Take the first step

Many people think that you need to be completely ready, completely prepared, and there needs to be a "right time" to start getting healthier.  There is no such thing as a "right time" and you will never be any more ready than now. What's wrong with just starting today?

You have the power to take this step. 
Right here. Right now.
You don't need to turn your life upside down all at once, just decide to start making healthier choices.
Today.

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

Understanding Common Diseases - free online course

One of the important keys to improving your own health is learning as much as you can about your body and how it works. In 2013, one of my academic colleagues, Dr Kylie Mansfield and I worked on a great project to develop a free online course for the public called Understanding Common Diseases. The course is run by Open2Study, an arm of Open Universities Australia, and is made up of four online modules that runs over four weeks. The modules look at high blood pressure, diabetes, heartburn and reflux and the common cold. They cover material from the basics of the science behind these conditions, meeting a patient with the problem and go on to look at common medications, treatments and lifestyle changes to treat and prevent the health issues discussed. 

The course runs over a four week period and takes approximately two hours a week to cover all the material. Its self-paced and the video modules are run in blocks of 10-15 minutes so you really can log on and watch a clip whenever you have time. Almost 5,000 students have done the course so far and the reviews have been very positive. And did I mention it's free? 

Click on the video to view the trailer and if you're still interested, click on the link here to go to the Open2Study site to enrol. The next course starts on 2 June. (and yes, that's me in the pink jacket! LOL) Hope to see you online!

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

So what's the go with "superfoods"?

I keep hearing about the terms "superfoods" and whether we should be eating more of them. Just like many other people, I started to wonder if there was something wrong with me that I wasn't eating boatloads of kale, acai, chia, goji berries and whatnot at every meal. Apples, spinach, nuts, fish? Suddenly my diet all sounded a bit pedestrian and... well... common. And besides, how could I get "healthy" by shopping at the supermarket and the farmers' market, shouldn't I be buying things at the health food shop?

So I've been doing some reading and you know, there's a lot of hype out there but not much evidence. "Superfoods" are not just foods any more, but have morphed into a marketing tool for companies to use to convince us to buy one product over another.  This is not unlike the "superdiets" promoted by diet gurus and celebrities (you can read my previous rant post about the "one true diet" here). Lets take Goji berries for example -Australian consumer group Choice tested a range of "superfood" juices and found that you would need to drink about 300ml of Goji juice in order to obtain the same antioxidant benefit of eating one medium-sized Red Delicious apple. Goji juice is around $50 a bottle, apples around $5 a kilogram. Get the picture?

So what does "superfood" mean? Well, nothing. It's not a scientific term. It makes us think of foods that are full of nutrients, that are proven to have significant health benefits, that will make a big difference to your life if you eat them but interestingly most foods touted as "super" have none of those benefits proven. But there are foods that do exactly those things!  So what, in my humble opinion, are the real superfoods?  Well most fresh, unprocessed foods have great health properties and some of them especially so. The evidence is really strong for:

• Fruits (especially berries and apples)
• Vegetables (especially the dark green leafy kind)
• Nuts and seeds 
• Legumes
• Whole grains (especially oats )
• Olive oil
• Fish
• Green tea
• Red wine (in safe amounts)
• Dark chocolate (I hear you cheer!)

And you know what? You don't have to go to a specialist health food store, order online, mortgage your first born child or listen to a celebrity chef or supermodel infomercial to buy any of them. Oh and they don't need "activating" either ;)

It's pretty simple, really. To quote the wise and succinct Michael Pollan, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants"

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

To learn more:

1. Here's a great article on this issue by Australian chef Matt Preston - Real Life Superfoods
2. And for a much more eloquent and amusing version of what I just said, sit back and enjoy 9 minutes of "The Checkout" a brilliant Australian consumer watchdog program - satirical and cutting investigative journalism. You're welcome!

Recipe - green pea and ham soup (and veggie option!)

