You Are The Salt Of My Life ~ The Importance of Salt For Our Well-Being

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Salt has been called many names and used as an equivalent for goods exchange for many centuries. Salt was the cause of many wars centuries ago. Salt has become a praised ingredient in many top chefs’ dishes.

You hear about table salt, sea salt, Kosher salt, Epsom salt, bath salts and pink salts. And I can assure you there are hundreds of different salts in the market today.

Salt has survived through the centuries of amazing transformation and ways people have been using it. Salt is part and parcel of our food preparation, as it spices it in many different ways (and here, we have hundreds of flavored salts of different origins). Plus, table salt is frequently fortified with iodine to avoid various conditions such as hyperthyroidism.

Another popular usage of salt is baths. Here, Epsom salt is the most popular type of the salt family. Epsom salt relieves swelling and pain, relaxes the body, allows all organs and muscles to recuperate and function at their top ability.

The magic of Epsom salt lies in its high content of magnesium that acts as a conductor to carry necessary nutrients to muscles, tissues, and organs, and helps to hydrate the entire body. Did you know that magnesium is one of those rare, and frequently ignored elements, that regulates over 300 different enzymes in our bodies? Without enough levels of magnesium, we may experience sluggish toxin elimination and muscle spasms. Per the latest statistic, the majority of the U.S. population has a 50% lower magnesium levels that just a century ago.

What can you do to get your magnesium levels up?

Eat foods rich in magnesium. The latest quality food I have discovered is Baobab Fruit Powder. This magical whole food has magnesium levels that are highly absorbable by the body. Baobab fruit powder is non-pasteurized for you to enjoy it at its highest quality.

Another way to allow your body to replenish its magnesium levels for normal function is Epsom baths. Just 16-24 ounces of Epsom salt in your bathtub could do wonders to how you feel and function. To enhance the effects of Epsom bath salts, use pure essential oils like lavender (just a couple of drops will suffice) or calendula or geranium. The oil’s aroma will positively enhance your psychological enjoyment of the bath and will serve as a carrier of other minerals to the inner, cellular levels of your body.

Using high quality salt in food preparation and for your bathtub time could really enhance the quality of your life by flushing out toxins and replenishing them with minerals the body is hungry for. Simple, affordable ways of using Epsom salt in baths could really bring your energy up to the level you almost forgotten you used to function at. And support your successful weight maintenance as well.

For more tips and ways to use Epsom Salt go to Epsom Salt Council. They have abundance of information and recipes and the latest happenings in the Epsom Salt world.

To try Epsom Salt in the comfort of your home, click here.

Disclosure: Celebrate Woman received Epsom salt from the Epsom Council to facilitate this review. My opinions are my own and were not influenced by the sponsor. Celebrate Woman Today promotes only healthy and life-enhancing products.

Burst (or Surge) Training ~ Week 4

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Being active, feeling energized and satisfied that I've done my share of physical exertion for a day is important to me. I like to look for more variety of training available in the virtual world. And one of the last discoveries for me personally was a so called "surge training" or "burst training."

Basically, it is a short and very aerobic exercise that can be done in the convenience of my home, if I wish. But I do various elements of surge training at the gym as well.

Here's the Week 4 of surge training offered by Sylvia. I like her style and the simple variety she brings into the routine. Feel free to look into other surge training videos that you find suitable for yourself.

The only trick is – Being Consistent!

If you took a break for whatever reason, pick it up today and proceed with your active exercise routine. Do something every day for your body to be thankful for this ability to move, to feel exertion, and to grasp the benefits of such gift as physical exercise.

Here are the links to the previous weeks of burst or surge training.

10-Minute Workout for Weight Loss and Fat Loss
Burst Training Week 1
Burst Training Week 2

With that said, I am wishing you and your loved ones the best wish of all – Health and Prosperity!

Happy Holidays! Joyful 2012!

Celebrate Today!

Laura

Brain Toniq Will Keep Your Day Longer And More Powerful~ Review & Giveaway (1/12)

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Brain Toniq and Trim Toniq

 My dear friends, I do my best to bring you quality products that could assist you in reaching your health goals – weight loss and weight maintenance included – in this so fast approaching 2012 New Year.

Please take time to learn and research more before you jump and dive into, and undertake drastic changes using new products in achieving your weight loss goals.

One simple rule without any discouragement: You Must make your decision First what you are going to do. The second part of this simple rule – actually doing it – will be coming with much joy and determination when you know you are doing exactly what you set yourself for in the very beginning.

And to help you through the process, today I’ll review one of the quality and safe products to assist you in your weight loss goals.

Today, We’ll Celebrate TrueToniqs!

When I was doing my research this year on the new trends and products this season, I came across an interesting product called Brain Toniq. Obviously, I always wish my brain functioned at the top of its ability. So, I researched and tested this product on my own body.

The results pleasantly surprised me. I tested Brain Toniq first in the morning before my business activities. On the next day, I tried it in the afternoon. On both occasions, I have experienced a pleasantly sustainable flow of focus and energy that I so much need in my daily craziness of schedules and coordination, and quick decision-making.

Let me assure you, that I do not ever test or try on my body anything unless the ingredients list has passed my rigorous consideration.

Brain Toniq has an excellent Nutritional facts.
some of the Ingredients are Blue Gren Algae, Rhodiola Rosea Extract, and Eleutherococcus Extract.

