Do you sometimes feel uninspired to train? Even with a goal or event in mind, you still find yourself training without gusto or skipping sessions. One way to snap you out of this very vanilla phase is to land yourself a training buddy. Like any healthy relationship there can be ups and downs, but the journey is always much more fulfilling when you are sharing it with someone.

Recently I ran the Melbourne Marathon. I had the most incredible weekend, not just because I scored a PB of 3hr 16min but because I shared the experience with my new training buddy Michelle Bridges. Although we’ve been friends for many years, becoming training buddies was quite left field.

Mish and I had a long lunch one day, and after a few cheeky wines, she started heckling me about running marathons. “Put your money where your mouth is girlfriend!” I said. “You think you’re pretty fit? Lets see you run 42km..! In fact come and run 22km on Sunday with me and the STaRs. That’ll sort you out!” The conversation continued along that path for quite some time until other patrons were clearly disturbed by our rowdy behaviour.  I got a sheepish phone call the next day asking if she really had to come running at 6am on Sunday? I insisted that she join us and thank God she did!

What is a training buddy?

Most people think of a training buddy as someone that you actually train with, but this isn’t always the case. A true training buddy is anyone who is committed to your journey to the same degree (sometimes even greater) than you are. This could be a running partner but it could also be a family member, a trainer, your twitter followers, or a website forum buddy. Many people think their training buddy should be fitter or more experienced than them, but I argue that it can be even more fulfilling to mentor a newby who will gain so much from your experience.

The best training buddies:

• Need you just as much as you need them
• Are reliable
• Always encouraging
• There for support when you need it
• Tell you to harden up when you are wimping out (in a caring way of course!)
• Assist you with programming and advice
• Competitive but in a healthy, sportsman-like way
• Hold you accountable for your sessions
• Make workouts much more enjoyable

How to get the most out of each other:

Woody Allen once summed it up saying “eighty percent of success is showing up.” For exercise this is also true. One of the biggest benefits of your training buddy is committing to your training sessions. If you tell someone you are going to do it, then you really have to do it. Whether they are physically with you or not, if you’ve committed to your sessions that week, you don’t want to let them down. Besides commitment training buddies should also;

• Hold each other accountable for training sessions
• Phone/email/text after each training session. Not only will you try harder knowing you are relaying your workout, but it will inspire them to get up and do the same.
• Send motivating/educational material over when you stumble across it.
• Don’t let injuries/illnesses affect the relationship, you can still assist each other, even on the bench
• Be training for the same or a similar event.

How to find your training buddy

If you belong to a gym or a running group you are already halfway there. I am sure many of the people you chat to at the various events would make perfect training buddies. Start by swapping email addresses or phone numbers, drop them a line a few days before a session to see if they are coming, send them some interesting running info such as websites or articles. If you both sign up for a similar event, get busy getting involved in each other’s training. Before you know it, you have ‘buddied-up’ and are well on the way to receiving the benefits that follow. Fitness level, age, gender, all that jazz can be thrown out the window. Are you both keen? Do you get on well? Who cares if you aren’t actually running together, you can still support each other! Twitter is a great medium for this. When I ran Boston Marathon on my own last April, I searched “Boston Marathon” in twitter and started following lots of people who were tweeting about it. I got so much support and help that way.

Michelle and I buddy up for Melbourne Marathon

After two Sunday’s with my running group the Sydney Striders, one 22km (13.7mi) and one 30km (18.6mi), Mish had been bitten by the striders bug. I double checked she wanted to run the marathon. Yes. We shook on it. Melbourne here we come. With only 6 weeks to prepare, it was straight into the heavy stuff. I set Mish a training program of 80kms (50mi) per week broken up into one sprint session at the oval, one 30km run, and various other tempo sessions. Usually my marathon programs start 16 weeks out so it was pretty heavy going on both of us at first.

