Let’s drink a drink a drink…

Watching the calories is tough but most things we consume these days come with listed calorie, fat and carbohydrate content so that we are informed and can make the right choices about what we eat. It’s much harder to calorie count or monitor intake when we don’t know what we’re consuming. Alcohol is a very good example of where we can consume calories without realising its effect and throw all our good work out of the window. Moreover, alcohol calories are empty calories and they don’t offer any nutritional value.

So what to drink when you’re out having a good time without doing too much damage (that’s calorie related damage... we take no responsibility for general drunken related carnage!)?

 

 

Here’s some ace tipple tips!

·        AVOID - beer, lager & cider. Some contain as much as 250 calories per pint! That’s equivalent to a whole chocolate bar and slightly more than a jacket potato. One pint is one pint but consider the cumulative effect of having two or three and then you’ve basically consumed an entire roast dinner in calories. A beer belly is just that; so if you’re trying to be careful in what you eat steer clear of these kind of bevvies.

·        Sadly, and we say this with a heavy heart, you really should stay clear of sweet cocktails. However colourful and enticing they are, they are laden with sweet syrups and sugary fruit juices so really be careful and read ingredients (when available) so you know exactly what is going in your pretty pink drink.

·        The lowest calorie options are mixers – vodka or gin – mixed with a slim-line tonic or even better soda water. We find, and we have tested this at length, that vodka, lime and soda is a pretty compelling way to hit the bottle. Ask for fresh lime, not cordial and get stuck in. Be careful of whiskey mixers though – whiskey is higher in calories than white spirits and is often mixed with sweeter soft drinks.  

·        Likewise, mixing white wine spritzer with soda water is also not a bad way to go. A glass of wine (approx. 85 cals) is ok and can be a lovely accompaniment to a meal. Drinking wine in excess though is worth avoiding – the calories really add up – and if we may be so bold, make for a particularly nasty hangover!!

Some other tips include not drinking on an empty stomach, having a full glass of water in between every drink and stay away from mindless munching when there are nibbles around.

The best advice we can offer is to check the calorie count of your drink of choice before you indulge so that you know what you are consuming. On the odd occasion when you replace proper food calories with empty alcohol calories, waistlines shouldn’t be too compromised. But regular excess drinking is as bad as a cheeky daily chocolate bar. So arm yourself with knowledge and make smart drinking decision.

Have fun!

One potato, two potato, three potato, four…

“No carbs before Marbs”, “The Atkins diet” … over the past few years carbohydrates have got a very bad press and are often the first things to go when embarking on a crash diet. But to exclude a whole food group which has some great nutritional properties is crazy, so let’s take a closer look at carbs and dispel some of the common myths around it.

The main problem for carbs is that they fall into two groups – the complex, or good carbs, and their cousins of lesser intelligence, the simple or bad carbs. Sounds like a scientific minefield but actually it’s pretty easy to navigate when you know how.  In the most basic terms carbohydrates are our fuel. Just like petrol is to a car, carbohydrates are to our body. Our bodies break down the carbohydrate into glucose (blood sugar) and our body uses this sugar for energy for our cells, tissues and organs which we need in order to function. So no carbs is no good.

COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES:

The best sort of “fuel” you can give your body is a complex carbohydrate. That means a carbohydrate which takes your body a long time to break down. They are made up of lots and lots of sugar molecules all strung together in a long complex chain (polysaccharides). Our body breaks off these sugar molecules bit by bit thereby slowly releasing energy throughout the day. This keeps blood sugars low and keeps your body working most efficiently – it’s your “super-unleaded petrol”. Food that fall into this category includes:

·        green vegetables
·        Whole grains and foods made from them such as oatmeal, whole-wheat pasta, whole-grain breads, brown rice, whole-wheat couscous, quinoa etc.
·        Starch vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn
·        Beans, lentils & peas

SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATES:

Simple carbohydrates are sugars that are made of just 1 or 2 molecules (monosaccharides). They are the quickest source of energy as they are rapidly digested. Now, not all simple carbohydrates are bad – fruit falls into this category. Having a piece of fruit before an exercise session will give you an instant hit of energy your body needs (fruit is also rich in nutrients and is loaded with fibre but that’s a whole other blog…)

But the reason simple carbohydrates are so bad for us is because it gives us such a quick release of glucose! This sends our blood sugar levels soaring and has to get insulin in on the act to help lower our blood sugar levels at which point you feel the “sugar crash” because our blood sugar levels have dropped. Our bodies then immediately crave sugar again to increase our blood sugar levels and so the cycle begins (repeat in excess = type 2 diabetes but let’s not go down that road).

