Last Chance for a KickStart. It's not too late to avoid the "Death March"!

Last week I was on Capitol Hill for a luncheon with congressmen, staffers, lobbyists and healthcare professionals speaking on the importance of health coaching as part of health care reform. One of the speakers, Pilar Gerasimo gave a grave and shocking statistic:

According to the Center for Disease Control: 

97.3% of Americans are not capable of maintaining 4 basic healthy habits: decent nutrition, adequate exercise, not smoking and healthy body composition.

 This statistic did not include sleep and stress resilience! If you include those who struggle with sleep and stress, the statistic from the Center for Disease Control, is that only 1% of the United States population are healthy, happy and on track to say that way!

Our current social norms are one of dis-ease. 

It takes courage to defy social norms and expectations to achieve a high level of health, vitality and resilience.  

So what's a person to do?  

Join us in our intermittent fasting kickstart!

Statistics also show that group programs are more effective to help people make changes against social norms. Let us show you how decadent and delicious food can be. We've lowered the price point so grab a friend and sign up together for 7 days of delicious supplemental juices, soups, nut mylks and energy shots, plus recipes, webinars, informational emails and online group support.  Friday June 14th will be a kickoff webinar so you can prepare for delivery on June 21st. Webinar will be recorded so you can listen to it at anytime if you are unable to attend live at 5pm EDT. We also ship throughout the United States. 

Join us and become a healthy deviant! Studies show when you surround yourself with healthy friends you will live a longer, healthier life. 

Carpe Diem,

Lisa & Vincent. 

Give the Gift of Health

Give yourself, or a loved one, the gift of health. This time of year, it is so easy to feel stress physically, emotionally and even spiritually. We can sacrifice self-care as we try to fit in more. The most loving gift you can give to your loved ones is the gift of your own self-care. Fill your bucket so it can pour over to others. Well-being is infectious and so is stress. Which will you choose to give energy to? Here’s a few last-minute gifts to consider for yourself or others that I have to offer:

My hope is that you will enjoy the feast of this holiday season and join us in January for an Intermittent Fasting KickStart . You will be nourished with organic soups, juices, turmeric mct shots and nut mylks, delivered right to your home. This will provide you energy to plan, shop and cook (or to eat out), while discovering an eating rhythm that works for you. Intermittent fasting is not about dieting or deprivation. It is about enjoying pleasurable food for 8-10 hours a day (feasting), and then allowing your body to rest and digest and repair itself for the remainder of the 24 hours (fasting). Food and cooking is the ultimate expression of love. Learning to feed yourself nourishing wholesome food is probably the best healthcare and self-love skill you can develop.  

Email me for a Gift Certificate for a Health Assessment with me. Cost is $300 for 1 1/2 hour session plus recommendations.  We can meet online. 

Or give my self health book, Savvy Secrets.

Consider a class or a service at Rise Well-being Center. I'll be teaching a class next Wednesday. 

Here's one of my favorite recipes while cranberries are in season:

Raw Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients: 

2 cups of fresh cranberries

1 apple, cored and quartered

1 orange peeled, seeded, quartered

1 tsp orange zest

1 cup dates, pitted

Directions: In a food processor, process all ingredients until thoroughly mixed but still chunky. 

May your holidays be filled with simple pleasures.

Carpe Diem!

Lisa

About Lisa Jackson, RN, CHC, RYT-500, AFMC

Lisa is an author, functional nutrition, and functional medicine trained health coach, yoga teacher, and retired Registered Nurse with the mission to "Inspire, Educate and Empower" individuals and corporations to achieve optimal health.

Lisa's book, Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think & Thrive is a self-health book offering her Seven Steps to Optimal Health.

When she is not coaching, or speaking, you can find Lisa joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance or playing with her two grandchildren. She is the mother of four adult children and believes, "Optimal health should not be a secret."

Antioxidants and Cardiovascular Health

You may not know this about me. I was diagnosed with hypertension in my 30's and on statin medications to lower my cholesterol. Never mind that I was a single mother with 3 small children. Stress was my mantra. I remember taking a meditation class at Brown's Chapel where they wanted us to sit on the floor, when every bone in my body ached. I had chronic back and neck pain then. I told them it hurt to sit that way and was told to just sit and breathe through it. I thought to myself $%* this! I didn't go back. I didn't think I had any choice back then, but to power through. I took a mindful eating class, but that didn't resonate with me either.

