NaturalCounselor Health and Wellness Blog For Women

If you are seeking to lose weight naturally, balance your hormones, avoid headaches and migraines, or prevent cancer and heart disease, you need to reduce your consumption of  high calorie, high fat and high sugar content foods.

But what shall we do if we like ice-cream and it is hot outside? This delicious and healthy dairy and guilt free ice cream recipe from www.americanyogini.com will help you cool off and feel fabulous in a hot weather. You can also have it as a healthy snack for more energy and better mood when you feel sleepy or tired.

Dairy Free Strawberry Watermelon Swirl to Lose Weight Naturally

Un-Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Watermelon, cubed
• 3 Cups fresh Strawberries, sliced
• 1 Cup Cashews, soaked 3 hours
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 Cup filtered water ( in addition to soaking water) 1/4 – 1/2 cup agave nectar

Equipment and tools:

• blender
• mesh milk bag
• ice cream machine – center vessel in freezer for 6 hours. I store mine in the freezer at all times so its just ready to go: I just take it from the freezer instead of the cabinet.
• 2 ice cream parfait glasses
• 2 mixing bowls
• rubber spatula

Un-Cooking Instructions:

• Cut watermelon into rough cubes about 1-2 inches, and place in freezer on cookie sheet.
• Be sure the ice cream maker is frozen for several hours, placed in your freezer according to manufacturer instructions.
• Meanwhile:
  Blend soaked cashews with water and 3 Tablespoons Agave Nectar until very well liquefied.
• Squeeze through a mesh filter bag or force through a fine sieve, stir in vanilla, and set aside.
• Slice strawberries, and taste for natural sweetness. Add more agave if desired to taste.
• Blend into the cashew vanilla cream in your blender, allow some of the strawberries pieces to remain chunky.
• Assemble your frozen ice cream bowl into the base and turn on.
• With motor running, Slowly pour strawberry ice cream base into your ice cream maker.
• In only a few minutes you will see the ice cream forming in your ice cream maker.
• While the ice cream maker is doing its job, remove watermelon from freezer, and place in blender to quickly blend into a frozen slush.
• With spatula, place softly frozen strawberry ice cream into a mixing bowl and swirl in the watermelon slush.

MINDFULNESS TIP:

Tune in to the “cleansed” you and be “sattvic” (truthful and present) when tasting for sweetness: So many times when it comes to desserts we revert to old information and programing that will tell us “add more sweetness” rather than slow down and be present with each ingredient acknowledging the ‘Sattvic” or “true” level of sweetness nature is presenting at this moment.

Strawberry may be more or less sweet according to region, season, weather conditions. All these natural factors become a part of us, and allow us to be fully in control. This does not mean that if you have sour berries you should not add sweet agave, that too would be untruthful. The blessing of this cleansing practice is our growing ability to truthfully give ourselves what delights and nourishes us and our friends and families.

Bon Appetit!

Breathe, smile and be happy.

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Coach and Relationship Expert

We all know that illness can be caused when toxicity in our body increases.  To reduce toxicity you can always try weight loss detox with whole foods and detox recipes.  But did you know that toxicity can be increased by stress.  So why not try to reduce your stress first?

To reduce stress you can learn to relax, improve sleep quantity, or try some breathing exercises.   If you reduce your stress you may be able to reduce female hormone imbalance and ease pre-menopausal and post menopausal symptoms.

There is more to life than increasing its speed.  ~ Mohandas K. Gandhi

One of the best stress reducers is to try to do nothing for five minutes.  Can you do it? It will be even better if you lie down and put your legs up on the wall – in Legs-up-the Wall Pose. This detoxing pose will help you to relax, drain lymph from the legs and increase blood flow.

If you are not sure how to start, some directions from yogajournal.com might help:

Start with your support about 5 to 6 inches away from the wall.

Sit sideways on right end of the support, with your right side against the wall (left-handers can substitute “left” for “right” in these instructions).

Exhale and, with one smooth movement, swing your legs up onto the wall and your shoulders and head lightly down onto the floor.

The first few times you do this, you may ignominiously slide off the support and plop down with your buttocks on the floor. Don’t get discouraged. Try lowering the support and/or moving it slightly further off the wall until you gain some facility with this movement, then move back closer to the wall.

Try to relax on the floor doing nothing every day, and if you think you don’t have time, lie down while you watch TV, talk on the phone or plan a weekend  getaway.  Breathe, smile and be happy…..

Let us slow down and learn how to do nothing from time to time to feel and look fabulous, shall we?

Breathe, smile and be happy.

Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health Coach and Counselor

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