The meat-free month

Well the temperature really has dropped this week and it's starting to feel more like January usually does ... cold, dark and somewhat depressing.

Everyone's saving money post Christmas and are just not in a party mood so my social calendar is way more empty than usual. In addition a lot of people are subjecting themselves to calorie restrictive diets, which is clearly enough to put anyone in a bad mood.

As I've said before I'm totally anti-calorie controlling when it comes to dieting and eating healthily, mainly because food just isn't that simple and calories don't truly represent what happens in your body. As an example, a guy friend of mine eats a whole 500 calories less than me a day and whilst he's a healthy weight he's taller and is certainly not slimmer than me.

The fact is if I ate 1000 calories of junk food a day I'd gain weight, but instead I eat approx 1800-1900 calories of healthy food which keeps me a healthy size 6.

The key is to eat healthily rather than spend your day adding up meaningless units, and the good news is that whilst everyone's in social hibernation it means less eating out and more time to cook up healthy meals at home. For me this includes cooking mainly vegan food, so no eggs, cheese, dairy or meat, although I do have the odd piece of fish and take iron supplements daily to compensate for the lack of meat.

Whilst quite a few friends of mine have a booze free January, which I applaud and encourage, a meat free January is also something I think most people would benefit from health and waist band wise and it's not as daunting as you think.

I use tofu in my stir fry instead of prawns or chicken, make bologneise or lasagna with lentils instead of beef and just up the kidney beans and leave out the meat to make chilli con carne or healthy burritos. For something super comforting I'll have Sainsbury's soya sausages with new potato and mustard mash, peas and gravy but minus the saturated fats and salt content of pork sausages.

If this still sounds a step to far, then at least try having 'meat-free Mondays' to give your body a break whilst diversifying your repertoire in the kitchen.

As I've time to cook I also try and make up a double portion of my vegan dinner and take the second lot to work for lunch - saving money and making sure I have a healthy lunch. By the time everyone emerges from their January blues I'll have lost weight and ready to don my party dresses once again!
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Dog training

Following on from my blog on dog walking yesterday, I’ve been thinking about dog training and in particular Pavlov’s dog experiments. Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who studied conditioning and involuntary reflex actions. He is most famous for his study of dogs in which he discovered could get dog’s to salivate on the sound of a bell by associating that sound with eating food. He’d ring the bell everytime they were given food creating a conditioned reflex in the dogs which meant they would start salivating whenever he rang the bell even in the total absence of any food.

I’m not for one second suggesting that any of you are dogs! But Pavlov’s research applies to humans also and the same tricks can be used to get yourself into some healthy habits that you’ll do without even thinking.

The trick is to associate something that you do every day automatically, with a healthy habit that you want to form. If you make yourself do the healthy habit everytime you do your everyday task it won’t be more than a couple of weeks before you start doing the two together automatically without even thinking about it or having to motivate yourself.

Here are some easy suggestions to start with but I’m sure you can come up with some better ones yourself – just think about the healthy habits you want to become automatic and then think which regular tasks you can associate them with.

NITC’s Pavlov training:

Drink a glass of water before you eat your dinner

Always have a green salad with your dinner

Take a multivitamin with your breakfast juice every morning

Eat a raw carrot whilst you cook your dinner

Take an essential fat supplement with your dinner

Have a stretch or hold a yoga posture for ten breaths before you get into bed

Every time you unlock or logon to your pc at work take three deep full breaths to reduce stress and improve your oxygen levels and energy

When you’re moisturizing after you’ve taken a shower use your fists to massage the back and sides of your neck to clear your lymph glands

Time for walkies

I know I might regularly chirp on about how little exercise city types get if they don’t make an effort, but for a couple of days last week I worked from home and realised how much less I moved around compared to a regular day in the office. Just the act of commuting (walking up escalators and to and from the tube station) and walking around the office (my desk is not located particularly close to the toilet) plus getting up from my desk to pick up printing or get drinks and snacks from the canteen or fridge means I do actually move around quite a lot.

