Today is Wellness Wednesday and as promised, I want to discuss little things you can do on a regular basis to improve your health. This is actually going to be a hard one but if you are able to do it, you will improve your health immensely. Today, I’m going to challenge you to cut out High Fructose Corn Syrup from your diet. We don’t really hear a lot about High Fructose Corn Syrup much any more but it is still just as bad as ever. This additive is considered one of the primary causes of obesity and overweight of Americans. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) can lead to health problems because it is comprised of 50% fructose which needs to be converted into glucose (stored carbs) or fat by the liver before it can be used as fuel. This leads to an increased risk of fatty liver disease. HFCS can add visceral fat which is a harmful type of fat the surrounds your organs. Yikes! Excessive intake of HFCS can lead to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, both contributors to MANY diseases including type 2 Diabetes. Finally, there is absolutely NO essential nutrients in HFCS only plenty of empty calories. So, what foods contain HFCS? Fast foods, Breakfast cereals, Bread, Sweetened dairy products like yogurt, ketchup and many condiments, candy, canned foods like soup and fruit, soft drinks. Wow! Cutting this out of your life is going to be hard but if you read labels, you will find things with natural sugars that will be just as satisfying but not so bad for your health. It’s a tough challenge. But you can do it. Even if you just cut out or replace a couple of things, you will be on your way to better health. Good...

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 I hope that your holidays were amazing and you are ready for another year of health, happiness and love. I have one question for you: Where will your 2023 Wellness Journey take you? And what do you need to do to get there? This year I am planning on spending time on this page discussing little things we can do to reach our wellness destination. For today, I’d like you to just think about it. What is realistic, what is reasonable and what actually makes sense for your...

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Stress is one of the things that of course is known to bring on dis ease. I meant to put the space between the word because that is what it is that we experience with stress, dis ease. We are not at ease. We feel discombobulated and often sick. So many things bring stress into our lives. Some we can control and some we can’t. I listened to a great talk the other day that really resonated with me and I wanted to share some of it because I think what was talked about most of us deal with in our daily lives and whether we realize it or not, it brings so much dis ease into our lives. The great thing is that this is one of the stressors that we can actually control once we get a handle on it. The speaker talked about how we as people are often very concerned with “what next?”. We finally get a job we want but “what next?” We will be happy when we find a spouse then “what next?” If we could only win that game every thing will be perfect and when we do, “what next?” I’ll look so much better when I lose/gain weight but “what next?” And by constantly comparing ourselves to others we tend to often feel the need for something more. (Of course this is definitely not helped by social media.) It’s so great to have goals and ambitions but we need to stop, celebrate and experience what we have now as opposed to always thinking “what next?” Do we really need a bigger, better and more all the time. Does it matter in the whole scheme of things? I know that I am guilty of often not being satisfied and asking “what next.” I believe we can reduce our stress levels by taking the time to be in the present and celebrating the now and what we have in this moment rather than always putting so much stress on ourselves by saying “what next?” So easy to say but not so easy to do. I’m going to work on it, I hope you’ll join...

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It’s been awhile since I last posted. I apologize in advance for the long post but if you stick around till the end you will see that there is a point. As I write this, I am finishing up quarantine for my second bout with Covid. After today, I can go out in to the world with a mask according to the CDC. Even so, most of my clients have decided that they would rather wait another week and in all actuality, I would probably make the same choice. As I considered myself to be very careful, I still caught it again. Even after receiving the booster in March. So I suppose we can’t be too careful. Because of this stupid Covid diagnoses, not only have I had to close shop for a week plus but I also had to remove myself from an acting job. Acting jobs are not easy to come by and so this was a huge disappointment to me. Also, I was very concerned about messing up things for the production which would be terrible. I will say one thing for getting Covid a second time, it has taught me a very valuable lesson. A lesson that apparently I must be taught over and over again. For those of you who know me, you know that when I set my sights on something I work very hard at it and I do everything (everything legal) in my power to make it happen. I worked very hard to build Total Body Wellness and then after 17 years in the North Valley of ABQ and during a pandemic, I worked hard to remodel and move my business to my home. And I do work everyday to keep my clients and contractors happy and my business to thrive. As I learned in my 20s and 30s, being an actor is very different from building a regular business, you can do all the things you need to do and still, an acting job is not promised. Coming back to this business, I am reminded of this but still, being who I am, I continue to think that if I just do everything right, take the right headshots, take the right classes, get the right agent, then everything will fall into place. I must admit, I have been very fortunate and have managed to get some good work. But again, being me, I want more. This brings me back to the wonderful lesson that Covid has taught me. I AM NOT IN CONTROL. I think I have mentioned before that my beautiful mom used to say, “Let go and let God.” and then she would continue to worry herself sick....

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I had a very nice weekend. The people in Ukraine did not. On Friday afternoon I decided to sit down with a cup of tea and work on a script, I had the freedom to do that. It was not lost on me that had I been in Ukraine, the last thing I would be able to do would be to sit down with a cup of tea. Saturday I had the honor of watching my future daughter-in-law try on Wedding Dresses. It was a lovely afternoon. It was not lost on me that future mother-in-laws in Ukraine could not do this as they were in fear for their life. Not even knowing if a wedding would be able to happen. Sunday, I got to go to church and clean my house and work on my homework and then spend the afternoon trying on dresses for the wedding. It was not lost on me that not only the people in Ukraine but many people in the world could not spend their Sunday this way. It is humbling to realize that everyday freedoms that we take for granted as part of our life could so easily be taken away. I pray that I will never take these blessings for granted, never take my freedom for granted and I especially pray for those families in Ukraine who would like nothing more than to just enjoy the simple pleasures of a weekend. My wish for all of us is that we will find the beauty and freedom in being able to have a day that’s maybe predictable or maybe even monotonous but is truly ours. That we never take for granted the blessings of just enjoying our family, our friends and even cleaning the house. But most of all, I pray for peace. Like Comment Share 0 Comments...

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