How healthy is your four legged friend?

Everyone loves animals. Dogs and cats have become extended members of our families, and as a part of our family we take care of them because they do not have the ability to take care of themselves. But how well do you treat your animals?

Most people I speak with say they try to do the right thing, you know fresh water, throw some food daily, exercise, and playtime, but we really need to take it a step further and take a look at the quality of food we feed our pets. Many of the super stores and even some pet stores have what seem to be great deals on dog and cat food, gigantic bags for a small amount of money, and consumers jump at these "so called deals "and I bet do not ever take the time to read the labels. Many of these jumbo deals are nothing more than by- parts or flavored grains and fiber with very little nutritional value. It would be like someone bringing you home white bread and high sodium canned veggies every day of your life, how healthy would you be?
You can see the results of this at the dog parks by the amount of overweight and in active dogs. I sometimes in conversation stop dog owners and ask them questions as to how healthy their dogs are. Many say they have hip and joint problems, stomach problems and the worst breath imaginable, I ask what they do about it, and most say nothing, or put them on a medication from the vet for pain or steroids.

Are we really as lazy with our animals health as we are with our own?, I think the answer is yes. Most people need to realize that we need to round out our pets diet and take a little more care than we are doing right now. Many people do not have the time to cook for their pets, so the next best thing is to go to a quality pet mart and get the best food for your dogs type, Yes , there are types of foods: foods made for the overweight, foods for older dogs, foods for dogs with bad teeth and bad digestion, foods for dogs who need high fiber, or those that need extra nutritients for the bones and teeth. Talk with someone at the store, or better yet bring your dog in, the stores love it, and then the person helping you can size up your four legged creature, and make the best suggestion. Many people will say that these foods are more expensive, which may be true, but a few trips to the vet and you will wish you had taken better care of your friends.

You also need to look at other added things to the diet. The following list is something that hundreds of people I know will swear to with regards to their animals good health: Mezotrace minerals, these will help the bones, the digestion, the teeth and the elimination cycle. Flax oil, which will lubricate the joints, make the coat shine and actually work as an internal lube and oil ,if you will. The next thing is to tackle the bad breath and the bad digestion, many manufacturers produce green products, one in particular is called Barley cat and Barley dog. These are concentrated greens that work as an internal deoderant. You may also start using more raw vegetables mixed with the food and also as a no- calorie, great for the digestion snacks, my dogs love veggies. Something else I have found to be effective for humans as well as our dogs is called Joint Support Supreme, it can be smashed for smaller dogs and put in the food, or the tablets can be added to the food for big dogs. This blend is for the joints and helps with osteoarthritis by building cartilage and helping the pain and discomfort of the moveable joints. Remember, another great thing about dogs and cats, if they feel better they act better, no placebo effect here.

Just a few changes can help to make your pets healthier, and thank them for their unconditional love. You can also help their movement and longevity, and overall greatly improve their day to day health and keep you out of the veterinary office, while saving you a fortune.

Time for a cholesterol check up

We hear it every day on television and on the radio and we read it on the computer and in magazines, lower your cholesterol. But how many people really know where they are with their levels and how many really know what all the mumbo jumbo means?

If you have not had your cholesterol checked in a year, that is too long. With today's diet of fats and over consumption of carbohydrates, cholesterol is an easy marker to have tested to see whether or not red flags for stroke or heart attack are in your cards.

When you go to the Doctor, request a total cholesterol checkup, this will require fasting the night before, which will give you an accurate test. When you are leaving ask to have a duplicate copy for your records, this will allow you to compare test to test to see the changes for yourself. Your Doctor will most likely have you come back in a week to get your results. Remember, if the levels are high, be ready for the white pad of paper to come out and a statin drug to be written on it. Before you accept it, make sure that you are basically healthy , no major red flags and that you do not at the moment have one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel. At this point inform the Doctor that you would like to have ninety days to work on diet, exercise and proper nutrition, and then come back for a second blood work. Let the Doctor know that if at that time you were not able to do it on your own, you will consider the medication. Make the appointment for the labwork for 90-120 days from that point before you leave.

Take a look at the bloodwork, you want to be able to understand it, remember LDL is the bad cholesterol, remember L for lousy. HDL is the good cholesterol, remember H for happy. Tryglycerides is the free flowing sugar fat cholesterol, the sticky stuff that clog's us up, usually this comes from lack of activity and over consumption of carbohydrates and sugars.

A good level to be comfortable is 200 total cholesterol, and strive to get the HDL as high as possible, 50 and higher is great. It will also show a ratio of good to bad cholesterol, the lower your ratio the lower the risk for cardiovascular disease.

