When it comes to the health and beauty habits of naturally glowing mamas, dry body brushing is right up there with rising before the rest of the house to do Pilates and swapping your morning mug of caffeine for a hot water with lemon and ginger (ummm, no comment).

‘A minute of quick, light body brushing on the hips, thighs, bum, tummy and backs of arms speeds up the detoxification process,’ explains Noella Gabriel, director of product and treatment development at Elemis.

‘Keeping in mind that the skin is the largest eliminative organ of the body and when working at its peak it eliminates one pound of toxins a day, it’s well worth body brushing daily,’ she continues. ‘It stimulates the circulation and lymphatic drainage’.

Use a natural bristle brush designed for the purpose, such as the Elemis Skin Brush (£18.40). A classic made with cactus bristles (not as ‘ouch’ as that sounds!), it comes with a detachable handle, so you can reach your back or simply use the brush part to zip over arms, legs et al.

How best to brush? ‘Incorporate dry body brushing every morning,’ suggests Noella. ‘Begin at the soles of your feet, then continue working up the front and back of the legs in an upward direction towards the heart. Then, on the hands and arms and including the tummy and back. Use daily to improve skin tone and body firmness in time for summer’.

I plan to brush up my act, starting today. Who’s with me?!

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s London Marathon, another great opportunity to run to raise money for a fantastic cause is on the horizon: the Race For Life 2012, supporting Cancer Research UK. What better excuse to get your trainers on?

Every two seconds, someone in the UK is told they have cancer. All proceeds from 5K or 10K Race For Life events - taking place all over the UK this summer – will help fund the charity’s amazing, groundbreaking work in research into the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of the disease, saving millions of lives (it also provides invaluable support for those with cancer and their loved ones).

If you’re running or know someone who is – or need some inspiration to sign up! – don’t miss the fitness and nutrition tips from AXA PPP healthcare, a sponsor of the Race for Life 2012, at its info-packed website.

In addition, AXA PPP healthcare will be hosting a motivational Live Web Chat via the site on 26 April, featuring tips and advice aplenty from experts on training programmes, diet and nutrition, taking care of injuries and lots more.

Experts taking part in the Live Chat schedule will feature as follows: 10 am – 12 noon, AXA ICAS sports and exercise science expert John Crudington; 2pm  - 4pm, personal trainer Lucy Wydham-Read, whose clients have included celebs and, once, an entire football team!; 5 pm – 7 pm, leading nutritionist Dr Sarah Schenker, who often features in the national press.

And it doesn’t stop there! AXA PPP healthcare is also offering Race for Life participants the opportunity to enter a weekly prize draw to boost their sponsorship total by £100 (for an individual runner) or £200 (for an AXA PPP healthcare member). Entrants simply need to raise at least £50 in sponsorship and hold a Just Giving page.

With the care of cancer patients and their families in mind, AXA PPP healthcare has also just launched its specialist online Cancer Centre, offering practical advice and support.

You can also keep up with the latest Race for Life buzz from AXA PPP healthcare on Facebook and twitter.

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Calling all naturally-inclined new mamas …

Green-thinking company Hevea – whose lovely Danish founder, Terese Hoffeldt, nonstopmama interviewed last year – has just announced a charitable collaboration with World Wildlife Fund (WWF). As of 1st February, the company will donate £1 from the sales of its irresistibly cute, award-winning Panda teether to the WWF in the UK.

The teether is made from 100 % natural rubber to soothe aching gums and relieve soreness.

‘We have chosen to work together with the WWF as we truly believe in their work for a living planet,’ says Terese. ‘It matches Hevea’s sustainable thinking’.

BIG congrats, Terese, on a great partnership (and something too sweet for little ones to get stuck into!).

Yippeee!! We have a winner to announce, of our competition with Green Giant to scoop an Abel & Cole hamper packed with fresh, seasonal veggies!

Back in October, we asked nonstopmamas to share some of their favourite (and sneaky!) tips for getting their children to enjoy their ’5-a-day’.

We had lots of fantastic comments and ideas (and all of them winners!!). But here is the winning entry, from Jacey, who submitted this fantastically quick and easy idea:

“My little one is a very fussy eater but he likes pasta, so I try to add lots of veg to the pasta sauce. So, for example finely chop onion, mushrooms and courgette and lightly fry in oil until soft. Stir in a tin of chopped tomatoes, add some Green Giant (!) sweetcorn and a few handfuls of baby spinach leaves and slow cook for about 20 minutes. You can blend to a smooth sauce if you want (I don’t) and stir into cooked pasta. Then grill cheese over the top. There are about 5/6 portions of veg in that alone! I sometimes add mackerel/sausage too – yum!”

We loved this idea, and BIG congrats to Jacey, whose hamper will be winging its way to her family in the new year!!

Other tips we loved included this, from Erica: “Putting veg on top of homemade pizza works, as well as chopping veg really small to add to Spag Bol or Shepherds Pie”, and this – also on Shepherd’s Pie – from Heather: “When I make Shepherd’s Pie, I include in my recipe lots of “hidden” veg, apart from carrots as usual in with the mince, I also add leeks and parsnips to the mash which adds to the flavour and incorporates several of your five-a-day too!”

And thanks to Juliet, who explained how to make a healthy, warming soup in a matter of minutes: “You can de-mystify making any soup by simply throwing onions, stock and any array of veg in a pan for 20 mins and hey presto, add a hand held blender (and top with cheese if you fancy) and you have the most delicious, warming delight that kids just love!”.

We also loved this different approach, from Jo, which is all about the serving: “With my twins, I think I cracked it the day I put all the food in serving dishes and they were eating the veg they had been pushing away. With control over their own plate and choices they were helping themselves and it broke the issue for me”.

Thanks SO much to everyone who entered, and you can check out more tips at the Green Giant Facebook page!

Finally, Green Giant asked us to post this Christmas greeting from the Jolly Green chap himself! …

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Santa hasn’t been the only one making personal appearances and ‘ho, ho, ho’-ing about the place lately. So has this big guy …

As we posted last month, the Green Giant paid a visit to the Trafford Centre, Manchester, in October, where families – 193 of them, to be precise – got to ‘high five’ him on a huge screen.

Accompanying the man in green was world champion hurdler Colin Jackson, who met the audience and, at one point, demonstrated his hurdling skills over a giant sweetcorn (don’t try this at home) …

We’ll be announcing the winner of our competition to win an Abel & Cole hamper at nonstopmama very soon (we LOVED all your tips and tricks, thanks so much for posting them!).

In the meantime, Green Giant have sent us this video clip, capturing some of the fun that was had in Manchester …

You can find lots of tips, too, on helping your family get their five-a-day at the Green Giant Facebook page.

This is a sponsored post.