From Editer

Here comes to the week 18 of our ‘The little things magizne’. The theme of this week is health. Hope everyone can enjoy it.

Little things magzine Week 17

Little things magzine Week 18

Content 40 Healthy idea for this week

This week’s menu

Why execrise?

Question this week Should you takE iron SupplEmEntS iF you’rE FEEling run down?

Making of paper windmill

Week 18 The Little Things magzine Copy right @ SF project

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CrEatE a Spa gEtaway at homE

Forget an expensive trip to the spa and relax at home with our DIY eye soothers, homemade body scrubs, and do-it-yourself mood-boosting sprays.

Stay BalanCEdTake a break from your hectic schedule and learn how you can stay grounded with these simple tasks.

gEt a ClEanEr homEThirty-two eco-friendly ways to make your home cleaner and safer.

lEarn thE right way to StrEtCh

Help your body ward off infections this winter by practicing the following routine. Its twists, backbends, and inversions stimulate your main immunity components -- the adrenal glands and lymphatic system -- helping them perform better.

Eat SEaSonal FoodSFrom root vegetables in the winter to fresh tomatoes in the summer, take advantage of the ever-growing variety of vegetables and fruit that show up all throughout the year.

do onE yoga poSE a dayMelt stress with these slow, restorative yoga poses that you can do in just 5 to 10 minutes a day.

StrEngthEn your CorEThese six moves target your deep abdominal muscles to keep your whole system looking and feeling beautifully balanced.

Start thE day oFF rightReach for energy-boosting, nutritious, and tasty breakfasts that health experts themselves eat. Whether you’re in a rush or have some extra time, here are eight easy morning meals from top nutritionists.

gEt your VitaminSEnjoy these 20 recipes that are packed with vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and K. The best part: They’re delicious too.

hEalthy mEtaBoliSm toolS

To get back to your balanced weight, try giving your body what it needs rather than depriving or punishing yourself with harsh diet and fitness regimens.

walk For wEight loSSLearn this progressive walking plan that’ll get you on your feet, out the door, and losing pounds.

BrEak Bad Eating haBitSBe more conscious about your eating with these simple tips to eat less, indulge occasionally without guilt, and end constant cravings.

walk For BEttEr poSturEGet better posture with these walking strategies that reduce wear and tear on the bones, joints, and ligaments and help the body rediscover its inherent alignment.

BooSt your moodSoothe stressed-out nerves with these foods that contain body-boosting nutrients.

uSE hEalthy Cooking toolS

Learn which kitchen gadgets savvy nutrition experts use to make healthy cooking a cinch -- plus, try some recipes to put them to good use.

These 40 good-for-you ideas, including smart snacking, stress

relief, weight loss. Our fourth-annual challenge is a refreshing mind-body detox that will leave you feeling your absolute best as you take on this new week ahead. 

SnaCk SmartErWhether you crave salty, sweet, frozen or crunchy, we have tons of healthy bites for you to choose from to enjoy at home or on the go. 

StrESS lESSWe all know stress isn’t good for our health. Make it a calmer, more relaxing year by ending stress with our guided, step-by-step instructions that will help you navigate those everyday bumps in the road, get rid of unnecessary sources of anxiety, and develop a healthier relationship with those you can’t avoid.

SlEEp BEttErTry these soothing exercises to help balance your energy and ensure a good night’s sleep.

agE wEllWhether you’re in your 20’s or 60’s, we have tons of healthy recipes, fitness routines, and antiaging beauty advice to help you look and feel your best.

Eat morE powEr FoodSIncorporate these 20 foods into your meals more this year. In addition to tasting good, they also boast the added benefits of fighting cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis.

makE your kitChEn hEalthiEr

Stocking the cupboards with the these healthy, essential ingredients means you’re always prepared to transform chicken, fish, tofu, or beef into a healthy dinner.

ClEar your CluttErEnd the mess! Figure out what you really need and what you can toss in your bedroom, closet, and office.

