Griffen Fitness - Newsletter

August newsletter

Greetings healthy people,

It's summer (finally!) and it's been a busy month here at Griffen HQ. At the end of June I lead the aerobic warm up for over 5,000 participants at the Great Scottish Walk in Edinburgh, which raised lots of money for lots of different charities. This newsletter also reached the 500 subscriber mark! Feel free to forward on this newsletter and spread the healthy vibes. The more subscribers, the more compelled I am to pack each newsletter with lots of healthy information for you.

Husband Andy and I also embarked on a bike ride along cycle route 75 to Glasgow (see article below), and the day after I had my first chat on air on Leith FM. I'm hoping to have a wee spot on the radio every month or so, with Healthy Living in Leith ideas.

Watch this space.

What's in Season for July / August

It's a great time of year to eat seasonal fruit and vegetables, so here's what's in season:

VEGETABLES
Artichoke, aubergine, beetroot, broad beans, broccoli, carrots, courgettes, cucumber, fennel, french beans, garlic, kohlrabi, mangetout, new potatoes, onions, peas, potatoes (maincrop), radishes, rocket, runner beans, sorrel, spring onions, turnips, watercress

FRUIT
Apricots, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, gooseberries, kiwi fruit, loganberries, melons, raspberries, redcurrants, strawberries, tomatoes

Top Tip – for a tasty and healthy sweet treat, mash up some local raspberries with natural yoghurt.

Easy Recipe: The Easy Way To Cook Brown Rice

A few years ago I discovered how good brown rice is. There are detox diets that revolve around brown rice – it's nutritious and easily digested by the body. It's wonderful stuff, but most people don't know how to prepare it. The following is adapted from the method at www.detox.org and after you've got it started, you can leave it and forget about it. So simple!

Either 1 ¾ cups rice to 3 cups of water (serves 3)
Or 2 1/3 cups rice to 4 cups of water (serves 4)

-              Measure the uncooked rice into a sieve and wash thoroughly, picking out any funny looking bits.
-              Drain, then rinse again just to be sure. Drain again and shake off excess water
-              In a heavy bottomed big pot, heat a Tablespoon of good quality oil.
-              Sauté the drained rice, stirring constantly until it smells nutty.
-              At the same time, boil the amount of water you need in a kettle.
-              After a minute or two of heating and stirring the rice, add the boiling water. Be careful, as it may spit.
-              Give it all a good stir and bring it to the boil.
-              Now move the pot to your smallest burner on the lowest flame.
-              Cook, covered with a tight lid for 45 minutes. Do not stir, and if it bubbles then it's too hot.
-              After 45 minutes turn the heat off and let it sit for another 15 minutes.
-              Serve with steamed vegetables, stir fry or whatever you fancy.

Resisting Temptation Hint of the Month

As frustrating as it may be, try using chopsticks when you're in an Asian restaurant. It will slow down how fast you shovel food into your mouth and also assist your coordination…

Fad or Fab: Three Big Fat Fads

Last month I looked at the Powerbreathe device that got the 'thumbs up' – HaB, the company that produces the device were so happy with my synopsis that they put it on the new section of their website. See www.habdirect.co.uk/content/news for more info.

This month I'm looking at three concepts, all of which I truly believe to be big fat fads!

Fit Flops are certainly comfortable versions of flip flops, but at £40 a pop, you'd hope they'd live up to their press. Fit Flops claim to use similar technology to MBT's (Masai Barefoot Technology) which engage your 'core' muscles by putting you off balance. I tried some on and they are nice and spongy, however I don't think they work the 'core' muscles as well as MBT's which are lace-up shoes. There's a proliferation of these types of toning shoes at the moment, as people look for easy ways to keep toned.

