New Year’s resolutions are good (if they are kept!), but a good way to end the Christmas celebrations and start the New Year is with a good cleanse from the inside out!

The power of Lemons can never be over emphasised. They are packed full of immune system building Vitamin C.  A daily Lemon cleansing drink helps to cleanse the colon and breaks down fat deposits – a much needed drink I would, say after all the Christmas meals! The good thing about a Lemon cleansing drink is that it can be taken daily and can be made part of your New Year lifestyle.

Squeeze half a lemon into a mug of warm water and drink this first thing in the morning before you start your day. You could add a teaspoon of honey if you like can’t handle the sour taste. (Always brush your teeth prior to taking this drink as the acid in the lemon could be abrasive to the teeth).  Have this as your first drink for the day.

Our skin also needs Vitamin C to help build up collagen. Collagen is the most abundant natural protein found in the body which slowly diminish from the age of 25 onwards. The presence of Collagen helps to plump up the skin, reduces lines, wrinkles and generally improves the skin’s elasticity.

So after cleansing your insides, make a refreshing, anti-ageing, skin tightening Cranberry & Ganoderma Green Tea Face Mask for the new you on the outside!

Used topically, Cranberries are rich in Vitamin C which helps to build the skins natural collagen keeping the skin healthy and wrinkle free. They are also rich in Vitamin B3 for fighting acne and Vitamin B5 for added skin moisture content.

Taken internally, Cranberries help prevent bladder and urinary tract infections, lower bad cholesterol, fight colds and help prevent stomach ulcers and cancer. They also help emulsify fat deposits in the body – again handy after all the Christmas meals!

And if you do get some Ganoderma Green Tea (otherwise, regular Green Tea would do fine), Ganoderma is an ancient Chinese red mushroom that for thousands of years was given to the Emperors for longevity. It was popularly known as “The Elixir of Youth” or “The Immortality Herb”!  Green Tea is popularly known for its anti-ageing properties. It contains Polyphenols which go through your blood stream to your skin and help slow down the signs of ageing

For this special recipe, you’ll simply need:

• 1 cup of Fresh Cranberries
• 2 Ganoderma Green Tea Bags (regular Green Tea can be used for this recipe)
• 2 cups of water

Boil the cranberries in the water for 20 minutes and then add the Ganoderma Green Tea Bags or regular Green Tea Bags. After this has cooled down a bit, take the tea bags out and use a fork to crush the cranberries to a pulp. Gently rub the cooled pulp on clean skin and leave on for 15 to 20 minutes. The longer you leave it on the better the results.

Wipe off with a damp face cloth and now touch your skin! Divine!!

Leftovers can be kept in the fridge and used again.

Remember, half a lemon a day for a good cleanse from the inside out. It really can be that simple!

Have a happy, wonderful year ahead!

Emma Ojehomon

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Summer is often a great motivator for changing our eating habits and trying to get into shape. But instead of going on a diet, why not  consider making some simple changes to your diet and lifestyle which you can adopt throughout the summer and beyond.  Here qualified nurse & nutitionist Sue Bedford provides her top tips.

1.  Aim to eat a minimum of 5, but preferably 8 to 10 fruits and vegetables a day.

2.  Choose “negative calorie” vegetables which use up more calories to digest than the number of calories they contain.  Examples are broccoli, carrots, celery, lettuce, asparagus, cauliflower, chilli peppers, cucumbers, garlic, onions, spinach, turnip.

3.  Fruit is best eaten in the morning – for example, a fruit smoothie for breakfast, or as a snack between meals.  Negative calorie fruits include apples, tangerines, papayas, pineapple, raspberries, strawberries, cranberries, grapefruit, lemons, mangos, oranges.

4.  Include some raw vegetables in your diet each day, such as a side salad or crudités but avoid high sugar and fat dressings or dips. 

5.  NEVER cook vegetables in a microwave as it destroys most of the nutrients and can be harmful to health.  Steaming is the best cooking method.

6.  Unless you have an allergy to them, nuts and seeds make an ideal snack instead of crisps or chocolate.  They are best eaten raw and a handful is not as fattening as you may think.

7.  Choose lean cuts of meat but only eat a small portion.  It’s not necessary to eat meat every day.

8.  Eat at least one portion of oily fish a week such as salmon, tuna or mackerel.

9.  Use a smaller plate.  Psychologically, you will feel more satisfied eating from a full, small plate than a half empty, large plate.

10.  Go easy on the dairy products.  They can be quite fattening and are not essential for health.  Green, leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds are a far superior source of calcium.

