Revitalise Your Health

Before we get into the article, I want to tell you about an incredible offer that you just have to take advantage of. You may have heard of a fitness guru called Mike Geary. He has changed tens of thousands of lives with his unique, guaranteed to work abs plan to get a firm and flat stomach. And now he wants to help YOU in your quest for sexy abs. To find out how he can help you click HERE.

My Top 55 Lean-Body Foods to Build Muscle and Lose Body Fat

by Michael Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

In most of my Lean-Body Secrets Newsletters, I like to provide a healthy snack or meal recipe that not only is delicious and healthy, but also helps to get you closer to that hard-body appearance that everyone is looking for, while also more importantly, improving your health for life. In this article, I’d like to give you healthy food ideas in a different way. This time, I figured I’d just give you some ideas of what I stock my fridge and cabinets with.

Remember, if you don’t have junk around the house, you’re less likely to eat junk. If all you have is healthy food around the house, you’re forced to make smart choices. Basically, it all starts with making smart choices and avoiding temptations when you make your grocery store trip. Now these are just some of my personal preferences, but perhaps they will give you some good ideas that you’ll enjoy.

Alright, so let’s start with the fridge. Each week, I try to make sure I’m loaded up with lots of varieties of fresh vegetables. During the growing season, I only get local produce, but obviously in winter, I have to resort to the produce at the grocery store. Most of the time, I make sure I have plenty of vegetables like onions, zucchini,  spinach, fresh mushrooms, red peppers, broccoli, etc. to use in my morning eggs.  I also like to dice up some lean chicken or turkey sausage into the eggs, along with some swiss, jack, or goat cheeses (preferably raw grass-fed cheeses when I can find them). 

By the way I’m talking about whole eggs, NOT egg whites.  Always remember that the yolk is the most nutritious and nutrient dense part of the egg, so only eating egg whites is like throwing away the best part… and no, it’s NOT bad for you because of the cholesterol… eggs actually raise your GOOD cholesterol.  Try to get free range organic eggs for the best quality. Here’s an entire article I did on the topic of whole eggs vs egg whites.

Coconut milk is another staple in my fridge. I like to use it to mix in with smoothies, oatmeal, or yogurt for a rich, creamy taste. Not only does coconut milk add a rich, creamy taste to lots of dishes, but it’s also full of healthy saturated fats. Yeah, you heard me…I said healthy saturated fats! Healthy saturated fats like medium chain triglycerides, specifically an MCT called lauric acid.

Back to the fridge, some other staples:

• Chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds - delicious and great sources of healthy fats.
• Cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and yogurt - I like to mix cottage or ricotta cheese and yogurt together with chopped nuts and berries for a great mid-morning or mid-afternoon meal.
• Whole flax seeds or chia seeds - I grind these in a mini coffee grinder and add to yogurt or salads. Always grind them fresh because the omega-3 polyunsaturated fats are highly unstable and prone to oxidation, creating high levels of free radicals in pre-ground flax.
• Whole eggs - one of natures richest sources of nutrients (and remember, they increase your GOOD cholesterol so stop fearing them).
• Salsa - I try to get creative and try some of the exotic varieties of salsas.
• Avocados - love them…plus a great source of healthy fats, fiber, and other nutrients. Try adding them to wraps, salads, or sandwiches.
• Butter - don’t believe the naysayers; butter adds great flavor to anything and can be part of a healthy diet (just keep the quantity small because it is calorie dense…and NEVER use margarine, unless you want to assure yourself a heart attack).
• Nut butters - Plain old peanut butter has gotten a little old for me, so I get creative and mix together almond butter with sesame seed butter, or even cashew butter with macadamia butter…delicious and unbeatable nutrition!
• Leaf lettuce and spinach along with shredded carrots - for salads with dinner.
• Home-made salad dressing - using balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and Udo’s Choice oil blend. This is much better than store bought salad dressing which mostly use highly refined soybean oil (full of inflammation-causing free radicals).
• Whole grain wraps and whole grain bread (look for wraps and bread with at least 3-4 grams of fiber per 20 grams of total carbs).
• Rice bran and wheat germ - these may sound way too healthy for some, but they actually add a nice little nutty, crunchy taste to yogurt or smoothies, or can be added when baking muffins or breads to add nutrients and fiber.

