I hope you are all doing well and enjoying this spring weather! In this post I will share with you one of my favorite treats when I crave something sweet. I have been making these coconut truffles for many years and I got the recipe from  Karita Tykkä's blog . I love reading her  blog and trying out her recipes. All of the recipes are gluten-free and dairy free. During the years I have made some alternation to this recipe but the basics are somewhat following: Coconut Truffles 2 dl nuts ( you can use cashew nuts or pecan nuts) 10 dates 4 tbsp  raw cacao powder 3 tbsp honey (1 tbsp grounded raw coffee) coconut flakes for decoration 1. Mix the nuts and raw cacao powder in a mixer.  2. Add honey and coffee. If the mix is too stiff, add a little water. 3. Roll small balls from the dough and dip them into coconut flakes. I put the flakes into a bowl and then it is easy to roll the balls. 4. Put the truffles into a jar and keep in a fridge. Enjoy afte

There have been studies (Barton & Pretty 2010) which indicate that moving outdoors has been shown to reduce anger and depression and improve mood. Besides these there are numerous of positive effects when you train outside: it doesn't cost you anything compared to going for a gym, it's easy accessible, you will connect with Mother Nature, you´ll have enough fresh air so you will sleep better and so on. I think that humans are meant to spend as much time as possible in nature. We should never forget that we are apart of it ❤ I am definitely an outdoor person and that is the reason why I love summer and fall when I can spend so much time outside breathing fresh air. In fact, if I don't spend enough time outdoors on a daily basis, I get a headache. I have often wondered that does this happen to other people?  Are you addicted to fresh air?   When you have lived abroad, especially in a hot climate which limits your chances of being outside,  you rea

Spring is coming and for many people it is a good time to start thinking about eating better or making smarter choices when it comes to food. So, today's post will be about making smarter choices when it comes to salad dressings. As you all know, salads are considered to be healthy. However, you can turn a health salad into an unhealthy version by adding the "wrong" kind of salad dressing. People think that a product consisting of feta slices in a olive oil dressing is a good choice. However, if you look at the nutrition label on this product, you will see that it is not so healthy as you thought. Ultimately, it is a processed food which its preservatives. That's why I encourage you to make your own dressings. This way you will know all the ingredients. Here's four of my favourite dressings: Cashew dressing 3 tablespoons of cashew nuts (sink these in water for 3 hours so they will soften) garlic cloves slice of lemon black pepper Mix the ingr

Did you know that the healthiest people on earth live in Okinawa (Japan), Ikaria (Greece), Loma Linda (California), Nicoya (Costa Rica) and in Sardinia (Italy), in so called Blue Zone area? When I first heard about this, I became intrigued of the idea that you could add years to your life by following their example. So how do these people live and what do they have in common? Compared to average people, they live 8 years longer than normal people, they suffer only a fraction of "modern" diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia, meaning that they live a rather healthy life. In addition they belong to a strong community. In the area of Japan, in Okinawa, people live by this simple principle " Eating when you´re 80% full." Thus, they practice mindful eating and this is something we could all learn: to appreciate, focus and enjoy food when we eat. In addition, sometimes we are in such a hurry that we eat too fast which results in eating more.

How active are you on a daily basis? It is a known fact that moving your body regularly throughout the day has more health benefits than if you were to schedule a HIIT workout and spent the rest of your day sitting. The"regular movement in your day" or "incidental activity" (=small acts of every day life that are meant as exercise) can be for example taking the stairs instead of elevator, walking home from work instead of driving or walking to grocery store.  According to Aki Hintsa: Voittamisen anatomia  * by taking 8000-10 000 steps a day you will gain significant health benefits even though you don't do any other specific work outs. On the contrary, if you don't do this incidental activity in a day although you go for a work out class, you don't get the same health gains.  As I have advised before: if you don't have time to exercise, include some short walks or incidental activity to your day. Play with your kids, spend time outdoor

Nowadays you cannot avoid hearing about superfoods because they are everywhere. I also wrote about them (mainly powders) in  here . However, there are also more common superfoods available and in this post I will introduce you four of these common superfoods which you should include in your every day diet. I chose these superfoods because they are inexpensive and you can find them in your local grocery. Without further ado, let's get into it. 1) Kale Kale is very nutrient dense, it has a lot of vitamins (vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K, Calcium, Copper, Magnesium and Potassium). Moreover, Kale is loaded with antioxidants. How to use it? I use kale in my salads and in my smoothies. I prefer kale more in smoothies because it can taste a bit bitter in salads. I find that kale really clears up my skin and pulls away toxins from my body. I love it! 2) Lemon What can I say about lemon what you don't already know? Previously, I wrote about how I use lemon i

