Introducing the Men's Athleisure Sportswear Range by BAA Clothing

Athleisure is a massive growth area in men's fashion right now, with major brands bringing out complete ranges based on this lifestyle choice. As a man who wears a lot of sportswear, we are still a long way off the women's fashion led sportswear in terms of design options, but with brands like BAA Clothing launching new ranges, we now have a lot more choice when wanting to look great in the gym to coffee shop.

BAA Clothing are a startup focusing on a subtle black and grey palette for men and women - it's clothing based on clean lines and great tailoring. The clothing was delivered quickly when purchased online and packaged in a luxury box which resonates with the brands clothing which is clearly tailored using amazing comfortable fabrics.

“Shout, and you’ll be heard. Whisper, and you’ve captured their attention.”

— BAA Clothing

In this look I've kept things in keeping with the BAA Clothing style, dark, mysterious and casual. I'm wearing their zip t-shirt, layered underneath their zip-through hooded sweatshirt. My final piece of BAA Clothing piece is their padded sweatpants. Their clothing is very fitted, using fabrics that stretch and mold to your body shape so if you are in-between sizes, choose the larger option. I'm wearing medium. To finish off this look, I'm wearing Under Armour white sports socks, Adidas trail running trainers and a black strapped Rotary watch.

As always, if you like it shop it below.  

SHOP THE LOOK

Photography by Ella H

Introducing Burton Menswear Sport Athleisure Collection

Athleisure or sportswear is one of the largest if not the largest clothing growth market in the UK and Burton Menswear have just launched their first collection, entering this marketplace. As a home worker or coffee shop worker who loves the gym, I spend a lot of time in sportswear and this collection ticks all of the boxes. 

I particularly love the chevron designs , which reminds me of my perfect interior design feature....wood chevron flooring, the dream! The range is comfortable, casual, stylish, practical and perfectly fit for purpose.

The t-shirts are in the price range of £15, the zip up tops £25, shorts £16 and the zipped hoodies around £30. This price range for the on trend designs and quality, comfortable fabrics is right on-point, so if you don't fancy breaking the bank for some new sportswear, go check out the Burton range below.

SHOP THE LOOK

Photography by Rebecca Spencer

Become an Elemental Runner with GoRunRight Clinic

I find it so odd that many of us neglect our running techniques yet it is probably the single most activity we all do to keep fit. Running comes naturally, yes, but running with the correct posture and technique doesn't. One quick look around our small group that too part in this session from GoRunRight and you'll realise that everyone runs differently, some with strengths and many with weaknesses.

It is important to mention that Go Run Right is not just for elite athletes but also for people who are about to run their first 5K, it is all about working smarter not harder and everyone can benefit. During their 2 hour Run Clinic they will screen you to identify your unique imbalances and areas of focus and then show you the drills and tools required for you to walk away armed with what you need to exponentially improve your running.

During the 2 hour session in which I attended it started with some mobilisation, warmup exercises and a jog around Battersea athletics track to make sure you are ready for the drills. Followed by the below:

Screening

3 Stage screening process that involves gait analysis, range of movement testing and video analysis of your running.

Injury Analysis & Prevention

Based on the screening they will discuss common injuries that are applicable and ways to prevent them.

obility Tools

lowing through the correct mobility exercises and tools that you can use to advance your flexibility and range to allow full movement during your run, highlighting the areas that most of us have problems with.

Strengthening Exercises

Focusing on simple specific strengthening movements that will allow freedom and flow in a relaxed runner.

Drills

Speed through the drills you need to ensure good posture and positioning when running and demonstrate drills to reduce that all important contact time and speed up your cadence to insure you are not losing that all important elastic energy.

Follow Up

The Run Clinic will be fun and active but don't worry about remembering everything that is discussed, we will follow up straight after your clinic with details of your screening, reinforcing which elements of the clinic you need to most focus on.

Below is my screening prior to the clinic.

Below is my screening after to the clinic.

The report that you'll get posted to you after the guys at GoRunRight have analysed the footage indicates the differences between the before and after screening of your running techniques. As well as offering advice on what training to focus on when running in the future.

