CHANGE OF LOCATION!!

Hello everyone! 

Due to the success of this blog so far I have invested a URL and made a website for Rabbit Food Health. 

Click here to access and subscribe:

www.rabbitfoodhealth.com 

Fad Diets

Hello everyone!

I have been cooking up a storm with my new Quinoa recipes; I will get the pictures online soon!

I have recently been hearing about the Paleo diet, AKA the cave man diet and wondered, what is the obsession with fad diets? Year after year a new one is introduced, last year the controversial OMG diet hit headlines and this year there seems to be the Paleo diet and Alternate day fasting diet neck and neck to win the Fad Diet award 2013.

The Paleo diet

The Paleo diet involves eating only what a hunter gatherer human would eat. So that’s no dairy, no salt, no processed foods, and no chocolate!! The creators of this diet claim that obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular problems are all products of a 21st century eating plan, and going back to our caveman routes would significantly reduce the risk factor of many overweight issues.

I wanted to try this diet out for you guys so I could give it a full review, but it was a bit hard to do as I am a vegetarian and Tofu, beans and pulses are off the menu with this diet! It involves fruit, veg and meat, a lot of meat!

So through internet research, it seems this diet does have its advantages, you can eat as much fruit and veg as you like, and lean, clean cut meats are promoted rather than fatty bacon and sausage. It will definitely help you lose weight as all processed food are eliminated, but so are many healthy food groups such as dairy and grains which are important for a health digestive system and strong bones.

However although nutritious and full of protein, I imagine this diet is quite hard to sustain. You can't forget to take your lunch to work and head to the cafe with this diet; you have to be prepared to make sure you do not eat anything other than fruit, veg or meat. As well as this, this diet would be a hole in your wallet!! Having to buy lean cuts of meat and fresh fruits and vegetables every week can be expensive. I think this is a celebrity diet probably best left in the celebrity world.  

Alternate day fasting diet

According to the BBC news, scientists have found that short periods of fasting could lead to a longer life and reduce worldwide obesity. The alternate day diet has taken this seriously and advised dieters to fast (eating less than 500 calories) every other day.

This diet seemed a lot easier to test than the placebo diet so I gave it a go for a week. I would eat 100g of special K in the morning, a garden salad with no dressing for lunch and a Tuna salad for dinner, with snacks such as almonds on my fasting days. I did lose weight, In fact I lost half a KG and only did it for a week so clearly this diet works.

However, on my fasting days I felt drained and couldn't be bothered to do much. I usually go to the gym in the evenings but having had only salad for lunch I barley had the energy to walk home! As well as this I get very grumpy when I am hungry so I annoyed my boyfriend A LOT! BUT, I did lose weight so if there was a particularly tight dress I would like to wear on a Friday night or a beach day coming up I would probably do this diet again for a week before hand.

But why are fad diets so popular? Most people I speak to have a healthy eating lose weight plan for 2013, and fad diets are a quick way to achieve these weight loss goals. Fad diets soar as people are looking for a quick fix and do not want to be patient with their bodies, because unfortunately, people only want to change how they look rather than improve their health.

But the next time you read about a quick fix diet, then be sure to check out the smaller print, how will this affect your health, your heart, your skin, your hair!?

If you want to lose weight, why not try the old fashioned diet of healthy eating and physical action? You do not need to rush your weight loss and fitness goals, you will get there!

 

Sarah 

xxx  

Question time

Will you be trying any of these? What diets have worked for you? Leave a comment below.

Quinoa "Keen- Wah"

Hello

How is everyone? I am only going to focus on one food in this post: Quinoa. 

Since I have been travelling Quinoa has popped up in every health magazine I have read, and I quickly incorporated this little grain into my diet. Quinoa is rapidly growing in status and availability, not only is it delicious, it is jam packed with nutrients and essential vitamins. Read on to find out more about this grain of wonder and how to incorporate it into your diet. 

Keen What? 

Pronounced Keen-wah, Quinoa is a gluten free, nutrient bursting super grain ( technically a seed and related to leafy green vegetables such as spinach, but referred to as a grain). It comes in three colours, white, red and black, but there is not much difference between the three. You will find this super food in the whole food/ health food aisle of your super market and it is usually reasonably priced.

The taste is similar to that of brown rice crossed with granola, the consistency is tender and slightly chewy with crunch spirals in the middle when fully cooked. Quinoa is extremely versatile and is usually used instead of cous cous, rice or pasta.  

Bursting with Nutrients.

• Quinoa contains all 9 essential Amino Acids, making it a complete source of protein, so it is ideal for vegetarians and vegans. 
• It is jam packed with Iron which the body needs to help carry and store oxygen.
• Containing large amounts of Calcium, Magnesium and Fiber, Quinoa is good for your heart skin and bones, and keeps you full. 
• It is crammed with Vitamin B2 and Vitamin E, which  are powerful antioxidants in energizing your body and protecting your immune system. 
• And good for your waist line, One cup of Quinoa provides a mere 222 Calories and 3.4gs of fat. 

