Don’t let stress make you sick

Did you know that if you have a very stressful experience, it raises your adrenalin levels and leaves you like a raw nerve for up to three and a half hours?

In those three hours you are more susceptible to find stress in other places, starting the cycle all over again.

How would you like it if stress no longer ruled your life? What would that feel like for you? Is stress robbing your vitality and taking you away from valuable family time and simple relaxation. You are not alone. We all have stress in some shape or form, and a small level can even be beneficial to our focus and working abilities. However in some people, excessive stress can lead to all sorts of illness, exhaustion, aging and burn out.

Ask yourself if you feel like you have had long periods of struggle and stress in your life. Do you ever feel like a truck on the highway and unable to stop but you are running on very little fuel?

Possibly you just have too much work to do. Maybe you have no time to yourself. Perhaps you take vitamins to reduce the stress and potentially you just don’t know what to do. Relax as there are solutions and I am going to share them with you.

First let’s take a look at the markers for adrenal fatigue.  Your adrenal glands which sit on top of your kidneys release hormones in response to your stress. Hormones adrenaline and cortisol race through the body. This is the fight or fight feeling. Blood rushes to your muscles and gets you ready to move fast. Everything now becomes tight as your body goes into a hyper state. The problem is we may find ourselves in this state much of the time. Over time we may then experience the following:

Your eyes become sensitive to sunlight and bright light
Your voice rises to a high pitch or is lost during stress
You are easily shaken up or startled from a loud noise.
You crave salt
You are known as a perfectionist and set high standards for yourself
Things left undone cause unusual concern i.e. you are not able to leave your house a mess
You may feel inferior and tend to be negative

Physically you may have trouble with your bowels, your sleep is disturbed and you will find that you want to eat more or eat less. You may find your heart racing, feel tightness in your chest, and suffer from nervousness, pain exhaustion, headaches, restlessness, high blood pressure and holding tightness anywhere in your body. You are now in a constrictive state.

Much to our surprise here is what truly is happening in our bodies during stress. Your heart pounds faster and faster and harder increasing your blood pressure. Extra blood is needed to be sent to the brain, muscles, lungs and your  heart has  to work faster while those for digestion and other organs not needed for the fight slow down.  The problem is the effects of stress can be long lasting.

Tense muscles, headaches stomach cramps, teeth clenching, exhaustion, and lumps in your throat. Depression may set in, panic attacks and emotional outburst can take over.

When we’re emotionally stressed, we’re stressing and aging our body.

Over time your immune system becomes weakened increasing your vulnerability to all kinds of illness. Ultimately long term stress plays a major role in chronic illnesses, heart disease and even cancer.

There are simple things you can do for yourself right now that can reduce your stress. Go on a long walk in nature. Carve out one hour a day just for you. Reduce your caffeine. Avoid consuming C.R.A.P.  Carbonated beverages, refined foods, addictive foods and processed foods as they deplete you. Take a holiday and learn how to say no!

Being grateful for the joys in your life can also help reduce stress. Upon waking up and going to sleep each day, think of any three things that you are grateful for and carry on. Over time this exercise will make you happier, more calm, and have a better ability to see the joy in all of life’s interactions.

Deep breathing or meditation exercises can also help us lower our blood pressure and preventing our stress from getting to us. Meditation has been shown to help many people alleviate cardiovascular issues.

As a Psychosomatic Energy Medicine coach my favorite stress reducers are Rubimeds. These are homeopathics that in seconds calm the body down leaving you felling grounded, safe and relaxed. They work on the central nervous system, the brain and the spine. The Rubimeds remedy called An-X-Vita is used in cases of anxiety and nervous tension. It works to prevent anxiety and provide immediate relief during acute states of anxiety or panic attacks. Think of a duck on the water. It appears that it is just swimming along gracefully but when you look below the surface its legs are moving a mile a minute. So we may appear calm on the outside but there is a tidal wave on the inside.

Lastly be kind to yourself. Life is a journey, one step at a time.

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Get a Punch from your Lunch

Are you frustrated as you don’t know what to make for lunch? Confused as nutrition information is always changing, or simply at a loss as to what to make and think running to the local restaurant is the easiest thing to do?

Perhaps you are wondering what is healthy these days. Maybe you feel like you don’t have enough time to make and bring your own lunch. Possibly you want to take your nutrition to the next level. Potentially you simply don’t know where to start.

It is the middle of the day and all too often the first meal for many of us. How can we make it interesting, easy, fast fun and delicious?

Let’s not forget that not only are we eating to nourish ourselves, but we are eating to get energy to carry out the rest of our day. Your body is in constant demand of protein, fat and carbohydrates.

Taking your lunch to a whole new level will escalate your other two meals of the day and energy and vitality will be your two new best friends.

