News — Goals

Did you know that our meal containers are recyclable and reusable? We know that recycling is great, but reusing is even better. Reusing is a great way to repurpose something that otherwise would have just been sent to the recycling bin…simply reusing an item can help reduce energy, prevent pollution, and reduce waste all at the same time.

So, why not preserve the life of your Wholesomeness containers a little bit longer by finding some creative uses to reuse them around your house…we’ve put together a few different ideas below. We hope this list helps to inspire your own repurposing efforts at home!

1. Start your own seeds

Our meal containers could make great seed starting containers. Simply drill a few holes in the bottom for drainage, add some soil and some seedlings (e.g. tomatoes) and watch your mini garden grow.

2. For the artist inside

Use your Wholesomeness container lids as paint trays to blend colours, or use the containers to keep colours separate. Simply snap on the lid to keep the paint from drying out.

3. Kids organisation

If you have kids, you know that simple food containers are soo handy for keeping things organised, contained and out of arms reach. Use them to store the kiddies craft supplies, board game pieces, or electrical cords and chargers. Plus, they’re stackable, lightweight and portable, making organising a breeze.

4. Ask your local kindergarten, primary school or arts centre

If you are still in surplus, ask your local community if they need any donations. There are high chances that they do!

5. Fridge organisation

Use your Wholesomeness meal containers to hold and organise bits and bobs in your fridge, for example bunches of herbs, blocks of cheese, or small individually wrapped packaged snacks that you need a place to stash them. You could use them to help you plan food rotations, by labelling day 1 to 4. Stick labels on them and stack them up for that Instagram-worthy, organised fridge look! 

There are lots of other ways to put our containers to good reuse around the house. We hope these clever repurposing ideas have inspired you, or maybe you have some other ideas we have forgotten about! Be sure to let us know 🙂

Author:
Lisa Cutforth
B.Sc Nutrition with Psychology (Dual Degree)
Consulting Clinical Nutritionist to The Banyans Wellness Retreat
Owner and Managing Director of Wholesomeness and Wholesomeness-on-Roma

The beneficial live microorganisms that are present in some fermented foods are called “probiotics” (derived from the Greek word meaning “for life”, and for good reason).

Probiotics have long been studied for the beneficial health effects they produce when consumed. For example, probiotics have been linked to the prevention of colon cancer, cholesterol and blood pressure management, immune function improvements, the prevention of infections, reducing inflammation, and supporting gut health while under stress.

In recent years, a growing body of evidence has also been investigating whether probiotics have the potential to promote a different aspect of health – namely brain health.

The interest in the field of probiotics and mental health was first sparked when a ground-breaking study was conducted in Japan in 2004. When two groups of mice (one group being germ-free, without bacteria in their guts) were placed under stress, the researchers were able to reverse the exaggerated stress response of the germ-free mice by introducing beneficial bacteria into their guts. The experiment highlighted the connection between microbes in the gut and stress responses in the brain, and suggested that altering the gut microbiome (e.g. with probiotics), could influence brain function.

Since then, many studies have focussed on the positive connection between probiotics and brain health, particularly on mood, behaviour and depressive symptoms. 

A recent 2019 large-population based study found an association between probiotic food consumption and lower rates of depression among men. These findings were in line with previous conclusions by Benton et al. who found that probiotics improved mood in healthy individuals who reported having poor mood at the beginning of the experiment.

When our gut is healthy and balanced, our “good” bacteria can do what they’re supposed to do, like produce critical neurotransmitters that effect the biochemistry of our brain, and thus effect mood, behaviour and depression.

These findings reiterate the significant role that diet and nutrition have on regulating and promoting mental health.

Boost your good bacteria for a healthy brain with some of our probiotic-rich dishes:

• Our Herbed Pine nut & Goji Quinoa Salad, with Beetroot Hummus, Broad beans and Sauerkraut (containing sauerkraut for immune-boosting probiotic benefits)
• Our Miso Salmon with Asian Vegetables and Brown Rice (containing miso paste, another non-dairy probiotic that we love)

References:

Benton, C. Williams, A. Brown. Impact of consuming a milk drink containing a probiotic on mood and cognition. Eur J Clin Nutr, 61 (2007), p. 355

Kim, Chong-Su, and Dong-Mi Shin. “Probiotic Food Consumption Is Associated with Lower Severity and Prevalence of Depression: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.” Nutrition, vol. 63-64, 2019, pp. 169–174., doi:10.1016/j.nut.2019.02.007.

