Health Boss

We often forget the importance of self love for the health of our state of mind. Reducing stress and clearing our mind is crucial to obtaining our ideal health and body. When we neglect our mental state we find ourselves letting our physical health slide as well, chronic levels of stress leads to high cortisol levels thus contributing to weight gain. So here are 5 self care habits to help you de-stress and unwind.

• Yoga/stretch routine– sometimes a full blown workout isn’t what your mind and body needs. Stretching allows you to both relax your body and center your mind, making you more aware and present. When you feel stressed, try 10mins of yoga or stretching to calm yourself and rejuvenate your body.

• Journaling– I’ve mentioned journaling before and it isn’t something that should be underestimated. Sometimes writing out your thoughts and emotions help to clear out and organize everything on your mind. Have you ever had something bothering you but you just couldn’t figure out what is was? Well journaling can help you realize or come to terms with issues located deep in your subconscious.

• Rest day– taking a day off of your workouts is necessary to let your body relax and heal. No one can handle workout out vigorously every single day, so take a day off (I usually take Saturdays) and focus on other aspects of your life.

• Filter your social media– we’re usually unaware of the effects of social media. Seeing endless pictures of perfect models probably isn’t helping you love your own body, instead you’re now analyzing and being critical of your own body image (keep in mind that this excludes fitness influencers or mentors). So filter out the type of people you follow or are subscribed to; if they don’t inspire or motivate you, it’s best to set them aside. Trust me this goes a long way to help you de-stress.

• Digital Cleanse– this is one of the most difficult yet most effective habits, taking a break from screen time. That means ignoring your phone, laptop, tablet and tv for a set time (this doesn’t include sleeping hours so don’t cheat). This helps you to be more present and it actually forces you to be more creative or outgoing as you find other ways to entertain yourself (unless you lay in bed staring at the ceiling for hours).

I hope you implement some if not all of these habits into your life and I hope they help you in any way possible. Thank you for reading, please like and follow for more posts like this one. See you next time xoxo.

This refreshing smoothie bowl is a great breakfast idea and the best part is that it’s vegan and has plenty of nutritional benefits.

Pineapple- has both digestive and anti-inflammatory benefits

Coconut milk- is a healthy fat and is high in vitamin C and many more. (Plus it makes smoothies creamy and delicious!)

Banana- has a high fiber content and is loaded with nutrients such as potassium (plus it’s a great sweetener!)

Chia seeds- are packed with antioxidants and their high fiber and protein content makes them ideal for weight loss.

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup pineapple chunks
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• Ice cubes

Directions:

1. Pour your coconut milk into your blender first, then add all your fruit and ice.
2. Blend into a smooth consistency and serve topped with chia seeds, a drizzle of coconut milk and your choice of frozen fruit.

You can also add any other fruits you’d like to this simple recipe. One of my favorite combinations are frozen blueberries, banana and lemon zest (it tastes just like a blueberry muffin!) I hope you enjoyed this recipe, please like and follow for more. Thank you for reading xoxo.

Cinnamon rolls are a great holiday treat and since it’s often difficult to keep healthy over the holidays, the best solution is to have healthier holiday recipes so that you can still indulge but without guilt. This recipe is both dairy free and gluten free, it does not contain yeast therefore it’s texture is different from traditional cinnamon rolls, but it’s still delicious and easy to make.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 1 cup of gluten free flour
• 1 cup of cornflour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup almond or rice milk
• 1tbsp vanilla essence
• 1/4 cup coconut oil

Filing:

• 1tsp cinnamon powder
• 3 tbsp coconut sugar

Directions:

1. Mix together all the dry ingredients and add in the eggs, milk, vanilla and coconut oil.
2. Fold the ingredients together and avoid over mixing. When the batter forms a dough, knead the dough with your hands.
3. Roll the dough out on a piece of parchment paper until it’s about 1/2cm thick. Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon and sugar.
4. Using the parchment paper, start rolling the dough by lifting the paper and folding the dough.
5. Cut the rolled dough into 2cm thing rolls and place them together in a baking pan. Make sure the pan is sprayed with coconut oil or lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake the rolls in the oven at 180°C for 15 minutes. Once golden I like to drizzle them will a dash of dairy free milk to keep them moist. You can also use a glaze with melted coconut butter or thickened coconut cream.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, follow for more recipes like this. Thank you so much for reading xoxo.

Every now and then it’s essential to treat your skin and nourish it. Even if you don’t have the time to get a facial professionally done, it’s easy to do them yourself. All you need are a few key steps and products.

1. Start with double cleansing– this means using a makeup cleanser, followed by your usual daily cleanser. This is to ensure that you have removed all of the makeup and impurities from your skin.
2. Open up those pores!– you can choose to use a facial steamer, steam from hot water or using a hot towel. You want to clean your pores, deep into your skin. This will help to remove any bacteria and excess sebum later on.
3. Exfoliate– a crucial step in a facial, however your skin type influences the method  of exfoliation. You can choose a physical or chemical exfoliant and since I lean more towards having oily skin, I exfoliate with a physical scrub. If you have sensitive skin, you might want to go for a more refined scrub. Remember to wash your face with warm water after as cold water will close your pores
4. Detox mask– the best option would be a clay mask, which helps to extract the impurities from your pores.

