Turning Points to Health

The turning point in my life was when I purchased a Vitamix Total Nutrition Centre in 1994.  I had wanted a high powered blender for some time, as I inherently knew that I needed to include more raw food into my diet.  I could see the advantage of blending a whole pile of fruit, leaves, etc and just chugging it down.  At that stage I was 40 years old and suffering from various maladies.  These ranged from horrible PMS that lasted at least 2 weeks of every month, drinking too much alcohol and popping sleeping pills every night.  I was a mess.

I purchased my Vitamix from my daughter’s friend’s mother, Colleen Thornhill.  Meeting Colleen and her husband Mike, and purchasing the Vitamix changed my life almost immediately.

I became a vegetarian within two weeks of purchasing the machine and increased my raw intake by at least 70%. I blended smoothies every morning for myself and the rest of the family.  I took a flask of the stuff to work and basically just had fruit all day.  Supper was a big salad.  I lost weight, strangely enough, even though I was already very slim.  I dropped from 50kgs to around 44kgs, and kept this low weight for about 3 years – slowly stabilising and creeping back up to around 47kgs, which is my current weight.

For the next three years I still drank alcohol, but less so and still took sleeping pills, sadly, but I felt much better all round and I no longer experienced PMS, which was a huge relief.

In 1997 we left South Africa, and this was another turning point in my life.  My husband and I both gave up alcohol.  Two years later we moved to Saudi Arabia, and it was there that I decided to give up sleeping pills.  This was exceedingly difficult, but since I was not working, it seemed like the right time. Within 6 months I was able to sleep without any chemical aid.

A year later we moved to Dubai.  Here I increased my raw intake to around 95-100%, exercised every day on my rebounder (a gift from Colleen and Mike) and felt like I had evolved into the me I was meant to be.

At this point I purchased a distiller and a dehydrator. I wanted to be sure the water I was drinking was as clean and pure as possible. The dehydrator was to add other textures and flavours into the raw diet.  Dried fruit is my passion! I eat far too much of it.

I am now 56, and incredibly happy and well.  I have amazing energy and never get depressed, even if things do go wrong!

I highly recommend to anyone embarking on a ‘health crusade’ to seriously consider going ‘raw’.  Somehow raw food vitalises the body.  Every cell seems nourished, content and happy. If all the parts of the whole are well, it stands to reason that the whole being will be well too.    The easy way to do it is with a blender, particularly initially.  It is so easy to blend and chug.  Purchasing a juicer is also a good idea, but I have not yet done so.  I tend to only juice oranges and have a cheap little juicer for this purpose.

I also highly recommend exercising on a rebounder (or mini trampoline).  I bounce/aeorobicise on my trampoline every morning for 30 minutes to very upbeat, trendy music.  It is a great way to start the day and excellent for encouraging elimination, and of course keeping fit and trim.  The other benefit I have noticed is that I now have really good balance.

 

 

 

Vitamix Giveaway

Vita-Mix have featured their 5200 super blender on a number of popular TV programs. They featured on the Martha Stewart show ”The Martha Stewart Show” is an hour long daily series that informs and inspires viewers on subjects from cooking and entertaining to crafting and gardening, hosted by Martha Stewart.

And then, Vita-Mix featured on the Ellen Degeneres show ’12 Days of Giveaways’ and actually gave away over 300 of their 5200 Super Blenders on the show.  This episode will no doubt flight in South Africa, but who knows when so here is a photo clip of the Viamix giveaway.

And then, Vita-Mix Corporation gave Colleen and Michael of Healthmakers one of the new Brushed Stainless Model 5200.

Now this is a Super Blender that you could REALLY get passionate about. Between looks and performance i’m not sure what the world has to offer that could beat it.

Go and check this beauty out at www.healthmakers.co.za. Just search for brushed stainless.

Another Healthmakers approved product that will be in stock mid August 2011.

 

Earth Hour 2011 and how you can be a part of 60+

Saturday 26 March at 8:30pm is the day and time we all give a little back to Mother Earth. Its Earth Hour 2011 and by switching off the lights for one hour in the evening you will be joining in the worldwide symbolic gesture to pledge your commitment to combating climate change (last year the ‘hour’ became the planet’s largest voluntary action ever witnessed as it reached 1.3 billion people in at least 128 different countries).

Imagine what we can achieve indeed! This year there is a movement to go beyond the hour (60+) with each person making a commitment to a positive action for the planet, a commitment that can be celebrated by turning off your lights on March 26th. The challenge is to find one way you can be an inspiration and make a difference by taking your pledge beyond the hour! Healthmakers would love to help you make this commitment to Earth Hour 60+ by suggesting a number of simple yet effective ways that can help you help the planet.

