Start Your Own (Healthy) Revolution

"Dontcha know talkin' about a revolution sounds... like a whisper" and if you were listening to music in the late 1980's you will recognise these Tracey Chapman lyrics. 


However, you may not recognise the truth of this statement in relation to your health and well being. 


It's that little voice inside that very quietly tells you that YOU DO know exactly the right things to be healthier, fitter, happier.
 
It often pipes up when you're partaking in a particularly unhealthy practice, or in those quiet moments of reflection.


Listen to that voice. 


That voice knows you better than you think.


Too often we ignore that quiet voice or it is drowned out by our 'inner teenager' who loudly shouts:


"but I DESERVE it', 
"No one tells ME what to do", 
"I can have it if I WANT to",
"but I'm SO (insert feeling here), I just NEED this".




Start to view living a healthier life as a revolutionary act, where YOU reclaim your responsibility for your own well-being and daily choices.


Learn the difference between what you want and what you need.


Learn that saying 'no' to your 'wants' while meeting your needs, gives you a profound sense of mastery over YOUR life.

Challenge your 'usual' habits, particularly when you are feeling tired, stressed, sad, angry; examine your responses and find out what you do instead of rest, relaxation, or dealing with difficult feelings.

Start to change those responses. Get help if you need to.

What if you lived in a world where the majority of people were healthy and happy most of the time?

Imagine that future - then start creating it in your own life, one step at a time.

Core Strength Matters

A recent New York Times article, Are Crunches Worth The Effort, cites a study published by Indiana State University this year, that found little correlation between robust core muscles and athleticism in healthy, young adults. 

I looked at the research and came up with some different questions and conclusions.

The “healthy, young adults” group was asked to squat, lunge, twist, crunch and hold a plank position, leap off the ground while tossing a medicine ball backwards over their head and sprint through a short obstacle course.

For those of us who wouldn’t necessarily be classified as 'young, healthy adults', who sit most of the day in the car on the way to our desk jobs and on the couch watch TV in the evenings, my questions are:


How many of us would have trouble completing the tasks set for these participants? 


And would there be a correlation between our (lack of) core strength and incidence of back pain?

But I haven’t done that study. Yet.

The article goes on to mention more studies, one of collegiate rowers, athletes who train and compete in their chosen sport at college level, and novice adult runner displaying weak core-strength; there is no definition of ‘novice runners’ here, they could be people who run occasionally without necessarily doing any other form of training; again this is my supposition.

The rowers added eight weeks of core training to their normal workout routines and the novice runners completed six weeks of core drills.

Result: the rowers had great looking abs (unsurprising for athletes with lower body fat than the rest of us) while the runners lowered their 5km run times significantly.

For me, there is no question of whether crunches are worth the effort however doing abdominal exercises correctly depends on how you move. Your core is a complex area and it is the muscle group responsible for keeping you upright, strong and stable as you move throughout your life. 

At MET Fitness you are taught to activate your core correctly and use specific movements to avoid neck recruitment, spinal bending & injury. 

If, like Thomas Nesser, associate professor of exercise science at Indiana State and senior author of this study, you’d prefer to forgo crunches altogether, do remember to heed his advice’ that, in most instances, “train for your sport, core strength will develop”. 

So pick a sport and get training!

Spring Fitness - FAST!

It is wonderful to see so many more people out walking, running, riding and playing in the sunshine this week!


A little taste of spring goes a long way towards getting you thinking about getting into shorts & skirts for summer.


If you're uncomfortable at the mere thought, give yourself the gift of 15 minutes every morning before your shower, to do this total body workout.


10 Pushups
20 second Plank
30 Squats
10 Lunges (each leg)
20 Crunches


Start with one round, vary the repetitions as your skill level increases and before you know it you'll be doing 2 - 3 rounds, knowing that you're getting a workout done before you start your day.


As I tell all of my clients, you can't out-train a bad diet so you also need to think about what you're putting into your body and in what quantities.


Fresh food, real food, is the best fuel you can give your body and doesn't have a nutritional panel to decipher.

Eat lots of leafy greens, crunchy colorful veggies and good quality lean protein and enjoy how much more energy you have as you shape up for summer.


If you have questions about any of the exercises listed here or would like some technique tips, find me on Facebook and message me.

Asparagus with Garlic

When you saute or roast asparagus in hot olive oil, the asparagus will have a much more concentrated flavour than it would if steamed or blanched.

Add the garlic to the pan once the asparagus is just about done, so that the garlic cooks only long enough to soften and sweeten.

This dish is delicious with eggs - poached or scrambled. The asparagus can be hard to resist but it is very nutritious and healthy, so treat yourself!

Ingredients:
1 small bulb of garlic
2 tablespoons of olive oil
500g asparagus, trimmed and cut on the diagonal into 5cm lengths
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

Method:
Separate the garlic into cloves, remove the skins and cut into think slices

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy pan.

Add the asparagus and salt to taste and saute until asparagus is tender and the skin has shriveled slightly, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and continue to saute for another minute until garlic is translucent.
Adjust salt if required and add pepper and parsley and serve.

Serves 4
This is best when served right away.

Martha Rose Schulman "The Very Best of Recipes for Health"
From The New York Times.

Living Sustainably is Good for You - and Our Planet

I live close enough to be able to walk to where I shop and strong enough to be able to carry my groceries home; for both of those facts I am thankful. 


I was walking to the shops last week, enjoying the sunshine, saying "good afternoon" to the people I passed in my neighbourhood and getting 20 minutes of walking in, when I realised the value of all the things I was getting done at once: 

• I was outside, soaking up my vitamin D content,
  
  
• getting some daily exercise,
  
  
• being a part of my community and
  
  
• doing my small part for the planet by not using my car.
  

