A Beautiful Sunset

Check out the below post for a fantastic picture of the sun setting over the Sierra Neveda mountains.  This picture was taken by my daughter and posted on her website.  I am so proud of here for taking the time and interest to do this.  I hope it helps her build confidence in herself and find something she can enjoy for her whole life.

Check out the post at http://www.naturegirlphotography.net/nature/sunset-in-the-mountains and leave a comment.  It will really help her to know that people appreciate what she is doing.

Thanks and have a fun and healthy week!

How to Have a Healthy Weekend

It is Sunday and I am getting ready to end the weekend by going to bed.  Before I do, I want to write a quick post about how to have a healthy weekend.  I can't say that this was exactly my weekend, but I did some elements of it and know the other ones are where I need to improve.  Either way, the weekend is very important to living a healthy life and especially losing some weight because you can wipe out an entire week of being healthy by being unhealthy on the weekends.

There are several elements to having a healthy weekend.  The first is to make sure you drink lots of water.  Try to have more water than soda or coffee - your body will thank you.  Second, make sure you take your normal vitamins and supplements.  Just because it is the weekend, it doesn't mean you should ignore what you do to be healthy Monday through Friday.  Personally, I like acai berry for men supplements.  Lastly, try to get some physical exercise.  If you are going to be out shopping, park further away from the buildings so you do some more walking.  If you are at the mall, make a couple extra circuits.  If you are outside, do some hiking.  Just try to be active so you can burn off some of those extra calories.

These simple tips can help you keep improving your health on the weekend instead of taking a step backwards.

Thanks for reading and have a healthy week!

My Favorite Health Smoothie

Just wanted to leave a quick post with a recipe for a fruit smoothie that I drink a lot of.  Before I give you the ingredients, I want to talk about how you can make smoothies.  One option is a traditional blender.  This is great if you are making smoothies for more than one person because you can make it big.  The downside is it is big if you only want to make a single serving.  A twist on the blender is a smoothie maker that has a spout on the front.  I have used these and think they are more trouble than they are worth because the spout tends to clog up and it is one more thing that you have to clean.  The last method which I have used and use most often today is a mini blender.  I like the bullet.  Basically it allows you to make single servings and clean up quickly.

Ok, now lets talk about the smoothie.

Start with frozen fruit.  I like strawberries, peaches, and raspberries, but almost anything will work.  Put some of this frozen fruit in the blending unit.  Add liquid to cover up the fruit.  I like white grape juice because it isn't too sweet or strong tasting so the taste of the fruit comes through.  You can use water, but it waters down the taste.  If you want a boost, you can add something like acai berry powder or protein powder to make the smoothie healthier.

Whatever you choose, go make a smoothie and feel good about having something tastey!

New Favorite Restaurant

Before I tell you what my new favorite restaurant is, I need to let you know it is not healthy in any way shape or for.  In fact, it is probably so far on the other end that it is one of the most unhealthy places you could eat, but man was it good.  They are known for their cheese cakes (one of the most unhealthy dishes you can get).  Before I reveal my new favorite place to stuff my face, here is what we had at the table.

My son tired the Kobe Burger.  I don't know exactly what it is, but I know it is some sort of special beef.  I think they massage the cows (seriously, I'm not making this up).  We all had a bite and it was amazing.  My wife got the fish and chips.  We heard they had the best fish and chips and they were definitely good.  I had bbq salmon.  That was almost healthy, but it came with fried onions and I know there is lots of sugar in the bbq sauce.  My daughter had mini burgers and it was good too (not as good as the Kobe Burger though).  Everybody also had fries.  Throw in the deserts and I am sure we were all pushing 2000 calories but it was definitely good.

OK, enough suspense.  My new favorite place to pig out is . . . The Cheesecake Factory.  If you have never been there, check it out.  When you are done, make sure you plan a long cardio workout because you will need to burn some of those excess calories!

Financial Health from the California Mountains

I live in California now and I have to say it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  I can go out on the back deck and excercise on the elliptical looking out into the mountains.  I can see birds circling overhead.  Deer, bobcats, and other wildlife are lible to stop by and watch.  There are so many wonderful aspects to where I am it is hard to think why everybody doesn't want to live this way.

One of the reasons California is unpopular is the tax system and cost of certain necessities.  It can be rediculously expensive at times.  Gas prices are higher than almost anywhere I have ever been.  On top of that, if you want to pay with a debit or credit card, you have to pay extra.  Unfortunately, it doesn't end there.  My electricity bill is so expensive.  The concept of cheap electricity doesn't exist in California.  There is a teired system so the more you use, the more you pay.  I have a 3 bedroom house and don't do anything crazy and I hit the highest teir every month which costs over 30 cents a kilowat hour.  Compare that to many areas in the midwest that are payin 6 cents or so and you can see how fast the cost of electricity can destroy your budget.  The costs don't stop there.  I just paid for new license plates and I don't even want to start talking about that again.

Fortunately, there are so many good things about California, I can live with the bad.  I just wish it didn't cost so much to live here.  Well, at least I have my health!

Thanks for reading and have a healthy day!

Exercising Hurts So Good

Wow, I just had a heck of a leg and butt workout.  I know it doesn't sound like much, but I live in the mountains and just walking down from our house on top of the hill and back up is one heck of a workout.  I love it.

The good news is that I have reached the point where I can appreciate the discomfort from a good workout knowing it is really good for me.  Take that to heart and appreciate the discomfort that a good workout produces.  It is kinda like taking your medicine.  It tastes so bad, but you know it is good for you and your body will thank you for it later.

Go out and put some pain back in your life.

Good luck and have a healthy day!

Why All Natural Diet Pills are Best

When you want to lose excess body fat, finding the appropriate diet supplement can be an important part of your journey.  There will be many choices along the way, but the safest thing to do is stick with a natural health supplement and avoid potentially dangerous, lab created diet supplements.

Ok, let's start with why you should stay away from man-made diet pills.  There are numerous examples of popular diet pills, many over-the-counter, that turn out to have terrible side effects years later.  Just pay attention the lawyer ads encouraging people who took a certain diet pill to cal and see if they are entitled to a big settlement.  That is proof enough for me that I should stay away from that type of pill.

Let's spend a few minutes talking about the benefits of a natural diet supplement.  Fortunately, there are many all natural diet supplements that are just as effective as the potentially dangerous man-made pills.  On top of that, they are usually cheaper.  Now, a good all natural diet pill can't compete with a $3 bargain bottle, but I think we all know those aren't any good.  To buy a high quality, natural supplement, you should expect to pay anywhere from about $30 up to $50 or so.  A high end bottle of lab created diet pills can cost several hundred dollars.  The way I learned math, that means natural supplements can be much cheaper.

When you look at the price and the potential side effects of lab created diet pills, it seem silly to choose those over a natural weight loss supplement created by God.  You have to make the choice for yourself, but I am going tot choose the natural supplement every time.

Thank you for visiting us and I hope this has been beneficial.