Category: Health - Lasting Lifestyle Change

Lasting Lifestyle Change

In Search of the Optimal Liquid Solution

11/26/2016

XOOMA WORLDWIDE·SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2016

In Search of the Optimal Liquid Solution

We all know that today’s world is an unhealthy one. Our diets are poor, we stress too much, and we don’t get sufficient exercise. But there’s another huge problem that’s compromising our health. We don’t drink enough water, which leads to a dehydrated, acidic state in the body and ultimately to a deteriorating state of health. That’s right. We’re constantly dehydrated, and the water we do drink is full of contaminants and pollutants.
Of course, bottled water is very popular. And it’s certainly better than standard tap water. But it’s still just plain water—or what many people refer to as “dead” water.

Dehydration, Acidic State Contribute to Major Health Concerns

Plain tap water is often referred to as "dead" water.

There’s good news. Hydration is now being revolutionized with a superior-quality, mineral-rich alkaline water. With such a product, you’re receiving so much more than just plain water or a few nutrients. This product addresses the core problem of most of today’s health woes. Because of our poor diets, chronically high stress levels and the fact that we are dehydrated, our bodies are in an acidic state most of the time. Science has clearly shown that our bodies must maintain an alkaline state to be healthy. If our cells are acidic in their pH, then our tissues, organs and entire body will also be in poor health. Sick, acidic cells lead to increase in inflammation, sluggishness, low energy and depleted vibrancy. An acidic, imbalanced pH is also the foundation for many of today’s top health concerns from obesity to heart disease to diabetes. It’s also important to point out that the other beverages that we commonly consume contribute to the problem. Coffee, diet sodas, energy drinks, and so-called “sports” drinks are hugely popular in today’s society. Unfortunately, they are major contributors to the problems linked to dehydration and acidity in the body. Instead of rehydrating the body and replenishing the cells with essential nutrients, they’re simply overloading the body with harsh stimulants, sugars and other chemicals that only make our cells sicker.

Image Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acidosis)

If you are looking for a solution for mineral rich, alkaline, 9.9pH water check out X2O at http://www.XoomaX2O.com - Stay hydrated!

Food vs. Medicine

6/9/2014

Food vs Medicine. A great comparison to consider. Will you take responsibility for your health with lifestyle changes that really count?

http://www.bestmasterofscienceinnursing.com/food-vs-medicine/

It's not just our children....

10/15/2013

Maybe the foundation of childhood obesity lies in our fast food frenzy, but it's not just our children who are out of balance. Children learn to select foods from their parents. They learn to comfort themselves from their parents. They learn to reward themeselves from thier parents. We, the adults, are the role models that children study to learn about their world. Fast food is just one error we make when teaching children about food.
Can you make a better choice today? Can you be a better role model today? The solution to any problem begins with ownership. How do you partcipate in the problem? What can you do differently today to move towards the solution?
A simple choice to select healthier ways to nourish your body can be the start of a new journey towards your healthy, slender, and active body. Will you make that choice today?

Weight Loss Mindset

10/2/2013

Just can't get your head wrapped around your weight loss plan? Do you start and stop in your efforts to lose weight? Do your actions fall short of your intent? Do you know what you need to do but you just don't do it?
It's not an uncommon thing to be out of sync with your intentions. But maybe it's because you are using the wrong part of your mind! Your power of will is in your conscious mind. The part of your mind that looks, listens, and learns. But your habits, emotions, patterns, and automatic behaviors are in your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind doesn't make decisions. It simply follows the patterns that you....or someone else, has programmed in there. So maybe your eating behaviors, your relationships with food and even your patterns of activity and exercise are no longer conscious choices, but simply old habits.
So how do we change our mind? It's a systematic process. You can do it yourself if you know how. Or you can hire a hypnotist or health coach to assist you.
The first step is to get rid of the negative thoughts! Make a list of all the things you don't want and don't like about your weight. Use imagery to let it go.
Identify your obstacles. Those are the excuses you make or the reasons you give yourself for not losing weight.
What's your motivation: who do you want to become?
Install that image in your mind. Use meditation, visualization or simply activate that image every night as you are falling asleep. Do that for at least thirty nights.
Make a plan. Does your plan need to include a food plan, an exercise plan, an hypnosis plan or a support plan? Do you need guidance or education? Do you need the support of a professional hypnotist or health coach? Make the plan as detailed as you can. Give your conscious mind a structure to work from.
Activate your plan. That's right! Take action! Each day do at least three things that support your healthy weight. You might find that as you do three things, you automatically do more, becasue it feels good to take care of yourself. It feels good to be healthy, active and slender!

So here's my challenge to you: I have a few pounds to lose, do you? Let's hold each other accountable. Write a comment and include your goal. Then report your progress along the way. Let's take these next few months to get healthier and feel great!
I am happy to do individual consultation to help you get started on your journey to your best health!

