energy Archives

Muscles Pump You Up (In More Ways Than One!)

There is something about working those muscles hard and having that feeling of being totally pumped up afterwards!! I just love that feeling!

The muscles feel swollen and full as the blood surges through them after the heavy burn wears off.. if you have never felt it, you may not know what I mean.. but if you have done a good lifting routine…you will know exactly what I am talking about here…???

This morning, I feel compelled to talk about what goes on inside the muscle to make it feel this way and how that gives us benefit, conditioning and a sense of well-being. Its totally changed my life to do resistance training and I am certain it would change yours as well.

It may sound weird, but the action of lifting weights actually depletes muscle building nutrients in the body and causes microscopic tears in our muscle fibres. Its only after the workout is over that our bodies work to repair the damage we inflicted on it and then the muscle growth starts to happen. Immediately after a workout, the body gets to work by increasing blood flow to those muscles causing them to feel bigger and more full. This increase blood flow and high rate of repair happens for up to several hours after a workout.

How to make sure our muscles repair and stay with us…

Its important to regularly have small meals with carbs and proteins after the workout to help keep the growth and repair process moving forward. During our sleep time at night, our body runs out of repair nutrients while we are sleeping (fasting) and this is why having a bit of extra protein at bedtime can be helpful to keep this repair process working well while sleeping. If we have prolonged periods of fasting, our body goes into what is called a catabolic state where muscle breakdown occurs. We definitely do not want to get into this state as it will reduce our muscle mass…so be sure that muscle is well fed and don’t allow your body to go into prolonged fasting periods.

WHY build muscle anyways?

Lifting weights (resistance training) is important to build muscle strength, but it also strengthens the surrounding connective tissue as well (tendon, ligament). The stronger the structures are, the less likely it will be that you will experience a strain, dislocation or tear around a joint or a muscle injury while in motion!!

The health benefits to having conditioned muscles are so amazing, that it is an important activity to incorporate into your life ASAP! Having muscles improves our physical appearance (more toned, nice shape, less fat), gives us more energy, increases bone density, increases power and strength, reduced injury, makes recovery from injuries faster, slows down aging and improves hormone balance, increases HDL (good cholesterol), improves our balance, lowers blood pressure and resting heart rate. The list goes on and on… so many benefits!

Oh and one more thing! Conditioned muscles typically do not cause us chronic pain! Yes, we will have some sore muscles from lifting at times especially when increasing weight or intensity, but in general, conditioned muscles at rest do not cause us pain! HUGE BENEFIT that improves quality of life! I suffered from chronic body, muscle, neck and knee pains for years and getting into shape completely transformed my quality of life and I am not in pain any longer! Its so worth the work!

If you would like to find a professionally designed resistance training program to get started with, please contact me and I will help you out.

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Dragging Butt in the Morning? (It May be Worth the Drag)

Getting up early in the morning some days can be pretty rough (I was never a morning person)… today was one of those days. Hit the snooze button too many times, really had to push myself to get up as my whole body was feeling heavy and actually quite lazy.

Once I came downstairs and had a look at what workout was on the menu for today, I actually groaned. It was MMA power sculpt which is a really hard one and my least favorite of them all. Eugh!

I was close to saying “to heck with it, I will do it later”, when I realized that “later” likely won’t happen. Life gets busy in the day and time slips away! I took a deep breath and just made myself do it! It was grueling and difficult for me today. I got tired faster than usual and was sweating a LOT! Was very happy when it was over and felt a sense of real accomplishment that I was able to make myself do something I really didn’t want to do…because it was good for me.

I had to remind myself this morning, of the reasons that I started doing early morning workouts in the first place! The benefits of early morning workouts are incredible! Even if you are not a morning person, keep an open mind, because I felt it was impossible for me to become an early riser at one time, but once I felt the difference, I was hooked!!

The Benefits of Morning Exercise are so worth the drag…here is why…

ROAST THAT METABOLISM for the whole day!

By getting up and doing a workout first thing in the morning, the metabolism gets kicked up and makes you burn more calories and use the food you eat to replenish body and for energy instead of storing it as fat!

