As we begin December and the lead up to Christmas, my attention keeps returning to food. Not about what I’m eating at any given moment or what I’m going to eat for my next meal. But I am stuck in a brain loop of sorts about the prospect of cooking and baking everything in time for Christmas. Every year, it is a logistical nightmare to find the time to bake Christmas cookies, pies and cakes, amongst work, family and holiday commitments. And the timing is pretty crucial. If you bake too early, you risk either running out of everything or being completely bored by it by the time Christmas rolls around. But if you do it too late, you will find yourself facing towers of leftover mince pies until Valentine’s Day. Then there is the big question of what to cook on Christmas day itself. Do you make the same traditional meal yet again or make the bold choice to mix it up with some new flavours and sides? It’s always a risky move to ‘go big or go home’ when you can’t hide in your own kitchen.
Like many people, I watched the latest documentary from Channel 4 with much interest. But Joe Wicks: Licensed to Kill did not turn out to be a fly-on-the-wall series about training the nation’s lockdown PE teacher to become a member of the Secret Service. Instead, he joined Dr Chris van Tulleken on a quest to expose the dangers of ultra-processed foods, where they pitted themselves against the super-heavyweights of snacking, protein bars. These chewy monstrosities were once something that only those seeking marginal gains would scoff at the gym but they now permeate every newsagent, supermarket checkout and office countertop. Since protein bars are commonly sold under the innocent guise of being a healthy snack, the daring duo set out to show how lax regulations were allowing them to be anything but.
There’s a sure sign, which I can’t help but notice, that marks the start of another academic year. It is suddenly much easier to get through the maze of supermarket aisles. Not that I am complaining about being rammed by child-sized mini-trollies. Or about one occasion, where I was almost ploughed down by a child bombing down the cereal aisle on a bike. After all, even though my children have grown up, I am still a parent. But all parents, if they’re honest, will readily admit that doing a weekly shop is far easier, less stressful and more efficient sans sprogs. Primarily because you can choose your purchases freely and without the prospect of facing any further negotiations or arguments. Not to mention, because you also have a bit more control over exactly what you spend. Although, with the cost of living crisis hitting most families’ budgets, it is getting more difficult to make any savings when it comes to buying healthy food.
With the constant stream of world events vying for attention in the media, it takes a lot to make it into the headlines these days. Nonetheless, the latest results from the UK’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) did just that recently with some depressing news about our dietary habits. It won’t come as any surprise to learn that too many of us are still eating an unhealthy diet and are contributing to the rise in obesity in adults and children. The numbers are even worse for those living in deprivation amidst the rising double burdens of high food and energy costs. However, as someone who likes to take a deep dive into the nutrition numbers, I still found some of the figures startling. Especially when it comes to getting our basic ‘5-a-day’.
After taking part in the recent BMO Vancouver Marathon, I am now firmly in recovery mode. But like many people who have just completed an endurance event this spring, once you cross the finish line it feels like you are entering into unchartered territory. It doesn’t seem to matter if you have just run your first race or you are a seasoned veteran. And it makes no difference whether you ran a marathon, a half or you conquered some other epic feat. Because after spending so many weeks and months laser-focused on training for your event, it can be difficult to know what to do next to fully recover.
I couldn’t help but notice the recent splash on social media about Marks & Spencer’s new line. However, it wasn’t referring to this season’s update of their classic ware but rather the launch of their ONLY…INGREDIENTS range of breakfast cereals. The excitement around the name, itself, was very intriguing. I mean, didn’t their other cereals also contain at least some ingredients? Despite this, the managing director posted online that M&S had always been the leader of having the ‘cleanest’ food and their new range was pushing the boundaries once again. Reading that, I wondered exactly what breakfast boundaries they were trying to breach and why they felt the need to ‘clean’ up their cereal. Especially when the debunked trend for clean eating had collected as much dust over the past ten years as most people’s long defunct spiralizers. I hoped that ‘clean’ wasn’t making a comeback anytime soon although…there were also rumours of skinny jeans making a resurgence. I had to dive deep into the M&S breakfast aisle to find out if a bowl of their clean cereal would make a good start to the day.
