No Gym? No Excuse!

To Gym Or Not To Gym?

I first started going to a gym because I felt I had to, when I was in my early 20's. Yes, I was overweight and the prevailing weight loss thoughts in those days was that you could almost outrun your eating! By increasing your exercise, you will lose weight!

Well, that was the beginning of a long and hateful journey with the gym. If you are anything like me, you resent going to it. It means:

• hard work and much pain tomorrow
• lots of dirty grubby sweaty clothes to wash
• being laughed at by all those 'skinny' people
• early morning starts, or late home after work as you HAVE to go
• the feeling of being forced to do something you don't want to do

It should feel like this to go to the gym:

But in reality, it feels much more like this!

How I managed to turn this around for me.  

I now have a gym at home (well, I have a treadmill and a weights station) and I dip into and out of it as I please. I even enjoy doing the exercises.  I also walk a lot, and I mean A LOT - up to 4 or 5 times a week, because I want to. There is no longer that feeling that I need to do it.

What changed for me?  Well, after nearly 25 years of feeling that I had to go to the gym to lose weight, I was mentored by a great friend, and discovered that I could lose weight in the kitchen first, and that then increased my motivation to move my body.  The idea of moving my body in a gym was a little off putting for me initially, so I went walking. I'm fortunate to live in an area that has many rainforest walks and I went off into the rainforest for some good old fashioned walking.

I saw much beauty while I was walking (knowing I was completing my gratitude diary daily helped me look beyond what I was doing and towards the beauty that was surrounding me).

I felt so much clearer in the head (yes, I had previously had a lot of brain fog) after my walks.

The walks started as 15 - 30 minute walks and eventually grew to an hour as my energy increased.  Still I wasn't at the gym.  I was happy with that, as I was enjoying moving my body without the stress of going to the gym in my oversized tee-shirts.

After a couple of months of walking, I saw an advert for a weight loss/exercise challenge at the local gym. My mindset had changed enough by this time (as I had already lost some of my weight) and I was confident in my nutrition program, that I decided it was time to tone some of my external 'flab'.

I joined the gym for a 3 month period and went 4 times a week, I still continued with walking, sometimes taking the time to walk to and from the gym, as I wanted to be out in the fresh air still, as well as working on resistance training.

Knowing that resistance training was helping to keep my bones strong, was the key to my mindset on the gym. I was there to tone and build my bones, not to lose weight. That I did as a side effect.

For me, the biggest change was my mindset, I had changed from wanting to improve my weight and appearance for others, to wanting to do it for me. I changed from accepting that I was a big boned girl to truly believing that I was fine boned. I changed from believing dieting was about restriction and deprivation to believing that it was about living life in balance.

The tools I used on my journey are self development books, essential oils, nutrition program and a coach.  You can use these tools very easily for yourself as well.

The first self-development book I read was The Four Agreements.  This is a book that we have now read and analysed within the Book Club group I run (click here to learn more). The changes in how you see where you are, stem from understanding where your beliefs come from. This was a huge change for me and for those that also have read this book.

My essential oil blends worked on my self esteem, on my motivation and on my desires and wishes.  I have created a series of blends for different purposes and am now in the process of publishing these further. I will be sharing recipes on my Facebook page regularly, watch out for them, and for the emotions they are targeting.

The nutrition program I followed is very similar to the Paleo way of thinking, having some days without food, having days with food, eating more protein and less carbohydrates, and ensuring that I was covering my nutritional needs as far as nutrients and vitamins as well as a balance between protein, carbohydrates, fats and fibre. To find out more about it, visit my website, or email me, or send me a message on my Facebook page or through my website.

My coach, well, what more can I say, having someone believe in you, having someone call you on your excuses, having someone in your corner to hear you cry and to give you strength. Priceless. From this coaching experience, I have learnt at the feet of a master, and I now (along with her help as well as many others) provide the same experience for my ladies. To find out more, contact me now.

Weekly Exercise Is Complete

Exercise

After my first 6 days of my 30 days of commitment, I'm very happy to report that I have completed my goals this week. 

