Alexander Technique Nutrition Exercise

This week the Fit4Free team were introduced to Sandra Waller, Director of the East Anglia Centre for Alexander Technique. Sandra explained how "The Alexander Technique safeguards our future by making us take responsibility for our own health and well-being. The technique improves poise, fitness, body structure and co-ordination leading to more enjoyment of life, which is especially important as we age and become more susceptible to niggling problems i.e. joint and muscle pain, poor digestion and fatigue."

The Fit4Free team were given a lesson on how to sit correctly and learnt that we should never sit with crossed legs nor slumped on our tail bone. Sandra explained "feel beneath your bottom on the seat for the two bony points at the base of your pelvis, these are called sitting bones and sitting on these help to prevent you from slumping and keep your head freely balanced on top of your spine. Sandra emphasised the importance of never bending from the waist as there is no joint in the spine for this - always bend at your hip joints, knees and ankles which work together to move you up and down. "

Interestingly we learnt that our head is the heaviest part of our body weighing between 10 and 16 pounds, and our spine finishes at the point where the middle of our ears are - most people think it finishes at the base of our neck. This is why when balancing it's imperative that the tip of the nose should not be higher than the holes of the ears unless you're looking up to the ceiling. Most people tend to tilt their head back which in turn leads to a totally imbalanced spine thus supressing various joints in the back which then results in pain.

For more details with Sandra contact her on 01245 608268 or email sandrawaller161@btinternet.com. Sessions can be booked individually at £35 but with this feature she's offering 6 for the price of 5.

Most of the Fit4Free team were extremely tired this week so Dave Davis, Personal Trainer of D2Fit gave us a lesson on bone density and how weight bearing exercise can help protect our bones.

"Weight bearing exercise, particularly for older adults is extremely important as both weight bearing and resistance training exercises are vital to improving bone density, preventing osteoporosis and strengthening muscles, ligaments and joints. Using your own body weight to provide resistance such as squats, lunges, walking and skipping is the key to fundamentally protecting your joints, whereas swimming and cycling whilst excellent forms of exercise don't provide this resistance. Using free weights can also boost bone strength, try replacing weights with tinned cans to build up gradually or if you're lucky enough to have an outdoor gym park nearby make use of it. Deciding to get fit and starting a new activity can be daunting, but in the words of Mark Twain "The secret of getting ahead is getting started".

As we were short on time Dave also gave us a quick session on Tabata training - this method involves training at a very high intensity for 4 minutes. The session is broken down into 20 seconds of intense training, followed by 10 seconds of rest and then repeated 8 times. Predominately one exercise is chosen such as sprints, squats or press ups but can be mixed up; the intensity also helps burn calories and helps aid recovery time. Please note that due to the high speed repetitions this method may not be suitable for everyone, so check with your GP or fitness professional first.

Natasha Bartell, the Fit4Free Nutrionist gave the following advice to our volunteers this week.

"Molly has no regular eating pattern and meals are regularly missed. The amount of food consumed is not enough to enable the body to recover from the amount of exercise that Molly does and a poor diet has a negative effect on athletic performance. A healthy diet is one of the most important aspects of body composition so I've encouraged Molly to eat 3 regular meals a day.

Debbie's has a stressful job, young children and her main form of hydration comes from caffeine. This makes the body produce the stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol which Debbie didn't realise, so drinking coffee only adds to the stress in your life! I advised Debbie to have a large bottle (1.5litre) bottle of water on her desk as this would remind her to drink.

Sugary snacks are Claire's downfall, and whilst it's important to snack at regular intervals, often her choices sugar laden. I encouraged Claire to either have a protein bar (e.g. Naked, Trek or Bounce Balls), a piece of fruit with a small handful of seeds or a few mixed nuts.

Finally our volunteers gave their verdict on the small changes they've made this week.

Claire says "I've strangely enjoyed upping the exercise and whilst taking it gradually have taken Dave's advice by pushing my heart rate up in bursts. I've focused primarily on swimming and have been alternating between 2 fast and 2 slow lengths.

Debbie says "I've continued with my food diary not as a means of counting calories but to keep my brain focused on what I am eating so I can keep an eye on myself. I've also slowly reduced my coffee intake."

Molly says "I've been trying to reiterate the advice of Sandra Waller to help my back and joint problems, so have been making a mental note to sit in the correct position. I've also been making sure I eat one proper meal a day, be it breakfast or tea.

If you have any queries or tips then get twittering @askmollybeauty #Fit4Free or via email askmollybeauty@gmail.com.

Editor's Note: - Natasha Bartell's recipe for the week.

Need a sweet fix, try this yummy Banana cake by Natasha.

