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Recipe Makeovers: Cauliflower Pizza Crusts and Caesar Salad Dressing that make you Lean and Healthy

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI received an email from a reader, asking if I could do another post on weight loss soon.

My response:  EVERY SINGLE POST IS ON WEIGHT.  Food is Medicine or Food is Poison, and our weight is a side effect of that fact.

If Weight Loss is our first priority when it comes to food, We’ll NEVER SUCCESSFULLY LOSE WEIGHT AND KEEP IT OFF. Ever.  95 – 99% of everyone who loses weight on a Diet gains it back.

Low calorie foods, low fat plans, starving ourself, skipping meals, exercising a ton, and STRESSING ABOUT OUR WEIGHT are literally guaranteed to make us gain weight in the long run, because we’re eating toxic food and/or employing toxic behaviors.  Poison.

Weight Loss is never a priority for our body or brain.  For women particularly, losing weight is the last thing our body wants to do, even when we carry excess fat.  Fat’s crucial not just for building our Brain, Glands, Organs, Bones, and Immune System, but our body makes many of our Hormones from fatty acids.

Healthy fats, vegetables, herbs, spices, clean proteins, seasonal fruit, nuts, seeds…..Medicine.

My point?  To lose weight and keep it off, we HAVE to eat Medicine Foods.  Also, cut the Grains, Sugars, and Chemicals; those things ruin our liver, our brain, our arteries and destroy our hormones. Permanent weight loss is impossible as long as they’re a regular part of our diet.

Here’s some recipe makeovers that I promise are husband and kid approved. These recipes contain Nutrient Dense Real Whole Foods (Medicine) guaranteed to satisfy our body and brain, and help us lose weight.

WARNING/ADVICE:  Sometimes with picky kids and husbands, it’s best NOT to tell them what’s in the food.  Don’t set yourself up for snide (or worse) comments about the ingredients or your efforts to make you and your family healthier.  Just do it.  Stay strong and determined no matter what mud a teenager slings at you.  The great thing about Real Whole Food is that fat, herbs, and spices make EVERYTHING taste good.  Broccoli with butter, parm, and sea salt?  DELICIOUS.  Chicken with skin on/bone in?  Delicious.  Bacon, brussels, butter, sea salt and pepper?  Delicious.  Stay with the program, be persistent, and eventually,… you’ll win.

Here’s a picture of our dinner last night:  Cauliflower Pizza and Caesar Salads with homemade dressing.                                                      dinner 1:4

If you look online for Cauliflower Pizza Crust recipes, you’ll find 1.6 million; they’re nobody’s secret, and they’re all pretty similar.  (Helpful hints to follow) Here’s the recipe I use:

CAULIFLOWER CRUST PIZZA

Full head of cauliflower, RICED ( in your food processor or Vitamix )

1 egg
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1/2 cup of your favorite cheese.  You’ll see recipes that use goat, parm, mozzarella, and cheddar, just pick one.

Directions: Set oven to 450.  “Rice” the whole head of cauliflower, and then either steam it ( more dishes, but better ) or put it in a pot of 1″ water and cook it, just for a couple of minutes.

IMPORTANT:  YOU HAVE TO GET ALL THE WATER OUT OF THE CAULIFLOWER.  Don’t whine.  Think positive thoughts, like, you’re going to have pizza and you’re not going to feel stuffed/bloated/or regretful the next day, PLUS, you’re eating a sulfur containing cruciferous vegetable that prevents cancer and disease.  Good thoughts.

I put my cooked cauliflower in a fine mesh strainer and press with a big wooden spoon, then I put it in a dishtowel and twist and wring until even more water comes out.  Cauliflower contains a lot of water, and you need it fairly dry.

When you’re done, mix it in a bowl with all the other ingredients; if you used a big head, you have enough for 2 pizzas, or one very thick crust. You only need about 2.5 cups per thin crust. Thicker crusts may not act like “real” pizza, i.e, you’ll have to cut them with a fork instead of holding them.  MOMS:  if your kids are suspicious of your efforts, make the crusts thin so they’ll stay together when they’re held. I’ve been at this long enough that I can make a thick crust and we all use forks, but switching the family diet from Fake Foods (poison) to Real Foods  (medicine) needs to be done gently, and wisely.

Put a piece of parchment paper on your stone, and use your hands to form your crust, then bake it for anywhere from 10/12 minutes for a thin crust, to 25 minutes for a thick crust. (read my hints at end of post)

When it’s baked, load it with your favorite toppings.  Last night I used slow roasted tomatoes, sausage, onions, herbs, and cheese.

Back in the oven at 425, for 16 minutes, and you can make your salad and dressing.

Caesar Salad and Dressing:   Look at these ingredients! How did we ever start thinking that brain food like this could be bad for us???

3 eggs ( I use farm fresh eggs, but use pasteurized if you want )
1 can anchovies
1-2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp Red Wine vinegar
1/4-1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 c lemon juice
1/2 c parm
1/2 tsp yellow mustard

1/2 cup of Extra Virgin olive oil

Directions for dressing:  put the first 8 ingredients into your BLENDER or VITAMIX, and blend for a minute.   Then sloooowly pour in the olive oil; you’re emulsifying it, that means you need to drizzle the olive oil into the mix for it to set up thickly.

Pour this over a bowl full of romaine, shredded parm, and bread crumbs made from COCONUT MILK bread croutons.  Or just make your favorite salad, and use this dressing because it’s absolutely delicious and your family will love it.

A few last words of advice:

1) I’ve heard juicing the cauliflower is the best way to go, no wringing, but I haven’t tried it.

2) If your cauliflower head is extra big, add an egg white.

3) Judge your crust by how it looks more than time; it should turn light brown and “crusty”.

4) If after all your efforts the “dough” is still pretty wet, add 1/2 to 1 tbsp of coconut flour.  Coconut flour absorbs liquid;  start with the 1/2 tbsp and go from there.

5) To make croutons with Coconut Milk Bread, cut off a slice, tear into pieces, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and bake for 10 minutes on 350.  Judge from there if they need a few more minutes.

 

Paleo Pizza Crust Recipe; and a Weight Loss Success Story

pizza

So my husband’s become obsessed with the show “Pizza Cuz” on the Cooking Channel, and it’s made him all antsy to have pizza. He was so entranced that he was flipping back and forth between the play-offs and the show; then he started pacing back and forth like a lion and then he threatened to go buy a Boboli crust and make his own!  I talked him off the ledge and set about finding a suitable replacement.

