HEALTH MATTERS

Best Intentions

2010-05-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, I have not written in ages. I guess me like all of us get so busy that things we really enjoy get jammed on the old back burner. I know that for me, the back burner has become a storage unit , if you will, of the things I love doing but for some reason have not fit them in the picture.

I know I am not alone as so many of us have begun many things, tasks, projects and have aimed ourselves at goals for years and few of us have actually completed the things we set out to do. Not that we are bad people or that we cannot do these things, actually it is quite the opposite. Most of the people I know that have put personal things on hold are doing many things for other people and keeping others peoples lives in order so much that there really is not a lot of time left for them. I always say, if I did not have to sleep I could have another full time career, and I would.

So what are the things you have pushed on your back burner? Is it a hobby you were religious about doing and you can not remember when you enjoyed it or worked on it? Is it a journey to get in shape that every year in January gets a resurgence of energy for a week or two and like clothing that goes out of style gets shoved in the back of the closet? Is it a continuing education or classes you have wanted to take but at the end of the day you are so tired that once your butt is on that perfectly shaped dent in the couch and the remote is on your hand, it is over for the day? I guess there are many things we have all started out doing or thinking about with great intentions and for whatever reason we have put them once again on hold.

I think all of us need to learn how to say NO once and a while to everyone we constantly do things for who know this and that is why they keep asking, because we always do it. I think we all need to stop doing the"extra " stuff we really do not need to do and getting our own selves back to basics. And most of all, we need to take a day away from everyone and decide which of the many things we miss the most should we focus on right now.

I know this, for many of us "givers" and people who do not say no, but I guarantee it will be ultimately healthier, more enjoyable and honestly you will fell better than you have in a long time.

Fifty years later and still a choice

2010-01-11T05:22:00.001-08:00

It is amazing how many people have decided that focusing on "nutrition" is the "in" thing to do. Funny, back in the sixties people became health oriented and it was the in thing as well and many saw it is a fad or a trendy luxury. Here we are fifty years later and many of those people from the sixties are around and are healthy and still health oriented, and today nutrition is no longer a luxury, but necessity.

So what is the mentality and status of the majority of American citizens? Many are being held together with pharmaceutical band aids, others are striving to get some semblance of health, a lot of us are doing pretty well but are definitely aware that we can do better and just like the sixties, there will always be the group that feels that nutritional awareness is just a fad.

One great thing in America that is still a constant. All of us have the right to be as "nutritionally" oriented as we choose or as unhealthy as we want. I am hoping that because "health" has become a necessity and not a luxury any longer for many reasons that more of us will choose to make better choices and choose a healthy lifestyle.

I am back

2010-01-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

Over the years the most common question I have always been asked is with all the things on the shelf in health food stores, what do I really need? My answer to this question is always the same, "how do you feel?" This really is the deciding factor when starting a supplement program.
Many people will say I have been taking this and that for years, and my question is still always the same, "how do you feel?" The funny thing is so many people will say lousy, or tired, or just exhausted or I hurt, or I cannot sleep, I usually ask why do you keep doing something that does not work? And after they think for a second, most people say I do not know, habit I guess.

Today I want to give you a list of questions to ask yourself to see what areas you need to focus on, and you may find the questions to be things you never though could relate to how you feel. It basically gives you some guidelines or parameters to work with so you are not taking a stab in the dark, but instead hitting the nail on the head ,if you will.

1) Do you drink a lot of caffeine
2) Do you eat a lot of sugar?
3) Do you eat in -between meals?
4) Are you a rollercoaster dieter?
5) Do you have more than a couple meals served through the window of your car?
6) Do you starve yourself and then binge eat all night at home?
7) Do you eat when depressed?
8) Are you exercising?
9) Do you sleep well at night?
10) Are you an anxious person?
11) Does stress rule your life?
12) Are you moody, or negative all the time?
13) Do you eat at least three servings of vegetables daily?
14) Is your digestive system working correctly?
15) Are you on more than one medication?
16) Do you drink 8 glasses of water every day?
17) Do you work on computers daily and are your eyes healthy?
18) Is your blood pressure normal?
19) How are you hormonally?
20) Do you use antibiotics frequently?
21) Have you been to the dentist within the last twelve months?
22) Have you had bloodwork and a physical in the last year?
23) Do you work in a germ filled atmosphere at work?
24) Are you a happy person?
25) Are you always tired and running behind?
26) Do you have eliminations every single day?
27) Are your fingernails and hair healthy?
28) Have you ever taken vitamins on a regular basis?
29) Is your skin healthy and do you have adult acne?
30) Is your cholesterol normal or high?
31) Are you a diabetic, is it in the family and have you been tested?
32) Do you have a pet?
33) Do you travel frequently?
34) Do you bruise easily and do your gums bleed?
35) How is your memory and do you get headaches frequently?
36) Do you have a nervous stomach?
37) Do you have hobbies or activities you do outside of work?
38) Do you have seasonal allergies?3
39) Do you watch a lot of television?
40) Are you a procrastinator?
41) Do you cook at home or eat out more often?
42) Do you study or taking classes or continuing education of any kind?
43) Have you switched careers in the last year?
44) Do you smoke or drink daily?
45) Have you gone through any surgery in the last year?
46) Do you now or have you ever had cancer and completed treatment?
47) Do you salt your food before tasting it?
48) Do you spend more time indoors or outdoors?
49) Are you a slow eater or do you eat on the run and quickly woof your food?
50) Have you always been nutritionally oriented or is this new?

This will be enough to get you started. I think you should print this and answer the questions. You yourself will find a pattern and will almost for certain link many of the problems you may be experiencing to your own bad habits. We sometimes are such creatures of habit that the craziest things become normal until you see them in print.

Make sure to hold on to these questions because every month I will add some more. This will let you get closer and closer to formulating your own areas that you will want to pay attention to. Something that drives me crazy is when you are told that one thing will do great for everyone, which is absurd because we are all different.

This list is also something to take with you when you start researching nutrition. If you are lucky enough to find someone nutritionally well versed and trained, they will be able to look at this list and give you a very focused nutritional program that you yourself will get great benefits from. If on the other hand, you go somewhere where the individual knows next to nothing, kindly say thank you and leave and go somewhere else. Never feel obligated to compromise with your health, NEVER.

Always work with someone that is knowledgeable and knows about health situations and also medications and side effects, and is well versed in alternatives. I always tell everybody to ask yourself, would you let this person work with and make a vitamin supplement program for your mother? Hopefully you like you Mother and you would want a trusting individual to work with her. If your gut tells you yes, then give them a try.

Nutrition is like buying a car. Not everybody will fit in a corvette, some people need a truck, an SUV, or an economy car. The great thing is when you ask yourself questions and get a better grip on your own health, you actually narrow down the choices, which is a good thing.Good luck...

Turning fifty

2009-08-12T07:32:00.001-07:00

I have decided to spin my blog in a different direction. After years of talking about things in general that relate to health and over all well being, I have decided to switch the blog more to one subject for a while, weight loss.

After years of stomach problems and use of prednisone and having a life style that put me far on the back burner, I have let my weight get out of hand. Uncomfortable and starting to notice that I am not as flexible and comfortable doing my activities as I was in younger years. I am also thinking of what could be possibly coming my way down the road as far as my health. I am not willing to let that happen to me.

I have decided to make today the starting point and talk daily about what I am doing so that if you decide to jump in, you can at any time and join the healthy focus person group. As a nation we are out of hand, and maybe I can be the one to lead us all to a healthier, slimmer America.

I am going to focus more higher protein as carbohydrates have got us into the mess we are in, as well as high sodium and chemical based microwaveable food, eating through the window of our cars and sugar holding our hands day in and day out.

Making this easy is the hard part but I think sticking with it will be easy because I know we will get results quickly and this is motivating to keep us focused. I want us to remember these letters as this will make staying on this easy. These letters should be committed to memory. WF-FF-SS, it stands for white flour, fast food, sugar and soda. These are the things that are now permanently gone from our eating program. Just this in itself will make the difference between healthy weight an unhealthy weight.

Tomorrow we will get started and I will document foods used as well as the activities, I hope you will join in and be part of changing your own life once and for all.

Inauguration day 2009

2009-01-20T18:11:00.000-08:00

Are you one of those people that always wonder about things? I am, I often think to myself how is that person able to smoke all of those cigarettes for all of these years and never get cancer? Why is that person suffering from every disease possible when they are a vegetarian and exercise and never do anything wrong? I am not a person to question the actual divine reason for these things, but honestly it makes no sense to me whatsoever.

I am familiar with alcoholics that never have a sick a day in their lives, and drug attics that never get sick and never over dose. Then there are people that have unprotected sex and never get AIDS, when someone who makes a mistake one time gets infected.

Why a healthy child dies of Cancer or why a wonderful law abiding citizen and father dies of a dreadful disease and someone who has committed crimes that are unmentionable is able to survive on this planet until they are very old.

I really do wonder these things, and I think about them frequently, but as of yet I am no closer to an explanation than I was when I first ventured into thinking about this years ago.

I guess it all comes down to things we will never know, or maybe things we are not supposed to understand, I do not know.

Ever feel like you run all day long and you are still always behind?

2009-01-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

Amazing as it is we are already at the 19 th of January. Time is going so fast for me, is it moving faster for you? They say that although time seems to be speeding by us, it is our own imaginations that perceive it as moving faster than normal.

The last time I was on vacation, about a hundred years ago, I realized that after about five days when I was just beginning to relax and decompress and de- stress myself, it seemed as if the days lasted forever. Maybe this is actually the key to why we are all running around so crazy.

Our great Grandparents had the same amount of time in their days and they worked hard physical jobs early in the day and yet still had time for good meals with the family all sitting down together, and even more time for hobbies and evening relaxing. Now take it, they really had nothing else to do because there were no toys and time saving devices like we all have in their lives today.

Do you think that because of the smart phones, mp3 players, big screen televisions, stereos, and computers, all of which are supposed to help us save time that they are actually using so much time that we are perpetually behind? I find myself signing on the computer to check e- mails and then doing this and then that and before I know it I have been sitting there for three hours! Then I am constantly running around all day trying to get caught up and the clock is ticking against me.

Maybe this is it! We spend so much time using devices to manage our time that we end up losing time, then running to get caught up with the perception that the day is moving too fast. But in reality, we have just found yet another way to goof off and procrastinate and still not get things done. I think I have solved the dilemma.

Miracles do happen

2009-01-16T08:40:00.000-08:00

I have never been one to speak of miracles that happen, or that may have happened. I am a believer that things that have no explanation happen every day all around us. Some of things are proven or forced by the media to be coincidence and then there are those who love to over analyze happenings to have perfect explanations, I would rather just appreciate them and think someone somewhere is looking out for us.

Yesterday when US Airways Airbus A320, bound for Charlotte, N.C.,that took off from LaGuardia Airport had to make an emergency landing in the Hudson river, all of the onlookers held their breath. Unbelievably nobody was killed and all passengers and crew were accounted for and made it out alive. Although I grant thanks and skill to the pilot and staff and crew, in my mind I cannot think anything but Miracle, Miracle, Miracle.

Happy New Year

2009-01-05T14:31:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that another year has slipped away, never to be seen again, but I am sure the remnants of last year will be with many of us. Downsizing and lost jobs, of course bad health and even worst choices, lazy lifestyles, and weight gain everywhere we look.

How many of you decided that this was yet another year to make a New years resolution, one that you already know you will not stick to? Now. how many of you decided that this was the year to finally make a change and do what you know you want and NEED to do for your sanity, your health, or just your well being and piece of mind? I bet more of you answered yes to the first question, but I still applaud you for taking the time to make a resolution at all. It means that you know something needs to be done, but you may not be ready yet.

What is it that makes us stick to a resolution? A brush with death maybe? Not being able to fit in an airline seat and being asked to buy two seats? Not being able to breath after bending over to tie your shoes? Snickers and voices you know are talking about you from behind your back? Or is it the DUI for driving under the influence that changed your mind this year, or that you were diagnosed with liver problems and told to stop drinking? Might be that yearly physical that discovered clogged arteries, spots on your lungs, high cholesterol, diabetes and blood pressure problems? Any or all of these little slaps in the head should be enough to do it for the average person, but many continue on the same path knowing full and well that they are heading on a path directly to the grave, and I guess have decided not to care.

I often wonder when I see these people with a destructive behavior and knowing there is a problem why they continue on that path, I have actually become quite good after the first confrontation and offer of help to politely bite my tongue. I mean it is really nobody's business as we are all adults and they are not doing anything illegal, even though they may be actually committing suicide, and I think that is illegal, or at least a sin, I think?

Well, bottom line, I take my hat off and applaud all of you that have decided to make a change in your life this year for WHATEVER reason that brought you to this epiphany. I hope and wish you every success in your endeavors and that you are able to finally get healthy and fit and all the things you set your mind to do this year. For the rest of you still climbing that mountain and not yet ready, you will be when and only when YOU decide to do what needs to be done, Good luck to you as well.

Happy Healthy New Year to all of you.

One week to set smart and attainable goals

2008-12-26T08:48:00.000-08:00

Wow, another Christmas just zoomed on by without a hitch, that is pretty amazing with all going on in the country. I think many of us feel that the big picture is so far out of our hands that we need to just concentrate on the things we can fix like our health, our family, and maybe getting ready to control our bad habits with next weeks resolutions.

I am amazed because it seems like more and more people are really starting to want to make some changes, and I think for the first time in many years, I think they really mean it! All I can say is over the next week as you ponder where you are and where you would like to be, when you mull over your bad habits and the changes you would like to make, set easy and attainable goals. What I mean by that is, if you have sixty pounds to lose, set your goal at five pounds per month. When you are able to satisfy your goals every month, you WILL stay motivated and you will find you can even lose more every month once the goal is attained.

When you have a huge mountain goal in front of you it is a mountain that most people can not conquer, but attainable goals are satisfied, and you will walk over them and on to the next one with a positive and take on the world attitude.

So, be kind to yourself and smart about the goals you set, and logical on how long they may take to complete.

Good Night! R U sleeping or staring at the ceiling?

2008-12-19T08:30:00.000-08:00

How do you sleep at night? When asked this most people say, I go to bed and I wake up in the morning. Daah!! What I am interested in having you do is to take a look at are you getting the rest you need and deserve, or are you just going through the motions?

Think before you answer these questions.

1) Men, do you get up more than once or twice per night and have trouble going back to sleep again. If yes, it could be stress or it could be time to get your prostate examined to find out if you have prostate enlargement, which could cause frequent urinary elimination or the urge during the night. Remember, there are many natural remedies that can and are very successful with prostate problems.

2) Do you get leg cramps frequently or Charlie horses in your legs? This could be over or under worked muscles, and a sign that you need to take a chelated multiple mineral supplement as well as some supplemental calcium and magnesium. We heal the muscles and joints when we sleep so having minerals in the system help this process and keep the body from robbing needed minerals from our muscles that cause us to cramp.

3) Are you the person who cannot shut down your head? You take work and personal problems and stress to bed with you and you dwell and cannot stop thinking. Are you always thinking about what could happen before it does or dwelling on the days or past weeks to the degree that you could not fall asleep if you wanted to? There are great nutritional supplements to take for this as well before you jump into the addictive pharmaceutical drugs.

We need to remember, if sleep is a problem for you at any age get some nutritional help. If you do not get rest you actually are causing your immune system to become faulty, putting stress on your body and heart, keeping your body from healing and repairing, causing cloudy and foggy brain activity and affecting your memory.You will also age faster and visibly show the signs of aging. Now that should be enough for you to do something, and quick!

Holiday spirit

2008-12-03T11:56:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed that as December begins most people are in good moods? Maybe because they are still full from Thanksgiving dinner, but realistically they may be feeling the holiday spirit.

On the other hand make sure to suck up all of this good energy because as the month rolls on, the niceness seems to go away and the short tempered moods, irritated personalities and hateful scrooge like attitudes emerge. I am a believer that most people go so overboard during the holidays and I really do think that fear of disappointing someone adds to the gift list, the credit card statement and the stress now and when the bills come in January.

I am also a believer that most people have lost the true meaning of the holidays and have instead become a product of guilt driven Madison avenue price tag holiday bliss.

About ten years ago a dozen, actually 6 couples whom I have known for years told me they had all decided to step away from the holidays. The twelve of them always did the gift swap and every year it continued to get bigger and bigger including everything from clothing to trips and cruises. They said they had decided to do it different and they were going to rent three cabins at Mt Charleston, north of the Las Vegas Valley. They packed up all the food and festivities and put all their names in a hat and each drew one name. This is the one and only gift they could buy and the limit was twenty dollars.

They arrived at Mt Charleston and went into their cabins. They went on hikes, went on a sleigh ride, popped popcorn and strung it with cranberries and decorated a big pine outside one of the cabins. They built fires and sat around and enjoyed each others company free of the normal high price tag holidays. They told me it was the best holiday ever and that it would continue yearly, and it has with this year being the tenth year in a row. They said they still spend twenty dollars on the gift but they have all become extremely creative when they shop and try to out do each other with creativity and variety.

I wish this for everyone, but not everybody is able to do this, so for those of you stressed out and starting the 4 week steep climb to the holidays, these few nutritional changes may help you stay focused and healthy and a little more stress free.

Drink plenty of water and do not skip meals to keep you blood sugar from dropping, take time out and schedule meals. Did you know that when blood sugar drops it causes your emotions to change, causes you to make bad choices and may just keep you from staying focused and on track.

Take plenty of B Complex vitamins for energy and stress relief and plenty of good chelated multiple minerals at night to sleep well and keep those muscles and bones strong. Take your Vitamin C to keep your immune system strong, and wash your hands as frequently as possible. Get enough rest and when going shopping go out with a list and stick to it.

I thought you might enjoy the story of my friends and their quest to regain the true holiday spirit. Their story allowed me to enjoy and remember and experience the true meaning of the holidays.

GIVING THANKS, BEING WITH LOVE ONES, GREAT FOOD AND CELEBRATING LIFE!

Dry skin?

2008-11-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

Dry skin is a problem fro some people all year long, but for many of us it is seasonal and creeps up on us when the weather changes. It is like someone has taken every ounce of moisture out of our skin, and all you need to do is rub your skin lightly and the dry skin flakes off almost like it is snowing.

We need to remember three things to solve and fix the seasonal dry skin dilemma.

1) Hydrate externally with lotions and oil products

2) Hydrate internally with oils from supplements and foods

3) Hydrate internally with water

That's it, that is all it takes for you to solve the dry skin problem. Why then do you ask does it seem to get worst and not better? The problem is most people only do one of the three things. Most people put lotion on once a day and expect miracles. For a lotion to work it should be high quality and chemical free utilizing natural ingredients. Did you know that many lotions actually that are labeled for dry skin relief actually have so many chemicals that it causes dry skin because of what is in the product.

The second thing is most people only eat and consume oils that are hydrogenated, like deep fried oils in their fast food. The oil they need they need to consume from food includes olive oil, sesame oil, salmon, sardines, avocados and all deep sea fish. These foods not only lubricate the skin but also help to lower the risk for heart disease and help lower cholesterol and blood pressure. The third is to consume supplemental oils like flax seed oil and omega 3 capsules. This way you round out the oils internally with the lubricating natural lotions you use on the skin topically.

Last, but certainly not least, water. Yes, something as easy as water consumption can hydrate you and make your skin soft, moist and subtle. We drink a lot of water in the summer because we can visually see and feel the signs of dehydration. But in the winter we are not hot, we are not thirsty so we do not drink water. Your skin is not all that suffers from your not drinking water. The winter months also, due to dehydration brings on the highest incidence of prostate infections, kidney infections, urinary and bladder infections as well as bacterial infections in the urinary tract. So when I stress water, I mean it. You may not be thirsty but you are in the inside and you just do not know it.

