Our Future

“We will have children when the bank account holds enough cushion to survive such life changing event.”   “When we become parents, we will never say/do __________.”  “Our children will never behave in such a manner.”

Ever heard such comments?  Ever said such comments?  Visualizing parenthood outside of the everyday decision making, sleep deprived moments and wallet draining years may seem a much prettier picture then the real live drama.  No person can prepare completely for such a role.  Filling the diaper bag, decorating the room, child proofing the house (which doesn’t work), etc. sets the scene.  But, life with children remains unpredictable; therefore, planning typically does not help in the actual moment. 

I have learned more in the twelve years as mom than the other __:-)___ years of my life.  I would like to share some of the top few lessons with you today. . .

1) Your children will act like children:  misbehavior requires disciplinary action, but the misbehavior does not REFLECT you as a parent/person.  Children need to grow at each level, learning valuable lessons to set a solid foundation to help them withstand such a broken world.  Love them where they are so they can grow into the next phase of life.  You were given the position as parent/guardian over another human being because Someone trusts you with such the role.  Embrace the role and take one moment at a time.

2) Your child will not fulfill the empty areas from your childhood:  yes, these children are your DNA; but, they will not fill in the gaps of your past dreams.  They may not like sports, win that trophy, run the family business, dance, excel in school, get into that college, etc.  They carry our DNA and it stops there.  Love the child, encourage the child and teach the child.  In doing so, they will build their own dreams, passions and love for life.  Pushing children to complete YOUR past dreams will only lead to misery and failures.

  

3) Your children belong to a generation of illness:  the children we see each day will be the first generation to NOT outlive their parent/guardian due to type II diabetes (according to study in TIME magazine).  Process that last statement for a moment. . .

Children live in a sedentary, fast food, Internet driven world.  If things don’t go easy and projects complete within 5-10 minutes, children give up and frustration sets in.  The children that do play sports and remain active negate such positive actions with the nutrition intake.  Parents/guardians spend countless dollars on sports activities for children; yet, the foods eaten and sedentary lifestyle within the home do nothing to support an athlete.  Actually, such a lifestyle does quite the opposite: destroying an athlete’s body.  With such impact sports, intense training and various skills performed on the field/court; children require proper nutrients to sustain and assist their body in functioning/surviving. 

We are the generation these children look to for guidance.  What can we do today to empower their character, encourage their dreams, engage in their activities and educate them on overall health?  We can model it!  We can provide it!  We can walk alongside the next generation, making the best of each day physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Laugh today with a child.  Choose a nutritious meal to eat today with a child.  Embrace a child (we need over 10 hugs a day – be one for a child).  Take a stand to fight against such statistic released in TIME magazine.  Do it for yourself and results will trickle down to the next generation.  Let’s save our future!

Reaching optimal health. . .One Day at a Time

Sheree Craig

Embrace the Snow Day

Snow days shake up the usual schedule for most individuals.  Snow decreases activity for most.  Cuddling up on the couch with a blanket, warm beverage and a good movie replaces going to work or activities outside.  Not only does the body crawl into hibernation, we also remain cooped in a place filled with food + boredom.  Those two addends equate to trouble when striving to reach optimal health.

How can we avoid such temptations when boredom reaches the stomach and the eyes see a smorgasbord?  The worst case occurs when snow days follow a holiday filled with sweets, snacks and savory dips.  Our minds cannot quit thinking about such delicious foods waiting in the kitchen to be enjoyed.  It is like setting a piece of candy in front of a child and instructing the child to wait 10 minutes before consuming the candy.  How well do you think that would go over?

Self-control, discipline and resisting such temptations CAN become a way of life. . .One Day at a Time, One Situation at a Time.  It becomes easier each time we conquer a moment.  Your taste buds change and cravings subside.    

The time is now.  Begin by refusing to allow such food to enter the home.  Enjoy a portion at an event, then leave it there.  Having children in the home poses some difficulty in eliminating all snacks or sweets; but, teaching them portion control and healthy options will establish a solid foundation to build health.  It will become a way of life for the whole family.  If the food is not there, then it cannot be consumed, right?

Next, regardless of the type of food, portion out the item the moment you come home from the grocery.  The items need put away; why not do so in serving sizes?  Use baggies based on serving size (typically ¼ of baggie with most store bought snacks).  Place them in the cabinet as such.  This will prevent pulling the whole bag out when in search for a snack and standing risk of eating more than one serving. 

