Flu Relief

So everybody has the flu. That's really stinky. I hate that.

Not so much because I want everybody to be happy and healthy, but because I wanna do stuff and have nobody to do anything with.

So, I'm going to tell you what I just read last night. You can mix 2 oz of oil of oregano in 12 oz of water and gargle with it if you have a sore throat. Do that and swallow it once or twice a day. If you do that within 48 hours whatever ails will be ridden from your body leaving you good as new. Magic, you say? While it does offer magical results, its all scientific. Let me share.

Oil of Oregano is powerfully antimicrobial. It has been shown to kill bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and yeast. And that's not all!

It works against food poisoning and digestive distress.

Its a powerful immune booster to protect against toxins. Its a natural antihistamine. And it inhibits the growth of cancer cells!

If you want to take oil of oregano as a daily supplement or at the first signs of illness, here's what you can do:

1. You can buy capsules and take them as directed on packaging.
2. You can dilute a drop of Oil of Oregano in a drop of Olive Oil and place under the tongue for a few seconds and then wash down with water.
3. You can gargle with it as stated above.
4. You can inhale a vapor of it for sinus infections. Boil 1/2 cup of water in 2-3 drops of the oil and inhale the steam.
5. You can put it directly on your skin for external infections. It'll probably sting a little. But the stinging should go away after a few minutes.

So, there ya go. Fight the Flu!!!


I wanna do stuff...and I need a sidekick.

She's Pretty And Frugal Too!

Do you ever sit around and wish you looked like this?

Or, as my husband says "THOSE kind of outfits."

To which I say "A Vicotria's Secret Model suit?"
He replies "yes"
I say "That's mean!"
Then, he, because he's soooooo funny says "Oh, I just mean you should get an outfit like that."

Uh-huh.

He says the same thing when he watches the Dallas Cowboys and sees the cheerleaders.

Well, I can't make you look like a Victoria's Secret model but I can give you a great tip that will keep you from looking like THIS and you won't have to spend a fortune either.

Don't believe me? Well, I don't look like that, now do I? And I'm about to tell you why.

Look over at my profile picture. Notice my nicely straightened, blonde hair. Yeah, my hair is really curly. I only look like that certain days of the month, usually after having just been to the stylist. Because my hair is curly and I live in north Texas I am constantly battling frizzy hair. Okay, I don't really battle it anymore. I've come to know this about myself and just go with it. For years, since my teens really, I've searched high and low looking for and buying products promising to make my hair shiny and pretty just like a model on a good hair day.

The only time I didn't have to use products galore on my hair to keep the frizz at bay is when I went with a friend to Phoenix to visit her mother and do some Monavie tastings. I took a shower and within an hour my hair was perfectly dry and beautiful. The only thing I did was wash it and put in a little mousse. It was all I had to use since I didn't pack any hair products. I was fully prepared to go all ponytail on its ass. It was truly amazing when I looked in the mirror. I thought 'Man! I'd move here just for THIS!' But, then my skin got all dry and wrinkly. My sinuses dried out and I could hardly breathe so I came home. I'm sure my family is glad. They don't care about my hair as much as I do.

I've spent trillions of dollars on hair care products and I just recently stumbled on this little beauty tidbit that, I kid you not, works way better and is cheap.

Since my hair is curly and *whispering*.....colored it tends to be on the dry side. Then add in the north Texas heat and humidity and you have a recipe for disaster frizzy hair. I only wash it a few times a week. The night before I wash it, I put about 5 drops of jojoba oil in my hand, rub them together and rub it into my hair. I go to sleep and let the oil do its magic. And I wake up to beautiful, princess-like hair! Well, after I wash it of course.

Its not all goopy like leave in conditioners, either. So you don't have to wear a cap and it won't make your pillow all greasy. It won't even turn off your husband when you come to bed in it. Especially if you get yourself a pair of those wings. I'm teasing, of course about the wings,  but you can seriously buy yourself some at this website save-on-crafts.com

See what a resource I am today? Hmmmmm...maybe I CAN help you look like a Victoria's Secret model.

You can buy that Desert Essence jojoba oil at Vitacost.com for less than 5 dollars.

BAM! another resource. I am on a roll today.

You just gotta try it to believe it. It really does work better than any high dollar, fancy shmancy stuff your hair stylist is selling. Believe me, I know. I've tried 'em all!


This post is part of Frugal Days, Frugal Ways and Fight Back Friday

*the photo credit for the ugly dog goes to Josephs Blog-O-Log

Stress Management

Coming from a "gym -y" background I spent years and years teaching aerobics classes, going to aerobics classes, teaching people how to teach aerobics classes, and I loved it. I still do. I haven't done it in awhile, however, because I got a little burned out. But, I'm starting to come around again. I don't really have time to commit to teaching it and I haven't found an instructor nearby that I like yet.

That being said, I've been teaching yoga for about the last fifteen years. I absolutely ADORE that, in addition to practicing martial arts for the last twelve years. In fact, I just opened a little yoga studio right behind my pool store, Pearson Pools you're one stop pool shop.
The yoga studio has been my dream for awhile now. Its finally coming to fruition. I love it when that happens!

Just the other day, I was reading The Yoga Journal online and came across an article that I found really interesting so I'm sharing it with you. You can read the entire article here Yoga For Health but I'm going to sum it all up for you.

Yoga is a very powerful tool in helping to reduce stress. Yeah, yeah, we all already knew that right? Right. But, what you maybe didn't know is WHY it reduces stress and you have to do it "right".

By "right" I don't mean you have to be proficicient in every pose. I mean you have to be present, focused on your breath and noticing the sensations in your body. When you do that, your body learns how to handle stressful situations in a healthy way. It actually prepares your body for stress, not just reducing it. That's exciting and its not all mental. There are actual physical things going on in your body and your brain making that happen.

The parasympathetic nervous system is the calming system in your brain. The deep breathing in yoga activates this system. The sympathetic nervous system is the active system in your brain. Its the one that kicks in triggering a "flight or fight" mode in your body when stress occurs.

Holding plank pose for an uncomfortable length of time triggers this sympathetic nervous system response. Hence, the feeling of "flight". You want to put your knees down and rest in child's pose. If you hold it and breathe, you trigger the parasympathetic nervous system to calm your mind down. In that single act, you're training your body to overcome challenges in other aspects of your life. In addition to that, you're creating balance in your body.

In 1997, The Newcastle University of England conducted a study on random sedentary adults. They split the group having half of them participate in a yoga program for six weeks while the other half participated in an aerobics program. At the end of the six week period, the yoga group had a lower resting heart rate while the aerobics group showed no significant change.

In another study done in 2007, at the University of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, the researchers hooked up 11 healthy yoga practitioners to instruments that recorded heart rate variability for 24 hours. They found that during an active class of 60 minutes their heart rate rose. Then, they did 30 minutes of calming, restorative poses and their heart rate dropped even lower. Not only that, but this change was driven by increases in the parasympathetic nervous system with no change occuring in the sympathetic nervous system.
What this means is that the yoga participants were not only calmer after class, but they were in autonomic balance and flexibility which is required to handle stress effectively.

In addition, years ago while at the gym on the treadmill, I read a little blurb in Muscle and Fitness about a study on men. The researchers found that lifting weights increased levels of corisol in the body (sympathetic nervous system response). So they took a group of men lifting weights and split them into three groups. They all lifted weights but one group only stretched after. One group sat quietly and rested. And the third group did 30 minutes of yoga. Only the yoga group had decreased levels of cortisol. The stretching and resting groups had no change.

Now, here's the disclaimer. If you go to yoga and you only focus on mastering poses without any of the breath work or relaxation in savasana (corpse pose). You will not gain any of these benefits. So, if you come in to class rushed, push yourself into poses, and then leave during the relaxation part you aren't any better equipped to handle stress than if you'd lifted weights for that hour.

The key here in helping your body respond to stressful situations calmly is to interchange the harder, more physically challenging poses with calming, restful ones while paying attention to the breath and staying present and aware of the sensations of your body while in the pose.

The other key here is to enjoy savasana at the end of class. It truly is a great gift you can give your body in this rushed, multi-tasking world we live in.


Namaste.

New Danger In Fried Foods

Check out the label on this Happy Meal box.

Its crazy!!! Its like the label on cigarettes. I once saw a comedian talk about the cigarette industry being cocky. They can put a label on their product telling you its gonna kill you and you shouldn't buy their product but they know people will buy them anyway. He said it much funnier. You had to be there.

That's what I thought of when I saw this Happy Meal picture. People will still feed this to their children.

