Staying Healthy During The Silly Season

It is the time of the year to treat yourself with delicious Christmas food, spend time with your loved ones and celebrate! Celebrations are a wonderful part of life but can be a challenge for those focused on healthy eating. Challenges will lie ahead in the next few weeks with decadent buffets, indulgent desserts and sugary cocktails served at parties.

The most important thing you can do for yourself this silly season is to keep track of what you are eating and to stay active. Monitoring yourself will help to keep the December weight off and start the year off right.

I have three tips to help you to healthy over the few weeks.

    1.    Don't drink at every party!

Christmas time means booze, booze, booze not to mention New Years' Eve and summer get togethers. Use some restraint here to decide what parties you want to let loose at - and abstain (or at least limit) from alcohol at others. Try a wine spritzer, which is half sparkling water and half wine or stick to vodka and sodas. Also have a glass of water between every drink to stay hydrated. Avoid refills before you have finished your drink so you can monitor your intake.

   2.    Stay active! 

Have a swim, a run on the beach and even train on Christmas Day! Wake up and have a beautiful walk or jump in the pool to get your body moving. Any movement will do. Dance around with your friends, do lunges up the stairs or do some burpees when you wake up. Still try to stick to a work out routine but when that schedule gets interrupted you can always improvise. Great workout routines are on you tube to try, including HIIT cardio programs, yoga follow alongs and pilates routines.

   3.   Journaling 

Keeping a food diary or journal can help and keep on track of your food and exercise. It is a time to treat yourself but not at every meal time so choose where you want to lash out and stay healthy at other times. Really choose those foods you most enjoy rather than scoffing down lollies, chocolate and greasy canapés without thought. Those calories quickly add up and can derail your training program. If you plan ahead you will be better equipped to make healthy choices. Look over the past few days of your eating diary and see what worked and where you faltered. This will help you make improvements and stay on top over the holidays.

Gluten-free Low Sugar Peach, Cranberry and Coconut Cake

Spiced poached fruits, red jewelled cranberries and buttery fragrant coconut all represent the flavours of Christmas and the festive December month. My cake is made with these festive favourites combined with almonds, quinoa and eggs to make a decadent but healthy sweet treat. The eggs make this cake super moist and golden with a richness that works for the cake to be served alone or warmed with custard for an after-dinner pudding. Making the whole cake in a blender creates minimal mess and apart from the baking time of 45 minutes, it really takes little effort to make.

Gluten-free Low Sugar Peach, Cranberry and Coconut Cake

Ingredients:

• 200 grams of almond meal and quinoa mix 
• 5 organic eggs
• 450 grams of tinned peaches
• 1 cup of Natvia
• 1 teaspoon of gluten-free baking powder
• 1/2 cup of cranberries
• 1/2 cup of shredded coconut

Method:

1. Use a blender to puree the eggs and sugar until creamy.
2. Add the peaches without liquid.
3. Mix in the almond meal and baking powder until combined but don't over mix.
4. Stir in the cranberries and coconut.
5. Pour into a lined baking tin or generously cover the tin with coconut oil.
6. Sprinkle over some shredded coconut.
7. Bake for 45 minutes on a moderate heat. Check the cake is set by inserting a skewer into the middle. If it comes out clean you will know it's baked through. 
8. Let cool in the pan.

Gluten-free Vanilla Cupcakes (with Coconut Flour)

A basic sweet cupcake recipe is essential to any bakers repertoire. For those bakers who like a healthy twist on their sweets, this is the type of vanilla cupcake that you will want to make, satisfying vegan and gluten/dairy free requirements. You could also swap the honey for stevia if you wanted to create a lower sugar cake.

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sitfted coconut flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 4 eggs
• 1/3 cup coconut oil or butter (melted)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine all the dry in ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well (a hand mixer works great).
4. Divide batter among 8 cupcakes.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
6. Cool and then frost.

*Store in a airtight container at room temperature for a few days or in the fridge for about a week.

Vanilla Frosting:

1/2 cup low-fat cream cheese or tofu cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup stevia
1 tsp. vanilla

Chocolate Frosting:

1/2 cup butter or vegan butter, softened
1/4 cup stevia icing sugar mixture
2 Tbsp. cocoa

For both icings, whip together all ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth.

That Sugar Film - A Doco on One Man's 60-day Sugar Experiment

There is no question of the over consumption of sugar to be bad for your health. To think that type-2 diabetes (which is directly linked to poor diet) kills someone every six seconds around the world, it is no wonder that doctors are closely examining what we eat.

