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7 new body trends hot right now

Healthista’s Bodyologist blogger Helen Foster brings you the new trend of smart clothing and the wonders of alpaca meat to this month’s body trends blog

1. LOVE IT: The new Run Commute Club

homerun

I’m loving the new Home Run club from Fitness First. The idea is simple – you turn up at one of four of their London gyms after work in your running gear; throw your work bag in the back of their kit van then run to a second club nearer your house. Don’t worry if you’re not super fast, it’s a ‘no man left behind’ situation – someone stayed with me as pootled along at my normal, erm, ‘steady’ pace behind 30 other people. It’s open to Fitness First members for free, non-members can join for £15 a season. See more now at homerunlondon.com.

 

2. SNACK ALERT: Fibre + Chocolate – what’s not to love?

ALL BRAN CHOCOLATE WHEATS

Okay, so Kellogg’s new All Bran Chocolate Wheats, £2.69 are supposed to be a breakfast dish – but I don’t like sweet food in the morning. I do however like sweet food about 8pm while on a Netflix binge and found that nibbling five of the small wheaty parcels with their little nugget of chocolate inside satisfied this quite nicely thank you. And, if my scales are right said nibble only totted up to about 50 calories (and 0.5g fat, 1.9g sugar) too.

 

 

3. HOT IN THE US: Spiderbands

spider-8

Created by NYC based trainer Franci Cohen this twist on suspension training sees you pushing, pulling and hanging from the bands to do toning moves – but unlike TRX which is a lonely fitness mission, Cohen has incorporated it into a class environment using bikes, Bosu Balls and more. Right now they’re only available in her Brooklyn gym but she’s hoping to take them nationwide soon – and what goes nationwide in the US eventually ends up here. I already want to play; the boxing class which sees you doing moves like hanging off the ropes and kicking a punchbag with your feet looks like serious fun! Check it out at francicohen.com.

4. REALLY? Alpaca….Would you Try It?

IMG_5503

I was recently in the US and read an article about a rise there in people eating alpaca meat. Apparently, it’s lower in fat, cholesterol and calories than beef and even venison but it hasn’t really been eaten much outside of South America – until now. You don’t have to be in the US to buy it though. UK based exotic meat supplier keziefoods.co.uk sell alpaca steaks, burgers and meatballs. As I type, some is making its way down the motorway for me to try. I’m nervous. Will I enjoy it or will a vision of my friend’s alpaca Snowy hit me as I grill? Check out what happened at healthehelen.wordpress.com.

 

5. WATCH THIS SPACE: Calorie Capping

Dark Chocolate

The Government are on a mission to cut sugar in our foods – which is no bad thing. They’re suggesting all sorts of ways to do it – taxing sugary drinks, setting per gram levels in processed foods, blah de blah – but the companies have taken at least one matter into their own hands. As of Spring 2016 they’re proposing reworking portion sizes so you won’t be able to buy a single serve chocolate bar with more than 250 calories in it! Personally I’d prefer that to be 100 calories – and I’m pretty sure the prices won’t shrink with the bars – but it’s a start.

6. NEW IN STORE: Tesco My Fit Lifestyle

MFL_POS

Yes, eating fresh is best – but after I found myself chopping vegetables at 10.45pm one night last week I figured having the odd ready meal in the house can come in handy so I picked up a few when I was shopping this weekend. One (a Roasted Mushroom Cannelloni) came from the new My Fit Lifestyle range at Tesco – and I was pretty impressed with it. There were a LOT of mushrooms. If you count calories it’s even more useful for you. Each of the coloured packets corresponds to a set number of calories (purple is under 500, pink is under 400 and so on) and you just choose which suits your limits. Add veg though – ready meals always need veg.

 

7. COMING SOON: Clever Clothing

ipunch

There’s about to be a fitness revolution – the first pieces of intelligent workout clothing are coming. The idea of the ranges is that the clothing is embedded with sensors that actually tell you how you’re working out. Mbody shorts launching this month (mbody.fi) for example measure exactly which leg muscles you use as you run or cycle (admittedly for a whopping 770 euros), IPunch boxing gloves (trying to raise funds on Indiegogo now) tell you how hard and fast you’re punching or check out US brand Athos whose shirts will measure muscle activity, heart rate and breathing patterns (taking preorders now at liveathos.com).

helen full lengthHealthista’s Bodyologist Helen Foster blogs daily at healthehelen.wordpress.com on all things health, fitness and diet related. Follow her @healthehelen.

More from the Bodyologist:

BODYOLOGIST: June

BODYOLOGIST: May

BODYOLOGIST: April

BODYOLOGIST: March

 

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