Boozy Christmas

Most of us - even me - like to have the odd drink and Christmas seems to be the booziest time of the year. I am not going to tell you not to drink, and we all know the bad health effects and not to mention the hangovers so I am simply posting a rough guide to show you which drinks pack the most punch when it comes to your waistline.

Whilst I am not into calorie counting, it is a useful tool on this occassion. Below is a lit of drinks and their calorific values. For spirits it is the calories per shot, wine calories per 175ml glass and for beers it is per pint.

Malibu - 47

Captain Morgan - 50

Gordon's G+T - 56

Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila - 56

Smirnoff Red - 56

Jack Daniel's - 57

Glenfiddich - 57

Jameson - 60

Kahlua - 79

Baileys - 84 - Served as a double as standard so really 168!

Jagermeister - 90 - One of my favourites!

Sambuca - 100

Capt Morgan and Coke - 103

Smirnoff Red and Coke - 109

JD and Coke - 110

Vodka Red Bull - 113 - Waaay more if you have the whole can though!

Dom Perignon - 136

Sauvignon Blanc - 177

Cab. Sauvignon - 188

Merlot - 188

Chardonnay - 193

Guinness - 214 - Surprisingly low I think!

Beck's - 230

Newcastle Brown Ale - 230

Strongbow - 237

Budweiser - 242

Bulmers - 242

Foster's - 243

Kronenbourg - 243

Boddington's - 247

Carlsberg Export - 254

Stella - 256

Hoegaarden - 266

Obviously this list is not exhaustive and there are plenty of other drinks and mixers out there but it gives you some ideas. You can make a drink marginally healthier by having fresh lime or lemon squeezed in it for a little extra vitamin C. You can try having less of the mixer, like coke or lemonade as long as you don't then drink more drinks! The old trick of a sneaky glass of water with ice and lemon is a great way to stop yourself getting too drunk, keeping hydrated whilst appearing to have a G+T or similar and to avoid the peer pressure to drink from friends and colleagues!

Stay Strong - Party Hard!

Ben

When To Buy Organic.

As many of you will probably be aware, my general mantra when it comes to the food that I eat, and tell my clients to eat, is that natural is best. Whole, un modified, good quality food that has no ingredients list is the best way to eat healthily in the long term as far as I am concerned. That is what we are designed to eat and our bodies respond best to it.

As much as I can, I try and eat an organic diet as well, and I believe that the extra cost is justified by the quality, both in taste and nutrition. I will often try and get clients to try eating more organic food and the main issue is usually the price increase on the weekly shop, so this article is to help you to make wise choices with your food that will aid both your health and your bank balance.

Fruit and Veg: These are probably the most common and most affordable foods for people wanting to try eating organically. The issue with many non-organic fruit and veg is the pesticides and fertilisers used to increase growth rates and efficiency in high intensity farming operations. These agro-chemicals then end up within the actual food and you then consume it. To that end there are 2 guidelines that I will give you now. 1) The priority if you can only buy a few organic products should be the fruit and veg with highest water contents, like melons, oranges, celery and potato. The water held in the flesh of these and other watery foods is obviously straight from the soil in which it grew and is therefore going to contain chemicals in non-organic foods. 2) You should take extra care to peel or thoroughly wash any non-organic fruit or veg where you eat the outer layer or skin that will have been in contact with chemicals from crop sprayers or similar treatments.

Meat and Poultry: For the purposes of this I am not going to go on about animal welfare, just the health and nutrition side of life. Many modern intensively farmed animals are routinely fed growth hormones, anti-biotics and medicines to pre-empt disease and to make them grow faster and fatter to aid productivity. When an animal (including us) ingests these there is often a tendency for any residue from the treatments to be stored in the fat tissues under the skin, meaning that in low grade meat the fat is often full of hormones and anti-biotics. To that end, if you are buying fatty cuts of meat like steaks or lamb chops you should try and buy free range organic if at all possible, and if not then just free range.

Fish: You will often see organic salmon in the supermarket. The simple fact is that this is intensively farmed fish from a loch somewhere in Scotland and they are fed organic pellets. Wild fish is truly organic and is higher in health promoting omega 3 fatty acids as well as tasting better (in my opinion!)

Dairy: For the same reasons as meat and poultry, dairy is usually a lot better for you if it is organic as it will be a more natural product and will have better quality fats in it with a better ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids. If not organic then try and get an outdoor reared, grass fed product.

That was a brief summary with some guidelines to help you make informed choices when you are shopping. I am not trying to scare monger, and any fruit and veg is better than none, and the BEST fruit and veg is local, seasonal, organic and probably available at a market near you at a cheaper price than the supermarket and not covered in plastic!

Stay Strong

Breathe To Relax

Whilst I would consider myself quite far removed from a hippy, I do understand the benefits of simple meditative techniques such as breathing techniques to aid in the relief of stress and to generally chill you out.

Remember that stress is what is ruining people's lives, making them fat, depressing them and causing them to get sick, so any way we can fight it should be embraced!

Try this exercise whenever you get a bit stressed in the office or after a stressful day before you try to get to sleep.

Cyclical Breathing:

Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds and let out for 8 seconds.

Repeat this 8-10 times.

Focus on clearing your mind or look at a relaxing image and allow yourself to drift away from the day's troubles.

Stay Strong

Ben