I am sure that I am not alone in finding that whenever I return from an unforgettable holiday, I like to try and hold onto it just a little bit longer. Sometimes this means I’ll be wearing the same touristy tee and drinking from a new ‘I heart (insert country here)’ mug for days on end. But more often I like to try to recreate some of the dishes and flavours that I enjoyed eating while away. Almost unconsciously my usual shopping list changes and I find myself filling my supermarket trolley with familiar holiday ingredients. Which explains why since recently returning from Iceland – the country, not the supermarket – I can’t seem to stop reaching for some skyr.
After what seemed like a very long and drawn out 2024, many have begun the new year with a renewed commitment to do things differently. Whether you’ve joined a gym, embarked on a new fitness regime or signed up for an event, so far you are probably still feeling pretty motivated. After all, it is early days and even if there’s a hint on the horizon that things may get harder, there’s still a lot you can do to stay the course. One thing that is sure to help keep you going is paying attention to the often neglected area of hydration. You probably already knew that hydration is important to keep in mind when the temperatures climb but it is also something you need to consider in the winter. Essentially, hydration plays a key role in recovery and can affect whether you are fully fit again for the next training block. Which is why it pays to have a not-too-dry January.
In the run up to Christmas it’s all too easy to overindulge, especially when festive goodies are handed out at almost every opportunity. But I don’t just mean the times when you travel to see family and friends. You know that those visits oblige you to sample someone’s homemade mince pies or Christmas cake. However, recently I have been surprised to be plied with stollen bites, Bailey’s and holiday chocolates simply by buying presents, choosing a Christmas tree and attending my gym. Even if you are normally accustomed to eating a healthy diet, somehow it still feels awkward to turn down the offer of a festive calorie-laden treat. So you end up eating something sky high in sugar that you know you don’t really need or necessarily want from a virtual stranger. You even go overboard in thanking them for it and will happily do it all again because it’s Christmas. Then when your gut starts to nag away at you with eater’s regret, you try to convince yourself that there’s no harm in a little celebrating…Nobody wants to be a Scrooge, right? Besides, it’s practically impossible to have a healthy Christmas.
As I tried to negotiate my way around a supermarket already towering with Quality Street tins I was interested to see the latest headlines about Britain’s ‘addiction’ to ultra-processed food. The fast-food habit was now costing the country a whopping £286 billion every year. This startlingly high figure came from a recent report from the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission (FFCC) which found that the cost of chronic disease was now almost matching the total healthcare spend in the UK. For unhealthy food that is literally ‘cheap as chips’ it turns out that we are all paying for it through the cost of healthcare, social care, welfare and losses of productivity from ill health. Although the figures are shocking, the knock-on effects of the country’s increased consumption of ultra-processed foods high in sugar, salt and fat are sadly, nothing new. However, what did surprise me about the media coverage surrounding the report was the number of sources that still referred to the UK’s population of ‘junk food addicts’.
If you are a parent, whether your children are still toddlers or are now old enough to become parents themselves, it would have been practically impossible to ignore the subject of some of the recent headlines. They announced that parents no longer have to take the blame if their children are picky eaters because it is all down to their genetics. At least that’s how the majority of news outlets reported the findings from the UK study that analysed the data from 2,400 sets of twins. Naturally, any parent hearing this news would have felt a moment of relief, because it is almost a rite of passage to at some point experience the frustration of trying to get your child to eat.
Sport is somewhat like politics these days in that competitions that capture all of our attention and are the only topic of conversation are suddenly just…not. Perhaps we have a short attention span, because it wasn’t so long ago when the UK was inundated by coverage of the Men’s Euro 2024. But by the time the leagues of England supporters sobered up to face that football was not ‘coming home’, the public had already moved on. And what better place to focus our attention on than the Paris Olympics. After all, the Olympics never disappoint in showcasing a mix of incredible talent, record-breaking feats, and a touch of high drama and controversy that guarantees to entertain the masses…for at least the next two weeks. All eyes are now focused on Team GB, as they battle it out against the rest of the world’s greatest athletes and try to make it to an exclusive podium. Brutally, all of the attention is on the medal winners, and the athletes who don’t quite make it there are almost overlooked.
