Related posts:

1. Cook Bacon In The Oven
2. Tips For Healthier and Cheaper Alternatives to Cleaning Solutions
3. Homemade Pancakes for Sunday Breakfast

I’ve learned the hard way that no diet will be successful if you’re hungry all the time. Sheer willpower only saves you for so long before you fold, and begin eating everything in sight. For a weight loss plan to be truly successful, it needs to fill you up with healthy food…ones that will curb your hunger and make you feel satisfied. Only then will you lose weight.

Here are 9 simple ways to control ghrelin, the appetite-boosting hormone that triggers the brain to encourage eating.

Exercise aerobically. There’s nothing quite as effective to curb appetite than getting your heart pounding. Running, stair-climbing, and aerobic sports all can curb your will to eat for as much as two hours. Strength training is good too but is not as effective.

Eat protein. Try to eat plenty of rich proteins that are low in fat, such as lean meats. These protein rich foods are best at curbing ghrelin over a steady length of time. Carbohydrates will satisfy you at first, and then leave you hungrier than before, like a yo-yo.

Curb your sugar. Much like carbohydrates, sugar spikes your blood sugar. Then as the sugar is regulated by insulin, comes crashing down, causing a desire to eat more. Not only is sugar addicting, it adds no nutritional value. Your body does not need sugar for survival.

Eat your breakfast. This is a perfect time to eat protein. Eating lean protein at breakfast controls hunger for longer periods of time than any other time of the day. Eggs, lean meats, and protein rich smoothies and cereals are all good choices.

Add good fats to your diet. I know, this is the opposite advice of the low-fat craze that many of us grew up with, but your body needs healthy fats to function well. The body converts the unsaturated fats found in olive oil, nuts, avocado and salmon into a compound that tells your brain to curb appetite.

Eat smaller meals more often. Having a small amount of food in your stomach throughout the day stimulates the production of a second hormone, peptide YY3-36, that reduces ghrelin production. This also helps to never have that starving feeling which can lead to overeating. The key word is “smaller”; watch your portions and choose wisely.

Plan ahead. When you’re hungry, survival mode kicks in, and you’ll grab the first food you see. Plan ahead by stocking your shelves with healthy quick foods, like nuts, cut-up vegetables, low fat cheeses, and low glycemic fruits. Keep healthy snacks in your car; they’re easy to package in snack-size bags.

Lower your stress. Why are so many of us stress eaters? Because the body makes extra ghrelin in response to stress, and makes us eat, especially foods like carbohydrates and fat. Find a stress-busting activity, like listening to music, calling a friend, going for a walk, or watching a funny movie.

Lose weight. Easier said than done, I know. But the above techniques will also help you shed a few pounds. People with leaner bodies produce more peptide YY3-36 than those who are overweight.

Related posts:

1. Stress Part 1: Are You Stressed? Take this Fun Stress Test, Then Find Ways to Cope
2. Non-Meat Foods That are High in Protein
3. Eating Fiber Reduces Cardiovascular Disease

I finally found a product to banish my menopause symptoms, and it’s completely natural.  

I always said in my younger years, “I can’t wait for menopause and hot flashes because I’m always cold.” Be careful what you wish for! Thankfully, the hot flashes never came, but I was having a terrible time with night sweats. The first night that I had one, I woke in horror as I thought a large spider was crawling across my chest. It was sweat, rolling down to the sheet! Now, you that don’t know me must realize that I rarely sweat, even in the hottest summer months. Maybe a slight glistening, as they say in the movies. So this phenomenon was totally new to me.

But worse than the sweating was the cycling awake every two hours. This must go hand-in-hand with the night sweats. I’d wake up, sweating, and had trouble falling asleep again. By the time I got to sleep, it was time for another. Beginning at 7:00 pm and continuing to 7:00 am, every night, seven days a week, I’d sweat and wake every two hours. You can imagine how exhausted I was…a true walking, sweaty zombie.

I tried everything that I knew to try. The progesterone cream (gave me a rash), soy, black cohash pills, melatonin tea, Royal Maca, even doctor prescribed hormones, none of them worked, or if they did, not for long. But I finally found something that does.

The product is called Phyto B by Bezwecken. It’s a mixture of natural herbs and plants; it’s a long list seen in the table below. They’re plant-based progesterone hormones, basically. It also includes phyto-nutrients for adrenal support and overall hormone balance. There are similar products in Vitamin Cottage, Whole Foods, and other health stores that are plant hormones, but I hear they may not work as well as this. Now, I’m the first to tell people that just because a product is natural doesn’t mean it doesn’t act as a chemical in your body and has the potential to cause havoc. But I rather take this natural product than doctor prescribed hormones that are known to increase your risk for cancer.

Phyto B Ingredients: Barbasco Extract, Dioscorea Quat. Extract, Fermented Plant Derived Progesterone, Soybean and Licorice Root Extracts, Fermented Plant Derived Estrogens, Crataegus Oxycantha, Medicago Sativa, Camellia Sinesis, Avena Sativa and Prunus Spp. Extract.

