Tabla de contenidos para October 2016 en Fit & Well

I’m a firm believer in everything in moderation — whether that be the occasional sweet treat or a glass of red wine or two (red’s healthier, right?). But I know there are lots of you who can’t, or prefer to avoid, certain foods — which is why this month’s recipes are some of our team’s favourite ideas for those avoiding gluten, dairy or animal products. We’d love to know what you think, so please do share your comments and pictures of the recipes we try. Or why not share pics of your own favourite healthy creations? See below for how to get in touch... I’m a firm believer in everything in moderation — whether that be the occasional sweet treat or a glass of red wine or two (red’s healthier,…

’All boxers swear by skipping,’ says Jamie. ’It’s a full body exercise used for fitness and hand and foot coordination. 1 AIM FOR A STEADY TEMPO Learn how to coordinate your hands and feet, so that as the rope goes down towards your feet, you jump. Try to get a nice rhythm going so the rope is moving continuously and you can keep jumping it. 2 TRY TO BUILD UP SPEED Move the rope slightly quicker and be lighter on your feet, so you’re continuously bouncing on your toes. Once you've got the hang of it (and feel like Rocky!), move on to exercise 3. 3 WORK YOUR LEGS Start getting adventurous by alternately lifting each leg up high, putting your legs out to the sides, or even running with…

LOSE 3lb in 3 days! Can’t stomach soup for breakfast? Try a poached egg and a grilled tomato with unbuttered wholemeal toast, or go for 125g whole milk Greek yogurt and a handful of berries. THE DIET RULES » For three days, have four bowls of soup a day — one for breakfast (yes, really!), one for lunch, another late afternoon and a final one an hour or two before bed. » You can mix or match any of the soup recipes and repeat soups over the three days as you wish. They will keep in the fridge for reheating. » If you’re stuck for time, you can substitute bought soups (see far right). The super benefits of soup 1 It’s gentle on your digestive system. 2 It’s a great…

Did you know? Potassium helps flush salt through your system, counteracting some of its negative effects. Good sources include potatoes, orange juice, yogurt and tinned tuna (in water). Wholemeal toast for breakfast, soup for lunch, risotto for dinner and maybe a snack of olives with some houmous and pitta... sounds like a decent enough food day, right? What if we said you would almost certainly have consumed over 10% more than the recommended daily amount of salt. Surprised? While everyone’s attention has been focused on sugar, high-salt diets — and their health implications — have slipped somewhat under the radar. THE DANGERS ’Salt, or sodium chloride, regulates the balance of water in our body,’ explains nutritionist Fiona Hunter. ’A certain amount is vital to regulate blood pressure and help with…

Gluten free Dairy free 224 calories 15g fat (2.5g sat) 17g carbs Serves 12 Prep time 15 mins Cooking time 30 mins Chocolate orange cake YOU WILL NEED » 50g gluten and dairy-free cocoa powder, sifted » 1½tsp vanilla extract » Zest 1 orange, plus zest strips to decorate » 75g ground almonds » 50g gluten-free plain flour » ¾tsp bicarbonate of soda » Pinch of salt » 3 large eggs » 150g caster sugar » 150ml sunflower oil » Icing sugar, to dust WHAT TO DO 1 Heat the oven to 170°C, Gas 3. In a bowl, whisk the cocoa, vanilla and orange zest with 100ml warm water to make a smooth paste, then set aside. In a bowl, mix the almonds, flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt until…

The best time to... eat fruit First thing in the morning after a glass of water. Nibbling on one of your five-a-day after meals may mean it’s not digested properly and the nutrients may not be absorbed. FAST FIX » Celebrate British Egg Week from 10-17 October with a quick and easy omelette supper. Don’t worry about missing your meat-and-two-veg protein fix — just two mediumsize eggs contain a quarter of your RDA. Mix with spinach, tomato and fresh chilli for a midweek winner. 84 cals That’s all there is in a pot of Yeo Valley Bio Live Yogurt, £2/4. With less than 10% total sugars and gut-healthy live cultures, they’re the ultimate go-to snack. That’s clever! Make your Italian night in even healthier by replacing regular white penne with…