How to add it to your diet. 

Quinoa is incredibly easy to use, you can have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner or even dessert! 

To prepare your Quinoa make sure you rinse it first to wash off the bitter coating. To cook, add to a pan with double the amount of water and boil for around 15 minutes, until soft or until you can see them begin to swirl. 

Check out easy to make Quinoa recipes here (including porridge and desserts!), and add this super grain to your shopping list!

Sarah

xxx

How do you add Quinoa to your diet? Please leave a comment. 

What A Waste!

Hello,

How are you all? Its still nice and sunny here in Melbourne! I have recently been reading about food wastage, and I was shocked  to find that that supermarkets are throwing away a large amount of food  due to customer fussiness, past sell by dates and poor storage. I read that almost 50% of the worlds food is wasted, and that preventing food waste could save the average family over $1000AUD (680GBP). I couldn't believe how much of an environmental and economical impact food wastage has, so here is some advice to help us all reduce our wastage, and our carbon footprint.

Household food waste

 Source  

Bread	32%
Vegetables	24%
Potatoes	24%
Fruit	20%
Cereal Products	17%
Desserts	14%
Meat and Fish	13%
Dairy and Eggs	8.5%
Soft Drinks	7.1%
Alcoholic Drinks	6.3%

How to prevent wastage

Planning your meals each week and sticking to a shopping list is a great way to ensure you only buy the ingredients you need, therefore you are less likely to overload your fridge with unnecessary items. It is also advised to do little shops more often rather than do a big weekly shop, as you are more likely to over buy if you are estimating a weeks worth of food. 

Dish out smaller portions, if you are still hungry then get some more from the pan, if not freeze the leftovers.  

Clean your fridge and keep it in order, the ideal fridge temperature is between 1-5 C. It is also a good idea to put your older food to the front of the fridge so you don't forget about it. 

Check your bags of potatoes, apples and onions ETC before storing them, as one bad one will ruin the lot!

What to do with leftovers

Wasting food usually comes down to convenience, it is much easier to pop to the shops, than to make a meal out of what is in your fridge. So here is a great tip, the next time you are stumped for meal ideas just put the ingredients you have into this website and you will be amazed at what you can easily cook up.

We are all guilty of throwing food away and not giving it a second thought, but instead of putting food straight into the bin, why not start a compost heap? Compost is a cheap and effective way of feeding your garden and will reduce your food waste at the same time! If you do not have a garden, make sure you have an organic waste bin, and once full take it down to your nearest    recycle center where it will be turned into compost for you .

Make sure you store your leftovers well, cover them over with cling wrap or foil and wait until they are cool before putting them in your fridge or freezer.   

Pre-cooked food can be left in the freezer for up to three months! So if you have left over lasagna you can freeze some for another time rather than having it three nights in a row. As well as this you will have a ready-made meal in the freezer when you are in a rush, or simply can’t be bothered to cook (win win situation!).

Recipe Ideas (can be found on the recipe page)  

· Old bananas can be made in to a scrummy banana cake.

· Old fruit into a healthy morning smoothie or a delicious fruit pie.

· Old vegetables into a warming soup or stew.

· Old bread can be chopped up and baked to make croutons.

 So the next time you go to put your food in the bin, think twice and recycle what you can. 

Thanks for reading, please feel free to leave a comment. 

Sarah

xxx

How do you handle your waste? Please leave a comment below. 

Diet Secrets from Across the Globe.

Hello Everyone, 

How are you all? Hopefully the tips and tricks in my last post helped you beat the January blues and start making better decisions! 

I was inspired to find out about diet tricks from across the globe after reading about the culture and cuisine in South East Asia whilst planning my travelling there. So today we are talking about eating habits from around the globe and how to incorporate them into your daily life.

 

Thailand and Malaysia

Thai and Malaysian food is packed with spices, and for those of you that can handle it, spices are both high in flavour, low in calories and can actually speed up your metabolism! Incorporate this into your cooking and spice up your dish by adding chilli powder to your stir fry or smother your chicken in paprika before cooking. Another well known spice heavily used in both Malaysian and Thai cooking is Turmeric. Turmeric is a super spice which doesn't just add colour to curries! It has been proven to fight the fat in your body by suppressing the growth of new fat tissue, so cook up a Tikka Masayla, sauté your vegetables with Turmeric, and add Turmeric to your salad for an effortless way to reduce your fat intake. 