Phyto B comes in tiny little dissolvable pellets, and you start with 8 a day. I know that sounds like a lot, but you take four in the morning, and four before bed. You snap them in half (I just bite them), and let them soften for a few minutes under your tongue. When they’re soft, you swallow them. By then they’re usually soft enough to just crush in your teeth and swallow without water. They have no taste except a very slight bitter taste that’s almost unnoticeable.

Again, I know this sounds like a pain, and it did to me too when I first started. But it’s easy to get accustomed to it. I keep the bottle next to my coffee pot. I’ll put the pellets under my tongue, make my coffee, and use the first sip to wash them down. Repeat at dinnertime, without the coffee, or you’ll be up again all night!

Best of all, they actually work. I did a lot of research before I bought, and read internet feedback. Some users have taken Phyto B for years, and find it’s still effective with no noticeable side effects for their menopause symptoms. It was the night sweats and the 2-hour wake cycles that was killing me, and I luckily didn’t have any other symptoms (except my body weight went to pot). But after about 7-10 days, they disappeared and haven’t come back; I’m currently on my second bottle. That’s encouraging, isn’t it?

You can also reduce your dose once the pellets take effect. I’m now taking 2 pellets in the AM, and 3 at night. My friend is taking fewer than that. That saves on the monthly cost…about $33-$35 a bottle for 240 pellets, but well worth sleeping through the night! I bought my bottle from Amazon but there are other sellers.

Give it a go. What have you got to lose? (There’s a pun in there somewhere, but I’ll refrain.) I hope it works for you too.

Related posts:

1. Uncommon Symptoms of Stress
2. Stevia and Agave Nectar – Two Natural Sweeteners
3. Night Sweats and Night Thoughts

As a mother, nose bleeds were a challenge for me and my youngest son. They were frequent and worrisome as well as a common occurrence at the most inopportune moments. It was during a phone call to the Children’s Hospital late one night that I learned that I had been handling it incorrectly. Seems simple enough and yet a lot of us don’t know what to do.

We were instructed to lean his head forward slightly with his mouth open to allow the blood to drain. We were incorrectly leaning his head back causing the blood to drain down the back of his throat, which we don’t want. Pinch the nose firmly for about 5 to 10 minutes. If the nose is still bleeding, try pinching the nose firmly again for 5 to 10 minutes. If the nose is bleeding only slightly, you can place a strip of gauze in the nostrils–don’t use cotton because it will block the flow of the blood instead of absorbing it. If after 20 to 25 minutes the nose is still bleeding heavily, we were instructed to contact the doctor or emergency room for more information.

I never left the house without a couple of wet washcloths placed in baggies and a box of tissues. It was a life saver when an unexpected nose bleed occurred away from home.

Nose bleeds can be caused by a number of things such as trauma, allergies, dryness, or in my son’s case, thin blood vessels in the nose. After a trip to the ear, nose and throat doctor it was recommended that we have the vessels cauterized. It was a simple procedure with no discomfort to my son (we had a great doctor), and it was successful—no more bloody noses.

If someone you know suffers from frequent nosebleeds, check with your doctor and request that they recommend a good ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist).

Related posts:

1. Use a Neti Pot to Clean Out Your Sinuses
2. Stop Your Menopause Symptoms with Natural Plant Hormones
3. Children’s Hospital – Medical Help Online & By Phone

I will start this post with a question, the same question my Mother would always asks me, “Will your worrying help anything?”

I believe that the answer to that question is no! It boils down to this–if we have the power to change anything, then we need to work towards a solution. Why complain and worry when we have the power?

But what if it is out of our control, then all the worry in the world won’t fix or resolve it!

Remember the first paragraph of the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Think about the things that we worry about on a daily basis. In these difficult times, we worry about our finances, our children, our job security, the list goes on. We don’t consider that all the worry is adding stress that affects our health and quality of life. That is what all the doctors are telling us, and you hear about it on the news everyday, but we are still worrying about things we can’t change.

There are many studies and experts that tells us that worrying and the stress that comes with it, is keeping us ill both physically and mentally. I went to the Mayo Clinic website and found much information on keeping ourselves positive and healthy with suggestions on how to live a less stressful life. Most are common sense, many we already know, we just need to implement these suggestions into our everyday lives.

Depend on family and friends as a strong support system to get you through difficult times. Stress is a part of our everyday lives, it is how we deal with that stress that determines the outcome. Having a positive attitude plays a large roll in how we deal with life’s ups and downs. Take a walk with a good friend, enjoy the beauty around you. Take a yoga or pilates class; take up a new hobby that interests you; read a good book; laugh as you enjoy a funny movie; make a spiritual connection; learn to meditate; learn to forgive; become accepting of others; turn off the news; listen to quiet music; and know that a simple smile goes a long way for you as well as the one you offer it to.

I am not saying that it is easy, but we need to remember that life is short and there is so much to enjoy and be grateful for. We all have our crosses to bear and there will always be peaks and valleys–let’s learn how to navigate them. Visit the Mayo Clinic website for a wealth of information on dealing with stress in our lives.

“Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” by Benjamin Franklin.

“Give your stress wings and let it fly away.” by Carin Hartness.

Related posts:

1. Stress Part 1: Are You Stressed? Take this Fun Stress Test, Then Find Ways to Cope
2. Stress Part 2: Coping Techniques
3. Reflections–A Thought For The Year