I've since learned ALOT about hypertension and cardiovascular disease.  I know that cholesterol is not the enemy. I know that stress is the silent killer and as in all chronic disease, there are usually multiple factors and triggers. I know that we are all unique and we need to look at root causes to find "the cure" or at least to stop progression and put the disease into remission.

I know that maintenance matters. Here's a picture of the birthday card my girlfriend Peggy gave me:

Maintenance Matters!

Those statins gave me severe muscle pain. I tried them on and off over the years always with the same result. It wasn't until this past decade that I discovered the power of micronutrient testing and functional medicine that I finally pinpointed some of the root causes of my cardiovascular disease.

I know now that if you are on a statin medication you must take CoQ10. You see statins lower this vital nutrient, there are in fact, mitochondrial killers. The mitochondria is the power plant inside each and every cell in your body that generates energy in a process called ATP. CoQ10 is the spark.

It's not just statins that lower CoQ10. Acid blockers like PPIs and antihistamine allergy drugs, antacids, antibiotics, blood thinners, blood pressure and anti arrhythmia drugs, cancer drugs, diabetes medications and psychiatric drugs, all lower this vital nutrient.

CoQ10 is just one of several powerful antioxidants. Antioxidants are powerful in that they counteract oxidative stress from free radicals. Free radicals occur from daily living like exercising and eating. They also occur from toxins in our bodies, fried foods, alcohol and internal and external stressors.

How do we raise antioxidants? We can take supplements or we can eat and drink antioxidant rich food. If you are on medications and/or live life to the max with added stress, I would suggest you do both, supplement and ingest nutrient dense food. Last month I attended a seminar on micronutrient status as it relates to cardiovascular disease sponsored by Spectracell Laboratories. This is my go to lab for many years now and I test myself annually for both micronutrient testing and cardio metabolic testing.

But what is the simplest solution? Eat 8-10 servings of a variety of vegetables particularly green leafy and cruciferous vegetables, small amount of seasonal fruit and healthy fats and proteins. It's hard to eat that many vegetables for most, so I'm a big fan of green juices. This is why I am teaming up with Tasty6 and others to offer the Intermittent Fasting KickStart. If you'd like to join us, then please register before October 25th. You can learn more via this short video.

Carpe Diem,

Lisa

Transformational Tuesday

Fall always feels transformational to me; this Fall especially so. I took the past two weeks to literally go into the woods….by myself. I unwittingly went into my “closed for renovation” mode.

I planned to spend 2 weeks with my daughter and take a Yin Yoga teacher certification in upper Michigan. Family issues prevented me from staying with my daughter, so I made the bold move to ask a friends Father to stay with them. This was a good exercise for me.  I like many, find it easier to give help than to ask for help.

I preceded this with a weekend with a dear friend and fellow nutritionists and was labeled the “one most stressed and challenged”. By the time I drove the 14 hours, and after a brief visit with my son, daughters and grandchildren, I had 4 hours to sleep before class began.

Here’s why I made the journey:

In this beautiful little beach town in upper Michigan lays a remarkable yoga studio. This haven, Yoga4, is owned by a wonderful, creative and talented woman, Christen Landry. Our instructor, Sandra Carden, is a remarkable woman with 50 years of experience, mentoring and mentored with other top teachers around the world.

What was Sandra’s transformational message?

“We are constantly remodeling ourselves, so we might as well be conscious about it.”

Think about everyone you know who sits at a computer all day and has neck and back pain and/or hunched back and shoulders. Think of the athletes who have sculpted muscles but cannot sit on the floor, nor have the flexibility to easily bend over to pick up a fallen object. Our bodies are constantly remodeling from our minute-by-minute choices. It’s up to us whether we are conscious or not in our movements.

Since “sitting is the new smoking,” it is important to get up and move every hour or two. Opposite movements heal.

It’s easy to push ourselves and overdo, especially with a full practice when preparing to leave town. So it was with me. Two and a half to four hours of yoga a day allowed me to unwind. I planned to work the first week but found myself detoxifying with a resultant headache and congestion. The gift of dis-ease is that it forces you to stop. Instead of work, I slept, I meditated, I cried. The fact that it was damp and cold with rain and thunderstorms just added to my mood. In the end, it felt cleansing.

Through yoga, I’ve learned to weather and even honor these low periods. Through acceptance of our imperfections, allows self-discovery and growth that leads to transformation.