Personally I have always thought of myself as an average runner, a little bit lazy in technique...but now I'm consciously thinking about how I'm running and critiquing others on their style!   

Their next clinic is on Saturday 18th February 2017 09:30 – 11:30 at Battersea Park Athletics Track.

BOOK HERE

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MYZONE Exercise Monitor | Product Review

The product I've been trialling for the last month is the MYZONE MZ-3. First question, what is MYZONE MZ-3? Well, it an accurate exercise tracker that helps you get the most out of your workouts. The MYZONE belt fits comfortably around your chest with the small tracker device around the sternum area. The idea is to wear the belt whenever you do any fitness activity and the belt will track your heart rate during the workout, you can then view live stats or analyse via the MYZONE app after your workout.

Like many of my friends I wanted to get super fit this year and motivation is the key to everything which is why I've trialled the MYZONE tracker to assist with that side of things. Getting started is simple. First, of course you'll need to purchase one of the trackers which are £129.99 from their online store. Sorry I should have said the MZ-3 is £129.99 however they also have lots of other trackers such as a watch, or fitness clothing which the tracker attaches to varying in price. Next, get the MYZONE app downloaded to your smart phone which is available on Apple & Android. Register your belt via the app. Put on you MYZONE MZ-3, then enable bluetooth on your smart phone. Simply workout and enjoy the live stream or if you want to leave your phone at home or in a locker whilst you workout, the MYZONE belt will upload the data that it has stored from your workout to the MYZONE app the next time it is in close proximity to your phone and bluetooth is on.

The MZ-3 belt is an innovative monitoring system that reads your heart rate, calories burned and overall effort accurately in real-time. Take your exercise to a new level by ensuring that your heart rate is always exactly where it needs to be. Register your belt online to participate in challenges, track your progress and see your efforts rewarded. 

There are two main things that I personally do for fitness and that is a) the gym to work on muscle mass and b) British Military Fitness to work on core and cardiovascular. I've worn the MYZONE belt to the gym, however I personally just do weights at the gym, in that scenario the stats were not that useful because my heart rate stayed pretty low. 

British Military Fitness is a group HIIT outdoors fitness camp run by ex-military professionals. I do this between 3-5 times per week and some days I really put everything I have into it but other days I kind of hide at the back of the class, not really working to my maximum. I wanted to use the MYZONE belt to track 'actually' how hard I am working and if there is room to push myself further. Below is a typical session that I have recorded:

British Military Fitness HIIT Training - Clapham Common

The class run from 09:30 - 10:30 with a warm-up, water break sometime in the middle and a cool-down. The red bars indicate that you are working above 90% of you maximum heart rate (mine is set to 182 beats per minute) and the MYZONE belt sets this for you based on a number of statistics. The yellow is above 80% and the green above 70%. 

Overall I can tell that I'm actually working to my maximum in patches, which is nice to see...I'm not taking it as easy as I thought I was. Obviously there are peaks and troths but that is normal when doing HIIT or circuit training over an hour. 

What I found the most motivating when using the MYZONE tracker is earning MEPS (MYZONE Exercise Points) and trying to reach the daily, weekly & monthly targets as well as topping the charts against all of your peers. Go ahead and give it a try yourself.

LEARN MORE HERE

Don’t Give up on Your New Year’s Resolutions

The title of this blog post says it all really. How many of us have already turned our backs on our water tight New Years resolutions, of course we were all going to 100% do them this year...right?! Well statistics suggest that around 30% of us will make some form of healthy eating, fitness type New Year's resolution and out of that number around 50% will admit to have failed at them. Well this year, the only resolution I made was to stay fit and healthy and I wanted to get back to my peak fitness of 2015 because 2016 was a year full of pints, pizza, burgers and that had to change. 

It is imperative in order to hit these new year's goals you'll need to stay focused and motivated. That could come in many different ways and is totally personal to yourself and your own lifestyle. However for me, I have made a few small but important changes to my daily routine which ensures that I do NOT give up on my fitness goals and become just another statistic.

