Positive Results of September 11?

My 15 year old daughter was given an assignment from her business teacher on Friday to find positive impacts and results of the September 11 terrorism attacks. The other half of the task was the negative impacts and that was incredibly easy to pull together.

The state of fear and mistrust of our neighbours! The lost lives, the lost jobs, the lost businesses, the huge impact on tourism and airlines!  The 3 trillion dollars spent on the war that resulted, the soldiers lost in the war, The impact on families losing fathers, mothers, children, aunts, uncles, grandparents. The impact on friends losing each other. The Post traumatic stress disorder results for first responders, the cancer results for first responders who inhaled massive amounts of poison chemicals while trying to find bodies that had disintegrated in the colllapse of the WTC. The heavy tole of being a survivor of this tragedy.

This list could go on and on!!

How on earth do you find positives in that mess?

The obvious ones were highlighted over the weekend in interviews with survivors. There was a huge sense of unity in families, cities, states, provinces, countries, continents and across the world with our allies. All political , religious, racism issues were put aside for at least a week as everyone felt relief at being alive, and empathizing with the families of those victims.

Sadly we all know that did not last, families started fighting again, politicians started arguing about war, religion was blamed for the attack and the world started looking at muslims differently.  It was devastating finding out that these radicals had immersed themselves into communities. They were soccer coaches, they were business people. You would never have suspected them in your day to day life. So when my family went out for dinner I couldn’t help but look at a dinner table of muslims and feel fear. I was so ashamed of myself as I had never considered myself racist. Thankfully that did not last either. As I came to my senses I remembered friends I had that were muslims and I realized correctly that this was only a small group of extreme radicals and i could not live my life in fear.

My daughter found a benefit of companies that make war weapons and supplies. Clearly the financial impact of this tragedy was a winfall for them.

Also Security guards, systems, disaster recovery companies would have benefited from the fear instilled in the general population.

Airport scanners, security testing, passport agencies all benefitted from the extra need to secure people in their travels from country to country.

Rudy Guiliani certainly became a hero. George Bush was also given a short term increase in popularity. How often can we say that for a politician!

Did anyone else hear that 20,000 people escaped the WTC on 9/11. First responders made that happen. But all we hear is that over 3000 people died.  The fact that 20,000 people escaped is to be celebrated while we mourn the loss of 3000. I wish that had been more reported on! First responders felt so deflated after not being able to rescue more than a handful of people in the rubble of the WTC. If they had been reminded of the 20,000 that they saved on 9/11 maybe fewer of them would be dealing with depression and having to quit their jobs due to the memories and pain.

Rebuilding the area of the WTC also has incredible results. While there were so many businesses lost and the financial sector was the key tenant in the area, the report today is that there are DOUBLE the number of businesses in the area and they are diverse and varied to represent all types of businesses today.

Can we ever forget that day for its negative impacts? Probably not, but it was a worthwhile exercise to look for the positive!

I hope you can find something in this list to make you think about this a bit differently. Can we celebrate the 20,000 survivors on a day of there own too?

 

Thanks

 

Michelle

We are being killed by sodium!

I am in shock! Truly shocked. My 14 year old daughter has been tracking the foods we eat in http://caloriecount.about.com/ and she is noticing the outrageous numbers in the sodium counts of any processed or prepared meals we purchase.

We all naturally and correctly think that going to the drive thru at mcdonalds is a bad choice for our health. Do you think the same thing when you are eating the garden salad at East Side Mario’s? Of course not, its a Salad with a oil and vinegar type dressing. Of course its healthy. What about a family restaurant chain like Kelseys in Canada?

Well here is your reality lets compare 3 meals

Mcdonalds drive thru:

Big Mac, medium fries and bottle of water – 900 calories, 46 grams of fat, 1290 grams of sodium

East Side Marios:

Garden salad, Kids cheese pizza  water – 830 calories, 62 grams of fat, 2120 grams of sodium.

Kelseys

2 pieces balsamic chicken, Yukon Gold Mashed potatoes ,green and yellow beans – 790 calories, 35 grams of fat and 2015 grams of sodium.

