Healthy Tips

Getting the energy to get up and moving can be a hard task. Especially with our insane schedules pulling us in different directions. Let’s look at some small things that we can do to get on the road to a healthier lifestyle.

Partner Workouts

Working out with a partner can give us a lot of motivation. Not only do we have someone pushing us, but you can also be an inspiration also. We can see a difference in our endurance when we feed off each others energy. This can be a quick run in the park, or a Zumba class.

Making Better Choices

Let’s face it, ranch dressing goes with just about everything know to man. It’s is just SO good! Is there a better choice? Yes, balsamic vinegar. You can pretty much get away with only using a few teaspoons before you overpower your dish. So a little bit goes a long way and its delish! Did I mention the calories are low? 🙂

Motivation

Music is the key! Create your own playlist in advance or invest in some really great headphones. Working out is mental! Your mind will give out before your body does, so be sure to get yourself pumped to get through the hard days!

Diet Fads

Let’s make this one as simple as we can. Drinking a lot of water triggers your body to release fluid. Drinking small amounts of water causes your body to retain fluid. Why? Because your body is built to protect you. If you are not giving it what it needs, it will hold on to it for future use.

Eating a lot (at least 5 times a day) will trigger your body to burn carbs and speed up your metabolism. Not eating enough will cause your body to hold on to fat. Why? Because again, your body is built to protect you. If you are not giving it what it needs, it will hold on to it (fat) for future use. So do not listen to these “I’m only going to eat one meal a day so I can lose weight fads”. Portion control several times a day is better than one big meal one time a day.

Simple enough right? 😉

Alcohol

Limit the amount of alcohol you are consuming during the week. Alcoholic beverages can hold a lot of unwanted calories.  Especially beer, it is full of empty calories and packs on pounds.

Cheat Meals

5 words. Cheat meal, not cheat day

Cardio

It takes 15 minutes for your body to begin metabolizing. So shoot for 45 minutes.

Scales

Stay away from scales they are the biggest liars. Pay attention to your clothes and how they fit.

Relax

After it is all said and done, relax! Your body needs to rest. If you need to work out, do something simple and light.

Have a great day!

 

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Homemade Baby Food & Nutrition

Homemade Baby Food & Nutrition

When babies are born they are given the best nutrition for their bodies….a mother’s milk. What happens when they are able to now eat solid food? There are many brands that sell themselves as organic, but can we really trust them? Well there is an alternative. If we are already practicing a clean diet there is a way to make sure our young ones are benefiting in the same way. If you have heard of the Nutri-bullet than you know there is one for babies also. (https://www.babybullet.com) This allows parents to make sure their children are getting all of the needed vitamins without the extra chemicals that extend shelf life.

Benefits of making your own baby food

You know exactly what you’re feeding your baby.

It’s more economical than buying pre-packaged foods (although some parents note that this is not always the case).

They can choose their own fruits, vegetables, and other foods for purees, instead of relying on the flavors chosen by manufacturers. You’re not going to find melons or avocados in the baby food section of the supermarket.

It gets the baby used to eating the same food as the rest of the family — just in puree form.

Jarred food is cooked at extremely high temperatures to kill bacteria for longer storage, at the same time taking out many of the foods vitamins and nutrients and taste. You can roast, steam, boil veggies or fruit on the weekends and puree in a mini food processor as mentioned above. This also paves the way for a healthier future as your child gets older! Yes it is more work and less convenient but even as adults it is easier to stop past Mcdonald’s vs cooking a healthy home meal. Which is better for our bodies in the long run? A great book for reference is “100 top baby purees”

A step-by-step guide to making and storing food for your baby.

Healthy Homemade: How to Make Baby Food in 6 Easy Steps

• Wash and rinse your hands and equipment.
• Scrub and peel fruits and vegetables.
• Bake, steam, roast, or microwave until tender (steaming and microwaving preserve the most nutrients).
• Puree in a food processor with a little liquid (water,breast milk, or formula), or mash if your baby can handle more texture.
• Store in the refrigerator or freezer, in airtight containers. (Packaged baby foods can be stored in the cupboard until they’re opened; because they’re fresh, homemade baby foods can’t.)
• Rewarm when it’s time to eat and allow to cool.

There are a number of storage containers sold specifically for refrigerating and freezing small serving-sized amounts of baby food; you can also just use an ice cube tray.

In addition to fruits and vegetables, you can puree foods such as cooked meats (fully cooked, with no pink, and remove fat, skin, and connective tissue), beans, and cooked eggs.

