Kelli Calabrese Fitness Consulting

Cutting Calories BOOSTS Memory Power!

2012-01-20T11:25:00.000-08:00

Today’s Re-Powering information – It’s obvious that at the end of the day calories matter. I have been preaching about the quality of the calories more than the quantity. If you are going to over eat, I would rather you over eat organic chicken vegetable soup than chicken wings and fried mozzarella sticks. They have a different effect on your body – even if the calories are the same. The natural food is easier to digest, metabolize and does not leave foreign toxins behind. Studies have shown that those who consume fewer calories live longer and have less disease. That stands to reason as over feeding causes inflammation and obesity. IT’s also rare that people are over feeding on salad. They are more likely to overfeed on pastries, fried foods and other fast foods which are artery clogging and lead to other diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

Cutting calories not only leads to fast loss and improved health, a new study shows it also boosts memory so strive to eat for your physiology rather than your emotions or out of habit.

Cutting calories boosts memory

The volunteers had to limit their calorie intake
Reducing what you eat by nearly a third may improve memory, according to German researchers.
They introduced the diet to 50 elderly volunteers, then gave them a memory test three months later.
The study, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, found significant improvements. However, a dietician said the reduction could harm health unless care was taken. To our knowledge, the current results provide first experimental evidence in humans that caloric restriction improves memory in the elderly

Munster University researchers
There is growing interest in the potential benefits of calorie restricted diets, after research in animals suggested they might be able to improve lifespan and delay the onset of age-related disease.
However, it is still not certain whether this would be the case in humans - and the the levels of "caloric restriction" involved are severe. The precise mechanism which may deliver these benefits is still being investigated, with theories ranging from a reduction in the production of "free radical" chemicals which can cause damage, to a fall in inflammation which can have the same result.

The researchers from the University of Munster carried out the human study after results in rats suggested that memory could be boosted by a diet containing 30% fewer calories than normal. The study volunteers, who had an average age of 60, were split into three groups - the first had a balanced diet containing the normal number of calories, the second had a similar diet but with a higher proportion of unsaturated fatty acids, such as those found in olive oil and fish. The final group were given the calorie restricted diet.
After three months, there was no difference in memory scores in the first two groups, but the 50 in the third group performed better.

Diet warning
They also showed other signs of physical improvement, with decreased levels of insulin and fewer signs of inflammation.The researchers said that these changes could explain the better memory scores, by keeping brain cells in better health.They wrote: "To our knowledge, the current results provide first experimental evidence in humans that caloric restriction improves memory in the elderly.
"The present findings may help to develop new prevention and treatment strategies for maintaining cognitive health into old age."However, care was taken to make sure that the volunteers, despite eating a restricted diet in terms of calories, carried on eating the right amount of vitamins and other nutrients.

Dr Leigh Gibson, from Roehampton University, said that the drop in insulin levels were one plausible reason why mental performance might improve.
The hormone was known to act on parts of the brain related to memory, he said, and the higher levels found in people with poorly controlled type II diabetes had been directly linked to worse memory and cognitive function.
A spokesman for the British Dietetic Association said that people, particularly those already at normal or low weight, should be "extremely careful" about attempting such a diet.
She said: "There is other evidence that, far from enhancing memory, dieting or removing meals can interfere with memory and brain function.
"A drop of 30% in calories is a significant one for someone who is not overweight, and should not be undertaken lightly.
"It could even be dangerous if the person is already underweight."

Fit in 15 Minutes! Try these great quickie workouts

2012-01-18T14:32:00.000-08:00

A study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology in 2007 showed that men who did short workouts with rest periods in between burned more fat than those who did longer, more sustained workouts. In other words two fifteen minute workouts per day burns more fat than a single sustained thirty minute workout. In order to maximize fitness and fat burning, it’s important to exercise at a higher intensity during these shorter workouts. A slow fifteen minute walk is better than no exercise at all, however it would be more effective as a power interval work interspersing your fastest walking pace for a minute with a 30 second recovery at a slower pace.

Shorter workouts throughout the day add up to significant health benefits. Having several shorter workout bursts increases your after burn – the calories you burn after the session, because you get several metabolic boosts throughout the day. For those without a lot of time or who are intimidated by a longer session or simply don’t have the stamina, shorter sessions are appealing, manageable and productive.

Some ideas for Quickie Workouts

Set up a circuit with 6 exercises. Allow for a minute at each station with 30 seconds rest in between each exercise and repeat twice for an 18 minute fat blasting session. Here are three sample workouts!

1. Cardio – Jump rope, Jack touchdowns, high knees, butt kicks, side shuffle, jump shots,

2. Strength – Pushups, squats, dips, lunges, sit ups, plank

3. Cardio + Strength – Walking Lunges, Reverse Plank, jump squats, seated hold, sumo squats, squat jacks

Use one piece of equipment to keep the workout moving fast. Here are 3 examples:

1. Fit ball (large ball) – sit ups, wall sits, pushups (feet on ball), leg drops (ball between feet when lying), lying hamstring curl with ball under heels, hamstring curl (ball under heels).

2. Medicine ball – squats holding ball, overhead slams, sit-ups, push up pass, overhead press, seated elbow dip

3. Exercise bar (body bar or any weighted bar) – squats, lunges, overhead press, chest press, curls, triceps extensions, roll ups

4. Resistance bands with handles – squats, bicep curl, overhead press, triceps extension, lunges, rows, chest press, side rotations, side bends

Use an exercise video – these are convenient and you can choose a video that is of shorter duration or breaks the workouts down into segments that you perform in 15 – 20 minute intervals.

Invest in a piece of exercise equipment for your home. If you have a bike, treadmill or elliptical trainer in the next room, you are much more likely to use it more often than at the gym. You will use it even more if a TV is within sight.

Set your alarm for workout breaks throughout the day. The alarm will remind you to get up for 15 minutes and do a power walk, get out the jump rope, climb the stairs at the office or perform your best dance or martial arts moves. 10 – 15 minutes can get your heart pounding and leave you feeling invigorated, accomplished and looking forward to the next bout!

11 Easy Ways to Load Up on Healthy Omega-3 Fats

2009-08-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering information. I have said in the past that I am not a fan of taking vitamins without having testing done. You are completely guessing if you go to the grocery store or health food store and begin stocking up on vitamins. Most of the time the quality is poor and you have no idea if that’s what your body needs. Besides a multi vitamin as a catch all, the one thing that I believe everyone can benefit from supplementing with is fish oil. We simply don’t’ get enough Omega’s from our diet unless you are eating a lot of the food sources listed below.

Of the tribes who live to be over 100 years old, all have a rich omega diet. Omegas are important for heart health, skin, to prevent Alzheimer’s and more. Read the article below to begin adding these omega rich foods to your diet. If you are not getting enough of these foods, consider a supplement.

11 Easy Ways to Load Up on Healthy Omega-3 Fats

Food choices you make every day can boost your omega-3 intake

By Sarah Baldauf

Posted August 1, 2008

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential to good health, but their benefits may be missed because the American diet is chock full of omega-6 fatty acids instead. (Learn more about the pros and cons of omega-3s and 6s here.) Many foods contain both fatty acids. To ensure you get your fill of -3, you'll need to be conscientious at the grocery store. Here are 11 ways to get more omega-3 and crowd out omega-6:

Video: Healthful Eating Recipes

Video: Healthful Eating Recipes

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Recommendations by Loomia

Salmon. This fatty fish is exploding with omega-3 and is relatively low in omega-6. It just may be the best omega-3 bang for your buck in the seafood aisle.

Bluefin tuna. This fatty fish is packed with omega-3s and low in omega-6. Not so keen on tuna? You've got choices: mackerel, herring, and rainbow trout.

Anchovies and sardines. Though not everyone's favorite, these slimy, oily options are other good omega-3 sources. They also tend to be high in sodium, though.

Crustaceans. Fish isn't the only kind of seafood that packs an omega-3 wallop. Shrimp, mollusks, and Alaskan king crab are also excellent sources that also won't load you up with omega-6.

Oils. Throw a dash of flaxseed oil onto salad and start cooking with canola oil for a nice hit of omega-3. By subbing out other vegetable oils (like soybean, corn, and cottonseed oils), you'll also lessen your omega-6 load.

Beans. Some legumes are better than others for tipping the omega balance your way. Kidney, pinto, and mungo beans will do you right. Chickpeas are less helpful.

Nuts and seeds. Add a nutty flavor to salad, yogurt, or morning mueslix with walnuts or flaxseed. A small handful of either will up your omega-3 intake.

Spinach. Popeye was on to something. Serve up this leafy green in a salad, or sauté it and add it to pasta.

Winter squash. Keep an eye out for this seasonal vegetable—it makes an interesting side dish that boosts your omega-3 intake.

Broccoli and cauliflower. These cruciferous veggies are on your side when it comes to omega-3s.

Papaya. A tropical delight, papaya may be the only fruit in your supermarket with more omega-3 than omega-6.

For more advice on balancing essential fatty acids in your diet, read "The Right Way to Get Your Omega-3s and -6s."

End

Have a healthy day,

Tips for Eating Fast Food

2009-08-07T16:16:00.000-07:00

I hope you don’t eat fast food, but if you do, here are a few healthier options from the American Heart Association. Below that you can see some healthier choices at family restaurants.

Tips for Eating Fast Food

grilled chicken sandwich

Fast food used to mean fried food, but today food franchises are offering people more healthy alternatives. Chef salads, grilled chicken sandwiches and frozen yogurt are just three examples.

Tips

Beware of topping burgers with cheese, special (mayonnaise-based) sauce and bacon — they add saturated fat and calories.

* Pickles, onions, lettuce, tomato, mustard and catsup add flavor without the fat.
* Steer clear of fried fish sandwiches.
* A baked potato can be a healthy option, but have it with low-fat sour cream instead of butter, full-fat sour cream or cheese.

Instead of Try

Danish

Small bagel

Jumbo cheeseburgers

Grilled chicken, sliced meats or even a regular 2 oz. hamburger on a bun with lettuce, tomato and onion

Fried chicken or tacos

Grilled chicken or salad bar (but watch out for high-calorie dressings and ingredients)

Fried chicken pieces

Chicken fajita pitas

French fries

Baked potato with vegetables or low-fat or fat-free sour cream topping

Potato chips

Pretzels, baked potato chips

Milkshake

Juice or low-fat or fat-free milk or a diet soft drink. (Limit beverages that are high in calories but low in nutrients, such as soft drinks)

Tips for Eating at Family Restaurants

garden fresh salad

Too tired to cook? When you pack the family off to one of the many mid-priced "family style" restaurants, keep these healthy selections in mind.

Tips

* Avoid dishes with lots of cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise.
* Instead of fried oysters, or fried fish or chicken, choose boiled spiced shrimp, or baked, boiled or grilled fish or chicken.
* Choose bread or pita pockets over croissants.
* Salads make great meals, but be careful of the dressing.
* Split a large entree with another family member. You’ll save dollars — and calories!
* Try to avoid all-you-can-eat buffets because you're more likely to eat more than you need.

Instead of Try

Cream soups

Broth-based soups with lots of vegetables

Quiche and salad

Soup and salad

Buffalo chicken wings

Peel-and-eat shrimp

Fried chicken sandwich

Blackened chicken sandwich

Chicken fried steak

Veggie burger

French fries or potatoes and gravy

Baked potato; potatoes without gravy; rice without gravy; cooked greens made without salt pork or lard

Creamy coleslaw

Sautéed vegetables or tossed salad

Hot fudge sundae or ice cream

Non-fat yogurt, sherbet or fruit ice

End

Have a pleasant day and a fabulous weekend,

Top 10 Healthy places to visit or live!

2009-08-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information – Your environment has a great influence on your physical, spiritual and mental health. Who you are surrounded by and the environment you are in influence your mood, habits, attitude and ultimately your actions. If the first thing you do when you rise and the last thing you do before you fall asleep is listen to the local news, you will be filled with thoughts of worry, fear and negativity. If you read an enlightening book, start or finish your day in a meditative state giving thanks, you will be in a different mood.

As I have told you, I have not watched the news in about 20 years with a few exceptions like when I am by myself in a hotel room and I surf the channels as I am getting ready for my day or winding down. This past week I was in Long Beach California and in quickly surfing past the news channels, the reports were horrific, from gang killings and drive by shootings to even more very graphic violence. It was disturbing.

Last fall I was in Colorado Springs and could not help but notice the news. The talks were about the weather for hiking, the water temps for kayaking, the sunrise and sun set for the nature trails to open, the outdoor festival going on in town and so on. It was so refreshing. I was just reading a copy of Outside Magazine and saw their latest report on America’s Best Cities. It’s no wonder that Colorado Springs is listed as one of their favorites. If you are planning your next vacation or maybe your retirement or investment home, you might consider these picks. Also click on the link for the top 10 favorite small best cities. I’ve visited 5 of the 10 cities. So I have a lot to aspire to travel to.

Outside Magazine, August 2009

Best Towns 2009

America's Best Cities

Healthy. That's the word we kept coming back to. And we don’t mean a fit or skinny population; we’re talking about a city’s cultural vibrancy, economic well-being, and overall quality of life. Presenting our picks for the 10 best cities in America.

Seattle

Seattle (courtesy of Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau)

How We Ranked Them

First, we started with the 100 most populated cities in America, using public data to rank them on factors like cost of living, unemployment,

Where to Vent

Still think we screwed up by not picking your town? Let us know in our forum.

nightlife, commute time, and access to green spaces. Then we took the 28 candidates with the highest overall averages and put them through a second round of number crunching, comparing things like the percentage of the population with college degrees, income level in relation to home prices, and weather. The wild card? Our own multisport factor, which rated each of our finalists on a scale of 1 to 5 for quality and proximity to biking, running, paddling, hiking, and skiing. After adding it all up, we had our top ten.

10. Charlotte, North Carolina

9. Cincinnati, Ohio

8. Minneapolis, Minnesota

7. Portland, Oregon

6. Albuquerque, New Mexico

5. Boston, Massachusetts

4. Austin, Texas

3. Atlanta, Georgia

2. Seattle, Washington

1. Colorado Springs, Colorado

PLUS: Our 10 favorite small towns

Have an extraordinary day!

Do you crave salads? YOU CAN

2009-08-04T16:24:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information – I hope you get to the point where you crave salads. If the thought of eating a salad is about as appealing as poking yourself with a stick, you need to try some new salads that are more flavorful. When I make a salad I usually open the fruit and vegetable bin and pull everything out. I take combinations of what ever may be in there – spinach, zucchini, peppers, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, Clementine oranges, strawberries, grapes, etc. Then I’ll go to the pantry and add in some beans and nuts and then may sprinkle in some cheese for fat and flavor. I like a salad that is colorful and heavily textured with a variety of crunchy foods. I also like simple salads – cucumbers with red onion or Tomato with basil or roasted peppers and root veggies. Sometimes a simple romaine salad with oregano, extra virgin light olive oil and balsamic vinegar hit the spot. Other times a bean salad is in order. Know there are no limits on your salads. Look for ingredients you will like.

The following are some of the salad recipes found in the Adventure Boot Camp Cook which is an electronic cook book available at www.KelliCalabrese.com for 19.95. There are over 100 recipes created by myself, master chef Barb Apt from Lantana as well as some of our most successful Adventure Boot Camp Coaches.

Chapter Six

Revitalizing Salads

Anti Aging Spinach Strawberry Salad

Bright and Hearty Salad

Caesar Style Hearts of Romaine Salad with Garlic Soy Dressing

Chicken Mango Spinach Salad

Cucumber and Onion Salad

Orange and Avocado Salad

Roasted Pear Salad with Mixed Berry Vinaigrette

Sweet and Spicy Asian Chicken Salad

Watermelon Salad

Italian Caprese Salad

Savory Chicken Salad

I am also including the recipe of the Spinach Salad – pic is below (shown without the delicious dressing).

Chicken Mango Spinach Salad

Contributed by Sandy Liebman

Yields 5 servings

1 bag (10 ounces) baby spinach leaves

1 medium mango, peeled, sliced

1 medium avocado, peeled, sliced

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

4 ounces raspberries

1 tablespoon orange juice

4 ounces olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups grilled, sliced chicken breast

Puree raspberries, orange juice and olive oil in blender. Strain out raspberry seeds. Salt and pepper to taste.

Toss spinach with mango, avocado and onion in large bowl. Add dressing; mix lightly.

Spoon onto five plates. Top with chicken. Serve immediately.

End

Top 10 Health Benefits of a Good Nights Sleep

2009-08-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information – At least once per camp I talk about the benefits of sleeping. The proper amount of sleep is so important for your health. You are demanding a lot on your body to wake up early and exert you self to high intensities. Most of the things we do at night are not the most productive (surfing the web, watching the news or reality TV, communicating with strangers on social networking sites, talking on the phone). It should be easy to shut down 30 – 60 minutes earlier. Strive to get in bed by 10 – the latest. I promise you won’t miss anything.

Read the article below from about.com on the Top 10 Health Benefits of a Good Nights Sleep. It is difficult to lose fat is you are sleep deprived. Get to bed tonight!

Top 10 Health Benefits of a Good Night's Sleep
Why sleep matters to you

By Mark Stibich, Ph.D., About.com

Updated May 08, 2009

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

Sleep, we all love it, especially when you wake up from a great night's sleep. In the past, sleep was often ignored by doctors and surrounded by myths, but now we are beginning to understand the importance of sleep to overall health and well-being. In fact, when people get less than 6 or 7 hours of sleep each night, their risk for developing diseases begins to increase.

1. Sleep Keeps Your Heart Healthy

Heart attacks and strokes are more common during the early morning hours. This fact may be explained by the way sleep interacts with the blood vessels. Lack of sleep has been associated with worsening of blood pressure and cholesterol, all risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Your heart will be healthier if you get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night.

More Info

2. Sleep May Prevent Cancer

People working the late shift have a higher risk for breast and colon cancer. Researchers believe this link is caused by differing levels of melatonin in people who are exposed to light at night. Light exposure reduces the level of melatonin, a hormone that both makes us sleepy and is thought to protect against cancer. Melatonin appears to suppress the growth of tumors. Be sure that your bedroom is dark to help your body produce the melatonin it needs.

More Info

3. Sleep Reduces Stress

When your body is sleep deficient, it goes into a state of stress. The body's functions are put on high alert which causes an increase in blood pressure and a production of stress hormones. Higher blood pressure increases your risk for heart attacks and strokes. The stress hormones also, unfortunately, make it harder for you to sleep. Learn relaxation techniques to counter the effects of stress. There are also stress reduction techniques for sleep.

More Info

4. Sleep Reduces Inflammation

The increase in stress hormones raises the level of inflammation in your body, also creating more risk for heart-related conditions, as well as cancer and diabetes. Inflammation is thought to one of the causes of the deterioration of your body as you age.

More Info

5. Sleep Makes You More Alert

Of course, a good night's sleep makes you feel energized and alert the next day. Being engaged and active not only feels great, it increases your chances for another good night's sleep. When you wake up feeling refreshed, use that energy to get out into the daylight, do active things, and be engaged in your world. You'll sleep better the next night and increase your daily energy level.

More Info

6. Sleep Bolsters Your Memory

Researchers do not fully understand why we sleep and dream, but a process called memory consolidation occurs during sleep. While your body may be resting, your brain is busy processing your day, making connections between events, sensory input, feelings and memories. Your dreams and deep sleep are an important time for your brain to make memories and links. Getting more quality sleep will help you remember and process things better.

More Info

7. Sleep May Help You Lose Weight

Researchers have also found that people who sleep less than seven hours per night are more likely to be overweight or obese. It is thought that the lack of sleep impacts the balance of hormones in the body that affect appetite. The hormones ghrelin and leptin, important for the regulation of appetite, have been found to be disrupted by lack of sleep. So if you are interested in controlling or losing weight, don't forget to pay attention to getting a good night's sleep.

More Info

8. Naps Make You Smarter

Napping during the day is not only an effective and refreshing alternative to caffeine, it can also protect your health and make you more productive. A study of 24,000 Greek adults showed that people who napped several times a week had a lower risk for dying from heart disease. People who nap at work have much lower levels of stress. Napping also improves memory, cognitive function and mood.

9. Sleep May Reduce Your Risk for Depression

Sleep impacts many of the chemicals in your body, including serotonin. People with a deficiency in serotonin are more likely to suffer from depression. You can help to prevent depression by making sure you are getting the right amount of sleep, between 7 and 9 hours each night.

More Info

10. Sleep Helps the Body Make Repairs

Sleep is a time for your body to repair damage caused by stress, ultraviolet rays and other harmful exposures. Your cells produce more protein while you are sleeping. These protein molecules form the building blocks for cells, allowing them to repair damage.

More on Improving Your Sleep

More Fun Ways to Live Longer

More Info

Sources

Archives of Internal Medicine, 1 2003;163:205-209.

Archives of Internal Medicine, 2. 2007;167(3):296-301.

Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. Vol. 13, 936-943, June 2004.

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Vol. 89, No. 5 2119-2126.

Public Library of Science. PLoS Medicine Vol. 1, No. 3, e68 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0010068.

Brigham and Women's Hospital Reducing Your Risk for Depression.

NIH Senior Health Sleep and Aging.

End

Have a fantastic day!

Top 8% of the population .... WOW

2009-07-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

Today’s Repowering Information – Congratulations for being in the top 8% of the population that takes care of themselves by exercising regularly, limiting alcohol intake, eating fruits and veggies, and avoiding smoking. It does not sound like much and it seems to be common sense but more than 90% of the population is not exercising, consuming too much alcohol, avoiding fruits and veggies and or smoking. Those are some pretty sad statics. I am thankful you are in the minority, the healthy ones, the thrivers!

Let what you live each day be contagious. Continue to be a good role model for your children, spouses, family, neighbors and strangers. The reward is worth it!

American's Health Habits: Worse Than Ever

David Schipper June 18, 2009 from Core Performance

It appears that we’re failing in our attempt to turn this country fit, according to sad new statistics out of the Medical University of South Carolina, which show that even fewer of us are adhering to a healthy lifestyle when compared to life habits from two decades ago.

The number of people exercising 12 times a month or more, not smoking, eating five or more fruits and vegetables daily, imbibing alcohol moderately and maintaining a healthy weight has decreased from 15 percent to 8 percent between the periods of 1988-1994 and 2001-2006. The results come from a comparison of two large-scale government studies of the U.S. population.

More details:

* In the intervening years, the percentage of adults aged 40-74 years with a body mass index greater than 30 has increased from 28 percent to 36 percent.

* Physical activity 12 times a month or more has decreased from 53 percent to 43 percent.

* Eating five or more fruits and vegetables a day has decreased from 42 percent to 26 percent. Smoking rates have increased slightly (26.9 percent to 26.1 percent).

* Moderate alcohol use has increased from 40 percent to 51 percent.

What’s worse, the researchers also concluded that people with heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or risk factors for those conditions, were no more likely to stick to a healthy lifestyle than healthy Americans.

The take-home: If you're in the 8 percent of Americans maintaining healthy habits, keep up the great work. And if you see your family members and friends losing their fight with fat, give them support. We all need it.

End

This will be the last e-mail to the June 29th Boot Camp Group. I will begin using the August 3rd contact list immediately so please sign up so that you don’t miss anything. www.ArgyleBootCamp.com.

Thank you all for your commitment to fitness, to me as your coach and to Argyle Adventure Boot Camp. I appreciate you and always welcome your feedback. Please feel free to send me your thoughts on camp and I will consider them moving forward. I want this to be the best camp and provide you with the best results!

Have a beautiful week.

A list of foods that people think are healthy, but really are not.

2009-07-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering information – I came across this list of foods that people think are healthy, but really are not. Some will be obvious to you b/c you are so savvy, but others may not. I searched for this list in working with a new client who is over 250 pounds (she lost 6 pounds her first week). I feel like her diet is so poor that even things that seem obvious to her are not. She is making better, but still poor choices. Change happens gradually. I still thought everyone would find this info helpful b/c it gives you some great alternatives. Pass this one on.

Foods and Drinks that People Think are Healthy but are Not Healthy

E-mail

Written by Jeff Behar, MS, MBA

Today more than ever many people want to look good, feel good and fight the bulge, so many people try to eat healthy anunhealthy health foodsd try to eat good. I stress the word "try" because although many people want to eat healthy, so many people lack the basic understanding of nutrition, and in their efforts to eat healthy foods, many people eat foods that are totally unhealthy for them. Marketing tricks, marketing gimmicks and deceptive advertising of many food companies and also poor nutrition knowledge by the media and many people blogging about healthy foods across the web does not help matters. The following is a list off several "health foods" and "health drinks" that are just not that healthy.

UNHEALTHY BREAKFAST FOODS

Breakfast Cereals. Breakfast cereals may be quick, and many taste good, but most are horribleunhealthy cereals for your health

The downside: Most breakfast cereals are often high in sugar & salt and their vitamin/mineral content is chemical based. Drop that spoon.

If you can’t resist: Opt for cereals with LESS processed sugars. Do realize though, that not all low sugar cereals will be healthier than their full-sugar counterparts. When you pick up a box of cereal, read the ingredients list. Try to select cereals listing whole-grain wheat, whole oats or wheat bran as the first ingredient. Whole-grain cereals will have more fiber. These are the healthiest cereals because they stabilize the body's sugar-control system, reducing the incidence of Type 2 diabetes and lower the risk to heart disease. Also look for cereals that are fortified with vitamins and minerals. Look for cereals fortified with B-vitamins, zinc and iron, as well as a high amount of vitamin C because it aids in iron's absorption. Good examples include: Kellogg's Complete Wheat Bran Flakes, Kellogg's Mini-Wheats, and Kashi Heart to Heart Cereal. Of course there are many more. Just read the labels and choose wisely.

Healthy alternative(s): Healthy alternative: non-processed cereals like bran, or no sugar added oatmoatmealeal. Everyone knows how healthy non-processed cereals like bran cereals are; since they contain lots of fiber (a mere 1/3rd cup of bran contains about 14 grams of fiber). To improve the taste and add variety you can cut up small pieces of high fiber fruit like, apples, dates, figs, pears and prunes and easily reach your recommended daily amount of fiber before you even leave the house!.

If you do not like the taste of bran type cereals a great Healthy alternative is oatmeal. A steaming bowl of fresh cooked oatmeal is the perfect way to start off your day, especially if you are trying to prevent or are currently dealing with heart disease or diabetes. With the exception of certain flavored varieties, oatmeal is 100% natural. Oatmeal contains several important vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, heart health fiber, and a wide variety of additional nutrients and phytonutrients important to good health. There are several confirmed health benefits attributed to old fashioned oatmeal; as long as it is the unprocessed version. Oats, oat bran, and oatmeal contain a specific type of fiber known as beta-glucan which can enhance the human immune system's response to bacterial infection, lower blood sugar levels, lower blood pressure, lower risk to several cancers, lower risk to type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, obesity, and lower the risk to cardiovascular disease which reduces the risk to conditions such as atherosclerosis, heart attack and stroke. This soluble fiber helps remove LDL or "bad" cholesterol, while maintaining the good cholesterol that the body needs. An added benefit of beta-glucan, is there are studies that show beta-glucan enhances the human immune system's response to bacterial infection. Study after study has proven the beneficial effects of beta-glucan on cholesterol levels. Studies show that in individuals with high cholesterol (above 220 mg/dl), consuming just 3 grams of soluble oat fiber per day (an average amount found in one bowl of oatmeal) typically lowers total cholesterol by 8-23%. This is highly significant since each 1% drop in serum cholesterol translates to a 2% decrease in the risk of developing heart disease. The soluble fiber in oatmeal absorbs a considerable amount of water which significantly slows down your digestive process. This result is that you'll feel full longer, i.e. oatmeal can help you control your weight.

Higher intakes of whole grains like oatmeal also increase insulin sensitivity by lowering the glycemic index. The soluble fiber slows also down the digestion of starch which keeps blood sugar steady. This reduces the risk for type 2 diabetes. Oats are also a very good source of several antioxidants like, vitamin E, tocotrieonols, selenium, phenolic acids, phytic acid and a unique antioxidant compound called avenanthramide. These multifunctional antioxidants come in immediate-release to slow-release forms and thus are available throughout the gastrointestinal tract over a long period after being consumed. These powerful antioxidants prevent free radicals from causing damage to cells in the body, reducing the risk to several diseases, including cardiovascular disease, and for cancer, especially colon cancer and breast cancer. Oats and other whole grains contain many other important micronutrients like: phytoestrogens, plant compounds that may lower the risk to cancers, and positively affect blood cholesterol levels, blood vessel elasticity, bone metabolism, and many other cellular metabolic processes; B vitamins, minerals like copper, iron, phosphorus, zinc, manganese and magnesium, a mineral that acts as a co-factor for more than 300 enzymes, including enzymes involved in the body's use of glucose and insulin secretion. Oatmeal cooked in milk enhances the food value of the dish, as milk is rich in calcium and protein. Also consider adding a scoop of metabolism-boosting protein.

Instant Flavored Oatmeal: Instant flavored oatmeal are not the same as their 100% naquaker_flavored_instant_oatmealtural cousins. Although they have oats in them, they are not as healthy as you may think.

The downside: Most instant oatmeal contains large amounts of sugars and has less fiber than the unprocessed versions.

If you can’t resist: Opt for 100% rolled oats and add in some fruit, or some natural sweeteners

Healthy alternative(s): 100% rolled oats. 100% rolled oats provide all the health effects discussed above.

Muffins. Many people reach for a bran muffin believing that a bran muffin is healthy and palarge_muffinrt of a nutritious breakfast.

The downside: Most bran muffins contain little bran. Additionally many muffins today are HUGE. Years ago, one muffin was approximately 150, 3 to 5 grams of fat and about the size of tennis ball. Today, muffins are supersized! It is not uncommon for a muffin to be 350 to 450 calories, with 15 to 20- grams of fat. They also contain little to no protein. Protein is important to body functions and it also helps increase insulin sensitivity by lowering the glycemic index of the meal, and increase fullness.

If you can’t resist: Stick to muffins that are of normal size (or split one with someone). Opt for muffins with a short ingredient list, made from whole grain flour, corn meal or bran. Choose a muffin that has 5 or more grams of fiber, less than 200 calories per serving and no more than 5 grams of fat or added sugars.

Healthy alternative: Try a whole-grain English muffin. Spread a light layer of peanut butter on a toasted half, and then top with fruit. That will set you back only about 150 calories, plus you’ll have some healthy nutrients to show for it.

Bagel with Cream Cheese. Many people grab a bagel, often with cream cheese or jam in thebagels-and-cream-cheese morning. This may be easy and quick, but definitely not healthy.

The downside: A bagel at some of the bagel chains can be four servings of bread. Most also contain processed white flour, and simple carbs that will convert quickly to sugar once in your body. They also contain little nutrition and barely any protein. A bagel with cream cheese can top the calorie charts at approximately 500-700 calories and can contain upwards of 40 grams of fat! The bread is bad enough, containing 300 calories and 60 grams of carbohydrates, but add a healthy serving of cream cheese and your "harmless" bagel weighs in as worse than a Whopper.

If you can’t resist: If you must have a bagel, look for bagels made from whole grains where possible. This would make a slightly better choice, as the added fiber would help slow down the breakdown from starch to sugar. Eat half the bagel and top it with an egg white omelet or some tuna or white fish. This swap will save you nearly 200 calories, plus provide a surge of metabolism-boosting protein. Note: most bagel chains “whole wheat” bagels, are anything but whole wheat. Most “whole wheat” bagels are mostly white flour with a little whole wheat thrown in.

Healthy alternative: Skip the bagel and have a egg white omelet. This swap will save you nearly 300 calories, plus provide a surge of metabolism-boosting protein. And a recent study from the University of Connecticut found that eating eggs can help raise HDL (good) cholesterol.

