5 Reasons You Are So Tired

Living life to the fullest is a challenge when you just feel so darn tired. Especially as the year comes to an end, we all are struggling to get out of bed in the morning, dream of day-time naps and fall into bed before your Nanna even hits the hay. Sufficient sleep is essential to our health and wellbeing and lack of adequate rest can cause depression, weight gain, and a lowered immune system.

Apart from staying up all night watching Real Housewives re-runs, there might be some less obvious reasons for your sleepiness. Read five reasons that might explain your zombie state:

1. Caffeine
Many of us rely on a caffeine hit to wake up in the morning but it may be the reason you are so tired. Caffeine should be consumed no closer than eight hours before bed time for optimal rest, this includes pre-workout drinks, energy drinks and some teas. Limit this stimulant to the first half of the day and to one caffeinated beverage.

2. Alcohol
A glass of wine can certainly help you unwind at the end of the day but despite it's relaxing effect, drinking can disrupt sleep. While booze may help you to fall asleep, it can cause frequent waking during the night and prevent REM sleep, which is the deep, most restful sleeping state. Without REM, you will wake exhausted even after a decent night's rest. Keep the working week alcohol free and stick to no more than two drinks (unless you can afford an uninterrupted sleep in).

3. Stress
Stress and anxiety will prevent you from falling asleep with worrying thoughts causing you to toss and turn throughout the night. If you have something on your mind, it is suggested to get up and write the thoughts down to deal with the next day. Remind yourself there is nothing you can do about the issue in that moment and go back to bed with a clear mind.

If you suffer from anxiety, your body will be too highly charged and alert to let you get sufficient rest. To shut down your body's anxiety response, try meditating for 20 - 30 minutes earlier in the day, and meditate before you get into bed. Try the headspace app if you are not sure where to start. Long walks and yoga can also help to calm your mind.

4. Tummy Troubles
A stomach ache or acid reflux issues can affect your shut eye and keep you awake. Avoid large meals before bedtime, eating at least 2.5 hours before you get into bed and keep your dinner relatively low in fat to ease digestion. Acidic tomato-based foods can trigger reflux and are best avoided if you suffer from heartburn. Skip desserts high in sugar and go for a skinny sweet recipe or small bowl of plain yoghurt. Try sipping peppermint tea to aid in digestion before sleep.

5. Light and Temperature
If you are too cold or too hot, you will wake up frequently as your body tries to adjust to changes in temperature. Keep your bedroom well ventilated and cool, as your body temperature will rise as you sleep. Make sure the lights are dim when you are getting ready for bed and if possible, wake up through natural light. Melatonin is a hormone that sends you to sleep and this increases when the brain perceives that it is night. When it’s daylight, melatonin is shut down and we wake up.

Healing Your Food Relationship

Gabrielle Bernstein is a motivational speaker and New York Times best-selling author of May Cause Miracles. She believes that simple, consistent shifts in our thinking and actions can lead to miracles across all aspects of our lives, including relationships, finances, bodies, and self-image.

In her inspiring guide, Gabrielle offers an exciting plan for releasing fear and allowing gratitude, forgiveness, and love to flow leading to appreciation, acceptance and happiness! Doesn't that sound lovely?!
Recently, Gabrielle wrote about eating and I knew my readers would benefit from her words of wisdom. I get many friends, family and readers asking me what to do about overeating or binge habits. Everyone has overindulged at some point, whether it be Christmas or at a special night out, but there are other times when you are mindlessly snacking or reaching to food for comfort. Bingeing can create disordered eating patterns, leading to a host of mental illnesses and anxiety conditions.

Support and positive words help you to stay on track and motivate you to heal yourself. I have posted below Gabrielle's take on her relationship with food.

From her website

Do you suffer from the BBQ binge? Holiday weekends can sometimes be a trigger for our worst eating habits. Obsessing over food like many other addictive behaviors is just another way of numbing out and avoiding un-felt pain, blocked emotions, or a true experience of life.

Everyone faces their relationship to food in unique ways. Some people obsess over every calorie, whereas others have no boundaries whatsoever. Whether you overeat out of boredom or you don’t eat out of fear, there is a spiritual condition that needs to be addressed.

Admittedly, I still struggle with my relationship to food and in this vlog I share some of my tips for recovery. Outing your ego is the first step in the healing process.

Watch the video >>>

Are We Becoming Professional Dieters?

When I read this open letter from a weight loss consultant to her clients, I had to agree with many of her observations. Everywhere you turn, there is CONSTANT pressure to feel you should be thin, toned and fit. You should have the apparent willpower to resist any 'bad' foods and exercise like some sort of army troop, bouncing out of bed every morning straight on schedule.

