food – Page 4 – Never Give Up PT

An Apple A Day…

I wasn’t really encouraged greatly to eat my fruit and veg as a kid. It was often there on my plate but there were never any reason to eat it. The chips and sausages or ice cream for dessert was always much more appealing.

But during the 80’s the information that we received was very different to what we get now. And although we can still get incredibly misleading information these days, one thing that is a fact according to just about every piece of research that has been done on the subject, is that fruit and vegetables are extremely good for us.

And yet a recent survey of England said that just 28% of adults were eating the recommended fruit and veg a day, which is 5 a day in the UK and in many other European countries this has gone up to 8 a day. Even more depressing to me is that the survey came back with just 18% of children aged between 5 and 15 were eating 5 portions a day in England. The survey was done in 2018 by the NHS. With an increase in the cost of living and families struggling to feed their kids in the UK today, I can’t imagine that those figures have improved.

Indeed, with the meals that are on offer at my kids school which, I must add is an otherwise fantastic school, I know that they’re going without one portion of fruit or veg for at least 6 hours of the day on most days. Outside caterers are in charge of this and, like with most privatisation, I don’t have faith in a person centred approach.

But then we can blame school caterers, restaurants, supermarkets, media, the government or whoever else influence ours and our kids diets, but fundamentally it is our choice. Certainly for most families in the UK, despite the increase in the cost of living, we choose whether we eat our 5 a day or not.

If you have read my previous articles you might have gathered that I’m not a regular PT. Or at least I’m not like the influencers that want you to eat chicken and broccoli three times a day ‘for those gainz bruh!’ and I’m not in the gym training myself for hours or weighing out my rice from my Tupperware box.

I like kebabs, Greggs sausage rolls, wine, gin and tonic, takeaways and cheese. I have kids who like crisps, chocolate and chicken dippers. My wife and I enjoy meals out without looking at the calories column before ordering the main course. We are busy getting our kids ready for school while making breakfast, preparing our work schedules and picking up dirty undies and socks to go into the wash before we leave the house. That is real life. I’m lucky if I finish my coffee on a morning.

And that, I expect, is what most of my trainees do in their lives too. Life can be chaotic. Counting how many pieces of fruit and veg you’ve had might not even enter your head. And that was me. For years I didn’t really give it much thought. The token spoonful of peas would gatecrash onto my plate from time to time and I’d eat the odd banana. But being mindful of my diet was not a concern of mine. I trained hard so, in my eyes, what I saw in the mirror was all that mattered.

A few changing points happened to me which made me think very hard about my nutrition. Firstly, I met my wife. She is an excellent cook and cooking together became a part of our evenings. This I would suggest to anybody. Learn to love cooking. We don’t have to be Jamie Oliver. Just spend a bit of time in the kitchen with the food you’re about to eat.

Then I went on my PT course to be a Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer. The course itself was fairly basic in all honesty, but it gave me a thirst for knowledge. I wanted to know how our bodies moved and what each muscle was called and what it did. I wanted to understand how our bodies function and survive and I studied our bodies need for the right nutrition. I still do. I don’t know it all. I never will. A good PT will sometimes tell you that they don’t know, but will find out when you ask them a question. A poor one will feed you any old shit for them to look clever and gain a new client.

Lastly, I noticed a difference in my performance. Obviously in the gym, where I began lifting heavier and training for longer without having to stop. My PB’s went through the roof at 35 and they’re still going up at 43. But also, outside of the gym my mood was lifted, I became a better person and I had more energy for my kids. My body was feeling fuelled on good food. This alone made me like the foods that I had previously ignored.

But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the foods I liked before. I still like kebabs, Greggs sausage rolls, drink wine and gin and tonic, takeaways and I’m a sucker for stilton on a cream cracker. I have just become more mindful of how much of it I consume. I never banned these foods from my life. Had I done that I suspect that I would have resented the nutritious foods.

