News — lunch

There are certain foods that we all know are loaded with added sugars – ice cream, lollies, baked sweet treats and soft drinks. We’re often conscious of the amount of sugar we’re taking in when we eat these things, even managing our portions by selecting smaller desserts when we can. But the truth is that sugar is hiding everywhere - from yoghurts to pasta sauces, even salads and trail mixes!

In fact, there has been research conducted in supermarkets to show that the majority of food items found in a grocery store contain added sugars (over 80% of foods in some American supermarkets, and we're pretty sure when we looked at the list that it's the same in Aus!).

Sugar is lurking everywhere and not just in the obvious places like ice cream and cookies. Here is an inside scoop on some popular ‘healthy’ foods that are actually loaded with sugar and additives:

1. Flavoured and non-fat yoghurts
In general, yoghurts are quite healthy as they contain lots of beneficial probiotics and protein. However, the fruit flavoured and non-fat yoghurts are often laden with added sugars – just take a look at the nutrition panel next time you are at the grocery store. One serving of fruit yoghurt can even contain more sugar than a shortbread cookie. If you like fruit yoghurts, try unsweetened Greek yoghurt instead and mix in your own chopped up fruits. It's not the fruit that is the issue, it's the sweeteners or concentration that is.

2. Pasta marinara sauces
Most mainstream manufacturers add sugar to spaghetti sauces to balance the acidity of the tomatoes. Of course it does depend on the brand, but it is quite hard these days to find a tomato-based pasta sauce that is free of added sugars. The best option is to just make your own using fresh red-ripe tomatoes… or even use canned chopped tomato but add fresh herbs, olive oil, and some sauteed garlic, chopped celery, onion and grated carrot to create a delicious sauce that will be even tastier than the store bought sauces! (Chef tip, saute the onion first, let them caramelise but not burn, add the garlic at the end, burnt garlic is very bitter, stir in the carrots and let the sauce simmer for a long time, add extra olive oil at the end... and simmer away on a low heat.  Stir your herbs in mid way so they don't become bitter and maintain their flavour kick.)

3. Granola
Try sifting through the various granola options at your local supermarket and you will see how little options there are that are free of added sugars. Many varieties contain sugar in the form of brown or white sugar, or corn syrup or glucose syrup, while others are coated in "chocolate" or "yoghurt". If you’re looking for a healthier breakfast cereal option, why not try our breakfast packs? We make our own cereal blend from scratch, using premium ingredients (and no added refined sugars in sight!). We keep our dried fruit content low, occasionally we might add xylitol, honey or maple syrup, but it's rare and it's minimal.  Check out our breakfast packs here.  Breakfast is one of the most important nourishing opportunities of the day.  Make it count. 

4. Peanut butter
Yes, peanut butter can be healthy in small amounts and when it’s just peanuts (peanuts that have literally been blended into a smooth and creamy peanut butter). Many peanut butters available in the shops have added sugar, salt and oil to create a ‘better’ and creamier taste. Fortunately, there are healthier options available and they are not too hard to find – look for peanut butter that is 100% peanuts (that is, peanuts are the only listed ingredient).  Better still go for a nut blend (one of our favourites is almond, cashew and flaxseed).

5. Breads (even gluten free breads)
A lot of breads are actually sweetened with refined white sugar or corn syrup, even the whole wheat and gluten free varieties. It’s also good to remember that just because a bread is organic, it doesn’t mean that it’s sugar free, and just because it is gluten free, doesn't make it healthy. Make sure to check your bread labels and look out for sugar as a main ingredient.

We make our meals from scratch and we use ingredients as naturally as we can so that we can maximise the taste without compromising the health.  Many manufacturers rely on a formula of salt:sugar:fat to create a taste that keeps you eating and eating.  Great for your tongue, terrible for the rest of you.  Our meals are designed to achieve: sensory specific satiety and satiety.  That means, they are designed so that you are nourished, you enjoy it, but it is complex and natural enough that it doesn't trick your tastebuds into overeating. 

Save your sugar eating for your treats, it has no real place in your meals.

You can trust us with your meals, we've got you, healthy foods that really are healthy (and they taste great... without needing to add sugar, or heaps of other additives for that matter).

Author:
Lisa Cutforth
B.Sc Nutrition with Psychology (Dual Degree)
Consulting Clinical Nutritionist to The Banyans Wellness Retreat
Owner and Managing Director of Wholesomeness and Wholesomeness-on-Roma

When it comes to making decisions about what’s best for your health, and for your lifestyle, it can be a little overwhelming. That’s why we created our gourmet home delivered meals, because we know (from firsthand experience!) that people are busier than ever, often juggling multiple balls at once.

