Category Archives: Weight Loss

Menopause and Adrenal Fatigue

Adrenal Fatigue, Health, menopause, Migraines, perimenopause, Weight Loss

Adrenal Fatigue and menopause are becoming more prevalent as we busy women are doing way too much and multi-tasking. OK, did you hear me?  The key word here is over doing while the body is going through a natural state of hormonal change.  We as women are so much more in tune with our bodies then men.  It’s just the way God created us.  I was unaware that there are three stages to adrenal fatigue.  It has stage 1, 2 and 3 and then Adrenal failure.  “But how could I have adrenal fatigue?  I don’t feel bad.  I’m not overweight.  I eat healthy.  I exercise.

From a simple Google search, you’ll find that the topic of adrenal fatigue is HUGE and could not be contained in one simple article. So for the sake of your time today, I will get right to the bottom line.  I am not a doctor so this is just my thoughts and opinions on this subject.

Some Not so Obvious Signs:

  • Woman Feeling UnwellGetting so tired you feel like crying.
  • Being very angry (on the inside) or crying when someone asks you to get up early for something or stay up late, etc…
  • Not being able to function past 9pm, which may be made into a joke…”oh I turn into a pumpkin at 9 o clock.”
  • Being easily frustrated by silly things like…people chewing, someone bumping into you, etc…
  • HATING loud noises with a passion.

Getting Professional Help

This is where your preference for the type of doctor will be a personal choice.  I would encourage you to find a naturopath physician.  I prefer to have a professional that will encourage the use of natural solutions, nutrition, and the whole body for healing, not just treat symptoms.   I so enjoy Dr. Christiane Northrup, MD.  In my opinion, she gets it and explains it in preschool terms and tells you how to get the help you need.  She is the ultimate professional MD.  Most insurance will cover this now!

Getting Natural Help

STOP drinking Coffee.  This was so important for me.  Nearly all adrenal help sources agree that getting off coffee is important for adrenal healing.  Coffee simulates your adrenals—which isn’t always a bad thing.  Coffee has many great benefits.  But for adrenal fatigue sufferers, drinking coffee may mask just how bad you feel.  You need to hear what your body it telling you.

Tulsi Tea is a great way to support energy levels without stimulants.  You can start with drinking 1-3 cups of Tulsi Tea each day.  Do a Google search, you’ll find lots of great info on this fabulous product.  I am a tea drinker so I try lots of different ones!

More Sleep is kind of a duh—but it’s a really big piece of healing your adrenals.   Just like everyone else says; get to bed by 10, sleep as late as life allows in the morning, and nap when needed.  This is a restoration period so use essential oils for sleep!

Sea Salt Water is another big help for the adrenals. Some say it helps others say it doesn’t.  I always say try it and keep doing it if you see improvement or just stop if you don’t.

Herbal Supplements like Licorice Root, Adrenal Herb Blends, and Essential oils such as bail, rosemary, clove and elevation are recommended.  As well as high quality supplements like Life Long Vitality.  Ultimately, the best thing you can do is get professional help so that you can choose the correct supplements for you.  But these are general things that usually help most people.

Stop the Emotional Stress

Step out of stressful situations.  Take up yoga or Pilates.   Listen to relaxing music.  Read a good book.  Get a massage.  Learn how to dial it down and pay attention to your body and mind.

Learn to say “no” to more things, people, etc…  This isn’t being mean or selfish.  I used to think it was mean for me to tell someone “no” –but I’ve learned that it’s not.  It’s actually mean to my family if I keep saying “yes” to everyone else.

So there you go–just the tip of the iceberg but hopefully something to get your mind thinking! I help people who are stuck, broke and unhealthy to create balance, time freedom and healthy thriving lives!  You can find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com or via email susano@livinglifeholistic.com

 

DO YOU HAVE DANGEROUS BELLY FAT?

Weight Loss

Some of the most stubborn and dangerous fat to carry is belly fat since it’s in close proximity to our internal organs and can wreak extraordinary havoc on health. Fortunately, however, there are some good-for-you foods that are helpful in busting belly fat. Here are a few of them:

Avocados and foods with other healthy fats:  Just half an avocado contains 10 grams of healthy monosaturated fats, which can help stop blood sugar spikes that prompt your body to store belly fat. These healthy fats—and others such as the healthy fats in many nuts and seeds, coconut oil, extra virgin oil, organic butter, ghee and flaxseed oil—not only fight a bloated belly, but they also help you to absorb beneficial carotenoids, compounds found in colorful veggies and fruits. More specifically, those who ate salads with an avocado experienced 15 times higher absorption of carotenoids, according to a study from The Ohio State University at Columbus.  Avocados are also rich in potassium, which helps convert food and nutrients to energy and muscle tissue as well as other benefits. They’re also packed with B vitamins, amino acids and fiber—and prove very filling.

Bananas and other potassium-filled foods:  Bananas pack in 422 milligrams of potassium, a mineral that helps to limit the amount of belly-bulging sodium retention in the body.  Be careful though as bananas are high in sugar and just ½ banana is a serving.  So not every day.

Probiotic-rich yogurt and dairy: A healthy serving of probiotic-rich almond or coconut yogurt and other non-dairy products can help to support good bacteria growth in your gut, which takes space away from other “bad guy” bacteria that can cause bloating. Likewise, this supplies a belly-taming combination of healthy protein and fats, both of which can help stabilize insulin, a hormone that signals your body to store calories as fat when levels get too high.

Berries and other antioxidant-packed, low-sugar foods: Antioxidants have the ability to improve blood flow, which delivers more oxygen to muscles, making abdominal-focused exercises easier. Low-sugar berries such as blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries are packed with antioxidants.

