Click onto the Maxitone website to find out more details about the competition and how you can enter. There are two categories:

Body transformation is for those who have significantly changed their body shape. Have you recently shifted some serious pounds? Do you no longer dread the summer bikini season because of Maxitone?
Active impact is for those who have changed their lifestyle to achieve their body ambition. Perhaps you signed up for 10k run and haven’t looked back since? Or did you hit the pool to tone up and realise how much you enjoy it?

Last year’s winners were Beccy [above left] and Laura [above right]. Beccy says: ‘Winning the competition has been very overwhelming. It has made me feel even more motivated to carry on eating and exercising well’ while Laura says: ‘Winning this competition was a huge shock for me and it made everything worth it, what a pat on the back!’ If they can do it…so can you!

Four finalists from both categories will go through to our expert judging panel, made up of Strictly Come Dancing’s Flavia Cacace, Gladiator Zoe Williams, celebrity personal trainer Nicki Waterman and Healthy’s very own writer Hannah Fox. They will pick a finalist from each category who will then go into a public vote to decide our Body Ambition Champion 2010. The winner will take home the £5,000 prize. As with previous competitions, we’re looking for your pictures and inspiring stories.

You need to provide a before and after shot (just one of each) and a succinct 500 word story showing us what you did, how you did it and why – plus which Maxitone products you can’t live without!
Visit www.bodyambition2010.com to find out more.

DON’T FORGET: Closing date is Friday 27th August 2010.

The Future Gallery will be transformed into an experiential treatment room with radical exhibitions and installations to stimulate the mind, body and soul.  Working with a host of health conscious enterprises, Courvoisier and Mindapples’ Big Treat presents a kaleidoscope of revolutionary approaches to give you your 5-a-day for the mind.

Visitors to this unique ‘mind spa’, can sample delicious health foods and take part in creative and interactive wellbeing workshops, all designed to demonstrate different ways to get fit, away from the distractions of urban life.  Visitors can:

• Drop in for an urban picnic on real grass and try some deliciously healthy salads and smoothies from Crussh
• Get a ‘Healthy Shopping MOT’ from CVTF500’s Savvy Cook, Monique Borst
• Learn to love their body with a gentle massage from Positive Touch
• Master the technology in their life with free ‘digital health’ clinics from Gavin O’Carroll’s Digital Health Service
• Get fit like Bruce Lee with a spot of wing chun from Austin Goh London
• Find some room in your head with urban meditation classes from Headspace
• Warm up their experience of the best healthy treat of all, with free intimacy and sexual expression consultations from Rose Orange.
• Flirt their way to fitness with street tango workshops from Tangonautics in our ‘alive at five’ remedy for the Friday rush hour

As Courvoisier and Mindapples’ The Big Treat draws to a close, another treat is in store on the final evening with a special collaborative performance from guest cellist Peter Gregson and upcoming painter Jamie Shaw. What does your soul look like? will be wonderful event on 17th July from 7 – 10pm.  Creating a live landscape of improvised art and music, Peter and Jamie will perform entirely in response to the effect of each other’s work, taking the audience on a stunning sensory journey. This audio-visual collaboration stages an intrepid expedition in to the soul, through the sensory interaction of music and art.

Visit Courvoisier and Mindapples’ The Big Treat at the Future Gallery, 5 Great Newport Street, London, WC2H 7JD.

Click here to see a map link for this event.

Potatoes can be cooked and served in countless ways – from simple delicious salads and soups, to stir fries, bakes, crisp roasts and creamy mash. The nation’s favourite vegetable has a lot to offer, and is the perfect starting point for a quick, healthy dish.

To help you make the most of potatoes, here are some top time-saving tips.

• To reduce the cooking time for boiled potatoes, simply cut them into quarters or smaller – ready in just 10 minutes.

• Make the most of leftover boiled potatoes. Add to salads, soups or even a frittata for a really quick and easy meal.

• Cut 15-20 minutes off the time that it takes to bake a potato in the oven, by inserting a metal skewer or baking prong through the centre of the potato.

• Looking for speedy healthy working lunch? A jacket potato only takes about 6 minutes to cook in the microwave (6 minutes on full power (approximately 800W for a 225g/8oz potato) then let it stand for 1-2 minutes). Ready to go with humous, cottage cheese or tuna.

For a deliciously creative potato dish, try our recipe for Jamaican potato & jerk chicken stir fry.