To transform yourself into your fitness inspiration, you may start falling prey to obsessive diet and exercise patterns, where you are ruled by what you should and shouldn't be doing. You might start to cancel social events to avoid the party food and drink or to get an extra workout in.

While a healthy attitude to balancing food and exercise is key to a healthy body, I don't recommend trying to change the way you look at the expense of your sanity! Let's face it, unless you are Miranda Kerr, you won't see her body looking back at you in the mirror. What we ultimately need to work towards is acceptance and self love. Anything extreme and gruelling can't last forever and a healthy lifestyle with balance is most achievable.

We are smart enough to know all that you really need to do is eat real food, move your body and whatever comes with that is about acceptance. A healthy lifestyle will lead to a healthy body, and each person is different in terms of what will work best for you.

Having the perfect body would be fun but it wouldn't dramatically change your life. Making peace with yourself and learning self-acceptance is what will make the real difference to your overall happiness.

Read this post to see the open letter.
The Open Letter:

I WORKED at a popular weight loss company for three years. I loved my job there. I LOVED my clients. I loved making a connection and sharing my knowledge. And I learned a lot about nutrition, about dieting and weight loss and what works and what doesn't.

My job was to be a weight loss consultant, and I learned that job very well. I can design a 1200 calorie meal plan, tell you which activities are most likely to make the number on the scale go down, and how many carbs are in a cup of rice. I can talk the diet game like it's my business...because it was. Volumise with vegetables. Don't go too long in between meals. Start with a bowl of broth-based soup. Are you drinking enough water? Did you exercise enough? Did you exercise too much? Let's look at your food journal...

This is not an anti-weight loss company post (although I could write that too). It's a letter to each and every woman that I unknowingly wronged. My heart is beating a little bit faster as I write this, and so I know this needs to be said. The words have been playing in my head for months. Sometimes it just takes time for me to get up the courage to say the right thing.

So here goes:

"Dear Former Weight Loss Clients (you know who you are):

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry because I put you on a 1200 calorie diet and told you that was healthy. I'm sorry because when you were running 5x a week, I encouraged you to switch from a 1200 calorie diet to a 1500 calorie diet, instead of telling you that you should be eating a hell of a lot more than that. I'm sorry because you were breastfeeding and there's no way eating those 1700 calories a day could have been enough for both you and your baby. I'm sorry because you were gluten intolerant and so desperate to lose weight that you didn't put that on your intake form. But you mentioned it to me later, and I had no idea the damage you were doing to your body. I'm sorry because I think I should have known. I think I should have been educated better before I began to tell all of you what was right or wrong for your body.

I'm sorry because I made you feel like a failure and so you deliberately left a message after the center had closed, telling me you were quitting. I thought you were awesome and gorgeous, and I'm sorry because I never told you that. I'm sorry because you came in telling me you liked to eat organic and weren't sure about all the chemicals in the food, and I made up some BS about how it was a "stepping stone." I'm sorry because many of you had thyroid issues and the LAST thing you should have been doing was eating a gluten-filled, chemically-laden starvation diet. I'm sorry because by the time I stopped working there, I wouldn't touch that food, yet I still sold it to you.

I'm sorry because it's only years later that I realise just how unhealthy a 1200 calorie diet was. I stayed on a 1200-1500 calorie diet for years, so I have the proof in myself. Thyroid issues, mood swings, depression, headaches ... oh and gluten intolerance that seemed to "kick in" after about a month of eating the pre-packaged food. Was it a coincidence? Maybe.

I'm sorry because you had body dysmorphic disorder, and it was so painful to hear the things you said about yourself. You looked like a model, and all of my other clients were intimidated by you, asked me why you were there because clearly you didn't need to lose weight. And yet you would sit in my office and cry, appalled that a man might see you naked and be disturbed by the fat that didn't actually exist. I'm sorry because you should have been seeing a therapist, not a weight loss consultant.

I'm sorry because you were young and so beautiful and only there because your mother thought you needed to lose weight. And because there were too many of you like that. Girls who knew you were fine, but whose mothers pushed that belief out of you until you thought like she did. Until you thought there was something wrong with you. And the one time I confronted your mother, you simply got switched to a different consultant. I think I should have made more of a stink, but I didn't. I'm sorry because you were in high school and an athlete, and I pray that you weren't screwed up by that 1500 calorie diet. Seriously, world? Seriously? A teenage girl walks in with no visible body fat and lots of muscle tone, tells you she's a runner and is happy with her weight ... but her mother says she's fat and has to lose weight and so we help her do just that. As an individual, as women, as a company, hell, as a nation, we don't stand up for that girl? What is wrong with us? There ain't nothing right about that. Nothing.

