Soul Origin

RNIS received a few vouchers to try out this place.

Soul Origin is a new lunch/dinner place in Melbourne Central. Here they focus on fair food as well as sandwiches and salads.

Their vouchers which we received

They do breakfasts and ok coffees. I had a soy latte and it was ok. It was a bit burnt. But I really like their sandwiches and bagels. Here I had a really fresh salmon baguette which had lots of avocado and onion as well as fish.

On launch day they handed out free pumpkin soup which was creamy and not too sweet.

They have a good range of salads and their staff are really friendly with their customers. They have tubs with the smallest one being $8.95 for two salads and $9.95 for three salads. I had the vegetarian pasta and beetroot with feta salad. Oil can be added free of charge and my salad was really nice with the oil in there.

What's also nice about them is that they are freshly made without the dressing and you can taste the freshness in the salad. The pasta is al dente

Do come by this place for your healthy goodness in the food court

Ilya Frozen yoghurt

There are two stores one in South Melbourne and the other in Elsternwick. RNIS bought a Groupon for $9 to spend $15 at this place for one visit and the other visit they paid for it themselves

Here not only do they do froyos, the South Melbourne store has salads and other raw and vegan desserts. Plus they use stevia which is a sweetener for those health addicts. They use real fruit and the less sweetened pearls unlike the bubble tea places in the city.

Front counter 

Froyo 

Mantra  

Both the times the service has been friendly. But the second time, the waitress did not smile. In fact she wasn't that friendly.

The Chia dessert was good, it was not too sweet and was light and refreshing. However I did add cacao in there. All the mango was down the bottom. It worked a treat with the kombucha. For those that don't know what it is, it is a less sweetened soft/fruit drink with all the fizz. This is the trend with all the health professionals.

Do read the other review on this place too.

Foxes den

Foxes den is in richmond near Richmond train station. Here they are all about bringing good health to inner suburban workers. The members of my Fitclub recommended this place to me. I once tried the food at one of their events. It was a chicken salad and another salad which I cannot remember the name of. But it was healthy.

You can choose salad, chicken, curry or soup. By 7:30pm they had run out of most things as people really liked that place. The service there was very friendly and the place was clean and tidy.

I had the meatballs and it was yum. But I could not finish all. Here it came with a $2 serve of brown rice which was massive. So I took some away and gave some to a homeless man outside of the restaurant.

Do support my cause for homeless people here.

Healthy weight week

Many International students often put on weight whilst in Melbourne and there is one week where students can try such good habits. We tried some good habits that week, which is known as "Healthy weight week"

This week is all about being healthy and eating the right foods. It is all about exercising too. This week saw us going to boxfit in Malvern, eating the right amounts of good fats as well. One of us had PMS but we learnt to cope with that alright. In the lead up to the PMS she ate the right amount of good fat and it helped. We also didn't eat a whole lot of sugar that week.

We ate fruits and almonds as snacks and stayed away from the chocolate. Here we had one restaurant meal but the rest we had from home or Woolworths.

We drank a good amount of water and that is 1L per every 25 kgs. This assisted in keeping us hydrated and regulating bowel movements. When we exercised we drank another 1L of water to help replace some of the fluids that we lost during exercise.

This week we tried a few different exercises such as Boxfit and playing games outside with the Japan Club where we ran around.

In the end though it was all worth it. We may not have learnt a lot but we did have some fun being healthier and we were happier for that.

Nutrition workshop

The nutrition workshop was on one Saturday and it was $5 to attend for some useful information. We give you some useful tips.

Tea in a wine glass and carrot sticks with Hommus

This was covered by Steffi and it was $5 to attend for all the guilt free snacks and stuff. Steffi is a nutritionist based at the Healthy Lifestyle Lounge. Here we learnt about the different types of carbs and proteins that we need in our diet. It is easy to cut out the carbs when you are trying to lose weight.