NO INTERRUPTIONS!

By getting up early in the morning before anyone else in the house is awake, it prevents the potential for interruptions and allows you to be more consistent with your workout schedule. When I used to do evening workouts, there was always something in “life” interfering with my schedule causing workouts to go way too late or being missed entirely!

IMPROVE NATURAL ENERGY

By getting up and doing an early morning workout, it jacks up our energy to start our day! Morning exercise improves focus and mental abilities the whole day! By working out in the morning, my mind is totally ready to take on whatever tasks are lined up for the day! Exercise has proven to give even more mental alertness and prolonged energy than caffeine!

SELF DISCIPLINE

I talked about self-discipline the other day and just like building on any other habit, success in achieving new habits totally build up your self-discipline “muscle” AHA!! Implementing a morning workout routine will help to increase self-discipline in many other areas of your life too then!

SLEEP BENEFITS

Morning workouts have been shown to improve sleep quality. By working out in the morning, our bodies will have the healthy tiredness that we are supposed to have at the right time (bedtime!). Evening exercise can potentially have the opposite effect because of adrenaline release during exercise and may interfere with sleep quality. Another AHA for me since my sleep used to be much worse with evening workouts!

BE SUCCESSFUL

By developing a healthy habit such as morning exercise that increases metabolism, allows you to be consistent with your workout plan, improves energy and focus through the day for other life activities, builds your self-discipline ‘muscle’ and improves your sleep….you can only IMAGINE how much easier it will be to reach your fitness and health goals!! By making yourself (yes, dragging your butt) get up in the mornings, and making the sacrifice to do so…makes it more likely that you will stick to a healthier eating plan through the day as well. ….Rather than eating too many calories and having the mindset of … “oh, i will just burn this food off later” (as in…with an evening workout…that may not happen)

HATE MORNINGS?

I used to hate mornings too! I had to really make a solid decision for change and use self-discipline and determination to keep it moving forward. I used a few rules for myself to help me to implement this new habit. 1. I put the alarm far away so that I would have to get up to turn it off; 2. I make myself get up right away before my mind can stop me 3. I would set my workout clothes the night before to be prepared to get moving; 4. I have 500 mL water as soon as I get up, then have a pre-workout energizer shot and GO 5. Found an exercise program that I enjoy so that it is not a ‘chore’ and is only 30-45 minutes. 6. Remind myself of all the benefits that I get from morning workouts on a regular basis

OK…so if you are not currently a morning exerciser, then I challenge you to consider it. Have a look at the benefits above and seriously ask yourself if you would like to have those benefits in your life? Is it worth dragging your BUTT out of bed each and every morning? Give it a try and pre-schedule some home workouts in for a full week, then decide if it is worth the drag. I believe you will be amazed and will do it again…and again…and again…

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Defend Your Health (How to make the Healthy Choice Easy)

As I was doing my defensive moves this morning, I had this sudden thought about how important it is to vigorously defend our health in today’s world.

If I think about all the things that potentially could interfere with our health, there are so many! There is life stress, food additives and chemicals, environmental pollution, lack of exercise, lack of proper nutrition and nutrients, past life experiences affecting our emotional health, very busy and demanding life (rush rush rush), and more…

So, I was thinking about how much dedication and focus it takes to be healthy. Because, if you think about it, what are the easy choices now days? Yes, the easy choice is reaching for processed food, the quick answer, the pre-made type foods (all bad stuff!). Then I was thinking about how it takes effort and intention to make the healthy choices in our life the easy choices… We may not be able to control the environment, but we can control what we put into our bodies!

So, how can we make this easy? …

Some ways to make the healthy choices the easy choices are to prepare some simple healthy food ahead of time especially before a busy week. I do not like cooking, so I needed to find a great and fast way to throw stuff together. For example, I cook up a tray of healthy proteins for the week on Sunday…takes me 5 minutes to throw frozen chicken breast on a wax paper covered cookie sheet, paint them with hummus and bake in the oven. I can get a lot of other work done while those suckers are cooking! These chicken breasts through the week make good fast meals either being cut up on top of a salad or heated hot with some frozen veggies that I toss together. I alternate the chicken with cod, other types of fish, boiled eggs and ground turkey recipes. It works great, is never boring, and you are always prepared for nutritious eating and it makes healthy the easy choice when it is ready to grab from the fridge!

