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Scottish researchers have found that not only will a diet high in fruit and vegetables make you feel better – it will also make you look better.

Lead study researcher Ross Whitehead, from the School of Psychology at the University of St. Andrews, said, ‘We found that within a six-week period, fluctuation in fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with skin-colour changes.’

The fruit and vegetable intake of 35 people was observed over a six-week period. A higher level of consumption was linked with higher levels of red and yellow colouring in skin, caused by carotenoids including beta-carotene and lycopene. A second study then linked the changes in skin colour to increased attractiveness.

‘Our study suggests that an increase in fruit and veggie consumption of around three portions over a six-week period is sufficient to convey perceptible improvements in the apparent healthiness and attractiveness of facial skin. Conversely, those that worsened their diet became paler’ said Whitehead.

‘Eat more fruits and veggies to improve your appearance’ Whitehead concluded.

Source: PLoS ONE

I would like to wish you all a very Happy Easter. I hope you all enjoy the break and the time spent with your families.

Please ask the universe to provide good weather and think of me as I spend the weekend in a tent. You all know how much I enjoy camping – not!

Take care all

Claire x

I’ve just finished reading the book ‘Born to Run’ by Christopher McDougall.

The blurb….

“Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.”

Essentially, the book has me thinking about the debate of barefoot or not. Which is better, which is safer, which puts less strain on the body?

Obviously the Nike’s would like us to believe that the safest way to run would be to wear shoes that protect our joints from the impact of running. However the book pointed out that until recent years, we ran in nothing more than the modern day Dunlop Volley or Raben type shoe.

I may be showing my age now but when I was at school, we didn’t wear runners we wore ‘pumps’ or ‘galoshes’. The first ‘proper’ pair of trainers I had were Adidas Kick and I didn’t get them until about 1984.

Today though, I almost believe that without my mega expensive runners, I wouldn’t be able to get to the end of the street.

Browsing the Internet, it is clear that there is much argument for and against, I obviously need to do more research.

What are your thoughts? Has the sports shoe industry manipulated our thoughts or are shoes necessary to keep our body injury free?

I spent an hour and a half this morning watching this film, Hungry For Change. It definitely brings home the reasons why eating the right foods, getting the right amount of sleep, exercising and having the right mindset is important.

I would really encourage you to spend some time this weekend to watch it.

You got up out of bed at 5.30am. You maybe didn’t jump up and skip to the bathroom with delight at the thought of another early morning training session, but you did make the effort to get up and do some exercise.

Congratulations, you are already one step ahead of many people, but what should you do if your workout sucked?

If you were barely able to get your feet of the ground during the warm up. If you took just a little bit too long between sets or if you just kept reducing the speed on the treadmill instead of increasing it.

There are a few things to consider.

1   Revisit your goals, you did set some didn’t you? Remind yourself of the reasons why those goals are important to. Consider whether those goals are still valid, do they still excite you, do you need to change your goals?

2   Set yourself a bedtime and stick to it. Go to bed earlier in the evening. Sleep is just as vital to our wellbeing as exercising.

3   Are you bored with your training, do you need to mix it up a bit? Try something different, maybe something new or even something that you used to do that will inspire you.

4   Find a training partner or a personal trainer. Research has shown that people who train together or make a commitment to someone else, stick with their training for longer.

I have a client who has walked with the same walking partner every Saturday morning for 15 years. Now that’s a commitment.

5   Have you overtrained? Is it time to give your body a break from intensive training?

6   Is your nutrition supporting your body’s needs? That doesn’t just mean are you eating enough, but are you eating the right foods to adequately fuel your body?

7   Watching TV or reading a book while training is of course going to lead to a less intense workout. Turn the TV off, put on some pumping music and raise the intensity.

8   Get over it – there is always tomorrow.

After much searching for the ‘right’ trainer to join our team, we are very happy to welcome Lily.

Lily has always had a keen interest in health, wellbeing and fitness and was a client of Flexions Personal Training for a couple of years before delighting me with the news that she wished to study to become a Personal Trainer. She wasted no time in signing up for the course and started straight away.

Being an active member of our group training sessions she is already known by most of our clients and they have also welcomed her to observe and take their sessions during her period of work experience.

We are certain that Lily will fit perfectly into our business and that she will bring you the same levels of understanding and expertise that you can expect from Flexions.

Lily will be available for bookings from mid April.

What a fantastic year we’ve had. I have been so lucky to work with so many inspiring people. As with most people on a healthy journey, you’ve had your ups and downs, highs and lows, struggles and times of effortless wellbeing.

I am so proud of all you have achieved and honoured to have played a small part in it.

So as this year ends, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with love, laughter and many more successes.

Claire xx

Every day I see so many of my clients giving it their all in our training sessions. We see blood, sweat and tears. Well I’ve not seen blood yet but I have seen a few raw looking knuckles.

However, despite their efforts, they are not getting the results it would appear they deserve.

Why is that?

Of course there are many reasons but one of the main reasons is that they simply cannot get their nutrition right.

I’m not talking here about eating disorders or not having their mind in the right place, I’m talking only about choosing the right foods.

There are so many diet plans out there and most of us have tried most of them.

My suggestion, don’t waste your time and/or money.

The best way in my opinion is to eat a healthy balanced diet of mostly fresh foods.

For further information you can’t beat Matt O’Neill’s Metabolic Jumpstart.

Matt and his team will provide you with a Metabolically matched diet plan especially for you.

It’s simple to follow and the results are amazing.