My youngest is a fruit and veg dodger. As a toddler we had concerns about his eating and the health visitor suggested that we feed him cake or basically anything that he would eat! His weight was low and we just had to try anything at all for him to get to a reasonable weight. It was a stressful time and even now he is extremely fussy. Our eldest will eat pretty much anything. For our youngest, however, each mealtime is like a bush tucker trial. We keep introducing new fruit and veg along with his favourite cheese wrap and now at almost 6 he is understanding the need to eat vegetables with his meals. He is still a small eater but he is doing much better. As long as he gets his cheese wrap he’s happy to eat the carrot sticks.

You shouldn’t underestimate how important nutritional food is, but that doesn’t mean that you have to ditch the Pringles either! Just find that balance and be more mindful with your food. The positive fuel is almost instant. Imagine what a consistent balanced plate can do for you?

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Understanding Change

In my previous career I worked as a support worker for adults with learning difficulties and autism. This gave me an insight on human behaviour and how to understand people with a different perception to the world we live in.

One of their main challenges was to be as independent as possible despite being in a society demanding that they change. The organisations offering support to these people and many of their workers were fully committed to enabling their service users to live as independently as possible. They weren’t looking for everything to be done for them. They might have just needed some support and encouragement to live THEIR life in a strange ‘neurotypical’ world. And yet society can often want to change people.

The people I supported often got frustrated at certain rules and laws that had to be applied and demands that were put upon them to be more ‘normal’. I didn’t change anybody that I worked with. I just enabled them to do what they wanted to do safely. Any positive changes to their lives that they wished to make would be encouraged by me and I would support them through it. That was my job.

Becoming a Personal Trainer was, I thought, an entirely different role and of course, on the surface it really is. It is only when you get to understand human behaviour that you begin to find similarities. And then all of that level of understanding comes right back.

“We keep trying to change people’s behaviours without a full understanding of how and why those behaviours arise”

The fitness industry does just as much damage as it does good. It is full of crooks and scammers who pray on people wanting to change their appearance. From miracle pills and drinks, bogus PT’s, weight loss coaches (failed PT’s), social media influencers, celebrity fitness DVD’s and Doctors spewing 5:2, Fast 800 and intermittent fasting all over the tabloids. We are bombarded with us changing how we look. Perhaps, in their eyes, we should all look a certain way. Or, let’s be honest, they want to make us feel so bad about ourselves so we pay them in a desperate attempt to be ‘fixed’ by them.

But they don’t know you or I. Why do I keep getting promotions for fat loss pills that work within a week (there’s before and afters to prove it) on my Facebook feed every day? Do they think I need it? Even as a PT who, for most days, feels comfortable in my own skin feels a little self conscious. How must the regular person feel?

I get miracle hair growth lotion ads too which is definitely more appropriate for my feed and yet I have no desire to have a full head of hair. I don’t want it. They. Won’t. Change. Me.

But they want my money. They want me to want to change my appearance.

And although my role as a PT is to exert change to an individual, it isn’t their appearance that I’m looking to change, even if that is what they come to me wanting.

“The journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. It’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.”

Goals need to be set when you begin a fitness journey. But once you have set those goals you must put it in an envelope and safely store it away for a while. Today you don’t need it. Today, you just need to know what you have to do TODAY. Know it, plan it and stick to it.

My job isn’t simply telling someone to run faster, lift heavier or eat better foods. I need to know WHY they should want to run faster, lift heavier and eat better foods. If I am to support them on their journey, then I need to know their perception of themselves. I offer support but also realize that I cannot tell anybody what to do. My job is to allow the individual to makes their choices, embrace the victories and process the failures. It is THEIR journey.

I don’t change anybody that I work with. I just enable them to do what they want to do safely. Any positive changes to their lives that they wish to make is encouraged by me and I support them through it. That’s my job.

Starting Your Week The Right Way

Our days are often played out at a hundred miles an hour. When we begin our working week it speeds through so quickly we can look back and regret not having time to commit to your workouts, talk to friends, give your granny a call or prepare nutritious food.

We can make it slightly easier for ourselves if we plan our week. Going into a new week without a plan could be the reason why you don’t stick to a nutrition plan or an exercise routine. Here’s my top tips to get you focussed on your week ahead!

