Friday, June 22, 2012

Eliminate Toxins from Your Body!


I am on Day 7 of 21 of the Ultimate Reset Challenge! 

What is the Beachbody Ultimate Reset?
It's a comprehensive, no-starvation, inner body tune-up. In just 21 days, the Ultimate
Reset can help you gently restore your body to its original "factory settings," to help
you:
• Have more energy and greater focus*
• Experience better digestion and a more positive mood*
• Enable your body to function more efficiently*
• Help you lose weight*
• Improve your overall health.*
Why Reset?
Our environment has become more and more toxic. Our bodies absorb pollution and
harmful chemicals all our lives, along with the air we breathe, the food we eat, and
the water we drink. These toxins can get stored in our bodies, clogging our cells and
slowing down their natural functions.
It's not enough just to work out and eat right. We realized we had to
take a break from the everyday and find a way to get those toxins out of our bodies.
Along with getting in shape on the outside, we had to start getting healthy on the
inside. We decided it was time for a Reset.
What the Beachbody Ultimate Reset is NOT:
• A starvation diet. (You'll eat three filling, healthy meals every day.)• An abrupt cleanse that's hard on the body. (The supplements work together
gradually to gently shift your body's internal settings.)*
• A laxative-based, colon-focused cleanse, which fails to truly detoxify the
whole body. (You won't be running to the bathroom every hour!)
To learn more, find out what to expect during the Reset, and read Success Stories
from test group participants, go to my Web site at Ultimate Reset or contact me directly at 561-578-9492 or fitchicmelissa@gmail.com and 
I'll be glad to answer any questions you might have.
Get ready to restore your inner health!

So dear friends I am seven days into the Reset and I love the food, that was my biggest fear because I didn't want bland and boring for 21 days.  My favorite recipe so far is the Zucchini-Cashew Soup, check it out it is simple and divine! The Reset sends you gently into a plant-based diet which is wonderful for most people on the SAD (Standard American Diet).  I, myself, being a Holistic Health Coach and having been vegan for a year before converting back to a more middle of the road diet in the recent months, have found the foods are similar to what I normally eat and I've gotten to try some new recipes. I am looking forward to the benefits of the detoxification.

I am discovering on this journey that I am an emotional eater and mindless eater.  I sometimes don't stop to think about what I am eating or why.  I will eat just for something to do even when I'm not hungry. I will eat when I'm bored or alone.  I use food for emotional compensation.  Although everything in my house has always been healthy, whole foods I still think there is a point when you must say enough is enough.  I can only eat so many handfuls of nuts and seeds and handfuls of fruits before it obviously does something to my waistline.  I forget that eating is a mind- body experience and we must nurture ourselves.  I am reconnecting with my food and learning to stop obsessing over it, which I have done for years as a competitor.  I am still battling healing completely from adrenal fatigue (which I will be blogging about very soon).  It can take up to three years for your body to completely heal, but I have been nourishing it and loving it and this is just another rung on the ladder to my health and wellness.  My body currently doesn't look the way I want it to BUT it is way healthier than it ever was when I competed and I will have my abs again, but with an internal system that is just as beautiful as the external!

5 lbs in 7 Days
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

June Bugs and Fruit Smoothies


Healthy Healing Habits
June BugsJune, 2012
Newsletter Title Month, Year
Greetings!

Summer is upon us, schools are letting out and it's time for vacations, relaxing, camps, water sports and June bugs!  Take this short 3 months to start a new health routine, grow a garden, learn something new.

"Green was the silence, wet was the light,
the month of June trembled like a butterfly."
Pablo Neruda100 Love Sonnets
Sincerely,

Melissa Binkey
Healthy Healing Habits


Crazy Cravings Killing You?

There's no denying that everyone, at one time or another, has had a snack attack. Views on snacking differ. Some feel that snacking is bad and that eating between meals leads to weight gain. Others believe that eating many small meals and snacks throughout the day is healthy for maintaining energy levels and optimal weight. If there were one way of snacking that was right for everyone, we would all be doing it!  Snack Attack
To alleviate snack attack guilt, try to understand why you are snacking and what snacks work best for your body. Perhaps you snack because your daily diet is missing nutrition, or because you are eating too little at meals. You might be snacking to soothe jangled nerves when you are emotional, or to entertain yourself when you are bored. Whatever your reason, acknowledge it and start thinking about how to create a life that is nourishing and truly satisfying.

