Warm Minted Lamb Salad

 Preparation time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Salad

400g lean lamb fillets

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/3 cup chick stock

½ cup couscous

Cooking oil spray

3 medium tomatoes peeled and seeded

1 small green cucumber

150g baby spinach

2 table spoons chopped fresh mint leaves

Dressing

¾ cup low fat yogurt

3 teaspoons lemon juice

¼ cup water

Pinch ground cumin

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Method

Salad

1. Combine lamb, garlic and juice in a bowl; cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight
2. Bring stock to the bo8il in saucepan, add couscous; remove pan from heat, stir, cover, stand for 5 minutes or until stock is absorbed.
3. Head frying pan, coat with cooking oil spray, add couscous; cook, stirring, until grain are separated. Remove from pan, cool.
4. Slice tomatoes thinly. Slice cucumber thinly with vegetable peeler.
5. Spray grill pan with a coat of cooking oil spray; cook lamb, turning, until cooked as desired. Cut lamb into thin slices.
6. Make dressing.
7. Place salad leaves, cucumber. Tomatoes and lamb on serving plate; drizzle with dressing, sprinkle with mint couscous.

Dressing

Place ingredients in small bowl and mix well.

Coastal Bodies Recommends this Womans Weekly recipie

Should I Diet or Exercise to lose Weight?

A large number of people embark on a journey of weight loss every year with the possibility of millions of solutions….. There is everything from chocolate meal replacement shakes to vibrating machines and 1001 different ab sculptors.

This begs the question, what is the best solution for weight loss? Is it the no carbohydrates diet, a lemon detox program or running a thousand kilometres every week?

The answer is a combination of regular exercise and a balanced diet. Certain dietary supplement companies and large gym chains would say otherwise. However, the proof is in the results.

I know I may have destroyed your dreams of achieving great weight loss through the consumption of a magic pill or 5 minutes with the ABTASTIC 3000. The good news is that no extreme measures need be taken. Weight loss will be achieved through a consistent and sustainable exercise program and balanced diet.

Most people want results yesterday. We are impatient when it comes to our health and want to undo years of unhealthy habits in days. This is why quick result diets are a multi-billion dollar business. The bad news is that this weight loss is primarily water. When you crash diet you significantly slow your resting metabolism. As well as this, you are also at a higher risk of suffering a heart attack. In fact, initial success in weight loss relates poorly to long-term success.

You can lose weight through exercise or diet alone. However, your results will be enhanced when you combine both. The combination of exercise and diet will specifically produce:

• Less intense feelings of hunger and psychologic stress than with following a diet alone.
• An increase in the overall size of your energy deficit
• Greater body fat loss as you will preserve lean muscle mass
• A blunt in the drop in resting metabolism that is associated with weight loss
• Improvements in mood
• Increased insulin sensitivity
• Greater flexibility

Now we have established that this is the best solution for weight loss we have another pertinent question. What does a sustainable exercise program and balanced diet look like? Thousands of books have been written on these subjects but here is the succinct answer; the best type of exercise for fat burning is a combination of resistance and cardiovascular training that includes high intensity intervals. High intensity workouts increase your oxygen consumption for a longer period of time after exercise and this increases the total amount of calories expended.

When it comes to diet remember this simple little saying; eat like a queen for breakfast, a princess for lunch and a pauper for dinner. This will keep you in good stead. Your metabolism is at its best in the morning so it makes sense to consume a large majority of your daily calories by 1 pm. Stick to low glycemic index (GI) foods and avoid refined sugars wherever possible! Have fruit and nuts as snacks, include plenty of vegetables and salad with your meals and choose wholesome carbohydrates such as multigrain bread and brown rice. It is also important to eat plenty of protein; red meat, chicken, fish and eggs and are just a few great options.

This is a very short overview of how best to lose weight. If you would like a more comprehensive review of your dietary and exercise needs then contact us on 1300 177 119.

Why Stretch?

Why Stretch?

