Blog Posts by Brett Blumenthal - Sheer Balance

I love lemon. I love lemon so much that I actually eat and enjoy the taste of the rind (limes too!). Lemon is one of my favorite fruits, and as a result, I use it for a lot of things. My most favorite ways to enjoy lemon, include:

• Drinking it in my water: I carry a CamelBak bottle filled with lemon water with me all day.
• Drinking it with tea and honey: It is a great cure for a sore throat.
• Chicken Piccata: My recipe is always beefed up with lemon, and has actually been called 'infamously lemony.'
• With Olive Oil: Reminiscent of Greece, this combination on salads and fish is light, healthy and flavorful.

Although lemon is used widely in foods and recipes for flavor and seasoning, lemon can also provide a host of health benefits:

1. Detox and Beauty: Adding lemon to water, and drinking the combo throughout the day is great for your body and for your skin. Both lemon and water are important in eliminating toxins. Further, because lemon acts

From the minute I was born, animals have been a part of my life. When I was brought home from the hospital, my parents' black Great Dane, named none other than Lucifer, quickly became my surrogate mother. Then we adopted Thor, a Siberian Husky. And years later, when I was in 9th grade, Wednesday, a black and white tuxedo kitten, came to our doorstep hungry and tired. Wednesday managed to worm her way into our dog loving hearts and as a result, our 'dog family' soon became a 'dog AND cat family'. As a matter of fact, Aristotle, a white fluffy kitten, and Pumpkin, a redheaded stray, were initiated into the family soon thereafter.

When I graduated from college, I traveled a lot for business and didn't feel it was fair to have animals. Further, spending time away from our family's felines caused me to develop an allergy to both cats and dogs, which would propel me into a Claritin dependency any time I visited my parents' home. Needless to say, for the better part of 14 years, having

Weighing yourself every day, let alone three or more times a day, in short, is obsessive. Most nutritionists and dietitians will swear that it is mentally unhealthy and because of a lot of factors, a poor way of tracking your weight. In reality, the best way to weigh yourself is once a week, on the same day and at the same time, preferably in the morning. Further, gauging how you feel physically and mentally is important in assessing how healthy you are. Yet, I did the unthinkable recently: I weighed myself six times a day for a solid month.

Wait! Before you get judgmental, there was reason behind my madness. No, I was not trying to squeeze into my bikini. I did not have a big event to go to. I wasn't even trying to lose weight. I was, however, conducting a self-study on how weight is affected by different factors. This 'study' included my weighing myself when I woke up, in the middle of the day and at night, both naked and clothed. Additionally, I kept a journal and recorded

When I received Pete Cerqua's book in the mail, I have to be honest, I snickered. I thought, 'Here is another gimmick that doesn't work.' Frankly, if you have been reading my blog, you know I'm not into the 'quick fix' mentality of health. So, the title 'The 90-Second Fitness Solution' was a bit of a turn-off.

Pete Cerqua, a NYC based Personal Trainer, attempts to get us to do the unthinkable...be fit in 90 seconds. Look, the reality is, everyone needs a gimmick to get people's attention. And the title of the book, in this case, is a bit of a gimmick. You are NOT going to be fit in 90 seconds alone. However, the principle behind the book, does revolve around a 90 second concept. This is the scoop:

1. What 90 Seconds Really Means: In short, Pete Cerqua's The 90-Second Fitness Solution is to take strength training's conventional 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 15 repetitions of a single exercise, and convert them into a single 90 second exercise. The exercises require you to either hold a

Ever since I was a child, I loved vegetables. My mother used to call me a rabbit, and I would call her lucky. Granted, I was a bit picky in that I only liked my veggies raw, but still, what mother wouldn't be lucky to have her kid love vegetables?

As I've gotten older, salad continues to be a huge part of my diet. Is a matter of fact, most lunches and dinners consist of at least a salad appetizer, if not a salad entree. So, when people complain to me that salad is not very fulfilling, it is hard for me to understand. When I ask them what they put in their salad, however, it becomes clear why they are unsatisfied: Plain and simple, they are not putting enough nutrition and calories in their salad!

Look, salads are a great, healthy food that can be VERY filling and nutritious. But, you have to stop treating salads like diet food and start treating them like meals. Here are some great ways to ensure that your salad leaves your feeling satisfied:

1. Include Protein: Most

This salad is popular in the Greek and Turkish cultures. In my mind, feta cheese is the only cheese that gets away with being reduced fat or fat free, keeping the salad low in saturated fat, while the protein from the Feta makes this meal well-balanced and anything but unsatisfying. Stacy's Pita chips give the salad extra crunch and flavor.

It can be eaten as a meal by itself, or as a side dish. All the vegetables in this recipe hold their shape and crispness longer than lettuce. So if you go to the grocery store once a week, you can still use the vegetables towards the end of the week and not worry about them going bad. Further, the veggies included are high in nutrients.

Ingredients:
1 cup Grape Tomatoes - cut in half
1 1/2 cups cucumber - sliced and quartered
1/2 cup Red Onion - chopped medium
1/2 cup Red Pepper - chopped
1/2 cup Green Pepper - chopped
1/2 cup Crumbled Fat Free Feta Cheese
Salt, Pepper and Oregano to taste
1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
6

You have to love when a cleaning product doesn't have any ingredients listed on their label. There is a reason for that: law doesn't require them to. This is to product companies' advantage, as well: more often than not, the ingredients are toxic. Ted f-- an, founder of Eco Mist Solutions, however, set out a mission to change that. His company creates a line of cleaning products for both the home and for commercial use that are 100% natural and toxin-free.

When I picked up a bottle of the Kitchen Cleaner "Kitchen Plus," I was a bit skeptical of its power. After all, they DO list their ingredients, and they include: non-chlorinated water, corn, tree sap, grass, potatoes, and sugarcane. Sounds more like a funky farmer concoction than a cleaner to me!

In all honesty, however, it was a breath of fresh air (pardon the pun) to find such non-toxic ingredients: safe enough to eat, but supposedly strong enough to clean. Is a matter of fact, to date, "all of Eco Mist Solutions'

Celebrities and every day people alike, have been squeezing into slimming, tight clothing for centuries. Whether it was corsets in the Victorian Age or skinny jeans in modern times, the fashion to be thin has been unsurpassed. Sometimes these styles fit people well, and other times...not so well. For those individuals who need to lie down on their bed or use a hanger to zip up their pants, it might be time to rethink your fashion choice.

Regardless of the fact that often, too tight clothing just doesn't look good, wearing them might also be putting your health at risk. Here are some documented health problems from wearing clothes that are too tight:

1. Tingling Thigh Syndrome: Although rarely permanent, individuals who wear their jeans too tight can experience nerve problems called meralgia paresthetica.

• How to Know: If your thigh tingles with no explanation.
• What to Do: Don't wear your extra tight jeans too often. You may want to buy a pair in the next size