Healing Diet

Foods That Give You Lots of Energy

2010-08-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

Eating for the sake of Energy; Energy foods

When I'm exhausted I turn to broccoli and nuts. First, they're so easy to prepare, or in the case of nuts just eat fresh from the grocery store. I prefer broccoli lightly steamed, and by lightly I mean that when I bite into the broccoli it's still very crunchy. Steaming broccoli to the point it falls apart in your hands or fork will kill a lot of the energy giving properties and benefits. And when I'm super tired I need those benefits as quickly as possible. A side of ranch dressing is a perfect compliment. Just be sure your dressing isn't loaded with additives. If you just need that hidden-valley taste here is a great raw ranch dressing recipe you can dip that energy giving broccoli in. And what a great way to avoid excess fat in and on your beautiful body!

Raw Ranch Dressing Compliment of Sunny Raw Kitchen

Soak time: 1-2 hrs
Preparation time: 5 Minutes
Number of Servings: 24 (or 3 cups)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups nuts (cashew or mac or combo) soak them for a creamier dressing (1-2 hrs is fine, then drain)
3/4 - 1 cup filtered water for blending
3 tablespoons lemon juice (translates into approx 1/2 lemon)
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons agave (or 3 soaked dates)
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon garlic pwd
3 teaspoons onion pwd
1 teaspoon dill
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon basil

And to add after it's done:
1/4 cup finely minced parsley
another 1/2 t dill, minced

Directions
Vitamix blend all ingredients till creamy and smooth except the last 2, then once blended, stir in the last 2 ingredients.

Thickens in fridge.

Thin to desired consistency if using as a dressing- or toss into wet lettuce leaves as is.

Carmella's Notes:
~ This yields quite a bit of dressing, so you might want to consider halving the recipe.

I like raw almonds. They are known to help reduce risk of heart disease and they have a very distinct, nutty taste that lingers. For those of you who haven't tried raw almonds you're missing out. Most people think of almonds as salted, roasted treats...and while those are delicious they miss out on getting your body the benefits. Be sure you get real raw almonds, not almonds that are touted as raw but have gone through processing. Real, genuine raw almonds are rich in magnesium, Vitamin E, protein, and antioxidants.

Finally, of course I recommend alkaline ionized water throughout the day.

Inflammation Kills - Foods that reduce inflammation, part 1

2010-07-12T14:28:00.001-07:00

What Inflammation Is and How You Know You Have It - And what healing foods can help reduce inflammation right away

So what is inflammation? Well, it's a reaction locally within your body - and adverse reaction that can manifest either in one place or several at the time time. Inflammation can occur due to injury, or an infection - and can even occur from an irritation such as (you may not want to hear this) too much sugar, processed food, coffee and some teas. It can, and does, occur when you're not feeding your body enough healing foods. Often we think of inflammation in regards to what we can see with our eyes: a swollen ankle, red areas about the skin, and painful arthritis for example. Inflammation can, and will, often cause loss of mobility to the affected area. No fun. If you've experienced any of symptoms just mentioned then you've experienced inflammation.

But inflammation isn't always so obvious, or painful, and all too often we're not even aware of its presence until its too late. Inflammation inside the body can start off as a soft whisper - but by the time its run its course and done its damage by compromising your vital organs - inflammation sounds more like a roar than a whisper. We all need to be educated on inflammation so that we can reduce it as much as possible. Did you know that asthma, digestive disorders, hormone imbalance and cancer are linked to the whisper of inflammation? These common diseases, recent research is finding, are linked with, yes you guessed correctly: inflammation.

Those of you who have been around 40 years or so might remember going into your family doctor's office for a routine checkup and being asked to stick out your tongue. It was commonplace for a doctor to look at your tongue and ask "So what are you eating"? In my own experience with my HMO, I haven't even heard the question asked recently, let alone be asked to stick out my tongue. Why bother looking at a tongue? Because the condition of the tongue can give immediate clues into our body and what's really going on in there. The signs of inflammation and stress manifest there too.

Sadly, these days some HMOs, in particular, simply rely upon volume of patients while the 1 on 1 intimate relationship between doctor and patient takes a back seat.

Be your own advocate in the fight against inflammation - Modifying your diet may be your biggest weapon against disease

A few important questions you can ask yourself, when no one else will, are:

What Am I Eating? Am I eating too much junk, sugar, processed foods, sodas, or "health foods" packed with sugars and hidden ingredients? Am I eating healing foods? Am I drinking enough water? What kind of water am I drinking? Is it quality water? Is it alkaline ionized water?

How's My Stress Level? Is work stressed? Are my family obligations overwhelming me? Am I able, and educated, to effectively face the stresses I'm under?

Take a moment and take stock of your answers because they're begging you to be heard. You matter. Your health matters. Your diet - recent research has found, and finally medical experts are conceeding - is a key factor when addressing inflammation at any and every stage.

The Main Inflammation Causing culprits

In no particular order - really, they're all bad for you on a very basic level

Candies, Cookies, Cakes (The Three C's. Yummy, yes. Inflammation causing culprits? Yes again)

Soda - Even "healthy" sodas often contain too much sugar or, eek, aspartame!

Chips - Yes, even those "healthy" chips should be closely scrutinized for alarming sodium levels, and certain spices, which can give inflammation a leg up!

Do you love Salads? A big green salad chock full of life giving, anti-inflammation foods such as Cauliflower, Chopped Leaks, Olives, Garlic, and Spinach leaves can be injected with inflammation causing foods simply by drenching it with the wrong kind of -

Salad Dressing - check that label - does your salad dressing contain inflammation causing ingredients like sugar or refined or hydrogenated vegetable oil?

A delicious and surprisingly simple time saving alternative is chopped garlic added to some virgin olive oil with a slight dash of sea salt. Very tasty!

Other foods that can reduce inflammation are healing foods you probably already eat - but perhaps are unknowingly adding stuff to that doesn't belong, such as margarine (loaded with the wrong kind of oil!) or sauces that may also be loaded with the wrong oils or ingredients. Sauces - can we live without them? I think not! But we can start to pay attention to what's inside them. Modifying your diet may be your most powerful weapon against disease.

A big plate of lightly steamed green veggies like red bell peppers and broccoli can be appreciated with a drizzle of organice Garlic Gold olive oil and sea salt.

We'll be talking more about inflammation in our next post. I realize that this information can be overwhelming. When I started my quest to reduce the inflammation plaguing me like a stalker I was overwhelmed - with a Capital O. I slowly began to take notice of what's inside that food? Is it a healing food or an inflammation culprit? Is it going to alkalize my body or send it into an acidic state, perfect for...no I won't say the word; I think you get it. One of the easiest changes I made, and saw quick results from (a matter of weeks) was drinking alkaline ionized water. The taste is amazing so it just goes down so smoothly that I don't even think about it. For those of you who might be going "Water, no thanks! I don't like how it tastes" - well, you haven't tasted Our Water.

We invite you to come to our office and try our water. As always, the information we'll give you is free and we provide water classes to the surrounding community to educate on the benefits of healing foods and alkaline ionized water. Visit healingwatermachines.com for more information. If you're in the Southern California area feel free to drop by and pick up a few gallons of our alkaline ionized water.

The Miracle Of Alkaline Water Isn't Just In The Water - It's In The Community

2010-07-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

Another small step toward an all alkaline water community!

It's been a little while since I last updated. Things have been very busy over here at Chanson Alkaline Water, to say the least! We've been busy livng out our favorite topic, alkaline water machines, and we've also been ungergoing major changes in our corporate office; we added a brand new warehouse. Being busy is good. Sometimes it's a little like getting exercise but without all the formality of going to the gym.

Today's post is interesting to me because it really does illustrate the healing power of both naturally alkaline rich foods combined with alkaline water. This testimony comes from one of our happy alkaline water machine drinkers. I hope you'll enjoy reading this as much as I did.

"Dear Nedalee,

It was so good to meet you this weekend. I still remember the look on your face when you saw that I was drinking bottled alkaline water. It's pretty amazing to me that something so simple can connect people together in such profound ways.

I want you to know that shortly after that weekend I found out that a good friend of mine has one of your Chanson Water Alkanizers. It was one of those things where you just sorta think to yourself...OK, this isn't a coincidence. I was pretty curious about your water by now, so I "borrowed" 3 gallons from her water machine.

Well...wow. The first thing I noticed was the total difference in taste between the bottled alkanized water I was buying from the store and the taste of the water in my
glass. Now several months later I look back and without a doubt it was the taste that hooked me. But I'm getting ahead of myself in this story, so let me back up. For the next month I hit my neighbor's whole house filter up for a gallon of water daily...and some to cook with...some to wash my fruits & veggies...and after I found out about the benefits of acid water, some of that too. I will admit that I was impressed at first that my good fortune was free of charge. I guess for some of us it takes a little community outreach to get the gospel of alkaline spread! I jokingly refer to my ionized water as 'My consant flowing living water stream' and I call the acid water 'My free beauty makeover'. Please forgive me, I'm getting to the point, I promise.

Within about a month of switching from the bottled alkaline water to your Chanson alkaline water I noticed that a burning I often have inside my stomach was greatly reduced. I didn't pay close attention to this really. I figured it was probably also because I had recently cut from my diet both sugar and white bread and started eating more green things, and I'm sure that's part of it...but then I started doing some research on the difference between the water I was buying from the store and the stuff I was siphoning from my neighbor. I don't pretend to understand structure and molecules and all the scientific facts about this water...the thing that stuck out to me is how ionized water can actually lose its molecular structure (yes I had to spell check that!)

I would like to write more about how your alkaline water has improved my mind and started my quest for more knowledge about diet and water...that is if you won't be too imposed by my excitement.

I know my journey has just begun. And I know it's not going to be easy switching from my junk food diet to a more healing foods type of diet.

Your new alkaline convert,
Tracy Gomez"

Thank you so much Tracy for that inspiring email. Please feel free to write as much as you want. I am always so happy to hear from people like you who see the power in making small changes to their diet.

In my next post I'll be talking about trading refined sugar loaded foods ...

...for something just as pretty but a lot easier on the digestive system

I receive a lot of emails from people concerned that they just can't make the number of drastic changes required to regain or improve health. My response is always the same. I just tell these people that change takes time. Start with small changes, adding in a few healing foods here and there. Feel the difference the small changes can make and focus on the small victories. Drink your alkaline water daily. And remember, alkaline water benefits come from fresh alkaline water straight from you tap. The fresher the alkaline water the batter. If you don't have a whole house water filter or even a below the counter water ionizer and you want to try this amazing water, reach out to your community. Or just drop by our coporate office if you're in the area and grab a few gallons. We promise you the taste of our Chanson Alkaline Water cannot be compared!

Top Foods for Sight

2009-10-12T02:11:00.000-07:00

What we breathe drink and eat helps us maintain our biochemical composition and our body functions - and ionized alkaline water can speed the process of healing diet along!

Water, not strictly considered a food, should be the most important constituent in our diet and we should drink six glasses of alkaline ionized Chanson water a day while minimizing caffeinated and sugar-laden drinks. With the degradation of the soil, contaminated with pesticides and manufacturing chemicals, as well as processed food, we must be selective in terms of the foods we eat.

Here, then, are the top recommendations for food for sight:

Cold water fish (sardines, cod, mackerel, tuna): Cold water fish are an excellent source of DHA, which provides structural support to cell membranes, and is recommended for dry eyes, treatment for macular degeneration, and sight preservation.

Spinach, kale and green leafy vegetables: These plants are rich in carotenoids, especially lutein and zeaxathin. Lutein, a yellow pigment, protects the macula from sun damage and from blue light.

Eggs: Eggs are rich in cysteine, sulfur, lecithin, amino acids and lutein. Sulfur-containing compounds protect the lens of the eye from cataract formation.

Garlic, onions, shallots and capers: These items are also rich in sulfur, which is necessary for the production of glutathione, an important antioxidant for the lens of the eye, and the whole body.

Soy: Low in fat, rich in protein, soy has become a staple in vegetarian diets. Soy contains essential fatty acids, phytoestrogens, vitamin E and natural anti-inflammatory agents.

Fruits and vegetables: Our mothers always told us about these -- they were right. Fruits and vegetables contain vitamin A, C, and E and Beta-carotene. The yellow vegetables, such as carrots and squash, are important for daytime vision.

Blueberries and grapes: These foods contain anthocyanins, which improve night vision. A cup full of blueberries, huckleberry jam, or a 100 mg bilberry supplement should improve dark adaptation within 30 minutes.

Nuts and berries: These are nature's most concentrated food sources. Grains, such as flaxseed, are high in the beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids, which help lower cholesterol and stabilize cell membranes.

Virgin olive oil: This is a mono-unsaturated oil, and is a healthy alternative to butter and margarine.

Apart from the above foods that are considered great for your sight, a general precondition to good health is drinking adequate amounts of water. Alkaline ionized water is drinking water at its very best! Visit this site to learn more.
http://www.chansonwater.com/

Eating Before Exercise - Athletic Competition And Alkaline Ionized Water

2009-10-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

Professional athletes understand the importantace of drinking the right kind of ionized alkaline water - and you should care too

What an athlete consumes before, during and after exercise is absoluately vital for comfort and performance. While eating soon before exercise doesn't provide the bulk of the fuel needed for the activity, it can prevent the distracting symptoms of hunger during exercise. The major source of fuel for active muscles is the carbohydrate which gets stored in the muscles as glycogen in the days before exercise. This is one reason that the post-exercise meal is critical to recovery and being ready for the next exercise session.

When To Eat
Exercising on a full stomach is not ideal. Food that remains in your stomach during an event may cause stomach upset, nausea, and cramping. To make sure you have enough energy, without causing stomach discomfort, you should allow a meal to fully digest before the start of the event. This generally takes 1 to 4 hours, depending upon what and how much you've eaten. Everyone is a bit different, and you should experiment prior to workouts to determine what works best for you.

If you have an early morning race or workout, it's best to get up early enough to eat your pre-exercise meal. If not, you should try to eat or drink something easily digestible about 20 to 30 minutes before the event. The closer you are to the time of your event, the less you should eat. You can have a liquid meal closer to your event rather than a solid meal because your stomach digests liquids faster.

What To Eat
Because glucose is the preferred energy source for most exercise, a pre-exercise meal should include foods that are high in carbohydrates and easy to digest. This includes foods such as pasta, fruits, breads, energy bars and water.