Carbs. How did it become so that these essential macro-nutrients are bad for you? The truth is that if you want to see the best results from your training program, proper nutrition is critical. By this I mean the proper ratio of macro-nutrients, such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats. So all of these macro-nutrients are important and you need to include them into your diet, even carbs. There are plenty of studies which advise the perfect ratio of macro-nutrients. However, I will not go into details of this because honestly, who has the time or motivation to count these or pay attention to these on a daily basis? I don’t. And why should I count them? Because what matters the most is to just try and see what works for you and you can do this without counting any specific ratio. If you feel that a protein rich breakfast keeps you satisfied longer then you should have it! On the other hand, if you workout in the morning, you will need plenty of carbs, so maybe a porridge and frui

Let's talk about meal prep and at the same time how to make healthier food choices when you have a busy week ahead. I cannot highlight enough how important it is to plan your meals ahead if you want to stick to eating healthy food. When we are busy, it is easy to resort to ’bad’ food choices. However, if you are proactive, there won’t be any problems. I have done this meal prepping for so long that it comes naturally to me. This means that during the weekends I automatically plan my next week's meals. I don't have to remind myself because I love to eat and plan what I get to indulge ☺ Also, it is important for me to fuel my body with the right kind of healthy food. So how do I meal prep? I plan my menu for the next week on Saturday or Sunday and then I do my grocery shopping. I want to do this on the weekend because then I have time to do a big grocery haul and during the week I don't have to worry about what to eat or worry about shopping any bigger groceries. This he

I'm back home! It felt so good to have a change of scenery, enjoy the warmth and my friend's company. Also, I got so many post ideas for this blog so I can't wait to share them with you! I have to say that flying with Qatar Airways was a really positive experience. If you are travelling to Qatar, I highly recommend taking this airline. About this post.. Previously, I wrote about my first impression on Doha and in this post I will share some interesting facts about Doha and places to visit if you are travelling in that area.  So, let’s jump right into it, shall we. 50 years ago only 20 000 people lived in Qatar. Nowadays there are over 2 million people living there. What a change! The 2022 FIFA World Cup is organised by Qatar. In the 1970s the country began to morph from a nation of fishermen and pearl divers to oil production and export. Since then Qatar’s economy has been boosted by growth in the oil, gas and petrochemicals industries. In fact, Q

Here's a thought or a question which you might have not considered for a while. Are you eating too much protein? Nowadays many personal trainers and fitness experts highlight the importance of eating enough protein. Also, the food industry has joined this movement: they have added extra protein in almost all products. There's protein bread, extra protein quarks, protein riched this and that. As a result of this has anyone else thought that maybe people are consuming too much protein?  According to ACE Fitness article "5 Sports Nutrition Experts Share the Performance enhancing Benefits of Protein" by Katie Ferrano the typical American adult actually consumes more protein than is recommended. Therefore people should pay attention to timing and portion sizes. Unnecessary calories , even coming from proteins, can promote weight gain. Athletes or other exercisers must remember that protein is not the only nutrient of importance. Carbohydrate is the main sourc

Here I am in the Arabland again 😁 They say that Doha is the new Dubai and I couldn't agree more. In my opinion Dubai is just too much of everything. If you have been there, you might understand this. Everything is too luxurious for my taste. Too much. Having lived in the UAE I think it is the way of their culture. They put too much perfum, there's too much noise everywhere, and not to mention the parties or celebrations: people are going crazy without alcohol. For someone like me who loves peace and quiet I have to say it was way too much. However, getting back to Doha. I have to say that this city has surprised me completely. When I first arrived here, I thought that this would be like Dubai mixed with Oman. But I was wrong. This place is much cooler and more western than I thought. Of course I’m staying at the Pearl which is a very good and ’rich’ area. When I’m walking down Porto Arabia it feels like I’m back in the Expat life again. There are so many western people t

So it's winter holiday and I'm off soon! Can you guess where I am going? I'm on my way to Doha, Qatar! The pictures above are taken from Google. So why there? My dear friend lives there so I thought why not going there now? When I lived in the United Arab Emirates I never visited Qatar although it was just around the corner so now when the opportunity appeared I thought now is the right time.  Because this is a wellness blog, I decided that I could show you which kind of supplements I take with me whenever I travel. First, I never travel without my probiotics. These will ensure that my gut will stay in good balance throughout my trip. I have to say that I have never had normal tourist diarrhea because I eat these on a regular basis.  Next, I take my green powder with me. This time I take  Puhdistamo * brand. I mix this in water or in a smoothie. I also take  vitamin C  to support my immune system.   Magnesium * I take before I