What’s On the Box? Beware of Front Label Tease

3/23/2013

What the food industry put on their packaging can be confusing at best, misleading at worse. They can give consumers a false sense of eating healthy; leading them to eat more processed and packaged foods – which ultimately lead to a slew of health issue that our nation is facing right now.

Fortified, enriched, added, extra, and plus = nutrients such as minerals and fiber have been removed and vitamins added in processing.
Look for 100% whole-wheat bread, and high-fiber, low-sugar cereals.
Fruit drink = probably little or no real fruit and a lot of sugar.
Look for products that say "100% Fruit Juice", and consume in moderation. Even better, eat a piece of fruit instead.
Made with wheat, rye, or multi-grains = have very little whole grain.
Look for the word "whole" before the grain to ensure that you're getting a 100% whole-grain product.
Natural = the manufacturer started with a natural source, but once it's processed the food may not resemble anything natural.
Look for "100% All Natural" and "No Preservatives.”
Organically grown, pesticide-free, or no artificial ingredients: Trust only labels that say "Certified Organically Grown” and look for the USDA seal.
Sugar-free or fat-free: Don't assume the product is low-calorie. The manufacturer compensated with unhealthy ingredients that don't taste very good and, here's the kicker, have no fewer calories than the real thing.
The term “whole grain” is allowed to be used very loosely. The nutrition value of flour made from whole grain is quite different from when you eat the grain in its entirely – such as when you cook quinoa, brown rice, or millet.

Mood Swings- Nutritionally Related Trigger #1 - Hypoglycemia

2/13/2013

I don't know about you but I can sure tell when my blood sugar starts to fall. First I notice a little bit of hunger, or maybe I don't notice until suddenly that feeling of hunger is overwhelming. Then one of two things happens next: I eat anything that's not nailed down or I become an irritable bundle of Grouch! Even if I can get past that and eventually eat an appropriate meal, my energy is shot for the rest of the day. This is one trigger to avoid if you are serious about your weight loss!

Hypoglycemia – a fancy name for low blood sugar level. Hypoglycemia occurs when:

Your body's sugar (glucose) is used up too quickly

Glucose is released into the bloodstream too slowly

Too much insulin is released into the bloodstream

Although it is most common in people with diabetes, it can happen for healthy people from time to time as well, especially when there is big fluctuation in blood sugar level, or if a person hasn’t eating for a long period of time.

Skipping meals, not eating enough during meal, genetic tendency for low blood sugar and not compensating by adding extra meals or snacks can all contribute to hypoglycemia. High sugar foods or high glycemic foods can trigger an excessive insulin release, suddenly bottoming out blood sugar levels.

There are a few ways to alleviate mood issues caused by hypoglycemia:

Eat meals that are low in glycemic load: substitute refined grains with whole
grains, include a generous amount of vegetables, and a moderate amount of
protein and good fats which can slow down the absorption of carbs.

To keep blood sugar level even, experiment with having 5 – 6 small meals or snacks
a day, instead of 3 big meals. Add protein to every meal or snack.

Avoid ,as much as possible, all processed foods, and anything that contains sugar and
refined carbohydrates.

You can avoid this trigger by taking charge of your food plan and your health! Weight loss and maintaining your ideal weight comes down to the choices you make to fuel your healthy, active, and slender body!

Keep Your Digestive Tract Running Smoothly

1/23/2013

To keep your digestive system humming smoothly, there are three main strategies that you can follow:
*Detoxification
*Adding probiotics to your diet to build healthy gut flora
*Eat alkalinizing foods to balance your blood pH

Detoxification
Removing toxins from the digestive tract, especially the colon, can facilitate digestion,
absorption, nutrient assimilation and elimination.   Detox can double up as an elimination diet, during which you eliminate certain foods from your diet and add them back in after a week or two, one by one, to see if you are allergic to certain foods – some of these sensitivities can irritate and damage intestinal linings, causing leaky gut syndromes or other digestive ailments.

Here are a few examples of cleansing and detox protocols:
[More details can be found in Digestive Wellness by Liz Lipski, p.134 – 138]

Fruits and Vegetable Cleansing
Metabolic Cleansings
Vitamin C Flush

These protocols should be conducted with the supervision of a wellness professional to ensure safety and efficacy.

At home, you can try carrot and apple juice (aids colon detox), or starting your day with a cup of warm water with juice of half a lemon first thing in the morning on an empty stomach (supports liver).

Healthy Gut Flora
Add foods that are rich in probiotics into your diet, namely cultured and fermented foods, examples include:
Yogurt and kefir
Kimchi
Sauerkrauts
Natto
Kombucha

Alkalinizing blood pH
Create an alkaline internal environment – it is particularly great for facilitating elimination:
“Green juice” made from algae, spirulina, leafy greens etc. (You can get them in powder
form in canisters or packets)
Lemon juice in warm water, most effective when taken in the morning on an empty
stomach
Fruits and vegetables – besides the alkalinizing properties, the fiber can aid
elimination while the enzyme from raw fruits and vegetables can aid digestion
and absorption.

