Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Or more like “Websites, and Marketing, and Business, Oh My”! and then some.

Things are going fast. I’m still behind on studies and now trying to build some content for websites and newsletters, customize a school provided website, sew a new professional wardrobe and sew one more garment for a re-enactor. Weather has been against us on gardening, so will be doing a fast and furious catch-up on that, plus another event next weekend. It’s certainly a good thing I don’t have children to take care of and a full-time outside the home job right now.

So the bottom line is it looks like I don’t have too much of a post for this week 😦

I will, however leave you with 2 pics of 2 of my little, or not so little, muses. Peeper is the one on top. He chose Charlie as his mentor/idol. Since I raised Peeper and his sister Libby from about a day old, they never knew a kitty mom. Peeper does just about everything Charlie does and Charlie just sort of tolerates him. And Charlie is the laziest, most laid-back cat of the bunch. Anyway the pic shows Peepers adoration.

My babies!

Our Whole Foods Cleanse

The bulk of today’s post is on a separate page with the same title, because it’s a bit longer than I would like to post here. Check the page links on the left. It’s about the results of our detox/elimination diet.

I also want to keep it more at the forefront and easy to find.

Tonight I’m going to join a conference call to find out about an upcoming detox plan. I’m excited about doing this detox, but also I will find out about purchasing the plan for the rights to offer it to others. These are pretty low cost plans for the end user compared to so many others out there that are available to anyone.

The plans include a guide, shopping list, meal plan, recipes, other helpful tips and tools, and email or private FB group support. If you have the slightest interest, leave a comment and/or email me at genahowe.health@gmail.com. I will be glad to answer your questions and guide you on a path to feeling better! Check those results on the other page to see what is possible!

In the meantime, I hope to be working on my website and have at least the bare bones up soon if I do buy the rights to some plans to sell!

Don’t forget the read the page of the same title about the detox results!

Until next week, “Get Happy and Get Healthy”!

Feeling Awesome

Wild violets and horseradish leaves

Wow, what a beautiful morning! Warm, breezy, sunny, and full of animal life. I stood and watched a pair of doves on a tree branch out back, sitting side and by side and just doing their normal preening, but they are so beautiful with a beautiful sound. And I heard a quail the other morning. I hope he or she comes back with a mate!

I feel good, wide awake and energized. I woke with new ideas for my future business. Things are rolling!

In home matters, we are finally making some ground on the gardens. We have lady bugs, and a real treat these days, honey bees. They are so incredibly important to our worldwide food supply. Real food, that is.

We planted a bunch of wildflowers, including beneficial bug flowers, native perennials, low growing, and shade loving flowers. We also planted a variety of sunflowers.

A couple of garter snakes have remained, much to my husband’s dismay. But I convinced him, I think, to leave them alone. He is wicked with a hoe when it comes to snakes; taught by his granny!

Our detox is going very well. 2 more days, then we will add back the eliminated foods and see what happens. I’ve lost 4 pounds in 6 days, have much more energy, sleep better, have an improved attention span, and my skin texture is  better. I found over this past winter I was sleeping more and more. Most times 10-11 hours. Because of long cold winter? Fatigue? Not sure, but now I’m waking refreshed at 9 hours.

My husband’s blood pressure has dropped dramatically, almost to where it needs to be. Systolic dropped from 178 to 149. If I was home, I could give you the whole reading. I think it’s mostly due to elimination of caffeine and alcohol and increased water intake. Dehydration takes a toll on everything. Not sure at the moment what his weight loss has been. But he also sleeps better and has more energy.

We feel great and are ready to go to the next level! The program we are on currently is easy to do and we are not hungry. It is based on whole foods, and not a juice fast or a supplement based detox.

Alert! I want to start offering these programs to others. They are developed by a detox specialist. I’m just now getting the information on this, so stay tuned.

 

‘Til next time,

Get Happy and Get Healthy!

Duke

Happy May Day!

Though I usually only post once a week, I found a few good resources I would like to share. And it’s a great day to post a pretty spring picture!

