Book Review: Change Your Brain Change Your Body by Daniel G. Amen, M.D.

I've been a fan of Dr. Amen since I saw him in PBS a few years ago.  He has a lot of great things to say about health in general and how brain health relates to total physical health.  I love his website and would recommend that everyone visit it and take his "Test for Your Brain Type" test.  Pretty insightful stuff!! 

Dr. Daniel Amen’s latest ‘Change Your Brain, Change Your Body: Use Your Brain to Get and Keep the Body You Have Always Wanted’ is less of the traditional folksy-health wisdom, as much as it is a consumer facing scientific study of exactly how the brain works to insure (or debilitate) the quest for better health. Though example after example, using neurological testing and imaging, Amen explains his basic premise ‘when your brain works right, your body looks and feels better. When your brain is troubled, you have trouble with how you look and feel.’ In his 372 page manifesto, Amen revels his formula for health improvement and ‘brain-boosting’ via everything from hormonal therapy, exercise, diet (brain food) and more – complete with action steps and tracking journals – to create positive effects in addressing conditions like chronic stress, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, brain trauma, lack of sleep, personal energy and much more. While Amen appears to have the solution for every disease, he at least offers a comprehensive plan for combating most major preventable diseases with a wide variety of methods that may have the effect of eliminating or at least inhibiting the onset of such maladies. Beyond this book, Amen has a long series of books (‘Magnificent Mind at Any Age,’ ‘Change Your Brain, Change Your Life’) that cover similar and related subjects. He also runs four regional clinics as well as a website (amenclinics.com) that features more advice plus a series of 3-D brain spect images revealing the effects of his treatments.

Definitely worth the read!!

It's been so hot around here!!! And our AC doesn't work that great, so I've been trying to figure out new ways to cook things so that I don't have to turn on our oven.  That, and our oven doesn't work that well either.  I've had to get pretty creative!!
I LOVE waffles and I've discovered that there are lots of other things you can cook with a waffle iron!!
I was craving Banana Bread so bad the other day, so I thought I'd give it a try on the waffle iron...it turned out perfectly!!
Try it today!!  You'll LOVE it!

Waffle Iron Banana Bread

1/2 cup melted butter
3 over ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat waffle iron and spray with non stick cooking spray. 
Melt butter and set aside to cool.
In mixing bowl, mash bananas well. Beat sugar and eggs.
Combine flour, salt, and soda.  Add gradually to sugar mixture.
Pour in melted butter and mix well.
Pour banana bread batter into waffle iron as you would a waffle. 
You'll have fresh banana bread in minutes!!
Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting for fun!!

I LOVE New Discoveries: Quinoa

Have you heard of Quinoa??  I just discovered it!  We ate it at girls camp last week as a substitution to oatmeal.  They served it warm and offered brown sugar on the side.  It has a different taste, but after a while I found that I actually enjoy it! 
I've been doing some research and this is what I've found:
Quinoa  (pronounced keen-wa), is a grain that comes from the Andes Mountains of South America. Quinoa's origins are truly ancient. It was one of the three staple foods, along with corn and potatoes, of the Inca civilization. Quinoa was known then, and still is known, with respect, as the mother grain. We call it the "Supergrain of the Future."

Quinoa contains more protein than any other grain; an average of 16.2 percent, compared with 7.5 percent for rice, 9.9 percent for millet, and 14 percent for wheat. Some varieties of quinoa are more than 20 percent protein.
Quinoa's protein is of an unusually high quality. It is a complete protein, with an essential amino acid balance close to the ideal ... similar to milk!
Quinoa's protein is high in lysine, methionine and cystine. This makes it an excellent food to combine with, and boost the protein value of, other grains (which are low in lysine), or soy (which is low in methionine and cystine).
Besides its unique protein, quinoa also provides starch, sugars, oil (high in essential linoleic acid), fiber, minerals, and vitamins.
Quinoa is light, tasty, and easy to digest. It is not sticky or heavy like most other grains, and it has a delicious flavor all its own.
Quick and Simple to Prepare
A whole-grain dish of quinoa takes just 15 minutes.
Versatile
Quinoa can be substituted for almost any grain in almost any recipe. It looks and tastes great on its own, or in any dish from soup to salad.
Perfect for Summertime
Many people eat grains only during the colder months, but quinoa's lightness combined with its versatility in cold dishes like salads and desserts makes it an ideal source of good summertime nutrition.
Kids love it!
Quinoa is an excellent source of nutrition for infants and children.

Cool Things About Quinoa
* It’s an American food. Nobody had to cross an ocean and bring it back. In fact, it still grows wild in on the slopes of the Andes.
* Quinoa’s natural defense against hungry birds looking for a cheap snack is to coat their tasty seeds with saponins. Saponins are bitter, and they get foamy if you shake them up in water. Soap. Yum! Anyway, in order to make quinoa palatable, smart humans learned to soak the quinoa in several changes of water before using. In modern times, bored food scientists decided to create a hybrid low in saponins. They succeeded, and in one season, the birds ate ALL the quinoa. Ha!
* It is nutritionally complete. Quinoa has the highest percentage of protein of all grains–18-20%. It also is a complete protein, containing all the amino acids humans need. The Incas called it the “Mother of All Grains,” and it was their second most important food source, behind potatoes.
Here's some recipes to try!

