New Year's Resolution 5-Day Cleanse

Over the holidays, many of us overindulge. Great food, baked goods, etc., with friends and family is what I love about the holidays.

But many of those things can also "bog us down."  A cleanse is one of the most effective ways to feel lighter and look younger.

And if you have a New Year's Health Resolution, a cleanse is a great way to "jump start" your metabolism, and kick of your resolution.

Below is a simple 5-Day Cleanse that I have done a few times before--and always felt great afterwards.


The 5-Day Cleanse:

1. Immediately after you get up each morning, drink one cup of hot water with fresh squeezed lemon.
2. No dairy other than 1/2 cup of plain yogurt once per day.
3. Eliminate all grains, including rice.
4. Each day each one fruit (ideal fruits are apples, blueberries, or clementines)
5. Vegetables are free (each as much as you want), except--do not eat any of the "starchy" vegetables: potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, etc.
6. Eliminate all red meat.
7. No more than 3 ounces of protein to be consumed at each meal (tuna, salmon, tofu, chicken, turkey, sole, etc.)
8. No beans or legumes
9.  No coffee or alcohol.  Substitute green or black teas, herbal energy drinks, and herbal teas.
10. 8 glasses of water per day.  Add chlorophyll to water twice a day.  Mint flavoured chlorophyll is available.

Tips:

• 
• If you become constipated, add fibre such as ground flax seed, ground chia seed, or Fibre+ from Health, to smoothies/shakes and/or yogurt.
• Maximum of 15 nuts per days.
• If you feel tired or low-energy throughout the day, instead of drinking a coffee, try a Pro prolonged energy drink.

Recommended Grocery Items:

• Yogurt: use plain (not-flavoured), probiotic yogurt. Not skim or non-fat yogurt. Liberte brand is a very good choice--no sugar, good probiotic count.  Astro plain is a good compromise.
• Omega 3 eggs (hard boiled and kept in fridge--great snack or protein for lunch)
• Cinnamon tea (for cravings)
• raw almonds &/or walnuts
• green or red apples
• red peppers
• cucumbers
• carrots (including baby carrots)
• celery
• fresh lemons
• Imagine brand Soup Broth (vegetable or chicken
  --drink as much or as often as you like.)
• Pro prolonged herbal energy drink mix
   (to get you through the afternoon low).
• Vi-Shape shake mix for your protein smoothie.

Supplements:

1. Ground flaxseeds: add 1 tablespoon to shake/smoothie and/or yogurt
2. Acidophilus (probiotics): Makes sure capsules have >3 billion organisims per capsule.  Take 4 capsules per day--2 in morning, 2 in evening.
3. Chlorophyll: available at most health food stores.  Add 1 teaspoon to water twice daily--morning and evening.

Banned from the cleanse:
- mayonnaise
- sugar (including adding to tea)
- bread, pasta, cereal, grains, etc.
- potatoes
- rice
- red meat
- coffee
- wine
- beer
- alcohol
- dates
- raisins
- cheese (including cottage cheese, cream cheese, hard cheeses)
- beans (including hummus)


Sample Meal Plan:

Breakfast:
Vi-Shake--1 cup Almond milk, 1/2 cup frozen berries, 1 tsp flaxseed oil, 1 tbsp ground Chia seeds, 1 tsp mint chlorophyll.

Snack:
1/2 cup of plain yogurt with 1/2 cup of berries, 6-8 almonds, and 1 tsp of ground flaxseeds.

Lunch:
1 cup vegetable or chicken soup broth
salads with 3 ounces of tuna
carrot sticks, celergy sticks
or
Vi-Shake

Snack:
1 apple and 6-8 almonds

Dinner:
- 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
- chicken breast
- salad
- steamed vegetables

Want Bigger, Stronger, and/or More Powerful Muscles?

Do you know how many muscles your body has?  Approximately 650.  How many do you care about?  Well, we need every single one of them to perform normal everyday functions--such as breathing, pumping blood, eating, pulling in our gut...

Now most of our muscles we do not really think about.  For example, there are approximately 200 muscles involved in walking, and obviously we do not monitor them.

If you want to better understand how your muscles work, and how to make them bigger, stronger and/or more powerful, read on.


