“Bodies are made in the kitchen”

You’ve all heard the saying “you can out train a bad diet” right? Well it’s true, there is no use going to the gym every day if you are not paying attention to your diet.

Don’t assume you need to load up on plates of pasta and bread to give you energy to exercise. The body requires far less than we stuff in it most days – that’s why we got fat!

Think about your goal and training – if you are a bodybuilder who wants to add muscle bulk then you diet will be different to a breastfeeding mother looking to lose a few pounds. In fact, the detailed approach to bodybuilding which I have recently heard about from Nicola Joyce has been fascinating and I would think a real eye opener to most readers – it requires discipline with a capital D! (In fact Nicola started the sport of body building less than a year ago and has won several trophies)

Most people who come to bootcamp are just looking to lose on average 10 lbs of body fat and get fitter and the principles we use are actually very much aligned to the clean eating of a bodybuilder, although the end result is quite different.

Vicky,who is a new Mum, wanted to get back into her skinny jeans and have more energy so she joined Zest Bootcamp in Bath at the start of September and 7 weeks later she has lost her “baby belly”, dropped 1.5 stone, gone down a clothes size and feels so much fitter. She kept strictly to the nutritional rules, which once she got into the habit of doing have proved easy to incorporate into her busy day. As advised Vicky kept a food diary which allowed me to give her advice on what small changes she could make if necessary, eg after week 1 she said “I’m so hungry” so we looked at increasing her protein consumption at certain times of day.

Remember diet’s don’t work, just a long term healthy approach to eating that you can work with FOREVER!

You can hear what Vicky thought of Zest Bootcamp in this short video and watch the 6.30am campers in action doing a variety of things, such as bear crawls, boxing and press up circles….

Chocolate and Courgette Muffins

The reason I’ve not updated the blog for a while is that I’ve been busy experimenting in the bootcamp kitchen and these are dairy, sugar and gluten free sweet treats that are great after exercising, or as a snack on the run to keep your blood sugar stable.

2 courgettes – grated

4 eggs

12 dried apricots (chopped)

1 cup ground almonds

1 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup rice/hemp or pea protein powder (mixture of 2 or all is nice)

OPTIONAL

Orange oil – just a few drops and cinnamon to taste

Agave syrup to taste

Splash water where necessary

(Optional add 1-2 bananas instead of apricots and less water)

Mix all in a mixer; if you do not have a mixer then blend the wet ingredients first and then add the dry ingredients and mix.

Line a muffin or square tin with coconut oil and add the wet mixture.  Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees C.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.  If baked in a square tin then cut into squares or remove from muffin tin.  These can then be kept in the fridge or frozen until ready to eat (but I reckon you might like them too much!)

Enjoy

Zita x

Healthy Banana Pancakes

Pancake day is coming but you can still have a low glycaemic index pancake that is rich in protein and also dairy, wheat and sugar free – but best of all it’s easy and tastes great.

Watch the video to find out how…

Have a go and I’d love to see what you think?

Secrets of Nutrition and Fat Loss

Thank you to everyone who came to our talk last night to listen to some secrets about what we should be doing to improve our health, and the truth about why the diet industry is making us fatter! It was great to see so many new faces as well as current bootcampers who wanted to learn more and support a good cause. I’ve already had people email me today saying how inspired they have been to start incorporating some of the tips and advice we covered, which is fantastic – action already being taken to improve health.

We raised £150 for Dorothy House Hospice and people also got the chance to try some lovely organic Neal’s Yard skincare including a raffle prize supplied by Anna Sessarego-Mercer. Kath won a lovely 30 minute aromatherapy massage donated by Pey from Five Elements and Lisa (sister to a current bootcamper) was lucky enough to win a free month at bootcamp!

If you missed this one there will be more coming in the future so keep you eyes out for the next chance to learn more.

Grass fed livestock

As many of you know I am a big fan of buying organic fruit and vegetables, particularly from vegetable box schemes such as Riverford, but do you ever consider why you should buy organic meat, eggs and dairy?

Grass fed meat, as it always was in the past,is the best meat to eat if you want to avoid damaging your body. Yes it does cost more but what price your health? Not only is it better for you but you can also really notice the difference – much tastier.

Here is a great article about what buying this better quality produce actually means Riverford Home Delivery.

Feel free to let me know what you think.

Is soya healthy?

The marketing men have done a great job of promoting soya as a health product but is it really that good for us? Here is a great article from a few years ago that appeared in the guardian – definitely worth reading if you eat or feed your family soya milk, tofu, veggie burgers or any other derivative:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/jul/25/food.foodanddrink

Out of date food?

There has recently been a lot more publicity about how much food we throw away, not that it has ever been an issue for me. Growing up in a Portuguese family meant that you NEVER throw food away, especially based on the date, you just sniff it and if it smells ok you cook it (well to kill off the bugs!).

Using my nose and taste buds this morning I realised that a packet of toasted flaked almonds I just bought and were good until Jan 2010 were actually not. They had a rancid smell and in nuts that is DEFINITELY a reason not to eat them as that means the good oils have turned bad and can damage the body.

This evening I had a pack of pre-prepared stir fry veg and also something I rarely buy, pre-chopped soup mix of carrots, parnsips, leeks, etc. Both had eat by dates of today so a simple solution was to bung them in a pan with some water and an oxo cube and voila – a yummy veg soup. I added some organic ground pork from www.riverford.co.uk that I had cooked and was in the fridge and that made it into a complete meal. It’s important to thoroughly reheat this soup when I have it tomorrow and I do not recommend microwaves as they damage the cells and render the food almost “dead” to our bodies, so into the saucepan it will go, brought to the boil and then it’s ok to eat.

So next time you have some “out of date” food why not just be creative and see what comes out! Trust your nose, it will tell you, especially with meat and fish. If in doubt better to throw it out rather than getting ill as that would stop you going to bootcamp classes!

 

Bionic Burger

It was great to see so many of our campers out at the social on Saturday and although we didn’t eat the kind of food I had originally planned we luckily did not eat a bionic burger. However, how many people after a night of drinking do head for the burger van and undo all the good they have done during the week?

Watch the following WARNING about what exactly is in the JUNK FOOD that people eat (including me many years ago). You may think twice when you give your children a “treat” and take them to a fast food chain next time.

Organic vegetables

Although I like to get most of my vegetables from a local organic box scheme, when you are looking to buy organic vegetables in the supermarkets these days it can be expensive so you can imagine my delight when I popped into one for some garlic and coconut milk after Bootcamp last night and ended up coming out with this amazing haul…

Full price this would have cost over £20 (infact I couldn’t get it all in the picture) and I got it for £1!

Obviously even I can’t eat all that in a day (although I’d certainly be getting my 5 a day if I could!) so I’m going to make some lettuce soup (saute onions in coconut oil, add the chopped lettuce and anything else green that needs using up, fry for few minutes and add some vegetable stock powder or an oxo cube and hey presto – a cheap, nutritious, dairy free, delicious soup that can be frozen and then reheated to serve hot on a cold winters day. You could also add a splach of coconut milk for a richer version).

What about the tomatoes – I’m going to chop, fry in some coconut and olive oil, add some chopped onions , garlic, celtic sea salt & pepper and make a lovely tomato sauce that you can serve alongside grilled chicken breasts, roasted cod or anything you fancy really.

So next time you are passing the reduced section in a supermarket have a peek and see what delights you could make with what they have:)