Popsicles for your well-being

These crazy-ass popsicles are REALLY good for you and taste great too…

Here’s what you need:

• a blender (see photo below)
• 1 carrot
• 1 cup of organic soy milk (or orange juice)
• 1 banana
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup raw, unsalted nuts (sunflower seeds/almonds/pumpkin seeds)
• 1 tbsp cold-pressed flax oil or hemp oil (optional)
• 1/2 lemon, pressed (or 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, but only if you’ve used soy milk and not orange juice!)
• a popsicle tray (see photo below) available at thrift shops such as Value Village, or a new one from Ikea or one from your mom’s kitchen (if not, just use ice cube trays)

Now….

No time for breakfast?

What you have for breakfast sets the pace to your day.  Many people make the mistake of skipping breakfast or simply having a cup of coffee for breakfast, or even worse, coffee and a pastry.

If this is you, STOP IT!

The very best thing you can do for your body when you wake up in the morning is to drink/chug back a big glass of water.  Want to make it taste good?  Add a squirt of lemon juice.

Now, for breakfast:

Wait, let’s rewind for a minute.   If you go grocery shopping on the weekend, buy a dozen eggs (preferrably free-range) then on Sunday evening get in the kitchen, turn on some soulful music, flick on your mood lighting and do the following:

Cont’d 

Stop buying bottled water!

You have been brainwashed into believing that it’s okay to spend more (litre per litre) on the world’s most readily available natural resource than on heavily processed, harmful and environmentally detrimental products such as gasoline.

If the tap water in your community is considered potable, drink it! If this is too much for you, all you really need to do is filter it using a product such as a Brita filter jug (mostly to eliminate the chlorine residual and some of any remaining impurites). Don’t forget to change the filter every 2-3 months.

Get accustomed to carrying water around with you.

1. If you are piss-poor: Use a clear plastic bottle from a previous purchase, wash it out and keep reusing it. ($1.50, or free from your or someone else’s recycling bin).
2. Or if you are kinda’ poor: Pick up a bpa-free Nalgene bottle, and keep it with you throughout the day. (Approximately $9-15 a bottle).
3. Or if you are doing okay: pick up a SIGG bottle which is the latest in technology and style, allowing you to safely drink water without the threat of any BPA (Bisphenol A) or any other estrogen increasing hormones leaching into your water from your Nalgene or clear plastic bottles. (Approximately $20-32 a bottle).

Again, get accustomed to carrying water around with you. Keeping hydrated (on FREE water), will allow you to keep your energy levels up (increased concentration, decreased irritability), prolong the gaps between hunger pangs, and will save you money from NOT having to have to purchase water, and save you money by keeping you from getting hungry in class when you’re away from home!

Lose the ‘combo’ default

When you are in a jam, as will happen often with a busy student lifestyle, you may end up venturing to your local fast food hotspot…

To save some money and better your health at the same time, keep reading…

The way that fast food restaurants make most of their money (off of YOU) is in the sale of their fountain pop.  It costs them under 12 cents per cup and they will charge you upwards of $1.50.  Holistically, it is recommended that you NOT drink beverages with your meals (do drink water 20 minutes before and 20 minutes afterwards) because the cold fluids dilute the stomach acids, affecting your digestion and nutritional absorbability.

• Try to chug back a glass or two of water, 20-30 minutes before your meal and that will also decrease your hunger which in turn will allow you to “need” less food.
• Why spend $7-10 for a quick meal when you can get away with spending only $3-5 by NOT purchasing the combo.  Nevermind the fact that if you get into this habit you will also likely start to lose weight, have more energy and help detox your body with the added intake of clean fluids. 
• Give this a shot, try to do it for your next couple of fast food meals and you’ll realize you don’t really “need” the fries and pop.