An Amazing Life

Thought I'd tell you about a product today. It's what is called a functional beverage (i.e. a health beverage). It's not a part of the Shrink It Weight Loss System, (but I think it should be). Take a look at the functional beverage Limu Plus. Here's two audios about it: Part one http://tinyurl.com/cbk7lr and Part two http://tinyurl.com/d6ml3y . They talk about fucoidan on the audios. Go to http://pubmed.gov/ and search "fucoidan". You'll find over 700 studies. You'll quite possibly thank me for telling you to go search "fucoidan". A minute of your time could change your life. Awesome, huh! This could quite possibly be the best tip anyone will ever give you. I drink Limu Plus every day. (hint, hint.)

The hospitals are filled with folks suffering lifestyle diseases. Ills which could have been prevented. Think about this. THINK. Do you realize the World Health Organization (WHO) states 70% of Cancer is preventable with healthy nutrition? Did you know an optimally working immune system stops cancer in it's tracks everyday? So how well are you taking care of yourself! If that knowledge doesn't motivate you to eat healthy nothing will. (Again, go search "fucoidan"). They also say 70% of all disease starts with a deficiency of antioxidants. NUTRITION! Red, yellow, green, orange, white veggies and fruits! Fill your plate with color to support your wellness!

It's a sad thing to see a preventable illness take away the choices in a persons life or even take their life. No one needs to suffer a lifestyle disease; unless you make poor eating and exercise choices. Resolve today to make your lifestyle (I like to call it your "healthstyle") work FOR you instead of AGAINST you.

Life is terrific... get all the goodness out of it you can! What an amazing gift life is! I have a hard time putting into words what it was like to be sick for 17 years and then find myself in remission. How blessed I have been! I struggle to impart what a joy life is to everyone I meet. But there aren't words expressive enough to explain how differently I experience life in remission. It's 110% awesome and that is an understatement! I'll say this you have not seen the true beauty of a rose (or any flower) until your life has been threatened. The beauty I see is beyond description. What a gift life is!

You know my work as a holistic health coach isn't just about healthy eating and exercise encouragement. It's about the whole you! I want you to have your BEST life! Your best life starts with being mindful of giving yourself health-enriching nutrition and moving your muscles. There's no getting around it. Yet people will say "I don't have time". Do you have time for illness? Illness doesn't give you a choice in how you spend your time.

Think of it this way (and yes you've read these words from me before). If you were diagnosed with a life threatening disease you would do everything you could to get well. You'd seek out nutrition advice and eat healthier. You'd seek out exercise advice and (if you were able) you'd exercise. Cos you don't want your life to change; you don't want to have to depend on anyone else and want to be able to provide for yourself and family. Oh and you don't want to die before your time. Don't you agree?

And if you think about it I'd guess you'd agree (wouldn't you?) most of us live such a fast-paced life we often don't take time to ponder how much we love our life or ourselves; until we get sick and are forced too. Consider taking proactive care of yourself? The western medical system is so tuned into reactivity. It's much easier to stay well then to get well. Our reactivity mindset fuels the problems with our healthcare system. We MUST reframe our outlook on wellness. Love yourself NOW! You are special and unique! Your smile lights up the world around you! You Rock! Make your healthstyle work FOR you instead of AGAINST you and have your BEST life.

Need help with your healthstyle? Subscribe to my Empowering Wellness newsletter at http://optimizetoheal.com

Change Your Healthstyle, Change Your Life

Good Morning! And it's a beautiful sunny spring morning here! Yeaaa! My clients tell me they know they need to overhaul their eating but they don't know where to start. Is that YOU? Well, I have some good info for you today. Changing your lifestyle ( I like to call it "healthstyle") will literally change your life. You'll have more energy, less aches and pains and a healthier mentality. Here are some tips to help you change your healthstyle to a healthier one?

Start with eating approximately every 3 hrs. (i.e. 4 - 6 times a day, three meals and 2 or 3 snacks). Spreading the calories out benefits you a couple ways:

You maintain your energy all day.
You balance your sugar and prevent cravings.

And remember never ever skip breakfast. It sets you up for the rest of the day!

