Ahhh, holiday eating.....

I hope that everyone was able to enjoy their Christmas and have time with family and friends.  I was able to spend some quality time with almost everyone in my family (Hey K & K - it's only a three day drive if you spend 12 hour days in the car and have good weather...just ask my kids LOL) 

As far as eating, it's the holidays, and there has been an abundance of cookies, pie, candy, more pie along with delicious meals.  And I took my time, savored and enjoyed every bite. No guilt, no "I shouldn't" and no regrets, just enjoyed the sharing of good food with others.  

This week I begin scaling back (and not replacing the desserts that are being finished off) and getting back into enjoying the foods my body finds so much more beneficial.  Not a punishing diet, not a vow to never eat that way again, just a nice shift to increasing the good fruits and veggies that I enjoy eating anyway.

To help get back on the nutrition trail, Marie and I tried another combination of juicing ingredients today. Didn't think to take photos during the process, but thought I'd report on the results.  This time we used:

2 Fuji apples
2 delicious tangerines home grown by a family friend
1/2 a lemon
1/2 a lime
1 cucumber
2 kale leaves
2 celery stalks
handful of parsley
1/2 inch of ginger root

And the official rating:

Delicious!   

It was really refreshing and we drank it up.

Have a fabulous New Year's everyone!!

Juicing? Nah, too much work. Oh, wait, that's me trying it now....

So, I've always said juicing was too much work and not very practical and didn't think it was something I would ever do.  I have my blender to make my yummy smoothies and protein shakes.  

Then I got my NutriBullet, and it's also great for making my smoothies and protein shakes, and it's EASIER than using my blender if I'm only making a single serving.  Can be used kinda like a juicer and I've been using it for a while.  
Many moons ago when I started this blog, I wrote about watching the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (which I still highly recommend).  Really love the movie for its inspirational message about how we can turn our lives around at any point for the better.  Recently Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead 2 was released, and while I didn't find it quite as inspirational as the first movie, it is a great commentary on how juicing has helped so many make changes in their lives after seeing the first movie - and it also shows that juicing alone is not the answer for everyone and addresses individual challenges.

My daughter and I have both been making an effort to find fun ways to add nutrition to our daily life, and we agreed we would finally give juicing a try. Found a very reasonably priced juicer on sale at Target ($50 Woohoo!), watched some YouTube videos showing how easy it can be, and we started our experimenting.  (So easier than I thought, but still more work than I want to do on most days.)

Thought it would be fun to post some of our creations here on the blog, and have come up with a unique rating system of how successful we were in creating something we could actually drink and enjoy:

Delicious!

OK

Hmm - not sure if I like it

Not my favorite

Vitameatavegamin

So, now that the ratings are established, here's the juice we made the other night:

Ingredients:  Apple, Carrot, Kiwi, Beet, Ginger, 

Cucumber, Parsley, Celery, Spinach and Kale

After destroying all of the ingredients

The final result

And the official rating:

Not sure if I like it - a little too "healthy" tasting but I'll drink it.  

Have a great day everyone, and we'll keep you updated with our future adventures.

Let Us Take Pleasure in What We Are Eating.....

I'm currently reading a great book called The Motivation Manifesto by Brendon Burchard.  Excellent read on living a life of purpose and meaning. So what does that have to do with nutrition?  In one section, he writes about actually using all of our senses to experience our world and live a more present life, and he makes an excellent point:

"Finally, no sense in our hasty world is so brutishly ignored as that of taste.  Ours is a culture that gulps its food like starving hyenas.  We don't often let food linger; we don't delight in its texture and its finish.  Many have no memory of their last meal because they barely experienced eating it.  We must return to more dignified times, when food was not something we wolfed down on the run, but something with meaning that brought nourishment, joy, and connection into our lives.  Let us take real pleasure in what we are eating, and if what we are eating doesn't bring true enjoyment and health to our bodies, then let us push it aside."

As we move into the eating season, take the time to taste, enjoy, and actually experience all of the wonderful flavors of the dishes that are lovingly prepared.  My guess is if we all did this, we would eat less (and gain less) over the holidays and be happily satisfied rather than regretfully overstuffed.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

So, what would you think is in a "fruit flavored drink"??

OK – so I’m in the grocery store yesterday, and I see a family letting a small child pick out a “treat” from the drink aisle.  As I work my way down the aisle, I see the shelf where the family had made its selection.  I look at the drink that catches my eye first – and am subsequently horrified.  And this is only one of several similar selections on the shelf.  

