Coffee And Tea I Love You Cause You Protect Me! And MMMMMMMM You Are Dellicious!

Coffee and Tea-Have Some With ME!


Great news for all of us who enjoy their daily dose of coffee and tea!!! According to Australian researchers subjecs lowered their risk of type 2 diabetes by 7 percent for every cup of coffee they drank regardless of whether it was decaf or regular (the benefits topped out at six cups per day). And those who sipped three to four cups per day of black tea daily, reduced their diabetes risk by a whopping 25 percent!!!

The reason: plant compounds found in the beverages, such as lignans and chlorogenic acid, optimize insulin production and help keep blood sugar steady.

Source: For Women First April 2010

Wooohooooo!!! Now go and enjoy some black tea or coffee!

Also, I wish all who celebrate Easter to have a great one and to all those who don't I wish you a wonderful weekend as well!!!!

Stomach Shrinker Soak And Have An Omelet To Focus Better!

I was reading the April 2010 edition of the magazine First for Women and found these two neat and nautral fixes for a couple common problems. Both are easy and extremely doable!

Citrusy Soak A Tummy Shrinker!

Is your stomach feeling a little bloated? Heres a quick and relaxing way to help you out! Soak in a bath containing five drops of orange essential oil. The warm water will open pores while the oil draws out fat-trapping toxins!

An Omelet A Day Will Help Your Focus Stay!

Having a hard time focusing? Then you might want to start your day with a breakfast rich in tyrosine. The amino acid heightens alerness and increases multitasking ability according to researchers the University of Illinois at Chicago. Top sources of tyrosine include eggs, milk, cheese, bananas and almonds. Mmmmmmmmmmm!!!

Love finding stuff like this that is not too difficult! Going to try the citrus soak tonight!!!

Diet And Exercise Progress Report!

Well I have been meeting with the personal trainer Andy 3 times a week now and he is really kicking my booty which is great because I always try to wriggle out of workouts. Today I told him I must be a masochist to keep coming back!!!! We are doing a lot of weights and abdominal work so far and I must confess I am a baby and it hurts to walk but I can see a difference!!!!

My diet is better too! I have been filling up on lots of water, green tea, fruits, veggies, and high fiber foods such as lentils and black beans. My clothes are finally back to fitting and I can only imagine after 12 weeks with Andy the devil trainer I will be better than ever!!! I will say this to anyone wanting to make a few changes-it is amazing how changing my diet and not eating 8 “fun size” Snickers a day is making. I am finally starting to feel better about myself again!!!

I do miss the Cheetos though-I can’t lie!

I love this poem! Need Some Inspiration? To My Dear Friend Brad!!!

This is something different for me but I wanted to share a beautiful poem by Veronica Shoffstall . I first read this when I was 15 or 16 and it really made me think. Now after so many life experiences it is invaluable to me. I hope it gives you some comfort as well!!
Love, Heidi


After a While

After a while you learn
The subtle difference between
Holding a hand and chaining a soul
And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
And company doesn't always mean security.
And you begin to learn
That kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes ahead
With the grace of a woman
Not the grief of a child
And you learnTo build all your roads on today
Because tomorrow's ground is
Too uncertain for plans
And futures have a way
Of falling down in mid flight
After a while you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get too much
So you plant your own garden
And decorate your own soul
Instead of waiting
For someone to bring you flowers
And you learn
That you really can endure
That you are really strong
And you really do have worth
And you learn and you learn
With every good bye you learn.

Chow To My Beloved Chocolate, Cheese Puffs and Diet Pepsi-Hello Apples and Water-Time To Get Back To Basics!

Hi everyone! I feel like I have been so behind at blogging lately and I really miss it and all of you! I have been working quite a bit and being very bad on my healthy eating and work out regimes. Chocolate and diet Pepsi have been frequent visitors to my taste buds and the chair has been my jogging path.

My clothes are getting tight (uh oh) and my booty is getting big (even worse-lol). Bad Health Nut Wannabee Mom!! Okay so what am I going to do about it???? Well I considered throwing myself in a snow drift and crying and crying but that really won't help soooooo I am going back to the basics-what always has and always does work for me. I am going back to lots of water and green tea, plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and healthy grains. I am even meeting with a personal trainer on Thursday to work my bigger than usual booty into shape again. Where I work is very into health and fitness so they have an offer that they will reimburse 70% of the personal trainer cost once you complete your 24 sessions!! That was an offer that I could not refuse and the motivation that I needed. So I guess I have to say chow to my excess chocolate and diet Pepsi and hello water and apples. I can't wait to start feeling mentally and physically better. It is easy to write this while enjoying a bowl of chocolate ice cream . I wonder how much fun I will be having eating that lettuce tomorrow-lol!

I will keep you updated and I will soon be back to commenting on all your great blogs.

Best to you all!!
Heidi

P.S. I forgot to mention the cheese puffs! Now I am really starting to feel scared!

How can I live without the cheese puffs? This is going to be harder than I remember. Those bad habits can be bad to break!

Stress You Are Such A Pain In The........

Minimize Stress With These Tips

-Give your time to something or someone that you believe in. I do this with animal rescue and it really does work to alleviate the stress from other parts of my life. There is no better feeling than giving and helping others for the sake of being truly kind and caring.

