Author Archives: James

How Many Calories in an Easter Egg

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If you’re trying to stay in shape, Easter can be one of the trickiest times of the year.  Wherever you go, you’re faced with a huge selection of chocolate eggs, and pretty much everyone ends up a little bit tempted.

There’s nothing wrong with a little indulgence once in a while.  And while over-indulgence isn’t a great idea, seeing how many calories there are in an Easter Egg can be a real motivator to train harder and work off the extra calories.

Easter Egg

How many calories in an Easter Egg?

Here’s a little insight into what some of the most popular Easter treats are hiding…

Calories in a Cadburys  Medium Egg (162g)

Are you sitting comfortably?  Each medium egg contains a whopping 858.6Kcals.  That’s the same as a third of a Dominos large pizza.  It also contains 92g of sugar, and 30g of saturated fat.

CALORIES IN A NESTLE SMARTIES EGG

Without the Smarties, a small Nestle Egg is healthier than the cadburys equivalent – although that doesn’t mean you’re not going to need to work harder afterwards.  Your 138g egg contains 731Kcal, and contains 40g of fat (11g is saturated).

CALORIES IN AN CADBURYS CREME EGG

A perennial favourite.  According to Cadbury’s, each creme egg is filled with delicious goo.  It also comes with 180 KCals, 3.9g of saturated fat, and 28.5g of carbs (mostly sugars)

Calories in a Kinder Surprise Egg

If you’re feeling playful, you might reach for a Kinder Surprise, which seems like a fairly safe option.  It’s a comparatively svelte 115Kcal and has 4.7g of saturated fat.

Calories in a Cadburys Mini Egg

Each Cadburys mini egg weighs around 3g, and contains 16Kcal.  Of course, you’re never going to eat just one.

How far do you Need to run to work off an Easter Egg?

You’ll probably think twice about eating chocolate eggs when you realise how far you need to run to work the extra calories off.  An average 75KG person uses around 120KCal for every mile they ran, so for the eggs above, you’d need to run the following distances:

  • Cadburys Medium Egg – 7.1 Miles
  • Nestle Smarties Egg – 6.1 Miles
  • Cadburys Creme Egg – 1.5 Miles
  • Kinder Surprise Egg – 1 Mile
  • Cadburys Mini Egg – 0.1Miles

If you want to check how far you need to go to burn off your chocolate intake, check out our running calorie calculator, or sign up for our free online workout generator, and start burning those excess calories straight away!

6 Tips To keep Your Diet On Track

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We’re already 2 months into 2013, so if losing weight was your biggest resolution this year, you’ll either be seeing the benefits of your dedication, or thinking about what you did wrong.

One of the biggest problems people have with any diet is the fact that in order to lose weight, you’ll generally need to eat less of everything, which means eating less of the things you like.  Keeping yourself motivated throughout a weight loss cycle can be tricky – especially at times when your weight plateaus, and you’re no longer seeing any change in your weight at your weekly weigh in.

Here’s 6 tips to help you stay motivated and keep your plan on track.

Treat yourself!

If all you do is restrict what you’re eating, you’re going to lose motivation pretty quickly.  It’s better to give yourself a little treat from time to time to keep yourself happy.  Here’s a suggestion:

Everyone likes an ice cream, and on average, a cone and one scoop is about 170 calories.  Why not take a walk to your local ice cream shop and have a cone – the weather’s getting better at the moment, so it’s a nice way to spend some time on a Saturday.  An average person burns about 85 calories for each mile walked, so a two mile round trip with an ice cream to enjoy means that your little treat will be burned off by getting it – add some ankle weights, and you’ll tone up while you walk!

Add Spice

Many diet meals skimp on flavour as much as they skimp on fat.  That’s fine but it makes dinner time boring.  Cooking a vegetable stir fry with a spicy marinade will be delicious and filling!

Add “Spice”

That dessert is tempting.  You know what else is tempting?  Nipping off to your bedroom for afters.  Make your meal times into a romantic opportunity, and carry on afterwards with some love making.  Aside from it being a great piece of exercise, it’s also fantastic as a way of satisfying your appetite – and getting closer to your other half!

Keep a Diary

It’s easy to think that the back of crisps and pack of biscuits didn’t happen, but if you get it down in black and white, it’s harder to hide from.  Keep a diary of what you eat and when.  It will be a much better conscience than your conscience.

