The Energy Queen

Stress - Everyday Stress How Do You Handle It?

Stress

It has been said the everyday stress is a good thing, we need stress to help us have the ability to get away from danger.

I believe that stress is not a good thing, I find that having stress leads to anxiety, worry, fatigue, irritability, eating disorders and memory loss to name just a few of the many symptoms.

I would say that being at peace, knowing where you are going and coming, being in control of your surroundings, circumstances and self are more important.  It is imperative to be balanced and centered.  When you are centered you are in control of your circumstances and have a much cooler head to think clearer and act in a more focused way.

A tool I found to help me when I feel stressed and out of control is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique).  This is a method of "tapping" on meridan points where you channel energy and can actually calm yourself down and even alleviate your symptoms.

There is also meditation, massages, yoga, tia chi and other practices that can help one be centered and alleviate stress.

Stress a lot of the times is something we place ourselves under when we are doing too many activities or do not have a good plan of daily action in place.

Some people also use deep breathing, walking, hiking, going to the gym, swimming, jogging, listening to music, taking a nice warm bath to help them relieve their stress. 

There are many good books on reducing stress  one book I have been referring to is:  

"The Stress Management Sourcebook" by J Barton Cunningham

If you liked my blog on stress check out my other articles at:  kathysarticles.com

3 Mistakes You May Make In 2010

1.  Make a New Year's resolution that you cannot possibly stick to.

2.  Make a New Year's resolution that is not attainable.

3.  Make a New Year's resolution and not have a plan.

Each January 1st we all seem to get motivated and make resolutions to lose weight, exercise more, eat less, eat better, go to bed earlier, get up earlier and on and on.  We may even fully intend to do these new resolutions and actually attempt them for a day, week or even a month.  However, if we do not sit down and write a plan, it is like someone twirling in the wind not knowing where they will end up when they stop spinning.  You need to have a plan of action, a specific end goal and small attainable baby steps all along the way to reach the little goals all along the way to the ultimate end goal.

If you desire to lose weight, you need to know how much and how long will it take you to lose the desired weight.  What types of foods, exercise and motivation do you need?  Do you need to write out a shopping list of foods you may need to purchase? What types of exercises are the best for you and do you have the equipment to complete these exercises.  Do you need the assistance of a support person to help keep you on track?  When at work or eating out how will you handle your food choices?

I was told that if you tell the world your goal out loud it makes it real and others will be watching to see if you follow through.

Keeping a food and exercise journal is a very good place to begin you new journey to good health.

Health - Anger Can Be Stored in Your Liver

Anger is an emotion that most people have a hard time to keep in check.  Some people lose their "cool" all to often.  I have been reading many articles about anger and it was interesting to find that your emotions actually can store themselves in your organs such as your liver, kidneys, heart, and even your eyes. 

Anger is a negative energy and energy will surround and be absorbed by whatever is around the energy and since we are "right there" we absorb our own negative energies.  This can cause health issues such as severe headaches, your adrenals to not function to their full potential, eye problems, gastro-intestinal problems and even gallstones. 

We need to stop and think before we speak and maybe even before we think negative thoughts toward ourselves and others. 

Practice saying should "I say or do this action" stopping to focus on the thoughts and actions actually is a very healthy response and your body and others will be happy that you took that moment to stop and reflect.  

It has been shown that the liver is very strong but it has to accomplish 100's of tasks a day keeping our body running to its full potential from cleaning our blood, lymph, toxins, poisons and other invaders that may make us sick.

Words, thoughts and actions can be very destructive.

Deep breathing is very good when you are angry, it lowers your blood pressure, heart rate and helps to calm your frazzled nerves and gives your brain and body good, clean oxygen.

So for our health, we need to take a moment and think before we react to our first emotion of anger and outbursts; we will be able to have a happier, healthier, more peaceful day and life.

FOOD - MACRONUTRIENTS ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND

How do you feel when you wake up in the morning?  Do you wake up and jump out of bed with a zest of energy, fully awake, with a clear mind?  Or do you tumble over and over trying to fight your way up each morning hitting that snooze alarm...five more minutes. 

The first thing you need to ask yourself if you do not have energy in the morning with a zest to start your day is what did I put in my mouth the day and evening before?  If you ate heavy protein, meat, dairy, sugar, carbs and fats and ate late in the day you put a big stopper in your body that stops your body to rest, cleanse, heal, protect, relax and be strong.

The first thing you need to do is reduce your dependence on sugars, fats and salt.  This is not to say you should never have any of these substances every again but rethink the types of fats, salts, sugars you do put into your body.  There are natural sugars, fats, and salt that your body craves and actually uses to repair, strengthen and rebuild your mind, body, hair, skin, bones, blood and lymph.

