Pour some sugar...

... on me

Nutrition and wellness is getting a lot of attention lately!

First, Kate Moss's addiction to wellness and her $1 million gym!

Yesterday the U.S. government issued new dietary guidelines. 112 pages of them, now who's going to read that? Maybe some of you who are always fussing about insomnia on Facebook. I found the 4-page Executive Summary a more realistic read. Basically it says, eat less salt, sugar, pizza and dessert and more fruits and vegetables!

Additionally, over the next few weeks, New York City will post this ad in subways and around town:



and running this commercial!



What do you think about that?

High heels...

...and hamstrings

If you follow me at all on Facebook, you know a few things about me lately.

1. All of my children and 1 of my grandchildren have had birthdays in the last 13 days.

2. My Christmas tree is still up (with the lights turned on).

3. I can't touch my toes.

After polling my FB friends, to find out that the many of them can indeed touch their toes without bending their knees, I started feeling pretty bad. Wondering why I can't if they can...

Well it came to me Tuesday morning when I put on my 3 inch heels and trotted out the door for work. "Maybe wearing heels 75% of the time is having and adverse affect on my muscles."

So of course I decided to do some research and this is what I found:

"Your lower extremity muscles shorten over the years due to repetitive usage and fatigue. They also shorten rapidly due to positional usage, such as wearing high heels.Your calf muscles, hamstrings, and hip flexors all shorten as a result of wearing high heels. This results in an anteriorly rotated pelvis and a lumber spine that is pulled into lordosis (increased spinal curvature). A proper stretching routine is essential to offset the results of wearing high heels."

"In order to help lengthen your hamstrings you can perform an exercise that is often used by horse riders to improve their abilities in dressage.

Stand on a step or staircase and use a handrail for support. Bring your feet back so that your heels over hang the step and you are standing on your toes and the pads behind your toes. Your foot will be half on and half off the step. Now allow your heels to drop downwards by a centimeter or two so that they are lower than the level of the step. You will feel the stretch down the backs of your legs. It is important that you don’t either perform this for too long or so extremely that you damage your tendons. Start off by doing it for a few seconds or so, and increase slowly to 1 minute, then up to 5-10 minutes per day.

Be gentle and only increase the stretch if you can do so comfortably. If you feel any pain or discomfort you must stop immediately. Seek advice from a doctor or physiotherapist if you are in any doubt about doing this exercise. Over time it is likely that you will find your hamstrings are lengthening and this will help you maintain more upright poise."

I discovered that I could not do this my first day in Yoga. I started Yoga because I read that it can help with neck and back pain and boy does it ever! I highly recommend it! As a matter of fact, I dare you to try it if you never have! I bet you'll find that it is not what you expected!

Can you touch your toes?

Put some clothes on...

... your neighbor.


I want to introduce you to your new neighbor, my friend, James.

Maybe you met James when he was hanging around with us earlier in the year. Maybe you have no idea who or what I'm talking about and you're thinking, I've never seen this guy and he certainly doesn't live next door to me.

The truth is, he doesn't live anywhere. He's a ... "vagabond", "vagrant", "wanderer"... well not exactly. All of these terms by definition indicate that he'd have no purpose or direction in his travels. But for my friend James, this is a choice, and if you talk to him, you'll quickly find out that he doesn't classify himself as anything more than "a follower of Jesus". I'll let you read his story for yourself, I believe you will find it rather inspiring!

What I will tell you about James is that he is the founder of Clothe Your Neighbor as Yourself. At the foundation of what he does, he sells t-shirts and with the profits, he lives among and provides for our neighbors.

This organization is giving you a chance to kill two birds with one stone in this "season of giving". Here's what I mean:

1. You have a list of people who you want to give something for Christmas

2. You want to be in category 3 and "give back"

When you purchase one of these shirts for that special some one on your list, your new neighbor, James is going to take care of #2 and put you in category 3!

And thus, you will have JOY and LIVE LONGER as a result!

I'll be putting my order in and marking some names off of my list today! I hope you will do the same.

Be sure to check out the CYNY website and to follow them on Facebook and Twitter to travel along with your new neighbor, James.

"..So he asked him, "Which is the most important of all the commandments?" Jesus answered, "Here is the most important one. Moses said, 'Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.'—(Deuteronomy 6:4,5) And here is the second one. 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.'—(Leviticus 19:18) There is no commandment more important than these." -- Mark 12:28-31

Our New Facebook Group & Focus

You may be on to the fact that we are "re-branding" our business. Our products are still the same top-notch, quality products, but we now have a greater focus on transformation and service.

As we continue to learn and grow in our business, we have found a better, more effective way to use Facebook to communicate with our clients. . In the process of "taking it to the next level" we have created a new Facebook Group that we hope you all will become a part of. The group will be an interactive place of community for like-minded individuals like yourself, interested in achieving and maintaining your best you!

So, click here to join us over at Renewed You Now on Facebook and get "all in" for A Healthy New You Now!!

If you'd like to learn more about how our business is growing or about how you can be a part of the Wellness Revolution that is taking place in America right now, contact us or join us at one of our upcoming events.