Tips for starting Body Pump classes

Following on from my post giving tips for starting a New Year fitness regime and then my post giving tips for starting a diet, I thought I would do another post giving tips for starting at Body Pump classes. I love Body Pump and I currently go three times a week. If I can't go to my usual class, I find a way to go to one at a different time. It makes such a difference to my fitness levels and I really work hard without having to jump up and down or have that much coordination. I blogged back in November how I thought strong is sexy (my most viewed post - wonder why?) and it's still true.

If you don't know what Body Pump is, it's a workout with weights to music. For most of the class, you are using a barbell with adjustable weights. Occasionally, you might use dumbbells. The routine is done in a specific order, working one or two muscle groups at a time. You are usually stood up or lying down with no dance steps to learn. Only certain gyms or leisure centres do classes - the instructors have to do special training which is quite rigorous and they have to attend regular workshops to learn new routines. Routines with new music are released quarterly.

Photo credit: tome213

Before you start, don't even think about starting if you have any major joint or muscle injury. This is particularly true of knee injuries so you might want to get medical advice before you start - although you might be able to modify some of the exercises. I'd also be wary of back injuries.

This set of tips comes with the usual proviso that this is written by me and I'm not a qualified fitness instructor. I did Body Pump for about 3 years before children, then on and off for a while, and I've been back regularly for about 8 months. I've been to classes by a whole range of instructors and have probably been there and done that. So, here we go.

1. Don't be intimidated by the class. Just because you think it's full of lots of fit people, you might think it's not for you until you're fit like them. The class is like that because it makes you fit. Everyone can work at their own level at Body Pump - it is one of its great strengths - and seriously, no-one cares if you're using the tiniest weights or the biggest weights. Take the plunge and give it a go.

2. Make sure you start by learning the techniques. Most places run a clinic or technique class about 15 mins before the actual class starts. Make time to get there for that and introduce yourself as new to the instructor. They will take you through the correct techniques, show you how to change weights, that sort of thing. If your centre doesn't offer these classes, be proactive - get to your first class early and tell the instructor that you're new. It's all about the technique - getting it right will reduce the risk of injuries and ensure you're working the parts you're meant to be working! Whatever you do, don't turn up late to your first class.

3. Position yourself where you can see the instructor easily at your first few classes. You don't have to be right at the front but don't take a gamble on the person in front of you having good technique or staying in time. There are always people who may do a particular move incorrectly or do everything too fast. You want to concentrate on the instructor(they may have another person at the front with the instructor sometimes, they'll be fine to follow too). Remember you will be lying down for some of the time and you'll still need to be able to see them.

4. If you've been doing weights in the gym, don't fool yourself into thinking you can use the same ones for Body Pump. Most people do weights for short sets with breaks in between. Body Pump tracks last between 3 and 5 minutes, and maybe one or two short breaks. You'll need a smaller weight for Body Pump. Trust me.

5. Don't worry about using light weights at first. It may take you a few classes to work out what is right for you. You want to be able to complete the track with good technique but the last few should feel hard (and probably hurt, but in a good way). If it feels too easy, try to make a mental note to use more weight the next time. Or you could be really nerdy and write them down so you know but you soon get a grasp of what weights are right for each track.

6. Use the mirrors if you have them. I know that a lot of people don't like looking at themselves in the mirror but it's really useful to check that you're doing the moves the right way. Personally, I don't think it's any coincidence that you see more people with bad technique at classes in halls where there are no mirrors.

7. Listen to the teaching points. They are given for a reason. Sometimes, the instructor is just giving out general points for you to check your technique. Sometimes, without actually saying, they'll be saying it because they have seen one or more doing it wrong. Always assume it's you until you've checked what they're saying. Some instructors will walk around a class to check technique and speak to you individually. Don't be embarrassed - they want you to get it right.

8. Leading on from points 1, 4 and 5, don't compete with the other participants in the class. This is one trap a lot of men fall into - they see a woman stack weight on for a track and think they have to do more, then can't complete the track. Remember it's about you and what you can do, not whether you're lifting the same weights as someone else. We are all different and have different strengths and weaknesses- literally. If you do go regularly, you will improve and most men progress more quickly than women.And don't do the routines faster because your weight is too heavy - just take some weight off, goddammit!

