Mick’s up With the Skinny

Some readers might view this blog’s purpose as an advertisement for one of the “next best” diet fads.

That certainly is not the case.

I have not been one to jump on the nearest bandwagon.  Ask my hubby.  Just yesterday we had a brief discussion in which he assured me that he knows I keep far, far away from anything cliché.  (In other words, I don’t choose the “popular” route, and I despise fads.)

Many people in my circle of acquaintances approach me proudly to tell of a recipe they like to use that has “low fat” this and “nonfat” that.  I actually take offense to those statements.  True.  I shouldn’t.  However, it feels like an insult, because never do I mention those phrases in my information.  The reason is:  They usually have nothing to do with my main objective for sharing what I’ve learned, but instead those phrases give the impression that “diet” and “weight loss” are the tactics involved.

Basically all the health information I share boils down to this: Healthy cells and spines allow the body to function at 100%.
 
Do you want to be and remain cancer-free?  Are you hoping to make your children’s lives as disease-free as possible?  Does your family health history scare you?

I don’t think the catwalk is where you’ll find the answers you need for true health.

You are beautiful just the way God made you!  Your family and friends want to celebrate life with you for a long, long time.  That alone should be enough of a reason to work at being 100% healthy.  Isn’t it?!

Jonny Diaz sings a song that says it well: “More Beautiful You.”  Enjoy the video link below.

“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

Proverbs 31:30 (NIV)

~

Mick’s up Sodas

You’ve probably heard  by now the news about Pepsi commenting on their Mountain Dew law suit.  Kind of gross, isn’t it?  It would be bad enough to imagine a mouse was in the batch, but I think it’s even worse to hear the company admit a mouse carcass would not survive in the liquid.  If the soda can do that to something inside it, imagine what it’s doing inside us!  Besides that, did you read the article that tells us a fire retardant is in the ingredients list?

I’m not even going to get into the diet vs. regular argument.  There are some nasty stats I can share on that alone, but the point of this post is that soda in general should be avoided.

Don’t get me wrong.  I used to LOVE soda and drink it ALL the time.  In fact, if I’m around soda, it’s still a temptation for me.  My husband, being a computer programmer, used to run on Mountain Dew and Twizzlers as his fuel.  Thankfully, we both wised up.  Then information like this comes out that reminds us why we decided to seriously give up soda. 

Besides, we want our bodies to be less acidic, if we want long, healthy living, right?  If so, soda is certainly not the beverage we should be consuming.

I can understand the desire to drink a soda now and then, especially on your splurge nights, like maybe Friday pizza nights.  However, if you choose, like we do sometimes, to have a healthier pizza night, or just need that fizz of soda on an ordinary day, there are alternatives.  In my Mick’s up with the Sweeteners, I mention a soda sweetened with stevia, which I am finding in more and more grocery stores now.

Another idea is to make your own soda at home!  We’ve had fun doing that with our soda maker we have left over from our coffee shop ownership days.  There is also the Sodastream Penguin Starter Kit .  For our house, we choose to find healthy fruit juice or mix up juice from freshly squeezed lemons and limes.  This way, we get the fizz and yummy flavors without the sugar and other gross ingredients that would harm our bodies.  We still have lots more experimenting to do, so if you have any ideas, please leave them in a comment here, or write on the Mick’s up facebook wall.


Thanks for dropping by!

Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do…

Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’

But God said to him, ‘You fool!’

Luke 12:18-20

~

Mick’s up in the Eggnog

While we talk about staying healthy this Christmastide, we don’t want to miss out on the holiday treats, right?!  You’re probably saying, “Who wants to think about diet and nutrition now?  Save it for the New Year’s Resolutions!”

There are alternatives, if you do want to enjoy sweets without the negative effects of sugar and artificial sweeteners.  There are great resources out there, like those listed in the left margin, categorized as the food blogs I follow.  One amazing example is Healing Cuisine by Elise.  In fact, she entered a recipe in the Gluten-free Cookie Swap.  (She’d love it, if you’d vote for her.)

Another possibility is downloading a FREE Holiday Recipes eCookbook, when you “like” Maxmized Living on Facebook.  Also, at McCoy Fitness, you can pick up your FREE Clean Zone Diet Cookbook!

As was mentioned in Mick’s up Merry, you should go ahead and plan to have some good ole sweets, etc., but the key is to plan.  “If you typically ‘pig out’ once per week,  hold off and do it every two.  Have a blast and eat like it’s your last meal for 3-4 meals (not days)!”

I’ll leave you with this recipe for eggnog.  Yummy!!

---

Super Easy Egg Nog  (1 serving)                                    
This is an individual serving size of eggnog. It is quick and easy, healthy and a great treat especially during the holidays.

