A Live Lighter reader reminded me that part of “living lighter” is taking life a little less seriously than we often do. We can get so caught up in personal development that we forget to laugh! So take a moment for a giggle with this funny video of a human ventriloquist and his dummy.

There’s some really great stand up comedy out there to be discovered and Paul Zerdin is one of my latest finds (thanks to my honey for sending me the video). Here he is in a clip from one of his gigs at the Comedy Rocks with Jason Manford (the best is the volunteer human dummy – he knows how to get into role!):

Now how’s that for letting someone else pull the strings for awhile? Sometimes we just have to step back from our challenges, see where the Universe is directing us, let it take the lead for a bit and remember to have a little fun.

Question: When was the last time you let loose and allowed the Universe to guide your actions?

Editor’s Note: While you may treat yourself this weekend, there’s a trick to staying healthy at Halloween. Seasonal foods! Guest blogger & cookbook author, Bindu Grandhi, contributes a special Halloween poem and a healthy soup recipe for our spooky celebrations!

A Halloween Poem

by Bindu Grandhi

‘Tis the season of goodies and goblins,
And decorated porches with pumpkins!
Popular in fall and loved by all,
Bright orange in color and sometimes disguised
By a crooked smile and cutout eyes.
Its flesh is best when fresh
But canned also meets the test.
Rich in vitamins like C and E, and
Loaded with antioxidants good for you and me.
Potassium and Magnesium are in it too,
Not to mention high in fiber, can this be true?
Indeed, its health benefits are unrivaled from
Anti-aging to disease-fighting.
Pumpkin goes great in smoothies and pies,
Puddings and muffins, but I haven’t tried it fried!
Also used in breads and soups,
Here’s a recipe for the troops.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin adds a vibrant color and sweet taste to this curry-spiced soup. For a more elegant touch, top with fresh cilantro and sour cream.

Prep Time:  5 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves:  4

Ingredients

• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 (15oz) can of pumpkin (of course use fresh pumpkin if available)
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 3 tsp brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup whole milk or skim milk

Garnish

• 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Preparation

1. Combine vegetable broth and pumpkin and bring to a boil on low heat.

2. Add curry powder, brown sugar, salt, and black pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add milk and simmer for another 5 minutes.

3. Turn off heat. Serve hot in soup bowls. Garnish with cilantro and a dollop of sour cream.

About the Author

Author of Spice Up Your Life, Bindu Grandhi is passionate about healthy and flavourful cooking, especially when it’s flexitarian. She shares her health knowledge with the world by providing practical, healthy and tasty recipes as The Flex Cook.

The image for today’s post is the jack ‘o lantern my good friend and I carved out last night – and yes, I’m soaking the pumpkin seeds right now to roast). Do you recognize it from the movies? If you’ve taken a pic of your pumpkin and posted it online, leave us the link so we can see!

Maybe you want to lose weight. Or regain your health and feel younger. Maybe you have a dream to travel the world! Whatever your goals, this post will inspire you to activate your burning desire and never give up!

One of the healthiest people I know is a good friend of mine. She was there at the beginning of my health journey and continues to be my strongest, most motivating ally in achieving balance through healthy living.

Jacqueline (that’s not her real name) mentioned in our chat yesterday how challenging things have been for her at work. Ever since she got the job, she’s been working long hours. She’s up for a promotion but what’s really stressing her out is the office politics.

She told me how working out and running are her best stress relievers. But that’s not all she does. While Jacqueline’s releasing her physical tension in a workout, she plays inspiring music to help alleviate emotional and mental stress.

Jacqueline’s fav tune right now is “The Fire” featuring John Legend by The Roots:

If you missed the lyrics, here they are in full but if you’re looking for a taste, here’s my favourite part:

It’s David and Goliath
I made it to the eye of the storm
Feeling tore like they fed me to lions
Before time start to wind down like the Mayans
I show ‘em how I got the grind down like a science
It sounds like a riot on hush
It’s so quiet, the only thing I hear is my heart
I’m inspired by the challenge that I find myself standin eye-to-eye with
To move like a wise warrior and not a coward
You can’t escape
The history you was meant to make
That’s why the highest victory is what I’m meant to take
You came to celebrate
I came to cerebrate
I hate losing I refuse to make the same mistakes

Next time your goals seem out of reach or taking too long to achieve, try working out with your favourite tune. You’ll get psyched up mentally and emotionally while getting physically stronger at the same time!

