Drink up!

There's no better time than summer to be glugging down more water...with all the heat, a more active lifestyle, and all the sweatin' that summer gives. It seems that people don't understand how vital water is to our health. Most of us are really dehydrated, whether we know it or not.

We should all be drinking one half of our body weight in ounces of water PER DAY! For me, at my height, that's about 80 ounces of water, which is about 10 glasses of water. Two more than the average 8 glasses. And if you're more active, you should be adding more water to that.

And contrary to what everyone seems to think...tea and coffee DON'T count. They actually act as diuretics. Herbal tea is an exception you can count as water.

So why do we need so much water? What's so great about being hydrated? Here are some of the reasons (some which were new to me)...

• it acts as a solvent (reduces everything) and a transporter


• purifies your body, carrying out waste


• increases energy at a cellular level


• transports metabolites of the brain along neurons


• creates adhesiveness to the cell structures


• proteins and enzymes function more efficiently in a solution that is more dilute


• keeps your skin more healthy

And here are some things that can be prevented by drinking more water...that can actually be partly caused or helped by dehydration...

• hypertension


• dyspepsia


• arthritis


• headaches (add lemon in your water for even more benefit)


• stress and depression


• cholesterol problems


• diabetes


• asthma and allergies


• colitis


• low back pain

My Dad was reading all these great things about water and since then, he's been drinking a lot more. Trying to get his 100 ounces (around 12 glasses) of H2o all in before the day is out. He says he feels a lot better and he's not as tired.

It might be hard to get used to and you might be running to the bathroom all of the time, but soon you're body will get more used to it. I rarely go anywhere without my water bottle...it's almost my comfort drink. I like to add lemon and stevia often, or even just a squirt of some juice from the fridge. There's lots of ways to drink water if you don't like the taste...maybe try sun tea or iced green tea. You got no excuses, so drink up!

Food so far for today:

Breakfast~ Green smoothie (kale, banana, blue manna flakes, ect)

Morning snack~ 1/2 grapefruit

Lunch (so far)~ some watermelon (another great source of hydration)

Burdock Tea...Loving your Liver

Quite a while back I was blessed with a Kombucha mushroom, which I enjoyed making into tea...but I found that after a while, I grew a little tired of making it and had a harder time drinking it (don't like homemade Kombucha? Check out Synergy's Kombucha at Whole Foods, which tastes quite good...grape is my favorite, but I like guava too!) So I got rid of my Kombucha mushroom and turned to other things to try out...

One thing I loved about the Kombucha was that it was very cleansing for the liver, which, I think, is one of the central things to good health. But guess what? There's other fantastic things you can take for your liver...one of which is Burdock Root Tea.

You can get it fresh too, which I haven't been able to try yet (as there is none in my area), chop it up and add it to salads or brew it fresh.

I went to Tea Benefits site to check out all the other great things about it and here's what I found...

It has a soothing effect on the skin and gastrointestinal tract;

It is known to improve appetite and digestion;

It has been shown to possess anti-microbial agents that may help reduce liver damage;

It also has the ability to mildly lower blood sugar (hypoglycemic effect);

It is very useful in fighting the effects of rheumatism;

It helps in the treatment of some kidney disorders;

It helps counter bronchial cough and other irritations of the pulmonary tract.

The taste is really special too, it's not like other teas I've tried. It almost tastes like Won Ton broth that you get at the Chinese restaurant...which is kind of fun. Hope you get a chance to buy a bag of it and let me know what you think...

Oh, and while you're on the web check out Tea Benefits...it's a great site, with lots of great info.

Time for an Update

...Argh, life is so hectic right now I haven't had much time to do a post. Our family is doing quite a bit of singing and traveling right now so I do have a good excuse.

Because it seems like I'm always out of my regular routine, I find it harder to eat the way I want to, especially away from home. So lately, I've been bumping up my raw food intake to where it should be. I've been trying to have green smoothies in the mornings and have been making more of a habit of big salads at lunch. (below is my 0 calorie salad dressing I really like)

We have lots of dandelions scattering our home, so I've even picked a bowl of those, washed them, and bagged them for green smoothies and salads. I'm hoping to make a juice with them too.

We've just finished planting our garden, which I'm excited about (the cucumbers especially!). We just have to plant cilantro, parsley, onions, and find some kale seeds to throw in.

