Year: 2011

the 5 things your breakfast protein shake must include

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Breakfast seems to be a big topic on this blog (a few previous posts here and here).  I often get walloped with responses like, “but I don’t have enough time” and “I’m not a breakfast fan”. My answer to such queries is protein shakes.  HOWEVER, there are protein shakes and then there are protein shakes. Some are full of sugar and crud, some are geared at blokes with bulging muscles and odd little gym swaggers. But I’ve come across this one which is neither: 180 nutrition’s protein superfood.  Below, Jo has outlined the deal with protein shakes and some great recipes for this sponsored review. Enjoy!

Picture 3 the 5 things your breakfast protein shake must include
photo by Maria Laitinen

what to look for in a protein shake: 

Most of the info out there advises it’s all about whey protein. But know this: the whey needs to be…

  • raw
  • cold pressed
  • derived from grass fed cows
  • free of hormones, chemicals
  • free of sugar

180 nutrition’s protein superfood ticks all these boxes.
Also, less is more. This superfood contains only a handful of (recognisable, no “numbers” involved) ingredients:

  • grass fed whey protein isolate
  • flaxseed
  • almond meal
  • sunflower kernels
  • coconut flour
  • cocoa (chocolate flavour only)
  • chia seeds
  • pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
  • sesame seeds
  • pysillium husks
  • inactive brewers yeast
  • stevia

So: no gluten, no artificial flavourings or preservatives, no processed sugars and sweeteners, no bulking agents or thickeners. PLUS the whole lot is 100% raw and organic.

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to emoticon or not to emoticon?

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This week in Sunday Life I sign off, sincerely

Lottie Frank to emoticon or not to emoticon?
Illustration by Lottie Frank

Poor Sreejesh got me so very wrong. During the week the charming and enthusiastic IT specialist from some outpost in India contacted me, trying to win some online business. He was doing well. Until he got to his sign-off. There, it was, alongside his name: “<3333333”.

First, the kid mistook me for someone who cared to know what his little flurry of key strokes meant. I Googled it and found it’s emoticon-speak for “lots of hearts” (turn your head on its side if you’re still stumped). Second, he signed off with hearts?!  We’ve never met, not even virtually.

We all know by now by now that technology is meant to be making us fat, dumb and boring. But I mostly think the rapidly shifting electronic world is making us confused, and so we do awkward things, like bag out our boss on Twitter etc, as we adjust.

It’s like the nascent stages of a sexual dalliance – we’re awkward and cringy until we get the hang of things. Which would make the fraught issue of electronic sign-offs the bra unhook – something we seem unable to ever master, despite the fact we’ve been on email for decades now.

The issue prompted me this week to have a good look at my own sign-off style. For years I’ve run an automatic signature at the bottom of my emails with the sign-off, “Be well, Sarah”. Which was highly efficient – if a little worthy – in that it saved me 12 whole characters every email.

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We quit sugar… and this is what has happened

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Time to share feedback. I’ve been very much taken by surprise by how my I Quit Sugar ebook has been received. I’m beside myself with satiated joy that so many people have been able to experience some REAL results from quitting the white stuff. Thousands have now tried the 8-week program. Here’s some feedback on what they’ve found and learned…heartening!

Picture 9 We quit sugar... and this is what has happened
image via weheartit.com

Jasmin says: I’m in week 4 and i’m amazed by the changes so far, I hardly have anymore headaches, I’m not craving sugar or any crap food actually, people have commented on me losing weight, my afternoon slump is pretty much gone so I’m so happy and grateful Sarah, I have been surrounded by cakes and sweets etc this past week and for the first time in my life it wasn’t an issue for me, I didn’t want any and I was happy not to have any so that’s pretty amazing, this is def something I want to keep continuing on with so THANK YOU!!!!

