Category — allergies

Wanting to find a cleanse that isn’t harsh on your body? Try the all new Beachbody Ultimate Reset!! It’s a 21 day program that will get your body back where it needs to be.

The Ultimate Reset can do ALL this:

Spring clean your insides!
Release years of toxins from your body!
Give your body an internal workout!
Eliminate toxins from your body!
Reboot your body to its optimal condition.
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

AND you will still eat 3 FILLING AND HEALTHY meals a day. You spring clean your house why not YOU!? Want to know more, just ask!

Technorati Tags: 21 day cleanse, 21 day detox, 21 day ultimate reset, beachbody ultimate reset, glowing detox, spring clean your body

I love my green smoothies, and I LOVE blueberries – so what better than a blueberry shake. There are a couple of options on how you can make this shake, and is it AMAZING!!

Ingredients:
1 Cup Frozen blueberries (I prefer organic since you are eating the whole fruit)
1 Scoop of Tropical Shakeology or you can use my favorite Sprouted Brown Rice Protein by SunWarrior
1 package of Alkalinize** (or 1 tsp of Ormus Greens)
1/4 cup of So Delicious Plain Greek Coconut Yogurt
1/4 cup of Bob’s Steel Cut oats
2 tsp of fine ground flaxseeds
1 cup of ice
(add water as needed)

Blend the blueberries, Shakeology, yogurt and ice to your blender and blend for 1 – 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredient and blend for an additional 1 – 2 minutes. AMAZING!!! You will love it!!

** Alkalinize is a part of the new Beachbody Ultimate Reset Detoxification program. It is a super-green mixture of grasses, including wheatgrass, alfalfa, kamut grass, and barley grass, in a concentrated juice powder that helps neutralize excess acid and maintain alkalinity, bringing your body back into a healthy pH balance and helping to support your immune system. Alkalinize comes in a convenient single daily-dose packet, which can easily be added into your daily smoothie. The Ultimate Reset is a 21 Day program and you can incorporate the Shakeology smoothie into your reset program. After your reset you will be able to continue to use the Alkalinize product every day to keep your body in a healthy ph state, and keep your immune system boosted to block illness and disease.

Technorati Tags: 21 day cleanse, 21 day detox, alkalinize, balance body ph, healthy organic green smoothie, reset your body's ph levels

New Challenge Packs drop for our challenges on Thursday, Feb. 2nd. (which also happens to be the first day of the Everett Fit Club for our team!!)

I am so proud of the fact that you can get everything you need via Beachbody when you sign up for a challenge pack.  When I started my journey back to health after my daughter was born and I had slid down the path to really unfit and really depressed – I had nothing to support me. It was just me. Staring in the mirror every morning was this person I didn’t even know. But I think that’s where these Challenge packs come from. They include everything you need. You get the fitness program that you choose. The one you’ll stick with. Without the commitment you will not get there. You get the club membership trial that gives you the meal planning to help you with this most important component — nutrition. You get the support of the Team Beachbody community and your coach, ME! And of course you get the amazing Shakeology that balanced out my hormones, gave me the nutrition I was lacking and helped me start to see results. And coming in March you’ll have a new flavor to choose from, and it’s Vegan. Tropical Strawberry!! (this new flavor will be available on Feb 14th, but not in Challenge Packs until March)

The original Chocolate and Greenberry formulations took 2 years to create and it took atleast another year to get Shakeology Tropical Strawberry just right. Where the other 2 flavors are 150 calories, the new Tropical Strawberry Shakeology is only 130 calories per serving. The biggest change is that they replaced the grade 7 whey protein isolates with the most advanced (and highest bio-availability) vegan protein available in the world, fermented sprouted brown rice.

