Weight Loss Guru

Here is a great soup for you that my mum made for me the other day.  it's a recipe I got from the Good Food Channel on the Internet. There a loads of great recipes there.

Annie Garcia is an amazing lady and you might have seen the article in Zest about the 6 stone she has lost and how PCTV has helped her. You might not know that Annie is also a chef who qualified at Leiths School of Food and Wine.  She's looking to instill some of her passion for healthy food by sharing her experience with us.

I love making smoothies – they’re fast and easy to make, healthy and tasty too.
 

Smoothie No 1 - Complete Meal

• 200ml  Smoothie base
  Whatever suits: Water, Milk, Soya milk, Rice milk, Fruit juice etc

• 30/40g Porridge oats
  
• 1 Banana
  
• 1 Handful of Nuts – optional
  
• 2 scoops of Whey Protein
  
• A handful of Blueberries, Clementines fruits of the season
  
  

Place all ingredients in a blender or use a handheld mixer and blitz until ready.

The consistency of this will be thick and luscious.

Smoothie No 2

• 200ml Smoothie base
  
• 30/40g Porridge oats
  
• 1 banana
  
• 2 tbsp of fat free live yoghurt
  
• 1 Handful of Nuts – optional
  
• 1 Tsp of honey
  
• A handful of Blueberries and fruits of your choice
  
  

Blitz until ready.

Smoothie No 3 - Nice and tasty

• 200ml Smoothie base
• 30/40g Porridge oats
  
• 1 banana
  
• 2 scoops of whey protein
  
• 1 Ripe Pear
  
• A handful of blackberries
  
• 1 Tsp Cinnamon
  

Blitz until ready.

Did you know?

Thick smoothies will fill you up for longer than a solid meal as their volume causes the stomach to expand more.  Makes them a great choice for breakfast or lunch, when you may have to wait some time before your next meal.

Take Good Care,

Annie

If you pick up a magazine or newspaper; there's always a new idea on how to be healthy, a fad diet or celebrity endorsed fitness regime that claims to make you healthy and improve your life.

But the real truth is, experts consistently agree, that one of the simplest ways to maintain your health and improve the quality of your life is to eat a healthy balanced diet and have an active healthy lifestyle. We've been told this all our lives, from our parents, to medical science - as the old saying goes "an apple a day keeps the doctor at bay".

We've all heard countless times that were meant to have 5 portions of fruits or vegetables a day - at least (doctors are now saying we actually need more like 7 portions). It's not just a 'nice thing to do' - it's actually essential for maintaining a healthy body and mind.

If you're not having enough fruit and vegetables in your diet, you can feel tired, have difficulty concentrating, find it difficult to fight off coughs and cold and it can even make it harder to lose weight. And fruit and vegetables are even essential to your daily beauty regime - making your skin, hair and nails look good from the inside out.

But the reality is on a day-to-day basis; with our busy lives it can be incredibly difficult to achieve this daily requirement. And even if you are stocking up, because of the way we farm and transport our fruit and vegetables you can't always guarantee their quality and the amount of nutrients they contain.

And the irony is that because our lives are so busy, our bodies need an even more nutritionally rich and balanced diet. Some of you may have health kicks and stock up at your supermarket on fruits and veg, only to throw them away the next week when you haven't had time or the energy to eat or prepare them.

With this in mind we've been looking for easy ways to improve your health and get the nutrients you need and I think we've found it... with Juice Plus+®

Juice Plus+® is the next best thing to fruits and vegetables. It's a whole food-based nutritional support made using the highest quality, fruits, vegetables and other naturally sourced ingredients available. The fruits and vegetables are simply chilled, cleaned and washed, then juiced. The chilled juices are dried using specialised drying processes, which preserve phytonutrients and put in easy to take capsules.

Simply, these little capsules give you all the goodness from 7 fruits and 10 vegetables and grains.

