Deanna's Blog
If you love avocados, you're in luck! With every serving of this fruit (yes, it's technically a fruit), you get about 20 different vitamins and minerals. There's potassium for regulated blood pressure, lutein for healthy eyes, and folate, which helps cellular repair and can additionally help build brain development in growing fetuses of pregnant women.
Then there's the B vitamins for warding away infections and illnesses, vitamins C and E, loads of fiber, and phytochemicals that could help avert illness. In short, avocados are one tasty superfood you shouldn't be shy about eating.
Yes, they are high in fat, but avocados have good fat (that's monounsaturated), which lowers bad cholesterol. I'm sure you've had your fair share of guacamole and avocado toast -- but what else CAN you do with avocados in your meals?
Here are 7 suggestions to enjoy avocados and their health benefits in new ways!
1. Use them in a smoothie
Instead of yogurt for a dairy-free option, they can add a rich and creamy consistency for a vegan-friendly start to the day.
2. Make sushi
Avocados are used in many different sushi rolls - the versatility is amazing. If you eat fish, get sushi-grade fish or use crab to make California rolls. There are plenty of meat-free options, too! Get creative with it. Even just using avocado in your sushi will make for a tasty light snack or meal at any time.
3. Add it to salad
Fresh avocado slices on salads are a great way to use your avocado bounty. Try something southwest style or Asian-inspired. It's even amazing with watermelon, believe it or not.
4. Try a rice bowl
Whether it's brown rice or cauliflower rice, jazzing up a dish with a garnish of avocado pulls the whole thing together.
5. Wrap it up
Rice paper wraps are a no-cook, no-fuss way to make a light lunch or dinner. You can fill them with fresh shrimp, cilantro, basil, strips of bell peppers, carrots, and avocados and serve it with a great dipping sauce. Not in an Asian-fusion mood? Use low-carb wraps to make it sandwich-style, stuffed with spinach, sprouts, and other crunchy goodies from the produce section to complement that smooth texture of avocado.
6. Turn them into fries
Avocado fries are a sublime experience, but I must warn you -- you'll want to eat the whole batch yourself! They're great for sharing and ideal with a homemade dip. To lighten them up, use your air fryer or bake them.
7. Have avocado for dessert
Because of its thick and creamy texture, avocado can be blended with cacao powder to make a rich and divine pudding. Even the kids won't realize this dessert is good for them.
What are your favourite ways to eat avocado? Hit reply and let me know.
Appropriate portion size is one of the main ingredients in having a balanced relationship with food. Over time, our portion sizes have grown exponentially, and so have our health issues as a nation. What used to be a typical portion size when eating out is now considered a kids meal -- but with some practice, getting your portion sizes in check is simple and rewarding.
There are a few tricks I like to use to make sure I'm not going overboard on portion sizes -- I especially keep these in mind during the holiday season when we're indulging a bit more. These tips don't restrict what you eat but help you stay mindful about how you're eating.
Serve yourself on smaller plates
One of the quickest ways to cut your portions down is to change your plating. I regularly use a salad plate as my main plate for meals -- and filling a salad plate is more along the lines of a healthy portion. This also tricks your eyes, since you're filling the whole smaller plate instead of using a large dinner plate and leaving a good bit of white space.
Know which foods get more real estate on your plate
In addition to eating larger portions than we should in general, we're often allocating more space for the wrong things. Your vegetables or salad ideally will take up half your plate. Your protein of choice can allocate for a quarter of your plate, and any complex carbs can fill the other quarter.
Read labels
While eating whole, fresh foods is always best, there are times when we use sauces, dressings, and pantry staples to prepare our meals. If you make a habit of reading the labels, you'll know how much is in each serving to avoid those serving-size traps. I like to stay mindful of this when using packaged items to supplement my meals.
Don't forget to stay mindful when you dine out
It's nice to get takeout sometimes or go out to dinner with people you adore. However, the meals you get in restaurants tend to be double the size or even more than a reasonable portion. You have a few options here. If you're ordering takeout for yourself, ask the restaurant to split the portion and enjoy the rest the next day. You can also split an entrée with someone else, or order an appetizer and small salad as your meal. For me personally, I find that picking a delicious appetizer with a small side salad does the trick perfectly.
If you still feel hungry, make sure you're keeping your hydration in check. That's another reason why we tend to overeat. When you look for ways to keep portions to their true sizes and eat the right kinds of foods, you will start seeing the results you've been working towards.
Get my High Protein Diet Meal Plan for only $27 + hst, its loaded with 52 protein rich recipes to help you balance your plate and your blood sugar.
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If your car isn't already covered in a layer of pollen, it's only a matter of time. Spring is here, along with the sneezing and watery eyes that accompany it. It's a small price to pay for warmer weather and gorgeous blooms everywhere -- but it can still be quite the annoyance if you don't keep your allergy symptoms under control.
