HEALTHY CHRISTMAS IN 5 STEPS

The Christmas season is perhaps the hardest to stay healthy throughout. There are work parties, functions, family gatherings, and then Christmas day itself. But it doesn’t need to be a compromise between healthy living and enjoying yourself. You can do both! Here’s how you can enjoy yourself and have a healthy Christmas in 5 steps.

1. EAT LESS - NOT NONE!

We don’t mean eat less in general here — although that’s always good advice. No, what we mean here is don’t feel like you need to cut out all of the special foods that come out around Christmastime. Some people tell you to skip the pudding, others say you don’t need that special dessert. If you can completely abstain, that’s great, and more power to you.

But as we’ve discussed in other articles, sometimes the best cure for a craving is to indulge in small amounts. Have a smaller slice of pie than you normally would. Pour a little less gravy or special holiday sauce on your meal. Enjoy yourself, just don’t overdo it.

2. ENJOY THE OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

If you’re in the Northern hemisphere then you’ve got a beautiful winter wonderland to play in. If you’re below the equator, great, it’s summer time! Take advantage of the outdoors this holiday season.

Physical activity is part of a healthy life, and a key step to a healthy Christmas. Go skiing or ice-skating if you’ve got the ice to enjoy. Some places will even let you cut down your own Christmas tree — an excellent workout.

For those below the equator, take an early morning jog. Take advantage of that early sunrise and the longer days to go outside and play and move.

There’s always something to do and enjoy outdoors. Just because it’s the holidays doesn’t mean it’s time to get lazy!

3. CONCENTRATE ON ACTIVITIES, NOT FOOD

Christmas is about more than just huge family feasts. There are plenty of other holiday activities to enjoy. Put together a family photo album to show relatives. Make some presents, packages, cards, or decorations with the kids.

Engaging in festive activities with the family will help keep your mind off food. This in turn will make it a lot easier to not overindulge. Some of the activities might seem childish or twee, but it’s Christmas! And if doing something childish helps you have a healthy Christmas, isn’t that a present all in itself?

4. PREPARE HEALTHY MEALS

One of the reasons it’s so easy to lose track of healthy eating over the holidays is people are very busy. Outside of Christmas day there’s not a lot of time to set aside to make a proper meal. Junk food consumption goes up and bellies go out.

So during the hectic Christmas season, spend some time on the weekends to prepare some big, easy to make healthy meals you can store in the freezer. An entire week’s worth of lunches can be made out of a single meal if you plan it properly.

With a little forward thinking, you can prepare for the season’s rush and have a healthy Christmas time.

5. MEDITATE

It’s the end of the year. There are deadlines. Presents to buy. Things to do. It can be very easy to get overwhelmed during the holiday season. This overwhelm leads to stress, which in turn leads to overindulging in feel-good holiday foods. So we need something to beat the overwhelm and maintain our calm.

Enter meditation. We’ve got lots of articles on mindful meditation that you should look at. Meditating at home, on walks; anywhere, really! We cannot overstate how helpful it is to be able to clear your head, particularly during the busiest time of the year.

So whether you’re stuck in an office for days, or just feeling the pressure of needing to get everything organised for the big day, always take a few moments to take care of yourself. You’ll feel much better and have a healthy, happy, uplifting Christmas you won’t forget.

And there you have it. Five simple suggestions for a healthy Christmas. No strict diets, no cutting out food. Just take it easy, eat in moderation, keep yourself occupied and enjoy this wonderful time of year.

Juicing the new best thing in 2017

Juicing the new Best Thing in 2017

The process of taking the most important and nutritional portion of fruits and vegetables and condensing them into juice. This allows us the ability to absorb all the nutrients quickly much faster than eating these separately. This is why juicing has become so popular. We live in a world full of saturated fats, sweets, and every other form of unhealthy food you can imagine. This has led to an increased rate of obesity and an enormous amount of heart disease nationwide. I used to be someone that could eat anything and have it not affect me in any way. I have always had a high-calorie diet full of sugars and saturated fats. As I grew older, I found out that the same foods started causing accumulated fat around my belly. I became very sluggish and could barely do any physical activity without losing my breath. This was not how I wanted my life to go. To make things worse during my annual doctors’ visit my blood pressure was stage 1 hypertension.