11.  Natural, pro-biotic yogurt can help aid digestion by providing millions of good bacteria to the gut but avoid yogurts with fruit, sugar or artificial sweeteners.

12.  Keep processed foods to a minimum, especially starchy carbohydrates, as they are high in calories and soon leave you craving for more.

13.  Avoid “white” foods such as white bread, pasta, rice and sugar.  Instead, use the wholemeal or brown versions. 

14.  Avoid all artificial sweeteners as they are harmful to health and actually stimulate your appetite!  Xylitol, a natural sweetener, is a safer alternative with few calories.

15.  Drink at least 2 litres of fluid a day, ideally water.

16.  If you feel hungry between meals, try a glass of water, first. Thirst lets us know we are dehydrated but sometimes we mistake it for hunger.

17.  Keep caffeinated drinks to a minimum as they can be dehydrating.

18.  Alcohol is high in calories, so limit the amount you drink.

19.  Avoid fizzy drinks full of empty calories.  Even the diet versions are bad and will make you want to eat more!

20.  To make up the shortfall in nutrients in our food today, take a broad-spectrum multi-vitamin and mineral supplement.  Liquid versions are usually best for absorption.

21.  Take a probiotic supplement with billions of “good” bacteria (acidophilus and bifidus) to aid digestion and absorption of nutrients in the gut.

22.  Take fish oil, either in capsules or as a liquid for omega 3 fatty acids.

23.  If you are deficient in Vitamin D, your ability to lose weight will be harder.  A supplement with Vitamin D3 can help raise your levels.  Most people in the UK are deficient during the winter months.

24.  If you need help to curb your appetite, Hoodia, a cactus-like herb, can suppress hunger pangs and help you feel full after eating a smaller amount of food.

25.  Avoid eating after 7pm.  Any carbohydrates not used as energy will be stored as fat.

26.  Get active.  No need to sign up for the gym.  A brisk walk, running up and down stairs, parking further away from your destination, doing housework  . . . can all help burn extra calories and keep you fit and healthy.

27.  Finally, some people struggle with weight control due to an underlying medical condition.  The most common are Hypothyroidism (underactive Thyroid Gland), Insulin Resistance (Pre-Diabetes/Type 2 Diabetes), or a Food Intolerance.  If you suspect you may have a problem, consult a health practitioner for a health check.

To request a free E-Book from Pulse Health Screening called “Choosing a Healthy Diet and Lifestyle”, go to www.pulsescreening.co.uk/EBook.

Sue Bedford is a mum of 4, and runs 2 businesses from home. Pulse Health Screening offers health assessments and a wide range of tests and services in the Beds, Bucks and Herts area, most of which are unavailable in the NHS. Sue also has a diploma course in nutrition and runs a website called Healthy Choices offering nutrition & lifestyle advice along with a range of toxin-free, personal care and household products.

Now, be honest, are you a creature of habit? Think back to yesterday. How much of it was a repetition of the day before?

Psychologists reckon as much as 95% of our days are made up of habits. Repeated patterns of behaviour. Doing and saying the same things. No wonder we get into a rut. And research I’ve been conducting shows that if we can break free from our rut, drop some habits and do something different, our lives will be happier and healthier.

For example, in a published study I reported that people who are more habitual also tend to weigh more. Our research team thought that if we could increase people’s behavioural flexibility their BMI might go down – in other words, they would lose weight. This is exactly what we found. People changed a small habit every day for 28 days. They all lost weight. And they kept the weight off. And at the end of the programme they were also less anxious and depressed than they were at the start. The Do Something Different weight loss programme is in The No Diet Diet (Orion, 2006) and now available in 23 languages worldwide. We’ve gone on to apply the technique to other behaviours, including money management in Sheconomics (Hodder, 2009) and smoking in Love Not Smoking: Do Something Different (Hay House, 2011).

So don’t even think about using willpower to change any aspect of yourself. Who has any willpower anyway? I don’t think it exists! It’s much easier to Do Something Different. This weakens old habits and puts new, healthier ones in their place. Why not try one of these today?

• Sing with your granny
• Tell a joke to a stranger
• Buy an unusual magazine and read it
• Wear odd socks for a day
• Contact a long lost friend
• Dance under the stars
• Play louder music
• Get a temporary tattoo and wear it somewhere visible
• Sleep on the other side (or end) of the bed
• Pick CDs at random and play track 8
• Do something you enjoyed as a child
• Go barefoot
• Turn up at the cinema and watch the next film that’s starting

Remember, if you want to get something different, you have to do something different.

