My Cup Doth Renneth Over

 My Cup Doth Runneth Over

Every healthy eating, lifestyle and exercise plan will include some advice on drinking lots of water. And with very good reason too.

Here’s why…

•       Our body is made up of 60% water, which we lose throughout the day by sweating, breathing and going to the toilet. It is essential that we continually replenish our water supplies and keep ourselves hydrated to keep our bodily functions working, transporting nutrients around the body, regulating our temperature and digesting food.
•      Drinking water can also help us lose weight and for a pretty simple reason; water helps us feel fuller for longer, and as a result we consume fewer calories.
•       Water is AMAZING for your skin – ask any supermodel if you don’t believe us! Certain toxins in our bodies cause the skin to inflame, which can result in blocked pores and acne. Water helps flush out these toxins and reduces spotty outbreaks.
•      Water boosts your productivity and concentration and keeps you alert and refreshed. Drink throughout your mid-afternoon slump and if it doesn’t make you feel more awake then at least your bladder will keep you on your toes! 
•            One of the most common symptoms of dehydration is tiredness - so if you’re feeling sleepy DRINK! 
•       Working out (at one of Ace’s cracking classes) causes muscles to lose water and to tire. It’s crucial to drink plenty of water whilst exercising to make sure your muscles can complete your workout.
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How much water you should drink a day massively depends on your activity level, age, and how much water you consume through coffee, tea, or water rich vegetables and fruit.  There is no magic number but follow these simple tips to stay hydrated:

-        When you wake up, before you have your brekkie, drink one large glass of water.

-        Drink 30 minutes before eating a meal (this can help control your appetite, too).

-        Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits with high water content throughout your day, e.g., melon, strawberries, cucumber and lettuce.

-        Get in the habit of keeping a refillable water bottle with you at all times (Anna loves her Bobble).

-        If you find water too boring, then you can always spice it up by infusing fruit and mint (Charlotte loves the Avoin Colorlife water fruit infuser with fresh lemon and mint).

So drink up, drink up! 

Cheers!

For any further information on exercise and nutrition please get in touch via

 info@ace-london.com

Time time time, see what’s become of me

Life is a massive juggling act of responsibilities and commitments, and finding the time to exercise and eat healthy is often the first casualty of a busy lifestyle. BUT (and this is a big BUT) eating well and staying fit not only makes you feel fabulous but also gives you great energy to take on the daily grind! 

So it’s worth learning some clever time-saving tricks that will allow you to  do it all… This is time management, the ACE way!

 

2 hrs planning for 7 days of good eating

Dedicate two hours of your week planning menus and making sure you have what you need to make it happen. Shopping the ACE way means you won’t ever have that moment where you end up making cheesy pasta because it’s all you have to hand. Think about what you are going to eat, have a look in your cupboards, do a shop, do some advance cooking…. and relax. 

ACE are creating an essential list for your weekly shop, which we will publish soon. In the meantime here are some of our top tips...

 

1. Go FROZEN - The amount of frozen fruit, veg and herbs on offer, already chopped, diced, shredded etc is amazing and great value for money. It means you have instant padding for your protein supper AND can throw together a soup in minutes. Sure, the fresh stuff is a bit better to have raw but for stews and soups frozen is fine and means you don’t have to worry about only having droopy beans to work with.

2. Stock up on protein - meat, chicken & fish- buy in bulk and then individually bag them up and freeze them. You can easily take something out to defrost before you go to work and as soon as you get home it will be ready to be cooked.

3. Batch cook - once a week or even once a fortnight cook in bulk and freeze-in family size or individual portions. This not only saves time but is great for portion control and making sure you don’t over-eat.

4. A family affair - don’t cook three different meals a night. Get your kids and partners eating the same as you. We’ve got loads of creative recipes coming your way that the whole family will enjoy. Teach your kids about eating healthily and make it yummy for everyone. 