Something had to change. Naturally my doctor gave me the advice to overhaul my whole diet and exercise program. I knew I had to make some changes, and I needed to make them fast. After spending countless hours researching various diet plans, I came across some information on juicing. I found out that there were ways to get your daily recommended value of fruits and vegetables with just a few little glasses each day. This sounded like a good idea, so I decided to get healthy juice recipes and start juicing.

I was doubtful at first, but I thought it would be worth giving it a try. My thought process was it couldn’t hurt to get more fruits and vegetables in my diet. By the way, what was the worst that could happen? It’s not like juicing with healthy juice recipes was going to cause me any harm. So I decided I would commit myself to following a very strict juicing diet.

It only took me a couple of weeks before I noticed a huge change in how I felt. I dropped about five pounds, and I had a tremendous amount of energy throughout the day. I was also able to start my workout program without becoming fatigued. Juicing with healthy juice recipes changed my life for the better and I know it can change yours.

Starting a new routine is never easy but juicing is about as easy as it gets to start eating healthier. Healthy juice recipes provide a way to get the daily amount of required nutrients from various vegetables and fruits without the need to eat each one separately. This makes it very convenient to get all vitamins and minerals required for a healthy diet.

The important things you should do to start juicing are to get the best healthy juice recipes that you would like to try. You can make use of 800-watt juicer or preferably over 1000 watts juicer. This will provide the power to juice almost everything you want. The healthy juice recipes are found all over the web, or you can go through this link for my favorite healthy juice recipes for making the best weight loss juice or health maintenance juice.

A few juicy recipes that can contribute in a healthy life:

Toxin Killer

Toxin killer is known for the numerous amount of antioxidants it has that combat free radicals. The human system is cleansed of toxins by the antioxidants. It has many healthy greens that provide the body with numerous essential nutrients.
Toxin killer juice has the following as ingredients:

• cucumber


• apples


• spinach


• celery


• lettuce


• Ice

The apples and cucumber should be peeled and dropped into the juice together with spinach and lettuce. Ice should be added and blend for a minute or two. It is best to drink the juice while cold.

Veggie Delight

Veggie Delight Juice needs the following ingredients:

• lettuce head


• celery stick


• carrots


• oranges


• cabbage head


• broccoli branches

For everyone who isn’t a big veggie fan are recommended to take this juice. Veggie Delight contains few vegetables that have antioxidant and phytochemical properties.
Veggie Delight Juice is prepared by using a citrus juicer for the oranges, and the juice is added to a collection jar with some ice. The other ingredients should be run through the juicer, like the carrots, celery, cabbage and lettuce. This combination is stirred very well to blend.

Spicy Green Juice

The beneficial nutrients contained in the spicy green juice are calcium and potassium, vitamin A and vitamin K.
In making the juice, you need to have:

• spinach


• a green apple


• ginger and lemon.

All ingredients should be put in in a juicer and blend.

Celery and Beet Juice

The ingredients that make up celery and beet juice are;

• a cup of chopped spinach


• celery stalks


• cilantro


• sea salt


• a small beet.

A little lemon juice is added to create a tangy taste.
The primary benefit of celery and beet juice is to help in cleansing the body system by getting rid of toxins and wastes.

 Fruity Blast

Fruity Blast juice is an ideal nutritious drink when you are low in energy.
The required ingredients for making this juice are;

• kiwi


• fruit, apples


• nectarines


• pineapples.

Remove stones from the nectarine and also remove the back of the pineapple. Chop the apples and pineapple before putting them in the juicer. Add ice and mix well to be drunk immediately.

Kiwi has a high fibre content and low glycemic index. This reduces its ability to create a strong insulin rush like any other fruits. This also avoids the storage of fat by the body.
Healthy juice recipes play an enormous role in the health of everyone. There are many healthy juice recipes out there, but not all of them are beneficial in maintaining the health of an individual. This healthy juice recipes listed above are among the best ones i have ever tried.

I hope you enjoy them and stay tuned for more Healthy Juice Recipes!

Nutrition Rich Healthy Juice Recipes

Nutrition Rich Healthy Juice Recipes

If you are interested in juicing, you have come to one of the right and the best places to be. If you have an interest in getting the best vitamins and minerals in your diet, juicing with healthy juice recipes is an excellent way to succeed in your plans. There are many ideas to help you turn juicing into a healthy lifestyle change.