Karen Pine is Professor of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. You can find out more about her work at www.karenpine.com

I’m a big fan of inspirational quotes and love how they can encapsulate such great wisdom in so few words. I have my all-time favourite quote engraved on a ceramic plaque, hanging in my hallway  - “To thine own self be true” (Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 3). In just six words Shakespeare has imparted such timeless advice, which is as valuable today as it was when he wrote it over 400 years ago.

On Twitter I follow a number of users who regularly post quotations and I love it when a well-timed quote pops up on our Twitter stream. Sometimes the right words at the right time can make all the difference. And one that really caught my eye this week was this - ”Ultimately we know deeply that the other side of every fear is freedom” (Marilyn Ferguson).

I read this and had a bit of a lightbulb moment. My big fear is driving. I did manage to pass my test many years ago, but, despite having refresher lessons in later years, I have never driven since. My world is a much narrower place because of this and I know that if I could just overcome this, it would open so many doors. Fear can be a paralysing force but maybe  if I focus on the freedom driving could bring me, instead of all the things that could go wrong or that make anxious, I could crack it?

Do you have a favourite quotation that inspires you, has helped you through a situation or has shaped the way you lead your life?  If so, please leave a comment below and let’s get together a collection of wise words that we can all share.

This week both of us have a child celebrating a birthday. Since becoming a mum, nothing marks the passage of time more than my children getting a year older. At each birthday it hardly seems possible that the tiny baby I held in my arms is now 4, 5, 6, or whatever.

It’s a similar feeling when you look at your business as it is today. What started as a seed of an idea is now a living, breathing business, with clients, suppliers, processes & systems.

Your enterprise has left a footprint on the world, making a difference to your customers and to you, by taking up so much of your time & headspace, and hopefully earning you money. Hard to believe that once upon a time none of this existed. Without YOU none of this would exist.

Take a few moments to reflect on all that you have achieved – your beautiful children, your home, your family and your business would all be nothing without YOU.

I want to let you in on a little secret – I have bad business days. I have days – hell, I have weeks – when I wonder why I bother and want to throw in the proverbial towel. And I’ll let you in on another little secret – January was a bad month.

Now I know from talking to other business owners that this is completely normal. But it’s hard when your business is to bring other people together and help inspire and motivate them. When I’m having a bad day I feel redundant and pretty useless.

I do try and keep my feelings in check but sometimes I’ll let something slip on Twitter. And that’s when the wonderful thing happens. People, who I’ve maybe helped when I was having a good day and they were having a bad day, suddenly spring to my rescue. They tell me I’m doing a good job. They ask if they can help? They tell me to take time out, to breathe, to relax.

Sometimes just opening up and telling someone how frustrated, disappointed or angry I feel is all it takes. Other times it’s the reassurance, the support – even the thanks – that makes me dust myself off, pick myself up and start all over again.

We talk a lot about the importance of a support network – like-minded people who know what it’s like to do what you do and understand your highs and lows. Spend time nurturing these relationships – and when you’re having a good day, be mindful of other people’s lows and offer a helping hand. These could be the very people propping you up in weeks to come.

Today is my 41^st birthday. This time last year was quite a landmark day but I can honestly say it bothered me less than turning 30. And the reason for this, I think, is that I am becoming more comfortable in my own skin the older I get.

I was a very tall, awkward and shy teenager. In my 20s I had several failed relationships and some health problems. In my 30s I was mainly trying to make babies, having babies and looking after babies. But so far (touch wood) my 40s have been pretty great. So here is why I think getting older is something to be cheerful about:

I’ve learnt a lot of lessons!

I am genuinely starting to feel like quite a wise old bird! In 40 years a lot has happened to me, and I always try and learn what I can from any situation, good or bad. Both consciously and unconsciously, we are absorbing information and experiences all the time – we often have no idea how much we do know. But with knowledge comes confidence, and with confidence the world suddenly becomes your oyster!

I don’t care!

I used to really ‘care’ what other people thought of me. So I used to tie myself up in knots making myself into what I thought people wanted me to be. But the older I get, I just don’t care. I don’t mean this is a negative way. I have just come to the realisation that being myself is far less effort and actually attracts people to me who like me for who I am. And you really can’t get better than that.

It might be fun!

I used to worry a lot. I used to want to control the outcome of any given situation. And this often meant I would talk myself out of doing things. Now I am much more open to opportunity. I like the randomness of what life throws at me and the people I meet. I’m much more likely to give something a go now. What’s the worst that could happen and who knows where it might lead?

Together we’re stronger!

When I was young I had a best friend rather than being part of a gang. Then, when I started to have relationships I would throw myself into them and cut myself off from my friends. But I now realise that there is real strength in numbers. You can’t expect your partner to give you everything you need emotionally. And that’s why friends – and a support network you can count on – are SO important.

