In the kitchen with Duckey

Giving our kitchens a low fat makeover... i'm talking food here!

The nice list VS the naughty list!

This is a two part post on having a low fat lifestyle!

It’s not easy having this “low fat” lifestyle so why not make life a little easier for yourself and make some changes to your kitchen.

This means replacing the high fat foods with healthy alternatives! So its out with the chocolate bars, crisps and crap and in with the healthy alternatives.

So my friends what do we choose and what do we lose? I will even go as far as to show you my own food stocks to prove I practice what i preach!

The nice list...

SNACKS in your cupboard!

• Wholegrain crackers
• Rice Cakes – The low fat and low salt version.
• Oat Cakes – Narins do a great selection.
• Nuts – (all natural not salted or roasted) Cashews, Almonds, Brazil, Walnuts, Pecan, Pine nuts, Hazelnuts, Macadamia, Peanuts.
• Seeds – Pumpkin, Sunflower, Poppy, Sesame, Flax seeds.
• Dried Fruit – Cranberries, Raisins, Apricots, Dates, Prunes, Figs, Sultanas, Banana, Blueberries, Cherries.
• Malt fruit loaf
  

These things are great to store in tubs or containers so you can add to meals or simply snack on.

OILS to cook with...

• Olive
• Non stick 1 calorie cooking spray
• Sesame oil
• Soy Sauce
• Canola Oil

To much oil can be bad for you so keep this at a minimum

CANNED GOODS to store in your pantry...

• Beans – Black beans, Pinto beans, butter beans, kidney beans, Chickpeas, Black eyed beans, lentils, barley, quinoa, bulgur, kamut.
• Grains – Brown rice, wholgrain couscous, wholegrain pasta, Noodles.
• Vegetables – Peas, carrots, corn, beets, mushrooms, asparagus, potatoes
• Fruit - peaches, pineapple, pears, apricots, prunes, strawberries (but not in syrup make sure they are in juice)
• Tomatoes - Whole, diced or crushed, tomato purees, tomato sauces (with no added salt)
• Fish – (all in water) Tuna, Salmon, Sardines, Crab
• Soups - Choose Low-fat, low-sodium canned soups and soup mixes; low-sodium and fat-free broths
  

Great for emergencies!

JARS to save for a rainy day...

• Minced garlic
• Anchovies
• Pimientos
• Capers
• Peppers
• Artichokes
• Pickles
• Sundried tomatoes
• Pickled onion
• Olives
• Low fat jam.

FLAVOURINGS to spice up your food...

• Herbs – Basil, Mint, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Dill
• Spices and seasonings - Garlic, garlic, tomato paste, chilli, ginger, Paprika, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauces and low fat bottled marinades
• Dressings - Vinegars, mustards, low-fat or fat-free salad dressings and mayonnaise, low fat hummous or salsa.
  

Wonderful to add flavour without pilling on lots of fattening sauce products to your food.

BREADS to store in your bread bin...

• Whole grain breads
• Crumpets
• Wholegrain Wraps
• Wholegrain Pita breads
• Wholegrain / brown rolls
• Wholegrain bagels
  

Always go for the wholegrain option this is easier to digest.

CEREALS to kick start your day...

• Wholegrain based products such as shredded wheat
• Oats (porridge)
• Bran flakes or low-fat granola
  

Again go for the wholegrain option.

SUGARS for that sweet moment...

• Honey
• Molasses
• Maple syrup

Adding natural sugar is better for you than plain white sugar!

FRIDGE food...



DAIRY to build calcium the low fat way...

• Skimmed milk
• Low fat yogurt
• Light butter
• Free range eggs (you can always use egg whites)
• Choose low-fat or fat-free cottage cheese, cream cheese and hard cheeses
  

Always go for the lighter versions

(ps - the bottle of coke in this photo is for Rob and guests!)

SWEETS for that moment of weakness...

• Fresh fruit – Strawberries – raspberries – apples – bananas
• Summer fruit pudding
• Low fat Jelly
• Low Fat Skinny Cow ice cream
• 85% dark chocolate
  

For that time when you just need something fruit is always best or these healthy desserts, if you need chocolate always go for dark in small quantities!

FREEZER food...