A few other ideas I use to prepare for a healthy nutritious week…

I always have 0% greek yogurt and low fat cottage cheese in the fridge which makes good meals with raw unsalted nuts and fruit (and no cooking required!). I spend only 15 minutes every 2-3 weeks making up 15-20 ziplock baggies of 1/3 cup raw unsalted nuts and seeds so they are easy to grab and go. Fresh fruit always available (apples and oranges because they don’t go bad). What other ideas for healthy easy snacks can you come up with? Please COMMENT on this post with your ideas!

What about when I get the munchies? (yes, we all do!)

I have Ryvita Bread (Muesli crunch is my favorite) on hand for those times when I feel the munchies come on. I can put a little smear of peanut butter on one or two of those, and its a great healthy snack that satisfies my munchies. Better to have this kind of thing readily available than salty popcorn, chips, or other unhealthy chemical-filled snack foods around. Be sure you are well-fed before heading to the grocery store and you will be less likely to buy junk food! Avoid having crap in the house, otherwise it becomes an easy choice to eat junk food and we do not want that!

Some Research is worth the time…

Get to know what types of foods are actually healthy. Stick mostly to the perimeter of the store to do your shopping because thats where most of the real whole foods are. Peek at the labels and if there are more than a few ingredients or a bunch of chemical names, stay away from it. Join clean eating groups to learn which foods are and are not healthy. Learn some new simple recipes to keep your nutrition interesting and delicious.

Are you familiar with the value of superfood?

It is important to know that the nutritional value in our foods and veggies are NOT what they used to be. There are vital nutrients missing that help to fight against oxidative damage that can lead to disease including cancer. This is where the use of superfoods can make a HUGE difference in our health. The superfood shake contains phytonutrients, cellular nutrition, antioxidants, micronutrients, natural herbs (and ZERO artificial ingredients) that increase body efficiency (including hormones) and is our best defence against disease, promotes weight loss and kills cravings. Having superfoods in a shake form, is not only convenient for on-the-go, but contains a large number of superfoods in just the right mix and balance to optimize their benefit!

DEFEND YOUR HEALTH! By far, optimal nutrition and regular exercise is the best defence we have!

PAY ATTENTION to what you’re putting into your body because what we put into our body equals the health that we get out. You could be a healthy eater in general, but if you snack on or add in high fat, salt or chemical-filled garbage foods, this will totally zap your energy and take your body weeks to get rid of it! Remember, these chemicals interfere with our body’s fine signalling processes, interfere with hormone balance and interfere with our body’s ability to function efficiently to keep our arteries clean, fight infections, control fat deposits and have energy!

Don’t forget that daily exercise is critical to keep muscles healthy, heart strong, maintain balance and helps our body to use energy efficiently. Set aside a time each and every day where you can consistently get your exercises in…schedule it and make it a non-negotiable! I keep a blank printed out calendar handy beside my TV in the rec-room and every time I do a workout or exercise, I document it on the calendar. This is a great way to track activity and you can look back and see how much you have achieved and where you can improve. Its a great technique and increases motivation too!

Yup, it just hit me this morning as I was exercising about how it takes effort, focus and intention to maintain health and so important to have a simple sustainable plan and the easy choices readily available to grab and go. Taking the time to learn the simple ways to do this is worth it!

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How to get Agile and Lose Weight (Yes it is Even Possible for Grannys!)

Being fit is far more than just big muscles and strength! It’s about being able to move, twist, jump, maneuver, run…and more …all without getting injured! The MMA fighters need to do more than just fight to keep up their fitness level, and so should we?. My agility power and a core workout were done this morning with sweat pouring and after it was over I was all smiles because it felt so great! Was a tough workout though!