A good place to start is with raw food.  In the morning try a superfood green drink, for lunch enjoy a fresh salad and for dinner have zucinni spaghetti or vegetable burrito. There are so many recipes and easy to make food items available and some are just three or four steps from beginning to the dinner plate.  There are snacks, entrees, deserts, drinks, and crackers. 

Try an experiment journal your food for a week one week eat your normal diet and journal what you ate, the amount and how you felt before, during and after your meal.  Then the next week eat mostly raw, whole, fresh foods, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and grains and write down the same as above.  If you don't feel any difference, you may need to detox.  It is not recommended that you go from the SAD diet to totally raw as your body will detox and you will feel very sick.  Oh yes don't forget to drink good, clean water. 

Macronutrients are such foods as meat, protein, sugars and starches.  They are very hard for your body to digest so in essence your body is constantly trying to digest your meals and before it can get done with one you are putting another meal or snack into your body and it just never gets to rest and you get sick, tired and a whole host of symptoms no one can tell you why.

Eat smaller amounts of food each day and use your body efficiently and it will give you more energy than you will know what to do with is.

FOOD - WHAT YOU DONT KNOW CAN BE KILLING YOU

Processed foods, canned foods, cooked foods along with tainted meats, sprayed crops, poor sanitation  and more of these types of conditions can be doing are bodies a lot of harm.  I have been researching lately and found that the less we eat, the more clean our foods, the more natural and the closer to home the better.  Yes there are a lot of people to feed in the world but get big business, government and the greed out of our food supply.  It is not bad enough that we are so busy, stressed, pushed to the limit each day to just provide for ourselves and our families could we not get a little help from food manufacturers, the government and our local communities to make sure we have good, whole, fresh, natural, safe foods to eat...obviously not.  We need to take control of our lives and do all we can to protect ourselves so that we can have a good quality of life when we get older and now in the present time.  Disease means (dis ease) our body is not comfortable with what it is being forced to deal with and it can only do so much to fight out all the pollutants, chemicals and stress we send its way each day.  Our bodies are marvelous machines but machines can only work as good as the maintenance we give them.  We take better care of our cars then we do of our bodies.

So start taking even small baby steps to helping your body and your loved ones to eat more vegetables, fruits and whole, sprouted grains and nuts.  There are a number of recipes that I have come across that actually look very appealing and I can't wait to try some of them.  We do not need to consume huge chunks of meat, gallons of dairy, hunks of fish to have nutrition.  If you desire to eat meat, consume dairy and eat seafood then go ahead of enjoy but make sure you check in with yourself and see how you are feeling and if you are not feeling your best maybe cut down the amount of heavy, laden foods and see if you feel different.  Everyone needs to find out for themselves what is right for them but processed foods with sugar, salt, fats and preservatives are not assimilated well in our bodes and they show up in many different forms as rashes, asthma, allergies, pains, inflammations, headaches and stomach ailments.  So if you want to have a better quality of life, keep a food journal and experiment with some foods which are in season like winter squash in the fall and blueberries in the summer and see if eating foods in season help you feel better.  Food is a pleasure for all of us to enjoy just don't let it be your ticket to ill health.

Food - Yes You Can Eat Chocolate Everyday In Fact You Should

Chocolate -

There are so many of us that LOVE chocolate and other that only crave it at certain times of stress, frustration, hunger or boredom.  The good NEWS is that eating the correct type of chocolate is actually something you should include in your diet each day. 

Raw Cocao -

Eating raw cocao is a very beneficial to aid in helping you lose weight, lower blood pressure, help with decreasing inflammation, is an antioxidant, helps lower diabetes, helps elevate your mood, gives you energy and it tastes good. Raw Cocao is all natural, and easily absorbed into your bloodstream.  I think it is a pretty good deal that you can eat chocolate and it helps you be healthier. 

The chocolate you buy in the store has added sugar, milk and heated and has chemicals added; this is not the type of chocolate you should eat.  Just having a small amount of raw cocao powder everyday is very beneficial it can be added to your favorite beverages, sprinkled on your oatmeal and make a delicious breakfast, snack or lunch drink.

When I am on the run or at work I found a dark chocolate product that is not very expensive and is available in nuggets, bars, cookies, bars, and drinks.  The product is very good tasting and you get your daily supply of fruits and vegetables in just three little squares.

There is a lot of research on chocolate out there you can go to:

http://mydrchocolate.soundconcepts.com/goodbad.htmo

and check out the article for yourself.

Also make sure what kind of dark chocolate you are eating.  Some chocolate has added oils, colorings, and cheap imitation as cocoa butter and chocolate is very expensive.  Be an informed consumer.

Eat your chocolate each day and have a healthier day. Make sure your dark chocolate has a good amount of flavonoids in your chocolate the flavonoids is what is helping your body to be healthier.  The flavonoids should be 600 - 900 count.