Some of the staples in the freezer:

• Frozen berries - during the local growing season, I only get fresh berries, but during the other 10 months of the year, I always keep a supply of frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cherries, etc. to add to high fiber cereal, oatmeal, cottage cheese, yogurt, or smoothies
• Frozen fish - I like to try a couple different kinds of fish each week. There are so many varieties out there, you never have to get bored.
• Frozen chicken breasts - very convenient for a quick addition to wraps or chicken sandwiches for quick meals.
• Grass-fed steaks, burgers, and ground beef - Grassfed meats have been shown to have as high as, or even higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than salmon (without the mercury). Also, grass-fed meats have much higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) compared to typical grain-fed beef.  I recently found an excellent on-line store where I buy all of my grass-fed meats now (they even deliver right to your door in a sealed cooler) - www.healthygrassfed.2ya.com
• Frozen buffalo, ostrich, venison, and other “exotic” lean meats - Yeah, I know…I’m weird, but I can tell you that these are some of the healthiest meats around, and if you’re serious about a lean healthy body, these types of meats are much better for you than the mass produced, hormone-pumped beef and pork that’s sold at most grocery stores.
• Frozen veggies - again, when the growing season is over and I can no longer get local fresh produce, frozen veggies are the best option, since they often have higher nutrient contents compared to the fresh produce that has been shipped thousands of miles, sitting around for weeks before making it to your dinner table.

Alright, now the staples in my cabinets:

• Various antioxidant rich teas - green, oolong, white, rooibos are some of the best.
• Whole wheat or whole grain spelt pasta - much higher fiber than normal pastas
• Oat bran and steel cut oats - higher fiber than those little packs of instant oats.
• Cans of coconut milk - to be transferred to a container in the fridge after opening.
• Brown rice and other higher fiber rice - NEVER white rice
• Tomato sauces - delicious, and as I’m sure you’ve heard a million times, they are a great source of lycopene. Just watch out for the brands that are loaded with nasty high fructose corn syrup.
• Stevia - a natural non-caloric sweetener, which is an excellent alternative to the nasty chemical-laden artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharine, and sucralose.
• Raw honey - better than processed honey… higher quantities of beneficial nutrients and enzymes. Honey has even been proven in studies to improve glucose metabolism (how you process carbs). I use a teaspoon or so every morning in my teas. Yes, it is pure sugar, but at least it has some nutritional benefits… and let’s be real, a teaspoon of healthier raw honey is only 5 grams of carbs… certainly nothing to worry about.
• Organic maple syrup - none of that high fructose corn syrup Aunt Jemima crap…only real maple syrup can be considered real food. The only time I really use this (because of the high sugar load) is added to my post-workout smoothies to sweeten things up and also elicit an insulin surge to push nutrients into your muscles.
• Organic unsweetened cocoa powder - I like to mix this into my smoothies for an extra jolt of antioxidants or make my own low-sugar hot cocoa by mixing cocoa powder into hot milk with stevia and a couple melted dark chocolate chunks.
• Cans of black or kidney beans - I like to add a couple scoops to my Mexican wraps for the fiber and high nutrition content. Also, beans are surprisingly one of the best sources of youth promoting antioxidants!
• Dark chocolate (as dark as possible) - This is one of my treats that satisfies my sweet tooth, plus provides loads of antioxidants at the same time. It’s still calorie dense, so I keep it to just a couple squares; but that is enough to do the trick, so I don’t feel like I need to go out and get cake and ice cream to satisfy my dessert urges.

Lastly, another thing that’s hard to go wrong with is a good variety of fresh fruits and berries. The staples such as bananas, apples, oranges, pears, peaches are good, but I like to also be a little more adventurous and include things like yellow (aka - mexican or champagne) mangoes, pomegranates, kumquats, papaya, star fruit, pineapples, and others. Also, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and cherries are some of the most nutrient and antioxidant-dense fruits you can eat.Well, I hope you enjoyed this special look into my favorite lean body meals and how I stock my cabinets and fridge. Your tastes are probably quite different than mine, but hopefully this gave you some good ideas you can use next time you’re at the grocery store looking to stock up a healthy and delicious pile of groceries.

Don’t forget to get Mike Geary’s Truth About Abs manual so that you can get sexy abs. Click here to get it.

I got an email from a subscriber of my natural anti aging and beauty newsletter recently. She wanted to share with me some of her best natural beauty tips. I asked if I could share them with you, and she kindly permitted me to do so. Thanks Kavitha!

