Pasta Salad
Pasta salads are delicious. Great for light easy, summer cooking. To maximize their flavour make sure you dress the pasta as soon as it is cooked while it is still hot. Try substituting fresh basil if it isn’t available, with dill, mint, oregano, or parsley.
For 8-10 servings:
Pasta:
2 pkts of brown rice pasta and vegetable pasta
Dressing:
2 large cloves garlic
1 tsp coarse mustard
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese
8-10 leaves fresh basil (or other fresh herbs)
1 tsp salt and pepper to taste
½ cup light Best Food mayonnaise
2 Tbsp pineapple juice with touch of cinnamon
Salad:
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1 red pepper finely diced
2 spring onions finely diced
½ cup toasted sesame seeds
Tinned pineapple pieces 125 g (unsweetened)
Boil the pasta as per the packet directions, until tender. ***
While the pasta is cooking make the dressing by pureeing the ingredients until smooth.
Drain the cooked pasta and put in a salad bowl and immediately toss the dressing through the pasta while it is still hot.
Allow to cool then toss the rest of the salad ingredients with the pasta.
*** Tip: Cook the pasta until just al dente; brown rice pasta will disintegrate if over-cooked.

To eat more healthily start by substituting healthier ingredients in your cooking, but keeping to tried and true recipes your family love. If they are particularly fussy eaters they may complain at first. Persevere though and before you know it they will eating it up, just as they did before.

In the recipe above I’ve exchanged plain old white wheat pasta with brown rice pasta, for two reasons. First, whole grains provide better nutritional value than processed grains. Second wheat based foods so predominate in the western diet that we miss out on the nutrients present in other grains, and many people have allergies to wheat and other gluten containing foods, so it’s a good idea to find creative ways of getting other grains into our diet. As we age too our bodies lose their ability to metabolise processed gluten containing grains well and this can cause a host of health challenges from easy weight gain to a tendency towards diabetes. Take home message, use whole grains, and vary them.

To reduce the number of calories in a recipe you can substitute ‘lite’ varieties of dressings as I’ve done here and help your cause of weight loss if that’s an issue for you or your family. If using canned fruit in a recipe go for an unsweetened variety for the same reason.

Using fresh herbs in your cooking as I’ve done here will increase flavour and nutritional value, because of the enzymes present in fresh produce verses cooked, canned or dried, all helping us toward our goal of optimum nutrition for better living.

The recipe above is contained in our nutrition book for more information on our products, go to www.flexibilityplus.com

Bon Appetite,
Yours in Health,
Nancy

As we approach peri menopause and menopause between mid thirties and early fifties our nutritional needs change as our hormonal picture begins to shift. The cortisol our adrenals produce becomes relatively higher than the sex hormones we produce and that together with a slowing thyroid can throw us into insulin resistance, which means our bodies process sugars less efficiently paving the way for weight gain especially around our middle, which is unhealthy for our hearts. This is an abbreviated, and simplistic explanation of the process, but the bottom line is the way we eat and how much we move at this time in our life has a direct relationship to the quality of life we are likely to experience down the track.

There are many things we can do but, one simple measure we can take is to cut way down on the white stuff in our diet white sugar, salt, flour, and potatoes and every thing made with them. These things behave like sugar in our system, and quickly bump up our blood sugar levels and our hormonally imbalanced systems struggle to cope with the overload, consequently we gain weight rapidly.

Protein on the other hand helps our bodies maintain healthier blood sugar levels. So slow down on the bread especially wheat, and up the fish, eggs (free range if poss), nuts, seeds, soy dairy ( if tolerated) and lean meat. Add a healthy dose of exercise and watch your weight drop.

Cheers,
Nancy

On day four of the ISA World Surfing Games in Costa Rica this week our daughter Laura Rishworth became the highest placed Kiwi in the Women’s Division placing 17th overall after finishing third in her fourth round match up. In her second stacked heat of the competition, Laura came up against two Hawaiian surfers who progressed through the heat while she beat the Tahitian surfer who finished fourth.

Using teamwork to their advantage, the Hawaiians had the contest area more or less covered. Laura surfed some fantastic waves when the opportunity presented itself, yet the Hawaiians ensured these were few and far between. Laura has done herself, us and NZ proud with the highest placing of any NZ woman in this event to date.

Five years ago as a fifteen year old Laura set her sights high and created a written goal for her self stating that she wanted to represent her country internationally in surfing. Then she set about creating and periodically revising her exercise and nutritional programme to help her achieve her objective.

