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Water… why do I HAVE to drink more?

Jul 10th, 2010 by dawnsmemories

Glass of Water Pic

Everyday I hear from my kids, more water?  Why?  So let’s take a look at a couple of the reasons it is so important.

First, hydration… think about your grass.  If it does not rain or you don’t turn the sprinklers on during a hot summer day, your grass will become hard, crunchy, brown and eventually die.  That is not far from the truth for your body.

Next think about hunger… I challenge you the next time you go to grab a snack, simply grab your water bottle.  9 times out of 10, you are just thirsty.  We do not hydrate ourselves enough.  Your body is craving the water that we so willingly ignore and shovel more food into out mouths.  (we all wonder why our weight is getting out of control!)

Now how much is ‘enough’?  You will hear people say 8 glasses a day however, there are other things to take into consideration.  How hot is it?  What is your activity level?  How much do you weigh?  All of these things come into play.  For example if I am running on a hot day, I will need much more than the 8 glasses.  if it is a cool day outside and I just take a leisurely walk with the family outside as my only means of exercise 8-10 glasses may be perfect for me.

Personally I average 2 liters of water a day.  I can almost guarantee if you are not drinking enough and if you drink as much as you should, you will feel healthier!  A great side-effect of more water is the soft moisturized skin you suddenly develop!

I challenge you, share with me how much water you currently drink and what you are increasing it to.  Don’t forget to come back and share with me the changes you notice!

Posted in health, skin care | No Comments »

External Detoxing and What is it all about! (Part 3 in the 3 part series)

Mar 24th, 2010 by dawnsmemories

In the previous 2 posts: and I explained a lot of info on what toxins are, how we get them out of our bodies internally, so what is left?  External!  You know, off of your skin!

How do we do this… well first we want to make sure you are staying well hydrated… I know you always hear that you need to drink more water… let me be yet one more person to tell you, make sure you are drinking your water!  You should be drinking a glass of water while you are reading this (hint, hint)!   Remember one of the ways for the body to eliminate toxins is through sweat and if we are not hydrated, your body can’t sweat!

Next, massages are not only relaxing and feel wonderful but they help release the toxins in your body so they are accessible to be purged through this external detoxifying process.  Just think, I am giving you an excuse to get that massage!

Now, exfoliation… at the very least use a wash cloth but if you are willing to invest a little, go for a loofah or even better a scrub!  There are many on the market so do your research… the main purpose of this is to open your pores.  Toxins have a nasty habit of sitting in the pores.

Now that the pores are opened up, use a mask to pull the toxins out.  I personally love mud masks, they are very thorough.  After this a good detoxifying wash or rescue wash.

You are now detoxified!  One thing I want to warn you about, you have probably pulled out some good minerals and such out of your body with this process… use a good soak that has mineral salts and essential oils  followed up with a re-mineralizing  lotion or oil.

Your body will thank you for taking the time to take care of it in this way!  I would love to hear how this info is helping you or if you have questions or comments.

Posted in diet, health, skin care | No Comments »

Detoxing, what is it and how does it work? (Part 2 of 3)

