Health Matters Even During the Holidays!

Health Matters Even During the Holidays!

by | Dec 6, 2016 | Healthier Holidays, Self-care, Uncategorized

Today I’m featuring a guest blog post from my friend, the very talented personal chef, Anisha Anand, aka He“art”ful Earth Cuisine Personal Wellness Chef. Anisha’s article “Health Matters Even During the Holidays” offers some great tips to help us maintain our health during these often very tempting and stressful times.

It’s often very challenging to stick to our healthy eating plan over the holidays, after all, ’tis the season of tasty foods. To help combat throwing caution to the wind and forgoing our healthy eating this season, Anisha encourages us to…………

  1. Eat Mindfully
  2. Meet Your Farmer
  3. Plan & Prep
  4. Use Scraps
  5. Think Colour
  6. Think Outside the Box!

Read Anisha’s article to learn more …………

Health Matters….Even During the Holidays

By: Anisha Anand

 

The holidays are a time of giving, a time to be surrounded by loved ones, in person or in spirit, and of course, a time of feasting and sharing food! Food doesn’t just nourish our bodies; it also feeds our soul. The connection we have to the food we eat, the preparation of that food, and even the way we consume it are all part of the nourishment process. We enjoy preparing our food together, and enjoy eating it over a table filled with laughter and love. This helps elevate meal time from a quick body recharge to a feast for the body and spirit. Food and food aromas create new memories and also bring back old memories!

No matter how busy our holidays and lives get, it’s good to find some time to focus on staying well. Here are my top six ideas and tips to help you stay on track during this holiday season:

 

    1. Always eat mindfully. Take the time to sit down, take the time to chew, savor and breathe, be present and enjoy your food. If you are indulging, then eat guilt-free! Feeling guilty ruins the moment and takes away from your satisfaction and digestion.
    2. Meet your farmer. Consider a family shopping trip to the farmer’s market to enjoy some fresh air and pick up fresh, local, in season produce. It is more nourishing and tastes more flavorful when you cook with local, fresh produce.
    3. Plan, Prep! Plan, Prep! Take the time, even if it is only a couple hours every week, to prepare and stock up on some healthy snacking options so that, when you are too hungry to prepare something, you have some nutritious choices. When we are hungry, we grab what is in front us, so why not always have some nourishing food available?
    4. Don’t scrap those scraps. Save all your vegetable scraps and any turkey or other meat bones. Simmer your way to good health with vegetable or bone broths. You can always freeze batches in glass jars for making soups or adding to vegetable and rice dishes later!
    5. Think color. Consider adding different colored vegetables to every dish you cook at home. Plant-based whole foods provide a wide variety of natural chemicals called phytonutrients. Phytonutrients serve various functions in plants, such as protecting the plant’s vitality. For example, some phytonutrients protect the plant from UV radiation while others protect it from insect attack. Not only do phytonutrients award benefits to the plants, but they can also provide benefits to those who enjoy plant food.
    6. Think outside the box! Holiday cooking is all about traditions and family recipes; sometimes we can make our family recipes more nutritious and nourishing. If your recipes can be improved nutritionally by making a few ingredient swaps, then be creative and try something new! An example of this might be substituting regular mashed potatoes for Purple Pumpkin Seed Mashed Potatoes. In my recipe, the purple potatoes add phytonutrients or flavanoids while the pumpkin seed oil and pumpkin seeds add an extra rich, nutty flavor layer and it gives a boost of zinc, which helps with immunity. We can all use a boost to our immunity during flu season and the busy holidays.

 

Purple Pumpkin Seed Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

1 medium purple potato roasted and peeled (Anthocyanins are flavonoids or phytonutrients that give the potatoes purple color, you may substitute orange sweet potatoes if you can’t find purple ones, orange sweet potatoes will have other flavanoids called Carotenoids!)

4 tablespoons almond milk (or dairy milk)

1 teaspoon pumpkin seed oil

Handful of pumpkin seeds

Salt and pepper to taste

Mash potato, add almond milk and pumpkin seed oil and mix well. Top with some pumpkin seeds and serve. Enjoy this nutty flavored, nutrient dense comfort food as a snack or a side dish!

 

 

Remember to enjoy the holidays, plan a time for activity, incorporate healthy recipes into your holiday meals, and don’t restrict yourself from enjoying your favourite holiday foods. Focus on things that make you feel good and make sure some of your needs are being met because you stand less chance of overindulging. In the long run, your mind and body will thank you.

