Vegetable dip mix makes a great hostess gift!

Get Spicy!

Ideal for Holiday parties, this dip is sure to be a crowd pleaser. These ingredients are in the right proportions for one batch of dip mix. For a thoughtful gift idea, try a pretty gift jar...keep adding a round of all five dry ingredients, in the amounts shown, until you have enough to fill the jar. Add a gift tag and instructions for a personal touch.

1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp dried onion flakes
1 Tbsp dried green onions
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp sun-dried tomato bits

Instructions:
Blend 4 Tbsp dip mix with 1 pint (16 oz) fat-free sour cream. Serve with cut vegetables.

Holiday Massages

Looking for a special gift this season? Think GIFT CERTIFICATES! They're for everyone on your list. Here are some ideas:

Attach a 60-minute in-home massage gift certificate to a candle and some local hand-made bath salts!
Get the employees together at the office for chair massage and a catered lunch!
Schedule a spa day and tea tasting for the ladies on your list with manis/pedis, reflexology, body wraps and more!

Contact us for more gift ideas. We can put together the ideal custom gift that's sure to please!

A Holiday Gift You Don't Need: A few extra pounds!

Take this quiz to see how much you know about Holiday weight gain:

1 - Many Americans gain five pounds or more during the Holiday season. T F
False - most gain about one pound but it lingers through Spring and Summer


2 - Having a light protein snack before a Holiday meal can help you eat less. T F
True - going to a party hungry can cause overeating


3 - To avoid gaining weight, you have to avoid all Holiday desserts. T F
False - enjoy them, but eat small portions of high-sugar, high-fat foods


4 - Not maintaining your exercise routine during the Holidays can contribute to weight gain. T F
True - stay active to keep off the extra pounds


5 - Substituting lower-fat, lower-calorie ingredients in Holidays recipes can help prevent weight gain. T F
True - eating healthy can still be delicious


6 - Limiting alcohol intake can cut calories and help you maintain your weight. T F
True - avoiding high-calorie eggnogg is a good place to start


7 - Not standing near the buffet table at Holiday parties can help you eat less. T F
True - if it's out of reach you're less likely to graze


8 - Skipping meals helps to lose weight during the Holidays. T F
False - it's best to eat five to six small meals daily


9 - Eating slowly can help you eat less. T F
True - your tummy needs time to realize how full it is


10 - The Holiday season is a good time to try to lose weight. T F
False - doing so may not be realistic and is discouraging

The Toxic Side of Beauty!

Many of us have made changes to our diets by including more fruits and vegetables, choosing organically grown produce and reading food labels. Yet while we are holding the food industry to higher standards, refusing to buy products with harmful ingredients; the cosmetic industry is still flying under the radar of government agencies and the public eye.

Beauty, however, is more than skin deep and reading labels can open your eyes to the dangers lurking in today's beauty products. From lead in lipsticks to the phthalates and parabens in your baby's lotion, the list of toxic and health-damaging ingredients is long and expands daily.

Did you know that on any given day, the average woman uses a dozen personal care products, containing 168 chemicals, 89% of which have never been tested for the safety of their ingredients?

The top five harmful chemicals most commonly found in popular beauty products are lead, formaldehyde, parabens, phthalates and nitrosamines.

Keep reading...

Kerstin Wingert is the Owner of SouviaTea and "chai-wallah" of Moon Valley.

Conquer Cold Season

Tips that are nothing to sneeze at!

Another cold season...ugh! If you're like most adults, you'll probably battle one to three of these bad boys this year. If you do end up with the bug, take Grandma's advice: slurp chicken soup and drink plenty of fluids.

Here are some tips to help ward off seasonal illness:

ZINC - This mighty mineral makes your cold shorter. For best results, suck on a Zinc lozenge at the first sign of a cold. Beware, Zinc supplements can reduce the effectiveness of some antibiotics and arthritis medications. Doses of more than 34 to 40mg per day for teens and adults may cause tummy aches.

