Live Long Naturally ©2012

It will sooner or later! Preparing your own meals from scratch, will not only help you live long… the chances of dying a slow suicide are drastically less! Eating from the dollar menu may help stretch the dollar now, but you will pay later with pharmaceuticals, hospital bills and your life. A dollar menu “treat” once in a blue moon won’t do a whole lot of damage, however… be careful! The cheap ingredients and chemicals are addicting and fattening!

It is what we do most hours of the day and days of the week that count. Far too many people are digging their graves with their teeth and not giving it a second thought. Not only that… we are entering a time where parents are outliving their children. A woman I met earlier this year told me about a study that was done on a family of 4 generations. Believe it or not the oldest of the 4 generation family was the healthiest of the bunch! Reason for this? The food they ate growing up was real – there wasn’t a fast food place on practically every corner, meals were not microwaved, food was grown, not sprayed and shipped in for miles.

It is possible to eat tasty healthy food for less – simply shop the outer walls of the grocery store and buy in bulk when possible. Community Sustained Agriculture (CSA’s), CoOp’s, Produce Swapping are other options as well. Localharvest.org has a list of places in your area. Some families do what’s called “cow-pooling.” Buy your beef straight from farmer and divvy up!

Before you eat, ask yourself how a certain food or drink will make you look and feel. And remember what you do on your birthday and special occasion can and should be a treat!

When we plant worry thoughts, we harvest nothing but weeds in our mental garden. ~~Carolyn McCormick~~

Is worrying stealing your energy and robbing you of your dreams? Did you know that most of what we worry about never happens? Why swim upstream when you can go with the flow?

Perhaps we could consider adapting the Aussie’s far from down under attitude… “No worries!” After all, if what we think about, we bring about, why worry? Sure it’s easier said than done, but why not live with the Golden Rule and/or any version of it in mind? Whether we “do unto others as we would have them do unto us,” or choose to believe “what we reap, we shall sow”… we must be aware and think to create!

Worrying is like a Boomerang – it gives us a world of doubt, fear, and negative energy. As my former coach and trainer told my group of trainees, we cannot be duplicitous… we cannot worry and expect positive rewards. A great way to break the habit of worry is to ask yourself what you have to worry about in that very moment of worry. The sooner we live in the present, the sooner the negative chatter stops. Most of our present moments are worry free – why choose to worry about future things/events? What if today were the last day of your life? Would you waste it by not making it the best day of your life? Be grateful for today and everything it brings – gratitude cancels worry.

Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles. It empties today of its strength! ~~Unknown~~

Are you left scratching your head on why puffy eyes and/or under eye bags linger? If so, you’re not alone! I recently consulted with a man who wore sunglasses indoors at night because of the puffiness under his eyes. He had been to two specialist who, surprise SURPRISE, offered no help whatsoever. If the root cause is not discovered, the problem will exist. The external problem is the lesser of the evils. Your body is trying to tell you something!

In just a short amount of time, I discovered this young man was a teetotaler, which is a great thing. However… it could have detrimental effects if the tea bag is left to brew. Tea brewing/steeping varies in time, though 3 to 4 minutes is plenty! Another culprit I discovered was that he ate far too much soy sauce. I for one have had to cancel portraits for this very reason. I was puffed up from head to toe, that I was practically unrecognizable!

There can be a variety of reasons why we get puffy eyes… sugar and late night eating are a few other culprit!s One thing I have learned with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is… the skin below the eyes corresponds to the kidneys, so it would be wise to enlighten your doctor (or under eye bag/circle “specialist”) on this. Brace yourself and bite your tongue on their response and know… it’s better to be happy than right!

“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” ~~ Mohandas K. Gandhi~~

A positive effect of the  less than optimal economy has been Gardens and Recession Diets. Whether planting your own garden, being a part of a community garden, or buying from a Farmers’ Market or a CSA… REAL food can help keep you lean, clean, green, not to mention surviving & thriving! It can in fact help with finding your passion and purpose. Freeing the body of toxic waste frees the mind of toxic thoughts and vice versa. ”Forgetting ourselves” becomes unfortunately easier when the diet consists of cooked, processed, and/or fake food with labels.

Gardening will not only lower your grocery bill and whittle the waist,  it will add years to your life and life to your years! Think you don’t have a place to garden? Pots, wheelbarrows, and even lil red wagons serve quite well as a place to grow your own food. The beauty of growing in small moveable objects is you can follow the sun.

Consider giving your thumbs a try at gardening, you’ll be glad you did! Saving your seeds and or buying organic seeds or seedlings can feed you and your family for days and decades to come!

Know what lurks in your neighborhood? Health issues got you down and can’t seem to find any improvement with diet, detox or pharmaceuticals? Are colds, flu, aches and pains a constant problem? Are you sick and tired of looking and feeling sick and tired?

Cell towers, cell reception, hidden antennas and more could very well be the culprit of many health conditions, disease and overall sense of blah. A plethora of information can be found on existing towers, future towers, and antennas – a free online source of detailed information on millions of towers and antennas here in the U.S. Includes Google Maps and detailed data downloads for your neighborhood and beyond.

If improving your health is not of importance, it can be used to check cell phone coverage before signing up for service.