Dreams Start With Visions & Come True With Hard Work

       How many times have you thought about something you really really want to accomplish, but you never really get to it yet you keep telling yourself you will one day…? Life is full of up and downs, chaos, fun times, stressful times, and busy times.Don’t let these things get in your way of creating the life you want for yourself. Make time, put in the effort and hard work and you will be surprised at the results you will get. What goals do you have for yourself? If you don’t have any goals, I would recommend thinking of a few goals to work towards. Having goals can be fun, but can also be very rewarding when you accomplish them :).

     If you want to accomplish something, start out by writing it down. Simply writing it down helps people focus on their goals and even get motivated about working towards achieving their goals. Seeing it in front of you lets you know it can be achieved with the right attitude, work ethic, and support. One fun way to make goal setting fun is to create a vision board.

      A vision board is a poster size board or  (regular size paper) that you write your goals down on and put pictures on the paper that are associated with you goals. Vision boards have helped many people become successful and I think it’s because as humans we are so visual and like to see things to believe them. A vision board can look anyway you’d like. Start out by thinking of a few short-term  REALISTIC goals. Then, write them down and draw or print nice pictures to compliment your goals. When you are satisfied with your vision board, hang it somewhere will you will see it everyday. Bathroom mirror….back of bedroom door….refrigerator…… eye level with where you sit at your desk. Those are just suggestions, but the more you see it, the more you will want to achieve it because it feels exciting just looking at it.

Below is a sample vision board that I created for myself for this week. It is very basic for a vision board. I only drew one picture and spent about 10 minutes making it. I would recommend more pictures. Mine is very basic because I create one for weekly and on for monthly. This is a sample of a weekly vision board for me. The one hanging in my bedroom is for monthly(tons of pictures and very colorful), but I did not post the picture of that one as it is very personal. Please feel free to set the goals that pertain to your life and what you want to achieve. 🙂

Thank you and have a great week! At the end of the week evaluate yourself and see what you did well on and what you can work on. : )

       Next week’s blog will talk about incorporating resistance training/ high intensity cardio and how it shapes the body and leaves you with a lean toned body. By resistance training, I mean training with weights, or using your own body weight such as lunges or squats.

Having a Strong Immune System

Winter is coming and everyone knows what that means……people start to catch colds and immune systems start go down hill. It’s important to incorporate antioxidants and vitamins into your diet so that you can keep your immune system strong. It’s especially important to get some type of anti-oxidants when you are exercising because exercise produces free radicals. Free radicals if not neutralized cause aging, so that’s why it’s important to have an intake of antioxidants in order to counteract the free radicals. If you don’t already take a multi-vitamin, you should consider looking into it and find one that you like. Green, Oolong, and black are great sources of anti-oxidants but they have caffeine so try to drink them earlier in the day so you don’t mess with your natural circadian rhythms so you won’t have trouble falling asleep. My favorite is iced black tea with a little stevia or purevia. Purevia is a natural sweetener and can be found almost anywhere…. Winco, Walmart, Target, or health food stores. Coffee is full of antioxidants too and it is where most Americans get their antioxidants, but I recommend buying only certified organic coffee. Regular coffee has tons of pesticides because it one of the most heavily sprayed crops. Certified organic coffee can be found online cheaper than in stores and it tastes much better too! If I am having an iced coffee in the morning, I add a tablespoon of vanilla coconut milk (unsweetened), dash of cinnamon, and dash of sweetener and then poor over ice.

One of the first vitamins I recommend taking is a buffered vitamin C. I recommend buffered because it is easier on the stomach, not so acidic, and absorbed better. I get my buffered vitamin C at Mothers Market, but any health food store should have it. If you are a fan of lemonade a great way to cut out all the sugar is to make your own. Lemons are high in vitamin C.  Squeeze a little bit of lemon juice in some water and add some sweetner (stevia, purevia, truvia) and stir. Alongside tasting great lemon water cleanses the liver and has vitamin C. Secondly, sugar weakens the immune system tremendously, so try to avoid it as much as possible. Another way to increase immunity is adding coconut oil into your diet. Coconut oil is great to cook with. It strengthens the immune system as it contains antimicrobial lipids, lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid. These have antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties. Coconut oil is a MCT and a very healthy fat that is great for your hair and skin too!

Another great food to incorporate into your diet for immunity is garlic. Garlic is a natural antibiotic and a very powerful one. Garlic also helps to lower cholesterol. A great way to add in garlic is in a healthy low sodium chicken soup. I will post the recipe at the end of this blog. Next in line is ginger. Ginger is great for the immune system because it kills cold viruses, helps to eliminate congestion, it’s antimicrobial ( kills bacteria), and it’s a natural antibiotic. Ginger is great for other things too like digestion and circulation. If you don’t like eating ginger, you can also drink ginger as a tea. Many places have ginger tea and the two of the main reasons people buy it are because it highly anti-inflammatory and helps with digestion.  One more way to fight off colds and sickness is to take zinc or make sure to incorporate it into your diet. Some foods that are high in zinc include beef (especially grass-fed), bison (grass-fed), pumpkin seeds, brazil nuts, and venison.

Below is a great soup because it contains ginger, garlic, and many veggies. This recipe came from my Mommy! Credit to her : )

Healthy Chicken Soup( serves about 3-4)

32 oz Low sodium Chicken Broth

2 tsp olive oil

3 tsp crushed ginger in a jar

1 large onion finely chopped

5-6 garlic cloves ( very finely chopped)

1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/3 cup chopped and drained sun-dried tomatoes in a jar

3 cups spinach cut into small strips

2 cups cooked chicken breast cut into small bite size pieces

Directions

Saute the finely chopped red bell pepper and onion in the olive oil for 3 to 5 min until soft. Stir in

garlic to saute for 1-2 minutes.. Turn off pan.

Put broth, ginger, chicken, and sun-dried tomatoes in a medium stock pot and cook on medium heat from 5 to 8 minutes.

ADD the sautéed garlic, onion, and red bell pepper to broth and cook an additional 5 min.

While broth is cooking roll the spinach and cut into small strips.

Add spinach to broth mixture and gently stir for one minute. Remove from stove and serve immediately. Enjoy!

On my next blog I plan on writing an inspiring blog about goal setting and how to effectively set your self up to succeed.  Now that I have provided some nutritional information and diet is key in fat loss as well as resistance training is, I would like my followers to set goals.

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