As a nutritionist I have heard it all. Pizza, burgers, fries, soda, pasta are some of the more common food choices for lunch. I sat down with a friend the other day during a busy week and she said she wanted comfort food for lunch. Is food for mood, or is food for feeding every organ, cell, and muscle tissue?

It really is about the 80/20 rule. What you do 80 percent of the time matters the most. You can certainly have your comfort food every once in a while, and I highly recommend you do treat yourself from time to time.  While she ate her comfort food and I enjoyed my salad with tons of interesting ingredients, I was able to stay awake and energize for the rest of the afternoon while my friend kept nodding off.

Let’s face it. Many of us are busy throughout the week, and it certainly may feel more convenient to grab something on the go. During our work day many of us just think about getting something in our stomach and feel that we can get our “good food” later. But if you’re not doing it on a regular basis, when are you? But by working to change your habits, and taking 10 minutes or less in morning to prepare yourself something that will nourish you, your body will rejoice. Try playing around with tossing together a few simple healthy ingredients like the examples below.

Salad to Go

First, we need colour. Food that grows toward the sunshine is our best friend. Here’s a great tip for you: you can buy a small box of organic greens, take the lid off and throw in chopped green onions, tomato, chick peas, avocado and some cut up chicken. Add some balsamic vinegar and olive oil right into the container and you have a salad to go.

Boil a couple of eggs and spread some avocado on 100% rye bread. Enjoy it with some slices of mango or apple on the side.

Open up a can of salmon and add celery, green onions, avocado and mash it up and serve with rye bread.

Many people like yogurt for lunch as well. My favourite is goat milk yogurt with fruit, flax oil and flax seeds. Add a little bit of maple syrup and you’re good to go!

Or mix some greens with chick peas, walnuts, apple slices, sundried tomatoes and onions with rye crackers…

Cook up some quinoa and add capers, coriander, tomatoes, cucumber, cumin, and some olive oil.

Be creative, have fun and remember to not eat for mood, but to eat for your health!

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Happy and Healthy New Year

Oh January, what a wonderful time of year! Twelve months of opportunities, experiences, events and moments all of which will make us grow.

A time to reflect on your spiritual, mental, financial and physical goals. A year to make a difference in your life and in the lives of others. Everyday does matter and each moment matters. If we truly harness our potential we can make magical things happen.

As I get older I reflect on my days to build rather than maintain. If we build our health, finances, relationships, careers we will find ourselves creating a wonderful world around us. But it does take work.

I love January the first, as I sit down and determine my goals for the year and create a vision board. Once this is done, I have cemented it into my consciousness, however it is going to be important to then put it into action. Do something every day to move you towards your goal. As Robyn Sharma says daily ripples of superior performance add up over time to a tidal wave of outrageous success.

Every belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

One of my favourite lines is “Life is like a restaurant- you have to put your order in”. Let the world know what you want. The universe is always working on our behalf and we need to be very clear as to what it is that we want.

All of this requires energy and lots of it. As a nutritionist I am always shocked to hear how little energy people have. I have been blessed with incredible energy. I wake up with it and go to bed with it and rarely getting tired. It is your birthright to have abundant energy and it is time for you to get it all back.

Listen to the wisdom of your body. It is a temple, your sacred place. Be kind to it and nourish it with the right foods. Our bodies need to regenerate. It is very difficult to do that when today we have over 4,000 different additives in our food. Our body is being bombarded by these toxins which complicate how we generate our cells. Cells die for two reasons, toxicity and deficiency…

If you wonder why you are so tired maybe all your energy for healing and rebuilding is being used to process your body’s waste. The average meal is mostly processed and cooked and devoid of life giving nutrients not to mention enzymes.

If you want energy and life in your body then eat food filled with life – fresh food, whole food, real food, and food that does not pass a chemistry lab on the way to your mouth. A horse eats grass, hay, grains and minerals and runs like the wind!

So enough of the sad story. Let’s take action. Where do you want to be a year from now regarding your health? It is all in your hands. It takes very little to make big changes in your body.

Try the 21 day white out.

No white foods for 21 days. No refined sugar and white flour products. See what happens. It is a process. Once a week find a new veggie and fruit and eat them. Experiment and enjoy.
Get in the habit of putting on your calendar for the next day something positive you are going to do for yourself and then do it!

Embrace this year. Make a difference and shine bright. It matters to you!
Happy New Year!
Jane

 

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Top Seven Tips for the Happiest & Healthiest Holiday Season

Oh it’s wonderful time of the year again. The holidays are an opportunity for us to get together with friends, family and loved ones. The days can be filled with so much joy and so much laughter. No other month brings us together the same way December does. Yet on the other side of the coin, no other month causes the same levels of stress.

It’s busy. Most of us get wound up with what the month entails. Getting the house ready for guests, preparing meals for dinner parties, cleaning up, buying gifts, and traveling to be with family and friends. No doubt that it can get hectic, and often our health takes a back seat as we want to indulge.

