True Confessions and an Invitation to March Daily Health Commitment Challenge
Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on March 2, 2010 – 12:34 pm -I’ve come to a realization and I feel the need to be really honest and open about it.
I spend my days connecting with thousands of people all over the globe, sharing the message of health–vibrant health–through focused actions and nourishing choices.
And for the most part, I totally live all that I teach.
Because I overcame debilitating fatigue in my 20’s through whole fresh plant foods, exercise and focused self 
care, I’ve dedicated my life to teaching others to do the same.
Lately, I have been falling short on my commitment to self care and I feel I need to own up to it and reaffirm my dedication to my own self care in order to best guide you as you work on your own.
I’ve always been a night owl, but over the past 3 months it has become worse. While I recognize the need for sleep for rejuvenation and detoxification, I just can’t seem to get myself to follow through.
I have several projects that are near an dear to my heart and I’ve been staying up into the wee hours more than I should.
The universe has been giving me subtle signals (and some not so subtle signals). I wrote a blog post about it a few weeks ago, right after I took a nasty fall and hurt my elbow. The message I was getting loud and clear was to slow down. And I did–for a couple of days.
When you’re really healthy and get a couple of extended sleep nights it’s enough to make you feel like you can conquer the world again…so I started back on the late nights a few days after the injury. I know better than anyone the importance of sleep for recovering from injury, yet I continued to push myself.
The universe has been talking to me again and the message is the same. Only this time it wasn’t so subtle. Twice in the past 2 weeks, I got a wave of exhaustion at 3PM on Friday afternoon. It was so powerful that I did something completely out of character…I took a nap. I haven’t felt exhausted like that in many years.
This morning during my exercise session, I re-injured my arm. In fact I completely dislocated it. Fortunately, I was able to re-locate it myself, but it’s talking to me now. It’s saying “slow down”.
I’ve had some administrative challenges over the past few weeks, which I believe may be on the way to resolution, and as a result, I got behind on answering emails, creating some bonus materials for my Balance My Body Blueprint program, and completing a few e-books. In spite of all of that, however, I am committed to lights out before midnight for the rest of the week.
That may not seem like much for some, but for me, it’s big. Once I get the hang of it, maybe I will push it back to 11pm.
The world is on the verge of a whole new paradigm in health care, and we are the leaders. We need to teach by example and that’s just what I intend to improve at doing.
I believe that it’s important to keep commitments, and I also feel it’s important to make realistic commitments. I believe some of my commitments have been realistic only if I am willing to work 16 hour days, so my new commitment is to be realistic and keep in mind the importance of balance whenever I make commitments.
One other commitment I am re-affirming—having fun everyday. When I was leading my Jumpstart Your 
Energy class back in October, we did daily goals on the forum, and each of us told what we planned to do for fun. By publicly declaring it, I made time for fun everyday.
I decided to re-awaken that ritual. The plan is a blog post every day, in which I declare my bedtime from the night before, and my health goals for the day, including the fun activity I choose each day.
Would you like to join me? All you need to do is subscribe to the blog so you get notified when I post a new entry, and comment each day with your commitments. I commit to doing this for 30 days. Who’s in? It’s absolutely FREE.
I’ll probably come up with some sort of contest as we go along, so don’t miss a single day…register and make your comment for Day 1 here. I’m calling it the 30 Day Sleep and Fun Challenge.
Dr. Ritamarie’s commitments for Tuesday, March 2:
- Lights out by midnight
- Exercise 30 minutes or longer
- Drink at least 2 quarts of green smoothie
What are you committing to? Comment below.
Wishing you Love, Health and Joy,
Dr. Ritamarie
P. S. And speaking of FUN, there’s still time to sign up for the teleseminar I’m doing with Nomi Shannon, author of the Raw Gourmet. It’s going to be so much fun. But don’t take my word for it. Read all about it here:
http://drritamarie.com/DeliciouslyQuickRawFood-SignUp.php
Join Nomi Shannon, the Raw Gourmet and I for Deliciously Quick Raw Food ~ Tips from the Raw Gourmet ~ on Tuesday March 2 at 7:30 PM Central time as we demystify raw foods meal planning and preparation, tell you how to make a couple of quick and delicious snacks to satisfy even the most discerning taste buds, answer your most pressing questions and offer you a rawking good time as well.
Here’s the link to sign up.
http://drritamarie.com/DeliciouslyQuickRawFood-SignUp.php
We’ll record the call, so if you can’t make it live, sign up anyway and we’ll send you the recording.
Tags: commitments, exhaustion, fatigue, fatigue symptoms, Gluten Free Diet, nomi shannon, raw abd kiving foods, raw foods, vegan foods, vibrant health, whole foods
Posted in Articles | 28 Comments »
Avoid Adrenal Fatigue by Taking Time For Self Care
Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on February 2, 2010 – 4:06 pm -So what does adrenal faigue have to do with self care? Everything. When you take care of yourself, your stress levels go down. And when your stress levels decrease, that’s a good thing for you!
