Living Life blog

Healthy summmer eating

This year we've been lucky(ish) with the summer weather, and with the amount of rain significantly less than the washout summers we've experienced from time to time over the past few years, it's been much more fun for all the family.

When we're out and about during the summer months there's loads of great healthy food to be had - check out this BBC Good Food healthy summer recipes page for inspiration.  

However it's also good to keep an eye on all the stuff that we consume on holidays and summer weekends since there are always ways to keep it healthy. Did you know for instance that if you have a sugary version of a fizzy drink, the acid affects your mouth for up to an hour afterwards? All the more reason to rehydrate with something less sugary (and less acidic) such as sparkling water.

There's a good post here entitled healthy summer, healthy eating with some good summer health tips and exciting meal ideas. it's aimed at a Canadian audience, but the contents are all pretty universal and the food suggestions look genuinely tasty!

 

Spring into health

When the seasons change, so do we. Not in any physical sense, you understand. We don't turn into butterflies or anything like that - no, it's more of a subtle thing - to do with our habits.

The winter darkness does seem to last an awfully long time, and it's only really in February that the light starts to creep back in and the days start to get tolerably warm.

As a result of this, for many of us it's like a new lease of life - and suddenly we find ourselves eating lighter meals, getting out and exercising more, and generally just being that bit more outdoors orientated. 

This is also a good time of year to start thinking about getting back into physical activity if your levels dropped off over the winter. I mean, it's understandable if they did. Nobody wants to go running on icy pavements, and also have you ever noticed how the thought of a swim is always much more tempting in summer?

And if you're looking to shed a few pounds in time for the summer holidays, now is a good time to think about some weight loss strategies - because it means that there's plenty of time, and that means the weight loss can be slow and steady.

One good way to lose those extra pounds is to get into some nice healthy seasonal cooking - one of the benefits of making meals from scratch is that you have more control over fat content and the amount of salt that's in there.

This BBC page is quite good if you're looking for a guide to some seasonal ingredients - and some tasty recipes are going on in there too.

The January health kick - holding up?

Just a quick update on my January health kick.

This will be the first January in two years that I've decided to really make a big effort and 'do health'. Okay, so we're only a third of the way through the month, but so far, it's all been good.

I've been going out running quite a lot. Not for any great length of time or distance - but I fugure that getting out there and exerting myself for an hour and a half over the course of each week should be good for my fitness levels - not to mention get me feeling good bout myself. For sure, I've been enjoying the running so far and have suffered no low- or zero-motivation days. Well, not yet, anyway...

Foodwise I am not a calorie counter since my weight never really gets too heavy. That's not to say there aren't occasions when a few pounds need shifted. This January is one of those times. So I have cut out a few of the treats that had become a bit too regular in my diet - you know, the sugary drink/ bag of sweets type treats. So far, so good. In fact I am convinced that once you're in the habit of drinking water, that to have anything soft drink-y would be less preferable and too sugary.

All in all, a healthy January so far - and enjoying it, too. I even bought a green cabbage yesterday. 

New years resolutions

Have you made your new year's resolutions? And did you manage to stick to them?

There was a thing in the paper yesterday saying how January isn't a good time to keep to a healthy diet, since we're more apt to be guzzling comfort food at this time of year. Well, personally this has never been the case for me. In fact - the opposite. After all those rich Christmas meals - roasts for main course and Christmas cake for afters - I actually find the post-festive health diet a very good place to be indeed.

So far this year I have kept to my resolution of going running regularly, and as a result of that I have also found myself craving healthy, energy giving foods. So my dinner plate this year so far has seen some stir fry action (salmon, vegetables, lean chicken), some wholewhat noodles, and I've also been eating plenty of fruit as snacks. Grapes, apples, plums - lovely!

What is your opinion on January and healthy eating? Easy or not easy? Tell me your thoughts...

Staying active in winter: the winter holiday

One of the great thing about the winter is that it provides us with a whole heap of seasonal ways to stay active. For those of us who can't get away for all or part of the holidays, tere are still plenty of things to do such as winter walks - and if it snows, then there's snowman building, sledding, skiiang and snowboarding. And ice skating is often on offer in the bigger cities, with ice rinks set up for tourists, visitors to the city - and residents too, of course!

And then there are those among us who lke the cold weather so much that we go off and live in places where the mercury dips far below the (mild) UK winter level. Places like the Russia or the north of Canada. If you look at the weather forecast for an ordinary day like today in Anchorage, Alaska, it's immediately apparent that this is a different kind of cold - minus 8 celsius during the day and a very chilly minus 13 during the night. Brrr!

If you're looking to emigrate to a colder country, it's useful to visit there in the winter beforehand just to make sure it's not going to be too cold. Luckily in a lot of places a very low temeprature doesn't actually stop people going about everyday life - and a low temperature in a dry climate can actually be something that's not too difficult to acclimatise to.

The AXA PPP International site's guide to Russia says that  the standard of health care in Russia can vary a lot from place to place. In bigger countries - that is, the ones covering the largest amount of space - this can often be the case, with better facilities being located in the bigger cities. So if you're looking for a taste of the colder countries by going to visit or live in Russia, it's worth bearing in mind.

