My Halloween Cat

My beautiful Cleo is a black cat.

She’s absolutely everything Halloween.

She’s been with me since 1996 when we adopted her from a neighbor.  As the story goes she lives in our bathroom.  One might ask why.  Our bathroom is spacious.  It’s lovely actually and it’s especially lovely for a cat. 

The bathroom has a bright warm western exposure window that she can perch at.   Additionally she has a basket she can curl up in or a pillow up on a table she can snuggle on.  Seemingly that and the window are her favorite. 

She hangs out in the bathroom because we got a big female alpha dog and my Cleo doesn’t have her front claws. It wasn’t a good scenario.
 
What I love about my Cleo are her mink-minks or her expressions. She’s wonderfully vocal. I like that she looks right at you. Its as if she understands you!  I love how she wriggles around on the floor happy to see you. She’s never been a lap cat, although when she was a kitten she did tour each of our beds, keeping us company and purring into the night. I love that she didn’t just pick one of us, that she took turns. She was diplomatic!

I personally don’t mind having feline company in the bathroom. My guests though sometimes think it’s odd.


My favorite regal cleo pose.

Make it a booootastic Halloween!

Breaking The Sugar Habit

Breaking the Sugar Habit
a huge thank you for nutritionist Barb Lagoni for this wonderful information

One of the biggest challenges of eating healthy is removing simple carbohydrates,sugars and empty-calorie snacks from our diet. Sweets, snacks, chips, pasta, crackers, pretzels, potatoes, rice, soda pop and juices are just not good for us.

These foods are high-glycemic. That means they spike your blood sugar…only to see it plummet an hour or so later thus creating fluctuating blood sugars that lead to cravings and bingeing and no room for healthy choices.

Such cravings are not about will power. They are about metabolic imbalance that creates cravings for fast sugar and carbohydrate snacks.

The following are ways many people have successfully kicked that sugar habit and enjoyed good healthy food again.

The Ideal Diet – The ideal diet emphasizes fresh raw vegetables, some fresh fruit and fish and poultry.

Breakfast - include high protein foods… eggs, turkey sausages, or a smoothie made with a high quality Soy Protein

or a snack bar- ours has 10 grams of protein!

Fresh fruit (avoid high glycemic fruits such as pineapple, banana and grapes)

Swiss oatmeal ( rolled oats softened overnight in milk or plain yogurt and fresh fruit.. blueberries, strawberries, etc and almonds) Yum!

Lunch is a great place for a main dish salad

Be sure to include lots of vegetables whether in salad or with a plate of fresh veggies, maybe with a dip.

Ideas for salads
try a variety of at least 6 different ingredients to create crunch, color, and flavor…

Veggies, veggies, veggies… try lightly steamed green beans or asparagus, a variety of greens ( except no iceberg lettuce .. no nutritional value there),sprouts, red cabbage, green cabbage, peas, shredded carrots, chopped broccoli, cauliflower, fresh white mushrooms, green onions, baby bok choi, spinach, assorted peppers, grated beet, cubed roasted squash etc

Add a little sweetness occasionally with dried cranberries or dried cherries, 1 fresh orange, rind removed and chopped, sliced apples, pears, grapes,

Add crunch with sliced almonds, pecans, walnuts, pistachios, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds…or Shaklee Fiber Plan Daily Crunch

Add flavor with sundried tomatoes, fresh herbs ( water cress, parsley, cilantro, ),pesto, artichoke hearts

For protein …chopped, cooked chicken, turkey, tuna, garbanzo beans, chopped hard-cooked eggs, etc

Don’t forget to make your own salad dressing

Mid afternoon snacks… snack bars, energizing tea, vegetables and dip, fresh fruit, nuts, peanut butter fudge ( 1 cup organic peanut butter, 1 cup Soy Protein, 1/3 cup honey)

Dinner – avoid high glycemic starches like potatoes, pasta and rice, avoid fried foods… Include, LOTS of vegetables… fresh or lightly steamed, meat, poultry and fish

Beverages… filtered water in a glass pitcher with cinnamon sticks, ginger root slices, or fresh mint for flavor

Evening snack – no popcorn… (high glycemic carb) nuts, veggies and dip, fruit,

Basic Supplements…to stop cravings for sweets and carbohydrates

High Quality Multi-Vitamin

A Complete B Complex (consider one with each meal)

Glucose Regulating Product

Fiber Tablets

Friendly Bacteria

Advanced Supplements – a daily all in one strip – great for on the go people!

