Ashtanga Yoga teacher interview

So, here is #2 in my “real people” series.  Today is an interview with a yoga teacher.

Melanie Herbert is a qualified ashtanga yoga teacher (and she is my yoga instructor!) with classes in and around St Albans. For more details visit www.melanieherbert.com

Q: What made you start learning yoga?

A:  I actually wanted to learn Pilates but that class was full so I signed up for yoga instead. I had no idea what to expect but was hooked from the first class – I considered myself reasonably fit as I did a bit of running, cycling and swimming, but I can honestly say I’d never found any exercise as difficult as that first class! I was intrigued and surprised by my body’s limitations. The teacher made each posture look so effortless, but I was completely stiff and inflexible.

I went to that class every week for about 6 months and started noticing very subtle improvements – I could (just about) touch my toes without bending my knees, but I still found sitting cross-legged completely uncomfortable and needed to sit on a block. This was due to inflexibility in my hips. My hamstrings were also incredibly tight from all the running and cycling I had done.

So I signed up for a second weekly class and from there my flexibility and overall ability to do the postures improved as I began to feel the benefits of more regular practice. I bought my own mat and tried practising at home, but found it difficult to remember how to get into the postures and coordinate the breathing.

Those early classes were held in a small local studio which was the perfect place for a beginner like me to get all the personal attention and adjustments my body needed to practise safely. My teachers were very supportive and encouraged me to try other classes, one of which was an ashtanga vinyasa class. I turned up having no idea what to expect and was, once again, blown away by how difficult I found it compared to the elegant poise and serenity of the teacher. Not only that, I started working up a sweat, so I really felt like I was having a good workout.

I was desperate to progress with my practice so I persuaded the teacher to give me private lessons. It is a common tradition in yoga that the student finds their teacher (by some cosmic force!) but the teacher initially refuses to take on the student. This is exactly what happened in my case. My teacher observed me attending the group class over several weeks before deciding that I had the dedication to merit individual lessons. I am eternally grateful to her for passing on her knowledge to me – over the course of these lessons, not only did my physical practice develop, but I began to learn about the history and philosophy of yoga, more advanced breathing and meditation techniques, basic Sanskrit, mantras and chanting.

This was nearly 10 years ago and I have had many wonderful teachers since then. I have found that there is always something new to discover with yoga – always somewhere further you can go in the physical postures, always a more deeper level of awareness of ourselves. For me, yoga is a voyage of discovery and I feel blessed by the accidental circumstances which brought me to that first class.

Q: So how often do you practise?

A: I try to do a physical practice or meditation 6 times a week – this can vary from just a few sun salutations to a full practice which takes an hour and a half. It’s important to distinguish between practising and teaching – whilst I may be physically doing the postures when I teach, I don’t consider this to be practising yoga since I am not breathing correctly or focused as I need to be.

A lot of students ask me how often they “should” practise. I really dislike this word as it puts so much pressure on us. My answer is to practise as often as you can – you will feel the benefits if you can only manage 5 minutes a day, or one hour a week. But obviously the more you practise, the more you will progress.

Q: What other exercise do you do?

A: I continued to do the odd run or cycle, no more than once a week, up until around 3 years ago. My teacher at the time used to nag me to stop as these forms of exercise (like many) shorten the hamstrings which counters the effects of yoga. At first, I was scared that if I stopped doing other forms of exercise I wouldn’t be able to stay “fit” or that I’d put on weight. So at first, I increased the amount of swimming I did instead – swimming between 3km and 4km a week. Then one day when I was swimming I had a thought that I would rather be at home doing yoga so I got out of the pool and haven’t been back!

Now the only form of exercise I do is ashtanga vinyasa yoga and I firmly believe that I don’t need to do anything else to be fit and healthy. In fact, I have never been leaner or stronger than I am right now.

Q: That’s interesting. So how does yoga keep you fit?

A: There are many styles of yoga and it would be wrong to suggest that by doing one hour per week of gentle hatha yoga you will increase and maintain your fitness, although it should improve your flexibility, overall well-being and maybe increase your core strength.

