Day 6 (of 30)

Bodies in Motion

Key points:

• “normal” aging isn’t normal at all. It’s a choice you make by the way you live your life. 
• But our bodies are designed to age slowly and remarkably well. Most of what we see and fear is decay, and decay is only one choice. Growth is the other. 
• The hard reality of our biology is that we are built to move.
• Your body is made up of trillions of cells that live mostly for a few weeks or months, die and are replaced by new cells in an endless cycle.
• You replace about 1% of your cells every day. That means 1% of your body is brand-new today, and you will get another 1% tomorrow. 
• You choose whether those new cells come in stronger or weaker. You choose whether they grow or decay each day from then on. Your cells don’t care which choice you make. They just follow the directions you send.
• It’s not a miracle or a mystery. It’s your biology, and you’re in charge.

Enjoy today's news...this is a great plug for exercise, but it holds true for nutrition just as well. 

Each nutrient is processed inside the body and either supports health or the decline of health. What a great combination for wellness. Pay attention, it's your choice! ~j

Parade Magazine 3/20/07 
New research reveals surprising facts about our changing bodies. You Can Stop ‘‘Normal’’ Aging
By Dr. Henry S. Lodge
Published: March 18, 2007

From your body’s point of view, “normal” aging isn’t normal at all. It’s a choice you make by the way you live your life. The other choice is to tell your cells to grow—to build a strong, vibrant body and mind.

Let’s have a look at standard American aging. Barbara D. had a baby when she was 34, gave up exercise and gained 50 pounds. Exhausted and depressed, Barbara thought youth, energy and optimism were all in her rearview mirror. Jon M., 55, had fallen even farther down the slippery slope. He was stuck in the corporate world of stress, long hours and doughnuts. At 255 pounds, he had knees that hurt and a back that ached. He developed high blood pressure and eventually diabetes. Life was looking grim.


Jon and Barbara weren’t getting old; they had let their bodies decay. Most aging is just the dry rot we program into our cells by sedentary living, junk food and stress. Yes, we do have to get old, and ultimately we do have to die. But our bodies are designed to age slowly and remarkably well. Most of what we see and fear is decay, and decay is only one choice. Growth is the other. 


After two years of misery, Barbara started exercising and is now in the best shape of her life. She just finished a sprint triathlon and, at 37, feels like she is 20. Jon started eating better and exercising too—slowly at first, but he stuck with it. He has since lost 50 pounds, the pain in his knees and back has disappeared, and his diabetes is gone. Today, Jon is 60 and living his life in the body of a healthy 30-year-old. He will die one day, but he is likely to live like a young man until he gets there. 


The hard reality of our biology is that we are built to move. Exercise is the master signaling system that tells our cells to grow instead of fade. When we exercise, that process of growth spreads throughout every cell in our bodies, making us functionally younger. Not a little bit younger—a lot younger. True biological aging is a surprisingly slow and graceful process. You can live out your life in a powerful, healthy body if you are willing to put in the work. 


Let’s take a step back to see how exercise works at the cellular level. Your body is made up of trillions of cells that live mostly for a few weeks or months, die and are replaced by new cells in an endless cycle. For example, your taste buds live only a few hours, white blood cells live 10 days, and your muscle cells live about three months. Even your bones dissolve and are replaced, over and over again. A few key stem cells in each organ and your brain cells are the only ones that stick around for the duration. All of your other cells are in a constant state of renewal.


You replace about 1% of your cells every day. That means 1% of your body is brand-new today, and you will get another 1% tomorrow. Think of it as getting a whole new body every three months. It’s not entirely accurate, but it’s pretty close. Viewed that way, you are walking around in a body that is brand-new since Christmas—new lungs, new liver, new muscles, new skin. Look down at your legs and realize that you are going to have new ones by the Fourth of July. Whether that body is functionally younger or older is a choice you make by how you live. 


You choose whether those new cells come in stronger or weaker. You choose whether they grow or decay each day from then on. Your cells don’t care which choice you make. They just follow the directions you send. Exercise, and your cells get stronger; sit down, and they decay.

Men like Jon, who go from sedentary to fit, cut their risk of dying from a heart attack by 75% over five years. Women cut their risk by 80%—and heart attacks are the largest single killer of women. Both men and women can double their leg strength with three months of exercise, and most of us can double it again in another three months. This is true whether you’re in your 30s or your 90s. It’s not a miracle or a mystery. It’s your biology, and you’re in charge.


Dr. Henry S. Lodge is on the faculty of Columbia Medical School and is co-author of “Younger Next Year” (Workman).

