Purely Living Wellness Blog

September 30th, 2015

9/30/2015

Immune System Fuel As We Enter Cold & Flu Season

9/18/2015

Today I was listening to a podcast on NaturalHealth365 which I am privvy to as a paid subscriber to the inner circle - one of the best investments I have made into my holistic wellness training, and for my family.
The speaker was a very wise, quite old integrative doctor who had seen many changes through his lifetime. Through generations we have lost the wisdom of using good things from the earth to help our bodies heal. Such as elderberry to prevent colds and flu. Turmeric to reduce inflammation and pain. Ginger for digestion, and so on.
I would like to give you his name, but it is not one I can pronounce, much less spell. But I plan to look up his site. He commented that cancer is growing in our bodies 25-40 years before we have the symptoms that alert us to its presence. This is why it is often a disease that manifests with age. It only gets out of hand when the immune system is not functioning and doing its job of erradicating free radicals.
What do you use to boost your immune system? My family members are huge fans of a 2 oz power pack of anti oxidant juice. At the first sign of illness, exposure to a slew of viral breakouts at school - we start the day with these powerful shots of super foods and anti-oxidants.
When my husband was on his journey with late stage cancer he never once caught a cold or flu that year - even though he was exposed during the holidays to people getting over the flu or with colds. People did not think we should leave the house and expose him to all the germs - but he wouldn't hear of missing a family get together. Every morning began with an Anti Oxidant Immunity Booster. To the morning shot I would add drops of Lugol's iodine and collodial silver, with the latter being an anti-bacterial (nature's antibiotic). Before bed Jesse was glad to have the super food drink on its own so he could completely enjoy it. That said, it is a great way to mask some other supplements one might take.
As we get into the cold and flu season give your body what it needs to maintain a healthy immune system. Your natural defense system depends on you to fuel it properly to provide optimal performance.

Be well and stay well,
Rita S.

Healthy Living Doesn't Have to Be Hard - Start with Gluten!

9/18/2015

The idea of eliminating multiple food groups at one time to begin a lifestyle of CHANGE towards healthier living is overwhelming to many. I want to share today a bit of my own story...which began five years ago.
It all started with REDUCING gluten, about 50%. I lost weight easily, and at the time I was 264 lbs. and very much needed to turn my health around (with a host of issues besides being overweight). You can ready my story for full details.
Not weighing myself, but having room in my clothes to breathe, I was encouraged. And reduced gluten even more...75%, 80%, and to the point where I reserved Friday mornings for a special visit to the coffee shop with my daughter to have a scone and a mocha. I lost 32 lbs.in 3 months.
Eventually I went on to eliminate most dairy, and even have gone completely gluten free - and at which point all my aches and pains totally cleared up. This is because my body has a sensitivity (not an allergy) and these food groups caused inflammation.
What do heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and cancer all have in common - INFLAMMATION.
How do we reduce inflammation - we reduce, and ideally, eliminate the foods that cause it. So let's start with the biggie...GLUTEN. If you want the story on gluten I suggest you read the book Wheat Belly, or African American Healthy.
Eliminating gluten for 30 days has made a huge difference for many. I have clients with fibromyalgia, Lupus, IBS, arthritis and other auto immune diseases of which gluten is a huge promoter of inflammation. People with auto immune are more sensitive than others to certain food groups. Thirty days of your life to determine what ails you could prevent a future lifetime of knee and hip surgeries, organ transplants, surgeries, and more.
So I ask, is your life and your future worth a 30 day sacrifice of pleasure foods? Only you can decide.
Rather than tell you what you cannot eat, I found this wonderful video that helps provide a gluten free overview of what grains you CAN eat. Be sure to check out my recipe library (which is growing as I find time to transfer my recipes) - which is completely gluten free - and kid approved. My children, now ages 12 and 17, have been taste testing my elimination diet recipes for the past 5 years. My daugher says that the Teff flour pancakes are the best pancakes she has ever had - say good bye to dry pancakes!
If you want to say good-bye to aches and pains, poor heart and high cholesterol - start small and reduce gluten in your life. Once you start to feel better I am confident you will want to eliminate more and more just to experience how good feeling good feels!

May you live each day making healthier choices for you and your body,
Rita S.

To help you get started with gluten-free living - below are several favorite recipes suitable for each meal of the day. Click on each recipe title to view the recipe. Enjoy life's simple GF pleasures!

