The heat isn’t stopping and neither are we. Muscle cramps, man-boobies and motivation. Let’s do this.
From the MAN v FAT Football leagues
- The Manchester league has a new coach as Dan takes over from the Mighty Sven, who is moving back to Australia. As Dan mentions in his introductory post, Sven will be greatly missed by the lads and we’d like to thank her for all her hard work. Dan’s got big (footy) boots to fill! Dan’s an ex-player and has lost a whopping 9 stone, so we reckon he’ll be great. Learn more about Dan and his MVF mission (not journey!) here, and have a listen to his interview on the MAN v FAT podcast here.
In other news…
- Beat the heat! Nutritionist Daniel O’Shaughnessy has teamed up with JustEat to tell you what foods will help you cool down – and his recommendation of chilli and soup might surprise you. O’Shaughnessy explained, “Spicy food will make you perspire more, but as the sweat evaporates, the energy is absorbed into the air, therefore cooling the body.”
He’s also recommended anti-inflammatory foods like turmeric, hot food like soups, coconut milk that helps support hydration and prevent muscle aches and foods with a high water content such as watermelon to keep you hydrated. I’d hate to condone a takeaway but ordering one (ensuring you are sticking to your food allowances of course) could also help by keeping you out of the heat of the kitchen. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
- Talking about beating the heat – if you and the lads are heading to the beach to cool down, you need to have the chat. The RNLI (the charity saving lives at sea) have launched a new campaign on how to stay safe in the water.
Their research suggests that men are smashing stereotypes with 91% of 16-35-year-old males being happy to offer advice to their mates, but this number drops to 41% when it comes to safety advice. 75% of those surveyed admitted that they had been in a scary and/or dangerous situation with male friends with 35% explaining that this was around water.The heat tempts people to open water to cool down, but 98 people lost their lives at UK coastlines in the month of August in the last 5 years. Would you know what to do if you saw a friend get into difficulty?
- Don’t go in after them as you may get into trouble yourself. Try to remain calm and dial 112 or 999 and ask for the coastguard.
- Find something that floats to throw to the person in difficulty or encourage them to float on their back.
- If the individual is in cold water, instinct may cause them to thrash around. Discourage them from doing so, as this may cause them to breathe in water. Instead, encourage them to float on their back, keeping their airway above the water whilst you wait for the emergency services.
Find out more and how to Respect The Water at the RNLI’s campaign site.
What we’re talking about
- Let’s give a big MVF welcome to @marklees, our ice cube distributor from Doncaster. With gaming, IT and photography being his hobbies, he’s looking to add some more activity into his life.
- Join me wishing @Zero4 luck on avoiding the pub… in this post ‘Act of complete dietary and financial folly’ (a brilliant name, by the way!), he really hits the nail on the head. Why do we stay on our best behaviour 90% of the time, just to blow it all at the pub, or in a restaurant, or on a takeaway, wasting both cash and calories?! Any tips or support would be most appreciated.
- @Sanny is currently keeping a weight loss diary over on the forum, and again I’m sure any support would be most appreciated. Fair play to you Sanny for putting it all out there and sharing your experiences with the community.
What we’re reading
- Jane Brody at the NYTimes is asking ‘why take diet advice from a caveman?’ She discusses and gives her opinion on the caveman diet. It’s an interesting short-read from someone who implies she couldn’t live without a scoop of ice cream ever again. Do you agree with her – are we cut out for a paleo diet or not? Have you ever tried it? Let us know your thoughts.
- Have muscle cramps got you feeling in a pickle? If you reckon you could stomach a couple of shots of the salty stuff then it could be really beneficial to you post-workout, by reducing those crampy aches and pains and replacing essential salts lost when working out hard. If you don’t think you could stomach it, Men’s Health also gives us some culinary tips on how to use that brine to your advantage.
- Our style and our clothing are important. It’s how we present ourselves, how we express ourselves and probably the main factor in our self-esteem. So what should we do if a part of our body is cramping our style? More specifically, I’m talking man-boobs. Man boobs have been discussed previously on MVF and this week Men’s Health have posted a really useful guide on styling/hiding those burdensome bumps.
What we’re eating
I first tried these in Portugal funnily enough and they were life-changing. Okay, maybe not life-changing but they were pretty great. If your cravings for crunch and big flavour are getting the better of you, a pack of Dorito Bits feels really naughty and like a big portion, but at under 200 calories, you can probably squeeze them into your allowance. Yes, I love Doritos.
Quote of the week
QOTW comes from Coach Dan –
“When it comes to weight loss, it’s important to consider everybody is an individual who has different circumstances, goals, likes, abilities, etc. Everyone is unique, it’s not a one size fits all.”
And that’s something to remember. We love to compare ourselves to others, sure, our goal may be the same (to lose weight) but the many variables make comparison almost impossible. Just worry about yourself, dude.
