The Magic of Water for Weightloss

Water is highly under-rated as a weightloss tool.

One of the most effective weightloss strategies you can implement, is to switch to a nothing but water policy. No juice, no coffee, no tea, and certainly no soda pop. Just water.

By switching to water only, you’ll eliminate a lot of extra, empty calories that were hindering your weightloss.

By only drinking water, you’ll cut out a lot of sugar from your diet. This will help with your hunger and food cravings because your blood sugar won’t be up and down like a yo-yo from sugar in your drinks.

Drinking water instead of coffee or tea will also help you with hunger and food cravings as you’ll effectively be reducing, if not eliminating, the caffeine from your diet. Caffeine can cause swings in your blood sugar and metabolism that make you hungry. It’s easier to stick to your planned meals and snacks when you’re not feeling jittery because your blood sugar is going up and down like a roller coaster.

Coffee and tea is also a double whammie if you’re like most people and take it with cream and/or sugar. Cream and sugar add calories, and sugar plays with your blood sugar levels, even more so since it’s the caffeine is in play as well.

Treat yourself to good quality, RO filtered water, and learn to enjoy how good water tastes. You’ll be amazed at how eliminating everything but water from diet will accelerate your weightloss. You’ll feel better too! As an ex-coffee drinker, I can tell you how great it feels to get off the coffee /caffeine roller coaster, and believe me, I used to LOVE my coffee.

For a treat, try caffeine-free, herbal teas. I love Roobois with vanilla flavour!

Or, try adding a wedge of fresh lime or lemon to a cool glass of water. Delicious!

Cutting Carbs and Smaller Portions

One of the most effective things I’ve found for losing weight quickly is cutting carbs.

Cutting carbs is nothing new. You see it talked about everywhere… in the diet books, online, on Oprah. But I’ve found that when I’m cutting carbs, there’s a few important things to remember.

All carbs are not created equal. If you’re going to cut carbs, cut the bad ones first. By bad carbs I mean processed, refined, carbs like cookies, breads, pastas, pop and sodas, and sugary snacks. Even fruit juice is full of refined sugar. Unless you’re drinking fresh-squeezed juice from real, honest to goodness fruit and/or vegetables, juice is little better than soda. It’s full of refined sugar with none of the beneficial fiber, enzymes, and other good stuff that fresh fruit and vegetables have.

The other big thing that makes a huge difference to losing weight is portion size. We live in a big is better society, and that just isn’t the case when it comes to our waistline. Combine cutting carbs with smaller portions, and you have a one/two punch that will help you knock the fat right off your waist, or wherever else you need to lose it!

When you’re adjusting to smaller portions, it helps to do it by cutting carbs. Cut the bad carbs first and see if you’re down to a more reasonable portion. If not, cut some more carbs. Cutting carbs, even good carbs like fresh fruit and vegetables, is usually the fastest way to boost your weight loss. Cutting carbs and smaller portions are probably the two, single most effective strategies you can take to lose weight quickly.

The Best Oatmeal Ever!

This is one of my favourite foods! Simple and easy to prepare, it’s super-satisfying, sticks to your ribs and leaves you full for hours on end.

It’s a very healthy meal packed full of fibre and nutrition, and it’s not just for breakfast. Eat it for lunch or dinner, or as a snack (careful… it’s really filling).

1) Put 1 cup Steel Cut Oats (organic if you can get ‘em) in a bowl.

2) Add 2 cups water (RO filtered preferably).

3) Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of Raw, Unfiltered, and Non-Pasteurized, Apple Cider Vinegar (I use Omega Nutrition Apple Cider Vinegar).

4) Stir a couple of times to mix thoroughly.

5) Cover the bowl and let sit over night.

6) In the morning, empty bowl into a saucepan, add another half cup of water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid burning or sticking to the pan.

7) Add 1 to 2 tablespoons coconut oil (organic, non-hydrogenated… I use Omega Nutrition 100% Organic Coconut Oil).

8) **Optional** Add pure maple syrup or honey (sweeten to taste).

9) Enjoy!

Feel free to add raisins, a chopped up banana, a chopped up apple, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries (berries of any kind), almonds or other nuts. You can jazz it up in almost limitless healthy ways!

Mason Jars… a Great Alternative to Plastic Water Bottles

Bernardin 1 litre Mason Jar

Long before the mainstream media got wind of the dangers of drinking from plastic bottles, I was continously searching for a better solution to transporting water and other liquids safely and conveniently.

One of the best ideas I came up with that I still use frequently, is a one litre glass mason jar with the screw on lids. They’re glass, so there’s no danger of anything leaching into your drink, and they’re also re-usable and will last a long time.

