Christmas duldrums - now it's time to get back in shape

Well, here we are a few days after the big binge that saw us planning, making, shopping, inviting and spending for 3 months in order to ensure that our families had 'the best christmas ever'.

Brussel sprouts, mince pies, beer, christmas cake, christmas pudding, snowballs, beer, crisps, turkey, ham. beer, mulled wine, tv, more beer, more tv.....uggg.

Well now could be the perfect time to get your head to talk to your legs and sort out a new exercise and healthy eating regime.  Often, following a period of excess, we feel the most motivated to get back to the gym, start a diet or get out on regular walks. 

This year how about grabbing that post Christmas duldrum by the throat and shout to your legs

'come on legs - we're going to do it this time - 2012 is our year and we're going to look and feel great!!!'

To help, Crossfire have a number of 'kickstart' fitness bootcamps' starting in January at only £3 a session and arranged at times to suit most.  Alternatively, if you prefer a more personal approach,  1 to 1 Personal Training may be your thing.

For those that are already in shape but looking for a new challenge then Crossfire have designed the Spartan extreme courses.  A series of tough training with automatic registration into 2012 Spartan Sprint raising money for 'Help for Heroes' whilst tackling mud, barbed wire crawls, woodland sprints, tyre runs and lots more.

So come on get off the couch and get in shape!!!

Superman bar recipe

Try these pre and post an event in order to give you a slow release energy source as well as a great way of enhancing your mental focus or simply as a great in-between meal snack.

The final result - tasty

I have been making these bars for sometime now as a delicious and healthy alternative to a whey protein bar and as a tasty 'in-between meal' snack.  The nuts, seeds and grains provide a high level of Omegas 3, 6 and 9 whilst the fruits make the bars chewy, sweet and crunchy! Each 60 gm bar contains about 20gms of protein.

I used to make these for Southern Area belt, the British, Commonwealth and WBO Intercontinental Heavyweight boxer Scott Welch to aid his team prior to their fights.  I recall meeting up with Scott before fights and handing the bars over in an in-clandestine manner from the boot of my car!

The dough before rolling - about the size of a small bowling ball!

Anyway, here are the ingredients.  

No cooking necessary as the apricots, when boiled down, make the base which you mix into the ground down ingredients (I prefer to grind 2/3rds of the ingredients down to a powder and then crush the other 1/3rd so that the bars are nice and crunchy).    

300cl apple juice & 300g apricots (boil for base)

 400g sunflower seeds 

 400g pumpkin seeds 

 100g whole almonds 

 100g dried goji berries 

 200g whole brazil nuts 

 300g sunshine mix 

 150g dried cranberries 

 200g walnuts 

 50g quinoa 

 20g alfalfa 

 100g hazelnuts 

 100g Buckwheat 

 100g whole unroasted buckwheat  

 50g golden linseed 

 30g buckwheat flour (for dusting)

rolled out and cut 

 Roll-out and leave to cool.  Finally, coat in buckwheat flower to stop them being too sticky.

Covered in a light dusting of buckwheat flour - about 40 bars

Real life weight-loss challenge

We will soon be following the weight-loss diary of Jeanie Butler, a real mum with 2 hectic boys, a busy Partner and her own business.

Jeanie has tried the Atkins diet and the Lighterlife diet to some success in the past, shedding massive amounts of weight, only to put it back on again (and then some) when she returned to a 'normal' diet routine-the classic 'yo-yo' diet...

Jeannie and her Partner Tim who is behind her endevours

...sound familiar?

Now, desperate to lose her excess body fat, she has turned to Crossfire for help.  Using a combination of simple 'at home' exercise, taken regularly to fit into her lifestyle along with a good quality diet, we believe that she CAN do it.  Jeanie wants everyone to see how she does to encourage her to stick to the plan and to offer inspirattion to those in a similar situation.

Her diaries will start on her return from holiday in 10 days time and will include 'before' shots, exercises, diet and her emotional ups and downs as she pushes towards her goal.

Go Jeanie!!!

Gerard Butler strips off - body fat that is!

The movie star has shed an incredible amount of body fat for his new surf based movie but how has he done it?

