Feeling sick?

Feel an infection coming on in your throat?

- Have a green tea with an added shaving of ginger and a slice of lemon (after drinking the tea, eat the lemon slice). Within 5 minutes you should feel your throat clearing.

Have a stomach ache or digestive problems?

- Have a peppermint tea or ginger tea OR have a peppermint tea with a shaving of ginger in it + a small tub of yogurt (and no, not yogo yogurt).

Tea Tips:

Tea tip #1: Halve the number of teaspoons of sugar in your tea/coffee. E.g. if you put 3 sugars, only use 1.5 teaspoons. If you have two, cut down to 1 teaspoon.

Tea tip #2: Add a shaving of ginger and/or lemon to your tea. Not only do they add flavour to your tea, but are good for your all-round health. Lemon is a natural detox for your body and ginger is good for maintaining a healthy stomach and digestive system.

Tea tip #3: Tea time is the perfect time to have that little sugary treat you've aching for all day. Just one little treat such as a row of chocolate or a biscuit a day with your tea/coffee will eventually beat your urges for high-carb and high-sugar foods all the time. This is because your body learns to expect that treat and no longer craves for it (for your body knows that it's going to get it). However, you must moderate this intake of sweet treats - too much WILL ruin your efforts to maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle.

Today's breakfast...

Some people say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Well, I disagree - not with the value, just the wording of the phrase. ALL meals are important because our meals provide us with the energy we need throughout the day AND keeps our metabolisms going. So it is important that we don't skip any meals.

So why is there a lot of emphasis on breakfast? Well, my opinion is that because mornings are usually very busy (e.g. late for work, need to get those sleepy and moody teenagers out of bed, or get to early morning training - for all those young athletes out there) breakfast is the meal most people skip (if they, indeed, skip any meals at all). So this is why we need to focus on breakfast - make it part of your routine, not just another thing to 'fit' into your day.

So here are some of my breakfast tips:

1. If you're a weet-bix lover like me (because you smother it in sugar) here's a tip. Instead of covering your weet-bix in heaps of sugar, just sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar on your weet-bix and then another teaspoon in the milk for a sweet-but-not-too-sweet breakie.

2. If cereal is not really your thing, but you do enjoy a cuppa in the morning, then try this. Swap your coffee/tea mug for a teacup*. With that, add a slice of raisin toast, a small handful of almonds (protein), followed by a small tub of yoghurt (for digestion).
 
Note: I prefer a breakie full of carbs to give me the burst I need to wake me up, which is why I generally have option 1. But if you prefer the idea of a low-GI breakie go for option 2 (the combination of carbs with proteins in a meal changes your energy to low-GI).

So there you have it. Option one for a keep energy boost and option 2 for low-GI. I realize that that these breakie plans are not particularly healthy, but the idea is to moderate yourself - not completely cut out the things you love.

* Instead of your normal tea or coffee, why not shake things up? Have a small cup of chai latte instead, or have a mug of herbal tea (will later post the befits of herbal tea and my own tea recipes).

GUESS WHAT!

Ok, I'll admit it right now - I WANT TO LOOK LIKE A SUPER-MODEL; A BALLERINA; AN ANYTHING that looks skinny, toned, healthy, happy, unafraid to rock shorts out in public, cellulite and stretch-mark free! But hey, I'll just never look like them. I eat too much (and too much of the foods I shouldn't eat), I can't run long distances, I don't enjoying working-out in a gym, and I HATE DIETS! So I guess God just hasn't made me that way. But he has given me the body I have now, so the least I can do is look after it; I could at-least  be healthier and fitter than what I am today. In fact Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; for you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. NIV*

Or in another translation:

Don't you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body. HSCB#

So, I know this refers more to the spiritual, but it is also our obligation to take care of our bodies physically too, "for you[we] were bought at a price". So how am I going to do it? Well, I do love to dance...
Every Tuesday I have 45 mins of Hip Hop, followed by 45 mins of Senior Ballet. Thursdays I have an hour of pointe, followed by an hour of Adult Ballet/Contemporary, followed by 30mins of a private ballet lesson. What can I say - I love to dance! Ballet is my passion (if you haven't realized that already...). But I just don't get enough of it! So... GUESS WHAT!

This is the mission: to go from toxic and unhealthy to GLORIFYING GOD as I dance away my days. So here's my basic plan (however incomplete):

1. Dance everyday (whether freestyle or technique based)
2. Go for a bike ride once a week
3. Always choose the healthier alternative (but allow a small treat a day)
4. Use the Orbi-treck 3 times a week (10 min quick workout)
AND
5. Do my quick ab, arm, thigh, and butt workout EVERYDAY (will post my workout up soon)

So this blog is for anyone who's like me - wants to look like those women (or men) as I posted above but knows that we'll just never look like them, but still wants to be fit and healthy, LOVES to dance, and who want to show the world GOD'S GLORY merely through the creation of us! Join me on this journey. You can even help me out! Post links, advice, whatever! and I will share with you my workouts, health tips, and meal ideas.

*New International Version
# Holman Christian Standard Bible