I did! I found a crust that’s Paleo/Gluten Free/Grain Free, and it actually works!  It’s easy too, unlike the more labor intensive (but delicious) Cauliflower crusts.  I got the recipe off of ZenBelly, who calls it “NY Style Pizza Crust”;  honestly, that’s stretching it, but it was still really, really good.  It’s actually a yeast dough, and it baked up airy and crispy at the same time.  Make sure you read her notes, because it’s not at all like making regular dough – it’s about 10X easier:  no kneeding, no rolling it out, and the dough is very wet instead of dry.  MOMS!!  This is a great alternative for your kids!!  I doubled the recipe with no problem.

My picky youngest daughter liked it, and my husband loved it.  This is his pizza here, loaded with toppings (sauce, lamb, olives, swiss, mozzarella, and herbs) and it held up perfectly to all that weight.

For the time being, crisis averted.  Amazing how jumpy brain neurons can get when they want something, isn’t it.

Here’s the link to ZenBelly NY Style Paleo Pizza Crust.

Next, I have another Success Story/Testimony I want to share.  I hope Jayme inspires you to take the actions to make huge, positive, changes in your life!

Debbie Abbott changed my life. At 43 years old, with 4 kids, two of which I had after 40, I was happy with my life but not happy with my body. I had never really learned how to eat or how to cook. Almost everything I ate came out of a box or can. So sad and so true. 

I started working out regularly after my 3rd child was born. I loved it. But I never really changed my eating habits. As a matter of fact I would tell myself, “you worked out, you can eat. Just eat in moderation”. But the weight was still adding up and at 43 years old I found myself at the heaviest I have ever been. I was taking prescription strength antacids everyday for almost 5 years. I had IBS most days and felt tired and bloated every day after about 3 pm. I thought this was normal. For me it was, and I hated it.

It was time for a lifestyle change. I knew it, I just had no idea how or where to start. So one day I was on Facebook and a friend shared a link to Debbie’s site www.rocksolidnutritionandwellness.com, I clicked it and never looked back!

It made sense, something finally made sense!  So I kept reading. I kept thinking, “I can do this, I can do this”. She gave me just enough science to make it stick. Not so much that you turn off the computer or skip to the meal plan part of the book. Which I was guilty of more times then not. 

Her blog was awesome and it made me finally think to myself that I CAN make a life change and it will work.  Debbie’s favorite way to end a blog is “Eat Real Food…Good Fats, Clean Proteins, and TONS of vegetables, some fruit, some nuts and seeds, and dairy if you can tolerate it.” In my brain this translated to things that come out of the ground, things with a mother, oh and CHEESE! I love cheese! 

I will admit the hardest part is only eating 3 meals a day. I was a big grazer. But, when you add the good fat to each meal you just aren’t hungry between meals. Some days I fall off of the wagon with this but I see the most progress with my weight loss when I wait at least 4 hours between meals on a regular basis. However, all the other benefits of clean eating are always consistent and to me that is HUGE.

I started this journey July 13, 2013. I am down 25 pounds, and completely off of the antacids. No bloating, and no more IBS. I sleep better then ever and my skin is awesome (for a 44 year old with 4 kids)!  I have more energy then ever and I don’t experience the huge mood swings that I used to. My husband, who has been following Debbie too, is down 27 pounds and looks amazing!

 Food doesn’t have to be hard. Planning ahead helps, but I don’t get fancy with meals most nights. I follow Debbie’s suggestions and always make sure we have something in the fridge to grab. I use my crock pot a lot! It works for me. Toss it in and forget about it until it’s time to eat dinner. Plus, most nights we don’t get to sit as a family and eat. But everyone can grab a bowl and serve themselves out of the crock pot.

 IT WORKS people and it is not that hard. It’s not and you can do it. Debbie makes it simple and easy. She takes the guess work out of it. She does all the research and I just follow along. I am a true believer and I am so lucky to have found her. 

Sluggish or Fatty Liver? Could Be Why You Can’t Lose Weight or Feel Energetic. Recipes For Detoxing and Renewing Your Liver.

20150627_172301If you struggle with weight loss, bad skin, lack of energy, pain, and everything from headaches to chronic disease, but can’t understand why, this Post is for you. Medications that you’re currently on, or have been on, could very well be the culprit.  Medications have consequences, always, despite being FDA approved and Doctor prescribed.    (Pictures of Healing Foods are sprinkled through-out. Recipes at the end. This pic to the left is Chipotle Sweet Potato-Zucchini pizza – DELICIOUS!!).

Did you know that the biggest portion of health care costs – 88% – are spent on Life Style Conditions.  That means that the majority of our symptoms are brought on from our foods, medications, actions, sleep, and thoughts.  All of which we have control over.

Food is Medicine or Food is Poison, that’s one of my favorite sayings.  Pharmaceutical drugs are Poison too, and I don’t say that enough.  Drugs are expensive (and getting more-so), loaded with side effects, and often prescribed unnecessarily or excessively.  ****

There’s a good chance that if you’re on any prescription or OTC drug, it could be interfering with your metabolism through either liver or gut disturbances, or nutrient depletion, or both.

Did you know that prescription drugs are the 4th leading cause of death in the US?  Unfortunately, before the death happens, there’s weeks, months, or years of adverse reactions chalked up to age, circumstance, or un-luckiness.

Everything we put in our mouth has profound effects on our health, our energy, our looks, and our weight.  Food affects our mood, our sleep, and our personality.  So do drugs.

Let’s focus on the Liver.

OUR LIVER BURNS MORE CALORIES THAN OUR MUSCLE TISSUE.  A LOT MORE.  Our liver performs hundreds of functions every day, and thru the night too. It’s important that we not over stress the liver with chemicals, toxins, alcohol, or sugar/flour. A toxic liver is a sluggish liver, and a sluggish liver is compromised in it’s ability to do all it’s jobs/do it’s jobs fully.

20150217_172852 (1)Fatty liver disease has become such a problem that it now affects 1 out of 3 people – 1 out of 3!!!

We need to keep our liver humming, so here’s some suggestions.

1) Access your meds, even innocent seeming meds like TYLENOL.  Tylenol, which we give to our children without a second thought, is the #1 cause of acute liver failure in the world!  Not alcohol, but TYLENOL.

