help ease me into living healthier plz!! (jm)

Oh gosh, I **love** iced Good Earth tea. I drink it plain, and I'm the type who has to put cream and sugar in everything. I don't know if  you could find it in China, though. This is what it is: http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/CategoryDisplay?cgmenbr=1381491&cgrfnbr=1574580

hmm, i'll look into the good earth tea. maybe i could find it here... sometimes even i get surprised at the stuff they sell here. i'll probably go tea shopping this weekend.

i do take a multivitamin. not everyday, but i'm getting better at it. it's a habit thing, i guess and i often just forget... i also started taking vitamin e again. i know taking vitamins isnt a substitude for eating fruits and veggies though, but i figure on a daily recommended dose i wont take too much for sure, so it's a good way to back up my vitamin needs i guess...

i tried drinking water today at work and it's just not something i enjoy drinking, and as a result i got a headache, i think from getting a bit dehydrated... i could force myself, but that's no way to live, in my opinion. i'll drink my bottled green teas for this week (a few more days wont really matter) and find some nice teas this weekend.

I love it that you asked this question! So many folks will never take responsibility for thier choices and you have it just right There are many little things we can all do to improve our overall health that requires very little effort. Here are a few suggestions from a retired RN, Mom  and Grandmother who at 51 has dealt with two types of cancer and fibromyalgia bad enough to hospitalize me several times but now I am back showing my dogs , training  and enjoying the pack, playing with and raising 5 of my 10 grandchildren and traveling a great deal!

Eliminate caffiene when ever possible. It is a harsh habit and more of a drain than a boost. If you must have caffiene get it from Tea. Black tea is beneficial in so many ways ,  and green tea well there are a million reasons to learn to drink and enjoy it !

Learn to drink water, it is one of the best and easiest tricks in the world. Add slices of lemon, lime. orange or even strawberries and kiwi. You can slice them and keep them in your fridge and tossing a slice or two in your water makes it more interesting and slowly adds small amounts of fruits... and if you cut enough you can munch a slice or two each time you pour your self a glass of water.

Limit alcohol to a glass or two, wine is best but beer is okay too. It has both therapuetic and nutritional effects ! Red wines are brilliant for woman, and if you aren't a big wine drinkeer simply make it a spritzer by adding sprite or 7up.

Limit your salt! We consume so much sodium we cause ourselves huge problems. try salt alternatives, lemon juice and vinegar rather than the salt shaker. As much as I love a margarita I had to learn to really limit myself and pass on the salt. It makes you retain water in obvious ways but also causes problems you can't even see... think high blood pressure,

Avoid artificial sweeteners if possible. Diet drinks are actually hard on your system and new studies show they interfere with weight loss and maint. Real sugar is only 16 calories per tsp.

Add grains. You can boost your grain intake by switching to whole wheat breads and pastas , eat more whole rice, brown rice , wild rice

Eat breakfast. I hate breakfast to be honest but when I make myself eat it my day is more energized and balanced.  A smoothie if nothing else will tune up your day and start you out right!

Do not eat late. I know as a a teen and even in my 20s I thought only old fogies ate early but when my shcdule changed at the hospital I found eating early kept me up and energetice, eating late made me lethargic and feeling bloated.

Eat lighter meals more often, 6 small meals is far better for you than one heavy one.

Meditate, write in a journal , do yoga, Tai Chi, bonsai trees anything that gives you a few minutes a day in your own head quietly and calmly. When you are calm in your mind your health is better.

Eliminate clutter. ( My biggest problem ! I am a pack rat)

Get a hobby, something that shows a result for effort given. You will find a wonderful mental lift for the simple accomplishment and that mental lift improves your health .

Hydrate not just your inside but your outside as well. I rarely  wear makeup, but my skin is still in great shape. If your skin is dry or stressed by environment you feel a bit rougher about everything every time you rub your arm or look in a mirror.

Quality sleep over quantity. Too much sleep can be as draining as too little,  a power nap is far better for you than 8-9 hours straight.

And one of the most important tips learn to defeat stress by knowing what you can change and what you can't, seems silly but we ruin our health by thinking we have more control over every little nuance in our world. We don't.... learn sometimes you just have to give it up to a higher power and wait and see the results.

hope you find one or two things that may help you a bit and congrats for wanting to treat yourself better !!

