healthy living Archives

Recipe August 2, 2016

Cooling down this summer with homemade popsicles

A hot summer day with kids is excruciating, especially when everyone is hot and crabby. But there is a solution for moms and dads everywhere — homemade popsicles!

I ventured to the store with my daughter and grabbed a popsicle mould. We made it back home despite the intense heat wave and started making our delicious cool treat. Mix all the ingredients together with a blender by adding an avocado, a can of coconut milk, half a cup of coconut flakes, and 3-6 tbsp sugar depending on your preference for sweetness. Once the ingredients are smooth, pour them into the popsicle mould and freeze until solid. Affordable popsicle moulds can be purchased at the dollar store. These popsicles are full of fibre, protein and iron, and are delicious!

[Other options for homemade popsicles include] AWK TRANSITION. REMEMBER ARTICLES AREN’T LISTS.

If you are looking for something a little less traditional, try this gourmet twist on a strawberry popsicle by adding basil, or oranges for a citrus treat. If you are craving a pina colada on the beach, pineapple chunks blended with coconut milk and flakes makes a delicious popsicle. Most fruits and vegetables will taste delectable if blended with coconut milk and sugar once blended, though it is generally recommended to stay away from peaches because they don’t freeze well.

Acai berry coconut popsicle by Santopop. Photo provided by Nathalie Hernandez.

Nathalie Hernandez, owner of an artisan vegan ice pop company called Santopop, has a few tips. “Use fresh ingredients, the best raw materials means best pops. Also, get local fruits and respect the seasonality, it always tastes better,” Hernandez says. She also supports local farmers, and also handpick the ripest fruits, which helps you to use less sugar when blending the ingredients together.

Mango yangmei berry popsicle by Santopop. Photo provided by Nathalie Hernandez.

I plan on making homemade popsicles weekly throughout the summer will be trying different handpicked fruits and vegetables from the farmers market. This will help my daughter get excited about picking out healthy foods, and she can help me blend all the ingredients together. By having healthy popsicles in the freezer, my daughter can avoid sugary ice pops and get a nutrition kick from a refreshing treat instead.

Give it a try and let Women’s Post know in the comments below know which fruits and vegetables are your favourite for homemade popsicles!

Recipe May 28, 2016

Delicious and refreshing raw vegan chocolate ice cream

On a blazing hot sunny day, a bowl of ice cream is the most refreshing treat imaginable.

Now, there is a way to enjoy this dessert without the guilt of eating something unhealthy. LoveWildLiveFree, a vegan recipe and lifestyle blog by Avra Epstein, brings you a vegan ice cream dish that is healthy and satisfying.

The Raw Banana Chocolate Chunk Nice-Cream uses bananas and chocolate as natural sweetners and it tastes like a delicious bowl of ice cream without any unnecessary additives! Bananas can be used in many dessert recipes as a sugar replacement and instead gives vital nutrients such as potassium and dietary fiber. Cacao, which provides the yummy chocolate addition has magnesium and high antioxidants.

You will need:

4 ripe bananas

Raw chocolate sauce (recipe below)

Raw Heirloom Organic Vanilla Bean and Salt Chocolate Bar

Raw cashew pieces, optional

Raw Chocolate Sauce:

1 tbsp organic unrefined, virgin coconut oil, melted

1 tbsp raw cacao powder

1-2 tbsp lukewarm filtered water, or more if needed

3 dates, soaked for 10 minutes in lukewarm filtered water

Giddy Yo-Yo Chocolate. Photo provided by Avra Epstein — Photo provided by Avra Epstein

Instructions:

Peel bananas and cut into coins. Place the bananas in to an airtight container and freeze for a couple of hours until frozen, or ideally, overnight.
Place the frozen bananas into a food processor. Pulse until you create a crumble, stoping to scrape down the walls of the food processor as you go.
Once you reach an even crumble, blend consistently and stop every so often to scrape down the sides to ensure that you have an even consistency. This will take a little patience, but eventually the mixture will reach a soft-serve ice cream consistency.
Roughly chop a couple of squares of the chocolate bar and add to the food processor, pulsing a few times to evenly distribute.
Depending on your preference, you can eat the ice-cream immediately as soft-serve, or, transfer to an airtight container and freeze until solid.
Top with raw cashews and raw chocolate sauce (recipe below).

Note: I always use a food processor when making nice-cream, but it can also be made in a high speed blender, just be sure that your blender is powerful enough to handle processing frozen bananas.

Vegan ice cream mix. Photo provided by Avra Epstein.

Raw Chocolate Sauce

Combine all ingredients in a blender. It’s that simple, just make sure to remove the dates from the water they’ve soaked in before adding them to the blender!

Tip: If the sauce is too runny place in refrigerator to thicken; if the sauce is too thick add more lukewarm water and blend.

Original recipe can be found here: Raw Banana Chocolate Chunk Nice-Cream

Health & Fitness March 2, 2016

March yourself into a 100 meal journey

It’s been two months since you’ve made that New Year’s resolution to eat well this year … and you may be hitting a plateau. It’s hard to keep inspired and motivated when the weather just makes you want to stuff your face. Luckily, Dieticians of Canada can help you change those eating habits. You may even eat 100 healthy meals in a row! Sound impossible? Trust us, it’s not!

