Yeast free banana bread for children recipe

Struggling to find cheap, healthy snacks for your children's lunchboxes? Try this recipe by Sally Fallon.



Ingredients

3 cups freshly ground whole wheat/spelt or kamut flour
2 cups buttermilk or yoghurt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of maple syrup
2 teapsoons of baking soda
1/4 cup melted butter
2 ripe mashed bananas
1/2 cup chopped crispy nuts

Soak, flour in yoghurt in a warm place for 12-24 hours. Bread will rise better if it is soaked for 24hours. Blend in remaining ingredients. Pour into a well buttered loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for at least 1 1/2 hours, or until a knife comes out clean.

Guest Bloggers: Bring on the challenge says Rochelle

This week's Guest Blogger is Rochelle Elgie, who works in our Finance Department. The Healthy Lifestyle Challenge came at a perfect time for Rochelle as she was ready to improve her health and understand more about whole foods and good fat.



My sister’s partner, Corey, is Paul Chek trained (Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology) so aspects of Ben Warren’s lecture were familiar; I just hadn’t actually followed it. In the past I’d thought cutting out all the ‘yummy food’ was over the top and no one was going to deny me my coffee, biscuits, cakes, chocolates and takeaways!

Like most people, a group challenge gave me the motivation to give it a go. After a 20 hour caffeine withdrawal headache I started feeling great and had more energy. Researching what foods had protein in them and talking to Corey and others for meal ideas and inspiration really helped. Food became a fuel source and not a way to treat myself. After a couple of weeks of not eating so much sugar, food tasted sweet enough as it was.

I tried to make it as easy as possible by colour-coding my chart so the time/protein/fruit and veges are in different colours and there’s healthy food choices in the kitchen. Meals are planned and I always have almonds, prunes and fresh fruit on hand at work. I bought a stylish Eco tanka for the gym and the staff at Aspyre and of course Tina and Eloise have kept me motivated.

I’m looking forward to going on this journey with everyone for the next few weeks and making changes for a lifetime.

Stress related adrenal fatigue

If you're feeling tired for no reason, having trouble getting out of bed in the morning and need coffee, energy drinks, salty or sweet snacks to keep going, then this may be of interest to you.



Feeling run down and stressed could mean you may be experiencing adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue occurs when adrenal gland function becomes less than optimal—usually as a result of stress.

To find out more, visit www.adrenalfatigue.org and read about some tips to combat.

The importance of breakfast

If you're not used to eating breakfast, here's a few tips to help you potentially change a habit.



Why should you eat breakfast?

1. It's been 8 hours since you last ate so your body needs food. If you skip breakfast then at around 9:45am you get very hungry. The result? You head for the cafe and fill up on a muffin (which are actually small cakes), a slice or do a vending machine blitz. A quick snack hit but fat and sugar filled.

2. A good breakfast gives you the energy you need for a great day. It fills up your fuel tank so you can power through your day. You can then top up your tank with fruit, wholemeal breads and great protein like tuna, chicken and baked beans during the day.

3. It reduces stress. Having breakfast gets you to slow down just a bit and helps you ease into your day smoothly. Ever seen Mr. Bean get ready for work when he's late?!

4. If you're not seeing too much of your wife, husband or partner, then having breakfast together gives you some extra time!

If you don't like eating breakfast in the morning, try these simple tips:

- Have fruit like bananas, oranges and apples. Go for the slightly green bananas ones, they are less sweet
- Orange slices and a pot of yoghurt. Get fresh juice, a vitamin C hit and calcium in one go
- Make a smoothie. In a blender put yogurt, banana and any other healthy goodies you want. No blender? Just beat it all with a fork. Put in a thermo mug and drink on your way to work
- Toasted wholemeal bread. Put hummus and sliced tomatoes on top rather than sweet spreads
- Fruit salad, bircher muesli, wholemeal toast with sliced tomato

If you've got a big day ahead and you know you won't have time to eat properly then go for:
- Porridge. Make your own or buy microwave porridge. Done in the microwave in 5 minutes. To really stack the odds in your favour, throw on chopped nuts, linseed and fresh fruit.
- Bircher style Muesli. Very good for your insides!

