Stress Is a Killer!

Okay, STRESS! It is always going to be a part of life. Work is stressful, I love what I do, but as a business owner I push myself to do more, to do it better, to work until everything is done, yes, everything! It is a constant effort. This past week my checking account was hacked and everything was taken. So, you know what that means, what checks are floating around? What drafts are coming out, and when? How do I pay all these people without receiving penalties from everyone? My car was hit, now for repairs, my 13 year old got chicken pox, how do I make sure he gets the attention he needs while working and taking care of 2 other children? My health had a couple challenges, took care of that, of course, my sister had a scary diagnosis, my kids have guitar lessons, drum lessons and an art class after school....all  in the past 2 weeks!  You can see why I write this blog. You MUST have a stress outlet to get through it without falling apart. I am not making time to work out, so now what? Well, as soon as I write this I will go take a Lavender bubble bath with candles! I will strive to get more rest tonight by going to bed earlier than usual.  I am full of ideas for stress outlets. Here are some that I love to utilize

massage

yoga

tai chi

pedicure

reike (this one should be at the top of the list)

meditation

facial

sitting and listening to the birds and watch clouds (great way to start the day)!

go for a run

Socialize with a friend

When I am under a lot of stress I support my adrenals so they do not become exhausted. I have a phosphatydle serine cream that I benefit from immediately. Also, I support my nerves with a natural anti depressant and B vitamins. It helps me get by without snapping, that would be very easy.  

Be good to yourself! You are the one that knows what you need, you will be the only one that will do it for you when you need it. Off to the tub! Do something wonderful for yourself, NOW! 

Hydrate, It's Easy to be Healthy!

It's getting warmer outside - just driving around today my nine year old had sweat dripping off his brow! He knows to drink water, and how much is needed, thanks to me and his curious brain! I have always tried to put the word out that every person needs 1/2 their body weight in oz. of water a day. So, if you are 130 lbs you need 1/2 that (65) oz. a day of pure, fresh, clean water. No need to get so fancy. No need to drink alkalizing, mineralized or flavored waters! Being over alkaline is just as much a problem as being over acidic. The water I prefer is reverse osmosis. I have had a shoe box size reverse osmosis unit for over 20 years. Easy and cheap to maintain. It cleans 96% off all the garbage out of my city water and adds oxygen. How do I know? I have had it checked!
Okay, let's talk about the whys now. Your body is made of about 74.5% water. Your blood is made up of over 80% water and you need to keep it clean to make healthy blood cells. If you drink 1/2 your body weight in oz. daily you will replace that water in 5-7 days! If you don't your blood will be full of garbage and sluggish, and, therefore, your filters, such as liver and kidneys will be congested and not as effective. Your lymphatic (your garbage men) will be stagnant full of garbage as well! Your bones are made of 50% water, and you need to be hydrated to make more bone cells! Did you know that you make red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets in stem cells in the bones? It's a simple step to drink water daily to keep two very important parts of your body a little healthier! Water also regulates your body temperature! Why do you think my nine year old was sweating? His body was trying to keep him cooler. Need to mobilize some fat cells? A great way to mobilize them is to hydrate! Fat cells store toxins! Hydrate, you move toxins out of the body, therefore they don't need to be stored in fat cells. Your body will make more fat cells if needed for storage! I know of plenty of people that feel that as long as they are drinking fluid that they are hydrated! Think about what you drink daily. Would you wash your car with those fluids? Soda? Tea? Coffee? NO - no one would. You wouldn't try to put those fluids in your car either - good way to kill your car. So WHY would you think they are acceptable used inside your body?! All of those are dehydrating, the opposite of what you need to do!! For those that have water retention, I have to tell you, if your body is retaining water, the best way to flush that old out is to hydrate! It will help with the cause of most water retention! It is easy, and so very available to most! Take this one small, easy step and your body will be healthier and cleaner!

Coming Off A Fast

Not Hungry! What??  What do you eat when you haven't eaten in days? A very busy day coming up with no break, again, no master cleanse "lemonade" to drink all day long, just a very large bottle of water. My husband tells me verbatim what I tell all of my clients. "Go to Earthfare, get a juice - you will feel fantastic". Brilliant!  I go see the juicer at Earthfare and I get a beet, celery, carrot, apple juice. It's beautiful! I take the first sip in my car and feel it going all the way down. I can feel my body receive the nourishment of it immediately getting into my blood stream.
Knowing that in about 40 minutes my crazy day starts I grabbed a coconut milk yogurt and a raw fruit and nut, vegan bar so I can slowly get nourishment in over the next 7 hours while I help clients and before I leap up and run to get 2 out of the 3 of my kids out of school. My energy is good, my mood is good. I stop by Fresh Market on the way home to weigh myself - I knew my before weight prior to the fast and I wanted to see if I lost anything during my fast. 6 lbs. down!! That can't be! I'm down to my pre-baby(s) weight! I will re-take my weight on the same scale I took the pre-fast weight later.
I get home and realize there is nothing for me to eat at the house - I did that on purpose prior to starting the fast. Why keep things at home that will tempt me? I just want an avocado, quinoa - a tiny bit - no heavy proteins....but I have to wait until the 3rd kid gets off the bus, so I clean and get some work done I brought home. No eating for me. The last kid gets home and he has a big project to do. Husband comes home, dresses in workout clothes and goes to his sisters house to help her out. Guess I will just have to dig for something to eat. I find walnuts, pecans and cereal. I really wished I had dates or craisins or any dried fruit at all - I made a trail mix and it filled me up very quickly.
Lesson 4? Prepare for post cleanse meals. Get some snacks, you don't want big meals post fast anyhow. The next day starts the same. A beautiful juice, raw bars, lots of water and lots of work!!!
Items of food that I don't want to put in now that I've 'cleaned house'. sugar! fat, including creamy sauces! And alcohol. Things I want more of post fast lots of water and produce, nuts and seeds including my chia. Smoothies - green and not green. I will keep things clean for as long as I can.
Off to do more work so I can sneak in a workout today - it's a perfect day for a run.

