Keep up the exercise. Keeping weight off is hard enough when you’re being good with your diet too; let alone when you’re partying like crazy & indulging in Christmas cheer. If you keep to a regular schedule of 3 exercise ses-sions per week you’ll stand more chance of coming out the other end the same size you went in.

Be food wise. Enjoy your food at functions, don’t woof it down. Enjoy the flavours, and enjoy the things you love. Then stop eating when you’re full. Always wait a few minutes (and have a glass of water) before going back for seconds. Don’t go for seconds of dessert, and throw out or get your kids to hide the rubbish that they like to eat during the holidays.

Eat healthily when not at functions. Try to eat a healthy breakfast every day. We all know it’s the most important meal of the day; but eating a combination of slow release carbohydrate (such as porridge) with some protein (poached egg on toast) will help stop you craving those nibbly bits during the morning. A healthy lunch and snacks will help keep the Christmas bulge at bay.

Portion sizes. If you manage to control your portion sizes you’ll have better control over the calories that go into your mouth & thus the flab that goes on your body. Your fist

size counts as one portion - watch what you eat!

Alternate with water. You all know about alternating your drinks when you’re out, but if you do it with fizzy drinks you’re taking in a load of calories. Try alternating with water, or some-thing low calorie like lime & soda. Lime juice also contains Vitamin C which will help your immunity.

Limit alcohol. You should aim for at least 5 alcohol free days per week. This will make get-

ting your training done a whole lot easier and will limit the calories you take in; so there’s less to burn off. And try to take it easy on the booze when you are out on the lash.

Be alcohol wise. Alcohol contains loads of calories; and they’re all empty. Some spirits, particularly white ones (like vodka, gin etc) con-tain less calories than darker ones (like rum). Mixing white spirits with low calorie drinks; or soda water reduces your calories and packs a punch in the flavour department.

Green Tea is your friend. Packed with anti-oxidants & full of goodness, green tea is reported to enhance your metabolism & promote fat oxi-disation at rest (burn more calories), improve insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance (both risk factors for diabetes). Some also claim that it helps lower the risk of heart disease & some cancers. Talk about a Christmas Bonus!

Avoid the 4 weeks of Christmas. Generally speaking you’ve what, 3 functions to attend (work, gym, family). Add Christmas dinner & New Year’s indulgences and you’ve 5 days to eat your heart out. Let’s say there are 30 days in the ‘holiday season’ - we’ve just found 25 oppor-tunities for you to carry on with the plan to get and stay trim, taut & terrific.

Practice Moderation. Mod-eration in eating & drinking your way through the festive season will mean less hard work in the new year.

Merry Christmas. Cheers!

Top tips… Avoid the Christmas weight gain

E D E N M O R E G O L F & C O U N T R Y C L U B

Country Club News

December 2009 Health & Fitness Team

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” Robert Collier

P A G E 2

What & when

can make all

the difference

to your dietary

success; or

failure.

All Things Diet Your daily intake of food and

liquids will ultimately deter-

mine your body shape. So;

you all have some idea of what

foods are good for you and

which are bad...but there’s

more to a diet than that.

Briefly, the basics of nutri-

tion… Protein is essential for

maintaining a strong & healthy

body, including muscles,

blood, skin, hair, nails & inter-

nal organs. Without question,

you are best to obtain your

protein from sources known

as complete proteins. Lean

meats should be your choice

of Protein like Chicken, Tur-

key, Fish, lean Steak, Nuts,

Milk, Eggs and some Lean

Pork. All of these are consid-

ered complete proteins be-

cause they provide every

Amino Acid you require.

Carbohydrates are essential

for energy, but being selective

about the type of carbohy-

drate you consume will help

you stay lean & healthy. Tim-

ing of your carb consumption

will also help you regulate in-

sulin release & thus stop

cravings. For Atkins lovers,

being on a no/extremely low

carbohydrate diet spells sheer

disaster for your body. Aside

from sluggishness and low

energy levels, you’ll be

causing your kidneys all

sorts of trouble. Acidic

breath & stained/rotting

teeth are the less severe

side effects.

Fibre. Every person

should consume 30gs of

fibrous carbs per day for a

healthy digestive system &

an efficient metabolism.