1. Batch Cook.

I would recommend dedicating a couple of hours a week to batch cooking. In this time you can make two or three different sauces that can be used at a later date. I have plenty of takeaway tubs that have been saved over the years that make perfect containers for this. It means that, even after a busy day, you can still create a nutritious meal with little fuss. Just defrost your sauce and add the veg, meat, pasta etc. My favourites are bolognese, curry, chilli and macaroni cheese.

2. Plan Your Workouts And Stick To It.

“I might go to the gym if I have time” usually means you don’t have time. Something crops up or you create a reason not to go, so you don’t get round to going. Make it easier for yourself. A workout doesn’t have to be in a gym. I often post 10 minute workouts on my training app and run programmes that work around an individuals lifestyle. https://www.trainerize.me/profile/nevergiveup2/?planGUI

Planning workouts with a partner or friend with similar fitness goals works because you are able to keep each other motivated and you are less likely to cancel and let them down. Hiring a good PT also adds accountability.

Also, never underestimate going for a walk. This might be the perfect way to start a fitness journey if you can plan and stick to regular walks throughout your week.

3. Avoid A Sunday Night Syndrome.

Sunday night syndrome is also known as anticipatory anxiety. It’s a very real thing to many people. If you get the feeling of dread as you think about entering a new week then try these techniques…

a) Practice meditation on the Sunday evening (or whenever your week is starting). You don’t have to be a Buddhist Monk or spiritual to be good at it. There are some very good apps or YouTube guides that will talk you through it. Just find a quiet place and think about controlling your breathing. Visualize the positives in your life and how these can contribute to your week ahead.

b) Look forward to an event by booking a treatment such as a massage or a spa. Having an enjoyable activity to focus on can get you over difficult times in your week.

c) Avoid alcohol before your week begins. Although you might think that a few drinks on your Sunday evening is relaxing and helps you cope with your anxieties, it actually has the opposite effect. Sleep can be more unsettled, your food choices are not as good and your emotions are in less control. Alcohol can lead to you believing that things are worse than they actually are.

4. Give your granny a call as part of a Sunday night routine. Once you’ve prepped your meals, put the lycra in your gym kit and had a moment of calm, not only will your granny appreciate the call but you will feel a whole lot better for doing it. After all, once you’ve heard about Derek from number 63’s dodgy hip and Maureen from bingos arthritis you’ll feel so much better about yourself!

It’s Time To Print Out The Score Sheets!

It’s that time of year again. The snacks come out, the score sheets get printed, the kids stay up later, the bunting goes up, I get to wear a blonde wig and we complain about nobody liking the UK.

It’s Eurovision time!

My wife and I were always an unlikely couple. I was the gym rat who went to mainstream clubs and watched football with my mates in my spare time. My wife had an alternative dress style, went to indie bars and loved arts and crafts. We met whilst working together and I don’t think our colleagues ever thought it would last. But we had a secret connection and it was our love our Eurovision.

Ok, ok, maybe that’s not entirely true. Our similar interests also included Japanese horror movies, Pearl Jam and Nirvana, pool and darts, food and Desperate Housewives (the American TV series, not just desperate housewives).

But whilst these interests have ebbed and flowed between us over the years, our love of Eurovision has grown. Maybe this is what makes our marriage complete. Well, that and our two kids. And food probably.

For the past 15 years we have scored every event of Eurovision. We even have a folder each with our score sheets in them. In the past we have had house parties on Eurovision night, but that was a disaster. Everyone wanted to talk over the songs as they mocked the artists. We dropped theses mates and found better ones, of course. But they can’t come around on Eurovision night. We won’t make that mistake again.

This year it will be an alcohol free event too. It just so happens our abstinence for the foreseeable has fallen on the date of Eurovision. It’s also fallen on the dates of the FA Cup final, the last couple of games of the Premier League and the Champions League final!