My original idea for this post was to rant about the evils of business and marketing crap to our children, however, after sitting with it for a little while,  instead, I offer a question:

As a society, how did we get to the place where we have given control of our food to people who would not only manufacture the product below, but then market it to our children and creatively label it to confuse shoppers??

Please, please read the labels on any processed food to be aware of what you are putting in your body.  I know I’ve been surprised several times when reading labels of products I thought would be OK.

If we truly treated our bodies with the loving care they deserve, we would demand fresh, nutritious food.  We are sacrificing our health and well being in the name of convenience.  Real food can be nutritious, easy, tasty, and fun.  I love Michael Pollan’s advice:  “If it came from a plant, eat it.  If it was made in a plant, don’t.”

Tum-E Yummies Fruit Flavored Drink

Ingredients: 

Along  with the supposed health claims, it also notes in tiny print: “Contains 0% Juice”

Filtered Water
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Natural Flavor  (could be anything that started as a plant or animal source)
Citric Acid (natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic or sour taste to foods and drinks.)
Ascorbic Acid (one form of vitamin C)
Potassium Sorbate (mainly used as a preservative in preprocessed foods to help prevent mold, fungi and yeast growth. It is a white salt that is very soluble in water.)
Potassium Benzoate (the potassium salt of benzoic acid is a food preservative that inhibits the growth of mold, yeast and some bacteria. One interesting use of Potassium Benzoate is that it is used to create the “whistle” sound in fireworks.)
Sucralose (an artificial sweetener. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body, so it is noncaloric.)
Calcium Disodium EDTA (may sound like a salt, but it is not, the proper name is the EDTA which is short for Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. It is made from a concoction of formaldehyde, sodium cayanide, and Ethylenediamine)
FD&C Red #40 (a synthetic dye produced from petroleum)
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (one of the compounds that can be called vitamin B6)
Gum Acacia (functions as a suspending or emulsifying agent, stabilizer, adhesive, flavor fixative and inhibitor of sugar crystallization)
Cyanocobalamin (the most common and widely produced form of the chemical compounds that have vitamin B12 activity)
Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin (an oil-soluble food additive used in foods, beverages, and cosmetics to keep oils in suspension in water. It is also used as an ingredient in the production of chewing-gum and ice cream)
FD&C Blue #1 (a synthetic dye produced from petroleum)

Eating nutritious food is hard work???

I overheard a conversation the other day that kind of stuck in my brain and caused me to do some thinking.  Coworkers were talking in the lobby discussing how they had spent their lunch hour.  The conversation when something like this:

Person 1: I was going to be good today, but I got invited to go to the all-you-can-eat sushi place, and I ended up stuffing myself.
Person 2: I ended up staying in and eating my salad.
Person 1: I don’t know how you do it
Person 2: I’m really working at being good right now so I’ll look good on vacation.

So my question:  why is it “work” to eat a healthy diet? Why is eating a nutritious diet punishment and a chore? Why do we only eat healthy when we have a specific goal in mind? Why is it “easy” to eat food-like products that do not benefit our bodies?  Isn’t eating just eating?

Think about eating a fresh, ripe, juicy peach…..that sounds pretty easy. Compare that to getting in your car, driving to Yogurtland, standing in line at the different flavors of sugary, artificially flavored yogurts, adding the toppings behind the sneeze guard, then standing in line to pay.  Hmmm….

My mission is to spread the word that eating nutritious, delicious foods is easy and fun.  

On a personal note – it has been a really busy year, and July was especially busy with my son getting married!  Below are a few photos from the event.  The weather was perfect, the setting was gorgeous, and fun was had by all.

The Setting

The Ceremony

The proud Mom

My beautiful children

The Bride and her new Sister-in-Law

"Eating fruits and veggies does not have any effect on weight loss" Wait....What???

That was the conclusion reached and included in a press release by Kathryn Kaiser, an instructor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and quoted in an article By Robert Preidt, HealthDay News, on Thursday, June 26, 2014.  

OK, that is so opposite of the experience of those around me and what I have studied, I had to read the article.  From the article: 

"So I don't think eating more [fruits and vegetables] alone is necessarily an effective approach for weight loss because just adding them on top of whatever foods a person may be eating is not likely to cause weight change," she added.

However, Kaiser and her colleagues also found that eating more fruit does not increase the risk of weight gain.


"It appears that an increase in servings does not increase weight, which is a good thing for getting more vitamins and fiber in one's diet," she said.