VITAMIN C - Reach for an orange to keep the doctor away. Taking about 1g of Vitamin C daily can reduce cold symptoms by a day or two. Real foods are the best sources of this powerful potion. Choose citrus, broccoli, potatoes and tomatoes. Careful with Vitamin C supplements if you have kidney disease or if you are being treated for cancer.

SLEEP - People who get less than seven hours of shut-eye are almost three times as likely to catch a cold as those who get eight hours or more.

EXERCISE - People who get moving five or more days a week are about half as likely to catch colds. And if they do, their illnesses are shorter and less severe. Aerobic exercise boosts the production of virus-targeting cells in the immune system. If you're already sick, postpone intense workouts until you feel better.

Despite its popularity, there is little evidence to support that echinacea prevents colds.

Keep your employees healthy this season! The Back Rub Company hosts a variety of on-site workshops for employee health and wellness.

Contact us for more information about scheduling for your organization.

Wellness Incentives at Work Pay Off!

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/19/business/gargiulo-google-workplace-empowerment/

Exercise Mind & Body!

Professional Wellness is about maintaining a healthy mind and body. We can take care of both!

Join us for a variety of fun, small and non-intimidating fitness classes at our Scottsdale location on 64th St/Shea:

Mondays; Core & Stretch; 6:30pm
Tuesdays; Yoga; 5:30pm
Wednesdays; Pilates; 6:30pm
Thursdays; Cardio Kick Boxing; 5:30pm
Friday; 5:30pm; Chi Gung
Saturdays; 10:00am; Zumba

All classes are 60-minutes in length. Buy a 5-pack for $49; 10-pack for $89; $15 to drop in.

For more information about our classes or hosting on-site classes at your office, please email or call 480-330-2066.

June is Professional Wellness Month!

"A success conscious mind functions rapidly and effectively." - Napoleon Hill

Just as our physical health needs to be maintained, so does our mental health.

We all find ourselves in that 'rut' every now and then, especially during the Summer months. When it's hot, we are more likely to slow down, lose focus and drain energy. This is the time to check back in with ourselves and make sure that our current actions reflect our goals.

By implementing some successful professional wellness strategies, we can make sure we are on track and exercising our creative minds.

Suggested Reading:
Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey
How to Make Millions with Your Ideas - Dan S. Kennedy
The Science of Getting Rich - Wallace D. Wattles
The 4-Hour Workweek - Timothy Ferris
The Power of Intention - Dr. Wayne Dyer

Pick at least one book this month, read it and write down anything that resonates with you. Visualize a goal and work this month to attain it.

Here are some great Professional Wellness Workshops that The Back Rub Company brings to your workplace:
Assertive Communication for a Healthy Lifestyle
Conflict Resolution
Happiness 101
Lighten Up: The Impact of Attitude
Reverse and Eliminate the Art of Complaining

Schedule a session this month and get 20% off!

Contact us to book a workshop for your organization.

We Rub You the Right Way!

Did you know that if we visit your workplace regularly to provide chair massage for the company you work for, you get 20% OFF each and every one of the 30, 60 and 90-minute table massages that you schedule for yourself at our central Phoenix wellness center?

That's right!

Just contact us to book a session anytime Monday - Saturday and we'll give you a 20% discount just for being you! Well, it helps that you're an employee a company we work with...

As If You Don't Already Have Enough To Do...

Okay, Okay...we know you're busy. We know you have a ton of stuff going on in your life
AND we're going to add something else to your plate? YES!


Need a bit of a jump-start to help with your (hopefully) new-found eating habits? We've compiled a list of some of our favorite, and not so well-known, books that you may just get some pretty cool ideas from. If anything, a couple are pretty entertaining!

Some of our favorites:
Be Lean: How to get the body you love and love the body you have (by our very own Romy!)
Fast Food Nation - the dark side of the all-American meal (also a movie for you people who read cliff notes in school!)
Skinny Bitch - a no-nonsense tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!
Ultra-Metabolism - the simple plan for automatic weight-loss

Our goal is to help you meet your goals, and have fun doing it!