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SUNSCREEN
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ABOUT
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EDUCATION
With the cool weather well and truly underway, the Wotnot team is loading up on warming meals. Our friend and wholefoods chef Lee Holmes of Supercharged Food (www.superchargedfood.com) shared this delicious, nourishing Baked Apple Pancakes recipe with us and we can't get enough... breakfast, lunch or dinner!
By Kimmy Smith, founder of the Fit Mummy Project
Winter is on its way! I love the crispness in the air each morning. What I don’t love is waving good-bye to all my healthy summer habits.
As the weather gets colder, my desire to sleep in, indulge in comfort foods whilst snuggling on the couch watching Netflix increases.
So I have put together some of my top tips for helping us Mums to stay healthy and happy this winter:
Make an Exercise Date
Typically our motivation for exercise lessens during the colder months. Motivation is like any other emotion. It comes and it goes. Don’t rely on motivation to get you up and moving. Make a plan to move your body every day. Schedule in time and make it your number one healthy habit for winter.
So many Mums I know are already super busy. Don’t put pressure on yourself to workout for an hour each day. All of the Fit Mummy Project Workouts that I share are just 10-15 minutes and can be done any time and any where. So perfect for those cold winter days when you just want to stay inside!
Pump up the Inner Heat
Your body craves warmth during cold winter days. Pump up your inner fire by focusing on your core. By including core exercises at the start of each workout, you will not only increase your body temperature but you will also increase your inner fire and determination! If you need some ides for some great core exercises, you can find inspiration for Mums of all fitness levels here!
Support your Immune System
Our immune system can be compromised during winter (especially if you have little ones starting at school or kindy!). During winter I like to practice these three yoga poses just before bed. They help to support and flush the lymphatic system (which is responsible for removing germs from our body.) They also have the added benefit of calming your nervous system.
This is an amazing restorative pose. Close your eyes and really let go of your day.
Avoid Raw
During winter and late Autumn, our body craves warm meals that are easy to digest. So avoid any raw salads or smoothies and focus on eating delicious slow cooked soups, stews and casseroles.
Supercharge your Meals
A secret of naturopaths’ everywhere is to increase ginger and garlic during the colder months. Ginger is very warming and helps to support digestion. Garlic is antiviral and antibacterial, so it’s great for adding some extra immune system support during Winter.
I love starting my day with a lemon and ginger tea and I try to sneak some extra garlic into each soup or stew that I make.
Protect Dry + Sensitive Skin
We all know that winter leaves our skin feeling dry and desperate for hydration. During winter I switch to the Wotnot Facial Wipes for Dry and Sensitive Skin.They help me to get a deep cleanse without stripping my skin of essential moisture.
I also really try to protect the girls’ skin. Both of my girls have sensitive skin, so I use the Wotnot Baby Lotion each night after their bath.
Mind Cleanse
It is no secret that our mood can be affected by the weather. Create a positive state of mind during winter by completing a simple daily gratitude practice. Allow yourself 5 minutes to write down 3 things you are grateful for. Then (and this is the important bit!), write down WHY you are grateful for those things. Really try to tune into a feeling of gratitude washing over your body. The more you can create that state of appreciation, the more you can make positives changes to your mood.
About Kimmy Smith:
Kimmy is a post-natal fitness expert, qualified yoga teacher and mother to two girls. Kimmy is on a mission to support and empower women to embrace the journey of motherhood. In 2016, Kimmy launched the Fit Mummy Project and wellbeing hub, www.kimmysmithfit.com, an online destination that encompasses fitness, food and healthy mindset essentials. It aims to help all new mums create a beautiful, fit and strong new body and life.
Now that we're almost halfway into 2021, those New Year resolutions could have fallen to the wayside. Often we make large and overwhelming goals with the best intentions, however this isn't always the best recipe for following through.
Instead, why not incorporate some small changes that can add up to big positive changes in your life if you're consistent? Here are 5 of our top simple-but-effective life hacks to get started with.
It's no secret that refined sugar and refined sugar filled products equal havoc for our health. Processed sugar (AKA the white devil) is both terrible for our brains and waistlines. Cutting this one "food" out of your diet can have a hugely positive impact on many aspects of your wellbeing, from mental state to energy levels and digestive health.
Removing refined sugar cuts out many unhealthy products by default, so it's easier to rule out bad options in general. Just make sure you read labels and watch out for added sugars under another name such as "glucose/corn syrup."
There are so many healthy sweetener alternatives today, that cutting out refined sugar the healthy way is easier than ever. If you want a calorie and carb free replacement that won't impact your blood sugar levels, stevia is a great choice. if you want to find out how your body reacts, commit to 30 days sugar free and see yourself.
Good quality sleep is important for regulating our appetite hormones, feeling good, having energy, bodily repair, and detoxification. Get at least 7-8 hours a night and refrain from staying up late as this can mess with our body’s circadian rhythms (natural body clock).