Speedshaper Speed Shaper - this is worth looking at this website just for the spurious claims made. It's a hilarious ad (check out the picture of the smiling lady and the beam of light coming from the Speed Shaper!). "Imagine 4 sizes smaller in 2 weeks" – it's physically impossible, even if you don't eat. Not only this, but the advertisement includes a cracking bit of pseudo science… Can you pick it? That's it… Synometrics do not exist. The marketing company invented the term. Google it and see that the only references to synometrics are references to Speed Shaper.

Skinny Water – Yes, you read right, water to make you skinny. I tried some as it was on offer at the shops, it certainly tasted quite nice, but I was unsure of the validity of its claim "the first in the world to be fortified with l-carnitine and chromium" Do we need this stuff? I emailed Louisa Johnston, a talented naturopath, and founder of Tonic Health, who replied:

"L Carnitine helps the body convert fat to glucose (energy) and is one of the most widely used isolated Amino acids. I've used it with boxers in training in the past and it does work. It's a temporary measure and if people are training it will indeed help to convert fat to energy but when the exercising stops it does not continue.

I'm pretty cynical about these kind of water products to be honest and my Naturopathic roots always bring me back to diet, water, exercise and rest. An isolated supplement would be more affective than 2-4 bottles of this a day." So there you have it. Another big fat fad!

Spotlight on Aloe: Forever Freedom (£24.58 for 1 Litre)

Forever Freedom There are times in life when you push yourself physically, joints and ligaments and all… Or perhaps you're simply feeling a little creaky.

Forever Freedom is a combination of aloe drinking gel, methylsulphonylmethane (MSM), glucosamine and chondroitin. The three last ingredients mentioned help keep joints supple and defend against wear and tear. Forever Living Products have done a clever thing here as aloe gel (and therefore the other ingredients) are easily absorbed by the body, ensuring that you're getting maximum protection for the price. It's also recommended for folk with arthritic and other joint issues.

Tracy is an Independent Distributor of Forever Living Products, quality aloe vera products for your health. Please contact her if you wish to purchase any aloe products or would like a catalogue.

Article of the Month:
Route 75 – A Magical Mystery Tour

About a year ago someone told me that there was a cycle route from Edinburgh to Glasgow. The seed of a crazy plan was planted. Just how long would it take to cycle to Glasgow? What would I feel like when I got there? I guessed I'd be hungry and needing a shower, so the plan involved a nice hotel, and then a tasty dinner somewhere. With these carrots of enticement I cajoled the long-suffering husband Andy to join me on my escapade.

A date was set, a pannier bag purchased for Andy, and the cycle route studied on maps and in our "Scotland: The National Cycle Network" book (a very handy book, and available from the Sustrans website). The weather on the weekend of the ride was unsettled (how surprising) so we opted to go on the Sunday. This was also because I wasn't keen on getting lost cycling in to Glasgow on a Saturday night…

We set off at 9.06am to very light traffic and no wind. A good start. The cycle from Leith to Fountainbridge, where the Union canal starts, is a familiar one as I have a number of clients near there. In hindsight it was the steepest part of the whole journey! We meandered along the canal path, aware of keeping our speed down, as neither of us had cycled long distance since we were teenagers and weren't sure if we could last the distance.

After the aquaduct, we turned off to Balerno along a muddy track. Some dog walkers, but our early start meant we missed most of the weekend wanderers. From Ratho we were on quiet roads to Kirknewtown, then along nice paths to Livingston. Where were came across our first industrial estate. The first of many.

A word of explanation, Route 75 is a cycle route (major national cycle routes are numbered, a bit like roads). We had to the follow Route 75 route markers to find our way. Which were a bit random and occasionally difficult to spot. A bit like a treasure hunt gone wrong. Lots of conversations like:

Tracy asks "Can you see any stickers?"
"Look! There's one on that pole" Andy's reply (he has better eyesight)
"Which pole?"
"The one past the junction" Andy gestures to a spot around a corner after the next road.