Leave comments below if you have tried this! Or let us know if you do!

Source: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/baby-food-nutrition-9/making-baby-food?page=3

Holistic Medicine: Frequently Asked Questions

While speaking to the public we realized not everyone knows what holistic medicine is. Some have never heard of it. Let’s answer some common questions first about alternative methods of healing.

What is Holistic Medicine?

The basis of Holistic Medical practice is a belief in the intimate links between the brain, the body, and behavior. It takes into account not just your physical health, but how emotional, spiritual, social, and behavioral factors in your life can affect your body. Holistic Medicine also works in a preventative way. Mind-body interventions include yoga, relaxation response therapy, hypnosis, visual imagery, meditation,, tai chi, behavioral therapy, and prayer.

Does the mind control the body or does body control the mind?

Have you ever wondered why it seems as though those who WANT to get pregnant have a hard time conceiving and those who could care less have a houseful? The mind is a powerful thing and stress levels can cause adverse effects on our fertility. Also take into account “Pseudocyesis” better known as “False Pregnancies”. This is the belief that you are expecting when you are not really carrying a child. People with Pseudocyesis have many, if not all, symptoms of pregnancy — with the exception of an actual fetus. When a woman feels an intense desire to get pregnant, which may be because of infertility, repeat miscarriages, impending menopause, or a desire to get married, her body may produce some pregnancy signs (such as a swollen belly, enlarged breasts, and even the sensation of fetal movement). The woman’s brain then misinterprets those signals as pregnancy, and triggers the release of hormones (such as estrogen and prolactin) that lead to actual pregnancy symptoms. It has even been shown that men can develop false pregnancies when their significant other is expecting! Some men adopt back pain, nausea and other mild symptoms of pregnancy.

We say all of this to bring out how POWERFUL the mind is! The mind can be a healing tool, you just need to learn how to make it work in your favor in a positive way.

What about RAW diets for healing?

What if your doctor told you your blood pressure is too high so here take this medicine? In some cases it would be advantageous for one to do so. In MOST cases simply changing your diet and exercising can help greatly.

Are diets and exercise the only things we should be worried about in terms of our health and wellness?

A healthy diet and daily exercise are core components of an optimal health program. Other areas that should be attended to include appropriate stress management, getting adequate sleep, maintaining a strong social network of family and friends, and limiting exposure to environmental toxins, including cigarette smoke. Read More..

What are some of the least healthy or damaging habits Americans have?

The worst habit Americans have is eating too much highly processed, manufactured food (including fast food). People in this country are also too often sedentary and, as mentioned earlier, spend too much time on the Internet. Read More..

I hope you have a better understanding of Alternative Medicine/Holistic Medicine. The research is endless! So feel free to dive in and research for yourself. So people relax, eat clean, and lower your stress levels. Until next time!

Introduction to Dr.Sebi

These are just a few things we gathered from Dr. Sebi’s lecture. We did not pull from the entire lecture just enough to wet your appetite! So please watch in it entirety!

Dr. Sebi prides himself on ‘knowing how to live’. He says the zoo keeper does not feed the gorilla the food of the polar bear so why do we eat other ethnic food not  specific to our dna?

When you pursue money it cannot elongate your life! The only thing that can elongate your life is the gift of healing and eating the food GOD made.

When they removed us from Africa did they bring our food to us? NO. So how will the FDA know how to care for us?

Africans (we) lived for a very long time without money, pharmaceutical companies, and hospitals. Now they are saying we need money to fight aids.

Dr. Sebi said ” If I had gone to school to be a scientist I would not have been able to cure aids because scientist do not cure aids. So why should we rely on schools to teach us how to save lives? *We believe in the progression of personal intellect, Dr. Sebi is simply saying that our Ancestors did not use modern day education for healing purposes although we do agree modern day education has saved lives!!*

Asking Dr. Sebi how do you cure aids is like asking a Gorilla how do you keep yourself healthy without hospitals and medicine? Nature feeds off nature.

Dr.Sebi went to multiple doctors to figure out why he was so sick and no one could tell him what was wrong. Feeling desperate he went to Mexico and they said he was dying because he is disobedient. They showed him a bible verse
to honor his mother and his father. He says well how am I supposed to honor them if I do not know what they are about? When a elephant is born he follows his mother and does as she does. The point? We have to educate ourselves on what our ancestors were eating to be able to do as they do and did to survive.

