Think Yourself Healthy!

Quick Weekend Tip...Did you know that you can be successful in living a healthy life by playing make believe?  Our ability to use our imagination, playing make believe can help control our sweet tooth cravings, get us motivated to push play on the DVD player or out to the gym.  When we imagine an experience, the brain stimulates itself as if you were actually doing it! Visualizing our goals puts us that much closer to reaching our them
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Relieve Stress and Anxiety with Yoga

Are you holding tension in your neck, back and shoulders?  Try these yoga stretches that you can do just about anywhere.  Yoga is a perfect way to relieve stress and anxiety.  Give it a try!!

What's your why?

If you are like most of us, we struggle to reach the goals we've set for ourselves.  This could be fitness, nutrition, personal development or work related.  I have learned that in order to achieve the goals I've set for myself, I have to first determine my why?  Why do I want to achieve these goals?  What is my motivation?

For me, my goal since 2012,  has been to live a healthy life, both in fitness and nutrition, and pay that passion and knowledge forward.  Why?  My most important reason and motivation, is my children.  I decided 3 1/2 years ago, that in order to be completely present for my children in mind, body and spirit, I was going to have to change the way I live and treat my body.  My children are what inspire me to push myself, live outside my comfortable box, on a daily basis.  When I feel like giving up, and I do have those days, I reflect on the affect my choice will have on my kids.

My second source of motivation and inspiration is YOU!  Touching other's lives, being a part of your journey is more rewarding than any paycheck I could receive!  I keep educating myself, filling my head with as much knowledge as possible, so that I can be all that YOU need!  I continue to push play on my DVD player and eat clean and healthy, so that I can be a physical and visual inspiration, that it can be done!  With hard work, determination and dedication, anything is possible!

Determining your why is so important!  Everyone needs some motivation to stay on course, and it has to be a powerful image! If you can't close your eyes and see with clarity your why, ask yourself the these questions:

1.  Where have you been most happy?

2. What were you doing?

3.When you close your eyes and see yourself happy, what do you see?

4. What makes you forget yourself, lose track of time for hours on end?

5. When do you feel best about yourself?

6. What do you talk with great excitement about?

Create a vision that moves you in a direction to things you've never done before and you'll find yourself in new, and wonderful places in your life!  When you have clarity on your why, your how, your purpose will be a lot easier and definitely more enjoyable!

Stop the Bullying!!

         In honor of National Bullying Prevention month, I wanted to share a little bit of the numerous hours of research that I did on the topic.  It is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart.

       Bullying by definition is "to treat abusively; to affect by means of force or coercion." Did you know that “1 in 7 students in grades K-12 is either a bully or a victim of bullying.”  This could be your child.  Be warned bullying isn’t just physical violence and verbal torture.  It is now a vast problem on the internet, called cyberbullying.  This is the worst form of school aged bullying.  Our children can’t escape their abuse.  It follows them to school and back into the comfort of their home.  Home is a place for our children to feel safe and loved, but has become the breeding ground for cyberbullying.  Bullying has become a growing problem within our nation’s school systems, and drastic measures need to be taken to protect our youth. (Do Something)

    Bertha Manninen, Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the Division of Humanities, Arts and Cultral Studies in ASU's New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, was the victim of bullying.  At the young age of 17, Bertha tried to commit suicide and seriously injure a classmate that relentlessly bullied her at school and home.  Bertha’s story started in the second grade.  Being a little different, a girl who wore glasses, and was overweight and very quiet, made her the target of her first bully.  She was stabbed in thigh with a sharp pencil for no reason other than she was different, and she still carries the scare as a reminder of her mental anguish.  By the eighth grade, the bullying she received escalated to more violent episodes.  While walking in the hallway to the bathroom, Bertha was attacked by a girl who grabbed her around the neck and banged her head against the wall.  In her senior year of high school after being taunted for the millionth time, Bertha, snapped.  Her primary bully started his daily abuse with words, she had enough and threw a chair at him.  She missed him by inches.  He fled the sight and wanting to cause him harm she took off after him.  When she finally chased him down, she began choking him.  It was only by the graces of her friends pulling her off of him that he survived.  After years of physical, mental and emotional torture she tried to commit suicide.  Bertha says, “Years of bullying at school and physical, mental and emotional abuse led me to this very dark place.”  For the most part teachers and her parents knew nothing of her daily demise.  She said, “of the ones that did notice, they turned a blind eye.”  Her story is one of determination and perserance.  Despite her years of abuse, Bertha went on to earn a PhD in Philosophy in 2006 (Manninen).