I'm not a fan of McDonald's foods by any means but I say Kudos to them for putting that on the label. They didn't have to. As they've stated, the FDA doesn't tell us that there's anything wrong with fried foods other than saturated fat causing cholesterol.

*as an aside, it occurs to me that maybe the FDA is really trying to slowly kill us off with food....hmmmmm....makes ya think.*

I was reading another article somewhere about this very issue...fried foods, not the FDA conspiracy that I don't have time to prove. In the article, it stated that a by product of turning foods, mostly starchy foods, into a  golden brown is acrylamide, a chemical thats been shown to cause cancer. I know....that really sucks. I just wrote an article a few weeks ago about which oils are safe to cook with and then I wrote about some super delicious homemade eggrolls. Now, I can't eat them anymore. They were really good too!!! I even bought some duck fat (very expensive by the way and not nearly as tasty as bacon grease!)

So now we need to be careful eating any starchy foods that have been either fried or baked to a golden brown color. Yes, even baked!! Baked and boiled potatoes are still healthy to eat, but not fried. No baked breads either. This is all pretty new information, I think. So it takes me a minute to wrap my head around it. I'm sure more research is on the way and I'll be looking it into further.

Just know that its out there

Lurking behind your mama's fried potatoes and dinner rolls (And biscuits!!!! Crap, I forgot about biscuits...Dangit!)

Offering up a worse punishment than having to graduate up into your fat pants!

Beware. Seriously. Be aware.

Herbal Medicine Cabinet

As I've done more and more research on the effects of drugs...

.....No, not recreational drugs.....I wish!

Not really. I won't put NutraSweet in my body much less something some dude with no teeth cooked up in his trailer house! As a funny aside, I live in a small, rural town. The weekly county paper had a report about a kid that was injured when his house blew up in a hair coloring accident.

Hair coloring accident?!?!?!??
I was thinking 'What the heck was that kid coloring his hair with anyway??? THAT'S the news report right there!! THIS JUST IN Ladies stop coloring your hair until we figure out what's making it blow up your house!!'
Turns out as I'm sure you've already figured out, that was no hair coloring accident. Kid was cookin up some meth.

I know, I know all you english teachers out there are about to have a hyperventilation fit because I left a sentence fragment at the beginning of this post so I can tell you about the meth kid with funky looking hair.

Its okay, seriously. I'm coming back to it *looking at my watch* right about......NOW!

As I do more and more research about the effects of drugs it makes me realize that I want to use them less and less. (Whew! feeling better?) So I put together the staples from my medicine cabinet which really arent in my medical cabinet at all! These things are scattered all about my house, mostly in the kitchen. These are the basics and with them you can treat almost any malady you have.

Let me first tell you what you don't see.

Bandaids - of course we should all have bandaids and I don't think I need to tell you how to use them....right?

Apirin or Ibuprofen - We do occasionally use them. In fact, I thought I was getting sick yesterday. I was achy all day. It started with a stiff neck and shoulders and moved into a headache. I think I just slept funny because it was cold. In fact, I'm wearing ski bibs today and everyone is making fun of me asking if we're going skiing. I can't help it. I live in Texas. I'm a summer girl! Anyway, I took an Ibuprofen and BAM! achiness gone.

Monavie - We drink Monavie everyday for the anti-oxidants and it makes my knees feel good. If we feel like we're coming down with something we chug it. If you want to try it, we're distributors. You can order it from my website on the right hand side bar.

Thats really it for what I didn't take a picture of.

Heres what the rest of it is.

Neti Pot - You use it to rinse out the nasal passages and sinuses with salt water. Salt water is also great to gargle with if you have a sore throat. If you want to know more about the neti pot click Here.

Aloe Vera - I use the plant when I burn myself (which oddly, I do frequently when I'm cooking.) I break the leaves and rub the juice on the burn. It works wonderfully!

Calendula ointment - Same as with the aloe. Its great for scrapes, burns, rashes, and other skin irritations

Arnica Cream - You're gonna love me for this one! Its like IcyHot, but without the Icy and the Hot. It really works great for muscle and joint aches and pains. You can't really feel anything when you rub it on but it really works. I fractured my pelvis when I was thrown from an unbroke horse. I used the heck out of my arnica and I continued to teach yoga and Tae Kwon Do (even sparred!) and continued to work cleaning pools. A nurse friend found out about it and screamed "You're supposed to be on bedrest!!" I said, as I was down blocking waiting to be thrown by her to the ground in TKD "Yeah, well, good luck to me, because that was weeks ago!"

Gas Stop - Uhhhhh, yeah.....I think you got that one, right? Shall I explain? I don't think I really need to but here goes.......It. uh. stops. gassiness....If you need more than that, leave a comment.

Crystallized Ginger - I like to take a little piece and nibble it if I'm feeling queasy. It just takes a little to work. Ginger is also good for other things as well. If you want to know more about the benefits of ginger click Here.

Traditional Medicinals Ginger Aid tea - Same principle as the crystallized ginger but in a tea form.

Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat tea - Good for minor throat irritations. These are what's in it:
Medicinal ingredients: Each tea bag (2.0g) contains: organic licorice root* (Glycyrrhiza glabra) 420 mg, organic wild cherry bark (Prunus serotina) 340 mg, organic bitter fennel fruit (Foeniculum vulgare) 300 mg, organic marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis) 120 mg, organic slippery elm bark (Ulmus rubra) 100 mg.

Non-medicinal ingredients: organic cinnamon bark (Cinnamomum spp.), organic sweet orange peel (Citrus sinensis).
I like Traditional Medicinals because they are fair trade and organic.

Yogi Stress Relief tea - It has kava kava in it. It helps reduce anxiety. I live with a Type A personality and this helps me to relax so I don't kill him in a horrible, knitting accident. Its okay, he knows. In fact, I'm now thinking that maybe it should be HIM drinking it, not me. One of these days, he's going to disappear and "I'm not going to know what happened". Its okay. He knows that too. We've been married for 21 years and we work together. If you want to know how that works read This. But, back to the kava kava, its a little hard on the liver. So, don't drink it a lot. If, like me, you live with a Type A personality, do what I do, Yoga and martial arts where you can relax and beat the crap out of bags, and then go home to your loving spouse. They'll be spared the horrible knitting accident and you'll be spared years of inprisonment. Of course, I won't be inprisoned because as I've stated "I won't know what happened."

Yogi Bedtime tea - This is fantastic if you have trouble sleeping, It contains valerian, chamomile, hops and other calming herbs. Chamomile helps you fall asleep while valerian helps you stay asleep. Honey before bed helps too, as does a shot of Monavie. It has to do with blood sugars. You can also learn more about that Right Here.

I also use Burts Bees lip balm for chapped lips.

That's about all we use to stay healthy. Its so much more body friendly than using drugs. Did you know that according to FoodMatters, prescription drugs AS PRESCRIBED BY YOUR DOCTOR is the number one killer of people. Not to mention all the nasty side effects of pharmaceuticals.

If you're looking to create an herbal medicine cabinet or just supplement whatcha got, this is a good start. If you have anything to add let me know.

This post is linked to Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday, Farmgirl Hop, and frugally sustainable.

Which Oils To Cook With??

Ever try and be healthy but you're not sure which oils are good, which are bad, and which ones aren't supposed to be heated up?
I know. It's confusing.

First they told us we shouldn't be eating fat. At all. They said "Eat Snackwell's cookies and rice cakes to your heart's content but  for goodness' sake don't let an egg yolk pass through your lips".  (Yeah, that didn't work out so great.)

Then, they said "No, No! Fat is okay, now. Just make sure its a GOOD fat like vegetable oils, not saturated fats like beef, butter, whole milk, or chicken skin. And for goodness' sake don't let an egg yolk pass through your lips."
So we all went out and bought LEAN ground beef and turkey bacon. (btw, I like turkey bacon. It tastes kinda like canadian bacon. Hey! maybe in Canadia, bacon comes from Turkeys. I don't know...I'm from Texas. Don't judge. But I digress.)

Then, they said "Forget what we said before. Don't eat HYDROGENATED OILS or saturated fats. Eat olive oil and you'll be okay. In fact, eat lots of olive oil and you'll live forever!! And don't forget the soy. Eat lots and lots of soy!" (Okay maybe that was a little bit of a stretch. Just a little)

So, which is it?? Whats a girl that plans to live to  be 130 years old to do?

Well, let me just clear it up a bit for you.