Working from home, on the other hand, involves very little moving around at all – my living room and laptop are only 10 metres from my bed and the kitchen is about five steps from my laptop so all in all there isn’t much reason to move around. And I live in flat so there are no steps involved whatsoever. Basically the Kirsty Alley nightmare could quickly become a reality if I worked from home!!

And it’s not just weight gain I’d need to worry about … moving your muscles in essential for proper circulation, avoiding deep vein thrombosis/dangerous blood clots and keeping your immune system functioning properly as it’s only by muscle movement that you can move lymph fluid around your body. Lymph fluid contains your immune cells that help fight infection and also keep cancer in check by killing off the cancerous cells that are constantly created in the body, so it’s pretty important to move that stuff around. Poor circulation can also lead to constipation and headaches so if you suffer from either you may need to move more.

So what’s the answer? Well if you either work from home or are a house wife, you need to be disciplined and take yourself for a walk everyday, or get yourself a dog and then you won’t have a choice!! Getting outside for 30minutes fresh air will not only get your circulation going but help burn off some of those Nachos you were eating in front of Jeremy Kyle … I know you were!!

On a cold winters day it can be horribly tempting to stay in doors, but I find once I’ve been out I feel much better for it.

Who's pasta?

Following my zen diet is pretty easy when cooking for myself, but when I have friends round for dinner who may not enjoy as healthy tasting food as I do, it's much more tempting to serve up something less healthy but that I know will taste good. So that's why it's good to have a repertoire of recipes that are as tasty as they are healthy up your sleeve.

So last night I served up this lovely dish from Jamie, my fave chef when it comes easy Italian cuisine, for my friends and in the words of the lovely Aj, who's favourite food is cheese, 'it was amazing'! Suffice to say all plates were clean by the end of the meal and it's ridiculously easy to make so great for the cooking averse.

The recipe is an old one and a good one - Pasta Puttanesca, which translates as 'whore's pasta' and is a salty and slightly spicy southern-italian tomato based dish, low in fat but high in flavour.

It was first introduced to me by my wonderful flatmate Davide who came to our university from Verona with a book full of recipes written out from his mother. He used to cook this up for lunch and I never tired of eating it. Sadly he never translated the book for me, so I use the Jamie recipe but I like to up the protein level so I add either a tin of drained kidney beans or two tins of line-caught tuna with the tomatoes to make this a filling and hearty dish.

Last night I used tuna and served it with a side of fresh watercress, for added greens, drizzled with olive oil. You cook the pasta separately so I did one pot of gluten-free pasta for me and one pot of regular pasta for my pals.

Jamie Oliver's Pasta Puttanesca

Who's pasta?

Following my zen diet is pretty easy when cooking for myself, but when I have friends round for dinner who may not enjoy as healthy tasting food as I do, it's much more tempting to serve up something less healthy but that I know will taste good. So that's why it's good to have a repertoire of recipes that are as tasty as they are healthy up your sleeve.

So last night I served up this lovely dish from Jamie, my fave chef when it comes easy Italian cuisine, for my friends and in the words of the lovely Aj, who's favourite food is cheese, 'it was amazing'! Suffice to say all plates were clean by the end of the meal and it's ridiculously easy to make so great for the cooking averse.

The recipe is an old one and a good one - Pasta Puttanesca, which translates as 'whore's pasta' and is a salty and slightly spicy southern-italian tomato based dish, low in fat but high in flavour.

It was first introduced to me by my wonderful flatmate Davide who came to our university from Verona with a book full of recipes written out from his mother. He used to cook this up for lunch and I never tired of eating it. Sadly he never translated the book for me, so I use the Jamie recipe but I like to up the protein level so I add either a tin of drained kidney beans or two tins of line-caught tuna with the tomatoes to make this a filling and hearty dish.

Last night I used tuna and served it with a side of fresh watercress, for added greens, drizzled with olive oil. You cook the pasta separately so I did one pot of gluten-free pasta for me and one pot of regular pasta for my pals.

Jamie Oliver's Pasta Puttanesca

The zen gym bunny

This time last year I set out on a programme of daily rigorous exercise to whip myself into shape, and to be honest it worked. I was fired up and enthusiastic and whilst it was hard work I enjoyed it.

