Spring brings a new beginning and a new energy. It is a perfect time to start focusing on a healthier lifestyle. Plus, with summer coming, it might be nice to shed a few pounds for bathing suit season! As a health coach, I am often asked to help people sort through fad diets and eating plans so that they can find the best strategy to make some healthy changes.

While there are plenty of fad diets that will help you lose weight, the key is to make healthy choices and focus on eating mostly healthy foods. When your diet is comprised of mainly good foods, you will eat less unhealthy foods. It really is that simple!

Consider your lifestyle when you are making your supermarket choices. If you are super busy and find yourself opting for mostly convenience foods and processed items, then spend more time in the produce section. There are plenty of convenient choices when it comes to fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruit makes a terrific, tasty and convenient snack. An orange, apple or banana can be grabbed on the go, with no preparation. Just as easy as cookies or chips! And so much better for you, too.

Salad items can now be purchased chopped and washed. This leaves you no excuse for avoiding a healthy salad with your dinner! Choosing skim milk over whole or 2% will save you tons of fat and calories, and cost you no time when it comes to having a healthy beverage. Also, choose 100% fruit juices, rather than juice cocktails or soda.

These choices are so easy when you have a busy lifestyle. They seem like small changes, but it is the small changes that add up for big results. When you make small changes, it is also easier for them to start to become habits. Once you start to enjoy healthier foods and are getting better nutrition, your energy levels will soar and you will be more inclined to spend extra time preparing healthy meals rather than grabbing convenience foods.

If you need to find out a stricter diet plan, one that involves full meal planning and shopping tips, then consult with your health coach to develop a strategy that will make bigger changes faster and get you the best results. Everything starts to bloom in spring, let your new healthy lifestyle start to, also!

The pH Miracle Diet is based on a balanced approach to eating.  Ideally, you limit your intake of acidic foods and instead consume more alkaline foods, which will help you reach a balanced pH.  One of the things that can lead to an acidic body pH is the consumption of too much sugar.  Most Americans eat between two and three pounds of sugar per week.  This adds up to more than 135 pounds of sugar per year!  As a health coach, I strive to help clients lessen their sugar intake and find the healthy balance.

Sugar is in most foods, but it comes in different forms.  You will see ingredients listed like sucrose, dextrose and high fructose corn syrup.  The staggering amount of sugar consumed by most people is because of the high amount of processed foods and condiments, which contain high levels of sugars.

Sugar has a radical effect on the levels of insulin in the body.  Sugar intake causes insulin levels to drop, which results in a drop in the levels of growth hormones in the body.  When the growth hormones are reduced, the body’s immune system becomes depressed, and you become susceptible to many different ailments and diseases.  Another function of insulin is that it helps to fight weight gain and helps keep triglyceride levels down.  When sugars are high, fat storage is promoted.  Fat cells are a comfortable home for acids and acidic waste, which will harm the structure of the red blood cells.

When there is too much sugar in the system, the body cannot properly utilize Vitamin C, either.  Vitamin C and sugar are somewhat similar.  When sugar is high, vitamin C and sugar will compete to enter the cells.  A high concentration of sugar in the bloodstream will leave no room for vitamin C, which is crucial for healthy cell development.  When there is not enough vitamin C in the cells, they are unable to fight off many of the viruses and bacteria that may be attacking.  This will suppress the immune system.

Sugar has no vitamins or minerals, and when it is absorbed it will actually steal some of the nutrients that the cells need for your body’s systems to run smoothly.  A deficiency of vitamin C will allow fat cells to be stored, and cholesterol to not be metabolized properly.  This can lead to hypertension (high blood pressure) and also help cause obesity.  If the levels of insulin are artificially raised, such as occurs with too much sugar, the pancreas becomes dysfunctional, and you could develop diabetes.  High levels of sugar can also contribute to heart disease, mood disorders, gallstones and even asthma.  With all of these possibilities, it is safe to say that sugar is one of the worst things you can put into your body.

One of the most serious conditions that sugar can lead to is cancer.  Cancer cells survive in an acidic environment, and sugar raises the body’s acidity.

When your diet is balanced with 70% alkaline foods and 30% acidic foods, you will bring your body to a healthy pH level and help reduce the risk of developing all of the above mentioned conditions and diseases.  Check nutrition labels closely to minimize your intake of sugar.  If you need more suggestions, talk to your health coach about how to reduce your sugar intake.

When you are ready to try the pH Miracle Diet, you will have to make some changes to your weekly shopping cart at the supermarket.  As a health coach, one of the things I try to do is help people develop more healthy shopping lists when they are getting started with the pH diet.  If you are used to purchasing mostly acidic foods and processed items, this is an easy change to begin with.