Ah well. We do like to prove to ourselves that we can go a few weeks without a tipple. We enjoy a drink at the weekend to unwind, but actually the feeling of being fresh and lighter from the habitual weekend drinking is very empowering. It’s our reset button, Eurovision or not.

So we will be dancing and wearing Abba wigs totally sober tonight, which might make us sound even more weird! But one thing’s for sure, with events in the world being as they are, an evening of countries coming together to stage the campest event ever is a very welcome sight.

The Test

My eldest came out of the school gates looking very pleased with himself. He ran towards me waving a piece of paper shouting “Daddy daddy, I got 10 out of 10!”

At the beginning of the week he had been given ten words to learn for a spelling test today. As well as my wife and I going through these words daily and his teacher teaching them he was well prepared for a test.

Schools, higher education and any learning environment have a similar system. We learn, practice and revise until we are tested on the subject. When you leave education, however, I find it a very different experience. Life gives you the test first, and then you learn the lesson.

Imagine my son having the test first and then learning the words after? It seems unfair, right? Ah, and yet our experiences in life are full of these examples.

What I try to provide as a Personal Trainer is a platform in which to learn, develop and achieve. An individual’s fitness journey has, admittedly, moments of enduring the test before knowing the lesson. In some ways that helps us deal with the challenges of success and failure. If we knew how to do it we’d already be doing it, so learning from life’s tests is a part of the process. And the process isn’t a smooth, linear path.

My job is not just to bask in the glory of a trainee’s goal being achieved like a PB or a weight loss target, but it is to navigate us through the difficult times. That’s not easy to do on your own. It’s doubly difficult when, even though you’ve put the hours in and worked with a plan in place, things still don’t go smoothly. Yes, you get given the words, you revise like mad, and you don’t always get full marks in your exam.

The problem is when you get given the words to learn, you revise like mad, don’t pass the exam and you give up. A few months pass by and again you get given the words, work hard and study but still don’t quite make the grade. Before you know it you are a year older and you are still stumbling through the tests, quitting, starting again…the cycle continues.

This, for me, is where the role of a coach is vital. There’s plenty of people that will count your reps on a rocking ab machine. But a coach will provide knowledge, technique, expertise, experience and the ability to get you to your goals. Even when the test becomes tough, they know what to do to get you through to the other side.

My son might only get 9 out of 10 next week, even if he works hard in his revision. But that in itself is a lesson. How I react to it and how he dusts the disappointment off is the difference between his future success and failure. If he learns how to deal with that disappointment it becomes even more important than learning the word he got wrong.

Life is ironic. It takes depression to know happiness. It takes stress to understand calm. It takes failure to recognise success.

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Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

My eldest must think I’m obsessed. At 8 he has certainly got a natural talent for football and he is always keen to have a kick about in the garden in-between matches and team training. He will often just want to take shots at me which is fine as I firmly believe that doing the bits that you enjoy the most is what keeps us interested. But I do try to get him to do the bits that aren’t really coached yet at his age.

Throw ins at under 8’s is a classic example. A throw in is usually a foul throw (which the ref allows due to their age), the length of the throw is week due to poor technique and the decision making in who to throw it to is questionable.

Passing is another example. Instead of trying to ‘Messi’ it past 5 opposing players in his own penalty area (8 year olds don’t like to pass) I want him to make good, confident decisions on when to pass and create openings.

To master these he needs coaching and, although I’m not an FA coach, I do know how to coach.

One piece of advice that I can take into any type of coaching, expert at it or not, is to repeat the process over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. And when you think you’ve mastered it, repeat it again.

We move on too quickly. Either because we think something is accomplished or because we haven’t discovered a purpose for continuing.

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My eldest also brings home words to learn for a spelling test at the end of each week. It’s the same process. Tying his own show laces, eating foods that are nutritious but he doesn’t yet like the taste of, crossing a road, learning French all need repeating to be good at it. Despite some freakish ability by some people to have a natural talent at something, the rest of us have to work bloody hard to be good at it. And even then, don’t think that those with a natural talent don’t practice hard at what they do. They do, but what they do is just their knack. Their ‘thing’. We’ve all got a ‘thing’, we just need to find it. But if we are to persue different interests or to progress in certain areas then the chances are you will need to practice like mad to be any good at it. My son has a tendency to move on too quickly. Perhaps most kids do. Just because he has read his ten words for his spelling test doesn’t mean that he knows them.