As we get older, meaning over 40 and beyond, it is incredibly important to work on strength and agility training to maintain our strength, balance, coordination and joint range of motion. Walking is good exercise, but it really is not enough since it doesn’t work the essential muscles or the mind in the ways that agility training does..

Reaction time and coordination slow down as we get older, but we can fight that with only 10-15 min of practise every day. Agility skills help us to react faster, reduce risk for falls and this type of exercises puts pressure on the muscles and bones which help to keep them healthy and strong. With agility training, our posture improves, giving more upright walking stance and confidence and have less discomfort in our back.

The benefits of Tai Chi, yoga, Tai Cheng (take a minute to watch the video) with their slow controlled movements also really help to increase range of motion, balance, co-ordination and flexibility. If you don’t have time or feel comfortable going out to a class for this type of exercises, we have this type of program available on DVD or digital streaming and it can be used at home.

Dancing is also another good exercise to improve agility. It can be very fun and social activity as well, which is a bonus.. Dancing benefits not only our physical agility, but also our mental agility and reduces cognitive decline (BONUS!). There are many kind of dance available and if you would rather dance at home, there are country dance programs that can be done at home as well!

Remember as a kid we used to play hop scotch? Just that little bit of hopping, balancing on one leg really trains the brain and builds agility. Consider playing with your kids or grandkids and reminisce about those fun times and enjoy!! It will feel more like fun than exercise for sure. This morning with my workout (check out my current core blasting fighting program!), we did something called “Hop Squatch” which is very similar to hop scotch, but only with squats between single foot hops! LOL

By being consistent each and every day and working on agility to some degree, we have better posture, strength, balance and even energy! This will make us even more active in other activities, promote weight loss and a higher level of positivity and self-confidence. It is definitely worth working on and no matter what your age, there are exercises that will help! For more assistance finding a program to suit you, contact your local senior services, or contact me about some effective and fun home based programs that will help you out.

To join the Athletic Grandma Community and receive a FREE download about 7 tips to become more self-disciplined in your life, click HERE.

It is Totally Possible (There are No Limits)

When I first started my fitness journey, I never would have been able to do a deep squat like this! No way! I had crunchy knees doing stairs and sharp pains in them…not to mention a bad lower back that always seemed to be “going out of place” and causing me sharp pains, pains into my legs and nothing but grief.

The day that I made the decision to put my health and fitness first was when this all changed!

It was a beautiful summer day 3 years ago when I decided to have fun and be silly by doing handstands and cartwheels on the lawn… Turns out, it was not a very good idea! …for 2 full weeks after that I had so much pain in my neck, shoulders, back, hips and even my feet, that I told myself enough is enough already!!! I was asking my self in disgust…”How did I get so out of shape!?”… I seemed to have gotten out of shape so fast! As it turns out, making decisions to eat junk food and skip workouts over a long period of time really didn’t do me any favours!

Something had to be done about this!

Once I made the decision and started working out using a professionally designed workout-at-home program, it was so hard! I could barely do a minute of jumping jacks and I could barely do a push-up on my knees! I thought I was gonna die, but my determination to change and improve my health kept me going. I recruited the help of a physiotherapist whose help I sought out regularly to help manage my pains and to help me adapt my form as I slowly got stronger.

It took a few months of working hard on exercising to start noticing that I had less back pain in the mornings, was walking up stairs with less pain, was getting so much stronger and was building some nice muscle at the same time! I noticed that I was getting heavier on the scale though! All that new muscle was heavy! EEK!

Getting bigger and heavier was not what I wanted!

At this point, I revamped my diet, dialed down my portion sizes and added superfood daily at the suggestion of my Beachbody coach. By this time, I was also able to keep up with the trainer and able to complete the video program instead of continuously adapting due to pain! Within 3 months after starting superfood, clean eating and portion control, I had dropped 35 pounds and was feeling the best I had felt in my life!! I still had some pain in my knees and lower back, but definitely not as often and not as severe…

My successes led me to believe more in myself and what I was capable of. I was motivated to achieve more! I started another program with higher intensity, completed it, then started another, completed it, then another, and another. Now, by this time, my energy was improving, my motivation was getting higher, my pain was getting to be less and less and I was feeling good and strong with the proper nutrition and exercise. This proved to me repeatedly that the work I was doing was not just getting me healthier, it was totally changing my body and its capacity to lift and move in ways I never dreamed of.