Sudo N, Chida Y, Aiba Y, et al. Postnatal microbial colonization programs the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system for stress response in mice. J Physiology. 2004;558(Pt 1):263-275.

Too busy to hit the gym or schedule a structured workout into your day? Don’t sweat, because there’s lots of easy things you can do during the day to boost your movement and activity levels, without even realising it!

GO FOR A WALK WITH A FRIEND. Instead of meeting at a coffee shop to sit down and catch up, get your coffees to go and hit the local neighbourhood for a walk. If you have a beach nearby, taking a walk with a friend along the beach boardwalk is a nice thing to do as well.

WEEKEND FAMILY BIKE RIDE. Dust off the bikes, lace up your shoes and head outside for a weekend bike ride with the family! You’ll be getting active, getting some sunshine and keeping your family connected all at the same time.

RUN UP THE STAIRS INSTEAD OF WALK. Running up a flight of stairs is an awesome way to burn calories (ever seen those stair climbing machines at the gym?).

JUMP ON THE TRAMPOLINE WITH YOUR KIDS. You may not believe it, but trampoline jumping actually works out your entire body. A 2019 study on the effectiveness of a mini-trampoline jumping program for people with osteopenia (low bone density) found that trampoline jumping helps to improve balance, strength and functional mobility. Jumping is for everyone!  

HAVE A DANCE PARTY. Make exercising fun again! Make sure to include moves that get you down low, jumping up high and moving your arms.

PARK IN THE FURTHEST PARKING LOT AWAY FROM THE SHOPS. Okay, so this might not be the most fun idea to do all the time, but have you ever tried to steer a full shopping trolley full of groceries around the parking lot, while attempting not to smash your trolley into someone or get yourself run over? It requires a lot of muscle strength and body movements!

GIVE YOUR KIDS PIGGY BACK RIDES. If your kids are young, they most likely love to get piggy back rides. If you start thinking about it as a way to get some more exercise into your day, you might enjoy it and want to do it a lot more!

LET YOUR DOG MOTIVATE YOU. Grab the leash and your dog and head outside. Your body and your pooch will thank you later! 

BE CREATIVE ABOUT ADDING MOVEMENT INTO YOUR DAILY ACTIVITIES. For example, you could do hand and wrist stretches while waiting at stop lights, squats while you watch your kiddies bath, or even star jumps while you wait for the microwave to ding.

Getting movement into your day doesn’t have to involve intense HIIT sessions or specific “scheduled” workout time. Remember that every step counts!

Author:
Lisa Cutforth
B.Sc Nutrition with Psychology (Dual Degree)
Consulting Clinical Nutritionist to The Banyans Wellness Retreat
Owner and Managing Director of Wholesomeness and Wholesomeness-on-Roma

3 Simple Ways to Achieve Your Health Goals This Year 

The truth is that it is hard to keep goals! Especially when they are vague, too grand or not time appropriate.

Stay focused and on track for optimum wellness with these three strategies for keeping and achieving your goals this year. They may be a little different to the strategies you usually hear about, but they are equally as important

1. A good social support network

Feeling like your part of a community or having a sense of belonging impacts greatly on your emotions and mental health, by reducing stress and feelings of seclusion. After all, who wants to do hard work in isolation? It is incredibly difficult…we all need advice, help, a different perspective, resources and guidance to help us stay on the right path. A social network might include friends, family, peers, co-workers, mentors, even a health professional who supports you…anyone who adds value to your life.

2. Stop comparing your results and accomplishments with that of others

If we all had the same accomplishments, it would be a very boring world! Celebrate your uniqueness and be proud of your achievements – as the most important person in your life is YOU.

Live by this quote: “Don’t compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to the person you were yesterday.” ~ Anonymous.

