Coconut Oil to Treat Cellulite

Coconut oil has numerous health benefits including treating cellulite. Learn how consuming this product as well as applying it topically reduces those not-so-cute dimples. Complete article

The Healthiest Morning Routine

The morning is the best time to boost your metabolism and get energized for your day. You will feel amazing after this healthy morning workout routine.

The Healthiest Morning Routine

Boosting your metabolism is what really matters when it comes to burning fat and losing weight. And without a doubt, the morning is the best time to give your body a boost.

One of the key strategies to staying toned and ripped is to keep your metabolism elevated throughout the day. Letting your metabolism slow down too much, or for too long, causes your body to stop burning off calories and start storing them as fat.

This is the reason that many dietitians and personal trainers recommend eating 6 smaller meals during the day. By constantly putting fuel into your body, you’re preventing your metabolism from shutting down. You’re keeping your engine running, if you will. This is why eating less or skipping meals are such ineffective strategies for most people. Although it may seem like an obvious route to weight loss, it does exactly the opposite of what you want it to do.

When you go to bed, your metabolism slows down quite a bit. After all, you’re not eating anything and your body is at rest for a long period of time. This is why mornings are the best time to boost your metabolism. It’s essentially when you want to set the stage for the rest of your day. Giving your metabolism a big boost with a healthy morning routine will keep you energized and burning more fat all day long.

A Healthy Morning Routine to Build Muscle and Boost Metabolism

By incorporating some weight training exercises into your morning routine, you’ll also build and condition lean muscle mass. This is another way to get energized for the day, and it will add an additional enhancement to your ability to burn fat.

Here’s the healthiest morning routine to accomplish all of your fitness goals…

This routine should take you a good 40-45 minutes, depending on your endurance and speed. For all weight training exercises, aim for sets of 10-12 reps each.

• 3 minute warm up on treadmill
• 15 minutes moderate to high intensity on treadmill
• 2 sets bench step-ups (view exercise)
• 2 sets woodchopper (view exercise)
• 3 sets ab crunch on stability ball (view exercise)
• 2 sets barbell shoulder press (view exercise)
• 2 sets barbell deadlift (view exercise)
• 2 sets dumbbell chest press (view exercise)
• 2 sets hanging leg raise (view exercise)
• 2 sets wide grip pull-ups (view exercise)
• 2 sets back extensions with twist (view exercise)
• 3 sets bosu ball knee tucks (view exercise)
• 3 minutes jump rope
• 5 minutes cool down and stretch

This healthy morning routine hits all of your major muscle groups and gets you working up a real sweat! This is seriously the best way to get energized for the day. Add this to your current routine, or use it on mornings when you can’t seem to get motivated.

The Best Morning Nutrition

You should also be thinking about your morning nutrition. Just like exercise, the food you put in your body plays a huge role in your energy and metabolism for the day.

My absolute #1 recommendation is to start your day with my Best Pre Workout Shake (recipe here). It’s the perfect fuel for this healthy morning workout routine.

If you want some other great metabolism-boosting meal ideas to kick off your mornings on the right foot, check out these 2 articles:

• Morning Pre Workout Meals
• Jumpstart Your Day: Instant Breakfast Ideas

Whatever you do, get energized and get moving! The morning is the best time to do it, so do it right!

Have any questions or feedback about this healthy morning routine? Please leave a comment below…

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3 Step Quick Summer Slim-Down

Are you ready for the start of summer?  In some parts of the country, it was still snowing last week, so I wouldn't be surprised if many of you are still bundled up in parkas and eating comfort food on the couch.  I would be if I wasn't in a warmer part of the country.  But now it's time to get moving.  With just two weeks left until Memorial Day, here are three things you can do to look and feel better by the start of summer.

