The frantic nature of 2010 thus far has meant that Easter has well and truly crept up on us. Many of us do relatively well with our diet and exercise regime each year until about this time, when we collapse in a heap over the Easter long week and indulge in far too much chocolate, far too many show bags and forget the need to increase activity during holiday periods rather than ditch it completely.
So this year, rather than use the holiday weekend as an excuse to let your regular routines fall by the way side, use the time to exercise as much as you can and prepare for the next couple of months. Sure it is fine to indulge in a little chocolate but if you consider that just 1 large Easter bun with butter contains up to ¼ of your daily energy requirement, and just a small packet of chocolate eggs, almost half, moderation and movement is the key to preventing weight gain over the Easter break. A couple of others tips to get you through the holiday weekend without an extra kilo or two;
Enjoy an Easter Bun on Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Sunday only (and not the ones with chocolate chips!)
Eat as much chocolate as you like on Easter Sunday then throw or give the leftovers away
Purchase, at most just 1 Easter food show bag
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Food and airline travel - a disgrace
It has been a busy week and you are rushing to catch a flight to Melbourne. You have not had time to grab breakfast, but know that since you have booked Qantas, they will feed you on the plane. So, after loading and unloading your lap top, lining up for 20 minutes to check in and been chosen for the security scan you have just made the flight. A few minutes into the hour long flight the hostess brings you a snack – a cookie that contains 1200kJ and 20g of fat – thanks Qantas. Lucky you notice that they also have apples, and the hostess agrees you can have one, even though she appears slightly shocked someone is asking for one at all.
So much of our ability to eat well comes down to the foods we have available to us on a daily basis. Foods available on flights, in hotels, at sporting matches and other public events have a massive impact on the nutrition of the nation. It is time that large organizations including our airlines accept their corporate responsibility to have healthy food choices available for their customers. No one is making you eat the apple, but you should be offered it and no one needs a cookie that contains ¼ of your daily kilojoules and half of your daily fat intake.
So much of our ability to eat well comes down to the foods we have available to us on a daily basis. Foods available on flights, in hotels, at sporting matches and other public events have a massive impact on the nutrition of the nation. It is time that large organizations including our airlines accept their corporate responsibility to have healthy food choices available for their customers. No one is making you eat the apple, but you should be offered it and no one needs a cookie that contains ¼ of your daily kilojoules and half of your daily fat intake.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Who do you spend your time with?
Our lives are filled with many people; people we work with, family, friends, associates, those who we pay to help us, our partners, children, friends of friends and people we studied with. Then there are people who live next door, and people who we see periodically at the supermarket or petrol station and the people we used to date. If you work with clients as well that means that there are a whole lot more people who you are in contact with every day – which means, all in all, a whole lot of people.
One way people can be grouped in life is according to their energy levels, or described in another way if they tend to be optimistic or pessimistic in their outlook. As we know that energy systems transfer, such a description can explain the reason why some people make us feel good, and others not so good. High energy people tend to leave you feeling positive and enthusiastic about life, while the lower energy, more pessimistic individuals tend to leave you feeling tired and in a lower mood state than you started with.
While we can not always control the people we have contact with on a daily basis in our professional lives, we can control the ones we have contact with in our private time. To maintain optimal mood, it is absolutely imperative that you learn to become fussy about who you spend your time with. While social circles may be large and growing, in busy lifestyles it really does become matter of quality over quantity when interacting with people to ensure that your energy levels are not in a constant state of drain because you have given too much to others. While this may mean being strict with your social calendar, the only person who will benefit will be you, and those who are most important in your life as they in turn get to spent more much coveted time with you, when you are functioning at your best.
One way people can be grouped in life is according to their energy levels, or described in another way if they tend to be optimistic or pessimistic in their outlook. As we know that energy systems transfer, such a description can explain the reason why some people make us feel good, and others not so good. High energy people tend to leave you feeling positive and enthusiastic about life, while the lower energy, more pessimistic individuals tend to leave you feeling tired and in a lower mood state than you started with.
While we can not always control the people we have contact with on a daily basis in our professional lives, we can control the ones we have contact with in our private time. To maintain optimal mood, it is absolutely imperative that you learn to become fussy about who you spend your time with. While social circles may be large and growing, in busy lifestyles it really does become matter of quality over quantity when interacting with people to ensure that your energy levels are not in a constant state of drain because you have given too much to others. While this may mean being strict with your social calendar, the only person who will benefit will be you, and those who are most important in your life as they in turn get to spent more much coveted time with you, when you are functioning at your best.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
School Lunches for Dummies
The start of another school year signals a reminder to mums of the need to get back into grind of preparing a tasty, appealing and nutritious school lunch, five days a week for hungry, growing children. Unfortunately, despite the very best intentions, all too often sandwiches and fresh fruit are returned squashed in the bottom of school bags leaving parents in despair and children potentially not getting all of the nutrition they require.
