Beat Stress With Reflexology

Our Reflexology and Acupuncture Team, Martine and Natalie Vegoda explain how the ancient art of reflexology can be used as an incredibly effectively treatment for stress...

STRESS CAN AFFECT ANYBODY.

[ WORRY, FRUSTRATION, SHAKING, INSOMNIA………

[ DEPENDING ON YOUR PERSONALITY, IT IS VERY MUCH AN INDIVIDUAL PERCEPTION.

[ IT IS HOW YOUR BODY REACTS TO EXTERNAL PRESSURES THAT YOU PERCEIVE TO BE DIFFICULT OR UNCOMFORTABLE AND IT CAN CREATE BOTH PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL CHANGES.

[ SOME STRESS IS HELPFUL IN HELPING YOU TO PERFORM AT YOUR BEST BUT STRESS BECOMES A PROBLEM WHEN INSTEAD OF HELPING YOU TO PERFORM, IT BECOMES COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.

[ STRESS OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME CAN DEVELOP INTO CHRONIC STRESS AND IT IS THIS THAT CAN MAKE US QUITE UNWELL.    

How you can use Reflexology to offset stress....     

[ REFLEXOLOGY CAN BE A NATURAL, NON-INVASIVE OPTION TO OFFSETTING THE EFFCTS OF STRESS ON YOUR HEART AND OVERALL HEALTH.

[TREATING THE BODY  MIND AND SPIRIT AS A COHESIVE SYSTEM, IT ENDEAVORS TO GET TO THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM NOT ITS SYMPTOMS.

[ WITH ITS ROOTS DATING BACK TO ANCIENT EGYPT, REFLEXOLOGY WORKS ON THE PREMISE THAT THE MAJOR ORGANS, NERVES AND GLANDS THAT MAKE UP THE BODY ARE CONNECTED TO REFLEX POINTS IN THE SOLES, TOPS AND SIDES OF THE FEET.

[ THROUGH THE SEQUENTIAL APPLICATION OF GENTLE COMPRESSION TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO SPECIFIC AREAS OVER THE FEET, REFLEXOLOGY POSSESSES THE CAPACITY TO CANCEL OUT THE EFFCTS OF STRESS WORKING TOWARDS STIMULATING YOUR BODY’S OWN HEALING PROCESSES WHILE HELPING YOUR BODY TO REACH A STATE OF DEEP RELAXATION IN A NATURAL WAY.

[THE TECHNIQUE OF REFLEXOLOGY IS OFTEN USED AS A TYPE OF PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE AND TODAY IT IS INCREASINGLY BEING INTEGRATED INTO TRADITIONAL MEDICAL PRACTICES.

Are You Summer Ready?

Your summer holiday is fast approaching and I’m pretty sure that right now your mind is focused on how you will look and feel when it’s time to take the layers off.

Feel like it’s a little late to get started on a healthy eating and exercise plan? Are you starting to panic when thinking about yourself in your summer clothing?

Well you’ll be happy to know all is not lost. 

Sure it may feel a little late to get yourself started on a summer shake-up plan but however much time you have left can be used wisely to create the change you desire.   I am not suggesting for one minute that it is all about the aesthetic, but if the aesthetic is a means to bring about a happier you at this time of year then there are ways you can big about big changes in a short space of time.

As the time is limited you will first need to decide, act then commit.   Decide what it is you actually want to achieve, begin to act, then commit on seeing it through.  These essential ingredients will go some way in making your holiday a happier one, and by knowing you made that last ditch effort you can go away fully deserving that pat on the back rather than feeling like you wasted away valuable time.

Ok so you’re still with me, great! Where to begin I hear you ask? Firstly write out how many days you have till you go away and you can now work back to today and plan the amount of time you can commit to this.

If you are to have the biggest impact on your health and fat loss in the time you have remaining till you depart these shores then you need to know the most impactful action you can take is to cut out all of what your liver deems a toxin.  Avoiding the likes of alcohol, wheat, gluten, caffeine, sugar and processed foods will help you shed the pounds super quick and by adding a healthy 3-4 litres of water a day you can be safe in the knowledge that you are on the path to success.  A good night sleep is vitally important too and a topic which is to be discussed sometime soon.

