Here’s a great little non-spicy salsa that I make to go with omelettes or any type of eggs really. It’s very quick to make and a much better option than bottled tomato sauce or salsa from a jar.

This is the recipe for 1 person, so multiply as you wish.

Ingredients

1 tomato

1/2 spanish onion

1/2 teaspoon butter

salt & pepper or my special seasoning

Method

To peel the tomato, you first remove the core and cut a cross into the bottom of the tomato

Place the tomato into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for about 30 secs then cool the tomato with cold water.

Peel the skin off the tomato and dice it up.

Finely dice the onion and saute it in the butter.

When the onion is partially cooked, add the diced tomato.

Season with salt and pepper or some of my special seasoning (scroll down for that recipe in a past blog)

Saute for about 5 mins on low heat, you can cover it to keep more moisture in.

Done, easy!

This video needs no introduction, just watch it and learn. Absolutely brilliant! Click here.

I have become a little concerned lately with the amount of “Paleo” recipes that are loaded with honey or other natural sweeteners and excessive amounts of fat. Especially if you want to lose weight!

We have to get back to my most basic theory that sugar is evil. Not only granulated sugar, but all forms of sugar. Anything sugary is a treat and should be eaten in that manner, not indulged in daily because it doesn’t contain gluten or dairy!

I will admit that I am a little boring with my eating and I tend to eat a lot of meat and veg/salad/fruit. But, a couple of weeks ago I started a chat group where you can go and post your food ideas to motivate the other members to become more experimental with their food and to stay on track with eating Paleo style.

Now the group has been a huge success and I am so happy for everyone that is sourcing out these fantastic recipes, but I am getting concerned about the amount of recipes that look like junk food, but have the word Paleo in front of it.

At the end of the day, a cookie is a cookie and a cake is a cake. It may not contain gluten or dairy, but it sure as shit isn’t going to help you lose weight with all the other ingredients.

I am not sure where the cavemen got dark choc chips and dried fruit… (and while I’m there, don’t ever eat dried fruit!)

Now I don’t eat 100% Paleo, I am about a 90/10 Paleo eater and I don’t care too much for the history behind Paleolithic man, I just want to eat healthy food and look after my body inside and out and if you call that Paleo, then that’s great.

When I want a treat, I am stoked I can get a healtheir version of it by making it gluten and dairy free, but please, let’s not eat treats day in and day out because they have the word Paleo in front of them!

Now, here is a link to an awesome article by Amy Kubal who can outline this problem a little better than me and it has a great comparison between a popular junk food and a “Paleo” food. I think you’ll be shocked!

I cannot tell you how delicious this is!

Hannah’s paleo crunch

1 cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 1/2 cups almond meal

3 cups coconut

1 cup cashews – chopped

1 cup macadamia nuts – chopped

1 teaspoon cinamon

1 tablespoon salt

1 cup coconut oil

1′2 cup raw honey

Mix all ingredients together

Pack the mixture firmly onto a baking tray

Bake at 180 degrees for about 10 mins until it looks a bit golden. Do not burn it!

Cut the finished product as soon as it comes out of the over, but don’t try to move it. Wait until it cools then pick up each slice. It will crumble somewhat and if you want it to be totally crumbled, just pick it up as soon as it leaves the oven.

This is so nice served over berries or any time you want a sweet treat.

It is very high in fat, so consume in moderation. Serving size is quite small.

2 zuccinis – grated

1 large onion – grated

100g bacon – chopped

1 cup almond meal

6 eggs

1 cup cheese – grated

Salt and pepper

Saute the onion and bacon then mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Poor into a cake tin lined with baking paper.

Bake at 180 degrees for about 45 mins or until golden on top and firm to the touch. The same firmness as a cake.

This is awesome served with salad for lunch or as a breakfast with some fruit.

It’s refreshing to once in a while read some decent information from someone in the medical industry. Something that doesn’t involve medication or operation. Instead it talks about dietary changes to alleviate health problems. And to take it one step further, it’s actually good information, not run of the mill misinformation!

Please have a read through the entire article on the link below, it is a very important topic and a great read!

Heart Surgeon speaks out on what really causes heart disease

Many of you already know that I have been eating in Zone ratios for about 2 years now. Originally with any food I liked and in the past 12 months using mainly Paleo foods (which I also like).

Recently I have been receiving regular updates from the Health blog of Dr Barry Sears, the founder of the Zone diet. I call it the Zone diet, but I prefer to think of it as eating in the Zone, the word diet has so many stigmas attached to it, and rightly so!

The Zone diet simply means balancing your protein, carbs and fats at every meal. It also shows you how big or small your portions should be at each meal. It has easy to read charts to reference portions sizes for protein, carbs and fat.

It is by no means a fad diet and by no means a high protein diet. The proportions that zone recommends are 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat. It is basically structured balanced eating. Something most of us don’t do (regardless of what we think we do).

Eating in the Zone simply means eating within a zone that keeps your blood sugar levels stable without spikes, thus reducing the amount of insulin circulating in the body and keeping inflammation in the body to a minimum. Inflammation is responsible for most health issues in our bodies along with increased weight gain.