Take a breath and realize what amazing opportunities we have at this time of the year. The chance to be with the ones who enrich our lives is truly a gift. When we’re stressing about what’s coming up next week, or wondering if we have what it takes to pull off the turkey dinner, we lose ourselves in the future and neglect the wonderful opportunities that the present holds.

Often we’re worried about putting on those extra pounds during the holidays. Once it starts, it is hard to resist the desserts and the abundance that the month offers.

It doesn’t have to be that way this year. It is time to take the power back into your own hands.

Life is all about balance. Keeping it in balance does not need to be difficult or make you feel restrained from enjoying the parties and the food.

So let me share with you the top seven tips for the happiest and healthiest holidays.

Remember the 80/20 Rule

It’s what you do 80% of the time that matters the most. This goes for everything; your diet, actions, and behaviours. We can have a treat from time to time, it’s okay to indulge every once in a while. To stay in balance we need to cultivate an overall sense of good habits.

Start your meals with two bites of protein

When protein is the first thing to hit your stomach, your pancreas releases the hormone glucagon. Glucagon is the antagonist of insulin. It blocks insulin production which leads to lower insulin levels and stimulates fat burning, blocks fat synthesis and prevents the dreaded attacks of ravenous appetite.

Drink two liters of water each day

Cupofwater

Water helps cleanse our body and wash out residues and toxins resulting from the natural process of tissue breakdown. If you don’t have enough, those substances remain in the body and you may gain weight. It can also help make you full and curb your appetite and promote positive circulation. Your cells are comprised of water and need it for their proper functioning.

Find the time to exercise

If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. Exercise promotes circulation and moves oxygen into your organs, making you feel alive. When we exercise we provide energy to our bodies. When we have higher muscle mass we naturally burn fat at a faster rate. Exercising can help us feel better and reduce stress. Ever heard of the runner’s high? It is the release of endorphins (the feel good hormone) in the body after strenuous workouts, it’s our body’s natural reward mechanism.

It doesn’t need to be difficult. Get a pedometer and aim to walk 10,000 steps a day. It’s really not as daunting as it sounds. Find a buddy to go to the gym with and keep each other accountable. Whatever you do, the important thing is to get your body moving.

Give yourself a mini-fast

So you went a little overboard with the food, drinks, and desserts last night and now you’re feeling a bit bloated? No worries! It’s perfectly okay to give yourself a mini-fast every once in a while and replace your breakfast with water with lemon and get some exercise before your first meal. Breakfast means to “break the fast” that occurs while we sleep, using up our glycogen stores. If we continue this fast through lunch time our body will begin to rely on fat for fuel. As long as you eat normally (and make sure you get good fats and lean protein) for the rest of the day you should be good to go! If you are supplementing with something like insulin you should check with your GP before doing this.

Eat your good fats

For some reason people still think that eating good fats causes us to become fat. That’s simply not true. In fact it can do the opposite. Fat is an essential part of every single one of your cell membranes and is also required in order to properly digest fat soluble vitamins. We need good quality fats as a source of energy and to help manage inflammation in our bodies. Inflammation is one of the main reasons why we have so many diseases today.

Eat your Good Fats

Eating “good” fats make us feel fuller quicker and longer – craving less of the foods our bodies don’t need. Eating good fats also stabilizes your insulin and blood sugar levels, preventing them from crashing and making you crave more sugary calories. So if you are going to have that piece of cake, it’s good to also throw in some nuts on the side. Avocado, olive oil, flax Seed oil, and nuts and seeds are all great foods to add into your diet. Try putting two tablespoons of flax seeds and flax seed oil into a morning smoothie and watch how you feel fuller longer.

Take a few moments out of your day to express gratitude

It’s easy to get caught up in the holiday season and lose sight of what really matters. We should be cherishing the moments with our loved ones and focusing on the present. One great way to do this is to think to yourself of three different things you are grateful for every morning when you wake up, and every night before you go to bed. Not only will this make your days generally happier, but you will begin to find joy in the little things and truly appreciate the time you have in your day.

 

Remember what the holidays are all about!

 

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Top 8 Smoothie Power Ingredients

We all want abundant energy, longevity and to feel incredible at each and every moment. Many of us know deep down that our diet is perhaps the best place to start, but when we don’t know what that entails, we don’t get anywhere.

Due to our fast paced Western lifestyles, we often neglect our nutrition in the morning and grab something on the go. For example, a bagel and cream cheese can spike our insulin levels which causes our sugars to be rapidly metabolized. High levels of insulin block the activity of LPL (Lipoprotein lipase), an enzyme critical to determining where and how we store fat. This results in fat becoming stored in fat cells and an inability to burn fat. Long term elevation of insulin levels result in rapid aging and fat accumulation.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and provides fuel to our brains, and energy to our cells.

This is why I’m a big proponent of starting my day off with a health packed smoothie.

