Worth Every Minute

My advice from the doctor last week was to drink more water, because she feared I might be dehydrated. Naturally, I'm not one to argue, but I am one to inform myself, and that's how I came across the following article that I thought was really interesting. It talks about the health benefits of drinking water, and how it can help you stay fit by burning fat and nurturing your muscles.

It's a short article, a 2-minute read at most. Hopefully it'll inspire you to drink more water too. If you want to get some tips on how to drink more water, you can read this post.

Read the article and get re-hydrated!

Health Benefits of Water - How 8 Glasses a Day Keeps Fat Away

3 Easy Tricks to Eat More Fruit

Picture by Michael Geipel

Vegetables are quite easy to incorporate into our diet since they're a part of our main meals, but unless you eat fruit as a desert or with breakfast, it can be difficult to give it a place in your diet. Fruit makes an ideal snack, however, as long as it's readily available when you feel like snacking.
Healthy eating is always a concern of mine, and with another life growing inside, it is now more so than ever. So I try to consume at least 3 pieces of fruit a day. Here's how I do it:

1. Pick fruit that's easy to eat on the go. It's tangerine and banana season here, but apples, grapes or berries are great too. Put a piece of fruit (or a bag of grapes) in your purse/briefcase so you have it with you when you're out of the house. You'll find yourself reaching for it when you're in the mood for something sweet because it's so close at hand.
   
2. Make a smoothie or shake to go with breakfast or as an in between snack. You can pack smoothies with quite a bit of different fruits, and you can add milk or yogurt for extra calcium, or orange juice for extra  vitamin C. Adding ice-cream is delicious, but kind of defeats the purpose. We've been loving our banana-yogurt-cocoa shakes lately!
   
3. Wash fruits right when you bring them into the house, and then display them wherever you spend the most time in the house. Having it already washed means you can just reach and take a bite. It also means you can let your fruit soak in salt water which is a great way to remove pesticides.
   Remember to wash your fruit even if it is organic because there are bugs and parasites in dirt too!

For me, fruit is a great way to satisfy that craving for something sweet without having to feel guilty about it. It also gives you fast sugars if you're feeling low on energy, so it's a great pick-me-up.
Fruits are full of wonderful nutrients, so every piece is a treat not only for your taste buds, but for your body too! Enjoy!

Aim for Small

Mini-cupcake by Vancouver Bites!

Pregnancy and food are a dangerous mix. Especially pregnancy and junk food. But I know it's not only pregnant women that crave foods that are bad for them. We all have our weaknesses and sometimes it's just too hard not to give in.
My hubby is pretty strict with me when it comes to eating fast food (frankly, I just don't tell him everything), but I make allowances for myself. If I really want something, I feel better just giving in than obsessing over it and getting stressed out in the process.

So how do I lessen my guilt and keep my intake of junk food under control? I opt for the smallest portion size.

I know that technically you get more value for money if you buy big sizes (although it's best to check that because I've found that sometimes the big containers end up costing more per kg than the small ones!), but you will still save money if you buy a smaller portion. The reality is that if you buy the big portion, you'll most likely finish it all at ones. I've only rarely seen someone put away half a bag of potato chips (my personal nemesis). If you only have a small portion, I doubt you'll run back to the store to buy more.

The same goes for bottles of soda, pieces of cake, packages of candy. Buying the small portion may seem more expensive, but it will save you money in the long run and keep you healthier, because you will get used to only consuming the small portion.

So next time you're at the store looking for that snack to satisfy your craving, try to find the smallest bag/package/bottle/can available and buy only that one. Just having a taste can be enough to get rid of those nagging thoughts.
If there is no small size available, sharing can work wonders too cutting your portion at least in half!

Worth Every Minute

I've been trying to incorporate more calcium into my diet, and one of the ways I've done this is by sipping the occasional glass of milk. I drink one with breakfast, and one before going to bed. It comforts my stomach when it's upset and it's just nice as an in between snack.

