By Stephanie Martin 

Spring is upon us and its time to take the first few steps towards your optimum health. Think bucket loads of energy, good quality sleep, glowing skin and absolute joy radiating from every cell in your body! Sound too good to be true? Not so! The wonderful news is that great health is achievable for everyone, all we need to do is start by making small healthy changes to our lifestyle and rather than deprive ourselves, replace our bad habits with fun, exciting and health promoting ones!

Ok, so how do we do this? Well for the next month my challenge to you is to include one ‘Green’ activity or change to your lifestyle each week; maybe try one each day if you feel brave!

Green Challenge #1 Eat a big green salad before one of your main meals today.
Salads equal maximum nutrition with minimum kilojoules! They do not need to be boring either. Try adding as many different green ingredients as possible. Think, baby spinach, rocket, watercress, shredded cabbage and dark leafy lettuce, with some green pepper, cucumber, celery, and asparagus, topped with herbs like coriander, basil or parsley and don’t forget moderate amounts of healthy fats like avocado, olives, raw pumpkin seeds. You’ll be so full of essential nutrients you probably won’t even be able to finish, let alone eat your main meal!

Green Challenge #2 Drink a cup or two of Green Tea.
Green tea has a strong antioxidant, antiviral and antibacterial effect on the body, it helps prevent cancer, lower cholesterol levels, burn fat, regulate blood sugar and insulin levels and even has anti-aging effects on our DNA. It doesn’t have to taste bad either; sweeten with some stevia, xylitol or a little bit of raw honey or try add some organic peach, mango or mint tea bags to take away the bitter taste. 

Green Challenge #3 Get outside!
Go for a walk, swim, hike or cycle outside, play on the beach, do some gardening or visit the botanical gardens. Basically rediscover the joys of exercise, fill those lungs with fresh air and allow some sunshine to touch your skin! 

Green Challenge #4 Drink one glass of green juice before breakfast.
This may be the hardest challenge of them all but probably the most beneficial! Try some freshly juiced vegetables with a shot of wheatgrass, barley grass or spirulina, or if you don’t own a juicer, mix some ‘green’ powder  in a glass of water or organic apple juice to improve the taste. Green juices are excellent detoxifiers, alkalinisers and blood cleansers as well as sources of chlorophyll, essential vitamins and minerals, enzymes and other vital nutrients!

Green Challenge #5 Add herbal supplements.
1.  Ashwagandha – a powerful adaptagen that helps the body cope under extreme stress. It rejuvenates and energises the nervous system, is anti-inflammatory and anti-ageing and increases physical endurance
2.  Olive Leaf – fights all types of bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. Great for overcoming those lingering winter colds and flus!
3.  Milkthistle – supports and protects the liver from toxins and pollutants by preventing free radical damage as well as stimulating the production of new liver cells.

There’s never a better time to start than right now. Embrace a healthier lifestyle and experience the wonderful benefits of living well and living green!