Alicia Sims-Mercado's Blog

Okay, maybe I sound like a broken record here but it just drives me crazy how we have been tricked into thinking the food we’re eating is actually good for us.  Things like ‘All Natural Ingredients’ and ‘No Artificial Preservatives Added’ make us think we’re doing good for our bodies, but are we really?

Let’s look at a loaf of bread for instance.  The ingredients include: enriched wheat flour(wheat flour, malted barley, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin), water, high fructose corn syrup, yeast, wheat bran, vital wheat gluten butter.  Contains 2% or less of each of the following: rye meal, corn flour, molasses, rolled whole wheat, salt, dough conditioners (ammonium sulfate, sodium stearoyl lactylate), brown sugar, honey, vinegar, oatmeal, soy flour, mono and diglycerides, partially hudrogenated soybean oil.

Here is an analysis of the ingredients (Courtesy of the book Healthy Eating: For Extremely Busy People Who Don’t Have Time For It and an extremely gifted holistic doctor and my friend Dr. Chase Hayden):

• Enriched wheat flour is white flour.  The bran and the germ portion of the whole wheat, which are rich in vitamins and minerals, have been refined out.  To compensate for refining out approximately 20 nutrients, they add back 4 synthetic nutrients, niacin (vitamin B3), reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate (synthetic vitamin B1 derived from coal tar), and riboflavin (vitamin B2).  These nutrient additives are added to mostly refined and processed foods giving a false sense of nutritional value and can lead to nutritional imbalances.
• High fructose corn syrup is basically sugar derived from corn.  It is associated with blood sugar problems, depression, fatigue, B-vitamin deficiency, hyperactivity, tooth decay, periodontal disease and indigestion.
• Dough conditioners, in gneral, can cause mineral deficiencies.
• Ammonium sulfate may cause mouth ulcers, nausea, kidney and liver problems.
• Sodium stearoyl lactylate may be corn, milk, peanut or soy based, and may cause blood pressure and kidney disturbances, and water retention.
• Brown sugar is frequently white sugar with molasses added.  It is assocaited with blood sugar problems, depression, fatigue, B-vitamin deficiency, hyperactivity, tooth decay, periodontal disease and indigestion.
• Mono and diglycerides may be soy, corn, peanut or fat based.  they may cause genetic changes, cancer, birth defects, and allergic reactions.
• Partially hydrogenated soybean oil is associated with heart disease, breast and colon cancer, atherosclerosis and elevated cholesterol.

So, when you see things like All Natural Ingredients and No Artificial Preservatives added to the packaging…DON’T BE FOOLED!

For more information on this subject, check out the book Food Additives: A Shopper’s Guide to What’s Safe and What’s Not and also the movie Food, Inc.  “There are more than 3000 different chemicals that are purposefully added to our food supply.  the testing for the safety of these chemical additives is generally done by the company that wants to produce the chemicals or to use the chemical additives in the foods they produce.”  Also, through my research I’ve learned that the FDA does not regulate these chemicals like they do pharmaceuticals although they have many harmful side effects.

Wow, I have been researching and talking to others about the different types of sugars and the effects it can have on the body and there is so much information out there.  Some is controversial too and it’s hard to know what information to believe and who you can trust.  Let’s start with a little history on sugar.

The discovery of sugarcane, from which sugar, as it is known today, is derived, dates back unknown thousands of years. It is thought to have originated in New Guinea, and was spread along routes to Southeast Asia and India. The process known for creating sugar, by pressing out the juice and then boiling it into crystals, was developed in India around 500 BC.  Its cultivation was not introduced into Europe until the middle-ages, when it was brought to Spain by Arabs. Columbus took the plant, dearly held, to the West Indies, where it began to thrive in a most favorable climate.

Sugar was brought to the Americas by Christopher Columbus. At the time, sugar was processed by boiling the cane juice and then harvesting the crystals left behind after the water evaporated. These crystals contained protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. While they were calorie dense, they provided essential nutrients. It was not until a few centuries later that the process of refining sugars, and stripping out many of these nutrients, was perfected and sugar became a profitable industry.