Just in case you’re new to Shakeology

Here are the benefits I’VE EXPERIENCED and you can expect if you drink it every day:

• Reduced cravings for junk food (especially sugar/sweets)
• Natural energy (not from stimulants!)
• Regulated blood-sugar levels (great for diabetics!)
• Reduced bodyfat
• Reduced cholesterol
• Reduced bloating and inflammation
• Improved digestion

A few other exciting changes

1. You’ll notice the new “Beachbody Ultimate” branding on this product. This means that the ingredients have THE HIGHEST bio-availability of any ingredients in the world! When you want THE BEST and don’t want to compromise, look for Beachbody Ultimate!
2. Shakeology Tropical is sweetened with tropical fruits like papaya, camu-camu, pineapple
3. SUMA root has been removed from this formula (this was a concern for some people because the ingredient causes false positives on athlete drug testing)

So what about the taste of Tropical Strawberry Shakeology?

It is delicious! It’s a great alternative to chocolate and greenberry. It also opens up all kinds of new possibilities on recipes! Aren’t you excited??

How much does Shakeology Tropical cost?

Because of the super premium brown-rice protein, the cost of Shakeology tropical is $129 per month (which is just over $4/day) compared to $120 for Chocolate/Greenberry Shakeology. Some people may think that’s expensive for a supplement but it depends on how you look at it. This is not just a supplement! It’s NUTRITION (with 17 grams of protein and 16 grams of carb) so consider if you can cut back on groceries, eating out, coffee, energy drinks, etc to come up with $4 a day. I was skeptical about price originally so I took advantage of the 30 day money back guarantee and tried it for 30 days. After the way I felt and saw my body slimming down, I found a way to fit it into my budget. Also, it’s actually cheaper than what you are going to pay at the gym for far less quality (this is a super dense nutritional food here!!)

Does Tropical Strawberry Shakeology still have the 30 day money back guarantee?

Yes – all products from Beachbody are backed up by a 30 day money back guarantee. You can literally try it for 30 days and if you’re not happy with it, send the empty bag back for a full refund!

Ready to Get In The Challenge?? CLICK HERE

Ready to try Shakeology?? CLICK HERE

Technorati Tags: Beachbody Challenge, Buy Beachbody Products, Shakeology Tropical Strawberry purchase, Team Beachbody Challenge Packs

Dr. Hill of doTERRAtalks about hormone balance. This is so important. Hormones are chemical messengers that are responsible for triggering or regulating bodily functions. When hormones are out of balance, negative effects within the body can result, including weight gain. And the environment is just one of the things that is responsible for this estrogen overload in our systems. It can make life frustrating! I mean progesterone can be converted directly to cortisol in times of high stress. Do you know one mom or or dad that isn’t dealing with stress in their lives right now?

That is why I am so glad for all of the tools I’ve found to help me get and stay healthier. This webinar is really going to be a lot of information, but you need to hear it. Now, myself, I am allergic to soy. Genistein is a naturally occurring phytoestrogen isoflavone found most abundantly in soy. I really wish the line used the geniVida instead, so those like myself could use it. Hopefully doTERRA will catch up to the rest of this in time. Click on the photo below to watch the video.

Hormone Balancing

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Celiac disease is a digestive disorder that occurs in the small intestine. Foods containing wheat, barley and rye damage the surface of the small intestine because of an autoimmune response. The damage causes pain and an inability for the body to absorb certain nutrients from these foods. Celiac disease is not curable, but a gluten-free diet can treat symptoms. Now I recommend Shakeology to my celiac clients. This is why.

At the Digestive Disease Week medical conferences in Chicago, two research teams presented results of studies showing that people with celiac disease who start the gluten-free diet as adults don’t always have complete healing of the lining of their small intestine, even after they’ve been gluten-free for a long time. Dr. Rubio-Tapia, who headed the Mayo Clinic study, told me, “In contrast with the study from Ireland, most of our patients had good adherence to the gluten-free diet.” But as his study showed, adherence “does not guarantee mucosal recovery” in all adults with celiac disease. (The lining of the small intestine is often referred to as “the mucosa,” and another term for “healing of the intestinal lining” is “mucosal recovery.”)

