This is an entertaining & insightful video worth watching. Enjoy!

Do your body a favor by staying hydrated this summer. Doing so can provide you with a natural beauty glow without having to invest hundreds of dollars in lotions and potions. Water allows your body to effectively wash away waste and toxins.  If you’re looking to shed some pounds, staying hydrated is key.

Find water boring?

Get creative by adding lemon, orange or cucumber slices. You can even make ice cubes out of fresh unsweetened juices and adding it to your water.

Ditch the Sports drinks

First – the facts. Sports drinks do not hydrate better than water. It hydrates better than any other liquid, both before and during exercise. Water tends to be less expensive and more available than any other drink.  

If you’re hooked on sports drinks, take a look at the label next time.  You might be surprised to notice an ingredient called "BVO."  On the labels of Gatorade, Powerade, and AMP Energy Drink it is listed as Brominated Vegetable Oil. It is toxic to your thyroid gland, and many other tissues in the human body, such as the breasts, ovaries, prostate, stomach, skin, and ultimately, even your brain.

I admit it, sometimes the sports drinks are more appealing because they have more flavor.  But what if you could have a tasty drink without the chemicals?

Make the upgrade to coconut water

Yes - coconut water.  It’s naturally the purest liquid second only to water itself. It is chock full of electrolytes, calcium, potassium, magnesium; everything that is good for you.

No client information is ever shared and confidentiality is highly protected and valued. In this case, my new client, Angie, has volunteered to provide a blog entry for the Thriving Lifestyle community. Please support & encourage Angie during her journey. :)

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When it’s time for a relationship to be over, you know.  The signs are all there.  The broken promises, the disappointments, the back and forth pull between what you know is right and what your heart wants. 

I’ve had a love affair with Diet Coke for as long as I remember.  A 2 liter a day or 8-10 cans a day is not unusual for me. And for a while, I’ve worn my addiction with pride.  It’s just one of my little quirks.  Skip the Starbucks baby, I’ve got my nectar of the gods in this sweet little can o’ artifically colored and flavored aspartame.

But I knew it couldn’t last.  

There have been warning signs along the way.  Like the day there was a small fire outside of my office and a colleague tried to take my Diet Coke to douse the flames.  I clutched my soda, wild-eyed, saying something along the lines of “I don’t care if the entire building burns to ashes, you’re not touching my Diet Coke.” 

Sadly, I wish that were an exaggeration to make a point. A little bit of lighthearted literary license.  It’s not.

Except now I’m starting to rethink this whole thing.  For a couple of reasons, really.  For one, my five and nine year olds have taken to stealing sips when they think I’m not looking.  Apparently the whole “Do as I say and not as I do” is not an effective parenting technique.

And while I’ve been reluctant to actually look at the real dangers of what I’m guzzling (we’ll ignore the environmental impact for now), research clearly shows connections between aspartame and depression, fatigue, weight gain, lupus, osteoporosis and teeth problems.  Sigh.

Since I started working with Karla, I’ve committed to making baby steps to have a healthier lifestyle.  One of my goals is to let go of my addiction to Diet Coke.   It’s a process, and right now it involves switching a few drinks a day over to Zevia, a more natural carbonated drink without the artificial sweetener.  I’m not paid to promote it, I promise, and the taste isn’t exactly the same, but it’s satisfying enough.  Plus, there's the whole giving up the toxic-chemicals-that-could-kill-me thing.

(http://www.zevia.com)

Yesterday’s count?  3 Diet Cokes, 3 Zevias.

And today – haven’t had a Diet Coke yet and I'm loving my Dr. Zevia.

Look, I know it’s not exactly pomegranate juice, but it’s a baby step.

And, if you happen to see me with a Diet Coke in my hand, snatch it please!

Ever try using dates as a sweetener? It’s packed with fiber, potassium and antioxidants. Plus, when combined with protein & healthy fats (such as nuts), you end up with a blood sugar friendly, balanced food. You might be thinking, why not just use the white stuff, aka refined sugar? C’mon, you deserve better than that. Eating too much refined sugar actually dulls our skin & promotes wrinkles. Nothing sweet about that!

