Cholesterol Busting Chicken Curry Recipe

Caz cooked this dish from Dale Pinnock's Medicinal Chef Healthy Every Day recipe book last night and it tasted amazing!

This dish is good for: colds & flu, high cholesterol, constipation & healthy gut flora.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

Olive oil, for cooking

2 large onions, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, finely choppped

400g red lentils

800ml vegetable stock

6 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

2-3 tablespoons madras curry paste (or use a milder one)

300g baby spinach leaves

Sea salt and black pepper

Thick live probiotic yoghurt, to serve (optional)

Method

Heat a little olive oil in a pan, add the onions and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes, until softened.

Add the lentils and a little of the stock and simmer. Keep adding small amounts of stock bit by bit as the lentils cook and soften, as if you were cooking a risotto.

Once the lentils are starting to soften and break down, add the chicken and curry paste and stir well. Continue simmering and adding the stock until the chicken has cooked through.

Add the baby spinach at the last minute, season with salt and pepper and stir until the spinach has wilted.

Serve immediately with basmati rice, and add a dollop of yoghurt on top if you like.

Star Ingredient: Have you noticed that red lentils break down when cooked? That's because they are rich in soluble fibre, which is great for lowering cholesterol. It does this by binding to cholesterol in the bowel and carrying it away before it gets absorbed.

Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Enjoy

Love Sian and Caz xx

Tempted to give up on your goals? Don't!

February is a funny month really.  At the start of the year, we tend to set ourselves goals e.g. lose weight, get fit etc. and in January enthusiasm is high.  If you read my last post you may have set yourself a SMART goal.  How are you doing with it?  Are you still as motivated to keep going, or are you starting to find yourself more tempted to revert to old habits?  Perhaps you aren't getting the results you wanted by this point, so you start questioning and asking yourself 'what is the point?'  This is NORMAL and happens to everyone when making a change.  

If this is happening to you trust me, this is exactly the time to NOT GIVE UP.  

I have spoken about this before but our minds are the biggest barrier to achieving whatever we want in our lives.  We all have that little voice in our heads that tempt us back to our old ways, telling us we can't do it, shouldn't do it, it won't work etc.  We forget that we also have another voice telling us we can, we should and we will get there!  It seems to be more natural for us to listen to the more unhelpful voice.  

I have set myself a goal; I am going to run a 10k military style assault course with my brother at the end of March.  It is going to challenge me physically and mentally no doubt about it.  I know what I need to do training wise in order to feel fit and ready to take it on but have I been sticking to my original plan rigidly?  The honest answer is no.  Am I going to give up, not train for it and then rock up feeling unprepared and struggle around the course? No!  

On the days that I find myself struggling emotionally and am tempted not to do the training this is what I try to do:

1. Stop and remind myself WHY I am doing this
2. Ask myself 'if I don't do it today, will I then beat myself and ruin my day feeling guilty?'  The answer is always yes
3. Look at what I had planned for the session that day
4. Tell myself it won't take long and I will feel great at the end
5. Put my trainers and headphones on and leave the house
6. Sometimes, rope Caz in to train with me - buddying up is lots of fun!
7. Start the planned session

How do I feel after I have done it?  I can honestly say I feel amazing and that isn't just down to the pumping endorphins, it is because I am pleased that I listened to my kind voice and not the unhelpful one.  That is what makes me feel even better for doing it.

Of course another factor that can work against our plans and goals is life itself!  Sometimes what you plan just doesn't happen.  Family emergencies come up, you feel unwell, work goes mental and you end up working overtime, etc.  

I am no different; I am one of the carers for our Dad who has Alzheimer's Disease and lives at home alone.  Our Mum recently went into a nursing home for the same disease.  It has a huge impact on my life emotionally and takes up a lot of physical time.  My work schedule changes throughout the week so I do have days where I had a long outdoor running and resistance session planned but then I find myself without enough time to do it.

On the days when life and time become a barrier I do the following:

1. Accept that today my plan has to change
2. Either change the session to a much shorter one or swap my training days around over the next few days
3. Tell myself that it is ok I couldn't do what I had planned today

You are going to experience days where time becomes an issue and that's ok.   The one thing I will say is that there can be a danger of using not having enough time as a regular reason to procrastinate/delay doing what you want to do for you!  Promise yourself that you will get back on track tomorrow and make the effort to try again.  The harsh reality is that nobody else can achieve your goal for you and you must commit to sometimes putting yourself first!  No bad thing.

There is one thing I can assure you of; you will never regret putting the effort in and listening more to your kind voice.  If you can do this, and accept that it will take time, you will find that you start to see results and this automatically motivates you plus (and this is the best bit) you will feel fantastic and proud of yourself.  

Stick with it, be patient and go for it!  You will be amazed with the results.

Love Sian xx

Sian is a mobile personal trainer and runs Enrich Fitness with her sister Carrie.  They are based in Twickenham, Middlesex and cover a wide area of South West London and Surrey.  www.enrichfitness.co.uk

Set goals, not resolutions!!

Happy New Year!  

January is the month where lots of people join a gym, pledge to get fit, eat healthily, give up smoking etc. etc.  Do you find that by the end of the month you are struggling to stick to your resolution?  It may be that you have overwhelmed yourself by setting unrealistic targets.  Goals are the best way to keep you on track.  Read on to find out how to set a goal/goals that you can stick to.....

I bet you know what you want to achieve e.g. lose weight, but you may feel as though you don't know where to start.  Try this SMART goal setting exercise using the example below:

Overall goal: Lose weight

Specific - I want to lose 1 stone (not just 'lose some weight')

Measurable - I will take measurements at the start and re-measure myself half way through my plan.  I will keep a daily food diary throughout.

Achieveable - I will plan to exercise 3 times a week combining high intensity cardio and resistance training.  I will reduce saturated fat intake and portion sizes in my diet.

Realistic - I will make sure I fit this in to my current lifestyle and accept that there may be times when my routine can be affected e.g. illness.  I will also build up the intensity of my workouts so I don't find it too hard at the start.

Time - I will aim to lose 1-2lb per week so 7 weeks is my target.

Now you have  your plan you can get started!

Remember to take it one day at a time, especially if you are exercising for the first time.  Your plan may have to be altered slightly if once you start you find it isn't working but that's cool; better to make adjustments than give up altogether.

You can use the SMART goal principle for any goal that you have - what do you want to achieve in your own life?  Why not try the exercise above and see how you get on?

Until next time.....

Love Sian xx

Sian is a mobile personal trainer and runs Enrich Fitness with her sister Carrie.  They are based in Twickenham, Middlesex and cover a wide area of South West London and Surrey.  www.enrichfitness.co.uk