Kale Chips

Great for parties, these low calorie snacks eat like potato chips - you can’t stop at just eating one and they make a great conversation topic. Kale is a great source of vitamin K, vitamin C, manganese, calcium and copper and beta-carotene.

Ingredients

•    1 bunch kale
•    20 mL olive oil
•    5mL seasoned salt

Directions

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

“There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.” ~Unknown

Slow Cooker Turkey Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

•    500 grams ground turkey breast (raw)
•    1 cup onion, diced
•    1/2 cup green pepper, diced
•    3 cloves garlic, minced
•    1 Tbsp yellow mustard
•    1/4 cup natural ketchup
•    796 mL can no-salt added tomato sauce
•    20 mL BBQ sauce
•    Stevia to taste (optional, if you want to make it on the sweeter side)

Directions

Mist a skillet with oil and brown raw turkey, onions and green pepper over medium heat (you could skip this step, but you will get a better flavour). Place turkey meat, onions & green pepper in the slow cooker. Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours or HIGH for 2-3 hours. If you don't brown the meat first, then cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours.
Serve with a whole grain bun, toasted.

Calories per cup: 167  Protein: 23 g, Carbs: 14 g, Fat: 4 g  Sugars: 8 g Fibre: 2 g,  Sodium: 387 mg

 “Eating crappy food isn't a reward,  it's a punishment.” ~ Drew Carey

Salad of the Greek Gods

This full-flavoured quinoa salad with a light dressing and healthy vegetables is gluten-free and vegetarian.

•    1 1/3 cup water
•    2/3 cup quinoa
•    1 cup diced English cucumber
•    1 cup  diced tomatoes
•    1/2 cup diced red pepper
•    1/2 cup sliced or chopped black olives
•    1/2 cup crumbled feta
•    1/4  cup diced red onion (optional)
•    60 mL olive oil
•    60 mL  lemon juice
•    5 mL dried oregano

In a small saucepan, Bring the water and quinoa to a boil. Reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave covered for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork. Set aside to cool completely.

Place the cucumber, red pepper, tomatoes, olives, feta, and red onion (if using) into a medium bowl. Add the cooled quinoa. Whisk olive oil, lemon juice and dried oregano in a small bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and gently toss.

 

“Health is a large word.  It embraces not the body only, but the mind and spirit as well, and not today's pain or pleasure alone, but the whole being and outlook of a man.” 
~James H. West

Ultimate success starts with WHY?

Why is Apple considered the most innovate company year after year?

Why did Martin Luther King have so many people rally with him?

If 2 people are looking to lose 80kgs; why might one of them succeed and the other not?

While watching the first episode of popular reality singing show The Voice at home recently with my wife Emma, she asked why few contestants were choosing Delta to mentor them and secondly why whenever Seal pressed the button, the contestants always picked him?

I will let Simon Sinek explain this as he will do it better than me. Simon is the author of "Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action" (2009).  Simon delves into a naturally occurring pattern, grounded in the biology of human decision-making that explains why we are inspired by some people, leaders, messages and organizations over others. Click on this link below to watch this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

If you want to be successful in your goal whether it is business, personal, fitness or sporting, you need to find out your ‘why’? So what is your why? What is your purpose?

The limbic system is the part of the brain that makes decisions. The really interesting thing about this is that the limbic part of the brain has no capacity to understand language but it deals with emotions. Our emotions not only influence but are necessary to help make decisions. This is why we need to tap into our ‘why’? We need to find the emotions that drive us, so that we can make the decisions that support our goals. If we tap into our why and our emotions we are on the first steps to ultimate success.

Noted neuroscientist Antonio Dimasio studied decision making in individuals who had suffered brain injuries that only impacted their ability to experience emotion. When faced with decisions where there was no clear logical choice — where the options both had pros and cons, such as where to live or what to eat — subjects had difficulty making decisions.

The conclusion Dimasio draws is that emotion not only influences decision, but that emotion is necessary in order to decide.

