Category: Healthy Living
HAPIfork – A High-Tech Fork to Monitor your Eating
Did you mother ever tell you to slow down and chew your food? Well, it turns out she was right, eating too fast leads to poor digestion and poor weight control. The HAPIfork is an electronic fork that will help you slow down your eating. It has a light that alerts you when you are eating too fast. It also measures how long it took to eat your meal, the amount of fork servings taken per minute and the intervals between fork servings. The HAPIfork will come in five colors and is expected to be available later in 2013. Will you be first in line to buy one?
Sleep Like a Baby
Vemma PM
I never had trouble sleeping until last year. I guess that’s when going in twenty different directions at the same time finally caught up with me. My doctor recommended a prescription sleep aid, but after watching drug commercials on TV, I knew I didn’t want to take a drug that had potential side effects….and they all have potential side effects.
When I started to read about sleep problems, I found that more than half of all adults have problems sleeping at least a few nights each week and almost 1/3 have trouble sleeping every night. WOW. I was not alone.
I searched for a sleep aid that was natural and effective. Now, after a year, I have finally found one. The Vemma liquid vitamins that I take came out with a product called Vemma PM. It comes in small bottles, you just drink one each night before bed. Because it is a liquid, it works very quickly.
Vemma PM has a full range of vitamins and antioxidants along with natural sleep aids. The best thing about Vemma PM is that it not only helps you sleep, but also let’s you awake refreshed. I had no groggy feeling in the morning at all. In fact I woke up feeling very good. BYW my husband noticed that immediately! (Not that I am ever cranky in the morning!!)
If you have trouble sleeping at night and are taking Ambien or some other drug, you will want to give Vemma PM a try. It is not sold in stores, but you can order at My Vemma Website. If you want to call or email me with any questions, you will see my contact info on that site on the right side. When you click on the “Order Today” button on the blue Vemma PM picture on the left, you will be taken to the Vemma PM page. Before you complete the order you will be give much more information on Vemma PM including ingredients, etc. And you always have a 30-day money back guarantee.
Pleasant dreams to all.
Move the Cursor with Your Brain
Just had the opportunity to interview Peter Freer, President of Freer Logic. What an amazing project he is involved with! His company has developed an arm (or leg) band that can monitor brain wave activity. It can measure things like focus, anxiety, and relaxation. It can tell an athlete when he or she is “in the zone”. Imagine what that could do for your golf game!
Freer has developed computerized training scenarios which can help a child or adult learn to focus as well as to control anxiety. In these scenarios, you can actually move the cursor on the screen with your brain waves. It sounds completely futuristic, but it is here NOW. Peter is already working with school age children as well as with Olympic sports teams.
This has a wide range of applications. Kids with ADD could use it to train their brains to focus. It could be a great help to air traffic controllers, firefighters, and others who have to perform under stressful conditions. It could even be used by everyday people who just need to relax.
I’ve used a computerized bio-feedback mechanism called WildDivine, which is a great relaxation program. It measures galvanic skin responses to help you relax. Peter’s technology, however, takes it a step further by actually looking at real brain wave activity.
Check out Peter’s video for more information. It’s at www.freerlogic.com/video/2010.
Also, be sure to listen to my podcast interview with Peter Freer. You don’t need an iPod, you can listen right on your computer!
Favorite Tea — Discontinued
Just heard that Pacific Sunrise, my favorite Teavana tea is being discontinued. Pacific Sunrise has a crisp coconut, tart pineapple and slightly sweet floral taste always reminds me of Hawaii. And it is a Rooibos (Red) tea that help with my Rosacea. I am sorry to see it go.
The good news is that I was able to stock up on it at 30% off. The other good news is that this means that Teavana will have new teas in the next month or so.
I Lost 12 Pounds — Here’s How
For years I have been struggling to lose a few pounds. For some reason, diets don’t seem to work for me. In the past, my husband and I would go on a diet together and within a week or two, he would announce that he lost six or seven pounds, while I hadn’t even lost six or seven ounces. The disappoint would lead me right back to the ice cream bowl!
