by | Jul 30, 2021 | Fitness |
Living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t need to break the bank. A lot of people associate eating healthy and working out as something that’s a luxury. It’s honestly far from the case, as you don’t need a gym membership or organic vegetables to live a healthy lifestyle. These are six tips that will not only help you to live a healthy life but they’ll also save you some serious cash.
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Get more sleep
A good night’s sleep is the foundation of good health. You need 7 to 9 hours per night of sleep while your body works to repair itself, and your brain processes the information it took from the day. If you get enough sleep per night, you won’t need to stop by your local café to pick up any coffee. You’ll get to save money while also getting in some more sleep.
Skip the membership
You don’t need a gym membership to stay fit and healthy. You can work out at home, go for walks, or even check out your local park for outdoor fitness equipment. These are all great ways of getting to burn some calories, all while sticking to a budget. Gym memberships can be far too expensive, and the contracts can be hard to get out of, which can cause financial challenges.
Use free fitness apps
There are so many free fitness apps online; you can easily stay on top of your health journey and goals by tracking your progress. Whether you want an app that tracks the number of calories you burned, tips for new exercises, or logging your daily meals, there’s a free app for that.
Avoid eating out
Eating out can be incredibly tempting, especially if you’re someone who has a busy schedule or dislikes cooking. You can save a serious amount of money just by not going out to eat. Restaurants have a massive markup on both their prices as well as their calories on the food. While it’s tempting to go out and share a meal, some restaurants won’t allow that or will charge a fee. But if you do go out to eat, try to avoid eating the entire portion and ask for a to-go box, so you’ll have leftovers for the next day.
Get cooking
Cooking at home is a great lifestyle change that can help you save a lot of money, plus you’ll be able to track your calories much easier. You’ll get to choose what ingredients you want in your food. Cooking at home also invites the opportunity to do meal prep. These not only allow you to save time during the week, but they also allow you to feel less tempted to buy food while you’re out.
Take advantage of employee health benefits
Some companies offer their employees special wellness programs such as gym memberships, rewards, and even dental care. These can all help you with your journey to living a healthier lifestyle while also giving you the chance to save a bit of money. Sometimes, these accounts are linked to health insurance plans, so you may be able to save money on future health care expenses too.
by | Jul 9, 2021 | Fitness, Food |
Let’s be honest here – eating clean is not always easy. You want it to be easy. You might even expect it to be easy. However, the truth is that sometimes you can’t seem to get into the swing of things when it comes to clean eating.
The concept of clean eating is a simple one, but the reality is that the actual process of clean eating is not always as easy as it might seem. There’s a lot more to think about and consider than you might think, isn’t there? Often, eating clean religiously calls for a lot of prep time, which can be a little off-putting, especially when your schedule is already hectic.
The good news is that just because sticking to clean eating does not always seem as easy as you might hope, there are steps that you can take to make the process of eating clean consistently more achievable. There are also lots of ways that you can make preparing to eat clean easier too – it’s just a case of being smart about your approach, that’s all.
Photo source: Pixabay
Intrigued?
Below is a guide to some of the steps you can take to make eating clean more doable daily for everything you need to know. Have a read of this.
Make a plan
The first step to ensuring that you stay on track when eating clean is to make a plan. It’s far easier to stay on track with a diet if you have a plan to help you do that. Mapping out a clean eating plan can help make the process of staying on track a little easier for you.
The first step of the process is to create a mind map that includes all of the key information you need to stay on track when it comes to your clean eating. It would be best if you had a plan that gives you options to choose from to make clean eating easier to stick to.
Ideally, you want a plan that maps out options for different things, such as several breakfast options to choose from and dinner ideas, like seven-layer salad by Yellow Bliss Road. Having options available makes staying on track easier.
Meal prep in advance
Another simple way to stay on track when it comes to clean eating is meal prepping in advance. If you lack time daily, it’s worth setting aside a few hours one day a week to meal prep for the entire week. If you can set aside a few hours every weekend to meal prep for the week ahead, you will find staying on track when eating clean is far simpler.
You can chop vegetables and fruit up. You can put all of the ingredients in tubs labeled per meal and use those to make preparing meals on weekdays easier. Then, all you need to do is throw the ingredients into a pan, and you have your meal.
