The beautiful fall season followed by the winter chill is the right time to balance your body with weight loss detox.  A natural cleanse and a few exercise secrets will allow you to enjoy the season with less stress and to be ready for the cold and flu season.

You can do an easy weight loss detox to reach your body or metabolic balance by changing your food and nutrition preferences based on your bio-individuality.

Winter Detox Cleansing Foods

As we know, processed foods contain chemically derived ingredients our bodies don’t know how to read. This creates a metabolic disaster-imbalance.

Coupled with chronic stress and low level of exercises empty nutrition food contributes to chronic inflammation, which can lead to imbalance in the female hormones in our body.

Toxic chemicals in the water we drink and the air we breathe also affect our metabolic balance and contribute to inflammation in our body, which can lead to all types illnesses.

Fall is the right time to start and easy fall natural cleanse detox with seasonal whole foods. To do so, incorporate as many seasonal, local and freshly harvested vegetables in your diet: greens (kale, dandelion, beet greens, etc.), vegetables (fall squashes, beets, carrots, cauliflower, onions, garlic, zucchini, pumpkin, etc) fruits (avocado, apples, pears, kiwi, watermelon, etc.) beans (mung beans, lentils, etc.) nuts (walnuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds). They all are full of fiber and help elimination.

Don’t forget to enjoy local the harvest with  juices and smoothies you can drink in the morning or  as a snack.

You can always use some fruits and vegetables for homemade cleansing detox recipes or rejuvenating facials (tomatoes, avocado, grapes, watermelon, apples, pears, etc.).

Fall and Winter Exercise Shortcuts

We are moving towards Winter, and it means that the days are getting shorter and shorter following naturally after the many long days of light.  But there is no excuse for us to exercise less because we don’t have time. Why? Well, we always can find exercise shortcuts to burn some calories:

• park your car as far as possible;
• take stairs whenever you can;
• get up every fifteen minutes to stretch and deep breathe toh help reduce stress and detox;
• dance / move / jump / stretch in the kitchen while you preparing a meal;
• use more bending and stretching any time you clean the house, do gardening or talk on the phone (you can do the whole working out routine while text massaging).

We have to learn how to prioritize our health, our relationships, our jobs, etc., to sort them out and start a wonderful journey to wellness – a journey that will help us to get back our happy mind and healthy body.

Let us be smart, patient and full of a sense of humor if we want to feel and look fabulous this fall and winter season.

Breathe, smile and be happy.

©Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health Coach and Counselor

NaturalCounselorBlog.com

Would you like to take your first step to becoming healthier and happier? Why not try to eat with the seasons?

Eating with the seasons means that the whole foods you eat will be fresh and provide maximum nutrition. They can be used to make healthy natural recipes and for weight loss, and detox.

Seasonal fruits and vegetables differ depending on what part of the country you are from, but in general you can buy the following seasonal whole foods:

* Seasonal fall fruits for your fall recipes:

Apples, avocado, bananas, cranberries, grapes, grapefruit, kiwi, oranges, pears, persimmons, tangerines;

* Seasonal fall vegetables for your fall detox recipes:

Beans, beets, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, garlic, kale, leeks, lettuce, parsnips, pumpkin, rutabaga, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, turnips, watercress.

While you are at it, don’t forget to buy your seasonal foods organic.

P.S. Click to listen to our discussion with a Health Coach and Raw Food Educator on how to make delicious Fall recipes.

Let us be seasonal vegetable and fruit smart  to feel and look fabulous, shall we?

Breathe, smile and be happy.

©Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Coach and Relationship Expert

In summer to feel and look fabulous we need to eat more lycopene rich foods. This Stuffed Red Pepper Recipe with lycopene rich foods can be used as a beauty remedy to help you protect your face and skin from damage from sun exposure.

Red bell pepper is rich in vitamin C and vitamin A and can boost the immune system, lower cancer risk, reduce inflammation, and prevent heart attack.

Brown rice is rich in fiber and can help elimination and lower high blood pressure.

Tomato is rich in lycopene and can protect our skin and face from damage from sun exposure to prevent skin cancers.

Stuffed Red Pepper Beauty Remedies Recipe for Sun Damaged Skin

• 2 large bell peppers
• 2 tbsp.vegetable stock
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 6 ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped
• 4 tbsp cooked brown rice
• ¼ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• ¼ tbsp ground cinnamon
• juice of 1 lemon
• black pepper to taste

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Slice off the tops, then scoop out and discard the seeds.

