Ten Reasons To Drink More Water

You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a 'Top 10' list on social media these days. Everyone has a list of things to share. And here is another one. I think this list will actually be helpful if you pay attention to it.

Drinking water is one of the easiest and cheapest ways you have to improve your health. Our human bodies are 60% water and our blood is 90% water. Every organ and system in our body needs water to keep it working. We can last several weeks without food but only about three days without water. 

Most people walk around dehydrated and don't even realize it. You don't have to feel thirsty to be dehydrated. Even mild dehydration causes skin breakdown and wrinkles, weight gain due to misinterpreted hunger signals, headaches, muscle fatigue, general fatigue, joint pain and many other symptoms.   

There are so many reasons why you should drink half your body weight in ounces of water daily. I'll share ten of them here.

• It helps to eliminate body waste - water is needed in the colon to remove stool, the kidneys to remove urine and the skin for perspiration.
• It lubricates  and cushions the joints - the cartilage in your joints is made up mostly of water. Dehydration causes the cushion provided by that cartilage to dry up and eventually causes joint pain.
• It helps to deliver minerals and water soluble vitamins to the body - these substances dissolve in water and are easily distributed throughout the cells with water.
• It helps to regulate body temperature - when the body becomes overheated, the water stored in the layers of skin is released in the form of perspiration. When the perspiration evaporates it cools down the body.
• It aids in weight loss - often thirst masquerades as hunger so the next time you think you feel hungry, have a glass of water and wait a bit. You may find you don't need that snack after all.
• It helps you to think more clearly - when the brain does not get enough water, hormones and neurotransmitters are negatively affected and brain function diminishes
• It helps to regulate blood pressure - because the blood is made up primarily of water, dehydration causes the blood to thicken and increase blood pressure
• It helps with exercise performance - dehydration causes muscle cramping and diminished physical performance, along with fatigue.
• It helps to prevent a hangover - much of the "morning after" effect is due to dehydration. You can counteract that effect by alternating plain water with lemon and alcoholic drinks. You'll wake up with less of a headache or maybe even none at all. 
• It keeps the skin looking younger and more supple - skin that lacks water look old and wrinkled. Maintain your youthful look by staying hydrated.

The bottom line is drink water as though your life depends on it...because it does.

Are you dreading the holidays, knowing that you won't be able to wear the same clothes on New 
Years that you wore at the beginning of the feeding frenzy we call the holiday season? Are you worried that you might undo all the good you have done recently for your health? Do you think you might go off the rails with your food choices? Do the holidays get really stressful and cause you to make food choices that may not be very healthy? 

If any of the above scares you, I can help you get through the next two months with my Healthy Holidays program.  And you won't even have to leave the comfort of your home.  

I am offering SPECIAL PRICING until THURSDAY 11/7 for anyone who signs up by then. The regular price of this program is $297 but until 11/7, the price is only $247...that's a $50 savings!

If you would like to have a free consultation about the Healthy Holidays program, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

Are You Living Full Out?

"What surprises me most is 'Man', because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he doesn't enjoy the present; the result being he doesn't live in the present or the future; he lives as if he's never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived." - Dalai Lama 

Do you feel like you're really living? Do you make the most of each day? Are you 'in the moment' or do you live looking ahead at the next crisis headed your way? 

Consider how your dog greets you whether you've been gone 5 minutes, 5 hours or 5 days. The dog is happy to see you because they don't live in the past being annoyed with you for leaving them alone or in the future being annoyed or fearful because you might leave again. They are in the moment always. And that's how we should be. 

How much stress would we eliminate from our lives if we just stayed in the moment, putting one foot in front of the other, living one day at a time? Worrying about tomorrow doesn't make whatever we are worried about go away but it does make today unpleasant.

Live every day likes it's your last one on earth. If you knew today was the last day you'd be here, what would that look like? 

Are you dreading the holidays, knowing that you won't be able to wear the same clothes on New 
Years that you wore at the beginning of the feeding frenzy we call the holiday season? Are you worried that you might undo all the good you have done recently for your health? Do you think you might go off the rails with your food choices? Do the holidays get really stressful and cause you to make food choices that may not be very healthy? 

If any of the above scares you, I can help you get through the next two months with my Healthy Holidays program.  And you won't even have to leave the comfort of your home.  

I am offering SPECIAL PRICING until THURSDAY 11/7 for anyone who signs up by then. The regular price of this program is $297 but until 11/7, the price is only $247...that's a $50 savings!

If you would like to have a free consultation about the Healthy Holidays program, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

Is Sleep Really That Important? YES!!!

