Garlic Chicken and Panzanella
1 chicken fillet sliced into strips 2 cloves garlic minced Panzanella:
10 mixed cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/2 small red onion sliced Handful basil leaves roughly chopped
Slice of wholemeal toast, cubed
5 piquante peppers chopped (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced 1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Mix the dressing ingredients together in a jar, shake and set aside.
Fry the chicken and garlic
“Classes are good, not just for fitness but training with others is always a good motivating factor and it’s great for socialising,” says James.
“Some people do really well in the gym on their own and others do better in classes.”
The key is sticking to a healthy regime while surrounded by temptation in all its guises.
“We advise people to not make unrealistic goals,” says Claire. “Four weeks is not enough to make big changes but it is important to set realistic goals that are healthy.
“People sometimes go on crash diets that aren’t sustainable and it’s likely that you’ll give up in a couple of weeks.”
And while the festive party season is over for another year, January can present its own challenges in terms of what to eat with motivation to exercise hard to muster up on dark evenings.
Some sound advice includes making wise choices when dining out when faced with an array of delicious, and probably very calorific, food.
Choose the healthier options, eat slowly and be aware of portion size. Savour what you have — and you will feel much better afterwards having stuck to your plan.
“The day after a meal out, a good idea is, instead of just resting to recover from the night before, to go to a fitness class or go out for a walk,” says Claire. until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Toss the tomatoes, onion, basil, peppers and bread together in a bowl.
Drizzle the tomato mix lightly with the dressing and toss.
“It’s about making healthier choices. I know that a lot of people enjoy takeaways, and with busy lifestyles it is easy to just order one when you come in after a long day’s work.
“But we encourage people to think about perhaps making a meal from scratch, to enjoy that experience of choosing fresh ingredients and eventually seeing it on your plate.
“And it’s fun to do this together with your partner or a friend.”
James and Claire say that motivation can remain as strong as ever over the post-holiday period.
They advocate the SMART goals principle, which is used in business and other sectors, but is easily transferable.
The acronym stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely.
“So, if your aim is to lose weight, it’s good to set a specific goal, such as 7lb, rather than just ‘I want to lose some weight’,” Claire says.
“Also, it is measurable because you can see exactly what you are doing. When setting goals you need to consider what else is go-
Spoon the tomato mix onto a plate, place the chicken on top and drizzle with dressing.
Optional — sprinkle with shaved parmesan.
There will be spare dressing so you can save it in the fridge.
ing on in your life — so your goal needs to be attainable — and 7lb would be for most people.
“The ‘R’ stands for realistic and ‘T’ is for timely, so you should set yourself a deadline, such as you want to lose the 7lb in seven weeks.
“When you have worked out a very specific and clear goal like this — and a programme and plan of how to achieve it, which of course we help with — it is a great incentive to drive you forwards.
“My mum, who’s 55 and had never done any running, decided to set two goals earlier this year: to take part in a Mucker Run contest, which is a tough course including over obstacles, and to run a leg in the Belfast Marathon.
“She started training in February by joining our running group, Runfit — she went out with the group twice a week and she also did three exercise classes a week at Crewfit. She did the Mucker Run in April and the marathon relay in May, and was absolutely thrilled with her progress.
“But not only did she improve her fitness, she also met new people and that’s a big part of it too.
“We have seen people make goals and really see improvements in their physical and mental health as they go along, and this is of course a great encouragement to keep going.”
As we have now passed through the door and into a brand new year I have been taking some time to think back over the ups and downs of 2017 — certainly a momentous 12 months for me.
It was a year which heralded major change in my life, ultimately resulting in me being hooked up for three four-hour dialysis sessions each week as I no longer have any kidney function.
It all began precisely a year ago in January 2017 when I started a series of lengthy tests and procedures which, over a few months, would ultimately show my kidney function was beginning to fail. I have been a lifelong renal patient and received a kidney transplant back in 2009 — I was told at the time that as I was so young I would likely need two or three transplants in my lifetime.
However, the phone call which we received on July 11 to confirm that my transplanted kidney had failed and would need to be removed left us feeling totally numb and facing a future of uncertainty. Even though I have been in that position before, you are still left with worry, waiting and many unanswered questions.
Comfort, however, came from the fact that we were in the hands of amazing professionals who, it is no exaggeration to say, have become an extended part of our family.
Things moved rather quickly from then on when I underwent surgery on August 1 at Belfast City Hospital to remove my kidney, with my first dialysis session following almost immediately after. It’s a scary thing for anyone to go through, especially when you are watching a renal nurse connecting you up to a machine for the very first time.
There followed a series of weeks where I was in and out of hospital — with a few complications — but eventually the routine of dialysis dawned and I settled into a regular pattern of attending Daisy Hill Hospital on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings for my fourhour sessions.
Like all dialysis patients I am placed on a extremely restricted diet which cuts out lots of things I like — and a few things I don’t like as well. It’s important for me to stay as healthy as possible and to keep my potassium levels low. This was my choice of new year’s resolution this year and I’m sticking to it ... so far.
I am also on a daily tablet routine — one of my nurses once said that if you shake a renal patient they rattle, and it’s true.
With strict routines like these it can so often feel like groundhog day for renal patients.
I receive dialysis in a hospital ward with three fellow renal patients who are all hooked up at the same time. We enjoy each other’s company while we endure these sessions which are keeping us all alive.
Our nurses and doctors keep an expert eye on us all to make sure that everything is running smoothly and are being especially careful with me as I have the hope of receiving a kidney from my mum — fingers crossed — next month.
While I have been looking back and describing my journey over the past year I know that I am only one of thousands of dialysis patients who could recount similar stories. Kidney failure can touch the lives of so many people, changing lives and dictating routines which were unthinkable before.
I know that I am one of the lucky ones. I have the opportunity of receiving a kidney from my mum, but this is not the reality for everyone waiting for a life-saving transplant and this makes me sad. Throughout the year I have made friends with so many patients who have been waiting many years for that elusive transplant and whose wait, given that availability is lower than demand, is likely to continue.
Thank you again to everyone who helped make my Christmas Appeal such a terrific success. Your help will make a difference for dialysis patients both at Belfast City Hospital and also in Daisy Hill.
That’s it for this week — an exercise in looking back over the year that was 2017. I hope that you have a very happy and prosperous 2018 and remember to have that all-important conversation with your loved ones… make it your new year’s resolution to be a life-saver. Follow Mark on his Wordpress Blog, @DialysisDobson
on Twitter and DialysisDobson on
❝ We have seen people make goals and really see improvement in their physical and mental health