Curiously Awesome

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If you feel powerless to overcome overeating I want to encourage you! Believe it or not…admitting this problem is a huge step. From this point, it’s just a matter of devising a plan to deal with these feelings of helplessness and put yourself back in control.

Need a little more help? Here’s a plan for you!

1. Find a friend who can be a source of encouragement and support.  This will be a person that you can call when you are feeling tempted to binge or overeat.
2. Start practicing some form of meditation or yoga to help you deal with negativity and depression.  Set a goal of doing at least some physical activity every day.  Not only does exercise burn calories, but it also releases endorphins (natural mood enhancers).
3. Replace food with a hobby or activity that you enjoy or even take up a new hobby.  Eating is often a replacement for emotional fulfillment so if you make an effort to fill these spaces with activities unrelated to eating you will be making important progress.
4. Stop buying junk and replace the junk you used to buy with healthy fruits, vegetables, and whole foods.  When these foods aren’t accessible your temptation should decrease.
5. Try eating smaller meals instead of two or three large meals.  Spreading out the eating helps regulate blood sugar and this will help with cravings.
6. Drink a full glass of water between meals and snacks to help fill you up.
7. Supplement to make sure that you are getting adequate vitamins and minerals. Often the body feels like it wants to keep eating when we are not getting the vitamins and minerals it needs.
8. Chew more slowly.  Experts say that the optimum number of chews for each bite of food is 50.
9. Avoid all artificial sweeteners except Stevia.
10. Avoid MSG.  This leads to food cravings.  Also avoid trans fats, soy products, and canola oil.

What to eat:

1. Omega three fats are important for mental health.
2. Almonds help increase dopamine levels.
3. Avacados provide healthy vegetable fats, increase dopamine levels, and increase endorphin levels.
4. Turkey increases endorphin levels.
5. Oatmeal increases serotonin levels.
6. Whole grains, brown rice, fruit, high fiber cereal, potatoes…all increase serotonin levels.
7. Vegetable fats increase endorphin levels.  Include olive oil, almonds, and avacados in your diet.
8. Protein helps increase dopamine and epinephrine levels.

When the going gets tough, drink a big glass of water, call your friend, take a walk, do anything to avoid giving in and the craving will pass and soon be forgotten about. Try these things and rejoice in the positive steps you take.  Most people who have addictions usually plan their slip-ups in advance and have an excuse waiting to be used to justify their slip-ups. Instead of dwelling on eating develop a lifestyle that revolves around activities and interests other than eating.

You will find that while there may be some ups and downs you will slowly but surely be on the path for success.

Okay people. Are you ready to bust through that plateau that has been dragging you down and destroying your motivation?

Get ready…the solution is here!

• No more boredom!

• No more endless workouts!

• No more plateaus!

Eric Paskel is a trainer who has an amazing amount of hot bodies to his credit. He now presents the XFLOWSION PLATEAU BLAST. Get ready to experience a blast-off right past that frustrating plateau that’s been slowing you down. This is a fun, exciting exercise program that provides three workouts in one. Learn and use the best moves from martial arts, power yoga, and dance.

Not only is this an unbelievably effective workout (amazing results in 1/3 the typical time), but you will actually love it! The moves are designed for exceptional fat burning and muscle toning. You will meet new goals and love every minute of it because this is fun!

I don’t know of anyone who has made a commitment to exercise that doesn’t deal with lack of motivation or frustration with results. I am someone who exercises six days a week regularly. I never miss my work-outs…but I won’t say that I don’t have problems motivating from time to time. Exercise can get stale and that takes the fun right out of it. If you’re not extremely motivated this can be dangerous. This could easily lead to a trend where you are not exercising the way you should be…the way you promised yourself you would.

XFLOWSION is a great solution to boredom. Work your body…transformation your body. If you have committed to an active lifestyle in which exercise is an important part, then Xflowsion will put the fun back into this commitment!

Ten tips for women to stay fit and healthy:

1. Eat a balanced diet. Maintain a healthy weight for your age. If you are trying to lose weight, focus on a healthy diet instead of a crash diet. Unprocessed foods with high fiber and low fat should be included in your grocery list instead of red meat, sugars and fats.