The first thing you need to know is that saturated fat is not the enemy. What is saturated fat anyway? Saturated fats come from animals mostly. Chemically, all the  carbon bonds are "saturated" with hydrogen atoms. This makes it highly stable and doesn't go rancid easily even when heated. Saturated fats play a very important role in our bodies. Our cells need them to perform properly. They also help our bones calcify. Contrary to the belief that it causes heart disease, saturated fats actually help PREVENT heart disease as well as protect the liver from toxins. In addition they help to enhance the immune system.

The second thing you need to know is that TRANSfats are the most dangerous. Transfats have been found to cause a whole slew of diseases, too numerous to mention in this post, in fact. Transfats are hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. Margarine and Crisco are examples of transfats. Manufacturers began using hydrogenated oils because they are cheap. Chemically, they are made to "look like" saturated fats by adding hydrogen atoms to cheap oils. In addition to that, they are mixed with tiny particles of metal. Then they were sold to us consumers as "HEART HEALTHY" when in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Its VERY important to read labels and stay away from these fats. Anything that says partially hydrogenated in the ingredients list should be avoided like cancer, because, well, its linked to cancer!

We all know olive oil is good for us, right? I think we can all agree on that. Peanut oil has a similar make up to olive oil. What's important to know, however, is that it shouldn't be heated to high temperatures. Which is a real drag because I saw that the fast food places replaced their vegetable oils with peanut oil in an effort to eliminate transfats from their menus. Hence, I started using peanut oil to deep fry my stuff too. My bad.

 Vegetable oils, safflower, corn, sunflower, soybean, and cottonseed oils should never be consumed. They are high in omega 6 fatty acids. Research continues to accumulate on the dangers of too many omega 6 fats in our diets. And never, ever consume them after they've been heated.

And then, finally, coconut oil. Coconut oil is super healthy. Its 92% saturated fat. What's really interesting is the high concentration of lauric acid which is also found in large quantities in mother's milk. Whether or not you would drink your mother's milk (too much? Did I just go a little too far, there? Yeah, I thought so) we can all agree its probably the healthiest thing a human can consume, right? Lauric acid is both anti-fungal and anti-microbial. Because of its high concetration of lauric acid, coconut oil helps prevent food spoilage in tropical climates. Its highly stable, can be heated to high temperatures, and even aids in weight loss. What's not to love???
The coconutty flavor in your fried goods? While the healthiest way to get coconut oil is raw extra virgin, I'm told that expellar pressed coconut oil is flavorless. As is clarified palm oil.  Palm kernel oil is also high in lauric acid and is similar to coconut oil.

So. Which oils to use?

Coconut oil can be used for anything oil related and its very healthy. You can fry with it, bake with it, and even add it to your tea or coffee. It adds a nice dimension to coffee with some cream. (BTW, don't use non dairy creamers in your coffee. They are loaded with hydrogenated oils, sugars, and chemicals. Cream is much healthier.)

Lard is  good for deep frying safely and very tastily, I might add. Who of us didn't grow up with our mom frying potatoes in bacon grease? I don't think there is anything better. I have to say, though, that I just read that duck and goose fat is prized in Europe for frying potatoes. They say once you use duck fat for your potatoes, you'll never use lard again. If I can get my hands on some, I'll try it and let you know.
If you use lard, it should be pastured pork lard. Chicken fat should be from free range chickens because chickens raised in industrial settings store antibiotics, chemicals, and poisons in their fat.

Ghee is a clarified butter. Its also highly stable in high heats. Its also very buttery...and  very tasty. Its almost buttery than butter if that makes any sense. Ghee is basically butter thats been  boiled until all the milk particles and water have been removed. You can use it for frying.

Butter can't be used for frying at high heats. I like to use it to sautee vegetables, but only at a medium heat. It can be added to baked goods as well. I use melted butter in recipes that call for vegetable oils.

While olive oil, sesame oil, and flax oils are extremely healthy, they are unstable at high temperatures and should not be used to cook with. You can use it at low temperatures but honestly when you have other options, why would you even want to chance it? They are very good for making salad dressings and marinades. You have to be very careful with these oils. Since they are heat sensitive they should be in opaque bottles. Flax oil should always be refrigerated. Even then, it turns rancid really quickly.

Canola oil is a little iffy. I hear conflicting reports that swing wildly on whether its safe to consume or not. So, I'm just not consuming it until I learn more. Again, there are so many other options I'm really not missing anything.

And then finally, I think by now, everyone knows to avoid margarine and shortening. Right? Don't let Aibileen Clark fool you. Crisco is NOT the best stuff on earth. Lard makes a wonderfully flaky pie crust.

I think that about sums it up. If you have any questions, leave a comment. And go getcha some coconut oil!

This post is linked to Monday Mania. If you want to read more healthy, real food articles, go check it out!!

Tibetan Rites

OOPS!!

A few days ago,   I said "Tomorrow, I'll tell you what the Tibetan Rites are."
I don't know why I quoted it. I probably didn't say it exactly like that but I'm too lazy to go back and check to see what exactly I did say. But that's the gist.

If you're stickler and are going to complain that I didn't say THAT specifically, then let me know. I won't care.......but at least I'll know. :)

What ARE the Tibetan Rites? you ask?
And why would they benefit me? you wonder?

Well, let me tell you.

I went to a yoga workshop years ago in McKinney. I talked my great friend and workout buddy whom I like to refer to as Miss Cardio into going with me. She literally runs circles around me. We took our kids camping for a week one summer to all different campsites in Central Texas. I suggested we take some workout clothes and squeeze in some time and check out the YMCAs around, as we could go for free. She said "That would be great and I was thinking we could take some running shoes and run at the campgrounds while the kids hung out and played at camp!" I wholeheartedly (well not really...maybe halfheartedly as I don't enjoy running so much) agreed.
So one morning we got up and she said "Lets go run!!" I was like...'BEFORE BREAKFAST?!?!??' "Well.....okaaaaay." I thought it wouldn't be so bad. How long could we actually go before breakfast?
We went WAAAAAAYYY too long. After about 20 minutes with no food, I'm done. So, my stomach, breakfast clock, goes off and she's just running away....
At one point, I tell her that I have to walk. She says "okay, I'm just going to run up and back", She says this very enthusiastically. Did I mention during this whole time she NEVER stops talking?
So, it ends up being like this: She's talking and running AROUND me and I'm walking very annoyed that I'm not EATING. It was exactly like the cartoon with the big bulldog and the little terrier running around.

Remember that cartoon? With Spike the Bulldog and his little buddy Chester??

Yeah, the big one is me.......

She's Chester.......

Anyway. I tell you all THAT so you'll know that she HATES yoga. Too slow for her. But, I talked her into going to this masterclass before the workshop with me. It was weird. It was storming, there was chanting and moaning and Oh Lord!! She said "I feel sorry for you!" in regards to me being there all weekend for the workshop. I was a little worried about it too...

It turned out the be the BEST WORKSHOP EVER!! I told her that and she said "Are you being sarcastic?"
No!!!! I love that guy (our instructor, John Deminico) I want to marry him!!! He's so enlightened.(turns out I think he's gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that. :)

Anyway, at one point, he says "I never teach yoga anymore except in workshops." He said that every morning he just does the Tibetan Rites. It takes about 15 minutes a day and it will keep us away from the Clinque counter its so anti-aging. "Its the fountain of youth!" he says.

Uhhhhhhh.......Count me in!!! In a room full of women, he had us at "looking younger"!
I had been  looking at him thinking he looked okay for his age.....about mid fortiesish.

Then he said..."I do this every day and I'm 65"!!!! OMG!! We were all like "Okay, screw the yoga workshop! You have to tell us about this!!"

So now, I'm sharing with you the fountain of youth.

You do each of these 5 exercises only 3 times to start off. If you can't do 3 reps yet then just start with whatever you can. You do the 3 reps for a week, then move up to 5 reps. Do that for a week, then move up to 7. If you get stuck at a set number and its still difficult, stay at that number for another week. One time, I stayed at 13 for about 3 weeks. Each week you only go up to the next odd number, i.e. 3, 5, 7, 9, etc up to 21. Never do more than 21. If you want to increase the physical challenge you can speed it up.

The premise of these rites is that they help balance your chakras. If you do more than 21, it actually has a negative effect.

So... Here they are:

#1 - Twirling
Stretch out your arms with the palms facing downward. Spin clockwise.

#2 - Leg Lifts
Lie on your back with your arms by your side, palms flat on the floor. Lift your legs and head at the same time and then lower. Inhale as you lower and exhale as you lift.