Sometimes there’s just not enough time in the day to plan healthy meals, go out to buy the ingredients (and not forget anything!), then spend the time cooking and doing the dishes each night.  Perhaps you are doing all of the above, and are feeling a little rundown. Well we’re here to let you know exactly why our meals are better for you, for your health and for your lifestyle…

SUPERFOOD PACKED MEALS DESIGNED BY CHEF’S & NUTRITIONISTS

We know that food tastes better when it’s cooked from scratch, that’s why all of our dishes are cooked on site in our small kitchen in Brisbane. Our team of chef’s and nutritionists personally plan each meal (ensuring that it’s nutritionally dense and calorie controlled), shop locally for fresh quality produce, and cook each meal with extreme love, care and attention. Our nutritionist is onsite to ensure that every single meal is packed with superfood benefits, looks beautiful and tastes just as good as it looks!

OUR FOOD IS FRESHER THAN FRESH

Did you know that food starts to deteriorate right after it has been cooked? That’s why we use the benchmark method of blast-chilling and freezing which basically snap freezes the meals before they have any chance of spoilage or growth of microorganisms. Freezing also helps to maintain top nutritional quality of the food, by retaining the vitamins and minerals present in the food. In some ways, frozen food is actually nutritionally better than fresh, because fresh food loses micronutrients over time (that’s why we say fresher than fresh!).

GREAT VALUE FOR MONEY

Fact: 2.5 million tonnes of edible food is thrown out by Australian households every year (that’s 300kgs per person!).

At some point, we’ve all opened our fridge to find soggy lettuce that we just didn’t get around to using that week. If you find yourself throwing out lots of unused produce each week, we can help. Our meals are only around $13-14 each, including delivery. With this price comes lots of time saving (no long grocery shops, meal planning, cooking, cleaning up), plus no wasted ingredients and no wasted money spent on those ingredients! We full support the idea that healthy eating doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive.  

WE SUPPORT YOU

We’re here to answer any question you might have, and to support you on your health journey. Whether you want to free up time, lose weight or simply just start eating healthier, as soon as you join us you become a part of the friendly and supporting community that is Wholesomeness!

Click here to check out our nutritious, healthy, delivered meals. 

Author:

Lisa Cutforth
B.Sc Nutrition with Psychology (Dual Degree)
Consulting Clinical Nutritionist to The Banyans Wellness Retreat
Owner and Managing Director of Wholesomeness and Wholesomeness-on-Roma

How to pack a healthy school lunch box: Cheat sheet

Start the new year with healthy school lunches to keep your children (or you!) energised all day long

Secrets of a Nutritious Balanced Lunchbox:

• Unprocessed carbohydrates for energy, vitamins, minerals and fibre
• Protein for brain power and to fill them up between meals
• Fruit and vegetables (essential!)
• Water to keep them hydrated

Snack:

Choose 2 (add fruit or veg daily as one of the options - think quick and easy to eat)

• Fresh fruit (chopped or peeled or easy to eat, that doesn’t bruise easily e.g. grapes, strawberries, peeled mandarin, small apple, watermelon slices, blue berries)
• Rice crackers and hummus or other dip
• Cheese and crackers
• Snack container of baked beans with a fork
• Popcorn
• Corn on the cob
• Yoghurt
• Cheese wedge
• Cherry tomatoes
• Baby cucumber
• Boiled egg - peeled
• Falafels
• Meatballs and tomato sauce
• Biltong

Main lunch:

Think protein and healthy carbs

Choose 1 different option every day to prevent a monotonous diet and to ensure the rotation of grains

• Pesto pasta with nut free pesto and gluten free pasta (remember to pack a fork!)
• Sushi
• Hummus and salad wrap
• Chicken drumsticks and veggie sticks (carrot, cucumber, celery, capsicum, broccoli) and dipping sauce (pesto or tomato sauce or mayo)
• Tuna pasta (tuna, capsicum, cucumber, tomato, pasta) - remember the fork!
• Rice and bean salad
• Ham and cucumber sandwich (rye bread)
• Macaroni cheese – remember the fork!
• Quiche or frittata
• Turkey wrap
• Healthy nachos - Corn chips, refried beans dip, guacamole dip and salsa
• Pizza roll
• Zucchini slice
• Spaghetti bolognaise
• Egg, mayo and lettuce sandwich

Treat:

Think small (you want them to be hungry enough to fill up on the nourishing food)

• Bag of crisps
• Fruit juice
• Chocolate
• Natural confectionary snake lolly
• Biscuit
• Muffin
• Cupcake
• Piece of cake
• Banana bread
• Muesli bar
• Home baked slice

Note:

Allergies: Most schools have a no nut policy, but if your school doesn't of course nuts make a great snack and peanut butter sandwiches are always popular too!

