What to Do When You Have Hit a Weight Loss Plateau? So you have been working out, eating well, practicing mindfulness, and your weight loss journey is going well. The first month, it seemed like the weight was just falling off. Until it isn’t. You’re still doing everything by the book, so why are you stuck? We’ve all made it to this point, and it can be very frustrating. Why Do I Plateau? The stall, or weight loss plateau, occurs because our bodies are extremely efficient and adaptable machines - becoming stronger and more efficient at burning calories every time we exercise, and through a diet and exercise plan, requiring less calories than before. So despite you best efforts, eventually, you will need to change what you are doing for your weight loss program, in order to almost surprise or shock your body out of the routine you have created, and there are a few options to do so. How to Get out of Plateau Phase 1) Track your meals. Sometimes we actually are underestimating the calorie-count of the meals we are eating. Using a fitness tracker like MyFitnessPal can help you manage what you are eating and portions, to ensure that you are in fact in a calorie-deficit. 2) Increase exercise. Reaching this plateau phase may mean that you need to rev up your routine. Studies show that as you lose weight, your metabolism generally decreases, as it doesn’t need to be quite so high for someone of a lower rate. Of course, this does vary, depending on many factors including age, gender and strength. Resistance or strength training can combat this, and seems to be the best activity to add to your weight loss regimen, because more muscle burns more fat. 3) Drink water. Making sure that you are getting enough water is critical to any weight loss regimen. Studies also show that drinking water before a meal can impact your weight loss - one study showed that people who drank water before meals lost 44% more weight than those who did not. The average adult recommendation is to consume 2 litres of water per day - this of course could be more depending on what exercise and activities you are engaging in daily. 4) Reverse dieting. This simply means, if you have been dieting and exercising a certain way for some time and just not seeing results any more, it can be tempting to try...
How to Stay Motivated When the Temperature Drops
You're certainly not alone if you are struggling to maintain your fitness routine with the temperature in Sydney dropping more and more every day. Picture this: you've been up at 6AM, done your morning routine, began you commute to work, with the sun rising, complete with mittens, hat, scarf, puffer jacket or long coat (yes, I realise we are being slightly overdramatic here, most of us aren't quite living in the snow, but go with me). You work all day, don't get a proper lunch break, and head home at 5.30PM, in the dark. On the bus, you have two options - get off at the stop near the gym or yoga studio OR you head home and settle right in to a glass of red, dinner and the heater. I know which one I could be swayed towards in the winter...
Making friends with carbs
Making friends with carbs It’s a common theory that carbs are the enemy. Atkins, Paleo, Keto - they have taught us to minimise carb intake to achieve fat loss. In reality, limiting your carbs can help with weight loss, but that depends heavily on how much you were or are consuming in the first place. First and foremost, it’s very important to understand the role in which carbohydrates play in the overall performance of your physical body. Their main responsibility is to provide you with energy. As the body’s natural go-to source of fuel, they are needed for physical as well as brain activity, and the healthy function of your organs. Once consumed, carbs are turned into glucose, which is also referred to as blood sugar. Whilst a some of the glucose is used for energy, the rest is being stored for later use. As your blood sugar levels rise, your pancreas pumps out more insulin, which is a hormone that tells cells to absorb glucose for energy or storage. Then effectively stored glucose is released due to signals being sent and glucagon being made. How does this develop our performance as individuals? Well, it makes sense now that your athletic performance can only be increased by carbohydrate intake. This is of good use to you, if you are looking at doing back-to-back classes, for example. Without an adequate amount of stored glucose in the body, other nutrients, such as muscle protein (unfortunately we do break down muscle first) and fat are used as a form of energy. The last thing we want is to lose muscle as muscle mass burns calories even while we're inactive. So, it is important we take in adequate amounts of protein especially post training. In simple terms, the over-consumption of carbohydrates in anyone’s diet can increase body fat and lower your energy, however if you dwindle your intake down to a minimal amount, your body will suffer and potentially your efforts during training will decrease, i.e. you will not be able to push yourself to your limit. Your body needs carbs to perform efficiently and effectively. So if your training includes intense routines, such as Melt & Burn or Ride, you need high quality energy to perform at your best! Need more fuel? If you want to fuel your body well, you should be eating healthy and regularly. Pick some good fuel sources post class from our coffee lounge - here's the menu to...