1 How often do you work out for 30 minutes or more? a Less than 3 x per week b 3—4 x per week c 5 x per week or more 2 Calculate your waist to hip ratio by measuring the narrowest point of your waist and dividing it by the widest point of your hips. a 0.85 or over b 0.76—0.84 c 0.76 or below 3 First thing in the morning, before you get out of bed, take your pulse and write down the number of beats per minute. This will give you your resting heart rate. a Above 75 b 70—75 c 69 or below 4 Deduct your age from 220. This should give you your maximum heart rate. Perform 5 minutes of cardio exercise — jog on…

1 YOGURT Full of calcium, yogurt is an excellent belly fat buster. Any calcium in your diet will help you control how much body fat you have, but dairy is the most effective way to consume it, and both full and low-fat yogurt have plenty of calcium. A US study found that people on low-cal diets who included yogurt in their eating plans lost a whopping 81% more fat from their tums than those who didn’t. 2 APPLES Eating an apple a day could not only keep the doctor away, but the pounds too, thanks to the fruit’s fibre. Essential for digestive health, fibre binds to other foods and helps shift pesky calories out of the body. A US study found that those who ate an apple before a meal…

At 10:35am on a Friday morning I’m perilously perched halfway up the side of a 30m wall, my hands in a death grip with the nearest nooks I can find. I’m at the Westway Sports and Fitness Centre in London with the British Mountaineering Council trying out the latest sport to get the nod for the next Olympics: climbing. I’m wedged into an unflattering harness and snug-fitting shoes and feeling nervous. As our instructor Raymond takes us through our safety briefing, my eyes wander over to the lithe, strong, flexible girls defying gravity. They’re niftily picking their way from foothold to handhold as they scale up, across and even underneath (there are very scary overhangs) a multitude of indoor climbing walls. Potential Olympians, I’m told. Head for heights Volunteering to…

...I do to stay fit is walk everywhere. I’m in London just now and I like to walk along the river and through Battersea Park. Being outside is so much more appealing than being in a gym and it makes it easier to fit exercise into my daily life. ...I do to stay organised is always have a suitcase half-packed with essentials, such as a first-aid kit, sewing kit and basic clothing. So if I get any last-minute jobs, I can leave at a moment’s notice. ...I always have in my make-up bag is my Max Factor 2000 Calorie mascara. I can’t live without it. It doesn’t run or smudge and it gives you thick lashes. ...I do to de-stress at the end of a long day is have a…

Relaxing @itsallaboutvariety has chilling out on a Sunday afternoon with the latest F&W issue and a nutritious snack. Late night snacking @yummum81 tucks into a bowl of Greek yogurt, a scoop of vanilla whey, raspberries, peanut butter and organic dark chocolate, while watching the Olympics. Having me-time Having a bit of me-time while the kids are swimming, gym for me later,’ says @caz_zer2000. Happy mind, happy body! Body coach-ing @kezzalou_b has been inspired by fitness guru Joe Wicks in a recent issue and has got out the dumbbells!…

If you’d told me over a decade ago that I’d be a fit, healthy and happy size 10 and exercising five days a week, I wouldn’t have believed you. Back then, looking down at my 17st body, I felt anything but. Growing up I was active, taking ballet, tap, modern and jazz lessons three times a week. But aged 15, as exams loomed, I gave up dancing to focus on my studies. Over the next couple of months the pounds piled on, my legs lost their shape and cellulite developed on my bum. This was the beginning of almost eight years of an incredibly unhealthy relationship with food. Feeling under pressure to look thin like other teenagers, I went on starvation diets. I would cut out food for three days,…

