LOW-FAT? YOU CAN KISS MY MUFFIN!

Let me guess.

The alarm didn’t go off?

Kids, acting up and didn’t want to get dress?

You got a flat on your way to work?

I’m not a big breakfast eater?

Excuses. Excuses. Excuses.

We, on the whole, can come up with the easiest and sometimes craziest excuses to forgo a nutritious breakfast.

If our jobs depended for us to eat healthy for bonuses, raises, and promotions, how many of you would reconsider your meal selections?

Ask yourself that question. Then, think about it. Hmmmm…

However, what if I said at times when you believed you were making the right choice, in actuality, you were bamboozled!

Can you imagine that? (Hopefully, you sense my sarcasm.)

A product glorified as a healthy choice, yet, once dissected unravels a whole different story.

Fact:

Calories in Low Fat Blueberry Muffin

Now granted, we all have been guilty of walking into one of our favorite morning places (you know the kind that serves premium coffee and an eye-popping selection of pasteries) and thought, “Let me grab something quick to put in my stomach – it’s better than nothing!”

Well – is it better than nothing?

The nutrition facts about show and tell me different.

Still can’t figure it out?

Let me help you.

Most fat in muffins comes from plant oils, which are rich sources of “good” fats–the unsaturated fats that are healthy for the heart. When the fat’s cut back, what’s left? White flour and sugar-refined carbohydrates that the body breaks down in a flash, leading to a rapid rise in blood sugar and insulin, followed by a rapid drop, and an all-too-quick return of the hunger pangs that led you to eat that muffin in the first place. It’s a perfect recipe for weight gain, masquerading as a “better-for-you” choice

Nutrition Source Harvard School of Public Health

And if that doesn’t get your attention how about the fact since low-fat choices, typically, aren’t as flavorful as their full-fat counterparts, makers are quite heavy on the salt.Check it out for yourself.

What are your options?

In, BETTER THAN YOUR BREAKFAST CEREAL, BAGEL, OR TOAST, I share with you three QUICK ways to get not only something to fill your tummy, more so, powerfully packed NUTRITIOUS selections that’ll last you until way after you hit the pavement running.

Since, you’re at this point you might as well check it. There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain (except weight).

Here’s your answer: BETTER THAN YOUR BREAKFAST CEREAL, BAGEL, OR TOAST

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Late Edition: Tune Up Your Blood Sugar

Never have I experienced the complications I endured putting this blog together. Sheeesh. Patience is a virute.  On another note,

Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back.

Thanksgiving is such an eventful holiday.

It’s a time when people just indulge. Go all out on there favorite dessert platters and dishes. Man, I am so thankful for the Posey family opening their home and inviting me to experience a true Georgia Thanksgiving.

The food selection included a variety of my favorite choices and others I’ve never had before. For instance, the sweet taste of Miss Sybil’s White Chocolate Cream Cheese Sweet Potato Cake.

My, my, my that savory taste will never escape my memory. I digress and return to you for this last edition in November is Diabetes Month.

So, let’s go back and look under the hood of your million dollar vehicle, the body, to “Tune Up Your Blood Sugar.”

At the beginning of the month, we shared the 3 steps to preventing Type II Diabetes as:

1. eating a healthy diet
2. keeping weight in check
3. being active

We then introduced in the following week a safe and effective product to not only control your blood sugar levels, also, help you to lose weight:

If you’re open to a solution for blood sugar management, GlucAffect really delivers.

Dan Vance, Kaysville, UT

 

EMAIL ME FOR MORE PRODUCT INFORMATION

 

Last, we defined, specifically, what the 3 steps of prevention broke down to:

1. Choosing a diet rich in whole grains and healthy fats adds even more protection, limit red meat , and go for healthier protein sources instead, such as nuts, beans, poultry, and fish.
2. To lose weight permanently, you must make a commitment to gradually adopt a healthier way of life.
3. By exercising, it will take the blood sugar out of your blood to help you manage it.

I, don’t make any medical claims, treatments, or cures. However, what I do know is when you treat your body to an active lifestyle, keep your weight in check, supply your body with the greatest nutrition, your body is a miracle and can change for the better.

I hope those who come across this blog are inspired to leave a comment and voice their thoughts.

