Tag / Healthy Lifestyle

by tessbrennan

Obesity and Preventable Death

Really?  You can do that? Don’t we all die?

YES, we do, ALL, die, however, our time here on earth doesn’t have to be riddled with pain and suffering.  Simple changes, made over time, can significantly decrease our chances of suffering from obesity (which can be crippling) which in turn decreases our chances of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer.

I recently received an email from Public Health Corps with some very valuable information, so I thought I would share it with you in regard to this important topic.

Nowhere is immune to this epidemic:

We already know the health risks associated with obesity, don’t we?

  • High Blood pressure
  • Stroke
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Abnormal triglycerides and cholesterols
  • Metabolic syndrom
  • Cancer
  • Sleep Apnea
  • Reproductive problems…
  • See more at this link.

The list is surprisingly long, however, there is something that can be done. I know, I’ve done it, I have friends who have done it, and with work, commitment, and teamwork, you can do it too!

What is this epidemic costing us? How much of our tax dollars are going toward obesity related issues?

Obesity Epidemic Costs World $2 Trillion a Year, Study Says

Obesity Epidemic Costs World $2 Trillion a Year, Study Says

Here are the Resources I promised you in the title and photo!

YOU ARE CAPABLE of making the change for the better. Whether you do it alone, with a coach, or with a group of friends, YOU CAN DO THIS!

I am here to be a resource. Simply contact me via email or on Facebook at The Healthy Grease Monkey. I have many resources and tools for all budgets and needs.

May your 2015 be the healthiest year for you yet! One Change Counts! Make it today!

by tessbrennan

8 Tips to Avoid a Blue, Blue Christmas

As the holidays rapidly approach and the hustle and bustle that is the Christmas season rock into full speed craziness it is easy to become overwhelmed.

Things don’t always go the way we intend, people aren’t there to spend it with us, money may get tight, things seem out of control and our moods drop and sadness can take over. 

Here are a few tips to fight those blues and keep your mood more golden and happy.

Add Vitamin D: Go out and get some sun!  Vitamin D levels have been shown to affect our moods.  Mayo Clinic & Vitamin D Get out and absorb some D from the sun or look for a quality supplement to assist you in this task.

Get Moving: Harvard Health tells us in its compilation of previous studies that moving. It is easy to get trapped in that spiral of depression and sluggishness.  I fight this on a regular basis.  Feeling a bit low, so you lay on the couch, then after a while you begin hurting from a lack of exercise so you don’t want to move, then you feel even more bad about yourself because you’ve been a slug and haven’t moved.  Just get up and go for a walk.  (I continue to struggle with this one issue. It is a daily choice to find ways to move and stay active.)

Add Vitamin B Complex: The B Complex vitamins are ESSENTIAL for our mental well being.  When the levels get low (which is easy since we don’t store it or make it) our moods can follow.  Studies show that low levels of these essential vitamins can have a marked effect on our well being.

Don’t Over-Imbibe: When we drink alcohol it uses up the B Complex in our system as well as any Vitamin C.  So A) don’t drink so much and B) replace the vitamins you know are being depleted by your actions.

Be Conscious of your Sugar Intake: I KNOW you don’t want to hear this during the holiday season, BUT…  According to World of Psychology, “People who suffer from depression are especially vulnerable to sugar’s evil power.” Eat 7-9 servings of fruits and veggies a day, the fiber will help to counteract some of the damage being done by those sugars. Whole foods, minimally processed are the antidote to the damages being done by sugar consumption. See: Sugar, The Bitter Truth

Follow General Nutritional Suggestions: When your body is getting the fuel it needs to be keep running strong and healthy, it is better able to deal with stressors and set backs!

Drink Water: Stay Hydrated! PsychCentral and other sources tell us that dehydration is also related to depression, so keep drinking water and remember that “flavored” drinks, sodas, and coffee don’t count as your water intake.

Meditate: Whether you clear your mind of all thoughts, focus on a scripture, visualize yourself by a babbling brook or journal your thoughts – meditation is shown time and again to provide relief from depression and the blues. A local source to teach Mindful Based Stress Reduction is Madeline Ebilini.

Thank you, Kara Shufflebarger for the image that I turned blue! 🙂 

by tessbrennan

What You DON’T NEED to Get Healthy or Lose weight

Friends, our society has become very confused! We have been led to believe we must have the “latest gadget,” the “newest product,” or the “latest discovery” in order to get healthy, lose weight/inches, or both!

