 Our most popular blog is back and includes more of my faves than ever before! Whether you’re suffering from food, alcohol or other over indulgences, sleep deprivation and/ or emotional runoff associated with the season, you can feel better and have more energy now by practicing these tips. Best part, these can be used all year round to avoid acting like the Grinch. I recco CHOOSING LIGHT, TOP SHELF LIQUORS (vodka or tequila are the preferred) over dark liquors (brandy or whiskey). But whatever you choose, STICK WITH ONE TYPE OF ALCOHOL. Light liquors have fewer “congeners" (a minor toxic chemical element of alcohol that gives it it's distinctive characteristics) which may contribute to hangovers.
 WHAT IS A HANGOVER? Although there is no official definition, a hangover is the crummy feeling that follows a night of excessive alcohol or unhealthy food and includes at least two of the following symptoms: headache, nausea, diarrhea, gastrointestinal disorders, fatigue. Drinking drains and interferes with the body’s absorption of vitamins and minerals such as: amino acids, B12, B6 and folic acid, calcium, magnesium, and more. Eating foods that you may have allergies or sensitive to like gluten, dairy or sugar, can have the same draining effect on your brain and body-leaving you sluggish and bloated. Simply put: Alcohol is a toxic substance. When you ingest toxins of any kind (and as far as I’m concerned that can include being around emotionally toxic environments/people,) it may result in dehydration, lack of sleep and other side effects to throw your body out of balance.  FOOD WHAT TO EAT BEFORE THE DAY OF YOUR EVENT:
WHAT TO AVOID:
 PRACTICE MINDFUL EATING HABITS Chew your food UNTIL IT’S THE CONSISTENCY OF BABY FOOD + EAT ONLY UNTIL YOU’RE 80% FULL. HEALTHY FOOD STAPLES TO HAVE ON HAND AT HOME-YOUR SHOPPING LIST:
 YOUR PARTY DAY PLAN:
 DAY AFTER PARTY TIPS SLEEP IN if you can or follow the next two steps and go back to bed. UPON RISING & THROUGHOUT THE DAY
 7. EAT: BREAKFAST-After you’ve done steps above, have a breakfast with healthy alternatives to the normal greasy, hangover foods. See ideas above. LUNCH & DINNER: Turkey Burger-no bun or Amy’s Organic Pizza or Rice Pasta.
8. RINSE: Take a shower. A good shower, although it does not treat the symptoms of the hangover helps you feel revitalized. Use warm water, not hot and finish with a 30-60 second cool rinse. Or take a cleansing Epsom Salts bath. 9. MOVE: Only if you’re well hydrated take your fave SOUL CYCLE or other spin class, a light jog, or 25 minutes on the BELLICON. They’ll make you smile and release some endorphins. If you are sleep deprived and you go to class it can make you feel worse. In that case, opt for a couple of planks + 3 sets of pushups + 30 squats. 10. LAUGH: Too tired to go to class? Watch a funny movie. Love Actually is one of my holiday faves. Laughter always makes us feel better. Whatever you do, don’t call that friend that’s always in a bad mood. You’re likely to feel a little depressed if tired, hungover so you want to avoid negative people. 11. SWEAT: I live for my SUNLIGHTEN INFRARED SAUNA and try and sweat 3-6 days a week. If you can’t get to in one of Sunlighten’s, any dry sauna-especially the one at THE RUSSIAN BATH HOUSE will do. Three x 20 minute rounds with short breaks or dips in a cold plunge is optimal but pace yourself and be sure to take electrolytes and that your hydrated. 12. SUNSHINE and the FRESH AIR, even if only for a few minutes. Our body in order to function properly needs oxygen. Find my Amazon Shopping List of Hangover Prevention Tools/Remedies HERE.
