Timing is Everything: 6 Ways To Use it to Your Advantage
Birthdays, anniversaries, the start of a new season, heck, even an ordinary Monday can be an opportunity to kick-start a new habit, all thanks to a concept researchers refer to as the temporal landmark.
Temporal landmarks are usually special dates that signal the start of a new, distinct period of time in our lives. When it comes to creating change, we naturally tend to wait for these special moments as our cue to turn over a new leaf.
Sun Basket’s Director of Nutrition and habit-hacking expert, Lindsey Kane, explains how to make temporal landmarks work to your advantage.
1. Build more temporal landmarks into your life
You don’t have to wait around for a once-a-year event to set a new goal. Mondays, the first day of the month, or even an early start to the day can inspire change. These higher-frequency time stamps can anchor you to a consistent repetitive practice that’s bound to spark major results.
2. Use momentum to tackle goals
It’s easier to take real action toward meaningful goals during these opportune moments. Take advantage of that and build upon the momentum of a special day. That extra boost of motivational power can increase your odds of success.
3. Look back, then look ahead
Occasions like birthdays and the start of a new year can trigger self-reflection, which can drive awareness—always the first step to behavior change. You need to acknowledge where you are before you can move forward. Milestones prompt us to take a step back from our day-to-day routine, reflect on the past, and consider the big picture. This is how long-term goals are born.
4. Take advantage of the “Fresh Start Effect”
Temporal landmarks allow us to disassociate our past from the future, which can help change how we see ourselves. In these moments of clarity, it’s easier to ditch what’s holding us back and step into the future with a brighter, more empowered sense of self. Have you ever felt an enormous rush of motivation when starting something new? That’s the Fresh Start Effect doing its thing.
5. Assess your progress
Temporal landmarks serve as time stamps that help us mark the end of an old chapter and the beginning of the next. Use these natural transitions as mental accounting periods to help measure progress—a key aspect for successful behavior change.
6. Don’t wait for a special occasion
Once you understand the power of these markers, you can use these tactics to your advantage without waiting for a special occasion. Whenever you need to renew motivation, take a step back and apply the same five points outlined above at any point in time to help you achieve your goals.
Why Fresh Ingredients Beat Ultra-Processed Foods Every Time
New research suggests that ultra-processed foods may be stealing years from your life.
What are these studies about and why are they important?
Actually, there have been two important studies of ultra-processed foods recently. One is an observational study of roughly 45,000 adults in France, published in JAMA Internal Medicine in February 2019, showed an association between intake of ultra-processed foods and the risk of premature death. The higher the proportion of total food intake made up of ultra-processed foods, the greater the risk of dying prematurely.
The other study was a short-term intervention trial in which 20 adults were randomly assigned to a sequence of diets for two weeks each: one made up of ultra-processed foods, the other made up of unprocessed foods. The meals were matched for calorie levels, but participants could eat as much as they wanted. They ate roughly 500 calories more per day when eating highly processed foods, and gained weight as a result.
What exactly are ultra-processed foods and how are they different than processed foods?
An ordinary processed food can range from anything that is prepared and packed for home use, dried lentils in a bag, a can of beans in water with salt, to breakfast cereals made from a mix of whole grains, some salt, and sweetener. In contrast, ultra-processed foods typically have at least five ingredients, often many more, and some of the ingredients are industrial formulations not found in a home kitchen, such as hydrolyzed protein. If the ingredient list is short and familiar, and if all of the ingredients are things you might have in your kitchen it’s an ordinary processed food. If the ingredient list is long, contains unfamiliar entries you’ve never had in your kitchen, it’s likely to qualify as ultra-processed.
Why do you think the people on the diet of ultra-processed foods ate more calories?
In his book, Salt, Sugar, Fat, The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food, Michael Moss tells how big food companies hire scientists to develop foods people can’t stop eating. They explore combinations of texturizers, and flavorants—notably sweeteners, and sources of salt—to find ones that send the appetite center in our brains into overdrive. The food scientists describe this as the “bliss point,” but we in public health know it by its consequences: big corporate profits at the expense of rampant obesity, diabetes, and other preventable chronic diseases.
