Friday, June 28, 2013

Boosting Metabolism Naturally




Reset Your Appetite & Kick Your Metabolism Into High Gear

The body thrives and your metabolism sparks when you shift gears and make significant changes to your diet. Get satisfied with natural nutrition!

Don't Skip Meals: When you skip meals your metabolism actually slows down. If your body isn't getting enough nourishment, it begins storing FAT.  Give your metabolism a boost first thing in the morning, eat breakfast! The word "breakfast" literally means breaking the fast. The first meal of the day is the most important because it supplies the body and brain with the necessary nutrients after a night's sleep. Start your day with an easily digestible meal that nourishes the body.

Don't Starve Yourself: Avoid starvation mode - Eat balanced meals for superior energy, stamina and for mental and emotional balance. Try not to go more than four to five hours without fuel (eat something) Get Stoked! Staying within your recommended calorie intake will keep your internal furnace burning brightly. 

Stay Hydrated: Prevent dehydration by drinking plenty of water, which allows your metabolism to keep running efficiently and effectively. Drinking water flushes toxins and keeps your body functioning optimally. Tip: Coconut Water has tremendous health benefits and effective in relieving dehydration. Coconut water is the best hydrating and energizing beverage with the highest source of electrolytes.

Fire Up The Engine: "Fill'er Up!" One of the biggest mistakes individuals make is rush out the door without fuel (food/eating). Imagine trying to drive your car to work with no gas. You won't get very far, right? Your body is like a machine, so fill it with premium octane-fuel and fire up your metabolism for the day!



Go Green: Green tea is a thermogenic agent, which means you burn more calories. The powerful antioxidants found in green tea also aids in energy production and the chemical in green tea or green tea extract, known as EGCG is known to speed up your metabolism.

Spice It Up: Studies have shown that spicy food actually has many health benefits including increasing your metabolism. Here's a little spice and a kick of flavour ~wink~ ginger, cayenne, mint and cinnamon, tumeric, capsicum(cayenne pepper). Burning more fuel, means more energy in your tank. 

Foods To Eat For A Leaner Body:


Lighten your load so you can feel fresh and clean during the summer's long days.

Festive Canada Day Popsicles



Sending you warm greetings and fun-filled wishes for Canada Day!




I SCREAM FOR ... FROZEN POPSICLES? These homemade frozen Greek yogurt popsicles are a great alternative to ice cream! Since they require just a handful of simple ingredients and very few tools, making popsicles is practically effortless. 

In honor and celebration of Canada Day, I made these delicious popsicles using fresh  organic strawberries and organic plain greek yogurt. I selected this combination to represent the colors of the National Flag of Canada. You can use any combination of fruit with other healthy ingredients for various holidays or birthday celebration. 




The possibilities for healthy, delicious, homemade pops are endless and I enjoy experimenting. During the hot summer season my produce-rich smoothie gets poured into popsicle molds ready for a healthy summer snack. 

To make Festive Canada Day Popsicles

Ingredients:

Oh, Canada! Strawberry Yogurt Pops
  • 2 cups fresh organic strawberries
  • 2 cups organic plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 tbsp. pure unpasteurized honey (try a flavoured honey infused with natural complimentary ingredients like lavender, lemon or cinnamon) OR
  • 2 tbsp. of maple syrup (perfect for this Holiday frozen treat
  • 6 popsicle molds

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Makes 6 popsicles:

Directions: 
  • Add strawberries and 1 tbsp. of maple syrup or honey in Vitamix or blender. Pulse mixture on low for a few seconds allowing contents to blend until smooth.
  • In a separate bowl, mix yogurt and 1 tbsp. of honey 
  • Let the fun begin! Spoon strawberry and yogurt mixture alternately into popsicle molds. 
  • Place popsicle sticks inside each mold and allow popsicles to freeze for approximately 3 hours or overnight.
  • Gently tap the popsicle mold on the counter a few times to release or avoid any air bubbles.
To remove popsicles, run popsicle molds under hot water for a couple of seconds while gently wiggling on the popsicles sticks to unmold.



I  hope you and your family enjoy them as much as we did!