3 years later, fast forward to today, I am 42 pounds less than when I started, am committed to my daily superfood, clean eating and portion control as a long-term forever lifestyle. It is very simple system to follow, has really improved my strength, (peri-menopausal) hormone balance and energy, and as I keep going I CONTINUE to improve my body’s capacity to move, bend and lift. I had originally thought I would reach a plateau in terms of what my body is capable of, but it turns out that is not the case!

There is no limit to what can be achieved!

Week by week, workout by workout, I continue to get stronger, and am capable of more! I can run faster, can run up the stairs (no crunchy knees anymore!), can lift and move furniture, carry around my 41 lb grandson, sit all day at a desk, lift and toss bales for my horses, fork hay, do yardwork, shovel snow and can squat deeply with NO PAIN! Who would have thought this was possible? I am proof that it is totally possible to rehabilitate from anything and any physical problem if your mind is determined enough and you have a firm enough belief in yourself.

By transforming physically, it has changed my mindset and attitude as well. I am happier, more positive, feel stronger and more stable emotionally, have improved my relationships (work, home, family, friends), believe in myself more on many levels, and have more passion and excitement for life! (and a bonus is I was able to get off of every prescription medication I was on!)

You may be wondering how this story may impact you? You may be wondering how you too can have a complete body and mind transformation? How can you totally change your life as well? How can you improve your hormone balance, lose weight and become a happier person? My advice for you is to seek out the help of a coach (like me) to support, motivate and keep you accountable and help you through your journey to better health and fitness. I can teach you about superfood, clean eating, portion control and support you through your progress in fitness and even help you get off prescription drugs. I have been through all of this myself, have experienced both the pain, failures, difficulties and challenges, so I totally get how tough it is.

Think about this…

Being on a health and fitness journey is hard, but it is ALSO very hard to live overweight, hormonal, unhappy, in pain and totally miserable. Make a decision today and chose your hard!

To join the Athletic Grandma community, enter your name and email address HERE and receive a free download about 7 ways to improve your self-discipline.

CONTACT ME HERE about getting onto a program that will change your life.

Strength is Worth the Sweat (and how Professional Programs get the Best Results)

This morning’s agility and strength workout really got the sweat moving! On day 16 of my 30 day fitness challenge and I am feeling stronger and more capable of pushing my body weight every day. This program is heavily focused on core work, so I can feel my midsection really firming up as well (bonus!!)?

Committing to completing a specific program really helps to boost motivation and results! To push yourself for a 30-day stretch and give yourself rewards for completion is very satisfying and then is motivating to do more!

For me, just being generally an “active” person versus completing a professional program is far too boring! I need the vigour and excitement of always achieving new things and testing myself to see just what I am capable of! Plus, with professional program challenges, I have achieved far better results than I ever did in the gym.

I remember those days in the gym with a semi-structured program (check off sheet), waiting for machines, dirty equipment at times, inconvenience of travel and excessive use of my time …all of this and the results were just not there!

Professional programs are specifically designed by trainers to give us total body conditioning, strength, agility, flexibility in a totally balanced and thorough manner and we can do them in the convenience of our home and for only 30 min per day! (…and yes, there are even beginner programs too!) The professional programs we have come with very simple and easy to follow nutrition programs which definitely work to maintain energy, lose weight and get amazing results!

Ultimately the message for today is that professional programs WORK! …and it is totally worth trading sweat for strength to not only get results, but to feel awesome! ?

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Be sure to join the Athletic Grandma Community by entering your name and email address. By joining the community you will get a free download about 7 ways to improve your self-discipline.