Photo credit - ayeyah

9. And if you do put too much weight on, don't be afraid to take some weight off in the middle of a track. It's better to finish a track with less weight on than have to give up.

10. Do what works for you. Just because everyone else is doing it, it doesn't mean you have to too. Most people lie on a step for the lying down tracks; I have to lie on a mat on the floor. There is more than one way to hold the bar for squats and lunges(I cannot for the life of me do lunges with the bar on my back - and I need to put my back leg up against a wall). If it doesn't feel right, speak to the instructor or watch to see what others do. If you're scared about changing weights between tracks, and there is ample equipment, you can always have two bars ready to avoid this.

11. Listen to your body. I won't lie - it will hurt as a track progresses if you're doing the exercises correctly, but in a "feel the burn" kind of way. Any sharp, sudden pain should not be ignored. And if it really hurts too much, do stop.

12. Afterwards. Yes, you will be sore the day after and probably a couple of days after that. If you start to go to Body Pump regularly, it will stop happening. If you're suffering from DOMS, baths often help. (As do a couple of painkillers!). More exercise may also help too - but again, listen to your body on that one. Some people say stretching helps with this but I think the jury is out on whether they actually make any difference. By all means, do any stretches the instructor suggests between tracks and during the cooldown at the end.

13. Expect to progress (by increasing your weights) about every 4-6 weeks at first. However, if the routine changes in that time, this might throw you off as some tracks are harder than others in different releases. There is no shame in moving back down or taking weight off mid-track if it's suddenly too hard - or even if you're just having a bad day which we all have occasionally. You will know when it's time to go up - it will suddenly feel a ton easier. Do it track by track - there is no point putting up your weights for all of the tracks if only one routine suddenly feels easier.

14. Finally, enjoy it. Don't give up if it feels like too much after one class. Give it a few weeks; you'll probably start to see some results after about 3 weeks.

I have probably mentioned technique a lot in this post, but please don't be fazed by it. Body Pump is all about the technique, but the moves are not hard to learn. It's just worth spending a bit of time learning the right way to do it when you're starting out.

A final point  - if you really want results, you'll still need to watch what you're eating. It won't make up for you eating too much!

Do give it a go, won't you? If you have any questions about Body Pump, feel free to ask me and I'll try to answer them as best I can.

Meal Planning Monday - a week of My Daddy Cooks meals!

If you read this feature weekly, you'll know that last week, I used the Sainsbury's Feed your Family for £50 meal plan after they kindly sent me a week's shopping to test out the meal plan. It went pretty well, although we didn't use all the lunch stuff, partly due to the others going camping. The meals were pretty good on the whole - some could have done with a little more flavour, but the frittata and "carbonara" were gorgeous. The sweet and sour was the only dish that was not nice at all - but it used a jar of cooking sauce and I'm never a big fan of those. The breakfasts were a bit basic in the week, but I found that using yogurt with the muesli, for example, made it more palatable. Some of the portion sizes were HUGE - the tuna pasta bake, for example, was enough for 8 meals, not 4!

We did film ourselves cooking and the children appeared in an advert! It was on Wednesday night during Britain's Got Talent. I would have missed it were it not for Twitter as I got a few "was that your children?" tweets. Thanks to ITV+1 and Sky+, I managed to record it for the children, who were, of course, away camping at the time. You could also see my hands and hear Missy Woo saying "It's a bit gooey" as we rolled sausages into meatballs. So thanks very much to Sainsbury's for giving us the opportunity to try out the meal plan - and for turning my children into stars for 5 seconds.

So, onto this week and again, I'm doing something different. You see, I've been inspired. The other day, I received a copy of My Daddy Cooks by Nick Coffer. Nick is a Twitter friend whose blog - also called My Daddy Cooks - became a runaway success when he started it in late 2009. Nick films his son Archie and himself cooking in their kitchen. Nick's recipes are always easy to follow, great family food and accessible to cook with children around - exactly what I like. And now he's written a book containing 100 recipes.

Photo - Veronique Leplat

When the book arrived, I had a quick flick through and I loved the layout and style of the book - easy to read and follow, with some nice pictures, both of the dishes and of Nick and Archie going. Then I sat down and read through the book - and I read and read and kept reading! I started to make a list of all the recipes that I must cook as soon as possible - and the list ran over two pages. So then, I had an idea to plan my week's meals around recipes from the book. To be honest, I could be planning meals from the book for weeks given the length of the list - this doesn't even scratch the surface of it. Needless to say, I loved the book - it's full of great family recipes that you'll enjoy cooking, with children or without. I cannot wait to try this week's recipes.