Yogurt with Fruit at the Bottom. Individually, fruit and yogurt are two of the healthiest food choiyoghurt_with_fruit_on_the_bottomces at the grocery store. Yogurt is nutrient-rich. Live and active cultures are beneficial for the intestines and immune system. Fruit can provide lots of good vitamins and minerals, and also fiber. But Yogurt with fruit at the bottom does not offer the same healthy benefits of eating these items separately and in their unprocessed form.

The downside: If you are eating yogurt with fruit at the bottom in the morning, you might as well be eating candy. Manufacturers add corn syrup to most of these products which effectively doubles the amount of sugar. A small cup can contain upwards of 30n grams of sugar! Even the fat free products are not necessarily healthy. They still contain lots of added sugars. The low sugar varieties may also not be so healthy. Most of these varieties contain artificial sweeteners like aspartame suspected to cause health effects.

If you can’t resist: Choose the lower sugar varieties that contain active yogurt cultures.

Healthy alternative: Make your own yogurt and fruit snack. Mix a cup of nonfat plain yogurt with a half cup of mixed berries. This way you minimize the sugar, and maximize the health benefits of the yogurt. Natural unprocessed yogurt contains live active cultures to help your digestive system, as well as metabolism boosting protein.

UNHEALTHY LUNCH FOODS

Store Bought Sandwiches. Most store bought sandwiches are anything but healthy. Even thsubway-sandwiche sandwiches labeled as healthy, can contain more calories and more fat than a fast food hamburger.

The downside: Most store bought sandwiches contain highly processed luncheon meets (see below) that are full of preservatives. They also often contain sugar-laden salad dressings, little veggies & proteins and too much white bread. The freshness is questionable and you need the foot-long to fill your stomach. The large amount of processed white bread and small serving of protein causes a surge in blood sugar. Because the protein serving is usually small, it does little to lower blood sugar and increase satiety (fullness) levels.

Often labeled “fitness” or “light”, but containing sugar-laden salad dressings, little veggies & proteins and too much white bread. Freshness is questionable and you need the foot-long to fill your stomach. Few things are quite as American as brown-bagging it with a bologna or ham and cheese lunchmeat sandwich. Indeed, refrigerated processed meats, including deli meats, brought in about $17 billion in 2004, according to a report by Packaged Facts. Refrigerated sliced lunchmeats are a $3-billion industry.

If you can’t resist: Look for sandwiches that are fresh, little to no preservatives, low fat dressings (e.g., mustard instead of mayo, or vinaigrette with healthy oils), and containing a healthy serving of low fat protein (e.g., fresh turkey breast).

Healthy alternative: Make your own healthy sandwiches with a healthy serving of low fat protein and healthy serving of vegetables.

Lunch Meats. Refrigerated sliced lunch meats are a $3-billion industry. Luncheon meats are easy,hillshirefarms_blackpepper turkey breast quick and convenient. For many it is a quick way to get needed protein into their diet.

The downside: Many lunch meats, including ham, turkey and roast beef contain added solutions of water, sodium and water or water and spices. Most luncheon meats contain nitrites and nitrates (preservatives), monosodium glutamate (MSG), and other coloring and flavoring additives that have been linked to cancer. Nitrates can lead to the formation of nitrosamines, "which have been identified as carcinogenic substances for quite some time. Cancers of the esophagus, larynx, mouth, liver and stomach seem to be associated with nitrosamines. Monosodium glutamate (MSG has been associated with sudden cardiac death, particularly in athletes, and excitotoxic damage to brain neurons. If this was not bad enough, in August 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved six viruses as a food additive to be sprayed on cold cuts and packaged deli meats to protect against the food-borne-bacteria Listeria monocytogenes that is sometimes found on cold, packaged meat products

If you can’t resist: Choose low fat luncheon meets that do not contain preservatives, coloring and other flavoring additives.

Healthy alternative: Have your grocer cut your luncheon meets directly from freshly cooked whole turkey or chicken breast.

Fast Food Salads. People today want to be healthy, and in an effort to be healthy many peopunhealthy saladle opt out of the burger and fries at a fast food place and reach for what they believe to be a healthier alternative: a salad. However, all salads are not equal when it comes to nutrition, and just because a salad has a little lettuce and is served in a bowl does not make it healthy. In fact MOST store bought salads, and MOST salads from fast food establishments are anything BUT healthy.

The downside: Often these salads lack the darker healthier vegetables, use iceberg lettuce rather than a healthier alternative. These salads also often come with fattening products already on them, like whole eggs and cheese. Once you add the sugar-laden salad dressings, bacon bits, and the croutons which tend to be fried or baked in oil, these “healthy” salads can top 800 calories and contain over 65g of fat. This is more calories and fat than a McDonald’s Big Mac and medium fries. A salad like this contains 70 percent of the fat that a man should eat in a day, and almost 100% of the fat that a woman should consume in a day.

If you can’t resist: Order a salad that does not come with fattening cheese and other fattening products on it. Look for a salad with lots of different colors as it’s likely to have one or two of your five to seven vegetables a day. Pass on the sugar-laden salad dressings, the croutons, the bacon bits and most of the other “sides” they throw in.

Healthy alternative: Make your own salads. This way you can control exactly what is in the salad. You can also ensure that you include enough veggies and enough protein and minimize unhealthy fats and toppings that are loaded with salt, sugar, preservatives and unhealthy fats. In regards to dressings, opt for balsamic vinegar. If you are creative, you can also create your own fresh healthy salad dressing, using ingredients like heart healthy olive oil, garlic, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and Dijon mustard. Beans, raw almonds, and tomato salsa can also make great salad toppers.

“Light and Healthy” Frozen Meals. Frozen meals are quick and convenient. There is no argufrozen_mealment that frozen dinners have become less unhealthy over the years with the addition of such options as Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, and South Beach. Although these ”healthy” versions include some vegetables and low fat protein, these “healthy” frozen meals are still not all that healthy.

The downside : These frozen meals are processed, high in sugar, and come with sauces and are still usually high in sodium. Many frozen dinners contain preservatives such as BHT, a possible carcinogen in animals, as well as polysorbate 80 and propylene glycol, the same ingredient found in antifreeze. Although consuming these preservatives from an occasional frozen dinner is unlikely to be harmful, combining frozen dinners with other processed foods on a daily basis could expose you to more preservatives than you need. Most frozen dinners also contain a minimum of 600 mg of sodium and may have as much as 1,900 mg of sodium. With these high sodium values, it can be a challenge to stay within the recommended daily sodium intake of 2,400 mg. or less daily. Additionally the entrée in a healthy frozen dinner is often short on protein, and the vegetable sides included are often well under a serving, limiting your ability to consume the recommended five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. Eating too many heavily processed foods can also leave you short on key nutrients, fiber, vitamins and minerals.

If you can’t resist: Choose brands like Healthy Choice which have less fat, less sodium, less fats and less calories.

Healthy alternative: A healthier alternative would be to spend a day cooking large batches of your favorite meals, then freezing them in convenient portion-sized containers. The advantages to making your own frozen meals are: you can control what goes in them, there’s no need for preservatives, and they save you money. Another advantage homemade frozen dinners help you use up all your groceries, including canned veggies. This can be a huge money saver if you’re someone who finds food going to waste in your fridge or in your pantry.

Processed Soy Products. While soy may be low in fat and has some cardiovascular and osoy_burgersverall health benefits because of their high content of polyunsaturated fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals and low content of saturated fat, these benefits are not as substantial as was once believed. Emerging science is actually linking processed soy foods like soy milk, soy meat products, soy ice cream, soy energy bars, etc., to a variety of unhealthy conditions.

The downside: Despite the myriad of health claims that surround soy, processed soy foods like soy milk, soy meat products, soy ice cream, soy energy bars, etc., have been linked to:

· Lower testosterone in males

· Increased estrogen in males

· Digestive problems

· Thyroid dysfunction

· Cognitive decline

· Reproductive disorders

· Immune system breakdowns

· Heart disease

· Cancer (Phytic acid, trypsin inhibitors, toxic lysinoalanine and highly carcinogenic nitrosamines are all highly present in soy products).

· Increased incidences of breast cancer among women

If you can’t resist: If you want to eat soy, stick to the unprocessed versions (tempeh, miso and edamame). Eat all processed soy in moderation.

Healthy alternative: Any high protein whole food such chicken breast, turkey breast, fish, egg whites, low fat milk, goats milk, coconut milk, almond milk, high protein seeds, high protein beans, and lentils. High quality low fat natural protein powders made from whey and egg protein is also a good alternative.

UNHEALTHY SIDE DISHES

White pasta, white bread, white rice, etc. These products are a staple for many. However, these wonder_white_breadproducts through processing have had many health benefits of eating them removed. Most people are unaware of the health implications that consuming too much of them can cause.

The downside: White paste, white bread and white rice have had have been stripped of their outer bran coating and inner germ during the milling process, leaving only the endosperm. This removes the healthy fiber, and many of the healthy nutrients, including the phytochemicals and antioxidants which help to protect against coronary heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes. By removing the outer bran coating and inner germ during the milling process, the otherwise healthy lower glycemic foods become higher glycemic foods which increase the chances of developing insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and several other health conditions including obesity, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and many more. The bran also contains essential oils which help lower serum cholesterol which is a major risk factor in heart disease. Therefore the oil in the bran helps to reduce the risk of heart disease.

If you can’t resist: Eat these in moderation, choose smaller portions and add low fat protein to the meal which will lower the overall glycemic index and not raise blood sugar levels as badly.

Healthy alternative: Choose 100% whole grain versions of rice, pasta and bread, which have more fiber, more nutrients and have a lower glycemic index. Lower glycemic index foods are associated with a slower and less dramatic rise and fall of blood sugar.

Beans packed in sugary syrups (e.g., Boston Baked Beans). Baked beans are good for you bebaked_beanscause these types of beans are loaded with fiber; however this benefit comes with a number of downsides.

The downside: The sugary syrup that baked beans come in contains as much sugar as in a can of soda. This sugar spikes your blood sugar and insulin levels. This is never good for preventing heart disease or type II onset diabetes. It is also a very high caloric product that can contribute to weight gain.

If you can’t resist: Eat a small portion. Add in some low fat protein which will lower the overall glycemic index and slow the rise in blood sugar levels.

Healthy alternative: Choose red kidney beans or garbanzo beans which are packed with protein and fiber.

delmonte_fruit_cocktail

Fruit cocktail. Fruit cocktail has made the list for the obvious reasons, sugar and calories.

The downside: Fruit cocktails whether they come with heavy syrup or even in fruit juice are loaded with sugar. Typically there’s more sugar in a can of fruit cocktail than in a candy bar or a glass of soda. As far as nutritional benefits, because the fruit is processed you do not get the fiber and many of the nutritional benefits that you would get as you do with whole fruit. Also many of the brands also contain unhealthy preservatives. Stick to the real stuff/

If you can’t resist: Make your own fruit cocktail using whole fruits.

Healthy alternative: Eat whole fruit including the skin if possible, but limit it to one serving of fruit per meal/snack to avoid insulin spikes.

UNHEALTHY SNACKS

Granola Bars. Because granola bars contain two healthy ingredients, oats & nuts, mnatures-valley-oats-n-honey ganola barany people believe that granola bars are healthy. Adding to the confusion is they are often marketed as healthy food.

...

Eating Out....Supportively

2009-07-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

Our next camp goes from August 3rd to August 28th.

Eating Out....Supportively

Here are some tips from Molli Rathstone who is an Adventure Boot Camp owner in California. This will give you some guidance for eating out and staying with your plan to get lean and fit with Boot Camp.

Before you give up on eating out altogether here are some simple tips and how to fix a lot of restaurant craziness.

#1 Become a picky orderer. Yes become that person that everybody rolls their eyes at, At least you'll be lean and fit.

#2 Always, always, order your sandwich dry. This is even better then saying "no mayo " because so many items come with fancy spreads, that just add sodium, fat and sugar. In many instances, skipping the spread can take off anywhere between 60-100 calories.

#3 In fact anytime there is dressing involved in any way, order it on the side, even if you know you love it.

By ordering a Caesar salad w/ salmon (or grilled chicken) and taking off the croutons, dressing and skipping the side of bread. You are still left with a good piece of fish (or chicken), a large bed of lettuce and parmesan cheese, if you squeeze a little lemon on that you won't even need the dressing and you went from a salad that started at 1010 calories, to a healthy 300 calories, That's 700 calories because you made a conscious decision to take control back and didn't just blindly eat what was handed to you. (This example comes from Red Robin. They have a great website because they allow you to play with your meal and take off even tiny things like croutons and after you customize your order the website shows you what effect that had on your meal, it’s a great way to see how little choices can make or break your diet.)

#4 Don't be afraid to ask for kid's portions, especially when it comes to dessert. When I do go to Cold Stone Creamery, I always ask for a kids size.

#5 Pick one fat. In other words if you just can't stand a dry turkey sandwich order it with avocado, or if you really feel like cheese that day, order it with cheese but skip the avocado, if you have one source of fat on it don't double up. Or if you're dying for mayo then skip both the cheese and the avocado, get it? The same goes for protein? Choose 1 protein, you don't need the Italian grinder with salami and 3 other meats, pick one, load up on the pepperoncini and you won't even know the difference.

#6 Learn these words and you will save yourself countless calories per year? No Bacon. They sneak it on everything and it is absolutely unnecessary. Skip it, your heart will thank you. I just say it all the time now, No Bacon, No bacon, no bacon, just anytime I order even it it's a chocolate sundae, you never know they might be sneaking it in there.

#7 Do not drink those stupid fruity lemonade, syrup laden crap drinks! (Fruitopia etc...) Just stop it!!!!!!

Learn these words, un-sweetened ice tea please or water with lime.

#8 You know my policy on Juice places, if you are going into a juice bar, ask which drinks they have that offer whole fruit and get a small or a child's size, if you must.

#9 Learn to leave at least half of your food behind. If you look at the calorie content of many of the items on the menu, if you just cut the staggering number in half say from 1200 down to 600 it's still a salvageable day. Then Fill up on side salad.

#10 Start every dinner with a side salad (order it no cheese, no croutons, No BACON, and dressing on the side) It will help you fill up on fiber.

#11 When your meal does arrive eat a bit of protein first, from the plate, protein satiates you quicker than carbs.

#12 Have an apple 20 minutes before you head out to eat. Get in the habit of carrying apples in the car with you they're a great way to add some fiber, which will start to fill you up, and the small amount of sugar will help stabilize your blood sugar levels so you don't bite off the waitress' head before your food arrives.

#13 Don't drink alone- No I don't mean as in by yourself (shoot then I'd never get to drink, Tony doesn't drink) No I mean don't drink on an empty stomach. You'll end up drinking your dinner. Instead sip on a glass of wine until your salad arrives and make sure you don't order another drink until dinner is sitting in front of you. Alcohol gives you the misconception that you're no longer hungry and that you'd rather just have another drink because the sugar in the alcohol is so much easier for your body to digest, but it's a bad, bad, choice as you find out the next day.

#14 Your mother taught you to share, so do it. If you must have dessert, share one, not two or four so everybody can taste everything, but one. Everyone take one or two bites and that's it. After the first couple bites you're really just consuming the food anyway and no longer experiencing the flavor at the same level.

#15 It sounds ridiculous but slow down and chew your food consciously. I once dated a guy that was a crab fishermen, yeah like the insane show that's on TV. Anyway I have never seen a human being consume food faster than that guy, now he had an excuse, can you imagine how fast they have to consume calories on those boats! Slow down!! .We're all in such a rush, to get where?

Have a patient day.

7 Things You Don't Know About Green Tea

2009-07-21T16:44:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information – Speaking of tea . . .

7 Things You Don't Know About Green Tea

By Rona Tison,

By now, we know that drinking green tea is undoubtedly good for our bodies. The antioxidant and free-radical scavenging properties of green tea have made it a must-have for the health conscious and numerous studies highlight the potential benefits of green tea including cancer prevention and weight loss.

But green tea isn’t just a delicious and healthful drink; it can also be used as an at-home health and beauty remedy. Read on to find out 7 surprising things you didn’t know about green tea

*1. It can reduce puffy peepers*: Stayed out too late last night? Soaking a cotton pad in green tea and placing it over eyes for 10 minutes can reduce the puffiness of tired eyes, making you look revitalized and refreshed.

*2. It can soothe skin*: Spent a little too much time in the sun? Use the naturally calming properties of green tea to soothe sunburned skin. Place green tea in a spray bottle and mist on sunburned areas for all-natural relief. Because it has anti-bacterial qualities, green tea can also be used as an antiseptic to spray on skin blemishes or irritations.

*3. It’s great for teeth*: Green tea has fluoride in it, making it a superstar for keeping gums and teeth healthy. Green tea can even be used as a mouthwash to maintain breath.

*4. It can soothe sore throats*: The anti-viral effects of green tea make it an excellent remedy to help prevent the effects of a cold or flu. In fact, you can gargle with green tea to soothe a sore throat.

*5. It’s good for the bones*: Naturally high in minerals, green tea aids in strong bone density, which is important for maintaining good posture.

*6. It’s a room deodorizer*: Green tea leaves have traditionally been used to naturally absorb odors in a room. Place tea leaves in a bowl to help absorb unpleasant odors or leave some in the fridge in place of baking soda.

*7. It’s good for the feet*: Soaking tired feet in green tea can prevent unpleasant fungal infections.

End

Enjoy a cool glass of fruity tea today.

Have a thankful day,

Hormones in fat loss, fitness and health!!

2009-07-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information - My friend Nicole wrote some great information about hormones and how they play a role in fat loss, fitness and health. So much of how we feel is hormonally related. They control many of the symptoms we experience and we can influence them to be regulated naturally by how we sleep, what and when we eat, how we manage stress and so on. I’m passing it along to you as she wrote it.

As promised, I want to write about sugar/ insulin/hormones how they relate to fat loss or lack of fat loss. While I am not an expert in this area, I certainly can shed some light onto the topic as I best understand it. There is a lot more to the hormone story than I will present here, so these are just some basics:

Insulin- this is the number 1 hormone that needs to be controlled carefully in order to lose body fat. The better you control insulin , the leaner you will be. The very best way to control this hormone is by consuming low grams of carbohydrates at each meal and those carbs should only be of the highest quality and have a lower glycemic rating. When carbs are consumed beyond the moderate level, insulin is triggered and this happens rapidly. The fat storing, anabolic acting hormone goes right to work at reducing the sugar in the blood. If calories are high (and possibly even if they are not, fat storage is likely to result). Once in a while is not a big deal, but day after day this will cause weight gain and create the HABIT of over-consuming carbs. It is the refined carbs that you need to avoid, not the wholesome nutrient rich vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

To control weight gain and increase fat loss- control carb consumption.

Leptin- hormone responsible for regulating appetite and metabolism. Do not fast and get plenty of sleep. Skipping meals as well as sleep deprivation lowers leptin level. Leptin is helpful in controlling appetite.

Side note from the web:

Fructose and leptin resistance- A study published recently suggests that the consumption of high amounts of fructose causes leptin resistance and elevated triglycerides in rats. The high fructose diet rats subsequently ate more and gained more weight than controls when fed a high fat, high calorie diet

Ghrelin- hormone that increases appetite. It is also affected by lack of sleep, which increases the levels of this hormone.

Growth Hormone- This hormone can be stimulated easily with resistance training as well as plyometric or some types of intensity training such as sprints and plyometrics.It is very important to simultaneously has adequate nutrient intake in order for the growth hormone to be effective in muscle building and fat loss. This is an anabolic hormone and creates muscle growth. If there is an over abundance of refined carb consumption this hormone gets shut down.

Cortisol- stress hormone that flows through the body and is caused by many types of stressors. Life stress, emotions, feelings and even high duration cardio or over training. It is a catobolic hormone that weakens the body, breaks down muscle tissue and decreases immunity.Since you can not control so many factors in life that cause stress, you are best able to CONTROL YOUR REACTIONS to them. I know , easier said than done. Reading books about happiness, how to re-evaluate situations, and quotes are all helpful in reacting with a more positive attitude.

Glucagon this hormone is involved in carbohydrate metabolism. It is when carb consumption is low. I is a hormone that helps to release stored bodyfat.

This is the reason I emphasize the importance of keeping your overall glycemic load of each meal in check when fat loss is your primary goal. Hope it helped.

End

The standard of success in life isn't the things. It isn't the money or the stuff -- it is absolutely the amount of joy you feel.

--- Abraham

Have a restful weekend!

Eternal optimist

2009-07-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering information from one of my Mentors – Brian Tracy. This continues on the theme of being an eternal optimist.

Everyone wants to be physically healthy. You want to be mentally healthy as well. The true measure of "mental fitness" is how optimistic you are about yourself and your life.

In this newsletter, you learn how to control your thinking in very specific ways so that you feel terrific about yourself and your situation, no matter what happens.

Control Your Reactions and Responses
There are three basic differences in the reactions of optimists and pessimists. The first difference is that the optimist sees a setback as temporary, while the pessimist sees it as permanent. The optimist sees an unfortunate event, such as an order that falls through or a sales call that fails, as a temporary event, something that is limited in time and that has no real impact on the future. The pessimist, on the other hand, sees negative events as permanent, as part of life and destiny.

Isolate the Incident
The second difference between the optimist and the pessimist is that the optimist sees difficulties as specific, while the pessimist sees them as pervasive. This means that when things go wrong for the optimist, he looks at the event as an isolated incident largely disconnected from other things that are going on in his life.

See Setbacks as Temporary Events
For example, if something you were counting on failed to materialize and you interpreted it to yourself as being an unfortunate event, but something that happens in the course of life and business, you would be reacting like an optimist. The pessimist, on the other hand, sees disappointments as being pervasive. That is, to him they are indications of a problem or shortcoming that pervades every area of life.

Don't Take Failure Personally
The third difference between optimists and pessimists is that optimists see events as external, while pessimists interpret events as personal. When things go wrong, the optimist will tend to see the setback as resulting from external factors over which one has little control.

If the optimist is cut off in traffic, for example, instead of getting angry or upset, he will simply downgrade the importance of the event by saying something like, "Oh, well, I guess that person is just having a bad day."

The pessimist on the other hand, has a tendency to take everything personally. If the pessimist is cut off in traffic, he will react as though the other driver has deliberately acted to upset and frustrate him.

Remain Calm and Objective
The hallmark of the fully mature, fully functioning, self-actualizing personality is the ability to be objective and unemotional when caught up in the inevitable storms of daily life. The superior person has the ability to continue talking to himself in a positive and optimistic way, keeping his mind calm, clear and completely under control. The mature personality is more relaxed and aware and capable of interpreting events more realistically and less emotionally than is the immature personality. As a result, the mature person exerts a far greater sense of control and influence over his environment, and is far less likely to be angry, upset, or distracted.

Take the Long View
Look upon the inevitable setbacks that you face as being temporary, specific and external. View the negative situation as a single event that is not connected to other potential events and that is caused largely by external factors over which you can have little control. Simply refuse to see the event as being in any way permanent, pervasive or indicative of personal incompetence of inability.

Resolve to think like an optimist, no matter what happens. You may not be able to control events but you can control the way you react to them.

Action Exercises
Now, here are three actions you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, remind yourself continually that setbacks are only temporary, they will soon be past and nothing is as serious as you think it is.

Second, look upon each problem as a specific event, not connected to other events and not indicative of a pattern of any kind. Deal with it and get on with your life.

Third, recognize that when things go wrong, they are usually caused by a variety of external events. Say to yourself, "What can't be cured must be endured," and then get back to thinking about your goals.

12 Food Additives to Remove From Your Diet

2009-07-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

Rainbow Kebabs

These fresh fruit kebabs are simple to prepare and make a stunning display. It's perfect to bring to a barbeque or to enjoy as a healthy dessert. The fruit selections below aren't set in stone – use any fruit that is fresh and colorful.

Yield: 10 servings

Here's what you need...

* 10 wooden skewers
* 10 strawberries
* 10 bite-sized watermelon pieces
* 10 bite-sized cantaloupe pieces
* 10 bite-sized mango pieces
* 10 bite-sized pineapple pieces
* 10 bite-sized kiwi pieces
* 10 blueberries
* 10 blackberries

1. Put the chunks of fruit on each skewer in a rainbow pattern - red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
2. Place skewers on a platter and serve.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 60 calories, 0g fat, 15g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, and 1g protein.

Today’s Re-Powering Information – Again, since I am not doing a grocery shopping tour in the summer, I want to continue to feed you with info for when you grocery shop. The bottom line is to avoid all foods that have additives or things you do not recognize or can not pronounce.

From Dr. Mercola’s site.

12 Food Additives to Remove From Your Diet

alt="food additives">Many food additives have been studied and linked to various diseases. Becoming informed about the additives in everyday food items can make for an easier shopping experience and healthier food for everyone.

Here’s a list of some of the most medically questionable and harmful additives in everyday foods:

1. Sodium nitrite
2. BHA & BHT
3. Propyl gallate
4. Monosodium glutamate
5. Trans fats
6. Aspartame
7. Acesulfame-K
8. Food colorings (Blue, Red, Green, Yellow)
9. Olestra
10. Potassium bromate
11. White sugar
12. Sodium chloride (salt)

Since some of these may not be familiar to you, sodium nitrite is a preservative added most commonly to bacon, ham, hot dogs, sandwich meats, and smoked fish. BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) are other preservatives added to foods like cereal, gum, potato chips, and vegetable oils. Propyl gallate is found in meats, chicken soup base, and gum. All of these preservatives have been linked to cancer.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) can cause migraines and other adverse effects. Trans fats are being eliminated from most foods, as the studies linking them to heart disease, strokes, and kidney problems are widely accepted.

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener found in products like NutraSweet and Equal as well as diet foods and soft drinks. And acesulfame-K is a newer sweetener used in soft drinks and some baked goods.

Many food colorings have been banned by the FDA, but some can still be found in foods that require a particular color. Olestra was common for a time in potato chips as an additive that prevented fat from being absorbed in your digestive system. Food colorings have been tied to cancer and Olestra also blocks vitamins from being processed.

Potassium bromate is sometimes added to white flour, breads, and rolls to increase the volume of the products, but it has cancer-causing properties that have prompted some states in America to actually require a label to that effect.

Finally, white sugar and sodium chloride (salt) can be dangerous if not kept to a minimum.

Sources:

Health News June 29, 2009

Dr. Mercola''s Comments

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

More than 3,000 food additives -- preservatives, flavorings, colors and other ingredients -- are added to foods in the United States. While each of these substances are legal to use, whether or not they are entirely safe for long-term consumption -- by themselves or in combination -- is a different story altogether.

And when you consider that 90 percent of the money Americans spend on food goes toward processed foods that are loaded with these additives, you get an idea of just how many toxins you may be polluting in your body with.

When foods are processed not only are valuable nutrients lost and fibers removed, but the texture, natural variation and flavors are lost also. After processing, what’s actually left behind is a bland, uninteresting “pseudo-food”

At this point, food manufacturers must add back in the nutrients, flavor, color and texture to processed foods in order to make them palatable, and this is why they become loaded with food additives.
Many Food Additives Increase Your Risk of Cancer

Nine of the 12 food additives listed above have been linked to an increased risk of cancer. These include:

1. Sodium Nitrate (also called Sodium Nitrite)

2. BHA and BHT

3. Propyl Gallate

4. Trans Fats

6. Aspartame

7. Acesulfame-K

8. Food Colorings (Blue 1, 2, Red 3, Green 3, Yellow 6)

9. Potassium Bromate

Please understand that these additives are in countless products from baked goods and chewing gum to chicken soup base, cereal, luncheon meats, vegetable oils and potato chips. If you eat a highly processed food diet, you are therefore potentially exposing yourself to cancer-causing toxins at every meal!
Food Additives May Mimic Your Hormones

A recent analysis published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology found 31 potential estrogen-mimicking food additives (called xenoestrogens) after searching a food additive database of 1,500 substances.

These xenoestrogens have been linked to a range of human health effects, including reduced sperm counts in men and increased risk of breast cancer in women.

Among the xenoestrogens revealed were propyl gallate, which acts as an antagonist, and 4-hexylresorcinol, which is a potent transactivator. Antagonists block the binding of an agent at a receptor molecule, and transactivators increase the rate of gene expression. In conclusion the authors’ state:

“Some caution should be issued for the use of propyl gallate and 4-hexylresorcinol as food additives.”

Propyl gallate is frequently used in conjunction with BHA and BHT, which come with their own set of health hazards. These two additives also keep fats and oils from going rancid and are commonly used in processed food products such as cereals and potato chips, even though some studies have found they too, cause cancer in rats.

The other food additive mentioned above, 4-hexylresorcinol, is commonly used as an anti-browning agent in shrimp and other shellfish.
Your Behavior and Mood May be Impacted Too

According to Dr. Russell Blaylock, high sugar content and starchy carbohydrates (common in processed foods) lead to excessive insulin release, which in turn leads to falling blood sugar levels, or hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia causes your brain to secrete glutamate in levels that can cause agitation, depression, anger, anxiety, panic attacks and an increase in suicide risk.

The glutamate that causes this is identical to the flavor-enhancing monosodium glutamate (MSG) and its chemical cousins, which are found in thousands of food products, further exacerbating the problem.

Further, a study published in the journal The Lancet concluded that a variety of common food dyes, and the preservative sodium benzoate -- found in many soft drinks, fruit juices and salad dressings -- cause some children to become measurably more hyperactive and distractible.

The study also found that the E-numbered food dyes (such as tartrazine (E102), ponceau 4R (E124), sunset yellow (E110), carmoisine (E122), quinoline yellow (E104) and allura red AC (E129) do as much damage to children's brains as lead in gasoline, resulting in a significant reduction in IQ.

The results of this study have prompted the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) to issue an immediate advisory to parents, warning them to limit their children's intake of additives if they notice an effect on behavior. They’re also advising the food industry to voluntarily remove the six food dyes named in the study by the end of 2009, and replace them with natural alternatives if possible.

The United States, however, has not followed suit in issuing any similar warnings to American parents.
How to Avoid Food Additives

One of the best ways to avoid food additives is to cut way back on the processed foods in your diet and instead focus your meals on whole foods. If you do eat processed foods, choose organic varieties and make sure to read the label and avoid foods that contain numerous additives.

By keeping your diet as pure as possible, you’re giving your body the nutrients it needs without all of the added toxins it definitely doesn’t.

Ideally you, your spouse, or someone you pay would freshly prepare your food and you can avoid processed foods. Also recognize that when you eat out at a restaurant you are losing virtually all of the control of the quality of your food.

While this is typically socially enjoyable, tasty, and easier than preparing your own food, it frequently results in you exchanging convenience for your health.

Have a nutritious day!

Tips for Healthy Sleep

2009-07-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information - At least once a camp I have to talk about sleep. Its as much for myself as it is for you. I vow on the Sunday night before each camp that I am going to get to bed earlier and as the days and weeks go by, my bed time creeps later and later. And I feel it. I lose my voice, want to nap during the day, am more lax with food choices and less likely to be spontaneous, adventurous, creative and energized. On the other hand there is nothing greater than feeling rested. Its great for both health and fat loss. Here are some tips for healthy sleeping. Remember that its difficult to lose fat when you are sleep deprived.

Tips for Healthy Sleep

Sleep is as important as food and air. Quantity and quality are very important. Most adults need between 7.5 to 8.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. If you press the snooze button on the alarm in the morning you are not getting enough sleep. This could be due to not enough time in bed, external disturbances, or a sleep disorder.

Keep regular hours. Try to go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time every day. Getting up at the same time is most important. Getting bright light, like the sun, when you get up will also help. Try to go to bed only when you are sleepy. Bright light in the morning at a regular time should help you feel sleepy at the same time every night.