Firstly it's the old adage 'look good, feel good' and I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. So recently I have upgraded my gym & fitness wardrobe with some athleisure gear from Debenhams. Fashion and fitness are totally linked. You are more likely to go out if you have just brought a new shirt and need to road-test it in your local bar. The same applies for what you wear to the gym. If you buy some new athleisure clothing, you'll look great and you'll just have to show it off at the gym, otherwise it will be a waste of money and there is your motivation or incentive. 

I personally shop at Debenhams for my athleisure because they have such an extensive range for men and women. It makes it so much easier shopping online at Debenhams because they have all my favourite athleisure brands such as Under Armour, redherring, Gola and Regatta to name a few, all under the Debenhams online store and with only one delivery I have everything I need, including gym accessories and tech (which I'll get on to shortly).

Another thing that I'm improving on this year is to drink the recommended daily intake of water. Did you know that our body is made up of two thirds water, so it is really important to stay hydrated. Drinking the correct amount of water everyday will make you feel more alert, have less headaches and of course help combat dry dehydrated skin and I have personally seen a small difference with my dark circles around my eyes becoming a little lighter. A MAJOR factor in drinking enough water was this Joseph Joseph water bottle, which counts your water intake with a simple counting mechanism in it's cap. It may seem simple, but it is so easy to lose track on how much you have drunk, a glass here and there may not be enough.

As a tech and statistical addict, I need to know exactly how hard I'm pushing my body - so I can tailor my workouts based on these stats. Like I said before Debenhams have it all and I managed to get a new FitBit Blaze with my athleisure gear and water bottle. There are a few main attributes of the FitBit that I absolutely love. Firstly the design and the lightness of the watch is perfect, it is completely comfortable when exercising either in the gym, doing outdoor fitness or playing sports and for only £160 it is great value for money. Measuring the number of steps you make everyday is quite motivating because after using the watch for a week, I have wanted to beat yesterdays number of steps, so it keeps you active even when in the office or at home. When working out, I love to track my heart rate to see how hard I'm working then analyse the stats post workout to see if I could have worked harder for longer, increasing my fitness results. Finally I sleep with the FitBit on because it will remind you when to go to bed, based on when you want to wake up and your sleep needs. The FitBit will vibrate softly waking you up at the most optimal time based on your alarm and record the sleep statistics in the FitBit app.

Finally it may seem simple but I make sure I pack my gym bag every night ready to wake up and go. No faffing, no procrastination...just a get it done attitude!

It would be great to hear your motivation techniques and share them with me. Let's make sure we hit our new year's resolutions together and motivate each other.

SHOP THE LOOK

Photography by Rebecca Spencer

Stylish & Sporty | The Perfect Every Day Watch | Seiko Prospex

What do you look for when purchasing an everyday watch? For my stylish lifestyle I look for a watch that is fashionable, robust, durable, classic, exceptional quality and a well-­‐known brand that you can trust. Seiko watches and in particular this Radio Sync Solar World Time Chronograph watch that I have been wearing for the last month, ticks every single box.

My day-to-day life is hectic, I’m always on the move and a timepiece can truly show someone’s personality and this watch has bags of it but can it truly be a perfect everyday watch? The only way to answer that is to wear it on a packed full day in the life of a menswear fashion blogger (me!).

A typical day in my life would normally require a few outfit changes, and this watch works extremely well with all outfit styles and palettes. This Seiko Prospex watch has a heavy luxury feel to it and with it’s silver, stainless steel strap and monochrome black/white watch-­face it is classic and neutral enough to stand out with any outfit, smart or casual, sportswear or loungewear.

After walking my dog in the morning, I’m heading off to do my daily fitness class which is an outdoor assault course, boot camp type training. Lots of HIIT training, lots of mud and a durable watch that I can keep track of my circuit lap times. After a tough training session wearing the watch I inspected it afterwards and I can immediately tell that the parts used to make this watch are top quality and robust. For example in many watches the pins holding the watch strap links together and the strap to the watch face are the first things to fail – however with this watch the pins are slightly larger and can take a lot of roughing up!