It is interesting to note that raw sugar is already refined. Only evaporated cane juice is truly “raw” sugar (of the cane variety – sugars can come from other sources as well, such as beets and fruit). Once the cane juice crystals are harvested, they are washed, boiled, centrifuged, filtered, and dried. The purpose of this is to remove all of the original plant materials (stalk, fiber, etc.) to produce the pure sugar. This process removes most of the fiber and nutrients that existed in the original crystals. The sugar then becomes refined, and is now a food high in calories with little nutritional value.

Over the years, sugar has gotten a bad reputation and many people avoid it at all costs.  Now instead of reading sugar on the labels of many foods, you might see high fructose corn syrup, crystalline fructose, sucralose, aspartame among others.   I like what Dr. Janet Hull says in one of her articles; “Sugar is like a two-sided coin: heads – if natural, it can be useful to the body, and tails – if altered by man, it can be harmful to the body.”  Have you ever heard of someone getting fat by eating too many fruits?  I haven’t.  I think the real enemy here is the mass consumption of refined sugar as well as these sugar-like substances.  Once you start reading the labels, you’ll be astounded at the sheer quantity of products that have them in them.

 I’ve seen commercials on high fructose corn syrup touting it as something natural.  According to the SF Gate, “The body processes the fructose in high fructose corn syrup differently than it does old-fashioned cane or beet sugar, which in turn alters the way metabolic-regulating hormones function. It also forces the liver to kick more fat out into the bloodstream.  The end result is that our bodies are essentially tricked into wanting to eat more and at the same time, we are storing more fat.”  Research from universities like Princeton have confirmed these findings.

I could keep going on and on, but there is just way too much information and I don’t want to overdo it.  I just hope to keep you informed and to get you thinking.   Do your own research and educate yourself, for you and your families sake.  With everything, moderation is the key and remember if it came from the earth, eat it.  Your bodies will thank you!

If you read my previous posts on the ‘Business of the 21st Century’ you may be wondering what it is, or you’ve already figured it out.  It’s network marketing.  Wait, wait a minute…I know what you’re thinking.  Here’s many common things  I’ve heard regarding network marketing: it’s one of those pyramid schemes, it’s a scam, only if you get in on the beginning or on top can you do really well, it’s a waste of time, only certain types of people do well in those.  The list goes on, but give me a little time to explain and have an open mind please.

It seems network marketing has a bad connotation.  In everything, there’s the good, the bad and the ugly.  Unfortunately, there have been some bad and ugly companies and people in this industry that have done a disservice to the industry and to you and me.  They have blinded us to seeing the value in it and only thinking negative when hearing those words.  Now I will say that network marketing is not for everyone.  It takes someone with perserverance, someone that’s teachable and someone who has a strong desire to make changes.

With that said, let me tell you what is truly good about this industry.  Robert Kiyosaki points out 8 assets of network marketing in his book “The Business of the 21st Century.”   I would love to go through them all, but there is just too much information.  Basically, you learn on the job how to build a big business from the ground up, a ‘B’ quadrant business that is(refer to my previous posts on the quadrants).  Here are some of the assets: leadership skills, personal development-the more you work on yourself the more your business grows, the power of your own network, a fully duplicatable business, genuine wealth creation and the capacity to live out your big dreams.

“A network marketing system is set up to make it possible for anyone to share in the wealth.  This is a very democratic way of wealth creation.  The system is open to anyone who has drive, determination, and perseverance.  The system does not really care what college you went to or whether you went to one at all.  It does not care how much money you are making today, what race or sex you are, how good-looking you are, who your parents are, or how popular you are.  Most network marketing companies care primarily about how much you are willing to learn, to change and to grow, and whether you have the guts to stick it out through thick and thin while you learn to be a business owner.” 

The problem is, most people quit before they get to that point.  Kiyosaki says to give it a good 5 years just like any other business and to build it to 500+ people.  Then you have a true wealth creating asset.  However as I stated previously, “the business is not without its detractors.  And it has had its share of hucksters and flim-flam artists, unethical people trying to make a quick buck.  But by its very nature and design, network marketing is a strikingly fair, democratic, socially responsible system of generating wealth.” 

Like I said, network marketing is not for everyone.  It’s for people who want to grow both personally and financially and who want to help others in the process.  Just remember to choose wisely, your company and your leaders.  They’re your support team and you want to make sure they’re both in it for the long haul.

