Getting back on track after a break in routine

How did you get on over the Easter/Anzac weekend? Did you find that the change in routine meant a change in your eating habits? That your best laid plans for staying on track somehow slid away? Sometimes it’s almost a relief to get the holiday weekends over so we can get back into a good routine again.

The grey, cooler days don’t help with motivation which means that it comes down to the two D‟s – discipline and determination. No one else but you is responsible for what goes in your mouth, which is where discipline comes in. Get in the habit of saying NO again, if you find that you have started saying YES. Yes to treats, bigger portions, more alcohol and hiding under the covers instead of getting out and exercising. Determination means that you will stay disciplined when temptation calls you. Remember, self control is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it gets.

Accountability

Recently a friend commented to me that she was putting off her nutrition appointment with a colleague of mine because she (the friend) hadn’t really been applying herself and she wanted more time to get back on track and she didn’t see the point in paying the nutritionist to find out what she already knew.

While I understand that thinking, I have found that is exactly the right time to keep a nutrition appointment. Most clients come to me seeking not only knowledge and support, but also accountability. Once you take that accountability away, what is there to stop you from eating what you like, when you like, with the resultant disappointment and regret?

A good example of this is that last week a client emailed me and said she’d been off the rails over Easter and didn’t want to come to her appointment the next day because she knew she’d been „bad‟ and was scared of the result. I persuaded her to keep the appointment as I doubted the result would be as bad as she imagined and I knew that if she put the appointment off for another week all that would happen would be that she would carry on sabotaging herself, with the thought that she’d get back on track “next Monday”. She did come for her appointment, found that she had maintained her weight and left feeling much better and motivated to stay on track. She agreed that keeping the appointment was the best thing she could have done.

If you feel like your motivation is waning (or has disappeared), instead of cancelling or putting off your appointment, keep it and let’s work on strategies to get you back on track. Let’s draw up a new food plan and set one or two short term goals to work on. Many of my clients decide to come in for a 15 minute weekly appointment when they feel their motivation is sliding, as they find the short, sharp approach works better for them. Once they are back on track again, they go back to less frequent appointments.

Healthy Food Guide magazine

In the May issue there is an interesting article on “How Many Kilojoules Are in Alcoholic Drinks” with various types of drinks and the amount of kilojoules contained in each drink represented by slices of white bread. Do you realise that three glasses of red or white wine (180mls per glass) equal 6.7 slices of bread? Does that surprise you? The next time you knock back three glasses of wine, visualise the almost seven slices of bread they equal. Would you seriously expect to be able to go out three nights a week and consume the equivalent of 20 slices of bread and lose fat? The take home message here is that alcohol is not just a pleasant drink, it is liquid food.

The Humble Potato

Looking in a supermarket freezer recently I couldn’t help but notice the huge selection of frozen potato items. From wedges, to skins, to chips, to hash browns and even plain old potatoes already diced and ready to steam.

Are we getting lazy or what? At around $5 to $6 per kilo for these items you would be paying about 300% more per kilo than if you bought fresh potatoes! Depending on the potato item you choose, you are also adding at least 100% more energy (calories) to a plain potato, with added fat and sodium as well.

If you have a microwave, try scrubbing a potato, pricking it to ensure it won’t burst and then cooking it on high from 2-4 minutes for a healthy addition to your lunch or dinner. It couldn’t be simpler or quicker. If you already have the oven on, wash and prick your potato and put it in the oven for a crisper skinned result. Cut it open and put a spoonful of plain low fat yoghurt on it and you have a far healthier, cheaper and lower calorie choice than the frozen items.

“Healthy food bars”

Be savvy when buying cereal/muesli food bars and read the nutrition panels. There is a new RAW food bar out which, while is made from healthy, natural ingredients, contains 19-21g of sugar per bar, depending on the variety. They also contain over 200 calories per bar.

Off the shelves:

1. Sealord Simply Crumbed Hoki Fillets with linseed, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. This new baked crumb fish product contains four thick fish fillets coated in a healthier type crumb. Bake for 14 minutes each side, 1 fillet = a serving and the crumb becomes your complex carbohydrates for that meal, just add salad or veggies.
2. Uncle Toby’s Oats – Weightwise Original. Eight sachets per box and the oats have milk powder mixed in with them, to bring the protein up. No added sugar (0.5g per serve) and a whopping 6g of fibre per serve. Add trim milk or lite yoghurt + berries or banana, or other fruit and you have a healthy breakfast in 90 seconds.
3. Wattie’s Very Special Tomato & Basil tinned soup. Very nice – add chopped chicken and warm through for a balanced protein and carb lunch.
4. Weight Watchers Brown Onion gravy (sachet). This is a handy product to keep in the cupboard for pouring over winter veggies, for that comfort food effect.
5. Cotterill + Rouse Mango + Chilli Dressing. 2 tbs = a serving

Tips and Tricks from the kitchen, plus recipes

• Grate and freeze leftover cheese, to remove the temptation of having it staring at you in the fridge every time you open the door.
• Freeze leftover red wine (Don’t say “what leftover wine?”) and use it in beef casseroles, it gives a lovely rich taste.
• Freeze leftover tomato paste for use later as it doesn’t keep well in the fridge once it has been opened.
• Freeze leftover coconut milk or cream for use in curries (the lite version of course!)
• When storing feta cheese in the fridge, place a paper towel under the feta in a container and change the paper towel daily to keep the feta reasonably dry.
• To keep vegetables like carrots, broccoli, beans, etc fresh in the fridge for longer, place a few paper towels in the bags with them to absorb moisture. Change the paper towels when they get damp.
• Bulk up casseroles with vegetables such as onion, garlic, capsicums, carrots, zucchini, tinned tomatoes, mushrooms, etc, it makes the meat go further and gives you a bigger portion of casserole while adding very little to the energy count of the dish.