Words: Jessica Delaney

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan, add the garlic, oregano, capers and stir fry for a minute making sure you don’t burn the garlic.
2. Add the Bertolli Arrabbiata sauce, rinse the jar out with 130ml of water and add to the frying pan.
3. Bring to the boil, add the mackerel chunks, reduce the heat to medium, cover with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes until the fish has cooked through.
4. In the meantime, bring a large saucepan of slightly salted water to the boil and cook the linguine until ‘al dente’.
5. Remove the fish from the pan, place on a plate and set aside. Drain the linguine, add to the arrabiata sauce, stir well and cook on a low heat for a couple of minutes.
6. Remove, divide between 4 plates and serve immediately, followed by the fish as a main course with some bread and a green salad.

Recipe: Gennaro Contaldo

www.bertolli.co.uk

The idea behind the Freecross is that it’s a blend between a cross-trainer and bicycle which strengthens your arms, shoulders, chest, abdominals, back and legs. So your arms are moving forwards and backwards and your legs are going up and down, and both movements power you forwards as if you’re on a bike. You steer by leaning to one side or the other, which also works the muscles in your back and stomach.

The Freecross bikes will be available from branches of the London-based Soho Gyms for  you to use and they’ll be offering one-to-one training from a personal trainer so you know you have the right technique. If you’re not London-based, but are keen to get on a Freecross bike, you can also buy them for £1999 (inc VAT).

Setting out on my Freecross bike was a little daunting at first, but once you get the technique down you can whizz along a quite a good speed. The weather was fantastic so the trainers took me out and about around the arches of Waterloo station so I could practice turning corners, which is probably the trickiest part of using the Freecross.

After that, we decided to brave the Southbank and I felt rather like a celebrity as we cycled along as the bikes are really quite unusual and garnered lots of comments and stares. When we arrived in the forecourt of Tate Modern we were received a round of applause from a large group of school children and shrieks of “Those are well cool!” and “I want one!”

By the end of the session, I could feel that my legs, arms and shoulders had had a good workout, but I think more time practising would have meant I could have got more out of the twists and turns you do on the bike which work the abdominals. It certainly made a change from cycling outdoors, or pounding away on a cross-trainer in the gym.

For more information on the Freecross, visit www.sohogyms.com/freecross.

Breakfast ideas
•    Porridge oats with cinnamon, raisins and apple puree, cooked with water, not milk.
•    Bran flakes with berries, peaches or bananas and fat-free soya milk
•    Fruit smoothie with blueberries, peaches, fresh-pressed apple juice and low-fat soya milk
•    Veggie sausage or bacon with rye toast
•    Scrambled tofu instead of scrambled eggs – add herbs and spices such as onion powder, turmeric, cumin, parsley, spring onions or chives.

Lunch choices
•    Chunky salads – three bean, bulgur wheat and vegetables, noodles and tofu
•    Hearty soups – lentil, split pea, wild mushroom, spinach and nutmeg, mixed vegetables
•    Healthy sandwiches – use wholemeal pitta, rye or pumpernickel bread filled with hummus, grated carrots and beansprouts, or vegetarian turkey or ham substitute with salad and mustard

Dinner options
•    Tomato and spinach pasta with cucumber and onion salad
•    3-bean chilli with wholegrain rice and green salad
•    Tofu stir fry with carrots, broccoli, peppers, onions, garlic and low-salt soy sauce
•    Moroccan tagine of chickpeas, aubergine, onions and peppers with quinoa

Snack suggestions
•    Rye toast with pure-fruit jam
•    Fresh and dried fruits (both have low to moderate GI, but with dried fruits it’s tempting to take in more calories as the water has been taken out, so be moderate with them)
•    Cucumber, celery and carrot sticks with hummus
•    Air-popped popcorn sprinkled with nutritional yeast

Find more meal suggestions and lots of recipes in The Reverse Diabetes Diet by Dr Neal Barnard (Rodale, £8.99).

