Why your girlfriends can be your best ally in health!

August is a great month! Aside from my birthday being in August, we also get to celebrate National Girlfriends Day!  There is nothing like a strong female bond.  Every woman has that one special friend or group of friends that she can confide in, share with, grow from, celebrate with, learn from, mourn with and have fun with! 

“Friendship between women is different than friendship between men. We talk about different things. We delve deep. We go under, even if we haven’t seen each other for years." — Jane Fonda

Why your girlfriends can be your best ally in health!

Girlfriends can offer great support:

Whatever the issue, your girlfriends are always there to support you.  It's no different when it comes to your health.  We have all experienced going out or going to a gathering when trying to eat healthy, where everyone is indulging and you try your best to satisfy yourself off that one tray of veggies and dip, order a salad and watch everyone else eat a mouth-watering meal in front of you - or avoid the situation entirely and stay home because you feel uncomfortable.  Great friends should support your efforts and encourage you.  What better way then to all support one another in bettering your health!  

We all know we need to take care of our bodies and a big way is by what we put into it.

  Instead of making get-togethers about going out and indulging, instead use it as a time to enjoy a nice healthy meal and catch up with one another.  It is always easier to stay focused and on track when you have another's support, or you do something together. Encouraging each other to eat healthier will make it easier to avoid temptation and motivate you to take care of yourself.  

 Another great way to do that is to shop together. When you shop alone, it's easier to load the cart with items you know you shouldn't.  Making a point to stock up on healthier food with friends helps you stick to getting what it is you really want and not being tempted. Besides, she can always put that platter of cheesecake back on the display when you are not looking.  Another reason I love shopping with friends is that you learn new things.  There are many things I know about food that my friends don't and vice-versa.  While I can help my friend understand the difference between cooking oils, she can inform me on an ingredient in one of my packaged foods I didn't know about.  It's also a great way to learn about new foods, products or meals. I love finding new things or ways to prepare different foods from my friends.

Girlfriends can motivate you:We all know how hard it is to maintain an active lifestyle.  You join a gym, you go for a few months, never to be heard from again.  You buy that workout DVD and use it once.  For many reasons, it's hard for women to stay motivated, find the time, or have the energy to work out.  Making it a priority to be active together will make it easier and more fun.  It's a lot more enjoyable to go for a walk and talk with friends than trying to force yourself off the couch to take a walk.  Make dates to do fun activities.  You don't have to join a gym together to "work-out".  Doing a dance workout in front of the TV becomes more of a party and less of a work out when you can laugh and have fun with your friend. This will also help hold you accountable, since it's easier to break plans with yourself. Even if you can't get together all the time to work out, encouraging one another is great as well.  My best friend lives three states away right now, so we don't have the option to take a bike ride together or go on a hike, but we encourage each other to keep up with our efforts.  We also participate in fun activities when we can - getting together to tackle 5k's with obstacles is one of our favorites.  

Taking on something like that is a lot less of a workout and more fun when you do it with friends.  Though I couldn't be with her a few years ago as she trained for a physical exam, I sent weekly encouragement cards to help keep her motivated. I love that she still displays them on her fridge today!

My cousin Nikki is a great inspiration and a wonderful example.  She is a teacher, wife and mother to two young girls (three and one), yet still finds time to be active and stay in shape.  

She is always posting photos of her activities with her friends.  They get together to work out, run, train and support one another.  What's even more amazing is that they do it with their children!   

Girlfriends can endure with you: 

We all know that there are certain things you only tell your best girlfriends!  We are sometimes most comfortable talking about 

 personal health issues with them.  I know I'm more likely to talk to my friend about female issues rather than my husband.  Every year that passes, it becomes more and more important to be on top of your health and preventative care.  Unfortunately, many woman don't pay enough attention to their own health until it's too late.  Whether you can't find the time or would just rather avoid a trip to the doctor, this is a great opportunity to do something together that could potentially save your life.  Going together can take the stress out of it and make it more relaxing.  Especially as it comes time for things like the dreaded mammogram, turn it into a yearly routine and go with your best friend.  I have gone and supported my friend at the dentist because she is particularly not fond of going there. Your friends are usually the ones you can rely on to be brutally honest with you as well! They can be great at calling your attention to matters you may be ignoring. 

