Tomorrow is International Coffee Day, so what better way to celebrate than to mark the start of Pumpkin Spice Latte season?! C’mon, things have been awfully depressing recently so give us this one sugar-laden thing..! In this week’s Newsround, we’ve got new leagues, new ready meals, and a new way of thinking about weight loss surgery. Let’s go.
FROM THE MAN V FAT FOOTBALL LEAGUES
We’ve got a few new MAN v FAT Football leagues launching soon, including a much-anticipated league in York! We’ll be kicking off on the 6th October, so if you’re in the area and want to lose weight through playing footie, click here for more info including how to join.
The Guide Liverpool introduced its readers to our leagues around Merseyside and the Wirral last week, with a nice write up here. Regional manager Tom made a great point when he said: “Some people will admit that they haven’t played football for 15 to 20 years, but we make the squads so that you can be subbed and you can play for 30 minutes or even just 30 seconds and that, for some, might be a massive achievement.”
Fat footy update: won 7-2….13-8 after fat points added! Scored twice, one an absolute beauty. Another 2kg…. 8.5kg in total and hit a psychological mark of 110kg. Difference is visible after 6 weeks. #manvfat pic.twitter.com/bmriLdpC5b
— el Gayoh Campione…. (@elgayo_ffl) September 18, 2020
Wouldja just look at this amazing transformation?! Hats off, that’s a fantastic effort for just 6 weeks.
IN OTHER NEWS…
With local lockdown restrictions hitting many parts of the UK, one of the questions being asked is whether gyms will be forced to close again. At the moment the answer is ‘who even knows’, but if they do close and you find yourself missing the gym (again), will you be prepared for the switch back to home workouts?
Future Fit Training, which provides training for PTs, looked into which areas are most prepared for exercising at home and found that Newcastle, Bournemouth and Manchester residents are the most prepared, having searched Google for ‘home workouts’ more than anywhere else in the country. So there. If you’re concerned about having to workout at home again, check out the list of our favourite YouTube workouts here.
Sorry to bang on about COVID-19, but you might be (understandably) worried about the recent rise in cases. If you are, give our guide to protecting your mental health during these crazy times to give you brain a bit of a break.
WHAT WE’RE READING
It’s not weight loss related, but we were gawping at this powerful photo essay which gives a seldom-seen insight into the realities of COVID-19 at a Welsh hospital’s intensive care unit.
Lockdown restrictions are a fact of life again and it’s exhausting to think that this is what we have in store for the winter, but one look at the makeshift ICU beds and ventilators packed into a normal ward, and the temporary mortuary that had to be built quickly to deal with the influx of bodies is a sobering reminder that what we face is serious, and it’s worth doing all we can to slow the spread.
picture: New York Times
Weight loss surgery is more often than not seen as a last-ditch effort to lose weight, or an extreme step taken by people who star in documentaries about what it’s like to be 700lbs. But is it an underused weight loss option? The New York Times takes a look at its long-lasting effects in a fascinating read here.
Have you taken up cycling during lockdown? Considering there’s been a national shortage of bikes since March, the answer might well be yes. But are you a safe cyclist? Even if you think you are, it’s worth giving these online cycling proficiency classes a go as a refresher. Get more details from Coach mag here.
WHAT WE’RE EATING AND DRINKING
It’s Pumpkin Spice Latte time! This year’s autumnal offering from Starbucks doesn’t quite feel as exciting as previous years, possibly because I can’t actually get to a Starbucks right now because of local lockdown restrictions, but nevertheless, the PSL is here.
It’s 380 calories for a grande with semi-skimmed milk according to their US website. The UK website hasn’t been updated with nutrition info at the time of writing, but the drink is available now along with a vegan version which even comes with vegan whipped cream.
Try as I might, I still love a good ready meal. Sometimes cooking is a chore, and if you accept and recognise that you’re much more likely to be prepared with a healthy cheat instead of thinking ‘fuck it’ and ordering as much food from Just Eat that you can handle.
So if you’re looking to keep a stash of ready meals on standby, you could do worse than Leon’s new ready meal range. There are katsu curries, masala dahl, Brazilian-style black beans, Thai green chicken curry and a coconut and lime jackfruit curry. They’re all inspired by their restaurant dishes, and you can get them from Sainsbury’s for £4 each (currently on offer for £3.50).
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
MAN v FAT CHALLENGE is MAN v FAT Football’s little brother, an online-only weight loss platform which takes the fun and competitive side of the football leagues and brings it together with weekly nutrition and fitness challenges. But we know someone who can explain it a lot better, so watch the video below for a taste…
— MAN v FAT (@manvfat) September 25, 2020
