People are always asking me if I find it more expensive to eat healthy foods. The honest answer is I don't really know. I suppose there are valid arguments for both sides. There are so many variables such as whether you buy premium brands or own labels, whether you bulk buy, whether you focus on the deals etc. I could argue that to eat healthy I could live on rice and beans which would be cheap enough but you could also argue that on the unhealthy side you can pick up microwave meals for £1 (and sometimes less).
I decided to do a little bit of research picking out some fairly standard foods and have tried to match up like for like so where an unhealthy food is branded so is the healthy option and so too for the own brand labels. Obviously you could go cheaper on both sides of the fence by buying only own brand stuff. Another factor for me is I tend to buy almost all of my fresh meat and fish from the reduced shelf and make it go further by making stews etc.
We could argue the finer details all day long but I would say this is typically Representative of what I used to eat and what I eat now. I have picked out a couple of options for a main meal (excluding accompaniments) and a few snacks. I would say there is not much difference. I have also omitted drinks where I would save a fair bit because I don't drink any fizzy drinks or juices, only tap water. (Prices taken from leading supermarket website and does not include offers or multi-buy savings.)
Unhealthy:
Chicken breasts in breadcrumbs (4 pack) £2.99
Battered cod fillets (4 Pack) £2.00
Mars bar (one from multipack) 25p
Pack of crisps (one of branded multipack) 23p
Mr. Kipling apple pie (one from 6 pack) 23p
Aero chocolate mousse (4 pack - 236g) £1.29
Chips (Basics range frozen price per kg) 55p
Total: £7.54
Healthy:
Whole fresh chicken £3.00
cod fillets (plain 450g) £3.25
1 apple (granny smith or similar) 27p
1 banana 12p
Hard boiled egg (one from 6 pack large) 24p
fat free natural yoghurt (500g) 55p
potatoes (basics range price per kg) 59p
Total: 8.02
So to summerise, I would say its all about making wise choices. When chosing to eat healthy, don't be suckered into buying exotic foods (did you know strawberries have roughly the same amount of antioxidents as blueberries and are probably about half the price!) or branded diet/low fat options.
Thursday 21 June 2012
Wednesday 25 April 2012
Self sabotage!
Ok so as you know. I went on hols to france. Over that period I put on about 5lbs. This was what I expected and so was not too bothered. After that, we had some friends staying with us from America. We went out quite a lot sightseeing and stuff and so pretty much ate burgers and takeaways for a week. We had a few fried breakfasts too and to top it all off it was easter and so lots of chocolate was also consumed. This resulted in me gaining a further 5lbs. Now we have a problem!! Our friends left 2 weeks ago to the day, and since then I have shifted 6lbs back off, which I am pleased about.
Last week I started a new exercise routine and found out a little too late that I had made it a bit to hard, resulting in about 4 days of DOMS (Muscle aches). I was somewhat impeded in the rest of the weeks workouts but did as much as I could anyway. This week I dropped a few reps and it seems so far that the DOMS are at a much more managable level.
Its about 5 weeks until Race For Life. I havent done any outdoor running as the weather has been awful. I have designed a 20 minute HIIT (High intensity interval training) routine on the treadmill to help build my cardiovascular powers, (this is where you do a short burst at fast pace and a short recovery period and keep repeating). I tried it on monday and nearly died after about 13 mins! So my aim now is to do a little more each time. Tonight I did 10 mins of bare foot running on the treadmill at a light pace which I hope is going to help with ankle strength and stability. I hope that will make running across the uneven ground during RFL easier.
So, priorities at the moment are cardio/stamina training to prepare for RFL, then once that is out of the way, its full steam ahead to get into shape for summer holidays. The target is to lose another stone (almost half of which is the excess easter weight). I am just a little concerned that it may involve dropping another dress size and thus require buying a whole new summer wardrobe (again). I suppose there are worse things in the world.
Onwards and upwards............
Last week I started a new exercise routine and found out a little too late that I had made it a bit to hard, resulting in about 4 days of DOMS (Muscle aches). I was somewhat impeded in the rest of the weeks workouts but did as much as I could anyway. This week I dropped a few reps and it seems so far that the DOMS are at a much more managable level.
