Add a cucumber to your shopping basket, you just never know what you might need it for:

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Cucumbers are NATURAL BORN PEST KILLERS

Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

4. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

Have you ever baulked at the price of fruit? Or thought that organic meat is expensive?

The new rules for supermarkets now means that they have to put the per kg price on every item.  Some of the supermarkets are pretty sneaky and have the per 100grams price which makes it look cheaper.  You need to multiply this by 10 times to get the per kg price.

Have you seen how much you are paying for the snacks you buy??  Some of the snacks are as much as $35 per kg. 

Compare this to the price being asked for fruit and vegetables

It never ceases to amaze me that some one will think $1 is too much to pay for an apple; an apple that started as a flower and then took months to grow and soak up sunshine and water and nutrients.  That this apple is “too expensive” and yet the same person will happily pay $2 to $3 for a snack bar.

Pay attention to how much you are paying for what you are eating.  Not only will your waistline thank you for

Snacks	Per kg price
Rice Crackers	$12
Fat free crisp breads	$22
Those tasty fruit straps	$45
Various Museli bars	$10 to $35
Chips and Crisps	$12 to $35
Basic digestive biscuits	$10
Premium Chocolate biscuits	$15
Popular ice creams	$15
Fruit and Vegetables	Per kg price
Apples	$5
Bananas	$3
carrots	$1.50 per kg
Grapes	$7
Broccoli and zucchini	$5
Snow peas	Up to $12
Cucumbers	$4
Other suggested healthy, “energy producing “snacks
Baked Beans	$6
Cheese – basic cheddar	$12 to $15
Basic yoghurt	$8 to $10
Premium yoghurt	$12

It is easy to be tricked into thinking that the snacks are good for us because they are marketed as Healthy Snacks.  They are not only often quite unhealthy for our bodies if we eat them too often, many of the snacks are quite sugar laden.  These expensive snacks are also harmful to our wallets.   

Decide for yourself.  Check the prices, as well as the sugar content.  Make informed choices.

Why would any woman want to wear a nappy for the rest of her life?

You may wonder why I even ask this question.  I was watching tv recently and there is an advert with some attractive young women laughing about they used to have “LBL” and now they don’t have to worry – they just wear a nappy. 

This isn’t actually what the advert says, it is an ad for panty liners.

More than half the female population – in Australia and US – has a condition referred to as Urinary Incontinence (UI) or Light Bladder Leakage (LBL).  They leak when they laugh, dribble when they cough etc.

Let me repeat - more than half the adult female population!!  This is truly unacceptable.

And even more unacceptable that we are being sold a nappy solution.

Leaking is not normal.  There are many women who never have this issue; women with normal healthy strong pelvic floor muscles.  Leaking is most often as the result of weakened pelvic floor muscles.   And like other muscles in the body can be rehabilitated with a ritual of simple exercises done correctly.

There are lots of things we do as women to help to weaken the pelvic floor muscles.  Knowing what not to do and knowing how to do your pelvic floor exercises correctly can give you a life free of the fear of having “an accident” or as one of my clients says “no longer frightened of peeing my pants”

visit www.womenshealthinitiative.org
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Women’s Health Initiative aims to provide information and support for women, and men, about a health issue that remains some what of a taboo subject.   

One in Three women suffers from some form of Urinary Incontinence.  This means that they have difficulty controlling their bladder.  They leak when they laugh.  Chances are that they cannot sneeze without peeing in their pants.  When they jump, or skip, or run they dribble.  And even if it is only a small leak, perhaps only a few drops, they have probably resigned themselves to the fact that this is how life is as a woman and have developed coping tactics – they wear sanitary products, they always knowing where the nearest “loo” is and worst of all, they frequently take a “just on case pee”.

This is an issue that affects so many women and yet it remains one of the unspoken health issues in our community. 

There is a huge cost, both psychological and financial, to individuals, their friends and families and also to the community. 

I am on a mission to help women understand that “leaking” is not normal and there are easy ways to prevent the damage that weakens the muscles of the pelvic floor and there are ways to repair any weakened muscles.

The body is miraculous hoe quickly every cell responds to treatment and care.

