Fresh superfoods

Posted on July 22, 2013

Last week we introduced a handful of superfoods that you’ll find in your pantry.  So instead of travelling for half-an-hour to a far flung health food store, you can simply eat a little more of foods that you are probably already eating.

This week, we’ve moved to the fruit & vege aisle.  These foods are packed with vitamins and nutrients to boost your health.  And they’re super simple to cook with.  In winter, when berry prices are high, replace them with the frozen variety.  They’re still incredibly good for you.

 

Sweet potatoes

One of the simplest changes you can make to your dinners is swapping standard potatoes for sweet potatoes.  They’re lower GI and incredibly good for us.  They’re packed with beta-carotene and vitamin C, which help to combat illness.  They also contain minerals that are essential for energy production and muscle repair.

Easy sweet potatoes: Cook a sweet potato in the oven, the microwave or boiling water.  Once it’s cooked through, mash it with fresh herbs, chopped fresh chilli and a little soy sauce.  Serve with fish or steak.

Berries

The bright colours are a giveaway.  Berries are full of powerful antioxidants that boost immune health and prevent the build up of free radicals.  They’re also great for healing and recovery.

Easy berries: Berries are easy whatever you do.  Add a handful to your muesli or porridge.  Crush berries into natural yoghurt.  Have a berry and ricotta sandwich.  Eat them straight out of the punnet.

Green veges

Broccoli and leafy greens, like spinach and kale, can protect against cancers and boost immunity.  They’re also a good source of calcium, magnesium and vitamins A, C and K.  Between them, these vitamins and minerals help us to build and maintain healthy bones and joints and a healthy respiratory system.

Easy spinach: Put a bag of baby spinach into a colander.  Pour over boiling water to wilt the spinach.  You can incorporate it into mash or a frittata.  Or dress it with olive oil, lemon juice and a little crushed garlic and serve as a side.

 

Do you like the idea of eating clean and feeling fabulous?  Good Mood Food is one part of Spring – 30 days to change your life.  For good.

All it takes is $30, 30 minutes, 30 days. Sign up here.

Posted in diet | Tagged , , , , |

Pantry superfoods

Posted on July 15, 2013

Superfoods get a lot of press.  If you haven’t read about goji berries, chia seeds or quinoa lately, have a look around.  You may have been living under a rock.

The thing is, a lot of these superfoods are being pushed by marketing teams.  And most of them cost a small fortune.  Which is why we’ve compiled this list of everyday superfoods.  Things that you have probably been eating all along.  They’re affordable, easy to incorporate into a standard meal and you’ll find them at your local supermarket.

Read on to find out what’s so good about them and simple ideas on incorporating these health sensations into your meals.  Part one covers a few pantry staples.  Next week, we’ll move to the fruit & vege aisle.

Eggs

A single egg provides more than 10% of your daily protein needs, but is relatively low in kilojoules.  The vitamins and nutrients in eggs promote brain and eye health and boost energy.

Easy eggs: Plan ahead by hard-boiling 4 eggs at a time.  Eat 2 per serve, either for breakfast or lunch.  Simply mash them onto toast with tomato or slice them onto half of a wrap with some cheese and shredded spinach leaves, then fold it in half and throw it into a sandwich press.

Oats

Oats are also relatively low in calories, but packed full of fibre and protein.  They provide us with a range of nutrients, including magnesium to relax restless muscles and selenium, which has antioxidant properties.

Easy oats: Before you go to bed, put 1/2cup of oats into a breakfast bowl.  Add a grated apple and 1/2 cup of liquid – either juice or milk.  Water works too, but it’s not as tasty.  Leave it in the fridge overnight, and then add a few chopped nuts, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a spoonful of yoghurt for breakfast.

Dark chocolate

Good quality dark chocolate (at least 70%) is a great source of zinc, calcium and magnesium.  It is considered a stress reliever and an anti-oxident.  But we don’t need research to tell us that chocolate makes us feel good….