Lets talk diet, higher protein like chicken, fish, turkey, all seafood, and unlimited vegetables, and one or two fresh fruits daily will do the trick. Beware though, cutting out all of those yummy carbs will also shrink your wasteline and make you slimmer and healthier, so be ready for that too.

Exercise, do something, no marathons, just move. Find an activity that you enjoy and do it, three to four times a week, for up to forty five minutes, and do not be afraid to actually break a sweat!

Supplements, I am a big believer in fishoil and flax seed oil. The reason is, most people will not eat enough salmon every week, so this way take the fish oil capsules and use the flax seed oil and this will cover all bases. I am a big beleaver in concentrated lecithin to clean free flowing fat out of the arteries and strengthen the liver, I prefer the Lipotropics, as they are the most concentrated. You might also add red rice yeast, an incredible product that mimics the prescription, but is safe for people with healthy livers and lowers cholesterol significantly.

Last but not least water, water, water....The more the better, just remember when you are losing weight and using supplements to flush fats out of the body, the water is what sweeps it all away. These few things are well worth the time and money, and will in the long run keep you healthy and hopefully off the medications. The more medications we prevent from having to take, the better.The greatest thing to me about doing this is the satisfaction you receive when the next test comes back great, and you are leaner and healthier, and side effect free because you did it without the drugs, and of course the look on your Doctors face, PRICELESS!

We raise our cholesterol and risk for heart disease with our choices and our forks, we can undo it with the same fork, and choices that are a little more realistic.

Stop and smell the roses

It is amazing how much we rely on the easy access food market these days. I mean the sit down family meal is over, and for many people even cooking at home is either too much work, not economical or just does not fit into the schedule. I think we are all running around so much in so many directions doing almost nothing at the speed of light that we end up chasing ourselves, and at the end of the day, we still have tons more to do.

I wonder why this is, I mean fifty years ago, there was still the same twenty four hours in a day as there is today. People still worked hard, actually much harder than today. There were no flashy computers, black and white televisions with maybe three channels, no cellular phones, no high tech anything, but everything seemed to get done. I remember that it was a work day, then family time, and we had a sit down dinner, game time, television time, homework time and then the day was over. So how did we end up having speed of light technology, able to talk to places instantly anywhere in the world, incredible transportation alternatives, five hundred channels on our television sets, information computer highways, and yet we never have enough time in the day, and we almost never get anything done?

What I see happening if this continues and we do not slow down and prioritize our lives, we will be fast moving and ill,internally preserved from junk food and overfed and malnutritioned, depressed, and unhappy most of our lives.

We now have diseases that are basically caused by stress, bad diet , lack of sleep, smoking, drinking and eating junk. It seems to me that most if not all of the major diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, certain cancers, depression, heart disease, and sleep disorders as well as colon problems, digestive disorders and high cholesterol are all SPOON FED WITH OUR OWN FORK!

So what in a nutshell is the quick answer to this American way of living? Slow down, prioritize the to-do list, take your vitamins, they are a necessity now not a luxury. Get better quality sleep, exercise and stop eating so many meals that are served through the window of your car. Basically, get back to basics, simplify and live longer and healthier, and stop chasing yourself around the block. Sometimes the best answer is the easiest.

You know, stop and smell the roses, and stop just walking over them.

Small world

Today I actually saw what a small world it really is. I was at the vet making an appointment and it was very crowded there today. I waited my turn and could not help but listen to the conversation the two ladies in front of me were having, The one asked her friend how her arthritis was doing and she said , I have not felt this good in years. The other asked what she was doing and she said after taking steroids and masking pain pills for years she had decided to go all natural. She continued to say she had a Saturday off, first time in years a few months back and was working around the house and there was a radio show on and the gentleman was speaking about some nutritional supplements for arthritis, and seeing as I was disgusted with the drug therapy I went to see him and started right away.

She said, what are you taking, she said I am using something called Joint Support Supreme, and a mineral called Mezotrace, and taking flax oil 2 times per day. She said the man also suggested that I cut out inflammatory sugars, caffeine and white bleached flours, and since I am doing all of this I feel great and have shed 25 pounds. Her friend said I need to go see him who is he? Now to set the stage I have a hat on, wearing sweats and sunglasses and not really looking like myself, she said Jeff at Great Earth Vitamins. Her friend wrote the name down.
The lady paying at the counter turned around and said she had been on the same regimen for 3 years and that Jeff had put her ailing German Shepard on it as well, and he is doing so well, that she has recommended it to all her friends with active larger dogs. Another lady in the lobby weighing in her standard poodle said I have gone there for over ten years, and he has helped my husband so much he is completely off the pain medication.