I spoke to a friend today who is heavily invested in her passion project. She becomes so engrossed in her work that she deprives herself of sleep. After hearing this bit of news from her, I decided to dig out this post from before as a reminder of the importance of adequate sleep. Read on to see how important it is.

How important is sleep? Beyond feeling rested and getting rid of dark circles under the eyes, sleep has a very important role in our lives and without it our health suffers. 

Why do we need sleep?

While we sleep, our cells are being repaired. We tend to think that sleep is downtime for our body when, in fact, we are quite active during sleep. While there is still a lot of mystery around the sleep process, a lot of information is known about its importance. 

During sleep, our bodies process and store information from the day before and solidify memories. As we go through life, we are bombarded by a lot of information and it's during sleep that we are able to organize and commit much of it to long-term memory.

We require long periods of sleep to rebuild, repair and restore muscle and other tissue and to synthesize hormones. Because young children learn so much during their earliest years, like language and other life skills needed to survive, it is likely that they require the most sleep.  

According to the National Sleep Foundation, the guidelines for adequate sleep by age group are as follows:

• infants (4-11 months) 12-15 hours
• school age children (6-13 years) 9-11 hours
• teenagers (14-17 years) 8-10 hours
• young adults and adults (18-64 years) 7-9 hours
• older adults (65+ years) 7-8 hours

What happens if we don't get enough sleep?

Sleep deprivation has many detrimental effects on your health and well-being. Although it is a good idea to try to make up for lost sleep, you cannot accumulate a large sleep deficit and then make up for it by sleeping many hours afterward. 

Sleep deprivation can make one accident-prone and clumsy. Drowsy driving is as bad as driving while intoxicated. Many fatal accidents occur when the driver has fallen asleep at the wheel.

There are many health issues that are made worse by a lack of sleep. High blood pressure has been linked to a lack of adequate, deep, restorative sleep. 

When you are overtired, you are more likely to overeat and to succumb to cravings. This is due, in part, to the fact that your hunger hormones, leptin and ghrelin are not working properly. When you are overtired, your ghrelin levels could be high causing you to feel hungry while your leptin levels are low, causing you to not feel satisfied or full after eating. Additionally, your metabolism is negatively impacted by a lack of sleep and could contribute to the development or the exacerbation of diabetes.

Teen-agers who consistently lack sleep perform poorly in school. It's been shown that teens who can start school later in the day than the typical high school day starts, perform better in testing. This is possibly because their circadian rhythms are such that they are not ready to sleep early enough at night to get adequate sleep before they have to get up for school that starts very early in the morning. Some schools have implemented an early morning nap opportunity for high-schoolers and have found that this helps in school performance.

Lack of sleep has also been associated with mood disorders and depression and other mental health issues. People who don't get enough sleep may have trouble regulating their emotions. One way prisoners of war are broken by their captors is by being deprived of sleep as a means of torture. Extreme sleep deprivation causes mental and physical harm that will ultimately lead to death.        

The best habit you can develop for yourself to ensure healthy sleep habits is to consistently go to bed and get up at the same time each day after sufficient sleep. This is how you are able to keep your circadian rhythm in synch and you can be sure you are well rested to face your life.  

Are you dreading the holidays, knowing that you won't be able to wear the same clothes on New 
Years that you wore at the beginning of the feeding frenzy we call the holiday season? Are you worried that you might undo all the good you have done recently for your health? Do you think you might go off the rails with your food choices? Do the holidays get really stressful and cause you to make food choices that may not be very healthy? 

If any of the above scares you, I can help you get through the next two months with my Healthy Holidays program.  And you won't even have to leave the comfort of your home.  

I am offering SPECIAL PRICING until THURSDAY 10/31 for anyone who signs up by then. The regular price of this program is $297 but until THURSDAY, the price is only $247...that's a $50 savings!

If you would like to have a free consultation about the Healthy Holidays program, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

Are You In Analysis Paralysis?

Do you have trouble starting a project because it seems too big to tackle? If there are several options, do you have trouble choosing the best one or any one at all? Do you not even know where to look to find the place to start? 

I have this issue all the time. I have so many things I want to do in my business like: blog regularly, write a newsletter, make YouTube videos, get paid speaking gigs and have a full slate of individual coaching clients...and by the way, have a viable website that is updated regularly. All of this is so overwhelming to me that I get nervous just typing about it.

According to Wikipedia, "analysis paralysis" is when the fear of potential error outweighs the realistic expectation or potential value of success, and this imbalance results in suppressed decision-making in an unconscious effort to preserve existing options. An overload of options can overwhelm the situation and cause this "paralysis", rendering one unable to come to a conclusion. It can become a larger problem when in critical situations where a decision needs to be reached but a person is not able to provide a response fast enough, potentially causing a bigger issue than they would have had they made a decision. 