Avoiding ultra-processed foods and a highly processed diet overall can help reverse engineer what we might call The Moss Effect by preventing the appetite center from going into overdrive thus reducing the calories required to feel full.
Bite for bite, ultra-processed foods are highly concentrated in calories and offer little to no nutrition—no wonder it’s so easy to hit a high-calorie quota in such a small volume of food and still be hungry. On the flip side, wholesome unprocessed foods are nutrient-rich, less calorie dense, and tend to take up more space on your plate and in your gut, delivering optimal satiety and long-lasting energy.
Do you attribute the weight gain observed during the ultra-processed food phase solely to increased calories consumed, or could there be other contributing factors such as food quality that may also be responsible for the observed weight gain?
Ultimately, weight is about energy balance; and energy balance has many facets: Yes, at a very basic level it can be a matter of calories consumed versus calories expended. However, there are other factors that also impact energy balance such as hormones, metabolism, and the microbiome. Ultra-processed food attacks energy balance from each of these angles: They stimulate the hormones that control appetite response, leading to overeating. This can trigger both weight gain and hormonal imbalances, which may further aggravate the appetite stimulation and overeating. It’s a complex, positive-feedback loop that leads from some weight gain and overeating, to more. But it’s all set in motion by the intentionally appetite-stimulating properties of ultra-processed foods.
Some people who read this article may come to the conclusion that all processed food is bad, and that controlling calories is the key to weight management. Do you agree with that?
Dried beans are processed, they didn’t dry themselves and jump into a bag. Freezing is processing; cooking is processing. What really matters is whether the processing results in something wholesome or not, and that depends on what is added to the food, and what’s taken away. If food starts out as wholesome, let’s say those lentils, and processing doesn’t add a lot of sugar, salt, and/or artificial ingredients, and it doesn’t strip away the nutrients native to the lentils—you still get the nutrition from lentils—then the processing isn’t your enemy. It’s when processing strips away the nutrients and/or adds things that we don’t that processing devolves into an enemy of health.
Do these studies support or negate any current diet trends, such as tracking macronutrients, low fat vs low carb, or whether eliminating a certain nutrient or food group, like gluten, dairy, or grains, is the key to weight loss?
I’ve long argued that both the quantity and quality of calories matter, and that the best way to control the former is to focus on the latter. In other words, calories count, but you don’t have to count calories. Instead, eat a diet of wholesome foods, and among its many favors, that diet will fill you up with relatively few calories. You can eat your fill, without overeating. You can’t do that with ultra-processed foods, and that, as Michael Moss tells us, is by design.
What practical advice would you give to someone who wants to incorporate this study’s findings into their routines in an effort to improve their health and wellbeing?
Base your diet on wholesome, whole, minimally processed foods as much as possible. Apply the same notion to packaged foods by using this simple tip: the shorter the ingredient list, the better. The most nutritious foods of all have an ingredient list one-word long (e.g., kale) and there’s just no place to hide any food-industry mischief there.
The Very Best Way to Open a Pomegranate
Pomegranates get a bad rap. While their seeds give a juicy, sweet crunch to salads, classic Persian dishes like fesenjan, and desserts, opening up the fruit and removing its seeds can be difficult and messy. Instead of missing out, follow our simple technique for removing pomegranate seeds.
- Cut the pomegranate in half crosswise.
- Fill a large bowl with water and set the bowl in the sink.
- Hold a pomegranate half, cut side down, over the bowl. Using a wooden spoon, beat the outside of the fruit to knock the seeds into the water.
- Skim off any pith that floats to the surface, drain the seeds, and viola!
A Butternut Squash Dessert Recipe to Celebrate Nowruz
Often desserts are just empty, if delicious, calories. But then there are desserts like this one that deliver a solid dose of nutrients along with their sweetness. These poached squash slices are full of vitamins E and B6 and have more potassium than a banana. Pomegranates are a rich source of antioxidants, and pistachios give you protein and lots of healthy fats.
