Laura Livesey, Author at The Confidence Kitchen

The fatal flaw of most diets and how to turn it around in your favour
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Health Research, How to Reduce Cholesterol

The fatal flaw of most diets and how to turn it around in your favour

The fatal flaw of most diets and how to turn it around in your favour There are so many different "diet labels" telling us how to eat. There’s Vegetarian. There’s Vegan. There’s Raw. Paleo, 4:3, Wheat Belly, 5:2, Atkins, Zone, and Gluten-Free. South Beach, Dukan, Mediterranean, Weight-Watchers, Blood-Type, Grapefruit, and Skinny Bitch. 3-Hour, Best Life, Cabbage Soup, Caveman, Fat Flush and Glycemic Index diets. French Women Don’t Get Fat, Hormone, and Jenny Craig programs. Macrobiotic, Master Cleanse and Food Combining diets. Beverly Hills and Nutrisystem. Shangri-La, Volumetrics, and the list goes on and on. asdfasdf The labels above [...]

6 critical things I wish I knew three years ago about how to reduce cholesterol
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Health Research, How to Reduce Cholesterol

6 critical things I wish I knew three years ago about how to reduce cholesterol

6 critical things I wish I knew three years ago about how to reduce cholesterol After my diagnosis with Familial hypercholesterolemia in 2011 I spent three years searching for effective natural methods to lower cholesterol and gain heart health. I actually felt a little bit like a crazy outsider for much of this journey because most of the research I uncovered advised eating foods and making lifestyle changes that were the complete opposite to what is being distributed by most well meaning but misinformed doctors, healthcare practitioners and media outlets. Below are the 6 critical facts I wish I had had on day one [...]

Harness the power of everyday mini-steps, mistakes and failure

Harness the power of everyday mini-steps, mistakes and failure If you're joining in on January's 2 green smoothies a day habit or taking on some other challenge or goal this January, keep in mind that you are very likely going to fail many times along the way. Not just once, and not just temporarily. A lot! Often! Stupidly! But as Edmund Burke said "nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little." I think the trick in all of this is just avoid one thing: failing habitually. Just don't make failure a habit [...]

The easiest thing you’ll ever do to dramatically boost your health
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Healthy Recipes, Powerful Habits

The easiest thing you’ll ever do to dramatically boost your health

The easiest thing you'll ever do to dramatically boost your health A green smoothie like this spinach based one, is everything you need to take charge of your health. Just start with 2 a day, and this will give you your daily fruit and veg antioxidants all in one go! I'm no longer a resolutions person. I was for years until I realised that it was too depressing to cheerily wave them off at the door on Jan 1st only to have them fizzle out each February (or Jan 12th!) Now I'm a habits girl. Powerful daily habits, no less. [...]

Nutty cranberry cake with zesty lime frosting (gluten free)
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Healthy Recipes

Nutty cranberry cake with zesty lime frosting (gluten free)

Nutty cranberry cake with zesty lime frosting (gluten free) Happy boxing day! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that you have a few cranberries kicking around because I know exactly what you're going to want to do with them! MAIN BENEFITS / WHY EAT THIS? Helps you avoid dangerous wheat and sugar while still giving you a lovely, familiar breakfast or "coffee" cake treat Packed with heart healthy almonds, pecans, coconut oil, oranges, omega 3's (chia), cinnamon, and antioxidant laden cranberries Cranberries are a superfood that you should enjoy year round. As in this recipe, aim to eat the whole [...]

5 holiday tips to keep spirits bright and healthy!
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Powerful Habits

5 holiday tips to keep spirits bright and healthy!

5 holiday tips to keep spirits bright and healthy! In the festive season it's far too easy to let health take a back seat! I think last year was the first year I did not gain 5-10 pounds from festive gorging! It felt so amazing to hit the new year feeling light, active, and energetic instead of the usual brain fog and heaviness that accompanies a long period of unhealthy eating and inactivity. So here are 5 easy and quick things you can do each day between Christmas and New Years to "keep spirits bright" this holiday season: Water: Drink [...]

If you want radiant skin you’ve got to rewire your brain
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Natural Beauty

If you want radiant skin you’ve got to rewire your brain

If you want radiant skin you've got to rewire your brain In a previous life my skin was a monster to be battled with, sending me consistent breakouts and patchy red episodes that left me looking like a marine creature. I tried probably hundreds of different products over the years in a quest to find something that suited my skin type which is sensitive (goes berserk just looking across the room at a new potential soap or lotion), combination (oily in the T zone, and dry everywhere else), and prone to hormonal breakouts, uneven patches, under-skin bumpiness, and red colouring. [...]

Why are fats, including coconut oil, good for your heart even though they are saturated fats?
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Health Research

Why are fats, including coconut oil, good for your heart even though they are saturated fats?

Why are fats, including coconut oil, good for your heart even though they are saturated fats? I got a great question from a reader yesterday that I thought would be useful to share. The benefits of saturated fat, and fat in general, have been misunderstood until recently. New research from the past 5 years is causing widespread changes in dietary fat recommendations Oct 25th: QUESTION FROM AMANDA "Just wanted to thank you for putting your journey online. I am someone who was diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia since birth and have managed to stay off the statins. The diet [...]

Orange ginger oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (wheat free, gluten free)
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Healthy Recipes

Orange ginger oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (wheat free, gluten free)

Orange ginger oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (wheat free, gluten free) While oat week is officially over, I just had to share one more recipe from my oat week experiments. I had some trouble making a cookie that was not either rock hard or really bitter thanks to the baking soda. After finding this wonderful exposé on the gluten-free leavening agents necessary for successful baking, I did a few more tests, and voila! I finally ended up with with tasty, hard on the outside, chewy on the inside, wheat free cookies! But wait! Sin of all sins, how can cookies be [...]

Italian style savoury oatmeal with wild mushrooms, leeks and bacon
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Healthy Recipes

Italian style savoury oatmeal with wild mushrooms, leeks and bacon

Italian style savoury oatmeal with wild mushrooms, leeks and bacon It’s Day 7, the final day of Oat Week at The Curious Giraffe! It's time for some savoury Italian oats to end Oat Week in style! Oats do such a great job in this recipe of providing a low GI starch as a base for some hearty autumnal Italian flavours. You won't believe that this is oatmeal! A new twist on a traditional risotto type Italian recipe using Oatmeal instead of rice. This dish is full of heart healthy oats, leeks, mushrooms, and garlic. MAIN BENEFITS / WHY EAT THIS? [...]

About Laura Livesey