I was looking up some information about the benefits of drinking milk (and the drawbacks) when I came across this site that I'd love to share with you. It has lots of great tips on how to incorporate drinking more milk into your life, and on the benefits of drinking it.

So go ahead, read, think, get a glass of the good stuff!

The Health Benefits of Drinking Milk by Michele Borboa

PS. Avoid taking calcium with iron-rich foods because they sort of cancel each other out. Vitamin C and D help with the absorption of calcium.

Control Your Cravings: 3 Snack Options

Picture by Arnold Gatilao

Let's face it: Our body doesn't always let us know what's good for us. At different times during the day we may crave something sweet, salty or greasy. None of these options are particularly encouraging for someone who is trying to eat well and stay healthy.
What you need is a way to fool your body into thinking you're satisfying a junk-food need, while really feeding it something reasonably healthy.
I've figured out some tricks to limit the amounts of ice-cream and salted chips/crisps that I eat.

1. Craving something sweet: Try to eat a sweet kind of fruit, maybe one that's on the verge of too sweet, like grapes or a very ripe mango. Dried fruits are even sweeter and guaranteed to make you crave some water instead!
   
2. Craving something salty and crunchy: Toast some bread and top it with some peanut butter and a little bit of salt. You could also use gomashio, which is a Japanese sesame salt that goes really well with peanut butter in my opinion! One of my go-to snacks.
   
3. Really hungry: Eat something that contains fat and protein. Ideal snacks to combine both are eggs, nuts and beef jerky. These are a great way to help tie you over until the next big meal.

Any idea what to do about craving french fries? That seems to be the one that's eternally difficult to control in my case. Can't imagine what it would be like if I lived in Belgium where they are pretty much everywhere! I used to eat them at least once a week.

3 Ways to Drink More Water

Picture by Greg Riegler

One of the tips for a healthy diet that I usually find difficult to keep up with, is the one about drinking more water. Usually, I just forget about it unless I'm really thirsty. And now that the heat has subsided, and our life is quite relaxed, I don't feel thirsty half as often as I should.
So I need to find little tricks to remind myself to drink more water. I want to share with you today what has worked for me so far.

1. It's important to always have water ready for you to drink. Keep a pitcher of water on your desk, a bottle in your bag, a glass on your bedside table (for mornings, not evenings!)
   
2. Make sure to drink water that you enjoy. There's no use trying to get yourself to drink more water if you don't like the taste. The habits won't stick. And yes, water does have lots of different tastes. If you're in a country where you can safely drink tap-water, a filtering can or system can improve the taste (and the effects on your iron and washing machine). It's what my parents did, and the water tastes great!
   
3. Make it a habit to sip your water rather than drinking big amounts at once. You will soon get used to the fresh feeling, and the lack thereof can start making you feel uncomfortable.
   This also keeps you from downing full glasses that leave you feeling like a giant water balloon. Not a pleasant feeling!

When I was young, I remember one of my classmates actually being taken to the hospital because he was dehydrated.  I've never quite forgotten that.
Drinking more water can help purify your body, and can help you get a better skin and a slimmer waist. You just have to remember to do it.

Five 5-Minute Breakfast Options

French Toast by Annie Mole

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you start off with a good breakfast, it gets your metabolism going and can provide energy for the morning ahead of you, preventing you from reaching for snacks before lunchtime. We eat a big breakfast every day, with two eggs, a piece of fruit, and a slice of bread with cheese. But from time to time we like to change it up a little and eat something different.
These following breakfast menus all take about 5 minutes to prepare.

1. Scrambled eggs with toast. Beat the eggs with a bit of milk, melt some butter in the pan, and keep stirring the eggs while they cook. Finished in no time!
   
2. French toast. Again, beat an egg with some milk, dip both sides of a slice of bread in the mix, and fry the eggy bread in some butter. Tastes great with jam! French toast is a great way to re-purpose stale bread.
   
