Holiday Week-end Tip: What's In a Hot Dog?

A healthy alternative: Turkey Dogs
Why : While it’s probably impossible to sneak a tofu dog passed your  taste buds, turkey dogs mimic the flavor and texture of traditional dogs quite well. The upside? They have a lot less fat than regular hot dogs, and you can easily find brands that promise organic meat and no nitrates or fillers.Read the label before  you eat it, at least know what  you are eating. Knowledge is power.Have a healthy Week-end!

Why You May Want to Avoid Nitrites

Numerous studies have found that nitrites contribute to a variety of negative health effects, which we've compiled here.

    Cancer: When you eat nitrites, they can be converted into nitrosamines, which are potent cancer-causing chemicals, in your body. Specific cancers seem to be most affected, including:

        Colorectal Cancer: People who ate the most processed meat were 50 percent more likely to develop lower colon cancer, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

        Stomach Cancer: An investigation into 15 studies on processed meat found that the risk of stomach cancer increased from 15 percent to 38 percent if the processed meats ratio consumed by an individual rose by 30 grams.

        Pancreatic Cancer: People who ate the most processed meats had a 68 percent higher risk of pancreatic cancer compared with those who ate the least, a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found.

    Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): People who ate more than 14 servings of cured meats per month scored lower on tests of lung function and had an increased risk of COPD compared with people who did not eat cured meats. For each additional serving of cured meat per month, the study found a 2 percent increased risk for COPD.

    DNA Mutations: Hot dogs that contain nitrites have been found to contain DNA-mutating compounds. If enough DNA mutations occur in the gut, it could increase your risk of colon cancer.

    Brain Tumors in Children: Children born to women who ate a lot of cured meats during pregnancy had a two to three times greater risk of developing a brain tumor than those born to mothers who did not eat cured meats. Children whose mothers at low levels of cured meats during pregnancy had a moderate increase in brain tumor risk, the study, published in Public Health Nutrition, found.

Does This Mean I Should Never Eat Bologna, Hot Dogs, Pepperoni ... ?

Yes ... and no. If you are concerned about nitrites and want to avoid them in your diet, you must cut out most all commercial hot dogs, luncheon meats, sausages, bacon, and processed meats (even that in canned soup).

However, supermarkets are increasingly offering nitrate/nitrite-free varieties of everyone's favorites. While some have pointed out that nitrite-free meats are often still "cured" using salt, sugar or another natural curing agent, which may be misleading to consumers, they do not, at least, contain nitrites.

To make even healthier meat choices, look for nitrite-free products that are also grass-fed and free of artificial flavors, artificial colors and byproducts.

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Manage Stress daily For a Healthy Mind and Body!

Tips to Manage Stress

Stress is a part of life, a normal response to demands either emotional, intellectual, or physical. It can be positive if it keeps us alert, motivated, and ready to avoid danger. It can be negative if it becomes chronic, increasing the risk of diseases like depression, heart disease and a variety of other problems.

Managing stress is key to your health. And it isn't so very difficult to do.

How Does Stress Affect Health?

The body's autonomic nervous system has a built-in stress response that causes physiological changes to allow the body to combat stressful situations. This stress response, also known as the "fight or flight response," is activated in case of an emergency. However, this response can become chronically activated during prolonged periods of stress, which can cause wear and tear on the body -- both physical and emotional.

Stress that continues without relief can lead to a condition called distress -- a negative stress reaction. Distress can disturb the body's internal balance or equilibrium, leading to physical symptoms such as headaches, an upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, sexual dysfunction, and problems sleeping. Emotional problems can also result from distress. These problems include depression, panic attacks, or other forms of anxiety and worry. Research suggests that stress also can bring on or worsen certain symptoms or diseases. Stress is linked to six of the leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide.

Stress also becomes harmful when people engage in the compulsive use of substances or behaviors to try to relieve their stress. These substances or behaviors may include food, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, gambling, sex, shopping, and the Internet. Rather than relieving the stress and returning the body to a relaxed state, these substances and compulsive behaviors tend to keep the body in a stressed state causing more problems. The distressed person becomes trapped in a vicious circle.

Chronic stress can wear down the body's natural defenses, leading to a variety of physical symptoms, including:

    Dizziness or a general feeling of "being out of it"

    General aches and pains

    Grinding teeth, clenched jaw

    Headaches

    Indigestion or acid reflux symptoms

    Increase in or loss of appetite

    Muscle tension in neck, face or shoulders

    Problems sleeping

    Racing heart

    Cold and sweaty palms

    Tiredness, exhaustion

    Trembling/shaking

    Weight gain or loss

    Upset stomach, diarrhea

    Sexual difficulties

    Irritability, impatience, forgetfulness

Tips for Reducing Stress

People can learn to manage stress and lead happier, healthier lives. Here are some tips to help you keep stress at bay:

    Keep a positive attitude.

