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If you have friends that you don’t stay in touch with as much as you want to send them fruit gifts to let them know you’re thinking of them. In spite of all the good intentions you have to stay in touch with your college roommate, or childhood best friend, or with an old neighbor when your life is crowded with work, family and lots of other commitments you do lose touch. But you can reach out to them and let them know you still remember them fondly by sending fruit gifts for no reason at all. Sending a gift is a sweet way to say hello after a long period of silence.

Fruit baskets filled with seasonal gourmet fruit or boxes of gourmet nuts, candies and other treats with citrus fruit are a wonderful surprise for an old friend who hasn’t heard from you in awhile. If you send a gift for no reason your old friends will be touched, and they might make more of an effort to get back in touch with you too. A simple citrus fruit basket can renew an old friendship and bring some wonderful people back into your life. So don’t put it off. Right now while you’re thinking of it send out some fruit gifts to the people you haven’t talked to in a long time.

Sending fruit baskets and other gifts is also a good way to say you’re sorry to an old friend if you didn’t part on the best of terms. After a long time apart it can be very difficult to reach out and say that you were wrong to the other person. A beautiful professionally designed fruit basket filled with delicious Texas citrus fruit is the perfect way to take responsibility for your mistake and invite that person back into your life. Fruit gifts are wonderful to give to your extended family too if you are estranged from them.

The best gifts are the gifts that are given just to be generous and aren’t for a special holiday, anniversary or birthday. Send fruit gifts to your distant family and old friends today and you will be sending a wonderful surprise to the people that you want back in your life. Don’t be surprised if you’re flooded with happy phone calls and emails after your delicious fresh fruit baskets and other gifts arrive. You might even receive some tasty citrus fruit yourself as a gift from your friends and family members.

But citrus gifts aren’t just great for decorating adult parties. Fruit baskets and containers of seasonal fruit are also wonderful decorations for kid’s parties. At birthday parties there is always a lot of sugary cake and other sweets. Using fruit baskets to decorate gives kids the option to have a piece of fruit instead of a high calorie and high sugar snack when they are hungry. Fruit is also a good alternative to kids who may be allergic to something that is in the cake. A single piece of fruit decorated with a sticker or ribbon is a great party favor for kids. Parents will be pleased to see their kids come home with a fresh piece of fruit instead of another piece of cake or more candy, which is what parents typically give out as party favors. Using fruit to decorate and as party favors at a birthday party also sends an important message to kids about eating healthy. By showing them that they can eat healthy in any situation, even at a party, you are helping them learn how to make healthy food choices. Studies have shown that what kids learn about food when they are small will impact their food choices for the rest of their lives. You can use citrus gifts to make sure they make wise choices when it comes to their diet.

Starting a new diet, even the grapefruit diet, can be tough. The grapefruit diet is designed to be a short term weight loss solution and isn’t an ongoing diet so you don’t have to change the way you eat totally. But it still can be difficult to make the commitment to start a diet to lose weight and look and feel better. The grapefruit diet has been proven over and over to help people lose up to ten pounds in two weeks because of the natural fat burning enzymes in grapefruit so if you stay on the diet for two weeks you will almost certainly lose at least a few pounds. If you have trouble starting a new diet even though you know you should here are some tips from diet and nutrition experts to help you get started:

Pick a date – You are more likely to start your diet, and stay on it, when you have a set time to begin. Pick a date that works for you and circle it on the calendar. Write “diet” on that calendar day and each day for the next two weeks. Each day as you check off that day on the calendar you’ll be more likely to stay on the diet. Studies have shown that the simple act of writing down the things you want to accomplish on a calendar really can motivate you to make those things happen.

Prepare in advance – You’re going to be eating a lot of grapefruit on this diet. You will be eating a half of a grapefruit before every meal and eating grapefruit for snacks too. If you have to constantly run to the store to get grapefruit you will make up excuses not to go and you will go off the diet. Order a box of fresh grapefruit in advance so you have plenty on hand. You also should order grapefruit so that you’re getting the best tasting grapefruit possible instead of the fruit from the local supermarket which is usually not very fresh. When you have to eat a lot of something it’s easier to eat if it tastes great.

Tell your family and friends about your plans – Telling your friends and family that you’re going to start the grapefruit diet will make it more likely that actually will because they will ask you about it and keep you accountable for being on it. Tell your friends and family members to ask you how it’s going and to bring it up when they talk to you so that you won’t be tempted to not start once you’ve set a start date.

If you want to start the New Year off on the right foot use the grapefruit diet and exercise to kick start your weight loss. The grapefruit diet is an easy way to lose up to ten pounds in twelve days, and losing that weight should inspire you to keep going. Doctors don’t advise that you do the grapefruit diet for more than twelve days at a time but a healthy eating regimen that includes fat burning grapefruit and a good exercise regimen will keep you losing weight and getting fit. Grapefruit is essential when you’re trying to lose weight because it has less than 90 calories and is packed with fiber that will help you feel full and not hungry all day. Having a grapefruit before you go work out will give your muscles the nutrients they need to perform well without a lot of sugar or calories.