Move over saturated fat as sugar is now demonized as the old dreaded 'fats' once were. Books on eliminating sugar from your diet have repeatedly hit the best sellers' list in the past 18 months.

It's not just confectionary items that give you a sugar overload. With 80% of processed foods containing sugar including many perceived 'healthy' foods, some people are unwittingly consuming much more of the sweet stuff than they may realize. Cereals, yoghurt, muesli bars and sauces are all culprits for loading up your sugar dose, quite often those labelled 'low-fat' or '97% fat-free'.

With a onslaught of 'healthy eating' practices bombarding the public it is no wonder we are confused. Paleo eaters boast the benefits of eating meat, giving up sugar entails bumping up your fat intake and new research tells us meat shouldn't be eaten regularly for good health. Each piece often seems to contradict one another and after sugar got beaten around in the media, health experts started to tell us not to quit sugar as your body needs it for clean fuel. You can't blame the public for throwing in the towel.

Personally quitting sugar has worked for me. I lost weight easily and realized how much sugar I had unknowingly been eating with my breakfast cereals, love for honey toast, sugary yoghurt snacks and afterwork cocktails. I never thought to think about what it was doing to my body until I stopped eating it and gained much more energy, mood stability and maintain a weight 6 - 7 kilos lighter than when I ate more sugar.

Australian TV actor and filmmaker Damon Gameau set about to do the reverse of my lifestyle change and revert back to eating sugar in a seemingly 'healthy way' for 60 days. His journey is documented in 'That Sugar Film' where Damon completely changes his health in a mere few months. The shocking results on his mental and physical wellbeing were staggering. Within a few weeks he had the beginning of fatty liver disease, he felt on edge and was terribly tired. Damon had gained 10cm of visceral fat around his waist and was informed he was on the fast-track to obesity.

“I had no soft drink, chocolate, ice cream or confectionery,” Damon told Australian program 'Sunrise'. “All the sugars that I was eating were found in perceived healthy foods, so low-fat yoghurts and muesli bars and cereals and fruit juices, sports drinks ... these kind of things that often parents would give their kids thinking they’re doing the right thing.”

A typical breakfast for Damon would have low-fat yoghurt, cereal and apple juice containing 20 teaspoons of sugar (where 4 grams of sugar relates to one teaspoon of sugar). He believes many people don't realize they are consuming so much sugar and that labeling in ambiguous and misleading.


SOME OF OUR WORST SUGAR OFFENDERS ... according to Damon

• Raisin toast (4 teaspoons per slice)
• 250ml popular liquid breakfast drink (4 teaspoons)
• 250ml bottle of multi-vitamin juice (6 teaspoons)
• Iced tea (8 teaspoons)
• Powerade (8 teaspoons of sugar)
• 400ml apple juice (10 teaspoons)
• A serve of low fat yoghurt (11 teaspoons)
• A low-fat strawberry standard size smoothie (18 teaspoons)

I am looking forward to seeing this documentary when it is released in March 2015.

ricotta pikelets with figs and honey

ricotta pikelets with figs and honey 

This recipe is super simple, fresh and healthy. Ricotta is a yummy low-fat soft cheese that is mild in flavour and creates light and fluffy pikelets. To me, combining cinnamon and honey at breakfast time is one of life's little pleasures and this always makes my morning a little more special. Treat your guests to a home-cooked pikelet feast or make this treat just for yourself.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup wholemeal spelt flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra, to serve
• 2 eggs
• 100g extra light ricotta, plus extra to serve
• 3/4 cup buttermilk or almond milk
• 2 tbls honey
• spray oil, for cooking
• 6 figs, quartered, to serve
• honey, for drizzling, to serve

Method:

1. Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon together into a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and ricotta together until smooth. Whisk in milk and honey, then combine with dry ingredients. 
3. Heat a heavy based non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Lightly grease the pan using the spray oil. Add ¼ cup of batter and cook until golden brown on the underside, 1-2 minutes. Turn over and cook until just cooked through. Repeat with remaining batter.
4. Stack up piklets on serving plates. Top with a spoonful of ricotta, a sprinkle of cinnamon, a generous pile of figs and finish with a drizzle of honey.