I've been making it a habit to drink more lemon water too (usually 4 cups with 1 lemon, if we have lemons in the house)...with the heat here it seems like I'm always drinking, and it's nice to have a bit of a flavour in the water. I just add a bit of stevia for what Natalia Rose calls, "a quick lemonade". My sister and I have also been making "sun tea"...throwing 2 peppermint and 2 green tea bags into a gallon or two of water to steep in the sunlight all day. We then refrigerate it. This tastes great if you add some stevia too.

My Dad had started an orchard in our backyard too, with even a blackberry bush...so I'm hoping in the quirky country we live in, that it will all thrive.

Here's my salad dressing that is great if you're trying to be more careful of your weight...do it all to taste.

• 1 tsp or so of organic Dijon mustard
• a squirt of Braggs
• a splash of Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 tsp or less of lemon juice
• maybe a little bit of balsamic vinegar
• lots of dried parsley, dried basil, and dried oregano

Mindless Workouts

Contrary to my last post...I haven't been exercising much lately, simply because I haven't had a stitch of time. We've been doing lots of singing and traveling, so really...I've barely had one day at home (hence lack of posts here).

But I've figured out there's always those little things that I can do, without really a thought about it, that helps me get little workouts in, throughout the day.

When I brush my teeth, I stand on one foot and hold the other one behind me. This is great for stretching your hamstrings and for balance. I alternate legs as I do the top and bottom teeth.

When I floss, I do lunges, alternating legs with top and bottom teeth. Maybe you think it's weird to do this, but who cares?

When I'm blending up the family's almond milk I've made it a habit to do about 50 toe raises (which are really great for your calves).

There's heaps of little things you can do...tighten your stomach muscles while driving, deep breathing while you're waiting for your appointment, or even just timing yourself for 5 minutes to get your sit ups in.

What do you do for your mindless workouts?

Half Marathon

I have been aching to do a half-marathon since last fall, since most of my brothers started getting into it...but I wasn't sure I could do it, especially since I wasn't sure I could even run a mile. But once the new year rolled around, I printed out a 10-week half-marathon training plan and stuck to it with more diligence than I thought I had. It really motivated me, but I really over trained as the workout schedule was just too intense for my running level. I ended up with a couple injuries on my foot because of that.

With over three weeks of basically no training or working out (with CD mixing and visiting my sister) the official day came. I was rawwwther nervous, wondering what ON EARTH was I doing!!!? I had not run very much or far for a few weeks (though I certainly tried!), but God really helped me. It was the best run ever...there were more hills than I expected, but it was a rainy, cold day that was quite nice for running...there were water stations every 3 K...and it was just so much fun, altho' I must admit it was really hard on my body. About half way through, I got two painful blisters on my toes...so that wasn't fun to live with for the next 6.5 miles, but I managed. The last 3 miles were, to be honest, grueling...the wind was against me and it was raining, but once again, I asked for God's strength and He answered my prayer. What an amazing feeling it was to cross the finishing line.

For my first half-marathon my goal time was to have it done by 2:30:00 and I was thrilled to discover I was just under 2:20:00.

I know

...been a while, but you'll have to wait a couple more days for an REAL post. In two days I'll be home from the most marvelous holiday you can imagine, and then I shall have something worthwhile to write. Truly. I had big news! (at least for me, it's HUGE) So till then...

Almost Done

...our CD that is. This last week I haven't posted anything, because I was away in the states, helping mix our newest project. I just got home last night (or early morning I should say), so it's been crazy here. What's more, my sister Anne-Marie and I are leaving tomorrow morning and will be heading to the airport so we can fly out to see my married sister Lizzy for 3 weeks! I'm SO stoked about it...but thoroughly tired of packing and unpacking and then packing again. But hey! I'm done now.

I'll try to do a post once or twice while I'm gone, we'll see how busy it gets. Right now I'm just so excited about seeing my sister who lives SO far away. I haven't seen her since Christmas and I miss her so much.

Food for today:

B~ Hemp Protein Smoothie with almond milk, cinnamon, and banana

L~ Fruit...1/2 grapefruit, orange, green and red grapes, and a half of banana

Snack~ a raw chocolate macaroon and later, 2 homemade cookies

D~ Salad with onions and salsa and homemade WW pizza and for good measure, another cookie, lol

Today wasn't as healthy as I would've (and should have liked it to be), but hey...it's all about being real and I feel great! This evening I went for a 6 mile run on the treadmill too, as I haven't exercised for a couple weeks since I was preoccupied at the soundboard.

Eat something good for me!