The bible says herbs are for the healing of the nations, but people of god go to the doctors for chemical injections to heal them. There are so many outlets for healing advice. http://www.dhealthstore.com/

Benefits of Alkaline based nutrients

Anything that has the PH of 7 plus is alkaline anything that has less is acid

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Antibiotic Resistance,

Science has taught us in the past that if something is subjected to an environment long enough, it WILL adapt. Maybe not today or tomorrow but eventually it will become accustomed to it’s current situation. Let’s take our bodies for example, our bodies can hit something called a plateau (and forgive me if this is a horrible example), but it’s my daytime job to put things in laymen’s terms so forgive me I actually enjoy this *smile*. So! have you ever gone so hard in the gym and lost an amazing amount of weight? What happens the next month still going strong, maybe not as many pounds lost as the first month but it’s something. Well, the third month crawls around and you could have sworn the scale said 130 lbs last month also! Why are you still the same weight? This is because your body has become accustomed to the vigorous workout you have put it through. You are doing the same exact exercise, at the same pace. Your body is no longer affected. This is in a sense what has been happening with the three leading farms feeding our chicken, pork, and other meats human antibiotics. Antibiotics are meant for sick humans, and when we take this medicine the bacteria in our system should never see what’s coming and be quickly done away with. Instead they are multiplying! Our body can’t react to something it’s already used to! Our food has already been given and raised on mass amounts of what is supposed to help us in our time of need. If our bodies are already accustomed to these antibiotics and our bodies won’t budge then it causes death. The bacteria that is supposed to scatter has already figured out a way to fight these antibiotics before it even it our plates.  It has had time to adjust during the lifetime of the livestock for generations.

So what’s my point?

Antibiotic resistance in the population is costing the health care system $20 billion and leading to 23,000 deaths annually. So who are the top three culprits?

• Tyson
• Pilgrim’s Pride
• Perdue

With these companies being so big they’re all moving forward to an antibiotic free future. What other choice do you have when you’re in the limelight? So there is some good news. Unfortunately there are a mass amount of smaller companies that have no plans to stop feeding their livestock antibiotics for growth promotion.

*Note: Tyson is also putting resources toward researching alternatives to antibiotics*

 Research has shown that probiotics, including the strains of bacteria found in yogurt, and antimicrobial plants like oregano can be highly effective in controlling salmonella and campylobacter infections in poultry. Read More 

So while the problem is being semi fixed what can we do in the meantime to protect ourselves? We can support local markets and farms that produce humanly raised and untreated animals. I’ve came up with a list of farms in the local area. Some actually have open markets on some days. I’ve listed my favorites in blue. 🙂

Farmers Markets: farm@Petersburg Farmers Market, 7am–12 noon, Saturdays, May thru October, and 9am–noon Saturdays, November thru April.

Dolce Vita Farm, Kerry Giannotti, PO Box 43, Sutherland VA 23885. (804) 721-3256

::Another great store that I have mentioned before is Ellwood Thompson::

Deciding against the minimum standard of a 400 mile radius to be considered locally grown, they only use farms within a 100 mile radius. How awesome is that! Ellwood Thompson is located on Cary Street right in the heart of RVA! Here is a listing of their farms.

Click Here

Let it sink in

Today’s post is all about “You can’t do better until you know better”. That being said, I’m not perfect and we all have things to work on. I just want to let you know there are options….so I’ll get to it….

When people say “I don’t eat pork or beef” most are not just saying it to be ‘fake aware’ or to get cookie points for being cognizant of the issues at hand. It’s not to nag just for the sake of it.

