New year old habits?

In her new book Eat, Dance Shine – How to come alive, gain energy and push back the years, (to be released in March) Michele gives her five top tips to help you undo all the excesses of the festive season and get back into some good habits.1 Get moving every day for at least 30 minutes
Think of it like brushing your teeth – just do it! Walk, run, dance around the kitchen, roll on the floor, join a Nia class. Do what you enjoy and listen to your energy levels; vary the intensity.2 Quit all white and refined sugar and white flour-containing products
For example pasta, biscuits, crackers, cakes as they cause your body to become too acidic, providing an environment for chronic inflammation and disease. Also they mess up your normal secretion of insulin, leading to fatigue, headaches and weight gain.

3 Eat more plants and make meat and dairy your side dish; aim for 80%, 20%
Enjoy delicious salads and discover gluten-free ‘grains’ like quinoa and buckwheat. Enjoy broccoli and other brassicas, as they contain the amazing health-promoting sulphoraphane. Make vegetable juice daily – the easiest way to hugely increase your intake of phytonutrients, those colourful disease-preventing plant nutrients. Here’s one of my favourite juice recipes:
Carrot zinger
Juice four carrots, two sticks of celery, half a lemon and 1” of ginger root (and 1/2 apple if desired)

3 Delay your breakfast
There should be about 16-18 hours between your evening meal and your first food of the day. It’s called intermittent fasting. Avoid eating and drinking (except herb tea) after about 6-7pm and then delay breakfast until after 10 or 11. This switches on the fat burning and keeps it going while you sleep. Start the day with plenty of fluids though; I like warm water with fresh lemon and also green tea. For bonus points, if you can also exercise during this fasting period you will drop those pounds even faster. And it can improve insulin sensitivity, keeping blood sugar levels stable and limit cravings. Water and green/herbal tea is fine before breakfast.

4 Smile more
Even a tiny one – there’s a good chance your mood will brighten, as smiling actually sends messages to the brain and increases the level of happiness hormones: endorphins, serotonin and natural pain killers. Smiling also boosts your immune system and makes you less stressed, even reducing blood pressure.