Breakfast Smoothie

Isiah Recipe ,
Breakfast Smoothie

Introduction

Favorite way to load up on healthy fruit that tastes like a dessert. 

Serves: 1 
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 minutes 

Ingredients

1 cup natural yoghurt  
1 cup reduced fat milk  
2 bananas  
2 teaspoon (Metric) honey  
1⁄2 cup ice cubes  
1 tablespoon (Metric) rolled oats  
1 passionfruit, halved, pulp removed (to garnish)

Breakfast Smoothie

Instructions

Blend all ingredients except passionfruit until smooth, pour into chilled glasses and serve topped with passionfruit. 

Nutritional Information

Energy:
Protein:
Fat:
Carbohydrates:
Sugars:
Fibre:
Sodium:
Calcium:
Iron:

1222 kJ
13.7 g
4.5 g (Saturated fat 2.7 g)
46.8 g
40.3 g
3.4 g
148 mg
394 mg
0.8 mg

Tips/ Handy Hints

And for a berry twist, add 1/2 cup of frozen raspberries to the blender.  
For longer lasting energy, serve with a piece of grainy toast or increase the amount of oats.  

Diets Work and Diets Don’t Work

Isiah Mindset ,
Diets Work and Diets Don’t Work

If you have failed in the past with your weight loss efforts, whether from not losing the desired amount of weight or not maintaining your desired weight, it is often because the plan you had was not effective in the long-term, or your reason for losing weight was not strong enough. With a strong reason and a workable plan, you can gain success and most importantly, maintain the results. 

Diets Work. Because of the caloric restriction of diets, your body will be made to use body fat stores for fuel (energy). The benefits of dieting are more evident in the

Diets Work and Diets Don’t Work

early stages of weight loss. They are, however, difficult to maintain. 

Diets don’t work. Dieting has no way to deal with metabolism, which has slowed in response to the diet. Whenever you start to burn stored energy, your body protects itself by becoming more efficient. This survival technique lowers metabolism when you are dieting. This is why your weight loss slows and eventually you hit a plateau. This can then lead to a state of continual dieting, which in turn leads to an even lower metabolism. That is why habitual dieters often increasingly fluctuate in body fat, the more they diet. 

With an overall plan that maintains your metabolism, you will be free of the never-ending cycle of dieting. 

Nutrition

It’s not only about the quantity of food that you eat, but also the quality of food. You literally are what you eat and every food either helps or hinders you. Once you realise this, you will start to become very careful about what you put into your body. Comparably, if you put inferior products (e.g. petrol and oil) into your car, your car will not perform as efficiently as if you use higher quality products.  

It is commonplace for people to consume a large proportion of their calorie intake from what they drink. This is often in the form of high-sugar drinks such as soft drinks which provide no nutritional value and can also lead to increased fatness and diabetes. Another issue is that ‘drinking calories’ does not as effectively lead to the feeling of satiety (i.e. the feeling of having had enough to eat) compared to whole foods. 

Exercise

Studies have shown that exercise not only helps to create a calorie deficit and therefore lose weight, but also enhances long term maintenance of weight loss. This will not only keep the weight off, you will have more energy to do the things that you love. 

Aerobic training for fat loss

Aerobic exercise (also referred to as cardio-vascular exercise) is important in controlling your level of body fat and will help you increase the strength of your heart and lungs. It is recommended that you perform 270 minutes of aerobic activity per week for optimal weight loss. This can be less if you are performing interval-type training, but the intensity needs to be much higher. Any amount, however, is better than none at all. For body fat loss, consider what your calorie deficit requirement is and use a combination of your eating and aerobic exercise plan to accomplish this level. 

Weight training for fat loss

Weight training, which is also referred to as resistance training, will help you maintain and/ or increase your body muscle mass, which in turn increases metabolism, therefore increasing the rate at which you can lose body fat. Your metabolism is the key to long-term weight maintenance and weight training is the best way to increase or at least maintain your metabolism. It is not necessary to do a lot of weight training. In fact, 2 sessions per week of 20 minutes each is enough to maintain your metabolism through the maintenance of your muscle mass, providing you work hard! 

Adults who replace muscle tissue through sensible weight training use more calories all day long, thereby reducing the likelihood of fat accumulation. Increasing your muscle mass by just 1.5 kg will burn an additional 1 kg of fat every year simply by the increased metabolic effect of the muscle. And that’s at rest! The amount of fat burned will be even more with exercise. 

