Party Patrol - Breeze through the festive season without blowing your diet

The 100 calorie guide to keeping Christmas cheer under control.

Christmas is a time to eat, drink and be merry, throwing caution to the wind and overindulging.  It’s only when January 1st hits, you wish you’d consumed a little less cheer and a lot less calories.

And while it is perfectly okay to indulge for one day, the festive season seems to be getting longer each year, with celebrations beginning as early as mid November.

But, don’t worry, there is a foolproof way of getting you through the festive season 100 calories at a time. And you don’t have to miss out on all the yummy things!

Even though the festive season is traditionally a time to socialise more, eat more and completely relax your normal routine. It’s also a time when mindless overindulgence can cause you grief once the last Christmas cracker has been popped and the last slice of turkey has been eaten.

Welcome back to the Wellness Zone for this Spring edition!  It is fantastic to see the weather warming up a little and encouraging us to venture outside.  I am certainly feeling a little sluggish after winter and keen to back exercising outside again.

How about you - do you bounce out of bed every morning ready to live a vital day? Or has this been replaced with the need for a really good sleep in? For many of us loss of energy is something that gradually happens over time until one day we don't notice the difference and the reduction in energy becomes our ‘normal'.

This is becoming the case for many women and fatigue is one of the most common symptoms I see as a Natural Healthcare Practitioner, in fact some are

Welcome to the Wellness Zone. 

This month we are going to start looking at our digestive system and I thought we would start by looking at the gut flora!

Did you know that you have over 400 species of good bacteria inside your digestive system and they weigh up to 3kg? In fact, you have more bacteria living inside you than you have cells in your entire body! 

There are approximately 100 trillion bacteria in your digestive system,

This month in the Wellness Zone - Is Your Nervous System out of Balance?

The word ‘Stress' is thrown around a lot these days but what is it and what does it mean?  One definition is that stress is an internal response, physical or emotional, to stimuli or pressures (real or imagined) that challenge our ability to adapt or cope.

Our nervous system actually has two parts, the ‘relaxation' response which looks after all the housekeeping such as breathing, digestion, reproduction, repair, maintenance etc and the ‘stress' response which was designed to help us escape the ‘chasing tiger', the ‘fright' and ‘flight' response.  Although small amounts of stress can be beneficial giving us the energy to perform, for many women these days the tiger is out there constantly stalking us. 

This month in the Wellness Zone...........creating a healthier YOU!

Are you completely happy with your current level of health?  Were you sick or tired in 2008? (or just sick and tired of being sick and tired!)  George Bernard Shaw once said "Life isn't about finding yourself; its about creating yourself".  Unfortunately we live in a world that is sick-care focused rather than focused on preventing illness and optimising  health.  We only tend to see the doctor if we are sick. 

We invest time and money in having our car serviced regularly to ensure it doesn't break down and yet don't do the same for ourselves! Imagine if we decided to take responsibility for our health and actually invested some time in achieving and maintaining an optimal level of health, what a difference that could make!  Just having more energy can make a dramatic difference to our productivity, attitude and our work and family life. So how do we create this life of wellness?

With Christmas parties galore and the New Year approaching we are often challenged by opposing thought processes and motivations when it comes to what we should eat and drink.  On one hand summer is here and with it less clothing so it becomes a time to want to slim down and make resolutions for a fitter, healthier and slimmer me! 

On the other hand we have the end of year stress and fatigue making disciplined eating and exercise less likely, combined with a high concentration of exposure to food and drink in socially acceptable environments!  As I work my way through a box of gingerbread generously provided by a client, I hear myself saying

Our hormones have a major influence of our lives and as women we know too well how our hormones can affect our mood and energy.....but how many of us really understand how important hormones are for health and wellbeing?

Although many of us have been told otherwise, premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is NOT a natural part of being a woman and something we have to put up with every month for 40 years of our life! In Australia, it is estimated that up to 70% of women experience PMS at some point in their life, with 17% of women suffering the most severe form of PMS known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).  PMS encompasses a broad range of symptoms commonly experienced in the last week or two of the menstrual cycle. 

Common symptoms include - mood swings, bloating, breast tenderness, headaches, cravings, fatigue, skin breakouts, increased appetite, painful periods and so on.  These symptoms

Hay fever is an allergic reaction of the lining of the nose and sinuses. It is usually caused by breathing in airborne pollens from certain grasses, weeds and trees. Some people experience hay fever constantly and this usually occurs because of allergy to animal dander or the dust mites that are present in every home. Other triggers for hay fever include fungus spores, feathers, powders and pesticides.

Approximately 20% of the population experiences hay fever. The symptoms of hay fever include sneezing, runny or congested nose, itching of the nose, puffy, itchy, red eyes and a scratchy throat. The symptoms of hay fever are often at their worst in the mornings or on windy days.

Although the symptoms of colds and hay fever are similar,