Dry skin over long periods of time makes you look and feel old, ages you long before your time and is not healthy. So follow these three steps and have beautiful healthy skin all year long.

Cold weather is coming to your city.

2008-11-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

Wow, cold weather is upon us, and flu and cold season is here. Are you affected yet? I am seeing so many people all with red tipped noses, coughing, sneezing and feeling yucky, and the crazy thing is the season has barely begun.

It seems that every year I start nutritionally preparing everyone on what to do and what nutritional changes to make, and sometimes I feel like nobody is listening. But then again, at the end of the season I will get hundreds of e- mails thanking me for the suggestions and for helping them to get through a season without one sick day, this makes it all worthwhile.

Doesn't it just make you crazy when you give friends and family members advice, and they do not listen and they end up getting into the situation you warned them about and they look at you with that"how did this happen look"? Me, it makes me crazy and I wonder whether they listen to anything I say, ever?

Bottom line, all you can do is give people the tools that can make them steer themselves to a healthier, happier life. What everyone does with this information is not for us to worry about.

A few blogs ago we talked about flu preparation, check it out and remember you can always e mail me if you have further questions. I guarantee you that hind sight is always 20-20, and when you are sitting in an over crowed germ filled waiting room at two AM in the morning with every other sick person in your town or city, you will kick yourself for not putting yourself first and taking better care and focusing on some basic prevention, and you will be thinking, I will never do this again!

Election 2008 over at last

2008-11-04T20:19:00.000-08:00

It seems as if this presidential election has been going on for years now, maybe that is because it has. Day after day of more mud slinging and gossip, positive and negative information coming from all sides,frankly I am sure the country has just about had it, I know I have.

As this Presidential election comes and goes we move onto a new era in American history. President elect Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States of America, and he will be the first African American president in American history.

This could also be the many of first for America. The firsts that I am listing here are hopeful scenarios that I would love to see come to fruition. Let's face it anything can and may happen and with positive thinking anything is possible.

1) The first health care program that makes health care available to all Americans, and nobody is left out.

2) The first time our economy becomes rock solid after years of it struggling to stay above water.

3) The first time the dollar starts to gain it's worth on a world wide scale in many years.

4) The first time we hear that cancer has been cured and it is actually true.

5) The first time our school system gets back on course and our High school graduates can compete on a global scale as truly educated adults for the first time in more years than I want to think about.

6) The first time all Doctors are open to using alternative nutritional medicine BEFORE they recommend pharmaceutical drugs.*

7) The first time all of us as a nation decide to take better care of ourselves and health becomes a nation wide focus.

8) The first time we as a nation decide to do everything we can to preserve our environment and make better and greener choices.

10) And the first time everyone decides that stress, illiteracy, poverty, pollution, greed, disease and crime are no longer words in the dictionary because they no longer apply.

I know, a lot to ask for, but I was always told to ask for as much as possible and maybe half of it can and will come true.

Zoom Zoom Zoom goes the year

2008-11-02T19:05:00.000-08:00

Amazingly another year has slipped by us and as the holidays slip on by we will be at the doors of another night of New Years Eve resolutions. Can you believe it is that time again? I seriously do not know where the year went. I am still trying to figure out whether it is because I am older and life is zooming by, or that I have way too much going on and I am just forgetting to smell the roses, Hell, I do not even know where the flowers are any more.

It seems like it was just a few years ago when I wishing to be older so I could be treated like an adult and people would stop referring to me as a child. Now as I am approaching, excuse me while I swallow, 50, all I want to do is go back to being a kid. To a time when the only deadline in my life was a paper on a book I was supposed to read. When doing chores was something I hated but when they were done I could have fun. When the countdown of time was for Christmas and summer vacation alone and nothing else. How do we go from the simpler times to where we are as adults.

Bills, deadlines, mortgages, shopping, car payments, insurance, upkeep of houses, clothing and our own personal up keep as well. Making payments on everything and trying to meet that someone special in what seems to be a world of people would act like someone different because they themselves have gotten lost in the translation, if you will. We are all in a hurry to keep up with the Jone's, and we do not even know who the Jone's are. People are driving cars they cannot afford, wearing clothes they should not be wearing and living a lifestyle that has us in a hurry to go know where quick.

I guess I am at the point where I say enough!! It is time for friends and a slower lifestyle. A time to be ourselves and be with the people who accept us for who we are. To be doing the things we really enjoy, and living the life that actually makes us happy. When we all stop acting like we are better than everyone around us and just be happy we are not alone. A handful of incredible true to life friends is worth a hundred acquaintances who in an emergency would never be there when we really needed them.

A back to basics philosophy. Basic food and nothing crazy, basic nutrition, good quality that covers all the basis. A career that you enjoy getting up for every day and do not hate the entire day you work at it. Pets, yes pets, we all need them as they are the key to unconditional love. Pets have the right idea. They never see us being overweight or out of shape, or never see us on a bad hair day as anything than the one that loves them. They do not care if we are the president of a company, or the person that drives the president around. Love that is always there every night when you get home and every morning when you leave. Pets have it right, simple ideals, simple lives and they get to sleep all day waiting for their special person to walk through the door.

Remember, when you think you are in overload with hundreds of things to do write them down and prioritize. You will find that out of that list of a hundred things, only a few are actually pressing to be done today. We all just get so far turned around and the plate is so full that we lose the state of reality and cannot see clearly. So stop, take a breath and ask yourself some questions, just a few, but I guarantee they will make you say hmmmmm.

1) Do I like my chosen career?

2) Are my friends there when I need them, and am I there when they need me?

3) Do I like myself unconditionally, and if not why?

4) Am I the kind of person I would want for a friend?

5) Do I take care of myself?

6) Am I as healthy as I can be?

7) Am I doing anything I set out to do when I was younger with dreams? If no, why?

8) Is my relationship healthy, if not why am I in it?

9) Do I spend my day pleasing my self, or spend it worrying about pleasing others?

10) Have I ever had unconditional love, if no get a pet?

I was just reminded by someone special that I forgot something very important, I am amazed I could forget something so important to me.

11) Have you laughed today alone or with a friend, if not, look in a mirror. I feel laughing at ourselves is the BEST MEDICINE AROUND!

November, here we go!!!!!!!!!1

2008-11-01T09:52:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, you had a lot of candy left over from last night and you do not want it to go to waste. A good excuse and one used for a very long time. The answer, knock on your neighbors door and say, will your kids enjoy this as I need to stay clear of candy, problem solved.

We are so good with weight based excuses, as Americans we have all of them on the tip of our tongue everyday, along with the marketing folks who know us better than we think. They have the best ways to may garbage food look good to you,wonderful inviting ways to make inconvenience a thing of the past and food with no nutritional value seem the only way to go. Remember, they are selling something to you, and they a re great at it. They are in the drivers seat and leading you to a golden road filled with the promise of nutrition, great tasting food and convenience to make your life so easy you will have more time to sit on the couch.

The next few months are actually the time of year people all across America put on the more weight than any other time of the year. Christmas parties, eating late, fast food because you are swamped with end of the year projects, holiday stress around every corner. Let's try an experiment, when you are shopping the next time for groceries, look around you and focus on the center of the store. Look in other people's carts and notice that most people shop in the middle part of the grocery store. The isles where all the nice labels, pre- made easiness are.

Try just one time to do all your food shopping from the outside walls. This is where you will find vegetables, fruits, meats and poultry and freshly made bakery. If you shop in this part of the store you will actually have to do preparation and really have to cook, wow, what a concept, but you will feel great.

Try for the rest of the year to shop here.Resist the temptation to open a box an throw a frozen container in the microwave, resist the temptation to have food thrown thrown through the window of your car. You will have more energy and stamina, feel and look better and your heart, waistline and cholesterol levels will be most appreciative.

Halloween already?

2008-10-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Although Halloween is a holiday of a sort, it is not really a holiday about giving thanks like Thanksgiving and many others. I thought I would include a wonderful story that came to me via e mail, I hope they do not mind that I am sharing this as it has to do with two things I love, animals and the devotion of animals to their humans.

This is a wonderful story, enjoy.
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Anyone who has pets will really like this. You'll like it even if you don't, and you may even decide you need one!Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named 'Lucky.' Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably,someone would forget and something would come up missing.Mary or Jim would go to Lucky's toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky's other favorite toys.

Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease....in fact , she was just sure it was fatal.She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders.The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky.A thought struck her...what would happen to Lucky? Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary's dog through and through.If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won't understand that I didn't want to leave him.

The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn't even make it up the steps to her bedroom.

Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap. Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn't come to her when she called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.When Mary woke for a second she couldn't understand what was wrong. She couldn't move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned! While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life. He had covered her with his love.

Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every day. It's been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky? He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure. Remember....live every day to the fullest. Each minute is a blessing from God. And never forget....the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care for us. If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours!

Live simply. Love seriously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God. A small request: All you are asked to do is keep this circulating,even if it's to one more person. In memory of anyone you know that has been struck down by cancer or is still living with it.

Germs are everywhere, even in places we forget to think about

2008-10-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

I hear so many people say that they cannot believe the picked up the flu or cold bug because they did not go anywhere where sick people are. You must remember that things you do everyday that you would never think twice about expose you to germs. Below is a list of things you touch that have more germs than you can possibly imagine. Always carry a small container of hand sanitizer. People will say that is kind of over reacting, I will usually say, when you are flat on your back with the flu for a week, I will remind you.

Remember, this list is just to make you think that simple things we do every day expose us to millions of germs, and then we go on and do not wash out hands or we eat in the car or wipe your nose or mouth.

1) ATM machine buttons

2) Fax machine buttons at work

3) Door handles everywhere

4) Shopping carts

5) Baskets at the grocery store

6) Public phones

7) Pens at the bank

8) Buttons on point of purchase machines everywhere

9) Shaking hands

10) Hugging

11) Escalator handles

12) Revolving doors

13) Coffee machine handles

14) Drinking fountain handle

15) Kids toys

16) Dressing room doors at clothing stores

17) Restrooms, handles, sinks, toilets, toilet seats and flushers

18) Airplanes, seats and handles and bathrooms

19) Hotels, all doors and even bedding and furniture

20) Your luggage handles after you pick up baggage at airports

21) Copy machines at work

22) Sugar and creamer bottles at your morning coffee place

23) Napkin dispensers at restaurants

24) Counters at all establishments

25) Even when you are looking at CDs at the store that others have handled.

This is just a short list, but the point is that germs are all around us everyday. Make sure to take extra Vitamin C, your Wellness formulas, Echinacea and Golden seal, and bottom line wash your hands often, or carry hand sanitizer. Small price to pay to stay healthy and avoid the crud.

A trip to the city

2008-10-23T06:40:00.000-07:00

I ventured into New York city last night. I actually love the crowds and the craziness of it all. I was a little early for the holiday decorations, but it was still a nice little side trip. I always notice the stress in the air on every corner. I was there at about five o'clock, or rush or peak hour in the city, oh my word. It was crazy and the stress on people's faces was so visible as the scurried to get to wherever it was they were going.

As I walked a little further away from Penn Station it started to settle down a little, but just a little as the side walks were crazy with crowds too. You must realize that a large portion of people that work in the city do not live in the city, they commute form places all over New York and New Jersey. If you have never gone to the city or experienced the trains or subway in New York, it is a hoot. When you are waiting for train track numbers to be posted down in the terminal everyone stands and waits and when they post it they run, not walk, but run to that track. The first time I was there I was so confused I did not know what to do, it was like a crtoon where you are going one direction and five thousand people are going against you. After a few years of doing this you learn where to stand to be in the first group down the stairs, as seats fill up fast during peak periods.

I think I would like to open a little stand selling B Complex Vitamins and Stress tabs. I could do very well as panic is on every one's face. Could I live this lifestyle? sure, would it be hard, I think yes.

The funny thing is many of these people change trains more than a couple of times just to get to their homes and some have a ways to drive once they arrive at the station. The moral of this is when you think a little bumper to bumper traffic is such a devastating thing for you some days, get over it as you have it pretty darn good. I wonder how all of these people can stay sane and not get sick?I have put the following list of should do nutrition for all big city commuters because of weather, stress, the close proximity you have with germs and because you are all stressed out to the max.

1) Take a strong timed released Multiple vitamin
2) B complex timed released, at least a 100mg
3) Vitamin C timed released, about three times your normal dosage during flu season
4) Echinacea and Golden Seal, about four times per week
5) A wellness formula daily
6) Zinc lozenges

Make sure you drink plenty of water and limit sugars and wheat and gluten foods. These foods produce a lot of mucous and this can keep and cold or flu much longer than we need. A few wise choices and mild moderation to your normal lifestyle could mean the difference between a healthy winter and holiday season, or one that is full of sickness and stress. Also, hats off to you that can do this every day, the more I think about it, I couldn't.

Weather

2008-10-22T06:04:00.000-07:00

Another day out here on the east coast and I have forgotten how chilly it gets in the morning. The days have been very nice, but it takes a few hours to take the chill off. Now remember, I have been in the desert for a long time and I guess my blood has thinned out because it is still thirty to forty degrees warmer than it will be in a month.

I always wonder why people choose to live in such crazy climate areas, this coming from someone who lives in an area where in August, the high nineties is a cooling trend, what can I say? I guess no matter where you are or where you live we all make compromises for being where we are. Sometimes all the other aspects of our home place outweigh some questionable weather. And let's face it, it is so beautiful in the fall, and the spring, that pesky winter just has to fall in between the two.

I must say that seeing trees change color right before my eyes, and the field of red, and yellow across the wooded areas is a thing of beauty long forgotten by my eyes. Maybe the best thing to do when you are gone from home should be to absorb the beauty, and embrace the differences and enjoy your surroundings and create some visual memories that you can take back to your little neck of the woods, wherever that may be.

A day of loss for all who knew my friend.

2008-10-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

Most of you that know me know I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve. You also know that when you are in my life, you are in my life. If you are my friend and or family I will go to the mat forever no questions asked. Relationships like these are important and heartfelt, they are some of the things we should be grateful for, and also I, in my heart am grateful for all of my close relationships every single day.

When we lose a link of this very important chain, it almost seems as if our world stops spinning for a while. Like a large piece of heart and soul is taken away and we are supposed to continue as if nothing happened. Impossible for me, I am too close to all of my special people and too grateful for them to feel whole after such a loss for a very long time.

I lost someone on Saturday that was a very important part and vital relationship in my life. Although his fight with cancer has been going on for just under four years, and he was in a forth stage situation when it started, the reality, although in front of us for so long never really seemed to be a possibility. Mel always had this effervescent personality, almost too big to be in a small room, and immortality, if you will that seemed like it could never be taken away, nor his flame that burned so bright ever be extinguished.

Mel Rich was a mentor, a teacher, a friend, a father to many of us, a leader in the field, and an individual whose visions helped to develop the products many of you use everyday. Products we rely on due to the quality and expertise that is used and the love and research that were put into them, this is why we will continue to take these supplements everyday and will continue to long into the future.

Mel was known to all as an innovator and leader in the field. His reputation preceded him everywhere, and I may say when you talked about Mel, ears perked up everywhere in every situation. When it came to quality and being able to create greatness in the nutrition field Mel was there, right in front leading the crusade for products that are life changing, health creating, and high quality. Making these products was not just a desire for Mel, it was the thing that drove him as well as his mission statement, and we were all the healthier for them, and for him.

I will personally miss his laughter, his zest for life, his shoulder, his appreciation and the talks and chats when I needed them most in my life. I will cherish all the memories that I have of him and I am sure more of them will come back to the memory front, ones I might have temporarily forgotten, but great memories that will come back to me as I think of him in the future.

A loss for all who knew him, and also those who did not have the distinct pleasure of meeting him or knowing this great man.

Mel, I will miss you.

Here we go again, FLU SEASON

2008-10-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone. Wow, what a busy month it has been for me and all around me. Four of my dogs delivered their litters this month and it will of course be a very busy fall and winter at my house.

I just returned from New York and along the way both in the airports and in the airplane people are already sneezing and coughing as the flu cold season is upon us. I have learned that when traveling I change my nutritional routine, but lately I have decided to keep it consistent on a daily basis for the entire season. Living in Las Vegas is like traveling around the world every other day. People are here vacationing and leaving money, it's Vegas remember, and germs in the city.

I am often told by people that they never go to the casinos, but when you think about it, all of the people that work in the casinos, and are exposed to germs on a daily basis go to all of the places you normally go. If you go to the grocery store, the gym, any mall, almost anywhere, you might just as well have been sitting in a casino.

The moral to this situation is be prepared every day no matter if you are visiting tourist locations or not. I am always asked is it hard to stay healthy this season, and the answer is no, just go back to your basics on everything.

1) Drink more water, eight to ten glasses daily. It is a little harder because most of us are not as thirsty this time of year, force yourself.

2) Take a strong timed released Multiple Vitamin, once or even twice daily, with food.

3) Take a triple amount of Vitamin C, make sure it is buffered and in complex form and timed released for all day protection.

4) Cut way back on wheat and gluten and dairy products, all of these are mucous forming foods and if consumed when sick can take you from a simple cold to pneumonia very quickly. Keep the lungs clear of mucous.

5) Eat lots of vegetables and fresh healthy seasonal fruits, not caned.

6) Take half a teaspoon of Colloidal Silver in a shot glass of water morning and evening. Keep it in the bathroom and take it morning and evening after you brush your teeth. This is a preventive and medicinal long term protective antibiotic that works on viral and bacterial infections.

7) Keep Echinacea and Golden Seal tablets or capsules handy for the first sign of a bug exposure to a group of sick people with a cold or flu. I take it two or three times a week as prevention.

8) Exercise, both cardiovascular and weight training keep your immune system strong. Drink a lot of water before and during exercise, and if you go to a gym, wash your hands thoroughly when leaving as germs are spread here at the gym very easily.

9) Get as much sleep as needed to refresh yourself, and recharge your batteries.

10) Balance your stress, try not to get completely caught up in the holiday end of the year craziness, if possible, and take one or two extra timed released B Complex supplements to help your body deal with stress better.

11) Keep these supplements available in your medicine cabinet for you and the family. Oil of Oregano, Elderberry syrup, Zinc lozenges, Nasal Colloidal Silver, and extra Vitamin C Complex.

Having things on hand can make the difference between being down for a day, and down for a week or more. Starting the nutrition now before you are run down is the best thing you can do for yourself. Being ahead of the game is the best medicine for yourself and all of those around you, and tell everyone about flu preperation, some will listen and some will not, but tell them all anyway.

As summer heat begins to slip away

2008-09-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

So another hot summer is coming to a close, which means only one thing, STRESS is right down the road. Around the corner from stress buildup are the holidays and getting sick during flu and cold season is next in line.

The preparation for holiday stress and flu and cold season are actually very closely related. The better your immune system is charged up the less effect stress will have wearing you down, and adversely the better you handle and are prepared for stress the less wear and tear it will have on your immune system.

Make sure to eat and make better food choices daily including lots of green vegetables and purple and red fruits. Both of these are powerful for fuel and loaded with anti oxidents to keep your system strong and give you wonderful energy. Although it is starting to cool down and you may not be as thirsty, continue to drink extra water daily so not to dehydrate. Missing this step of drinking water is a major reason the risk of bladder infections, yeast infections and prostate irritation and infections go up every winter season.

Exercise is of course at the bottom of every one's list, but a little extra effort can keep your entire system running better, faster and the way it was meant to run. It can also keep you from gaining holiday weight and keep blood pressure and cholesterol levels down during the season of stress and bad eating and holiday foods.

