New Years Resolution

Here we are! At the end of 2018, with one more day to go... and we are all thinking of what we will change in 2019!!!

We have either been on holiday or partying, entertaining or entertained.  Either with drinks...  

Or with food...

And after this month, we are all tired and ready for some kind of detox! Let’s be honest, most of us, at some point on our list for next year, we have the loosing weight bullet point!  “This year, I’m going to be healthier!”  “I’m going paleo!”  “This year I’m going vegan!” 

Well... we can decide to ‘go’ whatever we want! It one thing for sure... the best way to success is to start with the first step!

Having been on a diet my whole life, I can tell you that for me personally, the going cold turkey never worked. I always ended up eventually going back to my old ways... usually one to two weeks in!  

What always works for me, however, is coming home and prepping my fridge for a good healthy return! Filling my freezer with clean greens for smoothies, stocking my house with fruit (because, yes, fruit has sugar, but after what we have had for the past month, the sugar in the fruit is a great way to get off that refined sugar addiction that crept up on us so fast!)

Starting your day with a nice, nutrition packed smoothie... 

I know that smoothies although easy are always overwhelming for many, so here is a few things that will help  

1. Get the freshest, cleanest vegetables and fruit you can find! In Shanghai I always choose BIOFarm!  

2. Always wash and cut veggies and separate in bags and place in the freezer. 

3. Keep your house stocked with flax, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds as well as almonds and cashews to give yourself a nice protein packed ingredient with healthy fats.  Making your smoothie satisfying and keeping you fuller for longer. 

4. Don’t give up if it’s not perfect the first time, it will be, but it takes time, it has to taste good for you, so make it yours! Add bananas or dates for sweetness, put in berries for detox, make sure you pack it with greens for nutrition, and add some kind of nut milk, coconut, almond or coconut water. 

Good luck! Let me know how it goes, and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write below! 

Wishing you a Happy Healthy New Year!

Kale Strawberry Salad

This is the easiest salad you will ever make!  It is fresh, light and amazing for the summer! Recently I have been having a lot of problems with coming up with new things to eat, and I will tell you why, I keep looking for healthy recipes and I always have the same problem, they are either incredibly boringly bland, or they are so complicated and with so many ingredients that  just the thought of cooking something that takes me that long to prep and then cook and then takes me the total of 10 minutes to eat.... is NOT WORTH IT!  No matter how good it can be! it is just too fast of a moment in my life that i will most likely not remember in 6 moths!

So I am always trying to come up with new things, this is one of them!  Today for lunch, after i finished giving a reiki treatment, it was lunch time, I was starving, and was NOT in the mood to cook!   Went into the kitchen, took out my ziplock bag of cleaned and dried kale and placed it in a bowl.  It was all imagination from there.  

Now as we all know, Kale has now become one of the top superfoods out there, but why?  Well first of all it is very high in fiber, which as we all know is great for our bowel regularity, it is an anti-inflammatory, it is high in iron, calcium, and if that is not enough for you it even contains omega-3 and 0mega-6 fatty acids!  Who would have every thought! This veggie is a win win win!

Now add the rest of the ingredients to that, and you have a super power salad, whether you eat it all alone at lunch like I did today, or you share it with your family and friends, this salad is one you need to make loads of, because you cannot get enough.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium bunches curly kale, stem removed 
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup sliced strawberries (you can add more if you want too make it more fruity)
• 1/2 thinly sliced avocado
• 1tbsp nutritional yeas (it's hard to find in shanghai, it is great for vitaminB and has a light nutty cheese flavor, but if you can't find it, don't bother, it does not change the recipe enough to make a difference!)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Remove the stems from the kale and discard (the stems)
• Wash the kale and spin dry. Place dried kale into a large bowl
• For the dressing, add the lemon juice, olive oil, and salt in a bowl and mix together, add it to the kale and massage it well so that all the leaves are coated with it
• Add the nutritional yeast and mix a little more
• When you are ready to serve, add the strawberries and the avocado so you keep the fruit fresh and shiney.

ps.  if its not strawberry season, have no fear, you can put mango, peaches, or even apple! Its all good and most important, fast! 

Enjoy!