The Best Stuff on Earth?

One of the most commonly asked questions in my experience with health counseling is “how do I lose weight?” Immediately upon sitting down with anyone to discuss their health I always ask for their daily routine: what they eat, drink, physical activity level- etc. Without fail there are always one or two people who eat reasonably well, get some exercise in, and yet still can’t seem to shake the final pounds. Here’s a common reason: iced tea.

Most people know that soda is bad for them, and those concerned about their health don’t drink it. What people don’t often realize is that those “all natural” iced teas in the glass bottle with bits of tea leaves hanging around the bottom, those teas that seem so healthy really are not. While they might be made from more quality ingredients than say, diet cola, they are still chock full of sugars-or worse still- artificial sweeteners. The non-”diet” varieties contain up to as many calories as a small meal! And if you don’t know how I feel already about “diet” drinks, well… let’s just say I’d rather you drink the small meal.

In any case, most people don’t realize that just because something is natural doesn’t make it good for you! Pure cane sugar is natural. It comes from the ground and in moderation (like a teaspoon in your coffee) it’s fine, but not 10-12 teaspoons like those lurking in the all natural sweet teas! It’s no wonder that otherwise healthy people are having difficulties losing weight when they’re drinking many times 30 or more teaspoons of sugar in a day and just not realizing! So ditch the bottled teas and make your own.

Here is a great recipe for sun tea. Sun tea is a slow brewed iced tea that’s made in a large glass pitcher or jug and left by a window (or outside when it’s warm) to steep in the sun. The process takes a few hours but the product is great!  You’ll need a clean, dry large glass pitcher or jar, about 7-8 tea bags of your favorite tea (1 bag per cup) and a lid or something to cover your brew with. Place the tea bags in first and then fill the pitcher with filtered, room temperature water. Cover and let it sit in direct sunlight for 3-5 hours. Once the tea is brewed you can sweeten lightly with honey or agave and serve over ice. Try with a little lemon! This tea is simply amazing, easy and you can experiment with all different types of tea. You can even get creative and make blends of different teas!

If you don’t have the counter space or a surface near a window, brew tea and ice yourself. The trick to making a great iced tea is to double the strength of the brew. As the ice melts in it, it dilutes the tea to the perfect potency!

So, if you’re having a hard time shedding pounds, try subbing your sweet drinks for the home made variety. Keep in mind this is NO substitute for the 10 or more glasses of water you should be drinking, but it is a great and healthy way to enjoy a sip of flavor during your day.

Green Coffee What, Now?

Green Coffee Bean Extract is all the rage. You know it’s funny. Every single miracle diet that comes recommended on the Dr. Oz show becomes epidemic before long. I’m not saying anything against Dr. Oz. No, in fact I am grateful to him for turning people’s eyes to their health. Also, I’m pretty sure that he alone is responsible for small health food stores staying in business. Here’s the deal though. Dr. Oz is on TV every day, right? He has been for years, right? Yet obesity is still prevalent in his viewers. Stay with me. What I’m saying is not that Dr. Oz isn’t good or informative. It’s just this. Dr. Oz does not use Green Coffee Bean Extract, or special Chinese tea or ketones or any of those things to be in shape. Dr. Oz, I guarantee you, eats well, exercises and drinks plenty of water!

I’ve heard good things about this green coffee bean extract, and I’ve heard bad things about it. I’m sure the real stuff has helped people. And I’m sure that plenty of green coffee products out there are filled with fillers and caffeine and are just making people jittery. If you want to try it, go for it. But, go for the all natural kind, and let me know your success. I’d be glad to hear from you about it. But I will say this. It may help you lose weight without moving a muscle, but as long as you eat unhealthy foods and skip physical activity you’re going to gain that weight right back. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but there it is. I’m all in support of natural supplements that help people to reach their goal weight while they are eating natural, healthy foods and taking walks and doing squats. But, I cannot show my support for something that is going to put a band-aid on a broken arm as it were.  Besides, what good is losing weight if your body is still unhealthy?

In order to keep weight off, you’ll need a body that’s firing on all cylinders. In order to get that body, you’ll need to eat healthy, all natural foods and stay active. I’m sorry, my friends, but there is no way around that. Dr. Oz may recommend supplements to help you reach a goal, but he doesn’t maintain his great shape by eating fast food and adding a drop or two of weight loss tincture to his milk shake! It just can’t be done.