Does any of this resonate? If it does, read on. I'm going to take a different approach from the one I have taken in the past, because "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten" - Henry Ford. 

Here's my plan:

• I'm going to write a list of all my big ideas
• within each idea, I'll break it up into manageable tasks
• if those tasks are still too big, I'll break them into steps
• I'll make a schedule and put deadlines on each of the steps, tasks and ideas

Does that sound like rocket science? Of course it doesn't. I'm sure you're saying "no sh*t Sherlock...that's what you're supposed to do". I know that and you know that but execution is not the same as knowing what to do. How do you eat the elephant in front of you? One bite at a time, and that's what I'm going to do, one bite at a time.

What's your elephant?  

Are you dreading the holidays, knowing that you won't be able to wear the same clothes on New 
Years that you wore at the beginning of the feeding frenzy we call the holiday season? Are you worried that you might undo all the good you have done recently for your health? Do you think you might go off the rails with your food choices? Do the holidays get really stressful and cause you to make food choices that may not be very healthy? 

If any of the above scares you, I can help you get through the next two months with my Healthy Holidays program.  And you won't even have to leave the comfort of your home.  

I am offering SPECIAL PRICING until THURSDAY 10/31 for anyone who signs up by then. The regular price of this program is $297 but until THURSDAY, the price is only $247...that's a $50 savings!

If you would like to have a free consultation about the Healthy Holidays program, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

F.A.I.L. = First Attempt in Learning or You Are Not A Failure, No Matter What Happens

I have seen this video many times and it never fails to choke me up. I love this man's story of strength, perseverance and ultimate victory. I think it speaks to the resilience of the human spirit when a person has someone else's belief in them and also believes in themselves enough to use the energy from that belief to accomplish what they previously thought was impossible. 

What would you do if you knew success was the only outcome? To what heights would you soar? What chances would you take? If you knew you could not fail, how far would you stretch the limits?

Do you know that the only thing that gets in your way is you? We all have limiting beliefs. We aren't smart enough, don't know enough, don't have the right credentials, aren't pretty enough, are too young/old, too fat/thin, and scads of other beliefs I haven't even identified. We often stay in dead end jobs that are mind numbing and dream killing because of our fear of lack. We think the only way we can pay our bills is to go to that same job day after day to earn a paycheck.

I was one of those people who stayed in a job for a very long time when what I really wanted to do was start my own business. I started my business before I retired and now am playing catch up to move it where I want it to be.

I also had those same beliefs that I mentioned above but they don't serve me so I am writing a different narrative for my life. I am here to serve others through my coaching and leadership. I am fully qualified to do what I am called to do. I can make plenty of money coaching and spreading my message. I have more than enough knowledge and experience to help women regain their health. My age and weight have no bearing on my ability to help others.

What are the limiting beliefs that hold you back from being your best self? How are you going to rewrite the narrative of your life to reach you full potential and realize your wildest dreams?

Write down your limiting beliefs and change each one to a statement that will serve you. Read the new beliefs out loud to yourself over and over and let them really sink in. Your subconscious hears what you say to yourself and absorbs it. It doesn't know truth from lie so why not give it some good feedback instead of tearing yourself down? You will start to believe the good stuff and will begin acting in a way that will make you achieve what you want. Try it...you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. 

Do you have any of the symptoms outlined above? As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

Does This Describe You? You Could Be Suffering From Adrenal Fatigue

Have you heard of adrenal fatigue? Adrenal fatigue is a relatively new term. It only came into existence in the late 1990s and was coined by James Wilson, PhD, a naturopath and alternative medicine expert. Dr. Wilson theorized that an overstimulation of the adrenal glands, by chronic stress over time could lead to an inconsistent level of cortisol (stress hormone) in the bloodstream...sometimes way too much and sometimes way too little. 

Additionally, people with this condition are also usually low on dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), also known as the parent hormone, because it is used in the body to produce other hormones. So what that means is, if DHEA is not doing its job, your other hormones are out of whack as well, not just the cortisol. And hormones control a lot of functions in the body...hormones drive the bus.

Adrenal fatigue is not a term recognized by the medical community because it can't be tested through conventional means. It's usually diagnosed through a series of symptoms that could be indicative of many other illnesses. It is also identified through saliva testing for cortisol levels at various times during a 24 hour period.

Symptoms like excessive fatigue even after a full night of sleep, certain food cravings, or a general feeling of malaise, are often present. These can also be symptoms of depression, sleep apnea, fibromyalgia, among others, which, coupled with the difficulty in testing, makes the medical community discount its existence.

