40 Pieces of Advice Challenge - Day 10

If you're reading this blog, chances are good that you're interested in living a healthy lifestyle. Chances are also good that you, like most people these days, understand that fresh, natural food is more beneficial than food-like substances created in factories with dyes, preservatives, fillers and chemicals not found in any food that comes from nature. There are countless scientific studies showing the effects of nutrition on health and longevity, as well as personal experiences of people who have transformed their bodies and lives through proper nutrition and exercise. It seems that every month, the covers of magazines are filled with the same enticing phrases - "lose weight, feel great", "exercise and look ten years younger", and so on, ad infinitum.

So, we know all this, but still many people get caught up in the convenience-food trap. With busy work schedules, weekends filled with catching up on chores and errands, and all the other things that seem to take hold of people's lives these days, it's easy to pick up "dinner" from a fast food joint, or pop a pre-made frozen meal in the microwave. But, the consequences of regularly filling our bodies with foods that provide very little in the way of nutrition and real energy are all around us: obesity, heart disease, cancer and exhaustion, just to name a few, have become mainstays of modern life.

As usual, the "easy" way out is anything but easy.

But there's good news, and I'm here to say that it is definitely possible to live in this busy world and still eat close to nature. Start by adding a green salad to one meal each day. You can buy bags of pre-washed and pre-cut organic greens at just about any store these days. Open up a bag, toss in a handful of raw sunflower seeds and organic grape tomatoes, squeeze some lemon juice and a bit of extra virgin olive oil, cut up half an avocado, add a dash of salt and pepper and you've got a nutritious and refreshing prelude to your lunch or dinner. You can even have a salad for your afternoon snack, instead of a sugary, fatty dessert.

It really is that simple.

In the morning, instead of pumping your system with coffee and a donut to get yourself going, how about a shot of freshly made green juice? Toss a cucumber, some kale and an orange into a juicer and, voila! you have a glassful of energy that won't have you crashing by mid-morning. Don't have time to make juice? No problem, a quarter cup of E3Live will give you over 65 vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential acids, courtesy of Mother Nature.

Are you still craving that chocolate bar? 

Don't beat yourself up over it. Just have a nice juicy orange first, or an apple, a ripe mango, a slice of the tropical goodness of pineapple, some sweet strawberries bursting with flavor. Then wait about 30 minutes. You will probably have forgotten all about that chocolate by then. But, if you still feel like you just have to have it, go ahead, cut off a small piece and eat just that much. 

And be sure that you taste every bite of it - no mindless eating in front of the TV or computer.

By adding in desirable foods, you'll have less room for the manufactured stuff. And, believe it or not, the less you eat of the processed junk, the less you'll crave it. It's just as easy to get "hooked" on good food - it's simply a matter of letting your body and palate experience the flavors and energizing effects of the varieties of food that nature offers.

This is a process of replacing the bad with the good, and it doesn't happen overnight, as much as we might want it to.

Yes, there is a bit of planning involved. For example, when you are doing your grocery shopping, don't fill your cart with packaged foods that will tempt you when they're sitting in your cupboards at home. Buy fresh foods that need to be refrigerated. If you're meeting friends for lunch, opt out of the greasy diners and go to a salad bar.

The important thing to remember is this - you make a choice every time you put something in your mouth. And every time you make that choice, you have the opportunity to do what you know is right. If you fall, pick yourself right up and make a better choice the next time. It really is no more complicated than that.

What choices will you make today?

New Feature!

I'm passionate about living a healthy lifestyle and I love sharing my passion through my work of running E3Live, in my daily life and right here, on my blog.  One of the nicest things to come out of writing this blog for almost two years now is hearing from you, my readers. I get lots of emails from you, sharing your joys and concerns, and asking for my opinion on nutrition related questions. I love sharing any information I've been able to gather and things I've learned along the way through my almost two decades of experience in the field of nutritional supplements.

Today, I'm starting a new feature of my blog, ...ask Tamera, where I'll be sharing questions from my readers, along with my answers. 

As always, please make sure to check with your health care provider on any health issues or concerns that you have. What I am offering here is my opinion and should not be taken as medical advice.

So, without further ado...

Hi Tamera, 


I heard you say that you gave E3Live to your baby from a very early age. My 11 month old daughter got a bad respiratory infection (bronchiolitis) at three and a half months and she has wheezed every day since. She is exclusively breastfed but has had some wheatgrass and E3Live. Although, these days she doesn't seem to like the taste of either. How much E3Live do you think I should give her? I use the original formula but do you think I should use BrainOn? How did you give it to your baby?


Thanks for the great work that you do. 


A worried Mom in Charleston, SC

Dear Worried Mom,


I gave my kids about 1/2 teaspoon per day once they were 6 months old, and continued that through age 1, when I went to 1-2 teaspoons.

They did go through times they didn't like the algae, and they still do.   I am not a mom who develops picky eaters. I say I'm not here to please your tongue, I'm here to feed your body properly so you don't get diseases or get sick. There were times they didn't like it and would spit it out, so I would give it to them in smaller amounts.  Dribble it into her with a tincture dropper, or if you do any bottle feeding of mother's milk, you can add the algae to that.  My kids ALWAYS drank green milk in a bottle. :-)  I mixed it right into their mother's milk.

I would not give BrainON to the baby.  That is specific to the brain and she will benefit just fine from E3Live.  

I would look at what you are eating and see what she is allergic to.  It could be gluten, corn, sugar, eggs, garlic, etc.  I know that my kids were sensitive, especially my daughter.  