Do you have any idea what happens on a physiologic level when you gt stressed out, worry about the future or fret about he past? Your body releases a cascade of chemicals designed to help you escape from tigers. Your heart rate speeds up, your blood pressure elevated, your sex drive goes away and your digestion shuts down. Does that sound like the rpescription for a healthy, energetic and happy life? Certainly not
The stress hormone cortisol gets secreted into your blood stream, and makes trouble throughout your body. Sure, it helps you to fight tigers, but that’s not going to help you much when you’re getting all stressed out about the state of the economy. And it certainly doesn’t help you to think of creative ways you can deflect economic trends and prosper in spite of the world around you. In fact, it does just the opposite.
One of the effects of cortisol is cortical inhibition. That means, it temporarily shuts off the higher-level thinking center of your brain. This is important when you’re fleeing the real tiger, because solving economic problems would be counter productive when those big teeth are about to turn you into lunch. Cortisol activates the primitive parts of yoru brain, the survival centers. It also causes damage to a part of your brain called the hippocampus, which is responsible for short term memory. “Brain fog”, forgetfullness and lack of focus are sigs of adrenal fatugue.
Cortisol also inhibits your immune system and its ability to fight off invaders, to maintain balance, kill cancer cells, and keep you healthy. Cortisol also makes you fat, especially around the middle. Why does stress make you fat? Well, stress leads to increased production of cortisol, which triggers a mechanism in the body to release more sugar into the blood, because you’re going to need it to escape the tiger.
The release of sugar into the blood causes the release of insulin because insulin is what is needed to remove the sugar from your blood and get it into your cells, where it’s needed. That’s great when you have a real tiger chasing you. And it doesn’t present a problem when the stress response is infrequent and short lived. The problem is, in our modern lifestyle we get stressed often and we stay stressed for long periods of time.
And as if it’s not enough to be more prone to illness and cancer, stress kills your sex drive! And it stresses your mitochondria so they can’t produce enough energy, so you get tired.
If being a stressed out sick and overweight individual with no sex drive and no memory does not sound like fun to you, then you need to learn how to take care of your needs and transform the stressful responses to recharging ones.
In my Transforming Stress teleseminars I describe some of my favorite techniques for turning the stressful times into positive physiologic responses, using the power of appreciation.
I recorded a video on how to make the time for self care, in spite of your busy schedule. Consistently taking time for self care allows your adrenals to restore, and can even reverse adrenal fatigue.
What do you do to take care of yoruself everyday?
Write it down below for me.
Thanks,
Love, Health and Joy,
Dr. Ritamarie
Tags: Adrenal Fatigue, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, DrRitamarie, exhaustion, fatigue, fatigue symptoms, Gluten Free Diet, livingfoods, raw and living foods holiday recipes, raw foods recipes
Posted in Adrenal Fatigue | No Comments »
Addressing Adrenal Fatigue and Sluggish thyroid: Start with a Detox
Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on December 4, 2009 – 1:53 pm -
Everyone is always looking for answers that are complicated, sophisticated and sexy. The truth is, most health issues have simple solutions. Notice I said simple, not easy.
In fact, some of the simplest solutions of all are often the hardest to follow.
1- Fresh food: When you’re running around chasing after deadlines, it’s not always easy to find fresh food. It’s certainly not in the vending machines or the fast food joints.
2- Fresh, clean water: Unless you carry your own, it’s not generally available, although more and more places carry bottled water. I was in a restuarant last week with family that didn’t! What a shock.
3- Fresh air : Our air is filled with chemicals and pollution. Unless you live in a pristine area far far away form the cities, clean air is hard to find. And the indoor air is even worse; it’s polluted with all the chemicals used in building materials, carpets, paint and cleanin supplies.
4 – Exercise : When you’re working 12 hour a day, taking care of kids, and running a mile a minute to keep up with obligations, finding time to exercise can be a challenge, unless you are dedicated and make it an important part of your day.
5- Positive thoughts : If you listen to the news, read the newspaper or watch TV, the constant reporting of terrifying events, ominous predictions and financial gloom are enough to wear your positive thoughts to the bone.
6- Fulfilling Relationships: When you’re working hard just to survive, it’s easy to overlook the kind words and deeds and special touches that keep your relationships flourishing.
7- Sunshine : It’s lovely, abundant in many parts of the world and ellusive to many because we stay cooped up indoors working and taking care of our families.
Your health would improve dramatically if you could incorporate all of the above SIMPLE things into your life on a regular basis.
The hard, cold reality is, try as you might, you’ll slip up on some of these “simple” health tips more than you’d like. And when you do, your detoxification pathways suffer and you open yourself for fatigue, lack of focus and illness.
