Tips to starting your weight loss trek

What's next?   Shifting into 2nd Gear.

You've decided to do something to get back to a healthy weight. You've shifted into 1st gear by making that choice and now you are ready for 2nd gear and to begin taking the unwanted pounds and inches off your HUMAN chassis. Some of these you will have heard before, but when you put them all together, they can be powerful!

1. Begin keeping a journal of everything you eat AND drink! (hmmm sound familiar?) -- Sometimes we don't even realize how much we are taking in, or we find out our habits are starving our body and that is from where the problems stem.
2. START drinking more water -- ideally 1 ounce of water for every 2 pounds of weight. (# pounds/2 = how many ounces you should be drinking daily) -- This allows us to begin eliminating toxins in our system and allows for faster fat burning.
3. Cut back on your sugar intake -- sodas, highly processed carbohydrates, white sugar.
4. Increase your fiber content -- more raw veggies, and use products with higher fiber content --LOOK at the labels.
5. STOP all artificial sweeteners!
6. Increase your activity -- even if it's just adding a short walk after dinner -- Get moving!
7. CONGRATULATE YOURSELF! You are doing something to make your life better and you are setting a great example for our youth!

Give us a call to get started, remove that over-inflated tire around your middle and get back on the track to healthier living! -239-246-9488 We will build your ideal system and get you back on the road again!

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.

Back on the Road to Better Health!

What? Where? When?

If you've fallen by the wayside on your goals to attaining a healthy weight, lets look at it in a new light.

This week, all I want you to do is journal everything and anything you eat and drink!  When you've been battling the bulge and riding that dang roller coaster for a while, as I did, it helps to know where you are starting from.  What is your personal starting line.

BEGIN:   Keep a food/beverage Journal for 5-7 days.  Now is the time to get out of the pits and back on the track!

DON'T CHANGE WHAT YOU ARE DOING!  (at this point)  

Just log what you eat or drink, how much you eat or drink, and WHEN you eat or drink.

Don't forget the nibble of a donut, or eating the last few bites off your child's plate.

JUST DO IT!  

I don't care what you eat or drink, we just need to be aware of your current eating habits so we know which track to get on.

Doesn't do much good to drive an Indy car on a Dirt track, now does it?

Thank you, ABC for our St. Pete Adventure last year!

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.

I'm a MEAT EATER!

Protein!  

"I'm a meat eater, I get my protein from the meat I eat."

I used to think I was "good" in the protein department.  I eat chicken, steak, pork chops and ham, I get plenty of protein.  My metabolism seemed to be slowing down and I kept fluctuating in my weight and clothing sizes.

I have since learned otherwise.  While it is true, I do get protein from those sources, it is not an easily digested and assimilated (absorbed) protein.  There is more waste produced when I eat these sources and less absorbed into my system than when I get my protein from a plant source. When I began using these plant based proteins, my energy sky rocketed and I began losing the weight, easily.

"33% of Women are not getting enough protein"

 ~David Heber MD Director of UCLA center for Human Nutrition

(estimates are that 25% of men are the same)

Protein is important in muscle production and retention. When you don't get enough protein, you aren't getting enough Leucine, an amino acid building block of muscle. When you don't get enough Leucine you get a buildup of subcuteanous fat, that fat particularly in the abdomen.

(Deficiency in Leucine, in part, = Thick Middles)

Protein is important in regulating blood sugar,
hunger pangs & the cravings!

In studies, 

Leucine caused a 16% DECREASE in calorie intake -

81% in between meal snack

50% energy increase in less than 48 hours!

In the clinical studies of the Shakes I use, participants maintained 100% muscle mass while reducing their weight and their clothing size - this means they were BURNING FAT!

Contact me, Tess, to get more information about this complete system and how it could work for you! It worked for me 5 years ago and is still working...
I bought a pair of size SMALL pants this week BECAUSE THEY FIT!

Weight Loss Special!  Order your first month of Cinch $299* 

get an additional $100 sampler for Free. (limited time offer)

ALSO - buy 3 months, get 4th month FREE.

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.

Merry Stressful Christmas!

Life on its own can be   is stressful. Add in the expectation of a perfect Christmas, decorating, gifts under the tree for everyone, gifts to ship to those long distance, gifts for the unexpected givers, multiple family parties on the actual day, cooking for the masses, baking for the masses, kids recitals, sporting events, and parties and the stress begins to mount.  Then we begin to think about what the gifts, the food, the parties will cost us, come January, when the bills come in and the weight we gained from all the Holiday party foods and we have...

***** THE PERFECT STORM *****

In 1999 I was in a similar situation. Many things around me were changing: marital status, new home, lost 2 dogs, no money, I moved, and I went back to school.  My therapist told me, "if you add one more stress inducing situation, I'll shoot you" LOL - I was young and dumb back then, so I took a job 45 minutes away from the university. :-)  I also moved away from the therapist.  I survived, but I also surged to over 200 pounds. Those 60 extra pounds were horrible, took a great toll on my health and were so difficult to shed. It wasn't until 2007 when I was able to finally drop those stress induced pounds (55) and keep them off.

I'll be doing a series of posts on stress and weight management as we head into the new year. Join me, and share with your friends!  I want my story and success to help inspire and encourage others to get behind the wheel, take control and to begin improving their own lives, just as my life and health have improved.

In today's 

world  it is so easy

 to become overly stressed,  

chronically stressed, and it has 

MANY horrible effects. 

 I've heard some say, "you can't get rid of the stress."  

But what if you can eliminate some, control some, and change 

the way you see the rest?

Stress levels have become such a HUGE issue in the American society 

that our health is now being effected.

As we finish out 2011 and drive like there is no tomorrow toward 2012, 

I would like to take a look at STRESS

and how, with help,

nutritional support,

and determination

we can control IT!

Merry Christmas!

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.

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.

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.

Inch Loss vs Weight Loss

Best Friend, Julie & I (60 mile team mate) & her brother.

Four years ago I lost 50 pounds.  I was so excited to go from a size 14-16 down to an 8-10!

About 6 months ago I decided I would like to lose another 10 pounds, so I started the complete system once again.  The weight didn't drop as quickly this time.  I am walking 20+ miles a week as I train for my 60 mile walk, following the plan, paying attention to what I am eating, yet I wasn't dropping any weight.  Frustration was beginning to set in.

About 2 weeks ago, the weight began dropping again, very gradually... but the BIG thing was my clothes & my husband.  The pants I bought a year ago are too big and fall off without a belt. In fact, it took me 5 different pairs of jeans in my closet to find one that would not fall off. Woo HOO!!!

The other night, my hubby looked at me and said, "you're arms are skinny." Woo Hoo again!  He's noticing a difference too!  While I'm not losing tons of weight, I am pulling weight out of the trunk, the doors, the seats and all those other areas, to make my HUMAN Engine a lean mean, fat burning machine!!!

A few of the extra benefits of this plan have been:

Healthy Human Engine!

• Better Health, fewer pharmaceuticals for me
• Supporting Local Entrepreneurs
• Looking GREAT in swimwear
• Increased energy to work, work out, & still have energy to spend with our child at night
• Cravings disappeared
• I am a model of a healthy lifestyle for my family
• I won $500 in the Cinch success of the month club! https://cinchclub.com/success.html

I feel blessed to be able to share this system with others.  

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 about healthy weight loss & healthful living. Find out what it is really like to live a healthy life, by reading about our company. You’ll get the latest in healthy weight loss and health information, 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 about the idea, after all, this site is just for you. You can 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.