• Fish – Salmon fillets, Fish Fingers, Cod fillets
• Vegetables and fruit – Peas, Broccoli, Spinach, Mediterranean vegetables, Sweet corn, Carrots, Rhubarb, raspberries.
• Ice cubes (always on hand for a smoothie)
  

BEVERAGES to quench your thirst...

• Cranberry juice
• Water
• Green Tea
• Decafe Coffee
• Decafe Earl Grey
• Orange Juice
  

MEAT to munch...

• Fresh meat and deli meats should be as lean as possible
• Try veggie burgers and sausages instead of beef patties
• Chicken is by far the healthiest meat
• Pork tenderloin is now considered as lean as a skinless chicken breast
  

This is not a full list, but it gives us an idea of what kinds of things to stock in a low fat kitchen so that we have wonderful and nutritious ingredients on hand.

Too Much Exercise?

I am worried that I may be very guilty of this so I have looked into it and conducted some research.

Looking at my Get Fit week I have realised that on some days I was doing up to 3 hours of exercise per day! Now I think that’s over obsessive don’t you? I have also gone down to just over 8 stone so when my head says you need to get fit my body tells me different!

But I will tell you what happens to me when I don’t do it!...

Key signs of exercising too much include:

• Making exercise a priority over personal relationships – tonight I chose going to the gym over socialising

• Feeling "withdrawal symptoms" such as irritability when unable to exercise – I get so agitated when I cant exercise for any reason or if its been too long, I then start feeling guilty or depressed when I don't exercise which makes me really unhappy

• Feel often like my job can get in the way of exercise - some people find this in relationships but luckily Rob does it with me

• Some people may miss school, college or work to exercise, however I don’t at present

• I exercise regardless of injuries, tiredness or illness and then become run down

• I ignore the concerns of my friends and family about your attitude to exercise

Due to this there are common risks of exercising too much:

• Immune Dysfunction – I cant say I’m dysfunctional yet! (some may disagree!)

• Excessive exercise without adequate recovery stresses the body, decreasing immune function and increasing the chance of respiratory infection- I do get very run down easily

• Reproductive Health Problems – Like I say I have noticed a change in this area through previous posts

• Women who's body-fat level falls below 13 to 17 percent can stop menstruating, a condition called amenorrhea – my periods can be up to 2 weeks late in theory missing!

• When a woman is experiencing amenorrhea, she is infertile – Yikes!

• Amenorrhea caused by excessive exercise is reversible when body-fat returns to normal. Normal levels are usually above 20 percent – Now this concerns me!

• Mood and Cognition Problems – I do get so moody when I cant exercise and also stressed by it!

• People who exercise too much can suffer from withdrawal symptoms including sleep disturbances, depression, anxiety, confusion, and difficulty concentrating when they miss a day of exercise – oh yes oh yes!

• Bone Health – I think my bones are still intact!

• Both male and females who exercise too much are at a higher risk for developing osteoporosis and stress fractures – ok

• Women can suffer irreversible bone loss if they are not menstruating – interesting!

• Soft Tissues Injuries – I bruise more easily than I used to

• Avoiding rest or treatment for injuries can result in chronic damage to connective tissue

• People who exercise too much also experience muscle soreness when they do not exercise – I can from time to time

• Instead of building muscle, too much exercise can destroy muscle mass, especially if the body is not getting enough nutrition, forcing it to break down muscle for energy.

Well in reading this it seems I have some lifestyle issues to address.

I think I need help with the way I think about exercise I guess it used to assist my eating problem but now it has become one in itself. Maybe my challenge is not over just yet?

Calling all shopaholics...

Wonderful news shopaholics!

Shopping can help you to loose weight, by taking a trip down to the high street Clothes shopping can burn up to 440 an hour! This is the best news I have heard in ages! Apparently we burn over 12,000 calories a year shopping! So now thanks to these results we have more incentive to go shop shop shop!

The worrying thing is that now a days our society is becoming so lazy everything is done online! You can order your weekly food shop online, clothes shop online, gift shop online, we can even rent movies online so it raises a question that with the increasing obesity in our society is technology making us more unhealthy?


It would be interesting to know your thoughts?

Back in the 70’s the average waistline was said to be 27”, it is currently 34” and they believe that in a few years time it will be 42”. Now that tells me there is a change somewhere along the line, if we think back to the 70’s the food was very natural with no colourings, preservatives or rubbish added, with more on the market now its no wonder our society is changing.