Smoothies are fast and easy to make, and we can often buy the ingredients in bulk ahead of time. It is easy to add in energy boosting and life sustaining ingredients to walk out of the house feeling amazing. The way you start your day determines how well you live your day.

Below are my top 8 picks for your smoothie super ingredients:

Chia Seeds

Chia seeds are tasteless and can easily be added to your diet. Adding a tablespoon to your smoothie can have tremendous benefits.

They are high in protein, and Omega-3. They’re also packed with calcium (18% of your recommended daily intake in an ounce!), phosphorous, and manganese. They deliver a ton of nutrients with few calories. Plus, most of the carbohydrates come in the form of fibre!

On top of all of that, chia seeds are high in antioxidants which fight cancer causing free radicals.

Cinnamon

One of the oldest spices known to man, cinnamon has been used as a botanical medicine since 2,700 BC. And for good reason. Its healing properties are due to its essential oils, and adding half a teaspoon to your smoothie provides the following benefits:

Regulates blood sugar: it stimulates insulin receptors, increasing our cells abilities to use glucose. Perfect for helping prevent Diabetes.

Provides powerful anti-microbial protection: it helps stop the growth of bacteria as well as fungi. This provides protection against the yeast candida, as well as H. pylori – the bacteria responsible for causing Ulcers.

It may prevent Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Ground Flax Seeds

Flax seeds are extremely concentrated with omega-3 fatty acids—anti-inflammatory and heart-healthy nutrients. They can also absorb eight times their weight in water, and can pull out toxic metabolites from the large intestine.

They are also an amazing source of alpha-linolenic acid which is required for proper skin function and can help reduce the risk of dying from heart disease.

I like to grind my own flax seeds and I suggest you try the same and put a tablespoon in your smoothie in the morning!

Coconut Oil

By weight, coconut oil has less calories than any other source of fat.

It is true they contain saturated fats, but not all types of saturated fats are harmful to the body. Only 9% of the saturated fat in coconut oil is palmitic acid—the long chain saturated fat most commonly connected with increased heart disease. Two-thirds of the fat are medium-chained fatty acids, which the body can easily metabolize and convert into energy.

All the fatty acids in coconut oil have anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-microbial properties. Coconut oil can also help us lower cholesterol! There are also a lot of new studies suggesting that coconut oil can help improve brain function. Also, all that good fat helps regulate your insulin levels, so go out and buy a jar today!

Cacao

Cacao is the dried and fully fermented bean of the cacao plant, the same one responsible for producing our oh-so-loved chocolate. It is one of the most nutritionally packed foods on the planet, containing the highest concentration of antioxidants of any food, and is rich in minerals like magnesium, zinc, copper, serotonin, and a lot, lot more.

Not only that, it tastes fantastic and also acts to dilate our intestines, allowing for more nutrients to be absorbed and maximizing the benefits of all the other good stuff we’re eating.

Papaya

The bright orange colour of papaya reflect an abundance of beta-carotene, which is again extremely high in anti-oxidants. They also contain an enzyme called papain which aids in our digestion of proteins, and is renowned for its anti-cancer and skin purifying properties.

You can also eat the seeds! These seeds can actually guard against and flush out parasites. Papayas are also incredibly delicious.

Figs

The fruit of the ficus tree, figs are densely concentrated with calcium and fibre. Their tiny seeds can also help draw out parasites and dissolve mucus in your intestines. Their supply of dietary fibre can help those who have weight management issues, as high fibre foods can help you feel full longer and reduce hunger cravings.

Most of us in the West have diets that are too high in sodium. When our sodium levels increase over our potassium balance, we can get higher blood pressure. Figs contain an abundant amount of potassium, helping prevent our blood pressure from skyrocketing.

Avocados

As I mentioned in Should I eat Fats? Truths and Myths while most calories from Avocados do come from fat, two thirds of those fats are the heart healthy monounsaturated fats (which are also found in olive oil). Monounsaturated fatty acids which help increase HDL and lower LDL.

Avocados have been noted as one of the key contributors to the healthy Mediterranean diet. Not only do they contain healthy fats, avocados are high in fiber, beta carotene, folate and potassium. Plus they’re delicious!

Watch out as they can turn your smoothie into a dense pudding! If you enjoy eating it with a spoon then this is quite the treat, but if you want it to remain drinkable, aim to use a quarter of a ripe avocado in your smoothie.

 

So get blending! Click here to watch one of my previous smoothie recipe videos, and have a wonderful day!

 

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Can your Brain be Re-Wired?

Looking at twenty women who had come to one of my confidence workshops, I couldn’t help but notice that they had put up protective walls before the session had even begun. As I asked them to introduce themselves and rank their self-esteem on a scale of one to ten, the average came out to about three. I knew I was in for a challenge.