The only time we trained together was the Sunday runs, the rest of the time we trained alone but would be calling or texting most days. I remember one morning when I was seriously thinking of ditching my sprint session, then I received a funny text from Mish, something along the lines of “Faaarrrrk those sprints. I’ve coughed up a lung! I can’t believe you’ve made me do this – but I love it!” How could I have slept in? So off I went to cough up the other lung and hold up my end of the bargain!

We had our moments, never with each other but certainly with training. Mish missed an all important ½ marathon one day, miscalculating the traffic. I completely forgot about daylight saving and left her high and dry (actually wet) on our last (rainy) 30ks before Melbourne. We had dust storms and bad weather, Celebrity Masterchef and all sorts of distractions but with the support of each other, we remained focussed on the race. The beauty of the Sydney Striders is that when one buddy can’t be around, there are others to lean on.

When it came to marathon weekend that’s when a buddy really comes in handy. From carb loading to laying out our clothes. From bib collection to bag drop off, having a buddy to help navigate the complexities of race day is very comforting. The only thing we weren’t able to help each other with was attempting to walk down stairs after the race. There were no pillars of strength when it came to tackling those stairs! Before the race, Mish said she only ever wanted to do one marathon, but since then she tells me she has actually been missing her Sunday runs and all the great (she may have said insane) people who make up the Sydney Striders.

So for anyone out there who suffers from the dreaded de-motivation virus, inject some fun back into your workouts by finding yourself a training buddy. Who knows what they’ll inspire you to do or could it be the other way around!

Do you have any good training buddy stories? Have you ever mentored anyone?

Editors Note: This post is written by our elite performance specialist Andrew Verdon. Andrew has completed a Diploma in Exercise Science, Certificate IV in Fitness, Level 1 Strength Coaching Qualifications with ASCA. He is currently completing a Post Grad Diploma in Applied Science (Elite Sports Training) and will go on to do a Masters in Recovery.

The well known “30 minutes a day” exercise guidelines were released back in 1995. These guidelines have recently been updated and new guidelines for physical activity  were released by the ACSM.

The ACSM is the American College of Sports Medicine. It is the peak body for sports medicine in the world and is the  largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world with more than 20,000 members.

The new guidelines for health adults under 65 years are:

• The basic recommendations are:
• Do 30 mins 5 days a week of  MODERATE intensity cardio or
• Do 20 minutes a day of VIGOROUS intensity cardio, and
• Complete STRENGTH training twice per week

Quite an update- and keep in mind these are the minimum  levels recommended for an average adult to  maintain health and reduce the risk for chronic disease. If your goal is weight loss then they expand these basic levels out to 60-90 minutes of activity per day.

Definitions:

Moderate intensity- this is hard enough to raise a sweat and increase your hear rate but you can still talk. As a guide your hear rate would be 100-130 bpm

Vigorous intensity -  this is an intense cardio session. Your hear rate would be higher than a moderate session and you could NOT hold a conversation. As a general guide your heart rate would be 140 bpm plus.

Strength training - the ACSM  defines as 8-10 different exercises with 8-12 repetitions completed of each.

Changes to the 1995 guidelines:

1. Moderate intensity exercise has been clarified to set a recommended minimum- ie 5 days per week.
2. Vigorous exercise has been specifically incorporated as crucial
3. The light  daily activities of routine life are not intense enough
4. More is better- the fact is emphasised that these are the minimum levels. Exceeding the minimum levels further reduces the risk of chronic disease and improves health. There is a clear dose – response relationship.
5. Strength training is now included and recommended to be completed twice per week as a minimum.

Tips to meet these guidelines:

• Short bouts - You can accumulate 30 mins in short bouts
• Mix it up – combine moderate and vigorous intensity into the one cardio session. Eg you can walk and jog together in one session or walk and climb hills or stairs to increase  the intensity
• Get organised – Set a schedule to set aside a specific day and time to exercise each week.
• A gym is not a necessity- all they suggest you need is a good quality pair of shoes, a plan, some guidance and motivation!
• Get the whole family involved- parents, spouse, kids and friends can all make good exercise partners.
• Variety - Higher intensity physical activity can be accumulated through a variety of activities- do not fall into the trap of thinking you have to run to get your heart rate up. Think outside the trap of the boring “I have to go for a jog.”

