From ultra-bulk protein powders to muscle-promoting snack bars, there is no shortage of products available for those looking for a workout boost. The popularity of these high-protein convenience foods has meant that some of nature’s most efficient workout fuel are often overlooked. You might not realise, but the energy and boost that you need to rev up your fitness might just be hiding away in your fridge as we speak…
THE MUSCLE STRENGTHENERS
Leafy Greens: Leafy greens like spinach contain a significant source of glutamine, which is an amino acid involved in the composition of proteins, and thus plays an important role in the development of lean muscle mass. Spinach also contains a compound called coenzyme Q10, which holds a critical role in producing energy for your cells, and in turn, boosting your muscle function and strength.
THE GREEN ENERGY SUPPLIERS
Barley and Wheatgrass: Barley and wheatgrass are absolute powerhouses of antioxidants and are rich in vital minerals like magnesium, calcium and iron. Get an instant workout shot of energy by adding either one to a pre-workout smoothie to get rid of that can’t-get-out-of-bed-and-to-the-gym feeling. As well as being an excellent oxygen supplier to your cells all day long, they also contain carotenoids which help to keep tissue cells healthy and strong.
THE RECOVERY SQUAD
Micro-veggies and sprouts: Sprouts are filled with anti-inflammatory phytonutrients, which help the body to absorb more amino acids from proteins. Many of these phytonutrients also help to speed up the muscle recovery period, preventing sore muscles, cramps and other discomforts after an intense workout.
THE MUSCLE SOOTHERS
Parsley: Even herbs like parsley contain many fundamental nutrients which help to keep our muscles and cells healthy and efficient. Parsley contains a vital amino acid called lysine, which helps with the growth and regeneration of connective tissues of cartilage and tendons. Parsley's concentrated amounts of antioxidants and vitamins A, C and E helps to sooth inflammation in muscles and joints. You can raw parsley on top of meals, in salads and smoothies.
THE CARB STARS
Sweet potato and pumpkin: Sweet potatoes are one of the most satiating foods on the planet, because of their high fibre and carbohydrate content. Despite their ability to keep you full for hours, they’re relatively low in calories and virtually fat free. Swap out the pasta or white rice for sweet potato or pumpkin and your body might just thank you later - you’ll probably feel less sluggish, more energised and you won’t store unnecessary weight from a refined carb spike!
These are just some of the amazing plant foods that can be made heroes of your plate to help boost your exercise performance and give you that extra energy you need to crush your workouts! Of course, there are heaps more that we love, such as broccoli, beets, tomatoes and carrots.
Quinoa (Keen-wah) (1 cup): 222 calories, 39g carbs, 8g protein, 5g fibre, 53 glycaemic index, rich in antioxidants and minerals.
Brown Rice (1 cup): 216 calories, 44g carbs, 5g protein, 3.5g fibre, 50 glycaemic index, rich in antioxidants and minerals.
When choosing a nutritious complex carb to balance out your meal, quinoa and brown rice are both great options. Both are packed full of antioxidants and minerals, healthy carbs and adequate fibre to help support a healthy digestion, keep you fuller for longer, and help curb cravings and keep you on track with your goals!
Quinoa comes from the flowering plant of the amaranth family and it’s the seeds of the plant that we use. Quinoa is unique because it is a plant-based complete protein, meaning it contains all 9 amino acids that our body needs and does not make itself. Because it’s a complete protein, you don’t need to worry about protein combining. Quinoa is also a good source of minerals like iron, magnesium and zinc. For a higher protein side that is a little bit lighter than brown rice and cooks quicker, quinoa may be the perfect option for you!
Brown rice contains minerals like phosphorous, manganese, selenium and magnesium. It also contains antioxidants like phenols and flavonoids which help protect the body from oxidative stress (which is a crucial factor in the development of chronic diseases). Like quinoa, it has a high fibre content which helps to keep you satisfied between meals, reducing the need for cravings and snacking, and supporting weight loss. Fiber also helps to keep food moving through the digestive tract, while certain forms of fiber called prebiotics feed and nourish the good bacteria in your gut, which is what we want!