Even more interesting is Dr. Vikki Petersen from, Celiac Disease: An Epidemic on the Rise, says it is very important to understand that celiac disease gets “turned on” at some point in a person’s life…one is not born with celiac disease. In order to develop celiac disease, you at least need the following three things going on:
1). you need the genes
2). you need to be eating gluten
3). you need an unhealthy gut and loss of intestinal barrier function (a.k.a. leaky gut)

That means if you ever wants to heal herself completely, she needs to prebiotics and probiotics from Shakeology. Here is Dr. Petersen’s video.

I have two members of my family with celiac disease and so if this is a disease that is plaguing your family, you need to realize how very important this is to healing up and feeling better. I also find that a lot of those that have a gluten intolerance also have a lactose intolerance. Did you know that approximately 75% of the world’s population has lactose intolerance. The high grade pure and concentrated form of whey protein, called whey isolate, contains 90 percent or more protein and very little fat and lactose, making it appropriate for lactose intolerant individuals. The odds that as a lactose intolerant individual that you will have an issue with the minimal amount of remaining lactose in the Chocolate or Greenberry Shakeology compared to the healing effects of the prebiotics and probiotics is really going to be what you should be considering. And over the counter probiotics are going to be dairy based cultures, and will be counter-productive. Beachbody adds lactate enzymes so that those that are lactose intolerant can drink it.

Check it out. 30 Day Bottom of the Bag Guarantee! DrinkMyMeal.com

Technorati Tags: Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance, Healing your gut, lactose intolerance

Ayurveda is a healing philosophy native to India. Ayurveda in the Sanskrit: आयुर्वेद; Āyurveda meaning “the knowledge for long life” In Sanskrit, words āyus, meaning “longevity”, and veda, meaning “knowledge” or “science”.) I love this, and many of you may not know that Bija is the Sanskrit term बीज bīja meaning literally “seed”. I came the term Bija with yoga a long time ago – yes even though I have a hard time with it I’ve been trying for many decades to get it right. Bija
is used as a metaphor for the origin or cause of things which has been the practice of my business from the start. To get to the root of things. … so back to ayurveda.

Massage and meditation are both considered Ayurveda practices of medicine.  It’s what we like to call a “whole medical system” plan. This is based on 5 elements including Ether, Earth, Water, Fire, and Air that compose both the universe and the human body.  These elements are grouped together to create three Doshas. This is unique, in fact there are several aspects to Ayurveda that are quite unique:

1. Its recommendations will often be different for each person regarding which foods and which lifestyle they should follow in order to be completely healthy. This is due to it’s use of a constitutional model.
2. Everything in Ayurveda is validated by observation, inquiry, direct examination and knowledge derived from the ancient texts.
3. It understands that there are energetic forces that influence nature and human beings. These forces are called the Tridoshas which we are talking about here today.
4. Because Ayurveda sees a strong connection between the mind and the body, a huge amount of information is available regarding this relationship.

When you are unbalanced your body will be unhealthy. If you’ve balanced your body PH naturally, why not try to balance your dosha as well?

Ayurvedic theory suggests that each human possesses a unique combination of the doshas and that they define the person’s character and attributes. Think of it as grandfather time’s philosophy of all of the personality type studies in modern times. I train based on personality types in my personal training sessions – and you will work with others based on your personality traits as well. Personality comes into play so much in our lives, and that is why I think we are seeing such a resurgence in the Ayurvedic practices.

Below I will talk about the Tridoshas. The Vata Dosha is Ether and Air. The Kapha Dosha is Earth and Ether. A person can be strong in any one dosha but have attributes of all doshas. The Pitta Dosha is Fire and Water.

Want to discover your prominent dosha? Take this [dosha test] and find out.