Don’t Accept Defeat (7 Ways I was Able to Get Stronger)

How many challenges do we face every single week of the month? Real life contains emotional tests like disappointments, tragedy, societal issues, stress, injury, divorce, death, unemployment and even choices we make with an unknown future. So how do we keep moving forward without being totally defeated with life?

There are several ways we can do this that are truly effective if we are determined to move forward and intentional about facing the issue. By intentionally facing the issue, it builds on our strengths and makes us even more resilient for the next challenge. If we don’t face it, it weakens our capacity for the next time.

Boy did I learn these lessons the hard way…

Despite my hand injury and pain slowing me down, past abuse, and the huge commitment of raising my grandson full time (some days I feel too old for this!), I refuse to let myself get defeated. Through my emotional fitness journey, I found some strategies that I put into practise that really helped me to learn to experience the inevitable challenges, have normal feelings about them, yet find a way to move past them quicker so that they have less impact on my life.

Here is what I learned…

I learned to enjoy my life as it is, instead of wishing it was different. I learned to be present in my current life, enjoy what life has to offer now and not constantly be feeling like I need something different. Having those feelings of wanting something different than what you have now is a huge stress, worry and constantly gets you down. This is a hard habit to get out of, and I need to remind myself of this at times, but it is worth the work!
I learned to be thankful. Wow, this made a huge difference in my life. It is so easy to count our troubles instead of counting our blessings, but focusing on trouble completely eliminates our ability to experience the good we have been given in life. A change in my perspective here made all the difference. I learned to recognize the good and to be very thankful about it.
I learned to slow down. I was constantly in a rush every minute of every day. By being in this state of mind, I was constantly making mistakes, cutting corners, getting ahead of myself and missing out on so many important moments in life. Not to mention that being in a rush all the time was driving my kids crazy! I learned to slow down and remembered what my mom always told me…”slow and steady wins the race”…dang it she was right! Slowing down and being intentional about what I was doing improved my state of mind, I was more relaxed and my life was less stressful and (no surprise), my relationships improved!
I learned to face the truth and the real emotional issues. It was always easier to turn away from life challenges instead of facing them. I was a master avoider!! The fact is, these emotions and truths will catch up to us eventually! I learned that when I faced reality, I was much more capable of dealing with life effectively. Seriously, when you do this, what once seemed difficult, now seems so much easier! Things that seemed scary, now feel more comfortable and familiar. I felt the difference this made in my strength and it helped me to build a much deeper confidence in myself. Feeling capable is a great feeling! ….and once on this path, you just keep getting stronger all the time!
Further to facing the truth, I found that NOT pushing emotions away or packing them away in the “little black pandora’s box” of my mind was the best idea! Seriously, I have learned that we need those feelings in order to have satisfaction, meaning and absolute pleasure in our life. Packing away those feelings in the black box actually drained my energy and had unconcious impact on my personality! Sounds scary, but its very true. We need to experience our real emotions to have satisfaction and joy in our lives!
Another thing I learned is that things cannot be perfect all of the time. I had to really believe the fact that no one is perfect and no one gets things right every time. If we have too unreasonable of expectations of ourselves, there is a constant feeling of failure and inadequacy. This is NOT a good feeling, but had become a bad habit for me. Perfectionism actually leads to anger and lack of confidence and has a negative impact on relationships. This is a tough one to get over since I have had this issue since childhood, but it is an essential one to work through in order to be happy with yourself. I learned that I was able to gain confidence through the process of trying, succeeding, failing and trying again…It built my power, resilience and confidence over time.
The last thing I learned that was a critical shift for me to avoid defeat in life was to realize that relationships in our life need to be nurtured and cared for. This includes coworkers, intimate partner, kids, family…all of these relationships need to be given attention and commitment to keep them alive and positive…and not just occasionally…this is something to work on consistently. The other thing I had to learn was that I am 100% responsible for my contribution to the relationships and for my happiness. No one else was responsible for any of this. Forgiveness, making amends, accepting forgiveness, being open and vulnerable about love and talking about concerns were essential to realize and to apply to my life.

