Mother's Day the Core Way!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a great opportunity to spend time with your mum doing something valuable for your mental and physical wellbeing. Sound too hard? Just sticking with chocolates and a card?
Here are some ideas...

Horse Riding

• Challenge your mum to download a free pedometer app (or gift her a pedometer!) and join you in meeting 10,000 steps in five days
• Give your mum a voucher to use at her local gymnasium/yoga/pilates/dance studio (depending on her fitness and interests)
• Enrol both of you in a one-day cooking course - Thai, Spanish, French, Italian, raw or vegetarian food. The link is for courses in Melbourne but hit Google for your local options

  

  Cooking course

• Give your mum three sessions with a personal trainer you know and believe will motivate and encourage your mum, whatever her fitness level
• Do an outdoor activity together you both enjoy - horse riding, bushwalking, paddleboarding, cycling, going to the zoo or an animal sanctuary...we're so lucky to have fantastic trails within a 2 hour reach of Melbourne

  

  Pedometer Challenge

If you have a suggestion, I want to know! Share it with other readers on Core Integrity With Cat Facebook.

Sweet and Waistline Friendly!

Apologies if you are not remotely near Fitzroy or willing to travel - this will deeply hurt you. There is a sweet, all natural, low fat and low kilojoule dessert right in the heart of Fitzroy at Berrissimo 360 Brunswick Street. If you're watching your waistline, have no fear. I asked the lovely Nat for the technicalities (fat and kilojoule count).

Berrissimo

"We make our frozen yoghurt fresh onsite with low-fat milk and fat-free yoghurt. Our most popular flavour is the Original which has 370.56kj and 0.98g fat per 100g. The Wildberry has around 460.8kj and 2.08g fat per 100 grams. Our most popular dairy-free and vegan flavour is the Choc Mousse which has 455.5kj and 2.09g fat per 100g. We also have a range of fresh fruits and homemade toppings to choose from!"

Breakfast Fuels Your Day: Dietitian Melanie Guest Blogs!

Melanie McGrice

GUEST BLOGGER: Melanie McGrice, dietitian

The Aussie Breakfast Report found that the average Australian only allows 8 minutes to prepare AND eat breakfast each morning. As a result of our busy lifestyles, one in every two Australians skips breakfast at least once per week. 

As a Dietitian, I am one of those people who chant that ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’.  Half of all breakfast skippers admit that it affects their performance throughout the morning.

In addition to improving your performance, starting the day with a balanced brekkie will also help you to meet your nutrition requirements.   

A balanced breakfast includes:

• a serving of wholegrains, 
• a serving of fruit and 
• a serving of low fat dairy.  

Wholegrains help to protect against heart disease, bowel cancer, type 2 diabetes and obesity.  Fruit is rich in antioxidants and helps to protect against cancer and low fat diary is rich in calcium helping to protect you from osteoporosis.

For those who struggle to fit breakfast into their day, I’ve started recommending BelVita breakfast biscuits with a piece of fruit and glass of low fat milk or skim latte.  BelVita are scientifically proven to provide 4 hours of sustained energy release with eaten with a serve of low fat dairy.  They are also low GI and contain 5 wholegrains, so nutritious as well as quick.  I have to admit that I find them handy to throw into my gym bag on days when I go straight from the gym to work.

If you’ve got any questions on this or any other nutrition topics, please contact me on www.facebook.com/NutritionPlusNews.

Thanks Melanie. Other good brekkie options?

• Wholegrain oats, low fat milk, mixed berries
• 250g tub of natural yoghurt with chopped fruit, slice of wholemeal toast with avocado

Instructions for one serving oats and berries:
½ cup wholegrain rolled oats
1¼ cups boiling water
¼-½ cup light milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon stevia (natural plant sugar substitute)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup blueberries
¼ cup raspberries

Instructions
1. In a nonstick saucepan, add oats and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes to toast. Stir often. Add boiling water and reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer on low for 5 minutes or until most of liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally.  Stir in ¼ cup soy milk, vanilla and continue to simmer for about 3 minutes, until desired consistency.  Add more milk, if desired.
2. Stir in stevia and cinnamon.
3. Spoon into serving bowl and top with berries
Makes 1 serving

No Chemical Cleaners! Easy to Make

Got a shelf full of random bottles full of unnaturally coloured liquids? Ever wonder what 99 of those 100 ingredients listed are?

