The gym is roughly broken up into zones, firstly there is a huge Cardio zone with all the latest TechnoGym equipment with the built in TV’s for those that desire. All overlooking one of the biggest movie walls we have ever seen in a gym.

The weights area has enough selection to keep even the regular gym user happy, including a full range of free weights, plate loaded and stacked machines. Should you ever get bored with that weights area their is a further functional fitness zone for that more dynamic session.

In additional there is a full range of classes (often over 20 a day) to suit all schedules and ability levels, in the huge studio and spinning suite.

Reception

Changing Rooms

Main Gyms Area

Functional Area

Studio & Classes

For more information about LAX St Botolph’s please visit their profile or their website.

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Ingredients

• 6 Whole Eggs
• 6 Egg Whites
• 3 Slices of Turkey Bacon or Standard Bacon
• A Handful of Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Seasoning of choice

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 & brush a muffin pan with a little melted coconut oil
2. Whisk the whole eggs, egg whites & seasoning together (I used black pepper & smoked paprika)
3. Cut the turkey slices in half & put a slice into each section of the muffin pan. Top with some spinach & chopped tomatoes
4. Pour the whisked egg mixture on top until each section is about 3/4′s full
5. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes
6. Eat and enjoy!!!

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A resistance approach will always be king but for those who enjoy banging their head against a brick wall and persist on using cardio for fat loss more often than not still use the wrong approach

They insist on long, mind-numbing hours on a treadmill or bike. It is not hard to see why people take this approach – it’s what everyone else seems to be doing at the gym. It makes sense doesn’t it? if you want results then you have to put in the time doing something you dislike?

Doing hours upon hours of steady state cardio each week you will lose weight. Unfortunately it isn’t healthy weight. What you’ll end up losing is mostly water and muscle weight. I see it everyday, people gripping the shit out of the treadmill until they surround themselves in a pool of sweat. They jump straight onto the treadmill to see they have lost 2lbs of water, this is great until they have a drink

By losing muscle, you will slow down your metabolism even more causing you to gain body fat….Have you ever lost weight at the gym doing this, stop due to boredom and wonder why you have put the weight back on and possibly more?

You will be thinking it’s working because the scale weight is going down. All the while, your trouser/dress size has barely moved. You’re negatively re-compositioning your body; trading muscle for fat.

When it comes to cardio for the purpose of fat loss, the most effective method is actually the least obvious – going on shorter, but higher intensity sprints is significantly better for fat loss than long, steady jogs.

This method of sprinting for fat loss is known as high intensity interval training, or HIIT

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That’s why I created this simple cheat sheet. It helps you ask the right questions at the most critical time – when it’s time to pick up the fork and spoon. To get the most out of this cheat sheet, simply print it out, fold it up, and make sure to ask yourself the following questions before your next meal.

Are you eating too much food?

When fat loss is your primary goal, you should stop eating when you’re about 80% full. This will leave you satiated but not belly-rubbing full. So, for this next meal, do you plan on eating a little less than you normally would? You can eat from a smaller plate than usual. You can leave a little on the plate, instead of finishing everything in front of you. Or you can stop at one serving instead of going back for seconds. Whatever strategy you use, make sure you’re decreasing your calories compared to what you might normally eat.

Are you eating enough protein?

Your protein intake determines whether you’re going to lose body fat or lean muscle. (Obviously, we want to lose the first and keep the latter.) So, for this next meal, is there enough lean protein included? Men should eat about 2 palm-sized portions and women should eat about 1 palm-sized portion. You can choose from sources including: lean meats (chicken, turkey, fish, lean beef, lean game meats), lean vegetarian sources (tofu, tempeh, legumes), or powdered protein supplements. Whichever type you choose, make sure you’re eating more protein than what you might normally eat.

Are you eating too many sugars or starches?

Too many starches and sugars in your diet can prevent fat loss (or even cause fat gain). So, for this next meal, are there too many starches, particularly processed ones like bread or pasta? Men should eat less than 1 fist-sized portion and women should eat less than ½ fist-sized portion. Also, the amount of sugar should be minimized. Starches in the diet include grains, pasta, potatoes, rice, bread, and other carb-dense foods. And added sugars can be found in fizzy drinks, fruit juices, salad dressings, desserts, sweet snacks, and more. Again, you don’t have to cut these out completely. You just have to be sure to eat fewer of them than usual.

Are you eating enough vegetables?

By replacing your grains with greens, you’ll still feel satisfied at the end of a meal while also increasing your intake of fibre and other important vitamins/minerals. So, for this next meal, are you eating enough vegetables? For fat loss, men should eat about 1 cup while women should eat about ½ cup. While most people think of salads when veggies are brought up, many other options are available. Baked, grilled, sautéed, or steamed veggies all count. Regardless of which veggies you choose, make sure you’re eating more than usual.

