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Live Well.  Achieve Balance.
The Balance Group I BalanceBoost

The move to issue a prescription note to purchase vitamins and supplements is one more step towards impacting your personal freedom to choose natural products for your health.  While the FDA is failing miserably at monitoring our food supply, personal care products, toys and prescription drugs how could they have the audacity to mandate this next move?  I am sure that top executives within the pharmaceutical industry are just waiting to get their greedy hands around the market share generated from current sales of natural health products.   Complementary and Alternative Medicine use in the United States has grown exponentially, vitamins, supplements and herbal remedies are at the forefront of use for most consumers.

Lurking behind this major issue is something called the Codex Alimentarius, I strongly urge you to educate yourself about this issue before it is too late.  Codex Alimentarius is slowly making a path for the pharmaceutical industry to recover the lost income and sales from natural healthcare products. 

While prescription drug use is at an all time high, it is not surprising that   the number of serious adverse drug events more than double between 1998 and 2005 in the United States, as did the number of related deaths.  I am often astonished that the human body can withstand 13 or more prescriptions taken daily by individuals, especially the elderly.  Left unchecked by doctors or family members, the interactions of multiple medications is unknown and long terms affects remain to be seen.

Consumers drive the marketplace and spending for vitamins and supplements is in the rise. This is largely due to the fact that many are disenfranchised with mainstream medicine and find that complementary and alternative medicine products and services are more congruent with their own values, beliefs and orientation towards health.

When used appropriately vitamins and supplements can often work better than prescription drugs with little or no side effects.  I believe that if you need medication then by all means take it, but seeing your primary care physician for 500Mg of   Vitamin C may be in our imminent future.  The only way to ensure that this doesn’t happen is through serious activism, with the amount of money behind this issue it is our only hope.  Otherwise,   we can expect to watch nutritional supplement manufacturers and, thus health food stores, to go out of business.

For more information on this issue and to see how you can participate and raise awareness visit:

www.healthfreedomusa.org

www.floridahealthfreedom.org

Rachel A. Markel
Plant Medicine Company

For the past 15 years Rachel A. Markel has been working in the field of Complementary Alternative Medicine with a focus on plant based medicines.  Through her educational company she has trained practitioners from every level of western and non-traditional medicine. As a Instructor for Miami Dade College, Continuing Education for Health Careers Department,  Rachel has been teaching an Aromatherapy Certification Course for several years.   She also consults with individuals regarding, healthy living with plant based medicines, which includes the recommendation of essential oils and certified organic herbs. 

A quick note, I am going to do my Weigh In on a monthly basis. The next Weigh In will be in next week’s issue and will continue on the first Thursday of every month.

Anti-aging is all the rage for people in my age range. When we hit our 30’s we start taking a look at the bigger picture of our life. We learned a lot in our teens, we had tons of fun in our 20’s, and now even though the fun isn’t over, we have to play smarter when it comes to our overall health and appearance.

As for sleep, I think I accumulated a lot of it in my 20’s. Boy did I sleep. I’ve always been pretty strict when it comes to the 8 hours rule especially since I know I am not a morning person. Over the past couple of years I have come to realize how important sleep is when it comes to one’s appearance, productivity, mood and mental clarity.

People in my life who have not aged so well almost all do not get enough sleep, or they do the little sleep during the week and bulk up on it over the weekend. Bags under the eyes, dark circles, bad posture, blood shot eyes, pale skin, and sullen moods are the outcomes I’ve noticed from their lack of sleep.

I see it in myself when I do not get enough sleep or I’m on marathon of scheduled activities (conferences, boot camps, working 2 jobs, etc.). The first sign I show are blood shot eyes which make me look upset or sick. Plus, I tend to cut corners in appearance because I probably woke up just in time for a quick shower and not all of the other things I normally do in my morning routine.

As I mentioned in the first full issue, I bartend twice a week and this week I went home one night after being at the bar for 2 hours. I couldn’t focus and it clearly showed in my mood and it was all because I was exhausted. Even though I went home with an empty wallet, I felt getting a good night’s sleep was more important than sticking it out for another 4-5 hours and making the money.