What's Wrong with Chronic Stress?

7/31/2012

Sometimes it's not the major events that wear me out, it's the little accumulations of things that don't go my way or startle me or just seem to be more than I can wrap my arms around. We live in a demanding and busy world. I don't know about you but I jam pack my life with everything I can. I run from one expereince to the next. I fill my life with lots of exciting things. I place a lot of demands on my own time. And then somehow I am surprised when I am exhausted. How did that happen?
In response to a stressful situation, our body secretes the stress hormone cortisol, which alters our physiological response. Cortisol helps us cope with acute stressful situation by increasing blood levels for energy mobilization, increasing appetite, converting fat to energy, suppressing reproductive system, and stimulating immune organs to cope with bodily injury.

However, if the level of cortisol is chronically elevated, it results in a number of negative and destructive effects, including: visceral fat deposits, memory impairment, insulin resistance, osteoporosis, mood swings, changes in sleeping habits, various digestive issues, neuromuscular complaints as well as immune system impairment – leading to autoimmune disease and increased metabolic disturbances.

Besides making us much less able to enjoy life and much more unpleasant to deal with, chronic stress can cause a cascading series of physiological response in our systems that lead to serious health issues in long run:

Nutrient deficiencies due to decrease in nutrient absorption and increase in excretion of certain minerals
Increased chances of cardiovascular disease by increasing LDL, triglycerides, high blood pressure and aggregation of blood platelet
Reduced good gut flora, which can lower immunity and cause digestive issues
Reduced metabolism and increased fat storage, leading to weight gain
Decreased healing ability
Increased oxidative stress which increases premature aging

So how to cope? Take a Stress Break! Check out my new audio to decrease your blood pressure and heart rate, improve your immune system and supercharge your energy! Counteract the effects of chronic stress in an easy to use format that melts away tension and anxieties. Stress Break is designed for your busy life!

Boost Your Energy By Caring For Your Nervous System

7/8/2012

Even during the wonderful months of summer, we can get overwhelmed with life's demands. Does it sometimes feel like going on vacation is more stressful than your every day life? The week before leaving on vacation and the week after returning from vacation often undo the quiet relaxation of the vacation itself.

Do you find yourself coming back to your work and your usual routine feeling jangled and on edge? Is that first week back fraught with overwhelm and exhaustion?

Taking care of your nervous system can help you restore and replenish your energy, stay focused without the caffeine jitter, and feel calm and relaxed so that you can get the rest you need when you need it.

Here are 4 approaches to help care for your nervous system for increased energy:

1. Strengthen the nervous system with herbs such as burdock, dandelion, gingko, nettle, oaks and Siberian ginseng.

2. Encourage calm and relaxation with chamomile, valerian, lemon balm and oats.

3. Explore coffee alternatives such as Yerba Mate, green tea, black tea, or Rooibos (African Red Bush) to avoid the caffeine jitter.

4. Calcium has a soothing effect on the nervous system. Eat calcium-rich food for dinner (e.g. leafy greens, bone broth). If you take a calcium supplement, take it with dinner. An alternative is to use a soluble calcium packet in your water and make sure you are fully hydrated with 60-80 ounces of water in your day.

A little self care can make all the difference in your abiltiy to cope with stressors and bounce back from challenges.

5 Tips to Eating for Sustained Energy

4/16/2012

Are you grumpy early in the morning? Do you crash after lunch? Do you have all the energy you need to get things done in your day?
I find I am very sensitive to those blood sugar crashes. You know, the ones that come when you push past your usual lunch break to meet a deadline or squeeze in one more task, or in my case, one more client? I can run on the adrenaline of the session, but when it's over, so am I. I hate that stopped in your tracks feeling. I always have more I want to get done and when I let my blood sugar crash, I know I won't accomplish more in that day. It feels like someone turned my brain off.

To minimize spikes and crashes in energy level, you want to make sure your nutritional intake supports a sustained flow of energy by limiting fluctuation in blood sugar level. An even blood sugar level can also help you improve your focus and concentration, and help you prevent mood swings caused by hypoglycemia.

Here are 5 tips to use nutrition to support a sustained flow of energy:

1. Eat meals with a low glycemic load – combine whole grains and vegetables (high fiber foods) with a moderate amount of good fats and lean protein.

2. Eat foods rich in B vitamins, such as whole grains and nutritional yeast.

3. Eat just the right amount and type of protein for your body – keep a food journal to see how much protein works best for you.

4. Stay hydrated – dehydration often causes fatigue and headache. How much is enough? Divide your body weight in half. That's the number of ounces to aim for in a day. (If you weigh 150 lbs, you should drink 75 ounces of water each day!)

5. Avoid caffeine, which worsen blood sugar fluctuation. A little natural caffeine is good for the brain; just don't run on caffeine as a source of energy!

Can't figure out how to incorportate these tips into your lifestyle? Check out our group coaching offer for practical help. Sometimes you just need a weight loss coach to make it all fit!