An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

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My children, like most children, hates vegetables? So what do I do?  I give them fruits instead. They love fruits. In addition to eating the fruits whole, we also juice our fruits. A quarter of our grocery bills goes to fruits! We also had to upgrade our refrigerator to fit in all the fruits. An apple a day keeps the doctor away? In our case it is several fruits a day keeps the doctor away.

Our Top Ten Favorite Fruits include:

1. Apples
2. Oranges
3. Pineapples
4. Banana
5. Dragon Fruit
6. Mangoes
7. Grapes
8. Watermelon
9. Papayas
10. Kiwis

So if your child won't eat vegetables, don't fret. Try giving them fruits instead or give them more fruits and less vegetables but provide them with both.

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I don't have time to exercise

I don't have time to exercise is an excuse for those of us who lack motivation and who has not made exercise a habit or daily routine in our lives. When you truly want something you will make time for it.

You will make time to do the things you love so why not make time to exercise. Ok. The truth is, I am writing this post because I am trying to motivate and inspire myself to exercise. I have been doing well so far, daily since Monday. I will have a break during the weekends. Thats what I used to do, then the kids fell sick and I had a host of things to do. All excuses not to exercise.

After exercising everyday, instead of feeling more tired, I feel more energized with each session. I try to exercise at the start of the day so that I feel refreshed and energized but you can make time at any time of the day. My spouse goes to the gym during lunch. He walks to the gym too.

My brother who is a very busy man and always travelling makes time to exercise at all the hotel gyms. When he is home, he will either jog or cycle early in the morning or in the evenings.

You have to change your mindset from "I don't  have time to exercise" to "I will make time for exercise" then it will happen. It is as simple as that. You can walk, do housework, dance, run, swim, play games, jump on a trampoline. They're all exercises too.

Fitness can be fun too. On my current wish list now is a Wii Fit Plus. Pin It

Exercise

I have been slacking in my exercise routine. I have been busy. The kids have been sick. These are all excuses not to exercise. As I begin to exercise daily again, I remind myself that ...

To be physically fit enough to exercise is a blessing

Quite often people say that we should exercise to keep fit but have you thought about the fact that to be physically fit enough to exercise is a blessing. I try to remind myself of this now. I don't want to reach a point in my life when I am unable to exercise and I regret not exercising to improve my health when I am able to.

Some people only exercise to lose weight and once they reach their target weight, they stop exercising. I think that should not be the goal of exercising. We should exercise for health's sake and if we lose weight as a result, then it is a bonus. Pin It

Fruit and Vegetable Juice Recipe for my Kids

My husband loves to drink vegetable juices and has been asking me to make some vegetable juices for the kids. However, I find that vegetable juices are a bit harder on the palate then fruit juices so I am starting them on fruit juices first... mixed with just one or two vegetables. That is more appealing for kids.

Previously I used to make diluted fruit juices for them but now they can take it straight. So far I have used two fruit and vegetable juice recipes. Having said that, it is however better for kids to drink diluted fruit juice because drinking it straight is too sweet for growing teeth and you also want to avoid and pesticide poisoning.

Fruit and Vegetable Juice Recipe for Kids - Recipe 1

• 1 Pear
• 2 Apples
• 3 Oranges
• 4 Stalks of Celery (Halved) 

This yields 2 cups. It is sweet and tangy. It is easy to remember as well. I have a rather bad memory. So I came up with this 1, 2, 3, 4 fruits and vegetables to help me remember. It is actually two stalks of celery halved to make the number 4. 

One day, we ran out of celery and pears and our second fruit juice and vegetable recipe for the kids were discovered quite by accident. I just went to the refrigerator to find what was available and came up with this recipe.

Fruits and Vegetable Recipe for Kids - No 2

• 1 Apple
• 3 Oranges
• 1/2 a Carrot
• 1 tomato

This yields 2 cups. The Carrot and Tomato changed the color of the juice for yellow green for Recipe No 1 to orange red for Recipe No 2. The kids liked this colour. The sour taste of the tomato and oranges were masked by the apple and carrot making it tasty yet nutritious.

