Blackberries are healthy because they are full of antocyanins, they prevents cardiovascular diseases and at the same time boost your immune system. Antocyanins are rich in digestive-friendly food fiber - especially the type of pectin that is said to be able to lower your LDL cholestrol level thus taking care of your heart.

Tip: Eat them as they are. The more carfully you treat them the more goodness you get from them.

Energy per 100 grams: 42 kcal
Protein: 1.4 grams
Fat: 1 gram
Carbohydrate: 9 grams.

Recipe of the Day:

Blackberry Smoothie

Ingredients:

1/2 cup blackberries
1/2 cup low-fat yoghurt
1/2 cup ice cubes
1/2 banana medium size
1 tbsp honey

Directions:

Blend the ice cubes with the banana and yoghurt until smooth.

Add the blackberries next and blend on “low” for 30 seconds before adding the honey.

WARNING: Only use a blender that can handle ice cubes - if not you’ll spoil your blender.

Exercise of the Day:

Trims Your Waist

Lie on the floor, flat on your back, arms spread out either side, palms facing downwards; legs straight, toes pointing away from you.

Raise your right leg as high as you can without bending your knee. Reach your right foot over to your left side until it touches the floor. Return your leg to the vertical position and then lower to the floor.

Repeat the exercise with your left leg, raising and then reaching over to your right side.

Repeat the exercise with each leg until it becomes strenuous.

Build up to 10 repetitions with each leg.

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Cantaloupe is healthy because it is both low in calories and full of vitamin-C and beta carotene, both of which aid your circulation. You also get a good deal of folat, which is important for the the body’s production of blood and for healthy cell division.

Tips: Scientiests say that the cantalope is extra healthy due the high content of super oxid dismutase (SOD) which is a very powerful antioxidant, that among other things, prevents wrinkles.

Energy per 100 grams: 39 kcal
Protein: 0.5 grams
Fat: 0.1 grams
Carbohydrate: 9.2 grams

Today’s Recipe:

Arugula and Melon Salad

Ingredients:

1 bunch arugula (rocket)
1 ripe cantaloupe
1 avocado
2 – 3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 – 2 T pinot grigio vinegar
a pinch of rose petal sugar
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Use a scoop to make melon balls out of the cantaloupe. Add a pinch of rose petal sugar to cover and set aside for about 15 minutes.

Plate arugula (rocket), slice avocado and combine the oil and vinegar.

Add melon to the arugula (rocket) in a decorative manner. Place the avocado all around and drizzle the dressing over the top. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Exercise of the Day:

Upper Chest Clinch:

As you are walking along, anywhere, simply tighten your pectoral (upper chest) muscles and hold them tight for twenty paces. Rest for ten paces then repeat.

Build up, over a period of a month or so, to doing this exercise for 100 paces.

[Credit: Photo shot by Meliha Gojak]

Avocado Oil is healthy because is contains an optimal combination of fatty acids combined with the good HDL-cholesterol and the bad LDL-cholesterol. When combined in the blood stream this combination serves to improve your circulation.

The oil is also rich on vitamin-E, which is good for your immune system.

Tip: The oil is warm and stable and can be heated to a high level before it smokes. This makes it excellent for frying fish and other seafoods.

Energy per 100 grams: 881 kcal
Protein: 0 grams
Fat: 100 grams
Carbohydrate: 0 grams

Today’s Recipe is a beauty recipe by Ole Henriksen that is beneficial for both men and women.

Cleansing Oil

15 drops essential lavender oil
15 drops essential eucalytus oil
½ oz avocado oil

Mix the ingredients in a small bottle and store in the refrigerator.

Add a little to your face on a damp skin after you have cleansed the face.

Then add a night cream.

Exercise of the Day:
Tones the calf muscles. As you walk along bounce up on your toes at the end of each stride. It is more beneficial to do this when walking up hill. Do at least one hundred paces.

[Photo is taken by me, which is the reason the label reads "olie" and not oil]

Pine Nuts are healthy because they are rich in heart-friendly fatty acids, that keep your circulation healthy. The seeds are full of protein, which makes you feel full, liquid regulating potassium and iron, which helps your body produce red blood cells. You also get plenty of immune defense strengthening vitamin-E.

Tips: Use the nuts as a healthy topping on your salads.
The seeds get rancid easily, so only buy small amounts.

