How To Prevent Cold Or Flu And What To Do If You Get It

Getting Sick Simply Sucks!

I can say this because that is exactly how I felt… shitty. Now that I am at the end of it, I wanted to share some information that could save you from suffering. Prevent cold or flu here.

So here it is – some useful information about how to prevent the cold or flu and what to do if you get it.

What Is A Cold?

A cold is an upper respiratory infection caused by a virus.

Common Cold Symptoms include a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, congestion, fatigue and sometimes, with accompanying body aches. Basically – you feel miserable.

You don’t want to be around people and vice versa.

What Is The Flu?

The flu is also an upper respiratory infection caused by a virus.

Flu Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headache, fatigue, chills, sore throat, cough, runny or stuffy nose. Sometimes there is also mental confusion, ear infections or plugged ear, nausea, and vomiting.

Basically, it comes out both ends if you know what I mean!

Flu can transition into pneumonia, which is why we want to treat it right away so it doesn’t progress.

How Can I Prevent Cold Or Flu?

Prevent infection by making your body inhospitable to microbes.

The whole premise of this statement is to change the environment that supports the growth of these viruses.

As Pasteur said so infamously on his deathbed, ‘The microbe is nothing; the environment is everything.“

Your body is the environment I am referring to.

Let’s first look at factors that increase your susceptibility to infection:

Your Diet

‘You don’t GET a cold – you EAT it’!

DIET: Avoid a diet high in refined grain and sugar.

Why? Refined, heavily processed carbohydrates feed microbes and encourage them to flourish. Sugar feeds cancer and lowers your resistance to fight infection.

DIET: Check for food allergy or sensitivities.

Why? Eating foods that you are allergic or sensitive to create whole body inflammation. A key driver to all disease and illness.

Metabolic Imbalances

METABOLIC IMBALANCE: Check for Low stomach acid (hypochlorhydria).

Why? Many infections enter through our mouth. Even the ones we inhale get trapped in our mucous, which is then coughed up and swallowed. These microbes need to find their way into an ‘acid’ stomach bath – which kills them.

METABOLIC IMBALANCE: Check for Low thyroid function (hypothyroidism).

Why? When you have a low thyroid, everything in the body slows down. This includes your ability to fight infections too.

Low Micronutrient Status

LOW MICRONUTRIENT STATUS: Poor immune function

Why? Your body needs to have enough zinc, vitamin C, vitamin D, and selenium for a proper immune response. Being low in any one of these micronutrients sets the stage for low immune function.

LOW MICRONUTRIENT STATUS: Low vitamin D.

Why? We see more infections in the winter months than the summer partly due to lack of being outside and getting natural sunlight.

Toxicity

TOXICITY: Check for Chemical exposure.

Why? Our body uses enzymes to function. Chemicals block enzymes and inhibit function. This is ‘bad news bears’ when it comes to being optimal. Chemicals also increase inflammation, a key driver to disease.

Avoiding And Treating Infections – Take The 3 Pronged Approach

Prevent cold or flu by doing this.

#1: Make the body’s environment as inhospitable as possible for pathogenic viruses.

Eat a diet that mimics your ancestors: Meat, fish, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and berries. Enjoy on occasion fruit; whole grains, and dairy. All foods free from toxic chemicals (eaten ideally organic or spray free); and properly raised or grown.

At the very least, think about what your grandma ate and just eat that way.

Grains, nuts, and seeds should be soaked or sprouted to avoid gut irritants (known immune suppressants). My book, The Fit n Healthy Plan, The healthy diet & lifestyle plan made easy

The Fit n Healthy Plan literally walks you through step by step what an ancestral diet is and how to incorporate it into your busy life. Includes easy instructions on how to soak your grains, nuts, and seeds too.

BONUS: This plan works by balancing your body’s metabolic systems while naturally removing the unwanted toxins that contribute to modern day diseases.

Check for low stomach acid. Test yourself by clicking this link: Low Stomach Acid Questionnaire.

Check for low thyroid. Test yourself by clicking this link: Low Thyroid Test Questionnaire.

Get your micronutrient test done. Sample Micronutrient Test. Go to this link to find out how: Micronutrient Test.

Do a detox. How toxic are you? Test yourself by going here: ADP Detox Questionnaire

Stay warm. Pathogens thrive in cold environments. Heat destroys them.

Stay hydrated and drink clean water. A good rule of thumb: Consume 1 litre of filtered water for every 50 lbs of body weight. Drink away from meals.

Practice good dental hygiene. I personally think not enough attention is given to good dental practices. Dental decay is a marker symptom of other diseases and metabolic imbalances including unhealthy digestive function. Brush teeth twice daily, Remembering to floss also. Oil pulling is a strategy that I’ve been doing every morning to keep my mouth clear of pathogens.

Oil pulling, also known as “kavala” or “gundusha,” is an ancient Ayurvedic dental technique that involves swishing a tablespoon of oil in your mouth on an empty stomach for 4 – 20 minutes. This action draws out toxins in your body, primarily to improve oral health but also to improve your overall health. I use coconut oil and oil pull first thing in the morning while I make my organic cup of coffee.

After I perform my morning oil pull, I scrape my tongue.

Tongue scraping also known as Jihwa Prakshalana, is the Ayurvedic self-care ritual done as an oral hygiene practice that removes bacteria, food debris, fungi, toxins, and dead cells from the surface of the tongue.

The tongue is part of the first line of defense in your immune system. Scraping your tongue prevents toxins from being reabsorbed into your body and boosts overall immune function.

Take probiotics regularly. These are of proven benefit to keep your immune system healthy. Helps to prevent cold or flu. Look for probiotic made from human strains (not animal). Check out the HMF (human microflora) probiotics by Genestra.

#2: Treat infections aggressively.

