The Optimise Health Blog

How did you get to the weight you are now? We all have a back story. My story? I used to be active at school; I was short and "stocky" and had a taste for sweets. As a child I had taken steroid tablets for asthma which tended to delay growth and cause weight gain through appetite - but maybe I was just small and greedy. I was the second shortest guy in the class at 14. I was a good sprinter on the rugby field and rarely fell over as I was so close to the ground. Then I grew, I stretched out and became a skinny 6 ft 11 stone bean pole - my sisters teased me for being a "L" shape as I had big feet and wore DM boots to complete the picture. I liked rock climbing and began to get into cycling mainly to get around. Outdoors exercise became a touchstone. When I went to university I joined the territorial army and spent weekends running around with with my weapon, heavy webbing full of ammo and a back pack full of 15 Kg of kit - I began to "Fill out...

But that is really unhealthy! Ok so it depends on what you include, how it is cooked and how often you eat it. If you have heart disease or high cholesterol then I don't recommend this. If you suffer from high blood pressure the salt content may well be harmful to your blood pressure and is therefore not recommended But if you are active and wanting to lose weight then I can recommend this excellent protein rich start to the day up to twice a month as part of a balanced diet and exercise regime. Don't forget, a fry up is red meat rich so to avoid bowel cancer you should only eat red meat twice a week including this fry up. High protein breakfasts keep you full for longer and the body uses energy to break it down slowly, resulting in a happy full man who doesnt need to eat much for a while! To improve the meal I would make a few recommendations to the traditional "fry up" - grill back bacon with the rind removed - avoid streaky bacon - poach the eggs ...

Just to clarify - breakfast IS the most important meal of the day if you are trying to lose weight. If you don't eat and drink first thing your body remains in starvation (hence the word break-fast as you have fasted from food overnight) and you won't be burning more energy but just conserving your reserves as your body slows down and goes into hibernation. "But I just need a black coffee in the morning and I am fine till dinner time with a few snacks" I hear you say. With this work related habit of early rising, not eating and trying to jump start the machine with a coffee kick you are only heading for a slump later that day with associated craving for sugar rich foods around elevensies. If you want to start losing weight, eat breakfast; even if it is a glass of water and a banana. See this post for more on this topic. Tomorrow indulge yourself with a full English breakfast as per the blog. Dr Ben Sinclair Twitter: @menshealthtips Sinclair Heal...

Here in the UK its the season for soft fruit. Fresh, wild and cultivated fruit is literally dripping from hedgerows and orchards all over the country at this time of year. Today for breakfast I had swiss musesli with fresh blackberries and blueberries - yum! This mix of fast acting fruit sugars with slow release carbs from oats and nuts is the ideal start, providing one of your 5-a-day. The added fruit bulks up the meal to keep you going for a long morning while giving added vitamin C to fight off cancer and colds into the mix. The sweetness of soft fruit avoids the need to add refined sugars to cereals for taste. You may eat less muesli as volume is replaced by the fibre in the fruit so overall its a healthy addition to your dietary intake of vitamins, energy and fibre! Collecting fruit is quite a relaxing past-time which can be beneficial for stress reduction and provides an excuse for some activity outdoors on a summers evening. So go get some blackberries from the near...

We just hit 2000 pageviews since starting this blog for fathers day this year! We are now firing on all cylinders again with a new series this week focusing on breakfasts. Follow or sign up to the RSS and lets BEATTHEBELLY by Christmas! Thanks for looking! Sign up to the blog Follow me on Twitter: @menshealthtips Dr Ben Sinclair Twitter: @menshealthtips Sinclair Health Limited

BBC News - Call to measure duration of obesity This BBC article shows the extent of the Belly problem in the UK - check it out! Dr Ben Sinclair Sinclair Health Limited Twitter: @menshealthtips

People have been eating oats for millennia. Oats have been traditionally linked to porridge and the Scots, but have made a resurgence in modern dietary advice due to new found cholesterol reducing properties. So why are Oats so good? Wel, when eaten they provide a slow release supply of energy as they take time to digest keeping you fuller for longer. Recent research has discovered that they absorb cholesterol in the digestive tract, taking it out of the system rather like a sponge. Oats are also an excellent source of fibre to keep the bowels regular, reducing risks of bowel cancer by avoiding slow transit and removing toxin deposits. Muesli is a mix of various rolled grains and nuts and dried fruit in an oat base. This forms an excellent combination as the nuts and dried fruit add taste, fibre and variety of energy sources and vitamins which are hard to gain elsewhere in the diet such as selenium which is good for the prostate. So even if you don't have high cholester...

I just became a father to a beautiful girl called Scarlett who is 3 weeks old today. All my advice on keeping weight down has been very much a reality for me in the last 3 weeks as there has been little I could control in my environment and I really wanted to avoid weight gain. In the limbo of hospital I couldn't really exercise, as I spent every day driving to the hospital to see my wife and newborn child in the hope of bringing them home by car. Eventually with little sleep catch up after 48 hours wakefullness through labour, terrible hospital food and fending for myself at home with an empty fridge, we came home. The timetable has been a bit different over the last few days with a 3 hourly feeding program to encourage the little one to gain weight. Our church and friends have been amazing at bringing around food every night for dinner. I have adopted a commando lifestyle, eating whenever food is available as you never know when the next meal will be. I have managed...

Sorry for the delay in postings -I have been in hospital the last 5 days making sure my wife and newborn Daughter are cared for. Pleased to say we are now all home, but don't anticipate doing any blogging for up to 2 weeks now, so take a rain check and I will be back as soon as I can. Dr Ben Sinclair Sinclair Health Limited Twitter: @menshealthtips http://ow.ly/5iykm"Linked In