Start your day with a glass of water!

First thing in the morning - you are just getting tired out of your bed... go and drink simply a glass of water! Why? 
Your body craved of food and drink during you slept and if you start your day with clear water (zero calories), this cleans your body from inside and gives an excellent start for the whole day.
If the body gets first water in the morning - clear water is the simplest and best hydration for your body - it is very likely, that during the whole day you will drink water again. So continue drinking around 1 and 1,5 liter a day. 
A lot of us don't drink enough - due to stress or they simply forget to drink, because they are not thirsty. For sure that also tea, herb tea, coffee and soups are also perfect liquids, but water is the best.
Depending on hot climate, hard working, sports etc.,  it is necessary to drink more water. 
Do you drink enough (water) all over the day? What are your habits, to be sufficient hydrated?

Think Fruits and Vegetables First!

To eat fruits and vegetables on a daily basis, that is a fantastic and healthy habit, because you fill your body with a lot of vitamins, minerals and fibres. Almost all fruits and vegetables are low  in energy (nuts and avocados are an exemption) but all fruits and vegetables have high amounts of nutritents. If you eat fruit and vegetables raw, that means your teeth have to work (chewing) and that is also very healthy. 

But how to integrate more fruits and vegetables in your daily diet?  
Here you will find a few steps:

• First you have to buy your fruits and vegetables (if you are not a proud owner of a garden). When you go into a super market, go first in the fruit and vegetable department and buy the best quality of fruit and vegetables you may get.  You may spend less money in the other retailer departments, but you have already the most important part - your fruits and vegetables!
• Go as often as possible to farmer markets or markets in your town or village. Organise yourself to buy your fruits and vegetables there as often as possible.
  
• Prepare a shopping list before you go shopping and try to go only into the supermarket when you are not hungry - that helps to avoid grabbing quick filler.
• Give priority to vegetables and make vegetables the main part of your menu. Think first what vegetable is part of your menu and what fruit as a dessert. Then decide and look for the other parts.  
• Have at home always your fruit basket filled and give the fruit basket a prominent decorative place in your kitchen or house. 
• When you are hungry or you need a snack, think fruits and vegetables first and look in your fruit basket what you can eat (an apple, a banana, carrotts in pieces or cherry tomatoes).
• Enjoy the colours, tastes and smell of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Start with really small steps, and try to fill each day with a legume or a fruit. You know all vegetables and fruits by name?

What are your ideas to think of fruits and vegetables first?

Enjoy autumn and make a mini cure with grapes

Those who believe all fruits are ripe with the strawberries, know nothing about grapes (Paracelsus).

Grapes are the fruits of grapes wine (Vitis vinifera L.) and are one of the oldest culture plants of human beings. Already the Romans and Greeks used them intensively and today 70 % of the world production of grapes become wine. The rest are eaten fresh (around 27 %) and a small amount of grapes become grape juice and dried grapes (raisins, sultans).

Grapes are rich in water (81 g/100g) and sugars (15 g/100g). The energy content with 70 kcal/100 g is higher than of apples (50 kcal/100g). Grapes are famous for their amount of Vitamin C and potassium. Nutritionists love if food contain high amounts of potassium and low amounts of sodium, because that helps to avoid cardiovascular problems.

Now the season of fall starts and grapes are on the market with quite affordable prices. I can recommend to try out a mini-grapes-cure to help to detoxify your body. Because of the high amount of Vitamin C you  already boost your body against winter coldness diseases.

Mini- grapes-cure shopping list for one person/day:

• 1 kg of fresh grapes: look for the best quality, prefer biological-organic products - if available, choose white or red grapes (calories around 700 kcal),
• 1 liter of red grape juice: take the 100% juice quality (calories around 700 kcal), 
• 1 liter bottled water or 1 liter fresh brewed tea (rosebottle, citron, black or green tea) (zero kcal) - that's all.

Start to eat grapes and drink grape juice/tea/water over the day. Wash the grapes with hot water and eat your grapes slowly. Eat only when you are hungry. Try this menu best in the week-end or during a day off You spare time, because you need not to cook. Don't expect too much on loosing some pounds.

Don't use this diet, if you are diabetes patient or you have your blood sugar too high. If you feel well with this, you can also make more cure days, but not more than 14 days. Your body will miss some other important nutrients.

I remember one wonderful Spanish tradition at New Year. When the old year disappeared on 31 December at 12.00 clock midnight and the bells started ringing - then you have to eat one grape with each bellring - and your mouth is filled with too much sweet grapes and ....

How to start a New Year better? Take this mini cure as a healthy step in the right direction and start a better and healthier time for you! Tell me if this works for you!

Stay healthy with apples, but how to get there?

Today I will focus on the question, on how to implement the eating habit to ingest at least one fresh apple a day! So, if you do this already - Congratulations! You can stop to read here, the others (like me) may continue...

First, find hereafter four good reasons, why apples are a healthy fruit:

1. Promoting a healthy digestion:

Apples are rich in fiber pectin, which lowers not only cholesterol but also body fats. Apples promote a healthy digestion and help with some digestive concerns. For example, if you have a diarrhea: have apple slices that got brown; if you have a constipation: have fresh apple slices.

2. Supporting the immune system:

Apples are full of antioxidants, which support our immune system, heart and brain. 

3. Cleaning the body:

Apples and their juice are a perfect detoxication and body cleaning food, which is beneficial for the liver. The cleaning of the intestinal tract with fiber is also very helpful if you want to maintain a healthy weight or to loose extra pounds. 

4. Giving the right energy boost: 

Apples are a perfect healthy snack and a natural energy booster. Apples are not high in energy (100g apple/50-70 kcal).

How to learn the good eating habit 

to eat one apple a day!

Check this small roadmap on how to get there:
1. Clarify your goal:

• To eat at least one apple a day!

2. Find your motivation:

• To get a healthy digestion,
• To feel light,
• To loose some pounds, because you can reduce other snacks or unhealthy food, because apples are not high in energy.

3. Imagine positively:

• How great it is, to eat an apple (the taste, the fresh pulp etc.) 

4. Become organised: 

• Go to the supermarket or your farmer market and buy the best and freshest apples you can find, prefer organic fruits,
• Wash and put them prominently in a nice basket in your kitchen,
• Define an hour in your day, when you would like to eat your apple (breakfast, snack, evening),
• Take your apple with you for any occasion,
• If you have a craving, eat your apple,
• Replace an unhealthy snack with your apple.  

5. Think about a ritual:

• It is important that you find your ritual to eat your daily apple a day! Sit down, think and don't hesitate to write it down!

It is going to take some time to get practice. So, don't give up too quickly! I hope, you are not allergic against apples (often if you show a birch pollen allergy), but then you can use the roadmap for any other fruit or vegetable.