But what to eat and how much?? Let's look at your plate: divide it into thirds. One section will be for protein, one for a complex carb and the last for a fruit or vegetable. So when you sit down to eat you will have one serving of a protein, a complex carb, and a fruit/vegetable. For example, have a 4 ounce piece of salmon with 1/2 cup of brown rice, and a salad.

The next meal substitute the salmon for turkey, the rice for quinoa, and the salad for asparagus. Or substitute the salmon for chicken, the rice for a slice of whole grain bread, and the salad for broccoli. (Hint: I like to use flaxseed oil on my toast instead of butter! I even sprinkle it on my vegies!) What about breakfast? Have a hard boiled egg with a few strawberries or a slice of melon and 1/2 whole grain bagel or english muffin. Or have a smoothie (soy milk, strawberries and banana with Appetizer Diet Vanilla Shake). Eating like this you will have approximately 300 - 400 calories per meal.

So what about snacks? Well, here are some ideas for 100 calorie healthy snacks:

1. 2 domino-sized slices low-fat Colby or cheddar cheese
2. 1 cup sliced apples with 1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter (I recommend organic peanut butter not the commercial peanut butter with added sugar).
3. 10 dry roasted cashews or 12-15 natural almonds.
4. One hard boiled egg.5. 1 cup squash (baked acorn or butternut)
6. 5 oz. Turkey breast (roasted, no skin)
7. 25 pistachios8. 10 cashew nuts
9. Half a small avocado
10. 3 ounces cooked whole-grain noodles with 1 fresh tomato and 1/2 ounce hard cheese
11. 3 handfuls of unbuttered popcorn, seasoned with herbs
12. 2 ounces of lean roast beef
13. 2 TB hummus and 10 baby carrots
14. as many cucumber and celery sticks as you'd like
15. Scramble 5 egg whites and cook in a non-stick skillet. Top with 1Tbsp of salsa.

How do you incorporate the Shrink It Weight Loss System into your eating regimen? Here are some suggestions:

Have a shake and a cookie for breakfast OR lunch OR dinner (I prefer lunch.)
Have a shake OR a cookie for one of your snacks
Take your VitaOne and Omega 3 supplements at breakfast.

Keep in mind eating mindfully aware of nutrition is only one facet of your new healthy lifestyle! Do NOT forget exercise! Exercise is important to a healthy body. However, be sure to check with your physician before starting an exercise program; especially if you have been sedentary for a long time. Drink a Crave Energy Drink before/during your exercise routine!

Did you know loss of muscle mass is a huge reason for a lagging metabolism? Being sedentary, as many of us are these days, is a great detriment to maintaining a normal weight. Muscle burns a lot more calories than fat. So get off that couch! Find yourself a form of exercise you will enjoy and then DO IT! Hire a personal trainer to work with you (as I have) to develop an exercise routine you can live with if you must. Do what you must do to get yourself off the couch and moving!

As always I'm here to help you! And with the purchase of the Shrink It Weight Loss System I give free health coaching to support you (1 - 30 min phone session a week and unlimited email contact).

Don't Believe The Doctors

Wow! what a great morning! Great workout at the gym. Today is an aerobic day; bike, arc trainer, arc trainer with arms and treadmill. FUN!! FUN! FUN!

If you have a chronic illness, don't believe your docs. When lupus was socking it to me at the worst one of my docs referred to me in his notes as "steroid dependent" and "unfortunate". All of my docs told me I'd be on steroids (prednisone) forever. When I grew tired of hearing docs say "I don't know" I took charge of my wellness and responsibility for finding answers on my own. Today I am OFF all pharmaceuticals and have been in remission for five years. I'm anything but "unfortunate" and most certainly NOT steroid dependent. Hence, the reason I went back to school and earned an M.S. in Holistic Nutrition. I want to help others like I was helped.

I'm not going to tell you that changing your diet, changing your mind and exercising is going to give you the remission that I have attained. I don't know that. I DO KNOW everything in your life which isn't promoting wellness which you change for the better will give you a greater degree of wellness. So what are you waiting for? Give yourself a fighting chance! Western medicine is really good at creating victims. Doctors don't have fortune-telling ability. Don't let them put a black cloud over your life. You can choose NOT to be a victim! You ALWAYS have a choice.

That bears saying again: You ALWAYS have a choice!