Just to give you an idea what little of the big picture the above ingredients contribute to, glance at these clinically researched facts:

Blue Green Algae (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae)

• Contains Amino Acids and Essential fatty acids (DHA, EPA Omega-3)
• Antioxidants (Betacarotene)
• Polysaccharides that stimulate the migration of immune cells in the body

Rhodiola Rosea Extract

• Exerts an anti-fatige effect that increases mental performance (1,2,3)
• Rich in phytochemicals (which are anti-oxidants to say the least)

Eleutherococcus Extract (or Siberian Ginseng)

• Increased endurance and anti-fatigue (4)
• Memory and learning improvement (5)
• Anti-inflammatory (6)
• Immunogenic (7)

Why Celebrate Woman Loved Brain Toniq:

• All Natural And Non-Harmful Ingredients
• Does what is says it’ll do
• Smooth functioning and no drastic down curves
• Delicious Taste
• Very reasonable price

My experience with Trim Toniq was as pleasant as with Brain Toniq. The major difference between these two drinks is that Trim Toniq curbs our appetite and eliminates cravings. If you think, we need both in order to manage our diet plans for mornings, lunch times, and evenings! If you are launching your new year initiatives in weight loss and maintenance, try both Trim Toniq and Brain Toniq, as both drinks will sure be your Support Group when there’s no one around to give you their shoulder.

Would you like to try Brain and Trim Toniq before you say “yes” to them? Win them! The TrueToniqs Team will provide you a case of a drink of your choice!

Celebrate TrueToniqs Today!

Laura

References:
1. Darbinyan V, Kteyan A, Panossian A, Gabrielian E, Wikman G, Wagner H (Oct 2000). "Rhodiola rosea in stress induced fatigue—a double blind cross-over study of a standardized extract with a repeated low-dose regimen on the mental performance of healthy physicians during night duty". Phytomedicine 7 (5): 365–71.
2. Spasov. A.A., Mandrikov, V.B., Mitonova, I.A., 2000b. The effect of Dhodaxonon psycho-physiologic and physical adaptation of students to the academic load. Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology 63 (1), 76-78.
3. Shevtsov VA, Zholus BI, Shervarly VI, et al. (Mar 2003). "A randomized trial of two different doses of Rhodiola rosea extract versus placebo and control of capacity for mental work". Phytomedicine 10 (2-3): 95–105.
4. Huang L.-Z., Huang B.-K., Ye Q., Qin L.-P. "Bioactivity-guided fractionation for anti-fatigue property of Acanthopanax senticosus" Journal of Ethnopharmacology 2011 133:1 (213-219)
5. Xu Y.J., Han C.J., Xu S.J., Yu X., Jiang G.Z., Nan C.H. "Effects of Acanthopanax senticosus on learning and memory in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease and protection against free radical injury to brain tissue" Neural Regeneration Research 2008 3:2 (192-195)
6. Jung S.M., Schumacher H.R., Kim H., Kim M., Lee S.H., Pessler F. "Reduction of urate crystal-induced inflammation by root extracts from traditional oriental medicinal plants: Elevation of prostaglandin D2levels" Arthritis Research and Therapy 2007 9:4 Article Number R64
7. Chen R., Liu Z., Zhao J., Chen R., Meng F., Zhang M., Ge W. "Antioxidant and immunobiological activity of water-soluble polysaccharide fractions purified from Acanthopanax senticosu" Food Chemistry 2011 127:2 (434-440)

Disclosure: TrueToniqs Team shared their unique products with me to facilitate this review and giveaway. My opinions are my own and were not influenced by the sponsor. Celebrate Woman Today promotes only healthy and life-enhancing products.

Weight Loss Is A Huge Industry ~ Get Smart What You Consume! CLICK Protein Drink Giveaway ~ Plus Free Samples (Jan 4)

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CLICK Giveaway Prize, $25 Value

The season of weight loss has already begun. Of course we are only approaching our favorite Christmas eve, but the 27-billion-dollar machine competing for your dollar spent towards energy and weight loss products has already spread out its wings in ambush advertisement, video and online campaigns, and luring you and me into their net of dedicated customers.

I am so much for the products that actually can and do contribute to our personal goals of weight loss and weight maintenance. The only problem I have with the majority of such products is that they have a lot of chemicals and “proprietary blend” options that do not actually disclose to us what they really do to our bodies. To our endocrine system. To our total hormonal system.

When one person finds it out, it can be already late.

So, this season, knowing exactly what is going to happen in this crazy market of weight loss and weight loss products, I researched some new products that are actually Healthy, Do what they say they’ll do, and Support you towards fulfilling your goals.

Today, Celebrate Woman gives you CLICK.

What is CLICK?

CLICK is a protein drink that helps you to lose your weight by supplying your body with essential feeding components like protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, fats.

The coolest thing is that CLICK can be consumed as either cold or hot drink. And my preference is when it’s HOT!

I used CLICK for several days. This product impressed me. Literally, it kept my blood sugar under control, i.e., I did not feel hungry or had any lows in my energy.

To test this protein drink even further, I tried it first in the morning as meal replacement. My dear friends, it kept me going for many hours without any hunger cramps!

I also tested this drink during the day, when I had my regular breakfast. It worked great as well by giving me a normal feel of my energy that allowed me to work through all my projects without thinking about food or feeling tired.

In a word, I like this CLICK product A Lot! First, it’s made out of very quality, non-harmful ingredients. It’s a must for me. Second, it does what it says it’ll do – supply with energy and all the nutrients to keep us going.

Celebrate Woman Gives a Five to the CLICK Team:

• Clean Ingredients List that past my rigorous test
• Pleasant Vanilla and Mocha flavors
• Enjoyable Hot or Cold
• Provides 23 Essential Vitamins and Minerals + 15 Grams of Protein
• Low in Calories and Fats (120 Calories per huge serving)
• Offers Double Shot of Espresso as the alternative to sugary coffee and energy drinks
• Great Addition to Your Weight Loss program

Would you like to explore the CLICK Protein drink yourself?

You can! Here are the options.

1. 30% Off of One (1) Canister of CLICK – Promo Code CLICKFAN
2. Win it here, on Celebrate Woman Today Rafflecopter Giveaway!
3. Free Samples to the first 25 people (when you click on Rafflecopter’s Facebook Click Fan Page, say Celebrate Woman Sent Me CLICK’N, or something like that!)

Disclosure: CLICK Team shared their unique products with me to facilitate this review and giveaway. My opinions are my own and were not influenced by the sponsor. Celebrate Woman Today promotes only healthy and life-enhancing products.