Are you including enough healthy fats?

Highly processed fats, often found in processed foods, can ruin your health and lead to fat gain. However, a healthy mix of other naturally occurring fats is important for fat loss. So, for this next meal, are you eating some healthy fats? You can choose from sources like olive oil, avocados, raw nuts (not roasted), raw seeds, and omega-3 rich fish oils. Whichever type you choose, make sure you’re adding healthy fats to your diet while replacing the unhealthy ones.

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From the health point of view it’s very important to eat less but eat healthy. Here we go in the world of nutritious diet food items.

Salmon: Greatest source of Omega 3 fatty acid. Regular intake reduces depression, cancer, heart attack and saves brain from memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease by the action of niacin in spinach. All non-vegetarians should eat farm raised salmons rather than wild salmon as it contains more toxic polychlorinated biphenyl.

Broccoli: This green flowery stick is full of Vitamin K and C which cover up all the essential nutrient requirement of body. It contains anti-cancer properties and phytonutrients which reduces heart disease, stroke and diabetics risk. It’s also called nutrient power which gets reduced on boiling.

Avocados: It’s a rich source of minerals, folic acids, vitamins, fiber, antioxidants, folate which reduces heart attack, alkalizes body by boosting nutrient and increase body nutrient absorption power. In addition presence of healthy and satisfying fats reduces cholesterol.

Dark chocolate: Cocoa powder is full of flavonoids and antioxidants which reduce LDL by increasing HDL. It contains large amount of alkali, magnesium, antioxidants which reduces blood pressure, protect heart, boost mood and control appetite. So make life sweeter by dark chocolate and manage your weight easily.

Walnuts: Brain shaped nut not only protects brain but fight against cancer, reduce cholesterol by presence of Omega -3 which also improves mood, protects body against harmful sun rays, also regulates sleep by possessing melatonin in it.

Spinach: It is an excellent food for eye as is made of 2 most important immune boosting antioxidants i.e. lutein and zeaxanthin and contains plenty of iron which also fights against cancer.

Green Beans: They are the sole source of fibers which improves digestion, manage weight, and easily eliminates waste from the body, balance blood sugar level and reduces risk of breast cancer. It also reduces heart attack risk as it is full of proteins and antioxidants.

Lemon: Most common citrus we take regularly provides us with tons of vitamin C making our bones strong, increase good cholesterol (HDL), fight against disease and boost energy. Moreover flavonoids presence acts in anti-inflammatory way and inhibit cancer cells growth. Taking green tea with lemon not only add flavor, also increases body’s antioxidant absorbing ability.

Garlic: We start our journey with Garlic a natural best known disease fighter, reduces bacterial (include E-coli) growth, blood pressure, LDL cholesterol levels by keeping us healthy. Apart from this garlic posses allicin which makes it a potent anti-inflammatory food. Allicin quantity can be increased by using crushed garlic while over cooking garlic reduces its nutritious value.

Potatoes: Different potatoes posses’ different quality. Like red potato contains cell building folate while sweet potato posses vitamin A which fights against cancer and boost immune system. Eating cooled potato instead of hot reduces post meal fat accumulation.

The post 10 of the healthiest foods in the world appeared first on Gym Compare.

1. The lime water helps purify and stimulate the liver. Lime/lemon water liquefies bile while inhibiting excess bile flow.
2. Lime/lemon water aids digestion. It’s atomic composition is similar to saliva and the hydrochloric acid of digestive juices.
3. The liver produces more enzymes from lime/lemon water than any other food.
4. The lime/lemon water helps bowels eliminate the unwanted naturally and easier.
5. Limes and lemons are high in potassium. Potassium is an important mineral that works with sodium for smooth electrical transmission in the brain and nervous system. Depression, anxiety, fogginess, and forgetfulness can often be traced to low potassium blood levels. That same nervous system needs potassium to assure steady signals to the heart. So your heart health is improved from with this potassium from the lime/lemon water.
6. Calcium and magnesium are plentiful in good ratio to each other in lime/lemon water. Our foods lack the vital mineral magnesium in this day and age as is responsible for over 300 chemical reactions in our body.
7. Lime/lemon water can help lower blood pressure.
8. Lime/lemon water has an alkalizing effect in the body as it is buffered. Even if you drink it just before any meal, it will help your body maintain a higher pH than if you didn’t drink it. The higher or more alkaline your pH, the more your inner terrain is resistant to minor and major disease. If we keep our pH in a higher state then we have a far better chance of burning body fat.
9. Lime/lemon water helps dilute uric acid, which if it accumulates it creates arthritic pain or gout.
10. Helps reduce phlegm in the body.

