The Healthy Living Blog

Can I let you in on a not-so-secret secret? 

Almost everyone struggles with sticking to a healthy diet from time to time.

Yes, even ME.

In fact, it seems like every week I have someone confessing to me that it’s the #1 issue getting in the way of their health goals.

So this month I’ll be sharing a lot of time-tested tips to make eating a healthy diet easier. 

You see, what you eat matters a LOT…

And, your eating habits can:

• Help you live longer
• Boost your immunity
• Help you reach & maintain a healthy weight
• Support your muscles and bones 
• Keep your skin, teeth, and eyes healthy
• Lower your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers
• Help your digestive system do its job
• Support healthy pregnancies & breastfeeding

Not to mention give you more energy, cut down on aches & pains, help you sleep better, and improve your workout performance and recovery. Pretty amazing.

Here’s an easy tip to get you started:

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I'd love you to just chuck out the scales! Seriously. They are not a good indicator of what is happening inside your body. When you weigh yourself, all you are doing is weighing your self-esteem. 

Too often I see people who weight themselves daily, focusing on that number on the scales. They benchmark their entire progress on this single metric, which means that momentum, adherence and further progress all hinges on it.

 IT'S NOT ALWAYS THE WEIGHT

One of the most effective ways to reduce the fear or apprehension toward weight change is to highlight the factors (outside of actual fat loss/gain) that can influence it. I'm going to highlight these below.

WATER RETENTION

This is definitely one of the main culprits. Often, individuals will weigh themselves on Monday morning after a busy and indulgent weekend, only to find that they have added 1-2 lbs. of weight. However, if you
did not adequately hydrate, consumed a little more sodium than usual, these can both lead...

Click here for a metaPWR video

What is MetaPWR?

MetaPWR is a unique 30-minute metabolic resistance workout and has been carefully designed by the industry experts who created Metafit™.

What is Metabolic Resistance Training?

Studies show that metabolic resistance training is one of the best, most intense strategies for building muscle and burning fat. It's done through specific intense resistance exercises that increase the efficiency of your body's metabolism, which burns more calories at rest.

So how exactly does metabolic resistance training work, you might be asking? I’m going to keep it real simple for you – so stay with me! This will only take one minute out of your day but it may be the most powerful information you’ve read about how to train smarter, more effectively and get better results in less time.

How It Works

It’s all to do with your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). MetaPWR aims to increase your RMR. Your RMR is the...

MAKES: 12 | PREP: 20 MINS | COOK: 20 MINS

NUTRITION PER SERVING: 
141 kCal | 10g Fats | 10g Carbs | 3g Protein

Ingredients:

For the crust:
6 digestive biscuits 
3 Tbsp. butter, room temperature 

For the filling: 
230g (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature 
½ cup (120g/4.2 oz.) Greek yogurt 
4 Tbsp. honey 
1 large egg white 
1 tsp. vanilla extract 
4 Tbsp. raspberry jam

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a muffin tin with paper muffin liners. 

Next, prepare the digestive cookie crust. Place the cookies and butter into a high-speed blender or food processor and blitz until the mixture forms a crumble. 

Spoon 2 tablespoons of the crumble into each muffin liner and gently press down. Place the tray in the oven and bake the crust for 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Place the softened cream cheese, yogurt, honey, egg white, and vanilla extract into a high-speed...

SERVES 4 | PREP: 15 MINS | COOK: 10 MINS

428 kcal | 22g fat | 35g carbs | 30g protein 

INGREDIENTS

300g (10.5 oz) chicken breast fillets
2 Tabs Tamari
¼ cup (90g) honey
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tabs sesame oil
3 ½ cups (350g) cabbage, finely sliced
1 large carrot, finely sliced
1 cucumber, finely sliced
3 spring onions, sliced
1 cup (30g) mint leaves, chopped
1 cup (30g) fresh coriander, chopped
½ cup (80g) almonds, roughly chopped
1 Tabs toasted sesame seeds

METHOD

Lay the chicken between 2 sheets of clingfilm and pound with a rolling pin to slightly flatten.
 
To make the marinade, put the tamari, honey, garlic and 1 Tabs sesame oil in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add the chicken and put in the fridge. Allow it to marinate for at least 10 minutes (the longer is better).
 
