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Woman’s Day diet: Day 3

Want to know how much you can safely lose to look great? Slim yourself down at the click of a button and then follow our healthy meal plan!

When it comes to losing weight, just like everything in life we need to a little bit of inspiration to achieve our goals. If you’re serious about budging the unbudgeable, providing yourself with visual reference for you diet plans is a good start; so we’re proud to bring you the Woman’s Day virtual diet makeover.

The rules:

  • On top of the meal plan, you can treat yourself to two snacks from our list (see below) every day;

  • For more weight loss choose lower kj snacks;

  • Two or three cups of instant tea and coffee with a dash of skim milk also permitted on top of this;

  • All beakfasts on the four week diet are interchangeable with other breakfasts, lunches with lunches and dinners with dinners;

  • Have four alcohol free days a week.Top tip: Please note foods in bold are free kj and you can eat as much as you like.BreakfastSmall wholemeal wrap with 1 poached egg, 1 slice of smoked salmon with rocket and tomato with 1 tablespoon low fat or FREE mayonnaise.Lunch4 wholegrain cracker biscuits with small tin chilli tuna, ¼ avocado and 8 cherry tomatoes. ½ cup low fat fruit yoghurt.Dinner100g grilled beef fillet steak with 1 medium jacket potato with 1 teaspoon light sour cream and large green salad.SnacksEach day choose from any two of the following:1 apple + 1 Baby Bel cheese (700kJ);

  • 10 wholegrain rice crackers + ¼ cup low fat dip (600kj);

  • Vegetable sticks + ¼ cup low fat hommus (600kJ);

  • 4 Vita Weats + 2 slices reduced fat cheese (600kJ);

  • 1 piece of fruit (400kJ);

  • 100g low fat yoghurt (400kJ);

  • Small skim Latte (400kJ);

  • 2 corn thins + 1 tablespoon no added sugar peanut butter (400kJ);

  • One row dark chocolate (420kJ);

  • 1 Chocolate Paddle Pop (450kJ);

  • Mango Weis Bar (400kJ);

  • 1 slice raisin toast (400kJ);

  • Small glass wine (150mls) (400kJ);

  • 2 Redskin Chews (170kj);

  • One Chuppa Chup (220kj);

  • 5 pieces of chewing gum (125kg).

Top tip: Please note foods in bold are free kj and you can eat as much as you like.

  • 1 apple + 1 Baby Bel cheese (700kJ);

  • 10 wholegrain rice crackers + ¼ cup low fat dip (600kj);

  • Vegetable sticks + ¼ cup low fat hommus (600kJ);

  • 4 Vita Weats + 2 slices reduced fat cheese (600kJ);

  • 1 piece of fruit (400kJ);

  • 100g low fat yoghurt (400kJ);

  • Small skim Latte (400kJ);

  • 2 corn thins + 1 tablespoon no added sugar peanut butter (400kJ);

  • One row dark chocolate (420kJ);

  • 1 Chocolate Paddle Pop (450kJ);

  • Mango Weis Bar (400kJ);

  • 1 slice raisin toast (400kJ);

  • Small glass wine (150mls) (400kJ);

  • 2 Redskin Chews (170kj);

  • One Chuppa Chup (220kj);

  • 5 pieces of chewing gum (125kg).

  • 1 serve of rice or pasta = a fist

  • 1 piece of meat, fish or chicken = the size and width of a deck of cards

  • 1 serve of cheese = one slice, or 4 small cubes that could fit in a matchbox

  • 1 serve of butter = your fingertip

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Woman’s Day diet: Day 1

Want to know how much you can safely lose to look great? Slim yourself down at the click of a button and then follow our healthy meal plan!

When it comes to losing weight, just like everything in life we need to a little bit of inspiration to achieve our goals. If you’re serious about budging the unbudgeable, providing yourself with visual reference for you diet plans is a good start; so we’re proud to bring you theWoman’s Dayvirtual diet makeover.

The rules:

  • On top of the meal plan, you can treat yourself to two snacks from our list (see below) every day;

  • For more weight loss choose lower kj snacks;

  • Two or three cups of instant tea and coffee with a dash of skim milk also permitted on top of this;

  • All beakfasts on the four week diet are interchangeable with other breakfasts, lunches with lunches and dinners with dinners;

  • Have four alcohol free days a week.Top tip:Please note foods inboldare free kj and you can eat as much as you like.BreakfastWake up to our delicious Bircher Muesli, see recipe.Lunch100g pink or red tinned salmon with large mixed green salad, ¼ avocado. One small banana as a snack.Dinner150g grilled white fish served with vegetables dry roasted together (eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin and red capsicum). Spoon 1 tablespoon low fat hommus over the vegetables.SnacksEach day choose from any two of the following:1 apple + 1 Baby Bel cheese (700kJ);