The other issue with consuming simple carbohydrates is that we don’t need that much energy released into our system in one shot, so whatever doesn’t get used up converts to fat.

Some examples of Simple carbohydrates include:

·        Fruit
·        Sugar
·        Baked goods – white breads, pastries etc.
·        Sweets & chocolate
·        White pasta, easy cook rice

Simple carbs such as white pasta, white bread, white rice etc. is so bad for us is because the grain has been broken down to its most simple form. So rather than letting our bodies digest it and break it down giving the slow release of energy, the manufacturing process has done that for us.

So complex carbohydrates are the way forward if we want our bodies running as clean lean mean dream machines- but do remember, even too much of a complex carbohydrate will get converted to fat if it’s not used - use it or lose it. So it’s about keeping that balance!!

Does my bum look big in this?

Healthy fats for a perfect wobble…

During the 1990’s diets and healthy eating regimes focused on reducing fat and the ‘low fat’ craze became the guiding light for nutritionists and dieticians. Food manufacturers of high fat products responded by introducing a wide range of low fat variants – low fat yoghurt, low fat cheese, low fat biscuits… the list is literally endless, and changed the way we eat and our attitude to fat.

However, obesity is at an all-time high, science has moved on and conventional wisdom has notably shifted in its approach to fatty foods. Nowadays it’s all about healthy fats but there is still quite a lot of uncertainty and nervousness about including high fat foods into our diets. FEAR NOT! ace has done the hard work for you! Here is our healthy fats download. Get ready to smash those avocados and dig in…

The benefits of good fats:

• ENERGY – our bodies use the fat we consume to provide energy for most of our life functions. Fat cells also store energy for future use.
• GROWTH - essential fatty acids help growth development and cell function, which are not naturally made by our body. It also helps vitamins (A,D,E and K) get to where they are needed. Fats also form steroid hormones – needed to regulate many bodily processes.
• BRAINS – fat improves brain and nerve functionality – our brains contain large amounts of essential fats, and the fatty material which wraps around our nerve cells helps to send electrical messages to the brain.
• SKIN – fats help maintain healthy skin, give it plumpness and glow.
• HEART - “Healthy” fats lower “bad” cholesterol in the blood – decreasing heart attacks.

These benefits are found in polyunsaturated fats, monounsaturated fats and saturated fat. Trans-fats, on the other hand, which are artificially processed fats, can lead to all sorts of health problems - high cholesterol, heart disease, heart attacks, strokes and are a fat worth avoiding.

‘Good fat’ foods

• Cold water fish: high in monounsaturated and omega-3 fats, salmon, mackerel, trout and tuna are an excellent source of healthy fat. If you do not like fish, then fish oil supplements are worth considering instead.
• Plant oils: hemp, grapeseed, flax seed, olive, canola... are all a great source of polyunsaturated fat. Use for pouring over salads (they hydrogenate at a high temperature so benefits are lost when cooking). Canola oil is a good one to cook with as it doesn’t downgrade at high temperatures.
• Nuts and seeds: these are an excellent source of good fats. Hazelnuts, almonds, cashews and peanuts all derive more than half of their fat calories from monounsaturated fats. Walnuts and Chia seeds are extremely rich in omega-3 fats. Sunflower, sesame and pumpkin seeds as well as Brazil nuts all offer a balance of both poly and monosaturated fats. The oils derived from these seeds and nuts are similarly rich in healthy fats.
• Avocados: smash on wholemeal toast, add some seasoning, bit of chilli… and now we’re talking.  Avocado are a great source of fibre and contains mostly monounsaturated fat which lowers risk of heart disease and high cholesterol as well as helping control blood glucose levels. They’re staging something of a major comeback so get them on your shopping list!
• Dairy products and meats: also known as saturated fats. These fats are not as healthy as poly or monounsaturated fats but have some important functions in the body, e.g., needed for healthy cell membranes and is involved in hormone synthesis, therefore, a little saturated fat is required. Be careful, an excessive amount can contribute to raised cholesterol.
• Coconut oil: also a saturated fat but has loads of health and beauty benefits. Nearly 50% of coconut oil is medium chain fatty acids or lauric acid, which converts to monolaurin in our bodies. Monolaurin is found in abundance in human breast milk, and is very effective at boosting immunity. It is a great oil to fry and bake with and doesn’t downgrade at high temperatures.