Most natural sources of

carbs contain some fibre

but green leafy veg are the

best source. Meal Tim-

ing is one, easily modifiable

factor that will help you

achieve your goals. Every-

one should aim to eat 5 - 6

small meals per day; every

2 - 3 hours. Meal timing

around workouts are im-

portant to make sure you

get the most out of your

training. Before training

ensure you eat something

to give you energy & to

support muscles. Then eat

something after for recov-

ery. Meal content. Lots

of fibrous veg & protein

and some fruit & raw nuts,

as well as dairy products

should be the basic compo-

nents of your diet. Each

meal should have a portion

of protein (about palm

sized serving) & a portion of

carbs (use your fist as a

guide).

A typical daily diet would

look like this…

B - portion protein & portion

starchy carbs (i.e. oats)

S - portion protein + portion

fibrous carbs (fruit)

L - portion protein, portion

fibrous carbs (tuna/chicken

salad)

S - portion protein, portion

fibrous carbs (shake + ba-

nana)

Training

D - portion lean protein +

portion of fibrous carbs (as

broccoli, green beans)

S - protein + nuts

Now, follow these basic prin-

ciples when deciding what

and when to eat.

Eat smaller meals more fre-

quently (every 2 - 3 hours).

Eat protein with every meal.

Load up on fresh green veg

as a filling source of nutrition

& fibre. Try to stay away

from starchy carbs (breads,

pastas, spuds etc) after lunch.

Drink a lot of water. And eat

good whole foods that you

have to cook yourself.

E D E N M O R E C O U N T R Y C L U B N E W S

Healthy Nosh: Spicy Chicken Stir-fry P A G E 3 D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 9

Why it’s good. It’s packed with lean protein, unsaturated fats and fibre - all essential for developing healthy mus-cle. Don’t worry about the fats - they’re the good type. Keep in the fridge & the flavours will develop, making a great lunch.

What you need...

2 tsp peanut oil 1 small red chilli, deseeded & chopped

2 thin-cut, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces or strips

1/3 cup asparagus tips 1/3 cup thinly sliced carrots 1/4 medium onion, cut into bite-size bits

1/3 cup frozen snow peas 2 Tbsp sliced almonds 2 tsp reduced-sodium soy sauce

What you do...

Combine the peanut oil and chopped red chilli in a medium-hot frying pan. Add the chicken and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the remaining ingredients and cook for another 3 minutes, still stirring often.

Serve over brown rice. Makes 1 serving.

Add other veg such as beans & broc-coli to bulk it up & increase its nutri-tional value.

Nothing too massive has been organised for the night, just meeting at the pub for a couple of drinks and a laugh.

Food won’t be provided, but is available from either the dining room or from a bar menu.

Let us know if you’re going to be there so we’ve a fair idea of how many people will be about.

If a lot, we’ll organise some-thing more formal. If not, just show up and enjoy the night!

When: Friday December 18th. 7.30pm.

Where: Pretty Mary's

We’re thinking a little get together with all our gym members is just the ticket to get the festive season going properly.

Christmas Bash

NOTHING TO START GIFT CERTIFICATE This certificate allows the bearer to join Edenmore Country Club with no joining fee.* Customer_______________________ Authorised by_______________ Date___/___/___ *Terms & conditions apply

We know that friends make fitness fun so we're giving you one exclusive 12 days of fitness pass to give to your family and friends email kmccann@edenmore.com for your free pass. We have also included a nothing to start certificate which can be redeemed before the end of December

Stuff you need to know... NOTICE TO MEMBERS

Unfortunately there will be no studio classes being held from the 24th of December until the new year. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Holiday Opening Hours:

24th - 9am - 5pm

Christmas Day - Closed

Boxing Day - Closed

27th - 9am - 5pm

28th - 9am - 5pm

29th: 11am - 7.30pm

30th: 11am - 7.30pm

31st: 9am - 5pm

New Year’s Day - Closed

Last entry, 45mins before closing time.

Restaurant Opening Hours:

24th - 9.30am - 4.30pm

Christmas Day - Closed

Boxing Day - 10.00am - 4.30pm

27th - normal

28th - normal

29th - normal

30th - normal

New Year’s Eve - 9.30am - 4.30pm

New Year’s Day - 10.00am - 4.30pm