Crunchy AND Nutritious?

Well, yes. Kashi has made crunchy and nutritious possible! How? Good question. The answer: hummus and whole grains.

If you're like me, hummus was not a regular part of your diet. I've always thought of chickpeas as a great ingredient to 3-bean salad! (I also think of them as garbanzos, but that's another story.)


When Bzzagent gave me the opportunity to try Kashi Hummus Crisps for free, I was curious to see if they'd live up to the buzz. I knew they wouldn't taste like potato chips, and I was right. They're better than potato chips! The texture is different--thicker, crunchier. My free bag was the Sea Salt and Olive Oil. I was so impressed, I went out looking for the other two flavors.

At first, I could only find the Caramelized Onion. They reminded me of a crispy friend onion snack I used to eat before becoming so health-conscious. I was so pleasantly surprised. They're delicious.

The next shopping trip, I was able to find the Sundried Tomato, Basil & Feta. To me, they taste like crunchy little pizza crisps.

The only caveat is this: you'll need to watch how many you eat. A serving size of around 27 crisps comes in at 120 calories. That's pretty good. However, if you like them as much as I do, you'd better measure them out in advance to avoid going over your calorie limit. They're so good, you could probably eat an entire bag at one sitting!

Change is in the Air!

Whether you're in the Northern or Southern Hemispheres, change is in the air! If you're north of the equator, Happy Autumn! If you're south, Happy Spring! (I know. I'm a week late. Chalk it off to the change of seasons!)

The changes of season can be a time of change for us, as well. While change can be challenging, or even difficult, it can also be good for us.

Let's consider the change of the seasons. As the earth orbits the sun, it wobbles on its axis. It's a gentle wobble, fortunately for all of us, but it still makes the sun seem to move north and south of the equator. Seasonal changes can seem sudden, like the cooler fall days that just popped into my neighborhood, practically overnight. Most often, however, change is more subtle.

Say you go on a diet and lose twenty pounds. Maybe it came off quickly. Maybe it took a while. Either way, you hit your goal weight and you think, "Aha! I'm there! I can relax now!" "One cookie won't hurt." "Yes, thank you, I'd love seconds."

Sure, you won't put on twenty pounds overnight (unless you have a serious medical condition beyond the scope of this blog). However slow it may be, however, once you stop your diet, the scales may start to creep upward again. A subtle change. Soon you may be back where you were before, or even worse than when you started.

That's the problem with diets. As I stated in my last post, the entire dieting mindset is based on its being temporary. Something with an end-date.

What you need is a life-style change. A program that will give you tips on how to change what you're doing now, so that you can live your life at a healthy weight.

The Bodē plan from VEMMA is just such a plan. Not only is it simple & easy, but you get smartphone support with its award-winning app that will message you when it's time to eat, give you recipes, exercises, and the best vitamin and mineral combo in the business. With the great nutrition you'll be getting, not only will your weight improve, but you'll get more energy for living!

What about it, then? Are you ready for some positive change in your life? Check out the Bodē products today!

Why Diets Fail

How many diets have you been on since you were old enough to know what a "diet" is? If you're like me, you may not remember. Diet fads come and go like leaves on deciduous trees. And with them, the weight. It goes, and then, when you quit the diet, it comes back. And usually the pounds bring their friends.

First off, the modern definition of "diet" is inaccurate. A diet can consist of anything and everything we eat. Calling a program to lose weight a "diet" is restricting the term, and gives us a "temporary" mindset. That is, we think, Okay, this is only temporary. I can do this for a short time and lose the weight and then I can go back to eating all my favorite foods again. Thinking like that is sure to sabotage any long-term weight loss and maintenance goal.

What put us into the overweight category? If you're like me, it was probably a lack of portion control. It's so good---maybe I'll have just one more... And one after that, and another one, and then, surprise! The package is empty.