Using yoga for fitness depends, not just on the style, but on the intensity of your practice, and of course the frequency. If you practise the physical postures with integrity, working at (which means slightly pushing) your body’s limits, you will be fitter than practising at a more gentle pace.

However, for anyone who is already physically fit, I would recommend ashtanga vinyasa yoga which builds strength and stamina, along with flexibility and core stability.

Q: You talk about different styles of yoga – what are the differences?

A: All yoga is hatha yoga but this term is generally used to describe more relaxing styles where the emphasis is on gradually increasing flexibility. It is the foundation for pregnancy yoga and restorative yoga.

However, the postures in all forms of yoga are principally the same. What changes is the way you come into or out of the postures, how long you hold them for, the order in which they are done and how they are linked (and in the case of “hot yoga” the temperature of the room!).

For example, in a general hatha yoga class, the teacher will prepare a class choosing any postures and putting them in their own order. In between postures, students will tend to relax before beginning the next. There may be little emphasis on breathing techniques although the teacher should tell you when to inhale and exhale.

At the other extreme, in an ashtanga vinyasa class, the order of the postures does not change and students perform dynamic linking movements in between to maintain heat and energy. Breathing techniques are vital in these classes, as is the development of internal energy locks, known as “bandhas”. These can be compared to muscles deep within the body which can take years of practise to engage.

Even within the same style of yoga, two different teachers may teach the same posture differently – one may focus on correct alignment, another may focus on breathing. As long as the student is practising safely, and without danger of injury, there is no right or wrong way which is why it’s important for each student to find the style and the teacher which suits them. Although it’s also good to try different teachers to avoid becoming too rigidly attached to doing the postures a certain way. Through yoga, we want to develop flexibility of mind as well as body!

Q: What else do you do to stay fit and healthy?

A: I’ve been a vegetarian for over 15 years, far longer in fact than I’ve been practising yoga and I consider this to be the most influential thing I’ve done to lose weight. I used to eat very unhealthily and whilst I wasn’t fat, I had a few excess pounds in certain areas which I could never seem to shift. Restricting my intake of animal fat (including dairy products) has really helped me maintain a healthy weight. I still eat fish and eggs but my diet is predominantly vegetable based. I don’t count calories or restrict the amount I eat.

I think it’s important not to make any drastic changes to your diet overnight though. If you’re interested in giving up meat, try cutting out red meat first, say for 3 months. Then progress to cutting out white meat. You could also try switching from cow’s milk to soya or rice milk (I prefer the latter) or switching from standard tea and coffee to green or herbal teas.

Yoga naturally detoxifies the body by massaging the internal organs and allowing the release of toxins through the skin (via sweat). It’s actually important when practising yoga not to wipe the sweat away, but to let it fall from you naturally. A towel will simply push the toxins back into the body.

Q: Does yoga offer any other benefits?

A:  Yes, but there are so many they would be the subject of another interview! If you would like more information or have any questions, please email info@melanieherbert.com.

Thank you Melanie for your input!  And thank you for getting me started in yoga.  I have found it to be an amazing workout and super challenging.  It is a great thing to add to any natural weight loss plan.

To your health

Kimberly

Egg and Dairy food intolerances

Many people nowadays suffer with food intolerances.  Egg and dairy products are amongst the most common, due to these items being added to SO many foods.

So, how do you make sure that you’re not consuming these items?

The obvious answer to that question is to check labels on food before you buy it.  Unfortunately, it’s not that simple! Sometimes egg and dairy are called other things on food labels, so here is what you should look out for:

Dairy

Casein

Caseinate

Hydrolysed Casein

Whey

Lactose

Lactalbumin

Egg

Albumen

Lecithin E322

Livetin

Ovovitellin

Ovalbumin

Vitelin

Globulin

Ovomucin

It may be hard to remember all of these, but if you’re really trying to cut these things out of your diet, at least for a period, it’s important to check all labels.  And to make it even easier on yourself, try to eat as many natural, unprocessed foods as possible – then you know exactly what you’re eating without having to check a label.  (i.e. fruits, vegetables, pulses, brown rice, unseasoned meat/poultry/fish, and if you want seasonings or sauces, make your own from scratch.)

