How much protein we need will clearly depend on your activity, whether you exercise regularly and with intensity or are living a sedentary lifestyle. Indeed, whether you’re male or female, as well as your stage of life, as well as how much stress you’re under, all can play a role, as hormones from testosterone to cortisol can impact utilisation as well as break down. In fact, stress can play a very large role in terms of your daily requirement, as the cortisol breaks down the muscle to access the sugars. Excess training and low calorie diets can both ravage your...

Zana’s Top Tips to improve your nutrition while accelerating fat loss Let’s be clear - This isn’t about weight loss. This is about fat loss. You really don’t want you to lose your precious muscle or any of your lean body mass: that’s what gives you your strength, your stamina and your shape. Your skin, your heart, even your nerves are all part of that group we call lean body mass.  Not to mention of course when it comes to muscle, it in itself helps you burn fat, too! Equally this is not about deteriorating the quality of your nutrition...

Both our calorie intake and the frequency with which we eat can rocket at Christmas & through the festivities. If you follow Zana’s advice, you’ll still be able to enjoy yourself, keep your shape (and maybe even lose!) while remaining calm. Warm mince pies, brandy sauce, a double malt by the open fire or chunky squares of chocolate, all get the green light if you follow these tips. The key is to balance your body so that it can deal with everything that comes your way. When we graze all day, visiting the fridge every 30 minutes, we’re sending our...

How to increase your protein intake I’ve often found that clients can have greater difficulty with increasing their protein intake, than they expect to have. Before we discuss how to increase your protein intake, let’s briefly let’s run through why you should increase your protein intake. Which foods are protein foods?   Fish, meat, eggs and cheese are great, very highly absorbed, non-vegan sources of protein, whereas pulses – lentils, chickpeas, various forms of beans - as well as nuts and seeds, can be fabulous vegan sources of protein. Then we have the more hidden sources of protein, foods that contain...