Tag / Healthy Lifestyle

by tessbrennan

Attention to Prevention and a Bit More…

We’ve heard the news reports, we’ve seen the studies, it is becoming common knowledge that attention to prevention can assist us in living with a higher quality of life for a longer period of time, than if we continue to abuse our bodies.

Increase in Cancer Diabetes Heart Disease 1999-2009

Yet, studies continue to show that 9 out of 10 heart patients, when told to change their diets or die, do NOT change their diets.

A report from TIME, June 22, 2009, provided these statistics. If our medical treatments and options are getting better, then why are these numbers still on the rise?

What can I, as an individual, do to combat this increase in prevalence of debilitating diseases? Continue reading →

by tessbrennan

Working to change my own stress habits.

Thank you, Madeline Ebelini!

Here’s the back story.

Today, I drove my 5 year old daughter and I the 35 miles to the drag strip to watch daddy race.  We’ve been having some vibration issues in the Yukon, but had been unable to diagnose the cause.

It rained.  They cancelled the race, and may of us were standing around, discussing the cancellation when a friend looked at the rear tire of my vehicle.  BIG bubble on the rear passenger tire.  Here’s where my stress kicked in.  I knew I had to drive my vehicle the 35 miles home with my 5 yr old in the back. Sad smile  Continue reading →

by tessbrennan

What you eat for breakfast shapes your whole day. 2 of 2

So, yesterday we discussed how EVERYONE eats breakfast, just at different times and choose different things to consume.  We looked at the spikes in blood sugar when we eat refined carbohydrates for our first meal of the day and then throughout the day.

Today, I want to look at the difference in blood sugar levels when you choose to begin your day with a low-glycemic protein. Continue reading →

by tessbrennan

I’m never sick and I eat whatever I want!

I eat what I want

I hear this on occasion.  (from my husband as well, but he is beginning to change his tune.)  I hear this from people who eat tons of “crap” and drink a lot of sodas, “I am rarely sick.”  They feel they can eat whatever they want and its no big deal because they have been healthy to this point.  (Many of them have recently been discovering things changing, rapidly.)

T.o.  t.h.i.s.   p.o.i.n.t! Continue reading →

by tessbrennan

Our largest organ is the biggest entry of poisons to our body.

In the last week, it seems, we have been bombarded about information regarding the toxins we put into our bodies on a daily basis.  Last week, I presented an informational health minute to my Rotary club on personal care products and the poisons contained in many of the common choices.  Our skin is the biggest organ in our body. (Although I have had a few guys in college try to tell me otherwise.) Smile

toxins we absorb

When we put anything on our skin, it is immediately absorbed and within 90 seconds it begins entering our blood stream. This is why so many different drugs are now being offered in patch form, it is an easy delivery system.

So why the big deal about our personal care products?  The cosmetics/personal care products industry is SELF REGULATED. This means the FDA doesn’t care what they put in the products we use. They don’t ask, they don’t check, it doesn’t matter.  The industry as a whole has set up ITS OWN governing body that sets ITS OWN limits on what can or cannot be used in products.  So they set a level of an ingredient, that has been deemed a toxin and recommend that companies not go over that level.

The average woman uses 9-14 personal care products on a daily basis. The average man uses 7-9. The visual above shows us some examples.  Lets say the products YOU CHOOSE are conservative and only have 85% of that thresh hold for a certain toxin. You use 8 products a day.

8x8.5 personal care graphic

That’s 6.8 TIMES the amount of that toxin that what has been deemed “safe” by the people making it.  Now, add the other chemicals from each of those products as well and you quickly discover the amount of stress being placed on your body on a daily basis, AND YOU HAVEN’T EVEN LEFT HOME!  Smile

I feel blessed to have found alternatives to these products.  Alternatives that don’t include any of these harmful ingredients.  If you, or someone you know is interested in alternatives, please contact me.  I am happy to discuss your needs with you.

Safe Personal Care

If you would like further information on this issue, here is another web article to check out.

 

 

There’s enough stress out there, without my adding to it first thing in the morning. Begin to reduce the taxing toxins from your life and begin seeing your health improve.

by tessbrennan

Is it the Stress, or the habits we have to cope?

It has been very well documented that stress and those with exorbitant amounts of stress in their life have a greater chance of acquiring high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, obesity, and many other dis-eases.  A couple of very intelligent friends of mine once asked me, “Is your life REALLY that stressful, or have you gotten into the habit of allowing the stress to consume you?”

stress leads to disease

I wasn’t sure what they meant, or if they were crazy at that point.

My entire life, I have enjoyed a full life; on a schedule to fit it all in.  I don’t like to sit still, I want to be moving and doing at full speed.  I’ll have time to rest, when I die, right?

Enter an entirely new thought, a new concept for me. (I am still using my calendar and my schedule, but the stress is different – for me.)

We live our lives surrounded by stressors.  Some of which we can choose to eliminate, some of which we cannot eliminate.  We live our lives surrounded by other people. Some of which we can choose to eliminate, some of which we cannot. Smile  The difference comes when we decide to look at it differently from within.

I have begun working to implement meditation into my daily life. Not an easy task when I’ve already added 30 minutes in the morning for bible study, my five year old is waking up earlier, I am training for a 60-mile walk, I have a home to maintain, Rotary, Christian Chamber, a loving husband, my personal business, Bible study classes… and life.

Many times things come up and I get frustrated and stressed because it interrupts my busy schedule. I get stressed because His plan, or someone else’s plan blocks my schedule.  Now, yesterday, an epiphany.

