Coach Maggie 4 Health 

Many times you feel that you’re doing all the right things, yet you can’t seem to lose that stubborn weight. Unfortunately, the more you stress over it, the more determined those pounds seems to want to stay put.

Let’s take a close look at some possible triggers keeping you from the body you want.

1. So-called health foods - Many people are unwittingly eating so-called health foods like yogurt, granola, fruit juices, and gluten snack foods. Too often these products are loaded with artificial and regular sugar, soy-based oils, sodium, and are heavily processed. Choose real food like fruit, cut-up vegetables, homemade granola, and plain organic yogurt with fresh fruit.

2. Environmental toxins - Much of the conventional produce is heavily sprayed with pesticides, so choose organic when possible. The majority of our cleaning and personal care products also contain harsh chemicals that affect your hormones and damage your immune system.

3. Stress - Everyone faces stress at times, but it...

Plastics have pretty much taken over the world. They seemed like the perfect household solution because they were thought to be safe, unbreakable, and lightweight. They were used in cleaning and personal products, cosmetics, food containers, toys, office products, yard and garden products.  

However, they’re far from being safe. We’re only beginning to understand the deadly link between health problems including thyroid issues, osteoporosis, reproductive disorders, diabetes, obesity, and dangerous chemical additives.They disrupt the endocrine system, settle in body fat, and upset the natural balance of our hormones.

You’ve probably seen products like canned sauces, water bottles, and even cash register receipts say BPA-free and wondered why. BPA is an industrial chemical often used in making food and beverage cans and bottles. When shopping, ask if the receipts are BPA-free. If not, say “no thanks”. If you must, keep them in an envelope, so they don’t touch other things in your purse.

Loo...

Most people would be quick to say that they have absolutely no problem with sugar, however, if you asked them to stop using it, they couldn’t. William Duffy, the author of Sugar Blues, says, “Like heroin, cocaine, and caffeine, sugar is an addictive, destructive drug, yet we consume it daily in everything from cigarettes to bread”.

The USDA recommends that we should not eat more than 10 tablespoons per day, yet most American eat roughly 30 tablespoons every single day.  Do you realize that that’s three times more than we should be consuming?  This may explain why we have so much disease in our country.  We have a deadly sweet tooth.

The negative effects of sugar consumption are many including: weight gain, high blood pressure, raised cholesterol levels, diabetes, heart disease, and the one most people don’t think of, cancer!

Research is now showing brain shrinkage in people with high blood sugar levels.  It affects the area in the brain that controls long and short-term memory a...