I had a tremendous response to my posting on Losing Belly Fat and some readers wanted to know what exercises I did to help with the weight loss and to increase my energy levels.

One of the biggest tips is if you are watching TV, get off the sofa during the commercials and do some exercises on the floor. On a comfortable rug or mat, do some sit ups, push ups, leg lifts, stretches, march in place, jumping jacks. If you do any combination of these for 2-3 minutes during each commercial break you will find that if you watch 2 hours of tv a night, you will get in about 20 minutes or more of movement/cardio during this time frame. What a great opportunity to get yourself back in shape at your own pace and help you feel better about yourself.

If during your day you need an energy boost, rather than reaching for the coffee, you can instantly recharge your energy by increasing circulation.

HOW???

TAKE A WALK

Any time you need a quick pick-me-up at home or at the office, take an easy walk that includes the following stress-busting techniques. It can also help if your goal is to lose weight or firm up:

1. Walk around your home/office building/up and down the corridors, take the stairs for 15 min.
2. Invite a friend or coworker along to discuss the issue of the day and get two things done at once.
3. If you are alone, as you walk, focus on your feet. Hold the awareness on each step as your foot rolls from heel to toe. Do this for 5 mins.
4. Turn your attention to breathing. Lift your upper body to stand upright, increasing lung space. As you inhale imagine you are drawing in renewed energy. Exhale tiredness and pain. Let fresh life flow into your lungs and cells.
5. Mentally talk to yourself as you breathe…Breathe in and say…I allow only good things to flow into my life. Breathe out and say…I release and let go all stress and strain and tiredness. Continue for 15 mins.
6. If you only have a few minutes – pump-up the pace. Lift your knees high when walking or walk in place, knees high, for 5 mins, do jumping jacks in place or climb the stairs for 5 mins.

 A BELLY BUSTING WALK

To zero in on shaping your abs, use this toning tip during any walk.

Time: 15 minutes

1) As you walk, focus on drawing your abs in towards your spine. Try to hold the contraction during your walk but don’t hold your breath.

Have you ever looked closely at a sunflower and seen the myriad swirls and spirals that make up the innermost part of the flower? It is fascinating to me to see the intricacies of the design of petals, leaves, fruits or grains; the perfect structure of a human face, a shell, a pyramid, a rose, a hibiscus or a succulent. Is it just happenstance or is there some order to it all?

All the evidence points to a masterful designer that needs no human manufacturing, human engineering or human interference to create something as lovely as a flower. The mastermind at work has created rhythm, harmony, order and patterns in the landscape and indeed in the entire universe and with this comes an identifiable master template that permeates through all things.

The Fibonacci Sequence

From the shape of shells to the organization of our facial features, there is a pattern. This pattern was identified as the Fibonacci sequence.

 According to Wikipedia

“In the Fibonacci sequence of numbers, each number is the sum of the previous two numbers, starting with 0 and 1. Thus the sequence begins 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610 etc.”

If expanding boxes were drawn with these dimensions, and the corners of these boxes were connected, we find that a perfect spiral is formed.

The Spiral

The spiral has been a common occurrence in the natural world for millions of years. The successive chambers of the nautilus are built on the framework of a logarithmic spiral. As the shell grows, the size of the chambers increases, but their shape remains the same. The length of the sides form a Fibonacci series.

 Hurricane Irene – a spiral weather pattern

- Marina di Chioggia

I love pumpkin and I decided to plant a new variety this year. I was thrilled to see these amazingly large leaves as this pumpkin grew in my garden. These  beautiful graceful leaves which are 12″ in diameter, hover above the soil on thick stems. It will be delightful to see the new  vegetables when they ripen in the next few months.

Such a delight to watch the pumpkins ripen.

Picked my first zucca and made soup with it. Deeelicious!!!

Backyard gardening is so rewarding!!!

1) Grass Removal

Grass is one of the most water-intensive plants in the landscape. It demands high water use and frequent time-consuming and expensive maintenance. Watering your lawn 1 to 2 day a week instead of 5 days a week, can save you up to 840 gallons of water per week. If you choose to remove your lawn, make sure that you dispose of all the roots and grasses. Do not compost grass as the grass seeds may germinate and create more of a problem in the garden.