Kelseys wins for Calories but look at that sodium number. you are supposed to have between 1000 – 1500 grams of sodium per day. If you have liver damage it should be at the lower end. Once your liver is damaged it cannot handle sodium correctly anymore. This is also very dangerous for your blood pressure, kidney and heart health!

If you have too much salt in your diet, that excess sodium won’t cause liver damage, according to the National Library of Medicine. But if you have liver damage due to another reason–perhaps a virus such as hepatitis or damage due to excessive alcohol consumption–your doctor may ask you to limit your sodium intake in an effort to reduce stress on your liver.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/278961-sodium-and-liver-damage/#ixzz1NqaxGkIV

You need to be drinking tons of water if you are going over that number, and for your livers sake add some lemon or lime to help detox it.

East Side Marios wins the worst meal award in all areas! Calories ok we can excuse the 830 calories but if you are getting 62 grams of fat and 2120 grams of sodium there is no way you can consider this a healthy meal

Then Mcdonalds our villain! 900 Calories at the highest in our group. 46 grams of fat and yes more of these fat grams will be unhealthy fats! but only 1020 grams of sodium so they get the Sodium award!!

Read the labels low fat products! You will be very sad to see that they have added more salt and or more sugar to make up for that! I have a friend with fatty liver that was proud that she was using 98% fat free Campbells soup as her base for soup recipes during week and its great on calories at only 70 for 1/2 cup, and fat at 2.5 grams, but watch out for the sodium at 790 grams for 1/2 cup.!!

It goes on and on and on. You start reading the labels and you will see why you need to stick to the outside aisles in your grocery store, the fruits,veggies, the lean proteins, even the dairy can be dangerous….but read your labels pay attention to the sugars, calories, fats, fibre and salt and you will find your health will improve!

Be gentle to your liver!

Michelle

Megan taking control and leading us to healthier lifestyle!

I am so very proud of my 14 year old daughter Megan. In the last week she has lost 6 lbs. She has set herself a goal of losing 20 lbs to get herself a product at Bath and Bodyworks as a reward for her hardwork. She is checking the scale everyday which is not the best idea but other than that I could not be more impressed by this.

She is entering every food into an internet program which breaks down all the nutrients and grades foods as A – D’s. She takes every container we use and she painstakingly adds them to the database. She is averaging A days and making sure I do as well. She is noticing how much salt and sugar manufacturers are using with the labels screaming lowfat! She is not letting us buy yogurts with too much sugar, We are checking every label for Salt , fats, sugars and fibre to make sure we eat balanced.

We are spending 90% of our time in the fruit and veggie aisle and we are back to cutting up all the fruit and veggies on Sunday to make the rest of the week easy.

We found a quickprep oatmeal that is for weight control by quakers that was surprisingly a Grade A product and not too high in sugar or salts.

We found that basic Cheerios are also a better choice than the multigrain Cheerios which has a lot more sugar.

She is running everyday not for long periods of time but she enters the time she runs into the program and it gets her a few more calories to spend on foods.

She is setting a NON FOOD related reward for her mini goals! This is perfect and the right way to do it!

We made guacamole last night for her to dip her new favorite veggie Celery into.. Celery being less than zero calories!

We have a meal plan for the week and she is excited about this change!

This came out of Megan totally and completely. I was working us toward healthier eating, but she has taken the bull by the horns! She is getting me excited with her enthusiasm and I will be getting healthier alongside her.

Megan will not be a teen that turns to silly diet plans, she is learning the right things to look for, she is insisting we target grade A meals everyday.

Her liver will thank her, her body will thank her, her self esteem will thank her. and so will I.

Thank you Megan I love you.

A February New Years Resolution

This year my daughter and I both really want to focus on getting healthy and leaner. We could have started this as a January resolution like the rest of the world, but we chose to forgo that tradition.

My daughter was experiencing her very first exams and also provincial testing at school in January. This was extremely stressful for her and food does provide comfort for her in stressful moments. YES we know that eating food to resolve stress in turn creates its own stress and guilt as we try to squeeze into clothes that are too tight and think ahead to summer and bathing suits!

