Are you still waiting for the right time to get back into your healthy eating and exercising regime. What are you actually waiting for?

• Christmas and New Year to be over? Well, they are.
• Family and friends to go back home after the holidays? They more than likely have.
•   All the Christmas contraband to have been consumed? Hasn’t it?
• Waiting to get back to work again so that you can get into a routine. Most people are back at work by now.
• Maybe you’ve been waiting for the summer weather to appear, to help motivate you. Well, fingers crossed, it’s looking good at present.
• Auckland Anniversary Weekend – done and dusted.
• Waiting for the kids to go back to school? It’s happening this week.

It seems to me that just about all the excuses you have been tossing around as to why you haven’t got back on track can be dismissed now. Yes, it can be difficult to get back into the swing of things after a holiday, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and get on with it. The alternative is to keep filling up those pesky fat cells around your middle, yes, you know the ones I mean.

Here are a couple of special deals to motivate you to contact me right now!

The Six Week Nutrition Challenge is still running and everyone who is doing it is achieving fantastic results. The Challenge consists of an initial 30 minute appointment where we set targets to meet over the following 5 weeks, measure your body composition and write up a plan. Then you come every week for the next five weeks for a 15 minute ‘accountability’ appointment. You must keep a diary, you must keep your weekly appointments (no extensions) and ideally you will take a before and after photo. Simple! The cost to existing clients is $185.00. New clients can also do the Challenge, ask them to contact me for details.

The Back to School Special consists of an initial 30 minute appointment to set goals and boundaries, measure body composition and write up a food plan, followed by 1 x 30 minute appointment and two x 15 minute appointments. The follow up appointments can be at either weekly or two weekly intervals. The cost to existing clients is $135.00. Don’t wait another minute – phone or email me now and let’s get started!!

New Study Confirms Overweight People Die Earlier

The lethal impact of carrying extra kilos of fat may seem obvious. Until recently, however, no one could point to a study that did not have confounding flaws such as including those with pre-existing heart disease, cancer, etc.

A pooled analysis involving 1.46 million men and women was published in the New England Journal of Medicine that measured risk of dying with body mass index (BMI).47 Those with pre-existing illness and smokers were excluded.

The findings showed that compared with women of normal weight during the study period:

• Overweight women (BMI between 25.0 and 29.9) were 13% more likely to die;
• Moderately obese women (BMI between 30.0 and 34.9) were 44% more likely to die;
• Severely obese women (BMI between 35.0 and 39.9) were 88% more likely to die;
• Morbidly obese women (BMI between 40.0 and 49.9) were 151% more likely to die.

The body weight/risk of dying pattern was similar for men. The lowest mortality risks were for the people who had a body mass index (BMI) of 20 to 24.9. Click here to check your BMI: Hit the metric button and enter your height and weight. (BMI is different to body composition, ask me to explain next time we catch up if you are unsure.)

BMI is not a completely accurate mortality predictor, as a large waist circumference, even in those in the normal BMI range, can increase one’s risk of early death. Men should aim for a waist measurement of no more than 94cm and women no more than 80cm. Health risks increase as your waistline does. Grab a tape now and check your waist measurement.

While most of us are more concerned about how extra fat looks on our bodies, we really should be thinking about the health risks of carrying those extra kilos.

I often hear from clients that they are genetically more likely to be overweight because their mother/father/aunt/brother/grandfather or other relation is very overweight. I usually suggest that it is more likely that their lifestyle is the issue. If a family as a whole eat more meals away from home, if they don’t regularly exercise and if they don’t eat ‘real’ food including plenty of fibrous vegetables, then of course they are more likely to be an overweight/obese family. Nurture, not nature is at work here.

It doesn’t mean that the situation can’t be changed if the individuals are prepared to change their habits. Sadly though, it often isn’t until someone in the family develops a serious health issue that the rest take notice.

We need to be proactive about taking care of our health. Aside from genetics, the risk factors associated with heart attacks are generally ones that we have some influence over. Being a smoker, being overweight, having high blood pressure and having elevated blood fats are all risk factors, often caused by our lifestyle. Which is better, modifying your lifestyle now or having a heart attack? Did you know, with 50% of heart attacks that is the only warning you get? 50% of heart attack victims die with no previous warning. Don’t be a victim, take care of yourself now.

If your goal is fat loss, go easy on fruit. Yes, fruit is good for you, but it is also high in sugar and eating more than 2 or 3 servings of fruit a day may slow down your fat loss because of the effect it has on raising your blood sugar and insulin levels.

What’s new at the supermarket?

• Sugar free maple syrup. If you like your porridge sweetened, but don’t want to add extra calories, try the new Queen brand of sugar free maple syrup. It is sweetened with sucralose which is a safe sweetener and 35g (7 teaspoons!) contains only 18 calories.
• Sunsweet have multi packs of lovely soft prunes and apricots which are only 63 calories and 70 calories respectively. A bag of these with a pot of lite yoghurt would make a good afternoon tea. Or you could take a pack of these with a small amount of nuts in the car for a healthy snack on the run.
• Peckish Thins are delicious thin, crisp rice crackers which are only available at New World. They have to be the best tasting rice crackers I’ve tried and contain slightly less energy than the other brands.
• Select (Countdown range) are producing their own ‘chicken in a can’ now.

Tip:

Want to know a super easy way to get the husk off a cooked corn cob? Slice the bottom (stalk end) off the cob then hold it by the top and shake the cob out. It comes out clean as a whistle!

Speaking of corn, if you have an allowance for starchy carbs in your plan (rice, potato, kumara, etc) you can exchange those for a medium sized corn cob. I just microwave them in their husks. Enjoy it now while it is in season.

Recipes:

Cottage Cheese Dip. Blend lite cottage cheese until smooth, like the texture of ricotta. Pile into a serving bowl then drizzle sweet chill sauce over. Serve with rice crackers and vegetable sticks.

Bean Salad Wrap. Serves 2. Mix a 400g can of Craigs Mixed Bean Salad with diced red onion and scatter 40g of feta cheese over. Divide in two and using large iceberg lettuce leaves, roll up for a crispy tasty, vegetarian wrap.

Chicken + Cranberry Pizza. Go to my recipe index for this super easy, crispy pizza.

Chocolate Mousse + blueberries. Serves two. 4 Tbs Weight Watchers drinking chocolate mixed with 4 Tbs boiling water. Stir until smooth then stir in 4 Tbs lite Greek yoghurt. Stir well and chill for at least 30 minutes. Put ½ cup blueberries into a parfait glass and top with half of the mousse and repeat for the second serving. ** I really like orange zest mixed into the mousse, it is delicious!

Does anyone have contacts in the insurance industry in London? One of my clients who are experienced in commercial insurance is moving to London in April and will be looking for a job. Please get in touch with me if you have any contacts.

Until next time.
Lynda

The Christmas decorations are down, the leftovers are all gone (thank goodness!), the visitors have returned home and it’s time to get back into good habits again.

How did you fare over the Christmas period? Did your discipline go out the window, along with your best intentions of regular exercise and drinking alcohol in moderation only? Don’t worry – it happens. I’ll put my hand up to adhering to the see-food diet over Christmas and New Year! Now it’s time to work on strategies to get back into the right frame of mind again.

Here are some suggestions:

• Clean out the fridge and pantry and remove any treats or food you know won’t be good for you to have around. If it’s there, it will be eaten.
• Plan your food for at least one day ahead and know what you will be eating for all your meals and snacks. That means having the right food in the house, so get to the supermarket if necessary.
• Start your food diary – and enter everything that goes in your mouth that has calories. Be totally honest so that there aren’t any mysteries as to why that extra flab is not shifting. It’s always a surprise to find out just how many little picks we have during the day.
• Measure your portions. This seems like such a basic step, but being complacent about portions sizes is one of the main reasons for weight gain.
• Drop the excuses – you do have time to exercise, to grocery shop and to prepare healthy meals. You just have to make those things a priority. Drop the excuses to drop the fat.