10 Minute Workout for Weight Loss, Fat Loss, & Muscle Gain Dr. Dan Pompa

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Burst Training Summary: Weeks 1, 2 and Current Week 3

There's no need to remind us that the holiday season is in its full bloom. Schedules, calls, to-be-returned calls... it's never ending.

Have you been active and exercising while living a life of a busy bee?

I definitely did. For the past three weeks, I've been trying and testing new ways to increase my stamina and muscle definition. Sounds scary, but plainly put, I just wanted to firm up my muscles and bring some variety to my weekly exercise routine.

So, for the past two weeks I was really doing that surge or burst training that I researched online.

My report to you: I really like it. A lot.

Here are my votes for it:

• It's quick and intense (works great when you are overwhelmed with your schedule)
• It can be done from home or from the gym (you choose based on where your busy schedule takes you)
• Works great on endurance
• Added firmness to my leg and arm muscles
• Needs to be done every other day
• On the surge training "off" days, I did my weights and light aerobic exercise
• Added more variety and motivation to my routine

In Summary, here are the links to the videos that I followed Week 1 and Week 2 of my new burst training routine:

Week 1 Burst Training Routine + the Video in this Post
Week 2 Burst Training Routine + the Video in this Post
This current Week 3 – I'll rotate Week 1 and Week 2 routines

Here's the video that I incorporated into my burst training for the past two weeks (love it!)


Celebrate Your Exercise Routine Today!

Burst Training for the Holiday Season, Week 2

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Ok, my dear women. Have you tried your Burst training yet? If not, I do highly recommend it to anybody who wishes to feel refreshed and look toned and slim through the holiday season.

Burst training is based on immensely increasing one's metabolic rate after such short intense intervals of physical exhaustion. During the exercise itself, we burn blood sugar. But for the next 48 hours of such exercises, we activate the burning of our cellulite. Isn't what we want?

Burst training to be effective needs only be done every other day. Why? Because Human Growth Hormone kicks in and helps to burn all the fat that we store in the unwanted places. On the "off" days, do your crunches, walks, some physical movement that is pleasant and yet gives you satisfaction that you have exercised on that day.

Please be aware of one more thing: Eat mindfully, feeding your body and soul, not your hungry eyes! Load yourself with green salads, salmon, tofu, fruit and veggies of all kind. Have freshly prepared soups.

And drink fresh spring water!

Here's your Week 2 of Burst Training that I have gone through myself. I tried many videos from YouTube, but this particular really caught my eye by its simplicity, quickness and effectiveness.

We all can do it!

Celebrate Your Persistence Today!

Burst Training Will Keep You Fit & Slim Throughout Holiday Season

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Yep, it's started – This amazing Holiday, Fun season of Trick-or-Treating, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas and New Years!

And you should have fun in all the upcoming activities and celebrations with your friends, family and loved ones.

But hey, you are entitled to feel and look great. Be at your best every single day. What is the catch? No catch. Just a very tiny effort to an amazing Holiday Season Ever!

When I cannot get into the gym, I fill my workout time with a ten-minute intense workout at home. No weights or any special arrangements needed. Turn on my favorite music play lists on the iPhone – and I'm ready to go. Not to get bored, I am doing various things for my workouts like that.

Just recently, I've discovered Burst Workouts routines on YouTube. I researched many options of the burst workouts, and picked a few for my personal needs.

If you are curious and wish to keep in shape while having a blast during this year's Holiday Season, check a burst work out for yourself.

Here's the one I started with and then moved on to other things. Keep in mind, if you do something regularly, your body adjusts. So we need to challenge it for bigger and stronger things.



Celebrate Your First Burst Workout Today!

Plant Based Food Group Supports Lower Obesity Rates Among Children

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Just a quick note to everybody who follows and watched what's going on with the childhood obesity epidemic in this country.

A new research was just published reporting that those kids whose diet was dominated by plant-based foods were on the lowest grid to become obese later in life.

The major points of this study are:

1. Specific plant-based foods play a significant role in preventing childhood and adulthood obesity
2. Consumption of Full fat dairy products may lead to higher rates of obesity in kids, and therefore, in adults later

What to do?

1. Add more vegetables and fruit into your kid's daily diet
2. Consume Low fat dairies as they are still necessary for the child's growth, but with less fat in them

One more thing for you, my dear women, to know about and remember.

Celebrate Your Healthy Chidlren Today!

References:
1. Gray, Nathan. Plant Based Diet May Reduce Childhood Obesity: Study

Express Your Sensual Self: Key to Controlling Your Appetite, Part II

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Preface from Part I: It's not that you designed your life to be so crowded that your needs get lost in the shuffle. As your needs get submerged in the daily grind, you not only lose sight of the day of the week, (is it Thursday?) – you lose contact with your senses.

Gaining weight loss motivation
If your only pleasure in weight loss is seeing the scale move down a little at a time, you are going to suffer motivational set-backs. Especially if you are on one of those diets that make you eat like a rabbit and sacrifice your favorite treats (don't they all?). You are going to feel deprived. Denied. Restricted. Limited. And when you are feeling that way you need to balance it by increasing your pleasure along the way.

Losing significant weight is not as easy as just consuming fewer calories.

Losing a lot of weight, which can take months to do it and still be healthy, is a challenge to your will power to stay the course. No matter what program you are on, your emotional commitment is going to take a strong beating at times. And the ONLY way to get though that is to have already begun a path of rewarding yourself with pleasures each step along the way.

Find pleasure – lose weight
Otherwise, when the going gets tough (and it will at times) the pleasure you will most likely seek in those weak moments is to overeat – to binge on exactly the wrong foods (other than Bugs Bunny, no one gorges on carrots). Plus, you just set yourself back several weeks in your weight loss plan. With that blown, further discouragement sets in, and the cycle WILL repeat.

The preventive measure is to learn, re-learn, permit yourself to find pleasure in living, smelling, touching, tasting, seeing, and being loved again. And to do it now, to make it a habit BEFORE you experience the long haul of trying to lose significant weight.

You need to feed your body's senses, if you are going to be depriving your body of calories.

