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.

Growth

Today the kids were up very early. They're early risers anyway, usually filling the house with yells and laughter by 7 a.m. This morning, for whatever reason, they were up a little before 6:20 a.m. So, we went through the motions, breakfast, snacks, drinks, supplements, shakes and so forth. Then I got a crazy idea: Why don't we walk to the park? We have an elementary school around the corner with a play ground.

We walked there and the kids climbed up to the highest slide and went down about 60 trillion times while I jogged laps around them for about 25 minutes (with High Knees and Sprints. I do love me some running).

On the way home, I pointed out all the flowers, trees, shrubs and leaves I could and we talked about them. I showed them acorns and oaks, and explained how everything the tiny seed needs to become a tree is right inside. The seed just needs the right conditions to grow. Good dirt, water, fresh air and sunshine. If the seed had all of those requirements, it would grow up to be a huge tree.

My 4 year old looked at all the acorns on the ground and looked back up at me. "Momma, that's a lot of trees!"

I went on to explain that not every seed would get those perfect conditions. Only a few of them would. God would make sure that the strongest seeds with the best potential to be a big ol' tree would grow. That was God's job.

I drew a parallel with the kids about people. How we have thoughts and feelings and God gave us free will, which means we get to choose how we want to grow. I told my girls about how God let us pick the conditions for ourselves to grow into. We could choose to grow into astronauts, or doctors, or gardeners, or secretaries or whatever we want to be.

The kids went on to make knock knock jokes, but our lovely little nature walk got me thinking. I've been on a learning curve lately, reading everything I can about personal finance, investing, real estate options, strength training, dietary recommendations, human psychology, charities, vlogging, marketing and, of course, biblical teachings to supplement my daily Bible readings. I want to grow in the area of finances so that I can have more to give more. I don't like only giving 10%, I want to really change the world, especially for kids in critical  condition.

But it's my choice to grow. That's such a beautiful thing! Likewise, everyone I listen to as I go about my daily life that complains, whines or grumbles about their current circumstances is choosing to complain over changing and growing. Library cards are free--go get a new skill set so you can change your circumstances. It really is that easy. Know where you're going, and then read a book or listen to a CD/MP3 on how to get there. If you want to be a real estate tycoon, learn from Donald Trump or Robert Kiyosaki. If you're drowning in debt, learn from Dave Ramsey or David Bach.

Even if you have no idea where to start, make the decision to start. If you are homeless, you can still get a library card and get access to the internet and go from there. You always have the power to affect your situation, don't ever convince yourself otherwise.

Do you feel helpless? Do you want to change but still don't know how to get started? E-mail me and let me help you! mannateamkratos (at) gmail :)

Lizi

Connecting With Others

I love to talk to people and help people. Often, I come across as very exciting and enthusiastic, because I'm a driven and passionate person. I understand that some people don't like that sort of thing, but even sticklers who prefer an even keel of hidden emotions (I used to act like one, in fact--it's a long story) grudgingly smile at my quirky inner joy.

I think the reason that even people who want to dislike me can come around is because no matter who you are, where you came from, your past circumstances, your current circumstances, I can look past all of those things and listen to you. Really listen. And really care. I can relate to so many different aspects of other people because I've been where so many other people are or are going. I get it, I do.

My vision is to heal a hurting world, one broken heart at a time.

Giving Just Because

I had a goal today: Bless 7 people. That was it. No ulterior motives here. I'm not that kind of person anyway, just ask my husband. Anyway, I had many, many errands to run today and my Granny (my 85 year old American grandmother) had surgery on her femur due to a fall and I wanted to see her too.

My first errand involved the bookstore, where I needed to drop some stuff off and pick some literature up. When I dropped off my old books, the guy behind the counter needed to see my license. I showed it to him and he said, "What do you go by?"

I shrugged. "Elizabeth, Liz, Lizi, Beth, Betty--I've been called many things."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Lizi Ann?"

"That's a first," I said with a smile, walking away to the business section. I found a cool biography for my Grandpa to read while he hung out with my Granny, and a remastered cassette book with like 50 comedians from days gone by for my grandparents to listen to--they don't like the modern smut comedy.

From the loudspeaker, I hear, "Lizi Ann, your order is ready for pick up." I smiled at my new nickname and got my stuff. I walked around some more, browsing, then grabbed what I wanted and checked out.