My friend Marla Finley has been in the health and wellness industry for over 10 years.  She is an amazing wife and mom of 2 beautiful boys, a wealth of knowledge when it comes to food and nutrition, and an incredible business women.  She has written a great blog on how to choose the right supplements for your body.  She also mentions why we need to take supplements.  I couldn’t have said it better myself and thought I would pass it along to you.  Enjoy!

Marla’s the second from the left.

Growing up my mom always stressed to me the importance of taking vitamins and I remember from high school on always taking them.  I have to say, I thought I was doing a good thing.  I thought I was taking care of my body and not until I had a son with a genetic defect did I question what I was putting into my body.  I trusted that if they were on the shelf for me to buy, they were good products. 

Since then, I’ve come to find out that there are many supplements out there that can actually be dangerous supplements.  There is a big difference between whole food, plant based vitamins and supplements and synthetic ones.  Take a look at the ingredients found in Flintstone vitamins, for example.  Among them are aspartame, hydrogenated vegetable oil, artificial flavors and carrageenan.  Google the side effects of these ingredients and see if you really want your children taking these vitamins.  

Most vitamins in supplements are petroleum extracts, coal tar derivatives, and chemically processed sugar (plus sometimes industrially processed fish oils), with other acids and industrial chemicals (such as formaldehyde) used to process them.   Synthetic vitamins were originally developed because they cost less.   Most synthetic, petroleum-derived, supplements will call their products ‘vegetarian not because they are from plants, but because they are not from animals.   Also beware, they will use the words “Food Based” and “Natural” as another trick.   It means they added a green product to the synthetics such as algae.

Numerous university studies have concluded that supplements containing food nutrients are better than USP isolates. Food nutrients are better because they contain important enzymes, peptides, and phytonutrients CRITICAL to the UTILIZATION of vitamins and minerals which are not present in isolated USP nutrients. Published research has concluded that food vitamins are superior to synthetic/USP vitamins.

I certainly don’t get the nutrients my body needs daily from food alone, so I take supplements.  I’m just so thankful that I now know the difference and am giving my family the right supplements, food-based supplements.

I’ve had several people ask me here recently why I even considered taking OsoLean.  I have always been tall and slender and have not had many weight problems throughout the years.  However, I’ve had 5 babies…gained and lost 35-40 pounds 5 different times in a matter of 7 years.  At the time I had each of them, I did not watch what I ate very well either.  Now I didn’t go crazy, but I rarely skipped dessert after a meal and I had a soft drink once a day.  Not  horrible, but not great either and when you’re used to wearing a size 4 and 6,  a snug size 12 doesn’t feel so great.

Before I got pregnant with my last child, I had been working out pretty regularly and was feeling good.  I was starting to see some of my muscles revived.  Every time you loose weight you loose 50% fat and 50% muscle, then when you gain it back, typically it’s all fat.  So, I had lost a lot of muscle through these pregnancies and hadn’t really stuck to working out with young kids one after another….I was exhausted!  So, with the last pregnancy I continued my workout routine up until around the 8th month and I was feeling pretty good.  No real problems.

Once the baby was around 6 weeks old, I knew I wanted to start shedding the ‘baby weight.’  Typically I would start cutting out carbs and really watching what I ate and this always worked but I did not want to loose any more muscle.  I wanted to shed the fat without shedding the muscle,  and since I know and trust Mannatech I decided to take OsoLean. 

What it did for me was helped me feel full and satisfied and not want to snack as much, while giving me good nutrition for my body.  By the 5th month, I had lost 16 lbs and 14.25 inches and was back down to a size 6.  Now, that may not seem like a lot but on a tall thin person the weight is more evenly distributed so it’s harder to tell.  Many people I meet are shocked when I tell them how many children I have.

Now, I just watch what I put into my body and I exercise.  I take some of the best supplements on the market you can find and I have gone to an almost gluten-free diet, eating mainly fresh fruits and veggies with lean meats and fish, occasionally a little red meat.  For dessert, I stick to gluten-free too.  I am completely satisfied and don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.  It’s almost freeing once you can rid yourself of the processed foods.

So, here’s to you and your health.  Remember, take care of your body, it’s the only one you’ve got!