Adrenal fatigue is often caused by poor diet, lack of sleep, chronic stress, heavy reliance on caffeine, sugar and other substances to stay alert.  The treatment is usually a change in diet, perhaps the recommendation to take a few supplemental vitamins/minerals and maybe some lifestyle adjustments. Even if you doubt the diagnosis of adrenal fatigue, following this protocol is likely to improve any symptoms you might have that are on the list. It's really a recipe for a healthy life.

Do you have any of the symptoms outlined above? As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

Everyone Should Have a Pet

Some of my favorite "people" have had four legs. We were away for recently and put our dog Monet in the kennel, which made me think how much I miss her when she isn't around. Even though she's ten or eleven years old, she still brings a childlike joy to our home. 

We recently lost her lifelong companion Chili to kidney failure and we see how the loss has affected Monet. She isn't as vocal as she was before. She hides behind furniture when there is loud noise in the house, like when we were having work done in the kitchen. I think she took her behavior cues from Chili so she barked when Chili told her it was appropriate to do so. She would wait outside the back door when we put them out until Chili ran ahead and she would follow. Now she goes out, takes care of business and then comes to sit by the door to wait to be let in. Chili was the one who told us it was time to let them in by being the one to bark at the door. Now we have to remember that Monet is outside, which we sometimes don't realize for an hour or so.

Besides bringing the aforementioned joy to a home, dogs and other pets do a lot more for you. They give you unconditional love, and who couldn't use a lot more of that? In a world that can sometimes be a little cruel and uncaring, coming home to the happy reception you receive from the pet that loves you can be soul shifting and uplifting. 

You are less likely to be lonely. Having pets can bring opportunities for social interactions with other pet people or just people you meet on your walks. For introverts, being around people can be exhausting after a while. Coming home to a pet can be re-energizing. The pet has no expectations of you and is always happy to see you.  

There are also many physical health benefits to living with a pet. Pet people often get more exercise, especially dog people. Walking or playing with the dog helps both of you. You will bond with the pet more fully which is emotionally satisfying but you will also enjoy the obvious fitness boost that walking and running around will bring. Other benefits are a decrease in blood pressure, triglycerides,  and total cholesterol. 

I've had dogs off and on since I was a kid. They can be annoying when all they want to do is be near you, as my Chili did. But now that she's gone, I miss her company. She was a sweet and loving dog. We still have Monet, who also is a sweet and loving dog but each dog brings something different to the home. I have never been a cat person. That doesn't mean I don't like cats, I just prefer dogs so my frame of reference is that of one who has been owned by dogs. 

Whether you are a dog person, cat person or other type of pet person, living with a pet can give you a more fulfilling life and a deeper connection to another living being that you might not otherwise have. Don't underestimate the power of that connection.

As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

Are You A Victim...Or A Victor?

I listen to a lot of audiobooks and the current selection is a book call Everything Is Figure Outable by Marie Forleo. Essentially what she is saying is that every problem has a solution and sometimes that solution is to accept the situation as it is and make the best of it. This got me thinking about things and life and all that goes with that.

I like to think that I don't consider myself a victim, but that may not always be the case. It's usually the trivial things that happen where I assume a victim mentality...like someone wasn't nice to me or someone in traffic cut me off.

But when the big things happen, I never say, "why me?" I don't know why that's the case but I just don't. I'll say it about someone else though. I'll ask the question "what did they ever do to deserve...?" That question just never applies to me. It doesn't mean I assume responsibility for what happened, although I believe my previously questionable lifestyle choices may have contributed to my breast cancer, so for the lifestyle part I will own that. 

You can't always control what happens to you but you can control how you react to it. So when life throws you a curveball, do you take the "why me" approach, or do you pick yourself up and face the issue head on? It's not easy to do that, especially when whatever happened is completely mind blowing and forever life altering.

You or a loved one may have been given a devastating health diagnosis, you may have hit a financial pothole, maybe a natural disaster took away all your earthly belongings. Any one of these occurrences can knock you off your feet and you can either stay down there or get up and deal with the situation the best you can.

When I found out I had breast cancer, the first order of business was to get this thing out of my body. I then underwent the awful treatment that comes with the territory. During the time I was ill, I had plenty of time to plan my next move.

At first it was all about me. I wanted to get as healthy as I could to ward off, as much as was possible, any recurrence of cancer. Once I discovered the holy grail that made me healthy again, my motives became a little nobler, but still about me in a different way. In order to make sense of what happened to my health, I became a health coach so I could help other people learn what I know and to feel as well as I do.

