SATISFYING SOUPS
Both these soups are filling and tasty and they’ll provide your body with some of the essential nutrients it requires. Your daily soup should be taken pre-dinner, as this will fill you up and help stabilize blood sugar levels specifically when they may be starting to wane. This means you should feel more energized, less hungry, and less likely to overeat at your evening meal.
Full of Goodness (FOG) Soup
Makes 1 week’s worth
Choose at least five of the vegetables listed below – the more the merrier! The initial preparation and cooking takes a little while but you then have a convenient soup that will last a week in the fridge – it freezes well too.
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 zucchini, coarsely chopped
handful of green beans, cut into ½-inch lengths
1 carrot, diced
3 sticks celery, peeled with a potato peeler to remove the ridged strands and then coarsely chopped
1 leek, coarsely chopped
¼ cauliflower, cut into small bite-size pieces
4–5 green cabbage or spring green leaves, sliced into strips
1 small bunch broccoli, washed and cut into small bite-size pieces
1 parsnip, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
14-oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
handful of frozen peas
handful of snowpeas, diced
4–5 dried mushrooms, softened in 1¼ cups boiling water (the water can be added to the soup)
4 chicken or vegetable stock cubes
good handful of fresh chopped flat-leaf or curly parsley
Put all the vegetables, beans, and peas into a big stock pan together with the stock cubes and a gallon of cold water. Bring to a boil and then simmer on a very low heat, covered, for about 2 hours. Season well, halfway through cooking time.
Blend half of the soup in a blender or liquidizer and return it to the pot. Throw in the chopped parsley and serve.
Immune-boosting Soup
Makes enough for 1 week
This is a great detoxifying soup. It will cleanse your digestive system and is packed with antioxidants to boost your immune system.
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 carrots, chopped
2 onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 red peppers, seeded and chopped
1 pinch ground allspice
1 tablespoon tomato purée
3 × 14-oz cans chopped tomatoes
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube dissolved in 1¾ cups boiling water
2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice
4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a pan, add the carrot and onion and cook gently for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, red pepper, and ground allspice and cook for a further 3–4 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the tomato purée, chopped tomatoes, and stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and add the orange juice and chopped basil. Season well and serve.
A WORD ABOUT TEA, COFFEE, AND ALCOHOL
Finally, try to restrict coffee and tea intake to 2 cups a day. Herbal tea or green tea may be taken in any amount. In fact, one study from the University of Geneva found that green tea could boost metabolic rate by 4 percent. If you are a caffeine drinker, try to have your first cup of the day before you walk, and on an empty stomach, as studies have shown that caffeine enhances the utilization of fatty acids from the bloodstream, helping your body burn fat. Alcohol is not included in the 14-day plan. Not only is it calorie-rich and nutritionally poor, it also weakens your resolve and is likely to result in cheating, snacking, or going off the rails completely.
THE ABDOMINAL/CORE STABILITY EXERCISES
There are only four exercises in this home-based program – you could always do a lot more, but these exercises are designed to help you improve your posture and streamline your abdominals in minimum time. The idea is not to give you so many exercises that it stops you getting out and achieving your daily walking targets. For best results, I’d love you to do these six days a week – a day off gives your body a chance to rest and benefit from your efforts. If at all possible, do them in the morning. Research shows that people who exercise in the morning are more likely to stick with regular activity long term.
Do remember to warm up before you complete your exercises. In just 3–5 minutes you can mobilize your major joints and get rid of tension with brisk marching on the spot and running up and down stairs to increase your body temperature, shoulder rolls, some side bends, full-body stretches, a few squats, and knee lifts to your chest.
THE RIB – HIP CONNECTION
Master this technique to see great results in your abdominal/core stability exercises. When you lie on the floor, before you begin your abdominal work, make sure you have what is known as a “rib – hip connection”. This will help you contract your abdominals before you lift and make sure your spine is in the correct anatomical position. Here is what to do: place your thumb on your bottom ribs and your fingers on the top of your hip bone and draw these two points together with a small contraction of your abdominal muscles. Your spine should be in a neutral position. This neutral position will vary from person to person dependent upon the shape of your spine. However, there should be a small space between the floor and your back. Keep the rib – hip connection so you maintain your neutral position. You are now ready to start your abdominal work.
Exercise: The Bridge
What it does: Tightens your buttock muscles, flattens your abdominals, and strengthens your back.
Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor, arms at your sides. Establish your rib – hip connection and use the hips, thigh, and trunk muscles to lift your pelvis off the floor until the body forms a diagonal line from your shoulders to your knees. Hold for 10 seconds. To make this exercise more challenging, extend one leg straight, hold for 4 counts, and lower to the ground. Now lift the other leg, hold for 4 counts, and lower to the ground. Now lower your whole body to the floor, still maintaining the rib – hip connection.
How many: Repeat 10 times
Joanna’s top tip: Visualizing pressing