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Ever try to change your habits and before you know it you are in a tug of war with yourself?   That no matter how hard you try you take one step forward and two steps back and can’t stay motivated.  Let’s say you decide to tell yourself you are no longer allowed to eat that bowl of ice-cream every night.  Next thing you know all you can think about is ice-cream and you may even be moody or feel like you have no patience. 

I know it can be really tough when you are first trying to change life habits that are so deeply rooted.  When I first wanted to start changing my health habits it was so hard to ignore the cravings for junk food (I was the queen of junk food!)  

I want to share the one secret I learned that helped me through:  Change your mindset.

Set your Intention
Setting your intention is so important.  It’s when you connect with true yourself and align your thoughts to reach your goals.  I personally set my intention upon waking up in the morning.  Whether I want to drink more water, run 3 miles, or rock a presentation I set that intention and visualize it happening.  There is true power in doing this.  It takes less than 2 minutes and sets you up for success for the entire day.

You CAN
Don't tell yourself you cannot have something.  The second you do that you automatically will want it. Tell yourself you can have anything....then consciously choose not to eat it.  For example I work in an office environment and almost every day someone has something like brownies, donuts, cookies, tempting things like  that.  When they offer some I politely choose to say "No thank-you", not because I can't have it because I totally could.  I say no because I don't want it.  It’s a subtle difference but it makes a really big difference in how your mind processes decisions.  I know it may sound a little weird but try it, it works.

Add not Subtract
The next thing to do is not focus on taking things away from yourself.  Your mind hates this!  Instead focus on adding things in.  One week try adding in Quinoa to a couple of your meals and eating one more veggie per day than normal.  The next week focus on adding a glass of water a day or adding something "raw" to your daily routine,  like raw almonds, or seeds of some sort. When you focus on adding things automatically other things are being taken away but since you are not focusing on taking things away your mind will not play crazy tricks on you.

Acceptance
 The last thing is to embrace yourself at this very moment in time.  Take comfort in knowing wherever you are in life is exactly where you are supposed to be.  Be proud of youself for recognizing where you are today and deciding to take action and make changes.  That alone is a HUGE step and you deserve to feel so good about that decision.  It's ok that you may not be at your ideal weight or that you are not eating as healthy as you want, or exercising as much as you want right now.  This will be part of your story.  A story that will inspire others to make change and as you are helping others on their journey you will be able to say "I've been there", you'll know the challenges others face and more importantly how to help.  It doesn't matter that you are not there yet because you will get there.


 
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You know the saying “You are what you eat.” well in the case of consuming animal products “You are what they ate!”  

So if the recent news of “Pink Slime” has you squirming and feeling nauseous keep reading because there are other more dangerous things lurking in your burger or glass of milk.

Commercialized meat is serious business.  Ranchers are under intense pressure from Wall Street to produce meat and milk the fastest way possible turning their cattle into drug addicts.  The alarming amount of antibiotics and hormones given to livestock should cause anyone to pause and really think about what is really in their food.

Seventy percent of the antibiotics produced in the United States are given to Livestock.  The Union of Concerned Scientists say about 24.6 million pounds of antibiotics are fed to livestock for non-therapeutic reasons.  In other words they are used to speed growth and to prevent disease in the animals due to their confined and unsanitary living conditions.  If you add in the amount of antibiotics used to treat sick animals that number increases significantly.  Overusing antibiotics in the raising of Livestock means we consume more antibiotics and the more we consume the more susceptible we are to drug-resistant bacteria and superbugs like the staph infection MRSA.

Hormones are other drugs given to cattle on a regular basis.  According to Science News, 80 percent of all U.S. feedlot cattle are injected with hormones.  In  2005,  of the 32.5 million cattle used for meat products about two-thirds of them were injected with hormones solely to make them grow faster.   

Conventional dairy cows in the United States are given a genetically engineered hormone called rBGH, or recombinant bovine growth hormone, to increase milk production.   Consider back in the 1950’s the average dairy cow produced almost 5,300 pounds of milk a year. Compare that to today’s typical dairy cow which produces more than 18,000 pounds!  This means bigger dollars for the dairy industry…but it comes at a cost.
  
rBGH was approved by the FDA in 1993 after barely any testing.  In fact, the only testing conducted was a 90 day study by Monsanto using 30 rats as subjects, the results were never published.  After farmers began using rBGH in their cows they reported a significant increase in Mastitis a painful inflammatory infection, deformed calves being born, open sores, and death from internal bleeding.

The use of hormones disrupts the human hormonal balance which can cause developmental problems, interfere with the reproductive system and even lead to the development of unhealthy cell growth in reproductive areas. Hormone residues are also suspected in the early onset of puberty in girls, which can put them at greater risk of developing unhealthy cell proliferation in reproductive areas.

What can you do?  Choose wisely.  I only recommend organic, green-fed, free-range meats.  Where the use of antibiotics and hormones are never used.  It’s also a ton healthier too!  Grass-fed beef is lower in fat than commercialized beef and, more importantly, contains three to five times more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a fatty acid, than grain-fed animals.  CLA’s have amazing health benefits like fighting cancer and diabetes, enhancing your immune system, increasing your metabolism, and aiding in weight loss.

If I can give you one piece of advice it would be to avoid all commercialized meats.  They are contaminated with drugs, pesticides, fungicides, hormones, and dioxins.  All of these toxins are poisonous to your body causing disease and illness.  Try to find organic green-fed products at your local farmers market, or use a trusted resource like this one.