The Optimise Health Blog

I am less than 3 weeks away from my first sprint Triathlon. As you may see from the blog I intended to do a Triathlon last year to prove to myself I had fully recovered from Malignant Melanoma. This goal was thwarted last year by a slipped a disc and 5 months of standing up with sciatica. Undeterred I have entered the Castle Howard Triathlon on 21st July. Before commencing training this year I lost 6 Kg over 4 months through diet changes, mainly reducing processed carbs, cooking from fresh and reducing portions.  My weight has come down to a steady 87 Kg with benefits seen in my knees and running/swimming/cycling times. I have been training with a buddy who did the Castle Howard Triathlon last year and is fitter than me in all events - a good person to chase! I certainly have felt benefit in company and the motivation to continue training when we are tired or needing to push it to the max in cardio training. Barriers have included injury - an ankle sprained slipping on...

The temperature is dropping as we are into autumn and approaching winter. This can have a massive effect on ability to exercise and perform under more challenging conditions. I discovered this the hard way cycling last January and found myself cramping and seizing up at the halfway point.  Knowing I had a further 15 miles cycling to get home I was fortunate to be with a buddy to slipstream and managed to painfully limp home at a snails pace in what became known as "the winter ride of death"! A few factors contributed to my painful demise on this ride - I was inadequately dressed without windproof leggings and inappropriate base layering up top. I also had not eaten that morning and had no food or energy source with me; I found myself to be in poor fitness and my metabolic rate was low after some time avoiding cycling in bad weather and I became cold after sweating up a steep hill and cooling down while resting too long at the top. All this conspired against me to produc...

 Here in the UK many still practise the Christian tradition of Lent: the discipline of giving something up to consider living simply, frequently a food item and for health benefit. The idea is to mimic the 40 day fast undertaken by Jesus in the wilderness, when he was tested by the devil and tempted to prove he was ready to start his mission. In England we start by making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday - to use up the sweet stuff in the larder so we are not tempted to eat it again for the duration of lent and to fuel the fast. Today the focus may be more about the challenge of reining in appetite or curbing bad habits like smoking or eating treats to excess and less about Christs' 40 days and nights in the desert being stalked by satan. Interestingly most ancient traditions held in them the concept of feasts: I.E. celebrating a particular event or time of year with a party and food. This meant eating special luxuries or taking pleasure in rarer foods or harvest time...

Athletes have practised mindfulness for some time now in preparation for successful performance in the field. When I started running,  I happened to chat to a friend who had been a top class track athlete. I had been talking about running for some time and had longed to be free to take exercise whenever and wherever I wanted; but had not actually started running yet.  He asked me how much time I had spent thinking about running; I answered that I was not sure; but I had really only spent time practically preparing for it (new trainers, shorts etc). Funny then that one day when I was driving to the gym after this conversation I stopped the car and like Forrest Gump "I just started running"!  I had been looking at a map of our area. I knew that near my route was a moor that gave onto a racecourse with woods where I could run to my hearts content - away from the roads and in natural setting within the citty limits. I had been imagining running the...

Most of us will have made some health related New Years Resolutions, but how many will flop come the end of the month? I have resolved to start training for my first Triathlon which I will enter this July at Castle Howard. I have been preparing mentally and practically for some time and now I can bite the bullet.  Last year I started running for the first time in 15 years (I gave up after a knee injury skiing) and have been slowly pushing the distance - now around 3 miles. This year I need to concentrate on getting up to 10k and add in swimming. When the clocks go forward I will start more cycling in the evenings as well as to work in the daytime.  I have told my friends about my resolution to increase my likelihood of success. I have written my goal and broken it down into smaller steps. I have chosen small achievable milestones over a reasonable time period to increase reward. My ultimate goals is well suited as I love strenuous exercise in beautiful nat...

Do you use artificial sweeteners? Did you start this because you felt they would help you maintain or lose weight? Long term evidence is pointing towards links between sweetener use and causation of obesity and Diabetes - two major man killers! Read this article from Harvard Medical School for more information and I suggest you just go for real sugar next time - just get used to using less and burn off what you use. Dr Ben Sinclair Linked In Profile Twitter: Follow @menshealthtips  About Sinclair Health Ltd

'Tis the season to be jolly! So you want to enjoy the Christmas season. I really enjoy home cooking and a few drinks in the village pub at Christmas catching up with my old mates. But how do you avoid becoming a fat Santa? 1. Remember you have a choice what you eat! Every time you are offered a drink or something to eat or you are bored watching the Queens Speech and reach for the snacks or are out at the office christmas party review your options and dont rely on the autopilot. 2.Bear in mind that you will have to burn off all the calories you eat - and drink . Don't forget alcohol contains many hidden calories and that your new years resolution may be set back by needing to lose a half stone in January just to get started! 3. Every time something reaches your lips think - do I really need this? This rule applies especially to seconds - wait 20 minutes for seconds to let your stomach tell you if you're full. Keep up with the fruit and veg. 4. Don't ...

Putting the information on food packaging into context is important. Food producers are less keen on advertising the bad side of what is on sale and often the labelling is misleading. I have recently started looking at food labels to find out if the food I am eating is high in fat and sugar and salt, because in order to live longer I am trying to cut back on these three dietary components. Firstly I noticed that I often made a mistake in calculating the amount of fat in the actual whole packet rather than just "a portion", as I tend to eat the whole bag of crisps once open. For example I just had a camembert and chilli jam sandwich. Looking afterwards at the cheese packaging I was surprised to see that a portion was only 9% of my daily fat intake as an adult..which made me feel better, until I discovered that the portion was 30g! I had just eaten at least 90 g of the cheese in one doorstep sandwich and hence was shocked at the amount of fat I had just eaten in one me...