3 Steps on How to Prevent T-II Diabetes

Gazing upon a life full of health & fitness

At the start of this month, I published a blog discussing the reality on Diabetes and the prevalence of its rapid growth. Not to mention, the astronomical number of folks who don’t have a clue they’re living with it. Also, included in that piece, were preventable tips in taking a stand against acquiring type II Diabetes, most commonly known as “adult onset” diabetes.

Those 3 steps to preventing Type II Diabetes are:

1. eating a healthy diet
2. keeping weight in check
3. being active

Now I personally think it’s relatively easy formula, but honestly speaking I’m an athlete. I’ve had almost 20 years of experience in eating a healthy diet, keeping my weight in check, and being active. However, the average individual hasn’t seen the inside of a gym.

Therefore, it would behoove me to think my suggestions are received enthusiatically. For those who don’t understand the make-up or dynamics of nutrition and exercise read blogs, like this one, as if they were studying Japanese. It’s a FOREIGN concept!

With that being said, the aformentioned tips will be constructed into questions for your benefit.

Q: What does it mean by “eating a healthy diet?”

 Harvard School of Public Health says, “Choosing a diet rich in whole grains and healthy fats adds even more protection—skip the refined grains and sugary soda. Limiting red meat—steak, hamburger, pork chops, and the like—and avoiding processed meat—bacon, hot dogs, and deli meats—can also help lower diabetes risk. Go for healthier protein sources instead, such as nuts, beans, poultry, and fish.”

Q: How do I “keep my weight in check?”

 “Weight Loss: Keeping the Weight Off“, a WebMD article encourages, “To lose weight permanently, you must make a commitment to gradually adopt a healthier way of life. Don’t fall back on those unhealthy eating habits you had before you lost weight. Controlling your weight is not an impossible task. Balancing what you eat with how much you exercise will help you maintain your new weight.” Continue Reading

Which brings me to my last question:

Q: Can you explain what is “being active?”

“Exercise is an important part of controlling diabetes,” says Larry Bergstrom, M.D., of Mayo Clinic. “Your skeletal muscle is an important area that uses blood sugar. So by using your muscles, it will take the blood sugar out of your blood to help you manage it.”

Bergstrom says that any sort of physical, regular aerobic exercise on a daily basis will help you — even just walking. “It’s easy to do,” he says. “And it’s something that can be done anywhere.”

Here is an EASY to follow basic beginning routine of exercises that everyone should do.

Delicious Natural Cinnamon Taste

People who are overweight are more likely to have insulin resistance, because fat interferes with the body’s ability to use insulin. Family history and genetics play a large role in Type II diabetes.

Regular exercise lowers your blood sugar level without medication and helps burn excess calories and fat so you can manage your weight

Strength training also increases your metabolism.

Tune Up Your Diet

Four dietary changes can have a big impact on the risk of type 2 diabetes.

1. Choose whole grains and whole grain products over highly processed carbohydrates.
2. Skip the sugary drinks, and choose water, coffee, or tea instead.
3. Choose good fats instead of bad fats.
4. Limit red meat and avoid processed meat; choose nuts, whole grains, poultry, or fish instead.
   

If you’re open to a solution for blood sugar management, GlucAffect really delivers.

Dan Vance, Kaysville, UT

Here are the top 7 reasons why Glucaffect is the solution to any blood sugar quadratic equation:

1. clinically shown 4 daily servings lowered fasting blood glucose by an average of 30% and lost an average of nearly 16 lbs

2. unites nutrition science’s most cutting-edge ingredients

3. Pycnogenol – natural super-antioxidant, proven to help lower blood glucose levels, LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and blood pressure and improve overall health

4. Omega 3 Fish Oil – promotes cardiovascular health and helps maintain optimum blood pressure and cholesterol levels

5.  contains many advanced ingredients clinically proven to support blood sugar management and neutralize free radicals

6. Cinnamon cream flavor – delicious taste along with the added natural blood sugar management support of cinnamon

7. Rapid dissolvability – perfect addition to your morning coffee afternoon tea or one of your daily Reliv shakes

For More Information

To Best Fight Cancer – Exercise

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself – Leo Tolstoy #change

With the constant arrival of quick weight loss diets and regimens, it’s evident that both Americans and our overseas brothers and sisters are searching for ways to lose a few pounds.

There’s an unknown and minutely discussed difference of weight loss vs. weight management. If you were to ask the general population, at first thought you would probably get answer considering weight loss and weight management are one in the same. Likewise, consensus would probably tell us that majority of population would consider aerobic exercise as the number one means to effectively lose weight. And I would agree that if you’re desiring a degree of weight “loss” than aerobic exercise gets the most drawings.