TIP 1:  Use a masticating juicer

My advice and experience would be to use a Masticating juicer.The healthy juice made by these juicers retains more nutrients due to the gentle extraction method they use. If you have to juice dark, leafy greens like spinach, you should add some cucumber. Most leafy greens have a strong, sometimes unpleasant flavor. Cucumber is excellent for covering the strong taste while making your drink taste more refreshing. Cucumbers juice also contain essential nutrients, and this would be better if you leave it unpeeled.The most nutritious and the healthiest juices are those from dark green vegetables like broccoli, spinach, parsley and others. The objective is to have your juices consist of roughly 50-70% green produce, with other elements added for flavor. When the primary content of juices is made of fruits, they tend to be less healthy as they contain more sugar than the juices made primarily of green vegetables.

TIP2:  Pick a dark green veggie for the foundation of your juices

Feel the power of the dark side of the juice!

If you are making a healthy juice of high health benefit the primary content of the juice should be dark green veggie. It is essential that half of the ingredients for making healthy juice should be dark greens like spinach or broccoli. You should preserve your juice and drink it slowly. You should savor the juice with time, and ensure you taste all of the flavors. The juice should be rolled through your mouth, allowing your entire tongue to experience the individual tastes, and begin the process of digestion. If your healthy juice is mixed correctly, juice can constitute your whole meal. When you find out how much food goes into a glass of juice after preparing it several times, you will understand why this is so. If you take juice as a meal, the vitamins and nutrients will enter your bloodstream faster. All equipment that was used for juicing should be washed immediately after use. Also, some juices can stain the juicing container or blades.

TIP3: Enjoy your juices, and take your time while drinking

A relaxed mind is a healthy mind so take your time and enjoy the taste of your healthy juice, and appreciate each of its flavors. When you make your juice to be taken later is useful, but caution should be applied to prevent color change in the juice. Any juice that changes from its original color of bright orange to dull grey is not appetizing. A few teaspoons of lemon juice should be added to the juice to prevent it from turning brown. This ensures that the juice remains bright at all times. The lemon juice does not change much of the original flavor but will help to preserve the look of the juice. Take note about how your system reacts to the healthy juice when you drink. If you have abdominal issues after drinking the juice, then think about what ingredients you used in the juice. You should identify any new ingredient in the juice and why it may cause abdominal ache. When you identify the ingredient, you can simply use a smaller quantity, so your body gets used to it.

TIP4: Go by color in choosing fruits and vegetables to juice

Each color represents each nutrient. Having knowledge about which color represents a particular nutrient is important. This will give you the understanding in choosing the right fruits and vegetables for your healthy juice.

Ginger is a natural remedy for treating gastrointestinal distress. Adding it to your juice blends can give them some zest while helping you to feel better. Ginger also has anti-inflammatory properties that can heal any digestive system damage by acid reflux disease or peptic ulcer disease. Drink your juice immediately after juicing. You should understand that some of the nutritional value is lost once you make the juice. The longer amount of time that you wait to consume the juice the fewer nutrients, you will get. Take the juice as soon as it is made and enjoy the taste and nutrition.You now understand some of the basics when it comes to the benefits of juicing, including a delicious drink and improved nutrition. You can be a professional at juicing in no time with this advice, making sure you get the most from your money and time. More Tips and Tricks will be added soon so stick around!

You now understand some of the basics when it comes to the benefits of juicing, including a delicious drink and improved nutrition. You can be a professional at juicing in no time with this advice, making sure you get the most from your money and time.

More Tips and Tricks will be added soon so stick around!

RETURNING TO A HEALTHY BALANCE

It can be easy for healthy life-styles to go out the window on holidays. Particularly busy ones in new countries, running around, seeing new sights, sampling far too much of the local food. Not only that, but after escaping your daily grind for a while it’s common to get overwhelmed by reality on your return. So after a holiday, it’s pretty important to start returning to a healthy balance as soon as possible.

FIRSTLY, ACCEPTANCE IS KEY

You went on holiday, likely ate and drank more than normal, and you’ve put on a few pounds. Obviously this can be very disheartening. Especially if you were actively trying to manage your food and exercise to not gain weight. But there’s one thing you must do now that you’re back:

Accept it. You went on holidays. You enjoyed yourself. So you put on a bit of weight. It’s not the end of the world. Stressing about it will only make things worse. Your self-confidence will plummet and you’ll be too busy feeling sorry for yourself to fix it.