The emotional process of losing weight, the path to weight loss motivation, to losing a lot of weight, is going to have to go through you being willing to be sensual once again. Joyfully accepting your sensuality.

Your sensuality will lead you to weight loss. A lot of weight loss.

Don't believe me. Try to lose a lot of weight and keep it off without increasing your sensuality. Oh, yes, you've done that already. We all have. All of us. Now it is time to justify you taking the time, and effort, without guilt or apology, to smell the roses, eat great chocolate, to experience once more – to express once more – the perfect kiss.

How do you control your appetite?
Conclusion: Express Your Sensual Self

PS: If you know a woman-entrepreneur who has created healthy product(s), please let me know, so we could spread the word about her and her contribution to this planet.

Disclosure: I only write about products I believe in and/or use personally and the companies who truly advance forward the best traits of the humankind. I am not compensated for my opinions.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
©2011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Express Your Sensual Self: Key to Controlling Your Appetite, Part I

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Your sensuality can lead to weight loss. A lot of weight loss.

Sometimes in the hurry of being a mom, a wife, a person with a job, (ditto for men) you forget that there was a time when you felt sensual. You wanted to feel sensual. Certain people made you feel sensual. You were sensual.

Let me be clear about what I mean when I'm talking about sensual: Of course there is a sexual component to sensuality, but that is not the core of what I am talking about here.

Sensuality is enjoying the pleasure of your senses. All of them. It is the acknowledgment that your body was designed – created – to feel multiple kinds of pleasure. Whether tasting or smelling, whether touching or seeing, whether hearing or combining them all in unique ways (a glass of wine with your favorite music), your senses led you to explore, enjoy and seek new experiences.

The pleasure... of knowing what day it is
So, back to being so busy you don't know what day it is... a lot of that pleasure gets lost when you live that way. It is not that the stimulus for pleasure is lacking. You just don't "stop to smell the roses" any more. Right?

It's not that you designed your life to be so crowded that your needs get lost in the shuffle. And in part, it is not because you didn't see it coming. But the needs of so many others – bosses, friends, husbands, parents, kids – all needing, craving your attention to do something for them, you really do get lost.

As your needs get submerged in the daily grind, you not only lose sight of the day of the week, (is it Thursday? if so I need to get hubby to get the garbage out to the street. Oh, wait, that's tomorrow) you lose contact with your senses.

You eat on the run, you more often smell food to make sure you can serve leftovers to the family than to enjoy the aroma. No, your senses, doing things for the sheer pleasure of them, are on hold while you weave your way through the day.

Facebook and the hoped-for adventure waiting to be lived
Guilty pleasure? Facebook for an hour before you go to bed, while your bedroom partner is watching TV. You need that, that connection. Connection not just to old long-lost friends and distant family members. You need that contact to your old self, your "self" when life was an adventure waiting to be lived.

In sharing with your old friends, if you pay close attention, you are recalling the feelings, the pleasures, even the tastes and smells of those day long gone by. You use the words of pleasure describing old scenes (he smelled of Old Spice, those roses were wonderful, you wished you had grandma's great pie recipe).

Well, you are living that adventure now. What you didn't count on was it doesn't feel like much of an adventure, does it? Challenging. Stressful. Tiring. Satisfying. But, adventure? Nah.

Somewhere along the road to living your dreams you got sidetracked. Something got missed. Not that what you have now is bad. Just that it’s not entirely what you expected. Somehow along the way you dialed down your sensual self. No time for it. No energy for it. No space for it to enliven your day. Certainly no place for your sensual self to bloom and discover wonder in the ordinary, nor experience the extraordinary.

Gaining weight while missing your dreams
Over the years, while you were dialing down your sensuality, you probably were dialing up your weight. If you take some time to fully reflect (of course you may have to wait until late Tuesday evening before you get a break to be able to do so), your weight and your sensuality are connected. Moving in opposite directions. Perhaps you may not have thought about it that way. But, it's true.

Your body is a mirror to your accumulated life experiences, to be sure. But your body is also a projection of your future – what you expect from your next years. If you knew you were going to be running a marathon this time next year, wouldn't you change your body dynamics today?

If you knew you were going to be alone, partnerless, would you begin to focus more on your body now? If you know nothing big is likely to change in your life, what's the moving incentive to change your body today?

That is not to say that you neglect your body. Nor that it isn't important to you now.

Your body reflects your expectations
It's just the realization that your body reflects your future expectations more than you probably realize. And at this point of your life, your body has turned down its expectations of feeling sensual again. But that can be changed.

If you want to lose weight, and keep it off permanently, your sense of sensuality is going to change – has to change.

Why? Because you need to matter to yourself to lose significant weight and keep it off. You need to discover your sensual self, explore and expand it. Your body is more than just something that needs to drop a few pounds. You have to focus on the beauty that you may have ignored for too long. Because sensuality is the route to finding the deep motivation to stay on track to lose significant weight.

To Be Continued Tomorrow...

PS: If you know a woman-entrepreneur who has created healthy product(s), please let me know, so we could spread the word about her and her contribution to this planet.

Disclosure: I only write about products I believe in and/or use personally and the companies who truly advance forward the best traits of the humankind. I am not compensated for my opinions.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
©2011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Making A Choice - To Be Overweight. What?

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Becoming overweight is a choice you get to make every day. A choice you make every time you eat something. Or drink.

Losing weight is also a mindful choice, made one bite at a time.

What choices are you making today?

In the long run, would choosing to be overweight really make your day lighter?


Ideas to Live Life More.


VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com – Satisfy Your Hunger
©2011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

When Losing Weight – Don't Be A Fast Learner

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Sometimes when faced squarely with a problem you want to solve, you jump right into researching it and learn all you can. You're like a sponge. After a few long sessions with Google, you're googled out.

A few days later you remember the key points you think you've gleaned. But like most people, you can only hold so much new information in your brain at a time. It's sort of like a small scratch pad with just a few pages.

Actually, most of what you learned, or could have learned is rapidly forgotten or glossed over.

