Posts Tagged ‘well-being’

So, it’s that time again…spending your hard earned money ON SOMEONE ELSE! Oh, I’m just joking. It can be very rewarding to find that perfect gift for someone else and to see their faces light up. So, this season I’ve put together a collection of shopping guides, stores and holiday specials for you. A few will change after Black Friday or Black Monday so, be sure to come on back and take a look at the new items.

Read Up First

First, start with this quick article from the Environmental Stewardship Committee at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. It has tips for shoppers who want to help the environment by conserving resources. It contains gift ideas, shopping tips, and wrapping, decorating and entertainment ideas. The article is a bit old, but the information is still quite relevant.

Buying Guides

National Geographic’s official Green Buying Guide

The Holiday Green Guide
This unique and interactive online coupon resource is COMPLETELY FREE for consumers who are looking to save HUGE dollars on eco friendly products from online retailers. The publication is filled with thousands of dollars in savings to make the holidays a little greener for shoppers, retailers and the environment.

The Holiday Green Guide is live and available to consumers from November 2– December 31 2009.

Stores and Discounts

UncommonGoods.com
UncommonGoods is one of my all time places to shop, for others as well as myself!  I’m sure you’ll find something fun and unique this year here.  “We have worked hard to build an online marketplace offering creatively designed, high-quality merchandise at affordable prices. We are combining the treasures of a specialty boutique, the great finds of a craft show, discoveries from a faraway bazaar, along with some enduring classics.”

Hay House Inc.
Hay House is offering stunning new gifts items, discounts up to 70% and free gifts to celebrate the Christmas Season. With the economy the way it is, everyone could use a little inspiration and Hay House products provide just that! During these difficult times, we are excited to pass along more savings to your customers.  Click the picture for the link.

SPECIAL OFFER: Free Shipping* Site Wide!
One Day Only – Cyber Monday, Nov 30th
We will kick-off the online holiday shopping season with free shipping site wide with no minimum purchase. *Offer will be valid one day only and expires on Monday 11/30 at midnight Pacific Time. Valid for online purchases only shipped within the continental U.S.  CLICK HERE ON MONDAY, NOV. 30TH.

EcoExpress.com
I enjoy finding nice, appropriate gifts for people I either don’t know very well or that I just can’t figure out what to get for them. EcoExpress creates natural and organic gifts that are unique, memorable and high quality. You can send beautiful gifts and support the environment with their wide assortment of earth friendly gourmet, fruit, spa and rainforest green gifts and baskets.

iHerb
You’d be amazed at all of the products iHerb has to offer. Here I purchase supplements, home cleaning products [when needed], pantry items and bath and cosmetic products from time to time. If you shop with them, remember to SAVE $5 on your first purchase by using my COUPON CODE: OMA603

Lavera
Lavera is having a TON of various sales, but this one is by far the biggest saver. Keep in mind the page will not be available until BLACK FRIDAY, 12:01AM NOVEMBER 27TH.   I will have updated links to other holiday specials as soon as Sunday, November 29th.  Click the picture for the link.

Beautorium
I enjoy the variety of higher end organic/natural products available with Beautorium. I can not get these locally and shopping with Beautorium has been terrific. Check them out and find amazing lines such as Dr. Hauschka, Trilogy, Saaf, John Masters and Red Flower. Save 15% on all featured lines until January 1st, 2010.  Click the picture for the link.

Maximizing the peace in your life and relationships is an area not many people take very seriously in their overall wellness. Usually because they do not realize how much of an impact is has on our physical health. True wellness focuses on body, mind and spirit, the total package of your life.

In our society today, the greater majority is overworked, overstressed, overwhelmed, over-stimulated and overfed. Come on, this is America after all…we want more, we want it bigger and better and we want it NOW. We, as a whole, are also undisciplined, under-motivated and unable to move forward in areas of our lives that are not ‘easy’ or are areas of our lives that require long term attention. How many family members or friends of yours are on antidepressants? How many children? Use of antidepressants has become a true epidemic in America.

Without peace of mind and strong relationships, neither life nor health can be maintained at optimum levels. Numerous studies have proven that poor relationships cause stress and we are constantly reminded that stress leads to poor health. It’s been shown that people with more negative aspects in their close relationships had an increase in the risk of heart problems and poor blood pressure. Those with poor relationships are also much more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and other mood disorders due to inflammation which can damage our brain cells (even after taking weight, social support and other factors into consideration). [Many of these studies can be found on WebMD and ScienceMag.org.] How is this happening? Any time you think a thought or say a word, little messengers called neuropeptides, travel all through your bodies, touching every cell and depositing a bit of that chemical in it. If your thoughts are negative in any way, then the chemicals that these messengers deposit depress your immune system. If your thoughts are loving, optimistic, and positive, then the different chemicals that these messengers—or neuropeptides—deposit will enhance your immune system. [To learn more about neuropeptides and how they effect your body pick up a copy of "Everything You Need to Know to Feel Go(o)d"
by Dr. Candace Pert.]

