Juice fasting for weight loss

Trying to lose weight? Don’t be deceived by the term ‘juice fast'...

Considering a glass or bottle of cold-pressed juice can contain up to 1,000 kJ – a juice cleanse won’t necessarily cause rapid weight loss.

“People on juice diets might be having litres of juice in a day…it’s a little ridiculous,” says WH&F dietitian on speed-dial Melanie McGrice (melaniemcgrice.com.au).

“We actually recommend that people who need to gain weight drink juice because it’s good for you, doesn’t fill you up, and has a high kilojoule content,” she says. Any weight lost during a juice cleanse or detox – think no solids and a few fancy avant-garde powders – is likely to largely comprise water and muscle, not fat.

“There are very few fruits or vegetables that contain enough iron to fulfil your daily needs,” McGrice warns. “It would also be hard to get enough vitamin B12, zinc or calcium, not to mention protein.”

Trade up to a smoothie

A sound way to reconcile the uber-dose of produce made practicable by juicing with macronutrients that favour fat loss is trading up from juices to smoothies.

Not only does the addition of a protein source such as yoghurt guard against catabolism (a.k.a. muscle loss and metabolic slowdown), blended smoothies often contain whole fruit with its full fibre quotient and can accommodate an extra fibre source – think cannellini beans.   

While comparative calorie counts render the swap counterintuitive (on paper, smoothies can contain up to twice the calories in juice), the discrepancy will pay off when the protein and fibre’s satiety merits make snacking redundant. Fibre also slows the release of sugar into the bloodstream, averting carb cravings native to pure fruit juice diets.

TOP TIP: If you are skolling liquefied produce, favour vegies, watch fruit volume and don’t expect miracles.

NEXT: Metabolism-boosting juice>>

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High protein chocolate cupcakes

 

Protein cupcakes are nothing less than totally awesome. These are intensely chocolate and rich. Top them with whatever you like best. Perhaps this salted caramel cream cheese icing? It’s really good.

Disclaimer: We won’t pretend this caramel sauce is high in protein or low in sugar, because ... it is caramel. But it contains no refined sugar. The secret here is to harness the naturally occurring sugars in the syrup and the coconut milk to produce a delicious and light alternative that has half the fat of traditional salted caramel. It is also simple to make, delicious, suitable for dairy-free and low FODMAP diets and has a gorgeous aroma!

Ingredients (makes 12 standard cupcakes)
•    112 g egg whites
•    100 g granulated stevia blend (or sugar)
•    25 g unsweetened cacao powder
•    65 g oat flour (or plain flour)
•    65 g rice protein powder
•    2.5 g bicarbonate of soda
•    7.5 g baking powder
•    2 g vanilla bean powder
•    ¼ tsp sea salt
•    25 g macadamia oil
•    120 g non-fat Greek yoghurt
•    30 g freshly brewed espresso, cooled
•    Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Icing

WHAT YOU’LL DO
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a standard, mini muffin or cupcake tin with cupcake liners. This helps the cupcakes to retain their shape while baking. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the sweetener, cacao powder, oat flour, rice protein, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, vanilla and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the macadamia oil, Greek yoghurt, and espresso. Add the liquid ingredients including egg whites to the dry mix and beat well until the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter equally between the cupcake liners.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out fairly clean.

Do not overbake these cupcakes. They are done when there are still some moist crumbs attached to the skewer when testing.

Remove from the oven and allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack.

Top with salted caramel cream cheese icing when cooled. It is best to ice these just before serving.

Without icing, these cupcakes will keep for several days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Once iced, they should be stored in the refrigerator.

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Fraxel skin resurfacing – your complete guide

 

Suffer from pigmentation, discolouration or frown lines? Fraxel skin
 resurfacing helps replace damaged cells.

What is fraxel skin
 resurfacing?

Fraxel promises to smooth skin tone, soften scars and frown lines and reduce discolouration and pigmentation.

The resurfacing laser creates thousands of microscopic treatment zones, inducing the skin’s natural healing process and replacing damaged cells with fresh, youthful-looking skin.

What to expect?

You will feel a hot prickling sensation before the area is cooled to relieve the discomfort. After the treatment, you may experience redness and swelling, but this diminishes over the next couple of days.

The skin will naturally bronze over the next week or two before flaking like sunburn and revealing fresher-looking skin.

How many treatments do you need?

An average of three to five treatments, spaced about two to four weeks apart, will help the skin gradually improve over the next six months.

NEXT: Your guide to dermal fillers>>

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Theresa Jenn Lopetrone's diet plan

 

Want to know exactly what fitness models eat? Cover model Theresa Jenn Lopetrone shares her diet plan.

