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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.)

Health Benefits of Pure Water

7:14 AM  , , ,  No comments

Water is all the same, right? No. There is a huge difference in the types of water we drink. Because water has such profound health effects on your health, you must be selective about the type of water you choose to drink.


What is pure water? Well, to start with, tap water is not pure water. Pure water is high-quality bottled spring water or water filtered by a high quality water filter. Why pure water? It is essential that your water be pure water as tap water has impurities in it that can be harmful to your health.

One of the main problems with tap water is the chemicals that are used to purify it from pathogens. Most water sources use chemicals such as chlorine, and other chemicals that are very unhealthy. Also, most tap water originally comes from poor quality sources.

For example, some cities get their water from local rivers that are far from clean. Upstream cities sometimes dump (treated) sewage into the river and there can be farms that contribute agriculture chemicals into the mix. Most people would not eat fish caught in the river yet this is where much of our drinking water comes from.
Health Benefits of Drinking Pure Water

Overall improvement in health - Water is one of the most important things that your body needs to function. In fact your body is made up of mostly water. When you drink lots of pure water, your body functions better.

*Weight Loss - Research has found that individuals who drink plenty of water are more likely to lose weight than individuals who don't. One of the reasons for this is that without enough water to remove the toxins stored in your body fat, your body will not burn the fat, as it has nowhere to go with the toxins.

*Removal of Toxins - You may not realize it, but your body takes in many toxins each and every day. The food you eat, the air you breath, and the tap water you drink are all full of toxins. A plentiful supply of pure water helps your body to flush out and remove toxins from your liver, fat, joints, and other places they are stored.

*Improved Intestinal Health - When you drink plenty of water, your digestive system is able to run much more smoothly. Many health problems can be at least partially traced to your digestive tract, and the easiest, best way to increase your digestive health is to drink plenty of pure water.

*Improve your Immune Function - If you want to boost your immune system's ability to resist viruses and bacteria, one of the things you can do is to drink more water. Your immune system's job is to kill pathogens before they make you sick. Part of the immune system's job is also to remove these pathogens from your body. How does it do that? You guessed it! With water!

The ways we've listed that water can help improve your health are just a sampling. Water is one of the most important “nutrients” that your body needs. When you drink plenty of water, every single system, organ, and cell in your body benefits. So start drinking lots of pure water today and watch the benefits grow!

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