The key to learning fast is to learn slow. Learn in short bursts of energy. Then wait a few days. Not only will you remember more, and understand more, something magical happens.

When you go to sleep, when you "sleep on it," all that "new" information mixes with all your "old" information. And that's the secret to really learning. When new mixes with old, new connections occur. New ideas spring up. Contradictions between old and new appear. Insights occur.

Then, the next time you jump into learning even more "new" stuff, you have a different point of view to discover and understand the newest "new" things. Your next bout of research will go in different directions.

Most importantly, you comprehend the new information and YOU CAN MAKE BETTER USE OF IT.

And that is the secret to making a new lifestyle change stick.

Do you want to make your new lifestyle stick? Be a slow learner.

In the long run, would learning slower really make your day lighter?

Celebrate Ideas to Live More!

VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com – Satisfy Your Hunger
©2011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Take A Bowling Ball To Work – No Kidding!

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Take a bowling ball to work. For real. Go to a garage sale and pick up a bowling ball with a bag. At work, keep it on your desk. Take it into the stall when you go to the restroom. Haul it into the conference room. Put it in the shopping cart on your way home.

Lay it atop the counter while you're fixing dinner, and set it at your feet when kissing your kids goodnight.

You've worked hard today, soak it off with a nice bubble bath – but don't forget the bowling ball has been everywhere with you, so have it hop into the bubble bath with you.

And, as gently as you can, roll it into place between you and your bed partner.

When you get up in the morning, drop the ball into the toilet. That is where it belongs. Now you are free. Have a nice day without the bowling ball.

Losing 15-16 pounds is like that. You've been hauling around a lot of dead weight and it goes everywhere you go.

Just imagine what it would be like to lose 2 or 3 bowling balls.

In the long run, does taking a bowling ball to work really make your day lighter?

Celebrate Ideas To Live Life More Today.

Giveaways On CelebrateWomanBlog-Healthy Products ONLY  
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com – Satisfy Your Hunger
© 20011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Weight Loss Motivation Tips By Laura Stearn, The Founder of Pantzies

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Laura Stearn

It is my regular feature to ask the business women whom I interview about their ways to healthy lifestyle and their challenges of keeping their weight where it should be. It is so individual, you know it.

Laura Stearn is one of those women who was totally open and receptive to go through this exercise with me, i.e., answering my question about weight loss and weight control, and how she manages it all in her crazily busy schedule.

Eager to know what she said?

CelebrateWoman (CW) Laura, have you ever had any challenges with your body weight and body image? And how do you deal with healthy weight control and maintenance in your business schedule?

Laura Stearn (LS) I found during my life that attending to my personal needs is crucial to be successful in other areas of life.

On TV and in the advertising world, we see skinny models. It makes us feel inadequate at times. Because we do compare our looks with those that are flashing at us from all directions: television, magazines, ads we see in the streets.

I think that at some point of our life, we do wish to look like those skinny women offered to us as an ideal weight bearers. And we diet. And we skip meals.

Having my own business and demanding schedule, it was really hard for me to maintain my regular weight that I was happy with. I caught myself grabbing sugary snacks to have a quick high for energy. It just did not and could not work for a long time.

I made a conscious decision to completely turn around my thinking about eating and about food overall.

Now, it is not hard for me to stay lean and healthy, and maintain my ideal weight.

What did I do?

The first thing I did was to eliminate all refined foods, fast sugars, and fried foods. There were no donuts for my lunch or a quick pick-me-upper.

In about six weeks by just doing the above, I lost 10 pounds. I was thrilled. I literally had more energy to work and fulfill my goals. And work more effectively, I must say.

I started to understand that all that stuff that makes us feel good for a short period of time – like refined foods and sweets – only add to the inner body’s inflammation that is a precursor to many diseases, like heart disease, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and finally obesity.

Just eliminating wrong foods could put our bodies back on track. And make us happy again.

(CW) What is your #1 tip for weight loss motivation for yourself?

(LS) Eating for health, not for weight loss.

Emotions are very much involved with all overeating and eating “comfort” – wrong – foods.

I eat mindfully for my body (health), not for my “head” (indulgence).

I think that may be helpful to women if they inform themselves on what good nutrition really is and how it affects our entire body and mind. There’s so much invaluable information at our finger tips today with the Internet. If you don’t know something – just Google it!

(CW) Any personal word for all my women-readers who go through their weight loss and weight management issues?

(LS) Each person has her own thermostat. Feel what your body tells you. Acknowledge how you feel about your life and what’s happening in it.

Find something you really love doing on the daily basis. Personally, I love walking, doing chi kung.

Love yourself first.

Know yourself.

Wherever you are in life, it’s OK.

Set your goals and don’t give up.
Be grateful.

*****

This is another example of the super busy woman who is at the head of a big business and how she manages her weight situation.

You see, my dear women, it’s all about Making a Decision First, before you undertake any efforts in your personal weight loss. Read my article on the same subject here: Make A Decision To Lose Weight – Then Do It. Not Vice Versa.

Celebrate Your True You Today!

PS: If you have any questions to Laura Stearn, please leave them in the comments below. She will definitely read and answer them.
PPS: If you know a woman-entrepreneur who has created healthy product(s), please let me know, so we could spread the word about her and her contribution to this planet.

Disclosure: I only write about products I believe in and use personally and the companies who truly advance forward the best traits of the humankind. I am not compensated for my opinions.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
©2011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Sugar Where You Think There's Not

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My dear women, another eye opener report, with pictures and comparisons, that vividly shows you which "healthy" products are so loaded with sugar. You might think twice whether to have it for a snack or not.

Here's just a quick call of those food groups that made the top 10 list. I won't say and mention all, because I'd like you to read the report yourself. And see it for yourself.

• Low fat yogurts
• Applesauces
• Some sandwiches
• Some Power Smoothies

Ok, here's the link to the report itself – Foods With Hidden Sugar

Again, it's intended for your information. The more you know, the more powerful woman you become.

Celebrate New Information Today!