I’d love to play guitar. I’ve even bought a couple in the past that look great as ornaments. Actually playing it will require time, patience, practice and repeating. I don’t do that. My excuses are time, my natural abilities aren’t good enough and getting blisters on my fingers. I know that I would be able to play a little if I stopped with the excuses. Maybe I’d never be Ed Sheeran, but I would learn the chords and be able to enjoy playing the guitar and far quicker if I hired a teacher.

My excuses for not playing guitar are exactly the same excuses that I hear on a daily basis in the gym.

Time, not good enough and injuries.

But me playing guitar or not isn’t affecting my health. Learning the chords won’t help my body fat percentage go down. Breaking into the intro to Smells like Teen Spirit won’t make me look and feel better in my clothes and my mental health won’t be any clearer if I can play the theme tune to Coranation Street. So I haven’t found my ‘why’. I haven’t found my purpose to playing guitar, therefore my motivation for doing it, as great as it would be, just isn’t there.

Passing a football through cones isn’t as exciting as smashing a ball into the top bins past his dad, but my son will develop and understand the game much quicker. And if he sees his work pay off on the pitch in a game then he will want to practice even more. He will want to repeat the process that allowed him to make the pass, shot, dribble or throw that won the game. Hopefully he discovers his reason for playing football. It might make him feel good. He might enjoy being part of a team. He might enjoy the buzz and excitement on match day or he might know how important exercise is to his physical and mental health. As long as he knows why he keeps going back for more he will keep progressing.

For best results I can’t help repeating certain movements for my clients to perform. Yet despite the repatition it is important to keep the reason for doing it fresh in their minds and also creating new challenges.

Yes you can squat, now can you squat deeper?

That is a good bench press, now create a slower eccentric movement for time under tension.

You can perform 10 reps, now do 12 reps.

Exactly the same for my eldest at football. You scored with your left foot, now can you kick the ball with you right foot. It is still football. It is still repeating the process, but now we have a new challenge to consider. And it will take time. Practice and time. Lots of it.

Remember your reasons for doing something. If it is so important to you then you will continue the process and you must repeat, repeat, repeat until your body and mind knows exactly what it is that you are wanting from it.

If it’s important enough to you then you will achieve it. You’ll never give up!

Bouncebackability

Throughout my articles I have sometimes quoted the likes of Shakespeare and Einstein to highlight my point. Words or phrases, certainly by those who can articulate it much better than I, can resonate with people.

So I never thought that I would be quoting a word invented by ex footballer Iain Dowie. Bouncebackability was said by Dowie in 2003 to describe his team’s ability to…well, bounce back from defeat. It eventually made the dictionary. And we all have the ability to have it.

Never giving up when you feel at your lowest point, coming back from a desperate situation or bouncing back from a bad day are all within your capabilities. I just need you to realize it.

Things can spiral quickly or maybe it just feels like that. In my experience it can be something brewing inside that creeps out over time. Some days it feels like your head is just above water, but some days it feels like you’re drowning.

Your bouncebackability might be that you missed a gym session or two and, instead of quitting, you got back in there when the time was right for you.

Your bouncebackability could be that you had a week of poor meal choices and, instead of giving up on your health goals, you brushed the week off and started again with better choices.

Your bouncebackability might when you recognize that your alcohol consumption is beginning to affect your mindset and your health, but you make the decision to not bring any into the house for a week or two to reset.

Your bouncebackability could be a difficult time at home but you seek help from friends or somebody who will listen.

You have bouncebackability. You are resilient and strong. And sometimes to be able to show this strength you need to admit to your struggles. That, in itself, is the first sign of your resilience and strength.