It's always nice to not go it alone, especially when you are trying to break bad habits.  Quitting smoking can be a rather hard experience, but doing it alongside a friend can make the process much easier.  Maybe you want to cut down one your drinking? Having that support and ally can help you more easily make lifestyle changes that affect your health. 

When you come together and support one another you can accomplish great things! I am lucky and grateful to have wonderful friends in my life! Check out the infographic below from Oscar Health Insurance Company. They're a new insurance company looking to help their members be proactive of their health. I hope their checklist will help inspire you to make healthy choices with your girlfriends! If you're in their area, check out their health insurance plans in New York and New Jersey.

How can you be an ally to your friends?

10 Things To Do In The New Year!

Every year we feel pressured to make a resolution for the upcoming year. We tend to vow to be better at something, to stop doing something or to achieve a goal we are not prepared to accomplish, and every year we give up and vow to do better next year. Why do we wait until December 31st to try and be better? Why not spend every day being the best possible version of ourselves? Life is ever changing, we are constantly growing and learning from our experiences, be it successes or failures.  As the new year begins, I do not choose to make a resolution, I choose to do these 10 things today and every day.


Be Happy
Happiness is thrown around more often than not when people are asked what they are looking for in life. Why are we "looking" for happiness? Who would choose to go through life unhappy? Well, surprisingly, a lot of people! In this day and age of "never enough", many people are left unhappy.  We constantly compare ourselves to others and want what they have, a better job, a bigger house, a smaller waist etc etc etc! Enough! Stop scrolling through your news feed being envious of people you haven't talked to in years. Happiness doesn't come from another person, monetary things or success, it is a choice from within. You could have everything you possibly ever wanted, but at the end of the day you aren't what you have but rather who you are, so make a conscious choice every day to choose to be happy and you will be happy. 

Be You
As I have gone through life I have become aware of the many sides of ME. The happy side, the funny side, the sarcastic, stubborn and OCD sides. I also realized that there were many times in my life when I wasn't being ME. I was the girl I thought the boy would like better then me, the girl
I thought would have more friends then the regular me or the employee that didn't speak up about her opinions and became that "yes" girl! They say with age comes wisdom, I envy the people that seemed to know who they were early on, but I also value the journey that brought me to this
realization. Too often, we conform to be what we think others want us to be. I think this goes along with being happy, I don't know anyone who is truly happy not being themselves or anyone who is unhappy being their true self. So let the freak flag fly!


Be Spontaneous
Life can get boring! Relationships can become stale, work gets tedious and "bagel Thursday" becomes redundant. It's like listening to your favorite new song on repeat, it eventually gets old. So, throw a wrench in it! Liven things up, shake it up a bit. Whether it be something big or small, break free of the routine. Say yes to something you normally wouldn't, do something that scares you, make immediate plans you can't cancel, or do whatever it is you just thought about while reading this! 

Be Loyal
Whether it be a friendship or any type of relationship you want to know the other person is loyal to you. Being loyal means always being there for the other, being faithful, honest and having the other persons back. I think it's safe to say that no one can claim they have never talked about someone behind their back. For whatever reason, as a society, we seem to have different rules when it comes to ourselves verses others. Don't believe me? Watch 10 minutes of any reality show! The same person who complains to their friends about so-and-so talking about them behind their back is trashing that same person to his or her friends. Granted it's TV, but it pretty much mirrors real life. Being a loyal friend, spouse, or relative doesn't mean you are always perfect at it. There have been times in my life growing up when the people around me have made a comment or observations of one of my friends and I just kind of let it go, or went along with. I by no means meant ill will by it, nor did I usually feel the same way, but I think at times I felt pressure to agree with that person for whatever reason or just not say anything and hope the topic changed. As I got older I developed more of my own voice, I also considered how I would feel it the situation was the other way around. I learned that I don't always have to agree with the choices my friends make to be loyal.