    Accept that there are events that you cannot control.

    Be assertive instead of aggressive. Assert your feelings, opinions, or beliefs instead of becoming angry, defensive, or passive.

    Learn and practice relaxation techniques; try meditation, yoga, or tai-chi.

    Exercise regularly. Your body can fight stress better when it is fit.

    Eat healthy, well-balanced meals.

    Learn to manage your time more effectively.

    Set limits appropriately and say no to requests that would create excessive stress in your life.

    Make time for hobbies and interests.

    Get enough rest and sleep. Your body needs time to recover from stressful events.

    Don't rely on alcohol, drugs, or food to reduce stress. Ease up on caffeine, too.

    Seek out social support. Spend enough time with those you love.

    Empower yourself with stress reducing action steps daily!

T.B.A.

                             Think It! Believe It !Achieve It!
Thoughts become words, words become actions, actions are steps to achievement. Sounds pretty simple , and it can be. It all starts with you believing  you can have  what  you want. Get started today.
Think It- Brainstorm with yourself. Ask yourself what is most important to you right now. Affirm it, write it. Put it where you can see it.
Believe it- Imagine yourself , in achievement of your goal....How would this improve your life? See yourself committed  to the process daily in some small way. See yourself enjoying the steps , the the challenges,the victories. Surround yourself with visions of your achievement.
Achieve it! Create reasonable steps, Create a time line and affirm that you can. Know that the journey is doing something different to get different  results.  Your Goals are  To Be Announced..... by you .
What will it be ? Start Thinking.
Sterling
"Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present."
John Rohn

Create Peace for yourself this Weekend!

10 Ways to Create Calm

Want to achieve a more peaceful state of mind but not sure where to begin? Start here. Following even one or two of these simple suggestions will make a difference.

From: Strengthen Your Immune System, Reader's Digest Canada   

1. Go Slow

When you have to go somewhere, start out 10 minutes early instead of waiting until the last possible moment. You won’t have to rush, and you’ll be less stressed. Also, make an effort to move and talk in a very relaxed manner and see if your stress doesn’t ebb away. Drive within the speed limit; pause before you reply to a question; let the phone ring a few times before answering it. And sit back and do nothing for a few minutes every day.

2. Grab Some Green

Practitioners of feng shui (an Eastern discipline that purportedly helps you fine-tune your environment for comfort and success) believe plants increase vitality, which is the first step toward achieving happiness.

3. Give Yourself a Break

You can’t make everyone in your life happy all the time. And it’s okay to make mistakes now and then.

4. Fit In Time-Outs

To avoid tension buildup, follow this rule: For every 50 minutes you work, take a 5-minute break. Don’t feel guilty: Time-outs are proven to increase productivity.

5. Get a Pet

A dog, cat, bird, or even a fish can play a vital role in stress relief. In a Johns Hopkins Medical Center study, 50 out of 53 pet owners were alive a year after their first heart attacks, while only 17 of 39 people without pets lived that long.

6. Make  Vacation Time

Austrian researchers recently showed that a two-week vacation does more than just clear the mind and calm the spirit. It also improves health and reduces stress levels for up to five weeks. Both during and after a good vacation, we sleep better and enjoy better moods. For a vacation to be healing, however, it must be restful and not overly structured. People who didn’t have any down time on their vacations didn’t enjoy the same health benefits. In Home vacays  work too!

7. Take Up a Hobby

Do something for the sheer pleasure of it, whether it’s knitting, collecting rocks, or bird-watching. Hobbies instill self-confidence and help you connect with others who share your interests. And being engaged in numerous pursuits will help shield you from depression, which has been linked to impaired immune function and increased risk for cancer and other diseases.

In one key study, men and women were asked to rate their happiness on a moment-by-moment basis for six weeks. The results showed that overall happiness depended upon how much time each person spent doing something that made him or her feel good.

8. Learn to Love Lists

Try making daily to-do lists if you tend to forget things or if it makes you feel more organized. Prioritize your goals for the day, then divvy them up into realistic chunks of available time. If something won’t fit onto today’s list, move it to tomorrow’s.

9. Read

Nothing takes your mind off your worries faster than a good book. Since reading is a silent activity, it also lets you escape noise—a known stressor—for a while. For the quietest refuge, head to the library.

