CLEANSING GINGER AND LEMONGRASS TEA RECIPE

If I had shares in coffee companies I would be laughing all the way to the bank –  no joke – with my current caffeine consumption at an all time high, I swear I'm single-handedly keeping the industry afloat. Every now and again it's good to curb my intake and take stock of my habit, making room for cleansing teas and detoxifying drinks to help boost my immune system and keep me from the jitters. So I thought it would be good to post about my current health kick in an attempt to get back on track, with this cleansing Ginger and Lemongrass Tea.

I've noticed that my taste for good old English Breakfast tea has totally left me and I only seem to manage a cup of builders tea when in the throws of a hangover *shhhh*, instead opting for a cup of boiled water if I fancy a hot drink. Now although this is good for you it can get a little boring, you can imagine the conversation at friends houses over a good gossip:

 them: "ooh do you fancy a cuppa?' 

me: "mmm yes please can I have a cup of *ahem* boiled water"

 them: ".....erm yeah...sure...do you want a tea bag with that?'

So why Ginger and  Lemongrass tea? Well it packs a punch with anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, disinfectant and diuretic properties that allow you to detoxify the pancreas, kidneys, bladder and the digestive tract, while helping you eliminate excess fat much faster and reduce water retention in the body amongst other amazing health benefits. Plus when made with filtered water you know you're getting the healthiest version of this hot beverage.

It's easy to make, all you need is:

• 4-6 thin slices raw ginger

• 250-375ml water

• 1-2 tbsp honey or agave nectar

• 2 lemon slices

• 1 stick lemongrass, outer leaves removed

To make, simply peel the ginger and add to a pot of water, allowing it to boil for around 10 minutes to release the flavour and goodness. Pour into your cup or glass and add a couple of slices of lemon and sweeten with a little algarve honey. Serve with a stick of lemongrass. Alternatively to create an intense flavour crush the lemongrass with the flat side of a knife and boil alongside the ginger to create your tea. 

Now I'm not crazy enough to give up coffee completely, but I am trying to alternate my drinks in the hopes of helping kick start my health routine after a stressful few months. Kinetico have released a simple water recipe book which is free to download and is packed with refreshing summer drinks that give water a fun twist.  

*This is a collaborative post.

KICK START JANUARY WITH THE FITBIT CHARGE

So here we are again, the month where we all make promises to quit this and stop that, to do more exercise and eat less, to swap our vino for water, the whole shebang. January is renowned for the month that we are told to basically do better, to dust ourselves off from the heavy carb loaded christmas and alcoholic tendencies of New Years Eve and make a new you.

Don't get me wrong I love a clean slate so to speak. But truthfully it's not as if your body resets to factory mode on the strike of midnight come NYE, to be healthy you have to work at it. Not a fad or an half hearted attempt to have a dry month only to last until the weekend. No wonder most people fall at the first hurdle! With me I'm an all or nothing girl, so when it comes to making healthy choices it's hard to reach the perfect middle ground.

Where I lack motivation is:

Sleep – I think it's enough but it's definitely not enough.
Healthy food – Sporadic. Either a health fest with eat clean tendencies or you can find me in Dorito heaven.
Exercise – Running around after a four year old counts as this right?!
Fluids – Water? erm what's that again...oh you mean coffee yes?

So when I was asked to test out the Fitbit Charge, a wireless activity wristband, I didn't know what to expect or how it would impact my day to day lifestyle. Well it has, so much that I think I'm a little bit in love with it, in fact it's like having a personal trainer on your wrist!

The Fitbit Charge is sleek in design, lightweight and splash proof, and basically looks like you're wearing a really cool watch. It's super easy to set up with a free downloadable app for your phone or computer where you enter your details such as: Gender, weight, height, date of birth and you're all set.

It's that easy. You literally wear it all day and night and use your bluetooth to sync the info to your app. So I've been using my iPhone to chart my progress and achieve the daily milestones: walk 10K steps a day, 30 minutes of active minutes, plenty of water etc. as recommended by the government for a healthy lifestyle.

The Fitbit Charge will log your steps automatically as well as stairs climbed, calories burned, distance in km walked, active minutes, calories eaten, water consumed and it also logs your sleep and for me this is a biggie. It tells you how many hours you slept and during that how many minutes were restless and any periods you were awake. So all that sleep I thought I was getting, erm not so much.

When I first started inputting how much water I was intaking I was horrified to realise that it equalled 200ml, that's a cups worth. So all that lack of energy, feeling groggy and headaches was down to dehydration. Even though I feel like I'm drinking a ridiculous amount of water I'm still only filling up on 1100ml a day, just over halfway to my daily recommended target.

Having something which easily allows you to see your daily activities and celebrates your milestones certainly changes your way of thinking about your health plus you can share your results on your social platforms too. If your arms are full of shopping/ a hundred and one things there is even caller ID synced with your phone. One glance and you know whether it's worth dropping all those bags for.

I love the Fitbit Charge and if you want to hear me chat about it some more and other wearable fitness technology then I will be live tonight at 19:00 hours GMT on a google hangout hosted by Faya from Fitness on Toast for Argos with me, David from MensRunning and Liina from Mind Over Matter. You can use the link to tune in and find out which Fit Tech is best for you, otherwise you can find more information about wearable technology at Argos

*This post is in association with Argos.