Winter sports are highly regarded in Russia, too - woth the country offering some of th ebest skiing available.

Summer fitness and exercise

Well, after a lot of what's technically known as, err, "humming and hawing", it looks like summer is finally here!

And could there be a better time in the calendar to start thinking about new and exciting ways to stay fit and healthy? All those summer salads being served up and all that tennis on the television - it's like a health utopia.

So why not make some summer health promises - a bit like a new year's resolution except for health and fitness in the summertime? Here are a couple of ideas to get you going...

Summer 5 a day. This involves your usual 5 a day except - you guessed it - adding in some groovy summer stuff like strawberries, mango, cucumber - anything fresh and summery and (if it's not an import) in season!

Summer walks. Why not set your television hard drive to record that favourite show while instead you venture out into the mild summer evenings for a leisurely walk. This will help you unwind, de-stress, and may even help you burn off a few calories too. Quicken the pace a little and it could even count as exercise!

Take up a new sport. It doesn't have to be anything requiring massive skill - get together with friends for an evening of frisbee throwing (actually, just the dog would do for that one!) or volleyball in the park. 

Cut down on fatty foods - now is the perfect time to eat leaner cuts of meat and shy away from fried foods. maybe they make sense in the winter as comfort food, but now summer's here you can eat healthier and maybe even lose a few pounds in weight.

Make a healthy choices list. This could be a minimum amount of walking or exercise your going to do in a week, or maybe a plan of action for losing weight. Whatever your healthy choice is, write down your objectives and use the natural summer positivity and motivation to help you achieve it!

Secret superfoods: the top 10!

We hear a lot about superfoods these days, but in reality there's no dietary 'magic bullet'. In other words there's no single food you can eat that will make up for other areas where your diet is lacking. Superfoods, then, aren't about compensating for a heavy night on the town or a fast food blowout.

Bearing that in mind, then, our list is just a little bit less dramatic than a list of foods that have qualities that make you superhuman. However, as part of a balanced diet, these will definitely add a value in their own understated way.

Note: this top ten isn't in order of nutritional values. it's in order of the everyday-ness of the foods listed and the surprise of finding out how good they are for us...

10. Onions. Cultivated for thousands of years and often used in filk medicine recipes, the humble onion has played a big part in the evolution of our eating. This versatile vegetable - used in everything from soups to pickles to preserves to pizza - has got a lot going for it. High in fibre, low in calories, and with a good amount of essential minerals packid in there, onions are a bit of a bargain really!

9. Ketchup. That's right - ketchup's high tomato content means it's full of lycopene, an antioxidant believed to have some cancer prevention properties. Tinned tomatoes are a lso a good (and lower sugar) choice.

8. Popcorn. It's inexpensive, and a recent study claims that popcorn has 'more antioxidants than fruit and vegetables'. Whatever, it's a healthy high fibre snack - and if you use it to replace crisps you could be doing yourself a favour.

7. Porridge. Again, inexpensive. And again, a food that could have some really useful properties. Porridge for breakfast gives you a good slow energy burn making you much less likely to be snacking on any bad stuff mid-morning. Porridge oats contain minerals, vitamins protein and fibre too. And it's even believed that it could play a part in lowering bad cholesterol.

6. Cheddar cheese. High in calcium and protein, and also containing a host of vitamins and minerals, cheddar is almost like a portable form of milk. Of course, because of cheese's fat content you don't want to be overdoing it. But a little cheddar packs a strong nutritional punch. And doesn't it taste great?

5. Baked beans. Beans are cheap, versatile, tasty - and good for us. Protein, iron, calciu, fibre - it's all there in these cute tomato sauce covered legumes.

4. Olive oil. So lovely and tasty, and also so useful in cooking, olive oil is a healthier alternative to cooking with butter - and its association with the mediterranean diet, where there's less ehart disease, seems to bear this out.

3. Bananas. A filling snack - and a great alternative to eating sweets when you're craving somthing to hit the sweet spot, these nutritious yellow fruits are energy giving and also a good source of potassium.

2. Eggs. Filling, full of protein, and nearly always a comforting, calming food, eggs are very well spec'd out with vitamins and other health giving substances such as choline. Scrambled, poached, fried (in olive oil), baked or boiled - we love 'em!

1. Tea.  here in the UK we've been drinking it with almost ritualistic love for a very long time. As have other countries, too, such as China and Japan. And who knew that all the tea drinking we did was actually partly ensuring we were getting a constant supply of antioxidants? Put the kettle on, we say!

Healthy eating: could Sunday dinner be the enemy?

According to the news this week, red meat could result in the earlier death of people who consume a lot of it.

Of course, anyone who's paid attention to the health pages over the years will know that things are sometimes held up as healthy, only for a few years later to be held up as unhealthy. No doubt a diet with  large amounts of read meat is going to have a different effect on the body than one where they're kept to the recommended amounts. No change there, then.

An interesting article in the independent, then: Why a Big mac is sometimes healthier than a roast. Yes, it's true - a Big mac contains less red meat than a Sunday dinner of roast beef with all the trimmings. But presumably from a dietary point of view the sunday plate contains all kinds of other stuff (like vegetables) and would be proportionally lower in sugar and fats?

Maybe the future is a Sunday dinner of ... chicken!