by admin | December 9, 2019 8:02 am | Main
Think of your health as the amount of money in your bank account. Just as you’d like to have more money and keep growing, it’s also wise to have more health in your body and keep that growing as well.
And while maintaining a balanced diet may not always be convenient or cheap, it’ll definitely pay off both in the short and long- term health plan you intend to have for your body.
A healthy diet means you’re doing the following on a daily, or in some cases weekly, basis:
- Eating a healthy breakfast
- Eating foods rich in folate, like dark leafy greens, carrots, tomatoes, and bell peppers
- Balancing your intake of lean protein and whole-grain carbohydrates
- Cut back on sugar, salt, fats, and alcohol
- Eat fish 2 or 3 times a week
- 4 to 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day
- Drink caffeine in moderation
“I would say that the most important thing
is a well-rounded diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables and whole grains and fiber,” says Sally Barclay, a registered dietician at the Nutrition Clinic for Employee Wellness at Iowa State.
A good trick is to divide your plate. Mentally visualize your plate divided into 4 quarters. One quarter should be lean protein the size of your palm is ideal; one quarter should be complex carbohydrates, as brown rice or pasta; the last 2 quarters should be fruits and/or vegetables. Also, a good point to keep in mind is the more colorful your plate, the healthier it is for you.
Enhancing your emotional state:
For a quick pick-me-up, the first thing we crave is pastries or some French fries. But the truth is those foods contain refined carbs which even though they may help the brain produce serotonin, they also cause a quick crash. Serotonin is also known as the “feel-good” hormone which your brain secretes when you feel pride after hitting a milestone or reaching a goal. On the healthy side of the spectrum, whole-grain carbohydrates produce a more lasting effect on your mood and sustain the levels of serotonin in your body.
Maintaining a healthy weight:
Staying within your recommended daily caloric intake and eating moderately sized meals are two ways you can be in control of your weight. Having a healthy weight means you’re reducing your risk of chronic diseases, like heart disease and diabetes just to name a couple.
Boosting your energy levels:
Eating foods high in iron sustains your energy levels throughout the day since the mineral iron helps carry oxygen throughout the body. Examples of food sources rich in iron are spinach, Swiss chard, almonds, and quinoa. Also, snacking on nuts and fruits, and drinking water helps maintain your energy levels.
This is what happens to your body when you start eating a healthy, nutritious diet:
After 1 day:
Fewer hunger pangs
Boost in metabolism
Increased focus and clarity
After 1 week:
Increased energy levels
Better sleep
Decreased bloating
Emotional stability
After 1 month:
Youthful skin
Eating healthy becomes a lifestyle choice
You save money on soft drinks, fatty junk food, and snacks
After 6 months:
Boost in self-confidence
Better sex
Lower blood pressure
Stronger bones
After 1 year:
You’ve reached your goal weight
You’re smarter about your food choices
You feel stronger and more alive
You get sick less often
Your concentration and memory have increased
In their book Perspectives in Nutrition (1990) by Gordon M. Wardlaw and Paul M. Insel, they state that “…nutrients are the nourishing substances in food that are essential for the growth, development, and maintenance of body functions. The essential meaning is that if a nutrient is not present, aspects of function and therefore human health decline. When nutrient intake does not regularly meet the nutrient needs dictated by the cell activity, the metabolic processes slow down or even stop.”
If you think about it from that perspective, you’ll realize that food is much more than just counting calories or reading food labels. It makes us look at food as the sustenance we need to keep going strong for many years to come.
by admin | November 25, 2019 2:12 pm | Health, Success, Well Being
For the next few weeks, I’m going to focus on the power of positive thinking.
Do you view yourself as someone who has a positive outlook on life? Do you hope that good things are coming your way soon? Well, one thing that is important to note is that positive thinking is a mental and emotional attitude. It pays a closer focus and interest on the bright side of life with the hope of having a positive outcome.
Having positive thinking does not mean that you should bury your head in the sand. It does not mean that you should ignore life’s painful and unpleasant situations. It simply means having the ability to approach life more positively and productively, even in the face of unpleasantness. Also, when things are not going your way, you keep your head up and look for hidden lessons and opportunities in bad situations!
It is important for you to notice that you have the power to change your mindset. It all starts with self-talk. In other words, you must begin by stimulating endless streams of positive thoughts running through your head. The truth is, these thoughts can take two forms; the negative and the positive, mainly because of most of what you think are derived from logic and reason. However, other self-talks may arise from having misconceptions and assumptions that result from a lack of information.
If you mostly have negative thoughts running through your mind, most likely, you are a pessimist. On the other hand, if most of the ideas you have about life are mostly positive, there is a good chance that you are an optimist. In other words, you are someone that exercises positive thinking.