Those goals included:

• no weighing on scales after day 1 
• drinking more than one litre of water a day
• sticking to my healthy eating plan, this included two cleanse days
• writing in my gratitude diary every evening
• blogging daily (well, yesterday I posted my quick blog on Facebook, so I'm counting that!)
• exercising 7 hours over the week (I actually walked for 7.5 hours overall)

What I have discovered so far this week is that keeping at the forefront of my mind my 30 days of commitment has certainly helped me when rocky moments have occurred.

My next goal to achieve over the next 7 days, is no alcohol. I have been abstaining for all of last week (apart from last night when we had visitors, hence why I didn't want to start from last Tuesday) and am all set up for my first week.  It may not seem like a big goal to some of you who rarely drink, or even those that don't drink at all, but for me, I enjoy my glass of wine over the weekend, so next weekend will be my test.

I hope you enjoy my photos from today's walk along the beach, we thought it would be nice to have a beach break this weekend.

Day 2 - Cleansing, Headaches & Struggles

Day 2 of 30

Today was influenced by a struggle to enter that wonderful world of sleep last night! Yes, on Day 1 I was overthinking and overstimulated. This resulted in a difficulty in falling asleep.

Now, I like to think that I live my life in a field of no excuses. You stuff up, you stuff up, there is no excuse, just get on with it. So, today has been a day of working on myself to step into my self belief of commitment.

Yep, you guessed it, the late night and the lack of sleep culminated in a distinct desire to remain in bed this morning.  So, I did succumb to this. All the while thinking "30 days of commitment, 30 days of commitment".  I have decided that tomorrow morning, I will go for a 2 hour walk, that keeps me in alignment with my commitment to 7  hours of exercise per week.

I continued with all my other plans for today. Today was Day 1 of my cleansing. Hence, the Headaches! Normally I don't have headaches when I'm cleansing, so this is a new experience for me. However, I've just realised that I've not been drinking my water. Soooo, I'm now onto my 3rd glass of water in about 15 minutes! That will certainly take the edge off the headache.

One of the other things I was to implement for my 30 days was my Gratitude diary. I started that last night, and it's always great to get back into a place of gratitude, for the small things as well as the large.  By the small things, I mean things such as being grateful that I had time out with my husband over a coffee where we discussed how I am going to implement my 30 days of commitment, and how he figures into that plan.  Because, he is not going on this journey with me, it is about me, and how I commit to myself. He understands that, and is ready to support me in any way he can (yes, he's my coach, I've given him permission to ask the tough questions!).

I've also kept up with my commitment of no scales. I hear you titter and laugh, yes, it's only Day 2, BUT I've been weighing myself daily for the last few years as a way to be aware of my maintenance. There was an article I read a few years ago that highlighted that those people who regularly weighed themselves were more likely to maintain their goal weight than those that don't. It made sense to me at the time, as you can correct any out of control upward spirals if you're aware of them happening, before they become out of control!  Now, it's just a morning routine habit, so keeping away from those scales is a mission!  I'm already looking forward to 2 June, when I get to step onto them again.

However, weighing yourself isn't the only way to measure your journey, and it's not the only way I measure mine. I also take measurements of myself when I'm monitoring where I'm heading too on a journey.  This is because I've been caught up before in the whole "omg, I've worked so hard this week and I've not dropped an ounce" routine. This is because, back then, I didn't understand the relationship between fat and muscle.  Fat weights lighter for the volume it holds than muscle. So, for example, a kg of muscle is smaller in volume than a kg of fat. Soooo, when the scales don't move and you've been pumping the iron, exercising well, it may very well be due to the loss of fat, and the gaining of muscle!  Now, I'm much more aware of measurements - oh yes, and the loose waistband is the BEST measurement ever!

Well, I've now got to continue on with the rest of my daily commitments with my work, and that includes my study, so I'm off to do some learning.

Healthy Mind & Body - Days 33 - 41

How Accountable Are You?

When you begin any new journey in life, do you take the time to allocate a person you are accountable to?  Should you do this?  What are the benefits of being accountable?