Lactic acid gets secreted during exercise which makes your muscles stiff. Lactic acid can make a happy performed downright miserable when it accumulates. This inhibits performance at the gym and in athletic competition. Have you ever had a lactic acid crisis right after a hard workout? Anyone who can answer YES! understands why this is something to be avoided at all costs. I sense someone just nodded. The good news is that lactic acid accumulation can be avoided, easily and economically by drinking Alkaline ionized water. Alkaline water water should be consumed by athletes - and in fact by a growing number of professional athletes is being consumed during exercise because, among other benefits, it rids the body of that often pain inducing lactic acid. Why don't Gyms have an in house alkaline water filtration system? They should. Obviously we recommended gyms to have water ionizers (not just plain old filtered water) installed for their members. It's a win-win situation. And we all want to win and keep winning.

For more information on alkaline ionized water, please visit http://www.chansonwater.com/

Green Tea Health Benefits.

2009-10-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

Green tea doesn't just taste good. It does good. Make green tea with some freshly drawn ionized alkaline water!

The Chinese - who have a knack for great reverence toward the ancient ways while always seeming to remain on cutting edge at the same time - have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since, well, ancient times. They have been using it to treat everything from headaches to depression. In her book Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life, Nadine Taylor states that green tea has been used as a medicine in China for at least 4,000 years.

Today, scientific research in both Asia and the west is providing hard evidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent. University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.

To sum up, here are just a few medical conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to be helpful:

cancer
rheumatoid arthritis
high cholesterol levels
cariovascular disease
infection
impaired immune function

A great supplement to green tea is alkaline ionized water. This is also a powerful natural antioxidant as it helps wash away harmful toxins from the body. This water is electrically charged and is up to six times more hydrating than tap or bottled water. To know more, please visit http://www.chansonwater.com/

Eating For a Healthy Skin

2009-09-29T23:42:00.000-07:00

Your beautiful skin is the biggest organ in your body. You can really help it to breathe with plenty of alkaline water, with nothing added. Just pure ionized antioxidant goodness.

I hate to admit this, but it wasn't until recently, oh 7 years ago or so until I realized that skin is the biggest organ in the body. If you didn't know...it's okay. You're not alone. When most people think about the body's organ systems, the skin does not readily come to mind. However, the skin is the body's largest organ. It is the protector of all of the internal functions that occur. When things are not right in the inside, the skin is the first place they manifest themselves. As the protector of the human body, it is important to take care of it so that it can accomplish its job. Like for any other organ system, adequate protection for the skin starts from the inside. Thus, there are a number of foods for healthy skin that we need to consume.

This probably isn't a revelation to a lot of people but so often we just need a gentle reminder that the primary substance we should be ingesting for healthy skin is water. The general rule of thumb that applies to a healthy body is simple: drink half of an ounce for every .lb of body weight. Water - although not officially a food, it is necessary for proper tissue function and your body demands to be watered properly. People who don't drink enough water often suffer from dehydration and may have excessively dry skin and overal lower daily performace. Water is life. Pure and simple. Drink enough of the right kind of water. The right kind of water is like a natural makeup kit with Hydrated skin often has a glow to it as well, and healthy hydrated skin . This is likely because water drinkers don't often drink too many sugary substances, which damage the skin. Alkaline ionized water is 6 times more hydrating than normal bottled or tap water. It has powerful anti-oxidant properties and prevents the skin from free radical damage. A water ionizer therefore; may be prove to be a sound investment. Consuming alkaline ionized water does you skin a world of good. Without water, the skin cells cannot regenerate.

Foods rich in vitamin A help the blood and skin. Carotenoids, which the body converts to vitamin A, act as natural protectors for the skin. Foods rich in vitamin A include carrots, pumpkins, potatoes, squash, mangos, greens, and cantaloupe.

Vitamin C is another food for healthy skin. Because of the benefits of vitamin C to the skin, many topical lotions are not infused with extracts of the antioxidant. However, the best way to get vitamin C is in the diet. In addition to citrus fruits, sources of vitamin C include strawberries, kiwis, tomato juice, broccoli and kale.

Foods containing vitamin E also promote healthy skin. Vitamin E has properties that serve as skin conditioners. This vitamin can be found in vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, olives, spinach and asparagus. Because it is hard to get this particular vitamin in food, an additional supplement may be necessary.

Tea is another substance that can promote healthy skin, particularly green tea. Tea contains antioxidants and phytonutrients that fight acne. It is also a healthy way to maintain hydration in the skin. There is still a debate over how much tea per day to drink, but at least two cups support healthy skin.

Overall, a diet rich in whole, organic foods is good for the skin. Because they don't contain pesticides or additives, they benefit the entire skin. It is important to avoid processed foods as much as possible so as not to negate the benefits of a healthy diet.

Modifying Your Diet May be Your Most Powerful Weapon Against Disease

2009-09-24T11:34:00.000-07:00

The benefits of eating the right healthy healing foods are staggering - and yet -people are sick, even dying, because they ignore this simple fact: eating healthy works. It can saves lives. Make a few changes to your diet and improve your life.

Cooking and eating good food are the cornerstones of human civilization, our daily reward for all the hard work and innumerable difficulties of life. Like it or not, what we eat has consequences for us and for the world. Dinner is not something that just magically appears on our plates. Eating is the most intimate relationship we have with the environment. In ordering a burger or making a salad, we are inextricably linked to the land, cycles of rain and sunshine, farmers and farmworkers, compost or chemicals, processing facilities and slaughterhouses, truck drivers and miles of highway, co-ops or corporations--to a whole web of ecological and human activity.

What you eat affects the well-being of many other lifeforms. Not so long ago, we knew where most of our food came from: from the garden, or from local farmers. But now the components of our dinner likely have traveled thousands of miles to reach our table. Not just tropical foods like bannanas, coffee, and tea--we're shipping even the basics: potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, meats, and greens, not to mention boxed and canned goods.

In August 1971, the U.S. Department of Agriculture published An Evaluation of Research in the United States on Human Nutrition; Report No. 2, Benefits from Nutrition Research. The U.S. government spent approximately $30 million analyzing the relationship diet has to disease. According to the study:

* Major health problems are diet related;

* Benefits would be shared by all...especially by lower economic and non-white population groups;

* Major benefits are long range... Early adjustments of diet could prevent the development of undesirable long-range effects;

* There exist geographical, regional differences in diet-related problems.

It's now known that within a very short time after its release, all copies of the report were seized by the federal government. It was not until the campaign in 1933-94 for the Dietary Health Education and Supplement Act that a copy was mysteriously forwarded to the grassroots organization, Citizens for Health, to help in its fight to prevent the Food and Drug Administration from classifying food supplements as drugs.

Within any group that seeks control and power over a population, even health is a legitimate target. If you can manipulate the population's health or induce disease by modifying what they consume, you can create a pseudo healthcare system that seems to care but is busy making billions off disease that is relatively easy to prevent or cure through diet alone. With the multimillion-dollar backing of an industry, you can also discredit any alternative to current, popularly accepted treatments by labeling them "old wives' tales," "quackery" or "unscientific."

All this goes on to show that modifying your diet may be a very powerful weapon against disease.

Dan The Regenerator Man

2009-09-24T05:08:00.000-07:00

Q. What could be better than seeing someone glow from the inside out? A. You, glowing from the inside out. Dan The Regenerator Man talks about raw food. His glow goes before him. Dan, give us a call and we'll get you hooked UP on the ionized alkaline down low. You'll dig it!

We love seeing people glow. Dan glows. It's no secret why. Food can make or break you. Good healing foods, good fresh ionized alkaline water, fresh from YOUR tap, a positive approach to life and a little help from our friends...well that about sums it up for us here at Chanson Alkaline Water. Congrats to Dan on his very successful youtube show!

www.ChansonAlkalineWater.com

Naringenin Found in Grapefruit Prevents Obesity, Blocks Insulin Resistance

2009-09-13T03:20:00.000-07:00

Alkalizing fruits just happen to have the potential to slow obesity and diabetes down

A substance in grapefruit just may prove to be the key to reversing acidity that leads to obesity and diabetes.

The substance, a flavonoid called "naringenin," is a naturally occurring alkaline compound in all citrus fruit, but especially in grapefruit. Naringenin is responsible for giving grapefruit its bitter taste. Naringenin, found naturally in grapefruit, detoxifies the liver and causes fat to be released instead of storing it.

Read the full news item here

http://seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Nutrition-Vitamins/2009/20090714-NaringeninFound.htm

Naringenin, for all its potential to heal, leaves a little to be desired on the palette. So we're going to give you a few tips to make grapefruit more appealing.

Add some blue agave sweetener, but not a lot. Just enough to buffer the bitter.

Add some warmed up raw honey to your grapefruit; pour it right on the naked fruit. Don't warm the honey until it's hot, but warm it up just enough so that it drips nicely over the fruit.

For information on how to reduce excess acidity and live a healthier life by consuming alkaline water, goto http://www.chansonalkalinewater.com/

The Nutrient Rich Food Classification

2009-09-12T02:57:00.000-07:00

FIRST CLASS

Vegetables

Fresh Fruit

Nuts and Seeds

Beans and Legumes

Whole Unrefined Grain

To Eat Nutrient Rich : Eat 80-90% First Class foods, or more.

SECOND CLASS

Fish
Low-fat

Dairy

Wild Meat and Fowl
Eggs

Red Meat
Smaller amounts of Second Class foods, if you eat them.

THIRD CLASS

Refined Grains

Full-fat Dairy

Refined Oil and Sweets

Avoid Third Class foods, as much as possible.

Health Benefits of Whole Grains

2009-09-03T02:28:00.000-07:00

Whole Grains

Grains, especially whole grains, provide several health benefits. Grains provide essential nutrients and helps reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases.

Health Benefits

Eating a diet high in grains, especially whole grains, as an overall healthy diet may ...
help with weight management.

reduce constipation.

reduce the risk of coronary artery disease.

Nutrients

Grains provide many nutrients such as dietary fiber, B vitamins and minerals.

Dietary fiber may help reduce blood cholesterol levels and lower risk of heart disease.

B vitamins are essential for your metabolism by helping your body release energy from protein, fat and carbohydrates.

Folic acid helps the body form blood cells and is especially important for women of childbearing age who may become pregnant.

Magnesium from whole grains helps build bones and release energy from muscles.

Hypoglycemia - What To Eat and What To Avoid

2009-09-03T02:17:00.000-07:00

Got low sugar blues? you might be suffering from hypoglycemia. But good news - you can do a lot about it. Drinking alkaline water can help you

“Hypoglycemia” is the medical term for low blood sugar (glucose). Occasionally, hypoglycemia can be dangerous (for example, from injecting too much insulin). It may also indicate a serious underlying medical condition, such as a tumor of the pancreas or liver disease.

What are the symptoms of hypoglycemia? Common symptoms of hypoglycemia are fatigue, anxiety, headaches, difficulty concentrating, sweaty palms, shakiness, excessive hunger, drowsiness, abdominal pain, and depression.

Dietary changes that may be helpful: Doctors find that people with hypoglycemia usually improve when they eliminate refined sugars and alcohol from their diet, eat foods high in fiber (such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts), and eat small, frequent meals. Few studies have investigated the effects of these changes, but the research that is available generally supports the observations of doctors. Some symptoms of low blood sugar may be related to, or made worse by, food allergies.

Even modest amounts of caffeine may increase symptoms of hypoglycemia. For this reason, caffeinated beverages (such as coffee, tea, and some soda pop) should be avoided.

Some people report an improvement in hypoglycemia episodes when eating a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet. That observation appears to conflict with research showing that increasing protein intake can impair the body’s ability to process sugar, possibly because protein increases insulin levels (insulin reduces blood sugar levels). However, some doctors have seen good results with high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets, particularly among people who do not improve with a high-fiber, high-complex-carbohydrate diet.

Some poeple have also reported major benefits from consuming alkaline ionized water. A water ionizer, installed on your tap, changes your tap water to electrically charged alkaline water that is said to be upto 6 times more hydrating than normal bottled or tap water, this means that our cells would absorb nutrients from the water very quickly.

For more information on Alkaline Water, Visit http://www.chansonwater.com/

Proof mounts on restricted diet

2009-08-27T02:04:00.000-07:00

Restricted Diet has long been known to have major benefits for animals. Now a close relative of man has furthered this theory. A long study in the U.S. has concluded with major proof of the health benefits of a nutricious but restricted diet in monkeys. It involved several monkies of equal age, half with restricted calorie intake and the other half with an unrestricted diet.

The rate of cancers and cardiovascular disease in dieting animals was less than half of those permitted to eat freely.

Whether the same effects would be seen in humans is unclear, although anecdotal evidence so far suggests people on a long-term calorie-restricted diet have better cardiovascular health.

The precise mechanism is yet to be established: theories involve changes in the body's metabolism or a reduction in the production of "free radical" chemicals which can cause damage.

Read the Full Article on BBC's Website

Purines Explained

2009-08-27T01:56:00.000-07:00

I will try to explain 'Purines' that I mentioned in my previous blogpost.

Purines are natural substances found in all of the body's cells, and in virtually all foods. The reason for their widespread occurrence is simple: purines provide part of the chemical structure of our genes and the genes of plants and animals. A relatively small number of foods, however, contain concentrated amounts of purines. For the most part, these high-purine foods are also high-protein foods, and they include organ meats like kidney, fish like mackerel, herring, sardines and mussels, and also yeast.

Purines are metabolized into uric acid

When cells die and get recycled, the purines in their genetic material also get broken down. Uric acid is the chemical formed when purines have been broken down completely.

Because uric acid is formed from the breakdown of purines, low-purine diets are often used to help treat conditions like gout in which excessive uric acid is deposited in the tissues of the body.