To some it may seem a little drastic, but of course because you haven’t been too kind to yourself over the last few months so you’ll need all the impetus to get the new you ready for beach time. 

You may have realised that I haven’t yet spoken of exercise.  It too is important and at this time of year the team here at All About You are busy applying the tried and tested fat loss programs, which have so far been working a treat.  With our home workout plans to help get our wonderful clients moving more at home we are seeing better results than ever before.  I know it sounds too good to be true but don’t just take my word for it.  If you've read this far then no doubt you are interested in finding out what our Summer Shake up plan can do for you so here’s what you’ll need to do to get involved.

Call up the studio on 020 8348 9706 and arrange your free consultation with a member of our team so we can tell you all about what we can do for you in time for Summer.

Health and happiness,

Mario. 

Recipe of the Week!

We have another delicious recipe to share with you from Tootoomoo who I'm sure all of you have tried by now. Their ingredients are organic, gluten, and MSG free... so you can pop down there while still keeping to your summer diet plans! If you haven't tried Tootoomoo yet hopefully this dish will persuade you to go soon!
Remember that Tootoomoo is also offering All About You clients a 20% discount on their take away menu and are also sponsoring our Client of The Month award here at the studio by giving our lucky winner a free meal for two to celebrate their achievements with us!

Chinese Braised Chicken 

All of us need comfort food once in a while. In China, the ultimate comfort food is the braised meat dish. Traditionally, pork belly or trotter is the preferred choice of meat as they are super tender and wholesome. However, as the trend shifts to a more health conscious diet and lifestyle, I have decided to use chicken thigh in this recipe. Chicken thigh is the most tender part of the bird and also has a higher fat content that flavours the dish.

Ingredients

• 4-6 pieces of chicken thigh
• 4 eggs
• 3 slices of ginger
• 4-5 birds eye chilli
• 4-5 cloves star anise
• 3 tablespoons dark soy
• 3 tablespoons low sodium soy
• 3 tablespoons Shao Xing wine
• 3-4 teaspoons honey or brown sugar
• 2 cans of lager

Instructions

  

• Heat a deep pan or pot on high and coat with light layer of oil
•    Put the chicken skin down first then turn once seared
• Pour in enough lager to cover the chicken and bring to boil
• In goes the ginger, chillies, soy, wine, star anise and sugar (if you prefer the dish to be spicy, crush the chillies beforehand)
•   Remain on high heat till the alcohol evaporates and the aroma starts to develop. Switch to low heat and simmer for an hour
•    Meanwhile, put the eggs in pan with cold water. Once the water starts boiling, starts a 7 minutes countdown to get the perfect hard boiled eggs
• Shell the eggs and cut into halves and add into the now super tender braised chicken pot and simmer for a further 30 min
• Served over boiled rice

Notes

•  Do not worry about overcooking this dish. Like most slow cooked dishes, it develops over time
•   It could be made vegetarian by using tofu, aubergine and daikon (radish) instead
•  Dark soy is used mainly for browning the dish, you could go with a lot less if desire
•  Honey/ sugar could always be added in the end to taste
•  In case of not being able to source star anise, cloves or fennel could also do the trick
• Lager gives a subtle caramelised flavour but feel free to go with good old H2O!

Meet The Team!

In the last few months there have been a number of changes to All About You. The business has grown drastically, not just in the size of the studio but also through the addition of a new fitness class timetable and our wellbeing clinic.

Here's how our team looks today...




David Osgathorp

David set up All About You in 2006 with the idea of creating a holistic health centre that delivers a unique experience and an unrivalled personal service to our clients. After seven years and many additions to the original business I feel that I have now constructed an excellent team of individuals to offer the ultimate health and wellbeing package.

James Hutchison

Combining over 10 years of experience in the fitness industry with a Psychology degree has allowed James to develop a unique Personal Training style which focuses not only on health and well being, but on goal setting, motivation and long term behaviour change for weight loss.

Nick Palma

Sports Therapist Nick, specialises in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries. With a wealth of experience in both clinical and health & fitness environments, Nick enjoys using the latest corrective exercise techniques to provide pain prevention solutions for all his clients.

