Addressing the Stress & Weight Connection

Stressing Out Over Your Weight?

Are you doing everything right when it comes to diet and exercise, but you’re still not losing weight especially around the midsection? The issue could be chronic stress. Is stress eating an old friend? How about making poor food choices when you feel anxious, depressed or nervous? Stress is not just some inconvenience to push through. Failing to address the stress in your life has profound ramifications on your weight as well as your health.

4 Tips for Stress-Free Shopping!

4 Tips for Stress-Free Shopping!

1. Set a budget and make a list. Deciding in advance what you are willing to spend on individual gifts will save you from making impulse buys that put you over your total budget. List out who you are shopping for and break down your total gift budget into what you can spend for each individual gift.

2. Do your research. Get an idea of your recipient’s style and needs before you set out. Browsing their Pinboards, doing a quick search for their Amazon wish list, etcetera, will give you a good place to start without removing the element of surprise.

3. Comparison shop and check for discounts. If you are shopping online this is easiest — compare prices between retailers and do a quick search for relevant coupon codes, which tend to be abundant this time of year. I also like to search sites like Etsy to see if I can find a handmade version of items like housewares or jewelry — you tend to get more value at a fair price.

4. Get creative. Waited too long? You can purchase DIY printable gifts like calendars and recipe cards off of sites like Etsy in a pinch, put together a custom gift basket with items from your local specialty food store, or pot an easy-care houseplant like a succulent in an interesting vessel.

And always remember that a gift of health is everlasting! Shop our Cyber Monday Extravaganza – 20% OFF EVERYTHING…code CyberHEALTH.

Sleep, Stress, and Adrenal Fatigue

Sleep, Stress, and Adrenal Fatigue

Adrenal Fatigue is a decrease in the adrenal glands’ ability to carry out normal function. It is commonly caused by chronic stress from any source—emotional, physical, mental, or environmental— that exceeds the body’s capacity to adjust well to the demands placed on it by the stress.

Need Comfort? I Have a FREE gift for you

Need Comfort? I Have a FREE gift for you

With all the natural disasters and shootings, many people are feeling exhausted, frightened or anxious. This is an important time for self-care especially for those who have been personally affected or have family or friends that have been touched in some way. You may not have any connection with one of the recent disasters, but you may be fighting an illness or have other stressors in your life. We want to help you deal effectively with the stress, anxiety or turmoil you may be facing.

Sweat Away Toxins, Waste, Even Cancer

Sweat Away Toxins, Waste, Even Cancer

I have a new friend who had cancer. In her hours of desperation and intense prayer, she heard one word—-sweat.  Really, she thought. Turns out that was wisdom from God. So sweat she did along with many other natural interventions. She’s now cancer free.

So why is sweating so important? Plain and simple… it helps you flush out toxins, especially plastic toxins that your bodies just can’t seem to push out any other way. And the best way to sweat is to use a sauna.  A plethora of anecdotal evidence exists to show that infrared saunas help people detoxify their bodies, increase their energy, and heal chronic diseases. But there’s also science to support their effectiveness as well. In  2009 a Canadian researcher found the following:

• Four different studies showing infrared saunas helpful in treating cardiovascular disease
• Five studies supporting infrared sauna in treating coronary risk factors.
• One study supporting infrared sauna treating chronic pain.

5 Ways to Tame Your Sweet Tooth

5 Ways to Tame Your Sweet Tooth

Do you like your glass of wine before dinner, your dinners to be accompanied by dessert and your occasional doughnut—or cookie from that corner bakery that you love. But, if you sweet tooth is getting the best of you and you health is suffering as a result, or your waistline is expanding, or your skin is rebelling against your sugar intake with small clusters of blemishes, then it might be high time to curb your sugar habit.

Even if you aren’t a “sugar fiend” by definition, it is likely that your diet still consists of foods and beverages that are packed with sugar without your knowledge (think: orange juice, “natural” fruit chews, and countless other packaged foods you eat on the go.) If weight gain, poor health, or skin breakouts aren’t enough to convince you to slow your sugar intake, then maybe these recent finds will: recently, the British Journal of Sports Medicine referenced a study that found that too much sugar may lead to or trigger “brain disease, liver disease and breast cancer.” Nutritionist, Cherie Calbom asserts that, “the toxicity of excessive sugar consumption is well-documented, yet it’s so prevalent in our packaged foods that we may be digesting it without knowing it.” If you’re in need of a sugar detox, here are the top 5 tips for cutting back.

