Research shows that most of us gain at least a half kilo ever winter that we never lose. The truth is that when it is cold, people get in a nesting frame of mind, often eating more and exercising less. To curb the weight creep, remind yourself of these healthy practices you stashed away with your skimpy summer clothes.

1. In the summer you walk more. In the winter you like to bundle up! Keep an extra jumper, hat, gloves or coat in your office so you can take a brisk walk during your lunch break. Besides burning calories, you will boost your mood and energy levels in the sunlight. Take a lap around your office, school, or nearby shopping centre.

2. In the summer you live on fresh fruit and vegetables. In the winter you can still find a bounty of in-season produce. Citrus fruits, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, cabbage, and squash are all at their most flavourful this time of the year. Toss chopped cabbage into stir-fries and salads, or microwave squash with a little brown sugar, and cinnamon. Don’t dismiss the frozen vegetables they can be just as nutritious as their fresh counterparts; try them in casseroles, stews, omelettes, and more.

3. In the summer your clothes show off more of your body. In the winter it is normal for your resolve to wane when you hide beneath bulky sweaters. Pick one visual cue – a number on the scale or a fitting pair of jeans – and use it as a gauge for your weight. Or wear body-conscious items, such as a belted sweater dress, tight T-shirt – to remind you to rein in unhealthy habits.

Chargrilled Chicken with Warm Tomato Salad

4 breast fillets (120g each) 2 Tblsp lime juice

¼ cup sweet chilli sauce 2 cloves garlic, crushed

4 fresh kaffir lime leaves, shredded 1 Tblsp oil

2 medium brown onions, sliced thickly 2 Tblsp red wine vinegar

¼ cup sugar (55g) 2 Tblsp sweet chilli sauce, extra

¼ cup water ¼ cup orange juice

6 medium egg tomatoes cut in wedges 3 shallots sliced thickly

1 Tblsp bottled jalapeno chillies, chopped coarsely

Combine chicken, juice, sauce, garlic and leaves in large bowl; toss to coat chicken in mixture.

Heat oil in large saucepan; brown onion, stirring, until just softened. Add vinegar and sugar; cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Stir in extra sauce, the water and juice; add tomato and chilli, stir until heated through.

Cook drained chicken, in batches, on heated oiled grill plate (or grill or bbq) until browned both sides and cooked through. Cover to keep warm.

Serve chicken on warm tomato salad; top with green onion.

Serves 4 1 serve = 1 protein.

Question

I’ve heard that sea salt is more nutritious than regular table salt. What is the difference?

Answer

Sea salt can provide a bit more magnesium and other mineras than table salt if its production process doesn’t include rinsing, but not enough to make a difference in your diet. Otherwise, both kinds of salt can be purchased with or without added iodine, a nutrient that, while important in maintaining thyroid health, most of us now get enough of through our regular diets.

6 x 60g perch fillets 1 small onion thinly sliced

½ cup water ¼ cup dry vermouth

2 Tblsp lime juice 1 small fresh chilli, chopped finely

2 Tblsp sugar 1 tsp cornflour

½ red capsicum thinly sliced 2 green onions, cut into 5cm lengths

1 Tblsp finely chopped fresh coriander leaves

¼ cup firmly packed fresh coriander leaves, extra

Place fish in shallow ovenproof dish; top with brown onion. Pour over combined water, vermouth and 1 Tblsp of the juice; cover. Bake in moderate oven for about 15 minutes or until fish is tender.

Remove fish; keep warm. Strain and reserve liquid.

Place reserved liquid, chilli, sugar and combined cornflour and remaining juice in small saucepan.

Stir over heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil; simmer until mixture thicken. Stir in chopped coriander. Arrange fish, capsicum, green onion and coriander leaves on serving plate; drizzle with sauce.