PS: If you know a woman-entrepreneur who has created healthy product(s), please let me know, so we could spread the word about her and her contribution to this planet.

Disclosure: I only write about products I believe in and use personally and the companies who truly advance forward the best traits of the humankind. I am not compensated for my opinions.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
©2011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Nike Training Club – App to Keep You Toned

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Courtesy iTunes Apple

And yes, just one more app for your enjoyment and achieving some results in your physical body.

Again, keep in mind, there are a zillion of apps for different workouts and keeping the track of your personal achievements during each work out.

I tried numerous of them: the free ones and the paid ones. Liked only a couple that I use for my jogging routine, one of them is from Nike.

The other day, I came across another app from Nike – Nike Training Club. It is free and offers a multitude of options. From what I've seen so far, I like it. Tomorrow, I am going to try it out in real life. I'll let you know how it went.

At this point, here are some functions that attracted my attention in this app.

It has full body workouts, as well as 15-minute interval workouts
You can choose your training goals for getting lean, toned, strong, and focused
It keeps track of time, progress, and even has rewards for each achieved goal!
You can save your favorite workouts
You can keep yourself accountable by letting your Facebook fans know what your goals are

Try this app – Nike Training Club – and see how it works for you. I really liked the exercises it offers to work different body parts. What do you have to lose here? Nothing but an opportunity to find something that may really work for you. And keep you on track with your life's goals.

Celebrate Your Foot Forward Today!

PS: If you know a woman-entrepreneur who has created healthy product(s), please let me know, so we could spread the word about her and her contribution to this planet.

Disclosure: I only write about products I believe in and use personally and the companies who truly advance forward the best traits of the humankind. I am not compensated for my opinions.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
©2011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Natural Food Finder – Great iPhone App

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Courtesy iPhone Apps

Are you using a lot of apps on your smart phone like I do? I have tried out a lot of apps for various things like my exercise routine, jogging, recipes, books and many more.

 And yes, I've got some very favorite that I keep using frequently. What I found for myself is that I need to go through a few apps before I get something that works for me.

Today, I would like to share a FREE app with all of you there who likes fresh fruit and vegetables grown locally. There's an iPhone app that locates the local health food stores and farmers markets in your area.

Look what you get with this app:

• Locate Natural Food Stores and Farmers Markets
• Filter results and see them on the Map
• Get directions to the picked stores and markets
• Inform your friends about your "secret" finds
• Tweet your favorite locations

I think it's a good app to be used to get familiearized with the natural food environment around you. And when you move, here we are – we can easily find health food stores and farmers markets nearby.

Here's a link for you to download this app into your iPhone: Natural Food Finder by Tribe Hummus

Celebrate Your Favorite Smartphone App Today!

PS: If you know a woman-entrepreneur who has created healthy product(s), please let me know, so we could spread the word about her and her contribution to this planet.

Disclosure: I only write about products I believe in and use personally and the companies who truly advance forward the best traits of the humankind. I am not compensated for my opinions.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
©2011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Make A Decision To Lose Weight – Then Do It, Not Vice Versa

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When you are fat and 40, you know you are good for 40 more years. When you are fat and 50, you're not so sure any more. If you're fat and 60, you're in real trouble. And if you're fat and 70, you know what I mean.

Carrying around excess weight can seem like just an appearance thing. No one wants to look overweight. Isn't that your first reaction to unsightly, ugly bulges on your own body?

But the really ugly truth is excess weight is a symptom of something that has already started to kill you. Because it kills you slowly, you don't see it for what it is. Thus, you don't give it the same urgent priority that you would if you had an aggressive form of cancer.

Excess weight is a pernicious malady. No one needs to tell you that it leads to heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. You may already know it increases your risk to some cancers. You know all that.

Here are some things you may not have considered about excess weight:

– For every pound you are overweight at the time of your last illness, you will cost your estate, or your family, $10,000.

– For every 20 pounds you are overweight, you will shorten your life by a year.

– Overweight is the leading cause of gallstones and kidney stones, especially in women.

– Excess weight is the prime factor in knee replacement surgery.

– Overweight has the same effect on your life expectancy as being a smoker.

But, these are just things you can face down the road. So, perhaps it is not of interest to you now – especially if you are fat and 40.

The real malevolent character of being overweight is in how if affects the quality of your life, not your body.

If you are overweight, if you are significantly overweight – especially if you have been considerably overweight for a long time, perhaps some of these may resonate with you:

• Feeling trapped by your body

• Not being seen

• Being judged by your size, not your personality, or even character

• Trying to hide your body

• Always feeling you have to make excuses for your appearance

• Feeling out of control of your life

• Being obsessed by food

• Hiding food to eat later, unseen by others

• It's better to risk your health to lose weight (with risky weight loss drugs) than to continue risking your sense of self worth by staying overweight

• Fear of food — hating food — loving food

• Feeling addicted to high fat, high sugar foods

• Losing contact with your inner feelings

• Not looking at yourself closely in the mirror

• Making less money than thin people

• Having fewer job prospects than thin people

• Seldom finding clothes you feel comfortable or attractive in

• Not doing things with your kids, spouse, and friends because they are difficult to do at your present size

• Giving up on your dreams — if you can’t control your weight, how could you ever believe you could fulfill your dreams

• Feeling kids and spouse are ashamed to be seen with you in public

• It feels good to be seen in public with a thin, attractive person — at least you can bask in the positive attention they get

• Fearing the health effects of excess weight in later life (stroke, etc.) will make you incapacitated and physically dependent on others

• Fearing that if you do lose weight your spouse will think you are out to get a new lover

• You spend so much time doing things for others, you have no time for yourself, so food is a comfort

• You might as well do things for other people, at least they deserve some attention and affection, even if you don’t

• Empty stomach = empty heart. Full stomach = full heart.

• Have failed with so many diets, there must be something wrong with you

• Loss of self confidence — if you can’t do a simple diet right, you’re really screwed up

• If you’re screwed up, you can’t possibly have the moral authority to teach your kids right, to act as a good example for them

• Losing all sense of sensuality and sexuality, knowing you’ll never feel sexy again

• Fear of physical intimacy, especially with someone new

• Fear that if you lose this relationship, you’ll never have another one

Have you ever felt any of these things? More than one?