Statins absolutely cause liver damage.  Anti-depressants, auto immune and cancer drugs, and pain killers/narcotics cause liver damage.

Alcohol causes fatty liver disease and sluggish liver function.

For a very large percentage of people on prescription drugs, a change in Life Style, could get you OFF your prescription drugs.  Get in touch with me.

2) Processed Sugars and Grains are tough on our liver.  Our liver is highly involved in blood sugar regulation.  Processed foods, like bread, pasta, cookies, cake, that kind of junk, send the blood sugar skyrocketing.  The liver has to go into overdrive dealing with all the extra glucose.

What does the liver do with the extra glucose?  IT CONVERTS IT TO FAT/TRIGLYCERIDES, and directs them to be stored in our fat cells. Look straight down and do a gut check to see if this is happening to you.

Another job hampered by a slow or fatty liver?  Estrogen detox, or removal.  Our liver is supposed to get rid of/eliminate, old, used estrogens.  Whether those estrogens came from our own glands, or foods like soy (huge ingredient in most processed foods) or chemicals ( personal care products, cleaning products, plastics, etc.), the liver is supposed to break them down from a fatty molecule to a water-based molecule, and then send them on their way out.  Toxic, slow livers don’t do this well, estrogens stay in the body – stored in fatty tissue, and we become “estrogen dominant”.

Men, this happens to you too.  No man should be estrogen dominant.  Look at your boobs and belly to see if you are.

3) Become a Liver-Loving-Fool!

I tell my clients what I tell myself:  think of ways to help and nurture your liver every. single. day.  Seriously.

Even if we try hard to eat clean, our world is full of toxins:  all municipal water is loaded with chemicals,  our air is polluted, there’s carcinogenic chemicals in dry cleaning solvents, make up, body care products, baby wipes, plastics, artificial sweeteners, pesticides and fungicides on fruits and vegetables, and I could go on and on.  The point is, our liver is responsible for dealing with and eliminating all this.  It needs our help.

4) Eat Liver-Loving-Foods every day:  beets, lemons, asparagus, olive oil, good whey protein, leafy and bitter greens, garlic, milk thistle, cilantro, parsley, cucumbers, ….  basically, Real Whole Foods. Vegetables, herbs and spices, healthy fats, and clean proteins, all contain thousands of nutrients that nourish, cleanse, rebuild, and help the liver do it’s many, many jobs.

Remember earlier when I said that our liver burns more calories in a day than our muscles?  If we’re debating about how to spend any extra time we have, shopping, chopping, and cooking is just as important, as exercising.  Don’t negate one for the other. Schedule in both.

5) Try these No Recipe Paleo Meals to load your body with nutrients that make your liver20150603_072541 function well and your metabolism hummm:)

Eggs and Leftovers

This is left-over vegetables ( zucs, yellow squash, onions, and purple cauliflower) mixed with kerry gold butter and 3 eggs.  EASY no brainer.

CHIPOTLE SWEET POTATO-ZUCCHINI PIZZA

(from the picture at the top)

1 lg sweet potato
1 large green zuc, ring out water by twisting in a towel
1 heaping tbsp chipotle powder
3 eggs, beaten
5 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients in a bowl, and pat onto a pizza pan.  Bake at 325 for 40 minutes.  Top with tomato sauce and cheese.

I’m making this again tonight and adding sausage, corn sliced off the cob, and cilantro, with shredded swiss.  THIS IS DELICIOUS!!

GREENS WITH HOMEMADE SAUSAGE, AND SAUTEED PLANTAINS

(from middle picture)

Ground sausage
Swiss Chard
1/2 an Onion and 3 Garlic cloves
coconut oil

Mix and saute in one pan, add the swiss chard last since it doesn’t need to cook as long.

Plantains:  slice, and saute in a pan with Kerrygold Butter, salt, and then put in a 250 oven for 20-30 minutes.

**** I’m not totally anti-drug; but I think it’s irrefutable that most drugs are prescribed or taken for conditions that could be fixed or managed with LIFE STYLE changes.  No one has high cholesterol from lack of a statin.  No one has a headache from a lack of Advil.  No one has high blood pressure from a lack of Lasix.  No one has diabetes from a lack of Metformin.  No one has depression from a lack of Prozac.  These are symptoms that happen from the actions we choose every day.

Can High Fat-Low Carb Curb Your Appetite and Cravings? Yes! Client Email, and A Recipe.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI had an email yesterday from a lady who said she believed in the benefits of a high fat-low carb diet, but that she really struggles with food cravings;  she hasn’t stuck to her diet plan  for more than a few days.  That’s a familiar problem, and I’ve got an answer:  Up Your Fat.  Way up.  That allows you, mentally and physically, to cut back on the carbs.  Here’s why.

Cravings, hunger, and food addictions are a HUGE issue; if you’re trying to conquer them with your “same old plan”, nothing will change.  The cravings and addictions will keep winning.  You know the scenario:  the morning starts out with the best of intentions only to be derailed by hunger, or a trigger, a few hours later. Anger and disappointment sets in.  It’s a bad way to live, and it can be incredibly consuming.

I have a great email from a client who went from “Diet Obsessed, to Happy and Calm”, from EATING MORE FAT . ( And she looks AMAZING – seriously.)

“I know I have some work to do still but it really is amazing. I can only remember ever worrying about the fat and calories in food and living my life based around that. Just in the last couple years when things were at their worst I was literally writing down every calorie and making sure to keep it under a certain amount and eating no fat at all. I was weighing myself when I got to the gym and before I left (everyday). I literally couldn’t think of anything else besides what I was eating, when I was working out, and what the latest scale number said. It was beyond exhausting….and at the same time trying to be a mom to two little kids one who was pretty sick…….

But in learning all I am about the truly nourishing qualities in food and how it can heal us, I don’t see how I could fall back into such an intense fear of food. I have a real sense of control now and know I am doing something truly healthy for myself.”

See that word “control”,.. that’s what we’re all seeking, right?  The ability to not feel so weak in the face of our triggers or even actual hunger? High Fat-Low Carb is the answer, honest.  Our bodies are made out of water, fat, and protein.  Carbs don’t make any part of us, they’re just a fuel source.  That’s all.  Even if you workout, you don’t need that many carbs to fuel your life.

Remember:  All Excess Carbs Are Converted To Body Fat.  All Of Them.