Here they are…

—————————

Turmeric and yogurt mixed togather and applied gives instant glow to dry skin

Lemon juice + honey + glycerine when mixed and used results in super soft skin

Papaya is great skin softner so once in a month a home home made spa gives that glow

Papaya scrub :

make a paste of papaya with rice powder to scrub out impurities

Papaya massage gel:

mix papaya + honey + lemon = make it into a paste and massage for 15 mins

Papaya mask :

paste made of papaya and basin floor makes a great mask …..keep it for 15 mins and rinse off before it is fully dried

No need of any other treatments for next 15 days as their will be no need

Results : glowing…….refreshing……..smooth skin.

—————————–

Thanks to Kavitha for these tips. If you have your own please feel free to submit your own tips by leaving a comment on this post.

If you’d like to discover the secrets used by one of the world’s top natural beauty and anti-aging experts, then take a look at Rejuvenate: Turn Back The Clock by Missy Munoz

Just a short post today to let you know about a new anti aging newsletter I’ve just started. As a subscriber you will receive access to some of the most powerful anti-aging secrets available online… anywhere! It’s free to join, so subscribe today to begin discovering how you can look and feel younger.

Click here to subscribe to my new anti aging newsletter and discover some of the most powerful anti-aging secrets 

Today’s article contributed by Kim Synder of Overallbeauty.com

During the winter months your skin and body over all need a little extra TLC. With the cold air outside and the recycled heat instead, its not surprising your skin may get dry and itchy. This is the time of year to moisturize, moisturize, and moisturize even more from your hair to your toes.

One way you might start off caring for your body is start taking warm baths again. Did you know that a warm bath has a hydrating effect on your skin? You can start now by trying all those really wonderful scented bath oils to help sooth away the stress of your day and help your dry skin as well. After your bath be sure to apply a rich body moisturizer to your still damp skin to help bring out its natural glow.

With your elbows, knees and heels not seeing the sunshine for the next few months its time to remember they still need to be exfoliated at least one a week. Dry patchy skin on your legs is such a no no when its easy to remove it by using a organic body scrub once a week. Be careful because many of the best organic body scrubs were created using naturals oils and that can make your tub a little slippery as well. Stay away from any body scrub created with mineral oil because its not natural and just not good for you. Body scrubs help bring out the natural glow as well because you are removing the dead skin cells that can make your skin look dull and washout. Exfoliation makes it easier for your skin to absorb moisture, remove surface debris and can even out the overall texture of your skin.

Winter means it is also time to change your skincare routine, specially if you already have dry skin. It your skin is normal you still need to watch out to make sure it doesn’t turn into dry skin. Start by selecting a creamier cleanser and a richer moisturizer than the one you may have been using the rest of the year. If your skin feels tight after cleansing it you may be using a harsh cleanser and that’s just not good for your skin.

Don’t forget your night time moisturizers including moisturizing your skin all over your body. It helps keep your skin feeling soft and touchable not dry and itchy. Look into using organic/natural skincare products when ever possible because the less ingredients there are in the product the less chance you have of having a bad reaction to it.

Taking the time to change your skincare routine for the winter months will make you feel better, look better and feel more confident knowing you are showing the best you have to offer to the whole world.

Copyright 2008 Kim Snyder Owner of Overallbeauty.com.

Offering the best selling Overall Beauty Minerals in variety of eye shadow colors, magic lash eyelash enhancer, BB nail polish. We also carry all natural products for your face, body & bath products and so much more for an overall beauty experience.
Attn: Ezine & website editors. You may reprint this article in your ezine or website as long as byline and copyright are included with it. Visit Overallbeauty.com today!
Copyright 2008 Kim Snyder Overallbeauty.com Offering you only the finest in organic/naturally handcrafted skincare, bath & body products and gift sets. Check out our pure Overall Beauty Minerals makeup line and other products we offer with your well-being in mind. Take a break today, Visit Overallbeauty.com!

by James Penn

What you eat and when you eat it is essential if you want to look and feel younger. Learning to listen to your body and your lifestyle when you plan what to eat is imperative. Eating at least three meals per day is essential, and often eating up to five smaller meals is more beneficial. Here are five tips to help you look and feel younger by adopting healthy eating habits.

1. Kick-start your day with a healthy breakfast. Ensure you get a variety of vitamins and nutrients and choose foods that offer a sustained energy boost: porridge, homemade muesli, wholemeal toast, eggs, yoghurt with fruit and nuts and seeds all offer a sustained energy boost.

2. Regularly consume fresh orange juice. Squeeze it yourself from organic oranges, and be sure they are not coated in petroleum waxes. Orange juice with “bits” is a good source of potassium, folate, vitamin C and carotenoids.

3. Learn to grind your own curry powders and aim to cook them once a week. India has the lowest incidence of Alzheimer’s in the world and research has attributed this to turmeric in curry.