Start by purging your kitchen of anything that you are going to automatically exclude from your new lifestyle.  If there are other people in your household who won’t be following this new way of eating, this can be more difficult, but over time, you will probably find that they will drift more toward the healthier items that you are buying.  Especially once they see and hear about all of the amazing health benefits that the pH diet can provide.

Some people find it easier to shop at a whole foods store or organic market when they are on the pH diet.  Natural food stores often have more selections when it comes to raw foods and unprocessed items, as compared with typical chain supermarkets.

Start with a list before you go to the store, so that you have a focus and can stay on track while you are there.  You want to make sure that you are getting enough variety, not only for nutrition purposes, but you will quickly tire of eating the same foods over and over and you will lose interest in this new and healthy way of eating.  Work from lists of alkaline foods, and add plenty of these to your list.  Find some simple recipes that you plan to start out with, and get all of the ingredients that you will need for these.

Keep in mind that your diet does not have to be 100% alkaline.  You still have some room for the favorite foods that you have always enjoyed.  Some mildly acidic foods that are still quite healthy include whole grain pastas, dried beans, milk, eggs, bananas, and nuts.  Work toward achieving a balance of about 70% alkaline foods and 30% acidic foods for best results.

While at the store, you will probably start to notice that you are spending most of your shopping time around the perimeter of the store, and rarely venturing into the center aisles.  This is because most produce and fresh food sections tend to be at the outer rim of the store, while the center contains more processed and prepackaged items.

You will find that the majority of your purchases probably come from the produce section.  This is because of the high concentration of fruits and vegetables on the alkaline list and on the pH diet.  If fresh produce is not available or not in season, you can substitute frozen varieties.  Buy organic whenever you can.

Although you should be buying lots of fruits and vegetables, try to steer clear of the canned varieties.  During the canning process, the alkalinity of the fruits and vegetables is affected.  Plus, there is added sodium in canned products.

Don’t give up the acidic foods that you love and crave completely.  Doing so will lead to unhealthy cravings, and will affect your success on the pH diet.  Instead, enjoy these foods occasionally, in moderation.  As you fill your diet with more alkaline foods and learn to enjoy new foods, you will find that you naturally start to eat less acidic foods.

Talk to your health coach about making your new alkaline food shopping list.  They can help you find delicious recipe examples to start with and help you learn how to have a more healthy shopping cart!

The pH Miracle Diet can help you cleanse your body and your systems like no other.  As a health coach, I find that many clients are intrigued by the possibility of cleansing toxins from their bodies.  Not only does the pH Miracle Diet accomplish this task, but it will help you to balance your body’s pH and offer you many other health advantages as well.

The pH Miracle Diet can help your body recharge, and essentially reset itself to a proper balance.  Certain conditions that arise as a result of unhealthy eating and unhealthy lifestyle habits will be changed, and often these conditions will significantly improve when you have the proper nutritional support and your body is allowed to function at its optimum levels.

To be able to properly cleanse your body, you need to understand how it works to cleanse itself naturally.  Your body is able to remove many toxins and harmful elements through the normal processes performed by the colon, lungs, bladder and skin.  The kidneys and liver also help with the cleansing process.  Whenever any of these systems is not functioning properly, the toxins are not effectively removed.  Toxins like caffeine, alcohol, pesticides, nicotine, antibiotics, preservatives and additives stay in the body longer and can cause damage.  When these toxins are not cleared, you can experience parasites, dehydration and yeast growth.

The pH diet can help cleanse your body, especially your liver.  When the liver works as it was supposed to, then it doesn’t have to work as hard to do its job.  This will help you get back to a proper pH more quickly.  Adding vegetables and organic foods to the diet will help the liver work at its top levels.  When the liver works at its best levels, the other organs follow along.

The pH diet will help cleanse and detoxify the body because of all of the raw foods, simple proteins like beans, alkaline whole grains, and copious amounts of water.  These foods will detoxify the liver.

Another benefit to the pH diet is that you will eat small and frequent meals.  This is known to help the body cleanse and detoxify, since it processes smaller amounts of food at once, allowing it to work more efficiently without becoming bogged down by extra calories.  These small meals should be balanced, with plant proteins and raw or steamed veggies.

If you are starting the pH diet with an already healthy lifestyle, you will see benefits more quickly.  If you are making more drastic changes, like eliminating a high amount of processed and acidic foods from your diet, the changes should be made more gradually.  Your body will need some time to adjust to getting a more natural source of nutrition and energy.  The cleansing effects will be more dramatic, however, and you will find that they are well worth the effort.