They LIE! You do NOT need:

Word_cloud_what_is_NOT_healthy

  • to starve yourself
  • to run a marathon
  • to deprive yourself
  • to hurt for days
  • to be exhausted all the time
  • to beat yourself up
  • to join a gym
  • to go broke
  • to eat nasty foods
  • to take drugs
  • to do it all at once (you can’t)

You just need to know where you are now, that it is NOT too late, commit and begin to make a difference.

You_Are_Here_lifeinbonitasprings

 

Advertising today says “DO THIS” “TAKE THAT” and you will immediately be thinner/happier/healthier… Remember, it isn’t a race, there is no “destination” it is a journey.

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When we begin with “Where you are now, and where you want to be, then the process can begin!

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I am NOT saying DON’T join a gym, I AM saying there are alternatives to paying to use someone else’s exercise equipment or even buying your own gym!

gym_lifeinbonitaspringspath_corkscrew_lifeinbonitasprings

When we set up a firm foundation, strong roots, then we begin to grow healthier and our energy increases. Simple steps taken one at a time can be easy, and begin to compound and make the journey very enjoyable.

simple_choices_lifeinbonitaspringsBeautiful_Journey_lifeinbonitasprings

Remember, this is NOT the end of the road. It is merely the beginning of a happy journey of healthy choices, directions, and new found joy and energy!

end_of_the_road_lifeinbonitaspringsWalking_path_corkscrew_lifeinbonitasprings

If you are in the Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers area and are looking for a personal trainer who is interested in YOUR SUCCESS, who focuses on YOUR NEEDS, and designs a specific plan to assist you in moving that journey onto the path of improved health, increased quality of life and increased energy, contact me.  I specialize in a holistic approach to better health and in decreasing your waist size!

THANK YOU!

I would like to give a special SHOUT OUT to my friend, Chris Griffith who took all of these amazing shots and allowed me to use them in my blog! 

Chris_Griffith_lifeinbonitasprings

by tessbrennan

How strong is Your Foundation?

So, as I have embarked on my “reading plan” for 2014, He sent me the text from Matthew 7:24-27.  It immediately stuck in my head.  Thoughts were flying at me.

If WE are HIS temple, then we MUST WORK to build a solid foundation to allow that Temple to remain strong, stable, and available as a testament to others.

So many people I know are so STRONG in their faith, their love of God, and their work for Him, yet their health is failing due to their lacking a sound nutritional or the foundation of a healthy lifestyle.

Healthy Local Vegetables for Healthy Diet

As my friend, Camille says, “Its all about the choices we make every day.”  Sure, I can choose chocolate cake or actions that don’t support a healthy life. I am also CHOOSING to face those consequences – whatever they may be.

My thoughts on Temple Maintenance and a Strong Foundation.

I do have a Temple Maintenance class beginning February 11, 2014 at Estero United Methodist Church.

Plans are in the works to begin a Lifetime Waist Reduction Class – where you learn to make the lifestyle and nutritional choices that shrink your waist and help you maintain that health for the long term, as I have.

I am currently accepting new coaching clients as well.  Contact me for more information!

by tessbrennan

Why I don’t care if you are skinny!

I actually HATE the word skinny!  I hate it as much as I hate the word fat. I always have and most likely always will.  Let me explain.

Growing up, I was very active.  I participated in multiple sports, FFA, F.I.L.E., my Church, and many contests for public speaking. At one point my father or mother tracked my caloric intake during the peak of my junior year.  I was eating 10,000 calories a day!  Literally. I don’t know how my family kept from going broke.

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Breakfast was usually some hot cereal with butter and brown sugar, a glass of juice and a glass of milk, a multi-raw egg smoothie (because dad was doing it for his running and such, so would I), two large school lunches, mega snacks right after school, a HUGE dinner, and whatever else I could find.  I was a PIG… and I was SKINNY!

When I say skinny… I mean NO CURVES, NONE. (Well, I did have some lovely calves.)  No butt, no hips, no chest (even with a padded training bra), nothing.  A skinny girl with short hair and braces!  To the point that during long jump at a track meet, a classmate thought it would be funny to register me as one of the boys… The track official didn’t even notice the different uniform!  I hated to buy clothes because nothing fit and it all fell off because of how I was built. (My dad would go shopping for clothes without me to save me the frustration.)

Everyone used to comment how “skinny” I was! Meanwhile my mom was struggling with weight in the other direction, wishing she had my metabolism.

Fast forward to grown-up life. Post college and all its intermural sports, the walking to class, and the dancing the night away. LIFE… and 200+ pounds.