No time in the morning? Then eat breakfast at work. Keep a supply of microwave porridge or cereal and a bowl of fruit in your office. While your PC is coming to life, heat up your porridge and slice up your banana.

Having breakfast stops you snacking on high fat and high sugar foods later in the day. It's a very simple way to lose weight plus you'll eat more fruit, more fibre and be less stressed - and that's all good!

This info is from the Cancer Society's LiveSmart website

Foods that stress

We recently came across this article and thought it was relevant to some of the information Ben Warren has been talking about. Happy reading everyone!

Guest Bloggers: ACC Activesmart – My experience

We spoke to Ansonica Botha, a project manager for council, on how she's trying to incorporate exercise in to her lifestyle as part of the challenge. Find out how she got on.


I recently signed up for the “Healthy Lifestyle Challenge” and an important part of a healthy lifestyle is getting some exercise. But where to start? I didn’t want to sign up to a gym or join a class and felt a bit lost. Tina sent me the link to a very interesting site. It’s run by ACC and can be found here www.activesmart.co.nz

ActiveSmart provides free online and customised training plans that have been designed by experts for all levels of fitness and goals. You can set up a training plan to walk, run cycle or a combination of any or all of them. It covers beginners to advanced sports people. You can even train for a specific event and make sure you peak at the right time. The plans have been designed by expert fitness professionals, so it must be better than anything I can come up with on my own.

First thing I did was register. This was quick and easy. Next you pick your activity and goals. I picked the “Introduction to Running” plan. This plan guides you, over 6 weeks, to where you can run continuously for 20 minutes. That remains to be seen as I’ve never been much of a runner. A health questionnaire follows to make sure that the plan you picked isn’t too advanced for you and that it is safe for you to exercise.

From this information the website created a training plan for me.You can customise the training plan to fit your needs in the Training Plan view. In my case the plan showed my training days as Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I don’t like exercising on Fridays, so I just dragged the sessions to Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. On training days you automatically receive an e-mail with information on your session. You record and track your progress and achievements on the website.

Once you have a plan, the site looks different when you load it. You are directed straight to your own personalised Dashboard with information and links relating to your training plan.

I have completed my first training session and I am looking forward to the next one.

Be Pure - Ben Warren's guide to healthy living

Last Tuesday we had the first session as part of the Healthy Lifestyle Challenge by Ben Warren, founder of Be Pure.





He told us our body completely renews itself every 7 years and that 3 billion of our cellular functions take place in water-so if we are dehydrated they are affected.

He also told us if you can’t pull the skin up in the small of your back you are likely to be dehydrated (if that sounds odd ask someone who went along to show you)!

If you want to hear more from Ben, like his Facebook page where he posts food ideas and healthy lifestyle options, or visit his website www.bepure.co.nz.

Listen to one of Ben's videos on Your ideal body with less stress which is a personal favourite of ours. This one is quite close to my heart as he discusses sources of stress, the importance of breath and posture in stress management, and the link between stress and weight loss.

Stress can make you gain fat faster than eating donuts! In the video Ben teaches you:
- This way of breathing will flatten your stomach faster than sit-ups
- How to balance your thyroid gland function for increased energy and weight loss
- Do you have the 21st Century stress syndrome?
- The right amount of exercise for you - it might be less than what you think

And if you like what you see, Ben is offering 7 free weekly email updates about how you can lose weight. Just sign up to his site.

How to deal with caffeine withdrawals

We've heard a few reports of headaches occurring after the first week of the healthy lifestyle challenge.



One possible cause could be the result of withdrawal from caffeine.

Caffeine headaches can go on for days and the only relief is – you guessed it – more caffeine. Light is suddenly too bright to bear, concentration is impossible, and all one wants is relief. Many people reach for some over-the-counter drug but whoops! They all contain caffeine.

So why do we get a headache when we skip our morning cuppa joe? Caffeine acts as a powerful vasoconstrictor in the brain. That is, it constricts blood vessels in the brain and decreases circulation. Oxygen to the brain can be decreased up to 30%! When caffeine is not present, the sudden increased circulation causes major headaches.