Fast forward eight years and I find myself in another health crisis. I had a rare type of cardiac event that resulted in a heart attack with no idea why it happened. I wasn't in the demographic for this type of event...at least that I knew of. So again, I worked on my health and became a WomenHeart Champion Community Educator so I could help educate women about the resources available to them, their risk factors, symptoms and how to self-advocate if they found themselves having a cardiac event. 

I don't do these things because I have some kind of hero complex. I do them because I need to make the situations my body presents me with, make sense. Otherwise, I might become a victim and that prospect really doesn't appeal to me.

I also don't think everyone who develops a disease or health condition needs to be as drastic as I was and still am. That's just my way of coping. You can find your own way of dealing with your unique situation. The important thing is, I hope you do everything you can to figure it out, because everything is figure outable. It must be. There's a book about it.

As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

Is My Head Full of Swiss Cheese?

I read this article today and it really spoke to me. I am nearly ten years out from enduring chemotherapy and the term "chemo brain" still applies to me every so often. What is chemo brain you ask? Chemo brain is one of the side effects besides nausea, vomiting and extreme fatigue that impacts the recipient of the therapy. It shows up in many ways, like brain fog, confusion and a particularly frustrating loss of common words. 

I can be embedded in a conversation and all of a sudden, I can't find a word I've used all my life. It's usually a common word which I'm able to describe in detail but am unable to come up with the actual word. Of course, the person I'm speaking to will try to help me by guessing words that might fit which only serves to frustrate more because I feel the word slipping further and further away. 

These experiences are a little unnerving to me for two reasons: One, I saw both of my grandmothers' and one of my aunt's brains destroyed by Alzheimer's disease. And two, one of the places breast cancer metastasizes is in the brain. I don't think that will happen to me but I would be lying if I told you the possibility never crossed my mind.

There are many symptoms of chemo brain, especially while you undergo treatment, so if chemo is in your life watch for these signs, as outlined by the Mayo Clinic:

• being unusually disorganized
• confusion
• difficulty concentrating
• difficulty finding the right word
• difficulty learning new skills
• difficulty multitasking
• feeling of mental fogginess
• short attention span
• short term memory problems
• taking longer than usual to complete routine tasks
• trouble with verbal memory, such as remembering a conversation
• trouble with visual memory, such as recalling an image or a list of words

Other things that are occurring at the same time you receive the chemo may be impairing your brain function also. Treatment for other health conditions or the existence of other health conditions, both known and unknown can have an impact as well. Of course any treatment above the neck for cancer or the existence of head and/or neck cancer can also impair cognitive function. Age and physical condition at the time of onset of cancer may also have an effect.

 If you suffer with any of these symptoms to the point that they affect your life, be sure to speak to your doctor about it. Try to minimize stress, eat well, get adequate and good quality sleep to help support your brain and body during and after treatment. Don't be afraid to seek help.

As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

Drop The Soda And Nobody Gets Hurt

I don't think this information will come as a surprise to anyone who has been reading my posts but it's important sometimes to remind people about the revelation in this article. Essentially it says that over-consumption of any sweetened soft drinks will likely lead to early death, whether it's sweetened with sugar or an artificial sweetener. The results of the subject study were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The results state that people who drank only two sodas per day ran a higher risk of death from any cause than those who consumed less than one per month.

This study was one of the largest of its kind and was conducted in ten countries in Europe. It was found that people who consumed two or more diet sodas per day ran a higher risk of dying from circulatory problems a.k.a. cardiovascular disease and those who drank one or more sugar sweetened sodas, were at higher risk of dying from digestive issues including problems with the liver, appendix, pancreas and intestines.

Although it was thought that people who regularly consumed soda were likely also living a less healthy lifestyle than their non-soda drinking counterparts, adjustments in the study were made for other unhealthy lifestyle markers like a high BMI or tobacco use. Even after adjusting for those factors, it as undeniable that the soda consumption negatively impacted life expectancy.

Members of the Calories Control Council who are the advocates for the use of non-sugar sweeteners stand behind their position that artificial sweeteners have long been considered safe for consumption, I would advise taking that position with a grain of salt. Follow the money and make your assessment based on who is paying their salaries.

The American Heart Association has determined that the single biggest source of added sugar in our modern diet is sweetened beverages. The obesity level in U.S. children and adolescents has more than tripled since the 1970s according to the CDC and more than 40% of the adult population is overweight or obese, according to the American Medical Association.

There are several cities in the U.S. that have imposed a soda tax but not without significant pushback from the soda lobby. Fortunately, it appears that more people are opting for healthier beverage options. If the soda companies want to stay afloat, they should consider expanding their product lines to include healthier beverages that are less sweet or not sweetened at all. Consumers are changing their selections, the industry should be paying attention and change with the times. Otherwise, they will be left behind. This preference is not likely to go away any time soon.