3. Smoothies. In for a light breakfast? Put some frozen berries and a banana in the blender with some yogurt. Easy and fast!
   
4. Granola and yogurt. Cereals are easy but often a high-sugar/low-nutrient option. Go for a cereal without added sugar (granola can be made with only honey). It's even better if you take out some time to make your own muesli. Make sure you mix in some nuts so you feel full longer. Eat with milk or yogurt.
   
5. Ham & Cheese sandwich. Get some cheese and ham, slice some cucumber and tomatoes to go with it. Put it all between two slices of whole-wheat bread and voila! No need for mayo, tastes great without it. 

Now there's no excuse for not preparing breakfast for your family. It only takes a couple of minutes. Try to make sure you get a bit of protein (not included in option 3) too, so you'll feel full longer. And keep in mind that if you eat vegetables and fruit now, you've already taken a first step toward those 5 servings per day!

Healthy Summer Snacks: Shakes

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Summer and winter for me are both risky times when it comes to snacking. In winter, I always crave cookies and chocolate, in summer, I can't stay away from ice-cream and fruit pies. But there are so many better options available that offer our body much more nutrition and a lot less poison.

One of the ways I try to stay away from ice-cream is by eating fruit instead. But sometimes, that just doesn't cut it and I want something a bit more special. On those occasions, I get out the blender and make myself a quick shake.

I've based my shakes on either dairy or on juice. Some fruits mix better with milk or yogurt, others go really well with orange juice.
Some quick combinations for you to try out:

1. Mix some banana, yogurt (or kefir) and cocoa powder in the blender. This is similar to a desert my mother used to make that was a combination of melted chocolate and yogurt left in the fridge. This one is much faster though, and you get some extra nutrients from the banana
   
2. Mix any berries with apple juice. I love forest fruits in a juice, or in a blend. The tangy taste is just perfect for those hot summer days. To make it easy on yourself (and avoid a trip to the woods) frozen berries work just fine and add that bit of cold chill many people like.
   
3. Blend some mango with orange juice. Mango is one of my favorite fruits, and it's unbelievably good for you! To spice up this shake, add a bit of cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg to the mix.

Enjoy your summer full of healthy snacks, and don't forget to indulge in that bit of ice-cream every now and then anyways. You deserve it!

What kind of shakes do you make?
If you enjoyed reading this post, feel free to vote on it below.

5-Minute Yoga Routine

Eagle Pose in the Summer Palace

Finding time to exercise can be difficult, and even if you have free time, who says you want to spend your free hour working out? But I know many of you have that nagging feeling somewhere that you should be working out, or want to get fit.

I've found that yoga really helped me get back on the horse when it comes to regular exercise. I actually enjoy my work-outs, even if they're only 5 minutes or so, and I have noticed my body getting more flexible.

I can do yoga anywhere if I have a solid surface underneath my feet. For many poses you need a yoga mat, but you can also design a routine that doesn't require a mat.

Whenever you feel stressed, jittery or lack energy, try the following 5-minute mat-less yoga routine to get your energy flowing again:

1. Mountain: Start by placing your feet flat on the floor, toes spread out for balance. Stand up straight and control your breath.
2. Upward Salute: Raise your arms, with the palms together. Stretch and look upward.
3. Chair: keep your arms raised, but sink through your legs like you're sitting down on a chair. Great to create nice, firm thighs!
4. Standing Tree: bend your left leg, putting your left foot on your right thigh. Balance on the right leg while lifting your arms. Do the same for the other side.
5. Warrior III: stretch one leg back, and stretch your arms forward, putting your body horizontal, balancing on one leg. Same for the other leg.
6. Eagle: twist one leg around the other, and one arm around the other. Balance and sink through your leg until you feel it tensing. Then do the other leg and arm.
7. Extended Triangle: set your legs apart. Stretch your arms horizontally to the side. On an exhale, lean your right hand to your right foot, making an angle. The stretch on your side is phenomenal! Do the same for the other side.
8. Revolved Triangle: same, but in this case you move your right hand to your left foot and vice versa.
9. Wide-legged Forward Bend: keep your legs at the triangle position, but now bend forward (try to keep your back straight) and touch the floor.
10. Sun Salutation: go from lunge, to plank, to upward dog, and back to downward dog. See this site for a step by step guide to sun salutation.

