The Soda Pop Ban Debate

What's your opinion of the ban on super sized sodas in New York City?

I think it's a good idea. People don't realize how many calories they are consuming and how much sugar is in them. People also don't take in account the amount chemicals they are consuming when they drink the diet and normal soda pop. Over time a large consumption of soda pop can catch up to your health and cause harm.

I understand that everyone has a right to choose what they eat or drink but we are still in the times of extreme marketing and advertising that hypnotise people and then have them addicted to the sugar.

Check out this infograph that presents some interesting facts:


Source: everyday HEALTH


-Michelle

5 Interesting Water Facts That Will Benefit Your Health

Our body is made up out of 75% of water and our brain is made up out of 85% of water. Water is crucial to our health. Water is believed to be more important than food! We could last for a while without food but could not last for days without water.

5 Interesting Water Facts 

1. Often times when you think you are hungry for food it is in fact your body sending signals that you are dehydrated and need more water. Try having a glass of water before reaching for food.
2. Drinking warm water in the morning helps to activate your brain and metabolism. Drinking cold water actually makes your body work harder by trying to warm the water up to body temperature. It's best to drink cold water in the afternoons.
3. Water can be used for therapy. Showers can make you feel refreshed and awakened. When you are feeling sick it's important to take several showers to clean the "gunk" off and let your body breathe.
4. It is recommend that men drink 13 cups of water a day and women drink 9 cups. It's best though to get in tune with your body and find what amount works for you.
5. Above all, water can heal. Next time you have a headache, try drinking more water and you will be amazed that the headache will ease off or disappear all together. Water can flush toxins out of your body and make room for fresh healthy cells.

It's important to take in natural, clean water. Coffee, soda and tea can actually have the opposite effect and dehydrate you. Try to avoid water that contains chlorine and when possible filter your water.

Are you good at getting your proper amount of water in a day?

-Michelle

Health Coach: The Ups & Downs of a Healthy Weight

As a healthy coach I not only want to help people learn to avoid cancer and disease but I also want to help them with weight issues. 

Lots of people assume I have always been this weight and it comes naturally to me. They assume that I have never had to work hard for my body and I've never struggled with my weight. Well let me tell you, they gotta it all wrong...

Feeling healthy and happy

I don't share this with a lot of people because it's a thing of the past but I want to be open and true with my clients and let them know that I've been in their shoes before, I want to share my journey through weight loss with you all.

When I was around 5 years old I was super tiny and a healthy kid. I was always outside and wanting to go go go. My family always had to drag me inside from playing. From the age 10-12 I started putting on more and more weight. I believe it was caused by a number of factors. Moving to a new school, staying inside more/less active and be self conscious of the weight I had put on. There were days when I would go out to the playground and kids would tease me about being fat. At the time it didn't really hurt me but it's one of those moments that gets drilled into your brain for the rest of your life. My eating habits didn't help and my family didn't know much about nutrition. We ate meat and potatoes or pasta. Always with a bun or bread on the side. I became a big snacker too.

The summer before I went into high school, I decided to start walking every where instead of taking the bus or asking for a ride. I was back to being outside and active again like I was when I was 5. Without even meaning to, the weight started to slide off. When I went back to school everyone noticed and commented. It felt great to be complemented. Like monkey see - monkey do = I started paying attention to what my mom was saying about dieting and keeping up with the latest diet fads in magazines. I started to try diets, running and working out. It became natural to worry about what I was eating and how my body looked. I kept a pretty standard weight during high school but had poor eating habits. I would sometimes only have a slurpee for lunch because it was what I was craving and I didn't want to eating anything else as I was afraid of gaining weight.

The year after high school I became clinically depressed. I felt lost in life, my family became healthy so I no longer could be the care giver and I had a poisonous relationship with my boyfriend that I could not give up. I became very vulnerable and insecure. It didn't help that my boyfriend at the time was lets say "not so great" and more attracted to other girls. Feeling like I wasn't good enough (physically), I started to control my weight intensely. There wasn't a certain point when I began my deadly downwards spiral. Slowly I became anorexic. I started to lie to family and friends that I was perfectly fine and I was eating. Truth was, I wasn't okay. My lowest weight was 108lbs - 113lbs and I'm 5'8. I would eat one piece of fruit in the morning and a snack at night. I would also run or walk for 30min everyday. I stepped on the scale 3 times a day. I was obsessed and it was something I could control when I felt like I had no control over anything in life at that time. I was also receiving lots of attention, so it felt good and I couldn't see anything wrong. I look back now and I can say I looked so unhealthy and unattractive.