Supplementation is very important so make sure you are using a strong Timed released Multiple Vitamin, a supplemental Vitamin B Complex, Timed released Vitamin C, a strong antioxident, a multiple mineral and keep in mind a digestive enzyme for maximum absorption of your supplements and your food.

If you are having specific health problems make sure to only deal with trained staff and knowledgeable people to guide you through your nutritional choices. I am afraid to say many of us have good intentions with our nutrition, but we are I guess to proud to ask for help or guidance and make bad or poor choices.

I always feel if you are going to take nutritional supplements and drive to a specific store, make sure the store first of all has a well trained staff and that the store offers a choice of only high quality nutritional supplements. If the best they have is the worst quality in another location, LEAVE!

How is your memory?

2008-08-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

How have you weathered the summer this year? It seems like every year it gets a little harder to deal with. You would think that by living in the desert for over 27 years that I would be used to it, but every year it seems as if I have no memory of what summer was like tghe previous year.

Everyone says" wow it is so hot this year", as if we have never been here in the summer before. Maybe we just block it out? I think it is that we are getting older and we are losing it a little more each and every year.

I find that I am using more Ginkgo Biloba, Vinpocitine, Huperzine, and more B Complex now than I was last year. I am thinking that more added stress, travel, also I am not getting enough activity that gets blood to my brain as well as being a year older.

I have memory ailments in my family genetic blood lines,and it scares me to death. I am always trying to make sure to keep the supplements in me so just in case it comes my way I am a little more nutritionally prepared.

Remember, if you are noticing you are getting the first signs of memory problems like short term memory loss, have no fear it can be a nutritional deficiency, or well worth a try to see if that is what is causing the problem.

There are wonderful herbs and supplements used all over the world successfully, here in this country you need to get to a well stocked store with a knowledgeable staff and high quality absorbable products. Keep in mind this list of products to research and to share with your Doctor. Make sure to have all necessary blood work first and an exam to rule out something more serious.

Ginkgo Biloba, Huperzine, B complex vitaminsto name a few. Alos DMAE, PS as well as the large selections of combinations of nutrients that are made to help take out the confusion and guesswork. Exercising, drinking a lot of water, getting more sleep, and learning to chill out are also key players with memory loss. Keep moving, any kind of activity will promote circulation and the better the blood is moving the better we get it to the brain.

Good luck

How lazy are we?

2008-08-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine and I were chatting the other day about how we as a nation have become so lazy. You would think with health food stores and gyms on every corner maybe it would rub off and help us to make better choices. Painfully we have ignored most of the signs and have fallen to our laziest, most out of shape, obese and unhealthiest levels we have ever been in as a nation.

From using remote controls, or eating our meals in the car, or microwaving everything we eat is just the tip of the iceberg. We use pre- made foods as we never cook anymore and rely on the convenience of all aspects of out lives to make it quicker, easier and faster.

Isn't it amazing that fifty or more years ago there was basically no technology and people worked twice as hard and twice as long and still seemed to have plenty of time for family, hobbies and healthy living? Today we have computers, mobile phones, car navigators, on line shopping and banking with deliveries direct to our homes. We have made every part of our lives so easy it almost takes care of itself, but everyone I talk to is running around in circles and has no time to do anything.

I think the whole country needs more sleep, more vacation time and less technology. Do not get me wrong, I would not be able to do my job without the convenience and technology available, but when is too much, too much?

I think we need to start cooking our own mealsand actually sitting at a table to eat them. What about cleaning our own houses, getting up and walking across the floor to change a television channel and walking upstairs to talk to family members in person rather than sending a text!

I really wonder how with all of this technology and information at our fingertips and while we have made living and doing business and living supposedly so easy why we continue to never have time available, and the time we have freed up for ourselves we spend laying on the couch?

I feel we all need a good vacation from ourselves, our busy nutty lifestyles to get back to basics. The basics of good food, good nutrition, and possibly doing things the old fashioned way, you know, when we actually did something on our own.

Happy August, where have I been? Goofing off to be honest!

2008-08-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been quite a while since my last post, sorry. You know no matter what we do, where we live or what our daily situation, we all have stuff. Stuff that keeps you from getting things done that we cannot control all the way to stuff we could control that I sometimes think we use for an excuse so we do not have to do stuff. So what is it for me, a little of all of the above.

The reason I chose this subject is that over the last month I have received so many e mails about people from all over the country trying to do this and that with their health, still trying to get their New Years resolutions started, and we are now in August.

I guess what I am trying to say is procrastination is everywhere and that if you are guilty of this new American past time, you are in the best possible company around. The smartest, most intelligent and talented people everywhere have fallen privy to this new hobby.

So what should we all do about this quandary that has so many of us in it's hold, I mean procrastination? Chill out, take some time to look at the things you are putting off, as they might just be things that never ever really need to be focused on. They may also be things that do need immediate attention and possibly looking at these in a newer light may be all that is needed to see that attention is needed. Some may have been ideas or maybe badly set unattainable crazy goals that were set out of desperation or foolishness, and when reevaluating them, you may see that taking them off the list would be wise.

I think we as Americans have the best intentions of any country I know of, and we really do have the most passion about our intentions. I think we just lose a little momentum or end up, after they are set trying everything possible to find excuses not to achieve them. I think we also have the ultimate problem of putting them in motion along the way.

So what is the real moral of this story? I think we all need to chill out a little and possibly retake another look at these goals.We might also want to complete a few of those undone tasks no matter what they may be, you might just end up a lot healthier, more in shape, and possibly feel a lot more motivated once a few are checked off the list....

Help your pets through the 4th of July holiday

2008-07-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

The K9 Magazine Firework Safety Code For Pet Owners

Every year the skyline is set alight with rockets, Catherine wheels and Roman candles as celebrations take place to the accompanying sound of fireworks. Bangs, explosions and bright lights are partnered by screams, sirens and the occasional howling dog.

Dogs do not like fireworks. Fact. Every year dogs along with many other animals experience fear and confusion, sometimes alone when their owners are away enjoying an organized bonfire.
It is not unusual for dogs to run away or escape from the home when frightened by fireworks so ensuring your garden is ULTRA secure is a must, especially at this time of year.

Our simple 6 point guide should help to ensure your pets can get through the firework season safe and sound.

It is a good idea to bring any outdoor pets inside for the duration of firework period. If this is not possible, covering kennels up with a blanket at night will give a dog a little protection from the bright flashes and loud bangs. Outside dogs are often used to thunder but fireworks can cause a very different reaction. Always remember how acute a dog's sense of hearing is. A loud bang to us can feel like volcano erupting to a dog.

It may be hard, but try and stay with your dog during the majority of the firework season. A dog can often react very differently to a bang when you are not there. If it is possible, see if you can view your dog via a hidden vantage point just to gauge his or her reaction to the bangs. Even though you may elect to stay with the dog, try very hard not to react to the sounds of fireworks yourself. Do your best to ignore the bangs and crashes, showing your dog that there is no imminent danger despite the loud noises and bright flashes.

Always make sure your dog has his or her own special area where they can go to feel safe. Be it an indoor kennel or a place under the stairs, dogs love to have a den at their disposal.
It sounds obvious, but try to keep the windows and curtains closed as often as possible during firework season as this will lessen the effect of the noise and bright flashes.

Normal household noises such as the TV, vacuuming or music can help to distract from the loud noises coming from outside. Maybe firework season is a good time to have a disco at home followed by a few days of vacuuming!

Last but certainly not least, always ensure your pet has some sort of identification on him or her. It is a sad fact but many dogs do run away from home during firework season, even dogs that has previously shown no fear of fireworks can occasionally take flight at the loud noises and flashes in the sky. Be prepared, your dog has no comprehension why the sudden noises and bright lights and as an animal with ultra sensitive senses, it's important to be prepared for any sudden displays of anxiety or fear.

Why do we wait???

2008-06-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

Why do people wait until they are completely falling apart before they even think of using or trying nutrition to fix deficiencies in their bodies? I am amazed and as I have seen this so many times over the years, it is confusing for my head to comprihend.Frankly it is so frustrating to the point of wanting to scream at them and ask what were, AND WHAT ARE you thinking?

To use an example, and to let you know, I asked their permission to borrow this story as it is a good one. I have a couple that have been customers of mine for over twenty years, or I guess I should say she was a customer and he would stand in the door way smoking and blowing his smoke out the door while she shopped.

Over the years he would ask a question here and there, but it was basically tradition that he would stand in the doorway while his wife shopped. Now you need to know she had tried for many years to get him to clean up his act and eat better, exercise and quit the bad habits with no success. Well, about a year ago he went to the Doctor for the first time in twenty years. He found out after an examination that he had high cholesterol, high blood pressure, an enlarged prostate, skin cancers, bad circulation, and the beginnings of emphysema. On top of this he was deficient in almost every vitamin and mineral and had elevated levels of free radicals in his blood and a low grade infection. What a mess!! the Doctor said he was going to have to make changes today or he would not be here to see the New Year.

Now you need to know that his wife went through cancer, actually forth stage and her Doctor allowed me to work on her diet and nutrition along with him and the therapy and she has been in remission for over ten years and every checkup is perfect. The Doctor himself has become a wonderful believerr and uses nutrition in his practice and always says he thought he knew everything until he me Jeff and his vitamin magic. While working with her and her Doctor were able to, along with nutrition were able to get her off every medication that she used. She now uses only natural supplements for blood pressure, cholesterol, mood and hormones, as well as her immune system that is working great.

Her husband followed her in the Saturday after he had been to the Doctor and for the first time he actually came in the store. He actually walked over to the counter and asked me if he could chat. He began to cry and I almost flipped as he unloaded his new medical findings. I asked him what the plan was, he said his Doctor said he has thirty days for a total lifestyle cleanup and then he would have more tests and begin radical prescription drug therapy. I then asked what his plans were? He said I am surrendering and will do everything you ask.

So, to get to the purpose of this blog, why oh why do people wait until this point to ask for help? Do you think you can keep doing everything wrong and never pay the piper? Do you think that an unhealthy lifestyle will never wear you down and get it's revenge? Wow, I wanted to scream at him but as I looked into his eyes all I could see was a scared little boy afraid and desperate. I decided to help, please like I would have actually said no.

We decided to meet on the following Monday evening at their home and I said you will be a non smoker by Monday or I will wash my hands of you, he agreed. We met and I put him on the strictest program I have ever put anyone on ever! The following month he went to the Doctor and most of his levels were down by almost fifty percent. His blood pressure was near normal and his blood work was great. The Doctor said keep doing what you are doing and in ninety days we will re test.

I am glad to report that he is not only in amazing health a year later but he now brings everyone he knows to the store and always preaches not only good health, but he has become a proponent of total prevention.

Now, if I could bottle his new ideas and motivation, that my friends would be a winning combination!!!!!

Warm days require re hydration and minerals

2008-06-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

Every time I come to the east coast in the warmer weather I am reminded of what humidity is and how it feels. I was raised in the mid west where humidity was the norm in the spring and summer, but I have been away from it and in the desert for a very long time.

This is usually the time I remind everyone who is in this climate to drink and actually over drink water to keep the body hydrated as it dumps fluid out through the pores and through frequent urination. This is also the time time to remind ourselves and those around us to increase our nightly dosages of minerals and calcium to keep muscles limber and prevent cramping. Arthritics sometimes feel that the colder months are harder on them, and they may be, but losing all of your minerals through dehydration and not replacing them will cause similar symptoms and many times worst than the effects of a cold winter day.

One other thing that many people still do not grasp is that huge consumption of sodas or sugar filled energy drinks can actually cause dehydration and strip the body of healthy minerals. Water is the key to re hydrating your body, and minerals are the key nutrients for rebuilding healthy muscles, bones, tissue and healthy cells. Your skeletal system needs and demands minerals and hydrating fluids to protect it's organs too.

Bottom line, hot and hot and humid weather requires a checklist of things we need to remember. Sun screen, water, minerals, healthy foods, lots of rest and living in the land of re hydration.

Stress is around you even when you do not see it's face

2008-05-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

When people talk about the stress in their lives they all have reasons that they feel are the culprits at that time for the added stress. When asked people will say it is financial, emotional, relationship , sickness based, the kids, the career, but how many people say it is the people they work with?

I think we take for granted that we are around certain people that are not our family for upwards of forty hours per week. I think we fail to remember that when people at work are having a crisis, and if we like them even a little bit, we are touched by the their stress, and may even go through it with them every step of the way if we are good friends. We also pick up vibes both good and bad from the people we are around all day long, and I am sorry to say that we sometimes take those bad vibes home with us, and many times create a Hell of our own at home and then it becomes a whole other kind of twenty four hour stress.

Recently I have been reminded by someone very special to me to let things roll off my back and realize that most of the time people that are very difficult at work whether it is a fellow employee an owner or a boss may be in a lot of pain and venting or yelling or generally being hard to deal with is their only salvation. It is not good that they ignore all of the rules set forth my courtesy manual number one or that they do things that would make Miss Manors scream out loud, we just need to be supportive and let them lean on us.

One more thing, if it is all bad and there are no good times at all anymore, then it is time to leave and let them sink in the hole they have dug for themselves. Nutritionally, always take extra B Complex daily, preferably a stress formula so you do not get run down. Make sure you increase your nightly minerals, take some L -Tryptophan or Valerian root, Exercise and eat well and treat this as if you were going into combat every day. A war we can win while we are being supportive, allowing ourselves to be leaned on, and hopefully getting all those around us into to a better and healthier place.

Hopefully!!!!!!!!!!

Plastic water bottles in the news

2008-04-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

Today on the morning news they were talking about the damaging and health problems associated with of all things plastic water bottles. Plastic is of course loaded and made with chemicals, but on the other hand plastic has been a savior for us in almost every avenue of our lives. I do not think I could imagine life today without plastic for everything from car parts, medical supplies, security, technology, cell phones and the list continues.

The segment this morning was addressing the use of plastic in our drink bottles and re usable water bottles. I have in my mind always felt that a few refills will most likely not be a problem, but after over using and dishwasher cleaning what about long term use. They were speaking about how chemicals in the plastic could seep into the liquids we are drinking and possible affect our health negatively. I am sure much more testing will be done and I will keep you posted as I am very interested in where this will go.

As of this point I will go back to using glass or a steel water bottle, just for my own piece of mind. But I am also the clumsiest person I know so I will have to be careful not to drop my bottle like I do the plastic one I am used to using. I am also guilty of being a re user and re filler of bottles and use them for weeks at a a time. I always thought that reusing them would cut down on land fill debris, when I guess I actually should have just not used a plastic bottle at all. We should most likely think convenience for us for the moment and permanently in the landfills.

Maybe this will be a way to start doing a huge recycling campaign and pay by the pound to get people to recycle.

The picture above is my new filly, she is five days old here with her Mom.

How is your allergy season going?

2008-04-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

So, how are you doing this allergy season? It seems to be a the worst one in a while in many parts of the country and in Las Vegas it is awful. There are some wonderful things for relief that are easy to use and some basic dietary restrictions that can ease you through the rest of the season.

First of all, as you know mucous is a major culprit that causes annoying symptoms. This one problem causes runny noses, scratchy throats, chest congestion and also carries bacteria into our lungs which can quickly inhibit our breathing and lead to bronchitis and chest infections. If you are privy to these problem,s try cutting out all dairy, wheat and complex carbohydrates for a few weeks. Anything white, or sweet will also cause problems. I am the first to say eat n "ATKINS" type diet for a few weeks to allow your body to flush out old built up mucous while not adding any more.

Water and liquids are very important to keep us hydrated as well as diluting old mucous so it does not get thick and a gluey consistency, this is when it is almost impossible to clear out and gets stuck and coats everything. Using fluids often helps more than you think and as basic as it is to drink a lot of water many of you do not drink enough and our skin, bladders, urinary tracts and elimination cycles will let you know it if you would just listen to your bodies.

Next, let us focus on proper nutrition. Vitamin C in higher dosages, always buffered and in complex form and timed released is my favorite suggestion to insure proper success. If you usually use 2000mg per day, try doubling or tripling the dosage. Your intestines will let you know if you have reached your "bowel tolerance".

Next increase your B Complex for the stress on your adrenal glands and supplement extra pantothenic acid, or B-5 to support the adrenal glands. You might want to bring in an immune booster, make it a blend so you can cut down on the amount of products you have to take, Body Well is a wonderful combination that can be used during flu and cold season as well as allergy season. It combines all of the things that build and support our immune systems and help to keep us healthy and strong to fight against the things that weaken our defenses.

Just these few basic changes will make a great difference for any of us no matter where you live. As each part of the country has different types of plant growth and different types of pollens, all of the changes above are of benefit as they work on making us stronger. They allow our bodies no matter where we live and no matter what pollens we are dealing with to be stronger, healthier and help us to glide through the season.

If you have to use something from the drug store because your body is run down, go ahead, but as soon as you get your body tuned up try to phase it out and let the nutrition help your body do the job for you.

Small world, big world

2008-03-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

Being at a convention of this magnitude, you see a cross section of people from all over world. The funny thing is their customer base, no matter where they are hailing from go through the same health trials and tribulations that we do here in the states.

They ask questions and are searching for the newest support and relief for arthritis, stress, sleep problems, digestive disorders, pain, mood, anxiety, bad skin problems, hair loss, body odors and bad breath and cholesterol. They have their own group of customers, family members and clients that are looking for alternatives to prescriptions for cholesterol, heart disease, depression, auto immune diseases and even alternatives for sleep medications.

I guess that no matter where you are in the world, and the world itself is well represented here at this convention, humans will be humans. We all have an innate desire to want to get away with all of the bad habits with no repercussions, but at the same time we want to have huge success rates no matter what is wrong and we want it to be fixed by tomorrow.

So no matter where we are from, no matter what we are looking for as far as nutrition is concerned, we all want a magic fix with least work, the highest success and for many people an even high success rate without giving up any habit that may have caused the problem in the first place.

Expo west 2008, national health food and supplement convention

2008-03-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

Being at another national food industry convention is really amazing. When I started in the field, there was one large room for distributors to shows their products. This year there are over 5 large convention halls all devoted to the health food industry.

Rooms and rooms of supplements. food products, cosmetics, body products, herbs, greens and products for every possible thing you can think of. The industry has boomed into a multi billion dollar industry as more and more people decide to take control of their lives and stop relying solely on the not so goodness of the medical community.

I am always happy to see more and more Doctors here becoming more involved with the industry. I see nothing but continued growth for these alternative choices for our better health, and I am looking forward to the day when this is the norm and the chemicals and prescriptions are the alternative choice.

On the road again

2008-02-18T20:05:00.000-08:00

I am a little nervous about flying tomorrow as the reports are saying as I said yesterday that this is possibly the worst flu season in years. I have a freind that says "I always fly first class because I do not want to be around so many people because there are more germs there". True is, the air you breath in the plane is all recycled air, so whether you get a ninety nine dollar deal or you pay one thousand dollars on your ticket, everyone breaths the same old recycled germ filled air.

We just need to remember that the key is to protect your own environment and keep our immune systems strong. Tonight I will load with Colloidal silver, extra Vitamin C, and every antioxident I can get my hands on, and with any luck I will arrive in North Carolina healthy and with no flu germs hanging on.

Worst flu season in years!!!

2008-02-17T10:30:00.001-08:00

Have you been listening to the news. We are in mid Februsary and the flu bug has started increasing, not decreasing in new out breaks. More than forty states have posted record cases. Yesterday I heard that they have decided that the influenza shot given this year was not ready or prepared for these strains that are now present across the country.

I have been saying for years that the best way to prevent the flu is to not let your immune system waiver at all. Keeping it strong so that no matter what you come in contact with your body will be strong enough to take care of it and keep you healthy when those around you may be dropping like flies.