Note: “I usually rotate my protein, vegetables and carbs; except on the weekends I have a glass or two of wine, one to two meals out, and a Quest bar.I may have a slice of cheesecake or go out for a burger and fries or steak dinner, it all depends what I am in the mood for.”

5am:

Option A. Smoothie (1 scoop protein, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1 scoop greens, 1 tsp maca powder, 1 tbsp chia seeds, ground flax seeds, or hemp hearts, 3/4 cup frozen blueberries, 1/2 banana, 2 cups fresh spinach and handful ice. Water and a double espresso.

Option B. OR Protein Pancakes – blend 1 scoop protein powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, 4.5 egg whites, 1/2 banana, stevia, 16 g walnuts, 2 tbsp 1% cottage cheese, 1/4 cup oats

7:30am

9 egg whites, 1 slice sprouted grain bread. Water and single espresso.

10.30am

12 raw almonds, 1 BabyBel Light cheese, 1 bell pepper. Water and green tea.

12.30pm

Extra lean ground turkey, quinoa, and broccoli, baby carrots, cucumber slices, 1 banana. Water and green tea.

3pm

Extra lean ground beef, broccolislaw or asparagus, and brown rice, grape tomatoes and water.

6pm

Chicken or fish and steamed vegetables, 1 tbsp all peanut butter or coconut butter. Water and herbal tea (usually Celestial ‘Sleepytime tea’).

Any food rules?

I’ve disproved a lot of ‘common knowledge’ about the dietary measures required to make physical changes. One is that you need to give up dairy; I’m Italian and naturally I love cheese. You do need to be aware of what types of cheese you eat and the amount. But if you choose a light cheese like BabyBel Light you can work one portion in every day.

In fact, you can even have yourself a clean grilled cheese sandwich if you like! Like everything, you can still eat those richer cheeses on occasion and in moderation. You can also drink wine and your fav cocktails in moderation while still meeting your goals, but if you have more drinks than you need, you run the risk of overeating.

Meet Theresa Jenn Lopetrone>>

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Kass Fraser – June 2015 BodyBlitz winner

Kass Fraser is our June 2015 BodyBlitz winner. Here, she shares her amazing weight loss story.

I first saw the BodyBlitz challenge while flicking through WH&F magazine in my doctor’s waiting room, awaiting my post-operative review and clearance. I had just had another surgery, my seventh reconstructive surgery to my lower organs in four years following life-threatening complications sustained with the delivery of my two children. I had an overwhelming thought of ‘I’m going to do that, that’s me’.

In 2010, at 139.8 kg four months after the delivery of my first child, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Having always been physically active prior to pregnancy, my inability to move independently affected my health in all areas of my life and my self-esteem suffered considerably. Finally I was given clearance from my doctor and my physio and I signed up to the challenge. I never anticipated how much this decision would affect my mindset. Being able to say I was challenging and training myself instead of going to rehab changed my life dramatically. I felt like I pushed so much harder in the gym, knowing I was training for life instead of more surgery.

The biggest thing I have learned on this challenge is that we are all on our own paths and the only person who needs to understand why I’m doing this is me. There is nothing that will beat the feeling I had when I put my bikini on for my photos and how I felt in it, knowing that this isn’t the last day of my challenge, but the first day of the rest of my life; this is me and for the first time in my life, I actually feel proud to be me.

On overcoming challenges:
I experienced overwhelming guilt for taking the time I needed each day to train, having to put the kids in crèche, training around the clock, close to three hours a day, and it took me until around week six to manage this better. I learned that I am actually a better mum for taking this time to improve my health, ensuring I’m a healthy mummy who can enjoy my children, and it turns out I have a lot more patience after training!

Before I started, I went to the local library and got as many WH&F magazines as I could find to see what other people had done on their challenges. I joined a heap of bodybuilding forums online and researched everything there is to know about lifting weights. The first few weeks were slow and the learning curve was pretty steep. I had to tweak a lot of the lifting techniques to make them pelvic-floor safe. I had to keep my physio happy by meeting my rehabilitation requirements, but also allowing myself to meet some personal strength gains too.

On workout motivation:
It sounds funny, but the muscle soreness was one of my big motivators! (Weirdo, I know.) Having been very sick for a very long time and unable to walk and move independently following my surgeries for extended rehab periods, I know how it feels to have this freedom taken away. To know exactly what my body had done in each training session to create the muscle fatigue and soreness I was experiencing during the challenge was so liberating.

I was definitely aesthetically driven too. I’d been ‘rehabbing’ for so long and exercising most days yet to look at me you’d assume I had a fast food addiction, which was definitely not the case! I wanted the outside to reflect how hard I’ve worked to regain my health internally.

