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Recipe of the Week

Baked Salmon with Sweet Ginger

Sweet and sour flavours enhance this quick and easy fish dish.



Serves 4
Per serving: 173 kcal/10g fat
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
 
2 tbsps lemon juice
4 tsps light muscovado sugar
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
4 tsps chopped fresh dill
4 tsps light soy sauce
4 salmon steaks
freshly ground black pepper
 

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, 400°F, Gas Mark 6.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the lemon juice, sugar, ginger, dill and soy sauce to form a glaze, and season with black pepper.
3. Place 1 salmon steak in the bowl and toss in the glaze. Repeat with the remaining 3 steaks. Transfer the salmon to an ovenproof dish and pour the marinade over.
4. Bake in the oven for 8–10 minutes until just cooked. Serve with salad or seasonal vegetables.

Fun, Facts & Fitness from Mary Morris MSc.

I once met a lady, a fit lady I have to say, who proudly told me her only way of keeping fit was to go swimming three times a week.  Now that is highly commendable of course and there is no doubt it was doing wonders for her heart, lungs and joints, as well as being a great calorie burner keeping her looking lovely and slim.  But the teacher in me felt compelled to point out that she also needed to 'load' her legs on ‘terra firma’ with activities such as both walking and strength training. 

It is so important for us to vary our activities because we have mainly two types of muscle fibres in our body – one that helps to keep us going for longer (endurance fibres) and another type that gives us power (fast fibres) that help to get us out of a chair, for example.  Both need regular ‘training’ and you will find plenty of workouts on our website that will do just that. The exercise section of The 28-Day Immunity Plan includes specific Strength programmes and also recommends a 30-minute walk every day.

The Benefits to the legs of Regular Walking:

• Walking is the key activity for older bodies.  We are designed to walk and the more often we do it, the further we can go.
• Walking uses up calories so is a great way to control our body weight.  Speed up a bit and we burn even more energy (calories)!
• Walking not only keeps our whole circulatory system of the heart and lungs in great condition, but it also strengthens our bones in the lower body.  This reduces the risk of breaking a hip should we have a fall in later years.
• A good long walk in the great outdoors also has the capability of producing those 'feel good' hormones (endorphins) that lift our spirits, reducing stress and depression.

The Benefits to the legs of Strength Training:

• Doing repetitive strength exercise for the legs is vital for reducing muscle wasting which is a natural consequence of getting older, as Rosemary explained in the case of her Mother-in-Law.  Strength exercises will help retain those 'fast' muscle fibres.  If we don’t strengthen our legs as we age, the loss can be as much as 40% by the age of 80!  Leg strength exercises slows this loss down considerably so it worth the effort.
• Strength exercises particularly target the important group of four muscles in the front of the thigh (quadriceps) and the largest single muscle in the body at the back of the hip (gluteus maximus). If you regularly use the exercises in the Strength and Toning section of the website and get squatting, you will significantly strengthen your legs!
• Having the power in your legs resulting from specific strength exercises for the legs will enable you to be stronger and more mobile generally, such as being able to make sudden moves when needed, and to get you up and down from the floor for example.

 I have often referred to the legs as our 'Big Engines' and it is such a good description for the most important muscles in our body.  If you ever find yourself confined to a bed, even for just a couple of days, you will realise how easy it is to lose strength and stamina from the entire body, leaving you feeling extremely weak.  That's why as long as we can walk, we must keep doing it. No excuses! Because literally, the quality of our life depends upon it!