10 ways to improve your body image

10 ways to improve your body image

Low self-esteem and long-standing negative core beliefs can often fuel negative thought patterns of your body image and appearance. The first step to creating a positive body image is to question those negative thoughts and introduce yourself to healthier ways of viewing your appearance. The more you practice these new thought patterns, the better equipped you will be to block out you inner mean girl and banish those negative thoughts to create a more positive body image.

Your body image is a function of how you feel about your appearance and how well you feel your body performs and your general health. Some of the cues that influence your body image come from your own perspective and others are affected by social factors. For instance, if you feel that you are strong and capable you will have a better body image than if you feel uncoordinated or weak. Similarly, a chronic illness can cause you to resent your body for causing pain and impeding your life goals.

Another facet of body image, and perhaps the most prevalent negative aspect in society, is your feelings about your appearance. What you view as your appearance is largely determined not by how you feel but by how society defines ideals of physical beauty. Most people who experience body image disturbances are sensitive to these social definitions. They feel that there is a mismatch between how they look and how they "should" look.

The list of techniques below that help to build self esteem are taken from The National Eating Disorders website. They are really helpful ways to second-guess your negative thoughts are shift your perspective, which will help to see your body in a more positive light!

1. Appreciate all that your body can do.  Every day your body carries you closer to your dreams.  Celebrate all of the amazing things your body does for you—running, dancing, breathing, laughing, dreaming, etc.

2. Keep a top-ten list of things you like about yourself—things that aren’t related to how much you weigh or what you look like.  Read your list often.  Add to it as you become aware of more things to like about yourself.

3. Remind yourself that “true beauty” is not simply skin deep.  When you feel good about yourself and who you are, you carry yourself with a sense of confidence, self-acceptance, and openness that makes you beautiful regardless of whether you physically look like a supermodel.  Beauty is a state of mind, not a state of your body.

4. Look at yourself as a whole person.  When you see yourself in a mirror or in your mind, choose not to focus on specific body parts.  See yourself as you want others to see you–as a whole person.

5. Surround yourself with positive people.  It is easier to feel good about yourself and your body when you are around others who are supportive and who recognize the importance of liking yourself just as you naturally are.

6. Shut down those voices in your head that tell you your body is not “right” or that you are a “bad” person.  You can overpower those negative thoughts with positive ones.  The next time you start to tear yourself down, build yourself back up with a few quick affirmations that work for you.

7. Wear clothes that are comfortable and that make you feel good about your body.  Work with your body, not against it.

8. Become a critical viewer of social and media messages.  Pay attention to images, slogans, or attitudes that make you feel bad about yourself or your body.  Protest these messages:  write a letter to the advertiser or talk back to the image or message

9. Do something nice for yourself--something that lets your body know you appreciate it.  Take a bubble bath, make time for a nap, find a peaceful place outside to relax.

10. Use the time and energy that you might have spent worrying about food, calories, and your weight to do something to help others.  Sometimes reaching out to other people can help you feel better about yourself and can make a positive change in our world.

Healthier Jam Drops

Lots of your Nana's or Mum's sweetie recipes can be transformed into healthier and more nourishing versions with a few ingredient swaps. Subbing regular processed sugar for stevia and replacing plain flour with low-gluten wholegrain flours, you can replicate those old-fashioned favourites the healthy way.

Jam drops are one of those childhood baking memories I thought to make over. These biscuits keep really well and you can have them on hand all week for sweet treats. Their sweet and straight-forward flavour mean they are a hit with the kiddies as well.

Healthier Jam Drops

Ingredients:

• 110 grams of organic butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 
• 1/3 cup of stevia
• 1 organic cage-free egg
• 1 cup of ground almonds or hazelnuts
• 1/3 cup of wholemeal spelt flour
• 1/3 cup of quinoa flour
• 3 tablespoons of chopped coconut flakes
• low-sugar strawberry or raspberry jam

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and line two baking trays with greased-proof paper.
2. Use an electric mixer to whisk the butter, vanilla and stevia together until white and creamy. Beat in the egg. Add in the ground nuts and use the electric mixer once more to combine.
3. Add the flours and coconut and mix by hand to make a dough. 
4. Spoon out a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball, flattening down onto the tray. Repeat with remaining mixture leaving 5 centimetres apart from each biscuit.
5. Use the end of a spoon to make a hole inside each biscuit. Fill with jam.
6. Bake for 15 minutes until golden. Depending on your oven, you may want to keep an eye on them after 10 minutes. My oven always cooks baked goods much faster than recipes predict!
7. Let the cookies cool on their trays for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.