I found this website the other day that has natural at home care recipes for hair, skin, nails, ect.  It is so cool!  The products we buy for our hair can be very expensive and the list of ingredients is ridiculous.  You would have to be a chemist to understand what is in the product.  We might run for the hills and wonder why we have not gone bald!  And, there always seems to be one thing in common with these products.  Most, if not all, contain alcohol which is extremely drying.  I have VERY fragile hair and I constantly battle drying and split ends.  I ride a motorcycle and bicycle and I know that the wind and sun damages my hair. When I wrap my hair up tight and tuck it in the helmet, even that seems to break my hair.  I enjoy swimming and will swim in the lake and streams that we are so blessed to have around us.  But a pool?  Yikes!  The chlorine would eat my hair alive! 

I have spent so much money on high quality products being warned from hairdressers to stay away from the cheaper products on our store shelves.  So, I have used the high dollar stuff, not noticing much difference, yet scared to death of using the store stuff thinking my problem would be much worse. 

So, this natural website was a wonderful discovery!  For deep conditioning, there is a recipe for simply using mayonnaise.  I guess it really isn’t a recipe cuz that is all you use.   According to the recipe, heat up 2 towels on high in the dryer.  Then, while they are heating up, grab some mayonnaise and smear it all into your hair.  Put on a hair baggy and wrap the first towel around your head for 20 minutes.  Then put the 2^nd heated towel on your head for 20 minutes.  Rinse, shampoo and condition.  I did not use the towels, but bagged up my hair and let it sit.  And, guess what.  It worked.  My hair was extremely soft.  For extra shine?  Use a tablespoon (or teaspoon?  I can’t remember) to 4 cups warm water and use as a rinse.  Possible caution!  Watch for bears that might tackle you and lick your head!

Laurie J. Souza

Offering in home personal/group fitness training.

Lauriesimplyfit.com  370-8228

We all have habits or addictions that we pull around.  How many times have we said to ourselves “That’s it!  I’m done with this or that, and I’m quitting….tomorrow” just to have tomorrow come along and we repeat the action.

We realize at that moment we are a slave to whatever it is that we want to quit.  There are so many habits or addictions…eating, smoking, drinking, drugs, biting our nails, negativity, spending money…the list goes on and on.  We want to quit cuz we realize these little things are pulling us down. 

Every night I enjoyed having a glass of wine.  No harm in that, right?  However, I noticed that every morning it seemed to take me awhile to really wake up and be clear minded.  There is no way it could be the wine.  After all, it was only one (rather large) glass!  So, I decided to experiment and skipped my normal glass of wine.  The next morning I woke up and what do you know.  I was clear minded and felt really good.  Hmmmm. 

To break habits or addictions takes small little changes.  Instead of my glass of wine, I replaced it with ice water with lime.  (I guess I really just wanted something a little fancy.)  How many times do we eat when we are not hungry?  Replace it by doing something creative, or read a book.  How about negativity?  Replace every negative thought with a positive one.  I was raised with negativity.  My parents had me pretty much paranoid about people and situations.  I was about 20 and had just become a Christian and still my mind struggled with negativity.  I had a very close friend who was raised in a Christian home tell me “Every time you are worried about something, count your blessings”.  I took his advice, and within 1 week of replacing worried thoughts with thankful thoughts, my mind started to change. 

If you REALLY want to change something in your life, start making little subtle changes.  The little changes will pay off in great big dividends!

Laurie J. Souza

Offering in home personal fitness training

Lauriesimplyfit.com     370-8228

People, this should not have happened in the first place.  Why put yourself through summer after summer of worry about being self conscious in “less than winter covering” when this should be maintained all year around?

Do you think this is easy for me????  I am 5’2 inches tall.  I do not have a lot of body to take in extra calories so therefore it accumulates quite fast on me!  As yes, I yell “unfair”!  I love to eat and have quite the healthy appetite.  My little friend who is smaller than me eats like a little bird and seems quite satisfied.  I would love to have an appetite like a bird, but I follow more after a horse.   Dear people, keeping a regular schedule of exercise and healthful, portion controlled eating is strict discipline for me.   And, it has paid off.  I feel good most everyday, my skin and hair is still in tack, I THINK I think pretty clear (?) and I still fit into my clothes in the summer. 

