breathing, circulating blood, contracting muscles, eliminating waste and the function of your brain and nerves. As you can see it’s a pretty powerful system, and one that needs to be working optimally to keep you healthy.

If your body’s metabolism is altered, it will affect all other systems in your body. Difficulty with weight loss, thyroid issues, respiratory issues, getting sick frequently, PMS, headaches, depression, and so many others can be connected to a sub-optimal metaboilsm.

Did you that any form of stress can alter your cell metabolism, or put in another way how your cells breathe and use energy? These stressors can be emotional, environmental in the form of toxins (as Lori said in our last newsletter–think organic!), too much cardio, not eating the right amount of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, or not eating enough times during the day…to name a few! What’s even more alarming is that the very food you are eating could be making the problem worse, even if the food you eating is considered “healthy”. We always say that health is not  ”one-size-fits-all”, so it’s vital to know what you personally need to keep your body working at it’s best.

Take the Metabolism Test:

Your body temperature is a way to test the health of your metabolism. Under “stress” your body pulls blood from the periphery (arms, legs) to support your vital organs which causes your body temperature to drop. (A cold nose is also an indicator). So, if your body temperature is below 98.1-98.6 which is considered “normal”, you could have a slowed metabolism. This handy test can also help you see if the food you are eating is slowing your metabolism even further and if the exercise you are doing is helping or harming you!
1. Take your body temperature as soon as you wake up, before getting out of bed. Record this number.
A number below 98.1 can indicate a slow metabolism.

2. Take your body temperature 20 minutes after a meal.
If it goes below the body temperature you had when you first woke up, the food you are eating is not right for your metabolism.

3. Take your body temperature 30 minutes after exercising.
If it drops below the number you had in the morning, the exercise you are doing is not right for your metabolism.

If you would like more information about healing your metabolism or would like to one on one coaching, please contact us for more information.

In Health,

Dorothy and Lori

1.     Get to bed early- not only does sleep help to rejuvenate your body but if you get to bed early, you can get up earlier & more easily.  Therefore, having time to make yourself a healthy breakfast and instead not have to spend money on grabbing breakfast on the go.

2.     Stop or cut back on drinking caffeine - caffeine stresses the adrenal glands and in turn can make loosing weight difficult.  Cut back or if you’re brave enough stop caffeine all together.  See how much moola you save from ordering those triple venti latte’s.

3.     Plan your weekly menu- when planning your weekly menu you not only eat healthier during the week you also save an incredible amount of money.  I have found that when I don’t plan my menu I can spend anywhere from $30.00-$180.00 extra a week.

4.     Drink water- if there is only one health change you make for the better, let it be to drink more water.  It’s an easy and cheap way to detoxify the body.  So instead of grabbing that afternoon coke from the vending machine, pocket that change and drink out of that water bottle you brought from home.

5.     Exercise- if exercise is one of those things that is hard for you to fit into your schedule, then do it over your lunch.  The point is that you just need to get your body moving! Rather than spending money on lunch and gas spend that time more wisely and use it to exercise and bring leftovers from last night’s dinner.  Ask a friend to join you and get healthy together.

We hope these quick 5 tips help you start your New Year off right!  If you would like a health plan designed specifically for you please give our offices a call to set up your consultation!

Health & Happiness in 2012

Lori

picture by:  http://www.targetwoman.com/image/money-saving-tips.jpg

Did you know that drinking water at certain times of the day can have a dramatic effect on the body?    It is true, every day I start my morning off with a large glass of room temperature water to awaken my internal organs and get “things” moving.  Water is a necessity for the body, it helps to regulate blood pressure, helps with digestion and can help avoid stroke and heart attack. Below is information that was written by a cardiologist and was an email sent to us from one of our clients explaining the best times of the day and how much water to drink so that risk of illness may be avoided.