Why pressing the restart button is not just for your PC
Juicing every morning, but just can’t beat the cravings? It’s time to clean your system and press the restart button. My friend has been going through a comprehensive elimination diet for the last 3 weeks. I admire her for sticking with it, even if it means going BYO on social dinners, being the designated driver at parties and moments of serious food envy when your husband indulges in Golden Gaytime. It’s important to know how your body reacts to certain foods to find out how to eat right for your own body. Yes, we do talk about how much life is on your plate, but it is equally important to feel into the food you are ingesting. For example, I recently found out that my raw food diet left me with a slack digestion. With my Vata energy overload in my internal organs, grounding my diet will calm my nervous system when digesting. Meaning, eating baked potatoes, warm soups and spicy stir-fries is not off the list for me – in fact, these meals make me bounce and blissful. Check your Ayurvedic constitution to learn more about what food should make you feel yummy. Before you make any changes to your diet though, consider the following: THE IMPORTANCE OF RESETTING Your body can react to food that aggravates you in different ways and waves. Some foods you could feel sensitive to may stay in your system undigested for a long time, even days. Take for instance the fact when I eat a handful of cashews (I am sensitive, not allergic to nuts), I may feel the effects for a few days, and on day 3 I may have forgotten I even had nuts and wonder why I am unwell. Hence, a food diary is a crucial starting point for a full reset of your body. If you want to find out what food makes you feel good and what doesn’t, there’s a simple principle to follow: 1. Go plant-based (yes, no meat, fish, dairy, eggs for at least a week) 2. Cut out the usual culprits such as processed foods, sugars, wheat, gluten, nuts, caffeine, alcohol (there are lots of elimination diets you can follow) 3. Then reintroduce one item at a time. Juice cleanses for the first few days can be good for some, just be aware that if you are sensitive to fruit sugar like me, this option is not a good one. I would in any case reintroduce...
HOW TO SPRING-CLEAN YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
This is probably the toughest one for most of us. How do we clean out our collection of connections? Many of us cling on to friendships and relationships that are well past their use-by date, believing that quantity is more important than quality when it comes to the people in our lives. Often the friends that are an important part of our lives are those friends we don’t need to see all the time. Other relationships that used to work well become toxic over time because we never vented each other’s frustrations. Here are a few ways to tidy up our relationships: CLEAR THE AIR To avoid relationships from becoming toxic, we need to be able to talk about positive and negative behaviours and the actions we expect from others. This can include honesty, money or intimacy. Eliminate misunderstandings, lack of patience, gossip and lies. True friendships need time, energy and attention and require forgiveness and understanding. Share your family member, friend or partner how certain behaviours make you feel. They will understand and take action. PRACTICE GRATITUDE There are people in our lives who touch us through certain actions or influence us in a positive way at certain times. For instance, when I was unhappy in my job and thinking of starting my own business, a woman I had only just met encouraged me in such a positive way that I completely shifted my focus towards achieving my goal. You want people like this in your life, people who inspire you. People who care about you even if they don’t know you well. Nurture these contacts, or at least give them gratitude. Even better, pick someone in your life you want to influence in a positive way and return the inspiration. NOT ALL FRIENDSHIPS ARE FOREVER There are people in our lives who have, over time, taken more energy than we have received from them. If you feel like it is an effort to nurture those relationships, it may be time to let them go. You may just be going through a rough patch in which case it is worth raising these issues with your partner or friend and talking about them; however, if they have been bringing you down for a while and there’s no resolution in sight, it may be time to focus on those people who make you happy instead. SOCIALLY DISCONNECT If you can’t let go of a real friend, start by deleting some...
