Worth the Calories?

After a long afternoon sitting still and paying attention at my work conference on Wednesday an afternoon snack was delivered - spring rolls.  I was starving (it had been a long, long time since lunch) and after two morsels had been dispatched to my stomach a colleague turns to me and asks ''is it worth the calories?"

I had to admit, the answer was 'no'

It got me thinking though - what is worth the calories?

Worth the Calories

• Wine
• Dark chocolate (or black forrest)
• Gin and tonic (but it would be awesome to find some lower calorie tonic that tastes good)
• Cold beer on a hot afternoon
• Peanut butter on hot vogels
• Fries and aoli (but only on a hangover)
• Jet planes
• Movie popcorn

Not Worth the Calories

• Spring rolls(!!)
• White chocolate
• Subway (I admit it, I'm a bread snob, and those rolls just don't cut it)
• McDonalds/BK/KFC
• Soft drinks

Borderline Pie Obsession

Continuing my love affair with eggs, I made a Mediterranean vegetable and cheese pie for dinner tonight.   It was delicious, rich and best of all, super healthy!

I was so keen to eat it that I took a few bites before remembering to take a photo...

INGREDIENTS

·         Olive-oil cooking spray

·         2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced in 1/8-inch rounds

·         1/2 cup diced onion

·         8 oz (about 8 cups) baby spinach

·         3 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

·         2 whole eggs

·         3 egg whites

·         1 cup nonfat ricotta or fat-free cottage cheese

·         1 tbsp feta, crumbled

·         3 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil or dill, or 3 tsp dried basil or dill, divided into 2 equal portions

·         3 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds

·         1 1/2 tbsp grated Asiago or Parmesan

·         1 1/2 tbsp grated low fat mozzarella

METHOD

1.       Heat oven to 350°.

2.       Coat a 9" pie plate with cooking spray. Line bottom of plate with potato slices. Cut remaining slices in half and arrange around side of plate. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

3.       Coat a sauté pan with cooking spray and sauté onion over low heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Add spinach to pan and let wilt, about 2 to 3 minutes.

4.       Remove from heat. Drain excess fluid from onion and spinach mixture. Stir in olives.

5.       In a bowl, beat eggs and egg whites. Stir in ricotta and feta. Add half the basil or dill and set aside.

6.       Spoon onion and spinach mixture into pie plate over potatoes. Layer on egg mixture, then slices of tomato.

7.       Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until egg is set and a knife inserted into pie comes out clean. Sprinkle grated cheeses evenly over top of pie and top with remaining basil or dill.

8.       Return to oven for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.

9.       Cut pie into 4 wedges.  Serve immediately.

Out Boxed?

Word of the Day: ictuate (v.) - to reiterate

Wandering around the office in his pijamas, George ictuated that if Hugh Hefner could get away with it, so could he

Today I can barely lift my arms to type.  My whole upper body is in agony.  The reason? Boxing!

We box regularly at boot camp - it's such a great work out. I'm not a fan of boxing as a sport, but for fitness I am a huge supporter.  I will reluctantly admit that boxing twice a week for about 15 minutes in total has given me much admiration for the fitness of those who choose to box competitively.

So in the spirit of this new admiration, here are some interesting facts about boxing...

1. Boxing was first introduced as an Olympic sport in 688 BC
2. The most prolific boxer fought 463 bouts (W: 336, L: 127) between 1928 and 1947 (also the record for the most wins)
3. Although now square, the term 'boxing ring' originated from a circle drawn in the dust
4. Muhammed Ali lost to more ameteur boxers (7) than professional boxers (5)

Originally, the aim of boxing was to remain uninjured.  Rather, you would try to tire your opponent until they signal their exhaustion by raising two fingers... hmmm... things have changed somewhat.

The Incredible Edible Egg

"Mmmm I love eggs, from my head down to my legs"

The humble egg is a top contender for my favourite food.  The egg has had a bit of a rough ride in the reputation stakes in the past, but it's very firmly in my 'eat often' section of the pyramid.


Eggcellent Points About Eggs:

1. Versatile - scramble, poach, hard or soft boil (I don't fry) - and that's just the simple version!  Don't even get me started on frittatas, quiches, salads...
2. Packed full of high-quality protein and 13 essential vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants
3. Keeps me going until lunch time - when I have an egg as part of my breakfast I don't need morning tea
4. Tasty - a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper is all you need
5. Inexpensive
6. Quick to whip up
7. Natural and unprocessed
8. Brilliant for post-workout recovery

So what about cholesterol?  Wasn't that what all the fuss was about in the first place?

Well... on average one egg has 185g of cholesterol and the recommendation for an average healthy adult is 300g per day (admittedly from a pro-egg website).  Plus all of the cholesterol in eggs is in the yolk, so if you're chowing down on heaps of eggs, it's simple enough to separate a few yolks out.

I'm eggstatic... what an eggcellent eggsample of a eggsemplary food...