So, here we go. This week's meals are going to be:

Monday - Minty lamb and butternut squash tagine
Tuesday - No fry Singapore noodles
Wednesday - Turkey and cranberry meatloaf
Thursday - Chickpea and chorizo soup
Friday -  Burgers and chips
Saturday - Lentil curry with cauliflower
Sunday - Family party so no cooking for me!

And I shall report back next week on how it all went.

Why not pop over to Mrs M's blog for more meal planning entries?

( Sainsbury's sent me a week's shopping so I could try out their £50 weekly meal plan and a camera so I could film making one of the meals. I was also sent, separately, a copy of My Daddy Cooks to review and keep. I have not received any other compensation in either case; I have not been told what to write and all opinions are my own.)

Silent Sunday

Saying it with flowers

We all like getting little surprises. I guess that's why I do competitions as sometimes things turn up totally without warning and however small, it's always welcome. The best surprise of all, in my opinion, is hearing a knock at the door and finding that the person on the other side of that door has flowers in their hand. And they're for you!

That happened to me yesterday, when said knock arrived - of course, just as I'd gone upstairs for the first time in a few hours - and as I descended the stairs, I could see a man stood there with flowers in his hand. And it wasn't my husband. And not just flowers, oh no. Take a look at this: 

The flowers came from Interflora who sent them to me to review their service. The flowers are really lovely and bonus, they came in their own glass vase, meaning I don't have to trim everything and find a suitable vase. Bonus! I love the sisal collar, although I suspect that, given the colour, Missy Woo might have designs on that when the flowers are long gone. 

As well as flowers, they also deliver gifts and have a new section devoted to Father's Day gifts, mostly non-flowery - largely food, wine, whisky and a lucky bamboo plant too. Whatever that is. Handy if you need to get organised.. (Father's Day is 19th June by the way, if you weren't sure..).

Although these flowers aren't from that range, I noticed that Interflora have recently introduced a range of Fairtrade Flowers featuring flowers from Fairtrade certified flower farms, which is really nice to see, especially as the flowers are not significantly more expensive than the rest of the flowers. 

Finally, Interflora allow you to search for florists by county. For instance, here is the link to florists in London - if you send flowers anywhere in the country, a local florist will make them up and send them, so they arrive as fresh as possible. Mine certainly look stunning. 

(I was sent some flowers and a bottle of sparkling rosé wine for the purposes of writing a review. I have not received any further compensation and all opinions are my own. I was asked to include some links to Interflora websites within the post, but I have not been told what to write beyond that. )

It's oh so quiet...

Something is not right in the house. The house, once tidied,. has stayed tidy. Toys have been returned to the playroom and stayed there, instead of reappearing when I turn my back to litter the floor. The carpet, once vaccumed, has stayed clear of crumbs (I wouldn't go so far as to call it clean...). The kitchen is clear of detritus and everything has been put away soon after it's been used. The noise levels have reduced to a minimum - for a change, I can hear myself think.

Not only that, I have raced through to-do lists like there's no tomorrow. Items that often take me days to tick off have disappeared. Used to finishing only a few tasks each day, I write a to do list for each day but yesterday, I ran out of tasks to do - and managed to find two more to finish instead. My to-do list for today, whilst short, was completed early.

This is unheard of. This is unprecedented. So what has given rise to this new, organised, domesticated calm that has descended upon this house? Have I been reading self-help books on how to organise my life? Have I been offered money for every task I get done? No.

The answer is quite simple: I am the only person here. The rest of the family have gone camping. They left on Wednesday for a holiday park somewhere near Southport. Not far away if things go horribly wrong, but far enough away to be not here. They're coming home sometime today - although they were already contemplating a late departure, so it's unlikely I will see them much before teatime. And let me tell you, it's bliss.The space in my brain normally reserved for working out what's next is free to do what it wants. Mostly, it's been focused on getting my jobs done. Oh, and maybe watching a bit of tennis. Maybe.

Instead of sitting down, and a voice piping up "Can I have a drink?" the second my backside hits the chair, I've sat in peace. Jobs have been done quickly because there have been no interruptions. No constant questions. No answers to questions that take five minutes instead of a few seconds.