Another thing that can tip the scales in the wrong direction is a sedentary lifestyle. Believe it or not, standing in one place all day has the same effect as sitting at a desk. My last work-outside-the-home job had me standing for hours, and I put on something like thirty pounds. I was drinking lots of sugary coffees and sodas to give myself enough energy to get through the day. To compound that, I wasn't getting nearly enough exercise. Who had time? It was always (a) get up early & get ready for work, (b) grab breakfast, (c) get to work, (d) get through the day until break or lunch and grab something high-calorie to see me through until the next break, (e) have a highly caffeinated beverage to give me enough energy to get through the rest of the day until quitting time, (f) run any errands, (g) go home for a meal and try to get enough rest to tackle the next day. And on Sundays, in addition to church, sometimes store meetings had me getting there at 6 AM before opening, and then heading to church afterward for my organ-playing job.

Did I have time to exercise? No. Did I need exercise? Oh, yes. Badly. I also didn't need all that excess sugar and caffeine from artificial and non-organic sources.

If you're currently in a sedentary lifestyle, as I was, you can't expect the weight to stay off when it comes off, unless you keep restricting your caloric intake. And, even if you do keep the calories down, a lack of exercise makes it much harder for your body to burn the calories that you take in. As we get older, once past that golden age of development, our bodies begin to lose muscle, unless we stress them on a regular basis. By stress, I mean exercise.

Exercise comes in different flavors:

• weight-bearing, such as hand weights, weight machines, barbells, push-ups, etc.
• aerobic, which increases heart rate and lung capacity and includes such activities as walking, running, calisthenics and jumping rope, to name a few 
• stretching, like Praise Moves,  Pilates, etc.
• deep muscle movement, like Callanetics or Chicometrics 

Each one of these is good, but the best course is to mix types of exercise. Try to do weight-bearing exercise 2 or 3 days a week, but never two days in a row. Lifting weights makes tiny tears in the muscle, and taking a day in between lets the tears heal, which strengthens the muscle. If you're a woman, don't worry about developing a Popeye or Mr. America physique. Unless you're taking steroids, it won't happen. 

Walking can be done every day, as can stretching, because unless done at a frenetic pace, they're gentle. Aim for at least 30 minutes at least 3 days a week. Those 30 can be broken down into increments of 5. Note that if you do, you won't get as good an aerobic result, but it will still increase your metabolism.

Deep muscle movements, like lifting weights, should be done only every other day, to let the muscles recuperate.

Whatever exercise you do will be beneficial, and aid in your journey to wellness! As always, be sure to check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program.

For a complete weight loss/maintenance program, complete with recipes and an award-winning phone app, visit Bode. 

Little Steps

Little steps. It sounds so basic. Maybe because it is.

We don't have to take giant steps to succeed. In fact, if we try to take giant steps, we're very likely to fall on our faces.

One small change for the better can start an entire chain of events.

People who run in races train first. They don't suddenly wake up one day and run twenty-six miles without preparation. The name "marathon" came from ancient Greece. There are conflicting accounts of whether Pheidippedes ran to Athens from the plains of Marathon to tell of victory over the Persians, or whether he ran from Athens to Sparta to seek aid. Either way, not having trained to run 26 miles, he dropped dead after delivering the message. The moral of the story? Train first.

Preparation is important for almost everything in life. (I qualify it with "almost" only because if I don't, someone is sure to correct me about something they just jumped into and succeeded effortlessly.) When it comes to getting in shape, you'd better start off small. And, if you're very out of shape, see your doctor first!

Changing the way we eat doesn't have to be instantaneous and overnight, either. Just making small changes for the better can improve our health and the way we look and feel. Here are a few suggestions for some small steps we can all take to improve our health.

