Jamaican Gold
Jamaican Gold
My Pop was a proper English gentleman who had a distinguished military career, and served in World War II before being captured and held POW for three years. He was a very disciplined person but he had a secret…. He loved Jamaican Old Gold chocolate. Pop was strategic too. With all his grandkids sitting at the table he would always ask us if we would like some. No kid likes dark chocolate so he was then able to enjoy his chocolate without competition or interruption. Two years ago Pop became very ill and in the end couldn’t speak to us or even drink a cup of his precious tea but you know what he could do? Yep, eat Old Gold.
So at that moment I decided it was my responsibility to take the baton and train myself up to be a dark chocolate eater. It’s not an easy job believe me but I am committed, although my best on ground is still only 70 percent cocoa. I have dallied with 85 percent but I’m not quite ready for a long term relationship. I will keep trying though.
Apart from ongoing research which suggests that around 20g of dark chocolate each day may be beneficial for a healthy heart and for reducing inflammation and blood pressure, I just think about my Pop’s story. It’s so important to enjoy life and what you eat and having 20 grams of dark chocolate each day might just stop you eating a whole block. So, go dark this Easter.
Mindful Eating
I recently ran a few presentations for Chevron Australia on the interesting topic of Mindless Eating.
Mindless eating basically means not giving a lot of thought to how and what you eat. Brian Wansink has penned a thought provoking book titled ‘Mindless Eating’ and one of his research studies looked at the office candy jar and how irresistible it is to almost everyone. This study which followed 40 secretaries over 4 weeks in the US found that participants consistently ate more of the chocolate and lollies if they were in a clear container rather than opaque plus they wouldn’t usually go get it if not there.
But here is the interesting bit, if you throw in just 5 lollies each day over a working week, a 70 kg person would have to run for 29 minutes to burn it off. That’s on top of your usual exercise routine. Have you got time?
My famous mini choc muffin recipe!
¾ cup self-raising flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup caster sugar
½ cup low fat vanilla yoghurt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
Sift together flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a bowl. Add sugar, yoghurt, eggs, vanilla essence and oil and mix to combine.
Spoon batter into non-stick mini-muffin trays (this mixture will make about 30 muffins) and cook in a moderate oven for 15 minutes. They should be slightly soft to touch. Cool on wire rack.
These muffins contain less than 1 gram of fat each.
Truth, Lies and Chocolate – the calorie free alternative this Easter!
Here’s an idea for an Easter gift that has no calories or fat in sight AND can be a great source of entertainment for yourself over the break.
It’s ‘truth, lies and chocolate – 99 Facts and Fairytales about Food’.
If you place an order by TODAY Tuesday 19th April, you should have it in time for Easter.
The final word
Have you ever walked through your office around 3pm and noticed your staff gazing into space or getting up close and personal with the desk? Many businesses are surprised to learn that their staff may be productive for only 2 hours each day and certainly not after 3pm. The health and performance of your employees increases your bottom line. Give me a call and I will tell you how.
Yours in health and performance,
Julie
