Health

counting blessings

Posted by Sharon Pakir on Oct 19, 2011 in Fashion, Happiness, Health | 0 comments

Remember when my back was so bad and I posted about my fabulous recovery plan? (Being mainly that  was going to focus on being able to wear high heels again soon, one day, perhaps.)

Well, back then I had no idea if I would dance again, let alone wear heels again. And whilst it’s now been a whole year, I still have some bad days and some lack of ability to live life at 100%. This week has been a particularly bad pain week, but to be truthful, it comes on the back of 3 weeks of flying through the air dancing, lots of consulting work, and looking after my dad, so I’m hardly surprised. And I can deal with intermittent pain, given I’ve had so much ongoing, unrelenting pain.

STILL though, and I’ve only hit this stage about 6 weeks ago – I’m reminded ALL THE TIME of how far I’ve come. From being bed-bound and weeping daily, from being SO painkillered up and numb all the time, from not knowing how I’d ever dance again. From feeling cloistered at home, useless to anyone, and tired all the time. To 70% normalcy.

Life in the last 2 months have improved considerably, and I almost haven’t blogged about it so as not to jinx it. In happy new I’m finally feeling a bit like myself dancing again every so often, ALMOST as fast as I used to be. I feel like I’m closer to being myself again rather than further. Like I said, 70%.

So whilst it’s not good yet, it’s certainly pretty damn hopeful and unbelievably better. Almost crazily so. And it’s all happened in the last 6 weeks. Amazing.

And I like to every so often, celebrate this ultimate triumph with the wearing of some killer heels. Oh my shoes, they have missed me, and I them.

mmm.

A few friends have chastised me, saying I’m tempting fate and not doing my spine any favours. But you know what? High heels make me feel so alive now, and they make me feel less “ill”. It’s like I’ve spent a year in convalescence being dowdy and unpretty, and I ain’t doing it no more.

Last week, S took my Pa and I to the Melton horse races for an experience we’d not had. He assured me it wasn’t going to be dressy, that my jeans would suffice, that it was a casual night. But I was so excited. I have had a year of fretting about every outing (would I be able to go and would pain take over half way?) and stressing about long nights out (so debilitating and soooooo pain management filled). And for once I was simply happy and not anxious at all. I mean I still have to take painkillers. But no more fretting.

So I finally got to take these newbies (similar here) on a test drive, and it was unbelievable how comfortable they were! Plus we had a fun night of $5 bets on horses, junk food and giggling together.

So yes I’m certainly counting those blessings, and especially the high heeled ones.

watch anita starve & be thirsty!

Posted by Sharon Pakir on Oct 2, 2011 in Health | 1 comment

A very good friend of mine has signed up for not one, but THREE October challenges, all in the name of charity. Because the causes she’s supporting are so awesome PLUS I’ll be giggling through the process of watching her be such a very GOOD girl this month (worth oodles in personal entertainment), I thought I’d try and get some of you on the bandwagon to support her, perhaps make a small donation and even perhaps be inspired to do something like this yourself!

this Ocsober stuff is going to be no small feat!

So here goes it, a message from the very lovely Dr Anita Goh:

For the month of October, I’ve signed up for:

1. Ocsober. I have decided to go without alcohol this October to help the charity Life Education raise money for their vital drug and health education programs for Aussie kids.

2. DropTober. I have pledged to lose 2kgs in October to raise money for Kids for Life, who are devoted to raising awareness of sick and under privileged children

3. World Veg week challenge for International Vegetarian Week. This means no meat for a week to celebrate a compassionate choice for a kinder world (this is a bit of a cheat as I’ve gone without meat for decades now, but still raises awareness!).

Basically, I am making the conscious commitment to drink less (none!), get moving, and eat fresh, healthy, nutritious foods that are kind to the earth and to my body. I urge all of you to also think about committing to positive lifestyle changes, to nourish your body, heart, and soul.

It’s also a wonderful opportunity for me to do what I can to raise awareness and funds for much-needed monetary contributions to great organisations that educate our children about the dangers of drugs and the importance of staying healthy, and to support them when sick or underprivileged. Worthy causes indeed!

Why all these pledges?

Personally, I want to be the best Anita I can be. It’s not about the numbers on the scale changing, and I’m not expecting a massive change in body type. For me, it’s about making conscious lifestyle changes in order to get fit and healthy in October and beyond, in order to set me up for life.

I want to be in good shape as I age, with good bone density, strength, flexibility, and stamina, so I can live out dreams such as: having the energy to raise children whilst fulfilling work and relationship goals, fulfilling retirement dreams like climbing up to Machu Picchu with Oren whilst in our twilight years, and being able to chase and whirl my grandchildren around.

