Bio-Individuality

Bio-individuality is pretty simple. It says that each person is biologically different with different needs for the body.

Knowing that you are an individual can alleviate the stress felt to always be able to react to suggestions that seem to work for others concerning health and wellness.

What works for one person may not work for you. Of course you need macronutrients and micronutrients for the body to function properly. You also have to exercise, get sunshine, drink water and rest. Leave some of these out and you won't experience good health. But the particular types of foods you eat might be very diferent from what others eat.

Some foods can put weight right on your hips while other food take it off. That's why some people can be vegetarians or vegan and feel great while others can't feel any energy without consuming large amounts of red meat.

So you first need to stop and become aware of the type of eater your are. What digests well in your body? What type of foods and food combinations make sense to you, make you feel energetic, make you feel relaxed after eating? It's possible to never take time to figure this out. Sit down right now and ask yourself what foods always "agree" with you? Which foods make you feel gassy, bloated, lethargic? You might be surprised at the responses.

Seasoned Woman Weight Loss

I have no choice - the weight needs to come off. Not just to look better, but to live. I just can't get my cholesterol levels down any other way. Plus, there's the problem of low Vitamin D and osteopenia to deal with now. Add that to High Blood Pressure and it's time to get serious.

Losing weight over 40 has always sounded like a mystery. But it doesn't have to be. Anyone can lose excess fat from their bodies. The secret is learning about your body. Each person is an individual and no one "diet" works for everyone. That's the problem with trying to follow a strict diet.

While the food levels might have worked for the writer of the diet (maybe), that doesn't mean it's going to work for you or your family member. The necessary thing to do is find what works for your body.

I did try to use a diet suggested by Curves Complete. For the first two weeks I tried to follow the diet suggestions. These weren’t too bad actually but meant adding in a lot of foods that I normally don't eat. There were some pretty good vegetarian ideas which I really appreciated. However, lots contained cheeses, which I needed to start eliminating from my diet due to the cholesterol issue.

I dutifully took my menu planner to the store and stocked up on the suggested food items. I even went so far as to purchase some frozen dinners, something I couldn't believe I would ever do. But the idea of needing to increase the amount of times that I ate during the day made me leery about being able to prepare and have the foods on hand that I needed.

Here are the main ideas that I incorporated that started to work for me although not all at once:

1. Increase natural metabolism by feeding the body instead of starving the body.

2. Monitor water intake to assure being hydrated.

3. Keep a food journal to measure how much food is eaten each day. This keeps you on track to put enough calories in each day to alleviate the starvation idea and keeps you on track to eat healthy, whole foods.

4. Increase exercise times.

5. Get sleep

These simple mandates were supported wtih diet suggestions. That's where bio-individuality really came into play as I'll explain in the next post.

Is There Hope for Cancer Problems?

Cancer is a disease that has no respect for persons. That means it strikes anyone. I know, as I've recently experience this in my immediate family with great sadness. Baby Boomers are totally concerned with the ravages of this disease.

The question continues to be, can cancer be cured?

More than that, the concern could be, can cancer be prevented? Here are a few articles that give some new information and thoughts on this question. Note the relevance of nutrition and healthy eating and healthy foods as wel as an active lifestyle as preventative measures.

Click the titles to go to the articles:

Proof that Cancer is a Man-Made Disease

The Coming Cancer Explosion

Fast Gluten Free Banana Bread

I decided to try some gluten free recipes to see how that affected my stomach. Wheat flour is the usual culprit for creating that bloated, gassy feeling that comes after eating bread products.

I also wanted to find something to do with bananas that get ripe before I get to them. Since drinking smoothies is slowing down during the cold winter mornings, I'm not getting to my bananas as quickly. To keep from throwing those bananas out, try freezing them as they start to get over ripe. Then pull out this banana bread recipe. The only thing I want to try differently is the sugar source. Right now it calls for raw sugar; but I want to try it with Stevia or applesauce to cut down on the sugar.

I adapted this from Bethany Frankel's receipe from The Skinnygirl Dish cookbook.

My adjustments included adding the coconut flakes, nuts, less raw sugar and more butter! I left out the semisweet chocolate chips.


Gluten-Free Banana Bread

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare 1 loaf pan: Cut some bakers paper an line the bottom of a loaf pan. Spray lightly with cooking oil or use a bit of coconut oil on a paper towel and oil the bottom and sides of the pan.

Dry Ingredients
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 cup oat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 crumbled nuts (walnuts/pecans)

Wet Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoon butter (regular, not margarine)
2 overripe bananas (makes about 2 cups)
1 egg
1-2 teaspoons real vanilla extract


*Mix dry ingredients
*Mix wet ingredients (I melt the butter in microwave or get it to room temperature).
*Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix well.

Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and cover loosely with foil

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, then bake another 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out almost clean. The bread is very moist. I ususally just check that the top is done.

Cool completely, then slick and serve.

This bread is great with herb tea.

If this is your first gluten free bread, see how it settles in your stomach compared to a bread made with wheat flour. Leave a comment to let me know how you like this. If you try another source of sweeterner be sure to add that too.

Beginning Green Smoothies

The idea of a "green smoothie" may not sound appealing at first. But it won't be long before you're addicted to these vitamin/mineral power-packed drinks.

Juicing fruits and vegetables gets the pure essense of the vitamins and minerals from the fruits and vegetables into your system. That is a reason why the smoothie should be consumed within 30 minutes. It's great to start the day as breakfast. You can take it with you in your travel cup in the car.

Here's an easy start:

Banana
Favorite two fruits (cut up to easily blend)
Spinach ( handful, washed and put in blender)

I put the whole peeled banana in the blender. Peel and roughly chop fruit as necessary. You can put strawbeerys, blueberries, etc in whole. Add some filtered water. I also add crushed ice. Blend and drink. How easy is that.

Be sure to use your freshest fruits and veggies. I'm also starting to experiement wtih frozen veggies as these are also next to fresh because they are usually flash frozen fresh.

To start, get one of those large bags of spinach. Get bananas which are full of potassium. I don't like bananas too much by themselves but they add the smooth quality to the smoothie that makes it like a milkshake. Get used to these combinations, finding out your desired fruit to veggie ratio. Then experiment using an additional vegetable. Next, try new fruits and veggies!

Let me know how it goes!