Easy chocolate: Simply open the packet and eat it.  If you’re looking for a little more than that, slit a banana lengthwise (still in it’s skin).  Put a couple of squares of dark chocolate in the slit, wrap the banana in foil and bake at 180 for 10 minutes.

 

Do you like the idea of eating clean and feeling fabulous?  Good Mood Food is one part of Spring – 30 days to change your life.  For good.

All it takes is $30, 30 minutes, 30 days. Sign up here.

 

Posted in diet | Tagged , , , , , |

Just like a pill

Posted on July 8, 2013

meditation picAn old zen adage says “You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day – unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour.”

Let’s face it. We’re all too busy.  Our minds are scattered all over the place and we’re constantly on the run.  I know.  It’s the same for me.  If there was a pill that kept us energised and focused we’d take it.  Which is funny.  Because meditation has the same effect, but we’re reluctant to put aside a handful of minutes to sit still and be present.

A few weeks ago I had meetings booked all over Sydney – from Surry Hills to Silverwater.  It was the Friday before the long weekend.  Not the best day to be driving all over town, traffic was a nightmare.  I’d had a busy week and wasn’t as prepared as I wanted to be.  C’est la vie.

I arrived for the Silverwater meeting about 20 minutes early.  I was trying to run through what I wanted to discuss, but my brain was fried.  It just wasn’t absorbing the bullet points on the piece of paper in front of me.  So I did something I little out of character….. I meditated.

I had the Spring mini-meditation on my phone, so I played it.  Just under 10 minutes was all that I needed.  I didn’t even close my eyes – it seemed a bit too bizarre sitting bolt upright in the car with my eyes closed in the middle of suburbia.  But I zoned out.  And it felt great.  My thoughts slowed down, my breathing normalised, the effects of the coffee I’d had in my previous meeting diminished and I regained my focus.

And I secured a new sponsor for Spring in the meeting.

 

If you’d like to try mini-meditations, you could sign-up for Spring 2013.  It’s one of the mood-boosting tools you’ll receive, as well as fitness plans and daily simple, healthy recipes.

All it takes is $30, 30 minutes, 30 days.  Join us here.

 

Posted in Wellbeing | Tagged , , , , |

Why it’s not all rubbish being depressed

Posted on July 1, 2013

The post below is copied from Bernie J Mitchell’s blog.  With permission of course.  I read it the other day and it made me smile.  It’s about getting over feeling sorry for ourselves and doing what we can to feel better.  Which applies to everyone, not just people with depression.  It’s short, it’s funny, it’s worth a really quick read.  That’s why I’m sharing it with you…..

 

So a cool thing happened today, I have been really really really struggling for a few days.  Therapy on Monday wiped me out.  Sunday I felt like someone was mashing my brain even though I spent the whole day relaxing and having fun.  Saturday I deliberately unplugged and did nothing, by 5:30pm I was falling asleep standing up and could not talk.  Friday, well Friday was so crap I think my brain has deleted it.

What was cool today? It started like hell. I pushed on, then spoke to a special mate and they asked what gives me energy.

They simply said “only do the things that give you energy.”  (Ok so I still have to wash up and do the banking).

Choosing the “energy giving things” – blogging, podcasting, dancing and singing with Super Cool Wife and #babybernie to Lola’s Theme and Moonage Daydream wards off the “death bots” that make everything seem exaggerated or impossible.

Doing energy giving things will be the way to beat this. I am on medication and having therapy but it is taking responsibility for the small actions by myself everyday where the bullet stopping powers lie.

Having depression is crap. Learning about yourself in this context is both painful and massively rewarding at the same time, so it’s not all rubbish being depressed!

 

Posted in mental health | Tagged , , , , |

Dry-ish July

Posted on June 24, 2013

There are a lot of perfectionists in the world.  People who set exceptionally high expectations.  And people who procrastinate.  They want to get fit before they start personal training, so that the trainer doesn’t think that they’re unfit.  You know what?  The trainer doesn’t care.  They work with unfit people everyday.  It’s their job to make you fit and it will happen a whole lot sooner if you’d hurry up and get started.