4. Learn to eat with the seasons. Ayurveda, the Indian system of natural healthcare, is also referred to as the art of longevity. It teaches that body and mind will become better balanced if we consume the produce of the seasons.

5. Enjoy a treat early on in the day. This seems to have less effect on the waistline.

To discover how to turn back the clock and look and feel up to 20 years younger, click HERE

by James Penn

Before you begin, download your free report by clicking on the link which reveals how you can Eat Your Way To A More Youthful You

Eating food in its most natural state ensures that you receive access to the greatest amount of youth enhancing nutrients. A lot of these life prolonging nutrients are lost when food is stored and processed. Fresh food also lacks artificial additives which are harmful to health and speed up the aging process.

If you want to turn back the clock and start looking and feeling younger, then nutrition is the best way to go about it. You are what you eat, after all!

Here are five tips to help you look younger, feel younger and to start to turn back your body clock.

1. Grow your own fruit and veg. This is the best way to ensure you have the freshest most flavour filled organic fruit and vegetables.

2. Eat your five a day (or more). How many times have you seen the media preach the five a day rule? In this case, the media are right! Makes a change doesn’t it? Make sure you consume at least five pieces of fruit and veg per day. Eat a variety of flavours and colours to maximise the health benefits.

3. Reduce portion size and cut down on calories. Over 50s who aren’t active require 200 fewer calories per day than those who lead a physically active life. Consider cutting down on portion size to reduce your calorie intake and accommodate your slowing metabolism.

4. Ensure your fat intake comes primarily from oily fish, avocados and walnuts. As you age, dietary fat becomes more and more important. It speeds absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids and provides energy.

5. Eat red meat for a fantastic source of iron. Older people are typically deficient of iron. For added benefit serve with green leafy vegetables and a glass of fresh orange juice to maximise absorption.

Remember, your anti aging program begins in the kitchen. The food you eat provides the basis for you to begin to rejuvenate your body and turn back the clock.

If you want to start looking younger, feeling younger and living longer then it’s time for you to make a change. Get your own anti aging program so you can turn back the clock by clicking HERE

Meditation is a skill that is learned. Once you know how to do it properly, it can be used to greatly improve your quality of life and health.

The health benefits of meditation are an increased level of energy, a more positive attitude, better immune health, better quality of sleep, and the slowing of the aging process.

To take advantage of the maximum benefits, meditate for at least 20 minutes per day prior to bedtime.

Follow these steps for meditating. First, sit down and get comfortable in a quiet room. Keep your back and neck straight, and clear your mind so that you are focusing on the present moment.

Then become aware of your breathing. Breathe in and out of your mouth, and pay attention to your stomach rising and falling.

If thoughts come into your head, acknowledge them and let the pass through your mind. Remain conscious of your breathing and relax. If your thoughts carry you away, don’t get frustrated. Simply return back to focusing on your breathing.

When your time meditating is finished, become aware of your surroundings and stand up slowly.

Meditation is a wonderful way to instantly relax yourself and re-enter your being. It is the perfect supplement to any treatment, both alternative and contemporary. This deep relaxation technique will help remove stress and anxiety from life. Reduced stress can only help healing.

Claim your free Deep Zen Meditation DVD by clicking HERE

Yoga is a great exercise activity for all types of people. It is not difficult, but you do have to want to learn about it. The main goal of yoga is to create a balanced relationship between you physical and mental health.

Yoga is a way of life that is carried throughout the day, not just while in yoga class. Yoga creates an awareness of yourself and your day to day life. This is a drastic change to many people who often live on autopilot.

You can decide how you want to use yoga, for its basic purpose of bringing together mind and body, or as more of a strenuous activity for exercise purposes.

In yoga, it is best to start out at the lowest level possible and work your way up as you develop strength and understanding. Just like most other things, it is important to know the foundational concepts before branching out into more difficult territory. You can take instructor-led classes, or learn at home through the wide variety of DVDs.

Birkram Yoga

Birkram yoga is also known as “hot yoga”, mainly because it is practiced in a space that has been heated to over 115 degrees. Hot yoga mainly focuses on stretches and balance. It also is filled with moves that create pressure in the body that blocks circulation. By going through the movements, the constant build up of pressure created by stretching are then released, providing a rush of blood through the veins. This is believed to clean them out.

There are 26 poses in hot yoga. The purpose for the hot environment in Birkram yoga is the warmth warms the body’s muscles and tendons which aids in flexibility.