However this year I'm taking a different approach and inline with my zen dieting it's alot more relaxed.

This doesn't mean I'm turning into a couch potato, though, just that I'm going to be less regimented in what I do, and when, and respond to how my body feels when choosing what to do.

It's easiest to explain my approach in terms of questions as with the diet.

If you get to the end of your working day and you've already been to the gym, then bravo! Gold star for you! If however the most exercise you've done is walking to the canteen (not that uncommon) then ask yourself these questions:

Do I have the energy to exercise?
I know most exercise programmes insist you'll feel better if you drag yourself to the gym, come hell or high water, but if you're sleep deprived, over-stressed or ill it can be counter-productive so be honest with yourself.

If the answer is No, then consider at least a 15-20min walk on the way home (just get on the tube a stop later) or 20mins of a gentle yoga or pilates dvd when you get home, just to get your circulation going. Then make sure you have a relaxed evening and an early night.

If the answer is yes then spend a couple of minutes mulling over what you fancy doing.

Sometimes I fancy going to the gym, sometimes I just want to get straight home and then exercise there. There are days when I want to do something quite high impact for 40-50mins like tae bo or spinning and others when I just feel like a gentle cycle or swim for 20 minutes. Weights I usually limit to 30mins as I get bored but cheer myself along with cheesy tunes, and some days I just want to do something silly and put on a cheesy dance workout dvd at home (when no one is looking)! For a truly amusing workout just put on mtv and try and dance along with the routines :-)

By just doing what you fancy you're much more likely to exercise, rather than finding an excuse not to, plus if you're having fun you're less likely to produce as much stress hormones whilst you're working out (stress hormones increase fat retention, especially around your waist).

By the time you get to the weekend you will hopefully have enjoyed a few exercise sessions, but if you haven't done much it's a good time to fit some in. Firstly you have more time to do it and secondly you can catch-up on some sleep so should have more energy.

Think about what you did in the week and balance it out. Did you do all cardio? Then fit in a weights session, bodypump or some other toning class. Didn't have anytime for some stretching or yoga? Then do some after your workout. Are there any muscle groups you didn't work out this week (legs, back, chest, abs, arms)? Then make sure you do some exercise that uses them.

And remember weekend exercise can be more fun, having a kick about in the park, playing tennis or going for a bike ride all count.

We also all need a couple of rest days a week, so if you've been super good during the week then make sure you take Sunday off to chill!

By doing exercise you enjoy, but also resting when you need to, you'll be in better shape (physically and mentally) than trying to stick to the latest ridiculous celebrity exercise regime. Results might not be as quick but in the long run you'll stay fitter and feel happier.
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Tip #5 having your cake and eating it ... a bit later!

Christmas is a time to indulge and even I like to relax the rules for Christmas week - having a few glasses of champers or port, some mince pies and stollen and raiding the cheese board!

Something that takes the shine off it though is getting to new years eve and not fitting into your best party frock having gained more than a couple of christmas pounds. I read in Grazia (admittedly not quite QI) that on average women gain 5Lbs over Christmas.

An extra 5lbs would rule out half my wardrobe and leave me wearing leggings and jogging bottoms with baggy tops, so I follow this simple rule as best I can to enjoy my Christmas treats without turning into a dumpling:

Don't eat if you're not hungry

Your appetite is your own personal calorie counter - if you're eating richer foods and exercising less your appetite will naturally regulate down.

Mince pies being handed out at work? Save yours til your peckish, you'll enjoy it more.

Find that your Christmas dinner is three times the size of your normal dinner? Serve yourself little portions of everything so you enjoy all the flavours but leave some room for pudding.

And don't waste any calories eating foods you don't like - that's my license for you not to eat your sprouts!

Above all make sure you enjoy your indulgences, try and buy the best quality treats (home made is even better) and enjoy every mouthful. If somethings under par put it to one side and find something else to eat.

On that note I'd like to wish all NITC readers a wonderful Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year. I'll be back in January with tips on how to make a healthy start to 2012.
Best wishes
Em
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