What is put on the socials doesn’t impress me much. The guy who seems to have it all or the female who poses to her millions of followers have their low points too. They have struggles. Your friend who you think is always happy-go-lucky will have times of sadness or depression. Be kind to them. Cut them some slack if they haven’t got back to your message or they seemed a bit off with you.

They’ll bounce back. Just like you do.

Why?

Why…adverb…for what cause, reason or purpose. Why did you do it?

Merriam-webster.com gave me the meaning of the word why on their website. Nothing that we didn’t already know really, is it?

And yet I’m not sure that many of us use it enough. I hear lots of motivational speakers and psychologists telling their audience to say ‘yes’ more or sometimes even ‘no’. But maybe we should be saying ‘why’ more.

My kids are very good at this. ‘Don’t do that.’ I’ll say. ‘Why?’ Is often the reply.

‘Because it is dangerous.’

‘Why?’

‘Because you might fall.’

‘Why?’

‘Because it is not safe.’

‘Why?’

‘Because the tree branch is 200 years old and ready to snap and the rain has caused bacterial wetwood that makes it slippy. Plus, you don’t have the appropriate footwear and the A&E waiting times are horrendous at the moment and I don’t fancy a day in the hospital sitting with the all day drinkers.’

I never get to say that last bit. It’s usually more like ‘Just get down!’

But I don’t want to take their inquisitive nature away from them. And they’re kids who want to climb trees. I’m sure that there’s a grainy photo somewhere with me in my shell suit hanging from a branch. So asking ‘why’ is perfectly acceptable.

I ask myself ‘why?’ regularly. Sometimes it just gets me out of bed. Or it enables me to do the gym session I’ve been putting off that day. It makes me push myself in my work and I strive for better for my family’s future. It keeps me hungry. All because I reminded myself of my why.

When I am talking to a potential client wanting to train with me I ask them why they want to train. I get the usual type of answers which are totally acceptable to begin with.

‘Id like to lose a few pounds.’

‘I want to lose my belly.’

‘I want to gain some muscle.’

‘I am entering an event.’

All of these require another why. And perhaps another. And another.

I train to stay trim…why? To look good in a T-shirt this summer…why? Because I’m conscious that I’m not getting any younger…why? I have had injuries in the past and I know that age could cause these injuries to be painful in later life…why? I began training many years ago to fix my injuries which helped my mental health too…why? Because I felt more confident, strong, pain free and I became a better person…why? Because I knew that I was giving my future self a chance to live comfortably which would provide a happier life for my family too.

Because I knew that I was giving my future self a chance to live comfortably which would provide a happier life for my family too.

This became my why.

Mark Twain said,”The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

It is the most enlightening thing there is to find your why, your reason, your purpose, your trigger.

Losing a few pounds is a credible goal, but it happens so much easier if you know your why. Your why is the ultimate goal. And as long as you keep reminding yourself of it, good things happen along the way to achieving it.

You need a good reason to lose a few pounds. If you don’t have one, or if it’s to please somebody else for instance, you have no real motivation to lose a few pounds. Even if you do there’s a good chance that you won’t keep it off. Motivation is just a fleeting emotion, your why lasts forever.

Keep that child like inquisitive mind and keep asking ‘why?’

And keep asking. And asking. And asking. And when you find your why, you will find your way.

NEAT

I’m going to dive straight in with a phrase that you might have heard before but if not I don’t want you to think I’m getting all sciency. I’m not, but it is important in the context of this article.

Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenisis (NEAT)

Thermogenisis, according to sciencedirect.com, is defined as the dissipation of energy through the production of heat occuring in adipose tissue (fat) and skeletal muscle.

How I define it is if you move more you burn more calories due to the energy expenditure. The Non-Exercise Activity bit relates to the movement that you do outside of your exercise routines.

And by moving I mean by just being alive. The average person can burn 75 calories per hour by breathing. A person in a coma will generally lose weight as the body will still generate energy in order to maintain basic functions.

However, the latter is an extreme example of energy expenditure so let’s look at this sensibly!

If the average person were to stand for 6 hours instead of sitting they would burn an extra 100 calories. It doesn’t seem like much but it adds up to 2.5k within the year!

