Aug 10

It’s summer and after all those alscoholic beverages, you may want to cleanse a bit in the morning. After a sweaty, energizing workout, try this fresh and juicy protein smoothie to replenish your lost vitamins.

Which vitamins, you ask? This smoothie will give you over 150% of your vitamin C intake for today, and over 200% of your suggested manganese. It’ll also give you vitamin A, B12, B6, E, calcium, copper, folate, iron, magnesium and zinc.

Whew! Get ‘er in ya!

Peach Crush on Pineapple Slush Smoothie

Ingredients

Pineapple, fresh, 1.5 cup, diced
Peaches, fresh, 1 large
Flax Seed Meal (ground flax), 2 tbsp
Yogurt, plain, skim milk, 1/2 cup
Medley of Fruits, Ceres Juice, 1/4 cup
Ruth’s Organic Hemp Protein Powder
3 ice cubes

Directions

Blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Nutritional Benefits

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Aug 8

It’s FRIIIIDAAAAYYY!!! And it’s still summer - when the living is easy… So take it easy! Enjoy the beautiful weather because it’s not here for long. I say put your goals on hold for now, just until the end of summer. The Fall is the perfect time to reevaluate ambitions and start fresh. In the meantime, have fun with friends and enjoy the balmy weather!

So that’s what I did last weekend, as it was the Civic long weekend here in Canada. While I wanted to partake in drinking, I still wanted to make the healthiest choice possible. Enter: a healthier-for-you cocktail recipe, The Chocolate-Covered Grasshopper , and a new feature column here on Live Lighter, “Healthier Alcohol Bevvies.”

For this weekend, we’re going more juicy rather than milky. Please enjoy…

Sweet Summer Lovin’

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Aug 6

If you’re a Canadian woman wanting a long, healthy life but have no idea where to start, then check out the Live Well, Experience Life website (www.tolivewell.ca ). After filling out a quick sign-up form, you’ll receive in the mail a free, printed pocket-book “A Woman’s Guide to Optimum Health,” compliments of SunLife Financial.

It starts like this:

The Time is NOW

Your health is like a retirement fund. The sooner you implement the program and begin making deposits, the quicker the benefits begin to build. And so, it also stands to reason that the more substantial the contribution, the more substantial or “healthier” the result.

More like a survival guide for women in today’s fast-paced world, Sherry Torkus, author, pharmacist and fitness instructor, shares with us 3 essential elements of health: Read the rest of this entry »

Aug 4

“The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you’re in control of your life. If you don’t, it controls you.”   Tony Robbins.

A few months ago, I revealed that the secret to making healthy living easy was finding your sweet spot in everything you do. The post reasoned that if you could find a way to actually enjoy your healthy choice, then you would willingly choose to continue the healthy activity into the future - making it into a habit with repetition.

To sum it up, the sweet spot is about working within your comfort level and doing what you must to increase your enjoyment level of the new lifestyle habit. Reader Julie was curious as to how to go about finding the sweet spot. Since most people consider exercise the most challenging change, the following post explains how I developed a taste for daily physical activity:

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Aug 2

It’s Saturday of the Civic Day long weekend and it’s time to kick back and enjoy the fun-loving side of moderation. Rather than get so polluted that I need the whole next day to heal, I’ve chosen a healthier-for-you cocktail to enjoy.

Inspired by the Grasshopper, an alcoholic beverage made with milk and green crème de menthe, this healthier cocktail recipe will be sure to satisfy your “go nuts” craving. Try this minty, milky, chocolatey treat made with soy beverage rather than cow’s milk for yourself. And tell us what you think in the comments below!

The Chocolate-Covered Grasshopper

Ingredients

½ oz. green crème de menthe
½ oz. kahlua
1 cup chocolate soy beverage
2 ice cubes

Directions

Stir, sip and savour.

For those of you who believe life’s all about moderation, even moderation, then stay tuned to Live Lighter’s regular column “Healthier Alcoholic Bevvies.” This regular feature is intended to give you some healthier alternatives for when you want to shake up your system a bit – to make it stronger, of course. :)

Do you have a healthier-for-you cocktail recipe to share?

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