Check out the ace website for lots of ideas and recipes for cooking with good fats www.ace-london.com.

For any further information on fitness and nutrition get in touch info@ace-london.com

Sugar fix

 

It is a truth, almost universally acknowledged, that white refined sugar is bad. It has no nutritional value, is fairly addictive and creates an unnatural desire for sweetness. As the negative effects of sugar and high fructose corn syrup become increasingly more evident people are turning to natural alternatives.

And there are LOTS of alternatives out there. Healthy, guilt free baking and treats are all the rage these days so we’ve done a sugar lowdown to sort the baking from the drizzle…

(Sweet dreams but REMEMBER – although we massively encourage seeking natural sugar highs, these are still very calorific and still need to be enjoyed in MODERATION! (unfortunately).

Coconut Palm Sugar:

·        Derived from the coconut palm tree this sugar is more nutritious and lower on the glycaemic index than sugar which means you don’t get that buzz followed by a crash.

·        Coconut palm sugar is also known as coconut sap sugar and has been used as a traditional sweetener for centuries in regions where coconut trees flourish. It tastes similar to brown sugar.

·        You can substitute coconut sugar for traditional sugar pretty much wherever you would use sugar. You can purchase coconut sugar in health food shops and Ocado stock some brands such as Biona, which is good.

Pure Maple Syrup:

·        Historically used sparingly for drizzling on pancakes maple syrup is a fab sugar substitute and works really well in sweet baked foods.

·        Make sure you buy 100% pure maple syrup rather than a weird blend of sweeteners.

·        According to OChef.com, if you are substituting pure maple syrup for white sugar, use ¾ cup of maple syrup for every cup of sugar the recipe calls for. You will need to reduce the total amount of liquid in the recipe by about 3 tablespoons for each cup of maple syrup.

·        Maple syrup even has health benefits (hurrah) - it is good for your immune system, has a high level of manganese, which is essential for the production of energy, and has high levels of zinc which is good for your heart.

Dates and date syrup:

·        Who doesn’t love a good date? Dates and date syrup, like maple syrup are great for sweet baking and add a delicious caramel, honey flavour -  Medjool dates as they are very flavoursome and sweet so work particularly well.

·        Date syrups are available in supermarkets just make sure you are buying 100% date syrup and not one with added ingredients. Alternatively make your own by soaking dates in water for up to 24 hours and blend.

·        When baking with them you can just soak them for 10 mins in boiling water and then again blend and add to your brownies, cakes, energy balls for a natural sweet taste!

·        Dates won’t raise your blood sugar, are loaded with fibre, can lower triglycerides levels (which is a type of fat found in the blood), and increase vitamin and mineral intake. Lovely.

 

 

Raw Honey:

·        Raw honey is used in many cultures as a remedy for many health ailments including ulcers, digestion problems, and even seasonal allergies. Studies have shown it to have antibiotic and antibacterial properties. Raw honey has many antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, amino acids, enzymes, carbohydrates, and phytonutrients.

·        Raw, unprocessed honey is often categorised as a superfund. But do choose your raw honey carefully - normal processed honey (even with an organic label) has no nutritional or health benefits.

·        Don’t heat raw honey, all the nutritional and health benefits are lost. Use as a topping, spread, in frostings etc. and especially delicious with Greek yoghurt!

