Anti Aging and Grandma Extraordinaire!

The greatest gift we can give our families is that of a healthy home and lifestyle.  In light of Mother’s Day, I decided to share some tips on how my mom has stayed healthy over the years.  My children don’t call her Grandma Extraordinaire for nothing!  They say that she is not your typical grandma that knits and reads the paper.  She chases my kids around the pool with a Super Soaker attached to her (with back up Soaker cartridges of course!) and she doesn't hesitate to strap on the shin pads and soccer cleats for a pick up game of soccer any time my kids ask.  She walks and goes to the gym daily and has endless energy.  My dad used to say he would get tired watching her.   How does she do it?  With the crazy-busy schedules we have and the super-sized food environment we live in, it’s not always easy.  Here are some things that have kept my mom rocking over the years.

1.       Digestion Digestion Digestion!  Eating right is a major foundation for health.  We are what we eat and what we digest.  If we are eating  well but our digestion is sluggish, we won’t be absorbing the nutrients from our food.
 2.     Drink water.  Water is so important and we really haven’t learned to thirst as kids.  It is essential for our skin, bowels, detoxification and elimination to name a few.
   3. Get your fat!  The essential fats that is.  They come from nuts and seeds, fish, avocados, and health oils like coconut oil, flax, hemp and pumpkin seed oils. 
   4. Protein.  Most people overdue carbohydrate consumption and don’t consume enough protein.  Protein sustains us and keeps our blood sugar balanced. Have protein at each meal and don’t forget we get protein from a wide variety of plant based food as wells as nuts and seeds, bean and legumes.      
5.  Eat your vegetables!  We usually reach for fruit before veggies, but make sure we are consuming healthy veggies and lots of GLVs (Green Leafy Veggies) as these are high in antioxidants and amazing for anti aging.      
6.  Eat whole foods.  If we consume more real, live foods we will crowd out the refined and processed  foods and allow our bodies to detoxify and heal.       
 7.  Exercise daily.      
8.  Take time for yourself.  Read a book, take a walk or meditate.  This is sometimes easier said than done but we can all find 20-30 minutes a day!      
9.  Start  juicing!  We can get a lot of veggies in a green juice that we wouldn’t normally sit down and eat.  Rule of thumb, use 80% veggies and 20% fruits.   
 10. Sleep more.  When we are not sleeping, or waking often in the night, we produce cortisol and other fat storing hormones.
11.  Take your Supplements to fill in the gaps.  With all the stress from life and the environment we need a good quality supplement and Omega 3 to fill in the gaps.  They are not all created equal so I take what my mom takes.  The best for the best!

       12.  Laugh more.  My mom loves to laugh and I know it's why she looks and feels so great!

For more blogs by Jo go to www.joleengruber.blogspot.ca 

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