Gluten free Dairy free Low fat 235 calories 8g fat (1g sat) 33g carbs Prep time 10 mins Cooking time 50 mins Serves 6 Mediterranean vegan one pot » Brilliant for healthy digestion Heat 1tbsp oil in a large casserole, cook 400g quartered baby aubergines for 5 mins or until starting to soften. Add 1 chopped onion and cook for another 5 mins, add 2 crushed cloves of garlic, 1 thinly sliced red chilli, ½ a Knorr Vegetable Stock Pot, 2tbsp red wine vinegar and 2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 30-40 mins. Add 25g chopped black olives and 25g drained capers halfway through. Stir in 500g cooked long grain rice and a handful of parsley, and sprinkle over 35g pine…

Your trainer Anthony Murray, founder of and trainer at A.D.M Fitness @a.d.m.fitness Want to get fit without spending hours in the gym? Yes, please! We have an at-home workout that makes the most of every exercising minute you have. ’These moves are great to take into one workout because they improve fitness, strength, endurance and burn body fat all at the same time,’ explains master trainer Anthony Murray. ’Cardio and strength training are essential elements of any workout,’ says Anthony. ’You’ll firm up, get stronger and shed body fat.’ And after watching Rio, who doesn’t want to show off an athletic-looking body? A hot bod in four weeks with just three moves — what are you waiting for? YOUR SIX SUPER-BOD MOVES Make sure you perform these exercises in order.…

SALT OR OIL IN YOUR TUB? The verdict Bath salts (just!) The reason Oils are more beneficial than you think, increasing blood circulation to get oxygen around your body, as well as soothing dry skin — great if you’ve been working up a sweat in the pool. But salts (especially Epsom salts) contain a wide range of body-boosting minerals, including the primary component magnesium, to help relieve sore limbs and reduce inflammation. It’s absorbed through the skin, helping to flush out exercise-induced painful lactic acid build-up in your muscles. Exercise OR take it easy? THE VERDICT Rest (yes, really!) THE REASON OK, so we don’t mean resting every day, but it is an important part of your weekly workout. If you don’t rest, you may overtrain, which can result in…

Watching my husband Jonathan, then 33, holding our baby son Finnian in his arms, my heart ached. After a complicated 26-hour labour, I felt too exhausted to cuddle him myself. This wasn’t how I’d pictured those first precious moments. I left hospital as soon as I could, hoping I’d feel better at home but things didn’t improve. I became constantly tearful and anxious but I refused to accept it was anything more than the usual baby blues. I had read about the symptoms of postnatal depression, but in my mind it was an illness that only happened to other mums. Lonely and isolated The more I struggled to cope with the demands of motherhood, the more I felt like a failure. I was determined to breastfeed but when I couldn’t,…

1 DRINK WATER! ’Dehydration is one of the main causes of a sore head,’ says Harley Street headache specialist Professor Anne MacGregor (annemacgregor.com). ’But it’s easy to fix — simply drink more water.’ Be guided by your thirst, but remember to drink more if you’re exercising or it’s hot. 2 STOP CHEWING Chewing gum helps if you’re dieting or giving up smoking, but it can trigger a headache, explains wellness consultant Sloan Sheridan- Williams (sloansw.com)Research shows 86% of people noticed a reduction in headaches when they stopped chomping. 3 SKIP HAM SARNIES Nitrates and tyramine — a natural substance in preserved, smoked, marinated and fermented foods — in ham increase blood flow to the brain, causing pain. Tyramine is also found in cheese and chocolate. 4 MAXIMISE YOUR MAGNESIUM Eat…

Catherine Tyldesley is a self-confessed exercise addict. She’s also a selfconfessed fidget. Even as we chat, she’s multitasking, entertaining her son Alfie, now 17 months. The 32-year-old star divides her time between working regular long days filming on the cobbles of Coronation Street, where she plays bubbly factory worker Eva Price, her family life (she married her PT partner Tom Pitfield in May this year) and the gym. Somehow she fits in three training sessions a week — four or five if her filming schedule allows. And it has paid off. Now a trim and toned size 8-10, Cath has shed 2st since giving birth to Alfie and is rightly proud of her new shape. ’I’ve kept my curves and I love being curvy’ Cath’s first choice for working out…

