The UAE summer is upon us, and with temperatures over the 40 degree Celsius mark, the last thing you probably want to do is go outside for your workout. But that extra sweaty exercise session might have more benefits to your training regime and overall health and fitness than you think. “The main benefit we get from heat training is an increase in blood volume,” explains InnerFight Sport science and endurance coach Tom Walker. “This...
On the surface, Florence Gillet, 39, looks like a happy-go-lucky mother of two beautiful kids. Naturally slim and a champion of feminism and body positivity, you’d never guess that she’s lived though more than a decade of disordered eating that stemmed from something as simple as increasing her intake of fruit and vegetables. What she didn’t know back then, as a 25-year-old whose plan was to lose a few pounds to “look better” in her...
Could heading deep into the desert and burying yourself neck-deep in hot sand really be good for those aching muscles and joints? UAE environmentalist and social campaigner Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Nuaimi, better known to his almost 60,000 followers as the Green Sheikh, sure thinks so. A few years ago he introduced American educator and author Stephen Ritz to the experience of being buried up to his neck in sand. The somewhat forgotten tradition of sand...
Dana is a former gymnast who developed an eating disorder at age 13, which she says went hand-in-hand with overexercising. “We would get weighed before competitions, so the older girls taught me how to throw up my dinner the night before a competition,” says the 41-year-old yoga teacher, who lives in Dubai. “But when vomiting became difficult, I figured I could purge the calories by running, climbing stairs or using the step machine instead. I would...
The restrictions of the pandemic prompted a lot of different hobbies, and one that might be around to stay is cultivating a balcony garden. You can do it safely from the comfort of your own home, you can see the progress you’re making and it provides a real sense of achievement. And with looming talk of food shortages, more people than ever are interested in taking empowering first steps to becoming more self-sustainable. New research...
If you’re thinking of trying a fast, Ramadan is a very good time to do it. But what are the rules? How many hours should you be abstaining from food? Are you still allowed tea and coffee? Should you try intermittent fasting or a fasting-mimicking diet or something like the 5:2? Or should you dive straight in with a prolonged fast? Which one best suits your goals? Are you looking for weight loss, better skin, improved...
So many Ramadan articles in the fitness arena focus on how to work out while fasting. But the reality for many people is that that it becomes harder and harder to get to those workouts as the Holy Month progresses. So rather than risking a slow decline in activity, why not make a resolution for daily walking? The same goes for non-fasters, who had high hopes for workouts galore during reduced office hours, but find...
Metabolic flexibility — a buzz phrase of late — describes the body’s ability to switch between using carbs and fat for energy, depending on availability. Improving this metabolic flexibility is being touted as the key to healthier living, through losing or maintaining weight naturally, promoting a better immune system, increasing your ability to build lean muscle, feeling more energized, feeling fuller for longer, improving performance and avoiding blood sugar spikes. So how can we improve...
Hanaa* has worked at a media agency in Dubai for three years and she’s on a comfortable salary that comes with a premium health insurance package. However despite suffering with stress and anxiety for the last two years (partly related to Covid-19) she refuses to get help through her insurance provider. “I think it’s a bit of a risk,” she worries. “What if my employer finds out through the health insurance company, and then it...
If you are having suicidal thoughts, click here for expert advice and for links to support groups, medical help and hotlines. “I slowly opened my eyes, the place was filled with police officers and one was gently talking to me as I gained consciousness.” Chris Haill, 54, is retelling the story of his suicide attempt in 2020. After living with depression for almost four decades, he made his second attempt at ending his life on...
The recent UAE Sustainable Eating Awards celebrate the top chefs who are taking care in their kitchen. They are using local ingredients in their recipes, reducing food and kitchen waste, making use of sustainable suppliers, and are committed to boosting food security. Shortlisted chefs were asked to submit a dish that was 100 percent made up of locally sourced foods and from there three overall winners were chosen. One of the top honors went to...