#3 - Camel Pose
Kneeling with hands on the back of the thighs and toes turned into the floor, arch back to look behind you. Use the hands to help support. Inhale as you arch back and exhale as you come back into the original position.

#4 - Table Pose
In a seated position (staff pose) with the legs extended in front of you and your palms flat on the floor halfway between your hips and knees, lift up the hips into table pose as you inhale. Lower back to the seated position as you exhale.

#5 - Up Dog/Down Dog
From plank position, inhale as you move forward into upward facing dog keeping your toes curled into the mat. Then exhale as you move back into downward facing dog.



Let me know what you think! I got all the way up to 21 at one time then I quit. I just started back up and I'm at 9 this week.

Operation "Get Buff"

Here's what I'm doing. And this is going to be my online accountability and maybe it will help you too!

I've commenced Operation Get Buff!

Here's how I'm doing it. I'm doing my RVL shakes twice a day. They really are delicious and they are only 190 Calories.

My favorite ways to have them are this:

Vanilla RVL with 8 oz of water, ice, and 2T of PB2. Do you know what PB2 is? No? Then, let me just say that is peanut buttery heaven with only 45 Calories! Its powdered peanut butter. And its delicious!

Chocolate Berry RVL with 1 packet of Starbucks Via, 1 packet of stevia, 8 oz of water and ice.

Both of them are blended.

I've been doing RVL for almost a year off and on. I've lost a few pounds here and there but my problem is that I cheat. I cheat A LOT! My favorite food in the whole wide world is a DQ Blizzard. My favorite flavor of that is the Flavor Of The Month. It doesn't matter which month......

Also, I really, really like Immaculate Baking Ginger cookies. I ate 20 of them the other day.
That's right.....20!!!

Don't judge
and stop looking at me

But, even so, with all that and don't forget about the holidays last year, I didn't gain a single ounce!

So, now I'm committed to being buff by Thanksgiving so I'm kicking it into high gear. I started back with my workouts. Oh sure, I've been doing yoga and martial arts and that's great and all. I love it, in fact. But, I teach those so I don't get so great of a workout. So, I'm back in the gym.

I also started doing the Tibetan Rites in the morning too. I went to a yoga workshop years ago and the instructor said this is the thing that will keep you from having to haunt the Clinique counter. Okay. Count me in!!!
I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

I also gave up sugar........

GASP.....

The HORROR!!!!!!!!


Yeah, I know. But, I'm committed. So, there you go.

This is day 2.
Yesterday I set my alarm to get up early. It was hard. Real hard to get out of bed. But, that's half the battle. Then, I had some tea, checked facebook, did a little pinning and got ready to leave.
Right as I'm getting ready to walk out the door....CRAP! I forgot breakfast. I don't have time to eat so I grab a shot of Monavie Active juice and make coffee in my Keurig and add some cream. That's right....cream. Don't be afraid, it's good and it won't make you fat.
Then, I just have to put the horses back in the pasture and let the chickens out. Won't take a minute. Only.....it does. It takes 30 minutes. Stupid horses all of a sudden can't figure out how to go back into the gate.
So, at the gym I walk/run for 30 minutes and head to work.
I have a RVL shake (with pb of course!)
For lunch I had a scoop of chicken salad and a big bowl of tomato soup from Backstage Cafe in Gainesville.
For a mid afternoon snack, I have an Emv Lite, a 90 Calorie healthy energy drink
When I got home, I ate 2 Fritos ( I forgot that I gave up sugar! oops!)
Then, I had another RVL shake (with pb again. I can't give it up!!! I thought about adding a peach..nah! gimme some peanut butter)
I drank a Dr Zevia, then a decaf latte with cream, stevia, and chai spices.
And right before bed, I had another 2 oz shot of Monavie. Which reminds me, I need to order some more.

All day I didn't feel hungry at all and I had energy!! I honestly think its because I didn't have any simple carbs.

I slept like a lamb all night and this morning was much easier to get up!!! I did 20 minutes on the elliptical and lifted weights for a total of about 45 minute workout.

I'll keep you posted on how its going. I wish I had taken a "before" picture for you. But, I didn't. So you'll just have to imagine it. :)

Here's something to look at while you imagine my "before"

Cure for Cancer!!

This totally isn't what I was gonna post today but its so exciting I just couldn't wait!!!

Some friends of mine and I watched this dvd about a year or so ago and the big thing we got from it is that high dose vitamin c therapy IS A CURE FOR CANCER!!
Not only that, according to FoodMatters and The Gerson Institute, it kills the cancer cells and leaves the rest of your body just fine and dandy!
I've been going around telling everybody I know about this, including Robbie's dad who just recently passed away from this terrible, terrible disease. It seems that nobody really believes me. They always look away and I know what they are thinking because some people even come right out and say it. "If its a cure, then why isn't anybody doing it? Surely, my doctor would prescribe that if it really was a cure."

My answer is always the same, and again, I don't think they really believe me. Here it is:

Its because legally, they can't!!!!

That's right. LEGALLY. even if they believe in it which some doctors are so brainwashed by the drug reps, they don't believe in "alternative therapies."
I don't say that disparagingly of doctors. I'm not anti-doctor. I'm anti-closedmindedness. I believe in healing the body, not treating symptoms.

Legally, doctors can only prescribe chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery for cancer. So, if you get cancer and go to an oncologist, one of those therapies and ONLY one of those therapies will be prescribed for you. You can, however, go to The Gerson Institute to have the vitamin therapy I was telling you about. But, I would for sure watch FoodMatters dvd for more info.

Okay....There's all that. That's old news. I've been preaching that for awhile as I've said.

Here's the exciting part. Doctors are now starting to take notice!!!!!
I was just on facebook where I follow naturalnews.com and saw an article about how oncologists are starting to research iv vitamin c therapy in conjuction with chemo. Its not perfect, but its a start. A step in the right direction.

If I was diagnosed with cancer right now, which I won't. I live a lifestyle that exempts me from cancer. ha/ha. No really. Ha/Ha because its true!!! I'm not bragging. You can too!
 But, if I was, I absolutely would not have any of the western treatments. Well, maybe surgery. But, not chemo or radiation. I wouldn't because those things are extremely toxic to our healthy cells in addition to the cancerous ones and its not even 100%. And there have been other, proven natural treatments.

Cancer is scary business. Even scarier is that in the 1960's 1 in 300 people were diagnosed with cancer. As of 2010, the CDC reports that 1 in 2 are diagnosed with cancer and its related to diet and lifestyle. Things that make you go muuuhhuuuhhhh!
But, the thing is, it doesn't have to be a death sentence!!!! I've heard multiple, amazing, miraculous stories of people overcoming it using natural therapies. Its quite exciting!!

But, for starters, check out the link Natural News Vitamin C Cancer Treatment.

Real Food vs Supplements

I was reading my Well Being Journal magazine the other day. Its a really interesting little publication jammed packed with healthy little tidbits of information. What I really love about it is that on just about each page there is a side bar of short articles. And then there are longer content articles just like any other magazine without all the junky advertising.

What I just read was about the notion of vitamin supplements as a replacement for food. I think we can all agree on the fact, that its better to get our nutrition from food, right?

I think a lot of people feel like they are going to eat McDonalds or some other not so healthy things in lieu of a salad for lunch so they should pop a vitamin to make up for the missed nutrients. That's logical.

The problem with that, though, is that it assumes  our bodies react very simplistically to each vitamin and mineral in our bodies. It would assume that for every vitamin in a generic amount there is a set reaction occurring in our body. That just isn't the case.

Our bodies are like interconnected webs. They are very complex. Its a tad on the confusing side, even.

And, as if it wasn't confusing enough, and we all know this already, every single one of our bodies is made differently. We all need the same nutrients but we need them in differing amounts and formulations with other nutrients.

What studies have shown is that single nutrients, especially in a man made imitation form, is not only not helpful to our bodies, but can be harmful!!! You can actually overdose on vitamins. Even if you don't overdose on them, they can have an adverse effect! You can NOT however, overdose on fruits and veggies. The reason is that there aren't JUST vitamins in our foods. There isn't JUST vitamin C in an orange for instance.

In fact, an interesting little tidbit is that ascorbic acid, the ingredient found in vitamin C tablets is actually toxic! Who knew? Well....now YOU do!

There are other things in our foods that work synergistically together with all the other nutrients to make us healthy. The food is in itself a living web of an organism. Add to that our bodies are living webs of organisms with each organ and system working in concert with each other using food to create, repair, heal, and grow on a cellular level. Its all very complex. Our bodies pull out the nutrients from the foods we eat, send it where it needs to go, uses it, and discards the rest.