Stay away from stimulants like caffeine. This will help you get deep sleep which is most refreshing. If you take any caffeine, take it in the morning. Avoid all stimulants in the evening, including chocolate, caffeinated sodas, and caffeinated teas. They will delay sleep and increase arousals during the night.

Use the bed for sleeping. Avoid watching TV or using laptop computers. Know that reading in bed can be a problem if the material is very stimulating and you read with a bright light. If it helps to read before sleep make sure you use a very small wattage bulb to read. A 15 watt bulb should be enough. Bright light from these activities may inhibit sleep.

Avoid bright light around the house before bed. Using dimmer switches in living rooms and bathrooms before bed can be helpful. (Dimmer switches can be set to maximum brightness for morning routines.)

Don't stress if you feel you are not getting enough sleep. It will just make matters worse. Know you will sleep eventually.

Avoid exercise near bedtime. No exercise at least 3 hours before bed.

Avoid a heavy meal before bed.

Bedtime routines are helpful for good sleep. Keep routines on your normal schedule. A cup of herbal tea an hour before bed can begin a routine.

Avoid looking at the clock if you wake up in the middle of the night. It can cause anxiety. This is very difficult for most of us, so turn the clock away from your eyes so you would have to turn it to see the time. You may decide not to make the effort and go right back to sleep.

If you can't get to sleep for over 30 minutes, get out of bed and do something boring in dim light till you are sleepy.

Keep your bedroom at comfortable temperature. Not too warm and not too cold. Cooler is better than warmer.

If you have problems with noise in your environment you can use a white noise generator. A fan will work or you can buy noise machines from many sources.

Know that the "night cap" has a price. Alcohol may help you to get to sleep but it will cause you to wake up throughout the night. You may not notice it. (It is worse if you have sleep apnea because the alcohol makes the apnea worse.) Sometimes people snore only if they have had some alcohol or may snore worse if they already snore.)

If you have a sleeping partner, ask them if they notice any snoring, leg movements and/or pauses in breathing . Take this information and try the sleep test. You may have a sleep disorder or you may just need to increase your awareness about your own sleep need. If you have any concerns see your doctor.

Raw Foods Help Control Weight

2009-07-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

Raw Foods Help Control Weight

Written by Wayne Gendel

The Impossible-To-Be-Overweight Diet Wayne Gendel Naturally Savvy Raw Food Health

Have you ever seen an overweight wild animal?

Of all living things on Earth, only humans and domesticated animals can be overweight, and the number one factor for a shortened lifespan is carrying excess weight. Wild animals do not become overweight because they eat the diet nature intended for them.

If you eat 80 percent of your food fresh and raw, it is virtually impossible to be overweight.

The natural human diet is made up of fresh fruits and vegetables, raw nuts and seeds. People who eat this along with small amounts of meat, fish and dairy are more likely to stay thin and healthy to a ripe old age.

Cultures like ours that sacrifice fresh veggies for large amounts of meat, fish and dairy become overweight. The old adage “everything in moderation” does not work because most of us have the “everything” at every meal.

In addition to excess fat and protein, we also load up on large amounts of unnatural, man-made foods, including processed cheese, boxed cereals, white flour, refined sugar and corn syrup. These foods are usually classified as high glycemic, which means they send blood sugar skyrocketing, making the body store more fat than it would with healthier, low glycemic natural foods.

To top that off, many of our foods are now genetically modified. Genetically modified (GM) foods have to be considered "substantially equivalent" to be deemed safe, but many researchers have questioned this standard. Some GM foods contain proteins that humans have never consumed before, and the long-term effects are unknown. Other health concerns include the potential for allergic reactions and antibiotic resistance.

So how can you tell these genetically modified (GM) foods apart from organic or traditional varieties? All produce has a four-digit code, but GM foods have a fifth digit—an eight—added to the beginning of the code as a qualifier. The best way to get the most nutrients and avoid GM foods is to buy organics, which also have a fifth digit in their codes—a nine at the beginning.

Cultures with fresh, natural diets regularly see people living vibrantly to or past 100 years old. But it is rare to see overweight people living healthily past the age of 50 or 60. So, try to add more raw fruits and vegetables to your diet. Fill up on greens before you eat your sandwich or snack on some fruit between meals.

Making 80 percent of your diet raw fruits and vegetables will help you not only live healthier, but longer—and without ever having to worry about being overweight.

Author of this article: Wayne Gendel
Click Here to see more Articles by This Author

· Proper Food Combining For Energy (27 March 2009)

· Staying Warm On Raw Foods (27 February 2009)

· Wayne Gendel (30 December 2008)

· Wayne’s Homemade Natural Toothpaste Recipes (19 December 2008)

· Toothpaste: Natural or Poison? (19 December 2008)

· Raw Food: Healthy Symptoms (19 December 2008)

· Benefits Of A Raw Food Diet (25 November 2008)

· Staying Cholesterol Healthy (28 August 2008)

· Switching to a Raw Diet (28 July 2008)

· Sunshine Is Good! (24 July 2008)

· Life Extension: How to Live Beyond 125! Part 2 (01 July 2008)

· Life Extension: How to Live to Beyond 125! Part 1 (01 July 2008)

· Living Raw Eating Like Nature Intended (01 July 2008)

· Skin Brushing for Vibrant Health (01 July 2008)

· Regenerative Sleep (01 July 2008)

· Worry Free From Cholesterol (01 July 2008)

· Sea Salt Part 2 (01 July 2008)

· Salt: Is It Good or Bad for Us? Part 1 (01 July 2008)

· Don't Panic, Eat Organic! (01 July 2008)

12 Compelling Reasons to Ditch Stress from Your Life

2009-07-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information – Yesterday I shared breathing techniques for health and de-stress. Today Dr. Mercola shares more reasons and ways to relieve stress. I know the stress many of you are under, but we are made to be at peace. Read on to see all of the reasons why you don’t want to be in a chronic state of stress. I think you will be interested to read what happens to your body when you eat under stress. It gives a whole new meaning to stress eaters.

12 Compelling Reasons to Ditch Stress from Your Life

Dr. Mercola''s Comments

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

What is “Stress”?

The classic definition of stress is “any real or imagined threat, and your body’s response to it.” Celebrations and tragedies alike can cause a stress response in your body.

Some stress is unavoidable. Some mild forms of stress can even be helpful in some situations. But a stressor becomes a problem when:

* Your response to it is negative.
* Your feelings and emotions are inappropriate for the circumstances.
* Your response lasts an excessively long time.
* You’re feeling continuously overwhelmed, overpowered or overworked.

It’s important to realize that all your feelings create physiological changes. Your skin, heart rate, digestion, joints, muscle energy levels, the hair on your head, and countless cells and systems you don't even know about change with every emotion.

Marc notes that Americans, in general, tend to eat under a state of stress and anxiety.

While under stress, your heart rate goes up, your blood pressure rises, and blood is shunted away from your midsection, going to your arms, legs, and head for quick thinking, fighting, or fleeing.

All of these changes are referred to as the physiological stress response.

Under those circumstances, your digestion completely shuts down. So a major problem with eating while your body is under the stress response is that you could be eating the healthiest food in the world, yet you won’t be able to fully digest and assimilate that food, and your body will not be able to burn calories effectively.

How the Stress Response Affects Your Digestion and Health

The stress response causes a number of detrimental events in your body, including:

* Decreased nutrient absorption
* Decreased oxygenation to your gut
* As much as four times less blood flow to your digestive system, which leads to decreased metabolism
* Decreased enzymatic output in your gut – as much as 20,000-fold!

Many nutrients are also excreted during stress, particularly:

* Water-soluble vitamins
* Macrominerals
* Microminerals
* Calcium (calcium excretion can increase as much as 60 to 75 mg within an hour of a stressful event)

As if that’s not enough, your cholesterol and triglycerides also go up, while gut flora populations decrease. You’re also more likely to experience increased sensitivity to food and gastroesophageal reflux, or heartburn.

But perhaps most importantly, when your body is under the stress response, your cortisol and insulin levels rise.

These two hormones tend to track each other, and when your cortisol is consistently elevated under a chronic low-level stress response, you’ll likely notice that you have difficulty losing weight or building muscle.

Additionally, if your cortisol is chronically elevated, you’ll tend to gain weight around your midsection. We’ve known for some time that body fat, and especially visceral fat (the fat that gathers around your internal organs, around your midsection) is a major contributing factor to developing diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

The bottom line?

When you eat under stress, your body is in the opposite state of where you need to be in order to digest, assimilate nutrients, and burn calories.

Everyday Stress Relief

There’s no doubt that finding ways to relieve your everyday stress is an important, if not essential, aspect of optimizing your health. All the organics in the world can’t help you if your body can’t assimilate the nutrients you put into it.

Stress is a serious factor in the illness of nearly all of the patients seen at my clinic. Because in addition to everything mentioned above, stress also plays a major role in your immune system, and can impact your:

* Blood pressure
* Cholesterol
* Brain chemistry
* Blood sugar levels
* Hormonal balance

You cannot eliminate stress entirely, but you can work to provide your body with tools to compensate for the bioelectrical short-circuiting that can cause serious disruption in many of your body's important systems. By using techniques such as meridian tapping, you can reprogram your body’s reactions to the unavoidable stressors of everyday life.

But there are many other strategies you can employ to help you deal with stress and unwind each day, including:

* Exercise. Studies have shown that during exercise, tranquilizing chemicals (endorphins) are released in your brain. Exercise is a natural way to bring your body pleasurable relaxation and rejuvenation.
* Proper sleep
* Meditation (with or without the additional aid of brain wave synchronization technology)

I also highly recommend you read the book Feelings Buried Alive Never Die. If you’re experiencing any type of physical or emotional challenge in any aspect of your life, this book does a great job of explaining feelings: what they are, how you experience them, how they are integral to your physical health, and, most importantly, how to work with and overcome those that are pulling you down.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Stress – its every where

2009-07-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information – Stress – its every where. We have physical stress, mental, emotional, environmental, chemical and mechanical stressors all around us. We have moved so far away from what is natural regarding sleeping and eating and recovering that our bodies many times are under chronic stress. Since stress is everywhere, we have no choice but to manage it as best we can. You should have an arsenal of stress relievers. Boot camp is a great one. Everyone always compliments about how fast the hour goes (most of the time) and that they leave feeling wonderful! Another wonderful and easy to apply stress reliever is breathing exercises. I have taken classes in breath therapy and can tell you first hand that your breath can make you feel very heavy, very light and completely invigorated. Read on to see some stress relieving breathing exercises. You may feel silly doing them, but they work!

Dr. Mercola''s Comments

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

As many of you already know, I am passionate about finding simple, inexpensive resources that can have profound impact on your health. And breathing is one strategy that can make a tremendous difference in how you feel and age, yet it receives little attention. After all, you breathe in and out without conscious thought. As soon as you stop, you die. Surely everyone’s got this one all figured out already?

Not really. In fact, improper breathing is more the norm than the exception these days.

So implementing a breathing technique may actually be one of the most beneficial things you can do to elevate your physical health and soothe your mind.

Actually, one of my first journeys into natural health was in the early 90’s, when I attended several week-long seminars in Southern California to learn different breathing practices. They were all very useful, but a bit complicated to perform without proper instructions and practice.

There are many different breathing practices that you can try, but here I’m going to share with you one that is both powerful and very easy to perform.

I like to do it before each meal as that ensures that I will do it at least three times a day. I also like to combine it with gratitude for my meal, so for the two minutes it actually takes to do the technique, I seek to focus on gratitude for not only the food, but all the blessings in my life.

I recently learned this one when I attended a presentation by Dr. Weil at Expo West in California.

In the presentation summary he outlined some of the best resources he’s learned over his clinical career for improving health, and topping the list, interestingly, was a breathing exercise called the 4-7-8, or Relaxing Breath Exercise.

On his site, he states:

"Practicing regular, mindful breathing can be calming and energizing and can even help with stress-related health problems ranging from panic attacks to digestive disorders."

The 4-7-8 Breathing Exercise

The key to this exercise is to remember the numbers 4, 7 and 8. It’s not important to focus on how much time you spend in each phase of the breathing activity, but rather that you get the ratio correct.

Here’s how it’s done:

1. Sit up straight
2. Place the tip of your tongue up against the back of your front teeth. Keep it there through the entire breathing process
3. Breathe in silently through your nose to the count of four
4. Hold your breath to the count of seven
5. Exhale through your mouth to the count of eight, making an audible “woosh” sound
6. That completes one full breath. Repeat the cycle another three times, for a total of four breaths

You can do this exercise as frequently as you want throughout the day, but it’s recommended you don’t do more than four full breaths during the first month or so of practice. Later you may work your way up to eight full breath cycles at a time.

The benefits of this simple practice are enormous and work as a natural tranquilizer for your nervous system.

Personally, I think one of its greatest values may be gained when you combine it with your meals. Most of us eat three meals a day, so it makes remembering to do it easier. Also, I believe that combining it with the attitude of gratitude for the healthy meal you just ate, or are about to eat, can have a powerful, beneficial influence on your health.

The Health Benefits of Breathing Exercises

Self-applied health enhancement methods like the 4-7-8 breathing technique are particularly remarkable because of the broad array of real health benefits that are triggered.

Learning to breathe mindfully can modify and accelerate your body's inherent self-regulating physiological and bioenergetic mechanisms.

These changes are in large part due to the fact that you’re oxygenating your body properly as well as correcting your internal and energetic balance, and it has a direct impact your nervous system.

This in turn affects your entire body and its countless cellular functions, including all of your subtle energy systems.

The web site breathing.com offers a list of clinical studies into the health benefits of optimal breathing. One such study, which spanned a 30-year period, concluded that the most significant factor in your health and longevity is how well you breathe.

It focused on the long-term predictive power of forced exhalation volume as the primary marker for life span. According to the researchers,

"This pulmonary function measurement appears to be an indicator of general health and vigor and literally a measure of living capacity."

It’s also important to realize that much of hypertension is controlled by the way you breathe, so breathing exercises are an excellent adjunct to your other healthy lifestyle strategies to control high blood pressure.

Breathing exercises such as the one I showed you above have a positive impact on your:

* Respiratory system, which can reduce mental and physical fatigue, as well as relieve symptoms of asthma and bronchitis
* Circulatory system; improving blood circulation and cell oxygenation throughout your body
* Nervous system
* Digestive system, by acting as a pump to massage internal organs
* Endocrine system. The action of your diaphragm helps push lymph throughout your body, which helps eliminate toxic waste and strengthen your immune system
* Urinary system, by helping to eliminate fluids and massaging your kidneys
* Skin. Toxic CO2 waste is eliminated more directly through your breath, and your skin can also be positively affected by improved blood flow and oxygenation

Breathing Your Way to Optimal Health

Another obvious use for the 4-7-8 breathing technique is to use it whenever you feel stressed or anxious. It’s a powerful way to help relax your system without drugs.

Best of all, it doesn’t cost you anything but a couple of minutes of your time! And, if you commit to it, I believe you’ll be absolutely shocked, and pleasantly surprised, by how quickly and easily it can center and relax you and allow you to achieve high levels of health.

For even more breathing practices, I recommend you read the article Breathing Exercises and Self Healing, written by Roger Jahnke, O.M.D., or see Dr. Weil’s website for additional exercises.

Do something special for yourself today!

How much do we really know about the food we buy at our local supermarkets and serve to our families?

2009-07-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information – with so many people away and busy this summer, I am not going to do a grocery shopping tour this camp. But I still want to you to be savvy shoppers. Summer is an easier time to eat healthy – at least I think so. The freshest fruits and veggies are readily available, there is usually less baking than in the winter, at times you are too hot to even think about food and because of the heat you may drink more water helping you to feel full and reducing the calories from food.

This article also mentions Food Inc – the new documentary about our food supply. http://www.foodincmovie.com I had mentioned it in an earlier e-mail. It’s playing in theaters in The Legacy Shops in Plano. I was thinking of taking a trip to see it next Friday if it’s still playing. Yoshie saw it and said it truly make her re-think what she was eating. Angelika Film Center & Cafe (15.2 mi)

7205 Bishop Road, Plano, TX 75024
(800)326-3264
Directions

Below are some tips on being a savvy shopper!

How much do we really know about the food we buy at our local supermarkets and serve to our families?

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

Also from their website:

10 Simple Tips for making positive changes in your eating habits.

Learn more about these issues and how you can take action on Takepart.com

1. Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages.
You can lose 25 lbs in a year by replacing one 20 oz soda a day with a no calorie beverage (preferably water).

2. Eat at home instead of eating out.
Children consume almost twice (1.8 times) as many calories when eating food prepared outside the home.

3. Support the passage of laws requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus and menu boards.
Half of the leading chain restaurants provide no nutritional information to their customers.

4. Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks.
Over the last two decades, rates of obesity have tripled in children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years.

5. Meatless Mondays—Go without meat one day a week.
An estimated 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to farm animals.

6. Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides.
According to the EPA, over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the U.S.

7. Protect family farms; visit your local farmer's market.
Farmer's markets allow farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer.

8. Make a point to know where your food comes from—READ LABELS.
The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to your dinner plate.

9. Tell Congress that food safety is important to you.
Each year, contaminated food causes millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths in the U.S.

10. Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections.
Poverty among farm workers is more than twice that of all wage and salary employees.
End

Energy Drinks and Bars- Best and Worst

2009-07-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information - The following is from an article about the best and worst Energy Drinks and Bars. I usually get asked which bars or drinks I recommend and I also see them on the food logs so I wanted to arm you with ammunition to make the best choices – w which is always real food first! Notice there is a drink called cocaine – scary!!!

XS Gold

According to company partner Scott Coon, XS Blast was the first to focus on energy drink flavors, and first to create a sugar-free category. This drink has low calories, low carbs and the caffeine-free version has more vitamin C per ounce than a serving of orange juice. (8.4 oz.)

Electrifire

Using agave nectar as a sweetener, Electrifire has a large selection of natural juices for flavor, including cranberry, pomegranate, passion fruit, lime, orange and aronia berry. Designed to energize your entire body, this two-ounce energy drink also has water-soluble plant nutrients for cell repair. (2 oz.)

On Go

Although this one comes in a two-ounce shot bottle, it easily has the same effect as a full-sized energy drink, On Go has no carbs, only 8 calories and tons of vitamins B6 and B12. Vitamin B6 is a key building block of proteins and extra B12 has been shown to increase energy levels. (2 oz.)

Steaz Energy

This drink needs no frills because the product speaks for itself. With ingredients like Ceylon green tea, which has a fuller and stronger taste, and yerba mate, a refreshing alternative to coffee, it’s no wonder Steaz has organic and fair trade labels. Steaz is also sweetened with evaporated cane juice and stevia in their diet line. (12 oz.)

Active Ingredient: Guarana

More than 4,000 miles south of here, a Brazilian miner is taking a break to sip the most important beverage of the day. Guarana, specifically the fruit’s seeds of this climbing plant, is highly regarded as both a medicinal tonic and potent stimulant. Although the former claim lacks evidence, South Americans obtain the majority of their caffeine from guarana.

In Brazil, workers carry lumps of guarana in their pockets and grate it with a fish bone into water for a quick pick-me-up. You can easily find soft drinks, energy shots, herbal tea and supplements with ample amounts of the revitalizing supplement.

Guarana seeds contain more than twice the amount of caffeine found in coffee beans: Up to 7.5 percent of the seed contains the stimulant compared to the 1 to 2 percent concentration found in a bean of your house blend. In addition to keeping you awake, the tannins in guarana have been known to support weight-loss and enhance cognition. Although clinical research is still in its infancy, a Journal of Psychopharmacology study found that guarana likely improves memory, mood and alertness at lower doses.

Unlike coffee, the amount of caffeine doesn’t have to be listed on potentially potent guarana drinks making it easier to get to that danger zone of caffeine intoxication. Anecdotal reports, including a review in the Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy, have linked guarana to anxiety, heart rhythm abnormalities and even chest pain.

Hi Ball

As the self-proclaimed “World’s First Sparkling Energy Drink,” HiBall certainly lives up to the title with no sugar, artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners or preservatives. The taste is crisp and the energy is simple, with 75 milligrams of natural caffeine. (10 oz.)

Enviga

Past hype surrounding this energy drink has given it the image of a magical calorie burner. Although evidence on this remains sketchy, Enviga Green Tea is still a good choice for boosting energy and antioxidant levels. It has virtually no calories and contains 20 percent of your calcium RDA. (12 oz.)

Eiro

This Dallas-based company, dedicated to researching nutritional products, wanted to create a drink with natural caffeine sources. Eiro has guarana, green tea, ginko biloba and ginseng. It has no taurine, refined sugars or preservatives, giving it a leg up in providing sustainable energy. (8.4 oz.)

Wheyup

With 22 grams of whey protein in every can, This is a choice drink for bodybuilders. Low carbs (9 grams) and no sugar also make it ideal for losing weight. Whey protein increases lean muscle mass and has tons of daily amino acids. (16 oz.)

Vida Tea

This sparkling tea has a combination of three green teas and is sweetened with agave nectar. Agave is absorbed into the body without an insulin spike, so it’s a safer option for diabetics. At the World Tea Expo, VidaTea was named “Best Tea” in the Sweetened Green Tea category. (12 oz.)

Sea2O

As the title claims, this drink is totally organic and contains no caffeine. Sea2o gives you energy with agave nectar, a natural organic sugar with low impact on blood sugar and an exceptionally low glycemic index. It’s an ideal energy drink for diabetics. (10.5 oz.)

Verve

Verve has a combination of green tea, aloe and mangosteen fruit, giving it a distinct flavor. Like most of these healthier options, Verve has antioxidants like Xanthones that help fight fatigue and depression. (8.3 oz.)

LIVE

It’s pretty hard to find reasons not to LIVE with this energy drink. Featuring flavors like green tea and acai berry, LIVE is naturally sweetened with evaporated organic sugar cane juice, rather than artificial sugars, colors and preservatives. The company even donates 50 percent of your purchase to a handful of charities. (12 oz.)

FRS

(Elissa gave me this stuff and it is pretty good)

FRS stands for Free Radical Scavenger which is a term for antioxidant. The special patented formula of quercetin is designed to give you a more sustainable source of energy. Quercetin is difficult to find as a single ingredient, unless you eat 40 apples. FRS is also endorsed by Lance Armstrong. (11.5 oz.)

Active Ingredient: Caffeine

It’s in your morning latte, your afternoon tea and even your chocolately midnight snack. Consumed daily by more than 80 percent of people in America, caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive substance in the world. Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system, the heart and the respiratory system within an hour or less of consumption.

This stimulant acts just as it sounds and mimics the effect of epinephrine — yep, that’s adrenaline. Your heart rate will jump up, your systolic blood pressure will increase and you’ll temporarily rev up your metabolism. Thank the molecular breakdown of caffeine for this revitalization and other welcomed effects such as the breakdown of fat storage, blood vessel dilation and bronchi relaxation. In fact, this metabolic product — theophylline — is often used in asthma medication.

Medical evidence has continued to affirm caffeine’s high-octane effects: A recent study from the University of Chicago indicates that your Starbucks fix might be the reason you have become that cheerful morning person. The research shows that caffeine not only wakes you up but also positively influences mood and cognition. They also found it improves subjective well-being and behavioral performance, so you’re better able to deal with obnoxious drivers on your morning commute.

Caffeine is the real deal when it comes to boosting your energy but daily consumption, even at low doses, can quickly produce dependence and withdrawal symptoms including pounding headaches and insomnia. Never consume more than 300 milligrams a day as you quickly enter into the dangerous territory of caffeine intoxication.

Sobe No Fear

Ignore the name and be very afraid of this high fructose corn syrup-laden drink. The high levels of sugar (66 grams) and caffeine (174 milligrams) are unsettling enough, but at 260 calories per can, a few too many and you’ll be fearing the size of your thighs. (20 oz.)

Gatorade

If you’re looking for electrolytes, don’t reach for a Gatorade. Instead you’ll get 200 calories per 32 fluid ounces. It’s also packed with high fructose corn syrup. Try the leaner version of Gatorade (G2), SmartWater or a glass of good old H2O and a banana for electrolytes. (32 oz.)

AMP

One 16-ounce can contains 11 percent of your day’s calories and more sugar than four scoops of peanut butter cup ice cream. Amp also contains aspartame, the non-nutritive sweetener that has brought more than 30 years of health controversy. Aspartame dissolves into solution, and can therefore travel throughout the body and deposit within any tissue. (16 oz.)

Starbucks Coffee Frappuccino

Anyone who has read “Eat This, Not That: Supermarket Survival Guide” knows that one 13.7-ounce bottle is the sugar equivalent of a three-scoop bowl of double fudge brownie ice cream. With that much sugar, expect an afternoon crash and burn. (9.5 oz.)

Sobe Energy (Power)

One bottle has more than 250 calories, 35 milligrams of sodium and 70 grams of sugar. When you add it up, that’s nearly double the sugar found in a can of Coke. Sobe is so not worth the extra pounds of fat you could gain. (20 oz.)

Full Throttle

This Coca-Cola product has 220 calories and more than 50 grams of high fructose corn syrup. It’s basically Coke on steroids. Today we consume twice as many calories as we did 30 years ago. If you just cut down to water, seltzer, unsweetened coffee or tea one day a week, you could lose around seven pounds a year. (8 oz.)

Cocaine

This drink has three and a half times more caffeine than a can of Red Bull. And it only holds 8.4 fluid ounces. Small amounts of caffeine can go a long way, but having too much can pose a whole slew of threats to your body. Sometimes less is more. (8.4 oz.)

Red Bull

Not only was Sugar-Free Red Bull shown to give a healthy person the same blood consistency as someone with heart disease, but traces of cocaine were found in some cans of the newer Red Bull Cola. Believe it or not, Red Bull is still not the worst on our list, but these qualities definitely don’t give it five stars. (12 oz.)

Rockstar Original

With 62 grams of sugar in the popular double-size can, you might as well be drinking chocolate Rice Krispies. Americans should only consume about 40 grams of sugar a day. Combined with the 160 milligrams of caffeine, it may be a quick fix, but it won’t sustain you through the day. (16 oz.)

Monster Energy

Though Monster has a few desirable ingredients, such as ginseng root and guarana seed extract, it still gives you a clockwork crash. If you read the label carefully, it says “Serving Size 2” on one can. A total of 54 grams of carbs, sugar and 200 calories means a lot of extra time on the stationary bike. (8.3 oz.)

Active Ingredient: Taurine

The 1,000 milligrams found in one serving of Red Bull has been touted to combat mental and physical fatigue but it appears the energy drink does little to give you wings. Outside of its role as a sham energy supplement, the amino acid taurine is found naturally in meat and fish. The manufacturers of Red Bull claim that the body’s taurine production declines with extreme physical exertion but no research has yet indicated that this can be remedied by chugging a can of the drink.

What we do know about the role of taurine in the body is that it is found in skeletal muscle, the heart and the nervous system. It’s a bonafide multi-tasker: Taurine is important for efficient metabolism, stabilizing cell membranes, generating nerve impulses and it even appears to work as an antioxidant.

And while it may not zap you out of your 4 o’clock drowsiness, taurine supplementation appears to not only be safe in moderation but also medicinal. It has been used to treat epilepsy via its anti-convulsant role as a nerve cell membrane stabilizer. In Japan, taurine is often administered to treat ischemic heart disease and certain heart arrhythmias.

Although up to 3,000 milligrams of taurine (that’s three servings of Red Bull) are considered safe, little is known about the effects of heavy or long-term use — except of course that it won’t give you wings.

Luna (Clif) Caramel Nut Brownie

At a mere 180 calories, Luna — the Clif bar for women — boasts the highest amount of calcium (35 percent of your Recommended Daily Allowance or RDA) and iron (30 percent RDA) compared to all the bars we examined. It’s also chock full of antioxidants including vitamins C and E, green tea extract and selenium. (per 48g bar)

Kashi GoLean Roll Caramel Peanut

With nearly 25 percent of your fiber RDA, this whole grain bar is far from tasting like cardboard. This Kashi GoLean snack also contains 12 grams of protein from natural sources like peanuts and soy to keep your stomach growls at bay. (per 55g bar)

Zone Perfect Peanut Toffee

No need to take a multivitamin when you have a yummy Zone Perfect on hand. With more than 12 vitamins and minerals, a great taste and 14 grams of protein on board, this one will be sure to keep you fuller and more glycemically-balanced than most other bars. (per 50g bar)

Larabar Ginger Snap

Comforting just like the ginger snaps you grew up on; this ginger-filled Larabar is both tasty and soothing on the stomach. Since it contains no sodium, gluten, dairy or soy, you’ll be able to enjoy this fiber-packed treat without any worries. (per 51g bar)

Pure Bar Cranberry Orange Bar

This organic snack contains the shortest ingredient list by far and is sweetened 100 percent naturally by fruit and agave nectar. The Pure Bar’s exotic flavor is combined with walnuts, cashews and almonds to keep you full while fighting free radicals and heart disease. (per 48g bar)

Boundless Oatmega Dark Chocolate Mint

This tasty number — 190 calories to be exact — is an organic, protein-packed snack created here in Austin. Not only is it low in sugar, but all Boundless Oatmega bars contain heart-healthy ingredients such as green tea, omega-3 fatty acids and sea salt. (per 50g bar)

Powerbar: Energize Blast Berry Smoothie

The full flavor of this Powerbar comes at the expense of more than 200 calories, 24 grams of sugar and 180 milligrams of sodium. And with less than one gram of fiber, you’ll be lacking an extra movement beyond your morning jog. (per 56g bar)

Apex

This Apex bar truly is the pinnacle of a poor ingredient list. Among the first four are corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup and sugar. The 20 grams of sugar are therefore no surprise, but the 18 percent of your RDA for saturated fat and the mere one percent of potassium is sadly unexpected. (per 55g bar)

SlimFast

Your mom’s old diet fad is thankfully becoming a thing of the past. Despite the small serving size, this Slim-Fast bar includes 15 percent of your saturated fat RDA and is one of the few bars to contain cholesterol. Interestingly, despite the less than one gram of fiber, the safety information reads “excessive consumption may have a laxative effect.” (per 28g bar)

Balance Original Almond Brownie

Never judge a book, or a bar, by its cover. Although this Balance Original bar looks and sounds healthy, its specs (200 calories, 17 grams of sugar and 18 percent of your RDA for saturated fat) prove otherwise. It almost gets points for the addition of 19 vitamins and minerals, but returns to zero with its second ingredient: High-fructose corn syrup. (per 50g bar)

Snickers Marathon® Energy Bar Multi Grain Crunch

Although delicious, the Snickers Marathon takes the cake for unhealthiest bar. Consuming this one snack puts you at 10 percent of your RDA for sodium and total fat. The ingredients also read as a science experiment with corn syrup and quadratein heading up this laundry list. (per 55g bar)

Active Ingredient: Ginseng

Stimulants and amino acids are not the only ingredients in your late night energy drink. Ancient Chinese remedies like ginseng and cordyceps (see page 30) are now popping up as the new fatigue fighters. And according to William Wood and Aaron Winning, both Licensed Acupuncturists & Herbalists (L.Ac) at SoCo Clinic, not only do they work but side effects are minimal especially when compared to caffeine.

“Though these are herbs, they still have side effects and should be taken in moderation to get the best effect,” Winning emphasizes.

The third top-selling herb in the United States is also 2,000 years old in China. Herbal remedies known as ginseng are derived from the roots of either the American (Panax quinquefolius) or Asian (Panax ginseng) perennial plant. Only these two of the 11 different ginseng species are used for medicinal purposes. Their botanical name, Panax, is translated from Greek to mean “all heal” or, if you like, “panacea.”