  • 10 wholegrain rice crackers + ¼ cup low fat dip (600kj);

  • Vegetable sticks + ¼ cup low fat hommus (600kJ);

  • 4 Vita Weats + 2 slices reduced fat cheese (600kJ);

  • 1 piece of fruit (400kJ);

  • 100g low fat yoghurt (400kJ);

  • Small skim Latte (400kJ);

  • 2 corn thins + 1 tablespoon no added sugar peanut butter (400kJ);

  • One row dark chocolate (420kJ);

  • 1 Chocolate Paddle Pop (450kJ);

  • Mango Weis Bar (400kJ);

  • 1 slice raisin toast (400kJ);

  • Small glass wine (150mls) (400kJ);

  • 2 Redskin Chews (170kj);

  • One Chuppa Chup (220kj);

  • 5 pieces of chewing gum (125kg).

  • 1 serve of rice or pasta = a fist

  • 1 piece of meat, fish or chicken = the size and width of a deck of cards

  • 1 serve of cheese = one slice, or 4 small cubes that could fit in a matchbox

  • 1 serve of butter = your fingertip

Top tip:Please note foods inboldare free kj and you can eat as much as you like.

Wake up to our delicious Bircher Muesli, see recipe.

100g pink or red tinned salmon with large mixed green salad, ¼ avocado. One small banana as a snack.

150g grilled white fish served with vegetables dry roasted together (eggplant, zucchini, pumpkin and red capsicum). Spoon 1 tablespoon low fat hommus over the vegetables.

Each day choose from any two of the following:

  • 1 apple + 1 Baby Bel cheese (700kJ);

  • 10 wholegrain rice crackers + ¼ cup low fat dip (600kj);

  • Vegetable sticks + ¼ cup low fat hommus (600kJ);

  • 4 Vita Weats + 2 slices reduced fat cheese (600kJ);

  • 1 piece of fruit (400kJ);

  • 100g low fat yoghurt (400kJ);

  • Small skim Latte (400kJ);

  • 2 corn thins + 1 tablespoon no added sugar peanut butter (400kJ);

  • One row dark chocolate (420kJ);

  • 1 Chocolate Paddle Pop (450kJ);

  • Mango Weis Bar (400kJ);

  • 1 slice raisin toast (400kJ);

  • Small glass wine (150mls) (400kJ);

  • 2 Redskin Chews (170kj);

  • One Chuppa Chup (220kj);

  • 5 pieces of chewing gum (125kg).

Polite portionsHow to quickly determine portion sizes for your meals…

  • 1 serve of rice or pasta = a fist

  • 1 piece of meat, fish or chicken = the size and width of a deck of cards

  • 1 serve of cheese = one slice, or 4 small cubes that could fit in a matchbox

  • 1 serve of butter = your fingertip

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Secret weapon against cancer

When it comes to nutrients for cancer protection, the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E get most of the press.

Now a very large study from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre of over 20,000 people, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, suggests that a less well-known mineral, selenium, is also strongly associated with a reduced risk of bladder cancer.

This effect was most pronounced in women — overall, people with a high dietary intake of selenium were about one-third less likely to develop bladder cancer; but in women, that rate of protection climbed to 45 percent, therefore nearly halving their risk. The researchers concluded that selenium’s beneficial effect is due to selenoproteins, enzymes which prevent cellular damage.

Make sure your selenium levels stay optimal by regularly eating the following foods: Brazil nuts, wheat germ, brewers yeast, kidneys, liver, tuna and other oily fish, shellfish, sunflower seeds, lentils, and cashew nuts.

Your say: What do you think of this study? Share with us below.

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Multitasking must-have

You already know that certain vitamins and minerals — notably the B-group and magnesium — help to support brain health and mood.

Now a study by researchers from Northumbria University in England, published in Human Psychopharmacology, has found that taking a multivitamin supplement is also of specific benefit to the mental performance of women who multitask (and isn’t that every woman?).

In the experiment, women aged 25-50 years were given a nine-week course of either multivitamins or placebo (dummy) pills before being given a test which entailed working on several unrelated tasks at the same time.

Those women who had taken the multivitamins were less tired and irritable, and were able to perform the multitasking test quicker and with greater accuracy.

Your say: What do you think of this study? Share with us below.

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Gotta go? Get some rye

We all know that eating fibre helps to keep bowel habits regular, so it comes as a surprise to learn that up to 27 percent of the population of Western countries regularly experience constipation.