From my own experience, and from talking about food intolerances with other sufferers, identifying and eliminating the foods that don’t agree with your body is a SUPER EASY way to lose weight.  In fact this is one of my favorite natural weight loss tips.

If you have questions about food intolerances, please let me know – I have a lot of experience with this and highly recommend getting tested for food intolerances if you have any digestive issues.  It actually forms part of my step plan to getting rid of IBS, as discussed in my ebook at www.ibseliminated.com.

To your health,

Kimberly

Health Stories of REAL People – #1 in the series

Hi everyone,

I am starting a series today that I’m SO excited about.  I’ve gathered some stories from friends, family, and colleagues about their real life experiences with health, diet, exercise, natural weight loss, disease, and all sorts of health related things.  I always love reading stories from “real” people who have overcome being overweight, have started a successful new exercise routine, or who have always been really healthy and just can share with the rest of us some of their natural weight loss tips or “keeping healthy” tips or anything similar.

So, today is the first in the series.  I’ll aim to put one new story up each week (and yours could be included if you feel like writing something to me!)

Today is about a friend of mine who, despite a hatred for running, did her first marathon this year.  It is amazing, funny, and inspiring!

I hope you really enjoy reading these and I want to extend a huge thank you to all the people who have been willing to contribute!

To your health,

Kimberly

Marathon Diary of the Anti-Runner

My journey started on August 23, 2009.  I was a running neophyte.  I received a Nike + Ipod for my birthday. I decided to start running.  Number of miles I had run prior to this for the sole purpose of running?  ZERO.  In fact, prior to this I would use the word “hate” to describe how I felt about running, and “never” to describe when I would be running a marathon.

While my goal was to run a ½ marathon by March 2010 and a full marathon by October 2010, ultimately I decided to go for the full in March (LA Marathon).  I posted my intention on facebook and the immediate feedback I got made me realize there was no going back!

My first run was for 3.4 miles and I ran at a 12:37 pace.  I knew it would get better.  Between August 23 – March 20th I had gone on 78 runs, for a total of 454.74 miles and 57,872 calories burned.   My last long run before the marathon: 10 miles in 88 minutes.  I dropped about 15 pounds, but definitely noticed that I had gained muscle in my legs as well.  Luckily, I was in living in San Diego for most of my training and thus was able to wear shorts often to show off my accomplishments.

On race day as the sun was coming up I lined up in the 10 minute mile group with thousands of my closest friends… My Dad gave me a hug and told me to get ‘em.  After a couple delays and a report that people were abandoning their cars on the freeway to get to the start line… We were off!! We came off the start to “I Love L.A.” and I was taken back to the GW Forum with my Dad watching Showtime in the late 80’s.

The course was great, I felt like I was taking a tour of some of my favorite LA memories.  Home stretch was down Ocean Avenue.  Sprint (comparatively speaking) to the finish…. Finishing time 05:27:31.  Not 4 hours, but for my first one… I’ll take it!

Here are some thoughts I had while running – because let’s face it; you have a lot of time to think:

1.        Apparently lining up with your mile time is like filling out an online dating profile: People are either delusional or outright liars!!!  It’s probably somewhere in the middle, but really? Lining up with the 8 minute milers to start the race WALKING?!

2.       Did you know Gordon Ramsey (Hell’s Kitchen) has done 10 marathons?  Go Chef!

3.       Favorite signs I saw along the way:

• CHUCK NORRIS NEVER RAN A MARATHON
• IF THIS WERE EASY WE’D BE DOING IT
• 26.2 MILES… BECAUSE 26.3 WOULD BE CRAZY
• WE HEARD YOU FART
• WE’RE DRUNK…KEEP RUNNING

4.       Things I dreamed about while running: a pedicure, In-N-Out burger, BEER, a nap….

5.       Things I was thankful for while I was running:

• my family and friends who were unbelievably supportive and always believed that I could cross the finish line;
• The Ta-Ta Tamer (yes, that’s what it’s called) Sports Bra from Lululemon – CHANGED MY LIFE!!!

