Is Holiday Stress Creeping In this Year?

Each year we say the same thing, "It is going to be Different this Year!". However, it never is. Stress is one of those things that creeps in without our even realizing its presence. Between the pressure of decorating, gift buying, parties, cooking special items, sending cards, and family tension, Stress is like a member of the family.

Learning how to recognize and deal with Stress and its triggers takes time and a little practice. Many of us handle stress by eating foods that are not necessisarily good for us, such as Bags of Chips, Bags of Candy, Cakes, Cookies and more. Eating triggers are costly in the weight department as well as blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. Knowing those eating triggers is very important. Do you know your eating triggers? Emotional eating and situational triggers are powerful but can be overcome. Be aware during the holidays!

Finding ways to avoid or minimize Stress during the holidays can be as easy as changing your schedule or a few old habits:

* Say "No" to a few of those many holiday parties that you always find boring. You don't have to attend every event. Choose the ones that mean the most to you.
* Use gift bags instead of gift wrap for easier gift giving. Gift cards are easy too.
* Use the local bakery or deli when you have to bring a dish to a holiday event. They do all the cooking and save you the mess along with the clean-up.
* Decorate for impact not amount. A few well placed holiday items, a change in pillows and arrangements can be an easy way to make a room look festive without filling it with tons of decorations.
* Plan your menu ahead of the day and cook a few of your favorite things. Freezing items and using the local deli or restaurant can eliminate some of the cooking stress.
* Purchase only those things you have planned to buy. Credit card purchases can lead to even more stress.

So have a fun and special holiday season this year. Make your family and friends the center of attention instead of the food and decorations. Memories are of people!

Stay well! Elise

New Home Every 7 Years? Really!

How would you like a new house every 7 years? Wow, that would be a great perk wouldn't it? Imagine getting a new home every 7 years, all fresh and clean. It would be a dream come true for so many. But what if there is a catch to this dream? A big Catch?!?!

The catch is that the new home is only as nice as the way you have kept the current one you have. So if your plumping is bad in your old home, the new house will also have bad plumbing. If you have upgraded the heating and cooling systems in the old house then the new house will have new, upgraded heating and cooling systems!
So the trick is to keep your current home in the best possible condition so that when you get the new home every 7 years, it is the best it can be! Not a bad deal now is it? Keep your current home in great condition in order to get a new home in the same condition! New home with a new "start" date. You would not want a new home that was not in perfect condition would you? I don't want a new home that is not in the best condition possible.

However, we all have a home that we don't treat as well as we can. We all live in a home that is replaced every 7 years and we don't even think about how we really take care of it most of the time. That home is our body, our only true home. And since our cells renew frequently, we get a "new body" about every 7 years!

Wow, think how nice it would be to take care of our current body so that our new body will be healthy and ready to take us into next phase of our lives, healthy and ready to go!
So how do we accomplish this healthy new home? Well, it takes work and planning. I know, work is not "fun" but healthy bodies are fun! Working on your body can be easier than you think. Thinking about what you eat, how you exercise and how you supplement your diet. Three easy things to do, lifestyle choices that reflect healthier choices will pay dividends for years to come. Be diligent now will avoid many illness later. And that new body you get every 7 years will be ready to work for you for 7 more healthy years! So get off the couch and walk the dogs, play with the kids, walk around the block, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park further away from the building, move!

Then look at your food choices. Drink lots off filtered fresh water, eat organic foods (no artificial, processed foods), and keep add soy protein to your daily meals. Then look at the absences in your nutrition and add whole food supplements, natural & organic supplements to fill in the nutrition gaps. Supplementing your nutritional gaps is necessary since no one eats every nutrient their body needs. So carefully add whole food nutrients to your daily routine to fill in the blanks in your nutritional gaps. That way your new "body" will be healthy and ready to give you a healthy life! Stay Well!

Are you Asking the Right Questions?

Do you ask questions when you visit your physician? Do you fully participate in your own health care decisions? Do you read and study what is going on in studies and published papers in peer reviewed journals? Or are you like my friend?
I have a friend that blindly follows whatever his Doctor says. Never asks questions, never asks why or is there an alternative. Just follows along blindly doing whatever his doctor tells him to do. Now, I am not against doctors, just against people who do not take an active role in their own health care decisions.
My friend returned home from a long trip to find that his stomach was bothering him at night. He went to his doctor complaining of nausea and such. Rather than asking questions of the doctor and the doctor asking questions of my friend, all that happened was a prescription for some "stomach" medication that my friend has no idea about why or even what it's purpose really is.
I asked my friend what the medicine did and my friend had no information. Really?! And to top it off, the doctor told my friend to stop all vitamins and supplements. I asked my friend if food was allowed since vitamins were not allowed and vitamins come from food!
My point here is to ask questions, make yourself into your own personal wellness advocate. Don't just take something that is offered without asking what, why, how long, side effects and so much more.
You have a responsibility to yourself to be involved in your wellness as well as disease care. Doctors in the USA are trained to take care of diseases, not wellness. Their business is disease care and our goals are wellness care. I focus on how to stay in wellness and not get into a state of disease. Stay well and stay informed! Your health is your responsibility and taking care of your one true home, your body, is paramount to your continued wellness!