A balanced meal of a protein (either animal or plant-based), a serve of brown rice or quinoa and some fiber-rich veggies makes for a pretty impressive dish, nutrition wise. Quinoa and brown rice are perfect for grain bowls, salads, snack bars, burgers, and heaps more things. Quinoa can even be used to make breakfast bowls, by using it instead of oats, with some maple, cinnamon and fresh fruit – yum!
Why do we love quinoa and brown rice?
Ok, so I guess it's not really a battle because we picked two of our winning grains. But certainly we choose these as the winners over other grains like... processed wheat e.g. couscous. In the battle of quinoa versus cous cous, Quinoa wins hands down!
We love it because it’s gluten-free, fodmap-friendly, nutritious, it supports healthy digestion and it’s packed full of minerals and fibre.
Have you tried and loved any of our meals with quinoa or brown rice? We’ve been loving our Massaman Chicken Curry with Quinoa and our Mushroom Bourguignon with Brown Rice 😋
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 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.
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!
Are you coming home from work totally exhausted? Waking up more exhausted than the day before? We have all had that feeling where we think it is impossible to keep going; knowing that we need to go home, cook dinner, clean, get the kids ready for bed, oh and somewhere in-between have a life!
Is it just the way life is? Busy days, little sleep and no time for ourselves to relax? No! There needs to be balance and you truly can make a huge difference with good nutrition and easy tricks to get you there.
(Beyond Good Health Clinics) [image] of chronic fatigue
What are signs and symptoms of fatigue?
Constant feeling of tiredness
Shortness of breath or muscle weakness
Lack of motivation
Concentration and memory recall difficulties
(Wedro, 2015)
Why does your body feel so depleted?
Our bodies can be feeling exhausted for many various reasons, you may have a serious or chronic current health issue, a newborn baby or going through a really stressful time at the moment. Whatever it may be, good nutrition will always optimize health by nourishing and supporting the fundamental biochemical pathways that lead us to be the marvelous walking, talking, living, breathing organism we are!
These pathways require sufficient nutrient intake to ensure synthesis and balance of enzymes, proteins, hormones, neurons, cells, EVERYTHING! Without adequate intakes, you can be tipping over a domino and starting a destructive cascade of physiological events inside your body without even realizing. Every single thingin your body will be rebuilt by what you eat.
If you’re eating unhealthy foods, not getting enough exercise, sleep or relaxation your health will eventually mentally and physically suffer, acutely or chronically - period.
We have over 100 trillion cells working fiercely to keep us going, even more amazing you can times that number by 10 and you get the amount of live bacteria in the human body (Rettener, 2016) – pretty amazing right? You have to give them nourishment to thrive and do their jobs effectively – they will do everything in their power to make sure you, the host, can survive.
Watch this amazing video on immune cells in action –
(Healing, 2014)
Potential causes of fatigue:
Prolonged sympathetic nervous system stimulation (stress and anxiety) subsequently causing insufficient absorption and digestion of food increasing malnutrition
Excessive amounts of high carb and sugar foods
Damage to GIT and dysbiosis of the microbiome
Nutritional deficiencies including insufficient water intake
Toxic build-up in your body (see article here on how to detoxify naturally)
Insufficient sleep (recommended 6 – 8 hours)
Side effects from medications
Here’s the exciting part! You can change your life for the better! Don’t let this overwhelm you, let it inspire you; let it take your breath away at just how wonderful, intricate and purely amazing your body is. Believe in yourself enough that you deserve to be healthy; you deserve to love your body and nourish it and feel good again!
Top 10 Ways To Boost Your Energy!
I really am a huge advocate of this – try your best to cut out the processed foods. Anything that comes in a packet, stay clear. Aim to fill your fridge with a rainbow of local fresh fruit, veg, nuts and meats. Nature has us covered, every whole-food contains an array of nourishing vitamins and minerals that you need to thrive on, aiming to help all of those beautiful pathways work at optimum levels. Don’t have time to cook? Check out our AMAZING healthy meals here.
Aim to eat foods high in your B-Vitamins; they all play an integral part in energy synthesis and metabolism. Great food sources include eggs, salmon, nuts, seeds, dark-leafy greens and organic well-sourced animal liver. (Whitney, 2014) If you are really struggling it might be beneficial to opt for a well-sourced B-vitamin complex.
