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Creating a Healthy Lifestyle

Creating a Healthy  Lifestyle

Monthly Archives: January 2013

Healthy Eating and Desserts

31 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by creatingahealthylifestyle in Healthy Eating

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Desserts, Desserts and a Healthy Lifestyle, Fruit to Satisfy Cravings, Healthy Eating, Healthy Lifestyle, Mindfulness Eating, Portion Control, Servings, Sharing Desserts, Sweets and a Healthy Lifestyle, Three-bite rule

Healthy Eating and DessertsYou may be wondering if desserts, sweets, treats… fit into a healthy lifestyle.  The short answer is they can, just not on a daily basis. Here are some suggestions of how to enjoy something sweet:

1. Decide when, where and with whom you will have your sweets.

2. Enjoy what you have by eating it with mindfulness.

3. Share it with others.  Get one dessert and 2 spoons.

4. Use the three-bite rule.  Savor three bites or spoonfuls and then remove it.

5. Use portion control and stick to one serving.

6. Have sweets on special occasions like your birthday, anniversary or holidays.

7. Eat your sweets out rather than at home where you may be tempted to eat too much, especially if there is a large quantity or multiple servings.

8. Have a piece of fruit, melon or berries when you are craving something sweet, or for dessert.

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

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Michael’s Apple Oat Pancakes

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by creatingahealthylifestyle in Recipes

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Apple Oat Pancakes, Apple Pancakes, Breakfast, Breakfast Recipe, Gluten Free Pancakes, Healthy Eating, Healthy Recipe, Homemade Apple Pancakes, oat flour, Pancakes, Recipe

Michael's Apple Oat Pancakes2 cups oat flour (grind oats in a high-speed blender or food processor)

1 cup oats

1/3 cup oat bran

4 tablespoons milled flax-seed

3 eggs

1 cup almond milk

2 tablespoons vanilla

3 tablespoons agave (optional)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 apples, cored and chopped

1/2 cup brown sugar (optional)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup water

First, cook the apples in a saucepan with the brown sugar (if using), cinnamon and water, until soft but still firm.  While the apples are cooking, grind 2 cups oats into flour. In a large bowl, place the oat flour, oats, oat bran, and flax-seed.  Mix well and add the eggs, almond milk, vanilla, agave (if using) and cinnamon.  Stir well then stir in the cooked apples.

Cook pancakes on a griddle or frying pan, until browned on both sides.

Syrup is optional and may not be necessary if sweeteners are used when cooking the apples and/or in the pancake mix.

Fitting in Time For YOU!

29 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by creatingahealthylifestyle in Healthy Body

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2 percent of 24 hours, 30 minutes, Daily Movement, Exercise, Fit 30 minutes into your day, Health, Healthy Body, Healthy Lifestyle, healthy-living, lunch break, Movement, Physical exercise, Self care, Time for exercise, Time for you, Time management, time slot, When to exercise

Fitting in Time For YOU!Creating a healthy lifestyle and healthy body may take less time than you think. Research shows that just of 30 minutes of daily movement, like walking, is enough to make a positive difference in your health.

So where can you fit 30 minutes into your day? Here are some options:

First thing in the morning

Before work

During a lunch break

After work

Before dinner

While the kids are at sports practice or other activity

After dinner

Did you know that 30 minutes is just 2% of a 24 hour day? Experiment with different times until you find a time slot that works for you.

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

Reclaim The Space In Your Head

28 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by creatingahealthylifestyle in Healthy Mind

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Anger, DIY, Forgiveness, Forgiveness Ceremony, Forgiveness Process, Happiness, Healthy Mind, Letter Writing, Mental health, Pain, Peace, Peace Through Forgiveness, Reclaim The Space In Your Head, Reclaim Your Thoughts, resentment, Sadness

Reclaim The Space In Your HeadIt may be time to reclaim the space in your head taken up by thoughts of people who have hurt you. How often do you think about someone you resent? If you are harboring anger and resentment towards someone it may be time to clear out those thoughts.

Forgive others not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace. It’s not about them.  It’s not about forgetting what they have done.  It’s not about agreeing with them.  It’s about you coming to terms with what happened, letting it go, and reclaiming the space they take up in your head.

The following is a process that you can do privately or with support of a trusted friend or mental health professional.  This process does not include any interaction with the person you have resentment towards.

1. Decide that you want peace around this person or event.

2. Write down all of the hurtful things you experienced.

3. Write (but don’t send) a letter to the person expressing your feelings of anger, resentment, hurt, pain, sadness, etc.

4. Next, write to the person what you needed and didn’t get, how you would have liked it to be.

5. Look over all of your writings.  Fully experience what ever feelings come up.

6. When you are ready, declare your forgiveness. If you desire, you can symbolize your forgiveness by safely burning your writings, shredding them or burying them.

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

Cultivating Self-Discipline

25 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by creatingahealthylifestyle in Family Fun

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Behavior Changes, Creating Healthy Habits, Family Fun, Fear as a Motivator for Change, Parenting, Personal Improvement, Rewards, Self-discipline, Self-discipline for children and adults, Sticker Charts, Tracking Progress

Cultivating Self-DisciplineSelf-discipline is defined as training and control of oneself and one’s conduct, usually for personal improvement. How do we learn self-discipline and teach it to our children?

Self-discipline can be reinforced by earning rewards along the way or at the end of reaching a goal, such as mastering a skill, establishing a regular physical activity routine or losing 10 pounds. Fear can be another motivator, especially when your health is at stake.