Hard work, clean diet and total dedication to a sport specific program-in this case surf action cardio based workouts.  This can be achieved through good core stability training utilising wobble boards, stability ball, kettle bells, and medicine balls to punish his body's fat stores by constantly challenging his balance.

Added to this a high rep 'superset' based resistance programme tweaks the metabolism by building lean muscle.

Good old fresh fruit, fish and loads of water added to the programme really helps 'cut in' as does a good old cup of espresso before the workout for its thermogenic effect.

Oh and ditching the pink shorts was a good idea too ;@)

Go Gerrard!

Who's next?

Cooking with Oils

Try and cook with either Olive oil which gives a smoke point of up to 400 degrees F or even better, Grapeseed Oil which is good to 485 degrees F.  The higher the smoke point then the less the nutrients in some of these 'healthy' oils break down and the less chance of any nasty trans fats (which are effectively poisons) to creep in and they hold their flavours better too..

Oh and if you buy your Grapeseed oil now you will find it at about half the price of buying it in the winter, so stock up with a couple of bottles for your stir fry's, lean bacon breakfasts and anything else that you may need a bit of high temp. lubrication for!

Actress Jessica Biel's fitness routine

Jessica Biel’s circuits look like this:

Stretch: She starts with walking lunges these are great for butt and legs, and they warm you up. Warm ups and cool downs are really important as not to injure your unprepared body parts.
Cardio: Jogging (half a mile), sprints (200 meters, 150 and 100).
Core: Hanging leg raises help you flatten your abdomen.
Stair-jumping: Painful but improves nervous system and great for legs.
Weight Training: Nothing is going to improve your body as weight training, so pick up lighter weights and go.
Waist sculpting moves: Seated Russian twists with a five-pound medicine ball. 3 sets of 15 times.
Shoulders and biceps: Knees slightly bent 10-pound dumbbells for each hand. Bicep curl, then rotation to get your palms outward and twisting dumbbell press. Reverse to get into the initial position and repeat for 10 or 12 times for 3 sets.

Healthy Pork recipe

Pork tenderloin stuffed with spinach, wild rice,apricots and goats cheese.

















140 gms of quality protein and full of lovely fibre and the goats cheese is a fab, low fat calcium kick .  Despite what many may think, with modern farming methods a good cut of pork is very low in fat.

35 minutes cooking time

Serve on a bed of spinach for a high protein/ low carb. posh meal!



You will need

1 8-12 ounce pork tenderloin
¼ cup cooked long grain wild rice blend
2 Tbsp. dried apricots, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tsp. fresh rosemary, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup baby spinach
3 Tbsp. goat cheese
1 Tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 400

Butterfly cut the pork tenderloin length wise.

In a bowl, combine cooked rice, apricots, garlic, and rosemary; salt and pepper to taste.

Place spinach along the centre of the pork, top with goat cheese and wild rice mixture.

Roll the pork tenderloin, ensuring the stuffing is bound in the centre. Using butcher twine, securely tie the stuffed pork. Rub the outside of the roll with Dijon mustard.

Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Place pork roll in skillet and brown lightly, turning until meat is a consistent pinkish brown.

Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand an additional 15 minutes.

Remove butchers twine and slice inch wide cross sections. Serve immediately.

Serves 2-3

Hot chicken salad served with seeded warm pitta bread

150gms of good quality protein, Loads of soluble and insoluble fibre and complex, non-starchy carbs!

15 minutes cooking time

You will need:

1 chicken breast - diced (trimmed)

8 baby plum tomatoes - whole but pierced

half a fresh raw beetroot - diced

Handful of sugarsnap peas - whole

Celery stick - sliced

Qtr red pepper - sliced

Handful of pinenuts

Spinach leaves - torn

Rocket leaves - torn

Lettuce leaves - torn

Fresh basil

1 small chilli, stripped and diced

1 clove of freshly crushed garlic

Squeeze of lemon

'Food Doctor' Multi Seed & Cereal Pitta Bread

Olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the dressing

This is what I do:

Warm the basil, chilli and crushed garlic in a little rapeseed oil in a large pan until soft

Sear the chicken for 2 minutes until no pink showing

Add the tomatoes and cover

Cook for 10 minutes turning occasionally to infuse the flavours.