75gr soft butter plus butter for greasing

4 ripe bananas peeled and mashed up

80gr soft brown sugar

1 egg beaten

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

170gr spelt flour

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4

Use a little butter to grease a bread tin measuring approximately 23cm x 13cm x 6cm. Pour the mashed bananas into a mixing bowl and combine the rest of the ingredients leaving the flour and bicarbonate of soda until last. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes. Allow to cool before serving in slices.

Fit 4 Free part 2 Fitness Nutrition

By the time this goes to print the #Fit4Free campaign will be well on its way and hopefully some of you would've have been inspired to make a few small changes to improve your overall wellbeing. Maybe you're walking that extra 10 minutes a day, putting that extra oomph into hoovering or swapping your packet of crisps for some almonds! If you have decided to give your lifestyle an overhaul I would love to hear from you so get emailing molly@askmollybeauty.com

This week our volunteers were put through their paces with Dave Davis, Personal Trainer with a variety of circuit exercises in the park. Great use was made of cones for markers, benches for tricep dips and chest presses, whilst jumping frog style had us laughing but working our quads hard, it was what exercise should be fun - even in the rain. If you're new to exercise Dave suggested the following:-

"Taking the first steps into exercise can be daunting and this can lead to a catch 22 situation of feeling I'm not fit enough to train, therefore we don't train and in turn we never do feel fit enough - everyone has to start somewhere. The person walking at a snail's pace will lap the person sitting on the couch - it's about working within your own abilities and seeing those abilities improve. For example:-

· Try using the stairs instead of the escalator or lift;

· When walking keep the pace up, you should be walking fast enough so that you can just hold a conversation;

· Get off the bus a stop early."

I also had some brilliant tips from mum and avid Essex Go reader Sue Skirrow of Braintree.

· If it's raining stay indoors and put on some music, dance with your kids for half an hour and make it fun by seeing who can do the craziest dance.

· Run whilst your child uses his bike or scooter (you'll run even faster if you see them heading for a hedge)!

· Park your car at the back of the car park and carry your shopping rather than using a trolley.

Of course it's not all about fitness, nutrition plays the widest part in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This week Natasha Bartell, Nutrionist asked the 3 volunteers to keep a food diary and after consulting each one had this advice:-

"Claire's problem: After looking at Claire's food diary it's evident she is not eating regularly enough (a stress on the body).

Solution: We should aim to eat every 3-4 hours to keep our blood sugar balanced, this makes your body think that food is abundant so reduces cortisol, boosts your metabolism and stop cravings for carbohydrates. By eating little and often you trick your body into thinking food is readily available and therefore it will not store as extra fat (which the body does when there are long periods of not eating). Try and become a healthy grazer, eat three meals per day plus a couple of snacks, mid-morning and afternoon ensuring protein is added to each meal and snack."

"Debbie's problem: Concentrating on the calories

Solution: Rather than counting calories focus on portion size and the nutritional content of food. A healthy eating plate is simple - half the plate covered with vegetables, one quarter with protein and the last quarter containing starchy carbohydrates. Aim to stick to healthy eating about 80% of the time, leaving 20% of the time to be a bit naughty."

"Molly's problem: Not allowing enough time to eat due to busy lifestyle.

Solution: If you persistently eat on the run you give your body the message that time is scarce and you're stressed, this then activates our sympathetic nervous system. Millions of years ago we were designed to react quickly to the danger of wild animals and our bodies were on constant alert to fight or run - known as "fight or flight". To cope our body produced adrenalin to keep us alert, this in turn produced the hormone cortisol to increase levels of fat and sugar into the bloodstream. Our body expected us to do something physical like running away from a tiger, if we didn't it re-deposited this extra fat around our middle. Nowadays, our system still works in exactly the same way and the same process is used for stress. This is why when we are rushing around it's vital to take time out when eating in a relaxing manner otherwise those hormones will store fat right where we don't want it - our stomachs."

So whilst this advice is all very well putting into practice is another matter. I asked our volunteers how they fared this week.

Claire says "I've eat protein snacks either side of my main meals to keep my metabolism ticking over and brazil nuts and bananas are now regularly stocked in the cupboard. I've also introduced gradual swimming which I will build up over time as I'm still recovering from an operation."

Debbie says "I've swapped bloomer toast for Natasha's muesli and also made her Split Pea Soup to take into work. I used the 'Fartlek' technique recommended by Dave which was an hour of slow and short bursts of exercise, and as it was after I had finished work in the evening I got my daughter riding her bike alongside me to keep me going."

For me, "I've swapped my Cadbury's fix for a few dark chocolate brazil nuts every evening, and am trying to sit and eat with the children however, it's not relaxing as I spend most of the time shoving a spoon into my son's mouth. My exercise regime has to be very controlled due to joint problems but I have introduced more interval training."

