By Randi Cestaro, CHHC
Soon we’ll gather together to give thanks for the unlimited good that surrounds us. You know what I mean: nature, prosperity, love, faith and an incredible planet that provides so much to us. Wouldn’t it be a shame to upset the balance of it all by overeating on the big day? Read More

Alternative medicine is rapidly becoming part of mainstream American health care. Patients are turning to a wide range of disciplines like acupuncture, iridology, herbal medicine, naturopathy, chiropractic treatment, massage, aromatherapy, homeopathy, and holistic nutrition to discover the underlying causes of illness and disease.

Alternative and holistic health practitioners treat entire energy, blood, and neurological systems in order to allow the body to heal chronic conditions and prevent illnesses. Read More

They say that a dog is man’s best friend. In fact, they are more than that. Pets can improve the health of their owners.

What is it about pets? For one they are loyal and loving. That is why many people take them into their homes in the first place. A pet will show you unconditional love. Read More

By Randi Cestaro, CHHC
www.happyhealing.net

Once you are diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), you begin to realize that it’s a struggle to loose weight; despite the fact that you are exercising and trying to eat right. More then 6 out of every PCOS women is overweight; due to fact that they don’t know the secret to weight loss. Read on to learn the secret.

Consider this example: Amy, my client contacted me after months of trying to loose weight on her own by exercising daily and eating right; or so she thought she was eating right for PCOS. After having a Personal Diet Evaluation with Amy, I was able to zone in on why she was not losing any weight despite all her efforts. After reviewing her diet I was able to see why she was not having any success with weight loss.
Amy was basically following a calorie-restricted diet, which left her feeling hungry and cranky most of the time.

For women with PCOS, counting calories has nothing to do with weight loss; as a matter of fact it can increase your PCOS symptoms. Why, because Amy was not working on main cause of PCOS, hormone and blood sugar stabilization. After Amy completed my PCOS program, she successfully lost weight, and started having regular pain free periods again.

Remember, there are risk associated with being overweight and having PCOS, some of them are:

• higher risk for developing type 11 diabetes
• high cholesterol
• high blood pressure
• sleep apnea

For these reason alone, it’s very important to get your weigh under control with PCOS.
Please continue to read to find out the secret for achieving weight loss with PCOS for good.

Shedding some of the weight can not only help you to feel better about yourself, but also help to alleviate some of your PCOS symptoms. By just shedding 10% of your body weight its possible to begin to have regular periods again.

Often times you can avoid medication by modifying your diet and lifestyle. In addition to seeing a doctor.

If you are someone who suffers from PCOS and is trying to loose weight, try following these simple steps to stabilize your hormone levels and your blood sugar levels:

1. Eat more Protein.
Focusing on protein as the main part of your meal allows for better blood sugar control; along with feeling more satisfied from your meal.
Try starting your meal with eggs, fish, chicken, meat, tofu, etc…and then focusing on the healthy fats, fiber and complex carbohydrate.

2. Add more Fiber to your meals.
Fiber breaks food down more slowly so that sugar (glucose) can enter the blood stream at a slower pace. It is not necessary to measure the amount of fiber in your diet; your body will tell you when you are getting enough. How? You’ll know when you begin to feel fuller for longer periods of time.

Slowly add fiber to your diet with such foods as vegetables, nuts, whole grain breads and cereals, beans and oats. Begin with:

• Wheat germ or ground flax seeds
• Fruits and vegetables
• Dark leafy greens

3. Eat balanced meals.
Balanced foods are rich in nutrients and easy to digest. They promote effortless digestion and create long, gentle rise and falls in blood sugar and insulin. Balanced foods also encourage optimal circulation of oxygen and nutrients to the cells. They are low in fat and cholesterol, and help you maintain your optimum weight.

Some of the most balanced foods include:

• Plant foods rich in complex carbohydrates that produce long-lasting energy without creating elevated blood sugars. They are rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and photochemical that help fight against cancer and are an immune booster. They are also rich in fiber.
• Green and leafy vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, collard greens, kale and mustard greens.
• Sweet vegetables such as parsnips, squash, carrots, onions, sweet potatoes and yams create elevations in blood sugar without causing extreme highs.
• Protein foods (the substance that builds tissues for growth and repair) like red meat, chicken, fish, eggs, beans, nuts, grains and soy.