You won’t get far at any grocery store without coming across either form of ginseng. But don’t just reach for the cheapest price tag. “You need to look for a high grade of ginseng to ensure effectiveness,” says Wood, “This is difficult to do from simply walking down the aisles of a health food store. Your best bet is to go to a Chinese herbalist who obtains their ginseng from a trusted source.”

The herb is often advertised as everything from an immunity enhancer to an aphrodisiac. Despite all the propaganda, many of these claims have not been seriously researched in the United States including those that promote ginseng as an efficient energy enhancer.

But if either were to promote vigor, Asian ginseng — particularly the red form — is thought to have stronger effects than its American counterpart possibly due to the longer harvesting period and a steaming process that locks in the active ingredients including ginsenoside.

Studies conducted in Japan and published in the Journal of Pharmacological Sciences have demonstrated that ginsenosides dilate blood vessels and help increase blood flow. Improved circulation results in better oxygen delivery and potentially enhanced stamina. In fact, these same researchers have found that red Asian ginseng helps the body resist the damaging effects of everyday stress. Ginesenoside, along with ginseng’s other active components, are thought to reduce the pituitary gland’s secretion of the ACTH hormone which stimulates the release of the stress hormone cortisol. Less cortisol means less stress-related complaints like headaches, stomach ulcers and insomnia.

End

Enjoy a beautiful day!

2009 Obesity Rankings

2009-07-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information. The obesity rankings were just posted this week. They statistics are NOT improving. Obesity did NOT decrease in a single state – including Texas. Eight of the 10 states with the highest percentage of obese adults are in the South. Lori you will be happy to hear that Colorado has the lowest percentage of obesity. I believe that part of the high obesity in the south has to do with the fast food chains. I was in shock when we moved here and saw so many fast food options. My town in NJ had a burger king (almost 50 years old) and a Duncan donuts. That was it! 2 choices. Flower Mound has over 50 options for fast food.

I am thankful that you have not chosen to be part of the statics!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009
State by state obesity rankings are out

Washington, D.C. - Adult obesity rates increased in 23 states and did not decrease in a single state in the past year, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009, a report released today by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). In addition, the percentage of obese or overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states.

"Our health care costs have grown along with our waist lines," said Jeff Levi, Ph.D., executive director of TFAH. "The obesity epidemic is a big contributor to the skyrocketing health care costs in the United States. How are we going to compete with the rest of the world if our economy and workforce are weighed down by bad health?"

Mississippi had the highest rate of adult obesity at 32.5 percent, making it the fifth year in a row that the state topped the list. Four states now have rates above 30 percent, including Mississippi, Alabama (31.2 percent), West Virginia (31.1 percent) and Tennessee (30.2 percent). Eight of the 10 states with the highest percentage of obese adults are in the South. Colorado continued to have the lowest percentage of obese adults at 18.9 percent.

Adult obesity rates now exceed 25 percent in 31 states and exceed 20 percent in 49 states and Washington, D.C. Two-thirds of American adults are either obese or overweight. In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent. In 1980, the national average for adult obesity was 15 percent. Sixteen states experienced an increase for the second year in a row, and 11 states experienced an increase for the third straight year.

Mississippi also had the highest rate of obese and overweight children (ages 10 to 17) at 44.4 percent. Minnesota and Utah had the lowest rate at 23.1 percent. Eight of the 10 states with the highest rates of obese and overweight children are in the South. Childhood obesity rates have more than tripled since 1980.

"Reversing the childhood obesity epidemic is a critical ingredient for delivering a healthier population and making health reform work," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., RWJF president and CEO. "If we can prevent the current generation of young people from developing the serious and costly chronic conditions related to obesity, we can not only improve health and quality of life, but we can also save billions of dollars and make our health care systems more efficient and sustainable."

The F as in Fat report contains rankings of state obesity rates and a review of federal and state government policies aimed at reducing or preventing obesity. Some additional key findings from F as in Fat 2009 include:

* The current economic crisis could exacerbate the obesity epidemic. Food prices, particularly for more nutritious foods, are expected to rise, making it more difficult for families to eat healthy foods. At the same time, safety-net programs and services are becoming increasingly overextended as the numbers of unemployed, uninsured and underinsured continue to grow. In addition, due to the strain of the recession, rates of depression, anxiety and stress, which are linked to obesity for many individuals, also are increasing.
* Nineteen states now have nutritional standards for school lunches, breakfasts and snacks that are stricter than current USDA requirements. Five years ago, only four states had legislation requiring stricter standards.
* Twenty-seven states have nutritional standards for competitive foods sold a la carte, in vending machines, in school stores or in school bake sales. Five years ago, only six states had nutritional standards for competitive foods.
* Twenty states have passed requirements for body mass index (BMI) screenings of children and adolescents or have passed legislation requiring other forms of weight-related assessments in schools. Five years ago, only four states had passed screening requirements.
* A recent analysis commissioned by TFAH found that the Baby Boomer generation has a higher rate of obesity compared with previous generations. As the Baby Boomer generation ages, obesity-related costs to Medicare and Medicaid are likely to grow significantly because of the large number of people in this population and its high rate of obesity. And, as Baby Boomers become Medicare-eligible, the percentage of obese adults age 65 and older could increase significantly. Estimates of the increase in percentage of obese adults range from 5.2 percent in New York to 16.3 percent in Alabama.

Key report recommendations for addressing obesity within health reform include:

* Ensuring every adult and child has access to coverage for preventive medical services, including nutrition and obesity counseling and screening for obesity-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes;
* Increasing the number of programs available in communities, schools, and childcare settings that help make nutritious foods more affordable and accessible and provide safe and healthy places for people to engage in physical activity; and
* Reducing Medicare expenditures by promoting proven programs that improve nutrition and increase physical activity among adults ages 55 to 64.

The report also calls for a National Strategy to Combat Obesity that would define roles and responsibilities for federal, state and local governments and promote collaboration among businesses, communities, schools and families. It would seek to advance policies that

* Provide healthy foods and beverages to students at schools;
* Increase the availability of affordable healthy foods in all communities;
* Increase the frequency, intensity, and duration of physical activity at school;
* Improve access to safe and healthy places to live, work, learn, and play;
* Limit screen time; and
* Encourage employers to provide workplace wellness programs.

The report was supported by a grant from RWJF.
State-by-State Adult Obesity Rankings

Note: 1 = Highest rate of adult obesity, 51 = lowest rate of adult obesity. Rankings are based on combining three years of data (2006-2008) from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to "stabilize" data for comparison purposes. This methodology, recommended by the CDC, compensates for any potential anomalies or usual changes due to the specific sample in any given year in any given state. States with a statistically significant (p<0.05) increase for one year are noted with an asterisk (*), states with statistically significant increases for two years in a row are noted with two asterisks (**), states with statistically significant increases for three years in a row are noted with three asterisks (***). Additional information about methodologies and confidence interval is available in the report. Adults with a body mass index, a calculation based on weight and height ratios, of 30 or higher are considered obese. 1. Mississippi*** (32.5%); 2. Alabama* (31.2%); 3. West Virginia (31.1%); 4. Tennessee*** (30.2%); 5. South Carolina (29.7%); 6. Oklahoma*** (29.5%); 7. Kentucky (29.0%); 8. Louisiana (28.9%); 9. Michigan*** (28.8%) 10. (tie) Arkansas (28.6%) and Ohio* (28.6%); 12. North Carolina*** (28.3%); 13. Missouri (28.1%); 14. (tie) Georgia (27.9%) and Texas (27.9%); 16. Indiana (27.4%); 17. Delaware*** (27.3%); 18. (tie) Alaska (27.2%) and Kansas*** (27.2%) 20. (tie) Nebraska (26.9%) and South Dakota*** (26.9%); 22. (tie) Iowa (26.7%) and North Dakota* (26.7%) and Pennsylvania** 26.7%; 25. (tie) Maryland*** (26.0%) and Wisconsin (26.0%); 27. Illinois 25.9%; 28. (tie) Oregon (25.4%) and Virginia (25.4) and Washington*** (25.4%); 31. Minnesota (25.3%); 32. Nevada* 25.1%; 33. (tie) Arizona** (24.8%) and Idaho (24.8%); 35. Maine* (24.7%); 36. New Mexico*** (24.6%); 37. New York** (24.5%) 38. Wyoming (24.3%); 39. (tie) Florida* (24.1%) and New Hampshire (24.1%); 41. California (23.6%); 42. New Jersey (23.4%); 43. Montana** (22.7%); 44. Utah (22.5%); 45. District of Columbia (22.3%); 46. Vermont** (22.1%); 47. Hawaii* (21.8%); 48. Rhode Island (21.7%); 49. Connecticut (21.3%); 50. Massachusetts (21.2%); 51. Colorado (18.9%)
State-by-State Obese and Overweight Children Ages 10-17 Rankings

Note: 1 = Highest rate of childhood overweight, 51 = lowest. Rankings are based on the National Survey of Children's Health, a phone survey of parents with children ages 10-17 conducted in 2007 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Additional information about methodologies and confidence intervals is available in the report. Children with a body mass index, a calculation based on weight and height ratios, at or above the 95th percentile for their age are considered obese and children at or above the 85th percentile are considered overweight. States with statistically significant (p<0.05) increases in combined obesity and overweight since the NSCH was last issued in 2003 are noted with an asterisk (*).

1. Mississippi* (44.4%); 2. Arkansas (37.5%); 3. Georgia (37.3%); 4. Kentucky (37.1%) 5. Tennessee (36.5%) 6. Alabama (36.1%); 7. Louisiana (35.9%); 8. West Virginia (35.5%); 9. District of Columbia (35.4%); 10. Illinois (34.9%); 11. Nevada* (34.2%); 12. Alaska (33.9%); 13. South Carolina (33.7%); 14. North Carolina (33.5%); 15. Ohio (33.3%); 16. Delaware (33.2%); 17. Florida (33.1%); 18. New York (32.9%); 19. New Mexico (32.7%) 20. Texas (32.2%) 21. Nebraska (31.5%); 22. Kansas (31.1%); 23. (tie) Missouri (31.0%) and New Jersey (31.0%) and Virginia (31.0%); 26. (tie) Arizona (30.6%) and Michigan (30.6%); 28. California (30.5%); 29. Rhode Island (30.1%); 30. Massachusetts (30.0%) 31. Indiana (29.9%) 32. Pennsylvania (29.7%); 33. (tie) Oklahoma (29.5%) and Washington (29.5%); 35. New Hampshire (29.4%); 36. Maryland (28.8%); 37. Hawaii (28.5%); 38. South Dakota (28.4%); 39. Maine (28.2%); 40. Wisconsin (27.9%); 41. Idaho (27.5%); 42. Colorado (27.2%); 43. Vermont (26.7%); 44. Iowa (26.5%); 45. (tie) Connecticut (25.7%) and North Dakota (25.7%) and Wyoming (25.7%); 48. Montana (25.6%); 49. Oregon (24.3%); 50. (tie) Minnesota (23.1%) and Utah (23.1%)

Trust for America's Health is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to saving lives by protecting the health of every community and working to make disease prevention a national priority.

Consumers haven't a clue

2009-07-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

Today’ Re-Powering information – A new study was just published about consumers awareness of the nutrition in fast foods. Most consumers don’t have a clue – and the fast food companies like it that way!

Consumers haven't a clue

Newswise - A new study by marketing researchers at the University of Arkansas indicates that many consumers have a poor understanding of the calorie, fat and sodium content of quick-service restaurant meals. This finding is especially true for less healthful meals, such as a cheeseburger with fries and regular (not diet) soft drink. Although diet soda is poor nutrition!

The researchers - Scot Burton and Elizabeth "Betsy" Howlett, marketing professors in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, and graduate student Andrea Tangari - found that as the calorie content of a meal increased, so did the extent to which calorie, fat and sodium levels were underestimated. In other words, although most consumers expected a large cheeseburger and fries to be high in calories, few realized just how unhealthy that meal was. For example, sodium levels from these purchased meals provided more than 75 percent of the daily-recommended level of 2300 milligrams, and consumers underestimated the amount of sodium in their meals by roughly 1,000 milligrams.

Results also showed that when nutrition information was worse than expected, consumers' product evaluations were much more negative.

"Our findings provide potential insight into why frequent restaurant diners may have difficulty maintaining or losing weight," said Howlett. "On average, frequent diners unknowingly consumed 900 extra calories a week from restaurant meals. This degree of underestimation appears capable of causing significant weight gain over the long term." This is how easily a person can destroy a weeks worth of effort and caloric deficit. The bigger the meal... the worse it is... and the less we realize it.

Within the context of the national obesity problem and possible legislation mandating disclosure of calorie and nutrient information on menus, the researchers conducted three studies to determine how accurately consumers estimate calorie, fat and sodium content of quick-service restaurant meals. Of particular interest was how objective nutrition information interacted with prior expectations to influence product evaluations, purchase intentions and perceptions of diet-related disease risks.

"Our results suggest that when obligated to disclose nutrition information, quick-service restaurants with signature items that are substantially higher in calories than consumers' expect may find their firms in a relatively less favorable position," Burton said. "These restaurants may wish to improve their portfolio of healthy items by either introducing new products or improving the nutrition profile of foods on their current menu by switching to lower calorie ingredients." Certainly, if consumers knew in advance what the nutritional value (or non-value) of these fast food meals were they would be influenced to make better selections. I would hope anyway. I am also pretty sure the fast food chain will fight hard against this legislation to pass as it will cripple their business.

An example of this strategy has been demonstrated recently by KFC, which recently introduced a grilled (unfried) chicken meal that is healthier than a fried-chicken meal.

In the first study, participants kept a diary of their fast-food purchases. They recorded restaurants visited, meal prices, specific food and drinks consumed and ratings of meal satisfaction. After a seven-day period, they estimated the calorie, fat and sodium levels for each restaurant meal recorded in their diary. The researchers then gathered participants' opinions and perceptions about each specific meal purchased. Next, the participants visited restaurant Web sites to obtain objective calorie and nutrient levels for each meal. Several days after obtaining this objective information, meals were re-evaluated.

The researchers found that when objective calorie levels were relatively low, consumers' estimates, on average, were close to actual levels. For example, the participants did not grossly overestimate or underestimate the amount of calories in a garden salad with a medium diet drink. However, when objective calories were relatively high, consumers' estimates were significantly less than actual levels. Consequently, the disclosure of actual calories had a strong negative effect on product evaluations.

"Without awareness of actual quantitative information - the objective levels of calories, fat and sodium - it is difficult to assess the potential effect that quick-service restaurant purchases may have on consumers' weight maintenance or weight-loss efforts," Howlett said.

The purpose of the second study, a controlled, Web-based experiment, was to determine how the provision of objective calorie information for actual quick-service restaurant items influenced consumers' choices and purchase intentions. Via an online survey, 363 adult consumers provided their opinions of and purchase intentions for three popular meals served by two quick-service restaurant chains. Participants were given a description of each meal. Some descriptions included calorie information; others did not. The third study employed a longitudinal experiment in which participants formed expectations, based on a fictitious restaurant review, about calorie levels and then were provided product information that either confirmed or contradicted initial expectations.

Results from the second and third studies confirmed those of the initial experiment - that objective calorie and nutrient levels often deviate from consumer expectations and the extent of this difference determines the extent to which objective nutrition information affects consumers' product evaluations and choices. Specifically, the researchers found that when objective calorie levels were higher than expected, purchase intentions were lower. More importantly, the percentage of consumers choosing less healthful menu items decreased when actual calorie levels exceeded expected levels. The percentage of consumers choosing healthier items increased when actual calorie levels were disclosed and those calorie levels were less than expected. However, when actual calorie levels were consistent with what was expected, consumers' meal evaluations were not affected, even when the meal calorie levels were very high.

The study was published in the Journal of Retailing and may be found at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620186/description#description. Electronic copies are available upon request.

Low Caloric Diets- protein at EVERY meal

2009-07-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

Today’s Repowering information – This article is by Tom Venuto. . It explains why I also recommend you have a protein at EVERY meal and watch your portion sizes as well as create a small caloric deficit each day. This is a Q&A from Tom’s Newsletter about cutting carbs for weight loss.

QUESTION: Tom, I've been reading your stuff for years and I also read a lot of other sites and message boards including some of the low carb boards. I have finally come to the conclusion, both from all my reading and my personal experience, that the idea that one will lose weight just by cutting carbs is a myth.

And I welcome anyone who thinks they can to go ahead and try to prove me wrong. I'm not looking for a fight of course, just looking for good information and discussion.

Consider the following two situations; each involves an identical male who requires 3,000 calories/day to maintain his current weight.

SITUATION #1: The individual reduces his calories to 2,500/day, which theoretically will result in losing one pound/week. The individual divides his calories so 60% (1500) come from Carbs and the remainder come from Fat and Protein. Will he lose weight even though he's eating a lot of Carbs? I believe the answer is YES because even though the carbs are high (60%), he is in a calorie deficit.

SITUATION #2 The individual adopts a Low Carb Diet by eating only 25 grams of Carbs daily (100 calories). He then eats an additional 2900 calories of Fat and Protein. Will he lose weight?
I believe the answer is NO because even though the carbs are low, he is eating at his maintenance level.

Now, I understand that there are advantages to controlling insulin and reducing Carbs, including some health benefits for some people, but what I often don't see on the low carb benefit list is the impact that fat has on controlling appetite.
I believe that Fat satiates even the largest appetite, causing you to eat less.

Therefore, I believe that the reason a Low Carb Diet works is because people who follow it eat fewer calories.

I would love to get your feedback on this Tom and if you or any of your newsletter or blog readers have any studies or information proving me wrong, please let me know.

Thank you

John in Texas

PS. I realize I'm not the first to question a Low Carb diet, so my apologies if this has been discussed in your newsletters before.

ANSWER:

Thanks for your well-thought out question John. Yes, we've
discussed this before, but it's timely and worth discussing
again, especially with some of the long-term research that
was just published earlier this year.

You are preaching to the choir though, my friend. You are
right, fat loss hinges on calories in versus calories out.

BUT -- and there is a big BUT -- we really need to make some
distinctions about low carb and high protein so we don't
throw out the baby with the bathwater. Low carb has some
advantages. More importantly, so does high protein.

Heres where most of the confusion comes from in this whole
low carb thing:

Are we talking about low carb in a free-living / ad-libitum
(non calorie counting) situation, or are we talking about a
laboratory-controlled study or a strict calorie-counting
situation?

This makes all the difference because in a free-living,
situation, low carb almost always beats high carb for
weight loss, especially in the early weeks and months on
the program.

This can be partly explained by water weight and glycogen
loss in the initial weeks, but also by actual greater fat
loss during the early stages.

However, this is not because of "metabolic advantage" of
low carbs over high carbs, it is because subjects in these
types of studies ate less in the low carb group.

In other words, low carb diets usually control appetite
better, when calories are not counted,... i.e. you get
automatic calorie control.

So you are correct in your conclusion.

Furthermore, it's difficult to eat too much when you remove
an entire group of calorie dense foods (sugars and starches)
which are a food group responsible for providing a huge
portion of the calories in most people's diets.

Sure, you can overeat on dietary fat as well, at least
in a mixed diet, but apparently not easily in the absence
of carbs.

Now, heres the kicker...

As soon as you start controlling calories.. I mean hospital
ward or research facility controlled, where the subjects
cannot pick and choose their own food, and instead, the food
is weighed and measured and almost literally spoon fed to
the subjects, the difference in weight loss between low
carb and high carb shrinks or even vanishes.

In other words, when calories are matched, there is little
or no difference in fat loss between a high carb and low carb
diet, when dietary fats and carbs are the variables manipulated.

In the long term studies, even more valuable data has emerged...

The big study by the New England Journal of Medicine that got all
that publicity earlier this year confirmed it once again...

Even though low carb diets work better in the short term for
weight loss in free living subjects, the advantage decreases
by month six, and disappears after a year or two.

The moral of the story is (drumroll please)...

Most people don't stick with ANY type of diet very well for very long.

And... the extreme low carb diets in particular have lower long
term adherence rates and poor long term maintenance rates.

Now, this does not mean that low carb diets do not have
benefits. They certainly do, and some of them are health
related (which is beyond the scope of this column).

Others are fat loss related...

If you automatically eat less due to appetite suppression and
removal of calorie dense foods, that is clearly an advantage,
it's just not the advantage that most low carb advocates
suggest.

There is no proof of metabolic advantage purely from
restriction of carbs and insulin does not lead to obesity
in a cause and effect sense, insulin merely plays a role
in the process of partioning surplus carbs into fat stores
or in suppressing fat release.

Insulin is important to manage, but not the deciding factor
in whether you lose fat or not.

One change in macronutrients that DOES help fat loss is an
increase in protein. Protein is highly thermogenic - about 30%.

So 30% of the energy in protein is not available for potential
fat storage, as it is metabolized just in the digestion process.

So in reality, you could say it's the higher protein, NOT
the reduced carbs, that provides the real advantage!

Ironically, a high protein diet is not always low in carbs.
Take the 40-40-20 macro split from BFFM (or BFL) for example.
40% of calories from protein is very high. And yet 40% carbs
is not very low!

The protein-induced thermodynamic advantage is somewhat small,
but it's significant if a large shift in protein intake is made
as is the case with a 30-40% protein program.

For example, the old food pyramid/ traditional dietician-style
diet is 15% protein. Research from the University of Washington
School of Medicine showed that when protein is doubled to 30%
(replacing carbs), there is a small but measureable advantage
even when matched calorie for calorie.

In free living studies, the advantage is even larger because
protein is a great appetite suppressant and is highly satiating.

In fact, protein NOT FAT, is the most satiating nutrient.

It appears that fat is psychologically satiating, but protein
is the hands down winner as the most satiating, appetite
suppressing macronutrient, physiologically speaking.

Thus, a protein with every meal and a 30% (or even higher) ratio of
protein is conducive to better fat loss - which incidentally is
EXACTLY how the Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle program is set up

End

Have a peaceful day,

Motivation to get on the scale.. Understand what your scale number really means!

2009-05-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

Today's Empowering Info and Motivation: Tomorrow is re-assessment day. Everyone should be losing on average 5 – 6 pounds a camp –assuming you have that to lose. Read below to see some facts about body weight and fat weight to prepare you for when you weigh in tomorrow.

Your scale can tell you how much you weigh in total, but it just cannot tell you if you've lost body fat - unless you have a body fat analyzer like I use at camp. Expect to add some muscle to your body when you are doing the conditioning we are doing in boot camp. You will want and need it for your metabolism and for your beautiful shape.

The following components all add up to the reading your scale gives you. Anything that is not considered fat is considered muscle by the body fat scales so you may see some variation some times. For the most part everyone goes down!

Connective tissue - specifically, tendons and ligaments. Connective tissue adapts through resistance training to allow you to function at higher levels, and it will not adversely affect your body's appearance in any way. The more fit you are, the stronger your connective tissues.

Muscle tissue - As you add lean muscle tissue to your body, you'll burn more calories and stored body fat during exercise as well as throughout the day doing normal activity. And the additional muscle tissue allows your body to look and feel firm and toned.

Glycogen - when you consume whole grain carbohydrates you're body will store glycogen (the reserve fuel that gets converted into glucose, the body's primary source of energy). And with each gram of additional glycogen, your body stores several grams of water along with it. This is a very beneficial process, but it will add to what your scale reads.

Blood Volume - as we become increasingly fit, we add blood volume.
In addition to these positive gains in weight, your scale can vary as much as 3-6% on any given day based on digestive contents and your hydration level.

Here's how you can determine real progress:
Answer the following questions: Do I have more energy? Are my clothes fitting more loosely? Have others commented that I'm "looking good"? Am I starting to like what I see in the mirror?
Measure your body composition - discover how much of you is made up of body fat versus lean body mass. All the methods of measuring body composition are subject to some error, but if you stick to the same method and tester, you'll find that change over time is reliable.

Some of you took a picture at the start of this program. It’s never too late to do that (I won’t ask you to re-gain any weight). You don't have to look at the photo (yet). We’ll wait another 2 months to get more conditioning under your belt! I know the results will be extraordinary!

It's ironic that the increases in connective tissue, lean muscle tissue, glycogen and blood volume - the things that are crucial to improving how your body looks, feels and functions - can be the same things that initially make you think you're making no progress.

Why the Scale Lies
By Renee Cloe

We've been told over and over again that daily weighing is unnecessary, yet many of us can't resist peeking at that number every morning. If you just can't bring yourself to toss the scale in the trash, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the factors that influence its readings. From water retention to glycogen storage and changes in lean body mass, daily weight fluctuations are normal. They are not indicators of your success or failure. Once you understand how these mechanisms work, you can free yourself from the daily battle with the bathroom scale. Water makes up about 60% of total body mass. Normal fluctuations in the body's water content can send scale-watchers into a tailspin if they don't understand what's happening. Two factors influencing water retention are water consumption and salt intake. Strange as it sounds, the less water you drink, the more of it your body retains.

If you are even slightly dehydrated your body will hang onto its water supplies with a vengeance, possibly causing the number on the scale to inch upward. The solution is to drink plenty of water. Excess salt (sodium) can also play a big role in water retention. A single teaspoon of salt contains over 2,000 mg of sodium.

Generally, we should only eat between 1,000 and 3,000 mg of sodium a day, so it's easy to go overboard. Sodium is a sneaky substance. You would expect it to be most highly concentrated in salty chips, nuts, and crackers. However, a food doesn't have to taste salty to be loaded with sodium. A half cup of instant pudding actually contains nearly four times as much sodium as an ounce of salted nuts, 460 mg in the pudding versus 123 mg in the nuts. The more highly processed a food is, the more likely it is to have a high sodium content. That's why, when it comes to eating, it's wise to stick mainly to the basics: fruits, vegetables, lean meat, beans, and whole grains.

Be sure to read the labels on canned foods, boxed mixes, and frozen dinners. Women may also retain several pounds of water prior to menstruation. This is very common and the weight will likely disappear as quickly as it arrives. Pre-menstrual water-weight gain can be minimized by drinking plenty of water, maintaining an exercise program, and keeping high-sodium processed foods to a minimum. Another factor that can influence the scale is glycogen. Think of glycogen as a fuel tank full of stored carbohydrate. Some glycogen is stored in the liver and some is stored the muscles themselves. This energy reserve weighs more than a pound and its packaged with 3-4 pounds of water when it's stored. Your glycogen supply will shrink during the day if you fail to take in enough carbohydrates. As the glycogen supply shrinks you will experience a small imperceptible increase in appetite and your body will restore this fuel reserve along with its associated water. It's normal to experience glycogen and water weight shifts of up to 2 pounds per day even with no changes in your calorie intake or activity level. These fluctuations have nothing to do with fat loss, although they can make for some unnecessarily dramatic weigh-ins if you’re prone to obsessing over the number on the scale.

Otherwise rational people also tend to forget about the actual weight of the food they eat. For this reason, it's wise to weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you've had anything to eat or drink. Swallowing a bunch of food before you step on the scale is no different than putting a bunch of rocks in your pocket. The 5 pounds that you gain right after a huge dinner is not fat. It's the actual weight of everything you've had to eat and drink. The added weight of the meal will be gone several hours later when you've finished digesting it.

Exercise physiologists tell us that in order to store one pound of fat, you need to eat 3,500 calories more than your body is able to burn. In other words, to actually store the above dinner as 5 pounds of fat, it would have to contain a whopping 17,500 calories. This is not likely, in fact it's not humanly possible. So when the scale goes up 3 or 4 pounds overnight, rest easy, its likely to be water, glycogen, and the weight of your dinner. Keep in mind that the 3,500 calorie rule works in reverse also. In order to lose one pound of fat you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in. Generally, it's only possible to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week.

When you follow a very low calorie diet that causes your weight to drop 10 pounds in 7 days, it's physically impossible for all of that to be fat. What you're really losing is water, glycogen, and muscle. This brings us to the scale's sneakiest attribute. It doesn't just weigh fat. It weighs muscle, bone, water, internal organs and all. When you lose "weight," that doesn't necessarily mean that you've lost fat. In fact, the scale has no way of telling you what you've lost (or gained). Losing muscle is nothing to celebrate. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. The more muscle you have the more calories your body burns, even when you're just sitting around. That's one reason why a fit, active person is able to eat considerably more food than the dieter who is unwittingly destroying muscle tissue.

Robin Landis, author of "Body Fueling," compares fat and muscles to feathers and gold. One pound of fat is like a big fluffy, lumpy bunch of feathers, and one pound of muscle is small and valuable like a piece of gold. Obviously, you want to lose the dumpy, bulky feathers and keep the sleek beautiful gold. The problem with the scale is that it doesn't differentiate between the two. It can't tell you how much of your total body weight is lean tissue and how much is fat.

There are several other measuring techniques that can accomplish this, although they vary in convenience, accuracy, and cost. Skin-fold calipers pinch and measure fat folds at various locations on the body, hydrostatic (or underwater) weighing involves exhaling all of the air from your lungs before being lowered into a tank of water, and bioelectrical impedance measures the degree to which your body fat impedes a mild electrical current. If the thought of being pinched, dunked, or gently zapped just doesn't appeal to you, don't worry.

The best measurement tool of all turns out to be your very own eyes. How do you look? How do you feel? How do your clothes fit? Are your rings looser? Do your muscles feel firmer? These are the true measurements of success. If you are exercising and eating right, don't be discouraged by a small gain on the scale. Fluctuations are perfectly normal. Expect them to happen and take them in stride. Its a matter of mind over scale.

Brain Chemistry altered by foods high in fat, salt, and sugar

2009-05-13T08:54:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information – The article below explains why you grab that cookie even though you know you shouldn’t eat it. It also explains why diets don’t work. The author also has a new book called “The End of Overeating”. I have not read it, but if you struggle with overfeeding, it may be worth the read.

Published Monday May 4, 2009
Brain aches for food bathed in badness
THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON - He went in the middle of the night, long after the last employee had locked up the Chili's Grill and Bar. He'd steer his car around the back, check to make sure no one was around and then quietly approach the Dumpster.

Click to Enlarge

Foods high in fat, salt and sugar alter the brain's chemistry in ways that compel people to overeat, says Dr. David Kessler, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

If anyone noticed the man foraging through the trash, they would have assumed he was a vagrant. Except he was wearing black dress slacks and padded gardening gloves.

The high-octane career path of David Kessler, the Harvard-trained doctor, lawyer, medical school dean and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, had come to this: nocturnal Dumpster diving. It took many of these forays until Kessler emerged with his prize: ingredient labels affixed to empty cardboard boxes that spelled out the fats, salt and sugar used to make the Southwestern Eggrolls, Boneless Shanghai Wings and other dishes served by the nation's second-largest restaurant chain.

Kessler was on a mission to understand a problem that has vexed him since childhood: why he can't resist certain foods.

His resulting theory, described in his new book, "The End of Overeating," is startling. Foods high in fat, salt and sugar alter the brain's chemistry in ways that compel people to overeat. "Much of the scientific research around overeating has been physiology - what's going on in our body," he said. "The real question is what's going on in our brain."

The ingredient labels gave Kessler information the restaurant chain declined to provide when he asked for it. At the FDA, Kessler pushed through nutrition labels on foods sold through retail outlets but stopped short of requiring the same for restaurants. Yet if suppliers ship across state lines, as suppliers for Chili's do, the ingredients must be printed on the box. That is what led Kessler, one of the nation's leading public health figures, to hang around trash bins across California.

The labels showed the foods were bathed in salt, fat and sugars, beyond what a diner might expect by reading the menu, Kessler said. The ingredient list for Southwestern Eggrolls mentioned salt eight different times; sugars showed up five times. The "egg rolls," which are deep-fried in fat, contain chicken that has been chopped up like meatloaf to give it a "melt in the mouth" quality that also makes it easier to eat quickly. By the time a diner has finished this appetizer, the person has consumed 910 calories, 57 grams of fat and 1,960 milligrams of sodium.