I'm sorry because every time you ate something you "shouldn't" or ate more than you "should," I talked about "getting back on the bandwagon." I cringe now every time someone uses that phrase. When did the way we eat become a bandwagon? When did everyone stop eating and become professional dieters? I'm sorry because I get it now. If you're trying to starve your body by eating fewer calories than it needs, of course it's going to fight back. I used to tell you that then, when you wanted to eat less than 1200 calories a day. The problem was, I thought 1200 was enough. I thought that was plenty to support a healthy body. Why did I believe that for so long? I'm sorry because I wasn't trying to trick you or play games to get your money. I believed the lies we were fed as much as you did.

And it wasn't just the company feeding them to me. It was the doctors and registered dietitians on the medical advisory board. It was the media and magazines confirming what I was telling my clients. A palm-sized portion of lean chicken with half a sweet potato and a salad was PLENTY. No matter that you had "cravings" afterwards. Cravings are a sign of underlying emotional issues. Yeah, sure they are. I'm a hypnotherapist with a past history of binge eating disorder. I KNOW cravings are a sign of underlying emotional issues. Except when they're not. Except when they're a sign that your body needs more food and you're ignoring it. Then they're a sign that your 1200 calorie diet is horseshit. Then they're a sign that you've been played.

And that's mostly why I'm sorry. Because I've been played for years, and so have you, and inadvertently, I fed into the lies you've been told your whole life. The lies that say that being healthy means nothing unless you are also thin. The lies that say that you are never enough, that your body is not a beautiful work of art, but rather a piece of clay to be moulded by society's norms until it becomes a certain type of sculpture. And even then, it is still a work in progress.

I owe you an apology, my former client and now friend, who I helped to lose too much weight. Who I watched gain the weight back, plus some. Because that's what happens when you put someone on a 1200 calorie diet. But I didn't know. If you're reading this, then I want you to know that you have always been beautiful. And that all these fad diets are crap meant to screw with your metabolism so that you have to keep buying into them. I think now that I was a really good weight loss consultant. Because I did exactly what the company wanted (but would never dare say). I helped you lose weight and then gain it back, so that you thought we were the solution and you were the failure. You became a repeat client and we kept you in the game. I guess I did my job really well.

And now I wonder, did I do more harm than good? When I left, you all wrote me cards and sent me flowers. I still have those cards, the ones that tell me how much I helped you, how much I cared. But I'm friends with some of you on Facebook now, and I look at your photos and you look happy. And beautiful. And not because you lost weight since I saw you last. But because I see YOU now. You. Not a client sitting in my chair, asking for my assistance in becoming what society wants. But you, a smart and lovely woman, who really doesn't need some random company telling her there's something wrong with her.

So I'm sorry because when you walked in to get your meal plan, I should have told you that you were beautiful. I should have asked you how you FELT. Were you happy? Did you feel physically fit? Were you able to play with your kids? There were so many of you who never needed to lose a pound, and some of you who could have gained some. And maybe sometimes I told you that. But not enough. Not emphatically. Because it was my job to let you believe that making the scale go down was your top priority. And I did my job well.

I am sorry because many of you walked in healthy and walked out with disordered eating, disordered body image, and the feeling that you were a "failure." None of you ever failed. Ever. I failed you. The weight loss company failed you. Our society is failing you.

Just eat food. Eat real food, be active, and live your life. Forget all the diet and weight loss nonsense. It's really just that. Nonsense.

And I can't stop it. But I can stop my part in it. I won't play the weight loss game anymore. I won't do it to my body, and I won't help you do it to yours. That's it. End game.

- Iris

This post originally appeared on yourfairyangel.com

The Skinny Sweets and Treats One Day Detox

If you have had an overly indulgent weekend, an important event coming up, or just simply want to kick start your healthy living, try this one-day-detox to look and feel your best.


7:00am

• Have a large glass of warm water with the juice of half a lemon.
• Your blood has the highest levels of toxins when you wake up in the morning and drinking water with lemon will help to flush these toxins out and dilute them.
• Take a milk thistle supplement which helps to energize your liver, your body's key detoxing organ.

8:00am

• Eat a healthy breakfast of traditional oats with almond milk, with some banana or blueberries for sweetness. Add some flaxseeds or LSA mix to help flush out your colon. If you soak the seeds overnight it will speed up your digestion, allowing you to see the results faster and this will be easier on your digestive system.

11:00am

• Snack on super foods, like raspberries which contain a powerful antioxidant ellagic acid. Try adding low-fat plain yoghurt and a handful of sunflower seeds for added energy.
• Take 10 minutes to practice calm breathing and muscle stretches to keep your stress hormones at bay throughout the day.