As an exercise coach I am happy to see the levels of intensity be specified very clearly as well as the introduction of a strength training recommendation. I believe most people live their lives in 1st or 2nd gear to use a car analogy. You need to get your engine into 3^rd, 4^th or 5^th gear occasionally too. Your body uses different energy systems and different chemical processes at different intensities and all should be used across a week.

I am very strict with all my clients to get some strength training in their week. I have seen some great results from strength training on a variety of clients from teenagers to several clients in their 70’s and 80’s. strength is crucial at all stages of life. It leads to good posture, stability and  independence as we age as well as stimulate healthy lean body mass and tissue for many positive health benefits.

So what does this mean for the average person?

Most people I consult with or talk to are active – vey few people are not aware of the health benefits of regular activity BUT these new recommendations define clearly WHAT  and well as HOW OFTEN we should be active. The minimum is 5 days per week up from 3 days and the type and intensity of the activity have  also been specified. What will surprise some people who go for a brisk half hour walk three times per week is they are NOT meeting the MINIMUM levels of exercise.

How many people do you know who meet the minimum requirements?

This post is written by our elite performance specialist Andrew Verdon. Andrew has completed a Diploma in Exercise Science, Certificate IV in Fitness, Level 1 Strength Coaching Qualifications with ASCA. Should you have any questions for Andrew, please direct them to the ‘Ask Me’ section of www.ameliaburton.com.au

Editors Note: This post is written by contributor Gina Ryan. Gina is a licensed nutritionist and Wellness coach from Hawaii. Read her Bio on the About page or visit her blog Lunch Without Ed.

Depending where you live in the world you may be swimming in tomatoes right now. Traditionally the overabundance of tomatoes leads to the process of cooking sauce and canning it for the months to come. When the more intricate process of canning is not available it is perfectly fine to freeze your sauce and enjoy it just the same. This post explores the health benefits of tomatoes and shows you how to make your own tomato based sauce from scratch.

If you don’t have a favorite sauce recipe or if this is the first time you may be considering this delightful kitchen project here is a great marina sauce recipe. It even has instructions on how to take out the seeds if this is your first attempt.

Cooked Tomatoes Powerful Benefits

There is something really special about your own homemade sauce and there is something even more special about the cooked tomato!

We have been aware of the wonderful health giving properties of the tom as it contains lycopene, the photochemical which makes them red but which also has significant antioxidant properties.

Lycopene is know as a  carotenoid with some other nutrients in this group like beta-carotene and retinol, which are both found in carrots. Lycopene, in certain foods, is the coloring agent. It also does not have the vitamin A characteristics that beta-carotene and retinol do, but is fat-soluble (so be sure you have some olive oil in  your sauce or your body won’t be able to absorb the lycopene as well) similar to vitamin A. The power of this antioxidant, lycopene is made even more powerful through cooking.

Tomatoes contain 3.1 grams per 100g and watermelon 4.1 grams per 100g of lycopene. Tomatoes also contain amounts of Beta Carotene (which can be converted to A-Carotene) and vitamin C, which fight free radicals in the system. For cancer protection and overall health benefits, tomatoes are a powerful and easy to incorporate into your meals.

What do Tomatoes contain that makes them so good for us?

• Lycopene: Powerful antioxidant that has been linked to preventing skin damage, CV disease, cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes and male infertility.
• Beta Carotene: helps prevent night blindness, skin disorders, enhances immunity, slows the ageing process.
• Vitamin C: Another powerful antioxidant. Increases immune strength, repairs damaged tissues including blood vessels, scar tissue and cartilage.

Lycopene has been considered to be helpful in preventing cancers and specifically prostrate cancer. With Italian men having a low instance of prostate cancer we can see for ourselves how helpful the cooked tomato has been for them.

Promoting health with foods containing lycopene can be easy and delightful if combined with other foods containing antioxidants to make delicious meals that help fight cancer. Garlic and onions, both containing powerful antioxidants, can be cooked with tomatoes to make a healthful sauce. You can add some red peppers to a sauce to increase the antioxidant benefit.

