Monday, June 18, 2012

Amazing BeachBody Stories of Health and Wellness Transformation



You can reach your health and wellness goals, too! BeachBody programs are just that good, plain and simple! Contact me at drkurtlove@gmail.com or go to http://beachbodycoach.com/drkurtlove to get amazing programs like TurboFire, Insanity, and P90X!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

BeachBody's Ultimate Reset: A 21-Day Cleanse Experience - And What A Great One It Is!!

Is a 21-day cleanse right for you? If you're not pregnant or breastfeeding, chances are that this is the best thing that you can do for yourself to regain energy, feel balanced, and clean your body of toxins -- the healthy way!

This is not a cleanse where you eat only one kind of food or go hungry. Yet, it's a cleanse, so it's not exactly a walk in the park either.


After doing this cleanse, I can say that I definitely feel so much better. Here's the quick breakdown of the days:

 Day 1 - No sweat! Just eating some healthy food, taking some natural supplements (similar to those found in Shakeology...but amped up a bit and reformulated for the purpose of a cleanse)and...oh, and drinking a lot of water! I peed like...well, I peed a lot, my friends.  

Day 2 - Not bad, but I was noticing a slight headache coming on later in the day. Something tells me I was beginning to do a sugar withdrawal. Still drinking a lot of water (yes, distilled as per the instructions) and peeing like a madman...but hey, it is a cleanse! I noticed, by the way, that there's still some of my wife's birthday cake sitting on the counter. Yummy, yummy cake, but I was good -- not a lick! Traded the leftover cake for kale...I'm so proud of myself.  

Day 3 - Ah, the sugar withdrawal has set in. The headache, somewhere in the neighborhood of a 4 or 5 on the Richter scale, is fairly constant, so I know that this cleanse is doing it's job. It's all good, though. My body needs to do this. The food is good, the water is plentiful (I'm drinking about 96 ounces or so every day -- basically my weight divided by 2 which determines the number of ounces), and I'll be honest, at night I had the world's worst craving for that birthday cake. Seriously, it was a ridiculously strong craving -- an 8 or 9 out of 10 kind of craving. Have mercy! I managed to drink some water and get my butt to bed before my hands reached out and made the move to cut a piece or three. Oh, I totally crashed for a nap in the late afternoon. Haven't done that in a while, and man oh man did I need it!  

Day 4 - Woke up, still with a slight headache -- probably a 2 or 3 -- and made my way to the kitchen to get some water and start the day. The birthday cake was there, and maybe it was because it was morning, but I felt only a small craving for it. I managed to eat some eggs, toast, and spinach to keep my mind off of it. The rest of the day was totally uneventful if, of course, you pay no attention to the fact that there was an 80th birthday party for a family member that included pizza from my favorite pizza place. Ugh! Yes, I was good and ate none of it. The family was supportive even though I could see a little bit of "poor guy" vibes here and there. That was a tough day. Oh yes, still drinking and peeing. Anyone notice a difference in the levels of the ocean over the last four days? Don't blame me...blame the cleanse!

 Day 5 - I ate everything I was supposed to today, but at the end of the day, I was really hungry for some reason. I allowed myself to eat an egg salad sandwich at the end of the day. Sue me, ok! ;-) As I knew that this was almost the last day of the cleanse where animal foods were going to be present, I didn't feel so bad eating it. All things considered, I am doing really well, and I can see that my body is adjusting.  

Day 6 - Oh, that birthday cake! Why is it still in my life stalking me? I want a restraining order on this thing! Somebody please chuck this thing!! My cravings aren't bad, but yep, there still there. I'd love to say that I'm not peeing as much...really, I'd love to say that. Wait a second, I have to go pee...I'm back. Where were we? Oh yes, let me just warn you about this peeing thing. It creeps up on you. One minute you're vacuuming the house, all is good, and the next minute the pee monster residing in your bladder decides that only emergencies are allowable, and you moan all the way to the bathroom. Trust me, if you're going to go drive anywhere, pee before you leave, and bring an empty bottle from the recycling bucket just in case. Food was good. I ate it.  

Day 7 - Food is tasty, love all the salads, yippee ;-) Wouldn't mind a cupcake every once in a while, but hey, it's a cleanse, right? Remember that advice to pee before you go driving somewhere? Totally, totally listen to that advice. I was running late for work (my modus operandi) and while I was sitting in the car...in traffic...my bladder monster arose from it's slumber. In a matter of a mere 15 minutes, I went from a twinge of "Oh, I must tinkle" to "Holy crap, there must be a 4-alarm fire somewhere that I can put out right now!" Ran (gently...gently) down the hall to the restroom at work. My boss probably thinks I'm doing drugs in the bathroom because I went there at least 7 times more before the day was through. Do I feel lighter and more balanced? Um, yes. Is the cleanse working? Yes, but trust me, peeing is the most important thing I care about at this point.