 BeforeJingle Jog 2013

I want to tell you, you can be healthy, look great and be happy and NOT be skinny! 

Today, I am at 145 pounds. I’ve been told that my ideal weight is 135, but I am comfortable, happy, and healthy at 145.  The extra 55 pounds didn’t make me fat… they made me sick and unable to function. 

By making smart choices, healthy choices, by choosing foods and supplements that SUPPORT my health and eliminating the poor choices… many of the aches and pains, the need for my prescription meds, the inability to participate in things all went away and all the extra weight went away too!

I am thankful for friends who showed me healthier ways. Thank you Betsey for guiding and teaching. The research I am seeing today states that losing just 10% of your body weight (when overweight or obese) could GREATLY impact your health!  Its time to get started!

Contact me, when you are ready to begin making healthier choices! We can discuss the best route for your needs!

As my dad used to say, all. the. time. “Zig Ziglar says, Keep on, Keepin’ on!”

by tessbrennan

Do you take a Prescription? a supplement? or 10? Is that Weird?

Many people ask me why I take so many different supplements.  I wanted to answer that question as well as why I no longer take any prescriptions. My Rx for health is different these days.

Years ago, I took SIX prescriptions a day which accounted for 11 dosage pills a day AND an inhalation 2-3 times a day to control asthma.

Prescription_bottles

I thought nothing of the fact that I was taking this many meds until I stopped to think about the fact that ONE of those prescriptions was to counteract the side effects of the others. Overall, I was miserable with no energy and I kept gaining weight.

These “helper” drugs had horrible side effects, in fact, I had to have blood tests regularly to monitor my liver functions because one of them could kill my liver.  None of them were “curing” any of my issues, they just covered them up and caused me to need more meds.  I was on track to be like my grandparents with cabinets full of prescription meds.

TODAY, I take many supplements a day, to fill in for what I miss in my diet and have found can help me with my specific issues.  I know that my system has holes and issues that can cause symptoms to pop up and as long as I keep those holes filled my body will function properly.

I begin with a solid foundation, a “Rx for Life” type attitude.

 

Explanation of the Rx for Life program and how it works.

 

  • I begin my day with a protein smoothee that allows my energy levels to be maintained throughout the day by providing my body a jump start for the day. 
  • I take a Vitalizer strip that provides the basic nutrition needed daily, right to the place where it is needed so my body can absorb it and use it as it is needed through the day.
  • A Nutriferon to keep my immune system healthy and strong.
  • Vivix assists in my body’s work to keep me young at heart and at the cellular level.

I also take a few other supplements & made a couple other changes to target issues I know my body deals with on occasion.

SUPPLEMENTS

NOT A SUPPLEMENT – I switched to the Get Clean line of household cleaners. Eliminating all the toxins, especially phthalates, made a huge impact on my asthma.  I haven’t needed an inhalant in years.

Get_Clean_comparison

How_to_get_good_supplements_-_Dr._Chaney

I choose this particular brand of supplement, because they have NEVER had a negative market incident (recall) and I know the testing involved for quality control.  I AM PICKY, and I use specific criteria to choose what supplements and other products my family use.

Have a GREAT day!

 

by tessbrennan

8 Tips to Keep the Turkey off your Hips!

Thanksgiving is a week away.  Many will spend hours in the car traveling to or between family gatherings, only to arrive at their destination and have mounds of food placed in front of them.

What is one to do? Working diligently to maintain healthy choices, avoid junk foods, and keep moving on a regular basis could be all for not after this one day??? NOT!  RELAX…

Our health and well being is the culmination of what we do on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis.  Its really about the choices we make every day, so each day we make good choices, contributes to better health.  This is 1 day, (or maybe a week depending on how much you actually cook) and not the whole year.

So, with that, and all the Holiday parties to follow in the next month and a half… Here are some tips to keep that turkey off your hips!

  • If you are on vacation, this is the perfect time to practice that routine you would like to institute when you go back.  Take the time to walk or do a few squats between commercials.
  • Eat a healthy snack before you go, so you aren’t ravished and ready to eat a whole cow (or garden for our vegetarian friends) when you arrive.
  • Drink a BIG glass of water 20 minutes before you eat. (or 10 minutes or 5 minutes or right before you eat… just drink it!)
  • TAKE. YOUR. TIME. eating.  Allow your body to register what is in the belly and to tell you when it is full.
  • Remember the difference between “I don’t” (preferred) vs. “I can’t.” (to be avoided at all costs)  The difference between these two phrases can be success or failure!
  • Moderation is key – you can have a sliver of pie, just not the WHOLE pie.  Smile Pick a small piece of the desert that “completes” the meal for you.
  • Don’t forget the veggies.  At least half of your plate should be veggies. (NOT just green bean casserole – fresh veggies, whole veggies, even plain veggies)
  • Opt for whole foods you recognize as the source and just try a taste of things you know are refined, if you must.
  • BONUS: At half-time take everyone outside to play a game of pick-up football, a family 5K, or just wrestle with the young-ins… movement is what it is about!