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A Mother’s Perspective: Food Then and Now [video]

A Mother’s Perspective: Food Then and Now [video]
Family members can influence each other in all kinds of ways, and one of the wonderful qualities of a parent is the willingness to learn from their children. Lindsay O'Donnell is a Vegan Mainstream contributor, and writer of the blog Lindsay is Vegan. She became vegan as an adult, after growing up on a fairly conventional diet. Over the years Lindsay has influenced her mom to take a second look at what she considers a healthy, happy diet

Family members can influence each other in all kinds of ways, and one of the wonderful qualities of a parent is the willingness to learn from their children. Lindsay O’Donnell is a Vegan Mainstream contributor, and writer of the blog Lindsay is Vegan. She became vegan as an adult, after growing up on a fairly conventional diet. Over the years Lindsay has influenced her mom to take a second look at what she considers a healthy, happy diet.

In this 3-part video series Lindsay and her mom talk about:

1) What food, and common views of food, were like when Lindsay’s mom was growing up.

2) How she raised Lindsay and her sister regarding food, and why.

3) How she views food – and eats – now.

An interesting perspective of changing food views due to education and increased awareness over the years – and an inspiration for vegan kids and moms everywhere!

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Getting Rid of Unsightly Cellulite - Can Drinking More Water Reduce the Appearance of Cellulite?

Getting Rid of Unsightly Cellulite - Can Drinking More Water Reduce the Appearance of Cellulite?
I am sure you have heard or read somewhere that you must flush out the toxins that are trapped in your body in order to get rid of cellulite, well that's just not true. Isn't time that you knew the truth? Read this article to find out more.
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Tips For How To Get Younger Skin Naturally

If you are like me, you may doubt that you can get younger skin naturally, but you can certainly have a younger-looking complexion. Here are some tips that will help you get the more youthful look you desire. Get the rest of the article

Six Easy Ways to Up the Veggie Count in Your Meals

Six Easy Ways to Up the Veggie Count in Your Meals
For years now, my diet has been vegan.  For decades before that, it was plant-based.  You can tell by taking a peek inside my refrigerator. So when someone complains they can’t think of ways to get more vegetables in their diets, as you can imagine, I have plenty to say; for me, I’ve been doing it so long

Photo by hinnamsaisuy/Freedigitalphotos.net

For years now, my diet has been vegan.  For decades before that, it was plant-based.  You can tell by taking a peek inside my refrigerator.

So when someone complains they can’t think of ways to get more vegetables in their diets, as you can imagine, I have plenty to say; for me, I’ve been doing it so long that it’s easy.

It seems a common aspiration to eat more vegetables these days, what with our kids hitting new cholesterol highs and heart disease shooting through the roof.  Whatever your dietary persuasion, it seems we can at least agree on this:  you need to eat your veggies.

Here are some tried, true – and easy – ways to get creative with vegetables.

6 Easy Ways To Get Your Veggie Count Up

1) Pan Roast:

If you’re like me and love to eat roasted vegetables, or always look longingly at roasted vegetables recipes, knowing that you just won’t get it together to go to all that trouble, then this is the solution for you.

All you need is a big stainless steel, non-stick fry pan or seasoned cast iron, a cook top, and you’re on your way.   Saute your chopped or sliced vegetables in a thin layer of water or vegetable broth: sweet onion slices, portobello mushrooms strips, red or yellow peppers, strips of summer squash are personal favorites.  Season as you like with tamari, Bragg’s Aminos …or even a drizzle of sweet balsamic vinegar or molasses for a caramelly sweet undertone.  The trick is to keep water at a minimum in the pan so you get a nice caramelized effect;  just watch it so you don’t burn.

Simply decide if you are in a savory or sweet mood.  These cook in minutes, and then can fill a big portion on your plate or decorate a pile of steamy rice (my current favorite is brown jasmine).  They also keep well for leftovers (you won’t have any unless you plan ahead to make it so), soup additions, wraps, sandwiches… so versatile!

2) Soup, soup.  Oh, and soup.

