Want Toned Abs in Time for Summer?

I found this really great clip with some simple exercises to help you get toned abs,

enjoy!

Juicing Cleanse Recipes!

Juice cleansing has recently taken off in a big way.. but what actually is it?
It effectively involves replacing meals with raw, healthy juices containing all of your days nutrients for a short period of time.
Although your body removes toxins from your body naturally, a juicing programme for a couple of days can really help in replenishing and relaxing your body, as you obviously can't do too much heavy exercise.
Even if you don't fancy a juicing cleanse, these recipes are great if you're peckish between meals or if you need an extra energy boost.

Before cleansing, do remember to get professional health advice and make sure it's right for you :)

ULTIMATE GREEN JUICE

I drink this juice daily, and with good reason. The base is celery, which is a little known nutritional powerhouse. It’s loaded with potassium, folic acid, magnesium, calcium, iron, phosphorus and essential amino acids. On top of all that, it’s one of the most alkalinizing things you can put in your body. To the celery, I add kale, green apple, parsley, lime, lemon and ginger, creating an extremely potent, detoxifying cocktail.

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch celery
4-5 kale leaves (preferably lacinato)
1 green apple
one big handful of flat leaf parsley leaves
1 lime
1 lemon
1 inch of fresh ginger

*Add one tablespoon of Organic Coconut Oil for additional health benefits.

BEET APPLE AND BLACKBERRY JUICE

Beet juice is a powerful cleanser of the blood, and highly nutritious. It’s full of folate, manganese potassium, iron and Vitamin C. To the beets, I add apples, blackberries and ginger, creating a deep red and delicious elixir.

INGREDIENTS:

3 small beets
2-3 apples
8 oz. blackberries
1/2 inch fresh ginger
Photo by Food Thinkers

WILD SPICED DANDELION BERRY BLISS JUICE

This Wild Spicy Dandelion Berry Bliss Juice is a fantastic example of how a pulped juice is not only healthier and more beneficial, it is actually more texturally pleasing.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups strawberries
1 cup dandelion leaves or more to taste
1 cup raspberries
1 small chili with seeds and placental skin removed (more or less depending on the heat) *optional
10-20 drops of alcohol-free liquid stevia depending on the ripeness and sweetness of your berries *optional

TROPICAL PARADISE JUICE

The perfect way to brighten your morning, this juice blend is easy on the digestive system and gently loosens any build up that may have occurred while the body was at rest.

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium ripe papaya, peeled, seeded, and sliced
1 small pineapple, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 (1-in.) piece peeled fresh ginger
1 medium kiwi, peeled
1.2 cup fresh young coconut water (stir in after juicing)

Juicy Fact
This juice was a chance discovery at a roadside juice stand on the beautiful island of Kauai. Although the juice stand is no longer in business, we are happy to share this recipe and keep this best-selling juice alive. It is simply incredible.

BLOSSOMING LOTUS JUICE AIDE

The simple ingredients in this fresh green juice create an exotic combination. This sweet, herbal drink is a wonderful departure from mundane juice blends.

INGREDIENTS:

5 large Fuji apples, cored
1 (2-in.) piece peeled and sliced fresh ginger
1 medium lime, outer 20 medium-large fresh rind removed, white basil leaves pith intact
7 large sprigs cilantro sectioned

Juicy Fact
This juice is served in Oregon’s Blossoming Lotus restaurant, co-owned by our very own Bo Rinaldi. This is an all-time favorite signature offering in the restaurant and is revered for its Thai-inspired flavors.

GARDEN GREEN COCO

Coconuts are packed with potassium and electrolytes, says Helms, which makes them great post-workout drinks, and ideal for summer.

INGREDIENTS:

1 young Thai coconut
1 handful of green kale
1 handful of spinach
½ banana

Instructions:
Crack open coconut (using a cleaver and extreme care) and pour the coconut water into a blender. Remove coconut meat with a spoon and add to blender. Add kale, spinach, and banana. Blend on high for 30 seconds. Pour smoothie into the coconut and serve with a straw.

SPICE-C JUICE

INGREDIENTS:

1 quarter fresh pineapple
1 orange
1/2 handful cilantro
1/2 small jalapeño, seeded

Recipe's c/o http://www.thecultureist.com/2013/06/24/10-healthy-juicing-recipes-for-detox-cleanse/

50 Healthy Snack Ideas!

It's always good to stick to three filling, healthy meals throughout the day, but what do you do if you're craving more or just need a little extra energy without diving straight into the biscuit tin?

Try one of these healthier snack ideas courtesy of 'sixsisterstuff'! 

