Thank You For Visiting Our Blog, FEEL BETTER AND LIVE LONGER!

The purpose of our blog is to share what we have learned about nutrition, weight loss, fitness, and health, in order to help you find ways to feel better and live longer. It is amazing how much our diet and lifestyle affect our health and well-being.

Did you know that you can reduce your risk and even prevent many diseases and health conditions simply by making some changes to your diet? Check back often for valuable tips and information.

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT & KEEP IT OFF:

For the first time in my life I have found weight loss success. During my adult life I have tried dozens and dozens of so-called "diets" and none of them worked over the long-haul. Oh, I was able to lose weight with some of them, but once I went off of the "diet" I quickly gained back all of my weight (plus some).

I have finally learned that losing weight has to be a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. Crash diets and all the other crazy diets will not only cause you to fail, they are harmful to your health. To lose weight and keep it off you must NOT go on a "diet." What? Why? Because we all consider a "diet" a temporary thing. For example, how many times have you said, "Oh, I will go on this low-fat diet until I lose 20 pounds." Okay, what happens after you lose the 20 pounds? Or you simply give up? You go back to your old habits and gain that 20 pounds back.

The only way you will ever be successful at losing weight, with the added benefit of improving your health, is to make healthy changes that you can live with for the rest of your life. Period. Not for a week, a month or 3 months, but for life. For me, my initial goal was to lower my cholesterol level. I had to have a blood test for my insurance coverage and my cholesterol level had to be lower than the previous year's levels or I would have to pay a much higher premium. Well, that was a pretty good incentive for me make some positive changes.

I sat down and figured out what I needed to do. I knew I had to change the way I ate and I knew I had to exercise in some form or other every day. So, I made a list and I stuck to it. It was difficult at first. To make matters worse, I am a compulsive eater. However, as the days went by, it became much easier because my body stopped craving sweets and processed foods. For the first time in my life, I was never tempted to binge because I never felt deprived.

Use the list below and make whatever changes you need to make in order for it to work for you. FYI, my cholesterol level dropped 65 points after 7 weeks, and my triglycerides dropped 70 points! Another benefit that I hadn't planned on was that after being an insomniac since my teen-age years, I now sleep like a baby every night!

MY LIST FOR WEIGHT LOSS SUCESS:

1. Avoid "white" Foods & Processed Foods. These foods have no nutritional value and are "empty" calories. Sweets, anything made with white flour,and anything that comes in a package with a long list of ingredients. Always read the food labels. Stay away from those long lists of ingredients. The longer the list, the more chemicals and additives are present. These are extremely toxic to your body.

2. Drink Lots of Water. Water keeps your body's organs hydrated and flushes out unhealthy toxins. It helps to fill you up and reduces your urge to over-eat.

3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast. Instead of coffee and donuts, try fruit, yogurt, grains like oatmeal or whole grain toast, and lean protein. NEVER skip breakfast. By eating a large, healthy meal when you get up in the morning, your metabolism will "rev up" and you will not be hungry by mid-morning. If you skip breakfast, your body will go into starvation mode and store calories in your body as FAT, yes FAT! So do yourself a big favor and eat breakfast.

4. Reduce Your Stress Level. So many of us live with too much stress. Stress lowers your immune system, making it easier to get sick. It also makes us lethargic, tired, and depressed. There are a lot of simple things you can do and a lot of ways to feel better about yourself and your life. Take a long, hot bath, read a book, listen to music, get a massage. Do something nice for yourself. Giving yourself something to look forward to is a tremendous mental incentive.

5. Move! Oh my gosh! There are so many ways to incorporate movement into your day, even at work. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Get up every hour and walk around your floor, your hallway or your desk. Park your car in the farthest space from where you need to be. Walk or bike to work. Skate, dance, golf, jump rope, clean house, play tag. The best exercise you can do is to walk. Try to take a walk every day! The more you move, the more your metabolism will be your friend. (I walk 3 miles every day whether it is raining, snowing or freezing.)

Is Your Water Safe?

8:49 AM    No comments

For the past several months, my husband and I have been working to become foster parents. (Not to mention, I am due with our second child in December) I know, I know, having a new baby is just not enough. :-)

Anyways, one of the steps we had to take was to get our water tested. I didn't think too much of it, and I assumed it would come back safe. So you can imagine how shocked and scared I was when our water test came back with 3x the legal limit of nitrates and high levels of chlorine and many other icky chemicals. Being pregnant and already having a two year old, I was incredibly scared for our health. Even though I thought I was doing everything else right for our health, I was missing a key part of it - the water we drink and bathe in.

It opened my eyes to another whole realm of the scary things we need to protect our health's from. Let me share some of the research I have done with you:

Chemicals that can be harmful to your health can actually turn up in the water your family drinks. Heavy metals, industrial pollutants, pesticides—these harmful contaminants can enter our water supplies and have the potential to create long-term health challenges.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the water we drink is responsible for up to 20% of lead exposure in humans. And an EPA report demonstrates that at least 13% of the nation’s water treatment systems have violated the Safe Drinking Water Act in each of the past five years.The water from your tap may look clean, but exactly how safe is it?

Not only is tap water contamination a big concern, but people are now realizing that even bottled water isn't as safe and pure as it's perceived to be.

Contamination has been directly linked with the increase in cancer rates over the past 100 years.

In particular, chlorine, chlorinated by-products and over 2,100 synthetic chemicals have been shown to be carcinogenic. It's said that people who drink chlorinated water have a 93% HIGHER chance of developing some sort of CANCER throughout their lifetime than those who don't consume it. And when synthetic chemicals react with chlorine, toxic by-products are made that are showing up in virtually all the breast tissue of women with breast cancer. Home filtration of tap water can prevent these toxic substances from being consumed.

I really recommend everyone have their water tested, just so you know what to fight against. Water makes up so much of our bodies, and we don't want it to be contaminated. It isn't that hard to make some positive changes in this area either. After learning all of this, I was so excited to see that my fav company for all my health needs - Shaklee has just come out with a NEW Get Clean Water System.

I have learned that the Get Clean Water is a super easy change to make in your house, inexpensive and really gives a peace of mind to this water issue. Oh, and I love how eco-friendly it is. Check this out:

-Get Clean Water is certified to reduce up to 99% lead (Brita and PUR are not)

-BPA-free

-Each Get Clean Water filter is certified to handle 80 gallons—twice as much as leading brands

-FIRST EVER pitcher with refillable carbon- block filter system, which means there’s less plastic to throw away

-Each filter is made with a sustainable coconut shell carbon made with a zero-emissions process, which is better for the environment than traditional carbon production

-Each filter is capable of handling the equivalent amount of watercontained in 600 16.9 fl. oz. bottles of water, meaning that Get Clean Water can save you money while eliminating waste

-Costs only pennies a gallon for cleaner, healthier water

-ONLY automatic filter life meter that shows how many gallons have been filtered—no more guessing!

-outperforms other leading brands in many areas. Again, Brita and PUR water pitchers are not certified to reduce many harmful contaminants that can turn up in your water
(if you want more info, let me know)

You can learn more about this exciting new water system here! You will love it!

So, go get your water tested, look into the Get Clean Water, and wipe another worry off your mind as you drink up a glass of clean, safe water!

Have a great week!
Cara
www.yourworldnatural.blogspot.com
www.caranitz.myshaklee.com

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