The perfect protocol (in my opinion)

Before Breakfast drink some mineral water with a freshly squeezed lime or half a lemon, this will trigger hunger. Eat your breakfast. Also, grab yourself a 2 litre bottle of mineral water, cut up a lime or half a lemon and push through the top, give this a good shake and drink throughout the day. The lime/lemon water daily habit is as cheap and easy as it gets to help you improve and maintain your health.

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This may be the process of you actually getting to sleep or staying asleep until a designated time – probably most of you reading this.

We live in a world with many forms of stress signals. Stress raises the cortisol hormone which inhibits the bodies ability to burn fat and will also in turn make it hard to sleep. Insulin levels will also go up leaving us with excess fat in the ‘love handle’ region. This will increase insulin resistance which is the stage before type 2 diabetes may set in.

Poor sleep will also:

Increase inflammation in the body.

It can increase your chances of breast cancer.

It will lower testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and growth hormone which are all important hormones in which we need to help tissue repair.

Compromise your immune system, reduce and hamper your memory and attention levels and will help you put on weight.

Please note: Increasing your sleep quality alone is just one very basic step to helping you lose fat. But this doesn’t mean you should reach for the sleeping pills, it should be treated at a nutritional level.

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There are various techniques that can be put into practice immediately to help deal with stress – experiment to find the ones that work best for you.

Slow, deep breathing

You can quickly bring down your heart rate and blood pressure by breathing deeply and slowly. Close your eyes and concentrate on breathing in to a count of three and then out for a count of six. The slow out breath is ‘nature’s tranquiliser’. Repeat for 2 minutes.

Don’t bottle it up

Talking to people is a good way to beat stress because it helps us see the problem more clearly – it may not be as bad as we thought, and other people may have different perspectives and solutions we hadn’t considered.

Worries? What worries?

Worrying about the ‘what ifs?’ in a situation takes a lot of time and energy resulting in anxiety escalating. First, find out the facts about a situation – your worries may turn out to be unfounded. If you’re still concerned, plan your strategy, with a friend if necessary, so that you feel more in control of the situation.

Is the glass half-full or half-empty?

Spend more time focusing on the positive things in your life and less time thinking negatively. The more you visualise a positive outcome, the more you’ll believe it and the likely it will happen.

Enjoy the process

Remember, ‘good enough’ is OK, there’s no need to be perfect every time. Learn to enjoy the process rather than worry about the result – setting a time limit on tasks provides a reality check. If you do make a mistake, learn from the experience and move on.

Take time out

Ring-fence time in your day to unwind and reflect – it will help you recharge your batteries and get things into perspective.

The post Quick fixes for stress appeared first on Gym Compare.

Dehydration can be mild, moderate, or severe based on how much of the body’s fluid is lost or not replenished. When it is severe, dehydration is a life-threatening emergency.

Here are a few of many issues on why and how we can help prevent dehydration…

Count to eight…

Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body metabolise stored fat, actually helping you lose weight. So make sure you drink 8 glasses of clean water a day if you want to stay slim. Also, drinking the right amount will also help maintain muscle tissue and give muscles their natural ability to contract.

Don’t wait until you are thirsty…

If you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. Aim to drink little and often throughout the day so you never get to the stage where you feel thirsty.

Drink to feel dynamic…

Feelings of anxiety and confusion and having dry skin, an increased heart rate, decreased blood pressure and possibly feeling faint can all be signs of dehydration.

Protect muscles with water…

Water in the body binds to muscle glycogen at a rate of 4 grams to every gram of glycogen. If you starve your body of water or food, these groups are split up and although you might lose weight, its not the right weight to lose.

Shift more weight by drinking up…

Dehydration can slow down metabolism as it springs the body into starvation mode and holds onto fat cells that contain high levels of fluids. So drink up to keep your metabolism rate high.

Say AAHHHHH…

Your tongue is a good indicator of general health. If it doesn’t look pink and fleshy, you could be dehydrated or have chronic health problems such as sugar imbalance.

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Research shows that having a high protein, low carbohydrate diet are more effective than energy restricted low fat diets.

Their are 2 main reasons that a high protein, low carb diet is the way to go if you want to live a lean and healthy lifestyle.

Firstly, a high protein diet is far more satiating, when people eat a larger percentage of their food from protein they feel more satisfied and eat less calories overall.

Secondly, a high protein diet will help control blood sugar levels and insulin. Their is plenty of research that shows a high carb, low fat diet can increase insulin resistance and could possibly lead to type 2 diabetes. When people avoid grains, sugar and processed foods then they experience less desire to unwanted food cravings for calorie filled carbohydrates.

It is not always possible to get all of our protein from eating solid foods, a good quality protein powder can make sure we do not miss out on those days when we are busy.

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