Ingredients 1 whole egg
½ cup pine nuts or chopped pecans (optional)
¼ teaspoon organic vanilla
¼-½ teaspoon stevia or xylitol, or to taste
1 cup coconut milk
Nutmeg to taste
1 pinch sea salt

Directions Beat the egg with the sweetener of your choice along with salt. Pour into a glass. Add vanilla and
milk and stir to mix. Sprinkle a little ground nutmeg on top.

---

---

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 

This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 

Luke 2:10-12 (NIV)

~

Mick’s up with Accountability

As we look at our stress levels and attitude toward each day’s events, let’s also look at who we hang around.

Dave Ramsey says in his lessons in Financial Peace University:  If you want to be rich, talk to rich people, and do what rich people do.

Why don’t we look at that for our health and wellness, too.  Doesn’t it make sense to seek out people you want to be like?  I’m not saying you should be judgmental and snobbish.  We certainly are placed in people’s lives to make a difference, for the glory of God.  However, you can’t constantly give without refueling… and how you refuel is important.  We can view this in a spiritual sense as well as in a health sense.

Think about it.  If weight loss is your goal, but you are regularly joining in get-togethers with friends who eat out constantly… and not healthily… then isn’t that going to have a negative impact on your health?

That’s why it’s always helpful to have an accountability partner… again, spiritual and wellness.  You know how difficult it is to “diet” and cook healthy meals at home, when the rest of the family is still eating the same stuff you are all familiar with… the stuff that you now realize is keeping you from being fit.  It’s not easy stepping out of that comfort zone with your family… so you can imagine it seems almost impossible to make the necessary changes without the support of your family.

Bring somebody along on the journey with you.

I explained this concept to my 8-year-old daughter last month.  After spending time with friends, I asked her if she noticed how addicting the munchies seemed to be to those we were with.  She did.  I then pointed out what ingredients made up the munchies, and I asked her if she thought those were what we like to include in our foods.  She knows they are not.  I asked her if she thought the friends seem to be a healthy bunch.  She understood that they are not.  I then explained that, just because the munchies had the word “veggie” in the name, the friends thought they were healthy.  To them, healthy and tasty meant they should eat more!  By not paying attention to the ingredients, the friends got pulled into thinking they were eating something good for them, and they allowed themselves to get hooked on the taste.

The moral of the story is:  Just because the name sounds healthy, and just because your friends are eating it, does not mean the food is guaranteed to be a healthy choice.  As I’ve said before, look at the ingredients, and know what you’re looking out for!  If you’re hanging around people with similar health goals, you can help each other out, and you won’t get drawn to bad eating habits… at least not without facing your accountability partner.

Seek out an accountability partner today!

…there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24 (NIV)

~

Do You Have a Mick’s up with Sugar Addiction

When our family began living our new lifestyle of health and wellness one year ago, I knew I’d be the one with the most difficulty.  That surprised my husband, who we always teased as being the big sugar fiend.  However, I knew cutting out sugar all together would not be easy for me.

Why did I think it would be so difficult for me?  Being the person in charge of grocery shopping and kitchen organization, I can easily hide things from the rest of the family.  They don’t have to know when I’m eating something sugary.  I know what’s best, and I love them and want the best for them, so I guide them in doing the right thing… but if my craving gets too bad, I can sneak a treat.

The crazy thing is: it’s not such a treat. 

Have you ever noticed that?  You really, really want that sugar, and so you convince yourself you can have it and it’ll be awesome… but after the fact, you wish you hadn’t done it, and you wonder why you thought you couldn’t live without it.

Through posts from glutenologist Dr. Osborne, I ran across some links today that I hope will be very helpful to those of you who struggle with sugar addiction.  You aren’t sure?  Take a test for Self Diagnosis Quiz - Sugar Addiction?!!

If you have decided it’s time to do something about it, CONGRATULATIONS!  Actually taking a step toward breaking that addiction puts you in a rare category.

“One of the most important things about breaking a sugar addiction is learning how to think differently about sugar and how you resist temptation in your life.  Because if you get off sugar but don’t know how to stay off it, that is something that can be very frustrating.” (Samantha Taylor - Sugar Addiction Specialist)

So, how did we do it?  How did we cut our sugar addictions?  We had to be extreme.

All sugar and grains were eliminated from the house… and no longer purchased.  We no longer consumed sugar of any kind.  I was very strict about this for the first 30 days, because we wanted to set a solid foundation for our new lifestyle.  I personally felt it would be foolish for us to ease into it, because we would be wasting money on some things that go totally against our goal, while we also spent lots of money on other things that took us in the direction of our goal.  I would not allow that contradiction in the house… nor in the budget.  (If you follow Dave Ramsey’s advice to pay for groceries with cash and the guidelines of a budget, you find yourself less likely to spend it on indulgences, thus helping in dropping that sugar habit.)  Another reason I had us go “whole hog” into the new lifestyle of no sugar is that I know if I don’t make myself do it like that, I’ll never do it.  If the temptation is nearby, I don’t have the willpower to say, “No!”