Martin Luther King said “I have a dream” not “I have a plan”… People rallied with him because they understood his ‘why’? It was their ‘why’ too, they believed in his cause.
What is the difference between Delta and Seal in their role as mentors on The Voice? Delta may say something like this to the contestant “you have beautiful voice, raw and so much soul. You gave me Goosebumps. I would love to work together with you and think we would be a great match”.
Seal would say “I believe that you can win this if we work together. I believe that I can teach you to win the crowd ever time you sing. I believe your emotions when you sing.  I believe in you!”
How much more engaging and empowering is what Seal says compared to Delta. Seal sounds like he understands the contestants ‘why’ and can relate this back to them. That’s why Seal got his A team!!!

In conclusion, we need start with find our Why first. Before ‘what’ and our ‘how’.  If you do this you will be on the path to ultimate success. Email james@thesmithspt.com.au if you want to download a free eBook to help you tap into your ‘why’ and to begin to create your health and performance vision.

6 Steps to Health and Performance

Our interventions are grounded in the peak of scientific research from performance, physiological and psychological sciences.

To help escalate your health and performance, here is our proven “6 Steps to Health and Performance” program. This has been developed to support healthy survival for our fast pace 24/7 modern lifestyles. For longevity and to sustain performance each of these six sections are most effective when integrated in their use. One section without the other is not effective.

This is a user-friendly system that is not intimidating and does not require hours of work. However, it does deliver in results and outcomes!

Step 1 - Responsibility. This is not necessarily about knowing what to do, it is about standing up and accepting that, if you want to change anything, YOU have to change first. It can take discipline, commitment and personal command to change. Do you set goals regularly…do you achieve them? Do you know what you value in your life? Do you have the integrity to hold yourself accountable to your deepest values?

Step 2 - Psychology. Scientists say we have 50,000-70,000 thoughts going round in our heads and less than 1000 are original. So what thoughts are going round in your head? Are they positive or negative? Are your thoughts holding you back, or helping you to take the next step? This is the step where we gain understanding of how our brains work and learn to challenge our ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts) and replace them with POTs (Positive Optimistic Thoughts). To do this we might learn strategies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and mindfulness to help us deal with anxiety.

Step 3 - Productivity. This is about being more productive in all areas of our lives. This means adopting strategies for time management, prioritisation strategies and energy management, so that we do more in less time. This leaves more time for us to do the things we want or love.

Step 4 - Nutrition. You can’t put low grade petrol and oil into your Aston Martin and expect your car to perform at its best, so why would you do the same to your body? Research has shown us that we can improve mood, energy level and alertness and boost the immune system through eating the right sort of food. Here we try to implement a few changes to our diets to fuel us effectively.

Step 5 - Movement. The body is designed to move to maintain optimal function This raises the simple question, “What is function?” To the personal trainer, function can be thought of as goal directed movement (Cech, and Martin 2002), or most simply stated, “Doing what you do”. The components that we need to focus on are incidental activity, cardio, strength training, posture, flexibility and most importantly, fun!

Step 6 - Recharge. The hardest step for us to master in the information age, also commonly known as the computer age. We are always ‘on’ and always connected- with mobiles, PDA, emails, internet and wireless connection laptops 24/7. There is a constant on demand connection, which makes it incredibly difficult to switch off at the end of the day. This section is all about being swithched ‘off’ and relaxing, so that we perform more effectively when we are ‘on’. How can you perform at your peak, continually, if you never slow down to rest? Here we try to implement daily, weekly, quarterly and annual strategies to help you recharge and feel refreshed and ready to go on all cylinders when you need to.

What's The Most Effective Way To Set Goals?

Research recently conducted by Psychology professor Dr. Gail Matthews of Dominican University of California shows that people who wrote down their goals, shared this information with a friend, and sent weekly progress to that friend were on average 33% more successful in accomplishing their stated goals than those who just set goals but did not write them down.