If we live a life of constant high blood sugar ( oatmeal, cereal, or bread for breakfast, sandwich and chips for lunch, pasta or pizza for dinner, carby snacks in between),  *****WE DON’T BURN MUCH FAT**** we just burn all that excess sugar. If our blood sugar does dip down below normal, chances are our body actually uses MUSCLE TISSUE (converted to glucose) BEFORE FAT TISSUE for energy.  

Famous Line:  Our Body isn’t a Math Equation; It’s a Chemistry Set. 

Fat Satiates the Appetite; a high fat/low carb diet keeps Insulin low; high fat/low carb induces the body to use Fatty Acids for Fuel; fatty acids are also used to build our hormones, organs, cells, glands, bones, and tissues; fatty acids have anti-viral/anti-bacterial properties; our brain is 60% fat.

Sugar and certain proteins in grains actually STIMULATE areas of our brain that control pleasure and desire, or should I say, cravings and addictions.  We’ve all read the news stories about the rats who consistently picked sugar over cocaine, right?  Last night I saw a commercial that depicted a woman starring longingly at a handsome man, but when they went inside her head, all she wanted was the giant burrito he was eating.  These processed carbs are really, truly addictive; and most of the time, trying to “limit” them, has ZERO effect on dampening the urges for them.

Besides stimulating our appetites, a High Carb – Low Fat diet does NOTHING for our satiety. Carbs are digested so quickly, EVEN OATMEAL, that hunger’s a fact of life.  Trust Me:  Not Feeling Hungry Is WONDERFUL, FREEING, AMAZING.  That’s how you can feel when you ditch the grain and sugar, and add the fat.

Remember that email from Mandy, who said she feels like she’s been Freed From Diet Prison?   You could feel that way too!

Still dubious that eating plenty of fat can squash cravings? Here’s a quote from Dr. Tom Cowan’s book, The Fourfold Path to Healing,  “Our brain is specifically designed to sense the fat content of our food and to tell us to stop eating when the proper amount of fat has been ingested. When the need for fats and the nutrients they contain is satisfied, we stop eating. The body’s requirement for fats is so great, and the appetite that spurs the body to obtain those fats is so strong, that binge eating is likely to occur if fats are omitted from regular meals.”

Re-read that last sentence.  Fats are NUTRIENT bombs. Our brain and body want them.  Stop equating fat from foods with fat on your body.  They’re different!  Human’s make fat from excess carbohydrate.

Tips to get started: (1) clean out your kitchen; no one in your whole family needs crackers, cookies, or pasta. (2) make a grocery list and include coconut oil, coconut butter, olive oil, kerry gold butter, whole dairy ( if it works for you), nuts, seeds, plenty of vegetables, and good meats and eggs.  You can do this!

Here’s a recipe for Pesto – one of my all time favorite foods; perfect for any High Fat, Low Carb diet.

pesto In your blender, mix 1/4 c walnuts, or pecans, or pumpkin seeds 1/2 c shredded parmesan 2 cups basil 2 crushed garlic cloves juice of 1 lemon S&P ****1/2 c MCT oil ( I use Skinny Fat, by Carlton Nutrition), and 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

We ate this Sunday on fish and vegetables, Monday on meat loaf, and Tuesday on chicken.  So Good!

Looks Healthy But Isn’t – Are You Ready For This?

I’m about to trash another beloved food, but before you turn your eyes away, there will healthier options provided, I promise.

Pizza, Learning disabilities, Autism, Neurological disorders, Cancer.  There’s a connection.  Actually, there’s several.  What we eat, what we put in our body, goes on to become our body.  Let’s look at the ingredients in one of the most popular, common, and consumed foods today.  How popular?  A February, 2014 study by the USDA says that 25% of ALL boys ages 6 to 19 EAT PIZZA EVERY SINGLE DAY. Sales of both restaurant and frozen pizza have increased 30% in the last 10 years.  Our own Congress has legally declared pizza a Vegetable for school lunches, hospitals, jails, and social programs, – thank you BigPhov-ern-ment – (that’s the sexual union of Big Business, Big Pharma, and Government. I just made that up, but it seems appropriate, right?).  Americans spent $32 BILLION last year on more than 30 Billion pizzas.  The average American eats 46 slices a year, with the most slices eaten by children, and teenage boys.

Remember, healthier options are coming; I love pizza!  Give me a few more minutes:

Food Babe ( an incredibly determined Activist) just wrapped up a thorough investigation of the ingredient list in several pizzas, and the results were horrible.  Did you know you can say “100% Real”, legally, and have it be loaded with crap???  Thank you, again, BigPhovernment.  Among the many chemicals is MSG, in all it’s FDA approved monikers.  Think a little MSG can’t hurt?  Oh my gosh, please think again.  MSG, under ALL it’s names (yeast extract, autolyzed yeast extract,… there’s more than 40 approved names for it) is an EXCITO-TOXIN. (Check out Neurologist/Dr. Blaylock’s revelations on MSG here.) It literally excites brain cells to death; MSG’s links to cancer and other disease states are profound. Unfortunately, like so much poison, it makes food taste good, and it has the effect of stimulating areas of the brain that make us want more.  MSG is a Food Manufacturers Dream.  Take a look at some pizza ingredients that contain MSG:

dominos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What about other additives, preservatives, emulsifiers, flavors and scents?  Oh, these pizzas are loaded.  Soybean oil and partially hydrogenated oil were in almost every company looked at, from the dough to the sauce to the toppings and cheese, BHT/BHA were in ALL the pepperonis examined, the same with Nitrates. BPA, carmel coloring, artificial colors, enriched flours, found in abundance; remember, these chemicals make the food taste good, and stimulate areas of the brain that encourage you to want more.  You can read Food Babe’s whole report here.

Pizza Hut claims “100% Beef”, but actually the beef is loaded with preservatives and flavors; Papa Johns “100% Real Cheese” has wood pulp/cellulose, modified food starch (MSG), and preservatives; this is NORMAL, and LEGAL.  Thank you BigPhovernment.

What about a local favorite:  Wegman’s Pizza Bar.  Here’s the ingredient list for their Cheese Pizza:

Ingredients
Crust (Wheat Flour, Water, Soybean Oil, Sugar, Corn Meal, Vital Wheat Gluten, Yeast, Dough Conditioners [Datem, Ascorbic Acid, Enzymes, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate], Salt, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Dextrose, Artificial Flavor, Soy Lecithin [Processing Aid]), Cheeses (Low Moisture Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese [Part Skim Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes], Parmesan and Romano Cheese Blend [Both Made from Part Skim Cow’s Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes], Asiago Cheese [Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes]), Sauce (Water, Tomato Paste, Sugar, Salt, Spices, Onion Powder, Xanthan Gum, Garlic Powder).