Thankfully, there are natural ways to ease your spring allergies that are simple to find and can bring you the relief you seek.
- Try apple cider vinegar
It's a remedy as old as time, one that really works. Apple Cider Vinegar with The Mother can assist with a host of issues, and by helping to lower inflammation in the body, it can help to quell some spring allergy symptoms that are nagging at you.
- Make nettle leaf tea
As a natural antihistamine, nettle leaf is quite effective in blocking your histamine production. You can mix it with other herbs, like peppermint leaf, for added benefits. Take a stroll down the tea aisle next time you visit your supermarket and find a nettle leaf tea to try out.
- Restore the good bacteria in your gut
The gut has been shown to have a link to your immunity. Allergies often come about when there's a lack of balance in your gut microbiome. It could be that your good gut bacteria population is dwindling and needs a boost. Choose probiotic-rich foods such as high-quality yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, or drink kefir or kombucha daily to get your probiotics on and restore order in your gut. Aside from eating probiotic-rich foods, find a high-quality probiotic supplement that can help you restore your microbiome.
- Use local honey
When you buy honey that is made locally, the bees are taking pollen from the native plants in your area. That means your body starts adapting to those same allergens that have you sneeze when you see that thick blanket of pollen on your car. Make sure the honey is raw and unprocessed. You'll find local stuff at your farmer's market or health food store. Take a teaspoon of it twice a day, ideally a month before allergy season getting into full swing.
- Seek out anti-inflammatory foods
Often, the answer lies in the foods we eat. Put more fresh herbs and spices into your meals, like ginger, for example, and you'll help soothe inflammation before it has you sneezing. Green tea is another effective option, plus it gives you plenty of antioxidants which boost your health all around.
With these natural ways to ease spring allergies, you'll hopefully be able to stop and smell the roses more often. Do you generally struggle with spring allergies? If so, what do you typically due to kick your symptoms? Send me an email and let me know. I'd love to hear what works for you!
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Thursday, 09 April 2020 19:44
7 Tips for Refreshing Your Kitchen and Pantry for Spring
Written by Deanna
When the hint of spring is in the air, it's a great time to refresh your home space to welcome in the new season. One of the best ways to do that is to pay special attention to your kitchen and pantry. This is especially true if you've been a little lax on those resolutions you made on New Year's -- it's a great time to get back on track with your goals!
Follow these 7 tips to give your kitchen and pantry a spring makeover.
1. Clear the cupboards and shelves
Start systematically through the kitchen, going through your cupboards, your pantry, and the fridge itself. You'll probably find serving dishes you forgot all about, doubles or triples of spices and seasonings, and some expired items that need to be tossed. Take everything out one cabinet at a time and go through it.
2. Get rid of excess
Do you need ten travellers mugs to take your coffee to go? While they may be pretty, you probably don't need more than a few. Take things like that and either donate them or store them in the garage. Give the pantry the same attention when it comes to something you're not going to use – donate them if they're still within the expiration period.
3. And if not, throw it out
With the fridge and pantry, any food you find that is expired needs to go. If you have a compost to put old produce in, great! If not, toss it.
4. Wipe down everything
Cabinets collect dust and grunge from your cookware. Give those shelves a good cleaning and be sure they're dry. You can update the look with contact paper to make cleanup easier the next time. In your fridge, it's essential to keep good habits intact, so remove any shelves or drawers that can come out and wash them with warm soapy water.
5. Get bins to organize better
Now for the fun part! You'll likely find that you could use a few organizing tools to make sense of your cabinets and pantry. Stop letting sauce packets fall all over the place or rummaging for spices. Countless things can make organizing your space a breeze and make you love your kitchen again.
6. Be smart about where you put your food
In the fridge, organize your food so that things that need to be used first are in the front. In your pantry, arrange things by type, like boxes and cans, for example, and then organize them in their respective sections.
7. Create a master list of essentials
Each week, making a menu of what you're going to make helps eliminate waste. Keeping a master list of the essential things you usually keep on hand (like beans, pasta, rice, etc.) will prevent you from buying more spaghetti when you have five boxes of it or remind you that you're out of spaghetti sauce.
With these kitchen and pantry-perfecting tips, you'll spring into better meals in no time!
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According to the EPA, 38.1 million tons of food waste was created in 2017. it's hard even to imagine how much 1 ton of food is, but 38.1 tons is unfathomable. Food waste is a problem for several reasons, and we can take small steps each day to do our part in lessening that number.
While you're throwing away your hard-earned money on food you didn't eat, you're also contributing to the methane emissions and adding to your carbon footprint. Food waste will inevitably happen, but there are several helpful tips to keep it at a minimum. Try these handy tips on how to waste less food and be better for the environment in the process.