Serves 2 1 serve = 1 protein

Day 1

Breakfast: poached egg on 1 slice toast and grilled tomato

Morning Tea: 1 small mandarin

Lunch: Toasted cheese and tomato sandwich

Afternoon Tea: 1 cup soup

Dinner: 150g grilled fish with veges (2cups)

Supper: scoop ice cream / poached pear

Day 2

Breakfast: 2/3 cup cereal

Morning Tea: 25g nuts

Lunch: tuna and salad wrap

Afternoon Tea: 1 small apple

Dinner: 120g Roast chicken breast and salad

Supper: Jarrah hot chocolate/ 125g tinned fruit

Day 3

Breakfast: 5 Tblsp cottage cheese with chopped banana and drizzle honey

Morning Tea: 200g low fat yoghurt

Lunch: Sandwich on two slices with turkey, cranberry jelly and salad

Afternoon Tea: 2 plain biscuits/ 2 rice cakes with tomato and black pepper

Dinner: 100g Grilled steak and salad

Supper: Jarrah/Swiss Miss/Cadbury Lite hot/sliced orange

Day 4

Breakfast: 100g baked beans on toast

Morning Tea: small apple

Lunch: Plate soup (vegetable/minestrone/tomato)-2 cups

Afternoon Tea: 15 grapes

Dinner: ½ cup chicken casserole with 1 cup cooked rice and salad

Supper: 5 passionfruit

Day 5

Breakfast: 2/3 cup cereal

Morning Tea: 3 prunes/ 5 dried apricots

Lunch: miso soup, 2 sushi rolls

Afternoon Tea: 1 corn on the cob

Dinner: 150g Grilled fish and veges

Supper: low joule jelly/ 2 cups popcorn

Day 6

Breakfast: 1 slice raisin toast with ricotta

Morning Tea: 2 sweet biscuits/ 100g fruche-lite

Lunch: Chicken burger

Afternoon Tea: 1 banana

Dinner: 120g roast beef and veges/salad

Supper: mandarin

Day 7

Breakfast: 1 cup cereal

Morning Tea: 1 cup strawberries

Lunch: Baked potato with 30g grated cheese and salad

Afternoon Tea: 1 cup soup

Dinner: Stir fry veges with 100g tofu/120g chicken/100g beef

Supper: jarrah hot chocolate/swiss miss/ lite ovaltine and low joule jelly

Daily: 2 cups low fat milk; 2 teaspoons fat

Tomato & borlotti bean soup

Ingredients (serves 4) 1 cup = 1 carbohydrate

1 tbs olive oil 1 brown onion, coarsely chopped

2 celery sticks, ends trimmed, thinly sliced 1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed 400g can diced Italian tomatoes

1L (4 cups) vegetable stock 400g can borlotti beans, rinsed, drained

1/3 cup chopped fresh continental parsley

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until aromatic.

Add the tomato and stock and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, partially covered, for 10 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook for 2 minutes or until heated through. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup among serving bowls. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

Health Water i.e. Vitamin Waters

I do not think it is necessary to use any bottled water, and cannot support this purchase. The rap artist 50 Cents gave this Vitamin water his endorsement, as he wanted to move away from alcohol which is the common drink of most rappers. The Vitamin water’s slogan is “hydrate responsibly”, which is merely a marketing notion and patently false. The vitamin water consists of water vapour that is distilled and deionised, crystalline fructose as a sweetener, citric acid, electrolytes, natural flavours, Vitamin C, B3, B5, B6, B12, and E. Other vitamins may be added depending on the flavour. It is not a low sugar drink, with sugar content similar to a normal sweet soft drink which consequently will impact on the consumer’s weight. Adding fructose is absurd, especially as there have been several papers recently on the undesirability of fructose taken from its natural source. Other additives are unnecessary and the claims are silly, and exaggerated. We don’t need calorifically high, sweetened drinks – it makes much better sense to get vitamins from foods. We need to be aware of the environmental impact of encouraging people to put water into disposable bottles and transport them. Over 400 billion bottles are being added to waste dumps throughout the world each year – mainly in places, like Australia, where the regular water supply is cheap and safe. Maintaining a social conscience and not wasting money on these products must be emphasised. We should take a stand against all sweetened drinks and bottled water when regular tap water is available.