But in actual fact carbs, protein and good fats are all important. They are all important for the muscle development , brain and heart health. You should be eating around 2-3 hours each day and drinking around 1L per every 25 kg as well as 1L of water if you do exercise and another if it is a hot day. And if you don't like plain water you can add fruits to it.

Not skipping breakfast is a good way to start the day.

With protein we should aim to have about 20-30g per meal and some in a snack. We should try to have more vegetable fats instead of plant fats.

But lean meats every once in a while is ok. 
Steffi showed us how to make this perfect Herbalife chocolate cake and it was delish.

"Cookies & cream f1, 1 egg a splash of milk. Lightly sweetened Greek yogurt & bananas to serve. Yum yum" Facebook Herbie Masterclass

Do go their next workshop in sometime April. 

Advertorial: Go Vita

Go Vita is a health store at Southern Cross. Here I was served by some down to earth and very friendly people. It is on level 2 above Woolworths.

Image courtesy of Go Vita on Facebook

Being a member is free and joining up is easy. You just fill in a form in store.

It is a tiny store.

The place is at the station on the Collins st side and every Tuesday they have try and buy days and members get 20% off. I bought a kombucha tea and it was yum!

Here I also tried some of their yummy chips. It was pretty healthy.

Do come by for your study snacks as they have a large range of items. They even have the coconut range ice cream for you to try.

Aunty Maggies

Aunty Maggies is a health food store right near the Malvern train station.

They are an organic shop which sells a great range of organic foods and meals to take home. It was one Saturday after class that I came here and enjoyed their cheeses, wines and salad. Their salads are a little bit on the pricey side but I managed to pick up one good one for $3.

Cheese and wine samples

tub of takeaway salad

They also do smoothies and coffees and people can relax at their bar after a spot of shopping.

The second time around I picked up some almonds after health class as they say that planning your snacks is key to success. Here they were just charming.

The prices are just right, although some might think that it is a little bit exy. There is a table with magazines for people to read and its a wooden one which makes it that little more homely.

Do go on by for your shopping needs.

Student Review: My year with Fitness first

This is a student review by Claudia who hated gyms and was overweight for a while. She is a student who lives far away and who studies hard.

Lets face it: My gym at uni sucks. There is no ventilation and its cramped. And its dirty most of the time. I heard that some of the uni staff were not friendly.

It is $52 for Platinum membership but I can go anywhere with friends who are already on Fitness first. And Fitness first has some very friendly staff who are willing to assist you. And freebies of course.

There are classes to suit your timetable and the equipment is fairly clean. They even have a shower area. My uni does not have this. Occasionally the locker rooms are not always clean but that's alright as you are here to exercise and they can only be cleaned about once a day. At Flinders St I have seen the cleaner but at Melbourne Central all the equipment is outdated.

The staff at Flinders st are always friendly and they know you by name. At Melbourne Central its a different story. Some of the staff were not friendly to their members. One had told me off for wearing jeans, but I learned to adapt very quickly to the gym environment.

Image courtesy of chiukatherine on Instagram

Your card works like your MYKI. You tap and hold it and it will let you in. The staff are always happy to help. If you lose it you will be charged a hefty $5 to replace it.

Some tips for first timers
Be prepared to work hard and to learn. Go to a few classes if gym is not your thing. Be prepared to give up some of your old habits which made you overweight in the first place and adopt some new ones.

Do step outside of your comfort zone and don't worry about what others think of you. Others are doing their own things.

Be prepared to spend that money that you normally would for eating out for gym membership and protein shakes and bars and classes.

In the end if you go frequently you will get used to the environment and change your eating habits.

The Couch's bbq with the new Quinoa wraps and Honey mustard sauce

The Couch were holding another BBQ to mark the start of spring and warmer weather. I was invited along and did not have to pay. I really wanted to use my discount voucher from the show so here it is.