Then, keep motivated with portion control while baking:  Resist urge to taste test – the calories can/will add up quickly.  Once baked, portion out in containers or baggies (2 small cookies, ¼ baggie of snack mix or granola, 1 brownie LxW of credit card and no more than ½ inch thick).  Give yourself homemade baked goods rationed out as a treat to satisfy a craving.  This will aide in prevention of overeating somewhere else d/t unsatisfied taste buds.

That being said, you can make homemade baked goods or dressings healthier without sacrificing taste:

1 egg = ¼ cup applesauce or ½ mashed banana or 1 tablespoon flax + 3 tablespoons water

Mayo = mashed avocado or tahini + ½ squeezed lemon + garlic powder to taste or tahini + 1 teaspoon of 100% maple syrup

Any shortening or butter in recipe = same ratio applesauce or healthy oil

Sugar = honey or 100% maple syrup or stevia

Milk = Unsweetened non-dairy milk

Finally, move inside the home.  Yes, enjoy the snow day and possibly a day off work completely; but, during commercials get movin’.  Commercials only tell about things you don’t need or feed the craving of food anyway.  Walk around the house the entire time commercials air.  Set a goal if you own a pedometer of 500-1000 steps each time you get up.  Have fun inside!  Turn up the music and dance, play an active game or Nerf war (typical event in our home on snow days).  If you are brave enough to face the cold, go outside and have fun.  But, don’t come back in for a heavily sugared warm beverage.

Don’t allow a snow day to ruin your progress.  Use it as a tool to gain strength, endurance and accomplishment.  You Got This! 

Reaching optimal health. . .One Day at a Time

Sheree Craig

Time for Everything

Let us approach a hindrance I discussed in a previous blog.  On average, how many hours of sleep do you receive each night?  I have heard, “I will sleep when I am dead,” or “Sleep is overrated.”  Well, my friends, both those statements feed the concern wreaking havoc in thousands of lives.

Lack of sleep, continued overtime, throws the body for a loop.  There is a time for everything. . .including SLEEP!  Sleeping, in fact, is underrated amongst society.  Chasing our tails to keep up with the Jones’ fills the calendar daily with stuff to do.  You know, I bet if we dissected the lives of these Jones’, we would find misery, debt, façade of smiles, anger filled conversations, no family dinners, empty fridges, regular visits to fast food chains and early death.  Do you still want to keep up with them?

Why would such a busy life, full of stuff and activities deplete happiness?  We place ourselves in numerous social situations, gather lots of friends, connect with thousands through Facebook, follow countless on Twitter, constantly carry on text conversations, keep the email inbox overflowing, etc.  We remain popular, pleasing everyone as we complete needed tasks.  We become “yes” people.  At what cost?

Our health!  Our body fails to keep up, eventually waving the white flag with illness, pain, weight gain and rollercoaster emotions which all leave our metabolism nonexistent.  SLEEP!

Trust me, I can extend an empathic heart when it comes to difficulty getting enough shut eye.  I suffer with vivid dreams along with night sweats.  I should say DID suffer.  Since focusing on relaxation techniques, feeding my body with proper nutrients and shifting to less of a “yes” person, the vivid dreams and night sweats decreased. 

How can we run 12-15 hours straight and then just expect to turn it all off abruptly?  Well, this is when the situation becomes individualized.  I spoke of finding your oasis in an earlier blog.  This plays a vital role in resting the body.  If you have not yet determined your oasis, do so.  If you have not yet incorporated a visit to your oasis on a daily basis, do so.  Then, see if that ‘time out’ during the day aides in better sleep. 

Begin by adding even just thirty more minutes to the current sleep time.  Continue doing so until 7-8 hours a night exists in the regimen.  Avoid relying on medication to sleep.  Begin with natural means to bring rest to mind, body and soul: reading a good book, a hot Epsom salt bath with lavender oil, rub lavender oil on the soles of the feet prior to bed, use melatonin, drink calming tea, avoid overhead lights after 6:00 PM, shut down the kitchen after supper, drink plenty of water, etc.  The list goes on of natural ways to calm; but, the key is finding what works for you.  SLEEP!

Let us not negate all the hard work done throughout the waking hours to keep our body functioning.  Let us get SLEEP!

Please take time to skim over the evidence based research pertaining to the effects of decreased sleep on weight gain/retention.

  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951287/

Reaching optimal health. . .One Day at a Time

Sheree Craig

Stop the Madness

21% set a goal to lose weight beginning mere hours after the ball dropped.

14% set a goal to incorporate exercise daily to reach health goals.

7% set a goal to consume healthier foods.

