How to Keep Hydrated
We hear all the time how important it is to drink plenty of water every day, but have you ever thought why!
In this blog I will be explaining this in more detail.
So, why not pour yourself a glass of water, sit down and sip away while reading the benefits that you will gain from this simple, amazing drink.
First of all and most importantly, we need to drink water to survive. You won’t live long without it, maybe 3-4 days.
If you are someone who struggles with drinking water and perhaps only drinks that glass of water when you are thirsty (which is actually your body telling you that you are dehydrated) then having a clear understanding of the benefits, I think will make you want to drink those 6 -8 glasses of water a day.
HERE ARE 10 GREAT BENEFITS YOUR BODY GAINS FROM DRINKING ENOUGH WATER DAILY
By drinking water you will help to control your core body temperature, it helps produce saliva and is vital with the transportation of nutrients around your body.
By being fully hydrated you help to energize your muscles which will make your body feel stronger.
The best beauty product ever will always be water! Your skin contains water. If you are dehydrated then this will make your skin look dry, so if you want that glowing appearance, be sure to drink your 8 glasses a day.
Drinking water daily helps protect your spinal cord, tissue and all your joints, as water helps to lubricate and cushion the joints. This is especially important if you suffer with arthritis.
When you keep fully hydrated, you will help to boost your endurance, speed and power.
Water helps aid healthy digestion and is a great way of helping you digest your food more efficiently.
By drinking water daily, you will help to increase your blood oxygen circulation which is going to help boost your overall health.
Water helps to keep your immune system strong, as it allows full absorption of all the important vitamins and minerals your body needs to stay fighting fit.
Lack of water can make you feel tired which can dampen our mood as well as causing fatigue. So lift your mood and energy and drink that water.
Not drinking enough water can affect your focus, alertness and your memory. So again, another great reason to keep your mind and body fully hydrated.
So you can see that drinking water daily is a great way to look after your body and your mind. We should ideally aim to be drinking between 6-8 glasses a day. It is a good idea to spread your water intake throughout the day instead of drinking all at once.
Homemade Body Scrub
D.I.Y Body Scrub
On your rest day it is nice to give yourself some pamper time. So why not make this Homemade Body Scrub and then take a lovely long bubble bath and use this on your skin, it is super hydrating and cleansing.
How it works:
The salt helps to exfoliate away any dead skin cells.
The oil helps to nourish and moisturise your skin.
The lemon zest helps to cleanse and tighten your skin
The Method
To make your body scrub, place your salt and oil in a bowl and mix together. Then cut your lemon in half and squeeze the zest of this into your mixture.
Again stir all 3 ingredients together. Then apply your body scrub in the bath, and leave on while you soak away in the bath. Then rinse off and finally apply your favourite body lotion on after your bath. This will leave you will glowing and super soft silky skin.
HOMEMADE BEAUTY TREATMENT
GET GLOWING HOMEMADE FACIAL
On a rest day it is nice to pamper yourself and give your skin a bit of TLC with a homemade beauty treatment. So today why not try my “Get Glowing Facial” This 3-ingredient face mask is easy to prepare and leaves your skin with a lovely glow and feels super refreshing.
How it works :
Yoghurt helps to lock in moisture within your skin
Honey helps to treat dry skin
Oatmeal helps to gently exfoliate and cleanse your skin
The Method
To make your facial, place all your ingredients in to a bowl and mix thoroughly. Before you apply this mixture to your face, be sure to have cleansed your face.
Then apply with either your fingers or a brush the mixture to your face. Leave this on for between 15 and 20 minutes.then rinse off with warm water. Pat your face dry and it will feel lovely and soft.
Then apply your normal moisturizer and to give you skin that extra hydration. And why not finish off with drinking a glass of water.
This is a lovely facial treatment that you can do once a week.
How can I lose weight during the Menopause
How can I lose weight during the menopause?
A common question asked by many women going through the menopause is “How to Lose Menopause Weight”, and especially how to lose the menopause belly! The good news is that with the right lifestyle choices you can look at losing middle age weight gain and getting your waistline back.