October 2011– on my way to a new, happier, healthier lifestyle – doing it for the kids, the animals, to improve health, and oh, you know, save the planet!

If you can, please show your support by making a donation to my Ocsober fundraising page by CLICKING HERE.

All donations over $2 are tax deductible!

Xo Anita

healthier habits: easy healthy lunches

Posted by Sharon Pakir on Jul 12, 2011 in Cooking, Health | 0 comments

Well, the whole newer, healthier lifestyle thing I posted about a while ago is going swimmingly, thanks very much for asking, S and I are feeling much better and in the last 2 months, it’s been habit forming.

I won’t lie, it wasn’t easy in the beginning – I’m not used to consulting recipes and measuring portions for a start, and also we both love comfort food. Plus, winter is not exactly the easiest season to commence a fitness regime in (this I say on behalf of S, with my back issues there’s no jogging for me whatsoever)!

After a few weeks though, we’ve settled into a nice rhythm and have found ourselves at the supermarket gleefully buying mostly unprocessed foods, actively craving vegetables and fruit more, and happily, S looks incredibly fit (yayy for him being handsomer than usual).

One of the nice habit forming activities is that every weekend now, we buy a heap of food and prep it all for a week. I’ve got this particular recipe down pat, and its been adapted from one of Michelle Bridge’s Losing the Last 5 Kg recipes to suit what’s in season, and to last a week of prep.

Here’s how I prepare a week’s worth of healthy lunches for S and I (that’s 10 lunches) in less than an hour.

(Shopping list: 2 zucchinis, 1 large eggplant, 1 head broccoli, 1 large head cauliflower, box of cous cous, dried mixed herbs, 600g tuna in springwater, 3 tins of beans/bean mix.)

This week, I started off by preheating the oven to 180 degrees celsius, then whilst waiting for that to heat up, I chop all the veggies up into 1 inch cubes, and lay them in baking pans. I also set the kettle to boil (you’ll see why later).

Then, I spray them all with olive oil, and sprinkle fresh ground salt and pepper all over (this is the only salt you’re going to have in the lunches to keep them healthy, so I don’t skimp here). Also a liberal sprinkle of dried mixed herbs all over it. Fresh herbs would be better I’m sure, but I also try to keep these meals cost effective and pantry supplied.

Give them a good shake, and chuck baking pans in oven. The quickest to cook will be zucchini (10 min), then broccoli and eggplant (12 min) then cauliflower (15 min) so I set the timer for 10 min to start with.

Whilst the veggies are cooking, I measure out 1.5 cups of couscous, and pour over it 1.5 cups of boiling water that I thoughtfully prepared earlier. I cover the bowl with a saucer and leave it.

Then I take out a bag of carrots and cucumbers and start slicing them up and putting the slices in ziploc bags. We go through about 1.5 – 2kg of carrots and 4 cucumbers between us in a week, and so I do this all in one hit.

BEEP! The zucchini is done!

Take the zucchini out and place the tray on a trivet. I like my zucchini caramelized to the hilt, as you can see.

The cous cous will be done by now, so I uncover it and fluff it up with a fork.

At this stage, I like to stir through a bunch of mint (either fresh or the kind in a tube) for great flavour, and sometimes lemon juice if my lemon tree has been kind to me.

BEEP! The broccoli and & eggplant are done!

I didn’t take a picture of the eggplant so you’ll just have to use your imagination.

Take those trays out and place on trivets. Then I go get all my other food items together whilst waiting for the cauliflower.

I took 3 standard sized tins of beans (kidney, chickpeas and lentils in case you’re wondering) and drained and rinsed them, then combined them in a bowl. Then I searched in my pantry till I found tins of tuna totalling 600g, opened and drained it all.

BEEP! The cauliflower is done.

Take THAT out too. Sigh happily at the amazing smells filling your kitchen.

Then, you lay out your 10 containers/bowls/pyrex dishes/tupperware.

From here, you can do 2 methods. You can layer each ingredient, or mix it all up. I’ve shown you both below, coz I’m nice like that.

If layering, you divide your couscous up between all the containers, then divide your beans up, then the tuna. Like so:

OR you can mix up the cous cous, bean mix and tuna, in a big bowl, THEN portion it out, like so:

MMM.

Then, I layer up the roasted vegetables over that.

AND YOU’RE DONE.

Behold the beauty:

oh, my.

The containers are for S, the bowls are for me.

