It’s official – it’s winter!

Yes it is the season for wrapping up warmly and enjoying hearty foods like porridge, soups and casseroles. But be aware that it is also the season for fat gain! Why is that? We are more likely to serve bigger portions, consume stodgier foods and spend more time indoors with our feet up on the couch and being less active during the colder months. These things all contribute to winter weight gain.

While we tend to think of the Christmas period as being the most dangerous period of the year for fat gain, remember that winter is three months, while the Christmas holidays are three weeks. You need to put a plan in place now to avoid coming out of winter having gained a couple of kilos of fat.

What can you do to minimise fat gain over winter? As always, the key is planning ahead, as far as meals go. It’s too late once you get home from work, cold, tired and desperate for food, to start thinking “what will we have for dinner tonight?” The easy way out of that one often ends up being takeaways, whereas with a little planning and time spent on preparing a meal or two at the weekend, you could look forward to coming home to a meal which only needs re-heating and a few extra veggies to be cooked. Casseroles, hearty soups which include protein, savoury „bakes‟, frittatas, a whole chicken or a piece of corned beef in the slow cooker, these can all be prepared ahead of time.

Exercising during winter

Do you find excuses why you can’t exercise in winter? Too cold, too wet, too dark? You know what? Too bad! If you want to stay healthy and trim over winter, then you need to keep active. What are your options? Here are some ideas:

• Take up the 8 Week Challenge which Sally of Fitness Fix and I are running. This gives you two training sessions per week with Sally, plus one nutrition appointment with me each week. The ladies who are doing the Challenge are achieving amazing results, far greater than they ever expected. By having those three sessions per week, it keeps the whole concept of nutrition and exercise uppermost in their mind which makes all the difference.
• Hire a piece of equipment for 3 months. An exercise bike or a treadmill or a cross trainer. If you have it in your own home you have absolutely no excuse why you can’t exercise. Get out of bed 30 minutes earlier and do some cardio. It will wake you up, warm you up and get you ready to face the day. Put it in front of the TV and catch up on your favourite programmes while you sweat!
• Join a lost cost gym, like Jetts. Even if you aren’t a gym bunny wanting to do weights, you can still use their cardio equipment to get your blood pumping.
• Join the Zumba craze. There are dozens of classes available in all areas.
• Arrange to meet a friend before or after work, and both make the commitment to be there, for a brisk walk. Nothing like a walk and talk to make the time fly by, while getting fit, burning calories and releasing stress at the same time.
• If you already have exercise equipment at home, but never use it, why not hire a personal trainer to come to your house and make up an exercise plan for you, using your own gear. You might even invite a friend to join you for workouts in your own home.
• Play a winter sport – there are plenty of indoor options and don’t forget the indoor heated pools for a workout.
• Get into some group fitness classes! If you are looking for small, fun, but challenging classes, check out Sally of Fitness Fix’s timetable on www.fitnessfix.co.nz. She will ensure you get a great workout in just 30 minutes!

The bottom line is, you need to do something. You can’t expect to hibernate, consume more calories, sit on the couch and not accumulate fat over winter. That equation just does not work.

Remember, successful fat loss clients look for ways to make it happen, not for excuses as to why they can’t do something. Think about what your perceived barriers are and work out how you can change a negative into a positive.

Cheap Protein Bars

I have been able to secure a large amount of the Protein FX Lo Carb bars in chocolate fudge and chocolate mint for just $2.50 per bar. These bars contain 17.6g of protein and just a tiny 1.9g of sugar. They are deliciously decadent, filling and make a great afternoon tea snack that will see you through until dinner time. The bars have an expiry date of either February or March 2011, but are in perfect condition.

Off the Shelves

I recently bought a few frozen meals to trial and I found the Watties Meal Sensation “Creamy Garlic Chicken” to be pretty good for a quick lunch. Add a piece of fruit and you are done (despite the name, it isn’t particularly garlic-y)

Pitango Free Range Thai Chicken Curry (400g bag). This contains 30% chicken breast (compared to soups with around 4%-6% chicken). A whole bag contains 377 calories with 31.8g of protein, so it makes a good choice for lunch. Do read the label of the bag carefully, as there is also a Korma variety. Remember though, for fat loss, a serving of protein, plus a large serving of fibrous veggies, plus a moderate carbohydrate serving, really does work best. Keep it simple.