I just found out that eating dark chocolate is actually also good for your teeth. 

It is also can help with psoriasis.

Good dark chocolate -

• Has not been alkalized

• Has been dried and cool-pressed rather than roasted

• Contains cocoa butter instead of milk fats or hydrogenated oils

• Has 70 percent raw pure cocoa

• Contains natural sugars and is low glycemic

Eat your way to health with dark chocolate everyday. 

To get information on a good dark chocolate product that I utilize, email me with your name, phone # and email address and I will get the information out to you.

knhoagland@comcast.net

Stress - Job Burnout Are You One Of Its Victims?

Are you one of the few people who love their job and can't wait to get to their office or place of business?  You have either resigned yourself there is nothing you can do about your job or you really love what you do.

However, for the majority of us we absolutely dread going to work, and we only show up each day because we need to eat and have a place to live. This is how I had felt for quite a few years.

The real picture or truth that was placed in front of me one day changed how I looked at my job.  The answer I stumbled upon was it was not the job, boss, co-workers, the drive, the pay none of it...it was all me..it was how I perceived my job, my boss, co-workers and surroundings.  When I was shown this simple truth, my whole outlook changed.  I may not still like my job or whatever but it is my decision to make that choice, and I chose to have less stress by not taking things personally and to do the best I could each day fulfilled that I had done a good days work for the pay I agreed upon.

If you really desire to reduce stress/burnout there are small, easy baby steps you can take. 

One is find a supportive health coach to hold your hand and work with you on this goal. 

Stress is necessary when you need to flee but not from the home to the office and back. Research ways that work for you by trying to incorporate some meditation into your daily routine 10 - 15 minutes a day can help you be focused and centered and more in control of your day, getting better supplementation, getting more rest each night, make sure you have down time for you, do something that excites you such as a hobby or hiking, canoeing, a day at the beach.

Our body and mind are very resilent but we still can become ill or get diseases from too much stress and job burnout is a real stressor indeed.  Disease - means not at ease.

So do yourself a big favor and look out for your health and the fact you recognize you have an issue with job burnout/stress is your first step on your road to health.

YOUR MOST BURNING QUESTION RELATED TO WEIGHT LOSS OR STRESS

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Food - Yes You Can Eat Chocolate Everyday In Fact You Should

For most of our lives now we have been told to limit our intake of sugar, sweets, carbohydrates, fruity drinks, sodas, candies, pastries, ice cream and so on.  We hear so much about how sugar is bad for our health and diabetes is taking over the world.  There is some truth in this statement but not all of it is fact.  Yes Americans eat a lot of sugary, sugar laden snacks that is a fact but on the other hand food manufacturers make sure they put some sort of sugar into almost every food item them produce - how many food items can you name that do not have some type of sugar in the product list.  Carrots contain sugar, corn, grains, peas, fruit juice and so forth.  Whenever you see something with a tose or crose it is a sugar substance. Some packages contain 8 - 10 sugar substances. It is important for us to read the labels and know what is a sugar and what is not.

There are also good sugars xylitol, cane juice, honey, and agave are all good sugars.

However, manufacturers are all about the bottom line and they process and bleach and destroy any nutrients in our foods and sugar that by the time we ingest the food item, our body does not know what to do with it.  Yes sugar makes it taste good but at what cost.  The manufacturers make money on us, and we pay the price in poor health.  There is some good news, however, due to demand manufacturers are now coming forward and producing products with xylitol, honey, agave, and cane juice that are healthy and easily absorbed by our bodies.  We now have healthier choices for ourselves and our families.

There is also more good news regarding a good chocolate out there that we need to eat.  It is a healthy chocolate.  You should eat or drink it every day.  This chocolate has antioxidant properties that are good for your body.  It is a dark chocolate which also contains acai berries which are also very high in antioxidants.  This chocolate does not contain any bad sugars and it takes great.

If you would like to know more about this wonderful food which is good for you, go to www.mydoctorchocolate.com and see for yourself.  I know you will be as amazed as I was.

If you have any chocolate related questions, please email me at: knhoagland@comcast.net.

It is important to eat a healthy diet rich in whole foods and raw whenever possible. 

To your good health

Health - Tips on Health for Longevity

A lot of us use the microwave and do not give it a second thought. If you are working hard at being healthy and not feeling as good or as well as you would like to, this one area could be something you may need to look into. When you put your food, liquid, plastic bottle, plastic dish, plastic wrap into the microwave and "nuke it"  you are actually changing the structure of the food, water and packaging which is very harmful to your health, the health of your family, friends and your neighbors.

Listen to the first few minutes of this call and decide for yourself.http://www.holyteaclub.com/audio

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