As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

Don't Call Me Boss Babe

I'm a business owner. I own a health and wellness company that has a network marketing component to it. I sell services with my coaching and products with my network marketing company. 

I'm not a "girl boss" or a "boss babe". I own a business. I find it very demeaning to "genderize"(yeah I know it isn't a word) my position as the person who owns and runs my company. Do we call male CEOs "boss dude" or "boy boss"? I've never heard it. So why do we do it to women? And the worst part is, women do it to themselves.  How can we expect others to take us seriously as business owners if we don't even take ourselves seriously? What I do isn't just a hobby. I have lots of fun doing it but I consider myself a professional and would like to be respected as such.

I find this distinction is most used by network marketing professionals. These women proudly work their network marketing business around their lives, which I do as well. But even if they are doing the work part-time, it's still a business and a very lucrative one too. Why would you want to trivialize it?

This business model makes so much sense, especially in the world as it is today. But calling yourself a "mompreneur" makes it sound like you're getting together with your girlfriends, drinking some wine and trying a little product on for size. It's so much more than that. Yes, you can have home parties but you can also build a very healthy online presence and never set foot in someone else's kitchen.

I want to be looked upon as a leader who is courageous and lives to serve others. I don't want to be a "babe". Besides, my babe days are long over. But, I don't think I was ever really someone people would refer to as a babe anyway.

This business changes you in ways you could not have dreamed. I do things now I never could have imagined and I have developed my leadership skills beyond anything that I accomplished in my 40 year career as a corporate drone. My self development continues every day and I'm excited to see what each day brings. I retired from my day job after 28 years and was able to do so partly because of the income from my side hustle, which is now my main hustle. That is not trivial.

This is a real business with real income and real growth potential with no limit that can help people realize their dreams, get out of debt, put kids through college and change lives.

So please don't call me Boss Babe. 

As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

Life Can Be A Day At The Beach

On a cold, dreary day, I thought we could all use a little beach fantasy.

Looking at this picture, you can almost hear the water lapping at the shoreline. It's a warm summer evening and a feeling of calm washes over you as you listen to the rhythmic sound of the waves. 

When I was going through chemo in February 2010 my sister took me to Hawaii. I had no hair and, because I live in New Jersey, was always very cold. It was life affirming to sit on the beach on the north shore of Oahu and watch the huge waves crash against the sand. The color of the water was the bluest I have ever seen. It was a mesmerizing, meditative experience. For a few hours each day, I was able to escape my reality and feel the stress of my situation melt away. 

There are so many reasons a visit to the beach is good for you. Walking in sand is not only much more pleasant than walking on pavement but also requires more effort and provides a better workout. it's also so much better for your feet, hips and other joints. 

Being at the beach usually means being in the sun. Being in the sun means you absorb a lot of Vitamin D. We are often deficient in Vitamin D, especially in winter when we are covered up and unable to absorb it. Vitamin D strengthens bones, supports the immune system, minimizes stress, lowers blood pressure and reduces cancer risk. Just remember not to spend too much time in the sun between the hours of 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM.

Our bodies are made up of more than 75% salt water so it's no wonder we feel so much better at the beach, near the ocean. The ocean water is full of minerals like magnesium, calcium and potassium that are absorbed into the skin. These minerals help to overcome certain skin conditions and detoxify the skin. And because the skin is our largest organ, all those minerals are absorbed into our bodies too.

Even the blue color of the ocean and the sky is very soothing and calming. Staring at the ocean will actually change your brainwaves and put you into a meditative, almost trancelike state. The negative ions in the salt air help to alleviate depression and mood disorders and help with oxygen absorption. This is why you often sleep very well after spending the day at the beach.

There are so many other benefits from spending time by the water. It's the place on earth where we are closest to our own physiology. It helps us physically, mentally, emotionally. So pack your beach bag and floppy hat and have a blast.

