Anti-inflammatory Super Spices + Curried Chicken Stew Recipe

Whether it’s bloating, heartburn or you feel it in your joints, inflammation causes wear and tear and interferes with you being the best version of yourself. We often get used to the discomfort and consider it normal to feel and react this way.

Over the past 5 weeks, my left knee has been bothering me a lot. I went to the doctor about it a few weeks ago, where they tested my knee strength and joint function. Everything seems OK, so they suggested it is just irritated by inflammation.

It’s amazing how quickly something painful and restricting can become our ‘normal’… something we get used to living with. My knee is a lot better lately, but I still experience discomfort when running and cycling.

After doing some reading, I have learned that inflammation can be worsened or made better depending on what we eat. Avoiding food that is fried or high in sugar is a good start. More importantly, adding anti-inflammatory foods to your diet can reduce discomfort caused by inflammation.

Anti-inflammatory SUPER SPICEs

Add Turmeric, Ginger, Hot Chilli and Cinnamon to your diet and take advantage of the compounds they contain, which inhibit inflammatory pathways.

Turmeric especially, has long been used as a powerful anti-inflammatory in both Chinese and Indian medicine.

These four wonderful spices enhance health and well-being in many ways as well as prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Heart Disease risk factors. Forget about restricting your diet for a minute, and first focus first on incorporating these spices into your daily diet.

Not to mention, cooking with these Super Spices can make any boring ol’ vegetable dish, full of flavour and warmth. It is a great way to enjoy eating healthy without sacrificing flavour.

Here’s a recipe to try that is full of anti-inflammatory goodness…

Posted by allisonloosley

What you need to know about ClassPass

Until ClassPass came along, my Class-IQ was very low. My fitness class experience was limited to a few yoga classes… I had never been spinning, never saw the intrigue in barre, and I never took Pilates.

It’s not that I had anything against taking fitness classes… I just thought they were over priced and it wasn’t clear to me what I’d get out of it, so I got used to doing things on my own.

ClassPass costs £79 ($99 CAN) per month and you can take an *unlimited amount of classes. This is what got my attention… for £79 I can take as many classes as I like… so if I take upwards to 15, than each class will only cost £5.26… that’s a bargain, and I love bargains.

I did go a little crazy with ClassPass to ensure it’d be a bargain… but as a result, I’d say my Class-IQ has sky rocketed. Here’s a summary of my experience: the pros and cons of ClassPass, and a list of my favourite classes around London.

Posted by allisonloosley

Banana Porridge Recipe | Oats vs. Quinoa

Every year around this time I start to feel the aftermath of all the heavy Christmas meals I ate in December. So far, I’ve had a pretty healthy January, yet I feel like I’ve gained a little weight since the new year… which is frustrating. It happens every year though… I know that for me it is normal and to ignore the scales in January; to just stick to my routine and things will balance back out in time.

I do however end up with cravings for the hearty meals to continue… so porridge is my go to breakfast dish. It satisfies a craving and keeps me full until (I’d like to say lunch but..) 11.

Traditional porridge – just milk and oats – can get tiresome for me. So here is an alternative porridge recipe I’ve been enjoying lately.

Originally, I wanted to test out quinoa flakes (rather than oats). I intended to hop on the bandwagon and share a quinoa inspired recipe… but here’s what I learned in the process…

Why quinoa flakes?

One notable nutritional difference quinoa has over oats is it’s protein content and quality; there’s more protein in quinoa.

Each cup of cooked quinoa provides 8.1 grams of protein, compared to 5.6 grams in an equivalent portion of cooked oatmeal.

Why Not Quinoa flakes?

Well first of all, they are £6-8 for only 400g. Oats are around £1-2 for 1kg! It’s a no brainer financially.

But quinoa does offer 118 milligrams of magnesium per serving, compared to oatmeal’s 61 milligrams — Oatmeal however offers more than five times the amount of iron found in quinoa.

Quinoa vs Oats Bottom-line

Quinoa flakes and oats are both great breakfast foods and a healthy source of carbohydrates, protein, fibre and micronutrients.

In my opinion it’s not worth breaking the bank for quinoa flakes… I’ll stick with oats for my porridge. I did experiment though and it turns out that regular quinoa (usually £2.50 per 500g) is quite tasty in this porridge recipe as well… but the texture is a bit funny.

Banana Porridge Recipe

In this recipe you can use oats or quinoa flakes.

Prep: 1 minute
Cook: 5 minutes

Posted by allisonloosley

Team RAAMIN4Charity are getting ready to Race Across America!

Race Across America (RAAM) is known for being one of the toughest ultra cycling events in the World. It involves non-stop cycling coast to coast across America. The route is 3,000 miles long with 170,000 ft of climbing; our team is targeting a place on the podium, which means we’re aiming to finish the race in under 6 days.

