last weekend, got everything loaded on the car, all the gear on but the car wouldn’t start. Yesterday, £350 worse off – we managed to do it. Whilst I’ve not been riding my mountain bike at all this year I have been riding Matilda to work and back for 6 months (4 miles a day) and it must have helped as I didn’t feel too out of shape. I’m sure my heart will feel like it’s pounding through my ribs at the first site of an Alp from the saddle but at least I have a base level of bike fitness to start with. My bike has had some modifications over the winter including shorter crank arms to stop me grinding into rocks etc. I’m hoping to be more graceful on the bike this year as I’m a bit of a clutz on it normally!
Swimming and hiking are the other two passions in the alps – neither of which I’ve done over the winter. I do have a spangly new Adidas bikini for swimming though and am looking forward to trying it out in the open air pool in Chamonix. It’s amazing there because when you do backstroke you can see Mt Blanc just like in the picture above but closer – stunning! I still have some bits and bobs to buy before we set off – new running socks, a swimming cap and a new water bottle but hopefully all the big purchases have been done now and I can get on with the exciting prospect of toughening up for the mountains.
Every winter I find myself resorting to DVD’s in order to keep fit. I don’t run in the dark as it’s no fun so my running is constrained to the weekends. I think home workouts do a great job of keeping me active and supple during these dark months.
This year I have discovered Davina’s Body Buff workouts and I love them. There are 3 workouts on the DVD – Buff Cardio, Buff Boxing and Buff Legs & Core but it’s so much more too. The Buff Cardio routine lasts about 30 mins but has another 15 mins of killer arm work with weights – add the warm up and cooldown to the program and you’re talking about 1:15 workout! The Buff Boxing is incredibly good fun and has 15 mins of tough ab work. I have to admit I have not done the Buff Legs & Core yet as my legs get a workout every day from cycling to work and back twice and running at the weekend.
Davina as ever is great to follow and really gets into the workouts – and her abs – it’s keeps me going – trying to get abs like that! You can buy Body Buff from Amazon for £12.93 or as I did from iTunes for just £7.99.
Well, I’m back in the UK now after spending a fabulous summer in the mountains. Been back for nearly a month and thought I’d better quantify my thoughts about France before it becomes a distant memory!
As you know, we spent the last 6 months living in Chamonix at the foot of Mt Blanc. We had sunshine, rain, hot wind, cold wind, cloud, thunderstorms, humidity and heat – lots of heat.
We started off rather frustratingly with injuries and no broadband. These 2 things really made what should have been an amazing spring a bit frustrating. All I wanted to do was run but my physio had restricted me to only 20 mins every other day. The mountains were calling but we didn’t have the fitness to answer. But the injuries healed and after 6 weeks we finally got some broadband. Life could then settle down to something resembling normal (for us).