Its about 5 weeks until Race For Life. I havent done any outdoor running as the weather has been awful. I have designed a 20 minute HIIT (High intensity interval training) routine on the treadmill to help build my cardiovascular powers, (this is where you do a short burst at fast pace and a short recovery period and keep repeating). I tried it on monday and nearly died after about 13 mins! So my aim now is to do a little more each time. Tonight I did 10 mins of bare foot running on the treadmill at a light pace which I hope is going to help with ankle strength and stability. I hope that will make running across the uneven ground during RFL easier.
So, priorities at the moment are cardio/stamina training to prepare for RFL, then once that is out of the way, its full steam ahead to get into shape for summer holidays. The target is to lose another stone (almost half of which is the excess easter weight). I am just a little concerned that it may involve dropping another dress size and thus require buying a whole new summer wardrobe (again). I suppose there are worse things in the world.
Onwards and upwards............
Tuesday 6 March 2012
Getting fitter
Since I last posted my weight has stayed fairly even. I say that, actually it went up a bit over christmas, as I new it would, then I lost the excess again. I have not been too strict with the diet and have been having lots of treets like chocolate, pizza, roast dinners, cider etc so I am happy that by eating well in between these treets I am managing to keep my weight steady. I am now trying to be a bit more controlled to lose a couple of pounds before we go to France in a few weeks time.
We have now moved in to our new home and much to my delight we have enough space to turm one of the bedrooms into a gym so now I dont even have to walk down to the shed like before and I dont have to work out in the cold with the spiders. I have left the old gym in the shed so I have borrowed Lee's weights bench and some of his weights. My gym has the bench which has a chest press bar, squat bar, pec fly arms, leg curl and bicep curl. I also have an Ab lounge which helps with sit up type movement. I have a little stepper machine, yoga ball, step, dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, "six second abs", mini trampoline, pull up bar, and some floor space with gym mats. (and also a new addition this week - read on)
Although my weight has stayed much the same, I have been focusing on getting fitter and stronger. I mentioned last time that I have been doing press ups. When I started them I had to do lady press ups (on knees rather than toes) then graduated to doing about three man press ups. I am pleased with my progress and can now manage ten man press ups with reasonable comfort. I have recently also bought a pull up bar as I know that pull ups are great not only for back and shoulder strength but also for core strength which I am trying to improve. (My core strength and balance is greatly improved from a year or so ago). At the moment I can not do a single pull up (which is to be expected when you start) so I am starting by practising hanging and also by jumping up and then lowering slowly. I can do a couple of chin ups but they dont appeal to me so much as they focus more on bicep strength.
As I mentioned, I am trying to improve my core strength. The reasons for that are:
1. To improve muscle tone (get a flat tummy)
2. To improve strength (to prevent problems with re-occuring back pains)
3. To improve body alignment (to hopefully ease joint pains)
4. To improve posture (to help with back pains and to look slimmer)
To help with this, as well as my usual exercise routines I have started to introduce Yoga and Pilates. I have a couple of exercise DVD's which I am practising from. I am really enjoying the challenge and its also helping to relieve stress too.
I mentioned before that I had started to introduce kettlebell exercises using dumbbells, well, Darren got me a kettlebell for Christmas with an exercise DVD (not everyone's idea of a good present, I know!). It is really hard work and kills your glutes (arse) but again, I am loving the challenge! I do this workout in bare feet to help with the core stability too and I can already see a real difference in my strength and balance when doing exercises such as lunges which really require it. I am also still doing Davina's 30 minute workouts particularly the boxercise (again in bare feet). I can really notice the improvement in my fitness when I do this one as I remember really struggling to keep up when I first started. Now I am (almost) disapointed that it's only 30 minutes!
We find ourselves at that time of year again when its time to start prepping for the Race For Life which is at the end of May this year. I went for my first run of the year a couple of weeks ago. My aim was just to complete the 5k at a jog (without dropping down to a walk) and hopefully not upset my joints too much. I was really pleased to find that my stamina has improved dramatically since last year and I actually found it quite comfortable to keep jogging. I completed the 5k and when I checked later I realised that I also matched my personal best time too, which is awesome considering I wasnt trying to push myself! My hip played up a little during the run but not so much that I had to stop and it continued to hurt for a week or so after which was obviously a bit disapointing. Last year I didn't do as much running as I would have liked as the weather seemed to continually conspire against me (and I am definatley a fair weather runner!) I have overcome that problem this week by finally getting a treadmill which I have always wanted. I am so happy to finally have it, it's a bit sad really! I still hope to do a lot of fresh air running when the weather permits but now it means I dont have to rely on good weather and can start to get a bit of a routine going. I want to use the treadmill in two ways, mostly I want to use it to build my speed and stamina by doing short interval running (sprint then jog then sprint again etc) but also I would like to build my endurance (and hopefully condition my joints) to be able to complete 5k runs comfortably and perhaps ultimately build up to 10k.