Be Confident 

Be confident in your choices, your voice and your decisions. Stand up for yourself, take risks, be courageous in your opinions and ideas. You are unlike anyone else and you should embrace that.  Don't try to conform but rather stand out. Too often, we don't achieve our full potential or we give up. Don't let others dictate what you do and don't let "NO" deter you. If no one thought outside the box we wouldn't have things like electricity, telephones or even computers. The greatest success comes from big ideas and even bigger failures. The key is to be confident in yourself. This is something that I have become better at over time.  

 
Be Nice
I don't think people generally choose to be mean! Think about this, you're running late for work, your dog is taking much too long to do it's business (longer then any normal day when you have time to spare), you hit yourself in the nose with the mascara wand while rushing to do your make-up (costing you another 5 minutes to fix), your gas tank is empty so you have to stop on your way, you  spill coffee on yourself as you try to merge on the highway and then you get stuck behind a slower then slow vehicle! Wow, you are having a rough morning! You know that, your bff who you just texted knows that, but you know who doesn't? That lady crossing the street who caused you to slam on the breaks in order to avoid hitting her as you made a right turn, prompting you blast your horn
and yell some very not nice things, because even though you have a green light the cross walk says WALK! As far as shes concerned you are a very unhappy person who may well benefit from an anger management course. Now granted, that's not an everyday situation, lets hope. We have all found ourselves in situations where the stresses of everyday life end up being directed at someone else.  Obviously no one is in a good mood 100% of the time, but don't pass that negativity you are feeling on to others. I truly believe in the idea of "paying it forward" Pay it forward is an expression for describing the beneficiary of a good deed repaying it to others instead of to the original benefactor. Likewise, I think you can help spread negativity through interactions with others. Humans have chameleon-like tendencies, if you surround yourself with unhappy people you will be more likely to be unhappy and pass that feeling along. Surrounding yourself with happy, optimistic people leads you to be happy and spread positive energy to others.

Be Excited 

Who wants to hang out with a Debbie downer? Just because you came in second and not first doesn't mean there is no reason to be happy. Celebrate the little things, acknowledge small victories and achievements. Don't dread the future or change, be excited about things to come. Be excited for others! Just because your friend got married first, or your younger sister got pregnant before you, you shouldn't take it as a personal setback. Share in their joy and enjoy the special moments for others as well as yourself.

Be Healthy  

Every new year we resolve to lose weight. That's why commercials for weight loss pills, weight loss programs and fat free foods seem to play every five seconds starting January 1st. It's also why every gym in your area is offering crazy membership deals and seem to be crowded 24 hours a day. Well, until about February or March, then everything pretty much goes back to normal. We set ourselves up for disappointment by trying to go from 0 to 100. Being healthy is not necessarily about losing weight, but rather about taking the best possible care of your body. Like the old saying goes, you are what you eat! Our country has overtime shifted from "real food" to artificial ingredients and processed chemicals as forms of nourishment. Food companies are more concerned about the bottom line than their consumers. Your body is your temple, and such you should treat it that way. What we do today affects our future. We tend to not think about the long term consequences of our actions and instead focus on the now. From what you eat, how much you drink, if you smoke, your activity level, to your emotional well-being, the choices we make today play a role in our future health.

Be Adventurous

Life is short, so enjoy it! I like to think of life as a ride at an amusement park. You can play it safe and ride the classic old wooden coaster, it's fun, it's exciting at times, but its also predictable. Or, you can strap yourself into that new, scary looking, adrenaline pumping roller coaster, even though it intimidates you. You can feel excited and free as it twists and turns, never knowing what will come next, even throwing you threw a loop at times. We can't grow or learn if we never break out of our  comfort zone. Explore new things, follow your dreams, throw caution to the wind and take risks even if you know you are likely to fail. I believe that everyday on this earth is a gift and tomorrow is not guaranteed. I don't want to play it safe, wait until I'm 65 to start enjoying what life has to offer or travel the world. There is no right way to live your life, but I truly believe the journey of your life should be an adventure.

