Be Well Bids Farewell

The time has come for me to acknowledge that I can no longer keep up with this blog and successfully fulfill my obligations to my family, work and myself.

Therefore, I have decided to bid you all farewell and thank you for following this blog for as long as you did. I thoroughly enjoyed writing it and will continue to promote being well in other capacities.

Sorry there is no logo on this last entry as there was a problem uploading images to this blog. A sign or just a coincidence?

Be Well,
Wendi

Organic Gardening...Another Love of Mine

Spring is around the corner and what better time than now to plan your garden. Living in the Bay Area has its INCREDIBLE benefits when it comes to gardening. You can have a year round garden with a combination of fruit trees and vegetables.

I started my garden early...maybe even too early-February. Be that as it may, I am looking forward to a summer of non-stop crops. I planted broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale, onions, carrots, lettuces, squash and herbs. I am awaiting to plant peppers. And I can't wait for my blueberries, raspberries, and fruit trees to produce juicy organic fruits!

Fruit trees are blossoming now and will soon produce organic, vitamin packed lemons, oranges, apricots, pears, apples, peaches and plums. What a joy to be able to walk outside my back door and pick fruit to eat and share with others.

What is one healthy, vitamin-C filled advantage to having lemon trees?? Lemon water!! I have been drinking water with lemon for years and I am so glad I do. I love it!

Drinking water with lemon juice/slices helps to satisfy hunger and acts as a bile thinner, according to Jackie Warner from her new book This Is Why You're Fat (And How to Get Thin Forever). It is a good book and I do recommend reading it if you need tips on healthy eating and exercise.

Be Well-gardening and drinking lemon water,

Wendi

Dieting and Weight Loss 101

Losing weight is on a lot of people's minds. How do I lose weight and keep it off? What is the best way to exercise?

Here is my Top 5 List of Ways to Lose Weight and Keep it Off. It is a lifestyle not a diet per say:

1. Eat complex carbohydrates in the form of vegetables, legumes, nuts and grains. Avoid quick breads and carbs. Avoid all the packaged crappy foods like cookies, sugary foods, pretzels, etc. Leafy greens are wonderful! Spinach, kale, broccoli, turnip leaves, etc. Have as much as you want. Lower glycemic index foods are best to keep your blood sugar from spiking and making you feel full faster.

2. Drink water! Pretty much just water....you may have tea and coffee but watch what you put in it. Don't drink juices/alcohol/shakes with lots of calories...they're empty calories with out fiber.

3. Work out daily or 6 days per week and mix it up. Interval training and an every changing weight training and stretching routine is key to stimulating muscle fibers, burning more calories and avoiding plateaus with weight loss. It also helps you avoid burn out. I like to run, cycle, weight train, practice yoga and do P-90X.

4. Eat small, frequent meals to keep your blood sugar stable, or three meals a day with snacks. Eat protein with every meal. I love high protein tofu and greek non-fat yogurt! (Yes, I am a vegetarian). Walnuts are also high on my list.

5. Write down your intake for two weeks and then you will get the feel for what you are eating and then you can just go with it thereafter.

Be Well,

Wendi

Reading the 4 Hour Body

OK so it is a new year and everyone wants to make some changes in their diet, exercise routine and their physique. What better time than the present at the start of a new year.

Lucky for me, I was introduced to Tim Ferriss' latest book The 4-Hour Body a couple of weeks ago. I LOVED his first book, The Four Hour Work Week so I just had to read his take on diet and exercise. So far, so good. His extreme way of experimenting with his body is remarkable and entertaining. He has the time, resources and guts to take it to the max.

His book simplifies research into five rules to eat by along with plenty of success stories, sample exercise routines and scientific facts to back it all up. I actually follow one of his rules to the tee-I drink water or tea only. Another great tip is the drink a glass or two of ice water upon awakening. This replenishes water from sleeping and boosts your metabolism by making you a little cold on the inside.

In short, it's a good read. www.fourhourbody.com

Be Well,

Wendi

Just Smile!

Smile! What a difference a smile can make when you start your day. Lucky for me, I wake up to a smiling baby every morning. -No kidding. He really does smile every time he awakens. He is so precious and has a beautiful smile.

Smiling actually triggers increased production of endorphins-happy chemicals in the brain that make you feel great. So when you make a point to laugh, tell jokes and just smile, your mood and your outlook change for the better. What an easy way to improve your day and quality of life!

Smiling also shows your pearly whites so remember to brush, floss and eat healthy foods to prevent tooth decay, gingivitis and and tooth loss. Coffee and dark tea stain your teeth too so you may want to lay off those drinks if your teeth are showing signs of too much cups of Joe.

I recently had my bi-annual dental appointment and it is always a great reminder to floss daily, which I had been neglecting to do. When you get busy, it's easy to forget and neglect your teeth and gums.

Smile!

Be Well,

Wendi

New Year Resolutions: How To CompleteYour Resolutions in 2011

New Year's almost forces all of us to analyze our past year and plan for the new year ahead. We look at what we did, didn't do and how it all turned out. This gives us a perspective on what a "redo" or a "do better" course of action would entail.

Honestly, I never remember what I resolve to do each new year. So this year, I wrote down 13 goals and I intend to review them each month to see where I am at and where I am going.

2011 is the year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese Zodiac. If I follow this lunar calendar system, I am to focus on family, home, personal relationships with women and children, and security. Coincidentally, many of my goals surround these realms, which I recently discovered after I made them.

Do you have any new year resolutions? Are you going to follow through with them?

Do you want to lose weight, exercise more, quit smoking, spend more time with family and friends, enlighten yourself with learning a new skill or traveling? You are then one of millions of people whom want the same things this year.

But how do you accomplish your resolutions, for real?

My Answer:

Set small, attainable goals with short term follow-up. Write down your goals and objectives and hold yourself to it! (This is hard to do but you will ACHIEVE your goals if you do write it down and follow through.)

If you are the type who needs rewards for achieving your small objectives, then reward yourself but don't give up! You CAN and WILL achieve everything you truly want to do as long as you hold yourself to it and break it down into small pieces you can achieve over time.

Good luck and Happy 2011!

Be Well,

Wendi

Healthy People 2020 is Published

The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services has published 2020 health goals for Americans.

http://http//www.healthypeople.gov/2020/default.aspx

New subcategories which I find interesting and an essential, positive shift in improving individual and community health standards include Adolescent Health, Early and Middle Childhood, Sleep Health, and Social Determinants of Health.

Why is this important? Too many reasons to list, however, policy makers and money have a lot of pull when it comes to creating, implementing or cutting wellness programs. So funding and policy making at the federal, state, county and city levels are all influenced by these goals, hence you are affected.

And what can you do? You can try and implement a healthy program at the local level or simply work on yourself. The same tricks I have been preaching can actually help improve your health and keep you in line with the HHS 2020 goals...eat healthy foods (I prefer vegetarian), exercise regularly, sleep well, have an emotional outlet, and laugh out loud often!

Check out my debut blog for my five fundamentals of wellness.

Be Well now and in 2020!

-Wendi