Jon says:  When you originally spoke about quitting sugar early this year in the Sunday paper I had, “had enough” of being overweight (113kg), on BP medication for nearly 30 years (I’m not yet 50!!), anti-depressants, thyroid drugs (from a tumour, so I think I have to stay on them), so I thought I’d give it a try. Over this last year, I have dropped 20kg through diet alone, I’ve now joined a gym and getting ‘ripped’ (?!?!), I’ve just weaned myself of the anti-depressants, I’m now dropping the BP meds due to dizzy spells and LOW BP, due to the meds; my skin has cleared up (been bad since highschool), people are saying I look 10 years younger and I feel like I want to do things and get on with life again.

James says: I quit sugar a few weeks back and after some withdrawal symptoms at about the 1 week mark I noticed a huge change in the way I felt. I used to be exhausted after eating and feel like I needed to lie down. Now, I feel energised after eating. I’ve even found that if I need to force my body to stay awake I can do it by eating something like unsweetened organic peanut butter. This is totally opposite to before! I also feel much clearer in my mind. I’m eating less, but still have the odd binge so don’t really seem to be loosing belly fat.

Trish: I was worried that (eating more fat) would affect my cholesterol levels, so I had a blood test, and after a year of not worrying about the fat content of foods, it was 3.3 (with the good cholesterol high and the bad cholesterol low)!The blood test also measured my risk of cardio-vascular disease,

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five books: cookbooks and nutrition guides I eat by

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I’m starting an occasional series where I share a couple of my favourite books. First up, cookbooks and nutrition guides I live by. I’ve put nifty links to Amazon if you’re busting to get your hands on them….

Picture 12 five books: cookbooks and nutrition guides I eat by
photo via trendsters

Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions

Sally is the co-founder and president of the Weston A Price Foundation, and this cookbook is a comfy, organic bible for anyone wanting to live a truly nourished, mostly paleo, sugar-free life. It’s the real deal. The lovely Jo Foster got me my copy and I pore over it regularly.

I love the sub title (“The Cookbook that Challenges Politcally Correct Nutrition and The Diet Dictocrats”. Right on, Sally!), the detailed nutrition tips all the way through and the fermented vegetables, sprouting and “how to make your own yoghurt, whey and kefir” sections. You can buy the book here.

Deepak Chopra’s Perfect Health

The best introduction to Ayervedic healing, hand’s down. I mostly live by the Ayervedic approach – which is to say I eat according to my dosha. This style of living is about healing through food. I’ve written on this here. Chopra weaves the Indian traditions with our western thinking, showing what types need to eat more root vegetables, more oil, less salad, more bitter foods etc. You can buy the book here.

Stephanie Alexander’s Cook’s Companion

This is the cookbook I keep going back to. Why? It orders recipes by the ingredient. Which is the logical way of going about things when you eat according to what’s in season. I buy fennel when I see it in season at the

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as promised, the sugar-free, grain-free cheesecake recipe (plus a recipe for kale chips)

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I’m a girl firmly against the idea of tofu sausages. And the like. Bastardising food is somehow naff, no? But sugar free cheesecake is a mighty fine exception to that rule. I’ve ranted on Twitter about this cake – which I made with my beautiful friend Claire – and promised to share the recipe. So, here she is (and, yes, Jo, I’ll make it for your birthday!).

photo9 as promised, the sugar-free, grain-free cheesecake recipe (plus a recipe for kale chips)
photo by Johnny Abegg

Now, once again, our measurements are VERY imprecise. Claire and I literally “added a bit of this, added a bit of that”. And it simply worked. So have faith! Feel it with your fingers!

Sarah + Claire’s sugar-free nut cheesecake

First make the base (meals and nuts can be substituted for any others you have lurking in the cupboard):

  • 100g of dessicated coconut
  • 110g of shelled pistachios
  • 150g of almond meal
  • 4 “generous” tbls of butter…which is to say, keep adding more butter till you get a nice gooby consistency

Preheat the oven to about 160 C. Stab-mix or blend pistachios until they are semi-fine chunks, add to a mixing bowl with the coconut, almond meal, and room temperature butter and rub until the mixture is an even, thick consistency. Then press into a baking paper lined spring form pan. cover the base and sides with your mixture to an even thickness  – you may need more or less of the mixture depending on the size of your pan. Try to keep it an even thickness – about 1/2-1cm.