Don’t weigh, Measure

Weight loss plateaus are completely normal as your body changes and adapts, but there’s no denying that they are a real demotivator.  One of the reasons why your weight might not be changing is because you’re building more body mass in the form of muscle.  The good news:  muscle is about 3 times as dense as fat, so even if your weight isn’t changing, it doesn’t mean that you’re not going to get into those new jeans.  Measure your waist, chest, and other areas, and watch as the inches drop off, even when the pounds aren’t.

And finally … Don’t Give Up!

Remember why you want to lose weight, think about how well you’ve done to get as far as you have, and talk to the people around you.  Whether you’re part of a group, or part of a family, if you’re losing weight, make sure the people around you know and support you, and ask them for help.

 

Valentine’s Day – it’s all about the love

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Love is good. Love keeps us happy, and happiness is healthy.

At this time of year – around Valentine’s Day – love is everywhere.  Every card shop is filled with gifts and wherever you look, you’re surrounded by hearts.

Vytalz is all about making getting healthy as simple as possible.  People who exercise on a regular basis reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle including a lower risk of heart disease.

Of course, keeping a healthy heart is essential, and shouldn’t just be something you think about once a year.  Love is the same.  Valentine’s isn’t just one day any more.  It’s a whole week of snuggles, hugs, and gifts that give you the chance to express your love for your special someone – just don’t forget to think about yourself too!

Our Valentines Day gift to you is a collection of beautiful romantic thoughts to inspire you over the next week.  You can see our Online Valentine’s Card here.

Valentine’s Day is a great reminder of how important love is in the world.  It’s also a great time to think about your own heart as well as the ones you share with others.  If you’ve not already signed up for a free fitness planner from vytalz, or tried out our online workout generator, why not do it today.  It’s free, simple, and you can start your training plan in less than a minute!

Meanwhile, if you’re not quite ready to join Vytalz social fitness, why not check out our valentines card to you.

Christmas Presents for Runners

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It’s just 3 weeks until Christmas, and if you’re anything like me, you’ve probably left it until now until you buy presents for your friends and family.  Leaving it until the last minute doesn’t mean that you have to compromise on gifts.  At this time of year, there are some great deals about on running gear, which means that you’ll have no trouble in finding something great to suit them!

Here’s 5 of our favourite Christmas presents for runners, along with where to buy them!

Running Gifts over £100

If you’ve got cash to splash this year, you won’t struggle to find a pretty special gift for your runner to find under the Christmas Tree.  Here’s some ideas:

Gore Running Wear Mythos GT AS Jacket

Available for £197.99 from Wiggle, this Gore-Tex running jacket comes in high visibility colours and is fully water proof as well as being breathable to ensure that it remains comfortable throughout a long winter run.  Buy it here

Garmin Forerunner 110

This GPS enabled training watch lets you track distance run and calories burned as you train.  It’s great value at £109.50 from Tesco. Buy it here

 

Running Gifts between £20 and £100

Camelbak Zoid 2012

This water pack is designed for winter runners, and is available from Merlin Cycles on special offers from £32.50 – buy it here

 

iPod Shuffle 2GB

The last thing you want to do when running is lose or break an expensive phone, so having a cheaper music player to keep you motivated is a good idea.  The shuffle is a classic design, and great value at £40 direct from Apple buy it here

Christmas presents for runners under £20

If you’re looking for great value Christmas presents for runners for less than £20, you’ll find plenty of choice.  The sales seem to have started pretty early this year at most of the big online retailers, but the best deal we’ve seen was this one:

Nike Men’s Swift Running Glove

Usually around £15, these great value gloves are available from Amazon for just £7.99 – just over half price.  They’ll keep your hands lovely and warm on a cold winter run! buy it here

Finding a Yoga Class

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In the US alone, more than 15 million people practice yoga, and this number is thought to be growing by around 20% each year.  Of course yoga is far more than just an exercise routine:  it’s a set of lifestyle changes aimed at improving mind and body condition, and includes multiple philosophies.

While it’s possible to do yoga pretty much anywhere on your own, it’s far more rewarding to join a group and enjoy your yoga with others.  Especially during the early stages of your yoga, having an instructor on hand will help you to develop better form and avoid injury, as well as helping to increase your versatility and range.

