Need an alternative to cereal? Granola is your best bet. Most granola’s consists of rolled oats, nuts, honey or other sweeteners. Nothing beats the smell of granola when it is being baked in the oven, and watching the beauty of your creation crisp up and fill the entire house with an aromatic sweet smell. Granola is love. Granola is life. This recipe for a healthy granola mix will be the staple for your yogurts, cereal, or as a snack itself!
February is Healthy Heart Month
February is Heart Month, a good time to raise awareness of what we can do to keep our hearts healthy. – and sorry, its not Valentine’s Day chocolates!
Heart disease affects approximately 2.4 million Canadian adults, and is the second leading cause of death in Canada. The primary ways we can reduce the risk through lifestyle choices are: not smoking, dietary choices, getting enough exercise and enough sleep, stress reduction, as well as monitoring blood pressure and cholesterol levels. There are Government programs and partnerships to encourage and support Canadians to maintain healthy lifestyle choices. These programs are to help prevent chronic disease in all ages in communities across Canada and include: Run to Quit, Carrot Rewards, APPLE Schools and Kid Food Nation, in communities across Canada.
There is also more resources available concerning healthier food choices. The Healthy Eating Strategy outlines how food ingredient labeling, including sugars and food colours; reducing sodium in foods; eliminating industrially produced trans fat; and restricting marketing to children., can help with disease prevention.
Canada’s Physical Activity Guide recommends that to keep it simple, you can aim for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week of moderate exercise. That includes any activity that gets you moving around and breaking a slight sweat. However, the half hour of exercise doesn’t go very far if you are sedentary for most of the other time. If you are sitting a lot throughout the day, you should aim to get up and move around frequently.
Beyond healthy choices, cardiovascular disease is also influenced by biological and other risk factors. Making one small change however, can make a big difference.
Exercise and Mental Health
There are numerous studies showing that exercise has a positive impact on mental health. Depression and anxiety symptoms can often improve with exercise. Exercise can also be a stress reducer to keep people from being as stressed or anxious about circumstances. Exercise and feeling good physically can also help people to feel more in control of other situations in their lives – which helps with mood. Exercise can be meditative in that you take your mind off your worries – giving yourself a mental break. Exercise can help you to gain confidence by meeting goals, coping in a positive way, or sometimes just some social interaction. It is worth taking the time for yourself to do something active.
If lowering stress, anxiety or reducing the symptoms of depressions is one of your goals, it is especially important to learn what frequency, intensity, type and time spent will be the most beneficial for you and your situation.
Exercise releases the feel – good endorphins, and other brain chemicals which enhance your sense of well-being.
Our bodies are made to reward us for moving!
Almond Date Breakfast Bars
We can’t say enough good things about having a stockpile of breakfast bars in your freezer — it can accompany your cup of yogurt you grabbed on the way to work making it more enjoyable. They’re the perfect snack, fantastic gift, and can leave you satisfied and boosted with energy for your day! Check out this almond date breakfast bars recipe!
Winter Squash Soup
Commonly used as a vegetable, butternut squash is a fruit that can be roasted, sauteed, toasted, mashed to be used in casseroles, bread, muffins, and pies, or in our purpose of this post — pureed for soups such as this delicious Winter Squash recipe.
Regenesis Fitness 