So the conversation continued and I just stood there quietly, which is in itself is a miracle, so I stepped aside and when everyone was gone I went to the counter. The receptionist said I cannot believe you actually did not say anything. I took off my sunglasses and my hat and said, If it isn't broke, don't fix it..We both had a good laugh, and I made my appointment and walked to my car, feeling very good and knowing that one person can make changes, good ones, the kind people WANT to talk about.

Walt Disney had it right, it really is a "Small Small World".

Lazy Day Sunday

Today was a lazy day, I know we all want them, and some of us actually take one once and a while. Although I answered e- mails and fielded questions for what seemed like hours, I still had the feeling that I should be doing something else. Well, I guess at least I had a little guilt about goofing off, so to say! But I must say I think my dogs enjoyed me being around the house for a change.

First of all, thank you for all the positive feedback on the blog page, it is very new to me, and I hope with time I will actually get good at it.

Also, thank you for the feedback from yesterdays radio show, wow we must have made sense and actually hit a few nails on the head.

I really feel that being able to be consistent with my radio show, and continuing to be able to bring new and updated information will always keep people on the edge of breaking nutrition news. Then applying the ideals and knowledge of nutrition to lectures, and training sessions will allow me to do what I think I have the best knack for, as well as being able to steer some people in the right direction towards better health, or at least help them narrow down their choices. I guess we should also face it right in the face, choice and the choices we make are actually what we do every single day that either extends our lives in a quality way or limits us and takes away from our futures.

Amazing

Today was an amazing day. It started with my usual radio show, today with Marge from Better Nutrition as my guest. We always have had great conversations, and today was no different. Today's topic was about how we as Americans live to the excess, and do everything we can incorrectly and still expect our bodies to function as if we were giving it all the correct tools to work with. We really are amazing, and the pharmaceutical companies know it. They know we will always eat the wrong foods, drink the wrong liquids, consume mass quantities of junk and yet expect to feel like a million, sounds like the American way.

We talked about how when you go into a drug store and stand in the isles of laxatives, gas relief products, anti gastric pills and anything available that can within an hour make us feel incredible then buy it, no matter what it is or how expensive it is with the hope that we can just feel better.At the same time the pharmaceutical companies sit back and wait once again for us to abuse ourselves in another way that will bring us back again to that drug store isle of hope.

Knowing this we talked about a few things we could use to get to the source of this problem, rather than just to play "bandaid" Doctor medicine. We spoke about using a total digestive aid after every meal, we then spoke about Ergozyme, which is basically in a nutshell, a product that lets us and our digestion do the job it used to do, when it was still able to do it. Which means to us, relief from gas, bloating, indigestion, heartburn, unbutton the pants syndrome, you know, the things so many of us have, but do not talk about.Most people will not openly talk about or admit they have a digestive "Situation", but they carry those quick relief products in the purse or pocket. The Ergozyme gets to the source and corrects the problem, and does not cover it up.

We also spoke about the increasing problem of internal fermentation, causing bad breath, body odor, foul smelling urine and stools. We spoke of a chlorophyll concentrate called Odoreze. This is a get to the source, disarm the problem, rather than what most of us do which is cover it up with gum, perfume, cologne, deodorants; there is only so many smells you can wear at one time before they get offensive too! Remember it is coming from the inside, and correcting your digestion system will help immensely, and the chlorophyll will take it to the next step.This is not a hygiene problem, most if not all people shower more than twice a day, brush their teeth daily morning and night, but this is from the gut, not your daily hygiene process, remember that.

The Amazing thing about this whole day was the amount of responses in the store, the phone calls and e mails from literally hundreds of people that said stop talking about me! But, thank you for the information as well, as this has gone on for a long time... "I guess we all need a little good info on a daily basis".

Off we go

So after being in the store "retail" sitiution for over 2 and a half decades off I am into the wide blue yander to visit new parts of the country, learn new things, training, lecturing and then reporting back on what I see.
I guess we all do things certain ways within our comfort zone, and when we leave that zone we are hopefully open to new things and new ideas, I know I am.

I also plan to keep all infornmed of my weight, and the products I am using and techniques that are working well for me. So many years battling the bulge, and yet having the answers but not being able to combine all of them together.Wow what a difference when you apply all the variables and stand back and watch the transition. I know that everyone and their Mother is looking for the magic bullet, but I am sorry to say that it takes a few bullets and some dedication, but that the journey will be eye opening a learned experience, life changing and life extending.

I plan to take you on my journey with travels, experiences, new found nutrition, supplementation, my own quirkly way of looking at the world, myself and what I see during my travels and what I feel during my own transition. For years now I have been asked to document my ideas, my knowledge and what a better way to be able to do it than this. So hold on and enjoy the ride, I know I will.

The Journey Begins - Welcome to my Blog

Visit my blog everyday...... you know how i like to talk.