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• Fall wellness tips
• Fall healthy tips

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Written by Lisa Jillanza

(Continued from Part I…)

Moisturize your skin. Harsh temperatures can make your skin dry. Also, you still should be wearing sunscreen. 

Buy in-season food. Beets, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, kale, pumpkin, broths, roasted squash, roots and sautéed dark leafy greens are all great choices. 

Stay active! It can be easy to just sit around all the time, but it’s important to get in some movement throughout the day. Raking leaves or shoveling snow counts. 

Wear layers and protect your body from the dropping temperature. Make sure you have gloves, a scarf, earmuffs, a winter coat, warm socks, and snow boots.

Do some “spring cleaning” in the fall. Clean out your closet, organize that back room, and rid yourself of things you don’t need.

Prepare your home for possible extreme weather conditions. Do you have a shovel and/or snow blower? Do your flashlights have batteries? Is your heat working okay? Being prepared now can cause less stress in the future should situations arise.

Get some books to read and shows to watch. Who doesn’t want to sit by the fire on chilly winter nights and read a good book or binge-watch some Netflix?

Be kind to yourself. The holidays can cause weight gain, the shorter days can cause low mood, and the flu season can cause sickness. Listen to your body and give it what it needs, and don’t beat yourself up! Try reframing negative thoughts into positive ones.

• Fall wellness tips
• Fall healthy tips

Details

Written by Lisa Jillanza

Transitioning from those long, summer nights to shorter, fall evenings can be quite stressful on your physical and mental health. 

To help ease the change, here we offer you these fall wellness tips. 

Start taking a Vitamin D supplement. We get most of our Vitamin D from the sun, so our intake decreases when the weather is colder since we spend most of our time inside during the fall/winter seasons. If you find you are not getting outside much, a Vitamin D supplement can boost your mood and immune system! 

Take some time to yourself. Autumn and winter are the Earth’s way of telling us to slow down. Start a journal or track your moods to get more in touch with how you are feeling.

Get your flu shot and yearly check-up. Self-explanatory! No one likes sniffling and aching and sneezing and coughing getting in the way of life.

Boost your immune system. You can do this by drinking plenty of water, washing your hands often to prevent sickness, and eating nutritious foods.

Get yourself ready for Daylight Savings Time. Go to bed earlier when you can, especially the week before the clocks change. Longer periods of darkness = longer periods of sleep!

Make some plans for the cold months. In the winter, we tend to hibernate if we don’t have things to keep us busy.

(Continued in Part II…)

• arthritis easing
• helping arthritis
• diet for arthritis

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Written by Lisa Jillanza

According to experts, there are more than 100 different types of arthritis. While there is no compelling evidence that one type of arthritis reacts differently to foods over another type, doctors do advise against eating certain foods to help alleviate some symptoms.

There is some evidence that an “anti-inflammatory” diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, may be helpful in reducing body-wide inflammation and joint pain in certain types of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis. These diets favor fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, and olive oil while restricting highly processed foods, red meat, and unhealthy sources of fat. 

Obesity can also lead to certain types of arthritis, so doctors suggest maintaining a healthy weight to avoid arthritis and other obesity-related ailments.

Here are some foods (and other things) to avoid if you have arthritis:

• Fried foods
• Processed foods
• Salty foods
• Alcohol
• Tobacco
• Spicy foods
• Red meat
• Tomatoes
• Gluten-containing foods
• Canned meat
• Mussels
• Certain vegetable oils
• Foods high in AGE’s

• candy crush challenge
• burn sweets
• burn chocolates

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Written by Lisa Jillanza

It’s time to Candy Crush! 

No, not that kind of game. The kind where you sneak a piece of candy from the Trick or Treat basket, but you crush those calories by doing one (or a few) of these great exercises! 

Snickers – 80 calories = 13 minutes of Pilates

Milky Way – 80 calories = 10 minutes of walking up stairs

Milk Duds – 40 calories = 5 minutes with an agility ladder

Peanut M&M’s – 90 calories = 11 minutes of running 5 MPH

Kit Kat – 70 calories = 13 minutes of gardening

Nestle Crunch – 60 calories = 12 minutes of Yoga

Sour Patch Kids – 105 calories = 10 minutes of kickboxing

Pay Day – 90 calories = 15 minutes of swimming

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup – 110 calories = 12 minutes of jumping rope

Butterfinger – 85 calories = 12 minutes on the elliptical

Snickers Peanut Butter – 130 calories = 15 minutes of burpees

Starbursts – 40 calories = 5 minutes of walking upstairs

Nerds – 50 calories = 11 minutes of sit ups

Skittles – 80 calories = 11 minutes on a stair master

Baby Ruth – 85 calories = 12 minutes of walking lunges

Twix – 80 calories = 10 minutes of moderate spinning

Atomic Fire Ball – 40 calories = 10 minutes of Zumba

Swedish Fish – 100 calories = 5 minutes of kettlebell swings

Hershey Chocolate Bar – 67 calories = 13 minutes of push-ups

Hershey Kiss – 22 calories = 5 minutes of jumping jacks

• benefits of pumpkin
• cook pumpkin
• nutritious pumpkins
• cooking pumpkins

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Written by Lisa Jillanza

• Many people do not know that pumpkins are made up of 90 percent water.
• Pumpkins also contain other great nutritional aspects including potassium and vitamin A.
• The bright orange color of pumpkins also tells us that they are a great source of the important antioxidant, beta carotene.

Recipe: Traditional Pumpkin Pie 

• 1 ¾ cups (one 15oz. can) unsweetened pumpkin puree
• ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pre-made crust

In a small heavy saucepan, stir the pumpkin, brown sugar, spices and salt together until mixed.  Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring constantly.  Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes or until thick and shiny.  Scrape the mixture into a mixer or food processor for 1 minute. With the motor on, add the milk and cream, mixing until incorporated completely.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing just to incorporate, about 5 seconds after each egg.  When you add the last egg, also add the vanilla. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell.  Bake the pie for 50 - 60 minutes at 375 degrees. 

Recipe: Pumpkin Soup 

• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 4 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 cup chopped onion
• ½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 clove garlic minced
• ½ cup heavy whipping cream
• 5 whole black peppercorns 

Heat stock, salt, pumpkin, onion, thyme, garlic, and peppercorns.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.  Puree the soup in small batches (1 cup at a time) using a food processor or blender.  Return to pan and bring to boil again.  Reduce heat to low, and simmer for another 30 minutes, uncovered.  Stir in heavy cream.  Pour into soup bowls and garnish with fresh parsley.