1:00pm

• When choosing a lunch option, avoid anything salty as this will cause water retention and slow down the elimination of toxins. A fresh salad is a great clean option. Look for lean meat and avoid any cheese or creamy dressings. 
• Take a 15 minute walk in your lunch break in the sun to soak up some much needed Vitamin D, which is commonly low in office workers. Vitamin D is essential to strong bones, muscles and overall good health. A short burst of sun can also boost your mood for the afternoon.

2:30pm

• Take time out for a herbal tea. One of my favorites is dandelion tea which cleanses both your liver and kidneys. This type of tea is also a natural diuretic, which will flush your body of toxins.

4:30pm

• Time for another superfood adventure, and why not try a shot of wheatgrass from your local juice bar! Wheatgrass is full on nutrients and detoxing chlorophyll. Many swear by its regenerating effects, which can be felt within minutes of downing the green shot.

5:30pm

• Go for a long brisk walk, using your arms to reinvigorate your body at the end of the day and stimulate blood flow. Avoid high intensity workouts that can stress the body while you are detoxing. Punishing workouts can release cortisol into the body, which is detrimental to the body's organs and encourages the storage of fat. 

7:00pm

• At dinner time, choose a clean and lean meal without heavy carbs or greasy fats. Steamed vegetables and grilled fish is an excellent option. Cooked quinoa is a great accompaniment to your meal, as it is protein packed and gluten-free. 

9:00pm

• Have a cup of peppermint tea to aid in digestion and hit the hay to get a restful night's sleep, which is crucial to overall health and mood. 

To Juice or Blend?

Juicing and blending fruits, vegetables and superfood additions are excellent methods for consuming lots of vitamins and minerals in one quick go. Each method has its merits, with neither one or the other necessarily better.

Juicing is fabulous for packing goodness into one glass by extracting all the vitamins and minerals from your vegetables and fruit and compacting it into a drink. Vegetables are ideal to juice because they are low in sugar yet full of health benefits. To sweeten your juice, add a small amount of fruit like a handful of strawberries, a green apple or a few slices of pineapple.

Blending on the other hand, incorporates all the fibre from the fruits and vegetables to make a rich smoothie. Smoothies let you imagination run wild with combinations and ingredients, such as nut butters, health powders, protein powders, chia seeds and bee pollen. Frozen bananas will also make smoothies extra creamy and sweet.

Here are some of my favorite juice and smoothies recipes:

My Sweet Beet Juice

This juice is colorful and deliciously sweet.

Ingredients:
1 beetroot
2 carrots (either purple or orange)
3 stalks of celery
1/4 cup of coconut water
handful of ice cubes

Preparation:
On high speed, filter in the beetroot, carrot and celery to juice. Pour the coconut water into the juice and mix. Put into a glass and top with ice cubes. 

Body+soul Green Renewal Juice

This is an enzyme-rich green juice. It's great for providing energy, detoxifying and alkalising your body.

Ingredients:
1 bunch English spinach
1 handful mint
1 handful parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 Lebanese (short) cucumber, cut in half lengthways
A few lettuce leaves
4 celery stalks
2–3 cm (3/4–11/4 inch) knob of fresh ginger, peeled
6 ice cubes

Preparation:
With the motor running, feed all the ingredients except the ice cubes into a juicer one at a time. Pour into a drinking glass, add the ice cubes and sip slowly to enjoy its benefits.


The Wellness Warrior Green Smoothie


Ingredients:
3 stalks of kale (discard the tough stalk and use the leaves)
3 leaves of Cos lettuce
1 cup coconut water
1 small frozen banana
A small handful of goji berries or blueberries
1 tsp hemp seeds
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp bee pollen
1 tsp maca powder
1 tsp spirulina

Preparation:
Add all ingredients to a blender and blitz until smooth. Use a high speed blender, such as a Vitamix for best results.

Thought you were picking the healthy choice? 6 foods that are not healthy options

Here are six foods that you may have thought were the healthy choice, but are in fact laden with sugar and salt and empty of nutrition. 

