Healthy Wings Owned The Night: Nike Women’s 10k race

The Summer in England is coming to a slow end this year and for us it means less running outdoors and more running indoors.

Nike We Own the Night track

We took a look over the races in London this year and our favourite one was the Nike We Owned the Night 10km race in Victoria Park, East London.

Starter pack with a gorgeous Nike We Own the Night carrier bag

The race was extremely organised and the set up was sleek and entertaining. Although the weather did not cooperate we loved the details Nike bestowed. For example the euthusiastic group warm up from the stage and the gorgeous brass band on the side of the track that cheerfully encouraged the runners.

Start Line

As the sun set, hundreds of balloons and light-displays brightly gave you the nod as you passed by; tunnels lined with Christmas lights and large numbers lit up letting you know how many kilometres you had conquored.

Tunnels of light along the track

Lights brightly cheering you on as the sun sets

Tunnels of light along the track

Alex Monroe crafted beautiful medal necklaces that were handed out at the end of the race to all those who finished.

Alex Monroe medals – one gold, one silver and one bronze

There were sculptures (large blocks) covered with all the runners names and a glass of champagne to celebrate the finish.

Giant blocks displaying the names of all the runners in the race

Giant blocks displaying the names of all the runners in the race

And after the race, everyone (runners and friends) could enjoy a drink (coconut water cocktails for those not needing alcohol) and a ‘dance-off’ in the party tents.

Champagne to celebrate the end of the race

Vita Coco Coconut water bar

After party

We used our Nike + Running app to train for the race to ensure we could get our quickest and best time.
Yoga is a must to help stretch out after each run and of course a healthy diet.

A little post race shopping at the Nike store tent

Nike treats

A little post race shopping – Nike Fuel Band

A little post race shopping at the Nike store tent

A little post race shopping at the Nike store tent

A little post race shopping at the Nike store tent

This is definite must do for next year and although the race is only 10km, it’s so worth it, just for the entrainment and post Nike shopping!

Thanks Nike and see you there!

We’d love to hear about your favourite races this Summer. Please send us some suggestions: healthywingsblog@gmail.com

For more information on the London Nike We Own the Night race click here

HW x

Lara Stone Shakes it up

With the exciting launch of Net-a-sporter this week came a new and exciting fitness and nutrition franchise with the gorgeous super model Lara Stone and her trainer James Duigan, founder of Bodyism and creator of Clean and Lean. I was so excited to produce this series to launch the week of Net-a-sporter and was even more excited to be working with Lara and James on such a fab wellness project.

Lara has an incredible body and an amazing outlook and approach to life, a kind and fun spirit that transcends into her approach to health and fitness. As she says in her interview in The Edit here and in the video below, she wanted to take it slow and be kind to her body. Proof that you can make a come back post baby and take it easy, making nutrition and fitness a part of YOUR routine without it taking over your life.

Not only did they have lots to say about working out and nutrition but Bodyism have also been a part of the designers launching Net-a-sporter with their line of fab sportswear and yummy supplements that you can find here.

Watch out for more Bodyism and Lara videos coming soon and keep your eye out for some of our own Healthy Wings takes on smoothie recipes for ways to incorporate these into your daily diet.

I quit sugar: Week 1

I am a self confessed sugar addict; a chocoholic; a ‘heathy snacker’. When The Craving calls, I will obey. Whether it’s chocolate, fruit, a Trek bar, honey in my tea, an afternoon pick-me-up – I just cannot say no.

Sometime last year, sugar managed to creep its sweet little roots into my life and lodged them firmly into my body.

Without actually realizing it, I started to eat more sugar. Although I don’t have sugar in my coffee and stay away from fizzy cool drinks and sugar coated mueslis, I do L.O.V.E chocolate and ate ‘healthy snacks’ in the afternoon. Because I exercise daily, I allowed myself to eat more sugar than I normally would. I’m not talking about doughnuts and macaroons, I’m talking about Naked Bars and bananas, yogurt-coated raisons, dates, Bounce Balls, Green & Blacks 85% dark chocolate (I adore!), honey in my porridge, fruit throughout the day.

Early this year I agreed to give up sugar for a week, just to see what it felt like. It was hell. I realised that I was addicted to sugar. Not only were my carvings severe, sugar was constantly on my mind – when will I get my next kick! I didn’t even make it through the week. And that was only giving up the ‘obvious’ sugars.

Besides the cravings, I was having bad afternoon slumps. I battled to concentrate in the afternoons, and would reach for a sugar-pick-me-up. My sleep was restless and I was having a ‘fat day’ every day. I found the more sugar I ate, the more I wanted – it was never satisfying.

I decided it was time to look for a solution, something to help me get back in control, clean the slate and give my body a chance to heal.

I had heard of Sarah Wilson’s IQS 8 week detox and decided to buy her book and start immediately. Feeling insanely overwhelmed and scared to death of failing on the first day, I gave it a go.