 Day 8 - I made it to the second week! I've lost about 3+ pounds or so since I've started the cleanse. I started at 195 lbs, and I'm down to about 192 lbs. I'm making progress. This week, the fun really begins because when I looked at each day's menu for the week, I had to chuckle. I'm not kidding when I say that there's about as much food on there for the whole day that I would eat for dinner and still be hungry because there's no meat. Am I hungry, though? Yes, of course, but it's reasonable, especially if I stick to the schedule of eating every couple of hours or so like I'm supposed to. It's not an easy cleanse...but hey, it's a cleanse. Honestly, I'm doing pretty good with it, and mentally, emotionally, I feel like there's some clearing going on. I notice that my attention is not nearly as distracted as it generally is. My emotions are much more even and balanced, and I feel a whole lot lighter and fresher, if that makes sense.  

Day 9 - I can't believe I didn't learn from the other day...BRING A BOTTLE FROM THE RECYCLING BIN!! You guessed it, the pee monster was on the warpath, and yet again, I was stuck in traffic!! Take the bus people!! Ran to the bathroom, past my colleague, shouted some words about being right back, but I'm sure it was not clear and sounded more like a train going by with the doppler effect on the sound. No? Doppler effect? Anyway, I think today was a break through day. I'm pretty used to eating quinoa, salads, and various fibrous veggies. I actually look forward to the meals, and I'm not thinking about that birthday cake, which is still in my house. Ok, for real? That thing is dead. Bury the sucker, already!  

Day 10 - Halfway through the cleanse, baby! Amazing to have gotten this far, but here I am. I'm eating probably about 1/4 of what I would eat on a normal day, and I'm basically good with that. Granted, I'm not exactly doing Insanity workouts or busting out the pull-ups with P90X, but it's all very good at this point. If I follow the schedule I'm supposed to for food and water, I am not hungry. I'm liking the food. I'm well past the sugar withdrawal. I can't complain at this point.  

Day 11 - I felt good yesterday, and today I feel great! For lunch, I realized that I didn't have the right combo of ingredients, so I ate some leftover soup and quinoa with pine nuts, and I have to tell you that I was actually stuffed. It was weird, to be honest. So, my stomach has shrank, I take it. Amazing! Really amazing! I feel great! Before the cleanse, I felt pretty awful. I was tired. I was totally sluggish and slow. I was addicted to sugary and fatty foods even though I was doing Shakeology every day, which I know was keeping me in somewhat of a balance. I was stressed out from work, and life in general. Today is the real first day of the cleanse that I can begin to see how much good it's doing for me. I feel really good, and I know it's going to get better. I'm starting to really understand the power of healthy, whole foods and the overall impact that it has on one's health and wellness. If you haven't seen this video, it explains why cleansing one's body and eating properly is so very important. Here's a person who recovered from Multiple Sclerosis simply by eating healthily:

 

More to come on the rest of the days...stay tuned!

 Want to get this BeachBody's Ultimate Reset cleanse? You certainly can at: http://beachbodycoach.com/drkurtlove or contact me at drkurtlove@gmail.com

Monday, March 5, 2012

Knowing the Earth Means Being More Deeply Aware

Even as a young elementary student, I always felt that there was something so fundamentally important that was missing from my education. I think Dr. Martha Beck had the same thoughts as I did.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Shaman Prayer for All the World

I wanted to share this with you all. This is one of the most beautiful callings to the energies and guardians of this beautiful planet.



We always need to ask ourselves who we are and where we come from. We are people of the Earth. We are Earth Walkers, all of us. Yet, so many of us walk as if we are from another world, or perhaps no world at all. Our spirits which are so intimately interwoven with the spirit of the Earth are not whole when we ignorantly separate the two. We need to learn a language that validates, emphasizes, and values our interconnections and relationships of nurturance and love that come from our great spiritual home. We need a significant shift in how we exist, and we can do so by reminding ourselves that we are Earth Walkers.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Eating Sustainably

Our relationship with food is one that is a major intersection of the mind-body-spirit-earth connection. This film, Sustainable Table: What's On Your Plate? takes a look at a dominant mindset that favors large-scale agriculture, pesticides, slaughter, meat-based diets, and ultimately produces illness and premature death.



There is a great deal that we can do to reverse these practices. Buy locally, organically grown foods, little or no meat, and get to know your local farmers! Talk to them. Ask them questions, and take as much responsibility as you can about your foods. If you have the ability, grow food in your own garden. Join a community supported agricultural group, and support a community garden.



We have grown up in a culture that has seen large-scale, pesticide driven farms as the "normal" way to produce food. This system of growing food and animal farming is a failed system, and we have to transition out of it. Farming is not something that only a few people should do. On some level, we all have to reincorporate it into our life, and the first step is simply supporting them financially so that they can exist.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Planting a Garden and the Planet's Health

Although, many have heard of the "Mind-Body-Spirit Connection," Earth is every bit a part of that connection. In this time of overwhelming and converging ecological and social crises, there is a great opportunity for even greater change. We must not be so fearful as to remain unchanged. Our minds, bodies, and spirits all depend on how we see ourselves connected to the Earth.

Monday, January 9, 2012