I believe the way some of our bodies are heading is due to the change in our lifestyles and produce we buy.

Remember the saying “your body is a temple” so ditch the binge drinking, ready meals and online shopping and lets get back out there and show the 70’s how its done!

Shame on Kelly... sold out to Kelloggs!

You can find the inspiration for a blog post everywhere!

This morning I was in my usual getting up routine and watching the commercials whilst eating my healthy bowl of oatmeal porridge when on comes an advert featuring Dame Kelly Holmes, she was advertising Kellogg’s cereals.

I think it is really good that she is promoting breakfast to younger children and adults however as an “athlete” as she mentions... she should be aware of the high amounts of sugar and fat in those cereals she is promoting.

Surely an athlete would be better advertising something like wholegrain, I mean I like Ian Bothams advertisement of Shredded Wheat as he makes a point of saying there is nothing added to this cereal except the whole-wheat!

Kelly states “I’m supporting Kellogg’s ‘Wake Up To Breakfast’ to help you and your kids perform at your very best, on the playing field, at school or at work...” Dame Kelly Holmes. Double Olympic Champion

Great Kelly but you could promote something a bit healthier than coco pops and rice krispies surely?

To me personally this seems hypocritical that an athlete would advertise this product and would in most case not ever plan on eating this themselves for breakfast. The next thing you know we’ll have David Beckham promoting McDonalds!

What do you think about this? Post your comments below!

REVIEW... iGigi Cafe with Simon Dance

As you know I have a keen interest in eating out but I am more than often tempted to eat in healthy and natural food places. Brighton is the city I work in and I am spoilt for choice with great restaurants and cafes to fill my lunchtimes with.

I have made a good friend at work named Simon who also has a blog called “Eat in Sussex,” every once and a while he will go ahead and review a certain food haunt! He hasn’t posted for a while though so I have been nagging him to post again as it is a great blog and has really good eating out advice included! Especially for someone like me who is not local to Brighton.

So I suggested we team up and produce a joint post on one of our favourite lunch time spots iGigi in Hove not far from our office.

I love to come for lunch here because it is simply organic, all the produce is organically source and the café has a really traditional feel to it, I would say a cross between a French Café and old English home. It almost feels you’re your away on holiday and you have escaped the world in a sanctuary for an hour of your lunch break.

Below the café they have a cute little shop which sells household goods, I saw a rather classy cake stand I liked the look of!

As for the café they have the most amazing range of cakes, full of fruit and fresh sponges! The last time we visited I had a gluten, dairy and sugar free sponge; although this sounds like it would be rather tasteless... it was orgasmic to eat and delicately decorated with plump red cranberries! I really did find a little piece of Duckey heaven in that cake!

The café has a really relaxed ambience where Si and I can go and discuss work politics, blogging and business.

We visited today and I have to say I am partial to a cappuccino every now and then. As for their coffee... it is on my top list of favourite places to drink my rare treats!

Si had a latte and the asparagus soup with rustic bread – it looked amazing and I wish I had indulged myself but being still slightly on my get fit week aftermath I chose to have my daily fruit intake once back at the office. How boring am I!

What I like most about this place is that the staff are friendly, although it’s small you don’t feel pressured to order or enjoy being there. I love the whiteness of the room and the authentic looking shelves full of cook books and ingredients.

They have some amazing jars filled with sundried tomatoes and anti-pasta and counters of fresh crusty bread. The menu ranges they generally have one special – I would say it is more of a snack stop rather than a lunch time venue.

They state their menu “reflects the true taste of London’s Borough Market where people are passionate about food” and serve the following:

Lunch

• General Store lunchboards served with salad, bread and pickles
• Cheese or meat
• Paté of the day with toast and celery salad
• Sardines on toast with salad
• Soup of the day served with fresh bread
• Open sandwiches

Afternoon tea

• Organic Sussex cream tea served with clotted cream & jam
• Delicious home made cakes
• Monmouth coffee
• Ceylon organic loose leaf teas*
* We only use organic milk

As we don’t get much time for lunch to relax it is a perfect stop for us and I am sure we will visit there again very soon.

In the meantime I recommend if you are ever in the area that you check it out.

Si has also written a post on “Eat in Sussex” so to view his share of the lunch break with me view the link!

Contact:

31a Western Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 1AF, Tel: 01273 728160

Freckles are in fashion!