Once you know what your dosha is, you can begin to help keep yourself in balance through following the aryuvedic principles for proper eating, exercise, & meditation. Essential oils also also recommended to help keep your dosha in balance.

doTERRA’s certified pure therapeutic grade oils can be used to help balance the Doshas:

Vata Dosha: Associated with the elements of ether and air, vata types are quick thinking, thin, and fast moving. They are active and creative and have a natural ability to communicate. When unbalanced, vatas can have high anxiety and fast moving emotions.

If you are the Vata type, you may need oils that help to ground, balance, and warm your dosha. Oils such as basil, cypress, frankincense, geranium, and rosewood will help the vata stay balanced. doTERRA’s Whisper Blend and Balance Blend as well as Geranium single oil would be a good fit for Vata types. The Vata Balancing Kit is $71 with a Wholesale Membership or $94.67 Retail. Purchase the retail kit below, or sign up for a preferred customer account for just $10 to get discounts, or a wholesale account for $35 dollars by clicking here.

Kapha Dosha: Associated with the elements of earth and water, kappa types are patient, forgiving and slow to anger. They are loving and become easily attached. When they are unbalanced, kaphas can become lazy or stubborn as well as greedy.

If you are the Kapha type, you may need oils to help help lift and stimulate. Oils such as rosemary, eucalyptus, marjoram, melissa, lemon, peppermint would help you stay balanced. doTERRA has two great blends for the Kapha type. Elevation Blend to lift you up and Breathe Blend to clear the air passages. Grapefruit single oil would also be an excellent to help with balance. The Kapha Balancing Kit is available for $73.00 Wholesale or $97.33 Retail. Purchase the retail kit below, or sign up for a preferred customer account for just $10 to get discounts, or a wholesale account for $35 dollars by clicking here.

Pitta Dosha: Associated with the elements of fire and water, pittas are passionate and intense. They have a joyful disposition but they are subject to anger, jealousy, and short tempers when unbalanced. There is often a need to cool off and clarity the mind.

If you are a Pitta type, you may need calming and cooling oils to keep the fire element balanced. Oils such as Sandalwood, Ylang Ylang, and Lavender would be great for cooling and calming. Oils such as Grapefruit, Sweet Orange, and Lavender would be good for a refreshing massage. doTERRA’s Citrus Bliss Blend and Serenity Blend would be perfect for the Pitta type. As well as Lavender single oil. You can purchase all three Pitta Balancing Oils for $66.00 Wholesale or $88.00 Retail. Purchase the retail kit below, or sign up for a preferred customer account for just $10 to get discounts, or a wholesale account for $35 dollars by clicking here.

A Wholesale Membership is $35 to enroll and you’ll get wholesale pricing on all doTERRA products

Technorati Tags: Ayurveda Balance Essential Oils, Ayurveda Practice, TriDosha

It’s a new year, and time to simplify so that you can spend more time and effort on the things that matter the most to you. Discovering how easy it is to use essential oils really is one of those things that simplifies a life. For starters, my daughter has a major dust mite allergy, which we now live in the Dust Mite Capital here in the Northwest. The house dust mite has been associated with a range of respiratory and dermatological allergies, such as asthma and eczema. The main component of dust is shed skin flakes, which is the mite’s preferred food source. Areas around the home that are heavily used, such as beds and upholstered furniture, will have higher mite populations. So how do we deal with this? Wash sheets and pillowcases weekly in water hotter than 131° or when washing in cold water, use a commercial product containing essential oils, like eucalyptus or tea tree oil.

Speaking of the wash, I worked for many years as a Restaurant Manager. My clothes always smelled like Chinese Food. Seriously. The new smell culprit in my life is my workout clothes. For good smelling towels, sheets, or even workout clothes just place a few drops of Lemon Essential Oil to the washer will remove greasy/oily/icky smells.