Right before I touched the bar to push the door open, I remembered that I wanted to bless 7 people. I spun on my heel and walked back over to the bookstore guy who gave me the silly nickname. It's always nerve wracking to put yourself out there, isn't it? I waited until he looked up and then I said, "Hey, I just wanted to let you know I was grabbing this stuff for my grandparents. My grandma just had leg surgery and she isn't eating, so I was getting this stuff to cheer them up. I really appreciated your silly nickname, thank you."

He looked surprised, and said that he always tried to keep stuff light and silly to cheer people up. Now mind you--my husband and I are in there all the time. I'd seen this guy before and he had seen me with my spouse, so this wasn't some kind of weird thing. He knew I was crazy about my spouse. But he cheered me up on a really hard day, and so in turn I wanted to bless him by telling him why that silly little thing meant something to me.

My day continued much like that. I blessed an elderly gentleman outside of Quicktrip with a quarter for the payphone because his phone battery was dead and had him laughing about my kids eating pecans in our backyard and him telling me about growing up in a house with pecan trees. I blessed my Grandpa and Grandma with visits and presents, my Grandma's caretaker I blessed with a prayer, my Grandma's nurse I blessed with some kind words. I lost count by the end of the day, I just started making it my mission to bless everyone I came into contact with.

It was an awesome day, and I highly recommend everyone try to integrate it into their lives. You reach a point where you realize you set out to bless other people, but you really end up being the one who gets blessed the most.

Lizi

Where Has The Time Gone?

Have you ever gotten to the end of the day and asked yourself that question?  Do you frequently feel like you tried your hardest but you have nothing to show for it? Let's look at some ways to manage time more effectively to have results to show for it at the end of the day.

#1. Define Your Goals--Some people are into structure, some aren't. I recommend doing what works for you. If writing 3 things you want to do by the end of the day on the back of a receipt and sticking it in your pocket works for you, then do it! I don't care. I like having a day planner with time blocked off for each part of my day, with my running "To Do" list on the side. I can tell you right now, though, that if I asked my brother to keep one, it would never get written in. Ever. He's a "back of the receipt" kind of guy, and you know what? It works beautifully for him. So define your goals and put them somewhere. A secondary thing to do, once you have a focus for your activities, is to prioritize them. For example, I have a goal of working out for 30 minutes every day. It's a priority for me. Another priority for me is to learn something new. If I have 2 hours left in my day, I might try a new workout. Why? Because both of these things are priorities for me and I have a limited amount of time, so I'll learn a new workout for bonus points. Let's say in this 2 hours left scenario I also needed to...I don't know...return Library books. I might just bump that to the next day, because while returning them is important, the library books won't impact my health like working out will.

#2. Bust Time Wasters--If you frequently find yourself intimidated by your To Do list and jumping on FaceBook to compensate, you need to become aware of your bad habits and cut it out. If you are supposed to be setting up lunch meetings and instead you grab a coffee and hang out on Twitter for an hour, become aware of it and cut it out. A good way to catch yourself at this is to write down everything you do, every 15 minutes for 1 day. Don't lie to yourself and don't hold back. From when you wake up, begin recording even the mundane details. I realized I spent about 40 minutes every day just staring into space thinking of what to do next. That's what led me to a to do list! Almost an hour wasted literally doing nothing (not that thinking is bad, it's not, I still spend plenty of time doing it, but there's no need for me to stand around figuring out what to do next instead of having a plan of action that I wrote up yesterday and charging forward! Then I get to spend more time with my kids and husband after completing my To Do's :) )

#3. Rinse and Repeat--There's a Japanese Proverb that says, "Beginning is easy. Continuing is hard." My sentiments exactly! Don't just do this once or twice and then write it off. If you want a successful life, you have to change the way you do things. If you want to get healthy, you have to change the way you eat. If you want to catch a rainbow trout, you have to have a certain bait. You see where I'm going with these analogies? If you're unhappy with your life--MAKE A CHANGE! And then keep doing what is successful and modify what is unsuccessful.

Just never, ever stop. A friend of mine once pointed out that in Texas, Highway 45 runs all the way from DFW to Houston. And it doesn't matter if you go 50 miles an hour or 5 miles an hour--you'll get to Houston. Just don't lay down and don't turn around.