4. Add more healthy fats to your meals.
Healthy fats play a very important part of your meal, because they help to keep the glycemic load of the food at a lower level. Resulting in better blood sugar control during and after your meal. For example, if you take a high glycemic food such a banana and add a healthy fat to it, like peanut butter then you lowered the glycemic load of the food.

So try to make sure each of your meals contain some form of a healthy fat; such as avocado, oils, nuts and seeds, etc…

5. Only a ¼ cup of a complex carbohydrate to your meals.
By adding only ¼ cup of a complex carbohydrate to your meals ensures that your meals are not to carbohydrate heavy. Try adding ¼ cup cooked quinoa, brown rice, sweet potato, etc… to your meals and notice how much better you feel.

Make a solid effort to incorporate the following suggestions into your meals:

1. Focus on protein as your main part of the meal
2. Add more fiber to your meals
3. Eat balanced meals
4. Add more healthy fats to your meals

All of these suggestions will help you plan your meals better thus resulting in better blood blood sugar control for your PCOS. If you would like to learn “How to Start Eating Healthy for PCOS” immediately, then I recommend you download my MP3 to get you started today.

Click here to learn more about “How to Start Eating Healthy for PCOS”:

If you would like to get your PCOS in remission for good, contact me to schedule your Personal Diet Evaluation at www.happyhealing.net

“I suffered from IBS and PCOS for years and although I thought I was a healthy eater, I was constantly bloated, gassy, had irregular periods and couldn’t lose any weight. Randi helped me tweak my eating habits and my stomach issues went away, lost weight and started having regular periods. I now have so much more energy, zest for life and knowledge about what foods are right for me. With Randi’s support I was able to understand my body better. I couldn’t have done this without her!”
-Lymore, Israel

Hi everyone, Ana Nieto here, our friend Yiska from RedefiningDiet.com wants to share with you a few enlightening ideas for 2010. Enjoy this message.

Here we are in a new year and there’s a certain sense of rebirthing that goes with that newness. The image that keeps appearing in my life is of an egg being hatched. All around me and within me there seems to be a desire for a new self-expression to be birthed. The thing about being born is that it either takes us through a place of extreme constriction and contraction or it feels like a shell around us is cracking and life as we know it seems broken. This is the experience of new life emerging, and it hurts!

Years ago when my weight was at an all time high, my father said to me, why are you burying yourself? Hearing that was both incredibly painful and also one of the biggest gifts of my life, because it was true. My excess fat was a shell I had been using to cover and protect myself. Inside and underneath was a voice wanting, though terrified, to be born. The overeating was like a plug stopping up my desire for self-expression. The fear of wanting and being rejected felt too great. I was so afraid of showing a part of myself that would not be wanted, so sure I was too much! The weight felt protective, but I realized if I tried to stay in the womb forever I would die there. Greeted with the fear of being too much again this week I recognized an even fuller authentic self-expression longing to be birthed.

Also this week, a friend shared her strongly emerging desire to be expressed more fully as a woman, to feel and be more feminine and strong. In that space though, she was experiencing the pain of her imagined limitations, instead seeing herself as fragile and weak. Add to it that she had not been eating or sleeping, her self image of fragility and weakness were slowly being met in reality. Her mind was the contracted place, the place where the certainty she isn’t strong lived. Set up with the intention to protect her and keep her safe in the womb, this belief was both starving the growing chick inside of her and not allowing that possibility emerging within to be born. The cracking egg felt frustrating, stuck, vulnerable, scared, and hopeless.

I think the reason our new year’s resolutions so often fail is because we try to live out a new reality from within the womb, instead of feeding and connecting with the new life that wants to be born and letting it push past our fears and old, limited, constricted self-images. When a resolution stems from an alignment with our emerging self, however bold, our follow through is inevitable. But even when the chick has hatched, it can take some time to stand steady. There is a lot of new learning and practicing involved, so as a loving parent does with any newborn, we need to hold this emerging self both gently and firmly as it learns the ways of its new reality.

So let this be an invitation to connect with your own emerging self. Ask yourself the question, what wants to be born within me? Take a look at where you hold back, where you “starve” yourself or “weigh” yourself down. Allow all that wants to be born in you, your passion, your love, your creativity, your power, your desire, your gift, to be expressed. Seek out your midwife, be it a coach, supportive community, or a good friend, to help you move through the contractions, the thoughts and fears that tell you, it’s too scary, you can’t possibly…, don’t risk it, and dare to truly let yourself give birth to something new this year and watch the “baby weight” melt off! – Yiska