Goodbye Winter!

Is anyone else ready to say goodbye to this crazy weather?

Now, maybe in my case it's not right to complain. After all, here in Texas, I'm not annoyed by snow or blizzards. No, I'm annoyed that it's 80*F one day and 40*F the next!

SO not good for my plants.

Anyhow, if you live in Texas, we're doing an XFM at Mannatech Corporate (600 S. Royal, Coppell Texas) this upcoming Tuesday, Feb 26th starting at 7 p.m. I'll be there with my backpack and orange hair (there was a mishap going from red to blonde :o)

Comment and let me know if I should expect you!! Remember, just like Tom's shoes for every vitamin pack you get for your family, you're nourishing a child in critical condition for one month.

Do you know what that makes you?

That makes YOU a child saving ROCK STAR!!!

See you there,

Lizi

PS: If you want to participate, but you're not in Texas, on Tuesday the 26th at 7:30pm log onto www.mannatechlive.com and watch the broadcast by the amazingly smart Dr. Steve Nugent. When you're ready to save an orphan's life, go to www.mannamotion.com/teamkratos and click on either the Mannabears (if you have little ones) or Nutriverus (for everyone!). Make sure you get it every month, so you can know every time that box arrives that you PERSONALLY are fighting the deaths of children under six from malnourishment.

It's here...

Alright, I did it! I posted my first rough, unedited video on YouTube! Here's the video for your viewing pleasure:

My daughter spilled juice all over my camcorder. I thought it survived. The green stripe at the bottom says otherwise! :o

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you think you could get healthy by sprinkling a little powder on your family's food? It seems almost too easy, but consider this: It took 18 years of research and development and over 20 million dollars for this product to be available! 

Nutriverus is a multivitamin/multimineral/antioxidant/glyconutrient powder that can be added to virtually any food. I've put it into yogurt, ranch dressing, on egg cups, on meatloaf, sprinkled over vegetables, in salads, on fish, on chicken breasts and in protein shakes to name a few. I did all of this without telling my family to see their reactions (this is what you get with a nerdy scientist mom in the house!) My husband noticed no difference in the food, but after I did it for a week he told me he felt better and had more energy. My kids (who are very picky eaters) only noticed it in plain vanilla yogurt (but when I added a dash of cinnamon they no longer noticed it) and ate it without issue in every other food and beverage I put it into. 

Some additional benefits: 

-When you get this every month, just like a vitamin at the store, you're also saving the life of a malnourished child in critical condition around the world for that month

-You're giving your body the nutrients it needs to heal and repair itself, the common side effects of which are feeling great and having more energy

-When you try it and see amazing results and tell your friends, you can get a 25% discount on your own product. Tell 4 friends, nourish 5 kids and get your product free

How cool is that? If you're interested in helping me save 50 kids by Thanksgiving of 2012, e-mail me at mannateamkratos (at) gmail.com and let's change the world together!!

Lizi

Just Do It!

I've noticed a trend in people that are changing their lifestyles.

They want to change their eating habits. They want to start working out. They have a general idea of why they want to do that: live longer, lose weight, look fabulous, have more energy and so on.

And then they talk themselves right out of it!

Either their wasn't specific enough information on exactly when to do what exercise, or when to eat what specific meal, or what kinds of foods you should combine, or that sounds like too much food or not enough food and so on.

For the love--Don't talk yourself out of a healthy lifestyle!!!! ALL OF THOSE ARE EXCUSES!!! 

The bottom line is this: Eat healthy, real foods (real foods don't come through a window or out of a bag/box).   Aim for 5 days per week of mixed exercises. Drink plenty of water. Supplement your nutrition appropriately.

That's pretty much it.

"But!!!" I hear you cry, "But do I do cardio, or yoga, or weights, or pilates, or yogalates, or Insanity, or use a personal trainer? And when I eat, do I eat according to my blood type, or low fat, or low carb, or Paleo, or according to an endo-ecto-mesomorph plan, or 500 calories a day? And do I weigh myself, or measure inches, or use calipers, or buy a $200+ body composition scale?"