• Swap out unhealthy fats for healthy ones. Transfats (partially or totally hydrogenated oils of any sort) should be eliminated completely. This means taking most margarine out of your diet completely! Even the saturated fat of butter is better for you than most margarine. Saturated fat usage should be cut down. Healthy fats like those found in nuts and peanuts (a legume) should be the ones most often used. Diets advocating the total elimination of fat from the diet should be avoided. Our bodies need a balance of protein, simple carbohydrates and healthy fats for optimal health.
• Cut down on simple carbohydrates. If you eat potatoes, which are a starch that turns into sugar rapidly in the bloodstream, be sure to eat a healthy fat with it, to slow its absorption into the bloodstream. 
• Be careful which artificial sweetener you use. Some turn into formaldehyde when ingested. I don't know about you, but that's a preservative for dead things that I just don't want to eat!
• Calories DO count, but if you are balancing your diet with healthy foods and not overeating, you shouldn't have to count them.
• Do some moderate exercising. The latest studies have shown that even breaking up the recommended fifteen to thirty minutes a day into five minute segments will have a marked improvement in your overall condition. 
• Find a mentor. Having someone encourage you as you take on the challenge of living a more healthful life can help you through the rough spots (for example, at birthday parties when people offer you a second piece of cake). 
• Be patient. If you're badly out of shape or have a lot of weight to lose, don't expect to meet your goals overnight. The human body isn't designed that way! Besides, remember that those little steps add up to make a big difference.

Meal replacement can be a good way to add in necessary nutrients and effect a slow but permanent change. Find one that gives you the right amount of vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients so that it will help you become healthier, not just thinner.

The VEMMA bodē products are some of the most healthful meal replacements in the marketplace today. They contain no artificial ingredients, and support a healthy diet. The protein and fiber help you feel full longer.

All the facts are available here. 

Like what you see? Start your healthy life at
www.enthusiasmpays.vemma.com today!

Staying Positive

Sometimes our biggest challenge in getting or staying in shape is just keeping a positive attitude. It's easy to keep going when things are going your way. When it gets hard, however, staying positive becomes more difficult. It's also when you need it the most!

What keeps you focused on your goals? Your health & well-being? Fitting into a smaller size? Being able to "be there" for your family & loved ones?

It's so easy to lose track when everything else is clamoring for your attention. And, once you stop paying attention, those sneaky pounds can come right back! It's happened to me. It can happen to you.

I know it's hard to stay focused and positive with so many terrible things happening around the world. Hearing someone say "keep a positive attitude" when you are distraught over a loved one in a war zone, or in the midst of a terrible wildfire, or challenged by tornadoes or hurricanes, can be like a slap in the face. You may feel insulted or angry.

I don't mean to do that to you, truly. If you're facing monumental challenges, feel free to ignore me. Give those challenges to God and come back to my blog when things are better. I'm praying for you.

If you're just in a slump, however, I'm here to cheer you on. Just because we get into a slump doesn't mean we have to stay there. Just because we lose our dietary focus and put on a few pounds doesn't mean they have to stay with us forever. We CAN lose them again. We just have to make that decision, for our health!

I'm deciding to do better again. How about you?

What Happens When You Stop?

I don't know about you, but I like projects that have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Say, writing a book. Painting a landscape. Composing a song. Things that have a beginning but no end are, for me, at least, much more difficult. Things that go on and on. Planning and maintaining a garden. The daily grind of housework. Maintaining weight loss after a diet.

With things like Project Style A, you know where you're going (most of the time) and how to get there. It's like having a road map (or, for some of you, GPS). You start, you keep on going until the end is in sight, then you finish. You're done. The book is completed. (It may need revisions, but you have a first draft in your hands.) The painting is finished, sitting there on the easel, drying. It may not be a masterpiece, but it's yours. You put your signature on it, and move on to the next painting. The song is composed, written down, recorded, copyrighted. It's ready to perform.

Project Style A comes with built-in satisfaction. You know you've accomplished something. It makes you feel good.

Project Style B, however, can become tedious. You get all excited about planning the garden. You prepare the ground, plant the seeds, water them, wait for them to sprout. At first, it's amazing. Then the weeds start to appear. You cautiously pull the first few, afraid you may be uprooting the plants you want instead of the weeds. After a while, you may get busy and forget to water your garden. The plants may start to wilt. The weeds start to take over. You may decide it's too much work and throw all your effort to the wind. Forget it! It's too much trouble.

Maintaining weight loss can be that way. At first it's exciting. You've lost all that weight. Inches have disappeared. You're fitting into clothes you thought you'd never be able to wear. Then the weeds start to appear. A cookie here. Some ice cream there. Your favorite meals all day long instead of the good things you're supposed to be eating.