Day 5 (of 30)

Water and Your Bod! (Another great reminder of what has been said over and over again!)

This is the number one issue that I see with my clients. Are you hydrated? It can alter your metabolism dramatically if you 'forget' to make this a health building priority. Not rocket science gang! Now, quality of water is important to so, get educated. Get hydrated. Get it?!

Glug, glug, glug ~j

Pure Water

Like the battery in your car, your cells are responsible for charging you up with energy and vitality. When you feel lifeless, you are suffering from a lack of vital energy, much like a stalled car. Since every body is in essence a rechargeable vehicle, it can be reinvigorated to run smoothly and efficiently; it takes the right fuel and constant care. The second most important element of life itself, after oxygen, is pure water.

Water is the primary conductor of the body’s electric current, and our cells require pure water on a regular basis. Water that is full of impurities and biological incompatible chemicals prevents the constructive interaction of bodily systems and encouraged cancer causing activity.

Pure water is an unrestricted highway on which all intercellular activity moves freely. This unrestricted flow allows the meridian system, the body’s electrical roadway, to stay fully charged at all times, creating a powerful, protective shield that prevents free radicals (reactive atoms that are produced in the body and can damage cells, proteins, and DNA by altering their chemical structure) from destroying healthy cells. Free radical damage is the cause of disease, premature aging, and all the body’s internal plagues.

The natural metabolic process of the body-including digestion and elimination-create toxic by-products. Because the production of these by-products is a perfectly normal function, they occur even in those who follow the Hippocrates Lifeforce Program. Exercise encourages perspiration and the flow of blood, which cleanse the respiratory and circulatory system of particulates that stifle systemic electrical functioning. Eliminating positions from the body allows greater absorption of nutrients and accelerates all healthy body function.

Hormones, the chemical messengers of the body, flourish in a clean bloodstream, because the communication between cells, tissues, and organs requires a constantly clear channel. Many kinds of brain disorders and body malfunctions occur because of a hormonal imbalance often caused by the absence of clear cell-to-cell directives. Thyroid dysfunction, which is increasing worldwide at alarming rates, has a profound impact on our minds and metabolism. In many people, the pituitary gland, at the center of the brain, is apparently dysfunctional. This core of hormonal generation empowers other glands, so when it produces either too few or too many hormones, all other glands and their anatomical connections malfunction and degenerate-sometimes permanently. Electrochemical charge, the foundation of functional life, must be constantly renewed-with the assistance of abundant pure water-otherwise, our health, emotions, thoughts, spirit, rest, functioning, and movement all suffer.

Here are three steps for success in keeping the water that enters your body pure:

1. Do not drink tap water provided by local governments. Not only does most of it contain harmful levels of chlorine and fluoride, it is also contaminated with a wide range of synthetic chemical toxins that water purification plants cannot remove. If you are not convinced...check it out and make your own decision.
2. Do not drink most bottles water. Many brands, such as Aquafina and Dasani, the two best selling brands in the United States, are just municipal tap water that has been crudely filtered. Here is another opportunity to find out what is offered locally.
3. Do your homework! Purchase your own high quality water filter that is right for your lifestyle and health. Use BPA free bottles, stainless steel or glass for trips to the gym, to work or away from the house. If you don't look into a house filter, consider shower or bath filters (whole new topic!). They are very inexpensive and very helpful at taking out the crud. Especially if you use organic soaps, lotions and other hygiene products. 

• http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/wot/pdfs/book_waterontap_full.pdfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tap_water
• http://www.cdc.gov/features/drinkingwater/
• http://www.ewg.org/healthyhometips/filtertapwater

Day 4 (of 30)

High-tech tomatoes.  Mysterious milk.  Supersquash.  

Are we supposed to eat this stuff?  
Or is it going to eat us?  

~Annita Manning

Think Globally, Eat Locally (YES, it is worth repeating! AND just as important today!)

Now it is more important than ever to eat locally and shop your local farmer's market and small grocery store.

We all know that the quality of our food is in jeopardy these days. Farmers, politics and disease are all related in a crazy world. But what can we do?

Awareness is a powerful tool. 

 Believe it or not the simplest of things...speak with your dollar, vote with  your choice...on a daily basis buying and eating food that is grown locally.

Food that has been transported long distances doesn't contain as much life force (energy) by the time it gets to your kitchen. Making a commitment to shop, buy, and eat locally is not only a very important part of creating positive change, it can also be delicious, fun and far more nourishing than you thought.