And yet, I wouldn’t fancy standing through the final series of Ozark so maybe that’s a bit unrealistic still.

If you were to take the stairs instead of a lift then you would use up to 7 times more energy than taking a lift. Again, maybe it doesn’t sound like a great deal but if you have an office job that requires a few flights of stairs that is some serious energy expenditure by the end of the year.

In a previous post I’ve talked about parking further away from the gym to warm up. You can take this even further by applying it to your grocery shop or parking further away from town to get more steps in. The average person uses 300-400 calories from walking 10,000 steps.

Sex, on average, burns just over a hundred calories, but I have no idea who discovered this or how long the experiment lasted!!

In fact what we do with out NEAT each day will probably burn a considerable amount of calories compared to what we can achieve in a workout, especially if one is fairly active anyway. But if we were to put all three factors together…NEAT…Exercise at least 3 times a week and a balanced diet, then we can lose weight sensibly.

And they all compliment each other. Being NEAT often leads to a more proactive attitude towards exercise and exercise tends to lead to better food choices.

Perhaps if you have a weight loss goal, instead of being so daunted about the gym or when to exercise your first steps should be to think NEAT.

Paella

I know that we will eventually have the big debate today. We will discuss with our guests if chorizo has any place in the traditional Spanish Paella dish. The tripod, burner and the paella pan were all ordered from Spain to keep our paella events as authentic as possible and the rice is always Valencia bomba rice. We love Paella days!

I remember a few years ago when Jamie Oliver shared a paella recipe that included chorizo and he was absolutely slaughtered by the traditionalists on social media because paella was never invented with the intention of adding chorizo! Adding chorizo, said some commentators, made it a ‘rice dish’ and not Paella. If this is the case then for all our attempts to create an authentic Spanish Paella we fail at the final hurdle by throwing in chorizo. The years of entertaining our friends and unveiling the evento principal and calling it paella might be a lie. But I still think that it deserves a little bit more of a build up than inviting friends round for a ‘rice dish’. Perhaps if we lived in Spain and we were to invite our Spanish friends round for paella we would leave out the chorizo, but I’m not so sure our English friends care too much as long as it is tasty!

I’d much prefer to get the paella pan burner out than the BBQ on a sunny day. Yes, there’s the traditional way of cooking paella, but you can be a little adventurous too. And with two kids that have different tastes and preferences it is difficult to stick to a recipe. One likes prawns and the other one doesn’t. One likes paprika and the other doesn’t. So a little bit of improvising is necessary. The BBQ will get a good run out over the summer as well of course. If I’m stood outside flipping burgers I’m happy too!

The last 6 months has been a long, grey and cold period on the North East coast of England and for all it’s surrounding beauty, i don’t appreciate it enough because I hate the cold, dark months so much that I don’t see enough of the natural beauty that I live amongst. So the first weekend where I could sit outside in a T-shirt and eat paella with friends was a celebration to me. It felt like the start of summer.

When I get asked why we plan to move to France I could spend all day discussing politics and business ideas, but the short answer would be for the weather. An older gentleman at the gym said to me that he can hardly walk the length of his street before he gets tired and needs to sit down. Yet when he went to Spain for 2 weeks he was walking the mountains. I understand this because I too feel much better when I’m in a warmer climate. My back pain, although I keep this under control with my training, is eased considerably in warm weather. And the research provides lots of evidence on the older gent in the gym and myself being accurate on our own health assessment.

Vasodilation, which is the dilation of blood vessels which improves blood flow, happens when the body is subjected to heat. This improves circulation in the affected areas and transfers deep into the muscles. I’m sure after a couple of days in the Spanish sun the older gent at my gym was like Charlie’s Grandpa Jo, skipping and whizz popping over the mountains. Back in blighty, the blood flow slows down, muscle and joints seize up and he can’t even get out of his street.

So I welcome this year’s British summer. I just hope that our paella day wasn’t the last of it! After all, I’ve bought all of the chorizo now.