Click 'next' to view her diet plan

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On food swaps:
I was forced to follow a very strict diet and rehabilitation program, both pre and post operatively, for the last four years. In this time I’ve tried everything from low carb, no carb, low GI, meal replacement shakes, etc., and they all had benefits, but with most of these diets came the mental anguish of missing out and feeling like I was on rations. I found myself constantly thinking of food, every waking moment of the day!

I also struggled with increasing my calorie intake through food and upping my carbs. It went against everything I understood about weight loss, but the more I trained, the more fuel my body needed and the more I had to eat. I can’t believe it’s taken me until my mid 30s to understand the concept of eating for nutrition and energy instead of eating not to get fat or fatter, which was my previous belief.

On treats:
When I had the odd treat I had Coles Simply Less dark chocolate or a Skinny Cow ice cream. But honestly, after the first month or so, I rarely craved sugar. It’s like I’ve magically turned the sweet switch off. I wasn’t counting the seconds to the next meal like I had experienced on  past diets.Throughout the challenge I had idealised the final day as my binge day to celebrate finishing the challenge, but it has rolled through, business as usual. I think this may be my biggest achievement to date as I’ve changed the way my brain works and it feels amazing.

On measurements:
Measurements are absolutely essential. When I looked at myself in the mirror I couldn’t really see my progress, and we all know the scales can lie depending on what time of day you sneak a peek. So for me the tape measure was my only real guide on how far I was coming. I did full-body measurements on waking up at the start of each week. I also took photos around halfway to see if there were changes, but I’d recommend taking your own personal photos weekly for self-motivation. I wish I had, as I wasn’t very good at celebrating my smaller milestones. I also kept a workout diary, as I was shocked how much my strength increased, especially at the start.

On goals:
In the start it was all about losing weight and having a great body, but once I started it was evident that I actually loved the way clean eating and hard training made me feel, and that became the life changer. It’s not until you experience how you feel when you eat clean and train hard and how efficient your body becomes that you have a comparison. I doubt many would give this feeling up; I know I can’t go back!

I have signed up to do another challenge, then I want to go back to study and do my diploma in remedial massage and my PT certificates, as I’d like to, one day, have my own fitness/rehab business, combining training and massage to achieve all levels of fitness goals. I feel I’ll be able to relate to my clients, as I’ve been full circle and experienced all the highs and lows weight loss, rehab and now training has to offer.

WHAT I DID
Monday
AM: Fasted cardio (30 min HIIT), weights (legs, biceps, triceps).
PM: Clinical Pilates (30 min reformer)

Tuesday
AM: Fasted cardio (30 min HIIT), weights (back, chest, shoulders)
PM: Clinical Pilates (30 min reformer)

Wednesday
AM: Fasted cardio (60–90 min moderate intensity)
PM: Clinical Pilates (30 min reformer)

Thursday
AM: Fasted cardio (30 min HIIT), weights (legs, biceps, triceps)
PM: Clinical Pilates (30 min reformer)

Friday
AM: Fasted cardio
(30 min HIIT), weights (back, chest, shoulders)
PM: Clinical Pilates (30 min reformer)
Saturday
AM: Fasted Cardio
(60–90 min moderate intensity)
PM: Clinical Pilates (30 min reformer)
Sunday
Clinical Pilates
(45 min reformer)

WHAT I ATE:
Breakfast: 50g oats; protein powder, a tablespoon of Greek or natural yoghurt, ½ cup of berries; OR two to three eggs; one cup of vegetables; one slice of rye toast

Snack: Protein shake with water OR a small piece of fruit and eight almonds

Lunch: 100g protein (tuna, chicken, etc.), two cups green vegetables or salad, ½ cup grains and a wrap bread

Post workout: protein shake with milk (on weights days); protein shake with water (after cardio)

Dinner: 150g protein (fish, chicken, beef etc.), two cups low-starch vegetables or salad

Snack: Protein shake with water OR ½ cup berries with a tablespoon Greek or natural yoghurt.

 

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Sweet potato pancakes

Looking for healthy recipes? Try these sweet potato pancakes from cover model Nichelle Laus

Ingredients
» 250 ml liquid egg whites
» 120 g cooked (and mashed) sweet potato*
» Cinnamon to taste

What you'll do:
Blend ingredients for about 10 seconds and pour batter into lightly sprayed pan.

Cook on both sides and enjoy!

Tip: Be patient and allow to cook thoroughly or it will fall apart.

*Substitute pumpkin or cauliflower if desired

NEXT: Read about kickboxing with Nichelle or check out some other healthy recipes.

