What do I have to lose?

I have yet to meet someone who likes being overweight. Yet, in our modern society, obesity is like an epidemic. People seem to simply settle for a sedentary lifestyle of television, fast food and reliance on a vehicle to travel two blocks for a sugar saturated soft drink. Gone are the days where kids had phys ed in schools. Today, in South Africa, they award national colours in "sports" such as computer gaming and text messaging. We have gone from generation x to the "push button" generation. This new grouping is characterized by lack of exercise and a diet that can, literally, kill you.

While we all need to get more active, we need to make a concerted effort to change our mindsets. An adage comes to mind which has never been more true --- you are what you eat. My previous entry pointed out certain inhibitors to weight loss in women. While these are not to be discounted, for most of the rest of us, it ultimately does come down to a proportion of calorie intake as opposed to how many are burned up through our individual rate of activity.

Diets, while being able to curb the synthesis of carbohydrates into fat, cannot effectively burn excess fat while retaining lean muscle mass. For most average adults, the demands on our time don't allow for us to get the adequate exercise we need. Mannatech has found a way, through exploiting whey protein peptide technology, to maximize our bodies' ability to do what before was considered implausible. Enter OsoLean.

OsoLean Powder does what most diets cannot. It allows your body to burn excess fat while retaining lean muscle mass. We need Lean Muscle mass to Burn Fat!

OsoLean has four smart active mechanisms to help target fat Loss:

1. It Increases Fat Metabolsim which means less new fat is stored.
2. It Helps to convert protein into Lean Muscle mass.
3. It Helps control your appetite, you will feel fuller longer.
4. It Tells your body to convert existing stored fat into energy.

While we'll never eliminate our innate need to be active, it's nice to know that now, by incorporating Mannatech's revolutionary whey protein peptide technology, a little can go a long way.

4 surprising reasons women can't lose weight

This is an article I came across on the internet. While I usually write my own copy, or most of it, this piece by Jennifer Benjamin, published on Health.com (August 11, 2010), seemed perfect for this type of blog. I hope you find this as informative as I did...

If you're doing everything "right" and can't seem to lose weight, you may have a hidden health condition.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• An underactive thyroid can disrupt metabolism and other aspects of health
  
• Eating a "trouble food" can lead to bloating and water-weight gain
  
• Weight gain can be an unwelcome side effect of some drugs

(Health.com) -- Most of us already know that eating less and moving more are the keys to dropping extra pounds. But if you're already doing everything "right" and can't seem to lose weight -- or are even gaining it -- you may have a hidden health condition that's sabotaging your efforts. And the symptoms may be so subtle that even your doctor can miss them. Here, some possible weight-loss blockers -- and how to get the help you need.

A Sluggish Thyroid
Your thyroid gland makes hormones that regulate the way your body uses energy. An underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) disrupts your metabolism, as well as many other aspects of your health. Some estimate that as many as 10 percent of adults have hypothyroidism, which is more common in women and is most often diagnosed in the 40s and 50s.

Could this be you? Besides weight gain or an inability to lose weight, you may notice fatigue, hair loss, dry skin, joint pain and muscle weakness, heavy periods, increased sensitivity to cold, even depression. Many people with low-grade hypothyroidism just feel "off," with no obvious signs of being truly sick.

How to get tested: Ask your internist to run a TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) screening. In general, the higher your TSH level, the slower your thyroid is. "While traditional 'normal' values are between .45 and 4.5, if your level is above 2, you might still struggle to lose weight," explains Dr. Jamie Kane, M.D., medical director of Park Avenue Medical Weight and Wellness in New York City. Your doctor may also want to check your levels of T-3 and T-4, the two main thyroid hormones. But hypothyroidism isn't always a straight numbers game; more and more doctors are now treating the symptoms, not just the blood-test results. "If a patient isn't feeling well, it's often because her thyroid isn't functioning as well as it should for her body," says Dr. Erika Schwartz, M.D., an internist in New York City.