Imagine that you decide you’re going to stop drinking for a month.  Jump on board thisDry July.  You’ve read too many articles about the benefits of giving your liver a break and you’ve decided that it’s time.

But you can’t start next week, because there are 2 birthdays and a work function.  Which means that you can’t do it this month, because you really want to start on the 1st and take up the challenge for a calendar month.  So you’ll do your own dry July, but in August.  Uh-oh.  You’re on holiday for a week in August.  September would be better…..  Maybe you should wait until next July?

Isn’t any progress better than none?  Isn’t almost-dry-July better than thinking about going dry some month far far in the future?  In short, what I’m saying is that it’s time to get over your excuses and get on with the challenge, whatever that may be.

Keep in mind that any progress is better than standing still.  If you slip up once or twice during the month, it’s still been a healthier 31 days than it could’ve been.  But be careful that a little slip doesn’t become a landslide.  A glass of wine is forgivable.  A wine every night…… not ideal.  The key is to let yourself make mistakes every now and then.  And to move on quickly when you do.

Good luck!

 

From the author…….

I’m a big fan of Dry July.  It’s a great concept.  It encourages us to question the simple lifestyle choices that we make every day.  Or at least every weekend.  If you are taking part, good luck.  But sorry, I won’t be joining you.  I’m in France for the month of July……  France and dry just don’t work together.  But I am going to aim for a more moderate approach to the french lifestyle than usual.  Because any progress is better than none.

Cheers!

 

Posted in drinking | Tagged , , , , , |

Sweet dreams

Posted on June 17, 2013

We all know that we feel better after a good nights sleep.  I know that I can function perfectly well on 5 or 6 hours for a few nights, but then it all starts to crumble.  7 hours a night is my golden number.  I guess we all know what is enough for us.  Although, between friends, I’m not sure that I trust politicians who say they only need 3 or 4 hours a night…..

There are a lot of reasons that we need enough sleep.

Rather than writing them all, here are my top 5:

  1. Live longer.  And better.  Sleeping too little, or too much, has been proven to shorten our lifespan and to reduce our quality of life.  Lack of sleep has been linked to high cholesterol, chronic inflammation, heart disease and more.
  2. Reach & keep a healthier weight.  Dieters tend to lose more fat if they’re well-rested.  Sleep-deprived dieters are more likely to lose muscle mass.  And who wants that?
  3. Stress less.  Sleep & stress create a vicious cycle.  The less we sleep, the more we stress.  And the more we stress, the harder it becomes to get enough sleep.  If this applies to you, make sure you read the tips below.
  4. Sharpen up.  By getting enough sleep each night, we improve our attention span, our memory and our creative skills.  And we’re less likely to have accidents.
  5. Avoid depression and anxiety.  Too little sleep has been linked to both clinical depression and anxiety.  And general moodiness, but we all knew that.  Have you seen a tired toddler lately?

OK, so that’s why we need to sleep tight every night.  But what if your mind is restless and you spend more time tossing and turning than actually resting?

Try these tips for calmer nights:

  1. Keep it regular.  Being consistent reinforces your sleep-wake cycle, which promotes better sleep.  If you can’t survive without a sleep-in during the weekend, it generally means you aren’t sleeping enough during the week.
  2. If you’re not sleeping, stop trying.  After 20 restless minutes, the best thing you can do is get out of bed.  Sit somewhere dark and quiet, maybe have a herbal tea (not recommended if you have a weak bladder) and slow down your breathing.  If you’re stressed about something in particular, write it down to get it out of your head.  Once you’re calm, return to bed and try again.
  3. Pay attention to what you eat and drink.  Wether you’re starving or stuffed, your sleep will be affected.  Nicotine, caffeine and other stimulants can keep you up.  Alcohol may send you to sleep, but your sleep can be disrupted.  When was the last time you woke up feeling well rested after a big night?
  4. Be active.  People who exercise regularly tend to fall asleep faster and sleep more deeply.  But be warned – exercising late in the day can leave you full of energy and unable to hit the off switch.
  5. Get comfortable.  We need a cool, dark and quiet room in order to sleep well.  If moving house isn’t an option, think about ear plugs, better blinds or eye masks to make your environment work for you.