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The surprising joy of hitchhiking

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This week in Sunday Life I hitchhike

Picture 152 The surprising joy of hitchhiking
photo via katespade.com

My life is often overlaid with a certain degree of mistimed chaos. Which means, from time to time, I’m forced to hitchhike.

Take Thursday. I was due at a meeting at 7.30am, but in timing my morning I failed to factor in that I’d sold my car the day before. Readers of this column might recall I often run as a form of transport. So off I set in my sneakers. However, halfway into town, I realized there was not a chance in a blue fit of making my meeting in time.

So I hitched. Some lovely old blokes – on their way in to town for a swim – stopped. They cracked retiree-like jokes about my being the best thing they’d picked up all morning, and I laughed. Because it was fun. And so I hitched home again.

The last time I hitchhiked I was running (literally, again) late for a ferry in Cronulla. Two pimply teens in a circa-1990 Holden Commodore picked me up. Much to my delight, the back seat was upholstered in the Union Jack and the entire cabin interior had been lined in the Southern Cross motif. The boys, apprentice boilermakers, had handstitched the vinyl stars on themselves. And they stopped to buy me an icecream because they thought I might be hungry.

Ensconced on my Australiana throne I was treated to the most enlightening insight into the Aussie male predicament. They were so likeable and open, I wanted to take them home with me, which, admittedly, is a little Ivan Milat-creepy.

You just don’t see so many hitchhikers these days. Which is something a few commentators have been lamenting of late. The nerdy commentators behind the  blog phenomenon Freakonomics outlined reasons for the decline earlier this month.

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friday giveaway: 10 double passes to see “we need to talk about kevin”

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Over the summer I’m going to do a number of Friday giveaways. So stay tuned! Last giveaway, Lisa Corduff won free tuition with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition course in NYC. (Sorry to everyone else who was keen to win…for those of you still thinking of doing the course, if you enrol between now and November 24, you get an ipad2!). This week, I’m giving away

10 double passes to We Need To Talk About Kevin. 

Simply subscribe to my newsletter before Monday 5pm AEST.

Picture 18 friday giveaway: 10 double passes to see "we need to talk about kevin"We Need To Talk About Kevin is screening in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra, starting from the 17th November and the 10 double passes will be valid for all these locations.

I’ll announce the winners on Monday, and send your tickets next week.

The film is based on the book by Lionel Shriver and stars Tilda Swinton, which is enough for me! It’s the story of a Mum coming to terms with the murders her son commits. Every single review I’ve read of the film gives it a full-star rating. It was a critics’ and audience favourite at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and…did I mention is star’s Tilda Swinton? Shriver describes the adaption as “stunning”.

And happy 11.11.11 !!

Check out more here and some reviews here. Here’s a wee preview….

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question: is it really ok to eat fat?

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You know I quit sugar, right? And you know I’ve stuck to it? And you know I’ve written an ebook on how to do it?

Picture 151 question: is it really ok to eat fat?
photo via pinterest

For those of you who haven’t read it yet, the main thrust of my 8-week program is replacing sugar with fat. It’s an approach I really find worked for me, and for many others. But I keep getting asked:

“is it really ok to eat fat?”

“how can you say saturated fat is OK?”

“how much fat do YOU eat?”

Alright. Let’s clear a few things up, then…

1. This short video sums up a fair bit of the misconception around saturated fat:

The gist is this: in the 1950s, a random scientist called Ancel Keys published a dodgy study that told us saturated fats were bad. The study was a total furphy. But we latched on to it. It’s important to realise that at that time the edible oil industry in the US seized the opportunity to promote its polyunsaturates. The industry did this by developing a health issue focusing on Key’s anti-saturated fat bias. With the help of the edible oil industry lobbying in the United States, federal government dietary goals and guidelines were adopted incorporating this mistaken idea that consumption of saturated fat was causing heart disease. This anti-saturated fat issue became the agenda of government and food industry groups around the world.