Now, if you’re feeling addedly Martha Stewart-sh, these meals are meant to be eaten with a dollop of natural yoghurt. We like Jalna. It tastes rich, despite being fat free, and come in big tubs which are reusable, which means we aren’t earth killers, because I said so.

For S’s containers, I tuck a little muffin cup in, and plop a dollop of yoghurt in there. That way at work, he can just take it out, microwave the rest, and then pour on the yoghurt before eating (and throwing out the muffin cup) – saves us an extra mini-container he would otherwise take. I learnt this trick from ogling Bento lunchbox sites.

the ultimate packed lunch.

S and I have rated this lunch system the best so far, for its combination of ease, yumminess and nutritional factor. Portion control IS important too – the measurements and amounts I give above are for 10 lunches for one very big man and one generally hungry girl. They are reasonably filling, I don’t feel hungry for a good few hours after I eat these!

They’re SUPERBLY yummy, and infinitely changeable – sometimes I drop a handful of spinach on top of it all to wilt in the microwave, and in summer I can replace the vegetables with salad type condiments. Cous cous is super quick and yummy and full of fibre, but I can also change it up with a small amount of brown rice or even buckwheatsoba noodles. We also vary the protein – this works well with lean cooked chicken, tofu, salmon, and amazing with lamb strips.

Once I’ve packed it all in the fridge, I then finish chopping up our vegetable sticks and fruit salad for the week – it’s a no brainer to grab it out of the fridge in their ziploc bags each morning.

All in all, the entire process takes 45 minutes (after a few weeks practice), maybe an hour including cleanup (though I’m lucky to have a dishwasher AND an enthusiastic handsome pan scrubber). Our grocery bills have gone down significantly, and we can see the difference in our bodies – especially for S who has been diligently exercising as well! It’s food that is yummy enough to keep eating, but certainly not so yummy that it’s bad for the waistline. In fact, I’ve found myself roasting up vegetables when I’m after a savoury snack, and craving fruit and veg all the time.

And the best part?

You only have to do it once a week, and then you’re all set, all week long.

Do you have any packed lunch favourites? Have you been practising a healthier lifestyle? Share your tips with me!

healthier habits: the detox diet

Posted by Sharon Pakir on May 25, 2011 in Health | 0 comments

I’ve never been a fan of “detoxes” – whenever I hear of people doing a lemon juice, herbal tea, or nothing-but-juices diet, I cringe. I wonder what traumatising your body like that actually does, and most of these detoxes are highly acidic, leaving me to wonder what it is they do to your insides!

I’ve been reading a lot about “resetting” diets though, detoxes that involve a sensible amount of protein and small amounts of complex carbohydrates, that don’t leave you with gnawing hunger and ridiculously low energy levels. Being more healthy is something I’ve been trying to strive towards lately, with searching for my “perfect” fitness regime and adding supplements to my daily routine. These sound good, reasonable, and for heavens sake, healthier eating is an attractive mindset to have!

Note that dancers often, ironically, have woeful diets. With odd training times (I don’t usually eat dinner till 10.45pm), a body that craves constant fuel, and crazy travel schedules, it’s difficult to maintain 100% positive track records for healthful eating. When in full training mode, my need for carbs and milk rise dramatically, as well as rich foods, otherwise I lose too much weight.

So ANYWAY, this week, S and I have embarked on a detox diet. It’s not the BEST week for it, since I have several birthday celebrations coming up, but we wanted to get started on it and not procrastinate. This was more S’ idea – he wants to get fitter as he’s had a punishing work schedule lately and been unable to live as healthily as he likes. We’ve used the guidance of 2 books – by Susie Burrell and Michelle Bridges respectively.

Whilst both books are called “Losing the last 5kg”, they both advocate sensible eating, as well as good exercise regimes. As a dance professional, I love this advice and embrace this mindset. They are both also extremely easy reads, with conversational tones and simple to follow schedules. The best part? The recipes all look delicious and easy.

Our goals:

• S’ goal is to lose the few kilos he’s put on recently, and get into a habit of healthy eating.
• My goal is to incorporate a lot more fibre and vegetables into my diet, and not rely on comfort/processed foods so much.
• S is also going to cut caffeine so he’ll stop being reliant on it. I don’t imbibe a whole lot of caffeine so I’m comfortable with where I am.

Whilst we both will never become completely anal about our diets, it’s nice to consider it and feel great about the choices we’re making.

We’ve started this week with Susie’s detox soup plan – and then will move onto Michelle’s month long recommendation. The detox soup is surprisingly yummy considering having zero salt added, and is very hearty.

Susie Burrell's Detox Soup

Detox Soup Basics (from Susie’s blog)

Serves 6-8