As a side note, I really like the Sleep Cycle app.  You turn the app on each night, set the in-built alarm and sleep with your phone under your pillow (I put mine on flight mode first – partly so I’m not disturbed by messages, partly due to the unknowns surrounding radiation levels).  It analyses your sleep phases and then wakes you up when you are in the lightest phase of sleep.  If you don’t enter a light phase of sleep within the 30 minutes before your alarm time, it’ll wake you up at the last minute.

 

Posted in sleep | Tagged , , , , |

I’m just so busy…..

Posted on June 10, 2013

My husband was given this birthday card. It’s one of the funniest cards I’ve seen in a long time. But the sad thing is, it really does capture the attitude of most people. We’re all so busy telling everyone how busy we are that we forget to get on with life. If you were really that busy at work, you’d never reply to group e-mails that are essentially mindless banter. If you were honestly at your limit, you would have logged off from facebook…… permanently.

We are all busy. But that’s life. Let’s live it. Forget the whinging and put more fun into each week. Here are five tips to get busy people exercising more. It’s a win-win. The time you spend exercising will be fun, and you’ll feel better for it when you’re done.

 

“i can’t believe i remembered your birthday. i’ve just been so busy and popular lately. i’m surprised i remembered you at all.”

  1. Plan your week.  Training sessions don’t happen by themselves.  You need to know when and where you’ll exercise…. and then remember to take your gear with you.
  2. Build in a buffer.  If you want to train 5 days a week, schedule 6.  Because we all fall down sometimes.
  3. Keep it real.  If you’ve never bounced out of bed before 6am in your life, what makes you think that you’ll start now?  There’s no harm in trying.  But maybe lunchtimes or evenings are better for you.
  4. Recognise excuses.  Sometimes we have genuine reasons not to train.  Sometimes we are creating reasons because we can’t be bothered.  If this sounds like you, read this post.
  5. Seek out opportunities.  Active commuting (like cycling, walking or running), playing sports with friends instead of going for lunch, training yourself while your kids play Saturday morning soccer, booking active holidays that you need to train for, organising a group from work to exercise together…. there are so many options available to all of us.

You may not have the time to exercise right now.  But with a few adjustments to weekly life, we can all make the time.  As they say, we’ll all be a long time dead.

 

 

Posted in Healthy habits | Tagged , , , |

Spring is…..

Posted on June 3, 2013

Spring means different things to different people. The dictionary definition of the verb spring is: To move or jump suddenly upward or forward. The noun is, quite obviously:The season between winter and summer.

When you think about it, who doesn’t want to jump upwards and onwards when winter is over?  Which is why Springfitness.com.au launches on September 1st each year.  It’s about using fitness to make yourself feel good.  Healthy eating to boost your mood.  And mini-meditations to calm your mind.  It’s about helping yourself and helping others, through the donation to On the Line.

Here is a taste of things to come:

 

 

In case you missed it……

Join Spring for 30 days of health & happiness this September.  Online.  In your own time.  In your own space.  All profits are donated to On the Line, Australia’s leading provider of remote counselling services.

http://www.springfitness.com.au/sign-up/

 

 

Posted in Healthy habits | Tagged , , , , |

Happy for now vs happy for good

Posted on May 27, 2013

We make tonnes of little decisions every day.  We’re constantly deciding what to do, what to eat, wether we should answer the call from an unknown number, if we should confess to whatever we’ve done, if we should train now or train later….

Sometimes we decide what to do based on what’s best for us.  Sometimes it’s not about us – we might simply need to get the job done.  But often, we’re deciding what is going to make us happiest.  Will I feel better if I eat carrots or if I eat junk?  Will I appreciate a glass of water or a glass of wine?