Bernardin 70mm Standard Mason Jar Storage Lids

Not liking the standard metal snap lids, I was happy to find that they make a re-usable white, food-grade plastic lid that works great. Granted, the lids are plastic, but they are a heavy, food-grade plastic, and don’t come into constant contact with the water, yoghurt shake, or whatever beverage you have in the jar.

Bernardin 500ml Mason Jar

They make a few other size Mason jars too, in case the 1 Litre doesn’t work for you. The 500ml Mason jar is a great size for transporting in a lunch box, and they also make 250ml, 125ml, and a big 1.5L if you need it. The smaller jars are great for storing supplements and other stuff that you have smaller quantities of.

You can use Mason jars for lots of stuff around the kitchen. They’re VERY economical, especially considering they’re re-usable. Considering they’re glass, they’re totally safe for your food and beverages. They’re easy to clean, and they don’t mark up easy like plastic containers do. You can re-cycle them when you’re done with them, or just give them to a local Goodwill or thrift shop so someone else can enjoy them!

What’s not to love about Mason jars!

Yoghurt Water

Want a quick and easy drink that tastes good, satisfies your thirst, and is REALLY good for you?

Try making your own Yoghurt Water.

Step 1 – Get a cup of water (preferably a good quality RO filtered water)

Step 2 – Add a heaping tablespoon of your favourite yoghurt (preferably a good quality, full fat, balkan style yoghurt like Astro’s Premium Balkan Style yoghurt)

Step 3 – Blend in blender, or even easier, shake it up in a Mason Jar.

Presto! You’ve got your own home-made Yoghurt Water. You can double or triple the recipe if you want to make more at one time, and you can add more yoghurt if you prefer it stronger.

I love it just like that, yoghurt and water, but feel free to jazz it up if you want to add a natural sweetner like honey, maple syrup, or stevia.

Wanna go tropical? Add the juice from a fresh squeezed lime for a really refreshing flavour variation. A fresh squeezed lemon works too!

Quick and easy, Yoghurt Water tastes great, is very refreshing, and is REALLY good for you!

Banana Yoghurt Shake for Breakfast

When I was growing up, my Mum frequently made us Banana Yoghurt Milkshakes. We called them milkshakes, and Mum used to make them with milk, yoghurt and a banana. I don’t use milk anymore… just a banana, yoghurt, and some water, but I still tend to call them “milkshakes”. I often drink them for breakfast. They’re fast, easy, and very healthy.

You can change up the flavour by adding other fruit to the recipe. I often throw in a cut-up apple which has the added benefit of thickening the shake up as well as adding a nice flavour. Frozen fruit works great too! Frozen blueberries are my favourite, but I also use frozen strawberries, mango, raspberries, and whatever else is in the freezer.

Mum also used to make her own yoghurt. She had one of the old yellow yoghurt makers that had a dozen glass jars with lids. After you boiled your milk, let it cool to the right temperature, and added your starter, you poured the soon-to-be yoghurt in the glass jars, attached the lids, and set the jars in the seperate spots in the yoghurt maker. After that, you just turned it on. I can’t remember for sure, but I think it shut off when finished, and there you had it… 12 little jars of home-made yoghurt.

Over the years, I’ve made my own yoghurt too. In my earliest attempts, I bought a yoghurt maker similar to Mum’s. In later years, I simply made it in bowls, and later still, in a large 2 litre thermos jug. When I made it in bowls, I’d put it in the oven with the ovenlight on. The heat from the lightbulb in the closed oven was enough to keep the soon-to-be yoghurt warm enough to turn into yoghurt over the next 12 to 24 hours.

In my final tweaking of my yoghurt making, I made my yoghurt in a 2 litre thermos jug. I had it down to an art. I’d mix up powdered milk with just the right parts of boiling water and cold water to bring the final mixture to 110 F, then I’d add the starter (usually just a scoop of yoghurt from my last batch), put the lid on the thermos, and leave it to sit until the next day. I’d let it sit for about 12 hours (sometimes a little longer), and then I’d take the lid off and put the thermos in the fridge (if I didn’t take the lid off, the yoghurt would take a lot longer to cool).

While making my own yoghurt was fun, these days I just buy it from the store. My favourite is Astro’s Balkan Style full fat yoghurt… the red and white container. Astro makes fantastic yoghurt! It’s probably still cheaper to make your own, but it’s faster and easier to buy Astro. I watch for sales too and stock up when it goes on cheap. Yoghurt, like cheese, lasts MUCH longer than the expiry date says.

Regardless if you make your own yoghurt, or buy it at the store, a Banana Yoghurt Shake is something everyone should add to their daily menus. Whether for breakfast, lunch, or an afternoon or before bed snack, Banana Yoghurt Shakes are delicious, filling, and good for you. As an added bonus, if you use supplements like flax seed oil that taste better when mixed in with other food, Banana Yoghurt Shakes are the perfect food to add them to!