It may be harsh but in the Olympics (and the Euros) you’re either winning or losing, and no one is as interested in hearing about a fourth place’s journey. The winners not only inspire the rest of us to get fit, take up sport and achieve, they also make it very easy to believe that winning is everything. But maybe it’s a human instinct to zone in entirely on the prize, especially when you see others try to do something almost superhuman. However, as mere mortals, life and reality often get in the way of any overly ambitious goals to make a podium. And by only ever focusing on getting a result, you are guaranteed to be sometimes disappointed. It makes much more sense to put winning into perspective by shifting the focus onto how to get there.
Although we are in the midst of the UK general election campaign, not everyone is tuning in to watch the TV debates. In fact, many sports fans are more focused on the fierce battles being played out on the football pitches across Germany. Because so far, the Euros 2024 have not failed to disappoint. There have been matches full of high drama with contentious decisions and almost as many own-goals scored as the current government’s tally in recent days. However, one thing that has set apart the different contests is the culinary row being fuelled by opposing football supporters.
Reportedly, it started with the Swiss during their first match of the tournament when they taunted their rival Hungarian fans with a simple cardboard sign proudly stating, ‘FONDUE BETTER THAN GOULASH’. Brave words from the Swiss and to further emphasise their point, many of them cheered on the match wearing hats topped with enormous wedges of cheeses. And they were right to be confident because the Swiss dominated the match and won 3-1. But the sign was promptly shared through the usual social media channels and alas, a food fight of sorts began.
Next to join in were the Albanian and Italian supporters. Although the Albanian supporters felt they had to take it one further. In the hour leading up to the match, the Albanian supporters delivered an early blow to their rivals as they gathered outside the stadium. They audaciously committed what many Italians see as a cardinal sin – pastacide. The Albanians approached their rival Italian fans and waved around whole fistfuls of dried spaghetti without any due care or respect. As the shocked Italians pleaded with them to come to their senses and stop, the Albanians defiantly snapped the pasta which immediately shot out hundreds of noodle splinters. It was a gutsy move but more was to come.
Perhaps buoyed on by their fearless supporters, Albania stormed the pitch as soon as the first whistle of the game was blown. They scored a record-breaking goal inside the first 23 seconds. It was absolutely breath-taking and Albania looked unstoppable. But the Italian fans, still smarting from the unnecessary pastacide, refused to be intimidated. Instead, they pulled out all the stops and unfurled a sign declaring, ‘EAT PASTA RUN FASTA’. The Italian team responded with just enough sheer determination to turn the game around. In the end their supporters (and pasta) were vindicated with Italy’s solid 2-1 result.
Word about food fight and rumours about bad food omens quickly spread among the football supporters. But the following day, Poland’s supporters showed up to their match against the Netherlands feeling confident. They knew better not to get involved in any pre-match desecration of Dutch culinary staples. Instead, they took a nod from the Swiss and went back to basics inside the stadium where they unveiled a large sign declaring, ‘KIELBASA BETTER THAN GOUDA’. However, they didn’t entirely follow the food protocol. Someone had decided to add a drawing of a massive steaming sausage that was practically towering over a piddly wedge of cheese. It was simply too much. At first, nothing was amiss and Poland got off to a good start as they led the match. But mocking the tiny Gouda with a badly-drawn picture had hit a sore spot and the Netherlands responded by evening things up. The second half of the match battled on but the Netherlands delivered a final blow in a strong 2-1 victory. The Polish supporters could only blame themselves for tempting food fate.
You would think that after this result, lessons would be learned and football supporters would think carefully before they disrespected the national foods of their opponents. But unfortunately, alcohol always overrides common sense. Which is why the Austrian supporters thought it wise to stir up another food fight. It started in the lead up to the Austria vs France match as fellow supporters were mixing and enjoying several pre-match drinks. Good-natured footie banter was shared back and forth and everything was calm. That is, until suddenly out of nowhere some baguettes were produced by the Austrians and it wasn’t because they were peckish. No, the supporters waved them around wildly in an echo of pastacide, without even thinking about the consequences.
Despite the cries and protests by the beret-wearing French supporters, the baguettes were broken with glee. More was to come inside the stadium when a sign declaring ‘SCHNITZEL BETTER THAN BAGUETTE’ was released. It was bold move, to say the least, but at least no one had added any culinary sketches. But after the baguette massacre, it was already too late because some bad food karma was about to play out on the pitch. It was a very tight game and France had to work hard but the Austrian team suffered more. Their supporters could only watch as their team score an own goal and helped Les Bleus deliver a 1-0 win.
