The 90 Day Success Plan

Hello Everyone,

On Friday I passed the 90 day trial period on the Womentowomen.com nutrition and phytonutrient hormone supplement program with the Schwartzbein Principle Eating Plan to regain my health!

Ta-DA!!!

Here's the results:

1. I have lost 6 pounds.
2. I walk at least a mile every morning.
   
3. I sleep like a baby 7.5 hours every night
4. I am regaining muscle mass.
5. I am regaining skin tone.
6. My mood is - hold onto your hat for this one - optimistic.

Now, I'll give you the regimen I am following. And, I'm not giving this up anytime soon. I do believe I am going to do this for life, if not, longer.

6:00 am. I roll out of bed and tie on my tennis shoes. I stop in the kitchen to mix a big glass of pure water. Into I add a teaspoon of Enliven Probiotic and Superfood(One Group*), I chew a supplement from my chiropractor, DSF Formula from Nutri-West (addresses adrenals and thyroid); then out the door. I live in the mountains, so I've worked out a short route with one really steep hill and one long, gradual hill. I do this short route 4 times; if I'm feeling up to it, I'll do one more.

On this walk is some of the most important "Me" time of the day. The first lap, I'm usually waking up by just noticing and appreciating the day. Mostly the bunnies and birds are up, and then the sun is starting to rise. I always look to see something new that is beautiful to me; and I always find something. The next 3 laps are self talk about my attitude, my body and health, and the projects that I am working on. I appreciate me, I appreciate where I am; and I imagine where I am going.

7:00 am. I cook a really good breakfast for myself. This has been the hardest part for me; following the Schwartzbein Principle Eating Program, which came with the Womentowomen.com nutrition. The building blocks are non-starch vegetables, fat, protein, and carbohydrates (non-refined and hopefully, only the kind your could harvest for yourself). I confess the first few weeks, I would stand in the kitchen with one of those cartoon balloons over my head that would have said, "Duh!!" Now, I have a few things in my repertoire that happen more easily.

Option 1. saute garlic, onions and fresh spinach, scramble in one egg. 2. roll into a corn tortilla
Option 2. bacon, lettuce and tomato on open face, home made, all rye bread.

With breakfast I take the vitamins and Omega 3 supplement with the first phytotherapy herbal supplement from Womentowomen.com. I also added 8 mg. DHEA.

• I gave up leaded coffee and switched to decaf
• All foods are organic - ALL.

NOTE: Before I go downstairs to my office to work, I fix a snack for 10:00 am: This can be celery sticks with peanut butter or almond butter; or a cup of cottage cheese with some fresh berries

10:00 am-11:00 am. I eat my snack, Drink a big glass of water and do about 10-15 minutes of breathing, walking around the yard, and refreshing myself - more self talk is good.

Noon-1:00pm. I break for lunch and REST.
I usually have a fresh salad with about everything in it: 3 kinds of lettuces, spinach, garbanzo beans, onions, mushrooms, black olives, and I sprinkle another teaspoon of Enliven on that. Salad dressing is my creation of olive oil and herb vinegars that I made from my garden. I chew another DSF tablet and take the second packet of vitamins from
Womentowomen.com. (I save out both magnesium tablets for evening). I drink a big glass of tea
(my brew: to one gallon glass jar 2 tea bags organic berry tea; 2 tea bags organic green tea; and 2 tea bags organic white tea. To decaffinate: put the bags in a strainer and pour the first cup or two of boiling water over the bags
Then I usually rest for the remainder of the hour. I used to take a full on nap; now if I do fall asleep, it's a short 15-30 minutes)
Back downstairs to my office to work with a mid-afternoon snack: either 1/2 apple with tablespoon of either peanut or almond butter.

4:00 I eat my snack, another big glass of water and a few stretching or tai chi moves.

7:00 pm Dinner: protein, fat, vegetables and a very few carbs. Now I take the two magnesium tablets, the second phytotheraphy herbal hormone supplement, 50 mg. 5HTP from Nutri-West, and a baby aspirin.

