This is a super-quick stew by Anna Jones. Feel free to substitute for any other beans like black beans or cannellini.  The great news about black-eyed beans, is that hey are full of potassium, which can help keep your blood pressure levels at healthy numbers, which reduces your risk of heart disease. They are also low in fat and calories. Half a cup of cooked black-eyed beans contained 7 grams of protein and 1.2mg of iron.

Ingredients:
For the Beans:

• 1 leek
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• A good pinch of chili powder or chopped dried chili
• 1 400-g can black-eyed peas
• 1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder or 1/2 stock cube
• A good grating of nutmeg
• 1/2 unwaxed lemon
• 7 ounces/200 g Kale or Swiss Chard
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

For the herb smash:

• A large bunch of coriander
• 2 green chilis
• 2 cloves garlic
• 30 g shelled walnuts
• 1 tablespoon runny honey or maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon good olive oil
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

1. Fill and boil a kettle of water and get all your ingredients together. Put a large saucepan over heat.
2. Wash and finely slice the leek. Add to the saucepan with the coconut or olive oil and cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, until soft and sweet.
3. Finely slice the garlic and add to the pan with the chili powder and cook for a couple of minutes, until the garlic is beginning to brown.
4. Add the black-eyed peas with their liquid, the stock powder, and 2/3 cup of hot water from the kettle and bring to a simmer.
5. Grate in the nutmeg, squeeze in the juice of the half lemon, add the squeezed lemon half to the pan, and simmer for 10 minutes or so.
6. Meanwhile, strip the leaves from the kale or chard stalks. Finely shred the leaves and put to one side.
7. Put all the ingredients for the herb smash into a food processor and purée until you have a smooth, grassy paste. Season well with salt and pepper.
8. Once the peas are soft and flavourful and the liquid has reduced to a thick, soup-like consistency, stir in the kale or swiss chard leaves, season well with salt and pepper, and leave to cook for a couple of minutes. Scoop into deep bowls and spoon over the herb smash.

Enjoy!

A fantastic day was had by all at the 17th Annual Personal Best Golf day held at Minchinhampton Golf Club. 28 players played in glorious October sunshine and all had great fun. Congratulations to all those who took part and made this such a memorable day, golf, friendships and community were the joint winners!

We hope to make next years Golf Day even bigger, so if you missed out this year and would like to join us next, please let me know and we will add you to our list.

Made it back from an amazing trip to Madagascar, mainly unscathed but a little saddle sore. You may not know this, but Madagascar is the fourth biggest island in the world; it’s as big as France! It’s also incredibly diverse and unspoiled, with an incredible cultural mix, fantastically varied landscape and some of the most unusual plant and animal species. The island is famous for its lemurs (found nowhere else on Earth) and for stately baobab trees, but there are also hundreds of types of colourful birds, chameleons and even turtles.
 
 With lots of hills and uneven terrain, this was a pretty tough trip at times, however my pre- trip training in Stroud and the Five Valleys was a perfect preparation. Spellbound by the extraordinary scenery and wildlife, indebted to the wonderful comradery of  fellow bikers and all the encouragement and support from friends and family back home and the mischievous Lemurs!

At time of writing this I have raised over £2500 for the Air Ambulance, and I thank you for all the support and interest this trip has generated.
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If anyone would still like to add to this total for this very worthwhile cause I would be most grateful. 
Www.justgiving.com /fundraising /geoff - boldero 

Recently. whilst waiting for a haircut, I struck up a conversation with a fellow customer in the barber queue. After the usual chit chat about the weather, we discussed health and fitness, goals and motivation. The conversation was cut short as my hair was about to be cut short, but before leaving the barbers, the gentleman took my card and promised to give me a call! True to his word, less than an hour later, he is on the phone and booked in 10 sessions of PT commencing January 4th, 2019! This was only the second week in October, and we have already had our first booking from a new client for New Year! This client knows that they require the commitment of booking sessions in advance and blocking out their diary, because when it comes to exercise, they realise that for most of the time, they lack the true motivation. Full credit to them for identifying and actioning this change.

Which raises the question, how do you motivate yourself?
Can you motivate yourself, or do you require an outside source to get you and keep you on track?
 
Before we move on, it is crucial that you understand fully, who you are and what works best for you! As we have already identified, the first thing you need to know about motivation and motivational techniques, is that one size does not fit all!
We have come to understand, that there are two kinds of people in this world. Those who are intrinsically motivated, meaning they are able to find the motivation with IN - themselves. If they need to exercise or change a lifestyle habit, they just get on and do it. 
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The second group are those who require some form of external motivation, whether that be from a trainer, coach, App or friend. These people are Extrinsically motivated.
 
Which one are you?
Or are you a bit of both?
 
Chances are, like the vast majority of the population, you are somewhere in-between the two! If this is the case and you wish to succeed, it’s imperative that you attempt to learn, understand and practice a bit of both. As circumstances, ‘influences’ and moods can vary on a day to day basis, being able to manage internal and external factors will help you steer a closer to your goals. In his ground-breaking book, The Chimp Paradox, Dr Steve Peters makes the case that motivation alone is not enough. He argues that motivation generally happens when there is a great reward to gain, or when we get to that point where change just must happen. But to feel motivated daily, is totally unrealistic, even for the most talented and dedicated individuals. What makes the difference for this group and will make the difference for you, is commitment. Committing to a plan and sticking to it, never giving up or giving in, even if you don’t feel like doing it day. This and this alone, will get you closer to achieving your goal.
 
“The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed. “Martina Navratilova