Muffin delight

After something quick and easy that's yummy too. Try this savory muffin recipe. These little guys are great as a snack, lunch, dinner and actually breakfast too!

Quiche Muffins

Ingredients

4 eggs

1 ½ cups of low fat milk

1 tablespoon of butter  melted

½ cup of self-raising flour

1 cup of low fat grated cheese

2 cups of filling of choice (see tips)

Method

-Preheat oven at 180°C

- In a bowl whisk together, eggs, milk, butter and flour.

- Fold in cheese and fillings.

- Pour into muffin tray (We use a texas muffin tin)

- Back for 40mins or until set.

Tips

• -          For filling try Leek and mushroom; carrot and zucchini; spinach, cherry tomato and capsicum; roast vegetables; diced chicken breast and corn.
• -          Can be frozen.
• -          Serve hot or cold with salad. 

Zen Mondays

Wishing our Monday mornings were a little like this..

and a little less this...

Lets get your Mental, Physical and Nutritional work day in check!

MENTAL

Its important to be in a positive head space especially when working. Instead of starting the week frustrated that its only Monday change your view and and the week will go quicker. Lets break this down. 
You have to be at work (well have to if you want to keep doing fun things and have a home) so being tired, frustrated, and mopey only affects you. Your boss couldn't care less if you're sitting at your text in a bad mood. So slap a smile on, be grateful you have a job and look at the week ahead positively and become a go getter.
When you get in on a Monday have a look at the calender for the week and see what's on: Meetings, Due dates, Clients etc so you're not surprised in 2 days when you turn up to work late and with no make up on. 
Next use your first 30 mins to prioritize your day and check emails. 
Plan your activities and create daily deadlines. 
By lunch you should aim to have finished all the high priority work for the day.
Use your afternoon for lower important activities that don't require an immediate response. 
The structure of the afternoon is just as important as the morning. Although we have celebrated Labour day it appears the 9-5 week day has gone a little wayward. But even if that means home-time is 6.30 now it's still important to be finished when you leave. The brain and you will work better and feel better leaving work for the day with a sense of completion not with 3 things half finished hanging over your head. It creates a work/home life balance. When you leave with still a bunch of things requiring attention people stew of this at time and and the quality of home time decreases which impacts on relationships with partners, family and friends. So look at your work and prioritize according (unless you're a surgeon nothing you do is that important it can't be done tomorrow; no one will die). Emails don't need to be responded to at 9pm at home because you know what no one can do anything with that information because no other business is open!). Now I'm not saying go and be lazy surprisingly when you create more structure to your working day and daily deadlines, productivity increases and so does your mental happiness. 
Also by adding that end to your work day, enjoying and relaxing through your evenings you've created barriers. Instead of work filtering through into home time its stopped and you mentally have switched off because you have not only left work but finished your activities for the day. Most people then end up not despising their jobs as much. 

PHYSICAL 
It's also important to take small breaks from work (especially if you're at a desk)! 
So UP YOU GET!! 
-Take 5 deep breathes holding briefly on the inhale.
-Tilt head toward shoulder holder for 5secs alternate sides.
- Roll shoulders circular forward 10x then repeat back wards
- Stretch 1 arm out with palm down, pull fingers down. Hold for 3 secs. Pull fingers up and hold. Repeat alternating hands 3x
- Standing stretch up arching with hands arching back. Slowly bend down to touch toes. Hold for 5secs. Inhale. Slowly roll up exhaling. Repeat 2x

NUTRITION

 Your energy levels across the day and productivity is influenced by how you fuel your body. So instead of grabbing a double espresso in the morning and slamming a redbull at 3pm add foods that nourish the body and give a good balance of energy across the day. 

Have a LOW GI breakfast: oats, natural muesli,or wholegrain bread with poached egg.
Lunch should be light to avoid getting the sluggish feeling in the afternoon. 2 brown rice sushi rolls, salad with lean meat, quinoa and tuna salad. Protein and vegetables/salad are a good choice.
Snacks are also important. 2 fruit, 1 yogurt and some trial mix is the perfect balance of macros. 
And don't forget your fluid status. Aim for about 1.5-2.0L/d of water.
 Now grab a cup of green tea and Power on!

Fall Fits

The seasons have changed whether the weather is fall for us and spring for you these fits will be perfect for the temperature!

Nike 

Obsessed Capris - Grey Heather / Atomic Orange

$70.00

I have these 3/4 and live in them they're super compfy and take me from the gym to the street. Loving the new colour combo!

PILOT ATHLETIC

Florence Puffer Jacket - Black

$270.00

Nena and Pasadena

Desert Storm Crew

$89.95

THE UPSIDE

GForce Shorts - Black

$170.00

NIKE ZOOM FLY

AU$160.00

Lorna Jane

                                                    CANDY PUFFA VEST

$149.99

Items available From Style Runner, Lorna Jane and Fit up.

