New season, new allergies and sinus infections

As the new season brings new pollen into the air, I've noticed a number of people are having allergies and sinus infections. First, be kind to your respiratory system---before you can think, you must breathe well to get that oxygen to your brain and body. When there are allergies and sinus infections, your body is SUPER stressed, even if you have an antibiotic taken off some of the pressure. We don't want your body to be under chronic physical stress, because that feeds into your emotional stress management abilities. Chronic physical stress diminishes your optimal health, and for some people with weight loss goals, it limits their progress.

Let's find ways to work on the cause, instead of waiting to deal with symptoms.

3 EASY STEPS to improving your RESPIRATORY HEALTH: Clean up your air and your body!
1) Clean your air with a HEPA air purifier. You can find the best deals online (see the link) and even find deals with an app called ShopBuddy to monitor prices. If you are in a dry climate like Los Angeles, you might need a humidifier to keep the membranes of your sinuses healthy to block out the pollutants. If you live in downtown LA where it is the nexus of many cars and highways, you might want to keep your windows closed to protect from the soot.

2) Improve your indoor air quality w great air-cleaning plants. A few weeks ago, I stopped by Mickey's Plants near La Brea/Fountain and Mickey, the owner, was so helpful to find the air-cleaning plants that would do well with my indirect light. I got a peace lily on the right, and I forget the name of the other plant on the left (see photo). And spider plants are terrific! I planted the spider plant at the bottom of my rubber tree to make it prettier and more of an ecosystem. Set up your plants at home, and put at least one at your desk at the office. And if you live in LA, stop by and talk to Mickey to get his great advice for the plants that are best-suited for your environment!

3) Clean your body! Rinse your nasal passages with non-medicated saline rinse--to help lubricate the membranes for better blockage of pollutants and the rinse out the trapped pollutants. Improve your immune system to manage your body's inflammation triggered by pollution or bad air quality. Eat with the anti-inflammatory food pyramid which includes omega-3 fish oils, take care of your optimal health regimen, and take a high-quality superantioxidant that helps manage your histamine levels. High histamine levels, especially prevelant in evenings, causes the runny nose and unpleasant allergy symptoms. Benedryl and other anti-histamine drugs make my nose and throat dry, so I prefer using this preventative wellness regimen. I used to be allergic to the purple Jacaronda trees with sneezing from a block away, and now, I'm fine with no symptoms with a Jacaronda tree outside my kitchen window. Happy breathing!

P.S. Parents should know that children with allergies or asthma have trouble focusing at preschool or school, and the lost time being sick can diminish their educational outcomes. Here is what I recommend for kids: a good multivitamin that can help with mental focus, liquid omega 3, and children's version of the superantioxidant. I've gotten great reviews with parents whose kids have better attendance at school and no longer have swollen puffy eyes and nose. I'm happy to send these testimonials to you, if you contact me with your email address.

Green Cleaning

Cleaning products tend to have chlorine and other things that are not good for inhaling. Keeping your indoor air clean from toxic chemicals is important for keeping healthy breathing. For me, chlorine can burn my sensitive eyes, and especially bad when I'm wearing contact lenses!

If you are creative and have the time to figure out solutions, you can stick with a basic inventory of a few things that you combine from some internet research to clean everything from stove to bathtub: baking soda, Dr. Bronner's soap, alcohol, and vinegar.

However, most of us don't have the time to research and create different solutions and here is an easy kit of green cleaning products I recommend.

To emphasize the impact on your health (and sanity!): I had one student who had terrible disabling migraines, and after putting on our Sherlock Holmes' thinking caps for several months, we figured out that it was her laundry detergent when we found the pattern that she got her migraines on the days that she changed her bedsheets!

For me, I have sensitive skin allergies, so if there is fragrance and other chemicals in a laundry soap, that exposure on my skin gets me itchy and/or with sneezy nose or swollen eyes. I really recommend finding a fragrance-free laundry soap. This is my favorite because it's highly concentrated, uses the power of enzymes to get out your toughest stains, and does so many washes in a small little bottle that isn't too heavy to carry up and down stairs to my garage laundry room!

To take your green cleaning to the next level, you can research which plants will help clean up your indoor air. I love my "weeping fig", commonly known as a ficus. She's a little diva and insists on being next to the window, so I have to make room for that. Plants also give your eyes something to rest on when you need a break from the computer screen--another de-stressing tip!

Life and outdoor air pollution gives our immune system enough stress. Cleaning up your indoor air is an easy way to lessen the stress on your body and improve your health! It starts with getting rid of the bad cleaning products that are the pollutants. Don't try to use them up, just toss them to detox your home and protect your health now.

Know Anyone Ready for a Weight Loss Challenge?

You probably hear people complain about their frustrations with weight loss at work and in your community. Do they want help? If they register to start a weight loss challenge with me by tomorrow Saturday Sept 15th, they can compete for cash prizes! Or, they can simply join the next weight loss group with easy weekly phone coaching calls to keep them on track!

I coach weight loss students with a national program called TLS Weight Loss solution, where everyone loses inches, with a focus on body composition, with better results and more affordable than commercial programs like Jenny Craig. If you know someone who wants help, your help to spread the word is greatly appreciated!! If you know other health professional who want help with their weight loss students, they can tap into this great program and be a TLS coach too!

To me, it's a healthy weight + wellness program that I follow for myself because it covers a lot of nutrition education and helps manage long-term health risks like diabetes, because the focus is low-glycemic impact eating and blood sugar management. It's a total wellness program that covers stress management, sleep, nutrition, exercise, and optimal health.