In this whole routine, only your hands and feet need touch the floor at any time. So you can even do it outside, and not worry about your clothes getting dirty.
Enjoy!

Take the Stairs

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I remember when a certain friend's ex-boyfriend told me that the best way to achieve a nice bum, was to walk up the stairs taking two steps at a time. I don't think I'll ever quite forget that.
Taking the stairs is now almost an act of nostalgia. Taken a look at a hospital stairwell lately? It's probably the quietest place you can find.
But stairs have value! Today I'm preaching the return to walking stairs instead of taking the elevator.

Taking the stairs doesn't take you as long as you think. I only have to walk up to the 6th floor, but still find myself taking the elevator more often than not. There's always an excuse: "I have too much stuff", "I'm tired", "it's too hot", "it's too cold", and so on. Today, however, I'm re-committing myself to taking the stairs. And here's why:

1.  Exercise. It's always great to get a couple of minutes extra exercise in. If you haven't walked up any stairs lately, you'll feel this one instantly!
   
2. Avoid smells. I know you're thinking body odor now, but our elevator has contained a whole range of smells that I got me holding my breath!
   
3. No aimless waiting around. I've waited around for longer than it takes me to walk up to our floor. Multiple times! What a waste!
   
4. Environment. You're not using any energy except your own when you walk up the stairs. Totally green!
   
5. Less risky. Just imagine the elevator getting stuck. It's happened before. We've all seen the movies/tv shows. Now, does it still seem like taking the elevator saves you time? Right! I didn't think so!

So what about you? Are you a stair-walker or an elevator-rider? Or do you try to live your life on the ground floor at all times due to a paralyzing fear of heights?

P.S. It is now possible to rate posts below! Feel free to 5-star me, or shatter my heart. Whichever you choose. Really! No pressure!

Lift Some Weights

Picture by Keith Ramsey

Okay, so exercising is great and everything, totally necessary for your health and wellbeing, but let's face it: Who has the time? And if you have the time, who really wants to spend all their time on sweaty cardio-workouts? I sure don't.

As I've mentioned before, I do yoga for exercise. Yoga is mostly stretching and strengthening. I do it half an hour every morning, but somehow, I feel like it's not enough.
So lately, I've started using my husband's dumbbells on a regular basis. About twice every day.

Lifting weights doesn't have to take a long time. I can do about 50 repetitions in 2 minutes or less. I just do arms for now, and I just put on a fun song to pump me up a bit. 
It's key that you make this a habit. It can be totally random, just make sure you do it every day or every two days. Otherwise I can't guarantee results.

You can find some easy exercises here and here.

You could plan to do 20 reps every time come back from the bathroom. Or every time you eat something (before is better than after!). 
They're great, simple exercise. And you can just do it in little spurts of a couple of minutes. Doesn't seem like all that much effort, but those little bits add up. Also, ladies, don't worry about getting buff. Unless you're secretly taking testosterone, I'm sure you're safe!

Exercising is one of the things that's very difficult for me to keep up. So I have to cheat a little. I just do tiny bits here and there, and in the end it adds up to at least 30-45 minutes every day.

Instead of weights, you could also use other heavy objects, such as bottles of water or bags filled with sand. Dumbbells just happen to be very easy to hold.

Do you enjoy exercising? Do you make time for it? What kind of stuff do you do?