Accepting these things happen and moving forward is the first step to returning to a healthy balance.

GET BACK TO A NORMAL DAILY ROUTINE ASAP

It’s tempting to spend the first few days on your return lounging about recovering from jet-lag, but this is counterproductive. The best thing to do is try to return to normal quickly. It will take a few days for your body to adjust and you’ll feel terrible. But it’ll take longer — and you’ll feel worse — if you don’t.

More specifically, and perhaps more importantly, you should get back to a normal sleep schedule as fast as possible. Good sleep is one of the pillars of healthy living, and one of the fastest steps to returning to a healthy balance.

Fight the sleepiness. Fight the jet-lag. Try to get to sleep as close to your regular bedtime as possible. If you wake too early, lie in bed and rest. Stay down until as close to your regular waking time as you can manage. You’ll be back to your old sleeping habits in no time.

YOU MIGHT NEED TO CUT DOWN ON SOME FOODS

We don’t advocate fad diets or cutting out food groups. But if you got used to certain foods, your body starts craving them. If you found yourself overindulging in sweets, alcohol, or carb-heavy meals, for example, you’ll be well served from cutting right down for a week or so. Your body will naturally adjust and you’ll experience less cravings, making it easier to return to your previous eating habits.

It’ll be hard, at first, but it’ll be worth it.

This can be particularly prudent for alcohol consumption, which is obviously habit-forming. Alcohol is also disruptive to healthy sleep and will prevent you from getting back into a good sleep cycle quickly. While it’s true alcohol makes us drowsy, metabolising it is a different matter. If you’ve ever woken up wide awake early in the morning after a night of drinking, you can thank your liver. When you’re trying to return to a healthy balance, disruption to your sleep is the last thing you need.

TRY MEDITATING

It’s back to paying bills, doing work, and all the things you escaped for a few weeks. Very quickly, stress and anxiety can pile themselves back on.

This is where meditation becomes a very useful tool. Mindfulness meditation is a great way of putting yourself in the “now”. By concentrating on the present you can ease yourself away from the worries of obligations. This in turn makes them seem less imposing and easier to manage. Easier to manage, less stress.

Going for a walk and concentrating on the sights and sounds around you can be an excellent way not just to clear your mind, but to bring it back to home. Walk familiar streets. Visit a park. Touch a tree. Little sensations that bring you closer to the present moment will calm you and focus your thoughts.

So to wrap it all up:

• Don’t beat yourself up about slipping on your healthy living on your trip. It happens. Stressing will only make it worse.


• Get back to your normal daily and sleep patterns as quickly as possible.


• Lay off the alcohol and energy-dense foods for a little bit. Give your body time to recover from any cravings you’ve developed.


• Clear your head and stay on top of mounting tasks with a little bit of mindful meditation.

Within a week of your return you’ll be right back on top of life again, returning to a healthy balance and living to the fullest.

HEALTHY LIVING TODAY IN 5 STEPS

There’s more to healthy living than having a slim, athletic body. Restrictive diets and big muscles don’t necessarily mean good health. Equally, eating meat and the occasional burger doesn’t necessarily mean poor health.

Healthy living is about taking care of yourself as a whole. What you eat and how much you exercise absolutely play an important part. But when it comes to healthy living there are other pillars that many people just don’t stop to consider. It’s entirely possible to be a sickly mess with the healthiest diet and the best exercise regime in the world. So here are our five tips for healthy living, from diet and exercise, through to your mental wellbeing.

STAY WELL HYDRATED

Obviously we need water to survive. We’ll die without it. And everyone’s heard that you need about eight glasses of water a day. But beyond “you’ll die if you don’t”, many people don’t understand the benefits of proper hydration. Aside from keeping you alive, being well hydrated:

Helps combat fatigue. Water helps your cells function and is one of many energy sources for your body. It’s even been shown that people who are well-hydrated before going to bed wake up easier in the morning. Find yourself consistently struggling to get out of bed? Keep some water next to you at night and sip when you wake during sleep.

Prevents histamine buildup that provokes asthma and allergies.