That’s why I developed a variety of cleansing and detoxification strategies that I perform at least 3-4 times a year to detoxify my system.
So just how toxic are you? Because there are so many genetic and environmental differences between people, the buildup of toxins effects each of us a bit diferently.
I have a test you can take to assess how much your health has been effected by toxicity. The test has ben around for a long time, and was originally developed by a mentor of mine , Dr. Jeffrey Bland, back in the 1980s.
My webmaster computerized it so that you can take it and get instant feedback.
Here’s the link.
http://www.drritamarie.com/sixweekdetox/toxicity-signup.php
It takes about 2 minutes. Invest 2 minutes in yourself today to determine how toxic you are and get a personalized email with tips for improving your health.
http://www.drritamarie.com/sixweekdetox/toxicity-signup.php
To your health and Vibrance
Dr. Ritamarie Losclazo
www.FreshnFunLiving.com
www.sixweekdetox.com
Tags: Adrenal Fatigue, chronic fatigue, cleansing programs, detoxification programs, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, exercise, exhaustion, fatigue, fatigue symptoms
Posted in Adrenal Fatigue, Chronic Stress, cleansing programs, exhaustion, fatigue treatment | No Comments »
Overcoming Chronic Fatigue and Adrenal Exhaustion by Having Fun!
Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on November 6, 2009 – 2:47 pm -I work with lots of patients and clients who suffer from adrenal exhaustion, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and thyroid problems. I learn a lot from them. One thing I’ve noticed is that they are too tired to have fun. Imagine not having enough time in your life for enjoyment? By the time they finish doing all the things they “have to” do, they need to rest, and are constantly turning down offers to go out for fun activities. Even though I don’t suffer from fatigue–in fact quite the opposite – I still sometimes fall into the trap of putting fun last.
I’ve learned a lot of lessons about this very topic this week. It started last Sunday when I had an unexpected day of unplanned connection and fun.
I realized that although I value having fun, I sometimes let it take the back burner to work and family oligations.
One of the tools I use when coaching both private and group coaching clients is a fun assessment. They are guided to list at least 20 things they love to do, and create a strategy for incorporating fun into each day. I haven’t done this myself in a long time, and I plan to do it this weekend. Because your interesets may change from time to time, it’s a good idea to revisit the activity regularly, or at least twice a year.
So schedule some time…at least a half an hour..to sit back, relax and make a list of all the things you love so much that you feel a calling to them. Then schedule as many days as you can (at least 4) to have scheduled fun time. Start with 5 minutes. It’s addicting and you’ll soon find yourself extending the time you’ve allotted.
Just do it. When you’re having fun, your biochemistry changes. You become more relaxed and your digestion improves. Your hormones are more balanced. Your neurotransmitters become more balanced and as a result your mood improves and your energy increases.
I’m planning to schedule at least 5 minutes of fun every day. My life and my health depend on it.
How about you? Will you join me? Post your reply in the comments section below.
Love, Health and FUN.
Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo
http://www.drritamarie.com
Tags: Adrenal Fatigue, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, DrRitamarie, exercise, exhaustion, fatigue, fatigue symptoms, thyroid
Posted in Adrenal Fatigue, exhaustion, fatigue treatment | 1 Comment »
3 Myths About Fatigue That Every Woman Should Know
Written by Ritamarie Loscalzo on March 31, 2009 – 4:58 am -I hear it all the time, both professionally and in my private life. “I’m so tired”. “I’m too tired to go out tonight”. “I’d like to exercise, but I just don’t have the energy.”
I’m excited to be offering a very special workshop that’s just right for you if you are fatigued, exhausted or just don’t have the energy to live your life the way you’d like to.
It’s called, “3 Myths About Fatigue Every Woman Should Know”
I’m offering my first one on Tuesday March 31 from 6:30 to 8:30PM in Austin Texas.
I’ll be doing it again, and will also do a shorter version of it in teleseminar form very soon.
So go ahead and read all about it. If you can make it on such short notice, please register. I’m giving scholarships to the first 20 people who sign up. That’s right. This very valuable workshop will not cost you a single dime. And I encourage you to bring at least one friend who you think could benefit.
The information needs to be spread and I’m on a mission to share what I know so that you can live a life you absolutely love.
So go to www.TheWomensFatigueExpert.com and sign up.
If you live out of state, or just can’t make it tomorrow, I encourage you to read the web page anyway, and if you like what you hear, comment below and request me to offer it in your city on on the web.
Love, Health and Joy,
Dr. Ritamarie
D
Tags: Adrenal Fatigue, chronic fatigue, exhaustion, fatigue, fatigue symptoms
Posted in Adrenal Fatigue, Articles, exhaustion, fatigue treatment | 6 Comments »