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Fave simple way to drop 7 pounds in 7 days* and to have more energy, now-AVOID THESE 7 FOODS5/28/2014  Food intolerances affect 75% of us, which means you don’t have to have a full blown allergy to one of the avoids to suffer the side effects. Out of the hundreds of clients with whom I’ve worked over the years, all but one have felt and looked better after just a few days of avoiding the seven main avoids. So what are these offenders? 7 MAIN AVOIDS:
COMMON SIDE EFFECTS OF EATING ONE OR MORE OF THE SEVEN AVOIDS: Inflammation which can lead to:
Each week for the next seven weeks I’ll address one of the avoids, starting with Gluten. I'm starting with gluten because millions of unsuspecting people have difficulty digesting it and as a result, suffer from one or more of the above side effects. WHAT IS GLUTEN? If you don't know what gluten is, you're in good company. Most people, including many of my gluten-free clients don’t know what gluten is, but they know they feel and look better when they avoid it. Check out Jimmy Kimmel Live’s hilarious “What is Gluten?” video, in which none of the gluten avoiders interviewed could explain exactly what gluten is. Gluten is a type of protein naturally found in wheat (including spelt, kamut, farro, and bulgur) and other grains, like barley and rye. Gluten is what gives flour its doughy elastic consistency and what makes it chewy. Gluten is also in many other products from salad dressings, seasoning mixes, vitamins, body lotions and more, so a truly gluten-free diet is a major commitment and can be challenging. According to Neurologist and best selling author of Grain Brain, David Perlmutter the benefits of avoiding gluten can even help stave off Alzheimers and other more serious diseases associated with aging. So as far as I'm concerned, avoiding as much as you can as often as you can, is a good idea.  GOING GLUTEN FREE-MY RECOS I've found that sometimes the easiest way to go gluten-free is to go cold turkey. Since most of the foods that contain gluten are nutrient deficient, caloric and generally not good for you-bread, pasta and cookies for example-you won't be missing anything from a health standpoint. Take a look at the below guidelines and choose the amount of time you think is best for you. Minimum Amount of Time = 7 Days - Some inflammation, bloating and water retention will be reduced and you will be feeling and looking better already. Recommended Amount of time = 23 Days - This is the recommended time for an “elimination diet” and the best way to find out what foods you’re most sensitive to. Antibodies, which are the proteins that your immune system makes when it reacts to foods, take around 21 to 23 days to turn over, so if you don’t quit things to which you're sensitive for at least that time, you won’t get the full effect of eliminating them. Optimally with this and all the 7 Avoids = 66 Days. According to some research, it takes this long for your neural pathways in your brain to change and for a new, healthy lifestyle habit to take hold. In my Mind Body RE BOOT program I reco that participants avoid ALL the seven avoids for at least 23 days. I realize this seems like a formidable task, especially if you don't have a support system set up. But it's actually easier than it sounds when you follow the steps below and use my suggested recipes. And I promise, it is the quickest way to drop unwanted weight and gain more energy. WHEN & HOW TO GET STARTED You will be most likely to succeed in avoiding your avoids, as with all new, desired habits, if you follow the 3 Critical P’s: Plan-Set aside a week where you have the fewest social commitments
Practice-Like with all desired new habits you want to string together as many consecutive days as possible. It's easier to stay the course, avoid cravings and to make healthy food choices when we're well rested and hydrated. So get to bed by 10PM whenever possible and drink approximately 2/3 of your body's weight in ounces each day. Green juices and herbal teas count. Persistence-Promise yourself you’ll do your absolute best but remember, this is a process and as with any new habit, it can be uncomfortable at first and it can take time before it feels natural. So manage your expectations and if you’re not wow’d after five days, hang in there, keep going. Re read the reason why 23 days are highly recommended.  WHAT TO EAT & DRINK INSTEAD DO... Do eat unprocessed, organic whole foods and lean proteins that are humanely and naturally raised.