Naturally we are very pleased for her and pray she continues to be a role model for other youngsters and oldies too!

Carpe Diem!   Seize the Day!

Proud Mum,

Nancy

If you enjoy reading about exercise and putting together your own individualised program our system is for you.
Our system is very effective. We’ve been using t for over thirty years with great for ourselves and our children.
Our eldest is currently competing in Costa Rica at the World Surfing Games the Olympics of surfing, so to speak and has showed good stamina and fitness to see her through the early rounds, with good scores, for a relative rooky to international competition.

Our system is easy to understand, is quick to put into practice, and is excellent value. With commitment, you can achieve great results with this system and garner great satisfaction in doing so.

Visit www.flexibilityplus.com and let us know how you get on

Cheers

Nancy

You know the photos of all the celebrities slipping into their bikinis and super snug jeans in record time post baby, well what if that were you? “Well hold on” I hear you protest, “I haven’t got a nanny, a personal chef or personal trainer so how could I possibly achieve that? No way.” Well as Henry Ford once said whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t you’re right. So why not think you can and draw to you the conditions, and motivation that will make you right. Every action begins with a thought and every thought begins with an emotion. Positive emotions lead to positive action which takes you closer to where you want to be, negative emotions send you right back into the kitchen for some more Hangendaz.

So how do you really do the slinky bikini thing or just get into your pre pregnancy jeans swiftly, without  a nanny, a personal trainer and spa food chef on your doorstep and without doing something detrimental to your health well, first decide to, it’s as simple as that. Next educate your self. Next plan the where and when and how of it. Who will look after the baby while you take sometime for yourself and get fit.  How will you fit fitness it into your schedule, where will you train. You need to pick a place that will work for you consistently. It could be your living room while the baby naps. If she sleeps for an hour at a time, great, if she catnaps for 15 minutes at a time, then you’ll need to get creative and break your workout into several shorter segments to work around her schedule. Or your friendly neighbourhood gym might have a crèche she could be happily entertained in while you workout.

“But I’m too unfit for the basics, and what about an eating plan I hear you say”? Well if you take a look at our products and follow the advice you won’t need to worry about a trainer, or a chef, the information is right there with exercises from beginners to advanced and nutritional information and delicious recipes to get you on the right track and fitting into your pre pregnancy clothes by at least baby’s first birthday.

So take the challenge and achieve your goals! As a mother of three I can tell you from my own experience its definitely not only achievable, but well worth it in terms of energy and well being, productivity, confidence, and positive self image. So go for it. What have you got to lose, except those extra saddle bags ?

Cheers,

Nancy

•    Our age in years and our age according to the way our body behaves can be one and the same or two different things
•    This matters because if our body behaves much older than our age in years this doesn’t bode well for our future health

Certain biological markers such as blood pressure, heart rate and pulse, blood sugar levels, hormonal levels, cholesterol levels, bone density, kidney and liver function can help identify our true biological age. For example if you 48 years old with a blood pressure of 117/ 76 you could be said to have the blood pressure of someone in their early 20s. Similarly if you are in your 30’s and have a blood pressure level of 140 / 90 you would be considered much older than your age in regards to blood pressure. In fact a 35 year old friend of a fellow personal trainer came in to her gym to train. He was some what over weight and was keen to shed some the extra pounds. So began an assessment with him, but by the end of the warm up he was perspiring quite profusely and feeling unwell, her gut told her something was a miss, she took his blood pressure and it was off the charts even though he had been cleared to exercise previously.

She called an ambulance immediately, he was rushed to hospital and was put on blood pressure medication to stabilise his condition. According to his doctor would need them for the rest of his life. The blood pressure rise he experiences came on with out warning, most likely as a result of unusual stress he was experiencing at the time. The situation came as great shock to my colleague who would not have suspected blood pressure as high as this man had in someone his age. He was lucky to have been in the gym that day undergoing an assessment where it was picked up otherwise he could have easily collapsed somewhere and had a heart attack, possibly fatal.

Keeping a healthy weight by following a regular exercise routine and a healthy diet has been proven by the research to add years to your life and life to your years. In our system at flexibilityplus.com we teach you the key principles of optimal nutrition and provide a broad range of exercises to keep every part of your body flexible and strong. Go to www.flexibilityplus.com to learn more so your age in years can match the age  your body is behaving or better!