Dan Humphries

Fat Loss Specialist, Dan has designed our One to One Bootcamp Programme which combines a mix of sweat, challenges and a topping of fun to deliver exceptional results. He is our resident nice guy and will also ensure you have a five star experience at the studio in his role as Studio Manager.

Benjamin Cooper

Holistic Lifestyle Coach Benjamin understands that the human body works PHYSICALLY (movement), EMOTIONALLY (Hormonal) and CHEMICALLY (Nutrition). His approach addresses sleep patterns, stress levels, nutrition, and movement to not only improve his clients quality of life but educate them on the best choices to make.

 Paul Ranson

Natural Movement Coach, Paul aims to address our body’s optimal health and alignment which is compromised on a daily basis. His approach teaches clients to move with efficiency and skill while following his philosophy of having fun and enjoying movement to achieve sustainable fitness. He has worked successfully with this approach in London, Spain and Kenya.

Tony Wilson

Performance Coach Tony has a no nonsense approach to training. He lives and breathes health and fitness and delivers exceptional results to his clients. He specialises in strength training, fat loss and nutrition. With many years of experience he understands the importance of keeping clients motivated and on track to achieving their goals.

James Lockyer

Sport & Exercise Rehabilitation Specialist James has a unique approach to training. He uses a variety of release techniques and corrective exercise methods to create strong foundations to reduce pain and improve everyday function. He is a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic trainer and a great addition to the All About You Team.

Stephen Sacks

Harley Street Osteopath Stephen has a simple approach: Find it, fix it and leave it alone but maintain it and give you the tools to make sure it does not come back. In order to do this, he uses a variety of methods from osteopathy, acupuncture/dry needling, sports taping and electrotherapy.

Stephen is now working at the studio on Monday and Wednesday mornings.

Antonia Ptohides

Pilates Instructor Antonia started ballet at the age of 10 and she has since gone on work as a professional dancer and complete an MA in Movement Studies. Antonia acknowledges the original form of the Pilates Method, and applies his principals in her classes. Her classes give adherence to core stability and body awareness and emphasise spinal and pelvic alignment, coordination and body balance.

 Tanya Kalides

Tanya is a keen and enthusiastic trainer whose interest in health and fitness began whilst studying human biology at Loughborough University. She believes in training hard whatever your fitness level. Her sessions are always energetic varied and challenging!

Tanya will be heading up our new fitness classes at All About You from September.

Simone Woolerton

Female weight loss specialist Simone has a passion for movement and fitness. She has a wealth of skills in teaching Kettlebells, TRX, Aerobics,Yoga and Boxing to name a few! Her training sessions take you beyond your physical limits and her creative and motivating training sessions and classes make her a much loved instructor.

Alex Neilsen

Sports Massage Therapist Alex, has experience working for the Whittington hospital and Hampstead Rugby Club. Alex first learnt massage in Thailand where he studied Thai massage and elbow massage and has continued his studies and practice 

specialising in Sports Massage.

Christine Nielsen

Christine is a specialist in Pregnancy Massage, Baby Yoga and Baby / Infant Massage Therapist. She originally trained in Thailand where she discovered the importance of regular massage and a hands on approach towards teaching.

Christine teaches the Infant & Baby Massage Diploma & Baby Yoga Diploma's as well as workshops on Pregnancy & Labour Massage.

For more information on any of our practitioners please Contact Us at the studio.

Does Weight Training Make Women Bulky?

There are numerous myths and scare stories around the issue of female resistance training that cause most women to stay well away from the weights room in the gym through the fear of growing bulky muscles.

This simply won’t happen! 


The truth is that women don’t have enough of the hormones in their body that allow for increased muscle mass. In fact they actually have 10 to 30 times less amounts of testosterone and human growth hormone than males.

In fact most male weight trainers will tell you that simply lifting weights isn’t going to guarantee instant muscle gain. It takes serious dedication, a precise and appropriate weight training programme, a strict and scientifically engineered diet complete with dietary supplementation and for a number of guys, chemical enhancement to see these results!

Muscle mass just won’t suddenly appear because you dare to lift weights. Unfortunately many women believe this myth and therefore miss out on all of the benefits that strength training offers.