A SAMPLE GLUTEN FREE DAY:
 RECIPES
Click HERE for more easy your whole family will love. Most of these avoid all the above allergens. We even have yummy alternatives for your fave gluten-filled comfort foods. BE CAREFUL-Just because it’s gluten-free does not mean it’s healthy! Many gluten free products contain several of the other food avoids like corn and sugar. Stick with the above recos of a whole foods diet to feel your best. *The amount of weight you lose will vary and depends upon many different factors. Regardless, the initial 7 pounds are likely going to be mostly water and waste. The main intention of this blog is to give you tools on how you can feel your best mind and body in the quickest amount of time. Losing unwanted fat and inches is a bonus but I like to focus on how you feel and how clothes are fitting as opposed to a number on the scale. HOW TO REINTRODUCE GLUTEN AND/OR ANY OF THE AVOIDS: After at least 23 days, pick one thing you eliminated—like gluten, OR corn OR dairy—but not more than one, and eat it. Best to eat 3 servings within 24 hours. Notice how you feel-any bloating, itchy skin, sluggishness, etc. Continue to check in with how you feel over the next 48 hours. If you have no reaction after two days, eat that same food again, and for a second time, notice how you feel. If you feel fine after eating the food and it’s up to you whether or not to re-incorporate that food into your diet on a regular basis. Once you’ve reintroduced your first food, after two days you can pick another one and follow the same steps. NEED HELP-DON'T WANT TO GO IT ALONE? I'm here for you. My next Optimal Mind Body group program is July 9th. Until then, I'm working with individuals one on one. Email [email protected] for details.  CHANGE YOUR THOUGHTS, CHANGE YOUR LIFE! ONE OF MY FAVE HEALTHY HABITS - AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE After 20 years in the business of helping people feel and look their best, I’ve distilled my healthy living recommendations down to eight essential things, that if done most of the time (meaning 80%), lead to a healthy, happy, energized, peaceful mind and body and can allow you to avoid the effects of life’s stresses and avoid most if not all disease and stave off common issues associated with aging. Next week I’ll be speaking about five of my eight fave healthy habits at my friend’s Joe Cross’ Reboot Camp. The prep for my talk entitled “ Setting Yourself Up For Success - Simple tips for establishing routine of healthy habits” prompted me to do a series of blogs on all eight of these healthy habits starting with what I consider to be the most essential of the eight, GRATITUDE. What if I told you that by being more grateful you could feel happier, be more alert and energetic, have more determination, optimism, less depression and stress, be more likely to exercise regularly and make greater progress toward achieving personal goals and improving your romantic and other relationships? Cool, huh? "Gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues but the parent of all others." -Cicero WHAT IS GRATITUDE Gratitude is a feeling, an emotion and an attitude. It means thankfulness, counting your blessings, finding simple pleasure in the seemingly mundane daily occurrences and an acknowledgement of a benefit you’ve received or will receive. It means treating even small wins as miracles, and being aware on a continuous basis of how fortunate you are. We are what we think and what we think we're not.... Gratitude shifts your focus from what your life lacks to the abundance that is already present. It makes you feel better instantly among many other benefits and research shows it heightens the quality of your life. THE BENEFITS OF GRATITUDE GRATITUDE INCREASES QUALITY OF LIFE Two psychologists, Michael McCollough of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and Robert Emmons of the University of California at Davis, wrote an article about an experiment they conducted on gratitude and its impact on well-being. The study split several hundred people into three different groups and all of the participants were asked to keep daily diaries. The first group kept a diary of the events that occurred during the day without being told specifically to write about either good or bad things. The second group was told to record their unpleasant experiences; and the last group was instructed to make a daily list of things for which they were grateful. The results of the study indicated that daily gratitude exercises resulted in higher reported levels of :
And LESS:
More on gratitude and associate with well-being from Wikipedia: A large body of recent work has suggested that people who are more grateful have higher levels of subjective well-being. Grateful people are happier, less depressed, less stressed, and more satisfied with their lives and social relationships[16][19][20] Specifically, in terms of depression, gratitude may serve as a buffer by enhancing the coding and retrieve of positive experiences. [21] Grateful people also have higher levels of control of their environments, personal growth, purpose in life, and self acceptance.[22] Grateful people have more positive ways of coping with the difficulties they experience in life, being more likely to seek support from other people, reinterpret and grow from the experience, and spend more time planning how to deal with the problem.[23] Grateful people sleep better, and this seems to be because they think less negative and more positive thoughts just before going to sleep.[24] Gratitude has been said[by whom?] to have one of the strongest links with mental health of any character trait. [25][4] GRATITUDE CAN BOOST A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP While being grateful is good for you, being on the receiving end of it can juice your romantic relationships! A recent study found that after receiving gratitude, participants noticed that their partner was more responsive to their needs;) and overall more satisfied with their relationship. I learned from a very smart relationship's therapist that successful relationships tend to have a 20/1 ratio of positive to negative things said to one another and a 5/1 ratio of positive interactions to negative ones that predicts whether a marriage will last or become one of the sad statistics of divorce. GRATITUDE AS A MOTIVATOR OF BEHAVIOR Gratitude may also serve to reinforce future pro-social behavior in benefactors. For example, one experiment found that customers of a jewelry store who were called and thanked showed a subsequent 70% increase in purchases. In comparison, customers who were thanked and told about a sale showed only a 30% increase in purchases, and customers who were not called at all did not show an increase.[10] In another study, regular patrons of a restaurant gave bigger tips when servers wrote "Thank you" on their checks.[11] TIPS ON HOW YOU CAN CULTIVATE AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE The brain can only hold one thought at a time. When we’re busy noticing what’s right we can’t be worrying or thinking about what’s wrong; we’re in the present as opposed to the past and future. I think the the best way of cultivating an attitude of gratitude and the one I practice myself is to start as soon as I wake up in the morning, just as I'm cracking my eyes open, I start to list those things for which I am grateful. And try not to stop until I get to my kitchen where I turn on my water on to boil. Some days it’s hard, especially when I’m tired or I didn’t complete the things I wanted to complete the night before. The monkey mind jumps around and says, things like, you shoulda gone to sleep earlier , then you woulda been able to do your TM first thing in the morning and you....coulda. And on and on. By the way, let’s take those words, shuda, wuda, coulda right out of our dictionary today, ok? They’re all about the past. “Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” -Brian Tracy MY RECOS: 1. Practice at least 1x a day, pref at the same time every day. Think it. Like most new, healthy habits, it’s best to practice at the same time every day. Research suggests it takes anywhere from 30-60 consecutive days of repeating the desired behavior for it to become a habit. So it's best to start first thing in the morning before your mind gets over active. Say something to yourself like “Thanks Universe for this cozy bed I don’t want to get out of, the roof over my head, for my body that's getting healthier day by day. Thank you for my clients...Whatever you can think of works. List at least three things and if you can, keep going. You will see that your active monkey mind will get quiet. 2. Repeat. Write it down. The more you repeat something the more likely it is to become a habit. This is true of unhealthy habits as well. The easier a habit is to do, the harder it is to break. Keep a gratitude journal, a spiral notebook or something more special and in it every morning once out of bed or asap, write down at least three things for which you’re grateful. Writing something is just another way of reinforcing the ideas and the energy you get from them. And you can keep a running list and look back on it. My Dad gave me my first Gratitude Journal when I was 18. I still have it. I love looking back on my lists from a few years ago, they always make me smile. There are even apps, like The Happy Tapper that can help remind you to list your three (or more) things for which you're grateful.  Other tips: Start a Gratitude Jar-If you’d rather not keep a journal try keeping a Gratitude Jar. Can you guess who taught me about this?....Yep, my Dad. We started one together last New Years. It’s never too early to start practicing gratitude. And my clients have started them with their kids and they really get into it. It’s never too early to start practicing gratitude. Psychologist and researcher Jeffrey Froh created and implemented a gratitude curriculum for kids aged 8 to 11. The youngsters who received the lessons showed an increase in grateful thinking, appreciation and positive emotions as compared to their classmates who did not partake. 