Participants came from the United States, Belgium, England, India, Australia and Japan and included a variety of entrepreneurs, educators, healthcare professionals, artists, attorneys, bankers, marketers, human services providers, managers, vice presidents, and directors of non-profit companies.

What happened in this study?

Participants were randomly assigned to one of 5 conditions (groups):
Group 1 - were simply asked to think about their goals - Unwritten Goal
Group 2 - Written Goal
Group 3 - Written Goal & Action Commitments
Group 4 - Written Goal, Action Commitments to a Friend
Group 5 - Written Goal, Action Commitments and Progress Reports to a Friend

Broadly categorized, participants’ goals included completing a project, increasing income, increasing productivity, improving organization, enhancing performance/achievement, enhancing life balance, reducing work anxiety, and learning a new skill.  Specific goals ranged from writing a chapter of a book to listing and selling a house.

At the end of 4 weeks participants were asked to rate their progress and the degree to which they had successfully completed their goals.

What did the evidence show?

Group 1 - (Unwritten Goals) only accomplished 43 % of their stated goals.
Group 2 - (written goal) achieved 61% of their goals.
Group 3 - (Written Goal & Action Commitments) successfully completed 51%
Group 4 - (Written Goal, Action Commitments to a Friend) accomplished 64% of their stated goals.
Group 5 - (Written Goal, Action Commitments & Progress Reports to a Friend.) were the most successful, with an average 76% of their goals accomplished.

In conclusion

“My study provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of three coaching tools: accountability, commitment, and writing down one’s goals,” Matthews said.

Those who wrote their goals accomplished significantly more than those who did not write their goals.  Secondly those who sent their commitments to a friend accomplished significantly more than those who wrote action commitments alone or did not write their goals at all. Finally, the study shows that Written Goal, Action Commitments & Progress Reports is the most effective way to set goals. The corporate world has many similarities to elite sports. This final group uses high performance goal setting strategies that many of the leading professionals and elite athletes use. This is one tool the best use to get better!

[i] Gail Matthews, Ph.D., “Written Goal Study,” Dominican University of California, 2007

Energy Management Is key For High Performance

Consider this scenario.

You attend a 3 hour meeting in which no single minute is wasted, everything is relevant and the material is all quality, but after the first hour your concentration is wavering due to a drop in energy levels after eating the biscuits/cakes supplied for the meeting.

Leading high performance psychologists Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz define Full Engagement as:

“Full engagement means beginning the day eager to get to work in the morning and happy to return home at the end of the day and capable of setting clear boundaries between the two. It means you can be able to completely immerse yourself in the mission you are on, whether you're grappling with a creative project, managing a group of people on a project or spending time with loved ones or simply having fun. “

Energy management is vital to sustain high performance and necessary to b fully engaged with all cylinders firing, so that we can deal with everything effectively in our day.

Here are our top 6 energy management tips so that you can sustain high performance rather than crashing!

1)    Get 30 minutes of sunlight per day. Exposure to sunlight will increase restorative sleep at night, helping you to recover better and perform more effectively. It also increases seratonin release in our brains to make us happier.

2)    Exercise daily. Regular physical activity will boost your energy levels and increase your performance. Do at least 3 cardiovascular and 2 strength training workouts per week.

3)    Stay hydrated. Try to drink at least 2.5 L of water every day. The best way to do this is to have a 750 ml water bottle and carry it everywhere you go; this will remind you to drink. Dehydration can cause headaches and decrease performance.

4)    Try to eat five to six smaller meals per day. Eating more frequently helps to maintain a constant glucose level in your blood for optimal performance, therefore reducing your urge to eat sugary snacks when your energy levels start dropping and causing that sugar low we all know. Eat a healthy and balanced diet and minimize refined sugars.

5)    Choose snacks that will make you more alert. Try consuming a 50 g snack which contains 10 g of protein, is low in fat and has limited carbohydrates. Once digested, this will cause the brain to release dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that makes us react and think more quickly and feel more motivated.