We believe the Eco-Charger is a break through in Green Energy Technology. It recharges ordinary bog standard AA and AAA Alkaline disposable batteries and also the rechargeable batteries (Ni-MH batteries are cadmium-free and therefore less toxic than the cheaper Ni-Cd alternatives). Becides the financial upside though money saved, by recharging all your batteries you will be helping to alleviate the environmental problems regarding disposing of batteries as the number used can very quickly multiply.

Remember that ordinary batteries should not be thrown away with ordinary household waste as they contain toxic chemicals that can leach into the soil and groundwater. You can safely dispose of all depleted batteries through the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) and Uniross, a company which has joined forces with all Pick n Pay stores and selected Makro, Builders Warehouse and Stax stores to put collection boxes for all battery types in the stores. The batteries are collected and the non-recyclable ones are “concretised” and disposed of safely, the recyclable ones are put in a container to be sent to a facility in France where they can be recycled as there are no facilities in South Africa that can recycle batteries. By using the Eco-Charger you are reusing every battery upto 20 times and then by recycling you are not only ensuring the safety of our ground water and food (through healthy soil) but you are also ensuring that the finite source of metals used in making the battery is reused.

A second way to take up the 60+ pledge is to get an ECO Kettle. If you are not using this kind of kettle you are currently on average boiling twice the amount of water needed because measuring the amount of water to be boiled is nearly impossible.  This means twice as much energy used, in fact if you are using a 3kw kettle and it takes 60 seconds to boil you could power a single lightbulb for 50mins using the same amount of energy. The ECO-Kettle with two reservoirs works differently. You have a 7 cup reservoir of water that feeds through to the boiling chamber (when you hold the selection quantity button down, where you can select to boil from a single cup to 5 cups of water at a time). This means that you save energy every time you boil by boiling only the exact amount of water that you need. (The Energy Saving Trust in the UK did a consumer trial on the ECO-Kettle and found that 31% less energy was used than by normal kettles).

There are those that care about the environment and there are those that care about their back pocket. If you are either of these people then this kettle is for you. Often when we make a change to benefit the environment we often have to compromise our own convenience. With the Eco Kettle it is win win all the way. Enjoy the benefits of a fast boiling 2200 watt element, save the cost of electricity by not boiling unnecessary water and honour your pledge to Earth Hour 60+ and our planet by playing a part in taking care of the environment. It will certainly pay for itself time and again.

Did you know that empty plastic water bottles have become a major contributor to worldwide pollution and that for every 2 plastic bottles produced you have added 1kg of carbon dioxide to your personal carbon footprint?  Did you know that 40% of bottled water is actually TAP WATER? With or without added filtration – you’re paying through the nose for it. Worse, an independent test found arsenic, DPBs and 36 other harmful pollutants including industrial chemicals hiding in bottled water which could also contain the potentially hazardous chemical BPA.

Buying your water in a plastic bottle means:

• that in the time it takes you to read just this one short sentence, over 8,000 empty water bottles are being thrown away worldwide.
• means that 5500 rubbish trucks will be filled each day solely with plastic bottles.
• that the U.S. alone used 4110 barrels of oil to produce the 67 million plastic water bottles discarded EVERY day!

The production of plastic bottles doesn’t just deplete the planet of oil reserves but we ask that you please consider the harm that the processing of plastic water bottles does as it releases toxic compounds such as nickel, ethylbenzene, ethylene oxide, and benzene into the environment.

Healthmakers therefore recommends that you give up your plastic water bottle habit and save the planet by offering a wide range of BPA Free water bottles which are reusable and refillable making them extremely Eco-Friendly. They can be filled with water (or other liquids) you can trust to keep you healthy (see our Water Purification range on our website for healthy water options)

BPA Free Water Bottles:

Cheeki Water Bottles are manufactured from Premium 304 Food Grade Stainless Steel and are healthy for you and the environment, and are available in a wide range of stylish and fun designs that keep your water fresh and cold. Cheeki bottles are perfect for kids’ lunchboxes; sports; exercise and everyday use.

The FLOW Water Bottles we offer are made from 100% food-grade Stainless Steel making them toxin and BPA Free, because all these bottles are stainless steel they do not need a liner like an aluminum bottle would, this means that the these bottles will not hold flavors or make the water taste strange. The caps of the FLOW Water Bottles are made from recyclable BPA-free polypropylene.

We believe that by adding your positive actions towards making our world a better place by using even one of these environment ideas, you can become a part of Earth Hours 60+ global symbol of hope and movement for change. “Together our actions add up. So take action, and save the date for this year’s Earth Hour.

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