As a Personal Wellness Chef, Anisha strives to inspire and empower people to promote their health and wellness with food. She creates and teaches nutritious recipes and meals in the comfort of your own home. She truly believes in the power of food as medicine and bringing wellness back into your hands and kitchens.

Anisha’s services include meal planning and in home chef services, nutritious & healthy recipes, cooking lessons, demos & workshops, and learn to cook parties, special family dinners, romantic dinners, & recipe creation. Congratulations to Anisha, as this article was featured in The Bay Area Health and Wellness Magazine of Houston, and thanks to her for allowing me to share!

P.S. Don’t miss Anisha’s Purple Pumpkin Seed Mashed Potatoes recipe featured in the article. It sounds delicious!

For daily inspiration and services, you can find Anisha at the following places:

Thanks for reading and keep well,

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How to Enjoy a Healthy Thanksgiving While Staying on Track

How to Enjoy a Healthy Thanksgiving While Staying on Track

by | Nov 22, 2016 | Healthier Holidays, Uncategorized

Thanksgiving is a favourite American holiday, a day to count our blessings and be thankful as we feast together. While this time of year can bring lots of joy & happiness for many people, it can be quite stressful. How you are feeling around the holidays can directly impact how and what you eat. If you are feeling anxious about the upcoming holiday, remember that with a little preparation, mindfulness, and mental effort, we can keep ourselves grounded and together so that we can celebrate and connect with family and friends to create a healthy, relaxing, and restorative time.

Here are 12 Thanksgiving Tips for More Joy and Less Stress by Dorothy The Organizer.

 

I wanted to share some additional tips that help me throughout the holiday season:

  • Drink a tall glass of water 20 minutes before starting the meal. This will pre-hydrate your stomach wall, which is lined with an acid buffer that is 80% water. The more water, the better the buffer, and the more acid your stomach will produce to enjoy more food. Studies show it helps reduce weight.
  • Begin with mindful eating and remember to enjoy your food. Don’t eat food that you don’t enjoy. If you don’t like the traditional green bean casserole or the pumpkin pie, then politely pass. We want to avoid any negative associations with food and negative self-talk or guilt during or after eating, as this can create a toxic environment in your body. Enjoy and savor what’s on your plate.
  • Force yourself to put your fork down and chew. The more time you give yourself to chew and relax, the more your stomach will gracefully expand and allow you to comfortably continue to enjoy your Thanksgiving meal without overeating.  If you eat that same meal fast, it will hit like a rock and you will find yourself spending much of the afternoon on the couch. Studies suggest that slow, mindful eating helps us eat healthier and lose weight.
  • If you’re feeling a little bloated after your feast, you can sip on some ginger tea – here is a recipe.
  • Try and treat Thanksgiving as one day, not one month. Get back into your healthy regime after the event. If you do overindulge, don’t dwell on it, acknowledge it, and move on. Remember, don’t deprive yourself, enjoy your feast, but keep some of these tips in mind.

 

Wishing you health, happiness, and success this Thanksgiving and always. Here’s to enjoying the company of good friends and family as we give thanks. My warmest wishes to you and your family on Thanksgiving!

Thanks for reading and keep well,

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The New Fat Flush

The New Fat Flush

by | Nov 7, 2016 | Cleansing, Diets, Self-care, Uncategorized, Weight Gain, Weight Loss, Women over 40

The New Fat Flush Plan Is Coming!

For over 25 years, The Fat Flush Plan by Ann Louise Gittleman has helped millions of people lose weight, reboot their metabolism, flush toxins, restore their liver, and change people’s lives for the better….myself included!

After reading The Fat Flush Plan, my passion for nutrition was ignited. Ann Louise inspired my journey into health and wellness, which led me to become a Health Coach. She is a true pioneer in her field and a wealth of knowledge for the community. She has been so instrumental in my own health and that of my family. We have a standing joke in our house; all products must be Ann Louise approved. I had the pleasure of interviewing Ann Louise on my Radiance Summit earlier this year and it was clear that she has such a passion for her work.

Ann Louise has updated her classic plan – The New Fat Flush Plan is now available for pre-order just in time for the holidays. I can’t wait to get my copy!!

