Hot Silk Pure Almond Milk

Obviously I'm not the only one who has realized how extremely cold it is outside. And when it's cold outside, it usually means hot chocolate season. So what about the ones who are trying to watch our sugar levels? Hot chocolate, although warm and satisfying, is one of those drinks that are unfortunately drizzling in sugars.

I'm someone that likes to warm up to a blanket and hot cocoa like the next person. Yes, they do sell no-sugar added cocoa, but what about the rest of the flavours we miss out on?

I've come up with my own concoction that I've fallen madly in love with. It's not only a lot more healthier than hot chocolate, but I dare say it even tastes better.

Hot Pure Almond Milk
1 cup of Almond Milk
1 tblsp of Hazelnut creamer

Buy some pure Silk AlmondMilk and some sugar free Hazelnut creamer. Heat up a cup of Silk Pure Almond Milk for 50-60 seconds in the microwave. Add a tbsp. of creamer and WHUALA! You have your own mix of delicious, healthy hot AlmondMilk joy! Not only are you getting warm, but your choice is 100 times more healthier than the friend sitting next to you sipping down Stephen's, and in my opinion a lot more tastier.

Simple, Delicious and Low-Caloric Marinades

Chicken Marinade (Skinless, boneless)

Zesty "Light" Italian Dressing (use depending on how much chicken you are preparing)

Oregano

Basil

1/3 c. Sprite Zero

-Mix dressing with herbs in a bag and place chicken in mixture. You can marinate up to 3-4 hours, or over night. Depending on how much time you have. The longer you marinate, the more tender the chicken is.

Fish Marinade (Salmon)

3 Tbls. of Soy Sauce

1 Tbls. of Honey

Salt and Pepper to taste

-Mix together in a bowl. Broil the fish (Salmon) for 3 minutes in a foiled pan, then poor the mixture over the fish and broil for another 3-5 minutes.

Steak Marinade (new york sirloin)

1/4 tbls. of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 Soy Sauce (LOW SODIUM!)

3 tbls. of Montreal Steak Seasoning

-Mix the olive oil and soy sauce together, and place steak on sauce. Shake on the Montreal Seasoning and refrigerate for half an hour. Turn over steak and shake on Montreal on the other side as well. Marinate for another half an hour then turn. Only shake on seasoning once on each side, but turn every half hour for 2 hours. It comes out perfectly tender and marinated.

5 Ways to Quit Caffeine

Caffeine. A drug that our nation depends on entirely.
90% of Americans consume it in one form or another every single day.
84% of those Americans are drinking it in the form of soda or coffee. Why do people think they need it? Easy....they're addicted to it.

Not only does soda cause dehydration (from choosing it over water when thirsty) but it also has been linked to ingestion, heart disease and bone loss. For Diabetics especially, it not only causes diabetes from sugared soda's from the pancreas not being able to support how much sugar is actually being swallowed, but for those that have Type 1, it damages there Kidney's even more than they already are because it sucks the glucose out of the kidney's as well so your body can try and support this awful drink . If Diabetes doesn't scare you enough, soda has been linked to cancer. Soda causes you to burp, and burping from soda brings acid up to into your esophagus, causing lesions, and lesions become cancerous.

So why do we do this to ourselves? Why is it our first option to reach for a coffee or soda to get our day started? It goes beyond it "tasting good". Caffeine alters the brain's natural state, and stimulates it in a manner similar to the amphetamines cocaine and heroin. So you literally have no control and it becomes a need instead of a want.

One of the mechanisms that caffeine addiction, cocaine addiction, and heroin addiction share, is that they block an adenosine's ability to slow the nerve cells' activity in preparation for sleep, and instead increase the speed of their activity and of the neuron firing in the brain. Which of course people can over due if they are drinking it through out the day, leaving you not only wired and unable to think clearly, it keeps you up at night, which we all know how important our sleep is.

So I've found 5 simple strategies to help us rid caffeine from our systems and start over with a fresh new outlook on how to get our lives back on track to health and control. Simple steps that may make a HUGE impact in our every day well-being.

1. Timing is Everything.
Start by choosing a time when you are most relaxed, such as a long weekend.

2. Take Baby Steps.
Make a commitment to try 3 caffeine-free days, and see how you feel afterwards.

3. Be prepared for side-effects.
Be prepared to experience tiredness, irritability and a very back headache, especially after avoiding caffeine for 24 hours. Prepare for these side effects by keeping yourself busy: take walks, spend time in the garden, or do other light, soothing activities.

4. Be aware of your surroundings.
Avoid anything that may aggravate a headache, such as prolonged tv watching or reading in low light. These side-effects will eventually diminish-and are worth it in the long run.

5.Alternative ways to quit.
Or, consider weaning yourself off caffeine by gradually reducing your intake. Substitute Soda, tea or coffee and drink water or fruit juice mixed with sparkling water in lieu of cola. Breathing exercises, physically exercise and a diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables may also help reduce the severity of side-effects.

(Sources from Phlant.com, mindconnection.com, and uthealth.com)

Did You Know??

Did you know that if you're actually feeling thirsty, your body is past the point of dehydration?

If you're body gets to the point of feeling thirsty or you have cotton mouth, your body is basically screaming for water by this point.

Avoid your body having to tell you when it needs water and just drink the amounts that's needed to sustain your organs.

Goal for this weekend-1 Liter of water a day!

Do your body a favor and give it all the water it's needing without having to tell you. Your skin will thank you too!!

Green Delight

Smoothies have never been a big part of my life since the Betes-because the fruits and sugars mix is pretty much asking for no toes. So my post previous asking about new years goals, (which by the way I absolutely loved reading!) there was one goal that I fell in love with,

and I'm blogging about it because I recommend it entirely after trying it.