Different types of Muslce Fibers for Different Jobs.

Skeletal muscles are the ones you see in the mirror--and they have two main types of fibers.

So called "Slow-Twitch" muscle fibers--Type I fibers, are the main type used for endurance activities. The "Fast-Twitch" or Type II fibers are brought in to work when a task utilizes more than 25% of your maximum strength. Contrary to popular belief, slow-twitch fibers are not only used for slow activities.  The action just does not require much of your fast-twitch strength for your slow-twitch fibers to take over.  And an effort does not need to be fast for your fast-twitch fibers to be involved.

Setting a personal-best squat or bench press is going to utilized every possible fast-twitch, and all the slow-twitch fibers, even though you are not probably moving very fast.

The average person has roughly an equal mix of slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers.  The exception is elite athletes, where gifted marathoners probably have more slow- than fast-twitch fibers, and Olympic sprinters probably have more fast-twitch fibers.

The fast-twitch fibers are twice as big as slow-twitch fibers.  While both types of fibers can get bigger, the fast-twitch fibers can grow much bigger compared to the growth of slow-twitch fibers.

Check out this article for tips and advice on building bigger, stronger, and/or more powerful muscles.

Energy Drinks--The Truth

What are you pouring into your body?  Do you really know?

Taurine--a very common energy drink ingredient.  Very exotic sounding, isn't it?  But what is it?  Almost all of the big name energy drinks--Red Bull, AMP Energy, Sobe Adrenaline Rush, etc.--contain taurine, claiming that is can spike your performance, and hone your concentrations, for hours.

The truth, however, is not quite there.  So what is taurine?  Taurine is an amino acid that acts as a neurotransmitter.  Research from Weill Cornell Medical suggests that it might actually work more like a sedative than a stimulant.  So instead of giving you wings, it may actually "clip" them.

Oh, but there is more.  Check out this article form Men's Health Magazine where they attempted to separate the science form the marketing.  Where they analyzed the claims and the ingredients of some of the most popular energy drinks on the market.  Where they tried to answer the question: Are energy drinks safe?

And the question: Do energy drinks contribute to body fat gain? Or can you lose weight by watching what you drink?

For a natural energy drink, research-based, that will help access your energy, awaken your metabolism, and clear your mental fog. Check out Go and Pro from ViSalus Sciences.  Go Energy shots are perfect just before a game, or your workout session.  Pro Energy drinks are great to drink throughout the day instead of coffee, and to drink during physical activity.

Boost Your Testosterone to improve your sexual stamina, energy, and drive.

Boost Your Testosterone to improve your sexual stamina, energy, and drive.


A decrease in testosterone is dangerous for your life. As we age, losing muscle mass, bone density, and our sex drive is bad enough.  Recent research shows that a drop in testosterone increases the risk of prostate cancer and heart disease.

Follow these Five simple steps out fo the book "Testosterone Transformatoin" to help raise your testosterone levels, and improve and lengthen your life.


1. Abs!
As your waist size increases, your testosterone decreases. For example, if you are 5'10" and you put on an extra 30 pounds over theyears--4-point rise in yourBMI--you can accelerate your age-related T decline by 10 years.

2. Build Your Muscles!
A recent Finnish study found that guys who regularly lifted weights experiences about a 50% increase in their free testosterone levels.  How come? Research suggests that as muscles become stronger, your body produces more testosterone.

3. Fat to fill you Up!
Trim fat?  Sure, reducing some of the fats can help you stay slim, but do not remove all fat for you diet, or your T-Levels will dive. The International Journal of Sports Medicine recently published a study that show men who consumed the most fat, also had the highest T-Levels.  In order to preserve your testosterone, and protect your heart, eat lots of the "right" type of fats: monounsaturated fats found in fish and nuts.


4. Avoid the Bar!
Alcohol messes with your hormones.  A Dutch study recently showed that men who consumed moderated amounts of alcohold daily for three weeks showed a 7% drop in their testosterone levels.  You don't have to become "dry", just cut back.


