My Blog Has Moved…

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to let you know I have moved my blog. Please go to this link and subscribe to my re-designed (still “under construction”) blog: Healthy Life With Max

Thanks for your support and for reading my blog!

To Your Health…

Debbie James
www.HealthyLifeWithMaxBlog.com
850-450-2000

Not Just Weight Loss – Only A Name Change

It occurred to me the other day, after speaking with my mentor and good friend Tricia, that I don’t want my readers thinking all my blog is about is weight loss. I want it to be so much more….about your health. Of course, being over weight is a major health issue in today’s society…2 out of 3 Americans are over weight!

What about… Raising your energy level? Improving your focus? Strengthening your immune system? Lowering your leptin levels? Increasing your body’s production of it’s master anti-oxidant, Glutathione? Improve heart and lung function? Diet and exercise? And even slowing down the aging process!!! There is so much that is tied to your ultimate health, besides just weight loss.

In today’s society, too many doctors look at the symptoms and prescribe medication based on that. What they don’t look at, is what is causing those symptoms. I believe in doctors, and believe they are very important to us. From my own recent experience, I learned my lesson not to just listen and do what the doctor says. Get a 2nd opinion.

Here’s an example my husband, Michael, went thru: Back in 2004 Michael, got so tired after eating a meal, he had to take a nap. Obviously, something was not right. We went to a doctor, who we thought was a natural doctor, to come away with the doctor hinting Michael had diabetes. We had a cat that was on and off diabetic for years and knew just enough to know Michael did NOT have diabetes. A good friend of ours referred us to a true natural doctor in Atlanta (she has severe food allergies and this doctor helped her). After many tests, it was discovered Michael is allergic to yeast!!! He immediately changed his diet and instantly felt better. Today, if he eats something with yeast, it makes him tired. At least he knows what the cause and effect is if he eats food with yeast as one of the ingredients. Could you imagine if we went down the first path???? Did you also know that just about every American has a food allergy? (More about that in another post).

The medical industry has come so far as natural supplements go. Look at Chinese medicine…they have been successful for thousands of years. All I’m asking is to take a hard look at what is causing your symptoms vs. just treating them.

With all that said, I have decided to change the name of my blog from: Your Dream Size TO: Healthy Life With Max.

It’s about your mind, body and spirit. My good friend, Lance, says “A strong mind, makes a strong body“.

To Your Health…

Debbie James
www.HealthyLifeWithMax.com
850.450.2000

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What is the Glycemic Index?

I was searching on You Tube this morning and came across this video. Natalie does a great job at explaining the Glycemic Index. Check it out:

This site, by David Mendosa, also has some wonderful information, very detailed and easy to understand. There is also a ton of other incredible information. The Glycemic Index

To Your Health…
Debbie James
www.YourDreamSize.com
850.450.2000

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Do You Have Food Allergies?

Probably so!! Just about everyone has some sort of food allergy. Did you know that more than 160 foods can cause allergic reactions in people with food allergies? The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has identified eight foods that account for 90 percent of reactions. They are:

• Milk
• Eggs
• Fish (e.g., bass, flounder, cod)
• Crustacean shellfish (e.g., crab, lobster, shrimp)
• Tree nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, pecans)
• Peanuts
• Wheat
• Soybeans

According to the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004, foods containing products made from these foods must identify them as source ingredients on packaging labels. Food products labeled before January 1, 2006 were not required to identify ingredient sources – only common names. ALWAYS use special care when reading labels.

I recently cut wheat out of my diet, and can breathe so much better! I’m also allergic to shell fish. I found that out years ago when I started taking a fish oil supplement. My skin started to itch so badly I wanted to come out of it! Good thing I don’t like to eat fish…never liked the taste. I take flax oil instead.

Maybe it’s true…you are what you eat?

To Your Health…

Debbie James
www.YourDreamSize.com
850.450.2000

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Mind Over Body

Diet. A word I absolutely HATE! When I think of that word, I think, “I’m going to be hungry”. I also think, I can only eat what “someone” tells me to eat. Rather difficult if you are as picky of an eater as I am. I don’t eat red meat and I’m allergic to shell fish, (which is not so bad since I don’t like fish!) hate mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, to name a few. So, where do we go from here?

What if we think of the word “diet” as a lifestyle change? Not so bad then, huh? My body doesn’t like yeast…yes, I could eat it, and my body reacts accordingly. So, I stay away from it. Same thing with wheat. I recently discovered that I need to stay away from wheat. At first you think, ugh…what can I eat?

Diet is also short term. Lifestyle change is long term. About 10 years ago, I cut yeast out of my “diet” and have never looked back. That was a lifestyle change. I went to the health food store and bought a yeast free, sugar free bread. Yes, I had to try several before I found one I liked. Since there are no preservatives, you just have to toast it first. No big deal…I made sandwiches, french toast, etc. I changed my “diet” (short term) and made a lifestyle change (long term) and have not had problems.

A Naturopath I started seeing earlier this year, suggested I cut wheat out of my “diet”. So I did. The bread I loved so much, that I mentioned above, has wheat! So, I go to the health food store and ask them for a wheat free, yeast free bread. They suggested a Millet bread, which is rice based. Love it!!! Again you have to toast it. I made another lifestyle change. The wheat was affecting my sinuses/allergies. Since cutting wheat out of my “diet” my breathing has been sooooo much better. Amazing! For many years, I was trying to figure out what was bothering me. My trial and error never seemed to work when I would eliminate a food from my “diet”. Now I know. Again, I can eat foods with wheat, and my body reacts accordingly.