I know that changing your lifestyle can be hard, but it’s worthwhile, valuable. Not just to you, but to the people who care about you. So, I won’t stop you from trying new weight loss supplements, in fact, I’ll encourage it, if you’re using them along side a healthy lifestyle and as long as they’re 100% natural and safe. I want you to achieve your goals as much as you do! But, I want your achievements to be real, life changing, life lengthening. I want your weight loss diet to be the same diet that prevents cancer and fights against diabetes. I want you healthy lifestyle to keep you trim as well as feeling great, full of real energy and an a healthy immune system. So, do what’s best for you. Not just what looks best.

Forget The Diet, Focus On Health

Stop trying to lose weight.  This year simply stop trying to lose weight and just make an effort to become healthier.  You think that may sound funny.  One of the primary reasons why we created a wellness company is to coach and educate people on what being healthy really means.  Over the last several days it seems we have been bombarded with weight loss marketing ideas.  Corporations, television, radio…and the like; it all seems to be about weight loss.  Something is terribly wrong.  Obesity rates are rising not decreasing.  Chronic disease is on the rise, certainly not decreasing.  I know we’re living longer but oh my goodness, are we living healthier?

So I implore you, this year forget about weight loss, forget about inches and pounds, focus and become diligent about just simply being healthier.  In fact, I shall make it easy for you.

• The snack stand at the movie theater, I love going to the movies; in fact I venture out to the movie theater at least once a week.  But boy oh boy, please remember that most of the snacks do not even resemble real food.  Sorry folks I must point out, watch out for the “cheese” sauce and the “butter” flavor.
• Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, now most of you know that I love coffee.  But I definitely limit how much coffee I drink and I know that the embellished coffee drinks are really, really tasty, but remember there are more calories in one of those drinks than a meal.  So stick to just coffee and add a little cinnamon and raw sugar.
• Sporting events, I know these are hard.  In fact I am one of those gals who absolutely loves sports.  Ice hockey and basketball are favorites of mine, but I’m sorry, please don’t succumb to the garbage.  Sorry, I would be remiss if I did not point this out.
• Fast food, just don’t do it!  It is absolutely impossible to maintain a healthy lifestyle and eat fast food.  And no, you don’t really have to stop at McDonald’s for a salad.  With the abundance of beautiful supermarkets practically on every block, take a couple extra minutes, run into the supermarket and fix up a great little salad.  You will save calories and money my friend.
• Roast, don’t fry, there are many, many ways to cut calories whilst we cook.  Important to remember as often as possible, reach for your roasting pan and not your frying pan.  You can roast just about anything you can fry.  Well, except for eggs maybe, but give me a second, I’ll think of something.
• Read the ingredients, OK folks, why?  Health is not just about calories.  Eczema, psoriasis, headaches, yeast infections, tinnitus…so many issues that are borne from or worsened by the chemicals in our foods, it is even harder to imagine I’m sure.  Here is the point, focus on a more natural diet and you might free yourself of many issues you didn’t think you could.
• Sodas, energy drinks and sports drinks, if you don’t know what I’m going to say about this, you don’t know me very well.  Listen, want to get healthy?  Well it will be absolutely impossible if in the year 2012 you continue to drink empty calories filled with chemicals.  Solution?  WATER!!!! Seltzers, juice, tea…I could go on and on, well I think I might in another blog.
• Eat breakfast, why oh why are we still talking about this?  This is one of my most favorite sayings:  Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.  Please oh please keep this in mind.  I guarantee, yes I said I guarantee, if you eat the “right” breakfast you will lose weight.  No, I did not say grab a low fat bagel at Dunkin’ Donuts on your way to work.
• Walk, bike ride as much as possible, park as far away from work and errands as you possibly can and walk briskly to the building.  Bring running shoes to work with you, take a 15 or 20 minute walk at lunch every day.  Remember to do some of our exercise videos every week (I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself).  Listen, what’s my point?  Get moving! Don’t be sedentary.
• Fruits, vegetables, fiber…we simply do not consume as much as we should in this country.  So for 2013 make it one of your resolutions.  Increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables, I promise, you will feel better.  I have to point out, if you’re getting your fiber from Metamucil, some contain aspartame, which is a no, no. Besides, why would you take fiber supplements when there are so many natural ways of sourcing it?
• Water, water and more water, it should be the first thing you drink and drink it throughout the day.  Besides all the obvious health aspects of drinking water that you already know about, so many of us are walking around dehydrated all the time.  Here’s the thing folks, if you’re at the point where you’re thirsty or parched well, you have simply gone too long without water.  Remember, when you’re at the point of being thirsty, your body is desperately in need of a little H2O, no I should say a lot of H2O.

