As fast as it appeared last September, Christmas disappeared from our shelves and televisions, to be hastily replaced by creme eggs and hot cross buns, along with the inevitable rush of gadgets, kitchen equipment and magical elixirs promising to get you fit/skinny/toned.
It can be tricky navigating all these offers and sorting the genuinely useful products from the fad nonsense, so I thought I’d compile a little list of my top 5 must have items to help you make a healthier start to 2016.
BlendActive Family Pack – £19.99 (family pack £27.99)
First shout goes to the excellent value BlendActive blender. This is essentially a cheaper alternative to the much lauded and pricier NutriBullet. Now I’m not going to claim the BlendActive is as impressive or versatile as the NutriBullet, but if you’re looking for something to whizz up some veg, berries and almond milk then look no further – this gets the job done. I was initially concerned with durability, but it’s put up with daily use for over a year now and is still going strong. Like the NutriBullet the blades attach directly to the cups (the family pack comes with a set of 4), then are replaced by the lid to take with you, meaning less washing up and mess. A great product at a great price.
Fitter Food: A Second Helping – £14.99 plus p&p
Keris and Matt have done it again. Their second book follows the same theme as their first one – that of healing your body first, then letting the rest follow. No fad diets or clueless celebrity endorsements, just excellent knowledge and real attention to detail. I was so impressed with this book that we now give everyone who works with us at the new studio a free copy. It’s jam packed with information and fantastic, tasty recipes designed to heal your body and allow it to function properly. A healthy body is a happy body, and a happier body means a happier you!
Jawbone Up3 -£89.99
While this fitness tracker isn’t the cheapest on the market, in my opinion it’s the most user-friendly and accurate on the market. One thing everyone that comes to see us at Greenwich Training struggles with is accountability, and this powerful little gadget will provide you with the kick up the bum you need when the sofa beckons and your pesky brain is cooking up excuses quicker than you can bat them away. The Up3 beats it’s closest rival the FitBit for me mainly because of the more accurate data, and its ability to recognise short bursts of activity throughout your day.
My Fitness Pal – free
If you can’t stretch to forking out for an activity tracker, this free app is a great alternative, but beware as it can become slightly addictive! I think almost everyone has this installed on their smartphones, but for the uninitiated it is essentially a means to track your food intake daily against a recommended intake which the app generates based on your current and target weight. It’s got a massive database of different foods but if you’re truly eating well i.e. cooking from scratch then it’s a little fiddly to start with, taking a long time to enter ingredients for each meal. BUT if you can get past that, and the dodgy macronutrient recommendations, then this will increase your accountability without denting your post-Christmas bank balance.
Pioneer Sports Earphones – £34.04 (Amazon)
One of the worst things about most gyms and health clubs is the godawful music, so make things easier for yourself by ditching the ones that came with your phone and getting a pair that will stay in your ears, block out a fair amount of background noise and survive all those gallons of sweat you’ll be subjecting them to when you’re doing your high intensity circuits! Of course you could spend a lot more and get a really flash pair, but to be honest the quality of the sound shouldn’t be top of your priority list when you’re working out, so save your money to spend on an overpriced kale smoothie!
So there you have it, a run down of some of the more useful bits on the market this new year to make your new, healthier lifestyle that little bit easier.
For more advice on anything health, fitness and nutrition related, get in touch with me today and apply for a Free Body Transformation Session at our lovely new Greenwich Studio.
If there’s something you reckon should have made the list or disagree with any of my choices then leave a comment and we can have it out!
Ian
About Ian Male
You must be logged in to post a comment.