Sleep is wonderful, especially when you get into a deep REM sleep. When a person is in a good REM state of sleep it stimulates their pituitary gland which produces our HGH, Human Growth Hormone (a whole other topic we will be covering in upcoming issues of Balance Boost and on our website), which slows down the aging process.

When I get a good night’s rest, uninterrupted, I feel amazing and do not immediately run to brew up a cup coffee. My day is more productive and I have more refreshed appearance.

So if your schedule is as hectic as mine, treat yourself to a good night’s sleep, even if that means sacrificing a night out or a few bucks in your wallet…you may enjoy the outcome.

Tiffany Houser
The Balance Group

Here are some more things to try to get restful sleep:

Listen to music to help you sleep: Forget counting sheep, next time you are having trouble dropping off to sleep try putting on a jazz CD. Researchers have shown just 45 minutes of relaxing music before bedtime can make for a restful night.

Despite Alternatives, Addictive Drugs Most Often Prescribed For Sleep Problems: Nearly one out of two visits to a doctor’s office for help with a sleep disorder result in the prescription of potentially addictive medications, a new study reports.

The UltraPrimeTM Secretagogue formula uses a special blend of nutritional ingredients that will naturally increase the production and release of HGH by the pituitary gland. The very latest anti-aging neuroendocrine research reveals that hormone production is integral in the prevention of many age related health issues.

This week’s Balance Boost features what I found to be an interesting topic.  For those of us who are into astrology, and the book, The Secret Language of Birthdays, we are drawn in by these entertaining finds on the web.   

When I was 10 years old I created a second middle name for myself.  I then went on to spelling my name with PH instead of 2 F’s for a short period of time to stand out from its proper spelling. 

One of the reason I did all of this is because my mother basically “borrowed” my name (first & middle) from an acquaintance of hers whose daughter was born 6 MONTHS before me…thanks mom!  Tiffany and I went to high school together and became friends.  There was also another girl a couple of years younger than me who went to a neighboring school who had the EXACT first, middle and last name as me.  That Tiffany was a champion swimmer and many people in our area thought I was as well.

After I matured out of that new identity phase, I came to the conclusion that my name was name my name, even though I sometimes feel it doesn’t really suit me.  So when I checked out the Kalabarian’s website this week and looked up my name, I found out I am pretty much what they described…or I’m just a sucker for this kind of stuff.   

According to their philosophy and what I’m looking for in life, I guess a Balanced Name for me would be Alice or Renee.  For now, I am going keep my name and not jump to the extreme side of the scale, which this week most of my actions tipped heavily on the neutral side. 

Here is this week’s Weigh In:

Tiffany Houser
The Balance Group

Olga El is a student at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, studying Writing. She has been a vegetarian since age fourteen. Cooking, volunteering, and dancing are among some of her favorite hobbies. In her free time she also participates in various martial arts such as Tai Chi, Capoeira, and practical mixed martial arts. 

Tiffany Houser, founder of The Balance Group, began working in the wellness industry in 1994, in Client Services at the University of Michigan’s Health Management Research Center while pursuing her degree in Marketing & Communications enrolled in the Division of Kinesiology at UM. 

UM-HMRC’s focus is on Worksite and Population Wellness research and is a world-wide leader in studying how health choices influence total health and productivity, quality of life, vitality and health care economics throughout a lifetime. 

Tiffany then went on to work in internet marketing at DoubleClick with their Inside Sales Team.  While there, Tiffany developed and managed multi-million dollar advertising campaigns and educated numerous companies on internet marketing as DoubleClick paved the way during her tenure with the company.  

Tiffany also worked in the New York City nightlife industry for 4 years in Event Planning, Marketing, Service and still DJ’s as a hobby.  She is a Distributor with Market America, a product brokerage and internet marketing company, working with their Health & Wellness Lines, which has added to her knowledge of the wellness industry and how it relates to the anti-aging and preventative heatlh trends and the baby-boomer economic impact.    