6)    Take a five-minute break to play an energising game with your team at work. Notice that you feel more awake and alert when you sit back down. Try to take a short break every 90 mins.

Seven Steps To Goal setting

Achieving your goals is as about identifying what you want to achieve and then devising a plan and taking action. Just relying on motivation unfortunately is not enough, as motivation continuously changes day to day.

Here are seven steps to help you set and achieve your goals.

 

Step 1 - Ask yourself the right questions….

How much does achieving this goal mean to me?

What are the benefits of achieving this goal?

Imagine yourself feeling much happier, 6-12 months down the track – how is your life different? What things can YOU change to make yourself feel happier?

Are you prepared to do what it takes to do achieve this goal?

 

Step 2- Write them down. 

Research has shown that by writing goals down you are more likely to achieve them.

Step 3 – SMARTER. This is an acronym which will help you to effectively set goals and help create an action plan to achieve them.

Specific – make goals specific such as ‘I want to lose 10 kg’ or ‘I want to break 3hr30 in my next marathon. Don’t fall into the trap of writing vague goals such as ‘I want to be fitter’.

Measurable – you should be able to measure your progress so that you are achieving your goal.

Attractive – your goal must really have appeal for you, otherwise you are more likely to fail.

Realistic –make sure your goals are realistic so that they are achievable. Trying to lose 10 kg in the next 3 weeks is not achievable. So what is?  4 months would be more realistic.                   

Time-frame – you must be realistic when setting a time-frame. Set mini goals for each week to keep you on track, such as losing ½ kg to 1kg per week of weight.

 Evaluate – it is vital to reward your successful progress. The brain’s main function is to minimize danger and maximize rewards. By rewarding the progress it will help you create healthy new habits. It will also give you extra confidence and boost self-esteem that you can succeed as you tick off your mini goal.

 Re-set – once you have succeeded in reaching your goal, set new ones based on your new standards. Keeps the momentum going to keep demonstrating the new you!

Step 4- Tell your partner, closest friends and family to enlist their support. It will help you stay accountable and give you a small support group.

Step 5- Read goals daily if not weekly at least. 

Don’t leave it for once a year like most people.  By keeping it in the forefront of your mind it will help you stay focussed and achieve your goals.

Step 6- Take daily action towards your goal. Do what it takes …Demonstrate the new you.

Step 7- Set daily rituals

 Rituals are our daily habits which we must do, like brushing our teeth or showering. Rituals take time to become habits but when they do, they can change our lifestyle for the better. Once your rituals have become habits, you can swap them for another couple of rituals to replace them.

Jim Loehr, world-renowned performance psychologist, recommends the importance of selecting 2 or 3 rituals to help you succeed. Examples of rituals might be exercising for 20 minutes every morning before work, drinking 2 litres of water per day or eating 3 pieces of fresh fruit every day.

Research has shown that people who do not succeed in all their goals but who try again immediately achieve more goals over time than those people who succeeded at their first attempt. Psychologists say that it takes 5-7 attempts to achieve a goal. Relapse is part of the process of succeeding.

Why Are People So Stressed Out And Busy These Days? Is There Anything We Can Do To Gain Control Of Time?

More than half of the Australian workforce is stressed. 53% of the Australian workers surveyed feel over-whelmed with stress and pressure a significant proportion of the time. Stress related claims cost Australian business over $200 million annually. (References: ABS 2005. The Health of Australia’s Workforce November 2005 – Medibank Private)

When we think about stress normally we think about our heart pounding, flared nostrils, butterflies in our stomach, sleepless nights, irritability causing us to snap at colleagues and loved ones. However not all stress is bad. Day to day we require some levels of stress to help us focus to complete tasks at work or maybe achieve a personal best in our next 10k run. It is when our arousal level is too high for us to complete tasks effectively that stress is not productive. When we have excessive internal and external pressure for long durations then stress can be detrimental to our health. This is unwanted pressure that we need to reduce so that we can perform more effectively and be happier.

