The 1 Secret to Weighing What You Know You Should

Trying to lose weight? Been on diets before? You need to re-think “dieting.”

First, do you believe you need to lose weight? In 1980 35% of Americans were overweight to obese. Over the course of the next 24 years things got…worse. In 2004 65% of Americans were overweight to obese. Being overweight puts you at higher risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and even certain kinds of cancer. Our health care system has spent in excess of $40 billion handling this crisis. Our health care system is really a disease management system; PREVENTION is the KEY here.

The current generation of kids may be the 1st generation ever to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.

OK, onto diets. The problem with diets is that you cut back on eating and send your body into famine mode. You lose muscle mass and as a result lower your metabolism making it harder to burn fat. Plus you feel more tired. Maybe you lose some weight – some fat and some muscle. Once you go off the diet, however, you have less muscle mass and thus will gain weight back easier than before. We call it the yo-yo cycle of dieting.

Once you have created a fat cell in your body, you can never get rid of it; you can only empty it. You need to maintain your muscle mass so you can keep your metabolism working at the highest possible level to burn fat. As you do lose fat, you are also shedding the toxins in your body. Those nasty things tend to get stored in with the fat and come back into circulation as the fat is used up - drink plenty of water to flush the toxins out.

Include a lot of leucine in your diet. Leucine helps you maintain muscle while burning fat. Keep your body healthy while shedding fat, so eat more, smaller meals. Starving yourself will lower your metabolism and make your body want to hang on the your fat even more. So eat well and often but with smaller portions and try to avoid the things you know you shouldn’t eat. Exercise – find something you like to do that gets you up and moving around: running, dancing, swimming, walking, etc.

You should also check out Shaklee’s Cinch Inch Loss program. It is powered by leucine to help you maintain your muscle mass and thus your higher metabolism. The program also includes all the nutrients your body needs. This helps to decrease cravings, stabilize your blood sugar levels, and and will keep you feeling less hungry.

Shaklee’s program focuses on losing inches not weight. Muscle weighs more than fat but you don’t want to lose muscle mass. Fat weighs less but takes up more room. So focus on losing inches – fat. Replace 2 meals a day with the Cinch shakes or a meal-in-a-bar. Both have lots of protein and leucine. So maybe for breakfast you have a shake and for dinner you have a bar. At lunch, have a real, nutritious meal. If you get “peckish” (hungry) try a Cinch snack bar. There is also an energizing tea to help you for those blah afternoons when you need a lift. And be sure to take the 3-in-1 boost – a natural multi-vitamin with leucine - 3 times a day. Keeping your body’s nutrient needs met will help you not feel hungry.

Here's a link to the Cinch sampler pack http://kirstenmouton.myshaklee.com/us/en/products.php?sku=59718
So the 1 Secret is CINCH!

Be Safe with Plastics

Plastics are everywhere in our lives so we need to be careful with their use. Not only can they pose health risks, they also cause pollution of our environment. Check out this article for http://healthychild.org/5steps/5_steps_5/

Dare to Dream again (and Dream BIG!)

Do you remember what you looked when you were thinner? Get back to thin - let's start with just 10 pounds! At the same time let's improve our health and get more energy and vitality! Feel good about yourself again!

If you are local, please join us at Juicy's River Cafe in Needles, CA on Saturday, January 8th at 11am (CA time) (which is Noon AZ time). There will be something for everyone to take home!

If you are not local, I can send you information. Shoot me an email with your address.

Here's to making 2011 the BEST YEAR EVER! I am DEDICATED TO THAT!! For everyone!

Oh, my email is kirstenm@frontiernet.net

Chromium-6 Is Widespread in US Tap Water | Environmental Working Group

Chromium-6 Is Widespread in US Tap Water | Environmental Working Group
Very disheartening. Clear cry for having CLEAN water to drink in your home!