Anything worth having takes hard work, sacrifice and discipline.  Many of you are disciplined in your work, or taking care of your family and home and yet you fail when it comes to taking care of yourself.  If you do not take care of yourself, it will become more difficult to take care of the things that matter so much to you.  You become worn out, grumpy, and simply do not have the energy to accomplish your goals or attend to the needs of your loved ones.  Women often feel guilty taking time for their selves to exercise.  They feel it takes away from giving to their families.  This is foolishness!  Our families certainly aren’t thinking “Oh, I won’t watch anymore TV. Since it takes away from my relationship with mother!”

So, here’s the plan…make a plan.   Example of a plan….

#1. Put a 1 week goal at the top of the page.  Example:  lose 1 pound in one week.

#2.  Write out the strategy you will take to accomplish that 1 pound loss.

#3.  Map out Monday through Sunday, and check off each day you successfully stuck to your plan.

#4.   At the end of the week, write in “goal accomplish” because with just a slight change, I’m sure you will drop 1 pound in a week.

Now make a new goal for the next week, check your weaknesses and strengths and continue going forward.

Laurie Souza offering in home personal@ or group training

Contact info:  Lauriesimplyfit.com   370-8228

People, this should not have happened in the first place.  Why put yourself through summer after summer of worry about being self conscious in “less than winter covering” when this should be maintained all year around?

Do you think this is easy for me????  I am 5’2 inches tall.  I do not have a lot of body to take in extra calories so therefore it accumulates quite fast on me!  As yes, I yell “unfair”!  I love to eat and have quite the healthy appetite.  My little friend who is smaller than me eats like a little bird and seems quite satisfied.  I would love to have an appetite like a bird, but I follow more after a horse.   Dear people, keeping a regular schedule of exercise and healthful, portion controlled eating is strict discipline for me.   And, it has paid off.  I feel good most everyday, my skin and hair is still in tack, I THINK I think pretty clear (?) and I still fit into my clothes in the summer. 

Anything worth having takes hard work, sacrifice and discipline.  Many of you are disciplined in your work, or taking care of your family and home and yet you fail when it comes to taking care of yourself.  If you do not take care of yourself, it will become more difficult to take care of the things that matter so much to you.  You become worn out, grumpy, and simply do not have the energy to accomplish your goals or attend to the needs of your loved ones.  Women often feel guilty taking time for their selves to exercise.  They feel it takes away from giving to their families.  This is foolishness!  Our families certainly aren’t thinking “Oh, I won’t watch anymore TV. Since it takes away from my relationship with mother!”

So, here’s the plan…make a plan.   Example of a plan….

#1. Put a 1 week goal at the top of the page.  Example:  lose 1 pound in one week.

#2.  Write out the strategy you will take to accomplish that 1 pound loss.

#3.  Map out Monday through Sunday, and check off each day you successfully stuck to your plan.

#4.   At the end of the week, write in “goal accomplish” because with just a slight change, I’m sure you will drop 1 pound in a week.

Now make a new goal for the next week, check your weaknesses and strengths and continue going forward.

Laurie Souza offering in home personal@ or group training

Lauriesimplyfit.com

“Weight loss and alcohol do not go together.  Anyone serious about weight loss should be aware of the sabotaging effects of alcoholic beverages.

A research paper in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition can shed some light on fat metabolism and it’s affected when a person consumes alcohol. Eight men were given two drinks of vodka and sugar-free lemonade. The drinks were spaced 30 minutes apart. Each drink contained less than 90 calories. Fat burning was measured before and after consumption of the drink.

Alcohol Affects Fat Metabolism by Halting Fat Burning

Researchers found that for several hours after drinking the vodka, fat burning in the body decreased by a massive 73%. The researchers also found that only 5% of the alcohol calories were converted to fat. The rest of the alcohol was converted into a substance called acetate. Acetate was measured at 2.5 times the normal value in the vodka drinking participants. This apparently brought fat burning to an almost grinding halt.

It seems that alcohol acts like jet fuel in the body. It surpasses all other forms of fuel in the body to become the main fuel of choice to meet the body’s energy needs. The body stops burning fat or even carbohydrates. It resorts to burning only alcohol until it is completely depleted.

Alcohol Affects Weight Loss by Increasing Appetite

Weight loss efforts are further sabotaged when an alcoholic beverage is consumed with meals.  One such study was published in the International Journal of Obesity. The researchers wanted to find out the effect of consuming wine and beer on the amount of food consumed. 22 non-obese men were served a meal with beer, wine or a carbonated soft drink. The calories consumed were measured.

The researchers concluded that alcoholic beverages and wine in particular, increased the total calories consumed at a meal. The study seems to indicate that the consumption of alcoholic beverages generally increased appetite. So if you take wine with a meal, the study suggests that you would eat more than you would if there was no wine.