Most of these women had troublesome pasts—abuse, poor relationships, domestic issues, neglect, and financial troubles. These troubles had taken control of their day-to-day lives and had clouded their minds with an inability to seek out and express the positive. One woman confided that she was hopeless, and felt that there was no way she could control the way her brain worked. That couldn’t have been more wrong, or more damaging to her ability to change.

You’ve likely heard it many times before: “I am the way I am; I can’t change that.” Until about the 1960s, that was the commonly held belief in circles of psychologists and neuroscientists. We were led to believe that our genes dictated the structure of our brain and that there was no changing it. Negative people would always be negative. Funny individuals were just wired that way. But once psychologists started looking at how our brain activity changed during the course of various exercises, they quickly learned that we can actually adjust the structure of our brains—a widely accepted concept now known as neuroplasticity.

The neural connections in our brains can be forged, weakened, and strengthened. When we experience and practice different tasks, the associated areas in our brain begin to change, and can have long-lasting effect.

There have been many studies which have shown that monks and those who meditate regularly have elevated levels of grey matter in parts of their brain in the hippocampus (the area of our brain that allows for memory, supports our well-being and contributes to learning) along with areas in the orbitofrontal cortex. Higher levels of grey matter in these areas of the brain indicate more neural connections and activity, essentially a stronger and better functioning infrastructure. In short, simply by using one part of the brain more, the meditators actually strengthened that area. This concept explains why if someone loses their dominant arm, they can over time bring their other arm’s dexterity to nearly the same level as they experienced before.

One study conducted by researchers at UCLA concluded that “people who consistently meditate have a singular ability to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability and engage in mindful behavior.” Not to mention they experience stronger immune systems and reduced levels of stress. All thanks to rewiring the way the brain works.

The more we practice something, the more our brain will adapt to it and accept it. This goes for everything, including both positive and negative thinking.

If you are consistently looking for the negative in everything, you will certainly find it. Not only that, the more you do it, the more your brain gets accustomed to that way of thinking—making it feel like the norm.

Ever notice how athletes tend to be competitive even outside of their sport? This can spill over from our careers as well. The more we focus on one way of thinking or a set of activities, the more effect that will have on our overall everyday life. For the good, or the bad. The artist may always see beauty and opportunity in everyday life, whereas the accountant may always perceive errors, miscalculations and omissions, even when it comes to their relationships and family lives. If you are in a high-stress career or are always analyzing the negative, take a step back and ask yourself if you’ve let it spill over into your everyday life.

The more we tell ourselves we are something and act accordingly, the more we’ll solidify that reality in our brain. If you pour your energy into being happy, loving, and a good friend, it will become part of your standard behaviour.

“When our brains get stuck in a pattern that focuses on stress, negativity, and failure, we set ourselves up to fail.” – Shawn Achor

If you had to fill in the blank for the following phrase, what would you write? “I am _________.”

Hopefully you wrote something positive or even neutral there. If you wrote something negative about yourself, ask what you are doing to your psyche. Whatever you said after “I am” will follow you, and you’ve probably already convinced your brain that that’s your reality.

Can we reverse our bad habits and change? Of course, and the secret to change may lie in gratitude.

An exercise that can greatly increase the quality of your life is to practice being more grateful. When you wake up, tell yourself three things you are grateful for. It can be anything, and the things can change each day. Do the same thing right before you lay down to go to sleep. The more you do this more you’ll start seeing the positive in everything. Not only can it make you happier, but it can even make you healthier:

“Countless studies have shown that consistently grateful people are more energetic, emotionally intelligent, forgiving, and less likely to be depressed, anxious, or lonely. And it’s not that people are only grateful because they are happier, either; gratitude has been proven to be a significant cause of positive outcomes. When researchers pick random volunteers and train them to be more grateful over a period of a few weeks, they become happier and more optimistic, feel more socially connected, enjoy better quality sleep, and even experience fewer headaches than control groups.” – Shawn Achor, from his book The Happiness Advantage

I challenge you to meditate and practice gratefulness for the next 21 days, and I guarantee the quality of your life will vastly improve. Life is too precious to waste another minute.

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What are you Weighting for?

The other day I overheard a woman speaking to her friend, it was something most of you have surely heard many times in your life. “No matter what I do and how much exercise I get, I can’t lose weight.”

With millions of dollars spent on weight loss books, programs, diets, people will do seemingly anything to shed their unwanted pounds. There is certainly no lack of information. In fact, there’s too much out there leading to mass confusion, trends that don’t sustain weight loss, and an array of opinions leading us to question where to even begin. We continue to complicate the issue every single day.

It’s almost as if we’re on a constant search for the magic bullet. There is none.

Having a healthy body and a healthy mind is a full time job. We cannot expect a bottle of pills or a six week program to change our body for good. Yet we’re spending millions on exactly that. What’s not easy is changing your lifestyle to foster the habits needed to sustain weight loss and provide optimal health, and it is the lifestyle habits that are all too often ignored.

