A yo-yo dieting mindset is something we never intend when we start a diet. When we first sign up to the latest and greatest dieting plan, it really is with all of our best intentions. We also genuinely believe in the results we’ve witnessed others achieve and find ourselves spending a lot of money on supplements (depending on the diet plan).

However, it doesn’t take long before some of our past unhealthy habits start to slowly creep in again when life gets busy. This is normally when we either decide to start again “next Monday” or we completely give up only to start a new diet fad in the following January.

Research has shown us that yo-yo dieting can do us more harm than good. When we fail miserably with one eating plan and jump into the next one, our bodies take on the pressure and strain.

What Is Yo-Yo Dieting?

The word diet is often used in conjunction with the idea of our goal weight or our perceived goal weight.

According...

You may be asking, why should I balance my blood sugar? How does this even affect me? Or you might be seriously needing some help in balancing your blood sugar! Either way, we aim to lighten your load, by making it easier for you to incorporate healthy habits into your normal lifestyle.

First of all, Blood Sugar refers to the amount of sugar or glucose in your blood at any given time. If this is not balanced or in a normal state, it can lead to fatigue, or a loss of energy, it can cause issues with your moods and emotions, as well as cause unhealthy cravings and hormone imbalances. 

Here are some of the benefits of a balanced blood sugar:

• Increased energy.
• Stable moods.
• Improved concentration. 
• Weight loss/ stable weight. 
• Reduced risk of adrenal fatigue.
• Hormone balances.
• Reduces cravings.
• Minimise risk of disease.

One might say that a balanced blood sugar can really change your life! 

Here are 7 ways you can ensure you keep your blood sugar at a regular and...

The heart of our blog is to bring the right information to your news feed so that you can make wise decisions about food for you and your family. We hope you find our blogs enlightening and interesting! Today we are jumping into what preservatives are, and why they are not good for us.

What Are Preservatives?

Preservatives are used to ‘preserve’ food items so that they remain fresh, or as fresh–looking as possible. They help to increase the shelf-life of products and they make sure that there is no loss of taste or flavour in the product over an extended period of time.

There are two types of preservatives, they are either natural, or chemical and artificial.

Natural preservatives are natural ingredients that have not been chemically altered and are not mixed with any synthetic items either.

Artificial Or Chemical Preservatives are artificially produced or synthetic in nature. Often these are also called ‘additives’ on our everyday food...

There are so many diets and eating programs that you could follow. There is so much information out there that you could read and apply to your life, and before you know it, you end up more confused than before you even started.  We thought we would simplify this.

Here are some incredibly simple tips to getting healthy and sustaining a healthy lifestyle in yours and your family’s lives.

Think about what health means to you:

1. Is it to be thin?

2. Or having enough energy to get through our busy days?

3. Maybe it is to have no illness in your body?

Define what you see health as, and write it down. Spend time recognising why you are taking a step into a journey towards good health.

Once you have a good understanding of why you are doing something it cuts out a whole lot of other “noise”, which in turn helps you to not get yourself distracted by other fad diets or other people’s experiences.

Stick To Real Food

The real foods we are talking about are the...

Hmmmmmmmm, Christmas smells like cinnamon spices, warm summery days with pineapples, and most of all, our healthy deliciously juicy gammon!

This recipe serves 8 people, with lots of leftovers for the week after Christmas

Ingredients

You will need:

A nice big gammon, approximately 1.8kg or 2kg.
125ml of rice malt syrup.
4 tablespoons of olive oil.
1 tablespoon of paprika.
2 teaspoons of ground cloves.
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
1 teaspoon of sea salt and 1 teaspoon of black pepper.
Zest of 1 big orange.
3 tablespoons of orange juice.

Instructions

Prepare the following on Christmas Eve:

1. Line your baking dish with baking paper or grease the pan with coconut oil.
2. Wash your meat and pat it dry so that it is ready to cook.
3. Combine the rice malt syrup, olive oil along with 4 tablespoons of water into a jug.
4. Stir in your spices, the salt, pepper, orange juice and orange zest.
5. Pour the mixture over your gammon and rub it into the meat.
6. Place your gammon into the baking dish and cover...

One of our favourite Christmas time traditions is this deliciously snappy ginger biscuit. These can be baked quickly throughout the month in the build-up to Christmas!

Give these a try, share them with family and friends, we trust your kids will love them too!

Ingredients

You will need:

200g rolled oats (grind them in your Nutribullet or blender)
60g raw honey
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger 
½ teaspoon ground ginger 
10g Coconut palm 
50g softened raw coconut oil 
Sprinkle of ground nutmeg 

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven at 180c and line a baking tray. 
2. Grind the rolled oats in your blender or Nutribullet. 
3. Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
4. Roll the mixture into small balls and then flatten them onto the tray.  
5. Bake these for 20 min, turning them over after 10 minutes, until they are golden brown.

P.S. Ginger is great for balancing blood sugar and is great for your gut as well. 

What is Christmas without some deliciously healthy mince pies? These delicious creations are a staple in our households each year. They are super fun to bake, if you have kids, get them baking with you in the holidays. Not only is it a great way to bond with them but it also gets them excited about learning new things in the kitchen.

(This recipe mades 6 -8 delicious mince pies)

Ingredients

You will need (Pastry):

35g raw coconut oil.
200g oat flour.
90ml maple syrup/
1 big pinch of vanilla powder, ground cinnamon or ginger (this is optional)

Add these into the pastry to give it the Christmas feel:

2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves.
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger, or ground ginger.
1 and a half tablespoons of maple syrup to brush and then coconut palm sugar to sprinkle.

Instructions For Making The Pastry:

1. Melt your coconut oil, and then leave it to cool for a few minutes.
2. Combine all your ingredients into a box mixing bowl...

As we all know, the number one New Year’s resolution around the world is “I am going to lose weight.” 

Before you choose the trending fad diet and spend a fortune on all the products you need for this coming new year, we thought we would write about why diets don’t work and give you a few tried and tested ideas of what will work.  

The word diet means “the customary food and drink of a culture, a person, or an animal.”

However, for many of us, the word diet does not mean that. It means “a temporary and highly restrictive program of eating in order to lose weight.” 

It’s this idea of temporary restrictive eating that we will be tackling today. 

Research shows that 95% of people who lose weight by dieting will regain it within 1-5 years, and there are a few reasons for this. 

1. Many of us think that diets are a temporary plan, however, when we...

Dietary fibre includes the parts of plant foods your body can’t digest or absorb. Unlike other food components, such as fats, proteins or carbohydrates — which your body breaks down and absorbs — fibre is not digested by your body. Instead, it passes relatively intact through your stomach, small intestine, colon and out of your body. Taking with it toxins, waste, fat, excess hormones and cholesterol particles out of the gut.

Some functions of Fibre:

• Needed for efficient digestion
• Helps maintain bowel health
• Keeps your heart healthy
• Regulates the amount of glucose in your blood – stabilises blood sugar
• Keeps energy levels up
• Helps concentration
• Keeps skin healthy

Types of fibre

• Soluble fibre

• • This type of fibre dissolves in water to form a gel-like substance which makes you feel full longer.
    • is one reason why fibre may help with weight control.
  • It slows digestion and the emptying of the stomach.
    • which can regulate the rate at which sugars are...

Did you know that you can create your own, awesome salad which is a completely whole and perfect meal? Our YOUnique Life salad table includes all the nutrients and food groups that your body most needs in order to feel great and it will leave you feeling healthy and satisfied!

You’ll need to choose one ingredient from each group in the carefully selected Perfect Salad table below and throw them together to create your perfect salad.