Yes that’s right people apparently appearance is top priority in our society, not only does the media encourage us to loose weight, diet, eat healthy but now they are saying its cool to have freckles!

What will be next? Will we have people going to artificially make themselves up with freckles?

Luckily for me the news today says “I’m well cool” as I have my own set of secret freckles!

Now having lived with them I can understand that this is a really personal issue, however luckily mine are hidden and not many people who know me will know this as when I was at school I was made fun of.

I was called “alien” or “dirty,” as you know kids at school can be hurtful so I can’t imagine what its like for someone with full face on freckles.

So here is my secret... I have a set of 41 freckles on the left back of my neck. My mum used to tell me when I was little that when the fairy came to sprinkle my freckles on my body she slipped and fell over!

This was a real comfort growing up but I would hide my freckles at all costs.

The Independent News stated this morning “If you grow up freckled in England, you get a bashing. It's that simple.”

So why the sudden change is this just a phase or are we desperate to try and invent a new trend so much we take something negative and turn it positive?

It’s not until I became older I realised that they were part of my identity and they in fact separate me from everyone else.

I love my freckles now and they are a unique feature of Rachel Ducker, but what annoys me is how the media have the cheek to now to suddenly make these trendy! Its almost saying that before now having freckles wasn’t “cool”?

Well whether I’m in with the in crowd or out my message on Duckeys Health Corner is this:

“We all have our own identities so no matter what the media says we should feel proud of every unique feature we have.”

Check out these babies!





Duckey x

Duckeys Get Fit Week... The Verdict!

Well I have reached the end of “Duckeys Get Fit Week” and I have learnt and discovered a lot from doing it. The photo is how I feel right now!

I have realised that it is so important to have a healthy balanced lifestyle, for your mind and body, assisting them to work together.

It has finally sunken in that food = fuel and you need this to have enough energy to get through your day to day routine.

I will admit before this week I had PMT, I felt flumpy, I was frustrated with the way I felt which added to my stresses even more so.

It was hard at first to get into my extra strict healthy routine at first (most people who know me will think what is she talking about she’s already super health conscious but I felt I had began to slacken slightly) however once the week progressed I started to feel the positive effects.

My body feels tighter; my mind feels clearer and my head – guilt free so I feel much more relaxed and happy.

Sometimes if you feel like you’ve had a bad few weeks one week like this can make you feel right back on it again! The will power and strength to do the exercise can be hard but when you set a goal this will encourage you to keep on going.

In having a get fit week I have learnt the following:

• I have come a long way since having “eating issues” I no longer eat just one rice cake a day and I am a lot happier now than the sad, depressed, unwell and underweight person I was back then.
• Although I feel much more able to let my hair down I still need to be less tense about what I eat and how many times I exercise and be a little more spontaneous!

• I am much more beautiful on the inside when I don’t place so much control over my eating, I can be an ugly negative person sometimes when I snap or freak out about food its not attractive at all.

• Having an eating issue has left me to feel very vulnerable and scared in certain situations it really affected my confidence levels and now I am aware of this I want to address it.

• In having one super fit week like this it will make me feel much better and able to relax during other weeks, knowing I can get right back to my fitness peak again.

• Having goals really do work and keep you motivated.

• It has made me realise I don’t want to go back to the dark place I spent two and a half years in and I would rather be more athletic and healthy than underweight and gaunt!

I will admit I am a perfectionist but nobody is perfect and it doesn’t matter how hard you try to be, overall I have discovered that each and every one of us is unique, we all have different body shapes, metabolisms, habits, lifestyles and personalities’ being unique is what makes us the people we are.

So although sometimes I may still have times when I am fussy about what I eat, nights where I just need to go to the gym to clear my head and days where sometimes I still have that little voice inside my head telling me the negative things I no longer want to listen to that is me, it’s the way I am so please accept me for being that way. I myself have and learned to like myself again for it.

Ultimately life is for living and like my mum says “life is not a rehearsal.” Its amazing how much this week has had a positive effect on me and how much I have realised about myself and other people.

Although I cant ever imagine going back to having an eating problem in a way experiencing it, living it is no regret of mine. Sometimes in life we go through these tests to gain understanding, learn and to fulfil a deeper purpose.

So from here on lets live life for the moment!

Love Duckey x