One of the main time consumers of being a menswear fashion blogger is styling outfits that my readers would aspire to look like and this means taking part in a large number of photo shoots. I’m shooting an outfit put together in a casual everyday style to see if this Seiko watch, truly is made for the everyday man.

So a quick change and I’m off on the London Underground for a fashion shoot. Whilst on the tube and feeling confident enough to ‘show off’ my watch. I carried out a little social experiment by holding the handrail showing off the watch and trying to catch people looking at it. I mean it wasn’t a professionally conducted survey but the watch certainly got a lot of looks.

Networking and events are extremely important working in fashion, and deciding what to wear can be quite daunting (everyone’s judging!), but having a watch that works for all styles is one less thing to worry about.

I’ve gone from a casual look on the shoot to something a bit more formal for the evening and the watch transitions perfectly between these two very different styles. So I’m off now to show of my new Seiko Prospex watch, I’ll expect everyone to be wearing them soon!

 

SHOP THIS SEIKO WATCH

CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE FOR MEN 2016

COATS & JACKETS

FRAGRANCE

SMART FORMAL WORK WEAR

STYLE ACCESSORIES

DENTAL CARE

WATCHES

FITNESS TECH

ALCOHOL

TECHIES

TRAVELLER

KNITWEAR

OUTDOORS

INDOORS

SOCKS

SHOES

MEN WITH BEARDS

LOUNGEWEAR

MALE GROOMING GIFT SETS

EYEWEAR GLASSES SPECTICLES

TRAINERS SNEAKERS

AFFORDABLE ARTWORK

Protein waffles with Oppo ice cream

Now these are the sort of posts I like writing about because I get the scoff everything that I have made afterwards! This morning was spent doing British Military Fitness on Clapham Common building up a decent appetite then when home I started mixing up some protein batter for my home-made waffles topped with Oppo guilt-free ice cream...yes for brunch and don't feel guilty about it AT all, and here's why.

Firstly I'm a bit of a kid at heart and the thought of having ice cream at any time of the day gets me excited. Although on the flip side of that comment, I'm also a bit of a fitness freak and right now I'm massively cutting down on my refined sugar intake - I even take tea and coffee without sugar now (a big step for me). Just google 'What does sugar do to my body' and you'll be inundated with facts about the adverse short-term and long-term effects refined sugar has on us.

Hello Oppo ice cream. Created because Oppo believe that indulgent food doesn’t need loads of sugar or calories to taste good and of course they are right. A simple taste test this morning proved that. I could actually bang on about how good this ice cream tastes yet how healthy and clean it is, although I think Charlie & Harry, do it better:

"Oppo ice cream is made with natural ingredients and just 40 calories a scoop"

For those of you who are interested in trying these protein waffles topped with Oppo ice cream, firstly purchase some Oppo by clicking on your favourite flavour below or visit one of the 1000+ stores they are stocked in. Then follow this simple protein waffle recipe:

Ingredients

2 Eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 1/2 cups of almond milk
1 cup of gluten free flour
1 cup of oat blend flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
2 scoops of vanilla protein powder

Method

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl
Place the dry mixture and all of the other ingredients together and blend
Spoon into a waffle maker
Serve the waffles hot with a scoop of Oppo ice cream
Garnish with fruit (optional)
 

TRY IT FOR YOURSELF - CLICK BELOW

Get Summer Ready With This Simple 10 Minute Meal - Kale Pesto & Spiralized Courgette

How many of you are still working hard on getting beach body ready for your summer holiday? Unfortunately I've pretty much done all my holidays for this year...thats except a stag do in Budapest and for those of you who have been on stag a do will know that you can't exactly class them as a relaxing holiday! So therefore I'm going to pass over to you my favourite Summer ready recipes, starting with this homemade kale pesto with chicken and spiralized courgettes. It really is so quick and simple to prepare/cook especially with my new Morphy Richards Electric Spiralizer.