Vitamin D Update

There’s been a lot of expectation that the Recommended Daily Allowance for Vitamin D would officially be increased; the level for adults is 400IU. Vitamin D is seen as a measure of “wellness” by some doctors now and as many as 9 out of 10 patients have been found to be deficient in this important supplement. One doctor quit testing his patients because over 90% of the ones he had tested were deficient.

A "high" daily dose of Vitamin D may help prevent bone fractures in older adults; "high" being over the 400IU recommended. Preliminary research shows intakes of between 1000-2000IU as being safe and effective for adults. One doctor I read about is taking 3000IU a day. Personally, I have have upped my intake to 1000IU daily.

Vitamin D mainly comes from sun exposure, and from a few foods such as egg yolks, fish, and fortified milk and grains. It is an important component in helping your body absorb calcium for strong bones and healthy teeth. Recent research, however, is showing that Vitamin D is important for far more than just your bones: it may protect against heart disease, some cancers, severe asthma in children, and reduced mental function. It may also help with fibromyalgia, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, high blood pressure, general muscular aches and pains, and in supporting your immune system.

The Institute of Medicine recently released their report on “Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D.” While the RDA has been changed, it has only been increased to 600IU for children and adults, 800IU for those over the age of 71. The safe upper limit was changed from 2000IU to 4000IU. Calcium RDA levels remain the same. You can see the full report at http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/Dietary-Reference-Intakes-for-Calcium-and-Vitamin-D/Report-Brief.aspx.

I found this to be a bit disappointing. From what I have read, the expected new RDA was 1000IU. With so many people deficient in this very important vitamin, I feel more emphasis needs to be placed on sufficient levels. There are concerns that this issue will get worse before it gets better: obesity causes Vitamin D to disappear from the bloodstream and it is a lot harder to get levels back to normal after this occurs. Vitamin D levels have also been found to be low in African-Americans and Hispanics (due to their darker skin blocking sunlight).

Take a Stand

I recently started my own health and wellness businesses and it has been an eye-opening experience! We are poisoning ourselves, our families, and our planet and we don’t even realize it! It has become my mission in life to educate everyone on the dangers of toxic chemicals in so many of our common household items. And what better place to start than in my own community, with the people that mean the most to me.

I started giving presentations to civic organizations just to get the message out. We play a little game called Toxic Hold Em. I deal out about 30 cards in 5 different colors; everyone has to keep them face down – no peeking. Then I describe a toxic chemical and its effects on our bodies. I ask all those with blue cards, for instance, to then turn their cards over and one by one they share the product on their card. Often times they also share a personal experience related to the product – a time they or someone they know got sick using it. I have heard a LOT of these stories.

My very first time was at the local Women’s Club. EVERY lady there shared a horror story about cleaning! It was amazing and not at all what I expected. My next 2 talks were at local Rotaries. I have also spoken to 2 high school classes. The teens were great and everyone was involved and interested. They concluded, however, that they shouldn’t clean anymore! Not quite what I was trying to get through to them. I also had an article published in the local newspaper in conjunction with hazardous waste pick-up day. I don’t think people realize that they should dispose of household cleaners via hazardous waste recycling.

I have also hosted Healthy Home parties related to my business. We play Toxic Hold Em at these parties too. The wheels begin to turn and people begin asking “what about this product…?” I can tell they are starting to get it! They are realizing that some of their favorite commercial brands from bubble bath to perfume to makeup might actually be hurting them.

I have small children and so talked to our daycare owner about going green with their cleaners. The daycare was using bleach to clean toys – the last thing you want to do for kids, especially ones with asthma getting breathing treatments several times a day. The owner wanted to go green and was very interested in the information I gave her. Unfortunately, our state requires the use of bleach and does not allow for safer, more effective alternatives. That’s now a bigger issue I must tackle.

Whenever I get the chance, I talk to people one-on-one. I want to share what I have learned. I want to help people improve their lives. It is so important that we have a healthy future!

I am booked for another presentation soon with a local Soroptomist group. The President of that group also owns a school and asked me to come talk to the young children. It’s wonderful that I am finding new ways to reach out to people and I am loving it!

