Melbourne Boot Camp

Is freedom of choice killing us? With Obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease rates rising is having a free market with no rules/limited regulation or self regulation creating an unhealthy nation.

While there is continued debate regarding the marketing of unhealthy food products, food labeling and other policies to reverse the current trends there are those who advocate that we should have the freedom to eat what we want when we want.

However if you look at the big picture is having an open, free market leading to positive long-term outcomes for the nation.
You can go to KFC and buy the double down burger which may seem fantastic but what is the real cost? Or a family meal for under $20 from McDonalds, a meal which is full of high levels of fat, sugar and salt can be freely available in an open market without restrictions or regulation?

Is the marketing of highly processed foods containing high levels of fats, sugar and salt to an unsuspecting consumer a good thing?

However have we lost our capacity to make informed decisions as to the long-term health of society.

There are many examples where having an open market and giving people freedom in certain liberties to choose what products to buy and what price.
This may seem fantastic in the short term for example the dumping of cheap fruit and vegetables on the Australian market however in the long term the true cost is becoming dependent on to 2 major retailers and destroying the local agricultural industry.
In the long term we pay higher prices and have less fresh fruit and vegetables.

Cigarette advertising is another example where regulation leads to lower consumption which in the long term reduces the incidences of lung cancer and other smoking related deaths.
People are aware of the dangers but still choose to smoke so regulation is a necessary evil.

So is having unlimited, unregulated really that great in the long term?

Written by Andrew Talati

One of the biggest keys to weight loss is managing your portion size. While a lot of people are careful to monitor the type of food they consume and maintain a regular exercise regime, the often forgotten element is the physical quantity of food you consume at anyone siting.

As children we are often told to eat everything on our plate and this behavior often translates into the adulthood. We fill the plate with food and not finish until we have consumed its entire contents. Similarly the size of the plates has grown over the past century, and particularly in the past 20 years, increasing from 23 cm to 28 cm.

Add to this the growing package size of processed foods over the years. With the sales pitch of getting better value for money, food manufacturers are selling the notion that we can receive an extra 10% to 20% more for the same price. This leads to the consumer’s perception that the larger packaged quantity of food is a normal portion size.

Everything is becoming gargantuan, from your average humble muffin through to even your coffee (a takeaway small coffee now is the size of a can of soft drink). This gradual increase has lead to people recalibrating what they think is the normal size of a snack or meal.

While you may be eating a well-balanced healthy diet, consuming excessive calories translates to an unused energy surplus. This storage of excessive energy ends up around the usual parts of the body being the tummy, butt, thighs and arms.

Adam who has been with Fitstyler for two years is extremely active, as well as going to the gym Tuesday and Thursday nights and playing hockey he attends our boot camps twice a week. He has seen fantastic improvements in his fitness level, including now having a resting heart rate of 45 bpm. As a funny side story, when Adam was recently having his blood pressure taken the nurse was concerned that his resting heart rate was so low.

Despite this Adam noticed that the extra padding around his waistline would not disappear, no matter how much exercise he did. So Adam introduced some minor changes to his portion size, without any dietary changes, that showed amazing results. It made a massive difference to his weight loss and he lost 2cm from around lower stomach.

What is An acceptable portion size.
Harking back to the old measurements you can use your hand as a rough guide to finding the right food proportions.

Rice, pasta, fruit & vegetables: 2 x cupped hands
Meat, fish & poultry: The flat section of your hand (excluding fingers
Carbohydrates: A clenched fist
Nuts: A cupped hand

When is enough?
Try restricting your portion size to a smaller plate and resist the temptation to get second or third helpings.
The biggest trick is to learn when you have had sufficient food as opposed to eating to the point where your stomach feels uncomfortable.

Another way to successfully downsize from the current consumption levels is to slow down when you are eating. This will give your digestive system time to process the food and to send the signal to your brain that you are full.
If you do feel hungry top up with another serve of vegetables rather than more meat or carbohydrates such as pasta or rice.
Written by Andrew Talati

The junk Food advertising ban gathers momentum with The Obesity Policy Coalition releasing a national blueprint backed by health groups including Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance, Cancer Council Australia, Diabetes Australia, AMA and the National Heart foundation. The report will be submitted Nicola Roxon, the Federal Health minister.

The proposal tackles all the contact points that children have with various advertising channels.