The trap here is that what makes us feel great right now will often make us feel worse a little further down the track.  The wrong food choices leave us bloated and irritable.  Skipping too many training sessions makes us lethargic and moody.  Procrastinating at work and at home creates stress.

There’s nothing wrong with doing things that make us happy right now.  As long as there aren’t consequences down the track.  The instant gratification of a bunch of flowers, a chat with a friend or a few minutes of doing not much will boost your mood and it doesn’t harm anyone.  So go for it.  But constantly avoiding the hard stuff when it comes to everyday habits will catch up with you in the end.

Tony Hsieh, founder of American online retail giant Zappos and Delivering Happiness, is constantly asking people what their goals are.  Then he asks them why?  And he keeps drilling down, asking why again & again, until the person figures out why they want to be rich/to travel more/to work less/to start a charity etc.  And the reason?  Tony states that almost every single time, people end up saying ‘because it will make me happy’.  So if we are all aiming to be happier, it’s up to us to make decisions that actually make us happy in the long term.  Being happy for now is good.  But being happy for good is a whole lot better.

Posted in Happiness, Healthy habits | Tagged , , , , , |

Bi-polar disorder, behind the scenes

Posted on May 20, 2013

Right now, I’m busy.  Catch me at the wrong moment and I’d say I’m stressed.  Too much to get done and too little time before Spring sign-ups go live, on July 1st.  And then even more to get done before you all start training on September 1st…..  Which is why the blog this week goes right back to where it all began.  It’s about reminding myself, and you, why Spring exists and how it makes a difference.

Depression, bi-polar disorder, anxiety disorders, eating disorders…. they might be invisible.  But they dominate the lives that they touch.  Mum has been hospitalised countless times.  She was absent, either literally or at least in mind, for a huge part of my childhood.  In theory, she was always there when we came home from school.  But the reality was different.  Mental illness can be all-consuming.  The fact that her and Dad are still married almost 40 years later is a huge achievement on both of their parts.

There are a lot of stories I could tell.  A psychiatric ward is not the place you want your kids to spend every evening for months on end.  There were lots of miserable moments, but I’m convinced that they’ve made everyone in our family stronger.  And Mum is a whole lot healthier now than she was then, so why dwell on the worst of it?

After all that has happened, Mum and I get on, but I wouldn’t say that we’re close.  I don’t know if you ever re-build that connection.  So Spring is my way of trying to understand mental illness.  I see myself helping Mum by making it easier for other people who are dealing with the same hand that she was dealt.  I see Spring as a means to break down the barriers that still surround depression.  And a way to give individuals the tools to tackle their own depression.

I am so, so grateful that I don’t seem to have inherited bi-polar disorder.  Which makes me willing to help those who have.  This determination is what keeps me moving forward on the craziest days.

Here is a short version of Mum’s take on bi-polar disorder:

Bipolar disorder has impacted on me and my family big time.  It must have been ghastly for my husband and children in a household clouded by this serious mental illness and in hindsight, my many hospital admissions must have been well-earned respite for them.

A turning point was being assigned to a psychiatrist, psychologist and community health nurse that I got on with, could trust and would listen to.  Maybe too, I’d finally realised that this competitive, high-achieving woman who’d assumed she could control her life herself, would always need medications and support from psych professionals.  Realising that family and friends weren’t actually ‘getting at me’, but trying to help was a big step towards where I am now too.

With my improved mood stability, acceptance of my illness and increased self-confidence, I’ve gradually opened up and it’s amazing how accepting everyone ‘out there’ is.  I’m not the ‘nutter’ I thought I was.

Feeling good about yourself and improving your self-esteem is a big issue for mental health patients and a good way to help that is engaging in sport.  It’s a well-known fact that the endorphins released during sport are good, natural mood-boosters.  Sport is a major part of my life and many of my achievements have been through sports, mostly mountain biking and running.  And that is just one of the reasons that I’m so happy to see that Gretchen has founded and grown Spring into what it is today.

- Paddi Hodgkiss

 

Posted in mental health, psychology | Tagged , , , , , |