The New Year is officially here, the festive season binging has now come to an end… and it’s time to awaken the inner warrior, be empowered and confident with your lifestyle choices.

Let’s face it; eating healthy is just downright hard to do these days. We have fast food at every glance, conveniently located and we tend to forget just how bad highly processed food is for our bodies. If you want to reach your weight loss goals or just continue on the healthy straight and narrow, these are some great everyday tips to incorporate into your daily routine.

Step 1: Give yourself some motivational encouragement! Set reminders in your phone, write things on your mirror, change your screensaver to something that gets you pumped, maybe even change your morning alarm tone! Don’t underestimate the power of your mind.

 Step 2: Time to do a clean out, get rid of your rubbish food so it isn’t staring at you in the face saying ‘EAT ME… EAT ME NOW’. These are generally your trigger foods after a long hard day and you’ve just lost all interest in cooking or making good decisions.

Step 3: PREP. YOUR. MEALS. If you haven’t been doing this, chances are you are going to get super busy, tired and hangry… leading to again, regretful choices. Make the most of our super healthy, freshly prepared meals.

Step 4: Plan your snacks. Snacks are a killer when it comes to weight management. Check out our 7 healthy snack ideas to help improve mood and productivity!

Step 5: Squeeze in somewhere each day to get your 30 minutes of exercise. Whether it’s a brisk walk after dinner, an intense gym sesh or calming light stretches, just do it! No excuses! This is your time to appreciate yourself. It’s worth every single minute.

                         [image] retrieved from: http://www.theearthdiet.org/uploads/3/4/8/4/3484401/__7818460_orig.jpg

Success tips: 

• Waking up and doing exercise on an empty stomach or a small light snack such a banana or some nuts can improve weight loss. Try high interval training to increase your mitochondria (the bodies energy powerhouse). 
• Drink a glass of lemon water upon waking, this stimulates your digestive organs producing bile, digestive enzymes and getting things moving.
• Try to avoid eating after 7 pm, this should be your time of healing not digesting, a 10 – 12 hour nightly fast is excellent for metabolic processes.
• Don’t starve yourself. Your body actually goes into starvation mode and starts storing your energy into fats as a protective mechanism.
• Drink your 2L of water. A given I know, however, your body can confuse being hungry with being thirsty. Find it hard to drink so much? Why not diffuse it with fruit or make some iced herbal tea – delicious!
• Green tea increases your digestive system functionality, increases detoxification processes and when iced is perfect on a hot summer’s day!
• Don’t eat bland food. Add fresh herbs and spices to your dishes so your taste buds are satisfied! Eating healthy is actually really delicious.
• Set realistic goals. This is really important, as you don’t want to feel like a failure and give up completely; small weekly goals based on changes instead of weight are a great start.
• Invest in a health coach, it can be a great way to really succeed and have consistent support on your health journey.  Talk to our nutrition or naturapath to personalise a program just for you! 
• Remember you may have some setbacks, that’s okay! Get right back up again and figure out what your main triggers are. Take note and put practices in place to avoid that temptation.
• Live your life! Don’t forget to live, don’t drown yourself in saying no to everything… life is just too short to appreciate the good things, just do it in small doses. Sooner than later the positive changes you’ve made become a habit and you’ll find you won’t want it anyway. 

The main thing is to change your perspective and frame of mind when it comes to diet and lifestyle. Believe that you can and you really will. You can achieve results, you can be confident and you can succeed.  Be honest with yourself and accept that changing habits doesn’t happen overnight but it sure doesn’t take as long as you think once you truly commit. It’s one of the toughest, most challenging yet rewarding experiences. You can do it!

 
                                      [image] retrieved from:  http://quotesmag.tumblr.com/page/8 

Want some guidance? Talk to our experienced nutritionists here or why not look at our life changing detox plans.

I think Australian's are pretty clued up when it comes to eating for good health. We have traditionally eaten a fresh food diet, it's only in the past 50 years that so much processed food has made it into our homes. It's this bad habit of grabbing convenience foods loaded with salt, preservatives, flavour additives and sugars that contributes to so many allergies, intolerances, metabolic issues and poor health leading to chronic disease. I want to show you it's easy to break the habit and make the most from your lunchtime - regardless of where you actually eat this important meal.