The Elusive Fat Burning Zone and Harry Potter

This morning was my first attempt to exercise in my fat burning zone (125 - 135 bpm running/walking).  This is surprisingly much more difficult that I imagined.

Stage One: en route to Fort Canning Park
Achieving that heart rate walking along the street was impossible at a walk - "fine, I'll run". But 10 meters at a slow shuffle sent my heart rate up and over 140 bpm.  This left me in an awkward walk/run/shuffle motion.  It must have been hilarious (or rather confusing) to street on-lookers, but I didn't even notice them because I was constantly checking my watch to make sure I was in the zone.  Ah the price we pay for health!

Stage Two: around Fort Canning Park
Having walk/run/shuffled my way to the park at a fairly consistent heart rate, I was now faced with a second test... undulation!  Up hill, down dale, flights of stairs, ramps... oh dear.  I felt like a yoyo watching my monitor.

Stage Three: return to Parc Emily
Back into the walk/run/shuffle and feeling moderately chuffed with maintaining a fairly consistent heart rate around the corner I see in the distance someone from my condo.  I have to admit, I cracked, and upped my pace so I looked like I was doing 'proper'exercise.  Luckily he couldn't tell I was listening to my Harry Potter audio book - my credibility would have been shot to pieces.


I guess at some stage I should (a) embrace the fact that I'm going to look like a moron for a month or two as my fat burning zone gradually improves, and (b) stop feeling guilty that I am borderline obsessed with Harry Potter.

Potentially on the fourth read... or ninth?

Save the Words!

www.savethewords.org

I heard about this outstanding website in a magazine.  The premise: words which are no longer mainstream in society are in danger of becoming extinct - save the words!



I've started a Word of the Day on my communicator status at work, and you can sign up for a daily word email.


My word of the day: veteratorian (adj.) - subtle "her veteratorian hints on choice of birthday present were not getting through to him"

Too Much of A Good Wine?

About four weeks ago we started a Vibrant Living program at work, aimed at making all of us healthier (and therefore more efficient working machines).  It's perfectly lined up with what I'm trying to achieve here, so I'm throwing myself into the program.

Yesterday we got the results of our blood tests back and had a workshop to establish our overall health score baseline so we can gauge our improvement for testing again in three months time.

So these are my results:

For each section you go through a scoring exercise from 1-5 with 5 being the worst, and then add them all up.  A score of 30 means I actually just scrape into the 'poor'category, so clearly I have some work to do, but it's not all doom and gloom.

For example, my total cholesterol is in the mid range, but in actual fact my bad cholesterol levels are very low and my good cholesterol levels are very high (relative to normal for each).  So in my head I'm going to score myself two points less on cholesterol, which puts me into the 'good'category :-)

It stands out quite clearly that I have some areas of improvement on skinfold testing (I'm in the top bracket - gulp!), waist to hip ratio and alcohol consumption.  I'm sure my quest for healthier living without great sacrifice will take care of the skinfold and waist to hip ratio.

Where I know I'll struggle is on the alcohol consumption - simply because I don't want to improve.

NZ Central Otago pinot noir - so good!

It seems unfair to call out Amisfield specifically
when there are so many fabulous options

Let's think practically.  Scoring myself a 4/5 for alcohol consumption means that in an average week I drink between 9 and 11 standard drinks.  Sound high right?  BUT consider that a standard drink is 125ml of wine vs a normal person's (ok, a Bex person's) glass of wine, which is probably closer to 200 - 250ml (about a metric cup).

Now let's dust off the grey matter and do some math...

11 standard drinks = 11 x 125ml = 1375ml of wine
Bex standard wine = 200ml
1375ml / 200ml = 6.8 Bex glasses of wine

Now a typical week could have a combination of any of the following:

• Once a week with dinner at home - 1 glass of wine
• Once a week dinner with bf's parents - 2 or 3 glasses of wine (and/or a gin and tonic)
• Casual drinks on a Friday/Saturday night with friends - maybe 2 to 4 glasses of wine (depending on the occasion)

And this doesn't even include if we go to a party/BBQ/into town (granted, this is not every week - god, I'm getting old).

By testing standards I've pretty much prescribed myself as a heavy drinker, but I actually think I drink less here in Singapore than I did in NZ, and when I compare myself to friends I don't actually think I drink that much (maybe I do??)...  I know, I know, excessive consumption of alcohol has all sorts of health problems associated with it and will slow down my 10kg goal, but at this point in time I don't feel like this is excessive.  

I like wine, and giving it up would be a major sacrifice to me, and since this is a quest for healthier living without great sacrifice, I'm going to keep my 4 points on the alcohol scale and maybe try to have one fewer glass per week.

On an extremely positive note, official weekly weigh in was this morning and I am back on track - down 2.5kg in total in 7 weeks.  That's 0.4kg per week, which also includes two weeks in India on a business trip.

Yippeeeee!