10. Play Around

The next time you’re feeling anxious or stressed, take a break and do something childish: Find crayons and draw a picture, rent a favorite childhood movie, blow bubbles, or search the attic for a few of your favorite old toys.

RESOURCE: http://www.readersdigest.ca/health/healthy-living/10-ways-create-calm

Want a Clean Bill of Physical and Mental Health?......Eat Clean!!

What is Eating Clean?

There is no fitness mental or physical health goal which you can achieve without first cleaning up your diet.  Changing your diet is one of the biggest challenges when faced with improving ones health.  A majority of people are used to eating highly processed foods on a regular basis and breaking away from that can be difficult.  The good news is, it isn't impossible and once you make it a habit to eat clean, it becomes a part of your life.

In a nutshell, eating clean is the practice of eating whole, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. It also means staying away from the junk that typically makes up the Standard American Diet (S.A.D) These types of food include man-made sugar, bad fats (hydrogenated, trans-fat), preservatives, white bread, and any other ingredients that are unnecessary. An easy way to remember if a food is clean is: "if man made it, don't eat it."

A person that eats clean generally practices the following:

    Eliminates refined sugar

    Cooks healthy meals

    Packs healthy meals

    Makes healthy choices when dining out

    Drinks a lot of water

    Eats 5-6 small meals per day

    Eliminates alcoholic beverages (or significantly limits it)

    Always eats breakfast

Eating clean can be a major transition for a majority of people due to addictions to sugar, white bread, and fast food. It takes discipline in order to make eating clean a habit but it is possible and has so many long-term health benefits.

Examples; 1. Apples

1st Choice (Natural State): Apple (Clean)

2nd Choice (Somewhat Processed): Applesauce Limit (Highly Processed): Apple toaster pastry.

Shopping Tip: While applesauce is a healthy choice, it has fewer nutrients than a whole apple.

2. Oranges

1st Choice (Natural State): Orange (Clean)

2nd Choice (Somewhat Processed): 100% orange juice

Limit (Highly Processed): Orange drink

Shopping Tip: Many fruit drinks contain high fructose corn syrup and little real juice.

3. Strawberries

1st Choice (Natural State): Fresh strawberries (Clean)

2nd Choice (Somewhat Processed): Strawberry preserves

Limit (Highly Processed): Strawberry gelatin dessert

Shopping Tip: Gelatin desserts usually contain artificial strawberry flavor, not real fruit.

Corn

1st Choice (Natural State): Corn on the cob

2nd Choice (Somewhat Processed): Corn tortilla chips

Limit (Highly Processed): Cornflakes

Shopping Tip: Buy tortilla chips with just three ingredients: whole corn, oil, and salt — and eat in moderation.

Read more: http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/healthy-eating-23-ways-eat-clean/3-strawberries#ixzz23zpjgYHo

Less Sugar means Better Mental and Physical Health

Sugar Detox Challenge

There’s some sour news about the sweet stuff. Excess consumption of sugar can lead to an increased risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other serious health conditions. Take this challenge to reduce the amount of sugar you consume – you’ll feel healthier, and if you stick with it, you may just extend your life.

There’s no sugarcoating the facts. Excess sugar consumption puts your body in danger of many potentially fatal conditions.

Below are the top 4 reasons why sugar should get the boot from your diet.

    High Blood Pressure - Normal nitric oxide levels keep blood vessels healthy and open. Too much sugar in your diet decreases nitric oxide levels, causing blood vessels to become narrow, which causes high blood pressure and an increased risk for cardiac disease.

    High Cholesterol - People who consume too much sugar are more likely to have lower levels of HDL, or good cholesterol, higher levels of LDL, or bad cholesterol, and higher levels of triglycerides, or blood fats. This clogs up arteries and blood vessels, leading to heart disease.

    Liver Disease - A diet high in sugar is believed to exacerbate fatty liver disease. Too much sugar spikes insulin and drives fat into the liver cells, which causes inflammation and scarring, eventually causing the liver to become cirrhotic.

    Insulin Resistance - When sugar enters the body, insulin opens the door to allow sugar into the cells. However, when there are continuous sugar spikes, insulin becomes less effective. Sugar can’t get into the cells and become “stuck” in the body, producing toxic effects that lead to obesity and the threat of diabetes.

The average American consumes 24 pounds of artificial sweeteners each year. Sugar substitutes are added to nearly 6,000 products sold in the US, including baby foods, frozen dinners and even yogurts.

Carefully Consider the Alternatives

Examine the health risks linked to artificial sweeteners. They’re not always the healthier option.