1. Reduced-fat peanut butter: One of the biggest benefits of peanuts is that they’re full of monounsaturated fats, which are the good fats. Take that out of the peanut butter and what do you have left? Tons of sugar and the same amount of (now empty) calories. Typically whenever you see reduced fat in any product, it means that the fat was replaced with sugar or salt. Make sure you choose an organic peanut butter with no added sugar, oils or salt. Also try almond butter as a great peanut butter alternative. The key here is to control portion size and without sugar, you will only need a small about to feel satisfied. 
2. Fruit smoothies: Most juice and smoothie bars are marketed as the healthy beverage choice but the average fruit smoothie can contain more than 30 grams of sugar, with no protein or healthy fats. Juices should contain mostly vegetables, with a little fruit added for sweetness. The same rule applies to smoothies, but in these you can also add coconut water for hydration, vitamin powders for added nutrition such as spirulina, and peanut butter or protein powder for fat and protein. 
3. Protein bars: If you read the label of a protein bar, I doubt you could recognize half of the ingredients. Too many protein bars are just processed bricks of artificial ingredients and fillers. Also many of them are very high in sugar, fat and calories. If you want a quick snack, try and apple or celery sticks with peanut butter, quinoa crackers with avocado or carrot sticks with hummus. You can also make your own protein snacks at home, try some of my recipes.
4. Low-fat frozen yoghurt and ice-cream: While some of these products may be fairly low in calories, they are nutritionally empty and send straight sugar into your blood stream, which often turns directly into fat. If you want a cool treat, try a protein rich yoghurt (such as Chobani which is low in sugar) and add in a tablespoon of flavored whey protein powder, a tablespoon of LSA (linseed meal), and blueberries. 
5. Sushi: Japanese food is often an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, but Westernised versions of these meals often contain added fat and sugar. Watch out for meals rich in sweet and salty sauces or sushi rolls made with fried foods, mayonnaise or cream cheese. The best choice is sashimi, edamame or seaweed salads, which are all high in nutritional value and low in carbohydrates, sugar and processed fats.
6. Vegetarian or gluten-free options: Just because a meal is labelled vegetarian or gluten-free does not automatically mean it is good for you. Vegetarian foods can be laden with oils, cheese and fats to substitute meat. Make sure you look for fresh options that include some lean protein, such as tofu or legumes. Gluten-free products like baked goods or pastas are often just as high in sugar or carbohydrates as the wheat-based equivalents. Make your own healthy versions of muffins at home (here are some recipes) and try substituting pasta for shredded zucchini. 

A tea to add to your collection: Dandelion Tea

I know you are probably thinking, 'not another tea!' or 'isn't green tea the ultimate in herbal drinks?' But dandelion tea has an enormous range of benefits, which can knock green tea off it's health pedestal and make it a must have for your tea collection.


Dandelion roots act as a blood purifier that helps both kidneys and liver remove impurities from the body. It is also high in potassium and helps to improve digestion. The ultimate detox and cleansing tea, find it in the health food section of your grocery store.

Look for dandelion tea made from dandelion root, as this is the most nutritious version. You don't need to buy hyped up 'miracle' weight loss teas, which are usually made primarily of dandelion anyway, just add two cups of dandelion tea to your day to reap the benefits. Read on to learn more about this ancient healing tea.


Dandelion tea:

• forms a prime medical ingredient in over half the phytonutrient blends on the market (weight loss, rejuvenation, detoxification; digestive, liver, kidney, & skin supplements).
• aids in digestion, and functions well to relieve digestive disorders like constipation and diarrhea.
• works great to purify the blood and cleanse the system.
• enhances detoxification, by stimulating urination and, in addition, by replacing the potassium lost in that process.
• is one of the most effective herbs for getting the bloat out and helping relieve water retention.
• has specific action in reducing inflammation, of the gall bladder and of the bile duct, and for rheumatism and arthritis.
• improves the function of and maintains optimum liver, kidney, pancreas, spleen, stomach, and gall bladder functions.
• helps in treating chronic hepatitis and jaundice disorders, and encourages healing of damaged tissues caused by alcohol liver disease.
• helps reduce high cholesterol.
• contains antioxidants that help your body fight off toxic bacteria and viruses.
• helps with weight control—especially with weight loss.
• is an excellent tea to incorporate in muscle building programs for weight lifters.
• actively ameliorates disease—it is a potent disease-fighter—and helps the body heal, helps boost immunity, and combat cancer, heart disease, and age-related memory loss.
• aids health maintenance for people suffering from Type-1 and Type-2 diabetes.
• transfers magnificent amounts of minerals and vitamins: A, C, D, E, & B complex, calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, choline, and boron, etc. when infused in hot water.
• acts as an excellent substitute for coffee if you are trying to kick caffeine. 
• can be made solely from the blossoms, the leaves, or the roots (roasted or not)—or, the entire plant.
• can be used as a face wash to cleanse complexion and improve skin clarity.
• makes a great bath addition, especially when made from older, stronger (tougher) leaves.

Which tea to buy?

There are at least three different types of dandelion tea - those made from dandelion roots, those made from dandelion leaves, and those made from dandelion flowers.