Stevia:

·        A herb native to South America, it is 300 times sweeter than sugar. It has been used as a sweetener for centuries in South America and in Japan makes up 41% of the sweetener market.

·        Stevia has no calories and no glycaemic impact making it suitable for diabetics as well as weight watchers and eco-warriors.

·        As stevia is so sweet, you need much less then you would sugar, so for every cup of sugar your recipe requires, replace with ½ teaspoon stevia extract powder or 1 tablespoon concentrated stevia liquid.

·        You will then have to bulk up your batter with things like apple puree, banana, yoghurt, egg whites or water. For every cup of sugar you substitute for Stevia, you must add 1/3 cup of a bulking ingredient.

See our website http://www.ace-london.com/recipes.html for some sweet treat ideas and recipes with natural sugars and let us know if you have any creative ingredients for finding your sugar fix.

Look out for our blog on artificial sweeteners, and why you should ditch them!

 

Step away from the gym..... for a short while only!

There are two types of people in this world, those who exercise and those who don’t.

Focussing for a moment on those who do, they also often fall into two camps; those who do too much resting and not enough exercise, and those who do too much exercise and not enough rest!

For the purposes of today’s blog it’s the latter group that we want to consider.

We’ve both been part of this group in the past, and have learnt the hard way that not having long enough quality rest can have negative physical and potentially emotional consequences!  

Here is why it’s essential to step away from the gym (for a bit) and slow down a little!

 

Rest and Recovery

Rest and recovery are a critical component of any successful training program. Whether you are training to do a marathon, weight training or just regularly working out to keep fit and healthy, it’s so important that you schedule rest and recovery days into your week. Any sort of weight training (and that includes body weight only), depletes muscle-building nutrients in your body and creates tiny microscopic tears in your muscle fibres. After a workout your body begins to repair muscle damage and let your muscles grow. Your body needs time immediately after a workout to properly recover.

Rest: most easily defined as a combination of sleep and time spent not training. Some sort of rest will feature in even the most aggressive trainers programs but the sort of rest you get – how you sleep, what you do to relax – is an art form that needs attention!

·        Sleep - Most important time to recover and provide mental health, hormonal balance and most importantly muscle recovery.

·        You should be looking at getting 7-10 hours a night. Fresh air and cooler temperatures help to improve the quality of sleep.

·        Try yoga as a good way to relax, switch off and help your body to rest properly

 
Recovery: refers to what you can do to maximise your body’s repair. It will include hydration, nutrition, and stretching. Recovery encompasses more than just muscle repair. It involves chemical and hormonal balance, nervous system repair and mental strength.

 

·        Hydration - Water helps serve all our recovery functions - making our bodies more efficient at taking in nutrients, lowering levels of stress on the heart, giving us energy and improving skin.  Plain water is the best way to hydrate – steer clear of flavoured drinks, squash and cordial – especially the sugar free variety! The added artificial sweeteners give your system more to process and cause it further strain. Add natural tastes like fresh lemon, mint or lime.

·        Nutrition - Eating clean and balanced meals in moderation is proven to be effective to remain healthy and increase performance. After a workout the chances are you’ve depleted all your glycogen (fuel!) sources. Make sure to adequately refuel after you work out with a balanced mix of a simple carbohydrate and protein. If your stores are depleted and you work out, your body will not start to eat away at those stubborn bits of fat you want to get rid of, instead it reaches deep into your muscles and sucks out any glycogen it can find ruining the muscle you’ve just been working so hard to create!

·        Stretching - You need enough flexibility to move well and remain pain free. Include dynamic stretching in your warm-ups while saving static stretching for after your workouts.

 

The weekend hangover…

Our precious weekends are all about socialising and relaxing after a tough week of work and other commitments, and that can often involve eating and drinking without the structure of the week to keep us in line!

We all do it - eat too much and too often, drink more alcohol than we should over the course of the weekend. And then Monday morning comes, we all feel very guilty about our over indulgence and at the same time tempted to let it continue since the damage is done!! NOT SO. Monday mornings are all about recalibrating and getting back on track. Don’t let a indulgent weekend turn into an out of control week.