2) Plan Your Garden

Gardening is a well known activity that can enhance your health and wellbeing and the more thought that goes into planning your garden, the more benefits can be attained.

Designing a garden which has the right plants placed in the right places can dramatically change the water use in the garden as well as create a more enjoyable space to suit your specific needs. Being mindful of the aesthetic arrangement of plants providing color, form and texture contrast, as well as height variation in your planting areas can provide solutions to problem areas in the landscape.

Identify ground covers, perennials, shrubs and trees that have minimum water requirements and that are well-suited to your local climatic and micro-climatic conditions. Group plants according to water requirements and replace herbaceous perennial borders with native plants. Native plants will use less water and be more resistant to local plant diseases.  Also, plant slopes with plants that will retain water and help reduce runoff. Avoid invasive plants.

Select plants with similar water needs

3) Soil Amendments

Cultivate the soil incorporating organic matter such as compost. Doing so breaks up the soil, allows air circulation and improves the soil’s ability to retain moisture. It is also important to aerate heavy or compacted soil around the drip line of trees. Grade the soil so that water flows toward the new plantings and minimizes runoff from your garden.

4) Install a weather based controller

These “smart” controllers irrigate based on the needs of the landscape. They adjust for weather changes, soil type, shade and plant type and provide the appropriate water schedule. A smart controller will automatically reduce the watering times as the weather gets cooler and less water is needed. Then as the weather begins to warm up, the controller will add more time for watering. For commercial applications a variety of “smart” controllers are also available with a suite of sensors and additional hardware to accommodate service for an expanded area. It is usually best to water your plants in the early morning to reduce evaporation and ineffective watering due to wind.

Weather Based Controller

5) Retrofit your Pop-up spray heads with rotating spray nozzles

Retrofitting your existing Pop-Up Spray heads with Rotating Nozzles Heads can save over a thousand gallons of water a year. The streams of the rotating nozzles apply water more slowly and uniformly than conventional sprays. Independent water audits have been known to document water savings of 20% or more when conventional sprays are replaced with rotating nozzles. Additional water-saving advantages include better wind resistance, less misting and virtually no run-off.

6) Mulch

Mulch around new plantings. A two- to four-inch layer of mulch minimizes water evaporation from the soil, modulates soil temperature; keeping the soil cool on hot days and warm on cool days, discourages weed growth and returns nutrients to the soil as it decomposes. It also prevents soil from crusting, allowing better water penetration. Also, around the drip line of each plant, press the mulch down to form a slight depression. This will prevent or minimize water runoff.  Organic mulches can add great visual texture to your landscape. Use shredded bark or chips, wood grindings, compost, aged sawdust or even low-growing ground cover. Inorganic mulches, such as gravel or rock let the most water in and are frequently used with plants susceptible to crown rot. Many Southern California Counties even have free mulch to help you develop your water-wise landscape.

Xerimulch around new plantings and Inorganic mulch – Mexican river rock

7) Create Permeable Surfaces

Convert hardscape areas to permeable surfaces. Break up concrete patios, walkways and driveways into manageable chunks and reuse the concrete chunks as pavers, creating spaces between the pavers for groundcover, gravel or sand. Remember to use a broom instead of a hose to clean driveways, sidewalks and walkways.

Dymondia between pavers

If you want more information on creating your water-wise landscapes contact Denise at Sacred Garden Designs. We are leaders in water-wise landscaping and experts in creating gardens that fit your needs and the needs of the environment. Tel: 310-980-2770.  Email: denise@sacredgardendesigns.com

the New Year rolled in, there was an ever increasing roll around my waistline. When it reached gastronomical proportions, I put the brakes on my eating, looked in the mirror and gasped at the soon to be born child that was swelling

in my belly. Sad to say I couldn’t use the excuse that I was pregnant even though everyone around me was biting their tongue to refrain from asking, “When are you due?”