From my journey over this last month, and previously when I was losing a set amount of weight, I have found that having an accountability partner of great benefit.

Accountability partners:

• encourage
• ensure you complete that last task
• ask you how you are going, without judgement
• motivate you to take one more step
• allow you to speak your truth about where you are at
• pick you up when you stumble

My blogging journey for my healthy mind and body program has not been as consistent as I would like it to be, however, what I am happy with, is that I always complete it eventually.

In reality, this is a pattern in most of the things that I undertake.  I go in 'fits and starts', but I do complete it!  So, whatever your journey, do take the time to grab yourself an accountability partner to be your cheer leader, and to support you and give you positive feedback whenever you feel you are stumbling.

"Regardless of who you are or what you have been,

you can be what you want to be"

 - W. Clement Stone

When you embark on a life journey, plateaus or blockages can occur (this feels like a blockage for me, being consistent). So how do you break through them?

Blockage Breakthrough

Focus

Where do you place your focus?  On what you don't want? Or on what you do want?

You get to choose what you focus on - your thoughts influence what you get.

Communication

How do you communicate with yourself?

Body language is 55% of your communication tools with yourself.  If, e.g., you are sitting on the couch, slumped, lying down, what is this saying about yourself?  If you're at like I was, it's basically saying that you're not worthy to be noticed, that you're not good enough to complete the task, that you're heavy and insignificant where you're sitting...............

Change your sitting posture, change your self speak and change how you talk to others.

Bad Habits

So, you're sitting on the couch, watching TV, slumped, feeling low, heavy, out of sorts - you catch your posture, knowing that this is influencing you, how do you change it?

JUMP UP!!!

YELL - I CAN DO THIS!!!

A sudden, and dramatic, posture change and body language change, will stimulate your change of physcial habits

"Every choice you make has an end result"

 - Zig Ziglar

When you are creating a new habit, it must be repeated and practiced over and over and over before it becomes second nature.  Did you learn to drive overnight? No, you practiced and practiced and practiced, before it started to become second nature to you - I'm sure you now drive without even thinking about how you change lanes, change gears, overtake, drive at 100km/h and all the other small actions you do without conscious thought to drive home every day.

Focus : Memory : Worry

Focus: live in the moment, make a conscious choice

Memory: live in the past

Worry: live in the future

Always keep to FOCUS. This is a conscious choice, and one that will allow you to continue to step forward, one step at a time, on your new life journey.

Remember, it's okay to restart your change, your life journey, as often as it's required. Each time you do, you are growing stronger and stronger.

Having an accountability partner, who remembers to keep you focused, and encourages you to actively restart whenever you need to, helps you grow stronger on your journey.  Contact me now to get your accountability partner and to begin your life journey with me today!

To find out more, go to my website, www.SandraVenablesHealth.com or follow me on Facebook

Where Does The Time Go?

Time Ticks - Weight Tocks!

I can hardly believe it's been over a month since I last blogged! Wow!!

During this time I have been busy increasing my walking regime again - over the Winter it became a little less regular, hosting visitors from overseas (and yes, that does mean eating and possibly drinking more than usual!!), reading self development books and taking some time to be ME!

AND during this time, I've been keeping my discoveries to myself - so with my heartfelt apologies, here are some of my learnings over the last month:-

• there is no try, only do (thank you Yoda)
• excuses don't change the outcome
• change comes from within
• feeling the gratitudes and the goals as you state them make them more meaningful
• happiness comes from within
• emotional eating hurts physically

Of all of these gains, the emotional eating journey over the last month has been the hardest journey in my Life Journey that I've undertake for some time.  Do you emotionally eat?  Does it actually hurt you physically? 

I found that the emotional eating resulted in overeating, and since I've been at my goal weight for over 18 months, the physical pain came from a couple of areas:

1. a sore tummy from overeating - this never occurred to me when I was overweight
2. seeing the scales creep upwards by a couple of kilograms (about 4 pounds) - ouch!!