We all have the desire to ‘be better’. Those who succeed are unwilling to quit when the going gets tough. Every goal you desire will take effort and perseverance and at some point you are going to hit a bump in the road or take a detour. Then you begin to doubt your ability to reach your goal.

When that happens, acknowledge your feelings of frustration and disappointment, but know that it happens to almost everyone. The important thing is not to give up – start the next day with a clean slate and make as many good choices as possible. It might take a few days, or even a week or two, to get properly back on track again, but that’s okay, you are still doing better than if you’d just packed it in and gone back to your old habits completely.

My most successful clients all had setbacks along the way, but they just picked themselves up and kept going. Perseverance, not perfection, will get you there in the end.

Make 2012 the year that you decide to give it your best shot to improve your health, fitness and wellbeing.

Last year Shalome changed her life by dropping 20 kilos – read her story here: http://www.nutritionforlife.co.nz/testimonials/

The MRI scans below show the distribution of fat within two female bodies. One, that of a female of normal weight and the other, that of a morbidly obese woman.

The obese woman has a grossly enlarged liver (probably infiltrated with fat, making it a fat storage organ instead of a fat burning organ) and a large amount of fat in her abdomen surrounding her internal organs. You can also see how the fat between her thighs is forcing her hip and leg bones into an abnormal posture which will probably contribute to her developing osteoarthritis of the knees.

Fat isn’t just a cosmetic problem, it is a serious health issue. Did you know that abdominal fat in particular produces estrogen and inflammatory chemicals? So the more abdominal fat someone has, the more likely it is that their body is in an inflamed state. Inflammation has been shown to be the cause of various cancers and many other health conditions. Excess estrogen also causes many health issues and unbalances other hormones. Both men and women produce estrogen in abdominal fat.

Excess abdominal fat also likely means higher insulin levels in the body and higher insulin levels not only make it more difficult to lose fat, insulin also feeds the growth of cancers. Carrying extra fat around the middle substantially increases your chances of becoming diabetic and having cardiovascular disease.

If you are a woman and your waist measurement is more than 80cm, you need to work on reducing belly fat. If you are a man and your waist measurement is more than 94cm, likewise, it’s time to do something about it. Don’t wait until that belly fat causes you serious health issues, let’s work on it now.

Some things to ponder:

• In the United States, one of the fastest growing industries is the oversize coffin business. The standard size of a coffin is 24 inches wide, but the trend now is the double oversized model which is 38 inches wide. With our growing rate of obesity in New Zealand, perhaps there is an opportunity here for an entrepreneur?
• There are now as many overweight people on earth as there are underweight. How things have changed in the last 30 years.
• Hangovers – what actually are they? The Swedish translation for the word hangover is ‘smacked from behind’ and the Danish translation is ‘carpenters in the forehead’. Hmm, I wonder if any of you felt like that earlier this week?

  While dehydration used to be thought of as the reason for a hangover, scientists now believe that alcohol withdrawal and chemicals formed in the body when our livers break down alcohol also contribute to the hangover symptoms. Toxins pass through the stomach into the bloodstream and from there go right throughout the body, irritating and probably damaging cells and cell membranes. Sore heads, sore eyes, woolly mouth, nausea……no more need be said! Now is a great time to give your liver a break and have a few weeks alcohol free.

• Figures I read today show the average ‘crash’ diet lasts just 15 days and 35% of people who do a crash diet end up putting back on more weight than they lost in the first place. Nothing works better long term than learning how to eat for your body and lifestyle and doing it most of the time.

Kitchen notes:

I haven’t included any recipes in this month’s newsletter because really, after all the excesses of Christmas, it really is time to get back to basics with eating again. (check out my recipe index here for ideas though) http://www.nutritionforlife.co.nz/recipe-index/

Fire up the barbeque, use your portable grill, eat clean, real foods like lean steak, chicken and fish, served with big salads consisting of a wide range of brightly coloured vegetables. Make the most of the warmer weather and good supply of reasonably priced vegetables while you can. Eat simply, use interesting dressings and chutneys to jazz up the flavours and above all, make your meals colourful and tasty.

Appointments

My normal hours commence this Saturday 7 January. Make an appointment now so that we can set goals, write a new plan and get you fired up to get in the best shape of your life this year. Don’t put it off, thinking that you need another week or two to lose any weight you gained over Christmas, because in that week or two I can guarantee you will find ‘reasons’ why you need another week or two to get yourself sorted. It’s time – let’s do it!

Let’s make 2012 the year you fulfil your health and fitness goals.

Lynda

PS: That is my new assistant, baby kitten Harley

It’s very easy at this time of year to put yourself on the back burner while you put everyone else’s needs first. When that happens you probably find that good habits with your food and exercise start to slide. The key is to make time for yourself. If it means getting up half an hour earlier so that you can fit in a quick walk before work and have time to eat a healthy breakfast, so be it. Exercising first thing in the morning helps set you up for the day. You are also more likely to eat a healthy breakfast and stick to your healthy eating plan if you have made the effort to fit your exercise in. Getting up earlier also allows you time to pack a healthy lunch.

Hydration
It’s getting warm out there! Ensure that you take a water bottle with you wherever you go as it’s easy to become dehydrated very quickly on warm days.

About 60% of your body weight is water. The average adult loses around 1.5 litres of fluid a day via urine plus another litre through breathing and sweating. Obviously on hot days or while exercising this can increase. We receive about 25% of the fluid we need each day from food while the remaining 75% has to come from fluids we drink.

Here are some good reasons to drink sufficient water throughout the day.

• It’s easy to confuse hunger with thirst! Sometimes you ‘feel like something’ and reach for food when really, its fluid your body is asking for.
• Dehydration can lead to your blood becoming thicker and more difficult to pump through your body. This can put pressure on your heart.
• Water transports nutrients around the body.
• Water allows our muscles to contract easily.
• Your brain needs water! Once you are 2% dehydrated your mental and physical performance is affected.
• Dehydration can be a cause of headaches. Don’t let it get that far.
• If you are exercising or working in the heat, insufficient fluid may lead to fatigue and nausea.
• Not drinking enough water can affect your saliva production and dental health.
• Dehydration can lead to kidney stones, saggy skin, urinary tract infections and also be a factor in other health issues.

How much water do you need? There is an equation which will give you an approximate indication. Multiply your scale weight by 0.034. So for a 70 kilo person that means 2.3 litres per day. Are you drinking enough water?

Lack of routine

A big issue that comes up with holidays is lack of routine. You know how it is. During the working week you eat your meals at similar times, you tend to make similar choices for many of your meals and snacks, you go to bed and get up at similar times and it all flows along nicely. Then, along comes the weekend or worse still, days or weeks of having no particular routine in your life and bingo it all falls to pieces.
If you are having a few weeks off work over the Christmas period – and you don’t want to whack on a few kilos of fat during that time, it’s probably a good idea to have a think about how you are going to handle the lack of routine.
Here are some suggestions for surviving the holiday period without excessive weight gain:

