Calorie Counting – Please tell me what is good, bad and ugly here :)

OK so we have taken a step up this last month with our workouts, I thought I better take a look at what all this calorie counting can mean for me. I have downloaded an app called “Calorie King Australia” it seems to be an easy app to use.

When I eat I normally have it out of the smaller bowl:

I am going to try and track of everything that I consume for a while except water (no calories there)

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Breakfast

Food	Calories	Exercise
30g Uncle Toby’s Health Wise	130
75ml Whole Milk	47.25
1/2 Brown Toast	42.75
Coffee, whole milk, 1 teaspoon honey	143
Breakfast Total	363

Tuesday 13 March 2012

Breakfast

Food	Calories	Exercise
30g Uncle Toby’s Health Wise	130	Run 2.5klm
75ml Whole Milk	47.25	10min Yoga
2 x teaspoons Blueberries	11.52
Coffee, whole milk, 1 teaspoon honey	143
4 x Tblsp scrambled eggs 1 x piece of white toast	177.5
Breakfast Total	509.27

Lunch

Food	Calories	Exercise
Chicken (stir fry)	50	1 x 15 ab crunches
Carrot	8
Broccoli	12
Baby Corn	1
Cherry Tomato	1
Soy Sauce	4
Curry Powder	3
Rice	129
Coffee, whole milk, 1 teaspoon honey	143
Lunch Total	351

Dinner & Afternoon Snack

Food	Calories	Exercise
Lamb (minestrone)	39.9	30s Jog on the spot x 3
Brown Onion	2.9	30s Power Jacks with 1kg weight x 3
Potato	6	2 min Run and touch x 3
Sweet Potato	10	30s Belt kicks x 3
Carrot	5.4	30s Verticale jumps 1kg weights x 3
Garlic	1	30s 4 pushups 8 pushup runs x 3
Celery	1.2	10 Elevated lunge 10kg x 3
Zucchini	1.7	6 Shoulder Press 30kg x 3
Green Beans	2.1	10 assisted pull-ups x 3
Kidney beans	39.2	10 Overhead Triceps 8kg x 3
Baby Spinach	4.6	12 Top of crunches 10kg x 3
Asparagus	3	10 Flat bench chest 4@35kg 6@30kg
Tomato Paste	9.7	10 Reverse situps 3kg med ball x 3
Beef Stock	17.5	15min Yoga
Penne Pasta	26.4
1 x White Toast	85.5
Lamb	39.3
Banana (snack)	76
Amino Acids (Workout)	50
Dinner and Snack Total	305.50

Total Today

1,165.77 Calories

 

Happy Ending with Blake Ridler

Blake Ridler from Dynamic Accounting Solutions here with another business tip

We have just come through Christmas and for most businesses this is one of the toughest times of the year, and in another 11 months it is going to happen all over again.

There is a simple solution, and that is to start allowing for it now, work out how much it costs you to operate for a month divide that amount by 52 weeks and start putting that much or as close as you can to it into a high interest savings account every week for the rest of the year.

This will make the next Christmas a far happier ending to the year.

Dynamic Accounting Solutions Blog: http://www.dasolutions.com.au/blog/

 

Mt Warning National Park NSW by Blake Ridler

8 Jan 2012

We were all up, out the door in the car and driving by around 5 and were well rewarded with a cracking sunrise, though Byron was heard to remark, “this is early!”. One cool event that definetly bears a mention, as we were getting ready to leave I was saved from one of those B52 size mosquitoes we have up here, I heard it fly in low for a raid in the dark only to be cut short mid flight, I looked up wondering what had happened just in time to see a gecko backing slowly back into it’s hiding space, little champion.

We let the GPS lead and it took us down through the currumbin valley which is a windy track with some spectacular views, not quite as direct as coming down to Tweed and hooking a left but well worth it if you are not in a hurry.

Apart from the scenic route and a couple of cyclists that got stuck in our front grill, our trip was uneventful and we arrived at the car park around 7. We had a quick spot of breaky and began our ascent up the mighty mountain; I should mention that the mountain looks high when you are standing in the car park, which from experience means it is going to look really high when you are standing on top.

Getting ready for the climb

Paige bounded on ahead and Byron did well once he got into a rhythm, the track is well defined and full of stairs it is about 4.5 km from the car park to the summit with the best bit saved till last. The last 400m is a steep rocky climb, there is however a chain strung between posts to help you pull yourself up. The kids had fun on this bit, Byron was pretending to be Spiderman.

On the way up there were helicopter rescue points at various intervals which was a bit of a worry, there were also chairs carved out of various timber and we came across a number of people at these points who all gave and received bits of encouragement.

The view from part way up

We arrived at the top to find a nicely situated café with a fully stocked bar and a reasonably priced breakfast menu. Actually that didn’t happen but we did meet some interesting people who had stopped to take in the view from the various viewing platforms that are positioned all around the top. The viewing platforms also have signs up that tell you what you are looking at and some bits and pieces of the history, very cool.