- 2 glasses of water upon awaking will activate internal organs

- 1 glass of water before a meal will help with digestion

- 1 glass of water 30 minutes before a bath can help lower blood pressure

- 1 glass of water before going to bed avoids risk of heart attack, stroke and/or leg cramps.

Depending on what literature you read our bodies are made up 75%-90% of water.  Every organ, muscle and cell in your body uses the water you drink to help keep your body working every single day.  Dehydration can be a serious issue and by the time you’re thirsty your way behind in your water intake.  Here are some signs that you may be dehydrated before you even become thirsty.

- Hunger ( if you notice you’re hungry after eating a good sized meal - drink water before putting more food in your mouth, your thirsty, not hungry)

- Foggy thinking

- Tired

- Dizzy

If you would like more information about how much water you should be drinking daily or have health information you’d like to share with us please feel free to contact us.

To Your Health,

Dorothy and Lori

The liver is the body’s second largest organ and it’s primary job is detoxification. Simply put, the liver takes a potentially harmful substance in your body and transforms it into a less harmful substance so that the body can then safely eliminate it. The liver also plays a role in fat burning. It works with the gallbladder to help us excrete fatty substances, including stored body fat.

In modern days, many of us are treating our livers unkindly, and they just can’t keep up. Alcohol, caffeine, trans fats, sugars (including fructose and sucrose), synthetic substances (ie..pesticides, medications, skin care, etc..) and infections/viruses all put an extra burden on the liver. When this happens, cells in the liver begin to die and the liver eventually is unable to regenerate new cells.

What, you may be wondering, replaces those lost liver cells?   Fat! If this happens to you, you may get diagnosed with a fatty liver by your MD.

The liver is also responsible to making approximately 80% of the cholesterol in your body. (Remember, cholesterol is our friend as it is responsible for making all of our steroid hormones among other things.) The liver will make cholesterol to protect itself, since cholesterol can act as an anti-inflammatory. So when your liver is exposed to substances that can inflame it (as in the list above) it will make extra LDL cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol) for protection.

Ensuring good liver support as well as finding other sources of hidden inflammation in your body is a great first step in lowering cholesterol. Our upcoming Wellness 101 class in Los Gatos is a great place to learn about hidden inflammation and what to do about it.

Take The Test

What is inflammation?  By definition it is …Pathology. Redness, swelling, pain, tenderness, heat, and disturbed function of an area of the body, esp. as a reaction of tissues to injurious agents.

Typically when one thinks of inflammation one thinks of a cut or a sprain that may become red and swell and this is the extent of what one thinks of when it comes to inflammation.  We are here to tell you that inflammation is more than just a cut or a sprain.  Just as the definition above states it is a disturbed function of an area of the body do to injurious agents.  For the purpose of this newsletter we will be discussing areas of the body that are susceptible to inflammation and what exactly are injurious agents.

First of all, any part of the human body can become inflamed.  That means that muscles, nerves, organs and skin are all vulnerable to inflammation.  Becoming inflamed does not just happen from being injured from an accident.  Becoming inflamed as stated above in the definition comes from injurious agents.  What we need all of you to understand is that an injurious agent can come from the food you eat, the beverages you drink, lack of sleep, emotional and physical stress, etc.  Each of these agents can affect your body in different ways but all can end up causing inflammation.

We see so many people that come into our offices not feeling well, feeling tired, knowing that something is wrong with them but yet nothing is found by their healthcare professionals.   More times than not these individuals bodies are trying to fight inflammation and our job is to find the source. We do this by running gut, hormone, liver or food sensitivity testing. Typically what is given to treat inflammation are anti-inflammatory drugs and at times this is necessary but what we want all of you to know and understand is that if the injurious agent is not removed then you are only treating the symptoms and not the problem.