Aug 3rd, 2009 by dawnsmemories

Now that we have a basic understanding of toxins, let’s look at detoxing.  Well Detoxing will help eliminate these toxins out of your body!  You can use products on the outside of your body to help pull the toxins out or and internal cleanse which will help those internal organs get these toxins out internally.
There is a need for both types internal AND external cleanse.  The key is to remember that with any type of detox, some good and vital minerals/nutrients will be lost through the detox process.  With this in mind, follow the instructions thoroughly and use the recommended process.  A quality Detox product will be part of a system (multiple steps that will put the nutrients/minerals that were either pulled or flushed out of your system back into your body).  Please look at getting the entire system, your body will thank you.
We are going to look closer to an internal body cleanse (keep in mind, I can only attest to the the 7-day internal cleanse that I use but you can research additional internal cleanses if you are so inclined)
The 7-day internal cleanse that I use says you need 32 oz of water prior, to make sure you are well hydrated, then mix the cleanse with an additional 32 oz of water.  The days you are using the body cleanse, you are to exercise 30 minutes as a minimum, eat healthy (lots of fruits and vegetables) and most importantly take good vitamins.  This is such an important piece of the detoxing puzzle that anytime I have anyone wanting to get the 7-Day Internal Cleanse from me, I give them a 7 day supply of our vitamins called the Hybrids.  I do not want anyone harming their body while trying to rid themselves of these harmful toxins.
The 7-day internal cleanse that I use contains detoxifying marine botanicals for an intense body treatment.  It is a way to support and Detox our organs internally by helping to gently eliminate and flush out excess fluids.  Cleanses the GI tract and has herbs that support liver function.
Now with this Detoxing process, you may experience eliminations symptoms – loose stools, slight cramping and feeling tired.  This is normal!  Trust me by the end of the 7 days, you will feel amazing!  Personally, I am able to forego my allergy medicine for ~ 2weeks, I sleep incredibly well, I am all around refreshed, energized and ready to face the world!  Oh did I mention, I side-effect I have is I lose my craving for sweets, carbs and processed foods for up to 2 weeks after this process!  This is reason alone is why if you are considering a weight management program or just want to improve your lifestyle to a more healthy one, you should look into an internal detox first to help jump start you into your healthy life style change.
Next, I will look at external detoxing and what it is all about!  Until next time, I would love to hear your thoughts and thank you for reading.

Smiling couple preparing salad together in kitchenNow that we have a basic understanding of toxins, (Toxins, what are they and why do I care? post) let’s look at detoxing.  Well Detoxing will help eliminate these toxins out of your body!  You can use products on the outside of your body to help pull the toxins out or and internal cleanse which will help those internal organs get these toxins out internally.

There is a need for both types internal AND external cleanse.  The key is to remember that with any type of detox, some good and vital minerals/nutrients will be lost through the detox process.  With this in mind, follow the instructions thoroughly and use the recommended process.  A quality Detox product will be part of a system (multiple steps that will put the nutrients/minerals that were either pulled or flushed out of your system back into your body).  Please look at getting the entire system, your body will thank you.

We are going to look closer to an internal body cleanse (keep in mind, I can only attest to the the 7-day internal cleanse that I use but you can research additional internal cleanses if you are so inclined)

The 7-day internal cleanse that I use says you need 32 oz of water prior, to make sure you are well hydrated, then mix the cleanse with an additional 32 oz of water.  The days you are using the body cleanse, you are to exercise 30 minutes as a minimum, eat healthy (lots of fruits and vegetables) and most importantly take good vitamins.  This is such an important piece of the detoxing puzzle that anytime I have anyone wanting to get the 7-Day Internal Cleanse from me, I give them a 7 day supply of our vitamins called the Hybrids.  I do not want anyone harming their body while trying to rid themselves of these harmful toxins.

The 7-day internal cleanse that I use contains detoxifying marine botanicals for an intense body treatment.  It is a way to support and Detox our organs internally by helping to gently eliminate and flush out excess fluids.  Cleanses the GI tract and has herbs that support liver function.

Now with this Detoxing process, you may experience eliminations symptoms – loose stools, slight cramping and feeling tired.  This is normal!  Trust me by the end of the 7 days, you will feel amazing!  Personally, I am able to fore go my allergy medicine for ~ 2weeks, I sleep incredibly well, I am all around refreshed, energized and ready to face the world!  Oh did I mention, I side-effect I have is I lose my craving for sweets, carbs and processed foods for up to 2 weeks after this process!  This is reason alone is why if you are considering a weight management program or just want to improve your lifestyle to a more healthy one, you should look into an internal detox first to help jump start you into your healthy life style change.

Next, I will look at external detoxing and what it is all about!  Until next time, I would love to hear your thoughts and thank you for reading.