Chocolate Mocha Protein Smoothie
Breakfast is often the most challenging meal of the day to eat healthy. This smoothie eliminates all feelings of deprivation - it is truly like having dessert for breakfast -only healthy!

Gluten Free Flat Bread
"I can't give up bread!!" Well, you don't have to.
Making your own flat bread is super easy. Prep the flour mix ahead of time and store in the freezer, and you can have fresh, warm bread in 15 minutes!

Quinoa Vegi Hot Dish Blend - Main Dish
Packed with proteins and nutrients - this vegan dish is great on its own or served with a small portion of lean cooked hormone free meat.

Epic Sugar Cookies - Dessert!
Yes - you can have dessert and still live healthy!

Choices...SICKcare or WELLcare?

9/16/2015

PILLS. PILLS. PILLS. Our healthcare system is really about SICKcare. Rx are bandaids to cover the root of the cause of the symptom. No pill is without a side effect, which creates yet more symptoms.
TRUE HEALTHCARE REFORM can only take place when we educate and take to heart the importance of TRUE FOOD. God food vs. Man Food. A berry, instead of a pill, for example. It is only with this conscience act of eating that we can avoid, diminish or even reverse issues such as Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and even cancer.
Misconceptions abound,,,for example, a person with a heard condition is likely told to avoid fat. FAT. There is no distinction as to what type of fat to avoid...so the patient assumes ALL FAT. Contrary, the heart needs GOOD FAT to function properly. Avoid the fats found in processed foods, salad dressings, Canola (sorry - it is NOT heart healthy), margerine (one of the most toxic "foods" on the planet!), etc. Instead, eat REAL BUTTER made from milk from grass fed cows, coconut oil - know for its heart healthy benefits, flaxseed oil (fresh - avoid anything that has been on the shelf long term or doesn't have a system to reduce air exposure - we use Barleans brand). If your body does not have an intolerance or sensitivity to dairy - a bit of cheese from grass fed cow or goat is fine in limited amounts.
Remember that dairy is an acidic food, so moderation is key. One wants to strive for the 80/20 rule to maintain disease preventing oxygen ratios to the cells. One's food choices should ideally be 80% plant based, and 20% animal based. To learn more about blood pH and its importance please visit my friends at Truth About Cancer and this very helpful article. We use pH test strips by Hydrion to monitor each member of our family. Our daughter is fascinated by the subject and is always asking questions about the pH of the foods we eat and what she sees other kids eat in their school lunch.

Your cells need to be firing at 100% and to do so they need the proper fuel.

May you feel great, look great and live great!
Rita S.

Black Women's Wellness Day - Celebrating Health!

9/8/2015

Soon, on September 18, I will be celebrating wellness and the journey to being well with an amazing group of women at Black Women's Wellness Day. I love this event - everyone is focused on wanting to make changes towards better health.

I dropped of this gift basket at the Urban League for BWWD event this past Friday. Loaded with Essentials nutrition products from my favorite wellness company. Attendees will have the chance to win this prize basket and a month of consultations and meal support from yours truly.

The gift basket includes a copy of a wonderful book - African American Healthy.
BTW - there are some amazing skin pampering products in the gift basket as well - free of petrochemicals, parabens and all those nasty endocrine disruptors. I hope to see many of you at Black Women's Wellness Day - Madison, WI on September 19 at the Alliant Energy Center.

Be well,
Rita

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Rita Shimniok, CMSA

Health advocate, educator and wellness consultant...I am a forever student of integrative and holistic approaches to wellness.
This blog is dedicated to everyone who is on a wellness journey. Each journey is unique, yet we may share commonalities. You and I may follow some of the same alternative and holistic brilliant minds who practice outside the box of traditional medicine. We may be eliminating the same food groups from our diets. Perhaps you have successfully turned your health around, as have I done, or you are eager to learn more of how you may do so.
With each and every day I believe there is a lesson to be learned. Life is an experience. We all make mistakes, I know I do! But the only true mistake is one in which we don't learn from our errors, or we cease to seek out knowledge from those who have become wise on the journey.
Much of the information on this website, and this blog, are the result of my own wellness journey, and my husband's journey with a terminal cancer diagnosis and an undiagnosed advanced Lyme disease - which ultimately contributed to his earthly body failing him. Yet his Spirit was intact and whole, and he rejoiced the day he went home to his Creator God.

It is my hope that you embrace LIFE, and live intentionally from experience!