We’ve all been there. You make a commitment to yourself to stop eating junk food, cut your portions and exercise regularly.

Then something or some place totally knocks you off course.

It’s amazing how quickly you can fall off the wagon. For me it came in the form of an Indian Restaurant last Saturday night. We went there for dinner with our friends Ann and Trev. Most of you know Ann, she posted here about her ongoing challenge to continue working out at her local gym.

We had made a point of not eating too much during the day so that we were hungry by the time we got to the restaurant. MISTAKE NO 1! Never go to the restaurant hungry!

After checking out the menu we decided to share a range of meals. Ann is the only vegetarian among us so we thought it would be unfair to pick only one for her seeing the rest were meat based. MISTAKE NO 2! Cut down the meat based dishes!

So we ended up having 3 entrees to share, 7 mains and 2 portions of naan bread. When they meals came out we were blown away by the sizes, they were huge and oh so delicious!

I don’t know what it is but whenever I am out with friends the part of my brain that usually shows restraint and control goes completely out the window. We all ate way too much and felt pretty full when finished.

We went back to my place for drinks and coffee and although I felt pretty annoyed with myself for eating so much, I was pretty confident that tomorrow would offer me a new day to correct the wrongs of the night before.

I know that many of you feel self loathing and guilt when you fall off the wagon. The problem with self loathing is that it is so defeating. When you feel this way it can be tempting to just give in and not try and start the new day in a positive frame of mind.

It doesn’t help when you see people around you and on the media that seem to be perfect.
Oprah has been one high profile person to come out recently and been quite open in saying, yep I have lost the plot with my weight and fitness but I am not going to give in to it. I know it can be depressing to feel that you are constantly having to check what you eat and living in fear that the weight is going to pile on. It’s a path that will lead you nowhere and only serve to push you further into negative thinking and self loathing.

I know it can be demoralizing when you were doing so well and then fall off the wagon. The thing is though, you have to pick yourself up and fight another day.

If you take anything out of reading this blog I hope it’s that you need to stop focusing on what you have done wrong in the past. Focus on today and keep fighting. Most importantly, find time for yourself and look to inject some fun into your life.

The really bad news for me is that this amazing new Indian Restaurant is less than 5 minutes walk from my house. Let’s see how long I can go before succumbing to that naan bread and Chicken Masala! Stay tuned….

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Good news for all you mushrooms lovers.

A new study published in the journal Appetite has found that eating mushrooms instead of meat is better for weight loss.

The study involved subjects eating a variety of typically meat based dishes made with beef or with mushrooms for one week.
On average they consumed 420 fewer calories eating mushroom based meals.

Mushrooms are equally as filling as meat but contain fewer calories.

Today’s random stumble is all about oatmeal.

I absolutely love oatmeal. My Nan used to make me the yummiest oatmeal ever. As a child I was fortunate enough to spend quite a few nights over each week at my grandparents house. Every morning I would wake to the smell of the oatmeal cooking and the sound of my Nan dutifully stirring it.
I would jump out of bed and run to the kitchen. Nan would pick me up and put me on a high chair and serve me breakfast. The oatmeal looked creamy and beautiful. To that Nan would stir in cream, sugar and a dollop of butter. It was amazing! Also incredibly fattening but amazing!

I don’t add cream, sugar or butter these days but it is still my all time favorite breakfast. I really like honey as a substitute for sugar and will sometimes sprinkle some cinnamon just for added flavor.

Today’s stumble lists 5 reasons you should be eating oatmeal for breakfast.

Check out: 5 Reasons Oatmeal Is The Perfect Breakfast for a Long Day

I have always had trouble working out correct portion sizes for various foods so I was really pleased to find this very handy portion guide over at webmd.com

It uses everyday items as a comparison, for instance 3 oz of lean cooked beef is roughly the size of a deck of cards. You can use their online tool to find the most common foods or download a chart for either your wallet or fridge.

The baseball is quite often as a comparison which is a bit challenging for me as they are not all that common in Australia but I get the idea.