France

Fancy some frogs legs and snails smothered in garlic? Not only do the French have some of the strangest delicacies in Europe but they are know for fool proof (and weight gain proof!) eating habits. The French tend to have a high fat diet but they eat in very small portions. They eat three set meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner and do not snack. As well as this, the French make eating a social occasion, with 92% of French families dining together in the evening. Eating in front of people makes you remember your table manners, eating slower and not piling up your plate! Just think about the benefits on your waist line the next time your heading for an unpleasant social meal.  

Hungary

Hungary are known to pickle everything from onions to eggs, however this may not be as strange as it may seem, the acid in the vinegar actually helps to reduce blood sugar levels and the formation of fats. So don't be shy with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar on your next salad to help dis-encourage fat cells from setting up camp on your hips. 

Spain and Portugal

The Spanish and Portuguese are known to linger over their meals spending up to an hour to finish their plate, yet consume fewer calories (Eh?!). This is because they are eating slowly, giving their brain time to register that they are full. Your stomach takes at least 20 minutes to let your brain know it is full, and in recent years we have developed a need of being stuffed rather than satisfied, but eating slowly is a great way to start addressing this issue. when you know you have had enough, stop eating! Your stomach expands by 20% every time you fill yourself to bursting, which makes it harder to reduce your portion size at your next meal and still feel full. So savour the flavour of your food, put down your knife and fork between bites and leave the table satisfied rather than stuffed.

Germany

An impressive 75% of Germans eat breakfast every day, and they are on to a good thing! Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, kick starting your metabolism, improving concentration and giving you more energy in the morning. If you skip breakfast you are setting yourself up for dietary failure as you will inevitably eat more at lunch, and probably chose an unhealthy option due to your hunger. Studies prove that people who eat breakfast are slimmer than those who go without, so munch on some cereal in the morning or grab a slice of toast before heading out the door.

Greek and Mediterranean

The Mediterranean diet embraces fat’s, the Greeks are not shy about eating a handful of nuts and seeds, gorging on olives or adding Canola oil to their meal. Contrary to popular belief, eating fat, even saturated fat, has been proven to help improve the function of your liver, lungs and heart!! It has even been shown to improve your bone strength! And although I don't recommend actively trying to increase your fat intake, cooking a Greek salad and adding Olives to your meal every now and again will improve your overall health. 

Japan

The Japanese have got it sorted when it comes to diet and eating habits, with the lowest obesity rate in the world! The Japanese diet is made up of rice, fresh fish, vegetables and very little meat or sugar. In Japan they have a saying "not dressing up your meal is like going out without any clothes" their advice is to make your meal as colourful as possible fill your plate with peppers and green veggies, making less room for everything else!

Picking the best bits from the eating habits of the world has taught us to spice up our dishes, add more veggies to our plate, control our portion size and meet up with family and friends more often to make dinner/lunch a social occasion, just don't forget to savour every bite!  

Sarah Clarke

xxx 

What will you try? Please leave a comment below. 

The January Blues!

Hey People!

How are those resolutions going? Its five days into January and I'm not doing to bad! It’s a crazy 41 degrees in Melbourne at the moment, which certainly makes ice cream tempting! Frozen yoghurt and fruit is a great alternative to keeping yourself cool.

I started back at work on Wednesday, and noticed that the Christmas spirit is well and truly gone; people were walking around the office with grumpy faces and tired eyes, making no effort to disguise the fact they would much rather be anywhere else. So begins the January blues. It is often commented on that January is the most depressing month of the year, the excitement of Christmas and New years is over, you’re skint and your clothes are too tight. But fear not dear readers, I'm on a mission to change that, after you have read this post it will be the January cheer!

First things first, let’s get moving! 

It’s true what they say, you will feel much better after going out for a walk or down to the gym for a workout session. Exercise is key to your happiness, decreasing Cortisol your stress hormone (Boo!) and increasing Endorphins, Adrenaline and  Serotonin... your happy hormones (Wahoo!) which work together to make you feel your best.

So begin your morning with a cardio workout to get those hormones bubbling and to kick start your metabolism throughout the day, elevating your mood. Plan to wake up 30 minutes early and go out for a run or down to the gym for an instant 'pick me up'. If you really are pushed for time in the morning then do not worry! As even a 10 minute vigorous workout session is enough to get your hormones working, do 10 star jumps as soon as you get out of bed and run to the shower! 

Exercising before breakfast has a lot of benefits, not only will your body be buzzing with positive energy but you will burn off fat rather than the calories from your breakfast. As well as this, when exercising in the morning your body gets into the habit, and you will find waking up much easier after the first few super early starts.

Eat yourself happy. 

Often people reach for their comfort food when they are feeling stressed or down, but comfort food such as Milk Chocolate, white Carbs and Caffine will put you on a stimulant cycle, giving you a high for a couple of hours or so before dropping you back down.  Luckily, there are healthier options. A recent Finnish study found that foods rich in Folate and Vitamin B12 will help ward of depression as serotonin is produced.  