The current situation of self regulation has been being woefully inadequate With the medical Journal of Australia found that little has changed in the frequency of fast food ads.

Like the Tobacco industry who threatened that if the government introduced plan packaging of cigarette packets, it would lead to higher consumption of unbranded products (actually stupidly demonstrating to the government that their advertising works) the Australian Food and Grocery Council also fears that introducing advertising bans will drastically effect the consumption of fat, sugary and highly salty foods and therefore effects it’s members that include some of the biggest junk food manufacturers.
In simple terms if the advertising didn’t work why would there be so much resistance?

The proposal by The Obesity Policy Coalition looks to restrict unhealthy food advertising on free to air TV between the hours of 8:54 AM and 8:56 PM weekdays and 6 AM to 12 PM and 4-9PM on the weekends. This will also extend to a TV and the Internet, ie Facebook and online games.

This blueprint is very comprehensive as it also extends to all direct marketing initiatives including e-mail and SMS messages as well as advertising in magazines and movies.

The restriction will also extend to schools banning unhealthy food advertising as well as children’s sports with regard to advertising and promotion or any association with the sporting activities such as sponsorship fundraising.

Public places such as transport will also have restrictions in regard to billboards and posters that are targeted to children.

Unhealthy foods will be based on the definition applied from Food Standards Australia and New Zealand of food and beverages that failed to meet their nutritional criteria.

The report has been sent to Federal health minister Nicola Roxon.

Similar self-regulation by the Australian Quick Service Restaurant Industry for Responsible Advertising and Marketing to Children was also shown that the industry that included McDonald’s KFC and Pizza Hut made little difference to the frequency of advertisements during peak periods of children’s advertising. Our research was conducted by the medical Journal of Australia that found that the frequency of ads remained unchanged since its introduction.
Written by Andrew Talati

With so many fantastic benefits of olive oil, we often get confused by the different terminologies on the packaging such as extra virgin olive oil.
The attractiveness of extra virgin olive oil is it’s fresh, crisp, clean, fruity taste which leads the consumer needing to be familiar with this level of quality as the labeling may be misleading.

While in Australia the regulation of the terminology isn’t as stringent as Europe, there are certain voluntary guidelines that stipulate what constitutes extra-virgin olive oil. However it is up to the integrity of the producer as to whether their product meets the guidelines as it’s caveat emptor or buyer beware. This was highlighted by choice Magazine in June 2010 that found that half the olive oil’s on tests didn’t meet the International Olive Oil Council standard.

What constitutes Virgin Olive Oil
The main standard is based on the acidity level being less than 0.8 – 1% and other chemical and sensory/taste based criteria. This becomes extremely technical with minimum defect tolerances based on certain criteria from the International Olive Council (IOC).

The Attributes by the Internal Olive Council:
1.Fruity – Based on the freshness of the olives and is tested by scent
2.Bitter – Usual from unripe olives and is tested by taste by the furry feeling on the back of the tongue.
3.Pungent – Again from tasting and is felt in the back of the throat
4.Fusty – This is through taste and occurs when the olives are left unprocessed for a length of time and produce oleic acid and isoamyl alcohol formed from the commencement of the fermentation process.
5.Musty – This is the result of fungi that has developed from the fruit being stored in humid conditions for several days.
6.Muddy sediment – Again the flavor of oil that has been left in contact with the sediment in tanks and vats.
7.Winey-Vinegary – Like the taste of vinegar that forms due to the commencement of the fermentation process that produces acetic acid, ethyl acetate, and ethanol.
8.Rancid – This is from exposure to oxygen or UV light and produces, acids, alcohols and Fermenting tank sediments that can cause the muddy sediment effect
9.Heated or Burnt – caused by excessive and/or prolonged heating during processing.

The California Standards for Olive oil even go further and take a more scientific approach by breaking down even the Pomace levels and sterol composition.

The Australian Olive Oil Association which is similar to the Organic Certification bodies also has laboratory testing based and an Organoleptic Assessment by 3 people.

The chemical composition must meet the following:
• free fatty acid contents, expressed as oleic acid, of not more than 0.8 grams per 100 grams
• a peroxide value less than 20 (mEq. peroxide oxygen per kg of oil)
• not exceed the following extinction coefficients for ultra-violet absorbency tests:
270 nm no greater than 0.22
ΔK no greater than 0.01
232 nm no greater than 2.5
• similar organoleptically testing to the International Olive Council (IOC) based on being fusty, muddy, musty, rancid or winey

There is a move for Food Standards Australia to adopt a standard for the labeling of olive oil which will cover definitions regarding the various terminologies used and information regarding use by dates and production dates to be inform the consumer.