1. Pick the right day to start. A birthday or celebration dinner is not the best time to commit to a new diet. You’ll eventually develop the willpower to navigate through special events, but it’s not a good idea to start with an unusual challenge.
2. Go cold turkey. Studies show sugar is as addictive as cocaine and heroin, so it’s not something you can ease into or pursue in half measures. If you eat a little less to gradually eliminate it from your diet, you’ll keep getting triggered into wanting more sweets. You have to completely let it go.
3. Scrutinize every label. We are naturally inclined to crave sugar, which is why manufacturers try to smuggle it into their products. The only way to root out sugar in all its forms – soups, condiments, breads, etc. – is to read grocery labels carefully. The sooner sugar is mentioned, the more that’s in there.
4. Make emergency snack packs. Whether shopping, traveling or at work, you don’t want to be caught hungry without a healthy option. Plummeting blood-sugar levels will make it that much harder to resist sugar-laden treats. Nuts and seeds, veggie sticks, turkey jerky and apples are among the healthy options.
5. Take time to de-stress. Stress causes spikes in cortisol, a hormone that makes you irrationally hungry, leaving you susceptible to sugar-laden snacks. When stressed, take a long, deep breath in for five seconds, hold, and then let it out to a count of five. Deep breathing is said to activate your vagus nerve, which properly regulates metabolism.

Adapted from my article that appeared in Essence magazine this week.

Are you addicted to sugar? Take my Sugar Addiction Quiz, here.

Join My Sugar Detox Program Today It Begins March 28

Get the Early Bird Special!

Don’t wait another day!

If you want to get serious about kicking your sugar habit, get my newest book, The Juice Lady’s Sugar Knockout and sign up for my 30-day Sugar Detox Program. It starts March 28. This is a great way to usher in spring, and detox those chocolate Easter bunnies you ate (I hope not!) a few days before.

Join Today!

Know Your Purpose; Why You Were Born

Know Your Purpose; Why You Were Born

with my husband, Fr. John

Have you tapped the power of your personal purpose? Each of us exists for a reason.  Knowing what you are here to do is more important than knowing your vision, mission, or values.  Discovering your purpose can be likened to cutting a diamond.  Each gem has its unique God-given design, just waiting to be discovered.  You are like the diamond. The secret is to discover your unique pattern. The secret to a life worth living is identifying and building on the purpose you were born to fulfill.  You were born to do something very specific with your life. A role and opportunity have been entrusted to you, which reaches beyond your career and just living your life. The closer you come to fulfilling your purpose, the fewer choices you will have, but the more power you will have to “be who you are” within the bounds of actualizing your opportunities. When you are on purpose, you tend to maximize both your results and your performance along with your happiness and satisfaction. When you are off purpose, your are out of sync, and generally suffer.  This is because you are out of sync with the larger purpose, which is God’s bigger purpose.  You will the make things more chaotic for yourself if you don’t know your purpose.  Being on purpose is fundamental to enjoying a less stressful life, even in more stressful times. You are able to prioritize; to focus on what really matters. You are able to develop powerful visions for defining your future and outlining day-to-day action plans. You are able to shape some of life’s most important decisions as you move toward fulfilling your purpose.  To discover your personal purpose, you must be able to look at your existence deeper and more honesty than ever before.  When you fully understand your purpose, you will have more clarify and insight in your life where the issue is you and your hopes, dreams, talents, disappointments, time, money, family, friends, relatives, faith, doubts, and education. Your have more satisfaction and greater performance.  *

At our May retreat my husband teaches a great class, “Who Am I; What is My Purpose.”  He is incorporating the Path Primer into this class in the form of workshops.  You will receive the Path Primer book and have a chance to go through the exercises during the retreat so you can better understand your purpose, find greater meaning in your life, and be in harmony with God’s greater purpose.  If you have struggled to know your personal purpose, I encourage you to come to our spring retreat. This is the time for you to really know why you were born.  Many people struggle with why they are here.  You can make choices that are consistent with you are created to be and thus come into wholeness—-spirit, soul, and body.

Notes

*Adapted from Path Primer, Brain Technologies Corporation