Be Honest 

We all have a tendency to lie about the little things. We grow up being told to tell grandma how much we love that awful sweater we wouldn't be caught dead wearing. It starts by trying to avoid hurting others, it then becomes a way to protect ourselves "I did the report but my dog ate it". Over time it becomes easier and easier to lie without trying "Sorry I'm late, there was traffic," "I can't come, I already have plans," "I won't be at work today, I think I'm coming down with something". We allow ourselves to "fib" for our own convenience but don't allow others to do the same to us. Even the smallest lie leads one to feel betrayed. We can not expect others to be honest with us if we continue to blur the lines of truth. No relationship or friendship can survive without trust, and once someone looses their trust in you, it can sometimes be impossible to get back. We have all heard that honesty is the best policy, even though we might not always like the truth. Honesty towards yourself is just as important. We need to be honest with ourselves, about our goals, our short comings and the choices we make. What good does it do to lie to ourselves? Deep down we know the truth anyway! Embrace your truth, learn from it and grow from it.

 Strive to be the best person you can be, surround yourself with positive people, start each day trying to be better then the last, learn from your mistakes while growing from your experiences, and of course, HAVE FUN! If you take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive.

xoxo

The Bad Cow!

When you are trying to lose weight, maintain your weight or just indulge in a sweet treat without over doing it, you look to "healthier" options.  The ad executives and pr firms make a ton of money by marketing those "healthier" products to those kinds of people.  Lets be honest, most people who fit those categories are women!  My mother passed along a blog post to me recently about how particularly Un-"healthy" those skinny cow deserts you love actually are.

Don't get me wrong, I used to eat one probably every night.  I probably still have a few tucked in the back of my freezer somewhere.  I even blogged about them 3 years ago! When we set out to be healthy it is pretty apparent drastic changes don't work.  So I, like many, found easy substitutes and "cheats" that would allow me to cut back without depriving myself. What we don't always realize.. or want to face is that when we stray away from foods with a lot of fat, sugar or calories we end up replacing those ingredients with chemicals, additives and all sorts of nasty stuff.  Eating a Paleo diet has definitely allowed me to realize the kinds of things I was previously ingesting.  While it's scary to think about all the unknowns I actually consumed, it's comforting that I am more aware now and can make better choices.

While this is just one product line of many, it is a good wake up call and if nothing else can hopefully get you to look a little deeper at a label's nutrition facts.This isn't something that just plagues ice cream treats, it can be found throughout the grocery isles and particularly in those products labeled "low-cal" "low-fat" & "fat-free".  My mother loves to tell me that the biggest culprit are all those 100 calorie packs.

To check out the original article I mentioned from the blog My Whole Food Life Go Here

You can find another interesting post I found Here

Thoughts?

Going Paleo?

I remember a friend telling me a while ago that they were eating "Paleo" often times nicknamed "The Caveman Diet".  After a very brief description of what eating Paleo entailed, I remember thinking "Oh my god! I could NEVER do that".  I had forgotten all about that conversation until recently when I stumbled upon a popular blog I had just started reading.  I was checking out a post for a healthy version of the old favorite, chocolate chip cookies, when I began to read the entire post.  The author explained how some of her ingredient choices were due to the fact her boyfriend was on the Paleo diet, and with that I opened a new tab and Goggled  The Paleo Diet.  At first glance I realized I was researching the same diet my friend had mentioned to me a while back, but the more I read the more intrigued I became with the science behind the idea of eating Paleo/Primal.  It is based on modern foods that mimic the food groups our pre-agricultural, hunter-gatherer ancestors ate.  It is also not a diet but rather a lifestyle.

I found two things most interesting when reading up on the Paleo Lifestyle.

1) Food.  What has happened to our food? Agriculture!  We are the only species who have dramatically changed the foods we were meant to eat.  When humans discovered farming, the agricultural revolution exploded, and we became farmers instead of hunter-gatherers. The problem however is that our bodies never adjusted to eating all the grains that we began farming.  Now, rather than mainly eating meat, vegetables and fruits, our diets have been overrun with grains (bread, pasta, rice, and corn). 

Beyond that we have become taken over by processed foods, genetically modified foods, and junk food that cost a fraction of what real food does.  