Stay tuned, we are on a journey, together

The body is miraculous hoe quickly every cell responds to treatment and care.

Stay tuned, we are on a journey, together

visit us at www.womenshealthinitiative.org

The Corporate Wellness Magazine Winter 2010 edition has printed one of my articles as part of their Cover Story on Motivation. 

The article includes my 3 step"don't think so much" process for staying motivated and committed to what you have promised yourself.  As an example

1. Don't think about it.  Just do not think about it and allow yourself to do what needs to be done.   

2. If you do think about then immediately remind yourself of the benefits of what you are doing.

3. Just start doing something, even if just a small part of the whole.

As an example, I exercise every morning. 

1.      Don’t think about it: I lay out my clothes, shoes etc and when I wake, I’m up and dressed and out the door before I’m thinking “will I?”  Everything to contribute to my being successful.

2.      Remember the benefits.  If I start to think “warmer under the doona,cold outside” then I remind myself that “I will feel better after, I think more clearly all day, have more energy and only takes a few minutes to get warm”;

3.      Just start doing some thing.  Maybe today I don’t go out for a walk/ run inthe cold and rain, rather put on the heater and do my yoga or Pllates dvd –just do something, and enjoy it !!  It still contributes to health and well being.

For the full article in Corporate Wellness Magazine, see page 10:

 

http://flipflashpages.uniflip.com/2/30291/60377/pub/

How disciplined are you?  What does it mean to have Self 
Discipline?  Recently, I read a definition of Self Discipline 
and it went some thing like this:

Make your self do what you need to do, when you need to 
do it, whether you feel like it or not.

The implication here is that self discipline takes place in 
real time, in the present moment.  It is something to be 
done right now.

However, for many people the idea of discipline refers to 
some imaginary tomorrow time.  I will exercise, tomorrow.  
I will start my diet, tomorrow.  I will stop smoking, tomorrow.  

Why would you be self disciplined when there is so much 
pleasure to be gained from engaging in activities that provide 
pleasure right now?  Best put off being disciplined till tomorrow.  
Every day, tomorrow becomes the present moment and again 
the discipline can be put off for another tomorrow.  

This would especially be the case where you might think that 
to be self disciplined would result in some amount of pain or 
discomfort.  Why would anyone inflict pain on themselves?  
What would motivate some one to be self disciplined?  

Put simply, acting with self discipline creates a result; to 
stick with an exercise program results in greater fitness, 
more oxygen in the blood, altered body shape, improved 
cardiovascular health etc.

Acting with non-discipline also creates a result; not 
exercising results in avoiding sweating, being red in the 
face, having to buy walking shoes/ swim suit etc 

Both self discipline and non-discipline create a result.  
For anyone to choose the self discipline option, the result 
needs to have the greater appeal.  

When faced with delicious home baked birthday cake when 
you are just starting a weight loss program, the benefits of 
self discipline – potential weight loss in the future – vs the 
benefits if non-discipline – yummy taste in your mouth right 
now – which wins ??

The non-discipline benefit in both of these examples is 
tangible right now; you can see it, taste it, touch it, 
experience it – right now.  The self discipline benefit is a 
future benefit; a potential benefit and cannot be seen or 
touched right now.

Is it any wonder that so many people choose non-discipline?  
For the immediate sensory benefit.

However non-discipline carries a high price tag; you stay 
stuck with your problem and find the problems to grow larger, 
some how imagining they might just “go away”.  I 
deliberately use the word “problem” for if it was not a problem, 
you wouldn’t need self discipline to change it.  If the future 
benefit never appeals more than the immediate benefit then 
non-discipline will mostly win out. 

At any point in time you can choose the future benefit.  You 
can decide any time to make the shift to self discipline.  You 
can choose to do everything in your human power to make the 
change; to take the reins of your life and take control of yourself, 
to have more from your life.

