Earn Your Health – One Day At A Time

There are newspaper articles every day talking about the latest health fad, super food or magic ingredient that we need to be healthier, usually accompanied by a scientific study or clinical trial.
 
While I am all for research and scientific evidence for health claims, I would like to point out why you don’t often see the studies that conclude we would all be better off making some basic healthy habits part of each day.
 
The trouble with studies is that someone needs to pay for them and that someone is usually a Large Company.
Imagine a study that showed the dramatic and lasting benefits of making sensible choices about getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, eating fresh, healthy food and exercising every day.
 
Who would pay for this? The Fruit & Vegetable Lobby? The Sleep-Well Institute? 

Yes, “the fresh food people” and “the supermarket that rhymes with Poles” do sell the healthy stuff but they make their margins on the brightly packaged, highly processed, sugary, salty, stuff, the stuff that makes you fat and has questionable nutritional value.

Put good, fresh food into your body, ditch the processed snack food and notice the difference - in your energy levels and your wallet.
 
I advocate living a healthy life because I like how it feels to feel good, to go through my day with enough energy, knowing I can handle what life throws at me, knowing I am nourishing my body & mind to be at its best.
 
I have not always lived such a healthy life, so I also know what it feels like to just get through each day, feeling tired after waking up from a poor night’s sleep and the effects of eating nutritionally deficient food.
 
If you’re not reaching your health and fitness goals, don’t go spending a fortune on the latest fads.
 
Get the basics down first – sleep, water, fresh food & exercise – and if you still need help, contact MET Fitness.
I’m here to help.

It's That Time of Year Again

The Christmas indulgence has ended and here we are in 2012. 

Magazine covers shout about The Body Issue, newspaper articles advise on the latest 'detox' or 'diet' that will shed kilos fast, all suggesting that we should be remorseful for the traditional culinary delights that accompany our relaxed holiday celebrations.

At the very least, the implication is that we are certainly not okay to start this year exactly as we are.

I disagree.

You are exactly where you are supposed to be this year and you are perfectly capable of making the choices you need to, to reach your goals. 

The question is, what do you REALLY want in your life? 

What is it that you are doing or not doing that is holding you back from living the life you know you can have?

Change happens in  a moment, and it happens over and over again.

It is the moment where you make a different choice for yourself, where you wake up to the unhelpful decisions you made in the past and truly choose what you want in your life.

Own your freedom and your choices and delight in it.

YOU have this power. No one else will do it for you.

Happy New Year to you.

Stir Fried Greens with Char Sui

This recipe is more complicated than I like to cook everyday but tastes so good it is worth doing for a special occasion, or just substitute those hard-to-find ingredients for a deliciously quick dinner.

Cooking Time Prep time 15 mins, cook 5 mins

Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp ginger, cut into julienne
1 garlic clove, crushed
150 gm firm tofu, cut into cubes
½ quantity char siu, hung overnight in the fridge

1 bunch Chinese greens such as Chinese kale, coarsely chopped
50 gm black fungi, coarsely torn
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp each oyster sauce and Shaoxing wine
1 tsp Chinese roasted chilli paste (see note)
For seasoning: few drops of sesame oil and a pinch of white pepper, for seasoning 
 
Heat oil in a wok over high heat, add ginger and garlic, stir-fry until fragrant (10 seconds), add tofu and toss to coat, add char siu and greens, stir-fry until greens wilt (1-2 minutes). 
 
Add fungi, soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing and chilli paste, stir-fry to combine (1 minute).
Transfer to a platter, season with oil and white pepper.
Serves 4

Note Chinese roasted chilli paste is roasted chilli flakes in oil; it’s available from Asian grocers.
The paste is also sold with added salted black beans, dried fish or peanuts; you can use any of these pastes.

By Lisa Featherby

Cabbage, pea, mint, chilli and parmesan salad

Add some chicken or fish to this salad for a delicious summer meal.