What’s your favourite tune to work out to or chill out with? Btw, here’s my fav tune from The Roots (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojC0mg2hJCc)

Who’s got a beef with their country’s healthcare system? If you do, read this post and help me dream up the perfect healthcare system!

Canada’s healthcare system is one of the best in the world and while I’m grateful for it, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth and a strong resistance to seeking health assistance (which I commented on in the post, “Healthcare? Or is it really Sickcare?“).

One day this week I became ill and not only was I in pain, the entire day was shot for fun and productivity. Poo.

On the positive side, I had some time to contemplate and imagine a healthcare system designed to promote health and well-being, rather than a reactive response to illness and disease.

Here are a few aspects of my healthcare nirvana:

1. More life skills, less algebra. Who really uses algebra in adulthood? Why spend precious hours in school learning reams of useless, impractical information when we could be learning how to cope with daily life? Illness and disease is directly related to stress so I say let’s start teaching younger generations things like: social skills, conflict resolution, money management, healthy living practices (nutrition & exercise) and healthy stress management techniques.
2. East meets West approach. The inherent wisdom of the East is severely lacking in contemporary medicine. I’d love to see the day where our entire healthcare system combines what works in western medicine with what works in natural medicine.
3. Replace General Practitioners (GPs) with Naturopathic Docs (NDs). This might be a little out-there for most people but what I mean is reserving the skills of Medical Doctors (MDs) for life-threatening instances, such as emergencies and surgeries, as well as illnesses and diseases that have gone too far. This would leave diagnosing the early stages of illness and disease, as well as treating core issues causing them, up to the skills and knowledge of Naturopathic Doctors.
4. More money towards public health education. It’s time healthcare systems become proactive. How? By providing people what they need to take responsibility for their own health. It begins with knowledge, though, so I picture a system where huge funds are directed towards the prevention of illness and disease by educating the entire population (not just kids in school, as in #1) about how to properly care for and maintain balance in our bodies. Where do we get the money for such a thing? Let’s start with capping CEO salaries to $100,000 and insist pharmaceutical companies give back to society.
5. Emotional alchemy. This one is aligned with #1 and #4 but I thought it deserved its own point. What causes stress? Emotional responses to perceptions of circumstances (reality). Negative thoughts and emotions are toxic energy. If they aren’t processed and released, they stay in the body. So let’s learn realistic optimism and transform those negative emotions into positive ones. Sandra Ingerman teaches some really easy practices for emotional alchemy in her new book, “How to Thrive in Changing Times” which I reviewed recently.
6. Trusted agency-regulated nutritional supplements. This is a topic that I’ll be covering in an upcoming post but suffice it to say, nutritional supplement industry standards are sub-par at best. There are many sold on the market today that go right through your body without any benefit whatsoever.
7. Social health insurance that includes natural medicine. Many insurance agencies out there cover natural medicine and alternative therapies, like acupuncture, massage therapy and chiropractic, in their health packages. In conjunction with #3, why doesn’t our healthcare system in Canada cover it? Anyone have ideas?
8. Items NOT covered under perfect social healthcare. Realistically, if our ideal healthcare system were to provide everything for free to the public, we’d be paying taxes through the nose! Let’s say the social health insurance would NOT cover: unnecessary surgeries (and there are more than you might realize when you read Dr. Null’s “Death By Medicine,” another book I recently reviewed); most pharmaceuticals (they usually cause more damage than help); and most natural health products (except for agency-regulated daily nutritional supplements).
9. Affordable healthy food & high-priced junk food. The price of cigarettes is astronomical in order to deter people from buying them but junk food is arguably JUST as addictive and harmful. (Read my book review on Dr. Robert Pretlow’s “Overweight, What Kid’s Say: what’s really causing the childhood obesity epidemic?“) I understand why organic food is more expensive but what I don’t understand is why we even need organics! Isn’t it a no-brainer that chemicals are toxic, no matter how small the dosage, it builds up in the system over time. And don’t even get me started on how commercial farms treat animals – besides inhumane treatment, we consume their stress hormones! If you haven’t seen it, here’s a clip from the documentary, Food Inc.
10. High-priced pharmaceuticals. Just like cigarettes in Canada and junk food in our perfect healthcare system, we’d raise the prices on toxic pharmaceuticals. Sure, there might be a few out there that are useful but I doubt it. Perhaps someone with more pharmaceutical and alternative medical knowledge can help with this one?