• Make a deal with yourself that you will do some kind of exercise at least four times a week. It’s not like you don’t have the time to whip out for a 45 minute run or walk!
• Aim to eat plenty of fresh, raw food. This is absolutely the easiest time of the year to prepare interesting salads. We are fortunate to have available a great array of fresh vegetables and most of them have a high water content, adding to your water intake.
• Use the BBQ if you have one. How easy is it to throw a piece of steak/chicken or fish on the BBQ. Make kebabs, grill vegetables, experiment with new ideas for cooking food on the BBQ. Maybe buy the man of the house a BBQ cookbook for Christmas and let him do the cooking.
• Ask now that family and friends don’t give you boxes of chocolates or other treats if you don’t want to be tempted by having them hanging around. If you do get given treats, then only open them when there are other people around to share them with. (remove your favourites first of course)
• If you are invited out, check to see whether there is a meal involved, or just nibbles and drinks. Check also if you can bring something. If it’s just nibbles and drinks, perhaps you can take a healthy platter. Click here www.nutritionforlife.co.nz/recipes/entertaining-platter to get some ideas. A “normal” nibbles platter can be a disaster. High fat cheeses, high fat crackers, high fat dips………oh the list goes on. If you are invited out for just nibbles and drinks, then eat something before you go and avoid the nibbles at your destination. There can be more calories in the nibbles than in your normal, healthy dinner!
• Don’t use a plate. If do you decide to indulge in the nibbles, then don’t use a plate. You will eat a lot less if you only have one thing available at a time. It’s too easy to try one of everything and load it onto your plate.
• Don’t stand by the buffet table. Get your food and move away – and stay away. Don’t go back for seconds. Eye up the offerings first, load up on salads and a moderate amount of cold meat and go easy on the bread and stodgy stuff.
• Decide before you go to the function how many alcoholic drinks you will have there – and stick to that limit. Be the sober driver, that way you have to keep your resolve and limit your intake.
• If you are unsure whether there will be non alcoholic drinks served take your own. Sparkling mineral water, soda water and diet drinks poured into a nice glass can all replace alcohol.
• Use low fat cream cheese, lite sour cream and lite Greek yoghurt instead of the full fat versions in your desserts. Buy lite ice cream instead of the full fat version.
• Pop seedless green grapes in your freezer and snack on them instead of lollies. They taste like sorbet and are very refreshing.
• Buy mini versions of Magnums etc and keep them in your freezer instead of the giant sized ones which come in at around 330-400 calories each.
• Freeze your own pots of lite yoghurt, for about 90 minutes or until just thickened and creamy, not hard. Delicious with berries.

Scary fact
A 420g box of chocolates contains around 2100 calories! It also contains the equivalent of approximately 195g of fat (over 1/3 of a packet of butter, eww) and 210g of sugar. That’s why when you wolf down that box of chocolates in a day you feel so ill!

If you blow it, despite best intentions and end up feeling like you have an alien glued to your tummy after the holidays, just move on and get back on track as soon as possible. Generally, the weight comes off pretty quickly once you get back into good habits, so don’t delay after New Year, book an appointment in with me now!

Remember: Planning and organisation will always be key to success. Failing to plan, is planning to fail. Don’t let that be you.

Devine Whey Powder
I’ve just got my last whey order in for the year so if you need whey before mid January let me know and I’ll put some aside for you to collect.

Another idea for a platter
Make crostini by cutting thin-ish slices of French stick and baking them until crisp. Cool then spread with this mixture.
125g each of lite sour cream and lite cream cheese mixed with ½ tsp lemon zest and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, some finely chopped dill and salt and black pepper. Top with small pieces of smoked salmon.

Holiday break
I’ll be working 9-6pm on Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 December and I will be available for a few hours on the 22nd if required. My first day back will be Saturday 7 January.

Special deal
Pay for two x 30 minute sessions between now and 21 December and receive a discounted 30 minute session in the New Year to set goals and get you back on track for 2012. Pay just $115 instead of $135 and lock yourself in for the New Year. The January session must be used by 19 January.

That’s it for the year, thank you for custom during the year and I wish you all a happy, healthy and safe holiday period.
Lynda

PS: Check out the recipes on my website if you are looking for inspiration www.nutritionforlife.co.nz/recipe-index

Recently I was making up some handouts to give to a client regarding the do’s and don’ts to help with elevated blood sugar and cholesterol. As I was doing so, I was thinking that really, nearly every common condition that doctors are medicating people for, whether it be high blood pressure, overweight, cardiovascular conditions, allergies, and often depression, really come back to what we put in our bodies and to our lifestyle.

What we eat, how much alcohol we drink, how often (if at all!) we exercise, how successfully we manage stress in our lives, our exposure to toxins – these all have an effect on our waistline, energy, mood, hormones and ultimately, our long term health.

Generally, conditions like insulin resistance, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, elevated blood sugar, etc take many years to manifest so it’s easy to carry on mistreating our bodies, not realising the damage we are doing. It might take 30 years of nutrient deficiency or incorrect lifestyle before a serious condition becomes apparent. Then, once it does, often there is no going back.

It makes sense to change your lifestyle before your health deteriorates and you are prescribed drugs that you may then have to take for the rest of your life.

Of course it is much easier to take a pill than to change your diet and lifestyle, but the problem with taking a pill is that nearly every prescribed drug has side effects. Of course there will be a pill to deal with the side effects as well, but how many pills do you want to be taking and the bottom line is that the pills aren’t actually curing the original problem, they are just suppressing the symptoms.

So, what are my recommendations for a healthy diet and lifestyle?

• Drink a good amount of water every day. Ideally have the juice of a lemon in warm water first thing in the morning to help cleanse your liver and alkalise your body.
• Exercise most days for at least 30 minutes. This helps regulate your blood sugar and insulin which is essential for fat loss. Exercise helps reduce stress and it makes you feel good!
• Have regular bowel movements. If you are constipated you are more likely to re-absorb toxins from the waste in your colon back into your bloodstream. These then go back to your liver for processing. If you have trouble with constipation, feel free to discuss it with me.
• Manage stress levels in your life. Exercise is very helpful for this and there are also some very good natural supplements which can help. Chronic, ongoing stress is damaging to every organ in your body, leading to many health issues.
• Eat protein regularly during the day. There are many reasons for this, but two of the most important I think are:
• a) When you combine protein with a carbohydrate food it helps prevent the spike in blood sugar that comes from eating carbohydrate on its own. Blood sugar spikes mean insulin spikes and insulin spikes mean fat gets stored rather than burnt as fuel. Who needs that?
• b) Protein is made up of amino acids. Amino acids are essential for the formation of hormones, for your immune system and they are responsible for all the growth, maintenance and repair jobs in your body. We need to eat protein regularly to give our body a constant supply of amino acids.
• Eat a high fibre diet. Yes I know I bang on about eating lots of fibrous vegetables, but they are a great source of fibre. Fibre has many benefits, from gut health, to, as with protein, it helps prevent blood sugar spikes when carbohydrate is digested.
  There are two types of fibre, soluble and insoluble and we need both. Soluble fibre (like that found in oats, grains and some veggies) helps move food through our gut as it absorbs moisture and forms a gel like substance. Insoluble fibre (like bran, seeds, nuts and some other veggies) doesn’t dissolve and it adds bulk to the content of our guts. Our good bowel bacteria feed on insoluble fibre. Both types of fibre help relieve constipation, along with plenty of fluid.
• Eat real food! That means unprocessed food in its natural state. Food without additives, preservatives and chemicals. Real, fresh food doesn’t need added colours, stabilisers, emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners.
• Drink alcohol in moderation only. Have at least two alcohol free days per week and on the other days, 2 standard drinks is the limit for women and 4 for men. Studies have consistently shown that alcohol is a contributing factor in breast cancer, bowel cancer and stomach and other cancers. Too much makes you fat. Alcohol is loaded with additives and preservatives. What else do I need to say? Drink in moderation for a healthy life.
• Eat at least two meals of fatty fish like fresh salmon or tuna per week or take essential fatty acids in supplement form daily. Essential fatty acids are just that–essential-and our bodies can’t manufacture them, unlike ordinary fat. The two main ‘ingredients’ in EFA’s are DHA and EPA. DHA is very important for brain health and EPA helps quell inflammation in the body. Canned fish is not as high a source of EFA as fresh fatty fish is.
• Have your Vitamin D level checked. Most New Zealanders are low in Vitamin D and correct levels are important to help prevent certain diseases and conditions, including depression.
• Have regular dental checkups. Bacteria in the mouth can travel via the bloodstream to your heart, with serious consequences.
• Get enough quality sleep.
• Reduce sugar, salt and white flour items.
• Drink green tea, at least 3 cups a day.
• Supplement where necessary.
• Lastly, make some ‘ME’ time. Whether it be for a walk, time to read a good book, a yoga class, time spent relaxing with good friends, or a soak in the bath with the door locked.

