How to lose weight, gain health, and stay sane (or how to not "try harder"!)

Tired of trying to have more "self-control" but equally tired of being unhealthy? Well, maybe it's time to realize it's the SYSTEM that's broke--not that your not trying hard enough. This year find something that works as a life style change, not another sprint.

I've been working about 2 years so far and I've made quite a few lifestyle changes. But I made them slowly and for the long haul. Before you give anything up, find a healthy replacement. For example, if you crave something fatty and sweet like ice cream, eat some almond butter (fat and protein) mixed with some honey (sweet). Voila--craving satisfied and diet not ruined! And the best way to lose weight is to get your body health so it can do what it was made to do.

If you want a tangible New Year's resolution try this: "make at least 1 diet or healthy lifestyle change a month." Then, at the beginning of every month, make a mini goal. Here's some suggestions:

January: Replace your salt with "RealSalt" or "Celtic Sea Salt", replace all vinegar with raw, unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar, white flour with whole wheat flour, and all sugar with honey (or Maple Syrup, Sucanot, Stevia, or Agave.)

February: Eliminate cokes and other sugar filled drinks. Replace with homemade lemonade (2 Tbsp maple syrup and 2 Tbsp lemon juice in a glass of water) or herbal tea sweetened with honey.

March: Begin reading labels of food in order to avoid anything that's not food in a natural state. Watch out for white flour (called "wheat flour"), sugar, corn syrup, and chemical sounding names.

April: Replace eating out (or eating a processed/prepared meal) with cooking a simple from scratch meal once a week. If you need some suggestions, try Sue Gregg cookbooks (they have sample recipes to try online free.)

May: Start the T-Tapp basic workout--15 min. every other day.

June: Get a high quality water filter and drink more water in the day.

Just imagine how much more energy and health you would have if you could make those 6 changes in the first half of the new year. Then, imagine how much healthier you'll be in 3 years if you MAINTAIN those changes! These kinds of small changes of changed my life.

May God strengthen you in 2008!

Merry Christmas! My Gift to Bring a Little Joy to the Season!

Smiling and laughing are healthy, so watch and enjoy! And may you have a blessed and Merry Christmas!

The Chicken Soup Cure

One of my favorite healing meals is a soup made from homemade Chicken Broth. In fact, today I was starting to feel a cold coming on b/c of the cold, lack of sleep, and general busyness. So, I started out lunch with Chicken Broth and added Tamari (for saltiness--RealSalt would work too), a dash of cayenne and a small clove of fresh garlic (both for health and added right before eating). Now it was pretty strong with the garlic and cayenne, but it really did the trick.

Now how I made the Broth:

Take a whole Chicken (organic or at least natural--you can afford it if you are buying the whole chicken) and cut the wings off and cut them up. Put it all in a large crockpot and cover with water. (If your ambitious you can take off the skin, but that's too hard for me.) Add a few Tablespoons of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar. Add a few vegetables, like Carrots and Onions. Add some spices, like Basil, Oregano. Ideally fresh, but I never have those! Cook for 12-24 hours. The vinegar makes the calcium come right out of the bones, into the broth, and into you! The bones will be extremely brittle.

Take the chicken out (use for whatever). Strain out the vegetables and bones. Refrigerate until the fat is solid on top (I usually wait about a day.) Take the fat (and all the toxins in it) off. Freeze some of the broth in 1-2 c. portions to use in cooking.

Make the rest into a soup. Sometimes I just add the vegetables and the small bits of chicken back in along with some cooked rice and tomato sauce and spice it to taste. I just love these soups and fill so satisfied. I've learn that I am most satisfied with my food when it's healthy like this.

Now you know why your grandma said eat Chicken Noodle Soup for a cold. Unfortunately, the store bought stuff is not made this way, so you probably didn't think her advice worked. But now you know!

Why does natural (alternative) health have to be so confusing?

First, I'll give you my philosophical idea. You see--I think God put everything we need in nature for us to use. So, every part of the world has it's own natural healing methods. But now with global-connectedness we can access lots of "miracle" herbs. And b/c un-conventional med is not reg like conv. med. there is lots of competition.


Second reason is the FDA. Do you know that if I were selling Vitamin E on this website, I couldn't "advertise" that a credible medical study showed it decreases menstrual cramps? Nope. I could just sell you Vitamin E and maybe hint at what it's good for. That makes using herbs and vitamins a lot of guess work. That's why I'm a big-time Ron Paul supporter. He's a doctor who is running for president and his solution to health care is to give more freedom in the supplement area and to stop all the government intervention. (Did you know Congress basically created HMO's?) Those who want to help people by sharing there knowledge of natural health solutions are severely limited in what they can do. We as people are not trusted to make good decisions for ourselves.

December 16 is the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party and Ron Paul supporters are uniting to send a message that we want our freedoms back. Go to RonPaul2008.com to watch and see how many millions Ron Paul will raise this Sunday and to read more about the revolution happening in our country. Like me, you may find the first politician you've ever considered campaigning for.

So, until there is more freedom of communication here's what you can do...do your own research online (or read this blog for my research) and find a few brands of products you trust. Personally the brands I trust include RBC Life Sciences (they test each product to ensure that manufacturers aren't cross-contaminating), Garden of Life, and Young Living. Garden of Life is sold in stores and the other 2 through distributors. If you want to add to my list of trusted companies, please comment below.

And don't forget to help get those elected who are for "health freedom". Register to vote Republican and get to your primary in 2008. Consider giving on Dec 16th. And allow the companies to share the research and allow you to take authority for your own health.

What about healing?

At church we were singing a song about God healing our soul and it struck me that I need to remember: while I'm waiting on and working for my physical healing, I daily have access to healing for my soul: my heart and mind. When you are fighting illness, you deal daily with small losses that add up. And it can way heavy on your heart. But there is a friend who wants to carry your burden for you. And this is the kind of healing that's available instantaneously!

If you know someone who is chronically ill (or worse, terminally ill), you might want to consider this. You can pray for their physical healing and maybe able to help them in some practical way toward that healing. BUT don't forget to help them find the emotional healing that comes from someone caring or just letting them cry. It's hard to mourn losses of chronic illness-they are small and consistent and mundane and hard to pen down--but they add up to a huge loss. Sometimes you get so used to being sick, you forget what it's like to be normal.

If you have health losses weighing down your soul, join me in offering them in your own way to the God who longs to come and whisper a word of healing to your soul. This is the healing that's available now, even while we hope and long for our bodies to be restored.

One seventh of our national earning goes to healthcare!

And that doesn't include "alternative" health care costs! (From Restoring the Creation Mandate by Dr. Roger De Haan) Makes you want to re-think whether you can afford healthy food. Maybe the question should be can we afford to be under-nourished by the cheap food most of us eat.

Let's all just keep increasing our nutrition and decreasing our disease. Bring a few others along with you and together we can turn this trend around.