Lizi

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

We Like To Move It Move It!

Our house is turning into a pseudo-gym! Our living room is used for Core Workouts, Plyometrics and working out with DVD's, and our huge kitchen/dining room houses my husband's bajillion giant weights, our trampoline (or rebounder, as it's known by some), our kitchen table bench that doubles as a workout bench and our kitchen chairs, also known as additional stand-in workout equipment.

It's awesome though--I love living a healthy lifestyle by eating right, supplementing with food-based technology and moving my body. Plus, our kids love to "do cardio" by jogging laps around the backyard or kitchen table and they also enjoy yoga. How cool is that? Other kids are developing juvenile diabetes and we're training superheroes in this house!

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to share with you this amazing core workout Michael (that's my husband) turned me on to today. If you enjoy working that core like crazy, give this intense but short workout a try!

Be the ball, Danny! (you'll get it during the video). Hope you are having an awesome night living life with a major impact!

PS: Want to see my precious face? Tune in to www.mannatechlive.com tomorrow Tuesday October 23rd at 7:30 pm Central Standard Time--I'll be on Tuesday Night Live with the 2MannaSisters regarding Xtreme Food Makeovers! This will be broadcast all over America and in 22 countries internationally, so don't miss out! :)

Lizi

Driven Mindset

I've learned several things over the years:

Time management is very important.

People are very important.

Controlling your thoughts is very important.

And giving back is very important.


So when I have a day where I am nervous about trying something new, or talking to someone unfamiliar, or doing something differently, I remind myself of what is important. I can't ever renew my time, so wasting it on dumb things that don't help me at all shouldn't be an option. I should never put my fear of talking to new people above the knowledge that there are people in this world actively looking to lose weight and get healthy, and by letting fear stop me, I'm contributing to the awful way they feel. I shouldn't let fear, doubt or worry burden my thoughts, because the Bible says "God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). I know that giving blesses me and the person I am giving to, more than I will ever see or know, and that I should perpetuate a giving spirit in myself and encourage it in others.

This is what I'm digging on today, I hope it inspires you to banish fear, prioritize, get your thoughts under control and CRUSH IT today!

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Humble & Relateable

Do you remember Bill Cosby's "Kid's Say The Darndest Things" show? I didn't actively watch it, but I remember my grandparents watching it and laughing until they cried. I never really understood why until I had children of my own.

It's about relate-ability. My grandma and grandpa took my dad, brother and myself in after my parents divorced until my dad could get on his feet as a single parent. So, in essence, in their late 60's they became parents again while our dad worked crazy hours to establish himself here in Texas.

I can remember some of the crazy things we put them through. My grandma was forever trying to teach me manners and get me to take an interest in little girl things. I was a tom boy and I was very jaded and mature from my childhood, so when I wasn't reading I was outside climbing trees or catching bugs. Well, Grandma went to a garage sale across the street and bought me some Barbies, encouraging me to take an interest in girly toys over catching bugs. I have no idea why I reacted this way, but I grabbed an empty Whitman's Chocolate sampler box, filled it up with hundreds of roly-polies and let them loose in her living room! That was a rare, childish and impulsive moment for me, but I can understand a little better why she'd watch the "Kids Say The Darndest Things" show and laugh--because she saw again first hand how silly and reactive kids can be, and she (and my Grandpa) related to the feeling of trying to be the adult in a humorous situation.

My brother got into all kinds of little boy craziness--urinating outside instead of using the inside toilet (which I'm told by girlfriends with little boys that this is not an uncommon issue for young misters!), rough housing with neighborhood boys, leaving Lego pieces everywhere to be stepped on in the middle of the night, waking up the entire house hold to find his red Power Ranger before bed and so forth. At the time, it was a hassle to clean the mess and find the lost toys--but looking back, it was an honor to be trusted to look for his most prized possessions.

How many times has someone reached out to you, only for you to ignore or belittle them? Do you cultivate your ability to relate to other people? Or are you too busy to stop and open up a little?

My girls, making a huge mess 

This morning my daughter had what was a very important conversation to her with me. She was listing everything that she thought she might want for Christmas.

"And a Barbie playhouse, and a Strawberry Shortcake City...and...and..." Her little face scrunched up, then fell apart. "Oh mamma, I was thinking too much and I forgot everything that I wanted."

