Tea-aholic

Oh tea, how I love you so! 

I've been drinking tea since I was a young girl.  My grandmother introduced it to me and my sisters.  Since then I've always had milk and sugar in my tea.  Throughout my weight loss journey, as well as trying to be eat and drink healthier, I've discovered green tea.  At first I would only drink it with milk and sugar - because in my mind - that was how I liked tea.  Most tea enthusiasts would baulk at my preference for that.  Now I drink 5-6 cups of plain green tea every day and I love it. 

http://madebyjulene.com

Benefits of Tea (Black, Green, Oolong and White)
I've compiled a list of some of benefits I've found from different sites online.  I try to drink warm tea, not hot tea.  Repeatedly drinking hot beverages may boost the risk of esophageal cancer.  I suggest you give tea several minutes to cool off before sipping. 


Benefits include;
1.  Increased metabolism - the polyphenol found in green tea works to intensify levels of fat oxidation and the rate at which your body turns food into calories. 
2.  Diabetes - regulates glucose levels slowing the rise of blood sugar after eating, which can prevent high insulin spikes and minimize fat storage.
3.  Heart Disease - scientists theorize that green tea helps the lining of our blood vessels stay relaxed and better able to withstand blood pressure changes. 
4.  Cancer - can reduce the risk of cancer and is thought to kill cancer cells.
5.  Cholesterol - reduces bad cholesterol in the blood, improving the ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol.
6.  Alzheimer's and Parkinson's - reported to delay the deterioration of brain cells.
7.  Anti-viral & Anti-bacterial - studies show that the chemical antioxidant 'catechin' in tea can destroy bacteria and viruses that cause throat infections, dental conditions, and influenza.
8.  Depression - an amino acid, 'theanine', is thought to provide a relaxing and tranquilizing effect.
9.  Aging - green tea applied topically can reduce sun damage improving the signs of aging.
10.  Edurance - can booster exercise endurance.  The catechins (antioxidants) in tea increase the body's ability to burn fat as fuel which accounts for improved muscle endurance.
11.  Hydration - tea is very hydrating to the body, despite the caffeine.
12.  Strong Bones - has been found to improve bone mineral density and strength.
13.  Diet - aids in proper digestion.
14.  Acne - tea reduces and prevents acne.
15.  Caffeine - tea has less caffeine than coffee.  Coffee usually has two to three times the caffeine of tea. 
16.  Immunity - bolsters your immune system to help ward off infection.
17.  Allergies - shows promise as an allergy fighter in scientific tests.
18.  Arthitis - may benefit the arthritis patient by reducing inflammation and slowing cartilage breakdown.
19.  Hepatitis C - a flavonoid found in green tea inhibits the virus from entering liver cells
20.  Menstrual Cramps - glycine is a chemical found in tea that relieves muscle spasms and can act as a nerve relaxant.  Glycine levels may relax the uterus, helping to relieve menstrual cramps.

Reducing your caffeine intake:  steep the tea in hot water for 30-60 seconds.  Remove the tea bag and water and re-steep in a new cup of hot water.  Studies show that most of the caffeine is released within the first 30 seconds of brewing.

References; 
1. "11 Benefits of Green Tea That You Didn't Know About". Lifehack: Lifestyle. 9 May 2012. 
     20 Dec 2012. http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/11-benefits-of-green-tea-that-you-didnt-know-about.html 
2. "13 Reasons to Love Tea". Time: Healthland. 4 Sept 2012. 
     20 Dec 2012. http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/04/13-reasons-to-love-tea/ 
3. "What are The Health Benefits of Drinking Green Tea?". Squidoo. 26 Jul 2011.
     20 Dec 2012. http://www.squidoo.com/what-are-the-health-benefits-of-drinking-green-tea 
4. "Top 10 Health Benefits of Drinking Tea". iVillage. 5 Apr 2005.
     21 Dec 2012. http://www.ivillage.com/top-10-health-benefits-drinking-tea/4-a-108301 
5. "The Benefits of Tea". Teamuse. 15 Dec 2011.
     21 Dec 2012. http://www.teamuse.com/article_030501.html 
6. "6 Amazing Things Green Tea Can Do. Prevention. Dec 2011.
     21 Dec 2012. http://www.prevention.com/food/food-remedies/green-tea-benefits 
7. "Chamomile Tea May Fight Colds, Menstrual Cramps". Webmd. 7 Jan 2005.
     21 Dec 2012. http://women.webmd.com/news/20050107/chamomile-tea-may-fight-colds-menstrual-cramps 
8. "How to Reduce the Caffeine in Tea". Livestrong. 28 Sep 2010.
     21 Dec 2012. http://www.livestrong.com/article/245539-how-to-reduce-the-caffeine-in-tea/

Heaven is for Real

Heaven is for Real, by Todd Burpo

If you haven't read this book yet, you should! It's only 156 pages and it's an easy read. Click here for info on the book. You'll love it!