There was a lot of things to talk about today! These were all things I learned by being committed to personal development, being determined to deal with past issues of abuse, focusing on becoming a better person… Ultimately, developing personal strengths in multiple areas of life and thinking bigger like this really does make accepting any kind of defeat in life totally optional. We have the choice and we don’t have to let life’s challenges get us down!

I am feeling happy, successful and accomplished right now since I got day 13 of my 30 day Fitness Challenge DONE! I hope you have a fabulous day!!

To join the Athletic Grandma health and fitness community, click HERE to enter your name and email address!

Essential Hydration Tips (and Why I Need Help With This One Today)

It took everything I had to get my dynamic strength workout done this morning.. My muscles kept powering out, had a nauseating sweat going, felt weak and slightly dizzy. After the workout, I did not have my usual energy, and had to lay on the cool floor afterwards totally spent. I was thinking to myself…what the HECK is wrong with me!?

I took a minute to think about it and realized something! During my whole clinic shift yesterday, I was quite cold, so instead of drinking water, I turned to hot drinks instead…and it was coffee! This created a problem in more than one way. Firstly, I normally only have one cup in the morning, so all of that extra caffeine affected my sleep, plus I most likely got dehydrated as well with the large amount of caffeine and not enough water! A double whammy! ?

I certainly felt the awful effects of the dehydration and lack of sleep this morning with the fatigue, muscle heaviness and no energy!

Time to remind myself (and you) of the critical importance of proper hydration and why our body needs it!

Our body is composed of 75% of water for good reason! Why is adequate water so important?

Water helps to convert our food to energy and helps body to absorb nutrients and carry the nutrients and oxygen to our body’s cells.

Every cell in our body is constantly producing waste products and toxins that need to be flushed out and without adequate water, buildup can occur. Water helps our body to get rid of waste. It also helps our digestive system to move properly

Water regulates our body temperature…even mild dehydration can affect this.

Water boosts energy, makes brain feel clearer and boosts productivity

Water reduces risk of cancer by getting rid of (flushing out) oxidizing materials and more.

Water can help us lose weight and promote better hormone signalling in the body and better transportation to various organs.

Dehydration can result in headaches, depression, memory loss, chronic fatigue and muscle weakness….and loss of energy to exercise!!

I have learned my lesson today. I need to stay hydrated!

OK, so how much water should we be drinking each day? Take your body weight in pounds and divide by 2. That number tells you how many ounces of water you need each day. So, for example, if you are 150 lb, you will need 75 oz of water daily which works out to 2.25 litres! BUT, if you drink coffee or take in other caffeine sources or alcohol, water intake needs to be even higher!

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Energy and Youth, in only one shake a day

Perfect time for an icy shake...post-workout while red-faced and hot! yumm :) — Perfect time for an icy shake…post-workout while red-faced and sweaty! yumm 🙂

I call this stuff my youth and energy potion. ? Seriously though, over two years of drinking this superfood every single day has changed my life!! Cripe, it even has me bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 5 am in the morning!!

The things superfood has done for me is hard to fully describe, but I will do my best to give you a good idea of what it could do for you by giving you details of my experience 🙂

1. My energy is so amazing despite sleep deprivation and working full time (and raising baby grandson)

2. An indescribable level of well-being which then gives me a high level of positivity and has improved all of my relationships.

3. Has given me incredible mental clarity...feels great to be sharp, clearer thinking, and to be on my toes!

4. Has made it MUCH easier to maintain a long term clean eating lifestyle by cutting cravings (and with good energy, you don’t feel as hungry!!)…and it is so delicious, I feel like I am getting a treat every day!

5. My hair, skin and nails are more soft, supple and younger looking and with a healthy glow! (Youth!)

6. The combination of phytonutrients, cellular nutrition, and antioxidants is giving my body the high level of nutrition it needs to fight illness and prevent disease! It makes me feel good to know that I am doing the best I can to prevent disease connected to oxidative stress such as cancer! …not to mention preventative power against obesity & nutrition-related disease like gallbladder and liver disease, heart attack and strokes and more!

I can tell you with absolute certainty that I will NOT be without my daily superfood…EVER!