Regardless of the actual numbers – be it 14% go at losing weight with increased exercise and 7% focus on the food; or, each statistic above sits separated into three different groups – majority of Americans desire improvement in self and base that on weight/food/exercise. 

Since the very beginning of time, food = power.  An inanimate object which remains necessary for life holds power to tear down, wreak havoc, cause illness, recover from illness, build up, create an escape, etc.  73% of individuals creating goals when the ball drops end up quitting prior to accomplishing such lofty goals. 

I believe two factors wedge into the equation leading to failing/giving up.  One includes the grandeur of the goals set.  Be it the atmosphere, peer pressure or repetitive goal making each year; we create a list containing society’s standards for our life.  Society creates images of ‘what makes a person happy’ and pumps it out all over the media.  Such pressure breaks us and a goal to attain such happiness weighs heavily on our mind. 

Another factor includes going at it alone.  Accountability serves mightily when overcoming difficulty, changing unhealthy habits and striving to reach set goals.  Whatever the case, going at it alone will exhaust you to the point of giving up. 

Admittance to the problem will aide in making SMART goals: 

specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time sensitive. 

The problem: the power given to food.  I hold such passion in helping others overcome bondage to food.  Bondage can include revolving events around food, food consuming the first thought of the day and extending to the last thought of the day, feeling guilty after ingestion, fearing meal time, placing importance on ‘earning’ the right to eat, seeking ways to rid the body of food intake, etc.  Over-consumption driven by lack of control creates bondage as well. 

Society provides the chain, link by link, which binds and suffocates.  Let us work together, not against one another, to break free.  We work in such competition each day to be #1.  We were created individually with varied purposes; therefore, our goals should not be uniform in nature.  There is no one size fits all in health. 

No matter the disordered eating pattern: we each need SMART goals and we need each other.  The time is now to stop the madness!  Too many lives have been taken due to disordered eating patterns: heart disease, cancer and body failure due to lack of nutrients. 

What will be your SMART goal for today?  How can you help another meet their SMART goal today? 

Reaching optimal health. . .One Day at a Time

Sheree Craig    

Statistics pulled from: http://www.details.com/story/new-years-resolutions-by-the-numbers

Game Changer

You are on the right track.  Goals set in place.  Daily decisions help to reach such goals. 

And then it happens. . .

An event that changes everything.  You know, an environment revolving around counter-tops filled with food.  The main focus veers from the entertainment to eating.  We forget the whole reason for celebration as the plates fill to the brim. 

All the work you have put forth in changing from a lifestyle of chaos to choosing proper nutrients for the body can change with one pivotal event.  Stand firm and don’t allow such a change.  See the moment as one meal for the day.  Avoid starving all day to save up the calories to consume all in one sitting.  Your body will hate you for such a decision.  Metabolism will be sleeping while thousands of calories wait to be burned. 

Yes, I said thousands. . .check out some statistics involving the current event.

• The Super Bowl is the second largest "food day" during the year, with the top spot going to Thanksgiving. Most Americans double their daily calories on Super Bowl Sunday compared to any other day.
• One out of 12 Super Bowl watchers is there only to watch the commercials, and it's estimated they consume more calories than others out of sheer boredom.  (Bingo – that is me!)
• Beer is the most consumed drink of the Super Bowl. It is estimated that 49.2 million cases of beer will be sold for the big game alone.
• - See more at: http://www.mynetdiary.com/super-bowl-snack-facts.html#sthash.6E8VNe7D.dpuf

Avoid being a statistic.  It is not all about the food.  Engage in the game, enjoy good conversation with loved ones, play an active game to gear up for sitting on the couch for 5-6 hours and laugh!  It is just another day that your body needs a specific amount of energy to sustain life.  Love yourself and provide what YOU need. 

Some tips to make it through all the temptations:

• If drinking alcohol, do so 30 minutes prior to eating due to the fact that the body will slow processing of food in order to metabolize the alcohol; therefore, holding onto to the calories consumed. 
• Drink on a bottomless glass of water throughout the evening. 
• Choose veggies for dipping (enjoy the dips, eliminate the calories/fat of chips). 
• Bring a dish filled with healthy ingredients to assure a better option is available to you. 
• Limit the evening to two plates; one at beginning of game and another at halftime. 

Try a variety in small amounts and enjoy the evening while avoiding a food coma.  Below I will list a few recipes that are delicious, hit the cravings and keep you on track.  Don’t let one evening be a game changer for your health.  It may not be just the Super Bowl; but, a birthday, company party, date night, etc.  You can do this!  If you veer off track a little too far, the next day begin anew! 