I know I hit you with a lot of information but folks it’s all the little things we do on a weekly basis that create an unhealthy lifestyle.  I love walking around a  big city or walking down by the beach.  I love going to the movies and sporting events and if you love to do all these things like me, but still want to be healthy, you will have to become a little more organized and certainly more aware of the dangerous food that exists in all of these places.  So my lasting thought, a little awareness and a little planning my friends, that’s what it will take to be healthy in the year 2013.

Compass of Life

Today is January 14th and most of us who have made resolutions might have already slipped.  Resolutions are interesting, they sometimes tend to cause stress and anxiety instead of providing hope and guidance.  Nevertheless, resolutions are serious though, so let’s treat them that way.  A good friend once told me, “It’s not a race”.  So what does this mean?  Baby steps my friends.  Diligence, perseverance and hard work are required to adhere to your resolutions.  It’s not a race so don’t try to lose 50 pounds in the month of January.  Don’t resolve to volunteer 50% of your time in the month of January.  On the contrary, let’s take baby steps.

• Resolve to eat healthier, you will certainly lose pounds.
• Resolve to drink less alcohol, you will certainly get healthier.
• Resolve to walk more, you will feel better.
• Resolve to eat sweets only on the weekends, you will certainly get healthier.
• Resolve to be kinder, you and everyone else will feel better.
• Resolve to volunteer one day or even one hour a week.
• Resolve to help everyone you can.
• Resolve to give to every needy person you run into, I promise you won’t go broke.
• Resolve to “Love Thy Neighbor”, sometimes it’s hard, but I promise we will feel better.
• Resolve to ask for forgiveness, as often as you can.
• Resolve to give your forgiveness, as often as you can.
• Resolve to teach you children about faith, provide them with the right foundation.
• Resolve to cut down on computer time and spend quality time with your children.
• Resolve to have your children watch less television, even if it’s a little less.
• Resolve to visit your parents more often.
• Resolve to reach out your hand to family and friends you need you.

Resolutions can sometimes be difficult to keep but perhaps if we look at life as if it is not a race, they might be a little easier to adhere to.  Baby steps my friends.  Perhaps instead of one major resolution you should make many small ones.  Making many small resolutions might set your compass of life in the right direction.  Actually, let me expand on this thought.  Take the time to do some soul searching.  Does your life consist of trouble, pain and stress?  Well then, God might be tapping you on the shoulder and advising you to change the direction of your compass.  Whether you choose to make one or 20 resolutions, perhaps think about making your own list and include your family.  How wonderful would that be?  Make a family list and get everyone involved.  This way everyone within the family can hold each other accountable.  That shall certainly further our resolve.  This year make sure that you are going in the right direction.  The resolutions you choose and your adherence to those resolutions will indeed provide you with much love, faith and hope.  A good friend once told me, “Make sure your compass is facing in the right direction”, so that is my wish for you this year.  My wish for your 2013 is that it is filled with love, faith and hope and that your compass is facing in the right direction.

Three Days to Beautiful Skin

Holiday parties are right around the corner.  It’s an awesome time of year for seeing friends and family we maybe haven’t seen all year. While it shouldn’t be the number one thing on our minds, most of us (especially us ladies) are more eager than ever to look and feel our best. To achieve and keep a healthy glow and slim figure it’s important to focus more now than ever on the food that you are eating.  What’s the tip?  Well here you are…

For exactly three days prior to an event avoid the following:

• Caffeine (only if you can)
• Alcohol
• Dairy
• Sugar
• Preservatives and additives in foods

Now for these three days eat a diet full of the following foods:

• Wild Alaskan salmon
• Kale and dandelion greens
• Brussels sprouts
• Sweet potatoes
• Raw, unsalted walnuts
• Chia seeds
• Strawberries and blueberries
• Good quality extra virgin olive oil

I guarantee if you follow these instructions for three days, you will be amazed at the results.  Your skin will be radiant and beautiful.  You will achieve that sought after healthy glow.  And, might I add, reduce your waistline believe it or not.  To assist in your pursuit I’ve also added V Well’s Anti-Aging Salad.