That happened to me. It can happen to you. What we have to do is decide we're not going to go back to the way we were. We have to make a conscious effort not to slide back and lose all our effort. We have to continue to maintain and not backslide.

What happens when you stop? Do you stay the same weight? No. You start to lose definition. You begin to notice the scales climbing upward. Half a pound here. A quarter pound there. Then a pound. It can be fast and scary. It can also be slow and insidious.

I regained five pounds and some inches here and there. Was it just laziness? Did I get too busy to care? (Yes. I got REALLY busy.) Am I going to stay there? NO! I've already lost one of those extra pounds, and I'm going to lose the rest. You can, too.

Will it be easy? Maybe not.
Will it be worth it? Definitely!

Need support? Allow me to suggest the Bode Transformation. People have been getting amazing results in just twelve weeks. If you have a smart phone, you can get the Bode app, with great daily inspiration to help you stay on track, alert you when it's time to eat something, and help you plan your exercise program. Am I going to try it? Yes! As soon as I get a smart phone! But you don't have to wait. You can start changing your life right now!

Until next time, have a lovely week!

Allergy Season and Supplements

In the northern hemisphere, allergy season is upon us! Flowers are opening, trees are leafing out, pollen is everywhere! (At least, if the weather is warm enough...) It seems as if everyone around you is sniffling and sneezing. Maybe you are, too!

Allergies can sap your strength, drain you of energy, and make you feel generally rotten. Even if you're taking  allergy tablets to fight off the histamine symptoms, you can still feel tired and listless, and as if the only thing you want to do is pull the covers over your head until things stop blooming.

Eating locally produced honey can go a long way toward helping you fight allergies to plants that bloom in your area. Sometimes it can be hard to find, but if you find you're allergic to many of the plants growing where you live, it may be worth your while to seek out a local beekeeper and purchasing some. The pollen turned into honey by bees will help you build up an immunity to the allergens. If you are managing diabetes or another medical condition, be sure to check with your doctor before adding sweets of any kind to your diet. Honey is appropriate for children ONLY if they are above two years old. Under that, it can interfere with their digestive system.

News reports I've seen recently indicate that this may be one of the worst years for allergies in decades! What can you do to manage allergies? Aside from adding in locally grown honey and taking antihistamines, you may want to supplement your diet. While vitamins and minerals have not yet been found to help in the fight against allergies, getting good nutrition always allows the body to work better. We are designed to take in good food, as close to nature as we can. Freshly picked fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, adequate amounts of fiber, all go a long way to making us stronger and healthier.

In addition, supplementing your healthy diet with exercise and a good source of vitamins and minerals gives your body two more weapons in the fight for good health. Ever since the AMA announced in its Journal that the way America grows its food has seriously depleted our soil and we now must take vitamin and mineral supplements, nutrition companies have been promoting their assortment of nutritional supplements. Most of them have one thing in common: they come in either tablet, capsule, or gel cap form. A few come as powders or fizzy tablets to dissolve in water. Those are on the right track.

Liquids are absorbed into the body much faster than tablets. In addition, the body can absorb up to 90% of liquids, compared to 10-30% of solid tablets. Doesn't it make sense to use a liquid vitamin and mineral complex supplement, knowing it will get into your system almost immediately?

If you compare Vemma liquid multivitamin with other high-end vitamins on the market, you'll see the price is about the same. The nutrition you get from it, however, is far greater than anything you can get with a tablet. And, while there are other liquid multivitamins with minerals available in stores, the ones we've tried taste horrible! The amazing thing about Vemma is how they can take vitamins and minerals, fit them into a juice form, and still have them taste delicious! But you don't have to take my word for it. Visit www.enthusiasmpays.vemma.com and order some today. Your order is covered by a 30 day money-back guarantee, so what do you have to lose?

Have a great week!

Can Diet Supplements Prevent Illness?

The debate has been raging for decades. Nobel laureate Linus Pauling's research into vitamin C and the common cold was a landmark study. It seemed to prove that if vitamin C couldn't actually prevent or shorten the duration of a cold, it could at least lessen its severity. Subsequent research has sought to debunk that theory, but while there are scientists on each side of the debate, one thing remains clear: vitamin supplementation is necessary in America today.