3. Document your goals and progress

This is helpful so that you can revisit and reassess them – visualising our goals often and seeing them written down can do wonders, as it makes them seem more real and tangible. Placing your written goals in areas where you can visualise them every day is greatly helpful as well – on your desk, computer, in your bathroom, on the fridge, as a constant reminder of what you are going to achieve.

The New Year is officially here, the festive season binging has now come to an end… and it’s time to awaken the inner warrior, be empowered and confident with your lifestyle choices.

Let’s face it; eating healthy is just downright hard to do these days. We have fast food at every glance, conveniently located and we tend to forget just how bad highly processed food is for our bodies. If you want to reach your weight loss goals or just continue on the healthy straight and narrow, these are some great everyday tips to incorporate into your daily routine.

Step 1: Give yourself some motivational encouragement! Set reminders in your phone, write things on your mirror, change your screensaver to something that gets you pumped, maybe even change your morning alarm tone! Don’t underestimate the power of your mind.

 Step 2: Time to do a clean out, get rid of your rubbish food so it isn’t staring at you in the face saying ‘EAT ME… EAT ME NOW’. These are generally your trigger foods after a long hard day and you’ve just lost all interest in cooking or making good decisions.

Step 3: PREP. YOUR. MEALS. If you haven’t been doing this, chances are you are going to get super busy, tired and hangry… leading to again, regretful choices. Make the most of our super healthy, freshly prepared meals.

Step 4: Plan your snacks. Snacks are a killer when it comes to weight management. Check out our 7 healthy snack ideas to help improve mood and productivity!

Step 5: Squeeze in somewhere each day to get your 30 minutes of exercise. Whether it’s a brisk walk after dinner, an intense gym sesh or calming light stretches, just do it! No excuses! This is your time to appreciate yourself. It’s worth every single minute.

                         [image] retrieved from: http://www.theearthdiet.org/uploads/3/4/8/4/3484401/__7818460_orig.jpg

Success tips: 

• Waking up and doing exercise on an empty stomach or a small light snack such a banana or some nuts can improve weight loss. Try high interval training to increase your mitochondria (the bodies energy powerhouse). 
• Drink a glass of lemon water upon waking, this stimulates your digestive organs producing bile, digestive enzymes and getting things moving.
• Try to avoid eating after 7 pm, this should be your time of healing not digesting, a 10 – 12 hour nightly fast is excellent for metabolic processes.
• Don’t starve yourself. Your body actually goes into starvation mode and starts storing your energy into fats as a protective mechanism.
• Drink your 2L of water. A given I know, however, your body can confuse being hungry with being thirsty. Find it hard to drink so much? Why not diffuse it with fruit or make some iced herbal tea – delicious!
• Green tea increases your digestive system functionality, increases detoxification processes and when iced is perfect on a hot summer’s day!
• Don’t eat bland food. Add fresh herbs and spices to your dishes so your taste buds are satisfied! Eating healthy is actually really delicious.
• Set realistic goals. This is really important, as you don’t want to feel like a failure and give up completely; small weekly goals based on changes instead of weight are a great start.
• Invest in a health coach, it can be a great way to really succeed and have consistent support on your health journey.  Talk to our nutrition or naturapath to personalise a program just for you! 
• Remember you may have some setbacks, that’s okay! Get right back up again and figure out what your main triggers are. Take note and put practices in place to avoid that temptation.
• Live your life! Don’t forget to live, don’t drown yourself in saying no to everything… life is just too short to appreciate the good things, just do it in small doses. Sooner than later the positive changes you’ve made become a habit and you’ll find you won’t want it anyway. 

The main thing is to change your perspective and frame of mind when it comes to diet and lifestyle. Believe that you can and you really will. You can achieve results, you can be confident and you can succeed.  Be honest with yourself and accept that changing habits doesn’t happen overnight but it sure doesn’t take as long as you think once you truly commit. It’s one of the toughest, most challenging yet rewarding experiences. You can do it!

 
                                      [image] retrieved from:  http://quotesmag.tumblr.com/page/8 

Want some guidance? Talk to our experienced nutritionists here or why not look at our life changing detox plans.