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Thursday, August 18, 2011

Health Advice, Courtesy Of Eva Mendes.

Daily Mail

Finally, a celeb that loves bread and pasta! But Eva admits, "I mostly stick to wholemeal, though. When in doubt, go dark with the food – so I stay away from white pasta, white rice and white bread and that keeps things simple for me." As for fitness, the actress (and face of Reebok EasyTone) says she sticks to a mixture of cardio, weights and yoga for flexibility... 
"I hit the gym three to four times a week to do light weights – not too many repetitions – which target my whole body, and some serious cardio – normally sprinting and interval running... The minimum I do cardio for is 35 minutes, but you can get a lot done in that time if you use it wisely. And then I spend about an hour on the weight training. I also do yoga twice a week. It’s mostly astanga, but my yoga instructor creates a programme for me based around what I need – so if my muscles are tight from running, we’ll do poses to open everything up."

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

If You Missed Giaan Rooney In Sunday Life...

Sunday Life
 
Do yourself a favour and read her piece here. It's a funny and interesting account of how she had to re-think her entire diet when she retired from swimming – and how it changed the way she looked at her body. Here are the highlights...

Going on a diet... "Everyone says to me now, 'It must be so nice not to be on a diet.' And I'd think, 'Are you kidding? It's the first time in my life I've had to watch what I eat.' Back then, when you are doing six or seven hours of exercise a day, six days a week, you can eat whatever you want, as much as you want. There were no holds barred because everything was fuel and you burn it off so quickly."

Finding out she was gluten intolerant... "While I was swimming, my diet was all about carbs – pasta, bread, potatoes, rice – things that functioned well as fuel. I only discovered after I retired that I am gluten intolerant. Nowadays, if I eat too much pasta or bread, I can look like I'm three or four months pregnant. I didn't realise it at the time, because the exercise managed to balance it out somehow."

Letting go of the competitive instinct... "I had no idea how to exercise for health – I only knew how to train towards a goal. I loved Pilates, so I started turning up to class five days a week until my instructor finally pulled me aside and said, 'Giaan, there's no Pilates at the Olympics, so just chill out. You only need to be here twice a week.'"

Seeing her body in a new light... "I was lucky to have walked out of swimming and straight into a job with Channel Nine. But for the first time, I also became aware of how physically different I was compared to everyone around me. Having come from a career where it was all about what your body can do and not what it looks like, I've always had a healthy body image. All of a sudden, in a television environment, I no longer had that clear-cut relationship."

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

On The Couch: Do We Really Need Another Reality TV Series?


If that series is The Voice, then yes... yes, we do. And I'm not just saying that because I have an epic crush on Adam Levine – although, seriously, could that man get any more divine?

I think The Voice takes the best bits from Idol (the amazing singers and public voting) and The X-Factor (the four uber-competitive judges) and combines them for a really entertaining ride. Chuck in CeeLo Green, Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine and it's a recipe for fabulousness.

Here's how it goes: The four judges listen to the contestants sing (and here's the clincher – they do it with their backs turned, so it's all about "the voice", geddit?) and when they decide they want to recruit the contestant for their team, they press a button and their chairs swing around. If that doesn't sound exciting, trust me – it is. And if more than one judge presses their button, the singer gets to choose who they work with. Cue: cattiness as each judge tries to secure their favourite star-in-the-making.

Then once the judges have eight singers a piece, they train them up and battle them off against each other until only four remain on each team. After that, it's over to the viewers. And you can bet there'll be tough choices to be made because of some of these singers are the creme de la creme. Bring it, I say.

Watch The Voice at 7.30pm on Tuesdays on Go!