5. Tins & packets - keep in stock a drawer full of lentils, barley, quinoa, whole-wheat cous cous, brown rice etc.. The list is endless - all quick and easy to make and great additions to your soups, stews or all on their own. Likewise for tins, stock up on chick peas, cannellini beans, kidney beans and you'll always have something delicious ready at hand to throw on your salad or add to your stir fry.

Ace's Top Tips for 2016!

Happy New Year! Following two weeks of Christmas holiday indulgence now is the time when pretty much everyone resolves to get fit and healthy and lose some weight. We all feel like we need to take our wellbeing seriously at this time of year to set a pattern for the months ahead. So here are some top tips to help you get on your way….

• First of all it might be an idea to consult a personal trainer who, if you can't afford to have on a weekly or biweekly basis could certainly point you in the right direction certainly as far as exercise and nutrition are concerned.

• Adopt a new High Intensity Impact Training regime and try and get two HIIT sessions into your weekly schedule. HIIT is all the craze right now and it can all be done with just your body weight so you don’t need to join a gym! You can do HIIT at home and there are tons of online resources to help you do it. Get your friends and family involved- if you commit to training with someone it will make it much more fun and there's less chance you'll miss one of your training sessions! (If you want to take part in a group HIIT session- check out ace’s on  our schedule  www.ace-london.com

• Get the right kit in! Use the sales to buy a new pair of trainers or some cool sports gear – it can help motivate you. Don’t let not having the right things stop you... if you find some good discounts you’ll be excited to test out your new things.

• There are so many diet plans our there make sure you chose one that is right for your body type and that you can stick to! Joining weight watchers or slimming world is in many ways the easiest way to achieve results and food plans are all done for you. Do not attempt to do any fad diets or cut out any food groups. This can not be held up long term and although you might see some short term weight loss results it is impossible to maintain and the weight will pile back on.

• My Fitness Pal is a great app - it will work out exactly how many calories you can have a day and you record every little detail. It's a really easy (and free!)  app to use, but the real success lies in carefully recording each and everything you eat as soon as it's gone in your mouth. So long as you do this and you are vigilant, you'll lose that extra holiday weight!

• Drink Drink Drink… and not the hard stuff! Water helps your body get rid of the toxins, improves skin, reduces fatigue, healthier teeth, bones and joints as well as increases your fat metabolism! So don't wait until you are thirsty- aim to drink at least 2-3 life's a day and watch the fat melt away!

• Sleep & Relaxation- people often don't realise quite how important sleep is! If you want to make some serious changes, both in your body and your general healthy & wellbeing, make sure you try to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Let your body and muscles (especially if you are working out) recover and repair themselves. Try and schedule some sort of relaxation into your week. Cortisol (the stress hormone) and the adrenal system is complicated but high cortisol level are responsible for weight gain so try to keep those stress levels down by including some sort of meditation or yoga into your week.

• Last but not least – chose a plan. There is so much advice and information post Christmas  about healthy eating, exercise & fitness it can be completely daunting. Choose one or 2 people to listen to who offer ideas that are realistic and achievable and try to fade out the rest. A short term detox plan can help you get on your way but avoid anything too faddy that require an impossible number of ingredients in your cupboard and hours at your disposal. The best new years resolutions are ones that last more than a week so try and go for the long term lifestyle approach!

HIIT!!!

Everyone in the fitness world is banging on about HIIT (High intensity interval training) at the moment and ACE is totally on board with this craze. So what is it all about and why is it such a fat burning, fitness-building winner?
Basically HIIT sends your body into fat burning overdrive!

WARNING: here comes the science!!!

The trick to HIIT training is to push yourself as hard as you possibly can through the high intensity intervals to really get your heart racing and then slow your heart rate down during the low-intensity intervals. This method produces excess post-oxygen consumption (EPOC). This means that the fat burning isn’t over once you finish your workout - your body continues to burn fat for up to 24 hours afterwards! EPOC is influenced by the intensity and not by the duration! So you can burn loads of calories in less than 30 minutes… for once time is not the problem.