That list is by no means exhaustive, but if you apply most of those principles, most of the time, you are doing a lot to help yourself head off disease later in life.

November is 5+ a day month. Only 41% of adult New Zealanders meet the recommended daily intake according to a 2010 poll by Colmar Brunton. If you have a serving of fruit with your breakfast, 2 cups of veggies with your lunch and another two with your dinner, plus another piece of fruit during the day, that equates to 10 servings of fruit and veggies a day. That amount has been shown to reduce the rate of cancer, strokes and other diseases so load up your fridge today!

Asparagus contains fibre and this is the time of year to enjoy it. Try cooking some very lightly (very lightly) and then plunging it into cold water to cool it quickly. It retains its green colour and its crunch and is perfect for topping off salads. I also like lightly cooked, hot asparagus with a blob of plain low fat yoghurt on top.

As I mentioned, fresh salmon is a great source of essential fatty acids, but because it is high in fat, it is also higher in energy (calories), so a smaller serve is appropriate. The same applies to smoked salmon; it is high in energy so a small amount is sufficient and best kept as a treat. A really nice platter idea is to serve rounds of cucumber topped with light cream cheese and a very small piece of smoked salmon.

One of the most common ‘comments’ I get is “I’m sick of salads”. But you know what, eating salads works great for fat loss. The key is to keep them interesting with different textures and colours. Don’t just throw a lettuce leaf, a tomato and a chunk of cucumber into your lunchbox that IS boring. Make the effort to put together a great salad, it only takes 5 minutes and if you do it when you are making dinner the night before, it’s all done for the morning.

Here are some suggestions: Assorted greens (lettuce, baby spinach, rocket, herbs), cucumber, capsicum (red are the sweetest), cherry or vine tomatoes, red onion finely sliced or diced, grated carrot, raw baby mushrooms, lightly cooked asparagus, chickpea sprouts, sango sprouts and other sprouts. Mix it up and keep it interesting.

If you always have protein on hand you can then make your lunch or dinner in less than 10 minutes. Easy protein choices could be ham, hard boiled eggs, a can of salmon or tuna, or lite cottage cheese. If you are late home or can’t be bothered cooking, all you need to do is throw together a salad and grab a protein item. It is much easier and quicker than driving to a takeaway joint. And, you will feel a lot better afterwards.

Bits and Pieces

Xmas Shopping

Kristin School on the Old Albany Highway have opened their annual gift store. It is open from 28 October until 2 December and it has loads of wonderful gift ideas in store. Festive foods including preserves, oils, dressings, naughty treats (allowed at Xmas!), as well as homeware and tableware. They can even arrange gift baskets for you. On Wednesdays they have high tea from 1.30pm to 3pm at a cost of $35.00 per person. http://www.kristin.school.nz

Interior Designer

If you are looking for help with interior design, from choosing paint colours, furniture, kitchens, bathrooms, etc to fabulous ideas for smartening up your home without breaking the bank, then I can highly recommend Wendy Goode of Goode Interiors. Wendy can help with just about anything to do with your home and I was blown away with her suggestions. www.goodeinteriors.co.nz

Free 15 minute appointments for your friends and family

If you know someone who has been considering seeing me, but hasn’t quite decided, they are welcome to take advantage of my offer of a 15 minute appointment to see if they think I can help them. Just ask them to call or email me.

6 Week Drop a Dress Size Challenge and go into the draw to win a dress for Christmas!

If you or a friend are interested in this, check it out here:

http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e53sn8mb07c3237d

If both you and a friend enter, then you both receive free nutrition and exercise sessions in the New Year to get you back on track.

Recipes

New recipes on my website this month are:

• Smoked Salmon, crispy potato slices, eggs and asparagus dish
• Creamy chicken
• Satay chicken
• Chicken + cashew stir fry
• Honey marinated beef skewers

Remember, if you are invited to a BBQ, check out my Entertaining Platter recipe on the website. Follow this link to the recipes:

http://www.nutritionforlife.co.nz/recipe-index/

That’s about it for now. I’d love to know how you get on with putting in place my principles for a healthy life. Remember, you don’t have to be perfect, but if you adopt most of the principles, most of the time, you will reap the rewards of fat loss, increased energy, better mood and long term, a healthier life.

If you have any questions about the items in my newsletter, feel free to bring them up next time you are in.

With just 55 sleeps until Christmas the weeks are flying by. Remember that the keys to managing a healthy lifestyle are organisation and planning. The old saying of ‘failure to plan is planning to fail’ is so true.

Kind regards

Lynda

Has the RWC thrown your best intentions of eating well over the weekends out of the window? Well, you are not alone judging from what I’ve spied in supermarket trolleys over the past few Fridays and from what clients are telling me.

Entertaining and socialising can weaken the strongest resolve and with so many weekends of events coming up it can make a big dent in your fat loss endeavours.

With Christmas now a mere 12 ½ weeks away and with Christmas functions starting earlier every year, there isn’t a great deal of time left to drop those extra kilos before the silly season starts. It’s time to get serious now, if you want to be swimsuit ready by Christmas. Those extra kilos of fat won’t disappear by wishful thinking, but you can say goodbye to them if you are prepared to put in the effort to eat well and exercise regularly.

It is vitally important not to give up at the first hurdle when you start with a weight loss programme. Persistence, not perfection will get you there. There will always be special occasions that make sticking to your plan challenging, but just do your best, choose the best option there is and move on. If you regularly let your weekends slide with extra alcohol, high calorie food and little exercise, you can’t expect to make progress.

Something interesting I read the other day in respect of our growing obesity problem in New Zealand is that if we look back at our grandparent’s photo albums there weren’t too many overweight people in the photos. Children, teenagers and adults were pretty much of a healthy weight and if you did spot an overweight person, they were the exception. Why was that? It certainly wasn’t because our grandparents were hitting the gym five times a week, or training for half marathons, in fact, how many of our grandparents actually did partake of regular, formal exercise? Not many from what I recall.

So, if it wasn’t the exercise, what was it that kept them slim? The food they ate and the amount of it they ate, combined with more incidental exercise from having less labour saving devices. They stayed slim because they were more physically active during the day, but they also didn’t have access to the huge range of foods that we do today, including all the processed foods and takeaways and in general they didn’t eat out, unless it was at friends’ houses. There weren’t any food courts or takeaway coffees in those days!

How things have changed. But are we better off for it? Probably not if the figures released last week are anything to go by. The shocking statistics, taken from 2009, are that 40.7% of New Zealand men are classified as obese (with a BMI higher than 30) and 48.1% of New Zealand women are obese. That is obese, not overweight. The Health Ministry commissioned survey found that 65% of us are overweight or obese. 65%!! To quote Heart Foundation’s Professor Norman Sharpe “New Zealand is in the grip of a global obesity epidemic, the future costs of which will be enormous and potentially unaffordable for the health system.”

Overweight and obesity leads to so many health conditions, not only the well known heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancers, but also to things like worn out joints and depression. There is no way that our public health system can possibly cover the cost of treating the huge numbers of potential patients needing hip and knee replacements, kidney dialysis, cancer treatments, etc. Already obesity is the cause of many hospital beds being occupied by patients who ate themselves into illness.

I recently watched a documentary where a 40 year old woman had a BMI of 126. I’ve never heard of anyone with a BMI that high. Normal BMI is 19-24.9, overweight is 25-29.9 and obese is over 30. If you want to calculate your BMI check it out here: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/ You need to know your height in feet and inches and your weight in pounds. To convert kilos to pounds, multiply your weight in kilos by 2.2.