Fat Flush revolutionized the detox and dieting concept and we are all standing on the shoulders of the Fat Flush Phenomenon.          -Mark Hyman, MD

Ann Louise Gittleman, the award-winning New York Times bestselling author, once again challenges conventional dietary wisdom to rewrite the rules of nutrition.  A trendsetter for decades, her Fat Flush Plan revolutionized weight loss by helping tens of thousands of people recognize the critical role the liver plays in the detox/diet connection and overall health.

Now, The New Fat Flush Plan follows in that same bold path.

With the primary focus, still on the liver’s role as the #1 fat burning organ, The New Fat Flush delves deeper into the latest research-based causes of weight loss resistance and expands into the 10 Hidden Weight Gain Factors.  Ann Louise presents targeted regimens to correct sneaky saboteurs that are frequently overlooked like missing magnesium, fattening chemicals, a messy microbiome, hidden hitchhikers, and a sluggish or non-existent gallbladder.

Fat Flush stands apart from Paleo, Primal, Ketogenic, and Vegan diets by making the case that diet without detox is doomed to fail thanks to the unprecedented number of current toxins and hormone disruptors we face every day. The book promotes a daily detox eating plan that features surprisingly delicious Fat Flushing fruits, vegetables, oils, quality proteins, cleansing Fat Flush water, Fat Flush bone broth, and healing spices – all showcased in four weeks of easy menus and tasty recipes for the whole family.

Fat Flush has a time-tested and proven track record of success, with thousands of individuals who have lost weight and achieved overall health and relief from autoimmune and degenerative disease as a byproduct. The New Fat Flush Plan builds on this success for even more effortless weight loss.

In addition, The New Fat Flush presents:

      • NEW Three-Day Ultra Fat Flush Tune-Upfor quicker cleansing and results
      • NEW health revelationslinking the gallbladder and liver to thyroid health
      • NEW hidden weight gain factors that explain why it’s not your fault you’re fat
      • NEW meals, menus, and shopping lists
      • NEW tips for managing insulin, hormone, and stress levels
      • NEW slimming smart fats and sweeteners
      • NEW gluten-free tips for those with celiac disease or gluten intolerance

The New Fat Flush Plan also includes over 75 recipes including slow cooker means, crunchy snacks, satisfying soups and healthy desserts that are more easy-to-follow and family-friendly, plus, an updated brand name shopping list.

Here is a link to pre-order on Amazon.

Here is a link that details how to access the gift bundle that she is giving away with all verified pre-orders.

Here’s where you can find Ann Louise:

Ann Louise’s website.

Ann Louise’s Facebook.

Ann Louise’s Twitter.

 

Thanks for reading and keep well,

 

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Staying Hydrated

Staying Hydrated

by | Oct 11, 2016 | Cleansing, Diets, Self-care, Uncategorized, Women over 40

One of the biggest factors responsible for accelerating the aging process is dehydration. Your body is made up of 70-75% water. Your body needs it to survive and function property and effectively. Being adequately hydrated helps with digestion, mental focus, healthy looking skin, curbing your appetite, and shedding those pesky unwanted pounds.

Hunger is often confused with dehydration. Before you reach for that snack, have a glass of water instead. Drinking before meals can help promote weight loss. Multiple studies show those who drink two glasses of water before meals feel fuller and eat less.

Try to start your day with a glass of lemon water. Lemon helps hydrate the body and stimulate the liver’s detox process. Lemon water is high in vitamin C, which helps to ward off colds and infections; it’s a natural detoxifier, it aids in digestion, it keeps your skin youthful and glowing, it freshens your breath, it promotes healing, it alkalizes the body, and aids in weight loss. What’s not to LOVE about lemons? Here is a recipe:

Lemon Water Elixir

1 cup of filtered water – warm or room temperature

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon Bragg’s raw apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon raw honey

Dash of sea salt

Dash of cayenne pepper

 

Ideally, you should be drinking half of your body weight in water each day, plus additional water if you exercise or live in a warmer or drier climate. For example, if you weigh 150lbs, aim for 75 fluid ounces of water daily. You will also need to drink more water if you consume coffee, tea, alcohol, soda, or salty foods as they can be very dehydrating. Proper hydration is also very important during the heat of the summer months; we need to replenish lost minerals. Other drinks to enjoy to help you stay hydrated include herbal teas and vegetable juices. Here is a recipe for a natural Gatorade.

images

 

Natural Gatorade

20 ounces of filtered water

½ teaspoon of sea salt

Juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon of raw honey

 

Try not to drink with your meals because the liquid dilutes your digestive enzymes and can prevent your body from assimilating nutrients.