After a while, of course, the family started wondering if they’d ever taste anything sweet again.  That’s when I started getting wise to the healthier sweeteners and what recipes are out there to assist in healthy eating.  Plus, we have learned to plan ahead, so we can splurge on sugar once in a while.  We have to remember to use some constraints, or else we’re tempted to go overboard.

It is a matter of the mind.  Do what it takes to make yourself stop eating sugar, even if it’s checking into Sugar Addiction Solution.  Getting off sugar is worth it in the long run.  I can’t even express to you how much it is worth it!

Don’t let yourself believe you’re too weak to succeed.  You can do it!

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Proverbs 16:24 (NIV)

~

Why Mick’s Calories?

Since I missed a post yesterday, due to my computer being held hostage by a 13-year-old’s LAN party, I am combining my exercise day with my nutrition day into one topic:  Calories.

Most of us have gotten used to the formula: 
calories in < calories out = lower weight

I don’t know about you, but I was never good at counting calories.  It was way too time-consuming for me.  I was so happy to find out it isn’t necessary!

“Playing the calorie counting game doesn’t work.  It overlooks and ignores the impact stress and diet have on your hormones,” says nutrition and fitness expert Dr. Len Lopez, creator of The Work Horse Trainer.  “The reason people aren’t efficiently burning stored body fat has nothing to do with the amount of calories they ate or burned, and more to do with what regulates their metabolism.”  Dr. Lopez goes on to explain that our metabolism is controlled mostly by hormones, such as cortisol, adrenaline, insulin, and glucagon.  He offers a Calorie Burning Test and lists out ways to Stay in Your Fat-Burning Zone.


As we see in Mick’s up Exercising, we can decrease cortisol by following interval training or surge types of exercise, whereas some longer duration exercise may actually increase that stress hormone.  Exercise is obviously good for increased breathing (as Dr. Lopez suggests is good for decreasing the stress, cortisol, and adrenaline), and this style of exercise improves metabolism.

Eating the right foods also improves metabolism.  Eating a breakfast such as eggs cooked in coconut oil can be beneficial (and yummy!).  Dr. Lopez states:  “Take a look at your diet. You cannot skip meals or eat refined, junk food.  It causes your blood sugar to drop and stimulates your adrenals to make additional cortisol and adrenaline.  Make sure you eat breakfast and it includes good protein and fats.  A predominately high carb breakfast, like cereal or bagels, will throw your blood sugar off for most of the day.  Good protein and fats at each meal will help reduce the surge of insulin and will stimulate the production of glucagon, which aids in the breakdown of fats.”

Also concentrating on another hormone called leptin instead of calories will help you understand weight-loss resistance and how to find success by getting past the calories in/calories out thinking. 

Just like we can be a new creation through faith in Christ and the amazing love of God, we can feel like a new person when we live simpler, healthier lives.  Plus, we can forget about the “old” way of thinking in terms of calories, and consider the “new” way of thinking in terms of allowing our bodies to process hormones properly, the way they were meant to.  Who doesn’t want simpler?

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.

See I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"

Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

~

Mick’s up Moms

This is dedicated to all the moms out there!

Being that this blog from a mom’s perspective has the goal to help families live healthier, and because it’s my mother-in-law’s birthday, today’s post is dedicated to moms.

I asked some friends of mine (who in the recent past have discovered a new lifestyle including running) for some words of wisdom, from a healthy mom’s perspective.  Enjoy!

Jenny writes:

♪♫ Happy birthday, Mom W!♫♪

“My experience with healthy family life really evolved out of my own up and down weight.  I did not start out teaching my girls healthy habits.  I admit they have eaten their share of frozen chicken nuggets and fries.  I was not much of a cook early in their lives.  As I learned more about how I needed to eat to feel better and maintain a healthy weight, I also learned how to cook.  This is not always greeted with enthusiasm by my kids, but they have learned to try new things and even grown very fond of many great healthy dishes.  Lets face it, cooking at home is so much better and cheaper.  Oh and letting my kids help in the kitchen has increased their awareness of what they eat and gotten them more excited about it. I also was very aware, as a mother of girls, that I needed to lead by example.  There are frightening statistics on teen and preteen girls and eating disorders.  So I wanted to lead by example.  I cook healthy, eat regular meals, and work out at least a few days a week.  I also discovered that a one month membership to the Y was cheaper than one evening out to dinner and a movie with my family.  As a family, we discovered the beautiful area in which we live and do some hiking.  I won't say we never eat out or enjoy a less than healthy treat but we do so in moderation.”

