Eat Your Wellness: Jennifer Hanway's Amazing "Glow Bites"

These gluten and dairy free Glow Bites are not only delicious, but they are chock full of superfoods, packing a nutritious punch in every one. All of the ingredients here are chosen for their beauty boosting benefits - no fillers or sweeteners here!

TigerNut Flour: the number one source of resistant starch, the prebiotic fiber that becomes food for your probiotic fiber. Great skin starts with the gut!

Cacao: with more antioxidants than any other food on earth, this superfood contains compounds that prevent wrinkles, protects skin from UV damage and increases the supply of nutrients, blood and oxygen to the skins surface. Talk about a beauty booster!

Collagen Powder: the protein present in all of the body's organs and tissues, natural collagen production begins to decrease as we age, resulting in a lack of firmness and elasticity in the skin. Supplementing with collagen powder can help restore these youthful qualities, giving you smooth and supple skin.

Avocado: you don't need to use avocado in a face mask for its beauty boosting benefits - it is rich in monounsaturated fatty acid (great for heart health), contains vitamins E and B, and can help detoxify the liver.

Glow Bites are one of the recipes from my upcoming 'Glow for It' online guide to glowing skin, shiny hair and endless energy which will be released in the next few months (stay posted for more details).

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup TigerNut Flour
  • 1 scoop vanilla vegan protein powder
  • 1 teaspoon cacao powder (with a little extra for dusting)
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon collagen powder (omit for vegetarians or vegans)
  • 3 tablespoons almond butter (cashew is also a great option)
  • 1 ripe avocado

Instructions:

  • Combine all dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl
  • Mash avocado until smooth
  • Add avocado and nut butter into the dry ingredients
  • Put in a food processor, or mix by hand if you want a good arm workout.
  • Roll into small balls (about 1 heaped tablespoon of mixture) and dust with cacao.
  • Refrigerate for a couple of hours or until firm.
  • Eat! Will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days (if you can make them last that long)...

Side Note: My favorite TigerNut Flour is from Organic Gemini, and I swear by Collagen Powder by Great Lakes for cellular repair and renewal. Also, a little cacao power goes a long way, so 8oz is plenty, and I recommend Navitas Naturals Organic Cacao Powder, 8 Ounce Pouch.


To learn more about foods and supplements that will give you clear, glowing skin, strong shiny hair and endless energy I'd love for you to join me at my Real World Wellness: Glow for It workshop in Boston on February 23rd. Click here to book tickets.

Jennifer Hanway is a Holistic Nutrition Coach, Bio Signature Modulation Practitioner and Certified Personal Trainer, originally from London but now living in Newton Centre and working in Back Bay, Boston. To find more of her recipes and expert advice visit her website www.jenniferhanway.com.

Momma B: 7 Tips to Help Yourself Stay Committed to Your Healthy Eating Goals

Did you know that the way we store food in our refrigerators can play a role in how healthy we eat?

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Once we figure out what we should be eating and when, then comes the hard part of changing our diet: following through. I have a few out-of-the-box healthy eating tips to help you find success when getting started AND to keep yourself going with your New Year’s Resolution to eat healthier!

Tip #1 – Ready to go snacks

Prep appetizing snacks for yourself to grab and go. Try putting Plain Greek yogurt in a container, then put some nuts or fruit in a sandwich bag and tape it to the cover. This works with hummus cups too! Plan ahead and take some time to cut veggies, put them in a baggy and tape them to the cups. If you don’t like cutting up vegetables buy the ones that are pre-cut.

Tip #2 –  Healthy choices go in the middle

Put your healthy options in the center of your refrigerator. Psychologists have found that people tend to go for items that are in their direct line of vision. Fun fact: this is also true for shelves at the grocery store.  

Tip #3 –  Put your Healthy foods in glass containers

Put your not so healthy snacks/foods in opaque containers and put your healthy snacks in glass bowls so you can see them. This way your healthy snacks will stand out and you are more apt to eat them.  

Tip #4  - Save time to prep

By taking the time to prep you are three times more likely to eat your healthy snacks. Unfortunately, if you wait until you are hungry to clean and cut fruits and vegetables, you are less likely to eat them and you’ll end up grabbing something more convenient, like a candy bar or bag of chips.

Tip #5 – Less is more

Don’t overstuff your fridge! You may get frustrated having to spend time looking for your healthy snacks and end up going to the cupboard for something less fresh and nutritious, like a package of cookies.

Tip #6 – Post your receipt

Put your receipt where you can see it. It will remind you of what you bought and what you spent. We all complain it costs more to eat healthy, so use the fact that you spent extra money to motivate you to eat it.

Tip #7 – Ask that important question

Before you grab that next snack ask yourself  - "Am I actually hungry?" -  If your answer is yes, think about how much you should eat based on when your next meal is. This will help you make choices based on what your body needs.


Momma B: Get Your Z's On to Get Your Healthy Back

I didn't sleep well for too many years... My youngest child didn't sleep through a single night for the first 11 years of his life. Add the duties of motherhood to the stress of a full time job at a hospital, and you can only begin to imagine how I felt, and even more discouraging: how I looked. At the time, I didn't even realize how much this was all negatively impacting me.

Now, I get made fun of because I make it a priority to get 8 hours of sleep. I'm in bed at 9pm - even on the weekends! Now that I've experienced the positive impact getting enough sleep has, no joke on my behalf will change my habit. For anyone who wants to make a step toward better health: make getting enough sleep your priority. You'll notice a difference within the first week - inside and out!

When we are well rested, our body is armed to fight stress and illness, wired to make healthy choices, and is visibly more vibrant. When lacking sleep, we are less likely to make good choices, our immune system is suppressed, and our dull skin and dark eyes make us look older. If you're tired, your body craves the quick energy boost you get from processed sugars, then the crash we experience from sugar highs creates even more cravings and diminishes any desire we have to exercise. It's a vicious cycle that affects our mood and, over time, may cause us to gain weight!

I'm a fan of attacking one challenge at a time. As I explained in my New Year's Resolution post on the 1st: committing to 1 new habit every month for the entire year will transform you and your health by the time 2017 arrives. Make your mini goal for January to get 8 hours of sleep at least 5 days a week. Once you achieve that, increase it to 6 days, then 7. Proper rest and recovery is your foundation for health and wellness. If you make it a priority you certainly won't regret it.