Its a cool autumn evening and I was working from home so decided to put a pot of soup on to cook slowly over the course of the afternoon.  I made one of my favourites- pea and ham!  Split peas are low GI- with a glycemic index of 25 they are an excellent choice if you are diabetic or watching your weight as they give you slow sustained energy. According to the Glycemic Index Foundation "Like other legumes, dried peas are a nutritional storehouse because they are slowly digested, a little goes a long way"

So let's use them to make some soup! You can make this recipe rapidly in about 45 minutes, however the soup turns out much better if you take it low and slow and give it around 3-4 hours. Alternatively put it in a slow cooker for 6-8 hours while you're at work. Traditionally pea and ham soups use a whole ham bone or bacon hock. While this gives the soup a very rich flavour, it also makes them quite fatty and salty. Instead, I have chosen to basically make a vegetable and pea soup, and to add diced smoked ham towards the end. For a vegan or vegetarian option, or if you don't like pork, just leave it out for a lovely rich split pea soup.

You will need:
2 cups dried split green peas
3 large carrots
1 large onion
1/2 bunch (about 4 stalks) celery
2 tsp minced garlic or 2 cloves fresh garlic
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock (salt reduced)
250g ham (I used smoked ham hock meat in a pack from the supermarket (got it at ALDI), but you could use any sliced ham or diced lean bacon if you prefer. Alternatively, buy a whole bacon or ham hock. All preserved meat like this can be salty, so don't use too much, make sure your stock is salt reduced and I doubt you will need any salt for seasoning)
2 tsp dried or fresh rosemary
black pepper
herbs for garnish

To prepare your peas, first check the pack for any instructions. Generally they need a quick wash.  Place your peas in a sieve or colander and check for any stray grains or discoloured peas and discard. Wash the peas with running water until the water runs clear- should only take 3 or 4 rinses. If gluten is an issue for you, you may want to be pretty careful with this step in case of stray grains in processing.  Set the peas to one side.

Dice your onion, carrots and celery finely and add them to a large, heavy based pot. I use a cast iron pot as it holds the heat well and spreads it evenly, but any large pot will do fine. 

To your pot of vegetables, add the garlic and a drizzle of olive oil, the rosemary and a little black pepper and cook for about 5-10 minutes until the onion is translucent.

Next add the peas, 4 cups of stock and 2 cups of water.
If you are using a whole hock, remove the rind and underlying fat and put it in the pot. 
Keep the pot on medium heat until the liquid starts to simmer.
Turn the heat down as low as you can (I move mine onto the smallest gas ring) and put the lid on.

Leave the soup to cook slowly like this for the next two hours, stirring every half an hour or so to check it is not sticking on the bottom. The liquid level was just right for me, but if your stove is hotter you may need to top up the water.

After around 2 hours your soup should be cloudy with partially disintegrated peas and very soft vegetables.  At this point if you are using a whole hock, take it out of pot now. Either use your stick blender or put the soup into a blender / food processor and whizz until it reaches the desired consistency. 

I made mine reasonably smooth, but not completely - I still like a few bits of peas and carrots for texture.

Put your soup back on the low heat on the stove. 

If you like pea and ham soup, dice around 250g of ham and add to the soup at this point. Or, if using the bacon hock, remove the meat from the bone, dice it and return to the pot.  If you are making the veggie option, leave out this step. Either way your soup needs about another 30-45 mins or so on low heat and it is done and ready to serve. 

Serve hot with some fresh herbs and black pepper for garnish. This pot serves 6-8 people and is filling, tasty, nutritious and cheap ! 

To make this in a slow cooker, do the first step on the stove (cooking onions, celery carrots and garlic for a few minutes) then put it in the slow cooker and continue the rest, just double your cooking time.   Bon appetit!

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy 

Recipe - eggplant parmigiana

This is a delicious recipe that I love to make, it tastes light and fresh and filling and is actually quite easy.  Great if you are trying to cut down your meat consumption, and you can always add a little bacon if you wish for added flavour, but it is positively great without.

