Showing posts with label eat healthy. Show all posts

Saturday, 28 September 2013

what are your health habits?

John Dryden famously said, "We first make our habits, and then our habits make us."
Confucius said, "Men's natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them."
And Aristotle noticed that, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."
It's pretty clear that the habits you adopt will shape who you are.
When it comes to your body, the two habits that define your physique are your eating and exercise habits. In fact, everyone that you know who is in great shape has dialed in these two important habits.
If you aren't happy with your body, then simply adjust your eating and exercise habits. Here's how to adopt a habit:
Making a Habit Use these seven steps to create a life-improving habit.
1) Decide on the ONE habit that you would like to develop. It's tempting to pick up 3 or 4 healthy habits, but choosing just one new habit is realistic and doable.
Here are some healthy habit ideas: Do not eat after 7pm each night. Bring your lunch to work instead of eating fast food. Exercise 4 times a week after work for 45 minutes each time. Only eat fruits and veggies as your afternoon snack. Get up early and exercise for an hour each morning. Work with a personal trainer 3 times a week.
2) Write your new habit down on paper. Also include your 3 main motivators for developing this new habit, the obstacles you'll face, and your strategies for overcoming these obstacles.
Here's an example: My new habit is to work with a personal trainer 3 times each week. My 3 main motivators are 1) to feel confident in my bathing suit this summer, 2) to have more energy, and 3) to fit into my skinny jeans. The obstacles I will face are 1) not having the energy to go to my session after work, 2) not having enough money to pay for sessions, and 3) not having my spouse's support. I will overcome these obstacles by 1) doing my workouts before work instead of after work, so I have more energy, 2) cutting down on frivolous spending to ensure that I can afford it, and 3) asking my spouse to join me so we can get in shape together.
3) Commit fully to your new habit, in a public way. This could mean posting it on Facebook, or simply announcing it at the dinner table. Put yourself in a position where you'll be embarrassed to give up on your new habit.
4) Keep track of your progress. You could keep a detailed journal or simply make a check mark on each calendar day that you successfully exercise your new habit.
5) Keep yourself publically accountable. This means either status updates on Facebook or verbal status updates at the dinner table. Your friends and family are in a position to offer you support, so don't shy away from those close to you.
6) When you fail, figure out what went wrong so that you can plan around it in the future.
7) Reward yourself for your success. Once your new habit becomes second nature, usually in about 30 days, feel free to add a second habit by going through the same 7 steps.
I'd love for my fitness program to become your new healthy habit! Please let me know about your success.
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Thursday, 18 October 2012

Health recipes

Curried Red Lentil and Spinach Soup

Lentils are a high fiber small disc that is similar to a bean, but usually quick cooking. They are common in India and the Middle East and are generally cheap and nutritious which makes them a great choice for eating a healthy diet on a budget.

Did you know: Curry powder is not a universal flavor. It can be any range of flavors from sweet to spicy and usually gets its bright yellow color from tumeric. It’s high in antioxidants, and can be found in everything from stews to rice dishes and even desserts. Don’t dismiss it if you’ve had it once and didn’t care for it, it’s a mixture of different spices and the flavors can vary greatly.

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 1/2 cups red lentils, rinsed and drained
6 cups water
2 tsp curry powder
1 package chopped frozen spinach

Directions:

Heat oil in a large soup pot. Add onion and sauté over medium heat until golden. Add lentils and water, bring to a simmer. Stir in curry powder, cover and simmer gently 30-40 minutes. Stir in spinach and check consistency. If soup is too thick, add a bit of water. Season with salt, pepper and more curry if you’d like. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Serve.

(makes 6 servings)

Peanut Vegetable Curry with Brown Rice Noodles

Nov 12th, 2010

Here I used crunchy peanut butter and enjoyed the added texture, but smooth will work just

as well. When cooking brown rice noodles be sure to use a large pot with ample water and to

stir them every couple of minutes as they stick together very easily. They also need to be

rinsed well after cooking to avoid clumping.

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium red onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 inch piece ginger, minced

Large pinch sea salt

1 stalk lemongrass

2 small Thai chilies, finely sliced, most seeds removed

4 Kafir lime leaves

2 teaspoons homemade curry powder

1/3 of a medium squash, in ¾ inch cubes

1 medium carrot, sliced

2 medium Japanese turnips, cut in large wedges

4 cups filtered water

1 medium leek, sliced

10 sugar snap peas, cut in half

4 tablespoons peanut butter

2 large handfuls spinach leaves, chopped

1 14 oz package Brown rice fettuccini or other brown rice noodle, I used 3/4 of the package

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook brown rice noodles for about 12 minutes or until

tender, drain and rinse well with cold water, drain again and then return to pot and set aside.

Warm oil in a medium size saucepan over high heat. Add onion and sauté for a couple of

minutes. Lower heat and stir in garlic, ginger and salt and continue cooking for a few minutes

more.

Remove outer edge of the lemongrass stalk, finely slice bottom inch and chop the rest of the

stalk into 3 inch pieces, add it all to the pot. Stir in chilies, lime leaves, curry powder, squash,

carrots, turnips and water.

Stir in leeks and sugar snap peas. Remove about a cup of broth and place it in a bowl with the

peanut butter, stir until smooth and creamy and then return to pot. Once the peas are tender,

add spinach leaves and season to taste.

Add about half a cup of the broth to the pot with cooked noodles and gently warm, place in

bowls and ladle vegetables and broth over noodles.

Serves 4.