I am 1 week down.

OMG I have learnt a lot about myself and how much sugar we eat on a daily basis. I still can’t walk into Waitrose without feeling terrified that I’ll suddenly buy all the Haribos in the shop and run out with bags of Itsu chocolate edamame.

I’d like to share my honest journey with you and hopefully in doing so, inspire any of you out there who are thinking of embarking on a sugar free journey.

RESULTS AFTER 1 WEEK:
Craving scale: 10/10 (very strong)
Physical side effects: facial skin break-out, bad headaches in the afternoon, 0.5kg weight loss
Emotional: Fragile, feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, constantly thinking about sugar (tell yourself you can’t have something and that’s all you’ll want)
Sleep: Restless
Cheats: 2

MY SURVIVAL KIT FOR 1 WEEK:
These little gems helped me through the first week…

CELERY
Celery became my best friend. It’s a crunchy, refreshing afternoon snack that’s super low in calories

ALMONDS
I ate a lot of almonds and seeds during my first week to help the cravings

TEA
I bought some lovely herbal teas for the afternoon / after dinner treats

CHEESE
I am not a massive fan of cheese, but I did embrace cheese over the first week.

Happy health x

Healthy Wings kale crisps

We LOVE kale. Kale is a massive part of our healthy diet and can be used in breakfasts, lunches, dinners and even tasty snacks – like our version of homemade kale crisps. We will be posting more kale recipes, so let us know what you have enjoyed!

To start, here is a very good reasons you should include kale in your diet:
1. Kale is rich in calcium, lutein, iron, beta-carotene, and Vitamins A, C, and K. A single serving of Kale provides 192 percent of the recommended daily amount of Vitamin A, which can act as a preventative against lung diseases.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of fresh, washed curly kale, stems discarded
2 tablespoons of coconut oil (we use Coconoil)
Sprinkle of Himalayan pink salt (or course sea salt)

Preheat oven to 200° C (400° F) gas 6
Toss kale and coconut oil so that the leaves are covered and spread out on a lined baking sheet
Sprinkle with Himalayan pink salt and bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly brown (keep an eye on them, they can brown quickly)
Remove from oven, create a bag with the lining and shake gentle
Serve immediately

Daily Greens

Every morning I wake up and have a hot water and lemon before I work out, followed by a daily greens juice. I have perfected the recipe to one that I love and have pretty much every single day so I wanted to share:

4 sticks of Celery
half a cucumber (this can be a third depending on how veg heavy you want it)
1 large handful of kale
1 handful of spinach
1 apple (My preference is Pink Lady 0 it adds a good sweentess)
small nob of fresh ginger

optional – squeeze or quarter of a lemon

Whack it all in the juicer and voila!

I often make double the amount and save half for the next day to save precious morning time but do prefer my juice as fresh as possible!

Green juice is a great way to get a serious nutrient hit and therefore some great morning energy as they pack in the nutrients and drinking this on an empty stomach means your body absorbs them even quicker! Its also a great way to get your greens and up your veggie intake right at the start of the day without even having to eat copious amounts of them – when would you ever eat half a cucumber?!

Of course you can drink this any time of day and mix it up with different ingredients. I often substitute the apple for kiwis if I have run out!

Happy Juicing!

Londons Juicing

Halaluja, at last London has its very own cold press juice bar! The long awaited opening of Roots and Bulbs is finally here and we for one are super excited that London has its first cold pressed juicery!

We popped in as soon as we could and were suitably impressed by the rustic but fresh feeling store dedicated to cold press juices, smoothies and raw foods. They have a small but scrumptious menu of juices at the moment, sorted by letters and numbers, available in two different sizes so if you are just after a mini juice fix you don’t have to shell out £6 to do so!

We swooped up two juices to go, a G3 and a C1 – green concuction and carrot apple and ginger for an afternoon snack as well as the ‘Gym Freak’ smoothie packed with protein for a post work out fix.

Health is the New Black

This is a little late coming as healthy Wings have been busy re-designing our new website! All very exciting so watch this space but I have been meaning to write about the wonderful Hip & Healthy Wellbeing event we attemded a few weeks back… so here it is…

January was full of healthy decisions, resolutions and detoxing, so what better way the month kick starting 2014 than a wellness event hosted by the wonderful people from ‘Hip and Healthy. We rushed from our busy days at 6pm on Thursday evening to get to uber cool Hoxton Hotel where H&H had posted up for the evening, we were greeted sinks full of yummy smoothies, rows upon rows of ‘Jax’ coconut water, treats by xxx and a pick n mix bar full of nutritious but yummy nuts! One half of Healthy Wings being pretty allergic to a certain type of nuts had to avoid the nut bar but I can tell you the detox kitchen macaron balls were a big YUM!