You can’t discount the pressure of wanting to be able to wear fashionable clothes and look great on a teenage girl! For her this is the key motivation. She wants to feel pretty and she has every right to feel that special after 2 years of nasty illness stole her social life.

For me the motivations are all health related. I am very comfie with my curves and do feel pretty! However, climbing the stairs to work everyday makes my chest tighten, a night of dancing makes my body ache. I want to fully enjoy life and all it has to offer.

I do not want to feel too big to go into a regular bathroom stall, sit in an airplane seat, go on a rollercoaster, or hundreds of other examples. I don’t want to be that person that is walking down the aisle on the bus or plane that makes people cringe and pray I don’t sit beside them and take some of their personal space in the process.

I am at a good spot in my life to make these changes. I love my new job, my kids are healthy and successful, I have a new sweetheart , and I have lots of people that will love me and cheer me on.

WII Fit will be our choice of exercise for now and it will monitor our progress. Making a list, checking out recipes and then grocery shopping tonight to arm us with lots of healthy snacks and make them fun.

February will be our starting point, just as others are giving up on their resolutions we will be charging up ours!

Wish us luck and deterimination!

The Yeast Connection

So much is going on in my life, since the last time I wrote to you.

I am writing a book about Fatty Liver Disease based on the stories in my facebook group.  I am researching the start of A charitable foundation for Fatty Liver Disease as well . The goal of that foundation will be to educate the public about the risks they are taking with their liver everyday in a world full of chemicals in our foods and in the air we breath.  Research will be the second goal and that means I want to see more definitions of what can cause Fatty Liver disease so that people do not feel shamed and doctors can stop rolling their eyes at obese patients and treating them like second class citizens.  The last goal and one I am most passionate about is to get the name changed in the medical community. What an awful name Fatty liver disease is. It makes patients feel ashamed , it makes doctors treat you like you ASKED for this disease. It makes the public picture a morbidly obese person and also think that THEY ASKED for it!! I have enough proof to show that its genetic in some cases, Chemicals and even minerals can be overloaded in the body and trigger the liver to start acting up, A nasty virus, attack on other organs in the body can cause the liver to overwork and start this cycle.  I believe that a Hepatitis immunization shot that my daughter had to take before she went to Italy in 2008 is very likely the trigger for her liver to start acting up! So lots for me to do to make this successful but I will!

What about me huh…what happened to all my health goals and focus on weight loss to be healthier. It was important for me to put that on a shelf while I was on the roller coaster of life after losing my job. Now I have direction and I also know that there is a possibility that one day I could donate up to 72% of my healthy liver to my daughter if she ever needs it.  This lets me refocus on getting healthy and losing weight. I want to be the picture of perfect health if that day ever comes. I do not want to be the overweight candidate who is rejected due to the condition of my own body!

So the next step in my personal plan will be to go on an anti fungus diet to clear my body of toxins. All the stresses that the last 6 weeks have brought into me are happy little toxins floating in my body preparing to take over and make me SICK….sorry toxins the party is over. I will have my 42nd birthday on May 13 and the following Monday I will be starting the Yeast Connection diet.

Our bodies are full of yeast , it loves the warmth of our inner body, it came in when we took anti biotics, when we use birth control pills, when we have major viruses or infections, when we eat meat that came from an animal that was fed antibiotics, when we treated acne or maybe when we treated athletes foot with a topical cream….  It will show up with headaches, depression, skin problems..we will wonder why we are always exhausted…very general symptoms that we never connect to a fungus living in our body.

I have a lot to learn about the yeast connection still but essentially my diet will become focused on complex carbohydrates. Most grains will be gone, most meats will be gone. It will make my daughters liver detox diet look like fun! however, until the fungus is out of my body I will not lose weight effectively and I will continue to have skin problems. So yes I will be re focused and I will be back on track.

Life is creating the path I should follow…now its just time to go for it! See you on the path  It will be an interesting journey!

Hugs

Michelle

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http://www.gethealthywithmichelle.wordpress.com

michelle_clermont@rogers.com

Dancing My Butt Off!!