You will need:

1 large eggplant (aubergine)

a bunch of fresh basil

6 whole fresh tomatoes

a jar of good quality pasta sauce or if you wish to make your own, more tomatoes & tomato paste

a tub of ricotta cheese

Shaved parmesan cheese

1-2 rashers of bacon (optional)

some dried herbs to taste

a big fresh green salad to serve

You will need to start by preparing your ingredients. Cut the stalk off your eggplant and then slice it lengthways in about 1cm thick slices. Slice three of your tomatoes into slices and dice the other three finely. Pull the basil leaves off the stalks but don't chop them, set the whole lot aside for later.

Next step is to start grilling the eggplant. You can do this in several ways. Firstly, you can pop it under a hot griller, secondly in a flat frypan. But the third option that I think works

best is if you have one of those griddle pans with the ridges. You will need to work in batches. I brush the eggplant slices with a little olive oil, pop them on a hot grill pan, turn them as they brown and set them aside on a plate with a piece of kitchen paper as I work through my slices.

While this is happening, I usually start making my sauce. You have some choices here. If you wish to, you can make the sauce yourself using fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, onions, garlic etc and cook it down to the consistency required. This will take a little longer. Alternatively, if you have a good

quality pasta sauce you are happy with, you can use that here. Always remember to read your labels to check sugar and salt content and any added nasties. I usually take the middle ground - I start with a large bottle of pasta sauce, add the three diced fresh tomatoes, some dried or fresh herbs (oregano, parsley, thyme), a slop of red wine and cook it while the eggplant was grilling. This gives you a fresher flavour, but doesn't take so long. 

If you are planning on using bacon in your parmigiana, trim off the rind and fat, cut into thin strips and pop it on your hot grill pan when the eggplant has finished cooking. 

Now its time for assembly. Preheat your oven to around 200 degrees C now so it will be ready.

Depending on how deep a pot you have you can either make this a low flat stack in a baking dish or pile it high in a smaller casserole type pot. I find the smaller deeper pot works fine and the flavours mix better, but it can look a little messy if you're not careful when serving it up (if that worries you!)

Start by adding a spoonful of sauce to the bottom of your dish, add a layer of eggplant, a layer of sliced fresh tomato, a handful of whole basil leaves and top by adding a few tablespoons of ricotta cheese. If you are using bacon, add your strips of bacon in these layers somewhere.

If you are using a baking dish you may only get one layer, in a deep casserole pot I get two, so I repeat this process - more sauce, then eggplant, tomatoes, basil and ricotta. Top the whole lot with the remaining sauce to cover any ingredients. Top your whole pot with a handful of shaved parmesan cheese, you can also add a little mozzarella if you like it stringy. Avoid the high fat cheeses like cheddar or tasty cheese as they will make everything very oily. I sprinkle with a little paprika for colour before it goes into the hot oven.

As all your ingredients are cooked, it should only take 15 minutes or so in the oven for everything to soften and the cheese to melt. When the topping is golden, remove from the oven and serve immediately with a big fresh green salad, a small glass of red wine and perhaps a little crusty grain bread. Bon appetit!

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

Start today

There is no time like the present.
Stop wishing.
Stop thinking about it.
Take action.

Choose one thing to change in your life and start. 
Today.

So, what's it going to be?

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

Recipe - caramelised honeyed apples (perfect for pork)

One of those lovely traditions for those who enjoy pork is pork chops and apple sauce, or roast pork and apple sauce. This recipe is not about the pork,  its about apples.  Most commercial apple sauce is highly processed and packed with either sugar or aspartame - neither of which I want to eat.  

Now home-made apple sauce is great. If you have the time, the inclination and don't mind a hearty quantity of brown sugar, then there's a great traditional recipe here. But there has got to be an easier way!  

So welcome to my honeyed caramelised apples. This is the world's easiest recipe, but I have no idea how I ate pork any other way now.