At my unhealthy lowest weight

I never went for help for my anorexia directly but I had gone to a naturopath for my depression. He had found that I was allergic to several common foods and I had a brain allergy to sugar. Once I had something new to focus my attention on and something to control, I slowly returned to a healthy weight. I gained a new interest in health and nutrition and started learn about how the food we eat tremendously affects how our brain functions and our bodies feel.


With my knowledge of health and fitness I now maintain a healthy weight and am not afraid to step on a scale. I understand that a healthy combination of mind, body and soul can bring happiness to your life. There's been times when my weight fluctuates due to stress or something in my life being out of balance. I've learnt how to reflect and make corrections. I love the way I feel inside and out when I'm eating healthy, working out and my life is in balance for me.

I want to help people feel alive and healthy!

Have you ever dealt with weight issues?
-Michelle

Thanksgiving & Gratitude

Sunflowers at Kits Whole Foods

This weekend here in Canada it's our Thanksgiving. My family usually gathers at my mom/grandparents house or my aunts house to dive into delicious food. This year though there's been a mix up in dates with my cousin's hockey tournament and my aunts family will be out of town. So my mom and I will be joining my boyfriends family on Sunday for a quiet Thanksgiving there. I'll miss my own family dinner but this will be nice to spend some time with his side of the family. I don't know if I'll be able to grab pictures of the thanksgiving spread before it's rummaged apart. It's good food over at the Kennedy's!

Like everyone else I find Thanksgiving a great time to slow down and appreciate the people around us. Ponder how the year has gone and what I'm looking forward to in the last few months of the year.

Do you take the time everyday to be grateful? Should we have to wait for Thanksgiving to share with family what we are thankful for? I think I'm going to suggest to my family the next time we gather all together for a meal that we say what we are thankful for. A new family tradition!

Practising gratitude every day can create a positive environment for you and the people surrounding you. Think about what happens when you roll through your gratitude list. Soon there's a smile on your face, your feeling a little lighter, you forget about the minuscule problems in life and fresh ideas pop into your head. People around you feel this energy. They notice a smile on your face and imitate it, thus creating a domino effect. Try starting your day with a gratitude note. It doesn't have to be perfect, it's just to get the ideas strolling through your head.

• Over at Lululemon they wrote a great blog post about Gratitude : Today I'm Grateful For...
• and our local girl, former Bachelorette, Jillian Harris wrote about what she is grateful : My 2012 Thanksgiving Thanks!

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My Personal Thanks:   I'm thankful for, are you ready for this one.....  My mom's tumour on her neck has decreased in size and the chemo has made the cancer in her lungs go from a black mass to a grey matter! Woohoo. I'm grateful treatment is working. I'm grateful she continues to laugh and smile (laughter reverses cancer - studies actually show!). I'm grateful for my family who unconditionally love and support me. I'm grateful that I have a soul mate who knows me so well and who continues to be there for me even when I get very aggressive or mad when there's waay to much going on in my head! I'm grateful for my job, new SUV (the perfect health coach mobile) and my health. I'm grateful for gaining knowledge to become a health coach so I can teach people that cancer is preventable: don't give Cancer the chance to be a part of your life.

Are you grateful for anything special this year?
-Michelle

Did You Know? : Milk

you are not my mother - img via

I remember the days when I was little and we had milk in our cereal every morning and a glass of milk with every dinner. These days I reach for the Almond Milk. Oh how times have changed.
Over the last couple of years I've learnt more and more about milk and how it actually isn't that great for our bodies. Just recently though I discovered my last tad of knowledge about the side effects of milk that sent me into the "Absolutely No Milk" category.

Did you know?

• We are the only mammal that drinks milk from a different mammal? We are naturally only supposed to drink our own milk. Milk from a cow is meant to make a calf grow 8 times it's birth weight by it's 1st birthday. Calves grow to be 1000-2000lb animals! Babies also require milk from their mothers to grow quickly in the first few years of life but don't require cow's milk to continue growing afterwards.

• You don't require milk to get your calcium intake for the day. You can actually receive more calcium from other sources. Sesame seeds contain 90mg per tablespoon, 1 cup of broccoli contains 178mg and 1/2 cup of Tofu contains 258mg. The average daily dose recommended is between 700-1000mg. It's also not bad to take a calcium supplement if you are lacking calcium. People don't realize that we consume a lot of our calcium through our food we eat.

