Vitameatavegamin :)

Sorry I have been MIA for a few weeks. I just decided to go through with being an EMT while I get through medical school. So I have my family life, finishing my undergrad in pre-med, studying for the MCATs (which I take soon), working at Carilion (basically part time), the EMT training, and so much going on. Anyway....I am back and promise not to get this far behind again!

This week is exciting. I am going to talk about one of my favorite topics...vitamins and supplements! I started to think more about vitamins when I wandered into a health store one day. I started looking around and wondered, "Why are there so many different supplements? Don't we get the vitamins and minerals we need from food?" I started to do research and became more and more invested in learning as much as I could about vitamins. I now have a strict routine that involves supplementing my diet with vitamins that my body needs. I will begin by telling you what I do each day and why, then explain how you can figure out what's good for your body.

So after I walked into the health store that day I picked up a bunch of educational material (you can always find brochures at health stores that discuss different supplements that are being sold there and what they do). You can also go to Barnes and Noble (or any bookstore) and find tons of information on health and vitamins. Another good idea would be to look stuff up online, but make sure you are looking at a reputable site!

After I learned as much as I could by what I read on my own, I talked to a nutritionist/dietician in my area and asked her about her opinion on vitamins. I then went to a doctor and got blood work/saliva tests/urine tests/etc to see what nutrients my body was lacking. What you need to understand is that despite how well you try to eat, your body is still not going to have everything it needs. In order to figure out what is missing you have to go get tests done by a doctor who specializes in nutrition. Before you do this here are a few tips:

1) Get familiar with different vitamins, minerals, and supplements. Go to your local vitamin/health food store and browse. This trip is not to buy anything but to become familiar with some of the stuff that is in the store. You might walk in and get overwhelmed because there is so much...but don't be. Just take your time to learn what you can in a short trip. Ask questions to the people that work there. They SHOULD know what they are talking about and they are generally more than happy to help look stuff up for you. Take home some free brochures and magazines and read over them.

2) Talk to a dietician/nutritionist and have them do an evaluation of your health routine and diet. Take a few weeks (4 weeks minimum) to change your lifestyle around. Before you go investing a lot of money on buying vitamins, you need to know that you are already doing the best you can (as far as food and fitness) for your body. There is absolutely NO POINT in spending hundreds of dollars at the health store when you are eating junk at home. So if you're eating cookie dough, pizza, and soft drinks, and getting less than 2 hours a week of cardio, then you need to immediately revise your plan. If you don't have the money to go to a dietician, feel free to e-mail me and I would be more than happy to help you figure out a new routine (michelleacree@gmail.com).

3) After spending a good 4-8 weeks eating right and working out at least 3-5 times a week, you will not only have lost weight and made yourself healthier, but you are ready to get yourself tested to see what nutrients are missing. If you need help finding a reputable doctor around your area, please e-mail me. I am very familiar with Virginia doctors, and know of other knowledgeable ones along the east coast. I am sure that if you don't live in these areas, that I could call one of the doctors I do know and ask them for a referral.

4) Finally...after getting your tests done, you will now know what you need. Head to the health store and get the supplements you were lacking. Without fail, take your vitamins daily (throughout the day...not all at once). Taking all of your vitamins at once is like drinking all of the water you need in a day at one time! This is stupid and it won't give you results. Your body needs water throughout the day. You can't expect to drink 64-90 ounces of water when you wake up and be hydrated throughout the whole day. It will go right through you! You need to drink water continuously throughout the day and the same goes for your vitamins.

Here is my vitamin routine:

6:30 A.M.- 1 capsule of New Chapter's green and white tea

2 capsules of Vitamin Code's Extreme Nutrient Synergy

7:00- 1 shot of Genesis Noni

1 shot of Genesis Goji

1 shot of Genesis Mangosteen

1 shot of Genesis Acai

7:00- Eat breakfast

1 capsule of Enzymatic Therapy (B Complex)

1 capsule of EfaGold Mega EFA Blend 3/6/9

1 capsule of Solgar Reservatrol

1 capsule of Bluebonnet Alpha Lipoic Acid

10:00- Eat snack

1 capsule of Nature's Way Biotin

Noon- 1 capsule of New Chapter's green and white tea

12:30- Eat lunch

2 capsules of Vitamin Code's Extreme Nutrient Synergy

1 capsule of EfaGold Mega EFA Blend 3/6/9

1 capsule of New Chapter's Supercritical LycoPom

1 capsule of Vitamin Code's Raw Antioxidants

3:30- Eat snack

1 capsule of EfaGold Mega EFA Blend 3/6/9

7:00- Eat dinner

Instead of telling you what all of these are for right now, here is what I plan to do: I am going to, throughout the next few weeks, write about one vitamin per blog. Vitamins/Supplements are so important and I don't want to rush through it. I don't want to put you on overload, so I will start next time with one of the pills that I take and give you information on what they can do for you if you are lacking it. And after I go through my regimen, I will add a section to each of my blogs where I pick a random supplement and discuss it. It will help you so that you don't feel so overwhelmed when you discover what your body is lacking and how to get it on the right track. Instead, you will know way more than most people out there and have quite a bit of knowledge on how to handle your body and its needs. Until next time....