March is Nutrition Month, or at least, it’s labelled that way by the Dieticians of Canada. They started as a Nutrition Week in 1981 and has since expanded into a monthly celebration of healthy eating with a new theme each year. This year’s theme is dedicated to making small changes — one meal at a time. It’s called the 100 meal journey.

The Dieticians of Canada are promoting a series of fun events across the country that help Canadians eat healthy meals throughout the month of March. Each week of the month has a specific theme. March 16 is also Dietician’s Day and is an opportunity to take part in healthy eating events across the country, details of which can be found on this activity map. This year, the weekly themes are: Getting Started, Quality Counts!, Prioritize Portion Size, Try Something New!, and Make it Stick.

Getting started in any healthy eating initiative can be daunting, but there are certain steps that you can take to get the process started. Creating a list of healthy eating goals and then posting it in your desk area or on the fridge will help enforce the new habits. It also takes a community to make a great change — enlisting friends and family. Instead of waiting until the last minute — because let’s be real, it’s exhausting to figure out dinner at 7 p.m. — try making a weekly meal plan. Remember: whole grains instead of white bread and fill that list with fresh veggies and fruits!

Quality cooking is essential in any healthy meal. Dieticians of Canada provide Cookspiration, a link with several delicious recipes that help to plan for hale and hearty options. The Dieticians also provide apps that can be installed to help set goals, give portion size measurements, and provide ideas for the 100 meals healthy eating plan. Some of the better apps are eaTracker and eaTipster.

The number one tip: be prepared. If you are in a hurry, prepare smoothies in advance with frozen fruit, ground flax and hemp seed, spinach, and almond milk. A great snack for those on the run is peanut butter, banana, and trail mix in a whole-grain tortilla for a yummy breakfast.

Another tip the Dieticians of Canada provide in their 100 healthy meals campaign is how to pack protein into meals. Protein reduces the appetite and keeps people healthy. Lentils are a great way to sneak protein into dishes, because the grain has the capability to take on whatever taste is in the dish at hand. The ground-up chickpeas in hummus provide a yummy dipping option with veggies. Pairing protein-packed foods with high-fibre foods is another great way to fill up and avoid overeating. Fantastic fibre foods include whole veggies and fruits, whole grains such as barley and lentils, nuts, seeds, and beans.

Finally, don’t give up! Making healthy lifestyle changes can be a challenge, but the rewards are great.

Are you brave enough to tackle the 100 meal challenge? Leave us some of your meal ideas below!

Health & Fitness February 18, 2016

Winter weight gain: how to beat it

There’s nothing like the holidays to spend some quality time with your friends and family, get (almost) everything you’ve wanted from your wish list, and put on an extra 5-10 pounds in Christmas cookies. And although you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to lose the excess weight, it is now February and there’s still one more box of Ferro Rocher’s that has to be finished before you really get into your exercise and diet regime.

Let’s face it ladies, you’re in a slump. Even if you do make it on the treadmill at least once a week, that 20 minutes of sweat you produce won’t do anything if you indulge in a ‘’well-deserved’’ snack a few hours later. However, don’t lose hope. With lots of experimentation and a few breathless situations later, I’ve come up with the perfect plan to help you – and me – come out of the winter fatness slump.

Warning: the following tips may lead you to feel a sudden surge of happiness, cause your pants to fit a little better, and encourage you to put down that extra slice of pizza.

Skip the cardio

Cardio can get dull. It doesn’t matter if it’s Pitbull or Beyoncé, sometimes no chart-busting single can seem to get us pumped enough to run for more than 10 minutes on a treadmill. Skip the traditional cardio when you’re feeling less than motivated and spice it up. Fitness classes such as pole dancing, Zumba, or even yoga can give the same benefits (if not more) of cardio without provoking violent thoughts – like attacking that cake in your fridge. Put on an extra pair of tights and head out for a winter hike. Embrace your Canadian identity and take part in the plethora of winter sports that our country has to offer. Whether it’s skating, skiing, tobogganing, or even shovelling snow, changing up your routine allows your body to truly challenge itself. Within a few weeks, the feeling of waking up sore the day after a good workout will be so satisfying, you’ll crave it constantly.

Be Sneaky

Waiting for your food to heat up? That’s 30 seconds of squats. Work on the 3^rd floor? Take the stairs. If you sneak in physical activity within your daily life, you won’t feel as pained – except in your increasing health. Small steps such as parking your car in the furthest spot in the lot or getting off the public transit a couple of stops earlier just to take in those few freezing breaths of fresh air along with some much needed steps can help get you in the right direction towards a healthier lifestyle this winter. Although it may be hard, seeing as we haven’t felt the sun on our skin in what feels like a decade, your fitness regime shouldn’t freeze just because the lakes have.

