Simplifying

So I have been looking at a lot of prenatal stuff and what struck me the most is the diet that pregnant women are highly suggested to eat.  When a woman finds out she's pregnant she gives up smoking (if you smoke), alcohol, raw meat, all those nasty chemicals that you get from over-the-counter drugs like cold meds etc, caffeine, and well they basically simplify and cut out all the crap.

In all reality such things as tobacco use and alcohol have no place in a healthy lifestyle, just as excessive over-the-counter drugs, caffeine and just plan garbage.  This really is a the perfect lifestyle diet that everyone should eat.  Increasing water consumptions, fruits, veggies, calcium and good quality fats and proteins.  There really is nothing more you would need if you ate this way.  And I guarantee that you will feel a million times better!

Just some food for thought...

Live well!

Health Coaching

Attention All...

A website is in the works with information about my new and upcoming services...Health Coaching brought to you by my license and certification through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition...I will be providing...

Grocery List Assistance
Motivational Speaking
Personalized Eating Plans
Personalized Exercise Plans
Motivation to helping you find your inner peace

Who knows...eventually a book and or DVD series...I'm feeling like the sky is the limit right now!

Live Well!

The Effects of Mindful Eating

So...I tote my lunch box to work everyday religiously.  Often people ask me...wow that takes so much extra time...I can't believe you do that...why do you do that?  Upon this conversation initiation I often begin to share tidbits of information...usually not always wanted or receptive by the other party...but they asked so I tell.

One of these many people came to me a few weeks ago and told me that he had seen a show on the television that talked about eating less processed food, eating more veggie based diets and eating local or organic.  He said that he felt like this was speaking to him...and that he was totally captivated by this information...that it made sense...and that he was confused as to why very few people actually live their lives this way.

Today I heard from him again.  He said that over the few weeks he has lost almost 10 pounds just cutting out junk!  Getting rid of white sugar, soda, and empty carbs like potato chips etc and was eating more veggies, drinking tons of water and participating in a regular exercise regimen.  He said that he hasn't been this thin since high school.  He also said that his brain feels so much more clear.  That he has been taking some college courses and that he is retaining the information so much better now...he can see the words from the text in his brain, that he doesn't feel tired after work, and that he is sleeping better!

So what have been telling you...

Live well!

Clean Meal Favorite

BRUSCHETTA!!!!!!!!!!

So fresh and filled with tons of illness fighting vitamins!  Make some bruschetta and have enough for left overs you can eat it as a meal or a snack...great for lunch!!!!

What you need:

Plum tomatoes or Cherry if that's all you can get
Fresh Basil
Garlic
Sea Salt
Cracked Pepper
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar

Boil water and place tomatoes in boiling water for about a min...enough to see the skin crack...drain and rinse with cold water.  The peel the tomatoes and seed them, then chop.

In a food processor or by hand chop one clove of garlic and a handful of basil leaves.  Add to tomato mixture.  Add a splash of salt and pepper to taste.  Start small with the oil and vinegar...usually only a couple teaspoons of each.

Toast some flat bread, pita bread, wheat bread, or traditionally on a baguette.  For some extra protein spread some garlic hummus, then spoon the bruschetta....and viola...a healthy meal!!!

Optional to sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top...

Live well!!!

Top 3 Health Investments of 2013

Yes...all of them have to do with food :)

1.  A dehydrator.  I'm telling you its worth the money.  You don't need a big fancy one...you can make all kinds of things, chips, crackers, fruit veggies...you name it!!!  The fruit and veggies are great because there are no added preservatives and chemicals so their are pure and healthy!

Try...
chop up cauliflower cover it in Frank's Red Hot a dash of garlic powder and into the dehydrator...tastes like spicy popcorn bites!!!!

Apples...a old stand by

Bananas...delish

Anything your heart desires

2.  A blender...perfect for making healthy smoothies...put some water and fruits and veggies, some nuts and viola...the perfect power drink...strain it for juice

3.  A juicer...better for you than taking that multivitamin pill...just gives you that extra umph in the morning!

LIVE WELL!