Moment by moment, we’re consciously or unconsciously choosing healthy thoughts or unhealthy thoughts. These thoughts affect our bodies. One thought by itself doesn’t have much influence over us. However, we all think more than 60,000 thoughts a day, and the effect on our thoughts is cumulative. Poisonous thoughts poison our bodies. [So you can see how important it is to have people in your life that have a positive effect on you.] Science is now confirming that we can’t allow ourselves to indulge in negative thinking. It’s making us sick and it’s killing us.

Personal note:

I, like many, went through many years of troubled relationships and as a result suffered small, annoying health problems and bouts of depression and anxiety attacks. In 2004 I was introduced to the works of Dr. Wayne Dyer through the book, “The Power of Intention“.  I found the views and perspectives of Dr. Dyer so refreshing and it taught me to start thinking in a different way.  I started trying to implement some of his teachings into my lifestyle. On one hand it was easy and on the other, rather difficult.  When I was focused on bettering my relationships and life I noted numerous changes in my overall mood, quality of life and outlook, but I had to stay focused on such changes and I would always fall back into my old habits after awhile. Being a fan of Dr. Dyer, I began reading each new book Dr. Dyer published and in doing so, stumbled upon Louise L. Hay and the book “You Can Heal Your Life: Gift Edition“.  I can not say enough about this book. I read it [or listen to the audio book] quite often.  It helps me learn to deal with and release so many negative aspects in my life and relationships. By letting go of so much, I began realizing what my life could be and a whole new world opened before me. I started branching out my reading even more and found many wonderful authors; some effective and beneficial, some not so much. It all depends on you, your state of mind and where you are in your life at the time of your readings. I found that though I have interest in reading new authors and evaluating their ideas, I relate to Dr. Dyer and Louise Hay best. This year I read Dr. Wayne Dyer’s book “Excuses Begone!” I have never slept better [and I often suffered from bouts of serious insomnia]. This too will be a book I turn to on a regular basis. I’m always wishing for friends and family members to read Louise L. Hay. In one year I gave away 5 of the books “You Can Heal Your Life”. Now I wish to add Dr. Dyer’s new book “Excuses Begone!” to my constant recommendation list. There are many different ways people find to release the negative aspects in their lives, bad habits, poor relationships, terrible work environments. For me I found it simply in making major life changes, meeting my amazing spouse and reading the works of authors with positive messages. Friends I know find solace in going to church regularly, attending meetings with groups that share similar life ideals, staying active as volunteers-the options are endless and are personal for each person. I hope that if you find a way to improve or remove any negative relationships in your life…it’s not always easy-but the peace and joy it will bring to your life will be more than worth it.

Additional reading online:

MedicineNet.com
HealthMatrix.net
Code For Living Life
Prevention.com
The Secret by author Rhonda Byrne

My Book Reading List:

Deborah McIncrow
Women’s Health & Wellness Coach

The Wonders of Weight Loss

Losing weight and feeling healthier can be a constant challenge in your life. There are certain steps that you can put into action that will continue to promote your forward motion and successful endeavors on your lifelong journey toward healthier and lighter living. They are not out of your range and you have to believe in yourself and persevere toward their endowment and bequest. For it is only when you strive for continued involvement in these essential elements that you begin to see the results that you are longing for.

Let’s take a look at five essential elements that promote success, and provide a pathway lined with achievement. Let’s see how many of the elements find their way into your daily line up:

Healthy Food Selection: Fueling your body with a gracious amount of fruits and vegetables and other powerful choices is the responsibility of you. You must limit unwise food choices and establish new, more beneficial ways of fueling your temple.

Portion Control: Being aware of your need for energy is priceless in your ability to fuel your body with the correct amount of food. Listen to yourself. Pay attention to your mind, body and soul when it gives you signals to stop eating.

Exercise: You have to move; you must get physical to fully reap the potential that your body has to offer. Each element of this lifestyle is a building block for the next. If one area is lacking, all progress suffers. Get moving and start reaping the payoffs.

Journaling: the power of the almighty pen to paper is truly amazing. It allows you the gift of reflection, it gives you the power to monitor and adjust. Not to mention it provides you with the presence of self to be accountable to you, granting you the awareness of your actions.