Due to the rise of artificial and chemical fertilizers instead of natural compost, American commercial farming soil is one of the most nutrition-deficient growing areas in the modern world. Commercial growers are urged to get produce to market sooner and make produce last longer, which means it generally arrives where you buy it not only picked while still unripe, but with added chemicals whose effects are still unknown in the long term.

With vitamin and mineral content in our food at an all-time low, we need to supplement our diet. By adding these missing essential nutrients, we can improve our health at the cellular level, where nutrition is the most vital. Getting the vitamins and trace minerals directly into our bodies' cells helps them regenerate faster and better.

While this may not prevent every disease, it can certainly keep us in better shape physically. When our cells are in good condition, they are able to fight off disease more effectively. On the other hand, if we're stressing our cells out by exposure to toxins in the atmosphere or our diet, we're setting ourselves up to have to fight harder to avoid disease.

Here's what I've found recently: our church Easter pageant was this past Thursday and Friday, and we had practices all week beforehand, including two complete run-throughs on Wednesday. Many in the choir were fighting off colds. Once upon a time, when I was not taking supplements, I'd have come down with a cold the early part of the week and missed the pageant entirely.

Thanks to my supplements, not only did I survive the pageant and still able to sing, though I was coming down with a cold on Friday, the cold was much less severe than it would have been previously. I was even able to make it to church Easter morning and play the organ.

Not only that, I don't feel completely crushed the way I used to feel whenever I had a cold. I took extra doses of vitamin C, of course, and also extra doses of Vemma liquid nutrition. The blend of vitamins, minerals, mangosteen and aloe enabled me to keep going. I fully believe it can do the same for you.

It's cold & allergy season. Don't you owe it to yourself to find out more?

Get your liquid nutrition here.

Fear of Success

"Huh? What are you talking about, fear of success? Who's afraid of success?"

Everyone's heard of fear of failure. That is a major reason why so many people don't start things, whether it be a change in eating habits, a new job, a new friendship, whatever it may be. But fear of success? Doesn't that sound silly?

It isn't. When you succeed, things are going to change. You may be so comfortable with your life right now that you don't want change of any sort. You may enjoy those few (or many) extra pounds. If you lose them, you might have to invest in a new wardrobe. You might start getting attention. Oooooh. Scary. People might start noticing you for your exterior rather than your sparkling personality.

So? Will that change who you are inside? The answer depends on you. If you are made of good stuff, if you've stayed on track by reading the right kind of materials, if you are staying positive and not letting the change in the way people view you affect who you are, that can be a very good thing. If you need to grow and change on the inside as well as change on the outside, and if you let it change you for the better and not for the worse, it can be wonderful.

Are you afraid of succeeding? I know I have been, but not any longer. I'm staying focused on my life's priorities: knowing and loving God, caring for family and friends, accomplishing my goals, staying true to myself while continuing to grow as a person.

I have lost the weight I set out to lose, and more. I'm becoming stronger and healthier than I was before I started my journey. There's still room for improvement, though, and I'm not afraid of this success.

Write your own health success story. Start right here: www.enthusiasmpays.vemma.com . Whatever your wellness needs, the answer is as close as your computer. And your heart!

Setting Goals

Achieving what you want is much easier if you know what you want. Sure, you may know that you'd like to lose ten pounds, but unless you set a time constraint, you may not have the motivation to carry out your plan. And you need a plan!

Okay. Say you have ten pounds to lose. (It may be more or less.) You need a realistic time goal in which to lose them. Don't decide you need to lose ten pounds overnight. The only way you can do that is with liposuction, and that doesn't work in the long term. If you want to lose ten pounds and keep them off, you need to decide what to do about it.

You've heard this before, I'm sure, that two pounds a week is a reasonable amount of weight to lose and keep off. Any faster than that is not healthful, and the weight will probably come back, with interest. At two pounds a week, ten pounds will take you five weeks to lose.

"Five weeks!" I can hear you screaming. "I want these pounds gone now!"

Well, of course you do. But you want them to stay gone, don't you? There's no point to lose ten pounds only to gain them back.