I smiled. It was 6:45 a.m. and I just wanted to drink my coffee. However, thinking about that "Kids Say The Darndest Things" show, and about how many people need you to just open up and relate to them, I set aside my wants. "Well baby, maybe you should think it over again, but make your list a little smaller, that way you can be more grateful for what you have, and not focus so much on what you want."

She nodded. "OK. I love you mommy, I'll be thankful."

If I allowed myself to be brusque and rude, and consider MY time and MY desires the MOST important thing, I would've missed hearing what my daughter was really saying. Behind her little Christmas list, she was saying, "I need to talk to you. I need your help. I need you to see me being a big girl and thinking this through and to recognize my forethought."

I am so thankful I caught her message and cultivated that moment with her. Life is a series of these little moments, will you be too wrapped up in yourself to see them? Or can you decide to change, to listen to what someone else is saying, what someone else needs from you?

Lizi

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.

A Broken System

In America, it is recognized that our current diet and lifestyle choices (eating fast food, eating at restaurants, constant stimulation from advertisements and games and a metric ton of oxidative stress from working too much and not relaxing enough) are killing us.

Many popular doctors say all you need to do is supplement your diet, eat at home and take extra antioxidants and you'll be fine. 

Hold up. Let's address these one at a time, shall we?

Supplement Your Diet 

When you go to the doctor and he says "make sure you're getting a good multivitamin" he then tells you, usually, to go to the store and pick up a reputable brand, right? Well, there are a few problems with that. 95% of the supplements on the grocery store shelves are derived from coal tar and petroleum by-products. Most calcium supplements on the shelves have the calcium derived from limestone. I know that doesn't sound too terrible, so let me elaborate.

Most women know that when you start a higher level of calcium (like a calcium tablet or even chewable), you can become constipated, right? So the doctor tells you to pick up some magnesium citrate (a fancy word for a petroleum derivative that has been treated with citric acid to be more easily absorbed by your body). Well, that takes you from not being able to poop, to not being able to stop! And if we take a moment to appreciate the fact that 80% of your immune cells are made from your gut, you can begin to appreciate how vital intestinal health is to overall health. So when you're trying to add healthy things to your body by adding the above two minerals, you could actually be harming yourself.

Have you ever become constipated from spinach? No? How about almonds? Broccoli? Oh, celery? None of the above? These are natural, vegetable sources of calcium. Do you understand that it isn't the calcium causing the gut issues?

Which leads us to the next issue, the junk in our diet.

Eating at Home

This no longer means what it used to mean. A hundred years ago, eating at home meant eating food that you'd raised and slaughtered yourself, more than likely. If not, someone you knew did it for you. Local homesteads--a quaint term for a suburban farm--would raise some chickens and grow vegetables to give to the grocery store, to supplement if farmer's couldn't meet the demands in a humane manner.

All of that's been thrown out the window. Even chicken meat that you buy at your local health-conscious store that says "free range" has arsenic in it. Yes, arsenic--they add it to the chicken feed to plump up the chickens. They're supposed to remove it before the last feed, but you know, the extra pounds mean extra profits, who cares if anyone dies. How do I know? Someone I trust with my life got arsenic poisoning from *drum roll* chicken meat. And he was informed of how it got there by a highly ranked scientist at a nationally renowned laboratory.

And most people are familiar with the "Dirty Dozen"--the foods that have a higher than normal amount of pesticides that should be purchased organically (and still washed-- E. Coli isn't a pesticide and doesn't care if your strawberries are organic!)

My point being--fast food isn't food, but what we're getting at the grocery store isn't much better. It doesn't matter if you shop the perimeter, there's something really wrong with children getting cadmium toxicity from iceburg lettuce, adults and children becoming gluten and casein intolerant, the staggering amount of Americans with gut issues and the rising amount of anaphylactic allergies to fruits and vegetables (I had one of those myself to kiwis). 

So if we can't trust our fruits and veggies, how are we supposed to get our antioxidants?

Take Extra Antioxidants

And the last suggestion to combat common health issues is to take in extra antioxidants. Some antioxidants are vitamins, like Vitamin E or C. Some antioxidants are berries that are high in cyanins like blueberries, nutrients found in green tea, bioflavenoids in vegetable skins and other nutrients such as resveratol in red wine. 