Stay tuned for Shannon's writing:
“[Shannon's awesomeness entered here!]”

---

Some quick ideas for healthier nutrition for the family can be found in the resource I have used for the past year to get my family to our current improved state of health, which is the Maximized Living Nutrition Plan book by B. Lerner, BJ Hardick and K. Roberto.  It has similarities to the Paleo Diet or Raw Diet or Primal Diet… but it is less raw, much better, yummier, easier to follow, and more family-friendly.  Have fun exploring!

---

A fellow blogger Carla Gardiner of CarlaJGardiner.com posted an article that fits well with today’s Mick’s up Life:  Why Do People Sabotage My Health Plan?  Enjoy… and become inspired! 

Attribution Statement: This article (Why Do People Sabotage My Health Plan?) was first published at CarlaJGardiner.com.  To receive your own FREE "Secret to Turning Back the Clock" video, go to CarlaJGardiner.com and claim your free video NOW!

Carla J Gardiner is an ex-banker turned entrepreneur who built an auto transport brokerage and dispatch center from the ground up. With half a days training and little else Carla learned the business inside and out the hard way…by doing it. Her passion and purpose lies with the people she works with daily; the client, dispatcher, broker and truck driver. Her frustration within the industry has birthed a new division of her company; a part-time business to to properly train, encourage and mentor others in turning back the clock and regaining youthful health.

---

“A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life…. 
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
‘Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.’
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”

Proverbs 31:10-12, 26-31 (NIV)

~

What’s the Mick’s up with Artificial Sweeteners?

“Artificial sweeteners can be found on nearly every restaurant table in America.  Sales of Sweet N Low, Splenda, Equal, and many other artificial sweeteners have sky-rocketed in recent years.  Everywhere we look, the multi-colored sugar substitutes enter our food and drinks by the packet.  Most claim to be “natural” and “low calorie.”  As consumers attempt to make smart choices on how to sweeten their foods and drinks, the dangers of these chemical sugars continue to be uncovered. ” - Dr. Aaron Sparks - Maximized Living: "The Yellow Blue and Pink Packets Could Be Killing You"

What are artificial sweeteners?  I don’t necessarily agree with everything said by the clinic, but here’s the Mayo Clinic definition:

“Artificial sweeteners are synthetic sugar substitutes but may be derived from naturally occurring substances, including herbs or sugar itself. Artificial sweeteners are also known as intense sweeteners because they are many times sweeter than regular sugar.

“Artificial sweeteners currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are:

• Acesulfame potassium (Sunett, Sweet One)
  
• Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet)
  
• Neotame
  
• Saccharin (SugarTwin, Sweet'N Low)
  
• Sucralose (Splenda)

“Approved sugar alcohols and novel sweeteners include:

• Erythritol
  
• Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates
  
• Isomalt
  
• Lactitol
  
• Maltitol
  
• Mannitol
  
• Sorbitol
  
• Xylitol
  
• Stevia preparations that are highly refined (Pure Via, Truvia)”

You can find a comparison of some of these sweeteners at WebMD.

The artificial sweeteners are chemicals, which have serious affects on children and their brains.  For example:  Aspartame has a known carcinogen, methyl alcohol, which in this product doesn’t have the pectin to bind it to be safe like it does in fruit.  Also, Splenda contains chlorine, bringing another carcinogen into our foods.  These sweeteners are in 6000+ products, so beware, especially if you have a child with challenges.  Check out this information at the Maximized Living Vlog with Dr. Ashly Ochsner, as well as in the article “Artificial Sweeteners: The Only Thing You Won't Lose is Weight” and the webinar: Know the Facts About Diet Drinks and Artificial Sweeteners (aired: 2011-04-19) (Scroll down to almost the bottom of the page, and find the title to click on.)

The choice has always been easy for me.  I hate the taste of artificial sweeteners, so I’ve always steered clear of them, and now I’m glad I did.  However, I know there are many people out there who are hooked on the stuff.  It’ll be difficult to break that, but it’ll be worth it in the long run, when there is less brain fog, more energy, and a healthier and more fit body.  Reaching that point will allow you to fully do what God has in store for you!

If you don’t do it for yourself, at least do it for your kidderz.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:2 (NIV)

Don’t be like everyone else, and fall into the “diet” and “sugar-free” trend of artificial sweeteners.

Make the safest choices you can.

Do the research, and become empowered!

So, if we stay away from sugar, as in Mick's Scoop on Sugar, because of its affect on our Immune System, as we read in Mick's up on Your Immune System, among other things, then what?


I'm glad you asked!
A couple of safer options are described in Mick's up with Sweeteners.

~