Chilling at the top

The way down is really easy, once you climb down the 400-meter rock face that is, just do what Byron did and pretend you are Spiderman, easy. On the way down Tiff chatted to a couple of people we had met on the way up who decided to stick close after we encountered a 1.5 M long python sunning itself on the track. I think they figured any other Pythons would eat the kids first as they are an easier mouthful.

Friendly local wild life

We made the car park in a 3 ½ hour round trip which gave us enough time to get home, shower off and prepare for afternoon beers with a few mates at our place.

Back down in one piece and ready for the next adventure

 

Avoid Direct Debits by Blake Ridler

Blake Ridler from Dynamic Accounting Solutions, here with a small business tip

One key thing I tell a lot of our clients is to avoid direct debits. I know how easy they are and how time consuming it is to take the five minuets to pay your bills on the net and how certain greedy rip-off merchants are out there charging you a fee to pay their bill, not naming any names Go Via and Dodo.

But I want you to pay your bills and every time you do, I want you to ask these simple questions, who is this person or company, what is it they do for me or my business and am I getting the best deal or service.

When you do this you will find that you are taking back control of your finances and you may even end up with less of those nasty overdrawn fees where the direct debit comes out just before money goes into your account.

http://www.dasolutions.com.au

 

Fat and Happy or Fat and Acidic

So first and foremost here is some food for thought before we go into more detail. Robbins discusses (video below)the idea of your blue print, part of the changes I needed to make involved changing my original blue print of no children and traveling the world to having two wonderful kids, fabulous husband and a truly loving enjoyable life. I now have the correct blue print hence my life is enjoyable and fulfilling daily.

OK so here is the part that everyone seems to dread, the list of naughty foods. I would like you to think of these foods in a positive light, this is because I am not telling you to stop eating them, simply eat less, that is all. Most of these are common sense, however, I thought that my diet healthy most of the time it turns out it wasn’t all that great. I dread to think what people eat to be honest, it actually makes me a little sick in the stomach thinking about what food is going into their bodies.

Before consuming anything there are a couple of questions that you should ask yourself as I do, whether the food is good or bad.

1. How will this affect my body?

2. Will this give pain or pleasure to my body, emotions and esteem.

This should be done while having a glass of water, the answer should determine the quantity you ingest. So without telling you to completely stop eating these foods I would like to suggest you continually improve and make these foods a maximum of 20% of your total intake.

So before reading the list please listen to what Anthony Robbins has to say on this matter, it is interesting.

Bacon	Beef	Clams
Corned Beef	Eggs	Lamb
Lobster	Mussels	Organ Meat
Venison	Fish	Oyster
Pork	Rabbit	Sausage
Scallops	Shellfish	Shrip
Tuna	Turkey	Veal
Butter	Cheese	Milk
Yogurt	Ice Cream	Sour Cream
Anything syrup	Honey	Sugar
Apple	Apricot	Currants
Dates	Grapes	Mango
Peach	Pear	Prunes
Raisins	Berries	Orange
Margarine	Alcohol	Black Tea
Coffee	Pasteurised Juice	Cocoa
Energy Drinks	Sports Drinks	Colas
Green Tea	Mushrooms	White Breads
Rice and Noodles	Chocolate	Pizza
Chips	Biscuits	Cigarettes
Cashews	Peanuts	Pecans
Mayonnaise	Ketchup	Soy Sauce
Pickles	Vinegar	Tabasco

 

Eat till you burst and loose weight.

So let me guess you are thinking yer right and I would have as well, until I started eating foods that are better for me in all ways, I lost 10kgs in 5 months. I actually find that by eating these foods I’m not hungry. I was always someone who didn’t have to worry about weight gain, I then had my children and wasn’t in a great mental head space for a while. I then woke up and had a driving ambition to change my life and make myself better for me and for my children.

When I looked at diets I didn’t like the loose “this” many Kgs within 1 week, it has always been on my mind that whatever I do now I want to be able to continue for the rest of my life. Yo-yo diets are not what I want to be doing nor do I think they are good for you in any way shape or form. I love food and I wanted to continue to enjoy it. I also didn’t want to be starving myself.

I went through having my first child, miscarriage, eptopic pregnancy, second child, Helicobacter Pylori, Endometriosis, among other issues, with all of this I started drinking more alcohol, smoking more cigarettes, until I realised I was being my own victim. I went to start seeking help, I have spoken to professionals, read many books and what I came back to was each and every time was, it was me, I needed to change the way I viewed things mentally. I will take you through what I have been able to do, it is a lifestyle change, once you have made the decision to change do something to concrete it in, do something now. For example, I decided that I wasn’t going to drink alcohol during the week and only have a maximum of 2 drinks when I did drink on the weekend or it could be as simple as drinking more water today and for the rest of your life. Once I started this process I then continually changed things to improve who I was and what my life was going to be like.