Tis the season to remember all the things we are thankful for.  (I like to do this on a daily basis, but its nice to have a reminder day for it…)

Here are a few photos of our past Holiday gatherings. Smile

IMG-20111124-00413IMG-20111124-00415IMG-20111124-00417IMG-20111123-00406IMG-20111123-00408Bonita Springs-20111124-00427

First 3 photos are of the 5,000 meals campaign at Lamb of God church.  We delivered meals for the church to people out in the Buckingham area who needed meals to help celebrate the holiday.  Then my daughter and I work on a holiday treat for our friends who hosted us for Thanksgiving, the Ballo’s.  

 

by tessbrennan

Globesity and Nehemiah..

For those of you awaiting the completion of the 3-day, 60-mile series, it is coming… I am awaiting a shipment of things for my photos for the blog.

RebuildingHealth

Today, 1 in 3 adults is overweight or obese. 1 in 4 is ineligible to join our armed forces or to apply for Public Service positions. This means we have fewer people available for these services, potentially very good candidates, except for their weight. (Weight of the Nation Series – HBO)

Heart disease, Cancer, Stroke, Diabetes, and other degenerative diseases are on the rise and the percentages of people being affected are increasing too. We are in the middle of a perfect storm of health crisis for our country and our world with this horrible Globesity issue. It seems as if it has spiraled out of control and there is no way to correct it. In an ancient, well known, text there is a story of a man who took on a monumental task of rebuilding a protective wall around a city.

There was a LOT of work to do, many of the citizens in the area had no idea how to repair a wall, yet they banded together, worked together, prayed together and replace the ENTIRE wall around the city in a mere 52 days.

The Globesity issue isn’t just about being overweight, it is about the disease and discomfort that accompanies it. This isn’t about being sexy or beautiful, because WHO you are makes you beautiful, its about being healthy and enjoying life and not suffering with disease, and reducing your susceptibility to those diseases.  Here are a few thoughts I jotted down over the weekend, while on a retreat.

Text of my monologue is below.

For more information on the class, Temple Maintenance, Wellness based on Biblical Principles, or for a personal consultation, contact me.

Text:

We hear a lot about the globesity issue, of the decline of the health of America as a whole. It seems like a monumental task: almost as if the sanctified city of health and wellness has been broken down. There is a monumental task ahead of us to rebuild our nations’ health. To begin reducing the numbers of those being attacked by degenerative diseases, we need help, big help, but the task isn’t as monumental as we may think… if we count on Him for assistance.

I would like to parallel this with the story of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah was one man, with a vision of the revitalization of Jerusalem. Just as Nehemia used many to rebuild the City of Jerusalem—we need many tribes to rebuild the health of our country and world.

The system you choose to use (tribe you work with) isn’t as important as completing the work, one brick and choice at a time, one gate at a time, one step at a time.

If we each do our personal part to improve our personal section of the wall, our own health, we become a wonderful example for those around us, it becomes contagious and doesn’t seem as daunting a task. It doesn’t seem as impossible to attain when we see others we know doing it and succeeding. Others begin to realize that, they too, can have success and join a different pool of statistics. (We are all a statistic – just a different group).

The globesity epidemic isn’t something that one person can change. This epidemic is domething that needs cooperation from one house to another to the next until the walls of good health and quality of life are rebuilt stronger than before, and our children will then understand the importance of maintaining this wall of health.

The recurring theme throughout Nehemiah is that each person in Nehemiah rebuilt a section of the wall adjacent to their home. THEIR HOME. ~Be the change you want to see.

In Nehemiah 4 we see opposition to rebuilding the wall. VS 2B “Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble-burned as they are?”

I hear: Will they restore their health? Will they trust in His Sacrifice? Can they restore their health in one day? Can they regain health when they’ve spent years and decades tearing it down and failing before?

Not everyone in Nehemiah was as “excited” about rebuilding the wall, but they did their part.