I've now been on a journey of learning to choose my response to the emotions that caused the eating.  This choice is only made by me, noone outside of me can make that choice for me. It is only ME that can change this reaction to the emotions.

How do you overcome your emotional eating habits?

How To Enjoy Fasting

As many of you know by now, I use a routine of fasting in my diet these days.

Many people ask me, how can you do it? Not eating for 1 or 2 days at a time? Don't you get angry? Don't you get hungry? Don't you feel faint?

Well, often, I'm so busy that I don't notice. But, sometimes there are days when I am facing food, writing up recipes, friends talking about what they're cooking, walking in a shopping centre and there's a food court, so many situations present us with images of food daily!

How do I manage this? There are some simple tips to follow when you're fasting:

1. Follow a dedicated nutritional program that provides support throughout your fasting days
2. Go for a walk in nature
3. Take a relaxing bath
4. Play some music
5. Read a book
6. Make a cup of herbal tea, ensure you have a pretty pot to make it in, make a ritual of it
7. Go to the movies
8. Pamper yourself as a reward
9. Have an allowable treat (I have a dark chocolate infused with Green tea)

Easy when you have a plan

 

For more info:

 

www.sandravenables.com

Rise And Shine: Energise Your Body In The Morning

One of the hardest things, I'm told, is dragging that body out of the bed first thing in the morning!

Do you struggle with being energised in the mornings?  Usually getting up refreshed and excited about the day involves some planning, some routines, and something exciting to look forward too.

Here are some quick tips to get you moving

1. Exercise during the day. Exercise and sleep work well together
2. Early to bed, early to rise. Getting 7 - 8 hours sleep a night is a must!
3. Change your late night snack to protein. Whey protein allows the body to recover while you sleep
4. Turn down the heat in the bedroom.  Keep the room temperature around 60 F or 15 C overnight, too hot or too cold disturbs your sleep pattern
5. Ditch the electronics. Turn all electronics off at least an hour before bedtime, allows you to fall asleep easier
6. Stimulate on waking. Having a drink in the morning that stimulates your system can get you energised!

I always find that by waking with gratitude in my heart, makes me see the day in a different light and allows for positivity and energy to come pouring into my day.

I do this by ensuring I go to sleep at night, giving my gratitudes for all that has happened in my day, focusing on positiveness, and ensuring my brain goes to sleep to a good mood.  This allows my brain to work on these positives for the next 7 - 8 hours - result!

Where's Your Head?

When it comes to losing weight easily, there's a lot more to it than just the exercise and the change of eating habits.

It's also about changing your mindset.

Do you agree that sometimes you have what is known as a FAT HEAD?

What I mean by this, is that no matter how much your body shape changes, you still see the overweight person that began the journey?

One of the steps I undertook when I began my final journey into healthiness and ideal weight patterning, is that I began looking at mindfulness.

This includes a lot of different things, initially for me it was about being mindful of what I was eating.

Gradually it developed into being mindful of what I am grateful for, my Gratitude Diaries were born.

Seeing the world differently begins with just one step at a time.

I've found out about how to learn Mindfulness during the month of October, for free - and I want to share it with you here.

Enjoy your journey to Mindfulness

Learn Mindfulness & Meditation

No Shirt, No Problem - Or Is It?

When you're hot and uncomfortable in the gym, do you wish you could remove your shirt?

This question was posed by a gym in Chiang Mai, and they are pro-shirt off!  So long as you're feeling comfortable, the blog states.

Well, some of the questions then posed are:

1. Is that just for the men?
2. Can you take off your shoes for training?
3. What about your shorts??

As you can imagine, the idea of the shirt off for some bodies can create a few pictures in your mind you'd rather not have, BUT, then again, there are a few pictures in your mind that may just be fine!!

Have a read of the blog here and let me know your thoughts!!

Want to know more about working out and building muscle based on your nutrition? Ask me how

Dieting - And Always Hungry?

"You shouldn't be hungry on a diet." 

                                      - Sandra Venables

Dieting is a change of lifestyle, with healthy choices, not a deprivation, starve yourself regime.  