2) Dairy.  Did you know that we are the only mammals that drink another mammals milk?  Or that we are the only mammals that continue to drink milk after infancy? Some believe that the reason so many people have issues when it comes to dairy is because we are born producing the enzyme lactase, which gives us the ability to digest milk by breaking down lactose, but that we stop producing it around the age of two since it is only meant to aid in our digestion of breast milk.

I was a little nervous when I decided to take on the challenge of eating Paleo,  but when I began looking at all the foods I could eat rather than the ones I couldn't, it didn't seem so daunting.  After eating Paleo for only a week I noticed changes.  For one I didn't feel hungry all the time! I remember reading an article that told you not to worry about always eating three meals a day and to only eat when you were hungry.  I didn't think I would actually feel that way but I did.  I also found that when I stopped eating processed food I stopped craving processed food.  I could already feel my energy increasing as well. 

It is a big change for a lot of people and most go into it making slow changes over time.  A lot of people also eat an 80/20 or 90/10 version of Paleo allowing themselves certain foods weather it be milk or bread etc.  There are so many health benefits to eating Paleo and would encourage you to do a bit of research yourself and look into it with an open mind.  

A quick list of some Paleo foods:

You can eat as much of these as you want: 
Meats
Wild seafood
Organ meat
Fats – tallow, lard, ghee
Oils - coconut oil, olive oil, sesame oil, macadamia nut oil, avocado oil
Eggs
Vegetables
Fruits

In moderation:
Nuts (peanuts are not nuts) :(
Seeds (pumpkin, sesame, sunflower)
Coffee
Dark Chocolate
Tea
Wine
Dried fruits
Raw honey

For a more detailed list you can check out this LIST

To learn more you can check out Dr Loren Cordain's Web Site.  He is the world's leading expert on Paleolithic Diets and the founder of the Paleo Movement.

Do you eat Paleo? Would you ever try eating Paleo?

Reflection!

2012 brought both highs and lows for me.  I started the year out mending a broken heart, grieving a lost loved one, had recently moved, changed jobs and had begun to find my independent self again.  I also had a great friendship turn into something wonderfully romantic.  For the first time I was truly happy.  It felt meant to be and I was truly captivated with life.  Things began to fall into place and my life, which not too long ago, seemed to be disheveled, now felt picture perfect. I soon after moved again and was now able to easily peruse my ambitions.  I was also introduced to wonderful new group of friends.

Fast forward to December, and I found myself basking in the sun on the exotic beaches of Mexico.  It felt like life couldn't get better.  We celebrated Christmas in Mexico and spent each day exploring a new adventure.  A few days before we headed home we decided to take a day and just lounge on the beach.  That relaxing day turned out to be one of the happiest days of my life.  Somewhere between a cat nap on the beach and a swim in the clear blue water I was presented with a diamond ring. 

 

It was both shocking and exciting all at once.  I couldn't believe what was happening and did not see it coming.  I don't think the smile has left my face yet.  Though I never expected to start the year reading wedding magazines and touring venues, I couldn't be happier.  I truly feel I have found my soul mate and best friend.

Humanity!

I was really disappointed to see a news article tonight about the vast amount of hateful comments posted on twitter tonight during President Obama's speech. It is not the matter in which he was regarding, but the degree of racism that still masks our country. The fact that he was honoring victims of a horrendous tragedy was just icing on the cake, and the fact that 20 of those victims were young children make it all the more shocking. The fact that people are so comfortable going on the World Wide Web, the biggest public forum, to casually spew such hate is actually very scary to me. I would like to believe that we live in a society where we have respect and compassion for our fellow man. We so easily forget about the important things in life and focus on trivial issues regarding our day to day lives. Is it such an inconvenience that a baseball game is delayed?

I will go to sleep tonight counting my blessing for my amazing family, my friends, and having the ability to live a life where I choose my destiny. We all need to take a step back sometimes and remember what is really important. We are all the same. We have faults, we make mistakes and we all have our strengths. The one thing we all have in common.. we are human. I like to believe that we will get to a point where hate for another person be it their gender, race, orientation or beliefs is a thing of the past. We hold the power to determine the destiny of humanity. I choose to spread love not hate! xox

Going Gluten Free!

