Pelvic curls

Pelvic curls are one of the very basic pilates exercises and is very beneficial. To most people it does seem like a very simple exercise but if you look at the image below you will see that so many muscles get used performing a pelvic and it relaxes your spine and stretches it out for you.

I like to use pelvic curls in all my classes because it is a nice spine and abs warming up but more because it stretches your hip flexors which is super important because if your hip flexors are tight you will have a tight lumbar spine. The other reason why I like it so much is because it is a good exercise to teach the right breathing and how to work into your deep abdominals to control your spinal movement.

If you have a tight back give these a try....

Lie onto the mat with your knees bent and your feet hip distance apart. Imprint your spine onto the mat and place your pelvis into a neutral position and making sure there is no space between your back and the mat.Walk your hands down to your heels to ensure your shoulders are relaxed onto the ground.

Keep your abs nice and tight.

Inhale: To prepare
Exhale: lower your ribs into your abs making one strong connection and squashing any gap between your back and the mat and roll your pelvis up until you form a nice straight line with your body. Remember you want to lift one vertebrae at a time so you are using your abs to roll up.
Inhale: Pause
Exhale: Roll all the way back onto the mat one vertebrae at a time with a nice tight tummy to control the movement down. You want your ribs to roll down first, then the middle of your back then your lower back all the way to a neutral pelvis.

A neutral pelvis is when your hip bones arent higher than your pubic bone and arent lower than your pubic bone. 

Raw Chocolate pudding!!

I have just finished making a Raw chocolate pudding!!! It is gluten free,dairy free tasty and all healthy...ok wait... there is quite a bit of honey in it BUT it is still healthier than what you would get out of an instant pudding mix box. 

It is called a raw pudding because it's all natural ingredients and nothing from animals and that has been processed. It also does not get heated above certain temperatures because once food gets heated it loses all the good nutrients.

My first raw pudding is in the fridge for 30 min and I'm dying for the 30 minutes to pass so I can eat it :):)

Want to try it out?

Here is the recipe...

Raw Chocolate Pudding

2 avocados, peeled 

1 ripe banana, peeled
1/4 cup raw honey
3 tablespoons coconut oil in liquid form or filtered water
1/3 cup raw cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Combine all the ingredients in a blender until it is well mixed and then put it all into a sealed container and straight into the fridge for 30 minutes. 

After 30 minutes.... Enjoy the goodness of a healthy chocolate pudding!!!!

Weight,fat percentage,body water percentage..such a complicated thing!!

I have been looking at scales and the one says you weigh this much and the other says you weigh this much but I never know which one is actually the accurate one. So now I have one of those really cool scales that you put your age and your height in and then it measures your weight, body fat percentage and your body water and out of all the things in my opinon I have found that measuring your body fat is actually the most accurate way to monitor your body. I have gone by the bmi calculations and even those aren't that accurate because they always say I'm under weight which is wrong because I'm on a normal weight and when i do the body fat calculations it is always accurate to what it should be. To test your body fat there is a few different ways but the two most used ones are with callipers which is hard because you have to keep going in to have it done and then the scale that I have. So now I'm going according to my fat percentage and my body water percentage.

If you have one of these cool scales you should know that men should have between 15 - 18 percent body fat and a women between 20-25 percent and for body water men should have 55 percent and women 51 percent. Right now my body fat is slightly high but still in the range it should be in so now instead of working on weight loss I'll be working on fat loss.

Oh just before you go out to buy one of these scales I just want to add that if you do have a pacemaker or any other implanted device you shouldn't use this scale at all. The reason for this is because in order for it to measure your body fat and water it sends an electric current through your body and does its calculations depending on the speed the currents pass through your body

Cravings!!!

Did you know that when you are craving something it means your body is lacking something on the inside?? Ok I must agree that sometimes its just plain boredom and getting cold now that it is winter but usually it does mean your body needs something.

So here is a list of things and what healthy option you can have instead of the unhealthy option.

If you crave:          What your body needs:          Healthy Option:

Sweets                      Chronium                          Broccoli,grapes,cheese,chicken,beef
                                 Carbon                             eggs,liver,fish,dairy,nuts,cranberries,turkey,
                                 Phosphorus                       cabbage,sweet potato and spinach


Bread                        Nitrogen                           Anything high in protein so fish,meat, nuts 
                                                                          and beans

Fatty snacks              Calcium                            Cheese,mustard,broccoli and sesame
like chips 

Coffee                        Phosphorus                      Chicken,beef,liver,fish,eggs,dairy,nuts,
                                   Sulphur                            legumes,red peppers,onions,garlic,meat,
                                   Salt                                  veggies,salt,apple cider vinegar,seaweed.
                                   Iron


Alcohol                        Protein                             Meat,seafood,nuts,granola,oatmeal,
                                    Avenin                             mustard,broccoli,cheese,sesame,kale,
                                    Calcium                           raw cabbage juice,black olives,
                                    Glutamin                          potato peel broth,seaweed,bitter greens
                                    Potassium


Carbonated Drinks       Calcium                            Mustard,turnip greens,broccoli,kale,
                                                                             legumes,cheese,sesame


Salty foods                   Chloride                            Fish,unrefined sea salt and goats milk


Tobacco                        Silicon                              Nuts,seeds,orange,green and red fruits
                                      Tyrosine                           and veg

Home Remedies for Mosquito bites

Summer is something like 2 months away!!! Yipppeeee! Only down side is that mosquito's come out to play and if you are unlucky like me you get eaten away by them so I found a few home remedies to relieve the itch of the bites. I haven't tried them yet but i hope it works.

• Lemon Juice
• Baking Soda paste
• Banana peel
• Apple cider vinegar
• Lavender and tea tree oil
• Asprin

Hope they work :)

Egg Plant

I found this nice nutrition page on facebook that adds these cool information pictures with just about everything you would like to know about fruits and veg so I'll be sharing them with you each time they pop up :)

Interesting Side effects of soda