Workplace Health & Wellness

Getting more active is only one half of the equation when it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle. For GCC 2012, we're pleased to introduce a whole new approach to nutrition. Watch the video below to find out more.

Developed by our team of nutrition experts, GCC Nutrition is all about making small and simple changes that add up to huge health benefits, much alike our scientifically proven approach to physical activity.

Weight tracking, goal setting, nutritional assessments, personalised video messaging and engaging nutritional tips form the foundation of a research-driven approach towards sustainable healthy eating.

We also have comprehensive weekly meal plans available for all 16 weeks of the Challenge. Created by our GCC nutritionists, these meal plans are specific designed to help GCC participants in three key areas: weight management, blood pressure management, and cholesterol management.

You can download the weekly meal plans and corresponding shopping lists below.

People often relate physical activity with structured and strenuous exercise that involves things like a gym routine or a regular 10 km run. These forms of exercise are great, but we know that they take time and planning, and some of us struggle to make the commitment. However, as you can see below, just by consciously moving more, you can add huge amounts of activity into your day without adding any extra time pressure. It’s an important realisation because if fitting structured exercise into your schedule is hard or often disrupted by other commitments, you won't stick with it.

Don't underestimate the power of incidental exercise

Since the first GCC, over 8 years ago, we have learnt a lot about physical activity. And what we are about to tell you may surprise you. 'Working Mums' accumulate higher step counts than ‘Athletes’. Why? Not only do ‘Working Mums’ take more steps over a week, but they also burn more calories per week than ‘Athletes’. How? They consistently have step counts above 10,000 every day. They walk to the shops, run errands during their lunch breaks, take the stairs and simply stay active all day to get everything done – all daily activities that sit in the bottom half of the pyramid. The ‘Athletes’ who go on 2 or 3 x 10km runs per week, have step counts above 12,000 on the days that they partake in structured exercise (their run – which sits in the top half of the pyramid), but only manage to take 3 or 4,000 steps every other day of the week.

If you use the Activity Pyramid as a guide each week, you'll be amazed at just how many steps you accumulate, and just how quickly these everyday activities become second nature.

The GCC’s goal for every participant who straps on a pair of walking shoes is a lifelong improvement to their health and wellbeing through regular exercise. Of course, the GCC will get you off to a flying start with this goal although it will take a bit of discipline and commitment to sustain it.

So how do you make moving a habit for life? Here are some ideas to help you to stay on track.Stick with it. By the end of the GCC, you will be ‘conditioned’ to exercise as a normal part of your day, so don’t stop your established, new routine.

• Your brain is forming new connections to ‘install’ the daily exercise ‘software’. The longer you keep at it, the more hard-wired and therefore natural your daily exercise regime becomes.
• Go for a walk every day, no matter how few steps you take. Daily reinforcement of your new ‘habit’ is crucial.
• Be imperfect. A slip up here and there is no reason to throw it all away, just recommit and refocus.
• Get a walking buddy and motivate each other (four legged friends are great as well).

Give these a try, you’ve already made a great start, moving more is not a novelty, it’s now part of your everyday life.

If “You are what you eat”, why don’t we all look like Mr Potato Head?

Nutrition is fundamental to your ability to be able to perform during exercise and to aid muscle recovery and development. This is just as important for a GCC participant striving for 10,000 steps a day, as it is for a marathon runner or those men and women who look like a sock full of walnuts and cover themselves in oil for pose down competitions.

Without a balanced diet, you will find it hard to find the energy to get out there and walk and you won’t be optimising all the benefits of exercise. You also need to throw out the ‘fad diets’ that sweep Hollywood every couple of weeks. A diet made up of just maple syrup and eye of newt only ends up with you being exhausted...and a world of blind newts.

You need carbohydrates for your muscles to work, so every meal should be based on nutrient-rich carbohydrate foods such as cereals, breads, pasta, rice, fruits, vegetables and legumes. You then need protein to deliver the 22 amino acids needed to build and repair muscle tissue. Finally you need ‘good fats’ for a healthy heart, circulation and joint care.

In what proportion?

Carbohydrates: 60% of your daily energy intake – i.e. whole grains, rice, pasta, beans and nutrient-rich fruits. Protein: 20% of your daily energy intake – i.e. soy, lean meats, dairy and fish. Fat: 20% of your daily energy intake – ie nuts, olive and canola oils

Also...

Saturated fat should be less than 7% of your daily energy intake (comes out of the daily 20% fat allowance). Trans fat should be 1% or less (comes out of the daily 20% fat allowance). Aim to eat 21-25g (women) or 30-38g (men) of fibre a day and limit sodium intake to 1500-2000mg a day.