If you're at all like me, the concept of depriving yourself has been instilled in you for years.  The outcome? Yo-yo dieting!

This concept of healthy choices instead is the most important aspect to be remembered when you are undertaking a new Life Journey.

So, you believe you are making healthy choices now, not just restricting the amount of food you eating, but you still feel hungry? What's going on?  There are some biological reasons why you may feel hungry, and their can be some dietary reasons.

Why Am I Always Hungry?

1. Your metabolism is fast
2. You have restricted the type of food without changing the quality of the food
3. Your hormones are not functioning well
4. You are confusing your appetite (desire) with physical hunger (stomach pains)

How To Know What To Change?

Fast Metabolism

How do you discover if you have a fast metabolism?  Apart from going through hormone testing, one of the easiest ways is to assess what is happening in your bathroom (yes, I'm going to talk poo!). How often do you pass a stool? Once a week, once every two days, once a day, twice a day or more often?  Usually I put people into the fast metabolism slot if they are passing stools once - three times a day.  Food moves through your digestive system relatively quickly.  

If this is the case, you will probably need to ensure you are eating approximately 300 - 400 calories a day more than you have been advised based on your weight and height.  This is because you are on a fast pace, and your food doesn't remain in your digestive system long enough for you to fully absorb all the calories available to you.  So, great, eat some more!

Quality of Food

Does your menu still contain refined sugars, e.g., bread, processed, pre-packed foods?  These foods typically contain sugar, and this can create the 'sugar crash'.  This crash usually happens about one to two hours after you've eaten, resulting in this craving for more food.  Your energy plummets and your answer is to prop it up with stimulants (some form of drink or food), to gain more energy. Thus you feel hungry.

To avoid this sugar crash, take on more fibre in your diet.  I've written about fibre sources and the amount you want to be having every day previously, check it out here!  Ultimately, eat more veges, fruit and nuts!

Hormones

Hormonal imbalances can play havoc with your desire to eat healthy choices!  Especially at the monthly cycle.  Also though, hormones play a role in telling you that you feel full, I wrote about this recently, check out if you're a constant craver here.

The types of hormones, and the resultant diseases, that can be out of balance and play havoc with your eating patterns include thyroid hormones (sending your metabolism into hyperdrive, or sleep), being in a pre-diabetic state (creating sugar crashes easily), and sexual hormones (mood swings only satisfied with chocolate!).

Get your hormonal states checked out to determine if this is an issue for you.

Appetite or Hunger?

Appetite is the desire to eat food, hunger is the physical changes in the body due to a lack of food. The difference is easily detected, are you craving that food (i.e. appetite) or does your stomach rumble and ache (i.e. hunger)?  

Really listening to your body and it's triggers for eating plays a large role in determining whether you are hungry or just fancying something to eat.  I should know, fancying something due to boredom, or stress, used to play a large role in my weight issues. I was never physcially hungry in the evenings when I used to fridge hunt, or cupboard stalk, looking for something that caught my eye. If I was truly hungry, the first cracker I saw, or the first piece of fruit or a carrot stick even, would've satisfied that craving, sadly, the eye went straight over these options and landed on the chocolate bars, or the ice cream, or the cake or the biscuit - do you see the pattern here? Yes, it's sugar!  I was looking for the serotonin release on a sugar hit. Of course, the inevitable would then happen, yep, an hour later, the search and hunt was back on!!!

I find food diaries are a great way to keep track of how much and of what you are eating during the day. I've spoken before about using MyFitnessPal.  I think it's a great tool to get to know and utilise.

Want to discuss how you too can manage your cravings, your hunger while making your Life Journey changes?  Contact me now to arrange a free consultation to discuss where you're currently finding difficulties.  

Sometimes every home needs a supervisor!  Love this photo, borrowed from Facebook

          

What Is A Balanced Healthy Meal?

When you are changing your lifestyle, such as I am, then sometimes you want some inspiration for your healthy 'knife and fork' meal for the day, the meal that is to be well balanced, nutritious and on target to support your healthy choices.

So what makes a meal healthy?