I have been buying gluten free products and ‘testing’ them. Bob’s Red Mill and Pamela’s products are yummy! Cookies, brownies, pancakes are incredible. I would put Pamela’s pancake mix against any. You would be hard pressed to know it is gluten/wheat free. Same goes with Bob’s products.

Here are some differences between diet and lifestyle:

Diet: The goal is self-limiting. When you get to your goal weight, you stop the diet.
Lifestyle: The goal is open-ended. Weight management becomes part of your daily life, with strategies that vary as circumstances, priorities, and needs change.

Diet: A diet is a surface level change. It involves simple changes in behaviors you are already doing (or not doing). You take in fewer calories from food and (maybe) expend more calories on activity. Foods are “good” or “bad” based on calorie content.
Lifestyle: Lifestyle changes are made on many levels. In addition to healthy changes in your relationship with food and exercise, you will challenge the basic attitudes, beliefs, thoughts and feelings that made you overweight (and unhappy) to begin with.

Diet: Progress and success are measured by the scale. Anything that results in weight loss is considered acceptable, even if it poses potential problems or risks. Failure to lose weight as fast as desired is very upsetting, and the process feels like a constant battle. High stress is constant.
Lifestyle: Progress and success are measured in terms of satisfaction & quality of life.
Weight loss and maintenance continue to be important, but are put in perspective as one way you can move towards larger, more rewarding goals. Daily ups and downs become much less stressful.

Diet: Results don’t last. Even if you manage to stick with all the unpleasantness of a diet long enough to reach your weight goal, your odds of keeping it off permanently are less than one in twenty.
Lifestyle: Results are lasting. Your lifestyle change is an open-ended, ongoing process with goals that continue to expand and grow. There is no reason to go back to the habits that got you overweight in the first place.

Just make one lifestyle change today…

To Your Health!

Debbie James
www.YourDreamSize.com
850.450.2000

Energy Flows Where Attention Goes

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You Are What You Eat?

Why is it that over the years the “gurus” would say that? I guess, to a certain extent, it’s true. What I know is true, is the fact that you need to pay attention to how your body reacts to different foods. For example, whenever I would have dairy products, I would get very congested. (Which can be normal for a lot of people!) As I mentioned in my first post, years ago I had yeast issues. While I don’t eat “regular” bread (OK, I do cheat when my husband and I go to Carrabba’s…their bread is irresistable!!), I feel it the next day…bloated, congested and I know my body reacts negatively to it.

Did you know that yeast and molds can build up very quickly on foods stored in the refrigerator? Because of this, you should avoid leftovers as much as possible. If you do eat leftovers, heat them well to kill the yeast and molds. And if you are like me, always busy, no time to cook and don’t want to cook, I eat leftovers. In today’s day and age, we want it bigger, better, faster. Unfortunately, that is not so in the world of healthy eating.

Not too long ago I discovered the crockpot. Now, that is the best invention, EVER!! Put all the ingredients in the crockpot in the morning, and by the time I get home, dinner is ready! That is my kind of cooking. I made a reciepe, Chicken & Potato Curry. Oh my gosh was it yummy, and healthy!! It has chicken, potoatos, onions, pepper, tons of spices, chopped tomatos (I used a can of diced tomatos), and some chicken broth.

Eating healthy doesn’t mean food doesn’t taste good!!

To your health.

Debbie James
Energy Flows Where Attention Goes

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Are You Healthy?

 

 

 

What is Your Dream Size? What are you doing to get there? What are you eating? Are you eating healthy? Are you exercising? These are just some of the questions we will answer. I have had yeast issues and food allergies and will share my experiences and what I have done to correct these problems. It is truly amazing how much food can effect our everyday lives and how simple it is to fix…if you know what to do.

I am not a doctor, and will not make any medical claims or anything like that. I just want to help educate you and share experiences I have had along with the experiences of my friends and family. Please be open minded as far as learning about all natural products/supplements, and what food can do to your body. I’m not saying that I don’t believe in prescriptions and doctors…what I am saying is that there can be other alternatives to drugs. There is a time and place for everything.

In today’s day and age, so many of us go to a doctor, where they diagnose the problem, prescribe medication and send you on your merry way. We never get to the “root” of the situation. Doctors treat from the outside, in. With alternative medicine, the treat from the inside out. Huge difference. They are not just looking to treat the symptoms, they are looking at what is causing the symptoms and the reason why.

Many, many years ago, I had yeast issues. I went to the doctor and was prescribed an antibiotic. Yes, my yeast infection went away, and then it would come back. Obviously, something was causing this. Before I had yeast problems, I didn’t know any different either. I have learned a lot over the years, and continue to learn about how different foods can effect us.

If you are having problems, been to doctors over the years and still have no answers, maybe it’s time to try something different. Be open minded when it comes to alternative medicine, natural remedies and supplements. It could just be the answer you don’t even know you are looking for.

To your health!

Debbie James
Energy Flows Where Attention Goes

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