Juice Plus+® Fruit Blend contains the essence of seven fruits including Apples, Oranges, Cranberries, Peaches, Pineapples, Papayas, Plums, dates and Juice Plus+® Vegetable Blend contains the essence of ten nutrient-dense vegetables and grains: carrots, parsley, beets, kale, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, and the fibre from rice and oats.

Can you imagine how difficult it would be to eat all of those fruits and vegetables everyday? Juice Plus+® offers you an all round solution, that's simple, effective and easy to take over time. It's even suitable for vegetarians, vegans and children.

To find out more or if you're interested please go to
http://www.juiceplus.co.uk/
and you can order online by clicking on the store

If you're also interested in weight-loss have a look at their product Juice Plus+ Complete® is a fortified protein rich high fibre drink containing 23 vitamins and minerals. Unlike protein based products it's free from artificial sweeteners, colours or flavours, doesn't include preservatives and is suitable for vegans. Mixed with water, juice or any type of milk it makes a healthy 'on the go' breakfast, pre-exercise energy drink and post-workout recovery drink.

Check out http://www.juiceplus.co.uk/ for more information

Enjoy, and stay healthy,
Pete :)

I do come across some strange things in my life - one of them was the other day when I walked past a sandwich shop only to see these packages of food. It kind of takes synthetic, processed foods to another level!

I am sure the real sandwiches in this shop were great but it got me thinking that so many people don’t realise that if they eat lots of packaged and processed foods that they’re probably not getting the necessary nutrients to be healthy.

You may have heard that apparently there are about as many obese people in the world as there are those who are starving. The difference between these groups is that one is overeating and one is under-eating: the similarity is that both are malnourished. Whilst those of us in the developed world have more than enough to eat, the food we’re eating is less nutritious than it used to be. In addition, we lead more stressful lives than we used to and our bodies need vitamins and minerals to help us recover from stress: so we are suffering both from how we live and what we eat, or rather what we don’t eat. Every process that takes place in our body (such as digestion, fat burning, thinking, breathing, walking and talking) requires vitamins and minerals. If we fill up on junk foods, processed foods, sugary foods, deep fried foods and takeaways all we deplete our body’s stores of nutrients. If we don’t replenish our stores, over time, we suffer from poor immunity and, ultimately, ill health; we’ll find it harder to concentrate and process information; we’ll have less energy; and we’ll find it more difficult to metabolise food and burn fat. The good news is that we can reverse this process. When we eat fresh, natural foods, we top up our stock of vitamins and minerals.

Let’s imagine for a minute or two that it’s mid-afternoon and you are hungry. You fancy a snack and you have two choices: an apple and a chocolate bar. What does each option give you? The apple will give you a steady release of energy; vitamin C, which is good for your skin, bones, blood and building immunity; potassium, which helps to regulate your water balance, blood pressure and your heartbeat; and fibre, which keeps your digestive system healthy and helps reduce the risk of colon cancer. The chocolate bar, on the other hand, will give you a sugar hit, which will cause your energy levels to crash; saturated fat, which increases your risk of heart disease – and nothing of any value. When you look at foods like this, don’t you think there’s little competition between them?

Food manufacturers refine foods to make them last longer and so they’re more profitable; but you deserve better than that. No matter what you might think about your body or how long you’ve been abusing it with poor quality food, your body deserves to have fresh, nutritious, natural food.

Hi there to you all,

There seems to be lots of people out there at the moment that are feeling under the weather so I want to suggest something to get you fighting fit as soon as possible; Chicken Soup.

I love chicken soup and it's one of the first things I ever remember eating, especially if I wasn't feel well. I love it especially when it's home made or even better made by my mum. It's nutritious, easy to make and delicious.

My mum used to go on about the healing powers of chicken soup and often referred to it as Jewish penicillin. But is it really an effective cure for the common cold?

