Welcome

My name is Lisa Tsakos, Registered Holistic Nutritional Consultant, corporate speaker and author. This blog provides professional advice from a nutrition and weight loss expert (me!) about corporate and family health. Here you'll find recipes and articles that address work-related challenges like eating on-the-go and maximizing your productivity with the right foods. You'll also find out about how you can help your children develop strong immune systems and healthy bodies. As a nutrition instructor, I often found myself thinking, "When I have kids, this is how I will feed them." With two toddlers, I have the opportunity to practice what I have been preaching and to try out my theories. So far, they seem to be working! Follow me on my journey and also on Twitter @NuVitalityHW.

18 Jan 2014

Our 21-day juicing challenge is on!

It's week one of our 21-day juicing challenge and so far so good (though we already missed a day). My mom-in-law invited us to join the Challenge with her and the thousands of juicers participating in the Challenge put on by All About Juicing.

By the way, by "us" I mean the whole family: hot hubby Jason, 3 year old Olivia and 1 year old Ben. We've been battling the most stubborn flu and are determined to build up our immunity, so we're in this together.

I'm finding so many amazing juicing recipes on All About Juicing's Facebook page, but since it's just week 1, we've been juicing the produce (all organic) that's already in our refrigerator and will get more experimental next week.
 
So far, these are the recipes we have tried. I named them based on the reactions from the team (aka my fam): 

1st Recipe: Can you say fresh?
4 carrots (washed & peeled)
2 kiwi (peeled)
1 cup kale
1 pear (cored)
1 apple (cored)

This was our kick-off juice and it was a huge success! My husband guessed all the ingredients except for kiwi - which really made this recipe extra-delicious. The kale blended in very well, too. I couldn't taste it but it felt really good to know it was in there. 

2nd Recipe: Crazy for cucumber?
4 carrots (washed & peeled)
2 cucumbers
2 pears (cored)

This juice was ok, but not as taste as the first recipe. The cucumbers overwhelmed all the other flavours. Next time, I'll include only 1 cuke. 

3rd Recipe: You're my zing
3 stalks celery (washed)
1/2 large cucumber
3 apples (cored)
1/4 lemon (rind & all)
1/2 cup parsley

I just had to add parsley to this drink - not sure why - and it was awesome! The kids loved it and even asked for seconds! It was the first time I had ever tossed a whole chunk of lemon - rind and all - into the juicer and was caught off guard when it bounced right back out! It added a really nice zing to the juice and I can hardly wait to try it in different recipes.

4th Recipe: Orange-You-Glad it's Friday?
Today we experimented with one of my favourite sources of beta carotene (which converts to vitamin A in the body), cantaloupe!
1/2 cantaloupe (minus the rind)
1 large orange (peeled)
2 carrots (washed & peeled)

After a recent bout with the flu, I'm counting on this juice to help heal my respiratory system.



5th Recipe: Tropically Sweet Saturday
3 kiwi (peeled)
1/2 cantaloupe (minus the rind)
1 cup strawberries (stem and all)

We all voted on a fruity juice for a Saturday morning. You can probably guess that the kids loved this one the most! 

It's been such a fun week and we all look forward to making our juice every morning. For week two, we'll introduce some beets and more greens, and we'll spice things up with some fresh herbs. 

Have a great weekend!

-Lisa


8 Jan 2014

Unjunk Your Diet in 2014

Unjunk Your Junk Food on The Better Show

Wow, it's hard to believe that the book I co-authored, Unjunk Your Junk Food, came out two whole years ago! 

To celebrate the two year anniversary, I invite you to watch our interview on 'The Better Show'. It was recorded when Andrea Donsky and I went to New York City. I was 7 months pregnant (can you tell?). Of course, I wasn't thrilled to be seen on nationally syndicated TV when I didn't feel or look like myself, but we had a blast anyway!  

I'm thrilled to report that several products listed on our "Bad Choice" pages have removed or replaced some of the unsavory ingredients that we disapproved of. Still, it's important to read every single ingredient on the package before you buy. 

Cheers to eating clean in 2014!