Kareen Karol

A place to share Health, Fashion, Family and Life tips.

healthy

Drinks With Out Sugar that I LOVE

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lemon lime kareenkarol.com sugar free no-sugar drinks orange lemonade grapefruit

I’m so excited to share this with you.

I am always on the lookout for drinks that can add flavour but without all of that sugar and artificial sweeteners.

 

When I do find something I absolutely must share with you.  I am excited to tell you about my latest find. Here is a Facebook live telling you all about it.

And a link so you can get some for you, if you love it like I do. There are many different flavours. And so many ways to use it, take it in your purse, keep extra in your pocket… take it with you everywhere.

 

True Lemon 200ct Variety Pack Bag (50 ea. True Lemon, Lime, Orange and Grapefruit)

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. Remember they are not sweet, they taste like the real fruit.

Enjoy

Kareen

6 Top Tips to Fight off Colds and the Flu

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the best defence against colds and the flu kareenkarol.com colds flu vitamin d

Do you dread back to school, back to work and back to day care days simply because of what germs your will kids pick up and share with you. With out even realizing it you are dealing with illness in the house that can spread to everyone.

 

The Best Defense is a Healthy Immune system

The best solution to combat these germs are a healthy Immune system and Healthy Gut.  This is something that I have been working on with my  children for the past few years.  At this stage in their lives they often choose poor quality foods, but I know that what they are taught in their youth they will go back to when they are grown. Also for many of us we may not think about our own heath but when we have children we start seriously thinking about their health. Therefor our health becomes more important when we have children and want to keep them and us healthy.

My 6 top Flu and Cold fighting Tips are

  1. Drink Good Quality Water. – We serve mainly water in our house.  Right now we use well water and have a 10 step  reverse osmosis system with the minerals added back in . Water is VERY important to our health.
  2. Food we can grow – Eating food that we can grow.  Whether you grow it yourself or buy it fresh food is the best.
  3. Multivitamin – A multivitamin that has a potency guarantee and is bioavailable. This is what I use with my children Usanimals   (To  find out more click on shop.)
  4. Less Precessed food- Understanding the difference between real food that is grown in the ground, and packaged food that  is made in a factory.
  5. Eat Less Sugar – The less processed sugar the better it is for you body. Sugar in fruit is different then sugar that is in something that is man made. Our bodies know what to do with the sugar that is in a fruit with out all of the chemicals to process.
  6. Lots of Vitamin D –  either through the Sun or by taking a Good quality (do research) vitamin d .  I use this Vitamin D for myself and my children.  (click on Shop to see more)

kareenkarol.com fruit healthy fresh vitamins

We live in a world that allows us to have any information that we want available right at our finger tips,  Google is our friend.  Do research and choose what are the best solutions for you and your family.

Our children can understand from a very young age that food which is grown naturally is better for their health and makes good bacteria in their guts which in turn makes their immune system stronger and their brains to be able to function clearer.  If children can understand the difference between healthy and non healthy foods, then it is our job as the providers of the food to eat and serve healthy food to our children.

Do your best each and everyday and you will be a success in all areas of your life.

Blessings Kareen

 

 

 

The 5 Best ways to get your Kids to Eat Healthy!

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5 Best Ways to Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy

 

The 5 BEST ways to Get kids to eat great and healthy food? Is this something that is achievable?  As my children grow and they get more and more busy with after school activities, and I also have different things on, eating together can become a challenge.  SO here 5 of our best solutions

By exposing the kids to all different kids of veggies, has made a difference over the years, in what they like to eat.

They are always expected to eat everything in front of them but we as the adults do not make eating a huge deal in our house.  Eat when the food is there or don’t eat :).

These are some of the Best things that we do in our house and the kids really enjoy it.
1. Have them help you with the menu.
We have decided in our house that each of the 4 children will pick one night of the week to make the supper meal.  They will choose the menu and I will make sure the ingredients are in the house. The menu being a meal that includes more than one item.  We decided to do this yesterday and already one made his meal of Noodles and Sauce and a Caesar Salad, another on wants to make burgers from scratch.  The ideas are endless.

Josiah’s First Meal of Noodles and Salad

2. Have them help you prepare the food.

Each of the kids can help out with the shopping list and the shopping.  By washing and prepping all of the food right after the grocery shopping is done, it is easy for them to make their meals. My younger 2 are 7 and 5 so I will be helping them with there meal however the  older 2 that are 13 and 14 will make the food on their own.  The agreement is that they make the food, set the table and help/clean up afterward.

3. Have them rate the meal (out of 5) during the meal and then reschedule the same meal on the calendar at a later date.

At the meal every one has a chance to rate the meal and if it  is a likeable one we put the meal back on the calendar so the meal planning becomes easier and easier. You will find that your meal planning will become easier and easier as the weeks go by and the great meals get scheduled back onto the calendar.
4. Research where the food comes from.

All the meat, veggies and fruit have to come from some where.  Get each child to write down some of there favourite fruits and veggies and then use google to find out how and where these are grown.  Some of the food we use we grow right at our house and most of our beef is from the farm. Take them to a local Farmer’s market as part of learning about food.
5. Start growing plants at your house indoors so they can see where the food comes from.