Tags: , ,

Posted in diet, health | 10 Comments »

Toxins what are they and why should I care? (1 in a 3 part series)

Aug 2nd, 2009 by dawnsmemories

Everywhere you look, people are talking about Detoxing… but first what are toxins?
This will be a 3 part series.  This is 1 of 3…
What is a Toxin?
A toxin is a substance that can create an irritating or harmful effect on our body.  It becomes toxic when our body cannot effectively eliminate this toxin and it causes a negative effect.
For example: pollutants, smoke, pesticides, fertilizers, plastics, petrochemicals and even pool water!
We experience external and internal toxins through the air we breathe the water we drink, the things we touch, the food we eat… not to mention the stress we experience.
Do you get enough sleep, eat right, exercise?
Do you drink coffee? Eat refined carbs and sugars?
We have all experienced these right?
Just think about it, the average American consumes 150 lbs. of sugar a year – that’s 52 teaspoons a day.  The organs that eliminate (skin, kidneys, liver, lungs and digestive tract) are overloaded and we need to help ourselves push the “reset” button.  In our life-time, our bodies will process 100 tons of food… that’s 20 elephants!
These toxins in our bodies actually cause many problems with our health including but not limited to:
~ Allergies
~ Sleep problems
~ Headaches
~ Anemia
~ Asthma
~ Low Immune System
~ Indigestion
~Depression
Yikes!  We will next look at how we can help our body fight these toxins.
Thanks fro reading and I would love to hear your thoughts.77B2726DFirst of all what is a Toxin?

First of all, what is a toxin?

A toxin is a substance that can create an irritating or harmful effect on our body.  It becomes toxic when our body cannot effectively eliminate this toxin and it causes a negative effect.

For example: pollutants, smoke, automobile exhaust, pesticides, fertilizers, plastics, petrochemicals and even pool water!

iStock_000004798241XSmall

We experience external and internal toxins through the air we breathe the water we drink, the things we touch, the food we eat… not to mention the stress we experience.

Do you get enough sleep, eat right, exercise?

Do you drink coffee? Eat refined carbs and sugars?

We have all experienced these right?

Just think about it, the average American consumes 150 lbs. of sugar a year – that’s 52 teaspoons a day.  The organs that eliminate (skin, kidneys, liver, lungs and digestive tract) are overloaded and we need to help ourselves push the “reset” button.  In our life-time, our bodies will process 100 tons of food… that’s 20 elephants!

These toxins in our bodies actually cause many problems with our health including but not limited to:

  • Allergies
  • Sleep problems
  • Headaches
  • Anemia
  • Weight managemnt issues
  • Asthma
  • Low Immune System
  • Indigestion
  • Depression

Yikes!  That is reason enough to care!  We need learn more about to do about them.  So next I will tackle, How do we get these toxins out of our body?

Thanks for reading and I would love to hear your thoughts.

Tags: , ,

Posted in health | 13 Comments »

Protein Shakes… what’s the skinny on them?

Jul 28th, 2009 by dawnsmemories

Ok – I have to start off with the fact that I HATE “diet foods” I can’t stand that chalky taste, blah flavor or even worse that over flavoring to mask the taste.  When I was encouraged to try these new protein shakes, I hesitated and put it off.  Over the last year, we moved to a new state and I ALWAYS gain weight that first year, it is kind of like my body’s way to tell me, too many changes I am revolting against you! LOL  I decided I needed to move forward getting this weight thing under control.  I have a friend who is a Beach Body Coach and she encouraged me to try ChaLean Extreme.  With this workout program, (which I whole heartedly encourage others to try, I LOVE it!) you are encouraged to of course eat healthier.  I was yet again reminded of the protein shakes.
It turns out that protein is a key component to weight loss and control.  Protein is going to fill you up and keep you feeling that way over a longer period of time.   Protein comes from different sources… animal or vegetable protein.  The particular Protein powder I use has vegetable protein in it: Pea, Cranberry and Rice.  They use 3 different types of vegetable protein because all vegetable proteins are lacking 1 or more of the essential amino acids.  They choose not to use animal protein as there products are 100% vegan.
Now that we have some basic, let me tell you how I have overcome my “hate” of the taste of protein shakes… I simply played!  I love to play in the kitchen and doing this, I was pleasantly surprised when I gave in and actually tried these shakes.  I cannot attest if all the protein shakes out there have done a better job on their shakes but I look forward to my shake each and every day now!  Some of my favorites are substituting pineapple juice for the water and I have a delicious fruity beverage, add crushed ice and Wow- incredible!  I also make sure all ingredients other than the powder is ice cold.   After making the shake as directed, you can use fresh fruit (freeze the fruit prior to using) and throw it in the blender!   One of my favorite treats is after making the shake, I throw it into the ice cream maker and Wow!  Delicious healthy ice cream!  My daughter thinks this is the best thing ever, her personal favorite is chocolate whereas mine is vanilla with fruit added!
All protein shakes are slightly different so you need to see what works for you.  Also, Dr. Chris Osborne has recommended that protein shakes are great meal replacements when you are sick or even better, when you are unable to leave your house do to illness OR like a couple of months ago when the H1N1 flu was going around and you want to keep away from the GERMS!
Let me know what you think!