Some people take in extra antioxidants by juicing--which is great, if you are using food you grew yourself and harvested organically, and if it is mostly vegetables. Most people can't stand the taste, so they just juice fruit, which gives them an enormous amount of fructose (fruit sugar) without any fiber to balance it in the body. Then they get fat. And angry. This isn't to say juicing is a bad idea, just that most people don't do it in a healthy manner.

Another way people take in antioxidants is from an antioxidant drink. There are several brand names out in the marketplace that boast having a very high antioxidant level. If you check the label, you'll find either that it is mostly sugar, contains very unhealthy ingredients or is made up of mostly synthetics (for example, d-alpha tocopherol, which we've discussed previously, is not Vitamin E). 

What Can You Do About It?

I don't know about you, but when I found out about all of this stuff, I despaired  I thought, "man, no matter what I give my family, it's going to hurt them. Supplements are bad, the food is bad, the air quality sucks, there's poisonous stuff in the water--maybe I should give up on trying to keep us healthy. Maybe the best we can do is pray not to get heart disease or cancer."

Well, that's a crappy attitude. There is something you can do. Mannatech has developed a line of products that are plant based and hydroponically grown--meaning they control the nutrients the plants receive,  the air quality where they're being grown and the processing to ensure the maximum amount of nutrients in each supplement, which is then proven to be effective in their state of the art analytic chemistry lab. That's good nutrition that won't harm when it's supposed to help heal.

There is a new product out now called Nutriverus. It's the culmination of 18 years of research and over $2 million in research and development. And now, it's less than $60 USD. Not only that, but there's a way to get it for free (e-mail me and I'll hook you up).

NOT ONLY CAN YOU GET IT FOR FREE, but for every auto-order, a months supply of this nutrient-rich, plant-based, real food technology solution is sent to a child in critical condition from malnourishment.

So, you save yourself.

You save your family.

You save the economy.

You save malnourished children in critical condition.

You save money.

What in the world do you have to lose?

On Power

Do you know what the most powerful tool in the entire world is? Do you have any guesses?

Money?

Prestige?

Credibility?

Popularity?

Let me tell you something: the things listed above are effects of the most powerful tool in the world, but they are not the tool itself. This tool allows a person, no matter what their personal situation is, to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and become a success. This tool is the only avenue to true health and wellness. This tool is also the only avenue to financial success. Once you have the proper information loaded into this tool, no one can ever take it away from you. It belongs only to you, to do with as you please.

What is this tool? It's your mind.

Your mind is the single most powerful thing in your possession. Your mind allows you to overcome boundaries of not having enough money, being too skinny or too fat, healing from physical or emotional abuse and being free of stress.

The key to maximizing the potential of your mind as a powerful tool is to find the right information and input it. Once you have those things working together you can achieve whatever your desire is.

I've been intentionally vague because I don't know what your desires are. I know what mine are: I want to be able to take care of my 2 beautiful little daughters. I want to keep myself and my husband healthy. I want to feed 50 kids in a third world country by November 2012. And once I've accomplished that--and I will--I'll set a new goal and crush that one too.

Why? How?

Because I know mentally that I am all in. I have the information in my brain necessary to be successful. Not only that, but I love to help others and share what I know with them. If you're struggling to be successful, shoot me an e-mail. If you have a goal that you'd like to meet, let's get together and talk it over.

I'm willing to help you if you're willing to help yourself.

Lizi

Banish Fear

Fear is binding, restrictive, habit forming negative thought patterns that can destroy your life if you let them. Fear isn't always a huge panic-ridden incident like on television shows, sometimes fear is just small hesitations and inhibitions that pile up quickly.

For example: Fear to get your haircut might make you feel ugly or ratty, which you'll manifest in front of other people. Fear of changing careers might make you unhappy in your current position, causing you to get demoted or fired because of your actions or behaviors. Fear of inadequacy might prevent you from talking to someone who is interested in you or your opportunity and cause you to be frustrated with your lack of communication skills.

Notice that in each of these scenarios, we as people tend to think about what is holding us back and make ourselves unhappy, and then instead of owning our poor thought patterns and changing them, we look for someone else to blame. Your boss, your job, a customer, a teacher from Elementary school--your mind, if untrained to recognize fear for what it is and change your thinking, can and will find a reason why it's someone or something else's fault.