Reaching optimal health. . .One Day at a Time

Sheree Craig     

Recipes:

Peanut Butter Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients

·         1 Tablespoon coconut oil

·         ½ medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped

·         1 large red bell pepper, chopped

·         1 clove of garlic, minced

·         2 carrots, peeled and grated

·         2 Tablespoons chili powder

·         1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

·         Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

·         1 - 28 oz can fire-roasted canned tomatoes

·         1 - 8 oz can tomato sauce

·         1 can can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

·         1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

·         1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

·         1 cup frozen sweet corn

·         1½-2 cups low-sodium vegetable stock

·         1 chili pepper, halved, seeded and chopped

·         2 teaspoons, dried oregano

·         2 teaspoons dried basil

·         ½ Tablespoon cocoa powder

·         2 Tablespoons creamy natural peanut butter

·         Juice of one fresh lime

Throw it all in a crockpot and enjoy!

Buffalo Quinoa Bites

INGREDIENTS

·      1 cup vegetable broth or water

·      ½ cup quinoa, uncooked (I used red quinoa)

·      2 eggs, beaten

·      2 tbsp almond meal

·      2 garlic cloves, minced or powder

·      ¼ cup Frank's hot sauce

·      2 tbsp + 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

1.   Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.

2.   Bring broth and quinoa to a boil in a medium pot. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer (covered) for about 15 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Set aside to cool.

3.   In a large bowl, combine eggs, almond meal, garlic, hot sauce, mozzarella cheese and 2 tbsp of Parmesan. Stir well to combine.

4.   Spoon batter into mini muffin tin. Sprinkle bites with the remaining one tbsp of Parmesan. You'll need to make two batches unless you have a 24-cup muffin tin.

Bake for 20 minutes. 

Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip 

Ingredients

• 10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 14 oz. can artichokes hearts, rinsed and drained
• 1 roasted red bell pepper, peeled and chopped or jalapeno
• ½ ripe avocado
• 1 garlic clove, or ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon honey (optional)

Instructions

1. Drain the artichokes and spinach well, then add them to the bowl of a large food processor fitted with an S-shaped blade. Add in the rest of the ingredients, and use the "pulse" button to combine into a chunky dip.
2. The texture of this dip is completely up to your personal preference. You can leave it chunky, for a slightly different taste in each bite, or process longer for a more uniform-looking dip! I added a bit of honey to mine, and processed again, for a slightly more balanced flavor and smoother texture.
3. For best flavor, allow to chill for at least 4 hours before serving, and store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies

Ingredients

·         1 cup natural creamy peanut butter (preferably organic)

·         ⅓ cup honey

·         1 whole egg

·         ¼ teaspoon sea salt (*if using unsalted peanut butter)

·         ½ teaspoon baking soda

·         ½ cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

1.     Preheat oven to 350F and grease an 8″ square pan with butter or coconut oil.

2.     In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter, honey, egg, salt and baking soda until well combined, then fold in the chocolate chips.

3.     Pour the batter into the greased pan, and use a spatula to smooth the top.

4.     Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is a light golden brown. (it only took 20 minutes in my oven)

5.     Let cool, then cut into squares and serve!

The Results are ALL IN. . .

For years I have tried to find ‘something’ to bring healthy into the daily vocabulary.  I suffered from lack of sleep, hot flashes, fatigue, pain, absolutely no endurance, mood swings and GI issues.  I tried everything in sight, visited numerous specialized doctors and never reached true healing. 

This all ended in frustration.  I began to accept this is life as I know it. . .

Until my husband and I stumbled across a company backed by a panel of doctors, scientists and nutritionists.  We began taking product.  Results astounded each of us.  We held drastically different goals to reach optimal health. . .the goals were reached. 

After the first 24 day challenge, my husband lost weight – I gained weight.  We both felt phenomenal.  We continued on product and maintained health.  Most recently, we went through another 24 day challenge with continued goals in mind.

My husband lost 8 pounds, inches off the waist and continued with better choices in food consumption.  I maintained weight, increased endurance, lost fatigue, decreased hot flashes, eliminated migraine episodes AND – most importantly, my GI issues are nowhere to be found!!!

I feel fantastic and want to share this information with others trying to reach health goals that seem out of the park.

Are you tired of striving to reach health goals by grabbing onto everything society says will help?  Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?

Whatever your goals are pertaining to health, wellness and finance. . .AdvoCare can help.

I can help provide more information for you.  Contact me through Facebook or my blog.   

Reaching optimal health. . .One Day at a Time

Sheree Craig