1. Frozen Grapes (I used to eat these in college all the time- they are amazing)
2. String Cheese
3. Banana
4. Frozen Banana (peel it first, stick in the freezer overnight- it's like a yummy popsicle)
5. Low-fat Yogurt
6. Sugar-free or fat-free pudding
7. Apple dipped in Peanut Butter (or spread peanut butter on top of apple slice and top with pecans . . . so good!)
8. 100-calorie bag of popcorn
9. Applesauce
10. Raw veggies with hummus (my new favorite!)
11. Almonds
12. Apple
13. Skinny S'more (two graham crackers with one roasted marshmallow and one small square dark chocolate)
14. Smoked Beef Jerky (about 1 oz- look for low-sodium!)
15. Chocolate Milk
16. Hard Boiled Egg
17. Sunflower Seeds
18. Cottage Cheese
19. Sliced Cantelope
20. Raisins
21. Pita Bread and Hummus
22. Rice Cakes
23. Sugar-free Jello
24. Dried Fruits
25. Frozen Yoplait Whips Yogurt (these seriously taste like ice cream when they are frozen!)
26. Air-Popped Popcorn
27. Pistachios
28. Clementines (we call them Cuties or Clemmies)
29. Fruit Smoothie (or Kristen's Green Smoothie- it's actually delicious!)
30. Handful of olives
31. Pickles
32. Handful of blueberries with 2 tablespoons fat-free Cool-Whip
33. Ants on a Log (celery with peanut butter and raisins)
34. 1 cup mixed berry salad (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and/or blackberries) tossed with one tablespoon fresh-squeezed orange juice.
35. Peanut Butter and Bananas on whole wheat bread
36. Trail Mix (make your own! Throw in dried fruit, sunflower seeds, nuts, low-sugar cereals, and even the occasional piece of candy for something sweet.)
37. Orange Slices
38. Cherry Tomatoes
39. Graham Crackers
40. Small Green Salad with light dressing
41. Mango smoothie (frozen mango, mango Greek Yogurt, and a small amount of orange juice)
42. Kabobs (thread low-fat meat, low-fat cheese, pineapple and cherry tomatoes onto a stick- my kids love anything on a stick!)
43. Half of a  Cinnamon-Raisin topped with peanut butter and banana slices
44. Grilled Pineapple (throw them on the grill or a skillet on med. heat for two minutes or until golden)
45. Baked Apples (one tennis ball-sized apple, cored, filled with 1 teaspoon brown sugar and cinnamon, and baked until tender)
46. Animal Crackers
47. Strawberries dipped in fat-free Cool Whip
48. Low-fat tortilla topped with egg salad, shredded carrots and cucumber slices
49. Parfait (build your own with Greek yogurt or plain yogurt, fruit, and granola)
50. Bowl of bran flakes with 1/2 cup skim milk and berries




http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/fresh-food-friday-100-healthy-snack.html

Top 10 Healthy Habits

1. Evaluate your eating habits. Are you eating late at night, nibbling while cooking, finishing the kids' meals? Take a look around, and it will be easy to identify a few behaviors you can change that will add up to big calorie savings.

2. If you fail to plan, plan to fail. You need a strategy for your meals and snacks. Pack healthful snacks for the times of day that you know you are typically hungry and can easily stray from your eating plan.

3. Always shop with a full belly. It's a recipe for disaster to go into the grocery store when you are hungry. Shop from a prepared list so impulse buying is kept to a minimum. Eating right starts with stocking healthy food in your pantry and refrigerator.

4. Eat regular meals. Figure out the frequency of your meals that works best in your life and stick to it. Regular meals help prevent bingeing.

5. Eat your food sitting down at a table, and from a plate. Food eaten out of packages and while standing is forgettable. You can wind up eating lots more than if you sit down and consciously enjoy your meals.

6. Serve food onto individual plates, and leave the extras back at the stove.Bowls of food on the table beg to be eaten, and it takes incredible will power not to dig in for seconds. Remember, it takes about 20 minutes for your mind to get the signal from your belly that you are full.

7. Eat slowly, chew every bite, and savor the taste of the food. Try resting your fork between bites and drinking plenty of water with your meals.

8. Don't eat after dinner. This is where lots of folks pack on the extra pounds. If you are hungry, try satisfying your urge with a non-caloric beverage or a piece of hard candy. Brushing your teeth after dinner helps reduce the temptation to eat again.

9. If you snack during the day, treat the snack like a mini-meal. The most nutritious snacks contain complex carbohydrates and a small amount of protein and fat.

10. Start your day with breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day. After a long night's rest, your body needs the fuel to get your metabolism going and give you energy for the rest of the day.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/top-10-habits-that-can-help-you-lose-weight

Why Gwyneth Paltrow's no-carb diet for children makes perfect sense

Gwyneth Paltrow has provoked the wrath of the dietetic establishment by saying that she avoids feeding her children bread, rice and pasta, because she believes that these carbohydrate foods aren't good for them. Paltrow was writing in her new low-carb, gluten-free cookbook, It's All Good, which is out in April, and whose recipes are said by her publisher to "form the basis of the diet Gwyneth goes back to when she's been overindulging, when she needs to rebuild, or lose weight."