Can you add to this list? Are there any points that need tweaking? Let’s hear what you think would make the perfect healthcare system!

The health benefits of being an early bird are numerous. I’ve experienced them myself and, unfortunately, I’ve fallen off the wagon. Life’s not as easy as it once was so I’m taking the Stepcase Lifehack Challenge to become an early riser in 5 days!

We’ve all experienced sleeping in late and rushing out the door. How do those days usually turn out for you? If you’re like me, horrid. Nothing seems to go smoothly and life’s demands seem incessant. I’m stressed almost the entire day.

The greatest advantage to rising early is starting the day off right: taking the time for personal care and performing activities which fulfill you. This way you’ve taken care of the most important person in your world: YOU.

Once you’ve taken care of your needs, you’ll have way more energy and willingness to fulfill your responsibilities and take care of others.

Stepcase Lifehack’s Early Riser Challenge

Seth Simonds over at Lifehack has shared 5 tips for being an early riser and has asked participants to share theirs in the comments and/or on their blogs. If you’re thinking about taking this challenge with me, I invite you to read up on everyone’s tips, including Seth’s latest post, Do You Have a Morning Ritual?

The challenge officially began Monday but I’m starting tomorrow and will carry on past the suggested 5 days. I figure with all the tips prior to starting, it should be a cinch!

Oh! And this is a Stepcase Lifehack 6-part series so I hope you’ll follow along with me as Seth posts more helpful content during the week.

Steph’s Tips for Early Bird Wannabes

You CAN train your body to jump up out of bed with bountiful energy to greet the day! Here are some of my early bird hacks:

1. Mind Power. This is the most exciting tip I have to share because it reveals just how powerful we really are! As you’re lying in bed preparing to fall to sleep, tell yourself what time you’ll get up. The trick to working this tip is deep breathing and relaxation. Basically, you’re using the power of self-hypnosis – and it really works! I created a nighttime mantra for myself, “I will sleep deeply and wake at 7am refreshed, energetic and connected.” I can now wake up without an alarm, which is absolutely amazing if you knew me when I was younger!
2. Make it Easy. It’s difficult to make huge changes. Our bodies strive for consistency so it’s helpful to work with nature (it’s how I made healthy living easy). Try slowly adjusting your body to your new wake up time. For instance, if you want to wake up at 6am but you normally wake up at 8am, aim for 7:30am for the first morning or two. Then aim for 7am for the next few mornings and so on until you reach your desired wake up time.
3. Avoid Caffeine After 3pm. If you can do it, also avoid sugar (including alcohol) and other stimulants (including cigarettes) late in the afternoon. They jack up your central nervous system and although you may be so used to the substance that you don’t even notice it, they do affect a good night’s sleep. Which in turn affects your ability to wake up naturally and easily at your desired wake up time.
4. Resist Eating Past 7pm. Digestion requires an incredible amount of energy; some say even more than running, swimming or cycling! Sleep is the time for your body to repair and regenerate but if your body’s energy is diverted to digestion, you’ll fail to get optimum sleep or the full health benefits sleep offers. Plus, your body will be more willing to wake up in the morning, craving the sustenance of breakfast.
5. Unplug & Disconnect Before Bed. For at least one hour before hitting the sack, try to avoid stimulating activities like TV, computers, work, movies, games and even socializing. Much like stimulating substances, these types of activities stimulate the central nervous system and it’s often difficult to calm down enough to fall sleep. If you usually toss and turn before falling asleep, this tip might be exactly what you need!
6. Sleep for 7-9 Hours. Everyone is different so you’ll have to discover your optimal sleep time. If you can wake without an alarm and feel rested, you’re getting the appropriate amount of sleep for you. The point to this tip is that if you’re aiming to wake earlier than your usual time, you’ll find going to bed earlier imperative to achieving your goal.
7. Additional Sleep Tips. Dr. Natasha Turner devotes an entire chapter to sleep in her book The Hormone Diet (click here for my book review). This chapter alone is worth the price of the book! To read a little on the importance of sleep and for more of my personal sleep tips, read Sweet Dreams for a Healthier You.