Gout Diets: Foods to Eat

2009-08-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

Dietary restrictions for Gout patients suggest what people should not eat, but what should people eat? What foods will help control gout attacks? The American Medical Association recommends the following dietary guidelines for people with gout, advising them to eat a diet:

high in complex carbohydrates (fiber-rich whole grains, fruits, and vegetables)

low in protein (15% of calories and sources should be soy, lean meats, or poultry)

no more than 30% of calories in fat (with only 10% animal fats)

Recommended Foods To Eat

Fresh cherries, strawberries, blueberries, and other red-blue berries
Bananas
Celery
Tomatoes
Vegetables including kale, cabbage, parsley, green-leafy vegetables
Foods high in bromelain (pineapple)
Foods high in vitamin C (red cabbage, red bell peppers, tangerines, mandarins, oranges, potatoes)
Drink fruit juices and purified water (8 glasses of water per day)
Low-fat dairy products
Complex carbohydrates (breads, cereals, pasta, rice, as well as aforementioned vegetables and fruits)
Chocolate, cocoa
Coffee, tea
Carbonated beverages
Essential fatty acids (tuna and salmon, flaxseed, nuts, seeds)
Tofu, although a legume and made from soybeans, may be a better choice than meat

Foods considered moderately high in purines but which may not raise the risk of gout include: asparagus, cauliflower, mushrooms, peas, spinach, whole grain breads and cereals, chicken, duck, ham, turkey, kidney and lima beans. It is important to remember that purines are found in all protein foods. All sources of purines should not be eliminated.

How to Choose a Healing Diet

2009-08-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

We hear a lot about food that are bad for us, but you can choose a healing diet that will restore your health without the use of drugs. Here are some ideas for a diet that will enhance your well-being.

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1 Know what foods are bad. Avoid aspartame, salt, additives, refined sugar, processed foods and soft drinks. Read labels for any processed foods that you buy to ensure you are getting quality ingredients before you eat. Better still, avoid processed foods whenever possible.

STEP 2 Take stock of detoxification diets that may be good for you. Choose a healing diet that will help you eat foods that will purge the toxins you have ingested. Some diets that can be helpful are a Macrobiotic diet, metabolic typing diet, the Alkaline diet and a Ayurvedic diet.

STEP 3 Understand allergies and problems digesting certain foods. If you are allergic to dairy, avoid yogurt and cheeses. If you are allergic to wheat, get your carbs from fruits, legumes and vegetables. Undergo a food allergy test to eliminate harmful foods from your diet.

STEP 4 Fill out quizzes and questionnaires or talk to a nutritionist to help you focus on the right diet. The Metabolic Typing Diet directs you to healing diets based on your genes. A screening quiz can help you find a detox diet. A nutritionist can inform you which foods heal which ailments.

STEP 5 Review your diet with your physician so he can determine if it may exacerbate any health issues you might have.

STEP 6 Consider your lifestyle before you choose a healing diet. If you don't have enough time to properly prepare the foods, it will be difficult to follow some healing diets. However, you can buy prepared meals at your local health food store and organic market.

Nature's Health Hints

2009-08-08T00:28:00.000-07:00

A Walnut

looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and Lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the Neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen Neuro-transmitters for brain function.

Becoming Alkaline

2009-08-08T00:08:00.000-07:00

This is not as difficult or as technical as it sounds. When we talk about eating alkaline foods or starting an alkaline diet we are referring to consuming those foods and drink which have an alkaline effect on the body. This effect is based upon the mineral content of the food and therefore the ash residue that remains after our foods are consumed. Some foods leave an acid ash, whereas others leave an alkaline ash.

Conveniently for us, it just so happens that the foods that contain alkaline minerals (and leave an alkaline ash) are all the foods we already know are good for us: low sugar foods, fresh vegetables etc. And the foods that contain minerals that leave an acid ash? You guessed it, sweets, alcohol, saturated fats, meats, dairy etc.

Of course, everybody is different - but most of us should aim to eat 70-80% alkaline foods and a maximum of 20-30% acid forming foods.This does not have to be measured in calories, grams or anything technical, just look at your plate! Is 70% of the food on it alkalising? And for the other 30%? You can do with this what you like (how acid is up to you - dependent upon the results you want), but feel free to go for some oily fish, wholemeal pasta or wild rice for example. A great head start for your self alkalizing journey would be to buy a water ionizer and start consuming alkaline water.

Alkaline Diet elevates Health to a new level

2009-07-13T03:38:00.000-07:00

To Start eating Alkaline diet is the best way to become healthy.

Eating alkaline diet doesn't mean that you have to eat only alkaline foods instead you will be eating food that will become alkaline in your body.

Below are 3 top reasons why you should start thinking about eating alkaline diet:

1) If you have a nose problem and you are finding your nasal passage blocked frequently, Chances are that you are too acidic.

2) If you are tired most of the time and have low energy levels all the time and finding it hard to be fully productive each day.

3) If you have joint pain or arthritis.

For More information on how to alkalize yourself, please visit www.ChansonAlkalineWater.com

Nature's Health Hints

2009-07-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound Heart and blood vitalizing food.

Its all about the Diet

2009-07-10T03:30:00.000-07:00

There are three ways to alkalize the body for optimum health. Diet alone, alkaline water alone or diet and alkaline water.

My friend Jill was depressed, over weight and unhealthy. About 10 years ago she decided to radically transform her life. She started to exercise by walking on a tread mill. She became a vegan, which means she cut out all animal products from her diet including, milk, eggs, butter and honey. Jill lost 100 pounds in a short amount of time. She had just lost the weight right before I met her so I'm not exactly sure how long it took to lose it but it was less than a year.

She ate lots of salads and avocados which are very alkalizing. She would also eat things like french fries which are not healthy or alkalizing but over all she ate more good foods than bad. It was intresting to go out to eat with her because she always had to ask the waiter lots of questions about what was in a dish and what it was cooked in and things like that. She was always polite and always had an idea of what she could eat at most places. I remember how betrayed she felt when she found out that McDonalds put beef products in their french fries. Jill didn't know anything about alkaline ionized water, so she is a perfect example of someone who changed their life by alkalizing there body through diet with wonderful results. She is now happy, healthy and fit.

Australia town bans bottled water

2009-07-09T04:09:00.000-07:00

A rural town in Australia has voted overwhelmingly to ban the sale of bottled water over concerns about its environmental impact.

Campaigners say Bundanoon, in New South Wales, may be the first community in the world to have such a ban.

They say huge amounts of resources are used to extract, package and transport bottled water.

The discarded plastic bottles then end up as litter or go into landfill sites, the "Bundy on Tap" campaign says.. Read the full article

Nature's hints

2009-07-08T04:21:00.000-07:00

A Sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye...and YES science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

List of Acidifying and Alkalizing foods

2009-07-03T23:19:00.000-07:00

ACIDIFYING VEGETABLES

Corn

Lentils

Olives

Winter Squash

ACIDIFYING FRUITS

Blueberries

Canned or Glazed Fruits

Cranberries

Currants

Plums**

Prunes**

ACIDIFYING GRAINS, GRAIN PRODUCTS

Amaranth

Barley

Bran, oat

Bran, wheat

Bread

Corn

Cornstarch

Crackers, soda

Flour, wheat

Flour, white

Hemp Seed Flour

Kamut

Macaroni

Noodles

Oatmeal

Oats (rolled)

Quinoa

Rice (all)

Rice Cakes

Rye

Spaghetti

Spelt

Wheat Germ

Wheat

ACIDIFYING BEANS & LEGUMES

Almond Milk

Black Beans

Chick Peas

Green Peas

Kidney Beans

Lentils

Pinto Beans

Red Beans

Rice Milk

Soy Beans

Soy Milk

White Beans

ACIDIFYING DAIRY

Butter

Cheese

Cheese, Processed

Ice Cream

Ice Milk

ACIDIFYING NUTS & BUTTERS

Cashews

Legumes

Peanut Butter

Peanuts

Pecans

Tahini

Walnuts

ACIDIFYING ANIMAL PROTEIN

Bacon

Beef

Carp

Clams

Cod

Corned Beef

Fish

Haddock

Lamb

Lobster

Mussels

Organ Meats

Oyster

Pike

Pork

Rabbit

Salmon

Sardines

Sausage

Scallops

Shellfish

Shrimp

Tuna

Turkey

Veal

Venison

ACIDIFYING FATS & OILS

Avacado Oil

Butter

Canola Oil

Corn Oil

Flax Oil

Hemp Seed Oil

Lard

Olive Oil

Safflower Oil

Sesame Oil

Sunflower Oil

ACIDIFYING SWEETENERS

Carob

Corn Syrup

Sugar

ACIDIFYING ALCOHOL

Beer

Hard Liquor

Spirits

Wine

ACIDIFYING OTHER FOODS

Catsup

Cocoa

Coffee

Mustard

Pepper

Soft Drinks

Vinegar

ACIDIFYING DRUGS & CHEMICALS

Aspirin

Chemicals

Drugs, Medicinal

Drugs, Psychedelic

Herbicides

Pesticides

Tobacco

ACIDIFYING JUNK FOOD

Beer: pH 2.5

Coca-Cola: pH 2

Coffee: pH 4

** These foods leave an alkaline ash but have an acidifying effect on the body.

ALKALIZING VEGETABLES

Alfalfa

Barley Grass

Beet Greens

Beets

Broccoli

Cabbage

Carrot

Cauliflower

Celery

Chard Greens

Chlorella

Collard Greens

Cucumber

Dandelions

Dulce

Edible Flowers

Eggplant

Fermented Veggies

Garlic

Green Beans

Green Peas

Kale

Kohlrabi

Lettuce

Mustard Greens

Nightshade Veggies

Onions

Parsnips (high glycemic)

Peas

Peppers

Pumpkin

Radishes

Rutabaga

Sea Veggies

Spinach, green

Spirulina

Sprouts

Sweet Potatoes

Tomatoes

Watercress

Wheat Grass

Wild Greens

ALKALIZING ORIENTAL VEGETABLES

Daikon

Dandelion Root

Kombu

Maitake

Nori

Reishi

Shitake

Umeboshi

Wakame

ALKALIZING FRUITS

Apple

Apricot

Avocado

Banana (high glycemic)

Berries

Blackberries

Cantaloupe

Cherries, sour

Coconut, fresh

Currants

Dates, dried

Figs, dried

Grapes

Grapefruit

Honeydew Melon

Lemon

Lime

Muskmelons

Nectarine

Orange

Peach

Pear

Pineapple

Raisins

Raspberries

Rhubarb

Strawberries

Tangerine

Tomato

Tropical Fruits

Umeboshi Plums

Watermelon

ALKALIZING PROTEIN

Almonds

Chestnuts

Millet

Tempeh (fermented)

Tofu (fermented)

Whey Protein Powder

ALKALIZING SWEETENERS

Stevia

ALKALIZING SPICES & SEASONINGS

Chili Pepper

Cinnamon

Curry

Ginger

Herbs (all)

Miso

Mustard

Sea Salt

Tamari

ALKALIZING OTHER

Alkaline Antioxidant Water

Apple Cider Vinegar

Bee Pollen

Fresh Fruit Juice

Green Juices

Lecithin Granules

Mineral Water

Molasses, blackstrap

Probiotic Cultures

Soured Dairy Products

Veggie Juices

ALKALIZING MINERALS

Calcium: pH 12

Cesium: pH 14

Magnesium: pH 9

Potassium: pH 14

Sodium: pH 14

Although it might seem that citrus fruits would have an acidifying effect on the body, the citric acid they contain actually has an alkalinizing effect in the system.

Note that a food's acid or alkaline forming tendency in the body has nothing to do with the actual pH of the food itself. For example, lemons are very acidic, however the end products they produce after digestion and assimilation are very alkaline so, lemons are alkaline forming in the body. Likewise, meat will test alkaline before digestion, but it leaves very acidic residue in the body so, like nearly all animal products, meat is very acid forming.

Facts About Water Consumption Today

2008-06-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

• The taste facts
An obvious issue in the consumption of bottled water is taste. In some areas, tap water simply isn't drinkable, and in those situations bottled water is a useful resource. Other consumers simply prefer the taste of bottled water. Consumers have lots of preferences and some people want mineral water for taste. Everyone has their own reasons for buying products. And some people have a preference for bottled water. But perceptions about the taste of tap water and realities about the taste of tap water can be very different things. To test the hypothesis that tap water tastes at least as good as bottled water, has been conducting a series of taste tests at Ithaca College in the past year. In five blind taste tests over the last year, the tap water has won four times. The growth in advertising and consumption of bottled water has occurred frankly since the big soda companies bought up water. They would buy up the Dasanis, and they would buy up the Poland Springs, and you get into the huge marketing machines of the major soda industries, Coke and Pepsi, notably, and they take it to a whole different field."
• Water and waste
Then there's the waste stream. In roughly the last 10 years, the amount of polyethylene terephthalate plastic bottles being recycled increased from about 775 million pounds in 1995 to about 1,170 million in 2005, according to the Container Recycling Institute. But during the same time period, the amount of PET bottles going into landfills skyrocketed from 1,175 million to 3,900 million pounds. Water bottles are a big part of that problem because there are so many more of them, and because in many states, water bottles don't have a redemption value like soda and beer bottles do.
• Hidden costs of water
Strictly speaking, tap water isn't free — it costs about $0.00002 per ounce. But single-serve bottled water costs between 1,000 and 4,000 times more, according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Some cities, including San Francisco, Albuquerque, Minneapolis, and Seattle, have banned city purchase of single-serve bottled water because of waste impact from the bottles and because it's viewed as an unnecessary cost to taxpayers.
• So then what?
How can you save money while actually drinking tasty water that you know for a fact is good for you and the environment? Well, luckily the answer is simple and can be summed up in three simple words, ionized alkaline water. Do you know what your current drinking water is doing to your health? Studies show that drinking purified or distilled water can lead to mineral deficiencies in your body…your tap water contains measurable particles of drugs and pharmaceuticals…and most waters are too acidic for your body’s pH! For optimal wellbeing you need alkaline water, a “living,” electrically-charged water that easily passes through your tissues and allows your body to absorb essential alkalizing minerals. Alkaline water, which is full of antioxidants, comes out of a ionizer, or, an alkaline water machine. An alkaline water machine is an easy-to-use device that attaches to your faucet. Your alkaline water ionizer will turn your unhealthy tap water into fully filtered, electrically-charged, great-tasting “living” alkaline water. This will save you money by purchasing this one-time-buy ionizer as opposed to buying hundreds of nutrition-less water bottles in your lifetime; most of which get dumped into our Earth as waste. So the answer truly is simple, save money, environment and your health by switching to alkaline water

Apple Honey Iced Tea

2008-06-13T22:58:00.000-07:00

This is a fabulous summer tea, and easy to make. This one is definitely a personal favorite!

