Here is a yummy and healthy thing for you to try

Cranberry and Fresh Pear Cobbler



Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 medium orange*
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 tsp honey
1/2 ripe pear (any firm variety)
1/4 cup + 2 TBS walnuts
Directions:

Grate enough orange rind to make 1 tsp zest and place in a mixing bowl.
Cut the orange in half and juice both halves into the same bowl as the rind.
Add the cranberries and honey. Mix until the honey is dissolved. Let sit for 1/2 hour to allow cranberries to soften.
After the cranberries have softened, cut the pear into 1/4-inch cubes and add to the bowl.
Add 1/4 cup walnuts.
Divide the mixture into 2 dessert dishes and sprinkle each with 1 TBS of the chopped walnuts.

Does this sound yummy to you? It sure sounds yummy to me!

Are you trying to lose weight and save money?

Doing both at the same time can sometimes seem like an impossible dream. But if you can get help, you can do it! Click on this link to go straight to a place to help you!

I’ve found a great website that has lots of fantastic tips on ways to improve your diet.

This is an American site, so some of the information may not directly suit people from other countries, but most of the hints and tips are still good for those in other countries.

I live in Australia, so the tips on great food to eat in Autumn/Fall are not so useful when it’s Spring where I live, but lots of the info is still good.

When I saw an email about 10 ways to eat better for less, I knew I had to read it! Most of the hints are fantastic and I can see myself starting to follow the advice.

The website has information for people with various dietary needs, for different kinds of food, different types of meals. It’s all focused on eating a healthy nutritional diet, and it doesn’t limit you.

Instead, it gives you alternatives so, if you want to eat something sweet, the site doesn’t say you can’t do it, it gives you ideas on how to get your sweetness in a healthy way.

Are you interested? Have a look at the website, your body will be glad you did!

Your Body, Your Weight Loss Program!

There are many ways to lose weight, and many ways to be spend too much money for little result. Looking around and thinking about the right method for you can get you the best results for your weight loss program.

Sometimes you find the perfect way that suits you well. We are all different and we need to address our weight loss in a way that is right for us.

And people who are uncomfortable with their size and shape may not want to put themselves on show to other people. That’s why it’s great to find a weight loss method you can do in the comfort and privacy of your own home.

Home Workouts suit lots of people, especially at the beginning of the whole weight loss program. No-one wants to look silly in front of strangers, so working out at home can give you the privacy you crave at the start.

There’s more to losing weight than just working out. You need to get your nutritional needs sorted out too. If you are staring to try to lose weight, especially after a life of not doing much, and eating incorrectly, you may need more help.

It’s important to have the proper supplements when you increase your body’s workload and P90X Recovery Drink will give you what you need when you are increasing your work outs. Do yourself and your body a favour and use the right weight loss method.

Shakeology will help you get there, keeping your metabolism going at top sped and giving you all you need. Shakeology is a meal replacement that helps with weight loss and proper nutrition. Proper nutrition is even more important when you’re working, so you don’t crash and burn.

It gives your body all the nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants needs are you reshape yourself into the fit and healthy person you wand to be.

Summer Approaches!

I live in Australia. It's Spring here, and Nature has just begun giving hints to us that Summer is on the way.

Yesterday was one of the suddenly warmer days that can trick the unwary. I had an event I was involved in for the morning and early afternoon that I was any partly prepared for.

I had water to drink, but I hadn't brought a hat along to keep the sunshine off my face, nor sunscreen. Luckily the day was cloudy and cooled down a little after lunch, but even so, the hotter weather after many days of cooler weather was a wake up call to be prepared. The event was held at an Opportunity shop and I was able to buy a pre-loved hat for the day.

Being prepared means lots of things - I will remember a hat from now on, and sunscreen. It also means getting lots of healthy and yummy salad ingredients to keep in the fridge. Spring means no more long and slow-cooked comfort foods to keep the body warm.

Spring means vibrant and colourful salads to add a spring to your step and zest to your life! I was happy to receive an email yesterday from The George Mateljan Foundation with this lovely sounding recipe for Mediterranean Tabouli Salad.