I've seen so many people with chronic diseases just give up. They only do what their docs tell them. They don't try to help themselves. They become victims as they become their disease. The minute you identify with your disease and allow it to define your life you become a victim. Realize this: In 17 yrs of my lupus being active not one physician (and I had an army of them) inquired about my nutrition. NUTRITION is what gave me my life back.

This advice goes to the "healthy" folks out there too! Read yesterdays blog. If you aren't taking charge and taking responsibility for your wellness you have a really high probability of joining the ranks of those with chronic illness. Remember 85% of diseases are lifestyle related. So get off your butt! Stop saying you don't have time to exercise or cook healthy meals. In a REAL WAY you DON'T have time. You don't have time to waste making excuses. "Healthy" people don't have to be victims of lifestyle diseases either... UNLESS you choose to be!

Start with a terrific multi-nutrition supplement, VitaOne . VitaOne is part of the Shrink It Weight Loss System. It's a terrific supplement whether you have weight to lose or not. The Super Nutrition of one VitaOne packet is equivalent to nutrients found in: 30 cups Kiwi (niacin), 15 oz Steak (magnesium), 50 cups cooked carrots (B6), 198 Medium Apples (vitamin A), 10 cups Green Beans(folic acid), 5 cups Raw Spinach (calcium), 378 Cantaloupes(Vitamin E), 48 slices Wheat Slices (zinc), 3 cups Green tea (polyphenol Extract content), and 60 peaches (Vitamin C). One packet a day delivers the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, concentrated green nutrients, enzymes and essential fatty acids your body needs.

Take some time today and ponder what in your life does not promote wellness. Get a notebook or a journal and make a list. Resolve to replace what doesn't promote wellness with behaviors which do promote wellness. Make a second list of positive behaviors you wish to change to. Then go at them one at a time.

Your daily nutrition regimen should include:

Women - 7 servings of veggies and fruits
Men - 9 servings of veggies and fruits
Children - 5 servings of veggies and fruits

If you need to lose weight I recommend the Shrink It Weight Loss System If not you can purchase the system products individually as well as childrens vitamins here . Everyone needs to supplement their nutrition with a quality multi-nutrition product.

Do what you can to make your lifestyle work for you instead of against you!

And don't believe the doctors..... You always have a choice! You don't have to be a victim.

If you take my advice and I so hope you do please let me know how things are going for you.

To your wellness and joy,

Pam Murphy,M.S.,RRT pamsteam@gmail.com 314-397-0686 anytime!

Facts For Thought

Wow! I had a great workout with my personal trainer this morning. I look forward to my workouts at the gym. Four mornings a week I mix up a bottle of CRAVE energy drink and head to the gym. Gradually I'm able to do more and more. I have noticed my balance is better and I'm stronger.

But enough about me; I wanted to share some facts lots of folks aren't aware of with you today:

1. Human genes remember a sugar hit for two weeks, with prolonged poor eating habits capable of permanently altering DNA. - (from a study in the Journal of Experimental Medicine)

2. 85% of all disease can be directly attributed to lifestyle, (it's an AMA fact).

3. 90% of doctor visits can be attributed to stress.

4. At least 70% of cancer can be PREVENTED thru nutrition according to the World Health Organization.

If your health, exercise and eating habits haven't turned you into a firm, energetic and unstoppable powerhouse perhaps you need to change your habits. Ya think?

To often I hear from people they don't have time to cook healthier meals or exercise. Oh well, we all make choices. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. But the statistics I gave you paint a very grim picture of where a lifestyle of poor health, exercise and eating will lead you. You must get your lifestyle working for you instead of against you! I'm hoping you take these statistics to heart.

It's not easy to correct poor health, exercise and eating habits. The benefits of a healthy lifestyle aren't just about gaining or losing weight or being sick or well. Your success in what you do with your life is impacted by your lifestyle. Sometimes folks think they can put off exercising and improving their lifestyle until they are farther along in their career; until they've reached a certain level of success. But in actuality it works in reverse. Put your health first and everything else in your life is enhanced. Quite frankly, especially if you are already overweight you don't have time to not have time to put your health first.

