Ingredients: (Serves 6-8)

• 2 tbsps. olive oil
• 1 celery root, peeled and diced
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 3 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 cups organic chicken broth
• 3 cups water
• 1 large tin diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 cup green lentils
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp basil

Method:

• Saute celery root, onion, garlic and carrots in olive oil until golden and tender.
• Add broth, water, tomatoes, lentils and herbs.  Bring to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

This week, we asked the lovely Paige Davidson if she would mind sharing her story with us about why she joined Urban Vitality and what she has acheived so far.  This is what she said:

Paige, Tell us a bit about yourself?
I am a Primary School teacher who has been teaching for the last 8 years. I originally come from South Africa and have been living in London for the last 8 years.

How did you hear about Urban Vitality?
One night a friend came round for dinner and she said that she had bought a groupon voucher to join this bootcamp on Turnham Green. She suggested I do the same. I was very hesitant, but I thought I might as well give it a go and I bought the groupon voucher that night.

What made you decide to join up with Urban Vitality in particular?
The Monday that I started, I was so nervous and I felt sick the whole day! My friend Janine could only make it to the 7.30pm one, so I went by myself in the dark and cold – it was April! After the first session I was hooked… I decided to keep coming as it was not only about me getting back into fitness, but Urban Vitality had so much more to offer – healthy eating, social aspect etc. All the people who joined were very friendly and there was a good vibe. John was also very inspirational and often told us about how we could get to where we wanted to get too and he was very encouraging. It also gave me a lot more energy!

When starting out, what did you want to achieve through UV?
I just wanted to get fit and healthy again and enter into events – 5k, 10k runs, cycles etc.

What is the biggest challenges you face with health and fitness?
Time and money! Urban Vitality just fits so well into my routine and it really is the whole package – fitness, healthy eating, social etc

What have you achieved so far with UV?
I have never been a natural runner, and I have always wanted to get into running as my family and friends are all addicted. I couldn’t quite get the same picture, but UV definitely helped me with my stamina and mind set. I started off doing the London to Brighton cycle ride which went well, then I started doing little 5km runs. I do park runs at Gunnersbury Park on a Saturday and then I have done various 10km runs around London. The big one for me this year was my first proper half marathon which I did this year in April. I did the Two Oceans Half Marathon in Cape Town.

What do you enjoy most about the sessions and UV overall?
I like the fun games we play as it doesn’t even feel like we are exercising and I like the social aspect and being outdoors.

Is there anything you still feel you can learn through UV that you would like us to focus on more?
I am still learning through UV today, as John always has something interesting to say!!

Whats your best UV Memory?
My best UV memory was doing bootcamp in the snow and we tried to make the biggest snow ball. John then made us all push the giant snow ball – it as a lot of fun! Also, a lot of us also took part in the Yellow Umbrella 10km race. That was fun, as we all encouraged each other – some walked and some ran.

A huge thanks to Paige for taking the time to tell us her story!

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 2 cups fresh Organic Persimmons, Bananas, Kiwi, Mango, Strawberries, or any frozen fruit
• 2-3 cups coconut milk, light or regular, chilled OR milk alternative(nut milk, Hemp milk etc…)**
• 2-3 tbsp agave nectar or raw honey to taste or a banana or 1 cup frozen mango or 3-4 dates or 3 drops stevia
• 1 tiny pinch sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• For chocolate lovers add: 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder+2-3 tbsp Blue Agave Nectar, omit strawberries and add 1 banana.
• For extra protein add: 1-2 tbsp nut butter(almond, Valencia peanut, sunflower seed, macadamia etc…)

Method:

• Put all ingredients into a blender and blend on low speed, holding the top on tightly. Gradually increase the speed to high until smooth.
• Taste and adjust sweetness with agave. If it is too thick add more coconut/alternative milk.
• Drink right away while it is cold or chill in the refrigerator. It will thicken with time and be the texture of yogurt

**You can use 1/2 coconut milk and 1/2 another alternative milk

All the details are available on this video here!

Click here to apply today!

http://urbanvitality.com/spotlight-personal-training/

This week Chiswick Urban Vitality Coach and Nutritionist, Lindsay Holden, discusses the debate around Protein Shakes…

Protein powders have been on the market for a while now and is probably the most recognised functional sports nutrition product among athletes and your average gym bunny. If you’ve ever been a member of a gym you’ll have no doubt seen muscle-clad men sipping on a protein shake while checking out their biceps in the mirror or adverts on the back of toilet doors from Maximuscle telling you how you can slim down on a diet of protein shakes and protein bars. Different brands have been endorsed by various sports professionals and celebrities which has glamourized these products almost to a level of Coca-Cola – or Diet Coke for the ‘health conscious’….What a load of rubbish hey!

So, what’s all the hype about and do you need to take these products if you are exercising?

Well, let me start by steering you away from whey. Whey protein powder is hugely mass produced now due to the booming market. So you can imagine that the quality of this stuff is going the same way the quality of the milk you by in the supermarket is going…steadily downhill! But what about all these other options available instead….? Hemp? – YUCK….Soy? – Allergen!….Pea? Rice? Cranberry?… much better. Vegan protein powders are a better option to avoid gastrointestinal disturbances and nasty added extras.