It is a much easier approach to weight loss and inflammation reduction than Paleo eating, but when you get a handle on portion control, you should look to switch the majority of your eating to Paleo foods to get the best results for your health and weight loss.

So anyway, the reason for this post is to share with you some of the better updates I have received from Dr Sears Health blog.

I have been posting them regularly on the Fitta Bodies facebook page, but here they are for all of you to read through at your leisure. They are quite short and concise with loads of relevant info.

Enjoy!

Click on these links to read the full article;

Eat like our paleolithic ancestors
No excuses, eat your breakfast
The secret of blueberries
Coffee and diabetes
Polyphenols make probiotics work better
Blame weight gain on the brain
What’s the story on chocolate
New food trends may be dysfunctional
The latest useless fad diet
Gastric banding – admitting failure
Mythologies in treating childhood obesity
Good and Bad carbohydrates
Fish oil and fat loss
Where does fat go
The demise of the mediterranean diet

To stay up to date the easiest with all of my updates, simply join the facebook page here.

I came across this webpage yesterday which has a good explanation of paleo and zone eating. I was impressed with the details, almost all of them I agree with, which is hard to find these days.

The Paleo article has loads of info, which is great and the zone has a smaller article, but still enough to get the idea.

Happy reading, start thinking zone paleo from now on. It’s the best way to long term stable weight control and health.

Paleo http://www.electricphysique.com/paleolithic-diet.html

Zone http://www.electricphysique.com/the-zone-diet.html

So the last few posts have been based around fat loss and I guess I got a little carried away on the wrong side of things.

Yes, you are definitely going to lose weight and start to look a lot more like you should look, but the health and sickness side of things is the real reason why I want everybody to participate in March.

Just as a quick side note. I am not making any money off this challenge and there is nothing in it for me except loads of time writing these posts which could be better spent doing things for myself or my family, so please take note.

I know what’s good and bad, I do research on “health” all the time.

How many of you have benefited from cutting down sugar? You can thank me later for that.

How many of you think that CrossFit is the best exercise program you have ever done? You can thank me for that later too!

This is the next big thing in your road to a healthier life, so don’t let me down.

Do it for 31 days and then I will discuss anything that troubles you about the diet.

Sometimes I think everyone needs to take a step back and look at this from an outside view point. I’m not asking you to eat dogs for 31 days or to shave your entire family’s heads. I’m asking you to eat fruit, vegies and protein for 31 days to improve your body composition and health.

I’m also not asking you to bore yourself stupid and read the latest Di Morrissey book, I am asking you to read the best book I have read in years if not ever, so that you can grasp exactly what you are doing to your body on a daily basis.

Do you ever look at a smoker and think why? Don’t they know or don’t they care or don’t they think it will affect them? I’m there right now with this challenge and you!

This is for you! YOU and YOUR HEALTH and YOUR BODY.

Now, the majority of diseases are caused by inflammation. Not only diseases, but injuries. How many of you have ever had an anti inflammatory? Wow, that many? Well, listen up.

Food is the most powerful drug you can consume. You eat it all day every day. What you eat both becomes and affects your body.

The basis of this diet is to control inflammation and hormones. The two things that will contribute greatly to most illnesses or health issues, from cancer to cholesterol to cardiovascular disease to infertility.

I am not going to go into, because it is too long for me to write about correctly and the experts have detailed it all in the book I recommended “The Paleo Solution” by Robb Wolf. Buy it, read it, understand it.

Next time you tell me about your illness, injury, health issue, weight problems, you can know 100% what I will be thinking in my head, but probably not bothering to say out loud….

Has anyone ever seen the movie “Madagascar”? You may remember the scene at the end with the penguins laying on the beach…”Just wave and smile boys, just wave and smile”

For those of you who are worried about calcium intake, here’s your answer – Calcium and Paleo

For those of you wanting a few tips about eating, check this out – The Food Matrix

I also had a conversation with someone last night where he said he wanted to read the book before he signed up. I told him to sign up for me. He proceeded to tell me that he wouldn’t be doing it for himself if that is the case.

My response is that you may be doing it for me right now, but 2 weeks into March, when you feel the difference in yourself and you have started reading the book and understanding the inner workings of your body, you will be doing it for yourself, I guarantee it. You will also be doing something that has become common for you, you will be once again thanking me for pointing you in the right direction, because as far as I can remember,I haven’t led you the wrong way yet!

One thing I noticed from our no sugar events is how much people focus on what they going to eat as soon as the challenge is over.

I always hear about the chocolate they ate that night etc.

What I want you to focus on towards the end of this challenge is what you are not going to eat.

It’s quite simple really. When you are eating your dinner, think to yourself. I really don’t need to eat pasta anymore.

Or when you order Thai takeaway, you might realise how enjoyable it is without rice.

Lunches may seem more enjoyable as fruit and turkey instead of bread and turkey.

Think of the things you are enjoying and would like to stick with.

Think of how you feel when you eat something and think of how you used to feel when you ate the alternative. Thats a sure fire way to keep you eating well. The lack of bloat and lethargy you will feel.

I personally do not eat like this all the time. I do enjoy eating like this all day almost every day. It is convenient, healthy and I feel great all the time.