Instead of satisfying hunger, the salt-fat-sugar combination will stimulate that diner's brain to crave more, Kessler said. And the food industry manipulates this neurological response, designing foods to induce people to eat more than they should or even want to, Kessler found.

His theory, borne out in a growing body of scientific research, has implications not just for the increasing number of Americans struggling with obesity but for health providers and policymakers.

"The challenge is how do we explain to America what's going on - how do we break through and help people understand how their brains have been captured?" he said.

Kessler is best remembered for his investigation of the tobacco industry and attempts to place it under federal regulation while he was FDA commissioner from 1990 to 1997.

Kessler's aggressive approach toward the tobacco industry led to billion-dollar settlements between Big Tobacco and 46 states and laid the groundwork for legislation now pending in Congress that would place tobacco under FDA regulation.

Whether government ought to exercise tougher controls over the food industry is going to be the next great debate, especially since much of the advertising is aimed at children, Kessler said.

"The food the industry is selling is much more powerful than we realized," he said. "I used to think I ate to feel full. Now I know, we have the science that shows, we're eating to stimulate ourselves. And so the question is what are we going to do about it?"

Through interviews with scientists, psychologists and food industry insiders, and his own scientific studies and hours spent surreptitiously watching other diners at food courts and restaurants around the country, Kessler said, he finally began to understand why he couldn't control his eating.

"Highly palatable" foods - those containing fat, sugar and salt - stimulate the brain to release dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with the pleasure center, he found. In time, the brain gets wired so that dopamine pathways light up at the mere suggestion of the food, such as driving past a fast-food restaurant, and the urge to eat the food grows insistent. Once the food is eaten, the brain releases opioids, which bring emotional relief. Together, dopamine and opioids create a pathway that can activate every time a person is reminded about the particular food. This happens regardless of whether the person is hungry.

Not everyone is vulnerable to "conditioned overeating" - Kessler estimates that about 15 percent of the population is not affected and says more research is needed to understand what makes them immune.

But the key to stopping the cycle is to rewire the brain's response to food, he said.

Deprivation only heightens the way the brain values the food, which is why dieting doesn't work, he said.

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Detox, Nourish, Eat well.... 1970's Had it going on!

2009-05-12T08:57:00.000-07:00

Today’ Re-Powering Information – Today’s article from Reuters should come as no surprise to you. Overeating is causing obesity. People are eating about 500 more calories a day and children about 300 more calories a day. I would bet on the fact that those calories are not in the form of fruits or vegetables either. Our diets have chanced dramatically from the 70’s. Not only are we eating more, but we are less nourished. This article is missing the boat when it is not stressing the importance of exercise not only for calories burned per session, but for health and increasing metabolism as well as the detoxifying properties.

It’s still a good eye opener that lends to the reason our nations inhabitants are growing in size.

Overeating to blame for U.S. obesity epidemic

Fri May 8, 2009 12:11pm EDT

By Megan Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The major reason for the obesity epidemic that has gripped the United States in the past three decades is increased food intake, not reduced physical activity, according to a study released Friday at the European Congress on Obesity in Amsterdam.

The study is the first to quantify the relative contributions of food and exercise habits to the growing number of Americans with bulging waistlines.

"In the U.S., over the last 30 years, it seems that the food side of the equation has changed much more than the physical activity side," Professor Boyd A. Swinburn, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Obesity Prevention at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia, noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health.

Weight gain in the American population seems to be virtually all due to the consumption of more calories, with declines in physical activity playing only a minor role, Swinburn explained.

"We absolutely need to continue to promote increased physical activity and a healthy diet because they are both obviously beneficial factors in terms of obesity," he emphasized. "But when it comes to placing priorities, I think it needs to be on reducing energy intake. It's particularly important for policymakers to focus on the energy intake side of the equation."

In the study, Swinburn and his colleagues calculated how much adults need to eat in order to maintain a stable weight and how much children need to eat in order to maintain a normal growth curve.

They then figured out how much Americans were actually eating, using national food supply data from the 1970s and the early 2000s. This information allowed them to predict how much weight Americans would be expected to gain over the 30-year study period if food intake were the only influence.

Next, the investigators determined the actual weight gained over the study period using data from a nationally representative survey that recorded the weight of Americans in the 1970s and early 2000s.

In children, according to Swinburn and colleagues, the predicted and actual weight increase matched exactly, which indicates that the increases in energy intake alone over the 30 years studied could explain the added pounds, they say.

In adults, the data predicted that they would be 10.8 kg (23.8 pounds) heavier, but in fact they were only 8.6 kg (18.9 pounds) heavier. This finding, Swinburn noted, "suggests that excess food intake still explains the weight gain, but that there may have been increases in physical activity over the 30 years that have blunted what would otherwise have been a higher weight gain."

"To return to the average weights of the 1970s, we would need to reverse the increased food intake of about 350 calories a day for children (about one can of fizzy drink and a small portion of French fries) and 500 calories a day for adults (about one large hamburger)," Swinburn noted in a statement from the meeting.

"Alternatively, we could achieve similar results by increasing physical activity by about 150 minutes a day of extra walking for children and 110 minutes for adults, but realistically, although a combination of both is needed, the focus would have to be on reducing calorie intake," he added.

End.

Dream big!

Secrets to a good night sleep and the fountain of youth

2009-05-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering information – Today is one of those days that you would love to be able to crawl back into bed or at least take an afternoon nap. Sleep along with exercise is your fountain of youth. Read Dr. Mercola’s top 33 tips for healthy sleep. Lack of sleep is associated with weight gain – and even obesity. Make a grand effort to have a solid plan for sound quality sleep.

33 Secrets to a Good Night's Sleep

If you are having sleep problems, whether you are not able to fall asleep, wake up too often, don't feel well-rested when you wake up in the morning, or simply want to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep, try as many of the following techniques below as possible:

· My current favorite for insomnia is Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Most people can learn this gentle tapping technique in several minutes.

EFT can help balance your body's bioenergy system and resolve some of the emotional stresses that are contributing to the insomnia at a very deep level. The results are typically long lasting and the improvement is remarkably rapid.

· Listen to white noise or relaxation CDs. Some people find the sound of white noise or nature sounds, such as the ocean or forest, to be soothing for sleep. An excellent relaxation/meditation option to listen to before bed is the Insight audio CD.

· Avoid before-bed snacks, particularly grains and sugars. This will raise blood sugar and inhibit sleep. Later, when blood sugar drops too low (hypoglycemia), you might wake up and not be able to fall back asleep.

· Sleep in complete darkness or as close as possible. If there is even the tiniest bit of light in the room it can disrupt your circadian rhythm and your pineal gland's production of melatonin and seratonin. There also should be as little light in the bathroom as possible if you get up in the middle of the night. Please whatever you do, keep the light off when you go to the bathroom at night. As soon as you turn on that light you will for that night immediately cease all production of the important sleep aid melatonin.

· No TV right before bed. Even better, get the TV out of the bedroom or even out of the house, completely. It is too stimulating to the brain and it will take longer to fall asleep. Also disruptive of pineal gland function for the same reason as above.

· Wear socks to bed. Due to the fact that they have the poorest circulation, the feet often feel cold before the rest of the body. A study has shown that this reduces night wakings (Click Here).

· Read something spiritual or religious. This will help to relax. Don't read anything stimulating, such as a mystery or suspense novel, as this may have the opposite effect. In addition, if you are really enjoying a suspenseful book, you might wind up unintentionally reading for hours, instead of going to sleep.

The Sun Alarm™ SA-2002 , which I personally use, is a natural way to wake up in the morning. I highly recommended it as an alternative to loud alarm clocks. Read More Now!

· Avoid using loud alarm clocks. It is very stressful on the body to be awoken suddenly. If you are regularly getting enough sleep, they should be unnecessary. I gave up my alarm clock years ago and now use a sun alarm clock. The Sun Alarm™ SA-2002 provides an ideal way to wake up each morning if you can't wake up with the REAL sun. Combining the features of a traditional alarm clock (digital display, AM/FM radio, beeper, snooze button, etc) with a special built-in light that gradually increases in intensity, this amazing clock simulates a natural sunrise. It also includes a sunset feature where the light fades to darkness over time - ideal for anyone who has trouble falling asleep.

· Journaling. If you often lay in bed with your mind racing, it might be helpful keep a journal and write down your thoughts before bed. Personally, I have been doing this for 15 years, but prefer to do it in the morning when my brain is functioning at its peak and my coritsol levels are high (CLICK HERE)

· Melatonin and its precursors. If behavioral changes do not work, it may be possible to improve sleep by supplementing with the hormone melatonin. Ideally it is best to increase levels naturally with exposure to bright sunlight in the daytime (along with full spectrum fluorescent bulbs in the winter) and absolute complete darkness at night. One should get blackout drapes so no light is coming in from the outside. One can also use one of melatonin's precursors, L-tryptophan or 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). L-tryptophan is obtainable by prescription only. However, don't be afraid or intimidated by its prescription status. It is just a simple amino acid.

· Get to bed as early as possible. Our systems, particularly the adrenals, do a majority of their recharging or recovering during the hours of 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. In addition, your gallbladder dumps toxins during this same period. If you are awake, the toxins back up into the liver which then secondarily back up into your entire system and cause further disruption of your health. Prior to the widespread use of electricity, people would go to bed shortly after sundown, as most animals do, and which nature intended for humans as well.

· Check your bedroom for electro-magnetic fields (EMFs). These can disrupt the pineal gland and the production of melatonin and seratonin, and may have other negative effects as well. To purchase a gauss meter to measure EMFs try Cutcat at 800-497-9516. They have a model for around $40. One doctor even recommends that people pull their circuit breaker before bed to kill all power in the house (Dr. Herbert Ross, author of "Sleep Disorders").

· Keep the temperature in the bedroom no higher than 70 degrees F. Many people keep their homes and particularly the upstairs bedrooms too hot.

· Eat a high-protein snack several hours before bed. This can provide the L-tryptophan need to produce melatonin and serotonin.

· Also eat a small piece of fruit. This can help the tryptophan cross the blood-brain barrier.

· Reduce or avoid as many drugs as possible. Many medications, both prescription and over-the-counter may have effects on sleep. In most cases, the condition, which caused the drugs to be taken in the first place, can be addressed by following the guidelines elsewhere on this web site.

· Avoid caffeine. A recent study showed that in some people, caffeine is not metabolized efficiently and therefore they can feel the effects long after consuming it. So an afternoon cup of coffee (or even tea) will keep some people from falling asleep. Also, some medications, particularly diet pills contain caffeine.

· Alarm clocks and other electrical devices. If these devices must be used, keep them as far away from the bed as possible, preferably at least 3 feet.

· Avoid alcohol. Although alcohol will make people drowsy, the effect is short lived and people will often wake up several hours later, unable to fall back asleep. Alcohol will also keep you from falling into the deeper stages of sleep, where the body does most of its healing.

· Lose weight. Being overweight can increase the risk of sleep apnea, which will prevent a restful nights sleep. CLICK HERE for my diet recommendations.

· Avoid foods that you may be sensitive to. This is particularly true for dairy and wheat products, as they may have effect on sleep, such as causing apnea, excess congestion, gastrointestinal upset, and gas, among others.

· Don't drink any fluids within 2 hours of going to bed. This will reduce the likelihood of needing to get up and go to the bathroom or at least minimize the frequency.

· Take a hot bath, shower or sauna before bed. When body temperature is raised in the late evening, it will fall at bedtime, facilitating sleep,

· Remove the clock from view. It will only add to your worry when constantly staring at it... 2 a.m. ...3 a.m. ... 4:30 a.m. ...

· Keep your bed for sleeping. If you are used to watching TV or doing work in bed, you may find it harder to relax and to think of the bed as a place to sleep.

· Have your adrenals checked by a good natural medicine clinician. Scientists have found that insomnia may be caused by adrenal stress (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, August 2001; 86:3787-3794).

· If you are menopausal or perimenopausal, get checked out by a good natural medicine physician. The hormonal changes at this time may cause problems if not properly addressed.

· Don't change your bedtime. You should go to bed, and wake up, at the same times each day, even on the weekends. This will help your body to get into a sleep rhythm and make it easier to fall asleep and get up in the morning.

· Make certain you are exercising regularly. Exercising for at least 30 minutes everyday can help you fall asleep. However, don't exercise too close to bedtime or it may keep you awake. Studies show exercising in the morning is the best if you can do it.

* Establish a bedtime routine. This could include meditation, deep breathing, using aromatherapy or essential oils or indulging in a massage from your partner. The key is to find something that makes you feel relaxed, then repeat it each night to help you release the day's tensions.

* Go to the bathroom right before bed. This will reduce the chances that you'll wake up to go in the middle of the night.

* Wear an eye mask to block out light. As said above, it is very important to sleep in as close to complete darkness as possible. That said, it's not always easy to block out every stream of light using curtains, blinds or drapes, particularly if you live in an urban area (or if your spouse has a different schedule than you do). In these cases, an eye mask can help to block out the remaining light.

* Put your work away at least one hour (but preferably two or more) before bed. This will give your mind a chance to unwind so you can go to sleep feeling calm, not hyped up or anxious about tomorrow's deadlines.

One Flaw In Women

2009-05-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering information. A poem passed onto me by camper Jill.

One Flaw In Women

Women have strengths that amaze men.
They bear hardships and they carry burdens,
but they hold happiness, love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream.
They sing when they want to cry.
They cry when they are happy
and laugh when they are nervous.
They fight for what they believe in.
They stand up to injustice.

They don't take "no" for an answer
when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have.
They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.

They love unconditionally.
They cry when their children excel
and cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about
a birth or a wedding.
Their hearts break when a friend dies.
They grieve at the loss of a family member,
yet they are strong when they
think there is no strength left.
They know that a hug and a kiss
can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you
to show how much they care about you.

The heart of a woman is what
makes the world keep turning.

They bring joy, hope and love.
They have compassion and ideas.
They give moral support to their
family and friends.

Women have vital things to say
and everything to give.

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,
IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

Please pass this along to all your
women friends and relatives to remind them just
how amazing they are.

End

I want to wish every mom a Happy Mothers Day. For those who are mothers, allow yourself to be celebrated – even if you have to create your own party! For those who have biological moms or surrogate moms, honor them in a memorable way with your words and your presence.

Finally, Pool season is upon us and I recently was made aware of the importance of having your pool and outdoor living area’s inspected to ensure everything is to code and there are no issues. The last thing you want is an electrical problem around water. I’ve been electrocuted (when I was 13 at a marina – but I’ll save that for another day). My parents also had a house burn to the ground from an electrical fire so this is something to take seriously. Campers Tami and Tom own TLC Electrical and put together a special for the campers for an inspection.

Unhealthy Foods Hijack Your Brain

2009-05-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

Today’ Re-Powering information. I know I tend to keep coming back to the topic of sugar, however it’s one that a lot of people struggle with. Sugar fatigues you, keeps you fat and breaks your body down. I have not tried either of the suggestions that Dr. Mercola recommend, but they both stand to reason as options. If sugar is something you battle, you may consider one of these two options. Read the article and Dr. Mercola’s comments.

When Unhealthy Foods Hijack Your Brain

junk foodsIn a book being published next week, former FDA chief Dr. David Kessler brings to consumers the disturbing conclusion of numerous brain studies -- some people really do have a harder time resisting bad foods.

At issue is how the brain becomes primed by different stimuli. Neuroscientists increasingly report that fat-and-sugar combinations in particular light up the brain's dopamine pathway -- its pleasure-sensing spot. This is the same pathway that conditions people to alcohol or drugs.

The culprits foods are "layered and loaded" with combinations of fat, sugar and salt, and they are often so processed that you don't even have to chew much.

Overeaters must take responsibility, too, and basically retrain their brains to resist the lure, says Kessler.

Sources:

Washington Post April 23, 2009

Dr. Mercola''s Comments

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Many people can relate to what David Kessler, the former FDA chief, calls “conditioned hypereating” -- a drive to eat sugary, greasy processed foods that has nothing to do with hunger.

It can happen when you walk by a vending machine, drive by one of your favorite restaurants or bakeries, or even when you’re sitting at home watching TV. Suddenly you get a craving for something you know isn’t good for you -- cookies, French fries, ice cream, potato chips, that sort of thing -- and your willpower seems to crumble.

This is an epidemic problem, as in the United States 90 percent of the money Americans spend on food is for processed food, and junk food is available just about everywhere, including in hospitals and schools.

It’s clear that something about these foods is able to wield an incredibly strong force over many of us, to the point that obesity has been named the fastest growing health threat in the United States, and two-thirds of adults are already overweight or obese.

So what is going on here? What about these foods compel people to overeat them at the expense of their waistline, and more importantly their health?

Why It’s So Easy to Be Addicted to Junk Food and Fast Food

Taste, convenience and cost certainly play a role in making junk foods appealing, but there’s more to it than that. The large amounts of sugar, salt and grease in junk foods are clearly addictive.

In one study, rats fed a diet containing 25 percent sugar became anxious when the sugar was removed -- displaying symptoms similar to people going through drug withdrawals, such as chattering teeth and the shakes.

A link was found between opioids, or your brain’s 'pleasure chemicals,' and a craving for sweet, salty and fatty foods. It is thought that high-fat foods stimulate the opioids, as when researchers stimulated rats’ brains with a synthetic version of the natural opioid enkephalin, the rats ate up to six times their normal intake of fat.

Further, long-lasting changes in rats' brain chemistry, similar to those caused by morphine or heroin use, were also noted. According to researchers, this means that even simple exposure to pleasurable foods is enough to change gene expression, which suggests an addiction to the food.

Your Genes Remember When You Eat Sugar

When you eat sugar, not only do your genes turn off controls designed to protect you from heart disease and diabetes, but the impact lasts for two weeks!

Even more concerning, if you eat poorly for a long time your DNA may become permanently altered and the effects could be passed on to your children and grandchildren.

In other words, you are born with a set of genes, but the expression of those genes is not set in stone. Your genes can be either activated or silenced by various factors including your diet and even your mind. It is not your genes that dictate your future health, but rather the expression of those genes that matter.

So in the case of eating sugar, it’s now known that this switches off good genes that protect your body from disease. This is just one of many reasons why you may want to seriously limit or eliminate sugar from your diet.

Sugar is Incredibly Addictive

Another reason we know that people’s love for sugar goes far beyond taste is because of its addictive properties.

Refined sugar is far more addictive than cocaine -- it is one of the most addictive and harmful substances currently known. In fact, an astonishing 94 percent of rats who were allowed to choose between sugar, water and cocaine, chose sugar.

Even rats who were addicted to cocaine quickly switched their preference to sugar, once it was offered as a choice.

The researchers speculate that the sweet receptors (two protein receptors located on your tongue), which evolved in ancestral times when diets were very low in sugar, have not adapted to modern times’ high sugar consumption.

Therefore, the abnormally high stimulation of these receptors by our sugar-rich diets generates excessive reward signals in your brain, which have the potential to override normal self-control mechanisms, and thus lead to addiction.

Your Emotions Play a Major Role, Too

As Kessler said, "Once you know what's driving your behavior, you can put steps into place" to change it.

What this means is whenever you feel the desire to binge on junk foods, it’s necessary that you have a system in place to help curb those cravings.

The system that I personally use and most highly recommend is called the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). EFT is a form of psychological acupressure, based on the same energy meridians used in traditional acupuncture to treat physical and emotional ailments for over 5,000 years, but without the invasiveness of needles.

When your body's energy system is disrupted, you are more likely to experience distractions and discomforts related to food, and more likely to engage in emotional eating. Instead, if you engage your body's subtle energy system with EFT, the distracting discomforts like food cravings often subside.

The other major factor that will help you to break an addiction to junk food is tailoring your diet to your nutritional type. Nutritional Typing will teach you which foods you are designed to eat and the ideal proportions of the types of nutrients you require, whether you are a 'Carb', a 'Protein', or a 'Mixed' type.

When you eat the foods that are right for your biochemistry, it will push your body toward its ideal weight and you’ll notice that food cravings largely subside. This is because you’re giving your body the fuel it needs, so you’ll feel satiated throughout the day and be far less tempted by the sugary and greasy foods that once had a hold over you.

End.

Have an uncomfortable day!

Know your Food Serving Sizes

2009-05-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

Serving Sizes

Don’t have a measuring cup, but need to know how many servings are on your plate? Use visual cues to help you. Here’s how:

One serving of meat, poultry, or fish =
a deck of cards or the size of your palm

One serving of cheese (1½ oz.)=
size of six dice or 2 fingers (1 cubic inch = 5 g fat)

One serving of bread, cooked cereal, pasta, or rice = size of a small fist or a hockey puck

End.

Keep these sizes in mind when cooking, filling your plate, or thinking about going back for seconds.

25 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Your Body and Health

2009-05-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information. First read an article with the 25 Things about Your Body and Health and then Read Dr. Mercola’s take on them below it including his list of top ways to optimize health.. The list will look familiar!

25 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Your Body and Health

1. Rinsing your nose with salt water can help keep you healthy and ward off allergy symptoms.

2. Dogs can smell cancer and low blood sugar. A study showed that it is possible to train dogs to identify, based on breath samples, which patients had lung and breast cancer. For diabetics, the dogs can smell ketones in urine and on the breath when blood sugars are high. Dogs can pick up on other smells that humans can’t when glucose levels drop.

3. Researchers found that people who pass through an entryway near the kitchen tend to eat 15 percent more than those who use the front door.

4. You're more likely to have a heart attack on a Monday, or up to three days after you've been diagnosed with the flu or a respiratory tract infection.

5. You can't get a tan from your computer screen. The Computer Tan Web site was created as a hoax to raise awareness about skin cancer.

6. Obese people spend approximately $485 more on clothing, $828 on extra plane seats, and $36 more on gas each year than their thinner counterparts. An overweight driver burns about 18 additional gallons of gas a year.

7. Smokers are four times as likely to report feeling unrested after a night's sleep than nonsmokers. Smokers often experience withdrawal symptoms at night, thus causing periods of restlessness and waking.

8. Eating fruits and vegetables may help your body make its own aspirin. Benzoic acid, a natural substance in fruits and vegetables, causes people to produce their own salicylic acid, the key component that gives aspirin its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties.

9. A 20-minute nap can improve your overall alertness, boost your mood, and increase productivity. In addition, your heart may reap benefits from napping -- a six-year study found that that men who took naps at least three times a week had a 37 percent lower risk of heart-related death.

10. Your kitchen sink is dirtier than your bathroom. There are typically more than 500,000 bacteria per square inch in its drain, and the faucet, basin, and sponge are crawling with germs as well.

11. Four out of five doctors in the UK don't work out enough. Heavy workloads, lack of time and poor motivation contributed to the lack of exercise.

12. Baking soda can whiten teeth, garlic can help treat athlete's foot, and honey can soothe a hangover.

13. Using a food diary can double your weight-loss efforts. Your food diary makes you accountable to yourself and provides you with clues on where the extra calories are sneaking in.

14. Regular exercise can lower a woman's cancer risk -- but only if she's getting enough sleep. The National Cancer Institute followed nearly 6,000 women for almost 10 years. Women in the top half of physical activity levels showed an approximate 20 percent reduction in cancer risk, but sleeping less than seven hours per night resulted in a decreased benefit.

15. Watching yourself run in a mirror can make a treadmill workout go by faster and feel easier.

16. Third-hand smoke -- the particles that cling to smokers' hair and clothing and linger in a room long after they've left -- is a cancer risk to young children and pets.

17. Walking against the wind, in the water, or while wearing a backpack burns about 50 more calories per hour than walking with no resistance. People who wear pedometers also tend to burn more calories and lose more weight.

18. Trained sexologists can infer a woman's orgasm history by observing the way she walks. In other news, men find women who wear red sexier than those who wear "cool" colors such as blue and green.

19. Foreign accent syndrome and exploding head syndrome are real (but very rare) medical conditions. A person with exploding head syndrome experiences a loud, indecipherable noise that seems to originate from inside their head.

20. Vitamins don't seem to help older women guard against cancer or heart disease.

21. Some men experience pain, headaches, or sneezing as a result of ejaculation. The increased activity in the nervous system during orgasm may be the culprit.

22. Germ-killing wipes can spread bacteria from one spot to another if you reuse them.

23. Oatmeal, citrus fruits, and honey can boost your sex drive and improve fertility. Oats produce a chemical that releases testosterone into the blood supply, vitamin C improves sperm count and motility, and vitamin B from honey helps your body use estrogen, a key factor in blood flow and arousal.

24. Twenty-nine percent of Americans say they have skipped filling a prescription due to the cost, and 23 percent use pill splitting as a way to save money.

25. Facebook may be good for your health; studies show that staying in touch with family and friends can ward off memory loss and help you live longer.

Sources:

MSN Health & Fitness April 21, 2009

Dr. Mercola''s Comments

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

The 25 items covered in the article above are not necessarily critical knowledge to help you live a healthier and longer life, but it’s clear there is much confusion over what’s truly necessary for optimal health. And as the examples listed below will show you, the shortcuts to health and beauty are many, but the potential hazards are just as numerous.

When it comes to the intricate workings of your body and your health it’s clear most people (including health professionals and scientists) know less than we’d like to believe. Just take a look at some of the most common health myths I covered in a previous article and you’ll get a sense of what I mean.

Not only that, but people do all sorts of things to their bodies, thinking it will make them happier, healthier, or more beautiful, or at the very least that it will not harm them.

Here are a few examples you may not know could be harmful to your body and health:

Laser Hair Removal: The treatment disables hair follicles and can lead to scarring if not properly done. In addition, it doesn’t remove all the hair, and it might only last for a couple of years.

Body Piercing: Piercing delicate places like nipples, genitals or your tongue can interfere with breastfeeding; increase the risk of spreading STDs; increase your risk of allergies; and chip your teeth, respectively. Less obvious problems may result from disruption of your body’s subtle energy fields. Inserting pieces of metal into your body can disrupt vital energy flow. If you are healthy you probably won’t notice any difference, but piercings can be a problem if you have a more serious health challenge.

Bariatric Surgery: Over 40 percent of these surgeries result in major complications within six months, such as diarrhea or hernia.

Skin Whitening: Some topical whiteners contain mercury, which causes nerve and kidney damage. Others contain hydroquinone, a carcinogen banned in Europe that blotches your skin.

Botox: Botox, which paralyzes your facial muscles to rid you of wrinkles, can cause respiratory failure and death.

Liposuction: Liposuction removes only about 10 pounds of fat after four hours of dangerous surgery. Recovery is long and painful, and the fatality rate is the highest of any elective surgery.

Do You Know What Your Body Needs for Optimal Health?

It’s important to realize that optimal health and beauty are side effects of an overall healthy lifestyle. There are no shortcuts; no magic pills.

However, there are certain basic tenets of optimal health -- which includes maintaining a healthy weight and radiating true inner beauty – that are permanent truths. These strategies won’t change, regardless of what modern science and conventional medicine comes up with next:

1. Eat a healthy diet that’s right for your nutritional type (paying very careful attention to keeping your insulin levels down)

2. Drink plenty of clean water

3. Manage your stress

4. Exercise

5. Sunlight

6. Limit toxin exposure

7. Consume healthy fat

8. Eat plenty of raw food

9. Optimize insulin and leptin levels

10. Get plenty of sleep

If you memorize these ten items and incorporate them into your lifestyle, you’ll be way ahead of the rest of the pack toward optimal health and longevity.

Drinking calories and weight gain

2009-05-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information – First off, I love today’s quote. It’s the difference between knowing and doing. 99% of people would agree that exercise is important and good for them, yet less than 14% of our population exercises on a regular enough bases to see any benefit! Can you believe that? They know its good, you don’t need anything fancy to do it and yet so few people engage. You are the elite, in the minority! So I want to congratulate you on making fitness a priority. It will serve you in every area of your life. If I was not physically fit I don’t’ know how I would have gotten through some of the emotionally, financially, spiritually, socially, professionally and physically challenging times of my life. You are always in a better position when you are strong and healthy.

Speaking of knowing and doing, I know many of you enjoy an adult beverage. It’s only Monday but it is Cinco De Mayo tomorrow – another reason to . .. you guessed it – DRINK! Below are some facts on alcohol calories that may just limit or eliminate you drinking your calories. The average American drinks 300 calories a day. If you cut out one 12 oz caloric beverage (soda, juice, coffee, milk, wine, alcohol) you would automatically lost at least 2 pounds in a years time. That may not sound like a lot, but in 10 years it adds up – compared to putting that weight on!

Read on for more facts.

Many unaware of alcohol calories

Red wine in an off licence

The campaign is focusing on the calorie content of alcohol

Many people are unaware of the calorie content of alcohol, a survey shows.

Four in 10 did not know a glass of wine has the same calories (120) as a slice of cake, or that a pint of lager and a small sausage roll have 170 each.

The poll of 2,000 adults in England was carried out as part of the government's drive to curb people's drinking habits.

The campaign also stresses that a heavy drinking session is often followed by an unhealthy breakfast, which again helps to pile on the pounds.

The Know Your Limits campaign has in the past focused on other consequences of drinking, such as disease risk.

Alcohol and food calories compared

But to coincide with the focus on weight, the Department of Health carried out research showing a regular beer drinker, who downed five pints a week or 250 over the course of a year, packed away the same number of calories as someone eating 221 doughnuts over the space of 12 months.

It also revealed the average wine drinker consumed 2,000 calories each month. Over the course of a year, that is the equivalent of eating an extra 38 roast beef dinners.

Health minister Phil Hope said: "Regularly drinking more than our recommended daily limits can have a knock-on effect on our health, including an expanding waistline.

"It's not only the calories in the drinks themselves that can help to pile on the pounds, we're also more likely to eat fatty foods when we've had one too many."

Heather Caswell, of the British Nutrition Foundation, added: "Most people would baulk at consuming a full glass of single cream, but wouldn't think twice about a couple of pints.

"But the calorie content is similar and, over time, excess alcohol intake is likely to lead to weight gain."

And a spokesman for the Drinkaware Trust added: It's imperative we are in the know when it comes to what we are drinking. "

End

You are equipped to reach your desired outcomes. Follow through in a massive way!

Do you have any conflicting beliefs or values which hold you back

2009-04-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

Today’s Daily Directive. - Look at what is right in your life. I want you to identify at least 5 things that you love about your life. Genuinely LOVE. We spend a majority of our time looking at what is wrong. Our house is too (old, small, outdated, big, wrong location), our children are too (whiney, nagging, know it all, disobedient, irresponsible, ungrateful, demanding), our spouses are too (controlling, inattentive, unsupportive, lazy, work aphonics), our bodies are too (fat, slow, achy, stressed) our clothes are too (tight, out of fashion, not properly fitted) and so on.

You can fill in your own blanks about the things in you life that you constantly focus on that some how seem to fall short. For today, focus on what is right. Focus on what you have to be proud of, what you genuinely love about where you live, how you spend your time, your career, your children, parents, spouse, clothes, body, etc. Take today to say something good about each aspect of your life (emotionally, socially, personally, socially, physically, spiritually). That’s it, just focus on what’s right! You deserve it and you’ll feel great. DO NOT let your mind wander to the negative today.

Today’s Re-Powering Information: I wanted to share a simple concept with you that will help you achieve any goal you set you mind to.

It’s real simple… here we go!

You cannot have internal conflict in your goals and beliefs.

For example:

You cannot have a goal of a fit body, and also have a belief that exercise is hard work.

You cannot attain a large amount of wealth if you think wealthy people are selfish.

You cannot live in a lean body if you think you can’t cook healthy foods

You cannot have a successful relationship if you think a relationship stifles who you are.

You cannot make wise food choices to enhance your health if you also tell yourself that healthy foods are not tasty.

