Monday Madness! June 2nd 2014

Are you ready?
No, I cant hear you! Are you ready?!
Yes? Well let,s go!




Monday will be the biggest blog of the week so what can you expect?
Every week
A-Z of fruit and veg
Diet Myth buster
Move more!
Nutrition made easy
Recipe of the week

Fortnightly
Dear Diary

Monthly
Seasonal eating Chart
Expert in the spotlight

Soooooooooooooo lets get going!

is for
apple
amaranth
artichoke
achoccha
anise
arrowroot
arrugula (rocket)
asparagus
atemoya
apricot
and my absolute fave, AVOCADO

So why do I love the avocado so much?
They are awesomely versatile and incredibly yummy but not only that they really are a gift from nature.
It has its own creamy flavour and texture and can be used in sweet and savoury dishes.
Its mostly eaten raw but I also love it warm as a veggie burger topping and in pasta.Only gently warm it though because it will become inedible!
It is super rich in monounsaturated fat, around 9.8 g per 100 g and a reasonable source of protein at  2  mg per 100 g. Mother nature has packed it full of vitamins and minerals
Studies have shown that the Hass avocado is brilliant at reducing harmful cholesterol levels and that can only be good!
So how can we introduce this awesome fruit in to our diets?
salads and salsas
smoothies
in pancakes - yum!
tostadas
as a sandwich filling
in sushi
with pasta
cupcakes
brownies
dips
and the list goes on!
I'd love your recipes please!

An unusual but scrumptious recipe for you to try!
Key Lime Pie (Serves 6)(240 kc per serving)

Filling
2 ripe avocado
2 tbsp raw honey (any will do if you don't have raw)
2 tablespoons of lime juice (yum)
1/2 cup coconut oil
* Blitz all the ingredients together for your filling and set aside.



Base
1/2 cup of finely ground almonds
1/2 cup dates (do not soak)
pinch of sea salt (please don't use table salt)
a few dried chilli seeds if you like a light kick
* Blitz the base ingredients together and press in to your tin (line it)

Spoon the filling over the base and place in your freezer for an hour or so.
remove and eat!!!!!

Top Tip
You can make these as individual portions using muffin cake cases. Freeze to avoid too much temptation
This is not meant for everyday eating but its a great one to wheel out when you want to impress your friends!


This weeks diet myth busted just for you!
Is fat our enemy?

The rumours:
*fat is bad
*fat makes you fat
*very low fat diets are healthy
*there's no such thing as a healthy fat

I set to work to find out the truth because quite frankly I'm sick of all the scare mongering that goes on and I want to know the truth so that I can make informed decisions about my own health.

So fats can be simplistically put in to four main groups:
*saturated
*cholesterol
*Monounsaturated
*Polyunsaturated

The first thing to note is that we have to have fats in our diet - we cant live without it.But it is also fair to note that all fats are not equal!

So, research suggests that some fats are good for us - they can help reduce incidence of cardiovascular disease, help nerve and brain function, assist the absorption of the fat soluble vitamins vitamins A,D and E, create subcutaneous fat to regulate our body temperature and are crucial for fetal development.
The fats identified as good fats are mono and polyunsaturated. we can find these in veg oils, fish oils, nuts, seeds, whole grain wheat for example. (Oh and not forgetting this weeks featured fruit , the good old avocado). These fats provide Omega 3 and 6 which we must have to live.
Saturated fats are those we need to be wary of. Excess consumption is linked to serious diseases such as cancers and cardiovascular disease and who the heck wants to encourage that?! saturated fats are dirt cheap and that's why they get thrown in processed foods! a diet high in convenience foods will be high in killer saturated fats.
Cholesterol is found in animal products.
A healthy amount of healthy oils per day is 1-2 teaspoons.

So, concentrate on your healthy fats, cut down or eliminate processed "foods" and bobs your uncle!
Verdict! fat is our enemy       (not if you don't abuse it!)

Move more chill a bit less!
I keep hearing people tell me that they hate exercise and they don't do any. Well bad news buster, you better start liking it or its gonna make you ill with all that lounging about. As the saying goes "if you cant make time to exercise , you better make time to be ill". Not a good thought eh?
Now, I looooove exercise it makes my body lean, strong and lets me live my life properly. I also appreciate that it can be a hard habit to get in to. But one thing I'm sure of is that if I promised you a night of passion with Johnny Depp, (or whoever your crush is),if you just walked around the block for ten minutes, you could do it!! So that tells me this is largely due to motivation!
People tell me they are too fat to exercise, ( bet you aren't), too embarrassed, (why? you are as entitled to want to improve your life as anybody else), too expensive ,( well I think some of the best ways to exercise are free), they feel intimated ( hell no! you are as good if not better than anyone else out there).
Frankly, and I am going to be brutal these are excuse we invent for not doing something. We all do it in one or other walks in our life so you're not evil or bad or anything, we just need to get past it and find ways to deal with them.
I love being outside, being in the gym or whatever but that didn't happen overnight. I took small steps but pretty quickly I became fitter and more confident. This isn't about body size its about you feeling great.

So what can you do this week to have the life you want?
How about exercising indoors by getting up and marching gently each time the adverts come on the TV? (or if you watching BBC get up every 15 minutes and march for 3 minutes?) Before you know it you will want to jog gently  on the spot or even run or skip. I know that you can do this and you can build your new well oiled machine so that life is fabulous! PS do consult your GP before starting any new exercise programme.

Taken form the Wolfson museum blog

photo taken from web md

So this week I am looking forward to hearing what you have done to move more and if you are a seasoned exerciser I would love to hear what your routine was this week. Come on girls, lets share our successes and motivate ourselves and others who might be struggling a bit right now!



Your next blog is on Thursday so keep your eyes peeled!
Really looking forward to hearing from you all, and enjoy the wonderful body you have been blessed with!
Janie xxxx