Ingredients:

3 cups alkaline water, boiling
4 tea bags
1/3 cup honey
3 cups apple juice

Preparation:

Pour three cups of your alkaline water into a stove-top pot; Steep tea bags in hot water for 5 minutes. Strain out tea bags, and stir in honey and juice. Mix until honey is dissolved. Chill for two hours then serve over ice.
Serves 6-8

Saturated Fats...Watch Out!

2008-06-07T18:34:00.000-07:00

Concentrated mostly in animal products, saturated fats are solid fats that raise harmful LDL cholesterol and increase cardiovascular disease risk. Foods high in saturated fats are damaging to your arteries, so as a result The American Heart Association advises limiting saturated fats to less than seven percent of total calories, which is equivocal to to about 15 grams for the average person intaking 2,000 calorie-a-day diet. It is easy to limit your saturated fat intake, just stay away from high fat content dairy products, limit your red meat intake and manage your meat portions. lastly, and this is a given, as much as possible stay away from fried and greasy foods, these are just swimming in saturated fats.

Acid Water: Don't Throw it Out!!

2008-06-02T23:57:00.000-07:00

acid water is highly oxidative water, and therefore, acidic. acid water kills bacteria, viruses and fungi upon contact, in fact, Acid ionized water is destructive not only to bacteria but it is also an astringent. As a result it has found widespread application commercially in: nurseries, surgeries, food preparation areas, sprout and wheatgrass growers, florists, hospitals, etc. In the home it is an excellent cleansing and sterilizing agent, with uses in the kitchen, for hair and skin care, extending the life of flowers, promoting plant growth and many others. The acid water is excellent for all manner of skin complaint. you can use it as an astringent face wash last thing at night and it's excellent for acne, sores, bench top and more.

Health Tip Of The Day

2008-05-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

The ABC's of Antioxidants:

Antioxidants are a great way to fight off the havoc wreaking free radicals that are no doubt running rampant in your system doing more damage than you realize. The question is how do you get the antioxidants you so sorely need to keep healthy and fight off sickness and disease? there are two sure fire ways to know your getting the antioxidants you need:

1. Eating specific foods that are high in antioxidants like carotenoids, flavonoids, selenium, sulfides, and organosulfurs all are food compounds that are high in antioxidants.

2. The second, and easily the best and most powerful way to get your antioxidants is by drinking alkaline water. alkaline water contains millions of free radical fighting oxidants in every glass; as well as being full of calcium and rich in oxygen. drinking alkaline water is a sure fire way to keep healthy

Ionized water can help you to lose weight

2008-05-16T00:35:00.000-07:00

According to Dr. Robert O. Young, a research scientist at the pH Miracle Living Center, states, "overweight and obesity are not fat problems; they are an over-acidic problem caused by lifestyle, diet and metabolic acids. If you need and want to lose acidic weight then you need to eliminate acidic lifestyle and dietary choice sand begins to alkalize and energize your body with the pH Miracle Living Lifestyle and Dietary Plan." There are many different avenues you can take in acidic fat prevention. When it comes to health, it’s a fact that all measures should be taken in ensuring your well being. One measure that can be taken to ensure good health and long life is by drinking ionized water. Drinking ionized water makes it easier for the body to dispose of acid wastes and, if consumed regularly, ionized water can reduce acid waste, allowing for a natural health improvement.

Drinking ionized water not only reduces the levels of un-wanted acids in your body. The accumulation of acidic wastes helps to accelerate the aging process; therefore, the reduction of acid wastes retards the aging process and perhaps - according to Sang Whang – “even reverses it.”

Supplementation

2008-05-15T01:35:00.000-07:00

A strange as it may seem, a great deal of our aging and deterioration is actually due, in large part, to a deficiency of proper health and nutrients. As we age, our bodies are naturally going to slow down, thus making it more difficult to absorb the proper nutrient we need from our food, mainly due to weaker digestive system. Our immune system starts to weaken and slow, so as a result, we are not able to fight off sickness or rapid deterioration properly. So what are some of the avenues we can take to properly feed our bodies the nutrients they so richly desire? Here are a few options you can explore to implement health back into your diet:

Dark green vegetables- broccoli, spinach, blue algae, and kale are all vegetables rich in proteins, nutrients and calcium. These are a must have in your everyday diet.

Antioxidants- some people think taking vitamins is the best way to keep the antioxidants flowing, but actually a better way is by drinking ionized alkaline water. It is a fact that alkaline water provides your body and cells with much needed oxygen, which helps to boost immune system, keep you energized as well as helps detoxify your system.

Taking calcium and iron- calcium will help to strengthen your bone density while iron helps protect you from a protein deficiency.

Good exercise- it’s good to keep your calories and total acidic body fat down and your muscle mass up, and one of the best ways of doing this is through healthy exercise. Keeping your body in shape also helps to boost your immune system.

Take a multi-vitamin- you should really look into to this one, because there are a lot of vitamins out there that aren’t as nutritionally sound as many others. First, make sure it’s a vitamin that needs to be taken more than once a day, then find out the reputation of this vitamin. These multi-vitamins will help to supplement your body with a lot of much needed nutrients that you are missing in your everyday diet.

By Nedalee Ruiz

Nedalee is the author of The Desperate Parents Handbook http://www.desperateparent.com/
Nedalee recommends http://www.healingwatermachines.com/ for more articles on health and healing and http://HealingDiets.blogspot.com for articles on diet and nutrition.

Avoiding Excess Weight in your Body

2008-05-14T02:14:00.001-07:00

Obesity is running rampant throughout the U.S. population today. It is basically defined as being 20% over your normal body weight; normal weight is determined by your height, age, and build, and is referred to as your body mass index. Obesity is now the second leading cause of death in America right underneath smoking cigarettes.

There are several different avenues you can explore and take to avoid any extra weight gain and, if possible, lose some of those un-wanted pounds:

1. Cut empty calories. Empty calories are normally found in high energy foods with poor nutritional values and are prominent in processed foods high in fat and carbohydrates. Some examples of these foods are- Coffee, soda, potato chips, and candy. Cutting these foods out of your diet will keep you from adding that un-wanted weight and it will help you to drop some of those unnecessary pounds.

2. Detoxify your body. Your body needs to be cleansed and the best way to do this is by drinking alkaline water which is distributed through water ionizers. Alkaline water helps to oxygenate your cells, which helps to neutralize body acids and restore your pH balance.

3. Eat a good breakfast. Your metabolism doesn’t start running properly until you eat, so if you wake up nice and early and eat a healthy breakfast, your metabolism will work over time in between meals to help you burn calories.

4. Don’t eat late at night. Your metabolism starts working for the first time in the morning, after breakfast, so by the end of the day its pooped! Your metabolism slows at night, so you should pick a nice early dinner time, eat a sensible, low calorie meal and then put the fork down for the rest of the night. If you continue to much, your metabolism will not be able to process it as quickly and it will be stored as fat.

5. drink plenty of water. Drinking 8 10 oz glasses of water a day will not only keep you hydrated and cleansed, but it will also help to curb hunger.

6. Finally, exercise properly. You should be exercising at least twice a week to help to keep you in shape and burn some unwanted calories.

By Nedalee Ruiz
Nedalee is the author of The Desperate Parents Handbook http://www.desperateparent.com/
Nedalee recommends http://www.healingwatermachines.com/ for more articles on health and healing and http://HealingDiets.blogspot.com for articles on diet and nutrition.
Copyright © 2008 By Nedalee Ruiz Permission granted to reproduce in entirety only including links and author credits.

The Perfect Cup of Coffee

2008-05-13T00:33:00.001-07:00

There is nothing better in the morning than a properly made cup of delicious coffee, but on the flip side, there is nothing worse in the morning, than a nasty, sludgy, improperly made cup of coffee. So how do you ensure that you will start off your day right with that invigorating tasty cup? There are a few easy steps that need to be taken that when making a great coffee, but you need to take them all if you’re going to get it right.

1. Picking the right beans.
Always select high-quality, perfectly roasted beans. Organic beans are great for full bodied flavor. Also, buying beans directly from your favorite coffee shop will ensure good flavor.

2. Finding the right grind.
Lots of people use different brewing methods to match there favorite coffee selections, and the grind of the coffee bean determines a lot of that preferred flavor. Whether your favorite coffee style is drip, press, or espresso, you’re going to need to pay attention to coffee bean size. For Press, you need a very coarse grind, and for espresso, you need a very fine grind. For drip coffee machines, however, you’re going to need to find a happy medium between coarse and fine grind.

3. Proper proportions.
Proportion determines whether or not your going to have a strong cup of coffee, or a very watered down weak cup of coffee. The rule of thumb when making a regular cup of coffee is a ratio of 2 tablespoons of fresh ground coffee for every 6 fl. Oz. of water.

4. Using the best water.
Water is going to determine A LOT of the coffees flavor. The best water to use for the very best cup of coffee is a cup of cold alkaline water. Alkaline water comes from water ionizer machines which are easy to purchase, easy to buy, and a fantastic investment for flavor and health purposes. Always make sure your alkaline water is cold when adding it to your brewer.

5. Proper storage.
Keeping your coffee in an air tight storage container somewhere dark and cool will help keep it fresher longer.

Better 4 1/2 Months late than never

2008-04-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

Ronnie started his New Years Diet yesterday. Finally! He and several friends put $300 each into a pool and have given them selves until September 1st to loose weight. They all weighed in and the one who loses the most wins the $2,400 pot. Ronnie was the fattest at 268 pounds, so we'll track it and see how well he does. Remember, last year, he lost 40 pounds in 75 days by becoming alkaline with alkaline water and alkaline foods.

He's pulled me off my diet many times in the last months by bringing home pizza and ice cream. Usually I resist, but too often, maybe one if four times, I don't. That has kept my weight hovering right around the same mark for a while now. I weighed in yesterday at 157.4, exactly the same as last week and only one ounce less than two weeks ago. Let's see how we do with eating right.

weighing in

2008-04-03T05:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't get around to posting earlier in the week, I've been working 14 hour days. I only lost one ounce last week. Made it down to 157.4 pounds. Seem to be going around in a loop in that area. I've increased my walks to 5-6 days a week for 30 minutes each. I'm really enjoy extra energy, as yesterday I worked a very full day on 3 1/2 hours sleep. Other days I've gotten 4-41/2 hours of sleep. Personally I prefer more and was grateful for the 7 hours I got last night. But I've decided that rather than waking up and tossing and turning, I go a head and get up and start working. I'm not trying to get up and work at 3 am, but if I'm awake, why not work?

ARRRRRRRRRRRR 3.24.08 Weigh in

2008-03-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

My weight has yo-yoed all weekend. I was down to 154 last Thursday and up to 155.1 a couple of days ago.
So just imagine my disgust as I weighted in this morning at 157.5!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am wearing sweats and long sleeves but come on. I ate about 5 pieces of bread over the weekend and 3 pieces of cherry pie, so clearly flour and sugar have had their way with me. Boy am I bummed. I was so glad after 3 months of dieting to finally have broken the 10 pound mark and then here I am, just heart broken. Well the, back to work at being serious about this. The amazing thing is that you will quickly see that when ever Ronnie gets around to joining me on this, he will lose 10 pounds in about 14 days and keep it off instead of my 14 weeks and yo-yoing!

Action equals results

2008-03-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

Though you are not yet sure exactly how you will finish, go ahead and get started. Even the smallest amount of progress can motivate you to keep going. The big achievements begin with small achievements and the small achievements come from making the initial effort.No matter where you intend to go, there is always a first step to be taken. Take that first step now. Nothing can equal the sense of accomplishment that comes from getting results. Though it's great to have faith that you can do it, it's even better when you know from your own experience. Action is what will transform your faith, your hopes, your best intentions into real and undeniable results and now is the time to act.Take that first step, keep on going and don't look back. You can do it, when you decide that you will.

I weighed in at 156.5 this morning. Down about half a pound from last week. I've been walking for 30 minutes almost every day. My results have been very slow but at least are still moving in the right direction which right now is DOWN.

3.10.08 weigh in

2008-03-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Well I lost 2 1/2 pounds this week, although I seem to have lost and gained that same weight several times. I am now at 157.01 and am diligently working to lose more. For those of you wondering what happened to Ronnie, he literary dieted 4 days and quit!

March 3rd weigh in Results

2008-03-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

Weighed in at 159.5 which is a 15 ounce loss.
I'm still discouraged with my results and have ramped up my exercise somewhat, but it's still mild exercise. I had lunch with a friend last week who asked me if I had measured myself since I'd started this plan. The answer was no, but it got me to thinking about a woman that I once met at a gym. This woman ran on the treadmill for 45 minutes at a time. Something I still couldn't do today, and she was in her late 40's early 50's. One day in conversation she told me that she hadn't lost a pound since she'd started working our 9 months before but that her body had totally been reshaped and that she was very happy with the results. I was very discouraged about that as I want to LOSE weight. In her case I know that we can over exercise which causes our body to become acidic with blocks weight loss.

Anyway, all that to say that I cam home and measured my waste and belly and found that I had lost a full inch off of each! I am VERY happy about that and bought some new clothes to celebrate..

Raw Benefits for Diabetics

2008-02-27T10:31:00.000-08:00

When I stated to try and change my eating, my intention was to eat more raw food than I have been. I just read a repot in The Feb.2008 readers digest that talks about a new movie coming out called Raw for 30 days. In the movie, Diabetics eat a raw vegan lifestyle for 30 days, lose an average of 25 pounds and are able to go off insulin. This is because their bodies become alkaline in the process of this kind of eating. Which is another reason that I recommend alkaline water to everyone. I'm trying hard to get the guts to commit to 30 full days of raw only eating. Honestly it isn't as bad as it sounds, were not just talking celery and carrot sticks. The recipes I've found have been top notch in flavor and I've created some of my own in the recipe page at Healing Water Machines
I think the reason that I haven't made the full commitment is because... I like to eat out a lot. I get tempted easily. I need a quick food plan to be able to start. My husband isn't cooperating and that could be a big problem. Excuses, excuses! I'm listening to some Tony Robbins tapes that are really encouraging me to look at my excuses/reasons and find a way to seriously over come them. I'm working on it.
By Nedalee Ruiz
Nedalee is the author of The Desperate Parents Handbook http://www.desperateparent.com/ Nedalee recommends http://www.healingwatermachines.com/ for more articles on health and healing and
http://HealingDiets.blogspot.com for articles on diet and nutrition.
Copyright © 2008 By Nedalee Ruiz Permission granted to reproduce in entirety only including links and author credits.