Livingston to Bathgate was easy, although we were both getting peckish. I had optimistically imagined a nice café or something on the route where we could stop and have some wholesome homemade food and a nicde cup of tea, but there was nowt. A dearth of anywhere remotely hospitable…

So we hightailed it past Bathgate, encouraged by the thought of perhaps there would be somewhere in Airdrie. Also, the Bathgate to Airdrie part promised to be interesting as I'd heard something about a 'sculpture trail' along the way. Yes, there were sculptures, and yes, they were graffitied and vandalized! All except the bedrock bike (pictured) which I quite liked.

Postcard from Route 75

By Airdrie our legs were getting a little weary and both of us pretty hungry. We'd eaten our supplies and I was running low on oatcakes. I was in the lead and sped up when I saw a garage. So excited that I skidded into the forecourt, asking Andy to hold my bike and dashed in and bought nearly everything in the shop. No homemade scran in sight, and on that occasion that I scoffed a bag of crisps, washed down with energy drink. They tasted so good! As that was the highlight of Airdrie, I will backtrack long enough to inform you that because of my enthusiasm for the servo (that's Australian for petrol station), I completed missed the tiny Route 75 sticker that marker the turnoff to Coatbridge.

Glossing over the sugar and carb fuelled leg from Airdrie to Coatbridge, the next missed turn. For those who have never been Coatbridge, don't bother. To any offended Coatbridgers out there, please can you get your council to sort out the cycle route signs? Some cheeky monkey bent the direction signs around. I have to admit, we used stronger language than that on the day.

When we did eventually get directions from a friendly local, and on the right broken glass littered, no, carpeted trail, neither of us were in the best frame of mind.

"Phew!" I thought. "We're nearly there" 13 miles seemed liked nothing, after all, we'd just cycled 50. Oh, but what a long 13 miles they were. Distances always seem longer when you don't know where you're going. And for the first time, I started daydreaming of the nice hot shower I would have upon arrival at Glasgow.

Actually the last section along the Clyde River was a brilliant path, and I couldn't resist putting on a bit of speed and swallowing as many bugs as I could. The many bugs on route were a good argument for wearing glasses whilst cycling. At this point Andy asked me to slow down (this rarely happens as he's a good 9 inches taller, and therefore longer in limb, than myself). Slowing down also wasn't an issue, especially when we were tackling our last hill of the day, up Hope Street.

I think the hotel receptionist stifled a laugh when Andy (hair stuck up vertically from the wind) and I (red faced and a bit wobbly on my legs) staggered into the swish hotel lobby demanding a room asap. She did very well as I would have probably laughed out loud at the state of us. I recommend the Abode Hotel to any other cyclists, as they even placed our bikes in their meeting room to look after. And their showers are wonderful!

I will remember our magical mystery tour bike ride with fond memories (except of Coatbridge). It took us 8 hours and 38 seconds from home to hotel, around 6 ½ of which were pedaling. I'm keen to try more of the cycle routes in Scotland, although perhaps next time we'll go for something more scenic. If you do try a long cycle, be sure to invest in a gel bike seat cover / bike shorts or spend the next week unable to sit down!

The moral of the story is if you have a crazy ambitious idea, go for it. Plan for it, prepare for it and enjoy it. As Richard at Leith Cycle Co said to me on the Friday before "Don't think about it, just go for it." He's a wise man when it comes to the way of the wheel.

…And Finally: A Valuable Resource

PA Exchange logo

I mentioned earlier that this newsletter is now at the 500 subscriber mark. This is partly thanks to the PA Exchange, a unique online network that I am member of. Not just for admin folk, the PA Exchange offers a unique and exclusive virtual service in Scotland, where you can obtain discounts, offers and invaluable recommendations.

Got a question? The PA Exchange is here to help.

Join the FREE classic membership today at www.thepaexchange.co.uk, and please quote this newsletter.

Have a happy and healthy Festival month,

:)
Tracy

Tracy

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Contents

August newsletter