Kiwifruit and Yoghurt for Breakfast

On most mornings since I have been following my food plan, I have been have been having low fat unsweetened yoghurt and fruit for breakfast. The quantity of yoghurt I have been eating is about four good spoonfuls over one serve of fruit.

I am happy with a chopped-up kiwifruit or some mango or paw paw. My friends prefer the yoghurt sweetened with sugar substitute.

Clearwater's Organic Dairy Yoghurt

Comes as several choices including the fabulous Cream Top Yoghurt, but they also have a low fat unsweetened version that they claim is milk and culture and nothing else. This yoghurt is mildly acidic and quite loosely textured. The Clearwater's website has some fantastic recipes using their products as well.

Cyclops Organic Low Fat Greek Yoghurt

This one is a lot thicker and and a lot more acidic. I really like the texture of greek yoghurt, but I know that my friends prefer it whisked a bit to smooth and loosen the texture.

Biofarm Low Fat Yoghurt

I haven't tried this one yet so I am not sure about the sugar content as low fat does not necessary mean low sugar, so I'll update this post when I know. Their website looks like it has a nice selection of recipes too.

EasiYo Low Fat Yoghurt

Has a range of low fat and low sugar choices. The Berry version has 7g of sugar per 100g, and you could sweeten to task with a substitute. I don't have an EasiYo maker at home, but think I need to borrow one and try these out.

DeWinkyl Natural Unsweetened Yoghurt

This is a mild yoghurt with a firmer texture than the Clearwater's but not as firm as the Greek.

Recently I bought a six-pack of a new dairy dessert range and discovered that these pots had a ridiculous amount of sugar and fat. Maybe okay occasionally for the kids, but I am finally beginning to realise that some foods may as well be poison to me.

Jenny recommends a smoothie with banana, low fat milk and protein powder. Yoghurt, berries and low fat milk would make a great smoothie too.

Other ways you could have this breakfast could be flavoured with cinnamon, grated apple and sugar substitute to taste or with mango microwaved with a bit of water and mashed, then stirred through the yoghurt.

Remember that low fat dairy has been shown to help reduce the risk of all sorts of bad stuff and may help carry fat away from the body. And a protein-rich breakfast will reduce your hunger. Low fat yoghurt is also low GI, which means you won't be spiking your blood sugars, which will help stabilise your blood sugars for the day. And did I mention the calcium in the yoghurt and the fibre in the kiwi?

So get some today.

Detoxing from Sugar ... what a headache ...

Sugar, sugar everywhere!

It's in chocolate and lollies obviously. And cakes, ice cream and fizzy. But it's also in flour, fruits and veggies.

Did you know that two halves of tinned Peaches and one tablespoon of the syrup has three and a half teaspoons of sugar? And a hamburger bun has the same amount.

As for fizzy, fruit juice and other energy drinks, one glass can easily have as much as eight to ten teaspoons of sugar. Considering that these drinks are never limited to one glass just makes it worse.

And this stuff is addictive! Some people literally crave sugar. And mostly, sugar is sugar. A diet high in sucrose (white sugar crystals) or a diet high in fructose (fruit sugar) are equally to blame for all those bad things: diabetes, hypertension etc.

So put down that spoon! A bowl of fruit salad created from four pieces of fruit is still too much fructose.

I think there is only one way to detox from sugar: stop.

Whether you are going cold turkey, or doing a careful reduction to manage other medications, that means excluding anything made with white flour or white sugar. That means excluding fruit and veggies high in natural sugars. And that means headaches.

I don't really know what to say here except obviously if you are injecting insulin, you need to discuss something like this with your doctor and monitor and adjust closely. Fortunately since I was currently not compliant with my meds, I got to ignore this bit. Naughty, naughty.

Detoxing causes headaches and tiredness, so be prepared for this. Drink plenty of water to keep your brain hydrated and wash the toxins away and take paracetamol if you need it. Someone mentioned to me to avoid codeine phos, since it'll bung you up. And I read online that detoxing can also cause itching or rashes, just so you know.

My headache lasted a couple of days and I took paracetamol a couple of times. I read online that if the headache lasts longer than three, you need to see your doctor.

Stick with it and the headaches go away and you will feel new energy. And for me, this is part of my long-term health plan and I am on my way!

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Protein Reduces Hunger

Researchers don't really know why yet, but it makes sense to me that Protein reduces Hunger given our original diet as humans. We were designed to work most effectively on the foods that would have been most available back then.

Online reading suggests there are no dangers with a high protein diet unless you have kidney disease. And that based on existing research, we should be aiming for around 120gms a day total, so you need to decide if my plan fits your circumstances for yourself. Please they always say you should see your doctor to be on the safe side ...

So what is an appropriate serving size for protein? Well it changes depending on the item, for example Peanut Butter would be 2 Tablespoons vs a piece of Chicken Breast the size of a deck of cards.

I am eating protein with every meal and making sure that I eat three meals a day.