Although snacks are no substitute for loving your life, they can be great energy boosters. Many convenient snack foods are highly processed and full of chemicals, additives, damaging fats and refined sugars. When a snack attack hits you, try foods that are filling and satisfying, but also nutritious. Here are some tips:
  • Snack on things that don't come in a plastic wrapper or a box, like fresh fruit, leftover vegetables or rice cakes with almond butter and fruit spread.
  • Make your own signature trail mix, organic hot chocolate made with almond milk sweetened with agave nectar, or blue corn chips with hummus.
You can also try "upgrading":
  • If you are craving something crunchy, upgrade from potato chips to raw carrots, apples or whole grain crackers.
  • If you are craving a candy bar, upgrade to a handful of nuts and dried fruit.
  • Instead of a cup of coffee, upgrade to green tea.
Instead of ice cream, upgrade to applesauce with cinnamon.
Upgraded snacks are high in nutrition and give you a greater sense of satiety and satisfaction; you won't feel physically or psychologically deprived, and you'll have plenty of energy to sustain your activities for hours.

Snacking is enjoyable and there is a wide variety of healthful goodies forwhatever you're craving, be it sweet, crunchy, salty, creamy or spicy. Dive in, be creative and enjoy your snack attack.  To learn more about cravings and where they come from read this article: Crazy Cravings

FOOD FOCUS: Fruit Summer Fruits
                                                                                                
A healthy lifestyle is the key to longevity, optimum weight, abundant energy and balance. By using fruit to satisfy our taste for sweetness, we can leave behind the use of chemical, processed and refined sweeteners. Fruits are easy to digest, are cleansing and cooling and are great for those who are overstressed and overheated from excessive mental strain or hot climates. Fruits are filled with fiber and liver stimulants, which act as natural, gentle laxatives. Whenever possible, buy fresh, locally grown fruit as opposed to imported fruits shipped from far-off places. This keeps you eating in season, and more in harmony with your environment and climate.

Eating raw fruit in summer months is highly cooling, while baking it in the winter months neutralizes the cooling effect. Fruit in the form of juice is a great choice for cleansing the body, but be aware that juice rapidly raises blood sugar levels, leading to an energy crash soon after. Frozen, whole, puréed or juiced fruit can make great summertime cool-down treats. Try frozen grapes, banana-coconut smoothie popsicles or lime juice ice-cubes in iced tea!

Whether you are having fresh fruit for a light early morning breakfast, a midday snack or evening treat, enjoy nature's sweetness and whenever possible buy organic. Here are a few summer fruits and their health benefits:

Apricots: Great for lung conditions and asthma; used to help treat anemia due to their high copper and cobalt content.
Bananas: Help to lubricate the intestines, treat ulcers, detoxify the body and manage sugar cravings; are rich in potassium (which helps hypertension).
Cherries: Slightly warming in nature; increase overall body energy, remedy arthritis and rheumatism and are rich in iron, which improves the blood.
Grapefruits: Treat poor digestion, increase appetite during pregnancy, alleviate intestinal gas and reduce mucus conditions of the lungs.
Papayas: Tone the stomach, act as digestive aid, moisten the lungs and alleviate coughing; contain carpaine, an anti-tumor compound.
Raspberries: Benefit the liver and kidneys, cleanse blood of toxins, regulate menstrual cycles, treat anemia and can promote labor at childbirth.  Want to learn more about fruit read this article: Fruitilicious



About Me

Healthy Healing Habits is the most effective and supportive nutrition counseling available.  I can help you overcome your eating addictions, reduce stress, have more energy, improve your sports performance through better nutrition and love who you see in the mirror.  I am dedicated to teaching healthy healing habits that last a lifetime.  Call me for a consultation 561-578-9492 or email FitChicMelissa@gmail.com Melissa Binkley Visit My Website
In This Issue
Snack Attack
Fruit
Healthy Healing Habits
SE 10th Ave
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33316

Melissa Binkey
Find Me Here:
Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn Find us on Google+ View our videos on YouTube Find us on Yelp

Recipe of the Month:
Fruit Nut Smoothie

Prep time: 5 minutes
Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients:
1 banana
1 cup soy or rice milk
1 cup berries
1 cup diced melon
1/2 cup almonds
2-4 ice cubes

Directions:
1.   Mix in blender for 1-2 minutes and serve.
Note: You can add other ingredients for added nutrition such as a spoonful of bee pollen, coconut oil, flax seed oil, spirulina powder or a scoop of protein powder.
 


