Green Cleaning: Tips to Making your House Clean without Chemical Cleansers

"I hate the smell of bleach!" my friend Mel said crinkling her nose up in response to my comment on how to clean blood off the walls (chill out people, this discussion stemmed from watching Dexter). "My son and I both hate it and we don't even keep bleach in the house." It led me to thinking how I use to hold my breath when walking down the aisle with all the cleaning agents at the grocery store. Thinking that just inhaling the air was going to give me some form of cancer. 

For the last 10 years I've been making my own home remedy disinfectants. The concoction I use to clean off the Pilates equipment at my studio is made up of Lavender oil and distilled water; A natural anti-bacterial. Added benefit, the room smells nice and it has aroma therapy qualities. Regular anti-bacterial can break down your own immunities, but that's a blog for a different day. I prefer the natural way, I prefer to Green Clean.

Using more natural or 'Green' cleansers instead of harsh chemical cleansers can be better for your health and home, especially if you have small children or animals. At the very least they can contain synthetic fragrances which can irritate sensitive allergies, worst case, they can produce indoor pollution by off-gassing toxic fumes.

So go down to the dollar store and get yourself some spray bottles. Put away your harsh cleansers and try cleaning your home with some of these healthy alternatives:

Windows & Mirrors: 1 tablespoon of white vinegar with a spray bottle of water. Tip: Use Newspaper instead of paper towels to eliminate streaking.

Carpet Spot Cleaner: Mix 1/2 cup liquid soap with 1 cup water. Shake well. Spray on the spot, and then rinse with vinegar (I put it in my Little Green Clean Machine and use that to rinse. For immediate spills, club soda works well. Pour on the spot and blot with a rag. The carbonation in the soda brings the spill to the surface.

Hardwood floors are easily cleaned with ¼ cup white vinegar and 30 ounces of water. Lightly dampen a rag and use it to mop your floors. Also a steam mop works well at gently lifting dirt without getting your floors wet. 

Natural disinfectants include, as I mentioned above, distilled water and lavender oil. Or instead of bleach, mix 2 cups of water, 3 tablespoons of liquid soap and 20 to 30 drops of tea tree oil.

Silver tarnish can be removed with toothpaste. For bigger jobs try lining your sink or a bucket with aluminum foil, and drop in tarnished silver. Pour in boiling water, a cup of baking soda and a dash of salt. Let this sit for a few minutes. The tarnish will transfer from the silver to the foil.

            Copper pots and pans brighten up by rubbing ketchup on them. 

Bathroom and kitchen tiles can be cleaned with baking soda, sprinkle on dry the scrub with a moist sponge. For tougher stains, sprinkle on some kosher salt as an abrasive. 

For mildew or grease douse with lemon juice or vinegar, let sit then scrub with a stiff brush.

Clean your stainless steel sink, cutting boards, containers, refrigerator, and oven top with baking soda and water. Mix into a paste. This also helps to kill bacteria so it’s great for the kitchen.

After the Workout...

The first 30 minutes after your workout are the most important in making your workout count! Don't rush away to get on with your day. Take the time to ensure your workout wasn't in vain. 
Cardio Cool Down! It's only common sense, but more often than not we speed through it. Even trained instructors have a tendency to sacrifice cool down in order to get 5 more minutes into their workout. Don't do it! Make sure you always take another five minutes for the cool down. Most effective cool downs consist of the same activity only slower and less intense. By simply ending your workout, you risk becoming light-headed and dizzy.

Stretch Stretch Stretch To avoid soreness, stretch after EVERY workout! Research has proven that stretching greatly reduces soreness and increases your flexibility! During my Pilates classes I stretch after each section of muscle worked. Holding the stretch for 20-30 seconds when your muscles are warmed up also helps to increase your flexibility.



Hydrate! When your sweating away your bodily fluids, it's important to hydrate and replenish them. There is a huge controversy over what is best, water vs. sports drinks and every week a new study comes out that discounts the findings of the week before. I will tell you this, water is the staph of life and has been around much longer than sports drinks. However, for athletes and a hardcore workout, the addition of sodium helps you to absorb the water and nutrients and electrolytes are in need of replenishing. Extreme conditions such as heat and excessive sweating definitely calls for more than just water so take into account your activities and your workout and drink what works best for your situation.

