The Office: healthy energy tips for your day at work

You may not work at Dunder Mifflin with a charming boss like Michael Scott, but you might need some extra boosts to help get you energized throughout your work day. Here ya go...

LEAVE YOUR DESK

And, if possible, leave your building. This can be difficult to do, especially when no one else at your office does, or when you have a pile of work that must be done today. But guess what? That work will always be there, and so will the people with unhealthy habits. You can't let either determine how you take care of yourself. The number one way to have an energetic lunch is to actually take a lunch. Remove yourself from your work environment – even if it's just for 15 minutes – and give your brain and body the break you need to return refreshed, energized and ready to tackle your afternoon. Get in a brisk walk or catch a cat nap if you need to.

WATER

Unless you have been sipping 3-4 glasses of water throughout the morning, you are probably already dehydrated, and even more so if you are a morning coffee or tea drinker. Our bodies are 2/3 water, and without replenishing your supply, you will feel tired and worn out – and you will look like it, too. Every energetic lunch should include a large glass of water. Soda, coffee and tea have no place at your lunch table. You can also bring freshly prepared juice to work you make morning of or night before and freeze. Go to http://www.marlyjones.com/JuicingArticle.html if you need help with Juicing.

LEAN PROTEIN

Without lean protein on your lunch plate, you will not be able to sustain energy until dinnertime. Grilled chicken or grilled fish are great choices for lunchtime and can be easily gleaned from last night's leftovers and perched atop a salad (see below) for maximum energy levels. No leftovers and no time to cook? Keep a few organic boiled eggs on hand for those times that you need protein-to-go. Or consider keeping a nutrient rich protein powder with you at work. This one is probably my fave:

http://www.marlyjones.com/fitness/TotalVegan.html

GREEN SPACE

Fiber is filling and beneficial to your digestive system, and a lunch salad is an ideal way to give yourself the vitamins and minerals you need. Pack your salad the night before, and pile on the leafy greens, other fresh vegetables, walnuts and almonds, stout cheeses – craft a colorful salad that you will look forward to and enjoy. To save time, prep all your veggies before the week begins so they are ready to go when you are. Here's another handy option to get your greens in you (and your kiddos)...

http://www.marlyjones.com/nutrition_diet/PowerFruits&Veggies.html

FRUIT

Add a washed piece of seasonal whole fruit to your lunch box: Apples, bananas, oranges, plums, nectarines and peaches all work well. This piece of fruit can be saved as an afternoon snack for those of us who like to eat all day long – just make sure to eat a handful of nuts along with it. Eating carbohydrates alone without any protein or fat will make your energy crash shortly thereafter; strive to never eat carbohydrates alone.

CHOCOLATE

A small piece of good chocolate at the end of your lunch will elevate your mood without delivering a whopping dose of sugar that will upset your body's balance. After such a healthy lunch, you can indulge. Choose a small square of dark chocolate and have some antioxidants along with your cocoa fix.

The trick to enjoying an energetic lunch is to plan on it. Healthy lifestyles don't just happen, and if you want to have energy throughout the day, prepare a lunch that will sustain you long before the hunger pains arrive.

Stress Detox

Are you stressed? Or should I simply ask, "Do you have a pulse?" Most people are either in the midst of major stress or recovering. How do you handle stress? Here are a few li'l stress busters I've rounded up:

Early Morning:

Whole Grain Cereal

Whole grains are complex carbohydrates that help increase serotonin levels, the chemical that makes you happy. Exercising will also help your body produce more serotonin.

Orange Juice

The vitamin C in orange juice will boost your immune system when you’re exposed to stress. It also strengthens your blood vessels, promoting overall health.

Black Tea

Independent studies show that black tea can actually reduce the effects of stressful events, but it takes about 4 cups a day.

Mid-Morning:

Snack on Walnuts

Walnuts are the best source of the amino acid arginine. Recent studies have uncovered a link between arginine and nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a compound that has a relaxing effect on blood vessels, therefore improving blood flow. Walnuts are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which help lower your blood pressure.

Early Evening:

Listen to Classical Music

Research shows that listening to 30 minutes of music, especially classical musical produces the equivalent of taking 10 milligrams of Valium, a powerful medication with a calming effect. The average dose of Valium is 2 – 10mg multiple times a day, depending on the reason for treatment.

After Dinner:

Wash the Dishes

Doing a repetitive task will help you relax. Getting into a routine will help lower your heart rate and blood pressure, and slow your breathing.

Right Before Bed:

Read a Book

Reading for 6 minutes slows your heart rate and releases tension in your muscles.

Want to know my all time best form of stress relief? Here it is....
http://www.marlyjones.com/detox/StressDetoxCD.html

Are you a snothead? Detox those nasty allergies & boogers!!

I was reading last week that Tulsa and Oklahoma City were both in the top ten worst states to live in for allergies. Nice. Makes sense though... I never knew an allergy until I moved here in 1992. If our systems are clear of toxins and our liver especially is functioning at full capacity -allergies do not exist. Add in the airborne stresses of our environment and its one more thing to make us sluggish, snotty and hating allergy season.
Several years ago I ran across THE BEST nasal spray. I probably first learned about it because I wanted something safe for newborns. It's Xlear Nasal Spray. I've sent clients all over town to get some at clinics and health food stores but now I have it in my MarlyJones.com store.
The Xylitol in the spray is a natural sugar alcohol (it's in fruit and vegetables and even is made in our bodies) that bacteria and allergens are drawn to. It washes away pollutants, irritants and airborne contaminants. If you are needing to use an rx nasal spray - Xlear -even soothes sinuses and nasal passages as it detoxes...so it's great to use along with another spray.
You can use Xlear as often as needed. It's of course a tiny bit sweet so kids don't mind using it as a mist or even as drops if you need to tilt head back and use it that way. When my kids have been really congested this is how I have to get it up their li'l noses so the xylitol can go to work on those boogers. Nobody likes a "snothead" - especially if it's you!

Wealth & Hellness or Health & Wellness?

I was getting tongue tied this morning while trying to say, "health and wellness" and what I actually said is what truly describes the painful experiences I have heard about from family and friends this week. Too many people are trading a life of health and wellness for one of wealth and "hellness".
We all know that money doesn't buy happiness and the love of it is the root of all evil. But I'm not just talking about money here. For some, wealth is oftentimes tangible - what we "got" - house, car, savings, fashion trends - but I'd like to also include job title, who we associate with, goals we've achieved, etc. There is nothing wrong with any of these things as long as it's not what we find our purpose and identity in...and not what we think we did in order to get.
I want to challenge you to check your level of humility and how that affects your self concept, esteem and identity. Some might automatically think that having humility or being humble means being lowly. Instead, I want to challenge you to see that every little cell in your body and every little accolade you have accomplished -all came from -and because of- the one who created you.
True humility comes when you're dead to self and alive to God. It manifests when your own self-interests are gone, and you're focused only on the purposes of God.
With that in mind I think our motives for what we do with our day, how we treat others and how we see ourselves as well as others will be modified. It's no longer about me or because of me. It's a mindset or belief system that will transform you from wealth and hellness to health and wellness.

Are you an emotional eater?

Hey ! - you are a precious person - body, mind and spirit! – We all need to be aware that eating a pint of ice cream isn’t health producing to the body - BUT - the guilt over eating it also is an energy robber and oftentimes worse than the empty calories! Negative emotions can suck the life right out of you. If and when this happens - let it go and move on – next time just do better!

I believe we need to sincerely look at why we are not living healthy and fit and uncover the underlying reasons. Are we emotional eaters? When you were a child did a grown up offer you food as a comfort or reward? I'll bet you if that happened to you it was a piece of candy and not an apple, wasn't it? This conditioned and taught your body and your mind and emotions to use food to handle an emotion that was either positive or negative.

Food and nutrition is what our body's need to function and thrive. It should not be a band-aid or a form of reward. I'm not saying we shouldn't enjoy food as we celebrate moments in life - just make quality food choices when you do! That's even more to celebrate in itself - eating right for health and wellness!!

Here's another example of how conditioned we've become -most people when they get a headache, for example, do not look back and consider the poor food they ate or the environmental toxins they exposed themselves to. Instead they pop a pill and hope the headache “goes away”. However, your body creates symptoms to get your attention that something is wrong. Headaches are a result of some toxin within the body – this may be a greasy hamburger, alcohol, birthday cake, a virus, or even a toxic emotion such as anger for that matter. I guarantee that your headache is not a result of your body having a Tylenol deficiency. Keeping your food and symptom journal will also help you to stay on track - making good healthy choices for you and your body.

Light Bulb Moments

I was having one of those over-the-fence visits this past week with a friend. I was rambling on about something someone did towards me over five years ago. Usually I am quite careful about keeping a tight lip when someone upsets me because, of course, I am bigger than that. As the words of resentment and anger rolled off my tongue I began to really hear myself talking. Apparently I had really not forgiven this person nor had I moved on from there. Granted, there are "toxic" people in our lives - we all have them - perhaps you can "unfriend" some but oftentimes its family and you're in it for life.
A couple of weeks ago I heard myself talking at that particular time about myself and I had another light bulb moment. Whether it has been an offense by someone else or how I felt toward myself - both were obviously still robbing my energy - stealing my vitality - whatever you want to call it - my negative thoughts and feelings have been like a subtle- yet strong- poison.
The problem with not processing life experiences and how they affect our thoughts and feelings can be blamed for many physical ailments and diseases. As humans we are conditioned by our learned behaviors which essentially become our reality. Yes we are really not any different than Nobel Prize winner, Ivan Pavlov's dogs. The good news is we can also benefit from a little Pavlovian training ourselves by reframing our experiences and changing our outlook towards ourselves, others or even the stimulus in our lives that's acting like that subtle -yet strong- poison.
When someone hurts us or we have a traumatic experience our brains mark it. Consciously it might make no sense at all when we feel that fight or flight response when all is logically fine and dandy. But our brains and our bodies can lock it in whether we want to or are aware of it or not. Sometimes our "on button" gets stuck in and we remain on high alert - even with a thought of the experience or a simple phone call from the "perpetrator".
May is Lupus Awareness month. It is a horrible auto-immune disease. I have done much study on the subject of auto-immune disease. I see a consistent underlying issue - and it lies in the basis of unforgiveness, resentment and self hate. I have watched someone I am very close to and love go into "flare ups" whenever her emotions are upset. Being offended, a sick pet, loss of a friend, an unexpected bill in the mail - it's similar to the flight or flight response - yet it is turned inward. It wreaks havoc in the body on a cellular level. This can last for a long time - incessant torturous pain.
My youngest son was out playing basketball with the neighborhood boys this past weekend. One of the boys is considerably bigger than him - and the only one who happened to be wearing shoes. Sure enough he stepped hard on my son's foot causing him considerable pain and anguish. After a while crying and resting his iced foot on the couch he went back out to play. This time they were playing football and the same boy kicked him in the leg and the pain and anguish started all over again. Now -yes -boys are competitive - even my little 6 year old. But I know the "perpetrator of pain" and I think he's just more clumsy than he is mean. After we spent a little time talking it out between the two of them and apologies being made -the realization sank in for my son that the other boy does not have it in his heart to hurt him - my son began to feel better. Yes- you got it -the pain dramatically left and harmony with the world returned. Off to play again.
There are always 2 sides to every story. So often we get stuck in our messy perceptions. Has this ever happened to you where another person from year's past stomped on your foot and kicked you in the knee? Over the years have you been doing it to yourself? If you've ever had someone you should be able to trust offend or hurt you or didn't protect you- sometimes we wind up believing the lie that something must be wrong with me and I deserved it.
We need to get a new light bulb moment - one that detoxifies our perceptions. To know that each of us are deeply loved and accepted - by others, ourselves and by the one who created us. Here's to your light bulb moment(s) this week! I'm rooting for you.

raw vegan cheesecake recipe

Oh my goodness I have found a new love. I have always loved cheesecake. Today I tried a new recipe - Raw Vegan Cheesecake. I must refrain from eating it all up b/c with all those nuts - it is high in fat - good fats ... but still -fat. I also love key lime pie - so this is a perfect dessert for me !

Ingredients: Crust

2 cups of macadamia nuts
Half a cup of fresh, pitted dates

Method:

Put the dates and macadamia nuts in the food processor and process until it has formed a thick mixture that easily binds together. Remove from the processor and pat down into a pie dish. Place in the freezer to set.

Ingredients: Cheese

3 cups of cashews (soaked in water for an hour)
3 peeled lemons
1 cup date honey (or agave nectar)
1x tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Place all the ingredients into your blender and blend. Spoon this mixture on top of the macadamia and date crust. Place this into the freezer to set.

Ingredients: Topping:

500g Frozen Mango

Method:

Blend the mango (without adding any water), until a thick ice cream consistency is formed. Using a spatula carefully add a thin layer to the top of the cheesecake (only add the topping when the crust and cheese are properly set). Return to the freezer for roughly an hour and then serve.

Be careful not to leave the cheesecake in the freezer too long. The pie must be nicely set, but NOT frozen.