Green tea: Just three cups per day of green tea can boost your metabolism, stimulate fat oxidation and burn 30 calories, according to a study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Additionally, the compound ECGC in green tea allows for easier burning of fat, prevention of body fat accumulation, a decrease in lipid absorption and in the reduction of inflammatory cytokines throughout the body. Likewise, a 2011 study published in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry says that green tea actually promotes weight loss on the genetic level. It appears to trigger genes that help shed excess body fat and inhibit the formation of new fat cells at the digestive tract level.  Again, try to get organic green tea.

Citrus-packed veggies and fruits:  The vitamin C in produce such as red peppers, oranges, lemons and limes can boost your fat-burning capability by up to 30 percent more during exercise, according to research from Arizona State University.

I help people overcome their limiting beliefs that are keeping them stuck, broke and unhealthy to create balance, time freedom and health!  You can find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com or via email at susano@livinglifeholistic.com  Let’s connect!  Sign up for my free 12 green smoothie recipes and monthly newsletter.

Weight loss and foods that are better choices for Fiber

Weight Loss

Are there magic foods that we can eat all day and still lose weight? No seriously: Are there? Please tell me! So far I haven’t found any… But there are some foods that are relatively low in calories yet have high nutritive value, either because they are high in fiber, phytonutrients such as antioxidants, or high in protein. These are foods to keep handy in the pantry, refrigerator, or garden and eat daily. Train your family – particularly children – to snack on these top ten foods rather than chips and sodas and you’ll be ahead of the nutrition curve before you know it!

Fiber is critical. Remember your grandmother telling you to eat more “roughage”? Well she was right! We need at least 25 grams a day, and ideally 35 grams a day, for a healthy bowel. I think the correlation between high fiber diets and lower cancer rates is not just from fiber but is synergistic, since most high fiber diets are high in fruits and vegetables, which are also high in antioxidants and other phytonutrients. But, fiber is clearly also very important and few Americans get enough.

Here is my current top ten list of high fiber low calorie foods:

  1. Raspberries rank as one of the highest high fiber low calorie foods, at 8.0 grams of fiber and just 64 calories per serving (1-cup) (1 calorie per raspberry!).
  2. Pears have about 5.1 grams of fiber and only 51 calories for a medium sized pear. They are easy to pack in a lunch and store well.
  3. Apples provide about 4.4 grams of fiber, at roughly 55 calories for a small apple. Choose organic as apples are on the EWG dirty dozen list 2012.
  4. Blueberries provide about 3.5 grams of fiber, and roughly 40 calories for 50 berries. Choose organic as blueberries are on the EWG dirty dozen list 2012.
  5. Strawberries provide about 3.3 grams of fiber and average about 2 calories per strawberry. Choose organic as strawberries are on the EWG dirty dozen list 2012.
  6. Black beans – 1 cup has 15 grams of fiber – along with 15 grams of protein – and just 227 calories[9]
  7. Whole-wheat spaghetti weighs in at 6.3 g of fiber per serving and approximately 174 calories per 1-cup serving (always check the label as brands vary try gluten free)
  8. One cup of steel oatmeal provides 4.0 grams of fiber and about 60 calories per serving
  9. Whole wheat or multigrain breads offer 1.9 grams per slice and some start at 65 calories per slice (always check the label as brands vary – a lot!!!) (Again try gluten free)
  10. Cooked peas, at a whopping 8.8 g of fiber and a low 67 calories per cup serving size. Turn a cup of peas into instant soup with a stick blender and some vegetable stock.

I help others overcome their limiting beliefs that are keeping them stuck, broke and unhealthy to create balance, time freedom and health!  You can find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com or via email at susano@livinglifeholistic.com sign up for my free green smoothies!

Living Debt Free and Healthy

debt Free, Featured, Financial, Health, menopause, Migraines, perimenopause, Weight Loss

I can remember to this day the phone call I received at work.  I answered the phone, “This is Susan, how may I help you?” The person identified themselves as the emergency room of the hospital, “Is this Susan? Is your husband Michael?”.  I answered “yes” and then the next words rocked my world, “your presence is required at the emergency room”, and I sat down quickly.  What, what did you just say to me?  They would not disclose what had happened, or whether my husband was dead or alive, just that my presence was required.  When I arrived at the emergency room, they quickly brought me back without telling me anything.  When they opened the door I saw my husband, bloody, dirty and hooked up to a ton of monitors.  He was not dead, thank God, but they didn’t know if he had broken his back, neck or both.  After a CAT scan it was a  C-4 neck fracture.  A halo and one year to heal, followed by 3 years of disability and retraining.  That year was 1986. Doctors said he was either dead or paralyzed when they saw his file, but we serve a great big awesome God and he was neither!

All this to preface that we were young, with two small boys, living paycheck to paycheck.  We had bought our first home, had some credit card debt, and some school loans.  You learn what a priority is quickly when you have a major trauma in your life.  We learned how to live on much less very quickly.  Later we went to a class called Financial Peace University (Dave Ramsey) and War on Debt (Dani Johnson).  We learned to become debt free and never turned back.  I can tell you that our health was fully altered due to the debilitating migraines my husband suffered that could not be stopped by medications but only with natural medicine, proper exercise, low glycemic eating, sleep, and essential oils.  He now has one occasionally, a far cry from daily.  This is why I became a holistic health coach to help others get where we are today.  Do you want financial freedom?  Time freedom? Do you want true health?  You can find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com

I would love to connect with you for a free 15 minute consultation to see how I can help you!  To your health!