What Can Vitamin D3 Do for Me?

Recent research shows that vitamin D—the "sunshine vitamin"—offers a multitude of benefits including supporting healthy heart function, immune and bone health. But, up to 80% of Americans may have insufficient levels of this essential nutrient.
Did you know?
* Almost 44 million women and men in the U.S. are at risk for osteoporosis.
* Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption for maintaining strong bones.
* Adequate calcium and vitamin D throughout life, as part of a well balanced diet, may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
How do we know if we are getting enough Vitamin D3?
You may need MORE vitamin D during fall and winter.
You may need MORE vitamin D if you are olive skinned or darker.
You may need MORE vitamin D as you age.
You may need MORE vitamin D if you work indoors.
You may need MORE vitamin D if you live north of a line between L.A and Columbia, South Carolina.
You may need MORE vitamin D if you are overweight.
You may need MORE vitamin D if you don’t exercise regularly.
What Does Vitamin D3 Do for Me? Vitamin D supports:
• A healthy heart
• A strong immune system
• Healthy cell development
• Healthy bones and teeth
Shaklee's Vita D3 is the answer to your Vitamin D3 needs.
Always Works—With Vitamin D3, the Most Potent Form
• High potency 1,000 IU supplement
• Contains vitamin D3, the most potent form of vitamin D clinically proven to
maintain levels of vitamin D in the body
• Allows customizable intakes in 1,000 IU dosage units in combination with
1,000 – 2,000 IU intake from existing Shaklee products
• 100% Shaklee Guarantee
Always Works—Cutting-Edge Nutrition Science
• Shaklee Vita-D3™ is the culmination of recent scientific research, including two
industry-leading Shaklee vitamin D studies
Always Safe
• Over 300 quality tests
• No artificial flavors, sweeteners, colors, or preservatives added
• Gluten free
• Star-K kosher certified
So be good to yourself and add Shaklee's Vita D3 to your daily whole food supplement regimen!

Healthy Way to Get Rid of Fat and Inches

I know the holidays were full of great food and loads of calories. For me it starts in October with all the Halloween candy and just keeps getting bigger and better. Well, I get bigger anyway! I love all the great food during the holidays. So much is comfort food, family favorites full of memories of past gatherings. Can't pass up the chance to have a few bites of the dressing and gravy, the whipped cream cake with pecans, and don't forget the waffles with crispy bacon covered in real maple syrup for brunch. Oh my!

So now it is mid-January and the jeans are still a little snug. It is too cold and icy to really go out for a much needed walk around the neighborhood. What to do to get some of those inches off? Well since 2006 I have been using a wonderful set of products from Shaklee called Cinch Inch Weight Loss Program. With the Cinch program, you loose fat and inches will maintaining your lean muscle mass. Muscle mass equals higher metabolism, which is needed to break the yo-yo diet cycle. Always Safe, Always Works, Always Green.

Get started now with a Cinch Starter Kit. Even that's a cinch. As soon as you open your Cinch Starter Kit, you'll find we take your health very seriously. So do your healthier self a favor and order a Starter Kit. And don't forget that losing an inch ought to involve laughing it off.

The Cinch Inch Loss Plan is Powered by Leucine™ and specially formulated to help you break the diet cycle, so you:

• Keep muscle you have
• Burn fat you don't need
• Lose inches you don't want
  

My Cinch Plan At-A-Glance
You get two meals in a delish shake, a yummy bar to treat yourself, and extraordinary tea for natural energy when you need it. Healthy, cinch-to-fix menus and serving guides give you more to sink your teeth into. And with each meal, you take a three-in-one boost with ingredients that help kick up metabolism,* retain normal blood sugar levels,* and supply nutrients. If you're pregnant, nursing or diabetic, ask a health professional. Not recommended for use by children.

Enjoy the Shakes, Cinch Bars and the Cinch Tea! I love them all and use them regularly. They are especially good to use while traveling. Keeps the protein up and the snack foods down! Stay Well!