The best time to... use conditioner is before you wash your hair. Experts advise conditioning first to soften your hair, then shampooing to wash away the weight of conditioner, which if overused can cause dull, flat locks. BOOST YOUR LIFE SPAN New government guidelines recommend we all exercise for 150 minutes per week — that’s two and a half hours. If you’re struggling to fit that in, don’t panic — recent research shows that even 60 minutes of exercise a week increases your life expectancy... THAT’S CLEVER! Got a friend who needs cheering up? Send them a hug in a box. Stylishly packaged, the BuddyBox (£21.50), created by The Blurt Foundation, which supports people with depression, is full of goodies to de-stress, pamper or inspire creativity, blurtitout.org/BuddyBox SHOP THIS! If…

Visit myprivatediet.com for more from Emer. And follow her on Twitter @MyPrivateDietRD Healthy meal ideas 1 + 7 + 9 Top fibre-rich buckwheat with yogurt and garlic for added calcium and protein. Sprinkle over heart-healthy pine nuts. 2 + 6 + 11 Spiralise beetroot for a great source of iron and vitamin C. Add in sweet potato for vitamins A, B1 and B2, and tomatoes for lycopene. 4 + 5 + 10 Mix a little pesto, which contains monounsaturated oils, with cholesterol-curbing wholewheat pasta and heart-healthy olives. 3 + 8 + 12 Courgetti is a great way to get more veg in your diet. Dollop over bean bolognese, high in protein, and a few slices of bone-aiding mozzarella. #fitandwellfood What combo will you go for? Use this hashtag to share…

SIX STEPS TO SHINE... 1 Wet hair, apply a50p-sized blob of shampoo and massage in. Try Pantene Clarifying Shampoo, £4.69, which removes the buildup that leads to dullness. Follow with L’Oréal Elvive Extraordinary Oil Nourishing Conditioner, £3.99, for a shine injection. 2 While your conditioner is getting to work, take a few minutes to gently massage your head with your fingertips. This will stimulate circulation to nourish your hair follicles. Then rinse conditioner thoroughly. 3 Add John FriedaFrizz Ease Forever Smooth Anti-Frizz Primer, £9.99, to damp hair. Frizz is anathema to gloss and this pre-styling foundation smooths hair and protects against further frizz for long-lasting silkiness. 4 The secret to a brilliant blow-dry is the brush. A round head with natural bristles evenly distributes the natural, shine-giving oils from root…

PATIO CITRUS TREE DUO Buy 1 of any variety for £9.99 Buy the Citrus Duo (1 of each) for £14.98 — saving £5 Savour the taste of home-grown citrus fruits! Oranges and lemons take up to a year to develop, but are well worth the wait — try adding them to cool drinks in summer! Hardy to -10°C, they are best grown outdoors from May to October, and brought inside for the winter. Height: 1.5m, spread: 1.2m. Pot-grown plant supplied approx 25cm tall. Ceramic pot not supplied. TO ORDER CALL 0844 573 1686 quote FXW3 VISIT www.thompson-morgan.com/FXW3 Lines open 9am-6pm (seven days a week). Offer available to readers on the UK mainland only. All orders will be acknowledged by letter or email, advising you of the expected despatch date. Offer…

» Be realistic Your goal for the weekend is to keep your weight stable (actually losing weight is for Monday to Friday — see box, right). With this approach you can still achieve a steady loss of a pound or so a week. Catch up on your sleep There’s a strong correlation between sleep deprivation and weight gain, so use the weekend to make sure you get enough sleep. The more rested you are, the better you’ll be at fending off cravings. And while you’re asleep, you won't be eating! » Enjoy Sunday brunch Eating a late-morning meal can be waistline-friendly as long as it replaces breakfast and lunch. But ditch croissants, which in a study came bottom out of 38 foods for their ability to fill you up. Tuck…