The answer to those questions is...yes.

Ha! Now I've really got you trippin'!

You can do whatever kind of exercise you like. I myself, for example, love to run and lift weights. So, if my day allows it, I go on a 2 or 3 mile run (to some of you that's puny, to some of you that is a Herculean feat, to me that's what I have time for). If you like Yoga, do that! If you have a personal trainer, use them. If you used to like one thing but you got bored of it, FIND SOMETHING ELSE! It's the Age of Information, y'all--there IS something out there for you.

You can follow whatever realistic eating plan you want to--as long as it's real food (You know, fresh fruits and vegetables, the best meat you can afford, prepared in your home with healthy ingredients you add yourself. If you have no idea what real food is, open a new tab on your browser and fart around for a bit finding out--it's worth it). You cannot eat a fast food diet and be okay--you might take the buns off and have a chicken breast with a diet soda but consider this #rant: The "chicken breast" is made up of old, bacteria-laden mixed parts (bacteria laden because of antibiotic use in modern farming, mind you), then it was injected with a sugar/salt water mixture to make it moist and tasty (barf), then it was fried, then it was coated in liquid smoke to make you think it was grilled. You can re-name your diet soda chemical soup. You basically consumed a bunch of garbage that will release free radicals to zing around in your body, damaging otherwise perfectly happy cells, which (if you eat like that I'm guessing you don't care about supplementing vitamins too much) don't have the proper nutrients to then recover from the damage. You age your body every time you eat that junk. Cut it out! /#endrant

I think he says it best:

Drink your freakin' water too. Your body is over 90% water--you literally need it to live. If you get all of your water from carbonated crap, you're surviving but you're not thriving. When you drink your 8-10 glasses daily, your body releases toxins stored in your cells for your kidneys to deal with, which can often make you lose weight. Also, your cells release extra water they were HOARDING because they thought you lived in a desert, which often causes you to lose weight. Additionally, your molecular functions work properly when they have enough H2O to work with, giving you more energy. Oh, and you'll probably lose some weight.

On supplementation: The only reason I recommend it is because we've jacked up this planet so much our plants can't absorb the nutrients necessary for our optimal health. Some of us have seen the study on the peaches in the 50's versus the peaches now. Basically, we said screw composting, we'll concentrate on phosphorus/nitrogen balance in the soil only to make sure we can make more food to make more money. Do you think dirt is made up of 2 minerals? If you've gone through 10th grade chemistry, then you know it's incredibly more complicated than that. In addition to the declining nutritive value of our food because of crappy farming practices, we're now also genetically modifying it without enough testing to make sure that's okay to eat, spraying it with pesticides, covering it in salmonella, e.coli and MRSA--and recommending everyone eat more of it!  The USDA recommends 7 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily for men, and from 9 up to 13 servings per day for adolescent teenage boys. Don't get me wrong here: EAT YOUR FRUITS AND VEGGIES! Just be aware that what you put in your body might have unnatural issues, and to counteract that, you might need to add additional plant-derived nutrients. Examples would be antioxidants, because they fight free radicals to keep your cells happy, glyconutrients to keep your cells communicating properly and recovering from damage, enzymes to properly break down and use nutrients from the plants you eat and so forth. Another thing to supplement is protein if you--like me--don't get enough of it. I eat really healthy, but I am also busy, and if given the choice between stopping my life to cook up a bunch of meat because I forgot to on a Sunday (when I try to prepare it ahead, but seriously, I'm not perfect) OR eating chopped up raw broccoli and roasted red pepper hummus, guess what wins every time? The faster one! And while chickpeas in hummus are healthy and have protein, that's not enough to sustain my level of output during the day. Therefore, I supplement with a good, clean, real protein powder, and vitamin complexes derived from plants, and glyconutrients, and antioxidants and omega 3 essential fatty acids (they're necessary for a healthy brain, eyes and heart as well as a natural anti-inflammatory). 