As we get down to the last 16 teams and head towards the quarter finals, I have noticed that the Euro food fights have finally started to settle down. Clearly, some football supporters have learnt the lesson of creating bad food karma the hard way. After all, having confidence in your team doesn’t have to be exclusive of also having mutual respect for the other side. With less than a week to go until the UK election, this is something that many of our politicians could also well be reminded of.
Since Italy has made it through to the last 16 and as an endurance runner I fully endorse the adage, ‘EAT PASTA RUN FASTA’, I had to share my recipe for Cacio e pepe.
After too many days of running on wet, soggy trails and being whipped by the wind, it is nice to finally feel the warmth of the sun. With the weather forecast predicting more sunny days ahead of us, many people will be planning to get outside and enjoy a workout or two. But although we are still in the last days of the Spring and the temperatures are mostly mild, now is the perfect time to start thinking about hydration. Ensuring that you are sufficiently hydrated while running will not only keep you cool and comfortable. It can make the difference between finishing a workout, crossing a finish line or crashing out in a big heap and a DNF.
As a Registered Nutritionist I work with parents to help ensure their children can eat a healthy balanced diet that is full of variety. Needless to say, this can be extremely challenging and stressful if their child is going through a bit of a picky eating stage. But one thing that can work wonders and even motivate very fussy children to eat is to introduce an element of reward for trying new foods. However, the golden rule that should always be followed is that the reward for eating should never be food-related. In other words, using a more carrot than stick approach but not literally. The simple reason why is because awarding a liked food as a prize for doing something difficult doesn’t work effectively nor does it foster a healthy attitude towards eating. But oddly enough, as soon as you become an adult this rule is positively flouted. Especially amongst runners because favourite foods are regularly used as incentives and rewards for doing something challenging.
I have spent a lot of time recently while out running thinking about the pressure we often feel as runners to always achieve a Personal Best. It isn’t helped by the fact that once people find out you are a runner, the subject of PBs becomes a regular part of your conversations. No one – not even relative strangers – will beat around the bush about it. They will ask you outright to reveal your vital PB stats. It doesn’t even seem to occur to others that the question might be somewhat personal. But it’s worse if you are a parkrunner, training for an event or a member of a running group because discussions around PBs are literally inescapable. I cannot count the number of times I have been quizzed about my PB while standing at the start line, or even worse, while I was literally running in the middle of an event. It’s not that I am especially secretive about my PBs, but I tend to have other things on my mind during a race.
You know it must be January because the number of runners outside have multiplied, the gyms are full to their sweaty breaking points and knabbing a space in any yoga class is harder than landing tickets to Glastonbury. Although that’s not to say that there is anything wrong with starting the year with some good intentions to get fit and healthy. But it can be hard to know how to do it while navigating yourself through the wealth of wellness-related information we are fed by social media. Especially because the free advice we are given doesn’t often take into account the realities of our daily lives. And if a new fitness regime or resolution to eat better isn’t easy to adapt to, it’s difficult to stay motivated and stick to it long term. Nonetheless, every year we hear that our eternal ‘wellness’ and so, happiness, is promised by religiously following another new workout or fad diet.
As we head into winter and the weather becomes more predictably cold, wet and windy, it can get a little bit more difficult to motivate yourself to get outside to exercise. After all, when the roads and pavements seem to be permanently covered with fallen leaves, even a short venture out can feel like you have gone on a cross-country trek. Not to mention that you will likely return home far soggier than you expected and will then have to dig out copious amounts of foliage and twigs wedged into every tread of your shoes. Luckily, the physical and mental health benefits of exercising outdoors are so immensely rewarding that many people don’t just put up with the bad weather. They are willing to do it all again. And provided you have the right kit and can be comfortably weather-proofed, there is nothing to stop you from enjoying the great outdoors all winter.
However, there is another key factor that is often overlooked but it is actually an essential part of staying fit and healthy when the elements are testing your limits. Focusing on it can make the difference between being able to stay active outside this winter or having to nurse a cold while you wait indoors until the spring. One of the best ways to build up your strength and resilience is to prioritise your recovery days more.