Putting all your eggs in one basket with the flu shot is like being a diabetic and saying because you are on insulin it is ok to eat cake all day long. A flu shot may help you in a round about way to dodge a few of the strains, but if your immune system is not protected, you will get sick anyway, and flu shot or not you will get sicker than you can possibly imagine.

Never let your immune system decrease, take some extra Viatmin C, Echinacea, extra B Complex vitamins, take a strong multiple vitamin and even add some Colloidal Silver every day. Prevention is the best way to avoid the germs that cause the problems to start with, and to keep you away from the sickly quick care Doctor offices across the country.

Tips for the flu season:
*Avoid excess dairy consumption as it is mucous producing food.
*Wash your hands every time you turn around.
*Drink more water than you do in the summer.
*Get plenty of rest and manage your stress.
*Stay away from places that are full of sickly people.

If you are supposed to travel or go to a function and you are already feeling under the weather, stay home. This will intensify the sickmess being around so many people and not having an immune system up to par to deal with all of the germs around you. If you go, you may be asking for pneumonia rather than a cold or flu. Also remember that a warm afternoon can turn into a cold evening when the sun goes down. Do not get caught outside without the clothing necessary to keep you warm.

Remember,if you are going somewhere and you are thinking that you may be getting sick, do yourself a favor and listen to that smart inner voice and stay home and get the rest you need. The inner voice is always much smarter that we think, or smarter than we will give credit.

Is your skin healthy?

2008-02-13T13:05:00.000-08:00

I was asked yesterday about what were the best things to take for healthy and youthful looking skin. The answer was and is very easy, your skin is a picture of what is happening on the inside of your body. If you are unhealthy internally, you will have a very good chance of having unhealthy skin on the outside.

The first thing to do to help the look of your skin is to make sure you hydrate it daily. This means skip or cut back on soda, coffee and carbonated beverages and replace it with as much fresh water as you can consume. This alone makes a difference that is noticeable very quickly. You will next want to lubricate the skin and prevent dryness internally and externally. On the inside you can lubricate the skin by eating more foods with high levels of good oil content such as salmon, mackeral, sardines, olive oil, natural peanut butter and avocados, along with the increased water intake. You can also add things to your vitamin program that help natural internal lubrication like omega 3 capsules, cod liver oil capsules, flax seed oil.

Externally making sure you lubricate with high quality no added chemical oil and lotion products, make sure to look for these at your health food store and not your drug store. There is a wonderful oil that can be used on your skin that not only lubrictes but softens and reduces aging and dry skin, it is called Squalene. It is a shark oil product and is hands down the best thing for our skin as it ages topically, it is also available in an internal capsule to help carry that oild to the internal lubrication level as well.

As our body needs to be able to digest the food and supplements we give it every day, the skin needs to be able to absorb the oils and lotions we apply topically. I have a trick you might like to try. It is a way of exfoliating dry skin and clearing the skin to a healthier palate for absorption of the oils and creams.

First start with a teaspoon of simple table sugar and add a little water and immediately start scrubbling the face and removing dead skin. After about one minute, rinse the face with warm water and pat dry, you will be amazed by the glow and texture of your skin when dead skin cells are out of the way.

At this point add your oils and lotions and sit back and enjoy the glow. Many people pay thousands of dollars for advice that is given at department stores that will lead you to this exact location, so help your skin look it's best and put Your best face forward.

Beautiful spring day in the dead of winter.

2008-02-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed that a warmer day actually gets us to be more active and really makes us feel better. In the dead of winter, well in Las Vegas the middle of our cold weather season, a warm day makes people want to get out and do something.

I have always heard that the winter blues can make us unhappy, sluggish, depressed and lazy. Some parts of the country actually use light machines because of what they call cloudy gloomy seasonal weather disorder where the gloomyness actually causes depression. Today was one of those beautiful days in the middle of the winter season. People were out in droves, working on their yards, washing their cars and everyone I came in contact with today was in a happy mood. It was like a Xanax day or someone sprinkled happy dust in the air. Well whatever happened, it was nice and made for an enjoyable day everywhere I went.

Funny thing, we are all such creatures of habit that chances are everyone will be back to their fast paced, in a hurry to go nowhere quickly, walk over the flowers and do not smell them, fast food eating in the car, fast moving lifestyles tomorrow, so thank you everyone for today, it was a pleasure.

Superbowl Sunday, it is a day of mass quantities!!

2008-02-03T15:52:00.000-08:00

Superbowl Sunday, a time honored tradition for many an American. All over the country freinds and families have gathered to watch the game, eat, visit with each and catch up on the latest happenings in each others lives, eat and watch the game, and did I mention eat?

This is a day of mass quantities and calories and consumptionat it's best. Tomorrow, many of us will feel the ramifications of today's fun and festivities. Upset stomach, hangover, headaches, empty pockets for the Las Vegas betters, maybe full pockets for some of you, and the guilt of breaking the New Years resolutions in every which way we can.

Let us face it, we are human and we spend most of our lives having the best intentions, climbing back on the wagon we just fell off of and dealing with the guilt we put mentally put on ourselves.

I think we all need to realize that moderation is the goal we should all be looking for, with the occasional pary day like today, and enjoy and get back wih the program tomorrow and just enjoy and stop guilting yourselves the day after.

So have fun, partake, enjoy the festivities, your friends and families and make some memories to keep with you. Life is short, too short, so have a great time and if you do partake in alcohol consumption, have fun but throw your car keys away for the day.. Go Patriots!!!!

Week one down, are you still on course?

2008-01-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

So how has your first week of your New Years resolutions gone so far? I think, believe it or not, it has been a very successful week for most people. From all of the emails I have received I think people were a little more motivated or a little more disgusted at how they treated themselves last year. Whatever the real reason, congratulations.

They often say that breaking an old habit or creating a new good or bad one takes about three weeks, so in a few more weeks you will be able to better see if you have made it over the hump and started making these changes a more permanent solution.

I hope that for all of you that this is the year you succeed with any and all changes you have wanted for a long time and also that all of your transitions be smooth, semi painless and that you see such great benefits that you never look back.

Happy New Year

2008-01-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!!!

I am finally back and ready to write and pass on healthy tips and suggestions after a busy December.

December found me volunteering the entire month for an organization here in Las Vegas called the "Magical Forest". This is a Christmas themed event that benefits Opportunity Village, an organization that helps Mentally handicapped adults get on their feet, working, earning a paycheck and also provides all of the help these special adults need to live as close to normal lives as possible.

I learn so much every year when I am helping with this great organization. First of all, we are all a bunch of wimps here in America. We complain about the most ridiculous things that mean almost nothing, and we are so spoiled, almost to the level of absurdness!

We as Americans have the most of everything that we can possibly handle for making our lives wonderful, and yet we complain about that as well. We are lucky enough to have more choices for everything than almost every other country, and we are still not satisfied. I am amazed every time I hear people complaining about the most ridiculous thing and with such passion that I really do feel that if most of us were put somewhere that offered little to no cushy lifestyles and multiple choice alternatives, we would most likely die.

The New Year should actually be called Thanksgiving in my mind because it is actually the time for all of us to stand back and be thankful for another year of good health, good fortune and a great life. The thing is, even if it was not that great or healthy, we should still be thankful for living in a place where we have the tools to turn it around and make this year the best ever.

Be thankful for all you have and appreciate the choices you have, and most of all the right to be as healthy as you would like to be!

Happy New Year to all of you and yours

A way to get pointed in the right direction

2007-12-16T07:55:00.000-08:00

Many people will say I have been taking this and that for years, and my question is still always the same, "how do you feel?" The funny thing is so many people will say lousy, or tired, or just exhausted or I hurt, or I cannot sleep, I usually ask why do you keep doing something that does not work? And after they think for a second, most people say I do not know, habit I guess.

1) Do you drink a lot of caffeine

2) Do you eat many servings of sugar?

3) Do you eat in between meals?

4) Are you a rollarcoaster dieter?

5) Do you have more than a couple meals served through the window of your car?

6) Do you starve yourself and then binge eat all night at home?

7) Do you eat when depressed?

8) Are you exercising?

9) Do you sleep well at night?

10) Are you an anxious person?

11) Does stress rule your life?

12) Are you moody, or negative all the time?

13) Do you eat at least three servings of vegetables daily?

14) Is your digestive system working correctly?

15) Are you on more than one medication?

16) Do you drink 8 glasses of water every day?

17) Do you work on computers daily and are your eyes healthy?

18) Is your blood pressure normal?

19) How are you hormonally?

20) Do you use antibiotics frequently?

21) Have you been to the dentist within the last twelve months?

22) Have you had bloodwork and a physical in the last year?

23) Do you work in a germ filled atmosphere at work?

24) Are you a happy person?

25) Are you always tired and running behind?

26) Do you have eliminations every single day?

27) Are your fingernails and hair healthy?

28) Have you ever taken vitamins on a regular basis?

29) Is your skin healthy and do you have adult acne?

30) Is your cholesterol normal or high?

31) Are you a diabetic, is it in the family and have you been tested?

32) Do you have a pet?

33) Do you travel frequently?

34) Do you bruise easily and do your gums bleed?

35) How is your memory and do you get headaches frequently?

36) Do you have a nervous stomach?

37) Do you have hobbies or activities you do outside of work?

38) Do you have seasonal allergies?3

9) Do you watch a lot of television?

40) Are you a procrastinator?

41) Do you cook at home or eat out more often?

42) Do you study or taking classes or continuing education of any kind?

43) Have you switched careers in the last year?

44) Do you smoke or drink daily?

45) Have you gone through any surgery in the last year?

46) Do you now or have you ever had cancer and completed treatment?

47) Do you salt your food before tasting it?

48) Do you spend more time indoors or outdoors?

49) Are you a slow eater or do you eat on the run and quickly woof your food?

50) Have you always been nutritionally oriented or is this new?

This list is also something to take with you when you start researching nutrition. If you are lucky enough to find someone nutritionally well versed and trained, they will be able to look at this list and give you a very focused nutritional program that you yourself will get great benefits from. If on the other hand, you go somewhere where the individual knows next to nothing, kindly say thank you and leave and go somewhere else. Never feel obligated to compromise with your health, NEVER.

Always feel that you are working with someone that is knowledgeable and knows about health situations and also medications and side effects, and is well versed in alternatives. I always tell everybody to ask yourself, would you let this person work with and make a vitamin supplement program for your mother? Hopefully you like you Mother and you would want a trusting individual to work with her. If your gut tells you yes, then give them a try.

How far back on the back burner do you live?

2007-11-28T11:39:00.000-08:00

Another month bites the dust as we approach the crazy holiday season. It is amazing how fast this year has zoomed by for me, and from what everyone says, for them too!

I often wonder if it is due to the super speed we push ourselves to maintain or is it that we take so very little time to relax and actually enjoy life at all? I am sure it is a little of both with a sprinkle of forgetting to slow down and smell the roses, a dash of over working and a side of doing everything for everyone else and forgetting to do for ourselves. The combination does make time go by quickly and it puts us at the front of the line for premature heart attacks, strokes and early retirement to the grave.

Most individuals will not slow down until something serious happens to them or the Doctor orders them to make a change, or one day they cannot function at that speed anymore and they instantly begin to fall apart at the seams. You would think, as we are all intelligent people here that we could just look in the mirror and realize we are changing, and in most cases not for the better, and that we have no time for ourselves and because we never say no to anyone I guess you could say it is self induced stress. Day after day and month after month leading to year after year we push ourselves so far back on the burner of life that we can actually forget our own dreams and aspirations until we start to forget who we really are. This is a common scenario and an unhealthy one too.

When you are the one person that always does everything for everyone, believe you me the word gets out quick and you become the person that never says no and will help everyone with everything. I have found this was the case for me for more years than I want to admit. It all rang true when after helping so many people move over the years that I had lost count of the friends I helped relocate. I finally had a chance to do some relocating and I called and everyone had something to do, amazing how that happens that everyone is busy at the same time? I started thinking that no matter what I had to do, I would never say no, so I said to myself, maybe I need to say no once in a while when I really cannot help out or do a favor.

The next week one of my acquaintances called and needed me to help with some stuff, obviously one of the ones that was too busy to help me, so I said sorry I am busy. Well you could have heard a pin drop, wow I thought to myself. My friend said really? I said yep, he said well I guess I will have to rent a truck. I felt very weird saying no, but I felt great because I have so much going on already I would have never got caught up if I had once again joined in.

The moral of the story is that we all have normal stress in our lives and if you are an over doer, sometimes you need to, for your health to just say no. The other thing was the world did not stop and they got over it quickly and possibly learned a lesson that I am not the end all helper anymore.

The stress of being an over doer can affect your blood pressure, your heart, cause depression and affect your health and well being. We want to always help but in the long run and at the end of the day, sometimes it just stresses us out and negatively affects our health beyond belief.

I guess I have decided that moderation is the key to a much more balanced life in every aspect of our being. Sometimes saying no when we really have to is an alright thing, and putting ourselves first for once is a Great Thing!!!!!

Why did I walk in this room and where did I park my car?

2007-11-04T21:36:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had one of those days that made you feel you left your brain somewhere else other than in your head? I think it is just so frustrating when you forget the simplest things like a name or number or why you walked into a room. They say it is all a sign of growing older but I really feel in many cases it is stress, the stuff that gets us all tied up in circles to the point where we do not know if we are coming or going.

I mean when we get away from the bump and grind of work and the day to day stress, it seems that our brains go back to normal, so what do we do to help us while we are in the stress of the moment, and we need to be at our mental and focal best? They always say that cardiovascular exercise is a good start and I really do agree as it really does get the blood circulating and forces blood to the starved areas like our overloaded brains.

I was at the mall today and when I was leaving I noticed about four or five people walking aimlessly around the parking lot looking for their cars. Is it that they had so much on their minds when the parked that they did nit pay attention. Could they actually be on the other side of the mall and they are not even in the correct lot? Yes, is the answer, when we are concentrating on so many things we lose the simple short term memory temporarily. It does return and when it does we are always so happy with ourselves.

I think that Disneyland has the right idea, they label their parking lots with the name of cartoon characters, I mean how hard is it to forget that you are parking in Goofy 4? I guess at one time it was a big problem so they re labeled. I guess the people that never found their cars are now the employees in costume everyday, they just kept them there and put them to work!

Nutrition may also be a great step. Avoiding white bleached flour and sugars and food that are empty in nature or has been emptied of nutrition by processing. Increasing nuts and seeds and green veggies and protein seems to be the direction we need to be heading in, and away from the other stuff that tastes great and does zero for our bodies.

What about a list of nutritional supplements that help focal attention. Ginkgo Biloba, Vinpocetine, Huperzine, Choline, DMAE, B Complex to name a few are the leading brain nutrients getting the best attention and feedback.

I am sure you read every day how we are living longer but at the same time dodging geriatric diseases that we should not be anywhere near facing for a few more decades. I myself feel, as do the best nutritional Physicians in the country that dodging the bullets with an arsenal of diet and exercise and nutrition that we can definitely slow down the aging process and avoid the mental grim reaper.So do not despair when you cannot finish a thought, or when you walk into a room and have absolutely not a clue why you are there. And do not worry when you are at the mall and you cannot find your car, just go back in and do some more shopping and pretend it was just a fresh air break. I guarantee the short term memory stuff will come back if you take better care of the one organ that needs some TLC on a daily basis, your brain!!!

Remember how important your pet is to your life and your health!!!

2007-11-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

In a time where happiness and success in life is measured by the almighty dollar, it is good to know that many people measure their success by their friends, their families and the loving devoted pets.

If you are not a pet owner or an animal owner this may be something that is hard for many of you to understand how much richer a life can be that has a pet in it. Pets are the missing link in a life when many people have stress that ruins their life, or loneliness that seems to go on forever, disease and hardship, depression and basically a thankless world that expects all and many times gives nothing back. In a world where we are judged not only by performance and going ten times beyond what is expected just because people think we should and being asked to put our lives so far on the back burner to make other people successful that we sometimes seem to disappear.

Where we are judged by the clothing we wear, what we drive where we live, how we eat, the friends we associate with as well as our dislikes and likes.There is some peace of mind and it is great to know that a pet is the neutral part of our life that does not care about any of the above.

Bad hair days, being overweight, being a bit of a couch potato, or wanting to just hang out and do nothing, our pets are happy to be in the room and a part of the moment. It is amazing that they can actually stimulate our immune systems, help to ease loneliness and lower blood pressure, yet ask nothing back in return except love and being your friend and devoted companion.

Today my very good friend Peni said goodbye to her best friend Poutie. A companion, family member and friend for fifteen years. This blog is to appreciate our four legged friends and maybe to remind us just how important our pets really are as companions and to our health and well being.

Below is a poem I love. Peni, I hope it helps to get you through the days upcoming a little easier.

The Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Holidays already? EEEEEK!!!

2007-10-30T19:21:00.000-07:00

Are you already beginning to stress about the holidays? Feel comfortable that you are in the majority and not the minority of people around you. Most people, although saying they will be more organized than previous years are most likely still applying the same routine as they do on their New Years resolution, you know, I am starting soon.

Remember to be a little nicer to yourself this year and take your vitamins more regularly and get more rest and exercise than years past Making better food choices should also be an area to focus on as smarter choices will make you stronger and healthier and keep your immune system on guard to deal with your self induced holiday stress.

Take more B Complex daily, preferably an extra 100 mg in a timed released formula. Taking extra Vitamin C, once again timed released complex form for maximum all day protection keeps germs at bay and you up and around and not flat on your back. You might also want to make sure you are actually sleeping at night and resting and not just going through the motions. If you wake up beat up and exhausted every morning like you have not even had any sleep at all look for some natural alternatives to help you do the job more completely.

L-tryptophan and Calcium and Magnesium or multiple mineral preparations taken at bedtime will help to induce a natural and more complete nights sleep. You also can choose from other alternatives like Melatonin, Valerian root, or combination herbal preparations. Whatever you choose, pick the strongest you can handle to get you the most restful and re cooperative nights sleep you can. Just these few small changes will make stressful holiday craziness more deal able, and keep you just a little more focused and sane. The bad gift choices is something you will have to deal with on your own!

I want to thank my New York friend Laura for the doggie picture for today's blog, the picture is way to cute not to share.

Is there a junk food junkie in the house, rather is there someone who is not?

2007-10-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

Are you a junk food junkie? Lately when I speak to people about diet or we are reviewing their blood work or they are passing on the comments from the Doctor, the subject of diet always comes up.

They are actually amazed when the Doctor said they have to change their diet. I ask for a two or three sample diet or plan of what they commonly eat, and it is amazing some of them are still alive.Junk food has not only become a staple for the American diet, it is also a sport a past time and a daily social event. I see the faces of so many people that have been told to thin down to lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol, or give up the junk food do to heart disease or other circulatory problems and although they way down deep agree, they are crushed, I mean totally destroyed that they cannot be with their best friend junk food anymore.

How weird are we that we have allowed food to take over every aspect of our lives? Some of us are so out of control that we have to given into drastic surgery to make our body reject it. Will power and the fear of God and dying no longer do the trick. We are not scared of dying and we know that somewhere there will be a medication or drug therapy to save us if we get out of control.

The problem is the adults have done it so long now and have become so ridiculously out of shape morbidly obese and desensitized that now the kids do not care either. With a gym on every corner, and a fast food restaurant on every other corner, the gyms and smart choices are losing.

How overweight and sick as a nation, how reliant ion drugs, how lazy, tired, fatigued, stressed out, depressed and pharmaceutic ally controlled do we actually have to get to make the changes so many of us need? I am sure it could be bet on here in Las Vegas, I am afraid to say the time needed to make changes as a nation will be a hands down long shot of the century to say the least!