Detoxifying

non-toxic cleaning products
Non – petroleum sourced personal skincare
Milk Thistle, Alfalfa,colon cleanser,friendly bacteria


sugar cube flickr image

K a r e n     H a n r a h a n
Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant
Mentoring YOU to Health Success
708.482.0678
 
Websites:
Nutrition
Weight Loss 

Dangers of Sugar

What is the history of sugar consumption? 

1900 – 10 lbs per capita

1985 – 124 lbs

2000 – 160 lbs

What happens to our immune systems at the holidays?  Like from Halloween through Christmas?  Can you say candy – centric holdiays?  Here’s how it works. Lots of sugar = lots of colds and flu. This is immune dysfunction. Lendon Smith Author of Feed Your Kids Right distinquished sugar, white flour and all that snicky snacky stuff as “anti-nutrients” Why? Because sugar and white flour deplete nutrients to metabolize them, specifically they deplete nutrients needed for immune function. Sugar slows down the white blood cells swimming through the blood stream needed to devour germs, viruses, bacteria, parasites, cancer. Pretty dangerous stuff that sugar.

Sugar Feeds Candida Yeast. Candida are those nasty yeast organisms that grow rampant when given anti-biotics, steroids, or when the balance of the gut is disturbed even by a bout of diarrhea. These yeasty things attach themselves to the lining of the intestines and over time often poke holes in the lining leading to a syndrome known as leaky gut. Those with leaky gut develop all kinds of odd health challenges; everything from environmental sensitivities, food allergies, or headaches. Many conditions of illness and discomfort stem from an unhealthy gut. Guess what candida’s favorite food is ?? Sugar and white flour.

Sugar depletes B Vitamins. B’s are essential for the brain, the nervous system, behavior and balanced hormones

Sugar causes the body to become more acidic. Some say this promotes inflammatory illnesses. We are an inflammed society.  Sugar and it’s empty calories contributes to excessive weight gain, dental decay, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, osteoporisis, arthritis

Sugar is just terrible for the digestive track. It literally depletes minerals. ( calcium, chromium, magnesioum and zinc ). Reduces the production of digestive enzymes, leads to allergies and immune issues,

Sugar makes you old. Sugar sticks to proteins, changes their properties and interferes with their ability to function. AGE’s damaging compounds aka advanced glycation end products promote heart disease, high blood pressure, cataracts, arthritis and artherosclerosis

above info sourced from nutritionist barb lagoni’s notes

don’t you want to roll in it candy mosaic flickr image?

K a r e n     H a n r a h a n
Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant
Mentoring YOU to Health Success
708.482.0678
 
Websites:
Nutrition
Weight Loss 

Greenfully Grateful

This is my entry for this month’s Green Moms Carnival.

The theme is about gratitude and the three green things that you absolutely love the most.

Look for the entire gathering of gratitude posts next Monday. Hosted by none other than…me!!

I don’t know why autumn brings me to a space of flowing thanks, but it does. Is the annual season of death swirling color of leaves, dips in temperature and the comforting cocooning of winter meant to have us pause and reflect??  Well if so, it works for me every time.

Thinking greenly there were indeed three things that struck me that I will be forever grateful for…

The shining beautiful green eyes of my daughter speak to me. Her love, her reflection of me, her spirit and her youth inspire my very day. She started out blue eyed, equally beautiful and I have a picture of her then to remind me that once they were blue. I don’t know when they went green truthfully. That they are. Greenly

She and I are close. I treasure that immensely.  We both are taking strides for a different more separate closeness as she prepares to leave for college. I don’t feel anxious about her leaving my nest, as I didn’t when her brother moved out on his own. He was ready. She will be too. As will I


Summer 2008

Once upon a time a remarkable forward thinking man pioneered a revolutionary green cleaning product created in his personal lab from soy. It was organic, it was non-toxic, it was bio-degradable  AND it was WAY before bio-degradable was even in the dictionary. His 1956 premise was to ship concentrate.  You add the water, and save on ooodles of plastic bottles in the landfills.  What a green visionary he was!  Two drops of this liquid concentrate cleaning wonder in a 16 oz spray bottle of water is all you need for a product that makes windows sparkle.  Two drops!  Take that one bottle of concentrate and apply it to just making window cleaning and it will make thousands and thousands of bottles of glistening window wonder.  Thousands! Think of the plastic bottles NOT  going into the landfills.  A product with over 1001 uses – you barely need anything else. I simply adore this product. I marvel at it’s cleaning capacity and I am in awe of how long one bottle lasts me.