Have you ever bitten off more than you can chew but knew there was no going back? If you are a runner then you may be more than familiar with this feeling of dread mixed with inevitability that can hit you even when you are doing something you actually enjoy. You might feel this way when a little bad weather is dialled up to biblical while you are still mid-run. Or maybe you face this whenever you step up to a new starting line for the first time. Even runners who appear fearless will experience this same feeling when they attempt to do something that is just a little outside their comfort zone. Fortunately, one of the universal truths of running also happens to be the well-known saying, that ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. In other words, having the resilience to overcome whatever challenge is in front of you can be immensely rewarding.
With the forest fires raging in Greece and weeks of record-breaking heatwaves spreading across Europe and afar, no one can deny that the climate crisis hasn’t really ramped up the weather. Clearly, the extreme temperatures felt in July and August last summer in the UK were not just a blip. In fact, the Met Office has issued a statement to say that the extraordinary temperatures felt in the UK last year will be regarded as being a ‘cool’ year by the end of the century. It looks like this year we have once again swapped the once traditional mild and slightly disappointing British summer for something more dramatic. We started with an absolute deluge of rainstorms and high winds which brought some areas of the country more rainfall in a weekend than expected in an entire month. And as we finish July we seem to be starting a trend of having warmer days but with some still surprisingly persistent rain showers that seem to come from nowhere.
Although no one would want to trade any of our overcast days of recurring drizzle for the extreme heat experienced abroad, the unpredictable weather makes it difficult for anyone trying to make plans to exercise and enjoy the outdoors. Because even if you’ve woken up to a forecast of bright sunshine, you simply cannot count on the weather lasting the morning. For runners, the rising temperatures and flooded trails make it difficult to know exactly what you’ll face en route and how to prepare for it.
Like many other people, I never really take it seriously whenever I hear the expression ‘Be careful what you wish for’. Mostly because it sounds just too much like another way of telling someone else to stay in their lane. But also because I know that when it comes to runners and their aspirations, I’ve yet to meet one who doesn’t wish recklessly. What runner doesn’t like to think about and share their lofty ambitions about someday running a marathon, doing an ultra or taking part in some crazy competition? Of course, I am no different and wonder what it would be like to run in a countless number of changing events. But there’s no harm in imagining doing something really difficult that’s way outside your comfort zone when you are sitting at home, safe in the knowledge that you don’t actually have to do it. That is, unless you somehow foolishly manage to enter something ridiculous…Which is exactly what I did. Yes, I went slightly further than simply wishing when I put my name down to try to qualify for the England Athletics Masters.
With the cost of living crisis affecting virtually every household in the UK, Mental Health Awareness Week couldn’t come at a better time. Although not everyone recognises the importance of being mentally healthy. Especially those that already consider themselves to be in top form. Because we all know how important it is to keep ourselves physically healthy but how many of us give the same attention to our mental health? Which is really odd because most people will experience mental health issues at some point in their lives or at the very least know someone else who has. And although there is now far greater acceptance and awareness of mental health issues it doesn’t mean that we are any better at knowing how to safeguard our mental wellbeing. Fortunately, there are 3 key steps that you can take that will help build your resilience and will ensure your mental health continues to stay in top shape.
If you read any running magazine or book about how to run a marathon, you will find out that it is pretty basic. You spend several weeks training and building up your mileage while practicing your nutrition and hydration strategy until you taper off in time for the big day. Next you show up for your event on the start line totally focused and prepared as you wait for the claxon to go off. Then you run past the start line, start your smartwatch and keep going while drinking and eating as required until you reach the finish, stop your watch and relax. That about covers it, right? Well…
For many people the commencement of Spring has been readily greeted with open arms because it marks the start of other good things to come. First, the changeover to daylight savings time means there are now more hours of daylight to enjoy, in weather that has mostly improved. With Spring temperatures now occasionally dipping into the double digits we can also spend more time outside without having to be swaddled in heavy winter woollies. Then there’s an abundance of seasonal produce now available on supermarket shelves which is welcome in most kitchens. Even though this new Spring veg has to compete for the appetites of those with too many leftover chocolate eggs. And lastly, the start of Spring also means that the Summer is not so distant in the future and so we are just a little bit closer to long summer holidays and lazy days ahead.