Check it out by visiting: Webmd.com Portion Size Plate

Here’s an interesting article from cnn.com that has a list of America’s healthiest grocery stores.

Let’s face it: Your weekly (or daily!) run to the grocery store is the foundation for your good health. So it’s thrilling news that the supermarket industry is on a health kick — these days you’ll most likely find organic produce and “natural” packaged foods at almost any store you go to. But which chains are outdoing themselves to deliver the freshest and healthiest foods to you? And which ones provide the best tools to help you make smart choices? We asked six prominent health experts to help us pick the top 10 healthiest grocery stores out of the nation’s largest chains.

A panel of nutritionists ranked Whole Foods Market as the top grocery store for healthy foods.

Here are the true standouts.

1. Whole Foods

279 stores in 38 states and Washington, D.C.

We figured this natural-foods chain would make the list, but who knew it would hands-down top it? “It’s the Rolls Royce of healthy eating,” says Kate Geagan, a nutritionist in Park City, Utah, and one of our judges.

Whole Foods has the whole package — from an extraordinary selection of fresh conventional and organic fruit and vegetables to delicious prepared foods with healthy ingredients and clear labeling. (Most other stores offer mystery meals that may very well be loaded with butter.)

And Whole Foods puts a premium on products that are grown or produced locally. There’s also hard-to-find grass-fed meats, ready-to-cook organic and free-range chicken, and a well-stocked selection of just-caught seafood. The desserts are pretty good for you: Every item in the bakery is free of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, preservatives, and trans fats.

Continue reading the full article

I am a big fan of the sweet potato, it’s a versatile vegetable and packed full of goodness.

Facts:
They are a great source of folate, vitamins A, B-6, C and E, potassium and fiber.
Sweet potatoes can be baked, boiled, fried, broiled, canned or frozen. They can also be cooked in the microwave oven.

Better still, they are very low in Saturated Fat, Sodium and Cholesterol.

Recipe:

Grilled fish with chickpea salad

Ingredients (serves 4)

* 300g orange sweet potato, peeled, chopped into 2cm cubes
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 garlic clove, crushed
* olive oil cooking spray
* 250g cherry tomatoes
* 600g firm white fish fillets (such as snapper or barramundi)
* 40g low-fat feta cheese, crumbled
* 1/2 cup canned chickpeas, drained, rinsed
* 100g baby spinach

Yoghurt dressing
* 1/2 cup low-fat yoghurt
* 1/2 lemon, juiced
* 1 small garlic clove, crushed
* 2 tablespoons coriander leaves,
* finely chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (Aus) or 400°F (US). Combine sweet potato, cumin and garlic in a large roasting pan. Season with salt and pepper. Spray with oil. Toss to coat. Roast for 30 minutes. Add tomatoes. Roast for a further 15 to 20 minutes or until sweet potato is tender. Set aside.
2. Make yoghurt dressing: Combine yoghurt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, garlic, coriander and salt and pepper in a bowl.
3. Preheat barbecue plate on high heat. Season fish with salt and pepper. Spray lightly with oil. Barbecue for 4 to 5 minutes each side or until just cooked through.
4. Crumble feta over warm vegetables. Add chickpeas and spinach. Toss to combine. Spoon salad onto plates. Top with fish. Serve with yoghurt dressing.

Notes & tips

* When barbecuing fish fillets, pat fish surface dry with paper towel before spraying with oil and seasoning. This will help prevent fish sticking to the barbecue plate during cooking.

Source: Taste.com.au

I have always been fascinated by raw diets, mostly because I can’t imagine that I could be disciplined enough to commit to it.

I think that one reason for my hesitation is that socially it would be quite difficult especially when it comes to dining out and meals with family and friends. Perhaps if I had people around me who were vegan or living by the raw diet principle it might be easier but I can’t see myself doing this.

That being said, the woman in this video looks amazing and appears to be a very healthy and happy person.

You can also read the full article: Woman goes raw, loses more than half herself