Making your own sauce is a healthy, fun and delicious alternative to bottled/tinned sauces when many contain preservatives and excess salt. Click here for a basic  marina sauce recipe. Or do you have another sauce recipe you love???

You can read Gina’s full bio on the About page or visit her blog http://www.lunchwithouted.wordpress.com.

Here is a hysterical clip of what not to do in the weights room. The obnoxious spotter is my personal favorite!

Don’t be ‘that’ guy!

1. The Show off
2. The Grunter
3. The Sight seer
4. The Machine Lurker
5. The Mirror Flexor
6. The Obnoxious Spotter
7. The No-Towel Guy

My Personal additions;

• The Stinky Guy
• The I’m-too-good-to-put-my-weights-away Guy
• The Shorter than short shorts Guy (doing stiff legged dead lifts)

Have you got any funny gym stories to tell? I used to work at a gym that had ’shirts off Fridays.’ It was usually only the boys who partook!

Editors Note: This post is written by contributor Gina Ryan. Gina is a licensed nutritionist and Wellness coach from Hawaii. Read her Bio on the About page or visit her blog Lunch Without Ed.

Fat. The word itself will bring up some emotion for most people and for many it isn’t pretty!  Love it or hate it we find it back in the news, now with the scientific community saying the science was not really there all along.

Take for example this quote from a recent article;

“For more than three decades, we’ve been told that fatty foods are deadly, to blame for a full menu of health hazards, from heart disease to obesity to cancer. Regularly described as the nutritional equivalent of cigarettes, fat has been the target of public-service campaigns and municipal bans aimed at keeping us slender and healthy. But a growing body of international research suggests our obsessive fear of fat may be misplaced. A high-fat diet won’t necessarily make us sick or fat; a low-fat diet may not make us healthy or slim.” from Janet Paskin | June/July Ode Magazine.

This is enough to make one think there’s a conspiracy theory out there! The reality is that things are often simply taken to the extreme. If a little is good then a lot must be great type of thinking has gotten the nutrition community into a lot of hot water.

The low fat craze began with the best of intentions and for those who were overindulging in the macro nutrient (Proteins, carbohydrates, fats), lowering their fat intake was probably a good idea. The trouble began when people began to cut the entire nutrient out of their diets. Going from low fat to no fat and fake fat -all the while the population got heavier and yes fatter. Not everyone- just those caught in the cracks. By cracks I am speaking of people who listen to the advertisers.

Reading a no fat box of cookies made one feel they could enjoy the treat free of concern of the impact it may have on their health, because low fat or non fat was the new way to be eating for weight loss and heart health. That is what the makers of the no fat cookie wanted you to believe. Yet it was not true. That box of cookies gave no satisfaction and hence the entire box could have been eaten to try to get the sense that something yummy and satisfying was just eaten and it was full of sugar.  Food consists of micro and macro nutrients and the fact is fat is one of the three macro nutrients and the health and well-being of the human body depends on a regular amount of it, the real thing.

How much fat do we need?

Guidelines suggest that 10-30% of your daily calories should come from fat. The World Health Organization recommends a maximum of 30%, whilst other health organizations recommend only 10%. A guideline is around 40g (1.5 ounces) fat per day for women and 60g (2 ounces) fat per day for men.

Nine fat payoffs

Besides making your bum look big, here are nine more productive ways your body utilizes fat.

• Brain Fats compose 60% of the brain and are essential to brain function, including learning abilities, memory retention and moods. Fats are especially important for pregnant women, since they are integral to fetal brain development.

• Cells Fatty acids help your cells stay flexible, as well as building cell membranes.

• Digestion Fats slow down the digestion process so the body has more time to absorb nutrients. Fats help provide a constant level of energy and also keep the body satiated for longer periods of time. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) can only be absorbed if fat is present.

• Eyes Fats are essential to eye function

• Heart 60% of our heart’s energy comes from burning fats. Specific fats are also used to help keep the heart beating in a regular rhythm.