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4 breathing techniques to reduce stress

Feeling stressed? Simple tweaks to breathing can immeasurably boost wellbeing and reduce stress. Here's how to audit and upgrade your breath for better physical and mental health.

Step 1: Breathe from your abdomen

To get the most out of each breath, you need to breathe from your belly, says Ros Ben-Moshe, director of Laughlife Wellbeing Programs.

"Optimal breathing stems from the abdomen, where a richer inhalation of oxygen and exhalation of carbon dioxide occurs, slowing the heart rate and easing anxiety." She says breathing deeper in this way stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which induces feelings of "peace and calm".

"Interestingly, we begin our lives breathing well, which can be seen watching babies breathing, as they take deep breaths in and out with their abdomen rising and falling, not their chest," Ben-Moshe notes. Somewhere along the way we lose this vital skill of breathing through our tummies, and rely on shallow breathing instead.

Hot Tip: Place your hand on your belly when breathing. Though it feels counter-intuitive, Ben-Moshe says that when you breathe in, your abdomen should stick out, and when you breathe out, your abdomen is sucked back in.

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Step  2: Breathe through your nostrils

Your nostrils are there for a reason, peeps. Breathing through them heats air up so that it travels 'more easily' through the body.

Mouth breathing, on the other hand, can cause health issues. Such were the findings of research published in the Jan/Feb issue of General Dentistry in 2010.

While the findings focused on the effects of mouth breathing on kids (and how it can even change the shape of their faces), mouth breathing can also cause poor oxygen concentrations. This in turn can lead to health issues such as high blood pressure, heart problems and other issues. Yikes.

Naturopath Mim Beim of Breathing Well goes one step further, saying: "If you are a mouth breather, the very best thing you can do for your health is to learn to breathe through your nose." She says you will get fewer colds, have better circulation and improved concentration.

Hot Tip: Whenever you catch yourself breathing through your mouth, swap it to nose breathing, asap. Pretty simple, right? 

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Step 3: Breathe deep

It's not just about breathing from low down in your tum, it's also about breathing deeply. You need to really breathe in, taking in as much air as you can with your breath. You also need to let all that air out (and we mean all of it) by exhaling deeply too.

As Ben-Moshe mentioned, breathing deeply stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which naturally relaxes us. "In this state, endorphins (those feel-good hormones) are released, introducing feelings of happiness and wellbeing, and oxygen delivery improves, which is important to enhance mental stamina and clarity," says Ben-Moshe. "With each deep, long breath, muscle stress and tension is released."

Hot Tip: Concentrate on breathing all the way in, till you can't take in any more air. Hold that air, then really release it, till you're sure there's nothing left. Talk about deep.

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Step 4: Practise
Because breathing correctly feels "counterintuitive" (you know, the whole belly 'out' while breathing in and belly 'in' while breathing out), Ben-Moshe says, "It really takes a while getting used to and, like so many things, needs to be practised."

So don't expect this kind of breathing to just become second nature. Instead, take time each day to refine your technique and get better at it. As they say, practice makes perfect, and who doesn't want to breathe perfectly?

"Becoming aware of your breathing takes practice, but it's well worth it," Ben-Moshe notes. "Becoming a 'conscious breather' means heightening your awareness of how you are breathing at different times in the day. You will begin to notice when you are breathing more shallowly, more quickly, and even when unconsciously you may be holding your breath, which often occurs during moments of deep concentration."

Hot Tip: Set aside time every morning and every evening to practise this deep breathing technique. Even a few minutes can help centre you and fill you with much-needed calm. What are you waiting for? 

 

NEXT: try a 5 minute wind down or find out about Managing 'seven year' stress
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Robyn Lawley: I don't do fad diets or fake food

Robyn Lawley is the face of Pantene, a swimware designer and cookbook author. Here, she tells us how she stays in shape.

"I am an Australian size 16, which is really rare in the fashion world," Robyn says.

"People don’t understand that models are so, so, so much smaller than I am. I’m trying to spread body love and body positivity because the message can get lost when people are focusing on things like weight loss stories; that’s not what I’m about."

Instead of focusing on extreme diet plans, Robyn concentrates on getting fit and healthy.

"I think exercise is a really great combat to depression, sadness and generally not feeling good about yourself," she says.

"Fitness is where you get your endorphins and how you’re going to make yourself feel empowered. I like kickboxing, swimming and SoulCycle, which is a crazy American trend of cycling in the dark to crazy music. I’m terrible at it. I enjoy yoga as well.

"I get into the trends like everyone else – kale juices, detoxes, I’ll try it. But I don’t like fad diets or fake food; for me, it has to be real. Vegetables are still my favourite food group and avocado is my favourite food."

Browse more fitness model stories or connect with us on Facebook.

 

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