There are a few tips for people considering this type of yoga. First, because it is practiced in a hot room, you will sweat a lot. It is best to wear appropriate light clothing. It is also a good idea to drink plenty of water prior to your session.

Hatha Yoga

The main focus of Hatha yoga is breathing, meditation, and posture. The practice of this form of yoga is perfect for people that are new to it. Hatha yoga has more of a strong emphasis on the mental component of meditation, mixed in with yoga.

Karma Yoga

The Karma form of yoga pulls together the spiritual and physical worlds. The fundamentals of Karma yoga are based in the Hindu philosophy and religion. It combines two competing philosophies in the world; from the West – that life should be pleasure based, and from the East – that life should be lived for knowledge. Both theories are blended in karma.

Your karma growth is dependant on how you live your life. Bad karma comes from living your life for the purpose of money, wealth, and material possessions. Good karma comes from living your life for happiness and love.

Karma yoga helps you focus on your life as you learn about you life goals, and helps guide you in the right direction.

Dr Allan Cott, M.D., in his 1975 bestselling book, “Fasting: The Ultimate Diet”, says “the rate at which you lose weight is generally in proportion to the degree you are overweight. Most people who fast for a week can expect to lose up to 20 pounds.” “But when you fast, it is not unusual to lose 4 or 5 pounds the first day and up to 10 pounds in 2 days.”

Whenever one decides to start losing weight, whether it be a new years resolution, or a serious mid year consideration brought on by the stark realization that he or she is truly on a roller coaster ride of bad health, and that death will come sooner than would be chosen, one stands before two doors and needs to make a decision on which one to walk through.

The first door does not lead anywhere new. It is simply a continuation of life as it is, and has been. The second door is a door of change, it is a path of new beginnings, of potential super health, clear minded thought, happiness and an extended life.

The problem is to get the clear mindedness to make that change, to take up the courage, to gather the discipline, to realise the benefits. The problem is that we are too lazy to make an effort, to choose the door of mystery and clarity.

Fasting has been a way for many centuries to clear people’s minds spiritually. Jesus, Mohammed, and countless of the great spiritual leaders, scientists and scholars fasted mostly for spiritual reasons, and their bodies did certainly benefit physically also. On the other hand, those that goes on a fast for physical reasons, to cleanse their bodies and to rid it from impurities, will then have the added spiritual benefit, as Evarts Loomis MD says “For some it can be a time of self-discovery, a time to stop playing a role and to begin living the real person. Thus, it can be a time for releasing the ego and discovering the Transpersonal Self.”

What does this have to do with losing weight? Two things:

• Firstly it will give you a tremendous kick start in your weight loss effort.
• Secondly, it will clear your mind and fill you with a new found respect for your body. It will rid you of your previous, bad eating habits, and give you that opportunity to start fresh.

Fasting has benefits way beyond what this article can convey. Dedicate the next few days of your life to cleansing yourself spiritually, and physically, and you will reap the fruits of future health, mental stability and a longer, happier, and slimmer life.

Kim Levin offers a free weight loss course, covering important subjects such as fat burning foods and how to quick start your plan to lose the maximum amount of weight within the shortest time. Kim also manages the Weight Loss Diet Secrets website.

Discover The Hidden Fat Loss Secret That Will
Enable You To Melt The Pounds Off

Click Here

The practice of Apitherapy is the use of bee stings, bee pollen, propolis, royal jelly, and honey to treat a variety of aliments. While there has not been extensive testing in the scientific world to validate the claims of apitherapists, history proves that the treatments provide relief.

There are five honeybee products that are used in apitherapy:

1.Venom: A practitioner will aid the patient in injecting or being stung by bees in the affected area. The venom is used to provide relief for conditions such as tendonitis, Multiple Sclerosis, and degenerative bone disease. It works because the venom is a natural anti-inflammatory which is more potent then others available to conventional medicine such as hydrocortisone. You must get tested to be certain that you are not allergic to beestings prior to exposing yourself to bee venom.

2.Pollen: A natural energy supplement that is also used as a seasonal allergy aid. It is also believed to slow down the development of wrinkles.

3.Raw Honey: A source of quick energy, raw honey is used for many cures. It can even be used as a salve on top of an open wound to avoid the spread of bacteria.

4.Royal Jelly: Is the milky white substance that the worker bees produce to feed the queen. While unsubstantiated, this substance is used as a beauty aid and is believed to help lower cholesterol.

5.Propolis: Is the glue used to keep the hives together and make repairs. Propolis is made from the sap of poplar and conifer trees. It is used to make lip balm and salves, and is considered to be an antioxidant.