When you focus on the positive, you will mentally anticipate good health, success, and happiness. You believe that even when faced with the most challenging and stressful situations, you will eventually overcome them. In other words, having positive thinking is not a concept that everyone believes in. Some people will see it as nonsense and scoff at those that believe in the power of positive thinking. The good news is that there are so many people who are slowly seeing the vital role that positive thinking has on their lives and believe that it is effective.
One thing that you must bear in mind is that if you want to use the power of positive thinking in your life, you must be more than just aware of the fact that it exists. You must be ready to adopt it in all your daily activities! There is so much research that reveals that positive thinking is not just about happiness and having an upbeat attitude. It is through positive thought that you can create real value in your life by establishing long-lasting skills that last longer than a mere smile.
by admin | November 18, 2019 3:18 pm | Cooking ideas
Some Advice from My Cooking Days:
Everywhere you look, there is a lot of emphasis on cutting the fat out of our daily diets, but who wants to cut out the fat if it means cutting out the flavor? When it comes to baking, there is a way to cut down on your fat intake without changing the ingredients in your favorite recipes. If you switch to nonstick silicone bakeware, you can cut down on your fat intake with minimal effort. Because the bakeware is nonstick, you never have to use butter, shortening, or grease on your pans or sheets to ensure easy food removal.
The first silicone items made exclusively for baking were small silicone mats that fit nicely on your cookie sheet and allowed you to bake cookies without greasing the cookie sheet or worrying about the bottoms getting burned. These little mats were a huge success and stores were hard pressed to keep them in stock.
As the popularity of these mats grew, manufacturers decide to explore the idea of making more bakeware from silicone. They began making spoons, spatulas, and whisks that could withstand high heats and could be used with nonstick cookware with no fear of ruining the coating. Silicone utensils were the perfect choice for candy making or any other project that required a boiling and sticky liquid to be stirred.
Kitchen supply manufacturers also introduced silicone potholders and oven gloves. Because they can withstand heats up to 500 degrees, they are the perfect insurance that you won’t get burned when you pull a hot dish from your oven. They don’t conduct heat the way that a cloth potholder does and they are much sturdier and easy to keep clean than traditional potholders. Home canners fell in love with silicone baker’s mitts because they could actually reach into a pot of boiling water to remove a hot jar of food once it was done processing. As an added bonus these durable potholders do double duty as lid grippers making opening jars a snap.
Once silicone hit kitchens in the form of baking mats, utensils, and pot holders, kitchen experts began to see the potential of this material in everyday baking. Suddenly almost any type of bakeware that could traditionally be found in stainless steel, aluminum, glass, or stoneware was being offered in brightly colored silicone. Stores began selling muffin tins, bread loaf pans, cake pans, and pie pans. The most popular pieces tend to be the specially designed cake pans that allow you to make cakes shaped like everything from roses to pumpkins. They even have mini cake pans that make individual, fancy shaped cakes.
The popularity of silicone bakeware skyrocketed as cooks began to see the benefits of using this material in their kitchens. Foods pop out of silicone pans with amazing ease. You never need to grease, flour, or even use cooking spray on a silicone pan and that adds up to lots of calories and fat grams saved with each meal. Because silicone is very flexible, it is easy to bend and twist it so that cakes and breads pop out easily. You never have to force baked goods out of the pan, so they retain there shape and you don’t see a lot of split and broken cakes.
Silicone is a bakers dream when it comes to making evenly cooked delicacies. The material distributes heat evenly, so you never end up with a cake that is burned around the edges and still not cooked in the middle. It also cools down quickly ensuring that your foods will not continue cooking and possibly dry out once you remove them from the oven.
Because silicone is nonstick, cleanup is a breeze. A little soap and water and any crumb left on your bakeware disappear. It is nonporous, so it never retains any odors from the foods you cook. Completely versatile it goes from oven to table to freezer and can even be thrown in the dishwasher. Once you are done cleaning it, storage is a snap. With its flexibility, you can twist it, bend it, fold it or mash it up so it can fit in the smallest of drawers or cupboards.
If you haven’t tried silicone bakeware, add a piece or two to your kitchen. You will be surprised at its quality and flexibility.
by admin | November 11, 2019 12:12 pm | Main
The struggle I just can’t seem to wrap my mind around what to share 1st, 2nd, etc… That leaves going random. Just picking something and going for it. Taking a leap of faith. So just follow my leaps of faith and we will all win in the end. Today: We are learning to believe in ourselves. Soon you cake a look at my free book for you.
by admin | November 4, 2019 11:33 am | Main
Beware The Closed Mind
Success in its broadest meaning is not limited to only monetary and material possessions. It reveals as being plentiful in countless and several forms in life and nature.
