14 minute read
Weekender Living
WITH EMMA NASSIF • ONE POINT HEALTH • 4732 5188
Exposing one of the big food myths
Many people think eating before bed is going to increase their weight, whereas the actual timing of when you eat does NOT affect whether you store fat as long as across the whole day you have not eaten above your energy requirement.
Everyone requires a different amount of food to function based on their weight, how much muscle they have, their age, their gender and their activity levels. When someone eats more calories than their body requires throughout the day, they store the extra energy as fat.
The timing of when you eat matters and can lead to weight gain due to other reasons.
By skipping breakfast, or eating less during the day, your hunger hormones can cause overeating or “binge” eating near dinner or before bed. This is why people came to believe eating late causes weight gain whereas it’s the fact they have deprived themselves during the day of nutritious food, which has led to an overconsumption of energy before bed.
By eating filling, nutrient dense meals consistently during the day, you won’t be as hungry so that when you get home from work you choose smaller portions, crave healthier foods over fatty foods and are able to say no to high energy snacks and meals as you have been fed well throughout the day.
Challenge yourself to eat two meals before 2pm that contain a wholegrain, lean protein, healthy fat and plenty of fruits and vegetables. An example of this could be two eggs on two multigrain pieces of toast with avocado and mushrooms. I can guarantee that at dinner and after dinner you’re less likely to eat as much and more likely to choose better.
TALKING TECH WITH DAVID NORRIS NORTEC IT • 9894 9514 It’s time to explore Microsoft Teams How much do you actually spend?
Since the start of the pandemic, collaboration tools like Teams have had significant uptake in usage. Teams for of tasks to contacts. It also has calendar integration showing your schedule within the application.
The most common financial planning mistake is people vastly underestimating their spending habits. Only a businesses has allowed remote workers to chat, video conference and collaborate. You probably did not know that a free Teams version is built into Windows 11. It is also available and can be downloaded free for earlier versions of Windows. Teams is an excellent way as a family to store your data securely in the cloud, allowing you remote access from anywhere.
Teams allows you to... • Interactively message any other contacts you have on Teams. It allows you to chat with individuals or create chat groups. • Audio chat and video with your contacts or groups. A button at the top of every chat screen allows you to call or video call your contacts instantly. • Schedule either audio or video via an invitation link. The recipient does not require teams to participate. • It includes cloud storage which allows you to create a Team.
You could have a
Team for each family member. Channels are like folders within
Teams enabling you to organise your data further. It can then be shared internally and externally via links. • It incorporates Tasks allowing the assigning • It supports screen sharing allowing you to present or demonstrate. It also allows remote control, which is handy to help someone with technical issues on their device. Security-wise everything in Teams is encrypted, so your data, phone calls and video chats are all secure. The free version of Teams does have a few limitations. Group meetings are restricted to 100 participants for a maximum of 60 minutes, and cloud storage is limited to 5GB per person. Anyone with a Microsoft 365 account has a more powerful version of Teams. This version allows meetings of 300 people for up to 30 hours. It allows for the recording of meetings, video and audio calls, as well as having a powerful transcription tool. If you haven’t had a play with Teams, it is certainly worth a look. It is the ideal solution for the family to store their documents securely in the cloud. Almost weekly, a distressed person approaches us to recover their precious files from a failed hard drive. Creating a Team and storing these in the cloud would avoid this. Access to teams is available on all platforms, including Windows, Android and iOS. MONEY MATTERS WITH ALEX MCKENZIE FUTURE FINANCIAL SERVICES • 4704 8585 small percentage of people record and track expenditure and those who don’t, rarely have complete understanding of their expenditure. The best way to work out what you actually spend, is to look at your net income for the year and subtract what you saved; the rest is your spending. When most people look at that number they are shocked. There will be extraordinary expenditure in that spending, but it is likely there will be next year as well! Underestimating expenditure is a big problem for retirees and pre-retirees as all our planning centres on generating enough income to meet expenditure. If the expenditure is wrong, we will incorrectly calculate the sum required to retire and how long retirement savings will last. Underestimating expenditure also has consequences for wealth accumulators. It can lead to us believing we can afford higher loan repayments and over commit, we can be overly optimistic with our
Melissa Wu headlines Wexpo event
BLACKTOWN will have its own expo experience when WEXPO comes to the Blacktown Workers Club in October.