Take vitamin C to bowel tolerance Take enough that is sufficient enough to cause loose stools. This kills infectious microbes AND takes the load off the gut to allow for more energy to optimize the immune system. Look for a NON GMO source like C1000 by Genestra

Take zinc – 25 to 40 mg. The primary role of zinc is to activate over 200 enzymes with a vital role in immune function and digestion. Look for zinc picolinate by Genestra.

Take yarrow. 30 drops in a little water, 3 -4 times a day. Yarrow is traditionally used in herbal medicine to relieve fever and colds. Look for organically grown and ideally from small farms for best results. Check out this Yarrow by Jardins La Val’heureuse

BONUS: More information on yarrow can be found in my blog post How I Stopped A Cold In One Day.

Take an herbal combination for colds/flus. This is great for children who don’t like to take supplements. Easy to administer. Simply place herbal drops in water or directly in the mouth. I personally use and recommend BIO – COLD/FLU by Jardins La Val’heureuse

Try a Master Tonic

Master tonic (aka Fire Cider) is a traditional folk remedy infused with powerful anti-microbial, decongestant, and circulatory herbs and spices.

Take 1 tbsp every hour until symptoms clear.

I took Daniels formula throughout the day for 4 days and not only did I really enjoy the taste, I felt it working with every shot.

As a preventative, take 1 tbsp every day.

You can contact Daniel by clicking here Its all about the gut

Master Tonic ingredients: Garlic, Ginger, Horseradish, Turmeric, Onion, Hot pepper

Master Tonics healing properties include: Anti viral, anti microbial, and anti parasitic

Switch to a low-carb Ketogenic Diet. Avoid grains, dairy, and limit fruit. Obviously, avoid all sugar!

Allow yourself to get a temperature. Viruses are very temperature sensitive. For a body to run a fever is a good thing as this event kills pathogenic viruses. Optimal temperature is 102.3 degrees Celsius.

DO NOT SUPPRESS SYMPTOMS – THEY ARE NATURES WAY OF FIGHTING INFECTIONS.

Get outside sunshine. Sunlight on bare skin kills microbes. In fact, getting natural sunlight not only increases our vitamin D levels, but it also cleans our blood. We knew this long ago when it was used as an effective treatment for tuberculosis.

Be good and kind to yourself. It’s OKAY to take some time off and just get to bed. Rest is one of your best medicines!

I Hope you’ve found this helpful to prevent cold or flu.

Here is a quick summary of the link provided above.

BOOKS:

The Fit n Healthy Plan, The healthy diet & lifestyle plan made easy

TESTS:

Low Stomach Acid Questionnaire.

Low Thyroid Test Questionnaire.

Sample Micronutrient Test.

Micronutrient Test.

ADP Detox Questionnaire

SUPPLEMENTS:

HMF (human microflora) probiotics

Want help optimizing your immune system, prevent cold or flu, and stay healthy? Please Contact Me.

Want your very own Personalized Nutritional Plan (including testing, assessment and plan) Get One On One Help HERE.

Write me a comment by writing it below. Love to connect with you!

6 Major Players To Balancing Hormones And Getting Lean

by hartteuser Leave a Comment

This is the final one of a series of posts on Balancing Hormones and Getting Lean.

At the end of the series, you will be given the practical steps that encompass all 6 major players to balancing hormones and getting lean.

In my last article, The #1 Secret To Balancing Hormones And Getting Lean I shared with you how getting lean requires good hormonal balance.

Gone are the endless days of the eat less and exercise more strategy. While eating less and exercising more does have its place in fat loss, it’s designed to be a tool to incorporate into your long-term health and wellness strategy.

So, to get lean in a healthy way, there are 6 major areas to balance and make that goal happen – I’ve already outlined the first of the 6 in this post.

The other 5 are: A Hormone Balancing Diet; Safe and Easy Detox; Restorative Sleep; Stress Management; and Proper Exercise/Movement.

Without going into great depth of all 5 of these areas, instead, I would like to focus in on the diet, detox, and sleep, and leave stress and exercise for another blog post.

I will wrap this post up in a nice Xmas bow and end with an easy to follow Fit ‘n Healthy Daily Routine that covers all these 6 Major Players to Balancing Hormones and Getting Lean.

11 Hormones Responsible For Getting Lean And Building Sexy Muscle

There are 11 hormones responsible for getting lean and building muscle.

These Hormones are:

1. Insulin – The Fat Storer

2. Glucagon – The Fat Burner

3. Ghrelin – The Hunger Hormone

4, Leptin – The Fuel Gauge

5. Thyroid Hormone – The Metabolic Manager

6. Cortisol – The Stress Hormone

7. Adiponectin – The Satiety Hormone

8. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) – The Fountain of Youth

9. Estrogen – The Feminizer

10. Progesterone – The Partner of Estrogen

11. Testosterone – The Body Sculptor

Therefore, creating a Diet and Lifestyle Plan that balances these 11 hormones would be a good, sound strategy to getting and staying Fit ‘n Healthy.

Let’s start with Diet.

Hormone Balancing Diet

Out of all the 11 hormones listed above, balancing Insulin and Glucagon will give you the fastest results and simplest solution to getting lean and building sexy muscle – long term.

A good start to balancing Insulin and Glucagon is consuming a diet rich in high-quality protein and omega 3 fats while swapping highly processed, high glycemic carbohydrates with high fibrous, low glycemic ones.

For more details on this way of eating, check out my Slim, Strong, and Sexy Diet Plan.

Are You 15 + Pounds Overweight?

If you are struggling with 15 + pounds to lose, you will most likely need to start by balancing Leptin and Ghrelin. Take the Leptin Resistance Quiz and fix it here.

One other consideration, when it comes to a Hormone Balancing Diet, is eating just enough. This means NOT overeating. Overeating is another way insulin rises independently of a carefully balanced diet.