Exercise is an important part of ongoing weight loss even if you have early success using the grapefruit diet. Muscle burns more calories than fat so the more muscular you are the more calories you burn just doing everyday things. Weight training and at least 30 minutes of cardio exercise three times a week or more will help you get fit and healthy and it will help your body burn more calories even when you’re not working out. Citrus fruits like grapefruit and oranges contain the nutrients that your body needs to repair damaged soft tissue and flush toxins from your cells so eating citrus fruit after you workout will help keep your body strong while you get used to a new exercise routine.

Eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to give up everything that tastes good, it just means that you need to approach food differently. A baked grapefruit for breakfast can be just as hearty as a bagel for breakfast but the grapefruit has half of the calories in the bagel and will keep you full all morning just like the bagel would. A grapefruit or orange as a snack instead of a candy bar or doughnut will fill you up until your next meal without the sugar crash that will come from eating a lot of processed sugar. Making smarter food choices that include fresh oranges and grapefruit along with making an effort to work out at least three times a week will help you lose all the weight you want.

This year add some grapefruit drinks to your holiday party menu. Grapefruit juice is light and refreshing and will bring balance to heavy and rich holiday desserts and savory meals. Grapefruit drinks without alcohol are always great to have on hand for children and for guests who don’t want to consume alcohol at the party. These beautiful and fun grapefruit drinks will be a huge hit with your friends and family members at holiday parties this year:

Grapefruit Margarita – You can make these with tequila or without, if you want to serve them to kids or guests who don’t drink alcohol. These are also fabulous for birthday parties or when you have your friends over for an evening of fun. To make these you will need pink or white sanding sugar, limes, and a lot of fresh pink grapefruit. First make a simple syrup by boiling together some grapefruit juice and sugar. Then pour about a cup of fresh grapefruit juice into a blender with some ice. Blend until the mixture has a great slushy consistency. Mix the cold juice and ice mixture with a few teaspoons of the simple syrup. Add tequila if you want. Blend everything together thoroughly and pour into a glass that has been rimmed with the sugar. Garnish with a fresh lime and you have a delicious and refreshing drink.

Grapefruit Cider Punch – This easy to make seasonal punk will get a lot of attention from your guests. Mix equal parts fresh apple cider and fresh grapefruit juice, then add ginger ale or club soda and ice. The taste is light and sparkling but still has a familiar seasonal taste thanks to the cider. The grapefruit juice will bring out the tanginess of the cider and make it taste rich and delicious. You can make this an alcoholic punch by adding vodka to the mix, but you can also serve it without alcohol. Garnish with candied grapefruit for a sweet touch.

Cranberry Grapefruit Cocktail – This drink has a seasonal taste but also has a nice edge thanks to the addition of vanilla vodka. Boil grapefruit juice and sugar to make simple syrup. Mix the syrup with cranberry juice and a little vanilla vodka. If you want to give the drink a nice consistency add some cranberries blended with ice to the glass and garnish with a sprig of mint. If you want to make the drink without alcohol you can add a touch of grated vanilla bean to the drink to get the bite of the vanilla in the flavor.

Grapefruit tastes delicious and is super healthy, but you can also use it in many ways around the house and to take care of your skin. Grapefruit is a natural antibacterial agent and the wonderful smell of fresh grapefruit juice can be very uplifting. Many commercial cleaners and skin care products use grapefruit scent because it’s light and sweet and not overpowering, but you can use fresh grapefruit juice to get the same scent without using chemical based products. Here are just a few of the innovative ways you can use fresh grapefruit around your home that you might never have thought of:

To scent your home – Instead of using dangerous candles that often have sickly sweet scents that can cause headaches when you want to make your whole home smell fresh and inviting pour a cup of fresh grapefruit juice and a half of a cup of water into a small saucepan and simmer it on the stove. You will love the wonderful scent of fresh grapefruit wafting throughout your home.

To scent your laundry – Mix fresh grapefruit juice with distilled water in a spray bottle and mist your towels, linens, curtains, and clothes. The water will evaporate as it dries leaving a sweet grapefruit scent. To make the scent even more unique you can mix juice from several types of grapefruits like white grapefruit and pink grapefruit. Or mix ruby red grapefruit juice and fresh orange juice.

To keep animals out of your garden and plants – Cats in particular hate citrus scents, so placing a small mesh bag filled with grapefruit and orange rinds around your outdoor plants or along your fence line will discourage neighborhood animals from coming into your garden. You can also bury some of the grapefruit and orange rinds in the soil around the plants. As the rinds break down they will boost the nutrition in the soil which will help the plants grow.

To exfoliate your skin- Instead of spending a fortune on expensive skin products you can make your own healthy and natural skin exfoliating scrub. Mix some granulated sugar and about a cup of fresh grapefruit juice with a little grapeseed or olive oil and use in the shower on your whole body, especially your feet. The grapefruit juice will revive your spirits and tone and tighten your skin and the sugar will gently exfoliate. This easy to make scrub is even safe to use on your face.