Top Apps for Food and Fitness

Date: 12.05.2013 | Response: 0

Sometimes we need a little extra motivation to stay on top of our exercise and healthy eating plans. This is why we are very lucky to live in the age where we can download apps at the press of a button! Apps can be very useful to track calorie consumption, record and compare workouts and get helpful tips along the way. Try these apps for a little extra motivation:

My Fitness Pal

This app has it all. You can record your daily food and calorie intake, as well as the exercise you’ve done. And the best function is that you can connect with friends via the app to watch each other’s progress and keep each other motivated!

Couch to 5k

This is a great place to start for complete beginners who would like to start running. It is a training coach that promises to get you running 5k’s straight without stopping, within 9 weeks! You can listen to music as you do the training sessions, and the ‘trainer’ will talk you through each workout.

Foodditive (iOS only)

If you have a food allergy, then this app will make your life easier. Take it to the supermarket or out to lunch so you can quickly check the additives in the food you are about to buy or eat and how they will affect you. It can also tell you information based on various diet sensitivities such as vegan, vegetarian, coeliac disease and gluten.

Fitness Builder

Want more from your workout? Try this app for an all-round workout session, to suit any level of fitness. There are over 5.5k exercise images and videos and you can even ask advice from a personal trainer.

FoodSwitch

If you’re in the mood for a snack, but can’t think of a healthy alternative to your favourite chocolate bar, then use this app. Simply scan the barcode of whatever it is you want to buy, and the app will come up with a colour-coded system of whether it is good to eat (green), should be enjoyed moderately (orange) or rarely eaten (red). If the food you have scanned comes up red, it will give you swap suggestions so you can take the guesswork out of what to eat!

Date: 11.05.2013 | Response: 0

Fruit is the perfect snack to keep on hand at home or in the office. But if your fruit hasn’t been stored properly, you may not be getting the best out of it. Follow these simple tips on how to store your fruit at home or in the office:

Refrigerate Fruit After it is Ripe

Once fruit has gone into the fridge it will slow the ripening process down considerably. If you wish to enjoy your fruit within hours or days, then leave it at room temperature. If you want it to last a lot longer, days or sometimes even weeks, pop it into the fridge so it will ripen slowly. However, with tomatoes and avocadoes they should be fully ripened before going anywhere near a fridge as once in there, they will take an extremely long time to go ripe.

It is a good idea to choose fruit at varying degrees of ripeness so you can enjoy it throughout the week and it won’t all be ready at once.

Lose the Punnet

Are you sick of the fruit in punnets getting squashed and going mouldy? To correctly store strawberries and blueberries, first get rid of the punnet. Then place them on a platter on top of a paper towel and cover with cling wrap. Keep them in the fridge like this to stop them from being crushed and also to delay mould from growing.

Single Layering

Some fruit bruises easily when stacked. Make sure you store your apricots, peaches and plums in single layers, not stacked on top of each other or on top of or under other fruit. Keep them at room temperature, but if they ripen and you are not ready to eat them yet, pop them in the fridge for a day or two until you are.

Fruit in Focus: Pears

Date: 08.05.2013 | Response: 0

There are over 3,000 varieties of pears but the most common one, the one you have most likely grown up eating, is the Bartlett pear.

Pears are available in Australia throughout the colder months of autumn and winter, only starting to disappear at the beginning of summer.

Eaten on their own as a snack, sliced up and added to fruit platters or salads, pears are also a great fruit for cooking. They can be added to many dishes, and are even a good substitute for apples in recipes when you feel like something a bit different. Choosing pears for cooking is different to choosing ones that are to be eaten fresh. Cooking pears should be firm, otherwise one soft enough for eating raw would go quite mushy during the cooking process.

Pears do continue to ripen once picked, so if you choose a firm one for cooking you will need to use it fairly soon. Otherwise, pop it in the fridge as this slows down the ripening process. To choose a ripe pear ready for eating now then ‘check the neck’ … this means you should check near the stem of the pear to see if it is soft.

Pears are a very low allergenic food, more so than most other fruits and foods, so they are a good substitute for many recipes if you suffer from allergies. This also means they are a great choice to give babies as one of their first fruits.

They are also lower in calories than most fruits, so if you fill up on a pear as a yummy snack instead of junk food that is high in calories you will start to lose weight as well as gain loads of nutritional benefits.