If you find yourself in an unhappy and depressed place, think about why that is. If you immediately find yourself blaming everyone but yourself, stop it. You are responsible for your thoughts--you can choose to live a happy life by being accountable for your thought patterns and changing them, or you can choose to let your thoughts run negative and wild, keeping you under the bondage of fear.

Always remember it's your choice.

If you agreed with the above and you want to know how to change, here's some tips:

1. The first thing that has to change is your thoughts. You can change your clothes, hairstyle, hair color, house, car, whatever as many times as you'd like--and it might bring you relief for a little bit--but if you don't change your poor thought patterns, your life won't feel any different in the long run. To change your thoughts, examine your inner dialogue. If you're critical of yourself, stop being critical and look for what you've done well. If you're constantly blaming others, take accountability for your part in a positive way, and look for how you can change your habits. Don't complain about your situation--you'll only make it worse. Don't condemn yourself either; think about what makes you happy and excited and stay focused on that.

2. Once you've changed your thoughts, change your actions. If you have a fear of speaking to people, join Toastmaster's or another speaking organization to become more comfortable in your skills and abilities. If that's too intimidating, ask wise and honest people you know how you can improve your communication skills. If you have a bad habit of hanging out with negative people that always put you in a bad mood about life, respectfully ask them to not complain or gossip in front of you. If they don't change, it might be a good idea to find a new crowd to hang out with. If you have a negative tirade in your head over mistakes you make, do a "performance review" on yourself instead: write down what went wrong and how you could have fixed it, but write it professionally, as if you were a boss supporting and encouraging an employee. This is a valuable way to correct your actions without condemning or criticizing yourself too harshly. When you start ripping into yourself, instead of improving you'll just feel sorry for yourself and do it all over again the next day. Instead, set goals, be proactive and be encouraging to yourself that you're in control and you can change.

3. Once you've changed your actions, change your demeanor. Rather than walk around with a sour look, smile. Smile at strangers, smile at yourself in the mirror, smile when you remember something silly, smile at your spouse, children and friends. Be generous with your affection--if you don't like to touch people, a smile will suffice! Find reasons to laugh and have a quiet inner joy. If someone makes a mistake, be kind about it and encourage them the way you'd encourage yourself.

I hope this little toe-dip into the world of banishing fear, taking control of your thoughts and your life has been helpful to you! If you have any tips, thoughts or suggestions, comment below!

Lizi

Vitamin C: Plants VS Synthetics

As the weather (finally!) cools off here in Texas, a lot of folks are coming down with the sniffles. I know when that used to happen, everyone would say, "Oh, you gotta take your Vitamin C!"

Now, studies have been done showing that isolated vitamins (such as the weird tasting white tablets at the store) do not have as positive effect on the body as a whole vitamin (like from fruits and veggies). This is partially due to where they extract the vitamins and minerals from--for example, many minerals in modern supplements are derived from rocks and petroleum products. In the case of drug store vitamins, the problem is that the vitamin is isolated as a chemical, and doesn't have the necessary co-factors to be used properly.

Let me give you an example--obviously we'll be working with Vitamin C today! A vitamin, as defined in 1956 by Dr. Royal Lee in Applied Trophology is "a working process consisting of the nutrient, enzymes, co-enzymes, antioxidants and trace mineral activators." That's a fancy way of saying when you look at the back of a bottle and it says "Ascorbic Acid" by itself, that's exactly what it is--and that is NOT vitamin C! Vitamin C is actually a blend of trace mineral co-factors, ascorbinogen, bioflaveniods, tyrosinase and other factors.

All of that fancy talk just to say: what you get at the grocery store is a well planned lie. It is a tiny fraction of what you should be getting. It is like someone baking a delicious pecan pie (bear with me here) out of brown sugar, flour, eggs and so on. They put the pie on the table. They pick up a fork. They scoop up ONE pecan from the top of the pie, put it on your plate, wink and say "There's your pecan pie!"

Would you agree with them? Or would you say, "heck no, that's not pecan pie! Where's the rest of it?" That's what your body says when you flood it with a fake, isolated acid, wink at your cold and say "there's some vitamin C!"