• Improve posture. By stretching you are conteracting some of the positions we keep our muscles in for extended periods of time, allowing all muscles to keep their length.
• Increases range of movement around joints and Improves balance making daily activities easier to perform. Think back to a time you had tight muscles after a heavy workout… What did it stop you from doing? Maybe you had tight thigh muscles and all of a sudden sitting down became very painful. Stretching helps keep muscles flexible around joints and relieve muscle soreness.
• Relaxation. Stretching helps release muscles that become tense as a result of stress.
• Alleviate muscle soreness.  Stretching increases circulation to muscles. This increases the rate of recovery by removing waste products from the muscle.
• Potential increase in muscle power and ability to control muscles. This will improve your sporting ability along with strength to do every day activities
• Decreases Risk of Injury. Each of the above factors means you’re less likely to injure yourself during sport, general exercise and every day activities.

It’s time to give your body what it deserves – A good stretch!

Incidentally Active

Incidentally Active

 

Kicking back on the couch watching the box,.. ad break. You reach for the remote to channel flick, stumble across the newspaper, magazines, reading glasses, last months bills… where’s the remote? As you finally resign to getting off the couch to look it tumbles to the ground….. twas right there on your lap all along.

 

Ever thought of exercise like your remote? Always right there within your reach. Everyday there are so many opportunities to be active;

   ü We could walk or ride some (or all) of the way to work
   ü Take the kids to the park
   ü Use the stairs in the office or apartment
   ü Park the car further from our destination
   ü Catch up with a friend and go for a walk instead of coffee
   ü Walk up the escalator
   ü Hang the washing out instead of using the dryer
   ü Dare I say… Hide the remote control

Did you know 30 minutes of incidental activity throughout the day will help you manage:

   ü Cholesterol

   ü Blood pressure

   ü Stress

   ü Body weight

   ü Insulin sensitivity(decreasing your risk of diabetes)

   ü Energy levels (increased energy and productivity)

Let your imagination go wild and take the risk to be more active

Reducing Cholesterol

Conquer Cholesterol with Lifestyle

Cholesterol – the ESSENTIAL fatty substance in our body that’s vital in forming cell membranes and producing hormones in the body. So let’s not get annoyed with it, rather let’s maximise it’s benefits by doing all we can to keep it at a healthy level in our body. Our bodies make Cholesterol and we consume it in our diet…Cholesterol may be high because of our genetics, nutrition or lack of exercise.The good news is that although we don’t have control over our genetics we do have control over our lifestyle! The two lifestyle factors that contribute most to cholesterol are diet and exercise!

How does exercise lower cholesterol?

1. Increases the ‘good’ cholesterol in your body and lowers the ‘bad’ cholesterol.

 2. Essential to maintaining a healthy weight

3. Keeps the heart strong and the vascular system toned.

What can you add to your diet to lower cholesterol?

 a. Oatmeal and Oat Bran. Eating soluble fibre helps your intestine digest the ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL). Kidney beans, pears, prunes and apples are also classified as soluble fibre.

b. Walnuts and Almonds. These nuts are rich in polyunsaturated fats keeping the blood vessels healthy and flexible. Be aware that nuts are also high in energy so eat about a handful.

c. Fish Oils and Omega 3’s. Fatty fish such as mackerel, lake trout, sardines, salmon and tuna contains high levels of omega 3’s that help lower cholesterol. It is recommended that you eat Fish at least twice a week. You can also get Omega 3’s using supplements. Try some from Coastal Bodies.

New Year Resolutions

Happy New Year and welcome to 2010! What does this year have in store for you? For some people it may be the start of a new job, others may have a wedding to attend and others may want that fresh start they’ve been looking for in 2010. Whatever this year holds for you, the best way to arrive there is by setting yourself some New Year’s resolutions.

If you’re anything like the rest of us, New Year’s resolutions seem so reasonable and practical on New Years Eve, during the first weeks of the year the even seem to grow closer; but at some stage during January or February they have disappeared out of our sights. They’re probably stacked up on the shelf next to those half-achieved resolutions from 2009 and 2008 because year in, year out; we keep on insisting that we will get them done- once and for all this year. To me, this screams a sense of urgency- screams that we need to get onto it this year, or it will start to get the better of us!