Energy per 100 grams: 600 kcal
Protein: 24 grams
Fat: 50.7 grams
Carbohydrate: 14.2 grams

Today’s Recipe

Serves 4 people

Pasta and Good Sauce

Ingredients:

* 1 can of tomato sauce (or your homemade)

* 1 clove of garlic, chopped

* 1 green/yellow pepper

* some watercress

* 2 cups of ground pork or chicken

* some toasted pine nuts

* a bunch of basil

* some olive oil

* salt, pepper

Directions:

1. Fry the garlic in oil until fragrant.

2. Add pork/chicken, salt and pepper.

3. When the meat is fully cooked, add tomato sauce and Basil.

4. Cover and cook for 3-5 minutes.

5. Add pepper and watercress. Allow to cook for another 3 minutes.

6. Serve the sauce on top of whole grain pasta and sprinkle pine nuts on top.

On a side note: Pine nuts are know for their aphrodisiac properties.

Exercise of the Day:

Today we’ll start on walking exercises. You have already learned many of these exercises, but today you are going to learn to do them whilst walking along. The advantage of doing the exercises whilst walking is that you make your heart and lungs work harder.

Stomach clinch:

As you are walking along, anywhere, simply tighten your stomach muscles and hold them tight for twenty paces. Rest for ten paces then repeat.

Build up, over a period of a month or so, to doing this exercise for 100 paces.

I’ve been scared stiff of heights ever since I can remember. Standing on a chair gets the whole room spinning around like a circus carousel.

There are times when this can be embarrassing. Last year we were in the fabulous city of Barcelona. Our daughter, who was living there at the time, took us to the Gaudi Gardens.

We wound our way up the pathway to the very top of the hill, marvelling at the creativity of this beautiful and unusual spectacle.

Right at the pinnacle of the gardens there is a stone mound about 15 feet high. Steps lead up to the top that is about 10 feet across. From this vantage point you get fabulous views across the whole city.

Encouraged by my daughter I mounted the stone steps that wind around the mound. With each upward step I became more nervous and agitated. There was a sheer drop to the ground below. There were no railings or safety barriers!

By the time I got to the top I was feeling physically sick. The whole world was spinning. I could hardly see the city spread out below. One thought filled my mind – “get me out of here!”

My wife and daughter sat on the edge of the mound, dangling their feet dangerously over the sheer drop. I hastened to the safety of terra firma. They looked down and jeered at me, shouting out that it was, “safe as houses”.

It’s easy for those who are not afflicted with vertigo to jeer at others. They don’t think about the hurt they are causing.

The Search for a Cure

I made up my mind that I didn’t want to suffer any more. The feeling that I was a coward was unbearable. I must find a solution.

The upshot of my quest was that I eventually got to see an ear specialist who told me that I have Subjective Vertigo, a problem with the inner ear balance mechanisms. He offered three courses of action: drugs, surgery or Vestibular Rehabilitation.

Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy is not as bad as it sounds, it simply involves doing a series of exercises a couple of times a day. These range from eye movement exercises to standing on one foot with your eyes closed.

However, the part of this journey of exploration that grabbed my attention was the role that the brain played in making the necessary readjustments between what my eyes were seeing and the interpretation that my brain was putting on the information coming in through my eyes.

I started to ask myself a whole lot of questions about how my brain worked. For instance, how does it interpret the difference between what I see and what I visualise in my mind’s eye?

Can the Similar Techniques Work For Weight Loss?

This line of thinking led me to wonder if I could achieve my weight loss target by visualising my body slim and well toned? The thought really excited me.

I started to experiment with visualisation. As I mastered different techniques it made the whole business of losing weight much easier.

As soon as I had a mental image of the way I wanted my body to look other parts of my system adapted to what I was trying to do. I found I was drawn quite naturally to want certain types of food and to reject other, less healthy foods.

The same thing happened with exercise. I found that I wanted to exercise more. I started, quite spontaneously, to do exercises that toned up my muscles.

The whole effort to lose weight began to happen quite easily and spontaneously.

If This Works for Weight Loss Can It Work For Other Things?

That’s when I began to experiment with attracting other things into my life using the power of visualisation. I became an avid student of The Law of Attraction and learned how to make miracles happen in my life.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I find books on dieting somewhat boring. So I decided to write the story of my journey to a slimmer body and greater happiness and prosperity as a romantic novel.

You may be pleased to hear that I am not the hero of my novel, but the techniques that the main characters use to lose weight, attract the partners of their dreams, become wealthy and successful, are the actual techniques I have discovered to be highly effective.

I’ve called the book All I Ask, because it is about how people can get all the things they ask for. You can read Chapter 1 online now simply by clicking this link to All I Ask.