To get more detailed information on what superfood will do for you, please comment below or send me a message

Is Your Stress Level Triggering Pre-Menopausal Symptoms? How to Tell and What to Do About It

Stress can totally work against our body's healthy function. — Stress can totally work against our body’s healthy function.

We women often demand much of our bodies.

Too much sometimes.

We have demanding and stressful careers. Family responsibilities. Our spousal relationship may not be the best. Aging parents can add to the burden. It all adds up to a lot of stress, which takes its toll on the body.

What we find out too late though, is that stress can actually trigger early menopausal symptoms.

If your body is under even a moderate level of stress and over the age of thirty, it’s possible your stress is to blame for pre-menopause. Check out this list of symptoms to find out if it might be happening to you:

Do You Have These Pre-Menopausal Symptoms?

• Irregular menstrual cycles
• Light or heavy menstrual flow
• Lumpy or tender breasts
• Fibroid tumors
• Endometriosis
• Mood swings
• Water retention and bloating
• Sleep problems
• “Foggy, fuzzy” thinking and memory lapses
• Anxiety and depression
• Inability to handle stress
• PMS
• Hot flashes and night sweats
• Vaginal dryness
• Weight gain

If so, you may be on the long (often more than ten years!) path to menopause.

(Quick pause here – menopause is the body’s cessation of the menstrual cycle. But it doesn’t happen overnight. Pre-menopause is the body’s long process of preparing. It slowly reduces the degree and frequency of ovulation until finally it does not happen anymore. The process results in hormonal imbalance, which produces many of the above symptoms.)

What most women don’t know is that we have the power to change it.

We can influence our hormonal balance.

But it’s going to take a bit of work. Because we’ve been wrecking our hormones for a while. Incrementally, every day, our habits actually work against us, pulling our hormones in directions they shouldn’t go.

Other ways we women ravage our hormonal balance include obesity, lack of exercise, poor nutrition, and excess caffeine and alcohol. These add to the problem instead of helping the body cope with what is demanded of it.

Effects of Hormone Imbalance:

Low sex drive
Bloating
Weight gain
Headaches before menstrual period
Mood swings
Irregular periods / excessive bleeding

When hormones are balanced, we tend to feel more alert, energetic, and ready to take on the challenges of life!

So how can we tell if the pre-menopausal symptoms are, in fact, happening because of hormone imbalance?

That’s an important question. Because stress, age, and lifestyle choices are not the only consideration. Some of the symptoms listed can be signs of other conditions. That’s why it’s important to consult a physician or nurse practitioner with knowledge and experience in the area of hormonal balance. (I’m one.)

How To Help Re-Balance Your Hormones:

Like I said, there is something you can do.

But I kind of don’t want to tell you. Because I’m afraid you’ll roll your eyes and say, “Pfft. I knew that.” But sometimes the most powerful truths are the ones you’ve heard a thousand times from a hundred different places … but you may have just preferred to keep your head in the sand.

Trust me, I know. I’ve been there, done that.

Okay, here’s the deal.

Rebalancing your hormones can be simple, but takes the work of doing these things:

Reduce caffeine (did I lose you already? Come back! You can do it!!)
Reduce alcohol (yes, you can do it.)
Exercise regularly (If you hate exercise, you probably haven’t tried these fun programs)
Eat clean. (If you’re really new at this, just start with eating some kind of vegetables every day. Or add one superfood shake a day….perhaps join a clean eating challenge to learn more)
Reduce stress (Meditate, schedule some quiet time every day and every week, using that time to do something that recharges you.)

I’ve been where you are.

I’ve been fatigued, unbalanced, and unaware – and I’m a Nurse Practitioner!! So don’t feel bad. It happens to us all. At least you’re not stuck, right? There IS something you can do.
And I can help you through it.

Need a health or menopause coach, or some advice on which exercise program to try out? I’m your woman.

Have some questions you’d rather not post in the comment section? Contact me here.

Or, if you are having the pre-menopause symptoms above, some hot flashes and night sweats and are looking for some natural solutions, download this free PDF!