So to start with I am going to give you a list of foods that you can eat lots of. If you can increase these into your diet and decrease the foods that are not on this list you will be off to a fabulous start. I am not saying do not have anything that isn’t on this list I am just saying reduce.

Grasses	Avocado	Artichokes
Cucumber	Beetroot	Asparagus
Kale	Capsicum/Pepper	Brussels Sprouts
Spinach	Cabbage	Cauliflower
Parsley	Celery	Carrot
Broccoli	Collard/Spring Greens	Chives
Sprouts (alfalfa)	Garlic	Zucchini
sea Vegetable (seaweed)	Ginger	Leeks
Green Beans	Peas	Lettuce
Onion	Rhubarb	Radish
Red Onion	Swede	Rocket
Tomato	Watercress	Lemon
Lime	Butter Beans	Soy Beans
Grapefruit	Coconut	Buckwheat
Quinoa	Spelt	Lentils
Tofu	Most Herbs and Spices	Avocado, Coconut oil
Chilli	Snowpeas	Chives
Sweete Potato	Spring Onion	Radish
Almonds	Coconut	Flax Seeds
Hazelnuts	Macadamia Nuts	Pumpkin Seeds
Tofu	Gluten/Yeast Free breads	Goats Milk

With a little imagination you will be able to transform these foods into a magnificent yummy meal, so this is what you are best to do, make the above foods equal to 80% of what is on your plate, then make 20% whatever else you want to eat. In a couple of days I will put another list up of foods you should avoid.

Just remember as I said earlier ensure you continually improving. Also try new things. If you have any questions please email me an email via the contact us page, I would be happy to help if I can.

 

Who makes your dinner? Could it be Mum?

In China

http://u.youku.com/user_show/id_UMzc5NTkxNDg0.html

 

Green Curry

400ml Coconut milk or cream

3 x Tbsp Green Curry Paste

1 x Tsp Fish Sauce

1 x Tsp Sugar

1 x Chicken Breast Fillet

1 x Cup sliced Mushrooms

1 x Cup Eggplant sliced

2 x Kaffir Lime leaves

1 x Carrot

1 x Zucchini

Rice

Method:

1. Start rice cooking in the rice cooker

2. place Coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce and sugar in a pot or wok bring to boil and stir occasionally

3. Add chicken and eggplant allow to cook for a couple of minutes then add all other vegetables and Kaffir (can also add basil or coriander) for another 2 min or so.

4. Serve and enjoy.

 

Special Meatballs and Penne Pasta

Penne Pasta

250g Beef Mince

1 x Brown Onion

150g Pine Nuts

2 x Cups of mixed fresh herbs (Basil, oregano, chives, parsley, rosemary)

200g Ricotta cheese

100g Breadcrumbs

1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese

1 x Grated Carrot

1 x finely chopped Garlic Clove

2 x Eggs

1 x Tbsp Tomato sauce

1 x Tbsp BBQ sauce

1 x Tsp Curry Powder

Vegetables:

4 x flowers Broccoli

150g Beans

2 x Carrot

1 x Zucchini

Sauce:

800g Tin of Diced Tomato

100ml Red Wine

1/2 Cup fresh herb

2 x Garlic Cloves finely chopped

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients for the meatballs together (I use my clean hands) then prepare vegetables for steaming later.

2. Heat some olive oil in pan/skillet make small round balls (slightly flatter like rissole, it’s easier to cook) and cook on medium heat. This is done in batches, I think put the cooked ones on a tray and into the oven.

3. Heat water and place penne pasta once boiled with a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt.

4. Place all sauce ingredients into a pot bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer.

5. Steam vegeables

6. Drain pasta, place back into the cooking pot, add sauce and mix.

7. Serve and enjoy. (I love this one for lunches the next day and so do the kids)

Hint: It’s easy to eat too much of this dish so serve in small bowls and eat slowly, you can always go back for seconds if you really need to.

 

Chicken or Beef Rice Paper Rolls

1-2 Chicken Breast or Steak

1 x Cup Red Cabbage

2 x Carrot

1 x small Cucumber

1 x Cupsicum

Vermicelli optional

Baby spinach

Fresh Herbs

Soy sauce

Sweet Chilli Sauce

Rice Paper rounds

Method:

1. Cook chicken or steak and shred

2. Grate or V slice salad, leaving baby spinach as is.

3. Mix soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce together in a bowl and place onto the table along with salad ingredients

4. Mix the sauces together, I use a little on my rice paper rolls just before I roll them up.

4. Boil water enough for a large bowl, place large bowl in the centre of the table to put the rice paper rounds into.