Soda Solution

Ok, for those of you who just can't do without your soda (which I happen to hear all the time) here is a great solution!! My sidekick (aka hubby) and I made ourselves the guinea pigs for this first. Now that we've tried it and really enjoy it, I can give it my stamp of approval and recommendation.

We got ourselves a "SodaStream" which is a non-powered (no electricity no batteries) devise for carbonating water. Then we squeeze in fresh Lemon Juice (from our tree), crushed mint (from my garden) or add an ounce or two of any all natural, unsweetened juice. My favorite is Bom-Dia (bomdia.com), man is that good! You can get Bom-Dia at Costco too. Get creative with it, just be sure to watch the sugar content and calorie count... a little juice goes a looog way. It's also kinda fun to see what new, healthy concoction we can come up with!! Voila! A great, healthy(er) soda substitute.

For us it ended up being "greener" as well... First, we stopped buying bottled water and got an extra large Brita water filter and then used that for making our "Sparklers". That, in turn, cut out our purchase of cans and bottles of seltzer water. With the SodaStream we have a lot less waste and cost. We exchange our empty CO2 bottles for full ones at a local store or through the mail for WAY less money than we were spending on bottled/canned water. Plus we found our SodaStream on Craigslist for only $40!!!

Of course this should NEVER take the place of good ol' plain H2O!! Please continue to drink plenty of that elixir of life!! Also remember that drinking carbonation can cause (temporary) bloating, so don't be chugging it before you take those "after" pictures! hahaha

CHEERS!!

Eat like a "Caveman"

Before we discuss, what to eat, we first must understand how to eat. Let's think back, waaay back, to man's first existence (not debating our creation here please). We didn't have all the modern conveniences of today so our bodies were made (not unlike other animals) to forage for food and the food available back then was fresh and full of nutrients (unprocessed). Check out your body, it has legs with large muscles to carry you quickly and long distances if necessary. You have large glutes for explosive movements for trapping or for which to move along the ground gathering nourishment, arms and hands for transporting and cleaning/preparing what you've hunted or gathered, etc. (you get the picture). Running, hunting, gathering, takes energy... food is the fuel that gives the energy for the next hunt/gather. Look at animals that are still hunting today, they are strong, lean and have great endurance (think Cheetah, Hyena, etc), then look at those we've domesticated and don't provide adequate exercise to. MmmmHmmm, get the picture? (I see you nodding your head)

Then came machines to do the work for us, but we continue to eat as if we were still doing the work ourselves. Remember, your body is still functioning as if YOU are the hunter/gatherer (OK, not like today's hunters, sitting in trees for hours, throwing back six-packs). When you eat, your body thinks, "Oh, good, fuel for the next forage", but if there is no "foraging" going on, it will simply continue to store the fuel in all those dandy little fuel cells, aka fat cells. This is why eating proportionally and exercise will always work to maintain fitness. Plain and simple, our bodies were meant to MOVE.  Becoming habitually sedentary is the beginning of the end for our joints and muscles (use it or lose it). We become nothing more than a fat factory, capable of producing mass quantities of that goopy yellow matter.

Summary: Fuel your body according to it's own fuel consumption (energy usage). Learn and KNOW how much food YOU need to maintain a healthy BMI. There is a correct ratio for each of us, you need to eat according to YOUR body's demand. THINK before you put anything in your mouth... Food is just Fuel...  Ask yourself, How am I going to use this? Am I just going to store this? How can I use this fuel I'm consuming to keep it from going into storage?


EAT TO LIVE; DON'T LIVE TO EAT!