Weight training is incredibly beneficial to women and my team of trainers and I incorporate some form of strength training element into all of our female client’s programmes. The down side is that YES, it may mean that your overall weight may go up but as I always say to my clients “is the number on those scales really important if you look and feel so much better?”

The bottom line is that muscle tissue weights more than fat. Therefore, as you increase your muscle tissue, your "weight" will increase.

However, here’s the good bit, Muscle is thermogenic which means that by having more of it this will increase your resting metabolism. The denser your muscle tissue, the more calories you will burn even at a complete rest. Those with dense muscles burn more calories by just engaging in their regular daily activities. In fact, research shows that for each pound of muscle earned, you will expend 35 to 50 more calories per day. 

So, if you gain three pounds of muscle, you will burn 40 more calories per pound, which equates to 120 additional calories per day, which translates into 3,600 additional calories per month and ultimately results in a weight loss of 10 to 12 pounds in a single year.

Weight training is also an incredibly powerful weapon against osteoporosis, a disease characterised by low bone mass, leading to an increased susceptibility to fractures of the wrists, hips, and spine. About 3 million people in the UK have osteoporosis and every year more than 230,000 fractures occur because of it. In fact, statistics show that one in two women over the age of 50 will suffer from an osteoporosis-related fracture during their lifetime.

So maybe the question should be can we really live healthily without weight training?

For more information contact David and his team – www.aayou.co.uk

The Art Of Chillaxing..

Meditation and the art of “chillaxing”

If you struggle to deal with Monday morning’s or Tuesday and Wednesday morning’s even then perhaps you need to learn how to switch off a bit more. Our meditation and relaxation specialist Simon Paul Frost from www.mymeditation.co.uk is holding a meditation workshop at the studio in Highgate next Wednesday 25th April and in this article he explains why we need to learn to chillax...


Ask most people if they meditate… the answer would be NO…
Ask most people if they want to feel calm, relaxed, be free from tension, anxiety and be happy about life…the answer would be YES…

Why is it then that most people don’t meditate…but desire the mind set and feelings that meditation provides?

I believe it is the old associations: after all, what does the word meditation mean to you? Orange robed monks sitting in silence for hours on end – a chilled out hippie or even an anti religious practice that is more witch craft than prayer … the list could go on!

If we feel limited by restrictions in our lives then we can lose hope – if however, we can remain calm then we enter a place of better understanding and from this objective perspective we can create any desired changes.

How often have you been in a place of regretful hind sight? Wouldn’t it be great to be in a place of productive for sight and be able to focus on the things you do want rather than waste your energy on all the things you don’t?


Times have changed but our human needs haven’t – we all love to feel calm, we all love to relax and we all would love our lives to be happy and positive…so what are you waiting for?

If you learn to meditate (like a work-out for the mind; the more you do the quicker and faster you become) not only will you be able to understand what meditation is all about you will also be able to say to this modern world that you also know how to “chillax”!

To chill = to feel calm and anxiety free.

To relax = to be tension-free and happy.

To book your place at the workshop on Wednesday 25th April 2012 Contact Us at the studio.

For more information on Simon go to: www.simonpaulfrost.com
For meditations go to: www.mymeditation.co.uk

Creating a new habit.

The first month of 2011 has already passed us by! How has it gone for you?

If you wanted to change your diet have you succeeded with that and lost a few pounds? Have you been following a regular exercise programme? Have you managed your time more effectively? Or even changed your job?

Whatever changes you’ve wanted to make to your life it’s never easy to maintain the effort required to make it happen...

We are all creatures of habit and even with the best intentions often fall back into the old routine

“Old Habits Die Hard”

Often the biggest problem is that we aim to make drastic changes to our lives that simply are one step too far...

• 40-a-day smokers decide to quit all together
• Junk food addicts start to follow a 1000 calorie a day diet
• Those that haven’t exercised in years decide their going to run the marathon!

Drastic changes like these will usually fail because the new habits needed to deal with these changes are too extreme from the behaviour the person has previously been used to.

It then becomes such a negative experience that often people fall back into previous habits and in some cases are worse for the experience!

How do we stop this from happening and guarantee a positive experience?