Like wine or even coffee there are many variables that ultimately go to produce a high-quality product that leads to bitterness or sweetness and the different aromas which is no different to the production and processing of olive oil. While the green olives tend to the more bitter and peppery the black varieties are sweeter and moire fruity in flavour.

Ideally the olive should be pressed within 24 hours from being picked to stop deterioration and the fermentation process taking place. During the pressing process the olives should undergo a cold pressing process whereby the olives are not heated excessively.

Many oils on the market that are labeled light are usually highly refined and are heated which changes the chemical structure of the oil. These oils are usually bland with not much flavour, colour or taste and can lead to the consumer thinking they are light in fat.

At the worse end of the olive oil market is Pomice olive oil that users chemicals to extra the dredges of oil from the waste product from the initial pressing process.

Unfortunately until Food Standards Australia and New Zealand introduce labeling standards, it’s best to purchase your extra virgin olive oil from a reputable brand and avoid the cheap and nasty varieties on the market.

The traditional process of picking olives burns a huge amount of calories. This is a great form of exercise compared to the current methods of harvesting.

Olive tree ripe for picking

The traditional method of picking olives from the trees is by using a stick to beat the branches. The olives are still harvested this way at Laharum Grove from early June to mid July. Unlike the neighbors of this Victorian Olive Grove at the foothills of the Grampians, they still use traditional methods of harvesting.

As the trees are very established it’s difficult to get a shaker machine around the trunk and this can damage the trees. The traditional method is harder work but just as effective according to the owner Dierdre Baum.

These trees form part of the original grove planted in 1943 by Jacob Friedman. They were part of an investment project which unfortunately left many investors high and dry. The demand didn’t align with the sales projections. Other stories speak of an Italian immigrant who hand planted the grove with the help of ex POW’s and convicts.

Harvesting olives using stick

This is very physical work with a olive picker filling 2 x 500kg bins per day. The process begins with covering the ground with a meshed sheet that collects all the fallen olives.

Placing nets on ground before harvesting olives

Great care is taken not to accidentally step on the olives and crush them as they are then worthless for oil extraction.

Traditional technique picking olives with stick

Next comes the fun part, by using a stick that may be made from bamboo, the picker faces the branch with the fruit side on. They then use a follow through action to skim the edge of the branches to ensure maximum extraction.

Collection of sticks to collect olives

Different sized sticks can be used to either reach the higher fruit or the branches drooping close to the ground.
It’s a good idea to ensure that you give your arms an even workout and change sides regularly unless you want to have a dominant arm.

Fallen Olives after harvesting

Collecting olives

The next stage is to collect the fallen olives and deposit them into the smaller baskets that hold up to 25-30kgs. These are carried over to the larger bins.

Sifting leaves from olives

The smaller branches amongst the olives need to be sifted prior to being deposited into the larger bins.

Bins full of picked olives

Well we managed to fill 2 bins in 2.5 hours, the first bin at 625kg and the second at 645kg, not a bad effort considering that this takes a whole day for a single picker.

The olive tree before harvesting by hand

The olive tree after harvesting with stick

This process is extremely efficient as the fruit is stripped bare from the tree.

Enjoying the harvested olives

Now the best part, enjoying some el fresco dining with olive oil and bread, olive oil paste and olives.

For those looking to experience the pick and press themselves, Fitstyler will be running our own event with competitions to add some more excitement. You can also contact Laharum Grove.

The last part of the process is getting the olives pressed within 12 hours, preferable 6 hours to stop deterioration and the fermentation process commencing. This is just one of the 9 prerequisites for the oil to be qualified as extra virgin olive oil.
So with a yield of 10%, that’s a lot of olive oil to be processed.
Fortunately for us, Lanarum Grove has access to the pressing facility at Toscana Olives which forms part of the original plantation dating back to the 1940′s.

If you’re looking for a challenge, then try and beat the record set last week when one of the older pickers from Toscana picked 1400kgs in a day, pretty amazing when 25 of us picked 1300kgs.
Now that’s some exercise, starting at 8.30-9.00am and finishing by 5pm as the olives must be at the press to process. Even more impressive is Diedre’s mum and dad who will pick a ton a day.