Primary school aged children eat up to a 1/3 of their daily kilo joule requirements while they are at school, so it is worth making sure that you get the balance right. Unfortunately research available suggests that we still have a little way to go when it comes to getting the lunchbox food balance right. Data collected on the lunchbox contents of over fifteen hundred primary school aged children in Victoria found that on average children had three packaged snack foods such as potato chips and muesli bars in their lunchbox each day. Furthermore, researchers recently found that after looking into the lunchboxes of 170 lunchboxes of first grade children that 72 per cent of students had no vegetables or salad in their lunch box, 24 per cent had less than one serve of fruit and only 34 per cent had one or more pieces of fruit packed in their schoolbag. This research also found that up to 77 per cent of students had one or more snack foods such as chocolate, chips or cake. And 48 per cent had their total recommended daily amount of junk food - one to two small serves a day - just in their lunch box.
Packaged snacks such as cheese and dip snack packs, muesli bars, fruit twists and straps, potato chips and biscuit dippers are often full of fat and highly processed carbohydrates but tend to offer little in the way of nutrition. Too many of these snacks can mean that children are receiving many empty kilojoules without the amounts of calcium, fibre, iron and protein that they need for optimal growth and development.
What is good lunchbox nutrition?
A nutritionally balanced lunchbox can be divided into four core sections: low glycaemic index carbohydrates for energy, proteins for nutrition and fullness, fruit for fibre and vitamins and a snack food that has some nutritional benefit. Most importantly, busy children need plenty of water for optimal hydration, particularly in the warmer months when small children are at high risk of dehydration.
Wholegrain carbohydrates for energy:
Forget the idea of plain soggy bread - the vast variety of wrap and flat breads, grain bread rolls, thick crusty bread, crackers and high fibre loaves available means that a traditional sandwich can remain fresh and tasty until lunchtime. Always aim for either wholegrain varieties of bread or if you have a white bread fan, try the wrap or Mountain style breads that kids love. Something to keep in mind if you have children who constantly reject grain varieties of bread is that recent research has shown that if a range of breads with high grain contents are gradually introduce into lunchboxes, the kids do not even notice – so the secret is to not tell them or ask them what they want! Protein rich sandwich fillings include tuna, lean ham, chicken or turkey or hard boiled eggs are ideal as they provide a range of vital nutrients including iron. Protein based fillings also help to slow the rate in which sandwiches are digested, supporting optimal concentration and energy for the entire school day.
TIP: Remember, children often prefer simple sandwich filling to more elaborate concoctions so try not to be offended if they reject your mix of lamb, hummus and roasted vegetables instead asking for plain ham or a simple spread OR
If you don’t like that one
Try mixing bread types for sandwiches with one slice of high fibre white and one slice of grain
In sandwich negotiations with children, try offering their choice once each week and maintaining a mix of salad and protein on the other school days
Fruit:
Fresh fruit is always preferable to dried, fruit sticks or juice as it contains fewer kilojoules, more fibre and teaches children the importance of eating fresh food.
TIP
If you are worried about it getting bruised, stick to hard fruits such as apples or nectarines or pack a small container filled with berries, grapes or melon pieces. If you find that no matter what the fruit always comes home, try cutting it up and serving with low fat ice-cream or yogurt after school.
Protein food
Protein is the nutrient that tends to be missed in school lunchboxes and is often replaced with extra fruit, juice or more snacks. Protein rich foods including low fat dairy provides calcium and a number of other key nutrients including magnesium and phosphorous which all growing children need daily. Recent research commission by dairy Australia found that up to 84% of school aged children were not consuming the recommended number of dairy serves each day and hence school lunchboxes offer a perfect opportunity to boost up these nutrients in their kids diets. Great protein rich lunchbox fillers include cheese sticks, yogurt tubes; milk protein based snacks bars and flavoured milk poppers are popular with children and are also low GI, which helps to keep kids fuller for longer after eating them.
TIP: If you are worried about food safety and using meats on sandwiches, try freezing the sandwich the night before or keep a small popper of frozen water in the lunchbox to keep the food cool. Alternatively check out the cooler style lunchboxes, which are popular during the summer months.