Cheers,

Nancy

Below are the major points we need to follow for eating to achieve high energy and a healthy body:

•    Drink 4-6 pints (2-3 litres) of good quality water every day

•    Drink vegetable juices –fresh if you have an extractor and diluted fruit juices

•    Eat a variety of whole foods as close to their natural state as possible

•    Eat five to seven servings of fruit and vegetables a day. If possible organically grown, preferably fresh , though frozen is acceptable

•    Eat raw vegetables or lightly cooked (steamed) as certain vitamins are destroyed by heat

•    Eat nuts and seeds (e.g. almonds, pumpkin, flax, sunflower, sesame, walnuts), for their important omega 3 and omega 6 oils

•    Eat some garlic and onions each day. These may prevent respiratory, cardiovascular disease and even cancer. Eating parsley with garlic reduces the offensive odour on your breath. Deodorized garlic in tablet or capsule form is also available from most health food outlets.

•    Eat free range eggs, poached, as this is the best way to preserve their goodness

•    Eat yogurt containing live cultures, acidophilus and bifidus to support healthy bowel flora (not the sweetened fruit varieties).

•    Eat fish at least twice a week especially the fatty varieties such as salmon, mackerel, herring, and cod which contain the important omega 3 fatty acids. Broil, bake, grill or steam. Deep frying undoes the benefit.

•    Eat lean meat in moderation. Reducing consumption may prevent cancer. Think of meat not as a main, but as one of several ingredients in a main dish that incorporates vegetables, grains, and legumes

•    Avoid excessive salt, coffee, and processed anything

These are points are taken from our downloadable book, NutritionPowerPlus, available on www.flexibilityplus.com

Healthy eating!

Jonathan

Some years ago I had to take my mother who was in her eighties to the hospital because she had a blood nose that she found difficult to stop bleeding.
After taking her inside and making sure she was being properly looked after I had to go back to my car and make sure where I had parked was OK.
For about 5 minutes I was sitting in the car near the hospital main entrance and I was absolutely shocked at the numbers of people continually going through those hospital doors.
So many of them looked unwell, unfit and unhealthy (I guess that is what you’d expect). But it was the big numbers that got to me, that were going through those doors, in such a short period of time.
It got me thinking about what choices had these people made in their lifetime to end up at this place. Most were nowhere near as old as my mother, who had played golf well into her seventies and was still active in her early eighties.
I thought about how important it is to make good decisions throughout your life.

I see some young energetic people in their twenties regularly smoking, eating fast foods, and they so often get a cold, or some other illness.
Its as if their bodies are giving them early warning signs that they need to alter their life style, they need to drink way less (if any) alcohol, they need to stop smoking, and they need to eat wholesome food. But they don’t seem to take any notice and I wonder if in another twenty or thirty years they will be walking through a hospital door because they have a kidney complaint, or their heart isn’t quite working how it should, or they get dizzy often…
We all need to take stock of what we do now, because what we do now does matter!
Our system of exercise and nutritional advice is sound and solid with heaps of variety. There are over one hundred different exercises so there are different ones suitable for every level of fitness. The nutritional information is easy to follow and full of excellent advice plus recipes.
Check us out on www.flexibilityplus.com
Enjoy life!
Jonathan

Whenever you are training especially when you are targeting your core musculature, ie your abdominal muscles remember to draw your naval into your spine, and zip up your middle so to speak. This protects your lower back as well as your abdominals from separating in the middle, which is very common especially for women who’ve just had a baby, and body builders. This diastis or abdominal separation causes a weakening of the abdominal wall “zipping up your middle” regularly can help to prevent that and often to correct the problem over time.

Cheers, bye, talk soon

Nancy

The Truth About Fats

For years many of us have been yoyo dieting and counting calories and been anxious about every fat containing morsel that has crossed our lips. A whole industry had evolved around food labels proclaiming the benefits of this or that product because of the miniscule percentage of fat it contains. After all fat makes you fat right? Well this is the danger of half truths.

Yes fat contains per gram almost twice as many calories as carbs or protein so on the surface of it it does have the potential to pack on the kilos more so than the other nutrient types. Also fat from most animal sources is saturated and is more difficult for the body to handle and as a result it can cause problems especially for one’s heart and blood vessels. Fats derived from plant sources such as nuts, seeds, and some animal sources (i.e cold water fatty fish such as salmon) have the ability to protect the heart and blood vessels as well as producing many other health benefits protection of the brain and nervous system to name one other.

“Ya great for my ticker” I hear you say “but what about my thighs?” Well interestingly enough the right kind of fats positively benefits your girth as well. For more on how go to our nutrition product on our web site www.flexibilityplus.com.

Yours in health,

Nancy