Christmas Stress is making me fat!

Stress and weight gain can be directly related. 


As we head into the Christmas and Holiday season, many people find themselves under greater stress.  To the everyday stress of work, family, home, bills, life, we add the stresses of what gifts to get, how to afford them, to get the decorations up, travel to see family - sometimes multiple locations to juggle, hosting family in our homes, and worrying about fixing the perfect meal for all those guests, and then how to pay for all those gifts we charged on our credit card.

A perfect combination for hitting the wall of stress and weight gain.  No wonder Santa has so much visceral fat, with all the stress of all those children and to not get the gifts mixed up.


What does stress have to do with weight gain? There are several ways that stress can contribute. 1 has to do with cortisol, a stress hormone.

When we are under stress the fight or flight response is triggered in our bodies, leading to the release of various hormones. Whether we are stressed because of crazy amounts of stress at work or we are really in danger, our bodies respond like we are about to be harmed, we need to fight for our lives. To answer this need we experience a burst of energy, shifts in metabolism and blood flow and other changes.

If we remain in this state for a prolonged period of time due to chronic stress our health becomes at risk. Aside from a host of other dangers, chronic health stress also causes weight gain.

Take a break this Christmas season. Remember to take time for yourself, time to relax, time to look at the big picture, and time to reflect, (in 5 years will this really matter).  Pay attention to prevention, give your waistline and your health a break.

Some options to help reduce that stress and help your waistline.

• Take a walk or get some exercise
• Take 30 seconds a day to meditate
• Try a high quality B Complex supplement
• Deep breathing to relax your body (work up to a count of 20 inhale, count of 20 exhale)
• Eat a healthy diet to counteract the stresses on the body (Complete Multi-vitamin)
• Make an effort to get more sleep (try a dose of Calcium Magnesium at bedtime)
• Eat plenty of high quality protein to ensure the energy needed to keep up with Holiday schedules.

Enjoy your Christmas season, and remember...

If you've got the Drive, we've got the Vehicle.

It may NOT be the Holiday eating making you fat!

With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas on the horizon, many of us begin to think about how much weight those big meals will cause us to gain.  But what if...it was NOT the big meal on that important day that causes us to gain the weight?

I've recently been talking with many people who were not aware that eating too few calories can cause you to pack on the pounds, almost as easily as when we eat too many calories.

The problems arise the day AFTER a big meal when many people decide to starve themselves to counteract all the calories consumed the day before.

Let me show you what I mean here.  

When we consume that awesome Holiday meal, we are at the Feast Response on this diagram. We are eating MORE calories than our body can metabolize.  When I don't eat enough calories the next day or next few days, I am then at the Diet location. Too few calories send my body into famine response and my body begins to hang onto every single calorie I eat. THE METABOLISM SLOWS DOWN.

The challenge arises when we go back to our normal eating patterns and our metabolism has slowed down from the previous decrease in caloric intake.  Add in stress of the Holidays and you have a perfect storm of weight gain!

This year after your feast, don't fast, take a walk or start a new family tradition of an aerobic activity to burn off some of those extra calories. Try drinking 2 glasses of water before you begin eating your feast for an added assistance in maintaining your healthy weight.

If you've got the Drive,
We've got the Vehicle!  

The Healthy Grease Monkey is a project by Tess Brennan dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers who are smart about Nutrition & what they put in & surround their body with, passionate about protecting our environment, and are committed to supporing local entrepreneurs. Those who are about healthy weight loss & dynamic living. If you would like to find out what it is like to live a healthy life, we invite you to explore our product line or find out more about our services. Grease Monkey Marketing promotes sound nutrition, ways to improve your success and a little bit of humor.

If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story, after all, this site is just for you. You can find out more about our products by visiting our online storeand/or subscribe to an email newsletter by visiting our Smart Grease Monkey website and entering your email in the subscription area on the right pane of the web page or by adding us to your reader by subscribing to this blog.

Check your Fluid Levels!

Luckily, our HUMAN engines don't require us to pop the cap on the radiator and avoid hot steam to check our fluid levels.

What are some signs that your fluid levels are low?

• Swollen Hands & Feet
• Constipation 
• Retaining Fluids
• Feeling Hungry
• Feeling Thirsty
• Decreased Urine Output
• Headache
• Dizziness 

Avoid these symptoms!  

Drink your minimum quantities of water per day. I know you know what that is, but I will repeat it for you anyway. :-)

1/2 your body weight in pounds = the number of ounces per day of WATER you should be consuming.

When you have an ample amount of water coursing through your system, everything works better and your system is less likely to Lock Up.  Just as our car's engine can overheat and lock up if we don't keep fluids in there, so can our human engine.  That's why we get swollen hands & feet & constipation - our system is locking up what little water IS available to protect itself.