So, in short, pause for a moment and assess. Do you have any conflicting beliefs or values which hold you back? If you find they exist, get to the root of the negative believe and learn why the conflict exists. Once you do, you will quickly find yourself moving towards your goals. Turn around your limiting beliefs and a whole new world of possibilities will open up.

The most important quality for success in entrepreneurship and in life is the quality of optimism. Optimists have an unrealistic expectation of success. As a result, they are willing to try far more things without becoming discouraged. In addition, because of their unrealistically positive attitude, they are willing to persist much longer than the average person. Optimism is a wonderful quality.

Simple . . . change your thinking and change your outcomes!

Negative Nancy News

2009-04-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information: Are you as tired as me hearing about the bad economy and the economic downturn? You must be b/c I don’t even watch the news and I am fed up. I understand that there are people hurting, however it makes more sense to do something about it than to listen to it and buy into it. This can put your mind in the gutter. You have 100% control over your mindset. You have complete control over your emotions and the decisions you make. Mindset is a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations. To simplify, it means you do the things you do based on what goes on in your mind at the current period of time.

Reactive people simply react to what’s happening around them and transform themselves into a negative mindset. Proactive people choose how they walk, talk, and feel regardless of the conditions around them enabling them to have a positive mindset. This came from a blog I found on the topic.
Negative News Equals Negative Mindset

Hanging around with negative people will lower your standards which I compare to immersing yourself with negative news. Think about it, is the news really that irresistibly interesting? “2 suspects were sent to jail today on suspicion of murdering their former teacher…” “The economy is doing terrible, 65,000 jobs were lost last month alone…” Why is it necessary to know this information? What good comes from this? Do you believe you are setting yourself up for a successful life? Do you really need to fill in that void with a daily “news fix”?
What do people get when they watch the news

* Shootings
* Murders
* Rapes
* Losing jobs
* Economic meltdown
* Mortgage crisis
* Real estate gone bad
* War
* Regulation

This is not productive. In fact the opposite is true. If you find someone wallowing about the down economy, find a way to turn it around or choose not to participate in the conversation.
Positive News Equals Positive Mindset

Whether you are looking to become wealthy or spiritually connected, you have a much better chance doing so by being around the right people. What you see on TV or read online has the same impact. The more positive news you read, the quicker you will allow yourself to emerge in positive thoughts. Positive thinking really does help you move forward when it is followed by action. Positive thinking is an ongoing action, meaning you must exert energy to keep your mind at a positive state. Read, watch, and listen to more positive news.
Why is the Media Persistent About Providing Negative News?

The media is like any other business, the only way it survives is by making profit for its shareholders. The media is only interested in making money which is done by advertising. The more people that watch, the more money they will make. If someone has the option on which they would rather see, a bank getting robbed compared to healthy babies being born, the answer would be obvious. The media is aware that more people would watch the story about the bank robbery compared to the new babies. This translates into people prefer negative stories rather than positive.
Empower Yourself and the World

Since we cannot simply boycott the news, how about we put 100% focus on positive news. The media will deliver what the public wants. If the public would rather be informed of more positive news compared to negative, that is what they will begin to deliver. You have the power to control the news. Every person who decides that they would rather better themselves by viewing positive news would see the dramatic impact in their mindset. Imagine the influence if 1 million people across the United States made the decision to ONLY watch positive news from now on. The outcome would be that those one million people would almost instantly see a change in their mindset which would allow them to focus on much more productive or spiritually enlightening things. Those 1 million people will create a ripple effect and possibly even help the economy.

Do you think this is possible? Can we really make vast change in the way we live our lives? Do we have the ability to influence the media conglomerate? Martin Luther King did and succeeded. Gandhi made a difference. Rosa Parks took the chance. Why wait around for someone else to take action when we have the power to simply do it? Only focus on positive news! Only talk about positive news. Only ASK for positive news. Start the movement today!

End

Have an outstanding news free day!

Detox your LIFE

2009-04-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information – I’ll elaborate on Detoxification a bit more. To detoxify, you first need to be toxic. There is a chance you are not toxic, but given the list above, there is a good chance you have been exposed to something at least in your environment or foods that are foreign to your body. I just hung up the phone with one of my best friends who is in Maryland with a mold specialist. He lives in Florida and after hurricane Wilma, he did not know it, but there was mold in his house, office and health club – where he spent all of his time. He has such a heightened sensitivity now that the smell of cleaning chemicals, perfume, glue or just about anything toxic (especially mold) can give him Parkinson’s like symptoms. He’s had to move 5 time since the hurricane, has trouble staying in hotels or going on elevators with closed in smells and so on. Mold is everywhere. If you have not cleaned your air ducts in a while or cleaned / replaced air conditioner filters, objects foreign to your body can be causing toxicities. Read on to her Dr. Mark Hyman’s idea’s on detoxifying.

Is Your Body Loaded With Harmful Toxins…
Causing You to Be Sick, Sluggish and Mentally Drained Without Knowing It?

Most people begin to experience all or some of the following after only one week of using a detoxifying diet.

· Better digestion and elimination

· Fewer symptoms of chronic illness

· Improved concentration, mental focus, and clarity

· Improved mood and increased equanimity

· Increased energy and sense of well-being

· Less congestion and fewer allergic symptoms

· Less fluid retention

· Less joint pain

· Increased sense of peace and relaxation
It’s Easy to Become Sick and Fat. Simply Overload Your Internal Detoxification System Until It Doesn’t Work Properly…

Mark Hyman, M.D.
Co-Founder & Medical Director
UltraWellness Center, Lenox, MA

Dear Friend,

If you struggle with fatigue, muscle aches, joint pain, sinus problems, headaches, bloating, gas, brain fog, hard-to-lose weight, or just about any chronic condition, there may be something you can do about it—without medication.

First, the good news…

Your body’s natural detoxification system is designed to support optimal health by eliminating waste products and environmental toxins from your metabolism.

When you were born, your body came equipped with a wonderfully designed and perfectly operating internal detoxification system. Your liver is the workhorse, transforming harmful toxins into relatively harmless compounds that are eliminated through the bile and the digestive tract. Your kidneys excrete harmful metabolic and environmental toxins. Your skin sweats and sheds, eliminating chemicals and toxins. Your body even uses hair and nails to eliminate such toxins as mercury and lead.

So what happens after 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, or even 70 years of constant exposure and abuse from the following?

· Nutrient-stripped foods

· Environmental toxins

· Stress

· Pollution

· Medications

· Toxic chemicals

· Pesticides

· Negative thinking

· Hurtful relationships

Now the bad news…

With all the toxins we’re exposed to in our environment, it is NOT difficult for your system to become overloaded and stop functioning the way it was meant to.

Every day, your body faces an uphill battle. It has to clean your system from toxins to keep you healthy. Imagine running your car 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for 40–60 years without a break.

What kind of shape would it be in?
It’s Easy to Become Sick and Fat. Simply Overload Your Internal Detoxification System Until It Doesn’t Work Properly…

Like any other hardworking system, your internal detoxification system needs periodic rest and support to continue functioning optimally.

Because of stress, poor food and a toxic environment, our systems face increasing pressure, making the need for such rest and support greater than ever.

Unfortunately, our modern lifestyles expose us to an increasingly complex (and deteriorating) environment, so that our detoxification systems must work overtime (without a break) in order to process the toxins we encounter in everyday life.
Common Symptoms of an Overloaded Detoxification System

* Fatigue
* Muscle aches
* Joint pain
* Sinus congestion and post-nasal drip
* Headaches
* Bloating
* Gas
* Irritable bowel syndrome
* Foul-smelling stools
* Heartburn
* Sleep problems

* Brain fog
* Food cravings
* Fluid retention
* Excess weight
* Rashes
* Canker sores
* Dark circles under the eyes
* Bad breath or body odor
* Premenstrual syndrome

In addition to the above, it has been shown that impaired detoxification from exposure to toxins can lead to more serious conditions such as:

· Alzheimer’s/dementia

· Arthritis

· Autoimmune diseases

· Cancer

· Chronic fatigue syndrome

· Fibromyalgia

· Food allergies

· Heart disease

· Parkinson’s

· Menstrual problems
Cancer Causes: Environmental or Genetic?

The environment plays more of a role than genetics in such chronic illnesses as dementia, cancer, and heart disease. This point was driven home in an article by the New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 343:1494–1496) and was a shock to many people.

The article addressed a study designed to separate environmental and genetic causes of cancer. The researchers studied 44,000 pairs of twins, looking for a connection between the environment and cancer or genes and cancer.

What did they find?

Less than 10% of cancers were related to genetics. Inherited genetic factors make a minor contribution to susceptibility to most types of cancer.

As a medical doctor, my practice is focused on lifestyle, nutrition, and preventive medicine. After more than 20 years I’ve treating thousands of patients who did not respond well to conventional therapies but underwent remarkable transformations on a detoxification program.

When you follow a detoxification program carefully you should see a reduction in everyday symptoms such as fatigue, sinusitis, and more…

Let me explain why you may be toxic in the first place.
7 Enemies That Impair Your Body’s Natural Ability to Detoxify

Many people, including the majority of those in the medical establishment, think of toxins as something made up by new age or fringe health care practitioners.

Despite opinions, there are medical, environmental, and scientific reasons to consider a detoxification program.

As stated earlier, our internal detoxification system is overloaded because we expose it to so many external sources that wear it out. So what kinds of toxins are you exposing yourself to? Consider the following…
Enemy # 1: Poor Quality Food

Many of the foods we eat contain anti-nutrients (such as sugar, refined carbohydrates, trans or hydrogenated fats, alcohol, caffeine, and processed foods) that lead not only to obesity, but also impair our internal detoxification system.

Consider a greasy cheeseburger (with trans fats), which interferes with the healthy functions of our cells; or the sugars from a soda, which deplete us of the good nutrients needed for detoxification, including the B vitamins and magnesium.

What can possibly be good by these statistics?
The Average American Consumes (per year)…

· 100 pounds of sugar

· 55 pounds of fats and oils

· 300 cans of soda

· 200 sticks of gum

· 5 pounds of potato chips

· 20 gallons of ice cream

· Dozens of doughnuts
Enemy # 2: Too Many Medications

Medications (even over-the-counter medications) can be a serious source of toxicity. For example, an article in the New York Times reported on a 1992–1995 Parkland Memorial Hospital (Dallas) study that found the overexposure of Tylenol or other medications containing its active ingredient, acetaminophen, were the leading cause of hospitalization for acute liver failure—especially if alcohol was in the system.
Enemy # 3: Overexposure to Antibiotics

The Union of Concerned Scientists (www.ucsusa.org) found that of the 24 million pounds of antibiotics used each year, only 2 million pounds are used to treat sick animals. Three million pounds are used to treat human infections. The rest (19 million pounds) are given to animals to prevent infection.

When we eat these animals we consume those antibiotics. This leads to serious consequences to our health, including life-threatening infections caused by bacteria that are resistant to those antibiotics.
Enemy # 4: Heavy Metal Poisoning

Perhaps the most ignored and prevalent toxins we face are heavy metals: mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, and antimony. Everyone knows these metals are dangerous in large amounts, but we now recognize that chronic low-level exposure can have serious adverse consequences.

In what ways are we exposed to heavy metals?

Do you eat tuna, sea bass, or swordfish a few times a week? These may contain unacceptable levels of mercury. Do you have a mouthful of silver fillings that are decades old? Mercury is a huge problem and we are exposed to it in a number of ways.

Most of the ways we are not even aware of, like our water supply. For example, the Waban Reservoir, which supplies most of Boston, Massachusetts’ water, had ten times the safe levels of mercury in its water supply.

Where does mercury it come from? It comes from coal burning power plants, industrial sources like cement plants and medical incinerators that float up in the atmosphere then come back to earth.

A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that 8% of women of child-bearing age had toxic levels of mercury in their blood.
Enemy # 5: Dangerous Chemicals and Pesticides

Chemical toxins are prevalent in our environment (pesticides, herbicides, industrial chemicals, and even the household cleaning products we use in our homes). We breathe them in and absorb them through our lungs and skin, drink them in our water supply, or we eat them.
Enemy # 6: Food Allergens

Allergens can come from food, mold, dust, pollens, or chemicals. These can trigger inflammation in our bodies and overburden our already overloaded system.

Recent studies have found that 30% of Americans have the gene that may make them allergic to the protein found in wheat, called gluten, and 1 in 100 people have serious reactions to the wheat protein.
Enemy # 7: Hidden Infections

Hidden infections can be a source of toxicity. These toxins may come from bacteria, viruses, or yeast. Common locations include your digestive tract, where bacteria can cause ulcers.

The small intestine can harbor parasites, yeast, and harmful bacteria. The sinuses are often a location of chronic fungal infections and many other sites in our bodies harbor hidden infections.

If you are like most people, you are probably exposed to all seven enemies of our detoxification system and as a result may have a system that is simply worn out.
Why Some Babies of Smoking Mothers Are Born a Normal Weight

Why is it that many—but not all—mothers who are smokers give birth to babies who have low birth weight?

We have never understood why some do and some don’t. But when we looked at the genes that controlled detoxification we found the answer.

Women who had the gene that helped them get rid of the chemical toxins in smoke did not have small babies while the women who couldn’t detoxify the cigarette toxins had smaller babies.

The good news is that we can influence how powerfully our detoxification genes are expressed.

There is something you can do to actually improve the function of these detoxification genes and the enzymes produced from those genes that may prevent chronic illnesses.
A Simple Solution for Detoxifying Your System

While the word “detoxification” may call to mind some extreme behaviors, such as fasting or taking enemas, the approach does not require such drastic measures.

While it does require precise attention to diet and elimination, it should also go beyond these to include exercise, yoga, and contemplative practices.

The process should be accessible, clear, and nourishing—a truly revitalizing experience for your mind and body.

People who complete this program emerge with a renewed sense of vigor, vitality, energy, and a relief from many chronic minor health complaints.
How Does It Work?
Get Rid of Toxins:

Identifying and removing toxic foods and substances from your life will help you get a healthy start.

· Feel energized

· Lose weight

· Sleep better

· Preparing and repairing your digestive system with healthful foods and supplements.

· Enhance circulation of blood and lymphatic fluids throughout the body to refresh, oxygenate, and energize your cells.

End

When your body is free from toxic foods it will have far reaching effects on your sleep, your stress your energy and your results from camp.

Follow the Detox Meal Plan and you’ll feel accomplished tonight and astounding in the morning.

More ammunition to avoid sugar in your diet!

2009-04-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering information – More ammunition to avoid sugar in your diet!

Soft Drinks and Energy Drinks: Too Sweet for Your Own Good

April 21, 2009 01:39 PM ET | Katherine Hobson | Permanent Link | Print

Sugary soft drinks and energy drinks are taking it on the chin these days. First, two public-health experts floated the idea of a specific tax on sodas and energy drinks, and now, two other researchers are saying the drinks contribute to obesity and need an extreme makeover.

Walter Willett, who chairs the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health, argues that there is a "direct causal link" between sugar-sweetened soft drinks and energy drinks and obesity, which is in turn linked to heart disease, some types of cancer, arthritis, and type 2 diabetes. So he and a colleague, Lilian Cheung, a lecturer in the nutrition department, are suggesting that we all start focusing on drinks with a far lower sugar and calorie content: things like water, tea, seltzer with a splash of juice, and coffee with one lump of sugar.

They call on beverage makers to create reduced-calorie beverages with no more than 1 gram of sugar per ounce, without using noncaloric sweeteners like aspartame and stevia. [See why VitaminWater is a poster child for the importance of reading food and drink labels.]

That kind of beverage would have about 3 teaspoons of sugar per 12 ounces and about 50 calories. Look at Harvard's chart to see how soft drinks, juices, and sports drinks stack up next to that standard-the worst offender, cranberry juice cocktail, has 200 calories and 12 teaspoons of sugar in a 12-ounce serving. (No word yet on how the beverage industry trade group has received this suggestion, but I will write a post if it does respond.)

[Here's the skinny on caloric sweeteners like agave and corn syrup.]

Why the fuss over sugary beverages rather than, say, candy bars? Willett and Cheung say that these drinks are the largest source of added sugar in the diet of young Americans, with teen boys drinking more than a quart per day. In addition, other researchers, such as Barry Popkin, have suggested that liquid calories don't prompt our bodies to feel full the way calories in solid form do. The Harvard folks say we need to retrain our bodies away from intense sweetness, which is why their hypothesized beverages don't include low-calorie sweeteners like stevia, either. "When adults get conditioned to everything being sweet, it's hard to appreciate the gentle sweetness of a carrot or an apple," says Willett. That means using even low-calorie sweeteners may lead to weight gain, he says. A study published last year suggesting low-calorie sweeteners led to overeating.

End

Realize that every choice is a work in progress. Do your best to make the better bad choices until you are making the healthiest choices 80% of the time.

Success is a process!

Have an ultrawell day!

Take responsibility and get after what you want. Period!

2009-04-24T09:35:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering information – simply a brilliant quote!

"I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse."

-- Florence Nightingale

Last night I attended a 90 minute seminar for Hope hosted by Dave Ramsey. One of the messages was to get up and take responsibility. We know that can’t and but stem from fears and with fear you can not have hope. Take responsibility and get after what you want. Period!

Okay I couldn’t’ resist – here’ another quote! Savor it!

“Work to make your life something more than long, because there is no guarantee that it will be.”

Chris Widener

Have a relaxing and ultra enjoyable weekend.

Words of Wisdom From a 97-Year-Old Physician

2009-04-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

Today’s Daily Directive – Yesterday was earth day. Do your part to Go Green. We have become a nation of hyperconsumers where convenience and consumption rule. Last night I was riding my bike in the neighborhood and noticed the number of trash receptacles at the end of each driveway. There were a minimum of two up to a maximum of 9, yes 9 huge oversized trash bins for every home.

Today, make a stand to do something to conserve. Conserve electricity, make less waste, recycle, re-use or simply resist impulse buying. If one of us does one of these, that’s 53 women and it’s a start. Then pass it on to your family and it will grow exponentially. Can you use less cleaning products, cut down on your driving, shut off lights. Would it be possible for you to buy nothing for 24 hours? I know those of you who own businesses are not happy to hear me say that, but it’s all part of change. I’ve gotten away from using the word discipline and have replaced it with devotion. It’s good training when you are working on making changes to you habits to think about your new habit as your devotion rather than something you need to be disciplined to do. You can stimulate the economy tomorrow. Try it for 24 hours. Buy nothing today and identify one earth friendly thing you are committed to do. It will help you appreciate what you have more rather than always looking for more, more, more!! Write these things down. There is power in writing.

Today’s Re-Powering Information – With age comes wisdom. Read on to hear advice from the worlds oldest practicing physician. Check out what he eats for lunch!!! He provides some timeless advice for living long and healthy years!

Words of Wisdom From a 97-Year-Old Physician

hinohara,wisdom, ageing, longevityAt the age of 97 years and 4 months, Shigeaki Hinohara is one of the world's longest-serving physicians and educators. He has been healing patients at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo and teaching at St. Luke's College of Nursing since 1941.

He has published around 150 books since his 75th birthday, including one Living Long, Living Good that has sold more than 1.2 million copies. As the founder of the New Elderly Movement, Hinohara encourages others to live a long and happy life, a quest in which no role model is better than the doctor himself:

Energy comes from feeling good, not from eating well or sleeping a lot. Hinohara says we all remember how as children, when we were having fun, we often forgot to eat or sleep. He believes that we can keep that attitude as adults, too, and that it's best not to tire the body with too many rules such as lunchtime and bedtime.

All people who live long -- regardless of nationality, race or gender -- share one thing in common: None are overweight. For breakfast Hinohara drinks coffee, a glass of milk and some orange juice with a tablespoon of olive oil in it. His lunch is milk and a few cookies. His dinner is veggies, a bit of fish and rice, and, twice a week, 100 grams of lean meat.

Always plan ahead. His schedule book is already full until 2014. In 2016 he plans to attend the Tokyo Olympics!

There is no need to ever retire, but if one must, it should be a lot later than 65. The current retirement age was set at 65 half a century ago, when the average life-expectancy in Japan was much lower.

Share what you know. Hinohara gives 150 lectures a year, some for 100 elementary-school children, others for 4,500 business people.

When a doctor recommends you take a test or have some surgery, ask whether the doctor would suggest that his or her spouse or children go through such a procedure. Contrary to popular belief, doctors can't cure everyone -- so why cause unnecessary pain with surgery? Hinohara thinks that music and animal therapy can help more than most doctors imagine.

To stay healthy, always take the stairs and carry your own stuff. He take two stairs at a time, to get his muscles moving.

Pain is mysterious, and having fun is the best way to forget it. Hospitals must cater to the basic need of patients, and we all want to have fun.

Don't be crazy about amassing material things. Remember: You don't know when your number is up, and you can't take it with you to the next place.

Hospitals must be designed and prepared for major disasters, and they must accept every patient who appears at their doors. Hinohara helped design St. Luke's so that it was possible to operate anywhere: in the basement, in the corridors, in the chapel. Most people thought he was crazy, but on March 20, 1995, he was unfortunately proven right when members of the Aum Shinrikyu religious cult launched a terrorist attack in the Tokyo subway. St. Luke’s accepted 740 victims and in two hours figured out that it was sarin gas that had hit them. Sadly they lost one person, but they saved 739 lives.

Science alone can't cure or help people. Illness is individual. Each person is unique, and diseases are connected to their hearts. To know the illness and help people, there is a need for liberal and visual arts, not just medical ones.

Life is filled with incidents. On March 31, 1970, when Hinohara was 59 years old, he boarded the Yodogo, a flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka. The plane was hijacked by the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction. He spent the next four days handcuffed to his seat. As a doctor, he looked at it all as an experiment and was amazed at how his body slowed down in a crisis.

Find a role model and aim to achieve even more than they could ever do. Hinohara’s role model was his father, who went to the United States in 1900 to study at Duke University, in North Carolina.

It's wonderful to live long. Since the age of 65, Hinohara has worked as a volunteer. He still puts in 18 hours, seven days a week, and loves every minute of it.

End

Fantastic Chicken Fajitas

2009-04-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

Fantastic Chicken Fajitas

fajitas

Ingredients:

· 1 lb chicken breast, skinless and boneless (or 1 lb flank steak, fish or shrimp)
· Cracked black pepper to taste
· 1 green pepper, cored, seeded and sliced into thin strips
· 1 white onion, peeled and sliced into thin slices
· 8 whole-wheat flour tortillas

guacamole:
· 1 ripe avocado, peeled, seeded and diced
· 1 ripe tomato, diced
· 1 tbsp lime juice
· Tabasco sauce to taste
· 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

tomato salsa:
· 2 ripe tomatoes, diced
· 1 red onion, diced
· 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
· 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (optional)
· 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions:

Fajitas: Slice the chicken into thin strips and season with cracked pepper. Sauté in non-stick pan until fully cooked. Grill or sauté the onions and peppers until cooked. Warm tortillas in the oven.
Guacamole: Mash the avocado in a mixing bowl. Combine all ingredients and mix until evenly distributed.
Tomato Salsa: In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and
mix well.
To Serve: Place warm tortillas on four plates and top with chicken, vegetables, guacamole and salsa. Roll into your favorite shape.

One more quote from a brilliant lady!

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.

-Eleanor Roosevelt

Feed Your Skin

2009-04-22T07:33:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering information – I don’t mention the skin too much, however it’s our largest organ. If you are taking care of your body from the inside, the outside will take care of yourself (unless exposed to things from the external environment like too much sun). If you are having challenges with your skin, breakouts, moles, rashes, etc, more times than not, its from something going on in the inside that surfaces on the skin. The good news is that many skin conditions can be reversed with great nutrition. Not only that, but with exercise and good nutrition. You can appear up to 10 or more years younger. I’m 70 and don’t look too bad!!! (that was a joke). Read the article below for some skin saving and soothing foods that you can both consume for younger looking and feeling skin. You can even use real foods to make your own scrubs and masks..

Feed Your Skin

By Helen Hawkes
Forget plastic surgery. All you have to do is eat your way to great-looking skin.
Can you look younger by stuffing your face? Absolutely! The healthier the foods you consume are, the better your skin looks. No vitamin C and you'll have no collagen.

Too little vitamin A or essential fats and you'll have dry, rough skin, and too little zinc is a recipe for greasy skin and stretch marks.

So forget plastic surgery. For glowing, gorgeous, youthful skin, it makes sense to eat your way to fewer wrinkles, pimples, age spots and other beauty plagues.

Resurfacing your skin

It's no accident that vitamin A is the number one vitamin used topically to improve the texture and appearance of ageing skin.

Vitamin A is a powerful agent for increasing cell turnover, so that skin looks more youthful.

This skin vitamin comes in two forms: retinol, the animal form found in meat, fish, eggs and dairy products; and beta-carotene, found in red, yellow and orange fruits and vegetables.

Apricots, carrots, sweet potatoes and pumpkin are all good sources of beta-carotene.

Sydney-based naturopath Penelope Sach, author of Natural Woman (Penguin), advises: "Include a raw carrot juice daily for the natural vitamin A content, which helps to regenerate skin cells. "

Foods to tighten and tone

Thanks to New York Times bestselling author Dr Nicholas Perricone, we now know that good skin is a very fishy business.

Fish is not only a good source of the antioxidant co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10), but an outstanding source of high-quality protein that helps with cellular repair and essential fatty acids (EFAs), which are responsible for healthy cell membranes, he says.

EFAs hold water, so the stronger they are, the plumper and younger your skin looks.

Fish also contains a powerful antioxidant compound called dimethylaminoethanol or DMAE.

"This chemical stimulates nerve function and the muscles to contract and tighten under the skin," says Dr Perricone in The Perricone Prescription (HarperCollins).

"It is a magic bullet for great skin tone, keeping your face firm and contoured."

Sach says: "For radiant skin, eat cold-water fish such as salmon, mackerel or tuna, three times a week."

Other good face firmers are walnuts and flaxseed oil, soya oil, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.

Flaxseed oil may also be useful in the treatment of skin conditions such as eczema.

Natural wrinkle fighters

Perhaps your skin's biggest enemies are free radicals, produced by UV rays as well as pollution, stress and even breathing.

These nasties lead to skin inflammation, as well as the degradation of collagen, the support structure for your skin, according to Leslie Baumann, of the dermatology department at the University of Miami in Florida.

But nature has designed some pretty clever foods that, if eaten regularly, act as natural wrinkle fighters.

Start with apricots and tomatoes, rich in lycopene, nature's sunscreen.

For maximum anti-ageing, add a daily bowlful of berries, a glass of red wine or a freshly brewed pot of tea.

In a 2004 study by the veterinary science faculty at the University of Sydney, a potent free-radical scavenger called pycnogenol was found to reduce the amount of inflammatory sunburn in mice.

Pycnogenol can be found in grape seed, grape skin, cranberry, blackcurrant, green tea, black tea, blueberry, blackberry, strawberry, black cherry, red wine and red cabbage.

Still want a stronger defense against free radicals and the surgeon's knife?

Here's a potent free radical-busting combination: vitamin C, vitamin E, glutathione and CoQ10.

A 2002 German study published in the Journal Of Pharmacological And Biophysiological Research found that, together, these antioxidants could reduce inflammation caused by UV rays.

You'll find vitamin E in vegetable oils, nuts and green leafy vegetables, and vitamin C in leafy citrus fruit, berries and green leafy vegetables.

Asparagus is high in glutathione and CoQ10 is found in seafood, spinach and nuts.

Other antioxidant-rich foods are prunes, plums, capsicum, beetroot, parsley, figs, raisins and legumes such as red kidney beans.

And don't forget herbs and spices, an often neglected way to boost antioxidants in the body.

"Herbs and spices contain several natural water-soluble phenolic acids and flavonoids that can protect the body against oxidative stress and inflammation," says Dr Michael Fenech, principal research scientist on the CSIRO's Genome Health and Nutrigenomics Project in Adelaide.

Add cinnamon to your cappuccino, drink tea made of fresh mint or ginger, roast lamb with herbs such as rosemary, sage and thyme, and indulge in turmeric-rich curries.

Try Gourmet Garden's herb tubes if you can't buy fresh.

Out, darn spot
There are two types of spots that detract from youthful skin: age spots and pimples.

And Australasian soils are notoriously short of a trace element called selenium.

This deficiency, along with sun exposure and sugar in the diet, is believed to be a factor in age spots, says Erica Angyal, an Australian nutritionist now based in Tokyo and author of Gorgeous Skin In 30 Days (Lothian Books).

To stop spots, you should not only wear an SPF15+, but eat selenium-rich foods, including garlic, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts and sesame seeds.

A study published in 2003 in the British Journal Of Dermatology also showed that skin was less likely to suffer oxidative damage when selenium levels were high.

Eating garlic, which also contains vitamin C and sulfur, can help banish blemishes.

Zinc is another natural substance that is necessary for good skin. Rich sources of zinc are oysters, ginger root, lamb, pecan nuts and brazil nuts.

Softening up

Extra-virgin olive oil has a high concentration of a monounsaturated fatty acid called oleic acid, one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory foods in existence, says Dr Perricone.

"Oleic acid is a member of the omega 9 family," he says. "It can make the difference between a complexion that resembles a piece of old shoe leather and one that looks and feels like a rose petal."

For younger-looking skin, aim to eat about 20g - or two tablespoons - of good fats a day, including olive oil.

Avocados contain oleic acid, as well as the antioxidants vitamin C and E.

Try having some on toast with lycopene-rich tomatoes, accompanied by a cup of green tea, for a super skin-boosting meal.

For baby-soft skin, avoid dehydrating drinks too, like alcohol and caffeine.

"Try Campari and soda during summer, as this is less dehydrating than wine and champagne," says Sach. Of course, cool, filtered water is great too.

Debloat and depuff

Your capillaries are the pipelines for your skin cells, says Angyal.

"When they are weak, or not working efficiently, your skin cells don't receive all the oxygen and nutrients they need."

This leads to poor elimination and sallow, puffy, prematurely aged or dull skin.

Bioflavonoids in citrus fruits can help to protect your capillaries, as well as support collagen production. So, next time you're at a juice bar, mix pink grapefruit, orange or lemon into your fruit or vegie blend.

END

If you are following the 30 Day Detox Fat Burning Meal Plan, yesterday was your first detox day. Fruit in the morning, veggies in the afternoon and a regular dinner from the list of foods provided. Continue following the plan for the best results. Below is a recipe I make, but I eat it without the tortilla’s (I do eat them occasionally)

FDA Warns Consumers about Weight Loss Products

2009-04-21T07:29:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information – I know that some of you are following Weight watchers or Jenny Craig or some other supervised diet program. Those have some merit and can be effective, although I am not thrilled with the quality of food and I would never put a frozen dinner to my lips (read the label and see why), however that’s not what I am going to address today. Today I want to cover something that I hope does not apply to any of you, but you may be able to understand to enlighten those you care about. Diet pills do not work. Not only don’t they work, they are harmful, have side effects and can kill you. Read a recent article from the Chicago Tribune and then the comments by Dr. Mercola regarding his take on Diet Pills.

FDA Warns Consumers about Weight Loss Products

diet pill, weight loss productsThe FDA has issued a new alert about weight loss products tainted by potentially dangerous ingredients. Many of the products claim to be "natural" or "herbal" but include drugs, sometimes in very high doses.

Drugs found in weight loss products include:

• Sibutramine (a controlled substance)
• Phenytoin (an anti-seizure medication)
• Phenolphthalein (a solution used in chemical experiments and a suspected cancer-causing agent)
• Bumetanide (a diuretic)

Altogether, the FDA has found 72 tainted weight loss products since it first brought the issue to public attention last December.

Sources:

Chicago Tribune March 20, 2009

Dr. Mercola''s Comments

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

It’s a tempting proposition for many. Take a diet pill, then sit back and relax as the pounds melt away. For the 15 percent of American adults who say they’ve used weight-loss supplements, many probably thought “why not”? What could they lose other than the money to buy them and possibly some extra pounds?