But do you even need them at all?

In a word…NO.

There is definitely a place for protein shakes – I even take one myself after I train. They are ridiculously convenient. They are easy to transport and drink on the go. They can provide you with a direct and rapid supply of amino acids to replenish your tired muscles after training. But don’t forget that food can also do the same.

Amino acids are in their simplest form in a product such as a protein shake which means they will get delivered to your muscles faster but you don’t need to have a panic attack that you are going to go into severe muscle breakdown in the time it will take your body to digest an egg or piece of chicken. Unless you are training for something specific or looking to become a world class body builder or fitness model these pernickety modifications aren’t something to get stressed out about. Protein powders are a great tool to use if you don’t have the time to eat after exercise or the facility to prepare any food. The direct hit of amino acids will ensure your muscles are adequately fuelled and replenished so you can recover and be able to train the next day.

Just be careful with the powder that you by. Avoid anything with nasty added extras. As a general rule, if you don’t understand what you are reading, there’s a likely chance that your body won’t understand what you are eating.  This causes a host of digestive and metabolic disturbances as your body doesn’t know how to deal with the product and can leach nutrients from your stores in order to deal with it and remove it.

Keep it simple – eat wholefoods when you can. Only add in functional products if you want the extra edge or if it’s out of the question to cook an egg on the tube into work after a morning workout.

Ingredients

• 400g Lean lamb steak
• 1 Onion (red or brown)
• 1 Garlic clove
• Chopped mint leaves
• 1 Tbls soy sauce
• 1 Lamb stock cube to crumble into stir fry
• 1 x 250 – 300g pack of stir fry veg
• Season to taste

Method

1. Heat wok with non stick light oil, cut lamb into strips (and any fat off) 
2. Add it to the pan with chopped onion and garlicfor 1-2 mins
3. Add any chunky veg you like eg, mushrooms
4. Add handfull of mint leaves and crumble the stock cube into pan.  Add soy sauce.
5. Lastly add the pack of stir fry veg.  Season to taste.

On Friday 26th April we will be announcing something very special at Urban Vitality.

It won’t be for everyone, but will make a huge difference to a select few.

More details will be announced on Friday…

Is “High Intensity Exercise” dangerous?

Andrew Marr’s recent stroke was directly attributed to a his High Intensity Exercise regime (HIE).

Yet a mere 3 months ago we were all raving about it’s health benefits thanks to a documentary by Michael Mosely.

So what’s the truth?

Well before jumping to any conclusions about any form of exercise it is important to assess the evidence…

Scientific studies on HIE have discovered the following things

• High Intensity Exercise CAN help increase levels of human growth hormone – a hormone linked with longevity and improved health.
• It can help increase insulin sensitivity – a key factor in reducing the risk of heart disease and obesity

You really can achieve better results in far less time with HIE. However, whilst the science is encouraging there are a few things to consider with high intensity exercise.

Your STARTING level of Fitness

In order to even be able to achieve a HIGH INTENSITY of exercise, for any sustained period, you need to have a good level of fitness to begin with. This is why I always get a little worried when I see people “starting” with HIE after reading a few articles in Men’s Health.

The levels of intensity required, in order to achieve the promised benefits, are quite high. (Near maximum heart rate for repeated bursts of up to 30 seconds) A beginner exerciser will be unlikley to reach their maximum heart rate, and less likely to repeat this feat with the small amount of recovery that HIE requires.

Your Lifestyle – Too Much Stress?

Andrew Marr has openly admitted that he was under extreme stress at work at the time of his stroke. HIE will only have added to this stress.

The body does not differentiate between, psychological, nutritional or physical stressors. For best results your exercise must seek to balance out the rest of your lifestyle.

Andrew Marr’s already hectic lifestyle would probably have meant that rest, relaxation or a gentler workout, rather than HIE, would have been the most effective use of his exercise time. Not very sexy, but true.

Appropriate equipment

The one thing I think that has been left out of this whole debate has been the fact that Andrew Marr was on a rowing machine.

When I trained as a fitness Instructor we were always told to avoid the rowing machine with any client that had any risk of heart disease. This was due to the extreme pressure that could be caused by the effort required for each rowing stroke. If you have ANY risk of heart disease and want to experiment with HIE don’t start with the bloody rowing machine!

Would Andrew Marr have avoided his stroke if he had been sprinting or on a bike? Possibly not, but it would certainly have reduced his risk.

In conclusion – right strategy wrong tactics?

HIE is scientifically proven to be a highly effective health tool for modern exercisers. In fact, it can actually be safer than many endurance sports (A 23 year old Marathon runner died only last week)

However, it is a tool that needs to be respected.

• You need a good foundation of fitness before you start.
• You need to recover properly in between workouts. (Manage your stress)

This is why we reserve our HIE for the last 10 days of Bootcamp and emphasise the important of rest and nutrition throughout the program.