It’s just going to get better!

As my children grow they are going to become more independent and more interesting.  As my business grows I will be nearer to getting my dream house. And the the more I learn, the less I care, the more new things I try and the more friends I make, the bigger and better life it going to become!

What important lessons have you learnt as you’ve got older? And what are you looking forward to about being older?

PS. And if you need any more proof that getting old is great then you must read the brilliant poem Warning by Jenny Joseph. Personally, I can’t wait to start wearing purple!

On our blog we have featured a large selection of inspirational mumpreneurs and, without exception, all of them were inspired to start their own business so they could work flexibly around their children.  So we’ve clearly acsertained why so many of us are self employed, but why are we working at all? What drives women with young children to take on the huge additional responsibility of a business? Money, obviously, I hear you cry! But is it really? With most businesses not expected to make a profit within the first 18 months of trading, there must be something more that drives us on. I can’t speak for all mumpreneurs, but I can tell you what motivates me.

I realised, fairly quickly after having my first child, that I still wanted to work. I didn’t want to go back to my old job, but I wanted something else to do other than childcare and housework. People talk about the perils of ‘Nappy Brain’ and that feeling that your former brilliant mind has turned to mush due to tiredness, boredom and kids TV!  Not surprising really, as 0nce you have a child you are forced to live life dealing with their very basic needs. So, after 10 months of pure mummy and baby time, I started working freelance for my previous employer. It felt so good to excercise my brain cells again and to realise that I could still string a coherent sentence together and converse with other adults on topics other than weaning, sleeping and teething.

When the freelance work dried up, I took one step further and bought a franchise. At the time my children were just 1 and 2. At the start it was breathtakingly exciting – all that promise and anticipation, a feeling of unlimited potential. Fairly quickly though, I realised this business would not make me any money and ended up being a huge drain on our family resources. But happily, out of that disappointing business experience, came the realisation that there was a need for an organisation like Mum’s The Boss.

Quite selfishly I have accpeted that I need something in my life that is just mine. I need the sense of achievement you get from a job well done. I need a To Do list where I can tick things off and know that I have achieved something today. I like having 2 different personas and 2 sets of friends – the mums from school and my businessmum friends. And I thrive on the pride and sense of accomplishment I get as the business – my business –  grows and succeeds.

The things we do for our children are unconditional and largely unappreciated. Every day we cook, clean, wash and tidy, all for little or no thanks. But in business there is the opportunity to get feedback, fulfillment, monetary reward - and sometimes even a little recognition.

What drives you to be your own boss? Is it purely the cash or is it as much to do with your own identity and self-fulfillment? Do leave a comment and let us know.

Why is mindfulness an important part of the whole self equation? In essence there are four elements to obtaining the impact we want.

Most people think that if they have the right tools and skills then they will gain the success they crave. In fact the most important driver is mindset. In other words what do you believe to be true? What do you say to yourself every day? How positive is your self talk? It is the thoughts that you have that lead to the behaviours that everyone else sees and takes a view on. Your skills and tools are very much secondary because in reality most of us have the capacity to upskill and buy tools.

How do you maintain a positive mindset when everything appears to be disintegrating around you? We all have bad days, moments even and yet how long that stuff hangs around and impacts depends on you and your level of mindfulness. In other words your ability to stay in the present and trusting that as Napoleon Hill once said your life is unfolding perfectly. If this sounds hard to do or unfeasible then start by spending time with children under five, they are great teachers.

This is also where a daily practice such as centring can be so helpful. It helps you check in with yourself and discover what your intuition is telling you. So here is a tool that you may find useful.

When doing a centring practice, start with your body. Check how you are standing and become as upright as possible – it is easier to do if you imagine a golden thread coming from the top of your head. It will reach up to the ceiling and gently pull until your body’s posture is aligned. Check that you are balanced with 50% of your weight being evenly distributed between your toes and your heels. The key to the exercise is to focus on your breath by breathing up your back and then giving a longer exhale down your front. As you do this make sure your chest is expanded so that people will see you as open and welcoming. Check that your jaw and shoulders are relaxed and that your body is settled. It is also important to remember that we all emanate heat from our bodies which represents our energy. Ask yourself if the energy originating from the front of your body is equal to that coming from the back; that the heat from the left side is equal to that on the right and what radiates from the top of your body balances what emerges from the bottom. When this is so, choose a quality that you have already and would like more of. Ask yourself if I had 2% more of this quality (for example, ease) what would that be like? Then listen for a response which may come as a sensation, words or a picture.

