coffee – Jenna Jamieson, Author

Tea, spice, and everything nice!

By Jenna Jamieson | June 19, 2014 | Comments 0 Comment

Teas often come with an acquired taste over time, but give them a chance. If you don’t want tea every day, consider making it a routine once a week. While many people think of tea as a more wintery drink choice, you can enjoy hot tea in the winter and iced teas in the summer (and I don’t mean iced sweet tea)! There are tons of flavors and they can be great for your health (key word being CAN BE, see below)!

If you aren’t a quick breakfast eater in the morning, tea can be a great alternative and a much better choice than coffee (sorry coffee lovers)! Try to quench your thirst in the morning with a tea, preferably within the first few hours of waking up. It helps diminish heavier cravings and assists with waking you up each day. Enjoy tea before you eat breakfast or choose to drink it with your breakfast. Teas such as ginseng tea (increases focus and concentration), green tea (great replacement for coffee because it has caffeine, but not as high as coffee), chai tea (my favorite, just ask my boyfriend; high in antioxidants and spices), or black breakfast tea (alternative to coffee that has a rich flavor and is often enjoyed with milk or creamer, boosts brain activity, reduces anxiety). Other great morning drinks are warm water with lemon and water with aloe. Both are great for your immune system. Chamomile tea and peppermint tea are great relaxers that help calm nerves and allow you to destress in the evening hours. Chamomile tea is also great to help you go to sleep. If you have tried tea and you can’t seem to find a tea that suits you, consider a morning protein smoothie with fruit.

From tea to spice and everything nice! 🙂 Spice up your life with some great spices, non-spicy and spicy, both will get your metabolism and body going (in a great way)! Consider cinnamon, ginger, or cardamom to add flavor (non-spicy, rich decadence) or if you are like me and like some heat in your food, add mustard, horseradish, cayenne, chili flakes, jalapenos, etc. to add spicy flavor that will have your heart beating faster and your nose running! 😉 So no excuses for not using spice, there are mild to hot spices and something in between to satisfy everyone’s taste buds!

So, what’s the everything nice part? Studies have shown that drinking tea and adding spice actually improves a person’s mood, provides significant energy, and gives a person a more positive energy and outlook. That’s nice, right? Hey, I will take it, after all, some days, we need all the help we can get! So, drink some tea and add some spice, it might just change your perspective, mood, and your entire day!

~jj

Ditch “empty” calories!

By Jenna Jamieson | January 19, 2014 | Comments 2 comments

Do you ever look for shortcuts and quick ways to help maintain your weight? Looking to cut calories? A great way to help maintain your weight, increase your energy, and feel better about what you are putting in your mouth is by ditching the things that are not helping you improve your health, are adding lots of extra calories to your diet, and make you feel less energized. For example, consider eliminating or decreasing candy, soda, coffee, and alcohol consumption. While this may seem drastic, unrealistic, or even impossible you will thank me for it later (I promise you!). If you cannot completely decrease it because you don’t have the willpower and motivation to do so, the next best thing I tell people is to at least limit their consumption. For example, rather than allowing yourself to consume coffee all day, limit yourself to consuming it in the morning only from 7AM to 10AM for two weeks. Next, limit the number of cups you can drink between 7AM and 10AM, such as 3 cups (same size, same amount each time). Additionally, consider coffee 5 days of the week in the limited amount (3 cups between 7AM and 10AM) and then consider tea the other 2 days during the week. This helps you gradually decrease the amount you consume and can help you feel less irritable and or grouchy about the change.

Another great way to help make the transition of cutting out soda, coffee, candy, alcohol, fried foods, etc (whatever you want to cut out) is by replacing the bad habit (empty calories that you want to remove) with something more positive so that your habit has something to replace it with. For example, if you cut out soda, consider replacing it with flavored water. Take your plastic water bottle and fill it with water and buy flavor packets that you can throw in it to make it more appealing. If you drink coffee, replace it with hot tea such as hot green tea, hot black tea, hot camomile tea (all of which have GREAT health benefits)! If you eat an overabundance of candy, consider making a healthy snack that you can eat such as dark chocolate chips or dark chocolate M&Ms, almonds, and craisins (divide into portions and take a small portion such as a cup to work/school). For alcohol, consider consuming it once or twice a week in a limited amount (one cup of wine, one beer, one mixed drink) and consider virgin drinks the other times during the week (if you must).

I know cutting calories and cutting out soda, coffee, and alcohol can be a major struggle, but I speak from experience. A great choice that I made is to give up soda during Lent in 7th grade and I never drank it again. It was a great way to ease into the change and make the transition less painful. Not to mention, I am so THANKFUL that I did it for myself and for my body because soda is not something that helps improve your health or has health benefits for your body. If you have a way to decrease it for a short period such as choosing a season (spring, summer, fall, or winter months), it will help you feel more at ease about your decision. Remember, baby steps forward are still steps and mean you are making progress in the right direction! If I can do it, you can too!

Happy cleaning (your body and diet that is)!

~jj