What did it for you, do you remember?

2007-10-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

What was it that made you decide that today was the day to become healthy. That today was the day when you would drive by your favorite fast food restaurant and make better food choices.The thing that made you want to finally go to the gym and visit that membership you have been paying for for years and have never used. Sometimes I think we want to be able to say, I belong to a gym!

Was it a feeling of over fullness after a binging meal? Was it something your Doctor said at your last checkup? Was it a comment made by a friend, or your spouse that was hurtful or direct and to the point out of concern? Was it a snicker from a passerbyer? Think back and try to remember what it was, cement it into your memory and remember it everyday because whatever it was, whoever said it or whatever context it was presented in, it worked! Be thankful that it worked.

I am among those that agrees that people are hurtful, mean and sometimes down right cruel, but if gets us to do a task we have been trying to do unsuccessfully that in some cases could change our life, maybe on the outside we can be a little shattered, but on the inside voice we should be screaming from the rooftop THANK YOU.

Cold weather is coming and cold and flu is trickling in

2007-10-16T17:45:00.001-07:00

Can you believe cold and flu season are here already? I am getting emails from people sick this early in the year and they are desperate for a natural alternative, as we all know the main stream antibiotics do nothing for flu and cold problems. In many cases most Doctors will admit to prescribing antibiotics knowing full and well they will do nothing, but they do it because that is what the patients want.

Although flu and cold season are actually a little down the road time wise, in Las Vegas, as we are the worlds melting pot, flu season comes early and from all over the world with the visitors to our city. Many people will say that they never go to the casinos and they cannot believe they got sick. Well just remember, all casino workers and employees that are daily in the melting pot of germs also have regular lives like the rest of us. They go to the gym, the grocery stores, the libraries, the malls and all of the places people that may not go to the casinos go. The moral is, you cannot hide from germs because where ever you, go you are exposed. How you react and how your body deals with the presence of flu and cold germs bombarding you is actually up to you.

At this stage of the game a little prevention would be a great thing for you to start as soon as possible. Number one, drink water, I know it is not hot outside and you may not be as thirsty as in August, but it is actually more important, or at least as important as in the summer months. Dehydration can cause poor emimination, bad digestion, dry skin and hair, urinary and bladder infections and if you are sick can actually cause the flu or cold to last much longer along with a fever.

Second, add more Vitamin C, about 2000-3000mg of extra Vitamin C daily, preferably a timed released complex form as it is buffered for the tummy would be a good starting point. Colloidal Silver every morning, about half a teaspoon in a shot glass of water. Remember to swish and gargle and swallow. Colloidal silver daily gives you a little added protection as well as a daily non harmful antibiotic that works to prevent bacterial as well as viral infections. If you are already sick, you can take it as much as hourly as well as spray it up the nose for sinus infections and drainage.

An overall product that has been a number one product in popularity for years now is Body Well. It is a combination of all herbal and nutrient based support for boosting the immune system. In can be taken daily until March or April although many people use it year round for added protection.

As far as your diet is concerned ,watch the sugar and dairy, wheat and glutenas these are all mucous forming foods, as well as the foods that pack all the holiday pounds on us every year. Too bad they always taste so good!! Eating plenty of good quality protein, green vegetables and purple fruits will help to keep the mucous down and give you much more energy.

Good Luck>>>>>>>>>>>..

Resolution day in October???

2007-10-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

Isn't it amazing that we are already in the middle of October. I am still receiving emails from people interested in getting their New Years resolutions started. They say the friends say "why start now, it will be New Years in two months?" Well let us take a look at that statement.

If weight loss is your resolution, by New Years day, you will be about ten to fifteen pounds heavier than you are now. So rather than beginning now and being ahead for the New Year, you will spend the first two months of the year working on the holidays, and not even begin working on your actual goals until March or April. If smoking is your resolution, well how do I say it, two more abusive months of terror on the body and two more months of damage taking you closer to the chance of Cancer in every part of the body. Also two more months of not being able to taste your food, two more months of not breathing well while fighting cold and flu season. The most important about six hundred more dollars spent on the habit before you quit.

Lets say it is a bad relationship, going to the gym, changing jobs, starting a hobby or whatever it is procrastination of just two months can make it harder to start in January. I really think New Years resolutions should be whatever day you decide to make a change or start or end something. It should be whatever day you declaretoday is my New Year and I begin my transformation right now!

So when your friends and family tell you why start now, just tell them to shut up and proudly wish them a Happy New year.

The above picture comes to us from Canada from my friends Lynn and Gary, it is of their little girl Scarlett, one of my pups.

Choice!

2007-10-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

So another Great Earth convention comes and goes. So many new products that are up and coming and that will be on there way to the stores very soon, as well as many more modes of information for the stores to pass along to the customers. The field changes every year and is becoming such a fine tuned operation that you can almost shop at quality stores and be in control of your health like never before.

I think this is the way of the future , as far as nutrition is concerned. We are at a point where if you truly want to be healthy and cut back on the need and reliance on prescription medications you can. If you want a healthy lifestyle that is full of great energy and fewer down times being sick, you basically have control over that too. On the other hand, you also have the right to be as bad to yourself as you wish. To make lousy choices all the way around and basically dig yourself an earlier that planned grave. It all comes down to choice. Choice of taking quality supplements with great science behind them, or the choice to take the bargain of the day, that in most cases will do nothing for you except make your wallet feel temporarily happy. The choice to speak to trained nutritional personnel that keep up on the latest supplements and are trained as to the best choices to make for many and all situations, or you can make the choice to shop at a bargain basement or bulk store where your only answer to whatever question you ask, on a good day would be, "would you like a box for that?"

Choice is one of our greatest and protected rights as an American, use it wisely and to it's full benefit and potential. I have come to the conclusion that if you do not make the smart choices for your health now or someone you do not even know, or who does not know you with little concern for you could be making them in your future!

Taking control out of deperation, sometimes it is the motivating way to win.

2007-09-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

The months start zooming by and stress starts to build

2007-09-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

It is amazing to me that once July 4th gets here and passes by, it is almost a hop and a skip to the end of the year. It seems to happen every year lately, or maybe just now that I am thirty nine years old and holding. Funny thing is I heard younger people saying it too.

Do you remember when you were younger and it took forever for time to go by. We would start school and immediately start counting down the days until Christmas Vacation, and when we returned to school it was the spring break countdown. Soon after we started on the summer vacation, and even during that we dreaded the countdown until it was time to start all over again. Now if you blink whole months rush by. I find myself dreading the upcoming holiday season if only because as soon as Halloween gets here, New Years day is right around the corner.

I guess it is getting older. or maybe that we all have way too much on our plates, and the stress of events and projects coming due, or money needed to survive the holidays or just mental overload, it seems as if this is a game that all adults participate in yearly, and not by choice.

So, when asked what can we do to better cope with all of this added stress and with the pileup of things that are already overflowing our plates, I always recommend going back to basics. Many of us fall prey to the new and flashy things on the market to help with the problems that ail us, but sometimes getting back to the drawing board is ultimately and actually satisfyingly better, and more effective.

B Complex is still the most effective thing to use for our added stressful lifestyles.Preferably timed released for better all day coverage, as B Complex is water soluble and flushes out too quickly, but lasts all day with a perfectly balanced timed released formula. There are also calming herbs like Kava, Passion Flower, Chamomile and even St Johns Wort for when there is also a touch of mild to moderate depression symptoms. Something that many of us also overlook is the importance of getting a great nights sleep. Not just a period of time when you are in the bed going through the motions and tossing and turning and waking up more tired than when you went to bed, but an actual restful rejuvenate night of rest.

Sleep deprivation adds to the stress and leaves us anxious and burnt out and struggling to recapture our energy. If sleep is a problem there are wonderful alternatives to prescription medications that are safe and sold over the counter.Many adults spend their entire day loading caffeine beverages and using stimulant drinks just to get through the day, when if they would go back to square one, better sleep, more daytime energy.

The rebirth of L-Tryptophan has been a wonder pill for those individuals that are sleep deprived. Melatonin as well as Valarian Root are other viable solutions that could be tried. All of these things help us to be in better control of our energy as well as keeping us balanced and more able to deal with the stress life throws at us, or the stress we throw at ourselves.

If stress and sleep deprivation have been a continual problem for a long period of time,it might be a good time to see your Physician, and get a basic check up and some blood work done to rule out anything that might be an underlying physical cause. If all of that goes fine with the Doctor, keep in mind some natural alternatives for better stress control and of course some thing we all need, Better Sleep!!!

Ten things in your home that can kill your pet

2007-09-09T09:51:00.001-07:00

Every once and a while, a friend will send me useable information , and when it comes to being a benefit to pets, it gets included for all to read and learn from. Mary Kay Grahn, who owns Smarty Paws, just about the best dog training facility in the west, and whom is here in Las Vegas sent this to me. By the way, if you want the most knowledgeable trainer that knows every aspect of dog training as well as dog nutrition, contact Mary Kay at smarty paws by going to her site directly at

smarty paws make sure to visit the sirte especially if you have a four legged friend that need some extra attention and schooling. The dog above is Ditto, one of Mary Kay's dogs doing what he loves, agility.

10 Things in your home that can kill your pet

Dogs are very curious animals and as omnivores and natural scavengers, can get into and eat just about anything. However, there are many toxic substances found in your home that could potentially kill your dog. The following is a list of ten common household substances that you should make sure to keep out of your dog's reach.

1) Antifreeze: Many people do not realize it, but common antifreeze kills many pets each year. It smells and tastes very sweet to your dog and is very appealing to him. Ethylene glycol is toxic however, and each winter, many animals are killed by it. Symptoms of toxicity include seizures, vomiting, stumbling and lethargy leading to kidney failure. Make sure to keep your antifreeze out of your dog's reach. If you suspect that your dog has ingested antifreeze, take your dog to the veterinarian immediately.

2) Chocolate: Chocolate contains a substance called the obromine which is toxic to dogs. Baking chocolate and dark chocolate is especially dangerous. While it usually takes a somewhat large amount of chocolate to kill a dog, poisoning and death does occur with smaller amounts ingested. Signs of chocolate poisoning include vomiting, diarrhea, increased urination, and increased activity. This can progress to seizures and unusual heart rhythms. Call your veterinarian immediately if you suspect your dog has eaten chocolate.

3) Bleach: As you might imagine, household bleach is toxic to dogs. Keep all products containing bleach out of your dog's reach. Symptoms of bleach poisoning include drooling, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Do NOT induce vomiting if you suspect your dog has ingested bleach and contact your veterinarian immediately.

4) Tylenol: As little as two regular strength Tylenol tablets can kill a small dog. Dogs lack the proper liver enzymes to break down acetaminophen. Signs of toxicity include drooling, lethargy, and abdominal pain. If you suspect your dog has ingested Tylenol, call your veterinarian immediately.

5) Watch Batteries: If your dog ingests a watch battery, it can cause a potentially fatal ulceration in the stomach within 12 hours. All other alkaline batteries are toxic to dogs as well. Symptoms of toxicity include drooling, lack of appetite, vomiting, and lethargy. If you suspect your dog has ingested a watch battery, contact your vet immediately.

6) Moth Balls: Moth balls are very dangerous to dogs. They contain an insecticide that causes central nervous system excitement and seizures. When metabolized, ingestion of moth balls can lead to liver failure. Symptoms of poisoning by moth balls include vomiting and seizures. If your dog has consumed moth balls, do NOT induce vomiting. Seek veterinary care immediately.

7) Fabric Softeners and other detergents: All sorts of household detergents are toxic to dogs at one level or another, but fabric softeners fall into the highly toxic category. Signs of toxicity include vomiting, lethargy, burns to the mouth, drooling, muscle weakness, and even coma. Do NOT induce vomiting if your dog has ingested any detergent. Contact your veterinarian immediately.

8) Mouthwash: Mouthwash can contain boric acid which is highly toxic to dogs. Symptoms of poisoning by mouthwash include vomiting, drooling, seizures, and coma. You should take your dog to the veterinarian immediately if you suspect poisoning by mou! thwash or other household item containing boric acid like contact lens solution or denture cleaner.

9) Peach Pits: With most fruits, the pits and the seeds are toxic to dogs. Signs of poisoning include drooling, vomiting, and lethargy. If you suspect your dog has eaten a peach pit or the pit or seeds of any fruit, take him to the veterinarian immediately.

10) Household Plants: Many common and popular household plants are highly toxic to dogs. A partial list of toxic plants includes poinsettias, lilies, ferns, devil's ivy, aloe, and ivy. Symptoms of poisoning due to ingestion of toxic plants include vomiting and central nervous system excitement. Many of these plants are fatal if ingested. Please contact your veterinarian immediately if you suspect your dog has eaten a toxic houseplant.

With diligence on our part, we can help prevent our dogs from getting into substances that are toxic to them. Many veterinary school websites offer lists of things that are toxic to dogs and what you should do if your dog ingests such things. As always, if you think your dog may have eaten something dangerous, contact your veterinarian immediately or take your dog to the closest emergency clinic.

I hope this article will give everyone that reads it the tools to prevent problems with our four legged friends. Thanks Mary Kay!!!!!!!!!!!!

So you are recently diagnosed with high blood pressure!

2007-09-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

Have you recently been told that you have high blood pressure? It is a rising epidemic that for many people expresses not one symptom until they have a heart attack or a stroke. Others can feel light headed, tired, sluggish, they may have numbness in the fingers or may experience a warm sensation to the face and have headaches frequently.

Once diagnosed, most but not all people should look to their weight as the culprit, with a sprinkle of inactivity, stress and bad diet, and topped with fast food, excessive caffeine consumption and sprinkled with a drop of lack of sleep.

Many Doctors will recommend exercise and dietary changes, and many unless it is through the roof will ask you to monitor it and come back in a few weeks to see the changes, if any. Many people do nothing and end up on a lifetime of medication that can cause many side effects, but the trade off is they feel now no changes need to be made by them.Lack of personal motivation, yes. Laziness, yes, that too!

If you do find out that you have this problem, remember dietary changes and exercise changes are key, and supplements add the final touches. You want to make sure you let your Doctor know that you will be making changes and let them see the benefits AND MONITOR YOUR PROGRESS.

Some great nutritional suggestions for blood pressure reduction are as follows: adding Garlic, Cayenne Pepper, Hawthorn, B complex for stress help, also there are wonderful blends like BP blend which has many of the above all in a convenient formula. One thing to remember is that many people use these products along with their blood pressure medication and they use it safely. If you choose to do this, make sure you monitor it so as not to let it possibly drop too low. You can also add more garlic and onions to your food and also gain great benefits as well as adding flax seed oil. Sometimes when cholesterol comes down as fatty blockages are melted away, blood flow increases and blood pressure naturally comes down also.

So keep in mind that you can be in charge of your Blood pressure levels, seeing as we are the main culprit that caused it to be high in the first place. Try not to jump into the prescription revolving door first if you do not have to, and find a Doctor that has the same belief system you have. Good Luck!!

How is your adult skin???

2007-09-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Being as acne is not just a juvenile situation as it was when I was a kid, maybe some possible healthy suggestions are in order. When I was a kid when you turned about sixteen or seventeen acne was over as hormones started to balance out a little. It really was a childhood situation, but today it has changed drastically to an adult situation that is worst than the teenagers of today.

If you go into any Dermatologist office today you will find an array of skin disorders and among them will be chronic adult acne. Not just on the face, but also on the chest and back, and much more serious cases than you have seen in adolescent years. I have often wondered what the cause of this terrible and annoying skin problem could be, I am guessing it is a combination of many things. Not the least being stress, diet, pollution, internal bad digestion, bad elimination, water deprivation, fast food, fatty diets, medication side effects, and just bad luck. There are actually many nutritional things both internal and external that can be used safely and with great success.

Number one, and the easiest to do would be to increase your water consumption and cut back on chemical based and carbonated beverages. Second, making drastic diet changes like learning to stay away from the junk and from excessive sugar packed sweets and greasy and fast foods. Next on the list would be to check your elimination, if you are not expelling wastes through the normal means regularly and consistently, the body will force impurities and toxins through the skin to get it out of the body. Problem is it gets through the skin and then sits there and gets worst by the day. You can give into topical steroid creams and lotions that you will immediately notice clear things up, but soon after discontinuing them the skin problem without your making any lifestyle changes will always rear its ugly head again and with avengence most of the time and sometimes worst than before.

Internally, cleansing the body three or four times per year is very helpful to get rid of excess toxins that most people do not flush out on their own. Make sure to use a good over all vitamin program, I recommend the NSP program because of it's complete formula making sure you do not miss essential and vital nutrients. Flax oil and fish oils benefit by internally lubricating the skin and helping to prevent dry skin problems from the inside out. Taking extra Vitamin A, Zinc and acidophilus are also essential to help round out the internal defense program against these awful skin problems. If stress is an issue adding B complex will help to ease the stress and can also benefit the skin in a positive way.

Topically, there is a wonderful skin oil called Squalene that lubricates the skin and does it without causing a greasy layer. It is absorbed so quickly and makes your skin feel like it has a silk glove over it. The lotion can be used in larger body areas and is something that once you use it, you will never stray from it.

Hopefully these few tips will help to bring your skin back to it's healthy best. We all hate to make changes, but when it comes to your skin, it is hard to put your best face forward when your skin is not at it's healthiest. Small changes will yield huge benefits.

You have to wonder why twenty five to thirty years ago we never had adult acne, but we see it now in large numbers everyday. It is a good sign that this is one more thing we are most likely causing ourselves by our unhealthy lifestyles and fast paced living. The solution; clean up the diet, supplement internally and clean up the skin topically. A healthy glow is a great thing!

A day of global and American obesity statistics

2007-09-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

Today's blog deals with statistics, most of which have to do with the bad health of this country. Sometimes when we see it in print, it really hits home as to the decline of health in America.

Latest Obesity Statistics

USA Obesity Rates Reach Epidemic Proportions
58 Million Overweight; 40 Million people are Obese; 3 Million morbidly Obese

Eight out of 10 over 25years of age is Overweight

78% of Americans not meeting basic activity level recommendations

25% completely Sedentary

76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 yrs old since 1990

"We estimate that 22 million of the world's children under 5 are overweight or obese," said Mary Bellizzi, an expert with the International Obesity Task Force who presented the research to health ministers at the meeting

Deaths from Obesity: 300,000 premature deaths associated with obesity annually (CDC). Death rate extrapolations for USA for Obesity: 300,000 per year, 25,000 per month, 5,769 per week, 821 per day

Costs for Obesity: $33 billion annually spent on weight-loss products and services

Physician office visits for Obesity: 62.7 million

Work Days Lost from Obesity: 39.3 million

Bed Days from Obesity: 89.5 million

I think we need to take a look at a solution for this problem. I feel, as does the medical establishment and the world health organizations, that we will eat ourselves into early graves and become a financial strain on the medical system that cannot continue to support this epidemic.

It is not just about eating less, it is also about exercising, making better food choices, getting more rest and of course making sure all of your nutritional supplementation needs are met with your diet and your supplements.

Making sure you do not end up overweight, sick and malnutritioned is something this population needs to focus on. Not just adults, but the children of America, who are another growing epidemic in this country with staggering numbers that are also quite depressing and disheartening.

I hope that attention to these figures will reach enough people over the next few years that changes will start to happen, for all of our sake.

the last third of the year is here, pay attention!!

2007-09-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

First of all Happy Labor Day Holiday to all. A time of the year when the summer draws to a close and the fall and winter season is just around the corner. Also a time of great stress and inactivity, I mean physical activity. Did you know that this time of the year is famous for many things. Not the holidays that we are all familiar with, but other things and milestones that seem to rear their ugly heads every single year at this time.