        As we dig deeper into the numbers, it becomes clearer that the prevalence of bullying in our school systems is astounding.  Numbers and statistics do not lie.  Analyzing different statistical reports, Dr. Sheldon Horowitz, Director of Professional Services at the National Center of Learning Disabilities, informs that, "10 percent of children report having been the victims of severe bullying at least once during the school year and 75 percent report being bullied at least once during the past 10 months."  Every day, in fear of being bullied, more than 160,000 children skip school.  Dr. Horowitz states, "40-70 percent of bullying incidents in school take place during class breaks, in the lunchroom, bathroom, or hallways."  A staggering 30 percent of students who report being bullied have brought weapons to school.  Dr. Horowitz says, "60 percent of boys who engage in bullying behavior during grades 1-9 were convicted of a least one crime by age 24."  Typically an average bullying incident lasts 37 seconds, and it is reported that only 1 in 25 cases are brought to school staffs attention or have an intervention by school administration.  The message is clear, whether it is 10 percent or 75 percent, bullying is nationwide, often goes unnoticed, and can have instantaneous and life-long consequences. (Horowitz)
          

    We can respond in several effective ways to bullying in our school systems.  Parents, teachers and administration should respond to the bullying on the spot.  Responding promptly and consistently will send the message that the behavior is unacceptable.  Next, find out what happened to determine whether or not the situation was bullying or just a typical disagreement.  We can do this by separating the kids involved and getting the story from each of them and all other witnesses.  Brush up on the history between the children involved.  This will help to determine if it’s an isolated event or if it’s an ongoing problem.  Finally, show support to the child that has been bullied.  Listen to the child. Make sure he or she knows that you are there to give support. Be sure that the bullied child knows that the bullying is not their fault.  It’s important to give advice about what to do.  Find ways to work together to resolve the issue and to keep the child safe from future bullying. (U.S. Department of Health)(Trump)

           

        Bertha may have had a different school experience if steps had been in place to prevent bullying.  The most important step in preventing bullying is talking about it.  It’s imperative that we educate our youth about bullying and its consequences.  They should know how to safely stand up for themselves; assertively saying stop or walking away.  It’s vital that they know how to get help.  Spending 15 minutes a day talking to a child can give them reassurance that they can come to you with difficult problems.  Assessing bullying within your school is another step.  Conducting assessments will help to determine how prevalent bullying is among your students.  Bullying not only threatens our children's physical and emotional safety, but it also affects their ability to learn.  We can engage parents and everyone in the community so that we can work together to send a united message that bullying will not be tolerated.  The school administration can create policies and rules that will help to establish an environment that is conducive to safe learning.  Finally, building a safe environment.  Parents and school administration can establish an environment that requires respect and welcomes all students.  Teachers will set the tone in the classroom.  Managed behavior in the classroom means students are less likely to be a victim of bullying.  If we all work together to prevent bullying we offer our children a safer more enjoyable learning environment at school. (U.S. Department of Health)(Perkins)

    Broward County Public School system was the first school district in Florida to implement an anti-bullying policy.  The Department of Education will use this policy as a model for the state’s 66 other school districts.  Their policy prohibits bullying by any student or employee.  For those who participate in bullying consequences will be inevitable. “The policy sets forth guidelines for the identification and reporting of bullying…”  Teachers and staff are mandated to utilize numerous prevention and intervention activities.  While bullying still continues, the new policy has lessened the occurrences. (Broward County Public Schools)

        Some argue that we are blowing bullying out of proportion.  Larry Magid, an American journalist says, “Cyber bullying is a serious problem, but not an epidemic.”  Mr. Magid believes, “misinformation can actually have the unintended consequence of increasing bullying.”  A Study from the Crimes Against Children Research Center, reported that bullying has decreased over recent years, and that there is not any reliable studies that show it has increased. Author, Helene Guldberg argues that “bullying is not a serious problem for most children.”  She further states that, “most conflict between children is normal, healthy and positively impacts their development.”  Guldberg believes that anti-bullying campaigns push teachers and administration to intervene on children’s conflict on a daily basis. She feels that the daily interference threatens our children’s ability to cope with hurtful experiences and makes it more likely that they will be unable to cope with difficult situations in the future. (Magid)(Guldberg)

    Seokjin Jeong, a criminologist, analyzed data from 7,000 students from all 50 states.  The results he thought would be predictable were just the opposite.  Jeong said it was, “A very disappointing and a very surprising thing.  Our anti-bullying programs, either intervention or prevention does not work.”  His study concluded that children at schools with anti-bullying policies might be more likely to become a victim of bullying.  It also found that children who attended schools with no anti-bullying policies were less likely to be bullied. Jeong believes that, “until the message delivered by anti-bullying programs improve – some programs may be doing more harm than good.”(Jeong)

        While others believe that bullying has not reached the level of being an epidemic, I cannot help, but to see the issue through the eyes of its victims.  How can we look into the eyes of a physically, mentally and emotionally beaten down child and tell them, that this issue is being blown out of proportion?  Protecting our children is our job; our duty..  We can do this by creating policies within our school systems that will allow children like Bertha, or any other victim, the chance for a good education without the threat of being harmed. I dedicate this proposal to children I know personally who are currently dealing with the daily torment of bullying and all other children suffering the same agony, that we may find them peace.  Don’t our children deserve that?  Stand with me and Stop the Bullying!

Diet? What Diet?

I have completely eliminated the word diet from my vocabulary. Over the years what I have learned is that diets can give fast immediate results, but rarely are the results maintained.  However, when you look at health and fitness as a lifestyle change, results can be life changing. When you decide to make a lifestyle change no longer do you have to starve yourself, eliminate food groups from your plan, no counting every calorie and you will never have to give up the foods you love!!!  Now that sounds like a plan that both will work and that you can love and stick to!