Post Race Thoughts:

1. I was pretty sore after the race, but I started running again within a week.  This told me that I could have probably run a bit harder during the race.  However, while I still believe that to be true, this was my first timed race, period.  I think every runner would benefit from at least a 10K or ½ marathon as part of your training regimen.
2. Listen to your body.  Burnout is real.  I got back into the saddle too soon.  I also ignored a nagging injury, which I am now taking care of and has set me back so that I am not doing my second marathon in December as planned (doing a ½ instead).
3. Having a Buddy Helps – for me it’s about accountability.  Yeah, I like being fit, yada yada… but I’m also a busy person, who can let exercise become less of a priority than say, Happy Hour, or working all weekend.
4. Take this opportunity to help others.  I didn’t run my marathon for charity and that is something I would change going forward.  Find something you are passionate about (or someone you are close to is) and do some good!!
5. Two words: Strength. Training.  So important!! All I did as far as training was run.  I won’t make that mistake again.
6. “Eat to Win.”  My friend’s Dad used to say to her in high school.  Back then I thought he was encouraging an eating disorder.  But food is fuel, in order to perform properly, fuel accordingly.  I definitely notice a difference when my diet is made up of mostly cheese and wine, as opposed to veggies and water.  This also means get lots of sleep!!
7. You have to start somewhere. Don’t mentally take yourself out of the game.  Every day is a new day to start training.  As the saying goes, Just Do It.  Happy trails…..

Guardian review of Body Media Armband

I’ve done a few posts and videos about the Body Media Armband (called Ki Fit in the UK or Go Wear and Body Bugg in the USA.)

I read an interesting review of it in the Guardian newspaper in the UK.  The author talks about how the Armband is an all encompassing piece of technology and is one of the most advanced systems like it in the market right now.  And it is so precise.  She also talks about the fact that its great for those wanting to lose weight, but also those who are just into fitness and are interested in seeing what their bodies are doing throughout the day.

Here is the full article:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/

I agree that it’s a great tool, and definitely addictive!  If it’s something you would like to check out yourself, click here.

To your health,

Kimberly

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Hi everyone,

Love chocolate cake, but hate eating animal products?  Try this delicious recipe for vegan chocolate cake.

Yummy treats like this can be part of a healthy diet – just have it once in awhile

To your health,

Kimberly

Vegan Chocolate Cake

by Rachel O’neil

From: http://www.selfsufficientish.com/vegancake.htm

Ingredients

300g self raising flour
3 level tsp baking powder
50g cocoa powder
250g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
9 tbsp sunflower oil
250 ml orange juice
100ml water
1 orange zested

8” loose bottomed tin (greased)

ICING

250g icing sugar
1tbsp Cocoa
50g sunflower marg
3tbsp boiling water

Method/Procedure

preheat oven to 190°C

Sift the flour with the cocoa powder, baking powder and the sugar.

Mix with the rest of the ingredients
Whisk to a batter like consistency
Pour in tin, cook for 40 mins, until knife comes out of centre clean
icing: whizz altogether, spread over top and chill

Top Risk Factors for Obesity

Okay – so I haven’t posted in over a month – I’m so sorry!  I don’t know how that happened, but I’m glad to be back.

I’ve been reading a fascinating book, called “the Optimal Health Revolution” by Duke Johnson, MD.  One of the chapters is dedicated specifically to obesity and I found the whole thing so interesting.  I’ll share some of the information with you today.

Here are rates of obesity by country and gender (and these are from 2000 – so they will be even worse now.)  I’m just including a few.

Australia: Men 63% and Women 46.8%

Canada: Men 71% and Women 56%

China: Men 16% and Women 23%

Japan: Men 26% and Women 22.6%

Russia: Men 45.3% and Women 56.4%

UK: Men 62.8% and Women 53.3%

USA: Men 60% and Women 50%

There are a lot of high numbers there!  I think I should throw in the definition of obesity here just to give some context to this.  One of the most popular definitions of obesity is body mass index (“BMI”).  I’ve done a post about BMI previously, but just as a recap, you find out your BMI by doing your weight in kg multiplied by your height in meters.  If your BMI is 30 or above you are classified as obese.