A good trick to help you NOT overeat is to ensure you’re well hydrated. Sometimes, you may feel hungry when in fact, you’re actually thirsty. This is why I recommend my clients to start their day with 1 litre of filtered water and drink the rest of your required water intake between meals and not to close to bedtime.

A good rule of thumb is 1 litre of water for every 50 lbs of body weight.

Safe And Easy Detox

Toxicity is of much greater concern now than ever before. We are exposed to many new and stronger chemicals, many of which we place on our skin and consume in our foods every day.

And with new threats, like genetically modified foods and an excessive amount of EMF exposure, we need to be even more diligent to clean ourselves out.

For these reasons, getting lean, feeling strong and reaching peak performance needs to include a solid, safe and easy detox.

Simply put, excess toxins cause havoc on your hormones. Your liver, kidney, lung, and to some extent, your gut are the organs that play the biggest part in getting you lean.

These are your primary organs that keep your insides, clean. If any one or more of these ‘organs of elimination’ are sluggish, then your ability to burn fat is diminished as well.

‘When you get cleaner, your body will get leaner’

This is a direct quote from fitness and nutritional expert Shawn Stevenson of The Model Health Show.

“One of the ways excess toxicity leads to weight gain is through inflammation. Just think of how Estrogen Dominance plays a role in being overweight? In fact, some recent research points to the inability of our bodies to burn fat as fuel even when on a Ketogenic Diet.”

Mike Mutzel, fitness and nutrition expert and author of The Belly Fat Effect, does a great job explaining how important going on a good detox is essential before going on a fat burning diet.

He sums it up by saying, “constipation is common with ketosis and can kick you out of ketosis. Constipation can also cause the recirculation of nasty chemicals, negatively impacting your liver. Do a detox before going on a ketogenic style diet. Clean house.”

I fully agree. Another factor to consider when your body starts to burn body fat is that toxins are being released into your bloodstream. Your liver, kidneys and gut go to work trying to get these out. If anyone of these ‘fat burning’ organs are sluggish, then you feel crappy!

Doing a safe and easy detox alongside a solid weight loss plan is essential.

Are your ‘fat burning’ organs clean enough?

Go here and find out:

adp_detox_questionnaire_v2

digestion_aire

kidney_health_aire_aadp

liver_gall_blad_aire

Detox is actually quite simple.

First and foremost, start by eliminating as many Sources of Toxicity as you can. This is exactly how I begin the detox process with all my clients – by handing them my Sources of Toxicity Checklist with Simple Solutions on How to Eliminate Them.

To assist your kidneys, start your day with 1 litre of filtered water with added freshly squeezed lemon juice and a pinch of unrefined salt.

Do this BEFORE or along with your morning organic coffee or organic green tea. Always drink your water away from meals. Drink nettle tea during the day also to help with kidney function.

Additionally, to support the gut with having 1-3 good sized bowel movements per day, incorporate non-starchy, fibrous carbs (just think of above ground vegetables like kale, radishes, peppers (all colors), broccoli, and celery). Remember to save your starchy carbs for your evening meal (think of below the ground veggies or properly prepared grains, beans or legumes). Drink peppermint tea!

Enjoying little-fermented foods prior to your evening meal will also aid in proper bowel movements along with about 300 mg of magnesium. I like magnesium glycinate.

For your liver, eat Liver Friendly Foods like broccoli, broccoli sprouts, artichokes, beets, onions, garlic, and incorporate lemons and limes into your meals. Drink dandelion tea.

Practice deep breathing to support lung function. I recommend performing 5 deep belly breaths in the AM and again in the PM, being careful to keep the shoulders down and breath from your belly.

To take it a step further, go on a safe and easy detox. The one that I perform regularly and get great results is using a method called Biotherapeutic Drainage.

Restorative Sleep

Burn fat, get smart, and heal your body while you sleep! This is by far the ‘lazy persons way’ to cut fat, build lean muscle tissue and set up the stage for peak performance!

You heard right! A solid nights sleep is a great way to burn fat!

Did you know sleep is the only time your brain detoxifies? This is also the time you repair and regenerate from the day’s activities?

Just think about those days when you’ve had the best sleep – you feel pretty remarkable don’t you?

I always liken a good nights sleep to going the spa. That’s exactly how I feel when I’ve had the best sleep ever.

It’s one of the secrets to fat loss, and much has to do with keeping Leptin and Grehlin in balance, along with Insulin and Adiponectin, with a subsequent increase in Human Growth Hormone and Testosterone.

Having a good night’s sleep is essential in getting these hormones in balance.

What A Normal Sleep Cycle Looks Like

Starting at about 6 am, you get a surge of Cortisol. This wakes up your brain and body. Soon after (within 2 hours), Ghrelin rises signalling you to eat along with Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide (VIP) signalling you to ‘poop’.

At around 9 am or 10 am your sex hormones rise (which is a good time to enjoy sex). This can help reset your circadian rhythms if you are having troubles sleeping at night.

Sometime around sunset, your hormone Leptin gets released from your fat stores. If your circadian rhythm is in sync and leptin is able to do its job properly, leptin can actually shift your body into burning fat, suppress your appetite and control any late night food cravings. This continues until bedtime along with another hormone, adiponectin.

Snacking after dinner and before bedtime stops leptin and adiponectin from doing its job. This leads to a complete halt to the magic of burning fat while you sleep.

Assuming you haven’t been dosing yourself with artificial light (computers, tv, cell phones), melatonin gets released at 10 pm. At around midnight, melatonin peaks allowing leptin to enter into the hypothalamus. This is super important from a fat burning perspective because if this all happens, thyroid gets the signal to be upregulated.

Next, your mitochondria begin to produce heat (as your core temperature drops). A proper sleep cycle allows your mitochondria to burn fat for heat while you sleep.

Do you see how obesity can be linked to chronic lack of sleep?