40 Healthy Ideas for this weekwholeliving

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Enjoy hEalthy ComFort Food rECipES

Comfort food doesn’t have to be high in fat and calories to be delicious. Dig into these slimmed-down, nutritionally amped-up versions of some stick-to-your-ribs classics.

rEduCE StrESS with mEditation and BrEathing

Cultivate calm during stressful situations with these exercises that can increase productivity and boost your mood.

gEt thE BESt hErBS For your hEalth

Cure health imbalances, like hot flashes, PMS, and fatigue, with these natural herbs.

know thE BESt diEt SuBStitutES

Learn these easy, healthier replacements for common ingredients, including mayonnaise, sour cream, and white potatoes.

gEt hEalthy FrEEzEr-FriEndly rECipES

Filling up your freezer is an earth-friendly habit since the fuller it is, the less energy it uses to keep food frozen.

EaSE SEaSonal allErgiESKeep allergy symptoms under control with these natural remedies.

kEEp your hEart hEalthy

These fish, sweet potato, and smoothie recipes are packed with essential nutrients to keep your ticker ticking strong.

uSE natural rEmEdiES

Ease coughs, congestion, and sore throats, and help prevent illness, with these natural remedies.

wholelivinghttp://www.wholeliving.com/

rEChargE and rEVitalizEMaking time for yourself is an important way to prevent burnout and keep your stress levels low. We’ve pulled together a few suggestions to benefit your body, mind, and spirit throughout the year.

go naturalLearn these seven habits of natural beauties, including antiaging, fitness, and eating tips.

Enjoy Quinoa, riCE, and grainS

Grains make a substantial side dish and can also pack a more nutritional punch all year round.

add morE VEgEtarian mEalS to your diEt

Eating less meat makes sense not only nutritionally but environmentally as well. Make meat-free meals with our collection of 30 delicious vegetarian recipes.

know thE SECrEtS to hEalthy wEight loSS

We spoke with several weight-loss experts to identify the most common reasons people struggle with their weight. Identify your biggest obstacle (or obstacles) and use the suggested strategies to start your weight loss journey.

StrEngthEn your BonESOur bones carry us around our whole lives; they need a little love in return. Keep your skeleton strong by eating the right foods, cutting back on alcohol and caffeine, and performing these exercises 2 to 3 times a week.

StrEngthEn your BaCkOver time, you’ll find that the effort you invest today will prevent aches and pains -- and keep you nimble -- going forward. These exercises target the spine and its supporting muscle groups.

Find thE BESt workout For your ShapE

Discover the best fitness routine for you, whether you’re slender, curvy, or muscular.

jump-Start wEight loSSIncorporating certain foods can help catalyze weight loss. Try these recipes featuring grapefruit, wild salmon, almonds, avocados, and kiwi that will help you achieve your best body.

go nutSBite for bite, nuts are among the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat. And because they’re high in protein and healthy fats, they’re also an excellent cholesterol-free alternative to meat.

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why exercise?

We’re famous for being a sporting country, but how many of us Aussies live up to our energetic reputation? The bad news is that around 75 per cent of us aren’t on

the go enough to meet the minimum daily recommendation for exercise ... so here are some good reasons to get off the couch and start moving!

WHY DO YOu nEED TO ExERCISE?

Do we really need to exercise? Sometimes even the thought of it seems hard. The truth of the matter is that you’ll be a healthier person for it and not just in terms of cardiovascular fitness. Exercise prevents disease. As an active person, you’re less likely to develop cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis, have a stroke or get certain types of cancers, such as colon and breast cancer. Physical inactivity is ranked just behind cigarette smoking as a cause of ill health.

Experience a sense of well-being and be better able to cope with stressBe better able to get to sleep and stay asleep.

how much exercise do you need?

Just how much exercise do you need

to see these benefits? You certainly don’t have to join a triathlon club – even moderate exercise such as regular walking or climbing the stairs can be protective no matter how late in life you start.