I have been inspired to exercise in the evenings, which has led to my being awake until 1:00 am. That pretty much wipes out the next day, so I try not to do that, but rather, just take a gentle walk, the purpose of which is to enjoy the night sky, self talk, breathe and usually do my gratitudes for the day.
9:00 PM I mix a packet of Berry Radical (One Group) and mix in a teaspoon of Enliven Probiotic). I'm in bed, but I treat myself, by listening to a book on disc. I'm usually asleep before the hour disc is finished.

Some notes: About a month into the program, Women to Women, Nurse Emily and I decided to increase the hormone supplements to three times a day, which I did for 6 weeks. Recently, I scaled back to 2 per day, because it just felt right.

It's most important to do the exercise you can do, no matter how much you think you can't or you don't want to. Just blinkin' Do Something.
It's imperative you change your eating patterns and start feeding your body whole food nutrition. Not only do I eat only organically grown foods (60% more available nutrition than industrially grown foods), but I supplment with Enliven Probiotic which is also a superfood, as well as Berry Radical Antioxidant that delivers 7000 orac units per serving, but is also a superfood.

You also have to change your mind. You have to do what ever it takes to change your mindset from pessimism and depression to optimism. I know it's work, but if you don't do it; nothing will change, I can promise you that.

So what's next for me?

I keep going. I want to still feel even better, and I know that I can. I have the formula. I still
want to add in some exercise that will increase strength, maybe 10-15 minutes a day. I like to combine activities; so perhaps I can listen to something interesting while I do push ups, sit ups and do some tai chi. Who knows?

Ladies and Gents, this is nothing short of a miracle for me. I tell you the truth.

Three months ago I had decided that if "that" was the quality of my life, I was done.

Then I found Womentowomen.com and agreed to be faithful and do the 90 day program. I have augmented a bit as my intuition has guided me. I also have made it a point to get body work - a massage or energy work - as necessary. I am not 100% yet, but from where I was 90 days ago, I am 75% better and still gaining on my target.

So, there's my report. Don't wait. Do whatever you have to do to regain your health, but do it.
Oh - one more note: Be sure that whatever supplements, food, vitamins, probiotic, antioxidants you put into your body is of the HIGHEST AND PUREST QUALITY.

Thanks for reading!

Kath

Kill the Food; Kill the People Irradiated Food by FDA

Hello Everyone,

Things are creepy. Americans had better wise up and wise up fast.

Check out this article in yesterday's New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/health/policy/22spinach.html?ref=us

The FDA is now going to allow "some" food to be irradiated. First let's start at the beginning.
What is irradiation? Food irradiation is the process of exposing food to ionizing radiation in order to destroy microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, or insects that might be present in the food. Further applications include sprout inhibition, delay of ripening, increase of juice yield, and improvement of re-hydration. Irradiation is a more general term of deliberate exposure of materials to radiation to achieve a technical goal (in this context 'ionizing radiation' is implied.

The genuine effect of processing food by ionizing radiation relates to damages to the DNA, the basic genetic information for life. Microorganisms can no longer proliferate and continue their malignant or pathogen activities. Spoilage-causing micro-organisms cannot continue their activities. Insects do not survive or become incapable of proliferation. Plants cannot continue the natural ripening or aging process. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_irradiation

Basically, the method kills bugs. But if it kills a living thing, a pathogen, then it also kills non pathogens, like probiotics...the good bugs. It can also alter the food itself, meaning, the nutrition contained in the plants known as phytonutrients.

What are phytonutrients?
According to Wikipedia: "Phytonutrients" refer to phytochemicals or compounds that come from edible plants.There is evidence from laboratory studies that phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer, possibly due to dietary fibers, polyphenol antioxidants and anti-inflammatory effects. Specific phytochemicals, such as fermentable dietary fibers, meet significant scientific agreement to be allowed limited health claims by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).[1]

Phytochemicals have been used as drugs for millennia. For example, Hippocrates may have prescribed willow tree leaves to abate fever. Salicin, having anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties, was originally extracted from the white willow tree and later synthetically produced to become the staple over-the-counter drug called Aspirin.

An important cancer drug, Taxol (paclitaxel), is a phytochemical initially extracted and purified from the Pacific yew tree.