Compiled by: Colette Harris

- Be sandal smart. Flip flops are flat and lack support so your toes grab on to the base and you end up shuffling. This can cause plantar fasciitis – heel pain caused by stretched ligaments. Also, if you normally wear heels, your Achillies tendon at the back of the leg will be shorter and tighter. So if you suddenly wear a flat shoe on holiday, it can cause pain as the Achillies lengthens out. Buy flats that support the arch of your foot and the heel, leaving toe room. The best summer flats are Fitflops, Fly Flots, Crocs or Birkenstocks.
- Try comfort pads in your heels to ease the pressure on your foot. And remember, although you see celebs in heels, they normally only wear them for short periods of time. Arrive at your party in trainers, then change into your heels.
- Avoid very flat shoes like flip flops when you’re pregnant. Softening ligaments may mean you’ve gone up a shoe size, but unsupported shoes will not only risk bunions and foot pain, it will also put pressure on your back.
- Buy your shoes when your feet are tired – they need to be comfortable even when your feet are more swollen.
- Get fit. Models and celebrities are able to wear higher heels without damaging their feet partly because they go to the gym every day and have strong leg and foot muscles. Try Pilates – this develops the core muscles of your tummy and lower back which are important for posture, and helps you walk in a more balanced way, putting less pressure on your feet.
- Keep muscles supple with calf stretches and ankle and foot flexes – this makes it less painful if you swap from heels to flats as wearing high heels shortens the Achilles tendon. Circle your feet ten times in each direction, keeping your leg as still as possible. To stretch your calf and heel, stand facing a wall. Take one step forward and, using your arms to lean against the wall, sink into your front leg and feel the stretch in the leg behind.  Both feet should be flat on the ground. Count to 10 and go back to starting position. Change legs.
- Strengthen your toes. Put your heels together on the floor and place an elastic band over your big toes. Then move your toes outwards 20 times.
For more advice on avoiding foot problems, see the July issue of Healthy magazine, on sale in Holland & Barrett stores nationwide.

Compiled by: Karen Williamson

What is it?
Onychomoycosis or nail fungus is a fungal infection that affects the toenails or the fingernails. However, it is seven times more likely to develop in toenails rather than fingernails. Approximately three million people in the UK are affected by nail fungus, and surprisingly it beats out athlete’s foot as the most common foot problem.

Why do we get it?
This kind of fungus thrives on dark, warm, moist places so wearing the same pair of shoes every day in a warm climate, or getting your feet damp for long periods will expose you to the possibility of developing nail fungus. Fungal nail infection is contagious and the risk of developing it is increased with age. Other factors that contribute include the use of communal areas such as swimming pools, public showers and sauna. People with diabetes or psoriasis also have a higher risk of developing the condition.

What are the signs?
A clear sign of nail fungus is discolouration of the nail, flakiness, thickening and distortion, loss of lustre and shine, accumulation of debris under the nail and scaliness. If left untreated, onychomycosis can cause the nail to rise completely out of the nail bed and lead to a more serious foot infection.

What’s the treatment?
If you notice any of these signs, you can begin to treat yourself easily with simple home remedies or pick up a prescribed treatment. There are several helpful brush-on treatments available in pharmacies that effectively block the fungus as well as stimulating the nail bed immune system and help prevent re-infection. As for simple remedies, tea tree oil has been found to be a powerful and natural fungicide and antiseptic. Just apply it using a cotton ball to your infected area morning and night. Another effective home-treatment is apple cider vinegar mixed with warm water. Soak your nails in the mixture for 20 minutes everyday and you’ll be well on your way to clearing up that fungus once and for all.

Words: Jessica Delaney

Come down to your local Holland & Barrett* for a free tasting of CherryActive and to find out why this particular type of cherry extract is so good for you.

New research has found that a single 30ml shot of CherryActive – made from concentrated nutrients from the Montmorency cherry variety – contains 274mg of anthocyanins. These are health promoting compounds that act like a ‘pipe cleaner’ for the arteries to boost heart health, protect blood vessels and offer anti-inflammatory relief. 

‘A daily shot of CherryActive, diluted in water or added to a smoothie, is a great way to get anthocyanins into your diet and counts towards your five a day target,’ says nutritionist Patrick Holford.

*Tastings are happening at over 500 selected Holland & Barrett stores nationwide from 16 July to 6 August.

The Adidas Terrex Fast X FM Low was the perfect shoe for the level of trekking I was doing in the lush mountains of the Swiss Alps. The inclusion of a material called adiPRENE in the sole of the shoe meant that my feet didn’t get sore as it cushioned them from pressure as I was walking down the mountain.
As a trekking trainer, they were also good for doing the odd spot of trail running as they are quite light and have plenty of flexibility in the sole and upper. The laces have special pull-tight speed lacing construction so you don’t need to worry about any laces coming lose and tripping you up.
The lining of the trainer is treated with AgION, an antimicrobial treatment that stops odours and prevents bacterial and fungal growth so even after a hard days trekking, the trainers still smelt fine! While some of the paths we trekked along were quite stony and rocky, I had nothing to worry about as the TRAXION  sole provided fantastic grip and agility.
A great trekking trainer for those who are relatively new to walking or who like to combine it with trail running. 
RRP: £80
Visit www.adidas.com/outdoor for more information.