BLAAAAAAAAAA Weight in

2008-02-25T09:46:00.000-08:00

I jumped on when I was barley awake this morning, not totally expecting good results, because I'd been to two parties over the weekend. But then again, I'd exercised 6 times last week, so maybe I'd have good results. When the digital numbers appeared before me, I mentally, and incorrectly calculated that I'd lost over 7 pounds. I told my husband that didn't seem like it could be right. So I weighted again. When the reality sunk in that 160.4 meant I had GAINED 2 pounds 7 ounces, I began to cry. And honestly, I cried for over an hour and still don't feel like I'm over it. Thankfully, by keeping a food journal, I can clearly see where I went wrong in the week and make adjustments. Boy am I bummed though!

Here's what I ate. And I admit I didn't drink as much alkaline water this week which is proably part of the problem.
1.18.08
Exercise—5 minutes on the rebounder
Breakfast—Blueberry Smoothie
Lunch—Burrito
Snack—Tamale and garlic fries
Dinner---Spaghetti

1.19.08
Exercise 7 minutes on the rebounder
Breakfast—Blueberry smoothie
Lunch—Half a roast beef sandwich and a salad with peach hot tea.
Dinner—1/2 a steak, mash potatos, chard, and corn.
Snack--- 3 bites of my husband’s drumstick ice cream.

1.20.08
Exercise--- 20 minute walk outside with my dog. Very refreshing and invigorating.
Breakfast---Blueberry Smoothie
Lunch, ½ roast beef sandwich
Dinner—Apple wood smoked bacon sandwich with lettuce tomato and avocado. Sorry-a word like "Smoked" is a real trigger for me and "apple wood smoked" sounded so exotic. Just tasted like bacon to me. Wasn’t the best choice, but I got it out of my system. J
Snakck—I couldn’t help it Ronnie was eating another ice cream drumstick and I lost all self control and had one too.

1.21.08
Exercise –20 minute walk in the park.
Breakfast—Strawberry Smoothie
Lunch---Salad, enchalada, chili reno, and 2 tbs sweet corn cake, and a tropical ice tea, 6 small flour tortillas with butter and salsa.
Dinner—Satued string beans, 8 cream cheese won –tons and a fortune cookie.
Snack—1/2 Hershey bar

1.22.08
Exercise—15 minutes on the rebounder
Breakfast---Strawberry Smoothie
Lunch---Fire roasted tomato soup, and a romaine salad and tropical ice tea. Oh, and 6 small flour tortillas with butter and salsa.
Dinner—1 ½ bowls fire roasted tomato soup.

1.23.08
Exercise—30 minute walk
Breakfast---Strawberry Smoothie
Lunch—6 ounce steak, broccoli and asparagus.
Dinner—Hamburger and French fries. I passed on the double, double with cheese which is my favorite.

1.24.08
Breakfast—Ronnie made me hash browns with sausage gravy which I ate. I passed o the scrambled eggs he also made.
Lunch---Fire roasted tomato soup
Dinner-Salad, bread, one slice of pizza, pretzels, a cookie and some party nuts at a friends house warming party.

Staying Motivated

2008-02-20T10:39:00.000-08:00

It's almost 2 months after Christmas and the gyms are starting to empty out as people lose their "New Year" motivation to get fit. And I mist confess that I'm feeling the pull to quit trying to lose weight myself. My husband hasn't been too supportive... I've lost only a little weight...we all have excuses and I have mine. But I am choosing to push through and continue. I went for a walk this morning even though it was misting outside. I found it very invigorating and am still feeling the energy from it a couple of hours later. I'm listening to some Tony Robbins tapes. I love him. He's very motivating. He talks about health, relationships, success and all kinds of great things that affect our mind sets. So I encourage you now to reaffirm your commitment to yourself and to your goals and lets continue to push forward together.

Monday Weigh in and what I ate 2.4.08-2.17.08

2008-02-18T09:07:00.001-08:00

Almost forgot to weigh in this morning.
Lost 8 ounces which is half a pound. Weighed in at 157.7
Ronnie isn't here for me to drag onto the scale. He didn't want to admit last week that he had gained a pound. I don't seem him embracing this with full enthusiasm yet, although he did exercise twice last week that I know of.

Here's what I've been eating which will also help explain why my weight loss is so slow. I've been on quite a chocolate binge lately but am still grateful that I'm losing some weight even if slowly.

2.4.08
Exercise—15 minutes on the rebounder
Glass of fresh vegetable juice squeezed on my Champion juicer by my husband Ronnie
2 blueberry smoothies through out the day as I’m fasting solid foods for religious purposes.

2.5.08
Breakfast---Glass of fresh vegetable juice squeezed on my Champion juicer by my husband Ronnie
1 blueberry smoothies through out the day as I’m fasting solid foods for religious purposes.

2.6.08
Breakfast---Glass of fresh vegetable juice squeezed on my Champion juicer by my husband Ronnie
Lunch—Soup and Salad at El Torreto with chips and salsa and a glass of tropical ice tea sweetened with Stevia.
Dinner—Tuna fish and Doritos.

2.7.08
Breakfast-- Glass of fresh vegetable juice squeezed on my Champion juicer by my husband Ronnie
Lunch---Salad, watermelon, grits, 3 pork bar-b-que ribs and a hot link.
Dinner---My new Tortilla Soup recipe.

2.8.08
Breakfast—Don’t remember
Lunch---Cream of tomato soup, salad, 2 spring rolls, bread and butter
Dinner---Two things of ice cream probably something else too but I don’t remember.

2.9.08
Breakfast---Don’t remember
Lunch---Creamy green chili soup
Dinner—Cream of sun dried tomato soup
Snack—apple and orange

2.10.08
Breakfast---Chinese food
Lunch—Cream of sun dried tomato soup.
Snack—Bagel and cream cheese.
Dinner---Spinach salad with creamy green chili dressing, half a bagel.
Desert—A handful of chocolate chips.

2.11.08
Breakfast---Egg white salad
Lunch---Chicken Carbonera sandwich from Quiznos, chips and an Ice tea.
Dinner—Chips and Salsa, tuna on a bagel

2.12.08
Exercise—7 minutes on the rebounder
Breakfast 2 neat balls with cream cheese
Lunch---Salad
Dinner---Soup

2.13.08
Breakfast—Blueberry smoothie
Lunch,---salad and sandwich and cup of tea
Dinner—1/2 bagel with tuna, ½ bagel with cream cheese
Snack—Chocolate bar

2.14.08
Breakfast---Blueberry Smoothie
Lunch—Spinach salad with nuts and creamy Anaheim chili dressing.
Dinner—We ate out and had crab cakes, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and a steak dish as well as some bread and margarine.

2.15.08
Breakfast—Blueberry Smoothie
Lunch,--Leftovers from last nights dinner
Snack—Chocolate from Valentines Day.
Dinner—Soup and Salad

2.16.08
Breakfast—None
Lunch—hamburger patty. Found some grass fed beef at Trader Joe’s and wanted to see what it tasted like. Doritos, and Kale.
Dineer—Salad
Snack—Chocolate chips and fruit sorbet.

1.17.18
Breakfast—Salad
Lunch—At Trader Joe’s, I found some grass fed steak imported from Australia and wanted to see what it tasted like. It was incredible. It cost about $4 for one but was so thick I cut it in half. I had mash potatoes with butter, and some cooked chard with it. Wonderful. The chard was also washed, cut and packaged at Trader Joe'’ and I followed the simple recipe o n the package. I never ate chard before and really enjoyed this.
Dinner—Same as for lunch. Yummy.
Snack--- Doritos.

Happy Valentines Day

2008-02-14T11:40:00.000-08:00

You are special and we are glad that you are here with us today!
Many blessings to you.

Love, Nedalee

Tortilla Soup

2008-02-12T15:47:00.000-08:00

Vegetarian, Vegan, Raw if you omit Tortilla strips
Makes four servings
2 cups vegetable broth
1 avocado, diced
1 cup corn kernels, cut from cob ß Can be omitted if you wish
½ red bell pepper , chopped
½ cup tomatoes, diced
½ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1 lime juiced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ jalapeno pepper, chopped, seeds removed
1 teaspoon sea salt
Tortilla strips for garnish
Warm vegetable broth in pan on very low heat. Add everything else and garnish with tortilla strips. Enjoy before it cools.

By Nedalee RuizNedalee is the author of The Desperate Parents Handbook http://www.desperateparent.com/Nedalee recommends http://HealingWaterMachines.blogspot.com for more articles on health and healing.
And http://HealingDiets.BlogSpot.com for articles on diet and nutrition.Copyright © 2008 By Nedalee Ruiz Permission granted to reproduce in entirety only including links and author credits

2.11.08 weigh in

2008-02-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

Nedalee weighed in at 158.0 pounds this morning. a loss of 1 pound 2 ounces since last week and a total of 7.5 pounds over the last 6 weeks. Not a rapid weight loss, but respectable since I've eaten pretty much anything I wanted.
Ronnie hasn't weighed in yet this week, I'll follow up with that soon.

What I ate 2.1.08- 2.3.08

2008-02-04T09:23:00.000-08:00

2.1.08
Exercise 10 minutes on the rebounder.
Breakfast---Neat Balls
Lunch—Two wonderful avocado tacos made by my wonderful husband.
Dinner—1 slice pepperoni, sausage and sausage pizza, 3 cheese filled ravioli, 2 bread sticks with honey. I would have made better choices if I hadn’t had outside influences but Ronnie decided that after 4 days of healthy eating he needed a "cheat day."
8 16 ounce glasses of alkaline water, I think that’s a record for me but I was actually that thirsty.
2.2.08
Glass of fresh vegetable juice squeezed on my Champion juicer by my husband Ronnie
Breakfast—Neat balls.
Lunch—2 of Ronnie’s wonderful veggie avocado tacos.
To be honest, I forgot write down what I ate for dinner, but I remember having about 6 cookies. I’ve had a lot of loss this past week and a half and was depressed over the weekend.
2.3.08
Breakfast---2 of Ronnie’s completely none diet, but very delicious breakfast burritos.
Lunch—Neat Balls, about 6 chocolate mint no sugar but non-diet cookies.
Dinner—Cornbread muffin, 2 chocolate chip cookies, and a lot of bar-b-qued meats.

Ronnie didn't remember to keep a food journal this week. I know that he mostly dieted 4 days and ate junk Friday through Sunday, and still had better results than I did.

Nedalee's and Ronnie's Results:

2008-02-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

I weighed in at 159.2 pounds this morning which is actually a 1 pound gain for me. I was depressed over the weekend and ate a lot of junk.

Ronnie on the other hand ate a lot of junk over the weekend and lost 1 pound 9 ounces weighing in at 267.1.

I lost my great-uncle to a peaceful death on the twenty-first of January the same day that Heath Ledger died, and had two acquaintances take their own lives in the last week. I'm going to talk a little about that and how it relates to nutrition in my next post.

Hot Water can Leach Lead into Your Body

2008-02-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

Hot water from the tap should never be used for cooking or drinking unless using a lead removal pre-filter. The reason is that hot water dissolves contaminants more quickly than cold water, and many pipes in homes contain lead that can leach into water. And lead can damage the brain and nervous system, especially in young children.

Lead is rarely found in source water, but can enter it through corroded plumbing. The Environmental Protection Agency says that older homes are more likely to have lead pipes and fixtures, but that even newer plumbing advertised as lead-free can still contain as much as 8 percent lead. A study published in The Journal of Environmental Health in 2002 found that tap water represented 14 to 20 percent of total lead exposure.

The E.P.A. says cold tap water should always be used for preparing baby formula, cooking and drinking. It also warns that boiling water does not remove lead but can actually increase its concentration. One can also easily and inexpensively install a under-sink lead removal pre-filter.

1.21--1.17.08 Diet and exercise

2008-01-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

1.21.07
Exercise 10 minutes rebounder 50 crunches.
Breakfast---Two neat balls with sun dried tomato cream cheese. There are wonderful vegan versions of cream cheese that I really like, but this one happens to be the real things. I’ve been in a big hurry lately and have found that the neat balls when very dehydrated are a fabulous quick, raw, energy, protein food and are kind of like a meat substitute.
Lunch---I wanted a salad, but my husband was making salsa for an hour and wouldn’t relinquish the kitchen so I settled for a half of left over roast beef sandwich and a half a pumpkin and raisin tamale.
Dinner---Golden beet salad, page 101 .Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes 3 chocolate mint cookies one spoon living fudge

1.22.02
Exercise---15 minutes jogging on the rebounder
Breakfast--- Vegetarian sandwich on sprouted wheat bread.
Lunch---Neat balls, sun dried tomato cream cheese. 1 small sweet corn tamale.
Dinner—Man, I don’t quite know how to admit to this but I derailed pretty big time. I had one chocolate covered cherry cookie, 1 mint chocolate cookie, 1 Reese’s peanut butter cup, some Chinese food, a little bit of a stuffed pork chop and for desert I had some lavender berry sorbet. What was I thinking? Well, Ronnie complained that I hadn’t been cooking for he and the boys, so I made the stuffed pork chops, which they didn’t want but ordered Chinese food instead. I put the pork chops in the oven and set it but apparently forgot to push start, so they weren’t done at dinnertime anyway. I’d seen a Reese’s commercial, which got me, so that explains why I bought the candy. I did eat only one of the two in the pack and gave the other to my son. And after almost no sugar for three weeks, I will say that it tasted off the charts mega nauseatingly sweet. I only had 3 or 4 bites of the pork chop and didn’t enjoy the taste of that either, so it is good that my taste buds are adapting to healthy more natural flavors.
1.23.08
Breakfast---Fruit scone cereal with almond milk
Lunch—Pumpkin soup, salad and Doritos
Dinner---Cauliflower mash page 143 Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes it's mile a mash pototo substute. Tasted good, but you eat it cold because it's raw and that takes getting used to. For deseret, living fudge.