You may have convinced yourself that you “have no discipline”.  
You can change that to “I am a disciplined person”.  Try it, 
look in the mirror and say to yourself “I am a disciplined 
person, I choose self discipline regarding exercise/ eating 
healthy/ managing my time”
  
 At the beginning this could feel a bit strange, or awkward 
or uncomfortable.  Change may be painful for a while as you 
begin an exercise program, go on a diet, or stop smoking.  
Your body will tell you that it desires to feel good again 
NOW; it will try to encourage you to put off to another day 
the change that you know must come. Those who are making 
the decision to give up alcohol or drugs are perhaps making 
the most positive decision of all that will have the most 
lasting effects.
  
 You must look ahead towards the desired result. Do not be 
someone that looks to the past as the good old days. The 
positive use of tomorrow-thinking is to base your hopes and 
faith in what you will become and not take your eye off of 
the goal. 

 Decide today to be disciplined; you will surprise yourself at 
how much you achieve.

For anyone who has been reading my writings for any length of time, you know the importance I place on Mindset, and the power of our thinking to influence what we experience in our lives.  I use a solution focussed approach to my work with changing behaviour and habits.

 

How you think about anything, impacts on what you experience in your world.

 

The conditions of "being tired" and "being fatigued" falls squarely into this category - the more you think about it, the more tired and fatigued you become.  In fact, if you not even feeling tired at all and are sitting near some one who is yawning and/ or making "I'm tired statements" within no time at all you will be infected with the virus.

 

Yes, it is like a virus; the fatigue virus.  And you have the power to inoculate yourself against catching the fatigue virus.

 

How? "How can I possible inoculate myself against being tired?" I hear you ask.

The simple answer: Mindset.  How you think about yourself and how you are feeling, impacts on how you actually feel.

There has been some great research done in this area.  Experiments have been done with people who traditionally come home from work and lay on the coach due to their Fatigue Factor being very high.  These same people were encouraged to take part in even mild movement activities.  The result: they reduced their Fatigue Factor scores.  Further, the score improved exponentially with their level of activity.

What does this mean?  People who were able to engage in an activity that required them getting off the coach and moving about - maybe playing with a child, throwing ball with their dog, going for a walk, or riding a bike, felt much less tired or fatigued.  And in fact, as the amount of activity increased they reported feeling more than just "not tired"; they felt "quite energised". 

Yes, it takes effort to get off the couch and force your self to do some thing active.  A few essential factors contribute to your being able to do this.  This works best if you:

• choose an activity that you want to do
• believe that you will benefit
• really believe that the benefit to doing it will be greater than the benefit of not doing it i.e. getting off the coach and playing ball with your dog will be better for you than staying on the coach
• knowing that it is better for the dog, or some one else, helps even more
• have had previous positive experience of this working for you

Feeling tired can become a habit which will weaken your will to be active, unless you consciously make an effort to break the habit.

You are not meant to be a weak, weary creature; you are meant to be filled with a glorious and dynamic spirit of life.  This is not a "whoo hoo" way of thinking about life.  What I am talking about is the wonderful "some thing" that makes you alive; that spark that governs everything that goes on in your wonderful body; in your magnificent body!!

Make a decision today to have an "I'm alive, alert, awake, enthusiastic" Mindset and watch out for the difference in your life.

 

Personally, I love a really good pizza.  When I was growing up, my mum used to make pizza with scone dough and everything we loved loaded on top.  We were active children and the toppings were fresh and healthy.  If I was to order a pizza from one of the Pizza chains, it is more likely to have more fat and calories in one slice than in the whole of mum’s pizza!!  

 

 

Any time you think you want to eat pizza, you need to answer “yes” to each and every one of these questions:

 

1. Am I really hungry using the “Healthy Wealthy Hungry Scale”?

 

2. Am I really hungry for pizza right now, and nothing else will satisfy this hunger?

 

3. Am I really going to take the time to enjoy it, savouring every mouthful?

 

4. Am I only going to eat as much as I need to no longer feel hungry? And do I accept that this might be only one piece of pizza

 

This actually is the process I teach all my clients who love to eat foods from the less healthy end of the spectrum.  These foods are not forbidden.  My clients learn how to eat them in a way as to satisfy the taste need and also to moderate themselves so that they don’t regain weight they have already lost.