Excuses

Even with increased efficiency in many aspects of our lives, we still use the excuse that we do not have enough time. Considering the amount of time we spend watching TV, on Facebook or playing computer games, it is more likely that we have developed poor time management, and fail to prioritise food preparation and exercise in our lives. I rarely meet anyone who can’t free up some time, often a substantial amount. It is all about priorities and making the best use of the time that you have. 

Having a sensible and balanced plan will help you to reach and maintain your target weight, as well as allowing you to have a healthier life. Your success is a matter of a few simple disciplines, practised each day. You always have a choice. The key is to make the right choices most of the time. 

Borscht

Isiah Recipe ,
Borscht

Introduction

Borscht is a simple beet soup typically made
with beef broth and garnished with sour cream. We give it a kick with horseradish. For a vegetarian soup, use vegetable broth instead.

Serves: 4 (about 1 cup each)
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups reduced-sodium beef broth, or vegetable broth
1 medium russet potato, peeled and diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 cups steamed cubed beets, 1/2-inch cubes (see Tip)
2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add broth, potato, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the potato is just tender, about 8 minutes. Add beets and vinegar; return to a boil. Cover and continue cooking until the broth is deep red and the potato is very soft, 2 to 3 minutes more.
  2. Combine sour cream and horseradish in a small bowl. Serve the soup with a dollop of the horseradish sour cream and a sprinkle of parsley

Nutritional Information

Per serving:
Calories:
Fat:
Cholesterol:
Carbohydrates:
Sugar:
Protein:
Fibre:
Sodium
Potassium:


172
10 g (Saturated fat 2 g, Monosaturated fat 6 g)
6 mg
18 g
0 g
5 g
3 g
395 mg
534 mg

Nutrition Bonus:

Vitamin C:
Potassium:

25% daily value
15% daily value

Tips/ Handy Hints

  • Tip: How to Prep & Steam Beets: Trim greens (if any) and root end; peel the skin with a vegetable peeler.
  • Cut beets into 1/2- to 1-inch-thick cubes, wedges or slices.
  • To steam on the stovetop: Place in a steamer basket over 1 inch of boiling water in a large pot. Cover and steam over high heat until tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
  • To steam in the microwave: Place in a glass baking dish, add 2 tablespoons water, cover tightly and microwave on High until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.
  • No time to prep? Look for Melissa’s brand Peeled Baby Red Beets in the produce section of many supermarkets. They’re peeled, steamed and ready to eat and contain far less sodium than their canned counterparts.

The Glycaemic Index

Isiah Nutrition ,
The Glycaemic Index

Unlike many diet plans that you come across, low Glycaemic Index (GI) is not a fad and there are no medical journal articles or scientific studies that say it isn’t a healthy dietary concept. Eating low GI carbohydrates is a key nutrition message that goes hand-in-hand with other healthy eating guidelines such as eat less saturated fats and eat more fruit and vegetables. 

The Glycaemic Index was devised when researchers considered in greater depth the dietary recommendations for diabetics; which at that stage was to eat more complex carbohydrates (starch) because they took longer to process and digest than simple carbohydrates (sugar). What the researchers discovered was that the effect of a carbohydrate on blood-glucose levels was not determined by the sugar or starch.

The Glycaemic Index

GI is a ranking (from 1 to 100) which measures the effect of a food on your blood-glucose level over the two hours after the food is eaten.  

When you consume carbohydrates; the blood-glucose rises and as your body produces insulin it transports the glucose out of the blood and into the cells of the body which then causes a fall in the blood-glucose level. When eating high GI foods, you get a sharp spike in blood glucose followed by a dramatic drop whereas with a low-GI food, there is a slower and steadier rise and therefore, fall in the blood-glucose level. 

Low-GI foods promote better health

Research has shown that sharp ‘spikes’ in the level of glucose in our blood (caused by high GI type foods) are damaging to our arteries, and they promote the release of far too much insulin.  

Eating low-GI foods helps to avoid those spikes and the resultant dramatic falls in blood-glucose so you get a much steadier stream of energy. This will, therefore, reduce your risk of heart disease and other chronic diseases that are implicated by those blood-glucose fluctuations. 

Low-GI foods contribute to weight control

There are 2 main reasons why high GI foods make it difficult to lose weight or manage your weight. 

