Yummy reciepe, quick and easy

Chicken Cabbage Pad Thai Ingredients -1 tsp safflower oil - 285g Firm Tofu, drained and crumbled - 3 cups thinly sliced cabbage - 1 medium carrot, peeled and shreaded - 4 spring onions, cut into 2cm pieces - 2 large egg whites - 1 tsp low sodium tamari - 1 tsp Thai red Curry paste - 115g cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 3cm pieces Instructions 1/ Heat a large non-stick fry pan on high. Add oil and swirl to coat pan. Add tofu, cabbage, carrot and spring onions and stir to combine. 2/ In a small bowl, whisk egg whites, tamari and curry paste. 3/ Stir tofu mixture, scraping bottom of pan with a sturdy spoon, until tofu is firm and starts to turn golden in spots, about 5 minutes. 4/ Add the chicken to frypan and toss. Poor egg mixture over top and stir, cooking until egg is set, about 2 minutes. Serve warm

The Power of the mind

I have recently been blessed with attending a Mental toolbox workshop run by the Beyond Success team. Paul Blackburn was absolutely amazing. This workshop gave me many breakthroughs that I have been carrying around with me for a lifetime. It would take far too long to discuss everything that happened but I do want to talk about a topic that I can relate back to fitness, health and losing weight or reaching your goals/targets. That topic in short is “The mind”. I have no doubt that you have all heard the positive thinking goes a long way, but this is more than just thinking “I can do it”. Thinking will not get you anywhere, Feeling on the other hand will. People do not respond to thoughts like they do with emotions. For example: Kelly’s goal is to lose 12kg by December. Kelly believes she can do it and wants it bad, she makes sure she thinks positive 80% of the time. What Kelly is doing is great, will she lose weight? Yes if she has some guidance but is there some other way that may speed the process up or make it a little easier to reach? The answer is yes and that is feeling what it will be like to be 12kgs lighter. What I mean is Kelly could take the time every single day, it just has to be 10-15minutes, to close her eyes, block out all other noise and disturbances and connect with herself. Relax her whole body from head to toe, take herself to a beautiful place that resonates with her and take the time to see, feel and hear the details of this special place. Then look at herself like she were in a mirror. Starting from the feet and working her way up to her head, create every detail of what she would look like 12kg lighter. How would her body respond to the healthier version, would the lungs fill easier, would the stomach not have to work as hard, would the heart not have to beat as hard etc. Then take some time to feel the emotions of being 12kg lighter, really feel what it would feel like, would this make you feel joyous, excited, scared etc. Once Kelly feels like she has finished she can open her eyes. In case you were wondering, yes this is called meditating and no it is not just for hippies. If you were to ask any successful person how they reached their goals, they would first tell you they put their goals on paper and then they envisioned them to be real every day. This way may not be right for you, but what I am trying to get you to understand is that no matter the goal or desire just spend a few minutes a day telling the truth before it actually happens, ie: imagine it to be real, not just with thoughts but with emotions. Really, what have you got to lose? You don’t have to tell anybody that your trying it, just try it.

Heating up

Hello everbody,

It is really starting to heat up!!!! Perfect for the beach. But some of you may say "no way i am not going to be seen in a bikini or without my shirt"- (for the males)
Weel how bout we change that? Instead of over eating over the christmas holidays like everyone around us will be, why dont we do the opposite. Let's not use the holidays as an excuse to overendulge. If we do, we are only going to feel worse, guilty and bloated and our vision of sitting on a beach, on a hot day wearing only a bikini and looking fab will very quickly diminish. On another note, let's not wait till the new year to make a resolution. We all know that resoultions NEVER work. Start NOW and make a promise, (not a resolution) to yourself to become a much healthier version of yourself so you have more energy, less headaches and sicknesses and can fit into that dress you have wanted to fit into for years. All you need in CONSISTENCY! If you stick to your exercise and clean eating for long enough, not only will it become a habit but you will get amazing results. Consistency means exercising at least 3 times a week and eating clean 80% of the time, not exercisingt to the point of exhaustion and then not exercising again for 2 more weeks. Your sessions do not have to be extremely hard, you just have to do them. Plus It really wont take long to see some results. You really just need to ask yourself, "How bad do you want it"? If you want it bad enough, you WILL make it happen!

Sweet tooth?