Another little one story, my daughter suffers from the same ADHD symptoms that my husband does. He has a hard time winding down after a long day of programming. SO here is my solution. Place a 2-3 drops of Lavender Oil onto a small piece of terry cloth and toss into the clothes dryer to scent your bed linens with that calming scent. To really preserve the scent of essential oils used in the dryer, add them and run on a ‘no heat’ cycle for a few minutes at the end of the drying cycle. Research has confirmed that lavender produces slight calming, soothing, and sedative effects when its scent is inhaled
.
Learn more about essential oils or order online at http://www.doterra.myvoffice.com/bijacoaching/, follow the blog or head over to my Facebook page to keep finding simple solutions to a healthier, happier life in 2012.

As an Independent Product Consultant, you enjoy all doTerra products for 25% off.  You can sign up for as little as $35 for the year, or you can jump in and buy a kit such as the Family Physician Kit to get you started.  The Family Physician Enrollment Kit includes 10 essential oils: 5 ml bottles of Lavender, Lemon, Peppermint, Melaleuca, Oregano, Frankincense, Deep Blue®, Breathe, DigestZen®, and On Guard™ to help families address a multitude of health issues. It normally retails at about $175 with tax and shipping.  For a limited time, it also includes a bottle of Slim & Sassy, a metabolic blend to help with weight loss that retails alone at about $38 including tax.  It also includes your complete introductory packet.  The cost to sign up for the Family Physician Introductory Kit that gives you the 10 oils, slim & sassy, and what you need to get started as an Independent Product Consultant is $150 plus tax.  So it is a huge savings and then you can keep on saving as you build your Medicine Cabinet.  Feel free to contact me for details on how the business works.

Technorati Tags: easy essential oil tips, simplify your life

Here’s a short list of some examples of ways to enhance your daily life with essential oils. This can help you save money, live greener and enjoy a better life! Check out the Product Guide to learn more about the Doterra Products.

Light an unscented candle, blow out after a few minutes. Add your chosen essential oil to the melted wax in the center. Do not add essential oil while candle is lit as the essential oils are volatile.

2. Facial Steam.

Add a few drops of oils to boiling water, place your face over the bowl and drape your head with a towel and breathe deeply. Rachel Ray gets her steam on when cooking all of that pasta, and often comments on the great effects of it. This could be your easy spa at home.

3. Spa Treatment.

Add 4-10 drops to your bath or jacuzzi garden tub and soak away the troubles of your day.

4. Freshen stinky sneakers and shoes.

Place cotton balls with several drops of either  Peppermint, Geranium, Lemon or Tea Tree into shoes overnight. If you are a gal that loves her workouts, your shoe closet will thank me – and so will your feet!

5. Sleep during a cold.

Put a few drops of eucalyptus oil on a cloth by your pillow at night to help breathing when struck by a cold or flu.

6. Scented dryer sheet.

Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to a dampened washcloth, toss into your clothes dryer when drying laundry. How economical is that??

7. Tired Muscle Compress.

Hot compresses are wonderful on sore, tired muscles. Add 5-10 drops of oil to hot (not boiling) water. Soak a cloth in the water, wring it out and place on the affected area. Repeat as needed. This is great after a session or two of Insanity or any other new workout.

8. Fever sponge bath.

Add 2 drops each of of Eucalyptus, Peppermint and Lavender into your basin of cool water. Submerge a washcloth into the basin and wring, gently wipe body.

8. Get rid of the adult (or teen) acne.

Just dab tea tree on acne pimples to help clear up the infections twice a day. In laboratory tests, tea tree oil effectively killed a number of the bacteria and fungi most commonly found in skin infections and acne. After the discovery of penicillin and other antibiotics in the late 1940s, tea tree oil went out of favor as an antiseptic until the 1980s, when it was discovered that some bacteria were resistant to certain antibiotics, such as methicillin and vancomycin. Today, there is renewed interest in tea tree oil as an alternative to these antibiotics for skin infections.