When what we have to do to reach our goal conflicts with what we want to do, or don’t want to do, the inner-conflict usually wins and we talk ourselves out of doing what is necessary to move towards our goal.  Self-improvement takes time and effort.  In order to master a musical instrument, language or athletic skill, we must practice. The same can be said with most goals, we must do something different and practice that behavior until it becomes part of us.  We may be drawn back into our old routine, or prefer to be spontaneous and have fun, when we  need to spend 20 minutes being self-disciplined.

While self-discipline is easier for some adults and children, and more difficult for others, it comes down to finding the willingness to take small steps in the direction of our goals, even when we don’t feel like it. It may be helpful for both adults and children to use a chart to visually track their progress.  See Sticker Charts for Children and Adults.

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

Greens, Greens, Greens!

24 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by creatingahealthylifestyle in Healthy Eating

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Beet Greens, Bok Choy, Collard greens, Cooked Greens, Drink Your Greens, Eat Your Greens, Greens in Smoothies, Greens in Soup, healthiest foods, Healthy Eating, Juiced Greens, Juicing, Kale, Leaf vegetable, mustard greens, Raw Greens, raw spinach, Spinach, Vegetarian

Greens, Greens, GreensGreens have been touted as some of the healthiest foods available.  Some people love them, while others don’t care for them, or rather, they haven’t found a way to prepare them that is enjoyable.

The “greens” food group includes spinach, kale, bok choy, beet greens, chard, collard greens and mustard greens, among others.

Below are three very different ways of preparing greens.

Delicious Greens with Garlic

Looks Cooked Raw Kale Salad

Nourishing Power Smoothie

Try a variety of greens and get creative. You could add sautéed greens to quinoa, raw spinach to soup or a salad, bok choy to a stir-fry or drink your greens after putting them in a juicer.

May you find some recipes to enjoy the health benefits of eating or drinking greens!

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

Vegetarian Multi-Bean Chili

23 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by creatingahealthylifestyle in Recipes

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Chili, Healthy Eating, Healthy Recipe, High Fiber, Multi-Bean Chili, Multi-Bean Recipe, Recipe, Vegan, Vegetarian, Vegetarian Chili

Vegetarian Multi-Bean ChiliIf using dried beans, plan on soaking the beans overnight and allow about two hours to cook the beans. I used a blend of beans that also included lentils and peas.

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups water

6 cups cooked beans, lentils and peas

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

Heat oil in a large soup pot.  Add onion, red bell pepper and garlic.  Saute until the vegetables are soft.  Add the chili powder, oregano, cumin and salt; stir over heat for 2 minutes. Stir in the water, cooked beans and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the chili thickens and the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Feeling Cold? Change Your Bed Sheets!

22 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by creatingahealthylifestyle in Healthy Body

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Body Circulation, Cold Nights, Feeling Cold, Health, Healthy Body, Increase Body Warmth, Movement, Warming Up, Warmth, Ways to Keep Warm in Less Than 10 Minutes

Feeling Cold Change Your Bed Sheets!Last night was another below freezing night. Prior to going to bed I decided to change the sheets. I was surprised when I noticed how much my body warmed up by the movement of putting clean sheets on the bed.

Rather than going to bed cold, or just sitting bundled up at night, here are some ways to warm up that can be done in less than 10 minutes.

If you live in a two-story home, walk up and down the stairs a couple of times

Do some yoga or sun salutation

Jump rope or pretend to

Jog in place or dance

Do jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, knee bends, or lunges

Any form of movement will increase your circulation and warm you up. When it’s really cold wear a vest to keep your core warm.  A neck scarf and hat will also help keep the warmth in.

Love, Health and Happiness,

Phyllis

Something To Look Forward To (Part 2)

21 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by creatingahealthylifestyle in Family Fun, Healthy Mind

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Different, Family Fun, Fun, Having Fun, Healthy Mind, Looking Forward to Something, People to see, Places to Visit, Positive Psychology, Something to Look Forward to, Special, Things to do, Things to look forward to

Something To Look Forward To (Part 2)Last week I wrote about the benefits of having something to look forward to in “What are you looking forward to?” Today, lets look at some ideas of what you might consider looking forward to and putting on the calendar. Select some things that are fun, special or different, to do today, tomorrow, in a week, in a month, next season and/or next year.

Here’s a list to get you started:

Getting together with a friend or two for a walk, lunch or tea

Going to the movies

Game night at home or with another family

Play time at a park

A trip to the zoo, amusement park or miniature golf

A vacation to another area, state or country

Bowling, skating, skiing, swimming, or playing tennis

A weekend away

Attending a concert, play or sporting event

Your birthday

Being pampered with a facial or massage

A drive to the mountains or beach

Play tourist in your own backyard or the next city over

Trying a new restaurant

Participating in a 5k, 10k, half-marathon or full marathon

Celebrating the next holiday on the calendar

May you, your friends and family, have lots of things to look forward to this year!

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

What Are You Looking Forward To?

18 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by creatingahealthylifestyle in Family Fun, Healthy Mind

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Day Dream, Family Fun, Fun, Happiness, Increased Productivity, kindness, Looking Forward to Something, Meditation, Mental health, Positive Psychology, Smiling, Special, special occasion, Tolerant, Well-being

What Are You Looking Forward ToNo matter what your age, having something to look forward to that’s fun, special or different can help us get through our day-to-day routine.

Anticipating an upcoming event, outing or get-together, builds excitement and may even cause us to daydream about it, similar to being in meditation.

When have something to look forward to we may experience ourselves smiling more, being more kind to others and ourselves, and more tolerant of things that normally annoy us. In other words, having something to look forward may have a positive affect on our happiness, well-being, and even our productivity.

What are you looking forward to?

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

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