    Sucralose (includes Splenda brand) – It is 500 times sweeter than sucrose, stored in body fats, and does not affect blood sugar levels. Its use is too new to know the long-term effects, but it appears the most promising and is the best one for cooking.

    Aspartame (includes Equal, Nutrasweet brands) – Several studies have found it has adverse health effects. This sweetener stays in your body longest, and it cannot be heated – or it turns into formaldehyde.

Hunt down hidden sugars hiding in your cabinets and pantry. Throw away foods containing high amounts of added sugars, everything from tomato sauces to ketchup and peanut butter. Be especially wary of low-fat items as they often contain more sugar to make them taste better.

Eliminate Hidden Sugars

When purging your kitchen, be on the look out for these names:

    Fructose

    Maltose

    Sorbitol

    Evaporated cane juice

    Syrups

    Xylotol

    Sugars ending in "ol" or "ose"

The American Heart Association recommends no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar a day. That equals about a 100 calories worth of sugar. Unfortunately, it’s less than the sugar in one candy bar or can of soda. This doesn’t include all the natural sources of sugar from fruits, some vegetables and even some whole grains. Many Americans consume close to a whopping 22 teaspoons a day.

Cut Your Consumption

Instead of buying and consuming processed foods that include sugar, try buying healthier and whole-food alternatives with low or no added sugar. You can add up to one 1 teaspoon of sugar to these foods. This puts you in control of the amount of sugar you’re consuming.

The average American drinks 53 gallons of soda a year; if it's regular soda, that comes to about 49 pounds of sugar. Soda is loaded with caffeine and high-fructose corn syrup, and it's making Americans sick. In addition to contributing to weight gain, soda increases your risk of diabetes, bone weakening and tooth decay.

Cut Out the Soda

Whatever amount of soda you are currently drinking, cut it in half. If you drink 6 sodas a day, decide which 3 are the most important to you and eliminate the other 3. Next week, cut it in half again. Continue on like this until you have eliminated soda from your diet.

 By reducing your soda consumption by just 1 can a day, studies show that you can improve your blood pressure. Using fresh spices and herbs can trick taste buds into thinking you’re eating something sinfully sweet.

Trick Your Taste Buds

Try adding cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla or allspice to your coffee, cereals and baked goods.

 In addition, some of these natural alternative sweeteners may also do the trick.

 Honey - Unlike white table sugar, honey is a complex food. One teaspoon contains 25 other compounds including proteins, amino acids and trace minerals.

    Agave - A distilled sweetener derived from the blue agave cactus, agave has a low glycemic index.

    Stevia - A low-calorie sweetener that comes from a plant native to Paraguay and Brazil, stevia is 200 times sweeter than table sugar, so a little goes a long way.

\Though eating as few simple sugars as possible is the goal, if you do eat them, there is a right and wrong way to do so. Never eat high-sugar foods by themselves.

Keep Your Sugar Under Control

When not eaten with other substances like fat or protein, sugar consumption can cause blood sugar spikes. Pair sugars with nuts or some olive oil and bread first. This slows your stomach from emptying and will keep sugar levels stable.
Resource: Dr, Oz.

Tips for Dealing with Unexpected Change

No matter how great your plan is chances are that at some point you will have one or more obsticles thrown your way. Do not let these obstacles stop you, instead plan your way through them one small step at a time. Nobody likes to deal with difficulties, but it is often a necessary part of life if you want to accomplish your goals. Some of the obstacles you encounter may be small in nature and only require minor adjustments to the plan you have for yourself. But, others may be large and require you to create an action plan in order to solve them.

              

Regardless of what the unexpected problems come your way it is important to think about the problem and decide on the steps you will take to solve it. Do not ignore or randomly attack the problem in hopes that everything will work out for the best. Also, when problems are too big to handle on your own or when you are unsure how to solve them then get outside help. Family and friends are often willing to help in times of need, and can provide the emotional support that keeps you motivated while solving your problem. In addition, two or more heads are often better than one. Advice from family and friends can help you find solutions that you might not think of on your own.

Change is always a bit difficult, but it's even harder when change is not your choice. When you're pushed into a change, there's often a sense of shock, because your life is being sent in an unexpected direction, and you haven't had time to process the changes and get used to the way that your life will be different. Sometimes it can feel very dis-empowering to have a change thrust upon you, and it can be a big reminder of all the things that are outside of your control, which can be pretty scary to realize. And of course there's always a sense of loss when change happens - you're having to let go of something, somebody, a role, an identity, or a way of being. And when change is forced on you, you're often not given the space to process and grieve those losses.