Recently we went on the South Beach diet together. I had tried this diet before with poor results.This time, however, was different. I really researched the diet and found that it is not the low fat or low carbs that make the diet work. It is the adherence to food that is low on the glycemic index. If you can stick to these foods, your blood glucose levels stay constant and you don’t feel as hungry. That was it! If you don’t feel hungry, you don’t eat as much and you lose weight. Not only was it logical, but it worked. In about two months I have lost the 12 pound that I wanted to lose. For me, that is close to miraculous. You have to stay away from sugar and things like white bread, potatoes, doughnuts and pretzels, but that really wasn’t too hard to do. And certainly that makes for better, more nutritious eating, anyway.
Being a tea drinker, I also looked to tea for some diet help. I found that Oolong teas are often called weight loss teas because they help burn fat built up in the body. So I turned to Teavana.com, my favorite online tea emporium. They have a tea blend specially made for dieting. It is called Family Diet Tea Blend and can be found under Tea Blends. It’s based on Oolong tea but also has strawberry, lemon, and blueberry tea that makes it taste great.
Right now, I am feeling great. I know it will last because I have changed my eating habits.
If any of you decide to try my two diet tricks, low glycemic index foods and oolong tea, let me know.
Mother’s Day Perfection
Teavana Belle Luna Gift Set
I don’t think that I have ever had a Mother’s Day where I received such perfect presents. I got candy, a flowering plant for the yard, a soft blanket, a gift certificate for a spa visit, and a Teavana gift set. There was not a digital camera or MP3 player in sight. Since I am constantly surrounded by high-tech gadgets…. it was nice to get a break from technology. In fact, the more immersed I become in technology, the more that I am realizing that you need to take a break from it every now and then.
Certainly as I plant the flowers and visit the spa, I will get a temporary break from the high tech world. And drinking tea and trying the various tea flavors and combinations always allows me to escape from technology for a little while.
The tea present that I got from my oldest daughter this year was perfect for that. She sent me a Belle Luna Teavana Tea Gift Set. The beautiful box was inscribed with this saying: “Inspired by the beauty of the moon suspended gracefully in the sky, this collection helps to soothe the senses with a combination of white teas, believed to enhance beauty & reduce fine lines, and herbal blends known for their relaxing properties.”
Inside were four beautiful Origami paper-wrapped tea tins with Bangkok Lemongrass, Swiss Vervaine Melange, Frutto Bianco Pearls, and Lavender Dreams teas. So far I have tried two of them. The Lemongrass was very refreshing and was perfect as iced tea. The Lavender Dreams was very relaxing and makes a good bed-time tea. While I usually don’t especially like flowery teas, this one was mild and I really liked it.
If you love tea, as I do, you will want to click on the square below to try Teavana. After you do, please come back and give your comments.
Today’s Flavored Teas Are Amazing
There is nothing high tech about tea. In fact, it is one of the oldest drinks in the world. A popular Chinese legend tells that Shen Nong, the 2nd Emperor of China invented tea abound 2737 BC when a few tea leaves were blown into his bowl of hot water.
With tea being that old, it is hard to imagine that we have just recently discovered a way to make it better, but that is what I found with the flavored teas that are available today.I am not sure if they use any high-tech methodology to create the wonderful flavors, but I know that these flavors were certainly not available when I was a kid.
As I have previously written in this blog, red tea has been very beneficial for my Rosacea. I drink it everyday and I find that the flavored tea that is available today gives me wonderful variety. Teavana has become my online one-stop tea shopping center. The quality of the tea is exceptional and the variety of types and flavors is great.
Here are a few of my Teavana favorites. I hope that if there are any tea lovers out there, you will also share your likes and dislikes with me.
Currently, my two favorite teas are:
- Pacific Sunrise – a wonderful blend of red tea, coconut, tart pineapple and the sweet floral taste of the tropics. It makes me feel like I am in Hawaii. I love having it how to start the day, then drink it room temperature or iced all day long. While I don’t particularly like coconut, the coconut in this tea gives it a soothing taste.
- Almond Biscotti – a black tea with almonds and cinnamon. It tastes just like an almond cookie and is great for times when I want a treat, and don’t want to reach for a donut.
If you are a tea drinker, check out Teavana and let me know how you like their tea. Or let me know who your favorite tea merchant is.