Increase your magnesium (Mg+) intake; most of us are deficient in Mg+. (Here’s a tester-poke out your tongue in a mirror, if it is shaking chances are you may be Mg+ deficient). Mg+ is Crucial for energy, heart, lung, and immune functionality along with being essential for synthesizing glucose, proteins, fats and structures. It is also vital for neural communication. High in seeds, grains and green-leafy veg.
Antioxidants help detoxify harmful substances, repair and nourish your cells along with promoting damaged cell apoptosis (cell death). Great sources of antioxidants: fresh berries, green tea, turmeric, raw organic cacao and nuts. (Mercola, 2016)
Choose complex carbohydrates and lower your sugars, this includes overindulging in fruits – aim for no more than 2 – 3 serves per day max. Complex carbs are sourced from whole fruits, whole grains, green and starchy vegetables e.g. sweet potato, pumpkin and beetroot. Eat them with a bit of protein and good fats to increase satiety and avoid a high spike in blood glucose.
Cut back on stimulants; caffeine, alcohol, black teas and cigarettes. Over-stimulation of the nervous system can eventually cause our body to burn out. Try an alternative dandelion root coffee, mix it up with herbal teas and if you’re a huge coffee and chocolate person aim for a new goal each week to slowly reduce your intake.
Ensure you are getting enough iron (Fe+) in your diet. Fe+ is essential for transporting oxygen around your body through your blood and absolutely vital for many catalyst enzymatic reactions. Nuts, green-leafy vegetables and red meat are all high in Fe+.
Try our amazing PondWater Mix – I am officially in LOVE with this mix! It has all organic ingredients; chlorella, spirulina, wheat grass, aloe vera and spelt grass. Perfect for alkalizing the body, high in glutathione for repairing gut endothelial lining, rich in nutrients and a great 3 o’clock pick me up.
Probiotic rich foods: Once you have started to take a more clean eating approach it’s time to look into probiotic-rich foods or even a supplement. These gut microbes play an integral role in our body and the immune system, it is absolutely essential we have the right bacteria. Try adding sauerkraut, kimchi, miso or low sugar Kombucha into your diet once daily.
Sleep, rest and relaxation: yes, you know this one – we all do, just DO IT! Find a way to take 10 – 20 minutes each day to just be, ground yourself and appreciate your life. What’s the point of working so hard for it to ruin you? There’s no point. I love deep breathing in the car, shower or right now while I am typing. You are just too important to let stress control you. P.S. if you haven’t already, give meditation a go – it’s a win.
Coconut turmeric chicken with vegetable stir-fry – check it out here
References
Asif, M. (2014, February 21). The prevention and control the type-2 diabetes by changing lifestyle and dietary pattern. PubMed. doi:10.4103/2277-9531.127541
Beyond Good Health Clinics. (n.d.). [image] of chronic fatigue. Retrieved August 03, 2016, from https://www.google.com.au/search?q=fatigue&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjCl4Cv8aTOAhUJFZQKHaAxCKAQ_AUICCgB#imgrc=eHYfnUSvUhJwVM%3A
Food Standards, Australian and New Zealand. (2010). Retrieved from NUTTAB: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/science/monitoringnutrients/nutrientables/nuttab/Pages/default.aspx
Healing, S. C. (Director). (2014). Your Immune System under a microscope. [Motion Picture]. Retrieved August 03, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPIzIznmAO0
Mercola, D. (2016). The Ultimate Guide to Antioxidants. Retrieved August 3, 2016, from http://articles.mercola.com/antioxidants.aspx
Rettener, R. (2016, March 10). The Human Body: Anatomy, Facts & Functions. Live Science. Retrieved July 27, 2016, from http://www.livescience.com/37009-human-body.html
Wedro, B. M. (2015, March 02). Fatigue. Retrieved July 27, 2016, from http://www.medicinenet.com/fatigue/article.htm
Whitney, E. R.-S. (2014). Understanding Nutrition, Australian and New Zealand, 2nd Edition. South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3205: CENGAGE Learning.
