Have a "Healthy" New Year!

It’s the time of year when everyone wants to get “healthy”.  I have so many people at my gym asking what they should take.  This is what I have found in my many years of research and trying everything.  It’s called Juice Plus.  It's whole food nutrition from fruit and vegetables in capsule form.  It does not take the place of eating well it just helps our body get more of what we need naturally.  Nick and I, along with the kids all take Juice Plus and it has been amazing.  This is why we take it!  I lost both my parents to Cancer; I had gestational diabetes, I have a child with a mild disability, kids with tummy and digestive trouble and so on.  The common link is always the same.  It's the food we eat and how poor nutrition and disease are linked.  The best method to combat this is prevention.  The prevention of disease through good sound nutrition will not only keep us healthy but can help to get rid of some existing conditions.  We really are what we eat! 

Juice Plus has it all!  It’s whole food, not a supplement, it has the science and real research from major medical universities behind it and it’s supported by many medical professionals.  Don’t trust everything you see or hear about these days.  Some of this stuff can be dangerous and simply a waste of money.  The supplement and diet industry are not regulated so the claims they make about the products are not always true.  No one is watching or checking to see what is going on in this industry.  This is not the case with Juice Plus.  I have done my homework and it is all it says it is and more.  Juice Plus is bioavailable and this means it gets absorbed and is ready for your body to use so it doesn’t sit at the bottom of your stomach as many supplements do. 

Juice Plus is actually food, 15 different fruits and veggies and 2 whole grains with the sugar, salt and water removed and put into a capsule.  That is it!!  It’s all organic, natural, gluten free and has a food label.  It’s harvested when the vitamins, nutrients and micronutrients are at their peak.   I could spend hours telling you why this is so important and how we benefit from this.  But basically our bodies were made to eat and need the nutrition from fruits and veggies.  The more we eat the more we crave and because of this we end up eating better.  I have seen this with my kids.  When they started taking Juice Plus they kept asking for more fruits and veggies.  I was left with a pantry full of processed snacks that no one wanted to eat anymore.  It’s like when you eat sugar; your body starts to crave it.   With Juice Plus I know we’re getting the nutrition our bodies so desperately need.  Most fruits and veggies today are depleted of vitamins and nutrients and loaded with chemicals before they actually reach us.  Because of this we can’t be sure if what we are eating is good for us.  Juice plus also offers a variety that most people don’t eat on a regular basis.  I don’t know about you but I don’t eat kale or beets much and my kids never do. 

 Juice Plus is like a health insurance policy for me.  I’ve become passionate about health and wellness over the years.  I do believe our body has the ability to heal itself if it’s treated well and feed properly.  The statistics are shocking!  By age 12 about 70% of our children will have developed the beginning stages of hardening of the arteries.  It is now believed that our children’s life span will be shorter than our generations expected life span.  All because of the link between disease and the processed foods we eat.  I don’t know about you but that is not acceptable to me.  I believe I can help my kids and hopefully keep them from watching Nick and I suffer from a preventative disease.  I know there are no guarantees in life but I plan to try and make a difference. 

I love my kids and I would never share Juice Plus with my family if it wasn’t the real deal!! 

Enjoy a Happy & Healthy New Year!

What my Dad taught me about narrow minded people!

Why are some people so narrow minded?  This is one of those questions I have asked myself many times.    

I recently had someone I ‘m very close to call me because they were upset about this very situation, only they didn’t realize this was the problem.  What got this person so upset was that he couldn’t help but take the comments of a few narrow minded individuals personally.  Believe me; I understand his feelings and reasons for being upset.  We or at least I pride myself on my concern for others and my ability to help people.  I also try to be very knowledgeable and completely educate myself on the choices I make personally and professionally and so does this person. In fact it shows in the way he lives his life.  So when people he thought trusted him, knew him and knew that his motives are never selfish rejected his help and his genuine concern for their well being he was deeply hurt.  What he was unable to see at first, because he was so hurt, was that it wasn’t him they were trying to reject.  It's that they can’t see beyond themselves and they have no ability to believe in or trust what they cannot be open to.  So when he suggested something to them that was out of their comfort zone and not conventional, all the trust and respect they have for him was diminished by their own narrow minded thinking. 