Its easy to grow some of your own food, with seeds, a little water and fertilizer. Depending where you live, this is the time of year to start some of those seeds and you will be able to plant outside in the ground or in pots in a couple of months. You can even buy some kits and some mini greenhouses to get things growing. Here is a link on how to grow seeds from home.

 

Encourage your kids to get involved with the food and they will become more interested in the good foods that you are encouraging them to eat.

 

Kareen Karol

 

Pineapple Salsa Salad

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Pineapple Salsa Salad

Easy and Quick

One of my family’s favorite Salad’s. I have made it so many times and always gets eaten up real quick. Great of a BBQ, great fresh and fun addition to any meal.

Ingredients

1 fresh Pineapple , chopped into bit sized pieces

1 tomato, diced, garden tomatos are the best

1 small white sweet onion, chopped and diced, if you just have regular onion, don’t use the whole onion

1 red pepper, diced

1 avocado, diced

salt and pepper

drizzle of olive oil

sprinkle of Cayenne

Sprinkle of champagne vinegar

Directions:

Prep all the ingredients. Add to a large mixing bowl. Toss gently to blend. Add oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving dish or plate. ENJOY!

 

 

 

 

 

Even if you are too busy! 3 Easy steps to Exercise

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Easy steps to Exercise!

By Kareen Karol

Have you been hearing all you life about how important it is to drink water and get exercise daily. How about you have to run for 12 minutes to get you heart rate high enough to make a difference.,

Even when I think about it now it makes me feel like I am not doing enough.

SO what can I do about this idea of exercise everyday, how can I make it simpler and easier?

I learned a few years ago to take advantage of each moment in the day and use what I am doing as a reason to get some exercise in.

1. Walk with a Purpose -For instance after watching my then toddler walk, with his cute little butt, I noticed that when he walks he fully tightens his leg and butt each time he steps, I don’t do that, my leg and butt have become lazy over the years and just don’t get the workout.  I purposefully walk and squeeze my butt now, if that will help to tone my butt in day to day walking, I will do it!

2. Body Resistant Exercise – I started was to do 100 push-ups a day.  I know that totally sounds like a failure statement (who really does that?) but I started looking for excuses to do push-ups.  I started by doing 10 at a time, 10 times a day and” Yes” I did start from my knees, and then 1 full and 9 from the knees, it was hard work.  When was  a good time  to do push-ups? Any and all the time.  When I was in the kitchen and waiting for the water to boil I would do 10, if I got the slightest bit cold, I would do 10. What I didn’t know when I started was that a simple push-up works more than your arms.  My core got stronger just by doing push-ups.  This was my main workout for a couple of years, having little babies, this was the time that I had available to put into a workout.

3. Add in exercise all the time -At other times you will see me pumping gas and taking those few moments to do some calf raises as well doing these at the kitchen counter. Taking the stairs when I can is also a great way to fit things in. As well walking a few times a week, but honestly the push-ups get done more often then the walking.

Eating well, supplementing well and exercising well for me needs to be easy, simple and something I can get done during the day as I am experiencing life and the lives of my children.  Are you into the gym for hours or are you wanting to get things done during the day with all the others things that you have to do.  Easy, Simple and implemented into your day….  perfect to me!

Find those easy and simple steps that work for you too.

See you there.

KareenKarol

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Fitness On The Fly.

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I arrived home yesterday from a quick weekend trip. Where I live there are very few direct flights anywhere, therefore there is a lot of time spent in airports just waiting and waiting!

How can that time be made into a time of increased fitness and good health while you are surrounded by unhappy travelers and poor food choices.

What kind of food’s are great to toss into your carry on bag? Do you make sure you have something with you that you can grab if a healthy choice is not an option? When I travel I have a few things that I do not leave home without.

  1. A shaker bottle, I never leave home without it and Shakes. My bag has USANA Nutrimeal shakes for a complete meal replacement if I need it, get water from the flight attendant and shake it up.  If you have other kinds of shakes that you use that’s great too, toss them into your carry on bag before heading to the airport.
  2. Bars, I make sure there is a good stash of bars in my bag. There are all types of bars to choose from, grab something healthy, low in sugar, and good for you.  USANA’s Choc Chip snack bar is my favorite. By having something in your bag that is healthy and quick you will be able to keep yourself satisfied and able to resist the poor choices available at most places in the airport.
  3. Get up during your flight! If your flight is more than 1 hour be sure to get up to at least walk to the bathroom to stretch your legs and let your blood flow.
  4. SMILE – alot! Smiling always helps my mood.  Sometimes is seems no one else is smiling in the airport, make a game out of it and see how many smiles you can get back.
  5. Go for a walk in the terminal, this may sound crazy but its a great time to put on a few miles .  Walk on the electronic walkways, you can walk really fast and it is fun!
  6. Airports seem to be getting on board with healthier options as well. Yesterday in the airport I noticed some new healthier stores for snacks and food. I was even able to find some Kombucha to drink and a free treadmill that was available with charging stations for you electronics.  You  can charge and walk at the same time!

Don’t allow travelling to get you off track when it comes to your health and active lifestyle. Embrace the adventure of finding ways to plan ahead, eat healthy and work out while spending those hours in the airport.

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Blessings, Kareen Karol