As science has the ability to move forward the original recipe has shifted from soy to corn. DOUBLING the concentration!! Seriously Cool Greenness.


glorious greenness flickr image

This summer my landlord opened up her rolling composting drum to me and said have at it – dump your veggie scraps away.  New to the idea I saved what I’d normally throw away in the garbage and put into composting instead.  My garbage at the curb reduced by about 75%! 

It occurs to me that composting is an absolutely huge organic multi-function solution to our landfill concerns. Rotting fruits, veggies , eggshells, tea and coffee grinds can be put to use to create a purposeful nutrient rich mulch that can be used again and again and again. I had no idea of the personal impact composting would have not only on reducing MY personal contribution to the garbage pile, and to the reduced costs of garbage stickers but on the planet.

Why isn’t community composting the norm?  


the beauty of scraps flickr image 

K a r e n     H a n r a h a n
Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant
Mentoring YOU to Health Success
708.482.0678
 
Websites:
Nutrition
Weight Loss 

 

146 Reasons Why Sugar Is Ruining Your Health

Tis the season of sugar-centric holidays.  I advise eating it in moderation. 

146 Reasons Why Sugar is Ruining Your Health

Just a “short list” of ways sugar can affect your well being.

Sugar can suppress the immune system.
Sugar can upset the body’s mineral balance.
Sugar can contribute to hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, concentration difficulties, and crankiness in children.
Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.
Sugar can reduce helpful high density cholesterol (HDLs).
Sugar can promote an elevation of harmful cholesterol (LDLs).
Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.
Sugar contributes to a weakened defense against bacterial infection.
Sugar can cause kidney damage.
Sugar can increase the risk of coronary heart disease.
Sugar may lead to chromium deficiency.
Sugar can cause copper deficiency.
Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
Sugar can increase fasting levels of blood glucose.
Sugar can promote tooth decay.
Sugar can produce an acidic stomach.
Sugar can raise adrenaline levels in children.
Sugar can lead to periodontal disease.
Sugar can speed the aging process, causing wrinkles and grey hair.
Sugar can increase total cholesterol.
Sugar can contribute to weight gain and obesity.
High intake of sugar increases the risk of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Sugar can contribute to diabetes.
Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
Sugar leads to decreased glucose tolerance.
Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
Sugar can increase systolic blood pressure.
Sugar causes food allergies.
Sugar can cause free radical formation in the bloodstream.
Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
Sugar can contribute to eczema in children.
Sugar can overstress the pancreas, causing damage.
Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
Sugar can cause liver cells to divide, increasing the size of the liver.
Sugar can increase the amount of fat in the liver.
Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
Sugar can cause depression.
Sugar can increase the body’s fluid retention.
Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance.
Sugar can cause hypertension.
Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.
Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha and theta brain waves, which can alter the mind’s ability to think clearly.
Sugar can increase blood platelet adhesiveness which increases risk of blood clots and strokes.
Sugar can increase insulin responses in those consuming high-sugar diets compared to low sugar diets.
Sugar increases bacterial fermentation in the colon.

Thank you Dr. Nancy Appleton for sharing this list and thank you even more for the impressive resources ( wow!)

I personally believe sugar is an addiction and a habit. Try this experiment. Stop having sugar for 30 days. It’s harder than you might think to quit. What’s worse is when you discover how many sugars are hidden.  You think you’ve gotten through an entire day without obvious sugary foods only to find your salad dressing has sugar in it or your toothpaste or worse yet – your frozen peas!!! 

Once you have completely stopped eating sugar  – stay off of it for several weeks straight   

Then as part of the experiment re-introduce it.

You will literally find yourself not able to think about anything else.

Observe how you feel once you start eating it again.

The book L
ick the Sugar Habit by Dr Appleton offers further commentary, an ” are you a sugar addict” quiz and much much more.

Did you know that the nutrient B Complex help curb cravings for sweets?  Should you be pre-diabetic this nutrient can actually help reassimilate glucose back into the cell.



brown sugar flickr image credit

K a r e n     H a n r a h a n
Wellness Educator/Nutritional Consultant
Mentoring YOU to Health Success
708.482.0678
 
Websites:
Nutrition
Weight Loss