These days, most towns have more than one yoga group, and choosing between them can be quite hard.  Teachers tend to fall into different schools depending on their own preferences about what is important in their yoga.  Followers of more traditional forms of yoga may include more of the spiritual elements of the discipline into their classes, while modern dynamic styles may eschew this spirituality and focus almost entirely on the fitness elements of the yoga.

Attending a yoga school long term will benefit you, because your teacher will get to know your capabilities, and work with you to achieve your goals, however if the style and philosophy of the teacher aren’t the same as yours, then your sessions won’t be balanced with your own aspirations, and you won’t get as much out of it as perhaps you hoped.

There are always practical elements to choosing a yoga school – sometimes as mundane as the night when classes are offered, or the proximity of the school to your home, however if you really want to get the most out of it, it’s worth speaking to the different teachers in your area about what they focus on with their training.  Think about what you want yoga to give you, and tell the teachers, and they will tell you whether their school is for you, and be able to point you in the right direction if it isn’t.

Top 5 Exercise Myths

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With a subject like fitness where there are lots of “experts”, but not many experts, there will always be a lot of disagreement about what’s right and what’s wrong.  There are so many myths about exercise and fitness – what works, what doesn’t, what happens – thatit can be really confusing.

Here’s 5 of the biggest exercise myths that have definitely been debunked:

Sit-ups / Crunches Get rid of Belly Fat

They don’t.  They help to condition and tone the underlying muscles, and they may help to give you a flatter stomach through tightening the area, however they’ll have a negligible impact on any subcutaneous fat.  To get rid of that, you need to eat a more sensible diet.

Steady Cardio Work is the Best Way to lose Weight

Lots of people think that running for miles on end is the best way to lose weight.  It isn’t if you want to lose weight through running, you need to smash out sprints like they’re going out of fashion.  Fartlek Running is much more efficient at helping you burn calories than just a steady pace.

Running on a Treadmill is Safer for Your Knees than Running on a Road

Ultimately, damage to your knees when running is done by your body weight crashing down through a joint many times over a period of time.  That’s going to happen whether you’re on the road or a treadmill.

Women Build Muscle Bulk if they Lift Heavy Weights

Without taking massive amounts of testosterone and vast protein supplements, women don’t get big just by lifting weights.  This misconception often means that women use 1KG weights in the gym for resistance for fear of becoming masculine.  Don’t worry, life weights that challenge you and you’ll get a better impact.

Stretching Before a Workout Prevents Injury

Actually, if the first thing you do when you walk into a gym is some extreme stretches, things are going to get bad pretty quickly.  If anything, stretching before you work out is going to do more harm than good.  What you should be doing is:

  • Warm up
  • Stretch
  • Lift
  • Stretch
  • Cool Down

Missing out on any of those steps is what increases your risk of injury.

Any More

What are your favourite (or least favourite) fitness myths?  Tell us below.

How to do crunches

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Crunches have a number of advantages over traditional sit ups, especially when it comes to the stresses that they put on your spine when you do them.  If you kow how to do crunches properly, you’ll find that they isolate your abdominal muscles really well, and help to give you an enviable flat stomach and great muscle tone.

Here’s our guide on how to do crunches properly to maximise the impact while keeping your back safe.

Step 1

Start by lying on the floor, with your feet flat on the ground, and your knees bent:

 

Crunch Starting Position

Correct starting position for a crunch

Step 2

With your arms crossed against your chest, use only your abdominal muscles to curl your shoulders upwards a couple of inches of the ground.

Crunch finishing position

Middle position, with stomach tense

Step 3

Hold the position for a few seconds to work your abs hard, and then relax back into your starting position ready for the next repetition.

How many crunches do you do?

It’s not always necessary to do more and more of any exercise.  There are some people who proudly manage hundreds of crunches in their abdominal workout , and they generally have a great 6-pack to show off, but bear in mind that a fantastic body comes as a result of mixing workouts with a good diet.

Try to manage 3 sets of around 10-12 crunches as part of your workout.  If you find that this isn’t working your abs hard enough, try adding resistance – holding a weight across your chest will have a big impact on how hard your crunches are, and help you make big gains.