This email was sent to fitchicmelissa.health@blogger.com by fitchicmelissa@gmail.com |  
| SE 10th Ave | Fort Lauderdale | Florida | 33316

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Why Are Twinkies Cheaper Than Carrots?

There is a food war going on right now between the farmers and the government.  The 2012 Farm Bill which lays the groundwork for nearly $1 trillion in U.S. government spending over the next decade, will be debated next week in the Senate. Most of that spending goes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP -- still sometimes referred to as food stamps), and to subsidies and incentives for farmers.
Efforts to restrict SNAP spending to healthier foods have been fought bitterly, and successfully, by the junk food lobbies.  This HuffPost by John Robbins is so important that I am copying it and directing everyone to the article.  Please read!!!

Why Are Twinkies Cheaper Than Carrots?  
Why is Coca-Cola often more affordable than clean water? Why are candy bars and cigarettes often more readily available than fresh fruits and vegetables?
If you want to eat healthfully, you have to fight an uphill battle. Why are government subsidies pushing in the wrong direction?
Who would it hurt if we enacted policies that actually encouraged the foods that are healthiest for people and for our world? Who opposes the efforts to make it easier, rather than harder, for people to make healthy food choices?
Government Policy Consistently Favors Big Agribusiness
As I describe in my new book No Happy Cows, agrichemical companies, factory farms and junk food manufacturers are quite happy with things the way they are. Thanks to their lobbying clout, government policies consistently favor the financial interests of these special interests over public health, even though the result is trillions of dollars in additional health care expenses.
Here's an example: In just the last two years, 24 states have considered legislation that would place a tax on soft drinks. These "soda taxes" would discourage consumption of drinks high in sugar, thus reducing obesity and health care costs. And they would also raise money that could be used to subsidize healthier foods. But in every single state, the legislation has been defeated. PepsiCo Inc., the Coca-Cola Company, and the American Beverage Association have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to determine the outcome.
"In the political arena, one side is winning the war on child obesity," a new Reuters report on the food lobby begins. "The side with the fattest wallets."
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, perhaps the best-financed lobbying force for healthier food, spent about $70,000 lobbying last year -- roughly what those opposing stricter guidelines on sugary sodas in the U.S. spent every 13 hours.
Spending $1 Trillion on the Wrong Things
Next week, the U.S. Senate will begin floor debate on the 2012 Farm Bill, which lays the groundwork for nearly $1 trillion in U.S. government spending over the next decade. Most of that spending goes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP -- still sometimes referred to as food stamps), and to subsidies and incentives for farmers.
Efforts to restrict SNAP spending to healthier foods have been fought bitterly, and successfully, by the junk food lobbies.
Meanwhile, the current Senate proposal would give tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to Big Agribusiness, but would give next to nothing to programs benefiting the environment, organic food, nutrition, or small farmers. The food blog Civil Eats calls the proposal an "all-you-can-eat-buffet for the subsidy lobby."
In a national poll last year, 78 percent said making nutritious and healthy foods more affordable and accessible should be a top priority in the farm bill. But that's not what's on the table in this year's "agri-business as usual" farm bill.
Kari Hamerschlag, Senior Food and Agriculture Analyst for the Environmental Working Group, explains that the current proposal would actually "slash programs for conservation, nutrition, rural development and beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers."
For example, funding for research in organic farming would be cut to almost nothing, while corn growers, who have received $73.8 billion in subsidies in the last 15 years, would get even more now. Subsidized GMO corn is used to produce cheap high-fructose corn syrup, a substance that even Vice President Joe Biden says is more likely to kill an American than terrorism.
This heavily subsidized genetically modified corn is also fed to livestock in factory farms and feedlots -- at unfairly reduced prices.
"Factory farms pose a serious public health hazard, so why are they subsidized by public money?" asks Food Revolution Summit speaker Dr. Neal Barnard. "These facilities pump out high-fat, high-cholesterol meat products and often pollute waterways -- yet they also receive generous subsidies under the Farm Bill. We want Congress to stop rewarding facilities that endanger public health."
These subsidies aren't just costing U.S. taxpayers and enriching big agribusiness. They are also having a devastating impact on the health of tens of millions of people.    READ MORE
Want to learn how to eat healthy on a budget?  Get the most bang for your buck?  I can help you learn healthy habits that won't cost a fortune and you will save money in the long run with less doctor's bills and medications. Call me for a consultation at 561-578-9492 or email me at FitChicMelissa@gmail.com