The V Well Anti-Aging Salad

 

(Please note dandelion is extremely healthy but is also bitter.  If you do not think you can handle it, omit it completely and increase tomato and cucumber or substitute with Romaine lettuce.  We highly suggest eating it once in a while)

Ingredients:

•  ½ bunch dandelion greens and 2 to 3 kale leaves, washed well and thinly sliced
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 English cucumber, peeled and sliced
• 1 handful of raw walnuts
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• ½ green pepper, sliced (optional)
• ¼ red onion, sliced (optional)
• 5 to 6 strawberries, sliced (optional)
• 1 cup of Kalamata olives
• ½ cup feta cheese
• Sea salt and ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

In large salad bowl, combine all ingredients except olive oil, vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper.
In a separate small bowl, place vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper.
Slowly add olive oil and whisk until blended.

Fat Burner

I’m sure many of you have heard of what are being called the new miracle cure for belly fat: raspberry ketones. The news of them is everywhere especially since being mentioned by the ever popular Dr. Oz. I suppose you may be wondering what I think of this new craze. Well I’ll tell you. There is no denying the metabolism boosting power of the supplement and the fact that it is an all natural method of suppressing the appetite gets my stamp of approval but there are some things to look out for when selecting the brand and type for you. It is not necessary for the manufacturers of a supplement to list the minor inactive ingredients such as dyes and artificial sweeteners (which is a strange, but common ingredient in the coating of any pill.) Be sure your supplement of choice is free of all bad chemicals. Although it is not required to advise consumers of those particular contents, you will notice that if they are omitted from the pill or capsule it will likely be advertised on the packaging. Raspberry ketones require no additional chemical additives to be beneficial, so look out for ingredients such as caffeine. A good raspberry ketone supplement will have no additional ingredients besides raspberry. While you probably know I don’t have a problem with caffeine intake, limiting the sources of it makes it simpler to maintain healthy consumption levels. Also, some people have complained of jitters from taking ketones. It seems the varieties with caffeine or green tea included in the ingredients exacerbate this reaction. The raspberry plant only contains a helpful level of ketones during a specific time frame in its harvest season. Because of this and quantity of plants necessary to make the concentrated product, a quality raspberry ketone supplement will sadly most likely not be found for 6 dollars a bottle. A quality and effective supplement will cost more than one stuffed with fillers and/ or ineffectual or unnatural ingredients. Also, be advised that because of the high demand for the supplement the raspberry ketones in the least expensive bottles are not “all natural,” but produced in a lab. As with most vitamin or herbal supplements the purest and most easily digested form is usually liquid tincture. Ketones themselves are something that our bodies produce when we fast, or exercise a great deal. They are the chemicals we release to use our fat reserves as fuel when carbohydrates are not available to us. Raspberry plants produce a high amounts of ketones as well, but the amount of berries we would need to eat in order to alter our metabolisms would not leave us room for anything else in our diets. In fact, we’d be so busy eating raspberries we might not have time for anything else in our day! The most efficient way to use these fat burners is to take them as a concentrated supplement. So, am I for raspberry ketones? Sure. Why not if taken correctly? But I will also say this, why not let your body make its own ketones? I do believe that supplements can be helpful, but as always the surest way to lose unwanted fat is through healthy eating habits and rigorous exercise. I know that’s not as exciting an answer as the next great miracle diet in a pill, but it will always be the most effective, best fat burning advice I can give.

