Eat to sleep.

http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutrition_news_information/9_foods_to_help_you_sleep So following on from our discussion regarding sleep here is a website that lists foods that help you sleep. If your struggling to get your 8 hours then give a few of these a go and let me know how you get on. 4 days until final weigh in, lets keep up the good work. Anthony

Relax, Do not get stressed

http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm Above is a link to an informative web based post explaing the pros and cons of cortisol. It is known as the stress hormone as it is released during periods of stress. The obvious side effect is the increase is fat receptors around the abdominal area but cortisol is also heavily involved in blood sugar control. Enjoy the post and I will look forward to seeing you in a few hours. Anthony

The Truth, does muscle weigh more than fat?

Q:Does muscle really weigh more than fat? Muscle does not weigh more than fat, any more than lead weighs more than feathers. A pound is a pound is a pound. Where the misunderstanding often comes in is that muscle is much more dense than fat, so that, by volume, it seems to weigh more. That is, a pound of muscle occupies less space than a pound of fat. In addition, because a pound of muscle burns more calories than a pound of fat, even at rest, by increasing your lean muscle tissue mass, you're helping your body burn more calories. But back to the question. If you only have a small amount of weight to lose, then you may feel like the weight training is not helping you move down on the scale. In fact, the number may even go up, but you will look thinner. This is due to an increase in lean body mass (muscle, bone, blood volume) and a decrease in body fat. In other words, even if the scale doesn't change much, you will probably see a difference in how your clothes fit. On the other hand, if you have a lot of weight to lose, you will also experience an increase in lean body mass and loss of body fat. But the results on the scale will probably be more dramatic. Nice session last night and well done to those who then took part in the santa challenge. I will see you all on Friday at 7pm. Anthony

Apparently Clare was not joking!!

So here it is some fact behind the crazy notion of chilli for breakfast. Thank you Clare. http://foodhospital.channel4.com/The-Truth-About/pixie-investigates/dr-pixie-investigates-series-2/food-hero-chilli/ Anthony

Did someone order Iodine?

So onto week 3. We all had a very successful weigh in on Friday evening which should motivate you all to puch on and get some fantastic results when we finish in 12 days. Tonight we are looking at how we can improve the efficiency of our metabolism to help us lose weight. There are three key elements we need to add into our diet to assist this. Iodine, selenium and magnesium are needed in this process. Selenium and magnesium we will discuss further this evening when I see you but below I have added a table that list sources of Iodine to help you. I use a supplement called sea kelp that contains a high level of Iodine, it also has a side effect of thicker hair growth which I am in desperate need of. Food Approximate Percent RDV* Micrograms (mcg) per serving Seaweed, whole or sheet, 1 g 16 to 2,984 11% to 1,989% Cod, baked, 3 ounces 99 66% Yogurt, plain, low-fat, 1 cup 75 50% Iodized salt,1.5 g (approx. 1/4 teaspoon)71 47% Fish sticks, 3 ounces 54 36% Shrimp, 3 ounces 35 23% Egg, 1 large 24 16% Tuna, canned in oil, drained,3 ounces17 11% Prunes, dried, 5 prunes 13 9% Lima beans, mature, boiled, 1/2 cup 8 5% Apple juice, 1 cup 7 5% Green peas, frozen, boiled, 1/2 cup 3 2% Banana, 1 medium 3 2% I hope you all enjoyed your cheat meal and I look forward to seeing you all this evening. Anthony

Water!! Whats that all about?

After discussing water last night I think the one thing that was clear was the fact theres alot more to discuss and I dont imagine for a second my blog will answer all your questions. I found a fellow blogger deep within the internet who discusses water not only comparing bottle to tap water byut also having a moral stand point when discussing worlwide availability and the over inflated prices of bottle water. Please have a read and hopefully it will inspire you to do further reading into water both tap and bottled. In the short term my advise is to drink plenty of water daily to help your digestive system but also not to drink 30 minutes before and after eating as this will limit the digestion of vitamins and minerals. Pleasure as always to blog to you and I look forward to seeing you on Friday at 7am. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2008/jun/25/whatsinyourtapwater

Hungry Wednesday

Really looking forward to tonights session but only after I get some food in me. I made the schoolboy mistake of having my breakfast at 5 am and then not bringing enough food for the day. I refuse to break the diet though so just heading out to Tescos to find something I can have. Tonight will be a tough session and I hope you felt the increase in intensity on Monday. Our strength circuit has got longer and the cardio will only ever get harder. I hope you are over the achey muscles now and can find the motivation from somewhere to look forward to working yourself hard. I look forward to seeing you later. Anthony