Tools and resources are good for your healthy living program because they help you stay on course as you obtain your goals. Realizing that I am not the expert about all the tools and resources available for use, I will share that I have been given some really great suggestions that have helped me during my transition to healthier living.

Case in point, Latara Ham-Ying, who is one of my co-contributors, has been providing excellent resource information about recipes that are not only healthy for you but are fairly easy to create. Heather Moreno, another co-contributor, gave me great advice for alternative ways to workort for times when the knee I injured is in pain. These types of resources have been very helpful to me as I transition to a healthier “me”.

The tools that I’m using during my transition are basis in nature. I wear a pedometer every day to measure the number of steps I walk and how far I walk. When I workout, I have a heart monitor that I use to make sure that I keep abreast of what’s going on with my heart. Since I am a very busy person, I have some in home exercise eqiupment that I use so that I will be able to workout. An additional tool that I use are exercise video such as Zumba that are not only fun but also teaches me new dance moves.

What are some of the resources that you have or tools that you use as you are transitioning to a healthier living? Please feel free to share.

Today’s Tip:

• Latara Ham-Ying: Healthy Living: Resource for Healthy Living

Tip 8: While you may not want to be a vegan or eat raw foods, reading magazines and books in these niches can only help you learn more about being a healthier you.

Couscous and Guacamole Wrap

For the couscous:

• 1 cup dried couscous, cooked according to package instructions
• 2 tablespoons chopped, fresh parsley
• 6 spring onions, finely sliced
• ½ cucumber, finely diced
• 1 tomato, finely diced
• ½ red pepper, finely diced
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Juice of one lemon
• Salt and black pepper
• 4 whole wheat tortillas to serve

For the guacamole:

• 1 ripe avocado, peeled and stoned
• Juice of ½ lemon
• ½ red chili, seeded and finely sliced

Place the cooked couscous in a bowl and add all couscous ingredients.  Mix together well.  Chill for 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile make the guacamole.  Do this immediately before serving or guacamole will brown (although the lemon juice does help prevent this a little).  Place the avocado in a bowl and add the lemon juice and chilli.  Mash with a fork until smooth and season with salt and pepper if desired. 

Warm the tortillas in a hot oven for 2 minutes or in a non-stick pan (one minute on each side).  Divide the couscous mixture into the tortillas and top with the guacamole.  Add a dollop of sour cream or low-fat plain yogurt.  Roll up the wrap and enjoy. 

About the co-contributor:

I am LaTara Ham-Ying, your nature friendly scribe. I have always loved writing and I enjoy making words come to life. Over my 26 year writing journey I have developed curriculum, edited and published magazines and newsletters, taught creative writing courses, wrote a devotional for women, created compelling copy, gave words to a face, audio scripting, and more. As an expert in the field of natural health and living as well as vegan cooking and meal preparation, I have written articles, reports, and sales pages that encourage people to take action. My website is The Natural Writer

My focus today is how to keep yourself encouraged to accomplish your goals of healthy living. It was hard to get into writing my blog post today because I’ve been business all day yet I felt that it was important to blog about my experiences today.

In the process of changing my habits in the health arena, I’ve found that keeping encourged is very important to accomplishing my goals for healthy living. Especially after I had a weekend where I had a boo-boo and slipped in my new eating habits. Yet I’m finding it rewarding to stick to my new healthy living goals as I see results such as my clothes becoming looser.

It would be great to hear how you have dealt with slips when you are trying to stick to your living healthy plan. Please feel free to share your experiences.

Today’s Tip comes from Latara Ham-Ying:

Tip 7: One of the first things you need to come to grips with in changing your eating habits is to realize that you are not perfect. You may fall off the wagon but don’t let it stop you from getting up and going forward with your goals for healthy eating.

One of the things that’s very healthy when trying to form new good habits is to occasionally gauge yourself. So today’s focus will be on determining how things are going and what my plans are for the upcoming week. I’m excited that during the past week I have made really great choices in regard to healthy eating and setting up my program.

In setting up my program, I was able to determine the baseline for some of the areas that are being affected by my healthy living program. I’m still creating the baseline for my exercise program but I’m done one thing and that’s monitored my steps and have a good idea what my daily goal will be.

During the upcoming week, I plan to solidy my exercise program with different activities such as Yoga, Zumba and other types of workout routines. I want to determine what works best for me and what will work into my plan for healthy living.

Today’s co-contributor is Latara Ham-Ying and she shares a great recipe.

INGREDIENTS

2-4 medium carrots, chopped  2-3 medium potatoes, chopped 8-10 gloves garlic, peeled 6-8 mushrooms, halved 1 small yam, cubed 1/2 lb medium tofu, cubed 2-4 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp dill 2 tbsp rosemary sea salt (to taste)  pepper (to taste)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Place the vegetables and tofu on lightly oiled cookie sheet or lasagna pan and drizzle olive oil over them. Sprinkle with dill, rosemary, chilies, salt, and pepper and mix together until well incorporated.

2. Bake for 40-60 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove from oven when potatoes can be pierced easily with a fork.

About the co-contributor:

I am LaTara Ham-Ying, your nature friendly scribe. I have always loved writing and I enjoy making words come to life. Over my 26 year writing journey I have developed curriculum, edited and published magazines and newsletters, taught creative writing courses, wrote a devotional for women, created compelling copy, gave words to a face, audio scripting, and more. As an expert in the field of natural health and living as well as vegan cooking and meal preparation, I have written articles, reports, and sales pages that encourage people to take action. My website is The Natural Writer