Here’s a recipe that is decadent enough to be eaten as a dessert yet so balanced that it can also be eaten as a snack.  It’s super easy, fun & requires no baking. The only appliance you will need is a food processor with an S-blade.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cups raw, unsalted nuts (almonds & walnuts make a good combo)
12 – 15 medjool dates, pitted
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (raw would be an upgrade)
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1-2 drops of stevia liquid or 2 packets (optional for added sweetness)
1/2 – 3/4 tsp.  sea salt
3/4 cup shredded coconut

Directions:

1. Finely grind up the nuts using a food processor with an S-blade.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients & process until it holds together in a soft mass.  Feel free to add some water to smooth it out.

3.  Shape the the mixture into mini-sized balls (approx. 1 tbsp)  and roll each in the shredded coconut.

4. Place balls on baking sheet and refrigerate for at least one hour (if you want it to be even firmer, place in freezer).

NOTE: Feel free to get creative with this. I tend to add more sea salt than indicated to give more of a sweet and salty contrast. You can even add some goji berries to turn it into a superfood snack/dessert. Have fun!

I’m so excited to introduce my new client, Terri.  Terri is currently enrolled in my 6-month Transformation Program, and she was gracious enough to allow me to share her journey with all of you.  Our hope is that her story will inspire & empower others to take charge of their health & happiness.

Below is Terri’s first entry.  This was written shortly after her very first session with me.  She will be providing an update mid-way through her program as well as at the very end, so stay tuned!  This is way better than any reality show!    I also invite you to support Terri by leaving an encouraging message.

So, without further ado…

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Hi, my name is Terri Jones.  I’m a registered nurse who is separated and looking to make big changes in my life.  I work night shift, so eating right and finding time to take care of myself is a challenge.  Although as a nurse I “know” what I should be doing, I really needed help incorporating it into my hectic lifestyle.  I’m also in graduate school pursuing a Masters of Science in Nursing. My life is crazy right now and I didn’t think that I could handle anything too stressful.  I recently moved back to NJ and finding time to hang out and have fun has been difficult (to say the least).  I love to read, follow political news and enjoy learning new historical facts in my free time.  I’m typically a shy person, and although I exercise often, I’m not a gym person (just prefer to work out at home).

I realized that it was time for me to make changes in my lifestyle when I started to have difficulty sleeping and a general “not well” feeling.  I went to my doctor to determine if there was a medical reason for this, had several tests run and was told that there was nothing wrong with me.  Honestly, you should have seen me when I got the results. I was blown away.  How could I feel so bad and there be nothing medically wrong with me?  As a health care professional, I knew that I needed to make a big change in my life or I’d end up on a lifetime of medications.  I’m an obese individual who has a slightly elevated cholesterol and blood pressure.  I even tried joining a weight loss program and didn’t lose a pound and actually felt worse.  How could this be?  I was following the program to the letter and had even incorporated exercise in my life.  I think meeting Karla was an intervention from above.  She’s taught me that I don’t have to really count points, calories, fat grams or whatever, to lose weight & feel better.

Honestly after my first meeting with Karla I was like “what is this chick talking about?” but I realized that I needed to make a positive change in my life and that I’d give it a try.  I started to incorporate more whole foods into my diet and stopped eating the “sugar-free”, “low-fat” processed foods.  I was initially afraid of the extra cost of eating this way, because processed foods are cheaper.  However, just after a few days, I started to feel better. I could finish a 40-minute workout without feeling like I was going to die (yes at almost 300 pounds, its a challenge).  I started making meals for just me. I hated cooking for one, but I realized that it’s not so bad.   I’m a junk food junkie, and I didn’t think that I’d last a week eating like this.  After just two weeks I lost 4 pounds.  I haven’t been counting calories or watching fat grams. So far, I’ve just made small changes to my diet but nothing really drastic.  I’m sleeping so much better already & have more energy than I’ve ever had!

I’m looking forward to continuing this journey and sharing with you all my progress.
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Yayy, Terri!  I am so honoured & grateful for the opportunity to be able to support this amazing woman!