But not everyone is quite at ease as we begin a new season. There is another group of people who will are feeling slightly more nervous and even a bit anxious about the Spring. Some of them even wish that time had stood still for little longer. Because these people are now having to face up to something they did many, many moons ago. And just like Brexit, it was totally unnecessary. Alas, it was also self-inflicted. This group of people is made up of runners who intentionally signed up to run in a Spring event. And they all have the appearance of deer caught in the headlights of a double-decker bus, while the countdown to their race day rushes towards them at breakneck speed.
I was fortunate enough to visit the National Running Show recently where I grabbed a seat and heard one of the top Canadian ultra-runners, Gary Robbins, giving his fireside chat. But as I leaned in to listen to him expand on gnarly tales of training and competing in some of the toughest races around he made a shocking admission. Despite reaching a countless number of podiums and still holding the current record for the HURT Hawaii 100 miler for more than a decade he said that he didn’t consider himself to be only an ultra-runner. Because unlike many other world-class ultra-runners who sleep, eat and breathe running, Gary was happy to share that running is just one of the many sports he routinely does.
When it comes to foods that people hold dear to them, it doesn’t take much more than an imagined threat to strike a media storm. Which is why the recent comments made by Food Standards Agency chairwoman Prof Susan Jebb comparing the harm of having cake in the office to that of passive smoking could only be interpreted as a full-scale attack on cake. The fact that she made clear that her comments were made in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the FSA doesn’t seem to have carried any weight with the public. Neither did it matter that she was simply illustrating how an obesogenic environment directly influences our behaviour including her own. It’s no secret that the UK has a very high rate of obesity and overweight. But it’s too late. She has already been found guilty of the grievous crime of attempting to ban cake at work. It doesn’t matter that she never actually proposed a ban despite the false accusations being spread widely in the media. It’s already case closed. But should it be?
It’s all too easy to begin the New Year full of good intentions and fitness plans. Especially when you have spent the last days of your holidays getting through the cheese board and polishing off the last of the ‘sharing’ tins of chocolates. But we all know how quickly the same resolutions can be forgotten once the reality of daily life sets in. It can feel impossible to be motivated when you are faced with a couple of months of inevitably cold, wet and windy weather ahead of you. However, there are plenty of simple things you can do that will help you get back on track with whatever fitness or nutrition goals you are aiming for in 2023.
Now that we are in December, the countdown to Christmas has begun in earnest. But many people will be facing the festive season with a mix of emotions. There is the usual pressure of buying the right presents and preparing the big meal itself. Then there is the prospect of having to make small talk with distant relations you may not be quite so keen on seeing. And on top of all that, just to make things even more difficult this year, the increase in the cost of living means that you may well feel anything but merry. But somehow despite this, anyone young at heart will still be starting to feel the excitement of Christmas beginning to grow. There are plenty of things you can do to channel all of that festive energy. Luckily, one of the best ways to keep that holiday spirit high will reduce your stress levels and also happens to be free. There is no better way to build yuletide cheer than going for a run to see the dazzling colours and twinkling illuminations of outdoor Christmas displays.
With the advent of what looks and feels like ‘rugby weather’ and the earlier darker evenings, the prospect of venturing outside to go for a run is anything but inviting. But even in the daylight, you are still likely to be whipped by the wind and rain at some point and spend far too much time estimating the depth of puddles and getting it badly wrong. If you manage to return home without mud-caked soggy trainers, it will have been a good result. One thing you’ll be needing after a hot shower and warm, dry clothes is some nourishment and the sooner, the better. But not everyone knows what they should really be eating that will help them quickly refuel again and also promote their recovery.
Now be honest. If someone you trusted casually said the words ‘running holiday’ in a sentence, what would be your response? Because even if you call yourself a runner and have the stash of technical t’s and medals to show for it, you are still likely to have stopped them mid-flow with a ‘Hold on, what??!’ And truthfully, when you hear those words together for the first time, it simply sounds wrong. However, for runners of all abilities, a running holiday can be one of the best experiences there is.