EAT Within 30 minutes after your Workout After a hard workout, your muscles are hungry. Eating after a workout, when your metabolism is running high, not only burns through those calories quickly, but the resources from those calories are used more efficiently AND it helps to prevent soreness. Eating before a workout is counter productive. Since your body focuses most of it's resources on digestion, when you workout, your body pulls those resources away from digestion to move oxygen through your blood, the result is your meal just sitting like a huge lump in your stomach. This can cause you to be sluggish and even nauseated.

Remember, working out is your time. Make the most of your time and give yourself the time after the workout that you deserve!
Namiste.

Understanding the Power of Blood Sugar Stabilization

Your blood sugar levels determine how good or bad you feel on any given day. If your blood sugar is stable, you experience bountiful energy, it helps control hunger and prevents mood swings. If your blood sugar level is low, it can cause irritability, fatigue, lethargy, excessive hunger, moodiness, depression and cravings for sweets — factors which can undermine success in any health program. Scientists and Doctors alike are unleashing the power to successful weight loss and maintenance through managing your blood sugar level and for most people, this can easily be achieved through the foods we eat.

Blood Sugar is the form of Glucose within the blood stream. Your blood sugar is stable when it resides between 80mg/dl & 120mg/dl. Why does it need to be stable? Because glucose fuels our Nervous System, it creates the bulk of our Bodies energy source, ATP. Everything you do, every movement, every action is fueled through ATP. Glucose is the bodies main source of fuel.

So if our energy source is created through glucose then how does the body keep your blood sugar stable?

Your body houses a system of glands that produce hormones to regulate your body. When your body is in balance it works for you, very well. When it’s not, you experience any number of symptoms or issues and men, you are not immune. Your pancreas is your blood sugar regulator. It produces 2 main hormones to accomplish this job; Glucagon and Insulin. Glucagon’s purpose is to raise Blood Sugar, Insulin’s purpose is to lower it. There are 3 states of Blood Sugar that your body can be in: Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Sugar), Hyperglycemia (High Blood Sugar) or Stable. 

So it’s simple right? If you feed your body correctly it will always release Glucagon and Insulin and it will stay within the 80-120 range. Your body already knows what to do, everything is as it should be… the key is feeding it correctly. 

What happens if you don’t feed it correctly? 

Low Blood Sugar / High Blood Sugar; The Spike and Crash of a bad day of eating:

Say you wake up in the morning around 6:30am and you don’t really feel hungry. You grab a cup of coffee. Your metabolism gets a jolt, you go on about your day probably consuming 1 or 2 more cups of coffee and realize that sometime around noon you’re starving. You grab your co-worker and head down to Café Topanga and are literally drooling at the smells as you walk to your table. The waiter sets down the garlic rolls and you wolf one down like you’ve been in the woods for 10 days, eying the second roll sitting on the plate, while your co-worker looks at you sideways. Still not satiated, you order the most carbs they can fit in the biggest bowl because it’s sounds sooooooo good on the menu. By the time it arrives, you’ve already consumed the other roll and the mini salad that came with your meal. At this point, if you’re thinking clearly, you’ll have them box it up to go, but since you were so hungry and so looking forward to it, you’re not thinking clearly, you’re once again in a sugar high state of complete bliss, so you manage to consume half the bowl before pushing it away feeling overstuffed and downright cranky with yourself for having eaten so much. 

So what just happened? Well, you were sleeping, your body was fasting, you awoke and needed to refuel to get going but your blood sugar was low (Hypoglycemia) so you didn’t really think about eating anything. Instead you grabbed a cup of coffee and instead your body burned a little muscle to stabilize your blood sugar. This spiked your blood sugar level up so you got an immediate feeling of good, but your body quickly crashed. If you’re anything like me, the best remedy is another cup of coffee, thus spiking again followed by another crash, now you’ve sent your body into starvation mode craving sugar (in the form of carbs, carbs and more carbs), your stomach is making obnoxious noises while it’s gearing up for some serious fat storage. Then you stock up on the bread at the table and everything else in front of you. Now you’ve consumed too many calories, carbs and your insulin is over expressed to stabilize your blood sugar all the while your body is storing all the fat it can, just in case this happens again. 

Stable Blood Sugar - Win for your body and mind:

When you wake in the morning you’re body has been fasting since your last meal. 8 – 12 hours… you do the math. The reality is you don’t even go that long during the day without consuming something. Your body needs fuel and you know this whether you’re hungry or not. So you eat something. I personally never wake up hungry so making eggs and toast sounds like more of a hassle then ‘mmmmmm’ to me, but since I know my body needs fuel, I make myself a smoothie. It’s quick to prepare and I can drink an 8 oz smoothie even if I’m not hungry. This will take me through the next 3.5 hours when I will then make myself breakfast and this is when eggs sound good. I usually opt for egg on a whole wheat English muffin with some low-fat cheese and salsa or a breakfast burrito. Now 3-4 hours later I eat my lunch. Call me old fashioned, but I do like sandwiches for lunch. A half turkey on whole wheat or tuna, or maybe even a chicken wrap. I like to add avocado for my fat and I love the olive oil mayo from Best Foods. It’s half the calories of regular mayo and no Saturated Fat (ugly word). Loves it… in moderation of course. 