Lose 20 Pounds in 30 Days

For those of you who don’t know, I rarely recommend diets.  The best way to lose weight and keep it off is a change in lifestyle and then maintaining that lifestyle.  I have been asked quite a bit, however, about fast ways to lose weight. I understand that it’s easier to make the change in lifestyle once you are motivated by some significant weight loss first. Before I continue let me preface what I am going to share with you by reminding you the path to weight loss that I recommend is our Fit and Fast menu. It supplies you with the meals you need to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Now for the moment you have all been waiting for. You should know I never recommend anything that I haven’t tried.  So as your own personal guinea pig, I can tell you this diet really works.  In fact, I only did it for two weeks because I lost 10 pounds.  I love to read, in fact I would venture to say that there are not many health books out there that I have not yet read.  The following diet is straight out of the book The Four Hour Body.  I tend to agree with most of what is in this book and I certainly agree that this diet works.  I personally like this diet because you are not deprived of food.  You get quite a bit of food and for the people I have recommended it to have not gained weight once the diet was over, in fact they continued to lose weight because they maintained a healthier lifestyle.

Alas, here goes, 20 pounds in 30 days.

• As soon as you wake, water is the first thing you drink, in fact two to three bottles of water.
• Within 30 minutes of waking you must eat your breakfast.
• Your breakfast will include eggs, beans (not baked beans) and vegetables.
• Lunch will include lean protein (chicken, turkey or fish) beans and vegetables.
• Dinner will be the same as lunch.
• You can have coffee or tea but absolutely no sugar or artificial sweeteners.
• Absolutely no artificial sweeteners, chemicals or preservatives at any time.
• Drink lots of water.
• Drink lots of green tea.
• Here is the fun part…you follow the above regimen for six days.  On the seventh day you eat anything you want, in fact feel free to binge.  Great right?  I recommend your day off.

Now obviously you realize after reading through this that the diet consists of lean proteins, lots of beans and lots of veggies and that is why it works.  During the 30 days (except for the four days you are bingeing of course) you may not have any fruit, simple or complex carbohydrates, no sugar, no bread, no pasta, no rice, no, no, no!  Stick to this for 30 days and you really will lose 20 pounds.  I have known many people who have tried this diet and quite frankly they do not really feel as if they are dieting.  What other diet do you know that lets you eat anything you want one day of the week.  Please oh please, stick to the suggested meals even if you hate beans, find a type of bean you can live with.  It is important to remember, eating within 30 minutes of waking really does matter.  Hey listen, you may not need to diet; but if you know someone who does, maybe forward this to them.  It is a healthy way to lose a lot of weight.  In fact, just to help a little bit more, I think tomorrow my blog will be a shopping list for this diet.  So in keeping with our mission to make your life healhier and of course easier.  I wish you all much success and of course I look forward to your questions and comments.  Bon apetit!

Losing Weight…Not Just About Diets

• I am blessed.
• I am fortunate.
• I am healthy.
• I am fit.
• I am a fabulous father.
• I am a fantastic team member.
• I can not wait for the glorious day to get started.
• I will have an amazing day today.

Now say those things, and the like, every day for the rest of your life.  Don’t prophecize negativity into your life, don’t call in the bad feelings.  Zip it!  Zip it!  Zip it!  Just zip it up folks, I am certainly not trying to be corny here.  In fact, did you know that there was a physician in Europe who did a study with his patients.  For three months he gave all of his patients a placebo and told them that in addition to taking their medication; they were instructed to say the words, “I am healthy, I am strong, I am healed” three times an hour.  Did they get healthier?  Well you betcha!

Call out what you want to be.  Don’t let your words bring about a negative, unhealthy life.  Remember, what we say about ourselves is more important than what others say about us.  Try something for me just for a second.  Say out loud, “I am tired, I have no energy.”  How does that make you feel?  Show me someone who is healthy and looks great and I’ll guarantee that person is certainly not mumbling about being tired and cranky and beat up.

Health and strength start from the inside and can never coexist with a negative attitude.  Please take the time this weekend to think about what your words and your thoughts say about you.  Call out what you want to be.  Speak the  words of what your image looks like.  I guarantee after weeks of waking every morning and thanking God for your blessings, then moving on to statements such as, “I am healthy”.  I feel great”.  I am strong”, it will be really hard for you to be anything but healthy and feeling better.

If this sounds somewhat strange to you, I ask you, “What have you got to lose?”  As far as I can see, maybe a few pounds and some pains here and there.