Casting Paltrow in the role of the neurotic celeb, selfishly inflicting her own faddy and dangerous eating habits on her poor starved offspring, has undeniable appeal, especially for those of us who aren't rich or pretty and who struggle daily with our own excess weight. TheNew York Post says: "The book reads like the manifesto to some sort of creepy healthy-girl sorority." But Paltrow has a point: no one, not even a child, actually "needs" to eat carbs.Dieticians who subscribe uncritically to government nutritional guidelines have been wheeled out to testify to how 'vital' carbohydrate is in the diet, and warn in the bleakest terms of the dangers of restricting it. Paltrow is putting her children, aged eight and six, "at risk of nutrient deficiencies", warns one. Her children "won't be able to think straight as their brain won't be functioning", says another. In the same Daily Mail piece, it is even observed that Paltrow's children are thin – shock horror! – as if this was automatically cause for concern. So accustomed are we to the sight of overweight children, thin ones are beginning to look unusual.

Now, this may sound counterintuitive. That familiar notion of "[basing] your meals on starchy foods" is currently acentral plank of public health advice. But this orthodoxy is under attack from influential researchers and nutritionists. The fact of the matter is that there are no nutrients (vitamins, minerals, micronutrients) in starchy carbohydrate foods that we can't get elsewhere, and often in a superior form.

Of course, the processed food industry works ceaselessly to convince us that we must eat highly refined starchy foods, such as breakfast cereals and white bread, trumpeting that they give us energy. But all food gives us energy. Contrary to what we have been led to believe, there is no dietary "need" to eat starchy carbohydrates at all.

Now if Paltrow was to starve her children of protein, then social workers could quite legitimately come knocking at her door. We are made of protein. Our bodies require it to build and repair muscles and tissue. But we have no absolute requirement for carbohydrate.

It is only in recent times that starchy foods have been presented as health foods. For much longer, they have been seen as fattening foods. Why do farmers feed their livestock on grains? To plump them up for market.

For half a century we have been told to avoid saturated fat, even though there is no good evidence that fat is inherently fattening. By diligently avoiding it, we have ended up replacing whole, unprocessed foods, such as red meat and butter, with starchy carbs of the highly refined and processed sort, often containing added sugar. Net result? We're getting fatter.

The problem with sugar, and starchy refined carbs, is that the surge of energy they give you is shortlived. Like newspaper ignited with a match, refined carbs burn up quickly, producing a sharp spike in blood sugar level that encourages our bodies to produce insulin, the fat storage hormone, so encouraging weight gain. Unlike protein and fat, which give a longer, slower, steadier release of energy, when our blood sugar level crashes after eating carbs, our appetite is unsatisfied and we crave more food.

This is probably what Paltrow means when she writes in her book: "Sometimes when my family is not eating pasta, bread or processed grains … we're left with that specific hunger that comes with avoiding carbs".

Fruit and vegetables are, of course, carbohydrates, and do contain natural sugar. However, they also contain micronutrients, notably fibre, that slow down the rate at which sugar is released in the blood. The same applies to whole, unrefined carbohydrates, such as brown rice. What's more, the general effort required to chew fruit, vegetables and whole grains puts a natural brake on how much we can eat. But it's easy to overeat refined carbs, the kind Paltrow avoids.

If the daily diet in the Paltrow household includes protein (fish/meat/eggs/pulses), unprocessed fats (butter/olive oil), plenty of vegetables and some fruit, then it is healthy, nutrient-rich and lacking in nothing. If that's what the Paltrow kids eat, she's doing them a favour.

Yes, children do have slightly different nutritional requirements from adults: they need more fat and protein. But filling their plates with empty calories in the form of white pasta, bread and rice is no nutritional kindness.

Boost Your Metabolism!

When you're hypothyroid, fatigue, difficulty losing weight, or continued weight gain may all be related to the drop in the metabolism that frequently accompanies hypothyroidism. Even after your hypothyroidism is properly treated with thyroid hormone replacement, you may find that your metabolism has not bounced back to where it was before. This sluggishness in your metabolism can leave you feeling exhausted, and finding that you can't lose weight, despite a healthy low-calorie diet.

Here are some ways you can help revive and boost your metabolism.

Make sure you eat breakfast.

If you don't eat breakfast, you slow down your metabolism and send the body into "hoard mode," thinking it's starving because you're going a long period of time frequently 8 to 10 hours or more, without food. 