Your health coach can help you learn ways to use the pH diet to cleanse and detoxify your body and bring it to a healthy balance.

During the last few years, the pH Miracle Diet has grown tremendously in popularity.  The idea of eating mainly vegetarian and organic foods is not revolutionary in and of itself, but paying attention to the proper pH of the body is a relatively new idea.  As a health coach, I find that many people are interested in this lifestyle, but have questions about how to transition into this way of eating.

Eastern medicine has long embraced the idea of balancing the body, including the pH levels.  Americans have been slow to embrace this idea, and some find it to be a radical departure from what they are used to.  Once you learn about the many benefits, you may be even more motivated to give it a try.

While on your health journey, you may be ready to think about transitioning into the pH Miracle Diet.  This way of eating can challenge many of the things you have long accepted as being “good nutrition,” such as drinking milk and eating meat.  Changing these ways of thinking can be tough.

You don’t have to make this extreme change all at once.  You can make slow changes, ones that can become new habits.  When you make slower changes, you are more likely to be able to stay on the diet.  Be sure to stay on your own pace as you make these big adjustments.

Also, when you take a slower approach, you can more readily see how the new diet is improving your health.  It is not as simple as reading a book and following directions.  As your body reaches a more balanced pH, you will start to feel better and be ready to take the next step.

Each person is different, and individual results will vary.  Becoming a complete vegetarian overnight is tough, especially if you have long enjoyed eating meat and animal products.  Let your body’s response guide your pace as you make the changes.  The goal is to find a balanced pH, and to consume a nice balance of about 70% alkaline foods and about 30% acidic foods.  What this means is that you can still enjoy some of the foods you have always enjoyed while still working toward the perfect pH.

If your diet is comprised of primarily acidic foods, your transition will need to be slower.  Give yourself time to adjust and give your body time to respond to the changes.  If you go too quickly, you will become frustrated and may abandon the new lifestyle before you can really appreciate the many benefits.  Talk with your health coach for ideas about how to let your body guide your transition to the pH Miracle Diet!

If you have been considering trying the pH Miracle Diet and trying to learn more about it, then you may be familiar with green drinks and how they can help increase alkaline levels in the body.  As a health coach, I encourage my clients to add green drinks to their diet and to learn more about the many benefits.

The basic idea behind the pH Miracle Diet is that when the body has a properly balanced pH level, optimum functioning is achieved.  Green drinks can help people raise their alkaline levels and move toward that balanced pH.  Many time, the cause of excess weight and health problems is that the body is acidic.  When acid levels are too high, cells cannot grow and regenerate at a normal rate.  Tissue damage can occur as a result.

Green drinks, or drinks that are made using grasses, sprouts, certain grains and green vegetables, can be used 1-3 times per day to add alkaline to the body.  They are healthy additions to your diet, and will also add vitamins, minerals and some amino acids that you need for good health.

Green drinks come in a number of varieties.  There are some that come in a powder form that you mix with water; these can be found in many health food stores or purchased online.  With the many brands available to choose from, it can be somewhat confusing to find the best one.  Look for a high number of alkaline vegetables in the list of ingredients to find the best products.

One vegetable to be sure to include is kamut grass.  This grain is known to help reduce cholesterol levels, promote weight loss and also add a measurable amount of protein to the diet.  Broccoli has many benefits, including being an anti-cancer food, helping to boost the immune system and improving digestion.  A good source of iron and calcium is dandelion greens, which also help with weight control and cholesterol management.  When you experience a significant weight loss, alfalfa sprouts can help you redistribute your body weight proportionally.  These are all powerful ingredients found in many green drinks.

It is important to find green drinks that are primarily made from organic ingredients.  You want to avoid any ingredients such as algae, mushrooms and probiotics, since these ingredients are acidic.  Also, find out what fillers are included in the drink to ensure there aren’t any hidden unhealthy additives.

Green drinks are often recommended to be taken up to four times per day.  You can find some green drinks in a capsule form, which you consume with copious amounts of water.  When you first begin taking green drinks, however, start slowly with small doses while your body becomes accustomed to the effects.

Green drinks have an instant alkalizing effect on the body.  They help to neutralize acid in your body and help to regulate body systems quickly.  Most people who use green drinks report instant improvements in their energy levels, fewer cravings for sweets and sugary items, and less need for caffeine.  By helping to reduce the toxins and yeasts in the body as well, there is a significant cleansing effect.

Green drinks are a terrific way to experience the many benefits of the pH diet.  Be sure to check ingredients carefully and talk to your health coach if you have more questions.