A good measure for seeing if you’re amply hydrated is to check your urine. If you’re sufficiently hydrated, your urine should be fairly clear and shouldn’t have an offensive odour. If it’s dark yellow, you need to drink more water. Your lips are another indicator. If they are chapped or parched, you could be dehydrated.

Don’t forget that foods such as watermelon, tomatoes, yoghurt, cucumbers, and berries can also be hydrating.

Please browse through The Environmental Working Groups site to find a safe and effective water filter for you and your family.

Staying hydrated is important for everyone. Your body depends on water to survive. Every cell, tissue, and organ in your body needs water to work correctly. Your body uses water to maintain its temperature, remove waste, and lubricate joints. Water is essential for good health.

Drink UP!!!

Thanks for reading and keep well.

 

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Home Product Makeovers

Home Product Makeovers

by | Sep 27, 2016 | Self-care, Uncategorized

5 Home Product Makeovers:

We focus a lot on eating a ‘clean’ diet, but often overlook many home products which contain countless chemicals that can be just as harmful as GMOs or toxic foods. We choose free-range eggs and avoid chemicals in our food.  But is your home as clean as your diet?  Unfortunately, today we are bombarded with toxins from candles, and deodorant to air fresheners. Every room in your house probably contains some kind of toxin.  Here’s a list of my top 5 worst home offenders.  With this easy home makeover, you can swap harmful products with safe, natural alternatives.

Water:

What’s in your water?  If you are drinking tap water, the answer to that question is 300+  chemicals and pollutants, according to research from the Environmental Working Group –  Among these contaminants are: fluoride, chlorine, lead, aluminum, arsenic, pharmaceutical residues, and other toxins. So what are your options?  Unfortunately, you’re not necessarily better off with bottled water.  Chemicals specifically, BPA (Bisphenol-A), a type of endocrine disruptor from the plastic bottle itself, can leech into the water and interfere with the normal functioning of the endocrine system, and increase the risk of certain cancers. In most cases, the water itself is no different than tap water.  That being said, having a bottle of water is very convenient… definitely opt for a glass bottle instead of plastic.  

Solution:  Invest in a high-quality water filter to install in your home; don’t forget to find filters to attach to your shower heads as well.  If you love a relaxing hot bath like me, you want to make sure you’re not sitting in a toxic cocktail.  Once you have installed a home filtration system, carry a bottle with you to avoid the need for purchasing one.  I like Kleen Kanteen.

To help you decide which water filtration system to invest in, review this water filter buying guide from EWG.

 

Cleaning Products:

Most conventional products are toxic, so switching to natural cleaning products is an important part of creating a natural home. Not all products are created equal and in many cases, some are harmful.  If you use conventional cleaning products, unfortunately you’re essentially spreading a thin film of toxic chemicals onto your counters and floors.  Toilet bowl cleaners and oven cleaners contain “lye” and other strong acids that can burn the skin and irritate both the eyes and respiratory system.  Here is a natural oven cleaning solution.

Ammonia, found in glass cleaners and other products, irritates the eyes and lungs, and can potentially cause headaches.  Formaldehyde, used as a preservative in soaps and other cleansers, is a suspected carcinogen.  Most conventional household cleaning products are scented with synthetic fragrances that contain phthalates, which are a group of chemicals used to soften and increase the flexibility of plastic and vinyl. They can have harmful health effects.

Solution:   Look for products that are made with plant oils and waxes, and scented with pure essential oils.  You can make your own home cleaning products. Here is a homemade cleaning product recipe from Dr. Josh Axe.

 

Candles:

There’s nothing like the gentle flicker of a candle flame to evoke that warm and cozy feeling in your home.  Unfortunately, many candles are made with paraffin, which is derived from petroleum, and scented with artificial perfumes.  A recent study found that paraffin-based candles emit toxic chemicals, including toluene, a solvent that affects the central nervous system, and benzene, a known carcinogen.  Over time, burning paraffin candles can aggravate asthma, cause allergy-like symptoms, and irritate the respiratory tract.  