So then, the effect of developing lean (muscle) mass, to a novice exerciser, wouldn’t seem attractive. However, let it be known that though, muscle mass simply weighs more, gram for gram, than fat, an increase in lean mass is NOT counterproductive. When you increase muscle mass you decrease fat storage.  That’s to mean if you jump on the scale during a time where you’re performing resistance exercise and don’t like the results on the scale don’t freak out you’re still doing well.

I figured this particular misconceived notion needed addressing, after a young lady approached my colleagues and I at the gym and was visibly disappointed after weighing herself. At times, as a whole, whether seasoned veterans or novice exerciser we need to step back and applaud the effort and work we put in to change ourselves.

Exercising presents so many great benefits. Resistance training has more to offer than just strength and size. Did you know that a number of physicians and researchers are  now saying that “people who remain physically active as best they can during treatment are more likely to beat cancer.” 

Would you think the importance of understanding the difference between weight loss for the sake of losing weight and the long-term benefits of an increased lean mass and reduced fat ratio is now validated?

Often, popular diets leave out the four important components that can lead to long-term success:

1.  Aerobic Exercise
2. Resistance Training
3. Nutrition
4. Rest & Recovery

Follow this simple plan and you’ll open the door to improved – and sustainable – energy efficiency.

According to director of nutrition and physical activity of American Cancer Society, Collen Doyle, “Exercise is so important for cancer patients, but so many doctors and health professionals are concerned about safety issues — is it safe for people undergoing treatment to exercise?”

Answer: Yes, it is!

Benefits researchers have shown include treatment having a greater effective role when implementing exercise to their daily regimen.

Other exercise benefits for cancer patients and survivors include:

• reduced fatigue
• reduced loss of muscle ad bone mass
• improved quality of life

Now let’s keep things into perspective, nobody expects a chemotherapy cancer patient to exert themselves at the same level as a healthy person, however, your goal is to keep from being inactive the best you can. Likewise, expect workout plans that are indicative of your current capabilities.

Signs of exercise benefits are well received in the medical arena that physicians even recommend a workout plan starting with onset of diagnosis, “…it can still be of some help”, said Dr. Eleanor M. Walker, division director of breast services in the radiation oncology department at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and lead author of an ongoing study on exercise for cancer patients.

 

Here are 12 Tips for Cancer Prevention:

1. Avoid HIGH doses of fructose and sugar
2. Optimum level of Vitamin D
3. Exercise
4. Optimum level of animal-based omega-3 fat
5. Eat according to what your body is designed to eat
6. Reduce your stress level with engaging activities
7. Implement MORE veggies
8. Maintain YOUR ideal weight
9. ZZzzz glorious ZZZzzz adequate sleep
10. Limit your exposure to toxins
11. Safe strategies using cellphones and other wireless technologies
12. Avoid frying or charbroiling foods when possible

NCDs: Find out what it means?

 

What is the fuss about?

Majority of the country could care…less.
A small parecentage might perk up and eventually lose interest.
And a fraction of that small percentage will be attentive.

But what’s the fuss about?

The fuss is about NCD.

Ever heard of it?

What is NCD?

Where is NCD?

Who is NCD?

When is NCD?

NCD is yesterday’s, today’s, and forever’s topic.

NCD is the acronym for noncommunicable diseases consisting of:

– heart attacks and strokes
– cancers
– diabetes
– chronic respiratory disease

Is it just me, but, wouldn’t you say there’s been an increased attention concerning these often preventable disease?

I can’t recall twenty years ago any mention of how apparent any of theses diseases were.

Could it have been because as a teenager I was so self-centered I could’ve cared less? Possibly

Could it be, since I’m around that “midlife crisis” age health is a more valuable commodity? Absolutely

Could it be, technologically speaking, we’ve come so far in the past 2 decades, awareness has advanced? Why not!

For whatever reason, you have to make note of these and any other preventable disease. However,
less 5 years ago I would’ve thrown down some of the best – not healthiest – dishes that made my tummy full of yummy!

At a womping 310 lbs, anything I saw I ate. I had to keep the weight on if I wanted to continue as an athlete. I tried anything,
at least once. And if ever I came across the biggest anything, like Cheeburger Cheeburger’s famous “The Pounder, a huge 20 ounces of monster burger, I was on it, all you can eat buffets or whatever.