My goal with all this has been to raise awareness that we are exposing ourselves and our families to many toxic chemicals and creating a kind of toxic soup in our homes. I encourage everyone to go to the National Institutes of Health website http://www.householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/products.htm and look up your favorite cleaners! To find safe alternatives, check out the Environmental Working Group’s website http://www.ewg.org/. And share what you learn with everyone you know!

"This is part of the Healthy Child Blog Carnival- an effort by Healthy Child Healthy World to help inspire a movement to protect children from harmful chemicals."

Read more: http://healthychild.org/get-involved/events/comments/blog_carnival_community_advocacy/#ixzz133yvobqY

CAN YOU MAKE IT TO AGE 109?

Would you make changes to your lifestyle NOW if you knew you would live longer and better?

Did you know that the 4 major causes of death in the US are mostly preventable? That’s right, around 80% of deaths from heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer can be prevented! How long and how well do you want to live?

First thing, stop smoking. You know that smoking is bad for you. Cigarettes lower your body’s ability to function properly. Don’t take my word for it – read up on it at the American Lung Society’s website http://www.lungusa.org/stop-smoking/ and the American Cancer Society’s site http://www.cancer.org/. This one change could be the most important thing you ever do. And one of the toughest.

Next, you might need to shed some extra weight. Being overweight may make you more susceptible to certain cancers as well as increasing your risk of diabetes. Being overweight puts extra stress on your joints and increases your risk factors for a lot of other health problems. Start slowly – try to lose just 10 pounds.
Drink plenty of good, clean water (here’s one option bit.ly/9gz7ts). Toxins get stored along with your fat cells, so as you lose weight (hopefully just fat and not muscle) you also release these toxins back into your system. Water will help flush them out. Not having enough water affects you in many ways – ability to concentrate, feeling hungry when you are really thirsty, lack of energy, etc.

Get more active. Exercise has a lot of benefits and it actually gives you more energy. Increasing your activity level reduces your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and yes, even cancer! Walk, bike, dance, find something that gets you moving!

If you have existing conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, manage them closely. Keep your body as strong as it can be. Read more at the American Diabetes Association’s web site http://www.diabetes.org/.

Improve your diet. Eat less saturated fats and more grains, fruits, and vegetables. I know you have heard this before! Read more at the American Heart Association’s website http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/. Try to buy organic food whenever you can. Pesticides and hormones added to food can cause problems of their own. Read more at the Environmental Working Group’s web site http://www.ewg.org/ourfood.

Get your cholesterol levels down; the bad cholesterol that is. You can do this naturally with an FDA approved product bit.ly/aV4CE8. Oddly enough, alfalfa can help clean out the plaque build-up in your arteries. Watch your sodium intake too.

Your goal is to be as healthy as you can be so your body can ward off attacks. Imagine not getting sick in the first place. That’s easier on your wallet for one thing, which will likely reduce some stress. It also beats getting sick and then fighting to get better. Prevention is the key! If you don’t believe me, read more about the spread of a new germ that is resistant to antibiotics – you don’t want to catch this one: http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/medical/2010-09-17-1Asuperbug17_ST_N.htm.

Eliminate toxic exposures in the home. It makes sense, when you stop to think about it, that spraying cleaners with toxic chemicals in them all over your home, day after day, year after year, is going to have an affect on your health. Don’t think you use any products with toxic chemicals? Go to the National Institutes of Health website http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/index.htm and look up your favorite cleaners. Odds are, they are slowly poisoning you and your family. Use green, safe cleaners; here’s a sample of what I use bit.ly/awUEs1.

Have regular check-ups with your doctor. Take charge of your health. Keep on top of things. Early detection of a problem will help you get back on track.

Let’s sum it up. Quit smoking. Lose some weight. Eat well. Drink clean water. Exercise. Keep healthy (diabetes, high blood pressure, and cholesterol levels well-managed). Go green with your cleaners.  Take one step at a time and find yourself living a vibrant, long life!