If you would like more information about our in-home test kits or would like more information about injurious agents please feel free to contact us at www.replenishingsoul.com

Three times a day, everyday, we fuel our bodies with food to give us the energy we need to function throughout the day. With years of practice we should all be experts in how much food is the right amount, right?  Wrong.  It turns out that our eating environment has a powerful influence on how much we eat, and can lead to mindless overeating.
In this month’s newsletter, we want to share the findings of eating experiments from the book, Mindless Eating- Why We Eat More Than We Think, by Brian Wansink. See if you can related to any of the situations below, and learn what environmental strategies work to bring back mindfulness when eating.

1. The bigger the bowl, the more you will eat.

Moviegoers who had eaten dinner were given stale (bad tasting) popcorn. So even though they weren’t hungry, 34% ate more from the bigger bucket. What to do: Studies have found that using smaller plates does in fact work to reduce the amount you eat.

2. If it’s in front of you, you are more likely to eat it.

Secretaries who had candies in a bowl on their desk ate more than twice as many candies as those who had the bowl six feet away. They also ate more if the candies were in a clear bowl vs. opaque bowl. What to do: Keep sweets out of sight.

3. You can’t rely on purely “knowing” when you are full.

This one is a shocker. People were unknowingly given soup bowls that automatically refilled as they ate, so they couldn’t see how much they were eating. The results? They ate 73% more soup than the control group. When asked if they were full, they said,  ”How can I be full? I have a half a bowl of soup left.” What to do: A good rule of thumb is to eat until you are not hungry vs. “full”.

4. Exercise can make you overeat.

Participants were split up into two groups and both went on an identical walk around a lake before dinner. The groups were told that they were going on an exercise walk or a scenic walk. The leaders of the exercise walk group would say things like “We’re half way through, keep your heart rate up” while the scenic group heard things like “Look there’s an island and there’s three kinds of birds that live there”. The exercise walk group ended up eating more calories at dinner, mostly from desserts, than the scenic walk group because they estimated that they burned more calories.

5. Be aware of the health halo.

It was found that people who eat at “healthy” restaurants underestimated the calories they were consuming and were more likely to order potato chips, soda, or cookies along with their meals.

6. You are the company you keep.

When someone was paired with someone eating faster, they ended up eating significantly more than if they ate alone. In another study where participants were given a free buffet lunch, if a woman was following another woman, the woman behind took, on average, a portion that mimicked the serving taken by the woman in front.

As always, it is our goal to help you become more aware of how external and internal factors affect your health. With awareness come change. If you’d like more information on our services or would like to set up a nutrition & lifestyle coaching session contact us today

To your health,

Dorothy & Lori

Photo: Thank you to: http://www.google.com/imgres?q=portion+sizes&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1165&bih=597&tbm=isch&tbnid=B0xksy_iRqILvM:&imgrefurl=http://dadfitnessblog.com/the-biggest-diet-mistake-3040&docid=dXmSqJZ3-UqJ7M&w=401&h=272&ei=pSwyTsq8B5TUiAKvhIG6CA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=853&vpy=130&dur=1017&hovh=185&hovw=273&tx=141&ty=86&page=1&tbnh=111&tbnw=164&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0

We are trained to believe that if you’re skinny then you’re healthy.  Why is this?  Just because someone is skinny doesn’t mean that they are physically strong, have healthy hormones, blood pressure or even cholesterol etc.. Believe it or not those skinny people you see walking around may actually be carrying excess weight on them because of their high body fat to low muscle ratio.  We classify these types as skinny fats. Having a body with excess weight on it is just one small part of the equation to getting healthy.

In this month’s newsletter we wanted to touch upon the importance of physical strength, which is important for everyone.  Physical strength is necessary for many reasons:  It helps to increase muscle mass, prevents osteoporosis, prevents/reduces injury, corrects muscle imbalances and reduces pain just to name a few.

Take The Strength Test
Below is a list of exercises for you to perform to see how strong you are.  If you can do all the exercise with the correct form and for the designated amount of time listed then congratulations you are strong and keep it up.  If you can’t we suggest giving us a call or finding someone in your area to help get you started on a strength exercise program.

