"Simplicity is the secret of seeing things clearly." - Oswald Chambers

Living a health-filled life doesn't have to be complicated! God designed our bodies to be fit, healthy and available for His use.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Lentils!!! Food Facts and Recipes

My latest food craze - LENTILS!!!!  I came across some recipes using these tiny little legumes and so started doing my research.  Learned some things:  they are high in fiber, iron and B vitamins, they can help lower your cholesterol and stabilize your blood sugar, and they are loaded with protein.  Well, since I'm always looking for  foods naturally high in iron (I've struggled with anemia my whole life) and protein (we all could probably use more protein!), this sounded like the perfect food!  In fact, it has been listed as one of the Top Five Healthiest Foods in the world!  Oh, and they're CHEAP!  I'm all for cheap, LOL!  I made up this recipe earlier this week:  Lentil Pancakes.  I really didn't expect anyone at my house to like them but they turned out be a big hit!!!  They ate them all and were begging for more!

Lentil Pancakes

1 egg
1 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 T honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1 cup ground lentils (strong blend or coffee grinder can be used to grind the dry lentils into a fine flour)

Beat egg.  Stir in coconut milk and oil.  Add all dry ingredients except the lentils and blend.  Blend in lentil flour until smooth.  Cook on griddle over medium heat (grease griddle with coconut oil).  Turn pancakes when edges become dry and most of top is bubbly.  We ate ours with pure maple syrup.  Yum!

Another recipe I experimented with this week is Dosa!  Here's how I made mine:  Take 1 cup brown rice and 1/2 cup lentils (both dry, uncooked) and put in a bowl covered with water.  Let sit out overnight.  Next morning, drain and rinse, then puree in food processor or blender till smooth, about the consistency of hummus.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and leave out for 24 hours.  For mine, the top started to turn a little purple and smelled so I scraped that off and tossed in the trash, but the rest of the batter was perfect!  I then mixed in some sea salt, garlic powder, and curry powder.  I wanted to add in chopped onions but then realized I was out!  I greased a springform pan and put the batter in (about 1/3 inch thick) and baked at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.  It made the house smell SO good!  After baking (till the edges were turning brown and no longer doughy in the middle) I removed the sides of the springform pan and removed.  I did a double recipe actually.  We snacked on the one (tastes just like sourdough bread!), and the other I wrapped tightly and froze for later to use as a pizza crust!  Will update later how the pizza turns out once I give that a try!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

It's Time For An Ultimate Reset!!!!



Once again there is exciting news from Beachbody! The new Beachbody Ultimate Reset is now available for purchase.
For those of you who have not heard ANYTHING about it yet…here is how I am summing it up…. It's like P90X for your insides!

And in May, I will be holding a special 21 Day Challenge Group specifically for those doing the Ultimate Reset and I'll be doing it along with the group! This will be a small group with a limited number of spots, so if you want a spot, let me know so I can count you in!

Here's some general information on the Ultimate Reset from Beachbody:

What is the Beachbody Ultimate Reset?
It's a comprehensive, no-starvation, inner body tune-up. In just 21 days, the Ultimate Reset can help you gently restore your body to its original "factory settings," to help you:
• Have more energy and greater focus
• Experience better digestion and a more positive mood
• Enable your body to function more efficiently
• Help you lose weight
• Improve your overall health

Why Reset?

Our environment has become more and more toxic. Our bodies absorb pollution and harmful chemicals all our lives, along with the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. These toxins can get stored in our bodies, clogging our cells and slowing down their natural functions.

It's not enough just to work out and eat right. At Beachbody, we realized we had to take a break from the everyday and find a way to get those toxins out of our bodies. Along with getting in shape on the outside, we had to start getting healthy on the inside. We decided it was time for a Reset.

What the Beachbody Ultimate Reset is NOT:

• A starvation diet. (You'll eat three filling, healthy meals every day.)
• An abrupt cleanse that's hard on the body. (The supplements work together gradually to gently shift your body's internal settings.)
• A laxative-based, colon-focused cleanse, which fails to truly detoxify the whole body. (You won't be running to the bathroom every hour!)
To learn more, find out what to expect during the Reset, and hear Success Stories from test group participants contact me directly and I can provide you with the information or answer any questions you might have.

Get ready to restore your inner health!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Healthy Living! News from Johns Hopkins on Cancer Cells

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY …
 
[Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins ]
 ...
 1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.
 
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
 
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.
 
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to STARVE the cancer cells by not feeding it with foods it needs to multiple.

What cancer cells feed on:
 
a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Note: Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk, cancer cells will starved.
 
c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
 
d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes t o nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells.

To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water--best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
 
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines will become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor.

Anger, unforgiving and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

TurboFIRE!!!

This week I start Week 7 of my TurboFire/P90X2 hybrid routine!  And the ADDICTION continues!!  I am so hooked on TurboFire now and having the time of my life!  Who knew working out could be THIS much fun!!  I was so excited too to find out that as of last week, there are some new TurboFire workouts available!  Now you can start out with a little less intensity by ordering the Starter Pack which includes a breakdown of all the Turbo moves as well as two low impact HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts!  Also, when ordering the basic TurboFire or the TurboFire:Complete System, you get a bonus DVD, Keep On Burnin' which has three additional workouts! Can't wait till mine arrives!  Meanwhile, here's a sneak peek at the new bonus DVD!



Disclaimers

I am not a doctor or health care professional in any way. Information posted on this blog is simply what I have found to be helpful to me and is never intended to be used in place of professional medical advice.

Beachbody does not guarantee any level of success or income from the Beachbody Coach Opportunity. Each Coach's income depends on his or her own efforts, diligence, and skill. See our Statement of Independent Coach Earnings for the most recent information on the actual incomes for all our Coaches.