In a recent Blog post about a weight-loss competition among a group of girlfriends, I mentioned that I’d write at a later date some of the diet tips I used to lose those five kilos. Finally here, it is!
Before I go any further, let me point out that:
I am NOT a dietician, so please consult a medical professional before taking any of my advice
I am aware and sensitive to the issues of those with eating disorders and am by no means encouraging unhealthy or extreme weight loss, but am also aware that for those who ARE overweight, any help and encouragement can be beneficial.
Great, now the disclaimers are out of the way, let’s head into the kitchen!
Oh, just one more thing… I should point out that a lot of the credit for this recipe and the constant and positive support behind my on-going pursuit for better health and a better body are due to my personal trainer – the wonderful ALINTA WILLET. Anyone looking for a personal trainer should sign up with her immediately! (details below)
Here’s the three tips Alinta has given me that have made the biggest difference to the way I eat and drink:
Start the day with a glass of warm water and juice from half a lemon. Wait at least fifteen minutes before eating or drinking anything else.
Eat a protein-based breakfast and leave the carbs till AFTER training. (Yes, you must do a weights workout!) This is where the magical FRITTATA comes in.
Ditch white wine and drink red instead. I know those who know me well will be shocked to hear I have pretty much given up my much-loved Chardonnay for a glass of Shiraz (or two) at the end of the day and it’s made a massive difference.
Now let’s talk FRITTATA.
Due to the fact that I work in breakfast radio, (tune in to SmoothFM 91.5 from 6am till 9am every day to hear MIKE PERSO and myself on the More Music Breakfast Show) I was a little disheartened when Alinta told me I should stick to a protein breakfast in the mornings. How could I cook up a bacon and eggs feast between news and traffic reports?
That’s when Alinta’s face lit up and she told me she had the perfect solution.
FRITTATA.
Yep, this is a magical concept that will change your life!
With this recipe, you can cook up a HUGE casserole dish worth of FRITTATA and divide it in to ten portions. That means – working Monday to Friday – you have TEN breakfasts prepared from just ONE cook up! You place each portion in a plastic container – eat four fresh and freeze the rest. It’s brilliant. Just a minute and a half in the microwave and it’s ready to go. It’s so filling, you won’t feel hungry for hours. And it’s a healthy start to the day.
There are several versions I make – one with chicken – and one just with veggies but I think I’ll start with the lamb recipe.
INGREDIENTS
2 x 500g packs lamb mince
1 large onion
Spices: Cayenne pepper, Chinese Five Spice and Sumac (Sambel Olek is optional – if you like chilli)
Salt and pepper
1 punnet Perino tomatoes
1/2 punnet sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 dozen eggs
Dash of milk
Grated Parmesan cheese
METHOD
Start by chopping up an onion and frying it in a pan with coconut oil till clear.
Fry up the lamb mince in two batches, adding the three spices – SUMAC, Cayenne Pepper and Chinese Five Spice as who stir. Add around 2 or 3 teaspoons of SUMAC, two dashes of Cayenne Pepper and two dashes of Chinese Five Spice for each batch. I also love to add a teaspoon of Sambel Olek (chilli paste) for extra spice.
5. For extra substance and flavour – but this part is optional – fry up half a punnet of sliced mushrooms and add this on top, then pat the meat and veggies down into a firm base.
6. Beat up a dozen large eggs in a big mixing bowl. (sometimes you need 14, depending on the size of the eggs) Add a dash of milk to pump up the volume, then pour over the meat and veggie base in the casserole dish. Sprinkle a light dusting of Parmesan cheese on top – unless you are being more diet-conscious – in which case, ditch the cheese!
Pour the eggs and milk mixture over the mince then add a sprinkling of Parmesan
7. Bake in an oven at 180 C for roughly 40 minutes – checking after 30 minutes to see how it’s going. When it’s golden on top, remove from the oven and let cool for five minutes.
8. Slice into ten portions by cutting one row horizontally and four lines vertically. Then place each piece in an individual plastic container for storage.
It really is the best way to start the day! The Thai chicken version is pretty tasty too.
Oh, and don’t forget, if you want to sign up with the lady who has million more wonderful tips on food and exercise, here’s Alinta’s details. Happy eating and let me know how the frittata works for you if you give this recipe a go!
Adding on to yesterday’s Blog about which products rate the best when it comes to dry shampoo – a great tip from my friend Lisa. She says she can’t use any of the dry shampoos listed below due to the chemicals, but she’s found a fabulous alternative. It’s cheap and easy to buy – BAKING SODA!!!