If you are overweight there are two types of fat you need to lose though two types of regular exercise: - VISCERAL fat - around the internal organs in your abdomen (this is dangerous as it means there is likely to be fatty build up in your arteries causing Atherosclerosis Visceral fat is best lost by aerobic exercise IE getting out of breath - but you need to exercise for more than 20 minutes continuously to kick in the fat burning system and lose visceral fat - exercises like running, cycling, swimming and aerobics would cause this type of fat to be burned up. - SUBCUTANEOUS fat - under the skin, the "spare tyre" type of fat is from overeating and is laid down by the body for storage of excess calories eaten in the diet This type of fat is best lost by doing weight training ie lifting weights in a controlled way regularly which helps the muscles to grow and use up available fat reserves around them in the skin. It is worth including both weight training and aer...

Back in the Seventies and Eighties a Jogging craze swept the world. In the Nineties Marathons became mainstream. In the Naughties the Triathlon was the latest fad. Today in the Tweenies, weightloss and the beach body still top the culture charts. With TV shows about embarrassing bodies and how to look good naked, body image is as important as it ever was with weight loss and a lean mean man machine the main idol everyone is striving for. We have Gok Wan proposing "How to look good naked", helping real shaped women realise the truth behind airbrushed pictures in the media of young women who can wear anything and look great having just fallen out of bed. Where is the male counterpart series or equivalent? Men are bombarded with images of washboard "abs" which, if you believe Mens Health Magazine, are the most important thing to look for in a real man; no room is left for integrity and a real wobbly keg rather than an 8 pack. So weight loss continues to...

Goal setting is a thorny challenge - how high can we afford to set the bar by creating realistic yet achievable goals without selling ourselves short? The old saying goes if you aim for nothing you will hit it every time; equally there are plenty of proverbs prompting action over inaction. So how can we make and achieve goals in an upward ascent to reach the pinnacle of overall health we strive for? A recent practical article from Harvard Health describes a way of making and achieving realistic goals step by step. This stepwise approach is key to achieving the most achievable goals first, enabling an attempt a new higher goal - like training to climb everest by starting with smaller mountains and working up to the main event. If you are trying to lose weight you need to set a realistic timeframe and fast weight loss is never healthy or sustainable long term; reaserch shows many yo-yo dieters put it all back on again in the following weeks; any weight loss needs to be sustainable ...

Weigh Yourself Often - 10 Strategies for Successful Weight Loss : 'via Blog this' Ok I know I have just cited mens health mag yesterday. Sometimes they quote research worth repeating and there is a reason why they are the best selling mens magazine in the UK. This article states 10 strategies for successful weight loss - why not pick one and give it a go this week? Dr Ben Sinclair Twitter: @menshealthtips Sinclair Health Limited

Current guidelines suggest that the minimum exercise a man needs to do is 20 minutes a day getting out of puff ie raising the heart rate above 120 bpm. Bear in mind that this is the MINIMUM daily requirement for prevention of cancer and heart disease amongst other preventable diseases. If you want to lose weight you will need get puffed for more than 20 minutes; you will only start to burn fat when you exercise for more than 20 minutes at a time, as the first 20 minutes of any exercise are fuelled by sugar stored in the muscles. The best way cover this daily exercise requirement is to include exercise in your journey to work; then any extra intentional exertion on top is a bonus in terms of weight loss. You may find setting a physical goal or target helpful in achieving motivation - take a look at this recent NHS article: couch to 5k for inspiration of a typical guy doing more exercise. If you dont already exercise then brisk walking is a good start, slowly increasing to ...

Much of the current obesity epidemic is due to convenience and priority decisions based on lack of time. Over the decades we have spent a greater percentage of our day time at work, often using time saving short cuts when we come to cook dinner by using pre-prepared foods or just eating out. Many processed foods or pre-prepared items contain much higher levels of salt, fat and sugar than would normally be in food we cook from scratch ourselves. Snacks are a good example of this, taking crisps as the main culprit, which often contain a significant supply of your RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) of salt and fat in one small packet. Cooking sauces are another source of excess salt and fat. Processed foods like pizza, pies, ready meals are just a few on the list to reduce in your diet if you want to keep a healthy weight and reduce risks of cardiovascular disease. These time saving devices may ultimately shorten your life so in the end you really havent saved time, merely con...

What is the thinking behind your size? In Yorkshire men are still praised by women for finishing large portions of food. An XL appetite used to be a prized quality when it meant men were strong and worked the land and could put away two plates of pie and peas with Yorkshire pud; but this traditional attitude doesn't cut the mustard these days. Lets take a step back and look at this objectively. Have you always been overweight, or has this weight gain come as a result of identifiable events or triggers? Do you really want to lose weight? Why? Do you eat too fast? Do you have to finish the plate? Are you known as the big guy or expected to eat and drink more than anyone else? Why? What do you attribute your XL size to? Many men just accept the status quo after they find they cant lose the weight and give up trying. Check out this video from a friend who had some success after realising he was overweight and took definitive action to change his size. Dr Ben Sinclai...

So far I have updated this blog daily in the week and sometimes at the weekend. I am now finding it is a challenge to do this and still perform my important role as a dad. Instead of a laptop on my knees I have a beautiful baby girl to look at and care for. To keep this up I am going to reduce the frequency of blog posts to alternate days in order to keep sustainable. I may still reference and post the odd interest story or relevant article in-between posts. I hope you continue to enjoy the posts, please comment with other topics you might like covered here. Dr Ben Sinclair Twitter: @menshealthtips Sinclair Health Limited

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