Persian Butternut Squash with Date-Cardamom Syrup Recipe
Serves 4
Shopping List
1 large organic butternut squash
2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter
¼ cup date syrup
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
3 tablespoons shelled pistachios
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds or 1 organic pomegranate
Tools
Large bowl, peeler, large frying pan with a lid
1. Prep the pomegranate
- Cut the pomegranate in half crosswise.
Fill a large bowl with water and set the bowl in the sink. Hold a pomegranate half, cut side down, over the bowl. Using a wooden spoon, beat the outside of the fruit to knock the seeds into the water. Repeat with the other pomegranate half. Skim off any pith that floats to the surface. Drain the seeds, then measure out ¼ cup. Save the rest for another use.
2. Prep the syrup, squash, and pistachios
- Peel the squash and cut the neck into ½-inch-thick rounds. Save the rest for another use.
- In a small bowl, stir together the date syrup, cardamom, and ¼ cup water.
- Coarsely chop the pistachios.
3. Cook the squash and syrup
In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, melt the coconut oil or butter. Add the squash rounds and cook, turning once, until golden brown but not yet tender, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Add the syrup, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the squash is tender and the syrup thickens slightly, 6 to 8 minutes.
Serve
Transfer the squash rounds to individual plates and spoon over the syrup. Sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds and pistachios and serve.
Nutrition per serving: Calories: 190, Protein: 3g (6% DV), Fiber: 3g (12% DV), Total Fat: 10g (15% DV), Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 6g (30% DV), Cholesterol: 0mg (0% DV), Sodium: 20mg (1% DV), Carbohydrates: 23g (8% DV), Total Sugars: 16g, Added Sugars: 9g (18% DV). Not a significant source of trans fat.
Bonus recipe—ingredients included in box.
Mercury turns retrograde in a fog of March Madness
As Mercury, the planet of movement and communication flips into reverse in the sign of the fish (the 5th through the 28th) and Uranus, planet of radical change, switches from Aries to Taurus (where it will be for the next seven years), look for unexpected, poetic shifts. Change and spring are in the air, but we need to surrender before we can move forward into the new reality we’re envisioning. In this sometimes foggy landscape, complicated by dreamy Neptune’s confusing effect on Mercury (aka: the mind) this month, tune in to your intuition, attend to your spiritual life, and settle into some much needed space-out time.
By Lisa Lisa and the Star Jam*
PISCES (Feb 19-Mar 20) Those ruled by the sign of the fish will do best floating in the still clear pools, behind the rocks, and beneath the logs. While this image may come as a relief to some, it can be a challenge not to engage in the effort of swimming against the current, to surrender to a state of not doing. Yet, withdrawing into your unconscious mind in the coming weeks will help clear away the sediment. For some it’s a time to heed the call of a silent retreat while others might opt for the Japanese art of forest-bathing, called shinrin-yoku, to replenish your spirit in nature. Or why not take up a nightly foot-soaking practice (the sign of Pisces rules the feet), treating your feet to a bath filled with herbs and rose petals, where you can slough off the scales of the past.
ARIES (Mar 21-April 19) Rams, you’re looking to reinvent your livelihood this month. Sudden disruptions in your job can prompt a fruitful reassessment of your values and considerations of what you’re truly worth. How can you innovate the monthly income stream and not rely solely on a salary? Or a boss for that matter. You may not want to hear this, but it’s time for action-oriented rams to unplug and retreat via meditation, dreamwork, or other private escapes. If you can manage to step back from the fray, you may find some forward movement in your work once March is in the rearview mirror.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Bulls embark on a new seven-year cycle this month, changing up well-worn desire paths; you’re at the beginning of a retrofit that will result in a whole new you by the mid-2020s. Exciting! Maybe as you review and shake up your standard stock, adding new blood to the herd you run with, you’ll find fresh approaches to living that you’ve never considered before. Just beware of those who might present as sparkly, because they can turn out to be anything but, just beneath the surface. You’re aiming for a deeper, more committed herd long term than the burn-out-fast shooting stars.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Put your career on cruise control and extend your psychic antennae instead for an infusion of fresh intel through anomalous experiences. Tune in to what could prove to be a rather active dream life in the coming weeks. As you break new ground in the spiritual realm, remember that retreating into solitude (not isolation) is truly what will crack your mind open. Allow space for absorbing new vibrations of the wild and wacky sort. Consider what inventor Nicolas Tesla once said, “The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.” Just be savvy about the psychic channels you choose to tune in to.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) While cozying up at home this month, lose yourself to leafing through summer travel guides, all the while reviewing your ideas about cross-cultural relations. As you exchange your views for a more inspired belief system, you may notice a shift in your social circle that invites more unusual creatures with which to forge your future path. Maybe it’s time to say goodbye to social media and crawl back out into the 3-D world.