The universal spirit of consciousness craves to continuously manifest and express itself; this power likewise expresses its longing to demonstrate success, which is naturally wanting to develop, to grow and become bigger and stronger.
However, many realize this longing and natural inclination for growth repressed in them, because of negative thinking, unconstructive programming, and not having enough faith in their abilities and themselves.
Every individual has dual natures. One wants the self to move forward while the other feels like pulling back. The one nature that one concentrates and cultivates on determines what one is at the final end, as both natures try to hold and to be in control.
One’s “will” resolves the issue alone. An individual by one utmost attempt of the “will” can change one’s whole vocation and accomplish miracles. Which is why having an open mind is very significant.
One having a closed mind grasps to a concept without much concern for evidence. They might have even reached their concept without supporting material evidence. As a result, when one is presented with evidence that is contradicting to their concept, they immediately dismiss it.
Whereas one having an open mind before reaching any conclusion considers first the many pieces of evidence approving or disapproving the many interpretations of the concept. They do not just gather information. Their concern encourages them to weigh what they have learned and worked towards reaching a decision or conclusion based on facts and pieces of evidence.
An open mind allows one to magnetize opportunities and insist and continue on following opportunities, regardless of how small they appear. An open mind is open to all opportunities and possibilities, big or small.
A closed mind, however, is stubborn, wanting what the mind envisions without any delay and wanting it as exactly as what the mind perceived it to be, not willing to accept or try something else in its place when that which the mind has envisioned cannot be accomplished or reached.
When one closes his mind and becomes stubborn, one, in essence, tells his higher self, including the “powers of the universe” that one is not eager to mature and encounter new things, so then there will be no progress and no transformation and things in one’s life will never have a chance to improve.
Whatever the mind can envision, the mind can create. What the mind sees, believes feels and thinks are all conveyed to the subconscious mind that then works along with the universal forces and establishes your reality centered on the visualization of the conscious mind.
Bear in mind though, that it is not sufficient to merely imagine and hope it materializes. Having the power to imagine means also having the power and the capability to work on it to achieve it.
You can achieve it when you open up your mind to success and get rid of limiting thoughts. As to how restricted your life may be and what the circumstances present you at the moment does not really matter, because when you decide to change your attitudes and thoughts and begin to think without notable limitations, your life’s direction will begin to change.
Focus on possibilities, rather than limitations and expand your thoughts to what is that you believe as yourself.
Here are guidelines on how to program your thoughts for success:
- Continuously and abundantly display images of your “model” persons, whom you want to become, and things that you want to accomplish. Read magazines containing stories and pictures of lives that you wish to attain.
- Read autobiographies of successful people. Constantly read self-progress materials packed with examples and ideas of women and men who had set goals, overcome hardships and misfortunes and accomplished what they aimed for in the end.
- Always affirm yourself. In each undertaking, take the time to focus, “close your eyes” and set a clear mental image of the outcome. Then repeatedly say and claim that you have already achieved it.
- Nourish your mind with positive thoughts before sleeping, after waking up, at lunch break, anytime. Do not give a chance for negative thoughts to enter into your mind.
Thoughts hold great power. Be conscious of the thoughts that come into your mind; let the positive in, never entertain the negative. Open up your mind to possibilities and never be afraid to try; if you fail, take it as an opportunity that you have learned so much from failing and try again.
by admin | October 28, 2019 12:37 pm | Main
Remember today is the first day of the rest of your life!
OK, we all know this quote is a zillion years old or more, but I want you to think about it today. Do you actually get up each day thinking that it’s a new day with new possibilities? Do you actually use the day to improve your life? I know I can’t get that motivated every day but I want to… Today I’m posting a little help for us “forgetful” do getters.
This little butterfly means everything to me. I had actual stickers made so I can use it to inspire me. 
Looking at this tiny logo reminds me of how what comes around goes around. The circle of life and I have made it my niceness emblem. I see this and I remember to just be plain nice. Take a look at your routine and the people who serve or care for you each day. When was the last time you said thank you in a tone that showed you REALLY meant it? I show extra nice now to all fast food people (people treat them like %@&#. Just because they are low paid worker bees.
My wish for all of you today is to go out and try to spread the happiness spirt. I promise it will make a real difference in your life. Tonight when you put your head on your pillow you will be happier than the day before.
Doc Rae
Think of your health as the amount of money in your bank account. Just as you’d like to have more money and keep growing, it’s also wise to have more health in your body and keep that growing as well.
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