Squat: This is the most challenging for everyone because typically it is done with incorrect form.  To perform correctly, squat down as if you are sitting in a chair.  Your head and chest need to be facing forward and your thighs need to be parallel to the floor.  You should feel most of your weight in your heals and should be able to lift your toes off the floor; your knees should not go past your toes.  Perform this up and down motion for 12 times.  If you are unable to perform for 12 times or lose your form along the way then you have failed the squat portion of the test.

Lunge: In a standing position place your right foot out in front of you and your left foot behind you-stay up on your toes of your left foot, bend your left knee towards the floor then rise back up, this completes one full lunge.  Perform for 12 times then switch sides and perform 12 again.  If you are able to perform 12 lunges on each side you have passed the test, if not you have failed this portion.

Standing on one leg: Raise your left leg up by bringing your knee up towards your chest while standing on your right leg.  Hold this position for 10 seconds.  Then switch sides.  If you are able to stand on each leg for 10 seconds you have passed the test, if not then you have failed.

Push-ups: come down to the floor on your hands and knees.  Placing your hands on the floor and lifting your knees up so that you are up on your toes lower your chest to the floor and rise back up.  Perform for 12 times.   Modification for females is to place your hands on the floor keeping your knees on the floor and cross your feet at your ankles.  Now try to lower your chest to the floor for 12 times.  If you are able to perform 12 you have passed the test if not you have failed.

Sit-ups: place your feet under something sturdy or have someone hold your ankles.  Cross your arms across your chest and pull your chest up towards your legs for 12 times.  If you can perform 12 then you have passed if not you have failed.

We hope that by taking this test it gave you some insight on what it means to be healthy and strong regardless if you are thin or carrying a few extra pounds.  If you have any questions, concerns or would like to set up a strength training appointment please feel free to give us a call.

To strong & healthy bones…

Ingredients:

9 oz. frozen artichoke heart, thawed, drained, and patted dry

4 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, divided

8 oz. shiitake mushrooms, caps sliced, stems discarded

1 15oz can no-salt-added chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 scallions, sliced

6 sprigs Italian parsley, chopped

1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice, more to taste

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

In a large non-stick skillet, saute the artichokes in 1 Tbs oil until browned. Remove from the pan. Saute the mushrooms in 1 Tbs. oil until browned. Remove from the pan. Saute the chickpeas in 1 Tbs. oil until lightly browned.

Add the remaining 1 Tbs. oil, stir in the garlic, and cook for 30 seconds. Return the artichokes and mushrooms to the pan and heat through. Add the scallions and parsley. Season with lemon juice and up to 1/2 teaspoon salt if desired (I didn’t use it).

Serves 4 (as side dish, serves 2 as main dish)

Enjoy!

Dorothy

Recipe from: Nutrition Action Healthletter, May 2011

What you will need:

• 1lb. Ahi Tuna Steak (feeds 2 adults)
• Dark Sesame Oil
• Sesame seeds
• 5 Scallions
• Soy Sauce
• Ginger
• Wasabi
• Edamame (1 package)

How to prepare Ahi:

• Cut tuna into thin slices or to thickness of your desire - place off to side once all sliced
• Clean and cut scallions into thin slices including the greens - place off to side
• Place pan on stove top- drizzle sesame oil all over the bottom of the pan
• Turn stove top on medium heat and let pan get hot
• Taking Tuna one slice at a time place in pan and heat for 5-10 seconds on one side then flip. Cook longer if you want less pink to show
• Place cooked Tuna on a separate plate
• Once Tuna is all cooked drizzle lightly with soy sauce, sesame seeds and garnish with scallions.
• Serve with ginger, soy sauce & wasabi

How to prepare Edamame:

• Bring pot of water to a boil
• Place edamame in boiling water cook for designated time on package, drain, rinse with cool water and serve with sea salt

Healthy Eating!

Lori

pic by: http://northendfish.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/seared-tuna.jpg