Basic Recipe

This light and wholesome grain may be prepared quickly and easily with this basic method. 2 cups water 1 cup quinoa

Place quinoa and water in a 1-½ quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until all the water is absorbed (about 15 minutes).
You will know that the quinoa is done when all the grains have turned from white to transparent, and the spiral-like germ has separated. Makes 3 cups.


Hot Breakfast Cereal
Bring 2 cups water to a boil, add 1 cup quinoa, reduce heat, simmer 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup thinly sliced apples, 1/3 cup raisins, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and simmer until water is absorbed. Serve with milk or cream and sweeten to taste with honey or brown sugar.

Quinoa Vegetable Soup
4 cups water
2 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ cup quinoa
1 Tbs safflower oil
½ cup carrots, diced
½ cup tomatoes, chopped
¼ cup celery, diced
 ½ cup cabbage, chopped
2 Tbs onions, chopped
1 tsp salt
¼ cup green pepper, diced parsley, chopped
Sauté quinoa, carrots, celery, onions, green pepper and garlic in oil until golden brown. Add water, tomatoes and cabbage and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 to 30 minutes or until tender. Season to taste and garnish with parsley. Serves 4-6. This is a very basic recipe for quinoa vegetable soup. For variations try adding some of your other favorite vegetables, chopped and sautéed. Quinoa can be a welcome addition to just about any type of soup.

Week Three of Turbo Fire!

I'm lovin the Turbo Fire workouts!  I'm feeling a difference in my cardio health and my legs are so sore right now!!

Take Care of Yourself!!

Just a quick reminder to be good to you!!  It's summer. Life is good!  Make yourself a priority and get and stay healthy.
Use these 3 tips to feel great!
1. Eat Well.  Don't skip breakfast!  Start your day of right with a fruit smoothie!  Add a scoop of Shakeology! 
Other ideas for breakfast: an omelet with fresh peppers, onions, and tomatoes, a whole wheat pancake or waffle topped with fruit, or some whole-grain cereal topped with fruit.
For Lunch try: a salad, a sandwich with whole wheat bread, sliced turkey, and lots of fresh veggies, a vegetable soup, or a veggie pizza.  Have you tried the ones at Papa Murphey's?  The delite pizzas are lower in calories and yummy!!
For Dinner: a vegetable lasagna, stir-fried vegetables with meat and rice, pasta tossed with vegetables and grilled chicken, BBQ chicken with fresh fruit and vegetables.
Take advantage of the fresh fruit and vegetables that summer has to offer and make sure you are getting 5 servings a day!
2. Exercise for at least 30 minutes a day!!  Summer is a great time to get out and enjoy this beautiful world. Go for a nice walk, swim, go on a hike with friends, get that bike out and go for a ride!!  Turbo Fire just came out and has some awesome quick workouts for when you're in a time crunch.  Intensity can make up for time!
3. Get enough sleep!  7-8 hours a night...this is the biggest one to forget about...make sleep a priority...it will make you function better in the long run! 
Enjoy these summer months and have fun!  Lovinthelivin!!!

I'm being featured on www.mygiveawaytoday.com!!

I'm so excited for the chance that I have at being featured on http://www.mygiveawaytoday.com/!  It's the coolest site and it's fun to share my new finds with all of you!  My sister-in-law, Syrissa and I started on the Shakeology program and we're having great success with it! 
Several years ago, when my mom was having some chest pain and ended up in the Emergency Room undergoing heart surgery, it made me realize that none of us are exempt from heart disease and that I needed to do a better job at taking care of myself. I needed to eat better and exercise more. I’ve been on the lookout for a system that worked for me and I found it!! When I find something that I love I have to share!

Shakeology is a patent-pending daily nutritional shake helps your body gently eliminate toxins more efficiently while allowing for better absorption of the essential nutrients you need. A proprietary blend of digestive enzymes and prebiotics helps your body progressively eliminate the toxins that build up over time from eating today's highly processed foods.
At the same time, whole-food ingredients deliver the essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals your body needs to curb cravings, allowing your body to shed stored fat while the more than 20 different antioxidants and phytonutrients help reduce free radical damage that can lead to heart disease, heart attacks, high blood pressure, and stroke.
In an independent study, here's what the doctor observed about the participants:
They reduced oxidative stress, a risk factor for degenerative diseases, by as much as 90%.
They lowered their total cholesterol levels by an average of 30% and their "bad" cholesterol levels by an average of 38%.
They reduced their cardiovascular risk factors by an average of 24%.

See my favorite recipes in the page up above: What I LOVE: My Favorite Shakeology Recipes!

* Discount of the Day:

For the discount of the day: When you sign up to be a Beachbody coach, you get a 25% discount on all Beachbody products, including Shakeology. The sign-up fee is $39.95, but for the month of July, I’ll reimburse the coach sign-up fee for anyone who signs up to be a coach and trys The Shakeology Program for 3 months.

* Give Away is open only to those who live in the U.S.

Week One of Turbo Fire!

If you've tried Turbo Jam, you'll LOVE Turbo Fire!  It's Turbo Jam on steroids!  It's intense, but super fun!
Talk about major cardio training!! 
For your body to be in the best health possible, you need at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.  I've found that this is an amazing program that challenges me.  I love the class schedule that comes with the program and the food guide is top notch!!