‘Scotland’s Biking Heaven’

Unfortunately star gazing in June is a waste of time because it doesn’t get dark until 11pm and even then the sky has a blue tinge to it. Dawn is 4am, so you have a very short window for star gazing. If it’s a cloudy day you can forget it.

Luckily I took bikes with me, and I’m really glad I did. The roads are very quiet which makes cycling a pleasure. Scotland has a small population compared to England, so you have the countryside and roads all to yourself.

However it’s not just the quiet country roads that make this part of Scotland a ‘Biking Heaven’, it’s the well maintained forest trails. I ride a Hybrid bicycle which is a combination of road bike and mountain bike. Inside the Kirroughtree forest are different trails, colour coded from green (easy) to black (severe).

The green and blue (moderate) routes are suitable for hybrid bikes and they are fantastic. I am now thinking about getting a mountain bike, because I would like to cycle the red (difficult) and black routes. 

I shall return in the Autumn to cycle during the day, and star gaze at night. Sometimes it’s possible to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) from here and that would be a life’s ambition achieved.

John McNally

Even if you are on a completely vegetarian diet you still need these fats, as eating too many carbohydrates will make your body acidic. 

Without the right types of fats, you can have bacteria, yeasts and molds multiplying in your body.  Your body tissues become dry.  Blood will not move through your veins and cholesterol and arterial plaque are more likely to stick to your artery walls.

Yet another consequence of not eating enough fat is constipation. You simply will not eliminate as easily. Even your lung capacity can be compromised because your body needs some fat to create mucus.

Without the right amounts of fats and oils your brain does not function as well either. You simply do not think straight. Your brain cannot be dehydrated or deprived of fats or you could start thinking and behaving in neurotic or psychotic ways.

In essence vegetarian diets contain many acidic carbs, which ferment and lead to sugar intolerance, pre-diabetes and eventually diabetes.  Eating too much acidic food can also stress your adrenal glands and make you feel tired. 

This is why if you are going to go for an all natural vegetarian diet you need to make sure it contains some healthy fats and oils as well.  Olive oil and avocadoes are examples of healthy oils that can help optimize your overall health.

Diets without fats can sometimes be hard to stick to full time, as modern fast food is laden with fat and our taste buds have become accustomed to it.

John McNally

It takes a month to recover from a marathon, then you need to rebuild your training to peak for another race. In practical terms that means 6 months later, so you can only race two fast marathons in a year. Many elite runnners only peak for one marathon every 12 months.

In the UK the most popular race is the London Marathon held in the spring. The exact date is connected to Easter so it moves every year, but it’s usually April or late March.  If you have a bad London Marathon, your second chance is in the Autumn. A classic International double is to run London, and then New York in November.

In my prime running years I had run 2 hours 41 minutes, and 2 hours 44 minutes. Anything under 2 hours 45 minutes qualifies you for entry into the AAA British marathon championship. I had only just scraped through, but these times also meant I had automatic entry into the London Marathon – no ballot for me.

I had many disappointing London Marathons, and my second chance attempts were run in the autumn at Nottingham, Wolverhampton and even Berlin.  Unfortunately my second marathon was always slower.  

I have two explanations. Firstly I find it very uncomfortable to run the necessary 20/23 mile training runs in the summer heat. Secondly, the marathon takes a lot out of you. I think I only have one decent marathon in me per year.

If you have a bad spring marathon. My advice would be to concentrate on speed work, and half-marathons during the summer. Then build up your mileage during the winter, for another marathon attempt the following spring.

John McNally

My favourite hobbies are; reading, music and drinking beer. Apparently one of those hobbies isn’t quite as healthy as the others.

In the UK our government recommends drinking no more than 21 ‘units’ of alcohol per week for men – that’s only 10 and a half pints of beer.   I’m sorry Mr Government Man but that’s not enough for me, I drink on average double that amount.

According to the UK government it’s unlikely I will get the Queen’s telegram, because of my unhealthy drinking. However, I beg to differ. I still intend to get that birthday telegram, and this is why I think I will:

My readers may realise that I have a vested interest in this topic , so I will now quote two independent sources:

The Book ‘ How to Live to 90′ by Dr James Le Fanu, writing about the 21 units of alcohol per week  - “It must be stressed that there is no serious scientific basis for these recommendations, which over the years have always been revised downwards. There seems little doubt that people can double this intake with no obvious untoward effect.” (Page 13)

Ian Gooding writing to the Guardian (UK national newspaper); “I am a gastroenterologist and see people with alcohol-related disease every working day. I am certain from my experience that the bulk of alcohol-induced disease is caused by spirits and strong cheap lagers consumed at home.”

I rest my case – Real Ale is good for you.