Helps your cardiovascular system. Well-hydrated blood is over 90% water, which helps keep your blood flowing and prevents high blood pressure.

Helps kidneys and liver function optimally.

Keeps your skin healthy and helps prevent skin conditions like acne.

Makes losing weight easier. Drinking plenty of water helps prevent you feeling hungry, so you don’t snack as much throughout the day. Replacing sugary beverages like soda with water is also a simple, but powerful, weightloss method.

To top it all off, you don’t actually need to drink 8 glasses of water. Fruits and vegetables with high water content also contribute to your daily water intake.

GET A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP

How much sleep a person needs is fairly subjective. Whether you need 8 hours or not is up for some debate. Current thinking is that it’s closer to about 6 hours for most people. What’s not up for debate, though, is that a good night’s sleep is vitally important for healthy living.

Lack of good sleep has many negative consequences. Some of them are obvious, such as feeling fatigued throughout the day. Our ability to focus, concentrate, and retain information becomes seriously impaired. Loss of concentration or drowsiness can become particularly problematic when someone is driving.

But lack of sleep also has some wider-reaching consequences. It contributes to many major chronic cardiovascular issues. One night’s bad sleep can give people with hypertension elevated blood pressure for all of the following day. It makes us stressed and depressed, and kills our sex drive. It contributes to premature ageing of the skin.

People who get a good night’s sleep are generally more productive, less stressed, less depressed, and healthier overall.

MEDITATE

Not everybody goes for spirituality. Many are quick to dismiss meditation as nonsense. But when it comes to healthy living, particularly in this day and age, meditation can be very important.

The key benefit of meditation is to calm yourself. Stress and anxiety can majorly impact your wellbeing. Depressed people live shorter lives than non-depressed people. Meditation helps clear stress and anxiety from our minds. It helps us achieve that good night’s sleep, or prepare ourselves for a busy day ahead.

Even if you don’t believe in meditation, simply finding something every day that calms you is of great benefit. It’s important to not be emotionally and psychologically overwhelmed. Alcohol and drugs are not good methods, as they can lead to addiction and further problems. Whether it’s reading a book, drawing a picture, or watching a favourite film, find something in your life that takes your mind away from vague anxieties and puts it in the present.

YES, EAT A BALANCED DIET

There is more to healthy living than eating well and exercise, yes … but these are still vitally important. The important part here, though, is the word “balanced”. Eat junk food every now and then, but sparingly. Use it as a treat. Many people swing completely the other way and opt for a raw vegan diet. This isn’t particularly healthy either unless very carefully controlled.

Fat, carbs, and sugars are all necessary for life. Meat in moderation is very good for you. Even things like alcohol can be beneficial. The trick for healthy living is to eat foods in the right proportions. We’ve covered this in other articles and we encourage you to read further!

FINALLY, YOU CAN’T ESCAPE IT: EXERCISE

Anyone who tells you that you can live a healthy life with no exercise is lying! We don’t mean intense cardio or heavy weights, just be active. Move around as much as possible during the day. The optimum exercise for optimal health, it was found, was about 10 minutes of intense workout a few times a week. A quick run or a bike ride, and that’s it. You don’t need to torture yourself, just get the blood pumping for ten minutes every few days.

Again, we’ve got a longer article on exercise that you can read and we recommend you go have a browse. It’ll give you a better insight and some good ideas.

But that’s it! The five pillars of healthy living: hydration, sleep, relaxation, good food and a bit of sweat. It doesn’t take much. It doesn’t take the world. But it does take a little care and effort. Luckily, the payoff far outweighs the cost. Happy, healthy living!

HEALTHY BREAKFAST: 3 FAST, EASY OPTIONS

It’s very popular for people to skip breakfast. It’s also generally a bad idea. Many people feel they don’t have the time or interest to eat a proper, let alone healthy breakfast, every day, so they often resort to skipping the meal altogether.

But eating well first thing in the morning has many benefits. It gives you energy to be alert and productive throughout the day. It helps maintain your hunger levels so you don’t snack on energy-dense junk later. Starting the day with a healthy breakfast is the best way to go.

Below we’ve got three simple, healthy breakfasts you can build a lot of interesting, healthy variations on. We’ve gone for foods that don’t require a lot of time to prepare, so fresh fruit salads or big cooked breakfasts are out. They're great breakfast options to be sure, but people don’t always have time to make them. Even if you’re super busy in the morning you should have enough time to make one of the suggestions from this list.