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a super pretty sugar free macaroon slice…

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I discovered a wonderful world out there the other day. A world I had been oblivious to (I’ve been oblivious to a lot of things recently). A world where some beautifully talented and curious and dedicated food bloggers have quit sugar and taken to experimenting with sugar-free recipes. I’ll be profiling a few here going forwards, so stay tuned.

Picture 13 a super pretty sugar free macaroon slice...
photo via scandi foodie

I came across Maria’s blog Scandi Foodie after interacting with her her sweet tweets recently. Maria is a props stylist originally from Finland, now living in Sydney. Her elegant food philosophy and styling have been influenced by her Scandinavian background, and she specialises in healthy, feel-good food. Feel-good food. Yes, I like it. And the Scandinavian aesthetic and social outlook is just TALKING to me right now.

And what about this recipe!!!! A very fine use of coconut products and a clever invention all round, don’t you think? The rhubarb? A fruit? Well, technically it’s a vegetable (and one with lots of health benefits, so say the Chinese) and doesn’t contain much sugar at all.  It’s very tart, so you may wish to “sweeten” it with a little stevia. I reckon you could also use frozen berries, if you wanted. What say you, Maria?

sugar free rhubarb macaroon slice

Base
  • 100g quinoa flakes
  • 50g coconut flakes (no sugar added)
  • 50g rolled oats*
  • 1 tablespoon raw pure cacao nibs (total sugars 3.6g/100g)
  • 80g virgin coconut oil
  • 2 large egg whites (free-range,organic)
Filling
  • 200g rhubarb, cut into 1 cm slices
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Top
  • 3 large egg whites (free-range, organic)
  • 50g fine desiccated coconut (no sugar added)
* You could make this totally gluten-free by using uncontaminated oats, or simply replacing the 50 grams of oats with more quinoa flakes.

Preheat oven to 180C and line a 25cm x 15cm baking tray with baking paper.

For the filling, place the rhubarb and ground cinnamon, along with a dash of water (a couple of tablespoons) into a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to boil, then let simmer while you make the base and the filling. Stir the mixture every now and then and just let it cook until quite thick. Set aside to cool.

For the base, place the quinoa flakes, coconut flakes, oats and cacao nibs into a food processor. Grind the ingredients into a fine-ish mixture, then add the coconut oil and grind until the mixture comes together. Beat in the egg whites. Spoon the dough in the baking dish and, using your hands, spread on the baking sheet into a 1-2 cm thick base.

For the topping, beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until thick. Carefully fold in the coconut.

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a *fresh* technique for working out your life values

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This week in Sunday Life I find my sweet spot

klaus pichler a *fresh* technique for working out your life values
Photo by klaus pichler

It always surprises me when I come back as a “glass half full” type in aptitude tests because there are few people more down on positive thinking than me. I blame it on vision boards. Seriously, those silly craft projects geared at manifesting husbands and mansions really sullied the whole movement.

But there’s also this, and it’s something the psychology fraternity is coming around to: shape-shifting our thoughts – turning frowns upside down and all that jazz – takes too much energy. And seems pointless, in the wash of it all.

Recently in this magazine New York writer Sara Eckel wrote about her time in the single wilderness bombarded with those messages about sunnier-fying your outlook to attract the bloke. Eventually she found her bloke. Not because she shape-shifted, but because she simply met the right bloke, the one who loved her for her sometimes cloudy outlook.

Sure, it’s no fun dragging around a ball and chain. But nor is trying to turn said ball into a bunch of bouncy pink balloons.

What about simply mustering strength, picking up the damn ball and continuing forward, carrying it close to your chest?  Yes! Continuing forward!

Crudely, this is the gist of the “new wave”of behavioural therapy. Called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), it goes beyond the positive psychology model and gets us to accept (rather than challenge) our emotions via mindfulness exercises, and to commit to life by identifying and following our values. Dozens of controlled studies show ACT to be more effective than other form of therapy for everything from eating disorders to schizophrenia.

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