This is why we should eat chocolate to be happy
Yes, admittedly there are many reasons I could go on about why we eat chocolate to be happy. But in the following you won’t read about its anti-aging capabilities, or how it can help fight cancer. Neither will I tell you about the ancient native American relationship with the holy cacao bean that is being used in Shamanic ceremonies to connect to higher powers. Today is the day you will walk away with liberation from all the nutritional restrictions being put on you all day long. You will no longer feel deprived and hence overcompensate, because you will know better. Let’s start by analysing what it is that makes us feel bad about consuming chocolate. For me personally, being lactose, fructose, galactose and polyols sensitive (which means I can pretty much eat…hm, bugger all!) chocolate is definitely a no-go, even the yummy dairy-free Lindt dark chocolate with sea salt I love so much is off the list. But most intolerances, as we all know, are called that because we cannot tolerate an excess of them. If we’re allergic that’s a different story. But a tiny bit here or there is, even for me, irreplaceable. What really makes us feel bad is when we consume too much of it. That’s when we classify a type of food as bad. Moderation is key, self control the secret The mother of all evil is overindulgence. I have heard this a lot form our recent 6 week transformation challengers, and I know it’s hard! After a long day of running around, getting the kids ready, having the house tidy and working through our busy schedule, all you want to do is switch off and reward yourself with a little delight. Then, we open a block of chocolate with the genuine intention of just having a bite and end up with the empty wrapper; that is when we feel bad. We feel bad, not only because we know the excess amount of calories will be showing on our hips, bellies and thighs the next day and we realise we don’t have time to go to the gym and work it off. But also because, once again, we lacked self control. So how do we practice self control? By depriving and punishing ourselves for failing? I used to allow myself to eat chocolate only on a Sunday night while watching TV with my partner at home, so what ended up happening was, I went out and bought masses...
4 IDEAS TO AVOID PLATEAUING
So you’re good at your job or your role as a mum, you’re beating your boss at tennis more often than he beats you, you’re tidy and clean...
REJUVENATE YOUR HOME
At the start of the year I make a mood board, a picture that reflects what I want my life to look like. Be it pictures of flowers, colour schemes, furniture, activities, challenges, things I want to achieve. For example, this year I chose the purple daisy to add colour to my home. As part of the sunflower family, the purple daisy symbolises ‘pure thoughts’ and ‘dedication’ which I am inviting into my life. Inviting positive change is about creating order. So, we look at areas in our lives that are unruly, dusty or stale and gently mobilise and refresh. If you don’t know where to start, your physical surrounds, i.e. your home is an easy place to receive a makeover. Especially if you are feeling stuck in your life, moving things around in the home is a powerful way to get your life flowing again. Here are my 5 best ways to rejuvenate your home as part of creating a sacred space in your life. FILL A CHARITY BAG It’s the classic way to de-clutter your home and refresh your living space. Going through your wardrobe and removing ‘stuff’ you haven’t touched in a year is super cleansing in itself. And at the same time you can combine it with a fun social activity, such as a clothes swap party. I recently attended one myself, and together with ten friends we collected two bags of clothes and shoes each, and the remains (over 50kgs of clothing) went to charity. In fact, I want to make this a seasonal activity and donate for a cause in the future. DUST OFF YOUR LIVING SPACE While you may like to leave this to your cleaner, if you’re lucky enough to have one (or like me ‘your partner’), you can embrace the rebirth of a new month by wiping that dust and dirt off the inside of your cupboards, under your bed and in your kitchen drawers. You won’t believe how deep-cleaning your fridge will make you feel incredible. You will not only remove stagnation, but also open the energy channels in your living space. REARRANGE A KEY PIECE OF FURNITURE I mean your bed or your sofa, a piece of furniture that will give your room a completely new perspective. This may mean rearranging other items as well to make it all work. Draw up a plan first and check what other efforts...