Hydration: Water does a body good. Water maintains hydration, creates efficiency and provides energy for movement. Not to mention it wards off false hunger and creates the opportunity for greater rewards in the weight loss department.

These essential elements have been around the block for many, many years now and they continue to surface with every Tom, Dick or Deborah’s words of advice. They are the proven building blocks of how to live a lifestyle that promotes good health, living a healthy weight and overall greater wellness. Nothing worth it’s weight in gold comes with the snap of your fingertips; everything worth working toward takes diligence and perseverance.

Creating habits that promote your healthy, lighter ways of living provide you with a foundation in which to continually practice your chosen way of life and remind you on a regular basis what it takes to be successful on your weight loss journey. Each and every day you step out of bed you must make the conscious decision to take the steps to improve your lifestyle. No one can do this for you, it is your granted right to follow through, create a change in your chosen pathway and you will, there is no doubt in my mind, reap all the fantastic benefits of living a healthier, lighter way of life. Be willing to create the change and in turn you will alter your future for the rest of your life. Below you will find a wonderful array of tactics and everyday activities that you can involve yourself in that foster greater well-being and weight loss.

Eat breakfast. It is a well known fact in the weight loss department that women who feed their bodies when they rise are more successful at losing and keeping weight from returning.

Eat multiple times throughout your day. Feed your body small, healthy choices before it even realizes it is hungry. Avoid being starving at all costs.

Engage a workout buddy. Having a friend to travel with enhances your journey and keeps you motivated when you feel like throwing in the towel. Having a support system is wonderful.

Do not bring any item into your home that has a tendency, more often than not, to sabotage your weight loss goals. Go out and purchase it if you need, but leave it at the door.

Do not banish any food or drink items from your life. This approach is unrealistic and cannot be maintained for any duration of time. It sets you up for failure every single solitary time.

Have a plan. If you do not adequately prepare for success it will not arrive on your doorstep. Make a list, create a calendar and be sure to schedule yourself in. Plan to be a winner.

As you strive to follow the elements of success and create a new pattern of beneficial habits that enhance your possibilities in the weight loss department, it is important to remember to be kind to yourself along your journey. Taking the time to be pleased with your actions, capturing your feelings of pride in yourself and being able to step back and reward yourself for fulfilling your goals is such an important task to complete. We need to observe our own successful accomplishments and take the valuable opportunity to acknowledge our greatness in our own lives. You know what they say, everyone loves compliments and everybody adores to be commended for a job well done; this includes you too. Unfortunately more often than not we are so enthralled with praising others and mentioning their wonderful accomplishments that we forget our very own good doings and triumphs. Taking the time to reflect on your successes breeds continued further success down the road. Not to mention appreciating your achievements builds your self esteem and gives you the motivation to continue taking steps toward your goals.

There are a number of steps you can initiate when stopping to soak up the admirable accomplishments of little old you:

Self Gratitude Journal: purchase a small notepad, one that will fit into your pocketbook. Each time you do something that is a step in the direction of your goals, quickly pull out your notepad and jot it down. It can be just about anything that makes you feel good about whom you are, steps you take and the way in which you conduct yourself, your thoughts and your actions.

Review: choose a designated day of the week when you will review your Self Gratitude Journal and reread all the wonderful steps you are taking and the super ways in which you are doing the best you can to support your hopes and dreams. Please feel free to go through your Self Gratitude Journal at any time to support your visions for you and your life.

Treat Yourself: rewarding yourself in whatever manner you see fit is essential to your continued enthusiasm and eagerness as you carry on taking steps toward a healthier lifestyle. Positive reinforcement isn’t just for children and when we take the time to acknowledge ourselves for all that we do, amazing things can happen.

Filling yourself up with positive vibes and optimistic oomph will enhance your journey and keep you traveling down your pathway at a steady pace. Treat yourself admirably and bring your patience along for the ride. Being consistent on your journey toward a healthier way of living is a wonderful attribute to strive toward while seeking your greatest life. So make yourself proud today and do the right things at the right time and relish in your strength to control your destiny. Believe in yourself and create the wonders of your life.

Message from Deborah:

Nothing brings me greater pleasure in life than to assist women on their journey toward better health, enhanced fitness and molding a lifestyle to one that meets their expectations.  Coaching Lovely Ladies is a enormous passion of mine and I am completely honored to be able to assist each and every Lovely Lady on their travels of a happy, organized, active, balanced lifestyle.  I coach real women who are willing to take real action and reap real results.  Visit my website today and let me help you work toward your wellness goals.