Dancing has always been an escape for me, somewhere I can let lose and forget about all the stress that surrounds my world and give myself to the music.  I also sing along to the radio regardless if I know the lyrics but thats another topic!

Dancing this weekend became a different experience when I went out to a 40′s singles event where they were offering 2 hours of latin dance lessons. I had no idea what to expect other than embarrassment! We started with the Merengue and that seemed to go smoothly I was focused and paid too much attention to counting the steps and not enough attention to letting the music guide me for the first time in my life lol!! Then we were introduced to some basic salsa steps and by that time the sweat pouring off me told me this was one heck of a workout!! I tripped over my feet more times than I can count and laughed a lot, a great experience with my friends Lisa and Aly and I now know I want to take lessons and make this part of my exercise routine regularly!

I went to see Brandon last night, I knew it was the day of reckoning and time to get weighed and measured. It has been a month since I did this and as I reflected over the month, I went in not expecting anything. The month included me losing my job, a focus on strengthening exercises, and crafts! Not on food, not on aerobic exercise. We have all been taught that in order to lose weight we need to decrease our food intake and increase our aerobic exercise. I had moved to a diet that was protein heavy and was 80% healthy perfect eating and 20% eating just for fun! So I had burgers, fries and swiss chalet chicken. I even had a chocolate milkshake from an old drive in restaurant!

So Brandon hasn’t emailed my specific results but I can tell you I did not lose any weight this month. I even gained a pound. As Brandon put it , this is not a problem and is expected with the stress and changes in my eating this month.

There was a huge success in another area that totally blew me away and Brandon was just as surprised as I was!! He looked up at me and asked if I had noticed my pants getting looser! In fact I had I am now wearing a pair of jeans I haven’t worn in 5 years and that was another success that had me dancing around the apartment , heck event that time my daughter didn’t gasp at my dancing with embarrassment and said I had every right to dance and celebrate that!!

So now I add another celebration I lost 9 INCHES in my HIPS!! that is HUGE!!! other areas of my body increased by an inch, dropped by an inch or 2 but nothing compares to the hip ratio!

This is the area where I have the most to lose, and it is falling off clearly lol! So I do not care what the scale reports this month at all!! I LOST 9 INCHES and I am getting stronger every week with my core exercises. Once my muscles are working on full throttle the number on that scale will start to drop again and it will drop fast , so hold on for the ride its a bumpy one and I will continue to dance my butt right to my high school reunion in March!!!

I will post the specific numbers Saturday and will have new pictures taken to show the progress! Make it a great week everyone I know I will!

Keep track of my progress at http://www.gethealthywithmichelle.wordpress.com and find me on twitter as micha009 and facebook michelle clermont. If you add me there please send me a quick message telling me you are following me from blog!

Thanks!

Progress on other levels!

I continue to move forward with my exercise, and my nutrition, went to my family doctor for a physical and she is absolutely thrilled with my blood pressure, and all my blood results except for one little number that will be resolved with my new lifestyle soon.

My coaching is also looking at the self defeating habits and teaching me to view things differently. I am in a processing mindset right now ,some of it hurts and makes me cry, but all of it is correct and its time i lived the life I am entitled to without all the baggage of my past.

Now for what is really on my mind!! My daughter Megan is the key to my getting healthy, she has been a sick child and I have to model for her the right eating and exercise for her to start getting healthy too.  She is currently dealing with extreme dizziness, stomach issues, and general pain throughout her body. I knew after the traditional medical system was unable to find answers for her and prescribed anti depressants and physio that she had been written off.

So I have moved into the Alternative medicine world for her, she saw an osteopath on Tuesday this week. He spent an hour with her and found that her uterus is twisted like a corkscrew , which is likely the cause of a lot of her pain. her liver is covered with fat and is not functioning at a good level which in turn will not properly detoxify her body and is  causing more of the pain. Her brain does have some overlapping that has blocked her pituitary gland as well. Some of this may be related to the dizziness but there are no promises it will resolve that. We can look forward to relieving some of her pain, and a side effect could be an improvement in her ability to walk.

