The Problem with Only Answering to Yourself.

On my bike ride to the Royal Oak Market this morning I was thinking about my journey over the last 3 years. I remember the frustration of starting a new diet every Monday only to fail by Wednesday and beating myself up until the following Monday when I started another fad diet. I could never make it through the weekend without cheating. I blamed myself and my lack of discipline. I know now that hormones, stress and not taking care of myself properly were all a part of the failure. My lifestyle was not ideal and did not allow enough time for self-care and figuring out how to feed myself in all areas of my life: spiritually, career, relationships, joy, creativity.

I want to share one of my favorite motivational quotes with you. This is the first motivation that I share with clients:

“You must promise yourself you will finish what you start, no matter what. That vow, although it might be easy to break, is by far one of the most important ones to honor. You see, the very essence of confidence is self-trust. Would you trust anyone who repeatedly lied to you? Someone who broke the rules of the game, again and again? Of course, you wouldn’t. So, if you’ve developed a pattern of not honoring self-promises, this is a great time to make a change. If you can’t honor, trust and depend on your own word, well that may be the root of a lot of the challenges in your life.” Bill Phillips author of “Body For Life” (one of the first diets I went on!)

You may think that your health is hopeless or too far gone or you do not have the willpower or stamina to make sustainable changes. That is selling your self short. Every one, when they are able to get unstuck and remove the obstacles to health, can heal and find their sweet spot of optimal health. How?

1. Choosing good habits over bad ones
2. Choosing whole foods over processed ones
3. Choosing sleep over television
4. Choosing exercise/movement over sedentary activities
5. Choosing water over wine (sometimes)
6. Choosing cooking versus eating out
7. Choosing self love over self loathing
8. Making yourself a priority instead of filling your life with busy
9. Experimenting with new foods
10. Knowing what stresses you and minimizing it at all costs
11. Taking responsibility for where you are
12. Setting short term small goals that lead to your big health goal
13. Have a partner to share your journey so you are not just answering to yourself

If we are only answering to ourselves, we can cheat ourselves and be dishonest to ourselves and no one will know. This leads to another new diet on Monday. I am done with that. I hope you are too!

Denise Lovat

Certified Health Coach

You can reach me at deniselovathealthcoach@gmail.com

Water, Fluoride, Plastic, Thyroid

Hello Health Enthusiasts:

One of the first things I did as I learned more about health was to stop drinking tap water and do my best unless I am dying of thirst not to buy bottled water in plastic.

For those with any thyroid issues (and it is an epidemic!), it is the fluoride and the fake estrogen that we should most adamantly avoid.

Here is why:

1. Fluoride - knocks iodine off the cells--so it cannot accept the thyroid hormones that you are taking in your medications. 
2. "Fluoride’s ability to damage the brain is one of the most active areas of fluoride research today. Over 300 studies have found that fluoride is a neuro-toxin" (a chemical that can damage the brain).
3. Plastic water bottles have fake estrogen in the plastic which reduces lithium in our bodies which is needed for stable moods and is required for getting B12 into our cells. This reduction of lithium causes brain shrinkage (I don't know about you but I cannot afford any smaller of a brain!) 
4. Here is a list of heavy flouride water brands:https://www.davidwolfe.com/bottled-water-fluoride-brands-avoid/. Have you been drinking them?
5. Plastic also increases TBG or thyroid binding globulin--which binds up T4 which means there is none available for cells to convert to T3 which in turn lowers T4 and T3. YIKES!!

Where else does fluoride hide:

1. Statin drugs contain fluoride 
2. Many antibiotics like Cipro have fluoride
3. Many antidepressants like Prozac have tons of fluoride
4. Here is a link to a list of drugs that have fluoride: http://www.slweb.org/ftrcfluorinatedpharm.html. You have to click on the drug category and it will list the drugs. Prozac for sure, many PPI's ( drugs for Heart Burn or GERD)  have it.

So this is one thing you can do for yourself is to STOP drinking TAP and BOTTLED WATER.

I use Walmart Reverse Osmosis water for .37 per gallon. I use a 5 gallon non BPA container and add ConcenTrace Trace Mineral Drops because we need the minerals and Reverse Osmosis water takes all the bad stuff out but takes out the minerals as well. This is not the best option, but it is the easiest and most cost effective for me at this time. Here is a link to the drops: http://www.vitacost.com/trace-minerals-research-trace-mineral-drops-concentrace-8-fl-oz-4. Health food stores may have these minerals cheaper.

I highly recommend the Berkey water filter system. It is most recommended by the circles I travel in and it uses tap water which is very convenient. Here is a link to check out hte Berkey systems available :https://www.berkeywaterfilter.com/product/big-berkey/.

If you do this one thing it could have a huge impact on your overall health!

Voila - Guilt-Free Pizza (riced cauliflower pizza crust)

I decided that I would write about how to make riced cauliflower pizza crust because it is so delicious and so healthy and so easy. Sometimes I just have to share. (the first photo is the crust cooked, the second is raw)

You a gunna need (oh that is an Italian accent)

• about 4 cups of riced cauliflower
• 2 pasture-raised eggs (or whatever you use)
• 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast ( you can get this at any health food store-it looks likes flakes of cheese and is a good cheese replacement in this recipe)
• 1 teaspoon of dried herb of your choice - (I like dill)
• Himalayan salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until combined. Do not worry too much about exact portions, you cannot ruin this recipe.

Place on parchment that has been treated with fat of your choice...melted coconut oil or avocado oil (I don't like to heat olive oil). 

Place mixture on parchment and spread evenly forming a rectangle. Bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes depending on your oven. The edges should be a little brown and crispy looking. It may stick a bit to the parchment, but use a spatula as it cools to lift it off before you bake again with the toppings. 

While crust is cooking get your ingredients ready. Since we are not putting cheese in the crust, why would we put cheese on the top. Cheese -- not allowed!

I like to use organic fire roasted tomatoes cooked with basil and oregano and a wide variety of vegetables for my Paleo Pizza.

P.S. Many stores have already prepared riced cauliflower, so do not rice a head of cauliflower yourself...it is a waste of your precious time. Costco and Trader Joe's have bags of this precious item at reasonable prices. If you buy it frozen, just thaw it before you use it and let excess water drain out.