Another option is to actually make some meals and cook them, leaving them in the fridge ready to re-heat as and when you want them. You either store these in the fridge or freeze them in pre-portioned sizes.
Have snacks readily available
When it comes to making sure that eating clean is more doable, having healthy, clean snacks is important. If you are going to ensure that you stick to eating clean, having snacks on hand is super important.
These can either be pre-made snacks from the supermarket, such as low calorie, clean snacks, such as fruit or health foods, or homemade healthy snacks. A good snack is energy balls – there are lots of recipes that you can use to create healthy, nutritious energy balls, as well as plenty of pre-made energy ball recipes to try.
You will find that if you have snacks readily available that are healthy, clean, and taste good, that you will be less likely to end up snacking on unhealthy and unclean foods. So being prepared is extremely important when it comes to staying on track with any healthy eating regime. A lack of organization is often responsible for your diet taking a bad turn and you accidentally ‘falling off the wagon,’ so to speak.
There you have it, a guide to how you can make clean eating more achievable and fit it more easily into your daily life.
by | Jul 8, 2021 | Fitness, Food, Lifestyle |
Hi Lovely readers,
I have heard how Elderberries are a good source of Vitamin C and full of antioxidants. Research has shown they may reduce cold and flu symptoms. Take a look at the pros and cons of elderberries of Healthline.com. I made this recipe from Nikisha Riley, who had a blog at the time. I would watch the Urbanbushbabes youtube videos. I’ve been making this recipe ever since I saw it. I was looking for a healthy alternative to a cough syrup that also may boost the immune system.
Elderberry Syrup
Ingredients:
1/2 cup dried
elderberries
3 cups water
1 cup local or raw honey
2/3 cup organic raw apple cider vinegar
Directions:
Fill a pot with 3 cups of water and dried elderberries. Bring to a boil, and on low heat, let boil for 30 minutes. Take off heat and mash elderberries up well with a potato masher. Strain out the liquid into a separate bowl using a strainer, cheesecloth, coffee filter, or something similar.
Once strained, add honey to the elderberry liquid, stir well, and add the apple cider vinegar. Place in a glass jar with an airtight lid and place in the fridge. The syrup will last for up to 6 months.
To Use:
Adults 1 Tablespoon a day and
children 1 teaspoon a day.
If you are using it as flu and cold medicine, you can take the same dose every hour instead of just once a day.
Raw berries, stems, and leaves can have side effects of nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. Wellness Mama has her elderberry recipe, which is almost identical, except she uses additional added flavors like clove and cinnamon.
Disclaimer
This recipe has been provided for informational purposes only. Please check with your doctor first if you have medical questions, if you are pregnant, have allergies, or allergic reactions.
by | Jul 8, 2021 | Fitness |
(Unsplash CC0)
You will understand the importance of healthy eating already as much has been written about a nutritious diet’s physical and mental health benefits. We have discussed some ways to eat healthier on our website, including this article on how to improve your diet. When you start to eat nutritiously good foods, you will boost your health, prolong your life, and inspire others to follow your good example.
But here’s the thing. Healthy eating is a choice, so you do need to be proactive. You might fall into bad habits if you don’t make an effort, so with this in mind, here are some simple ways to make healthier food choices.
#1: Plan your meals in advance
Don’t begin each week not knowing what you are going to eat. If your goal is to eat healthier, consider the recipes you might want to consider. Then make a meal plan and work out what ingredients you need to buy. This way, you won’t be tempted to buy those foods that aren’t healthy for you at the supermarket. You won’t be tempted to order a takeaway as you shouldn’t run out of things to cook. And you won’t be inclined to eat snacks between meals if your meal plan consists of healthy foods that keep you going throughout the day.
#2: Make healthy food swaps
Think about the foods you enjoy but that aren’t necessarily good for you. Then consider the healthier alternatives. So, you might choose wholemeal bread over white bread, for example. Instead of putting butter on your toast, you might use olive oil margarine. Rather than frying an egg for your lunch, you could boil or poach an egg instead. And rather than putting full-fat milk on your morning cereal, you could use homemade evaporated milk for your breakfast. Think about all of the other things that make up your diet and swap out anything that isn’t particularly healthy.