Sadly or triumphantly, whomever the reader may be, this was an easy feat. I packed on some serious needed weight to look large, although unhealthy. 

But, after I played my last game I couldn’t stop the deliriously large portions. I worked out, despite the agony of joint pains after playing 17 years.

So, I admantly focused on my meal selections. Needless to say, like many folks around the globe, I realized how destructive my habits were.

Further research on my end, showed a grimming statistic of about 63% of deaths in the world today are a result from noncommunicable diseases. Killing 9 million people under
60.

Why? To put it simple, an unhealthy diet. A bad eating lifestyle is one of the major risk factors for chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and others linked to obesity.

So, what can YOU do about it? Is it a simple change?

I would have to answer the latter question with it can be an easy fix, if you’re willing to change your habits and you have a goal. You must want to change. You must want to live a beautiful, healthy life. You must want to feel better.

What you can do is research. Nobody can blame anybody else for their own problems. From librarys, to the internet, iPads, your cellphone everybody has an equal amount of resources at their disposal.

Specific recommendations for a healthy start:

Eat more:

– fruits
– vegetables
– legumes
– nuts
– grains

Cut down:

– salt
– sugar
– fats

I can’t tell you exactly what you need, you’ll have to ask your primary care physician, in addition to a nutritionist. However, I will say this if you ask you will receive. If you seek, you will find. And if you keep on knocking, the door will be opened.

Here’s to your health.

 

Nucleus of Our Lives

Some nights I lay in the still dark listening.

I hear random noises. Cars pulling up to their apartments. Teenagers frolicking doing teenage things. The creaks of a support beam settling in the midst of its aging structure.

Then I hear the thump-thump. Thump-Thump. Thump-Thump. An often forgotten, however, notable component to your and my existence. 

A heart, with its 100,000 times beats on any given day and up to 2,000 gallons of blood pumping a day.  Who works harder than that little guy?

Ever wonder what’s the actual size of your heart? A normal, healthy heart is the size of an adult fist clenched up. Go ahead and size it up. You know you want to!

Let me quickly state this isn’t a bash and burn folks. On the contrary, a lesson of simple steps to fine-tune your diet or correcting unhealthy eating habits to prevent heart disease.

Mayoclinic.com provides 8 steps to prevent heart disease.

I’m going to key in on two steps the reliving way:

Two Vital Steps to Protect Your Heart

Control Cholesterol.
Your risk for a heart attack rises with your cholesterol levels. Cholesterol builds up and narrows your arteries and makes them less flexible. To counter cholesterol, make plant sterols your friend. Plant sterols are found naturally in some vegetable oils, nuts, grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables. Soy is a significant source of plant sterols.

Plant sterols have been shown to reduce LDL (“bad”) cholesterol by 20 percent in people with metabolic syndrome even if they continued eating a typical “Western” diet. The study showed those taking daily doses of plant sterols also dropped their total cholesterol by 16 percent, and their triglyceride levels by 19 percent.

Reliv’s CardioSentials^®, loaded with plant sterols and other heart-smart nutrients, has been clinically shown to reduce total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides for people with high cholesterol, as well as increase HDL (“good”) cholesterol and reduce blood glucose levels.

While soy benefits heart health because of its plant sterols and other antioxidants, the impact of soy and fiber together are even more powerful. One of fiber’s key heart benefits is reducing cholesterol. The combination of fiber-rich FibRestore^® and soy-based Reliv Now^® create a one-two punch against cholesterol. A clinical study found these products together reduce average cholesterol by 14 percent while they also reduce LDL, triglycerides, and uric acid.

Bring Down Blood Pressure.
High blood pressure is a major risk factor for developing heart disease and significantly increases stroke risk. One easy way to lower blood pressure is to bump up your soy intake. A combination of studies has shown taking soy isoflavone with soy protein each day lowers blood pressure as much as taking blood pressure medication.

Studies also show fiber can help reduce or even prevent high blood pressure. A Harvard study showed an intake of 20 grams/day or more of fiber provided significant protection against developing high blood pressure. FibRestore contains 10 grams of fiber in each serving to put you well on your way to reaching your optimum fiber count.

Did You Know……

Get Your Heart Pumping

Your heart also needs a regular workout. Studies show adding at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three or more times a week can increase your HDL (“good”) cholesterol by 5-10 percent and lower your triglycerides.