-Avoid excessive alcohol, caffeine, fats and sugar. Don’t Smoke- No fun I know but.... What you eat and drink really affects your body and by indulging in an unhealthy diet you are really just adding to the stress. I will be the first to admit that when I feel stressed I want diet Pepsi and chocolate so I need to work on this (hard, very hard).

Have an apple instead of a cookie - Another bummer but it works.....this really sounds not very appealing but if it works it is worth a shot.LOL

-Exercise regularly.-Whether you like to walk, do weights, or whatever it may be for you just keep moving . I always feel much better after a great workout at the gym.-Take time for yourself to relax each day.

Meditate, go sit by the water, read your favorite book-Whatever it is for you that relaxes you take even 5-10 minutes a day to do this for yourself. For me there is no place like being near the ocean. It renews me!

-Learn to “let go” of things which are outside of your control. A tough one for me! I obsess over what I cannot control until ,y voice of reason says enough!

Learn to adapt to change-This one is hard for me a lot of the time because I want things to go my way and I keep trying so I need to work on letting it go.

Hopefully you follow at least a few of these and they help with your stress levels. Good luck. Stress is such a pain in the you know where!!

Chocolate Lovers Rejoice!! Just In Time For Valentines Day-Chocolate Pros! MMMM!! Woohoo!

Just In Time For Valentines Day! Chocolate Lovers Rejoice!!!!

Does it get any better than this really? Harvard researchers recently found that cocoa flavanols (protective substances that are also abundant in dark chocolate) help improve blood flow to the brain, which could slow the mental decline that occurs as you age. Surely this is great news for me as I eat more chocolate than anybody should be allowed in a lifetime! After reading this and of course indulging in some chocolate to help my mental decline I decided to share one of my all time favorite posts that I wrote sometime ago on the benefits (okay a few cons but definitely more benefits) of chocolate. If this does not make your day all you chocolate lovers out there then I don’t know what will.

Chocolate Pros-Wooohhhoooo!!! It is good for you!!!

**If you eat chocolate, only eat dark chocolate-Dark chocolate has many beneficial polyphenolic bioflavanoids that have powerful antioxidant properties, which can actually help to protect you from damaging oxidative stress. (This is good news-definitely cheers me up a bit)

**Chocolate contains the same type of disease-fighting "phenolic" chemicals as red wine and fruits and vegetables, says Andrew Waterhouse of the University of California at Davis.

**Boosts brain chemicals- More Americans crave chocolate than any other food. Some explanations: chocolate's "melt-in-the mouth" consistency and mood-lifting chemicals such as caffeine and theobromine. And when mixed with sugar and fat, chocolate appears to boost "feel-good" chemicals in the brain (endorphins and serotonin), thus promoting euphoria and calm. Some women use chocolate candy to "self-medicate" for premenstrual syndrome, studies have found.

**Doesn't cause acne. Giving up chocolate won't cure acne or pimples, according to a famous test at the University of Pennsylvania. In the test, 65 acne-plagued adolescents ate the amount of chocolate in 1 pound of bittersweet chocolate a day for a month. For another month, they ate a dummy chocolate bar. Their acne was no worse on the real chocolate than on the fake chocolate.

**Helps lactose intolerance .Chocolate makes milk easier to digest if you are lactose-intolerant. Researchers at the University of Rhode Island found that adding 1 1/2 teaspoons of cocoa to 1 cup of milk blocked cramping, bloating and other signs of lactose intolerance in half of 35 subjects. Cocoa stimulates lactase enzyme activity, they found.

**Also, researchers at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego recently found that chocolate contains anandamide, a chemical that mimics marijuana's soothing effects on the brain (this must be why I run for chocolate when stressed).

**Tests show chocolate contains antibacterial compounds that may discourage, not promote, tooth decay.

**No link to hyperactivity -Some contend that eating chocolate (or sugar) causes hyperactivity, aggression or other behavior problems, notably in children. But several scientific studies have found no evidence of that. In fact, some research finds sweets calm many children.

**Tastes really, really good! Chocolate Cons (I don't like any cons with chocolate but in the name of fairness....)

In Fairness (and sadness) a few Cons......

**Chocolate's greatest crime is that it usually is combined with animal fats, dangerous trans-fats and sugar in high-calorie, bad-fat baked goods.

**Can cause heartburn. Chocolate is a common culprit in heartburn, according to tests by Donald O. Castell, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania. The reason: Chocolate contains concentrations of theobromine, which relaxes the esophageal sphincter muscle, letting stomach acid squirt up into the esophagus. If you suffer from heartburn, he advises, go easy on chocolate.

**Does contain caffeine. Most people have no negative reaction to small amounts of caffeine. If you're sensitive, you should know how chocolate stacks up with caffeine sources: 5 oz. brewed coffee has 85mg caffeine 5 oz. loose tea or 1 tea bag, 30mg 6 oz. cola, 18mg 1 oz. chocolate candy, 6mg 5 oz. cocoa or hot chocolate, 4mg 6 oz. chocolate milk, 4mg

Fun Fact!!!!!!

The average American eats almost 12 pounds of chocolate a year (double that for me). World chocolate consumption rises 3 percent a year, while cocoa bean production rises just 1.5 percent. To avert an eventual shortage, growers are working to increase production. LOL!

Source USAWeekend.com

Happy Valentines Day!