Solution:  Saleyha Ahsan appeared on the Dr. Mehmet Oz show and gave some great tips on why many scented candles are toxic, and what to look for when we buy them. Here is the link. –  Beeswax and soy candles, scented with pure essential oils, are a healthier choice.  Look for 100% beeswax or soy. The term “pure” means a product must contain only 51% of a stated ingredient, whereas a candle labeled “pure beeswax” or “pure soy” may have 40% paraffin.

 

Personal Care Products:

Conventional lotions, creams, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants, and other personal care products usually contain phthalates from synthetic fragrances, as well as other toxins.  Parabens, used as preservatives, are endocrine disruptors that have been linked with cancer and reproductive disorders.  Lotions, creams, and makeup are of particular concern because they stay in contact with the skin for hours. Did you know that we absorb up to 60 percent of what we put on our skin? Did you know that the average woman uses 12 products, containing 168 different ingredients, every single day?
The skin is the body’s largest organ and absorbs what you put on it. Every day we use products that we think are safe, but the truth is that a lot of these products are NOT safe. In a typical day, you might be exposed to over 200 different chemicals, many of which are suspected of causing cancer or wreaking havoc with your hormones.

 

Solution:  Avoid anything with parabens or petrochemicals, and look for personal care products made with saponified coconut oil, plant ingredients, or pure essential oils as fragrances.  Be sure to check out the EWG’s Skin Deep Database to research toxic chemicals that could be in your cosmetic and personal care products. Get educated and avoid these harmful, hazardous, and toxic ingredients. Make sure you read your labels and become your own detective.

 

Air Fresheners:

Room sprays may contain phthalates, a group of chemicals used to soften and increase the flexibility of plastic and vinyl.  In scented products, diethyl phthalate (DEP) is used as a base for synthetic fragrances such as air fresheners, room sprays, dryer sheets, perfumes, and other scented products.  Studies have linked phthalates to male infertility, premature breast development, cancer, miscarriage, and premature birth.

 

Solution:  Look for non-aerosol room sprays or solid air fresheners made with pure essential oils.  You can also diffuse your favourite essential oils;  personally I love to diffuse lavender, lemongrass, and orange.  Another option is diluting a few drops of citrus liquid soap (I like Dr. Bronner) in ¾ of water and pour into a spritz bottle. Spray around your home for a fruity non-toxic spring scented air!

 

I have mentioned essential oils quite a lot and I do love them myself , but please do your due diligence before purchasing any. Please read this article to gain further insight.

 

You can download the EWG app here to get ratings for more than 120,000 foods and personal care products. Now it is at your fingertips!  Simply scan a product, review its rating, and pick the better choice for you and your family.

Your home is the laboratory of life; be your own chemist!

“When you know better, you do better.” – Maya Angelou

 

Thanks for reading and keep well.

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Hygge – A Heart-Warming Lesson from Denmark!

Hygge – A Heart-Warming Lesson from Denmark!

by | Sep 13, 2016 | Uncategorized

Today I’m featuring a guest blog from the inspiring Laura Agar Wilson. She is a “holistic health coach, writer, blogger, lover of red lipstick + tattoos, passionate about living a wholeheartedly healthy life (with a slice of cake on the side!) and a published recipe author”.

Established in 2009, Wholeheartedly Healthy is a forerunner of the UK healthy living blog world being named as one of the Top 10 UK health blogs as well as being featured in several in print and online publications. Through her blog and health coaching practice, Laura inspires and educates women on how to look after their health with a truly wholehearted approach, including everything from good nutrition, exercise, style, environment, parenting, body image and personal development.

If you want to know how to get healthy and still enjoy a slice of cake Laura’s the one!

Laura’s article “How to Hygge: 20 Ways to Feel Good Over Autumn and Winter” resonated with me as I have enjoyed many summers in Denmark, and being married to a Dane for almost 20 years, I’m very familiar with the term “hygge”, or “hyggeligt” – please don’t ask me to pronounce it!!

To me “hygge” is a ritual of enjoying life, family and friends with an appreciation for the little things in life. It’s a feeling of belonging and celebrating the moment in its simplicity.

Read on for Laura’s post here!

I think we could all benefit from bringing Danish ‘hygge’ into our lives.

Nyhavn in Copenhagen, Denmark

Laura has been nominated for an award as Health Blogger of the Year at the British Health Journalism Awards.  Wishing her the very best of luck!

Many thanks to Laura for allowing me to share her article! You can find her at http://wholeheartedlyhealthy.com/ –

 

Keep well and thanks for reading.

 

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