Another great advantage of melatonin peaking at midnight is the surge in prolactin. This is an incredibly important hormone as it promotes the release of Human Growth Hormone (HGH).

According to NIH research cited in the book, Lights Out, 6 hours of prolactin production in the dark is the minimum necessary to maintain immune function like T-cell and beneficial killer-cell production.

But you can’t get 6 hours of prolactin secretion on 6 hours of sleep a night; it takes at least 3.5 hours of melatonin secretion before your body even makes prolactin. That’s 9.5 hours of needed sleep IN THE WINTER MONTHS (7 hours in the summer), every night, for proper immune function.

The connection is clear. Scale back on too much gym time and unnecessary calorie counting. There is a MUCH easier way to slim down and get Fit ‘n Healthy – enjoy a restful nights sleep!

Simple Solutions For A Restful Sleep

10 hours before bed – no more caffeine
3 hours before bed – no more food
2 hours before bed – no more work
1 hour before bed – no more screen time (TV, computers, phones)

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed these tips on 3 of the 6 Major Players to Balancing Hormones and Getting Lean. I promise to get the other 3 out to you sometime soon.

As an XMAS GIFT TO YOU, I want to leave you with my easy to follow Fit ‘n Healthy Daily Routine that covers all these 6 Major Players to Balancing Hormones and Getting Lean.

FIT ‘N HEALTHY DAILY ROUTINE

GET FIT ‘N HEALTHY WITH THESE 4 STEPS:

STEP: 1 MORNING ROUTINE

Drink 1 litre towards your required amount of filtered water. Drink the rest between meals and not too close to bedtime. BENEFITS: Aids in detox. Rehydrates for easy fat loss. Recharges energy. Your required amount of water for the day is ___ litres of filtered water per day. Always away from meals.

Get outside within 30 minutes of waking for 2-5 minutes and let the natural sunlight enter your eyes. Look about 15 degrees away from the sun. If the sun is not up yet, then look in that direction. This sets the stage for proper Circadian rhythm (best sleep, best digestion, best mood).

STEP 2: DIET

Make sure your breakfast has ______g total protein and 1-2 tbsps of extra fat (ideally from coconut oil, grass-fed butter or fat from your pasture-raised meat) with some non-starchy fibrous carbohydrates. See ‘The Fit n Healthy Diet – Create your healthy meals in 4 simple steps’ handout for sources. Use as your new template to make your meals. Breakfast ideas include: Eggs and bacon or leftover meat from last night’s dinner, plus a cup of lightly cooked green leafy veggies with or without extra above ground, colorful veggies OR a smoothie: Grass-fed Protein Powder (to yield 25 grams) plus 1/2 cup of coconut milk or coconut kefir, plus 1-2 cups of dark leafy greens, plus a handful of seasonal berries, plus 1 tbsp of sprouted seeds. Blend. You know you’ve eaten enough when you can wait for 4-5 hours before lunchtime. If you can’t, you need to eat more fat. CHEW YOUR SMOOTHIE OR FOOD VERY WELL!

LIMIT CARBS TO ______ GRAMS FOR THE DAY IF YOU ARE OVERWEIGHT BY MORE THAN 15 LBS. IF YOU ARE ACTIVE, YOU CAN UP YOUR CARBS BUT KEEP BETWEEN 100-150 GRAMS. WHEN YOU ARE AT A NORMAL WEIGHT, BEST TO KEEP CARBS AROUND 100-150 GRAMS DEPENDING ON YOUR ACTIVITY LEVEL AND AGE.
ACTIVITY LEVEL AND CARBS: CYCLE YOUR CARBS DEPENDING ON ACTIVITY LEVEL (EM-EM PLUS EL-EL)

EM = Exercise More

EM = Eat More

EL = Exercise Less

EL = Eat Less

For those weight training: CONSUME 0.7 GRAMS OF PROTEIN PER POUND OF BODY WEIGHT (in divided doses). This will keep you in a healthy ‘nitrogen’ balance for optimal regeneration and repair. ONLY for those who perform some type of ‘strength training’ exercise for 20 minutes 2-3 times a week.

For example, if your ideal weight is 160 lbs, you would consume 110 grams of protein in a day. A good example would be 55 grams of protein at breakfast, 35 grams of protein at lunch, and 20 grams of protein at dinner.

Your daily protein requirements are _____ g per day.

Breakfast: __________ grams

Lunch: __________ grams

Dinner: __________ grams

For those NOT weight training: CONSUME 0.55 GRAMS OF PROTEIN PER POUND OF BODY WEIGHT (in divided doses). This will keep you in a healthy ‘nitrogen’ balance for optimal regeneration and repair. Once you begin strength training (only when you are leptin sensitive), then you can up your protein to 0.7 grams per pound of body weight.

Using the same example: if your ideal weight is 160 lbs, you would consume 88 grams of protein in a day. A good example would be 45 grams of protein at breakfast, 25 grams of protein at lunch, and 20 grams of protein at dinner.

Your daily protein requirements are _____ g per day.

Breakfast: __________ grams

Lunch: __________ grams

Dinner: __________ grams

EAT THE MOST FOOD IN THE MORNING WITH DECREASING AMOUNTS AS THE DAY GOES ON.
SAVE YOUR ‘STARCHY’ CARBOHYDRATES FOR YOUR DINNER MEAL. Starchy carbohydrates can help ensure a better, quality sleep (which is why we save them for the evening meal). See The Fit ‘n Healthy Plan, STEP 2: Choose your carbohydrates. Always with your protein and fat.