For years, well for pretty much my whole life I have been plagued with stomach problems.  It had become a joke that I always felt sick after every meal.  In high school I went to a gastroenterologist and was diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).  After years of being sick it became almost a way of life and was seemingly put on the back burner.  It never really affected me after eating any certain type of food or anything in particular so I was lead to believe I just had a sensitive stomach.  As long as I had a bottle of pepto bismol in my medicine cabinet I was OK.

Over the years I have tried different diets and cutting out certain food groups to try and feel better, but nothing ever worked.  A few years ago with the rise of celiac disease and the concept of a gluten allergy being more in the news I again thought that maybe this could be a reason for my chronic illness.  After having an endoscopy and colonoscopy performed on me along with blood tests it was almost depressing to find out I didn't have celiacs.  Now don't get me wrong I am grateful that I don't have it, but once again I was at square one not knowing why I kept getting sick. 

Up until recently I felt defeated and that I would never get to the bottom of my stomach issues.  After much investigation and research on my part I learned that you can have a gluten sensitivity.  This is not the same as having an allergy to gluten.  If you have also been suffering from symptoms that tend to relate to gluten, it may be that you have non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Research estimates that there are 18 million Americans who have non-celiac gluten sensitivity. That is six times the amount of Americans who have celiac disease.  The reason so many people don't know if they have a sensitivity to gluten is because there is no medical test for it.  That is why so many people like me suffer for years and get diagnosed with other ailments like IBS.

Recently I caught an episode of the Doctor Oz Show that dealt with this exact topic.  Watching the people on TV describe their battle was beyond eye opening to me.  A complete stranger pretty much described the last 15 years of my life.  They also showed what they called the gluten spectrum.  It outlines the small number of Americans on one end that have celiacs (a gluten intolerance), and the large portion on the other who are not effected by gluten.  What surprised me was the large number of people in the middle who gave a sensitivity to gluten.

I had already begun to eliminate gluten from my diet to see if I fall into the category of gluten sensitive.  But after taking the self assessment test on Dr.Oz.com I was convinced that my efforts had merit. They created a simple checklist of nine symptoms and if you have four or more of these symptoms you may have a sensitivity to gluten.  I have at least seven of the symptoms listed.  They recommend going gluten free for 2-4 weeks and or consulting your doctor.  Over the last few weeks I have been eliminating gluten from my diet which will hopefully eliminate the symptoms I have been experiencing.  I will have a follow up post with my progress.  If my story sounds familiar to you I urge you to read up on gluten sensitivity.  Also if you have a few seconds take the self assessment test HERE.

Do you have a sensitivity to gluten or another food allergy?

Wordless Wednesday

Everybody Hurts Sometime..

Wow, I just came across this video online.  I guess the cast of "The Glee Project" were given an assignment to show their vulnerability through the song  Everybody Hurts by R.E.M.  Not only did

they do an amazing job, but they shed light on such a horrible epidemic of bullying that is prevalent among young people today.  They also have amazing voices and I think I may need to start watching this show.

I know it's not music Monday yet but I just had to share :)
What do you think?

KONY2012

My Week On A Cleanse!

 Day 1
The liquid came out of the bottle as half liquid, half brown sludge.  I combined it with water in my blender, since it was the only container I had large enough to hold the 32 ounces of liquid.  It came in handy, since I ran the blender for a few seconds to mix up the sludge.  I don't know if it always comes out like that.  The liquid didn't taste good, but it wasn't horrible.  When combined with water, the liquid pretty much tastes just the way it smells.   I plugged my nose and took a few gulps, but it didn't help, since the taste lingers for a little while after.  It has a tea-like taste mixed with a molasses flavor.  I didn't notice anything today nor did I experience anything different.  I did however have a splitting headache all day right above my right temple that has been pounding, I don't know if it has anything to do with the cleanse or if I may be dehydrated due to it.

Day 2
The headache is still here! It comes and goes throughout the day.  I am still not used to the taste of the cleanse but it isn't bad enough to stop.  I still have yet to feel or notice anything different. The liquid also came out half sludge again today.

