Health & beauty news & reviews with Zara Baker
Upper punch
With a fantastic run of good weather our attention has turned outdoors: dining, drinking and training – al fresco is the only way to go. Last month we regaled you with stories of Kettlebells training with Lucy Howlett from LIFT Personal Training Ltd. This month, I’ve gone one further, boosting upper body strength and strengthening my core with personal training sessions with LIFT’s Lucy. Resistance bands added intensity to simple squats and lunges (an inexpensive and effective piece of equipment that doesn’t take up the whole house; result!). Then, the gloves were on for my first bit of boxing. Fantastic fun and great results, I feel like I’m onto a winner. For correct form, posture and exercise to suit you, a personal trainer will keep you on track and healthy.
Lucy Howlett, LIFT Personal Training, 07879 490 373
Stay fresh
Vaseline’s new Derma Beauty deodorant is a gentle alcohol-free formula, perfect for summer. The soft, light fragrance is ideal for the holiday season and Vitamin E ensures your underarms are left in tip-top condition. Forget irritated underarms and red bumps, this gentle deodorant offers protection, leaving you fresh and confident all summer long.
Vaseline Derma Beauty, 150ml, £1.86 from Superdrug, Boots and all leading supermarkets.
Brighten up
If, like me, you are looking to lighten up your locks for summer, then be sure to do it in style. The dip dye is still a strong trend for summer, although more natural. Semi-permanent colours are also hot right now as they leave hair glossy and in fantastic condition – ideal for over processed hair. Or, if you can’t leave the highlights alone, go bold for summer with an all over change. Remember to visit a professional colour expert for your ideal hue and stock up on the silver shampoo to keep blonde hair fresh. Where to go: Trevor Sorbie Brighton, where salon owner and technical director Kate Wilson will give a thorough consultation on your desired colour change. Opt for: a colour by senior technician Samuel Chapman – he’s been named as a L’Oréal Colour I.D. Artist for 2013!
www.trevorsorbie.com/consumer
Burn Fat Fast
The revolutionary 5/2 diet plan has been filling column inches recently, advocating a form of intermittent fasting which involves taking in a very low amount of calories on alternate days. The diet not only promotes weight loss but is also claimed to have several beneficial health effects.
Patrick Holford’s Burn Fat Fast takes alternate-day dieting to a whole new level. The diet combines elements of alternate-day fasting with a low-GL diet and a compact exercise routine, creating a diet plan with which you can lose fat fast, without going hungry or compromising your health. For those new to the low-Gl diet, it stands for ‘glycemic load’ and is a measure of what your food does to your blood sugar levels. In short, you want to keep your blood sugar levels low because if they are too high, the excess is stored as fat and if they are too low, this triggers hunger.
In his short and easy-to-follow book, Patrick Holford explains the importance of the low-GL diet, outlining what to eat and what to avoid whilst following the diet and even providing recipes. He has also teamed up with former Gladiator and record-breaking athlete Kate Staples to devise a workout routine consisting of fat-burning and insulin-lowering exercises which only take eight minutes a day to do. The work-out routine section helpfully divides exercises into beginner, intermediate and advanced levels and each exercise is accompanied with instructions and images.
Patrick reports that countless people have lost a stone a month relatively effortlessly by following his tried-and-tested low-GL diet.
Burn Fat Fast, by Patrick Holford & Kate Staples. Out now.
Reviewed by Anna Lawson