Should we be eating this? Should our kids be eating this????

It really, really matters that we eat Real Whole Food.  That means planning, shopping, chopping, cooking, and packing.  Obesity, disease, depression, autism,.. the CDC says these things are PERVASIVE and GROWING.  Despite ENORMOUS amounts of drugs, despite that we go to the doctor more than ANY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, despite that we SPEND MORE ON HEALTH CARE THAN ANY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, we are very, very, very sick, … and unhappy… and overweight. We can change this with our choices, our habits, and our lifestyles.

Okay, want some pizza recipes?  We don’t eat wheat, or “gluten free” foods, so I use almond and coconut flours.  If you’re not there yet, THAT’S OKAY.  Buy a Bob’s Mill Gluten Free Crust Mix, or an already made Amy’s in the freezer aisle.  There are quick and easy options out there.  If you’re up for cooking, here’s a couple recipes that work in our house:

This is a yeast/rising crust from ZenBelly – LOVE THIS ONE:

pizza

And here’s a link to 5 more.  No, they won’t taste like wheat flour crusts.  It’s okay.  It’s a crust with good sauce, good toppings, and cheese, it’s delicious anyway, I promise!

Look here. 

Take your health and your mood and your children’s health and moods, into your own hands.  Become a Real Whole Foodie.

Tom Brady calls Cocoa Cola and Frosted Flakes “Poison”, and he’s right!

Did you hear about the Tom Brady dust up recently?  Finally!  We have a prominent professional athlete speaking out against the Giants of Big Food instead of promoting them for money.  This is awesome!  Here’s a couple quotes,

“I think we’ve been lied to by a lot of food companies over the years, by a lot of beverage companies over the years. But we still [believe] it… We believe that Frosted Flakes is a food…”

Great point.  Food is food.  Frosted flakes, ( and Captain Crunch and Froot Loops and Raisin Bran etc etc etc) are processed pieces of flour, sugar, artificial color/flavors/scents, additives, and preservatives.

Read the ingredient list for Frosted Flakes:

Milled Corn, Sugar, Malt Flavoring, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Sodium Ascorbate, Ascorbic Acid, Niacinamide, Reduced Iron, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Palmitate, Folic Acid, BHT, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D

That’s not food.  That’s crap.  In Tom Brady’s words, “And the fact that they can sell that to kids? I mean, that’s poison…”

Did you notice that Coke now sells their product in cans and bottles that have names on them??  Oh yeah.  They researched the 250 most popular TEEN names, and stuck them on their containers.  Wow.  So much for their promise not to market to kids.

Here’s the ingredient list for Coca Cola:

Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors, and caffeine.

I’ve become used to people telling me I’m either crazy/way too out there/or over-reacting.  That our government wouldn’t ever let our food supply become saturated with ingredients that absolutely cause cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mood disorders, auto-immune, and every single other disease out there.

Well, I’m happily wearing the crazy hat, because I believe that’s exactly what’s happened.  Want proof?

Recent studies show:

– 70% of all the calories Americans consume now come from processed foods ( breads, crackers, pasta, cereals, pizza, etc)

Multiple studies confirm that processed food is just as addictive as heroin and cocaine.  Moms, this means that your skinny, active kids actually shouldn’t get a pass to eat processed foods; their life long eating patterns are being created – by you, right now.  Bad patterns will eventually come back to bite them in the butt.

Multiple studies link artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, and additives to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, allergies, hyperactivity, Alzheimers, and literally every disease out there.  Not convinced?  Read here.

Let’s look at a few common ingredients.

BHA and BHT are synthetic preservatives that keep fat from going rancid. Look on cereals, breads, meats, microwave dinners, vegetables oils, margarine’s, chewing gum, any and all chips, cookies, cakes, skin lotions, face make-up,… the list is endless. Literally. If you buy and consume processed, refined foods (and lots of restaurants use processed refined foods), you’re consuming these chemicals.

Let’s follow the chem trail. In the 1970’s, the FDA reviewed BHA and BHT and gave then a “GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status, but acknowledged additional review was needed.

In 1986, they just repeated that dictum. No further review – by the FDA – has happened.

However, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Agency for Cancer Research, and The National Toxicology Program, have all declared BHA and BHT as Carcinogenic. There’s also very strong links between these products and hyperactivity in children; it’s highly suspected they cause liver damage; and it takes the average male adult TEN days to eliminate BHA from the system.

Our food system is loaded with cases like this!  Let’s look at pizza, which is pretty much a giant chemical, unless you’re making it at home (another recipe here).

The average American eats 46 slices of pizza a year. 25% of all boys ages 6 to 19 eat pizza every single day.  Our government has actually declared pizza a vegetable for school lunches, hospitals, jails, and social programs. (??)

Food Babe (an incredibly determined Activist) did a thorough investigation of the ingredient list in several pizzas, and the results were horrible. Did you know you can say “100% Real”, legally, and have it be loaded with crap??

Among the many chemicals is MSG, in all it’s FDA approved monikers. Think a little MSG can’t hurt? Oh my gosh, please think again. MSG, under ALL it’s names (yeast extract, autolyzed yeast extract,… there’s more than 40 approved names for it) is an EXCITO-TOXIN. It literally excites brain cells to death; MSG’s links to cancer and other disease states are profound. Unfortunately, like so much poison, it makes food taste good, and it has the effect of stimulating areas of the brain that make us want more. MSG is a Food Manufacturers Dream.

Take a look at some pizza ingredients that contain MSG:

dominos

YUCK!  Not. Real. Food. In Tom Brady’s words: Poison.  We have to wake-up, and unhook ourselves from the siren call of processed foods, because it’s killing us.  Slowly and quietly, but it’s killing us.

The answer?  Real Whole Foods.  Cooking at home.  Making food and meals and nutrition a priority for our health, and our kids health.  Letting go of the idea that skinny=healthy, because it doesn’t.  Healthy=Healthy.  I know lots of skinny people with cancer, heart disease, auto-immune conditions, neurological conditions, etc.

It’s the food.  Moms and dads, don’t push this advice away just because you’re overwhelmed and busy. Our kid’s futures depend on this.  We can make Real Whole Foods our norm, honest.