• Immune System Some fats ease inflammation, helping your metabolism and immune system stay healthy and functioning.

• Lungs Lung surfactant, which requires a high concentration of saturated fats, enables the lungs to work and keeps them from collapsing.

• Nerves Fats compose the material that insulates and protects the nerves, isolating electrical impulses and speeding their transmission.

• Vital Organs Fats cushion and protect your internal organs.

So take another look at your fat intake and let it be from the most natural state possible, this will help eliminate the trans fats without even trying! Look at using butter, ghee, cold water fish, avocado, nuts, eggs with the yolks, coconut oil and olive oil to name a few. Using fat in a balanced manner is the key to a healthy and satisfying diet for life.

You can read Gina’s full bio on the About page or visit her blog http://www.lunchwithouted.wordpress.com.

What’s your training program like? Do you focus on increasing your miles each week, maybe a bit of speed work here and there, and of course a token stretch at the end of each session? Well hats off to you because unlike 85% of the population at least you are doing something! But whether you are an amateur runner or a competitive athlete, adding a resistance session each week might just be the thing you need to take your further, faster and with fewer injuries.  This article looks at the reasoning behind resistance training for runners and identifies the top resistance training exercises all runners should do.

What is Resistance training for distance running?

Conventionally we think of resistance training as weights machines, dumbbells, slow movements and heavy weights (with lots of grunting).  Resistance training for runners is quite different. It’s about loading the muscles in a manner that replicates running to improve their strength power, endurance and most importantly coordination. It’s about identifying the weaker muscles in the body and developing them to prevent injury. It is NOT about building unnecessary bulk or damaging already fatigued tissue and I must stress that incorrect resistance training can tighten you up and slow you down.

What purpose does it serve?

There are four key areas that resistance training will help you with: Speed, muscular endurance, efficiency of running technique, and injury prevention.

• Increase strength of your prime movers for speed and distance: The stronger your quads, glutes and hamstrings are the faster your will go and the longer you will be able to maintain your pace. Obviously nothing beats running to strengthen these,  but resistance work involving sprints, uphill and downhill running improve their strength much faster.
• Prevents injury by Increase strength of your stabilisers: Your prime movers can only work as hard as your stabilisers will allow. It doesn’t matter how strong/fit you are, if you have poor hip knee and ankle stability, you will never reach your full potential in both speed and endurance.
• Increase coordination: Similar to stability, the faster you fatigue the sooner your coordination goes. Look at a distance athlete and how smooth their running style is. That is good coordination. All muscles, tendons, ligaments and joint actions are working in smooth unison to create effortless strides. The more fatigued you get the worse these actions interrelate creating a less economical stride which slows you down and increases your chance of injury.
• Increase stride length: As you fatigue, your stride naturally shortens, your muscles tighten and you slow down. By increasing your stride length (within reason) you can maintain a faster pace and waste less energy through excessive foot strikes.

Two Training Programs for Runners

Click here for a printable program you can take to the park/oval for your resistance session. Ideally you will need a stop watch and a skipping rope, but exercises can be performed without them.

Click here for a printable program for Core Stability and VMO/Glute Activation. You will need a swiss ball and leg extension machine for these.

The below animations will help you understand the exercises in the programs. Familiarize yourself with these exercises before printing out your workout sheets:

Skipping/Hopping

Bounding

Jumping on/off step

Plyometric Lunges

Burpees

1. Start in a standing position and bend your knees and place your hands on the ground.
2. Extend your legs back into a push up position. Bring your knees back in towards chest and explosively jump in the air.
3. This should be a continuous motion and be fluid.

Walking Lunges (Hand weights optional)

Single Leg Squat (Try not to hold on and I prefer foot to balance in air not across other leg)

What are the best muscle balancing exercises for injury prone runners?

Leg Extension: from 15-30degrees, toes turned out slightly, focusing on VMO activation. Light weight. 3 x 15-20 reps.