Aren't the things on this list the real, present dangers and costs of excess weight, for you or someone you know?

Permanent weight control, on the other hand, is more than just having less weight. It is the unleashing of a more vibrant life. It is celebrating the life that was born into you – the joyful life you sensed when you were very young, but never quite got around to living as you aged.

Do you clearly see the contrast between the real costs of excess weight, and having a vibrant life – the life of your choosing?

Your excess weight, and difficulty in getting rid of it, is not a character defect. It is not that you lack self control. It is not because there is anything wrong with you.

After years of battling excess weight, you are worn down. You have done everything you knew to do, sometimes to a fault. But it always ends with you adding a few extra pounds. If everything you have been told to do fails you, then there must be something wrong with you. Right?

The real steps to rebuilding your life around a lighter you is quite literally in front of you, and well within your reach.

First, you need to understand that what you have been "taught" to do to lose weight is wrong. Wrong. Dead wrong. You need new, accurate, science-based knowledge, not some well-meaning guru who helped a celebrity get skinny.

Next, you need to know that the most powerful influences on your appetite are "caught" things, not "taught" things. (See How Do You Control Your Appetite: Rule 7: Blame it on Mom.)

Finally, and most importantly, your first step has nothing whatever to do with what you eat or not eat. It has to do with you. This entire, frustrating problem of years of creeping weight-gain has made you lose confidence in yourself. It has torn you down until your sense of self-worth is worn out. Could that be true about you?

In the end, successfully losing weight, and keeping it off, really is a decision.

That decision is: Are you worthy of having a vibrant life?

If you feel you truly have the personal worth to lead a vibrant life of your choosing, then you are on the path to solving your appetite, hunger, and craving problems. You will seek out, and keep searching for the right answers to help you control your appetite. And to eat less. You will succeed because you will not allow another reality to prevail. You will find the answer based on the science of weight loss, not on the endorsement of professionally skinny people.

But, if you feel unworthy of your own, self-directed life; if you feel you lack the incredible vibrancy born into your soul, then you will falter. You will discover obstacles that always seem to take control of your appetite. And, you will find one reason after another that forces you to continue gaining weight – forces that are always outside of your control – until you have run out of time to fix anything. At that point, you will have to leave it to the physicians to repair whatever damage they can.

How do you control your appetite? Start with a decision: Are you worth it?

Whatever you decide, once made, the rest will happen on its own.

It is not about weight. It is not about destiny. It's about deciding if you deserve to be happy.

Do you?

Celebrate Your Decision Today!

PS: If you know a woman-entrepreneur who has created healthy product(s), please let me know, so we could spread the word about her and her contribution to this planet.

Disclosure: I only write about products I believe in and use personally and the companies who truly advance forward the best traits of the humankind. I am not compensated for my opinions.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
©2011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Feel Worthy of Losing Weight – And You Shall

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For you to permanently control your appetite, to be able to lose weight and keep it off, begin with an inner journey. That journey is to prepare yourself for the challenges of changing your lifestyle.

You already know that losing weight is not just a dietary problem. But why do you keep getting stuck? Why do so many of your efforts backfire, when they seem to work for others (at least they do in the ads)? What keeps happening that makes your weight loss efforts so difficult?

Here are some things you might want to think about.

1. Do you feel you have the POWER to handle life’s personal difficulties — to overcome the obstacles to permanent weight loss — to change what you are doing that led you to this place?

If you already feel powerless to change important things in your personal life, things you ardently feel need to be changed, you are drained of the energy, the confidence, the initiative to take the steps to make new weight loss efforts.

Even if you feel confident in some areas of your life, it is often difficult to have that confidence when it comes to your own self. So, here is a question: Aren't there things you would absolutely do to protect your kids? Let nothing stand in your way? But when it comes to doing things for yourself, deeply personal things, do you sometimes falter?

Start by believing you are worthy of having a different life, a better life. Not just that you want it, but that you deserve it. Beginning there, gather the power, the fierce strength you use to protect your children, to change yourself. And insist that others let you make that happen. That is the level of energy you must muster for yourself.

If you have spent a lifetime doing things for others, sacrificing your personal desires and needs year after year for your family, this may be very unfamiliar territory. It is difficult to turn all that energy you have focused on others for so long, and tell yourself you deserve to have it now focused on yourself.

But you must. Once you do, reach deep inside yourself and find the power to make it happen. That power is there. It always has been. It is what has made so much meaningful for your family and closest friends. You have the power. Use it for yourself.

2. Do you feel COMPETENT enough to make the right lifestyle changes, the right way, at the right time — do you believe you have the ability to do better and really make it happen?

If you've tried to lose weight several times before, and in the end you gained it all back each time (plus some), it is easy to lose confidence in your ability to discriminate in selecting what to do.

It is easy getting lost in the plethora of advice, and the constant stream of new and contradictory information in the media – TV, magazines, newspaper. Plus there is all that stuff you learned from mom, with friends and family eager to offer their opinions.

Sometimes, it just seems that you are swimming in so much information that its difficult to keep up. Let alone do anything different that is meaningful.

Then there are those nagging doubts... is this the right thing? Is this really going to make a difference? How do you know? How can you sort it all out?

Plus the biggest challenge of them all – when do you get the time, the alone, quiet time, to think it all out?

So, even when you get into change mode, you can lack confidence in your competence to do something effective.

3. Are you LIKABLE and WORTHY of this change? If you are not likable, if you are not worthy of this change in your lifestyle, you can never be happy. Why?

Happiness is founded on acceptance of yourself — you need self-acceptance to be happy. So, if you’re not going to be happy anyway, because you are not likable or worthy of it, what’s the point of making positive lifestyle changes designed to make you happy?

Your lifestyle changes may be well and good, but if you are still not likable or worthy, what’s the point of the effort, the inevitable pain, your changes will cause?