Although to be perfectly clear, I am not referring to the kind of running holiday where you sign up for an organised training camp to work on improving your running and smashing your PBs. Sure there are plenty of luxurious resorts out there catering to all this that offer some serious coaching among an unlimited buffet of sport, exercise and wellness. But what I am talking about is slightly more adventurous and completely stripped down to the bare basics of running. Imagine a holiday where you spend several days running from one destination to the next along a beautifully scenic route so that by the end of your holiday you have travelled an epic length…
As the summer has neared its end and the never-ending heatwave has begun to subside, many runners will be starting to think about training for a longer event. Whether it is for an autumnal half-marathon or for something even longer in the spring it’s a good time to reassess how you are going to fuel it all. Because for many runners their primary focus is firmly set on the bare bones of their training plan and the necessary kit they’re going to need to get them through the upcoming weeks and months. And this is fine because at first you may be flying through the training and feeling slightly complacent about what’s ahead of you. But in reality, every runner knows in the back of their mind what is coming up. As you ratchet up the mileage in your legs you will inevitably have to face the prospect of doing some rather daunting long runs.
I was distracted the other day by the glare of someone’s massive smart watch and it reminded me of how old and basic my own version is. Despite my family’s polite suggestions of an upgrade whenever another birthday is approaching I have resisted retiring my simple model. So far, I am not even tempted. Because why would I replace my running watch when it’s in working order and has everything that I consider to be the essentials for any run? It measures the time, the distance and also the pace. And to be honest, I only really care about the first two. I would probably find out that there are loads of other things it also records if I could be bothered to look it up in the app but truthfully, I cannot. Though still, I am outnumbered in my family by the wearers of sophisticated mini-computers who collect a wealth of information about their health and fitness stats.
With the summer in full swing most people’s thoughts are firmly fixed on their upcoming holidays and the chance to finally unwind and take a break from their work…and workouts. And I am no different. It can be absolute bliss to be lazily soaking up the sun while sprawled out on a sandy beach with a good book and a cold drink by your side. But you will also probably not be surprised to hear that I believe that fitting in some exercise whilst on holiday can be the absolute making of it.
Now before you stop reading this and skip to the recipe bit of the blog, I am not at all suggesting that every holiday must be an ‘active’ holiday. Although I may be a massive proponent of multi-activity adventure holidays and even guilty of going on running holidays that involve racking up enough serious mileage to go well into the triple figures, that’s clearly not for everyone. I am not even saying that you are not entitled to take a break from your routine workouts, runs or training plans. After all, putting in sufficient recovery time from training is essential to prevent injuries and illness particularly if you have just run an event. If you can manage to time your recovery in with a planned holiday, it can be the perfect opportunity to fully recharge yourself. But if instead you are one of the masses of people who are just hoping to not lose too much fitness while taking a break somewhere scenic, you could have much more to gain if you take advantage of your different surroundings with a workout.
It would be hard to miss the newsflash the other day that Kirin Holdings and Meiji University have done it once again. In another new technological breakthrough, they have produced some slightly shocking results. The same Japanese partnership that brought us Taste the TV – the first “lick-able” TV screen to accurately mimic food flavours in real time – have come up with something even better. They have created a ‘chopstick device’ that can boost the taste of salt in foods while you eat them. The chopsticks are essentially connected by a wire to a mini-computer that is worn on a wristband and creates electrical stimulation waveform that works its magic to make lower-sodium foods taste saltier when eaten. In fact, the device is able to supercharge the perceived saltiness of foods by 1.5 times without changing the actual salt content of each bite.
Although the thought of voluntarily putting a pair of electrically charged chopsticks attached to a lead into your mouth might sound like a badly thought out dare, the charge is said to be too weak to affect the human body. Yet it is just strong enough to affect the perception of taste. Which means that it could be a useful tool to help people eat a diet that is lower in salt and healthier without missing any salty flavour. This joint project is part of an overall aim of Kirin Holdings to support lifestyle disease prevention and addressing the very high salt consumption rates in Japan is a good place to start. Because the evidence is crystal clear. High salt consumption is a real killer.
You may have noticed the recent outcry in the media about the new government regulations that have come into force requiring calorie information to be displayed on menus in England. You would be hard pressed to find many in favour of this initiative, at least publicly, as it feels like there has been a complete dogpile on any dissenting opinions. To recap, critics of this new law say that simply shifting the responsibility onto customers by giving them the calorie counts of meals and then expecting them to make healthy choices is hardly going make a dent in the obesity crisis. Displaying calories on menus may also cause anxiety and stress to those who are vulnerable or who are already suffering from eating disorders. As a Registered Nutritionist, I cannot disagree with either of these criticisms. But I am going to have to also stick my neck out to say that I am think cafes, restaurants and takeaways should display the calorie information of non-prepacked food and soft drink items that are prepared for customers. In fact, I would argue that the more readily available information we have about our food and drink, the better.