You can make dandelion tea by infusing one to two teaspoonful of dried dandelion leaves in hot water, which you can drink three times a day. The cut leaf form of the herb can be brewed inside a stainless steel tea ball or inside a wicker tea cup basket.

Compared to dandelion flowers and leaves, dandelion root is the part of the plant used most often for medicinal purposes, and which provides the most health benefits. Dandelion root tea is available in teabags, dried powder form, or in capsules. I use an instant dried form, which mixes with hot water to make the drink.

Eating For Your Body Type - Advice from Tracy Anderson

Firstly you need to determine which body type you have as this dictates what foods and exercises are best for you. Read each of the body type descriptions in this post to decide what most fits to you and Tracy will give you a guide of what to eat and how to move to get the best results for your shape.

Body Type: Abcentric
According to Tracy, if you have an abcentric body, you carry extra weight in your stomach and have thicker arms. Your legs are the slimmest part of your body – and you have a big appetite.

What to Eat: Fruit With the Skin On
Abcentric body types can have a hard time kicking their sugar habits, so snacking on sweet fruits can help curb your sugar cravings. Try 4 dates or 1 kiwi with the skin on a day. (It sounds gross, but you can rub the fuzz off before eating the kiwi.)

How to Move: 10 Minutes of Standing Ab Exercises
If you feel sluggish, try a quick core workout first thing in the morning before your day makes you tired. To try Tracy's standing abs exercise, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold your arms in front of you, bent at the elbow, like you're shielding your body. Gently move your ribs from side to side, using only your upper body.

Body Type: Hipcentric
If you have a hipcentric body, you are tiny from the waist up and have poor muscle tone in your upper body. Your body blossoms out at the hips and thighs, giving you thick knees, ankles and wrists.

What to Eat: Foods High in Lycopene
Lycopene-rich foods are linked to improving circulation. Try foods packed with this antioxidant, such as watermelon, tomatoes, grapefruit and asparagus.

How to Move: 10 Minutes of Dancing
Opt for a workout that connects all of your muscles at once, like swimming. If you can’t get in or to a pool, commit to just 10 minutes of dancing a day, to three of your favorite songs straight.

Body Type: Glutecentric
If you have a glutecentric body, your butt sags and runs into your thighs, so you have no defined panty line. You may also have back fat.

What to Eat: Anti-Inflammatory Spices
Add 1 teaspoon of spices to your meals that reduce inflammation, regulate blood sugar and aid in vitality, such as turmeric and cinnamon.

How to Move: Standing Leg-Lifts
Do exercises that lift the glute instead of building it. Try 30 leg lifts with 1.5- to 2-pound ankle weights at the same time each day. That way your body learns to count on your workout.

Body Type: Omnicentric
If you have an omnicentric body, you gain weight evenly, so you’re heavy in your arms, stomach, thighs and butt.

What to Eat: Tyrosine-Rich Protein
Tyrosine is a building block for adrenaline and dopamine, your brain’s feel-good chemical. It also enhances your body’s fat-burning properties. Try turkey, eggs or even seaweed.

How to Move: Since your body is less likely to handle a longer workout, try smaller workouts. It’s the best way to build up strength and endurance. Change up your workout often, like doing a 5-minute arms workout every morning and a 5-minute standing abs workout before bed. You should also perform moves that don’t isolate muscles but work everything together, such as swimming.

Eating Schedule

It’s not just about what you eat, it’s also about when you eat. For faster weight loss – and to put a stop to yo-yo dieting – Tracy recommends eating all fresh, real foods in two alternating phases: Nutrient Boost Week and Body Reset Week. This plan is designed so you lose 3 pounds during Nutrient Boost Week and maintain your weight on Body Reset Week.

Nutrient Boost Week

You’ll eat six small nutrient-dense meals that are easily digestible, like smoothies, soups, purées and ground meats. These meals are intended to flood your body with nutrients to clean your system and take off weight fast.

You can choose soft foods you already have in your house. Just make sure you are using whole fruits and vegetables and making them into soups and purées so they are easy to digest. But don’t focus on your calorie intake: Just worry about eating foods with a high dose of nutrients that clean your system and you’ll melt fat fast.

Body Reset Week

You’ll eat three big protein-packed meals each day during this week. Alternating these weeks ensures your body never gets used to anything and helps maintain the weight loss from Nutrient Boost Week. For Body Reset Week, some sample meals include:

• Turkey Bacon With an Omelet, Green Apple and Blueberries
• Grilled Shrimp With Broccoli, a Sweet Potato and Salad
• Grilled Chicken With a Steamed Artichoke, Ezekiel Bread and Avocado Slices

Tracy also recommends giving yourself a day off every week. In fact, it’s mandatory! Eat whatever you’ve been craving during the week so you don’t give up eating healthy most of the time.

