New Year feel- good factor article

Your guide to a healthy, happy 2012

New Year feel-good factor article

Fortify yourself with heart-healthy meals like scrambled eggs on brown toast, stir-fries with brown rice and seasonal fruit with yogurt. More enjoyable than detoxing!
Try mulling apple or grape juice for a healthier tipple that’s just as tasty as mulled wine.
Boost your immune system with nuts, lean red meat, seafood and wholegrain carbohydrates. We like brazil nuts in fruit crumbles.
Try a yummy root vegetable mash with a knob of Flora pro.activ Buttery, topped with baked onions, beetroot chips or even horseradish for a kick.
Try blood oranges, in jelly, just the juice, or grilled with a little sugar, for an antioxidant boost.
For healthy bones, eat Vitamin D-rich oily fish and eggs, plus perhaps a Vitamin D supplement washed down with a glass of milk.
Avoid fast food temptation by batch-cooking tasty, healthy food that can be warmed up in minutes .
Don’t drink black tea with meals – it can stop your body absorbing nutrients. Try herbal teas or warm fruit juice.
Make sugar-free jellies to have with a Flora pro.activ mini drink for a guilt-free dessert.

Build weight training into your routine to strengthen bones and muscles and maintain a healthy weight.
Alternate intense exercise with “active rest”, for example, walking or stretching
Get sweeping, raking and cut back last year’s growth in the garden – energetic gardening will raise your heart rate!
Use a monitor to check your heart rate. You’ll see it get lower for the same exertion levels, as your fitness improves.
Aqua aerobics is ideal for limited mobility. It’s low impact and the resistance will improve strength.
If you suffer from weak knees, do squats and lunges three times a week to work your quads and hamstrings, which support them.
Use high-energy music to motivate and keep you moving while you jog or power walk.
You can’t beat press-ups for working the whole body. Try them on your feet, knees or against the wall. Hold your tummy muscles in!

Your metabolic rate slows with age but you can stop the decline by up to 80% with aerobic and weight training.

New Year feel-good factor article