5. Stress
Stress--both physical, mental, and emotional, can rapidly reduce your T-Levels.  Stress causes the cortisol levels in your body to spike, which in turn suppresses the body's ability to produce testosterone, and use it in tissues. While cardiovascular exercise is a fantastic at reducing tension levels and cortisol levels, be careful not to overdo it, as injuries and fatigue from over-training are forms of physical stress that as mentioned above, can lower your T-Levels.


Check out the Testosterone Transformation--a research-based plan that used 3 key strategies: nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle habits, to help stop the decrease in our T-Levels.

Benefits of the program include:
- decrease body fat
- flatter stomach
- more energy
- increased mental alertness
- bigger, thicker, stronger muscles
- firmer erections and greater sex drive
- intense feelings of motivation and confidenceTransformation today!

How to stick to your diet plan while travelling for business

The Effects of Your Business Trip On Your Diet

For many, business trips can be a productive, enjoyable and even exciting experience. The time away that you spend doing business in other locations can expand your business reach and scope, as well as broaden you as a person.  Becoming  skilled at business travel is a solid business goal as there are skills related to business travel and being productive on the road that are impossible to learn if you don’t get out there and travel.

Many of the skills associated with business travel have to do with how to live productively on the road. This is especially important if you find yourself on a long business trip. The life of moving in and out of hotels, travelling by car or airplane, the stresses of the work, and being away from friends and family  can wear down even the most robust and experienced business traveller

Maintaining a nutritious diet while travelling can be a serious challenge.  It can, however, be accomplished with some planning. While travelling, you will probably find yourself eating in a lot of restaurants, and kind of food is not conducive to a diet that is designed for weight loss, healthy weight maintenance, or a diet you must maintain for health reasons.

In order to achieve your diet goal while travelling you should first communicate your desires to your travelling companions, if you have any.  In a business environment, there is often a lot of  encouragement to eat and drink well.  Everybody is on the expense account so it is easy to overdo it. If you let your coworkers and clients know, however, that you have compelling reasons to maintain a disciplined diet, most of the time they will respect that and find ways to help you be successful.  They may even thank you for they may want to be doing the same thing.

The next idea for healthy business travel is not to be dependent on restaurants for your all of your food/meals. Try to get out to the local market or grocery store and buy some fresh fruit and vegetables.  While you are there, look for nutritious food that you prepare in your room to fill you up and keep you on track.  That way, if you find yourself in a restaurant with coworkers or clients, your won't be as hungry and will be less tempted to order some of the less-healthy options on the menu.  You will be find with soup and/or a salad.

Another suggestion is to be a voice for moderation in the selection of eating establishments for your meals.  Fast food is not a good choice for you, or your colleagues.  If there is discussion about where to stop to eat, you can advocate for a place that serves a good variety of meal choices including some healthy choice options.  That way, if you find that you must eat in a restaurant, you can find items to order that can be prepared in accord with your diet needs.

You will probably find that you find many allies in your travel associates, and in those you are doing business with.  Many of us have diet goals but have not been successful because of the temptations of the life on the road. Your open statement of intent to stick to your diet in spite of the rigours of business travel can be a tremendous inspiration to them.  Furthermore, by building partnerships in your intent to live healthy, it is entirely possible to take your business to a healthy restaurant or deli and allow the rest of the party to go to a place of their liking. As long as this is done without animosity, everybody wins.

Avoiding alcohol and snacks can be a huge challenge on the road as well. Very often in a workshop/seminar setting or during a long day of discussions, the host company or office will provide snacks such as muffins or cookies to help the meeting go well by keeping everybody’s blood sugar up. These snacks are hard to resist. Knowing this ahead of time you can come prepared with your own snacks in your brief case and chose your own healthy snacks such as fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Also, if fruit is also provided, choose that, as the natural sugars in the fruit will have the same intent/effects as the cookies/muffins, while the fibre will slow the rate of sugar absorption and it will take longer for you to feel hungry again.  You will find that at the end of the day you will still be mentally alert and sharp, while many of your colleagues have become mentally dull.

By planning ahead about your diet needs and how you will provide for yourself while travelling, you can ensure that you sustain a healthy lifestyle, even during business trips. By complimenting theses choices with exercise and rest, you will probably  find that your weather the trip much better than your colleagues who abuse their bodies , and you should find yourself more productive as a business person as well,  because you took the time and made the effort to eat well on the road.