So to summerise, I am more than happy with how I am managing my weight at the moment but would still like to drop another half a stone or so this year. My main focus now is on improving fitness, strength and body shape which is going very well. I am trying new exercises all the time and enjoying challenging myself (that's not to say I dont still have to haul my butt into the gym most days!)
We have now moved in to our new home and much to my delight we have enough space to turm one of the bedrooms into a gym so now I dont even have to walk down to the shed like before and I dont have to work out in the cold with the spiders. I have left the old gym in the shed so I have borrowed Lee's weights bench and some of his weights. My gym has the bench which has a chest press bar, squat bar, pec fly arms, leg curl and bicep curl. I also have an Ab lounge which helps with sit up type movement. I have a little stepper machine, yoga ball, step, dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, "six second abs", mini trampoline, pull up bar, and some floor space with gym mats. (and also a new addition this week - read on)
Although my weight has stayed much the same, I have been focusing on getting fitter and stronger. I mentioned last time that I have been doing press ups. When I started them I had to do lady press ups (on knees rather than toes) then graduated to doing about three man press ups. I am pleased with my progress and can now manage ten man press ups with reasonable comfort. I have recently also bought a pull up bar as I know that pull ups are great not only for back and shoulder strength but also for core strength which I am trying to improve. (My core strength and balance is greatly improved from a year or so ago). At the moment I can not do a single pull up (which is to be expected when you start) so I am starting by practising hanging and also by jumping up and then lowering slowly. I can do a couple of chin ups but they dont appeal to me so much as they focus more on bicep strength.
As I mentioned, I am trying to improve my core strength. The reasons for that are:
1. To improve muscle tone (get a flat tummy)
2. To improve strength (to prevent problems with re-occuring back pains)
3. To improve body alignment (to hopefully ease joint pains)
4. To improve posture (to help with back pains and to look slimmer)
To help with this, as well as my usual exercise routines I have started to introduce Yoga and Pilates. I have a couple of exercise DVD's which I am practising from. I am really enjoying the challenge and its also helping to relieve stress too.
I mentioned before that I had started to introduce kettlebell exercises using dumbbells, well, Darren got me a kettlebell for Christmas with an exercise DVD (not everyone's idea of a good present, I know!). It is really hard work and kills your glutes (arse) but again, I am loving the challenge! I do this workout in bare feet to help with the core stability too and I can already see a real difference in my strength and balance when doing exercises such as lunges which really require it. I am also still doing Davina's 30 minute workouts particularly the boxercise (again in bare feet). I can really notice the improvement in my fitness when I do this one as I remember really struggling to keep up when I first started. Now I am (almost) disapointed that it's only 30 minutes!
We find ourselves at that time of year again when its time to start prepping for the Race For Life which is at the end of May this year. I went for my first run of the year a couple of weeks ago. My aim was just to complete the 5k at a jog (without dropping down to a walk) and hopefully not upset my joints too much. I was really pleased to find that my stamina has improved dramatically since last year and I actually found it quite comfortable to keep jogging. I completed the 5k and when I checked later I realised that I also matched my personal best time too, which is awesome considering I wasnt trying to push myself! My hip played up a little during the run but not so much that I had to stop and it continued to hurt for a week or so after which was obviously a bit disapointing. Last year I didn't do as much running as I would have liked as the weather seemed to continually conspire against me (and I am definatley a fair weather runner!) I have overcome that problem this week by finally getting a treadmill which I have always wanted. I am so happy to finally have it, it's a bit sad really! I still hope to do a lot of fresh air running when the weather permits but now it means I dont have to rely on good weather and can start to get a bit of a routine going. I want to use the treadmill in two ways, mostly I want to use it to build my speed and stamina by doing short interval running (sprint then jog then sprint again etc) but also I would like to build my endurance (and hopefully condition my joints) to be able to complete 5k runs comfortably and perhaps ultimately build up to 10k.
So to summerise, I am more than happy with how I am managing my weight at the moment but would still like to drop another half a stone or so this year. My main focus now is on improving fitness, strength and body shape which is going very well. I am trying new exercises all the time and enjoying challenging myself (that's not to say I dont still have to haul my butt into the gym most days!)
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