God Bless,

~Michelle~

Oh...P.S...

I am not going to give away all the details, but...look forward to a one on one interview in the next week or two with a special guest that I have contacted out in California. I am not going to tell you the topic or who the guest is, but look forward to a great interview with a bunch of awesome information on your health and happiness!!

The foods you eat, the drinks you drink...

Ok...so we have talked about ingredients a bit. So please, please, please, keep that in mind from now on as we talk about all of our other topics. Everything has ingredients (even something as simple as an apple has seeds within it)...so everything I talk about will be something you need to "interview". Don't think of it as a chore having to know everything that goes in or on your body. You are the boss...you are in charge and need to know for the sake of your health. It WILL pay off...I promise!

Anyway...what I want to start with today is a simple, very basic discussion on diet. There will be more complicated, in-depth discussions later. So when people hear the word diet, they think terrible foods, restriction, time-lines, etc. This is NOT what I want you to think of when you hear diet. I want you to think of a lifestyle choice. I think where our thoughts on foods went awry is from our parents who gave us sugar filled cookies when we were little. Our body is wired in such a way that we get used to having these sugar filled cookies and wonderful treats and then we don't want the apples, broccoli, oranges, etc. When you taste a piece of broccoli...what is it that you are tasting? What words describe it? Let me guess...not very many positive words. If you are thinking of words such as scrumptious or delightful...you are the minority. Ok...lets switch gears. You are tasting a bite of your favorite flavor of ice-cream. What words come to mind? Ah-ha! There we go! A list that could go on forever with wonderful, exciting words. Think about it, though. If we didn't stuff our faces with such unhealthy items everyday, the broccoli really would have more "taste" to it. The reason it doesn't is because every time we put sugar in our body, messages are sent to our brain saying..."We like! We like! We want more!" It's just like any other thing in life we enjoy. Think about lounging on a desolate beach with the sun shining on your face and a cold drink in your hand. Now think about being in a small, cold, dark, stinky room. What thought is immediately sending positive feedback to your brain? Yea...I thought so.

So I know it can be hard to push that cookie (or bowl of ice-cream, fatty piece of fried chicken, pasta alfredo) away. But you need to wake up every morning knowing that YOU are the primary caretaker of your body. IT IS NOT YOUR DOCTORS JOB LIVE YOUR LIFE FOR YOU!!! REPEAT: IT IS NOT YOUR DOCTORS JOB TO LIVE YOUR LIFE FOR YOU!!!!! I know this may come as a shock...but its true. The way I see it...doctors are there to be preventative. They are there to give you sound advice (and yes...to help you when you really are sick)...but every body is different...so it is UP TO YOU to know your body and know what is right for it. But if you are getting sick all the time...you're doctor isn't doing his/her job and neither are you!

Just know...one visit to the doctor isn't going to make you skinny. It isn't going to make your skin perfect again. It takes time and it takes patience. It takes knowledge. Knowledge that can only be gained by taking that time and having the patience to learn your body.

You want to have flawless skin? Well don't expect to sit here and read this, go eat some greasy pizza, and then look in the mirror and see perfect skin! When you eat garbage, you will see a reflection of that in the mirror.