LEO (July 23-Aug 22) While there could be some unsettling news at work this month, don’t let the boss (or any bossy-pants) distract you from the more pertinent activities of revising your resources and delving into the depths of your intimate affairs. Yes, you are still and always will be king (or queen) of the jungle, yet this month takes you into areas where your authority reigns over more esoteric and unusual things. Go with it while staying out of the limelight. Ultimately this process will bring you to greater authenticity in your public sphere. Power for you lies behind the throne this month. A word of caution: keep an eye on any joint finances; you don’t want your partner dipping into your checking without telling you.
VIRGO (Aug 23-Sept 22) Look into your interpersonal style this month and reexamine all manner of relating in your committed partnerships, both business and personal. What’s working and what isn’t? Take the Mercury retrograde time to discern what (or who) might be past its due date before moving forward. Meanwhile, your well-oiled systems of knowledge are due for some mindblowing twists. Like an exchange student, you’re setting out on a new leg of your educational journey, one where you’re destined to learn a lot from those whose ideas or culture differ from yours. These exciting folks help you flip your worldview upside down then—poof—they’re gone, leaving you with the makings of a fresh philosophy.
LIBRA (Sept 23-Oct 22) It’s time to review and reorganize your work habits and exercise routines to better serve you so that you can better serve others. Get down to the nitty-gritty and leave the idealized version in the dust. You’ll also need to lend your attention to some possible instability around your shared accounts or property. While there could be sudden shifts, they will be momentary so worry not; the shake-up could unearth previously unseen resources. By the end of the month, recommit to yourself.
SCORPIO (Oct 23-Nov 21) A trembler in your partnership (business or personal) house could be just the thing to shake off outworn habits that no longer work for you, freeing the relationship up for deeper growth. More than a seven-year itch twinge, take the time this month to review/revise what’s important to you around romance, play, and fun. The time is ripe for implanting a new creative pleasure-seeking device in your black and white experience that could open the doors to a technicolor surround-sound sensation. The end of the month could bring a focus on looking deep into your subconscious that will provide closure or healing.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22-Dec 21) Archers would do well to take aim at their health and habits this month. You may be thinking about going vegan or trying out a new approach to nutrition. Avoid fad diets, but experimenting with a plan that you can sustain over time is a good place to start. A sudden change on the job, among coworkers or in the circumstances of your employment, could bring you more independence at work—music to your ears. There’s also a higher possibility for accidents, so stay extra attentive on the job this month. Great at seeing the big picture, but not so much at organizing your time, embracing new technologies or calendar apps can take care of the details, leaving you with much-needed relaxation and time at home with your family.
CAPRICORN (Dec 22-Jan 19) Sea goats are bound to have some surprises involving romance, fun, and your creative potential. Maybe even an unexpected pregnancy! Who knows where it will lead but it could be a fertile shake-up that sets a new stage in your career. Try to remain open to it. Meanwhile, your time is well spent rethinking important communications amongst your siblings and neighbors. Delving into old patterns learned in grammar school could be just what you need to come up with fresh ways of expressing yourself.