John McNally

Treating yourself to a food you like after dieting all day, is like rewarding yourself for a job well done. The snack can be the treat you get for running five miles, or going all day without eating a bag of crisps.

The idea is to eat any snack that is less than 100 calories.  Here is a list of foods that meet that requirement –

* One of the new 100 calorie yogurts on the market
* One of the new 100 calories puddings on the market
* One of the new 100 calorie chocolate bars on the market
* Eight dried apricot halves
* ¼ cup blueberries with one ounce of canned whipped cream
* ¼ cup fresh peaches with one ounce of canned whipped cream
* ¼ cup fresh strawberries
* 1 medium sized tangerine
* 2 smaller plums
* 2 tablespoons raisons
* 1 fig newton
* 17  medium sized grapes
* ½ cup Jello with a shot of whipped cream
* ¾ cup diet Jello with a shot of whipped cream
* 8 animal crackers
* 3 cups plain popcorn with salt only
* 8 baked tortilla chips with three tablespoons of salsa
* frozen juice bar
* one large dill pickle
* twenty peanuts
* I piece of string cheese
* 1 small baked potato with a small dab of sour cream

Rewarding yourself with a treat works for most people. However this approach does not always work if your weight gain is due to emotional issues. Sometimes it backfires, and you end up eating too many calories in that day and sabotaging an entire week’s worth of weight loss.

A similar way to reward yourself is to take one day off from your diet, and then just splurge on what you want to eat for 24 hours.  Just make sure it is the same day every week, so that you have that occasion to look forward to. This helps lessen the pain of self-denial which sabotages so many diets.

John McNally

1) Structural Fat

Structural fat is part of the building blocks of the body. This type of fat surrounds the joints and the internal organs. This fat is like a soft cushion which facilitates movement and prevents bone grinding on bone. This is not the fat you want to lose while you are on a diet, as it is integral to the structure of your body and to accomplishing even the simplest of movements.

2) Normal Fat Reserves

These are the fat reserves that are everywhere in your body. This is a thin layer of subcutaneous fat that all of us have in our bodies. This fat keeps us warm, supple and keeps us from hurting ourselves when we fall.

3) Stubborn Fat Reserve Areas

Stubborn fat reserve areas are spread throughout your body. They are designed to be a modern survival mechanism.   Once fat is stored in these areas the fat will not be released easily, if ever! 

Most people discover how stubborn these problem fat reserve areas can be when they go on a diet and exercise program. They lose water, structural fat and muscle mass and yet still retain these pouches of fat no matter how much they diet or exercise to get rid of it!

This has everything to do with the hypothalamus gland.

When you go on a severe diet you just end up losing the fat where you absolutely can’t afford to – in the structural and subcutaneous areas of the body.

The only way to lose stubborn fat areas is to adjust the function of the hypothalamus through eating a healthy diet.  It is the only way to prevent fat from being stored abnormally in these problem fat reserve areas.

The only other time that the body will release these fat reserves is at the absolute point of starvation or during pregnancy.

The bottom line is that you get fat or obese when your metabolism is abnormally low.   The hypothalamus gets put in an abnormal state and stores fat in these stubborn areas at a much higher rate than usual.

Once you start eating an alkaline, plant based diet devoid of the refined sugars and flours, and embark on a regular exercise program to raise your metabolic rate, it is easy to lose excess fat – quickly, efficiently and for life!

John McNally

The good fats are essential to heart health, brain functioning and healing. The bad fats cause all kinds of ailments including diabetes, cancer and heart attacks. 

Good fats are called unsaturated fats. Unsaturated fats are divided into two categories – monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. Both types can help lower elevated cholesterol levels.

Monounsaturated fats are slightly more healthy than the polyunsaturated kind, because they are thought to be more stable biochemically, and less likely to cause free radicals to let loose in the body.

Still polyunsaturated fats are not worthless. They are a fantastic source of essential omega-3 fatty acids. These types of acids are found mostly in dark leafy greens, nuts cold-water fish, flaxseed oils, vegetable oils and some types of seeds.

Our bodies cannot manufacture essential fatty acids. Consuming these fish, seeds and nuts is the only way for our bodies to take advantage of their benefits. Essential fatty acids are thought to lower blood pressure, combat LDL (bad) cholesterol, protect the brain and nervous system and have healing effect on the body in the general.

Most cooking oils consist of unsaturated fats. If you want to lose weight there are only two cooking oils to choose from; canola oil and olive oil.

Unhealthy saturated fats and are found mostly in dairy and meat products. You can tell a saturated fat from an unsaturated or monosaturated fat because it remains solid at room temperature.

Eating these types of fats on a regular basis has the effect of directly raising your LDL (bad cholesterol) as well as the count of your total cholesterol.

We all need some fat in our diet, however we also have a choice: – always pick unsaturated fats for a healthy lifestyle.