Soup has got to be THE easiest way to ramp up your veggie count.  Case it point: this is what I made for lunch the other day:

• First I pan roasted onions (see #1 above), carrot slices, celery chunks and garlic.

• Then I added several inches of water in which I dropped an entire bunch of kale that had been chopped into bite sizes, and about a cup of green peas.

This was all done to tender-crisp in minutes.  From there, I added:

• leftover lentil loaf (see 4 ways eating lentils helps you get your health & skinny on)
• red beans (cooked yesterday)
• leftover barley

I then seasoned it all with Bragg’s Aminos and a couple of tablespoons of white miso, and served it with big slices of wholegrain lavash that I quick toasted in a flat grill pan. Satisfying, filling, and enough left over for tomorrow’s lunch!

Did I say “soup”?   .  For more recipes and ideas, check out How to make slimming Smokey Butternut Lentil Soup in minutes and My simple soup trick to up your veggie count and get your skinny on (video).

3)  Pasta Sauce

No need to mean labor over a bog pot of tomatoes and various exotic seasonings.  Of course you can if you want, but personally, I’m an open-the-jar-of-marinara kind of pasta sauce girl.  However, I DO know how to spice it up with more veggies.

Obvious and delicious choices for this are any kind of mushroom, which can be pan-roasted in advance as above and added to the sauce.  Onions work in here as well.  Summer AND winter squash work beautifully!  Make your sauce as chunky as you like with any veggie within reach and pour it over wholegrain pasta and you have a filling, satisfying meal.

4)  Grain Sauces

Here’s a nice twist that just requires a blender or food processor.  But BOY is it easy and I utilize this strategy a lot when on travel to far flung parts of the world where finding a good fresh veggie can be challenging.  In other words, it works well with frozen veggies.  Perfect for cooking on the fly at home.

Start by cooking lightly: broccoli, peas, spinach – green is good!  Quick cooking a frozen package or start from fresh.

Pour the cooked veggies into the blender or food processor.  Add enough hot liquid to make it creamy and whir away.  Add tamari, or veggie bouillion, or Bragg’s, miso, some nut butter….possibilities are endless.  You now have a nice creamy sauce to pour over a pile of grains, potatoes, or even pasta.

5)  Wrap It Up!

Any combination from the Pan Roasted (see #1) category, to fresh steamed, to chopped or grated raw works here.   Something about a wrap “sexes” things up a bit and can make a very filling, satisfying meal.  It’s also a great way to slip in extra an veggie count!

Use burrito-sized wraps (I like Ezekial sprouted, ), wholegrain (Trader Joe’s wholegrain lavash), or corn.  Start by spreading a bean paste or hummus on the wrap shell, pile in the veggies, wrap it up and chomp.  Great by hand for a big mess  or eat with a fork if you need to make it more classy.  A winner every time.

For a quick video on how to make an easy, low-fat veggie wrap, go here: Veggie Sandwich Wrap: A Fast Food Favorite

6)  Green Drinks

Also known as “blended salads,” green drinks are the ultimate pathway to LOTS of dark green in a hurry.  You need a powerful blender; Vitamix is the best, though not everyone has the luxury of inheriting a relic from the 70′s like I did!

Green drinks and smoothies are not a good choice for every day (food was designed to be chewed) when we can.  Yet, in a pinch and on occasion, they can be a perfect solution.  And a great way to bring kids on board with greens too:  see 2 ways to turn your kids on to green leafy vegetables: Kale chips & ‘Smoothie, the movie’.

Start with some water in the blender;  add some fruit (chunks of oranges, pineapple, or mango are favorites, juice concentrate will work in a pinch). Cram in some handfuls of spinach and/or mixed greens, add some crushed ice, and whir.  You have a good 2 servings of vegetables before you even know what hit you.  Read more about green drinks here:  green drinks and Green smoothie with Plant-Based Dietitian, Julieanna Hever (video!).

If you’ve been locked into thinking vegetables – lettuce salad and V-8, guess again.  Spread your green wings!

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