health

It looks

Get in balance for Spring

like spring in finally coming.  We have had a cold and dreary start of April here on the East coast.  It is supposed to get up into the 70’s this weekend. J

My body (and spirit) sometimes gets out of whack during the transition of seasons.  It is said that if you are imbalanced, you can hold onto weight and feel tired and moody.  I am also noticing a lot of congestion and sinus problems occurring over the last couple of weeks.  If you are like me and feeling just a bit off right now, here are some tips to get you back in the swing of things.

As you know, I am a nutritionist, so I always like to start with diet:

·         A good rule of thumb is to keep it light and dry.  For me, I load up on beans as they are great at leveling out fluids in the body.

·         Cut out all milk and cheese.

·         Avoid beef and starches

Here are my favorite yoga poses that help to keep me in balance:

·         Sun Salutations

·         Warrior poses (good for everything)

·         Tree

·         Lion

These poses are good for building up internal heat which helps boost the metabolism.  I also recommend these and other chest opening poses as a way to rid the body of mucous build up.

Of course, it is also go to practice your breathing exercises and make sure you are setting aside time for meditation.  It is amazing what a proper diet combined with a solid yoga routine will do for.

Happy spring!

Lose 7 pounds in 7 days

My friend is still waiting for her “magic diet pills” to come in the mail, for those that want to lose weight without the use of pills or other substances, there is some good news.  I am going to tell you how to lose 7 pounds in 7 days.  Everyone can do this, here is how:

Eat Breakfast-  I am sure you have heard this before but this is one of the best ways to jump start your metabolism and get your body ready to start burning fat for the day.  Eating breakfast also helps to balance your sugar levels and helps you go into a carb craving binge later on in the day.
Protein and no carbs.  I am not telling you to give up cards forever, but if you stay away from them for a week and replace carbs with protein you will lose at least 7 pounds in 7 days and probably much more.  Carbs are bad for a lot of reasons, obviously we know that they turn to sugar and then fat but they also are “empty” in the sense that they will not provide us with the feeling of being full and satisfied.  Protein on the other hand, is more satisfying and fills us up.  Protein also takes more energy for our body to digest so we actually burn more fat by digesting the protein.
Snack, Snack, Snack- You have my permission to snack oftern, you should eat healthy snacks every 2 hours.  This will boost your metabolism and also help stop you from overeating during your main meals.  The key here is”HEALTHY” snacks.  Don’t kid yourself here, you know what is healthy and what is not.  My favorites are peanut butter and apples, sometimes together.
Pump up your work outs.  You do not need to work out like a crazy person, but you do need to work out.  Three 30 minutes sessions per week should work well.  The trick here is to make these work outs intense.  You should be moving constantly druring these workouts to pump up your heart rate.  Here is what I do.  I do the elliptical for 10 minutes to get things going, I then rotate between pushups, crunches and jump roping for the next 20 minutes strait.  It is not as hard as it seems.
If you follow this advice, you will lose 7 pounds in 7 days.
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ACAI Die

I am happy to report that I am feeling great, it did take me a little while to recover from the colon cleansing situation.  I have been getting back into the flow of exercising regularly and have been getting back into Yoga in a big way.  I am actually thinking about becoming a certified Yoga instructor.  I am starting to seriously look into it but I am not sure if I have the time right now.
Anyway, the point of this post is to let you know that my friend has finally selected the brand of ACAI “pills” to buy.  I was very surprised as I looked into this her that there were some many choices out there.  I naively thought that there was one source to get the berry.  There are literally over a hundred different companies that market this product.  I looked at the ingredients on many of them and they all seem to contain the same active ingredients.
Here is a link to the product that she selected:
Acai Berry Select 
She based her decision on some positive reviews and the fact that she was able to get a free trial.
Nothing else to report, she ordered it yesterday.  I will let you know when she starts the program so you can follow along.

ACAI Diet- Does it work?

As a nutritionist I have been inundated with questions about ACAI berry, what is it? Does it work?  Is it safe?  I have decided to write about this topic for the next 30 days on my blog.  I will not be partaking in the acai diet, I instead will be using my good friend Julie as the human guinea pig.  I figured it would make sense for me to start off with the basics.

ACAI berry is a berry that is indigenous to the Brazilian rainforest.  It has become all the rage lately thanks to the book by Dr. Perricone and Opera.  As you know if Opera is behind it, it will be a winner (think, Obama!) This berry is being touted as the most nutritious food on Earth.  The berry is supposed to help aid weight loss and it is now the latest diet craze out there right now.   Does it work?  I am not sure, but I will have a better idea in 30 days.  Stayed tuned for the ACAI Experiment.”

If you can’t wait 30 days and want to try it out for yourself now, this is the site I used, seems to be the best deal out there.