- Plan your meals
This might be obvious, but the key factor so many of us forget when planning our weekly shopping list is how many times we'll use the ingredients called for in a recipe. Putting quantities on your list helps you avoid buying too much. It also will save you extra trips to the store when you realize you didn't buy enough.
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You may have started the year off with lofty goals and dreams for the new year ahead. No matter how enthusiastic we are on January 1st, things often don't work out quite as planned when it comes to Resolutions. That's to be expected and totally okay! I want to share with you some ways to help you bounce back, instead of ditching your plan altogether.
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Yes, it seems everywhere you turn health and wellness experts are telling you to eat more fruits and vegetables.
You totally get it.
Monday, 30 December 2019 20:28
Surprise! Eating Healthy is Less Expensive Than You Think!
Written by Deanna
There are countless reasons I hear for not eating healthy foods -- a hectic day at work, no time to shop at the supermarket, not sure how to cook healthier meals, or even not being able to afford healthy food options. These are real concerns, and with a few tweaks and understanding, you can soon realize these are quite easy to fix. And best of all -- healthy food does NOT have to be more expensive. Most of the time, it's actually the least costly option.
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This is the perfect season to focus on gratitude, and when paired with a healthy breakfast, it creates the perfect morning ritual to get you on track.
It's no surprise that gratitude can improve your mental health and overall outlook on life, but you might not know that it has many benefits for your physical health, as well. In this guide, I'll take you through six ways gratitude improves your health -- and I'll leave you with some simple, healthy breakfast ideas to boot.
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Hanging at the office today in my comfy clothes sipping homemade yogi tea.
I love hanging out here as it is so cosy and warm. I have lots of plants and crystals and the energy is just fabulous. You should pop by and see me some time. I love to help women reach their health goals with nutrition, mind and body connection and sometimes supplements too. You are all unique and therefore the approach taken should be customized for you. Mainly I help women work on their digestion, balance their hormones, sleep better, have more energy and feel good in their body. It's not about a size or how much weight you can lose but what you can change today to feel more healthy and vibrant.
I don't often put my face out there but I thought perhaps maybe you would like to get to know me a little better. I love good food, good wine and good chocolate. I also love to exercise and read good books. Though they are mostly about digestion and hormones. ;) I love the beach and being on the lake in my kayak or riding my bike are my happy places. I'm not big on winter, but I'm working on it. Dee
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More...
Vitamin D is an essential fat-soluble vitamin. It’s sometimes called the “sunshine vitamin” because our skin makes it when exposed to the sun.
It’s also the most common nutrient deficiency! Like most vitamins, vitamin D has many functions in the body. It’s mostly known for its ability to help build strong bones. But, vitamin D is also important for a healthy immune system, digestive system, heart and mental health, blood sugar regulation, fertility, and resistance to cancer.
FUN FACT: Vitamin D is the vitamin with more scientific articles published since 2000 than any other vitamin.
Let’s talk about the many roles vitamin D has in promoting good health. We’ll also go over the different forms of vitamin D and what exactly is a deficiency. Finally, I’ll give you three sources of this critical nutrient and how much we should get.
Make sure you’re getting enough!
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Monday, 09 September 2019 18:45
Common Food Sensitivities — Do You Have These Symptoms?
Written by Deanna
Some people can eat what they want without worry -- but for many others, certain foods can trigger reactions. Some of those reactions could be mild to the point where you might not associate them with what you're eating, while others are more severe and could require medical attention. What foods tend to be the root of common sensitivities? Take a look below and think about what you eat. If you've had any symptoms like diarrhea, rashes, headaches, bloating, fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain, acid reflux, a runny nose, skin flushing or acne after eating something, you might be sensitive to one of these foods or ingredients. The best way to find out is by doing an elimination diet to see what's causing it and getting with your doctor to help you sort it out.
Diabetes and heart disease are on the rise worldwide. They’re serious chronic (long-term) conditions. They have a few other things in common as well.
For one thing, they’re both considered “lifestyle” diseases. This means that they tend to occur in people with certain lifestyles (i.e. not-so-awesome nutrition and exercise habits, etc.).
They’re also both linked with excess body fat, as well as inflammation.
While there are several links and risk factors, today we’re going to talk specifically about inflammation. Then I’ll give you some tips how to improve your nutrition and lifestyle.
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There may not be an obvious link between sleep deprivation and your weight, but more and more research is showing just how important sleep is for your mood, mental performance, overall health and wellness, and especially when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight.
Many studies show that people who have a short sleep duration simply weigh more. And, in fact, as the levels of chronic (long-term) sleep deprivation have increased over the past 50 years, so have the growing epidemics of being overweight or obese.
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