Having a slim build and high metabolism at age 49, standing 5ft 5ins, weighing 130lbs, I usually have no trouble eating and staying slim in the face of many a smorgasbord. However, this time I blamed the dull, overcast, rainy days in Seattle for pushing me into an eating frenzy. It didn’t help that my boyfriend was a top rate chef. So eat I did.

I noticed that the problem was not so much that I ate everything in sight, it was that I never seemed full for very long and was

constantly craving sweets, breads or pastries that left me feeling bloated and uncomfortable. I then had to recover on the sofa from the binging, and as soon as I felt better, experienced an empty feeling that left me searching for the next treat.

When I got back to my home in California after 12 days of this, and the sun hit my body, I immediately felt energized to exercise and get busy losing the 8 pound “companion” I had gained on my short trip to Seattle. I exercised, ate smaller portions, drank lots of water, and worked my body hard. But, I still wasn’t happy with how I was feeling, and even with eating smaller portions of food I wasn’t losing my spare tire.

So what was I doing wrong?

A dear friend suggested that, as I was almost 50, maybe I had developed intolerance to some of the foods I was eating. That lit a spark that led me to pay attention to how I was feeling after I ate each type of food on my plate.

What I found was that when I ate wheat-based products I experienced bloating, indigestion, congestion, irritable bowel, highs and lows, and general brain fog – and when I had a diet free of these products I experienced greater energy, I breathed better, my mind was sharp, I had regular bowel movements, and most of all, I started losing my pot belly!

So it had nothing to do with my upcoming half-century mark! That made me feels even better. I did further research and was surprised to learn of the many ailments and constant cravings linked to wheat-based diets.

Dr. William Davis, in the book “Wheat Belly” broke down in simple language that approximately 99% of the current food supply in the United States is laced with genetically modified grains that have been shown to wreak havoc on the human body, leading to various digestive and health disorders. Once his patients eliminated the wheat from their diets, they found themselves on a path back to health.

What wheat products do more than any other carbohydrate, according to Dr. Davis, is greatly elevate blood sugar level in the body. This is important because when we eat bread and wheat-based products, our body releases the hormone insulin which converts the wheat’s sugars or glucose to fats. The higher the blood’s glucose level after eating, the more insulin is released, and thus the more fat is deposited – particularly abdominal or deep visceral fat.

Dr. Davis and many other health practitioners are onto something significant. Their ideas run counter to all the Food Pyramids and stand the test when you see obese Americans of all ages following the Standard American Diet, (SAD for short), with little or no sustained health improvements. Could it be because a SAD diet is high in unhealthy saturated and hydrogenated fats, low in fiber and complex carbohydrates, low in plant based foods and high in processed foods?

What is sad, is that the American diet contributes to diseases such as cancer and coronary heart disease yet the country is spending more money on cancer research than any other country in the world. Perhaps we need to take another look at what we are eating first and develop a lifestyle approach that works. I can say that eliminating wheat from my diet has certainly made a huge difference in my energy level and overall feeling of well being. Of course, it meant finding a new way of eating that supports the optimal functioning of my body. What does this new way of eatin look like?

It’s a diet filled with fruits and vegetables, organic nuts, meats and dairy, and it provides a way to take my health back into my own hands. This diet does however, require a shift in consciousness away from the Standard American Diet. The best gage to use to judge the effectiveness of a wheat-free diet is how you feel after you have tried it. I feel great and I have so much more energy. I can even say now that I look forward to a fit fifty and to future holidays filled with fun, because I will be creatively designing scrumptious items for the menu, and I will have more energy to enjoy my friends and family rather than spending my time feeling bloated on the sofa.

Sacred Gardens provides services to assist you in growing and harvesting your own fruits and vegetables, in containers, in your back yard, on a farm, within a community garden or even on the parkway strip in front of your house or apartment.

We help you become integrally involved in cultivating and growing new seeds in your life and transform the way you see and use food. We also provide garden-fitness classes, cooking classes, farm tours, sacred garden tours and individual consultations. Let 2012 be the year you begin to cultivate the best of yourself and step into the bigger life and smaller waistline that is waiting for you and your loved ones.