1.24.08
Breakfast---Carrot Dill bread page 72 Living in the Raw Gourmet
Lunch—Salad and half a roast beef sandwich. I’m not eating half to cut calories, I’m eating half because it’s a Claim Jumper sandwich which has massive servings that are too big for most humans.
Dinner—Steamed vegetables. These were microwaved, which is a very undesirable way to cook food.
1.25.08
Breakfast—dill carrot bread
Lunch---almond butter on herbed bread.
Snack—protien bar
Dinner--- Two slices of pizza
1.26.08
Breakfast---1 slice of herbed flax bread with apple slices on top.
Lunch---Beautiful salad.
Snaks—corn chips and salsa, and potato chips and dip.
Dinner---Another salad

1.27.08
Late Breakfast ---Steamed kale, salad, really great tasting fake chicken made from wheat.
Snack—5 not on the diet peppermint oreo type cookies and a small amount of ice cream.
Dinner--- Leftovers from the morning salad.

While I don't always note it, I drink lots of alkaline water. More some days than others but I shoot for 6-8 16 ounce glasses a day. I don't drink ANYTHING but the water unless I note it here in the blog.

Alkalinity

2008-01-28T12:20:00.000-08:00

The theory behind alkalinity is that our body builds up fat to protect us from the acids in our system from the foods we eat and our stress and exercise. So if we alkalize our body by eating foods that are more alkaline that acidic most of the time and drink alkaline water, you will automatically loose weight. We can see that last week I still lost 15 ounces even though all of my food and snack choices were not alkaline. The goal is to eat about 70-80% alkaline, which would be green foods and vegetables and things like almonds and drink alkaline water. I’m trying to make some of my own salad dressings, so that I’m not eating lots of sugar. But when I got to Claim Jumper, which is about once a week, I have huge amounts of their Thousand Island dressing, probably more that 8 table spoons full. That has sugar and mayo in it, and I’m still losing weight. Bet you couldn’t do that on Jenny Craig!

Results

2008-01-28T12:15:00.000-08:00

1.28.08 Weigh in for Nedalee, 158.1 down 15 ounces from last week.
Ronnie is starting to eat better today. Better late than never.
He currently weighs 269 pounds and that's down about 5 pounds since he stopped drinking so much beer with his friends. Right now he plans to cut back on sweets. He loves to binge the weekend before starting to eat better, sot his was an interesting weekend to watch.
He currently measures 50" chest 50 3/4" belly and 49 inch hips. I'll post some of the pictures I took last night soon.

News

2008-01-25T10:47:00.000-08:00

I've invited my daughter Christina Makly to write some articles for us. She and my granddaughter have recently become vegetarians. She found some things on the PETA web site about cruelty to animals that concerned her, so they stopped eating meat. I know several vegetarians and vegans who won't even wear leather shoes or buy leather purses and that is based on the consciences. So we all make different choices for different reasons. I'm eating more vegetables and less cooked things to get healthy. So we are exploring many options on this site and I plan to talk about more of them soon. So far I have lost 6 pounds 11 ounces in 3 weeks and I plan to post more of what I've been eating soon. I do that so that I can admit where I've gone off the path, and to open up your minds to other options. And to show that even though I'm eating a lot of the right fats, I'm still losing weight. I've been a normal American carnivore/omnivore all my life and am still eating some meat but finding it less appealing. I'm not going to try and push tofu on anybody. I've had it 100 different ways, don't like it and won't try anymore. There are too many other ways for me to get protein.

Chocolate Mint Cookies

2008-01-22T11:18:00.001-08:00

11/2 cups raw almonds
1 cup dates or chopped dates
3 tbs. raw chocolate powder – set 1 tbs. aside
5 springs of mint leaves stems removed
3 tbs. Ionized water
Process until it sticks together and rolls into a big a big ball in the food processor. Takes about 2-3 minutes.
Pinch off small pieces and roll into small balls, roll in reserved raw chocolate powder, press flat. Eat or refrigerate. Makes 26 cookies
By Nedalee Ruiz
Nedalee is the author of The Desperate Parents Handbook http://www.desperateparent.com/
Nedalee recommends http://HealingWaterMachines.blogspot.com for more articles on health and healing.
And http://HealingDiets.BlogSpot.com for articles on diet and nutrition. Copyright © 2008 By Nedalee Ruiz Permission granted to reproduce in entirety only including links and author credits

Monday Gladness

2008-01-21T09:05:00.000-08:00

1.21.07
Weigh in: 159.1 down from 160.9 last week. When I subtract the two I’m shocked to see that I lost a pound and a half! I expected it to be more like a few ounces. Whew…as she wipes the sweat from her forehead from the dreaded weigh in. Actually, I cheated quite a bit last week, so I am surprised. I found One Day at a Time's Valerie Bertinelli blog online. Bertinelli's online journal chronicles her quest to lose forty pounds, Jenny-Craig-style. Readers will appreciate Bertinelli's candid approach and can-do attitude in facing a problem with which many Americans struggle, all though I’m not sharing this in support of the Jenny Craig diet, I think you may find some of her insights interesting.
http://www.jennycraig.com/valerie/

food journal

2008-01-21T09:04:00.001-08:00

1.16.08
Rebounder 15 minutes

I woke up with more energy again today and feel that it was from the living salad last night.

Breakfast---Blueberry smoothie. My smoothie wasn’t smooth today. I tried to modify to make they recipe for one day instead of three and I got it too thick and was gaging on it. Had to put it back in the blender and add water and ice.

Lunch---Salad

Dinner Neat balls and Black pepper cheeze. The Raw Food Gourmet: Going Raw for Total Well-Being spread with Black Pepper cheese page 161 of Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes. And some home made lavender berry sorbet that I will publish the recipe soon.

1.18.08
Breakfast –Protein bar because I forgot to eat. Watch out for these many brands are very high in sugar.

Lunch—Enchilada with a little rice, cheese, sour cream and some beans.

Dinner—I ate such a late lunch that I wasn’t hungry for dinner eat. This is not good for dieting because you will not lose fat that way.

4 16 oz. Glasses of Ionized water.

1.19.08
Breakfast—2 neat balls with sun dried tomato cream cheese and two tiny sweet corn tamales.

Lunch--- 2 Taco supremes from taco bell and a lavender soda. The sugar in the soda seriously zapped my energy f or several hours.

Dinner—2 Taco supermes and one cheesy beefy burrito from taco bell, plus some Doritos chips

1.20.08

I woke up feeling like I had a bladder infection today. So rather than most of my meals, I added about 2 oz of pure unsweetened cranberry juice to my ionized water and drank several glasses of that through out the day.

Breakfast---1/2 protein bar

Lunch---Salad and ½ roast beef sandwich from Claim Jumper.

Dinner ---none.

3 days info

2008-01-17T09:34:00.000-08:00

1.14.08
Exercise 100 Crunches
Breakfast---Blueberry smoothie
Lunch---warm cornbeef w/ provolone on raw carrot dill bread, page 72 Living in the Raw Gourmetand vegan mayo.
Snack 1 chocolate covered cherry cookie

I visited the new Whole Foods Market in Tustin yesterday. It is MASSIVE. Their produce department is like nothing I've ever seen. Prices seemd pretty high though. One raw cookie costs $3. I'm glad I can make my own!

Dinner—Chinese food including sautéed green beans and 5 crabmeat cream cheese wontons.
6 16-oz. Glasses of Alkaline ionized water.

1.15.08
Exercise—20 minutes on rebounder
Breakfast---Blueberry Smoothie
Lunch---Neat Balls page 108 The Raw Food Gourmet: Going Raw for Total Well-Being
Snack-- 1 chocolate covered cherry cookie
4 16-oz. glasses of Ionized water

1.16.08
Exercise---15 minutes on rebounder, 50 crunches. I’m laying off the crunches a little because they are causing the muscles in my neck to get so tight I can hardly turn my neck to the left side.

Breakfast---Blueberry Smoothie
Snack—homemade flax crackers and salsa, 1 neat ball, page 108 The Raw Food Gourmet: Going Raw for Total Well-Being spread with Black Pepper cheese page 161 of Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes This cheese is made with chashew nuts and is so good that sometimes I scoop it upand eat it with my fingers!

Lunch---1 Tamale 2 lavender sodas. I had not intention of drinking two sodas, but my son opened one, took a sip and handed me the rest. I was raised by my grandparents who grew up in the depression, so I was taught to never waste anything. Unfortunately, with 19 grams of sugar each, that probably went to my waist.

Dinner---A beautiful Kale and red cabbage coleslaw page 94, Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes, 1 tiny sweet corn cake tamale and ½ a pumpkin raisin tamale. And some home made lavender berry sorbet that I will publish the recipe soon.
I only had about 4 glasses of Ionized water today.

Because I am cooking or creating food for one, it takes me a little longer to eat up the recipes than it will when Ronnie joins me on the diet. He's getting very tempted by the food.

Get your crunch on

2008-01-16T08:22:00.000-08:00

People crave crunchy things. So what can you do to stave of those cravings?
Celery is the old stand by.
Red bell pepper is great.
Raw Almonds
Actually, most raw foods are pretty crunchy in their natural state.
I make crackers by mixing 1 cup fax seed with one cup left over soup or smoothie mixed in a food processor and then dehydrating them in my oven at the lowest setting with the door slightly open for about 24 hours.
My last batch was made with left over raw avocado soup, flax seed and sprinkled with red bell pepper seasoning. Yummy. Great for dipping when you want some hummus or salsa.

Calorie Cutters

2008-01-15T15:29:00.000-08:00

AOL offer's these diet tips.
Soup Savvy

Abandon heavy, cream-based soups -- they can saddle you with 240 calories per cup. Stick with broth-based varieties, at roughly 150 calories a cup,and thicken them up by cracking a small egg into the soup while it's heating and swirl it throughout the pot. The egg makes the soup smooth and offers healthy protein while adding only 60 calories. You'll save about 30 calories, and about whopping 15 grams of fat per serving over the creamy soups.
Squash Calories

Spaghetti can cost you 200 calories per cup -- and that's before you top it with sauce. For pasta lovers, spaghetti squash is a vibrant alternative. When cooked, the squash flesh becomes thread-like, resembling spaghetti. At only 75 calories per cup and no fat, it makes for a healthy and tasty stand-in.
Slimmer Cocoa

A store-bought hot cocoa mix made with low-fat milk can add up to 250 calories per cup. Shave off about 115 calories, and some unwanted sugar, with this flavorful hot milk beverage: Heat 8 ounces of low-fat or non-fat milk with a cinnamon stick. Pour it into your mug and stir in one tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

It's easy to overdo it with mayo in tuna salad. At 103 calories per tablespoon, you could easily add 300-plus calories to your dish. A lighter, tangy alternative to mayo? Toss canned tuna packed in water with lemon juice, onion, and capers and save yourself upwards of 100 calories. For an extra peppery flavor, add chopped watercress.

Put a new spin on the sandwich by doing away with the bread. Even two slices of the most dietetic versions can add 70 calories per slice. Place sandwich ingredients in buttery-soft bibb lettuce or the long leaves of romaine and wrap them up for a crunchier and much lighter meal.
If bread is a must for a sandwich, skip the fatty mayo and use lower-in-calories pickles or relish to moisten it. If it's a sandwich with cheese, use only one slice, then skip the condiment altogether and heat the sandwich in the toaster oven to melt the cheese. It adds the moisture that the condiments would. Both tricks can save up to 40 calories per sandwich, and will spare you the 11 grams of fat per tablespoon of mayo.

Reduce your fat content and boost fiber by swapping cooked, ground lentils for some of the ground beef in a recipe. Ounce for ounce, lentils and ground beef have a similar calorie count. But 3.5 ounces of ground beef racks up 20 grams of fat, while the same amount of lentils carries only 0.8.Muffin Tips

Lighten up dense morning muffins. Trade whole wheat flour for half of the white flour in the recipe, and use unsweetened applesauce or pureed bananas for up to half of the oil. Both swaps can save you as much as 500 calories.

Salad Toppers

Take full advantage of the health benefits of your light salad by avoiding toppings like bacon bits and croutons. Crowning the dish with chopped red onion and herb mixtures like cilantro and mint, or dill and flat-leaf parsley will save you from the 60 calories or more the traditional toppings would normally add.

Monday Weigh In

2008-01-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

Weigh in 160.9—8 ounces more that last week. Could be the clothes or the water I just drank. Either way, I didn’t lose anything this week. Ronnie reminded me that when you are exercising you gain muscle so even if you lose fat, you might not have a net loss. And I read a book that says most women lose inches not pounds. I’m not ready to measure yet. Wrote 5 offers in the last 4 days so I’m running like my hair is on fire.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

2008-01-12T07:27:00.000-08:00

This is a tasty, healthy recipe for anyone on a Raw , Vegan, Vegetarian or normal diet. It’s a great desert for kids with Mother’s who knows the dangers of processed sugared snacks.
Super quick to make. About 15 minutes total.
Makes 16
1 ½ cup raw almonds
1 cup dried, pitted tart cherries—Available in most grocery stores
2 tbs. Ionized water
2 tbs. Agave nectar—a low glycemic sweetener available in health food stores
¼ tsp. Vanilla extract
2tsb. Raw Chocolate Powder Reserve for rolling dough in. (available in health food stores)
Run ingredients through a food processor fitted with and "S" blade until oil is released in nuts and dough holds together. Roll into small balls, roll in raw chocolate powder. Flatten. Eat or store in fridge until you want to eat them.

By Nedalee Ruiz
Nedalee is the author of The Desperate Parents Handbook
http://www.desperateparent.com/
Nedalee recommends http://HealingWaterMachines.blogspot.com for more articles on health and healing.
And http://HealingDiets.BlogSpot.com for articles on diet and nutrition.
Copyright © 2008 By Nedalee Ruiz
Permission granted to reproduce in entirety only including links and author credits.

What I Ate

2008-01-12T07:01:00.000-08:00

1.9.08
Exercise--- 100 crunches
Breakfast---Blueberry Smoothie
Lunch---Fruit scones broken up into a bowl like cereal, almond milk and a few dried blueberry’s on top, because I was in a super big hurry.
Dinner—Big Salad
Snack—Homemade Lavender Berry sherbet---not sugar, super yummy
5 -16 oz glasses Alkaline Ionized water total for the day.