In his book, Dr. Duke Johnson gives a list of what he considers to be the top 13 risk factors for Obesity.  I’ve listed them below with a few comments of my own.

1. Ignorance (i.e not knowing the risk factors, so keep reading and you’re one step ahead!)

2. Excess calories

3. Obsession over fats and carbs. This refers to the fads of eating certain ratios of fats, carbs, and proteins.  Instead of doing this, you should focus more on eating the right fats, carbs, and proteins.

4. Lack of exercise

5. Narrow focus. I think this requires some explanation.  The diet industry has led us to think about one aspect of our lifestyles in order to figure out how to lose weight.  This might be exercise – “Use this one magic piece of exercise equipment and lose 10 pounds this week!”  This might be diet – “If you eat this magic soup recipe every day for a week, you’ll lose 15 pounds!”  Hopefully that gives you the message.  Essentially, to avoid obesity, or to lose weight so that you’re no longer obese, you must look at your whole lifestyle, rather than just one tiny part of it.

6. The TV, the PC, and the WWW. You probably get what this means, but in case not, this just has to do with how much time we now spend in front of either the television, our computers at work, or surfing the web after work or on the weekends.  These are all inactive experiences, so if this makes up the majority of your time every week, you can’t possibly be getting much exercise.

7. Coping with stress by eating. Wow, I can relate to this one!  I can definitely eat a lot (and the wrong things) when I’m stressed…or sad…or really excited – I always refer to it as emotional eating.  With people working long hours and dealing with other stresses in their lives, an obvious “release” for this stress is snacking.  Unfortunately this usually means choosing unhealthy, non-nutritious snacks, which are quick, easy, and cheap.  Smoking is another big one, and is equally unhealthy.

8. Snack foods. I am still amazed at the abundance of snack foods there are to choose from.   Cakes, cookies, chocolate bars, chocolate molded into weird shapes, potato chips (in all shapes and sizes), strange packaged dips with crackers, and many more.  Even the ones that advertise themselves as “healthy” snacks are usually loaded with sugar, fat, preservatives, and other things that contribute to obesity.

9. Feeding our emotions. This may sound similar to number 7, but what Dr. Duke Johnson is saying is that many people treat food as a reward.  I was just discussing this with a friend the other day and we were talking about how many families bring up their kids to think of ice cream, burgers, or other sweets or candy as a reward for doing something well or getting homework done.  This leaves those kids with an emotional connection with those foods.  Another common thing in childhood is being forced to finish a plate of food.  Again, this is a negative connection with food, so as those kids grow up they always finish everything, even if they’re full.  (And for anyone who lives or has visited the USA, you must realize how damaging this can be…portions in America are massive.)

10. Quitting on your new lifestyle. This refers to the many times that we start a new way of eating or a new exercise plan, only to give up a few days into it.

11. Restaurant food, both fast and slow. People do eat at restaurants more now than ever.  I’m sure there are people who NEVER eat a meal at home.  You know, just pick up a bagel and coffee on the way to work.  Grab a sandwich at lunch.  Then get something to go from your local Chinese restaurant because you worked so late or are too tired to cook.  However you slice it, you will definitely consume more calories, fat, salt, and sugar if you are eating in this way.  Sure, it’s okay to eat out – I love it – but you can see how this lifestyle can pack on the pounds.

12. Genetic predisposition. This is the one factor you can’t change, but look at the other 12 you can change!

13. Lack of adequate sleep. This may sound silly, but lack of sleep or not getting good quality sleep truly impacts your body’s natural functions.  People who can find a way to get more sleep can lose weight naturally, without changing anything else.

You’ve now got a great list to work from.  Try to address one at a time and go from there.  Obesity has horrendous consequences on your life!  It’s not just an aesthetic thing!

To your health,

Kimberly

Vegetarian Restaurant Review- Woody’s Cafe near Hemel

I tried a new restaurant last weekend – a vegetarian restaurant called Woody’s Cafe near Hemel Hempstead in the UK.  It is a quaint restaurant with a nice patio area overlooking a little marina and the Grand Union Canal.