Besides, if you’re not worthy of it, you probably don’t deserve success, or happiness, or fulfillment – or to weigh less permanently — you don’t deserve the things you really want.

These three things significantly affect:
–Your ability to identify what you really want to do, that would truly make you happy.
–Your belief about whether or not you can change things, or can change them in a positive way, and
–Your motivation in making changes — is it going to be worth it?


If you are going to change your lifestyle, if you are really going to weigh less permanently, you have to look past the "diet" you are considering. You have to do some interior work – go on an inner journey. You have to decide, ultimately, if you are worth it.

Once you get that far, you will find a way to make it happen.

Celebrate Your Worthiness Today!

PS: If you know a woman-entrepreneur who has created healthy product(s), please let me know, so we could spread the word about her and her contribution to this planet.

Disclosure: I only write about products I believe in and use personally and the companies who truly advance forward the best traits of the humankind. I am not compensated for my opinions.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
©2011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

Motivation Is The Key To Your Personal Weight Loss

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You have to find a reason, a reason beyond food, to eat less, to lower your appetite. To weigh less. You need a counterweight to your hunger.

That is where, if you are like so many of us, you get stuck. And keep getting stuck.

Have you ever wondered why you can successfully lose weight, then gain it all back later?

When you treat weight loss as a problem with a bundle of calories, you’re going to get stuck. Because the calories you eat are tied to the human person holding the fork. It is the motivations of the human person that drives every successful weight loss effort. Plus, every failure.

Your motivations are complex. They may be not all be clear to you. Trouble is, many of your motivations may run so deep, so close to the core of who you are you don’t even notice they are in conflict with other, strong motivations.

You may want to lose weight, and are actively doing something about it. But other, hidden, internal “scripts” can get in your way. It is unintentional, self-defeating behavior.

Think about when you were growing up

Was there a time when you were young that you had a sense of adventure, when you knew you would do great things when you got older? Did you have a dream, specific or general, that moved in your core – that was a beacon of light shining on your future?

Did you feel that sense growing in you as you got a bit older? Then high school and post-high school years, college, jobs, relationships, marriage became your focus. And before you knew it, you lost your path. You lost your way. Have you gotten lost on becoming who you knew you would be?

So you tried to re-direct your life, to get back to where you knew you were destined to go. But could never get back to that same sense of adventure and bright future you had imagined years before.

So, silently, you changed. Over the years, in spite of successes, and finding people you dearly love and respect, and need in your life, you felt something missing. And realized you were never going to get where you thought you were headed? So you lowered your expectations of life?

Growing up is often the process of lowering your expectations

In your middle years it is hard to know how you can get back to seeing that bright light that had been focused on your future when you were much younger.

Sometimes you just give up. Not everything. Just enough that, as you invest in the lives of others that are so central to who you have become, you sacrifice pieces of your dream. Pieces of you. You sacrifice because that is what is needed to keep it all going. You do it willingly. Joyfully. Because this new reality is important to you, too. As it should be.

Then you get faced with a problem like excess weight. In the vast scheme of things, it seems so small. There are other problems, important ones to deal with. Money. Job. Spouse. Kids. Parents. In-laws. Your weight control problem seems so minor.

The realities of having a lot to worry about, so much else that needs to be done and prioritized, your struggles with weight are just not that important. Right? So, you slowly gain more weight. Add a few extra pounds. And, over the years, it accumulates.

Then, one day, you decide you must “really” do something about it. You diet. Start an exercise routine. But somehow, after weeks and months, the success of these efforts dissipate. The weight begins to reappear. Discouraged, you fall back into old patterns.

This is an old cycle that most people go through. The average person tries 7-9 times to lose weight before they finally succeed (usually gaining 5-10 pounds each time they fail). What makes them succeed in the end? It wasn’t a change in food or exercise. Those were the result, not the reason they lost weight permanently.

When successful weight loss becomes a lifestyle

Successful weight loss becomes a lifestyle because something changes inside you. You quit lowering your expectations for yourself. All your life you faced other serious challenges and difficulties, priorities and time constraints. Each time you came last – your needs were less important than the needs of others that you loved.

To lose weight permanently your body needs to come first. You need to feed it, and exercise it in a way that supports you becoming lighter. And stronger. “You” needs to be the priority to do that.

You need to focus a bright light on your own future and say, “How am I going to keep being there for them in the future if I can’t be there for me now?”

At some future point you know that, with accumulating weight, even if holding steady at 30-40-50 + pounds overweight – your health will be at risk. Perhaps it already is. You need to take care of yourself. No one else can it for you.

This is not a repudiation of your love for them. It is a re-focusing on you and the unique spirit and body, hope and affirmation you were created with. It is a realization that the beauty of life that stirs at your core can be revitalized. With that, you can do wonders for them. And great good for yourself.

To lose weight successfully, and keep it off permanently, you have to get unstuck.

You need a counterweight to your hunger

You have to find a reason, a reason beyond food, to eat less, to lower your appetite. To weigh less. You need a counterweight to your hunger.

When you treat weight loss as a problem with a bundle of calories, you’re going to get stuck. Because the calories you eat are tied to the human person holding your fork. It is your strong motivation that will drive your successful weight loss effort.

Reverse course. Raise your expectations for yourself. Regain the power of the bright future that lit your youth. It doesn’t have to be the same dream. It just has to be who you are now. Who you want to be 10 years from now.

You are important. Let your beauty shine again. Become out here, where we can all see it, what you have hidden inside while sacrificing to make the lives of others better.

When you do that, really do it, you have your counterweight to food. You control your appetite because it is the natural result of living out loud what had hid silently for so long.

Are you ready to do that?

Then Let's Celebrate Living Out Loud Today!

PS: If you know a woman-entrepreneur who has created healthy product(s), please let me know, so we could spread the word about her and her contribution to this planet.

Disclosure: I only write about products I believe in and use personally and the companies who truly advance forward the best traits of the humankind. I am not compensated for my opinions.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
©2011 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.