Coffee - you think you need it.....

Because they tell you you need it to give you that wake up call in the morning... but really, aren't are kids already screaming in the morning your real wake up call? So why do you then need a second one, or a third, or fourth.. okay you get where I'm going with this.
I've been off caffeine now for 3 years and have never looked back. How did it do it? Well, I read and read and read and the thing that clinched it for me was this: Caffeine makes you more stressed and Tired!!!! And here are the facts:

A study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry observed 1500 psychology students divided into 4 categories:
abstainers, low consumers (one cup a day), moderate ( 1 - 5 cups a day) and high (5 or more cups a day). On psychological testing, the moderate and hight consumers had higher levels of anxiety and depression and had a higher incidence of stress-related medical problems! And if that's not a enough.....Coffee is also bad for your heart. Just one morning cup of coffee dramatically hardens your arteries and is also now well known to increase homocysteine levels, one of the best predictors of heart attacks and strokes. If you want more proof that caffeine is bad for you, I have many more studies to share with you. And if you're thinking of going decaf, well don't - even more chemicals are used in manufacturing decaf coffee.

So, how do you get your energy throughout the day? Well, here's how I get mine and I tell you - I have more energy now than I've ever had before. I'm slightly hyper now!!!!

there are several things that I do, but here are 2 that really help:

Breakfast and Greens....
But not any old kind of breakfast, one that gives you energy!

Here's an example of a breakfast that I do: Wake up and have a mug of hot water and freshly squeezed lemons (brilliant for you!) then I put 3 tablespoons of porridge oats (or as they say in the States, good old Quaker Oats oatmeal) and pour boiling water over it to soften the flakes. Then, I add a handful of blueberries, 1/2 of a shredded apple, a tsp of desiccated coconut and a tablespoon of ground flaxseed. You can even sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on it too! And believe it or not, my kids love this too!

For lunch and dinner, I always add the following to whatever I'm eating. Just throw all this into your Magimix: 1/4 pack of Baby spinach, 1/4 pack of Watercress, good handful of fresh Basil and good handful of flat leaf parsley. Juice of 1/2 a lemon and a good tablespoon of Hemp Seed Oil or as it's sometimes called, Omega-3 oil. Whizz it all together until it is almost like a rough puree and add to anything and everything! I just had eggplant mousakka for lunch (without any dairy of course!) and just mixed that in with it... i've even been really bad and put it in my kids pasta with red sauce and they haven't noticed.... This way the spinach is never over cooked so doesn't loose it's antioxidants and all the good stuff.