• It has been found that the majority of the world population is lactose intolerant (lactose is found in cows milk). Being lactose intolerant causes upset stomachs, digestive problems and unnecessary bloating. So why do we want those symtoms?

Now here's the fact that pushed me over:

• A majority of cows are milked while they are pregnant. This meaning that we take in a very large amount of hormones from the cow. These hormones can't be filtered out and have a great effect on our bodies. In studies this has shown to increase the risk of cancers, especially breast cancer.

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If you are still needing that "milk" in your cereal or coffee why not switch to Almond Milk? One cup of Silk Almond milk (unsweetened) contains 45% of your daily recommend intake of calcium.

Do you drink milk? Have you ever thought about switching over to Almond or Soy milk?

-Michelle

P.S. -This was in no way endorsed by Silk or any other Soy Milk or Almond Milk Company. This is solely based on my personal studies and findings.

My Life Update : What Is A Health Coach?

I'm taking steps towards my goal - dreams - purpose in life right now!

September Favourites (so far) : Sunsets, Tea and Smoothies



September is going to be the start of some really exciting things in my life. School officially started yesterday and I was an eager beaver and jumped right into studying. I'm attending the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York to become a health coach. I can officially start practicing in February. It's really interesting to meet a wide variety of people from across the world that are enrolled into the program. I love that the common interest is to create healthier lives for everyone in the world.

So what is a health coach you ask?
A health coach guides you to better overall health. Food is not the only thing that determines how healthy you are. It comes from a balanced combination of healthy relationships, fulfilling career, staying active (getting exercise) and spirituality. A health coach helps you recognize where you can improve in your life to find that overall happiness and health. Once recognized, set out and determine how to improve your health, setting goals and creating plans.

We've probably all been there at once when you can eat all the veggies you want but the scale doesn't move. Think back... were you happy at work? were you constantly arguing with others? was there no love in your heart for others? Sitting down a majority of the day? All these factors can bring down your overall health.

When your overall health is down for large periods of time, it leads to disease.

Preventable diseases is one of the reasons I wanted to become a Health Coach. It upset me to see the people around me year after year be diagnosed with diseases. Or hearing about peoples family members being diagnosed with a disease way to early in their life.

A few simple (sometimes challenging) life changes and you can prevent so much turmoil from entering your life and the ones you love.


Would you ever consider seeing a health coach?

-Michelle

So It Returns : Cancer

Honestly I go to write this and don't know where to begin. This has come as such a surprise and overwhelming. Overwhelming in the way that your thoughts don't properly form but just go in circles. My mom let me know on Thursday night that her cancer has returned.

My Mom and I

Back in 2001 my mom was diagnosed with a tumor in her neck that they had to operate on. When they went in it caused the dandelion effect (like blowing on a dandelion) and it spread, which was later found in her lungs. She fought for 9 hard years - chemo, radiation and all the drugs you could imagine. It was just my mom and I together through all her treatments. My mom is a single parent who has raised me on her own since I was 7 years old. Our family (my grandparents and aunt & uncle) were always around when we needed help. My mom and I became a team and she became my best friend. It's funny when we look back on those years we can't put events into a timeline. It was almost as if she went into survival mode and I was right there for it too. We always tried to make the best of it and I loved when there was times when the only thing she could stomach was popsicles and popcorn for dinner - fine with me. My mom had already been through a lot before first being diagnosed. She had been in an abusive marriage and was in a severe head on car accident with a dump truck which almost took her life. She's fought so many battles and never gives up. On my hip I have a tattoo that reads "Never Give Up" in Spanish for my mom as she is an incredibly strong, independent, and loving woman. This tattoo reminds me that anything is possible and any mountain can be conquered.

Her cancer has come back in her neck and her lungs. She has already started treatment and the lump in her neck has decreased in size (woohoo!). It's interesting to be older this time and have more knowledge of how all this cancer stuff works. This time she is not just taking doctors orders but also taking things into her own hands too. We've been eating healthy (lean, mean and green) for the past few years but she's going to kick it up a notch to help her body fight the cells naturally too. Weird thing is that in the last few months I have been sending her my Kris Carr email newsletters. Kris Carr attacks the cancer in a whole different way than the traditional method, think lots of green juice smoothies and yoga. Weird coincidence. She's also decided that instead of everyone giving negative emotions (feeling sad for her etc.) she wants everyone to be positive. This way the cancer has no way to live in her body if all she has in her is positive energy.