I got a 5% discount from the Royal Melbourne Show for Woolworths so I decided to use it before it expired. I bought some cheese for $5.90, 2 for $5 Chris's dips, a $2 bottle of Honey mustard, veggie patties, crackers and a Red rock deli dip. Oh and the Mission wraps which Gastrology reviewed earlier on which was about $5.

I got to say that they were delicious. Everyone enjoyed the dips and crackers as well as the Honey mustard. People also enjoyed the wraps which were chia seed. There were around 40 peeps there. The Tasmanian brie went well with the white wine and the champagne. I enjoyed the creaminess of it all.

I didn't eat any of this but this is what others enjoyed

I also enjoyed the freshly cooked prawns and fish. They went well with the chia wraps and tzakiki and I made a prawn wrap.

Everyone enjoyed the crackers.

Most people were keen to try the veggie burger but not everyone was too keen. I made a hamburger out of this with the tzakiki dip and white bread and it was yum.

Many thanks for the invite. And do visit your local Woolworths for some amazing specials and BBQ food now that it is the BBQ season. It's always healthier to go pescatarian at a BBQ and you'll be surprised at what you can do

RNIS's own clean eating challenge

Clean eating has been around for a while now, but Australia has the highest amount of people who are obese. Everyday more and more people are turning to fast food because that is the easiest thing that people can find.

Clean eating is easy to do, but it is hard to adapt to. Its a good idea to record how many calories you have eaten each day.

Fruit salad. Image courtesy of chiukatherine on Instagram

We started this clean eating challenge and went for about four weeks. Here we had lots of tofu, fish, seafood and good proteins such as turkey, nuts etc. We had lots of dairy and stayed away from the salty and sugary foods.

Salad. Image courtesy of chiukatherine on Instagram

This clean eating challenge taught us to appreciate food and taught us about healthy eating. For example we had sushi as a snack and that had a lot of proteins. We chose brown rice over white rice. Its the little things like this. Instead of sweets for morning tea we had other foods or nothing.

The uni cafeteria has too much proccessed foods.

We felt a lot cleaner afterwards which is good. We didn't lose much weight but we learnt lots

Ricotta cheesecake which is homemade by chiukatherine on Instagram

What next people?
Clean eating is easy but you need to follow the diet to the latter. It was easy for us as we had people around me making sure that we followed and we did not fall behind. You need to learn to love salads and raw vegetables and fruits as well as oats without the sugar.

For snacks you can have sushi, fruits, nuts, yoghurts etc as these are easy to find at the supermarket and are good for you.

We are already doing the Sugar challenge and that is due to finish soon.

How to avoid getting a cold

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

Students do you want be healthy this winter? Melbourne's winters are sometimes cold and sometimes mild.

That being said, many students do get a cold.  Seeing a doctor can be very expensive for students. Here are some tips on how to avoid getting a cold.

Eat garlic and chilli
It is said that if you eat lots of garlic, onion and chilli it will heal your minor illnesses. You can put garlic and chilli in many hotpots and stir fries.

Eat your greens
Greens are always healthy for you. You can buy your greens at the Victoria market for $1-$3 each. But do buy what is in season.


Drink lots of water.
About two to three litres of water is ideal for you. This will help to get rid of any toxins that you have. This can be in glasses and it can be flavoured with lemon or fruits if you don't like plain water.

As uni students you should be bringing your water bottle full of fresh water to class or work each day. You can get the water bottle for free at Orientation and on campus there are many water fountains.

Exercise
About 30-60 minutes per day is ideal. Just get the body moving. There are lots of ways to get fit and some of it is in the blog.

Wash your hands
Germs spread from hand to hand and they can stay for as long as 30 minutes. Do get a good soap and hand sanitizer if you can.

Eat your vitamins
These help to boost your immune system which helps to keep the cold away. There are supplements which you can take and they are sold in many places such as a health food store or pharmacy.