1.10.07
Breakfast---A bowl of fresh cherries. Tastes great, and they are of course raw. My concern is that they are full of natural sugar and no protein, so they may give me short-term energy but not lasting energy like the almonds in the blueberry smoothie would.
Snack—Carrot Dill crackers and humus, Orange—More natural sugar Notice I needed a snack before lunch, which isn’t typically the case.
Lunch---Claim Jumper restaurant, salad wit beets and lots of thousand island dressing and beef dip sandwich. Worse yet, I ate the whole sandwich when I normally only eat half. The sandwich had real bread, real beef and cheese, none of which are really diet foods and the extra thousand island had fat and sugar. Even the beets are high natural sugar. Probably not good choices but I’m human and it tasted good. Oh, I had two cups of decalf tea sweetened with Stevia.
Dinner—A frozen store bought burrito because it was convient and I forgot that I still have lots of the raw chili which would have been a much better choice. The burrito tasted really nasty. I also had 3 raw chocolate cover cherry cookies, which gave me the idea to experiment with a mint chocolate cookie recipe soon.

5 16 ounce glasses of Ionized water. I drink Ionized water because it helps clean out your cells. It's molecule size penetrates the cells better than regular water.

Over all, I had low energy all day. It could be because of what I ate or it could be because I started work at 5:30 am, or because it was an overcast day. Either way, I’m about results, and I think the food choices at least contributed to the low energy. Don’t want that. Will try not to do it again. So if the cherries and orange, which were natural and raw, had too much sugar and no protein to give me energy, what about the cereal that most of us feed our kids to start their day? No less than the third ingredient on the box.

1-11.08
Exercise 10 minutes on rebounder
Breakfast—1/2 Blueberry Smoothie
Lunch—Salad and six flour tortillas with honey butter and salsa. Ok, so the flour and honey butter wasn’t the best. 2 glasses Tropical ice tea sweetened with Stevia.
Didn’t get to drink enough water because I was away from home and didn’t take it with me.
It’s 10:00 p.m. and haven’t had dinner or a snack, been VERY busy all day and not hungry. Will have some nuts soon. Alright, I admit it, I never got to the nuts. It’s never good, when dieting to only eat two means. Never, never, never do it, you won’t lose weight. But I have a good excuse, I wrote 3 purchase offers yesterday.

Raw/Vegan Cajun Creole Chili

2008-01-10T05:48:00.000-08:00

6-8 servings

3 cups tomatoes, blended or 1 can tomato sauce
2 cups lentils, sprouted in high pH alkaline water
2 carrots, grated1 ear of corn, cut corn off cob
Juice of one lemon or lime
½ red bell pepper chopped
½ cup white onion chopped
2 teaspoons Cajun Creole Seasoning by Spice Hunter, available in stores or spicehunter.com or Chili Powder
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon ground cumin
pinch cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients and let marinate several hours or over night in the refrigeration before serving cold.

By Nedalee Ruiz
Nedalee is the author of The Desperate Parents Handbook
Nedalee recommends Healing Water Machines for more articles on health and healing. Copyright © 2008 By Nedalee Ruiz Permission granted to reproduce in entirety only including links and author credits.

What I'm Eating

2008-01-09T15:50:00.000-08:00

1.7.08

Breakfast--Blueberry Smoothie

Lunch--- 1 Baja Burrito

Dinner--- Raw Chili

Snack--- 2 Raw donut holes. A great sweet snack. Mine have been in the fridge for about a month and still seem to be fine. I eat one now and then.

8 ½ 16 ounce glasses of Ionized Water

I was really jonesing for something sweet last night and will try to find a new, healthy raw dessert since I’ve been eating the donut holes for a while and because I want you all to know that that they exist.

1.8.08

No formal exercise but I passed out 300 flyers and got pretty winded.

Breakfast--- Blueberry Smoothie ---Sorry guys, your not going to get much variety from me there. I like this, and I don’t normally eat breakfast. I like that I can make up three days worth at a time and grab it on the run.

Lunch---2 pcs. Onion Herb Bread page 78 Living in the Raw Gourmet, with humus, sliced tomato, ½ avocado salted.

Snack---Fresh fruit cup

Snack---Carrot Dill Crackers—page 72 Living in the Raw Gourmet, it’s a bread recipe but I made it thinner into crackers. Spread with store bought humus. Plus Trader Joe’s Chicken salad—not diet, vegan, vegetarian, or raw, just what was left over in my fridge and about to expire. I’m going to Newport Beach tonight and was hoping to eat light so Ronnie might take me to my favorite restaurant.

Dinner--OK, it worked, but that means I ate too much. 3 Bar-b-ques beef ribs. Mash potatoes and some really great peanut coleslaw with spinach and cilantro in it. I ate all the peanut slaw first to fill up and the rest last. Didn’t even enjoy the ribs or potatoes and brought most of it home to my sons. The Bar-b-que sauce and the slaw both probably had lots of sugar in it.

5 -16 oz. Glasses of Ionized Water

Another snack---3 Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies very good and easy to make, will publish the recipe soon.

Fear of Fat

2008-01-08T10:14:00.000-08:00

When I started eating more raw foods, I found that many recipes were very high in fat. I was a little worried about gaining weight even though people professed that I would lose weight. I had just enjoyed a wonderful tasting raw meal when I expressed my fear to my husband who assured me that my body would begin to burn the fat instead of sugar. The words had hardly come out of our mouths when I opened to this quote from Ani Phyo’s book Ani’s raw food kitchen. "Some folks worry about how eating fats affects their weight. Good fats are necessary for our organs and body functions, and they’re good for our heart. The more fats we eat, the more our body lets go of tats, because it knows more will be coming in. The less we drink, the more our bodies retain. The more we drink, the more it lets go of." Truthfully I had also heard this from other sources, but worried how it would work on MY body. Well, in my first 7 days of experimenting with this high fat way of eating natural foods I lost 5.3 pounds. And gained tons of energy.
Burning Fat, Fat, Fats, Fear of Fat, Healthy Fat

Week 1 Diet Results

2008-01-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

Week 1 Diet Results

Started 1-1-08 at 165.5
Weigh in 1-7-08 results 160.2
Result 5.3 pound loss in one week. YEAH!

I have to tell you I really step on that scale in fear because of the high fat content in the new style of eating. I will be posing an article about that soon called Fear of Fats.

Changes--- I notice that I'm not needing to eat as many snacks. My new bathroom habits which I will spare you the details, are evidence that all the new fiber in my diet is cleaning me out. I have much more energy. As a matter of fact, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and started writing this at 6:13 a.m.. A big change from when I met Ronnie 41/2 years ago, I hadn't gotten out of bed before 8:30 a.m. in many years. Lastly, five days into this new diet, I've noticed a significant change in my skin. I had beautiful, almost perfect skin in high school, but have had some acne from my 20’s through current 40’s. I've always said that it’s unfair to have pimples and gray hair at the same time! Anyway, I've had a couple of zits the last tow days, but the rest of my skin is brighter and smoother and softer. I think it’s because of all the healthy oils in my new healthy living diet. Many people say t hat they see changes in their skin after drinking alkaline water. But for me it’s taken the water and the diet.
By Nedalee Ruiz
Nedalee is the author of The Desperate Parents Handbook http://www.desperateparent.com/
Nedalee recommends http://www.healingwatermachines.com/ for more articles on health and healing.
Copyright © 2008 By Nedalee Ruiz Permission granted to reproduce in entirety only including links and author credits.

Fail to Plan or Plan to Fail

2008-01-07T15:13:00.000-08:00

When I started this new way of eating on the first of January, I didn’t really have a specific plan or menu. I had a general idea and plan. But like my girlfriend last night said, "Everyone tells us what not to eat, but no one tells us what to eat." So the first couple of days of my diet, I kind of floundered around from meal to meal trying to figure out what to eat. To help others out, every two days, I plan to post what I ate and what exercise I did. And once a week I will post the results if any. About every other day, I plan to post other health-related articles. I can’t post actual recipes of what I ate unless it is my own creation, but I plan to soon post links to the books I got the recipes from.

1/3/07
Breakfast—Blueberry Smoothie

Snack--- Apple

Lunch—Batter from my herbed raw bread. I couldn’t resist! I can’t give the full recipe because it’s not mine--- but it had apples, pecans, flaxseed and about 7 other spices including garlic and onion which I love. It's Onion Herb bread, page 78 from Living in the Raw GourmetRaw bread sounds gross but it uses no flour or yeast and isn’t cooked but is dehydrated in an oven, the sun or dehydrator. The batter of this recipe tastes great, we’ll see how the bread tastes later. I made it into hand size patties like hamburgers to use as a base for future sandwiches instead of real bread. The fragrance of the spices in the bread is filling my house and smells so good even upstairs.

Dinner---2 Baja Cheeze Burritos with Taco nutmeat and red pepper corn salsa. From Pages 151, 154,164, and 189 of Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes I will say that they took a little more effort to prepare than I would have expected for something called raw food, but well worth it! This is gourmet raw food after all. When I asked Ronnie how it looked, he said "Worthy to be served in any restaurant." When he tasted mine, he said, "It was bursting with flavor," and I agree. One burrito was more that filling, but I had made two so like a pig I ate them both because they tasted so good.

Snack--- 1 Raw Donut hole. Page 228 Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes

1-4-08
Exercised 20 minutes on the rebounder.

Breakfast--- Blueberry Smoothie

Lunch--- 2 pieces of the raw Onion Herb bread I dehydrated yesterday. page 78 from Living in the Raw GourmetIt was so good. I didn’t need anything with it. Don’t let the name fool you, there is no flour, sugar, what or yeast in this bread. The main things are apples & flaxseeds. Lots of fiber and omega oils.

Dinner---1 Baja Cheeze Burritos with Taco nutmeat and red pepper corn salsa. From Pages 151, 154,164, and 189 of Ani's Raw Food Kitchen: Easy, Delectable Living Foods Recipes

1-5-08
100 Crunches. Crunches are like half sit-ups

Breakfast--- Almond blueberry portage—raw. Page 36 Living in the Raw Gourmet I didn’t think it tasted great, but I didn’t use fresh coconut like the recipe suggested. It was quick and easy to make.

Lunch---Tuna on the raw herbed bread I made before, page 78 page 78 from Living in the Raw Gourmet. I didn’t choose tuna because I thought it was healthy or a good diet food. I chose it because it was easy. My husband was making one for himself on real bread and offered to make me one, I agreed as long as he put it on my raw bread.

Dinner--- 21/2 cups of my real ham, potato, cream and butter soup. Not the best choice for a diet, but it tasted good and was still around. I’d planned to eat a raw chili concoction. I had wanted to make it in the morning but got distracted. Turns out, this raw eating takes some planning, as the recipe needed to "marinate a few hours." I still had some of the left over burrito stuff that I really like but wanted to save it for lunch. Ronnie is already trying to figure out how to take those to work for munch as he likes them so much from the couple of bites that he had of mine.

Changes--- I noticed I haven't needed snacks the last few days. My new bathroom habits which I will spare you the details, are evidence that all the new fiber in my diet is cleaning me out. I have much more energy. As a matter of fact, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and started writing this at 6:13 a.m.. A big change from when I met Ronnie 41/2 years ago, I hadn’t gotten out of bed before 8:30 a.m. in many years. Lastly, five days into this new diet, I’ve noticed a significant change in my skin. I had beautiful, almost perfect skin in high school, but have had some acne from my 20’s through current 40’s. I’ve always said that it’s unfair to have pimples and gray hair at the same time! Anyway, I’ve had a couple of zits the last tow days, but the rest of my skin is brighter and smoother and softer. I think it’s because of all the healthy oils in my new healthy living diet. Many people say t hat they see changes in their skin after drinking alkaline water. But for me it’s taken the water and the diet..

I’m drinking lots of Alkaline Ionized water from my Melody Water Machine. I drink about 5-8 16 ounce glasses of water a day. It is high pH water and I’ve worked my way up to a number 3 setting which gets me about a 9 Ph. I cook with a number 4, which gives me about a 10 pH.
1.6.08
Breakfast--- Dehydrated raw fruit scones Page 75 Living in the Raw Gourmet broken up into pieces for a delicious cereal with almond milk. I’ll talk about the negative things about cow’s milk in another post.

Lunch---Went to El Torrito Restaurant. Took one bite of my favorite chips and was repulsed by the thick coating and taste of lard. Something that I’d never had the taste buds to discern before. I had their Mexican Caesar Salad, two glasses of Tropical ice tea sweetened with Stevia that I carry in my purse. Two vegetable enchiladas, ½ cup pinto beans, and 1 ½ tbs. sweet corn cake. The corn cake has sugar and butter, so that was the first actual sugar that I chose to eat in a week. The beans wouldn’t belong on an alkaverian diet. The cheese on the enchiladas wouldn’t belong on a Vegan diet and the cooking of the food wouldn’t belong on a raw diet. I will explain the differences between those styles of eating in a future post.

Dinner---Raw Chili and 3 spoons of salsa.
The raw chili was a totally new experience for me. As an American, I’m used to eating Chili, and most foods, cooked and warm. Even after I prepared it and let it marinate for a day and a half, I sat looking at it trying to buck up the fortitude to try the first bite. Cold chili sounded completely unappealing. I couldn’t even get my husband to taste it. With fear and trepidation, I took my first bite and was low and behold it was good, very good. Because I lacked so many ingredients from the original recipe, and had to improvise and over come, I will publish the modified version soon. I’ll tell you now that it had no meat or beans but rather carrots and lentils and lots of other great tasting fresh vegetables. The original recipe had celery and I will omit it in mine as it tasted out of place in the dish.