Lunges: Focus on the VMO of the front leg and glutes of the front leg. Keep your knees tracking straight and don’t let them internally rotate as you lower.

Core Stability exercises: Click here for a printable program

1. Alternating Single Leg Bridge

3 x 15 reps

2.Double Leg Pike:

2 x 2 min

3. Alternate Arm Swings and Single Leg Raises

3 x 15 reps

4. Side Raises on Ball

3 x 12 each side

Click here for Printable resistance program. Click here for printable Core and VMO/Glute activation program

For more detailed core stability exercises,  click on my core stability four part series linked here.

• Core Stability Part 1- A Remedy For Back Pain
• Core Stability Part 2: The spinal neutral test
• Core Stability Part 3: Challenging your core muscles
• Core Stability Part 4: Functional Exercises -the plank and its wacky variations
• Abdominal Exercises: Exercise Your Oblique Muscles to Get Rid of the Love Handles

Have you got any other Resistance training exercises that would be good for runners? Link to them in your comments below.

Editors Note: This post is written by blogger Mary Ward who writes about various health care career topics.

Many people attribute the onset of childhood obesity with too much video game playing. There is definite truth to that as kids have gone from playing outside all day long to sitting constantly in front of the screen and playing video games without taking a breather. There is however a new evolution of video games that are actually good for you and/or your children that can help you to burn calories and ultimately lose weight. Who would have thought it? Here we look at the top video games that can help you stay active, burn some calories, and ultimately shed the unwanted weight.

1. Wii Fit:

This is like a whole new movement and nobody wants to be left behind! The Wii Fit is the hottest new game in town and this is the most enjoyable way to burn some serious calories. The Wii was already a popular gaming system with interactive games that made parties fun and kept people jumping. With the addition of the Wii fit, individuals can create customized workout plans or enjoy some excellent plans. You can get some serious calorie burning in on this enjoyable game that makes sweating it out actually enjoyable!

2. GameRunner:

This is essentially a treadmill tied to the screen of a video game, but the fun and the calorie burning are far beyond expectations. You take on a character and move along throughout the game in a rather interactive manner that helps to burn some serious calories in the process. This has gained in popularity so that people of all ages and walks of life that enjoy a good work out and a fun video game can truly have it all.

3. Exer-Station:

This is a big life-sized joystick that allows you to enjoy a workout right in front of your video game monitor. You get a full body workout due to the resistance that this device provides, so once you strap in you can enjoy some music and get a fun little workout in without even feeling like you’re breaking a sweat. This is an excellent way to burn some calories and enjoy a fun video game in the process-fun for kids of all ages!

4. Dance Dance Revolution: (see above you tube clip)

If you’ve always been a fan of dance or just want to enjoy some dancing in the comfort of your own home without anybody observing or judging, then this is a great option. You can participate in any one of the fun and exhilarating programs within this video game and burn the calories while you laugh it up at your results. This is a lot of fun and great for groups or regular physical activity that doesn’t need to feel that way.

5. Tetris Weightlifting:

This is definitely kicking it back old school, but that doesn’t lessen the effect of this game. You can sit at the monitor and decide upon how much resistance you want to enjoy the utmost in weight lifting through a virtual video game experience. Not quite sure if this one is meant to be taken seriously!

Who says exercise can’t be fun?  Certainly not the creators-or users-of these 5 video games; with them, you and yours can be well on your way to fit without ever feeling like it’s a chore.

Mary Ward writes about various health care career topics, including how to choose among surgical technician courses.

Editors Note: This post is written by contributor Gina Ryan. Gina is a licensed nutritionist and Wellness coach from Hawaii. Read her Bio on the About page or visit her blog Lunch Without Ed.

Much of the to do list of eating and living healthy can be achieved by simply using awareness. Paying attention to food and life style choices and actions made daily can simplify the sometimes confusing and contradictory health advice that is available on the Internet and elsewhere. Mindfulness puts the locust of control with you and your body.

What is ‘Mindfullness?’