I once read that D.I.E.T stood for Delusional-ineffective-eating tactics and honestly they are just that. Why would you want that? Reality is that most people don't need diets at all.  They only need to make a lifestyle change and have a coach who can guide them with support and motivation to make the changes needed.  It's all about change, changing the way you think about food!  Food is not your enemy, it is the very thing that fuels our bodies to perform at optimum capacity.  Whether you are resolving to be more healthy or to achieve a significant weight loss, change is required!!

We all are drawn to the quick fix diet fads despite our common sense telling us they won't work.  We fall prey to the unreachable images of the ripped abs and sexy beach bodies that the social media inundate us with! Who doesn't want to look like that?  Truth be told those images are not a true reflection of what those individuals look like!!  Everything you see in magazines or on TV are photo shopped!  Rule of thumb, no quick fix is sustainable!  What wins the race?  Slow and steady!

My heart breaks when I see people starving themselves, fighting off the hunger pains, hoping and praying that they achieve the results that are advertised.  The biggest problem with dieting isn't fighting off hunger pains or depriving yourself though, but the fear of will I gain the weight back when I've completed the diet.  Unfortunately, that fear is the very thing that will prevent many from ever trying to get healthy.

If you want to be successful at weight loss you have to remember that it is about more than the amount of pounds you lose. Success stories come from the individuals who made lifestyle changes. You have to retrain new habits that work.  Learn about the science of nutrition and not scare tactics of deprivation.  A lifestyle change requires practice and consistency.  When you've realized this important lesson, you will have come to a turning point in your life and a successful future will be imminent.

So you're probably asking yourself if I can't diet how can I possibly achieve a healthy lifestyle?  The answer is simple, find yourself a health and fitness coach, someone who is educated in these areas. Someone like me!  A coach will sit down with you come up with goals and a plan that both work, and fit into your busy life.  More than anything else, a coach will walk beside you in your journey supporting, motivating and inspiring you to reach your goals.  Many of life's failures are when individuals don't realize how close they are to success when they gave up! Moral...NEVER GIVE UP! Keep putting one foot in front of the other because without failures and set backs we don't learn and without learning you'll never change!

Lend A Helping Hand

This is slightly off my usual health and fitness topic, but is equally as important to me!  The wonderful company that I represent as a health and fitness coach, Beachbody, is offering a promotion on the P90 challenge pack.  The wonderful thing about this promotion, and the reason why I am so proud to represent it, is that for every challenge pack purchased during the month of October, $5 is donated to the Wounded Warriors Project!

If you are like many, me included, who have loved ones that are currently serving our country, have been injured in the line of duty serving and protecting our freedom, you understand the importance of such a project. The vision of this project is to foster a new generation of well-adjusted and successful wounded warriors. It's sole purpose is to raise awareness and ask for our assistance in reaching the needs of the injured soldiers, and to provide unique programs and services to meet their individual needs.

This project offers programs that heal the mind, body and soul of these warriors.  They are constantly adding and evolving new programs that empower these men and women to take control back of their lives!  I can't begin to express the gratitude I have for this cause!  It's very comforting knowing that my friends and family members who are serving, have some place they can go and heal after being in such mentally, emotionally and physically traumatic situations!

This program only survives through the help of the community, every penny counts, every penny makes a difference.  Please considering visiting http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/  and giving a small contribution as a thank you to these extraordinary human beings, who risk it all so that we may live safely and free.  If you are interested in changing your life, getting healthy, fit or maybe lose a few unwanted pounds while changing the life of a solider, please message about the P90 challenge pack. I would love to help you reach goals!

You can visit my website for more details on the program at beachbodycoach.com/cassiebush

Fall!!

Fall is my favorite time of year!  I love the crisp smell of the air, the beautiful colors, and pumpkins.  During fall and winter, my life is consumed with pumpkins...pumpkin food, pumpkin scents and pumpkin decorations!  I guess you could say I'm a little obsessed, at least that's what my kids say :-)

So keeping with my love of pumpkins, here is a wonderful recipe for pumpkin soup!  Not only is this a trademark in my home during this season, but it's also so good for you!  I know this is crazy, but 1 cup of it is only 77 calories...hard to believe that something that tastes so wonderful could be so good for you!  Here it is....


Ingredients

3/4 cup water, divided
1 small onion, chopped
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
2 cups unsalted vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup fat-free milk
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 green onion top, chopped

Directions

In a large saucepan, heat 1/4 cup water over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Don't let onion dry out.

Add remaining water, pumpkin, broth, cinnamon and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the milk and cook until hot. Don't boil.

Ladle soup into warmed bowls and garnish with black pepper and green onion tops. Serve immediately.

Nutritional analysis per serving

Serving size :About 1 cup
Total carbohydrate 14 g
Dietary fiber 4 g
Sodium 57 mg
Saturated fat Trace
Total fat 1 g
Trans fat 0 g
Cholesterol 1 g
Calories 77
Protein 3 g
Monounsaturated fat 1 g
Sugars 0 g

Try it and give me your feedback!