We are literally digging our graves with our knives and forks. Remember, if you are 35 years of age now and you gain a mere one kilo of fat per year, by the time you are 50 years old, you will have accumulated another 15 kilos of fat. Excess fat around the abdominal area combined with inactivity are the two main risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes.

Behind every four premature deaths in developing countries you’ll find diabetes, with cardiovascular disease the most common complication. Diabetes is also the leading cause of blindness, disease-related amputations and chronic kidney failure. Sadly it doesn’t stop there. Diabetes and obesity are associated with a greater risk for several cancers, osteoarthritis, migraines, psoriasis, asthma, and other inflammatory diseases. In addition, far more people with diabetes develop depression and Alzheimer’s disease.

One of the most alarming features of diabetes is that for every person diagnosed with diabetes, another person has the disease but doesn’t know it. It’s mainly the rise in cases of type-2 diabetes that is fuelling the epidemic. This used to affect mostly people over 60, but increasingly it affects younger people. The thing is that Type-2 diabetes is generally a direct consequence of diet and lifestyle and it can be prevented in most cases with the right diet, regular exercise and stress management. Isn’t that the case with so many health issues – if we ate better and took regular exercise we would feel better, look better, perform better and live longer, happier and more productive lives. Don’t become a statistic.

The Last Two Kilos

Sometimes the last two kilos can be the hardest to lose. Why is that? It’s often because by the time you get down to the last two kilos you are feeling pretty good about yourself, your clothes fit, your motivation is waning and you become a bit complacent about dropping any more fat.

Whereas before you would have said No to treats, you now say Yes. Where before you were measuring your portions, planning your meals, keeping a diary and living it’, you aren’t so focused now and have less motivation to keep up with the good habits. Those two kilos can still be lost, but you have to re-harness your focus and pay attention to detail again. If you do mean business, and you do want to drop those last few kilos before Christmas, then think about taking up my spring special offer of an initial half hour appointment + 5 x 15 minute weekly appointments for $170.

Protein Bars

As you know, I am no longer able to buy in the FX Lo Carb bars, but a really nice bar that I would recommend are the Carbrite bars. You can buy these from NZ Muscle on Constellation Drive, Mairangi Bay. Carbrites come in a good selection of flavours and contain no artificial sweeteners, no trans fats or preservatives and are gluten free. Probably the most popular flavour is the toasted coconut (like a Toastie bar), but the chocolate mint and chocolate are my favourite flavours. NZ Muscle have given me some $5 vouchers to give my clients who wish to buy boxes of bars (or you can use the voucher on any of their products), just ask. www.nzmuscle.co.nz

Cafe with healthy options on the menu

How many times do you walk into a cafe and look at the menu and think “there’s nothing here that I can eat”? Well, now there is a local cafe offering healthy options on their menu. Altura Cafe & Roastery at 23 Douglas Alexander Parade in Albany have included a yummy, weight-wise chicken salad and also a lite omelette option in their new spring menu. www.alturacoffee.co.nz

Travelling somewhere?

I can highly recommend Amanda MacLeod of The Travel Brokers http://www.thetravelbrokers.co.nz/main.asp?broker=amandamacleod if you would like help with planning a trip, organising accommodation, transport or need advice on any aspect of travel. Amanda takes the hassle out of it for you and is mobile, so she can meet you at your home, business or a cafe if preferred. She is accessible 24/7, researches the best solution for you and has 27 years experience.

From the Kitchen

This month’s new recipes are on my website and are:

• Entertaining platter
• Simple vegetarian pizza
• Chocolate orange mousse (with mocha option)

The mousse is delicious and is low fat, low sugar and takes only a few minutes to make. Find the recipes here: http://www.nutritionforlife.co.nz/recipe-index/

Summer Wrap Ideas

Now that iceberg lettuce are back in season and almost affordable (!), try washing a large leaf, drying it, then using it as a wrap for a protein and salad filling. Add some chutney or dressing and a few cubes of feta and you have a delicious wrap.

Egg wrap. Beat up two eggs with a little salt and black pepper then pour the mixture into a heated, non stick pan. It will cook within a couple of minutes, no need to turn it over. Remove from the pan, cool, add a salad filling (the wrap is your protein) and roll up.

The take home message from this newsletter is that it will be Christmas before you know it, so don’t let social occasions and weekends throw you off track, keep your goal in mind and stay focused. The rewards are so worth it!

Lynda

If you’ve been hibernating over winter and come to a standstill with fat loss, or if you’ve been meaning to get around to ‘starting again’ with your healthy eating habits, now is the time to make the commitment to get back on track.  It’s all too easy to keep thinking “I’ll start next Monday”, but before you know it, Monday has been and gone, along with your good intentions!

Sign up now for my Spring 6 week accountability special.  Many clients tell me that they need accountability to keep them on track.  They think they can do it on their own, but without someone to check in with regularly, they just don’t make progress.  If this sounds like you, and you are ready to roll again, let’s get started.

The 6 week package includes a 30 minute nutrition consultation where we will do a measure up, re-set goals and write up a new plan, plus 5 x weekly 15 minute appointments to keep you on track to meet those goals.

The deal is that you book and pay for the six week special in either one or two payments and then you are committed to those appointments.  Tough love to drop those kilos before swimsuit weather arrives.   Are you ready to get serious and re-focused on meeting targets again?  The cost for the 6 week special is just $170.00.  Contact me now to get started!

Don’t be embarrassed to come back if you have fallen off the wagon.  Lately I’ve caught up with several clients I hadn’t seen for a while and they all said that they were waiting to lose weight before coming back to see me, but realised it just wasn’t going to happen on their own.  Does that sound like you?

Have you noticed that quite a few chemist stores are promoting various meal replacement diets?  These usually consist of shake sachets, soup sachets and bars.  These VLCD (very low calorie diets) are often fronted by someone who has lost a large amount of weight very quickly.  And you will, if you can live off soups, drink powder sachets and bars every day, because these diets often come in at under 1000 calories per day.  Starvation level.

The problem is that these diets do nothing to teach you about keeping the weight off.  About how much to eat, when to eat it and all the other the factors that are important in not only losing weight, but in learning to keep it off.  No one size fits all.  We each have our own likes and dislikes – and issues around food.  Simply cutting back to starvation level does nothing to address these.  What does work is an individualised plan and regular appointments to help work through problems as they occur.  There simply is no magic bullet or quick fix.

When we think of spring, we think of renewal, new leaves on the trees, new baby lambs, maybe some spring cleaning at home and attending to jobs we didn’t get around to over winter.  What about our bodies?  How about a spring clean for them?

Optimal digestive and liver health are essential for healthy bodies.  Yes, we are what we eat, but we are also what we absorb.   Without optimal digestive health we may not be absorbing the nutrients from our food and if we aren’t absorbing them, then we can’t receive the benefits of them.  If you suffer from excessive gas or bloating, constipation or hormonal issues, then it’s time to look at optimising the health of your liver and digestive organs.

When it comes to digestion, let’s start at the top with a few tips that need little explanation.  Eat slowly.  Chew your food well.  Don’t bolt your food.  Pay attention to your food as you eat it.  Eat mindfully.  Only eat sitting down and not while watching TV, reading or working on the computer.  Don’t eat large amounts at once – it’s like putting two loads of washing in the washing machine if you eat large amounts of food and it’s unrealistic to expect your body to digest it efficiently.

Your liver is your second largest organ (after your skin) and it performs many vital functions, including detoxification of every substance that goes in or on your body.  Sadly all too often it gets abused with excess alcohol, caffeine, toxins from the environment and from what we put in our mouth and on our skin.