One thing experts agree on is that your exercise, at the very least, has to be moderately intense and has to be regular. The National Physical Activity Guidelines for Australians recommends at a minimum 30 minutes of moderate physical activity – like walking – on most days of the week. How do you know if you’re being moderately active? A good test is to see if you can talk easily while you’re exercising. If you can, you are exercising at a light to moderate level. Once your breathing makes it too hard to talk, you know you’ve increased the intensity of your workout!

One thing to remember is that the longer and more intensely you exercise, the greater the benefit. Researchers have found a positive

correlation between the length and intensity of physical activity and the reduction in risk of coronary events such as heart attack.

But even short periods of light exercise and daily activities are beneficial if you want to prevent obesity and

diabetes. new research shows that sitting around for long periods of time can increase your blood glucose levels – even if you fit a 30 minute session of exercise in – so stay active and complement your 30 minutes of exercise with regular light activity.

If you haven’t exercised for a while or you want to significantly increase your exercise level, it is advisable to speak with a health professional about designing an exercise plan. Many injuries are caused by exercising too much, too quickly, or by overuse.

Getting fit

There are several parts to your all over fitness: your cardiorespiratory endurance, your muscular strength and endurance, and your flexibility. Chris Tzar, exercise physiologist from the Lifestyle Clinic at the university of new South Wales, says ideally your exercise regime for getting fit should work on all three types.

“You certainly need strength, cardiovascular endurance and suppleness, but the greater emphasis should be on cardiovascular fitness.

the ideal combination

Tzar suggests a combination of walking or jogging, cycling

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or swimming to increase your cardiovascular fitness, and strength training with either weights or doing callisthenic exercises at home or in the park. Callisthenics, like push-ups or chin-ups, use your body weight against gravity and don’t require equipment so you can do them anywhere.

For flexibility, Tzar says it’s important to do stretches that work on the muscle groups that have common problems with flexibility: the shoulder and chest area, the hips and knees, the back, as well as the gluteals, hamstrings and hip flexors.

losing weight

Tzar says that getting fit and losing weight go hand in hand.

“But it’s important to remember that it’s body-fat loss, not muscle loss that’s important for your health. If you just diet and don’t exercise, a lot of the weight you lose could be muscle tissue and fluid.”

It’s also important to remember that both structured exercise, like going for a jog, and incidental exercise, like walking to the shops to buy dinner, are both important and you shouldn’t increase one at the expense of the other, says Tzar.

“Some people might start driving to the shops because they’re tired from exercise, and then find that their general physical activity levels haven’t increased. Remember to keep taking the stairs because that kind of exercise is also really important.”

So just how much exercise do you need to lose weight?

One important factor in losing weight is how you balance stocking up on energy and burning it off. If you’re eating more than you burn off with your current amount of exercise, you’re most likely putting on weight. If you do more exercise – so that you’re burning more energy than what’s in the food that goes in your mouth – eventually you’ll burn off body fat.

If you’re after a rough guideline, take the minimum daily requirement – 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week – and double or even triple it, depending on how frisky

you’re feeling. At 30 minutes a day you’re protecting yourself against heart disease and other illness and at 60 to 100 minutes you’ll be waving goodbye to those jiggly bits.

Fighting depression

More than a million of us suffer from some form of mental illness, including depression and anxiety. Encouragingly, both aerobic exercise and strength training has been successfully used in treating clinical anxiety and depression. One controlled trial found exercise training was as effective as antidepressant medication in older adults, albeit with a slower onset of benefits. We’re still unsure of how much you need to exercise to feel the benefits or even why this relationship exists, but researchers are looking for answers, so watch this space.

recovering from injury

Pretty much everyone knows someone who’s sprained their ankle playing soccer or pulled a muscle running or done their back in gardening.

