Tag Archives: health eating

Staying Motivated When Dieting

Posted on by

STAYING MOTIVATED

By Alison Clark, independent nutritionist and spokesperson for Europe’s no 1 healthy eating plan, Eurodiet.co.uk

The New Year is a great time to set positive goals and make resolutions, and many of us use this time as an opportunity to try and embrace a healthier lifestyle. Making these plans is the easy part but sticking to them can be more difficult! Follow these tips to stay motivated and make 2012 the year that you achieve your health goals.

1. Team up

Changing old habits that may have been ingrained for ten or twenty years can be hard and having the support of friends and colleagues will help you to stay focused.

* Share tips and test new recipes with friends, family and colleagues. Online communities can be hugely helpful here, Eurodiet has a Facebook community.

2. Get organised

Try to plan ahead, jot down which ingredients and products you need. This will make it easier for you to stick to your eating plan and less likely to pick up unhealthy options when you are on the go.

* Try cooking larger amounts and freezing portions for the days when you don’t have enough time to cook.

3. Clean out your cupboards

Having tempting foods in the house or in your desk will make it much more difficult for you to resist eating them.

* Give away any post-celebration goodies which are still lurking around the house – if they are not there you won’t be able to eat them!

4.Don’t be defeated on ‘Difficult days’

It is normal to have days where you find it more difficult to stick to your resolutions. The important thing is not to let these days get you down and stop you from continuing with your good work – draw a line and stay positive. It’s what you do most of the time that counts!

* If you have a sweet craving try one of the low calorie sweet options available on the Eurodiet.co.uk eating plan – like gooey vanilla caramel chocolate bars or apple crumble.

5.Identify your triggers

Next time you have a hard time resisting a second helping or you skip an exercise class, think about why it happened. Try to identify the feelings that triggered your behaviour, for example hunger, fatigue or stress. How could you change the outcome next time?

* Control your hunger by eating regular meals and ensure you have enough protein in your diet. Protein is essential for sending signals to the brain to say, “Thank you, I’m full”. Introduce healthy snacks if needed like cereal bars or fruit.

6.Make it fun!

Write a list of milestones you expect to pass on your journey towards your final goal and find ways to reward yourself as you reach each one. This will encourage you to stay on track and make the challenge more enjoyable too!

* Treat yourself to a massage, enjoy a spa day, take a new class, buy a new dress, try a new sport.

* Stay positive!

Sophie Mitchell Summer Recipes: Saturday

Posted on by


Rye crepes with super fruit salsa and Greek yoghurt
Serves 4
Prep time 10 minutes + 30 minutes resting time
Cooking time 8 minutes each crepe
200g rye flour
50g plain flour
2 eggs
500ml milk
Pinch of salt
150g blueberries
100g raspberries
100g pomegranate seeds
½ grapefruit
250ml Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp of runny honey
1. Pour the flours in a bowl, add the salt and mix. Whisk the milk and eggs together and they mix
into the flours, stirring at the same time, to make a lump free batter. Then cover and leave in the
fridge. This can be made the night before too.
2. Segment the grapefruit and mix with the berries and pomegranate.
3. Heat up a large non-stick frying pan and add a little oil, then when hot enough add a ladle of the
batter bad spread thinly. Cook for 2 minutes then flip over, repeat with all the batter and then serve
with the fruit, yoghurt and honey.

Tuna Teriyaki burgers with red radish sprouts and cucumber
ribbon salad
Serves 4
Prep time 20 minutes
Cooking time 10 minutes
800g of fresh tuna steaks
4 spring onions
1 tbsp pink sushi ginger
2 tsp teriyaki sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
Sea salt and pepper
Splash of veggie or sunflower oil
For the salad;
2 cucumbers
1 red chilli
200g red radish sprouts
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sesame seeds
1. Cube the tuna into medium sized cubes and place in a blender. Then slice the spring onion,
roughly chop the ginger and add with the rest of the burger ingredients. Blitz until fine, with a little
texture. Then take out and shape into 8 patties of equal size.
2. Finely chop the chilli and mix in a bowl with the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and sesame seeds.
Then using a peeler, peel the cucumber into strips into the bowl, finally add the radish sprouts and
mix well.
3. Heat a frying pan up and add a splash of oil, then cook the tuna burgers for 4 minutes on each
side, season as you are cooking.
4. Then serve the burgers and salad together. This is also great with steamed rice and for a more
indulgent dish mix some wasabi and mayonnaise together and serve on the side as well.