It's just something I thought sounded good.

Thanks to Teandra for sharing her goals, it's been fantastic trying the smoothie! She recommend smoothies with vegetables mixed with only one fruit and yogurt. I tried made it, loved it, and didn't have spiked blood sugars after-which I think made me fall in love.

The recipe she gave me didn't have a name so I'm going to call it Green Delight (ok, so I have no experience at naming things)

Green Delight

~3/4 c. raw broccoli banana

~1/2 cucumber

~8 oz. Yogurt ( I used the plain LIGHT Activia yogurt)

~1 c. ice

**(She said to always mix in something green, such as kale, spinach, broccoli etc.) and I believe her, green veggies always have the most fiber!

I literally just mixed it all together in the blender and let the blender do the rest.

It surprisingly tasted FANTASTIC! I loved that I couldn't taste the veggies at all, mostly the banana.

Anyways, I would recommend it when you have no time, or all the time in the world-so basically whenever your craving an extremely healthy smoothie:).

Thanks so much Teandra! And by the way, her new years goal was to drink one of these a day to get in all her fruits and veggies for the day.

Brilliant I say.

Lets all try it!

We are what we DRINK

Something that took me by surprise that my nutritionist had me change was drinking soda. I knew drinking soda of course wasn't the best thing in the world for my body, but being Diabetic, my Kidney's are already poor from the imbalance of my sugars. Drinking soda would just damper their use even more. This definitely doesn't just apply to the Diabetics. The average American drinks 192 gallons of liquid a year-which is about 2 liters a day. We all know the sugary damage regular soda's can do for you, but what about those diet sodas? I'm sure your asking yourself "What's wrong with zero calorie drinks?". Well, I have 3 good reasons why drinking any kind of soda, whether it be diet or regular are probably not the best choice of liquid for your body.

Reason #1- Just because diet soda is low in calories, doesn't mean it can't lead to weight gain. It may only have 5 or fewer calories per serving, but some studies suggest that drinking sugary-tasting beverages, even if they're artificially sweetened, may lead to a high preference for sweetness overall. That means sweeter cereal, bread, dessert-everything. Considering there are 15 calories in every teaspoon of sugar, that's not the best news if you're watching your weight.

Reason #2- So not only are you drinking absolutely zero nutrition when you have a diet soda, but you're also using up that empty space in your stomach that could be used for something better in value when it comes to nutrition. Water of course it always the perfect option, but also switch it up with some natural V8 Juice or even a cup of Low-Fat Milk is better because your at least getting the nutrients and antioxidants. One diet soda a day of course isn't going to do much damage, but if your downing 4-6 cans a day....it might be something you should take into consideration of working on to change.

Reason #3-There is always that Aspartame controversy that has everyone a little scared of eating sugar-alternatives. Me and Brad researched Splenda, because I still wanted to taste sweetness on a daily basis but also heard the negative about it. All of the sugar alternatives such as Splenda, Aspartame, etc. passed the FDA and after hearing all the controversy they actually tested them again, and still passed. So they seem to be safe, but they found some side effects such as dizziness, headaches, diarrhea, memory loss, and mood changes that were linked to sugar-alternatives.

Over all, it's just better for your health and energy to replace those non-nutritional drinks for something that would better benefit you and your health. They say it takes 32 cups of water to compensate for 1 soda. Little changes like this in your diet will be a smarter and over all more beneficial way of life.

Health Benefits of Drinking Water

Water! Something every person needs to think about seriously. We hear about it, and we think about, but do we really get the amount of water our bodies need every day? Most likely not. The average person drinks 2 quarts of water a day, our bodies need 4. Most people don't drink enough water and wait until they are thirsty. By the time we are thirsty, are body fluids are already depleted. I actually just recently learned this, but after the age 20, our bodies become less and less aware of the sensation of thirst, and we become dehydrated without even knowing. Pay specific attention if your exercising on a regular basis. Our organs could be screaming for water and not even know it. Water keeps our energy levels high and it actually helps our bodies to not feel sore after workouts.
Getting water from fruits that are high in water content also help a lot with the water intake. Fruit will also help fill up the stomach with low calories and gain tons of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients (nutrients that are important to the human health) to increase vitality. Most of the fruits that carry a lot of water content are also very high in fiber! Which is definitely a bonus!

You can always tell if your hydrated by your urine. If it's colorless, most likely your good and hydrated. When it becomes yellow, or even orange, the body is dehydrated and a part of the body is suffering for it. Here is a list of foods that are high in water content to help you out, also some health benefits of drinking water regularly.

-Lettuce (1/2 cup): 95% water by weight

-Watermelon (1/2 cup): 92% water by weight

-Broccoli (1/2 cup): 91% water by weight

-Grapefruit (1/2): 91% water by weight

-Milk (1 cup): 89% water by weight

-Orange juice (3/4 cup): 88% water by weight

-Carrot (1/2 cup): 87% water by weight

-Apple (1 medium): 84% water by weight

-Cottage Cheese, low-fat (1/2 cup): 79% water by weight

-Yogurt (1 cup): 75% water by weight

-Potato, baked with skin (1 medium): 71% water by weight

-Tuna, canned, drained (3 ounces): 70% water by weight

Health benefits of drinking water

regulate appetite

increase metabolism

boost energy levels

less water retention

alleviate some headaches

help reduce blood pressure

help reduce high cholesterol

ease joint pain

decrease in risk of some cancers

less chance developing kidney stones

release toxic waste products

improves skin

I hope this helps you to think about it more throughout the day. I would recommend to start buying water bottles. So you always have water by you, and always think to drink it!