For it to be able to that, other nutrients and enzymes are needed in addition. They come from the foods themselves and in some cases our own bodies. That means, everything has to work together.

Now imagine you go to McDonalds for lunch. ( I use McDonalds as just a generic processed food. I could easily change that with ALL processed, man made, and chemical laden foods!!!) When you do that, you throw a monkey wrench into the works. Your body is still trying to use what it can. So, it pulls out what it THINKS is nutrients or the closest thing it can find and sends it into the systems of our bodies to be used. It goes into the cells, jacks everything up and recreates itself into a mutant!!

You know what mutant cells are?

..........

.......CANCER.......

Lets say its not that bad in your body. Lets say they don't mutate. Lets say, they just become weakened. A couple things happen there.

One could be you just have a weakened immune system leaving you vulnerable to contagious illness. The other could be that you have a weakened immune system that goes haywire and leads to auto-immune diseases like multiple sclerosis, parkinson's, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.

Maybe you already knew that. I mean, seriously. Who DOESN'T know that fast food is bad for you. 

But, maybe you didn't know this.......

Vitamins, even the "whole food" vitamins are not really that good for you. Because it takes away the "interconnectedness" of the food. Because even the whole food vitamins are man made with a little bit of dried vegetable and/or fruit powder mixed in and pressed into a tablet or capsule. Most vitamins are just man made representations of the natural vitamins. So, those are even worse.

You may be saying..."Wait a minute! I can go have blood work done and test the levels of all vitamins in my body." Yeah, well, maybe. In fact, that is true. You may have plenty of vitamins in your body. But, the real, bigger question is "Are those vitamins doing anything in my body??" If not, you'll know. You'll see them exiting your body in your urine. I know you've seen the bright yellow pee in your toilet after you've taken some vitamins.

If you just eat plenty of organic, fresh fruits and vegetables, grass fed beef, free range chickens, raw dairy, drink lots of water, get some exercise, and go outside for a bit and you won't even need supplements.

If you've read this blog any length of time, you'll know that we're enamored of Monavie. just 4 oz a day has the antioxidant equivalent of 13 servings of fruits and veggies. We use that as a supplement to our diet because its just 19 organic fruits from around the world. I'm not writing this article in an attempt to sell you Monavie. Although, if you want some, there is a link, over on the left hand side, to my Monavie website. I tell you all that, because I haven't found anything else on the market that does what Monavie does. Its not a "vitamin supplement". Its a food that has all the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids, and phytonutrients in it. Its not a cure of any disease or ailment. Its just good nutrition. It helps us to fill in the gaps of our diet and we can feel the difference in our bodies when we're drinking it.

I hope this helps in the confusing land of reports of vitamins...to do or not to do. If you eat crap all the time, you have to do SOMETHING to get nutrients into your body. So, don't read this and think 'I shouldn't take vitamin supplements.' No. What I'm saying is, you may not be doing your body any favors by taking vitamins and still eating junk. Or maybe I'm just telling you to stop eating junk!!!! Or maybe I'm saying you can eat junk and just supplement with salads...and fruit....LOTS of salads and fruit! Or maybe I'm saying Eat lots of salads and fruits...and supplement (very occasionally) with a little junk..........Yeah, the last one....I think THAT'S what I'm really saying! :)

TV Shortens Life Span!

This is a really weird study by the University of Queensland. They have found that for every hour you watch television, you reduce the length of your life by 22 minutes!!!!

Think about how much tv your family watches! Oh my gosh!

Well....I don't know. Maybe your family doesn't watch a lot of tv. Mine does. It pains me but I have males in my house and they LOVE it. Gotta have it! Its like a drug.
My son doesn't watch as much as he used to. He did go through some weird Dragonball Z marathon just recently. He felt the need to watch every single episode ever aired all at once. He's completed that so he's on to other things. He plays guitar and is extremely good at it. Hence, he practices a lot leaving no time for tv really. At least thats something he's got going for him healthwise. The boy wont TOUCH a vegetable for fear of some torturous demise! He found out, one time, from overhearing my conversation with another mom that I sneak veggies into our food, a little carrots in the spagetti sauce here, a little zucchini in the meatloaf there....you get the picture. He came home all beside himself and said to his dad "Do you KNOW what she's putting in our food?!??" My husband looked at me like I'd been slowly poisoning them. I said "vegetables...that's what I've been putting in your food." Goofy kid.

You can see why I worry......

At least he's not watching lots of tv.

His father, on the other hand.....Woooooooo! That man loves his tv. We got a new, bigger, flat screen tv for the living room and he wants one in the bedroom. I won't have it. I didn't know about that study then.

Wait a minute!!! So, if say he's watching sports and I'm knitting or reading, or my new fun thing, Pinterest, will it shorten my life too??? Like second hand smoke for tv watchers! Will I die of Second Hand Telvision Watching??? OH MY! That just opens a whole new can of worms doesn't it? Think of the legislation! The government will start banning tv in bars. People will start protesting. They will claim their rights are being violated by all the tv watchers.

Well, I don't know about all that, but I DO KNOW that my rights are being violated by the big tv watcher in my house! I NEVER GET THE REMOTE!!!!! Maybe I SHOULD write my congressman. Nah! It'll never work. I will write my congresswoman! She'll get it. I bet she never gets the remote either.

Okay...what was I talking about?


Oh yeah! tv shortens your life span. Man, that was a long way to get back around to this wasn't it? You're probably thinking you just lost about 22 minutes of your life reading this post!

Sometimes studies come out and freak people out and end up being about nothing. Remember "cow farts"?

Nevertheless, whether or not your life will truly be shortened, it couldn't hurt to actually turn off the tv, go outside, play with your kids, play with your dog, read a book, start a business, call a friend, or just watch the birds.

If you're life span doesn't change, at least you'll get more enjoyment out of it and you'll probably be smarter even. They don't call it the Boob Tube for nothin'!!

If you want to read the report I read go to naturalnews.com

You really should check it out. I joke about it, but it really is an interesting thing to ponder.

Hey!!! You can ponder that while your husband is watching football! ...........Just do it from another room.......to be safe........you know....in case its true........and its a good reason for not having to sit there and watch it!

Thought Of The Day

I just got my new Yoga Journal in the mail yesterday. I LOVE all things yoga so getting my YJ in the mail is like a mini Christmas each month. I can't wait to open it up see what's new and zen.

The first thing I do is flip through it (usually during dinner because I don't wanna have to wait!)

I read the short, interesting articles, look at the cool pictures, and make a mental note to come back later and read the longer articles. I even save all my YJ because I don't think I've ever completely read one cover to cover and I don't want to miss a thing! :)

But, here's what caught my eye and made me think of you.

There is a section called People. And this girl Kris Carr is a cancer survivor and she wrote this article about juicing.  Ive been preaching this for years along with a few other "food renegades" :)

"Inflammation is stress that comes from what you're eating, drinking, and thinking. Its a root cause of chronic disease."

'Well, that's just great!' you're thinking. ( I know bc I can now read minds. But, thats a topic for another day.) The other thing you're thinking is 'But, how do I reduce or prevent inflammation?'

I have the answer!!! And its simple!!!

All you have to do is eat more fruits and veggies (preferrable organic!), reduce processed foods, breads, and sugar, get some sleep, meditate and/or pray (BTW, some people think meditation is some anti-Christ thing. Its not. Get over it. God says in the Bible "Be still and know that I am God" How can you pray for something and not quiet your mind so you can hear His response. I don't think you can. I'm just sayin'), get some exercise, and love somebody.

That's it! Its that easy. A little laughter never hurt anybody either! The thing is...a lot of those things are all tied together. An inflammatory diet can lead to all sorts of other conditions like depression. Who would've thought? But, its true. Even some behavior problems in kids are linked to food sensitivities. Its weird, I know, but trust me. Get rid of the sugars and chemicals and eat more produce. You can do it!! And if you can't, get a bottle of Monavie. Just 4 oz a day has the anti-oxidant equivalent of 13 servings of fruits and vegetables. That's what we do and we feel fantastic!! If you want some check out my website on the left.

If you're interested in Kris Carr and want to learn more, She just wrote a book called Crazy Sexy Diet.
She's also a blogger. Her blog is crazysexylife.com 

You don't have to make a gazillion changes in your life to be healthy. All you gotta do is start with ONE!
In the words of my friend, Charlie Kalb...."Just do SOMETHING!!!!" :)

Coconut Oil For Dementia?