Want a great place to start? Read the links included in this Post.  The more you know about our food system, the easier it becomes to avoid processed foods through fear and disgust.

Don’t know how to cook/shop/prep/pack?  Get in touch with me.  It’s not hard, it’s just a skill to master; and a way of thinking.

Finally, I want to link to a great book I finished recently: French Kids Eat Everything.  This book is wonderful, and I wish I’d read it 25 years ago.  It details the differences in American and French food beliefs/culture/norms, and why and how French kids eat everything.  It’s a positive approach to food that we just don’t have here.  For example, we have “kid foods” galore in the US:  chicken nuggets, pasta, cereal, etc.  Kid foods in France are pureed vegetables and small bites of organ meats. They don’t snack, and they use utensils at 2. They really do eat everything over there, and consequently, France has the second lowest rate of heart disease in the industrial world, and no weight issues.

I hope you get 2 take-aways from today’s Post. (1) we’re literally creating and training our children for life long eating patterns and food preferences every single day we have them.  (2) We are what we eat.  We eat crap, we create a crap body.  We eat Real Whole Foods, and we give our body the nutrients it needs to rebuild, repair, and thrive.

Get in touch with me for help and changes.  We have so much potential!

Can You Eat Potatoes ( or other starchy Real Whole Foods) ? Test Your Blood Sugar!

4 girls after walking cere

( I love this pic of my girls! Raise healthy kids!  They’re depending on us!)

Potatoes, corn, carrots, plantains, bananas, beans,…wow, they sure do cause confusion.  Years ago, Dr. Atkins came out with his first book and completely demonized these foods by lumping them in with grains and sugars.

It was a great book, and he had a TON of research behind his initial recommendations, which were that if you’re overweight and want to lose, cut waaay down on the carbs, and consume lots of protein and fat.  He’s right.  Crappy carbs will not only put weight on us – and our kids – but they’re the perfect vehicle for:  inflammation, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, neurological conditions, ADD, ADHD, skin issues, and just about every disease out there.  Crappy carbs cause an Inflammatory Environment in our body – and our kids bodies.

Crappy Carbs are Evil.

But are those Real Whole Foods I listed above “Crappy Carbs”?  No. But that doesn’t mean you get to eat them.  Sorry.  The real answer is, “It depends.”  What do they do to your blood sugar after you eat them?  There’s an easy way to find out:  buy a blood sugar kit, aka, a Glucometer.

IT’S SO FUN – honest!  You might think Glucometers are just for diabetics, but they’re not.  Anyone can buy a kit in any drugstore or Walmart, or off Amazon, anywhere.

If you’re a weight loss client of mine, you probably already own one.  If you’re not a client, but a blog reader, buy one today.  Here’s why.

When blood sugar rises above “normal”, (normal is between 80 – 100, but some labs have lowered that value to 70 – 90), the pancreas releases the hormone INSULIN.  Insulin is an anabolic, building hormone.  Insulin takes the excess blood sugar, the amount that sends the value over “normal”, and stuffs a little in our muscle cells (the empty ones), a little in the liver-glycogen storage (if it’s low) and then…….turns all the rest of the excess into FAT/triglycerides, and stores them in the fat cells.

How does Blood Sugar get above normal?  EASY.  Every single carbohydrate we eat becomes blood sugar in our gut.  EVERY. SINGLE. CARB. Whether it’s from a grain, pure sugar, fruit, veggies, beans, nuts, whatever.  The carbohydrate in those foods is reduced to Glucose.  That’s the gut’s job:  break food down to chemical molecules so our cells can use it.  All carbs become glucose and fructose, 2 tiny, simple sugars that fit in cells easily.  (Today, we’re just talking about glucose; fructose is evil too! More on that later.)

How much blood sugar is too much?  If we weight 150 pounds, we have about 4.7 liters of blood.  “Normal” blood sugar – a measurement of 85 on the glucometer – equals 4 grams of sugar in the whole body.  4 Grams.  4 Grams. That’s 16 calories of carb (1 gram = 4 calories).  More than that, and the conversion of sugar/glucose to fat/triglycerides happen.

A medium French Fry has 47 g of sugar (all carbs break down to sugar).

A can of coke has 39 g of sugar.

Krave Jerky Lime Chile has 39 g of sugar per package.

1 cup of pasta has 43 g of sugar/carbs.

1 cup of orange juice 27 g of sugar.

Those are all obvious Crappy Carbs; the starches become sugar/glucose very very quickly and go from gut to blood stream fast.  But the real reason they’re Crappy is because they’re highly, highly processed and have no nutritional value at all.  None.  They’re so anti-good for us they’re poison!

Conventional wisdom tries to tell us that pasta has B vitamins, or french fries from McDonalds are vegetables.  Bull Crap. Those B vitamins – added/fortified – back into the pasta, were made in a factory in China from synthetic materials.   And those Mc D’s french fries?  19 ingredients!!  Gross! That’s not real!  Read their ingredient list, and several others, here.  Please, read it.  Our kids eat this stuff, and our kids are getting sicker and fatter and sadder than ever.

It’s. The. Food.

So what about YOU, and ME, and potatoes, or corn, or plantains, or all these other starchy fruits and veggies?  How does that affect our blood sugar since we know they’re carbohydrates?

I don’t know how they affect you; I know how they affect me because I’ve pricked my finger and tested a million times in the past 5 years.  Buy the glucometer and test yourself.  They’re cheap and they’re easy to use. Prick your finger 90 minutes after a meal (peak blood sugar), and look at the number.  See how your oatmeal or your pasta or your crackers affected you.

And see how a meal of corn or potatoes or bananas or beans, or any high carb fruit or veggie, affects you.

Five years ago, I had pretty fluctuating blood sugar.  I considered myself “low carb” because I ate a lot of “low carb” foods:  Kashi Go Lean, Low Carb Tortillas, Low Carb Bread, Low Carb Ice Cream, Low Carb Cookies…..  then I bought the glucometer.  Wow.  Did I get a wake up call.  My blood sugars were way too high, and it scared me into action.

No more Low Carb Crap, just Real Whole Foods.  Of course, I worried about the high carb fruits and veggies, and the glucometer showed that yes, they did raise my blood sugar too much.  So I cut way back on them.