Vegan Winter Warmer: Carrot Ginger Cashew Creme Soup
INGREDIENTS: • cup celery, diced • 3cm piece of ginger, chopped finely • 4 cups vegetable stock • 1 medium potato, cut into large pieces • 3 cups chopped carrots • a pinch of sea salt • 1 1⁄2 teaspoons mild curry powder • 2/3 cup cashew cream (see recipe below) PREPARATION: Sauté the onions, celery, and ginger in oil in a medium sized pot until the onions are translucent (about 10 minutes). Add the stock, carrots, potato, curry powder, and salt to the pot. Bring the liquid to a boil, and then lower it to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 25 minutes, or until all of the carrots are tender. When the carrots are tender, turn off the flame. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup completely. You may also use a blender for this step, but work in small batches and be mindful of spattering liquid. Transfer the blended soup back to the pot, and warm through. Stir in 1/3 cup of the cashew cream. To serve the soup, divide it into bowls and top with a swirl of additional cashew cream. CASHEW CREME: • 2 cups raw cashews • 1 cup cold water • 1⁄2 tsp sea salt • 1 tbsp lemon juice • 2 tbsp rice malt syrup PREPARATION: Soak the cashews in cold water overnight. Drain cashews. Add them to a food processor and pulse a few times to grind them up. With the motor running, drizzle in water, stopping a few times to scrape the cashews down the food processor. You can continue to add more water, depending on how thick or thin you’d like the cream to be; you may want it as thick as whipped cream, or you may want it to be closer to the texture of coconut milk. If you do not have a food processer, you can add the cashews and the water to a high-speed blender and blend, adding water as needed, until you reach the desired consistency. We don’t recommend a conventional blender though. ...
7 ways to spark your digestion
To be able to feel at peace, it is important your body is a well-oiled engine. Like me, you may have had issues with your digestion in recent times, with food intolerances, nutritional deficiencies, eating in a rush and overindulging play a big part in making us feel sluggish and lazy. Let’s fire up your internal organs to help you absorb nutrients and move through accumulated matter, that will otherwise ferment and cause discomfort, bloating and slow down waste removal. There are different ways to do this, and it’s about trial and error to see what works for your individual makeup. Here are my top 1. DRINK WARM LEMON WATER First thing in the morning, it stimulates the production of stomach juices and hence aids digestion. Simply squeeze half a lemon in a 400ml glass and fill half with boiled and half with cold filtered water. If it's a little too zingy for you, add a tiny bit of honey or rice malt syrup (if you're fructose intolerant like me). 2. THE POWER OF APPLE CIDER VINEGAR Try organic apple cider vinegar in warm water on an empty stomach. Just a splash is enough, but make sure you buy the one with the ‘mother’ in it and shake well before using it. I'm currently experimenting with coconut cider vinegar, but am yet to give any useful insight. 3. LIQUID CHLOROPHYLL Add a few drops of liquid chlorophyll in your water to sip during the day. It is alkaline and draws water into your intestines (rather than your bladder) which will assist in moving your bowels. 4. USE PROBIOTICS Use daily probiotics in powder or liquid format (careful if you’re lactose intolerant like me or milk sensitive, as many products are made of lactobacillus that is derived from cow's milk). 5. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER In general, drink lots and lots of water, 2 litres a day minimum. Add some frozen berries or a couple of slices of orange for taste if you struggle to drink that much. Drink in little sips all day. 6. HERBAL TEAS ARE YOUR FRIEND There are specific digestive or detox teas that are made of a combination of herbal ingredients. Otherwise, peppermint tea is known to improve the flow of bile, which you need for digesting fat. Licorice, cinnamon and fennel teas are delicious and work well especially after dinner. 7. MOVE YOUR BODY Exercise speeds up our digestion by increasing our blood flow to the organs and stimulating the...