Love to munch and crunch? This recipe for sweet-with-heat rosemary pecans is destined for joy in your mouth! As we journey through the midlife phase, our bodies often crave nourishing, flavourful snacks that not only tantalize our taste buds but also provide essential midlife nutrition. Enter the sweet-with-heat rosemary pecans – a delightful treat that promises to satisfy those cravings and elevate your snack game to a new level!   Nutrient Powerhouse: Pecans Pecans, the star of this recipe, are not only delicious but also pack a nutritional punch! Rich in thiamine, zinc, magnesium, iron ..read more

Lifestyle medicine has emerged as a beacon of hope for people who are seeking a holistic, lifestyle-based approach to health and well-being, chronic disease prevention and management. As midlifers, the focus on preventing and managing chronic diseases becomes paramount, making lifestyle medicine a pivotal compass for our journey.   According to the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, lifestyle medicine involves the use of evidence-based therapeutic lifestyle approaches as a primary modality to prevent, treat lifestyle-related chronic disease such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, st ..read more

I don’t want to write another list of holiday living tips for managing the season. The internet is full of these kinds of lists! And while many of the ideas can be helpful, sometimes they leave me feeling a bit lost about which random list of tips will actually help me. Can you relate?   Without context, holiday living tips can feel like a prescriptive list of rules of what we “should” and “shouldn’t” do. This can result in militance, with us rigidly following every tip, while stripping us of our agency to impact our lives.   Holiday living tips lists can also result in defiance, wit ..read more

Alcohol and social settings is the elephant in the room. How do you say no when you want to but don’t know how to escape the social pressure to partake? Image source: Pixabay Bridgesward   This past month, I noticed a trend that several of my clients engaged in. “Dry November” in preparation for the impending holiday season. Given that alcohol is used by 75% of people living in Canada, going “dry” in a season of plenty can make you feel like a lone wolf.   Alcohol and social settings I have written about the impact of alcohol on our health and some of the challenges I see (and ..read more

This Roasted Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad is a delicious grainy salad, perfect for your meal-prep routine for lunches or dinners. You can meal prep this salad in between loads of laundry or other household tasks. The texture of the roasted sweet potatoes gives the salad a more creamy, soft, pleasant mouthfeel than typical quinoa salads, which can feel gritty. Adding the frozen cranberries adds a pop of tartness. The dressing is simple and rounds out the flavour profile of this grainy salad. Quinoa is a grain that contributes a powerhouse of nutrition to our diets, including protein, fiber carboh ..read more

Sleep! Are you getting enough? Sleep is the ultimate rest and rejuvenation time we each have the chance to experience every day – but most people don’t get enough, either quantity or quality. For many, falling or staying asleep is difficult.     Many of us short-change our sleep because we need the early morning or late night hours for uninterrupted work, for time to connect with our partner, or for some “me-time”.    Culturally, sleep is thought to be a waste of time. Does “You can sleep when you are dead” sound familiar? Many proudly declare their ability to function ..read more

Are you one of the thousands of midlife people who uses non-sugar sweeteners in your diet? If you are a diet pop drinker, a protein-bar eater or a sugar-free crystals drinker, you might be very curious about a new report. A new report and guideline from the World Health Organization (WHO) on non-sugar sweeteners recommend against the use of non-sugar sweeteners to manage body weight or to reduce the risk of “non-communicable diseases”.   This blog posts describes: what are non-sugar sweeteners the results of the WHO systematic review and meta-analysis interpretation of the results tips ..read more

Canada’s new low-risk drinking guidelines for alcohol post many questions: Is it okay if I share a bottle of wine with my partner? What is my relationship with alcohol? Should I be motivated to reduce my alcohol intake? How will the role of alcohol in our culture change? What non-alcoholic drink can I order that doesn’t make me feel socially awkward for ordering it over a cocktail? Are you one of the thousands of Canadians who are rethinking your habits with alcohol after hearing about the new Canadian Low-risk drinking guidelines? Released in January of this year from the Canadian Center o ..read more

Need new mocktail ideas? This post outlines three non-alcoholic drink recipes to enjoy. Pumpkin Pie Spicer 1 cup vanilla yogurt 1 cup canned pure pumpkin (not pie filling) 1 banana 1 cup apple juice 1 cup orange juice 1 tsp cinnamon ½ tsp allspice maple syrup to serve (optional) Blend the first seven ingredients together.  Top each drink with a drizzle of maple syrup, if using.  Serve with cinnamon sticks. Each drink serves 4-6 people.  Sip slowly and mindfully. Enjoy! Shown in the image above on the left. Watermelon Mint Refresher 2 ½ cups red-fleshed watermelon (seeded ..read more

Need tasty inspiration for a weeknight meal? This Slow Cooked Chicken Cacciatore is sure to satisfy hungry tummies! Image credit: Canva This weeknight meal uses chicken drumsticks and chicken thighs, both on the bone. The benefits of using a bone-in chicken is that you also create additional chicken flavour, just like you do when making a chicken stock, and gain access to the yummy chicken marrow. Bone-in chicken is also a fraction of the cost of boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts. Use what you prefer. This weeknight meal also creates a soffritto, a mixture of cooked onions ..read more