Many of the above tips have to do with getting a better night’s rest. Makes sense, doesn’t it? If we give our bodies the right quality and amount of sleep, we won’t have to do a thing because our body will simply and naturally wake up when it’s time.

Do you have any sleep tips we haven’t covered here? Will you be taking the Stepcase Lifehack challenge with us? Let us know in the comments below!

Have you checked out the latest POM Wonderful contest? Did you submit a work of art? I did. And if you’re interested, I share my slightly embarrassing submission  experience in this post.

POM Wonderful put on one of the best contests I’ve ever had the pleasure to participate in. They left it easy, open and allowed the creativity to flow!

There are some really inventive pieces and I invite you to check them out here. A community prize is being offered to the most popular, so make sure to vote for your favourites.

Lessons learned in the POM Heart Art Contest

Although I had fun with this contest, life (and myself) got in the way a little. POM gave us an entire month but I still managed to barely get my submission, POM Wonderful Angel, in on time.

The embarrassing part of this is that there was another earlier submission very similar to mine. It totally appears as if I copied this other person’s idea. Oy! *blush*

And, it’s about 20 times better than mine so if you like the concept, please vote for berfrancis’ Cupid’s Love Potion.

Here are my lessons from entering this contest so you won’t make the same mistakes:

1. Submit as early as possible, especially when there’s a voting aspect to the contest.
2. Check the other submissions before you submit yours. I did check them when I first contemplated entering the contest but because I left it to the last minute, I neglected to check again. And now I’m SO embarrassed.

Moral of the story? You may be on the same wavelength as another contest participant so get your idea in first!

If you check out the contest entries, I’d love to hear which ones you liked most. And if you’ve had a similar experience, would you share it with us so I don’t feel so silly?

Healthy living is more than just exercise and nutrition. It’s about respect. Respect for your body, mind, soul, other people, animals and planet earth.

Can you tell when someone appreciates something in their life? Of course you can. There are some 50 year-old homes that look almost new while there are houses 20 years younger that look like they should be condemned!

Everything in life, no matter how it was originally built or created, requires a certain amount of time, energy and attention for maintenance. It’s obvious when neglect has been the reigning approach because it looks run down. It’s actually a form of abuse.

If you really feel blessed for something in your life, if you really love it, you’re more motivated to care for it because you want it to remain in your life in the best possible condition for as long as possible.

Engineers in Your Ear are a couple of stand-up guys who try to love the planet earth every day. They love it like apple pie. Check out their 3:35 minute tribute to her:

What do you think of the video and song, Readers? Thumbs up or down?

Caring for our bodies, relationships, material possessions and the land that provides us everything we need to survive are all important to living a healthy lifestyle. Let’s hear how you try to care for our planet earth in the comments below!

We talk a lot about detoxing and cleansing the body here on Live Lighter, and even went so far as to detox TV in January. We’ve also touched on how subconscious beliefs sabotage our efforts to change – that’s why I’m psyched to take Debbie Ford’s 21 day consciousness cleanse!

Ms. Ford talks about waking up one day without our old fears, doubts, unmet needs, limiting beliefs and perceptions that keep us locked in our repetitive, destructive patterns. I don’t know about you, but that sounds great to me!

Debbie has written The 21-Day Consciousness Cleanse: A Breakthrough Program for Connecting with Your Soul’s Deepest Purpose. But what’s it all about?

