So I noticed that my heart needs to work a bit harder now than it ever used to… to do simple things such as… walk me up a flight of stairs, digest a meal after OverEating!, drinking more than one glass of alcohol, dancing…etc.  This is not good.  This is a sign that I must get shaking and moving.  I must do cardio respiratory exercise much much MUCH more often.  What happened? I got out of rhythm.  I had a schedule that allowed me to work out regularly with at minimum 30 minutes of cardio activity 4 days per week for many years and I felt amazing! and now, I’ve let it all go.  NOT ACCEPTABLE.  My heart won’t take that.  I notice it. In everyday activity.  I hate it. I must not be lazy. I must make amends with my body. I must take action. I must force myself to get back into rhythm.  If I do not, my heart will just work too hard and then clonk out when I least expect it…or should I say expect it, because I do realize that I should expect it and I don’t want to expect it, so I will make change….I will make change…. I will prioritize around my health.. how can I not? How could I allow myself to not prioritize around my health. How could anyone? Are we that dumb? Man, I mean… the human species.  I suppose we are, for the most part.  We take advantage of almost any situation we think we could ‘get away with’ because we tend to take things for granted until they fall back in our face and smack us around.  We of all species should be more intelligent..we have the capacity to understand and change our behavior…WHY IS IT SO HARD? I don’t know. But I do know that if I don’t take action right away, tomorrow will not wait and tomorrow may be too late.  
 

Moderation, moderation, moderation…. Balance, balance, balance. 

It can be done. It will be done.
 

There's a definitive connection between living well and healthfully and having a cheerful outlook on life.  The universal law of attraction is always in action.  If you dwell on negative you inevitably draw more negative into your life. 

¼ cup orange juice

2 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 tablespoon canola oil

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts (about 1 ¼ pounds in total)

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup low-sodium chicken broth

4 large firm but ripe peaches, sliced into ¼-inch slices

3 cups cooked brown rice

2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted in a dry skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes

3 cups steamed broccoli spears

                In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar until the sugar is dissolved.

                 Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Season the chicken on both sides with the salt and pepper.  Add to the skillet and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side.  Transfer the chicken to a plate.

                Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the same skillet, then add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring for 30 seconds.  Add the chicken broth, soy sauce mixture, and peaches; turn the heat up to high and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened and the peaches soften, about 6 minutes.  Add the chicken back to the pan, reduce the heat to medium –low, cover, and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes.

                Serve the chicken over the rice, topped with the sauce and sprinkled with the toasted almonds.  Place a few broccoli spears alongside.

Makes 4 servings

Did you know that you can easily manage your diabetes just by engaging in exercise? There are exercises that have a good effect on the glucose levels of those suffering from type 2 diabetes. When you engage in exercise, you expend a lot of energy from the glucose found in your muscles. At first, the body simply uses up the glucose which is traced from your muscles’ glycogen. It is in your bloodstream where this glucose is found. Engaging in exercise means your blood glucose levels will not get lower. Additionally, your body also releases additional glucagon and hormones. These are important because they break down your liver’s stored fats, turning it into more glucose you can expend.

Engaging in exercise means your body improves; it develops a better sensitivity when it comes to insulin, as well as allowing you to be more in control of your glycemic index. Exercise indeed has a good effect on a patient’s glucose level. This is good news for people who have type 2 diabetes. A lot of research indicates that patients of diabetes gain more control over their glycemic as soon as they get used to a regular exercise program. On the other hand, people who do not engage in exercise find no improvement on their glycemic control. Since exercise improves your insulin sensitivity, you will also need less medicines in order to control the levels of your blood sugar. There are, of course, people who become at risk for hypoglycemia due to the combined effects of their diabetes and engaging in high stress exercise. This happens during exercise and after it, too.

If you think about it though, people can also be at risk for hyperglycemia simply for having poor control over their diabetes. Therefore, the leaders in this field recommend engaging in moderate exercise for a minimum of 2 hours and 30 minutes, or 90 minutes if they want to do vigorous exercise. In light of this, the frequency of the routine is more important that the kinds of exercise one engages in. There are many researches wherein an abundance of benefits result from both weight training as well as aerobic activity. Of course, sometimes patients should not engage in vigorous exercise especially when they have cardiac conditions or they are more prone to developing injuries as a result. It is better if they start of slow and get used to a light intensity program instead.

About the Author – Su Rollins writes for http://www.hypoglycemicdiet.org A hypoglycemia diet plan, her personal hobby blog focused on tips to prevent and cure hypoglycemia using the right diet and nutrition.

The importance of cardio respiratory exercise; it cannot be stressed enough. It alarmed me the first time I noticed that I was out of breath from going up a flight of stairs.  Now, I know this is a common occurrence, however, I used to run a thousand stairs in a half hour and feel amazing afterwards.  For me to walk a normal pace up twelve stairs and be winded took me off guard. Naturally, I thought the worst…” Perhaps I have a lung problem or perhaps I have a heart disease.” I had to consider that I did change my workout routine.  I was doing 30-60 minutes of cardio exercise on various machines at the gym, 3-4 days per week.  I supplemented and changed up the cardio by substituting occasionally with running stairs when the weather was good.  But when I changed jobs, I stopped the cardio routine like I had been for so many years.  I stopped going to the gym and exercised at home instead. I continued with other types exercise, but my cardio was down.

