The NaturalTransition Blog

Archive for the ‘Healthy living’ Category

I’ve had the good fortune recently of finding a fantastic nutritionist who specialises in pre-conception and prenatal nutrition. Even more fortunately, she has kindly agreed to developing recipes for the naturaltransition.com fertility, pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, baby and mother care recipe base. So let me introduce you to Sophie Halls Anning from the very aptly named Broody Foodie. Sophie’s practice is in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney where she provides food based programs to help you prepare for pregnancy, birth and early parenting.

My 7 year old and  I took one of Sophie’s recipes for a test drive yesterday and I am pleased to say, it was a roaring success. We made some bran muffins with ginger, cranberries and walnuts. Only we forgot to buy walnuts and used pine nuts instead. They were absolutely delicious. The last two are currently being devoured by hungry boys as an after school snack.

These muffins are particularly suited to early pregnancy as they are high in folic acid and fibre, are mineral and antioxidant rich and contain ginger to help with morning sickness. Of course they make a healthy and delicious snack for anyone.  My 7 year old made them under my watchful eye, so they are dead easy to make.

Well then, enough talk. Here’s the recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Canola oil spray
• 3 1/2 cups All Bran cereal
• 1 cup Boiling water
• 1/4 cup Canola oil
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Full fat milk
• 1 teaspoon Lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cups All purpose flour (Plain flour)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons Baking soda (Bicarb soda)
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Ginger, ground
• 1/4 cup Ginger, candied (Crystalised ginger, try Buderim- I used more like 1/2 cup, ’cause I love it)
• 1/2 cup Cranberries, dried
• 1/2 cup Walnuts, chopped

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
2. Mix the lemon juice into the milk and allow to stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.
3. Place cereal in a bowl and pour over the boiling water, then set aside without stirring.
4. Whisk the canola oil and sugar together in a bowl, add the milk and egg and whisk again.
5. Add flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger and whisk well until combined.
6. Add the cereal, cranberries, walnuts & candied ginger and mix well, then allow the batter to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes
7. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with the canola oil or line with patty cases.
8. Divide the batter evenly amongst the cups or cases and bake for 20 minutes.
9. To test, insert  metal skewer into the centre: if it comes out clean, they’re cooked
10. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool slightly before tucking in.

Mmmm…

This recipe and many more will make up the recipe base on the new and improved naturaltransition.com. I am currently having a touch of trouble getting the new site finished but know that it will be ready very soon.  Watch this space and you’ll be the first to know when all the new goodies, including Sophie’s recipes are in place.

Leave me a comment? You’ll make my day

New years resolutions are not usually my thing but I decided this year that January 1  is a good time to take stock and have a think about how give some forward motion to all those “I must  do such n such” thoughts swirling around in my head. My  most pressing “ must do” is to nurture my body back to health.

I have been very lax on my diet during 2009, following my 3rd pregnancy in which I stacked on about 20kg. None of which I have lost yet. That’s right, my baby is now close to 17 months old and my weight is the same now as it was 2 weeks after giving birth. In fact, I haven’t been a healthy weight since the first trimester of my first pregnancy- Umm, 10 years ago.

I’m not going to go making any promises to myself to lose all the fat,  it really is only a secondary problem. The primary problem is my love affair with sugar. I eat way, waaay too much sugar. Me sniffing chocolate is like an alcoholic getting a whiff of a favourite drink. I figure if I can solve the sugar addiction, I go a long way to dropping a lot of this excess fat I have on me. Add to this my new Wii Fit Plus, EA active exercise routine and getting back to my martial arts training and I think this flab will start to disappear, simultaneously revealing both the old and a new me.

I’m hoping to get a bit of support and continued inspiration from others out there in the same boat. I know I am a naturopath and am supposed to be the picture of good health but I’ve found that theory and practice are sometime two different things. I have recently had conversations with a few Twitter buddies about committing to a healthier lifestyle in one way or another and look forward to following their progress.

A conversation with with a twitter pal sparked my thoughts about giving away sugar and we made a loose binding agreement to give it away at the conclusion of the festive season. @AgooAustralia tweeted an invite to join her team in @fatlossathon (fatlossathon.com) and I have accepted the challenge-In theory. I have started filing out the entry form twice now and keep stopping when I get to the request for measurements and a before photo of myself in gym wear, swim wear or under wear- Ekkk!!! I will get that done today… That brings me to @phdinparenting- The bravest lady in the blogging land since she posted pictures of herself in swimwear in her post I want to be myself again. Although, I can’t say you look terrible in a swim suit Annie…

I hope that this post will find others who have resolved to bring in the new  year with a healthier lifestyle in one way or another. I’d love it if you could record your health goals in the comments section of this post and leave an update every now and then.  If your blogging about weight loss or achieving better health, please leave a link to your post so that we can support each other.

For anyone that wants to join me in a sugar free start to the new year- Here is a plan to help get us started. I’ll be committing to 8 weeks following this plan to the letter and start on the 4th of January at the same time as my fatlossathon teamkicks off. After that, I will reassess my situation and see if I need to get stricter or if I can relax it a bit.

• Take some nutritional supplements that can help with cravings, including:

- Amino acids: Tyrosine, phenylalanine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), tryptophan, and glutamine can help. Glutamine is sweet-tasting and can be placed under the tongue after a meal or between meals to calm cravings.
- B-complex: A good quality B-complex supplement is essential for reducing cravings and supporting your nervous system through the withdrawals.
- Minerals: Some researchers claim that cravings are based on the need for minerals in our bodies. This is especially true of chromium, which has also been shown to help balance blood sugar levels.

• Accept the cravings and give them a chance to pass. Eat fresh fruit sparingly in response to pesky cravings. They will lessen over time and will disappear altogether after about 2 weeks.
• Keep a food journal- For at least a week, write down everything you eat. You are less likely to eat something you know you shouldn’t if you have to record it somewhere.
• Don’t use any artificial sweeteners. They are worse for fluctuating blood sugar levels than sugar itself and do nothing for helping you to beat the sweet tooth. They are also carcinogenic- you don’t want them. Stevia is the only sugar substitute that is not harmful in some way and can be used if you really must have a sugar substitute. You can get it from a health food store.
• Eat low glycaemic index foods. There is a good data base at glycemicindex.com. It is maintained by the University of Sydney and is actually a great site to learn about all things glycemic index.
• Eat some protein with your meals and snacks. This can be as simple as adding a handful of nuts and seeds to your breakfast cereal.
• Ensure you eat before you get ravenous.
• Add spices to your food. Cinnamon, cloves, and bay leaf can help reduce sugar cravings.
• The herb Gymnema can be helpful in curbing sugar cravings but it is not suitable for those who suffer from hyopoglycemia. If you get light headed and shaky with your sugar cravings, don’t even think about using Gymnema, it will lower your blood sugar levels further.
• Read labels and avoid anything that has sugar or corn syrup in it as an ingredient.

Well, I think that is a pretty good start. Do you have anything to add?

Please don’t forget to leave your resolutions and blog links in the comment section below

To good health in 2010!!