F*ck Stress, Bench Press

Despite what you may have heard, lifting does not make you bulky. In fact, women’s hormones make it impossible to bulk up. That is, without incredible effort, high intensity workout plans and nutritional diets consisting of a lot of protein shakes. Lifting weights two to three times a week will help you lose that muffin top faster than an hour on the elliptical every day. On the plus side, all that lifting, pushing, and pressing that occurs during weight training can take out a lot of stress and anger that builds up from day to day experiences. It will also give your body a sculpted appearance, bring a certain glow to your skin, and give you an excuse to wear tanks tops and dresses all year long – because why not.

Let it go

The end of the holiday season can bring on a lot of unnecessary stress. Getting our finances under control after spoiling our loved ones, and possibly ourselves, with gifts, heading back to the daily office routine, and not to mention the everlasting morning and evening winter — let’s just say it can all take a toll on our mental health. Whether you’re suffering from seasonal affective disorder or are just finding yourself in a slump, one quick fix is to get moving. Break into a sweat, get lost within the confines of your muscle movement, and get in tune with your physical and mental self. Oftentimes, it’s your mind that stops you from accomplishing the things that you want. Find a way to deal with your inner demons and learn to let it go. Whether it’s through talking to a family or friend, leaving town for a quick get away, or writing it down in a diary, learning to deal with stress and seasonal affective disorder can help you out of your slump faster then ever.

Find Your Motivation

Know thyself. If you have a strong reason for exercising, then you will be far more likely to follow through on your commitments. Whether it’s to lose weight, feel more energetic, increase cognitive function, build confidence, sleep better, run faster… know it. The secret to looking and feeling better about yourself isn’t in magazines. It isn’t in Nicki Minaj’s music video, nor is it on Instagram. It’s in your mind. Whether you think you need it or not, exercise is a must for everyone and anyone. Soon enough, spring will be here. Before you know it, you’ll will be forced out of your oversized knit sweaters and into something more fitting. And that’s something you’ll want to be prepared, right? Your summer body starts now.

Good luck!

Have any other suggestions on how to beat the winter slump? Let us know in the comments below!

Health & Fitness September 23, 2013

10 ways to stay fit and active in the fall

No matter where you live in Canada the fall is a picturesque season with the multi-coloured leaves that cover our trails and pathways. As you walk or run you hear the leaves crunch beneath your feet, however, ‘tis the season for cooler temperatures and less daylight hours. It is the time to wear your sweater for that walk in the trails, or to dress warm to do your favourite activity. The cool crisp air in the early morning is so invigorating – you feel so alive, but there may be times you may feel less energy or motivated to working out and getting that vitamin D.

To get a jumpstart into your autumn workout routine – here are the top 10 ways to staying active.

1. Raking leaves

Raking leaves can be a good workout and the bonus is that your yard work gets done too. It helps build upper-body strength, as well as core strength or strength in your back and stomach according to Barbara Ainsworth, an exercise epidemiologist at San DiegoStateUniversity. Before you start raking, dress in layers, and water bottle with you. Perhaps wear a hat to keep your head warm or if it rains. There are many other outdoor chores such as cleaning your windows.

2. Hiking

Hiking is a good way to keeping fit and exploring some beautiful trails right in your own back yard. Spend the day with family or friends and make sure to bring some snacks and water with you. If you are beginner, start with an easy terrain. Bring a map or know your route and figure out how long the hike will be. Dress warmly or bring an extra change of clothes. Wear hiking or trail running shoes to avoid slipping or falling.

3. Outdoor yoga

Try yoga outdoors and enjoy the beautiful scenery around you. Bring a mat or blanket and dress for the weather conditions. It is recommended to dress in layers. Bring some music with you and water.

4. Washing the car

Consider washing your car once a week. This will help keep you in shape and plus you will a clean car. All you need is a pail, wash cloth and soap. Don’t forget to wash the tires — it can be the most difficult part, but you will work those muscles. Waxing your car afterwards can be a good workout too!

5. Golf

Golfing can be a good workout. Consider walking the course instead of using the cart. Autumn can be a good time to practice your golf game as well as invest in some gear. Dress in layers and keep hydrated on the course.

6. Running

Trail running in the fall is more enjoyable because of the cooler temperatures and the beautiful scenery. It is recommended to wear trail running shoes, dress in layers and bring water with you. If you are new to trail running start with an easy trail until your fitness improves. Know the route so you will not get lost. Watch your footing to avoid tripping over roots.

7. Picking fruit

Fruit picking can be a great outdoor activity because it is low-impact and is a great family outing. Look in your community calendar for some great places to do some fruit picking or go to the pumpkin patch. Dress for the weather!

8. Walk the dog

It’s a win situation for you and Rex to getting in a good workout. Dogs are good walking companions and also your dog provides safety. If you are a new dog owner start your dog with shorter walks. Walk your dog everyday and try different routes.

9. Biking

Biking or mountain biking can be a great workout and a good cross trainer. Dress for the weather, wear a helmet. Know your route and safety procedures. Bring water with you.

10. Circuit train

Circuit training in the park can be a good cross trainer for the runner who doesn’t go to the gym and to get that total overall fitness. Find a park that has circuit training. Start easy if you have never done it before. Start with a 5min warm-up. Do two sets of 10-12 repetitions of all moves with little rest.

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