A long time ago, I used to live in this house alone. It almost seems weird that I ever did - just me in a big four-bedroomed house; but I did. I think that it's actually way too big for one person but maybe, just maybe, I was just a house-sitter for a few years until we grew into it and made it a proper family home. And yes, it does feel odd being here for so long completely alone now. But, for a couple of years at least, this was my life.

So, as you might have guessed, I'll be more than happy to see them again when they come home. It's been lovely to get things straight once and know that they'll stay that way. It's lovely to have space and only work to one timetable - mine. But it's also lovely to have a house full of mess (sort of) and laughter. Full of random utterings, giggles, cuddles with a large dose of frustration thrown in. My God, I've changed. I'd have never thought I could enjoy the chaos that is family life. But I do. It's been blissful to have space and peace for a couple of days but I'll be ready for them when they return. The children will get a huge hug when they come back. I might even make them a cake. It's just the washing I won't look forward to.

And you know what? For all the peace and quiet, I still can't drink a whole cup of tea hot. Perhaps that's not the children's fault after all...

My Fitness Story... - Tracy

I'm very grateful today to my guest poster because she wrote this for me whilst away from home. I had no post lined up until I put out a request on Twitter on Monday for some new contributions - or the series would have had to take an enforced holiday. I know Tracy has been thinking of submitting her story for a while to me, and I'm glad she took the time to write all down for me. Tracy struggled with her weight after having children, suffering the cumulative effect of weight gain that successive pregnancies can bring, until she resolved to lose the weight for good last year. In total, she lost 5 stone in 8 months, which is pretty incredible - especially as she did it all by myself and all for herself, which is great. This story cannot fail to inspire you if you're struggling in any way with a diet or fitness programme. Over now to Tracy to take up her tale. 

My “struggle” with my weight goes back to my early twenties. I had been a size 8 – 10 and put on weight after university having money, driving a car and eating out. I increased to a size 14. When I look back, this seems like nothing, but I felt bad about myself. My self-esteem has always been related to my size, and I didn’t feel good. So I read a book, “Stop the Insanity” by Susan Powter and I followed it. It was a way of thinking about food and exercise. It motivated me and I stuck to it. It was mainly about watching the percentage fat content of food and increasing your exercise. I became obsessed, both with food and exercise, until I lost lots of weight and got down to a size 8. I felt great about myself, but I couldn’t maintain it. I was exercising before work, running for 40 minutes, then swimming 30 lengths, and doing classes after work. In all honesty, I got too thin and I don’t think I am meant to be that size. My weight started to increase again, but stabilised at a size 10 – 12. I still felt good about myself at this weight.

Me in 2007

I was this size when I met my husband, 11 years ago. I was just under 10 stone when we got together. We met and married in the space of 10 months, but in that time I went from a size 10 – 12 to a size 16. My wedding dress was a size 16. A couple of months after the wedding, I became pregnant. I saw this as an excuse to eat, and put on 4 stone during the pregnancy. I had a difficult and traumatic delivery with my son and it took me a long time to recover, physically and emotionally. It wasn’t until he was 3 years old that I felt able to do anything about the weight. But, in 2004, I got a new job and decided I wanted to make a new start so I began the Atkins diet. Once again, I was obsessed. I followed the diet to the exact letter. It worked. I lost weight, and fast. Within 3 months I had lost over 4 stone and I felt good again. The feeling I got when everyone asked how I had done it, commented on how good I looked and complimented me on my achievement was wonderful. But it didn’t last for long.

Christmas Day 2009

I maintained for 4 months but became pregnant with my second child. I immediately started eating whatever I wanted again, and of course the weight started to pile back on. I put 3 stone back on during the pregnancy, and 8 months after the birth of my second child, I was pregnant again! This time, there was no time for weight loss and I just carried on eating, putting on another 2 stone. I was now a size 22 and 15 1/2 stone. I did not know what to do. I lacked motivation to do anything about my weight and suffered from post natal depression. It wasn’t until I resolved some of the issues relating to the birth of my children through counselling that I felt I was in a place where I could do something to tackle the weight again.