Carrying excess fat around the abdominal area and eating and drinking the wrong kinds of thing can lead to a fatty liver.  If you imagine your liver as a big sieve, and that everything you ingest eventually goes through it (via your bloodstream), then imagine what happens when the sieve gets clogged with fat?  It can’t function properly!

You don’t have to do any fancy de-tox programmes to improve your liver health, but you do need to provide it with the right nutritional and lifestyle support.  It always comes back to basics, plenty of fresh, clean water, ‘real’ food, regular exercise and moderation of things like caffeine and alcohol.

I can’t emphasise enough how detrimental it is to your liver to over indulge in alcohol.  Remember, the ‘safe’ daily limit is two standard drinks for women (as in 2 x 100mls of wine) and 4 standard drinks for men – with two alcohol free days each week.  Humans were never designed to be drinking alcohol every day and in the amounts it is now consumed.  Keep in mind that your liver is also your biggest fat burning organ and you want it in tip top shape.

For your liver to carry out its detoxification processes, it requires the right nutrients, especially amino acids.  Amino acids are what make up proteins, so regular intake of low fat protein is essential for liver health, as is a good intake of fresh vegetables and fruit.  Lemons are plentiful at this time of year and a great liver cleanser is a glass of freshly squeezed lemon juice in warm water first thing in the morning.

Fresh, leafy green vegetables are essential for our bodies for so many reasons.  They provide minerals and fibre, help make our blood more alkaline and have been shown to help prevent bowel cancer too.  Remember, our bodies are made from what we eat, so if you put poor quality, nutrient lacking foods into your body, then that is the raw material with which it has to use to replicate all its cells, manufacture hormones, build an effective immune system, as well as carry out many, many other functions that are happening within us constantly.

Can you really expect to have a strong, healthy body if year after year you don’t provide it with the right building materials?

Water, water, are you drinking yours?

If the taste of ‘plain water’ puts you off drinking it, try one of these options:

• Float lemon, lime or orange slices in a jug of water in the fridge and fill your water bottle from it.
• Place a piece of fresh, unpeeled ginger (about the size of your thumbnail) in a heatproof container and poor boiling water over it. Cool in the fridge and use to top up your water bottle for a refreshing ginger flavour
• Squeeze the juice of a lemon or lime into your water bottle and chill

Off the Shelves

Foodtown and Countdown have their own FreshLite brand of dried fruits and nuts, some of which come in a packet of 5 x 40g bags.  The Invigorate Mix is a very nice blend of walnuts, cashews, peanuts, almonds and dried fruit and is useful to throw into your glovebox or handbag for a snack on the run.  They contain around 165 calories per 40g bag.

An easy, healthy snack for kids could be an Annies Veggies and Apple fruit leather bar.  They are normally found in the fruit and veggie section of the supermarkets and contain two strips of fruit and vegetable leather.  Just ensure the kids rinse their mouth out with a swig of water after eating the leather as it may stick to their teeth.

Website Links

As you probably know by now, my website has been updated and all my recipes are on there.

This month another batch of recipes has been added, including two sweet ones plus the following meals:

• Kumara and cottage cheese lunch
• Vegetarian Sloppy Joes
• Beef Burgers
• Smoked Chicken and Roast vegetable dish
• Felafels

To save my newsletters from becoming too long, future recipes will be added to the website and I will advise you what has been added.

To check out the recipes, follow this link:

http://www.nutritionforlife.co.nz/recipe-index/ recipes are in alphabetical order

I’ve also loaded more tips on my tips page; go here to check them out:

http://www.nutritionforlife.co.nz/weight-loss-tips-and-healthy-eating-guidelines/

The tips are added in chronological order, so new ones appear first.

More testimonials have also been added, check them out here:

http://www.nutritionforlife.co.nz/testimonials/

Lael is very proud of having lost 13 kilos to date and really looking forward to her upcoming overseas holiday.

Sally’s Fitness Tip for September www.fitnessfix.co.nz

Find an Exercise Buddy

If you are new to exercise it is a great idea to find a buddy to work out with.  If you make a commitment to a friend you are much more likely to exercise.  It is also a great way to be social at the same time as getting some exercise in.

Now that spring is in the air why don’t you find a friend who you can meet 2–3 times per week for a walk.  My tip is to vary your walk each time and try to add some hills so that you get a good cardio workout.  Make sure that you walk as fast as you talk so that you can maximize your workout effectiveness!

Odds and Ends

Online Supplement Company

I highly recommend Healthpost as a great company to order your supplements from.  They have a huge selection of brands, great prices and superfast delivery.  They also have articles on various conditions on their website and are very quick to respond if you have any queries.  Check them out here:  www.healthpost.co.nz

Are you a knitter?

Every winter many South Auckland babies and children are admitted to Kidz First Children’s Hospital with respiratory illnesses. As part of an initiative by the South Auckland Health Foundation teams of ladies are knitting baby clothing and baby beanies and desperately need donations of knitting yarn, any colour, wool or acrylic, double knit, 4ply and 3ply.  If you are able to help with knitting or with donations of wool please contact Bronwyn on 0274286797 or email delaceys@clear.net.nz.  Guidelines and the baby beanie pattern are available on http://www.sahf.org.nz/?id=305.   I decided to dust off my knitting needles and am really enjoying beanie making.  It would have been a lot easier though without the ‘help’ of Simba who, before I had even finished casting on, bit through the wool and took off with it wrapped around his legs!

Do you know of someone who is interesting getting into business for themself?

Remember the Spring 6 Week Special if you are ready to get back on track and want to benefit from weekly appointments at a great price.  Call me now to set up an appointment time.

Lynda

However, it is now August and that does mean it is only five weeks until spring officially starts. Already the days are lengthening and when we do have a fine day, we are reminded that before long we will be peeling off a couple of layers and exposing a possibly less streamlined shape than we would have liked.

If you have accumulated a few bulges around your waist over winter, don’t wait any longer to take action, because the sad news is that those muffin tops will not disappear of their own accord. In fact, left alone, they seem to gather momentum and spill even further over the top of your jeans!

What is the first step? To have a goal! Whether it is a fat loss goal, a clothes fit goal or a couple of habit change goals, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you take positive action now. It might be something as simple as your deciding not to drink alcohol for two weeks. (maybe that doesn’t sound too simple to some of you!) Or you might have a goal of losing two kilos of fat by the end of August. Your goal might be to buy a pedometer and do 10,000 steps a day. If you have been hiding from me for a while, your goal might be to come back in this week and let me help you re-set goals and write you a new food plan. Whatever your goal, write it down and make a start today.

Often when you make a commitment to re-establish one good habit, by default you tend to pull other habits into line too. It is generally never one thing in isolation that makes us gain fat, it is a combination of a few things that add up over time. The main culprits are increasing portion sizes, decreasing exercise and picking between meals and snacks, especially late afternoon and after dinner.

This is a great time of year to get your workmates onboard and inspired to shape up for spring too. Maybe you can organise a biggest loser type competition at work or organise lunchtime power walks. Have a ban on office shouts, birthday baking or other dangerous activities? If there are enough of you interested.

Sometimes we just need to make more of an effort and yes, toughen up. Stop looking for reasons as to why you can’t do something and instead look for ways that you can. If you really want it, you will make it happen. It might take a few false starts, but hang in there and persevere. Don’t give up when you have a bad day? – just move on and make the next day a great one.

There are so many studies that show keeping to a healthy weight and exercising regularly can help prevent bowel cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, heart disease and many other conditions which seriously impact on enjoyment of life. Eat well and exercise regularly now to help prevent health issues later in life.

For recipe ideas, check out my updated website: www.nutritionforlife.co.nz

Protein

Protein is responsible for all the growth, maintenance and repair jobs that your body is constantly carrying out, so it makes sense that your body needs a regular supply. Unlike fat and carbohydrate, we don’t have storage depots? For protein on our bodies so we need to eat protein throughout the day.