Motivation to Diet

2008-01-07T12:55:00.000-08:00

The title Motivation to Diet is deceptive because for me personally, I don’t want to diet, I’m looking for a lifestyle change. I used the word "Diet" because that is what people understand and are used to and also because in the truest form, any eating pattern that we choose is our "diet" regardless of if we are trying to lose weight or not.
I’ve been trying to lose weight for the last four years rather unsuccessfully. I’ve put effort in, and have had various motivations to do it, including wanting to fit into my wedding dress that had to be altered to fit me from the original size I was when it was created.
When I met Ronnie I told him that I was seriously under my normal weight because of grief, prayer and fasting, and not to expect that I would always weigh 120. Since I have gained beyond my normal weight of 138, my husband has hinted at his displeasure about my weight for some time. I have tried to loose it but I don’t think that it was a total priority in my mind.
Quite honestly, I think it can be hypocritical for men to gain weight and then criticize their wives when they do. ESPECIALY if it’s like in my case, where its Ronnie, bringing the junk food home and in some cases quite literally feeding it to me!
Here’s an example from two nights ago. Ronnie: I feel like pizza, do you want pizza?
Me: No, I don’t want pizza, I’m on a diet and I’d like you to support me on it.
Ronnie: You’ve been doing so well I thought you’d like a "cheat day."
Me: I’ve only been on the diet four days, no I don’t want a "cheat day," I want results.
I’m not trying to rant on my husband there, I’m sharing it because I know that some of you have had similarly frustrating experiences.
What I do want is to share what has radically changed my thinking although that is something that has been in the process for over a year in terms of my health and well being. I’m going to quote from several sections of one chapter in Shaunti Feldhahn’s book For Women Only – What you need to know about the inner lives of men. She surveyed hundreds of men and this quote is from a chapter called The Truth About the Way You Look – Why what’s on the outside matters to Him on the inside. "This chapter is about something our men desperately want us to know, but feel absolutely unable to tell us…The effort you put into your appearance is extremely high on his priority list. Yet the chances that you know his true feelings are extremely low. What I’ve learned about men’s needs in this area has been life changing. It has jarred me out of a dangerous complacency. Call me naïve, but I just didn’t realize that the issue of appearance was such a big deal—such and imperative deal---for a guy. Of course, having learned just how visual men are, I should have gotten a clue. But somehow I assumed that if I was out of shape, I was the only person who was negatively affected."
As she’s doing research for the book, a professional acquaintance tells her, " There’s something I need to mention to you," Ted said, looking uncomfortable. "I think women have a blind spot in an area that they really need to understand." Taking a deep breath, he spilled the beans.
"I don’t think women know how important it is to take care of themselves and not to look like a slouch around their husbands."
"You mean, not to be overweight…?" I ventured.
"That’s part of it, but that’s not really it," Ted continued intently. "It doesn’t mean you have to be a size 3. The bigger issue is that your husband sees that you are putting forth the effort to take care of yourself, for him. See, my wife is 115 pounds, but her weight isn’t really the issue. It’s not about being tiny. If she doesn’t take care of herself, dresses sloppily around me all the time, never exercises, and has no energy to go and do things together, I feel like she’s choosing not to do something that she should know is important to me. And then it becomes a real issue because it affects her ability to do things and her self-worth and desire---and then it affects, me."
"Over and over again, I heard each man say that what mattered most to him was not that his wife shrank down to her honeymoon bikini, but that she was willing to make the effort to take care of herself for him."
"Why does your appearance matter? When men felt safe enough to tell the truth they said. "When you take care of yourself, I feel loved." Since men are so visual, seeing us make the effort to look good makes them feel loved and cared for. This area is so imperative to them, our efforts—or lack thereof--- directly affect their perception of our care for them."
Several men told me something like this: "I want to be proud of my wife. Every man has this innate competition with other men, and our wives are a part of that. Every man wants other men to think that he did well."
Now I’m going to share something that is difficult to hear. This two-part comment is from a close friend whose heart I trust completely. I’m including it because I’ve found it is truly how men think and because I believe it helps to make a critical distinction. My friend’s candid comment:
"Sometimes I’ll meet a guy who looks just like an average guy. But then, if I meet his wife and she is huge and very out of shape and just sloppy, I feel so sorry for him. It sounds terrible, but my gut just churns for him. It’s this "Oh, I’m so sorry" sort of compassion. That sounds absolutely terrible to say out loud, but it is what every man is thinking.
But then sometimes I’ll meet a man whose wife is overweight--- but she takes care of herself. She puts some effort into her appearance. She dresses neatly, or does her makeup and hair. If she is comfortable in her own skin and is confident, you don’t notice the extra pounds. I look at that husband and think, He did well."
End of quotes from Shaunti’s awesome book that all women should buy and read.
There you have it. That ladies and gentlemen in a nutshell is why I’m committed to changing my life. I want to be healthy, have energy, and I want my husband to be able to feel proud of me. That section of the book opened my eyes as the proverbial light bulb went off. I always wore dresses and did my makeup before I met Ronnie. But he didn’t care about those things and actually preferred me in sweats and a ponytail. But he has always told me that it was important to him for me to exercise. Anyway, I didn’t get it before but now I have awakened and I’m changing.
So for those of you who are interest in making your own life changes or seeing how my experiments work out, follow along.

By Nedalee Ruiz
Nedalee is the author of The Desperate Parents Handbook http://www.desperateparent.com/
Nedalee recommends http://www.healingwatermachines.com/ for more articles on health and healing.
Copyright © 2008 By Nedalee Ruiz Permission granted to reproduce in entirety only including links and author credits.

The Tortoise and the Hare

2008-01-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

Well, I've stated eating healthier and making better food choices. Already my energy has increased. So Like the Hair in the fable, I'm out of the starting gate. The holidays have been hard for Ronnie, he seems to have been hit hard by depression over the loss of his Mother. He's putting off his New Year's resolution diet for a few days and comforting him self with food. I saw him eat an entire pint of ice cream last night which is not unusual. So having lost my guinea pig for the blog, I will have to step in and post my own fat pic. To summarize some of my last posts for those of you who haven't been following along, Ronnie lost 40 pounds last year drinking alkaline ionized water and eating a more alkaline diet. He gained it back eating comfort foods after he quit chewing tobacco and lost his Mother in the same month. He's vowed to lose it and more this year, but hasn't started trying yet.

My effort will include mild exercise, a more alkaline diet, and lots of alkaline ionized water. I am going to explore Vegan, Alkavarian, and Raw foods, but have not committed to eating them exclusively as I'm still an omnivore who loves Bar-b-que. Like any wise dieter, I will try to avoid the dreaded white foods, Rice, Potatoes, Sugar, Milk and Bread. But again, I not going to say never. As you will see from my food posts which will follow, I had Cream of Ham and Potato soup for dinner the first night of my diet and may have some more since the pot isn't finished. What I am doing is a very public TEST diet. Raw fooders eat lots of high fat items like nuts and avocados but burn the fat and lose weight. I'm going to see if a fairly inactive over 45'er can get weight loss results.

So here are the current stats: On January 1, 2008 I weighed 165.5 up about 3 pounds from before the holidays. I swear the new weight feels like it's all in my butt. It feels like I have a caboose waddling after me for the first time in my life. My weight is also up almost 30 pounds from my after baby weight from the second child who is now 23. I kept that weight for almost 20 years. My weight can fluctuate even if I weighed 3 times a day, so I'll only weigh in once a week or so.

My measurements, (don't tell anybody) Are a ghastly 41 - 35 1/2 - 38 1/2

What I ate: Jan. 1, 2008

Breakfast- Blueberry Smoothie

Lunch- Fresh broccoli florets dipped in store bought humus. (Broccoli is high in protein.)

Snack Trader Joes Spicy Ranchero Egg White Salad -Low fat, high protein, low carb, cholesterol free and only 50 calories. Tastes like cottage cheese with taco seasoning. Defiantly not raw, not vegn, not alkaverian. I bet that if you soaked almonds in water and chopped them in a food processor with the other ingredient you could make a vegan/raw version.

Another Snack- Store bought salad

Dinner 2 cups Cream of ham and potato soup.

Jan. 2, 2008

Exercised 20 minutes on a rebounder. (I've worked my way up from only five minutes.)

Breakfast- Blueberry Smoothie I buy my blueberries frozen and organic at Trader Joes for under $4 a pound which will make me about 6 smoothies.

Lunch- Tuna wrap because my last avocado was rotten so I couldn't have the avocado wrap that I had planed.

Snack- Apple Dinner- Pomegranate Salad- Don't freak out, it's not complicated, the pomegranate seeds were just a garnish on a purchased salad from Trader Joes. It had some goat cheese too so it wasn't vegan.

Snack- Celery with tuna and humus

By Nedalee Ruiz Nedalee is the author of The Desperate Parents Handbook http://www.desperateparent.com/

Nedalee recommends http://www.healingwatermachines.com/ for more articles on health and healing.

Diet, Diet, Diet...Nope

2008-01-07T12:36:00.000-08:00

Diets fail. Lose a little, gain it back and then some. Lifestyle changes work. But it can be hard to make changes if you don't have the support of the people around you. My two teenage boys are the perfect example. I've wanted to eat healthier for ages. But they complain when something has the word "organic" on it. In their minds the word "organic" equals "fake." So cooking two meals is a pain. My way around that is that I let them cook and eat whatever they want within reason after they've eaten some of what I made. Most diets are about depravation. Count your calories, eat less, bla bla bla. My new diet isn't about depravation or about calorie counting. It's about making healthier choices. Choice number one, I will have fresh vegetable juice or a Blueberry smoothie in the morning for breakfast. I've never been a breakfast fan, but I choose to have something now because it is impossible to loose weight on less that 3 meals a day, your body goes into preservation mode. Five small meals are even better than 3 if you want to lose weigh. Men and women actually lose weight differently. Because of that I'm going to join Ronnie on a very public diet. Have you seen that commercial where the fat cartoon lady is complaining that her husband quit drinking soda and lost 14 pounds and she lost one? I laugh every time I see that commercial because it's so true! Like I said in a previous post, Ronnie lost 40 pounds last year with very little effort. I wasn't as committed and didn't come close to matching his results. This year, I am committed and want to see how far that commitment can take me. I've packed up the left over homemade Christmas candy to mail to my daughter so it won't go to waste and will be out of temptations way. I'm going to exercise up to 20 minutes 3 times a week. I haven't done any exercise this past week because all the excess sugar over the holiday lowered my immune system and gave me a bad cold. I'm still sniffling and weak so I'll hold off on exercise for a few days. Most of my work is done form the computer so I lead a very sedentary lifestyle. I've had three gym memberships in the past and never went for more than 5 months and NEVER lost any weight from working out. As a matter of fact, I always gained weight and the trainers would smile and say that was good because muscle weights more than fat. This post is getting long, so I will wrap it up. I will be posting our starting weights and some pictures soon. The main reason that you should follow along with our progress on the blog is to see how easy it is to lose weight with the methods we will be using. Because I want increased energy more than I want weight loss I will be adding a lot more raw food into my diet. For people who don't know about raw food, the thing that comes to mind is raw meat or carrots and celery sticks. Let me assure you, there is now raw meat. And while I may choose some carrots and celery sticks from time to time, there is a whole world of great tasting easy to prepare gourmet raw foods which we will explore on the blog. Consider this passage of scripture from the book of Daniel in the old testament of the Bible. Chapter one verse 8-16. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. And the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king." So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, "Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink. "Then let our appearance be examined before you, and the appearance of the young men who eat the portion of the king's delicacies; and as you see fit, so deal with your servants." So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days. And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies. Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.
By Nedalee Ruiz
Nedalee is the author of The Desperate Parents Handbook http://www.desperateparent.com/
Nedalee recommends http://www.healingwatermachines.com/ for more articles on health and healing.
Copyright © 2007 By Nedalee Ruiz Permission granted to reproduce in entirety only including links and author credits.

The Power and Purpose of Fasting

2008-01-07T12:35:00.000-08:00

Fasting has many beneficial proposes and can come in many forms. Fasting helps to cleanse the body and focus the mind. Fasting gives the digestive tract a welcomed rest and also helps to cleanse the colon. Fasting can lead to temporary weight loss of as much as a pound a day. One of my favorite benefits of fasting is that when you are done, the flavors of food are amazing. You taste buds seem to come alive and fresh healthy foods suddenly have a much stronger appeal than sweet or unhealthy foods. This is because artificial flavors have overwhelmed you taste buds and numbed them to the calmer flavors of natural foods. A full fast would require that one abstain from all foods and drink for a period of time. Some will fast all food and drink only water. In one example, during Ramadan, Muslims won’t even swallow their own spit during the day light hours. However people modify their fasts all of the time. Some people will go on a liquid only fast getting most of their nutrition through shakes or smoothies. Other people only fast a certain food like meat or chocolate. I must tell a funny story here. When I was in high school, my boyfriend told me that he was giving up chewing gum for Lent. Not being a Catholic, and not knowing what Lent was, I thought he meant he was giving up chewing gum to chew pocket lint instead. Personally my first fast was water only, for spritual purposes and lasted 9 days. It felt good to have that much self-control. I have continued to fast over the years for various reasons and lengths of time. My longest was 22 days. But all of my fasts have had the wonderful benefit of causing food to taste better. Doctors say that one should never fast for more that three days without water, although it is recorded in the Bible that Jesus was able to fast 40 days without food or water. A typical side effect of fasting is that you may experience flue like symptoms about the third day of a fast as your body eliminates toxins. If you are not on a religious fast, and excluding liquids, it is recommended that you drink copious amounts of water to flush toxins. Try for a full glass of water every half-hour. I personally choose alkaline ionized water as it is up to six times more hydrating and the hexagonal shape of the water molecule causes it to get into my cells better than bottled or tap water. A short fast is the perfect way to cleanse your palate and begin a transition healthier eating. It is highly recommended if you are trying to become more spiritual or become healthier.

By Nedalee Ruiz
Nedalee is the author of The Desperate Parents Handbook http://www.desperateparent.com/
Nedalee recommends http://www.healingwatermachines.com/ for more articles on health and healing.
Copyright © 2007 By Nedalee Ruiz Permission granted to reproduce in entirety only including links and author credits.

New Year Resolution Diet

2008-01-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

This button popping picture was taken of my husband, Ronnie, on Christmas day 2007. He's going on a diet Jan. 1st 2008. Follow along on the blog to see how easily and quickly he looses the weight. He's not too happy that I'm making a public spectacle of him. But I know that he will appreciate the added motivation to stick to his goals. See you on the 1st. And Happy New Year.

Man splits pants, see what he's going to do

2008-01-07T12:27:00.000-08:00

Ronnie, my husband, has gained a lot of weight this year. Yesterday, in Home Depot he bent over to pick up something he'd dropped in the check out line and split open his pants! He has vowed to change his eating on New Years and I'm going to document it here on the blog. Last year he had lost 40 pounds in three short months by making some simple changes in his diet. He drank alkaline ionized water. He cut meat out of his diet, decreased sweets, and increased vegetables. The results were remarkable and we are going to see if he can recreate them as we follow along on the blog. He swore that he never felt hungry or deprived and that he really didn't have time to add exercise to his regime. Ronnie's Mom passed away in May, and the grief sent him into a wild self-comfort eating binge for over seven months for which he has dearly paid the price, seeing his health and energy decline and his weight increase. We've calculated that on some Friday nights out with his friends he would consume up to ten THOUSAND calories in a single night! So be sure to join us in January as we begin to document his journey back to health.