We arrived just in time for a fab yoga session before heading into the pop up boutique full of gorgeous work out gear, including Lorna Jane‘s exclusive pieces for Hip & Healthy – too many wonderful gym outfits to choose from! We were particularly coveting the ballet wear from xxx, which inspired us to pick up our new DVDs from ballet Beautiful this weekend and get toning and lengthening our limbs with some barre moves.

Before wrapping up the evening over some sparkling water in the hotel bar we managed to get a quick mani and a seat at Alice Mackintosh’s talk on sugar. The big trend of 2014 being the enemy that is sugar, Alice gave a super insightful and inspiring talk on how to avoid sugar and how it effects our health. Healthy Wings have been trying to give up the sugary beast but this certainly gave us some great tips on how sugar in the most unlikely suspects can effect our GI – the trick being to make sure you eat protein with every sugar, so every oat, fruit and beg you innocently pop in your mouth, to keep blood sugar dips at bay. We will certainly be taking this forward into our daily nutrition to se if we can eliminate those emotion and stress dips in our day!

Our highlights of the night after catching up with good friends and the lovelies from Addictive daughter had to be meeting the lovely Sadie who is the brains behind Hip & Healthy and someone we hope to be collaborating and working with more so watch this space.

Here is to a wonderful night of clean and healthy fun, proving that a sober and nutritious evening is all you need for a good time and that health is in fact the new black.

For more updates on Hip & Healthy and to visit their shop and blog click here.

Good Life, Good Life

At last London is starting to catch up to the ways of our American friends with its new offerings of healthy eating options. You would be stuck to find a neighbourhood in California and New York without a local wholefoods or health store and their very own hip and healthy cafe or juice bar. But this year has seen Wholefoods blossom now with 8 UK stores and super markets and restaurants offering gluten-free, dairy free and vegan food options, making healthy living an easier and more delicious descion. Even more exciting though are the new cafes and juice bars popping up all over London, which brings me to The Good Life Eatery…

Having seen many an instagram post from the likes of @camillamackintosh (Millie from Made in Chelsea) and @russellsbc (personal trainer to some of the hottest bods around and creator of Skinny Bitches Club) from this cool cafe I couldn’t resist any longer. Off I headed to Chelsea to get my filling, and check it out.

The Good Life is a small venue between South Kensington and The Kings road, brimming with atmosphere and character and simple but warm wooden interiors housing a bustle of trendy looking crowds. All of which looked as though they were grabbing a post work out snack or were on their way to the gym so I knew I was in good company. As i stood in line, behind Millie Macintosh (!!!), I was immediately hooked, I wanted everything!

From breakfasts to lunch, there is a wonderful offering of egg plates, salads, smoothies, coffees, juices and gluten-free baked goods to die for, finding alternative ways for you to enjoy even your more indulgent favourite eats. Good Life have guaranteed you wont leave feeling hungry and ensured each recipe is crammed full of nutrition and flavour.

The wait for a table was quite long when I rocked up at lunch time so I decided to get some bits to take away and vowed to be back soon (*read next weekend). My favourite thing was the fridge as you walk in, crammed with cold pressed juices and protein snacks to take away. It feels like years of waiting for cold pressed juices to arrive in the UK and here they are, Good Life is London’s first cold pressed juice establishment and I was not disappointed. I grabbed three juices, a Doctor Green, Drink your Salad and Apple-Berry Coconut to stock up for the week, then piling up their dairy free and sugar-free Peanut Butter Cups and Cookie Dough Balls, slightly disappointed the chia seed puds were all out I headed to the counter. Having stopped to drool over the gluten-free baked goods in the window I decided a smoothie and match latte with almond milk would do me for this trip!

God Life have absolutely nailed the West Coast hip and healthy vibe with all its authenticity in food and nutrition as well and style and brought it to London. I cant wait to return and will certainly be dropping in to stock up on EVERYTHING at every opportunity!

Gym fanatics and yogis take note – this is THE place to get your food fix!

The Good Life Eatery
59 Sloane Avenue
SW3 3HD London, LND
United Kingdom

New Year, New Starts

Firstly – HAPPY NEW Year from us at Healthy Wings!

With a New year comes fresh starts, fresh energy and a chance to set some amazing goals. At the top of our list for 2014 is Healthy Wings, with only being up and running for a month we are already inspired and full of ideas and positive energy for things we can do with this blog over the next year. It’s the perfect time to put our efforts into something we love so much.

We hope that 2014 will be a great one for Healthy Wings, and with it being at the top of our resolution we will be putting lots of care and love into bringing you uber amounts of health and lifestyle updates, ideas and inspirations – new work out ideas, ways to fit them into your day, healthy recipes and tips, emerging trends, wonderful people, inspiration and lifestyle updates from our day to day being!

Please share our blog, follow our social media and let is know what you think, but most of all stay healthy!

Heres to a wonderful 2014!

Love and wellbeing from Katy & Lauren

x