Sorry for the nutrition rant. I'm a little passionate about the care and keeping of the world and the human body. 

Anyway, you can complicate your life as much as you want to, but you'll end up feeling like a failure and quitting. Don't do that. Don't give up on being healthy, or being able to see your feet when you look down, or running a mile, or living to be 130 years old and the world's top endurance knitter (I don't even know if that exists...yet...). Don't give up on your desires for a better, healthier lifestyle. 

Just do it already. 

Eat real foods. Aim for mixed exercises 5 times per week. Drink your water. Supplement appropriately. 

Repeat, and enjoy a long, healthy, happy life. 

Lizi

VLOGGING!!!

(Sounds like a new word for vomit haha! But I'm talking about Video Blogging...Video + Blogging = Vlogging!)

Today I'm going to be working on several little segments while my hubby works on saving 50 kids by Thanksgiving!!! 


Keep your eyes peeled for the latest developments in our family. Team Kratos has been growing like crazy, so I thought blogging in video might be a little shorter and sweeter for everyone. I'll start posting them in the coming weeks for you guys.

Until then, remember:

Romans 8:37
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Follow your dreams!

Do things that make you happy. Like curling your hair :p

Eat healthy, nourishing foods and feed them to your friends and family.

And please forgive me for being an erratic poster. I will do my best to continue to inspire you all to live your best lives, as well as uncomplicate the crazy world of health for you in my own weird way.

God bless, you're the best!!!

Lizi

Eating Healthy

Hey guys, how's it going? We're living life with an insane impact here at Team Kratos! We've got testimonials coming in from everywhere, I'm being asked to speak all over DFW and even at some out-of-state locations as well as having people ask for weight loss and healthy lifestyle consultations! How awesome is that? And the best part is: malnourished kids are getting fed as a direct result of our efforts. That's what it's all about, right?

So today, I'll keep it short and sweet and focus on eating healthy. I know a few years ago I was a medical assistant with tons of health information crossing my desk every day but I was 30 lbs overweight after my first child and SO CONFUSED about what healthy eating really meant. (Maybe 30 lbs doesn't sound like much to you, but I'm only 5'1"...so I looked and felt pretty hefty).

One study said low carbohydrate diets were the only way to lose significant amounts of weight.

Another study said that low carbohydrate dieters lost significant weight at first, but almost always gained it back within 1 year.

Another studies said a high carbohydrate, low fat lifestyle was the only way to go.

Another study said high carbohydrate, low fat lifestyles led to increased health risks later in life.

One study said Paleo-style diets were the authority on healthy living.

Another study said Paleo-style diets caused kidney failure and other health complications.

So you can see my dilemma. Here I was, just had my first child, the doctor told me I was breastfeeding too much and making my baby fat, my OB/GYN was telling me he was concerned because he thought I should've dropped like 20 lbs by now post-baby, I hadn't slept in 3 months because my little girl had colic and everything I was reading contradicted everything else I was reading.

So what did I do? What any unhealthy, red-blooded American woman would do--I lived on Diet Coke, popcorn and chocolate with the occasional iceberg lettuce salad...covered in Ranch dressing...

As my weight continued to stubbornly stay put almost no matter what I did, my life stress levels were increasing due to lack of sleep (my daughter had colic for her first 9 months of life and no one slept!) and increased work load. I eventually developed stress related chest pain that culminated in a panic attack. It was kind of funny actually, I had no idea what was happening and thought I was dying or something. Fortunately my husband had experience with anxiety which had never plagued me before, and was able to figure out what was going on.

Anyhow, after that period in my life I did several significant things.

#1. I jumped OFF of the bandwagon. I decided that media on dieting was too varied: the master cleanse and the 17 day diet went in and out of popularity faster than I could blink--and I'm sure they'll do it again in a few years. I just thought about what the facts were, what every body was seeing in a general blanket and that I would stick with those, namely increasing vegetables and decreasing processed foods and simple carbohydrates like white flour and white sugar.