Here's what you need and how you can use the ingredients to clean/scour and create a healthy home.

• Distilled white vinegar (kills 99% of bacteria!)
• Eucalyptus or lavender oils
• Castile soap (vegetable-oil based)
• Bicarbonate of soda

Bathroom Cleaner

Bathroom Cleaner

Mix 2 cups bicarbonate of soda with 2/3 cup castile soap, 2/3 cup of water, 2 and a half tablespoons of vinegar and a few drops of lavender or eucalyptus oil for scent. Seal and shake ingredients in a spray bottle. Apply with a cloth or sponge before rinsing thoroughly.
Keeps for 1 month

Drain Unblocker

Pour 1/2 cup bicarbonate of soda into the drain before adding a cup of white vinegar. Allow to sit for 15 minutes then pour boiling water down the drain. If it's a stubborn blockage, you can leave the mixture overnight or repeat the process.

Shiny Floor Solution

Bicarb of soda

Mix 1/2 cup of white vinegar with 8 litres of hot water and a few tablespoons of eucalyptus oil in a bucket. Mop or sponge floors. No rinsing required! 

New Sportswear Releases

Stella McCartney for adidas 2013

What Stella McCartney designs for adidas filters into the sportswear designs of pretty much every other collection out there! Sure, it costs a bundle, but it looks FANTASTIC. I can spot someone wearing a piece from miles off! See the collection: http://adidas.com/go/WxAAA

Nike Free Run 5.0

Also, Nike Free Run 5.0 latest releases are out. I'm yet to find better colours and more flattering designs than the Free. Guaranteed you will see these around. Be the first! I recommend Eastbay for the best range and prices. Fast delivery too!

Afternoon Slump - Fix It

Maybe not every day, but most days, do you get that feeling of lethargy and blahness between 2 - 3.30pm?
Here are some reasons why and what you can do to say goodbye to afternoon blues!

• Quality of sleep: at LEAST 7 hours of sleep is recommended for optimum energy
• Carbohydrates: Too much and you'll be tired trying to process them but even worse is no carbs at all! Your brain requires glucose so if you skip carbs at breakfast/lunch you are starving your brain of fuel, not to mention your muscles!

  

  Fruit and smoothies

• Protein: Lack of protein can result in missing out on vital nutrients and your appetite is likely to surge mid afternoon. Good options are canned fish, natural yoghurt, lean meat
• Healthy fats: Not only appetite-satisfying but necessary to absorb key vitamins. Also fabulous for your brain, heart, skin and hair. Avocado, olive oil, salmon and walnuts are excellent!
• Stress: By mid afternoon, all those niggly issues you've been avoiding or postponing can creep up on you. Keep a list of what you need to get done and tackle the tough stuff first. If you are struggling to do it alone, ask for help.

Coffee a peril



• Caffeine: Keep it for a morning boost but the downside to caffeine is it gives you an instant energy hit and then you rocket back down. Beyond 2pm, go for herbal tea, water, juice.
• Sugar: Same deal as caffeine. Initial burst of energy and then....bleugh. This does NOT include fruit. Fruit is an excellent snack to have on hand - apples, stone fruits, citrus. All excellent sources of vitamins, minerals and importantly, glucose for energy and brain function.
• Exercise and posture: If you're slumping over your desk for hours, the tension through your shoulders and neck will have you feeling like you're carrying a load of bricks by the end of the day. Shoulders back, long neck, think about extending through the spine. A brisk walk during the middle of the day gets your circulation going and can reinvigorate you for the rest of the afternoon. Get outdoors and get some sunshine!