I've given myself till this Friday to get all my negative emotions out about this. After that it's time to turn all my good buzzing energy on and send it her way. I've found it hard to just let go and have a big cry. I break down during times in the day when I am alone. I know I have to get all these negative emotions out or they will just fester inside me and take up room that could be used for positive thoughts and actions.

I'm scared : my mom is my rock and has always been there for me. I know though that she will easily beat this thing.
I'm mad: why the hell are we still dealing with this disease. Something must be done to stop so many people from having to go through this. I'm mad that this is happening to HER again. If there was ever an example of a woman who doesn't deserve this (not saying anyone deserves this) but it would be her. Enough is enough!! buut she doesn't ever feel sorry for herself so.. I'll kick these thoughts to the curb.
I'm upset: I hate seeing her in pain, I just want to take it all away from her. I wish I could do this for her. She never complains and only worries that she is upsetting someone or putting them out. We all just want to hug her and make it go away but we can't and she won't let us - she's stubborn.. that's who I got my stubbornness from. So we wait until she reaches out and we are there in an instant because we love her so much and she gives so much love to others.

I'm CONFIDENT: that she is going to kick this thing in the butt again! There is no ifs, ands, or buts. It's already on it's way out and I'm positive that she will be right back to normal. This is only a bump in the road. Maybe to remind us that our bodies are so precious and what we feed them through food and emotions has an incredible effect. So why give any chance for your body to create active cancer cells. Take every prevention you can. Live each day to the fullest. Don't take anything for granted. And most of all - Don't take anyone for granted. Life is too short. Love the ones close to you and forgive easily. No need for negative in your life.

So please if you could, send all your happy - positive thoughts her way. Imagine her beating this and going on an incredible vacation to a nice warm sunny location where she can relax on the beach. She definitely deserves it.

-Michelle

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How Soda Pop Affects Your Health

I've always wondered how drinking a colored brown beverage was in any way benefiting my health.

Recently there has been lots of chatter about how Coca-Cola causes Cancer. So I went searching to see if pop had any benefit to our health. Guess what I found, pretty easy to guess... it has no benefit at all. So why do we drink it? Maybe because it's convenient, tastes good (I'll admit), and we just might be addicted to pop.

Regular pop contains loads of sugar and the diet-pop contains aspertame which makes you crave sugar. This leads to you wanting more pop, another sugar high. Pop also contains sodium (ie. salt) which leaves you thirsty, wanting more pop. They cycle continues on and on. A majority of people create a habit out of drinking pop which is hard to break. For instance: grabbing a pop when you walk in the door from work or grabbing a pop when you have dinner.

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So how do we break this habit?

I have 5 Tips to Break the Diet Pop or Regular Pop Habit:

1. Flavor your water with lemon. This is great in the summer time when you are looking for something tart and refreshing
2. Cut up a small amount of fruit and let is soak in a jug of water in the fridge. I like to use strawberries or oranges.
3. Freeze fruit into ice cubes. Then you drop the ice cubes into your water. I usually choose to muddle some kiwi to make fruit ice cubes.
4. Add a shot of fresh or low sugar juice into a glass of water. Make sure to avoid drinking juice by itself as it contains a large amount of sugar which can spike blood sugar levels (causing you to want to eat).
5. If your on the run and really need something totally different, I've found that the Vitamin Water ZERO drinks can quench my thirst without spiking sugar levels or leave me thirsty again.

Have you beat the Soda Pop cycle? Leave me a comment below or tweet me your healthy alternatives to pop.

-Michelle



This Weeks Wind-up

Weekend is here...

Ducks in the Inlet

 
And it's a long weekend for my USA friends down south! Woohoo lucky you guys!

This week has cruised by quickly but luckily so. We are in the final stages of buying a new townhouse! Exciting times! My bf's parents are buying one 6 doors down and his sister is buying the one next to us. This is a great plan as in the coming years the family will need to be around to help his dad with his progressing Parkinson's and supporting his mom. We are very fortunate to have close family on his side and my side. Does anyone have a family member dealing with Parkinson's? It's an interesting-surprising disease.

• I came across a crate full of artichokes at the market the other day but passed on them as I didn't have any new ideas on how to prepare them. Here is a great way.

• Riesling Strawberry Slushies - does this not sound amazing?!?

• With Rhubard in season this would be a perfect dessert after a sunny day.

• So travel, get lost, stray off the beaten path and who knows, you might just find yourself! -Rucha Sarma. Her view of how rewarding travel can be for people.

Have a wonderful weekend! and Happy Memorial Day!

-Michelle