It's not. If you eat a strawberry, there's vitamin C. If you drink some rose hip tea, there's vitamin C. And it's intact, with all of its molecular structure that God designed to work as a whole in your body. No matter how you dice it, plant-based nutrients are superior to synthetic isolates.

Let's look at some historical examples. Most of us are familiar with scurvy, right?

Treatment by fresh food, particularly citrus fruit, was periodically implemented, as it had been since antiquity, but the ultimate cause of scurvy was not known until 1932, and treatment was inconsistent, with many ineffective treatments used into the 20th century. It was a Scottish surgeon in the Royal Navy, James Lind who first proved it could be treated with citrus fruit in experiments he described in his 1753 book, A Treatise of the Scurvy,^[1] though his advice was not implemented by the Royal Navy for several decades. (From Wikipedia)

In 1842 the medical journal The Cincinatti Lancet published that potatoes treated scuvy just as well as citrus fruit.   In later scientific studies, potatoes are shown to have less than 20mg of ascorbic acid! Do you know what most doctors recommend to prevent a cold? 2,000mg of ascorbic acid! So why do potatoes work when ascorbic acid by itself doesn't? Because ascorbic acid doesn't have the necessary components of Vitamin C to make it effective. 

I hope this little toe-dip into the world of vitamins and why plant-based nutrition is superior to a synthetic isolated aspect of a vitamin. 

Want more information like this? Leave me a comment below! :)

Lizi

Giving Is Good For You

It's Fall, y'all (yeah, I said it)--

Have you ever looked up the reason we feel so good whenever we give something? You know, you see something your friend would like so you buy it for them. Or you have an extra book or CD and someone tells you how much they've been looking into that subject so you give it to them. Or how about those "care bags" on Pinterest that lovely people keep in their car to pass out to the homeless?

And mind you, this isn't just a Christian thing I'm talking about. Modern psychologists actually debate whether or not giving can be classified as a "selfless act" because of the physical and psychological benefits we get from it. Check out this excerpt from Psychology Today:

"We feel so good when we give because we get what researchers call a “helpers high,” or a distinct physical sensation associated with helping. About half of participants in one study report that they feel stronger and more energetic after helping others; many also reported feeling calmer and less depressed, with increased feelings of self-worth. This is probably a literal “high,” similar to a drug-induced high: for example, the act of making a financial donation triggers the reward center in our brains that is responsible for dopamine-mediated euphoria. (For more on the “helper’s high,” check out this essay by James Baraz and Shoshana Alexander, published this month on Greater Good.)"

You can read the full article here.

Isn't it fascinating that your body has such a dramatic response to a simple act? All you have to do is THINK of giving and your body responds. The power we have been given never ceases to amaze me.

Naturally, I personally am a big advocate of giving: giving of time, acts of service, giving of gifts, or even a text/e-mail/facebook message to say "hey, I'm thinking of you"--giving of my thoughts.

Here's a list of some ideas for how you can get that dopamine-related euphoria in your life:

--Make some of those care bags to pass out in your local Downtown area to the homeless

--Go through your pantry and pull all the canned or packaged food you haven't eaten in the last month and donate it to your local food bank

--Volunteer at a Soup Kitchen

--Run a marathon for a charity organization

--Even ask a family member or friend how you can help them. For example, we go to my Grandparent's house every Sunday to help out and have a family dinner. You could also help a busy mom go grocery shopping, volunteer to watch someone's kids while they run an errand or bake some freezer friendly food for an elderly neighbor or new mother--two groups notoriously in need of extra help!

Of course, there's a bajillion ways to give. Personalize it. Listen when people talk to you, find a need they have and fill it. Eventually, it will become second nature.

--Lizi

PS: How awesome would it be to wake up every morning, knowing you're taking care of yourself, your family and a malnourished child living in poverty? E-mail me and I'll TELL you how awesome it is! :)

No Shortage of Needs

Today has been insane! We're all set to help my mother-in-law move, and we end up going to 3 different U-hauls due to reservation mix ups and no one having trucks!

Something really cool happened at the second one, though. My husband and I trudged back out to our car in the rain, doing our best to stay positive when we hear several plaintive little mews coming from some brambles on a fence. We walk over there and there's a tiny little furry kitten mewing at (if you're squeamish, stop reading now!) the body of it's mother which was all tangled up in the thorny bushes.