Just one of the good things about protein is that it has a high thermic effect? Meaning that some of the energy in each gram of protein is wasted as heat during the process of digestion and metabolism. The thermic effect of nutrients is approximately 2–3 % for fat, 6–8 % for carbohydrates, and 25–30% for proteins. What that means is that about 25-30% of the energy (calories) contained in protein foods is burnt off during digestion. Protein is also more satiating than carbohydrates or fat, meaning you stay full for longer after eating protein.

Including protein with each meal and snack also slows down the rate at which blood glucose levels rise after meals. Spikes in blood glucose levels lead to elevated insulin levels, which in turn means fat burning stops! To stay in the fat burning zone you need to have steady levels of glucose and insulin.

Protein doesn’t have to mean meat, it can be low fat dairy like yoghurt, cottage cheese and milk, or nuts, nut butter, whey shakes, protein bars and other enjoyable foods.

Fat – we need it!

While fat does contain more than twice the energy of carbohydrates and proteins, gram for gram, we do need fat in our diet to stay healthy. It is the type of fat which is important and of course how much we consume.

Fats such as the essential omega-3 fatty acids found in krill and fish oils actually help your body burn fat, fight inflammation, prevent mood swings and keep your hair and skin healthy.

Our body needs fat to burn fat and the healthiest type of fat is obtained from deep water fatty fish such as salmon and tuna. Unfortunately, tinned fish has quite a bit of the good oil drained from it, but it is still a source of omega-3 fat. Supplementing with omega-3 capsules is an easy way to obtain your good fats if you aren’t eating fresh fish 2-3 times a week, which most people don’t. You can also use a vegetarian form of essential fatty acid, such as flax oil, as a dressing on your salads or as an extra in your smoothies.

Did you know that belly fat is a strong predictor of heart disease? It is, and it’s hardly breaking news. This finding was first reported by the British Medical Journal back in 1984.

In the study, researchers measured a surrogate marker for belly fat known as the waist-hip-ratio or WHR, and this is what they concluded: “results indicate that in middle aged men the distribution of fat deposits may be a better predictor of cardiovascular disease and death than the degree of adiposity [fat].”1 In short, it’s not about the amount of fat, but where it’s found that leads to trouble.

www.nutritionforlife.co.nz

So just as the type of fat you eat is important, where you carry it on your body is also important. Fat deposits in the abdominal area especially release inflammatory chemicals which can lead to heart disease, insulin resistance and diabetes. Fat stored around the organs is called visceral fat and it is this type of fat which is the most dangerous. You can measure your own waist to hip ratio by grabbing a tape measure and measuring your waist (at the narrowest part) and your hips, widest part.

Here is a link to a WHR calculator: http://www.healthyforms.com/helpful-tools/ and it also gives the healthy range of WHR.

Protein Bars

Sadly, my supply of the Lo Carb Fx protein bars has run out and they are no longer available in NZ. Probably the closest in texture and flavour is the Carbless range (blue wrapper) from the supermarket. The best value protein bars are the HPLC bars. Half a bar = a serving as they are big bars. Try the Chocolate Crunch flavour. These are available in most supermarkets too.

Off the Shelves

Kelloggs All-Bran Apple flavoured Crunch is a nice crunchy high fibre cereal which is new on the shelves. A ¾ cup serving contains 6.8g of fibre and around 160 calories.

Soup: Good Taste Smoked Fish & Wine chowder found in a bag in the chilled section of your supermarket.

Lemons are in season now so make the most of them. Try microwaving a whole lemon (or other citrus fruit) for a few seconds to get more juice out of them. Plain old lemon juice makes a nice dressing on salad.

Instead of eating until you are full, try eating slowly, until you are no longer hungry. The difference in energy between the two could add up to a couple of kilos of fat per year.

Fitness Tip from Sally of Fitness Fix www.fitnessfix.co.nz

People who exercised during their workday were 23 per cent more productive on those days than on a non-workout day, says a recent study from the International Journal of Workplace Health Management. With a good cardio workout your circulation increases, which fills you with energy, and your thinking becomes sharper and clearer. So next time you get writer’s block and you can’t see the weeds from the trees get outside and fill your lungs with fresh air.

Yummy Mash with a difference

Mash kumara (no butter or milk added) then add stewed apple + Dijon mustard. One stewed apple added to enough mashed kumara to serve 4 people. Delicious!

It’s still soup weather so I’ve made up a hearty chicken soup recipe to keep you warm. Leftovers are great for lunch the next day.

Hearty Chicken Soup – serves 6

• 500g cooked chicken, chopped
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• Few sticks of celery, chopped
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1 litre of chicken stock
• 1 packet of Maggi Creme of Chicken Soup
• 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 3 cups water
• Black pepper and salt to taste

In a sprayed, large non stick pan sauté onions, carrots and celery until tender. Add rest of ingredients, bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Serve with 2 Corn Thins broken into the soup, they make great croutons!

Chicken is such a versatile protein, there are endless ways to use it. The next recipe has a few options, but there are many other ways of filling the chicken too.

Filled Chicken ‘Rolls’

150g chicken breast per person.

Place the chicken between two layers of baking paper and using a meat mallet or similar beat out chicken until schnitzel thickness, then use one of the fillings below.

Filling #1 (serves 1)

Mix 1tbs Extra Light Philadelphia cream cheese with 2 well drained, chopped, sun dried tomatoes and spread on one half of the chicken. Roll up firmly, tucking the sides in too.

Filling #2 (serves 1)

Mix 1 tbs Extra Light Philadelphia cream cheese with 2 diced dried apricots then spread on chicken as above and roll up.

Filling # 3 (serves 1)

Spread chicken with ½ teaspoon of pesto, then sprinkle with 1 level dessertspoon of grated parmesan. Roll up as above.

Line a baking dish with baking paper then place rolled breasts, seam side down in the dish. Bake at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through. You don’t want to overcook them or they will be dry.

The recipes in my newsletters will be added to my website regularly, so check in at http://www.nutritionforlife.co.nz/recipes/ for easy, healthy meal ideas.

That’s it for now, remember, if you have gained a muffin top over winter, call me now and let’s put a plan in place to get rid of it.

Lynda

I think July is absolutely the hardest month to stay on track and today is so cold that I want to race downstairs and whip up a steamed pudding for dinner! But instead I’ll shut myself in my office and write my newsletter!

Are you a picker?

Does that ring a bell with you? Are you someone who, when they are bored, heads to the fridge or pantry and has a bite of this and a pick of that? Do you finish off the kids meals? Are you on autopilot after meals and like to have something sweet to finish off your meal? Do you think that those little picks don’t really add up to much so there is no harm in having them?

You know what? They do add up and it can mean the difference between dropping fat and not dropping fat. If you find that your fat loss has slowed down then you need to be 100% aware of what is going in your mouth. Old habits die hard and picking between meals and snacks is something to keep a close eye on.

Sometimes it happens because we are bored or we have some time on our hands. No one ever thinks oh I’ve got a few minutes to spare so I’ll get down on the floor and do a few press ups, or I’ll run up and down the stairs a few times. No, instead we tend to think what’s to eat and head off to the pantry!

To have an awareness of what you are doing, you really have to go back to keeping an accurate food diary. Accurate means recording EVERYTHING, not just the things that you should have eaten. It’s the items that get left off food diaries which can make all the difference. Awareness and accountability = food diary!

Shouts at work can often be a challenge and it seems like birthday shouts are very much alive and well in workplaces. Remember though, no one makes you put the cake in your mouth. No one makes you have the wine after work. You always have the option of saying no.

We are surrounded by so much choice these days. The supermarkets are loaded with ever expanding lines of groceries, there are gourmet speciality food stores popping up and TV food shows promote delicious high calorie recipes. The thing to keep in mind is that these special foods are just that, special food for special occasions. They are not everyday foods. Similarly with alcohol; these days it is just so easy to pop a bottle of wine in the grocery trolley, but wine and other alcohol should not be treated as an everyday item if you are watching your weight.