In continuation to my previous blog on the business of the 21st century, I wanted to start out with a question:  Where does your money come from?  Have you ever stopped to think about this?  Let’s examine this further….

Robert Kiyosaki, in several of his books, talks about where you derive your cash income from and he divides it into 4 areas or quadrants. 

E=Employee     The majority of us live in this quadrant and we may stay there all our lives.  We work a set amount of hours and get paid for those hours, and if you stop working you stop getting paid.

S=Self-employed or small business     Living or pursuing the American Dream in this quadrant with much broader range of earning power but you’re still an employee, just with a new boss-YOU.  If you stop working, the income stops coming in.

B=Business owner     S and B quadrants are similar, but in the B quadrant your business works for you.  In other words, if you stop working your business will keep bringing in income.  “Those who live and work in the B quadrant make themselves recession-proof, because they control the source of their own income.” Robert Kiyosaki

I=Investor     Here lies the investor.  This can be a great quadrant to be in, but you have to know what you’re doing and you need enough disposable income so as not to affect your livelyhood.

What Kiyosaki says are so important about these quadrants is that it’s not only the way you make your income, but it tells a lot about who you are as a person and where your core financial values are.  Here’s a snapshot of how the core values are linked:

E=Security, “I am looking for a safe, secure job with good pay and excellent benefits.”

S=Independence, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”

B=Wealth-Building, “I’m looking for the best people to join my team.”

I=Financial Freedom, “What’s my return on investment?”

So, what does all this have to do with the business of the 21st century and what does it have to do with you?  Well, first it’s important to know where you’re at, what quadrant you’re living in.  Then, you need to think about if you’re happy there or not.  If you are great, keep on doing what you’re doing and have a ball!  If not, then it’s time to start changing your mindset because it’s not just a change in jobs or a change in address it’s a complete shift in your way of thinking, thinking outside of the box.

Chew on that for a while…and stay tuned for my next post on ‘The Business of the 21st Century.’

I recently read a book by Robert Kiyosaki “The Business of the 21st Century” and he helps us shed some light on the subject.        

Let me begin with a couple excerpts from the book on how things are looking today:

     “We live in troubled times.  The last few years have brought us a steady parade of fear and panic in the headlines, boardrooms, and kitchen tables across America.  Globalization, outsourcing, downsizing, foreclosures, subprime mortgages and credit default swaps, ponzi schemes, Wall Street fiascoes, recession…it’s just one piece of bad news after another.”

Unemployment is at an all time high, company layoffs were at a quarter million per month in 2009, many people’s retirement funds lost half their value or more.  We can no longer rely on our employer or the goverment for a secure future.  One of the first big disasters was Enron, followed by Bernie Madoff and Stanford Financial, social security is going bankrupt…just to name a few.

“Most of the U.S. population has been living for years on the knife-edge precipice between solvency and ruin, relying on the next paycheck or two to meet each month’s expenses, typically with only a very thin cushion of cash savings-or more often, no cushion at all.  That paycheck is called ‘trading your time for money’ and during a recession it is the least reliable source of income there is.  Why?  Because when the number of employed people starts dropping, there is less disposable income in circulation to pay for your time.”

This is what I heard growing up by my parents, as did Kiyosaki and many others I assume:  Go to school, make good grades, go to college, study hard, work hard, find a good job with a good company that pays benefits and you’re set.  However, as stated earlier that’s not the case anymore.  That was the Industrial Age and we are now in a new century, we are in the Information Age.  Company pensions, Social Security, Medicare, and job security are all obselete!

“Life is tough.  The question is, what are you going to do about it?  Moaning and groaning won’t secure your future.  Neither will blaming Wall Street, the big bankers, corporate America, or the government.  If you want a solid future, you need to create it.  You can take charge of your future only when you take control of your income source.  You need your own business.”

This book really got me thinking.  I remember having one of my managers in corporate America tell me 7 years ago that having loads of debt on credit cards was the ‘American way.’  My husband would say that having a car payment was just a given, you’d always have one no matter what.  We both fell into that trap, but realized after loosing everything what a horrible way to live it was.  Super stressful on your marriage, your family and just not a fun situation to be in.  We live in a consumer nation where more is better. 