#2. I made vegetables my best friend. Don't get me wrong--I love meat and I'm not a vegetarian. But instead of eating a giant steak with a few pieces of broccoli, I switched it around to a palm-sized portion of meat with 1 cup of broccoli. And for snacks, I avoided anything packaged and ate celery, chopped zucchini and summer squash with humus or some other kind of naturally occurring, non-packaged veggie. If I was cooking a larger portion for guests or something, I chose a meal with a basis of vegetables, such as a stir fry. That way, I could continue to eat healthy by having vegetables as the basis of the meal instead of a starch (our stir fry's are usually chicken or shrimp tossed in with frozen stir fry vegetables or cabbage and broccoli instead of rice--just as delicious and twice as healthy).

#3. I combined protein and complex carbs with every small meal, and increased my meals to 4-6 small meals daily. At first, I felt like I was just slightly hungry all the time. Eventually--probably after 2 or 3 days--my body began to adjust to the smaller, more frequent meals and it became natural to crave food every few hours and to feel satisfied with smaller meals more frequently. An example of protein and complex carbs would be: Lettuce (complex carb) and Chicken breast (protein), Apple (complex carb) and Peanut Butter (protein), raw Broccoli (complex carb) and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (protein). Or, another one of my favorites: 1/2 a banana (complex carbs) with a scoop of Osolean (protein) and some spinach (MORE complex carbs, yum!). Pretty easy stuff, right?

#4. I began to exercise. Like, really exercise, not consider walking around Wal-Mart for 20 minutes exercise. I lifted weights--dinky little 3 lb weights at first--for 10 minutes three times per week and went on 2 mile power walks on my lunch break (took me about 40 minutes at first). Eventually, I worked my way up to what I now LOVE to do: about an hour of running 5-6 times per week and weights 3-5 days per week. Mind you, I feel incredible when I work out so it's not something I'm doing to be vain or self-righteous--working out is now something I adore. I also park further away from the store to get in more of a walk, walk around a shopping center instead of going to one store, then my car, then driving to the next store haha, I take the stairs when possible, I limit my television and computer time, I walk while I read and in general do everything I can to keep my body moving. A study was just released that for every hour of television you watch, you take 22 minutes off of your life--THAT'S DOUBLE THE TIME FROM SMOKING A CIGARETTE! Not that I condone smoking--I absolutely don't, but how shocking is it that our TV habits are worse than smoking???

So, there you have it. A generalized condensed plan of how I changed my thinking patterns, my eating habits and began exercising to lose 35 pounds and keep it off for 4 years.

Have you lost weight? What worked for you? Comment below!

XFM!

XFM is the little moniker for Xtreme Food Makeover--something Mannatech is doing to educate people on what has happened to our food supply, what has happened to our vitamin industry and a real food technology solution to the issue.

Today I went to an Xtreme Food Makeover in Rowlett at the home of Marla Finley, one of the famed 2 Manna Sisters. We had an awesome time--My good friend Merissa came with me, and we helped Marla prep for the party. We chopped broccoli and cucumbers, prepared blueberries and strawberries, put out the Osolean and Glycoslim for making shakes while my two little princesses played in the backyard.

As everyone was arriving, the conversations branched off and Marla's warm kitchen was filled with laughs and smiles and exclamations over the food. She whipped up a healthy chocolate peanut butter shake with Nutriverus, a Pina Colada shake with Nutriverus and a "Purple Monster" smoothie (purple from the blueberries--of course this one was a hit with the kids!)

If you want to see some of the educational videos we watched, you can click here! :)

Here's some pics from the XFM:

Food Display 

Veggies with Nutriverus in the dip

My girls with healthy food all over their mouths!

Talking about nutrition at the table

Talking about how the world is changing

Delicious shakes!

This is what happens when your vitamins have nasty junk in them...they turn black when you bake them. Notice the pure vitamins didn't putrefy from the heat.