GARLIC LAMB STIR-FRY

600g broccoli florets cooking oil spray

500g lamb strips 4 spring onions, sliced

¼ cup oyster sauce 1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce

2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 cup bean sprouts

100g snow peas

1. Boil or microwave broccoli until almost tender; drain.

2. Spray a heated non-stick wok or large pan with oil; add lamb, in batches; stir-fry until browned. Remove from wok.

3. Add broccoli and spring onions; stir-fry for 2 minutes. Return lamb to pan with combined sauces and garlic; stir-fry for 1 minute. Add bean sprouts and snow peas; stir-fry until combined.

Serves 4 1 serve = 1 protein

Day 1

Breakfast: 1 slice wholegrain toast with vegemite/jam/honey

Morning Tea: 1 plum

Lunch: Pita with 100g lamb, ½ cup tabouli and 1 Tblsp hummous

Afternoon Tea: 1 small apricot

Dinner: BBQ salmon and 2 cups steamed veges

Supper: ice block / 3 fresh dates

Day 2

Breakfast: Fruit smoothies (1 banana, ½ cup milk, 1 tsp honey, 100g

yoghurt)

Morning Tea: 1 small peach

Lunch: Turkey roll with salad an cranberry jelly

Afternoon Tea: 1 small orange

Dinner: 120g skinless chicken breast fillets baked in rosemary, thyme, lemon juice an tsp olive oil and 2 cups salad

Supper: Jarrah hot chocolate/ 125g tinned fruit

Day 3

Breakfast: 2/3 cup cereal with 1 cup berries

Morning Tea: 1 apricot

Lunch: Tuna and four bean salad – 100g tuna, 100g four bean mix,

1 Tblsp oil free salad dressing

Afternoon Tea: 3 vitawheat with tomato and black pepper

Dinner: Spaghetti bolognaise – ½ cup bolognaise; 2/3 cup pasta cooked

Supper: Low joule jelly

Day 4

Breakfast: 1 slice wholegrain toast with 3 Tblsp Ricotta, a drizzle honey

Morning Tea: 100g fruche-lite

Lunch: Greek salad

Afternoon Tea: 1 corn on the cob

Dinner: Stir fry chicken and veges

Supper: 1 grapefruit

Day 5

Breakfast: ½ cup cereal

Morning Tea: 15 grapes

Lunch: miso soup, 2 sushi rolls

Afternoon Tea: 1 apple/3 squares chocolate

Dinner: 150g Grilled fish and salad

Supper: Baked apple

Day 6

Breakfast: 1 poached egg on toast and grilled tomato and mushrooms

Morning Tea: small nectarine

Lunch: Chicken burger

Afternoon Tea: ice block/1 pear

Dinner: Curry chicken with ½ cup cooked rice

Supper: 200g low fat yoghurt

Day 7

Breakfast: 1 slice sour dough toast with slice tasty cheese and tomato

Morning Tea: 1 orange

Lunch: Chicken salad

Afternoon Tea: 1 small peach

Dinner: Stir fry vegetables with 100g tofu/100g beef

Supper: jarrah hot chocolate/swiss miss/ lite ovaltine and low joule jelly

Daily: 2 cups low fat milk; 2 teaspoons fat

MEATBALLS WITH TOMATO SAUCE

400g extra lean minced beef 2 spring onions, finely sliced

1 tablespoon soy sauce cooking oil spray

1 onion, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, crushed

1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes 1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 x 125g cans red kidney beans, drained salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine mince, spring onions and sauce in a large bowl; mix well. Shape mixture into small balls.

2. Combine onion, garlic, tomatoes, paste and beans in a pan; bring to boil, simmer for 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Spray a large non-stick pan with cooking oil; add meatballs, cook, turning frequently, until browned all over and cooked through.

4. Serve meatballs with warm tomato sauce.

Serves 4 1 serve = 1 protein, ½ carbohydrate