The New Year is the perfect time to start afresh, especially with your eating habits that may have gone slightly awry over the last few weeks.

It’s always such an excessive time isn’t? There’s no other season that makes it ok to stuff your face. But that’s life, and it’s always about balance, so I hope you’ve had a good time doing it!

That said, it’s always nice to get back on track as there’s only so much one can consume in those quantities, so if you’re feeling the after effects of the festive season (I know I am!) then a few simple changes can really help you to feel back to your perky best.

This isn’t about making drastic changes, although if that’s what you fancy, then go for it.  This is more of a quick way to help your body cut down on any excesses, aid detoxification, reduce any sluggishness and to give you more energy.

1. Sip smart

Swap your morning latte for a cup of antioxidant rich green tea, a cup of hot water with lemon or a green juice/smoothie.

Whilst caffeine can give you a superficial boost, it actually places a stress on your system leaving you feeling drained and craving more caffeine for another boost of energy.

It’s a vicious circle. Hot water and lemon is a common cleanser, and a green juice is packed full of nutritious vegetables, helping to restore diminished nutrient stores.

Dehydration is likely so remember to keep sipping on water throughout the day.

2.  Reduce your sugar intake

Alcohol, cakes, chocolate, mince pies…  December is packed full of them and eventually they will zap your energy (as well as becoming addictive).

You need to come off this sugar rollercoaster by cutting these out.  Your digestive system, skin and energy levels will thank you.

3. Think clean, lean and green

Tis the season of heavy, rich and unprocessed foods.  Give your body a break by avoiding these (including red meat and wheat) and stick to whole, natural and unprocessed foods.

Smoothies like this and soups are a great alternative to heavy meals and provide your body with a much needed nutritional boost.

Alternatively, lean meats, poultry, fish, leafy green vegetables, brown rice and quinoa are always a good bet.

4. Stick to 3 meals a day plus 1 snack

Eating constantly throughout the day with little break places a HUGE burden on the digestive system.

If you are constantly metabolising food it leaves little time for any other essential functions like detoxifying, cleansing, recovery and repair.

Sticking to a schedule of three meals plus a snack or two allows your body to be able to fully digest your food and concentrate on the other important functions as well as healing.

5. Move your body

This doesn’t have to be a super intense workout (although it won’t hurt if you’re up to it!), as your body might require something a bit more gentle, but anything to get the heart pumping, muscles moving and blood really circulating.

Sometimes moving in a restorative way like yoga, hiking or cycling means you’re able to release tension from your body in more restorative way, aiding recovery and repair.

6. Sleep well and often

It’s likely you’ve been burning the candle at both ends and the cost of this is always sleep.  Even if you have been sleeping longer hours, consuming alcohol means that the quality of your sleep is compromised.

Get to bed earlier, switch off from technology and get some much needed R&R.

The post 6 Quick Detox Tips appeared first on Neema Savvides | Fertility Nutrition.

This is a great post workout smoothie as the banana (carbohydrate) helps the body to absorb the protein powder more efficiently.

Having protein with every meal and snack is really important to help balance blood sugar levels, manage energy levels and balance hormones.

Serves one.

Ingredients

• 2 cups almond milk
• 1 scoop Vega Sport Performance protein powder in vanilla
• 1/2 frozen banana
• Handful raspberries
• Dash of cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon flax seeds

Method

Mix all together in a nutribullet or blender and voila.  Add more almond milk accordingly if you like your smoothies thinner (I prefer mine on the thicker side).

The post Raspberry Protein Smoothie appeared first on Neema Savvides | Fertility Nutrition.

In the Winter I prefer something warm and comforting – usually eggs, oats and healthy pancakes fit the bill here, however I have been experimenting lately with warm smoothies.

This way I can still get all the benefits that a smoothie provides as well as providing some variety to my breakfasts.

Try this warming smoothie to warm you up first thing.

Directions:

1. Heat the almond milk in a pan until warmed through.
2. Add the oats, banana, almond butter, chia seeds, flaxseeds, cinnamon and the water and approx. one fifth of the almond milk to your blender/nutribullet. Add in an extra splash of cold water if you think the liquid is too warm (see warning above about hot liquids and blenders makers).
3. Blend on high for a minute until smooth.
4. Whilst it’s blending, further heat the rest of the almond milk until hot, but not boiling.
5. Pour the blended oat mix into your cup, stir in the heated almond milk, mix and serve.

The post Warm Winter Smoothie – High Protein Hot Chocolate appeared first on Neema Savvides | Fertility Nutrition.

Mr NS Nutrition was not convinced – ‘this is er, interesting, and don’t throw out the juicer just yet’ was the general consensus after my first (failed) attempt.

I didn’t see how I could go wrong with a classic carrot, apple and ginger combo.  But oh how I did.  The combination was a watery, pulpy mess (note to self – much less water and a lot more blitzing required).

Things have thankfully moved on since then, and this green smoothie is a bit of a winner.

Tropical pineapple and mint gives this a wonderfully light and summery flavour as well as Vitamin C and the spinach adds a whole lot of iron!

Ingredients:

• 2 handfuls spinach
• 1 slice of pineapple
• 1/2 frozen banana (I chop up bananas and put them in freezer bags – they make the smoothies so cold and creamy!)
• 2 sticks of celery
• handful of mint
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• Squeeze of lime
• 5 brazil nuts
• 1 tablespoons flaxseeds
• 1 tablespoons chia seeds
• Coconut water (about 1/4 way) – side note, filling up the ‘liquid’ component to the max line has never worked for me, it makes it too watery and you lose a lot of the flavour.  These days I put in enough for about 1/4 of the way up.

Method:

• Mix all together, blitz and enjoy!

The post Green Smoothie Recipe – Nutribullet appeared first on Neema Savvides | Fertility Nutrition.