You might also give her some colloidal silver sprayed in her face and nose so she breaths a bit in. That is what I did and still do. Also put some into a vaporizer near where she sleeps.  This is only my suggestion, but it works for my children and myself. 

Good luck, it is not fun to have a baby with problems.  It's scary and frustrating.  Keep me posted.

Blessings to you and your family,

Tamera

40 Pieces of Advice Challenge - Day 9

What are you doing right now?

Reading this blog post, either on a computer screen, a tablet or a smart phone, right? Are you sitting on a couch, in a chair? Are you at home or in a coffee shop? What do you have on your body? Chances are, you're wearing clothes, maybe jewelry. Did you shower this morning? Drive your kids to school in your car? Take the bus to work?

Are you thinking about a great film you saw recently? An article you want to share with your friends?

Do you have plans to take a trip? Maybe fly to Paris to check out the Eiffel Tower, or even walk to your local community park?

Will you call a family member just to say hi, to catch up on the latest events of your lives? Are you listening to your favorite singer right in your very own home? Are you eating toast made from a gluten-free recipe that you read about in a book?

Just stop what you are doing for a moment. 

And think.

Every thing you use in your life - from the clothes you wear, to the music you listen to, to the appliances that free up so much of your time to dedicate to doing not what you must to survive, but what you desire to really live - almost every thing around you - 

was once just a dream in someone's mind.

What will you dream about today?

World's Best Flourless Pancakes

I think that one of the hardest parts of adopting a healthier way of eating is cutting out favorite foods that have very little nutritional value. Take pancakes, for example. A staple of the standard American breakfast, they are high in simple carbohydrates and empty calories. Also, the traditional pancake recipe that calls for lots of flour and milk just doesn't work for people who don't eat gluten or dairy. 

So, I'm happy to say that I have a great recipe that is flourless, sugarless and high in protein and it tastes fantastic! These pancakes are so good that even people with no dietary restrictions should try them - most likely, you'll never go back to the old, doughy ones. And, as a special bonus, they contain only a handful of easily obtained ingredients.

Power-Up Cubes

When I was growing up, I had a friend who was really into video games. I think he was the best Pac-Man player in our town. I, myself, didn't really see the point in getting all worked up about controlling the movements of blinking lights on a screen, but, to each his own, right? I did pick up a few nuggets of information about video games just from being around him. One of them was the concept of "power-ups", which were objects in the game that gave instant power or heightened abilities to the character that obtained them. Years later, I still remember this, which just goes to show how deep-seated and influential our early life experiences can be. 

40 Pieces of Advice Challenge - Day 8

I'm a sky gazer. It is both comfortingly familiar and yet always changing, my lifelong friend.

When I was a child, one of my favorite things to do was to play the cloud game with my mother. I'm sure you've done it yourself. You look up try to find familiar shapes in the cloud formations, the more intricate, the better. While searching the sky for a pirate ship or a cupcake topped high with frosting, my mom and I would talk about all kinds of things, important and trivial. Somehow, looking up and letting our imaginations wander helped us find words to express things to each other that may have otherwise gone unsaid in the hustle and bustle of our busy days. Even now, though my mother is gone, I still find myself looking up and smiling at the shapes I find. The vastness of the sky and the movement of the clouds reminds me that there is plenty of time to just be, to talk to people, to enjoy being alive.

As I write this now, I'm outside, listening to music composed by J.S. Bach, and watching the gauzy clouds float in the dark blue sky of night. And, I'm imagining that, some three hundred years ago, Mr. Bach looked up at the same sky, maybe taking a break from composing, or walking home after a long night of church organ playing. Could he have foreseen that a stranger, hundreds of years in the future, would take such pleasure from his compositions? Then I wonder who might be sitting in this very spot, hundreds of years from now, letting their minds wander as they lift their eyes up. This reminds me that we are all connected to one another, across time and distance, and we are all a part of this earth that is our home.

I remember a particularly breathtaking sunset a few years ago in Southern California. The billowing clouds, glowing in vivid colors of red, orange, purple and pink formed what looked like a grand staircase leading up to the heavens, with the rays of the sun spilling over their tops. I almost expected to see the pearly gates just beyond the blinding light. I sometimes think that God creates masterpieces of art every day, with the sky as his canvas, just for the sake of bringing beauty to the world. This reminds me that I am not alone, and that there are forces that are bigger than me.

Our powerful telescopes and the satellites that are now exploring space have brought us more knowledge about what lies "out there" than we, as a species, have ever before known. The tiny, glittering lights in the night sky which look to me like specks of glitter on a velvet blanket are actually giant bodies of gas and matter and are further away than I can comprehend. This reminds me that things are not always as they seem.

Have you looked at the sky today?

Live-Long Sauerkraut

I'm a big fan of fermented foods. I've written before about the benefits of the good bacteria that fermented foods add to our diet. Check out my kim-chee recipe for the details!

I love to make homemade sauerkraut, and with this easy recipe, you, too, can have your own homemade sauerkraut in just a few days. I call it my Live-Long Sauerkraut because, well, it's one of the deceptively humble superfoods that people have been eating for centuries to strengthen their immunity against disease.

This recipe uses powdered probiotics to get the fermentation started and to add an extra dose of probiotics to the sauerkraut. If you are unfamiliar with powdered probiotics, please take a look at my E3Live Probiotics page for information about what they are and how they are used. This is my own proprietary blend and I proudly recommend adding it to your daily diet.

Make a batch of this delicious sauerkraut and have some every day as a side dish, a salad topping, a snack - use your imagination! And, now, without further ado...