 

 

For the gluten-free crowd:

Laminated cards with easy to understand language you can send to the restaurant kitchen so chef and staff can understand your needs. Each set has 10 languages.

http://www.triumphdining.com/products/gluten-free-dining-cards

Free healthy goodies recipes. Andrea Hood is offering these:

http://eepurl.com/Gmjrf

 

Ever wonder why kefir is so good for you? Read here:

http://nourishedkitchen.com/milk-kefir/

 

Having a hard time drinking as much water as you know you need to? Try infused waters. I find cucumber water particularly refreshing.

http://fruitinfusedwaters.com/

 

 

And last one; who can resist ice cream? Try a healthier version from the Nourished Kitchen. They even have healthier versions of toppings. I can’t wait to try this Chai Coconut Ice Cream!

Chai Coconut Ice Cream

Time For Renewal

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That was one long week last week! Now I get to play catch up with absolutely everything, not just studies. As far as school goes, we are now in week 15 and I have only listened to half of week 12’s lectures. And we are now halfway to the next test. Crap.

How does this stuff happen? And right after I made up a detailed schedule with color coded time blocks. I do have the answer(s) to that one though; too much rain putting us behind in getting the gardens ready and someone volunteering me for stuff that unpredictably took up most of a week of prep work. Now, upward and onward!

My husband and I are starting a combination cleanse/elimination diet this week. We shopped today for a good portion of the produce we need. (Hey, I finally figured out how to get  pics on here again)!

It was a wonderful grocery shopping trip though, even lacking a good place for groceries and a nice produce department. 98% of our shopping just in the produce section! But we got $45 worth of food that looks like it will feed us (2 of us) for most of 2 weeks. If we had purchased the supposedly cheaper boxed convenience foods and some meat for a week, we would have spent much more than that.

What did we get for that $45? Let’s see: kale, spinach, a package of mixed greens, fresh parsley and cilantro, 2 roma tomatoes, 2 avocados, 3 sweet potatoes, one bunch of beets, a head of cauliflower, a head of red cabbage, a package of celery hearts, 2 cucumbers, 1 lb carrots, one bunch of radishes, 5 lemons, 2 bananas, 2 portabello mushroom caps, a package of sun-dried tomatoes, 1 pound of dry black beans, 1 dozen eggs, ½ gal unsweetened almond milk with coconut oil, and a box of herbal tea bags.

I don’t think I missed anything. Many other great things already reside in the cabinets, with a bit more already in the fridge.

The eggs and beans from the shopping trip and some other things get eliminated in a couple of days. Beans come back near the end of the detox phase, and dairy, sugar, grains, and nuts come back a day at a time after that in typical elimination diet fashion. I tell you, I really cannot wait to see what manifests, or UN-manifests!

We’ve recorded weight and body measurements. We’ll check blood pressure each day and note physical and mood changes. The hardest part will be no coffee for him and no soda for me. FYI, his coffee habit is worse than my soda habit…I think!

Til next time,
Get happy and Get Healthy!

Busy Spring

Things have been so hectic around here, I don’t have a “real” post this week. We’ve been trying to get a bunch of stuff ready for a re-enacting thing this weekend, yard and garden stuff piling up….I haven’t even truly studied in the past 2 weeks. So I hope to be back next week with something great to say!

Coconut Oil: Personal Anecdote and Other Reported Benefits

In case you haven’t been hearing about coconut oil, it has so many wonderful uses and reported benefits. My intent here is not to give an all-inclusive report on it, but to give you an introduction to what it might do for you, and pique your interest.

Personally, I’ve been doing oil pulling with it. Oil pulling is an Ayurvedic practice that originated over 5000 years ago in India.

It’s very simple to do, and surprisingly not unpleasant at all – just different. Take 1 tablespoon of coconut oil (or olive or sesame oil), let it melt in your mouth (or pre-melt, but gently please – no high heat), and swish it, or alternately swish and hold, for anywhere from 5 (10 is better) to 20 minutes. Then spit it out, don’t swallow; it may contain some “pulled” toxins from your system. Rinse your mouth and brush.