The 7 steps to creating a new habit:

1. Write down your plan and keep it somewhere you will see it every day.

2. State specifically what your goal will be each day. E.G. “I will exercise for a minimum of 10 minutes today.”

3. State what your trigger will be. E.G. “I will exercise every morning after brushing my teeth.”

4. State who you will report to. E.G. “I will comment on the All About You Facebook page about my workout each day”

5. Post your goal publicly. – Use your social media for positive use.

6. Tell as many people as possible about your goal.

7. Celebrate your new habit at the end of 30 days.

It really is that simple!

The key is to not set your goals too big.

Creating a complete lifestyle change is going to require incredible determination and willpower and will increase your chances of failure.

If you haven’t exercised in years then face it... Training for the marathon is going to be pretty tough!!

But, doing 10 minutes of exercise per day is very do-able.

Set yourself up for success, not failure!

This exercise is about forming a new habit and taking small steps to achieve a big goal.

Plan an achievable goal, tell the world, do it and report on it EVERY DAY and you WILL succeed!

With one goal achieved you will then have the confidence to set bigger and better goals in the future with this simple method of establishing a new habit.

Ready to go with your first one?

Then head over to our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/All-About-You-Performance-Wellbeing/159779797381162?v=app_4949752878&ref=ts

And join us for a 10 minute training challenge!

Reduce the stress and reduce the fat!

It's that time of year when we all sit down and decide we're going to make some real changes to our lives! New Job, new exciting plans, new body!!

We obviously want to help you to get that amazing new body! Everywhere you look there are pictures of "celebrities" who've lost a ton of weight on the latest "amazing diet" and although they may look great you need to make sure the diet is safe for you, that you have set yourself realistic goals and that you are not setting yourself up to regain the lost weight within a few months!!

I don't believe that any kind of diet works long term for weight loss - but that argument is for another blog post...

It's our job at All About You to educate you, give you the tools to make long term gains, enable you to create a healthy body full of energy vitality and most importantly feel great about yourself!

We’re here to set you straight, tell you the truth and still get amazing results... And so this post is all about hormones and in particular the hormone cortisol which may have a huge influence on your body's ability to control your body fat levels.

Cortisol is your body's primary stress hormone and is responsible for, among other things, the 'fight or flight' response that you've heard so much about.

It works this way; when a stressor affects you in day to day life, such as being cut up in traffic, arguing with a spouse, being under a tough deadline or being chased by a wild tiger, your adrenal glands on your kidneys secrete cortisol directly into the bloodstream where it causes us to release amino acids from our muscles, glucose from the liver and fatty acids from our fat cells into the bloodstream for use as 'emergency fuel' to help us fight or flee.

This would normally be fine, especially if those stressors are few and far between but that's not the case for most of us. Most people live in a continual state of stress where cortisol is being released time and time and time again leading to permanently elevated cortisol both in the bloodstream AND in the cells themselves.

Trouble is, whilst short exposures of cortisol are useful and can be beneficial, long term they're downright destructive leading to:

- Increased appetite and food cravings
- Decreases in lean muscle mass
- Increased Anxiety and Depression
- Decreased libido
- Increase of PMS symptoms
- Increase in menopausal side-effects
- INCREASE IN BODY FAT

And guess where cortisol-created body fat wants to live?

Right up there on the belly!

This means that if you're carrying excess fat in your abdominal region that's stubborn to shift, you're more than likely to have chronically elevated cortisol causing the problem. And again, it may not have anything to do with the total number of calories you're eating.

How do you reduce it?

Well, there are numerous ways in which we can re-establish normal cortisol levels in the body and start burning fat but the best are simply 'natural cures' that can be applied almost immediately and with very little expense.

In fact, the first one is absolutely free!

It's called SLEEP.

That's right; sleep is one of the most important factors in cortisol control as a lack of both quality and quantity of sleep leads to elevated cortisol and a depression of other important metabolic hormones. Fail to get enough sleep and at the right time and you'll be doomed to struggling with your body fat forever. Conversely, make even a few moderate sleep habit changes over the next few days and you'll start to see the fat shift.

Because cortisol is related to sleep and wake cycles and is triggered by light, you should aim to spend the last few hours before bed in a dimmed or dark room and aim to be in bed by 10pm and sleeping by 10.30pm.