The story:

I was sitting on the deck in the middle of a slough being led through a meditation.  The birds are singing, the wind is blowing my hair in my face, children scream and laugh in the distance, I cough, a car squeals its tires, a plane flies over… How am I supposed to meditate when………… ahhhhhh   It’s the experience, its all a part of the experience.  It doesn’t have to be a bad thing, it just has to be a part of the thing.  I realized I can just accept it as a part of the experience. I don’t have to judge it as right or wrong, I can just allow it to be.

Take time to be mindful for your health

Thank you, Paula English, Carolyn Wightman, and Madeline Ebelini, for opening my eyes and allowing me to begin to LET GO and just let some of life happen.  I don’t have to give everything up and allow everything, but I can determine what I can not change and allow it to be a part of the experience.

Reflection walk

I have heard others say that just 30 seconds of true meditation a day can drastically improve your health.  I am committing to 10 minutes a day for the rest of my life.  I understand that I am not perfect and at times something may interfere, but I don’t have to beat myself up for missing it, just look at the experience as part of life and go on.

Everything killed by hogs yet life prevails

You can do the same. I am not saying it is easy. I committed to an 8 week class to  understand it, not even really knowing what it was about before I began, but praising God I was lead to it, just as I enrolled with a business coach to improve that part of my life. If you would like to know more about how to find a MBSR class near you or to discuss other ways to reduce the effects of stress on your body and health, feel free to contact me.

Thank you for joining me today.

by tessbrennan

Obesity & Autism–a link???

I just turned on the news this evening and happened on the news report about women who are obese during pregnancy have a 67% greater chance of having a child with autism.

http://www.winknews.com/Eye-on-Health/2012-04-09/Autism-and-Obesity-Research

This is a new report, just released, and it raises many questions in my head.

  • Is it the diet of these mothers?
  • Is it the environmental conditions of these mothers?
  • Is it something triggered by the strain on the body from carrying the visceral fat?
  • The questions just keep popping into my head.  WOW

This just boggles my mind!  Since 1/3 of all expecting mothers are obese, and this seems to raise a woman’s chances of giving birth to an Autistic Child from 1 in 88 up to 1 in 53!  WOW!

One more reason why I am so glad to have found the difference healthy choices make, before I gave birth to my daughter.

I am happy to work with anyone who would like to commit to shedding these pounds before conception.

Not that obesity is the only factor here, we know there are more factors involved in Autism. I have many colleagues working with me to assist those dealing with autism, but it helps to have one more tool to fight back.

 

Autism linked to Obesity

 

Contact us to schedule your personal and confidential consultation.

by tessbrennan

How do You Judge Weight Loss Success?

Health is not all about this number

In racing and cars, we use the dynamo-meter to measure our success or failure – where our horsepower and torque are – how fast and strong our vehicle is.  It helps, when rebuilding an engine, to know where you are beginning  and what your goals are for that engine.  The same is true with our human engines.

With healthy weight loss, it is NOT always about the number on the scale!  It is, in fact, about many different numbers.

  • Inches measured around (waist, arms, hips, chest, thighs)
  • The way your clothes fit
  • Your energy levels
  • Other issues plaguing you (HDL, LDL, Blood Sugar, etc.)

When you decide you are ready to begin, here’s a good place to start.

Tess, the Healthy Grease Monkey is here to support you when you are ready to stage and begin your race to better health, and we will be here to continue to support you in not only attaining that new found health, but also in maintaining that new lifestyle, for the long haul.

Weight Loss Finish Line

I’m so happy to be back on the lead lap of life, won’t you join me?  Contact me for your consultation and to see if what we have is a match for what you are looking for.

by tessbrennan

Tips to starting your weight loss trek

You’ve decided to do something to get back to a healthy weight. You’ve shifted into 1st gear by making that choice and now you are ready for 2nd gear and to begin taking the unwanted pounds and inches off your HUMAN chassis. Some of  these you will have heard before, but when you put them all together, they can be powerful!
Shift into weight loss mode


  1. Begin keeping a journal of everything you eat AND drink! (hmmm sound familiar?) — Sometimes we don’t even realize how much we are taking in, or we find out our habits are starving our body and that is from where the problems stem.
  2. START drinking more water — ideally 1 ounce of water for every 2 pounds of weight. (# pounds/2 = how many ounces you should be drinking daily) — This allows us to begin eliminating toxins in our system and allows for faster fat burning.
  3. Cut back on your sugar intake — sodas, highly processed carbohydrates, white sugar.
  4. Increase your fiber content — more raw veggies, and use products with higher fiber content —LOOK at the labels.
  5. STOP all artificial sweeteners!
  6. Increase your activity — even if it’s just adding a short walk after dinner — Get moving!
  7. CONGRATULATE YOURSELF! You are doing something to make your life better and you are setting a great example for our youth!
We can help

Give us a call to get started, remove that over-inflated tire around your middle and get back on the track to healthier living!
-239-246-9488 We will build your ideal system and get you back on the road again!

Stop kicking tires and Get Healthy

If you’ve got the Drive, we’ve got the Vehicle!

The Healthy Grease Monkey is a project by Tess Brennan dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers who are smart about Nutrition & what they put in & surround their body with, passionate about protecting our environment, and are committed to supporing local entrepreneurs. Those who are about healthy weight loss & dynamic living. If you would like to find out what it is like to live a healthy life, we invite you to explore our product line or find out more about our services. Grease Monkey Marketing promotes sound nutrition, ways to improve your success and a little bit of humor.

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