So here we go: three fast, healthy breakfast options everyone can enjoy:

TOAST

Wholegrain or multigrain, preferably: gluten free if you need. Or whatever your favourite bread-substitute might be.

Toast embodies what this list is about: food that’s quick, simple to prepare, and versatile. It might seem like an old, boring staple, sure. But putting things on some gently cooked bread really is a great starting point for a good, healthy breakfast.

Fried egg on toast, for example, gives you fiber, protein, and carbs for energy throughout your morning. It takes as long to fry an egg as it does to cook a slice of toast, so it’s quick to prepare. Throw on a slice of ham or thinly sliced chicken (leave bacon for special occasions) and some spinach leaves and presto, a quick, healthy breakfast.

For vegetarians, nut spread (like peanut butter or almond butter), fruits, berries and chia seeds are also a good way to give you a solid meal in a heartbeat. Any combination of sliced fruit and berries is as tasty as it is healthy. Use natural honey for that extra kick of sweetness and energy.

Here are a few suggestions for filling, healthy breakfasts you can make starting with a humble slice of toast:

• NUT, BANANA AND CHIA


• SWEET BANANA BERRY


• CREAM CHEESE AND STRAWBERRIES


• RICOTTA CHEESE AND CUCUMBER


• AVOCADO AND EGG


• FRIED TOMATO AND MUSHROOM


• TOMATO, MOZZARELLA AND SPINACH


• BANANA AND CINNAMON


• MANGO AND MOZZARELLA


• AVOCADO, SPROUTS AND LEMON JUICE


• HUMMUS AND POMEGRANATE 


• SALMON AND CREAM CHEESE


• MANDARIN SLICES AND BERRIES


• PEAR, RICOTTA AND HONEY

SMOOTHIES

Smoothies are quick, easy, and highly customizable. They can also last a day or two in the fridge, so if you make a big batch one morning you’ll have breakfast for a few days. Fruits, veggies, spices and seeds can all be quickly thrown together for a nutritionally complete, healthy breakfast. 

Smoothies are also suitable for just about any diet. If you're lactose intolerant, then use almond or rice milk. If you want to watch your sugar intake, you can use more vegetables than fruit. Green smoothies full of leafy greens are also increasingly popular in this day and age. You can even add supplements that you might want or need, such as protein powder, to bulk up your meal and give you that extra energy kick.

Everyone has their go-to favorite smoothie ingredients. Here are some interesting flavor combinations, some you might not have thought of, that you can try for your next smoothies:

• MANGO AND PINEAPPLE


• APPLE, CARROT, AND GINGER


• BEETROOT AND ORANGE


• MANGO-STRAWBERRY


• BANANA-AVOCADO


• BANANA AND CASHEW


• BANANA AND PEANUT BUTTER


• WATERMELON AND MINT

OVERNIGHT OATS

And finally, overnight oats are a great option for people who don’t have a lot of spare time in the morning. They’re also super simple to prepare: 1/2 cup of rolled oats, 1/2 cup of milk of your choice. Combine the two together and leave in the fridge overnight. To save dishes and energy you can even prepare them in the same bowl you want to eat them out of. Now you've got a healthy breakfast and easy clean-up afterwards!

Of course, a bowl of plain oats first thing in the morning is hardly the most appetising breakfast for most people. Luckily, like everything else on this list, oats are a super versatile meal. You can add just about anything you want to them. They go amazingly well with fruits, nuts, berries, seeds, chocolate, and honey. Spices such as cinnamon go well with just about anything you'll add to overnight oats. A quarter teaspoon of essences and extracts, such as coconut, vanilla, or coffee bean, can absolutely transform a plain dish into something amazing.

Some suggested overnight oat toppings:

• STRAWBERRY AND CHIA


• CINNAMON AND BANANA


• PEANUT BUTTER AND BANANA


• CHOCOLATE AND CHIA OATS — Use cacao powder to stir into the mixture for that chocolate hit.


• BERRIES AND HONEY

And there you have it! Three super fast, super simple ways to get a healthy breakfast every morning. We hope you find some tasty-looking suggestions in the list that get you inspired to eat well every morning.