If you were inspired by the huge health benefits Michael Mosely achieved with HIE then don’t be put off by Andrew Marr’s terrible experience. HIE is very much the exercise of the future, however it needs to be treated with respect and placed within an appropriate lifestyle rather than seen as the miracle cure that it clearly isn’t.

How to increase the speed at which we metabolise fat is surely one of the most asked questions in the history of fitness…

After all, who doesn’t want to eat like Ricky Gervais (in his Davd Brent Days) and look like Ricky Martin (In his Liva la vida loca days)?

Worst of all, the whole “fat Burning” thing doesn’t seem to have a particular rules to play by…

Some people eat what they like and stay thin, whilst others eat next to nothing and STILL can’t shift body fat!

What’s going on???

This article highlights the factors that REALLY dictate fat metabolism and gives you a very basic guide as to what YOU can do to control it.

Feeling a little hormonal?

Whilst age, gender and genetics do play a large role, the real answer to a flatter stomach is in your hormones!

Here is a list of the ones that really count, and how you can make them work for you!

Insulin – The Godfather of Fat Loss

If you could only control one hormone with regards to fat loss it would be insulin. Abuse this “Hormonal Don” and you will be piling on fat like the Nutty Professor! Keep him in check and you’ll be laughing all the way to the beach!

The more insulin you secrete, the more fat you store. Simples. (Unless you are a diabetic)

So how do I keep insulin levels super low? You avoid sugar, starchy carbs, and alcohol!

 Sound familiar? 

Unfortunately the amount of Insulin we secrete is mostly controlled by nutrition, however intermittent fasting, sprinting and resistance training can also play a role.

The good news is that it is possible to rebalance your insulin levels, just as a good holiday can help us rebalance our adrenal levels, however the amount of rest you will need will be different for everyone.

The longer you can stay away from sugary foods the more chance we have of calming down insulin secretion and giving the body a chance to use FAT as the preferred energy source.

Testosterone & Estrogen – Your sex hormones

Ladies – Ever wondered why childbirth and the menopause can make it so hard for some women to lose weight?

Guys – Noticed how much easier it is to put weight on around your middle once you turn 30?

Sex hormones such as testosterone and oestrogen can play a BIG role in the amount of energy you store as body fat.

If you want to keep your sex hormones at a healthy level despite the ageing process you should be focusing on the following…

• Lift heavy things – Resistance training can help spike or maintain testosterone levels later in life.
• Sprint – Intensive training like sprinting has been shown to increase testosterone levels
• Ovoid Over training – People training for marathons often have very low testosterone levels…avoid too much cardio.
• Eat saturated and Mono- unsaturated fat from clean animal sources – A low fat – high fibre reduced testosterone levels in middle aged men.
• Avoid sugar – Studies have shown that 75 grams of pure glucose have been enough to drop testosterone levels by about as much as 25% in some men.

Human Growth Hormone

Isn’t it weird how many teenagers can seem to eat pretty much anything and still stay thin as a rake?

Well, there are a number of reasons for this (Obviously) but one of them will be the high levels of growth hormone that children have!

However, the bad news is that this hormone naturally drops off as we age, leading to our body using less of it’s energy for building and maintenance (muscle and movement) and more of it for body fat (Booooo!)

There has been a lot of interest in Human growth hormone recently and a number of methods have been mentioned in order to help increase it (maintain it)

Here are a few of them

• Intermittant fasting – Not eating for 16-24 hours has been proven to increase levels of Human Growth hormone in some studies.
• Sprinting & High Intensity Training – Again this has shown a positive affect on the amount of human growth hormone we are producing.
• Sleep – What hormone doesn’t liek quality sleep!

So there you are…

Whilst it is important to know that age, genetics and gender will all play a massive role in how much body fat we use as energy, you can have your say!

In a nut shell, eat clean natural food, exercise intensely but not too much, and take your down time seriously! (Simple, but not easy!)

This way you’ll have lots of consistent energy, mental clarity and a flat stomach! All because you are using body fat as a fuel rather than surviving on the boom and bust economy of sugar and refined carbohydrates.

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Thrive friendly snacks can get a little expensive. Boost Balls, NAKD Bars, Trek Bars all taste great, however at £1.80 a shot these can all add up (especially when a snickers is half the price)

Making your own at home can reduce the price down to 35p a shot if you are canny!

Here’s how I make mine, although feel free to invent your own variations on this.

You’ll need

• Dried Dates
• Cashews
• Almonds
• Desiccated Coconut
• tsp of freshly squeezed Orange Juice
• Cranberries
• A food Processor

Now the reason I have not added the quantities is simply that the texture of your Energy Ball is totally dependant on you.

The formula is simple;

More Nuts = Drier

More Dates / Cranberries = Stickier

I simply add quantities in until I have a consistency that will hold together as a ball without being too sticky to handle!

Simply whack everything in the food processor and mix! That’s it!

Then take the mixture and roll into balls before wrapping individually in cling film. I then place the balls in the freezer so they taste firmer (I also do this with Nakd bars) *

It takes about 15 minutes to prepare a large batch but these will last as snacks for ages and they are delicious!

* Make sure you haven’t got your false teeth in if you are eating an energy ball straight out of the freezer! They are pretty solid!