CONSUME 1-2 TBSP OF ADDED FATS TO EACH OF YOUR 3 MEALS OF THE DAY. Add coconut oil to your morning organic coffee or tea, or eat 1 tbsp of it. Your best fats are coconut oil, MCT oil, pastured butter, heavy cream, red palm oil, ghee. Avocado and olives are good too. Limit nuts and seeds (exception: use when on a hormone balancing protocol)

EAT PREBIOTIC, PROBIOTIC, AND FOODS RICH IN POLYPHENOLS. Part of becoming leptin sensitive is healing the gut. Prebiotic, probiotic, and foods rich in polyphenols nourish your gut. This, in turn, lowers inflammation and fixes leptin signalling. See The Fit ‘n Healthy Plan, STEP 4: Choose your extras.

EAT 3 MEALS A DAY INITIALLY, BUT AS YOUR HUNGER AND CRAVINGS FADE, YOU CAN ADAPT TO EATING 2 TIMES A DAY, IF YOU LIKE.

STOP EATING 4-5 HOURS BEFORE BEDTIME IF YOU ARE 15 LBS PLUS OVERWEIGHT. OTHERWISE, STOP 3 HOURS BEFORE BEDTIME.

SNACKING IS NOT RECOMMENDED. This completely stresses the liver’s metabolism. Your liver needs to relearn how to use gluconeogenesis when you are asleep and awake. Snacking destroys the timing and circadian clocks that work in unison with leptin.

STEP 3: LIFESTYLE

GET OUTSIDE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. Spending time outside (sunglass free) keeps your Circadian Rhythm in check. This helps with the entire hormonal cascade and leptin to work properly. Getting outside and in nature is an excellent way to balance stress. Strive for 20 minutes in the morning and 20-30 minutes in the afternoon. Ideally, go for an easy walk after dinner. This helps with good digestion, fat loss and best sleep.
MOVE. Move as much as you can during the day. Try not to sit for more than 2 hours. READ YOUR BODY. Rest when you need. Move when you can. If you have an office job, invest in a standing desk.
WITHIN 1 HOUR OF SUNSET, MAKE YOUR SURROUNDINGS AS DARK AS POSSIBLE. See ‘Tips for Optimal Sleep’ handout.
ELIMINATE AS MANY SOURCES OF TOXICITY AS YOU CAN. See ‘Sources of Toxicity Checklist with Simple Solutions’ handout. An over toxic body is a body that is in constant inflammation. Inflammation is what drives excess body fat. You must do everything you can to reduce inflammation. Not only do we need to eat ‘clean’, we need to live ‘clean’.
LEARN TO MANAGE STRESS. A lifestyle with too many demands, time pressures, without enough ‘down time’ and rest, put our hormones out of balance, no matter what diet or movement plan we are following. Best stress management techniques are; meditation, yoga, walking in nature, having a bath, listening to great music and laughing out loud!
START A JOURNAL. Begin by writing down what you are grateful for and why you want to be Fit ‘n Healthy. Making change can be difficult. TRY THIS: OPAR – VISION (what is your vision); O – OBSTACLES (what are your obstacles), P – PLAN (what is your plan to overcome the obstacles), A – ACTION (take action), R – REFLECTION (look back at the result and tweak if needed).
‘LOVE HOW FIT ‘N HEALTHY FEELS’ – take this mantra and remember it to stay on track.

STEP 4: DETOX PLUS SUPPLEMENTS

Struggling to get Fit ‘n Healthy? I would love to create a Personalized Nutritional Plan for you. Get one on one help!

Whether it’s to drop some extra weight, balance your hormones, build some sexy muscle or even just do a whole body tune-up!

Simply GO HERE to learn more and get started NOW.

What’s it going to cost you if you don’t take action now?

The #1 Secret To Balancing Hormones And Getting Lean

by hartteuser Leave a Comment

The 1st Key To Getting Lean: Balancing Hormones and making darn sure you eat enough!

This article is about balancing hormones. In my last post, How do some people eat more and stay lean? I shared with you what I did to try to lose weight and how the result of my efforts turned my body into a devastating, SKINNY FAT.

Essentially, I became, a smaller fat person. Not what I was after.

I explained how the old model of Eating Less and Exercising More (EL/EM) to get lean, essentially kept me FIT but NOT Healthy.

I certainly LOOKED lean but accomplished this through starvation, deprivation, and just plain misery.

It wasn’t until I adopted the Eat More to Get Lean (and stay there) Strategy that I recovered my own health and life back.

I now attribute my newfound Fit ‘n Healthy Body to Balancing Hormones.

When your hormones are balanced, your body knows exactly what to do WITH your food. Your hormones simply direct your body what to do WITH the food once you’ve eaten it.

Understanding and optimizing your hormones may seem like an overwhelming task, however, you may be surprised at how simple it really is. No magic pill. No weird foods. And for most of us, no expensive tests either.

Just setting up a good, solid diet and lifestyle routine that you enjoy and can stick to!

Getting back to the basics and checking in with my own body, is what I did to reverse my hormonal imbalance.

Literally, a few times throughout the day, I would take a few moments to do a quick internal ‘whole body scan’, starting with the time I woke up.

I know it doesn’t sound sexy, but once you create the habit of ‘checking in’, you get to know what’s working and maybe what’s not working. Having these insights can help navigate your day ahead.

That;s working WITH your body and not against it by going on some crazy new restrictive diet and exhausting exercise routine.

So, before I get into the real, practical steps, I’d like to share the #1 Secret to Balancing Hormones and Getting Lean – Your mindset.

The 2nd Key To Getting Lean: Start with a Fit ‘n Healthy Mindset

This is where it all begins. If you approach your goal of getting lean with the right mindset, your daily healthy habits will easily follow – this is 2nd key to getting lean.

The endocrine (hormonal) system and the interplay with your brain are completely connected.

Where your mind goes, your body follows.

I learned this KEY secret to balancing hormones and getting lean when I wrote a book with Bob Proctor.

The book was called, The Science of Perfect Weight. A new way of thinking, eating and living to achieve your perfect weight. One statement that really stood out for me was,

“You are what you think about, most of the time.”