John McNally

This year I discovered an amazing new marathon workout. Amazing, because it’s the simplest marathon workout you’ve ever heard. (And simplicity in marathon training, is much to be prized). Amazing, because I’m convinced it actually works.

Yasso 800s have been devised by Bart Yasso , race services manager at RUNNER’S WORLD magazine. Amby Burfoot, the Boston marathon champion, takes up the story….

Amby Burfoot: Bart and I were at the Portland Marathon last September when he told me about his workout. He was training for a marathon later in the fall, so two days before Portland he went to a nearby track and ran Yasso 800s. “I’m trying to build up to ten 800s in the same time as my marathon goal time,” he told me.

Huh? Half-miles in 2 or 3 hours? I didn’t get it.

Bart saw that he’d have to do more explaining. “I’ve been doing this particular workout for about 15 years,” he continued, “and it always seems to work for me. If I can get my 800s down to 2 minutes 50 seconds, I’m in 2:50 marathon shape. If I can get down to 2:40 (minuses), I can run a 2:40 marathon. I’m shooting for a 2:37 marathon right now, so I’m running my 800s in 2:37.”

Suddenly things started to make sense. But would the same workout apply to a 3 hour marathoner? A 4-hour marathoner? A 5-hour marathoner?

I’m convinced they are a great session to practice on the track, and give runners an indicator of their possible marathon time. However they only indicate your possible speed providing you also have the necessary endurance base. Which in the case of marathons means plenty of 20 to 23 mile runs.

John McNally

Diet’s don’t recognise the difference between how a fat person’s metabolism operates and how a thin person’s operates. In essence a thin person and a fat person could eat the same meals for a week, and the thin person would not gain weight while the fat one would.

Fat people often have abnormally low metabolisms and this means they have problems burning food as fuel.  When it is not burned the excess is converted into fat.  To correct this you need to embark on a healthy diet, and take up excercise to raise your metabolic rate.

Overweight people with abnormally low metabolism are always hungry. The pain of their cravings is very physical and very real.  The reason fat people crave food, is because they don’t feel full after eating;  their body is not using the nutrients in  food to nourish them.  It’s not uncommon for overweight people to become immediately hungry after eating even a very large meal! 

Another very real cause of being overweight is emotional overeating. This is the tendency to “eat your anger.” Evolutionary biologists describe this as the need to “bite into something” when we are angry or stressed as that is exactly what are cave man ancestors did.

Food can also take the place of approval, love, or sex, or even a parent’s love.  People who are overeating for these reasons are often very miserable when they go on a diet, because they associate food with love, and feel deprived from love once the diet requires them to restrict their calories.

The idea is to adopt a non-acidic diet so that you are free of these cravings, which can become a vicious circle. Eating a non-alkaline diet will put you back in control of these cravings. It is a very freeing experience that puts you back in control when it comes to choosing to eat what you want and when you want.

You also won’t overeat because you will always feel nourished, and being properly nourished is absolutely key to stopping those hunger pangs that can lead to weight gain in the first place.

John McNally

Losing weight is not something that can be bought or sold. It is not a commodity. Sometimes the problem is cultural. We become trapped in old habits that have us eating unhealthy foods for a lifetime.

The key is to adjust your lifestyle. This means eating a plant-based diet based on whole foods and embarking on an exercise program… There is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to obesity. 

You only need to look around you at the people you know to determine who is healthy and who is sick because of their fat accumulations.

Think of the people that you know who are fat.  Are they sick all of the time?  What is his or her diet like? They probably eat a lot of sugar, salt, and junk food. They possibly also drink a lot of alcohol.

Now think of people that you know who maintain a healthy weight. You will notice they do not eat a lot of junk. In fact you might have noticed that these are the people who you know who like to consume Italian, Greek or Asian diets.

Traditional cultures from the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Asia know how to eat without gaining weight like Americans do…  Think of the traditional Asian body and how svelte the physique usually is…  In China, Persia, Japan and India people have been eating a mostly plant based diet for thousands of years and it seems to keep the majority of these massive populations fit.

After you are done picturing the body shape of the average Asian then picture what your average American looks like.  Then picture him eating snacks at a baseball game. Visualize the beer full of calories and the hotdog full of fat. This is not health food and this is typical of the unhealthy eating habits of the average American.

Ask yourself if you could handle being on a diet that had more vegetables rather than meat. That is your first step towards embarking on a fully effective, yet natural weight loss plan. You don’t have to starve to lose weight. If you completely cut out junk, and only consume healthy food, you can eat as much as you like.

During a study at the Pritikin center there were 4,500 patients who went through a program of eating as much as they wanted of low fat, plant based whole food – they  lost 5.5% of their body weight.  They also lost an average of seventeen pounds! Think about it.

John McNally