Colon Cleanser experiement- Final Evaluation

It has been 30 days since I started this crazy experiment and all I can say is Thank God.  It has been a very unpleasant 30 days and I am really glad it is over.  Let me start with the last couple of days and then I will conclude with a final evaluation.  The last couple of days were pretty eventful as more toxic sludge has exited my body.  Some of the movements were very large in length while others were very loose.  It seems like stuff was just coming out in all shapes and sizes.  As a final evaluation, I can say that it does work.  I have excreted stuff from my body that would still be in there had I not taken this product.  What I will also say is that it was one of the most unpleasant months of my life.  I experienced stomach pains and discomfort more days then not.  My bowel movement schedule was all over the place.  Sometimes I would go 8 times a day and then not at all the next day.  Instead of being filled with energy, I was exhausted most of the time.  I drank plenty of water but I always felt dehydrated.  I just drank 32 ounces of water and I am dying of thirst right now.  As far as the weight loss is concerned, I lost just under 4 pounds.  My jeans are definitely looser and my stomach is noticeably flatter.
I guess I am glad that I took the product, but I do not think that I will take it again, certainly not for a long long time.  Mt advice would be to use it if you really think you need to.  If you do not, I would stay away because the discomfort and the impact on your life may not be worth it.  I will leave it up to you to decide.
I hope you enjoyed the Colon Cleaner “series”.  My next experiment will be evaluating the ACAI berry diet.  Luckily, my friend will be the guinea pig this time.  I need a break.

Stay tuned…

Colon Cleanser Expirement- Day 22

I am really having a bad go with this.  The last couple of days I was severely constipated and had a terrible 2 day long headache.  I am not positive if the headache was associated with the cleansing, but I suspect it is.  Today everything broke loose, it was a day where I needed to be within 10 feet of a bathroom at all times.  I had the longest and thickest bowel movement of my lifetime.  It was I like i was holding this in for 20 years instead of 2 days.  I felt immediate relief after this latest movement.  I also felt 2 to 3 pounds lighter, and I probably lost in an inch of my waistline.  I can tell you that I am losing weigh, I have not stepped on the scale yet but I can tell with how my clothes fit.  It seems like this stuff is working but it is not very pleasant to go through.  I have felt so bad over the past three days that I have not worked out at all.  I can’t wait until after next week so I can be done with this and get back to my normal life and my normal bowel movements.
side note-  I mentioned in several earlier posts that I would be testing out the ACAI berry diet and talk about that next.  After this experience I can tell you that I will not be doing it.  Fortunately, my good friend was telling me that she wanted to try it out and she agreed to let me use her as a case study.  This should be fun, so stay tuned.

Colon Cleanser Expirement Day 18

A lot of activity has been happening over the last couple of days.  My bowel movements seems to be on a schedule now.  I feel the urge to go right when I wake up and then again after lunch and again after dinner.  I have been on this pattern for the last 2 days now.
I finally had the “big one” and by this I mean something came out of me that was so big and disgusting that I almost through up.  The stench was also unbearable.  I did some research online and this is called the muciod plaque, it was black and rubbery and really gross.  I know some people like to take pictures, I will spare you those details.
I am happy to report that my stomach pains have subsided and I am feeling really good and healthy.  After close to three weeks it finally seems to be working like it should.

Colon Cleaner Experiment day 14

Its been a couple of days since I posted and let me tell you I have been having a rough time with this cleanser.  Over the last couple of days I have been dealing with cramping.  I am also having numerous bowel movements.  Today, I went 8 different times (I actually have a pen and paper on the sink to keep track) and each time was pretty eventful.  I had no idea that I had so much “stuff” in my body.  Everytime I go to the bathroom I keep thinking where did this come from.  Today was also the first time that I noticed some funky looking stuff that came out (I know it’s gross, but I have to look)  The best way i can describe it is as a greenish brown knotted rope.  There has also quite a bit of what appears to be lettuce or other leafy type vegetables.  So far it seems to be working , I just wish my cramping would go away.

Colon Cleanser Experiment Day 10

A lot has been going on in the last couple of days, both in my personal life as well as with my colon.  There is definite activity to report over the last couple of days.  This morning I had terrible stomach cramps and had to rush to the bathroom to relieve myself.  I had three separate bowel movements in a period of 20 minutes.  About 5 minutes later the cramping had gone away.  Basically, I have been dealing with stomach issues for the last four days now.  It ranges from severe shooting pain to mild discomfort.  I have not had a normal solid bowel movement in 5 days now and my appetite is non existent.  In regards to anything unusual coming out of my body, that has not happened yet.  I just feel like I have a stomach bug or something.  I ave noticed that my life has been impacted as I always have to make sure I am not to far away from a bathroom and I have noticed that my energy level has actually decreased significantly.  This may be due to the fact that I have not been able to eat much.
All I know is that I feel crappy (pun intended!).
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Colon Cleanse Experiment- Day

I am writing this blog post while sitting on the toilet  (lol, I am just kidding!) But seriously, it seems like I have been going to the bathroom more often than I can ever remember.  Something is definitely going on down there.  I steeped the tea for close to 12 minutes last night, which is longer than normal and that may have helped kick start the process.   I woke up at about 4:00 am (which never happens) and had to rush to the bathroom.  Not to gross anyone out, but my stool was very loose.  The rest of the day my stomach has been going haywire and I have gone to the bathroom about 8 times.  Nothing major has come out, again it seems like things are just loosing up.