The New Grass In Town...

A friend of mine owns Juice Zone Fresh and Healthy Cafe in Huntingdon Valley, PA. She has such a huge clientele that requests this miracle "health elixir shot" that looks kind of unappetizing but the health benefits fair outweigh the visual appeal.

What is wheatgrass? It is fast-growing grass having one of the highest concentrations of nutrients including body cleansers, body builders, energizers, appetite suppressants, and therapeutic benefits including live enzymes that aid in cell respiration, digestion, blood cleansers, and is a good source of laetrile (vitamin B17) believed by many to have anticancer properties.

According to Julian Whitaker, MD, "The effect these highly nutritios green drinks are having on all my patients, especially my arthritic patients, in nothing short of amazing."

Wheatgrass contains a complete range of nutrients and amino acids which the body uses to build muscle tissue, repair cells and clot blood.

It is high in:

Vitamins A, C, E, K, and B-complex

Calcium

Magnesium

Potassium

Iron

Zinc

Phosphorous

Sodium

Selenium

PLUS - In a once ounce shot of wheatgrass it is equivalent to 2.5 lbs of fresh vegetables. That's one way to sneak in your recommended 2.5 cups of veggies a day.

So what is the moral of the story? Go to your local health store, juice bar, or better yet Juice Zone Fresh and Healthy in Huntingdon Valley, PA and get yourself a wheatgrass shot a few times a week. Enjoy! To your health!!

Motivation Board

Did you every flip through magazines, webpages, books, advertisements, posts, etc., and find a little piece of information that defined who you are or who you would like to be?

I was visiting a friend the other day and noticed she had a whole board on the back of her bathroom door that had cut-outs which defined her. I asked, "Why do you have this in the bathroom?" She said it was because she spent most of her morning in there and that it motivated/reminded her to be the person that she wanted to be (i.e. more active, eat healthier, floss, be more positive, drink more water). She had pictures of people she admired with qualities she wanted to portray to others both professional and personal. She had quotes to live by to give her direction everyday. She had places she wanted to visit which helped her save money to pay for a "mental health day." She had pictures of the people she loved which motivated her to do her best each day to make them proud. She had dried flowers from her garden bordering the motivation board which added an nice decorative touch.

Honestly, it was the most uplifting, motivating, and touching craft I have ever seen. The best thing about it for me was that I learned more about my friend which normally would not come up in conversation. I loved it! This arts and crafts project was visually appealling which added a personal flair to the bathroom. Plus, it was a terrific conversation piece!

I highly suggest this activity to help you brighten up your day and motivate you to be the best person you can. It does not have to be a board if you want it to be more personal. Create a scrapbook, poster, picture frame, journal, or webpage. Get creative and put as much information about yourself on it so on days when you are down your motivational board/story can act as a pick-me-up to help you get right back on track.

Holidays are great, but don't put on the weight

Food glorious food! Between Thanksgiving and New Years the average holiday partier consumes more high calorie food than normal because of the vast abundance of treats during social gathers. Plus, normally we are not watching every bit we put into our mouth because we are chatting and visiting. Good food, good friends, good bye diet. But it doesn't have to be that way. We can still enjoy holiday treats without making our 2009 New Years Resolution geared towards weight loss (again).

I found an excellent article that gives some tips about how not to gain weight during the holidays. I shared these tips in our Gravity Center November/December Newsletter. I would love to share them with you in case the article is hard to find on the Internet.

Consider these tips blueprints towards successfully managing your healthy diet and exercise routine during the fun and memorable holiday season...

Top 10 Tips on How NOT to Gain Weight During the Holidays

The holidays expand our hearts and our waist line. We would like to give you 10 tips to enjoy your seasonal events without gaining 10 pounds between Halloween and New Years.

1. Keep moving: Exercise is more important for maintaining weight loss than losing weight according to the National Weight Control Registry. Exercise is a huge stress reliever and can help you cope with stress in a more productive manner. Plus, exercise gives you more energy to tackle your "to-do" list and improves your mood for long shopping lines. Make exercise a priority, like eating and sleeping, and you will be able to manage your day better, enjoy more energy and boost your mood.

2. Portion control: Studies have shown that the more food we are served, the more food we eat. Keep your portions small and try to focus on nutritious foods that will benefit your body rather than increase your dress size.

3. Eat plenty of lean protein: Increase your lean protein intake such as skinless poultry, lean meats, beans, low-fat dairy, and seafood. Combine your lean protein with food choices packed with fiber such as high-fiber grains, fruits and vegetables. The combo of the lean protein and fiber will help you stay full longer so you will not sneak back to the buffet table for a second or third helping.

4. Savor every bit: Relax, chew your food slowly, and enjoy every flavor provided by your meal. Take time to savor the scents and textures from every bit. Your brain does not register that you are full for 20 minutes into your meal. So take your time and eat slowly.

5. Put it on your plate: If you keep nibbling away without being aware of how much food you have actually consumed, be prepared to have consumed way more calories than you anticipated.

6. Enjoy a soup or salad before you go to a party: Studies have shown consuming a big plate of dark leafy greens with light or fat-free dressing or a broth-based vegetable soup can actually help reduce the amount of calories you consume during your meal. These nutritious foods satisfy your hunger and take the edge off of cravings before you enter a setting filled with high fat, low nutrition food selections.

7. Eat a healthy breakfast: Numerous studies conclude that people who eat a healthy breakfast have a higher metabolism rate and consume less calories throughout their day. Breakfast wakes up the brain, gets the metabolism running, helps you accomplish tasks better, and assists with weight loss because you are not consuming everything in sight by lunchtime.

8. Satisfy a craving with a few bites: A piece of pecan pie or a glass of eggnog has approximately 400 calories depending on the portion size. If you are trying to maintain your current weight, just enjoy a few bites of the rich, high-fat food to satisfy a craving. If you want to lose weight, go for the lower calorie food selections such as pumpkin pie or low-fat eggnog. You will save about 200 calories and you will have satisfied a craving that would not go away.

9. Weigh in regularly: Be sure to weigh yourself once a week to see if the needle is slowly creaking up on you. If so, this is a sure way to see for yourself you need to maintain or increase your exercise regimen and watch what and how much you put in your mouth.

10. If you don't love it, there's no reason to eat it: Why waste calories if you are not going to truly enjoy eating it? One bit is going to immediately tell you if it is worth the calories or not. It would be better to leave it on your plate than to feel your pants getting tighter and tighter.

Reference: Zelman, K. (2008). Don't gain weight during the holidays.Health and diet. www.webmd.com