As a nutritionist, my job goes beyond just the scope of what we put into our mouths. I strive to teach people that they alone are in charge of their body and their life. We can’t let tools be in charge, we have to take responsibility and take action. Behavioural modifications, many which seem uncomfortable or daunting at first, are absolutely necessary if we want to change our bodies.

Once we’ve seen progress and experienced what it is like to feel vibrantly healthy, it becomes easy to continue making the right choices. I’m not saying we can’t treat ourselves or splurge every once in a while. But, once we know how good we can feel, we become more in touch with the signals from our body, and thus will continue to make the majority of positive choices. But if we never have those positive feelings, it can all seem like a fleeting dream.

Change is hard. Change brings fear to most of us. For many, becoming complacent with health and weight challenges is the easiest choice. As time goes on, many of us will go continue to push ourselves through a downward spiral, making the ultimate goal of optimal health seemingly more and more unattainable. And then our vitality is robbed. We can become harder on ourselves, more depressed, and even feel hopeless. We can put up imaginary walls and limits on ourselves which keep us down. Our social lives are often impacted and we see no reasonable way out.

Is there an easy solution? It’s in our hands to take action. Small changes are easier than drastic ones but can make all the difference. Most weight loss programs are either a 180 degree change from our current lifestyles or are only attacking one element, and that is part of the reason why they’re not sustainable.

You have a unique body chemistry. You have a specific metabolism. You have different energy requirements from your neighbour. You therefore require an action plan that is tailored to you and your lifestyle. Maybe you have had your gallbladder removed or have issues with your thyroid. We are all different and we all respond differently.

Thankfully, the essence of our body’s chemistry is universal. When we have elevated levels of C-Reactive Protein (CRP) we have a clear marker for inflammation in our bodies. High levels of inflammation can cause heart disease, blood lipid disorders, diabetes, high blood pressure and a resulting inability to lose weight. By analyzing your blood’s chemistry, we can create a personalised program to help you reduce inflammation, increase energy, and balance your hormones—specifically, insulin.

Insulin is a hormone that puts sugar into your cells. The so-called “Western Diet” consisting of highly refined carbohydrates (for example pasta, bagels, muffins) and sugars causes our insulin levels to be consistently elevated. When we have elevated insulin levels, three things happen. First, we enter a cycle of rising and crashing blood sugars, forcing us to crave more foods which will continue to damage our hormonal balance and making us constantly hungry. Secondly, our body will be much more prone to store the incoming energy as fat. Third, we actually block our ability to burn fat.

Consistently living with increased blood sugar concentrations can be extremely harmful as glucose molecules bind with proteins, ruining the protein molecules normal functions. We need those proteins to help us uptake insulin properly and to help prevent this cycle.

You can start changing your body’s chemistry today. For example, eating one apple a day lowers cholesterol and uric acid unlike no other fruit and can help lower insulin levels. Cinnamon has been shown to improve our body’s ability to uptake insulin. Foods that contain high levels of healthy fats don’t actually make us fat, in fact they do the opposite—they stabilize our blood sugar levels and prevent them from crashing down and keep our energy consistent. Starting each of our meals with two bites of protein causes our pancreas to produce the hormone glucagon, a hormone which blocks insulin production resulting in lower insulin levels which stimulates fat burning, blocks fat synthesis, and prevents the dreaded attacks of ravenous appetite.

If you know more details of your unique composition, you can begin bringing your body into a more ideal balance immediately. There is an approach which takes all of these factors into consideration, if you’d like to learn more, take a look at how Metabolic Balance is built around you and your lifestyle. Food isn’t everything though. It takes a tough mind of determination, action, and a revamp of your psyche to make change, but it is possible.

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The Silent Killer: How to Get Rid of Anxiety

Working with thousands of clients, I’ve witnessed firsthand one thing that has debilitated more people than anything else. It prevents people from partaking in social events, can stop us from ever getting on an airplane, and even keep people inside the confines of their own home. The one thing is anxiety—we’ve spent billions of dollars on drugs to manage it yet we still are left with unanswered questions.

Anxiety prevents far too many people from living the life they deserve to live. Some levels of anxiety are healthy for us; it has served to prevent us from getting into dangerous scenarios and to allow us to escape harm throughout our history as a species, and it can even motivate us to prepare and perform well on an upcoming presentation. But, for so many people, anxiety robs the joy from their life, costs employers millions of dollars in absenteeism, and has become an unnecessary burden.

“We used to talk about curing diseases. Nowadays we talk about treating disease. And sadly, the concept of prevention has almost been forgotten.” – Dr. David Williams

Anxiety is very real. The symptoms range from trembling, excessive sweating, heart palpitations, insomnia, lumps in the throat, diarrhea, and on the more extreme end, panic attacks. The list of external causes that can bring on anxiety seems to be growing each day. Some of the more common ones are over-working, death of a close friend or relative, divorce, life changes, excessive caffeine intake and an overload of stress. Most sufferers look to drugs to manage their symptoms and often turn a blind eye to the root causes. The drugs do a good job to manage the symptoms, but they don’t get to the real problem.