Furthermore, when you lose weight in an unhealthful manner, most often you aren't losing fat. You're losing muscle. Muscle is what helps burn fat and keeps your metabolism revved. When you lose that, what you gain back won't be muscle. You'll gain fat. And fat takes up more space than muscle does, so you'll lose definition as well.

So, set a reasonable time goal. And don't just diet. Change small things. Get really good nutrition, such as supplementing with Vemma products. Start exercising. The more muscle you build, the better your metabolism will be. Aerobics will increase your stamina. Strength-training will add healthy, lean muscle. Flexibility training will keep you limber and ease joint strain.

Lastly, remember, if you need to lose weight, you probably didn't gain it overnight. Don't expect to lose it overnight, either. Losing weight should just be part of your goal. Your main goal should be getting healthy!

Your Cheering Section

Ever notice how people perform better when someone is encouraging and cheering them on? We all need to know that what we're doing is worthwhile and that we're making a difference, whether it's in our work, our relationships, or even our favorite hobbies.

Photo Courtesy of Dave Johnson

Getting and staying in shape is no different. Yes, we can plow on ahead and get healthy on our own. It takes a lot of determination not to quit. If, however, you have people building you up and encouraging you, it lightens your load. It just plain makes it easier to persevere when people are cheering you on!

Who's your support team? Do you have people building you up on your quest to live a healthier life? Or are people constantly telling you that you'll never make it, never be healthy, thinner, active, fill in the blank....? People like that aren't trying to build you up--they're trying to tear you down! Don't listen to them. If it's your family, you'll have to tune them out. If it's your friends, however, maybe it's time to  find some new friends, people who will applaud your decision to get healthy and sow seeds of encouragement into your mind and heart.

Even if you don't have a team of encouragers, you can speak those words into your own heart. Say it out loud: "I'm getting healthy. I'm getting strong. I'm getting to my goal weight." You can even just declare in faith, "I'm healthy!" "I'm strong!" There is a Biblical principle behind this: "Let the weak say, I am strong." (Joel 3:10) Is it asking you to lie to yourself? Of course not! By making a declaration like that every day, out loud, those words come into your ears and from there into your mind. What you hear often enough, you begin to believe, even if you're the one saying it. So if you've been saying, "I'll never keep the weight off," or "I've been sick so long, I don't think I'm ever going to be healthy," you're just compounding your problem.

Learn to speak good things into existence. Get a positive attitude about yourself. If you have a team of people building you up, that's fabulous! Still, you need to build yourself up, as well. How much better to build yourself up than beat yourself up!

Let me tell you right now: You can do it! I believe in you! I may not know you, but I have confidence that you can achieve what you set out to do.

Supplement Your Life

As long ago as 1946, J.I Rodale was concerned with the state of nutrition in America. The United States was just coming out of one of the worst droughts in history, resulting in that terrible time during the Great Depression known as the Dust Bowl. Overfarming and lack of crop rotations combined with drought, destroyed thousands of acres of formerly profitable land, turning them into worthless wasteland.

As thousands fled the heartland of America for the still-fertile lands west of the Rockies, scientists began searching for a way to reclaim the land and restore it to profitability. Chemical fertilizers, they thought, were the wave of the future. All they had to do was reintroduce the proper combination of phosphates, nitrogen and potassium back into the soil, and all would be well.

Great idea. Unfortunately, the artificial fertilizers did nothing to restore the earthworm population. Earthworms are a vital part of the ecosystem, often overlooked or ignored entirely. Without earthworms and their casings, the land may produce for a while, but eventually it will die again.

Rodale tried to wake American farmers up to the need for traditional composting, and he did reach a few. However, the rise of single-crop farming across broad expanses of land in the mid-to-late twentieth century began to deplete the one thing we need most from our food: Nutrients.

The state of nutrition in America has gotten so bad that most nutritionists now agree we all need to supplement our diet with vitamins and minerals. The food we eat, even if we're eating the daily recommended amounts of healthful fruits and vegetables, just isn't as nutritious as what our grandparents and great-grandparents ate.