Can you think of a few people whom I could help with their wellness and weight loss? Please share this post with them and I would be happy to talk with them. They can get started by contacting me for a complementary 20-min intro phone consult: embodyhealth @ gmail.

Please click on the link to my website below to learn more. http://embody-health.com/register/weightloss To get started, a student would register with either the course fee or the deposit so I can order and send the course supplies. Looking forward to seeing more TLS Weight Loss graduates who become health leaders for their families and community!

Healthy Deals

Some people worry that being healthy costs more money, but the truth is, you can save money because 1) you're not eating out as much and 2) you can find deals at your local stores with smart grocery shopping.

If you're in Los Angeles, you might know of the 99cents store. They get overstock items from Costco (so I've heard from one of their corporate staff) and other places. And I've been shopping there for 5 years, so I can testify that the quality is good, if not excellent! Sometimes they have big bags or tubs of organic greens for salads, and this week I found organic blackberries which definitely cost more than a dollar elsewhere! This photo shows the healthy deals I found at the 99cents this week.

If you take a look at the Environmental Working Group's list of the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15, you can decide what is safe to buy conventional. For example, squash and romaine lettuce and broccoli are not on the Dirty Dozen list, so it's ok to buy the 99cents store version of these. They are very fresh, and you can see I couldn't hold back from eating 1 of the 2 heads of "artisan romaine" lettuce.

Other goodies: Nopaltillas are organic corn tortillas made green with nopales for higher fiber and nutrition. We should stay away from eating conventional corn tortillas anyways, and here you have a nutrient dense version that's actually good for you!

If you move and exercise, your muscles produce lactic acid and the magnesium from Epsom salts help your body recover quickly. I regularly buy Epsom salts there instead of at a pharmacy because you get 2lbs for a dollar, whereas CVS charges over $3 for a 4lb bag. So I save at least $1 for every lb of Epsom salts. Recommended bath treatment for relaxing body and tight muscles: 15 min soak in bath tub with at least 2 full cups of Epsom salts. Add essential oils, other bath salts, or baking soda if you like. PS if you don't have the option or don't like baths, you can also get your magnesium with this terrific calcium supplement.

Also, if you ever did a vitamin analysis of your food log, you'll realize you don't eat enough potassium, which also helps in muscle recovery or resolving muscle cramps. Coconut water is something I recommend for everyone, and occassionally you'll see pure coconut water at the dollar store, but this week, I found a mango fruit blend. Juices are high glycemic, but ok to have with a protein and fiber rich meal. Every athlete needs this superior fat-free sports drink of coconut water made by Mother Nature.

Fly with Summer Fruits

Summer fruits found at the Farmers Market right now are so tasty! Berries, plums, apricots, peaches, OH MY! My friends went cherry picking last weekend, and it seems to be the end of cherry season, so if you haven't gotten the fresh cherries this week, go get 'em now! Here's my little friend flying. I tried to get as many colors of the rainbow from my summer fruit collection. I had so much fun giving my fruity bird the perfect minty hairdo. If you haven't figured out a healthy breakfast to jumpstart your metabolism, here are some breakfast ideas. My latest favorite is a berry+mint protein+fiber smoothie. Email me for the recipe. Cheers!

Meditation for Beginners - Belly Breathing!

I've found that a number of people who come to my hikes or meet me in their physical therapy appt have trouble with breathing or meditation. As babies and dogs are easy to find their happy belly breathing, somehow we adults get challenged with stress and forget how to belly breathe. If it's hard for you to find your belly breath, check out this article from Daily Om.

If you have trouble finding it sitting up, try lying on your back, with your knees bent in "active rest" position, so that you can let gravity help you feel your belly rise on the inhale, and flatten as you exhale. When I first learned to sing in a choir in college, I had lots of trouble figuring out how to not shrug my shoulders on the inhale, and I spent time lying on the floor to find my belly breathing. So, if you get distracted and need to focus on something while looking for your belly breathing, you can pick your favorite slow happy song and that can help you out! My favorite song for this exercise is the chorus from ABBA's "Dancing Queen." It makes people chuckle and yes, when you laugh, you find your belly too! BONUS: The more you use your belly breath, the more you can help waken your abs and tone them. Belly breathing is the easiest way to start to manage your stress and get started on meditation!

New tasty healthy foods

Since I have figured out that I am sensitive to lactose, especially with uncooked milk (it makes my stomach blow up a few extra inches!), I've been looking for a solution to my yogurt cravings. If I'm going to have milk products, I should really be taking my digestive enzymes which have lactase to break down the lactose. I like to carry a travel pack of the digestive enzymes in my purse for protecting my stomach while eating out, for the times that I can't avoid the lactose.

For those who are lactose-sensitive, yogurt is less irritating, but why have any irritation? I have newly discovered this brand of yogurt that has lactase in it so that it becomes lactose-free AND it has a good collection of probiotics! Happy tummy!

On other snack foods, I'm sensitive to the varying levels of vinegar found in most olives. Olives are so good for you, but it's simply easier for me to get them into my diet if they are already mixed in with something like hummus. You can find these pre-made at your local grocery store like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. This is a great substitute for those of us who like cheese and want a healthier low-fat savory snack.

And to satisfy my sweet tooth, I'm defrosting a cup of frozen wild blueberries. The wild boreal blueberries are smaller and have so much more flavor than its conventional cousins. With frozen fruit at my disposal, I can have tasty fruit year-round conveniently at less than 1/2 the cost of the fresh kind. I would prefer fresh fruits, but sometimes it's helpful to be easy on the budget and my shopping schedule!