In the past 5 years I’ve changed and refined my diet – a lot.   I eat more herbs and spices than ever – every day.  I use essential oils.  I’ve added more fat than I ever thought possible.  I’ve managed to completely delete “cheat days” from my life (thank you God), I’ve become scared of processed foods to the degree that I’m literally afraid of them.  I’ve joined several food co-ops, I go to a couple different farmers markets.

Last summer I went totally ketogenic for a few months.

In other words, I’ve taken several actions, consistently, for several years now, and guess what?  Now when I take my blood sugar ( which I still do all the time – and I take my kids and Mark’s often also), it’s always good.

A few mornings a week I throw a banana into my smoothie – blood sugar stays low.

I eat potatoes or plantains for dinner at least 4 or 5 nights a week.  The other night I measured before dinner, I was 78.  After a dinner of roasted potatoes coated w butter, squash coated with olive oil and parm, a steak, and a piece of dark chocolate, I was 98.

I’VE BECOME SO DARN NORMAL.  It’s awesome!

I believe you can become normal too, with persistence and consistence.

What’s normal?  Normal is when you eat a real whole food, in normal amounts, in a normal diet full of nutrient dense foods loaded with good fats, some protein, and a ton of vegetables, and your body processes it just fine.

Your muscle and liver cells are open to the carbs and the fat both, you sleep well, you don’t feel sick, bloated or brain foggy – ever, and your energy and immune system hum.

By the way, as good as they look, 6 pack abs aren’t totally normal, especially for most women. Having some body fat – is normal.  Being ripped, lean, and shredded, goes against most body types, and the actions needed to get there usually lower thyroid function, lower body fat to unhealthy levels, and mess up our sex and adrenal hormones.

Not normal.

How can you become normal?  There’s only one way: change how your brain things about about your body and food.  No more diet and weight loss focus, it doesn’t work. Focus on your health instead.  Pledge that at least a few times a week you’re going to read something from Dr. Mercola or Suzy Cohen or Dr. Davis/Wheat Belly or if you’re interested in the science behind the Ketogenic Diet (because I really do believe it heals cells and the liver and reverses insulin resistance) check out Dr. Nally here.

Here’s my Cigarette Analogy:  would you ever pick up a cigarette butt off the sidewalk and put it in your mouth? No! That would be disgusting, and there’d be no effort at all in resisting that urge.  I want you to look at a slurpee or a box of cookies or a fast food burger and think:  “I’d never put that in my mouth, that’s disgusting!”.

Here’s something that’s not disgusting, and it’s delicious!  2 Recipes, each I’ve had on here before, but they’re worth repeating.   The first is my Sweet Potato Pizza – Oh My Gosh is it delicious!!

Chipotle Sweet Potato-Zucchini Pizza

20150627_145925

1 large sweet potato
1 large green zuc, ring out water by 20150627_172301twisting in a towel
1 heaping tbsp chipotle powder
3 eggs, beaten
5 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients in a bowl, and pat onto a pizza pan. Bake at 425 for 40 minutes. Top with tomato sauce and cheese ( and whatever else you want, I’ve done corn, cilantro, and peppers). Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes.

Roasted Potatoes – kids love this and it’s so much better than french fries-

roasted potatoesScrub and dice potatoes
Pour a couple tbsp of melted KerryGold butter and coat them w it
Salt & Pepper
Bake at 425  50-55 minutes, flip w a spatula half way through.

By the way, these things freeze and reheat beautifully, they’re a great Power Cooking food.

DIY Lotion, Carrot Soup, Elderberry Syrup; Homemade is Worth the Effort, Here’s Why

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAttitude is everything, and my attitude is that I’m Smart, Organized, Energetic, and Able. Believing this about myself makes a busy day much easier mentally, because thoughts affect words and actions.

You are also Smart, Organized, Energetic, and Able.  God didn’t make duds.

In light of those statements, here’s a few recipes. Please don’t move on after reading the word “recipes”.  Homemade is so worth the time and effort, for many reasons; WEIGHT LOSS IS ONE OF THEM.

Our world is a Toxic World.  We literally breath in chemicals, sleep on chemicals, rub on chemicals, and ingest thousands of chemicals every single day.  84,000 chemicals are legal in the US; many are untested, many are unregulated, and many are deemed potentially or definitely dangerous and still allowed in our food, water, and body care products.

These chemicals, which make things smell good, taste good, look good, or feel good, have consequences.  Many of them are hormone/endocrine disruptors, mimicking estrogen.  This has led to men and women and children having higher estrogen levels than what’s healthy, resulting in a long list of problems, from low sperm counts to cancer. Other chemicals cause disease, behavior problems, headaches, and I could go on and on.  You get it.

Remember in my last post I said that Food is Medicine or Food is Poison, and EVERY SINGLE POST IS ABOUT WEIGHT LOSS?  The weight tie-in here is that estrogenic chemicals, along with the sheer volume of total chemicals we ingest/breath/absorb, stress our liver to the point where being a normal healthy weight, or weight loss, isn’t possible.

Our liver has to break down and get rid of every chemical that comes into our body, whether by mouth or skin.  Our liver is responsible for breaking down old hormones. Our liver metabolizes fats and proteins.  Our liver compromises the largest portion of our daily calorie burn ( the brain and heart come in next, and then our muscles ); if our liver is tired, toxic, and over-burdened, happy weight is practically impossible, so is good health.

Read the labels of EVERYTHING; look up some words you see on EWG.org, learn what these chemicals do and you’ll become increasingly motivated to Do It Yourself, I promise. 

I’ve got 3 recipes here that I promise are easy, and wonderful.  Compare the store bought ingredients with the DIY ingredients.

This is Elderberry Syrup, aka, Sambucal, it’s used as either a preventative tonic, or a cold medicine.  Here’s the ingredients:         20150109_060142⅔ cup black elderberries

3.5 cups of water
2 T fresh or dried ginger root
2 tsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp cloves or clove powder
1 cup raw honey (we get from our farmer’s market)

Compare that to the ingredients in Tylenol Cold and Flu:

Acetaminiphen, Dextromethorphan HBr, Guaifenesin,Phenylephrine HCl, and finally,carnauba wax, croscarmellose sodium, D&C yellow no. 10 aluminum lake, flavor, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hypromellose, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, polyethylene glycol, pregelatinized starch, sucralose, titanium dioxide.  O.  M.   Gosh.  Why would we put this in our bodies, or our children’s bodies?