Leg Toning Exercises

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A lot of people tend to neglect their legs at the gym: people concentrating on a fitness programme that’s aimed at either getting bigger or getting stronger, often see bigger gains in their upper body and focus on them.  If your goals are around balanced fitness and a better all around body, then leg toning exercises should definitely be a part of your routine.

leg toning exercisesWhen you’re planning a fitness routine to focus on your lower body, it’s important to include a range of different movements to ensure that you work all of the muscle groups equally and get a balanced workout.  Ideally, your leg toning exercises should work opposing muscle groups over the course of the session in order to give you a workout that delivers similar gains in all areas.

Use the following routine as a circuit, and do 5 sets in total, and concentrate heavily on getting a very smooth movement and great form throughout each repetition.  As you get more and more used to this routine, try holding weights to increase the effort, as this will really help to improve the impact of these leg toning exercises

  • 30 seconds sprinting
  • 10 x left leg lunges
  • 10 x right leg lunges
  • 10 x calf raises
  • 10 x deep squats
  • 5 x tuck jumps

When you’ve completed 5 sets of these leg toning exercises, be sure to stretch out fully to give your muscles the chance to relax after being worked hard.

Do you need supplements?

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If you go into any health store or gym, you’ll see a range of diet supplements stacked up and ready to sell.  Everything from crash weight gain through to fast weight loss, along with plenty of energy drinks, and protein bars.

There are a lot of wild claims made about different dietary supplements that are available in the gym, and they can be expensive.  In a lot of cases, the kind of supplements that you see people taking at the gym are unnecessary for them.

If you’re a person who goes to the gym basically to get fitter, who eats a sensible diet, and exercises at a moderate level – a 30 minute jog, or a half hour weights session, then you probably don’t need to supplement your diet.

If on the other hand, you’re working very hard towards a specific goal – aiming to increase muscle mass, or really extending your cardio work to run a marathon – then you may well want to adapt your diet, and this may involve supplements.

Why Supplements rather than Diet?

Diet supplements are just that, an extra to your regular food intake that will help you achieve certain goals.  It can be pretty impractical to get the amount of protein and other nutrients needed for big bulk muscle building through food alone.  A chicken breast contains about 30 grams of fat, and costs about £1.  If you buy in bulk, a similar amount of protein in supplement form (a shake) will cost less than 35p.  It’s also easier to store large amounts of protein supplements.

The acid test of whether you need to add supplements into your diet is whether you are achieving your goals on a regular diet alone.  If you find that your recovery times are long after working out, or that you’re not making gains in terms of strength or size, then it may be that your diet is lacking in areas that you need to cover.

If after you modify a diet to include more natural protein (eg meat or beans), you’re still not recovering from exercise well, that’s when you should consider supplementing your diet.

Don’t just buy a giant bucket of cheap protein because it’s cheap though, speak to people at your gym and in a health food store what they’d recommend for you based on your goals and body.

How Much Water Do I Need When Exercising?

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If you don’t keep your hydration levels up when exercising, your performance will suffer.  Without getting enough water into your body to replace the sweat you lose, you’ll struggle to get cool, and risk overheating which can be dangerous.

There’s a common myth that you need to drink 8 glasses of water each day, but in truth, it doesn’t appear that there’s ever been a proper scientific study that proves that 2 litres is in some way the magic number for everyone.

The amount of water you need when exercising depends on a number of different factors:

  • The type of exercise
  • Your weight
  • Your fitness level
  • The ambient temperature and humidity
  • What you’ve eaten that day

If you weigh 200KG and go running on a hot dry day, you need a lot more water to replace sweat and keep your body temperature stable than a 100KG person who is lifting weights in an air conditioned gym.

Thirsty?

In most cases, simply being thirsty is an indicator that you need to drink something.  Our bodies generally tell us pretty quickly that they need water – scientific studies suggest that the thirst response kicks in when our blood concentration increases by just 2-3%!

When you’re exercising, you need to drink enough water to replace the water that you’re losing from your system as sweat.  The hotter you get in your workout, the more you will sweat, and the more you will need to drink.

Ideally, you want to maintain a fairly even level of performance throughout your workout session, which means keeping your body hydrated at a consistent level.  Taking a 500ml bottle of water on your run and sipping regularly as you go should be fine for a run of up to an hour.  Any longer, and you might want to consider investing in a backpack, or a water belt to keep you going.