Have you tried everything to get a some sleep? Try this now!

Like a lot of people, for about a year and a half I could not sleep. If you're reading this hoping for something that will work to try to get that illusive sleep - you know how frustrating this can be.

I tried EVERYTHING. I used lavendar, made sure the room was cool enough, took a hot shower before bed, read a book or good magazine, made cell phone and computers off limits at night, you get the picture. I tried all kinds of medicines from OTC to prescription. When I was first prescribed Ambien I was so excited and looking forwards to a full nights sleep after all the stories I'd heard about how well it worked --- but not for me. I would take Ambien and be wide awake for hours afterwards - not halfway awake and sleepwalking, I mean fully awake. It was so frustrating. When the doctor prescribed stronger medicines that was worse, it took me a day and a half to get that groggy feeling out of my system.

I had looked around the web for a good white noise mp3 to drown out noise since even my dog walking around on the carpet would wake me up. I found what I thought would be a great one - Car noises. I can sleep like a baby in a moving car so I thought this would be perfect! I had it all set up, turned the noise on and curled up to go to sleep. This did not go as planned to say the least! My dog decided he had to "protect" me from the cars he could hear "driving by" and barked at my noise maker that was supposed to be helping me sleep. We did have fun and laugh till we cried at him but as you can guess that was no help for my sleep problem.

So, the next day I was back on the internet looking around for another mp3 that might work. This was when I ran across Brain Sync. I can tell you I was really leary about the brain wave therapy and figured it was just hocus pocus, but at this point I was willing to try ANYTHING! So I downloaded Sound Sleep and Deep Sleep and put them on my iPod Shuffle and tried them that night. You do have to use earbuds which felt weird at first, but guess what!!!! I finally slept!! For the first time in what seemed like forever I had a good nights sleep!! The brain wave tracks really work. I have been listening to them for 4 months now and can sleep without taking any medications, just listening to the brain wave tracks.

I highly recommend these for any of you who have trouble sleeping, they have been a blessing for me! Have a wonderful day and a great nights sleep ;)

Magical Bank Email - How would you spend $86,400 every day??

A friend of mine forward me this email. I know usually forwarded emails aren't something to get too excited about, but this one is great and definitely worth sharing!!

Subject: Deposit $86,400 Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest: Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400 in your private bank account for your own use. However, this prize has rules, just as any game has certain rules. The first set of rules would be: 1) Everything that you didn't spend during each day would be taken away from you. 2) You may not simply transfer money into some other account. You may only spend it. 3) Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400.00 for that day. The second set of rules: 1) The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say,"It's over, the game is over!" 2) It can close the account in an instant and you will not receive a new one. What would you personally do? You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right? Not only for yourself, but for all the people in your life, right? Maybe even for people you don't know, because you couldn't possibly spend it all on yourself and the people in your life, right? You would try to spend every single cent, and use it all up every day, right? Actually, this game is a reality, but not with money! Each of us is in possession of such a magical bank. We just don't seem to see it. The MAGICAL BANK is TIME! Each morning we awaken and receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life, and when the day is done, any remaining time is gone and NOT credited to us. What we haven't lived up to that day is lost forever. Yesterday is forever gone. Each morning the account is refilled, but the magical bank can dissolve our account at any time....WITHOUT WARNING. SO, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds? Think about that, and always think of this: Enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than we think. Take good care of yourself, and enjoy life. Live each day to the fullest, be kind to one another, and be forgiving. Harbor a positive attitude and always be the first to smile. Here's wishing you a wonderful, beautiful day, each and every day!!!

Fit and Fresh Food Storage Containers

It might sound crazy to be so excited about just a food storage container but this one is so cool! A great way to eat healthy is to cook your own food and take it with you for lunch. But you have to worry about what kind of container you're reheating your food in so it doesn't leach chemicals into your food. The 'Lunch on the Go' from Fit and Fresh is BPA free. It comes with 2 smaller containers that fit in the larger one so you've got a few option depending on what you're bringing for lunch today. It's also got a low profile ice pack that fits in the lid and keeps your lunch cold. It's just the neatest container for storing your lunch. I'm already looking around their website to see what other nifty items they carry. Enjoy! Eat healthy!