Nutritious Snack
Busy, growing bodies do need energy but they need good quality energy and many processed snack and muesli bars available do not contain a lot of nutrition for many kilojoules. While children do not necessarily need packaged snack foods, not providing them may see them start to swap their lunchbox contents for other, more appealing options and hence providing a limited amount of snack food may prevent the swapping issue so, aim to provide just one packaged muesli or snack bar in your child’s lunchbox each day and try and choose options that have < 400kJ. Wholegrain and dairy based snack bars are more nutritious options.
TIP: Snack Food Checklist
<400kJ per serve
Protein – 3-5g per bar
Total carbohydrate - <20g per bar
Contain wholegrains, are low GI or have calcium
Fluid
Water should always be the drink of choice for children. Fruit juice, soft drinks, sports drinks and cordials are high in sugar and are not appropriate everyday drinks for children. In fact, a recent review has suggested that children drink no more than two sweetened drinks each week, which includes fruit juice, to help prevent childhood obesity.
TIP: Freeze water bottles to help keep the rest of the lunchbox cool during the warmer months. Children will also be more likely to drink water when it is cold.
My son loves going to the canteen, how often should I let him have canteen options for his lunch?
All schoolchildren love the canteen as the food is fresh and it offer an interesting change from their day to day lunchboxes. If you pack a healthy lunchbox most days, once each week or fortnight is a reasonable number of canteen visits and try and encourage your child to make good choices like what? and avoid fatty pies, chips and cheesy pastas and pizza pockets.
What about treats?
If you pack too boring a lunchbox you run the risk of your child swapping their food with other children, and if you pack too many treats, it means there is less chance your child will eat the good stuff. There is nothing wrong with including a small treat such as a small packet of chips or fun size chocolate in the lunchbox occasionally, but limit it to just once each week and keep portions small.
Primary school aged children eat up to a 1/3 of their daily kilo joule requirements while they are at school, so it is worth making sure that you get the balance right. Unfortunately research available suggests that we still have a little way to go when it comes to getting the lunchbox food balance right. Data collected on the lunchbox contents of over fifteen hundred primary school aged children in Victoria found that on average children had three packaged snack foods such as potato chips and muesli bars in their lunchbox each day. Furthermore, researchers recently found that after looking into the lunchboxes of 170 lunchboxes of first grade children that 72 per cent of students had no vegetables or salad in their lunch box, 24 per cent had less than one serve of fruit and only 34 per cent had one or more pieces of fruit packed in their schoolbag. This research also found that up to 77 per cent of students had one or more snack foods such as chocolate, chips or cake. And 48 per cent had their total recommended daily amount of junk food - one to two small serves a day - just in their lunch box.
Packaged snacks such as cheese and dip snack packs, muesli bars, fruit twists and straps, potato chips and biscuit dippers are often full of fat and highly processed carbohydrates but tend to offer little in the way of nutrition. Too many of these snacks can mean that children are receiving many empty kilojoules without the amounts of calcium, fibre, iron and protein that they need for optimal growth and development.
What is good lunchbox nutrition?
A nutritionally balanced lunchbox can be divided into four core sections: low glycaemic index carbohydrates for energy, proteins for nutrition and fullness, fruit for fibre and vitamins and a snack food that has some nutritional benefit. Most importantly, busy children need plenty of water for optimal hydration, particularly in the warmer months when small children are at high risk of dehydration.
Wholegrain carbohydrates for energy:
Forget the idea of plain soggy bread - the vast variety of wrap and flat breads, grain bread rolls, thick crusty bread, crackers and high fibre loaves available means that a traditional sandwich can remain fresh and tasty until lunchtime. Always aim for either wholegrain varieties of bread or if you have a white bread fan, try the wrap or Mountain style breads that kids love. Something to keep in mind if you have children who constantly reject grain varieties of bread is that recent research has shown that if a range of breads with high grain contents are gradually introduce into lunchboxes, the kids do not even notice – so the secret is to not tell them or ask them what they want! Protein rich sandwich fillings include tuna, lean ham, chicken or turkey or hard boiled eggs are ideal as they provide a range of vital nutrients including iron. Protein based fillings also help to slow the rate in which sandwiches are digested, supporting optimal concentration and energy for the entire school day.
TIP: Remember, children often prefer simple sandwich filling to more elaborate concoctions so try not to be offended if they reject your mix of lamb, hummus and roasted vegetables instead asking for plain ham or a simple spread OR
If you don’t like that one
Try mixing bread types for sandwiches with one slice of high fibre white and one slice of grain
In sandwich negotiations with children, try offering their choice once each week and maintaining a mix of salad and protein on the other school days
Fruit:
Fresh fruit is always preferable to dried, fruit sticks or juice as it contains fewer kilojoules, more fibre and teaches children the importance of eating fresh food.