But I didn’t actually feel as if my body had changed.  I still felt great up unless I did something of exertion. I went to my doctor and got a check-up.  I told him that I was getting short of breath when I did something that required exertion, for instance I noticed these symptoms greatly when going out dancing (also far less these days!) or running up my stairs at home or doing a quick paced yoga.  He asked how many flights I was running… I told him about 3-400, he told me there was nothing wrong with me and that I was fine…”Anyone who can run that many stairs doesn’t have a lung problem.” 

Boy! It didn’t take very long for my body to change.  Within a matter of a couple of months, my body has suffered the consequences of not getting enough cardio respiratory exercise.  I had to consider that my body did change a bit and that I needed to recondition.  I realized that I needed to do something, but I didn’t have the living space, nor the money to purchase a cardio machine.  So I started running up and down my stairs at home.  Albeit boring, when it’s cold out, something is better than nothing.  I do my own variations of kickboxing, butchered dancing, and combo cardio fitness routines.  Now, when I incorporate cardio into my workouts, I have no choice but to listen to my body when it works a little slower and gets tired a little faster and my heart doesn’t beat as fast as it used to when doing the workouts.  

I know I’ve gotten older, and by nature, the heart slows down, but I WANT TO BOOGIE on the dance floor like I used to.  The good ‘ole days had me dancing my ass off, nonstop for twelve hours, to my favorite djs. I haven’t yet worked up to my former levels, but I’m not giving up.  I know that when I jump off the wagon, I have to get back up.  The longer I stay off, the longer it takes for me to get back to where I left off. It doesn’t pay.  It pays to stay on.  A lot of times it’s tough to keep riding, but quite frankly, the consequences of jumping on and off are greater that just getting through those tough short moments and hanging on.  So my advice to you all, is to STAY ON THE WAGON, no matter what.  Hey- we all jump off, but GET BACK ON, no matter what.  Your body and mind will be so grateful, you WILL reap the benefits.  TRUST ME, I KNOW. And YOU KNOW it too.  IF YOU LISTEN TO YOUR BODY WHISPER, YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO HEAR IT SCREAM.

Generally, using the larger muscles in the body burns more calories than using the smaller ones.  The smaller muscles in the body become tired much quicker than the larger ones. So as it stands, a good way to do resistance training is to start with your larger muscles groups and work your way to the smaller ones.  It's always great to alternate between the groups in order to let one area rest before going back for the next round, but leaving a few more exercises or spending more time on the larger muscles will burn more calories during your workout. By the same token, whole body exercises that work multiple groups simultaneously are the best calorie burners.  Of course they are the ones that leave you the most winded and require slightly longer recovery periods between sets.  That's good and your heart welcomes this.  

Always do a warm up before resistance or weight training.  A warm up is simply anything that slowly builds heat in the body.  Slowly building heat over the period of 5 to 10 minutes before adding resistance to the muscles will enable them to work more efficiently and will prevent injury.  When the body is 'warmed up' through light exercise, the muscles are allowed to respiratory system is challenged to deliver more blood to be delivered to the muscles. When the body is 'cold', and you put a load on it, the muscles create little tears within themselves and they take longer to heal since blood is what feeds them.  When the body is cold, the blood vessels constrict; when the blood is restricted, the nutrients don’t get in efficiently.  So remember to WARM-UP BABY!

Cranberry Ice Cream Pie Recipe!

Ingredients
·   9-inch chocolate crumb pie shell
·   2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
·   1 cup canned whole-berry cranberry sauce
·   1 tablespoon orange juice
·   2 cups whipped topping
·   2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted
Directions
1.  Chill the pie shell in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
2.Place the softened ice cream, cranberry sauce, and orange juice in a large bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until the ingredients are well blended.
3.Spoon the filling into the chilled shell and freeze the pie until firm (4 hours or more). Next, spread the whipped topping over the ice cream layer and sprinkle on the almonds. Cover the pie and return it to the freezer. Allow the pie to stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before slicing it. Serves 8

What I am thankful for….. I am thankful for many things this year, but most of all for my amazing husband and the faith he has held on to in his heart through all the trials and tribulations of our entrepreneurial ideas. 

Last Year, Americans spent more than $40 BILLION on diets and weight loss products! According to the Nutrition Business Journal, the supplement industry reached an all time high of $16.1 billion in sales. 1,000 different manufacturers produce about 20,000 different products, which are consumed by 100 million people! With all this money at stake, these weight loss companies will tell you anything to get you to buy their products. They’ll even lie to you face! The Methods That Most People Use To Lose Weight DO NOT WORK!! Only About 5% Of All People Whom Lost Weight Gain It All Back.
Continue reading THE $40 BILLION DOLLAR LIE