Try something new for 30 days – TED Talk

Inspiring TED Talk to Accomplish Your Goals. Every small step will eventually lead you to the top of the mountain.

3 Simple Healthy Eating Rules to Live By

Eating healthy is not as hard as it is made out to be. You don’t need to have a wide extensive knowledge of nutrition to know what is bad for you and what is good for. Eating a healthy diet starts with making choices that serve your body to the highest capacity.

Here are the 3 Simple Healthy Eating Principles to Live By To Feel and Look Better

1. Eat Often

In any wellness plan, you will the secret to lose weight is to eat more often. Well there is a reason why all these wellness specialists are saying this – because it is the truth!! The more often you fuel your body, the easier it will be for this food to be processed. What happens when your body doesn’t receive the fuel it needs, is that is goes into “starvation mode”. So rather than break down the food that has last been eaten, the body stores it as fat because it doesn’t know when it will receive a recharge.

Eating 3 main meals with 2-3 snacks a day will keep your metabolism in high gear to break down your food in a way that best serves your body.

2. Eat Well, Feel Well

Choosing nutritious foods will have a huge effect on your mood and energy levels. Anyone feel great after eating pizza, chips and pop as their diet for the day??? I did this once and felt completely hungover for the full day after.. my body was like “WOAH What Are You DOING?!”. High sugar and high fat foods do not serve your body in any sense except to temporarily fulfill hunger. Rather your digestive system goes into high gear trying to break down these foreign substances.

Before choosing a food to eat, ask yourself “Does this best serve my body?”. Fill your meals and snacks with good proteins, carbs, fruits and vegetables to feel and look your best. Eating well will improve your energy levels, improve the look of your skin and make your body system happy (helping prevent against disease and other health problems). Eating healthy is not hard, it’s about making smart choices.

3. Make Friends with Food

For people that struggle with their weight, this is one of the most important principles to connect with.

If you believe food to be the enemy, it will be. If you have a hate relationship with food, you will eat less often leading you into an extreme state of hunger; this in effect will cause you to bunge eat, grabbing anything in site. The problem with this scenario is during the times you are not eating, you body is storing fat. Also, when you binge eat, your body is so overwhelmed by the food ingested that is may not be able to break it down fully, leading to yet another fat storage.

Food does not make you fat, however the foods you have been choosing may be. Follow the two principles above to fuel your body efficiently, helping you develop a love relationship with food after you see the positive effects of a healthy diet.

Finally believe in your ability to make a positive change in your life. It all starts with a couple smart choices to lead you on your path to wellness. Get started right now!

Improve Your Cooking Skills for only $20/month

One of the key ways to maintain a healthy diet is to cook your own meals.

Benefits of Cooking Your Own Meals

• Control the ingredients and limit calories
• Save money!! When you buy premade, you are paying for convenience
• Have fun experimenting with new recipes!

I started cooking way back in to easy bake oven days! As the years go on, you learn tricks from your friends, family, cookbooks and celebrity chefs. But, there are always some new things you like to learn to make meals tastier.

Learn Cooking Skills from the Pros for only $20/month

America’s Test Kitchen Online Cooking School is a great resources for beginners, intermediate and advanced cooks. For only $20/month, members have access to 100′s of In-Depth courses based on professional culinary school courses.

I have just started the course on stir frying to see if there is anything I could learn. In the first 5 minutes I found out I have been using the wrong heat setting, pan and oil, adding the garlic at the wrong time and missing the marinade for the meat. A few tips that I have learned from the pros will now make me a stir fry pro.

Make food taste great and enjoy food more! Happy Cooking!

6 Ways to Get More Exercise in Your Week

Something I struggle with is committing to something outside of my normal routine. That includes exercise…. I will go on spurts for a while doing my zumba tapes or going to a yoga class, but after a couple weeks I am ready to start something new. The problem is that I get too excited about my “new” exercise obsession and over-do it. Most often when I start an exercise program, I don’t consider how it will fit realistically into my schedule.

Here are a few ways I have discovered to help get more exercise in your week.

Image Source: http://www.activehealthinstitute.com/

1. Set a workout schedule that is realistic: Look at your week and set time aside for your fitness activities. Set a date with yourself. If you can only commit to 30 minutes 3 times a week, that is totally fine. Make a commitment that is realistic and stick to it! The key to sticking to a program is to not think about it or over analyze it, just do it.

2. Find exercise that feels effortless for you: Whether it is a group sport, DVD from home, group fitness class or gym membership, choose fitness exercises that feel effortless to you. Do what comes easy to you and makes the time fly by. You will get more enjoyment out of exercise and be inspired to do it more often.