It’s a bit difficult to do for very long at first. Then you get used to not swallowing and can go longer. The coconut oil really doesn’t have an oily feel, like you might have with shortening, ugh!!

I started oil pulling when I had a very sore and swollen gum around one of the bottom molars. The swelling moved into the lymph gland just under the jaw. I didn’t have a dentist or doctor and wasn’t sure which to see first anyway. I started oil pulling and in 2 days all soreness, redness and swelling were gone.

I haven’t been doing it every single day since then (about 2 months ago), but I have noticed my teeth seem brighter and have a pearly polished look, if not really white. I also have no bleeding when I brush unless I’ve neglected to pull for several days. And I noticed my moderate rosacea lessened quite a bit. I did start drinking more water at this time, so cause and effect may be a bit muddled here.

Among the myriad of reported benefits from others and research are: it draws out toxins, it’s anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, strengthens jaw and teeth, reduces gingivitis, gets rid of bad breath, and whitens and polishes the teeth, and is recommended to be done on a daily basis.

Other claims besides those related more specifically to the mouth are energy, it reportedly draws toxins from the rest of the body, is anti-parasitic, anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, helps inflammation in the skin as in acne and rosacea, treats eczema, great skin and hair moisturizer/conditioner, controls body odor…. Use it topically or orally. Some use it for deodorant.

It’s a wonderful component of the diet. Put a tablespoon in your smoothies. You won’t even know it’s there, but it’s supposed to do all these wonderful things for you. Yes, it’s a saturated fat, but it doesn’t accumulate in the body according to the many sources I’ve read about it. One difference is it’s a medium-chain fatty acid which does us good. And much research says it’s healthy and that not all saturated fats are bad.

I have made it my go-to oil for sauteing. The first time I heated some in a skillet, I was transported back to childhood when we would go to the theater and smell the freshly popped popcorn. Back then, they used coconut oil, and palm oil I believe, until the scare about saturated fat was put out there to drive sales to the oils from our big commodity crops, like soy and corn; then later canola.

But I should leave that for now, except to say they are high in Omega 6, not good, and almost all crops are genetically modified. See http://eatlocalgrown.com/article/12060-top-gmo-foods.html for the top 10 foods containing GMO’s.

A good blog to look to for more info and recipes using coconut oil is “Coconut Mama”, http://www.thecoconutmama.com. Check it out, she has lots of great stuff. There is more info on Dr. Josh Axe’s website, http://www.draxe.com . And don’t be afraid of the taste in oil pulling or cooking with it. If it is an unadulterated product, i.e. pure or unrefined, the flavor is really mild; nothing like the pronounced flavor of coconut flakes.

In a week and a half my husband and I will be doing a liver and gallbladder cleanse program from my friend and colleague Kallie Arroyo at “Stepping Stones for Wellness” on FB. We will be consuming coconut oil and doing oil pulling daily as a small component of the cleanse. I can’t wait to see how we feel after this venture!

Banish Your Mental Winter and Help Bring On Spring

Dragging yourself out of winter? Is Spring not fully cooperating in your area? Need a mental boost? Try these sites for some nurturing mind therapy:

http://www.mindbodygreen.com
Articles on every aspect of living well

http://www.silentjourney.com
articles and guided meditations

http://awakeningwomen.com/new-here/

“An Awakening Woman is a spiritual rebellion engaged in a glowing and embodied, nothing-held-back love affair with the great mystery.
She moves in the world with fierce compassion, grace and freedom, and is passionate about truth, rest & real love.
She is fluent in angelic, diva and in Kali roars.
Earth is home and so is infinity.”

http://www.entheos.com/

“Optimize your life.
Let’s change the world.
en + theos. Two little Greek words. Put ‘em together and you’ve got enthusiasm—or “God within”—the secret sauce to creating an extraordinary life while making a difference in the world.”

Some Fun Stuff, and Some Useful Stuff

An eclectic mix of everday tips and some trivia. Keeping it light this week.

Cars made in Japan that stay in Japan don’t have drink holders This may have changed by now, or may be changing, as they move more and more toward adopting our American way of eating.

