Are You Really Living?

"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? 

Ten Ways Drinking Enough Water Can Benefit You

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.  

Detoxing Can Be Healthy If You Do It Right

Our bodies are amazing machines. They can take whatever food-like substance we give it and at least for awhile, make it work as fuel. But eventually, they will stop working if we don't consume the right nutrients. 

Because of the Standard American Diet (SAD), the environment, high levels of stress, and water, soil and air pollution, our bodies have become rather toxic. We have chemicals, heavy metals and other substances in our bodies that don't support our good health. 

When these substances enter our bodies through the mechanisms I previously mentioned, The liver and kidneys work to remove them from the vital organs, where they can cause the most harm. The body protects itself from the deleterious effects of these toxins by storing them in adipose tissue...aka our fat cells.

The presence of toxins in adipose tissue can hinder a person's ability to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight. This issue can be alleviated by removing the toxins from the body through a gentle detoxification process. It is extremely important not to rush the process with an aggressive detoxification because by releasing an abundance of toxins into the bloodstream, the system becomes overloaded and cannot expel them from the body quickly enough. The result is the recirculation of the toxins back through the body, only to begin the process all over again.

Before I continue, in full disclosure, I want to let you know that I represent a health and wellness product line called Arbonne International. But don't stop reading here because, even if you aren't interested in the products, there is still good information to be gleaned from this post.

Watch this video by naturopath Dr. Tanda Cook for a very good and relatable explanation of how a detox program can help your body and this particular program works. It's a short video that you will find to be very informative.

If you live on this planet, eat the food it provides, breathe the air, drink the water and live a life that has stress, both and bad, you would benefit from a gentle detox, with or without this program.

The Ultimate Hair Band

We were called today to post pictures and discuss them. These are some pictures from my phone that bring a smile to my face.

This is one of my favorites. I call this photo "The Ultimate Hair Band" because the hair bands of the 80s have nothing on this crew. These are my girls and two of their cousins with enough hair between them to provide coverage for a room full of the 'follicley' challenged. 

God only knows the topic of conversation taking place just before this shot but I can hear the laughter and silliness that prevails when this group gets together and I love every second of it.

This is a picture of me with my zip-lining partner Bill. It was the first time for both of us and we zip-lined next to Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. The pleasant surprise to me was when they weighed us. They use the metric system and the number was much smaller than I'm used to seeing when I weigh myself at home. It's the little things in life that make me happy.

I was quite amused with myself when I took this shot. Fortunately, I was traveling with a couple of good sports. This was the same trip to Niagara Falls that included the zip-lining adventure.

These two Disney princesses are my grand niece and niece from left to right. They came to visit me when I had my heart attack, and as you can see, dressed appropriately for the occasion. These girls are two peas in a pod. They love to dress up and the fancier the better.  

It was fun going back through my pictures to put this post together. It brought back some nice memories. I hope they made you smile a little.

Who Doesn't Love a Prize?

Today our Ultimate Blog Challenge host invited us to come up with a contest to engage our readers. As I sit here considering the idea I thought it would be  fun to see if I could give that a try. 

As I've said before, I'm a holistic health and nutrition coach. I work with women who are dealing with serious health issues or are at risk of developing them. My clients regain their vitality and energy, sleep better, lose weight and generally feel and look better in their own skin. I incorporate a healthy, safe, vegan product line in my practice to further support my clients.     

I am excited to grow my business so that's where the contest comes in. I am offering a prize to the first 10 people who sign up here for a discovery call. There is no obligation other than to participate in the call. 

What have you got to lose? You might learn a few things,  make a new friend and you'll win a prize.  Talk to you soon!

Thank God for Audio Books or Where I Get My Inspiration

In this blog challenge, we are given daily suggestions to get our writing juices flowing. We can choose to use that day's suggestion or we can pick our own topic. Today I'm using the suggestion. 