High Stress = High Cortisol = Fat Storage

For example. We are all familiar with the stress hormone cortisol. If we live in fear, our cortisol levels rise, and if this goes on for too long, it leads directly to belly fat, among other harmful things.

This is how you can become a Skinny Fat independent of what you eat and how you exercise. Simply living in fear can put belly fat on. Plus this is not a way to live either!

The Law of Physics states that ‘Energy cannot be created nor destroyed. It can only be transformed from one form to another’. The transformation of ourselves, as a human being is one of the most profound things in existence.

Whether it’s transforming your body to get lean, your mind to find purpose, or your relationships to get a connection, it’s a phenomenal process.

But it can come with a dramatic struggle too.

Good news, it doesn’t have to. There are certain steps that you can start taking RIGHT NOW to transform your body and life – working with your body to get lean, healthy and happy.

The Law of Vibration and Attraction states that “When you hold the image of what you want on the screen of your mind, you are vibrating in harmony with every particle of energy that is necessary for the manifestation of your image on the physical plane. By holding that image, the people, things, conditions, and circumstances you require are moving toward you, and you toward them”

See it. Believe it. And be it now!

5 Steps To Creating a Fit ‘n Healthy Mindset And Getting Lean

Step 1: Find Your WHY

Take some time to dig deep and discover your WHY.

What is YOUR reason for getting lean? Is it to be a great role model for your children? Be more attractive to your mate? Feel good in your sexy, slimming jeans or just simply look and feel good naked?

Or maybe it’s because you know how darn good it feels to live the Fit ‘n Healthy lifestyle!

Whatever your reason. THIS IS YOUR DRIVING FORCE! Write it down. THIS is what’s going to keep you on track!

I HIGHLY recommend starting a Journal. There’s something about writing it down that makes it real and seemingly important to you. You can speak your why to yourself or others. Saying your WHY out loud activates the limbic system of your brain that’s been shown to motivate and live in-congruent with your commitment

When I was diagnosed with Osteoporosis and Amenorrhea (a loss of menstrual cycle), my WHY to getting healthy was what would happen if I kept doing what I was doing?

What was going to break down next if I didn’t take action to self-correct it?

Finding your WHY is what you’re going to go to when faced with OBSTACLES that take you away from your goal of getting lean… remember that!

Step 2: Get Clear

Clarity accounts for probably 80% of success and happiness. Lack of clarity is likely more responsible for frustration and failure than any other single factor. Step 2 works in conjunction with Step 1: Find you WHY

Your success in getting lean and life, in general, is directly linked to how clear you are about what you really, really want.

The more you See it Believe it and Be That Person Now, the faster it will come. Simple, Easy, and Quickly.

Unfortunately, sometimes ‘being that person now’ brings up self sabotaging self talk and takes us off track. How can you have the life you want if you don’t truly believer you deserve it? Without doing an overhaul of how you actually look at yourself (self esteem) and reprogram your mindset, you are likely to self sabotage yourself every step of the way.

This is when we want to ‘reinvent’ ourselves to who we really want to be. YOU have the power to do that!

Ask yourself this: I’m the type of person that……..(and fill in the blank).

I good example of this strategy is saying or writing down, ‘I’m the type of person that exercises every day’. ‘I’m the type of person that stops what I am doing to say ‘Hi’ to my spouse when he enters the room’., ‘I’m the type of person that ensures my children have healthy meals’. That sort of thing.

This is something I learned from Tom Bilyeu. Co-founder of the billion-dollar brand Quest Nutrition, and superhero in the world of mindset, motivation, and impact. He helps people take charge of their self perception to get the life they really want.

So, my suggestion is to start by being clear on what you want and who you are.

What type of person are you (who you want to be)? Start your list and Be THAT person now. Then watch the magic that happens next…….

Step 3: Find a Role Model

Once you tap into your WHY and get clear on what you want and who you want to be, it’s time to find a role model.

Who is doing what you want to do? How are they doing it? This is, at least in my mind, the shortcut to getting what you want. Whether it be your version of Fit ‘n Healthy, the best Parent, or whatever.

Find someone, or a few, that are already doing this successfully and follow them. This could be me, or someone else. I suggest simply finding them, earn from them.

It takes longer to ‘reinvent the wheel’ than to find someone who’s done it already and just tweak to your lifestyle. Finding a mentor or teacher also helps keep you motivated to stay on track.

I have a number of role models. One is my Auntie Diana. She is grounded, authentic, and tells it just like it is.

I have others also. Some as the Mother I strive to be. Some as the humble, knowledgeable teacher that I wish to be now in all areas of health (Mindset/Connection, Diet, Detox, Sleep, Stress, Digestion, Movement/Exercise, Sunshine).

Step 4: Know That There Will Be Obstacles

Changing old habits will bring up obstacles.

Know that You will move you past your comfort zone. Embrace the struggle. View the struggle as necessary, important and an integral part of your journey so that you can feel the power to overcome it.

What you do some of the time is what you do all the time.

Be reverent to the challenge. Always keep your eye on what you want and NOT on what you don’t want. When the ‘don’t want’ creeps up, just see it and find a solution for it.

This is where setting up an environment for success comes in, with your role model along with a person, set of friends, or people all on the same page. This type of support plus your WHY, and being clear with who you are (best version), will get you through the inevitable obstacles.

Step 5: Take Action And Create A Routine

Taking action means every day, taking steps towards your main goal.

For balancing hormones, there are 6 major areas to make that goal happen – I’ve already outlined the #1 Secret to Balancing Hormones and Getting Lean.

The other 5 are a Hormone Balancing Diet, Safe and Easy Detox, Restorative Sleep, Stress Management, and Proper Exercise/Movement.

Stay tuned for more on those.

At the end of this series of blog posts to Balancing Hormones and Get Lean, you will have a routine in place to make Fit ‘n Healthy Simple!