(MY PARAPHRASING BELOW)

NEH6:12-14 (paraphrase)

“Wherever we turn there are easy choices to attack us and cause us to fail. 13 Therefore we station people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them as families to support each other and build each other up. 14 Don’t be afraid of those tempations. Remember the Lord, who is great and Awesome, and FIGHT for your families, your sons, and your daughters, your wives and homes.

We are fighting a war against obesity and pour health. The Air Force tells its airmen that Wars are won by 2 strategies, Hope and Belief. This is true in Spiritual Warfare AND Nutritional Warfare.

We build communities, tribes and families to support each other and build each other up, to celebrate even the smallest of victories together and to support each other in the difficult times.  Together, we can fend off those who try to destroy our health.

(Think marketing, cheap “food”, fast “food”, and other products that tear down our health as opposed to building it up.)

~Tess

 

by tessbrennan

How to Find the Time in Your Own Life

My friends teach me quite a bit.  I like to tie it all together.  I, personally, have been having some difficulties finding the time to… Work out, spend time with my family, make phone calls, schedule a meeting with a philanthropic group, and a few other things.

I was making myself crazy! There just weren’t enough hours in the day.

Then, I remembered something my friend Lynne had told me.

There are two things that paralyze people from making changes in their lives.  Time and Money.

This phrase resonated with me. I know that if there is something I really want to do/go/see/have… I will work to earn or find the money to do it.  I’ve done it.  Shopped in thrift stores, found super efficient and inexpensive household cleaners, begun coloring my own hair… all so I could afford other things that were more important to me.  I just never thought about time as the same.

Enter last week.  This was my busy schedule last week.

First_week_of_June_Calendar

As I looked at this calendar and began wondering how to fit it all in and still be a mom and exercise… it hit me.  LOOK AT ALL THAT TIME!

How much time was I “spending” with TV, phone/iPad games, Facebook, just thinking – “what should I do next?”  So I made a shift.

I did some squats whenever I had 2-3 minutes to spend. I made meals in bulk on the weekend so my family could just heat and eat while I was gone. I scheduled the calls I needed to make so they would happen.

Enter my friend Rita who then said this next phrase and it all fell into place.

Feel Good Fast - Make the Time

I had a retreat this weekend and we were in meetings or together for meals from breakfast until after dinner each day.  Here is how I managed to “make time” for my health.  Just little things that add up to big results.

  1. At breaks I took the 3 flights of stairs down to the restrooms on the main level then back up to the meeting room.
  2. At dinner each night, I left food on my plate and ate all my salad/veggies.
  3. At breakfast, I scraped all the scrambled eggs off the crescent and ate a TON of fruit. Lots of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice.
  4. Drank water and green tea throughout the day.
  5. At one break rode the elevator up to my room on the 18th floor and then took the stairs back down to the 3rd floor.
  6. Relaxed and enjoyed my quiet moments and short bursts of time outside on the balcony.
  7. I ATE MY DESERT – only part of it(a few bites) but I was MINDFUL OF IT and enjoyed the flavors, the taste, the textures, the sweetness of the carrot cake the size of the Sear’s tower.
  8. I brought soy milk and protein powder for morning smoothies to keep my schedule/routine.

We can work it in! It may take a bit of time to pay attention to what is going on in our lives, explore the possibilities, create new means, and then adapt to what life throws at us…

(I learned that at my retreat.) SmileIf you would like assistance working health into your own busy life, contact me.  I am happy to help.

by tessbrennan

Personally, I am no longer fighting for a Cure!

I AM NO LONGER FOR ANY CURE!

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I am for each person giving a damn for their own health and the health of their children and families. I will still compete and support finding cures, but my personal focus is working to PREVENT THEM by working with others who have the same desire.

I am for less overall degenerative disease in our population, in our friends, our neighbors, our children and our own lives. (Less need for cures.)  We lose so many people because there isn’t a cure??? How about the fact that there are KNOWN WAYS  to prevent them!!!  Perhaps you are one of the 40, 50, or 60% who could prevent that disease?

I want, so badly for people to care and love themselves enough to stand up, put one foot in front of the other & choose just one healthier thing each day.

I understand we live in a busy, expensive world and that healthier looks different to different people. This is why I offer once a month support groups. I offer weekly team coaching and individual private coaching. I want people to be different.

DIFFERENT

I am thrilled to watch others succeed, it warms my heart to get messages saying, I like what I see in the mirror now… But what is more important to me, is to know that the person who told me this is in better health and is reducing her chances of developing any of the “nasties” so prevalent.

For more information on coaching or ways to begin giving a damn, contact me. Smile