Make a Standard Meals List

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Ever wonder about what to cook for dinner? Or you're walking around the super market without any ideas as to which ingredients you should be buying? This happens to us all the time, and we sometimes just end up ordering pizza to avoid the problem altogether. Doesn't seem very efficient, does it? As we were fidgeting over what to cook for lunch for the zillionth time that month, it hit me. We should be able to organize this better.

Some people suggest you write up a weekly menu, planning every meal for that week and doing all your grocery shopping at once. Once we have kids, this will probably be how we do it too, but for now, what we have in the house depends on which vegetables we can find cheap and fresh at the supermarket. That depends on which day we go and what season it is, as well as on how many old Chinese ladies have gone through that morning picking up the cream of the crop.

So instead, I decided to write a list of dishes (Chinese and American/European) that we can cook well and without much trouble, so that all I have to do is look through my fridge, see which ingredients are available, and cook a dish based on that.

Take a piece of paper and a pen/pencil. This is really all you need. You don't really need a fancy notebook or organizing system. No need to over-complicate your simplification! 
Think of the different meals you've cooked last week, the ones that didn't require you to use a recipe because by now they've become routine. Write them down.
Alternatively, write down dishes based on which ingredients are prominent in them, or base them on the staple food of that dish (all pasta-dishes, all rice-dishes, all potato-dishes, for example). 
When you've finished this quick first list, check to see if all these dishes include vegetables and protein. If not, think of what you can add to them to make them complete.

Put this list on your fridge, or somewhere in your kitchen where it's easy to grab quickly. Keep a pencil close to it, so you can add as you go along and jot down other ideas for combinations or switching ingredients (we cook a Chinese dish that has eggs and tomatoes, for example, but can replace the tomato with some other vegetables, like zucchini for variety).

This can be a great way to economize as well, since it encourages you to use the ingredients you already have handy and not let anything go to waste. It's also a good reminder of how many various dishes you already know how to cook, and to eat a more varied and balanced diet.
Any ideas for easy, quick meals that take little time to cook or prepare?

Dance

I love to dance. It's such a joyous way of expressing myself. I do not love getting totally wasted or breathing in cigarette smoke, however. I also don't enjoy being harassed by drunken men or feeling self-conscious about the way I'm dancing.

I used to dance mostly at 'dancing-occasions', such as parties or girls' nights out. There I had all the benefits of good music and having my friends around, but also the disadvantage of the smoke and not being left alone.

Then I took some latin dance classes with a couple of friends, and the teacher told us to practice at home.
The classes have now stopped, but I still dance when I'm home alone!

Put on some great music, preferably music that you've danced to before. Maybe one of the songs from when you were a teenager and went out to party from time to time. Or put on a radio channel that has plenty of dance music. 
If you're a little rusty, start with tapping your foot and gradually work your way up 'till every part of your body is moving. 
Try goofing around a bit to let go of your self-awareness and just enjoy bending your body every way it'll go. Acting foolish is a wonderful way to improve your mood. 
Don't worry about someone walking in too much. Chances are that if they do, you will have given them a cheerfulness-boost too!

I love to put on some great music when I'm sweeping or mopping. I'm already up anyways, and it makes cleaning the house a whole lot more fun.
It's also the most fun exercise routine I've come across so far! Just let yourself go and you'll get a double boost of happiness hormones and exercise all at the same time!

What kind of songs do you suggest dancing too? I'm trying to make a 'dance at home' playlist!

Cultivate a Culture

Milk Kefir Culture (Picture by A. Kniesel)

I love all things natural, and fermentation is part of the natural process of making foods more digestible.
To ferment food, you need a culture that contains some kind of yeast. The fermentation digests sugars in your food, making it easier for you to digest it after. Most of these foods/drinks contain extra nutrients as well.
I'm currently cultivating a sourdough culture and a milk kefir culture. The sourdough culture I've had the longest, and I started from scratch myself. The kefir culture I received from a friend.
Both only take a couple of minutes to keep up, and I bake my bread with it and can get wonderful homemade yogurt from it.

