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Tips for choosing healthy snacks

Choose snacks carefully. Plan ahead and make sure your fridge and cupboards and drawer at work are stocked with plenty of healthy snacks so that you are not tempted by less healthy options.
Which snacks should I avoid?
Limit sugary salty, snack foods such as crisps, cakes, pastries, biscuits, sweets and chocolate to once a week.
Limit take-away foods such as pastries, pizza, fried fish, hamburgers, hot chips and creamy pasta dishes to once a week. Healthier take-away choices include sushi or sashimi, Asian stir-fries (ask for low salt), tomato based pasta dishes, grilled fish, chicken and lean meat.

Healthier snacks ideas:Healthy snacks include a piece of fresh fruit, a handful of dried fruit, up to a cup of canned fruit or a handful (30 grams) of plain unsalted nuts. Other choices include rice cakes and non-confectionery bars, such as plain nut bars, seed bars and cereal bars that heave earned the Heart Foundation Tick.

Feel like……..                                                  Try instead……
Sweets                                                               Fresh or dried fruit
Crisps and dips                                               Toast, rice cakes or breadsticks
Roasted salted nuts                                        Plain unsalted nuts
Sugar coated cereal                                        Wholegrain breakfast cereals
Chocolate biscuits                                           Plain biscuits
Full fat yoghurt                                                   Reduced, low or no fat yogurt
Cupcake                                                             A slice of raisin toast or Tick cereal bar
Ham and cheese sandwich                           Boiled egg


Healthy Heart Tip:
Keep biscuits, cakes, chocolate and crisps as a treat rather than a regular part of your diet and choose lower fat options.  Avoid giant sized cookies and muffins or share them with a friend!

Nutrition Tips =D

Nutrition and sports performance is a complex and essential relationship for serious sports men and women to understand and it can help them achieve success in their chosen sport. Sports nutrition also aids injury prevention and speeds up recovery times from an injury. The correct diet and fluid intake coupled with appropriate training is the difference between winning and losing. Fuelling the body with the right nutrition can be key to success.

Good sports nutrition promotes brain function and muscle activity. Physical training and performance requires the right diet (quantity and quality) that will provide the athlete with energy. Each sport has its own individual requirements as does each individual sports man and woman. These requirements dictate the nutritional demands of training and competition. Sports nutrition applies scientific methods to the applications of the sport to provide a diet that meets the needs of both athlete and discipline.

Sports performance is fundamentally affected by dehydration. The importance of water and fluid replacement in sports nutrition is paramount to supporting the activity of tissue cells in the body. These cells carry nutrients and oxygen around the body, eliminating toxins and removing excess body heat. During physical exercise, body heat increases and water is lost through evaporation or sweating. In hot environments, sports activity can attribute to sweat losses of 4-5 pints an hour. Water loss is partly offset by metabolic water produced from proteins, carbohydrates and fat metabolising in the body. However, sports nutrition dictates that hydrating the body properly requires fluid intake before, during and after activity.

A sports nutritionist will calculate fluid losses by measuring body weight before and after a session to determine how much fluid is required. Optimum levels should never be exceeded as overloading on fluids can lead to stomach discomfort and breathing difficulties during the activity. Modern sports nutrition recommends special carbohydrate-electrolyte drinks for intense activity that has a longer duration but water is typically recommended for low to moderate level activity.

A diet rich in carbohydrate and low in fat improves long-term and short-term sports performance. High-intensity exercise requires more carbohydrates to ensure the liver and muscle glycogen levels are high. High liver and muscle glycogen levels improve performance and glycogen present in the liver is a source of glucose for the brain (important for concentration, alertness and reaction time). A wide range of carbohydrates are required to ensure essential vitamins and minerals are present. Potatoes, bananas, pasta, bread, vegetables, cereals and porridge are a good source of carbs for sport.

Protein plays an important role in sports nutrition by building muscle and repairing it. Athletes should aim to eat a range of foods that will provide the necessary levels of protein. Foods such as lean meat, fish, eggs, beans and pulses, milk, yoghurt, cheese and cereals will provide protein needs. High protein sports nutrition does not necessarily lead to greater muscle mass as excess protein in the body is metabolised or excreted. The extra amount of food required for sport is usually enough to provide the correct intake of protein without resorting to increased portions or protein supplements. High-protein diets can be expensive and will decrease the bank balance before increasing muscle mass. A good sports nutritionist can ensure there are adequate nutrients and calories for an athlete to support the requirements of their sport.

It is important to maintain a healthy everyday diet, but the thing is, where can we get good and fresh fruits?!

Our recommendation is to wake up early and make ur way into the
major supermarket, most fresh fruits comes early in the morning and will be placed on the shelf before the store opens. If you get there early enough, they are all your~ =]

Good luck!

Another Recipe For Your Healthy Life!

Pumpkin Pizza??! It's Healthy! =)

What the first thing come up to your mind when you hear the word "PIZZA"? Is it "Yum?" or it just constantly makes you droll?

Now, Let's try the word "PUMPKIN PIZZA". What does come to your mind? Is it " Ewww??" or " Gross??". But do you know that actually it's tasty and healthy?

Most of the ingredients come from the nature, such as vegetables. What does better than food that come from  our mother nature? 

To complete, Here is the recipe! Enjoy everyone! :D

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 40g unsalted butter
• 1/2 butternut pumpkin, cut into 1cm cubes
• 1/2 cup (125ml) chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 tbs dark brown sugar
• 100g baby spinach leaves
• 2 large ready-made pizza bases
• 125g Taleggio* cheese, sliced
• 1 tsp thyme leaves, chopped
• Olive oil, to drizzle

Method

1. Heat the butter in a large frypan over low heat, add the pumpkin and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until just tender. Add stock, 1/4 cup water and the sugar, then bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated and pumpkin has caramelised. Add the spinach and stir until just wilted.
2. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
3. Scatter pizza bases with pumpkin mixture, top with Taleggio and thyme, then drizzle with oil. Bake for 10 minutes or until base is crisp and cheese is bubbling. Cut into wedges to serve.

Notes

• * Taleggio is an Italian washed-rind cheese available from delis and specialist cheese shops.