Put your hand up if at some point someone has attempted to sell you fruit and vegetable supplement capsules? As a dietitian you get the pyramid sellers contacting you ALL the time with these products. It sounds plausible; fruit - good, vegetables - good, the more we take in the better, right? Wrong! Over the past 12 months alone there are been some very powerful studies coming out of the States to show that while fresh fruits and vegetables are good, ingesting concentrated amounts of the vitamins founds in fruit and vegetables can actually increase the hormone levels involved in abnormal cell replication, which in some cases can result in cancer.

So, yes, fruits and veges are good for you but in terms of supplementation, more is not necessarily better and a capsules will never replace the real thing, so throw away those bottles, stop wasting your money and get out to the markets to get yourself a big box of cherries!

100 calorie chocolate bars -Yeah!
A great idea from Cadburys; portion controlled snack sized serves of 99 calories of all your favourite chocolate flavours. Check them out at supermarkets and service stations - http://www.betreatwise.info/

White or grain?
In recent times the bread selection of the supermarket seems to be expanding as much as the snack food section; low GI white, ½ white/ ½ wholemeal, high fibre, thick cut, thin cut, toast…it all becomes a little too confusing. If there was one significant dietary decision I would recommend making it would be to choose the most nutritious bread that you can. There is more and more evidence to show that low GI diets protect against weight gain and against a number of other disease states including macular degeneration and Type 2 diabetes. While low GI whites among others may seem ok, they are simply not as good as the dense grain options. And for those of you who love a toasted foccacia or Turkish toast, the carbohydrate loads and GI of these breads are huge compared to flat or grain varieties.

And remember, kids do not dislike grain bread, they just prefer white and if they learn to eat the grains when they are small, they will eat them forever.

My pick: Burgen Soy Lin / Bakers Delight Cape Seed for adults and Tip Top 9 grain for kids.

Australia Day Aquathon
For those racing fans among you now is the time to start preparing for the Australia Day Illawarra Aquathon. Events like this are a great way to mix fitness with family fun to set a good example for the kids. There are distances for all and plenty of time to prepare so head down south and enjoy life the Gong way - For more information see - www.ada.kemblajoggers.org.au

Cranberry Biscotti - a great Christmas gift idea and low in fat
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup boiling water
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ cup unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped

1. Pre heat oven to 375°. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper, set aside. Place cranberries in a small bowl; add boiling water. Let stand for 15mins. Drain, and set aside. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl set aside
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 mins. Add 3 eggs, one at a time beating to incorporate after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Mix in cranberries and pistachios.
3. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape each piece into a 16x2 inch log, and transfer to prepared baking sheet, about 3 inches apart. With the palm of your hand, flatten logs slightly. Brush beaten egg over surface of the dough logs and sprinkle generously with sugar.
4. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through until logs are slightly firm to touch, about 25mins. Transfer logs on baking paper to a wire rack to cool slightly, about 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300°.
5. Place logs on a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut logs crosswise on the diagonal into ½ inch thick slices. Place a wire tack on a large rimmed baking sheet. Arrange slices, cut sides down, on rack. Bake until firm to touch, about 30mins. Remove pan from oven, let biscotti cool completely on rack. Biscotti can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Valuing Self
Weight loss is a challenging area to work in. Losing weight should be simple; you eat less and move more. But it is not, and every year companies seek to market and develop new products to sell to the unsuspecting consumer, claiming that there are new and revolutionary ways to lose weight. After observing clients for over 7 years now, I can honestly say that the main difference between clients who succeed in their weight loss attempts and those who do not, is that clients who do have made a conscious decision to change their lives. They have decided that they can no longer maintain the bad habits such as failing to find time to exercise, or making healthy eating a priority and change their life structure to accommodate such needs. Now, the Generation Y'er's are very good at creating time and focus for themselves but the Baby Boomers are not so good. Those in the 40-60 year old age bracket, and for which 50% are overweight or obese often refuse to give less time for their partner, children or grandchildren, time which would actually enable them to make some positive lifestyle changes. So, as we near the end of another year, if you are in this age bracket and know that it is time to do something about your weight perhaps it is time to start creating the kind of life you would like, before it is too late and you have 30kgs to lose rather than 10kgs.

"Sometimes we question things that we have done in our lives but how many times do we question what we haven't done in someone else's" (Ian Thorpe)

Susie Burrell
Susie@susieburrell.com.au
www.susieburrell.com.au