As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

The Power of Serving Others

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others - Mahatma Gandhi

Have you ever considered the benefit you can glean from being of service to others? Do you know it can raise your self esteem and actually make you more grateful? Here are some of the good things that can happen to you when you serve others:

• Increased happiness - according to Stephen Post from Stony Brook University in New York, the part of our brain responsible for the production of dopamine, the "feel good" hormone, is activated when we help others. When we volunteer, we feel as though we have a deeper purpose which leads to more happiness.
• Reduced stress - negative emotions are reduced because our brains release oxytocin and serotonin when we help others. These chemicals, when released into our system, will buffer stress and help us to maintain social trust and tranquility.
• May help to reduce pain - in a study done by Pain Management Nursing, people who participated in a volunteer training program experienced a noticeable reduction in pain. Volunteering takes our mind off of our troubles, in this case the pain, and makes us feel more in control of it.
• Longer life - current studies indicate that volunteering may contribute to a 22% overall reduction in mortality rates, and it doesn't take that much time...25 hours per year will do the trick. That's about two hours per month.
• Lower blood pressure - in a study conducted by Psychology and Aging, it was found that adults over the age of 50 who volunteered 200 hours in the past year were 40% less likely to develop hypertension than their non-volunteering counterparts. It is believed that this is a result of being active, social, and behaving in an altruistic manner, which lowers stress.
• Helps maintain sobriety and reduces mild depression - a study of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members determined that those AA members that volunteered were much more likely to maintain their sobriety than those who did not volunteer. In many cases of mild depression, there is a link to social isolation. Volunteering keeps people in touch with each other and helps to develop a social support system.
• Career enhancement - according to the book The Halo Effect by John Raynolds, when you volunteer from a place of goodness, everything in your life is positively impacted. When you lead with your heart AND your head, the result is always positive. Even if you don't particularly love your job, the uplifting feeling you get from volunteering spills over into other areas of your life, including your job. It gives you a feeling of purpose and fulfillment and makes you feel happier, more confident and energized.

It's important that you care about the people you are helping in your volunteer efforts in order to reap the benefits to yourself. If you are resentful or you feel a sense of obligation to help the beneficiaries of your efforts, you will not feel good about the experience, causing a stress reaction. If you feel exploited or taken advantage of in any way, don't do it. You will be worse off than if you did nothing.

Volunteering may not always be fun but as long as you feel like you are making a positive difference in someone's life, it will be gratifying and meaningful to you. My advice is to find something that matters to you and find a way to get involved in a meaningful way. You will be happier for having done so.

I get a lot of satisfaction from my volunteer work with WomenHeart. I am a community educator and I go where I can to speak to women about heart disease. Sometimes I go and speak to two people and sometimes I speak to 100. Whatever the size of the audience, I am happy to bring the message to whoever needs to hear it.

Where will you find a reason to serve others?  

As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

Reflections Over The Past Year

Today is my birthday. I'm not saying that to get good wishes, although I would never turn them down. It's really to explain why I'm reflecting on the past year in the middle of October. 

It's been a busy year for sure. I've been a health and nutrition coach for several years as a side hustle but this year I decided to ramp it up and be all in. What fun this is! I love what I do and love seeing my clients' success.

In addition to coaching, I have been taking my WomenHeart presentation to the community, educating women about heart disease.

I am the Finance team lead and Senior Warden on my church vestry.

I committed to myself to return to a healthy weight and exercise at least 30 minutes daily...no excuses.

I was hoping to earn my Competent Communicator award at Toastmasters by today but I still have one more speech to do which will happen by the end of October. I also wanted to earn my Competent Leader award by today but that is not completely within my control.

I started blogging regularly in January, at first daily in the first month of each quarter and since July 1st, I've been doing it daily.  

So why am I telling you all this? I'm sure you don't care about what I've been up to in all its gory detail. I'm sharing this to encourage you to commit to yourself and to honor that commitment, what ever that may be.

• Commit to self-care. Eat right, exercise daily, meditate, get adequate sleep, take breaks from your job and your life to have some time for yourself. 
• Commit to completing something you have been procrastinating on. Do you want to take a class? write a book? clean out your closets? Start with baby steps every day and in a year you will be 365 steps closer to completion.
• Commit to a cause. Find something you are passionate about and give your time, talent and treasure. It's good for the soul.
• Commit to self improvement. Promise yourself to read ten pages a day of a book that teaches you something. At the end of a year you will have read twelve 300 page books. 
• Commit to stepping outside your comfort zone. Do something you never thought you would do. I never thought I would be able to do public speaking and now you can't shut me up. Go skydiving, take ballroom dance lessons, learn a new language. Stretch yourself and see how far you can move outside your bubble.

Take stock of your year and see if you should be farther along in your life than you are now. We have two full months left in this decade to move that needle. Make a commitment to yourself and stick with it. You won't regret it and even if you aren't able to complete the goal, you will be farther along than if you never started.

As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

Breast Cancer Is Not a Joke And It Isn't Cute

What are people thinking? This is not funny and it does not advance the cause of women or men dealing with breast cancer. Why is breast cancer used as the basis of these cutesy campaigns? Does that happen with brain cancer or pancreatic cancer? Do we see pastries in the shape of testicles to bring awareness to testicular cancer? 