So what do we do when we are faced with this sort of problem from our friends and loved ones???  For me I just feel sorry for them and allow myself to go through the emotions I’m feeling.  I try to be sure to end my contact with that person about the subject at hand in a positive note and move on.  That last part, to move on is key!!  See for those of us in the business of helping people or who are sometimes irresponsibly generous and helpful to most of the people in our lives, we need to remind ourselves that it’s not about the 1 or 2 people who refuse to be open to what we have to share.  It's about those people who need us, who respect us, who trust us and are open to receiving a good, kind, smart and generous person in their lives.   

My dad, who was the most generous and kind person I have ever known told me this..  “Most people just don’t get it!  You can lead a horse to water but you can’t force him to drink!”  It took me many years to really get what he meant but his wisdom is simple and timeless.  Over the years I have learned that I can’t stop leading people, I just need to lead more people because you will always win some and you will lose some but the ones you win are far more rewarding when compared to the few that are lost…..

The little & thoughtful things mean the most!

I really miss my kids and my husband.  There’re away from me because they’re visiting family before the holidays.  I wish I was traveling with them but not this time.  I’m always challenged when I’m away from them but even more so when I think about my whole life in a minivan more than 700 miles away from me.  Maybe It’s just that I am overly emotional or maybe because I have a big Italian family and many sisters who I am very close too…..  It could be that those 5 people in the minivan really are my whole world.

I was reminded of how little and thoughtful things that someone does for you can mean so much.  Nick, my husband, knows me so well.  I don’t think he realizes just how well.  Being the overly emotional person I am I knew I needed to keep busy as soon as they left or the tears may never stop flowing?  Of course I went upstairs to the kids’ rooms to strip the beds so I could wash everything while they were gone.  As I pulled the blankets and sheets off the beds I found a card labeled Mom.  It was an amazing card with a recording of my kids joyfully and loudly singing Deck the Halls.  My sad tears turned into a big smile with happy tears.  Later that night I took a bag out of my closet with gifts I needed to sort and wrap.  At the bottom of the bag was a very silly card that made me laugh and smile again.  Just before I went to bed Nick and I spoke on the phone. I thanked him for my cards and we laughed together as I told him how and when I found them.  When we hung up I was feeling a little sad that he wasn’t going to be beside me.  When I turned down the covers I found another card.  A simple and sweet message of love and miss you.  It was much easier to sleep after having read those words.  You would think that was the end… but it wasn’t I found 1 more the next day in the drawer with my hair dryer. 

Is that the end of the cards?  I ‘m not sure but what I am sure of is that I have been so blessed.  I’m also sure Nick wanted to surprise me and help me keep from missing my kids so much.  What I don’t think he realized was that the cards brought me back to a very happy time when we were dating and just starting to get to know each other.  Nick has always been and still is very thoughtful and kind but over the years life has happened so fast that we don’t seem to make time for the little things that we used to do for each other.  The little things that made us smile often.  It was nice to be reminded of how much my husband and kids love me, but even nicer to be reminded of just how much I love them. 

Recently I was told how hard I am to buy a gift for.  I thought to myself “that’s crazy I like a lot of things”.  But now as I think about it, maybe I seem hard to buy a gift for because it’s not about what I want, it’s about what I already have.  As long as I have Nick and my kids I have it all.  What else could I need???

Try to remember to leave a short note or a card for someone you love when they least expect it.  It could be exactly what they need or at the very least it will make them smile.

My Mom & Everyone's Stuff!

I miss my Mom so much.  It has been 5 years since she’s passed and I am always amazed when I come across an everyday situation and I still go to pick up the phone to call her.  I hate that it took my getting older and having kids to have all these big aha moments.  I finally get what she was “ranting “about all those years.  At least I thought it was ranting when I was a kid.  Now I get it and know it was just her frustration of having to repeat herself over and over again day in and out.