Looking at the 2 studies together, the following would be happening to anyone consuming alcoholic beverages;

• Someone consume a glass or two of wine with a meal
• He or she would eat more due to the appetite increasing effects of the wine
• The alcohol consumed would become the body’s main fuel of choice
• The body’s fat burning is reduced massively
• All the calories consumed at the meal are stored as fat. Mind you that one would have eaten more than the amount if he or she had not consumed the wine.

Weight Loss While Drinking Alcohol

Some may argue that they don’t eat when they drink. Well these people would obviously drink more. The alcohol would stay in the blood longer. Their body’s fat burning system would be shut down longer and they would not be much better off.

Anyone consuming alcohol cannot achieve effective weight loss.  Not when the research shows that it decreases fat burning by a massive 70% for a few hours!  You may not have known earlier but at least now you know. Does that mean that you can never drink? Well not really. It’s just that you can’t drink and expect to lose weight at the same time.

Why would you spend an hour on the treadmill to burn 200-300 calories and then bring fat burning to a grinding halt by drinking? To me, it’s synonymous to driving a car with one foot on the accelerator and one foot on the brakes. Remember that the participants of the study only consumed 24 grams of alcohol.

Get yourself down to the body shape that you want. Restrain from alcohol until you are satisfied with the body that you have. Once your body gets used to your new weight, you may indulge in some drinks now and then. But don’t expect any fantastic weight loss while continuing to drink.

Laurie Souza offering in home personal training….lauriesimplyfit.com

A week ago Sunday, my husband and I started out at 10: am on our bikes.  We were trying to get some miles in since we are going to do the upcoming Century ride in Tahoe.  As soon as we got out on the street, you could feel the heat on our backs.  Our goal was to put in 60 miles that day.  Well, we did not make it.  As far as I can remember, I have never had to stop and I did about 2 miles from our house.  I have a pretty strong will, so it was weird that I actually had to stop.  He continued homeward to get the truck and come back to get me.  Just before he got home, he also had to stop twice which is unlike him.  We both had become dehydrated even though we had water bottles on us.  I had never felt dehydrated like that and started to become nauseous on our ride.  It was the first day of a real hot day.  When we finally got home, we crashed on the couch and were zombies.  He and I are in good shape.  However we were not used to the heat and it got us.   

So, what would we have done differently?  Started early in the morning, for one thing.  And, not make our goal 60 miles when we are just starting off!  By the way, we only made 40 miles that day.  And to some of you, 40 miles does not sound like a lot, but we are riding hills.  Also, I have a tendency not to drink water when we are riding even though I carry it.  When I rested by the side of the road, I drank my water and it was hot and gross!  But, within 20 minutes I could have finished my ride. 

We have been on our bikes twice since that horrible ride, and we have done just fine.  We have pretty much adjusted to the heat, but we are riding now in the early evening, about 6: pm.  There is the option of exercising indoors, but since I got my bike I cannot touch the treadmill. 

So, just remember.  Even though you may not be thirsty, you ought to be drinking up the water especially is you are exercising outside.  I “pre-drink” since I hate taking water jugs with me and drinking when I ride.  (But then you may run into the problem of finding a bathroom in the middle of your exercise!)

Laurie J. Souza…offering in home personal fitness training

Lauriesimplyfit.com….370-8228

Because of our culture, many of us and our children suffer from poor self image.  Magazines, television, internet, ECT are filled with beautiful, slender people and recipes for fattening foods!  Look at the old commercial of the beautiful woman eating the gigantic Karl’s junior hamburger day after day and she stays fit and slim.  The media glamorizes not only beauty, but the beauties dining out in elegant places of romance with the rich creamy sauces and desserts overflowing to the brim.  Our reaction of course, when we see these slim and trim examples is “I better go on a diet.”  And then we fall prey to the “merchants of misery” who offer quick fixes through quack remedies and semi-starvation plans.  Their promise: follow our diet and you will look just like the movie stars!”  In addition to being unappetizing and monotonous, many of these diets are ridiculous, expensive and dangerous.    

Why is it our tenancy to look at someone else and wish we had their looks, their hair, their body, their brains, and their personality?  I will tell you why.  Because beauty is what attacks.  Is beauty evil?  Certainly not.  There’s beauty of nature, the sleek look of a car, the beauty of a person.  We learn very young that the “pretty” people are the ones that seem to get all of the attention and respect.  But as we grow older and wiser, we learn that outside beauty is truly skin deep and fades.  If it is a material item like a car, the paint fades and chips away.  If it is beauty in nature, as God’s Word says “the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord stands forever”. 