Sugar free doesn’t necessarily mean calorie free

While they can be useful to keep your mouth occupied, don’t forget that sugar free gum and sweets contain energy. A box of the new Wrigley’s gum sticks contains around 60 calories and a tin of Eclipse sugar free mints contains around 113 calories. A packet of sugar free Go Gummies lollies contains 280 calories. Generally, diet fizzy drinks are calorie free, but consume them in moderation only.

Increase in whey powder prices

Unfortunately the cost of the Devine whey powder has had to go up as my supplier has increased the price. The new price for the 750g container is $56.90, the 1.5kg is $99.90 and the 2.5kg is $149.90.

I am now stocking an alternative brand, as well as the Devine, and it comes in 900g and 2.2kg sizes, in a wide variety of flavours. I currently have vanilla and strawberry in stock in the 900g size. The cost of the 900g is $62.50 and the 2.2kg size is $120.50. If you would like the larger size please let me know.

Lemons

Lemons are in season now and a great idea to start your day is to squeeze the juice of a lemon into a glass of warm/hot water before breakfast. Lemon juice helps make your body more alkaline (very desirable) and is also a liver cleanser, so get squeezing now! One glass of water before breakfast also means one glass towards your daily total.

Have you checked your waist measurement lately?

Women, your waist should be no more than 80cm and men, no more than 94cm. As we age we tend to store more fat around our organs (visceral fat) and this fat is more dangerous than that stored around hips and thighs. You cannot spot reduce; the only way to lose that belly fat is to reduce the amount of calories you take in and to get active! Belly fat releases inflammatory chemicals which lead to many health issues.

Calories in smoked salmon

Beware if you are having smoked salmon as a fish choice for lunch or dinner. Salmon is very high in calories and a 50g portion of smoked salmon contains the same energy as approximately 110g of cooked chicken or steak.

Multivitamins and drinking tea or coffee

I think it is a very good idea to take a good multivitamin and mineral every day, but don’t drink tea or coffee for an hour either side of taking your multi as the tannins may prevent the absorption of some of the minerals.

Networking Group

If you or someone you know, who is a small business owner, would like to join a small, friendly group of women to increase networking opportunities please let me know. We meet each second Wednesday from 9.30am to 10.30am in cafes in the Mairangi Bay/Albany area. There is no financial commitment, just your coffee.

Off the shelves

This month I’ve found a few interesting new things that I think will be of interest. Sample boxes are in my office for you to see.

Pam’s Stir-fry comes frozen in a 1 kilo bag, with beef, chicken or lamb + veggies. All you do is heat a wok or pan and empty the bag of meat and veggies into it. Stir and cook for 8 minutes, then add some sauce, warm through and serve. The bag says serves 5, but I’d say it serves 3 at 220 calories per serve, plus sauce. For bigger appetites, serve with cooked rice. The veggies stay nice and crisp and it is just so easy. At $7.99 for three serves it is good value too.

Goodness Superfoods Protein cereal. This wheat free (but not gluten free) crunchy cereal is extremely high in fibre and tastes great. A ½ cup serving (45g) contains 13.2g of fibre. It tastes great, has a very low GI of 36 and contains wholegrains. While it may seem expensive at $7.49 for a 500g box, there are 11 servings in the box which equates to 68 cents a serve.

The Good Taste Company Hummus + Crackers. The Original version, not Garlic Lovers. Four individual snack packs, containing hummus + crackers. It is perfect for morning tea at 120 calories. $3.99 per four pack.

Weight Watchers Beef Burgundy frozen meal. While I’m not a huge fan of W.W. frozen meals, this one is quite good, with nice crisp veggies. It makes an easy hot lunch. Add a couple of kiwifruit or an apple or pear for extra fibre.

Cotterill + Rouse Thai Coriander + Lime Dressing. While this is not new, it is a very nice dressing on a beef salad. Cook an extra piece of steak the night before, slice it thinly for your salad the next day, then pour a tablespoon of the dressing over for yummy Thai flavours.

Client Referral gift

For each new client you refer, who pays full price for an initial appointment, my thank you gift is either a free 15 minute appointment or $30 off your next half hour appointment. Now, I can also offer you the option of redeeming your gift in the form of a complimentary group training session with Sally of Fitness Fix. Sally holds fun training sessions at various times for small groups of women. Whatever your level of fitness, or fitness goal, Sally can help you.

From the kitchen

At this time of year it is very tempting to make pies, but as most pastries are very high in energy, pies are not waistline friendly. A better alternative is to use filo pastry. Filo is very versatile, but I use it most to make strudels. As long as the filling is cool, you can wrap most things in filo and it looks very special. Any leftovers have to be re-heated in the oven though to crisp up, the microwave does not work here.

The trick when using filo is to only remove as many sheets as you need from the packet then re-seal the packet to make it airtight and the filo will keep in the fridge for a few days. I use Timo’s filo pastry, available in the chilled section of the supermarket. I don’t find frozen filo very practical to work with.

The filo becomes your complex carbohydrates, i.e. don’t serve potato etc as well.

You can do something as simple as smearing a cooked chicken breast with a little pesto then wrapping it in two sheets of filo and baking it. Spray between the filo layers with cooking spray, wrap, then spray the outer layer and bake.

Vegetarian Strudel – serves 4

The veggies can be varied, just use whatever you have. Don’t be put off by the cottage cheese, you won’t even taste it and it adds good quality protein to the meal.

• Cooking spray
• 10 sheets filo pastry
• 4 tbs sweet fruit chutney (I used Bit on the Side sweet fruit chutney)
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 2 red capsicum, diced
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup peeled, cubed and lightly cooked pumpkin
• 1 large red onion chopped
• 2 zucchini diced
• 2 handfuls baby spinach
• 3 teaspoons of tandoori paste
• Salt and pepper
• 5 tbs lite cottage cheese
• 30g finely grated parmesan

Spray a large non stick pan with cooking spray and heat. Add veggies, tandoori paste, salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, until tender. Cool. (if you don’t cool the veggies the filo will be more difficult to roll up and will probably split)

Stack the sheets of filo on a dry board or bench and spray between each layer with baking spray, apart from the top sheet. Spread the chutney on the top sheet. Place the vegetable mixture along the long side of the pastry, about 3cm in from the bottom edge. Blob the cottage cheese and parmesan on top of the veggies. Spray the outside edges of the filo and then carefully roll up, like a big sausage roll, turning the sides in as you go. Put in a large ovenproof dish (lined with baking paper for an easier clean up) with the seam on the underside. Spray generously with baking spray and place in a 200 degree oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes or so. Serve with a salad or extra fibrous veggies.

Leftover filo pastry needs to be used within about 5-7 days or it goes mouldy, as it contains very little fat. You could make a batch of savoury mince, chill it then make that into a strudel. Or you could put the mince or casserole mix into small ramekins, scrunch up two pieces of filo per ramekin and place on top. Spray well with cooking spray and cook until golden. If you are making strudels, make sure the filling mixture isn’t too runny, i.e. if you are using a curried mince or savoury mince filling you might need to thicken it with a small amount of cornflour.

Egg wrap

For a different kind of wrapper, break two eggs into a bowl, season and beat until the yolks and whites are combined. Pour into a sprayed, heated pan and cook until starting to dry. Carefully turn over and cook another minute or two. Cool, then spread with chutney or sauce and fill with salad. The eggs are your protein serving. You can add chopped parsley or dried herbs to the egg mixture if you like.

It looks like I’m almost out of room here, so I’ll sign off and get this newsletter away.

Keep warm, keep up your fluids and try to not boredom eat. Maybe even do a few press ups instead of raiding the pantry and fridge!!

Lynda

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

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