Firstly, the resultant ‘crash’ from a glucose spike stimulates hunger because of the dramatic drop in glucose. This leads to you being hungry again within 1 – 2 hours after eating. By eating low GI foods you feel fuller for longer and are, therefore, not as likely to go searching for additional food every two hours. 

Secondly, insulin is a storage hormone that stores nutrients for later use by the body. A high-GI diet causes a lot of insulin to be produced and when you have too much insulin in your body too much of the time, it makes it easier to store fat and harder to burn it. 

Applying the low-GI concept to your diet

It is not necessary to know the GI value of all foods. Healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables, should be eaten daily regardless of their GI. Simply knowing the low, medium and high varieties of the major carbohydrate foods in your diet such as breakfast cereals, breads, rice and pasta, and choosing the low-GI options is sufficient to produce healthy benefits.

If you simply can’t go without some high GI favourites, simply serve a small portion and combine with a low GI food. This will create an overall lower GI load, i.e. the overall GI content of the meal. Simply balance your meal with protein, vegetables and predominantly low GI carbohydrates. 

The GI table

  • Low GI – 55 or less
  • Medium GI – 56-69 
  • High GI – 70 or more 

To find the GI of various foods, go to: http://www.glycemicindex.com/  

Berry French Toast

Isiah Recipe ,
Berry French Toast

Introduction

Treat yourself to a berry breakfast this weekend!

Ingredients

8 slices bread (wholemeal preferably)
2 cups fat reduced milk
1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon sugar
250 gram mixed berries
2 tablespoon (metric) honey

Instructions

  1. Dip bread, one slice at a time into combined milk and eggs, draining excess.
  2. Heat a non stick frypan over medium heat and cook bread on both sides until golden brown.
  3. Divide French toast between serving plates and top with combined ricotta cheese and cinnamon sugar. Sprinkle with mixed berries and a drizzle of honey.

Tips/ Handy Hints

Cinnamon sugar can be made by combining 1/2 cup caster sugar with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Store the remainder for later use. Bread can be substituted with thickly sliced wholemeal or wholegrain bread.

Change

Isiah Mindset ,
Change

While it may be scary to make changes, you will find strength and growth in the process. Tell yourself that things will never be the same. That YOU will never be the same. That this is an opportunity to realise new levels
of opportunity and growth.

The four steps needed to bring about a change are:  

Change

Awareness of the need to change → Commitment to the process → Action 

“If you don’t change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” ~ Lao Tzu 

Awareness

If you’re not happy with where you are, only one person can change it. It does take time and effort, however. 

Become aware of what it is you need or want to change. We are often boxed in by the boundaries (conditions) of our thinking, e.g. our environment, conditions, patterns and programming. It may be that you need to change your beliefs, habits, stressors, diet or exercise. It may take considerable thought and reflection to establish what you need to change. 

Some Questions

Below are some questions designed to promote thought to ‘bring out’ what changes you really want in your life. So step back, get some perspective and take an unemotional, honest look at your mindset, lifestyle, finances, relationships, career, diet, exercise habits, and any other aspects of your life. Identify what and how you need to change.  

  1. What’s missing in my life? For example, time, holidays, money, health, family. 
  2. What’s in my control? 
  3. What’s not working in my life right now? 
  4. What’s the best use of my time? 
  5. What’s the best use of my energy, skill and potential? 
  6. What do I have to be thankful for? 
  7. What can I learn from my current situation? 
  8. How am I contributing to this problem? 
  9. What do I need to let go of? 
  10. What does success look like for me? 
  11. What are my core values? 
  12. Is my life a reflection of those values? 
  13. What’s important to me? 

Once you have established changes that you need to make, ask each of the questions below for each of your desired changes. 

  1. Do I really want to be, do or have this? 
  2. Will being, doing or having this move me toward my ideal life? 
  3. Will being, doing or having this keep me in harmony with universal law? 
  4. Will being, doing or having this violate the rights of others? 

If you answered ‘Yes’, ‘Yes’, ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ to these questions, then you’re ready to make the change. 

If you are not 100% certain of what you want to change, it is due to either: 

  • You don’t know what you want 
  • You don’t know how to get it 
  • Something is stopping you 

If you don’t know what you want, spend more time ‘sitting’ with the above questions. If you are not sure how to get what you want, gain advice from someone with expertise in that particular area. If there is some factor stopping you, spend time gaining clarity around that sabotage factor. A coach may be of help in this is the case. 