Deborah
Women’s Health and Fitness Coach

www.personalweightlosscoach.com
debby@personalweightlosscoach.com
607.435.3990

Despite the fact that most of us know that regular exercise is good for us, the greater majority of American’s don’t do it on a regular basis, or at all.  Our general excuses are what?  “I hate it,” “It hurts,” “I’m injured,” “It’s boring,” or “I don’t have the money.”  The biggest excuse of all is “I don’t have the time.”

A quick review from the post “The Fundamentals of Changing Your Health”; there are 4 basic fundamentals to experiencing true health and wellness.  To refresh your memory they were 1, to minimize the use of drugs, other toxins in our life and surgery-which we spoke about in the post “Stop Poisoning Yourself!”; 2, to eat as best we can to ensure ourselves quality nutrition; found in last week’s post “Stop Focusing on Weigh Loss” 3, this weeks’ topic: to maximize oxygen and lean muscle through regular exercise; 4, to live a life of peace with positive and strong relationships; and my 5th, maximize nerve supply through chiropractic maintenance.  Remember, each of these fundamentals is important and they all work optimally together.

“The most important element you need to survive is oxygen.  If a cell’s environment contains lowered levels of oxygen, it will accumulate toxins, develop disease, and eventually cause early cell death.” (Maximized Living)  Your body needs proper amounts of oxygen in every cell to keep them happy and functioning properly and the simplest way of doing this is to just get up and move.  In other words, exercise, and remember, exercise produces muscle.  The more muscle you have and the less fat you have, the healthier you are.

Here are a few examples of what exercise does for you:

1. Exercise improves your mood.
2. Increases stress tolerance
3. Exercise combats chronic diseases such as heart disease, osteoporosis. It can help you prevent — or manage — high blood pressure.
4. Regular physical activity boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good,” cholesterol while decreasing triglycerides which together, keep blood flowing smoothly by lowering the buildup of plaques in your arteries.
5. Regular physical activity can help you prevent type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer.
6. Exercise helps you manage your weight by speeding up your metabolism. [This one's a no-brainer.]
7. It improves learning
8. Regular exercise slows and even reverses effects of aging
9. It raises energy levels
10. It can put the spark back into your sex life [Always a bonus]
11. It enhances and balances hormone production
12. Regular exercise aides in sleep
13. It eliminates toxins
14. Regular exercise also decreases the risk of injury to the muscles, joints and spine.

So, I say, enough with the excuses!
[You should read Excuses Begone! By Dr. Wayne Dyer.
Click here for more information.]

Read more on what surge training is here.

An example of a surge training program can be found here.

Here are a few additional websites to review for more interesting looks on exercise and finding something right for you.

Prevention Magazine [excellent site]

CBS News exercise personality quiz [found this interesting]

Beachbody.com [great site for support, programs and intense workouts]

Become Healthy Now [articles on types of exercises and their benefits]

My Personal Tip…Stop Focusing on Losing Weight!

So many of us are focused on losing weight and why not?  The obesity rate in America today is among the highest in the world.  According to the CDC, in 2008, only one state (Colorado) had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Thirty-two states had a prevalence equal to or greater than 25%; six of these states (Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia) had a prevalence of obesity equal to or greater than 30%.  Should current trends continue, 75% of adults in the US are projected to be overweight and 41% obese by 2015. [read more on that here]

No wonder so many of us have loosing weight on our mind, we need to!

But what we really need to be focusing on is becoming healthier…total health, not just seeing a number on the scale we are happier with or being able to get into that dress or suit before the big event.

So, continuing the conversation from last week’s post “The Fundamentals of Changing Your Health”, there are 4 basic fundamentals to experiencing true health and wellness.  To refresh your memory they were 1, to minimize the use of drugs, other toxins in our life and surgery-which we spoke about last week in the post “Stop Poisoning Yourself!”; 2, to eat as best we can to ensure ourselves quality nutrition; 3, to maximize oxygen and lean muscle through regular exercise; 4, to live a life of peace with positive and strong relationships; and my 5th, maximize nerve supply through chiropractic maintenance.  Remember, each of these fundamentals is important and they all work optimally together.

Now, why am I telling you to stop focusing on losing weight?  Well, again, what we need to focus on is total wellness for the mind, body and spirit and when you do and are honestly living the lifestyle, the weight will just melt off, naturally.  I’m just a normal person that much like you, has struggled to be “in shape” or to feel as if I look as good as that sickening fit person across the room…and I’m sure that many of you, like me, can feel like a failure at times when I don’t meet those lofty dreams or feel guilty at times when I eat something that isn’t in my ‘diet’.  I got tired of feeling like a failure, like I didn’t have what it takes to be “thin” and “in shape”…and instead I focused on just being healthy…and you know what?  The weight finally just melted off.