Often we fail to recognize how we store our “issues in our tissues”. Yin Yoga is a way to gently unwind and remodel the body from the inside out. It is the opposite of the yang Vinyasa style of yoga. It’s the necessary balance to the type A workaholic or the competitive athlete. It is complementary medicine at it’s best. I plan to teach a combination class in my studio one night a week this fall. Email me if you are interested in joining us, ljackson@carpediemwellness.org 

I also took my own 7-day Intermittent Fasting KickStart program and found it quite natural and an easy plan to do. I also felt great on it. My friend Margo came over yesterday and thought I looked like I had lost weight. I definitely remodeled myself from the inside out.

If you’d like to learn more about our new 7 day Intermittent Fasting Kickstart, join us for a free online webinar this Thursday evening at 5pm. Click HERE to Register for the Webinar  We are partnering with Tasty6 to offer amazing fresh raw juices and more, to support your optimal health. 

Here’s to your personal transformation! Carpe Diem.

Lisa

About Lisa Jackson, RN, CHC, RYT-500, AFMC

Lisa is an author, functional nutrition, and functional medicine trained health coach, yoga teacher, and retired Registered Nurse with the mission to "Inspire, Educate and Empower" individuals and corporations to achieve optimal health.

Lisa's book, Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think & Thrive is a self-health book offering her Seven Steps to Optimal Health.

When she is not coaching, or speaking, you can find Lisa joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance or playing with her two grandchildren. She is the mother of four adult children and believes, "Optimal health should not be a secret."

Is Seltzer Water a Healthy Choice?

Here's a post from one of my colleagues and mentor's Tracy Harrison, Founder of the School of Applied Functional Medicine:

"Here are some facts which might be influential:

• The human body is roughly 2/3 water.
• The human brain is close to 3/4 water.• About 85% of our blood is water.• The average adult human loses from 2.5 to 3 liters of water every day (via urine, sweat/evaporation, stool, breathing)• Water is a perfect conductor of electricity, and both our brain neural activity and cardiovascular activity require a fixed electrical circuit, based on stable concentration of electrolytes.• Targeted levels of water are required in the body to allow toxins to leave our tens of trillions of cells and be excreted in our urine/stool. Otherwise, we suffer from toxic build-up, which leads to cellular dysfunction and eventually chronic disease, especially cancer.

I think that broths and herbal teas are both therapeutic contributors to general hydration during a day because both will contain minerals, and neither will be acidic or function as a diuretic (unlike coffee, tea, alcohol, soda).

On the other hand, all carbonated beverages (including seltzer) include dissolved carbon dioxide, creating carbonic acid, which usually features a pH between 3 and 4 (more acidic than most coffee, actually). Clean, pure spring water would have a pH closer to 7 or 7.5. So indeed, they are not the same, and carbonated water puts a pH-balancing burden on the body (and the average American's diet is already metabolically very acidic). I recommend my clients only consume 1 glass of seltzer at most per day and that it is not a substitute for plain water."

In Addition, my concern is that this is compounded by drinking out of aluminum cans. If you want to preserve your brain and memory, I would not recommend this.  Want to learn more? Check out this Documentary on The Age of Aluminum and tell me what you think. That is, if you can remember...

Serious food for thought.

So what to do? Drink clean filtered water in a glass or stainless steel water bottle. Add berries, cucumber, lemon or lime for delicious flavors and vitamin C. Lemons and limes are alkalizing to the body and therefore give you a triple beneficial effect.

Carpe Diem,

Lisa

About Lisa

Lisa is an author, inspirational speaker and a functional medicine coach with a mission to inspire others to feel and look their best at any age.

Lisa's book Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think and Thrive outlines her seven-step process towards optimal health that is fun and transformational.

Lisa is part of the New Self Health Movement and the Wellness Inspired Network. When she is not coaching, speaking or writing, you can find her practicing yoga and joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance. 

Turning Impossible to "I'm Possible"

Self discipline is consistently doing something (you may not always feel like) to get the results you really want. 

What is the result that you really want? Make a mental picture of this in your head. Then begin to act like you've already achieved it. Feel it in your bones. This is how you create a vision.  A vision is so much more powerful than a goal. Goals, like rules are often broken. A vision is something that you feel and enables you to feel contentment in the moment.

You see, we've got it all backwards. We think that if we just do this one thing, or lose weight, or meet our goals, then we will be happy. Feel contentment first, and then you will unlock the ability to manifest your goals.

When you are happy and relaxed, your body can heal and repair itself. Do this first, then know and discover your own ability to heal from within. 

Think of a time you felt something was impossible. Like riding a bike. Remember what you did to prove otherwise. Maybe you started with training wheels. Next, you had someone hold the back of the seat and run alongside you, giving encouragement while you gained speed. Then suddenly, you realized you were riding the bike all on your own, Woo Hoo!  Remember and feel the exhilaration!