Whatever your injury, Chris Tzar says it’s important to see a health professional before you continue exercising. Your GP can give you advice or give you a referral to an exercise physiologist, both of which are covered by Medicare.

Even more important than recovering sensibly from an injury is protecting yourself from one in the first place. Most injuries come from overuse or going too hard, too fast.

To make sure you don’t overdo it at the beginning of your fitness program, Tzar recommends starting off slow and try out some Fartlek training.

“Fartlek training is when you alternate between a work and active rest period, for example walk-run-walk-run. You might start off with five minutes of walking and two minutes of running, and you gradually increase your working period each time you go out. Eventually you’ll be mostly working.”

For the avid exerciser, a week off from exercising every 12 weeks or so will help prevent overuse injuries.

Short-tErm BEnEFitS oF rEgular ExErCiSE

Exercise regularly and you will:

• Increase your endurance• Have healthier muscles, joints

and bones• Increase your metabolism• Have more energy• Experience a sense of well-being and

be better able to cope with stress• Be better able to get to sleep and

stay asleep

doES StrEtChing BEForE ExErCiSE hElp?

A review of several studies in 2002 revealed that stretching before and after exercise doesn’t stop you from getting aching muscles the next day. The review looked at two studies on army recruits in military training, which both found that stretching before you exercise doesn’t reduce your risk of injury. But remember stretching is different to warming up and research has shown a good warm-up can reduce chances of injury.

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This week’S MenuBerry and mango buttermilk muffins

To Prep : 0:20To Cook: 0:25InGREDIEnTS: 7DIFFICuLTY: EASYMAKES: 12

InGREDIEnTS:• 2 1/2 cups self-raising flour• 1/3 cup caster sugar• 1 1/3 cups buttermilk• 1/4 cup olive oil• 1 egg• 200g frozen mixed berries• 1 small mango, peeled, sliced

STEP 1Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan-forced. Line a 12-hole, 1/3 cup-capacity muffin pan with paper cases.

STEP 2Combine flour and sugar in a bowl. Whisk buttermilk, oil and egg together in a jug. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until just combined (mixture should still be lumpy). Fold in berries. Spoon into prepared muffin holes. Top with mango.

STEP 3Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre of 1 muffin comes out clean. Stand in pan for 5 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool.

noteTo freeze: Wrap each muffin in plastic wrap, then foil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature overnight.tipYou could use 1 large peach, sliced, instead of mango.

Brekky bars

To Prep : 0:05To Cook: 0:30InGREDIEnTS: 9DIFFICuLTY: EASYMAKES: 18 pieces

InGREDIEnTS:3/4 cup self-raising flour1 cup shredded coconut1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)1/2 cup sunflower seeds1/3 cup sultanas1/3 cup chopped dried apricots 3/4 cup low-fat milk1 egg

STEP 1Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a 3cm-deep, 17cm x 27cm (base) slice pan. Line with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at long ends.

STEP 2Combine flour, coconut, sugar, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sultanas and apricot in a bowl. Whisk milk and egg together in a jug. Add to flour mixture. Mix to combine.

STEP 3Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Smooth top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until firm. Stand slice in pan for 15 minutes. Turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into 18 pieces. Serve.

noteIncorporate oats into a crumble topping for extra crunch or use processed oats instead of regular breadcrumbs.

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Question this week

Q: Should you take iron supplements if you’re feeling run down?a: No. You should see your GP first. Taking iron supplements when you don’t need them can be dangerous.

Being low on iron is a bit like driving your car with its petrol gauge

nudging empty. There isn’t all that much left in your tank but somehow you manage to push through with just enough to keep you going.

Iron deficiency is most prevalent in women, affecting around one in four of child-bearing age (particularly during pregnancy and while breastfeeding) but others at risk include vegetarians, people eating a poor diet, athletes, teens and children.

Iron supplements can help if you are deficient, but you don’t need them if your iron levels are fine. In fact, too much iron can be toxic so taking supplements when you don’t need them can make you very unwell and possibly lead to a potentially deadly overdose – especially for young children.

what arE SomE oF thE SignS oF low iron?