So - here's my take from what little was included in the article:  

1) Adding fruits and veggies to what you are already eating without making any other changes will not help you lose weight.  (seems like common sense to me...)

2) Adding fruits and veggies did not increase the risk of weight gain.

Hmmm....so it seems to me that the conclusion should be that if you replace part of what you are already eating with fruits and veggies you will lose weight.  

in my opinion it is irresponsible reporting to slant the article to promote a ridiculous conclusion.  It is more alarming, however, that the press release with these statements was sent by an instructor in the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  Really??  The University is promoting that eating fruits and veggies have no significant effect on weight loss?? It's only a way to add some vitamins and fiber to your diet??  Sheesh.

Here's a link to the article if you want to be amused....

http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/fruits-veggies-not-magic-bullet-weight-loss/?xid=aol_eh-news_19_20140623_&aolcat=HLT&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl8%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D494506

Living the 360° Lifestyle

Hello!  My most recent adventure was to attend the New Spirit Naturals annual convention. The theme this year was Living the 360° Lifestyle.  New Spirit's main focus is on nutritional products and, while nutrition is a huge part of a healthy, vibrant life, it is only one part.  The message was that we need to pay attention to our body, mind and spirit in order to live a full, productive life.  Life is going to happen, and we need to be taking care of ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually in order to do more than cope, rather to grow and thrive.  

It reminded me of a meeting I attended long ago where Dr. Milam gave his 3 steps for success as a New Spirit distributor:  Step 1) Get right with your Creator, Step 2) Get yourself healthy, and Step 3) Share your story and knowledge.  That's it.  No big sales hoopla, no "win one for the Gipper", just practice good self-care and teach others to do the same.

There was also a presentation on an organization called Generation Rescue. They are working with Autistic children nutritionally and getting fabulous results. Very inspirational and encouraging.

Anyway, a lot of information was presented - too much to share in one post, so I'll pass it along in pieces.

The new products that were unveiled for 2014:

Green Coffee Bean Extract (capsules) - helpful in weight loss - helps to inhibit the release of glucose into the blood stream, and is believed to cause the liver to metabolize fat faster.

ProCran (capsules) - whole cranberry fruit extract with prebiotics and probiotics for a healthy urinary tract and to heal/discourage urinary tract infections.

Vitamin K2 (capsules) - helps bone health - enhances the use of calcium by helping it to bind to our bones.

KleanHouse - natural, organic, biodegradable cleaning product for your home. Also has essential oils for aromatherapy as you clean.

Sacred Sage - this spray was developed by Ondre Seltzer, a well known energy healer.  Simply spray this mist to shift the surrounding energy from negative to positive.  Spray on yourself to clear your personal energy.

We also had a lot of fun at convention - good food, dancing to disco music with a bunch of Russians, and, of course, my daughter at the photo corner.....

No photos of me being silly, of course.....


That's it for now - take care and create your own new adventure!

"Do or do not. There is no try." Yoda

Do or do not. There is no try.

I make a point of pointing out to someone when they use the word try.  My daughter, my Mom and I catch each other (more often than we'd like) and usually follow it with Yoda's quote above.  "Try" indicates possible failure as it may or may not work, and you are then not accountable because you "gave it a try."

So I caught myself the other day telling someone that I am "making an attempt to eat more real food and less processed, food-like products." 

Hmmmm....that sounds a lot like "try." I looked up the synonyms and found the following:

Try
Attempt
Endeavor
Aim
Make an effort
Test
Experiment with
Take a crack/stab/shot at

Again, Hmmmm....  so many ways to say something without being completely committed, yet give that impression.

Soooo, let's look at how different these statements sound and feel:

A) I am making a concentrated effort to eat more real food this year.
B) I will eat more real food this year.
C) I eat real food at every meal.

A) I'm aiming to eat healthier snacks this year.
B) I will choose healthier snacks this year.
C) I snack on real food.

The A's sound good, but don't mean anything. The B's sound like a nice goal, however lack definition. The C's are a commitment to act.

Here's to working on  making a concentrated effort   committing and taking action.

Happy 2014 Everyone!

2013 held some interesting challenges, and now we begin 2014 looking forward to whatever unique challenges it will bring.

My wish for you: 
Enjoy this year - celebrate, express love and thanks and gratitude easily and often.
Get through the challenges with a focus on grace and ease, finding solutions that are for the highest good of all concerned.

My 2014 Nutrition Adventure:
Eat real food as often as possible.
Share what I learn about food & life.
Inspire and encourage others to do the same.

Here's to a fabulous 2014 full of fun surprises!!