The menu is pretty overwhelming when you first look at it…especially after you see all the specials as well!  But, the staff are very helpful with questions about the different dishes.  The main options are pizzas and crepes (both savoury and sweet).   For both of those, you then have a few choices when it comes to the flour used for the dough.  There are gluten free options and vegan options.

Some of the specials on the day I was there were Parmigiana, Bean Burgers, Nut Burgers, and many others.  With the specials, though, they do run out so when you get there order quickly!

Food

At our table we tried a pita bread and dip platter to start with.  It was really tasty, but I thought it was pricey for what you got at £7.50.  It was enough for 2 people to share.

For our main meals we had two different pizzas, a nut burger and the Mexican Hat crepe (which was a spicy bean filling.)  The crepe was by far the best, but I think everyone enjoyed their dishes.

There are also plenty of yummy desserts and again, there are gluten free and vegan options.  We tried a dark chocolate and banana crepe and a vegan chocolate cake – both delicious!  I wouldn’t have thought the cake could be moist, but it was really lovely.

Booze

The two men with us tried two of the beers, one vegan and one not.  The vegan one – Suma Elphin Brook bitter – was the favorite.

I had a nice glass of organic Sauvignon Blanc and the other friend with us had a tall glass of Pimm’s.  We all enjoyed the drinks.

Would I go back?

As I enjoyed the atmosphere, sitting watching the boats on the canal, enjoyed the friendly service, and enjoyed the food, I will certainly go back.  There are definitely a few other dishes I would like to try.  And I might even just go for dessert and a glass of wine sometime!

If you’ve tried any vegetarian restaurants that you liked or didn’t like, I would love to hear what they were!

To your health,

Kimberly

What Burns the Most Calories?

I’ve been monitoring how many calories I burn (using my Body Media armband) doing various activities so wanted to share the info with everyone!

Types of Exercise

Sunday I did 1 hour 15 minutes of Ashtanga Yoga and burned 250 calories.  Only 2 minutes of this time was “vigorous” exercise and the rest was moderate (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.)

Monday I went for a 30 minute jog around my neighborhood and burned 250 calories.  All of that time was marked as “vigorous” exercise, so clearly outdoor jogging keeps the body active throughout.

Wednesday I did 45 minutes at the gym, which included about 25 minutes cardio (seated bike and elliptical machine) and 20 minutes weight lifting.  I burned 270 calories; 170 from my cardio and the rest from my weights.  Most of my cardio time was considered “vigorous.”

Today I did 45 minutes at the gym, including 25 minutes of jogging on a treadmill with the final 5 minutes doing a fast paced walk at an 8% incline.  The other 20 minutes was some leg weights.  I burned 375 calories and my cardio was vigorous (even the fast paced walking.)  It looks like 245 of that was my cardio and the rest was from the weights.  (Interesting because the treadmill said I burned 300 calories…they are never going to be accurate so don’t pin your hopes on what they tell you!)

And just for fun I’ll add in my walk at lunchtime today, which was about a 10 minute walk to/from the town center, and walking around Waterstone’s looking for a book.  I burned 150 calories, all moderate.

What does it mean?

Based on the above, I can see that jogging is definitely my highest calorie burning activity (which is great because I love it!)  The yoga class didn’t burn as many calories as I thought but because of all the other benefits (flexibility, core strength, toning, etc) I would not give it up….I’ve only done three classes, by the way, but I’m already feeling more flexible.

Besides, it isn’t all about burning as many calories as possible.  Anyone with fitness/health/natural weight loss goals should consider exercise, but it doesn’t have to be vigorous, no pain no gain, gym related exercise.  You can just do general housework, gardening, walking with friends, sports, or many other things.  Whatever works for you and keeps you motivated is what you should do.

Additionally, when you know that you’ve burned calories, you should think about what that means: it means you’ve got your heart pumping, your joints moving, and your muscles are getting a workout.   These are all good things!

Anyway, back on track.  What else can I take away from my information above?

I find it interesting, and great, that my lunchtime walk burned 150 calories.  That definitely wasn’t “exercise” in my mind, but it still was a good thing for my body and my metabolism.