For sourdough, all you need to do is mix some flour and water, about the same volume, and feed it a little more flour and water twice a day while stirring it. Bread does take longer to rise, and will taste a little sour, but that's the point! It's more natural and it's healthier.

For kefir, you'll need to find someone who can give you some of the initial culture. Then you just leave it in a jar of milk for about 2 or 3 days, strain and drink. No maintenance really. 

At this stage of my life, my cultures are my babies. I feed them, nurture them, try to create the best environment possible to support their growth ... and then eat them.

Naturally, recipes for using these cultures take up more than 5 minutes, and thus have no place on this blog. But if you'd like to know how to bake the bread or make a nice shake, comment and I'll let you know!

Prepare a Snack Pack - 3 Easy Options

Picture by Chris Chidsey

 Our genes have not evolved nearly as fast as our food industry has. So there are times when we crave a snack, and will find one no matter what. I usually grab whatever is easiest and ready to go. I often can't be bothered to even peel an apple and will just grab something that comes in a bag.

I've found that preparing some snacks before-hand only takes a couple of minutes, but leaves me with much healthier options that are just as easy. If you're worried about losing weight, then this is an easy first step!

1. Go Nuts!
Get a nut mix from the store, or buy your favorite nuts and mix them. You can also add some raisins for a sweet touch. Don't add too much dried fruit, since it mostly has carbs that you'll burn through quickly. Nuts are fat, but that means you'll feel full longer too. And they have lots of great vitamins and minerals.


2. Veggie-fries
Peel a carrot. Cut it in strips about the size of a French fry (do NOT think about French fries, or this might go horribly wrong!) Put them in a box in the fridge to snack on when you're craving something crunchy. Other vegetables that are great for this are bell pepper, cucumber and celery.

3. Boiled Eggs
Eggs are not the dangerous bombs of cholesterol they're made out to be. They're very nutritious, carry lots of vitamins (A, B (2, 4, 6, 12) D and E) and minerals (iron, zinc, calcium, iodine, selenium) and will provide you with a good filler. If you're worried about fat and cholesterol, don't eat the yolk. 
(I do advise that you read up on cholesterol first. This is a good place to start, when you have time)
I keep some hard boiled eggs in the fridge at all times!

Want to make sure you truly enjoy your healthy snack? Check out my previous post Relaxed Snacks.

Do you  have any other ideas for healthy snacks? Let me know below!

Relaxed Snacks

Most of us have grown accustomed to snacking while being in the middle of another activity. We bite into an apple as we run out the door. We eat a protein bar in front of the computer screen. We have a piece of cake while talking to a friend. Let's face it, we're never quite alone with our food, are we?
All this distraction distracts us (duh!) from the experience of eating our food.
Have you ever suddenly realized you finished a snack, but can't quite remember what it tasted like? You got so caught up in doing whatever else you were doing, that the eating became automatic. It's a sure way to make you eat more. Now how's that diet going? Losing weight yet?

Picture by Martin Boulanger

Right, so that's not the way we want to go.
How about you try this next trick when you're about to eat your next snack.

Find a place where it's just you. If you're at the office, put the screen saver on for a while. Are you at home? Then ask the kids to give you just 5 minutes.
Unwrap, peel, prepare your snack with care. Put it on a nice plate. Get a class of water or a cup of coffee on the side. All this shouldn't take you very long. A couple of minutes at most.
Sit down and look at your snack. Anticipate how it will taste, how much you want it, how it'll make you feel.
Then, take a bite. Savor it. Be aware that there is only one first bite, and it's the best bite. Take a sip of water or coffee and ... repeat.

It will seem as if you're taking much longer to finish your snack, but the focused activity of eating takes you away from all the other stuff and lets your mind relax. You will start again on your other activities with renewed energy.