TIP
If you are worried about it getting bruised, stick to hard fruits such as apples or nectarines or pack a small container filled with berries, grapes or melon pieces. If you find that no matter what the fruit always comes home, try cutting it up and serving with low fat ice-cream or yogurt after school.
Protein food
Protein is the nutrient that tends to be missed in school lunchboxes and is often replaced with extra fruit, juice or more snacks. Protein rich foods including low fat dairy provides calcium and a number of other key nutrients including magnesium and phosphorous which all growing children need daily. Recent research commission by dairy Australia found that up to 84% of school aged children were not consuming the recommended number of dairy serves each day and hence school lunchboxes offer a perfect opportunity to boost up these nutrients in their kids diets. Great protein rich lunchbox fillers include cheese sticks, yogurt tubes; milk protein based snacks bars and flavoured milk poppers are popular with children and are also low GI, which helps to keep kids fuller for longer after eating them.
TIP: If you are worried about food safety and using meats on sandwiches, try freezing the sandwich the night before or keep a small popper of frozen water in the lunchbox to keep the food cool. Alternatively check out the cooler style lunchboxes, which are popular during the summer months.
Nutritious Snack
Busy, growing bodies do need energy but they need good quality energy and many processed snack and muesli bars available do not contain a lot of nutrition for many kilojoules. While children do not necessarily need packaged snack foods, not providing them may see them start to swap their lunchbox contents for other, more appealing options and hence providing a limited amount of snack food may prevent the swapping issue so, aim to provide just one packaged muesli or snack bar in your child’s lunchbox each day and try and choose options that have < 400kJ. Wholegrain and dairy based snack bars are more nutritious options.
TIP: Snack Food Checklist
<400kJ per serve
Protein – 3-5g per bar
Total carbohydrate - <20g per bar
Contain wholegrains, are low GI or have calcium
Fluid
Water should always be the drink of choice for children. Fruit juice, soft drinks, sports drinks and cordials are high in sugar and are not appropriate everyday drinks for children. In fact, a recent review has suggested that children drink no more than two sweetened drinks each week, which includes fruit juice, to help prevent childhood obesity.
TIP: Freeze water bottles to help keep the rest of the lunchbox cool during the warmer months. Children will also be more likely to drink water when it is cold.
My son loves going to the canteen, how often should I let him have canteen options for his lunch?
All schoolchildren love the canteen as the food is fresh and it offer an interesting change from their day to day lunchboxes. If you pack a healthy lunchbox most days, once each week or fortnight is a reasonable number of canteen visits and try and encourage your child to make good choices like what? and avoid fatty pies, chips and cheesy pastas and pizza pockets.
What about treats?
If you pack too boring a lunchbox you run the risk of your child swapping their food with other children, and if you pack too many treats, it means there is less chance your child will eat the good stuff. There is nothing wrong with including a small treat such as a small packet of chips or fun size chocolate in the lunchbox occasionally, but limit it to just once each week and keep portions small.
Finding your authentic self - the first step towards complete health and well being
Your Life: Rediscovering your authentic self
Angelina has it, as does Brad but Jennifer Aniston never did. Anna Wintour oozes it, as does Michelle Obama. Hugh Jackman embodies it as does Seal and Heidi Klum – authenticity.
Authenticity is one of my most favourite words – the ability to truly reflect ones self; to break free from the roles created for us and stay concrete and honest no matter what the situation or relationship we find ourselves in. Few individuals master their own authentic soul - the very nature of modern life and our relationships seeing us mould and manipulate our authentic selves into the person we hope to be, or doing what others want us to rather than embracing what is true and real for us as an individual.
Our emotions as well as the body are both exceptionally good at telling us when we are on track with our authentic selves. Frustration, irritability, uneasiness and seemingly relentless sadness no matter what your job or paycheck are all powerful emotional indictors that things are not as they need to be in your world in order for you to be at your best. While the physical signs of poor sleep, weight issues, regular sickness and injury often more signs that all is not well with self.
The first step in rediscovering your authentic self is to consider at which point in your life you lost it. Was it when you married or had children; did you never truly embrace who you were after coming from an intense family or was it simply because you lost your way after entering your adult life with little path or direction, or without the confidence to aggressively pursue what it was you knew would make you happy?
One of the key characteristics of authentic people is that they always put their own needs before those of others. Not in a selfish uncaring way, but they know that without love for self, they cannot love others truly, madly, deeply.