iStock_000000237302Small

Ok – I have to start off with the fact that I HATE “diet foods” I can’t stand that chalky taste, blah flavor or even worse that over flavoring to mask the taste.  When I was encouraged to try these new protein shakes, I hesitated and put it off.  Over the last year, we moved to a new state and I ALWAYS gain weight that first year, it is kind of like my body’s way to tell me, too many changes I am revolting against you! LOL  I decided I needed to move forward getting this weight thing under control.  I have a friend who is a Beach Body Coach and she encouraged me to try ChaLean Extreme.  With this workout program, (which I whole heartedly encourage others to try, I LOVE it!) you are encouraged to of course eat healthier.  I was yet again reminded of the protein shakes.

It turns out that protein is a key component to weight loss and control.  Protein is going to fill you up and keep you feeling that way over a longer period of time.   Protein comes from different sources… animal or vegetable protein.  The particular Protein powder I use has vegetable protein in it: Pea, Cranberry and Rice.  They use 3 different types of vegetable protein because all vegetable proteins are lacking 1 or more of the essential amino acids.  They choose not to use animal protein as their products are 100% vegan.

Now that we have some basic, let me tell you how I have overcome my “hate” of the taste of protein shakes… I simply played!  I love to play in the kitchen and doing this, I was pleasantly surprised when I gave in and actually tried these shakes.  I cannot attest if all the protein shakes out there have done a better job on their shakes but I look forward to my shake each and every day now!  Some of my favorites are substituting pineapple juice for the water and I have a delicious fruity beverage, add crushed ice and Wow- incredible!  I also make sure all ingredients other than the powder is ice cold.   After making the shake as directed, you can use fresh fruit (freeze the fruit prior to using) and throw it in the blender!   One of my favorite treats is after making the shake, I throw it into the ice cream maker and Wow!  Delicious healthy ice cream!  My daughter thinks this is the best thing ever, her personal favorite is chocolate whereas mine is vanilla with fruit added!

All protein shakes are slightly different so you need to see what works for you.  Also, Dr. Chris Osborne has recommended that protein shakes are great meal replacements when you are sick or even better, when you are unable to leave your house due to illness OR like a couple of months ago when the H1N1 flu was going around and you want to keep away from the GERMS!

Let me know what you think!

Posted in diet, health, weight loss | 20 Comments »

Taking care of your skin this summer…

Jul 22nd, 2009 by dawnsmemories

The summer is half way over and have you been taking care of your skin? I hope you have been using sunscreen this whole time! Sun damage is the number one culprit of premature aging of the skin, wrinkles and age spots! Yikes! If you have not been diligent, make sure you add this to your daily routine starting today. You will want to check to make sure your sunscreen is blocking UVA and UVB rays and you are applying it a minimum of 30 minutes prior to your sun exposure. Did you know that the sun is doing the most damage the first 60 seconds of being exposed? That is just you walking out your front door to the car! This is just one more reason to make sure we are applying the sunscreen on the kids before leaving for the pool! Have an extra bottle of sunscreen to have in your bag, most sunscreens need to be reapplied regularly, especially if you are in the water or sweating! Read those instructions! I want to make sure you have young healthy looking skin so slather it on! Have a GREAT rest of the summer while protecting that skin! Would love to hear your comments!

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Posted in skin care | 7 Comments »