Flat tummy? Kitchen Sink Salad to the Rescue

Have you seen that google ad at the side of your screen?  "Magic Steps to Flat Tummy"?  I have a hard time believing in short cuts to well balanced health.  Very often when we do some strange, extreme fad we pay the price down the road thus the term yo-yo diet.

Something that I have been experimenting with is increasing the amount of  raw veggies that I'm incorporating into my diet.  I'll tell you what is magic - the phyto nutrients that veggies contain!  Veggies with a hard focus on greens (radicchio, endive, rocket, arugula etc etc) supply all sorts of nutrients and are high in fiber and water to keep the colon happy and healthy.  For me that has lead to a noticeably flatter tummy!

You can start by getting creative with your salads!  On top of the usual bed of greens punch up the flavour quotient by adding berries or chopped apple.  You can go in another direction with pungent veggies like onions, radishes or raw shredded beets.   Top it off with a good quality protein - nuts, seeds or cheese.  The "icing on the cake" is a good quality oil - olive or grape seed - and some lemon juice or a flavoured vinegar and a handful of fresh herbs. 

Make sure that it's balanced with all the components - protein, fat and carbohydrates - to satiate your appetite and hold you until your next meal.

Bon appetit!

How to Successfully Build New Year's Resolutions

It’s that time of year again!!  With January 1^st comes that inevitable New Year’s Resolution.  Have you ever made a pledge to lose weight or give up your favourite sinful food?  How’s it working for you? 

Research has shown that the human brain doesn’t effectively process a negative.  Think about it… how do you NOT DO something?  It’s much more straight forward to DO something.  When we say “don’t gain weight!” the brain gets confused by the “don’t” and just hears the part about the weight.   It’s much more efficient to build our goals as positive statements.  Instead of “losing weight” try Gaining Health.  Now the brain starts to search for ways to be healthy!

Step #1 to getting to a destination is to figure out where you are right now.  An assessment is the only way to have a baseline for comparison down the road to make sure that you’re on the right track.  Let’s be honest - the truth can hurt. 

Look at your before picture as a motivator.  Checking in regularly (but not obsessively) by actually seeing your progress with your own eyes on charts or in pictures can keep that motivation high.  That leads to the perseverance which enables you to arrive at your target.

A great tool can be found at the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s website.  It’s a FREE 12 week, interactive program that gets you started and helps keep you focused.  By the time heart month rolls in around this February you could be a third of your way to your finish line!! 

Start your assessment HERE.  It’s a wonderful first step!

Look for step 2 in next week’s post.

By the way… Happy New Year!  ;)