We all have busy lifestyles and convenience is staring us in the face whenever we visit the supermarkets. Two things I noticed when buying these courgettes. 1. You can actually buy pre-spiralized courgettes, although they are over double the price of the non-sprialized version and you only get 250g which is just over 1 normal sized courgette. For those of you (like me) who eat a truck-load of this awesome vegetable will know that when you cook them, they reduce due to the water content - so 1 is just not enough. 2. Some supermarkets have a 'wonky veg' or  'Imperfect' ranges sourced from British farms. I would suggest buying these because from the normal packaged courgettes you can get 3 for £1 or buy the imperfect ones and you'll get 4 (and they were massive compared to the 'perfect' ones) for only 85p and you are also helping British farmers and reducing food waste.

Flipping back to convenience, I've used a couple of old crappy plastic spiralizers in the past before I purchased this electric one and not only is the electric one a hell of a lot quicker but also easier to clean. With the hand powered plastic rubbish, you have to push the courgette into the blade quite hard, therefore you'll get a build up of courgette residue that is hard to remove just by running under a tap. With the electric one it is totally effortless to spiralize as is the cleaning.

INGREDIENTS
 

2 Large handfuls of Kale.
10 Fresh basil leaves.
Olive Oil
Salt
4 Garlic cloves
1 Handful of Pine Nuts
Parmesan Cheese
2 Courgettes
Cherry Tomatoes
Mixed Peppers (Optional)
Chicken (Optional)

First things first, spiralize two courgettes using the Morphy Richards Electric Spiralizer if you are lucky enough to have one and place to the side.

Blend the kale, basil leaves and olive oil in a blender, adding the garlic cloves, pine nuts, pinch of salt and about 50g (or handful) of parmesan cheese whilst continuing to blend. Add more olive oil if the mixture is struggling to combine properly.

If you are making the chicken version, cut up some chicken pieces and fry in olive oil until cooked. Into the cooked chicken add a generous helping of the kale pesto, mix well.

Add halved cherry tomatoes, a pinch of salt and the sliced mixed peppers. Stir.

Add in your spiralized courgettes, continue to stir, coating all of the courgettes with the mixture.

Add about 25g of parmesan cheese shavings or a small handful and mix everything together thoroughly.

Toast some pine nuts and serve by towering the spiralized courgettes with the cherry tomatoes and mixed peppers. Add a teaspoon of the uncooked pesto on top with a single thin slice of parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the toasted pine nuts.

YUM!

SHOP THIS MORPHY RICHARDS ELECTRIC SPIRALIZER

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What to wear for the gym, running or general fitness

With summer holidays on the horizon, many of us are putting in the extra hours at the gym, running, yoga, boxercise, PT or group outdoor fitness classes. Whatever fitness regime you are currently into, I've put together my latest men's fitness look to help you look the part as well as feel it. If you are one of those people who still wants to find love the conventional way - bars, gym or work for example, rather than Tinder or Happn, it's time you ditched that hole-ridden, was once white but now light brown t-shirt and smarten up!

I have many reasons why I love to keep fit...if you haven't read about my Heart Operation, you can here. Not only for that reason but I'm getting ollllllllld and am still single, so I have to keep myself in relatively okay shape because finding the one over 30 gets incredibly difficult and every inch of fat is harder to shift. 

The entire fitness outfit above is from Adidas with exception of the socks which I purchased from Topman for about £3...winner. I wanted to stay away from standard white and black colours as I have so much sportswear in these colours already. So I decided to go for something a little more bold and I'm loving this teal/topaz/blue colour as it goes so well with greys and blacks. Most of us have grey and black shorts already, so by pairing them with a bold top can transform your look, simple but hopefully effective. When buying sportswear, always check the fit, fabric and size. The top in my look is a tight fitted, stretch elasticated fabric so you might want to go up a size rather than showcase your belly bulge from the meat-feast pizza you just ate on cheat day!

SHOP ADIDAS

Photography by Rebecca Spencer

Why Keeping Fit Is So Important - My Heart Operation

No my fitness routine is not putting on some new adidas gear, finding the nearest brick wall and pose, although it does look like it from the images! I tend to keep myself relatively fit all year round, I'm not really one of these fitness part-timers who only keep fit during January; for the two months leading up to their next holiday; because they decided to sign-up for a 5K run or maybe some hot female instructor who you matched with on Happn works at your gym. 