SAD not only stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder but also for Standard American Diet – double whammy for feeling sad 

More trees are hit by lightning in winter than in summer (no leaves to direct water away from the trunk; lightning follows water)

Re-using toilet paper tubes:
Cut 4 evenly spaced slits into one end of a toilet paper roll. Fold them in like a 4-corner box fold = a DIY “peat pot” that can be put right into the soil = less transplant shock and makes it for Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! I just learned that one a couple months ago.

You can use those tp rolls/tubes for cutworm collars around your seedlings (make sure there is 2” of it down in the soil and some sticking 1-2” above)

For the last 2 above, you can also cut paper towel tubes to size

Garlic:
The fastest most effective way to remove garlic and onion smell from your hands? Rub your hands and fingertips against something stainless steel while under cold running water. It only takes a couple secs. I’ve been doing this for maybe 10 years and it’s never failed, and I love to demonstrate it!

Water:
Hungry between meals and trying to cut back? Drink a glass of water and/or take a couple of deep breaths, and/or wait 10-15 minutes. Sometimes perceived hunger is really thirst, or boredom, or just something else.

Also try drinking a glass of water for a headache – but it might not quite do it for full-fledged migraines. Dehydration can be the cause for many, many things.

Avocados (and worms):
Baked egg in an avocado nest? I personally LOVE this combo! The avocados I’m able to get are too small – we would have to scrape away too much of the flesh for an egg to fit inside. I have yet to try it this way, but the idea is to line the bottom of large muffin cups/tins with sliced chunks of the avocado and pour the egg on top. Season your favorite way and bake. (We like a little sharp cheese and a tiny pinch of cayenne) I think you would bake at lower temp or for less time this way. Let me know if you try it. Or remind me to let YOU know.

Compost worms, Red Wigglers (at least ours), don’t like avocado. I think it’s possible no worms would.

That’s it for now. Hope you found something you can use!

What is a Health Coach?

A Health Coach is what I am studying to become. Health Coaching is a relatively new thing. We have doctors and psychiatrists, dentist, surgeons, and dietitians. We’ve also had Life Coaches for some time.

So where does health coaching fit in? Health coaching fits with YOU, your lifestyle, your preferences, etc. Doctors tell you what is wrong, or what they think is wrong, and prescribe something.

They may tell you to get more exercise and lose weight, lower your blood pressure, lower your cholesterol, etc. But they don’t tell you how to do it. You walk away thinking, now what do I do to make this happen?

 

A dietitian or a nutritionist will give you much more information on what foods to eat or avoid, but they don’t address the rest of you, and may not be there to call on when you’re still confused or nothing is working. They don’t know about other things in your life that can affect your weight or nutrition success.

Going out and just losing weight isn’t a simple matter. People try to starve themselves or they eat less of the same unhealthy foods. But nothing lasts.

They buy the latest best-selling diet book and lose weight in the beginning only to gain it back a few months later. Or they can’t stick with it long enough to lose anything.

 

“Everyone tells you what to do and what’s good for you. They don’t want you to find your own answers. They want you to believe theirs.” – Socrates.

 

This is where health coaching comes in

Health Coaches help you come up with a plan that you think will work for YOU, not society as a whole, as most diet books do. Health coaches take all of your concerns into consideration. And we do want you to find your own answers! We help get you there.

Health Coaches look at more than the food you eat. That is called Secondary Nutrition. Many other factors in our lives play into our overall health and weight concerns. Those are called Primary Nutrition.

Factors of Primary Nutrition include spirituality, relationships, career, physical activity, and more.

Health Coaches are there for motivation. You won’t came back in to the office to be weighed and then told you still have to lose more, come back in 2 months. We care about YOU, not just your results.

The Health Coach will ask how you felt eating certain foods, or eliminating others. They will ask about your stress levels and if needed, help you find a way to reduce them.

They may guide you to helpful information, provide you with recipes, and suggest many ways you can incorporate more activity into your life, plus much more.
Health Coaches look at all of these areas of your life, Primary and Secondary Nutrition, to come up with a customized holistic (whole) plan, not a one size fits all diet.

Lastly, they are the captain of your support team, and guide you into being the best you can be!