But the trick is to make sure you do the right exercises, alongside focusing on other important factors such as healthy food choices and the right portion sizes. Let’s start by looking at exercise. And as a trainer with over 20 years experience and over 225 Million views on my YouTube Channel I have helped literally millions of people feel and look their best.
When it comes to Perimenopause and Menopause we want to look at working on bodyweight moves, as this helps to reverse the effect known as Sarcopenia – this is where our muscle tissue starts to deactivate which will reduce our natural calorie burn. BUT THE GOOD NEWS is that with these exercises we can change this and naturally increase your body’s abilities to burn more calories and get back to how we felt and looked before.
The Menopause Belly Workout
(and do read down below for top tips on what to do and why and also what not to do)
MENOPAUSE EXERCISE ONE
This calorie burning move helps to shape and sculpt your waist as well as working on your balance and flexibility.
MENOPAUSE EXERCISE TWO
This step-back move is a great full body move and tones you all over, and this bodyweight exercise helps to strengthen your bones to help prevent osteoporosis.
MENOPAUSE EXERCISE THREE
This one is amazing for the menopause as it ticks all the boxes – a great fat burner, shapes your waist, tones your arms and legs, works on your balance, improves your flexibility and strengthens your bones
MENOPAUSE EXERCISE FOUR
Another great *MCM & *MDM exercise that has exactly the same benefits as move three.
MENOPAUSE EXERCISE FIVE
This floor-based move is great.You strengthen through the bones in your arms and shoulders, and it does wonders for lifting the bust, as well as shaping and sculpting your arms. If you find it to hard to come onto the floor you can do this leaning into a wall or a worktop.
What to Avoid
One common mistake many perimenopause and menopausal women make, in a bid to get their waistline back, is to do exercises like the Plank and Sit-ups, and these actually can end up broadening our waistline. So instead we need to be doing standing cardio ab exercises, as this increases the calorie burn, helping to reduce excess belly fat. And by doing a special combination of MCM and MDM (stands for multi compound moves and multi directional moves) you draw in the waist muscles and increase the amount of body fat your body burns.
The other form of exercise is cardio, as this helps to keep your heart strong and is also great for energy and reducing stress. This can be my Free Indoor Walking Workouts or simply going for a run, bike ride, swim, or anything that is going to help get your heart rate up.
And this is where exercise is truly a girl’s best friend going through the menopause, as it will help control your weight, shape your waist, keep your heart strong, reduce anxiety, keep your joints supple, and most importantly make you realise that this is simply a new chapter in your life where you can still look and feel your best.
More Blogs on the Menopause click here
Quick healthy lunch recipe
Quick healthy easy to make recipe.
RAINBOW JEWELLED RICE
Ingredients:
50 grams of brown rice
1/4 yellow pepper
1/4 red pepper
1/4 green pepper
Small red onion
Handful of cherry tomatoes
Several blueberries
Several pomegranates
1 tbsp of Greek natural yoghurt
Few mint or coriander leaves
Pinch of smoked paprika
METHOD
Cook your brown rice as instructed on the packet.
Then wash thoroughly your peppers, onion, tomatoes, and
blueberries.
Then finely slice all the ingredients into tiny squares.
Add to your rice mixing all together. In a small bowl finely chop up either the fresh mint or fresh coriander, then mix into your greek yoghurt.
Add a dollop to the top, then sprinkle on your smoked paprika and garnish with your chosen fresh herb. Enjoy!
How to keep fit at home
With so many gyms closed, fitness classes cancelled and hands on personal training a thing of the past, we have to look at the new way of keeping fit which is now Home Fitness.
Home fitness for me has always been a winner, I have been teaching this for over 15 years. The benefits are endless and I have helped literally millions of people all over the world and especially through lockdown.