Heat 1 Tabs of sesame oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Fry the chicken for 4-5 minutes each side or until brown. Then take off the pan,...

SERVES 12 | SERVING SIZE: 1 SERVING | PREP TIME: 10 MINS | COOK TIME: 8 HOURS

24g PROTEIN | 8g FAT | 16g CARBS

INGREDIENTS

1 cup (250ml) beef stock
4 Tabs honey
4 Tabs coconut sugar
2 Tabs tamari sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1.3kgs (3 lbs) beef chuck roast

INSTRUCTIONS

In the bottom of a 6 litre (6 quart) slow cooker, combine the beef stock, honey, sugar, tamari, Worcestershire sauce and garlic. Mix well until combined.

Cut the beef in half lengthways. Place in the slow cooker and turn to coat the beef with the sauce on all sides. Place the lid on the pot and cook the beef on a low setting for 8 hours.

Once the beef has cooked, remove it from the slow cooker and place it in a large bowl. Gently pull the beef apart using two forks, then return the beef into the slow cooker and mis with the cooking juices.

Once cooled, store the beef in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Alternatively, you can freeze the beef for up to 3 months.

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The lead up to year-end holidays can be full of routine disruptors which can make skipped workouts, overeating and weight gain feel inevitable. But it doesn't have to be that way. 

Anticipating the challenges to come and arming yourself with some strategies to get through the holidays relatively unscathed is they key to surviving them.

There's lots of tips and tricks that I can give you, but I want to give you just 4 to focus on that I think are the most important and I'll include some infographics from Precision Nutrition that will help arm you with some strategies. These will help you to prioritise health, fitness and nutrition no matter what life throws at you - including the holiday season.

1. Eat slowly and until you feel "satisfied" rather than "stuffed"

One of the best ways that you can reduce your calorie intake immediately (without restrictive dieting) is with this one simple and effective tool. It helps in two ways:

• It takes 15-20...

I'm currently at Day 7 of running my 30 Day Challenge. And in my email to them yesterday, I talked about the problems with pressing the "pause button" on your health and fitness. What do I mean by that?

Well, whenever I run a Challenge of some sort, things always start off with a hiss and a roar - those doing it are very excited to start something new or to have a re-start! But then there's always those who drop off. Why?

Because unexpected (or even expected) things come up. We're dealing with real life. Work gets crazy busy, your kids get sick, family birthdays, weddings... the list goes on. When you miss a workout or eat the wrong thing, the thought process for most people is "I've failed". So you stop completely. And you reason that you'll just take a break – it’s not the right time - and start again when things calm down...when you have more time, when your kids aren't sick.

Except things never really slow down or get any easier. And you just keep putting it off. Or...

Most people know what a healthy, balanced meal looks like. Knowledge is not usually the problem. After all, we live in the digital age - nutrition information is readily available to us 24/7.

However, the battle for most people when it comes to consistently eating healthy, balanced meals is HOW to do it "in real life", whilst juggling the constant challenges. 

You know, like those days when you are late home from work because you get stuck in traffic from an accident on the motorway, your kids are tired and hangry and having near meltdowns... and then one of your kids vomits on the floor!

Without being prepared and having healthy options to grab, it's too easy to just go for those convenient, processed fast foods. 

As a Precision Nutrition certified Nutrition Coach, I teach my clients exactly how to have meal prep strategies in place. The result? Healthy food options to choose from when life throws us those never ending curve balls!

The below...

Mealtime. It's a source of frustration and anxiety for SO many parents out there. 

Trying to balance the challenges of busy life and getting nutritious food into your kids is REALLY hard, and you wouldn't be alone if you feel like you're failing. 

But it is possible to win the battle and create a harmonious, stress-free environment at meal times, without having to make the world's healthiest meals or demand your kids eat all their vegetables. 

HOW?

By being gently persistent and taking a long term approach. Allowing your children to feel like they have some choices and control, by helping them to have a basic understanding of why nutrition is important and providing a safe, low-stress environment at mealtimes. 

The below infographic is an awesome visual guide which provides 9 low stress strategies to help kids get the nutrients they need, plus there are 5 family friendly recipes that most kids will love. 

Download the full...