Growing vegetables and fruits is like anything else in this way: you get out of it what you put into it. If you put the plants into nutrient-depleted soil, you're going to get nutrient-deficient plants. They can only absorb what's there in the ground. If there's insufficient iron in the soil, the spinach won't have enough iron to give Popeye his strength.

Granted, not everyone has access to a place where they can grow their own garden using compost they've made from plant and animal byproducts. That's why we need to supplement our diet with vitamins and minerals. The latest wave of nutritional supplementation is in a liquid form.

Vemma has been listed as one of the top five superjuices in an article in Men's Journal. You only need 2 ounces per hundred pounds of bodyweight. Before it was released to market, the strictest double-blind placebo clinical trials were conducted to rate its effect on the body. You can read the clinical studies here.

So, if you are interested, please visit my Enthusiasm Pays Vemma site, or e-mail me marionlaird@gmail.com for more information.

To read more of J.I. Rodale's epic work on compost farming, look for Pay Dirt. It's been updated several times since 1946, and the tips for creating your own compost will help even the smallest garden grow healthier plants, meaning a healthier you!

Here's to your health!

Nutrition and Energy

Fatigue sends many people running to their doctor for help. They just don't have enough energy to get through their day with vitality! Is anything wrong with them? Not necessarily. 

Of the causes of fatigue, one of the most common is poor nutrition. This isn't always our fault. Thanks to soil depletion brought on by years of chemical fertilizers and over-farming, our food no longer contains as many natural nutrients as that grown and eaten by previous generations. Today's veggies just aren't as good for us as our grandparents' vegetables were for them. 

Does that mean you should give up on vegetables? Of course not! It just means you need to supplement in order to achieve the kind of good nutrition our grandparents and ancestors could get just from their five daily servings of fruits and vegetables.

The growing energy drink market capitalizes on people's need for a boost to their day. Energy drinks are everywhere! Many of them contain artificial caffeine. Drink one, and it'll give you some quick energy. Unfortunately, you can crash and burn after a while.

B.K. Boreyko, founder of VEMMA, saw the need for an energy drink that would also provide nutrition. What if we could give people energy that's actually good for you? Made with naturally occurring caffeine, all organic ingredients, plus a dose of nutrition, all in a delicious, icy cold drink? Working with his scientists, B.K. and his team came up with Verve. What is it? Insanely healthy energy!

How good is it? Good enough that it's the official energy drink of the NBA Phoenix Suns! Good enough that it's part of America's favorite doctor's afternoon pick-me-up routine! And if that's not good enough for you, the organic sugar versions have only 35 calories. Plus, the silver can is Zero-Sugar, with only 5 calories! 

Best yet, it's delicious! So, healthy energy, no crash, and low calorie! It's a win-win-win! 

To find out more, please visit www.enthusiasmpays.vemma.com. Thanks, and have a great, energy-filled day!

How Are Your New Year's Resolutions Coming?

If you're like me, you set several goals for yourself this year. I like to call them goals, rather than resolutions. So much has been made of "New Year's Resolutions" that we've forgotten what a resolution really is. Making a resolution means you resolve to do something, that is, you decide and then set your whole heart and mind to accomplishing that goal.

Too many times, we make out a list of things we'd like to accomplish. We let it be a list of good intentions. It's great to have good intentions, but unless we put them into practice, they won't amount to anything!

Say, for example, a child wants to become a great baseball player. Unless he is willing to put in the time to practice daily, he won't gain the skills he needs to be able to pitch, throw or even hit the ball.

Or say you have a vague notion that you'd like to play the guitar. After all, it looks easy, the instrument is portable, and you can do all kinds of things with it. Maybe you actually purchase a guitar and play around with it, even pick up a chord or two. That might be enough for you. Someone else, buying a similar guitar, might have a burning desire to become really proficient, good enough to play concerts. Will they pick up the guitar every month or so? No. They'll put in at least an hour of practice every single day. (In my heyday, I'd play close to eight hours a day.)

The point is this: if you have a goal, you have to work for it. You can't just have some vague hope of success. If you want to lose weight, you need to make the changes in your metabolism that will help you to keep it off permanently. And that will take exercise as well as a modification of your eating habits.