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Cold or Flu, Virus or Bacteria

We have been sick over and over again since August. I have a small family of four and between the four of us, we have been to the doctor 8 times in the last 3 weeks. The little one has been sick continuously for 3 weeks. Fever, vomiting, diarrhea, coughs, nose congestion. He had it all. Cold or Flu, Virus or Bacteria? It is hard to know.

Sometimes the doctor decides that it is a viral infection and gives cough and fever medicines with no antibiotics. Sometimes, the doctor decides that it is a bacterial infection and gives an antibiotic. It is all very confusing. I noticed that she would look at the throat and if it is not very red, she usually decides that it is a viral infection.

Viral infections have no 'cure' and we just have to get plenty of rest and let our body recover on its own. However some viral infections can be rather strong. Once my son was hospitalized for 10 days for a virus infection. He had been infected by the Epstein Barr Virus.

On the other hand, Bacterial Infections are usually treated with antibiotics. Some for 5 or 7 or more days etc depending on the severity of the infection. Antibiotics must be taken regularly and completed or finished.

Sometimes Virus Infections can 'turn into' Bacterial Infections. This is because your immune system is weakened at the time, so you can easily get infected by a secondary Bacterial Infection.

Here are some sites which I find useful to help me differentiate between a Cold or a Flu, Virus or Bacteria....

• Viruses and Bacteria from NetDcotor
• Is it a Cold or the Flu from FluFacts
• Antibiotics and The Common Cold from DrGreen
• Is it a Cold or the Flu Quiz from EverydayHealth

Whatever it is, when you are sick, whether it is the cold or flu, a virus infection or a bacterial infection, you should try to get plenty of rest, fluids and sleep. It is important to break the sick cycle, make sure that if you have a virus infection, you don't get a secondary bacterial infection because of your body's weakened immune system at the time. Get plenty of rest!

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Taking Good Health For Granted

I’m having a flu today and I keep on thinking about how I’ve been taking good health for granted.

When I am in good health, I don’t stop to think about what a blessing that is. Instead, I complain about being lazy to exercise. I don’t exercise on those days when I am feeling fit.

Now, that I can’t stop sneezing and I’ve lost my voice, and my lips feel hot and burning because my body is slightly feverish, I wish I could do those exercises that I had been neglecting.

I was this way for about 9 months last year. Each day, I would wake up with a bad sore throat and each evening I would cough uncontrollably. I took all sorts of natural cough remedies, consulted specialists, did chest X-Rays but nothing helped and then over one week, the cough just went away by itself gradually.

How awful it is not to feel whole. To feel sick most of the time. Now, I’m sick but only for a while. When I recover, I must remind myself not to take good health for granted.

I must eat  well, get enough rest and sleep and exercise. If I don’t take care of my own body, who will? Pin It

Eat in Moderation

Have you ever gone on a diet of eating only salad all day? How about a diet of just one of those powdery “nutritious” drinks to be drunk several times a day? How about an all protein diet with no carbohydrates?
Did your diet last very long?

I am sure you will not be able to last very long on those types of extreme diets. You would be depriving yourself not only of the nutrients and energy. Even my young kids who have studied in their Science as well as Moral studies about food know that ….

1. We eat foods with carbohydrates like rice, noodles, pasta and bread in order to have energy
2. We eat foods with protein like meat and fish in order to grow
3. We eat fruits and vegetables for the vitamins to prevent sickness

In other words, we must eat a balanced diet for better health. We should also eat in moderation.



If we eat too only salad every day, we will get bored and we will be deprived of other nutrients our body needs. It will also make us crave for other foods that our body needs.



On the other hand, if we eat a feast everyday, we will be having more than what our bodies need. It will make us put on weight. Being overweight is not a good thing for health.

What we need to do is to eat a balanced diet and to eat everything in moderation. If you are trying to lose weight, then you should cut down everything, eat everything but in moderation instead of cutting down on just one group of food.

It is better to eat healthily all the time then to go on quick fix-it diets. There is no such thing as a quick fix-it diet. They are detrimental to your health.

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