Among edible plants with health promoting phytochemicals, diindolylmethane, from Brassica vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts) is currently used as a treatment for recurring respiratory papillomatosis tumors (caused by the human papilloma virus), is in Phase III clinical trials for cervical dysplasia (a precancerous condition caused by the human papilloma virus) and is in clinical trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute of the United States for a variety of cancers (breast, prostate, lung, colon, and cervical). The compound is being studied for anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer properties through a variety of pathways and has been shown to synergize with Taxol in its anti-cancer properties, making it a possible anti-cancer phytochemical as taxol resistance is a major problem for cancer patients.

Basically, phytonutrients are the healing properties in plants, spinach to rosemary. Herbs.

To subject alive material to the irradiation process is like spraying DDT on the corn. It killed everything, even the beneficial bugs.

If we are only to eat irradiated foods, we will be stripped of the medicinal properties in the foods.
Why would the FDA allow such measures. Not enough people die per annum from E Coli or Salmonella poisoning to even merit this measure. Could it be that the more food we eat that has no natural protection properties in it, the more we all get sick and need pharmceutical drugs?
Folks, this is serious business.

Already the food supply is sub nutritious because it is raised by industrial agriculture that uses pesticides and artificial fertilizers. These methods have been PROVEN to create food that has up to 60% less nutrition available to us than organically grown and raised foods. Now they want to irradiate it, stripping it of the most essential propertities that protect us from other diseases.

You might like to listen to a podcast from Natural News, the Health Ranger, Mike Adams:
http://www.naturalnews.com/podcasts/PodcastFDAspinachIrradiation2008.mp3

When we are preoccupied as a people with our health, we can certainly not be available for making conscious and aware decisions as good citizens. Who would want us so debilitated.

Wake UP America. Write you Congressmen, Senators and speak up. They are not taking good care of us as a people. It is up to us. And you'd best pay very close attention when you're voting in November. Who do you think cares about you, and not his pocket book and cronies?

Thanks for reading!


Kath

Babies, Chemicals and Pure, Honest Skin Care

Hello Everyone,

We spend a lot of time on this blog talking about health and good skincare, organics and purity.
One thing I've learned about us humans is that we might get it in one context and fail to carry it over to another.

So today I want to talk about children and infants, and what chemicals they are exposed to and are consuming. How we can avoid these exposures for them.

First of all, you have to get that the products on the supermarket and drug store shelves are NOT made for the benefit of your children, but for the profit of that corporation or company. Some are more upstanding and have integrity; others spend their energies trying to spin the good words so that you think you're doing the right thing, but you're not.

You can't be a - excuse the pun here - babe in the woods when it comes to organic and pure products. You have to become an intelligent and savvy consumer. You have to take full responsibility for what you consume and what your children consume.

You have to learn to read labels and come to know who are the integrity players and who is not.

Rule of thumb here: if it's in the supermarket or Walmart or Target, you're going to have to be really, really careful. Most of the integrity players in the health and wellness industry are the multilevel marketing companies like One Group and the Miessence Line and their new Baby Care Line. You're going to have to do your homework. Use the Internet and Google them, read what their philosophies are; what's their mission statement. Now, go to the products ingredients and read. Everything you don't understand, Google it.

You can go into the archives of my blog to read past posts about the difference between the labels of "natural", "organic" and "certified organic". What's important, of utmost importance is that if you are saying yes to a chemical, you do it willingly and fully aware.

When it comes to infants and children, their exposure to chemicals is extraordinary. Never before in the history of the world have children been born with toxins already in their bodies like they are today. They come in with toxins into a toxic environment. As you would with cleaning up your own exposure, you must do the same for them. The best you can do, is the best you can do. What I mean by that is this: you begin. You wash their clothes in non toxic soaps, you make sure they are wearing natural fibers (cotton, linen, silk, rayon, hemp); you feed them only organic foods and pure water. You make sure that if they are on formula, that it's not just "organic" you're looking for, but NO SUGAR as well. And as far as the soaps, lotions, and potions you apply to their delicate skin, it is as pure as you can find.

Babies absorb chemicals! Baby lotion, powder and shampoo can lead to higher concentrations in an infant’s body of phthalates, chemicals linked to allergies and altered reproductive development, a US study shows. The study conducted at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute http://www.seattlechildrens.org/home/about_childrens/press_releases/2008/02/003170.aspfound that babies treated with common baby care products such as lotion, shampoo, and powder were more likely to have phthalates in their urine than other babies. Phthalates are chemicals commonly found in personal care and other household products, including plastic children’s toys, lubricants and chemical stabilisers in cosmetics and personal care products.