Apart from being uncomfortable, chronic constipation predisposes you to colon cancer, possibly because, if the stools remain in the intestine for a relatively long period, the bowel is exposed to potentially cancer-causing chemicals for longer. Laxatives aren’t necessarily the answer: they can cause the bowel to become lazy, and overuse can actually impair bowel activity.

According to a study from the University of Helsinki, published in the Journal of Nutrition, eating a slice of rye bread each day could be the simplest and most natural answer. The researchers found that people who did so experienced a 41 percent increase in intestinal transit time, compared with people using laxatives. The same effect was not noted with people eating white bread.

As a bonus, eating the rye bread was shown to make the pH in the colon slightly acidic: this is important because most harmful bacterial enzymes operate at a neutral to slightly alkaline pH.

Your say: What do you think of this study? Share with us below.

Related video: British researchers are urging women to plan ahead and ‘bank’ sections of their ovaries while they’re young, as studies have shown that saving a third of an ovary is more reliable than freezing eggs.

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True resolutions: power charge your dreams for 2011

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Thinkstock

Conscious evolution healer and author Dana Mrkich talks to Anna Warwick on using intuition to make some very powerful new year resolutions.

Checking in with ourselves

“The start of a new year is a perfect time to take stock of our lives,” says Dana. “Too often we find ourselves at the end of yet another year feeling frustrated or unfulfilled in certain life areas. It’s time to tune in and ask ourselves if we’re heading toward our dreams, or are stuck in the same old patterns.”

Cosmic influences

According to Dana, we have a little help from above. “The beginning of 2011 is an especially powerful time, because we are starting it with a New Moon Solar Eclipse on January 4. Eclipses tend to accelerate life events, and heighten the energy of a normal new moon. So it’s like we’re starting this new year with a power charger underneath us, asking ‘What do you want to do? What, or who, do you want to let go of? Who do you want to be? Now is the time!'”

Related: make peace with yourself using Ayurveda

Tap in to your intuition

Invest in a journal. “I recommend spending an hour or so with your journal anytime between January 1 and 4,” says Dana. “Start by closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths. Ask that you connect with the truth that is in your heart. Just by focusing on your breath, you can get to your truth, which lies in the still, silent spaces in between all the thought static.

“Write down the first things that come to you for the following questions. Trust what comes (even if your mind tells you ‘I’m just making this up’) — your intuition is one of your best sources of guidance.”

  • What in my life makes me happy? Angry? Bored? Sad?

  • What do I need to let go of? Include ways of thinking, beliefs, patterns, habits that just don’t work for you anymore.

  • What did I achieve this year that I’m proud of?

  • What did I do this year that taught me: never again will I do that!

  • What does my ideal self look and feel like? Include her inner qualities. What kind of energy does she exude? How does she feel about herself?

  • What are 10 things I would absolutely love to experience or achieve this lifetime? Pick three things on that list that you promise yourself you will start in 2011. Write down one action step for each, that you promise to do by the end of February. For example, if you’ve always wanted to write a book, commit to writing 2000 words a week.

Face your fears

Is there one dreaded new year resolution that glares at you from the top of the list, year in and year out, and never gets done?

In pictures: Oprah’s five life lessons

Contact Dana

Dana offers empowering Soul Sessions in person and via phone, Skype and email. You can also join her mailing list for her inspiring monthly insights into the bigger picture. More info on Dana Mrkich here.

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Josh Groban shares his story of success

Josh Groban shares his story of success

He has sung with some of the biggest names in the music industry, appeared on Oprah’s show six times and just released his fifth album. But there is a lot more to Josh Groban than meets the eye.

The 29-year-old Los Angeles-born singer, who got his break singing a duet of ‘The Prayer’ with Celine Dion at the Grammy Awards in 1998, admits he still gets starstruck when performing alongside his heroes, has a role in Steve Carell’s new movie and would love to spend next year on the road.

Fresh from his seven-day Australian trip, Josh is all smiles about his time in Oz and the success of his new album Illuminations.

“It has been such a great trip. I was so so excited when I found out we were coming back to Australia and everything has been what I have hoped for,” he said.

Known for his classical style of music, Josh says the thrill of putting together his new album, which he says is different to his usual material, was his collaboration with producer Rick Rubin.

“We had nothing to do with each other musically, he had just finished a Metallica record and I had just finished a Christmas record,” Josh said in an interview with Woman’s Day.

“I think we were both in the mood for a little bit of a shift and we actually just wound up really digging each other. He was a fan of my voice and I was a fan of the way he made records.”

Josh says that throughout the process the pair stuck to “some specific rules” to ensure the record stayed true to his style.