How to lose a few pounds without even trying…

One of the quickest ways to lose weight is to make just a couple of adjustments in your everyday life.  Most people, unfortunately, skip breakfast which, of course, we all know, is the worst thing to do.  In fact, I, who love oatmeal so dearly for breakfast will tell you this much – Have protein for breakfast!  In fact, immediately upon waking up, make sure you drink a cup of warm water with one lemon and then follow that with 2 or 3 glasses of cold water.  No – I did not say coffee.  You can have coffee after the water.  Oh – and make sure you take the sugar out of your coffee.  Try a little cinnamon and vanilla instead.  Try having 2 eggs, a tomato, and some greens for breakfast instead of oatmeal or any other kind of carbs and make sure it is very soon after you wake up.  Take it from an oatmeal lover – I love my oatmeal but if I am trying to shed a couple of pounds, all I have to do is make this one slight change and the pounds come off.  So if you’re looking to get rid of a little extra weight, turn to a high protein breakfast.  Make sure you drink water throughout the day and please make sure that for every cup of coffee you have, you have 5 glasses of water.  Make these slight changes in your everyday life and I promise you will be down a size in no time.

In fact, I get so many requests for high protein breakfast recipes that I have decided to do a new “Breakfast Ideas” list for just high protein recipes as part of my Cooking Coach program. So stay tuned and check out http://www.studiovhealth.com for more information, but in the meantime, hard boil a dozen eggs and keep them in your fridge.

A Testimonial You Must Read!

Well, after receiving this e-mail last evening I just couldn’t help myself.  It brought tears to my eyes so I just had to share it with you.  Diabetes Type 2 has become so common that I fear people assume they simply have to live with it.  I will certainly not ramble on about everything you already know about diabetes.  Today I merely wanted to point out a couple of things for you to consider when it comes to health and wellness.  First and foremost many people assume, since I am the founder of a health and wellness company, that my thoughts and ideas regarding health are extreme.

Here is the reality, there are instances where in rare situations we come across people who are very ill and at that point we may recommend a vegan lifestyle for two to three months simply as a “detox” to get on the road to recovery.  Here is the simple truth of the matter, you do not have to make drastic changes in your life to experience quick results.  As you know, since most of you are on the program, you can eat most of all the foods that  you desire such as meat, fish, poultry, carbohydrates; and still stay on the path of great health.  For the majority of people good health does not require a “detox”.  Good health will simply mean the deletion of a few poisonous items from your lifestyle.  The big no-no’s of course are the items that we consider to be poisonous such as the chemicals in processed foods.  In fact my friends, if you make just one minor change, for instance substitute water for soda; that will even change your life dramatically.

Without further ado I would like to share with you, the e-mail that prompted the blog today.  Please bear in mind that what is so remarkable about this e-mail is that this woman began our program barely two weeks ago.  Additionally, this is not intended as a promotion for our program, but more importantly to promote what I consider to be my mission in life and that is my goal to strive for “a poison free world”.

“Thanks so much for working with me. I was so excited yesterday because it was the first time in a very long time that my sugar level was in the 90s with no medication. I contributed this to the new way that I am eating and yesterday I finally included exercise into my day. I walked for about 40 minutes. Of course this will be my motivation to continue down this path.

My sugar level is doing so much better. It continues to come down.

To tell you the truth Vicky I was very discourage about my diabetes. I was not checking my sugar level on a regular basis because it was mostly in the 200 range and I didn’t really want to know how high it was. I was abusing my body and this was having a negative impact on my life overall. I was always tired and didn’t feel great. I thought I would be unhappy changing my choices of the foods I just loved (potatoes chips, soda, processed and sugary foods). However, I am actually really enjoying my new foods such as oatmeal, fish, brown rice, home made salad dressing, and lots of great vegetables. I can’t leave out how happy I am that I haven’t been drinking sodas. Drinking water now feels so right to me. I feel so much better! I really look forward in the near future of being totally off of my diabetic medication.

A big thanks to Jack who initiated the conversation with me about Studio V and connected us together. Please feel free to share my excitement with others who may benefit from my experience.”

Thank you, responses like this are the reason we do what we do every moment of every day at Studio V Health.

Make it a fantastic, healthy day everyone.

Best Regards,

Vicky