What makes you get out of bed in the morning? Health and well-being is more than just a healthy mind and body, your soul needs nourishment, too.

Part of this process is delving deep within yourself to discover your truly unique talents. Once you find them, your mission is to share them with others through contribution only you can provide. Because there is only one you.

Kseniya Simonova is an amazing visual artist who has found what sets her apart. Through her dynamic sand art and an incredible accompanying sound track, she spins tales like no one I’ve seen before.

Here is this year’s Ukraine’s Got Talent winner depicting the German occupation of Ukraine during World War II (8:33 min):

Are you into psychology, plants and handy with tools and building things? Maybe you’re meant to built plant boxes for psychologists who use the healing power of plants to help patients!?

What’s your purpose? If you think you know, please share it with us!

Add in an apple a day and you’ve got a sure-fire way to avoid the doctor’s office and live a longer, happier life. But why walk when you can run?

While this post will be especially useful for those just joining the healthy living bandwagon, walking is for EVERYBODY. Here’s why:

1. The easiest way to make activity a habit. We all know diets don’t work. Or if they do, the results don’t last long after the diet ends. What does work is healthy living which includes (mostly) exercise and good nutrition. Walking is a low impact, enjoyable activity that you can do everyday as part of your commitment to taking better care of your body.
2. Helps you lose weight. Many people at the beginning of their health journey (including myself!) make the mistake that going harder will give you faster and better results. This is a false belief that will actually do you more harm than good! Your fat burning zone is 50-60% of your maximum heart rate which translates into a walk that you’re just about to break a sweat and can still comfortably carry a conversation.
3. Will help you stay sane. Walking is a meditation exercise, if you choose. Walking outdoors, whether it’s your tree-lined neighbourhood or nearby park, is even better because it provides the added benefit of nature. Nature is known to having a calming effect on the nervous system, reducing stress. Read the rest of this entry

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Eatertainment: “a combination of eating and entertainment, for example, a medieval banquet livened up by troubadours, dancers and acrobats.”

Sounds fun, doesn’t it? But what happens to our health when eatertainment takes on a Western spin so that fast food (high calories, low nutrient-density) becomes the source of the party and we just don’t want the party to end?

From the evolutionary advantage of storing fat to “conditioned hypereating” and corporate greed, Elizabeth Colbert’s article published in The New Yorker, “XXXL: Why are we so fat?“, is an amazingly brilliant article that examines the undeniable fact most of the world is becoming overfed and malnourished.

From The New Yorker:

A food scientist for Frito-Lay relates how the company is seeking to create “a lot of fun in your mouth” with products like Nacho Cheese Doritos, which meld “three different cheese notes” with lots of salt and oil. Another product-development expert talks about how she is trying to “unlock the code of craveability,” and a third about the effort to “cram as much hedonics as you can in one dish.”

Yikes! If the goal of processed food corporations is to concoct irresistible food combinations in the labratory, coupled with research on rats that prove animals’ brains react to sweet, fatty foods the same way that addicts’ respond to cocaine, it’s no wonder global obesity is on the rise!

One of the most interesting aspects of this article is the revelation of why supersizing has caught on in our society and who discovered it. It comes down to mindless eating where we’ve conditioned ourselves to rely on external cues (like portion sizes) rather than internal cues of satiation. As for the genius behind it? I want you to read the article but I’ll give you a hint: think of the last time you went to the theatre and ordered a `small’ popcorn and pop.

But eatertainment is a wonderful concept! Do you think it’s making us fat? And if you do, how can we preserve our health while enjoying the positive qualities of eatertainment? Please share your thoughts with us.

Why are we calling this pesto recipe prophetic? Because it’s so good that you’ll be spouting prophesies for an hour after savouring this delicious, lip-smacking, garlic-infused, healthy green Italian sauce!

This sauce is virtually a complete meal between it’s protein, healthy oil and complex carbs. Spread it on a piece of rye bread to enjoy with a salad or use it in a whole wheat pasta dish. Created by my good friend Krista, this recipe will be sure to tantalize taste buds as well as nourish the body.

Krista’s Prophetic Pesto Sauce

Makes: approximately 1.5 cups

Ingredients

1/4 cup Almonds
2 stalks fresh Kale, destemmed
3 handfuls of fresh Spinach
1/4 of a medium Onion
5 cloves of Garlic
1 tsp. dried Basil or 1 tbsp. fresh
1/4 cup cold-pressed, extra virgin Olive Oil (or until desired consistency)
fresh ground Sea Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Directions

1. Chop almonds in blender.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth

TIP: Keep sauce in fridge for up to 2 days before consuming. You may find the garlic overwhelming and the sauce too spicy if you use it right away. We found that by letting it marinate in it’s own juices, the garlic mellows into a more palatable (and phophetic!) flavour.