Day 3
I'm going into New York City today so I drank about 1/3 of the liquid this morning before I left.  Again I mixed it in my blender for a few seconds to dissolve the sludge-like consistency. I haven't noticed any side effects.  When I got home I drank another 1/3 of the liquid and then had the remaining throughout the rest of the night.  My headache came back for a little while tonight.

Day 4
I bought a bigger water bottle that can hold all the liquid.  I poured in the cleanse this morning and again it was half liquid, half sludge.  I am thinking that it is always like this.  I added the 32 ounces of water and shook it up.  Shaking it vigorously seems to dissolve the sludge just as well as the blender did.  I am getting used to the taste and it doesn't bother me as much.  It does have a little stinging/ sour after taste almost like you get when drinking an alcoholic drink.

Day 5
I'm convinced the sludge mixture is normal now since that's what it is everyday.  Nothing really big to note today.  I am however a bit curious since I have not had any "cleansing" type effects yet from this cleanse.  If anything I am actually having the opposite effect.
 
Day 6
Today I traveled into NYC again, this time to check out the Brooklyn flea market and grab lunch.  I drank some of the cleanse throughout the entire day.  Today I started getting very uncomfortable.  It started as we were leaving the flea market and heading to brunch.  My stomach started to rumble and cramp up.  At brunch was when I was the most uncomfortable with intense stomach pain.  It lasted about an hour or two then, dissipated.  

Day 7
Today was the last day of my "cleanse!" I was so used to the taste of it by now that it really didn't bother me.  What I noticed more was the sour/burning after flavor.  Still am getting headaches. I have still yet to get any type of "cleaning out" type of reaction from drinking all 224 ounces of this brown water.

All in all I'm not sure how I feel about this cleanse.  I would like to think that great things took place inside my body over the last week, yet I have no proof that anything did.  I never experienced any type of "cleansing" effects but instead my body reacted in the complete opposite way.
I was planning on sticking to an all fruits and vegetable diet during the last week, but as the events of my week took shape it was impossible to do so.  I didn't worry though because I had been told by my friend who has done it and sold it to me that I can go about my day as normal and eat normal, and just add in the cleanse to my regular diet.  So I'm sure something has to have happened.
I also did not lose any weight from the cleanse.  I actually gained weight.  I am sure however that if you do stick to the fruit and vegetable only diet while on the cleanse and workout 30 minutes a day you will lose weight - you would have to from the diet and exercise alone.
In the end I didn't really gain anything from it but also didn't experience any awful effects.  I have noticed however that my energy level is almost non existent. It was a fight to do anything this last week.  I did stop taking my multivitamin and supplements the last week while on the cleanse because I didn't know how it would all react together, so that may have had an effect as well.
 
I may in the future try it again when I am able to keep a only fruits and vegetable diet for a week.

Is This Why French Women Are So Fit?

Interesting!

We know to avoid processed foods because they are not healthy and cause us to gain weight, but now new video shows that we can't even digest them properly.



What do you think?

Reward!

So today I treated myself!  After a long day of filming in NYC I had some time to kill before meeting up with my friend and decided to treat myself to a pedicure.  After a long year with a lot of death and relationship drama I back tracked on my weight loss efforts a bit.  I gained back a few of the pounds I have lost and I am determined to re loose them again as well as more.  As a reward for hitting the 5lb mark this week (I'm actually at 6.6 but whose counting) I decided to treat myself to a relaxing pedicure.  It was wonderful and exactly what I needed today.  I am even more excited for my 10lb reward a massage!! :)

Quick Note!

I just wanted to take a moment and let you all know that some things have happened recently in my life and that is why I haven't posted in a few weeks. I have been dealing with some tragic deaths in my family and have not been motivated to keep up with my postings.  I am trying to get back into the swing of things and should have New posts coming soon!!

Sick!

Let me start off by stating, I hate being sick! I hate it, I loath it, I despise i!  Now I'm sure no one loves to be sick, but i down right hate it, did I mention that?  Maybe I have such a strong opinion because as I write this I am struggling to breath through my congested nasal passages, or because i am sweating on a 30 degree day, but none the less, I hate being sick. 

