One of the most common questions I receive from clients is “what can I snack on to tie me over between meals?”  Fruit and nuts are what I personally love, but realistically it’s good to have variety. So I approached out Dietician Jess for some professional advice. She is oozing with snack ideas that taste great and give you long lasting energy fix!

Snacks

-          1 piece of fruit + 10 untoasted almonds/walnuts

-          1 cup popcorn (no oil)

-          Small handful of trail mix

-          Skim hot chocolate/ latte (1 cup)

-          2 vitaweets with a hardboiled egg

-          100g low fat yoghurt (e.g fromaige frais- fruche) or 150g Forme’ yoghurt

-          4 small vitaweets/ 2 ryvitas with reduced fat cheese and vegemite

-          Capsicum, celery, carrot, cucumber sticks with low fat hummous/ low fat cottage cheese

-          Mountain bread wrap with fresh salad and low fat hummous

-          2-3 corn thins with low fat cheese and vegemite

-          Hearty vegetable soup with beans/legumes

-          Miso soup

-          Seaweed salad

-          Small sushi roll with chicken/salmon/tuna/prawn/tofu and vegetables

-          1 corn on the cob (no butter)

-          Small baked potato with low fat cheese, fresh vegetables and beans

-          Fresh garden salad with 2 tbs low fat fetta and low fat dressing

-          1 slice of multigrain bread with low fat cheese/ low fat hummous/ small tin of tuna and fresh veggies

As you can see there are endless ideas that are healthy and filling. A bonus to most of these is that they include some vegetables to help you get all the vitamins and nutrients your body needs to function at its optimum. Remember it is recommended that you have 5 serves of vegies a day!

Enough of the Jokes… what is the Levity Health Centre actually about? Why has Coastal Bodies become aligned with it and how can it compliment your training and health?

Below we have the thoughts of one of Levity’s Personal Trainers, Benjamin Weale, after he was asked for a short explanation of Levity.

———-

  “A short article!? Where do I start?”

 In a nutshell, Levity is a one of a kind, truly holistic health centre that encompasses everything from Medicine to Fitness.  It’s a one-stop-shop for health.  I’ve had clients come and have a workout with me, then a massage with one of our therapists, then a consultation with our Medical Doctor / Osteopath.  Sometimes all before 10am.

 The centre is full of practitioners, trainers and therapists that share knowledge and experience and regularly meet to discuss client’s individual cases so that we can provide the most effective results possible in the shortest amount of time. 

 It combines the best of East and West – a tranquil, clean and simple setting that allows clients to feel relaxed and safe while at the same providing the same professionalism that you would expect from a medical centre or physical therapy clinic.

 I personally feel excited going to work knowing that if any of my clients have problems or questions about things that are out of my scope of experience:

 I have a Naturopath who knows more about food than the internet;

• I have a Medical Doctor that can help with any serious conditions;
• I have a Musculoskeletal Specialist that can help with any aches or pains;
• I have a Massage Therapist that has hands of magic;

 And they’re all under the same roof, they care for their clients before their pockets, they all share their knowledge freely and I know that the service they provide is second to none.

 It’s a different place, it’s a novel idea and it works.

Ben.

 So there you have it, Levity in a nutshell. Why not try it for yourself?  Either with a Coastal Bodies Personal Trainer or visit one of Levity’s practitioners and help your body function at its peak. Keep your eyes peeled for our Corporate Group Classes running from Levity enabling you to workout in your lunch hour.

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

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.

• 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!

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.

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!

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.

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

 Friday 10 – 11am at Queens Park

(next to the children’s play ground on Darley road)

Start date: 23rd July 2010

Child Care Available!

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.

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