9. Increase shelf-life of fresh produce.

Fill a bowl with cool water and 2-3 drops of Lemon oil. Drop your cleaned fruit into the water and stir. Be sure all surfaces of the fruit contact the lemon water.

10. Sanitize counter-tops.

In a 4 oz. bottle filled with water, add 8 drops of Lemon essential oil. Use this to clean off your counters.

Learn more by watching the video below, or by heading over to the Doterra pages.

Technorati Tags: Essential Oils from Dottera, Green Living with Essential Oils, Living with Essential Oils

Have you ever just walked up and down the energy bar aisle at the grocery store and thought, “None of these are for me!”? Well you are not alone, and apparently it’s a good thing for You Bar.

You Bar was launched in 2006 after the mother-son founders, Ava Bise and Anthony Flynn, began creating protein bars at home to meet their taste, health and allergy needs. They loved eating their unique bars so much that they thought there would be a huge market for protein bars made freshly to customers’ own taste and nutritional needs. Anthony, who had just graduated from business school (and has always had an irrepressible entrepreneurial spirit), said to his mom: “Let’s launch a nutrition bar company,” and she replied: “Yes, if we can customize them like the ones we make at home.” And so, in a small commercial kitchen in Los Angeles, You Bar was born.

I love that you have a variety of bases to choose – although I just suggested they add hemp nut butter to the mix. And you can request a specialty base – so who knows, I may have just made them a million. But you pick all of the components – and then they make them for you. Allergic to nuts – well they’ll make it allergy-free just for you. How cool is that!!! And they also have a shake, a trail mix, a cereal and a cookie! These two are genius! So head on over and give them a try. A few minutes of your time and you’ll have a specialized treat just for your needs!

Technorati Tags: allergies, energy bar, You Bars

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My daughter and I share birthday’s in October, and we luckily share friends in mommies and children. So my daughter’s birthday parties are always fun because she get’s to celebrate with her friends, and I get to share and celebrate with mine. This year was no exception.

One thing that has become big in our celebrations is making sure it’s allergy friendly as well. This year we had all of the allergies you could think of: corn, peanuts and tree nuts, soy, gluten, sugar, eggs, dairy…. Seriously. So what do you make?? Well I pulled out my favorite baker’s cookbook, “The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook” and went to work on a decision. I finally decided on the Chocolate Maple Cupcakes, and then topped it with a nice Organic Strawberry Cream Cheese Sugar-Free frosting. Maple syrup is such a great way to sweeten treats in place of sugar. I also made some pumpkin cupcakes and substituted unsweetened applesauce for the eggs that it called for. The only substitution I made on the Chocolate Maple Cupcakes was to use about half of the called for maple syrup and then used a 100% apple cider (unsweetened) for the other half.

The recipe is:

2/3 cups organic rice milk

1 tsp cider vinegar

1 cup Basic gluten-free flour mix (I used a purchased mix this time around)

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp xanthan gum

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp corn-free baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup Spectrum shortening

2/3 cup organic maple syrup

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla corn-free extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the rice milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside. Whisk together the flour mix, cocoa, xanthan, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the shortening on medium about 1 minute. Add the maple syrup and vanilla. Now it won’t look like what you are used to with sugar, but really it’s okay. Sift the dry ingredients, 1/3 at a time, alternating with a portion of the rice milk. It should go dry, wet, dry, wet, dry. Beat until smooth about 30 seconds. Fill your cupcake liners to about the 1/2 way point. Bake for 18 minutes.

The only problem I had was that they were so airy, that they steamed themselves right out of the cupcake sleeves. That was sort of funny, however – I may need to try foil next time and see if I get the same results.

If you want to get another opinion on how yummy (and gooey sticky) these cupcakes are you want to go here… http://allthesanityinme.blogspot.com/2010/10/everything-free-except-taste-cupcakes.html

Technorati Tags: allergies, birthday, chocolate maple cupcakes

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Technorati Tags: allergies, birthday, chocolate maple cupcakes