I have started with just a few options:

100g Lean Chicken

100g Lean Beef

100g Lean Fish

60g Low fat Cheese (Ricotta, Cottage)

60g Low fat Yoghurt

1 egg

maybe a few walnuts at some stage ... VNess has reminded me how fantastic nuts are ...

I am not particularly fond of shellfish - blurk - but Mussels, Oysters, Prawn etc all seem a fantastic choice for someone who is.

Image: vitasamb2001 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Incredible Shrinking Stomach!

OK. I admit I can be as gullible as the next person and I truly believed that if you eat smaller portions over a period of time, your stomach actually shrinks!

This was the theory I was working to when I deliberately reduced my portion sizes recently as part of this new food plan.

Apparently this fabulous myth is bollocks. Your stomach is like a balloon and can inflate or deflate as needed.

That's disappointing.

But there is good news! Reduced portion size may not shrink your stomach but it will shrink your appetite.

So I have found that with only a couple of weeks of controlled portions, I have already reset my 'appetite thermometer'. Which I am very happy about. This means that as long as I continue to saviour the food I am eating and choice smaller portions, I am feeling full and satisfied with less.

I definitely recommend that if you have begun to control your portion size, and you are struggling with hunger pangs: stick at it and you will notice a difference before too long.

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Too fat, too thin ...

I know that for all the overweight people in the world, there is another group equally battling to keep weight on.

Since I am such an expert, I thought I'd share my recipe for weight gain.

Step One

Make sure all choices relating to food are based on emotions: the more stress, the greater the quantities.

Step Two

Don't eat breakfast.

Step Three

I know it seems like not having breakfast might not help with weight gain, but trust me, by 10am, that pie or leftover pavlova is going to look really good. So go ahead and eat something that tastes really good and is either high fat, high sugar or both.

Step Four

Because everyone else is heading off for lunch at twelve, feel free to join them. Go to the local food court and pick anything you feel like. Make sure to add a drink to that, but avoid diet or water.

Step Five

Don't bother eating again if you get caught up in work, we can make up for that later. But feel free to drink as much coffee as you choose. At least enough that you have headaches on the weekend when your intake falls.

Step Six

When you get home, snack on anything. After all, it's been hours since lunch. But don't count it as dinner, more of a "late afternoon snack".

Step Seven

When dinner is ready, make sure to serve yourself a big plateful. You want your stomach to stretch and not feel full unless you jam plenty in.

Step Eight

Feel free to have dessert, if you wish. Same rules as dinner apply.

Step Nine

As long as we are still eating, feel free to pull out a packet of dip and chips and chow down.

Step Ten

Repeat daily.

Additionally, enjoy unlimited chocolate, lollies, birthday cakes or other food opportunities that present themselves. Make sure to also eat plenty of healthy fruit and vegetables.

Your body will be so confused, it will simultaneously think it is starving and malnourished. Because your stomach is so stretched, you will still feel hungry all the time.

Just keep feeding the hunger and the weight will pile on.

Image: zirconicusso / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Them scales, they lie!

I have been on a mission to Dick Smith and picked up a packet of 40 x AAA batteries and 40 x AA Batteries. Take that assorted toys and remotes!

Meanwhile back at the homestead, hubby has also been acquiring AAA batteries, so my scales are the proud owner of Energiser Plus batteries and the home-brand batteries are relegated to use in remotes etc.

Having worked out how to enter my height (160.2cm) and my age (37 years), gender and body type of a choice of athletic or normal ... I am ready to face my new 'starting weight'.

My starting weight is 90.1kg.

Kinda a shock since my crappy scales at least had the decency to weigh me light at about 86kg.

The scales send an electrical current through you and how much difficulty it takes travel through you provide other details.

Stats helpfully provided by my new scales? 42.2% Body fat (optimal for my age according to the accompanying booklet in several languages is 21-29%).

And apparently there is more water in lean tissue than fat, so the skinner you are, the more water there should be. For my optimal weight, this would be between 52% and 58%. Mine is currently about 40.9%.

So that's it. I am officially on the journey now.

Spicy Chicken Soup

I am finding soup better at night because it fills me up more and makes me feel full for longer. This soup has protein, tons of vegies and garlic, chilli, a tiny splash of fish sauce, lemon and vinegar. I love loads of coriander.

Ingredients

100g Chicken Mince or finely chopped Chicken Breast

1Tsp Vinegar

1Tsp Lemon Juice

1/2 tsp Fish Sauce

Chilli flakes to taste

Coriander

Any combination of vegies including:

Courgette

Mushroom

Celery

Onion

Cabbage

Mushroom

350ml water

Directions

Brown the mince with a spray of oil. Slice, dice or grate the vegies and add to the pot. Cook for a few minutes then add water and remainder of flavours including coriander. Allow to brew and cool a few minutes.

Enjoy with a couple of crackers.

Serves 1

I've also tried adding the mushrooms and courgette finely julienned and the coriander at the end and leaving them to heat through with the leftover heat works really well.

The next time I made two nights worth. I had some that night and more waiting for me the next night. I am finding chilli, garlic, lemon and coriander make the food tasty.