Many of us have seen commercials advertising the Coca Cola Bears. They are cute and meant to entice us to dance around and enjoy life. If we consume those sugary soda drinks, which so many of us crave, we are led to believe life will be much more enjoyable.

During the holidays, we will be surrounded by lots of food. Many of us will watch our portion control (especially our dessert intake), but how many of us pay attention to what we are drinking? Soda and sugary drinks are not just about the calories, but what it actually does to our bodies.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has been working on a video to change the way the world looks at soda and sugary drinks from a source of happiness to a disease promoting source of sadness. The Real Bears tells the story of a family suffering from the adverse health impacts of soda consumption. Research has proven a direct relationship between consumption of sugary drinks and an increase in obesity which promotes diabetes, heart disease, stroke and many other health related problems. (Including amputation and erectile dis-function) Please note: one does not have to be obese to have health impacts from too many sugary drinks.

At the end of the film, the family of bears decides to reclaim their health and their happiness. The Real Bears family learns, like many real American families have, that these conditions and their complications are sources of sadness, not happiness.

Did you know? – Soda and sugary drinks are still the biggest single source of calories in the American diet.

Did you know? Sugary drinks are not limited to Soda. Many of the sports drinks, lemonades, ice teas, smoothies, and fruit juices have just as much sugar as a soda.

If you are one of the many people out there that still need to have your sugary pick me up daily, read more to understand the growing concerns these drinks are having on your overall health. If you no longer drink soda or sugary drinks, GOOD FOR YOU! But maybe you have a loved one who continues to drink them even though they know it’s not good for them. And for our kids out there, let’s educate them on the REAL impacts of ALL of these sugary drinks and teach them how to make better choices. Share this message and video with those that you love.

In the coming year, Julie Wilkes is giving me the opportunity to present a new webinar “The Hidden Impacts of Sugar.” I will expand on the impacts of sugary drinks, as well as touch on the following topics:

1) Facts around sugar consumption
2) Demo on how much sugar a child typically consumes in a day
3) Discuss damaging impacts of sugar on the body
4) The Real Truth and what we can do about it

This wasn’t the plan for today’s blog, but it just kind of unfolded. I receive a text from a colleauge last night asking if I would like to join her this morning at the YMCA prayer breakfast (Thanks Katie!) It was a beautiful celebration of our local community coming together. While the YMCA is a christian organization, the intent was that we as a local community need to all come together despite our religious affiliations and backgrounds and support our community. The keynote speaker said, “Many of us are looking for our purpose for living. We spend countless hours thinking, contemplating, debating, searching etc…. for what our life purpose is.” Her answer was “Your purpose for living, is living with purpose”.

This reminded me of why I have made the decision to devote my time to focusing on health and wellness and writing these family health blogs . My mission is to provide a

Wealth of education,
a touch of Inspiration and
Lots of resources to make a positive
Difference in the health of families.

This could be through writing blogs with helpful tips for healthier living, sharing healthy recipes, conducting webinars to highlight nutrition topics such as (basic nutrition awareness, the hidden impacts of sugar, allergies vs. intolerances etc..) and much more. Healthy Nutrition, Healthy Relationships, Healthy Home are all topics that impact our overall health and well being. I am working with Julie Wilkes to present 4 additional webinars next year so if there is a specific topic you would like to learn more about please let me know and I will see if I can include it in a blog or create a webinar specific to it.

Many times people ask me, how do you have the time to work your day job, go back to school, raise a family and focus on health and wellness education. My answer is because it is my life purpose. Just over a year ago, a very special aunt of mine suddenly passed away. She made the decision to retire to fulfill other dreams. Time continued to tick by and she never got to see those dreams. It was at that point in my life I realized that I needed to find what I was really passionate about in life.

About 6 months later, my 8 year old son’s teacher was murdered trying to save his friends life. I didn’t know Mr. Wild that well, but he was the best teacher any of my kids ever had. He made every kid feel special and went out of his way to do it. Just knowing what a great man he was made me want to be a better person. And the pain of watching my child suffer was almost too much to bear. I realized that I needed to stop worrying about what other people thought and go make a difference in the world.

This isn’t just a hobby for me, but rather a mission to help as many families as I can to transform their family’s health, one simple step at a time.

During this holiday season take some time to relax and enjoy your family and friends. Don’t stress about the holidays but rather cherish every moment, reflect on your life purpose and how you can make a difference in the world.