As a former gymnast, track athlete, lifeguard and aqua aerobics instructor, Tiffany’s life has always been shaped by wellness.  Her belief in Balance is that people should do whatever makes them happy and to know how to balance life out with awareness and preventative measures – Understand your lifestyle.

Are you a hypocrite if you party on Saturday night and go to church on Sunday?

Will a cardio kickboxing class erase a cigarette smoked with a glass of wine?

No and No, but Balanced Living could be your answer to even things out.  Keeping everything in your life that makes you happy while learning how to make adjustments to reach your goals is Balanced Living and here are some examples:

Balance Environment: You’re a do-gooder who treks to the Dominican Republic for an annual Habitat for Humanity project. You are helping people while your airline is trashing the environment with CO2 emissions…uh oh. The good news is that some airlines are implementing environmental programs to help you cope with flyer’s remorse.

Anti-Aging Balance: You WANT to go to a yoga class, but you work a full-time job that isn’t just 9-5. You have a career. You have meetings to attend. Teams to build. Deadlines to meet. Networking events to attend. Family responsibilities. Dreams to fulfill. You’re not 20-something anymore when time was blowing along in perfect doughnut holes.  One thing to try is a little bit of yoga into everything you do. Take a deep, Pranayama breath when you are typing, analyzing, reading, surfing, eating in front of your computer.

Balance Fitness: Yoga is all the rage, but if your joints hurt, it’s nothing but pain and you’re left cursing, “F the yoga hype!” If you don’t like the gym, take a dance class. Do whatever it takes to unflatten your butt after sitting in front of a computer all day…except for buying a pack of belly dancing classes and quitting after two sessions. Just like that TV infomercial “Learn Spanish in One Week” audio tape you ordered, impulse buys never do anyone any good (except for the salespeople). 

Balance Spa: A car needs an oil change every three months. What if you visit the spa as frequently? Chances are, your car and your body will take you to all the places you want to be.

Balance Personal Growth: A break-up can be the best form of personal evolution. Author Elizabeth Gilbert shows how a brutal divorce blossomed into a 21st century exploration of Italy, India and Indonesia in New York Times bestseller, Eat, Pray, Love.

Balance Nutrition: We’ve all tried cutting carbs, or going all vegan, or all raw…but if you’re craving something, you’re body needs it. So eat that filet mignon if you have to and then go back to your vegan diet. Is it cheating? Is it hypocritical? Only if you feel it is.

Balance Health: Drink coffee Mon-Thurs, but refrain from this good bacteria killer and teeth-stainer Fri-Sun. Eat an apple instead with natural energy boosters.

Life is not about beating yourself up. Have a toolkit.

Tell us: What’s your Kryptonite and how do you balance it?

The story behind The Balance Group started with my own quest to become healthier and live at my best.  Growing up in a household of chain smokers and unhealthy eaters wasn’t easy.  But as a former athlete and someone who was very involved in school activities, I was concerned with the way I looked (the joys of being a teenager).  

In college I studied Kinesiology and worked for the Dean of my school at the UM-Health Management Research Center (UM-HMRC), a world-wide leader in studying how health choices influence total health and productivity, quality of life, vitality and health care economics throughout a lifetime.  At the time, I had no idea what Wellness was, but during my 3 years with UM-HMRC, I absorbed valuable information on Workstie & Population Wellness research.

After college I met a close friend who was Personal Trainer with extreme eating habits, which at first I found ridiculous, but then his ways became integrated into my lifestyle.  To my surprise and unforeseen luck I began my commitment to myself to always want to feel good, look good, and be healthy.   

It all started with searching for information on changing my lifestyle, but more importantly searching for the source of the issues to see how I could make changes to avoid these challenges altogether.  Because I wanted immediate answers, my research was done on the internet.  Quickly, I came across a book called Ultra Prevention that changed my life!   My life was controlled by allergies and the medications to relieve the symptoms.  After reading Ultra Prevention, I learned that my allergies were a result of the food I was eating and the main culprit were Dairy products.  So I stopped eating cereal, drank my coffee black and cut out 99% of ice cream and other dairy treats, but not cheese (can’t get the monkey completely off my back).  Within in 2 months I was off my daily double dose of allergy medications!!! YEAHY!! 