This time of the year has the highest incidence of urinary, bladder and kidney infections. Why, because most people are used to drinking water and fluids in the summer because they are actually feeling the sense of dehydration due to the heat, so they satisfy and quench themselves due to that feeling. In the winter, we do not have the sensation of heat upon us so the symptomatic warning signs are not there to slap us in the face and alert us. What we do finally notices is a urinary infection, sore kidneys, dry mouth, electrolyte imbalances, prostate infections and severe constipation.

This time of the year also yields itself to more obesity. As the weather gets cooler and we start to cover up more often, we get lazier and spend more time on the couch and not being active. We use every excuse from it is dark earlier, it is too cold, or we are getting ready for the holidays. whatever excuse works, and then we rotate the excuses so as to to sound totally lame and lazy.

Dry skin is a big issue also this season because as I mentioned above we do not drink enough water and fluids. We also start to pilr and layer heavier clothes that end up rubbing against our already dry flaky skin which causes more dryness and irritation. This is also a time for Dermatologists to double their patient load as Eczema, Psoriasis and Contact Dermatitis get more common. We also turn the heat on because we are cold and that heat taht allows us to warm our cold bodies also sucks the moisture out of our skin and dehydrates all of the fluid and actually makes our skin age and look older.Remember that using lotions topically is a wonderful thing to do. but beauty and healthy skin starts from within.

Of course we put our digestive systems to the test every year as we do the" indulge in everything because I am starting a new diet in January routine". We all do it to some degree but some people are well known for it, and will admit to you each and every year that this is the year they follow through. I know when it comes down to sticking to so called resolutions, it is no body's business except the person posing the resolution and their conscious and nobody else. It just seems that they seem to drag us in somehow, and before you know it they actually have us either supporting their failures, or they put us on the other end we end up yelling at them to get motivated. Crazy as it sounds, it happens every year to millions of us, though we swear we will never go through it again.

So as you start to think about the stressful holiday season approaching, and the upcoming weather changes that are around the corner remember to think you actions through carefully. This time of the year can actually be a very happy time where we get a jump start on the problems we all face this time of year, or it can be a disaster that takes you the first quarter of the year to correct what we put our selves through.

My suggestion, make it the year of positive changes and personal benefits and then start the new year ahead of the game; healthy, happy and enjoying your life.

September already

2007-09-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

So here we are in September and I am starting my second year of blogging already. It has been an interesting year for me as I am doing things that I never thought I would do. After running my own stores for so many years and being within those four walls everyday, and loving it, I am now out in the field and the walls are down.

I am able to do what I love most which is train and inform and lecture and learn more myself about nutrition. As I visit different stores and meet different people around the country I always ask them about the people they work with. The most amazing thing is that no matter where I go or whom I speak with, the answers and the profiles are always the same. No matter where I am, what demographics, sex, religion or race or even age, most people all have the same concerns. What does differ in some areas is the actual motivation that people have to make these wishes or changes come true.

I am not sure if this is a geographic thing as it seems many people that are in larger cities seem to be more interested or health oriented, I guess it just comes down to the fact that we either are motivated or we are not. I have learned that most everyone does want to be healthy. Everybody does want to get off medications, live longer, look better, and have more energy and be able to deal better with stress. I feel that if there was an across the board thing that everybody does want, it would be to be more energetic and possibly happier and not so depressed.

What I see everyday are people running around in circles basically in a hurry to go nowhere quickly. Sweating the insignificant small meaningless stuff and focusing way too much on their careers and their jobs and forgetting to live and enjoy all they work for everyday. I am not saying to screw up on the job, I am saying to do it and do it well, and then go home and enjoy yourself your families and your friends as life is way too short.

A healthy life is attained by focusing and getting back to basics,the things that would make the largest percentage of benefit to everyone. Basics meaning eating a little better and making better food choices and drinking a little more water.Try focusing on getting more sleep, learning to relax, being more consistent with exercise and taking your supplements, and maybe the best thing, try not to take life too seriously. Learn from your mistakes but then laugh at your self for knowing better in the first place. Try to attain your goals no matter how small they are, and never let anyone keep you from those goals, and then focus on the number one thing to do for better mental and physical health and a better quality life, slow down and enjoy it! You know, smell the flowers and stop walking on them.

Smell the roses

2007-08-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

Today a new poll came out that said Americans are among the unhealthiest people in the world. Really, where have you people been, this has been common knowledge for years. I was hoping that all of those unhealthy people that heard the first poll years ago might have made changes and the new poll would have been better. Wishful thinking on my part.

The technology is advancing at a speed of light pace. I bought a laptop six weeks ago. I am sorry to say my car was vandalized and I had to purchase a new one, and in just six weeks the model I bought which was the top of the line was already discontinued. How can that happen in six short weeks? I am amazed that people have the focus of advancing technology so quickly. I mean we have faster computers and cellular phones that do everything except hold conversations for us, but we remain unhealthy and falling apart at the seams.So why I ask can we not figure better ways to motivate people to WANT to stay healthy and make better choices? When do we start to shift our priorities for even for a little while? Long enough hopefully to just get the focus of everyone long enough to get our bodies, mind and spirits back on track and headed in the right direction. Long enough to get a good look at where we are and where we may be heading if change is not made immediately.

This might be the way to get a grip if you will. To see that we have absorbed a way of looking at things and prioritizing in a way that leaves our own bodies and our physical and mental health far away from our focus.

Maybe the next generation will establish barriers and boundaries that focus on themselves first and everything else second and third on the list. If you really think about it, the more we focus on our health, the better everything else in our life will go.

Prospering and benefiting and getting the most out of this short time we are here really does start at home. It needs to be the first thing we think of everyday and the last thing we think of before bed. I am sure that if we would focus more we would have so much more to be thankful for. I have heard so many times in my life from people everywhere that they wish they would have taken better care of themselves.

So do like they say, stop and smell the roses, stop walking over them or on them or just walking by and ignoring them. Oh, and remember to water them..................

Late night promises or late night desperation

2007-08-11T08:29:00.000-07:00

Are you ever amazed at what people believe in. It is crazy to me, I mean being in the heath field I have always prided myself on giving accurate information and proven tests and quality studies so individuals can make a valid decision as to their choices and their health.

Sometimes I will be up late answering e mails, or doing research and I turn on the television. I cannot believe the advertisements and infomercials I see. After watching them for a few minutes , although I know better, I am reaching for my credit card because they have me convinced.

I wonder how many thousands and tens of thousands of people they have drawn in. I know we are all looking for the magic bullet and the quick fix, but really do you think this stuff can deliver the miracles that are being linked to it? It may be that at three o'clock in the morning our intelligence flies out the window and are replaced by desperation and hope and non realistic thinking. I do not know, but for a few minutes I felt it, and it was strong and powerful and like I said it drew me in, and I know better.

So how do we deal with this late night desperation advertising? The answer is we don 't, we just realize that to get where we want to go and the results we are looking for comes down to the basics. Exercise, better food choices, great supplements choices, lots of rest, clean fresh water, great friends, jobs and careers we enjoy going to and most of all being happy. I find that happy people are healthier and not on an abundance of medications, are able to make smarter choices with everything, and most of all happy people do not bury their stress in food, or let food try to cover it up.

Happy Birthday to me

2007-08-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

Well today is my birthday. I have decided to give thanks to all the people that make my life what it is. Thank you for being a constant reminder to shoot for the stars. Thank you for always pushing me to learn more and pass information on to all of you. Thank you for allowing me to be there when you need help and encouragement. Thank you for trusting me and my knowledge and my experience and searching me out even now when I am hard to find.

Thank you most of all for making me want to do what I do everyday and for pushing me to want to keep going, achieving and pushing my goals to the heavens. Most of all, thank you for taking the responsibility to be healthier,happier and for wanting the best health for yourself and all who are in your life.

Like sheep being branded

2007-08-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

It is getting kind of hard to know what to do anymore. Today we are introduced to new ground breaking drugs that could save our lives. Six weeks or six years later, the same person that encouraged you to take it says" stop taking that, don't you know that stuff can kill you?". So they put you on a new prescription, and we do what they say with no questions asked.

New foods come on the market that are sold in main stream grocery stores. New flashy labels with their versions of the natural. Not as many chemicals, or newly fortified, or half the sugar, fat or caffeine. Once again we flock and say wow we can eat this now. We never question what they put in the place of what they took out. Six months or six years later we are told not to eat that because the chemicals in there can kill you. Once again we stand in line and wait fir the next thing to use that has promises of less bad stuff in it.

So I start to think. We are privy to all of these big promises that come and go as fast as they came. Sometimes because bigger and better things replace them, or sometimes because after they did more studies, they could be harmful or fatal. Why do they keep doing this to us, because we give them full control and allow them to scoop shovel after shovel of garbage at us no questions asked.

When you listen to the news and find out this is bad, this class medical law suit, stay away from this chemical and this sweetener, this soda, you would think we would try another route. But sadly, we do not, we just stand in line like sheep to be branded and do not even ask if it will hurt.

Next time, try going to a health food store and trying organic vegetables and free range beef and chicken. Try the natural alternatives first before jumping into the back yard pharmaceutical pool that has no water in it. But I am warning you, there might no be any chemicals, side effects, class action law suits or recalls, so you may just have to sit back and enjoy with no stress.

Man's best friend, sometimes taken for granted, so stop it!

2007-08-02T23:06:00.001-07:00

Many people think that many of us out here that put our pets before anything or anyone else are a little obsessive. Well I must agree, we are and we accept that .I have discovered that while being a pet lover, I also rely on them more than I previously thought.

When I travel and I am gone for a few days, I always notice the difference my pets make, especially when you have a lot of them. They are always there when you need them, and they never ever judge us on any level. When the rest of the world may rear it's ugly head, our pets always are there just to please. A little overweight, a bad hair day, you spilled food all over your shirt, you are just having a bad day, no matter, our pets are there to see us and they are just happy we are at home.

They have actually filmed pets who get to know our routine. They will instinctively know the time we should be there and some of them will actually sit by the door and wait. The great thing about animals and pets is all they demand or need is love and attention. This is what drives them to be alive and stay healthy and happy. It is amazing how simple they make it. Maybe we should all take a tip from the pets of the world and be happy with just the basics and stop being in such a hurry to go nowhere quickly. Maybe just focusing on what we have and not on what we could have might actually make us healthier and happier in the long run. I am amazed how we get spinning out of control to keep up with the neighbors and forgetting all that we have already achieved and how far we have already come in this world. I think we have lost that chromosome that allows us to be satisfied, or appreciative.

So next time you are at the store picking up your dog food, do not skimp. Get the best you can afford, and get some great nutritional pet formulas to keep them healthy. By using nutritional formulas like Mezotrace minerals, Flax seed oil, Four Dogs and Four cats, Barley dog and cat, you may just keep your best friends here a little longer. The extra shirt and things you crave so badly and do not need could be changed in for a better life for the one thing in your life that is always there for you, man's best friend, your best friend, Your pets!

The Master Cleanser diet made even easier

2007-07-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

It is funny how old things recirculate. Everything from clothing styles to old sayings to fads of all different kinds. They come and hit strong, stay around a while and then disappear and the five or ten years later, boom they are back again.Sometimes they hit even stronger that previous times, and then sometimes they fizzle out quickly as the audience is different and likes and dislikes have changed over the last few years.Sometimes things we found important years ago are not as important now.

Hollywood is the place that is most well known for recycling things. Everything from sayings, fads,diets and what to wear are just a few things that seem to change daily in the glamour capital of the world. There is not a day that you will not see or read a periodical that is touting a new or a renew , if you will diet program. The one that is getting huge attention this month is the Lemonade diet, or the Master Cleanser program. Although this diet has been around about forty years, you would think by the attention it is getting that it was fresh off the press. This program utilizes a sort of fasting that allows you to flush out the system and it is quite effective. People that are on an array of medications may have to talk to their Physicians before attempting this since you are actually fasting and there is no food eaten for ten days. Many medications need food to work correctly. If you are presently working with a Doctor, checking with him or her should be first and primary before starting this or any diet. Most everyone else can do quite well with this program with little or no change to the daily routine.

The foundation or premise of this program is to drink a gallon of water with the squeezed juice of 6-8 lemons and 5-6 Tablespoons of natural maple syrup and as much Cayenne pepper as you can handle in the beverage. This process allows the body to burn stored fats while shrinking the appetite and deterring the cravings for sweets. This actually serves many purposes like weight loss, reduced cravings for junk food and a good cleansing as well as giving the digestive system a chance to rebuild and relax a little.

Some good points to this program are the quick results and that it is easy to follow, and after a few days hunger pangs diminish very fast. One problem is that not everyone can carry the gallon of liquid with them nor do they have the space or availability to have the liquid at work. This is something that has been a bit of a dilemma. The company I work for Great Earth has come up with what I feel is a ground breaking solution idea and it is called Lemonate. It is the same idea in a tablet formula. What an amazing idea for those who want it even easier. This way you could actually drink the liquid mixture at home in the morning and evening and use the tablets with a lot of water during the day. You could also do the liquid all day and still add the tablet to speed the results and cleanse and lose weight faster and easier.

Some people are using it as a ten day wake up call for the body to prepare it for a new way of eating. or a dietary change, or a fast flush before a special event, or just to do have a quick way to shed a few pounds to get you motivated.

Whatever you choose to use it for, it will be an easy and quick way to get results easily and quickly. If you are interested, leave me an e mail and I can direct you to the closest retailer.

Travel tips

2007-07-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

As I am traveling quite a bit now it is easy to see why so many people get so sick when they do so. I see people all the time that do not prepare nutritionally for being in a melting pot of germs. Every time I see someone that is sick I ask if they are a frequent traveler. If they say yes, I ask if they take the correct nutritional supplements to keep their bodies prepared for the stress traveling puts on them. Many are not even aware they have a choice to change things, and many do not mentally connect bad habits with travel to make a unhealthy situation.

Most people are very interested and are unaware that there are nutritional supplements that could keep them from traveling sick both while they travel as well as when they are home in between trips and even once they reach their destination.

Many tell me that they seem to have year round allergies and colds, some will also talk about the distress of their digestive system eating so much junk and different foods that they may not be used to. Some will say it has been so long since they have eaten a vegetable, or a home cooked meal. Many will say they gain 15-20 pounds every year doing their job.

Most will ask for a list of what to do's and what to take for better health, and I always assure them that it really is not that hard to follow.I am so impressed that over 95% of the people I speak to are interested and in need and will always take notes and my email to stay in touch.

I recommend starting with a foundation program that is balanced. One that contains a strong timed released multiple vitamin, also a separate timed released vitamin c, a vitamin e with anti oxidents and a multiple mineral. Next I always recommend a full spectrum digestive enzyme to insure absorption ans a pro biotic to prepare the digestive system for germs and bacteria in the foods they eat when they travel. For those non sleepers I always suggest either Valerian root or l-Tryptophan to ensure a great nights sleep. The cardinal rule is if you do not get a good nights sleep, your immune system will be down and this is when you are wide open for germs and the possibility of getting sick. The last thing is to eat at least 2-3 servings of green vegetables and one fruit, and to drink at least eight to ten glasses of fresh water every day.

It is amazing but by making just a few changes to the things you already do, you will be so much healthier for it. We need to realize that if we are not in good health and not well rested we are no good to ourselves or to anyone else.

Why do we choose the way we do

2007-07-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

The newest findings have Americans listed as some of the unhealthiest people on the face of the earth. This is a very interesting finding as so much of the world is in a state of malnutrition and are listed as below the level of poverty. How can this be when the United States is such a wealthy country with more wonderful choices for a healthy lifestyle than anywhere else in the world.

I guess that when you are given such a wide variety of choices, many people will always choose badly. Why, because we can, so we do. I think in other places in the world when good things are offered people without choices will choose a good thing, where as when you have good choices on every corner, when a great thing comes around, you may just have a tomorrow will be a day to choose better or wisely.

I guess we as a nation are spoiled to the degree that although we know better, we do not have a pressing need to make a change, even though in our heart of hearts we know better.

Hopefully all you do for yourself is working

2007-07-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

So here we are in the dead of summer and like normal most of us are complaining about the weather. I find that most of us will adjust and then before you know it the weather changes again. Oh well, I guess flexibility needs to be our middle name.

Flexibility also needs to be our philosophy if you will, as to the state of our health. Let's face it, we do not heal or recover or lose weight or basically do anything like we did years ago. Is it our age? yes. Is it the way we such bad care of ourselves? yes to that too. So what is the bottom line here? We need to take better care of ourselves and treat ourselves as if we really care.

I am often asked what is the best nutritional way to insure the best overall health. It really is as basic as can be, but we have a tendancy to do two things as adults. One, we make everything more difficult that we need to, and two, we wait until we are broken down and falling apart before we decide to make a difference.

The easiest way to get back our slipping health is to deal in the grey area. Grey area because most of us do not want to have an all or nothing situation and many of us are really not serious about making changes until we are up against a wall. The moderation state of mind allows us to think we are moving toward a positive lifestyle but not having to jump in with both feet.

So what does this moderation condition entail? Drinking more water than you do now, eating a diet fifty percent better than you are presently eating, and get yourself to a quality health food supplement store for quality supplements. This is actually the most important to me because some people feel that as long as they are supplementing their diet with vitamins, no matter where the obtained them, they should see fireworks and get life changing changes by tomorrow. Although supplements are a key issue, they need to be quality raw products, and formulated in labs that ensure proper absorption for the consumer.

I have learned this is a lot for individuals to deal with, so if you find yourself in a quandary or are confused as to the quality of the supplements you are using, please e mail me and I will direct you to a place to shop in your area, or give you a place to order from.

My feelings are when you finally make the decision to change the quality of your life and make life altering changes, you need to make sure you know what changes to make as well as where to go to get the proper tools to follow through.

Please keep me and my expertise in mind if you run into a wall with confusion. I will be happy to help direct you or steer you in the correct direction. There must be nothing more frustrating that to find out all you have done with nutrition to help yourself did nothing for you as they were not in a form that your body could utilize!!!

Bargains and choices are sometimes a wolf in sheeps clothing

2007-07-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

I am often asked why we as Americans have such a destructive behavior. My response is usually the same, "because we can". We are allowed the right to eat a great quality of food and make healthy wise choices or to choose empty nutritional fast food. We have the availability to take amazing nutrients and supplements and yet we choose to bypass this entire process unless we are told we are at deaths door. We can choose to exercise and keep an active lifestyle if we choose, but most of us choose to glue our rear ends to that favorite dent in the couch. I guess it just comes down to choices we can and do make and are allowed to make because we are in America.

When you study other cultures, many of them do not have the means, or the availability of the vast choices we have, but they are far ahead of us in the health arena.Many and if I say most individuals that live in China and Asia would choose a Chinese or Asian traditional herbal medicine physician over a western medicine in a heartbeat. Many Asians eat a very healthy diet out of choice, and not because they were told to do so. Many people in Asia are big herbal medicine consumers and tea drinkers, as well as making exercise and meditation a part of their every day schedules. So does having too many choices cause a negative effect to the selection process with everything we do, I say yes.

I work with many heath food stores all over the country and I often ask them why they give the customers 50 choices of vitamin C? They usually respond by saying this customer wants this and this one wants that. I personally think it is a lack of education by the employees and the owners and managers as well. If you are carrying the most effective and absorb able products, the ones that actually are tested tried and true, and the ones that make a difference, there is no need to have an abundances of choices.

When people go into the health food stores of America they are looking for help and advice and the best choices. Foolishly people bargain for garbage rather that having the respect for their bodies to make quality choices for what they consume. But those same people will pay a ridiculous amount of money for all the "things" in their life that really are not important, go figure?