Are you struggling to get Fit ‘n Healthy?

I would love to create a Personalized Nutritional Plan for you. Get one on one help.

Whether it’s to burn fat, build lean muscle, or even just do a whole body tune-up!

Simply GO HERE NOW to learn more and get started.

What’s it going to cost you if you don’t take action now?

I would appreciate your comments on this blog post.

Please share this with at least 2 people you love and who need this

Remember. BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO BECOME.

SEE IT. BE IT. BECOME IT NOW!

Thank you.

With Love and Gratitude,

Michale Hartte

First Aid Kit Essentials For Travel – Part 4 of 4

by hartteuser Leave a Comment

How To Avoid Getting Sick, Tired and Fat While Traveling

Part 4: Interested in an inexpensive, effective, natural way to heal common ailments while traveling? Is so, then welcome to your First Aid Kit Essentials For Travel!

If you’re like me, there is nothing more annoying then getting sick while travelling. The reality is, no matter how ‘healthy’ you are prior to travel, there is still a chance you may get sick.

Hey, it may not even be you. Instead, it may be your children, significant other or traveling buddies.

So, what does a ‘Fit ‘n Healthy’ person do?

Be prepared with your First Aid Kit Essentials for Travel!

That means having a First Aid Kit For Travel on hand that you can count on. This includes a set of Natural Remedies that will not only bring you relief, but ones that can actually prevent infection (from being exposed to someone coughing and sneezing beside you), heal wounds, relieve pain (like insect bites), and of course, relieves gas and bloating (from food poisoning).

There is nothing more annoying than being stuck feeling blah, while on your dream vacation or work venture.

Something I am sure you’ve worked hard for.

Ya, sure, you can grab over the counter medications, however, one of the foundational steps to getting and staying Fit ‘n Healthy is avoiding the overuse of drugs.

Will they work? Sure? But at what cost? Side effects? Which in the end, drive the toxicity deeper into the body.

This is not a way to get Fit ‘n Healthy.

Thankfully, we have alternatives for common ailments – without these side effects!

In fact, up until the middle of the 16th Century, foods, herbs, and Natural Remedies were used as medicines throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

Healing the body with the use of both homeopathic and herbal medicine dates back thousands of years.

On the contrary, suppressing the body using pharmaceutical drugs (chemicals) for medicine is less than 500 years old.

The concept of Natural Medicine and its fundamental principals are such that they assist your body to do its own healing.

The Natural Remedies listed below are designed to do just that. Help your body heal itself.

So, armed with this information, let’s get started and give you a tour of your First Aid Kit Essentials For Travel.

Travellers First Aid Kit Essentials

For Cold/flu (BIO 93, R6, R1)
For Injuries/falls (R55, R55+ or PAIN)
For Food poisoning: (R4, R52, R7, Arsenicum Album)
For Nervous system relaxation/insomnia:(Calm gen, R14)
For Insect Bites: R1, Irritation/itching
For Sinus infections, sinus relief (R49)
For skin infections (solvarome and calendula cream)
For healthy digestion and to avoid traveler’s diarrhea (HMF Travel)

I surely hope you found my simple solutions helpful to avoid getting sick, tired, and fat while traveling.

For those looking to take action and travel with these recommended supplements, you can find them by going here SHOP

Please enjoy, share, and leave your comments and questions below this post.

If there are any other common ailments that you need help with finding Natural Remedies for, please write me a comment below.

Also, please share this with your friends and family members to keep them healthy while traveling too.

Read Part 1 – Travel Food Essentials

Read Part 2 – Top Supplements For Healthy Travel

Read Part 3 – #1 Fat Burning Workout Great While Traveling

Resources:

Your first step to Fit ‘n Healthy: Set your foundation

by hartteuser Leave a Comment

Welcome to the first step to Fit ‘n Healthy

– Set your foundation

Feeling guilty for ‘falling off your health plan’?

Then setting up your foundation may be all it takes to keep you on track!

Aloha means love, affection, peace, sympathy, pity, kindness, mercy and compassion.

However, it also has a deeper impact on the Hawaiian culture. For the Hawaiians, there’s “The Aloha Spirit,” a unique way of living, the ultimate lifestyle, or the secret to a rich life.

‘A positive attitude, really sets the stage for a Fit ‘n Healthy life’.

Start with a positive attitude, set up your foundation, and plan for success.

There is a popular adage often attributed to Benjamin Franklin,, “Failing to plan is planning to fail,”

The quote may sound like music to your ears but planning using these top 10 most important habits can zero in on a lifetime of top-level shape and wellness.

Welcome to your 10 Natural Laws of Health – the most important habits for a lifetime of living Fit ‘n Healthy

A good first step to Fit ‘n Healthy!

Principle 1: Drink enough clean water

Benefits: Water provides your body with oxygen and increases your energy levels. It also normalizes your body weight by assisting in 1-3 well-formed bowel movements per day. And, it aids in the expulsion of toxins!

Aim to drink one liter of filtered water for every 50 lbs of body weight.

Drink more if you are: breastfeeding, in extreme heat, doing extreme sport or detoxifying.

Make sure your water is filtered water! Installing a water filter in your home, or having your water delivered, is a smart way to invest in your health. Many agree that the process of reverse osmosis (RO) produces the best drinking water available today. Unfortunately, reverse osmosis also removes beneficial minerals.

Therefore, if you were to use an RO system, make sure these minerals are restored in your daily diet.

Principle 2: Be mindful

Benefits: Slowing down and paying attention to your day- to-day activities helps you live in the moment. Having this awareness connects you with inner wisdom, and listening to your inner wisdom keeps you on track to ‘fit ‘n healthy’!

Principle 3: Practice good nutrition

Benefits: By following our traditional diet and eating 2-3 meals a day. Have each meal contain a mixture of nutrient-dense proteins, fibrous rich carbohydrates, and fats high in omega 3 each day. You’ll keep your mind and body strong, and your waistline lean.