Don't try to change everything all at once. Change one thing at a time. First, get your doctors OK to start an exercise program. Then find an exercise you enjoy. Add a salad a day. Add a piece of fruit a day. Start drinking 8 glasses of water a day. You get the idea? Gradually you'll find yourself feeling better, normalizing your weight, having more energy than you've had in a long time.

Need some help? I'm always available to you. And as always I'm offering free health coaching with the purchase of the Shrink It WeightLoss System. You can also get the supplements individually here: Pams Nutrition Store



Pam Murphy,M.S.,RRT
314-397-0686 anytime
quantumwellness@charter.net

Big Butt Burgers, Sodas and DNA

One of things I missed more than anything else when my lupus was active was working out. I loved to work out. Unfortunately during the years my lupus was active my body was exercise intolerant. Caused me much frustration. Remission has given me my life back and there are no words to describe how happy I am to be back in the gym.

Not only am I back in the gym I have lost 4% of the bodyfat I gained from years on prednisone. You should have seen me yesterday when I found out about the 4% loss. I was grinning from ear to ear all day...... and I still am. Another victory over lupus. Yesssss. So exercising, eating nutritionally and following the Shrink It Weight Loss system is working for me.

And what about you? If you're sitting there thinking you're healthy think again. Don't take your health for granted. So many people do. If you're not MOVING or if you are mostly eating processed foods you are a time bomb. You're setting yourself up for illness. The body needs to move, muscles need to be challenged and your body needs nutrition. Get your docs ok and find an exercise you enjoy!

It's such an easy thing to pull into a fast food drive-up or pop a microwave dinner into the microwave. Most folks do it without thinking. That (mega-sized) big butt burger, fries and soda isn't going to do a lot to support your health and processed convenience foods in general are nutrient poor.

How important is nutrition? In a recent issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine a study concluded: "Human genes remember a sugar hit for two weeks, with prolonged poor eating habits capable of permanently altering DNA". Think about that seriously!

Changing a couch-potato-poor-eating lifestyle is a hard thing. But you can do it. Make one change at a time.

1. Add a salad every day.
2. Add two fruits every day.
3. Add 3 servings of veggies a day.
4. Take a walk every day.
5. Use manual doors at stores instead of the automatic doors.
6. Park farther away from the store or your work (in safe areas).
7. Cut back on coffee - switch to a cup of green tea.

Not an exhaustive list but you get the idea. Make small changes one at a time. Overtime you will see the benefit. As recommended in the June 2002 issue of JAMA every should supplement their nutrition with a good multi-nutrition product. If you don't need to lose weight you can get the Shrink It Weight Loss system products individually at my store.

Need help? I'm here to help you.

Malnourished With A Full Plate?

Good morning! What a beautiful spring morning it is! I just got home from a workout with my personal trainer. It was quite a nice workout! I hope YOU'RE moving in some way; exercising your muscles. YOUR body needs to move as much as it needs you to give it nutritious food.


Let's talk about nutrients today. Are you aware in June of 2002 there was a recommendation in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) that everyone supplement their eating regimen with a quality multi-nutrition product? There were several reasons for this recommendation.


FIRST - Not many of us eat an optimally healthy diet. We make poor choices. Did you have the recommended servings of fruits and veggies yesterday? 7 servings for women, 9 for men and 5 for kids. (serving - 1/2 cup)


SECOND - Our produce today does NOT have the level of nutrients in it which it used to have. In fact, in a recent report published in the Journal of HortScience (Feb 2009) it stated there are declines of 5 % to 40% or more of some minerals in groups of vegetables and perhaps fruit. In another study a similar decline was also found in vitamins and protein.


So Houston there's a problem! Most of us are making poor choices and even when we do eat somewhat well we aren't getting what we need from our produce. Hence, the recommendation to supplement with a quality multi-nutrition product.


This is why the quality multi-nutrition product VITA ONE is an integral part of the Shrink It Weight Loss system Good nutrition is vital!

Here's what they said:


Suboptimal folic acid levels, along with suboptimal levels of vitamins B6 and B12, are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, neural tube defects, and colon and breast cancer; low levels of vitamin D contribute to osteopenia and fractures; and low levels of the antioxidant vitamins (vitamins A, E, and C) may increase risk for several chronic diseases. Most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone. Pending strong evidence of effectiveness from randomized trials, it appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements. JAMA. 2002;287:3127-3129.