We were tasked with giving a list of resources we find helpful. Because I spend a lot of time in the car, I consider listening to audio books to be an excellent use of my drive time. I refuse to listen to the news because I have a hard enough time getting to sleep at night without even more to worry about. I will occasionally listen to music when I don't have a book lined up or my phone battery is low. But my favorite way to pass the time is to listen to a self-development book. If you have the right author, the right reader and the right topic, you will fall in love with the medium and you'll never listen to your radio again. 

Following is a list of some of the books and their authors that I have listened to, or read the old fashioned way. Often I will listen to a book twice because I like it that much and I want to make sure I received the information the author is trying to convey to the reader/listener. Here they are: 

• The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage - by Mel Robbins
• The Universe Has Your Back: Transform Fear into Faith - by Gabrielle Bernstein
• The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over - by Jack Schafer PhD,  Marvin Karlins Ph.D.
• Playing the Matrix: A Program for Living Deliberately and Creating Consciously - by Mike Dooley
• The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business - by Charles Duhigg
• You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life - by Jen Sincero
• High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way - by Brendon Burchard
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life - by Mark Manson
• Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be - by Rachel Hollis
• Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence-and How You Can, Too - by Gary Vaynerchuk

There are many other books that have gotten my attention but this list gives you a peek inside my head. I like anything from Napoleon Hill, Robin Sharma, Jim Rohn, Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy and many others. I read/listen to books that make me think about the way I look at the world and my life. It sure beats listening to talk radio and the news.   

What I Learned About Women and Our Hearts

I decided to share some of what I learned since my cardiac event 16 month ago. Most of the information I'm about to share with you came from WomenHeart - The National Coalition for Women With Heart Disease.

The leading cause of death for women in the United States is heart disease. The sad fact is, even though it is known that more women die from heart disease than from any other cause, heart disease is still perceived as belonging more to men than women. The medical community perpetuates that myth by designing testing and treatment around men and their needs or symptoms. They also may misdiagnose a women's cardiac symptoms as being caused by something else, like stress, heartburn or anxiety. Women are more likely to dismiss their own symptoms too and delay or not seek medical treatment at all. 

Women often present differently than men when having a cardiac event. Their symptoms are sometimes subtle and not like the classic symptoms men experience. In my case, I had a burning sensation starting in the middle of my chest and radiating through both shoulders and into my lower jaw. It wasn't terribly painful and I hesitated asking for help initially. I was afraid it would be nothing and I would look foolish. Fortunately, it kept resonating in my brain that women's symptoms are different from men's which is what convinced me to seek help. Good thing I did.

Women often have worse outcomes than men in cardiac events and it's more prevalent in women of color. They may not be taken seriously in the hospital and may be send home without treatment. Sometimes, the tests are inconclusive in that an EKG may look normal, blood levels may not register heart damage until hours after the event and symptoms are not as intense as those of a man. 

Symptoms to look out for:

• discomfort, tightness, uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing in the center of the chest, lasting more than a few minutes or comes and goes
• crushing chest pain
• pressure or pain that spreads to the shoulders, neck, upper back, jaw or arms
• dizziness or nausea
• clammy sweats, heart flutters or paleness
• unexplained feelings of anxiety, fatigue or weakness - especially with exertion
• stomach or abdominal pain
• shortness of breath or difficulty breathing 

If you find yourself feeling like you may be having a cardiac event, don't waste time looking up your symptoms on the internet or deciding whether to seek help. Call 911 immediately. It's better to find out it's a false alarm than to be in a situation made worse by waiting. It's important to advocate for yourself. Do not allow yourself to be dismissed. 

Most heart disease is preventable. It's important to maintain a healthy body weight, healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels, exercise regularly and limit animal proteins in the diet. Managing stress and getting enough sleep is also very important in maintaining cardiac health and general good health.

As a health and nutrition coach, I work with women to lose weight and make sustainable changes to their lifestyle to prevent heart disease and other illnesses.