Cooking Time Prep time 10 mins, cook 5 mins

Ingredients:
100 gm peas, podded (about 250gm unpodded)
400 gm cabbage, shredded
150 gm small radishes, thinly sliced lengthways
1 cup each (loosely packed) mint and flat-leaf parsley, torn
1 long red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
80 gm parmesan, finely grated

Lemon dressing
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
50 ml lemon juice

 
Blanch peas until bright green (1-2 minutes), drain and refresh, drain again and reserve. 
 
For lemon dressing, whisk ingredients in a bowl, season to taste and set aside. 
 
Combine peas, cabbage, radish, herbs, chilli and half the parmesan in a large bowl and toss to combine. 
Add lemon dressing, season to taste and mix until cabbage begins to wilt (1-2 minutes). 

Adjust seasoning and serve salad scattered with remaining parmesan.
Serves 4 

By Karen Martini, Mr Wolf

Chicken Pad Thai

Ingredients:
2 Lebanese cucumbers
1 carrot
Large handful bean sprouts
Handful baby spinach leaves
1 red capsicum, finely sliced
2 spring onions, chopped
½ red chilli (optional)
Small bunch coriander or Thai basil
Bunch mint leaves, chopped
400g grilled chicken or tempeh
1 tsp ground flax seed (linseed)

Dressing
Juice from 2 limes
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
2 tsp wheat-free tamari soy sauce
Few drops stevia
2 tsp tahini

Use a peeler or mandolin to slice vegetables into long noodle-like strips. Combine all the ingredients except flax seed in a large mixing bowl.
Combine the dressing ingredients and pour over salad just before eating. Sprinkle with flax seed and serve.
Serves 2

By Teresa Cutter

Merry Christmas from MET Fitness

With 2011 coming to a close, I want to congratulate You, my wonderful clients for making your health and fitness a priority this year.

Some of you are new to any kind of regular physical activity and have taken on your new habits with enthusiasm and commitment - you understand that your commitment gets it done when your enthusiasm is low.

You've realised trying to change too much at once can be overwhelming and you created a plan that works for you - an exercise schedule that you can stick with.

You've educated yourself on how your body works and made the small, sustainable modifications to your diet, that make a big difference to how you feel.

You've noticed how much more energy you have to enjoy life, when you exercise regularly and nourish your body with fresh food.

You feel stronger, happier, more relaxed, move better, feel better and look better than you did a year ago.

You may have sat back and thought about making some changes - I encourage you to make 2012 YOUR YEAR for ACTION!

Time passes, it's what you do with that time that matters.

Thank you all for another wonderful year of training. 

Enjoy the break, eat, drink and be merry with family and friends and I'll see you in 2012 for more fitness and fun!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love Kim xx

Challenge Yourself - Just Enough

We can scare ourselves into inaction by thinking we need to make GREAT BIG radical changes all at once.

It is the small, sustainable changes we put in place each day, one at a time, that make the biggest difference in our lives.

There is a small but dedicated group of training clients who have taken on the MET Fitness 6 Week Challenge, making changes to the way they eat, train and take care of themselves.

There is another group, who are quietly watching from the sidelines, perhaps waiting to see how this goes, wondering if they could take on the Challenge for themselves.

The thought of making changes to our daily habits can be daunting; it took the Challengers a couple of weeks to get used to the idea, prepare themselves mentally, emotionally and physically, and put in place the planning they knew they needed for success.

I am so impressed with the thought, creativity, dedication and consistency shown by the Challengers over the past four weeks; they are learning to pay attention to the quality of food they choose to put into their bodies and they have made fitness a regular part of their day.

They are beginning to understand that it is not about being 'perfect', it is about paying attention to your life - YOU get to decide how you live!

I am equally impressed with the continuing curiosity, learning and desire shown by the observing group, to live healthier lives, to find ways of making that work for them. 

Making changes in your life that you know need to happen takes time - making the decision to start takes an instant.

Change one thing for a week to give yourself that sense of achievement and the confidence to know you can reach the next goal, and the next.

Whatever your health or fitness challenge, write it down, make a plan and set the date. Go!