Uncover and cook for a further 2 minutes until the chicken turns golden brown.

Prepare the leaves and mix in the remaining ingredients, leaving the pine nuts for now.

Tip the contents of the pan onto the salad and gently tease into the salad until leaves show sign of wilting.

Douse in olive oil and a small splash of balsamic nnd sprinkle with the pine nuts.

Serve with warm pittas for dipping.

Yum yum!

Our top 10 tips for body transformation

Jessica Simpson

We often get asked how it is that we are able to take an actress from a size 14 to a size 8, or help an actor pile on a stone of solid muscle, all within a short space of time.  The answer is dedication, hard work, ours in the gym and a great, tailored diet plan.  All of this backed up by a Personal Trainer standing by their side every step of the way!

Chris Hemsworth

All that is lovely, but there must be an easier way-right?  Well, given more time then, yes, total transformation can be possible.   Here are some great tips to start you on your way:

1. Dedication/belief/love - Unless you have these three systems implanted in our mind then it's going to be difficult to keep going.  You need to understand what you want to achieve, believe that it is possible, set yourself measurable goals and reward yourself as you go.  Picture yourself in that size 8 - how much do you want it?  Are you prepared for the sacrifices that you may need to make to get there?  If you are then you have the belief and the love.  Good stuff!
2. Lift weights - Regardless of your gender or age, lifting weights increases muscle tone.  By increasing our muscle tone we are increasing our resting metabolic rate (the amount of calories burned when we are lounging about).  So lean tissue will burn more calories as you are exercising.
3. Calorie burn = movement - Your muscle is increasing so move about as much as possible.  Walk, run, fidget, cycle, twiddle your toes - it all adds to the increase in calories that your body needs to shift the fat.  
4. HIIT - Interval training boosts your fitness level and heart strength making it easier to do increase your strength.  It is also one of the best methods for burning calories as part of a workout. 
5. Perform your cardio after your weights session - your muscles have already stepped up their efficiency to cope with the weight training and so your metabolic rate is elevated.  Now go for a run, ride a bike, jog up and down the stairs - calories are being burnt super efficiently.
6. The 20 minute rule - after your workout your body is hunting around for sources of energy to replace the glycogen loss in the muscles.  for a 20 minute period you are a super efficient food processor with any carbohydrates going straight to those achy legs!  For a period of about an hour this benefit slowly evapourates so the sooner the better.  Feed yourself with 50gms of complex carbohydrates to aid recovery.
7. Water - drink plenty of it.  2 litres a day is the quoted norm.  Bare in mind that you can lose up to 500ml every 15 minutes through perspiration, increased breathing etc. whilst exercising.  Without the water your body will find it hard to shift the fat.
8. Protein - A simple calculation to take account of an average 80 to 90% lean body mass would be your weight in lbs x 80%  (ie 150lb person would require about 120gms of protein a day).  Protein is tricky to digest and so the body actually has to burn more calories to use it up too and it is necessary for rebuilding tissue (ie muscle).
9. Fibre - Make sure that there is always plenty of good quality fibre in your diet.  Sources such as wholemeal bread, cereals, brown rice are all great as they keep the digestive system healthy.  Other types of fibre such as those found in fruits slows down digestion and the sudden release of energy, especially from carbohydrates into the bloodstream. 
10. Scales - don't be obsessed with your weight.  Although this is an indication of how you are doing it is not the be all and end all.  Far more important is little signs such as one less hole in your belt, a dress size smaller or more energy to run up the stairs.   If you must check your weight then invest in some body fat monitoring scales which will indicate how much body fat you have lost which is a better indicator of whether your programme is going to plan.

Good luck...

Best quality whey protein?

Try Muscle Fury's Designer Whey.  Blends well, tastes great with lots of flavours (including banoffee pie!!) and has a massive 28gms of quality protein per serving (that's 93:100 ratio-impressive).  Ony £32.99 per 5lb tub too.

Don't forget though that your best protein comes from a varied diet - eggs, chicken, turkey, fish, meat, nuts and veggie stuff like Quorn, Quinoa and Tofu.  Mix it up a little for variety.

http://www.musclefury.com