A Place Where Time Stops

So...I have enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). I began my first round of classes to becoming certified licensed health coach (can't wait to help all of you even more).  I have been listening to the lectures and have continued to feel so enlightened.

Today the snow began again here in Germany...but I didn't let it stop me...there is something so peaceful about the snow...the world is quiet as if you can hear each snowflake dropping to the ground.  The white is so pure, so untouched.  I took my favorite forest trail into a place where the time seems to stop.  And I did just that on my morning run.  I stopped in the middle of a small logging road and took a big look at the serenity.  The trees are miles high and for about the first half of the trunk from the ground there are no branches and then the branches begin to jut out.  The pine needles heavy with the fresh snow.  And the world seems to stop in that moment.  The outside is so quiet, the green so green and the white so white.  Every snowflake is falling in slow motion and the air is crisp and I forget the muddles of everyday life for just a minute.  That rejuvenating minute is all I need.  I return home warm with the love of the Earth, my lungs clear and fresh from the new air...inspired, loved...

Try to find a place like this for yourself...even if its 5 minutes of meditation in your quiet room.  You can find this place in your mind...I challenge you to find a special place in nature near your home...perhaps its your kitchen for you joy of cooking...or your garden...Tell me what you come up with...

Live well!

Getting to the Bottom of it...

So...I've been studying some very new and fresh things this year so far.  I have been thinking a lot about why we gain weight, why we are unhappy, when we feel a loss of our equilibrium.  

Think way back to health class in secondary school (if your school required you to take one).  Your health teacher taught you about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.  At the bottom was the basics...food, water, shelter.  Next, safety, means of providing (job) etc.  Next, love, friendship, relationships.  Next, intimacy, self-love, esteem, confidence, and lastly, at the top was self-actualization, awakening, transcendence.

This is the year that we must all take this seriously.  Eating is the result of a NEED.  Hungry, physical needs, emotional, spiritual, relationship needs, stress relief.  I assure you that many people in the United States and in other Western countries do not eat because they are hungry...the biological trigger of metabolism is not often the trigger for eating.  

Get yourself a notebook/journal...and take 5 minutes every day to write down your reflections.  If you haven't been seeing changes in your weight with the diets that you have followed before think about why you eat.  What are you really doing when you drive through McDonald's and snack on that double cheeseburger meal?  Are you running away from obstacles that you need to confront at work?  Has your relationship with your special person hit a rocky road, are you feeling a sense of self-loathing?  Why have you hated yourself all these years, or why do you hate yourself now?  What can you do about it? Dig deep inside of your soul.  Maybe you need to develop a spiritual practice.  This doesn't have to mean going to a big church and getting all dressed up every Sunday.  This could be 20 minutes of meditation or yoga, journaling, painting, reading etc.  It is simply time that you take for yourself to uncover your inner workings, how you were made, regardless of who or what you believe in. 

Take a look outside, everything around you is working in a harmonious dance and when things become unbalanced something happens, an earthquake, a tornado, a tsunami, etc.  Look at nature, we are nature.  Find ways to ground yourself, make yourself connect with your reality, bring this to the forefront, and live in the now!

This all sounds well and good right.  IT IS!  I have established this as the year of truly holistic health for  myself.  I want you to join me.  I have given up at obstacles before in my life just as you have.  I have taken many routes, routes that have led me to some dark emotional places that I don't wish to visit again if I can help it.  I have spent so many years looking out, being angry and expecting the world to give me something in return, yet I haven't given myself.  I want to take this time to surrender myself to myself, and my sphere of influence.  I want to leave my anger and cynicism behind.  I want to become full, and healthy, vibrant and educating.  My world starts with me!  Your world starts with you!  I will be with you during these challenges.  We must surrender to our soul.  Move outside of our box, both spiritually and physically.  Develop the vibes and the karma that you wish to receive.  Love yourself and others will love you!  Confront your voids and fill them with love and nourishment.  And begin to live in EQUILIBRIUM!

-Live well!

P.S.  It is one of my goals to become a regular.  So follow along, and use my experience as yours!

Must try Pancakes!

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/06/whole-wheat-pancakes.html

I used agave nectar instead of sugar (its a one for one trade) and vanilla almond milk!  Super ummy!