I realized there were many little things I could change in my daily routine that would keep me healthier, looking younger and feeling amazing!  They say when you find something great you share it with the world and that’s what I started to do.   Because of my changes, the people in my life could see the results and wanted to know what I was doing so they could do the same.  Also, when someone would tell me about an issue or if I would see them doing something or consuming something that with one change could give them better results…my mouth was not shut.   

With all of these findings I had ramped up my lifestyle to such ease that it did not take effort anymore to live at the level I wanted to, but then…I moved!  Yes, I moved to sunny Miami, Florida and had to start all over with finding the best places to get food, the best gym and alternative fitness activities, recycling policies, alternative therapies, spa services, how to make my apartment environmental friendly, etc.  So I did what I did years before.  I got online and starting searching, but to my surprise it was not as easy as it was in New York.  A lot of these Wellness Businesses were not listed online.  The weeks and months were going by and it almost became a full time job trying to keep up with my “Well Lifestyle” and I realized - I may be a more extreme Wellness Seeker, so imagine all of the people who were where I was 4 years ago beginning the journey. 

I could just see people giving up and eating what they normally eat, skipping out on exercise, not seeking alternative activities, not staying aware of environmental issues (which we need to know about since it effects our health and appearance), and just living adequately, instead of at their best.  I felt the frustration and on some days I gave in to it and gave up. 

Then, last summer 2 friends of mine and I started looking into opening our own place of Wellness where people could come and engage in different types of services and activities, buy products and food to support their wellness lifestyle, become educated on different facets of health & wellness, and connect with other people who are interested in the Well Lifestyle and with the professionals who can lead them towards their wellness goals. 

We realized early on that we didn’t know if we wanted to be tied to a brick and mortar in one location and all of the other issues that go into operating a facility and dismantled that project.  From there 2 of us came to the conclusion “why not put this on the internet” and become a guide and allow people everywhere to do all of their researching, connecting and shopping online and use our Website to get started and stay on course since we can bring all of the information, services, products and professionals together in one place for them to access anytime and anyplace in the world…which gave birth to The Balance Group – The first Wellness Network and Brand for consumers, industry professionals and businesses to Research, Connect and Shop anything Wellness. 

We know that there a lot of websites out there with wonderful health information but we feel they are missing the bigger picture of Wellness.  It’s about the Body, Mind and Soul.  If you’re healthy but not happy you’re not complete?  If you’re Happy but not healthy…same thing!   Plus we feel that to contribute and be aware of environmental issues both on a local and global basis is a big part of living a Well Lifestyle as it is our duty to care for this earth as it serves us daily the food we eat, the land we live on and the air we breathe.   

Also, we know from experience, when you’ve finished learning about something and now want to buy it, or go take part in it you have go someplace else, whether it be to another website, picking up the phone or not being able to follow through at all because the information is not available.  Or, you go to a website with products and there is not enough or any information at all on how to use them, nor an ingredient list, no one to speak to who uses the product or the professionals who support them, and what else compliments the product – maybe an exercise, a meal, or another product. 

Or, the website may do all of this but it only covers one topic and not each of the wellness categories. On our website you WILL be able to BUY products you just read about, BOOK services you just learned about, and SIGN-UP for classes/workshops in your local area which are all ONE click away. If you are still unsure or want more information, you can CONNECT with other wellness enthusiasts, wellness beginners and wellness professionals allowing you to make more informed purchases.  We are creating a One-Stop Wellness Website to save you time and money in your journey towards living a Well Lifestyle. 

We are not doctors, so the information on our Website and Newsletters is there for you to make your own decisions and are not instructions.  We care about you and want to share what we have learned and experienced and what we’re still learning and experiencing to help everyone live a Well Lifestyle. We believe life is a balance and hope the information and resources allow you to make little or extreme changes. 

So we invite you to not only visit our Website, but we’d also like to hear from you as we continue to develop the company and website to serve you and your journey towards living a Balanced Lifestyle. 

Thank you and Have a Balanced Day!
Tiffany Houser
The Balance Group