How it's treated: Your doc will usually start by prescribing a low-dose T-4 thyroid hormone like Synthroid. If your symptoms don't improve, discuss upping your dosage or switching to a combination of T-3 and T-4.

Health.com: 25 diet-busting foods you should never eat

Out-of-Whack Hormones
As many as 1 in 10 women of childbearing age have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition in which a woman's ovaries produce an excess of male hormones. In addition to causing ovulation problems and infertility, PCOS may go hand-in-hand with insulin resistance, a glitch in the way your body processes blood sugar, which is often associated with excess fat storage, especially around the waist. Left untreated, insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes.

Could this be you? You may have irregular periods, excess facial and body hair, acne, some male pattern balding, and trouble getting pregnant, along with unexplained weight gain (though not everyone with PCOS has weight issues).

Health.com: How carbs can help you lose weight

How to get tested: Your gynecologist or internist can test your levels of sex hormones for an imbalance of testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen, says Dr. David Katz, M.D., director of the Yale Prevention Research Center. She may then test your blood sugar and insulin levels or perform an ultrasound to check for cysts on your ovaries.

How it's treated: Lifestyle changes are usually the first step. If you're already eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly, you may have to kick it up another notch to see results. If you have insulin resistance, Katz says, you'll also want to cut out refined carbs and added sugars. If you've made these changes and still don't notice a difference, your doc may prescribe a drug called metformin, which is used to treat insulin resistance as well as assist with ovulation (if you're trying to get pregnant).

Health.com: America's healthiest superfoods for women

Trouble-Making Foods
Most people know if they're allergic to certain foods like nuts or shellfish, but many aren't aware of food intolerances. While a true food allergy results when your immune system mistakenly identifies a food as harmful and mounts an immediate response, food intolerances can have a variety of causes, including lack of a certain digestive enzyme (as with lactose intolerance) or sensitivity to food additives, and tend to manifest over time, says Dr. Elizabeth W. Boham, M.D., R.D., a family practitioner at The UltraWellness Center in Lenox, Massachusetts. Eating a "trouble food" -- the most common being dairy, gluten, eggs, soy, corn and nuts -- can lead to bloating and water-weight gain, among other symptoms. Experts estimate that food intolerances affect as many as 1 in 10 people.

Could this be you? You may regularly have bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation -- as well as seemingly unrelated symptoms like mild asthma, eczema, headaches, muscle and joint pain, and fatigue.

Health.com: The 50 fattiest foods in the states

How to get tested: An internist or gastroenterologist can help you diagnose the problem, but you can begin to figure it out for yourself through an elimination diet. Boham suggests that you start by removing gluten and dairy (these are the biggest culprits) from your diet for two to three weeks. If you don't notice a difference, also eliminate eggs, corn, soy, and nuts, and consider nixing additives such as food coloring and preservatives. After a few weeks, slowly reintroduce the possible culprits, one at a time, noting any reactions.

How it's treated: If the reaction is severe, you'll need to cut the offending food from your diet. For mild reactions, try a daily probiotic supplement, which restores the good bacteria in your gut necessary for digestion and can help prevent bloating and water weight gain. Boham recommends one with at least 10 billion live bacteria per pill.

Pills That Pack on Pounds
Weight gain can be an unwelcome side effect of some drugs, including antidepressants, steroids, and, more rarely, birth-control pills (due to a temporary increase in water retention).

Health.com: What to do when the drugs you need also put on the pounds

Could this be you? You may notice weight gain within a few weeks of starting a new medication, though it could take several months before you see any effects, Kane says.

How to get tested: No special test is needed; you know if you're gaining weight.

How it's treated: Talk to your doctor, who may be able to prescribe an alternative. In the case of anti-depressants, bupropion has been shown to cause less weight gain and possibly even lead to weight loss. With birth control pills, switching to a version with a lower dose of hormones might minimize weight gain. But remember, treating the condition you're taking the drug for is your biggest priority, so you should never go off any meds on your own.