And something I didn’t list above, but I always notice when reviewing my Body Media data is that first thing in the morning, when I’m racing around the house getting ready for work, I usually burn about 150 calories.  That’s another 150 gone that I didn’t even have to think about.  Cool.

Remember that each person’s body burns calories at a different rate, so the above won’t necessarily apply to you, but hopefully you still found it interesting.

To your health,

Kimberly

What are the best Supplements?

With all of the supplement choices out there, how are you supposed to know what to choose?  Do you go for the most expensive?  Least expensive?

Do you choose a brand you are familiar with?  Or something your doctor recommends?

Do you buy them from the grocery store?  Or a specialty health store?  Organic?  Natural?  Etc.

You may have all these questions and a lot more.  So, how do you know what the answers are?  How do you know what the best supplements are?  There isn’t any one answer to this, but here is my favorite brand.

Nutrilite

About 5 years ago, I was introduced to the Nutrilite brand of supplements.  They are a premium, high quality supplement company that has been around since1934.  The founder is Carl Rehnborg, who first became curious about the connection between health and foods in the 1920′s when he was living in China.  The rest is history, as they say.  The Nutrilite site has a wealth of information about the history and other aspects of the business.

Nutrilite Farming

What I love about Nutrilite is the way that the supplements are made.  Nutrilite actually have their own chemical-free farms, where they grow and harvest plants from which they produce supplements.  This means that the amount of time between when the plants are harvested and when they are dehydrated and turned into the final product is very short, showing us the freshness of what goes in to the final product.  No other supplements are grown, harvested, processed, and shipped in the way that Nutrilite does it.

Here is an excerpt from their website:

Nutrilite – We Never Compromise on Quality

At the NUTRILITE™ manufacturing facility, our standards of quality in manufacturing are as much a part of our company culture as our natural farming practices. Clean rooms and well-cared-for equipment are one measure of excellence; another is the level of expertise demonstrated by Nutrilite staff throughout the manufacturing process.

• Plants are harvested at their nutritional peak and transported as quickly as possible to our dehydration facility.
• The concentration process uses specialized equipment in a state-of-the-art facility to dehydrate, mill, and extract nature’s richest nutrients from the plants – creating the world’s finest nutritional concentrates.
• Each batch of concentrate powder is tested to ensure it is free of contaminants and of proper potency.
• Computer-controlled scales measure the exact weight and amount of each concentrate powder.
• The various powders are then blended into a single, uniform mixture.
• The powder blend is compressed into tablets, coated with a special solution for easier swallowing, and inspected closely for cracks or chips.
• Finished tablets are sealed in specially-designed containers to maintain freshness.

Another unique thing about Nutrilite is the use of Acerola cherries.   These cherries are one of the richest sources of vitamin C and I doubt many other supplement companies can boast the use of this fruit in their products.

Now, Nutrilite is definitely not the cheapest supplement brand, but I have stayed loyal since being introduced to it because of the quality.  I love the fact that the products are made from FOOD rather than chemicals.  That is awesome!  And while lots of other supplement brands fail consumer quality checks (to make sure the products contain the levels of nutrients that they claim to contain – see www.consumerlab.com), Nutrilite stands strong.  So, you are getting what they tell you you’re getting.

I could say a hundred more great things about Nutrilite, but I’ll leave it at that.   If you’re ready to give them a try, click here for prices and ordering information.

To your health,

Kimberly

Precision Nutrition Lean Eating Coaching Program

The next Precision Nutrition Lean Eating Coaching Program opens shortly.  It is always a limited number of spaces, so they do offer a waiting list that you can sign up for now.  Check it out here. They are offering prize money of $40,000!

Precision Nutrition has an extremely successful program that they sell to the general public in addition to the coaching program.

Dr. John Berardi, who is behind Precision Nutrition, has great content on his site, a very active forum, and has a lot of support from people that have done his programs as well as from nutritionists/personal trainers who actually use the Precision Nutrition system as part of their coaching with their own clients.

If you like the idea of following a specially designed system to help with your natural weight loss, fitness, or nutrition goals, Precision Nutrition could be the right thing for you.

To your health,

Kimberly