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When you start a new job, it’s always nice to know someone has your back. There can be challenging moments and sometimes you just need someone you can rely on.
Like recently I’ve discovered with my new job at Smoothfm. (which I absolutely love) One of the trickiest challenges is getting out of bed at 4am. If you haven’t had enough sleep, you might press the snooze button once. Or twice…
But if you hit it twice, then getting ready for work – fixing hair and make-up plus sorting a presentable outfit – means a race against the clock. Panic sets in. Drastic measures are needed. Can you call someone to help? And this is when I discovered my new BEST FRIEND.
DRY SHAMPOO!!!!
YES – there is NO time for hair washing at 4am, believe me. And if there isn’t time to do this the day before, the only chance you have of looking half-decent is DRY SHAMPOO.
I love it. I love it almost as much as my GUIDED SLEEP MEDIATION video, which helps me get to sleep in the first place. (see last week’s blog)
No matter what your job, I’m sure, like me, you have mornings where you’re time-poor and stressed about trying to look your best. So after nearly two months at Smoothfm, I’ve had a chance to road test five different varieties of dry shampoo and thought I’d bring you my verdict on what works best.
This is one of the cheapest varieties around – on sale right now at Priceline for a mere $7.19. But sometimes it’s true to say that you get what you pay for. I found this to be the least effective brand of the five tested. It took several full-on spritzes all over the head to see any effect and my hair felt pretty dull and lifeless as a result.
This was second most expensive dry shampoo I tested, retailing at $16.95 at Hairhouse Warehouse. This has a pleasant fragrance, and lifts the hair a little, but the results are only about three-quarters as good as you’d hope. It works, but your hair still doesn’t feel completely clean. It might be the look rock stars are after – slightly grungy – but I don’t think it holds up in a professional workplace.
At more than $33, the Pureology brand can only be bought at selected hairdressers and is the most expensive of the varieties I tested. I had high hopes for this one. Pureology is the most wonderful product when it comes to shampoos and hair treatments, but unfortunately their dry shampoo did not live up to expectations. The spritz from the can isn’t very powerful and while the scent is divine, it still doesn’t feel like it completes the job. It almost gets there, but runs out of steam at the finish line.
This costs about $13 and can be brought from Priceline and most supermarkets. This is a good quality product that comes out of the can with a more forceful blast than the previous brands listed. It’s definitely more effective although I’m not too keen on the scent – it’s a bit like a toilet deodoriser…
This is the second cheapest of the brands tested and is definitely the winner in my book. It can be purchased from most supermarkets for between $9 and $11.
The spray from the can is powerful and effective, giving good coverage in minimal time. Its only downside is the scent, which is a bit sickly sweet, but on the plus side, that dissipates not long after application.
Which is just as well, because otherwise, it gives a great result with fresh bouncy hair in an instant that can be easily re-blowaved and styled into a fresh look that will fool anyone into thinking you’ve spent hours at the hair salon.
Verdict – 9/10
So there you have it- your complete guide to what works and what doesn’t when it comes to dry shampoos. Now you can thank me when lying in bed tomorrow for that extra half hour…
It’s been a gloomy old week in Melbourne. Weather-wise I mean. Grey and wet all the way, which leaves one feeling like you’re stuck in the middle of an endless English winter.
Work-wise it’s been a different story. I’ve had a fantastic week. I’m settling in at smoothfm and starting to feel a little less like the new kid on the block.
But with my new working hours and this dismal weather, I’ve started to hanker for a bit of sunshine. You know that feeling, when you start to fantasize about a holiday in a tropical island paradise?
Just looking at this picture makes you feel warmer, doesn’t it? You can feel the sun on your skin, the sand between your toes and the smell of sea-salt in the air.
I’m also missing my regular gym work-outs and feeling a bit on the pale, bloated side. I did actually manage to summon up enough energy to make it to one gym class earlier in the week because the name appealed. It was a ‘Beach Body workout’. What could be better, I thought? A workout, plus I’ll start to feel all lithe and summery – fabulous!
No such luck. There was a lot of sweaty, hard grunt-work but in the end, I realized it would take about a hundred such classes to transform the white flabby shape in the mirror. However, the ‘beach body’ concept stayed on my mind and I started to think up ways to make this happen without all the hard work…
And then it came to me in a flash. Of course! All I needed was a bit of fake tan and I’d instantly feel slimmer and more summery! I’m not talking about some horrible orange smudged on goo – more like a light frosting of summer – an elegant, subtle tan that leaves you glowing instead of marching around town like an Oompaloompa.