So, how are we going to make sure 2010 is any different? Those resolutions need to jump back off the shelf and stay where you can keep a close eye on them for the rest of the year!

Firstly, grab a pen and write down your main goals for this year. If they have anything to do with your health and wellbeing, make your goals SMART- Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic and within a Timeframe. For example, a client with some extra weight around her waist in 2009 was advised she had 10kg to lose for the benefit of her health and wellbeing. Together we sat down, and set her a specific exercise and eating plan for her overall goal of 5kg weight loss by June 30^th, and a further 5kg lost by December 31^st. To say that she was over the moon when she arrived at this very specific and realistic goal by New Years Eve would be an understatement! She looked and felt like a million dollars!

Once those goals are written down, tell someone about them. Tell your partner, your personal trainer, your boss or tell me. Whoever it is, make sure they hear you loud and clear because once you mutter those words aloud, they can hold you accountable to those goals.

The next step; what steps do you need to take to achieve these goals? If they are related to your health, you will likely need an eating plan; an exercise plan and you will definitely need to tell someone in the gym about your goals. Finally, set yourself a reward for reaching that goal. Reward your hard work with anything from that new pair of skinny jeans you’ve had your eye on to a relaxing bubble bath.

This year at Coastal Bodies, the trainers and I will combine exercise and dietary plans to enable you to achieve your goals! With that, I look forward to seeing you in the gym!

Should Women do Weights?

Weights seem to be the man’s domain… not anymore! Women get just as much health benefit from strength training as men; without bulking up, in fact strength training as an essential component of everyone’s exercise routine?

Let’s consider why by busting some common misconceptions:

#1 Women doing weights get bulky muscles

Ever been afraid of bulking up? Or thought weights are only for men? Most women don’t have the genetic potential to build massive muscles because they have 10 – 13 times less of the muscle building hormone, testosterone that men have. Rather weight training gives you toned muscle and reduced fat mass – and isn’t that what we all want – Less fat more tone!

#2 You can’t burn fat in your sleep

Everyone uses energy every minute of the day; those with more muscle mass will burn more calories than those with less muscle mass because they have a higher metabolism. By doing weights you can increase your muscle mass and resting metabolism to burn more calories even while you’re sleeping.

Strength training improves many areas of health including:

-           Joint and muscles function and consequently balance, flexibility, stamina and reduced risk of injury.

-          Increase in bone density and strength; this slows down the detrimental processes that come with age such as muscle loss and osteoporosis.

-          Decreases your risk of developing diabetes

-          Increases your blood level of HDL (good cholesterol)

-          Improves posture

-          Decreases resting blood pressure

-          Energizes and improves your mood

Tips to make your workout effective

-          Increase the weight not the number. That is:  do fewer repetitions with higher weights, gradually overloading the muscle. This will increase strength.

Flat Out Mum?

SPRING SPECIALS

• Bring a friend and recieve child care free or a free class
• Sign up for 2 classes a week at $35 / wk *
• Sign up for 3 classes a week at $45/wk*

For your free trial class or more information call Christine on 0431 308 294

Flat out? There’s no time left for Exercise? Really want to trim down? Feeling exhausted?

Make being flat out worthwhile and easier with Coastal bodies Flat Out Mums group exercise classes.

Flat out mums gives women the oppotunity to Exercise even when life is hectic. Good health is essential when caring for a family. Exercise far exceeds the benefits of medication and is vital in remaining healthy, preventing chronic disease, strengthening musculature and staying positive in life!

The Class will include:

Circuit strength exercises: doing weights increases your muscle mass and resting metabolic rate so that you burn more calories even when you’re not working out.

Cardio Boxing: Aerobic activity allows chemicals in the brain to be released that leave you feeling happier, strengthens the heart allowing your body to function efficiently and combats chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Flexibility: Improves the range of motion about your joints, decreases the risk of injury and muscle soreness and improves blood and nutrient supply to your joint structures.