Christmas 2010

I was at work New Year’s Eve 2009, wearing my size 22 uniform and could not do up the trousers. I made a New Year’s resolution. In 2010, I was going to lose the weight. I was determined. I had been given a Wii Fit for Christmas and I intended on using this to keep me on track and hopefully be a fun way of exercising. On New Year’s Day, I stepped onto the Wii Fit for the first time. My BMI was right at the top of obese. I was mortified. I weighed 15 stone 8 lb. However, instead of feeling depressed, this motivated me, I had to do something! I started doing Wii Fit every day. For the first time, I was able to exercise with the children around because they enjoyed watching me do it, which resolved a major issue for me. I had found it very difficult to exercise. I couldn’t fit it in during the day, and was too exhausted by night. The Wii Fit resolved this. I know it is very low impact, but I was so unfit and lethargic, it got me moving more than I had done in years. I started to follow my own diet plan. Not as radical as I had been before, but combining things I had learnt in the past. I had porridge and juice for breakfast, chicken and salad for lunch, fish and vegetables for dinner. It was low carb again, but not in the extreme way that I had been with Atkins. I had “bad” days, particularly around my period, when I would lapse and have chocolate and wine! But this time, instead of thinking that I’d failed and blow the diet, I would get back on the Wii Fit the following morning and carry on. Pretty quickly, I saw results. The weight started coming off and my BMI started coming down. I carried on wearing baggy clothes and didn’t talk about what I was doing to anyone because I was doing this for myself. By August, I had lost 5 stone and my BMI was 24.6. I was thrilled. I started dressing completely differently and my work uniform was no longer the size 22 that wouldn’t fasten, but a size 12 that was a bit baggy. I felt so much better about myself.

After my 10K

I set myself a new target and entered a 10K race. This was my next challenge. I had lost the weight - now I wanted to improve my fitness. I had never done any running before, but I entered the Tatton Park 10k in September 2010 to raise funds for the Bobby Moore Fund for bowel cancer research. I enjoyed training - it gave me a real sense of motivation, having something to aim for. As a complete beginner with asthma, I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I tried to follow a training schedule and enjoyed going out from my front door for an hour, exploring the local area doing run/walks. I did the route in 1 hr 16 minutes but the time wasn’t important, it was just doing it. My children looked so proud, and I felt a real sense of achievement. I couldn’t have imagined, only 9 months before, that I would’ve been able to run for a bus, let alone a 10K.

9 months later and so far, I have managed to maintain. I fluctuate a bit, and I have to watch what I eat, but I still feel good about myself. I am a size 12 – 14, and I am OK with that. I know, if I pushed myself, I could get down to being a 10 – 12 again but in my heart of hearts I don’t think this is where my natural weight should be. I am stable where I am, I don’t want to get big again, and I am happy to maintain where I am now. As I sit here, I am on holiday, and I have a glass of wine. I am planning on getting back to “sensible” eating again next week, after my holiday. Until then, I will not be worrying about it. The next challenge? Who knows. Maybe a marathon for my 40^th birthday next year?!

What a great story. I'm sure lots of mums (including myself) went through similar experiences after they had children. I think Tracy's success can be summed up in this sentence: "instead of thinking that I’d failed and blow the diet, I would get back on the Wii Fit the following morning and carry on". We all have bad days - it's just how you react to them that decides if you succeed in the long run. I think it's an important lesson for us all - failure on a diet/healthy eating plan is not about one day. 

Feel free to share experiences, as always, in the comments below. My guest posters really do appreciate the messages of support they get from readers.

If you would like to share your fitness story, then please contact me on Twitter or email me on the address on the About Me page. Posts can be partly or fully anonymous, or if you are happy to be named, I will link back to your blog. All contributions are really appreciated so do get in touch, even if you feel yours is not a worthwhile story. If it's a personal experience, it is. And I mean that even if you have failed at something, because it is still YOUR fitness story and you learned from it. If you want to read previous posts in this series, click on the My Fitness Story... tab above and they are all linked on that page.

Thanks for supporting My Fitness Story... and do come back for another guest post next week.

Kate goes to London part 2 - Start More Live and an amazing food experience

Hopefully, you'll remember I wrote about the first part of my trip to London the other day, in which I visited the new Disney store on Oxford Street the day before it opened. I've meant to get around to blogging about the second part before now, but you know, life and other blog posts got in the way. Let's hope I can remember all of it.