As I sat down to work the other week on an ordinary Tuesday morning, the small print in my diary announced that it was International Women’s Day. This year’s theme was #BreakTheBias which focuses on not just acknowledging gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping but advocates actively calling it out every time we see it. I couldn’t help thinking that this year’s theme couldn’t be more apt as it is simply not enough to only think about these issues on a dedicated day. In fact, after reading the results of a recent survey by the charity, Women in Sport, it left me in no doubt that our girls and young women need our support to excel every day.
With the recent back-to-back storms of Dudley, Eunice and Franklin battering the UK with increasing force as they tried to outdo each other in what must be the ultimate battle of sibling rivalry, there haven’t been many opportunities to exercise safely outside. It’s all very well to be told by some hardened Scandinavian veteran that ‘There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes’ but how exactly do you dress for 80mph winds without losing an item or two? I fear for the owners of small dogs who must struggle to grip their leashes while praying that they don’t fly away as the tail of a dog-shaped kite. I thought the gym would be the obvious workout solution to escape the wintery elements. But the extreme gym air con set to ice age temperatures and incoming draught of polar winds from outdoors only gave me a bad cold. A rest day was definitely in order. Although, as I hunkered down indoors and tried to catch up on some culinary reading I was only more distracted by the sound of the wind whipping the windows. As the wind circled the garden and violently toppled over every piece of heavily anchored piece of furniture almost as an afterthought, my thoughts quickly turned to comfort. After all, it was getting close to dinnertime…
For many people, the commencement of another New Year doesn’t just remind them that time is passing by far quicker than they thought and confirms the obvious, that they really are getting old. It also marks a time of the year when the masses devote themselves to having another go at making a big change all wrapped up in some fat resolutions. The majority of these resolutions always seem to relate to diet and exercise but it’s hardly surprising when they more than often resemble the same good intentions from the previous year. Nonetheless, every January the number of people who sign up to Dry January, Veganuary, start a new diet or weight-loss programme, join a gym or commit to running an extremely a long race seems to only grow.
It may only be November but with the onslaught of newly launched tv ads, the countdown to Christmas has begun, in earnest. Although with the leaves still clinging on tightly to the trees, it barely looks autumnal outside and seems a bit early to be thinking about mince pies and cosy log fires. Nonetheless, pre-orders for Christmas foods and delivery slots have reportedly sold out at several leading supermarkets leading many people to panic buy for a meal more than a month away. Whether this mad rush to be ready in time for the holidays has been influenced by last year’s largely cancelled Covid Christmas or by today’s unrelenting shipping delays that now also threaten late presents as Brexit takes back control, there is no avoiding the chaos. But at least while you try to source the last remaining turkey in the UK you can enjoy the unveiling of festive cheer between two slices with the commencement of Christmas sandwich season.
Food waste has always been a real bugbear of mine but like most people, I hold a particular bias. Although no one likes to discover some long forgotten food item in their kitchen that has clearly aged well beyond its use-by-date, I absolutely despair when something that was perfectly edible and especially tasty is needlessly wasted. Therefore, for purely selfish – or perhaps, more accurately – greedy reasons, it really pains me when the discarded foodstuff in question is something that I like to eat. Which is why when I read in the media about the recent arrest of a couple of spies for espionage-related charges I shuddered with horror. Not because they had been trying to sell secrets about nuclear powered US submarines in an eerie Vigil-like copycat. But that the spies had concealed an SD card containing highly classified information with a message wrapped in plastic inside half of a peanut butter sandwich. It was used in a ‘dead-drop’ in an outrageous abuse of peanut butter!
With life comes risks and that is never so true as when it comes to running. Because being a runner means that you have to accept the risk that one day, you may injure yourself. But all runners know that the benefits of running far outweigh any risk of injury. Otherwise they’d never lace up. However, that does not mean that being injured is any easier. In fact, as someone who has been forced to take a break from running due to a badly injured knee I feel like a grizzly with a sore paw. Impossible to reason with while equally despondent and impatient by not recovering soon enough. Who wants to RICE all the time when they feel in every bone in their body (apart from their sore paw) that they really should be running? Not this grizzly!