Core and slice 1 or 2 apples into fine slices (leave the skin on, its tasty and good for you!) I use whatever apples we happen to have at home- usually pink lady or royal gala apples, but you can use anything at all, red or green. In fact the method would work just as well with a crispy pear. Aiming for about half an apple per person will be plenty - I use two apples for my family of three.

Heat a pan on medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil and drop in the apple slices.  They will soften, turn golden and caramelise relatively quickly but they can burn easily due to the natural sugars in the fruit so watch them. Better to keep it lower and take a little longer if needed. As they are cooking add a squeeze of orange or lemon juice for tang and a sprinkle of cinnamon (or nutmeg or ground cloves if you feel like some variety and a little more spice).  Finally, turn the heat right down (or off) and stir through a spoonful of raw honey just before serving.

Spoon on top of your pork (I think it would be nice with grilled chicken too or even as a dessert spooned over yoghurt or with some mascarpone cheese? ). These are sweet, but with the combination of fruit, raw honey and the squeeze of lemon juice, are nothing like the sweetness of sugar laden processed foods.  Trust me, you will never want to eat apple sauce out a jar again :)

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

Omega 3 fatty acids - fish and more!

Brain food! And yes, my herring salad was delicious!

I love eating fish  

Omega 3 fatty acids are essential for optimal health. The only way we can gain them naturally is though our diet. Omega 3 has well established health benefits - not only does it prevent heart disease and is vital for brain health and development, it has also been shown to be  beneficial in conditions such as diabetes, obesity, depression, arthritis, ADHD  and skin disorders. It also has strong anti inflammatory properties which are very important for people with chronic disease. 

Because of these known benefits, lots of people buy fish oil supplements which is of course fine. But you really don't need to. Did you know a can of sardines or herrings (like I had for lunch today) contains over 3,000mg of DHA? Fresh cold water fish like salmon or albacore tuna are also excellent sources as are oysters, mussels and squid. In a statement by the American Heart Association it was confirmed that eating fresh fish twice a week reduced the risk of sudden cardiac death by 50%!!  

Don't eat fish? That's okay!  Omega 3 fatty acids are also found in flaxseeds, soybeans, chia seeds and walnuts as well as green leafy vegetables. The recommendations is that we should be including more of all sources in our diet on a daily basis, not just fish.

And here's the kicker - while the evidence for inclusion of more fresh sources of Omega 3 in our diets is clear, the evidence for fish oil supplements is a little less impressive. Nutrition science is complex, and as has been found in so many cases when we try and break down the microcnutrients of each food to find the "magic bullet" we don't always get exactly the same benefits.

Just eat real food. 

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy.

More information?
University of Rochester medical center 

Recipe - hearty beef stew (with variations!)

So its shopping day today and I have some random leftover veggies in my fridge. Not much gets wasted around here, so I'm always proud when there are only a handful of sad looking pieces of fruit and veg needing to be used up. So what to make with it?  Its a cool autumn evening and I think a great night for a beef stew! 

This is a "template" recipe, meaning that you can interchange many parts of it. A bit like my curries and soups, this recipe is different almost every time I make it depending on what's in the fridge, in season or on special... but is a great hearty home cooked meal for a cool evening. This will take about 90 minutes (prep and cooking time) on the stove or if you have time throw it in a slow cooker for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Its also cheap, tasty and a great way to get more vegetables in your diet!

Ingredients for tonight's version (with other suggestions in italics)
500g diced gravy beef (or lamb or chicken or pork or no meat at all)
1 onion diced
1 red capsicum
2 carrots diced
2 stalks celery diced
1 tsp minced garlic or 1 clove finely diced
1 tablespoon paprika
2 tablespoons plain flour (I use GF flour but any flour would do)
1 400g tin diced tomatoes
1 400g tin borlotti beans (or use kidney beans, lentils, chick peas)
2 cups beef stock (or chicken stock or veggie stock depending on what youre making)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 slop (about 100ml) of red wine (any wine or beer or brandy or sherry works great too)
All the veggies you can find (I used sweet potatoes, mushrooms, peas, parsnips, spinach, carrots, pumpkin but really anything works)
Fresh or dried herbs of your choice(I used rosemary, oregano, thyme and a bay leaf for cooking and parsley for garnish)