WEXPO will showcase local businesses with more than 100 stalls and spe- savings goals or be underinsured. cialty workshops on subjects including: You are much more likely to achieve your health, networking, property, network- financial goals if first of all you are aware of ing, tourism, culture, charity, personal your spending habits and secondly in control development, professional development of them. In the last few years there are a and more. number of software programs that help to The full day of events includes a breakfast and lunch with two high pro le guest speakers. Melissa Paige Wu has identify and track how much you spend and what you spend your money on. Once you have identified what you are spending your money on, you are in a better been con rmed as the breakfast speaker. position to determine what aspects of your
Melissa is an Australian diver and spending you would like to continue and Melissa Wu participating in the recent SAS silver medal winner at the2007 World those you’d like to reduce and develop a real-Challenge series. istic budget. One of the keys to an effective budget is directing your discretionary spending to the areas that you deem most important and reduce or better still eliminate the spending that offers little or no value to your life. One of the main reasons that budgets are so hard for many people is that they start with an unrealistic view of current spending; if your starting position is more realistic, you are able to set more realistic goals.
Aquatics Championships, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2008 Summer Olympics. She is an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder and recently competed on SAS Australia.
WEXPO Blacktown will also feature two unique round table sessions where up to 100 hand-picked guests will experience presentations about health and infrastructure.
The guests will then submit their feedback to the presentations which will be formulated into formal summary documents by Australian Catholic University Blacktown.
Charity partner for the event is the Better Foundation. The Blacktown News and Western Sydney Business Access (WSBA) are the offi cial media partners.
Event Patron, Stephen Bali MP, said Wexpo Blacktown is a unique opportunity for businesses and visitors to interact as we emerge from the impact of COVID.
Event partner and gold sponsor Blacktown Workers Club has allocated the Diamond Room for stall holders plus three separate function rooms for workshops and seminars
WEXPO will be held on October 24 at Blacktown Workers Club. More at www.wexpo.com.au
MP Stephen Bali.
foresight to discuss with Olympic sports such as diving and water polo whether they could work with the University in delivering pathway opportunities.”
Mr Bali said the State Government had overseen trade and non-trade apprenticeships and traineeship commencements plummet by more than half in the past 10 years with dozens of TAFE campuses across NSW being either sold off or repurposed.
He claimed WSU failed to consult with anyone in 2007 prior to their degree closures, failed to consult with the pool closure, failed to consult with students when their diploma courses were relocated to other campuses.
Education precinct future in doubt
Continued from page 3 Mr Bali is calling for transparent and community consultation on the future of Nirimba. A spokesperson for WSU said Western Sydney University has a long and proud history at the Nirimba campus and the surrounding Nirimba Education Precinct. “Western Sydney University is committed to a strong educational presence in Blacktown – continuing to optimise its course off erings at Nirimba to ensure it best meets the current and future educational needs of the local western Sydney community,” the spokesperson said.
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Words: Scott McRae | Photos: Scott McRae | More Info: www.thetravellingguy.com
If you are anything like me and have a love of our great Australian country and rural towns and villages, then I suggest you read on as I rule the thumb over the New South Wales splendour of Yass.
As the mass exodus from our major cities continues around the country, some of our larger rural cities and towns are certainly getting some attention.
Yass sits just over an hour’s drive from the nation’s capital and a very straight forward 2.5 hours from Sydney, and is certainly getting some well-deserved notice of late.
Although there are endless jokes about the town being a variant of “Yes” it is more likely that it is a Ngunnawal word “Yhar” which reputedly meant “running water”. It was colonised with the help of explorers Hume and Hovell while on their expedition between Sydney to Port Phillip in 1824. In fact, if you are a seasoned walker you can rediscover part of their route between Albury and Yass. The track is around 440 kilometres long so best to prepare.