What’s the difference? Well, the first example was how I use to eat and the latter is more like my day goes now. I learned to feed my body correctly stabilizing my blood sugar. My body has reached Homeostasis. I’m not perfect though. Sometimes I wake up and I take a wrong turn but I’ve learned that one little thing such as starting off with my smoothie, makes my whole day a lot easier. Once I’m on track, I continue to do the following:

1.  Eat every 3-4 hours

2.  Know my Nutrient Ratios – the right combination of Protein, carbohydrates and fatty acids combined keep me going.

3.  Look at Calories per Meal, not calories per day. Caloric intake is based on body composition. My body needs a lot more calories then you might think. None of this 1200 calorie super-model diet. I eat.
 

Your body is a feed as it goes machine. You burn as you consume. Smaller, more frequent meals, made up of the right Nutrient Ratios will ensure your body is releasing the correct amounts of glucagon and insulin to stabilize your blood sugar achieving Homeostasis and it’s benefits:

1.  Increased energy and heightened mental alertness

2.  Breakdown of body fat

3.  Increased lean muscle mass which leads to a faster metabolism

4.  Reduced sugar cravings

So when your Blood Sugar is stable, Fat is released into the blood stream. From there it is absorbed by the muscle and then burned inside the muscle as energy. 

Did you know that Every Pound of muscle burns 30-50 Calories per day? Now that you have stabilized your Blood Sugar, you have bounds more energy and what better way to burn it then at the gym! This is where I tell you to get proper exercise. So you commit yourself to a personal trainer and get to work. The only problem is now you’re hungry all the time. What you’re eating just isn’t cutting it. The good news? Add a meal. You’re building muscle and just 5 pounds of muscle, (which, by the way, takes up the same amount of space as 15 pounds of fat) is burning up to 250 more calories a day and since your blood sugar has been stable you’ve been burning fat efficiently making you smaller around the middle in spite of the fact that your food intake is getting bigger. 

Aside from the weight loss and the fact that your body is rockin’, you also notice you no longer suffer from Sugar Cravings. You have more energy, you’re more mentally alert, your stress level is much lower and your overall quality of life is improved. 

Can you change your eating habits making them better for the rest of your life? I’m pretty sure you can. If I can do it, anyone can. Get going!

Fitness Myths: Strength Training with Weights will make me Bulky

Many people, especially women, avoid weight training because somewhere along the way they heard that it will make their muscles big. This is simply a matter of misinformation. Strength training is a critical element to create muscle tone and burn fat and should not be left out of your well rounded routine.

Every pound of muscle you have burns ~ 30-50 calories more in a day. The more lean mass you have, the more calories you burn. Without some kind of weight or resistance training, you're likely to reach a plateau quickly and you won't achieve those nicely sculpted muscles. 

Light to moderate weights with between 12-20 repetitions are most effective for toning lean muscle mass. Building large muscles takes a great deal of discipline and a very strict regimen of heavier weights. Body builders work for years to get the muscle mass that they exhibit.

Stick to the moderate weights, enough to challenge your muscles at the higher reps and your muscles will be sleek and toned without any bulk. If you're still not sure, hire a personal trainer to help you decide what workout will help to reach your health goals.

Breathe Deep

There's more to breathing then meets the nose!

Your sitting in Yoga class and you are told to breath deep through your nose, exhale through your mouth. There are a lot of good reasons for this.  Emotionally, deep breathing reduces feelings of stress, aids in achieving a relaxed state, and assists us to put our busy minds to rest by inducing a meditative state, however, one of the most important reasons is purely scientific! According to Dr. Mehmet Oz, it's because of a gas called nitric oxide that's made by your nose and sinus mucous membranes. This gas is produced in small amounts, but when inhaled into the lungs, significantly enhances your lung's capacity to absorb oxygen. Nitric oxide is lethal to bacteria and viruses and is also known to increase oxygen absorption in your lungs from 10-25 percent. This is why it's important to inhale through your nose, especially when you are exercising.

Go ahead, take a deep breath!