AQUARIUS (Jan 20-Feb 18) The water-bearers need to put the priority on scrutinizing their income and material possessions. A tedious job for this eccentric bunch, yet you will be wiser for it in the long run. All the while, expect the unexpected on the homefront. Sudden commotion could have deeper implications foundationally. You could pull up stakes and move to an unusual place or living situation. Wherever you land, ultimately you stand to be liberated from any inauthenticity, free to live your life with your values and philosophies aligned.
If you know your rising sign, read that too; it’s often relevant.
*Lisa Awrey and Lisa Carroll
illustration by @boccaccinimeadows
Dr. David Katz On How What You Eat Affects How You Feel
Do blueberries improve memory? Can chocolate ease stress? We caught up with Dr. David Katz to answer our questions on how food can impact your brain.
Can certain foods boost your mood? What about mental clarity, alertness, memory, and cognition?
The best foods for brain function are the same foods that are best for body function: plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds. Omega-3 fats are concentrated in healthy brains, so the case for fish and seafood, or a supplement, is pretty strong. Fiber from plant foods help regulate the delivery of key nutrients to the brain, and help balance hormone levels from insulin to cortisol, and balancing hormones has direct effects on balancing mood and enhancing concentration.
Foods like fish, blueberries, and walnuts are good for the brain because they’re generally good for overall health. Some compounds in food have more direct effects on the nervous system. Caffeine stimulates the brain and slightly enhances cognitive performance. Compounds in chocolate, notably, theobromine, seem to have a calming effect. And foods like nuts and seeds, soy, meat and poultry, fish, oats, and eggs among others that deliver tryptophan can help boost serotonin levels in the brain, which can impart a sense of calm.
Are there foods that help reduce anxiety or depression?
No food, on its own, has been shown to be effective in treating anxiety or depression. There are nutrients that when concentrated and taken as supplements may have such effects, such as l-theanine, and GABA. But, it’s the big picture that matters most. The evidence is strong that an optimal, balanced diet helps contribute to the balance of mood and mind, too. That appears to reduce the risk and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Physical activity on a regular basis and adequate sleep have even stronger support than diet does for improved mental health benefits.
Alcohol for relaxation tends to backfire because it interferes with sleep. Teas, such as chamomile, may be relaxing because of the ritual of drinking them rather than any direct metabolic effect, but that may not matter much. That famous glass of milk before bed is one of many ways to deliver tryptophan to the brain, so some actual effect on mood is plausible.
Is it true that our gut microbiome is connected to our mood? How does food impact our microbiome, and in turn, our mood?
Our understanding of just which products of the microbiome effect mood, and how, is still in its infancy, but what is clear at this point is that such effects are real and important. Thankfully, they all point in the direction of the same diet that’s optimal for our health as being optimal for a balanced, healthy microbiome, and in turn, its contributions to a balanced, healthy mood and mind.
Many people feel guilty after they eat, whether it’s because they don’t feel like the food they’re eating is healthy, or, the food they are eating is perfectly healthy but puts them over their calorie allotment for the day. What advice do you have to help cultivate a guilt-free approach to eating?
For starters, eating well for health is not a moral kind of “should.” Keep in mind that the reason most of us want to be healthy is that healthy people have more fun. Health isn’t really the prize; the best possible life is the prize. Food you love can bring a lot of pleasure to life. So can health and vitality. The goal, I think, is to get as much pleasure, joy, and positive energy as possible from the combination of good food, and good health. That doesn’t leave much room for guilt. Work on improving your overall diet over time, and you will come to prefer ever more wholesome foods as your taste preferences adapt. That means ever less temptation to go awry and evermore opportunity to love food that loves you back and to control calories not by counting them, but by eating wholesome food that fills you up. By blending the pleasure of good food and good health, you engineer guilt right out of the recipe.
Dr. David Katz Shares His Strategy for Staying Well
Sun Basket Chief Science Adviser Dr. David Katz explains how a quality diet can keep your immune system strong.
Can foods really support the treatment and recovery of colds and flu? Or do they serve as more of a preventative measure? And if so, which foods have the most impact? What properties make them cold-fighting or immune boosting?