It may seem counterintuitive to think a shorter HIIT session could be more effective than a slower cardio session – a 45 minute run on the treadmill could burn 400 calories whilst a short 15 minute HIIT burns 250 calories.  BUT it’s the ‘after-burn’ where the magic happens – you can be sat on your couch watching TV long after your HIIT is over with and yet the EPOC means the calories continue to burn and your fitness continues to improve.

It’s a great idea to incorporate a HIIT workout into your weekly schedule. ACE is offering 2 HIIT sessions a week – Tuesday & Saturday evenings (although it’s the basic theory behind all our classes). Check out website www.ace-london.com and our facebook group www.facebook.com/acelondonuk for full details & schedule.

Whilst we take a well deserved break over the holidays, why not try out our HIIT home workout to keep your fitness levels up!? Check out facebook for details....

Snack Attack: a trilogy

Our third installment of snack related chat, are a couple of recipes that will inspire you to snack more healthily.

One sweet, one savoury – they are both extremely satisfying and delicious boosts for your mid morning or mid afternoon munching moment. Remember snacks are not two extra meals, so keep an eye on portions!

Both of these will be served at our healthy Chana Tea-Cember on 17^th December so make sure you come along to sample all our goodies and gain lots of happy snacking ideas!

Please send us any great snack ideas you have so we can share with our ace ladies.

Chocolate orange raw brownies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 300g almonds (230g pulsed into a coarse flour, 70g chopped to add at the end)

• 7 tablespoons of raw cacao

• 200g soft dates (medjool works best)

• 75g honey/maple syrup/agave nectar

• zest of 2 oranges

Pulse 230g of almonds into a coarse flour in the food processor. Throw in all the remaining ingredients.

Add 70g of chopped almonds to the food processor and pulse a few times.

Spread the mixture into your brownie pan and leave in the fridge for 2-3 hours. Cut up and enjoy!

 

Egg white muffins

 

These are easy and nutritious – high in protein and low in calories (less than 20 per muffin) and extremely adaptable with whatever veg you have available.  Suitable for freezing and take hardly any time to defrost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• One teaspoon coconut oil

• 1.5 cups of egg whites

• 2 cups raw spinach

• 1 cup of raw chopped cherry tomatoes (or sun dried tomatoes)

• 1 cup of raw chopped asparagus

• 1 cup chopped pepper

• Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (160 fan)

Sautée chopped onions in a teaspoon of coconut oil until soft and transparent. Add chopped peppers and cook until soft.

Add spinach, tomatoes and asparagus for a couple of minutes until vegetables begin to soften.

Separate eggs and stir in sautéed vegetables to the whites.

Fill each muffin tin with the mixture and cook at 180. Don't fill containers to the top as they will rise.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. To check if they are fully cooked stick a tooth pick in the centre and make sure it comes out clean.

 

We would love you to join us for our healthy Chana Tea-cember - please email info@ace-london.com for more infomation

For loads more recipe ideas visit www.ace-london.com/recipes

Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/acelondonuk

Instagram: ace.lifestyle

 

 

Snack Attack - part deux!

SNACK ATTACK - part deux!

 

Following on from our Ace lifestyle blog last week looking at some top snack tips (http://www.acelondonfitness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/snack-attack-snack-conundrum-is.html) we found this great article about snack swaps - there are some brill ideas in here worth a read!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-3334814/The-healthy-snacks-secretly-making-fat-eat-instead-including-FRIED-EGG-sandwiches.html

Some of these are no brainers but couple of things to be conscience of… 

Be a bit careful with dried fruit. Clearly they are a better alternative to a mince pie (or a doughnut for that matter) at this time of year, BUT they are full of sugar and it’s really easy to rack up the calories without realising it! A kids size box of raisins isn’t bad but fresh fruit is a much better alternative. An apple takes a satisfying amount of time to eat (which is important - don’t want your snack done in a few seconds) and is packed with fibre. Its much easier to count calories and control portions with fresh fruit than dried. 