Dr Stephen Rennard, a specialist in pulmonary medicine, put his wife's grandmother's recipe to the test. He concluded that chicken soup inhibits inflammation of the cells in the nasal passage, reducing the symptoms of a cold. Chicken soup also contains an amino acid that is similar to a drug used to treat some respiratory infections. Other doctors say that most soups promotes mucus secretions that "soothe sore throats and coughs, and trap bacteria".

What seems probable, however, is that while chicken soup doesn't cure a cold, it may alleviate some of the annoying symptoms that accompany a bug. At worst, the soup provides a hot, comforting meal and rehydration. So slurp up when you're feeling a little under the weather or you want a good comforting meal :)

So, I asked my mum to share with all of you, her very own recipe for chicken soup. Take it away mummy...

My Mum's Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• Chicken: You can use a fat boiling chicken or packets of chicken wings or drumsticks and/or a whole roasting chicken.
• 2 large onions, quartered, with the skins left on (helps to colour the soup)
• 2 carrots in chunks
• 1 leek, sliced
• Celery stalks & leaves cut in large slices
• Parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper

• Turnips and/or parsnips
• Sliced fresh ginger
• Some strands of saffron (again helps to colour the soup)
• A very small piece of shin of beef (ask your butcher) - this seems to give a "kick" to the final product
  

I do vary the recipe according to what I have in the house at the time and how I feel when I'm buying the ingredients.  In this way, it never tastes the same - they say variety is the spice of life and I enjoy tasting the different ways that the soup turns out !

Put the chicken (and beef if used) in a large pot and add water to cover plus a bit more.  Bring to the boil and remove any scum.  Then add the vegetables and seasoning.  Simmer, covered, on a very low heat for 2 1/2 hours, adding water if necessary.

If you are using a whole chicken, lift it out after about an hour, remove the meat so as not to overcook it and keep it moistened with a little soup for a second course.  Return the carcass and bones to the pot and continue cooking for another hour or so.  If you are using a boiling chicken, it needs at least two hours' cooking.

Strain the soup.  If you want to remove the fat floating on the top, you can mop it up with kitchen paper or make the soup a day ahead and keep it covered in the fridge, then skim off the congealed fat with a spoon.  Serve very hot, sprinkled if you like, with a little finely chopped parsley.

And if you really want excitement - try these:

Matzo Balls

• 2 eggs separated
• 75g. (3 oz.) medium matzo meal (most supermarkets stock this)
• Salt
  

Beat the egg whites stiff.  Fold in the lightly beaten yolks, then the matzo meal and salt, and continue to mix gently until amalgamated.  Chill, covered for 30 minutes.  Then roll into 2 cm (3/4 inch) balls and drop into plenty of boiling, salted water.  Simmer for about 20 minutes.  You will see them swell and rise to the top of the pan.  Just before serving, heat them up, then lift them out and drop them into the boiling soup.  If you try to cook the matzo balls in the soup rather than the water, they will soak up the soup and you will end up with far less soup than you had before !

Or you could buy a packet of Matzo Ball mix from a delicatessen or kosher grocer - then all you have to do is follow the instructions on the packet.

ENJOY!

The Amazing DietGirl has been up to good good in the kitchen again... So, I thought some of you might like to see her take on how to make Almond-Butter.

Recently I talked about the old saying that “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

So have you been eating more apples? I have, especially the Pink Lady apple. In fact I used to go out with a girl from Australia whose father was the horticulturalist who designed the apple!

However, is it just an apple a day that keeps the doctor away? I don’t think so. What about the old banana then?

When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorous, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around!

It contains three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fibre and a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

So maybe it’s time to update that well-known phrase and say:

"A banana and an apple a day keeps the doctor away”

Now, is there another daily essential we should add...? What's your can't-live-without food? Put it in the comments...

I remember growing up hearing my mum say to me that “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”...

I heard this so many times it became a very strong belief and I've made a habit out of eating them regularly to improve my health and to 'keep the doctor away'. What about you? Also, do you know what makes an apple so special?