I am not going to sit here and name all the fruits and vegetables in the world. I think all of us know that when we go to the grocery store, all the raw bright colors that we seem to avoid are good for us! So head in that direction from now on. You think you need to have to have a long, complicated meal to prepare in order to get in that section of the grocery store...but you don't. Have raw carrots...and EAT THEM!!!! When you are bored...don't eat the tub of Ben and Jerry's. Eat some carrots...and some almonds (see the food product for today...good stuff!) And don't think you need to eat a whole bag of carrots to be healthy. You don't. Example...a 1/2 cup of cooked broccoli will give you 80% of your suggested vitamin C intake...along with many other nutrients you need! So it doesn't take much. And also...don't you dare think that a day of eating healthy will put things into perspective. You can't yo-yo with healthy foods and see results. It doesn't work that way. You can't eat horribly all week and then have a good salad and think that you're body is getting what it needs. A lot of us do this and it's wrong. Your body needs healthy foods throughout the day! So have a whole grain bagel in the morning with a tablespoon or two of peanut butter, a banana, a glass of milk (even add a packet of Instant Breakfast in your favorite flavor), and some water. Have a small apple, some pistachio nuts, and a glass of water an hour or two later. At lunch...have a lean turkey sandwich (with a dab of olive oil, mustard, tomatoes, onions...whatever colorful veggies that float your boat), a handful of strawberries, and water. A few hours later...when you feel the urge to have something sweet...a PIECE of dark chocolate, a pomegranate, and water. For dinner...keep it simple...an arugula salad with bits of dried cranberries and your favorite seafood (it could be shrimp, salmon, tuna, etc.), and water.

You can change your skin (the way it feels and looks) by what you put in your mouth. For example...if you have dry skin...think about adding walnuts, oily fish, or flaxseed to your diet because this can increase hydration and moisture to your cells within. But be sure to avoid caffeine and alcohol beverages (as well as spicy foods) because these are dehydrating. If you have oily/acne prone skin...think about adding probiotics, vitamin A, and zinc to your diet because they fight inflammation, restore healthy flora, and will reduce acne. Be sure to avoid dairy products where hormones are used because this will cause a flux in your own hormones and will most likely make your skin problems worse. These are just a few examples...but they just go to show that you can change your skin. You weren't born with acne. You allow acne to flourish on your skin because of what you eat and the environments you are in (ever think of being in a smoky room?! This screams terrible skin!).

I hope this bit of information helps until we get into our greater discussions on healthy food/drink choices.

Here are our two products for the week:

1) Blue Diamond Natural Oven Roasted Almonds with Honey

Ingredients:

-Almonds: A nut that is low in carbs and high in vitamin E and monounsaturated fat (a good fat). Almonds can improve your complexion, improve digestive processes, and prevent cancer.

-Natural Sugar: I know what you are thinking. But...when you see sugar...don't immediately turn your nose up. Lets see how many grams per serving there are. Hmmm...4 grams. Not too bad compared to...I don't know...my weakness...Ben and Jerry's Cinnabun Ice-cream with 28 grams of sugar in one serving! They probably put this in here for a bit of sweetness for people like us that have a sweet tooth. I snack on an ounce of these a few times a week when I am craving sugar.

-Corn Maltodextrin: An easily digestible carbohydrate that is made from corn. It is a form of sugar.

-Natural Honey: Has fructose, glucose, sucrose, and maltose. Natural sweetener. Not bad for you in limited quantities.

-Sea Salt: Has iodine, essential for human health. Don't go crazy with this ingredient, either. The 30mg per serving is plenty for your snack-time.

Here is why I wanted to show you this product. I like it because it has reasonable amounts of sweetness, and saltiness to make me satisfied enough to not go binge on a tub of ice-cream or a pack of oreo's (which goes out the roof on a scale of unhealthiness). The main ingredient is almonds...so I am not advocating sugar with some trace of almond. :)

2) Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm (SPF 25)

Ingredients:

-Oxtinoxate: Sunscreen agent. This and Avobenzone will protect lips from sun damage.

-Avobenzone: Oil soluble ingredient used in sunscreen products. Absorbs UVA rays.

-Natural Mint: Has anti-fungal activity. Is an antioxidant. Is stimulating...can bring blood to the surface which is why some lip balms may have mint and state that they can increase the fullness in your lips. Also...the smell is refreshing.

-Butyrospermum Parkii Fruit (Shea Butter): Has anti-inflammatory and hydrating properties

-Persea Gratissima (Avocado Oil): Valued for regenerative and moisturizing effects.

-Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea Leaf) Extract: In this case, has anti-microbial effects. Will go over all of its other effects when I talk about green tea when used for purposes other than topical, because it is a really important ingredient.

-Tocopeheryl Acetate (Vitamin E): We have talked about it before. A great anti-oxidant. For topical purposes, it can be moisturizing.

That all for this week!

God Bless,

~Michelle~

THIS WEEKS RANDOM TIP

-After getting out of a hot bath or steamy shower, IMMEDIATELY put moisturizer all over your body. Regardless of your skin type...your body needs moisture/water. It craves it. If you wait for a period of time to put on moisturizer after bathing, your skin will dry and the moisturizer will more or less 'lay on top of the skin' and not absorb it the way it would have if you had put it on immediately.