Of course, a well-oxygenated brain is what we want for optimal health. You can avoid caffeine withdrawal headaches by slowly weaning yourself off of caffeine.

You’ll need some rest

Often the headaches are accompanied by more caffeine withdrawal symptoms. Fatigue is the next most common experience people have quitting caffeine. If you’ve been depending on caffeine to keep you going day after day, your body is going to need some rest. Think of your adrenal glands as exhausted horses that have been whipped way too long. Take away the whip and they want to lie down in their tracks! Make time to get some rest especially in the beginning of weaning off of caffeine.

Waking up is possible without caffeine

Since caffeine artificially increases cortisol production, the hormone that makes you wake up in the morning, people going through caffeine withdrawal can experience a hard time waking up without coffee as a stimulant. Once your adrenal glands have readjusted to their natural rhythm of producing cortisol in the morning without a stimulant, you won’t need a cup of coffee to wake you up.

Get some help from supplements

Decreased alertness, brain fogginess, inability to concentrate and feelings of decreased well-being including irritability and depression are frequently experienced during caffeine withdrawal. Don’t worry, there are herbal and nutritional supplements that can aid your recovery and make the transition easier.

Some people report feeling flu-like symptoms, muscle pain and even vomiting. That’s why we don’t recommend going cold-turkey! We’ve seen too many people suffer needlessly when they trying caffeine withdrawal suddenly.

It will be easier than you think

While this caffeine withdrawal phenomenon keeps millions of people addicted to their coffee habit, the good news is that you can avoid this pitfall by slowly weaning yourself off caffeine over a two to three week period. Many former coffee drinkers report that they can’t believe how much energy they have once they recover from the caffeine-driven roller coaster ride!

How to combat snacking infront of the TV

Stop for a second and consider how much snacking goes on in front of the TV.



The average New Zealander spends 2-3 hours a night watching TV. That's about 8 ad breaks an hour for a total of 15-25 ad breaks a night. And, what happens when the ads come on? We head for the fridge just to ''see what's inside''.

So here's the TV snack attack plan; it'll help you manage the TV so you can manage your weight and be healthier.

Option 1:

Let's get to the source. If it's not there, you can't eat it! Do a pantry and fridge clear out. Find all the really high fat foods lurking in there, and if they are unopened, donate them to a local food collection bin. Except the ice cream of course - that'll have to go down the drain.

Replace big packets of treat foods with smaller packages. Ignore the 'value deals'. Paying $5 for 3 packets of chocolate biscuits doesn't make them last any longer, does it?! Go low fat and sugar. Buy lower fat and sugar substitutes if you feel like a treats.

Option 2:

Tame the TV. If you watch less TV, there will be fewer adverts to tempt you to the fridge.

The Ultimate - ditch the TV. Go cold turkey and learn to read again, talk to your husband, wife, partner, flatmate or neighbour (anyone who'll listen!), pat your pet, play with friends, get out more.

Hide it.
• Take your TV out of the lounge
• Pick one programme a night to watch then turn it off
• Remember 'Carless Days'? Have 'TV Free nights'

Change your TV habit

• Cut back on junk TV - do you really care who survives/marries/wins/outlasts each other?
• In between your favourite programmes, turn the TV off
• Have a list of things to do when the TV goes off
• Stack books and magazines next to your TV to distract you

If you're planning to hire a video, grab it during the day. There will be a better selection and you'll be less likely to grab chocolate and ice cream to go with the movie.

Aim to try 1 or 2 items from each option. You'll have more time, spend less snacking, still enjoy your favourite TV programmes and you might even find you sleep better. I know I do. Next week we'll look at 3 ways to fit in a great breakfast - a major strategy for stacking the odds in your favour.

Walk Lake Runanga in Easter

On Sunday 8 April, join the Runanga community for a walk around the beautiful Lake Runanga.

Yes, it's Easter Sunday. But what better way to walk off those easter eggs than an 11km cruisey walk over farm tracks and rolling, grassy hills?

