Tiny Tabasco

Today is really just an excuse for me to post this picture of a tiny tiny bottle of tabasco sauce my colleague gave me at lunch time to add to my chilli and rice and to write a quick catch up on my blog.

I do have a few tips though to help boost the metabolism.  Please keep in mind that the below are just my own ideas put together from bits and bobs I've read here and there and so should not be taken as cold hard facts.




So here are my tips...

1) Try to mix up the types of exercise you do.  It's important to have a mix of aerobic and weight training (yes, even for the girls!) as muscle burns energy faster.  I'm personally doing a 5 min walk, 5 min slow jog and 5 min fast paced walk on the treadmill to get warmed up.  I then mix some light weight lifts (3 sets of 15 reps) in-between 10 min bursts of cardio on a bike or climber for example).  I'm doing my first group work out class "The Arena Workout" on Monday and have a half hour session with a personal trainer on Thursday and so will post up how that goes and any good advice I can pass on.

2) Sleep and rest.  I'm trying to stick to a regular sleeping pattern - bed by 10 - 10.30 and up at 6 - 6.30.  If you don't allow your body to rest, it's not going to work efficiently through the day and it needs time to repair and build muscle tissue.

3) Keep hydrated.  Drink plenty of water throughout the day.  I keep a bottle on my desk that I just keep sipping and refilling all day.  If I hit the gym already a little dehydrated, I find I just don't have the energy to get my cardio done and it takes me longer to recover.  I also think caffeine in moderation is fine and so my morning protein shakes do contain caffeine and I also enjoy the odd cup of coffee and lots of tea (my favourite is the jasmine and green tea from Sainsbury's at the moment).

4) Small frequent meals are better.   At the moment I'm trying to just eat whenever I feel hungry but my meals are small and high in protein.  Each meal they say should be about the size of your fist.  I find it easier to think of my portion sizes in mouthfuls.  I tend to try and count my bites and stop after 10 bites, wait for the food to hit my tummy (I'll just have a breather or talk to a friend) and then think - am I really still hungry or am I now just eating to get this plate full finished.  If it's the latter I know next time I need to shrink the portion size.

5) Spice it up.  This is where the tiny tabasco comes in.  I'm not sure about the science behind it but spicy foods are supposed to boost the metabolism and I generally like a bit of spice.  I'm adding chilli flakes or fresh chilli to my meals and generally ordering things a little hotter these days!