All Entries Tagged With: "antioxidants"

Power Packed Salad: Quinoa Tabbouleh

We’ve got it. This A-MA-ZING salad is sooooooo good for you and tastes even better!! All the ingredients a Fit Girl needs to look spiffing: quinoa for the protein fix; parsley and pomegranate for a little antioxidant power; and tomatoes for glowing skin! You need this in your life, and your tastebuds will think you amazing!

Serves 6-8

Cook 2 cups of quinoa in 4 cups of water (should take about 20 minutes)
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped (1 bunch)
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
3 large tomatoes, or 10 cherry tomatoes chopped
the seeds of half a pomegranate
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Mix it all together and devour!!

A Fit Girl Apology to Jerry Hall

Jerry Hall recently said that she found the term ‘anti-ageing’ insulting, which sparked great chat amongst the team here at Fit Girl.

Jerry’s got a damn good point.  We shouldn’t be trying to NOT age, ageing is a part of life.  Yet, beauty counters are piled sky high with anti-ageing beauty potions that claim they will keep us wrinkle-free and riding on the coat tails of our youth.

I remember having a similar conversation with a friend on the anti-ageing movement and the effects it has on women the world over.  We discussed how at 50, we wanted to look 50, with wrinkles, to show that we had lived, not indeed pretending that the artificial absence of fine lines was as nature intended.

At Fit Girl, we want to advise you on the best way to take care of your health and well-being from the inside out.  How does that affect the anti-ageing movement?  Well it means that we are pro ageing, but anti premature-ageing.

Smoking leads to premature-ageing.  Over-exposure to the sun leads to premature-ageing.  Stress leads to premature-ageing.  Abusing your body with drugs leads to premature-ageing.  Excessive alcohol consumption leads to premature-ageing.  Lack of nutritious food in your diet leads to premature-ageing.  Sedentary living leads to premature-ageing.

So we have vowed not to use the term anti-ageing in our future articles as we only want to kick butt in the premature-ageing prevention war.  We want to make sure that you avoid unnecessary wrinkles, but won’t break down at the site of your first one.

Dare we repeat, a diet high in antioxidants, a lifestyle that incorporates exercise, fun, and down-time to unwind from the demands of modern living, and a healthy dose of daily laughter will keep a twinkle in your eye and show your youthful spirit.

If I look at my mother who is 60 and fabulous, and her older sisters, not yet 70, they all look amazing.  They have looked after their skin, they have eaten the right foods, and they exercise.  I’m still wowed when I look at them, and not an ounce of work done between them.  They rock!

So Jerry, apologies if we have used the term anti-ageing in the past.  We have given ourselves a slap on the wrist and have banished it from future articles.

You’ll go nuts for these metabolism boosters!

Instead of reaching for a naughty snack mid-morning or mid-afternoon when you’re peckish, reach for a handful of nuts instead.  Nuts are packed full of protein and good fats keeping your metabolism high and encouraging your body to eliminate bad fats.

But aren’t nuts fattening we hear you say!  Well sure, if you eat a jumbo pack of cashew nuts (so moreish no?) then yes your skinny jeans are gonna feel it, so we have hand picked the best of the bunch to make your choice easier.

Almonds – their skin contains flavanoids which help to protect against free-radical damage…perfect wrinkle-fighting-power!

Walnuts – these babies are packed with omega-3 fatty acids making your skin glow!

Pistachios – another great source of antioxidants, keep ‘em coming!!!!

We love green tea!

Put the coffee down and say bye bye to dehydrated skin and the shakes.  We’re all about sipping green tea here at Fit Girl as it’s full of polyphenols which are really powerful antioxidants.  The poly-wotsits whizz around your body eliminating free-radicals which we can get from pollution, smoking, and sun damage to name but a few.  Free-radicals age us and we all know what that leads to…premature wrinkles!!!!!

Drinking green tea is also known to be helpful for high cholesterol, impaired immune function and cardiovascular disease.

So for a swift wrinkle-fighting beverage make yours a green tea!