Peanut butter on wholemeal or oat and rice cakes are a great snack. Make sure that you chose the right peanut butter. Got to be natural with no added sugar - Meridian is delicious! The fad for peanut butter is growing into other nut butters - almond, hazelnut and cashew - which can help keep things varied and interesting. They are all pretty yum and increasingly more available in supermarkets. Go on, push the nut butter boat out!

As an alternatives to crisps, roasted root vegetable crisps are a good choice. if you can make them yourself even better and then you can control the oil content. A great tip for root vegetable crisps is to use a peeler - for super thin strips which cook very quickly and don’t need much oil. Make them in batches and bag up as air tight as possible. 

 

Super Salads

 

Super salads.. 

 

This salad pic has created quite a lot of interest as salads go. When people think of eating healthily or dieting salads are the first thing that pop into your mind but without some creativity can get all rather standard and miserable. Alternatively they can require so many ingredients they hardly seems worth the trouble. These are pretty simple, varied enough to taste good without hours of chopping or prep. Eat with a slab of protein and get involved!

Salads are not a science so measurements are lax, and you can pretty much supplement every ingredient for something else… but here is the basic gist.

Quinoa and roasted red pepper salad

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa

2 red peppers

radish (sliced thinly)

3 spring onions (Sliced as thin as possible)

parsley

coriander 

toasted pine nuts

Dressing

1tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp mirin

juice of half a lemon

2 tbsp soy sauce

Squeeze of agave or honey

tsp mustard (dijon or wholegrain or whatever you have in)

pepper juice

Something quite wonderful happens to a pepper when you shove it in a very hot oven with grill on for about half an hour (turning a couple of times to make sure all is even and good in the world). 

Once the peppers are black all over, take out the oven, leave to cool and pull off the charred skin. What you are left with is a very sweet, soft pepper flesh which is delicious with quinoa, buckwheat or any other healthy grain. When you’re slicing it make sure you scrape away pepper seeds but keep hold of the pepper juice that it makes and add it to your dressing. 

Mix everything together. Pour the dressing on fairly last minute so that the radishes stay nice and crunchy - they add an important texture to the salad. Taste and make sure seasoned well (the soy in the dressing may not be enough so add salt). 

Roasted veg and tahini dressing

this salad works well with quite a wide range of vegetables. Done it before with squash and beetroot and have thrown in broccoli and red pepper when its lying around, so think of this recipe as a guide which you can adapt according to taste and what you need to use up in your fridge

ingredients

2x cauliflower head

2 x aubergine

2 x red onion

1 tbsp. ground coriander

1 tbsp. ground cumin

roughly chopped parsley and/or coriander 

toasted chopped nut of choice - I usually use almonds, pine nuts or hazelnuts. 

dressing

tahini paste

lemon juice

water

salt & pepper

Cut veg into relatively equal size so they cook evenly. spray oil. evenly coat with spices and season. roast for about half an hour, check on them half way through and spoon around if some bits are going brown.

cool

scatter herbs

pour over dressing

chuck on the nuts

job done

 

Green salad

A green salad is a green salad is a green salad. Except when its slightly better that your average green salad which this one is!

Mix up your leaves - this one is baby gem (cut lengthways) Chicory and a dolce verde romain lettuce (which is my current lettuce squeeze!). Variety is important to get a good sweet (romain, gem, iceberg) and bitter (watercress, rocket, chicory) mix and different textures. 

Add a large ripe avocado, pumpkin seeds and cress. 

Cress is massively underused, it is super cheap, tasty and can massively elevate salads so get some in, or hanker back to school days and grow your own. 

To keep in the realms of super duper healthy, dress with lemon juice (just before serving) and season.

or make a simple lemon vinaigrette with extra virgin love oil, white wine vinegar, whole grain mustard and a lot of lemon juice.