I love tabouli salad, and I'm going to make this one very soon!

Don't Let Winter Weigh You Down!

It is so easy in winter to let the healthy food plan slide into comfort food. But there are lots of healthy food choices that will give you extra vim and vigor to make it through the dark winter days.

I subscribe to several email lists, including this one The World's Healthiest Foods . it is a website from the other side of the world from me I think, but healthy food is healthy food.

Some of the ideas I've read on this site are a little way out for me, but the page I've posted the link to has some good information and it's well worth a read.

As winter winds down in Australia, I will be moving more toward salads, but for now, there are lots of healthy and yummy options for keeping fed and satisfied!

If you pay attention to what you are eating, think about whether you are actually hungry before you eat, you can keep off that winter weight. I know you can do it!

If you have good ideas for winter meals that yo and your family love, and that are good and healthy, I'd love to hear about them - just leave a comment and maybe a recipe. Me, and my family as well as other readers here will thank you!

Losing Weight is So, So Simple!

It's easy , right? Simple maths - use up more energy than you take in, then you'll lose weight.

But it doesn't quite work like that, for many reasons. Some people don't know enough about what a good diet actually is. Some people just can't resist that chocolate. Some people rarely move further than bed, to bathroom, to fridge, to sofa and then to bed again.

That is not enough work in one day to use up much food at all, and I bet if that person is you, the things you get from the fridge aren't healthy things.

You don't have to run marathons to lose weight, and you don't have to starve yourself either. You have to learn to be more aware of yourself and pay attention to what you are doing. Mindlessly chowing down on food, and barely realising you're doing it, is the way many of us became overweight in the first place.

Once you begin to pay attention to yourself though, you may begin to question whether you really need to eat those biscuits. You may begin to explore books about weight loss, and nutrition and so learn things that can help you on your new journey to a slimmer you.

You may begin to think about things you can do outside, walk a bit, go exploring in your nearest town or go down to the beach.

As I said, running wasn't how I lost the weight I wanted to lose, but I stopped being lazy and began doing more things during my day. I began asking my body what it wanted, and not letting my head do the deciding. Your tummy knows more about whether it's hungry than your head does.

I realised too, that being a little bit hungry wouldn't kill me, and also that being a tiny bit hungry still after a meal is much more comfortable than being stuffed full!

So give it a try, eat less, or at least eat better, and do a little bit more. Your body will thank you for it.

Maintaining Weight Loss

I live in Australia, where we are heading into winter. This has been a danger time for me in the past.

With winter comes staying inside, the need for comfort food and weight gain. Not anymore though.

I will remain in touch with me body, eat only when I am hungry and try to fit exercise into my daily life. There are many good and healthy things to eat that can be comforting without the calories.

I love making mini muffins for putting in the freezer so there is a snack for me whenever I feel the need for one. And the muffins I make are always low in fat and high in taste.

Fruit in muffins is great, muesli in place of some of the flour adds the the textural interest as well as taste.

Whenever I have bananas that are getting too brown, I pop them in the freezer for my next batch of muffins - Super Yummy, Super Tasty, Super Easy!

These sorts of recipes can help you to say no to the fatty things that tempt you to make bad food choices. Because muffins are so nice, your whole family will learn to pop a muffin in the microwave when they want something to munch.

If you know you have lots of muffins in the freezer for snacking on, it's easy to not buy snacks at the supermarket. Those chip packets may satisfy you snacking urge, but they offer no good things nutritionally.

Your muffins, on the other hand, are yummy and healthy too.

Shocking News about Australian Obesity

I've just read a new article that truly shocked me. I know there are lots of people who are bigger than they'd like to be or should be. This article though, from ABC News is shocking!

I'm sure I'm not the only Australian who has comforted themselves by saying, at least we're not as bad as the Americans. Now, it seems, we are at least as bad as the good folk in the USA or even worse!

Are you shocked? Are you worried? What can you do about not being one of the Aussie fatties?

Well, it's not difficult, but it will take you time. If you're overweight or obese, it probably took you years to get there. You have to realise it may take you years to get down to the healthy weight you want to attain.