AND

We recommend that all adults take one multivitamin daily. This practice is justified mainly by the known and suspected benefits of supplemental folate and vitamins B12, B6, and D in preventing cardiovascular disease, cancer, and osteoporosis and because multivitamins at that dose are safe and inexpensive. JAMA. 2002;287:3127-3129



The greatest tools for preventing and reversing disease are your fork and spoon and being conscious of the nutrition quality of your food! Most people think because they eat three meals a day and don't feel sick they are getting what they need. With the recent studies reporting the decrease in vital nutrients in our produce we know that is not true.


Even if you are eating well you aren't getting all the nutrients your body needs. Most of us are malnourished even though our plates are full. Whether or not you are utilizing the Shrink It Weight Loss system to lose weight you should definitely be taking a quality multi-nutrition product such as VitaOne .


***********

As always I am offering free health coaching support with the purchase of the Shrink It Weight Loss system. Shrink It Weight Loss

Calories: The Scoop

Good morning... what a beautiful (though windy) spring day! I'm going to take a long walk with the furkids soon as I finish this blog post. It's been a busy morning. I started working out with a personal trainer this morning at Gold's Gym. We had a good session!



Let's talk a little about calories today. Folks shouldn't get crazy about calories but it's good to know how many you are taking in to maintain your current weight. Sometimes that number is an eye opener!



The amount of energy your body needs to function is called your basal metabolic rate. To figure out your basal metabolic rate (BMR) you have to plug some numbers into a formula:



Women: 655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
Men: 66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)



Then you need to incorporate activity:


If you are sedentary : BMR x 20 percent
If you are lightly active: BMR x 30 percent
If you are moderately active (You exercise most days a week.): BMR x 40 percent
If you are very active (You exercise intensely on a daily basis or for prolonged periods.): BMR x 50 percent
If you are extra active (You do hard labor or are in athletic training.): BMR x 60 percent
Add this number to your BMR.
The result is the number of calories you eat every day to maintain your current weight.

In order to lose weight, you'll need to take in fewer calories .



There are 3500 calories in 1 lb. So to lose weight you must expend (or not take in) 500 calories per day. Keep in mind muscle burns calories much better than fat. Exercise is key to building muscle and losing weight. Exercise consistently and make your calories taken in GOOD nutritious calories.



More about burning fat:



Omega 3 is part of the Shrink It Weight Loss system. There are a lot of good reasons to take an Omega 3 supplement. But for the purposes of weight loss Omega 3 is a GOOD FAT which helps your body burn fat by helping it to respond better to a hormone called Leptin. Leptin does a few things: it tells your brain to suppress your appetite, increases your metabolism and causes your body to burn fat for energy. Omega 3 fats also help to curb your appetite by stabilizing your blood sugar. There was an Australian study which showed people who took Omega-3 fats while on an exercise program burned more fat than people who only exercised (without taking Omega-3 fats).



There are good reasons for the inclusion of all the supplements in the Shrink It Weight Loss system and we'll be talking about this in future posts. BOOKMARK this site!!



Here's what I'm eating today!



(keep in mind this menu may or may not be enough calories for you) I give you my menus as an example for you to model yours after not as a menu for you to follow.



Monday Menu = 1490 calories



Breakfast: Blueberry/vanilla appetizer diet shake

Banana



Snack: Apple slices (1 apple) and peanut butter (1 TBSP) (Organic peanut butter NOT that commercial stuff w/sugar in it)



Lunch: Chicken breast/ Steamed veggies(2 cups)/Salad(2 cups)



Snack: Walnuts/Almonds (Emerald nuts has a 100 calorie pack of walnuts/almonds packaged seven packs per box)



Dinner: Scrambled Tofu (green pepper, onions, mushrooms, tofu, turmeric) over wild rice (1 cup)



Snack: Low fat cottage cheese/pear slices



Got questions? Email me Pamsteam@gmail.com



Ready to change your life? http://pams.shrinkitweightloss.com/ I'm here to help you along the way. Free health coaching with the purchase of the Shrink It Weight Loss System.



Have a smiley day! I care about you!