1. Sheet mask– I like finishing a facial routine with a sheet mask. It can be pore care, hydrating or brightening, depending on how your skin is feeling.

1. Eye care– this is optional but an under eye treatment is essential at times. Under eye patches are a quick and fun option to try out and they definitely help with dark circles and fine lines.
2. Face Massage– this can be done using your fingers or a massage tool. My favorite is the jade roller. A face massage helps improve circulation, plumping up the skin and fighting against aging. When massaging your face remember to use upward and outward motions, never drag down and don’t forget your neck!

Your emergency skin care kit should have the essentials; sheet masks, cleansed, face scrub, serum, eye cream and moisturizer. You can also add a toner, face sponge/ brush and face mists.

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful, thank you for reading and please follow for more posts like this! Xoxo.

This is a new recipe that I’ve created recently and the best part is it’s a no-bake recipe. These bites are a great snack that is gluten free, dairy free and nut free. I’ve struggled to fine a nut free recipe that does not include any complicated ingredients or a food processor, so you’ll find that most of these ingredients are pretty easy to obtain. However, the most important thing is that it is both healthy and tastes amazing!

Ingredients

• 1.2 cup Gluten free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1 large banana
• 1tbsp coconut oil
• 1 1/2 tsp honey (or maple syrup if vegan)
• 1tbsp chia seed
• Raw cacao powder (optional)
• Vanilla essence (optional)
• cinnamon (optional)
• Raisins or chocolate chips (vegan)

Method

1. Firstly you are going to cook the flour. Don’t worry, this is fairly easy. All you have to do is cook the flour in a pan on low heat, stirring consistently until it slightly browns.
2. Then place the flour in a bowl and add in the cinnamon, cacao powder, chia seed and raisins.
3. In a separate bowl, mash up the banana until smooth and add in the coconut oil , vanilla and honey. Mix well, getting rid of any lumps.
4. Mix in the wet and dry ingredients together. You should have a dough-like consistency.
5. Roll the dough into little balls and then roll them in chia seed or coconut powder. Let them set in the fridge before having them.

 

This recipe takes about 10-15mins and it is truly worth it. It has healthy fats from the coconut oil and fibre from the chia seeds to help keep you full and similar to my other recipes, you can easily adjust it to your taste. I hope you enjoyed this recipe, let me know if you try it out and please like and follow for more posts like this one. Xoxo.

 

It’s vegan, gluten free and healthy! Chia seeds are a great source of fiber and protein. They help to cleanse your digestive system and are an antioxidant and therefore very effective in weight loss. This is the basic recipe for chia pudding.

Ingredients:

• 2tbsp chia seeds
• 1/3 cup of almond milk (or any milk of your choice)
• 1tsp vanilla essence
• Your choice of sweetener

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients together.
2. Set in the fridge overnight.
3. Top with berries or any topping of your choice.

Other uses for chia seeds:

• In overnight oats
• In homemade granola bars
• In cookies
• In smoothies

Chia seed pudding is very versatile and it’s easy to modify the recipe to different flavors. Some of my favorites are chocolate and cinnamon. Hope you enjoy this recipe! Please like and follow for more recipes. Xoxo.

By now most of us already know the basics of losing weight- getting into a calorie deficit and working out. However, most of us fail to realize the mechanism behind all of these weight loss methods and hacks. Have you every felt really hyped up about losing weight, went to research for the most extreme diet or workout you could find and then all of a sudden your motivation is gone? The thing is, I don’t believe in motivation. Motivation is unstable, it comes one day and by the next morning it’s gone again. Motivation doesn’t get you to wake up early and go workout, it doesn’t get you to eat healthy and  it most certainly doesn’t break you away from than unhealthy state of mind.

Let’s say you know about portion control, perhaps you already have a workout plan and maybe you already know all the foods you should avoid, but do you know what enables all of this to work? One simple answer- self discipline.

Now bear with me here. Don’t close the window, thinking this girl is about to preach me a bunch of philosophical nonsense. Just think about this for a moment. Nothing will make you lose weight if you don’t have the discipline to say no to unhealthy foods, the discipline to finish that workout, the self discipline to want more for yourself. You need to crave your goal and if you can’t find the discipline for it, then you don’t want it enough.

It all comes down to the strength of your mind. It’s not that 3 hour workout you’ve been trying to do once or twice a week. It’s the little things of every day life, those seemingly irrelevant choices. I’m not telling you to deprive yourself of all the foods that make you happy, you have cheat days for those and even I indulge once in a while. What I’m urging you to do is to make the healthy choice on a day to day basis. You already know all the things you need to do to get healthy, reading a 100 more blogs hoping to stumble upon some magical clue will not make a difference. Self discipline is the key and there is no way around it.