Hello everyone, happy 11/11/11
Just wanted to share with you some tips:,
Firstly do you have a sweet tooth? Most people love chocolate, ice cream, cakes and tarts. These might taste great but they dont look great on our waist line. Like the saying ' a minute on the lips is a lifetime on the hips' But we don't have to deprive ourselves here are some alternatives, enjoy:)

1) Lollies – Citrus slices “carborite” $4.95 at the GNC store.
2) Diet Jelly – Any Flavour $2.00 at Coles / Woolies
3) Pudding – Gourmet Banana Pudding “PVL” with 19g Protein & no sugar, $9.95 at the GNC Store
4) Protein Powder – Mixed thick with little water & “set” in the fridge
5) Syrup – “Atkins” sugar free syrup for pancakes $8.95 at GNC
6) Pancakes – Homemade ½ cup egg whites, ½ cup Wholemeal flour, equal to sweeten & Diet jam / Marmalade.
7) Pancakes – “Atkins Pancake & waffle mix” (makes 8 pancakes) $11.95
8) Strawberry Smoothie – Fresh Strawberries, Protein Powder, ice & water.
9) skinny cow ice cream from woolies or coles

Remember you are aloud to have a treat, just be sensible about it and only have it once or twice a week. I have mine on a sat night- ! look forward to having it and if i have been eating clean and sticking to my exercise i dont feel guilty about eating it!

six pack abs

Hey, it’s been far too long since my last post so here is a topic that a lot of people want to know. How do I get a flat tummy?
It’s actually a lot more complicated than most think, however very achievable. First of all it won’t happen by doing 100 sit ups a day! That is a huge myth. The layer of fat around the stomach must first go before any muscle definition can be seen. In order to achieve this, a balance of exercise and a clean diet is a must. Especially the clean diet. The diet is 80% of your results. Even bodybuilders with six pack abs can only achieve their "cut" look by dieting for approx 12 weeks before their competition. This allows them to get to about 3-5% Body fat which gives them that cut look. For most people this hard core training and diet regimen is not realistic for many reasons. That’s ok don’t be disheartened. You can still achieve that nice toned, flat stomach by eating the right foods and performing the correct exercises.
Do not train your stomach everyday. The stomach muscles are like every other muscle in the body that in which they need rest to recover and repair. It is in the repair stage that muscles grow and then become 'Toned'. So if you try and do 100 sit ups everyday then when will the muscles recover and grow?
Ideally do about 3-4 different exercises of about 3 sets and 15 repetitions each. Do this a max of twice a week. However you can not spot train so you will have to train the rest of the body and perform about 3 cardio sessions minium a week in order to see fantastic results. But remember your diet is 80% of your results so try to eat 6 smallish meals a day with a little protein in each: Chicken, low fat beef, turkey, nuts, yogurt and a low carb protein drink are some of the best protein options. Also you want to make sure you have some healthy fats i.e. flaxseed oil, nuts, avocado, almond spread, peanut butter (only a little). The healthy fats help your body loose the bad fat. And try to indulge only once or twice a week not everyday, remember balance is the key.
I hope this has helped, let me know if you want more information on any of the topics! Lauren

training with children

I was weight training today in my gym and was 3/4 the way through when my 1 year old daughter fell off a bench and hit her head. She was then so upset that she would not let me put her down. I could off stopped my work out there and then and given up, but instead i continued while holding her instead of weights. Because i had no break and never put her down it was a really good work out. So what i am trying to say is every mum knows how hard it can be to make time to tran and things always happen with the children, like injuring themselves. But get creativeand come up with ideas so you dont miss a workout. Involving the children in your workout is a fantastic idea, ex: mums and bubs yoga or do what i do, i complete a set then my other daughter who is two and a half will complete a set too, (or so she thinks she is doing it, I help her to bend or lift a empty dumbell)She loves it and it sets such an important message. Playing sport with your children is also fun, swimming or jogging. My husband and i take the girls in the trailer for a run then when we are close to home, the eldest gets out and runs with us, she absolutely loves it, plus she gets some exercise too. So until next time.

Motivation

One of the biggest reasons women do not exercise is lack of motivation. Motivation can be described as "something (a need or desire) that drives or causes a person to act. I am reading Willie Jolley's book "It only takes a minute to change your life". In it he explains there are 3 parts to motivation: first is to get you to dream, second to get you to believe in your heart, third is to do something, go after your dreams. He states that you just have to dream, then you can achieve it, if you can dream it, you can do it.

So instead of thinking " I could never be like that, or look like that, or do that". Believe, then just start and you will astonish yourself. If losing 25kgs is your dream, then start by going for a walk 3/times a week and cutting back your sugary treats to twice a week. Just do it, no one else will do it for you. If walking is not your thing, find smething you enjoy, perhaps a dance class, swimming, touch football, anything to get you moving and off that couch.
Start by setting small goals for example "to do all 3 cardio sessions this week", then once you accomplish that small goal make another and then another until you have reached your long term goals. Along the way you will feel fantastic about achieving the smaller ones, you wont even notice that the long term one was so far away and now so close!!!
Remeber it takses about 2 weeks to form a habit, so stick to your healthy eating and exercise for 2 weeks and you will be supprised how much easier it is from then on. SO GET MOVING