What I truly dislike is the way it creeps up on you, for no reason and puts a halt to your everyday life.  You can't go to work, you can't go to the gym, you can't even get out of bed! And why? what did we do to become sick?  I didn't go outside with wet hair or without a jacket on (which is what my grandmother always told me would make me sick).  No I was just minding my business, going about my day when someone else decided to share their germs with me!  Now I'm not saying I haven't done the same.  Since we usually become ill before we ever realize we actually are, I'm sure I have shared my fair share of germs as well.  But that's not that point, the point is someone gave me their nasty germs and now I am holed up inside, unable to move off my couch and wishing my mommy was here to make me chicken soup!  So instead of waking up and having a productive day including working out, running errands and seeing friends I instead woke up unable to breath, coughing up foul looking substances and unable to leave my bed.  So while everyone else is out enjoying their weekend I will be here nursing OJ and cursing the infected stranger that landed me in this perdicament!

Am I being a baby? Perhaps! but who likes being sick?

Happy!

For the first time in a long time I am 110% happy. I am completely and truly happy with all aspects of my life. With the New Year came a new beginning for me. I decided to fully commit to myself and finally allowed myself to fully go after my true passion. Along with the freedom and joy of fully pursuing my dreams comes fear and nervousness. For the first time I am allowing myself to completely fail. For years I pursued what I felt as my true calling “on the side”. I lived a normal life, kept a normal job and never fully immersed myself into that life. Along with doing that I never was truly able to fail. It was always something I never had enough time to pursue or fully commit to. Now I have nothing but time. Though the fear of failing is there I also know that I will never be truly happy if I don’t pursue what makes me happy. I don’t want to be the person who looks back in twenty years looking back wondering what if? I guess if I fail, I will have failed giving it 100. %Though I don’t plan on failing it is something that is always in the back of my mind. What’s not in my mind anymore is frustration or unhappiness. For the first time I am finding myself ridiculously happy morning, noon and night. Even while working my “day job” to pay the bills, a job that most people aren’t excited to go to everyday, I am always in a great mood. I know that finally I am living my dream and pursuing what makes me happy. I am in the driver’s seat of my destiny and I am going full speed ahead!

Are you living the life you want to be living?

Handbook 2011!

I recived this in an email recently and decided to share it with all of you! Enjoy!


HANDBOOK 2011

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..

4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy

5. Make time to pray.

6. Play more games

7. Read more books than you did in 2010

8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day

9. Sleep for 7 hours.

10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.


Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.

14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

16. Dream more while you are awake

17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..

18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

23. Smile and laugh more.

24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...

Society:
25. Call your family often.

26. Each day give something good to others.

27. Forgive everyone for everything.

28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

30. What other people think of you is none of your business.

31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!

33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

34. GOD heals everything.

"I Used To Be Fat"

I started watching the new MTV series “I used to be fat”. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, but it has turned out to be a really inspiring show. The premise of the show is young people setting out to lose unhealthy weight. It takes overweight teenagers who want to lose weight the summer before heading off to college. They are given anywhere from 89 to 110 days to dramatically change their lives. These young people change the way they eat, start to exercise, and are given a personal trainer to help guide them through the process.

Granted it’s easier to stick to a program when you have someone guiding you through it. The advantage of one on one help along with a camera crew following your progress is more motivation then most people will ever have. That, I’m sure put a lot of pressure/encouragement on them reach their goals. You know you would be less likely to eat that slice of pizza when it’s being documented for the world. You also don’t want to be seen failing in front of everyone you could possibly know, yet alone millions of strangers.

So with all the unique factors out of the way the show is still very inspirational. It’s encouraging and inspiring watching these young people transform their bodies and lives. You watch them go from introverted high school students to confident young adults ready to take on the world and become the people they were born to be. It is also a great way to keep yourself motivated in your own life. Watching these young people achieve such massive success reminds you what is possible and reenergizes you to obtain the goals you set out for yourself.

Have you seen this show? What do you think?

SNOW!

Driving through a peaceful winter wonderland today!

ENJOY!