Have you ever pondered the calendar and noticed just how many holidays we have in every culture? It’s because we love life, appreciate it and want to celebrate it every chance we get. In addition, I’ve noticed that the major holidays usually mark the death or end of something, and the birth or beginning of something new.

New Years Day is a perfect example. Whenever you celebrate it, it’s the ideal time to reflect on the year passed, congratulate yourself on your accomplishments and take responsibility for the goals you did not reach. Then lay all that to rest; it’s the past and dwelling on it will only hinder you. But take your lessons learned and make them work for you while you focus on the future – your fresh start – the New Year!

Or, you can just party ’til you puke! 

Of course, you always have the option to do both, or nothing at all. However you decide to celebrate New Years 2009, Live Lighter wishes you safe fun. And may you all have health, wealth and happiness the whole year through!

For the most part, alcohol is just junk food: loads of empty calories with little nutritional value. But it’s the holidays! What better time is there to loosen your control a bit and indulge in some cheer with friends and family?

However, we can lessen the health damage of alcohol by either choosing alcohol with health benefits and/or pairing it with healthy mixes.

Warning: food & bevvies which contain hefty health benefits may not necessarily be low in calories, e.g. nuts are equally high in nutrients and calories. The following healthy holiday drink recipes will most definitely put your reduced calorie diet on pause.

Based on a WebMD post, Hot and Healthy Holiday Drinks, here are a couple of warm cups of delicious alcoholic beverages to try when ringing in the New Year:

Steph’s Holiday Hot Apple Cider

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 cups PC fresh pressed apple cider
2 cups cranberry juice
1 fat orange slice
6 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 oz. dark rum(about 58 calories)

Read the rest of this entry

»

Earlier this month, Live Lighter got a special holiday surprise when NursingDegree.Net, a very well written blog that provides its readers with comprehensive health resource lists (click here for a post we reviewed back in August), honoured us with making their Top 50 Eastern Medicine Blogs!

If you love health information and are interested in learning more about Eastern medicine (and I think you might be if you read Live Ligher ), please check out this NursingDegree.net post. It lists blogs about different types of acupuncture, yoga and meditation, herbal medicine, holistic health, midwifery, massage and others.

Come back to Live Lighter and let us know if you found this list helpful!

It’s here, it’s here! Just getting ready to hit the road to the Great White North to visit the folks for good company, tasty food, and a little good ol’ fashioned gift giving.

Whatever you do, wherever you go, please have a safe, happy and healthy holiday season!

Cheers, Readers!

Holiday meals are generally pretty healthy, considering they are usually fresh and home-cooked with lots of love. Most of the excess calories come from overeating and all the fixings: gravy, stuffing, potatoes, fatty ham, and of course, the yummy desserts!

Since overindulging is ok once in awhile, your special holiday meal is the perfect time to do so. But maybe we can help reduce some of the damage by choosing healthy alternatives to the more traditional holiday fare? This post might give you a few ideas to try this holiday season, or inspire your own creative healthy alternatives!

The Protein Main

For vegetarians: while there are some to-die-for veggie lasagnas and veggie casseroles out there, they are usually high in carbs (the pasta) and loaded with fatty cheeses. Try this recipe from my Naturopathic Doc (ND): Read the rest of this entry

»

It’s incredibly easy to place your health on the back burner for the holiday season. Enormous amounts of goodies and food fly at you from every direction to tempt you into submission – and what the hell, we tend to think, it’s the holidays!

But it’s SO easy to gain the weight and sludge up your body functioning within only a couple of weeks, leaving you lethargic come the New Year and often too tired to tackle the challenge of getting back on track. This is why I get all giddy when I find a recipe for tasty, healthy treats. Not only can you indulge worry-free with these yummies, but you can feel good about sharing them with friends and family.

I found this delicious brownie recipe when watching the Racheal Ray Show a couple of years ago and my peeps went balistic over it (as long as you don’t tell the guys what’s in it – they seem to have a huge diversion to healthy food). It’s so popular that I’ve had requests for it (and to share the recipe) every year since!

Try these high in fiber Hannah Keeley’s Black Bean Brownies for yourself – I dare you to tell me that traditional brownies taste better!

It’s that time of season in the Northern Hemisphere when that nasty cold virus comes out to play. We usually get colds, especially in December, because of environmental conditions and internal stresses from the holidays that compromise our immune systems (read this post to stay stress free during the holidays).

Colds are minor annoyances but will set you back, at best, a few days, and at worst, two weeks. There’s wisdom in the adage, “Know Thy Enemy” so here’s a description of the culprit:

From Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC.

• The common cold is an infection of the upper respiratory tract caused by a virus.

Myth: cold weather causes colds. Fact: most cold viruses thrive better in colder temperatures, when there is less humidity in the atmosphere. Read the rest of this entry

»

If you had any success with last year’s post, Top 10 Gifts for a Health Nut, then hang on to your Santa hat!

You’ve got a little over a week left to shop so here are 10 more gift ideas that might suit your particular health nut and fit your budget.

1. Giant Stability Ball ($40 – $400). I’ve had the Bally Total Fitness 22″ ball for a number of years and absolutely love it for exercising. It’s great for toning because you need extra balance to actually stay on the ball. So if your health nut doesn’t have one of these, I highly suggest one! This year on my wish list, I have a 32″ ball to sit on at work. I’m dying for better posture at work!
2. Natural Bath & Body Products ($5 – $40). Now that I know a little more about the dangerous chemicals in most skin care products, I’ve started investing a little more into natural products. So far I’ve tried Nature’s Gate Rainwater Organics and at the very least their hand cream rocks. There’s a slight stickiness to it but when it totally dries, it’s great. I’d like to try Consonant Body Organic Skin Care next. Read the rest of this entry

   »

This is the time of year where we bask in the glorious feeling of giving. Isn’t it wonderful to give a gift you know someone will really appreciate? Something you know they could really use or just love to death? I’d even be so bold as to say it’s a natural high when you look into the eyes of someone (especially someone you love) receive a gift full of love, thoughtfulness and meaning.

Last Friday, I took my own Daily Challenge, “Feed a homeless person.” Now I love giving gifts to my loved ones, but this was a whole new level. These people were so surprised, humble and grateful that my heart swelled. They didn’t even look in the bag first. There were a couple, when they looked into my eyes to thank me, I swore I felt totally loved.

Weird, eh?

If you’re interested, here’s a video of the experience:

Have you had any of these types of grounding and spiritual experiences? Would you say that they’re healing or maybe fulfilling?

The holidays can be a magical time of year, but most of us spend it stressed, worried, ill and broke. Over the years I’ve learned a few tricks that help me manage my stress so that I can actually enjoy the holidays! Here are my stress free holiday secrets:

The plan. It’s best to start this at least a month in advance if you want to do lots over the holidays. Make a list of what your perfect holiday would be like, this is your vision. Brainstorm what you’d have to do to make this happen, this is your project list. Beside each project, estimate the amount of time you’d need to complete each one, including shopping time for supplies. Then work backwards on a calendar, schedule your project due dates and time to work on them.

Reassess the plan. Once you have your plan charted out, reevaluate it all to see if it’s a realistic pursuit. Have you considered for a lower energy output from the lack of sun? Will you be sacrificing “me” time to cram it all in? If you’re getting anxious looking at your schedule book, it’s probably a sign to make it all more manageable.

Read the rest of this entry

»