One of the best places to begin the adventure of eating locally is a farmer's market. Stalls brim with fresh fruits and vegetables grown on nearby farms. Not only is this good for the environment (fuel, transportation expenses etc.), it's good for the farmers since they benefit from selling directly to the you, the consumer. You benefit, too, from the intimate experience of buying food from the hand of the person who grew it. In addition, the food is fresher and more diverse. In supermarkets, particular varieties of fruits and vegetables are favored due to their ability to survive transport to a far destination. Alternately, at a farmer's market, you will find versions of the fruits and vegetables you know that will surprise and delight your senses—green striped heirloom tomatoes, purple cauliflower, white carrots, and edible flowers, just to name a few.

Make an effort to buy as much of your food as possible directly from local farmers. You will become one of a growing number of people eating delicious food to balance our resources on the planet and having fun doing it.

• http://www.cafarmersmarkets.com/index2.html

Day 3 (of 30)

"Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es."
[Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are].
~Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Knowledge is power! It is time to pay attention and wake up to quality of your foods if you aren't already on that path.

Become aware of the foods that you buy and eat! Whole foods that are closest to their natural state are your best options. Example: An apple instead of apple juice. Stay out of the packages, shop the perimeter of the market instead of the packaged isles filled with chemicals and advertising.

Consider getting your produce from a local farmer or farmers market. Go local or organic! Support your community by buying fresh, herbicide and pesticide.

The basics for healthy food choices:

• eat foods that are fresh, seasonal, local and in their closest to natural state.
• eat foods that are grass-fed, pasture raised, without hormones or antibiotics
• eat foods that are free from chemicals, food dyes and pesticides
• eat foods that are local organic over industrial organic - yes, there is also a war going on inside the organic world these days...the point is to be conscious and not get hung up on it.
• eat foods that are non-GMO and non-irradiated, this is huge, you midwesterners...how much corn and soy do you see along the side of the road in your community?
• eat foods that support sustainable agriculture and reduce your ecological footprint

 Here's to increasing your awareness today and tomorrow and...! ~jgirl

Day 2 (of 30)

Perfect sincerity and transparency make a great part of beauty, 

as in dewdrops, lakes, and diamonds. 

~Henry David Thoreau

Beauty products...one thing that we use to look younger and feel good about our outward appearance. What we don't always realize is that these products can be having the opposite effect on our skin and overall health.

The European Union has banned more than 1,000 ingredients from cosmetics, while the United States has banned only 10. Did you know that your nail polish may contain formaldehyde, a suspected carcinogen? Or that four common chemicals in perfume are classified as hazardous waste by the US Environmental Protection Agency?

Every year we each absorb an estimated two kilograms of chemicals through beauty and cosmetic products. Chemicals found in lipsticks, skin lotions and hair dyes have been linked with tumors, cell mutation, allergies, reproductive complications, endocrine disruption and cancer.

Look for some alternatives or at least look at the ingredients that are in the products you are using today ;-).

• EWG's Skin Deep

Day 1 (of 30)

There's so much pollution in the air now that 

if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it all.  ~Robert Orben

We have looked at some choices recently for cleansing our bodies, now is a good time to consider our environment, a little closer to home. Just what you are 'cleaning' with. It is no secret that chemicals run abound in our cleaning products, just one whiff down the 'stinky' isle (as my daughter calls it) at the market and you know it is true. Get rid of toxic household cleansers like dish and dishwasher soap, laundry detergents and bathroom scrubbers. If it has a poison sign on the label you don't want it in your home. Not only does it leave lingering chemicals in the air just after cleaning, but there is off-gassing that happens when it is stored in a cabinet or on the shelf. 

Look at the back of your cleaning products...poison sign? What to do, what to do...there are so many options out there now for a 'greener' clean both good for you, your family and the environment and you get to choose with every dollar you spend or you can use some easy to make at home options as well!

• Non Toxic Home Cleaning
  

Breathe clean and easy peeps! ~jgirl

30 DAYS

Ever wonder what you can do in 30 days? Most people believe they can anything for just about 30 days.

How about some ideas. Over the next 30 days I will offer some options that support continued movement toward a more natural and healthy lifestyle. 

Personally I have decided to engage in the Ralph Waldo Emerson 30 day writing challenge. Kind of outside of my comfort zone, but hey! The sun is finally shining and summer is on it's way. What better time that now that to take things up a notch.

As usual, when it comes to your personal decisions and responsibility, take what you like, discard the rest ;-). Comments, recommendations and suggestions always welcome. 

Join in the fun! It's only 30 days. ~jgirl