Try to remember a few things when thinking nutrition. Fast food means a way to serve a quick need with no care or detail to your heath. If you are shopping at a bulk store or a bargin store and the deal looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, lets face it, it is a duck. Look for deals on quality products because a deal on garbage supplements and things that do nothing to start with, is no deal at all.

Do you have expertise in supplement taking?

2007-07-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

So when people ask me what a blog is all about, I usually tell them it is a combination of thoughts, experience in the field of subject, criticisms, solutions, and hopefully things that make people think and become re aware of what they already do or should know.
Yesterday, a very nice lady asked me about her report from her Doctor that told her she had very brittle bones. She said she had been taking the best calcium her drug store had, and that she was using the 500 she was told to take fifteen years ago.

Instantly I asked her the brand, she pulled out the bottle from her bag, and I soon became aware that it was a generic low quality calcium, and had no Magnesium or Vitamin D. Now she instantly became defensive and said if it is no good why do they sell it? I said, because they can, and people that do not read labels, like yourself, or have the initiative to ask questions, like your self will buy it. I said if your bones were brittle and you were worried, why would you go to a drug store where you cannot get anyone to answer a question for you, when you could go to a supplement store and get the correct product for you? She said, good question, hindsight is fifty fifty, so now what do I do.
She then said her Doctor told her that her bones were so brittle that she should do no heavy weight bearing exercise for a while. The Doctor put her on a prescription for a while, once a month, I said it would most likely be a good idea for a while due to the fragility of her bones. WE then started talking about Calcium and minerals, and what exercises she could do that will strengthen her bone density.

She then said I see that there is so much more involved in this process that just grabbing something off a shelf. I said it is more difficult now because all those years you were given no nutritional help because of the choice of product you made, but we will be able to strengthen the bones and your next few reports should be great.

The longer we spoke, the more at ease she became. I suddenly began to wonder how many women are in this category, and how many will be unnecessarily breaking bones and end up with skeletal trauma because of their poor uninformed choices? I decided that I would ask as many women as I could for the rest of the year if they were using Calcium for their bones, and what type and how much. It is one thing to take the time to go to a store and buy and remember to take a supplement, it is another to have it be absorbed and do the job it was meant to do.

The moral is when you buy something that you are not familiar with things like power or speed or company or manufacturer, you will usually go to a store where your questions can be answered completely. Let’ s have the same courtesy for our health and only go to places where questions can be answered honestly, completely and suggestions are made only by people that have the knowledge to make them.

If you are in an area where you are having a hard time finding someone to fully answer your questions or give you the complete help you need, e mail me and I will to the best of my knowledge direct you to someone or someplace that will satisfy your nutritional needs.

I grow more amazed at Americans every day

2007-06-29T22:18:00.001-07:00

When you notice that your body is changing and things do not work like they used to, this is for most of us a pink slip that we are getting older. The interesting thing is that it is happening to people who are not old. Young people with geriatric diseases, it is horrific, but true, and scary to think that we are the ones causing most of it ourselves.

When I was young, people began to hurt, they would have Rheumatism and Bursitis and Diabetes and Heart disease when they were old. It was something that most would say, he or she is old and everything is beginning to break down and fall apart. Today, people are having a hard time believing that they have type II Diabetes in their thirties and forties, blood pressure problems and cholesterol disasters in that same age bracket, and old bones and arthritis when they should be in the prime of their life.

It is hard to believe it is happening to us at a young age, but lets face it, stand back and take a look at lifestyle, diet, lack of exercise, stress levels and bad habits, and then say to yourself that it is hard to believe.

We have every tool available to us to get and stay in the greatest of health. More than any other country actually, but we still choose all of the wrong paths and make the worst choices, and do not take warning signals seriously. The thing that is so frustrating to me is when a disaster happens with someones health, and the Doctor tells them what they already know, they suddenly want to do everything they can to change their life overnight. This is the mentality and they cannot understand why doing things now cannot make and correct years of their lousy bad choices and fix all that ails them by tomorrow.

This is when I usually say, you have had these habits for decades in some cases, and you have known about what was coming and how your health was becoming compromised. So why now, because a man in a white coat puts the fear of God in you, do you think what you have always known is now easy to do and understand?

Amazing as it sounds I see it every day, and I am marveled at how the judgement of an individual can change at the drop of a dime. Maybe the answer is people need to be told what to do and warned by someone, anyone in a white coat and then instantly the foggy picture becomes clear. Maybe I should start wearing a white smock?

Tablets versus liquid supplements

2007-06-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

So I thought I would answer a question I am asked all of the time, and yesterday three times. Is it better to take supplements in a tablet or a liquid?

Liquids certainly are a faster delivery system, but the drawback may be that many of those supplements are not digested in the stomach and may become destroyed in the acid before ever reaching the intestines where they are supposed to be digested and absorbed. Some people are so familiar with the stories of tablets coming through the digestive tract through the colon unbroken down and whole, This is very true but that is not the full story. Many of the natural manufacturers use vegetarian coatings that break down no matter how poorly the digestive tract works. Some, and many pharmaceutical companies use everything fro carnuba wax, red and yellow dyes and shellac to hold the tablet together, making it very difficult for us to digest. Thereby the term "Bedpan Bullets" came to be associated with those supplements.

The other drawback is with a liquid, there is basically no way to sustain the length of time in a body or timed release it for all day coverage. Easy in, quicker out! I will always take a timed released supplement that I can be assured of all day coverage and having nutrients at your bodies disposal when it needs it.

So to answer the question of liquids versus" High quality" supplements, I like the idea of liquids, and there are people that cannot for whatever reason swallow a tablet, so it does have it's place. But let;s face it, we live in very stressful times and we need all day protection and need to have that protective wall around us.

Why we do the things we do

2007-06-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

I am often vitamin asked by many different people why do I not feel anything from my vitamins that I take every day? I think the answer to this can be answered by one of three different questins.

The first question I ask is where did you buy them and what kind of sources do they use?

How are the products manufactured and in what kind of laboratory, and are they regulated and FDA approved?

The third is, why would you continue to use a product that claims to make you feel different and does not make any noticeable difference for you?

We need to remember that because there is not as much control over the vitamin industry, many times companies will cut as many corners as pssible to save their bottom line, and the effectiveness of the products and the customer satisfaction suffers for it. Also, there are not as many strict standards in line as far as the labs and how they utilize their raw products and how the air, bottling, capsulizing and tableting procedures are used. This can cause a dramatic difference in the effectiveness and success of the products we the consumers buy and use.

The reason I have stayed with Great Earth for as many years as I have has to deal with the fact that they are made in Phoenix Labs in New York. Phoenix has been an FDA sanctioned laboratory for years and continually adds updated machinery and expertise to be ahead of the manufacturing process every year. Having this status puts Phoenix in a very small minority of companies across the country that has earned this prestigious honor, and then have to work to maintain it year after year.

The last thing to remember is if you have been using a product or products for a period of time and you have not been successful or achieved the benefits you were looking for, then it is time to change it up a little. Many consumers stay with things because of being a creature of habit, but this is not a time to stick to your guns, it is rather a time for change.

What happens is some people try an inferior brand, get no results and then get a bad taste in their mouth and give up on it completely. It is hard to think about it but not all supplements are created equal, and I am sorry about that, but sometimes if it is cheap and seems to good to be true, it most likely is. Like they say, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are, it is a duck!!

Take the extra time to research the supplements you take. People spend more time researching their clothes, their cars, and their travel plans one hundred times more that the supplements they put in their bodies, go figure!

If you are troubled as to where to go and what to look for, e mail me and I can steer you in a productive and effective direction.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2007-06-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

This is a birthday wish to Richard Armstrong from all of his friends. See, like I always tell you, just because you are fifty, does not mean you cannot act 25, and pull it off, and look great doing it !!!!

Happy birthday Richard, all of us wish you healthy birthday wishes for years to come.

Bad habits

2007-06-22T17:49:00.000-07:00

As I visit so many different places, I always ask the same questions when at lectures or doing training. I am amazed that no matter what part of the country I am in the answers are almost textbook the same.

Now I have to think that I am in so many areas that involve different demographics, different financial situations, different age levels, different backgrounds, both sexes and different races, so how can the answers and the health problems and results of my questions all be the same, or close to it?

The answer I think is that although everyone around the country wants change and everyone wants the perfect healthy body, and while almost all of them desire a healthy lifestyle, very few do what is needed to get it. That is the answer. Although want and desire is stressed, the common denominator is PROCRASTINATION.

Crazy, but so true, and also frustrating because I cannot blame it on anything other than low motivation and laziness. If we were graded on want to, and desire, Americans would all receive an A, but since we have to grade on actually applying themselves and follow through, the grade would have to be incomplete.

All of the know how about health concerns and diet and exercise and supplements. Enough information that it should make people run for the hills to get away from their unhealthy lifestyles, but still no motivation on their part.

I never ever judge bad habits or tell people to quit them, habits are personal and most will quit them when and only when they want to. I have a funny , well not so funny story that proves true the statement I made above.

Many years ago I was with 4 of my friends I grew up with, they were two brothers and two sisters. They were at the hospital and we were visiting their Mom who was in a coma dying from Cancer everywhere in her body. She was a heavy four pack a day smoker and heavy drinker, so basically no surprises here. As we were all in the room, the Doctor came in and spoke to all of them about smoking and the pitfalls as to Cancer and death, and he spoke to them for about a half hour. The Mom passed away about a half hour later, and after a while we all got in the elevator to go down to our cars. As soon as we stepped outside to talk about the plans and what to do next, all four of them lit up. I never said a thing, but then at that moment I realized the intensity of habits and how and why they are so hard to break.

I am sorry to say that three of the four have since died of lung and or throat Cancer and the forth has emphysema. This is why it is actually pointless and really none of anyone’s business when someone we know and love has a bad habit. It is up to them and only them to make the change. Honestly, our bugging people is annoying and should not be done, once again we can be concerned and hope for the best, but that’s about it.

Half way through the year, how are you doing?

2007-06-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

I have come to the conclusion after many years of thinking about this, that we are not all created equal, Let me elaborate on this so that it makes sense and so that my viewpoint will let you see where and how I have come to this conclusion.

I know that we are all the same as far as our make up, our blood our cells, organs, skin consistency, brains and that we have all arrived here ion the same manner. Where I see the major differences in people in general, is how they react to change and how they look at solutions about their health and longevity.

Many people daily do exercise, take supplements, do body work like massage and yoga and meditation. They do this because they know and understand the benefits and have either decided on their own, or have been told or have had it suggested to them that it would be a good life change. Others may try it for a while, but because they do not want to do it in the first place, or are not convinced of it’s benefits, they do not continue for a very long time.

Amazing as it may seem, some people would like all of their health problem’s and faults to go away over night, or be able to take a pill to have it magically disappear by tomorrow. Now, although supplementation is an amazing art and science, and can do miraculous things, it will most likely not do it overnight. I think television and articles in the grocery store periodicals over stress magical changes with no effort and people because of just plain laziness expect it and in some cases demand it. The mentality of so many people is that they want change to happen quickly and they do not want to give anything up or change their habits or do anything that requires anything other than what they are doing right now.

Although this is the wish of every American, I am sorry to say it is just that, a dream.
We need to get real and make whatever changes need to be made and make them before they are made for us medically. I think that this is the worst scenario, when we have to have our decisions made for us by either family or the medical staff at a hospital because we waited to long to make a change for the better, or we did not make one at all.

The moral to this if you are over thirty five years of age. Get a physical once yearly, primarily for a starting point, or someplace to compare to year after year. Exercise or get busy at something you enjoy doing at least three times per week. If you hate the gym, don’t go, go for a walk, go to the park with the dog, something, anything that gets you off the couch and up and moving. The next thing, look at your blood work when your Doctor gives it to you. If he recommends a prescription, ask to have ninety days to make changes in your lifestyle and let the Doctor know that you will come back for testing to see the changes at that time. Most Doctors will agree to this, unless there is a life threatening situation that needs immediate attention.

Many people jump right into the prescriptions without questioning to see if they really can prevent using them, do not fall pray to this. Being that the prescription market is still very new, side effects and updated health scares can come up years after you may be on the drug. If you are forty, do you really want to be on medications for possibly forty or fifty years? I mean does anyone really know the long term side effects? If you have the chance, do anything and everything to prevent being on them.

We need to be reminded that most of the top diseases we are dying from are caused by us and our own forks and lack of motivational drive to be active. So if we can make some changes, many of them small, we will and can live a healthier and hopefully longer life.
Diet should be addressed as this is the one thing that can make the most change as far as disease prevention. Diabetes, high blood pressure, vascular circulatory disease, obesity, heart disease, clogged arteries, and even depression and anxiety can all be managed and in many cases prevented and reversed by dietary changes, and in most cases quite quickly.

So sometime, and sometime soon, go to a quiet place with no distractions and just a pad of paper and a pen. Write down a list of activities you enjoy, problems you may be experiencing, health problems and strengths, how your mood is, supplements you take, medications you take and some family history as far as disease and how your genetic lines are so that you can get a better idea of what is down the road. I often tell people to attend one of those awful family reunions and while you are there look around and ask people how they are doing. This is often the best crystal ball into the future as to what you either want or do not want to happen to you. Remember, people that are not healthy and are having surgeries and bad health love to talk about it. So this is the time to suck it up and listen and learn.

I hope some of this will motivate you to get going and get ahead of the future before you are playing catch up. There is nothing better that making changes and feeling the differences

Dog information important to know about.

2007-06-19T22:35:00.000-07:00

This was sent to me from a wonderful friend in California. Her name is Betsy, and she is the most wonderful person I know, as well as being about the most knowledgeable person about dogs and the health of dogs anywhere.

In this day and age when our pets are sometimes more important than some of our family members and even some friends, information pertaining to them is crucial.

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This was checked out on Snopes and it is true.>http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp>>Written by:>Laurinda Morris, DVM>Danville Veterinary Clinic>Danville , Ohio>>This week I had the first case in history of raisin toxicity ever seen at MedVet. My patient was a 56-pound, 5 yr old male neutered lab mix that ate half a canister of raisins sometime between 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM on Tuesday. He started with vomiting, diarrhea and shaking about 1AM on Wednesday but the owner didn't call my emergency service until 7AM. >>I had heard somewhere about raisins AND grapes causing acute Renal failure but hadn't seen any formal paper on the subject. We had her bring the dog in immediately. In the meantime, I called the ER service at MedVet, and the doctor there was like me - had heard something about it, but.... Anyway, we contacted the ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center and they said to give IV fluids at 1 Â½ times maintenance and watch the kidney values for the next 48-72 hours.>>The dog's BUN (blood urea nitrogen level) was already at 32 (normal less than 27) and creatinine over 5 (1.9 is the high end of normal). Both are monitors of kidney function in the bloodstream. We placed an IV catheter and>started the fluids . Rechecked the renal values at 5 PM and the BUN was over 40 and creatinine over 7 with no urine production after a liter of fluids At the point I felt the dog was in acute renal failure and sent him on to MedVet for a urinary catheter to monitor urine output overnight as well as overnight care.>>He started vomiting again overnight at MedVet and his renal values have continued to incr ease daily. He produced urine when given lasix as a diuretic. He was on 3 different anti-vomiting medications and they still couldn't control his vomiting. Today his urine output decreased again, his BUN was over 120, his creatinine was at 10, his phosphorus was very elevated and his blood pressure, which had been staying around 150, skyrocketed to 220.. He continued to vomit and the owners elected to euthanize.>>This is a very sad case - great dog, great owners who had no idea raisins could be a toxin. Please alert everyone you know who has a dog of this very serious risk. Poison control said as few as 7 raisins or grapes could be toxic. Many people I know give their dogs grapes or raisins as treats including our ex-handler's. Any exposure should give rise to immediate concern.>>Laurinda Morris, DVM>Danville Veterinary Clinic>Danville , Ohio>>>Even if you don't have a dog, you might have friends who do>This is worth passing on to them.>>

Slow down we move WAY to fast!

2007-06-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

So the heat is here and we are all making adjustments so we can better tolerate the heat. The funny thing is, those of us who complain the most, are also the same ones who do it every single year. I mean, we live in the desert, so we should know that every single year we will be in the low hundreds for at least three months.

I always laugh because for the first few weeks everyone seems to put off things and then eventually realize that they need stuff. Gas, food, clothes,cigarettes, booze and need to go somewhere other than just going to work and coming home and hiding from the scorching weather. After a few weeks, we get used to the heat and we go on like we do every single year.

Things eventually cool down and the weather is very pleasant for about a month or so, and then it gets cold, and then we have something else to complain about. I guess when it comes down to it at the most basic level, we will never be, nor are we ever satisfied with the now or the present. I think many of us spend our entire lives living in the what could be and the maybe tomorrow will be better, until we realize that we are now old and where did the and our lives go.

As I am traveling around the country I see it everywhere I go, and hear it in conversations where ever I am. Everyone seems to be in a hurry to go no where quickly and waiting for things that have not happened, and hoping for a better next week when we have not even finished the day.

I know that hoping and planning for bigger and better ways to enjoy our lives is a dream of every person every where, but maybe enjoying what we have and where we are now at this moment will keep us more focused and under a little less self induced stress.

Take more B Vitamins and possibly some Kava and maybe a bit more Ginkgo Biloba. These can all help our stress, our focus, and keep our nerves at bay.

Summer, the great motivator

2007-05-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

Well, after a brief vacation from blogging, I am back and ready to chat. I am not sure about the area of the country you are in, but Las Vegas is right at the onset of hot weather season. The time of year when you do not have to remind people to drink water or to cut back on their eating, mostly because they are really thirsty and not as hungry.

It is the time of year when activity comes to us naturally, and trying to look good is a reachable, or at least a focus able goal. People always say why is it easier to do all of these things when it is warm? Well, it is not because people are any more motivated, it is merely because it is hot out, we wear less clothing, and we visually see the mess we are in from being bundled up and lazy all winter, and nothing else. None the less, it is a workable and successful strategy for many people.

Kind of funny how weather can change our motivation levels, but it can. Just think about it, when it gets cold, we stop drinking water, we bundle up in heavy fat clothes, and because nobody, or so we think, can tell we are gaining weight or that anyone notices our addition of poundage.

All I can say is I welcome warmer weather as it actually gets us moving and keeps us feeling and looking better and motivates us to care again, if only for the season.Another plus is it kicks us in the rear end to attain or strive towards our goals. So, welcome back summer, I have missed you.

When enough is not enough, but it really should be!

2007-04-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

I think it is really time we take a good look at the American diet. I went out to eat tonight and was even more amazed to see how much bigger people are getting and they are eating twice or three times the amount of food they should be eating. In some cases enough food at that one meal for three days of a normal diet. I know we love to eat and we base our entire life both socially spiritually, and mentally on food, but I THINK IT REALLY IS TIME FOR A WAKE UP CALL.I am talking about kids of all ages and adults of all sizes, races and men and women equally. I was also amazed to see how true it was that this epidemic does follow environmental settings as most families seem to be getting larger together.

I heard a statistic the other day again from a pretty valued source that said for the first time in the history of America the parents of the baby boomers have a great chance to outlive their kids. Wow, that is a scary thought!! I have recommended programs to people for years now but when it really comes down to it, they need to want it, and want it badly enough to just do it. Change I mean, big changes and sacrifices and looking at life completely differently than they ever have before.

The funny thing is, and it took me years and years of struggling myself to realize it, and up until recently I never really thought about it this way, it is only food. It is not air, or water or any of those other things you could not in your mind live without like toys or hobbies or clothes or gadgets, it is just food.The thing is in America, most people have never really been hungry, I mean never because it is always easy to get the next meal. So why do we eat as if it is our last meal every day?