Chicken, peanut and sugar snap and basil stir-fry
Serves 4
Prep time 15 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
1 tsp of natural oil (like veggie oil, but peanut oil is great here too)
4 chicken breasts (approx 180g per breast)
4 spring onions, roughly sliced
1 red pepper, cubed
1 tsbp un-salted peanuts
250g sugar snap peas
200g tender stem broccoli, cut into 2” pieces
Small handful of basil
Stir-fry sauce;
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp fruit sugar
Pinch of chilli powder
Juice of 1 lime
1. Cube the chicken and the peppers and then heat up the oil. Add the chicken and fry for 5 minutes
on a high heat, and then add the peppers, the peanuts, the sugar snap peas and the broccoli.
2. Cook on a high heat stirring occasionally for 8/10 minutes, it is fine to get a good colour on the
ingredients.
3. Mix all the sauce ingredients together and pour over the stir-fry, along with a tbsp of water.
Continue cooking till the sauce is thick (about 5 minutes) then add the basil and serve with some
steamed jasmine rice

Sophie Mitchell Summer Recipes; Tweet yourself thin: Friday

Posted on by

Pancetta, cherry tomato and ricotta frittatas
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 10 minutes
Makes 12 mini frittatas
12 slices of pancetta
6 cherry tomatoes
200g ricotta
25g watercress
10 eggs
100ml milk
Sea salt and black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Oil a 12 cup mini muffin tray or a 6 cup larger one.
2. Line each muffin cup with a slice of pancetta. Then halve the cherry tomatoes and add one half to
each cup. Divide the ricotta between the cups as well.
3. Whisk the eggs and milk together, then season. Roughly chop the watercress and mix in with the
eggs. Pour the mix between the muffin cup and pop in the oven 10 minutes, until just set.
4. Then cool slightly, remove from the tray and serve.

Wholemeal linguine with crab, chilli and white wine
Serves 4
Prep time 10 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
400g wholemeal linguine
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 dried chilli
2 lemon, zest and juice
Small handful of chopped flat leaf parsley
400g of white crab meat
1. Place a large pan of water on to boil, when at a rapid boil, add salt and then the pasta.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil up in a large frying pan. Add the garlic, then crumble in the
chilli, fry for a couple of minutes, but do not get any colour on the garlic.
3. Add the crab, lemon and parsley then season well.
4. When the pasta is done (this should take about 20 minutes, but read the individual packet
instructions and cook al’dente) Then drain off the pasta, retaining about 1 tsbp of pasta water and
add both to the frying pan. Cook for another 5 minutes and then serve with an extra drizzle of
olive oil.

Pan Fried Salmon with fennel shavings and saffron aioli
Serves 4
Prep time 15 minutes
Cooking time 10 minutes
4 skinless salmon steaks (about 200g each)
2 bulbs of fennel
1 tbsp capers
1 red onion, sliced
Juice of lemon
2 tsp olive oil
Saffron aioli;
1 clove of garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
1 free range egg yolk
1 pinch of saffron
100ml olive oil
1. Firstly trim the fennel and then cut it as thinly as possible (I use a mandolin for this) then mix with
the lemon juice, capers and onions finally add the olive oil and season. Do this about 1 hour
beforehand if possible.
2. Then make the aioli, place the garlic in a blender with the egg yolk and saffron, then blitz for 2
minutes. Then very gradually pour the olive oil, while the machine is still on. It should become pale
and thicker. Season and add some lemon juice.
3. Heat griddle pan or a frying pan up hot and then add a little oil, season the salmon and cook for
about 4 minutes each side then serve up with the salad and a drizzle of aioli.