Animal studies of phthalates have found that they can harm reproductive system development, and studies in humans have found that prenatal exposure or exposure through breast milk can alter hormone concentrations, the study says.

Lead author Dr Sheela Sathyanarayana, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington medical school, describes the findings as “troubling”: “Babies may be more at risk than children or adults because their reproductive, endocrine and immune systems are still developing,” she says. She adds that phthalate exposure in early childhood has been associated with altered hormone concentrations as well as increased allergies, runny nose and eczema.

Yes, these products cost more money. Quality costs more money in the short run, but I promise you this. Pay now or you will pay later. You deserve only the highest and best quality and so do your children. America is learning the hard way that cheap has cost us big time in our health, in our environment and in our well being. Choose Life. The products I recommend without any equivocation are those marketed by One Group. Yes, I market these products, but I also use them. After a very, very long search for products that I could honestly recommend without any second thoughts or reservations. I invite you to visit: http://www.honestskincare.mionegroup.com

Our children are our future. Nothing is too good for them, or us.

Thanks for reading!

Kath

Antioxidants: The Truth

Hello everyone,

I just can't help think how paranoid we all are about our food, our health, our nutrition. This is fear, you know. Fear is never a good thing; and so can we all just calm down!

Here I am writing about antioxidants - again. Why? Because everyone is so worried about their health. I'm here to tell you that worrying about your health will get you one thing: sick. So, stop worrying.

Rather, approach you health, nutrition, and general well being as a matter of fact and expect it.

It really doesn't matter if you consume all the right nutrition, do all the right things for good health if you live in fear of disease and sickness. You must come to understand and know that your body loves to be healthy. You body knows how to be healthy. You body knows how to adjust. Your body is wise and infinitely intelligent. You body asks and it is given, good health.
The only way it does not; is if your mind is living in fear and blocking the reception of all Well Being.

Now, having said that, if you do want to take supplements because you want to love your body even more, or realize that as a practical consideration you could be giving it more nutrients, then read on.

Antioxidants are naturally occurring in all plants as a by products of photosynthesis. It's a - ummm - NATURAL PROCESS. Also, antioxidants and other nutrition are produced in a plant as it grows. The plants that have to "struggle" to survive, as opposed to those that are supported by chemical means, have more nutrition in them, therefore impart more nutrition to us when we consume them. This is why organic foods have more nutrition ounce for ounce than industrially raised foods. They are simply, stronger foods.

Recently a new term has come to the scene - superfoods. It's really a misnomer, but let's work with it. To my mind all foods organically raised are inherently superfoods. In today's vernacular they are usually referring to blueberries or pomegranates or something like that because they have a high antioxidant content. Remember, your body needs lots of other things than just antioxidants. But antioxidants come to the forefront because they have certain "cancer" fighting properties. They deal with free radicals that are associated with certain cancers.

Common sense will tell you that if you simply enjoy a diet of a wide variety of all these foods, you will get all the nourishment you need. Some say that in these times of pollution everywhere, you need more antioxidants. I can't say. I hate to think anyone is taking anything out of fear, rather than for the joy of it.

If you simply want to give your body a lovely treat, and oh by the way, here's a great dose of antioxidants in the mix, then here's the antioxidant that you want to take: Berry Radical by One Group. The first thing that makes it the best choice is that it comes in packets that you can mix anywhere in a bit of warm water, milk, soy milk, juice, whatever. It's portable. Secondly, each packet delivers 7000 ORAC units. Yep. And third, it's certified organic in two countries, the US and Australia. It's shipped in a box with 30 individual packets, so there's not all that weight shipping water in some "juice", plus the waste of all those plastic bottles. You cannot buy a better, more potent, more pure, or more green antioxidant supplement anywhere. Period. It's no contest.

So, if you want to add an antioxidant to your diet, use your common sense. Enjoy it. Do it for the sake of loving your body and drop the fear. And buy the best quality: Berry Radical by One Group. Oh, one more thing, you don't pay any sales tax when you purchase it from Australia.
You can order it at www.honestskincare.mionegroup.com

Thanks for reading!

Kath