As it turns out, you could lose quite a bit, including your health, if you take many of these weight-loss supplements.

So far the FDA has identified 72 diet pills -- most of them imported from China -- that are tainted with hidden and potentially dangerous drugs and chemicals.

You can view a full list of the contaminated products on the FDA’s Web site. Many of them claim to be “natural” or “herbal” yet contain chemicals and drugs such as:

• Cetilistat: an experimental obesity drug that can cause serious health risks in certain populations.

• Fenproporex: a stimulant not approved for marketing in the United States, which can cause increased blood pressure, uncontrollable movements or shaking, palpitations, arrhythmia and possibly sudden death.

• Fluoxetine: the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Prozac, a prescription antidepressant, which can increase the risk of suicidal thinking and suicide in children, adolescents, and young adults.

• Furosemide: the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Lasix, a potent diuretic that can cause profound dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, leading to dehydration, seizures, GI problems, kidney damage, lethargy, collapse and coma.

• Rimonabant: the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Zimulti, which has not been approved in the United States because of increased risk of neurological and psychiatric side effects -- seizures, depression, anxiety, insomnia, aggressiveness, and suicidal thoughts among patients.

All of the tainted weight loss supplements on the list are available over-the-counter without a prescription and are not FDA-approved, but please don’t misconstrue this information. While this new finding underscores the importance of knowing where your supplements (whether for weight loss or any other purpose) come from, diet pills that are FDA-approved or available by prescription have also been linked to serious side effects.

The Risks of “Approved” Diet Pills

Two of the most well-known diet drugs in the United States are Xenical, a prescription-only drug, and its non-prescription version Alli. Unpublished studies on Xenical have revealed concerning data, including:

• Xenical increases the precursor markers to colon cancer by 60 percent in rats.
• When eating a high- fat diet and taking Xenical, the cancer risk increased 2.4 fold.
• Fat-soluble vitamin E depletion, due to Xenical's fat-blocking action, raises the risk of colon cancer even further.
• Recorded adverse reactions to Xenical include: 39 cases of increased abnormal blood thinning, several cases of bleeding episodes, 10 hospitalizations (four with life-threatening reactions), and one death.
• Dangerous thinning of the blood can occur in people taking drugs like Warfarin (an anti-coagulant), or who suffer from vitamin K deficiency.

Alli, meanwhile, which blocks the absorption of about 25 percent of consumed fat, can also result in loose stools, hard-to-control bowel movements, and gas with an oily discharge. The manufacturer calls these “treatment effects.”

These are some serious, not to mention embarrassing, risks all for a very small benefit. Though these drugs may help you lose weight, it will likely be only a few pounds more than you would lose with diet and exercise alone.

In fact, the Mayo Clinic reported the average weight loss for prescription-strength Xenical is only about 6 pounds greater than diet and exercise alone after one year. Since Alli is half the strength of Xenical, they reasoned Alli could conceivably result in an average of just 3 extra pounds lost in a year.

The REAL Way to Lose Weight

How to lose weight safely and effectively is an urgent and relevant issue given that two-thirds of the U.S. population is already overweight, and a recent study found it’s possible that nearly every American adult could be overweight by 2048.

Of course, maintaining a healthy body weight is about so much more than looking good in a bikini -- it’s about having more energy, fighting disease, protecting your heart and, above all else, choosing a lifestyle that will support your entire body and your health.

A drug simply will not provide these benefits, and neither will a crash diet.

Dieting is actually a consistent predictor of future weight gain. On any given diet, people initially lose 5 percent to 10 percent of their weight, but then they gain it back, often with some additional pounds as well.

This is because they’re not addressing two key aspects to weight loss: emotions and your nutritional type.

As anyone who’s ever tried to lose weight knows, making up your mind to do it is half the battle (in fact, it’s probably 99 percent of the battle for many).

Nip emotional eating in the bud by dealing with your feelings and creating a new relationship with food. Release self-sabotaging behaviors like avoiding exercise.

That is one step in the weight-loss equation. From there, it’s just a matter of changing your lifestyle in the following ways:

1. Tailor your diet to your nutritional type. These are the foods that are right for your biochemistry, and these are the foods that will push your body toward its ideal weight. (By the way, these foods may be high in fat, high in carbs, heavy on protein or heavy on veggies, it all depends on YOU).

Eating right for your nutritional type is not a “diet.” In fact, if you still feel hungry after eating you are definitely not eating according to your nutritional type. There is no food deprivation, no counting calories and definitely no starving yourself -- just eating plenty of healthy foods that are right for you.

2. View exercise as a drug. When you’re trying to lose weight, a casual walk here and there is not going to cut it. Many studies find that exercising for one hour, five days a week is actually needed, and I tend to agree with that. Sometimes you may even need up to 90 minutes of aerobic activity every day.

There is also strong compelling evidence that strength training and high-intensity anaerobic interval training may be especially effective for weight loss.

So there you have it: eat right, exercise, and address your emotions -- and that is typically all it takes.

GUARANTEE you will not wish you spent more time watching TV

2009-04-20T07:31:00.000-07:00

It is the trouble that never comes that causes the loss of sleep.

Chas. Austin Bates

Today’s action exercise is to first identify something extraordinary you want to do. Maybe something you have been wanting to do, thinking about doing, even investigating, but have not taken the leap to do. Today write that one thing down and take one step in the direction of making that a reality. Then set a deadline as to when this extraordinary adventure will take place. For one person, talking to a stranger may be an adventure, for another it’s canoeing across Lake Grapevine, for another getting back on a horse, for another dusting off the online skates to coast through your neighborhood. I want you to throw all cares (fears) to the wind. Who cares what the neighbors think. I’m not suggesting you bungee jump if that makes you too uncomfortable, however I want you to get out of your comfort zone to realize what’s possible and what you can accomplish. You won’t know until you try. I guarantee –yes GUARANTEE you will not wish you spent more time watching TV. You will remember the experience and then dream to do something bigger. We only go around one time. You can never get this minute back. So . . identify your adventure (not going to the spa), something fun, something that will cause you to muster up come courage, something that will make you feel proud. Maybe sign up for your first 5K and see what it feels like to have race number on your back (I know several of you have done that for the first time this past year). You can go to www.active.com and see if anything excites you! Stretch your limits today. Take the step to make your life worth living in a big fun way. Oh – and feel free to share what with me. I would LOVE to hear it! You can also post it on the blog at www.ArgyleBootCamp.com. It’s freeing!!!

TURKEY MEATLOAF Recipe

2009-04-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

meatloaf

Ingredients:

· 1 1/2 packages (30 ounces) lean ground turkey, uncooked
· 1/2 cup dry oats
· 3 egg whites
· 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
· 1/3 cup cashews, chopped
· 2 teaspoons basil
· 1/4 teaspoons pepper
· · Cooking spray

Instructions:

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, except spray. Then with hands coated with cooking spray, roll the mixture into a log and place it into an 8-inch by 4-inch loaf pan.

Bake it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 to 60 minutes. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Value
(for each 4 serving)

Calories: 171
Fat: 3.5 g
Protein: 30 g
Carbs: 5 g

Makes 10 servings.

Avoid Dining Out!! See how much Calories are in your food!

2009-04-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

Today’ Re-Powering information – Dining out. When we first moved to Flower Mound almost 3 years ago, we were excited by all of the restaurants. Our town in NJ only had 2 restaurants so it was fun to try out the local fare. Before long we realized that most of it was barely a cut above fast food quality and even the finer establishments had limited choices if your goal is not to over due fat, sugar and calories. I eat 95% (or more) of my meals at home each week. One of the things you will observe if you hang out with fitness professionals is that a lot of them pack their food with them to avoid the limited choices available at restaurants. Over the next 12 weeks I ideally would love to have you preparing your own meals (or having someone who cares about your goals doing it for you).

Regular dining out can be devastating to your goals. I recommend keeping dining out to a bare minimum of 1-2 meals a week if possible. Here are some examples of how you can sabotage yourself with a few restaurant meals a week. Make the best choices you can.

Olive Garden, Spaghetti & Meatballs
1,110 calories, 50g fat, 103g carbs

Chicken Alfredo over fettuccine has 1,430 calories and 82g fat

Better Choice: Linguini alla Marinara, with 430 calories and 6g fat for a dinner portion

Better Still: stay home and make your own with high protein or whole wheat pasta al dente, with homemade turkey meatballs, and organic tomato sauce from BJs.

Red Lobster, Parrot Bay Jumbo Coconut Shrimp with Creamy Langostino Lobster Baked Potato and a Caesar Salad-
1,620 calories, 69g fat, 111g carbs

Better Choice: If it's shrimp you crave, go for the dinner portion of Wood-Fire Garlic-Grilled Jumbo Shrimp -- only 365 calories and 6g fat. It comes over wild rice pilaf, and if you go with the garden salad and fat-free ranch, you'll clock in with a total of 495 calories and 9g fat

Better Still: Make it at home with a citrus and lemon marinade over the BBQ, include a side of quinoa or whole grain rice.

T.G.I. Friday's, Sizzling Fajita Combo

PER SERVING (1 order): 1,590 calories
Jack Daniel's Ribs & Shrimp 1,910 calories

Better Choice: Dragonfire Chicken. It's glazed with spicy Kung Pao sauce and it comes with stir-fried brown rice, broccoli, M andarin oranges, and pineapple pico de gallo. All that for 510 calories.

Best yet: At home grill chicken onions and peppers strips and wrap into a Roll-Up brand wrap. Don't forget to top with black beans and salsa, and perhaps a dollop of low-fat sour cream- no cheese.

Outback Steakhouse, Alice Springs Chicken
1 order: 2,000 calories

Better Choice: Ahi Tuna Chopped Salad. You'll get seared tuna on a big pile of greens with wasabi vinaigrette and crispy wontons for 590 calories. Save some calories and fat by ditching the wontons. Save more by ordering that dressing on the side -- even better, get the fat-free Tangy Tomato Dressing

Best Yet:

Go to the Market Place and buy the sushi grade tuna for $16.99/lb. Rub with white and black sesame seeds. Cook it in the skillet with a LITTLE sesame oil. Then top it with a bit of Newman’s Asian Low Fat Dressing and a couple avocado wedges.

Romano's Macaroni Grill, Parmesan-Crusted Sole
2,190 calories, 141g fat, 2,980mg sodium, 145g carbs,

Better Choice: Pollo Magro "Skinny Chicken" -- 320 calories and 5g fat or the Simple Salmon, with 590 calories and 32g fat

Best Yet:

Buy salmon and bake it in the over with bruchetta from BJs. It comes in a big jar for $3.99. Sprinkle on some fresh dill as well. Side with grilled asparagus.

On that note, make what I call the better bad choices at each meal. Do the best you can and realize that it’s an evolution.

Which cheeses are the lowest in fat and calories?

2009-03-30T10:21:00.000-07:00

Wow I have so many things to talk about based on research, my observations and conversations with some of you in camp, what’s in the news, etc. Lots to cover this week!

Today I said I would answer Reyna’s question about, “Which cheeses are the lowest in fat and calories?”. When it comes to cheese, I say go with the real deal. Don’t’ get the plastic like cheeses. Get the freshest cheese you can, but limit your servings. A serving size of cheese is the size a cube (like a dice or the tip of your thumb.) Remember that we don’t’ need that much dairy, but everyone enjoys a little cheese for flavor and satiety. Cheese does help you to feel full b/c of the fat it contains. We all need fat in our diet and cheese can be a good source as are nuts and fish. Cottage cheese is among the lowest in calories of the soft cheeses and Feta is the lowest in calories of the hard cheeses. I do not see my favorite (mozzarella) on the list. I found it on another chart that said 275 calories and 22 g of fat – based on ½ cup serving.

How many calories in Cheese table:

Hard Cheese

Calories

Fat

Brie

320

25.5g

Camembert

300

23g

Cheddar

415

33.5g

Cheddar low fat

275

14g

Cheshire

379

29g

Danish Blue

350

28.5g

Double Gloucester

400

32g

Edam

335

24.5g

Feta

255

20g

Lancashire

380

29g

Leicester

402

32g

Parmesan

450

31g

Stilton

410

29g

Wensleydale

378

28.5g

Soft Cheese

Calories

Cheese Spread (average)

280

30g

Cottage Cheese

100

4g

Cream Cheese

440

46g

Fromage Frais (plain)

115

6g

Full fat spread

315

32g

Lymeswold

420

39g

Medium fat soft spread

181

13.9g

Processed slice

328

26g

What is the difference between organic foods and Kosher foods?

2009-03-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information - During the grocery shopping tour on Thursday night. Reyna asked 2 good questions which I did not know the answers to, so I looked them up. One was about Kosher foods and the other was about cheese.

The question was . . . What is the difference between organic foods and Kosher foods. I know about organic, but I am not as familiar with Kosher foods. Here is what I found:
Kosher food is food that meets Jewish dietary laws, or kashrut, which comes from the Hebrew word for "fit" or "proper." Any food can be called kosher food if it adheres to Jewish law, or halacha. Conversely, foods typically labeled as "Jewish" aren't necessarily kosher. Jewish foods are generally those dishes that are traditionally Jewish. Kreplach, cholent, kugel, latke, and kishka are all traditionally Jewish foods, but if they are not prepared in accordance with kashrut, they will not be kosher food.
The word "kosher" is not only used for food, however. Kosher basically means that something follows all the Jewish legal guidelines. The word has even gained a place in American slang to mean appropriate, legitimate, or proper. Instead of saying "that's not right," one might say "that's not kosher."
Kosher food laws are rather extensive. Some are derived directly from the bible and others through rabbinic interpretations over the years. What are some of the laws governing kosher food?
· According to the Torah (also known as the five books of Moses, the Old Testament, or the Pentateuch) cloven hoofed, cud-chewing mammals are kosher. Deer, sheep and goats, for example are all kosher, while pig and rabbit, for example, are not.
· Only certain birds are considered kosher in the United States. This includes chicken, duck, goose, and turkey.
· Lobster lovers might be dismayed to find that for seafood or fish to be kosher, it must have fins and easily removable scales. Shellfish generally, and lobsters, shrimp, and clams, specifically are not kosher. Fish, on the other hand, such as tuna, carp, and herring, are kosher, but only if they are prepared by a kosher fish monger with kosher cutting implements and machines. There's more. In most cases, scales must be present on the fish in order to be purchased by the consumer.
· Fish and meat cannot be served together.
· Milk and meat cannot be served together. Rabbinic law includes poultry in this prohibition, however fish is excluded. This gives rise to the popular, and kosher, bagel, lox, and cream cheese combination.
· Processed food must be prepared in the presence of a rabbi.
· Poultry and meat must be slaughtered under strict guidelines called "shechita." This means the animals are slaughtered without pain. Only those who are trained and qualified are allowed to slaughter kosher animals. Once the animal is no longer alive, another team of experts will examine the animal to be sure the animal is without illness, abnormalities or anything else that can be considered unsanitary. The lungs in particular must be pure. In addition, all blood, nerves, and most fat must be removed.
· Kosher kitchens must maintain separate sets of utensils, pots, pans, dishes, and anything else that comes in contact with food. In addition, dishes and utensils in a kosher kitchen can't be washed together. If a kitchen has two sinks, it is an ideal setup for a kosher family. If not, separate wash buckets are often used. Dishes and utensils must be dried using separate racks or dishtowels as well.
There are many other rules to be followed for anything to be considered kosher food. To make identification easier on the consumer, kosher food is often identified as such by its kashrut certification on the food's package. Kashrut certification is generally indicated by an identifiable symbol that includes the letter K, or by the word pareve, which means the food is neither dairy nor meat, but rather neutral.
End

Organic foods are not the same as kosher foods. Organic foods are raised without animal by-products, hormones, antibiotics, etc. Organic produce has no chemical pesticides or growth additives and are not genetically modified.
From reading the blogs, articles, etc.. I have gleamed that kosher foods cannot be given antibiotics, hormones and cannot be fed animal by-products. The animal must be slaughtered by kosher law which seems more humane. I do like the fact that the animals (in an organic and humane sense) must be disease free.
Kosher meats are produced in smaller batches than conventional non-kosher meats due to the labor intensiveness in making the meat kosher- removal of blood, veins, etc. If you are really looking at what type of meats to buy- look for ones that are certified kosher and organic- you can find these specialty markets on the web.
All food has some sort of food borne pest and disease that must be watched for. If you really want to know what you are eating- go to a local farm and see how the animals are cared for. It's better for the earth and national economy- meat is often butchered locally.
70% or greater of the products on grocery store shelves show some marking of kosher certification one does not keep kosher to appear more enlightened or better than those who don't. Pepsi and Coke have markings as do most cookies, crackers and processed foods.
Eat local or go cut back on meat if you are really worried about what your food is going through.
I will follow up with the cheese question on Monday. I am also researching Ph diets this weekend. Acid and Alkaline diets are in vogue now so I’ll check them out for you.
More to come. . .
Enjoy your weekend and plan to be there on Monday. I would love to see EVERYONE!!

PS – I am on my way to see the movie The Cross at Grapevine Mills. It just came out yesterday. It’s a true story / documentary. http://thecrossmovie.info/about.htm.

Dietary fiber: An essential part of a healthy diet

2009-03-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

A bunch of ladies gave me feedback on the gluten information from yesterday. Seems that quite a few think they are gluten intolerant. Truthfully if we all cut gluten out of our diets for 3 weeks we would all probably notice that we felt better. It can’t hurt to go gluten free – or even limit gluten in your diet by using gluten free alternatives to bread, pasta, crackers, etc. You should not cut out all carb products so make sure you have some substitutes like the ones listed yesterday.

We get a lot of fiber from carbohydrates, but we can also get them from other sources. Fiber is important for proper digestion as well as heart health. As adults, we should have bowl movements twice a day. The first should be immediately after your first meal and then again at night. If you are not going twice a day you may not be getting enough fiber and or may be dehydrated.

Read below for insight on the importance of fiber for your health – and weight loss. You will also see a list of good sources of Fiber from real foods. Notice that some of the foods on the list are not gluten free.

Dietary fiber: An essential part of a healthy diet

Dietary fiber offers many health benefits. Here's how to include more in your diet.

By Mayo Clinic staff

Eat more fiber. You've probably heard it before. But do you know why fiber is so good for your health?

Dietary fiber — found mainly in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes — is probably best known for its ability to prevent or relieve constipation. But fiber can provide other health benefits as well, such as lowering your risk of diabetes and heart disease.

If you need to add more fiber to your diet, don't worry. Increasing the amount you eat each day isn't difficult. Find out how much dietary fiber you need and ways to include more high-fiber foods into your daily meals and snacks.

What is dietary fiber?

Dietary fiber, also known as roughage or bulk, includes all parts of plant foods that your body can't digest or absorb. Unlike other food components such as fats, proteins or carbohydrates — which your body breaks down and absorbs — fiber isn't digested by your body. Therefore, it passes virtually unchanged through your stomach and small intestine and into your colon.

Fiber is often classified into two categories: those that don't dissolve in water (insoluble fiber) and those that do (soluble fiber).

* Insoluble fiber. This type of fiber promotes the movement of material through your digestive system and increases stool bulk, so it can be of benefit to those who struggle with constipation or irregular stools. Whole-wheat flour, wheat bran, nuts and many vegetables are good sources of insoluble fiber.
* Soluble fiber. This type of fiber dissolves in water to form a gel-like material. It can help lower blood cholesterol and glucose levels. You can find generous quantities of soluble fiber in oats, peas, beans, apples, citrus fruits, carrots, barley and psyllium.

The amount of each type of fiber varies in different plant foods. To receive the greatest health benefit, eat a wide variety of high-fiber foods.

Benefits of a high-fiber diet

A high-fiber diet has many benefits, which include:

* Prevents constipation. Dietary fiber increases the weight and size of your stool and softens it. A bulky stool is easier to pass, decreasing your chance of constipation. If you have loose, watery stools, fiber may also help to solidify the stool because it absorbs water and adds bulk to stool.
* Lowers your risk of digestive conditions. A high-fiber diet may lower your risk of specific disorders, such as hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome and the development of small pouches in your colon (diverticular disease).
* Lowers blood cholesterol levels. Soluble fiber found in beans, oats, flaxseed and oat bran may help lower total blood cholesterol levels by lowering low-density lipoprotein, or "bad," cholesterol levels.
* Controls blood sugar levels. Fiber, particularly soluble fiber, can slow the absorption of sugar, which for people with diabetes, can help improve blood sugar levels. A high-fiber diet may also reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
* Aids in weight loss. High-fiber foods generally require more chewing time, which gives your body time to register when you're no longer hungry, so you're less likely to overeat. Also, a high-fiber diet tends to make a meal feel larger and linger longer, so you stay full for a greater amount of time. And high-fiber diets also tend to be less "energy dense," which means they have fewer calories for the same volume of food.
* Uncertain effect on colorectal cancer. Evidence that dietary fiber reduces colorectal cancer is mixed — some studies show benefit, some show nothing and even some show greater risk. If you're concerned about preventing colorectal cancer, adopt or stick with a colon cancer screening regimen. Regular testing for and removal of colon polyps can prevent colon cancer.

How much fiber do you need?

How much fiber do you need each day? The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, which provides science-based advice on matters of medicine and health, gives the following daily recommendations for adults:

Age 50 and younger

Age 51 and older

Men

38 grams

30 grams

Women

25 grams

21 grams

Your best fiber choices

If you aren't getting enough fiber each day, you may need to boost your intake. Good choices include:

* Grains and whole-grain products
* Fruits
* Vegetables
* Beans, peas and other legumes
* Nuts and seeds

Refined or processed foods — such as fruit juice, white bread and pasta, and non-whole-grain cereals — are lower in fiber content. The grain-refining process removes the outer coat (bran) from the grain, which lowers its fiber content. Similarly, removing the skin from fruits and vegetables decreases their fiber content.

So what foods are your best bets? This list shows the amount of dietary fiber in several types of foods.

Food item

Fiber content in grams*

Split peas, cooked, 1 cup

16.3

Red kidney beans, boiled, 1 cup

13.1

Raspberries, raw, 1 cup

8.0

Whole-wheat spaghetti, 1 cup

6.3

Oat bran muffin, medium

5.2

Pear, medium with skin

5.1

Broccoli, boiled, 1 cup

5.1

Apple, medium with skin

4.4

Oatmeal, quick, regular or instant, cooked, 1 cup

4.0

Green beans, cooked, 1 cup

4.0

Brown rice, cooked, 1 cup

3.5

Popcorn, air-popped, 2 cups

2.3

Whole-wheat bread, one slice

1.9

*Fiber content can vary between brands.
Source: USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, 2007

Whole foods rather than fiber supplements are generally better. Fiber supplements — such as Metamucil, Citrucel and FiberCon — don't provide the vitamins, minerals and other beneficial nutrients that high-fiber foods do. However, some people may still need a fiber supplement if dietary changes aren't sufficient, or if they have certain medical conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome. Check with your doctor if you feel you need to take fiber supplements.

Tips for fitting in fiber

Need ideas for high-fiber meals and snacks? Try these suggestions:

* Start your day with a high-fiber breakfast cereal — 5 or more grams of fiber per serving. Opt for cereals with "bran" or "fiber" in the name. Or add a few tablespoons of unprocessed wheat bran to your favorite cereal.
* Add crushed bran cereal or unprocessed wheat bran to baked products such as meatloaf, breads, muffins, casseroles, cakes and cookies. You can also use bran products as a crunchy topping for casseroles, salads or cooked vegetables.
* Switch to whole-grain breads. These breads list whole wheat, whole-wheat flour or another whole grain as the first ingredient on the label. Look for a brand with at least 2 grams of dietary fiber per serving.
* Substitute whole-grain flour for half or all of the white flour when baking bread. Whole-grain flour is heavier than white flour. In yeast breads, use a bit more yeast or let the dough rise longer. When using baking powder, increase it by 1 teaspoon for every 3 cups of whole-grain flour.
* Eat more whole grains and whole-grain products. Experiment with brown rice, barley, whole-wheat pasta and bulgur.
* Take advantage of ready-to-use vegetables. Mix chopped frozen broccoli into prepared spaghetti sauce. Snack on baby carrots.
* Eat more beans, peas and lentils. Add kidney beans to canned soup or a green salad. Or make nachos with refried black beans, baked tortilla chips and salsa.
* Eat fruit at every meal. Apples, bananas, oranges, pears and berries are good sources of fiber.
* Make snacks count. Fresh and dried fruit, raw vegetables, and low-fat popcorn and whole-grain crackers are all good choices.

High-fiber foods are good for your health. But adding too much fiber too quickly can cause intestinal gas, abdominal bloating and cramping. Increase fiber in your diet gradually over a period of a few weeks. This allows the natural bacteria in your digestive system to adjust to the change. Also, drink plenty of water. Fiber works best when it absorbs water, making your stool soft and bulky. Without the added water, you could become constipated.

End

Take one more look at Today’s quote. Something told me that this was the right quote for today. I hope it makes a difference for you.

What are gluten intolerance symptoms?

2009-03-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

One of the things that a few people have found out is that they are gluten intolerant. I don’t think I have covered that topic, so today’s RE-Powering information (following a Gluten Free Recipe) will be about gluten intolerance. The only way to know if you are intolerant to gluten is to get tested, or eliminate it from your diet and notice how you feel.

1 Low Fat Quinoa Chili

½ cup quinoa 1 cup water

1 16 oz can of black beans

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp cinnamon

2 diced scallions

¼ cup diced tomatoes

¼ tsp. stevia ( to taste)

1. Bring quinoa and water to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes until germ separates.

2. In a separate pot simmer black beans together with seasonings for 10 minutes. Allow beans to cool and thicken for 5 minutes.

3. 3Combine quinoa and bean mixture together. Top with tomatoes and scallions and serve.

Cals: 394

Fat 4 gr.

Carb 70 gr.

Fiber 19 gr.

Protein 22 gr.

Sugar 0

What are gluten intolerance symptoms? Are people with gluten intolerance just fussy eaters with a new excuse for their picky food habits?
Research shows that gluten sensitivity in some form, including celiac disease and mild gluten intolerance, affects approximately 15% of the US population. These statistics are likely to be similar in Western countries with similar health issues and dietary patterns. Are you one of these people? How do you recognize gluten intolerance symptoms?

First of all let’s identify the difference between celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Celiac disease is an immune reaction, a severe sudden onset allergic reaction, to the protein called gluten. This is commonly found in grains such as wheat, rye, barley and oats. While celiac disease is initially an auto-immune disorder, it is also a disease of malabsorbtion, because essential nutrients are not absorbed. Therefore one of the most devastating symptoms of long-term undiagnosed celiac disease is malnutrition.

Gluten intolerance often has a slower onset than celiac disease, and may be hard to diagnose due to the broad range of symptoms and causes.

If you imagine a continuum of gluten intolerance symptoms, celiac disease is usually at the most extreme end with immediate autoimmune reactions. Some people with celiac disease may not have symptoms, but internally malabsorbtion and malnutrition can erode health over many years. Both celiac disease and gluten intolerance can be exacerbated by emotional stress, infection, surgery, pregnancy and childbirth. Every individual with some level of gluten intolerance or allergy may experience different shades of symptoms, hence the challenge for medical practitioners to diagnose.

So what are the specific symptoms of gluten intolerance and
celiac disease?

* Weight loss or weight gain
* Nutritional deficiencies due to malabsorbtion e.g. low iron levels
* Gastro-intestinal problems (bloating, pain, gas, constipation, diarrhea)
* Fat in the stools (due to poor digestion)
* Aching joints
* Depression
* Eczema
* Head aches
* Exhaustion
* Irritability and behavioral changes
* Infertility, irregular menstrual cycle and miscarriage
* Cramps, tingling and numbness
* Slow infant and child growth
* Decline in dental health

Undiagnosed for long periods of time, food intolerances have been found to contribute to diabetes, bowel cancer, anemia and osteoporosis.

Why are gluten intolerance symptoms so varied?

It is still a bit of a mystery; gluten intolerance and allergies affect adults and children in a variety of ways, but we do know that the less stress the better.
Anecdotal evidence suggests emotional trauma and stress play a large role in worsening of symptoms. Some studies have shown that there is a lower chance of developing celiac disease, the longer a baby is breastfed; the later they started eating gluten containing foods and the less gluten containing foods they ate. However completely avoiding gluten through pregnancy and in a child’s younger years may also increase allergic reaction, as the developing digestive system does not recognize the substance at all. Perhaps a moderate approach is best when preventing celiac disease, especially if there is a genetic predisposition. Mother might reduce but not eliminate gluten foods when pregnant, breastfeed for a longer than average period, and introduce low gluten grains as first foods for baby.

How to diagnose celiac disease and gluten intolerance?

Until recently it was challenging to diagnose celiac disease because the symptoms are varied and similar to other diseases. For example, crones disease, chronic fatigue, iron deficiency, irritable bowel syndrome and intestinal infections can all have similar symptoms. In fact there may be a cross over between gluten intolerance and some of these illnesses; an individual may have a combination of issues worsened by unsuitable food choices.
Now doctors test for raised levels of certain auto-antibodies in their blood. These antibodies are produced when the body senses a dangerous intruder allergen, like gluten. If the results indicate an allergy to gluten the doctor may perform a small intestine biopsy. This will reveal the damage to the villi in the small intestine. It is important to eat an ordinary diet including gluten, before being tested.

Author: Anna Wilde

Food Sensitivities... Are you feeling bad?

2009-03-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

Today’s Re-Powering Information – There are so many things I want to take about today based on a few passing conversations I had at camp on Friday. Topics range from digestion to food sensitivities and dispelling the myth’s about how weight is regarding the role of diet alone, exercise alone or both. I’ll cover all of them over once we begin camp again.

So, on to food sensitivities. Some people may not realize it, but over time they come to accept not feeling good. They forget what it feels like to feel great. It may start with headaches then progress to stiff joints, a back ache, a rash, joint pain, bloatedness, trouble sleeping and so on. The symptoms can range, but the cause may all be the same. You may not have a full blown allergy, but certain foods don’t’ agree with you. It’s known as a food sensitivity. The typical foods people may be allergic to are: wheat, dairy, gluten, tomatoes, nuts and so on. The only way to know what you are allergic to is an elimination diet where you remove those tings from your diet and then notice how great you feel. Add back one food at a time and notice what if any reactions you have. OR you could get tested for food sensitivities with a blood test. Once you determine what you are sensitive to and eliminate it, it will be like a whole new lease on life. Everything clears up, symptoms go away and energy soars. If you notice you are not feeling your best, consider the role that the food you are consuming may have.

Dr. Ozzie at www.ProActiveWorx.com has offered to do a 45 minute consultation with all of the boot campers at no charge. He will listen to your goals, diet, symptoms, etc and give you professional no obligation feedback. If you do decide to get blood work done or if you have recent test results, bring them with you. The blood work is a window into your cells and reveals a lot from parasites to food sensitivities. Once you find out what your body may be lacking or what needs to be eliminated it can be a complete turn around in your health and a beautiful side effect will be additional fat loss. There is no need to suffer or get sick often.

Below is a recent video on food sensitivities.

Link to segment on food sensitivities http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.viddler.com%2Fexplore%2FDocOsborne%2Fvideos%2F5%2F

Have an incredible week off. I am in town and am a phone call or e-mail away if you need anything.

Breakfast Foods & Eat Your Food Uncooked? Here’s the Really Raw Truth

2009-03-23T19:54:00.000-07:00

While we are on recipes, here are some new twists on breakfast. I find people tend to eat the same one or two breakfasts. Here are some simple, tasty and delicious options from the usual. These are from the integrative school of nutrition in NYC. My friend just graduated from there.