So tonight, I was picking up after everyone and I started to talk to myself.  I do this often, I think because I know I am listening and no one else ever seems to…  I was talking about everyone’s stuff and wondering why I need to be the one to find a home for all the stuff.  The stuff that gets left on the counter, the table, the floor, the stairs, the desk, the couch and all the other places I find stuff.  It’s usually not the important things like money.  It's some papers or mail, maybe an old receipt or half a pack of gum.  Sometimes it’s part of a toy or a doll shoe.  I find 1 sock or 1 glove maybe it’s clean and maybe not so clean.  The stack of school papers that no one knows if we should keep them or throw them away.  I can’t forget about the dictionary that someone used but no one knows who used it.  How about shoes…  I find them all over.  It doesn’t matter if I have a shoe box near every door in every room in the house; they still leave them in the middle of the floor, on the stairs and once in a while under a bed.  It drives me crazy to be the keeper of the stuff.  The funny part is when they need their stuff they expect me to know exactly where it is because it’s not where they left it and suddenly I am the bad guy for moving it!!!

I only have 4 kids and I have trouble keeping track of the stuff in my home.  I can’t imagine how my Mother who had 8 kids felt.  I stop and think I can’t believe I had the nerve to think my Mom was “ranting” without cause.  I so wish I was able to tell her how sorry I am that I didn’t recognize that she had every right to be upset and that I know exactly how she felt.  As rewarding as it is to be a Mom it can be very challenging and frustrating at times.  But for me I wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

I just wish my Mom was here to laugh at me and give me her take on how she felt.  She would offer me some wise piece of advice to make me feel better and help me understand that “this to will pass my dear” and she would touch my face gently.  My Mom would tell me that 1 day I too will look back and miss having everyone and their stuff around me so I should try to enjoy it while I can. 

What I would give today to be able to hear her “ranting” just once more about everyone else’s stuff….

Make choices and be thankful!

As we enjoy Thanksgiving and get ready for the Christmas season I have been thinking a lot about being "thankful".  I have many things to be thankful for as most of us do.  Of course I am thankful for my family, friends and our health and to have a home over my head.  I guess these are the “standard” things.   But what am I really thankful for??  As I continued to go over the same things over and over again I realized there is one thing I take for granted and never stop to think about…..  I never stop to be thankful for the ability to make choices.  We make choices, many choices every day and it is just part of the day, no big deal.  This year I am feeling so blessed to have the ability to choose.  I can choose what I am going to eat and wear to why and how I choose to worship God.  We make these choices without even thinking about them.  Do we ever stop to think what life would be like without choices?  We are so fortunate to live in a country that prides itself on freedom, the freedom to choose and to still be protected by law.

There are some constants in life and change is one of those constants.  It happens to us every day, like it or not.  We can be thankful, selective and intentional of the choices we make or we can just let life happen to us.  Life is not about getting what you want.  It’s about wanting what you have and being thankful for that.  I can’t think of anything better to be thankful for. 

After all if we make good choices then the things we care most about like family, friends and health will be well with us and not taken for granted.  Make good choices, many of them all day long… and be thankful you could choose.....

My kids are in the minority since they’re healthy!

Today I took 2 of my kids to the Doctor for their annual wellness visit.  Other than needing a follow up eye exam for one of them it was quick and easy.

The Doctor and the Nurse kept saying how nice it was to work with healthy kids.  They said that so many times that it prompted me to ask some questions.  I started with.. “Is this a bad season for the flu?”  They said not yet it isn’t.  So I asked “are there were many sicknesses going around like strep or ear infections?”  Still the answer was no.  So finally I asked why do you keep telling me how nice it is to see healthy children.  The Doctor sat down and looked me in the eye and said so many kids are overweight, sick with diabetes and blood disease, some just aren’t growing.  She then said they have more gastrointestinal issues with kids than ever before. 

My kids are in the minority since they're healthy?  WOW!  Given that I own a Gym and a Juice Plus+ Wellness business you would think that wouldn’t be a surprise to me.  I guess, like most of us, I sometimes take for granted that I educate my kids on how important wellness is and that they are what they eat. 

It is a shame what is happening to the young people in our country.  Did you know that today’s youth is expected to have a shorter life span then the generation before them?  It’s sad when you realize all they need to do is physically move more, eat more fruit and veggies and consume less sugar and high fat foods. If they did they would live longer and healthier lives. 

So I have to thank the Doctor and Nurse who reminded me not to take the health of my children for granted this Thanksgiving Season.  I hope they pass that message on to many more people. 

Be happy, healthy, thankful and please share this message with someone you love!