Not many of you would know, but a couple of years ago I was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect (meaning I've had it since birth, although undetected). The defect was a Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA). Before a baby is born, the fetus's blood does not need to go to the lungs to get oxygenated. The ductus arteriosus is a hole that allows the blood to skip the circulation to the lungs. However, when the baby is born, the blood must receive oxygen in the lungs and this hole is supposed to close. If the ductus arteriosus is still open (or patent) oxygenated blood from the lungs via the aorta mix with deoxygenated blood from the pulmonary artery, causing the two to mix. This puts strain on the heart and increases blood pressure in the lung arteries. In my case my left ventricle was enlarged as it had been working overtime pumping that blood around the body for 33 years of it's life. The heart is a muscle after all - the harder it has to work the larger it will become to compensate for that extra work.

It was actually diagnosed during a checkup that I had when I found a lump on one of my testicles, which itself turned out to be nothing - however I was treated with a heart operation instead! The operation itself was pretty scary, I had full trust in the surgeons and put a brave face on things but when someone says to you that they have to operate on your heart, in the back of your head you cant help thinking you are not going to wake up from it. 

The surgery itself wasn't intrusive at all...they simply took a tube with a camera and shoved it up an artery in my groin all the way up to my heart. Where they simply plugged the PDA with what I describe as a bit of cotton wool, champagne cork or science gauze - which stops all blood flow across the ductus arteriosus. Within hours and certainly days, tissue forms over the 'plug' and my left ventricle returned to within normal size range. Winner, does that mean I can now be an olympic athlete?!

This heart defect isn't that uncommon...well in children it isn't, but in 30+ year old men it is rare. It is rare that such a defect that you live with 100% of the time remains undetected. Thats where my fitness comes into play. If I was an unfit slob, over indulging on trans fatty foods whilst sitting on my arse playing Playstation with my online pals kinda guy - I would probably of had a heart attack or stroke by now or something worse. I put the reason down to not having any major symptoms to keeping myself fit and healthy.

It really is SO important to keep fit all of the time not just 1 month on 3 months off...so why not try something new this week. What about some personal training, group fitness with British Military Fitness or yoga?

SHOP THE LOOK

Photography by Rebecca Spencer

Introducing Superdry Sport

If you haven't tried the Superdry Sports range before, now is the time to give them a chance and get your hands on it. Launching their brand new Superdry Sport collection during LCM, I had the chance to get my hands on a couple of pieces of their new range and it is very impressive. 

Out of the Superdry Sport's impressive range, I chose to style a classic combination of grey shorts with a black hoodie. My first impressions were wow this actually is really good stuff. Superdry wouldn't normally be my first choice for sports wear but after sampling their products, they need to be taken seriously. The quality is superb especially with the small detailed touches such as the draw strings and concealed zips. The fabric in the clothing that I wore was thick, which is perfect for mornings and cooler days...however in their range they also have more breathable thinner spring summer bits. 

Their collection retails at a reasonable price, especially for the quality you are getting. For example the running shoes are £54.99, shorts around £30-45 and you can pick up an amazing hoodie which you'll still be wearing this time in 10 years time for around £50-70.

SHOP SUPERDRY SPORT

Photography by Rebecca Spencer

Fathers Day Wrapped Up - A Gift Guide for Fathers Day 2016

FATHER'S DAY 2016, SUNDAY 19TH JUNE

Fathers Day is a day to celebrate everything our Dads do for us. Other than being a great Dad, Granddad and husband, my Father is also a great DIY handyman, taxi, cook (BBQ only), gardener and dog sitter! For all of his hard work, I got my Dad a Bee Home for the garden last year...a present that is still in it's box! So this year I'm starting early to come up with something a little bit better than that. Here are my top picks.

SHIRTY DAD

SAVILE ROW DAD

LOVES SHOES?