Good nutrition and exercise can make you stronger. In the end, it's up to you. If you do the work, you can change the way you feel!

Keep up the good work!
And for some really amazing nutrition and an insanely healthy energy drink, please visit EnthusiasmPays.Vemma.com.

Mindset and Health

I'm reading a couple of good books right now, one on exercise and fitness, the other on developing enthusiasm. Both seem to be out of print, but are available in various formats on Amazon.com While I'm just a few chapters into the latter, I can already see they have a lot in common.

MAKE THE CONNECTION by Bob Greene and Oprah Winfrey discusses making the decision to get fit. ENTHUSIASM MAKES THE DIFFERENCE by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale shows how generating enthusiasm can change your entire attitude.

Even though they cover different subject matter, they have this in common: you have to change your attitude in order to succeed. A negative attitude will bring negative results. The only way to get positive results is with a positive attitude.

Maybe negative thinking is a habit of yours. You may think you aren't good enough, strong enough, smart enough... the list is endless. Stop allowing yourself to think negative thoughts about yourself. All you're doing is reinforcing the attitudes and behaviors that are keeping you from fulfilling your potential.

When I first started this blog, I think I mentioned I'd tried just about every diet ever printed, and failed at them all. Part of that was due to unhealthful attributes of some of the diets, but most of it was due to me. I wanted to get healthy, but I'd been a sick child, and prone to think I couldn't do something because I was sick. That carried over into other aspects of thinking.

Negative thinking will eventually rob you of all enthusiasm. And, unless you get excited and enthused about what you want to accomplish, the likelihood is that you won't accomplish what you set out to do.

I haven't finished these books yet, but already they are making a difference in my attitude. I know that I'm already much healthier than I've ever been, even though currently I'm exhibiting mild flu symptoms. A year ago, those symptoms would have been severe, but changing my nutrition habits has given me more strength.

Will I still take it easy and rest when I need to? Definitely! The difference is: I know that I can still accomplish things despite this current physical challenge.
And you know what? I believe you can, too!

What's your current challenge? What are you working through? Do you have the enthusiasm to see you through it? I'd love to hear from you!

The Importance of Exercise

A lot of people have asked me whether I was exercising to lose weight, and the answer is a qualified "no." I had tried exercising to lose weight before, but that isn't the main purpose.

Exercise helps you increase your lean muscle mass, which increases your metabolism. In that sense, the answer would be "yes." However, I'd been exercising all along without making much difference to my Body Mass Index.

The importance of exercise, whether you're trying to lose weight or gain it, cannot be overstressed. This day and age in which we live doesn't give us daily exercise the way our ancestors knew it.

Before the age of machines, everything was done by hand. People mostly walked everywhere, unless they could afford a horse (which was another form of exercise). Since walking is the ideal exercise, our ancestors could stay in shape pretty much just by living a normal life.

Automobiles and a sedentary work life have contributed to a society with fewer people in good shape. We don't get enough exercise naturally from our lifestyle. Since many of us are no longer having to walk everywhere and do heavy, outdoor labor, we have to add in exercise on our own.

In choosing an exercise program, you need to consider many factors. If you're just starting out and are badly out-of-shape, you should talk to your doctor before beginning anything that could aggravate some currently undiagnosed condition.

There are basically three forms of exercise: aerobic (that which causes you to breathe more deeply and increases your lung capacity), anaerobic (which doesn't), and (I'm giving this its own category, though most exercise physiologists probably don't) flexibility.

Aerobic exercise includes walking, running, cycling (or spinning), and skating (though not skateboarding). Anaerobic exercise includes weight lifting, resistance training, and isometrics. Flexibility exercise includes stretching programs, yoga, Pilates, and Praise Moves.

Which one should you choose? Ideally, you should be doing all three. We need aerobic exercise for our hearts and lungs. We need resistance training (of any sort) for our muscles. And we need flexibility so we don't stiffen into statues!

So, check with your doctor and decide to make a change today. I'm going to be adding in more aerobic exercise to accompany my resistance and flexibility programs. While I know I need to keep my muscle tone built up, I also need the endurance that walking will give me. I'll keep you posted on my results, and hope you'll share yours with me!