It sounds too early, I know. Especially with late night TV and those emails you have to do before bed but hey, your hormones don't know about TV and email, they know stress. You want to lose fat? Then get to bed! In fact, bright TV's and bright computer screens are the last thing you want just before you hit the hay. They keep your cortisol pumping through both the light they emit and the potential for stress they evoke

Try identifying high-stress situations in advance and working out coping strategies to deal with them as they arise. Add exercise (though minimise aerobic exercise which releases more cortisol) and relaxation techniques and eat a clean and healthy diet and your cortisol levels will soon come under control.

Once they do you'll see the fat disappear faster than easier and with far less effort than ever before.

Start by getting some good sleep for just 7 nights and see what happens.

Do Premier League Football Players Need Personal Trainers?

David Osgathorp investigates the recent injuries to Owen Hargreaves, the approach to rehab training and asks the question; Will Hargreaves play again?

Having gone through a number of knee injuries at a young age which resulted in me giving up competitive sport I always take an interest in players recovering from injury.

I was really pleased to see Owen Hargreaves back in the Manchester United starting line up 777 days after his previous start – a lucky omen possibly? Unfortunately that wasn’t to be and Hargreaves come-back appearance lasted just five minutes!
What was the reason? This is a guy that plays for Manchester United and England; he’s gone through the best possible exercise rehabilitation over the last few years. He plays for Sir Alex Ferguson who never risks any of his players unless he’s 100% confident that they are match fit and able to add something different to his star-studded team.

Hargreaves cost Manchester United £19million from Bayern Munich in 2007 and was England’s best player by a long way at 2006 World cup but over the last two years Hargreaves has spent his time competing on treadmill’s and with dumbbells and United’s Carrington training ground rather than getting stuck in to United’s opponents at Old Trafford. One of the fundamental principles of training is called Specific Adaption to Imposed Demand (SAID). That means if you want to get fit for football you need to play football, the only thing you get better at lifting dumbbells is lifting dumbbells!

His fitness programme will have been designed in this way with his specific needs in mind. Training would have included specific leg strengthening exercises, core conditioning, and specific stretch and post-training recovery techniques before going anywhere near the first team squad.

This isn’t your typical player recovering from injury though, apparently he was told by Richard Steadman, the Colorado based surgeon that his knees were in a worse state than any other professional footballer he had examined in 35 years! Which begs the question will he ever be able to compete at the top level again and will his knees be able to stand a full 90 minutes let alone a full premiership season?

Perhaps United need to look at a similar arrangement to the one Tottenham have with Ledley King, the captain who doesn’t train and instead, is wrapped in cotton wool between matches. The performances King has delivered for Spurs, and in particular during their march towards fourth place at the end of last season certainly warrant that approach.

What can be done?

In my opinion the main issue with football teams is that they don’t give players the one to one training they really need. They spend millions of pounds on acquiring players but very little or no investment in training them to their specific needs.
Hargreaves has spent the last two years working with the physiotherapy team and strength and conditioning specialists at Old Trafford to get him back to “match fitness”. He then joins up with the first team where they all work in the same way. All players warm up together in the same way, they all stretch in the same way, they all throw a few weights around the gym in the same way which is fine for 80% of all professional players but extremely detrimental to players coming back from long term injuries.

Hamstring injuries are very common amongst footballers. The hamstring muscles act as the brakes for a player when they change pace or direction on the pitch. Every footballer will stretch their hamstrings during a pre match warm-up. This is great from most people but for some players it can cause more issues.
If a player has developed long weak hamstrings and you then stretch these even further you’re only going to cause more problems. Hargreaves hasn’t played for two years, there’s a very strong possibility that his hamstrings are probably not the strongest!

Hargreaves is desperate to play again, United are desperate to get something out of their £19 million investment before he inevitably moves on or retires at the end of his contract but the truth is unless they take an individual approach to Hargreaves training he will probably never complete a full 90 minute session again.

Football is a team game, players want to play, if they can’t play they want to train together. They all need to be involved in the training ground banter and to feel part of a unit. Hargreaves has been on a painful and lonely journey over the last two years and it is understandable that for his own mental state he wants to back involved with the first team squad but I honestly believe that if he wants to play first team football again he needs to look at creating a unique training programme that works for him.