3. Practice. Speak it. Throughout the day whenever I catch myself thinking or worse, saying something negative, I find something positive to say. I look for what’s right, what’s working, what I like. I make a point of telling as many people I encounter what’s great about them. Speaking is the third way to reinforce and share the good energy and love you feel or want to feel. It’s a law of attraction thing. Like attracts like. From telling the cab driver how nice his maneuvering skills are, to complimenting the waitress’ attentiveness, small acts of gratitude and kindness pay off for everyone involved and for the people that the person to whom you’ve just expressed gratitude encounters next. Yes, it’s contagious, so YOU have the power to affect many people's day and life in general. What happens when we encounter a difficult person...someone else’s monkey mind? Limit as much as possible the time you spend with people who are always complaining. Just as gratitude is contagious, so can be negativity. If you can't just leave the conversation and you're experiencing them ranting, dumping or worse, talking poorly about someone else, be polite and compassionate and tell them, ”I’m really working on staying upbeat and having a better attitude. Could we change the topic of conversation?” Or offer to help them find a solution to their conflict and ask them questions that will create a more productive conversation about whatever is upsetting them. Or if you know there’s no real solution, for example it’s an ailing parent they’re complaining about, let them vent some then give them a big hug. It releases feel good chemicals in the body and brain and they probably need it. Aw. Whatever you do, be kind. TRY OUR OWN 100 DAYS OF HAPPY CHALLENGE: Tag us in your gratitude photos and quotes on Instagram. @mindbodyreboot or Twitter @magenbanwart and we’ll repost em for you and share the love. A great way to start practicing and to develop a new, healthy habit of happy.
And finally, one of my fave books is an interpretation of the Tao Te Ching by Wayne Dyer called Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life. And it's really good at helping you to shift your perspective about life's events and ourselves. I've used it in my Yin Yoga classes for years. You're meant to read one short section each day so it's easy. Not a reader? Try watching this video or get the audiobook and play it or another inspirational book in the background as you do your busy work or simple tasks. It will help you keep your mind in a happier place. Practice every day in little ways starting first thing in the mornin' tellin' yourself what you appreciate about yourself, your life and those you love. Then repeat, write it down. Challenge that monkey mind and the negative Nelly's in your world and stay vigilant for looking for what's right. Share with anyone who will listen. Give compliments, do good deeds without expectation. Life is so very, very good and "all you have to remember is how fortunate you are." -Sri Sri  It’s that time of year where we’re all wanting more energy, to feel lighter and more peaceful. If you can’t retreat to your favorite resort to get that revitalized feeling, create your own spa at home with my favorite ways to cleanse mind and body. These five favorites are also flu fighters and cold busters. WATER AND LEMON first thing in the morning hydrate get your blood more alkaline and get your digestive juices flowing start your day with my new Good Mornin’ Mixture:
Don’t want to make your own… Organic Avenue now has a little shot called D that is similar but has garlic. Powerful stuff - Whew! TIP: Make a big batch and sip throughout the day. If you can’t stand taste of Oregano, leave that part out. Keep a bottle of the Stevia in your bag or at office and put a drop or two in each of your waters throughout the day. GOURMET TEA INSTEAD OF COFFEE Instead of that cup of Joe which can tap those adrenals - lead to more fatigue, dehydrate and interfere with sleep , try making a yummy tea. The health properties of tea have long been known but what some people don’t know is just how different the quality and therefore your experience can be between ok and excellent tea. While it’s chilly outside, get some good ones to have around home and office and make sippin’ on teas a part of your routine. May help keep you from snacking as well. Three of my new faves:
GREEN SMOOTHIE: While everyone knows how much I love my juice.  I definitely recco a green smoothie over juice for breakfast as it will fill you up longer and keep those afternoon sugar cravings at bay. Here’s my smoothie recipe and instructions on how to makelink to RYB juice article. For an awesome green juice recipe from Joe Cross Director of "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" (one of my fave documentaries). Watch the Premier Episode of The Joe Show juice segment starts/ends 9:22-11:44.  EAT    SAUNA
SAUNA talk about the benefits of the dry sauna, particularly the infrared
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