Casseroles are a great way to use up veggies lurking in the fridge and you don’t need exact amounts of things, they just kind of evolve depending on what is to hand. Their flavour improves on keeping in the fridge too, so why not make up a large casserole at the weekend and have it for dinner during the week. All you need to do when you get home then is cook some vegetables and re-heat the casserole. You could also place some pumpkin pieces on a baking tray towards the end of cooking the casserole and then store those in the fridge for later use too.

Topside is a great meat for casseroling. It is lean and when cooked slowly becomes very tender and tasty. If you have a powerful food processor, you can also make lovely lean beef mince with it. If you invest in a “Dutch Oven Casserole” – a large lidded, casserole dish which can go on the stovetop as well as in the oven, it means casserole preparation is even easier. Briscoes have some great deals on them and they double as stockpots for making soups.

Rich Beef Casserole – Serves 6

• 800g topside steak trimmed of fat and cut into small bite sized pieces
• 4 medium onions sliced
• 4 -5 sticks of celery sliced
• 3 medium carrots sliced into rings
• 2 medium red capsicums chopped
• 3 teaspoons Maggi stock powder (I used chicken, but whatever you have)
• 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce or ketchup
• 3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 ½ cups of hot water
• 2 teaspoons of dried rosemary
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon of cornflour + cold water to mix

Spray a large non stick pan (preferably one that has a lid and which can go in the oven too) with cooking spray and heat over moderate heat. Add beef, turn to seal and lightly brown, add onions and celery and cook three minutes longer. Add the rest of the vegetables.

Mix the sauces, stock and rosemary with the hot water and stir to dissolve then pour over the meat mixture. Season and place in 170 degree oven for about three hours, or until the meat is very tender. Mix the cornflour with sufficient cold water to form a loose “paste”. Stir into casserole and mix well. Place casserole back in oven for about 10 minutes.

Ways to use cooked chicken.

How convenient is it to call into the supermarket and grab a couple of cooked chickens? You should get approximately 500g of flesh off a cooked chicken, so two chickens = 10 servings. Make it up into a couple of different dishes and you have dinners and/or lunches for a few days. Here are some ideas for quick meals using cooked chicken.

Quick lunch: Add 100g cooked chicken to ½ (of a 535g) can of Wattie’s Tomato & Basil soup + serve with 2 crisp bread spread with Vegemite or marmite. Add extra water if too thick.

• 15 minute smoky tomato chicken – serves 4
• 400g cooked chicken, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
• 2 tins chopped tomatoes
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Spray a large non stick fry pan with cooking oil and sauté onion with smoked paprika for about 3 minutes over medium heat, or until the onion is soft.

Add the cans of tomatoes plus the chopped chicken, stir well, bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste, and then serve with steamed veggies. You could take leftovers for lunch the next day as a soup with crackers.

Chicken Pie – Serves 4

• 400g cooked chicken, chopped
• 1 medium onion
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 1 cup frozen peas, cooked
• 1 packet of Weight Watchers brown onion gravy made up with one cup of boiling water (stir well to ensure there are no lumps on the bottom).
• 600g potatoes or kumara boiled in salted water and mashed with enough hot milk to make them creamy and spreadable.

Spray a non stick pan with oil then sauté onion. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the mash. Stir well and place in an ovenproof dish. Dot the mash on top and cook in 180 deg oven until heated through, about 20 minutes.

Chicken Soup – Serves 4

Make up a vegetable soup using vegetables like onion, celery, canned tomatoes, carrots, etc. Sauté the veggies in a sprayed non stick pot, add 1 litre of liquid chicken stock (like Campbell’s) and then add 400g shredded chicken. Put a lid on the pot and simmer for about 20 minutes – or longer if desired. Check seasoning and serve.

Curried Chicken

• 400g cooked chicken chopped
• 1 medium onion chopped
• A few mushrooms sliced
• 3 small zucchini sliced
• 1 teaspoon crushed ginger (from a jar)
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• Two teaspoons of red curry paste
• 1 cup lite coconut cream (I used Samoa lite coconut cream)
• Two tablespoons of sweet chutney or relish of some kind
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Spray a large non stick fry pan with cooking spray and add onion, ginger and spices and cook for about three minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables, adding more spray if you need to. When vegetables are tender add the coconut cream, chicken and chutney and stir well. Bring to a simmer then reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.

If you aren’t having rice or other complex carbs with your dinner, try serving the curry in a large pasta bowl with additional veggies on the side. Freeze leftover coconut cream for later use.

Introducing Sally

Sally Feinerman is a local personal trainer whose mission is to personally help individual women achieve, surpass and maintain their fitness goals, beginning with realistic small steps and providing support at every point of the journey. She will be adding a fitness tip to my newsletter each month. www.fitnessfix.co.nz

Sally’s Fitness Tip for May – Boost your immune system with exercise

Research has shown that moderate levels of exercise can improve your immune system. This is a great reason to keep fit and healthy during winter as you are less likely to catch a cold, and more likely to recover quickly if you become sick. Studies show that people who walk regularly have half the number of sick days of their sedentary counterparts.

Remember that exercise is an essential part of any healthy lifestyle, whatever the season. Don’t let cold weather or rain put you off your walking or running programme, you will feel so much better if you get out and do I, and it will make the hot shower at the end even more rewarding. If the shorter days are affecting your mood, being active can improve your sense of well-being. Exercise will also make you feel more energetic, which should make getting out of bed on those cold dark morning slightly easier.

Exercising with others is a great way to keep motivated. If you would like to find out more about my group classes, or my regular Saturday walking group, then please email me. sally@fitnessfix.co.nz

That’s all for now, keep warm and stay focused.

Lynda