Keep Moving

When change is thrust on us, we often resist the change, and try to prevent it from happening, or we try to stick with the plan we had in place before the change started to uproot everything. As Byron Katie likes to say, "When we argue with reality, we always lose." When we try to resist change, we often end up sabotaging our own success because we're using our energy in wasteful, unproductive, even destructive ways, which causes more frustration, fatigue and disappointment. When you're putting your energy into resisting or blocking change, then you're going to be blocking your own movement forward as well, and you'll find yourself stuck in the middle of the change process, in no-man's land.

There will always be parts of change at work that feel difficult, but the important thing about the change process is to not get stuck in the middle of the change. I like what Einstein said: "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving..."I think all change in our lives is like that - to keep your balance through change, just keep moving.

How to "find your balance and keep moving" when change is thrust upon you

    Stop arguing with reality. Ask yourself if there's anything that you've been trying not to see, because it would be too painful to look at. Ask yourself what parts of the reality of these changes you've been resisting and trying to say "no" to. ‘Fess up and get totally honest with yourself about the reality you're dealing with.

    Acknowledge the part of you that's been resisting the changes. Ask that part of you that's been resisting the change what it's been trying to do for you, by resisting the changes. Thank that part for wanting to keep you safe, wanting to protect what's important to you, or whatever else it's been trying to do for you.

    Affirm that you're willing to let reality be, and that you're willing to adapt creatively and responsively, to use this change to become more of the person you want to be. You don't need to know how you'll do this yet - just affirm that you're willing, that you're saying "yes" to reality and to your own resourcefulness.

    Express your disappointment, sadness, fear and anger - grieve. Active grieving releases stress, which will improve the quality of your thinking, and it's also another way of keeping moving.

    Get out of other people's business. If you're thinking about the way you want other people in your workplace to change, so you can be happy, then you're in other people's business, and you're focusing on something you have very little control over - other people's thoughts, feelings and behavior. If you're focusing on what you can't control, you're putting your energy and attention into things that you probably can't change, which will only frustrate and dis-empower you even more. Focus on what you can control (your own thoughts, feelings and behavior), and you'll empower yourself and give yourself the reward of getting successful results for all your efforts. You'll also have a lot more energy for responding creatively, because you're not wasting energy trying to change stuff you probably can't change.

    Notice and cut out victim language & complaining. When you're using victim language, like, "I must... I should... I have to..." or saying things like, "I couldn't help it when I..." or complaining about the things you can't change, then you're affirming destructive and dis-empowering ideas such as the idea that you don't have choice in how you respond in life, that you're not responsible for your actions or reactions, and that you're responsible for things you can't influence or change. This way of thinking and speaking will only make you feel awful and depressed, which will make you more likely to get stuck in the changes.

    Decide what's important to you.When a change is thrust upon us, we often try to claw back to our previous goals and to focus on some specific thing we want that we're not getting. Realise that there are actually infinitely more different ways of satisfying what you need and creating what's important to you in your work - even if you can't see them right now. Take some time to get clear on your needs and values at work. As yourself, "What's important to me in my work, and rank your answers, so that you know what's most important to you, above everything else. Write about it, articulate it, talk about it. Be willing to say what you need and talk about what's important to you in conversation with other people in your workplace.

    Start to ask smart questions, to uncover the Flipside, and the hidden opportunities. Questions are a powerful way to re-direct your attention and become aware of opportunities and options available in your industry that you hadn't noticed before. So start to question whether your current assessment of the situation is true, and whether there are other ways of looking at the situation that would present you with options and opportunities you hadn't seen before.

    But does that mean I have to let other people do whatever they want to me in my job?

    Adapting and responding creatively to change doesn't mean accepting everything that other people try to make you do. When you're resisting change, your focus is on trying to make the other person change or on trying to make life into the way you think it SHOULD be. When you're adapting and responding creatively to change, you're saying, "Yes, I acknowledge that's the way things are" and, realizing your own power, you're staying in the game and stepping forward to add your own contribution that flows from what's most important to you.

Perhaps the most important thing to realize about the change process is that it takes at least as much energy to adapt and respond creatively to change as it does to resist change. Often we think that resisting change is the easiest option, and that's why we so often do it, but letting go, committing to the game and being willing to adapt and respond creatively is much, much easier, and much, much more likely to get you the results you want.

Author: Cath Duncan Resource:http://www.careerjunction.co.za/career-advice/coaching-by-cath/top-tips-for-dealing-with-unexpected-and-unwanted-change-at-work-163