Dr. Oz's Miracle Products

Coconut oil - eat fat to lose fat!  Use it on your skin and hair too.  Replace butter with coconut oil on your morning toast, use it in your pan in place of regular oil, or use it to make popcorn. This healthy fat helps keep you full for longer.  It also gives you instant energy and fires up your metabolism.  AND it isn't stored as FAT in your body - most of it is burned off!  Look for virgin coconut oil and avoid partially hydrogenated ingredients.

Chia seeds - expands in your stomach to keep you full!  Look for whole or raw chia seeds.  Take 2 Tbsp after breakfast and lunch.  Find it at healthfood stores.

Tart cherry juice - provides natural melatonin to end insomnia!  Helps release serotonin when you are stressed.  Great for interrupted sleep or not sleeping long enough.  Look for Montmorency.  Drink 8oz per day or 1oz of concentrate mixed with 7 oz water or 1/4 cup dried tart cherries.

BB (beauty balm) cream - 5 products in 1!  Primer, foundation, moisturizer, sunblock, anti-aging serum.  Look for vitamins A and C, hyaluronic acid, and sunscreen in the ingredients.  Find it in drugstores.

Week 8 (Oct 7-13): A New Exercise Goal

I have a new exercise goal!  I needed a new exercise wagon to hitch a ride on, so here it is:  Over the next 12 months I will log 625 miles or 1.25 million extra steps.  For the first 3 months, I will log on average 1 mile or roughly 2000 steps daily (based on the average person's stride of 2.5 feet).  That's 84 miles by new year's day!  For the next 3 months, 1.5 miles or 3000 extra steps daily (133 miles total).  For the next 3 months, 2 miles or 4000 extra steps daily (180 miles). And for the final 3 months, 2.5 miles or 5000 extra steps (228 miles).  I came up with this idea for 2 reasons: 1. Biking or walking around the nieghborhood is an activity I am more likely to keep up long term and 2. I can count basically any activity using my step count - if the weather is bad and I choose a workout video, or if I have errands/chores to do, or if I just go to the park with my daughter.  Coincidentally, if I walk all 625 miles I will burn approximately 62500 calories which will equate to about 18 lbs - exactly the weight I have left to lose!  Wish me luck!

Week 7: Overwhelmed with Information

By now, we all know about "organic" and have our own opinions over whether we find organic beneficial or not.  Maybe we buy organic milk and apples but we don't worry about our melons, potatoes, or eggs.  Whatever your opinion, we all know that organic is expensive and sometimes that is the bottom line.  Sometimes we just buy fresh produce and say that's better than no produce at all.  I'm on THAT bandwagon.  BUT, we also grow some of our own veggies in our very own pesticide-free backyard garden.  That's how we make organic affordable for our family.  Now, something we know less about is GMOs (genetically modified or engineered organisms and foods).  It's something I'm beginning to research.  So far, I'm finding myself highly overwhelmed by all the information, or lack thereof as GMOs are not labeled on any products.  The only way to know if a product is GMO free is if you see the Non-GMO Project label which indicates that a product is verified as GMO free.  Problem?  I don't even recognize the brands that are listed on the Non-GMO Project website.  Which means that we have no foods in our entire house that are recognized as GMO-free.  What is this stuff doing to our bodies?  Nevermind it is making us fat and bloated, but it may be causing liver damage and even cancer as evidenced in rat studies.  I'm finding myself full of anxiety about what I'm putting in my body and what I'm feeding my family.  I'm also finding myself feeling defeated because we can't possibly eat organic or even GMO-free without breaking the bank.  What hurts most?  The products advertised to us as "healthy" options for our kids - Chex and Kix cereal for example - are on the list of products containing GMOs.  We are willingly feeding this stuff to our kids and we think we are doing something good for them.  I'm nearly in tears.  I don't often get on the bandwagon of becoming scared of these kinds of thing but THIS scares me. 

More to come...  

Week 6 (Sept 25-Oct 1) - Hanging on by a Thread

I'm barely hanging on.  A couple weeks off and I feel like I'm starting over - needing to detox from all the bad foods, feeling dehydrated from being out of the routine of guzzling my water post workout, procrastinating getting any exercise.  Truthfully, I haven't put any real effort into exercise lately.  I'm moving my body but I'm not getting much purposeful exercise and definitely not getting my heart rate up.  I'm keeping up with some of my healthy habits.  I have been continuing to shop the farmer's market and keeping healthy foods nearby, eating a healthful breakfast and lunch, and keeping my water bottle with me at all times.  I have to remember to reinforce myself for those positive steps and stop punishing myself for all the other stuff.  Any effort is a step in the right direction.  I check the scale tomorrow and I dread seeing the number.  Will it be up?  No change?  Certainly not down.  Deep breath... 

Tomorrow starts a new week and I've got to get back on track - this thread I'm hanging on by is about to snap!

Week 5 (Sept 18-24): Falling Off The Wagon (Again)

Sometimes life just gets in the way.  One thing I have to learn is that I have to stay on the wagon no matter what life throws at me.  This week it was my mother visiting and my daughter's 2nd birthday; next week who knows what!?  A friend posted this today: "Do not trade what you what most for what you want right now."  It reminded me how much I really want to get healthy - more than I want another slice of that Elmo cake.  Back on the wagon tomorrow - diet AND exercise!  Maybe I should invent a safety harness for this so called "wagon" everyone keeps falling off of.  Bet I'd be a millionaire overnight!

Tomorrow's a new day.  No matter how many times you fall, you haven't failed until you stop getting back up.  I will not fail myself or my family.  I CAN do this.  I WILL do this.

Take Care of your Body

This week on the Dr. Oz show: Did you know your thyroid converts fat to energy. Feed your thyroid right!

A healthy thyroid: popping balloons with a pin. An under active thyroid: popping them with your bare hands:-/  Where balloons = fat cells.

Take your temp under your tongue before you get out of bed in the morning. After a week of this, find your average. If it's less than 98.6, you may have a sluggish thyroid.

 Feed your sluggish thyroid with iodized salt and selenium rich food. Kosher salts do not have iodine. Selenium is found in mushrooms and brazil nuts.

Our liver's job is to detox our body from the sugary, fatty foods we consume. When we feed it too much of these foods, it's job becomes very difficult and it can't filter the good from the bad. Feed your liver WATER and antioxidants. Also eat bitter greens (regular spinach, arugula) and cruciferous veggies (broccoli).

When your heart is stressed (pumping harder due to cholesterol and clogged arteries) it actually enlarges. Feed your heart DHA Omega 3s and at least 2 servings of soluble fiber daily. After age 40, take 2 low dose aspirin (ask your doctor first) with an 8oz glass of water (half before half after the pills).

Your intestines know when you're stressed and cannot work properly. Feed your intestines PREbiotics (food for the bacteria) AND PRObiotics (healthy bacteria). Eat bananas, whole grains, honey, garlic, onions, and yogurt.

Farmer's Market

Check out this week's loot - just $10!  I'm working my way up to buy more and more each week.