It is with an understanding of what is meant by mindfulness when we speak of it in terms of eating. Mindfulness is clearly non-judgmental paying attention. Sounds simple and clear enough and this is a great place to stop and do it! Pay attention to what you are doing right now, do it with a noticing, a curious awareness and with out labeling it good or bad -simply notice. Yes, and then if the judgmental thoughts come up… notice that! Being aware of what is present for you in each moment physically, emotionally and physically can free you from reactive patterns and unhealthy habits. Being aware of what is actually happening right now gives you freedom of choice and a sense of balance.

Mindful eating is allowing

Allowing yourself to be with the nurturing and powerful opportunities that present themselves through preparing and eating your meals and snacks.  You begin to access your inner wisdom when you allow the choices to be made from what pleases and nourishes all your senses, by allowing yourself to savor the experience. When the awareness is on what you are doing, in this case eating, you begin to open the doors to your own inner wisdom.
Having awareness of what you like, dislike or feel not one way or the other about is a place to practice the non-judging aspect of mindful eating. As you explore the foods and flavors, textures and tastes you have the opportunity to choose, with awareness, foods that are both pleasing and nourishing.

Mindful eating is a guide

A guide to the physical cues of hunger and satiety giving the power of when to eat and when to stop eating back to the individual, back to you, not a preset time or amount that may work for one person yet not another. For an example: are you hungry just stop and feel the body, be mindful of what the body -your body is feeling. This is connecting your mind with your body and being with what is happening in the moment. The difficulty with “diets” is that many people begin to ignore or fight their own hunger and satiety rhythms. Left unchecked for long periods of time these ignored rhythms and signals leave healthy people open to an array of disordered eating behaviors and in a worse case scenario set up for a full blown eating disorder. Mindful eating is then taught once again as the guide to healthy eating and the body’s wisdom can once again be heard.

People who eat mindfully

• Respect that there are no right or wrong ways to eat but that there are varying degrees of awareness around the experience of food
• Accept the unique experience of their own meal and hunger
• Acknowledge what can happen to the unaware eater and the natural consequence of eating when out of touch with what is
• Direct their choice on a moment to moment basis by checking in with the body
• Have insight about how they can act and choose to achieve specific health goals as they become more tuned into the direct experience of eating and how health actually feels
• See their food, food choices and behaviors as all inter-connected with the earth the people of the earth and the systems used to present the food on the table

Can’t quite see yourself eating in a mindful way?

Try this: Your first drink of the day, be it a tall glass of water or a double latte from the coffee shop on the way to work, drink it with intention, with awareness, mindfully.
Be with the drink and feel it in whatever way it is feeling.
The focus is not on if it is the exact right drink or the right time -all that eventually falls into place when the effort and intention is on what is right in front of you. Drink as if it were the only drink you were ever going to have because it is the only drink you are ever going to drink at that moment!

I’d love to know your experiences of eating mindfully. Did you feel fuller for longer, enjoy the flavours more?

You can read Gina’s full bio on the About page or visit her blog http://www.lunchwithouted.wordpress.com.

Editors Note: This post is written by our elite performance specialist Andrew Verdon. Andrew has completed a Diploma in Exercise Science, Certificate IV in Fitness, Level 1 Strength Coaching Qualifications with ASCA. He is currently completing a Post Grad Diploma in Applied Science (Elite Sports Training) and will go on to do a Masters in Recovery.

Some recent research has further emphasised the need for a proper cool down after intense exercise. Japanese researchers looked at the effect of  light activity after an intense exercise session on rugby players. While they found it difficult to validate the of  impact any physical recovery on the players they did find the recovery work acted as a mood booster and left the players with a positive feeling afterwards.

Why would this happen? I think even though the positive benefits reported were mental there is still a  physical process going on here. I do believe a proper warm/cool down  mentally gives you a chance to “switch” off after an intense engaging workout or session.

Physically the light exercise will enable the waste products  produced (during the chemical processes of energy creation) to be removed more effectively and will flood the blood supply (including the brain) with freshly oxygenated blood.