 

So now having made the decision that you really want pizza you have 2 choices; make your own or buy a pizza.

 

Make your own:

 

This is a great option for people who love to experiment and have fresh and healthy ingredients available.

 

The base can be made from pita breads which are little more than a base and contain almost no bread.  You can buy quite good pizza bases – watch out for ones that already have too much topping on.

 

The toppings can be as varied as your imagination. 

 

For the tomato base, use fresh tomatoes made into a puree, or buy good quality canned tomatoes – either crushed or diced.  You could even make a delicious Napolitano sauce by adding fresh herbs, or you could buy a good one.  Tomato sauce adds lovely flavour and although lots of people think it is a vegetable, tomatoes are from the fruit family. 

 

As an alternative to tomato sauce, you could use pesto – either make it yourself or buy a good quality pesto, perhaps at the markets.

 

If you really enjoy cheese, choose goat’s cheese, feta, bocincinni, ricotta, spiced ricotta and there are many great tasting cheeses available in lighter styles.  Grate the cheese fresh and use just enough to give good flavour; you are in control of quantity. 

 

Those meats and salamis; try and steer away from them.  They add a lot of extra fat and calories.  Try instead thin sliced organic ham or prosciutto; they add great flavour with much less fat. 

 

Load your pizza with grilled eggplant, try different varieties of mushrooms, red and green peppers, olives, fresh herbs, cherry tomatoes, marinated artichokes, pine nuts; you really are limited only by your imagination.

 

Buying a Pizza:  more choices

 

• From a pizza chain
• From a gourmet pizza shop
• From the frozen section of the supermarket

 

Ordering pizza from one of the chains that home deliver and staying healthy, can be a real challenge.  One slice can be super loaded with more calories than a whole healthy meal.  Here are some tips when ordering a pizza:

 

Salad:  Start off with a large green salad with the dressing on the side, and you will not be so starving for the pizza.  You only need a small amount of dressing, if any, as there is going to be loads of fats in the pizza.  Having a salad will actually help you to enjoy your pizza.  Some times when people are really hungry they eat fast and don’t really appreciate the food they are eating and that whole first piece could disappear without registering.

 

The Crust:  Choose a thin crust as this has much fewer calories than a regular crust.  Avoid the “stuffed crust”; you don’t need extra cheese in the crust – save your cheese for on the top where you can really enjoy it.

 

The Toppings:

 

Cheese:  The good thing about cheese is that it is a nutritious food with protein and calcium as well as all your essential amino acids.  You could ask for:

·         “easy on the cheese” option as all pizzas are made to order and you can enjoy the cheesy taste of the cheese without overdoing the overall saturated fats, total fats and calorie intake

·         a non-cheese option; my local gourmet pizza has a fantastic 4 mushroom pizza that is one of the tastiest on their menu.      

 

Let’s face facts, pizzas are loaded with fats and calories, what we are doing here is trying to minimise the fats and calories while still creating a taste sensation.

 

Meats:  Try to avoid salami and peperoni, they are full of fats and without a lot of nutritional value.  Aim for ham, lamb, prosciutto and other lean meats.  Spices and herbs are what will add to the taste sensation.

 

Other toppings:  Choose pizzas that have a variety of flavoursome vegetables and fresh herbs.

 

What size to order or to make at home?

 

It is very tempting to order by value for money and few pizza restaurants sell pizza by the slice.  Some times it is easy to think that a larger pizza is better value for money than a smaller one.  However, did you know that there are probably more than 100 extra calories in a piece of 14” pizza than a 12” pizza.  Pizza is often a shared meal.  It can be easy to overeat as you talk and eat and share the food.  It is a good practice to decide how many pieces you will eat – maybe 2 pieces and then stop at that. 

 

If there are extra pieces, be very mindful that you had decided to have your 2 pieces and you have had those 2 pieces and they were very tasty and you do not need any more. 

 

Move the extra pieces to one plate and move it to the other end of the table; away from you.

 

If you make a pizza at home and are not eating it all, either freeze straight away or parcel up to send home with your guests.

Healthy Pizza

 

You can make healthy and tasty Pizza choices – the choice is up to You.