 One day I was searching the internet and came across a Peta video. What I saw might as well have been the animal version of a Dangerous Drug Cartel. Either these workers in the “Farms” were plucking tails off pigs like shrimp shells, slicing LIVE cows throats in an effort to drain them upside down,  or they were cutting the beaks off LIVE chickens in an assembly line, which by the way are full of nerves. Whatever happened to just cutting the chickens head off and getting it over with quickly? That was not even the end of it. The conditions the animals were kept in appalled me. The chickens were growing so fast they never learned to walk, so they just sat there, day after day never moving.  Now again I’m not perfect,  I’m just trying to promote some type of balance. We all do unhealthy things, but how often and how much? Where are we buying our meat from? Are we making sure our meat is free roaming, wild caught, or free of steroids? Let’s think about this, have you ever seen a KFC, Bojangles, Chick Fil  A, or any major chicken chain’s drive through line without a car in it? No. Not unless they are closed. Think about amount of chicken that comes in one meal and how many meals they sell in an hour. OK, now times that by the amount of hours they are open…..Got it? OK now times that by the amount of days they are open, you see where I’m going? This can go on adding weeks months and finally coming up to a year. Do you know how many chickens it takes to make that amount of food? Georgia ALONE processes over 26 million pounds of chicken a day! That’s equivalent to 1,625 male elephants each weighing 8 tons!! Now only 100,000 workers are inspecting these chickens and the job’s are declining. People that went to school to get their associates degree can’t find a job in the meat inspection dept. Yes there is an associates degree for meat science, there are people who have a passion for making sure fresh meat is the #1 priority. With so few workers. do you think they have enough time to properly inspect each one? The way a local butcher or farm could properly inspect his smaller amount? Many have filed work complaints against Tyson due to ‘toxic’ working conditions. Other states have complained about the shortages of inspectors, some complaining that some meats may not have been inspected prior to hitting shelves. See news article -> (http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article1615736.html).

Perdue and Tyson are worth researching. Trust me. Now that we know that little piece let’s go back to these chicken chains and think deeply about how much chicken just one store sells in a day. Then we can look on an even larger scale and realize that that is just one of many chains, selling a countless amount of meat every second, every hour, every day. How many franchises are there in America again? “Let it sink in”. This is not an attack on these chains. I am just trying to put it in perspective for you to see how unreasonable it is to believe that all this meat is being properly inspected and to call for more inspectors.

Think about all the diseases we have. Think about how cancer is ransacking our homes.  ‘Free roaming farms” are a thing of the past. Now… I’m not saying don’t eat meat. I tried going vegan and lasted for about 6 months, but I was vegetarian for 3 years. I’m still trying to figure out how to properly feed my body with protein without meat. When I’m out I try to supplement with Tofu or Salmon. Even when I cook at home I feel like I’ve been put in this jail because I have not educated myself enough to learn a mass amount of meals that are Pescetarian or Vegetarian. That’s my fault and I’m working on it. I also eat Wild Caught Salmon not farm raised. I say ALLLL of this to say, if you have to partake in meat simply research where you’re getting your meat from. Try to buy at local markets that have preset standards, and PLEASE cut back on indulging in fast food. It’s called fast for a reason, because that’s how FAST it probably goes through the factory to get to you. If you think by ANY chance I’m being unreasonable check out the Documentaries below. Also watch “Forks over Knives”.

Forks over Knives Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1LUj3kxB9M

My local store I trust is Ellwood Thompson and these are some of their standards. Please click on the link below to see all standards posted on not only meat but ALL products.

http://ellwoodthompsons.com/our-mission/standards/#locallymade

My favorite standards:

Irradiation-Free Meat

Irradiation is a process used to kill bacteria found in meat products. Not only does irradiation give treated meats unnatural flavor and texture, it can also be used to mask unsanitary conditions in slaughterhouses leaving behind risks of E. Coli and Salmonella contamination. These diseases and others can be spread through the feces and urine that irradiation hides. We won’t sell you meat products exposed to irradiation…ever.

No Factory-Farmed Meat Products

Just as we do not offer factory-farmed dairy products, we also do not offer factory-farmed meat products. We refuse to condone inhumane and cruel ways of animal raising practiced by companies who only focus on the bottom line of their ledger.

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Fun Facts:

• Diets high in pork have been linked in population studies to higher risks of esophageal, thyroid, lung, pancreatic, liver, bladder, colorectal, and prostate cancer, as well as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
• Breast cancer risk has been found to increase with increasing consumption of pork in several population studies

But there’s hope for those who just ‘have’ to eat these things…

• Freshly prepared chicken, other poultry, fish, lean beef, and pork are “safer” than processed meats. Processed means smoked, cured, and salted meats, such as hot dogs, sausages, salami, bologna, bratwurst, bacon, salt pork, cold cuts and lunch meat, ham, pastrami, pepperoni, smoked fish, corned beef, and jerky. It turns out that when processed, cancer-causing (carcinogenic) chemicals are created in meat. These chemicals, when eaten, increase colon cancer risk. Sourcehttp://coloncancer.about.com/od/nutritionanddiet/a/meatcolcan.htm

Please see 2014 story

Chicken plant workers say chemicals sprayed on carcasses making them sick

 http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/chicken-plant-workers-say-chemicals-sprayed-carcas/nfg73/