According to some sources, it's when there is a balanced selection of essential components:

• lean protein
• complex carbohydrates
• healthy fats
• fibre
• vitamins
• minerals

For this meal, you're looking to create a serving of between 1600 and 2500 kilojoules (or between 400 - 600 calories, approximately).

Base of the meal

 Protein
To be balanced, here you are looking to provide about 40g of protein (that's not 40g of the source of the protein either).

To obtain 40g, you will need about:

• 140g lean free-range beef
• 140g lean cage-free chicken
• 140g wild salmon
• 140g fish
• 3 - 4 eggs (or egg whites)
• a cup of Greek style yoghurt
• 55 - 85g raw mixed nuts

Carbohydrates
For beneficial carbohydrates, here you're looking to add complex carbohydrates to your meal.  These are carbohydrates that take longer to be digested in the body, giving the feeling of being fuller for longer, with a slow release of energy.  Avoiding simple sugars is a must here.

Healthy options include:

• 1 cup cooked oatmeal
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 cup cooked organic pasta
• 1 cup baked sweet potatoes
• 1 cup cooked beans or lentils
• corn tortilla

Fibre
Most fruits and veges are packed with nutrients, and beneficial fibre (the 'stuff' you need to feel full quicker and for longer).  The good news about these are that the calorie or kilojoule count is not terrifically high either, so you can fill up your plate with these!  Ensuring your plate is 1/2 full with fruit and/or veges is great.

Look for:

• 2 - 3 cups of apple or orange slices, berries (I'm thinking desert here!)
• 2 - 3 cups of broccoli, kale, spinach, steamed veges
• 2 - 3 cups of mixed salad, add tomatoes or capsicum for colour (forget the heavy mayo dressings!)

Looking for seconds? Go for more steamed veges.

Healthy Fats
Healthy fats should be included in your meal plan too, our body still requires fat to undertake many different processes, including transport of our hormones around our body. Excluding fats from your menu is not a balanced option.  These fats can be added to your salad to dress it up too.

Look to include:

• 1/2 an avocado
• 1 tablespoon of pumpkin seeds
• 1 tablespoon of sunflower seeds
• 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds

How do you make this all seem exciting to eat? By adding herbs and spices to your cooking. They don't add kilojoules or calories, but they do add flavour!

Try something new tonight, that may even been balanced, nutritious, tasty and healthy!

Paleo Couscous - A Contradiction?

I found this great recipe recently, and wanted to share.  Even though it seemed a contradiction in terms!

Is your understanding that Paleo excludes grains? That was my understanding, so I was curious to see what the recipe had to share.

The couscous is made from cauliflower!  Awesome.

Anyway, enjoy the recipe and let me know what you think of it.

 

 

Photo courtesy of Paleo Cafe

Compared to my homemade couscous salad, with couscous!

My Homemade Couscous

Snacking And Dieting - Compatible?

Can I Snack When I'm Dieting?

This question is a frequently asked question.  My simple answer is, don't diet!  

Why do I say that? Because I'm a strong believer in making changes to your lifestyle, not in restriction as a way of life!

Did you know that healthy snacking can support your weight loss?

Let's be honest, when you first begin your new lifestyle, which can include lesser portions and a, seemingly, smaller variety of food, you often get hit by hunger pangs.

These hunger pangs shouldn't be ignored - ignoring them is putting yourself into the region of restriction, 'not allowed' and a sense of compromise.  When you are looking to change your lifestyle, choosing nutrient dense snacks that will support the increase of your metabolism is a better option.

What is a nutrient dense snack?

 It is a snack that is:

• high in fibre 
• high in protein
• contains vitamins and minerals.

What isn't a nutrient dense snack?

It is a snack that is:

• high in salt
• high in fat
• high in sugar.

These all give you a temporary feeling of fullness, but it doesn't last long, and can result in a drop in your sugar levels, where you, again, feel the need to snack an hour or so later!

If you don't choose a nutrient dense snack, the 'starving' feeling will eventually lead you to 'pig out' or overeat on all sorts of unhealthy snacks, anything that comes to hand, and, if you're in a shop, away from home, that will usually become empty calories, nutrient deficient snacks that will quickly become fat.