Start by using a heavy based pot - I use cast iron as it retains heat and gives a lovely even cooking temperature throughout.  Dice your onions, carrot, celery and capsicum, throw in the pot with a slop of olive oil, the garlic and paprika and start cooking, stirring the garlic and paprika into your veggies.. It will need about 5-7 minutes until your onions are translucent and everything has gone a lovely orangey red from the spices. 








While this is cooking, dice the hardest of your vegetables -in my case carrots and parsnips - and if you are using mushrooms I also add them now. I also add the dried herbs (except the bay leaves) at this point. Tonight I added dried oregano, thyme and rosemary. Give these veggies another 5-7 minutes, cooking and stirring, until everything is softened and well coated in garlic, herbs and spices.











At this stage add your meat. I used diced beef - but any meat of your choice is fine. Just vary your herbs, wine and stock accordingly. Add your beef and 2 tablespoons of plain flour. Mix everything together roughly so the beef is well coated with flour and the flour will absorb all the juice from the pan.  (this well ensure your stew has a nice thick gravy at the end). It will brown slightly as you stir but will remain mainly pink, this is fine. Some recipes want you to fully brown and sear the meat- I don't think its necessary and it actually ends up more tender this way in my experience. 





Add a slop of red wine into the pot and stir it through. Next add your tin of diced tomatoes and your tin of drained and rinsed legumes (I used borlotti beans) and mix them in. Add 2 cups of beef stock and if you like an extra rich flavour a few tablespoons of tomato paste. Add the remaining vegetables roughly chopped into small pieces. (if you are using peas spinach or green veg don't add them yet).









Pop on the lid and pour yourself a (small) glass of wine. Turn the heat to low and simmer for half an hour, stirring once if need be to ensure nothing sticks on the bottom. After half an hour check on the flavour. At this point I usually add a tablespoon or two of balsamic vinegar for a yummy caramel flavour, add the peas, spinach and any other green veg and stir through any additional fresh herbs plus the bay leaf (remember to remove it before serving). Season with plenty of ground black pepper. Sit down with your feet up and finish your glass of wine for another 20 minutes or so for it to finish cooking and thicken up. Your kitchen should be smelling pretty awesome by now. 

Your dinner should now be ready! This recipe makes an enormous pot and will feed 6-8 (or in our house that's my husband and I, our bottomless 16 year old son and 3 meals for the freezer!) Garnish with fresh herbs and if you're feeling indulgent you may need to acquaint it with (just a little)  crusty sourdough bread. 

Enjoy!

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

When it comes to diets, one-size-doesn't-fit-all

When I meet people and they notice my weight loss (which is pretty noticeable if you knew me previously), the obvious question is "What did you do?" My standard answer is "diet and exercise! Who knew?" with a big laugh. This is almost immediately followed by "Wow. So WHICH diet? Paleo? Atkins? Low carb?" And this is where things become complex. How I live now doesn't have a trendy name. I followed a series of diet principles based on medical advice and research but I didn't follow a prescribed diet by an internet guru... and I don't think you should either. Let me tell you why. 

Firstly lets look at the word diet and what it means - strictly speaking a diet is simply the food an individual eats on a daily basis. Good or bad, no judgement attached, that's what diet means. By this definition we are all dieting all the time, every time we eat we are taking part in our daily diet.  But in modern times this word has been charged with so much more meaning. We refer to a "diet" as a restriction of our food, as a set of rules or choices, as a formula or requirement to eat a certain way, and the implication that by "dieting" we are somehow restricting or depriving ourselves. And finally there is the Diet with a capital D - the food plan that comes with a name, a trademark, a book, a TV show, a range of supplements and a one true faith to believe in, often with a cult like fervour and a celebrity to endorse it. And in many cases it is sold as the one, the only, way to eat. Diet has become a dirty four letter word and can fill people with fear and dread.