The best place to start an answer to these questions is another question: what is the role of diet in human health? Our culture is so focused on weight that we may lose sight of the big picture. Food is the fuel the runs the human machine, in all of its intricate, extraordinary functions. It’s the construction material for everything the human body makes—starting with growing children, to the replacement cells, hormones, enzymes, and molecules adults need throughout life. If you want a quality structure, you need quality construction material. If you want a high-performance machine, you need high-performance fuel. Food provides the structure and fuels the functions of the human machine.
The immune system is one vital component of this complex mix, and it’s complex in its own right. At a minimum, the immune system is a wide variety of white blood cells that fight off biological threats to our health, be they foreign (e.g., pathogens or germs) or domestic (e.g., the rogue cells that presage cancer). It includes soluble compounds these armies use to communicate and additional compounds that constitute their weaponry. The functions of this immune military are in turn subject to many influences, most notably, hormones from the adrenal glands, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, pancreas, and more.
Diet influences all of this. Shifts in dietary patterns can alter the production of white blood cells, the molecules they use to function, and the hormone levels that regulate them. Some components of a diet are inflammatory, meaning they tend to increase immune system activity; these include saturated fat, certain unsaturated fats, added sugar, and refined carbohydrates. Others are anti-inflammatory, notably whole vegetables and fruits, omega-3 fats from plants and seafood, fiber-rich grains, beans, and lentils. Inflammation is not bad, but imbalance is bad, and modern diets are generally unbalanced in the direction of too much inflammation. This unproductive immune-system activity diverts resources from where they can do actual good, such as fighting colds and flu.
So, while there isn’t any one food or nutrient that will reliably fight off a cold or flu, there is some research that supports specific foods having beneficial medicinal properties. Still, it’s the overall quality of your diet that makes the most difference in how often you get sick and how rapidly you recover when you do.
Can certain foods target specific symptoms? (ie. sore throat, congested head, runny nose, upset stomach, cough relief, etc.)
There is evidence that zinc lozenges can help shorten the duration of a cold. Zinc helps white blood cells function, and zinc intake tends to be low in the U.S. (concentrated sources include shellfish, whole grains, and legumes), especially among older adults. Other than that, not really.
Are things like EmergenC and other vitamin C supplements as effective as food?
No. They may offer some modest compensation for deficiencies of diet, but no supplement can do for the immune system what a balanced diet of wholesome foods can do.
How does the microbiome relate to immunity, and how does food play a role?
There are perhaps ten times as many bacteria in the microbiome as cells in the human body. These organisms contribute to the mix of compounds in our blood that influence hormone levels and, in turn, immune system function. We feed the microbiome by feeding ourselves, and poor, unbalanced, highly inflammatory diets damage the balance among these bacteria in a way that can amplify harmful inflammation, and increase the risk for both acute illnesses and chronic disease.
Do you have your own food-remedy regime when you feel an illness coming on?
Extra fluid (home-made soup) and extra sleep. But no, not really. I practice prevention and take the best care of myself I can, all the time. That includes an emphasis on a high-quality diet. It makes me healthy, and healthy people have more fun. It makes me strong, and strong people get sick less often and fight off illness more effectively.
Protein Add-On Cooking Instructions
Did you know? You can add organic chicken breasts or wild-caught Alaskan salmon fillets to select recipes, and rib-eyes to our new salads. To help make your Sun Basket recipes just the way you like, here are our easy cooking instructions for each selection. Just follow the links below:
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How to prepare your sustainably raised grilled Faroe Islands salmon fillets
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How to prepare your organic grilled chicken breasts
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How to cook your sustainably raised Faroe Islands salmon fillets
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How to cook your wild Alaskan skin-on salmon fillets
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How to cook your boneless skinless chicken breasts
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How to cook your organic rib-eye steaks
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How to cook your organic New York strip steaks
A Turmeric Ginger Elixir for An Immunity Boost
Turmeric and ginger are your cold-season superheroes. Here we combine those notable immunity boosters with vitamin C–loaded pineapple juice to make a hydrating elixir that tastes so good you’ll want to drink it even when you’re not sick.