2. Heat the stock in a skillet, then add the onions, and garlic and saute, stirring, until translucent. Stir in tomato paste, tomatoes, chopped eggplants or zucchini flesh, cooked rice, pine nuts, herbs, and cinnamon and continue cooking for a couple of minutes.

3. Stir in the lemon juice and season with pepper.

4. Lightly mist a baking dish with oil-and-water spray. Stuff the vegetables with the rice mixture and put the lids back on the peppers or tomatoes. Bake for about 20 minutes. (adopted from the book “Detox” by Sara Rose)

Bon Appetit!

© Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition  Coach and Counselor

You should already know that it is best to buy organically grown fruits and vegetables, but do you know that you should try to buy as many of them as you can locally and in season.   Local means that your organic produce will be less damaged via long distance shipment and storage; and as an added bonus, locally grown seasonal fruits and vegetables will usually be less expensive.

Of course, depending on the area you live in, it can be challenging to find fresh local organic produce, not only because of geographic location, but also because of climate differences. For example, in NY, variations in yearly temperature makes it difficult to buy local produce all year long, in which case you should at least try to buy your organically grown produce in season.

So, if you want to enjoy 100 % of the benefits of organic fruits and vegetables, buy them local and in season.

Many of the seasonal vegetables and fruits listed below do not need to need to be purchased organic, but for some seasonal fruits and vegetables, buying organic is MANDATORY – for example: imported grapes should be purchased as organic ONLY.  You can learn which seasonally grown produce MUST be purchased as organic at Super Simple Detox, which you can use to learn how to use the seasons to cleanse smart and detox naturally using organic cleansing detox fruits and vegetables.

Use our list below to find when the most common fruits and vegetables are typically picked and harvested:

Apples – are in season from October to about late April.

Apricots – are in season from late spring to early summer.

Artichokes – are in season in spring and early fall.

Arugula – available all year long, best in spring and fall.

Asparagus – is in season from March to about June.

Bananas – are imported year-round.

Beets – are in season from about mid-June to mid-October.

Blackberries – are in season in Summer.

Blueberries – are in season from about mid-June to mid to late August.

Bock Choy – is in season from fall through spring.

Broccoli – is in season from July to October.

Brussels Sprouts – are in season late fall and winter.

Cabbage – is available all year around, but best in late fall and winter.

Cantaloupes – are best in summer.

Carrots – are available year-round, but are best from July to September.

Cauliflower – is best in fall and winter.

Celery is best in fall and winter.

Cherries – are in season from late Spring to early Summer.

Collard Greens – are available all year around.

Cranberries are in season in fall.

Cucumbers – are in season from June to September.

Eggplant – are in season from August to September.

Fennel is in season from fall through spring.

Fresh Figs (not dried) – are in season from about mid-May to mid-October.

Garlic – is in season from August to October.

Grapefruit is in season in winter and spring.

Grapes – are in season from August to September. Note: : Imported grapes are available year-round, but if you buy organic imported grapes, make sure they are organically grown.

Green Beans are in season in summer and fall.

Hass Avocados – are in season from February to October.

Honeydew Melons – are in season from August to October.

Kale is best in fall and winter.

Kiwis are in season from winter to spring.

Leeks – are in season from August to November.

Lemons are in season from winter to spring.

Lettuce is best in spring.

Mangos are in season in summer.

Mushrooms – are in season from October to November.

Onions – dry onions are in season from September to December; green onions are in season from July to September.

Oranges – California navel oranges are in season from about mid-November to late spring. They are sweetest from about January to early March.

Parsnips are in season from fall through spring.

Peaches – are in season from July to September.

Pears – are in season from August to December.

Plums are in season in summer.

Pomegranates are in season in fall.

Potatoes – are in season from September to January.

Pumpkins are in season in fall.

Radishes are in season from March to September.

Raspberries – are in season from July to September.

Red Peppers – are in season from about May to September.

Spinach – is in season from June to October.

Squash is in season in summer (summer squash).

Strawberries – are in season in June and early July.

Sweet potatoes – are in season from October to February.

Tomatoes – are in season from August to September.

Turnips – are in season from October to February.

Watermelon – peak season for watermelons is from mid-May to late August.

Winter Squash – acorn and butternut squash are in season from September to December.

Yams – are in season from October to about March.

Zucchini – are in season from July to September.

If you would like to find out what fruits and vegetables are in season is in your state right now, check Eat Local.

Breathe, smile and be happy.

©Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Coach Counselor and Radio Show Host