Eat the majority of your food earlier in the day. 

Dinner should be your lightest meal, and some experts recommend you don't anything after 8 p.m., or any later than 3 to 4 hours before bedtime. This helps your body process and burn the food when you're aware and moving around and burning more calories per hour. 

Don't starve. 

Dropping your calorie intake below 1,000 calories a day will signal to your body that you are in starvation mode, and will slow down your metabolism. 

Minimize snacking.

Contrary to popular opinion, for thyroid patients, it may be better to eat three scheduled meals, and avoid snacks. This allows the body to go into fat-burning mode. 

Get enough aerobic exercise.

As much as you can is really a help for your metabolism, and if you do it in the morning, you'll raise your metabolism all day. 

Build muscle with weight training or resistance exercise.

At least two to three times a week, you should add weight training or progressive resistance exercise that builds muscle. Muscle burns more calories than fat, and the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even at rest! 

Water, water, water!!

You've heard it before, but drink those 8 8-ounce glasses of water every day. The energy burning process of metabolism needs water to work effectively.

Get enough B vitamins.

Among supplements, if you are suffering from flagging energy, you need to make sure that you are getting enough B vitamins. Vitamin B-12 in particular is one that is essential for energy. To ensure you're getting enough B vitamins, consider taking a B complex, plus a separate sublingual B-12. 

Try a supplement for fatigue.

Another type of supplement useful for fatigue is in the area of substances that the body naturally produces for energy production. Supplements in this category include: 

• Co-enzyme Q10, also known as CoQ10, which supplies energy to muscles
• NADH (Nicotinamide Adenine Finucleotide) which helps cells convert food into energy
• Green Tea extract

Try Chinese Herbs

In terms of herbal remedies, while you should avoid ephedra and ma huang stimulants, you can ask your practitioner about schizandra--a Chinese herb that is used for fatigue. Ginseng is also popular for energy. Before trying any herbs, supplements, or vitamins, you should of course consult with your practitioner to ensure they are safe for you. Ginseng, for example, is not recommended for someone with high blood pressure and many herbs and supplements are not recommended during pregnancy. 

Try mate tea

In the process of writing my book, Living Well With Hypothyroidism: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You...That You Need to Know, I had the opportunity to interview herbal and aromatherapy expert Mindy Green of the Herbal Research Foundation. I asked her what, as a person with hypothyroidism, I should reach for when I'm just completely out of steam, and am ready for a giant double espresso in order to make it through the day. Mindy, said, unquestionably, mate tea. Mate, pronounced, "mah-tay," is an herbal tea native to South America. Mate is considered far more nutritious than black tea or coffee, and though it also has some caffeine, its effects are energizing, rather than making people jittery. 

Consider Energy Work 

Energy and bodywork , such as yoga, tai chi, qigong (pronounced chee-gung), and Reiki, can all help in adding and balancing energy. In qigong, tai chi, and yoga, gentle movements are used to move energy along the energy pathways of the body. In Reiki, a practitioner helps open up energy channels. 

(Remember to always check with your practitioner before starting any herbs or supplements.)



http://thyroid.about.com/cs/dietweightloss/a/12ways.htm

10 ways to eat healthier!

1. Bananas, eggs, and peanut butter are all you need to make healthy, gluten-free pancakes.

Lots of protein and lots of happiness! 

glutenfreefix.com

2. Dates are a great way to naturally sweeten smoothies and shakes.

You can drink this date, banana, and coconut shake for breakfast with a clean conscience.

sproutedkitchen.com

3. Put fruit compote on pancakes or waffles instead of butter and syrup.

thefirstmess.com

4. Upgrade sandwiches by spreading them with avocado instead of mayo.

Yeah, no, for real, mayo can take a hike. 

twopeasandtheirpod.com

5. Swap crispy baked zucchini for the usual fries.

peggy

6. Snack on frozen grapes instead of candy or cookies.

Each one is like a tiny, perfect popsicle! Freeze them in a sealed plastic bag so they don't dry out.

 eatingoutloud.com

7. Cut the fat in dip way down by using Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

And dip veggies instead of chips, while you're at it. T

bonappetit.com

8. Use Greek or regular yogurt instead of mayo in tuna, chicken, and egg salad.

Better in every way. 

 itbakesmehappy.com

9. Sprinkle nutritional yeast on popcorn instead of cheese.

Nutritional yeast has a rep as a weird hippie ingredient (you can find it at organic/health food stores or order online) but it's absolutely worth keeping around. It has a great umami flavor that's very cheese-esque, lots of protein and fiber, and zero fatty cheese-induced guilt.

caspost.com

10. Use potatoes or cashews (instead of cream) to make blended soups smooth and creamy.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/healthy-ingredient-swaps-substitutions