Why I do what I do

Growing up, we are all told stories. Fairytales mostly but tales that inspire us to be more than what we are. I must have been about 6 years old when I knew what I wanted to do with my life. Other kids were still pretending to be cowboys or indians, astronauts in galaxies far, far away. I wanted to be a doctor. I might not have known back then what it was to be a doctor but I knew one thing for sure. Doctors make sick people well again, and made a lot of money. For me, that was a win-win situation. Of course, everyone dreams of being wealthy. Thinking as a 6 year old, this invoked dreams of candy bars or a new bike. I suppose boys don't ever really change in this, even as we get older. Yet, even back then, I knew that I wanted my life to matter. Making sick people feel better just seemed right. The thought of it felt good.

Skip forward to the present. My life has thrown a few curve balls at me that I couldn't have foreseen or imagined when I began mapping out my life. I broke my neck at the age of 16 and, being confined to a wheelchair, I furiously started looking my "plan B"; something that I could do that made me feel as good as those daydreams of my childhood. I have studied for 3 different qualifications. Business, Psychology, Computer Science. While I could probably have been successful at any one of them, they all seemed to fall woefully short of my boyhood ambitions. I've searched high and low. I've worked in fund raising, import/export, and traded on the stock market. Empty, empty, empty! Some could (and have) quite rightly have called me a hopeless under-achiever. I suppose I'm pig-headed that way but I'm not prepared to settle for anything less than first prize and selling the hours of my life, doing something I don't love, just seems like mediocrity. Nothing about me has ever aspired to being mediocre.

This year I turned 37. This year I found my "plan B". A friend of mine approached me with a "business opportunity". Now, to fill in a gap here... this was not the first time I'd been approached like this. As a student, I was involved in network-, or multi level- marketing with a $7 billion-a-year company. They gave me "the pitch", signed me up with "a pack" and told me to go "pitch packs" to others. This way, I could "build a business of my own" and "see financial rewards beyond my wildest dreams!" I did this for about 6 months. What they hadn't told me, of course, was how much money it would cost me simply to find my feet. Tapes, books, hype filled presentations, everything cost money. It was at one of these "sell at all cost" presentations where I heard my 6 year old self ask me the one pertinent question I'd been avoiding: "How are you making others feel better?" I couldn't ignore this and a week later I walked away.

So here I am doing multi-level marketing again. The company is Mannatech. Most of the "carrots" dangled in front of me are the same. So what, you may ask, has changed? Well, the size of the company, for a start. Mannatech only does $500,000 turnover a year, and has only been around for about 15 years. It's listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, but is considered a "penny stock" (Their code is MTEX). So why would I choose them? Compared to the other company, they're "small potatoes"? It was my 6 year old self that smiled. Finally, I'd found a way to really help other people to feel better. Mannatech's products are supplements that promote wellness. Whether someone feels better about themselves having lost weight using OsoLean, or maybe feels relief from muscle and joint pain having tried Bounce Back, or just feels more vitalised and generally healthy, having discovered the miraculous glyconutrients in Ambrotose, I feel good about myself having had the opportunity to share these products with them. Whatever life throws at me from now on. Wherever it takes me, I'll stick with this. Mannatech was the answer to my prayers.

Brain food... for real!

Did your mother ever get you to swallow cod liver oil as a kid, saying that "the worse it tastes, the better it is for you"? That stuff was vile, both in smell as well as in taste. Ironically, it turns out, she was right about one thing: it was good for you. Certain fish sourced oils are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and adding these to your diet is sure to improve your overall health, especially your heart and brain health.

Omega-3 essential fatty acids are vital to long-term health, but because your body can’t make them on its own, you must get them through the foods you eat. At one time this was fairly easy, but in this day of commercial farming and grain-fed livestock, omega-3s are no longer plentiful in our common foods. Certain species of fish are good sources of omega-3s, but contaminants and pollution in our oceans and water-ways can make getting them in this way a bit risky.