She says:

“It’s a practical program that promises to alter the quality and direction of your life and support you in not only obtaining your goals for the new year, but, more importantly, creating a new loving and nurturing relationship with yourself and with the power that sources you. This program will enable you to take back your power from the outer world, turn inward and reconnect with your inner guide and your highest self. Instead of being guided this year by your head and what you think you should do, you will be inspired and directed by your heart’s deepest desires.”

But you don’t have to buy the book to participate in what she describes as “a detox diet for the soul”. Check out Oprah.com to access 21 links (1 per day) for excerpts from the book, exercises and even meditations!

Here’s a 1:28 minute video with Debbie sharing some of the testimonials from her program:

Special thanks to Emmanuel Lopez from Motivatorman.com for notifying me of Debbie’s new break-through consciousness cleanse program.

I’m starting the 21-Day Consciousness Cleanse tomorrow! Will you be joining me on this soul journey? In case you missed it, click here when you’re ready.

February is the month of Love; it’s also American Heart Month. Since pomegranates are loaded with healthy antioxidants which may improve heart health, POM Wonderful wants us to create some fabulous heart art for a chance to win awesome prizes!

Pomegranates have been listed by Shape.com as one of the top 15 healthy foods to have in your kitchen at all times. Between the juice and seeds, the antioxidants (including tannins and anthocyanins) have been shown to increase blood flow and reduce levels of harmful cholesterol.

I’m psyched to enter POM Wonderful’s Heart Art Contest!

All we have to do is create an original, heart-themed work of art. According to the contest rules, we’re free to use any medium but our finished pieces must include the POM Wonderful logo. As an option, we may include any POM Wonderful packaging.

To finish entering the contest, we take a pic of our art, sign in or register to their POM community and upload the pic along with a title and description of our masterpiece.

Easy and fun, right? But what’s up for grabs?

The Grand Prize is a POM Wonderful gift basket which includes a Flip Video, $100 American Express gift card, $250 donation to the American Heart Association in the winner’s name, and more!

The Community Prize includes a whack of POM products like a backpack, POM juice, POMx coffee and POMx bars.

Click here to find out how winners will be determined and here for the official contest rules.

Contest ends at the end of the month on February 28th, so we’d better get our creative juices flowing! Ooo… I feel something brewing…

The 2010 TV Detox officially ended on Sunday and now that we’ve had time to catch up on some of our shows, it’s time to reflect on what we’ve learned from during our 31 days of detoxing.

Anything come up for you? Take some time right now to think of at least one revelation from your TV detox.

If you’d like to hear what I jotted down on my list, I vlogged it on YouTube:

If you’re using Internet Explorer, you may see a white box rather than the video. I’m looking into how to fix this but for now, please access the video directly from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQToWL1TtCk.

Special thanks goes to Emmanuel Lopez – Motivatorman for contributing his video production (lighting was poor – my apologies!) and original music score for this video! Please visit http://motivatorman.com/ to learn more about Emmanuel’s varied talents as an award-winning illustrator, motivational specialist and social media consultant.

For all of you readers out there:

Hello! It’s Steph Miller, again, Head Health Nutter here on Live Lighter, a blog for people looking to lose weight naturally and permanently.

January was a phenomenal month for me and I have the 2010 TV Detox to thank.

In this bonus video, let’s review what we’ve learned from this month-long challenge.

For me, I learned:

Ist: I can easily live without TV. We even decided to cancel our satellite subscription & we’re now saving $150 a month!

2nd: This was a freeing experience! Not once did I make plans around catching the latest episodes of my favourite programs.

3rd: When I’m feeling down, TV and movies pick me up.

4th: I had a copious amount of time for other activities, for example, my relationships have never been stronger, I enjoyed 2 books in January AND got my finances under control.

5th: Keeping up with world events was a little challenging at first but easy enough to manage with radio, newspapers and by simply asking people.

What did you learn through your 2010 TV Detox? Please share your insights with us in a comment.

I hope you enjoyed this Live Lighter special group event and until next time, this is Steph Miller, Head Health Nutter, wishing you a healthy, balanced day.