Bonita of Bwana

thanks bonita! that really helped a lot.

i actually dont really have issues with caffein. i really dont like coffee that much, so i learned to live without it. i do drink red bull occasionally when i am really too tired. i know that's really bad for you as well, but sometimes i'm desperate.

yeah, maybe with time i can learn to drink water. but i think i really dont wanna force myself toomuch, cause that didnt go very well yesterday, lol.

one thing i really dont have a problem with is stress. i LOVE my job to a point i often take work home, just cause i like doing it. the only "stress" i get is more over excitement over a new project or things along those lines and to me, dog walks are my meditation! (plus my daily dose of cute ) i think mentally i am really ok. probably also cause i'm just in a good place in my life :)

artificial sweeteners arent a big issue either, i think. i loathe diet drinks. lol.

oh yeah, i hate breakfast too. but i am actually having a big yoghurt in the morning (first thing i do at work, lol) and i realized how much that helps as well. and it just goes down better than bread or something...

i dont really have time during the day to do many light meals but i do snack a lot and now i'm just making sure that when i snack i have something healthy like some yoghurt, or fruits, which really isnt that hard to me beyond having to get used to buying it all the time, cause i love fruits and stuff anyways...

yeah, i wish i could do powernaps these days. i used to do it when i was in college. those were the best. but working full time in an office, well... i still nap at home often, but also after work there's a lot of things to take care of, so sometimes, i dont get the chance...

ok, i am babbling again... thanks again...

i guess over the next few weeks i will try to make some changes and see what works for me. i'll let you guys know, how things are going... i'm sure i'll still have tons of questions along the way :)

Have you tried Andrew Weil's 8 Weeks to Optimum Health? He's very gentle and he has awesome points and he's super easy to ease into.

Another drink I really like is seltzer water with a spash of cranberry juice in it. It's how I got myself off soda. I use the sodium free (I'm horrible with sodium so I don't want it in my water) cheapo seltzer and add maybe 1 oz of juice to a 33.8 oz bottle. I drink probably 3 of these a day, and lots and lots of water.

Water is really important. If I don't drink enough water my skin gets bad, I get tired, etc. You will pee a lot at first, but your body gets used to a lot of water quickly. Drinking more water helps you lose weight too.

From CalorieCount.com

"...weight-busting water! Believe it or not, drinking more water results in losing more weight. For most people, this sounds too good to be true, but there is, in fact, a simple explanation for this phenomenon.

The liver has many functions, but conversion of stored fat to energy is one of its main and most important jobs.

Unfortunately, another of the liver's duties is to pick up the slack for the kidneys, which need plenty of water to work properly. If the kidneys are water-deprived, the liver has to do their work along with its own, lowering its total productivity. It then can't metabolize fat as quickly or efficiently as it could when the kidneys were pulling their own weight. If you allow this to happen, not only are you being unfair to your liver, but you're also setting yourself up to store fat.

Hence, start the day by filling up a half-gallon jug with water (or any combination of smaller bottles that equals 64 ounces). Your goal is to drain the lot by the end of the day. Clear or light yellow pee is the universally recognized sign of good hydration."

I also really like the Dr Oz and Roizen books. I would recomend buying one. Even if you don't want to lose weight, they have a lot of good information.

Don't buy foods with high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, or bleached or enriched flour either. They aren't too hard to avoid, and none of those things are good for you.

Thanks for the post Salem that was interesting. I personally try to drink water. Every day at work I go get a 32oz of ice water to sip on all day long. I try to keep my soda intake to 1 day. I personally am trying to lose weight, I am active, I don't eat that much but I don't eat the healthiest. My DH does not like healthy foods (vegetables, salads etc) and I don't like cooking two separate meals.

One thing is you have to make up your mind to do it. Look for small goals that way you can achieve them and feel better about yourself. As I read so many of the OP posts, she sounds a bit like I was, self defeating. I don't mean to put you down, I just know I was saying the same things to myself and in my case I was self defeating.  You can do it you just have to want to. I don't have health issues nor am I severely overweight, but I needed to do it for me.

I wish I had time to work out, I know it would increase my success. I have lost 10 pounds, I hope I have not hit a plateau. I just do not have any more time in my day to do it. I try to find the time it just isn't there, and I have to get up at 5AM so going to bed after 10PM is not an option. So I make do with the exercise I do. I have 3 dogs I walk a minimum of 2 miles each. I walk twice at work every day two walks of about 3/4 of a mile. I take the stairs (even when I park on the roof), I ride my horse. I am looking forward to spring and getting our bikes out.

Good Luck! Share your successes.

thanks guys... wanna hear what i took to work for snacks/breakfast today?

1 hard boiled egg

2 cups of natural yoghurt (no sugar, i checked)

1 apple

and the good thing is, it's ALL things that i really like!! :) ok... off to eat me egg now!