Silk Naturals

Sleep plays an important role in weight loss too! I can't remember what I was reading recently, but I guess that the body produces more cortisol (which makes us gain weight) if it is deprived of sleep. I guess meditation/yoga, that kind of thing, can reduce stress levels and thus cortisol, too. I can't remember if we talked about that already in this thread... at any rate, sleep is great for health! Does anybody have good tips for falling asleep more easily? I'm not the one to give any advice on that...but I have been meditating, and I do have tips for that. It is hard for me to sit still, so I started with five minutes and worked my way up by one minute each day until I got to ten. Now I will start working my way up to 15. It is easy to get frustrated b/c I am used to being productive and perfectionistic, but it is so worth it even at 5 minutes of my time.

I often listen to this podcast, but any type of meditation works as long as it calms me down, or I'll put on "Nature Sounds" radio on Pandora. Zencast: http://amberstar.libsyn.com/

zeebs wrote:Sleep plays an important role in weight loss too! I can't remember what I was reading recently, but I guess that the body produces more cortisol (which makes us gain weight) if it is deprived of sleep. I guess meditation/yoga, that kind of thing, can reduce stress levels and thus cortisol, too. I can't remember if we talked about that already in this thread... at any rate, sleep is great for health! Does anybody have good tips for falling asleep more easily? I'm not the one to give any advice on that...but I have been meditating, and I do have tips for that. It is hard for me to sit still, so I started with five minutes and worked my way up by one minute each day until I got to ten. Now I will start working my way up to 15. It is easy to get frustrated b/c I am used to being productive and perfectionistic, but it is so worth it even at 5 minutes of my time.

I often listen to this podcast, but any type of meditation works as long as it calms me down, or I'll put on "Nature Sounds" radio on Pandora. Zencast: http://amberstar.libsyn.com/

I take herbs like St John's wort or 5HTP or some combo of herbs+melatonin (which knocks me out for at least 8 hrs). I can give you the name once I'm home if you want, I didn't bring it with me on my trip. I also found that the herbal sleep teas from mountainroseherbs.com help me relax and turn off my mind.

Sleeping is indeed good for the body; my doc told me to get 8-10hrs to boost my immune system. If I had that time.... Anyway, you don't eat while you sleep, right? But seriously, if I don't go to sleep early enough I find myself hungry again and start the snacking silliness.

Oooh- sleep! I can do that!
I try to make sure I move around enough during the day so that I'm sleepy at night. If my brain is spinning out of control I count, or sing a song in my head to quiet the noise. Valerian root capsules or Benedryl work in a pinch if I'm having real difficulties getting to sleep, but I try not to do that too often. I usually have to take something for my allergies anyway, so I just switch my normal allergy meds for Benedryl.

Since it is winter where I am (I know some of our customers are in summer's full swing!), I cannot live without veggie soup. I don't make anything complicated. Mostly I just brown a chopped onion in a little olive oil. Then I add cooked chicken or turkey, depending on what I have on hand, but you could leave this out. Here is when I season.....I have one version that has Mexican type seasoning and uses a can of black beans, and another that is more Italian seasoning and uses a can of cannelini beans. Then I add a box of broth and a can of diced tomatoes. I steam about 4-5 cups of frozen veggies...right now I am loving this Normandy blend from Sam's. It has broccoli, cauliflower, and orange and yellow carrots....so pretty, and cut them up a bit to add to the pot. It makes a pretty healthy soup that is filling due to the beans and veggies.

And then I also have my cuppa tea...whatever variety strikes my fancy.

I just discovered a couple of new shows on the Cooking Channel.
The first is called *Bitchin Kitchen* and she is my new girl crush;)! She combines comedy, cooking, and a cool rocker chick esthetic in the best way! Her menus are not necessarily low in fat and calories, but they are done very thoughtfully with beautiful fresh ingredients. If you watch her show once.....I promise you will be hooked!
The second one is called *Hungry Girl*. She has quite a following....she shows how to *de-calorie-ize* many of our fav foods so that they become good choices instead of fat disasters. It was a revelation to me how easily former *bad* recipes can be reworked into much healthier alternatives.
Check them out!

xx
Laurie