This gives us HOPE again. We had hope when we went to Sick kids and it was destroyed. I have faith in my team now and megan feels validated for the first time in 2.5 years of illness!!

I know we have made the right decision for Megan and I am praying that we can finally get her the relief she so desperately needs to be a normal 13 year old girl!

This is a thinking week, a processing week, a learning week….I am growing!

I found a simple test to ensure your vitamins are effective try this:

TESTING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR CURRENT VITAMINS

Few people know that the majority of vitamins and supplements on the market today fail to fully dissolve after consumption. This is largely due to a process known as compression, which compacts the contents so tightly that they cannot breakdown during the digestion process. As a result, most of the nutrition simply passes through the body, without you receiving the full – or any – of the intended benefit.

A simple test can show you the difference between good multivitamins and the other leading brands. Mix one-half a cup of warm water with one-half cup of white vinegar (this liquid will mimic the acidic conditions within your stomach). Drop the brand you’re currently using into the mixture  Wait 30 minutes and then look at the differences.

1. The supplement has not dissolved – in fact, it looks almost like it did when you placed it in the mixture. In this case, you are likely to excrete all of the contents of the supplement, which means you’ll not get any of the promised nutritional benefits.

2. The supplement has only partially dissolved, and is now floating on top of the mixture, possibly stuck to the side of the glass. In this outcome, you are likely to excrete most – if not all – of the contents of the supplement, thereby depriving your body of the promised nutritional benefits. Not only that, but you’re likely to experience an upset stomach.

3. The supplement has mostly dissolved, but the contents have sunk to the bottom of the glass. As in the second case, you are likely to excrete the contents of the supplement, depriving your body of the promised nutritional benefits.

4. The supplement has fully dissolved and is floating on top of the mixture. This is the result you should expect from your supplement, and it means that your body will benefit fully from the included nutrients.

Hope this helps you ensure that your vitamins are helping you….if your vitamin is not effective get in touch with me for one that is!!

Have a great week!

Michelle

So proud of myself!

I am realizing that for the very first time in my life I am sticking to a plan that is totally focused on improving my own life quality.

Doesn’t sound like a big deal , but my life has been full of distinct trauma since I was a very small girl. At the age of 7 I was hiding knives behind a furnace to prevent my parents from killing each other, I was calling the police , hiding with my sister in closets until the fighting was over. Of course we were abused as a side effect of the anger in the house. At the age of 9 my parents divorced and I basically became the caregiver of my little sister and my mother who could never cope with life. My father is an alcoholic and my mother has borderline personality disorder.

I moved out of my mothers home at the age of 17 due to her attempt to kill me with a steak knife. I moved into a lady’s home and became a live in babysitter for her 3 sons. I met my ex husband at the age of 19 and I started taking care of him, had my mother to manage in my life and my sister who is always extremely sick and needy, and unfortunately seems to be headed into her own world that has no connections. I had my first child at 25 and my second child at 27, I was a support professional in my career and also a friend that everyone turns too.

I am the rock for my family I always have been, I am a rock for my friends, they know I am there for them as long as they are making healthy choices and changes in their lives.

Somehow during all this, I never learned how to take care of me. I learned how to survive my life, cope with my pain, heal my friends, love my children and always be there for them.

So now I start with a clean slate, 41 years old and I am learning to walk. I am a beautiful, smart,strong woman who has never learned to walk…I thank Brandon for opening my eyes to the earliest stages of my life that were impacted by trauma and prevented me from developing properly.I used food to soothe my emotions and drown my emotions! Never AGAIN!

The woman I will introduce to the world in November will never be stopped from success ever again! She will be a complete person with all of the layers and enough of a selfish streak to always take care of myself first!

February Pics and updates!

I am super energized after my second appointment at Ultimate Sports Therapy. Met with Brandon and he had reviewed most of my responses to all the questions and he has quickly picked up on the fact that my life has been full of trauma through all stages, I have been responsible for the care of others my entire life and essentially didn’t really develop the way I needed to. I have coped and survived but now its my time to THRIVE!