Keep a few tins of chopped tomatoes in your pantry. They can be turned into soups with the addition of vegetables, added to casseroles to bulk them out and served as an additional vegetable.

Porridge: My favourite rolled oats are “Pam’s Creamy Porridge”; they really do make a very creamy porridge.

From the kitchen

Stuffed Chicken Breasts – Serves 4

• 4 x 150g skinless chicken breasts
• 2 level teaspoons of pesto
• 4 medium tomatoes sliced thinly
• ½ cup grated mozzarella cheese

Cut a horizontal slit in the chicken breasts, smear each with ½ teaspoon of pesto, lay the tomato slices on top and then the cheese. Use a toothpick to secure the edges of the chicken so the filling doesn’t fall out.

Spray a non stick pan with cooking spray and cook chicken for about 2 minutes each side to colour it, then place in baking dish and bake in 180 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with a big salad. Make extra for lunch time leftovers.

Homemade Pizza

Per serving: (you can add or subtract low calorie vegetables of your choice)

• 1 World Oven tortilla
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
• 1 handful baby spinach leaves
• 50g finely chopped cooked chicken
• ¼ red onion chopped finely
• Couple of mushrooms thinly sliced
• ½ red capsicum diced
• 2 medium tomatoes sliced
• Torn basil leaves or extra dried mixed herbs
• Black pepper freshly ground
• 20g grated tasty cheese

Spread tortilla with tomato paste, and then sprinkle with mixed herbs. Scatter spinach leaves on top, then chicken. Add vegetables, finishing with tomato slices. Grind black pepper over, then scatter with torn basil leaves or another ½ tsp of mixed dried herbs. Scatter the cheese on top.

Bake at 190 degrees for about 20-30 minutes, or until the tortilla is crispy and the cheese melted.

Savoury Bacon and Vegetable Slice – Serves 6

• 600g pumpkin peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
• 180g short cut bacon trimmed of any fat and cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 medium zucchini, sliced
• 100g mushrooms (or more if you wish), sliced
• 1 large red capsicum, chopped
• 1 head broccoli cut into small florets
• 1 cup trim milk
• 6 eggs
• 1-2 teaspoons of dried mixed herbs
• ½ cup self raising flour
• ½ cup grated cheese
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Turn oven to fan bake 180 degrees and roast pumpkin cubes until just tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the chopped bacon in a non-stick fry pan until cooked. Remove, spray the fry pan with cooking spray and sauté the onion for 2-3 minutes over a moderate heat to cook, but not brown. Add prepared zucchini, mushrooms and capsicum and cook 3 minutes longer or until the vegetables are tender.

Steam the broccoli florets until slightly undercooked then add to the fry pan. Add the cooked pumpkin to the fry pan and stir all together, and then remove from the heat.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, herbs and seasoning.

Spread the cooked vegetables in a lasagne dish, then pour the egg mixture over the top. Scatter the grated cheese over. Fan bake at 180 degrees for approximately 35 minutes, or until cooked in the centre and the cheese has browned.

Serve with a large salad. This is great leftover for lunches!

Saucy Pork Fillet – Serves 4

• 600g lean pork fillet
• 4 tbs sauce (I used Delmaine Apricot Chutney sauce, but you could use plum sauce, teriyaki sauce or other sauce of your liking)
• Cooking spray

Season the pork fillets with freshly ground black pepper, then spray a non stick fry pan with cooking spray and heat over a fairly hot heat. Sear the pork fillets for about 2-3 minutes each side. Place in a baking dish (lined with baking paper for an easier clean up) and pour the sauce over the fillets. Roll the fillets around in the sauce, then place in a 180 deg oven for about 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet. Do not overcook. Test the pork by pressing on it, it should give. Stand for 5 minutes then slice on the diagonal and serve. It should be pink inside and very tender.

Super Quick Lean Lamb Roast – Serves 3

• 1 x Silver Fern lamb rump (in a packet at the supermarket)
• 2-3 tbs mint jelly
• 2 tsp crushed garlic

Mix the mint jelly and garlic together and rub over the lamb rump. Place in 200 degree oven for approximately 15-20 minutes. Do not overcook. Stand 5 minutes and then slice thinly. Delicious.

Eating well doesn’t have to be boring; you can see from the recipes above that you can keep it simple, while adding flavour at the same time. Remember to plan ahead, that is key to success.

That’s it for this month, stay focused – and warm

Lynda