What can you change?

Before you continue, it is important that you come to the realisation that there are some things that you can’t change.  

Using your body as an example, your genes play a large role in determining how much you weigh. Your genetic code contains the blueprint for our body type. Your environment only plays a role in obesity in that it enables those obesogenic genes to be expressed.  

Take, for example, a study from Denmark, in which the researchers compared the weight of more than 500 adopted children with that of their biological parents and that of their adoptive parents. If learned eating habits influence a child’s body weight more than genes do, his or her body weight should be similar to his or her adoptive parents. Conversely, if genes influence a child’s body weight more than environment does, his or her body weight should be similar to that of the biological parents. What did the researchers find? Interestingly, the children’s body weight was highly correlated with the weight of their biological parents but not with the weight of their adoptive parents, even though their biological parents were not raising them.  

Another study in which identical twins were studied, researchers compared the body weight of 93 pairs of identical twins who were raised apart in separate homes and 154 pairs of identical twins raised together in the same home. The results of the study showed that the body weights of the identical twins were highly correlated whether the twins were raised together or apart. The results of this and other twin studies have shown that genes account for 70 percent of the variation in people’s body weight. That’s a pretty large influence. 

So what can’t you change? 

Your chronological age – There is no point stressing about how old you are. You were born when you were born – there is no changing that. 

Your sex – Men and women are meant to be different, and have different physiologies and structure. As with age, you need to work with who you are and be happy in that. 

Your genetics – We have different body types and metabolic rates. Work with what you have. 

Your history – Success or failures of the past are just that, the past. Move on! What are you going to do differently to make you successful now? It is crucial that you do things differently than you have done in the past if you want to get a different result. 

So, what do we do? We focus on the 30 percent that we can control. 

What to change

Control what you can control. You do have a great deal of control over your body, even if your genetics are pre-disposed to being a particular way. 

What you can change: 

Your biological age (how “old” your body is) – By having a healthier lifestyle, you can change your biological age, which in turn will improve the quality of your life – and potentially increase the length of your life. It may be more difficult to create change as a 50+ year old, but you are still very adaptable. It comes down to what we do at our age rather than what our age is. 

Your typical behaviours – You are in control of your day-to-day habits! It is your choice whether you exercise in the morning or stay in bed an extra half an hour; eat chocolate as a snack or a piece of fruit; smoke cigarettes or not. 

Your diet – It is your choice what you eat. The key is to become aware of your psychology, habits and other factors that cause you to make the choices that you currently make. Building your own effective meal pattern that works within your lifestyle commitments is the best approach. Having flexibility for detours from your regular healthy pattern will provide the best recipe for success. 

Your lifestyle – The amount of sleep you have; your level of stress; your alcohol consumption; smoking cigarettes; taking drugs; how you relax; your work/ life balance are all areas of your lifestyle that you can change if you want. 

Your exercise habits – Your body is meant to move every day and ideally in a variety of different ways. Do some form of exercise or activity every day and endeavour to vary it as much as possible. 

Your attitude – The state of your physiology is a by-product of your psychology. By becoming aware of the underlying factors that cause you to act or respond in a particular way, you can begin to dismantle those things that sabotage your efforts to accomplish your goals. A Food Diary can help, together with a general awareness. 

Don’t try to undo years (or decades) of abuse by next week. The more drastic and numerous the changes, the less likely you are to maintain any of them. You need to take one step at a time. 

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.” ~ Abraham Lincoln 

Commitment to change

Change can be difficult, but by establishing a definite reason (purpose) and creating a strong support base, together with the education required, you can become the person you want to be and lead your ideal life.  

Any decision you make is simply a promise to yourself that isn’t worth anything until you have totally committed to keeping it. And unless you have a definite purpose with which to link the new promise, your chances of success are minimal.  

With commitment comes resourcefulness. By truly committing to the task at hand, you will find resources to assist will come to you.  

Change the way you do things by changing your neural pathway (habit) immediately. You need to be committed to the process of change. It’s not enough to consciously decide to make a change. Change happens at the sub-conscious level immediately. Everything prior to the change is just a lead up or a set-up. What is it you need to change and what habit will you replace it with? Create a compelling pathway – what will it feel/ sound/ look like? Pave your imagination with as much detail as possible. If you have been able to develop poor eating habits, then you are equally able to develop healthy ones. 