While there are other factors to preventing dehydration, adequate water intake is number 1.

Now, go pour yourself a big, tasty glass of filtered water, and feel good knowing you love yourself and are taking good care of yourself!

If you've got the Drive, we've got the Vehicle!

The Healthy Grease Monkey is a project by Tess Brennan dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers who are smart about Nutrition & what they put in & surround their body with, passionate about protecting our environment, and are committed to supporing local entrepreneurs. Those who are about healthy weight loss & dynamic living. If you would like to find out what it is like to live a healthy life, we invite you to explore our product line or find out more about our services. Grease Monkey Marketing promotes sound nutrition, ways to improve your success and a little bit of humor.

If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story, after all, this site is just for you. You can find out more about our products by visiting our online storeand/or subscribe to an email newsletter by visiting our Smart Grease Monkey website and entering your email in the subscription area on the right pane of the web page or by adding us to your reader by subscribing to this blog.

Weight Management Assistance for Pennies a Day

Every day, people's bodies are surrounded by and immersed in toxins.  They are slathered on the skin, in the hair, they are inhaled as most people clean their homes, and they are ingested.  There are times when I cannot control what my environmental surroundings contain, but I can almost ALWAYS control the ability to flush them from my system.

By drinking adequate amounts of water, my body is able to eliminate the toxins I inhale, the toxins that are absorbed through my skin, and the toxins I ingest from different food or beverage choices. 

Keep in mind I want the water I am using to flushing my system to be as pure and clean as possible - garbage in - garbage out. 

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, public water utilities have violated the Safe Drinking Water Act more than 700,000 times in the past seven years.  

Turning to bottled waters? - Unlike public water utilities, the bottled water industry is not required to 

publicly disclose the results of any contaminant testing it conducts. Bottled water may not be contaminant free. The EWG found a total of 38 contaminants in the water of 10 popular brands.

 Fort this reason I have chosen the Get Clean Water System for our home.  It filters two times as much water per filter as competitors, The filter has less to throw away, and the system is certified to remove 2-3 times more contaminants than those same competitors.

To learn a bit more, feel free to check out this video - Get Clean Water Video.

If you've got the Drive, We've got the Vehicle. 

The Healthy Grease Monkey is a project by Tess Brennan dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers who are smart about Nutrition & what they put in & surround their body with, passionate about protecting our environment, and are committed to supporing local entrepreneurs. Those who are about healthy weight loss & dynamic living. If you would like to find out what it is like to live a healthy life, we invite you to explore our product line or find out more about our services. Grease Monkey Marketing promotes sound nutrition, ways to improve your success and a little bit of humor.

If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story, after all, this site is just for you. You can find out more about our products by visiting our online storeand/or subscribe to an email newsletter by visiting our Smart Grease Monkey website and entering your email in the subscription area on the right pane of the web page or by adding us to your reader by subscribing to this blog.

What I wear to work...or not.

Me, under the blazer during
engine rebuild.

When going to work, it is important to have your business face on and FEEL like you are going to work. When I'm not out under a vehicle or helping Tim rework something in the engine, I like to look the part. Proper framework for my attire assists me in looking and feeling the part.

Recently, I realized it was time to rework the wardrobe.  Having lost 55 pounds and toned, (Per Phil at Rotary, "you literally, walked your a$$ off")  I needed to look for a good framework for my business attire.  Since Silk Boxers won't cut it under my dresses, I've gone out to purchase my new business panties.



Grease Monkey Marketing is committed to helping others rebuild their lifestyle & diet to one that reduces their chances of acquiring debilitating diseases and increases their quality of life.

Our customers are smart about their health, they search for wisdom from nature before the reach for Over the counter drugs or prescriptions. They are passionate about creating a non-toxic environment for themselves and their families, and they are fussy about ingredients in whatever they consume.  They are committed to investing in prevention and education so they can reserve the meds and MD visits for the critical care and emergencies. And support other local entrepreneurs.

I want to live on the lead lap, to have an outrageously healthy wonderful life & stay on the road to better health. I believe that through education, information, and support it can be possible for others too. Are you ready to get on the lead lap in your life too. 

Are you ready to go out, get healthier, and get yourself some business boxers? Would you or someone you know like to slim down to a healthier physique or perhaps fatten their wallet with an additional  stream of income?  Give me a holler and we can see if what Grease Monkey Marketing has to offer is a match for those needs.

If you've got the drive, We've got the vehicle
to get you a new foundation for a better looking rear end!

