5 Simple Ways to Get Healthy Now

We all know we should eat more veggies. Stop eating junk food and processed foods. We've heard that high fructose corn syrup is the devil. Some people do really well by going cold turkey. They stop eating the junk and replace it with green veggies, fruits, nuts, and seeds. It may take some time and balance for others. I am a strong advocate of taking it slow. One step at a time. Here are the 5 baby steps that I have found to lead to living a healthier life:

1. Do your research: Plug in the laptop and surf. Look up nutritional information for your favorite lunch spot. You will most likely be shocked. Google that strange ingredient in the snacks that you feed your children. EDUCATE yourself. This is the most crucial step.

2. Listen to your body: give your body time to digest. Eat slowly so that your brain has time to tell your stomach that you are full. Don't feel great after dinner? Dig deeper! What did you eat? Can you remember the last time you felt that way? Look for the pattern. When in doubt, eliminate the food item for a few weeks and see how you feel. If you are good to your body, your body will pay you back enormously.

3. Replacements: Are cucumbers the only greens you like? No problem. Replace something on your plate with a cucumber. The key here is to replace not add. Pick one veggie each week. Try new things. Google recipes, take it slow. Focus on the nutrients you are bringing to your family's bodies.

4.  Drink water: You've heard it before, so just do it. Water detoxifies the body, hydrates, and cleanses. It has so many benefits. Just drink it.

5. Move: Get your butt off the couch. Don't have time? Walk up and down the stairs a few times to start. But get moving. Exercise is a mood booster and calorie buster. There are so many things you can do from going to a walk to jumping on the trampoline. Just do something! Nobody ever said "Wow, I really regret that workout"!


Remember, take it slow. Do what feels good (as long as it's not a whole pint of ice cream). Listen to your body.

xoxo
D.

Pounding the Pavement

Nothing is better than a fresh green juice after a 4 mile run with my hubby. I thought I was going to die for most of it but I made it and I feel great.

Running with a buddy is so great for motivation! Check out my refreshing after-run juice and make sure you get out and move your body today! Moving is beneficial for every single part of you. It even boosts your mood!

Juice: collard greens, dandelion, cuke, bok choy, swiss chard, lemon, 2 green apples, and a tsp of spirulina.

xoxo
D.

Benefits of Alkaniline Diets

Your body is constantly trying to maintain it's perfect pH balance. That means a balance between acidic foods and alkaline foods. By reducing the amount of acidic foods that you consume, you are naturally balancing your pH level. The best balance is 80/20. Consuming 80% alkaline foods and 20% acidic foods.
Here are some benefits of an alkaline diet:

- More energy
- Weakened or disappearance of acid reflux, indigestion, IBS, allergies, bloating, arthritis, migraines, constipation, etc.
- Stronger immune system
- Graceful aging
- And so much more!! Each person is different and therefore may feel the wonderful effects differently!

Eating alkaline foods helps ensure the cells in your body are healthy, this allows your body to absorb food's nutrients more efficiently. The coolest thing about all this is that disease cannot survive in your body if it is alkaline. If your cells are healthy, so are you!

Here is a basic list of which foods are alkaline and which are acidic. If you want a more comprehensive list, please visit http://www.energiseforlife.com You can print out a chart of all this detail, absolutely free!

Alkaline Foods: 

VEGGIES!
FRUIT (only a few here, most are acidic- see below- but should still be eaten in small quantities daily as part of your 20% acidity)  i.e. Avocado, tomato, lemon, grapefruit, coconut.
NUTS & SEEDS
SPROUTS
BREADS (sprouted and gluten free)
GRAINS, BEANS (again gluten free)
OILS
GRASSES
OTHER i.e. tofu, herbal tea, almond and goat milk

Clean green juice: Bok Choy, celery, basil, cucumber, grapefruit, apple, & a lemon. So refreshing!

Acidic Foods:

MEAT
MOST FRUIT
DAIRY
EGGS
SWEETENERS
DRINKS i.e. coffee, alcohol, energy drinks, etc.
OTHER i.e. white bread, pasta, pizza, candy, junk food
SOME NUTS & SEEDS: cashews, peanuts. walnuts, hazelnuts
SAUCES i.e. mayo, ketchup, soy, pickles, vinegar

This may seem very daunting. But remember, slow and steady. If you feel this is too much for you right now then don't do it. Just as your body finds a pH balance, you have to find a mind and body balance that fits for you. It is much more beneficial to start slow and pick up pace later than to start fast and drop off completely after a few days. BALANCE!

xoxo
D.