When I say ‘we’ I mean Dan (@DanielOJello), Phil (@Tobebythesea), Tom (@CERacing) and a fourth cyclist who is yet to be selected. Me and the others… We’ll be driving support vehicles and doing everything else in between.

The group of us have named ourselves RAAMIN 4 CHARITY (@Raamin4Charity) and our website can be found here.

Our nominated charities are Great Ormond Street Hospital given the fantastic care they gave a nephew of one of the riders and Aplastic Anaemia Trust for the research they undertake in trying to better understand this rare blood condition, which one of the teams suffers from.

Posted by allisonloosley

Setting an affirmation

A little delayed but, Happy New Year!

Around this time last year I wrote a Goal Setting post with all my exciting plans for 2015.

And what a year 2015 was — I learnt how to swim, it was my first year racing triathlon and I created Live Loosley. Whirlwind! I’ve literally intimidated myself for setting 2016 goals… I haven’t a clue what to aim for that could top last year.

Even though I’m not big on setting New Year’s Resolutions or the whole ‘new year, new you’ thing, I do feel the need to roughly map out my year so I have an idea of the months to come… what races/travels/experiences spark my interest and how I can make the most of a refreshed holiday allowance at work.

So far, my 2016 plans are very up in the air… and I’m not going to lie, it makes me a little uneasy! I’m a planner… I love plans… yet, I have no set plans.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to write about as my first post of the year… I felt an obligation to write something about goal setting and plans for 2016 but I’m still working mine out and it’s OK if you are too. Goals can be set anytime of the year and should be readjusted as you learn more about achieving them.

This weekend I thought to myself, how about setting an affirmation? And it’s really helped me come to terms with my current ‘no plan’ status.

Posted by allisonloosley

Staying fit over the holidays

The days are short and there are loads of social engagements during the month of December. Between Christmas parties, family meals and gatherings the holiday period can leave us feeling overfed and sluggish.

In England, celebrating the holidays is a motion that lasts the entire month. It’s always difficult for me to find the right balance.

I have to remind myself that the priority during the holidays is sharing time and creating memories with people you care about. Time at the gym will have to take the hit and that’s fine. But I do have a few tips that will help you to stay feeling fit through the festivities.

Posted by allisonloosley

The Spiralize Movement, Courgetti Recipe

I have always been mesmerized by the spiralizer, but never fully appreciated it until we invested in one last month.

I assumed that spiralizer’s would be easy to break, hard to use and difficult to keep clean. It was a nice surprise to learn the exact opposite.We have the Dexam Spiralizer – it’s easy to use, durable (I spiralized a raw sweet potato and it didn’t break) and easy to keep clean.

Some extra bonuses…

Using a spiralizer is a great way to fit more vegetables in your diet… AND ENJOY IT.
If you’re like me and end up bleeding after trying to peel something, it’s a much safer option
Um, it’s extremely satisfying and takes little effort
Nostalgic – warming memories of helping my Aunt make homemade relish come flooding back to me

Here is an easy to prepare and healthy Pesto Courgetti recipe (aka ‘courgette spaghetti’ or ‘zucchini noodles’).

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes

Posted by allisonloosley

Getting out of auto-mode

It’s easy to walk through life in auto-mode.

I do it all the time. I’m in London, a big busy metropolis. You can walk around the city passing thousands and thousands of people and not recognize a single one of them. Usually walking with a purpose to get somewhere the quickest, most efficient way possible; the people in your way are faceless bodies literally just in your way, as you are to them.

No matter where you are, city or a small community, work can get monotonous if you let it. You can sit there 9-5 unchallenged, working for a business you are not particularly passionate about with colleagues don’t particularly know that well.

Then we get home and zone out in front of the TV before heading to bed and doing it all over again.

In one way, I see auto-mode as a bit of a coping mechanism. Life can be overwhelming, hard work and scary otherwise. Auto-mode is safe and easy.

But life in auto-mode is just that, it’s easy. It is uninspiring, unchallenging and spending too much time in it can be damaging to self confidence and general wellbeing.

Posted by allisonloosley

A runner’s guide to the winter months

Well if it’s not here already (it snowed in London yesterday), Winter is coming… and it’s coming fast. Today I’m sharing with you some tactics I use to get outside for a run during the cooler months.

Posted by allisonloosley

Mount Snowdon, Wales

Last weekend we packed up our gear and drove to Wales looking for a chance to get out of the city and see part of the UK we’d never experienced before.

A road trip only one week after completing The Sugar Free Challenge was a risk… who doesn’t like to snack en route? Luckily, a 4-hour walk/scramble up Mt. Snowdon the next day seemed to balance everything out. I’ve learned that I’m much better at the big picture of healthy living… micromanaging my diet last month has thrown me out of joint a bit.

Anyway, more about our time in Snowdonia…

Snowdon is the highest peak south of the Scottish Highlands. The trails to the top are straight forward in terms of navigation but the terrain becomes quite steep and rocky as you progress up the mountain.

Posted by allisonloosley

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