From the outside, we often can never tell that someone is suffering. Most are embarrassed to ever admit what they’re going through and they’ll use excuses to cover why they didn’t show up to work or not make it to your party. It is the silent killer—and holding it in can only make it worse. Fortunately, there are solutions to eradicate anxiety at its origin.

Balancing your Autonomic Nervous System

The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is responsible for every function in your body. If it’s not balanced, you’re likely not going to get better. It’s made up of two parts that everyone has: the Sympathetic Nervous System and the Parasympathetic Nervous System. The Sympathetic is like the gas in your car; it speeds you up and regulates your flight-or-fight mechanisms. The Parasympathetic is like the breaks; it slows you down, is responsible for conserving physical resources, and helps rest your heart rate.

Your body is in an anabolic state when your parasympathetic nervous system dominates. In this case, your body is better equipped to regenerate itself, you’ll sleep better and feel well rested and you can recover more rapidly from both physical and mental exertion.

On the other (and more common) end of the spectrum we have a catabolic state—when your body’s sympathetic nervous system dominates. People with a sympathetic dominant system often exhibit digestive problems, poor sleep, muscle and joint pains, slow growing hair, weak nails, and their body is unable to heal itself properly.

The bottom line is: when our parasympathetic nervous system dominates, we are relaxed and calm. When our sympathetic takes the lead, we provide a breeding ground for anxiety. There are two key ways to help get our ANS to a parasympathetic state:

Relaxation Techniques

Deep breathing, meditation and yoga. Exercises that help our body and mind slow down increase our parasympathetic tone and decrease our sympathetic tone. These techniques can also help us remain focused and able to concentrate, providing us a stronger foundation to block out the negative self-chatter.

For a great guide on how to mediate and its proven benefits, I recommend Herbert Benson’s The Relaxation Response.

Nutrition

Our modern Western diets are full of processed foods and sugars and void of essential vitamins and nutrients. Anxiety is linked to increase in lactate in the body, and one of the causes of too much blood lactate is linked to inadequate circulation, again from remaining in a sympathetic state. High lactic acid levels are linked to six nutritional factors:

– Alcohol
– Caffeine
– Sugar
– Deficiencies of B-vitamins
– Magnesium deficiencies
– Food allergens

By limiting our alcohol, sugar and caffeine intakes, we can make tremendous stride to ridding ourselves of anxiety. Supplementing with B Vitamins and Magnesium have also been shown to be extremely helpful. Remove any hypoallergenic foods from your diet along with refined carbs and white foods. A diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and whole grains will go a long way. Specifically, oats and hazelnuts are wonderful fuels to our nervous system. Zinc and Lithium are two trace-minerals which can also help put our ANS into a parasympathetic state. You wouldn’t put the wrong fuel into your car, so why put the wrong fuel into your body?

Psychosomatic Energetics

Psychosomatic Energetics (PSE) is a concept for the precise detection of energy blocks and the effective treatment of emotional issues. Emotional conditions are often the root cause of physical ailments, and I’ve seen first-hand the transformation of my clients’ lives by using PSE’s techniques and Rubimed remedies; it’s fast, effective and can manage anxiety attacks as they happen. PSE testing can help determine if our body is in an acute stage, experiencing: fatigue, anxiety, hyperactivity or nervousness. The testing and associated homeopathic remedies work to instantly balance out our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. A client who takes 5 drops of the remedy Anxiovita can almost instantly feel more relaxed, less tense, and see their anxiety diminish. After six weeks of treatment, I’ve had clients report back saying their old debilitating anxiety symptoms have completely disappeared.

Click here to learn more about PSE testing

Anxiety does not have to monopolize your life. Start today and know that you are not alone in your battle. More importantly, don’t hide it or hold it back, gaining the support of your loved ones will do wonders for your treatment. Changing your diet, working on the above techniques, and seeing someone who specializes in anxiety disorders will open up windows you may have never thought possible.

 Reference: The Elements of Health
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Lifestyle Choices and Habits of Confident and Successful People

It looks as though some people in life are playing their cards right. Most of us know someone in life whose confidence and outlook we admire. They are happy, self-assured, successful, energized and they appear as if they haven’t a worry in the world. Cruising through life looking like everything is a breeze, they can whip a five course meal together without stress or complaining. They bring you course after course with a smile on their face looking the whole time as if they didn’t lift a finger. You may find yourself intrigued and relaxed in their presence. They are in charge – but what is their secret? And what are they doing to make you think that their life is perfect? If some people can go through life feeling like this, why can’t we all? A great quote from one of these people comes from Benjamin Franklin: “Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of the mind than on outward circumstances.” Our relationships, how we feel and our success all starts with our perception. Ever notice how negative people are always blaming something other than themselves and have a hard time relaxing?