When you have gone through this process, you are centred. However it is something that will only last for several seconds perhaps as much as 30. This happens to all of us. It takes lots of practice to maintain a centred approach for longer than a few moments. What is important is to notice when you are not centred and to re-centre. At the beginning it is worth doing a centring practice for five seconds ten times a day. This is not arduous in fact it takes up less than one minute of your time in a day.

Doing this practice and being centred can feel very odd. This is a good sign it means you are doing it right. Remember you have spent years during which time your body has got used to something which is probably less than perfect in terms of posture so adjusting it will appear strange. Keep with it as the only thing that can break a habit is a ritual and that’s what centring is.

If this resonates with you then let me draw your attention to an opportunity coming up in January where you can experience some of this work for yourself. I am leading a workshop with Beth Follini called Finding wholeness: connecting mind and body. For more information and to book go to http://www.eventbrite.com/event/916951627/efblike  (if you book with someone else, you each get £15 off the full price! Just put the word SPECIAL in the discount code box).

Reading Helen’s article about her need for balance rung so many bells with me it was uncanny. And while I fully intend to make sure my home and work life are much more evenly balanced this year, the word that I have chosen to sum up my year is Organisation.

I am, by nature, a creative person. When I am enthused by a new idea, normal everyday life recedes to the back of my consciousness. I find the day-to-dayness of life a bit of a drag – I want to be thinking about the next project, my eyes clearly fixed on tomorrow. However I stumbled across a brilliant quote from Gustav Flaubert – “Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be violent and original in your work.” And that, dear reader, is what I intend to do!

Home

When you work from home, your house has dual functionality – it needs to function as a workspace and as somewhere to relax and unwind. If you spend most of your time at home, small niggles can begin to take on a huge importance – and things that don’t ‘work well’ in the home can lead to frustration and precious time wasted.  So I’ve told myself that 2011 is the year I really get my act together! If I’m going to run a business from home, then that home needs to run like a well oiled machine or I’m just going to go round the bend!

Since New Year I have made some great strides towards organising my home. Rightly or wrongly it normally ends up mum’s job to organise the food, the kid’s school stuff, the washing & cleaning etc. Whenever I am busy with work the housework is always the first thing to suffer, and within days the house seems to descend into chaos. So I’m trying not to cut corners and keep on top of the housework little and often. (If you’re after some techniques to get your head around the mental and emotional challenges of running a home then you might want to take a look at Housework Blues – A Survival Guide by Danielle Raine. )

I’ve already reorganised my kitchen cupboards so the things I use most often are easier to get at. It’s not rocket science – it’s just finding the time to step back and streamline things when you are normally so busy just getting by from day to day. I’ve also taken on a mini-project to give the house a bit of a facelift – to liven it up with new accessories and make it a brighter, more inspiring place to live and work. To that end I am awaiting exciting deliveries from Next and John Lewis, and continue to be on the hunt for lampshades and cushions. It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it!

Time

The other thing I need to organise better is my time. I read a great quote once that said ‘You can’t manage time – you can only manage yourself,’ and this is so true. We all have our own particular time ‘drains’ – mine is frittering away time online, I can lose hours! So what I need to do is cut back on the online distractions and focus on the job in hand. That’s easy for me to say – I’ll need some iron willpower to put that one into practice!

I also intend to make time for people. We can have the best of intentions to get together with friends and family, but all to often, life gets in the way and weeks and months can go by without managing to achieve it.  I want to make time to get to know some of the mums at school better, to visit my sister and my baby nephew more often, to get together for Sunday dinner with my parents every month or so and to generally spend more time with the people who lift my spirits.

Finally I want to organise my personal time too. That means allocating time to work but also factoring in time to read, take a bath, watch a film, or to just be. It also means spending time with the kids when I am not distracted by work or housework. I know I feel better for it – I just need to give my time as much priority as everyone else’s needs.

Diary

Lastly I’m organising myself, my social life, the kids schedules, the shopping, meal-planning, birthdays & even next year’s Christmas shopping thanks to my brilliant Life Book Diary from Organised Mum. I’ve been using it since September and it’s been a godsend, particularly for keeping on top of school events and all the demands placed on me as a mum by the school (cakes for this, costumes for that, payments by this date, forms returned by that date etc). And I’m even planning my social life in advance this year! I’ve already got 3 theatre trips, 2 conferences and 1 birthday weekend away planned and we’re not even a week into the year – it’s unprecedented!

I’ve started well – who knows if I can keep up the momentum. The thing, is I know what will happen if I don’t. Things will snowball out of control and then small things will become insurmountable problems. So here’s hoping that a bit of time spent being more organised will help make space for some extra creativity and more time to be me.