Editor's Note:

Natasha's Split Pea Soup

225grm yellow split peas (pre-soaked for 12hrs or overnight in cold water)

1 wheat free vegetable stock cube (e.g. Kallo)

1 tsp. wheat free vegetable bouillon powder

1 onion, peeled and sliced

1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped

3 carrots, trimmed, peeled and chopped

Spinach leaves

Sprig of mint

Place the pre-soaked peas in a sieve and rinse well in cold water. Transfer to a large saucepan and cover with 1.5 litres of cold water, the stock cube and the bouillon powder. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove any scum that rises to the surface with a spoon. Add all the other vegetables and simmer for a further 15-20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Remove from the heat and allow cool, blending in a processor or a hand held blender and finally garnishing with a sprig of mint.

The new must have make up brand!

If you look at my previous blogs I very rarely write about one particular brand on each blog, I usually devote about 10 brands per feature for paper and radio. However, after receiving these goodies through the post I just wanted to share with you my enthusiasm for this new make up range which not only is incredibly cheap for the quality but rivals, in my eyes (especially their lipglosses) the high end products usually sold in Space NK or Selfridges......these goodies believe it or not can be picked up with a pint of milk and some eggs! Yes Sainsbury's have brought out their own range and called it Boutique.

The packaging is simple, chic and sleek - kept to a minimum as money seemingly has been spent on the products themselves.



Lets start with the lipgloss - super shiny colours but my favourite is without a doubt the patent, plastic red - I have simply not tested one so shiny and I've tested hundreds over the years. The other colours you see are all bang on trend for Autumn/Winter 2013.



Next I tested the eyeshadows - the bronze I loved, super easy to blend, shimmering without losing its colour - so highly pigmented. The pearl silver I loved too, again for the same reasons as the bronze. I was slightly disappointed with the more glittery silver as with most glitters it left the residue of shimmer but the colour kind of disappeared - however, this placed on top of the charcoal is great for a night out.



Very impressed with the nail colour - usually I expect a chip a day or so later (I'm typing this up 2 days later), and not one single chip, great for someone like me as I don't like to use Shellac all the time as I pick the gel off (very damaging for nails, but I don't have time to get it removed!)



There you have it, most products available from September in Sainsburys so you should see filtering through now - although they state mainly larger branches - I haven't seen it in my superstore yet! Let me know what you think of it too, I was so impressed which is why I have taken the trouble to rave about it - I work freelance and don't get paid for my views - so I can tell the truth!

Prices start from just £4 eyeshadows, nail polish £5, lipgloss £6 and I didn't test the lipsticks at £7.

Jo Saville is the Boutique Make-up Ambassador and she states "Boutique was created for the everyday woman, but as a result of testing the products we found industry insiders were choosing to include theproducts in their make-up kit because of their fantastic quality."

Crazy eyes/Halloween/Must have new accessory!

15 years ago I had my very short sighted, high astigmatism eyes lasered and whilst it was the best thing I ever had done, it also meant waving goodbye to months of gas permaeable lenses (soft lenses were not suitable for my prescription)!

However, one huge plus point was I could of course start wearing sunglasses (an obsession has started there), and I could also wear coloured lenses. So when I was asked by http://www.visiondirect.co.uk if I would like to review something on their website I immediately was drawn to their coloured lenses, but specifically their Phantasee Crazy Lenses. My only problem was choosing as the choice was so vast. Finally I settled on some scary 'Dracula' and 'Dragon Eye's to transform my peepers.



So today I'm sitting in my gym cafe bar whilst the kids play on their Ipads typing and testing these lenses. I have to admit the first time I tried to open the bottle I failed as the silver foil ripped in the wrong place and I ended up using a spoon edge to lift up the hard foil, but the second one I opened slowly and the packaging easily opened. Inserting was easy with only using my camera as a mirror, they slid into my eyes without causing any watering, itchness or redness and within a few moments I didn't even notice I had them in - everyone else of course did!

See for yourself the finished effect, but these amazing lenses are brilliant fun for Halloween, parties and even to spice up your sex life...seriously I had a couple of comments from men who found them 'weirdly attractive in a dangerous way'!!! Prices start from £29 and they last for up to a year. They do come with a full list of instructions and whilst I didn't see an age limit for them, usually its around 16 (I will check this)!

Its a huge thumbs up from me, a huge thumbs up from my 5 year old son but my daughter refused to look at me!

Radio Beauty Chat Featuring Mally/Bare Minerals/Clarins/Eyemagic/Barry M and More!

http://www.phoenixfm.com/2013/09/16/molly-miller-is-back-in-the-studio-talking-this-weeks-beauty-products/