Other reasons pears are healthy is because they are:
- High in antioxidants
- Loaded with vitamin C
- High in fiber
- A good source of natural folate

3 Ways to Drink a Banana

Date: 26.04.2013 | Response: 0

We have had a look at three different ways to eat a banana, so now we are going to look at three different ways to drink a banana! Forget the smoothies and milkshakes for today and try these new and exciting ways to drink a banana:

Banana Lassi

A Lassi is a traditional Indian drink that can be enjoyed at any time of day and for all different reasons. This drink can be had as breakfast, as dessert or as a side dish to spicy curries. It is simple to make and the banana can be swapped out with most other fruits.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Greek Yoghurt
• 1 large Banana
• ½ cup Milk (use low fat milk for a healthier drink)
• ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
• Ice

Method:

Simply chop up the banana, and then blend all of the ingredients together until you have a smooth consistency similar to a milkshake. Done!

Stewed Banana Compote with Coconut Milk

OK this technically isn’t a drink, it is a dessert, but it is quite runny and is slurped off a spoon so we thought it was worth adding … and it is more interesting than a banana milkshake or smoothie!

Ingredients:

• 2 Sweet Potatoes, chopped into cubes
• 4 Ripe Bananas, chopped
• 100grams Brown Sugar
• 4 Pandan leaves
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Thick Coconut Cream diluted with 2 cups Water

Method:

1. Bring diluted coconut cream, banana, sweet potato and salt to the boil, stirring for 10 minutes.
2. In a separate saucepan, melt the sugar with half a cup of the liquid from the first boiling pan.
3. Add this sugar syrup, plus the undiluted coconut cream into the first saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes.

Can be served warm or cold.

Banana Daiquiri

Nothing spells warm tropical holidays like a banana daiquiri.

Ingredients:

• Light Rum
• Triple Sec (just a splash)
• Banana
• Lime Juice
• Sugar – 1 teaspoon
• Crushed Ice
• Cherry, pineapple wedge or mini umbrella for decoration

Method:

1. Throw all ingredients (except garnishes) into a blender and blend until you reach a consistency as smooth as you desire.
2. Pop the cherry or the pineapple wedge or mini umbrella onto the side of the glass to serve.

You can do this sans alcohol for a morning drink, just add a little pineapple juice for some extra flavor.

The Benefits of Coconut Water

Date: 26.02.2013 | Response: 1

Coconut water began selling in mainstream shops around 2004, and while many people thought it was just going to be the next fad, this new water has stood the test of time. There is good reason for it too, as anyone who has looked into the benefits of coconut water will know just how good this drink can be for you.

Foods that Help Alleviate Stress

Date: 22.02.2013 | Response: 0

Stress is part of every day life, but if you let it get on top of you and go on for too long it can have a severe impact on your health. Learning to relax, switch off or just breathe is important, but did you know you could also help alleviate your stress just through the type of food you are eating?

Fruit in Focus: Kiwi Fruit

Date: 19.02.2013 | Response: 0

The name for this furry fruit is quite misleading. Contrary to popular belief, Kiwi Fruit is not actually native to New Zealand. They originated from China, where they are still known as Chinese Gooseberry. Once this fruit began to be grown and sold in New Zealand they were renamed to Kiwi Fruit. The name Chinese Gooseberry was given as it is actually a berry.

Fruit in North America

Date: 15.02.2013 | Response: 0

There is a common myth that there are only three types of fruit native to North America. These fruits are: Grapes, cranberries and blueberries. While it is true these fruits are native to North America, they are not the only ones. The reason this myth is in circulation is because these are the only three fruits native to North America that are grown and sold commercially. There are many other fruits that are native to this part of the world, they just aren’t as well known and are not exported on a commercial level.

The Benefits of Vitamin E

Date: 12.02.2013 | Response: 0

It’s possible you’ve noticed plenty of skincare products sitting on shelves boasting that they are full of vitamin E. You may even already know that this is a good thing, as vitamin E helps to retain the natural oil and moisture of your skin, therefore preventing dried skin and wrinkles. But you may not know that there is a whole host of other things that vitamin E can do for you. Read on to find out some other very important things this wonder vitamin helps with:

3 Healing Fruits

Date: 08.02.2013 | Response: 0

Fruit is a medicine given to us by nature. Simply by enjoying 2 to 3 pieces a day our bodies will reap the benefits and many ailments can be fixed. All types of fruit is good for human health, but here we look at just three fruits that are great to include in your diet regularly: