Pizza-gate

While listening to a well known football phone-in show on Saturday night, I heard a row about whether footballers should be entitled to a post-match pizza when they've lost a game. The professional footballer (not to be named!) argued 'of course they should, they've been running around for 90 minutes and need to get something in them quick to replace all the energy used up'. The fan, said they didn't deserve it and that the unhealthy pizza could be the reason they lost the game in the first place! From a nutritionist's point of view, pizza after very intense exercise is actually not a bad choice - lots of carbohydrate and not too much fat (unless it's a four cheese or meat feast!) If you're wanting to make it an even better choice, choose a thin base, margarita or veggie one and skip the added garlic bread and coleslaw! As for the post-match curries...hmmm, not convinced.

Running NYC marathon - please sponsor me!

Water for weight loss?

A new study has just shown that drinking 2 glasses of water right before a meal helps keep off the pounds - they found that the people who drunk water before food ate on average 75-80% less calories during the meal. Might be something to think about if you're trying to cut back on your portion sizes.

An added boost

Having woken up with a bit of a headache and feeling groggy and tired, it made me think 'perhaps I need a bit of a daily boost for the next few months while my marathon training has cranked up a notch'.

I don't usually advocate popping vitamin pills and supplements but it's been shown that intense training lowers your immunity - so I'm going to take a multi-vit each day in the hope that it'll keep off those colds.

Even if it's a placebo effect it'll be worth it!

Keep that holiday feeling

Coming back from a relaxing week in the sunshine is always hard - but what can you do to hold on to that Mediterranean way of life a little bit longer? I always find sticking with your holiday food is a good start. Which is why this week I've been having fresh figs, yogurt and honey for brekkie. Even if I am sitting at my desk (and the figs cost 69p EACH!), I can close my eyes and pretend I'm back on the patio by the pool. Bliss!

Get on yer Velib

Having just returned from a weekend in Paris (dahling) I have a renewed love of cycling. You can get around in half the time, soak up the sunshine AND get some exercise at the same time - perfect for when you've had a few too many macaroons!

And the good news is, London's getting it's own bike hire scheme on July 30 (though they're not quite as chic as the Parisian ones - they have an huge Barclays logo on the side) http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/12444.aspx

Pukka

Whether you love him or hate him, it's a pretty cool speech http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jamie_oliver.html