Glycaemic Index

Everyone needs to eat carbohydrates at every meal to give energy to your brain and muscles. All carbohydrate foods break down into sugar in your stomach but they do so at different speeds – some slow, some fast.  The Glycaemic Index (GI) is a measure of how a carbohydrate food affects the sugar in your blood.

Choosing slow acting carbohydrates in medium serves is better for your overall health.

-        Slow acting Carbohydrates = Low GI food

o    More slowly broken down and has less impact on blood glucose levels

-        Quick acting Carbohydrates = High GI food

o    More quickly broken down and causes higher blood glucose levels

Glycaemic Index of common foods:

	LOWER GI Best choice	MEDIUM GI Good choice	HIGH GI Limit intake
Breads	Wholegrain bread, Burgen® breads, Soy and Linseed, oat-bran based breads, Country grain, Bakers Delight® Low-GI white bread	Rye bread, light rye bread, crumpets, pita breads, mountain bread wraps	White and wholemeal bread, bagel, gluten free bread
Breakfast Cereals	All bran® fruit and oats, All bran®, Guardian®, Porridge, Traditional Oats, Sustain®, Weet-Bix®, Natural Muesli	Untoasted Muesli, Just Right®, Special K®, Fruity Bix®, Vita Brits®	Sultana Bran®, Bran Flakes®, Coco Pops®, Rice Bubbles®, CornFlakes®
Grains	Pasta, wheat noodles, bulgar, Moolgiri Rice (freedom foods®)	Basmati Rice, Doongara rice, Couscous, Quinoa, Gnocchi	Jasmine rice, brown rice, glutinous rice, short grain rice
Legumes	All beans (e.g. kidney, baked),  chickpeas and lentils		Broad beans
Starchy Vegetables	Corn, butternut pumpkin, parsnip, green peas	Sweet potato, Beetroot	White Potato (Nicola or almera, hot chips
Note: Most vegetables contain very little carbohydrate so do not affect blood sugar levels. Aim to eat at least 3 cups of non-starchy vegetables every day.
Fruit	Apple, pear, orange, plums, peach, nectarine, kiwi fruit, grapes, mango, banana (firm)	Rockmelon, pineapple, cherries, sultanas, apricots	Watermelon, dates, banana (ripe), most dried fruit
Low Fat Dairy	All varieties of cow and sow milk, yoghurt, custard. Yoplait le-rice
Savoury Biscuits	Vita weat®, Ryvita®	Rice-corn cakes	Water crackers, Sao®, Savoys®, Sakata®, Cheds
Sweet Biscuits	Oatmeal biscuits,  Snack Right Fruit Slice®	Digestives, Milk arrowroot	Tim tams®, Oreo®, Choc Chip cookies, Wafer biscuits

Meat, chicken, fish, nuts, eggs and cheese do not contain any carbohydrate and will not increase your blood sugar levels. But these foods are high in fats so should not be eaten in excess

Nap time

Our parents have been telling us for years to get 8 hours sleep but with busy lifestyles, work demands and social lives brimming with invitations how many of us actually get enough shut eye...?

Now we've all heard of the saying "You can sleep when your Dead"; but studies are indicating that this off the cuff comment may be more accurate then first thought. 

Epidemiology studies have found the following increases in people getting less than 6 hrs of sleep.

Stroke: increased risk by a factor of 4x
Obesity: increased due to the increase in ghrelin a hunger hormone
Diabetes: insulin resistance is increased due to sleep deprivation 
Accelerated memory loss. Not only permanent cognitive loss, but evidence in early brain deterioration
Osteoporosis: changes in bone mineral density and bone marrow changes
Cardiac disease is also increased; 48% increase in early cardiac death and in mortality
Overall increase in death by 4 fold. 


And if that's not reason enough to hit the hay according to a poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, up to 26% of people say that their sex lives tend to suffer because they're just too tired. There's evidence that in men, impaired sleep can be associated with lower testosterone levels. 




So its clear if you want be having better fun in the sheets you need to be hitting them more often. 



Best way to get qaulity shut eye. 

Getting in sync with your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle (your circadian rhythm) is one of the most important strategies for achieving good sleep. If you keep a regular sleep schedule, going to bed and getting up at the same time each day, you will feel much more refreshed and energized than if you sleep the same number of hours at different times. This holds true even if you alter your sleep schedule by only an hour or two. Consistency is vitally important.

Set a regular bedtime. Many clients say this is the hardest. The key is setting the the wake time then you'll naturally be tired by the end of the day for sleep. If you're constantly sleeping in its hard to force yourself to sleep that evening. 
Wake up at the same time every day. Waking up naturally without an alarm is the besty measure of adequate sleep. 
Be smart about napping. While taking a nap can be a great way to recharge, especially for older adults, it can make insomnia worse. If insomnia is a problem for you, consider eliminating napping. If you must nap, do it in the early afternoon, and limit it to thirty minutes.

Open up your eyes to the value of closing them!