AND TIES...

OR SOCKS!

CASUAL DAD

FOREVER YOUNG DAD

SPORTY DAD

HE LOVES GARDENING...

AND THE OUTDOORS

FOODY DAD

A LITTLE TIPPLE

BEARDY DAD

HOW TO STAY FIT OVER CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR

We all know that December is an extremely tough month to stay fit and motivated to keep healthy. There is just too much temptation, Christmas party invites galore, work lunches and all of your mates suddenly want to catch up before the end of the year. I'm pretty sure that many of us out there have spent more days in December nursing a hangover than not. 

I for one, don't really get many Christmas party invitations (mini violins please) mainly because I work on my own, for myself...so whats the point, turkey for one! Then there is my New Years holiday to Thailand. So for the first time, this December I'm staying fit and healthy and here are my tips to do so.

1. JOIN A FITNESS BOOTCAMP

Seems obvious, right? Well yes kind of but notice I said bootcamp and not gym. I do both and feel I get more out of being involved in bootcamp outdoor fitness training. Gyms can be quite expensive and a little dull once you are in there, thats unless you have a gym buddy or get some PT sessions. My point is, gyms are great if you are highly self motivated, bootcamps are great because it is group based fitness where you are getting motivated by the instructors and also by like minded people. I belong to British Military Fitness who run bootcamps across the UK, were fitness meets social.

2. REFUEL

After a heavy exercise session it is important to refuel your body - it should be screaming out for food, so give it what it needs! I'm a morning fitness person, so my favourite post exercise food is Protein Pancakes (shown above). Simple to make and packed with goodness. I layer my pancakes with Steens Raw 20+ UMF Manuka Honey as it is packed with plant phenols and antioxidants which support a healthy diet.  Here are the ingredients:

Put all ingredients into a blender, nutri-bullet or similar:

1. Splash of almond milk.
2. 2 eggs.
3. Handful of oats.
4. One heaped scoop of protein powder (I use PhD banana flavour).
5. Half a banana (keep the rest for garnish).
6. Tea spoon of coconut oil.
7. Table spoon of greek 0% fat yogurt.

Cook in coconut oil, serve layered with honey and top with more Greek 0% fat yogurt, banana and mixed berries.

3. DRINK MORE NATURAL TEA

Sorry guys, I know how tempting it is to head to your nearest Costa or Starbucks and pay way too much for a white hot chocolate, gingerbread latte or hazelnut cappuccino. Spend the same price as one of those coffees and get yourself 15 Teapigs! TeaPigs provide naturally caffeine free tea in soooooo many different flavours, so if the Christmas 'spiced winter red tea' isn't quite your thing, then go for a more palatable peppermint tea.

4. ENJOY SNACK TIME

Little and often, little and often...I keep telling myself. Its now 3-4pm and its been a couple of hours since lunch and dinner seems a million miles away. Try not to head over to the naughty snack machine in the corner of the office. Buy healthy snacks so you can enjoy some guilt-free indulgence. Check out Willies Cacao which is about as healthy and indulgent as chocolate gets. I also love these little squares of goodness from Bioglan Raw Bites - I'm going to try the Cacao & Quinoa ones next. 

5. REMEMBER YOUR 5-A-DAY

I've had those vegetable and fruit boxes that you get delivered to your door in the attempt to eat more veg. It just didn't work, I ended up throwing most of it in the bin or blending it to make juices, but I was never that good at combining flavours. Thanks to Bioglan SuperFoods, they have done all the hard work for us with their superfood pouches. Just blend with water, I tend to have one of these per day either was my dinner, as a snack or after an evening fitness workout.

6. AND RELAX

It is important to remember down time, to relax the muscles as well as your brain. Think about what is important in your life, what makes you happy and try to let all the stresses go. These essential oils from Nudo are the perfect relaxant and each of their oils are suitable for bathing, massage or vaporisation. 

HAVE A HEALTHY, STRESS FREE CHRISTMAS...LOVE CARL X

Check out How to Work Out in Your Hotel Room

by Carl Thompson at Mode