If you're keen, meet at the Runanga Marae on the Napier-Taihape Road 6km from Omahu Village at 8.30am. You'll then catch a mini-bus up Awahur Road. But be sure to register your interest first by contacting Mane Adams on email runangamarae@vodafone.co.nz

Eight major principles for a healthy life

What's secret to a healthy life? We've got eight tips that'll be sure to make you look and feel better. These were written by a 75-year old Wellington Osteopath who looks in his 50s.



1. Air. Are you breathing in plenty of fresh air? Do you take a good deep lungful occasionally, or are you one of those shallow breathers I encounter in my clinic? Pure, clean fresh air is rich in "negative ions" which will help to purify your blood, boost your immune system, reduce blood pressure, improve your mood, build stamina and do so much more. It's so good and you will fee major benefits from this pure fresh pill several times daily. Try a slow deep breath from time to time, you will be amazed at how quick you can achieve a "mini rejuvenation" You feel almost "dizzy" when you take three deep inspirations, this is due to the increased oxygen to the brain. Now imagine the benefits to your brain if you breathe...deeply and regularly.

2. Water. Yes, you know the your body is made up primarily from this water, over 70% of your body in fact is water. But how many of you know the basics to good health? Do coffee, tea and wine account for water? No, they only serve to dehydrate the body. Drink more and feel better - try it, you might like it. Your brain certainly will... when it is sufficiently hydrated.

3. Balanced Nutrition. Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, complex carbohydrates (whole grains), essential amino acids (lean meats), vitamins and minerals (health foods in general. Eat smaller meals more frequently will be found to have many benefits over three meals, especially if you are active. Again, basic is best, try not to complicate your meals, your digestion works best with a small selection of top quality organic foods. Eat junk and you will feel like it ...one day.

4. Lymphasising and Exercise. Your lymphatic system is a system of vessels connected up throughout your body, carrying important immune cells throughout the system. Lymph nodes are the filtration stations. Deep breathing and vigourous exercise (especially tramping, swimming, cycling, deep tissue massage and using a rebounder - mini trampoline) all help to stimulate and increase your immune system's activity. Those who engage in regular vigourous activity can tell you just how good it feels. What they don't tell you is that they rarely if ever get sick, because their immune system is working at peak efficiency. How does that sound? The benefits are too numerous to mention. You don't need to work too hard either, just regular daily exercise with occasional bursts of higher intensity output is all it takes. This is called interval exercise and has been found to confer amazingly more benefits over just plain old exercising. Try it, you might just like it. Move it or lose it ....eventually.

5. Rest. Do you take any mini breathers throughout your day, or do you just go like a hurricane from morning to lunch, take a short break, and then fly through your afternoon? Try a mini nap around 3.00, you when you hit a low spot. By taking regular breaks (away from computers, phones, etc) you will automatically reduce your stress load, resulting in a more relaxed you. People tend to like those who are the most relaxed, because it helps them to feel relaxed. It's a win win situation. If you try this, I know you will like it...because others will.

6. Sunlight. Do you try to catch the sun's rays when you can, or are you scared you will end up with melanoma because the TV tells you so? Never fear the sun, just respect it and try to get a few minutes here and there in the sunlight. Research has found that people who get regular morning sun tend to sleep better and deeper, are less irritable and have very little mood issues. People who live near the sun tend to be less gloomy than those who near the poles - a fact.

7. PMA (positive mental attitude). A positive mind is a happy mind. Negativity is a condition that will keep you in a state of unwellness, and has no place if you are looking for a healthy and happy life. Love, contentment, happiness and laughter are all positive and highly encouraged if you want and long and healthy life. Do you smell the roses or look for the cacti in your life? Negative people love negativity, positive people love positivity...what do you love?

8. A Purpose in Your Life. Do you wake up each day looking forward to what each day has to offer, or is each day just drudgery? Happy and healthy people know that a great life comes about when you live for the moment and enjoy the small things rather than defer happiness until the kids grow up or when I "win Lotto", etc. Do you have a reason to get up each day? Having a purpose in life to me personally means making a difference in other people's lives. What's your purpose, have you set any short and long term goals...in your life?