I wrote about coconut oil awhile back telling you that Dr Perricone puts it in his tea because its so healthy. Well, I love my tea just like it is so I can't do that. But, I do put it in my coffee WITH CREAM TOO!! And, I am not fat. My skin looks great too. Low fat diets are not good for you. But, I just recently learned something new about coconut oil and its so exciting I wanted to risk life and limb and share it with you!!

Life and Limb, you ask...

Oh yes, did I not tell you that I live in a jungle tree house much like Tarzan? Every morning I get up and feed and water the monkeys, tigers, and hyenas. I then have to brave the elements and juke and dodge the dinosaurs, and .....

yes, I said dinosaurs. Okay, now back to my detailed life of my jungle life.


Yes!! Dinosaurs....Stop interrupting....

Really? Oh.....

Well, okay then. No dinosaurs. That was from the show Land of the Lost. But, I really DO live with the monkeys, tigers, and hyenas.

I do too!!!!

Okay, I dont.....They are chickens, dogs, cats, and horses.....and my neighbors stupid goat! But, they ACT like wild animals!

And I really do risk life and limb because I work at Pearson Pools, your one stop pool shop with my husband, who is at this very moment nagging me to stop blogging and start doing actual work! And because its your lucky day...and the lucky day of anyone you know with dementia...I'm bravely ignoring him like an errant fly buzzing around my head.

I suscribe to the Wellbeing Journal. I love it! If you are a real food lover and believe in holistic healing, then you should most definitely suscribe to that magazine. In it, this month was an article about coconut oil and dementia.

There was a lady whose husband had all of a sudden gone from a healthy, vibrant, outgoing man to a mentally crippled, childlike man that was dependant on his wife for all his basic functions. He couldn't even form whole sentences!!!! A friend of hers had just read an article about coconut oil and shared it with her. Just a few weeks earlier the lady had bought some organic, extra virgin, raw coconut oil. She gave some to her husband and within 30 minutes he was able to string together complete sentences!!! She was so encouraged that she started giving him 2 tablespoons every day. Within a few months, he was back to 95% of his old self!!!!

The studies are amazing. This is encouraging for a  lot people, including those with Alzheimer's disease. Coconut oil is good for other ailments as well. It is a medium chain fatty acid that is 50% Lauric acid which is believed to be the reason for its super health inducing properties. The only other food so richly abundant in lauric acid is human milk. We know thats good for us, right??? Its also highly anti-microbial.

Its important to know that alot of foods that were previously sold as healthy are not. For example, margarine. Don't use it up and then buy butter. Just throw it away!!! You also don't need canola oil. Throw it away. Extra virgin oil is super good for you but if you use it at high heats to fry things, you've just turned it into something bad. So, instead you can use coconut oil for frying. You can also use it for baking, in smoothies, or like me...put it in your coffee. Its good, I promise.

Im very excited to learn more about this and its effects on dementia.

No!! I'm not going senile, who told you that?????

I'm excited because it is my fervent belief that God has provided everything we need on this planet to be abundantly healthy. We just have to put down the Twinkies and figure out what those things are.

Now, I must get back to the monkeys!!! They are so funny you should see what.....

Yeah, yeah, okay. There are no monkeys here.......just a yammering husband asking me if I'm almost finished.


Yes. :)

Antioxidants as Sunscreen

Its that time of year when everyone is going out to lake and the pool to have some fun and soak up some rays. When I was but a lass I used to have tanning competitions with my girlfriends. We would slather on the baby oil, OR, if you were really hard core, you'd use baby oil with iodine in it. I don't really know why the iodine. It probably just stained our skin a tan color. But, hey! We were fourteen so don't judge. One particularly pale, red headed friend of mine decided to use one of the first "sunless self tanners".......remember QT? :)

I like to think of her now as a renegade!

Back then we just thought of her as the paleface (orange face after the QT, and we spent weeks not letting her forget her unwashed hands faux pas!!!! Her skin, including the palms of her hands, were the same color as her hair!!! Much fun for teen friends! ) who only freckled!!

In my twenties, I taught countless aerobics classes and lived in the gym. The gyms back then, even some now, were well equipped with state of the art tanning beds. My favorite thing to do was teach a class, hits the weights, then tan. The warmth felt wonderful on my just worked, sweaty muscles. Heaven...........

Except then I learned that sun tanning, even artificially in beds, causes cancer. Well, I have to tell you that cancer scared the crap out of me!! And I'll tell you my rationale. Everybody who gets cancer thinks it won't happen to them. Well, I thought it wouldn't happen to me so therefore, I was sure I was going to get cancer!!!!!!

Stupid reasoning in math class!!!! See? That's what it does. Its not really good for anything else. But, anyway, I digress.

I stopped tanning. period.

I became a fan of sunscreen and hats.

Then I read that sunscreen is worse than sun. Toxic chemicals and all. CRAP!!!!!!!

REALLY????

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

Man, you try and be healthy and then some other study comes along and pulls the rug right out from under you!!!

But, heres what I've gotten from it all: You know I'm a granola girl so I'm into the no sunscreen other than actual, you know, shade. An umbrella is effective sunscreen.

The other thing I've learned is that use of constant sunscreen decreases the vitamin D in our bodies. Our bodies actually make vitamin D from sunlight. Lack of it is linked to auto-immune diseases. And don't think you can just go pop a vitamin and still avoid the sun and be all pasty white like the Cullens and still be all vitamined up and healthy! You can't. In fact, the vitamins sans the sun is actually not even good for you.

But here's some really interesting news! Highly antioxidant food not only helps repair free radical damage, it helps PREVENT it, including our skin. Tans and burns are essentially skin damage.

You know we own a pool service, Pearson Pools your one stop pool shop! And Im sure you understand that Im in the sun A LOT! I do have quite a nice tan but I never burn and I dont look all old and leathery. Well.....I dont think I look leathery anyway. My husband tells me Im hot all the time and I still even get a whistle or honk every now and then! (When I was younger I got honks and whistles all the time. It really embarassed me and made me uncomfortable. I would avoid any eye contact and pretend not to notice. And think 'what a jerk, go away! Now when it happens, now Im a little "mature" I give a wave and say "hey thanks!!" :)

I eat lots of organic fruits and veggies, drink lots of tea and Monavie and THAT is my sunscreen! No toxic chemicals or avoidance of the sun required. If it works for me it will work for you too. Science even backs it up.

Still dont believe me? I even went and had the black light thingy on face looking for uv damage and theres hardly any at all. The facialists were preaching that I should absolutely be using sunscreen. I explained to them what I just told you. They just stared at me like Im from anoher planet. Then I said "Look! You know I work outside all day. Ive spent years searching for that ever elusive perfect tan. And my skin looks great! Why do I want to introduce toxic chemicals into the mix when I know for a fact the chemicals are going to cause free radical damage too?" No thanks. I'd rather my antioxidants be available to eradicate the free radicals I get from the sun.

Dont get me wrong! Im not stupid about it! I would never lay out or tan in a bed ever again. Why push it? But what I AM going to do is put on a tank top and go outside and work in the garden. Then, Im going to lay in my hammock in the shade..... :)

No toxic chemicals required.

Soy....Good or Bad?

You read a lot these days about soy. You read in magazines how great it is. In fact, almost every womans magazine you pick up these days will have an article about losing weight or superfoods, and soy is almost always on the list! How could you NOT think its healthy? Well, I'm about to tell you why it absolutely is not something you should put in your body. But before I do that, let me pose this to you to ponder....

Everytime you read about something being healthy or not, ask yourself  "Who benefits from this? Who is pushing for or against this and why?" Almost all the time the answer will be money. Its common sense really to know that we should all be eating lots of fruits and veggies and other foods as nature intended. And whether or not you believe in God, you HAVE to know, if you just spend a few minutes thinking about it, that everything on this planet is made to work synergistically together. Therefore, you then have to make the assumption that everything our bodies need should already be on this planet. Then, you  can deduce even further, by knowing that its a greater benefit to us to eat those foods when they are as close to nature as possible. We all know, for example, that a pear picked straight from the tree that has not been sprayed with pesticide is much healthier (not to mention tastier!!!) than a can of pears from the grocery store!


Okay. I said all that to get you thinking. Because I've become hyper aware lately about the brainwashing going on in our country these days. Every time you flip on the tv you see an ad about pharmaceuticals. The one that really got me was the one with the dad chatting with his college aged daughter via the internet and she's doing an "intervention" with him to get him to take cholesterol meds. I was thinking "that poor dad! I'm sure he's watching what he's eating and trying to cure himself naturally to avoid the nasty side effects of the cholesterol medication and his whole family is trying to make him take a drug that is going to make him feel bad!!" Yeah, probably not. It is a drug commercial after all. Sad....