#3: Visit healthier restaurants
Whether it’s a fast-food restaurant or somewhere a little posher, be sure to avoid those places that will tempt you away from a healthier diet. Of course, you might tell yourself that you can still pick the healthier choices when you visit somewhere that offers unhealthy foods. But be honest with yourself. When you see or smell the appetizing but unhealthy foods others are ordering; you might be tempted to forsake all that is good and nutritious and eat something bad for you instead. If you relate to this, do the sensible thing and be more choosy when it comes to where you eat in town. For inspiration, here is a list of America’s healthiest fast-food restaurants.
#4: Prepare a packed lunch for work
Sure, you could eat out when on your lunch break. Or you could quickly grab a sandwich when on your morning commute. But what if you opt for something unhealthy? You might, especially if you don’t have time to choose something carefully. To avoid such a situation, prepare a healthy packed lunch before you leave for work. There are some examples in the linked article, so have a read and note the foods you will enjoy.
Once you make these healthier food choices, you will start to experience the benefits. Be mindful then and steer away from any foods that you know are bad for you.
by | May 11, 2021 | Fitness |
Did you know that nature is one of the best prescriptions for poor mental health? Numerous studies have shown that spending time in nature can reduce stress, lower your risk of dementia by as much as 36 percent, and alleviate the symptoms of anxiety and depression.
A lot of people, when they are suffering from mental health issues, will try to ignore them and hope they go away, or maybe talk to a therapist or try medication, and the latter two of those options are absolutely fine, but they are not the only things you can do. You can take natural remedial gummies such as Delta 8 Gummies that can help you relax, as well as spend time out and about in nature.
God has made a beautiful world, and spending more time in it, whether alongside therapy and medication or on its own, can help you find a calm, relaxing space inside yourself where you can just be you.
The combination of fresh air, no screens, and being in our true natural environment surrounded by beautiful trees, rocks, flowers, and plants seems to do something to our brain that staying indoors never could, as many of us have found out in the pandemic in the past year or so. Still, now it’s time to change that.
You don’t even have to head out onto the trails or camp in the nearest National Park to get the benefits if that isn’t your thing because, if you take a look at the infographic below, you will see that spending some time tending to your gardening has many health benefits both mental and physical, so a good bit of gardening could be all you need.
Infographic designed by: Trim That Weed
by | May 1, 2021 | Fitness |
If you’re focusing on changing your diet as a means of meeting your health goals, then you’re already taking the right approach. A lot of people look at fitness methods first, but diet accounts for 80% of all health regimes. However, it’s still easy to make a few mistakes, especially if you’re relatively new to the world of dieting. Here are a few that you can keep note of, and avoid.
Picture – CC0 License
Having no goals
Any changes you make for a healthier lifestyle should be done with a pinpoint focus. In particular, you should be thinking about what your goal is and ensure you’re making diet changes towards them. For instance, if you’re aiming to lose weight, then calorie restriction should be a key part of it. However, if you’re trying to address some deficiencies, then you should do your research on where to get the nutrients you need and incorporate those foods into your diet.
Cooking everyday
Whole food meals are, undeniably, going to help you when it comes to reaching your nutritional goals. However, cooking healthy meals from scratch every day can be tiring and there are going to be days that you would wish you could take a shortcut. Make those shortcuts easier on yourself by preparing some healthy meals in advance. Apps like Noom Meal Prep can help you find meals that are easy to put together in advance while still sticking to your health goals.
Not keeping track
Of course, you want to make sure that all of the foods that you eat are not only helping you stick to calorie goals, but are also providing the nutrients that you need. To that end, you can use tools like the MyFitnessPal Diet Tracking app that can look at your overall diet, letting you know what you might need a little more of and what you can cut back on from week to week.
Not fueling your exercises
If you’re working out at the same time that you’re dieting, you should make sure both of them are compatible. Restricting your calories a lot while you’re also doing strength training is not a great idea, however. You can easily supplement your controlled diet with additions like Muscle Nation Custard. You want to make sure you’re giving yourself enough calories, especially in proteins and fats, to allow your body to meet its workout goals.
Allowing yourself snacks
One of the worst habits that you can allow yourself to keep falling into is that of snacking. You should ensure that you’re only eating the meals that you have planned throughout the day. You can start by making sure you only have healthy snacks available in the home, but slowly you should start to phase even those out of your diet. The quicker you get out of bad eating habits, the sooner you can manage full control over your diet.
With the tips above, you can make sure that you’re avoiding some of the most common and easy pitfalls while building a healthy diet.
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