Create the vision and then get the right kind of support to turn what appears as Impossible to "I'm Possible".

An accountability buddy or a coach can help you develop the self-discipline muscle. This is why I am offering a Kick-Start to Wellness Program to provide you with a supportive framework. Join us next Thursday for a free webinar to learn more.

Carpe Diem,

Lisa

About Lisa
Lisa is an author, inspirational speaker and a functional medicine coach with a mission to inspire others to feel and look their best at any age.

Lisa's book Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think and Thrive outlines her seven-step process towards optimal health that is fun and transformational.

Lisa is part of the New Self Health Movement and the Wellness Inspired Network. When she is not coaching, speaking or writing, you can find her practicing yoga and joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance. 

Good Friday Musings

I had a blogpost all ready to go out today but decided to sit down and write this one instead. I woke up at 5:30am with my mind spinning with anxiety over my to do list. It seems like my passion and my ambition far exceeds what I can accomplish in a day. This is anxiety provoking.

It's a holiday weekend, instead of letting my thoughts control me, I'm reminded that it is time to relax and celebrate. I get to wake up with my grandson today and spoil him for the entire weekend, this is worth celebrating! Babies and children are a reminder of what is really important in life. Children are a reminder of the benefits of play.

I also get to finish my vegetable garden. Like every spring, my garden consists of whatever plants are at MOMs organic market when I happen to be there shopping.

I love playing in the soil. Just like in the kitchen, I am a slob. A classic pig pen. I can't help but drag in dirt on my feet, hands and clothes as I run back and forth for the things I've forgotten from the garage, through the kitchen, to the backyard garden.  But it is so fun to walk outside a month or two later and have swiss chard, kale, collards, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, tomatoes, onions and fresh herbs to pick and roast or throw in a blender. I spent less than $100 and it will feed my family all summer long. I feel so proud and abundant every time I run out with my scissors to partake of more.

Gardens (and babies) are an expression of the abundance and promise of rebirth and renewal given to us by God, the Universe, Mother Earth.

This garden helps me feel grounded. It connects me to the earth and the wonder and miracle of life. It's perfectly imperfect. I don't have any training in gardening, I'm so haphazard in my approach. it's really a friggin miracle that anything grows at all!

MOMs (Moms Organic Market where I shop), was out of organic topsoil, so instead of waiting, I just tilled up the old soil and threw on top very ripe compost from this month's juicing, eggshells and coffee grounds, mixed with some leaves, and called that my new topsoil. (Yes, I'm still learning to cultivate patience.) I do try and rotate plants because I've found if I plant my tomatoes in the same place every year, they yield less tomatoes. This is because the plant is taking what it needs from the soil and without crop rotation (or composting) we aren't adding essential nutrients back in. This is how big agriculture is creating nutrient insufficiencies in the SAD, (standard American diet). What I do know for sure, is that our soil needs diversity as does our human body.

This week symbolizes rebirth and renewal. So needed, after a dreary, long, cold winter. I'm taking time to notice the beauty around me this Spring.

My oldest daughter is grieving the loss of her husband. She is now spending time with my son and his girlfriend in California, of which I am so grateful. For some, the holidays are the hardest, they can highlight the unfelt joy in a grieving heart.

Dana is traveling and spending time exploring the question, "How do we heal a broken heart?" "How as a Survivor, do we overcome fear and anxiety?"

We cultivate love and faith. Love is the antithesis of fear. Faith is the tool, the bridge that allows us to surrender to the process. Family can be vital for both.

Just as plants and animals hibernate through the winter; grieving is also a necessary process. Allowing ourselves time to acknowledge, feel, and express the heartache, gives this energy the opportunity to dissipate. Emotions are energy in motion. We can either stuff them down (causing dis-ease), or like the powerful tool of meditation, acknowledge the thoughts and then let them go.

Deep sleep and hibernation are also essential in order to heal and repair. We need sleep that to break down old tissue so that the body can regenerate new tissue. Cancer cells are cells, due to DNA damage have lost this ability to die called apoptosis. Death and renewal are a part of life. We actually get a new body every 7 years, as cells die off and new ones are born. How we nourish our bodies today, determines the health of our new cells tommorow. You live into your future self.

When we nourish our soil (and soul), with essential nutrients and loving thoughts and actions, we flourish.  Compassion and self love are essential tools to feeling grounded. Family rituals give us a sense of community and caring through difficult times. Three times a day we can practice a ritual of nourishing ourselves (or abusing ourselves) Our body will give us guidance, if we choose to listen.