Okay, again. I said all THAT because it ties in nicely with my thoughts on soy.

I used to be one of those people that got all their nutrition info from ladies magazines, too. I thought a low fat diet was THE thing to keep from getting fat. I thought all fat was bad. I thought if you got sick you took a drug and called it good. I also thought soy was a great alternative to meat for a lean, healthy protein source. But, then.....I opened my eyes and started paying attention to the world around me and not so much on what's coming out of the tv and magazines.

I used to LOVE soymilk on my granola cereal. Now, I have whole, fresh, raw milk on my organic cereal when I eat it.

I started hearing conflicting reports on soy. I went to a sports nutrition seminar where the highly acclaimed nutritionist said that she doesn't believe organic is all important and that soy is probably okay. I believed her mostly. I do know that pesticides have a cumulative effect on your body so I'm out on her thoughts on organics. But, her soy thoughts made sense to me so I continued to consume my much beloved soymilk.

At the same convention, I sat in Anne Louise Gittleman's seminar where she said soy was bad, sugar is bad, stevia and other herbs were good along with a diet of organics. I thought "This lady is a quack and I'm drinking soymilk!!" Well, since then, I learned that Anne Louise was right on!

One of the things I learned about soy is that it is an estrogen. At the time I didn't really know why that was so bad but I was also buying for my only child chocolate soymilk and he loved it too. I asked my ob/gyn about it and he said its bad because we all have estrogen receptors on our bodies and we absorb estrogen at different rates depending on those receptors. Which means you can't really control the amount of estrogen our body absorbs. We also know that an excess of estrogen is linked to cancer. We also know that young girls are starting puberty as young as 6 years old!!!!! My boy started growing breasts! So, I immediately stopped the soymilk and did a little more research.

I also learned from watching Food, Inc that the company Monsanto chemically treats all their soy plants. Not only that they grow over 90% of all the soy grown. And all of their soy is genetically modified. And even more egregious is that they use their billions to run out all the small farms around the country.

Everyone says, "Well, what about those Asians? They are super healthy and they eat lots of soy!" No they don't..... They eat about 2 tablespoons of fermented soy, such as tamari, miso, and tempeh. Why do you suppose we're told they eat a lot of soy and we should be eating 10 times more than the Asians?!? I'll give you one guess and its a word answer. I think you already know.


Money.

If you want to read even more about the dangers of soy check out this whole food blog. You should definitely check it out. Its very informative.

Food Renegade's Soy Post


This post is part of Food Renegades Fight Back Friday. You can click on this link and see even more healthy food posts from other bloggers. Fight Back Friday, May 20th

Ghee Giveaway!!!

Pure Indian Foods is giving away jars of ghee!!! If you've never had it, you should definitely try it....definitely!

Ghee is a clarified butter. I think it tastes extra buttery if that makes any sense. Its buttery than butter!!!

Its light and lacks all the dairy and milk solids found in butter. Some benefits to using ghee is that it requires no refrigeration as it doesn't spoil, its a healthy fat (btw, your body needs fat to be healthy!! Studies have shown that fat free diets actually speed up the aging process! Yikes!! A nutritionist friend of mine actually told me when I was eating low fat and working out like a mad woman that I could be really thin with an old, haggard face....or be beautiful with a little extra fat under my skin.....Oh My!! What's a girl to do????)

These are some other benefits I got from another blog. Its http://path2healthyliving.blogspot.com/2009/03/health-benefits-of-ghee.html

Health Benefits of Ghee




Ayurveda maintains that Ghee is a vital food for healthy skin, mental clarity and good digestion. It also helps the body assimilate nutrients.

Ghee is salt and lactose free so it is beneficial for those who can't drink milk or eat cheese.

Ghee is said to have anti-cancer and anti-viral properties.

Contains CLA or conjugated linolenic acid which aids weightloss, especially stubborn belly fat and has been shown to slow the progress of some types of cancer and heart disease.

We all need healthy fats in our diet and Ghee is an easily digestible source of saturated fat that contains no trans fats or hydrogenated fats. Ghee, however, is low in the essential omega 3 fatty acids you need for good brain health so supplementation with omega 3's is a needed for a healthy diet.

Other Benefits of Ghee



Making Ghee is a great way to preserve butter, which turns rancid or loses flavor quickly. Ghee won't turn rancid at room temperature like butter and retains it's original flavor and freshness for up to a year without refrigeration.

Withstands high heat in baking at temperatures above 240 degrees Farenheit and is one of the few unrefined oils that does so.

So go on over to Food Renegade's blog http://www.foodrenegade.com/giveaway-ghee-ghee-ghee-and-more-ghee/ and follow the directions to get your chance to win some free ghee!!!!!

Sinus Relief

Guess what this is a picture of!!

Go on, guess.......

*insert waiting music*

Did you guess Neti Pot? If you did, then you are correct. If you guessed Genie Lamp, well then, I'm sorry to say that you missed it. :(
But, Hey! go ahead and rub it and see what comes out!!

If a big green thing comes out....you COULD make a wish to it buuuuttttt.....I don't think you'll get lucky. Unless getting all the green junk out of your sinuses makes you feel lucky then....Ding, Ding, Ding...YOU WIN!!!!

Okay, all tomfoolery aside. I know what you're thinking. Well, maybe I don't. If you're thinking about Jimmy Crack Corn, then I can't really help you. If you're thinking 'What the heck is a neti pot?' or 'Ewwww...that's gross!! I could never do that!' Then, I can help.

A neti pot is the little pot in the picture above. In it you mix 1 teaspoon of non-iodized salt (sea salt, kosher salt, or pickling salt), 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and about 2 cups of warm water.

Then, you place the tip in one nostril as you tip your head to the side and let it drain out the other nostril. When you feel like you've used about half the solution, switch to the other side. I usually stand up and blow gently at this point. Once you've finished gently blow. And voila!! All done.

I know it sounds kinda gross, but I tell you that your nose will feel so clean and you'll breathe better than you ever have in your life. Its really good to do this every day, especially if you have allergies.
I really only use it when I feel like I have a little stuffiness coming on. You know its also good to gargle with salt water when you feel a sore throat coming right? Well, it's the same principle, here.

The saline solution helps to reduce inflammation and remove allergens. If you want to try it and you live in the same general area as me you can get these neti pots from our local co-op. If you don't you can get them at your health food store. Some Wal-Marts even carry them now. You might be able to find them at the pharmacy as well.

Go ahead, make a wish, wash out your nose, take a deep breath, and enjoy the rest of your day!

Diet Drinks

We used to drink diet drinks. I blogged all about it and you can read some earlier posts of mine if you want to know how they affected us. So, I won't go into all that now.

But, let me just say again, that we LOVED them!!!!! We loved the way they tasted. We loved the way they really quenched a thirst after mexican food. We just flat out loved them period.

But, we learned from antecdotal evidence that they were so bad for you. When we told Robbie's neurologist about his improvements after discontinuing the use of aspartame he just poo-pooed everything we said. He would say things like "The FDA approved it so it must be safe." pppssssshhhhh, yeah right!! How many things has the FDA approved that now lawyers are making millions on in mass tortes? Think commercials like this....."Have you or a loved one experienced death, brain damage, birth defects (insert major malady here)? Then call Winkyn, Blinkyn, and Nod to see if you qualify for damages!" The FDA approves LOTS of things that are bad for us!! Then, you'll run across the rube that won't consume a fruit supplement because the FDA didn't approve it! But, they'll go out and buy drugs for every little sniffle!

And yet again, I digress!

Even though artificial sweeteners have been linked to cancer and multiple auto-immune disorders, people are still consuming these beverages because A) they claim there's no proof of it. and B) because they appear to be addictive. (Oh believe me when I tell you that I think I was HIGHLY addicted to aspartame!)

But, now we have some hard, scientific data confirming that diet sodas are bad for us. Forget the thousands upon thousands of people who claim that their ails were cured when they stopped consuming aspartame. But, honestly, who are WE to tell those people they were full of crap? If they said it happened, why are we skeptical of that? Are we so cynical that we think everyone on this planet has an ulterior motive? Can we not just believe that people would share their story in an attempt to help other people? I choose to believe that we can!

But...regardless of all that...We have scientific evidence showing that diet drinks raise a person's chances of stroke and heart attack by 60%!!! Here's an excerpt from culturemap.com in Houston:

The study, a collaboration between Columbia University and the University of Miami, spanned nine years and followed 2,500 New Yorkers who each drank diet soda every day, according to a Today Show report.







It found that those who drank diet soft drinks on a daily basis had a 61 percent higher risk of "vascular events," including heart attacks and strokes. The study did not look at what types of diet sodas were consumed or at how much was consumed per day. It is a preliminary report.

You can google the University of Miami study that was just released and find more information on it. For me, I will just take it at face value and know in my heart that we did not make a mistake in giving up diet products. I won't lie and say it wasn't hard. It was. Just like giving up sugar, caffeine, cigarettes, or anything else you shouldn't be putting in your body. It requires some sacrifice. But, believe me it's worth it. What if it can increase your life span? Or more importantly, what if it can improve your QUALITY of life? What if by setting an example, you could increase the quality of life for your children?

In the words of a famous sports apparel manufacturer....Just Do It!

Nutella Day??

Forgive me briefly, please! I am at this moment...internetless except for the internet on my phone. While Im quite thankful for any little scrap of internet, this just seems barbaric! Im typing with my thumbs like some twisted circus feat. This will be a short post but I just HAD to share this with you.

On another blog I follow (Not one of the healthy ones!) I saw that today is Nutella Day. I know! Crazy!

I just want to say...Put down the spoon!! You can do it! I know its tasty. Believe me I know! But Im here as a beacon of real hope and change (hahaha! Get it?)

Nutella is full of hydrogenated oils. Hydrogenated oils cause clogged arteries and heart disease, not saturated fats! In this day and age, there is no reason at all to consume hydrogenated oils......ever! If you would just buck up and buy your groceries from the health food store youll be SOOOO much healthier. But more importantly, your family would be soooo much healthier. Isnt that what we REALLY want?

I know. Because Ive been there. At first the sticker shock alone almost kills you on the spot. But, then youll realize that a)its worth the extra money. And b) youll be eating less but more nutrient dense foods. Win/Win!

So, back to my original point of Nutella. Dont buy it! Instead, spend Nutella Day going to the health food store. Look around and enjoy the experience! Pick out a few things that look interesting to take home and try. Start easy if you've never been, maybe some organic toaster pastries (They have chocolate!!) Or some herbal coffee. Maybe a six pack of Blue Skys (Im not going to tell you what they are. You have to go see and report back! Kinda like a scavenger hunt. How fun is that?) But, one thing you HAVE to try is

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread made by Rapunzel.

I didnt just make that up! Its for real and its to die for.....only you wont cuz its healthy. Now Nutella, on the oher hand....

Just go try it and let me know what ya think! And report back when you know what Blue Skys are. By the way, if you're in our co-op, we can get all that in the co-op. :)

Happy Nutella Day!..........ppppffffffttttttttttt

The Attack of GM Foods!!!

OoOoOoHh!!!!!!

This is a super scary post!! In fact, its so scary I should have waited until Halloween to post it! But, its so important that I'm going to share this story with you now.

Now, grab your favorite teddy bear, gather 'round the fire, snuggle in close, and don't venture too far out during the telling of this very spooky tale.........

MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Once upon a time there were people living in our land that grew their own food. I know! weird, huh?
They grew vegetables, raised cows, chickens, hogs, goats, sheep, and whatever else they could afford. They made their own butter and cheese and sugar was extremely hard to come by. (I told you this was going to be scary! But, shhhh, that's not even the scary part yet!)

These people worked hard for their food. But, as such, they were a pretty fit people. They got up when the sun came up, worked all day and then when it got dark went to bed. (You know what circadian rhythm is, right? Its okay if you don't. I just felt like throwing that in there. I think that would be a great post for another day.)
Pretty much, if it didn't come from a plant or an animal that they grew or a friend grew and gave them as a gift or a barter then it didn't go into their bodies. They were a pretty robust people too! Now, sure the average life span was lower then, but that number also accounts for babies and children that have died and that number is averaged to get our "average life span". The disease rate for these people was pretty low. It seems all idyllic doesn't it? It conjures visions of peaceful life on the prairie with fat cows grazing in the fields, chickens pecking around for bugs while mom pulls weeds in the garden with cherubic, pink faced children at her side digging in the dirt.


SCREEEECH!!!!!

Okay, fast forward through a century and here we are today. Now, here's where it gets really scary! So, come in closer my little pretties...........

Over the past century our government has gradually been changing legislation that allows more and more chemicals and changes to our food to keep us from starving to death. Now, get a load of the people shopping at Wal-Mart and let me ask.....Does it look like we're starving to death?
Well, technically, we are! We have become an obese nation while being extremely undernourished! Again, I could go on for days about all that! But, I won't. Right now, anyway. I want to tell you specifically about GMO foods. In case you didn't know, that means genetically modified organism. It may not really mean anything to you....yet. But, it will in a minute!

MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Its not funny.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Millions of acres of corn, soy, canola, and cotton have genetically modified genes inserted into their DNA. The reason that has been done is so that these foods become resistant to pests. They basically produce their own pesticides. This is a problem for a couple of reasons. Number 1 is that the very compounds plants produce naturally to fight pests and disease are the same compounds that go into our bodies when we eat those plants that protect US from pests and disease. So.....if you take away the plants ability to do that on its own, then......I'm guessing that you take away our ability to do that too! Its not rocket science! Just common sense. Also, as a side note, heirloom plants (non GM plants) taste better too. As it turns out, those natural defenses also make the plant taste better!

The 2nd and even scarier reason GM plants are a problem is because there is mounting evidence that these plants just aren safe!

Here's an excerpt from The Well Being Journal's website:

Rats fed GM corn had problems with blood cell formation. Those fed GM soy had problems with liver cell formation, and the livers of rats fed GM canola were heavier. Pigs fed GM corn on several Midwest farms developed false pregnancies or sterility. Cows fed GM corn in Germany died mysteriously. And twice the number of chickens died when fed GM corn compared to those fed natural corn.






Soon after GM soy was introduced to the UK, soy allergies skyrocketed by 50 percent. Without follow-up tests, we can't be sure if genetic engineering was the cause, but there are plenty of ways in which genetic manipulation can boost allergies.






— A gene from a Brazil nut inserted into soybeans made the soy allergenic to those who normally react to Brazil nuts.






— GM soy currently consumed in the US contains a gene from bacteria. The inserted gene creates a protein that was never before part of the human food supply, and might be allergenic.






— Sections of that protein are identical to those found in shrimp and dust mite allergens. According to criteria recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), this fact should have disqualified GM soy from approval.






— The sequence of the gene that was inserted into soy has inexplicably rearranged over time. The protein it creates is likely to be different than the one intended, and was never subject to any safety studies. It may be allergenic or toxic.






— The process of inserting the foreign gene damaged a section of the soy's own DNA, scrambling its genetic code. This mutation might interfere with DNA expression or create a new, potentially dangerous protein.






— The most common allergen in soy is called trypsin inhibitor. GM soy contains significantly more of this compared with natural soy.






The only human feeding study ever conducted showed that the gene inserted into soybeans spontaneously transferred out of food and into the DNA of gut bacteria. This has several serious implications. First, it means that the bacteria inside our intestines, newly equipped with this foreign gene, may create the novel protein inside of us. If it is allergenic or toxic, it may affect us for the long term, even if we give up eating GM soy.






The same study verified that the promoter, which scientists attach to the inserted gene to permanently switch it on, also transferred to gut bacteria. Research on this promoter suggests that it might unintentionally switch on other genes in the DNA -- permanently. This could create an overproduction of allergens, toxins, carcinogens, or antinutrients. Scientists also theorize that the promoter might switch on dormant viruses embedded in the DNA or generate mutations.






Unfortunately, gene transfer from GM food might not be limited to our gut bacteria. Preliminary results show that the promoter also transferred into rat organs, after they were fed only a single GM meal.


Okay, kiddies! I would tell you that its going to be okay. Don't be afraid. But, I'm afraid, I can't. You should be afraid!!!! It seems that industrialized farming is growing instead of shrinking. There are a group of fighters on the fringes that keep spreading the word!

We moving into towns and cities near you. We're creeping along in the shadows gradually moving out into the sunshine, bringing light and hope to people everywhere!!! Have Hope! and let your congress people know that you don't want the government changing our food! We want real food!

Okay, now you know. Go spread the word.

MWAHAHAHAHAHA!




boo!



This post is part of Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday. Go check it out to learn more about healthy living and real food! Here's the link http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-january-21st/