From fast-food restaurants, even the innocent corner cafe with 'home made' muffins (read sugary cakes most likely cooked in a production kitchen somewhere else) and bakery pastries (read layers of bad fats) to supermarket shelves exploding with high-fat and high-sugar add-ons, lunchtime can be like running the gauntlet of temptation for those trying to eat a healthy and balanced diet.

But a healthy, delicious and enjoyable lunch can be done. And you will probably save money, energy and time with these simple tips.

When planning your meal, it should include lean protein - try a piece of wild salmon, poached or roasted chicken breast, nuts, cheeses, legumes - whole-grain carbohydrates, and fresh produce.

It doesn't have to be raw vegetables with salad leaves either, get creative with some leftover roasted vegies, they make a delicious plant based salad. Or try adding some fruits such as thinly sliced pear or apple, even strawberries - I kid you not - they add a delicious dimension to savoury plates, try matching these fruits with cheeses. Blue vein and pear are a match made in heaven. Chicken, camembert and stone fruits are another great combination.

Roughly half of your plate should be vegetables; one-quarter should be lean protein and one-quarter should be whole grains, such as half a cup of brown rice, quinoa or some legumes (they are just the seeds of the plant after all) like lentils. You might include a small amount of healthy fat, such as a tablespoon of olive oil and cider vinegar or lemon juice to dress up your salad.

Be wary of salad-bar style salads, or packet salads from supermarkets. They sometimes contain unhealthy fats, hidden sugar, and salt — not to mention lots of kilojoules.

Follow these four steps to creating your own signature version of a satisfying, healthy lunch. The trick is building in flavour so it is satisfying and not turfed in the bin at work the moment someone suggests going to the pub for Parmie Tuesday. Or was that just 27 year old me who used to do that?!

Step 1: Build your vegetable base. Loading your plate with raw or blanched leafy greens and raw, grilled or roasted vegetables means you are already halfway to healthy right there - and is an excellent source of phytonutrients that you can't help but eat with all the flavour you'll pile on top in the next steps. 

Step 2: Add your protein choice. You might try a few handfuls of chickpeas or kidney beans, perhaps if you have time some felafel for example. Beans are one of the best sources of fibre - and they're filling -  so you're going to be satisfied after your meal. Other good selections include grilled chicken, small amounts of cheese, and I love chopped boiled eggs and sliced plain egg omelette if I have the time. Be frugal with your cheeses, it only takes a sprinkle of strongly flavoured varieties like feta or Parmesan to deliver the flavour. Cheese also delivers a lot of kilojoules per weight, so keep this in mind when you are imagining dividing your plate into quarters as mentioned above.

Step 3: Add a small amount of healthy fat. Sprinkle on the nuts and seeds. They are high in heart-healthy unsaturated fat and healthy protein, give you a feeling of fullness, and help food stay in your stomach longer. Load up on avocado, it's so good for you. You might also opt for a dash of quality olive oil.

Step 4: Whole grains and fruits make a flavourful addition to any creative salad. Look for whole grains like quinoa or teff to sprinkle on top. Or add a few slices of fruit. Try seaweed to add flavour and minerals.

My other favourite lunch ideas are vegetable soup. I make a big batch on the weekend and freeze it into portions and defrost before I leave the house and put it into my single serve thermos which I purchased at Biome and is simply awesome - because you can make it hot (for soups) or cold for yoghurt and granola. I actually have two for this purpose if I know I'm going to be out all day.

And check out this video for some pre-made portable 'jar' lunch ideas - only if you have a fridge to store it in - until lunchtime rolls around. Sometimes I do this when I make kids lunches and just put it in my fridge until I am ready to eat - then I don't have to think about it while I'm working from home and they are at school and I'm counting down the hours wondering how I'm going to fit everything in until I have to go do the pick-up run!! Some great soup bases to get these jars going are: miso, thermomix (or similar) homemade stock paste, teaspoon of curry paste and some coconut milk. They all give amazing soupy flavour when you add boiling water at lunchtime.

One of the best pieces of advice I can offer EVERYONE is to eat a good lunch. It should be the largest meal of the day with balanced portions of carbs, protein and fats to give you the fuel to get through the afternoon and then enjoy a smaller meal in the evening while you are winding down for a restful and rejuvenating sleep. A great lunch makes you a better human being.

If you want to learn about other effective strategies for healthy eating, talk to me about booking a free initial consultation for my health coaching service. I love to help people realise they are the ones in control of their health and actualise a healthy and long life for themselves and their families.