This month’s issue:…
- Welcome!
- Easy Recipes: Curried Sweet Potato Soup
- Resisting Temptation: Stick it on Your Fridge
- Fad or Fab: Just Dance
- Article: How Does a PT Get Fit Fast?
- And Finally…
Hello healthy people,
Welcome to February, the month of chilly weather and slowly lengthening days. If you’ve considered entering a race in 2014, now is the time to commit (i.e. sign up) and start your training. That way, you can build up slowly, increasing your mileage each week. A slow and steady approach will ensure you remain injury-free and start the race well-prepared. The Great Edinburgh Run is at the end of April and is a scenic 10 mile tour of the city, you can sign up here.
Seasonal Recipe of the Month: Curried Sweet Potato Soup
Serves 6, or 4 very hungry people
This has a weird list of ingredients but tastes absolutely amazing. The soup is blended so don’t worry too much about chopping everything uniformly…
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 small carrot, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds or powder
1/2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
2 tbsp fresh coriander or 1 tsp coriander powder
1 L vegetable stock
125mL beer or stout
1 tsp honey
500g sweet potato, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 small very ripe banana, chopped
Lime Yoghurt – combine:
1/2 cup / 100g natural yoghurt
2 tsp lime juice
Zest of 1 lime
– Heat oil in large saucepan on a medium heat. Add carrot, onion and garlic and saute for 3 minutes.
– Stir in curry powder, cumin and mustard seeds. Cook for a few minutes or until mustard seeds start to pop.
– Add coriander, stock, beer and honey and bring to the boil. Add sweet potato, banana and cinnamon.
– Lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until sweet potato is soft, for around 20 minutes. Cool slightly.
– Blend in a food processor or using a stick blender.
– Return to heat, then ladle into bowls and serve with a dollop of lime yoghurt. Voila!
Resisting Temptation: Stick it on Your Fridge
Writing out your goals and sticking them on your fridge or somewhere obvious is an easy way to ensure your goals are on your mind when it matters. Whether you’d like to run faster or be more svelte, write it out and stick it somewhere obvious.
Fad or Fab: Just Dance
Video games have come a long way since space invaders, and the new Xbox is fully interactive. Just Dance is a combination of games where the player follows dance moves on screen and scores points for correctly replicating them. It’s a lot like aerobics, and the Xbox even shows you what muscle groups are being worked in each move. We had a bash on it at a friend’s home, and their 8 year old daughter was a champion. The clever thing about the new technology is that it’s much more interactive than even WiiFit, so it feeds back to the player if their dance moves are correct. The moves are also a lot safer (less injury-prone) than WiiFit. Not only this, but the dance moves are very well choreographed to give a full body workout. If you have a big TV screen and enjoy games, this could be a fun way to get fit from home. Certainly, if we had a big TV screen, I would consider investing in an Xbox to play it myself in my spare time. A definite fab and I think we’ll be seeing much more of this technology in the future.
Article: How Does a PT Get Fit Fast?
I had two weeks between Hogmanay and leaving for the sun in Australia. Two weeks in which to prepare a body that has been used wearing many layers to bikini fit. How did I do it?
– Christmas and Hogmanay are usually times of celebration and along with that goes lots of food and drink. I took it easy on the festive fayre and managed not to gain weight (regular runs also helped).
– On the first day of 2014 I started on the excellent food diary www.myfitnesspal.com and logged all food and drink. I tried to overestimate how much I was eating, and underestimate calories burnt from exercise to ensure that I was eating less calories than I was burning up everyday.
– Every lunchtime, 20 full press ups to tone arms and chest.
– In addition, two weights workouts per week (dumbbells). I’d had a slight shoulder twinge, so had given the weights rest over the festive season and had to build up my strength again.
– At least three cardio sessions a week (usually five).
– Cutting out alcohol altogether and drinking lots of herbal tea for a clear complexion.
– I also cut out cakes and biscuits, and gave away many of the sweets and treats I was given at Christmas.
– In addition, substituting bread with oatcakes or a single slice of pumpernickel bread (I find ‘normal’ bread bloats the tummy).
I’ll be back in Edinburgh mid-February so do drop me a line if you need a helping hand with your new year’s resolutions or preparation for the warmer weather. Now is the time to start!
Have a happy and healthy month,
Tracy 🙂
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© Copyright all material Tracy Griffen 2014