So how do we make sure our diet is full if these little bits of happiness? Here is a simple guide of how to add more Folate and Vitamin B12 to your diet, and keep your grumpy hormones at bay:

• For Breakfast - Pour yourself a glass of orange juice which is bursting with B12 and munch on fortified cereals such as all bran, or scramble up some eggs with some wholemeal toast. 
• For Lunch - Add spinach to your sandwich instead of lettuce or some juicy lentils to your salad. 
• At Dinner - Cook up some oily fish such as salmon on a bed of asparagus and broccoli.

                                                                                                     

You can also treat yourself to some pudding! Dark chocolate is packed with anti oxidants and is a much better choice than milk or white chocolate as it has more of the cocoa bean and less of the fortified fats (good news all round).  

Below is a list of foods which you can incorporate into your daily life to elevate your mood.  

Dairy (hello Macaroni and Cheese)

Liver

Blue potatoes

Coconut (no wonder tropical islanders are so happy)

Greek Yoghurt

Clams and oysters

Red Meat (Spag Bol with wholemeal pasta is a winner) 

So take my advice and start the year on a high! You can beat those January blues and still be healthy, just make better choices!

Thanks for reading, please feel free to leave a comment.

Sarah Clarke

xxx

What works for you when curing the blues? Please leave a comment below. 

Welcome and Happy New Year!

Welcome to Rabbit Food. 

In this Blog I hope to show you how to make better life style choices when it comes to food and fitness. I will teach you about nutritional information and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle while still enjoying the foods you love.

Short Bio

So first, a little bit about me. I have been putting off writing Rabbit Food for quite a while now, but I figured what better way to start the New Year than to bite the bullet and pursue my passion of writing, and my passion of health and fitness. I left the UK in February 2012 and since then I have travelled and worked in New Zealand and now I am living and working in Melbourne Australia. I want health and fitness to be more than just a hobby and to help people understand the world of nutrition and I think a blog is the perfect way to start!

Christmas Dinner 

Let me start by reminiscing about the scrumptious Christmas dinner we all enjoyed just a week ago. The festive season is renowned for making you eat until you burst and drink until you drop.  However, while you are having a rather happy relaxing time, your body is working harder than the elves in Santa's workshop trying to digest everything in your stomach. 

You continue to add more food to your already full pouch throughout the day which climaxes with a sweet Christmas pudding sending your insulin levels soaring as they try to control your 

sugar levels. 

A Christmas nap usually follows. Not only are you exhausted from the festivities, but you are also feeling sleepy because your stomach has sent a "rest and digest" signal to your brain. This has directed all of your available energy to digesting that second helping of turkey and Brussels sprouts.  

Your stomach is inflated and could be making you feel nauseous by pushing on the surrounding organs. You have probably eaten far more than your body needs, in which case, unfortunately, the excess food is converted in Reserve Triglycerides (which is a mechanism that stores unused calories) and will be packed into fat cells around your tummy and hips. 

New Beginnings

So as 2013 begins it is no surprise that most people I talk to are entering the New year with a few resolutions about weight loss and fitness goals. However, it is important to remember the need to be patient with our weight loss and fitness goals. Let me tell you this, restricting yourself of the food you love will leave you hungry irritable and unhappy. After you have deprived you self for a few weeks you will more than likely purge on the foods you love and be back to square one. Here is my first piece of advice for 2013: 

Don't make restrictions. Create new habits.


I think this is a good mantra to live by, and one that will help us all succeed in our new year's resolutions. Here is a second tip to start the New Year on a high: Drink. Lots. Of. Water. (Even if it has been said many times before!) Not only will water flush out all the nasty toxins that have ended up in your body over  the festive season but it will also help you feel fuller for longer and less prone to buying unhealthy snacks when passing the vendor at work. 

These three food are very clever in helping you lose weight:

Artichokes: Peel off and eat these leafy greens one by one, there is only 60 calories in one Artichoke and they are full with filling fiber which will ensure you consume less calories in the rest of your meal.

Pears: Full of a weight loss promoting fiber called Pectin pears are a wonderful snack or can be poached for a tasty dessert.

Tomatoes: High in fiber and water keeping you fuller for longer. And did you know, Tomatoes increase in nutritional power when cooked, so make a soup or roast in the oven for maximum effect. 

So, to conclude this post, I want to make clear that your New Year's resolution should not be restricting yourself of food, but it should be about making healthier choices and habits I want you to eat more in 2013, add tomatoes to you meal poach some pears for dessert and do not start eating rabbit food (think salads for every meal) and deprive yourself of the food your love, no one wants to live like that, and you do not have to! 

I hope you enjoyed reading, please feel free to leave comments and suggestions for upcoming posts, I will make sure I post a new one at least once a week, hopefully more!! 

Happy New Year to a everyone,  let's make even better choices this year! 

Sarah Clarke 

xxx