Identifying their own core needs and practicing self care and love on a daily basis is central in the lives of authentic souls. So this week I ask you – what it is it that you know both your mind and body need to truly nurture your soul? Is it simply time to be, good food, exercise, time with your passions or time to identify them? Embracing your own authentic self is the first step in building the life that you want and ultimately the one you deserve.
Angelina has it, as does Brad but Jennifer Aniston never did. Anna Wintour oozes it, as does Michelle Obama. Hugh Jackman embodies it as does Seal and Heidi Klum – authenticity.
Authenticity is one of my most favourite words – the ability to truly reflect ones self; to break free from the roles created for us and stay concrete and honest no matter what the situation or relationship we find ourselves in. Few individuals master their own authentic soul - the very nature of modern life and our relationships seeing us mould and manipulate our authentic selves into the person we hope to be, or doing what others want us to rather than embracing what is true and real for us as an individual.
Our emotions as well as the body are both exceptionally good at telling us when we are on track with our authentic selves. Frustration, irritability, uneasiness and seemingly relentless sadness no matter what your job or paycheck are all powerful emotional indictors that things are not as they need to be in your world in order for you to be at your best. While the physical signs of poor sleep, weight issues, regular sickness and injury often more signs that all is not well with self.
The first step in rediscovering your authentic self is to consider at which point in your life you lost it. Was it when you married or had children; did you never truly embrace who you were after coming from an intense family or was it simply because you lost your way after entering your adult life with little path or direction, or without the confidence to aggressively pursue what it was you knew would make you happy?
One of the key characteristics of authentic people is that they always put their own needs before those of others. Not in a selfish uncaring way, but they know that without love for self, they cannot love others truly, madly, deeply.
Identifying their own core needs and practicing self care and love on a daily basis is central in the lives of authentic souls. So this week I ask you – what it is it that you know both your mind and body need to truly nurture your soul? Is it simply time to be, good food, exercise, time with your passions or time to identify them? Embracing your own authentic self is the first step in building the life that you want and ultimately the one you deserve.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Please don't pretend that you are doing us any favours
Food industry and large companies have much control over what we eat. They control what we can buy, what price products are sold at, where they put products on the shelves and in an increasing number of instances, they are encouraging us to eat more and more. Consider for a moment the last time that you went to the petrol station - did someone offer you a discount if you spent some extra cash in there? Or did they offer you 2 for 1 chocolate bars? Did the fast food chain offer an upgrade? Or did you get a better deal at the supermarket if you purchased more? Other examples of this push for consumers to consume more and more include larger companies advertising the unhealthiest burger and breakfast cereal options the most; or heavily discounting the cheaper, poorer quality food items rather than the healthiest before claiming to be holier than thou simply because they offer them on the menu.
All of these are examples of ways in which major companies who claim to be helping Australians eat better with health initiatives are actually making a complete joke of us and laughing all the way to the shareholders meeting. Instead of claiming to market responsibly perhaps it is time to actually do it? So next time the service attendant at the Coles servo offers you 2 for 1 chocolate bars, the McDonalds or Events cinema attendant offers an upgrade perhaps we need to start telling them to stick it.
All of these are examples of ways in which major companies who claim to be helping Australians eat better with health initiatives are actually making a complete joke of us and laughing all the way to the shareholders meeting. Instead of claiming to market responsibly perhaps it is time to actually do it? So next time the service attendant at the Coles servo offers you 2 for 1 chocolate bars, the McDonalds or Events cinema attendant offers an upgrade perhaps we need to start telling them to stick it.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
How to not get fat this Christmas
The time has arrived when we need to be really mindful of our food choices to avoid an extra 5+ kilograms to kick off 2010. Here are the must follows tips for success;
1) Do not skip your training sessions, no matter what. Being “too busy” is a poor excuse
2) Eat a snack an hour before you go to a party
3) Drink vodka, lime and soda
4) Avoid all pastry until Christmas Day
5) If you do overindulge, choose salad or soup for your next meal
6) Snack on Summer fruit
7) Don’t keep extra lollies or chocolates at home
8) Give away as much leftover food as you can
9) Don’t waste your calories on poor quality chocolates, nibbles and pastry
10) Avoid all dips and chips
1) Do not skip your training sessions, no matter what. Being “too busy” is a poor excuse
2) Eat a snack an hour before you go to a party
3) Drink vodka, lime and soda
4) Avoid all pastry until Christmas Day
5) If you do overindulge, choose salad or soup for your next meal
6) Snack on Summer fruit
7) Don’t keep extra lollies or chocolates at home
8) Give away as much leftover food as you can
9) Don’t waste your calories on poor quality chocolates, nibbles and pastry
10) Avoid all dips and chips
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