Do I sound a little cynical? Sure. Because I don't think there is one "right" diet for everyone. Many people will "go on a diet" and lose weight, no matter what the diet is, because they are paying more attention to what they eat and being more motivated.  Will that weight stay off? Well it depends if the diet is sustainable, if they like it and if they can live that way for life.   

Lets think about traditional cultures. People from all over the world have ethnic and cultural diets that vary hugely in their content and nutritional makeup.  The Inuit in the Arctic eat a completely different diet to the Japanese, the people of Southern Italy or the Masai of Africa - yet none of those cultures traditionally have issues with overweight or obesity. They are all eating different diets, but you couldn't possibly suggest that each culture has it wrong - yet that is basically what these diet gurus claim when they suggest their way is the only way to go, and it makes no sense.

The important message is there is no single Diet (again I use the capital D) that is suitable for everyone, but a whole lot of dietary principles that are. Its pretty safe to say that any diet based on whole, nutrient rich,  unprocessed food that is close to nature would be good for all of us. Variety and moderation is essential.  And I think there is generally universal agreement that we should be eating a diet that is mostly plants, that avoids too much refined grains, refined sugars, trans fats and processed meats.  This is what all the cultures I mentioned before have in common. They all have eating patterns that feature moderation, variety and whole unprocessed foods (and a whole lot of exercise also!). They also have traditions and culture and social occasions around eating which all adds to healthy eating behaviours (eating with your family as part of an event not at your desk, in your car or in front of the TV. Perhaps the topic for another blog post?)

There is another important point to consider when looking at a diet plan. If this is going to work, if you are going to lose weight and keep it off, then you need to consider if you could keep doing this. The pills, the potions, the extreme exercise routine, the fancy meals with obscure ingredients, the restrictions and elimination. Is it sustainable to incorporate into the rest of your life? Will you need to "cheat" at Christmas or avoid social events? Will you have difficulty sourcing ingredients or be unable to eat out? Because this needs to work long term. Any plan that you undertake short term will have short term results and when you reach your goal weight (or get sick of it) and go back to your previous life, the weight comes right back on (and then some). I'm going to quote Dr Yoni Freedhoff on this topic. He says "Just ask yourself the question "Could I happily live like this forever?" If the answer is "no" then you're on the wrong diet". I couldn't agree more. Any dietary plan that has an expiry date is a recipe for failure. 

The American Diabetes Association reviewed its guidelines for people with diabetes last year and I think its comments are appropriate for all of us. They said a suitable diet should have:

"a variety of minimally processed nutrient dense foods in appropriate portion sizes as part of an eating plan that takes into account individual preferences, cultures, religious beliefs, traditions and metabolic goals". Indeed. 

Eat unprocessed foods, mainly plants, with lots of nutrients, fibre, variety and colour, eat less salt, eat appropriate portion sizes, avoid excesses of anything, think about what you're eating, drink more water, cook more, sleep more, smile more, move more. And make sure you enjoy treats with pleasure and without guilt. And if those general principles aren't enough and you need more specific direction that's tailored to you - be sure to see an Accredited Practising Dietitian, not a TV celebrity or a diet guru. 

 Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy

Don't give up - the beginning is always the hardest

If you are keen to start making changes and you're not sure where to start, its okay. If you have started and are feeling overwhelmed that's also okay.  There is no magic system and no one way that works for everyone. Start somewhere... anywhere. Pick one thing that you do that you'd like to be healthier, one habit you'd like to avoid, one healthy change you want to add into your life and focus on that.  Give it a little while then when you feel confident add another and another. You don't have to do it all at once and you don't have to be perfect. Remember this isn't a short term plan - you've got the rest of your life to get it right <3

Lyndal @ Lean Green and Healthy