So why are we so stressed? In our fast paced lifestyles we don’t have enough time or energy to put in to our various commitments (partner, kids, work, hobbies health, friends, and mortgage to name a few). Our lives become unbalanced and leave us stressed and unhappy.

Productivity fact from Dr. Donald E. Wetmore, one of the foremost experts on Time Management and Personal Productivity.

•     95% of divorces are caused by a "lack of communication".

•     The average working person spends less than 2 minutes per day in meaningful communication with their spouse or "significant other".

•     The average working person spends less than 30 seconds a day in meaningful communication with their children.

•     The average person uses 13 different methods to control and manage their time.

•     25% of sick days are taken for illness. 75% of sick days are taken for other reasons.

•     The average person gets 1 interruption every 8 minutes, or approximately 7 an hour, or 50-60 per day. The average interruption takes 5 minutes, totalling about 4 hours or 50% of the average workday. 80% of those interruptions are typically rated as "little value" or "no value" creating approximately 3 hours of wasted time per day.

What are the solutions to gaining control of time?

There are 5 things that we can work on to gain control of time.

1) Time Management strategies

One of the best ways to organise your time is to have a system, procedures and a check list every day. How resourceful are you? Do you have a proper colour coded diary? A tidy work space? Effective filing systems? Effective database and backed up? Do you set meeting agendas? Abide by a few rules for answering emails? Do you divide your time into similar tasks throughout the week?

There will always be interruptions, It's how they're handled that wastes time.

2) Prioritisation strategies

 Do, Delegate or Delete. Firstly you need to ask yourself ‘what is the most important thing I can do right now?’ Do that first. Secondly what are your strengths? Work to them and outsource the rest. We are all guilty of taking on too many projects. We need to prioritise what is most important and practise saying NO to the other tasks.

3) Energy management

This is about identifying when you work best with your body clock. Scheduling work that requires you to be creative, at the times of the day your mind is most alert. It is also about fuelling up on foods that keep your energy levels even and choosing food that will boost alertness. Taking regular exercise will also reduce stress and increase energy levels.

4) Improve communication. 

We need to develop our communication skills. I’m sure we have all been in a situation where we have communicated to a colleague or partner and it has been misinterpreted. If we had communicated what we wanted differently the result might have been different.

5) Learning to go slow

This is about learning strategies (daily, weekly, quarterly and annually) to help you recover, reduce stress, and perform at your peak when you come back. Daily strategies might be taking 15mins slow time. Learn a technique called mindfulness, which helps focus on the present, and lets us reduce stress and anxiety. Try implementing strategies to help get more sleep each day. Weekly strategies include, massages, yoga/stretching/ slow walks in the sunlight, sex and going for a relaxing swim to name a few. Quarterly/annual strategies include making sure you have an off season (long Holiday)  and mini breaks every couple of months.

What Does Health Mean To You?

Health is about having a lifestyle consistent with who you want to be; to be able to do what you want, free from restrictions, as a direct result of your actions and decisions. To achieve this you need to be both physically and mentally healthy.

So what do I mean by this?

 To live in a manner consistent with who you want to be is about happiness.  In other words knowing who you want to be, then making sure the actions that you carry out in your life are consistent with that. For example, you decide to lose weight, as you were happier with yourself when you were 6kg lighter and while doing your weekly shopping in the supermarket you see some biscuits and you’re are tempted to buy them. . The question you need to ask yourself is eating these biscuits consistent with the person I want to be? The answer is NO.

To give an example of how a restriction might affect our lives, take something as simple as lower back pain. It can be debilitating for those who suffer from it…It can stop us playing our favourite sport, and going to the gym and then you might start putting on  unwanted weight, affecting your work and  even playing with the kids.  What would you do in this situation?

1) choose to soldier on and try to do what you can.

2)  to seek out a specialist to go after the root cause of the back pain as that improves your ability to do again all those things that you love.

What route would you rather take?

You are responsible for how you look and feel, so let’s start making healthy decisions to improve your health.