For various reasons, some people don’t celebrate birthdays. But none of those reasons are good enough to stop me from celebrating my birthday today! In fact, I think birthdays are actually healthy for you.

Here are three reasons why it’s healthy to celebrate your birthday:

1. You deserve it. Just like Mom told you, you’re special. Everyday you’re alive you contribute something unique to the people you come into contact within your sphere of influence. Birthdays are about recognizing your self-worth and loving yourself. It’s your day to celebrate you! If we can set aside a day to celebrate the birth of our Nation, why not celebrate the day you were brought into this world? Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Canada Day, Live Lighter Readers.

Grab your drink of choice and let’s cheers to Canada! Hope everyone gets a chance to see some fireworks today but for those of you who don’t, here’s a clip from last year’s Canada Day fireworks in our Nation’s capital, Ottawa.

Last week I received an email notifying me of an article posted by NursingDegree.net, “101 Resources for a Holistic Healthcare Regimen“. The email didn’t get me excited right away so I set it aside for later. Later came today and just in time!

The first article is about the health benefits of massage. It reminded me of a few mental and physical facts about stress that instantly helped me find my calm. It relaxed me enough so that I could find a solution to my challenges and do what I wanted to get done. Whew.

Kudos goes to Alisa Miller, the author of this massively intense and intelligent list of holistic health sources. The information is well-organized in simple categories (which is really hard to do when we’re talking holistic health, by the way). And the list is so comprehensive that it’ll take awhile to get through – I’ll be book-marking it and returning often, for sure.

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Fresh, delicious, sweet and slightly tart, this smoothie will pucker your mouth and have you licking your lips for hours after. It’s also easy on the waist-line and a great start to your day.

The almonds add protein to make it well-balanced and give it a full, nutty flavour. Grind them into a powder or not so much and try making it a crunchy smoothie!

Peachy Keen Raspberry Dream

Makes 1 serving, about 20 oz.

Ingredients
Raspberries, frozen - 1 cup
Peach, fresh, sliced and pitted - 1 cup
Rice Dream, vanilla flavoured - 1 cup
Almonds - ¼ cup
Honey (optional) - 1 tsp

Directions

Blend until smooth.

Smoothie nutrition facts here…

Read the rest of this entry »

This is a great example of Live Lighter’s secret to making healthy living easy :

While this person’s rationale may be slightly flawed, they also may have something here. If you want a donut, give yourself a taste. You deserve pleasure!

But try ending the reward at the healthy part. Your body, mind and soul will thank you for it.

I don’t know what to suggest if they bring in Timbits , though. Suggestions, anyone?

Here is another excellent `Local, Seasonal and Organic Food’ article from our Local Food Guru, Denise Lambert. Enjoy!

Rumour has it that if you share a double strawberry with someone, you are destined to fall in love. Strawberries are the symbol of Venus, goddess of love.

Strawberries an excellent source of Vitamin C, a good source of folate and potassium and provides 3 g of fiber per one cup (250 ml) ­ all for only 50 calories.

Interesting strawberry facts: Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the first day of summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest day of the year where the sun is at its highest point in the sky. It’s the Summer Solstice and from today onwards, the sun begins to wane and the days get shorter until the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice.

It’s also called `Midsummer’ because in some parts of the world they recognize May 1^st as the first day of summer, ending on the first Saturday in October. June 21^st falls in between those two dates and is a day of celebrating life, abundance and kicking back for the heat of the summer. In the 21^st century, that means summer holidays!

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For those of you who are short on time (like me today!), grab your mat and exercise ball. Try this fabulous, highly efficient, 15 minute workout. Just don’t forget to fill up your ball so it’s nice and firm – it really helps!

Courtesy of our friends at SparkPeople.com and, of course, YouTube:

Inspired by Dairy Queen, this smoothie is will satisfy your summer ice cream craving and actually help you loose fat and gain muscle! Try this summer succulent smoothie in the morning for breakfast.

Makes 1 serving, about 20 oz.

Ingredients

Banana, fresh - medium
Strawberries, frozen - 1 cup
Soy Beverage, chocolate - 1 cup
Yogurt, plain, whole milk - 1 cup
Flax seed, ground - 2 Tbsp
Living Harvest Hemp Protein Powder - 2 Tbsp

Directions

Blend until smooth.

Smoothie nutrition facts here…

Read the rest of this entry »

“Eating locally isn’t just a fad - it may be one of the most important ways we save ourselves and the planet.” David Suzuki.

Local eating is a favourite subject for Denise Lambert , our regular guest writer here on Live Lighter, so far contributing, “For the Love of Asparagus ” and “Rhubarb – A Local Delight ”. Her source of inspiration lies in the recently published, national bestseller by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating .

This fascinating book recounts the year in which the married couple consumed only food (including the packaging) grown and sourced within a 100 mile radius of their Vancouver , BC apartment. This lifestyle experiment was motivated by the disturbing statistic that each ingredient in an average North American’s meal has typically travelled at least 1,500 miles .

The book raises interesting topics such as un-renewable energy sources, environmental damage and loss of nutrition due to food transportation, and the ever increasing untrustworthiness of mass food production and the organics industry. It even subtly considers the soundness of apocalyptic mentality and questions our current relationship with food, the fact that we are disconnected from our primary source for life.

Read the rest of this entry »