It doesn't require lots of money, it doesn't require hard work, it doesn't require starvation. Your lifestyle is probably the main reason why you've become overweight, and simple changes to your lifestyle can help you lose weight. Weight loss at its most simple, if you're overweight, comes from eating less food and doing more work than you currently do.

Our western culture is squarely aimed at turning us into couch potatoes. Sitting in front of the TV and mindlessly scoffing fatty food that is advertised on the screen in front of you can numb you to the damage you're doing.

If you want to get to the shape your body needs to be you have to become more mindful about what you do and what you eat. Learn about nutrition, learn about exercise and you will learn what you need to know. It certainly won't happen overnight, but the rubbish ads you see on TV won't actually make you healthy. They quite often lead people to greater weight, not less.

The health benefits that go with a lower weight will make it all worthwhile. And turning the TV off and doing things with your family can lead to an even better relationship for you all.

Fast Food? Fast Fat!

Do your kids hound you all the time, asking for fast food? McDonalds, Hungry Jacks and so on can play a healthy part in your child's diet, but take care.

The fast food chains don't really care about your kids, that's your job. The chains want your money, and they want it now!

If you read this article you'll have a few tools in your good parent kit.

Our children sometimes ask for things without understanding what they are asking for. And a lot of the time, just getting their parent's attention can be enough. If your kids are a little much of a handful when you give them a cuddle, it may be time to start parenting in a better way.

Cuddly can be a killer, it's time we all realised it and stop feeding our kids to death. Harsh words? Sure, but obesity shouldn't happen to children, they should be eating good healthy food and racing around the place, like we probably did when we were kids.

Do your kids a favour, make them realise fast food is a special occasion thing, not an every day thing. And follow the same rule yourself - it may not seem like it sometimes, but our kids do pay attention to the things their parents do, so do the right thing!

Your Body, Your Responsibility

We should all take responsibility for our own body. If you want to lose weight, don't relay on special potions and powders, rely on yourself. I did it that way, and you can too.

I found this article on the internet and it rang so true to me. There are so many stories, but most of them are about ordinary people stepping up and taking control of their own lives.

Read it and see if you think any of these methods might work for you. It's so simple consume less calories than you expend. If you overfill something, the excess has to go somewhere - you don't want it on your butt or tummy, do you?

Eat less, do more.

New Disease, New Diet?

I have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). It explains why I am having the symptoms I'm having. But it opens up many questions, some of which are relevant to this blog.

I have been studying MS online in the past few days, and I've been amazed at the thoughts and ideas. Some people say eat this and don't touch that, then others will say the complete opposite. I am putting my faith in what the experts say at this stage - the Multiple Sclerosis Society say to eat a healthy and nutritious diet. That is always the best news for everyone.

Whether you are looking at your diet to lose weight, or to improve your health, the most important thing is to talk to the actual experts, rather than the Gurus who are more concerned with your purse than they are about your health.

So, my next step, one I will take today, is to ring my dietitian and see what she can tell me about MS. I know my dietitian well, and she knows me and cares about me. This relationship builds trust and the benefits can be great.

I recommend building a strong relationship if you can, with a real expert you can trust, and see them as a resource, instead of relying on people who just want your money!

Read the Labels!

When you go shopping, do you read the labels? No? If you are tryingto lose weight, maybe it's time to start reading them, and with a critical eye too.

I found this article on line today and it's been a bit of a wake up call. In the article they talk about serving size and how that is determined. The article is from an American Paper, but it may still apply to other countries.

The most important thing to remember when reading food labels is that the actual kilojoule/ccalorie rating is the most important thing for a person trying to lose weight to focus on, and then the amount of fat in a serving.

If you stay well away from anything with more than 10 grams of fat per 100 grams, then you will make your weight loss plans go along better. And if you do want to eat that chocolate, make sure you only eat a little bit, eat it slowly and make sure you enjoy it, so that the memory of it will last a long time.

If you're trying to lose weight, good luck and be alert to the big companies who don't love you as much as I do!