So what is intense exercise? A very broad definition I would use is anything that gets your heart rate over around 140 bpm in a session or activity (eg a run or sports game)  or takes you to a feeling of hard exertion say over 7.5/10 if you were to score it subjectively (eg a weight session). If you do either of these invest 5 -10 minutes to warm down. I tell my athletes if they do not have time to warm down then they do not have time to “squeeze” in a training session – it’s crucial!

So make sure you include around 5 minutes of light activity (under 120 bpm) at the end of a session. This may be a walk or cycle or even a swim.

This post is written by our elite performance specialist Andrew Verdon. Andrew has completed a Diploma in Exercise Science, Certificate IV in Fitness, Level 1 Strength Coaching Qualifications with ASCA. Should you have any questions for Andrew, please direct them to the Ask Me section of www.ameliaburton.com.au

Editors Note: This post is written by contributor Gina Ryan. Gina is a licensed nutritionist and Wellness coach from Hawaii. Read her Bio on the About page or visit her blog Lunch Without Ed.

Herbs (grown naturally in temperate regions) and spices (grown in tropic and subtropic regions) are an incredible and simple way to add flavor and powerful nutrients to your meals. Notice when foods are cooking and the delicious aromas fill the kitchen? The mixture of herbs and spices are releasing some of their aromatic oils to the air exciting the palate and preparing your body for digestion.

The Joy of Herbs and Spices

One of the easiest ways to get involved in your food from the ground up is to grow a simple herb garden. Food takes on a whole new and exciting feel when we have had our hands in the earth in which it was grown. Clipping your home grown dill for lunches cottage cheese or cutting basil for dinners. Pesto makes even the most resistant cook feel more like a creative chef and when we feel good and creative about preparing our food we make better food choices -naturally.

For the novice find some recipes and try and pay particular attention to the herbs and spices being called for and how they are combined . For those of you who have been cooking for a long time and enjoy it already perhaps you can experiment with some of your favorite herbs and spices and try them in an unusual combination making a signature dish to share with friends and family. Even adding a dash of cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice to baked or mashed potato, yam, or squash can begin to open your palate and health up to new horizons.

The Health Herbs and Spices

Besides exciting the palate and preparing the body for digestion by stimulating the production of saliva in the mouth the culinary herbs and spices help to destroy microbes and parasites in foods. They also aid the gut for efficient digestion of the meal while adding important vitamins and minerals to the diet. Generally cleaning and toning organs and speeding the removal of waste products through the colon and keeping the immune system fully functioning .

Common Kitchen Herbs and Spices Health benefits

• Parsley- diuretic, aids edema, fluid retention, indigestion, gas, anti-parasitic, promotes healthy thyroid function
• Capsicum (cayenne)- increases thermogenesis, increases circulation, promotes heart health, aids digestion, enhances performance of other herbs
• Ginger-aids digestion and hypertension, promotes lung function, strengthens adrenal glands (often depleted by stress),relives morning sickness, nausea, gas
• Rosemary- aids strong hair growth, enhances memory function, protects brain from free radical damage, combats fluid retention, topically makes hair shine
• Garlic-has antibiotic, anti fungal, anti-parasitic, anti-viral activity, detoxifies, strengthens blood vessels, lowers blood pressure, enhances immune function
• Peppermint- aids chills, fever, nausea, colic, diarrhea, headaches (internally and externally)
• Sage- aids in mental clarity, circulation, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties
• Basil- used to relive nervous disorders, headaches, rheumatic pains
• Dill- relives colic, indigestion, gas, promotes breast milk production
• Oregano- anti-oxidant, anti-microbial and anti-parasitic, enhances immune function
• Thyme- anti-parasitic, relives muscle pain and tightness, makes cough more productive, enhances immune function

Using the healing properties of the garden as a part of daily life can be as simple as experimenting with fresh culinary herbs and spices, a new adventure in the kitchen to bring about your own healing and well being, go on spice up your life a bit just for your health!

You can read Gina’s full bio on the About page or visit her blog http://www.lunchwithouted.wordpress.com.