Many years ago I attended a seminar by a motivational life coach/speaker Raymond Aaron. Raymond coaches people to be their best, expect the best and never ever give up. He is an amazing mentor who shines a light on all of our dark places. His goal is for his clients to become successful and gives them the tools and techniques to do just that. One of my first sessions with him was quite fascinating. He said that to be the best we can be we need to clean up our messes. What on earth did that mean? He literally wanted us to clean up the physical messes. His reasoning was that to create the life you want you cannot clutter it with mess, because it clutters your mind. If you are disorganized in one area of your life you are probably disorganized in all areas. Having clutter in our physical lives doesn’t allow for our true potential to shine through and fogs our decision making and motivation.

I took a look in my purse after the session and it was a mess. No wonder I couldn’t find anything. So I began cleaning up mess after mess. First the purse then the kitchen drawers, the garage and finally my office. Bam! I was finally organized. Once I cleaned up my outer surroundings the internal impact was immediate; I felt clear, organized and left with only one thing to do – continue bettering my life. I finally knew where everything was and I felt renewed. Raymond reminded me that to be creative you have to make space both inwardly and outwardly. I felt like I had a fresh start. Start by donating and throwing away things you don’t need – just get rid of it! When we have too many useless things in our lives we are much more likely to feel out of control and hopeless. Ask yourself if you truly need those boxes that have been sitting in storage for years.

Once I cleaned up my outer messes I got hooked on finding ways to improve my life. I then turned my focus inwardly and decided to clean up something else; the people in my life. This may sound harsh but in life there are many people who detract from our positive energy, slow us down, or simply waste our time. You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Just like airplane safety procedures; you must take care of yourself before assisting others. And so I began. I used my personal motto and that is: “You have to help me grow or you have to go!” Your friends are a reflection of you. I wanted people to challenge me, love me and support all of my endeavors. If you only hang out with negative people, how can you ever expect to have a positive outlook? I needed to weed the garden of my life and water those special flowers. This exercise helped me truly appreciate the relationships and amazing people in my life.

Once all of the inward and outward messes got cleaned up I felt like I was brand new and full of energy and love. Most profoundly, I was motivated. If you could take care of the things on your mind right now, what would that entail? It all starts with one step at a time. Clean up the mess!

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Top Health Benefits of Eating an Apple a Day

We’ve all heard the phrase “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” but is there actually any truth to it? The phrase dates back to the 1860s out of Wales. It has evolved from: ‘‘Eat an apple on going to bed, and you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread.”

Ancient Romans boasted about the health properties of Apples and it also ties back to Ayurvedic medicine from 1,500 years ago. They certainly were on to something back then, and there’s a reason the phrase still holds strong today in its simplified form. Essentially all fruits have tremendous nutritional benefits, apples were likely singled out years ago because they are easy to grow and can be stored for a long time, but let’s not negate their tremendous benefits.

Apples are full of beneficial health properties. For starters, they have some of the highest concentration of antioxidants out of all foods. No other fruit can compare to the vitamins and minerals in the cholesterol and uric acid lowering apple. Old apple varieties (that turn brown quickly) are especially rich in polyphenols which actively counteract free-radicals.

Apples contain pectin, a soluble fibre which helps reduce our cholesterol levels and help maintain a healthy digestive system.

Chewing apples stimulates our saliva production which has a host of health benefits for our mouths, namely lowering the levels of bad bacteria and reducing tooth decay.

A 2011 Dutch study found that consuming apples and pears may help prevent strokes.

Another study in 2012 by Ohio State University found that eating an apple a day significantly helped lower the levels of bad cholesterol amongst middle-aged adults.

Strong bones and a healthy brain – Apples contain boron, a nutrient which aids calcium metabolism, gives anti-arthritic properties and has been known to help sharpen our brains.

Apples are loaded with phytonutrients; Vitamins A, E, and Beta-Carotene. These nutrients can help prevent spikes in blood sugar and reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and asthma.

Vitamin C – there’s no shortage of information on health benefits of Vitamin C, one of the best things we can consume for our immune systems which apples contain a good amount of.

Prevention of Gallstones – we get gallstones when we have too much cholesterol in our bile to remain a liquid. Diets high in fibre (go apples!) can help alleviate these conditions.

Better bowl movements – The fiber found in apples can absorb excess water from your stools and pull water out of your colon to keep the tracks moving smoothly.

When eating apples, make sure you eat the skin too. Many of the nutrients are actually located in the skin. I always recommend buying organic foods when you can, and some are more important than others; according to The Environmental Working Group, apples are one of the most heavily pesticide-contaminated produces. Always wash them thoroughly before eating them. Finally, apple seeds should be avoided by pregnant and nursing women as they are toxic when consumed at high doses.

 

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