I stopped for a chat with an older lady, from whom a walk to the corner was as much as she could manage. She was determined to make it despite her breathing difficulties and deteriorating health that kept her indoors much of the day and she was glad of the rest and a chat with a neighbour.

Walking home with the knowledge of how good that walk had been, not just for me, gave me a good feeling that stayed with me the rest of the day; or maybe it was the exercise buzz.



It's cool the be "green" and "sustainable" these days but when I was growing up, "greenies" were cast as weirdo-hippies who were stuck in the sixties (yes, I'm that old).

Now almost everyone I know takes their own shopping bags to the supermarket, refuses plastic if they can carry their purchases and finds ways to save energy within their home.


My contribution to sustainability is buying clothes only from charity shops; there are already enough clothes in the world and if I can find a unique, recycled item that saves me money, I'm thrilled.

I even managed to do this while in New York earlier this year.

My hot pink trench coat from Hell's Kitchen Flea Market is one of the most beautiful, functional and best-value purchases I've ever made.


This article caught my eye because the family wanted to live more sustainably and ended up really enjoying the experience and each other.


Whether it's your coffee, chocolate or other products, caring about where they come from and deciding with your dollars, makes a difference.


So do what YOU can do to use your car a little less, get out and walk more, re-use where you can and be aware of how your everyday decisions have a wider impact.

Why I Run

A concerned friend once asked me why I run and what I was running from.

I found this an odd question, full of (her) assumptions about my motivation.

At the time I was training for a mini-triathlon so for me it was more about what I was working towards.
The question didn’t gel with my sense of why I was running, but as with all good questions, it got me really thinking about what I get from running and why I keep doing it.

Our bodies are made to run; in fact you and I wouldn’t be here now unless someone way back in our gene pool was better than running than the person behind, or the animal in from of them; they either got away or caught the food.

Let me be clear, I don’t consider myself a “proper runner”. There are people who can run faster and further than I can.

I’ll get out and train for a specific event and sometimes mix up my training program with a quick couple of kilometres, but I don’t run several times a week with any regularity.

Having since completed more than a few mini-triathlons and other running events, I am far more aware of the internal benefits they give me.
I feel an incredible sense of calm before a race, none of the nervous anticipation I sometimes experience in the weeks leading up to an event.
On race day there are no butterflies in my stomach, no thoughts of “what if I can’t”, or of anything going wrong; there’s just me, calm and centred, knowing that I have prepared for what lies ahead, that I will do what I can do and get through this race.
I don’t always have a specific time goal in mind other than finishing and I’m usually quite conservative with my estimate of how long an event will take – the first time.
Then it’s a matter of working out my own level of challenge, and I'm happy when I exceed my own expectations.

Running serves a purpose that is less about the distance covered or the time taken, and more about shifting the focus to my body to clear the busyness from my mind, getting in touch with the rhythm of my breath and doing something I previously thought impossible.

Believing I can do it is important otherwise I would never even begin and preparation is key.

Training for any event means putting in the physical work and each event takes place foremost in the mind - that’s what gives up first, not the legs or lungs.

I finished the Sydney City To Surf a couple of weeks ago and race day was the first time I’ve ever run 14 kilometres. I didn’t run the whole way; I walked when I needed to.

When the going got tough, I checked in with myself to see if I needed to stop and walk or if I just wanted to; answering THAT question honestly, every time, is why I was so proud of myself when I crossed the line, not because of the time but because I knew I had run my best race.

Slow Cooking Saves Time, Adds Flavour

Try these delicious slow cooked meals that take minutes to prepare while you make breakfast, and cook all day, while you do other things.

When you're ready to eat, steam some greens and serve.

Wine & Tomato Braised Chicken

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced/pureed
1 teaspoon dried thyme (optional)
1 teaspoon fennel seeds (fresh fennel works too and is in season)
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry white wine or chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 teaspoon salt
5 chicken thighs, skin removed, trimmed
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Preparation:

Heat oil, add onion and cook over medium heat, stirring, until softened, 3 to 6 minutes.

Add garlic, thyme, fennel seeds, pepper and bay leaf and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Add wine, bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, scraping up any browned bits.
Add tomatoes and their juice and salt; stir well.

Place chicken thighs in the slow cooker and pour the tomato mixture over the chicken.
Cover and cook until the chicken is very tender, about 3 hours on High or 6 hours on Low.

Serves 5
Per serving: 260 calories; 13 g fat ( 4 g sat , 5 g mono ); 88 mg cholesterol; 6 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 25 g protein; 1 g fiber; 492 mg sodium; 392 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C & Zinc (18% daily value)

Slow Cooked Beans

Ingredients:

1 pound dried beans, such as cannellini beans, black beans, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, great northern beans or pinto beans
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried
1 bay leaf
5 cups boiling water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Use the quick-soak method: Place beans in a large pot with enough water to cover by 2 inches.

Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat and let stand for 1 hour.)

Drain the beans and place them in a slow cooker. Add onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Pour in boiling water. Cook, covered, on high until beans are tender, 2 to 3 1/2 hours. Add salt, cover, and cook for 15 minutes more.

6 cups/serves
Per cup: 260 calories; 1 g fat ( 0 g sat , 0 g mono ); 0 mg cholesterol; 48 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 15 g protein; 19 g fiber; 201 mg sodium; 726 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Folate (61% daily value), Iron (25% dv), Magnesium (24% dv), Potassium (21% dv), Calcium (15% dv).