For me, I choose the following nutrient dense snacks, the reason being,

1. they take away my cravings for sugar, 
2. they take away my sense of 'not having enough yet', and 
3. they take away my hunger pangs!

I love Fibre Snacks (full of protein and fibre), Slimcakes (high in fibre) and IsaDelights (Dark chocolate infused with Green tea).  All of these allow me to feel able to reach for a snack when I'm hungry, without compromising my ideal to eat a healthy diet!  There is ALWAYS one in my handbag, so I never feel the need to reach towards the supermarket shelves when I'm out and about.

Other ways you can find high fibre/protein snacks are to eat some raw veges, fruit and nuts such as:

• raw carrot sticks
• raw celery sticks
• raw vege sticks with 1/4 cup of hummous
• an apple
• Greek yoghurt and fresh berries
• hard boiled egg
• 6 raw almonds

Enjoy  your healthy snacks, knowing you're maintaining your choice to live a healthy lifestyle.  Enjoy these wonderful treats in the recipe below also - total YUM!! And healthy!!

Breakfast Recipe - Sounds Fun & Healthy

Searching around the internet is always enjoyable, but finding something that is truly useful and what I want to try out, that's another thing altogether!!

I've been looking for ways to shake up breakfast a bit lately. I always ensure I use protein in my breakfasts these days, long gone are the days of cereal for breakfast - so not sustaining!

Well, for the last week or so, I've been getting messages about flourless banana pancakes, so I thought I'd share a recipe for you all too.  Happy Weekend Breakfast!

1 egg
1/2 banana (ripe, mashed)
Mix together

Pour onto your pan, cook over a medium-low heat until the bottom sets, about 1 - 2 minutes. Flip and cook for another minute.

Serve with fresh fruit.

Now, you can also shake this up a little by adding:

1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

You can also add a scoop of protein powder to the mix for added protein!

Enjoy

Want A Smaller Waist?

Looking to make that waist smaller?  Do you know it could be as simple as having more protein in your diet?

A recent study found an association between habitually consuming protein in excess of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) and lower body mass index, a smaller waist, and higher levels of the HDL “the good” cholesterol.

Higher protein diets also remain popular and for good reason—people who consume more find they have an easier time managing weight and preserving muscle during weight loss.

For me, the increase in protein in my daily meals has resulted in better muscle retention while I released my weight. I now ensure I have good quality protein at breakfast, lunch and dinner.  One of these protein bases is undenatured whey protein.  I use this in my morning smoothies as whey protein has been shown to be better for you for building muscles (no, I'm not a body builder!!)

Contact me if you wish to know more about how to create a smaller waist!

Secrets To Fasting

Over the last year there has been much written about fasting as a way to lose weight.

Fasting is not a diet though, it is a way of life.  The change to this type of lifestyle needs to be permanent for you to achieve the desired outcomes.

What are those outcomes?

Well, they can be whatever your body needs at the time. It could be burning excess fat as energy, it could be growing more lean muscle, or it may just be giving your digestive system time to rest and recover!

Recently there has been some media coverage on the type of fasting that is beneficial to a healthier lifestyle. Personally, I really enjoy the 5:2 ratio of fasting.  This is where you eat from a healthy menu for 5 days of the week, for the remaining 2 days of the week, you fast.

The most recent ratio being written about is 14:10. This is where you fast for 14 hours every day, and eat from a healthy menu for 10 hours.  There have been no available studies that I have found on this ratio, whereas for the 5:2 ratio, there are more available studies highlighting the benefits to your body.

So, the secrets to fasting. 

