Optimum Health pts: How to Eat Healthily

Optimum Health pts: How to Eat Healthily: Hey, hope you are well. I hear it has been one of the hottest weekends for a while. I was down in  London this weekend and it was real HO...

How to Eat Healthily

Hey,

hope you are well. I hear it has been one of the hottest weekends for a while. I was down in  London this weekend and it was real HOT. It still managed to rain but even then the heat was intense. The trip was great. We went to go see the Lion King at the theatre and i loved every minute of it, The production, the singing the choreography, the costumes, they were all brilliant. My mom had seen it before and said i would love it, and she was right. If you ever get get chance to see it i would highly recommend it, I'm sure you'll enjoy in too.

After the show we all wanted to eat. Now I'm sure your aware that London is not short of restaurants, but finding one that is good a reasonable in price can be a bit of a chore. We opted for a French restaurant near Leicester square and it was good. It got me thinking about the importance of having choice and why it's important remember that if you want to eat healthily you can even if you're eating out. One of the girls we were out with was a vegetarian, and there was plenty of options for her, and if she wasn't sure she asked the waiter if they could change her choice slightly and they were more that accommodating.  

I mention in a previous post about The Optimum Healthy recipe book, well it's finally here you can pick up your copy here today for just a fraction of the price, but before I talk about that here are 5 quick tips that you can apply today or the next time you go out for dinner to help insure you're eating as healthy as possible.  

1. Grill your food. 

When you grill your food you significantly reduce the amount of excess fat that can be found in many meats. Red meats typically contain more fat that white so by grilling the foods you can help to reduce your fat intake.

2. Watch your portion size.

It very easy to over eat. By being aware of what is actually going on your plate and by making a choice to eat less, will have a positive effect on you total calorie intake. 

3. Build your meals around protein

By building you meals with protein as the main source you are helping the body to build and repair. Protein helps you grow your hair, skin, bones and helps deliver enzymes and they are important in the production of anti-bodies which help us fight against disease. Basically without a good intake of protein our bodies would fail to function correctly. To try to ensure that you always have a good source of lean protein with your meals. The very best source of protein is the egg. Eggs contain the highest amount of essential amino acids (including the 8 that can’t be produced by the human body). Fish is the next best source and is then followed by meat, milk(organic full fat), soya beans, oatmeal, peas, lentils, kidney beans.

4. Chew your food.

Digestion begins in the mouth. Many of us are in sure a rush to eat our food we forget to chew our food correctly. By chewing your food properly you help prepare the food and break it down sufficiently so the body effectively draws the goodness from the food and maximises the nutritional value of the food. By doing this you are helping to fuel your body well.  Cut your bites into smaller sizes and chew until it completely liquefies, swallow it, and enjoy the flavor before you go again. By chewing your food you'll be enjoying your food even more!

5. Enjoy Variety

Start to added variety in your meals. So often we just eat the same foods day in day out, and by doing so  we minimise the chance to give a bodies a wide range of macro-nutrients (Protein, carbohydrates and fats, water) and micro-nutrients (Vitamins & minerals). When you start eating from a wider range of foods, you're offering your body a greater selection of sources to  get nutrients. No one food has all the benefits you need. You may have heard of certain foods being 'super-foods', but even those foods don't offer everything you need. Mixing up your food provides a good range of antioxidants which are key when your looking to keep healthy and well.You'll also reduce the risk of get bored with eating the same old, same old. Food is to be enjoyed, so try have something a little different in your meals today. You'll feel healthier and for better for it!

To help  you we have put together a little Healthy recipe book for you. It's not your typical but you will find the food simple, affordable and your whole family can enjoy them. We have even reduced the price so you can get it at our introductory rate.

 You can get your copy here  today.

Optimum Healthy Recipes

Remember, by following these simple tips you can eat Healthily and enjoy your food too.

Charity Fun day for you!

Hey! How you doing?

I hope you are living life to the full in your part of the world and enjoying being fit healthy and well!

This post is to tell you about our forthcoming "60 minute Swing Charity fun day" at Optimum Health pts well-being studio in Leeds on Saturday the 22nd of September. As you know, we believe it's important to try to help others that maybe less fortunate than ourselves. Our charity fun day is all about raising awareness for our nominated charity Martin  House Children's Hospice, have a little fun and keep fit all at the same time in our 60 minute swing kettlebell classes.

My 2 cubs Rowen & Reuben

I have been blessed with two amazing boys who are growing up healthy and well. But for anyone who's children may not be in that position, Martin house offer a great option to help with care. Martin House is a fantastic facility. This year they are celebrating 25 years of service. They provide family led care for children many of which suffer with life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses. Families can stay from time to time with their children whilst receiving support, treatment and practical help. It is a place of love and understanding, a peaceful place but one that can also have a lively, friendly atmosphere full of fun and laughter, and that's what I love about them is they are all for helping families enjoy a better quality of life, Just as we believe this is very important they do too and for that reason, I salute Martin house children's Hospice.

The 60 minute charity fun day is going to be great! You can have a great time exercising and raising money for a good cause. The day starts at 9am. We will be holding  hourly Kettlebell classes every hour, on the hour through till 6pm. For each class the fee is £8 you can also pay £25 and come to as many class as you want in the day (Subject to booking). If you've not tried Kettlebells before this a great opportunity to jump on board and find out how this simple but effective exercise tool can get you looking and feeling your best. Click here to see our current Kettlebells Fit & Firm class timetable.