Essential Source Omega-3 features a proprietary, two-step molecular distillation process ensuring ultra-purity. Mannatech’s Essential Source Omega-3 surpasses quality and purity standards for fish oil supplements adopted by the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the Global Organization for EPA and DHA (GOED), and the U.S. Pharmacopeia. A serving of Mannatech’s Essential Source Omega-3 provides 1110 milligrams of EPA and DHA and provides the following health benefits: helps support cardiovascular and heart health; provides support for healthy triglyceride levels already within normal levels; helps maintain healthy blood lipid levels; helps support healthy blood platelet function; and helps support brain function and health.*

You'll also be happy to know that this product has virtually no fishy aftertaste and is, instead, imbued with a pleasant lemony citrus flavour to avoid any kind of reflux. It's also highly recommended for pregnant or nursing mums to ensure your baby the maximum benefit during early development.

Oh, to breathe freely

One of the small blessings in my life is that I hardly ever get sick. The down side to this is that when I actually do get a cold, or God forbid, flu, it hits me like a ton of bricks. Because of the fact that I'm a quadruplegic, I don't have much control over my abdominal muscles and this poses a huge problem --- I can't cough. A chest infection can therefore see me into a hospital bed, or worse. A cold has got implications for me that it wouldn't have for others. Physiotherapy, antibiotics... it's a bit like swatting a fly with a wrecking ball. Fortunately, I have discovered Mannatech's Manna-C, a product I'll never have far from me again.

Mannatech’s Manna-C herbal dietary supplement is designed to support your nasal and sinus health by nutritionally supporting your body’s natural ability to regulate histamine—the cause of much nasal and sinus discomfort, not to mention reactions to allergens.

This special formulation delivers an herbal blend that includes lemon verbena, sage, peppermint and other herbs containing additional phytonutrients. Manna-C also contains natural forms of vitamin C from Australian bush plum and acerola, wild fruits that are considered two of nature’s richest sources of this vitamin.

The Ambrotose complex in Manna-C combines saccharides needed for optimal health with an herbal blend that yields natural sources of vitamin C. It also furnishes additional nutrients used to support mast cell function.

Skin care with a twist

Whenever I read blogs relating to skin care products the emphasis is always on issues like "Is the product preservative free?" or "Is the product hypo allergenic?". These are important points to some, so I'll address them right off the bat. Mannatech's products constitute the first 100% Preservative Free Skin Care System, called the Optimal Skin Care System. This unique system is water-based, and developed with seven preservative free products to cleanse, nourish and refine the skin.

Mannatech’s Optimal Skin Care System produces dramatic results, offering incredible moisutrization, hydration and skin radiance, all aimed at improving the cellular health of the skin. The secret to offering preservative-free skin care is the tensa “heavenly” water. This water was discovered by Haru Naito, a world class swimmer from Japan. He discovered that water from the Hunza Valley strips harmful toxins and provides mineral enrichment as well as preservative qualities. Research shows that this water hydrates the skin more adequately than other filtered waters, providing a conduit for nourishment to the skin. Hydrated skin doesn’t just look smoother and healthier, it’s also better able to function as a barrier against the environment and other agressors, such as free-radicals.Is 100% Preservative Free Skin Care a Reality?

Is 100% Preservative Free Skin Care a Reality?

The Optimal Skin Care System is not only preservative-free, it’s also fragrance-free, colorant-free, non-comedogenic, allergy tested, and opthalmologist tested. The Mannatech Optimal Skin Care System is simple to use and is developed for adults of all ages, all skin types, and for both men and women.

My own experience with Emprizone, in particular, has been nothing short of miraculous. I am prone to developing pressure sores. Anyone who has ever been tasked with caring for the elderly, or like me, has been confined to a wheelchair will, no doubt, know where I'm coming from. These lesions are nasty and take forever to heal. Well, since applying Emprizone to my pressure sores, I have been astounded at the speed of healing that has taken place. I have heard similar accounts with regards to burns, rashes etc and can't recommend the product highly enough. Mannatech go to great lengths to tell customers how their products aren't to be considered medication or how they don't cure ailments. While I understand the need for disclaimers, in this instance, I truly believe that they're being extremely modest.