Fresh Turmeric-Ginger Cold Season Elixir Recipe
Makes 4 cups
Shopping List
1 organic lime
1 or 2 mint tea bags
2-inch piece fresh turmeric
2-inch piece fresh ginger
3 cups pineapple juice
2 tablespoons raw or local honey
Tools
Medium sauce pot, peeler, blender, fine-mesh strainer, cheesecloth, optional
1. Prep the tea
- Juice the lime.
In a medium sauce pot, bring 1 cup water to a boil; turn off the heat, add the mint tea bags and let steep until very strong, 5 to 10 minutes. Discard the tea bags and stir in the lime juice.
While the tea steeps, prepare the ginger and turmeric.
2. Make the turmeric-ginger paste; finish the elixir
- Peel and coarsely chop the turmeric and ginger.
In a blender, combine the turmeric, ginger, and pineapple juice and blend on high speed to a thick paste.
Using a fine-mesh strainer placed over the sauce pot, pour the turmeric mixture through the strainer into the tea, pressing on the solids. Alternatively, line the strainer with cheesecloth before pouring in the turmeric mixture, then wrap up and wring out the juices over the pot. Discard the solids.
Serve
Transfer the elixir to individual mugs or cups.
Chef’s tip: You can make the turmeric-ginger paste up to a week ahead. Add it to the mint tea as needed.
Nutrition per serving (serving size 1 cup): Calories: 160, Protein: 1g (2% DV), Fiber: 1g (4% DV), Total Fat: 0g (0% DV), Monounsaturated Fat: 0g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0g, Saturated Fat: 0g (0% DV), Cholesterol: 0mg (0% DV), Sodium: 10mg (0% DV), Carbohydrates: 40g (13% DV), Total Sugars: 32g, Added Sugars: 8g (16% DV). Not a significant source of trans fat.
Bonus recipe—ingredients not included in box.
HIIT the Deck
Looking for a way to spice up your workout routine? Maybe you’re traveling and can’t get to your weekly barre class but still want to make sure you’re sweating it out. Here’s a quick game of cards designed to make you feel human again. Grab a deck, throw on some workout gear (your pajamas work, too) and get moving.
If you don’t have a deck of cards on hand, there are many virtual card deck options available online or in app form.
Step 1: Warm up
1-minute forearm plank (okay to modify on knees)
1-minute mountain climbers
30-second side plank right
30-second side plank left
2-3 strenuous rounds of deck shuffling
Step 2: Assign the deck
Assign each suit to an exercise from the suggestions below. Feel free to focus on one or entirely or mix it up for a more full-body approach.
Hearts: _________
Spades: _________
Clubs: _________
Diamonds: _________
Choose from the below options or swap in any of your favorites. These are all no-equipment options, but if you’ve got a set of dumbbells you’d like to break out, it’s all fair game!
Cardio/Full Body
Burpees
Mountain climbers
Plank Jacks
Squat jumps
Upper Body
Push-ups (wide or narrow)
Tricep Dips
High plank to forearm plank transition
Plank arm row and rotate
Lower Body
Squats (narrow or wide)
Curtsy squats
Donkey kicks
Alternating leg lifts in bridge
Core
Alternating hip dips from plank position
Standard crunches (oblique or center)
Legs-up crunches
Bicycles
Step 3: HIIT the deck
Now that your suits are assigned, it’s time to draw the full deck, one card at a time. If you pull a 5 of diamonds and you’ve assigned diamonds to crunches, then do 5 crunches.
Then, pull the next card and repeat until the deck is clear.
Jack = 11 reps
Queen = 12 reps
King = 13 reps
*If you choose a bilateral exercise for one of your suits, like donkey kicks, then do however many reps on EACH side for each card.
That’s about it! This fun indoor workout can help banish the winter blues and is incredibly versatile. Choose whatever exercises you’re in the mood for and make smart choices based on any injuries or areas of focus. Most importantly, start moving and get your heart rate up just enough to pull you out of the winter rut. You’ll boost your immune function and mood, and set a positive tone for the day.
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