My YouTube Channel was officially the most watched Fitness Channel in the UK through lockdown. Here are just some of the headlines YOU MAGAZINE
Interview on THIS MORNING ITV Click here to watch the Interview
As a trainer with over 25 years experience in Fitness, Weight Loss and Health I have hundreds of effective and FREE home workout videos on my YouTube Channel that range from my Indoor Walking Workouts, 7 Minute Calorie Burners, Kids Exercises to Seated Workouts. I really do have something for everyone as my passion has always been to give the gift of fitness and health to everyone for FREE.
The great thing is these don’t require any equipment, they cost nothing and most important of all, they work.
Check out my Transformations here you will see incredible results. My most popular workout video ever on YouTube is my 7 Minute Lose belly Fat Workout which has been viewed nearly 88 Million times (again, because it works).
.So to make life easy I have grouped together some of my workouts making it easy for you to select the ones you want.
INDOOR WALKING CLICK HERE
ABS CLICK HERE
7 MINUTE CALORIE BURNING HIIT CLICK HERE
FULL BODY CLICK HERE
SEATED CLICK HERE
LEGS CLICK HERE
ARMS CLICK HERE
20 MINUTE CARDIO CLICK HERE
DANCE STYLE CLICK HERE
GLUTES CLICK HERE
SENIOR FITNESS CLICK HERE
7 DAY CHALLENGES CLICK HERE
How to lift your bust naturally with exercise
7 DAY NATURAL BUST LIFT CHART
It is very easy to complete. Here is what you need to do. Firstly take a screen grab or photo of the chart below, so you can print this off. Then for the next 7 Days complete my 8 Minute Natural Bust Lift Workout, each day you have completed it simply tick it off.
My aim of this challenge is that by the end of 7 days you will have naturally lifted your bust. To get really good results from this 7 day challenge you could combine this with my 7 Minute Arm Challenge ( you can see this here)
7 Day Ab Challenge
TAKE ON MY 7 DAY AB CHALLENGE
It is very easy to complete. Here is what you need to do. Firstly take a screen grab or photo of the chart below, so you can print this off. Then for the next 7 Days complete My 10 Minute Love Handle Workout, each day you have completed it simply tick it off.
My aim of this challenge is that by the end of it you will have reduced your love handles and muffin top. To get really good results from this 7 day challenge it is important to also focus on healthy eating.
Please tag me on any of my social media [email protected] Facebook LucysSquad if you are following the challenge by using this hashtag #LucysSquadAbChallenge
READ THIS BLOG HERE WITH SOME TOP TIPS ON IDEAS ON HEALTHY EATING TO GET YOUR BEST RESULTS
10 thousand steps a day challenge
As your online trainer and motivator I always want to encourage you simply to be the healthiest version of you. So I came up with a fun active challenge for you and I have grouped together 6 existing walking videos of mine to create a 10 Thousand Steps in one day Playlist.
This idea sprang to mind whilst we have all been in Lockdown over the world, as many of us have reduced our daily step count. This is a fun way of actively increasing it back up again.
To do this free challenge simply follow the 2 steps below to complete the challenge.
Please note that if you are new to exercise then it is always a good idea to consult with your doctor first. This is a tough challenge and it is important that you only do what feels right and if you need to rest then do. Please see below for full details on Health and Safety•
Make sure you are in comfortable workout gear, I would recommend even though you are doing this at home still wear your trainers and for the ladies even though this is a low impact workout I would still recommend wearing a sports bra with your workout gear.
Have a glass of water to hand, make sure you have good internet connection as you will need to be online to view my virtual walks.
This Playlist has 6 Indoor Walking Workouts, each one varies in length and location (which makes this fun so you won’t get bored). To complete the challenge will take just over 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Make the most of the breaks in between the videos to have some water, they will automatically lead straight on to the next walking video.
So it really is that simple, all you need to do when you are ready to take on this challenge is hit the play button below.
On completion of the final walk, it is important that you do the full cool down stretch that I recommend.
Once you have completed your stretches, then come back to this page and take a picture with your phone, or a screen grab of the rosette and share it on social media, so all of LucysSquad can give you a virtual “high five” for completing this challenge. Be sure to tag me @LucyWyndhamRead and this use tag #LucysSquad10kChallenge Why not share this page and challenge with anyone you know to do 10 thousand steps in a day.
