Sugar Free Mango and Pineapple Flap Jacks

Hi, if you're reading this blog you are most likely thinking about your diet, trying to loose weight and/or get fit so I thought I would share this helpful recipe. It is something I formulated myself after a bit of trial and error.

They really are very quick and easy to make and make a fantastic tool for helping to control what you eat. The oats are quite dry so they will swell when you eat them which will make you feel more full. But also, as they contain no processed sugar, and only a tiny amount of honey, there is no sugar spike for you to crash down from. Instead the fruit and honey give a small quick release of energy followed by the long and sustained release of energy from the oats. They are also very low in fat.

They helped me to loose weight, particularly during the days when I was at work, by preventing me from rushing to the shops and buying something bad when I got hungry and especially on occasions when I had to work late, having a few extra of these bars in my lunch box really got me through.

I threw a few surplus raisins into this batch.

I hope you enjoy them.

Ingredients:

·         400g rolled oats

·         100g dried pineapple

·         100g dried mango

·         40g desiccated coconut

·         40g chopped nuts

·         3/4cup of boiling water

·         2tsp honey

Preheat the oven to 180⁰. Place the rolled oats in a large mixing bowl.

Put the mango and pineapple in a jug and add the boiling water, blend until partially pureed but be sure to leave some small chunks. Put the blended fruit into the mixing bowl with the oats, desiccated coconut and chopped nuts.

Mix thoroughly, ensure there is an even colour throughout and mix long enough to ensure some starch is released from the oats. (It should still remain crumbly but hold together when pressed).

Press the mixture into a well oiled tray and drizzle with the honey.

Cook at 180⁰ for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire tray. Turn off the oven and put the cereal bars back inside the oven with the door closed and leave for several hours in the cooling oven, or overnight, to dry out.

Cut into portions and store in an air tight container.

Warped logic.

I have been watching a TV show which follows people who are going to Weightwatchers classes. It seems that instead of tackling the clients bad eating habits, the class leader acts as an enabler. They actually encourage members to eat cakes and chocolate by allowing these unhealthy foods within a points system.

This does nothing to change bad habits, as soon as these people finish with the classes they will put weight back on as their habit of craving sweet things has not been tackled. Once free of the accountability that comes from attending the group, the sweet tooth will once again reign supreme and waistlines expand.

Perhaps this is a deliberate policy, after all if you loose weight on the program and gain it as soon as you leave, you are likely to rejoin the program thus ensuring a never ending revenue stream for Weightwatchers.

Surely a better approach would be to work on removing the craving and habit of eating cakes and sweets? Maybe substituting them with dried fruits if sweetness is a must, surely this has to be better for your health than highly processed sugar and flour.

If you want to break the habit of cake and sweets yourself then first identify the danger times. Those trigger points such as after a meal or a cup of coffee when you most lust after sweetness. Then instead of reaching for the biscuit tin, try some sweet and chewy dried mango or pineapple. It is still loaded with sugars but they are natural and more complex, you also have the added benefit of fibre and natural vitamins.

"You have to put it in, to put it on."

Diets R Bull

Over the last 9 months I have made a journey from being a man who had slipped comfortably into middle age and being over weight to a 48yr old who has regained the body and some of the vitality of his 20yr old self.

A long walk has huge health benefits.

Along the way I have stumbled across so many highly commercialised diet and fitness books, DVD's websites and other products which are, to me at least, quite obviously flawed. Most rely on either a gimmick or celebrity endorsement to sell them to people who are looking for an easy fix to their weight and fitness problems. They wont work, everyone is different and in order to succeed in weight control or reaching our fitness goals it is we ourselves who are our best coaches. In order to do so we must first learn about ourselves and understand what motivates or demotivates us.


I have learnt much about myself and what motivates me but, more importantly, I am learning from others what motivates them and just how different we all are. There is no one diet or training routine that works for every one. Here I will explore the nature of the beast and hopefully shed light in a way that will help you as well as increasing my own knowledge and understanding.
You can also follow my Tweets; www.twitter.co/diets_r_bull

"You are your own best teacher."