The day will packed full of activity including sampling sessions of our new Health & Beauty products, well-being seminars, Free sports Massages and lots more! Each class participant will be entered into a Prize draw for a chance to win some great prizes. You could win a Free Optimum Health class pass for Yoga & Pilates, a meal for two at Leeds Top restaurant Black house and Kettlebells!

After the fun is over we'll be meeting in the Gusto Restaurant next door around 7.30pm for our Optimum Health pts 2nd year Birthday party where we'll announce the winners of our Prize draw. There will be nibbles and drinks and a relaxed social atmosphere for you to meet and greet your fellow Optimum Health pts members and maybe even make some new friends. It's going to be great!

We'd love to see you down here with us helping a good cause, having fun and keeping fit. Book your place by emailing us your ideal class time and we'll book you in. Classes run from 9am every hour on the hour. Spaces in each class will be limited so book early to avoid disappointment. You can bring a friend or family member so they can join in the fun too!

Click here to find out more>>>>>>60min Swing Charity fun day

Come down and have a great day!

P.s Share this post with your friends and let them know about our charity day!

Turbo Boost Your Metabolism

Hey! Mike Here.

Hope all is well with you. Its been a real exciting 7 days since the start of the London Olympics. 

I'm sure you've been watching some of the action. I love it! and I'm sure you do too; even if you're not into sports or competition in a big way, you can't help but get involved in the drama and theatre of it all! The opening ceremony was great. My favorite bit was the lighting of the cauldron; Pure genius!

It only happens every 4 years, so for many of them they only get one shot, so you can understand why some of them break out into tears of joy when they win a medal or break down into tears of despair when they lose. These athletes work hard and make major sacrifices to make the Olympics and its now down to them to shine in their event(s), represent their nation proudly and try reap some reward for all that hard work and dedication. 

Down to 22.6%- We're making progress

I've been doing some of my own hard work recently, you may have reading my last blog post about how I've been back training regularly to change my body composition (you can check out the last post here if you missed it). It's been going well and my body composition is down to 22.6% that's down 3.4% in just over 4 weeks. I switched to doing resistance training, not real change in the diet until this week and I'll tell you about that next time. I mentioned the word 'resistance training' because this is important part of any process if your goal is to shift excess body fat or change your body composition positively. Resistance training which includes, weight lifting, Body weight exercises, using kettlebells, TRX or ViPR , will all help to increase your metabolism. By raising your metabolic rate. Your bodies ability to burn calories will be significantly improved allowing you to 'use calories' instead of store them.
Here's a "QUICK FIRE" list of how to raise your metabolism. If you just apply some of these tips you soon start to raise your metabolism and begin to burn of fat effectively.

1. Know what metabolism is. In the simplest terms, metabolism is the rate at which your body burns or uses calories. Very few people have a fast metabolism. Surprisingly, overweight individuals have relatively fast metabolism because they weigh more, but if their weight is staying constant then their metabolism is not fast enough to offset their caloric intake. The bottom line is that increasing your metabolism will enable you to level your diet and weight.

2. Understand what & how your metabolism is influenced. There are some factors that you can control and change, and some factors that you can't.
Age - Your metabolic rate decreases around 5% each decade, after the age of 40, this is due to the decrease in muscle mass. Gender - Men generally burn calories more quickly than women because they have more muscle tissue. Heredity - It is understood that you can inherit your metabolic rate from previous generations.Thyroid disorder -hypothyroidsm (under active thyroid gland) and hyperthyroidsm (overactive thyroid gland) can slow down or speed up metabolism, but only 3% and .3% of the population have hypo- and hyperthyroidism respectively. Weight - different tissues of your body contribute different amounts to resting metabolism. Muscle contributes more than fat per unit mass and because it is denser than fat, muscle contributes much more per unit volume.

3. Eat Breakfast. Many people think that by missing breakfast that this will aide them in their quest to loose weight. Skipping meals, especially breakfast will only slow down your metabolic rate and help you store fat. Having a something to eat according to your metabolic type, will help boost your energy and your metabolism.

4. Drink cool/ice water. Yes that's right it's me again going on about drinking water- I make no apologies. When you drink ice cold water, your body burns calories warming it to body temperature. Over 90% of the chemical reactions in your body occur in water, so it's important you stay correctly hydrated.

OPT KFF class

5. Exercise with weights. I mentioned previously about weight training, but it is important to remember. Muscle burns more calories than fat does (73 more calories per kilogram per day, to be exact) so the more muscle you build, the higher your resting metabolic rate (RMR) will be. Every muscle cell that you gain is like a little factory that constantly burns calories for you, even while you rest and sleep, and when you exercise it revs up even more! This is the only way to increase RMR, which accounts for 60% -70% of the calories you burn daily. In one year a person with 2.2 kg more muscle will burn calories corresponding to 1 kg of fat due to this muscle mass, that's a whole bag sugar!
Using Kettlebells in our  Kettlebell fit & firm class is a great way to incorporate weight training into your fitness regime. It's fun and anyone can do it regardless of your fitness ability or level. email us here to book your place.

We'll be sending you out some more info next week about 60 minute Swing Charity Day You can check it out here on Facebook. Also, our new Optimum Healthy recipe book will be available for you too. 

Have great weekend, enjoy the Olympics and we'll talk soon.

P.s I'd love for you to share this with your friends-pass it on and spread the word!