First of all, if we want to promote the eradication of breast cancer, eating marshmallow filled chocolate graham crackers is not going to do that. I think it's disrespectful and further objectifies women when these types of products are promoted.

And what is this crap? Why is it acceptable to sexualize a disfiguring and potentially life threatening disease? Young women are often objectified for simply existing in this world and when we become too old to be "worthy" of objectification, we are often marginalized. And when I see things like this, it infuriates me.

Please don't put a pink ribbon on something and say you're doing it to bring awareness to the cause of breast cancer. As I said in this earlier post, we are all aware of breast cancer. Let's work on making sure people who have developed Stage 4, metastatic breast cancer (MBC), which is the only one that kills people, can get efficacious treatment so they can live a long and fruitful life.

If you want to further the cause of helping people with breast cancer, please consider donating to something like https://www.metavivor.org/. Their mission is to transition metastatic breast cancer from a terminal diagnosis to a chronic, manageable disease with a decent quality of life.

METAvivor is the only organization in the US that exclusively funds MBC research through a scientific peer-review process. Currently only 2-5% of research funds are directed to metastatic breast cancer.

So if you really want to "save the ta-tas" or "save second base" or whatever cutesy slogan is on the T-shirt, please leave the pink ribbon behind and put your money where it will do some good.

As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.

(S)heroes

In honor of the 2019 class of WomenHeart Champions, I wanted to rerun this post. I continue to be humbled and blessed to be counted among this group of courageous (s)heroes.  

In October 2018, I had the honor and pleasure of being invited to become a WomenHeart Champion. To become a champion, I went to be trained at the Mayo Clinic. Yes, it was THE Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. And I was one of 50 women in the country asked to do this. Everyone who was part of this illustrious group of women either had heart disease or had experienced some sort of cardiac event. In my case, it was the latter.

On September 11, 2017, I was sitting in a Toastmasters meeting at the hospital, having just returned to my seat after a brief presentation. I began to feel a burning sensation that originated in the middle of my chest and spread to both shoulders and into my jaw. I even felt it in my bottom teeth. It wasn’t particularly painful but it was a sensation I had never experienced before. I sat for a few minutes and tried to squirm my way out of the feeling but a voice in my head that became louder and louder said, “women’s symptoms are different from men’s”  over and over again. 

I turned to the gentleman sitting across the aisle from me, as he was the closest, and asked him to walk out with me because I was afraid I might get worse if I walked out and I didn’t want to faint...or worse. We walked out, I thought inconspicuously, and flagged down a hospital employee who quickly rallied the troops to get me into a wheelchair and off to the ER. While I waited for the wheelchair, I called my husband to tell him of my new adventure. 

As the reality of what was happening started to settle in I began to get a little panicked. I had too much to do to be laid up with a heart attack. I’m a vegetarian so this can’t be happening to me. My blood pressure and cholesterol are on the low side so this can’t be happening to me. I’m a health coach and I teach people how to avoid such situations so this can’t be happening to me. 

As soon as I arrived at the ER I was hooked up to an EKG and sure enough, it was happening to me. I was in the throes of a heart attack so they whisked me up to the cath lab to unblock what they thought was a blocked artery. What they found was something else. I had a spontaneous coronary artery dissection aka a SCAD. What is a SCAD, you say? It happens when one or more of your coronary arteries starts to come apart and cause a blockage resulting in a heart attack. I didn’t have a plaque buildup or a normal blockage. No, my artery started to peel apart and caused its own blockage. I was fortunate that it wasn’t a main artery and I feel like I dodged a gigantic bullet because here we are, more than two years later and I feel pretty good. 

Now, why do I tell you this story? I tell you because it was this event that led me to WomenHeart and all the courageous heart warriors I had the privilege of meeting at Mayo. There were women from as young as 27 to well into their 70s who have experienced multiple near death experiences and several trips to the ER where they were not taken seriously and could have died from their illness. There were women whose hearts were nearly shredded from the damage they suffered. It was enormously humbling to hear their stories of triumph and survival. Some of them were born with a heart abnormality, some were misdiagnosed over and over again, some had multiple events and multiple life threatening conditions and they were all there for the same purpose…to help other women navigate the terrifying uncertainties that come with a catastrophic cardiac event. These women were feisty, strong, funny, smart, curious, generous, loving, creative, supportive and still alive and wanted to give back. They were all so grateful to be alive and for having defied the odds. I am in awe of them. 

These are the people I hold up as my (s)heroes. They make me want to make them proud of me. I am so honored to have been in their company and to count them as my Heart Sisters. Soldier on sisters. We've got this.

As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.