The main reason for my visit to the smoke was because I won a prize. I do a lot of competitions, you see, and occasionally I get a nice win. This particular prize, I don't actually remember entering the competition but an email arrived informing me I'd won tickets to something called Start More Live, an event hosted by Tim Lovejoy to promote  the new Ford Focus. Not only had I won tickets, it included accommodation and travel to London. Initially, I thought I couldn't go because it fell on the same day as school sports day but my husband suggested I went because it was always possible that sports day would be cancelled. So, arrangements were duly made for me to go to London and someone to have the children before school on Thursday. And off I went, calling into Disney on the way.

After arriving at the hotel, enjoying a room of my own and time to think for myself, I met with a group of other winners in the hotel foyer who bussed us to the "secret location" where the event was to take place. In truth, it had a name (The Sorting Office - guess we all know what used to be), but really it was just a vast empty space. Inside were a couple of cars, a stage for a private gig by The Enemy, a bar (free drinks!) and five separate zones.We were all encouraged to swipe in at all five zones to enter another competition. There were different things to do in the different zones - play with gadgets, do a bit of "driving", learn or attempt some trick shots at golf. And I got to sit inside aforementioned new car. It wasn't mine to drive away, more's the pity.

But the thing that interested me the most was the food. And I don't just mean the canapés they kept bringing round. No, there was a food zone with some presentations by Stefan Gates, the TV presenter and food writer. Now, I love his children's programme Gastronuts so I went and had a quick chat to him whilst he was getting ready for his first presentation. Unfortunately, I wandered off and lost track of time, missing the very start of the presentation, so I watched from the sides and was intrigued enough to hang round, get a place nearer the front and go through it all again a little while later.

Now, I've seen some food demos in my time. This was nothing like them. Stefan's philosophy is to make food exciting and extraordinary. The first thing he did was to cover cocktail sausages in 24carat gold leaf. As I was near the front, I got to have a go - and managed to cock that up as the stuff is very fragile and goes all over the place. I got to taste it - it tasted like sausage. The gold leaf has no taste and no nutritional value - which begs the question why do it? But people do it, for the decorative aspect.

Gold leaf

Me failing to wrap a sausage in gold leaf

We also got to try some things I don't think I would ever get to eat. Insects. Firstly, there were mealworms, mixed with a bit of garam masala and some salt. There were some fly eggs, and then there were fat bottomed ants. They tasted like smoky bacon! And yes, I did try - as much as I don't think I would have done otherwise, I trusted that Stefan wouldn't make anyone eat something that tasted awful.

We also got to try instant jellyfish, which really didn't taste of very much until it was made into a salad with some seaweed and some fungus (sorry Stefan, I've forgotten the name of it), with a sesame oil dressing.

Fruit spaghetti

And then we made fruit spaghetti - orange juice, apple juice and ribena mixed with sodium alginate, squeezed out of a syringe into some water and left to set. And yes, it tasted like the juices they had come from with a slightly odd chemical taste when you first placed it in your mouth.

Next was the tour de force. Lamb's testicles. Apparently, it's all the rage in Afghanistan. Who knew? Stefan had prepared some earlier and cooked slices in butter and garlic - which as he says, can make pretty much anything taste nice. I tried some, and I can report.... it was reminiscent of chicken. Sorry, I know it is a cliché but it didn't have a strong taste or distinctive texture and all I could equate it to was chicken.

And I almost forgot - he made musical instruments out of carrots by drilling into them. Basically, a big hole at one end, a small one at the other, which meet somewhere in the middle and a reed that was made out of a plastic drinking straw and we were away. A quick but rubbish chorus of Baa Baa Black Sheep - the finalists on Britain's Got Talent can rest easy that we've not found the winning formula.

Carrot instruments!

The whole point of Stefan's presentation was to make food memorable. It certainly did that! It turned food into a real adventure, which is pretty much as it should be. I tried things that I had no idea that I was going to try before I turned up at the event. I'm not even sure I wanted to. That is, to some extent, down to Stefan's presenting style - his enthusiasm, passion and knowledge of all things food related draws you in, and carries you along. I figure I don't allow my children to be picky and my rule with them is that they must at least try things before saying they don't like them. I tried them, and mostly, really liked them. They're not necessarily every day things, but nonetheless, I can say I've eaten insects and jellyfish.

Oh yes, and testicles. Thanks Stefan!