And so, for your benefit (and mine!) I’ve given a few products a test run to help steer you in the right direction.
This is the best of all the gradual tanning lotions I’ve tried. It’s easy to apply, dries relatively quickly and doesn’t streak Use the ‘Normal to dark skin’ colour for the best results.
You used to be able to buy this from specialty cosmetic store Mecca, although most recently I purchased this online through Amazon. This is a great product for when you get ready for a special night out and realise your legs look like white sausages. An instant remedy, but also washes off so no lasting benefits. Use a sponge to apply and it’s not too difficult to achieve an even finish.
Like the Duwop Body Foundation, this is an instant fix for white skin. It also comes with a handy applicator mitt, however, it’s a little more streaky to apply. It still works, but takes a little more time than the Duwop. The other difference is that this is a more translucent liquid, leaving a more natural finish, whereas the Duwop can look a bit like heavy, pasty foundation if you apply too much.
This is a favourite of mine for a deeper, lasting tan. It should be applied the day before a special event and it helps if you have a friend or partner who can cover the back region. It leaves a glowing, natural colour that lasts for about a week and is the closest result to a natural tan that I’ve found.
Cost: $16.76 150ml
Rating: 9/10
So there you have it. How to get a beach body without going to the gym or taking a vacation. It’s the quickest, cheapest way to get a holiday-pick-me-up and beat those summer-withdrawal blues. I bet you’re feeling better already!
This past week has been a whirlwind, to say the least. So many new experiences, my head is spinning. A new job, new sleeping hours, a new gym and new work buddies. It’s all great and I’m loving it, but at times it can feel a little over-whelming.
My new role is news presenter on Mike Perso’s More Music Breakfast Show at smoothfm. I also enjoy a chat with Mike when we take a look at the traffic and talk about what’s happening in and around Melbourne.
This first week has brought back memories of when I first started reading the news at Channel Ten – the butterflies in the tummy, the adrenalin rush and the fear of making a mistake. You see, just as it is for anyone starting a new job, there’s a steep learning curve. Except that most of you don’t have to risk mucking up in front of thousands of people…
The week hasn’t been without its hiccups, but ninety-nine per cent of the time it’s been fantastic. I’ve loved working in news again and the immediacy of radio is brilliant. Best of all, it feels completely natural and comfortable to be reading news live to air again. That bit hasn’t phased me at all.
The biggest plus is that everyone I’m working with is absolutely lovely and supportive. It’s like they’ve all absorbed the vibe of the whole station – chilled and positive. Mike himself has been delightful and welcoming and I’m in awe of his seamless and relaxed delivery on air; juggling interviews, competitions, music and the challenge of working with a radio newbie like me!
As for the newsroom staff, they couldn’t have been more helpful if I’d paid them a million bucks each. There’s been a lot of new technology to absorb and me and technology don’t usually get along well at first so anyone teaching me, requires a LOT of patience. Which is why I have to thank these amazing people from the bottom of my heart:
Putting a bulletin together really is a team effort and I’m very lucky to be working with a group of such talented writers and operators. I’m also very much looking forward to the time in a couple of weeks when apparently – they keep telling me – the button-pushing bit will have become second-nature.
When I started at smoothfm last week, the person I was assigned to ‘follow’, who was going to teach me the ropes, was the super-talented Pip Mooney, the on-air newsreader I’ve replaced. Pip has chosen to take on a new role in the corporate world for family reasons so was more than happy to share her knowledge with me before she left.
Watching Pip at work was mind-boggling. The speed at which she completed her work, the high level of her capabilities and her professionalism on air made me wonder how I could ever fill her shoes. Again, like the rest of the team, her patience in explaining all the processes was infinite and much appreciated.
Also a great personality, I was sorry we weren’t going to be working together for longer when she left last Friday.
There’s a couple of other ‘thank yous’ required here. My new starting hours mean waking up at 4.30am, so I’ve pretty much dropped the ball on the domestic front this past week while I focus on my new job. (Because I also very much welcome an afternoon nap to get me through!)
As a result, Fletch has taken over the running of the household – even to the point where he did most of the home prep work for a family gathering on the weekend to celebrate his OWN birthday! (And our daughter Veronica’s as well.) AND he hasn’t complained about the alarm going off at 4.30am. Or making school lunches.
