I recently spent some wonderfully peaceful days at the beautiful Chateau de la Chèvre D’Or (full ‘active escape’ review forthcoming) in Eze, France, where I enjoyed some exquisite and healthy mediterranean cuisine, and have returned freshly inspired! Apart from seafood, the locally-grown organic vegetables are a recurrent feature in the region’s cuisine, often prepared via steaming. Whilst I may not be able to replicate the beauty of the piece we photographed above (I’m not Michelin-starred!), I believe it IS possible to simulate that same mix of flavours and textures at home! Click more to see this mediterranean-inspired vegetable recipe, focussing on the benefits of steaming, and which is a fantastic pre-workout dish to help fuel your session! (MORE) (more…)
Posts tagged 'water'
CLIFF-TOP HIKING IN IBIZA!
On my recent active escape to Ibiza (full review coming up!), I embarked upon a breathtaking clifftop hike, blessed with some of the most spellbinding views the island has to offer. I made my way along the jagged sandstone peaks towards the famous landmarks, Es Vedrà and Atlantis. You may have read my previous post on the Benefits of Hiking, from my Morocco adventure last year; this Ibizan trek included all those same ‘workout’ benefits as in Morocco – a leg workout seriously targeting glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves – PLUS the added work required to achieve stability, coordination, balance, core work and fun! It certainly toasts calories whilst you sweat in the sun and pick up some healthy colour! Staying hydrated in that draining scenario is critical, so I took my BRITA Fill & Go for a swig on the move! Read MORE for the details on my trek, & what I found along the way!
STAYING HYDRATED ???
It’s possibly the one and only liquid that fills you up, beautifies, can prove unexpectedly satisfying, and boasts a guilt-free 0 calories. I’m talking about water, of course! It’s still cold in London, but spring is finally on it’s way. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that just because you’re not sweating under the roasting summer sun that you won’t require as much water; chances are that you just can’t notice the perspiration as its evaporating rapidly, so you’ll still need to drink up! Regardless, the benefits of proper hydration, both for training and broader lifestyle, are almost endless! It’s one of the key messages I try to communicate to personal training clients when I first sit down with them to discuss the lifestyle component of their health & fitness regime. To tie in with the Better with BRITA campaign running at the moment, this post is a quick reminder of the 8 key reasons you might like to drink just a little more H20 🙂 (MORE)…
HEALTHY HADDOCK RATATOUILLE !!!
This utterly delicious dish was inspired by my admittedly childish love of animation. If you haven’t seen it, Ratatouille is a laugh-out-loud Pixar movie which I think works just as well for adults as for children. Regardless of that side-track, whether you’re a cartoon fan or not, this dish is, as ever, healthy, super easy to prepare and packed with overwhelmingly gorgeous flavour. I teamed it with some fresh Haddock from the local fish mongers which I poached in a filtered water-bath. The main activity involved in crafting a Ratotouille masterpiece is a whole lot of chopping (great cardio), so sharpen your knives and lets go! (more…)
THE GREAT TEA REVOLUTION !!!
If you’ve wandered along your supermarket’s ‘Tea aisle’ over the past 3 years, you’ll have noticed a massive multiplication in the breadth and depth of choice in ‘herbal’ options. I love the concept of spicing up hydration, but where there was once just ‘mint’, there are now 20 varieties of mint and dozens of brands. If you search ‘Tea’ on Tesco.com, it retrieves 879 products (!!!). As a consumer that’s pretty overwhelming, and the flavour innovations can be incomprehensible;’Maharaja Chai Oolong, Rooibos and Acai‘ could taste of absolutely anything – perhaps chicken, for all I know!?! One brand that cuts through the lingo and has always offered me straightforward names, with ingredients of which I can taste the freshness & quality, is Pukka. This herbal tea brand was started a full 12 years ago, long before the ‘tea revolution’ began, so I tracked down one of the co-founders, Sebastian Pole, and blasted a few questions his way about what they do, and why they do it… read MORE to find out what he said 😀 x
THE BENEFITS OF DRINKING WATER !!!
It’s almost 35 degrees out – uncomfortable & sweaty, but I’m not complaining; it serves as a great reminder of just how important it is to stay hydrated especially in heat like this. I normally drink about 2 litres of water a day (we lose 2.5 litres during the average day, regain 1 litre through food, and the remaining 1.5 litres is supposed to be your drinking water… but I like to build in some extra!). In these pictures shot in Saint Tropez, en-route to Pamplonne, it’s more like 3-4 litres a day – I literally got through 8 of these 50cl bottles in the 24 hours. Water must be the most important ingredient we can give our bodies, which are 60% water anyway – it’s critically involved in pretty much every bodily function we humans are capable of. It improves overall well-being and quality of life in so many ways and will certainly improve your ability to achieve your training goals.
Click MORE below to read my 8 reasons for staying optimally hydrated, and a couple of tips to spice up the bland taste 🙂
Faya x