Please enjoy and come back to let us know how much you loved this supremely healthy recipe!

Do you have digestive issues and want to learn if food sensitivities or intolerances are part of the problem? If you’re starting an elimination diet adventure and want some ideas for yummy meals and recipes that comply with even the most strictest of elimination diets, then this post is for you!

For your convenience and thanks to reader, Heather, here is a compilation of elimination diet-friendly recipes published here on Live Lighter so far:

1. Outta this World Elimination Diet-Friendly Meal. 5 recipes: Coconut-Almond Crusted, organic Chicken Fingers, Spicy Homemade Mustard Dipping Sauce (or Honey Garlic Dipping Sauce), steamed Garlic Asparagus and Broccoli and Watermelon-Berry Fruit Smoothie.
2. 3 More Yummy and Good on Your Tummy Recipes. 3 recipes: Miller’s Supreme Millet & Veggie Dish, Black Bean Spread and Kinda Like Chocolate Pudding.
3. Elimination Diet Adventures Continued… and More Hypo-Allergenic Recipes. 3 recipes: Organic Chicken with Oregano & Basil Soup, Bitchin’ Black Bean Quinoa Salad and Even MORE like Chocolate Pudding.
4. Elimination Diet Adventures… On Pause. 3 recipes: Cuban Black Bean Dip, Broccoli, Spinach & Sweet Potato Stir-Fry with Coconut Milk and Spicy Stewed Apples.
5. Game On! Elimination Diet Adventures Continue. 2 recipes: Steph’s Easy Broccoli Quinoa and Steph’s Roasted Garlic Black Bean Dip.
6. Berry Guava Elimination Diet-Friendly Froozie.
7. 3 Allergy-Friendly Recipes. 3 recipes: Steph’s Zesty Black Bean Dip, Steph’s Yummy Lamb Dish and Elimination Friendly Rice Pudding.
8. Smoky Chickpea Stew.
9. Fresh Basil & Black Bean Quinoa Salad.
10. Warming Chickpea Stew.
    
11. Green Detox Blender Meals. 19 recipes in 6 posts. These blender meals add variety to your elimination diet, help you cleanse your system of offending foods faster and more thoroughly and will give you a break from cooking and cleaning.

Please note that some of the above listed recipes have been reproduced or inspired by those found I’ve found in 2 amazing recipe books:

• The Vital You’s Ultimate Holistic Cookbook.
• CCNM’s Brown Rice Cookbook.

These recipe books are FULL of many more recipes for you to enjoy and alter to suit your tastes and/or particular elmination diet. Unfortunately, their cookbooks are for sale in person only. Please contact them and request that they sell their books online!

So there’s 42 recipes for you to try while you’re on your elimination diet. Good luck and as you discover/create other elimination diet recipes, we’d love to have you share your allergy-friendly recipes with us!

Negative emotions are toxic. Although they are an important part in the human experience, if we neglect to fully process them, they fester within our bodies and create dis-ease. Eventually, they manifest as illness.

Ever wonder the secret of those who seem untouched by negative circumstances? You know who I’m talking about. They are usually healthy, exude an almost unwavering positive attitude and rarely allow others to affect them.

If they are not among the emotionally detached (those who display apathy rather than understanding and acceptance), then I would bet my bottom dollar that they view the world with a spiritual perspective.

Spiritually-inclined individuals have mastered the art of non-attachment, which is very different from detachment. From Transcending the Levels of Consciousness by Dr. David Hawkins:

`Detachment’ is an ongoing process that, unfortunately, can lead to apathy and emotional flatness, noninvolvement, and indifference.  It can also result in passivity and loss of interest in life. There are misunderstandings of spirituality that teach that even love is an attachment, which is a misconception, for love is an aspect of God; possessiveness is an aspect of ego.

Rather than cutting themselves totally off from emotion, the spiritually-minded simply do not get upset over anything for very long. They feel but do not wallow. They know negative emotions (pity, shame, guilt, hatred, grief, fear, desire, anger or pride) cause them harm in the form of stress.

And not the good stress that helps us grow.