Apple Seeds are poisonous?

Yes! I had heard green potatoes are toxic, but I never knew an apple seed can be harmful.

Apple seeds contain cyanogenic acids. Cherry pits, and seeds from related fruits, including peaches, plums, almonds, pears, and apricots, all contain cyanogenic glycosides. Your body can detoxify small quantities of cyanide compounds, which means if you ingest a few accidentally, your body can process the compounds without causing you harm. Chewing the seeds makes them much more hazardous for your body as the poisons are released.

How do you know you could be suffering from poison? Symptoms of mild poisoning include headache, dizziness, confusion, anxiety, and vomiting. Larger doses can lead to difficulty breathing, increased blood pressure and heart rate, and kidney failure. Reactions can include coma, convulsions, and death from respiratory arrest! There are several treatment options, but the main thing is to limit the absorption of the chemicals from the seeds.

If eating an apple or pear, just remember to cut out the core and discard; also make sure to de-core your apples and pears before juicing. If you are eating a stone fruit, don't be afraid of the seed, but don't chew or suck on it.

Sneaky sources of sugar

Okay so we all know that we should limit our sugar intake. Your body turns sugar immediately into fat, which is exactly what we don't want! When you think sugar, you think cupcakes, candy, ice-cream and cookies, right? But many seemingly healthy ingredients in our pantry are made of as much sugar as a chocolate bar. Make sure you have counted these food staples as sugar culprits.

Sneaky sources of sugar:

• Asian sauces such as Hoisin Sauce are made mostly of brown sugar.
• BBQ sauce is 55% sugar, which is more than chocolate topping.
• Tomato sauce * I have included a recipe below for your own sugar-free tomato sauce :)
• Low-fat foods eg. low-fat mayonnaise. Low-fat foods often have the fat replaced with sugar.
• Breakfast cereals - 99% very high in sugar. Best to use oats.
• Muesli bars - including anything that has dried fruit, honey or yoghurt. 
• Yoghurts - full-fat Greek yoghurt is best.
• Vegetable juices - carrot and beetroot are still quite high in sugar foods. Obviously fruit juices are a no go. 

Read your food labels. Ignore the per serve label as it is often not accurate. For example, a can of soft drink will often say two-three serves. Look at per 100 grams, in solid foods should be under 3 grams (except dairy products, which should have under 8 grams because the lactose will increase the sugar content). You will find this eliminates a large section of your grocery store... but you can replace many of these ingredients with home made versions. 

Is chocolate ever okay? Chocolate is not addictive, it is the sugar that is the addictive part. Even 80% cocoa chocolate still has a high sugar content. Sugar-free chocolate is manufactured with chemicals, which are also harmful for your body. Essentially, there is no chocolate that is low in sugar. Try making your own healthy treats with cacao powder. 

Fruit is okay as long as it is limited to two small pieces a day. Berries are the best choice of fruit because they are the lowest in fruit. Apples, bananas and grapes are the highest in sugar. 

These rules are very strict , and I couldn't follow them exactly on every day, but it is a good reminder to limit these foods, especially those you weren't aware contained such large amount of sugar.

Homemade Sugar-free Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

12 oz. tomato paste

4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon mustard

1/4 cup+2 Tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

Combine all ingredients and whisk until combined. You may wish to blend in order to ensure the spices are evenly mixed throughout.

It is best to let the ketchup sit together in the fridge for a couple of hours, or overnight, before serving so that the flavors blend together well.

Store in an airtight container in fridge.

Notes

Check the ingredients of your tomato paste. The only item listed should be tomatoes.

Gluten-free Gospel: Banana Pancakes from My New Roots

Taken from My New Roots

Gluten-free Gospel 

Gluten-free diets have become uber-trendy in the past couple years as celebrities have plugged the lifestyle as a savior for their overall health and wellness. But why would someone go gluten free if they didn’t have to? Good question. Does it seem like cool-kid train has left the station heading towards the Promised Land, while you’re still standing on the platform? It’s okay; I think you’re cool. But here’s the low-down on gluten-free eating in case you want to buy a ticket for later. 

What is Gluten?

Gluten is the natural protein found in many grains, such as wheat, rye, barley, and spelt. Despite recent uproar and confusion, gluten is not bad for you. Some people however, have an autoimmune form of gluten intolerance known as Celiac disease and cannot digest it. Celiac disease affects nearly 3 million Americans, and those affected must avoid allfoods and food products that even come into contact with gluten-containing grains. 

Are oats gluten-free?