Wake up America, it’s time to start taking our future into our own hands and creating wealth by building businesses.  But, what kind of business?  What is the business of the 21st century?  Stay tuned to my blog for the answer….

This was written by my friend Marla Finley:

Several of our readers have asked for specifics on how I lost 4 pant sizes and 30 pounds in a safe way.

I’d rather be the one asking the questions about how much you want to lose, what have you tried before and what’s your main reason for wanting to lose.  But since you asked…

 In August of 2008, I returned to the gym after having our 2nd baby. I decided to do it right and hire a personal trainer to work with me 2 times a week and then I worked out on my own 1-2 more times each week along with regular walks.  I even took a before picture:

  Marla before OsoLean 9-08

Thankfully, Mannatech had just launched a fat loss food product that had been through rigorous research and testing.  I learned that typically when you lose weight, 50% is fat and 50% is muscle.  Then, when you put it back on it’s pretty much 100% fat.  With this product, they found that the subjects lost 80% fat and with a product that’s actually healthy for you.

I figured that since it was just a fancy whey protein blend (protein peptides actually) and no stimulants that it could only be healthy for me and my baby.  If I were to lose, that would be a bonus.

 Well, sure enough, I noticed right away that it helped me with appetite control.  I continued with my personal trainer and just added the protein peptide powder twice a day along with a meal replacement for breakfast each morning.  The first month I lost 15 inches.  Yep.  My trainer re-measured me to make sure what he saw was correct.  Four of those inches were from my waist alone!

 After three months I had lost 28 inches and 2 pant sizes. I felt great!  I was no longer a slave to food, and I could actually think about things other than what my next meal would be.  It was freeing.

 Several months later I lost another pant size and made the decision that I would just keep consuming these healthy nutrients even though I was satisfied with my fitness.  What do you know but I lost a 4th pant size at a year out.

Marla after OsoLean 5-10

 Apparently as we age, keeping lean muscle can be challenging, so that’s why a lot of older people are using it for that health reason and not just for weight loss.

 Here’s how it works in a nutshell:

•  Enhances fat loss while maintaining lean muscle.
• Helps me feel full, which helps me recuce my calories.
  

When added to Mannatech’s GlycoSlim meal replacement once a day, you will reduce more calories and it’s low-glycemic (That means it won’t spike your blood sugars.)
So, even if you tend to eat out of stress, depression, or boredom or if you’re just a plain out of control eater, it will help to control and normalize your appetite so you just don’t feel as hungry AND it targets belly fat.

 If you’re looking for a safe and convenient way to get healthy and lean, check out the video on this website and let us know when you’d like a free consultation to see if this is a match for you.

 Check back to this blog soon for some of our favorite OsoLean recipes and tips for losing the inches.  Here’s one on the importance of taking a before picture and measuring.

 And if you have lost inches with OsoLean, we’d love to hear about it in the comments section.

We’re floored.  We’ve been thrilled to be aligned with a company with purpose for over a decade.  Much of the independent distributors of our nutritional supplement company have at some point given away product for free.  The associates believe in what these high quality foods can do and are willing to give to others in need.

We have discussed Mannatech’s sister charity MannaRelief recently.  They deliver food supplements to orphans around the globe.  As with all charities, their donations have suffered in the last couple of years.

In answer to this problem, Mannatech has launched an initiative that all consumers can be a part of.  And it doesn’t even require additional giving.  Everytime you order one or more of the core products on an auto order (where it comes every 28 days), you get an additional 10% off and MANNATECH will give up to a 30 day supply to an orphan in need around the globe.  Watch The Road to Give for Real video.

That means that being proactive with your health and your family’s health now equates to doing GOOD!  Over 19 million servings have already been donated as of last Saturday!  Watch the ticker here.

So, if you’re already a Mannatech associate or have a member account number, you’re set to go.  Simply make sure that your auto order includes one or all of these:  Ambrotose powder, Optimal Support packets, MannaBears, PhytoMatrix or PhytoBurst.

If you would like help with getting your real food supplements so that you can help children in need, please contact your Mannatech representative TODAY.  They would be happy to help you help others!

If you don’t know a Mannatech representative, please leave a comment with your email and one of our dedicated teammates will contact you.

Let’s make a difference!