Anyway, I am not here to give you a history lesson, I just want to share with you the good word on some of what makes Yass a destination to say yes to.
The Globe Inn – will take you back in time to an era when accommodation houses were all about style, warmth and comfort. Originally built back in 1847 servicing the town as an Inn, the ballroom became notorious for all the major events in the town so its walls have many stories buried within. Owners Julia and Charlie de Nanteuil are invested in providing their guests with the ultimate experience when visiting and that shines through as soon as you meet them. The rooms have of course been updated over the years and the comfort level is superb with all the rooms having their own personalised charm. However, it is the essence of the building and its history that seems to radiate through the property as a whole. It’s captivating to be honest and when you stay here you will certainly feel it, I guarantee. You don’t get to experience places like this in the bigger cities, as most have been demolished for blander versions of what was so special back in the day.
Take time to relax in the cheerful rear garden. The massive front veranda is also a special spot that requires your attendance at some point during your stay. You also might like to take a moment reflecting on the day’s activities while you sip on one of the local cool climate wines by the roaring open fire in the main dining room’s sitting area. Breakfast is an absolute treat as well and Julia certainly delivers the goods here. Fresh fruit and granola compote with poached pears welcomed me on my stay, followed by good old country style bacon and eggs with some added special extras. The Globe Inn is the place to stay when you visit Yass, so make sure it’s on top of your list.
Tootsie Café and Gallery – well straight up I have to say, if you are feeling a little flat and need something to brighten your day Tootsie will certainly do that! Wow, I just love it here. It’s like every colour imaginable has found a place in this restored old service station.
In fact, it was one of the first service stations between Melbourne and Sydney on the old Hume Highway and surely saved a few travellers from running empty over the years.
Purchased in 2013 by Cayla and Chris Pothan they went about bringing the building back to its former glory. With passion and creative love and a lot of man power the building was restored to its former glory including the return of the Art Deco façade that had once stood impressively. Cayla, who is an artistic soul, has absolutely put her creative stamp all over the premises and the results just make you feel a little magical from the moment you enter.
Besides the kaleidoscope of colour throughout, there are artworks and eclectic pieces placed thoughtfully throughout the whole premises. To be honest you could easily spend a few hours here trying your best to take it all in. I know I have to return as I failed!
Oh, apart from the artistic offerings here, I forgot to mention it is also the coolest little café. Here you can snack on an array of savoury or sweet jaffles and an absolutely creative twist to many choices of hot or cold drinks. To finish off though, you have to try one of the 24 flavours of gelato or maybe rip into a super sundae that will take that happy feeling to the next level!
Yazzbar – is going to rock your world, well it’s definitely going to put a swing in your step, that’s a certainty! The coolest venue in town, beyond any shadow of a doubt with the combining factors of, delectable delicacies that focus on local produce, the region’s best cool-climate wines and available spirits, mingled with live music that has showcases genres including, blues, jazz and the occasional surprise performance.
Relative new owner and mistress of the funky feel and vibe Deb Hamilton took over from original owners Harvey Walsh and Penny Carlisle just 12 months ago and is taking what was a high set bar to even greater altitudes and that comes from Harvey himself who I had a fantastic conversation with during the evening. In fact, that is another of the alluring components of Yazzbar, the people that you meet there. I honestly don’t think I could have had a better experience. The alfresco area had a warmth about it even if the temperature said otherwise. The tapas style cuisine and the perfect pizza menu will certainly satisfy the appetite. The wines, sublime! The garnish on the cocktail so to speak, had to be the care, commitment and conversation I had with the dude of dudes behind the bar! Just ‘Jack’ as he introduced himself to me as, not only was in his element when procuring the perfect drink, but his manner and engagement with the customer was warming to experience.
I implore you to take advantage of the very generous deal in the ad below.
Yass is steeped in history.
Visiting Tootsie is a must on a trip to Yass.
Yazzbar gets five stars out of five.
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