My husband hopped the fence and walked around to get the little kitten, who ran into a big pile of rocks. The U-haul guys came out to see what we were doing and I explained what happened to him. He told us the momma cat was really wild and wouldn't let anyone near her (she'd been living around there for 3 years).

The little kitten had more spunk and drive than my husband had thought, and stayed in his little hiding spot. We determined he was old enough to not need milk and strong enough to catch bugs for food until he was bigger, and we sent up a little prayer of thanks to God for taking care of him.

I hear you thinking, "What's the point of all this?"

The point is, we're at a place where we hear a little cry for help and we're there--even in the cold rain. We're there for kittens, and we're there for people. This is just how we operate, and the only reason I believe we've been successful in our endeavors.

We listen for needs, and do our best to fill them. It turned out the kitten was fine on his own, just mourning his mom. The point is, the U-haul guys walked over and were clueless of that situation, even though they'd both confessed to walking past there several times per day. That's how most people are: if it doesn't benefit or affect them, they ignore it.

That's not the mindset you can keep if you want to succeed. Let me also tell you how interested they were in the two crazy people that took the time to walk over there and figure it out. And how the young one wanted to look out for the wild little kitten.

The take-away of this crazy event: always look for a need to fill, by doing that you'll not only be different, but you'll have a richer life.

Lizi
mannateamkratos@gmail.com

Inspired

So we went to TNL (Tuesday Night Live) at the Mannatech Corporate office in Coppell, TX last night and our socks were totally rocked.

Mannatech's prestigious founder and all-around loveable guy, Sam Caster, was there to talk about how having a passion for nourishing the underprivileged children of the world can help you overcome your barriers when you are speaking with people.

I totally agree with that. And more than that, as readers will know, we're always talking about how passionate we are about our campaign to nourish 50 kids by Thanksgiving. After last nights meeting, we want to set a second goal--feed 200 kids by February of next year!

If you need to get inspired, watch the links below. Then you can make a decision for yourself: do I want to nourish my family AND an underprivileged child, or champion the cause and join Team Kratos to feed 50 kids by Thanksgiving, and then 200 kids by February 2013?

http://www.mannarelief.org/index.cfm?id=77fa2290-0ca0-4bf0-88031ec485c49f6f&video--media.html

Have You GIVEN lately?

Well, have you? I'm asking this because of the amazing amount of extra stuff I've had around my house. Extra clothes, extra canned goods, extra paper, extra seeds (for the garden). And once you wake up, and you look around, all of those excuses as to why you can't help donate to X charity or how sad you are about your financial situation become empty.

Most of the world lives on less than $10 per day.

The relief that the US sends to foreign aid is white rice, flour and dehydrated beans--dead foods that have to be enriched to even contain any nutritive value.

Meanwhile, you refuse to look into how you can change the world and decide instead you need to put a $799 flat screen LCD television on a credit card because "you can't see the screen" on your current T.V.

Riiiight.

How about next week, instead of spending $4 on morning coffee and $10 on lunch, you take that $70 from ONE WEEK and apply it to a nutritional product that not only nourishes you and your family, but also sends plant-based nourishment to an underprivileged part of the world?

That's literally all it would take. See for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZpZDwjusIE

As an aside, I donated all of my extra clothes to charity, food to a community food bank and garden seeds to the local community garden. I want to make a difference in my home as well as around the globe.

Are you inspired? Have you had similar experiences? Tell me more in a comment! :)

Lizi

Here We Are To Help!

Hey World, 

How's it going? From what we hear on the news, read in headlines and listen to while talking to others...it's not going so great. War is ravaging the world, malnutrition is killing children, disease is running rampant and EVERY person we talk to has a crises condition of some sort--physical, mental, financial or spiritual. 

We're here to help. 

We don't have all of the answers--no living person does--but we do have some simple solutions that we'll be sharing with you. 

How you can help put an end to children dying of malnutrition.

How you can make money from home.

How you can repair your body.

How you can give your family better health.

How you can balance your thoughts.

How you can get your spiritual life straightened out. 

We know there's a world of hurt and hype out there, and we're not posting this to "fluff" anyone. We want to help when things seem hopeless. We want to listen when no one else will. We want to help others' succeed in life. 

So, how about it, world? You in?

For more information, comment on this link or e-mail us here.