The Heart Rate Monitor: A Great Fitness Motivator

I recently purchased a new Heart Rate monitor. Wow! It amazing how much incentive it gives you to do more when you're exercising. It is fun to see whether you're burning fat or increasing your fitness. It's great to see how many calories you've burned after a workout -- seeing the numbers makes you want to do it again! You can take your fitness program to the next level -- see if you can beat your previous calories burned! These are comfortable and easy-to-use training tools that will help you get in your optimal cardio zone.

For example, last night we went for a bike ride around Wichita. We probably went for 14-15 miles in about an hour and 45 minutes. While we had a blast riding around it wasn't always easy, there are times when your legs are just burning and you're wondering what you got yourself into -- lol. I wore my heart rate monitor and was able to monitor where my heart rate was throughout the entire ride. After we were back at our cars I stopped the monitoring and found out that I had burned 1100 calories!!! Woohoo! All of the burning legs, the falls, the weeds, etc. were forgotten and replaced with the joy of a good hard exercise accomplished with good company!

The Healing Power of Pineapple

Those of you who know me know that I swear by pineapple - lol. I have some every morning and if I feel a cold coming on I've been known to eat a whole one in a day for a few days. Since I started doing this I haven't been sick near as often. I'm not sure if it is the pineapple, but hey -- it's good for you anyway and it tastes sooooo good!

Here's the info from the website I first read about the healing power of pineapple:

Want to give your body a boost in health and healing? Then you may want to add some fresh pineapple and pineapple juice to your diet. Pineapples are nutritionally packed members of the bromeliad family. This delightful tropical fruit is high in the enzyme bromelain and the antioxidant vitamin C, both of which plays a major role in the body's healing process.

Bromelain is a natural anti-inflammatory that has many health benefits and encourages healing. According to Dr. Andrew Weil, bromelain is very effective in treating bruises, sprains and strains by reducing swelling, tenderness and pain. This powerful anti-inflammatory effect can also help relieve rheumatoid arthritis symptoms and reduce postoperative swelling. Additionally, the bromelain contained in fresh pineapple can relieve indigestion. This enzyme helps break down the amino acid bonds in proteins, which promotes good digestion.

Pineapples provide an ample supply of vitamin C too, a commonly known antioxidant that protects the body from free radical damage and boosts the immune system. Vitamin C helps build and repair bodily tissue and promotes wound healing. The body uses vitamin C to help metabolize fats and cholesterol, absorb iron, and synthesize amino acids and collagen. Collagen is one of the primary building blocks of skin, cartilage and bones. Vitamin C also decreases the severity of colds and infections.

Furthermore, due to its high vitamin C content, pineapples are good for your oral health as well. A study conducted at the State University of New York at Buffalo found that vitamin C can reduce your risk of gingivitis and periodontal disease. Besides increasing the ability of connective tissue to repair itself, vitamin C also increases the body's ability to fight invading bacteria and other toxins that contribute to gum disease. Periodontal disease, which destroys gum tissue and underlying jaw bones, has been linked to heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

So if you want a natural way to enhance your body's healing mechanisms, promote overall good health and tantalize your taste buds, pineapples are the way to go. Choose the fresh fruit because it has the most healing properties. Unfortunately, most of the bromelain in canned pineapple is destroyed due to the heat used in the canning process.

Biofreeze - Therapy for your sore muscles

This is the BEST stuff!! Check it out at www.biofreeze.com. I always think that if I'm sore then I did a good job pushing myself to give 100% during a workout. But it's no fun to be moaning and groaning all day because you're sore - lol. I use the roll on one. It doesn't stink, or at least I haven't noticed that it does, but it does help your muscles to not hurt so bad.

Shakeology

Breakfast in the Watson household has become super easy, quick and healthy since we started using Shakeology. Our favorite is definitely the Chocolate/Peanut Butter recipe. All you do is add milk, peanut butter, a scoop of Shakeology and some ice in the blender, mix, pour into a togo cup and we're out the door ready for our day.

Shakeology doesn't taste like your normal healthy shake - it taste more like a treat....a dessert. Even my husband who's not always keen on trying my health foods loves getting his shake for breakfast. There is a ton of information I could go into about how good this shake is for you and how you can benefit from drinking it but I will limit my commentary only to how tasty this shake is and let the doctors in the following video explain more for you. Check out my website for more information and to purchase Shakeology for yourself. Enjoy!!!