Why is it that we never hear that an orange, or even a banana a day keeps-the-doctor-away? An apple has a combination of properties that no other fruits have and the benefits have been proven over time. Of course you could match the health potential of an apple with other fruits but it would require a bit of a cocktail, whereas an apple combines everything and keeps it simple.

Apples also contain Vitamin C which greatly helps your immune system. A lot of people who lack Vitamin C in their diet have poor healing, bruise easily and have bleeding gums. Your apple is also low in calories; a regular size apple has between 70-100 calories and eating an apple when a craving for chocolate occurs can relieve the desire since the apple contains sugar, but gives you only ¼ of the calories.

On average, British people consume around 20 pounds of apples a year, which comes in at around 1 apple per person, per week. Unfortunately, while an apple a week is better than nothing, it is nowhere close to being able to harness the advantages apples have to offer.

Eating apples is part of a balanced and healthy diet approach than can increase your longevity. So, why limit yourself to only 1 per week - how about one a day? Keep the chocolate away!

If you can boil a potato you can make soup, even if you’ve never tried before. Now that there are good quality fresh soups sold in cartons, it’s easy to enjoy soup more often, but they are expensive to buy. You can make your own in large batches and freeze some in individual portions ready for when you need to eat in a hurry.

The Facts
For the past few years various soups have been associated with diet programmes, the ‘Cabbage Soup’ diet being the most famous: The Cabbage Soup diet (or yummy yum diet, as it’s also known) still attracts a big following by promising ten pounds of weight loss in a week. As only two pounds of that could possibly be fat there doesn’t seem to be much point in it and certainly doesn’t sound like fun.

But don’t let that put you off your soup, because soup is great and there’s even some evidence that it really can help you lose weight.

In a recent study normal weight women are given a lunch of either chicken and rice casserole, chicken and rice casserole plus a glass of water, or chicken and rice soup. The soup contained the same ingredients as the casserole, but the women who ate the soup felt much fuller on fewer calories. Drinking water with the casserole made no difference. Interestingly, the ones who ate the soup didn’t go on to make up the calorie deficit later in the day.

Elizabeth Bell, one of the researchers, said, ‘A lot of the explanation is physiological. The women were presented with a huge bowl of food and it felt like a lot. If it could trick normal weight women, who successfully regulate their food intake, then it could be more successful with overweight women whose food regulation is less good.’

That seems to show that the best way to lose weight is to eat normally but, where you can, substitute vegetables and watery things for fat and high energy, dense food. But it doesn’t have to be cabbage soup – in fact, the more variety you can introduce into your soup the better.

Making your own soup... 

Serves: 4-6. Cooking Time: 15-30 minutes

Be adventurous and make up your own soups with your favourite ingredients and seasonings. See what you have in the fridge or store cupboard, use leftovers and take the opportunity to buy fresh foods that are cheap and in season.

What you need: 

• 500g-1kg/1lb 2oz-2lb 4oz solids: vegetables, canned tomatoes, sweetcorn, beans, potatoes, rice, onions, garlic, pasta, etc.

• 1-1.5 litres/1½-2½ pints meat or vegetable stock, seasonings, spices and flavourings

How to do it: 

1. Simply sauté the chopped onion, garlic and any other hard vegetables in a tablespoon of oil, or soften and turn them a light golden brown, which brings out their sweetness and flavour.

2. Using a non-stick pan and covering it while you sauté the vegetables, so that they sweat as well as fry will mean using less oil, (you can speed up things by leaving out this stage and simply cooking all the ingredients together but it won’t taste as good).

3. Next add any softer vegetables (like tomatoes) and beans, rice, pasta, etc., plus the stock or water and simmer until everything is tender.

4. Taste and adjust seasonings. Decide whether you want to eat rough and chunky, blended with hand held blender bar until roughly chopped with a bit of texture, or completely liquidised until it’s velvety smooth.

Soupy Suggestions...