You’ve all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but why? Breakfast, literally means “breaking the fast”. During the 6-8 hours that we are sleeping our bodies are fasting. This means when we wake up we are starving for fuel to survive the day. If you don’t eat breakfast in the morning you may feel fine for a few hours but come 3pm or dinner time you are most likely going to be ravenous. Because you end up eating so much at dinner you can’t possibly think of eating breakfast in the morning and so the cycle starts all over again. Eating breakfast first thing in the morning has been shown to boost your metabolism, increase energy and concentration and keep food cravings to a minimum.

So if your excuse for not having breakfast is that you don’t have enough time, try these 7 quick, healthy delicious breakfast solutions.

1. Almond Butter + Banana + Raw Honey + Sprouted Grain Sandwich

peanutbutterbanana

2. Super Smoothie: Fruit (kiwi, banana, mango) + Leafy Greens (kale, swiss chard) + Nut Milk + Hemp Protein + Flax Seed

green

3. Muesli + berries + Nut Milk

muesli

4. On The Go Egg Cups - Make these on a Sunday and have for the week!

dsc00913

5. Steel Cut Oatmeal + Blueberries + Almonds + Flax + Agave
Put this on the stove the night before and will be ready to go in the am

oatmeal

6. Natural Waffles + Apple + Raw Honey

waffle

7. Open Faced Goat Cheese + Vegetable (tomato, avocado, pepper, anything!) + Sprouted Grain Sandwich

gaotcheese

Today’s Re-Powering information – While we are on the subject of healthy foods, I wanted to share with you taking healthy eating to a new level. Eating raw. I read some information on Paleolithic eating and vegetarian eating over the break. Some may consider it strict, but the health benefits are priceless. Here is a video from Dr. Mercola on eating Raw and then some notes to follow.

Eat Your Food Uncooked? Here’s the Really Raw Truth

You already know that you should eat fresh, unprocessed, natural whole foods. But the importance of raw foods often goes unnoticed. Here’s what you should know about raw foods, cooked foods and enzymes.

Dr. Mercola''s Comments

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

One of the most important aspects of a healthy diet that is most frequently overlooked is the issue of eating your food uncooked, in its natural raw state.

Unfortunately, as you may be aware, over 90 percent of the food purchased by Americans are processed foods. And when you’re consuming these kinds of denatured and chemically altered foods, it’s no surprise we have an epidemic of chronic and degenerative diseases.

It is no mystery that you are what you eat.

Ideally you’ll want to eat as many foods as possible in their unprocessed state; typically organic, biodynamic foods that have been grown locally, and are therefore in season.

But the challenge is, even when you chose the best foods available you can destroy most of the nutrition if you cook them.

I believe it’s really wise to strive to get as much raw food in your diet as possible. I personally try to eat about 85 percent of my food raw, including raw eggs and meats. And there are a number of reasons for this.

Raw Food is Alive!

The primary reason for making sure you get plenty of raw food in your diet is due to what’s called ‘biophotons.’ It’s a term you may not have heard of before, but in Europe, Germany in particular, there’s a lot of research in this area. Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt has also discussed it in some detail in one of his expert interviews for my Inner Circle program.

Biophotons are the smallest physical units of light, which are stored in, and used by all biological organisms – including your body. Vital sun energy finds its way into your cells via the food you eat, in the form of these biophotons.

They contain important bio-information, which controls complex vital processes in your body. The biophotons have the power to order and regulate, and, in doing so, to elevate the organism – in this case, your physical body -- to a higher oscillation or order.

This is manifested as a feeling of vitality and well-being.

Every living organism emits biophotons or low-level luminescence (light with a wavelength between 200 and 800 nanometers). It is thought that the higher the level of light energy a cell emits, the greater its vitality and the potential for the transfer of that energy to the individual which consumes it.

The more light a food is able to store, the more nutritious it is. Naturally grown fresh vegetables, for example, and sun-ripened fruits, are rich in light energy. The capacity to store biophotons is therefore a measure of the quality of your food.

Now, the DNA inside each of your body’s cells vibrates at a frequency of several billion hertz (which is unfortunately the same range at which modern cell phone communication systems also work). The vibration is created through the coil-like contraction and extension of your DNA -- which occurs several billion times per second -- and each time it contracts, it squeezes out one single biophoton; a light particle.

All the biophotons emitted from your body communicate with each other in a highly structured light field that surrounds your body. This light field also regulates the activity of your metabolic enzymes. For more in-depth information about how this works, I recommend you view the video clip of my interview with Dr. Klinghardt.

But that brings me to my second point for eating raw.

Cooking Destroys Valuable Enzymes

Enzymes are proteins; catalysts to speed up and facilitate reactions in your body. In fact, some biochemical reactions will not even occur without these enzymes (you have about 1,300 of them).

Cooking your food, especially at high temperatures, destroys these naturally occurring enzymes.

In addition to getting enzymes from fresh, raw food, you can also help stimulate the production of enzymes in your body simply by chewing. When you chew your food, a signal is transmitted from your brain to your stomach that tells your stomach to increase the production of enzymes.

Interestingly, as a side note, that’s why you don’t want to chew gum that much. When you chew gum, you’re actually sending a false signal to your body to create enzymes when you don’t need them. You’re essentially wasting your enzyme production. This is a challenge because as you age -- especially in a culture that focuses on processed foods -- about one-third of your body’s ability to produce enzymes is lost by the age of 40!

This is why many people find they benefit from enzyme supplementation as they get older, and we’ve found this to be true for a large number of patients in my clinic as well.

You May Need an Enzyme Supplement as You Get Older

There are many different options to choose from when selecting an enzyme supplement, so I decided to produce what I believe to be one of the highest quality enzyme products on the market today. My formula contains a number of combinations of enzymes that are just not present in most other products, including:

* Papain and bromelain (from papaya and pineapple) to help digest proteins
* Amylase, to aid in digestion of carbohydrates like starches and sugars
* Alpha galactosidase, to help digest beans and prevent gas
* Ox bile, which is particularly useful for digesting fats. It’s especially helpful if you have problems with your gallbladder, or had your gallbladder removed

The Bottom Line

Ideally, your best bet is to consume raw foods as much as possible. If you aren’t doing that already, you’ll want to gradually increase the amount of raw food in your diet as it will help your body produce more enzymes, and supply you with vital, live nutrients. Then, if still necessary, take a high quality enzyme supplement.

Lastly, make sure you’re chewing your food – take your time; savor it! (But avoid chewing gum.)

These are some very simple strategies that you and your family can adopt to help yourselves take control of your health!

Related Links:

Find Out Which Raw Food Diet is Right for You

Raw Food--One of Your Keys to Outstanding Health

"Hunger hormones"

2009-03-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

Today’s RE-Powering information – More evidence linking the importance of sleep to health and weight loss. In a nut shell, lack of sleep increases the hormone Ghrelin (think growlin’) stimulates hunger. The less you sleep, the more ghrelin is produced making you hungrier. See, it’s not in your mind – it’s in your physiology. Sleep more and less ghrelin in produced and you won’t be as hungry during the day. The second finding is that leptin is decreased. Leptin is the hormone that makes you feel full. So if you are not sleeping, you are never satisfied and always hungry. It’s physical and then it becomes emotional as well. As you are exhausted you make more emotional than rational decisions. Then as the habit progresses, the vicious cycle worsens.

The great news is that you can turn it around with sleep. Sleep and lose weight –yes it’s true. Also, you burn the greatest calories from fat while at the lowest intensity levels (sleeping). Now don’t just think you can sleep and skip camp. You burn more calories and more fat calories in camp than you do sleeping, the ratio of fuel being used from fat is just lower.

So enough technical stuff. The bottom line is to get to bed! We are a sleep deprived nation and we’d all feel better if we slept 7+ hours a night.

See the facts below.

"Hunger hormones" ghrelin and leptin affected by poor sleep
Insomnia has long been associated with poor health, including weight gain and even obesity. Now researchers at UCLA have found out why.

In a study to be published in the May issue of the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology and currently available online by subscription, Sarosh Motivala, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, and colleagues looked at two hormones that are primarily responsible for regulating the body's energy balance, telling the body when it is hungry and when it is full. The study found that chronic insomnia disrupts one of these two hormones.

To date, no study has evaluated nocturnal levels of the two hormones, ghrelin and leptin, in primary insomnia patients. Ghrelin, a peptide secreted by the stomach, stimulates appetite and increases before meals. Leptin, which affects body weight and is secreted primarily by fat cells, signals the hypothalamus regarding the degree of fat storage in the body; decreased leptin tells the body there is a calorie shortage and promotes hunger, while increased levels promote energy expenditure.

In the study, researchers compared healthy sleepers with those suffering from chronic insomnia and measured the levels of the two hormones at various times throughout the night. They found that while leptin levels averaged out over the night to be roughly the same between the two groups, levels of ghrelin were 30 percent lower in insomnia sufferers.

On the face of it, a decreased level of ghrelin would seem to inhibit weight gain; it is an increase in ghrelin, after all, that stimulates appetite. But Motivala compared his findings with other, earlier studies on sleep deprivation and speculates that a switch may occur during the day: Sleep loss leads to increased ghrelin and decreased leptin, a "double whammy" that stimulates appetite. Motivala is currently working on a study to examine this switch.

"The current study shows that insomnia patients have a dysregulation in energy balance that could explain why these patients gain weight over time," said Motivala, who is also a member of the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA. "This is an exciting finding because it highlights how diverse behaviors like sleep and eating are connected. We are just beginning to explore the possible consequences of these connections, but it is another example of the importance of a good night's sleep for the body."

For the study, 38 male participants were divided into two groups — 14 insomnia sufferers and 24 healthy subjects. Both groups had similar ages and body weight. Both groups underwent polysomnography sleep studies that monitor brain waves. Circulating levels of ghrelin and leptin were measured at 11 p.m., 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Ghrelin levels across the night were significantly lower in insomnia patients, while leptin were not significantly different between the two groups.

###

The UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology encompasses an interdisciplinary network of scientists working to advance the understanding of psychoneuroimmunology by linking basic and clinical research programs and by translating findings into clinical practice. The center is affiliated with the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Garbanzo

2009-03-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

Here’s a recipe for a delicious salad I had this week. Greek Garbanzo Bean Salad

garbanzo

Prep and Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:

1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, preferably organic

2 cloves garlic

sea salt and pepper to taste

2/3 cup minced green onion

1 medium tomato, diced

3 TBS parsley, minced

2 TBS extra virgin olive oil

1 TBS fresh lemon juice

Optional: 1/4 cup feta cheese

1 head romaine lettuce

Directions:

Press or mince garlic and let sit for at least 5 minutes to bring out its hidden health benefits.

Drain liquid from garbanzo beans and rinse under cold running water; this helps prevent intestinal gas.

Mince green onions.

Dice tomatoes.

Mince parsley

Combine all ingredients and serve over a bed of romaine lettuce.

Top with feta cheese, if desired.

Serves 2

Optimists live longer and healthier lives

2009-03-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

I was telling the ladies this morning that I RARELY watch TV and if I do, it’s always surfing while I am on a cardio machine. Last night I was at the gym and the TV in front of me had the news on and jeez if it just horrible. They don’t even show robberies any more unless they involved a group of people getting shot. There were murder suicides, drive by shootings, arson, and so on. So this morning I was determined to find something positive. And it didn’t take long for me to find an article about how positive thoughts lead to positive living and longer living.

A few times a year I get interviewed by Good News Radio. You probably never heard of them b/c people look for the bad news and the sensationalism of it all. I stopped watching TV in college and I don’t believe I am deprived in any way. If you removed every TV from my house I would not notice or be effected in the least. Occasionally I will surf when I travel, but there is not one single show I have to watch.

Today I found the article below. In a season where our time is in high demand and people seem to have little time to communicate without technology or find time for their well being, I urge you to keep thinking positive and taking time for yourself. There are many people who are thriving today ad living the dream. It’s possible. Don’t buy into everything you read on the news. You determine your reality and state of mind every day. Every moment is new and you can create it.

Optimists live longer and healthier lives: study

Thu Mar 5, 2009 4:56pm EST

[-]Photo

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Optimists live longer, healthier lives than pessimists, U.S. researchers said on Thursday in a study that may give pessimists one more reason to grumble.

Researchers at University of Pittsburgh looked at rates of death and chronic health conditions among participants of the Women's Health Initiative study, which has followed more than 100,000 women ages 50 and over since 1994.

Women who were optimistic -- those who expect good rather than bad things to happen -- were 14 percent less likely to die from any cause than pessimists and 30 percent less likely to die from heart disease after eight years of follow up in the study.

Optimists also were also less likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes or smoke cigarettes.

The team, led Dr. Hilary Tindle, also looked at women who were highly mistrustful of other people -- a group they called "cynically hostile" -- and compared them with women who were more trusting.

Women in the cynically hostile group tended to agree with questions such as: "I've often had to take orders from someone who didn't know as much as I did" or "It's safest to trust nobody," Tindle said in a telephone interview.

"These questions prove a general mistrust of people," said Tindle, who presented her study Thursday at the American Psychosomatic Society's annual meeting in Chicago.

That kind of thinking takes a toll.

"Cynically hostile women were 16 percent more likely to die (during the study period) compared to women who were the least cynically hostile," Tindle said.

They were also 23 percent more likely to die from cancer.

Tindle said the study does not prove negative attitudes cause negative health effects, but she said the findings do appear to be linked in some way.

"I think we really need more research to design therapies that will target people's attitudes to see if they can be modified and if that modification is beneficial to health," she said.

And she said while a pessimist might think, "'I'm doomed. There is nothing I can do,' I'm not sure that's true," Tindle said. "We just don't know."

Today, be better than yesterday!

BurbMom.Net- Connect with Mom's in Argyle

2009-03-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share a neat website / blog that I found for moms in Argyle and the surrounding area’s. Regardless of the age of your child, there is something for everyone. They post local events, real stories that hit home, add a sense of humor and it’s a great way to connect with like minded moms. They have asked me to feature one of our boot campers to follow along with their story for about 4 weeks. They want the good, the bad and the ugly. The don’t’ want to hear how perfect camp is (ha ha), they want to know what lifestyle change is really about.

If anyone is interested in volunteering, I would love to feature you. If not, I’ll be picking someone!!! The website is www.BurbMom.net. Please check it out. One of the articles I noticed was where to find the best donut in the area – in case anyone is interested. It’s basically a mom’s guide to her suburb from dining to parks, hair stylists to concerts.

HAPPY for No Reason

2009-03-10T10:11:00.000-07:00

I was so happy to hear that a few of you read the article yesterday about Matt Long. Can you say INSPIRATION??? WOW, that’s hard to top. But here goes . .

Has anyone see the book “Happy for No Reason”? http://www.amazon.com/dp/141654772X/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=2434701625&ref=pd_sl_41xu119nd7_e. I must have seen it enter my inbox about 10 times in the last week from various places including forwards from friends. I have not read it yet, (I promised myself, I would get through the last 13 books I ordered which are no my night stand with book marks in each of them), but it’s on my wish list. Here’s some thoughts from the author, Marci Shmihoff

Does the idea of standing in front of a mirror and appreciating your positive qualities feel uncomfortable and stupid? It did to me-which was a sign that I really needed to try it.
I first learned this mirror exercise in 1990, when I took a week-long course from my mentor, Jack Canfield, on self-esteem. Jack assigned the exercise as homework every night, saying, "Make sure you do this behind a closed door so nobody walks by and thinks you're crazy." Each night my roommate and I took turns going into the bathroom, shutting the door, and whispering sweet nothings to our reflections: "You're kind." "You're loyal." "You have a loving heart."
The first night, I felt like a California New Age woo-woo nutcase, but soon I experienced a rush of sadness; I was such an expert at judging myself-why was it so hard to say nice things?
With practice, it gradually became easier to list reasons to love myself: "You're smart." "You go out of your way to help others." And so on. But the real power of this exercise came when I learned to express appreciation for myself for no reason-to look myself in the eye and simply love who I was, unconditionally.
If you're like most people, consciously recognizing the positive about yourself may feel conceited. After all, we're raised not to "toot our own horns." So we end up not giving ourselves credit or acknowledgment or even worse, beating ourselves up, which shuts down our hearts, contracts our energy, and decreases our happiness levels.
Doing the research for my book Happy for No Reason, I interviewed scores of scientists along with one hundred unconditionally happy people (I call them the Happy 100). One of the things I discovered is that truly happy people have a compassionate, encouraging, and validating attitude toward themselves. This isn't arrogance or self-centeredness; it's an appreciation and acceptance of who they are.
Learning to see the positive about yourself starts by changing your brain's habit of focusing on your negative experiences and instead inclining your mind toward joy.
So today, begin registering your happy experiences more deeply-- consciously look for them. You can make it a game you play with yourself. Have the intention to notice everything good that happens to you: anything you see, feel, taste, hear or smell that brings you joy, a "win" you experience, a breakthrough, an a-ha, or an expression of your creativity-the list goes on and on.
This intention triggers the reticular activating system (RAS), a group of cells at the base of your brain stem responsible for sorting through the massive amounts of incoming information and bringing anything important to your attention. Have you ever bought a car and then suddenly starting noticing the same make of car everywhere? It's the RAS at work. Now you can use it to be happier. When you decide to look for the positive, your RAS makes sure that's what you see.
Adelle, one of the Happy 100, told me about a unique method she has for registering the positive. As she goes about her day, she gives away awards in her mind: the best-behaved dog award, the most colorful landscape design at a fast food drive-through award, the most courteous driver award. This keeps her alert to the beauty and positivity that is all around her. Charmed by this idea, I tried it myself. I liked it so much, I've been giving out these "Happiness Oscars," as I call them, ever since.
Once you notice something positive, take a moment to savor it consciously. Take the good experience in deeply and feel it; make it more than just a mental observation. If possible, spend around 30 seconds, soaking up the happiness you feel. If you want to accelerate your progress, take time every day to write down a few of your wins, breakthroughs, and things you appreciate about others-and about yourself.
You'll know you've really mastered this when you can give yourself an Academy Award-for outstanding achievement in true happiness!
credit: Marci Shimoff

Hope you are enjoying today. Live in the moment and be happy – it beats grumpy any day!

Do you make EXCUSES about EXERCISE?

2009-03-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it’s easy to wallow in self pity when it seems like things are not in our favor. When I was on the plane home from California last Tuesday I picked up a copy of Runners World and read an incredibly inspiring story. Whether you think you have problems or your don’t read this story all of the way to the end to hear how Matt Long made an incredible come back to running and competing. You will swear off ever complaining about exercising again. Read the whole thing!!

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297--13053-1-1X2X3X4X5X6X7X8X9X10X11X12-13,00.html

Have an adventurous day!

FAT LOSS and Garbanzo Bean Tuna Salad

2009-03-06T17:00:00.000-08:00

Body weight and body fat are NOT the same thing! Which of these would you prefer: 5 pounds of fat or 5 pounds of muscle?

"I want to lose weight" is a poorly-formed goal.
"Weight" is not the same as "fat." Weight includes muscle, bone, internal organs as well as lots and lots of water.
And do you really want to be a "fat loser?"
Wouldn't you rather be a "fat burner"... a lean, fat burning machine!

FAT LOSS is what you want, not weight loss.
If your body were 100% rock-solid muscle, with absolutely nothing that jiggled (unless it was supposed to), would you care how much you weighed?
I bet you wouldn't! And if that's true, then...
STOP WORSHIPPING THE SCALE AND START MEASURING YOUR BODY COMPOSITION!

By measuring your body fat, you take the guesswork out of your health. It can assist you with your fitness plan. You can get an accurate picture of what's really happening in your body as a result of your diet and exercise program.

You don't have to "throw away your scale" like many experts suggest. By all means, keep using the scale, the tape measure and even photographs and the mirror -- whichever are useful for you, the more feedback the better - but body fat is where it's at.

Garbanzo Bean Tuna Salad

If you've never tried a garbanzo bean salad, then you don't know what you're missing. Also known as "chickpeas", garbanzo beans are heart-healthy legumes that pack a whopping 12.5 grams of fiber per cup. The rest of the salad is loaded with nutrient-rich "super foods" ideal for muscle-building and fat-burning diets.

1.) Open your can of garbanzo beans, drain and rise, then add to a large mixing bowl or a large salad bowl.

2.) Next open and drain your tuna and add to the bowl. Add 4 cups of fresh, chopped spinach.

3.) Chop your tomato and onion into small cubes and add to the mix. Crush and chop 2 garlic cloves and add to bowl (alternately, you could use 1 tbsp of jarred chopped garlic).
4.) Add 2 tbsp of fresh parsley, finely chopped and 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint (mint is optional). The salad dressing consists of 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, 4 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and 4 tbsp of red wine vinegar (you can add more of the vinegars as per your taste).
5.) Finish by adding a dash of black pepper and salt to taste. Mix the salad very thoroughly and serve, or place in refrigerator until chilled and then serve.

1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans

4 cups fresh spinach

2 6-oz cans water packed light tuna, drained

2 tbsp fresh parsley

1 tomato med, chopped (approx 6 oz)

1 tbsp fresh mint leaves

1 cup onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

dash black pepper

dash salt

2 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

4 tbsp red wine vinegar

Yield: makes 3 servings

Calories: 396

Protein: 35.7 g

Carbs: 38.6 g.

Fat: 13.2 g.

Enjoy the weekend. Rest and be your absolute best!

Alternative Medicine... What you need to know

2009-03-05T15:09:00.000-08:00

When I landed in California on Monday, I went straight to a place called Health Walk – www.HealthWalk.com. It’s co-owned by Marilyn Tam who has an incredible story as an abandoned girl in China who rose to be the president of Nike, Reebok and Aveda. I met her at The Compass Premier http://TheCompass.tv/iDevAffiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=118 . She was one of the 4 story tellers in the movie. Her clinic consists of about 15 unique alternative medicine practices from brain mapping to live blood inspection to heat therapy, light therapy, sound therapy, magnetic therapy, supplementation, cooking school, meteorite therapy, etc.

It was a unique place and I spent almost 5 hours there talking to the scientists and Marilyn. None of what they were doing seemed harmful, in fact I was willing to try most any of it. Lying on a magnetic mattress and having different lights (depending on my mood) glow down on me sounded like the perfect prescription. Lying on an inversion table, in a massage chair or putting my drinking water through a positive ph filter all sounded nourishing to me.

I watched the somewhat busy clinic of people come and go. There was a young autstic boy with ADHD whose mother was raving of his grades improving and his increasing in interaction with adults. There was an aboriginal musician who swears his back pain is gone. A nun said the swelling is gone in her limbs. A couple in their 60’s said their migraines were gone and so on. Again, it all seemed harmless enough.

I am writing to caution you about some of alternative therapies. This particular clinic had expert scientist / doctors running the testing and therapies. I think part of the cure is that you need to believe it’s possible. One of the tests was a brain test that could show trauma that occurred at anytime of your life. I did not do that test, but supposively when they identify the time the trauma happened, they can then go back and do voice, sound, heat, light, etc therapy to remove the trauma from your brain and ultimately rid you of mental and physiological ailments.

I prefer alternative treatments to prescription medications almost at all costs. Speaking of costs, some of these treatments are covered by insurance. Many are less invasive than traditional methods. For example, they use a heat scanner to detect cancer. Not only does it not have the radiation of tests like a mammography, but it can detect abnormal cells, years before a mammography can when there are so few abnormal cells that something can be done about it before cancer spreads. Marilyn testifies that years of mammography radiation will cause cancer.

My point in sharing this is that there are many alternatives out there. I get approached each week with at least a half of a dozen different miracle beverages, supplements and devices. Who ever you are considering working with, investigate it carefully. It’s rare I endorse something other than what I share with you (sleep 7 hours a night, eat real wholesome foods in their most raw natural states, exercise moderately to vigorously most days of the week, drink water (and some teas), minimize stress and if you are toxic, detoxify).

Unfortunately there are some hokey things out there. There are also many things you can do on your own – take a long soak in a hot tub, meditate, find out what supplements your body is lacking and take them, laugh often, give back, go for a walk in the woods or by a lake and so on. We only have one short chance in this body so I want you to be your best every possible moment.

When you need help for something that is ailing you or if you want to take your health to the next level, seek help. The more people I speak to, the more I realize how hard it is to find genuine experts without an agenda who have your best interest at heart.

I am not sure if my short incites were helpful, but if you have something you have been doing, taking or have been presented with that you would like me to evaluate, I would be happy to do so. I know there are only so many dollars to go around so in addition to your valuable resources of time and money, I want to make sure you are getting the best thing for your body. Keep an open mind, but they buyer should also beware. Ask yourself if it is the wisest choice before you make an investment.

Enjoy this fabulous day!

The Real Truth Behind Flu Shots -- And Why So Few People Get the Flu During the Summer...

2009-02-27T10:06:00.000-08:00

I know there has been a lot of illness going around camp and especially the schools. I have a 5 year old nephew who has been in the hospital for a week with an intellavirus who now has a pick line implanted for a month of high dosage anti-biotics. I just saw this article and video below from Dr. Mercola’s website regarding the truth about flu shots. I have told you before that in 39 years I have had the flu once (Thanksgiving 1997) and I have NEVER had a flu shot. I remember growing up with friends who had the flu shot every year and got the flu every year. I figured I would take my chances.

Read, watch and listen and form your own opinion. Vitamin D therapy sounds a lot more reasonable to me – especially since some people are deficient.

The Real Truth Behind Flu Shots -- And Why So Few People Get the Flu During the Summer...

Dr. John Cannell is the physician in the first video. He is the founder of the Vitamin D Council and one of the more knowledgeable vitamin D experts out there. He has been a primary resource for me in helping me formulate my understanding of vitamin D.

Only about 1,000 people die directly from the flu virus in the United States each year. While the government claims 36,000 -- the remaining 35,000 deaths are caused by diseases like pneumonia that may follow the flu.

But there's no clear scientific connection between the flu and these more serious afflictions. That means most of the time a flu shot has little impact in actually preventing death.

Barbara Loe Fisher, head of the National Vaccine Information Center, says that the repeated references to 36,000 seems to be an attempt to scare people into getting the shot. Fisher has a new book on the safety issues with vaccines, "Vaccines, Autism & Chronic Inflammation: The New Epidemic."

Her concerns have led her to look at alternatives. One alternative favored by a number of physicians is vitamin D. Dr. John Cannell, executive director of the Vitamin D Council, suggests the reason we even have a flu season is because our vitamin D levels drop, which takes place naturally as we get less and less sun with the approach of winter.

Cannell suggests babies get 1,000 units of vitamin D a day, and those 2 and older get 2,000 units. Many adults and some children need more than that.

Sources:

CBN November 4, 2008

Dr. Mercola''s Comments

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Close to 150 million doses of flu vaccine have been produced this year, which is the highest number ever available. Yet, the chances of a flu shot being effective in any given year are about as high as your chances of pulling a needle from a haystack. This is because flu shots only protect against certain strains of the flu virus. These strains mutate rapidly, and scientists can only make educated guesses about which strains will be most prevalent this year.

As you might suspect, often they are way off base. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states:

“In some years when vaccine and circulating strains were not well-matched, no vaccine effectiveness can be demonstrated in some studies, even in healthy adults. It is not possible in advance of the influenza season to predict how well the vaccine and circulating strains will be matched, and how that match may affect the degree of vaccine effectiveness.”

This does not bode well for the millions of Americans who are being lulled into a false sense of security that getting a flu shot is all they need to do to prevent the flu.

Flu Shots’ Poor Rates of Effectiveness

It really amazes me how effective the drug companies have been at manipulating the culture to actually let them sell these toxic, ineffective and expensive options in pharmacies, airports, college campuses, grocery stores and countless other outlets.

The truth is that:

• Giving young children flu shots appeared to have no impact on flu-related doctor visits or hospitalizations during two recent flu seasons, according to a study published in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine.

• The flu vaccine is no more effective for children than a placebo, according to a large-scale, systematic review of 51 studies, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

• No studies have conclusively proven that flu shots prevent flu-related deaths among the elderly.

• A study published in the Lancet just found that influenza vaccination was NOT associated with a reduced risk of pneumonia in older people. Why is this important? Because 35,000 of the 36,000 “flu” deaths the government claims happen each year are actually caused by diseases like pneumonia, and NOT the flu.

• Research published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine also confirms that there has been no decrease in deaths from influenza and pneumonia, despite the fact that vaccination coverage among the elderly has increased from 15 percent in 1980 to 65 percent now.

I can’t imagine anyone signing up to receive this vaccine even if they were paid to do it, yet tens of millions are conned into thinking money spent on this shot is worthwhile! If people only understood the facts, I doubt many would rationally decide to receive this shot.

Sadly, throwing away the money spent on the flu vaccine is the least of your worries, should you decide to get a flu shot.

What Exactly is in a Flu Shot?

Before you decide to get vaccinated, it would serve you well to find out.

According to Dr. Donald Miller, MD, two-thirds of this year’s flu vaccines contain 25 micrograms of thimerosal. Thimerosal is 49 percent mercury by weight.

Each dose of these flu vaccines contains more than 250 times the Environmental Protection Agency’s safety limit for mercury.

By now, most people are well aware that children and fetuses are most at risk of damage from this neurotoxin, as their brains are still developing. Yet the CDC still recommends that children over 6 months, and pregnant women, receive the flu vaccine each year. This is just inexcusable.

In addition to mercury, flu vaccines also contain other hazardous ingredients like:

• Formaldehyde -- a known cancer-causing agent
• Aluminum -- a neurotoxin that has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease
• Triton X-100 -- a detergent
• Phenol (carbolic acid)
• Ethylene glycol (antifreeze)
• Various antibiotics: neomycin, streptomycin, gentamicin -- which can cause allergic reactions in some people

How many people do you think would knowingly sit down and allow themselves, or their children, to be injected with:

• Formaldehyde?

• Aluminum?

• Mercury?

• Antifreeze?

It’s time word got out that if you got a flu shot, you did exactly that. And for what? Even if you get a flu shot, you can still get the flu, or flu-like symptoms, because it’s anyone’s guess which flu viruses will be in your area.

The powers that be have done an excellent job of instilling fear into the population so they believe that they must get a shot to stay healthy, but the simple reality is it’s doing you and your family more harm than good.

What REALLY Works for the Flu

Getting appropriate amounts of sunshine or UV exposure through a safe tanning bed (or taking a vitamin D supplement when you can’t get healthy amounts of UVB exposure) is one of my KEY preventive strategies against the cold and flu, as it has an extraordinary strengthening effect on your immune system.

Although supplements are clearly inferior to sunlight exposure or safe tanning beds, I am becoming more convinced of the value of vitamin D supplements as they are less potentially toxic than my initial impression, and they are certainly more convenient and less expensive than a tanning bed.

If you are in an area that does not allow you to get adequate sun exposure, and you don’t have access to a safe tanning bed, adults should take 5,000 to 10,000 IU of vitamin D per day, depending on body weight. For children, 2,000 IU per day is typically adequate.

For more information on this amazing flu-preventing vitamin, as well as where to have your vitamin D levels checked and how to cure a cold or flu with mega-doses of vitamin D, please read Avoid Flu Shots With the One Vitamin That Will Stop Flu in Its Tracks.

And, please, think long and hard about whether you want to waste your money on a toxin-laden shot that likely won’t work to prevent the flu. Personally, I have not received a flu shot nor had the flu in over 20 years because I use lifestyle strategies to keep the flu (and other illnesses) at bay.

The good news is that you can do them too, and drastically improve your chances of staying healthy right on through flu season:

• Eat right for your nutritional type, including avoiding sugar
• Get plenty of vitamin D
• Eliminate sugar from your diet
• Eat garlic regularly
• Consume a high-quality krill oil daily
• Exercise
• Get adequate sleep
• Address emotional stress
• Wash your hands regularly (but not excessively)