“We set out to write and create beautiful songs and we set out to record them in a very live and organic setting and also not to use instruments that we felt would date the record,” he said.

One thing which Josh ensured when penning the album was that each song was personal. So much so that he says he has received messages from people in his life about some of the songs.

“I have had a couple of text messages, but I haven’t shared with anybody who the songs are about,” he said.

“I think it is important you tap into specific moments in your life and that you tap into certain emotions that are very real and maybe use people in your life that are very specific and very real to trigger that emotion.

“In the end you are writing for yourself but you’re writing for your fans and so you know it’s nice when you can have that specificity.”

Despite his incredible rise to fame and huge album success, Josh says performing next to some of the biggest names including Placido Domingo and Aretha Franklin, still gets him starstruck.

“As a fan I am used to sitting in the audience and hearing them through the microphone, but there is nothing better as a fan than standing inches away from them and really blending your voice with theirs. It’s really just so much fun,” he said.

“When you get to meet your heroes as a musician it’s the greatest feeling because I would be the guy at the back door with the autograph book [if I wasn’t singing with them] so I try to keep my cool.”

Another big-name celebrity who has fallen in love with Josh’s voice is TV queen Oprah Winfrey. He has performed on her show six times and has been on her “Favourite Things” episode twice.

“It’s great. I never expect her to call me back I always think that after I have done an episode you know that was my Oprah time and everybody is lucky to have their time with Oprah and when you get the call you just have to do it,” he said.

So what’s up next for Josh? He will star alongside Carell and Emma Stone in their new movie Crazy, Stupid, Love.

“I auditioned fair and square for the part. My agent said this is a really amazing script and that he knew I was busy with the music thing but this might be a bit of fun,” he said.

“And I had a lot of fun with it and to be able to audition for something that was purely comedic and off the wall and different for me was great.”

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Where do you keep your vitamins?

If you answered in the bathroom cabinet or on top of the fridge, then you are probably compromising their nutritional value.

According to a study from Purdue University, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, high humidity (which is certainly a common feature in bathrooms, but can also occur in “hot spots” in the kitchen, such as over the fridge) can cause deliquescence, the process where water-soluble crystalline compounds are broken down by moisture in the atmosphere.

The same process is seen in salt and powdered drinks, which might clump or cake when they are exposed to humidity. However, while this is only an annoyance with salt and so on, it can cause chemical instabilities in dietary supplements which potentially reduce their nutrient content and shorten their shelf life.

Check for warning signs, such as brown spots on tablets. And to be on the safe side, store your supplements in a dry, cool place away from sunlight and heat.

Your say: What do you think of this study? Share with us below.

Related video: Vitamins during pregnancy

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At home with…Hollywood

At home with Hollywood

Woman’s Day takes a sneak peek inside the extravagant mansions of the filthy rich and famous. Learn how to live like a star – then cross your fingers for a lottery win!

Heidi Klum and Seal:

With four young kids, Heidi and Seal need a whole lot of space – and their new house has it in spades. This Mediterranean-style mansion boasts eight bedrooms and 1143m2 of living area, plus a plunge pool with views over LA to the Pacific Ocean.

Costing more than $13 million, it’s located in the exclusive Brentwood County Estates in California’s Mandeville Canyon, which makes the couple neighbours to Reese Witherspoon, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas:

It’s only fair that showbiz royalty should live in a palace – and Michael and Catherine’s country pad truly is fit for a king and queen. Located in Bedford, New York, the 585m2 house features five bedrooms, five bathrooms – and five fireplaces, providing plenty of mantlepieces on which to display their three Oscars.

Neighbours Martha Stewart, Richard Gere and Glenn Close are no doubt jealous of their swimming pond and grass tennis court.

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Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ public bust-up

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' public bust-up

It’s crisis talks for fighting couple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

Battling rumours of an impending break-up, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes tried to put split stories to rest with an intimate date in New York for the actress’s 32nd birthday.

But a tense public argument – which saw Tom speaking sternly to his miserable-looking wife while firmly taking her arm, their young daughter looking on – did nothing to hide the fact their marriage is under strain.

After months of living in different countries and then separate houses, despite the fact both were in LA, this was no romantic reunion for Tom and Katie – it was crisis talks following weeks of tense phone discussions.

If the superstar couple were to call an endto their four-year union, showbiz insiders tell Woman’s Day Katie would be likely to receive an alleged $25 million pay-out.

It may sound steep, but that’s the price we’re told Tom would have to pay in return for Katie’s silence, and to maintain his close bond with their four-year-old daughter, Suri.

“In return, Katie would have to promise never to discuss their marriage, give Tom shared custody of Suri and protect her from any scandal,” a close friend of the actress says.

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