There are many decisions we make in our lives that we can look back on as significant, even though we may not have realised it at the time. Life-changing moments can occur without the great fanfare we might expect.  In fact, the decisions you are making right now are shaping your destiny.  

When in doubt, just take the next small step. 

Most people, however, do not take total responsibility for their outcomes; in fact, it is generally about 2% of people who do. They are the ones who create the life they desire without any blame, excuses or denial. 

The other 98% are the ones who always seem to have someone or something to blame, or have an excuse as to why they can’t do it now or are in denial about their current situation. It seems they are stuck in a ‘victim’ mentality. 

Once you have made the commitment, it is then about consistent and persistent action until you reach your goal and beyond.  

Note that there will be challenges along the way. But challenges in life don’t arise haphazardly, no matter how accidental or coincidental they may seem. They only arrive when you’re ready for them. Not when you’re ready to be squashed, but when you’re ready to grow, overcome, and be more than who you were before they arrived. 

”Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.”  ~ W. H. Murray 

Fear

“Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure.” ~ Paulo Coelho 

Changing stuff is not as hard as you think. It’s fear that stops you. Challenge your thinking regularly. Do you have the courage to get out of your comfort zone (and stay out)? 

How would you live your life if you had no fear? 

Most of our fears are from beliefs created before the age of 7 years of age. If your efforts are being sabotaged by these beliefs, it’s time to change your beliefs. 

Most problems and solutions are created in your imagination. You can’t change a problem with the same thought process that created the problem. 

Action

We create via our actions or not. If you want to be a fat, lazy person, do what fat, lazy people do. If you don’t…don’t. 

When you make the decision to change something, it is important to establish clearly defined, manageable steps that will lead you to accomplish your goal. Learn to love doing what is necessary to accomplish your goals.  

You cannot achieve change without taking action! You need to decide if you are willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish your goal or whether it is just wishful thinking. If you are not ready to make the necessary changes, it is better to admit to yourself that now is not the right time, and wait until the time is right. Trying to do something that you are not totally committed to will just lead to failure. This will adversely affect your belief system, making it harder in the future when you do decide you’re ready. 

Form a circle of support around you. Ideal people to provide this support include family, friends, co-workers and/ or a coach. They are generally people that want to help but sometimes may not know how.  

As young children, we made mistakes & moved on. Then we started formal education where we learned not to make mistakes (to step back into your comfort zone whenever things get difficult instead of learning like a young child). 

The Australian military has found that when fired upon, more success was gained moving toward the danger or taking cover in place rather than to move away.  

So take pro-active positive action and move forward. 

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” ~ Henry David Thoreau 

Poem

When you feel discouraged or feel like giving up, perhaps this poem by William Ernest Henley will help. 

Out of the night that covers me,  
Black as the pit from pole to pole,  
I thank whatever gods may be  
For my unconquerable soul.   

In the fell clutch of circumstance  
I have not winced nor cried aloud.  
Under the bludgeonings of chance  
My head is bloody, but unbowed.  

Beyond this place of wrath and tears  
Looms but the Horror of the shade,  
And yet the menace of the years  
Finds and shall find me unafraid.  

It matters not how strait the gate,  
How charged with punishments the scroll,  
I am the master of my fate,  
I am the captain of my soul.  

BBQ Halloumi and Vegetable Kebabs

Isiah Recipe
BBQ Halloumi and Vegetable Kebabs

Introduction

No BBQ or summer party should be complete without some kind of halloumi dish and these Vegetable and Halloumi Kebabs are our favourite way to serve them.

Serves: 8
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

2 zucchini, peeled into ribbons
2 x 180g pkts halloumi, cut into 2cm cubes
250g cherry tomatoes
1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
1 tablespoon Coles brand olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
Lemon wedges, to serve

BBQ Halloumi and Vegetable Kebabs

Instructions

  1. Preheat barbecue grill on medium. Place zucchini in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Set aside for 2 mins. Drain.
  2. Place the zucchini, halloumi, tomatoes and onion in a large bowl. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with oregano and paprika. Gently toss to combine.
  3. Thread vegetables and halloumi onto soaked bamboo skewers (see tip). Cook for 2 mins each side or until lightly charred. Serve on a platter with lemon wedges.

Nutritional Information

9717 calories per serving

Tips/Handy Hints

You’ll need to soak 16 bamboo skewers in water for 10 mins – this stops them burning on the barbecue.