Here is a bit of history on my constant struggle with weight loss.  As a young child I was thin and tall, but once I hit puberty and my hormones kicked in, my body started absorbing everything and storing it between my hips and knees.  From then on I have always been a bit “thick”.  My grandfather used to say I was a true healthy southern girl.  When I was dancing with a local prestigious ballet academy I was constantly being weighed and scorned for getting too “big”.  In my high school years, my dad used to call me “Thunder Thighs” [Yeah I know-great for my self esteem right?].  Now, I wasn’t fat, just thick…and I struggled with this all my days.  As a young woman I started trying the fad diets.  Nothing worked.  Atkins made me gain weight, the Special K diet just starved me and caused me to binge from time to time and the Weight Watchers was too confusing back then and let’s face it, just too much work keeping track of all the various points.  The only thing that I did find to make a difference a few years ago was Zig-Zag dieting; changing your calorie intake on a daily basis.  You can read more on what a Zig-Zag is exactly, just click here, and if you do a Google search for the term “zig zag diet” you will find many calculators and menu plans.  Just be sure to check a few sites, not just the first one you go to.  For me though, the zig-zag diet was good while I was working part time because I had time to prepare the meals but once I started working full time again I no longer had the time to measure out every item I was going to put into my mouth, little by little I drifted from the plan.

So, how did I take of 15 pounds this year in less than 3 months and have kept it off easily?  By following the fundamentals mentioned earlier and most importantly…by eating pure, organic, all-natural foods.  I did exercise a few times a week when I had the time, but what really did it for me was getting rid of all, and I mean ALL, processed, man touched foods.  If you read the “How I Removed the Poisons from My Home.” post, then you know how I started this process…if not, let me quickly elaborate on this now.

My husband and I began eating all organic, local produce and grass-fed beef, bison and free-range chicken.  Our meal menu did change slightly, but the main change was simply the ingredients.  Even our condiments, if we use any, are now homemade or organic products from the store.  We even took this a bit further and tried the Healing Diet.  Absolutely no sugars in the foods and drinks we consumed, good fats, and plenty of protein and we did a detoxification system (recommended by our doctor) called NeuroCleanse to help pull out additional toxins that had built up in our systems.  We followed this plan for two month and even though we were still eating as much as before, I had lost 15 pounds and my husband even more.  [He never weighs himself but the physical change in his body is obvious.]  To be perfectly honest we did this following the 80/20 rule.  We followed the “diet” very closely 80% of the time and allowed ourselves to eat or drink something not-so-good 20% of the time.  By the end of the two months we found that it was terribly easy and we didn’t crave the old bad foods any longer.  Once the two months finished, [the length of time on the Healing Diet is different for everyone] we slowly started to return natural sugars back into our meals.

We are now entering month eight of our big change and I find myself needing less and less to fill myself at meal time.  I also have the freedom in my schedule now to exercise everyday as much as I want and although I am walking 20+ miles and practicing about 3 hours of yoga a week and I am not loosing weight any longer my body is still changing and becoming leaner and stronger.  This tells me I may be at my optimal body weight.  I’m always getting compliments and my old clothes just fall right off.  I have dropped 4 pants sizes and am almost comfortably in the next size down.  It’s a great feeling.  Although the scale may not be at my dream number just yet, I feel fantastic and can’t wait to see where I am in another two months.

Try it for yourself.  Stop worrying about the weight loss.  Accept the fact that you are what you are, love yourself and remember that what is most important is that you live a long and healthy life, free of medications, pain and complications.  The best way to do that is by following all of the fundamentals-trust me, you won’t regret it!

Suggested Reading:

Where I started:

“Maximized Living Makeover” by Dr. Ben Lerner, Dr. Greg Loman, Dr. Charles Majors

The link above will tell you where you can find the book locally.

Where I get my motivation and additional ideas to add to the Maximized Makeover:

Inside-Out Wellness The Wisdom of Mind/Body Healing by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Dr. Christiane Northrup

Recipes for Health Bliss Using NatureFoods & Lifestyle Choices to Rejuvenate Your Body & Life by Susan Smith Jones

Lighten Up! The Authentic and Fun Way to Lose Your Weight and Your Worries by Loretta LaRoche

Don’t Miss It: September 26, 2009 Thrive A Carry Out Cafe  10:30am ~ 11:30am; Whitemarsh Island, Savannah GA.
Thrive A Carry Out Cafe and Debbie McIncrow are teaming up at the Cafe for an enchanting hour of woman strength, health and well-being. During our time together we will discuss eating healthy, …living lighter and finding further peace and balance in your life.

Keep up with Thrive events on Facebook.