So not only do I work on the food and the exercise  but I make sure that I am balanced , Brandon knows I am very analytical and I am always thinking and he wants me to relax more and not worry so much.

I am basically going back to kindergarten to start making a habit of daily arts and crafts, today I worked on a watercolour pencil kit and finished a pretty picture of a bird house. The other cool part of that experience is that my almost 17 year old son and my 13 year old daughter are also picking up the crafts and spending time doing that!

I am also going back to kindergarten level fitness, I never ever really learned how to exercise correctly and certainly have never really made the time to make this a priority in my life. So I see Brandon 2 days a week and he is working on getting my muscles working, wall pushups, squats, balancing on one foot,  stepping, tummy tightening, and leg lifts on exercise ball. This will be a slow gradual process i only do with him. the other days on my own 20 minutes of walking and the tummy tightening…gotta wake my muscles up lol!

I am journalling my food this week, no specific changes to my eating, except that i am to pay attention to my mind, energy, cravings, hunger, physical feelings and mood 2 hours before i eat and 2 hours after i eat. The 2 hour windows before and after will be the biggest challenge for me, I will be doing this for the next 2 weeks and then Brandon will look at those results to fine tune my eating to ensure my energy is high all day.

I am completely , totally sold and know this is the exact answer I have always needed in order to take  care of the entire health and emotional picture that is my life and take all of that into account as I create the Michelle I have always been destined to be!

Thanks to Usana, Brandon, CHFI, my friends, my kids and my family for your contiued support in my journey! I can’t wait to introduce you all to the healthy balanced Michelle!

Long Term Goal – 160lbs by November 1 2010

Brandon’s Coaching and official results!

Tuesday night I drove to a sports clinic to meet Brandon and do an initial evaluation of my current condition and flexibility. I had filled in a lot of health paperwork and emotional health paperwork and provided that to him.

I met with Carolyn who did my pictures front, back and both sides. Those will be posted tomorrow. Carloyn then tested my flexibility and twisted me in directions that I did not know I could do lol!

Brandon spent some time discussing my heritage, blood type and what that meant to my core eating requirements. I am a mixture of British, French and Native indian. Blood Type O negative. This means I need primarily protein diet and very few carbs. I will learn more about that in my second session tomorrow.

Brandon then took me into the gym area where he asked me to do a lunge….I laughed and got down on one knee…he asked me to raise myself and i could NOT do that…needed to use my hands! He smiled and said we will be working on that! Then lol I was told to try a push up…i was so embarassed but got down and did a few pushup’s which is another key exercise i will be working on. The last test was a wall squat and that went pretty well. Overall I am more flexible then I expected and I know I have a long way to go!

Then my measurements were taken.

I was surprised by a few things. One I had always been hourglass with my waist being 2 -4 inches smaller than my breast measurement and hip measurements. I have moved to more of a pear shape in the last year.

My official measurements are

Left Arm 14/1/4

right arm 15 1/4

Waist – 50

Chest 50 1/2

left thigh 30 3/4

right thigh 30 1/4

left Calf 17 1/2

right calf 17

Butt 54 3/4

Weight 250lbs

Brandon asked me about my health goals and if I had a number in mind , I really did not but I did mention that I have a 50th highschool reunion (22 years for me) November 2010.

He took that date and did some calculations and my goal weight for that date is 160 lbs….90 lbs lighter than I am today!!

So how do we start from here?

Brandon says “The goal is to go through these phases until November 2010 to reach your goal of 160lbs.

8 weeks of building a foundation to be able to work on

4 to 6 weeks of building muscle and getting stronger

3 to 5 weeks of increased endurance exercises

4 to 6 weeks of building muscle again which will keep the body guessing.

This way of training is called periodization which really helps people’s bodies develop and not adapt to the exercise/routine.

I have also attached a food journal that I would like you to fill out starting tomorrow and submitting it to me every night so I can see how your eating habits are as well as your nutrition.”

I will be seeing him tomorrow to start my foundation work and review my paperwork results and food plan! Tomorrow I will post about this first official step with my holistic coach Brandon of KSS Consulting!