Faith is an essential ingredient missing from many lives today. I didn't have a strong religious upbringing, however planting a garden is an exercise in faith. Planting a seed and giving it time to incubate, establishing a daily ritual of food and water, will yield a garden that far surpasses expectations.

How will you cultivate self love and compassion this Spring? How will you nourish yourself?  Email me today for my favorite Easter recipes that have become part of my new family ritual, as well as my Kick-Start to Wellness Program. This is not about dieting or deprivation. This is about bringing in healthier, self loving choices.

If you are ready for your own renewal, please kick-start me into offering this online program by signing up to join me HERE.  Carpe Diem.

Happy Holiday and Spring Break,

Lisa

About Lisa Jackson, RN, CHC, RYT-500, FDN
Lisa is an author, inspirational speaker and a coach with a mission to inspire others to feel and look their best at any age.

She is the former Executive Director of the Integrative Wellness Program for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.

Lisa's book, Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think and Thrive outlines her seven-step process towards optimal health that is fun and transformational.

Lisa is part of the New Self Health Movement and the Wellness Inspired Network. When she is not coaching, speaking or writing, you can find her practicing yoga and joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance.

Feeling a little GREEN today?

Feeling a little GREEN today? Did you have too much green beer to celebrate St. Patricks Day last night? Or did you have food that doesn't feel good to you causing gas, burping or worse?

Did you find yourself waking up today with a headache? Leg cramps, dehydrated or ravishingly hungry for sugar and empty carbs? Do you need a strong dose of coffee to get you going ? Do you have afternoon fatigue that begs for another dose of strong coffee and sugar?

If so, how do you get off of this roller coaster? 

Here's a few simple solutions:

1. Take an honest personal assessment. Do you find yourself feeling under pressure to drink even when you don't really feel like it? Or do you find it socially unacceptable to say no to food that doesn't serve you well? Think about what might be at the root of this. Could you possible go out and drink soda water and lime instead and still have fun and be sociable? 
2. Drink plenty of water and eat a meal with plenty of healthy fat, protein and vegetables before going out. 
3. Think HALT. Don't allow yourself to get too HUNGRY, ANGRY, LONELY or TIRED. Otherwise the bad gut microbes inside of you will overcome any semblance of willpower. Believe me, yes this is so true! You will reach for that bag of chips, chocolate or favorite vice with a "What the Hell" attitude.

What to do about that incredible headache or the leg cramps? The most common missing mineral in the standard American diet (SAD) is magnesium.  Magnesium Threonate is the only form that will cross the blood brain barrier and is so helpful for headaches and migraines.  

Totally dehydrated and need some electrolytes and d-ribose (that sugar that your cells need for energy that will not negatively affect your blood sugar)?  My favorite energy and sports drink is what many professional athletes get from their nutritionists.  It's called Catalyte by Thorne Research. I also recommended this frequently to patients undergoing chemotherapy or for post surgery nausea or if you've had the flu.  It is indeed a lifesaver! Contact me if you'd like to know how to order it.

Last but not least, consider joining me in a Spring Kick-Start to Wellness program so that you can be surrounded by a supportive group to springboard. yourself to a healthier happier you.

Have a great weekend and may we all be as healthy and happy as my beautiful grandson! 

Miles 14 months old

Events:

$5 FOOD DEMONSTRATION

“The Power of the Brew”

Fermented Vegetables are great sources of the bacteria we need for good gut health, (and a healthy gut will lead to a leaner body). Come learn how to make kimchi with Yonina

When:       Tuesday, March 21,  2017 at 6 pm

                                    Or

                  Saturday, March 25, 2017 at 10 am

Where: Comprehensive Primary Care, 15825 Shady Grove Road, Suite 140, Rockville, MD 20850

Cost: $5 per attendee. Open to all.

Please RSVP to yoninabh@hotmail.com

Carpe Diem!

Lisa

About Lisa Jackson, RN, CHC, RYT-500, FDN

Lisa is an author, inspirational speaker and coach with a mission to inspire others to feel and look their best at any age. 

She is the former Executive Director of the Integrative Wellness Program for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. Lisa's book, Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think and Thrive outlines her seven step process towards optimal health that is fun and transformational. 

Lisa is part of the New Self Health Movement and the Wellness Inspired Network. When she is not coaching, speaking or writing, you can find her practicing yoga and joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance.