So that is why women talk so much!

We know it's healthy!

Idle chit chat may seem like waste of time, but it turns out, it's not! Ten minutes of talking, regardless of the topic, can actually improve your overall memory and mental sharpness, according to a study by the University of Michigan.

Source: Live Well: How to connect; Womans' Day Magazine June 17, 2008

Happy Earth Day!

In celebration of Earth Day ….. ways to "go green" easily, and in a matter of minutes.

Pull the plug. When you turn an appliance off, pull the plug. Even when turned off, an appliance uses 40% of its power. You'll reduce your carbon emissions and save on your electric bills, too.

Skip the bags. When you are buying fresh fruits and veggies, skip the plastic bag they offer up and just take them home in their skin. Plastic bags like these take over a thousand years to decompose, and paper bags take about a month. Also, buy local produce whenever possible. Not only is it great for the local farmer, but it saves fuel costs for transporting your products across the nation.

Swap your bulbs. Swap your incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent ones. Not only do they last either times longer, but they use less energy. The next time a bulb burns out, replace it with the fluorescent and you'll save money and the earth!

Do something kind for the earth today – pick up litter, plant a flower, or take a shorter shower to save water. Mother Earth will thank you. It's also a great way to get out and enjoy this beautiful Spring weather!

It's Official! Twenty four weeks from this week!!!

I’ve been training already, but today is the “official” kickoff of training for the Michigan Breast Cancer Three Day walk. Walk week is 24 weeks from this week – hooray!!!

Check out my Three Day site at http://08.the3day.org/goto/tracyjerome

Please consider making a donation while you are there. Every single dollar counts – yours could be the one that funds the cure!

Five top cancer fighting moves:
1. Stay at a healthy weight
2. Add at least ten minutes of walking each day
3. Get your five a day of fruits and vegetables, and make it a colorful variety
4. Don’t smoke, and avoid second hand smoke
5. Limit your alcohol intake

Good foods to eat to protect against a variety of cancers: canned beans, broccoli, carrots, coffee, red or purple grapes, lemons, mushrooms, cranberries and yogurt.

Also, wear sunscreen – even when you are driving in your car, test your home for radon, and use safe, healthy products in your home. Contact me for the scoop on how you can do that and save money!

When life gives you lemons … pass!

I have always told people to get the lemon for your water – it's extra antioxidants, I always say. The restaurant has them cut and nicely balanced on the side of your glass, oh so sweetly. Do every one little healthy thing that is easy – the way that I try to live – fit in the healthy stuff here and there, simply, and it will all make an impact. So, now I get this email today and it makes me want to puke on my fuzzy, warm, black and pink striped slipper socks that my Mom got me for my birthday.

As if it isn't enough that restaurant plates and silverware aren't exactly … clean to my standards. And the bathrooms are revolting most of the time. So, now this lovely video I was sent today takes the cake. And I don't mean lemon cake, either!

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/3/4/beware-of-lemon-slices-in-your-restaurant-drinks.aspx

So ... skip that whole antioxidant thing that I said. Take an extra vitamin, or eat a lemon when you get home from the restaurant. Fecal matter?? Seriously?????

Go nuts for the healthy nut!

Almonds are so delicious and so healthy for you! Do you know that almonds are the most nutritious of all nuts? They contain calcium and magnesium for strong bones, and may help lower cholesterol. They have protein, which helps fill you up and rebuilds muscles and also vitamin E and folic acid to boot!

They've helped me in my weight loss goals. I snack on them when I need a boost of energy and that feeling good kind of feeling. They are not low fat – but most of the fat they do contain is the "good" kind – the monounsaturated – hooray!!!! And just an ounce – it has the health benefit, but won't make your calorie count soar.

Almond butter is also delicious. We began to eat it in my house because it is allergy-free, but continue to eat it because it is delicious! It is sweeter than peanut butter and for all of the reasons I have already listed, it is better for you too. It is higher in vitamin e and fiber – and we all know that fiber helps fill you up and clear you out!! It's about the same in calories but I think it has better taste!

More interesting nutritious info can be found here: http://www.nutsforalmonds.com/nutrition.htm

I encourage you to go nuts for this delicious, healthy nut!

Hard core vs. soft core double dipping rant!

Many of you know me in "real life" and know one of my pet peeves. I am freakishly stunned when people dip food into mutual food containers. I am not talking about double dipping as in sticking your half eaten carrot back into the container of ranch dip. I am talking about the act of having dipped the carrot into the dip in the first place.

I believe God gave us spoons to put into dips and the like so we could serve some up to our own plate for our own private dipping. My friends laugh at it whenever we are together and food is being served (which is pretty much any time we are together, duh!!) but it seriously revolts me. A member of my extended family (who shall remain nameless to save public shame) once dipped a potato chip directly into the crock pot of sloppy joes I had made for my son's birthday party. Yummy – there is nothing like my eating your potato chip crumbles in my sloppy joe. Revolting. Worse so is actual double dipping – unbelievably gross. If I saw actual double dipping into food – or even suspected it, you could be un-invited from the next food consumption event! HAH!

So, if you are over at my house and food is being served, please use the spoons or other appropriate apparatus to put dip or food onto your own plate. I'll be grateful, since I will then be able to continue to serve and eat the food I have so lovingly prepared. And, for the record, yes, at certain functions with certain offenders, I have been known to scoop some of the foods out first and put them on my plate in the fridge so I can still enjoy them later in the party.

Wondering what triggered this rant today? I read this in the July 2006 Readers' Digest and it blew my mind. This is the hard core double dipping – not the soft core dipping I am equally repulsed by:

"Fast Fact>> 46% of men and 31% of women admit to double dipping chips at parties."

Source: American Dietetic Association

Don't be "green washed!"

It seems that more and more people are trying to be “green.” This is a good thing for a lot of reasons – besides how good it is for our bodies and our planet, I love and appreciate the business it brings to me! Even so, you have to be careful. A lot of companies are getting on the green bandwagon, and them and their products are actually quite far from it.

Paraphrased from this weekend’s USA Weekend Magazine about “green fakers”:

1. Do your homework. If a company with a bad environmental history suddenly starts saying its green, check out the facts.
2. Buy goods labeled “post consumer recycled content” – not just “recycled”. The former tells you that it uses the products you so diligently place in your recycle bin.
3. Look for certification – words like “bio-degradable are not government assigned.

A note from me on number three …. I am not particularly fond of some government certifications on products. All that really says is that the company was willing to pay the price for the graphic, in some cases. There are some that you do have to look for – some that are beneficial, and others that are shady, in my never to be humble opinion. For instance, the company that I represent decided not to get the ADA certification on our toothpaste – it would have cost more than a million dollars to get it, and required an additional fee each year. They decided to pass on it and pass the savings onto the customers in not charging more for a product with that certification. I believe in the products in it and don’t need that certification to be confident in what I am buying. Read labels carefully, educate yourself on the products and the companies providing them. Let the buyer beware – don’t be “green washed”!!

You can read USA Weekend’s article here in the Think Smart column:
http://www.usaweekend.com/08_issues/080217/080217thinksmart-taxes-injuries.html

Hooray for Whole Foods!

This is a great first step for our society. If more stores would take this step, imagine how much less trash we'd have to deal with -- just for this one item!

Whole Foods will no longer be offering plastic grocery bgs. They'll offer recycled paper bags or encourage use (and offer for sale) those very cool re-useable shopping bags.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/2/16/whole-foods-to-stop-use-of-plastic-bags.aspx

Even if you re-use them before you throw them away, it's still trash piling up in landfills. Even though they are recyclable to some extent, most people don't take the time to take them to a recycling drop off station. I do -- if I use them -- but I generally use the grocery totes that are for sale at just about every grocery store now. Mine are pink with flowers!

Don’t wash your baby in that!

I’ve been telling people for years about the formaldehyde in baby shampoos. It’d hidden under a different name, of course, or you’d never buy that product and put it on your baby, right? It’s called Quaternium-15. It’s a legal, allowable amount of formaldehyde – just like every product that you are using -- shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, etc – many have that allowable amount. But, think about it – by the time you shower, shave, wash your hair, then brush your teeth, you’ve absorbed well over the allowable amount for your body, since each product can have that much. You then have to put on makeup, right, so that adds more chemicals before you even get out to start your day.

This story on chemicals in baby shampoos is on the front page of FoxNews.com this morning. It’s about the chemical phthalates in baby shampoo.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,328007,00.html

More on Yahoo, too -- a good read:

http://health.yahoo.com/news/ap/baby_products_chemicals.html

Phthalates don't have to be labeled on products. The only way to know for sure is to know and trust the company makig your products. I know that I do.

My products don’t have formaldehyde or phthalates – none of them. And they’ll save you money off what you are buying in the stores now. So, you’ll be safer, your kids will be safer, your home will be safer, and your wallet will have more money in it. What could be better? Contact me any time to find out how to get these fabulous products!

Triclosan is not for me!

Did you know that if a product that you are using has triclosan in it, it is recommended by the FDA that you wash your hands after using it. Triclosan has previously been linked to certain carcinogenic and hormone-disrupting effects – ugh.

Triclosan is an ingredient in Vick’s Early Defense hand sanitizer – marketed as a product you can use when soap and water are not available. Hand sanitizer – you know – the stuff that you use in place of washing your hands with soap and water. It is recommended that children not be exposed to tricolsan – yet Proctor and Gamble is encouraging use of this product in schools in their marketing campaign.

You can read more here: http://www.naturalnews.com/022554.html

Want products for your family that you can trust? Toothpaste, hand sanitizer, and soap that you and your kids can know are safe? Email me for details on a product line that will save you money, and make your home a healthy one. It is not tough to get the chemicals out – I’ll be happy to help!