Core Strength: Is vital for correct posture, preventing and recovering from lower back pain and make every day activities safe for you – including lifting children, picking up toys, carrying the shopping… even sitting at the computer!

Educational Segment: Health and Fitness tips will give you the knowledge to implement health into your everyday life, not only benefitting you but also the whole family.

So MUMs…

Commit to be FIT with Costal Bodies Flat Out Mums group exercise class every

Monday 9:30 – 10:30 at Maroubra Beach (Arthur Byrne Reserve)

Wednesday 10:00 – 11:00 at Barracluff Park North Bondi (off old south head road)

 Friday 10 – 11am at Queens Park (Child Care Available) (next to the children’s play ground on Darley road)

OR

Build your own group: all you need is

1. 4 – 10 friends
2. Park in the Eastern Suburbs
3. 1 Hour in daylight

Child care can be organised or pram exercises will be incorporated.

SPRING SPECIALS

• Bring a friend and recieve child care free or a free class
• Sign up for 2 classes a week at $35 / wk *
• Sign up for 3 classes a week at $45/wk*

For your free trial class or more information call Christine on 0431 308 294

*Minimum class sign up is 5 weeks

Build the Muscles You Want

How do you get the muscle mass you want?

Muscles strengthen when they are overloaded and have to work at a higher intensity; there are 3 ways you can overload:

1. Resistance

2. Repetition

3. Sets

These will vary depending on what type of muscle strength you want. If you want:

• Strength endurance: requires continued contractions over a longer period of time. Therefore use Lower weights and do higher repetitions
• Power: Aim is to achieve fast powerful movements. Doing medium repetitions (6-10) and medium resistance
• Maximum Strength: Aim is to lift maximum loads. Therefore low repetitions (1-5) and maximal weight is required
• Size and Strength: This requires medium to high repetitions with medium to high weights

So that you use the right energy stores rest for 48 hours between weight sessions.

Shedding the Waistline

Some call in the middle age spread, others the love handles, and still others their beer baby. As fondly as we refer to it, deep down we all wish it was a little smaller. And it’s not just our image conscious that thinks that. The whole body is affected by carrying excess weight around the waistline.

Did you know having a waist line >80cm in women and > 94cm in men will increase your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, some cancers and high blood pressure … we could go on!

Carrying extra weight around the mid section isn’t just extra fat below your skin; it’s also extra fat surrounding your organs. Fat stored in this area presents greater risk than fat stored around the bottom and thighs.

Regardless of fitness levels, people with a larger waist circumference are more likely to develop diseases than those with a smaller waist circumference.

So how do we lose weight around the stomach – should we do lots of sit ups?

The best type of exercise for fat burning is a combination of resistance training (using weights to increase muscle mass – see our previous blogs for more information) and cardiovascular training that includes high intensity intervals (this means that your heart rate will increase, you will breath more heavily and sweat!). High intensity workouts increase your oxygen consumption for a longer period of time after exercise; this increases the amount of calories and therefore stored fat the body will use for energy. However your body will always choose to use the most readily available energy first so if you are over eating or eating foods high in sugar your body will choose to use the blood sugar as opposed to fat stores, and it will store the extra energy! So whilst exercise is vital, your diet is too!

The most effective way to lose weight around the abdominal region is to eat well and exercise hard. Eating well will include beginning the day with breakfast. Breakfast kick starts your metabolism for the day so eat something wholesome with a low glycemic index (GI); for example muesli with nuts and yoghurt. Have fruit and nuts as a snack, include plenty of vegetables and salad with your meals and choose wholesome carbohydrates such as multigrain bread or brown rice. It is also important to eat protein; meat, eggs and tofu are just a few great options.

Need Motivation and live in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney?

At Coastal bodies you recieve both guidelines for Exercise and Diet! We can suit your needs – there’s one on one, pairs personal training sessions, there are group exercise sessions including FUNctional Boxing and Flat out Mums and we also have an accredited dietician to give you professional dietary plans. To find out more email info@coastalbodies.com.au

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