I mean really, we see it, we eat it, we chew it ,we swallow it, and then in America we feel guilty about it and swear to stop eating it, but we don't. It is like I always said on Monday morning, "today is the day", until noon and then it was not the day anymore because I could always stress out and then cheat and say, well next Monday. I could have started at the next meal, but it was always ultimately easier to push it up another week.

The final straw for most people happens when we are completely disgusted with our health, and the total unhappiness with our self image .Of course the possibly of a health scare that pops up will usually makes something click in the clerical intelligent part of our brain, although It should be plain old common sense .For me, it was just time and long overdue.

Hot weather is upon us

2007-04-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

So have you started having hot weather in the area you live in? We are in the high eighties and on our way to the one hundred plus mark here in Las Vegas. Although we go through this every year, people act as if it is the first time they have ever been in a desert climate.

I hear from people all the time that it is too hot, in the winter it is too cold, too windy, too much pollen, to dry or too wet, there really is no pleasing these people no matter what. Some of them if they won the lottery would not think of the millions they won, but instead think of the taxes they had to pay. But I digress, weather will always be a factor that we live with, cannot change, and if we do not like it you need to move someplace where the weather suits you.

Some preparations and supplements that need to be remembered here in the desert include drinking more water, remember other beverages like sodas and coffee do not count. The addition of mineral supplements to the diet will also cut down on heat exposure and protect the bodies electrolyte balance. There is also a product called Emergen -C which can be added to any beverage to give you a natural mineral enhanced electrolyte drink. I have recommended it to so many people that every year they automatically use it every year like clockwork.

Out here in the desert there are many outdoor workers that are exposed to the heat full force every day, and some drink a lot of soda as nobody ever told them about protecting their electrolyte balance. Many of them without adding minerals or electrolyte supplements can end up with blood pressure problems as well as heart, and muscle cramping.

Keep the water in sight and handy and make it part of the diet. Push the sodas and coffee to the side as they really do not quench the thirst or replace the fluids that the body has dehydrated. You will feel a lot more energetic on a hot summer day if you add minerals, electrolyte powers, and drink fresh clean water.

Blood Pressure

2007-04-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

I am often asked about alternatives for blood pressure reduction without jumping right into prescription treatment. Many people fall right into the path that is set forth by the Doctor and never realize that there are alternatives available.

Blood pressure problems can be serious and life threatening if not treated. Many people have heart attacks and strokes and some have no idea they even had the problem to start with. Maybe this is why high blood pressure is called the silent killer. They say that people end up in the emergency room daily and find out for the first time their blood pressure is high. In this day and age with stress levels being so high, and sodium levels out of sight with our bad diets, it is no surprise that one out of three adults has it.

When you are on blood pressure medication there are side effects that many Physicians fail to tell you about. Medication for some people can be a life saver, but for others it can be the beginning of a long trail of medication after medication that do not work, side effects, frustrations and stress. It can end up being a long line of disappointments.

So what is available as an alternative to the medication. There are many things that can be done to reduce it without the drugs. Weight loss is a great start as well as cardiovascular exercise. Increasing water and reducing caffeine consumption as well as stopping sodium intake. Supplements that can be very successful are herbs like Hawthorn, Cayenne, Valarian, Kava, as well as the minerals Calcium and Magnesium, also combinations like BP blend are used with great success.

The thing to remember is that alternatives do exist and sometimes you need to do a little research on your own. Many times the correct solution may be as close as your supplement vitamin store and not at the pharmacy, but without a little research you may never know an alternative exists.

Skin

2007-04-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

Dry skin is a problem in almost every city and every sate in the country. For some people it is due to bad diet, and for others it can be environmental, allergies, side effects of medication, bad circulation, internal dehydration or stress. Depending on the actual cause, the treatments can be very different.

For many people the Doctor will tell them it can be caused from over three thousand different allergies as well as a multiple amount of different reasons. I am sorry to say that the traditional treatment form the medical establishment seems to be the same, no matter the cause. Take warm showers and not every day, drink a lot of water, use internal steroids, smother yourself in topical steroid hydro cortisone cream, and try to relax.

For some people this may work for a while temporarily, but for most it is stop one in a long term bout of revolving Dermatologist visits. Many of which will be non productive and in the long run never get to the true cause of the skin issues.

Many people not only have dry skin issues but over the last ten years we have seen a huge increase in Psoriasis and Eczema and Contact Dermatitis, all with the same procedure being recommended.

I think nutrition and diet needs to also play an important role, to the degree that it will most likely be the procedure that will give total and lasting benefits. Start with the diet, cut out as much junk food, sugar and caffeine as possible as well as greasy deep fried foods. Try increasing your consumption of greens and protein as well as putting yourself on a substantial amount of fresh water as your main beverage. Many people have skin disorders as a result of bad diet and impurities in the blood, so a cleanse might be in order to remove all of those impurities so they do not come through the skin.

Remember to take good quality supplements. Start out with a good foundation program with alll the bases covered like the NSP program. Add in extra Probiotics, digestive enzymes and oils like Fish oils capsules as well as Flax seed oil everyday. Just this small amount of change can produce huge benefits for you, and usually at a quick rate of time. There are also skin formulas that have extra nutrients that you may find beneficial.

Topically look at Squalene oil and lotion. They will lubricate the skin as well as condition and heal dry and irritated skin. It is non greasy and penetrates so fast you will think you almost forgot to put it on.

Good luck, and remember, if you need extra information on healthy skin, drop me an email anytime.

Pet food

2007-04-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

Have you had any problems with the recall and your pet and the food you have been feeding? The establishment has assured us that all of the food on the shelves has been tested for purity. I wonder where the FDA was and why they have not been doing any testing along the way, and why the main distributor Menu Foods had waited so long to start the recall and go public, and how long they actually knew? I am also interseted in why they used products that are not or were not tested.

I think one or two good things will come out of this fiasco. One, the pet food industry will now start checking and testing the raw products because they have learned that this is a very upset and passionate and fighting group of people, us pet owners. Two, maybe we as a group will learn not to put our faith in buying food and taking for granted that it is always good enough, and maybe people will start supplementing and adding great food to the pet food. This way we can make sure we are not only safe with our pets, but they will have the best nutrition available. We have to remember that our pets are only as healthy as we allow them to be, and we need to treat them as family members and maybe they will be healthier for it.

Happy Easter

2007-04-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

I hope all of you had a wonderful restful holiday today. Filled with good food, good friends, great family and a large bottle of digestive enzymes to pay the price for all of the fun.

Let's face it, holidays are a reason to bring the buffet to our house!

Happy Easter to all of you!!!

Ninety days to get a new attitude and a lower cholesterol level

2007-04-05T16:53:00.000-07:00

When asked about choosing cholesterol medication over natural alternatives, the answer is simple. When the Doctor first tells you your cholesterol is high, it most likely is, and most likely you are doing all the wrong things to start with.

Chances are you are eating the wrong things, drinking too much alcohol, eating too many carbohydrates, and being inactive and drinking far too little water. How close am I to the truth with regards to your cholesterol? I am usually right on as most people cause the problem themselves and we have only ourselves to blame. The reason I say this is because when you are diagnosed with a high cholesterol, rather than jumping right into a pharmaceutical drug and dealing with all of the complications and possible side effects, don't you think you owe your yourself and your body a chance to correct and do things the right way first?

We have a tendency to treat ourselves badly most of the time and just expect these bodies to keep going at top speed and stay in tip top perfect condition. We never think that it will slow down or become faulty or actually stop working all together. That could not happen to us, other people maybe, but not us! So when the diagnoses comes and before you leave the office ask a few questions of your Physician.

1) Will I die tomorrow if I do not take this drug?

2) Can I have a few months to change my diet, exercise program and try nutrition for an alternative?

3) And I would like to come back in three months and test the blood again, compare it to today's blood work, and if I have not been able to do it on my own then try the prescription.

I will say that ninety percent of the time the Doctor will say fine, and make an appointment for three months from that date for blood work.

So you now have the Doctors permission to give it a try, so what next? Most people think that only deep fried food and red meat can cause high cholesterol. That could not be farther from the truth. Did you know that by over consuming carbohydrates and sugars and over loading the liver and putting on a belly or adipose gut fat, your cholesterol will go up. Alcohol is another factor for the cholesterol problem as is inactivity, smoking, sugar, caffeine, as well as junk foods and eating deep fried everything. Most people will ask what should I eat to correct this problem?

My recommendation is to eat high protein and low carbohydrate for ninety days. Meaning chicken, fish, all seafood, eggs, meat- yes meat, pork, turkey, tuna, good quality cheese, all green vegetables and lettuce, and one piece of purple fruit or a half a cup of berries every day. This selection is actually more that you can imagine to choose from and of course cutting out beverages except water, diet sodas or Crystal light, black coffee, tea or iced tea will also help.

This program can actually cause your body to burn stored fats in the liver and in the blood and shrink you down at the same time. Many people will say not only did my level of cholesterol go down, but my sugar plummeted down, and I lost twenty five pounds, not a bad side effect hey?

The nutrition part entails adding Lipotropics, a concentrated form of lecithin for fat emulsifying and liver cleansing. Cholesterol formula, a blend of all nutrients to lower serum cholesterol including Red Rice Yeast and Policosanol, among other great nutrients. No Flush Niacin to cause a histamine reaction to break down triglycerides and fat in the blood, and a great digestive enzyme to process the protein effectively, I like the Ergozymes.

I get feedback every single day on this program. As so many people are using it for the reduction of high cholesterol, I usually hear more about all of the other wonderful changes it has made. The funny thing is everyone, and I mean everyone says, "I do not think I can do this", and three months later sporting a new look, and great blood workup and a new attitude I hear " I do not think I could live any other way".

So here it is, take the advice and run with it, and treat yourself better and give something back to yourself, YOUR HEALTH!!!!

Who me, I cannot believe you are talking about me?

2007-04-03T17:34:00.000-07:00

I have finally come to the conclusion that people are basically waiting for miracles to obtain the changes they need to happen. Let's face it, the idea of Publishes Clearinghouse knocking on our door is that of fantasy and dreams come true, but lets face it, chances are, it is not going to happen.

So why then do we wait for someone to tell us to make changes or for somebody somewhere to say that we should do this or that and now or else. I am always amazed when I speak with someone that says my Doctor told me to lose weight. Wow, was it a real surprise, did you not know, were you shocked by the news? We should know it is time when we cannot fit comfortably in eighty percent of our clothes. When we come home at night and have three or four cocktails and then the Doctor tells us that out liver does not look so healthy and says to stop drinking, or at the least cut way back, can we actually be astounded at this revelation? Or the most amazing, when we go in for the yearly physical and the chest x ray is bad and we are told to quit smoking and we shake out heads in disbelief?

I guess I am from the school that we make our beds we lay in them, we create bad habits and we have to break them, and we need to be in charge and stop having to let someone else tell us what to do. I guess it comes down to the fact that we like others to take responsibility for our actions because it is easier than taking responsibility for them ourselves, I guess?

Be careful of the summer full length mirror

2007-04-02T15:11:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that when the weather gets warm and we put on those first pair of shorts or summer clothes we suddenly realize that we are out of shape and have gained a lot of weight. It is like we are waking up from a long winters dream and had no clue.

How strange, as we have been wearing baggy loose fitting and warm heavy clothes, but we still had to see ourselves in the mirror in the morning. It is like we have been oblivious to the whole process of seeing ourselves during the entire winter.

Well, all I know is, more people start diets and exercise programs in the spring and summer than on New Years day, and I actually think more of them stick to it at this time of year.

A few extra tips to get it all started. Remember, you have been hitting the heavier foods, and of course the higher carbohydrate yummies as well. Most people have avoided their adequate water intake and have veered away from the gym. If you are right now standing in the mirror wondering who that person is looking back at you, you make think about a drastic diet switcheroo and 30-60 day cleanse. You will be amazed at how great you feel and look after a small sixty day sacrifice. Chances are the sixty days will be over before you know it, although most people will gain ten to twenty more pounds over the next sixty days complaining all the while that they are gaining and that they need to do something.

If you are interested, please leave me a note or email me. The program is done, calculated and ready to go, and free for the asking. You and your body will love you for it.

Oh, before I forget, the program has all food and nutrition suggestions and materials needed for cleansing all spelled out for you in an easy to follow format.

A travel tip for you as travel season is upon us

2007-03-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

I usually try to keep all of the information here associated with health, but this was something I heard about yesterday that was too important NOT to pass on. When you are at a hotel or motel now most of them are now using computer encrypted door keys. I am sure it saves a lot of money over the old keys that when lost had to be re keyed by a locksmith.

Well, I did not know that when you are checking out most of us still do not know what to do with the keys. Do you leave them in your room, put them in the key box, or take them to the front desk. Well. I learned yesterday from a show I was listening to on the way home from a training in Los Angeles that keeping the keys and taking them home is the smarter thing to do.

I had no idea that our name, home address, dates we were there, and credit card information was all on that key. It would be easily read bu a inexpensive card reader and available to anyone who got these keys to do do what they wanted with. The gentleman speaking was a policeman for Los Angeles Police Department and he said that our information stays readable until the card is re used and it is erased when another person uses the key and all of their information replaces ours.

He says anyone including housekeeping, disgruntled and underpaid workers, front desk people and even management as well as other guests who find the keys laying around have access to our information. So remember. although the keys are disposable, all of our personal identity is on them. Consider this a tip from Las Vegas, and a tip to keep with you whenever you travel.

Because if you do not do this, the next article will be on stress, depression, anxiety and what to do when your credit gets in someone else's hands and you are a stressed out mess about it.

Happy safe travels, and be sure to tell everyone you know that travels. These keys are nothing to look at, but starting a collection at home, where you can safely destroy or shred them will be well worth them becoming a travel collectors item.

An allergy day, but not for me!

2007-03-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

I followed my own rules today and used a heavy dose of Pollen Season formula, Las Vegas mix, and C Complex. I also drank a ton of water as I was out literally in the trees, and I mean literally doing spring pruning. I was able to get in three truck loads of dead branches and all the while being a stone throw distance from Olive, Oleander and Mulberry trees. This is a big thing when you are prone to allergy symptoms, and when you do not take precautions, you suffer badly.

My radio show this morning was on allergies, and from all of the calls and emails, many of you are suffering badly as well. The funny thing is we and our surroundings change almost daily, so we really do need to have the knowledge of what and when to do things just in case.

Here in Las Vegas everything has changed from a desert landscape to almost a tropical paradise, and then an east coast neighborhood, with a dose of the west and a sprinkle of the Midwest. People are moving from everywhere and bringing their landscape with them. So you may have lived here for thirty years with never one allergy sniffle, and this year your eyes are swollen shut and you are sneezing and you are having sinus headaches and you are full of mucus. Well get used to it as we are not in Vegas anymore, we are in an ever changing new Vegas and knowing what to do is up to you.

A few blogs back I spoke about all of the nutrition to use and just remember to cut out dairy, wheat and gluten and all mucus forming food and drink tons of water and get your rest and you will breeze through this season without a hitch.

Time slips by

2007-03-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

I am looking outside my window right now and the trees are blooming, the air is warm and night time is upon me. My favorite time of the day actually. The time of the day when all is settling down, but also the time of the day when you realize that you finished absolutely nothing that you had on your list.

I often wonder how us, meaning myself, can be so organized to the world. You know the person that seems to get so much done in a day. I do admit, I have always been the person that can get everything done in a day and run circles around everyone. The secret behind the scene is that I am a list checker. I love getting things done and seeing things that need to be done, and doing them.

The problem is that people like me forget to do thepersonal things we need to do. We have a tendency to put ourselves on the back burner and push away things that need immediate attention because we are more in the mode of doing stuff for everyone else. I guess this is good for everyone around us that is connected to us because they get the benefit of out hyper ness and fast paced get it done personalities, but sometimes we suffer because of our lack of priorities.

So as I sit here and look out the window tonight I realize that it is almost April and I am still focusing on my New Years resolution and have decided it is time to initiate that into a work in progress, and start focusing on ME ME ME. Not an easy thing to do for someone who spends way too much time not thinking about all of the me things, but I will give it a go and take some more B Complex for the stress I will certainly be putting on myself.

Change, that dreaded six letter word, almost as bad as the four letter word we all hate, DIET

2007-03-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

Do you think that some people wake up one day and suddenly realize that they need to make a change in their life? I have always found that most people put up with so much before they decide it is time to take measures into their own hands. Some people will know that changes need to be made but will wait until a Doctor tells them to do it.

Why is this? I think we have so much going on in our lives that worrying about making changes, or fixing problems that relate us and our health end up at the bottom of the to do list. I have known people that would never even think of bringing in nutrition to their lives until something suddenly happens. Sometimes they could be a spouse or a friend or a relative of a customer that I have known for years that would frequent lectures and come into the store, but never ever apply any of the alternatives to their own lives, but just kind of came along with the others for the ride. Year after year I would always think that they would eventually make a change. Suddenly one day they had a sudden trauma like a bad blood report, a heart attack, or found out that they were in harms way, and like someone waved a magic wand, they suddenly decided they wanted to do anything and everything available for their health.

I guess sometimes it takes something like a disaster to make us think we should focus on change. Have you ever noticed when you go to funeral and it is someone that dies quickly or without warning or even someone that was very young. The topic always on everyone's mind seems to be on instantly wanting to exercise more, start that diet they have put off forever or possibly just focusing on themselves for the first time in years. I think sometimes it take a major trauma to get us going and possibly to just slow down a little.

The funny thing about this is no matter how focused you get after a funeral and no matter how much you want to make a change, most of us end up sliding back to our old selves, and forgetting how urgent it was that we needed change because when it comes down to the nitty gritty of change, you will only really do it when you are ready and not before. I really like the idea of the magic wand theory, I think we could make some great changes, and quickly!

A birds eye view of the traveling masses

2007-03-20T18:19:00.000-07:00

With my traveling now more than I have ever done in my life, I am observing people from all over the world that have been traveling and living out of suitcases for a long time. I do watch things including watching to see if people take vitamins after meals. What people eat and drink. Are most travelers coffee a holics, and does it look like they are a healthy bunch of people.

What I have determined is that most travelers eat whatever is available when they are hungry and they seem not to care exactly what it is, how it is prepared or where they eat. I watch travelers eating very high fat meals, the beverages of choice is always caffeine wither in soda or coffee form.

Everyone looks exhausted, and preoccupied and many do not even talk to anyone near them or even those who are sitting next to them. I am sure when you travel as much as many of these people do, how many times do you make small talk before it is just a chore. I mean how many times do you explain that you travel, and what you do and where you do what you do?

I must still look like the rookie because I smile at everyone and most of the time have a conversation ready to go. Many of therm after starting a conversation will actually ask questions and I will hear from them by email later. The last time I went to New York, last month, I asked the lady next to me what medication she was on as she was loading a whole line of them in after take off. She proceeded to tall me the things she was using and I asked my standard question, have you ever thought of trying a natural alternative? This question either gets you one of three responses. One, My Doctor does not believe in supplement's. Two, they had no idea there was an alternative and tell me more about it. Three, how come my Doctor never told me I had a choice.My response always is, get a new Doctor, yes there are many alternatives, and maybe it is time to try another medical approach or try a Doctor that will work all approached with you.

Many times when you start talking other will turn around and listen or jump in and before you know it, I am giving a lecture at twenty thousand feet. I know deep down everyone has a wish to be happier, healthier and have more energy, some just do know what path to choose or where to go, so many just bury the idea and plow through their lives feeling bad and just accepting it. Too bad for them because everyone deserves the best health they can have, and all the choices available for them to choose from.

I hope I continue to be me, and not turn into one of the masses, what am I talking about, if I did that, I would not be able to talk, NEVERMIND!!!