Crazy and Unsexy Meat & Dairy

Kris Carr was diagnosed with cancer at barely 30 years old. Her cancer was untreatable. Think about it, you're just minding your won business living life. All of a sudden Gd decks you to the floor. Unwilling to let cancer beat her, Kris embarked on a journey of nutrition, spirituality, and love. Her story is inspiring, courageous, and nothing short of amazing. I highly recommend her books and DVDs. See bottom of post for links. Kris' book "Crazy Sexy Diet" is a game changer.

Kris was able to treat her cancer by making lifestyle changes through nutrition, exercise, meditation, and more. She goes into a lot of detail about why humans should be eating a plant based diet and not the American diet (fast food, processed foods, meat, dairy, sugar, trans fats). I will devote this particular post to meat and dairy (and how yucky they are).

Compassion Over Killing

Here are some of the facts (from 'Crazy Sexy Diet')

- Although your ancestors may have ate meat back in the day it's not the same today since we ate much larger portions, more frequently, and more "diseaseridden" farms! Plants were mostly gathered for meals.


- Our intestines are 26" long. Carnivores' intestines are much shorter. The animal therefore gets digested faster. But for us, it takes much longer (think dead animal in 98.6 degrees) YECH!


- We only really need .36 grams of protein her body pound which can be easily reached from plant based foods (black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils,etc.)

- "[Dairy] industry executives become government regulators, then become industry executives again, like one big revolving door swirling with crazy money."This means, money becomes more important than our health.

- The China Study. Read it. It makes a direct link from protein found in animal  products (casein) to CANCER. Plant proteins were found to have enough power to turn cancer on or off!! AMAZING! But you probably didn't hear about it because the meat and dairy industry's propaganda was louder.


- Links to dairy: Crohn's disease, kidney stones, eczema, allergies, asthma, arthritis, inflammation, pimples, stomach pain, gas, and bloating. That's a long ass list and I'm sure there's more.

- Animals are injected with hormones, steroids, and other drugs. Even that milk or cheese has hormones in it. "In the United States, dairy products account for 60 to 80 percent of estrogens consumed." This is due to the excessive estrogen a cow produces when her body is tricked into being pregnant all the time.

- Effects of dairy in women: earlier puberty, more menstrual cycles, higher risk of ovarian and breast cancer later in life.

- Effects of dairy in men: estrogen causes man boobs, delayed emotional maturity, and possibly a lower sperm count.

- Cooking meat at high (grill, broiler, fryer) heats increases cancer inducing carcinogens.

This is just the beginning. I haven’t even gotten into animal cruelty. And that’s a doozy. I will let you get into that one yourself if you are interested. Here are some awesome resources. I highly recommend doing your research on this. We are talking about the difference between life and death for us and our children.

THE introduction

Hi.

My name is Danna and in my free time I research nutrition. I am a bit of a nut... and a health nut. I have a no bullshit approach to living a healthy lifestyle. I wasn't always like this. '

In 2009 my son was born. It was then that I started to realize how important our family's health was. Fast forward another year, my husband was deployed, and I had lost control. Stressed, busy, depressed, and eating the Standard American diet, I became sick. I was under 100 pounds, suffering from allergies, colds, nausea, vomiting, hair loss, and the like. Knowing something had to be done, my mother dragged me to the doctor. After many tests we discovered gluten, dairy, stress, and many other factors played into my health. I decided it was time to take my life in my hands. After all, we are the creators of our own realities, right?

And so the research began. I now eat primarily gluten free. 100% vegetarian and about 85% vegan. I eat and drink my veggies. I love my spirulina. I work out regularly. I meditate. I work full time. But these things don't define me. I am happy, alive, thriving, loving, helping others, a mother and a wife. Those things define me.

But, you are what you eat! And eating well absolutely effects every single part of your body. Changing your diet impacts your skin, hair, body weight, diseases, sicknesses, ailments, feelings, thoughts, moods, organs, blood flow, and so much MORE!  I want to open people's eyes to this. Educate others; nudge them to make healthy choices. All the while learning new things myself. We can all live better, healthier, fuller lives.

It's not too late, start today! 

Meet me & Z!

xoxo
D.