I have roughly been starting the journey to a healthier, fitter, happier me since the start of the year – I started off slowly, and gradually I've increased healthier habits into my routine. This method works best for me, I’m not good at going cold turkey. Let’s not to say I don’t splurge on naughty things or miss the odd work out day once in a while – I definitely do, but the generally healthier habits are becoming more and more normal to me. However this weekend means I've hit my first festive season – Easter.
I come from a big catholic family, who like to celebrate with food – which is lovely. My Mother, my Aunts and some of my Uncles are great cooks and even though they are fairly fit and healthy, they see a family get together as a chance to show off their richest dishes. I know my family isn't the only family like this, so I have put together some tips to stay on track and have a healthy Easter.
Eat Chocolate
Probably not what you were expecting – but yes chocolate can be good for you and it’s Easter, a time that is now associated with chocolate is various different shapes or sizes. Plus some of us have giving up chocolate for lent, so we deserve it on Easter Sunday.
Try and go dark with your chocolate choice, as the health benefits are enormous:
- Dark chocolate improves blood flow and can help prevent the formation of blood clots, improve cognitive functions, and reduce the risk of stroke. It also contains sever chemical compounds that have a positive effect on your mood and cognitive health.
- It also helps control blood sugar as it contains flavonoids that help reduce insulin resistance by helping your cells to function normally and regain the ability to use your body’s insulin efficiency.
- Dark chocolate is also loaded with antioxidants, these help your body of free radicals which cause oxidative damage to cells. Free radicals are implicated in the aging process and may be a cause of cancer – so eating dark chocolate can prevent cancer and slow down the aging process (good bye anti-aging cream).
If dark chocolate isn’t your thing, why not try a smaller version of your usual favorites? Have you seen the little lindt bunnys, or only have 5 mini eggs, instead of the whole packet. It will be enough to satisfy your craving.
Get out and about
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| Humphrey Running Partner & Professional chewer of balls and shoes |
As I'm in the UK I am currently feeling the benefits of a glorious spring, where it’s lovely and sunny, but not too warm (which for me is my ideal climate). So why not head outside and go for a walk / run / skip / cycle / jog – spending 30mins outside will burn calories, put some fresh air into your lungs and make you feel awesome. Take the family or a friend with you and have a good catch up or go solo and have some good me time. We have a 4 day weekend ahead, so half an hour a day will quickly top up to two hours of exercise.
I’m planning a 5K jog with Humphrey on Friday morning, 10K jog with Humphrey on Saturday morning, 5K power walk on Sunday with my Mum and 10K jog with Humphrey on Sunday. Humphrey is my little personal trainer, as he just doesn't stop and keeps on going, Sunday will be more of a relaxed morning and I get some quality time with Mum too. Perfect.
Make your meals seasonal, healthy and tasty
As it’s Easter, it’s just another excuse for me to eat lots of eggs (I love eggs), but instead of my normal poached or boiled I’m going to mix is up and make some clean eating ‘party’ or ‘deviled’ eggs – check out the recipes here from The Kitchen Shed (this is my main source for clean eating recipes).
Try and eat the seasons – great spring vegetables are in season at the moment, including Kale*, Spinach*, Rhubarb, Cauliflower (which I’m not the biggest fan off, but I sometimes great or mash it as an alternative to potatoes).There are loads of recipes online with seasonal vegetables – so give it a google.
*As my family is half Indian, lots of curries will be made, so a good tip I learnt from my Mum is when making a lentil curry – chuck a bag of spinach of Kale in there and you get a good hearty soupy dish.
Due to the four day weekend, it’s also a good time to try out and experiment new recipes or ingredients – I’m going to spend more time experiment with Quinoa and trying to incorporate lots of seasonal vegetables into it. I'll be making The Kitchen Shed's Quinoa Salad as a test run before BBQ season starts.
Enjoy it
More than anything, enjoy your time with your family and friends, enjoy being away from work and the office. Good times and memories are made over the festive season – so treasure them and don’t stress. Even if you don’t make the healthiest choices over the weekend, that’s OK as your still alive, healthy and moving in the right direction.
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