Non-attachment means less personal suffering because emotions are simply emotions and earthly pleasures are fleeting. A spiritual individual does not attach their feelings to any internal or external aspects of life, whether it is personal identity, an object, relationship, social quality, or any other aspect of physical life.

The spiritual person allows themselves to feel but knows that true healing comes from working through their negative emotions in order to replace them with positive emotions (courage, trust, optimism, forgiveness, understanding, love, joy, reverence and peace). It’s like eradicating the dark with an infusion of light.

But how many of us, with good intentions, have been fueled into action by negative emotions? If the end result is positive, are the self-damaging effects worth it? What do you think? Please let us know in the comments below!

Following my first USANA product review (part 1 & part 2), you may be interested in hearing what others have to say about USANA.

A team of Canadian and U.S. biochemists travelled to Australia to analyze and determine which of the country’s top brands of nutritional supplements are the most effective. Guess who came out on tops?

Here is a 4:30 minute clip from Australia’s Today Tonight:

Have you tried USANA’s nutritional supplements? Let us know in the comments below!

If you’re ready to try USANA out for yourself, contact stephanie [at] livelighter [dot] org and I can hook you up with a trusted associate.

Yesterday’s post was a teaser and illustrated some amazing health results I’ve achieved in just a few weeks. This post is the second half of my first USANA products review and reveals exactly what I did to regain control of my life.

At the end of June, I started a supplementation regimen:

USANA’s HealthPak 100™ – More than a multivitamin

The HealthPak 100 delivers a full-body approach to supplementation, designed to provide a comprehensive balance of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals to support the function of various tissues and organ systems in the body.

One box contains a 4 week supply of 56 individually wrapped packets, 6 tablets in the morning and 6 at night:

• the full daily dose of the USANA Essentials™ (Mega Antioxidant plus Chelated Mineral)
• Active Calcium™, a core USANA Optimizer
• USANA’s unique AO Booster™ for added antioxidant protection (contains, among other bioflavinoids, a full daily dose of the grape-seed extract found in Proflavanol® 90).

I’ve researched USANA and trust they produce quality nutritional supplements. They are up-to-date in all the latest clinical studies on nutrition and take into account the bioavailability of their supplements. With a well-balanced, healthy diet, USANA’s HealthPak 100™ can help deliver essential nutrients missing  in even the most nutrition-conscious individuals.

After a week, I implemented USANA’s health program:

USANA’s RESET™

This 5-day, high-fiber cleanse program is designed to reset your metabolism and stabilize your blood sugar. It helps you kick your carb cravings, lose weight and guides you on a path to healthy eating. The kit includes: Read the rest of this entry

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This first USANA Health Sciences product review required me to step back and really evaluate how I’ve been feeling lately. I got a great bird’s eye view and what a surprise!

I’ve been rocking my world over the past 6 weeks and to give credit where credit is due, I’m convinced USANA has been a major contribution to this enhanced, effective state. This post will explain what lead me to try USANA and the positive results showing up in my life.

Background

We’ve been questioning the quality of our current food supply and wondering just how damaging our hectic lifestyles are in these Live Lighter posts:

• Are Nutritional Supplements Necessary?
• Processed O.J. v.s. Fresh-Squeezed
• I Vote For Nutritious Food!

Although I lead a healthy lifestyle (as much as I can at any given time) and am generally very healthy, since September of last year, life’s been harder than it was when I started Live Lighter. I’m imbalanced again. *sigh*

If you’ve been following Live Lighter, you’ll know that my imbalance has been showing up as health issues, including digestive trouble and addiction. Both of which negatively affect nutrition (further complicating the imbalance) and therefore hormones and mood.

A general list of health complaints

Although I still enjoyed good days, by the time June rolled around the not-so-good days were becoming more frequent. To give you an idea of how I was feeling at the time, here is a general list of my symptoms varying in severity and time: Read the rest of this entry

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It’s mid-summer and the gardens are in full bloom here in Canada. All those fresh vegetables are packed with nutritious vitamins and phytochemicals just waiting for us to consume them.

If you’re looking to get an easy-to-digest, large variety of nutrients in one light and cleansing meal, try this refreshing Live Lighter green detox blender recipe:

Garden Vegetable Detox Recipe

Makes approximately 20 oz. glass

Ingredients

1 big handful of spinach
3 lg stalks celery
1/2 English cucumber (peel on)
5 cherry tomatoes
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup carrot juice
1/2 cup filtered water

Directions

Blend until desired consistency.