The Healthy Grease Monkey is a project by Tess Brennan dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers who are smart about Nutrition & what they put in & surround their body with, passionate about protecting our environment, and are committed to supporing local entrepreneurs. Those who are about healthy weight loss & dynamic living. If you would like to find out what it is like to live a healthy life, we invite you to explore our product line or find out more about our services. Grease Monkey Marketing promotes sound nutrition, ways to improve your success and a little bit of humor.

If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story, after all, this site is just for you. You can find out more about our products by visiting our online storeand/or subscribe to an email newsletter by visiting our Smart Grease Monkey website and entering your email in the subscription area on the right pane of the web page or by adding us to your reader by subscribing to this blog.

What a difference Good Nutrition Makes!

In 2004 & 2005 I participated in the Susan G. Komen 3-day, 60-mile walks.  Michigan in '04 & Tampa in '05. My interview on the 3-day

I trained vigorously for both of these walks, however, at the end of the 2nd day on each of these events, my knees were in HORRIBLE shape. I continued to finish each of these walks on the 3rd day and it was a serious struggle.  After completion it took weeks to recover, and even a trip to the doctor to be sure my knees would be okay after the '05 event.

Needless to say I took a few years off.  This past spring, I lost a ZTA sister to breast cancer at the age of 39. She left behind two children & her adoring husband.  I decided it was time to again venture out and complete another 60-mile walk.  I trained the same, for the most part, but ONE main thing was different.  (maybe 2 - I am now 41 years old, six-years older than the last time I walked.)

My nutrition regimen has changed in the last 4 years.  I now take multi-vitamins and a daily protein supplement as well. I focused on using a Sports Nutrition line that is preferred by many Olympic athletes.  At the event, I chose to consume meal bars, snack bars, & a recovery drink after each day's mileage.  By the end of day two, my muscles were tight, but my knees and other joints felt GREAT!

On day three of this event, just last weekend, I started out around 100th in line and finished among the top 50 people, out of 1500.  I felt GREAT when I finished.

I am amazed that upon returning home I was ready to wash all the laundry & put everything from the event away.  There was no need to sit and ice various joints and muscles!

I do thank Heather Lloyd LMT for her massage on Monday and Gindele Family Chiropractic for my adjustment on Tuesday as I know this assists my body in recovery as well, but my biggest thank you, health wise, goes to Betsey Lunsford of Wild Treasures who introduced me to these phenomenal products.  I am pleased to be representing such a fabulous company.

If you are interested in feeling as GREAT as I do or in the products I consume on a daily basis as well as those I use for training, contact me.


If you've got the drive, We've got the vehicle!

The Healthy Grease Monkey is a project by Tess Brennan dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers who are smart about Nutrition & what they put in & surround their body with, passionate about protecting our environment, and are committed to supporing local entrepreneurs. Those who are about healthy weight loss & dynamic living. If you would like to find out what it is like to live a healthy life, we invite you to explore our product line or find out more about our services. Grease Monkey Marketing promotes sound nutrition, ways to improve your success and a little bit of humor.

If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story, after all, this site is just for you. You can find out more about our products by visiting our online storeand/or subscribe to an email newsletter by visiting our Smart Grease Monkey website and entering your email in the subscription area on the right pane of the web page or by adding us to your reader by subscribing to this blog.

November - Water Month!

Happy November!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner with turkeys and trimmings and time with friends and family.  Don't forget the football, or the water. When maintaining or working to attain, a healthy weight, water is an important part.

As we enter into the Holiday season it is so important that I continue to keep my water intake up. When I exercise and play in hot weather it is easy to remember, however, when I lived in a colder, winter climate it was also vital to increase that water intake as the dry air saps it from my skin & respiration.

In the next couple of weeks I will look at Water & Weight Loss, Toxins & Weight Loss & the Roll Water Plays, and finally, Clean Water - What is it and How do I get it?

For now, grab a nice big glass of cool, clear water and chug a-lug!!

If you've got the Drive, We've got the Vehicle!

The Healthy Grease Monkey is a project by Tess Brennan dedicated to writing useful blog posts for consumers who are smart about Nutrition & what they put in & surround their body with, passionate about protecting our environment, and are committed to supporing local entrepreneurs. Those who are about healthy weight loss & dynamic living. If you would like to find out what it is like to live a healthy life, we invite you to explore our product line or find out more about our services. Grease Monkey Marketing promotes sound nutrition, ways to improve your success and a little bit of humor.

If you have topic ideas, feel free to request a story, after all, this site is just for you. You can find out more about our products by visiting our online store and/or subscribe to an email newsletter by visiting our Smart Grease Monkey website and entering your email in the subscription area on the right pane of the web page or by adding us to your reader by subscribing to this blog.