New Year – Fresh Start – Clean Slate

Some of the most popular New Year’s resolutions involve our health. We promise ourselves that we will change the way we eat, we will exercise more regularly, we will work at reducing stress in our lives and we will cut back on alcohol and other unhealthy habits. We start off with a hiss and a roar, all fired up to achieve these goals, but unfortunately our new and healthier ways of living are often short lived and we soon revert to our old habits. Why is that and what can we do about it?

Firstly, we have to have a really good reason to want to change our old habits, simply wishing to be slimmer and fitter is not strong enough motivation to keep you hanging in there when the tough times hit. Secondly, don’t aim to make too many changes all at once. Work on one thing at a time and once that becomes a habit, work on another change. It might be something as simple as deciding that you will drink 3 bottles of water every day and not eat between meals and snacks. Or that you will make your own lunch every day for the next two weeks. Be specific about your goals though, not just that you won’t buy your lunch so often or that you will drink more water.

Make your goals do-able and achievable, so that you get the satisfaction of achieving them and then you can move on to another do-able goal. Everyone likes to be successful, so ensure your goals are realistic and achievable. Stick with a goal long enough to see results, then set a new one.

The important thing is to actually get started, because if you have gained a kilo or two over the Christmas period it is not going to disappear of its own accord and the risk is that unless you get back into a routine now, another kilo or two may creep on during the year.

What puts on fat? Basically, starch and sugar. Sugar includes alcohol. Christmas festivities seem to involve all of the above so it’s no wonder that we tend to fill up our fat cells pretty rapidly at this time of the year. What do we need to do to get that fat off again? Cut back on starch and sugar, step up our exercise, pay attention to portion sizes again and plan ahead and be organised. It’s all the things you used to do and all the things which worked when you did them, so take some time to sit down and plan your week out.

Use your food diary as a forward planner and write down what you will be eating, when and for how long you will be exercising and this will help it become a reality.

It’s hot out there, make sure you are well hydrated so that you don’t mistake thirst for hunger. Keep a water bottle with you at all times. Take a healthy snack with you when you go out so that you aren’t tempted to buy something on impulse.

Basically this is a great time of year to reflect on your results over the past 12 months and if you didn’t get to where you wanted, work out why not. What held you back and what do you need to do to get back on track again.

Let’s get together and re-set goals, write up a new plan and feel motivated again!

Odds and Ends

To gain a kilo of fat you need to consume 8000 calories more than your body needs. That sounds like a huge amount doesn’t it, another 1142 calories per day for a whole week? Hands up who gained a kilo of fat over Christmas. It wasn’t that hard at all was it! It only requires larger than normal portions some of the time, a few extra bits and pieces most days, a bit less exercise than normal, a few more alcoholic drinks – it all adds up. Do you know that a healthy adult with normal body composition has about 25-30 billion fat cells, but a typical overweight adult has around 75 billion fat cells!! A severely obese individual may have around 250-300 billion fat cells. Remember, brain cells come and go, but fat cells stay forever, so work on emptying yours out now before they multiply.

Devine whey powder order. Please let me know if you require any whey powder as I will be putting an order in next week.

Texting. I have finally rocketed into the 21st century and if you wish to text or phone me on my mobile, the number is 021 1523 116.

New iceblock… Smooze (www.smooze.co.nz) is dairy free, gluten free, has no artificial colours or preservatives and is under 70 calories. It comes in 4 flavours. I also see the promotions for Splice ice blocks which say less than 75 calories but I couldn’t find the nutrition breakdown for them. It has to be better than a Magnum at around 350-400 calories though!

Spray oil for non sticking food on BBQ’s or pans. Instead of pouring oil into your pans, spray a few puffs of oil spray and save yourselves a lot of calories. Every tablespoon of oil contains 120 calories, the same as a medium banana.

Freezing fruit for smoothies. Often the strawberries in the bottom of punnets have squishy bits on them. Cut off the squishy bits then slice the good bits and put in a bag or container and freeze. These are great for milkshakes or smoothies and are also really nice in porridge. Do the same with ripe bananas. Break them into pieces and freeze for use as above. Stone fruit works well too.

Recipes

At this time of year we are fortunate to have a huge variety of good quality fruit and vegetables, making it so much easier to eat healthily. Most of us don’t want to spend ages in the kitchen, so keep things simple. By using a variety of marinades you can add different flavours to your chicken or meat, then grilling or barbecuing it keeps the calories down.

Sweet Mustard Glaze for Chicken

This makes enough for about 800g of chicken breast, perfect for leftovers.

• ¼ cup golden syrup
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 good tsp crushed garlic (from jar)
• 2 tbs seeded mustard

Put chicken breasts in baking dish lined with baking paper. Combine glaze ingredients and brush both sides of chicken with it. Bake at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes or until cooked through. Turn the chicken in the glaze half way through cooking. I cut the raw chicken into big chunks then when cooked sliced it into strips and served with salad. It is lovely cold the next day.

Ginger Lemon Chicken

This marinade makes enough for about a kilo of chicken

• 2 tsp crushed garlic (from a jar) or 2tsp finely chopped garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger (you can keep fresh, unpeeled ginger in a plastic bag in the freezer for a long time, then just peel and grate or chop as much as you need)
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• Juice and zest of 2 small lemons
• 150g pot Weight Watchers or Slimmers Choice plain yoghurt

Blend all the above until smooth, then pour into a dish and add skinless chicken to it and leave to marinate for a couple of hours in the fridge. You could chop the chicken first and then put it on skewers when you are ready or chop into good sized chunks for barbequing, or leave the breasts whole and bake them. .

Crispy Base Pizza

Great for weekend lunches – serves 2 (just multiply out for more servings)

• 2 World Oven plain tortillas (50g size)
• ½ pot Weight Watchers plain yoghurt (150g pot size)
• 2 tsp Bit on the Side Java satay sauce
• 150g cooked chicken, diced
• 2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves
• Tomato slices
• Ground black pepper
• 1 medium red capsicum
• Fresh basil leaves (torn) or 1-2 tsp mixed dried herbs
• 50g grated tasty cheese

Preheat oven to 200g. Place tortillas on a baking tray. Mix yoghurt and satay sauce together then spread on tortillas. Sprinkle spinach leaves on top, then chicken, veggies, herbs and cheese. Bake for around 15 minutes, or until the bases are crispy.

Exercise is an important component of the fat loss equation, as well as being important to reduce your chances of contracting various cancers and other diseases in the long term. If you don’t currently exercise, maybe your first goal might be to investigate various exercise options. If you are a group fitness type person check out Zumba classes at your local rec centres and gyms. Zumba has proved to be enormously popular with people of all ages and fitness abilities. It is often run in local community halls and advertised in local papers. If that doesn’t appeal, seek out a walking buddy, perhaps a neighbour or workmate and make the commitment to meet up at pre-set times during the week and walk for at least 30 minutes a session. Jetts Gyms are a no contract, $10 per week gym which has set up in most areas, you might like to check them out and see if they are for you.

Okay, that’s about it for this month, remember to take action now to get back into good habits and make a positive start to the year.

Kind regards

Lynda