Short answer, yes. Oats are inherently gluten-free, but are very often grown with or processed in facilities that also handle wheat and/or other gluten-containing grains. Because oats become contaminated with gluten in this way, they are often not safe for Celiacs. However, some companies have developed dedicated processing facilities for oats only, making them safe for those who cannot tolerate any gluten whatsoever. These companies include: Bob’s Red Mill,Cream Hill Estates, GF Harvest, Avena Foods, Legacy Valley (Montana Monster Munchies), and Gifts of Nature.

Click here for a discussion on oats in the gluten-free diet or visit Health Canada’s website for an extensive technical review on the safety of oats in the GF diet.

Should you go gluten-free?

Many people who are not affected by Celiac disease are making the switch to a gluten-free diet, claiming that it helps them lose weight, gain energy, improve concentration etc. Of course there can be something to that as we are all very different and react to foods in very different ways – some people find that eliminating gluten, or even just wheat makes them feel dramatically better than they did before. Great! But as we all search in vain for the “miracle diet” that will make us feel amazing, look our best, and allow us to take over the world, we must remember that there isn’t one right answer. We have to take time to listen to ourselves, and give our own bodies a real chance to tell us what is best for us. Even if your best friend gives up gluten and feels incredible, it may not necessarily be the right choice for you.

Often the reason many people do shed a few pounds and generally ‘feel better’ eating foods without gluten, is not the avoidance of gluten itself, but the fact that they are making healthier food choices. We all know what happens when we polish off the breadbasket at lunch; we feel sluggish, foggy, tired and often bloated. It’s not a coincidence – what do you think will happen when you down a loaf of white flour? 

Conversely, when you choose a gluten-free diet, your horizons are forced to expand just a little, and suddenly quinoa, amaranth, and millet make their way into your dinner. You choose fruits and veggie snacks instead of cookies and crackers. Breakfast becomes smoothies instead of cereal. Variety comes into play, and that is what makes the difference! More freshness! More produce! Less dead, nutrition-less, life-sucking white bread. Just sayin’.  

But let me be clear about another thing: wheat is not the enemy! Whole wheat is good for you. So are rye, and barley, and spelt and kamut. These grains contain gluten, yes, and are also full of protein, fiber, phytochemicals, B vitamins, folate, calcium, selenium, iron, and zinc. When prepared properly and eaten in their whole, unprocessed forms, they have many benefits. 

The problem is many of us eat wheat three times a day, often in its over-processed forms (boxed cereal, sandwich bread, pasta…), which has been stripped of most of its valuable nutrition. It’s not necessarily the wheat, it’s the way we process and consume it.   

If you want to give gluten-free eating a shot, go ahead. Perhaps you do have an insensitivity lurking around, and eliminating gluten will certainly shed some light on it. Or, perhaps you want to cut back on the wheat and introduce new and exciting foods to your diet; experiment with the amazingly diverse seeds, nuts, and grains that are on the market for you to explore. Sometimes imposing a few limitations on oneself forces creativity, which can be a very good thing when it comes to what we eat. PB&J sandwich again? We can do better than that!

Gluten-free Banana Bread Pancakes

Serves 2

Dry ingredients:

1/3 cup walnuts

2/3 cup rolled oats (certified gluten-free oats if you have a sensitivity)

1 tsp. baking soda

pinch sea salt

Wet ingredients:

1 very ripe banana

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. olive oil

2/3 cup nut milk 

2 tsp. maple syrup

For garnish:

maple syrup

1 banana, sliced

a handful of walnuts, chopped

extra-dark chocolate, grated (for a special treat!)

Directions:

1. In a food processor, pulse walnuts until they resemble a sand-textured powder (do not over process – you’ll end up with walnut butter!). Remove walnut ‘flour’, add oats and pulse until you get a shaggy flour. Place walnut and oats flours in a large bowl. Add baking soda, sea salt and stir to combine. 

2. Add all wet ingredients to the food processor and blend to combine. 

3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until the two come together. Let batter sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. 

4. Heat a little coconut oil (or ghee) in a skillet and drop in 3 large spoonfuls of batter (you are after three, 8 cm / 3 inch sized pancakes). Spread slightly with the back of the spoon to even out the batter. Turn heat down to low. Let cook on the underside until the topside is opaque, which will take more time than a regular pancake. Check to see if the bottom has browned, and if so, flip over to cook the other side. Cook until the underside is crispy and brown (although the middle is a little moist, this is okay).

5. Put pancake on a baking sheet in a warm oven, and cover with some foil while you make more (this will also give them time to firm up a little in the middle). Serve with pure maple syrup, fresh banana slices, chopped walnuts, and grated dark chocolate for a special treat – they are banana bread pancakes after all.