AFIS I am fit day

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

"I am Fit day" was run by AFIS to assist students in knowing how to get fit. This was a free three hour workshop in the multicultural hub. By the end of the workshop we knew how to get fit easily. The first one was kickboxing and that was intense for most students who had not been to a gym before. But I had and I knew what to expect. I had been to a body attack class before so I knew about the lunges.

But punching was new to me and I almost got most of mine right. If only they had this at my Fitness first gym and it would be great.

Zumba was also new to me as it was all about dancing and having fun. I had never been to a zumba class before so this was interesting. I sat out for Bollywood as I wasn't very good at Bollywood. Bollywood is a fast paced dance.

Many thanks to AFIS for organising this day.

MyFitness Pal

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

International students often find it hard to understand how many calories are in food and how much they have consumed in a day. Here we talk about one such app and website which tells you everything

MyFitness Pal is a website that you can use to count your calories burnt and calories eaten. They also have a lot of tips for those trying to lose the weight.

The app from blog.myfitnesspal.com.au

It is relatively easy to use and its also an app. It is free for everyone.

Here you can sign up using Facebook and it is done in minutes. They also have some helpful tips for those that are starting out such as the recommended calorie intake of 1000-1200 cals for women and 1200-1400 cal for men. Or you can use kilojoules (whichever is the easiest for you).

The exercise part has the recommended goals and entering exercises is relatively easy. All you need to do is to select which exercises. There are two sections: cardiovascular and strength. If you know how many calories you burnt then you can enter your own.

There are forums to assist you along the way. You are not alone in this.

You can also set goals such as burn this many calories in a week and whatever else you have in mind.

Available now in Google Play and on their site

Health tips for winter

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

Students here are some health tips for winter.

As students we need to be healthy in winter and not get the dreaded cold. Here is how.

Get a flu shot
Flu shots are about $25-$30 but sometimes they can be done for free on campus. Usually if a flu shot is done on campus there will be ads all around campus. It will take about two weeks for your body to absorb all the antibiotics to protect you from the cold and the flu.

Cold vs Flu
A cold only affects the nose and the throat where as a flu affects the whole body making you feel tired and ill. A cold is only a minor thing and you'll be able to go about your daily business (but at a slower pace). With a flu it is more severe and you'd have to rest at home.

With a cold it can be cured by over the counter medications such as nasal sprays and throat lozenges. It won't cure you completely though. The only cure is enough sleep and water.  But if you are still sick within a week then it is best to see your doctor. This will set you back by $20 but you can claim it via your OHSC

Other tips:
* Avoid staying indoors all the time if you can. Do go outside when it is sunny.
* Get a good night's rest- 7-8 hours a night is ideal.
*  Exercise a lot- about 30-60 minutes per day is ideal
*  Try and stay away from those that have the flu.
*  Wash your hands everytime you go to the bathroom, pat dogs, outside etc. 

The Wheelie good party

As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015

The Wheelie Good Party was on in North Melbourne today at the lovely Melrose st Village. Here there were lots of dogs and bikes and smiling kids. There were also some International students there.

One of the workshops which was run

Kombutcha tastings

I tried Short Batch's ice cream. It was really nice and the business is a push bike one which does everything by cart.

There were many classes for kids and adults alike. Here we learnt about the road rules riding a bike. Bikes have the same rules as cars on the roads, except for wearing a helmet and visability and the use of the bike lane.

It was here that I bumped into Joyce of Mel: Hot or NOT. She was there selling her Cycle Style items so do support her.

There were free smoothies by Bike N blend nd that really excited me when I read about this event. I guethat seeing as North Melbourne is a huge hub for International students I would have thought that many would have turned up. Instead it was families and young kids. But still a free event with such lovely company couldn't hurt right?

Run by the Squeaky Wheel and Good Cycle co in conjunction with the City of Melbourne this event had a great turn out and I really enjoyed myself today.

Many thanks to the Squeaky Wheel and Good Cyckle co for Organising it but it could have been better promoted via Facebook and Meld.