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Hi,  In the next few weeks the following areas will be having pilates taster sessions which will be run by Stephanie Mills. They are as follows:

• Chatteris – King Edward Centre – Wednesday mornings at 9.30 am – starts 25th April 2012
• Sutton – Sutton Pavillion (besides school) – Thursday mornings at 9.30 am – starts 19th April 2012
• Witchford – Witchford Village Hall - Wednesday evenings – 6.15 pm.  From June, the time of this class will be 6.30pm

If you want to come to any of the above tasters sessions, then you need to book your space as places are limited.  The cost is £5, you will also need a mat as I have only a few spare ones.

Best wishes

Liz

Here is the tracks that are currently being used so far this year:

Hi to you all.  One my pilates ladies had been to the doctor and told that she has a high cholesterol level – around 6.  He suggested that she did more exercise.  I asked if he had advised her on what she could and couldn’t eat – no.  So hence this article.

It is recommended that you eat a healthly diet and do regular exercise to help lower the cholesterol in your blood.  If you don’t keep your cholesterol level in check then this can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Foods containing cholesterol:  Some foods do contain dietary cholesterol e.g. foods such as eggs, kidneys, prawns are higher in dietary cholesterol than otehrs foods.  However the cholesterol found in food has much less effect on the level of cholesterol in your blood thatn the amount of saturated fat that you eat.

Saturated fat: There are two types – saturated and unsaturated.  Eating foods in saturated fat can raise cholesterol levels in the blood.  Most people in the UK eat too much saturated fat.

Foods to avoid:

• meat pies, sausages and fatty cuts of meat
• butter, ghee, lard, cream, sourced cread, cheese
• cakes, pastries and biscuits (can contain hydrongenated fats which are more commonly known as trans fats)
• fried foods
• foods containing coconut or palm oil

Foods to eat more of:

• brown rice, oats, beans, pulses, lentils, chickpeas, bran
• wholegrain bread, rye bread
• oily fish (e.g. mackeral and salmon) 2 portions per week)
• turkey, chicken (limit to 50z per day and no skin)
• nuts (e.g. almonds, walnuts and cashews)
• seeds (e.g. sunflower and pumpkin)
• vegetable oils and spreads (e.g. sunflower, olive, corn, walnut and rapeseed oils)
• fresh fruit and vegetables – apples, pears, oranges, strawberries, brocolli, avocado, peas, sprouts, asparagus etc

Different ways of cooking: Try microwaving, steaming, poaching, boiling or grilling, instead of frying or roasting.  You can still have roast potatoes, but roast them in water or purchase a silicon sheet and then you don’t need any oil at all.

Cholesterol lowering products: There is evidence that certain added ingredients such as plant sterols and stanols can reduce levels of cholesterol in the blood.  These can be found in specially developed products such as benecol, flora active (mainly spreads and yoghurts).

Check nutrition labels: Check the nutrition labels on the back of packets and they will often tell you how much fat and saturated fat is contained in 100g of the foods and sometimes the amount per serving.

Total fat what is high/low?

• High?  more than 20g of fat per 100g – may display a red traffic light
• Low? 3g of fat or less per 100g – may display a green traffic light

Saturated fat high/low?

• High?  more than 5g of fat per 100g – may display a red traffic light
• Low? 1.5g of fat or less per 100g – may display a green traffic light

Also, just because a packet my say ‘lower fat’ or ‘reduced fat’ it doesn’t mean that it is a heathly choice.  The lower fat label means that it is 30% lower than the standard equivalent – check the labels.

Finally remember the eatwell plate.  Also visit www.nhs.uk/livewell for lots of great information.