I do enjoy some takeaway and a treat on a Saturday night and sometimes a Sunday night. I also don’t really hold back at parties etc. I am not an extremist and I am not stupid, I understand how good all of this food tastes, but I am a realist, I understand how bad it is for you and how it makes you feel. So moderation is the key.

If there are 42 meals in a week, make sure 39 of them are clean. Do the math on that one. Surely you can get some great results and put less stress on your body by eating clean for 93% of the time and still enjoy the things you like in moderation…

Remember, focus on what new habits you can continue. Don’t focus on how you are going to break your new habits. It’s all a state of mind!

One more thing, how many people have you even met who are fit, healthy and lean, I mean lean, not not-obese, who have become that way via something along the lines of lite’n'easy, weight watchers, tony ferguson etc etc etc. Pardon? None? Oh…..

This blog is brought about by 4 people I spoke to before 8 am this morning and I think all of the questions/statements are related.

Person 1) Asked if I recommend eating fruits and veg as my only source of carbs long term?

Person 2) Asked if grains contain antinutrients?

Person 3) Made a comment about long term trainees and injuries

Person 4) Said they didn’t feel satisfied unless they had rice on their plate.

So, yes, I recommend getting all of your carbs from fruit and veg for the rest of your life as much as is possible in your particular lifestyle/diet.

Grains do contain antinutrients and a whole bunch of other bad things which makes me think we should not be eating them.

Now, some people can train every day, some with multiple sessions per day and still remain injury free. Yes, others can train 3 days a week and report a range of injuries. Why? Well, do you think nutrition may have something to do with it?

What you put into your mouth becomes your body and although it pains me to say it, a lot of my clients don’t follow my advice. They go out and follow fad diets, they punish their bodies with alochol, grains, sugars, no carbs, no fat, you name it, they do it.

So what effect will this have on your body?

Well, do you think a body made up of toxins, antinutrients, not enough amino acids, not enough good fat, over restricted calories, too many grains and dairy will perform as it should?

I don’t think so. I am sure that cells will not repair themselves as they should. I am sure injuries will occur and not get better. I am sure energy levels are not what they should be. I am sure illnesses and diseases will present themselves. And last but not least, I am sure bodyfat levels will be much higher then they should be.

If you had a car and you put super in the unleaded tank, bubble blowing liquid in the windscreen washers, canola oil in the engine and lemonade in the radiator, what do you think would happen to the car?

Do you think the car may present itself with car injuries, car illnesses, car diseases? In other words, your car wouldn’t work for very long.

The difference here is that we know very clearly what needs to go into a car to make it run and if we put the wrong things in, we wouldn’t blame anyone else or think it is bad luck that the car wouldn’t be running properly.

Not so true with the human body, which I might add is far more complex than a car.

Unfortunately for us, TV commercials, global companies, people who invent bad diets in order to sell books and useless governments are the ones telling us what we should and shouldn’t be eating.

And guess what, too many people listen! And guess what again, too many people are fat, injured and sick.

Here’s a scenario for you;

I know this guy who eats clean 95% of the time. He is lean, healthy and injury free. in fact, he injured himself recently and that injury which was very painful only hung around for 3 – 4 weeks and disappeared without weekly visits to the physio. He also gives great advice on how to be like him. Just to reiterate, he is lean, healthy and injury free.

I also know a book store that sells loads of diet books, they range from one extreme to the other. From low carb to low protein, to low fat, to eat like a french person, to eat like a mediterranean, to eat like a himalayan monk etc, etc, etc.

Wow, which one should I choose first. There are so many, I might just work my way through them alphabetically, I mean they all must work, otherwise the book stores would sell them right?

Actually, which one did that lean, healthy injury free guy write? I can’t seem to find it. He might not have written one yet. Maybe I should just jump onto his blog and read his info for free. It may be possible that his info doesn’t have any underlying intentions other than to help me get lean, healthy and injury free…..

So, don’t come to me with any diet that you may be trying. I don’t care what you read in the paper, I don’t care what your overweight dietician told you, I don’t care what the guy in your office did to lose 20kg in 2 months, I don’t care about any of that because I am telling you what I want you to do to be lean, healthy and injury free long term.

I walk the talk and that is why I am so passionate about helping you.

If you read something that you think is high quality info, then you go for it, but do me a favour and actually do what I suggest for 30 days first and check the results.

Now, to back track to the original subject, I have to address person number 4.

If you don’t feel satisfied by a meal without rice, you need to add more lean protein and veg or salad.

Think of it this way;

Fruit, veg and salad contain loads of vitamins and minerals. They have a lower carbohydrate density which makes them much more suitable for weight loss. The are tasty, natural and provide loads of antioxidants which boost the immune system and aid in disease prevention.

Carbs such as rice, bread, pasta etc don’t contain any vitamins or minerals. They have a very high carbohydrate density which makes them very suitable for weight gain and they have properties that link them to long term health problems.

Now as inteligent human beings, would you choose the food group that provides vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and aids weight loss.

OR

Would you choose the food group that provides nothing except bloating, weight gain and has links to diseases and illness?

What is your food doing for you?