2. Drink enough water. We need to drink at least eight glasses of water everyday. This cleanses the body from impurities.

3. Take Vitamins and Supplements including a Calcium supplement. Calcium intake is beneficial for women of all ages. Pre-Menstrual Symptoms can be improved with calcium intake. Sufficient calcium also prevents Osteoporosis - especially for menopausal women. Vitamin E will boost a strong immune system. If you are menopausal consider taking Vitamin E-400. This will help with night sweats and hot flashes.

4. Quit smoking. Recent studies have shown that women smokers are more prone to diseases than men. Women who smoke have a high risk of getting breast cancer. Limit your alcohol intake as well.

5. Exercise daily. Exercise helps in limiting the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

6. Avoid stress. Stress has been known as cause many different illnesses. Make sure you get adequate sleep.

7. Avoid sunburn but allow limited exposure to the sun daily. 15 minutes is considered adequate exposure.

8. Visit the dentist regularly and keep current with necessary dental work.

9. Visit your Gynecologist. Women over age eighteen should have a yearly exam.

10. Lead a non-promiscuous lifestyle.

Pregnancy is very hard on a woman’s body. The demands placed on an expectant mother’s body…both physically and emotionally…can be very difficult. A wonderful way to alleviate the associated discomforts of pregnancy is a pregnancy massage. The physical benefits are many…and what’s more…nurturing the mother-to-be also nurtures the new life growing within her.

This Pregnancy Massage Video provides a step-by-step demonstration of how to provide therapeutic massage techniques focusing on the special needs of the mother-to-be during all three trimesters of her pregnancy. With this video, anyone can properly perform these techniques.

Massages can be prohibitively expensive for many moms. This is an affordable option for every mother-to-be! Nurturing Pregnancy Massage Techniques I can be ordered for $54.95, and Nurturing Pregnancy Massage Techniques II can be ordered for 49.95, plus shipping. Order by calling 1-800-414-2434 or visit their website. The complete set can be purchased for $84.00 and this saves 20%.

Pregnancy Massage Video

Massage Videos |   Pregnancy Massage

Wal-Mart has announced that all the store-brand milk sold in both Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club in the US will now be from cows not treated with artificial growth hormones.

Roughly 18 percent of dairy cows in the United States are injected with rBGH.

Most cows are not treated with rBGH but the milk from many different cows is often mixed together before being packaged. This means that unless otherwise labeled, most milk sold in the US probably has rBGH in it.

Wal-Mart said that its decision came in response to rising consumer demand for hormone-free milk.  Wal-Mart is the largest grocery retailer in the United States.

BGH has been criticized for damaging the health of cows. Concerns have also been increasing about the health impacts of drinking milk from rBGH-treated cows.  The use of rBGH is banned in Australia, Canada, Europe and Japan.  In the US rBGH has been approved for use since 1993.

More than 50 percent of US residents now regularly take prescription drugs for at least one chronic health condition. Approximately 51 percent of children and adults in the United States took at least one prescription drug for a chronic health condition in 2007. Compare this to 47 percent just six years ago.

Unbelievably, 25 percent of children, 52 percent of adult men, 67 percent of women over the age of 19, and 75 percent of seniors over 65 are taking at least one drug…most daily.

A large increase was in the use of obesity and diabetes drugs among children. Our couch potato culture is catching up with us. It is thought that the drug use has probably increased due to aggressive marketing by drug companies. The most heavily marketed drugs are those for chronic conditions.

A bedtime snack that combines a concentrated source of tryptophan that is also high in carbohydrates can be a huge help in inducing sleep if you are having trouble sleeping.

Tryptophan is an amino acid that your body doesn’t make itself. You must get it from the foods that you eat. Once tryptophan your brain, it is used to make a hormone called serotonin. Serotonin acts within your body to promote feelings of sleepiness, calm, and relaxation.

If you don’t have adequate levels of serotonin in your system, you likely won’t feel sleepy enough to rest soundly. Without adequate levels of tryptophan within your brain you will not be able to produce significant amounts of serotonin.