How?

All of this might seem a bit confusing but we’ve made it incredibly simple for you. Simply visit the GCC Nutrition Coach and download an extensive eating plan

It all comes down to breaking up what is generally known as 'sedentary time'; in other words, just because you sit down all day doesn’t mean you should actually sit down all day. In a recent study on middle aged adults reported in the **European Heart Journal (2011)**, it was found that those who make the effort to stand up for a while every now and then, had waists that were on average one inch (2.5 centimetres) smaller than those who sat the whole time. And remember, the bigger the waistline, the greater the incidence of inflammation, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and fatty deposits around vital organs, which all lead to a greater propensity towards heart disease and diabetes.

We're all busy, so we don't always have time to take long breaks. But they should be frequent. The study shows that standing up for as little as a minute at a time is beneficial. So remember - a few times a day for a minute at a time - get your backside off the chair and in the air. A simple trick to help you lose weight without leaving the office.

Minerals are the same as fat-soluble vitamins, they are stored but need to be replenished regularly. A deficiency in a mineral can have some rather nasty consequences but the good news is that they are all out there (not surprisingly in ‘healthy food’) just waiting for us to eat them and ensure our good health.

Let’s have a look at what minerals we need and how to get them.

Iron

Super important because iron helps carry oxygen around the body. Without it you can become anaemic or at the very least tired and lethargic (just as you would sitting in a stuffy room except it’s your body that has become the stuffy room). The best source of iron is liver but to most of the population that’s just gross, so meat, beans, seafood and green leafy vegetables are the next best options.

Zinc

Important for metabolism, your immune system, wound healing, growth and vision (the ‘three blind mice’ were possibly missing zinc). The best sources of zinc are lean meats, liver, eggs, and seafood. This means that vegetarians who don’t eat eggs, seafood or red meat (and we can safely assume that not many vegetarians eat red meat) need to make sure they have lots of whole grain breads in their diets. These will provide a reasonable source of zinc.

Iodine

The stuff that the school nurse used to put on your cut knee is critical for thyroid function and control of your metabolic rate. It’s really important in pregnancy for the developing baby and in adults a lack of iodine will slow reflexes, cause hair loss and dry coarse skin. The best way to get iodine is at the local Japanese restaurant. Seaweed is a great source but the easiest by far is to buy iodised salt for your home.

Calcium

Makes teeth and bones strong. If you don’t eat enough calcium your body will leech it from your bones, making them weaker and more brittle. It is also vital to clotting blood, nerve function and the regulation of insulin secretion. Dairy, leafy green vegetables and broccoli are all great sources.

Too much salt causes high blood pressure.

The scientific opinion to this one is…perhaps. However the facts are that too little potassium causes high blood pressure too. Some very big scientific research projects have advised that there's no reason for people with normal blood pressure to restrict their sodium intake. However if you already have high blood pressure, you may be sensitive to salt. Therefore, reducing your intake may be beneficial or you can maintain your salt intake but ensure that you increase your potassium. You see it’s the relative levels of these that are the problem. Regardless, as Dutch researchers found recently, we all need more potassium. It turns out, the average person consumes 3,100 milligrams (mg) of potassium a day—1,600 mg less than recommended so get into the cherries, grapes (un-crushed, un-fermented, un-bottled and un-alcoholic), onions and apples – all great sources.

Chocolate is not good for you.

Wrong! Good news huh! Dark chocolate is a health food (obviously don’t eat it by the family block size) because it holds very high levels of flavonoids – the heart protection superstar. Add a couple of pieces of dark chocolate to your day and enjoy the sweet hit and the health benefits.

Sports drinks contain all that you require after exercise.

Wrong. They are good for rehydration but can be very high in sugar and you will need more than a drink to give your body all it needs. While the carbohydrate loaded drinks rehydrate and restock your glycogen stores (the instant energy used up in exercise), amino acids found in protein are important parts of muscle repair and muscle development. So post workout make sure you get a combination of protein and carbohydrate and unless you are exercising in extreme heat or particularly hard, then sports drinks may be better replaced by water.

Reduced fat foods are always a healthier option.

Wrong! Many reduced fat foods make up for the fat loss with sugar and maltodextrin - which is a reasonably useless carbohydrate that is used as a filler in reduced fat foods. The end result is often an overall energy reduction that is minimal. So read the label carefully on reduced fat because 97% fat free can sometimes mean “Full of sugar.”