FUN FACTS ON WALKING
Ten Thousand steps a day is approximately 5 miles.
Walking Ten Thousand steps will burn on average between 800 to 1000 calories, this will vary with everyone as it is dependent on our age, sex and weight so this is an approximate guide.
Walking is one of the most natural exercise we can do.
Hands down walking is a winner when it comes to focusing on all components of health and wellness. It is great for our joints, it helps tones us up all over, it helps lift our mood, it helps burn calories, it conditions our heart and it is low impact free to do and can be done anywhere.
Six Thousand steps a day will improve your health.
Ten Thousand steps a day will help aid weight loss.
In a lifetime we walk on average 65,000 miles which is equivalent to walking around the earth 3 times.
Walking is a great way to help beat off depression and anxiety as it helps release and boost our feel good hormones.
The average person walk at a speed of 3 miles per hour.
* HEALTH AND SAFETY NOTICE: IT IS ALWAYS ADVISABLE BEFORE YOU START A NEW FITNESS PROGRAMME THAT YOU CONSULT WITH YOUR DOCTOR , PARTICULARLY IF YOU HAVE SUFFERED WITH AN INJURY OR ARE A COMPLETE BEGINNER TO EXERCISE. IF YOU FEEL UNWELL
OR EXPERIENCE ANY DISCOMFORT AT ANY POINT, PLEASE STOP EXERCISING IMMEDIATELY AND SEEK MEDICAL AID.
No bake – Homemade granola bars
You will never want to buy a granola bar once you have made your own, as this is only bar you will want to snack on.
This recipe shows you how easy it is and cost effective.
INGREDIENTS
1 Cup of Mixed Nuts (*if you can’t have nuts swap for seeds)
2 Cups of Wholegrain Oats
2 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter (*if you can’t have peanut butter, instead try Soy Nut Butter but always be sure to thoroughly check the ingredients )
2 Tablespoons of Honey
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon of Coconut Oil
Handful of Dark Chocolate Chips
Half a Cup of Dried Fruit
METHOD
1. Pour oats and chop mixed nuts into large mixing bowl.
2. In a small saucepan, add the peanut butter, honey, coconut oil and cinnamon and mix on a low heat till all combined.
3. Pour into bowl with oats and nuts, stir and let sit for half an hour
4. Once mixtures cooled completely, add in dark chocolate chips and dried fruit
5. Line a baking tray and pour mixture in – tightly pack the mixture into the tray and you do need to press and compact this really tightly (using the bottom of a glass works well)— the more tightly packed, the less crumbly your bars will be!
6. Let set in fridge for an hour before cutting them into squares.
7. And if they are a little crumbly then eat with a spoon, because one thing for sure is they will taste delicious.
Sweet potato and avocado Buddha bowl
This beautiful savoury dish is bursting with colour and also bursting with vitamins and minerals.
Ingredients
1 Sweet Potato
1 Avocado
1 Lime
1 Small red onion
2 Tomatoes
Pinch of Italian seasoning
Handful of coriander
Small packet of Wholegrain Rice or Quinoa
Method
Preheat your oven to 240ºC (220ºC fan).
Wash, peel and chop your sweet potato, then drizzle in oil with Italian seasoning and roast in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until cooked.
Prepare your salsa mix by finely chopping your onion, tomato and coriander, mix together, then squeeze over the juice of your lime.
Cook your rice or quinoa as per instructions on the pack.
Once your sweet potato and rice is cooked, start layering up your Buddha bowl by first of all adding your chosen grains, then add your sweet potato, then your slices of avocado then finally your salsa. Finally give an extra squeeze of fresh lime juice all over.
This is such a delicious way to eat a healthy meal that is full of goodness, with our healthy fats, carbs and protein, all in one pretty bowl.
Blueberry & berry smoothie bowl
GOODNESS IN A BOWL
Handful of blueberries
Handful of strawberries
1 Banana
Handful of ice cubes
Tablespoon of Greek yoghurt
(Optional) Teaspoon of honey
TOPPINGS