Here’s the challenge. Tryptophan has to compete with other amino acids for access to the limited number of channels that line your blood-brain barrier. Tryptophan is usually outnumbered by other amino acids in natural foods.

The key is to combine a tryptophan-rich food with a carbohydrate-rich food before bedtime. Ingesting a carbohydrate-rich food causes your body to release insulin and this diverts many of your other amino acids away from your brain. This leaves tryptophan with easier access to the blood-brain barrier to gain access to your brain.

Healthy foods that are naturally rich in tryptophan:

• Beans

• Whole grains, including rice

• Lentils

• Chickpeas

• Hazelnuts

• Peanuts

• Eggs

• Sunflower seeds

• Sesame seeds

• Miso

• Raw dairy products

There is a new study that has just been released that suggests that the pleasure of smelling coffee might provide as powerful an antioxidant as actually consuming coffee.

The purpose of the study was to demonstrate influences of roasted coffee aroma on rat brain functions and evaluate the impact. The impact was conclusive - roasted coffee bean aroma changes the mRNA and protein levels of the rat brain.

One of the fastest growing fields in alternative medicine today is aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is a holistic option that uses botanical oils that are inhaled or massaged into your skin. These oils work on the brain and nervous system by stimulating the olfactory nerves.

The sense of smell is the most complex and unique of our five senses. The effect of scents on the human brain have not been fully researched yet. This much is known, however. A pleasant aroma evokes deep emotions.

Scents are powerful tools for bringing back memories or eliciting emotional responses. These responses affect our overall health. Experts now know that when a scent is combined with a learning task, recall can be 50% improved.

Think about the implications of this for children with learning difficulties or brain trauma victims!

Cinnamon and peppermint scents have been found to improve attention, recognition, memory, visual-motor response speed, mood and energy.

There is more to be learned, obviously, about how aromas impact our physiological and emotional responses…but in the meantime…try using aromas to boost your performance and well-being!

Shea butter is an incredible ingredient as long as you are getting the real thing.

Shea butter comes from the Karite Shea tree in Africa. It bears fruit and it is the nut inside the fruit that contains the shea butter.

There is raw or unrefined shea butter and there is refined shea butter. There is a big difference between the two types. Raw shea butter is the most natural and least processed. The raw form is the purest and most effective. Refined shea butter is processed using chemicals and this strips the shea butter of its many healing properties.

When chemically processed it is refined, bleached, deodorized, and degummed, which destroys the shea butter.

Raw, unrefined shea butter is good for dry skin, skin rashes, skin peeling after tanning, sunburn, blemishes, cracked heels and skin, itchy skin, frost bite, stretch marks, scars, chapped lips, eczema, small wounds or scrapes, diaper rash, hair moisturizer, burns, athlete’s foot, insect bites and stings, arthritis, muscle fatigue, pets’ dry skin, sunburn, scrapes, and as a natural mechanics lubricant.

Once you have used true raw shea butter you will quickly see the difference between refined and unrefined shea butter and you will never go back!

Resolve not to resort to processed foods as food prices rise!

Protein:

Protein can be difficult to buy on a budget. Some items will be out of reach, but you can still find tasty meat for low prices.

Season and marinate your own meat.  Buy chicken with the bone and skin on.

Consider replacing meat with a protein substitute a few times a week.

Grains:

Buy less-processed grains.  Buy plain brown rice instead of boxed rice mixes. Buy larger containers of oats instead of individual packets of instant oatmeal.

Buy bread items when they’re on sale and freeze any extras.

Beverages:

Put a filter on your tap instead of buying bottled water.

Make your own coffee at home and make it special at home instead of splurging on coffeehouse drinks.

Single-serving snacks:

Instead of buying individual bags of snacks, buy a bigger package and divide it up into smaller servings yourself.

General tips:

Buy Generic

Buy bigger containers and boxes to save some money. Compare unit prices to make sure you’re getting the best price.

Stock up on non-perishables.

Use coupons only for items you would usually purchase.

Cook at home instead of going out.