Obesity usually occurs because of over-indulging. So, if we are overindulging we are paying the price of carrying fat on our bodies.  Then we must make the decision to do something about it simply for our own self respect.  No one else’s. Moderation is the key to all things.  However, when we turn to dieting because we want to look like someone else, or wear sizes that were not meant for our frame, this is where we fall prey to society and what others say are beauty.  All of us have had people make remarks or actions that can make us feel insecure in ourselves.  For example, say a young girl goes on a date with a guy she has had a crush on for months.  While they are sitting together having a soda, she notices that he notices every other pretty girl that passes by.  She then thinks to herself, “I’m not pretty enough to keep his attention.  These girls are so slim.  I need to go on a diet”.  Stay away from people like this, for they are shallow and rude. I once dated this type of person who had a thing about my hair.  It always had to be straight and down.  And, you know what’s funny?  I actually did it!  Yikes! I laugh now, but really, it is not a laughing matter when you live your life for another person’s pleasure.  And think about this.  Would you really want to be with someone that does not love you for what you look like and who you are?  Not me.  I learned the hard way.  God loves you and made you just how you are.  Our job is to take care of this body that He has blessed us with. 

Laurie J. Souza

Offering in home personal fitness training

Lauriesimplyfit.com

 Last week we were on our honeymoon (Yes, I got hitched!) and we loaded up our bikes and headed south on the coast for a whole week of bicycling…well, at least that was our intentions.  But it rained!  My husband Joe was determined to beat the weather so we kept going farther and farther South.  At one time he mentioned San Diego!  Oh well, I don’t care.  I love to ride anyway, especially along the coast line.  By Tuesday the rain finally stopped and WE finally stopped and stayed in Santa Barbara the rest of our trip.  I had never been there.  It is a beautiful town on the coast.  We were able to ride one day which was about 42 miles.  He said the 42 miles were worth 2 days of riding….hmmmm.  Guess I’m a fanatic.  I was hoping for more.

And then for some strange reason, I thought when we returned home, the weather would be done with the rain and be bright and sunny!  Where in the world did I come up with that idea?

So, what to do.  I guess if this continues much longer I will have to put on my gym clothes and hit the treadmill. (Uggg!)  Or maybe be patient and wait it out?  Next week IS June.  At this time last year I was totally tan wearing sleeveless summer dresses!    

Oh look!  As I finish this article the sun just peaked out behind the clouds and shined into my window!  Oh, but now it is getting shadowy again.  Guess I better dig up my shoes.

Laurie Souza

Offering in home personal training

Lauriesimplyfit.com

When you see packaged foods marked low fat, light, ect, beware.  It does not mean that it is better for you, and in my opionion, I think in some products it is worse.  Often times food producers will replace fat with added sugar to make it taste better.  And these low fat or light foods contain large amounts of bad sugars, bad carbohydrates, bad fats, artificial flavors and other chemical agents that bring only empty calories to your body.  Not only that, but most of them are sold in oversized portions. 

Fat in foods produce the feeling of fullness, consequently giving the feeling of satisfaction.  When you choose to eat only low fat foods (processed) you end up eating more calories because you become hungry much faster.  This is why there had been so much success with the Adkins’s diet.  It is high in fat, and very low in health.  Fat is to be eaten within limits, just like anything else.  Moderation is the key. 

When I speak of fat, I am talking about good fats which are found in nuts, cheese, olive oil, animal and dairy products.  I am not talking about the chunk of fat attached to that rib eye steak, which I must admit I eat.  Yep.  I take a bite of straight fat with a bite of meat.  Healthy?  No.  But I do not eat steak that often and when I do I enjoy!  Anyone who enjoys a steak with me is quite surprised since they are cutting off and eliminating the fat and I am asking for theirs!

Unless you are a vegetarian, pick a variety of foods.  Use fresh vegetables and fruits instead of canned or frozen.  Right now the little fruit and vegetable stands are up all around us.  Also the farmers market is going on in our town and also Chico.  It is fun and feels good to buy straight from the growers.  And, they usually have fresh beautiful flowers!

Use butter instead of margarine.  Margarine is made up of chemicals…yuck!  Your body burns natural foods naturally.  Chemicals in processed foods are nothing more than poisons that we put in our body. 

Eat clean.  Exercise.  Be happy!

Laurie Jones

Offering in home personal fitness training

Lauriesimplyfit.com