Superfood

I am the queen of looking for "stuff" that will change my life. For more than 30 years, I bought dozens of magazines every month searching for the promised "change your life" articles. I consume information like food. The internet has been both an amazing resource and a burden to me because I can't get away from it. I am an information junky. I research fitness, raising kids, natural healing, caring for elderly parents, financials, gardening, books, recipes, nutrition, ways to look younger, cosmetic surgery - I am looking for it all!

I can't say that anything I have ever used/tried has really been life changing with the exception of changing the way I eat and exercising diligently - until I started using fish oil. Fish oil literally saved me. I was having really bad memory problems - frightening to the point of fearing the beginning stages of Alzheimers, the disease my mother succumbed to. I started taking pharmaceutical grade fish oil and that all went away!! Amazing! I even went off it for a short time and the memory problems all came washing back. I immediately went back to the fish oil and I will never stop taking it.

Recently, I started a new experiment. I was turned on to a Superfood.

A superfood is defined by Wilkapedia as a type of food that is believed to have more significant health benefits than any other type of food due to their specific phytonutrient content. For instance, blueberries are considered a superfood because they contain significant amounts of antioxidants, phytoflavinoids, vitamin C, and potassium, which are believed to provide important health benefits.

The superfood I am experimenting with is the acai (pronounced a-sigh-e) berry. This berry has been proven to contain one of the highest amounts of anti-oxidants of any food grown on earth. In late 2004, Dr. Nicholas Perricone appeared on The Oprah Winfrey show to promote one of his books where he lists the Ten Super Foods to Rejuvenate the Body. He rated the Acai Berry as #1, calling it one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the world. It was the ONLY fruit that made his list -- worthy of note in light of the flurry of single-fruit health juices that have appeared in recent years.

Also in 2004, NBC Today's Matt Lauer hosted a road show from the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, reporting that locals now call the legendary Acai Berry the "Viagra of the Amazon." Hmmm - haven't researched THAT yet!

Check out this Oprah.com page that describes the berry:

http://www.oprah.com/presents/2005/young/life/life_acai.jhtml

Back to the experiment. I have a friend and fitness colleague out in California who introduced me to a product called Mona Vie. Mona Vie is a juice that is blended from the Brazilian acai berry and 18 other beneficial fruits. There are amazing stories relating to the use of this juice.

In particular, many people with joint pain and diabetes, have experienced quick, lasting relief from symptoms and complications associated with the their disease, sometimes after only a few days of drinking this elixer. It has also resolved or relieved other health related issues for some people such as migraines, IBS, sleep problems, sugar cravings, ADHD behavior and more. I decided to order some Mona Vie and put my family on it for our various ailments, conditions and syndromes. In particular, I wanted to see if I would feel any differently after drinking the prescribed 2 oz. 2x/day.

In the last month, I have read a zillion stories about the effects of Mona Vie on health but I didn't have any first hand stories. I turned several clients on to this superfood drink and a few stories are starting to filter back to me. For example, 1 client took some for her father who has bad arthritis in his shoulder and when she brought him the bottle I provided her with, her mother told her that his DOCTOR recommended that he start drinking Mona Vie! A doctor! That's exciting.

Then my Accupuncturist told me she had been drinking Mona Vie for about a year and she got it from her sister-in-law who is a doctor! Another client told her parents about it and her mother told her that her father had been on it for several months. I asked what relief he was feeling from the drink and she told me that he said he didn't realize how much relief he was getting for his arthritis until he went OFF Mona Vie. He immediately went back on it. I heard that story from someone else as well. My friend from California, a fellow insomniac, said she is sleeping like a baby, feeling way less pain in a bad hip, and "things" are really moving well from behind -if you catch my drift! So, there's alot of positive things happening with this juice.

The jury is still out as my family has only been on it for about 2 weeks. I did notice this though. I have a 25 year history of big time sleeping problems, but in the past 2 months, I happily have managed to get some drug-free sleep. So I wasn't really testing Mona Vie in that area.

Interestingly enough, I have been sleeping REALLY deep lately. So deep, that I am sleeping right up until the alarm goes off. That NEVER happens to me. I am usually awake 2-4 times each night and typically wake up 10-15 minutes before the alarm and cannot go back to sleep. This has been my sleep pattern for 20 plus years. Is it the "stuff"? I don't know. But I am keeping an eye on THAT! If you have a minute, go to the link below. It's a smidgeon of inspiration from Dr. Andrea Pennington on how to add vitality to your life and she mentions Mona Vie! Interesting!

http://www.myfoxkc.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=BF986D69A12CECD2B4C26EBF0AA4FA43?contentId=4621431&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1


I will keep you posted!

Down To The Wire - SCAREY!

Ok - I have 9 days left to achieve my weight/fat loss goal. I made it through SEVEN days with no sugary, sweets or treats. NONE! I even skipped the 1/2 tsp. of sugar I started putting in my coffee. I feel great about it! The first 3 days were really tough - only the after dinner hour, but what a fight to beat down the craving. I feel free and wicked in control. I even went to a huge street festival in New Hampshire Saturday night (28,000 jack-o-lanterns) and did not cave into the pumpkin whoopee pies or the apple cider donuts. I love that stuff too! BTW - the above picture is the top part of one of two 50 foot towers of Jack-o-Lanterns erected at each end of Main St. in Keene New Hampshire. Very cool!

Anyway - I can tell you this - removing treats and wine from my diet has made all the differnce in accomplishing my weight/fat loss goal. I stalled in the middle of my 9 weeks because I stopped paying attention and I kept giving myself permission to have a sweetie here, 5 pieces of cake there (YIKES!!) - it just doesn't work that way. This worked. Carving those empty calories completely out of my day wiped out the craving. And afterall, isn't it all about the cravings and the saiety? If you are feeling unsatisfied, you will try to fill that emptiness. If you don't crave, you don't need to worry about eating more calories because you don't ingest them.

It is very freeing, because eliminating high, empty calorie food from your diet allows you to eat more of the nutrient dense food you should be eating, which is great because if it tastes really good, you are free to have more without guilt! And guess what? I am back on target. I am down 3.5 pounds and I am happy in the new jeans I bought.

Now granted, it is only 3.5 pounds. But that's ME! I have way less to lose than some people. I still went through the same gyrations and setbacks anyone else could possibly go through. I still had to make big changes in the way I eat to get where I wanted to be. The point is, everyone experiences these ups and downs along the weight/fat loss journey. It's not a straight shot. It is sometimes painful and very often triumphant. Some weeks you lose nothing or even gain (remember my 3 pound gain in week 3?), other weeks you make great strides. Those of you who want to lose 20, 30, 50 pounds, just stay the course.

This is a lifestyle change, not a short term project. Yes - I made it into a short term project but it doesn't end on Halloween. The journey continues. Because if it didn't, you would be back where you started in no time and possibly you would be in a worse situation. Stay tuned.