3. Get a workout buddy: If you find it hard to stay motivated exercising on your own, think about getting a workout buddy. When you are not feeling inspired, likely your workout buddy will be. This is where the no thinking part comes in, just go with it.

4. Choose fitness options that are convenient for you: This is an important element to get more exercise! If you are required to drive 30 minutes to your fitness class in the winter cold, that probably won’t last too long. Try your best not to let your exercise routine inconvenience you. You want to fully enjoy the time you have carved out for yourself and not stress about the driving/timing etc.

5. Remember the benefits of exercise: Remembering what you will receive from exercise will encourage you to do it more often. I love exercise because it cuts the fat, tones your body, acts as a good stress release and aids digestion. Think about these things before/during/after your exercise to stay pumped up.

6. Get Yourself Pumped Up! Remember those college days when you would crank up the tunes before going out for a night on the town? Do the same with getting pumped up for exercise. Start listening to your tunes list and get geared up to work it out. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you are frustrated/angry, use this as an optimal time to go for a power walk or run. It’s amazing how your frustrations will vanish and you will experience great clarity.

Get Up and Fit

Low-Fat Banana Bread

This is my go-to banana bread recipe. This is one of the few baking recipes I have committed myself to. It is super moist and best of all low-fat! It is much lighter than your typical banana bread recipe which can be heavy.

Low-Fat Banana Bread by Joy of Baking

Image Source: JoyofBaking.com

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large bananas)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1/4 cup vegetable corn oil
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg or 2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Spray an 8 x 4 inch (20 x 10 cm) loaf pan with a nonstick vegetable cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix the mashed bananas with the baking soda and yogurt. Allow to sit while you prepare the rest of the batter.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, egg or egg whites, and vanilla.

In another large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, ground cinnamon and salt.

Then combine the banana mixture with the oil mixture and then add this to the flour mixture. Stir just until all the ingredients are moistened. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 45 – 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Makes one loaf (about 12 slices).

Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion Quiche

What brings peace to my world is to cook in the kitchen. When I feel like I have chaos in my life, it is usually also true that I am doing little of the things that I love. It doesn’t take much to melt my stress away by getting some fresh air and cooking up a storm in the kitchen. There is nothing better than a nice healthy home cooked meal.

I texted my darling this morning say “I’m going to cook a nice meal for us tonight”! 5pm rolled around and I thought what the heck am I going to make?? I looked in my fridge to see no meat ready to cook…but I had eggs and sweet potatoes..hmm??? Googled sweet potato quiche and came up with this marvelous recipe for “Sweet Potato and Caramelized Quiche“..sounds delicious!

Quick, healthy, hearty and cheap! How great is that!

This recipe has been adapted by Taste.com Sweet Potato and Caramelized Quiche to be gluten-free and low-fat

Image Source: http://www.taste.com.au

1 large sweet potato (peeled and sliced length-wise)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cooking onions (sliced length-wise)
1 tsp brown sugar
5 eggs
1/2 cup milk

In a medium saucepan, add your sliced sweet potato, season with salt and cover with water to boil. This takes about 10 minutes to soften up.

Meanwhile in a frying pan, add your olive oil and sliced onions. Saute for about 8 minutes, then add 1 tsp of brown sugar to carmelize the onions. Saute for another 2 mins.

In a pie pan, whisk your eggs and milk. Add a dash of salt and freshly ground pepper for flavour. Mix in the sweet potatoes and carmelized onions. Bake in the oven at 200F for 40 minutes.

Tada! You have a great hearty but light meal for dinner tonight! Enjoy!

Homemade Grilled Turkey Panini

This sandwich is AMAZING! If I want to have a quick dinner that feels like I ordered it from a restaurant, this is what I make. This homemade grilled turkey panini takes like a grilled cheese but there is no cheese. Absolutely melts in your mouth and the dijon mustard gives it a great kick of flavour.

Image Source: myrecipes.com

The recipe has been adapted by “Cooking Light - Grilled Turkey and Ham Sandwich” to be friendly to people with lactose problems and non-ham eaters.

Two slices of bread
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp Mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip)
2 slices Deli Sliced Light Turkey
1/2 sliced Tomato

Mix the mayonnaise and dijon mustard in a small bowl. Spread over one side of each bread slice. Top with turkey and tomato.

Spray your non-stick pan with olive or butter, whatever you have. Grill both sides of your sandwich until nicely toasted, to look like a grilled cheese.

Slice diagonal and serve warm. Add a tossed salad or heart bowl of vegetable soup to complete the meal.

Enjoy!