If you have trouble falling asleep, try not to watch TV or go on the computer right before bed, as the brightness stimulates receptors in our eyes that wake us up. Don’t eat too close to bedtime either, as if your meal is still being digested it can make it difficult to sleep properly. Still struggling? Have a relaxing bath with lavender oil or a calming herbal tea (chamomile or “sleepy time” varieties are great), to relax the mind and body before hopping into bed.
Vitamin D is an important factor in maintaining good health and in order for our bodies to produce enough, we need sunlight! As a general rule, spending an easy 10-15 minutes in the sun each day with a good area of skin exposed will help you keep your levels in check, so get outside on your lunch break, sit back and relax!
Once your daily sun dose is up, always use sun protection if you're staying out longer, such as wearing a hat, sunglasses and using a natural, toxin-free sunscreen.
Going vegan or vegetarian for just one day a week can make a huge difference to your health, giving your body a break from any chemicals and hormones found in meat and your digestive system a rest from digesting more difficult to break down animal protein sources.
With so many delicious plant-based recipes available today, it's a fun way to try new, delicious and healthy dishes too! Plus, it's not only great for your body, but also for helping reduce our carbon imprint. Win, win!
Studies have reported that people who regularly practice gratitude experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep better, express more compassion and kindness, and even have stronger immune systems.
Practising gratitude means taking time to especially focus on everything we are thankful for in our lives. You can do this easily and in a time effective way by simply going through 3 things that you are grateful for either first thing in the morning or before bed, or you may wish to use gratitude journaling and write it down.
In the world of wellness, health and balance are like two best friends; a fabulous and inseparable duo. At a biochemical level in the human body, maintaining the balance of alkalinity and acidity in our fluids and tissues is vitally important for overall health. The good news is that nutrition and lifestyle choices are the key factors that impact upon how alkaline or acidic your body is at any given time, meaning you have the power to tip the scale in the favourable direction. Hint: your body loves to be alkaline!
So what exactly is the acid-alkaline principle? Let’s get scientific. To measure the balance between alkalinity and acidity the pH level is used. The pH refers to the ‘potential of hydrogen,’ and measures the amount of hydrogen ions in a particular solution. The higher the ion concentration, the greater the acidity, the lower the ion concentration, the more alkaline it is. pH is measured on the scale of 0 – 14, with 7 being neutral, 14 being extremely alkaline, and 0 being most acidic. When alkalinity increases, so too does oxygen. Since oxygen is vital to human life and healthy cells thrive in an aerobic environment, it makes sense that we ideally want to maintain a slightly alkaline pH level in our bodies. For optimum health, the blood pH should fall on or very close to the magic number of 7.365 on the scale.
Now that we’ve got the basic chemistry under our belt, let’s take a look at the bad guys. It’s time to know your enemies and stop them robbing your precious body of a happy alkaline existence. Unfortunately the contemporary lifestyle is host to a plethora of stressors that leave one living in a less than ideal acidic state. At the forefront are poor nutritional choices. The over consumption of “food like substances,” to borrow the term from Michael Pollan, which are highly processed, sugar filled, artificially laden, and flooded with saturated and trans fats, greatly increase the acidity in the human body. Stress, overworking, poor sleep, a lack of exercise and technological radiation are other common factors contributing to an acidic pH.
If you’re not feeling your best and suspect you may be too acidic, it’s time to join the alkaline tribe and reap the benefits that leading an alkaline life can bring both your body and mind. A huge burden will be taken off your liver, allowing toxins to be processed and eliminated effectively so that your organs and cells can function at peak performance. This means better digestive processes, increased energy, slower aging, beautiful skin and a peaceful mood, among other benefits. Being alkaline also greatly reduces your chances of illness, as many diseases, such as cancer, are anaerobic (read: flourish in an oxygen depleted environment). So let’s flood our bodies with oxygen and alkalise, baby, alkalise!
The first place you want to start is with your diet by adopting a way of eating that follows the balance of the acid-alkaline principle. Most of the foods that are highly acidic are the ones we know we should limit or avoid, such as processed foods, refined sugar, sodas, artificial sweeteners, red meat and dairy products. On the flip side, alkaline forming foods are the healthy ones, with greens, sprouts, non-starchy vegetables and ripe fruits topping the list. A good ratio to aim for is to 70-80% of your diet coming from alkaline foods, with the remaining 20-30% made up of acid forming foods. However, it’s favourable that the acidic portion of your diet be consumed in the form of healthy acid foods, some of which are brown rice, salmon, and certain nuts. You can find many resources on the internet that provide acid-alkaline food charts to help you better understand how the food choices you make will affect your pH, and then chow down accordingly.
Other lifestyle factors you can bring on board for your alkaline journey are practising relaxation techniques (such as meditation, yoga and deep breathing), daily exercise, drinking lots of good quality water, getting enough sunlight, and enjoying plenty of time spent with the people we love.