Here are some of Ace’s top tips for reigning it back in and getting on track on a Monday morning. Follow these and it will be almost as if the half a challah never happened…

 

1. DON'T FEEL GUILTY: We all need moments where we let go and enjoy – it is what life is all about. Don’t feel guilty if it only happens once in a while – although every weekend could present a bit of a problem! Don't beat yourself up, you had a fun weekend now just focus on getting back on plan.

 

2. DRINK LOTS OF WATER: Drinking water helps your body get rid of the toxins that you acquired over the weekend so it’s a good idea to drink up to 3 litres on a Monday. Also drink lots of hot water with lemon to help cleanse your body.

 

3. PUSH BACK BREAKFAST: On Monday morning, try to eat breakfast a couple of hours later – its good not to ingest any food for good for a while (same principle of not eating while you sleep or late at night). Bodies that don’t eat for 8-12 hours, digest food better. Fact.  Drink hot water with lemon, water and green tea and then have a protein rich breakfast full of good fats - scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and avocado.

 

4. DO A HIIT 30 MINUTE SESSION: HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) describes a workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and periods of less intense activity or even complete rest. HIIT has many benefits (http://acelondonfitness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/hiit.html )and if you can get one in on a Monday it will help burn more calories for longer and get you back on track for a good week.

 5. DO NOT WEIGH YOURSELF: The worst thing you can do on a Monday morning is get straight on the scales to weigh yourself. Your body is retaining water from the extra carbohydrates and alcohol you have consumed, and the scales will not show an accurate weight. Wait until Wednesday morning, when your body has had a chance to get back into your normal routine, and make sure to do it after your morning 'number 1', and before you have had anything to drink or eat.

 

For information on ace’s classes: info@ace-london.com

For blogs, recipes, healthy lifestyle tips & so much more: www.ace-london.com
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Time to Train

Not having the time to exercise is the best reason not to do it, but don’t let yourself believe that if you don’t have lots of time on your hands then you can’t work out, get fit and feel fabulous. You can. Don’t underestimate the difference you can make to your fitness with small changes to everyday activities and don’t think you need to find 90 minutes to get yourself to a gym to work out. There are ways and means and Ace have some great tips.

So have a look at some of our time-sensitive training tools…

 

Exercise 

• If you are really short on time but dedicated to the cause, get up half an hour earlier than usual and bang out a 20-minute home HIIT session. There are loads of quick workouts online, check out our You Tube channel for some ideas with no equipment necessary: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXS0FqhEiLrYfCPA4uIa0cw. A half hour HIIT burst in the morning will not only leave you feeling wonderfully energised and virtuous, but also earns you a particularly delicious breakfast! 

 

• Schedule your weekly exercise sessions into your diary, just like you would your kids’ swimming lessons or any other weekly commitment. Shift away from the mind-set that exercise is a flexible entry in your diary. It isn’t. It isn’t selfish to take that time for yourself. It’s crucial to how you function and feel. 

 

• Re-enforce your planning by making sure your sports bra is clean and your pre and post workout food is locked down. Once you’ve made those plans you’ll be less willing to slack off a class! 

 

• Get the family involved - if you can't get a workout in, put some music on and have a dance with your kids. They will love it and it’s very easy to build up quite a sweat. Add some star jumps, squats and some quick grapevines and get your groove on!

 

• If it's a nice day do running races outside with your kids, or kick a ball about - take any opportunity you can to get your heart rate going, even in family time.  

 

• ENJOY your exercise. If you find exercising a chore, then find something you like doing and apply the HIIT principle! Dancing, swimming, netball whatever, just try and really get your heart rate up in short sharp bursts. Team sports are a great way to make sure you commit to a workout and if you get the buzz from doing it, you’ll make the time!!

 

• Try and increase your activity in every day actions. Use a staircase instead of a lift, walk to do local errands rather than drive, do some core strength actions while you’re watching TV...  Small changes, big improvements!

Ace offers a weekly range of classes, which we have designed to be as convenient and accessible as possible for very busy people!

For full list of all our classes see http://www.ace-london.com/schedule.html.