If you read it or have already read it please let me know what you think.

Have a great day!

Rebecca

Weeds

Having spent the majority of time painting the inside of our new house, I haven't had a heck of a lot of time to maintain the weeds taking over the property outside. Well, that's not entirely true. The front yard is almost weed-free now, but still, it's a battle. To help with the battle I had this sign made at Staples:













I was hoping it would provoke some smiles or conversation with our new neighbours. I had someone come by asking if I had more available in the backyard.
Problem is...if someone removes the "S" on "WEEDS", I'm in a lot of trouble.

Rebecca

After moving into our new house I've been SO busy painting the entire first floor. The residents before us had painted the walls dark chocolate brown. Nice, but kinda too dark for a small townhouse. I've spent most of my nights and weekends painting and am finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel and/or hallway. Here are the colours I've been using;

BEHR - Basketry
BEHR - Antique Copper

The lighter colour is almost the entire first floor now and the darker will be the accent colour in the dining room. We have a niche there with pot lights so I'm hoping it'll look really nice. Sorry, no photos yet.

Rebecca

Your cute fix for the day

Check out my friend Jenn's puppies, Cody & Riley. Jenn found a used bicycle thing-a-ma-jiggy for her puppies to ride in and they love it! Aren't they adorable?!

Here's a picture of Cody peeing on a sign. Take a close look at the little red sign. Do they really expect that dogs will comprehend what it means? I mean, they must expect that they will, otherwise why would they post the sign low enough for the dogs to see? Also, it seems a bit prejudice since it's clearly saying that specifically small white dogs are not allowed to pee. I agree with Jenn's dog. Way to fight the man Cody!

Happy Friday!

Rebecca

Shark eat you!

My parents have planned a trip to Iceland at the end of September and have pretty much been inviting everyone else they come into contact with. Thing is, when they invite someone, they tell them that if they do come along, that they'd have to try eating some fermented shark meat. Really? Ugh. Like if that was an official stipulation of visiting Iceland, NOBODY would fly there. Seriously. They would have some major tourism issues. I looked it up in wikipedia and it says, "Those new to it will usually gag involuntarily on the first attempt to eat it due to the high ammonia content".

My Dad is insistent that anyone that comes along with them must to try this. I say, if my Dad agrees to wear this hat every day of the trip, I'll think about it..

After telling him that he should wear this hat, his response was, "I think we should all get one". Really Dad? Great idea. We'll end up embarrassing our entire country. You think it's bad when a family wears the same colour t-shirt while on vacation? Well, picture an entire family wearing these shark "hats" instead.

I'm starting to think that their invitation was more of a non-invitation. What do you think?

Rebecca

And this proves it...cats are evil!

My parents made me tell this story the other day so I though, why not tell you too? I just want you to know that this is something I'm not proud of...but it just sort of happened to me.

About ten years ago one of my colleagues lost her brother. We weren't told how he had died, just that he did. I was curious, but assumed it was something like a heart attack since it was a sudden unexpected death. I really felt for her and her family. What heartbreaking news. I decided it might be nice if we leave her a card with everyone's sentiments in it from the office. At lunch one day I moseyed on over to our local card shop poring over the sympathy cards. Well let me tell you something. They were boring and grandmother-ish looking with scrolly writing, etc. So instead I opted for, well I guess you could call it an encouragement card. It had a picture of a kitten hanging from a tree. Really cute and not grandmother-ish at all. Heck, maybe it would cheer her up for a second! Great!
I found this picture on the net. It looked a little like this.

So anywho..I brought the card back to the office, slipped it into a file folder, and started passing it around for people to sign. A little later that same day someone came up to me and insisted that I couldn't give our colleague this card. I asked 'why', thinking...is it because it's not grandmother-ish? No, she told me it was because our colleagues brother had hung himself.

I wasn't allowed to purchase cards for the office to sign ever again. True story.

Rebecca