Remember to only eat until you are 80% full (1).

Do you ever notice that your meal taste incredibly good when you are really hungry?

Do you also notice that the very same meal loses its flavor after you eat it for a while?

This is your signal to stop eating. Your body is telling you it is full. Also, try to stop eating two hours before bedtime to keep your digestive tract healthy.

Traditional diets maximize nutrients while modern diets minimize nutrients (2)

Traditional Diets VS Modern Diets

TRADITIONAL DIETS

Food from fertile soil Foods from depleted soil
Organ meats over muscle meats Muscle meats, few organs
Animal fats Vegetable oils
Animals on pasture Animals in confinement
Dairy products raw and/or fermented Dairy products, pasteurized
Grains and legumes soaked/fermented Grains, refined, extruded
Bone broths MSG, artificial flavorings.

MODERN DIETS

Unrefined sweeteners (honey, maple syrup)
Refined sweeteners
Lacto-fermented vegetables Canned vegetables
Lacto-fermented beverages Modern soft drinks
Unrefined salt (mineral salt) Refined salt
Natural vitamins in foods Synthetic vitamins added
Traditional cooking Microwave, irradiation
Traditional seeds/open pollination Hybrid seeds, GMO seeds.

Strive to eat primarily, a traditional diet.

Principle 4: Live with purpose

Benefits: We are all born with a special set of skills. When we use those skills to help someone or something, we are living with purpose.

Discovering your purpose can help lift depression in a heartbeat. It can give you a reason to get up in the morning – with a smile! – and provide you with energy you never knew you had.

Principle 5: Avoid exposure to outside toxins

Benefits: By reducing your body’s exposure to outside toxins, you can avoid colds, flu’s and allergy-type symptoms, plus you can considerably lower your risk of lung cancer and many other degenerative diseases.
Did you know…
70-80% of these toxins exist in your own home?

For more information, go to www.checnet.org/healthehouse/home/index.asp and click on the
“ALL NEW health eHome” link.

Principle 6: Eliminate inside toxins

Benefits: The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) reported that each of us carries an average of 250 different toxins in our tissues. Removing these toxins is an important factor in restoring health.

By doing so, we can reduce or alleviate body pain, increase resistance to colds and flu’s, improve natural energy levels and shed excess fat. We can also be proactive in preventing cancer, heart disease and other modern day diseases.

Toxin elimination can be done through exercise (sweat), emotional release, or by natural methods of drainage performed by a qualified natural health care provider.

Principle 7: Establish a good routine

Benefits: Eating, sleeping, working, and playing / relaxing at roughly the same time each day can actually enhance your sleep, help you lose weight, and even assist with cancer prevention.

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute reported that disruption of circadian rhythms in mice was associated with accelerated growth of two types of malignant tumors, which suggests that our circadian clocks play an important role in controlling tumor progression. (3)

Principle 8: Get moving

Benefits: Doing some form of exercise every day helps you build muscle and burn excess fat. It also helps remove toxins and improve your mood.

Try to include exercises that improve strength, flexibility and endurance. Challenge yourself!

Strive to get outside for at least 30 minutes per day.
Did you know…
Moderate physical activity, such as walking or biking, reduces the risk of breast cancer by 20 percent – even among postmenopausal women and those at high risk for the disease? (4)

Principle 9: Get enough sleep

Benefits: Most people need 8 – 9 uninterrupted hours of sleep every night.

Sleep lets your body regenerate so you feel well. It also increases your natural energy levels so that you can perform your best. And, it helps keep you at a healthy weight!
Did you know…
Sleeping less than 6 hours a night increases your risk of Diabetes? (5)

Sleeping deprivation can also make you fat? (6)

Principle 10: Be grateful and give thanks

Benefits: A positive mood and frame of mind helps alkalize the body. Why do I want this, you might ask? Well, for one thing, Cancer cannot live in an alkaline body. A positive spirit also promotes better digestion and absorption, and improves the overall quality of your life (and the lives of those around you).

In our busy lives, sometimes we forget to stop, think, be grateful and give thanks. Anyone can find things that are wrong in their life, but wouldn’t it be a better world if we focused on all that is GOOD?

SUMMARY

I truly hope that you can start your first step to Fit ‘n Healthy by following these 10 Natural Laws of Health. This is how I life my life. I find it to be very grounding, keeping me on my own track to staying Fit ‘n Healthy for a lifetime.

I promised my two children, Trisston and Trae that I’d be hiking when I’m still 80 yrs old! That is what I see and want.

What do you see and want? Love to hear your comments!

Love what you learned? This is only a taste of what you’ll get in my ebook, ‘The Fit ‘n Healthy Plan – The healthy diet & lifestyle plan made easy!’ Order it here: The Fit ‘n Healthy Plan ebook

REFERENCES

1 Over eating is known to be a MAJOR risk factor of all cancers.

2 Nourishing Traditional Diets, The Key to Vibrant Health, power point presentation by Sally Fallon Morrell,
President of the Weston A. Price Foundation

3. Journal of the National Cancer Institute May 1, 2002;94:690-697
4. JAMA. 2003; 290:1331-1336

5. Gottlieb DJ, Punjabi NM, Newman AB, Resnick HE, Redline S, Baldwin CM, Nieto FJ. Association of sleep
time with diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance. Arch Intern Med. 2005;165:863-867

6. According to Total Health Breakthroughs, in their Friday, June 4, 2010 edition, the hormone ghrelin, produced
in the intestines, stimulates appetite. The hormone leptin, made by fat cells, signals the brain when you are full. Lack of sleep causes ghrelin levels to go up – and leptin levels to go down. I suppose your body is asking you to eat more food (usually “carbohydrates”) to get you to sleep!