Perth GP and author Dr Joe Kosterich says tiredness is by far the biggest symptom of iron deficiency, although at mild levels there may be no signs at all. Some people might experience headaches, breathlessness, dizziness or nausea while others come to their GP wondering why they feel so sluggish.

“If you are run down for any reason then you might also get things like canker sores (crack-like sores in the corners of your mouth), brittle nails, mouth ulcers and cold sores but they’re not a conclusive sign of iron deficiency,” he explains.

Children who are iron deficient may also lose their appetite and have behavioural problems.

While taking supplements can make a big difference to the way you feel when you are iron deficient, you need to consider possible reasons for your tiredness, Kosterich says.

“Have you had a lot on or have you

been under a bit of stress? Have you had a couple of late nights? In those instances you don’t have to head off to the GP just yet,” he says. But nor should you head to the chemist and grab some supplements until you have seen your GP.

“If your tiredness has been going on for more than a few weeks and there are no obvious reasons why then it’s probably worth going to your GP to have a blood test. It’s possible you might be deficient in iron or in one or two other things.”

Also your GP can help rule out other possible causes for your symptoms, as iron deficiency can have similar symptoms to a range of other conditions, some of which are very serious.

mEaSuring up

A consultation with your doctor is likely to involve a medical history, a chat about your lifestyle and a referral for a blood test. Kosterich describes three forms of iron that will be measured in your blood sample: iron floating free in the blood stream (circulating iron); iron attached to a protein in the blood stream (transferrin); and iron stores, or reserves (ferritin).

“What tends to happen is that if your iron drops then the ferritin drops because it starts to prop up your attached iron in the blood stream. Then the percentage that’s attached to the protein (the transferrin) drops because it’s trying to prop up the free amount in the blood stream. Eventually that free amount drops as well. This process happens over time and is the way the body eventually becomes deficient.”

If you are iron deficient then it’s time to look at why.

“In about 90 per cent of cases it’s going to be fairly readily apparent,” Kosterich says. “If it’s a woman in her 20s or 30s who has a moderate to heavy period each month then

there’s nothing to really worry about.

But if it’s someone in their 50s who doesn’t menstruate any more, then it’s something we would need to look further into.”

BooSting your Supply

Rebuilding your iron levels can be a slow process because the body can only absorb a small amount each day.

The most powerful food sources of iron are red meat, legumes, nuts and seeds, leafy greens, dried fruits and iron-enriched cereals and breads. A recent paper by the Australian Iron Deficiency Expert Group suggested less than 20 per cent of available iron is absorbed in a typical Western diet, which highlights the need to plan your eating for best results. Partnering these foods with others that are rich in vitamin C can boost your absorption of iron.

Ferritin supplements can also help to get you back into a healthy range, but you shouldn’t take these unless they are recommended by your GP. Taking unnecessary iron supplements can affect your body’s ability to absorb other minerals, including calcium, also they can cause side effects, such as constipation, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Also your body doesn’t tend to get rid of excess iron, so if you are taking too much it can build up in your tissues and organs. Overloading your body with too much iron can be toxic, even deadly.

If you are prescribed iron supplements, you should take them only for the recommended time and return for a follow-up consultation and blood test.

Dr Joe Kosterich is a Perth-based general practitioner, author and spokesperson. He spoke with Karen Burge.

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making of paper windmillMain materials: squared paper, straws, button.Tools: scissors, double-sided adhesive.

1. Prepare the materials and tools. 2. Cut the paper as how the picture shows.3. Put double-sided adhesive at the middle.4. Stick the paper as how the picture shows.5. Fold the paper clock-wise.6. The shape of the windmill is done. 7. Put double-sided adhesive on the straw.8. Stick the windmill on the straw and sitck a button at

the center of it.

Making of paper windmill more at: http://www.shougongke.com/