Master Cleanse Day 3

Okay - yes, it's red again. I have advice to prevent the red. When you are with friends all day, and  they want to do lunch at a new, cool restaurant - you should probably go shopping.  It will smell heavenly, they will talk about how good it is. No matter how brave your face is, it's a little hard to swallow just plain water in front of you. Another piece of advice, you will have to do dishes, you will have to cook and prepare all the meals, you will have to hear that everyone is "starving" and they need a snack. That doesn't help either, maybe do a fast like this during a week that you might have some help. Spending hours in the kitchen will be painful.

Okay - other than that...day 3 goes all day with no bowel movements, sigh!! I have added ground flax seeds, chewed them while in the car pool line. I figured that fiber is recommended to do with the fast, so here it is, fiber. Finally this evening, the first sign of cleansing!! Little bit - but, geeze, all I have put in for 3 full days is liquid and this is a cleanse.

That reminds me of my last bit of advice - a laxative is not going to be enough, you will need the recommended Bentonite clay or fiber source. I have done this cleanse in the past, I do seem to remember I didn't do it right last time either. Just do it right - don't do it like me and fast for 3 days before adding the necessary tools for cleansing. 

My ten year old did just make me a fasting tea, I will now sit and zone out and drink my tea. He's a sweet, thoughful boy who is pulling for my success. 

Thank you for listening!

Master Cleanse - Day 2

Okay - feeling MUCH better! Energy in full swing - been working, cleaning - making meals for kids second time today and going to do yoga in about an hour. No grumpiness, energy is full on! I slept about 9 1/2 hours last night - that helped a lot!
Okay - so keeping it real for a second, not going to the bathroom to make a BM! small formed this morning - but whaaaa? I am taking in 100 oz. of fluid a day here! I am urinating like crazy, but, I don't feel like I'm cleaning until I move my bowel - sorry about the "potty talk" as my friends little girl calls it. I have taken two natural laxative - BP-X specifically because it also cleanses the liver, lymph and blood and bowel. We'll see what happens tomorrow. The directions to the master cleanse does say to add a laxative - I just haven't needed one before so I didn't - I think it's necessary perhaps?
I am taking the kids to see their dad be a guest scooper at Ben and Jerry's tonight - already dreading the smell of the cones as we walk in. I don't like hunger pangs when I'm fasting.
Will sleep again tonight and play a little in the sun tomorrow, I will let you know how it goes!

Master Cleanse, Day 1

This is day one, and I feel red, so hence the color of this post. I needed to cleanse my bod - I am coming off a 8 week injury with no exercise. I tried to eat right, I lowered my calories by what I could have estimated to be 300 calories a day knowing my movement was limited. 

When the eight week mark hit my first exercise was a 5k with my husband and then I ate everything in sight! Snacks, jellybeans!! And other goodies full of chocolate and so on. I  was out of control. 

I do cleanse "every three months or three thousand miles". So hence my spring cleanse. It's been a while since I've done the master cleanse so the memory of it had faded. I went into it excited and ready. Working - no problem - four clients in 7 hours with no break. I drank all 60 oz. I made for myself before 1 p.m.  - sigh, my fasting tea is good, sweet and warm, so that's helpful. Now that I'm off work and I have three kids they are snacking - "Mommy, can I have these almonds"?  "Can you cut this cheese for me"? "Can you make some of this juice for me"? A little painful, but, again, Fasting tea to the rescue. I find this is a distraction, but I have to get up and make dinner for all of them now, and the dishes are still in the sink from yesterdays meals, I guess I will do that too. I think Brian will be home sometime around 9 tonight. I will probably go to bed early, that's a great distraction. 

As far as cleansing goes - so far just lots of urinating, I will stop long enough to see if anything comes out the other end before the kids dinner - it should! I have a grumbly tummy. 

Day two will come tomorrow - I have work all day then Yoga then off with the kids to see Brian at the Ben and Jerry's for his guest scooper night. At least ice cream isn't my cup of tea - speaking of which, I will bring a cup of fasting tea, hopefully that will help.