My 7 TopTtips:

1. Stay busy.  Keeping the mind active doesn't allow you time to dwell on the fact that you're not eating
2. Treat yourself.  Okay, it's not food, but the benefits of a relaxing bubble bath, getting your hair done, getting a manicure, or whatever it is that feels like a treat, allows you to have something other than food to look forward to
3. Keep hydrated.  Drinking plenty of water to assist your body with removing the impurities that have been in your body.  Remember, when you are fasting, this gives your digestive system time to actively remove those impurities that have been stored within your fat cells (or other places in your body), so the body needs a little extra help to flush out.  Drinking 1 litre of water for every 20kg of body weight is ideal.
4. Drink herbal (non-caffeine) teas.  Personally, I love lemon and ginger in the mornings of a fasting day, and over the day I can change this to a peppermint tea.  Both these teas (make sure you obtain the herbal ones, and not the black tea that is flavoured) support your digestive system and don't put an added load onto it, while also supporting your hydration.
5. Try not to snack, but if you need to, try a low-sodium, organic vegetable broth.
6. Try a guided meditation. There is a free guided meditation by Rick Reynolds
7. Gentle exercise. Take a gentle walk, not a full on cardiovascular workout, something gentle in nature is what I love to do. I've also recently started yoga on my fasting days.

Bonus Tips:

1. Write a journal. When you are fasting, there can be a release of emotions, it's great to write these down for reflection.
2. Have an early night. Take a good book to bed and relax into your nightly slumber.
3. Avoid the supermarket or food halls. On your fasting day, do not venture into a supermarket or near any food halls or stalls.  These will put too much temptation in your way and encourage you to fail at your day of fasting!

Remember to always ease into eating again after a period of fasting, with good quality nutrition.  Also, never fast for longer than 48 hours, the studies show that there is no benefit to your body by fasting for longer than this period of time.

I follow a system of fasting that is the simplest way I have ever experienced and my increased energy at the end of a fasting is incredible! 

To contact me to find out more about the system I follow, click here and I will be in contact with you.

White Fat or Brown Fat

Do you hear these terms bandied around, but you're not sure what they mean?

Well, if you're like me, you have heard of them, but need them explained in plain language.

This is as simple as I understand it to be:

Brown Fat

This is the GOOD Fat. Brown fat is the fat that the body burns when it needs energy.  So we use this up, helping us to remove the fat from our bodies

White Fat

This is the BAD Fat. White fat is the fat that the body stores.  It's the fat that seems to accumulate on our hips, thighs and stomach area!  We need to convert this to the Brown Fat, so it can be used up.

The interesting thing is how the body does this.  We have an appetite suppressing enzyme (measures our current fat reserves) and an enzyme that monitors how much sugar we have coming into our body (measures our future fat reserves).  

These enzymes/hormones play a role in keeping our body at the required fat levels when they work together and trigger other actions in the body to convert the white fat to brown fat!  Simples!!

Photo from: www.freedigitalphotos.net, Mister GC

Forget Diets!

I've just finished reading about an author that is advocating forgetting to follow a traditional diet.

It did resonate well with me.  I am a great believer in changing your lifestyle, not setting steadfast rules to be followed when you are looking to change your eating habits.

Why?

Because the word "dieting" creates an image that it's something you only need to do until the pounds have disappeared, then you can step right back into all your old habits!!

Trust me, this doesn't work!  I know, I've been a yo-yo dieter for the majority of my life!!

How can you make 'missing a food group' a way of life?  Have you ever started a diet, say for example low carbs, high protein, and then been invited to your friends for dinner?  Did you find this awkward and embarrassing as you begin to explain all the foods you can't have??

This is why I agree that traditional dieting is not a great way to go. 

Instead you need to create a new lifestyle, one that is fun and engaging to follow, that will allow you to have treats occassionally and not to feel guilty!  This is what I do, my eating lifestyle now is one that I really enjoy, the foods are tasty and I have a lot of fun with those around me who are into my lifestyle!

Imagine this, you've reached your goal weight, and there is no relaxation of rules, no 'great, I'm really going to enjoy my desserts again', no 'thank goodness I can go for takeaway again', no slipping into the junk food aisle at the supermarket and loading up the trolley.  Why won't this happen?  Because you are enjoying the choices you have made for your new lifestyle and DO NOT miss the old foods, patterns and habits!

What bliss!

Enjoy your new lifestyle