How Low-Carb Eating Could Be Lowering Your Performance

Isiah Nutrition ,

The human body has evolved to be less fussy about what foods it can utilise for energy.

All macronutrients (carbohydrates, fat and protein) get used as fuel in some way depending
on a variety of circumstances including which individual macronutrient is in abundant supply.
For example, when carbohydrate (glucose) is low, the body burns an increased proportion of fat.

All macronutrients (carbohydrates, fat and protein) get used as fuel in some way depending on a variety of circumstances including which individual macronutrient is in abundant supply. For example, when carbohydrate (glucose) is low, the body burns an increased proportion of fat.

How Low-Carb Eating Could Be Lowering Your Performance

Exercise scientists have tried for many years to develop diets that make use of the vast fat stores of energy we all have (it’s much more than glucose), yet still maintain the use of glucose for the more intense aspects of sports competition and high level performance. Marathon running is a good example. Fat will fuel the endurance part of the race, especially in the later stages, but when it comes to a sprint up a hill or to the finish line, the research says that unless those enzymes that get glucose from storage are operating at peak efficiency, you will be slower in the sprint. Another example is that you will not be able to lift as much at the gym if you eat a low carbohydrate diet. Eating to emphasize fat burning does just this: it degrades the response of these glucose-providing enzymes, and that makes you slower at shorter, high-intensity effort. And this process doesn’t get reversed quickly with more carbohydrate consumption. It takes time to favour glucose burning again.

Next time you feel a bit tired or lethargic at the gym or otherwise, consider the balance of your nutrition plan. It comes down to a healthy balance between all macronutrients and quality food.

Control the Controllable 

Isiah Mindset ,
Control the Controllable 

So you want to lose weight? 

There are many things that you can change in your life to support you in your quest to lose weight and get the body you want. There are other things that you may dwell on that will not help you in your weight loss efforts. So don’t bother spending time and effort, and stressing over stuff that you can’t control. 

Control the Controllable

What you can’t change:

Your chronological age  
There is no point stressing about how old you are. You were born when you were born – there is no changing that. 

Your sex  
Well, maybe it is possible, but for most, it’s not on the table of options!  

Men and women are meant to be different, and have different physiologies and structure. As with age, you need to work with who you are and be happy in that. 

Your genetics  
We have different body types and metabolic rates. You are not going to change your DNA so work with what you have.

Your history
Success or failures of the past are just that, the past. Move on!  

Einstein once defined insanity as, ‘Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. 

What are you going to do differently to make you successful now? It is crucial that you do things differently than you have done in the past if you want to get a different result. 

What you can change:

Your biological age (how “old” your body is)
By having a healthier lifestyle, you can change your biological age, which in turn will improve the quality of your life – and potentially increase the length of your life. It may be more difficult to create change as a 50+ year old, but you are still very adaptable. It comes down to what we do at our age rather than what our age is.

Your typical behaviours
You are in control of your day-to-day habits! It is your choice whether you exercise in the morning or stay in bed an extra half an hour; eat chocolate as a snack or a piece of fruit; smoke cigarettes or not.

Your diet
It is your choice what you eat. The key is to become aware of your psychology, habits and other factors that cause you to make the choices that you currently make. Building your own effective meal pattern that works within your lifestyle commitments is the best approach. Having flexibility for detours from your regular healthy pattern will provide the best recipe for success.

Your lifestyle
The amount of sleep you have; your level of stress; your alcohol consumption; smoking cigarettes; taking drugs; how you relax; your work/ life balance are all areas of your lifestyle that you can change if you want.

Your exercise habits
Your body is meant to move every day and ideally in a variety of different ways. Do some form of exercise or activity every day and endeavour to vary it as much as possible.

Your attitude
The state of your physiology is a by-product of your psychology. By becoming aware of the underlying factors that cause you to act or respond in a particular way, you can begin to dismantle those things that sabotage your efforts to accomplish your goals. A Food Diary can help, together with a general awareness. 

Don’t try to undo years (or decades) of abuse by next week. The more drastic and numerous the changes, the less likely you are to maintain any of them. You need to take one step at a time. 

With commitment comes resourcefulness. By truly committing to the task at hand, you will find resources to assist will come to you. 

So step back, get some perspective and take an unemotional, honest look at your diet, your exercise habits, your mindset, your lifestyle, and any other relevant factors. Identify what and how you can and need to change and take the first step.