Griffen Fitness - Newsletter

June newsletter

Greetings healthy people,

WeightShed Boot Camp logo We’re nearly at the longest day of the year… are you feeling active? If not, get your rear into gear at Eildih and my non-residential Edinburgh Boot Camp from Monday June 29 to Friday July 3. As a thank you, I would like to offer newsletter subscribers a £50 discount. Just quote ‘Fitness with Tracy Griffen newsletter’ when booking through www.weightshed-bootcamp.co.uk, or email me directly for a booking form. We are now accepting credit / debit cards through Paypal.

If you'd like even more fitness news, check out the Scotland on Sunday newpaper's magazine Spectrum this Sunday for fitness advice from yours truly. Also you can read daily fitness updates on Twitter, just search for tracygriffen, or tune into Leith FM 98.8FM next Monday at 3pm for 'Healthy Living in Leith'.
What’s in Season for June
It's good to eat seasonal fruit and vegetables, so here's what's in season locally:
Artichokes, asparagus, aubergine, broad beans, carrots, cauliflower, cherries, courgettes, elderflowers, gooseberries, lovage, mint, new carrots, new potatoes, parsley, peas, radishes, raspberries, rhubarb, rocket (easy to grow in a window box), tayberries strawberries, sorrel, spinach, spring onions.

The long days are also a good time to start growing sprouts. Alfalfa, mung beans, chick peas etc all make lovely and nutritious sprouts and are great for salads or sandwiches.

Easy Recipes: Unusual Things to do with Fruit
Not as it sounds - this is the season to buy tropical fruit. Leith Walk has loads of Indian shops selling all sorts of fruit and veg, but often I let my purchases sit in the fruit bowl until they’re past their best. Here are some ideas of how to rescue over-ripe pineapple, mango or avocado.

Mauritian Pineapple
So you’ve bought a pineapple and let it over ripen. A lovely way to enjoy this (high GI) fruit is to chop it up and sprinkle it with chilli flakes and a tiny pinch of sea salt. I tried this first from a roadside vendor in Mauritius and it’s a taste sensation.

Mango Lassi
This time you’ve bought a mango, and it’s got a bit too ripe (or maybe it’s even a bit stringy). No fear, zizz it with same amount of natural yoghurt and a splash of OJ and you’ve got a tropical lassi.

Grilled Avocado
"Warm avocado?” I hear you thinking. Yes, a bit weird, but also tasty. Cut your avocado in half and de-stone. Place skin side up and grill for a few minutes, then skin side down and grill for a few more minutes. Serve with a splash of balsamic vinegar and ground pepper, or lemon juice if you prefer.

Resisting Temptation Hint of the Month: It’s OK to be Fussy
Are you someone who doesn’t like to cause a scene? Most of us are, and find making healthy choices whilst eating out a challenging experience. It’s one of the most common excuses for not sticking to healthy eating. It’s OK to ask waiters if a pasta sauce is creamy or not, it’s OK to ask for salad dressing on the side rather than all over the salad, it’s OK to order a starter sized main course, it’s OK to be fussy. Your body is a temple, as they say, so it’s OK to care about what you put into it. Just because you’re eating out doesn’t mean you need to completely abandon good intentions. I find that most waiters are incredibly patient when I ask them about what’s in their dishes. They may even prepare you something special ‘off menu’.

Fad or Fab: Pilates Bodycircles
HaB are a brand that produces some high quality goods. Their £20 Bodycircles are most certainly high quality, but also pretty pointless. The premise is to tone arms by twirling these weighted hoops around the forearms. You might remember doing this at school with a hula hoop (see photo on left). The idea is the same, but the hoops are smaller. So small in fact, that the only thing they’re good for is twirling around your arms. So when you get bored of this (for me, after five minutes), the reason for owning these mini hoops becomes redundant. Hula Hoops, yes, Arm hoops, a big fat fad!

Next month: energy drinks – fad or fab?

Website of the month: Mapometer
There once was a website called Map My Run, which I used religiously to work out the distance of runs. It’s now changed to the more broadly named www.mapometer.com. Aimed at walkers, runners and cyclists, this nifty website uses Google maps to help you work out the route and distance of any run or cycle you care to take. Switch between the Map view (with roads marked) and Satellite (a topographical photographic view) to check the lay of the land. Best of all, you can save your run route and email it to friends and family!

NEW! Bodywork: Shiatsu who?
It’s brilliant to do loads of exercise, however it’s also important to look after your body and I’m a big believer in rest and relaxation to aid recovery to muscles. ‘Bodywork’ is a phrase I use to describe any therapy that works on promoting healing within the body. Bodywork can include things like massage, acupuncture, physiotherapy, even hot baths and stretching. This month I had a try at Shiatsu, a Japanese acupressure massage focusing on clearing blockages from the meridian system (often referred to as chi, ki, or energy system) within the body. I went to Nina Jones on Sloan Street, just off Leith Walk, who pressed, prodded and pulled my limbs around to relieve accumulated tension and stress. I felt light as a feather afterwards… You can contact Nina on 07963 787 434 or at senojanin@hotmail.com.

Article of the Month: Move and Feel Happy
(this article will appear in the June issue of Bite Magazine)

Exercise makes you feel happy. It’s proven and it’s true. It’s one of the easiest and cheapest ways to boost your mood. Have you ever been for a walk up a big hill and remember the feeling when you got to the top? Elation? Exhaustion? Satisfaction?

When you exercise, various feel good neurotransmitters are pinged around your brain. It’s a similar reaction to eating lots of chocolate – the endorphins, including serotonin and dopamine (the same stuff that’s in morphine) are the ‘pleasure principle’.

These feel good neurotransmitters are released after undertaking cardiovascular exercise, such as running. So why is exercise not more addictive? Some would argue it is, and I sure you will know someone who has been hooked on exercise. However the flip side of the coin is that you need to exert a certain amount of effort, and even go through a certain amount of pain, for these neurotransmitters to be released.

Whatever the reason for the release of these neurotransmitters, it has been shown that physically active people recover from mild depression more quickly. In fact I have found that if someone is feeling blue, getting them outside for a long brisk walk or jog really helps turn their mood around. I feel this is a combination of both the body’s reaction to exercise and also the change of scenery. In Edinburgh it’s easy to find some green space, even in the most built up areas, and just being outside and getting extra oxygen moving around the body creates a noticeable shift in mood.

Add to this, I find creativity is heightened by a good bout of cardio exercise. If I’m ever stuck on writing an article, I put it aside until I’ve been out for a bike ride. If you’d like to read an excellent book relating to exercise and creativity, try the best-selling Japanese author Haruki Murakami’s excellent memoir ‘Things That I Talk About When I Talk About Running’, where he links the concentration required for his work as a prolific novelist, and his daily hour long runs.

Whatever way you look at it, pulse-raising exercise in any form is something that your body benefits from on both a physical and emotional level. So if you’re waiting for inspiration, wait no more!

And Finally… Flawless Vs Diversity
Britain’s Got Talent fans unite. A corny show, but two amazing dance acts are:
Flawless - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MamSKGd4y28
Diversity - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pg3fvanDDc
Who’s your favourite? Let me know!
Now I want to find clips of women doing cool stuff…

Have a happy and healthy June,

:)
Tracy

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Contents

June newsletter