Here’s Carrot Soup,  DELICIOUS! (and easy)

20150108_171941

The ingredients were:                        20150108_165456

5 cups of homemade chicken broth
1 can of coconut milk
a Vitamix full of cooked carrots
1 cooked onion,4 garlic cloves
1 TBSP garam marsala; cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt&pepper

Compare that to Campbells Vegetable Soup Ingredients:

TOMATO PUREE (WATER, TOMATO PASTE), POTATOES, CARROTS, WATER, PEAS, CORN, DICED TOMATOES IN TOMATO JUICE, GREEN BEANS, ENRICHED MACARONI PRODUCT (WHEAT FLOUR, EGG WHITES, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), SUGAR , CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF: MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, CELERY, ONIONS, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, SALT, FLAVORING, YEAST EXTRACT, LOWER SODIUM NATURAL SEA SALT, SPICE, ASCORBIC ACID, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, PAPRIKA EXTRACT.

Last, Homemade Lotion I made yesterday morning for Macy before she went back to school, it took 10 minutes:

The Ingredients are:                  20150109_055505

coconut oil
shea butter
cocoa butter
almond oil
Wild Orange essential oil

Compare that to Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizer:

Water, Mineral Oil, Sesame Oil, Propylene Glycol, TEA Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate, Lanolin Alcohol, Petrolatum, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Yellow #5, Yellow #6, Red #33.

The old advertisement:  Better Living Through Chemicals…… it’s not true.  We have way too many chemicals in our life; DIY ( unless you can hire someone to Do It For You ) is important!  Not convinced?  Learn more through the links below:

http://www.liverdoctor.com/liver/the-liver-and-detoxification/

http://foodbabe.com/2013/02/26/are-over-the-counter-medicines-making-you-sick/

https://ispub.com/IJU/2/1/7519

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2726844/

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/opinion/kristof-how-chemicals-change-us.html?_r=1

Want to Lose Weight, Reduce Inflammation, Gain Energy, and Look Younger?

me in kitchenJudging from my email, and comments at the gym, it’s been hard to stick to a healthy food plan over the holidays.  Long, busy days and less sleep derail even the best intentions.  Don’t stress about it; stress hormones just make everything worse.

We’re 2/3 of the way through December.  How about this January, you commit – in your mind starting today – to a cyclical Low Carb/High Fat Diet / Way of Eating?   Here’s what I mean:

Since I did the Keto Diet this summer, I’ve cycled my eating to be either Low Carb days that include a starchy vegetable or fruit, ( potatoes, bananas, plantains, or winter squash ), with days when I eat VERY High Fat/Low Carb and ONLY green or cruciferous vegetables.  I haven’t done this for my weight, as my weight never really changes ( IF YOU HAVE WEIGHT TO LOSE, YOU’LL LOSE IT EATING THIS WAY I SWEAR, IF YOU DON’T HAVE WEIGHT TO LOSE, THERE’S A MILLION BENEFITS TO THIS WAY OF EATING), but WOW, does it do a number on energy and inflammation.  It’s the High Fat component I’m sure, as I’ve been plain old Low Carb for years now. ( Yes, Low Carb has several health and weight loss benefits independent of High Fat!)

Here’s what I’ve experienced in the past 6 months:  My varicose veins, which I’ve had since my 2nd pregnancy 22 years ago, are GONE.  It’s weird.  Some age spots I had on my chest…. GONE.  My eyebrows, which had kind of disappeared on the outside ( a sign of poor thyroid function ), have grown back.  Inflammation and soreness after a I teach a hard class or have a heavy leg day… much less.  And I haven’t been this “regular” in 10 years.

I had to go off a strict Keto plan because my blood pressure went too low ( one night it was 60/40 ), but if you struggle with High Blood Pressure, or Diabetes, or Heart disease, or need to lose weight, then a Keto Diet would be great for you.  Interestingly, cycling my days between High Fat/low carb and plan old Low Carb, has allowed me to see low levels of Ketones on the sticks whenever I test.

However, most people I work with don’t want to do a Keto Diet every day; it sounds too hard, and I’ll admit, it takes a LOT of fat, and counting your carbs, to see ketones on the meter or the keto sticks.  If you read my summer Posts, you know there’s several advantages to having a low amount of Ketones in your blood, everything from cell repair to cancer cell inhibition. Several decades ago, it would have been normal for us to float in and out of mild ketosis as high fat /low carb/low sugar diets were the norm; NOT ANY MORE.

Now, studies show that burning predominately glucose ( sugar ) is our New Norm.  If you’re primarily a sugar burner, that means your body STORES FAT instead of burning fat, even during exercise.   Ketones are an excellent fuel source;  our muscles, heart, and brain LOVE to burn ketones and literally PREFER to burn ketones or fatty acids OVER glucose.

If you’ve been struggling with weight or health issues, you should do a Cyclic Keto Diet, at least for January.  Give it a try.  Start today focusing on not only ditching the grains and sugar, but upping your fats, greens, and cruciferous vegetables.  It’s NOT boring, and it’s not hard once you get into the swing of things.  Look at my What I Eat page for ideas.  In the meantime, don’t go hog wild thinking a big diet’s coming up so there’s no sense holding back.  That’s a ridiculous mindset that causes weight gain, hormonal havoc, and illness.  Stop it.

Instead, focus on LOOKING FORWARD to healthy proteins, healthy fats, and tons of vegetables. Take control of your thoughts and PLAN to succeed at this.  There’s even delicious Keto Desserts you can eat every day if you want.  I’ll post my meals throughout the month of January.  Don’t let this be just about your weight; read and learn about the benefits of Low Carb and Ketogenic eating, there’s so much science now and you need to get that science in your head if you want to make real changes.

Two of the best books out there are Keto Clarity, and The Art and Science of Low Carb Living. Order at least one of these and start reading today.

Hesitant?  Sound daunting?  Afraid to give up bread, pasta, pizza, and sweets?  You’re addicted.  Quit listening to that part of your brain.

Where were you a year ago in your weight and health?  Are you still there today?  Has anything changed for the better in the past year?  Stop the crazy train diet cycle.  You can be different, you can be better, you can be really, really, happy with yourself!  God didn’t make losers.  Manifest a positive, productive mindset.  Order the books, take control of your thoughts, and determine to be better every day in 2015. Next year, on December 21, 2015, you could be a whole different, better you!

It’s Time To Break Up With Grains, Because They’re Killing You and Your Family.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWhat a dramatic title, I know my kids are rolling their eyes, but it’s true.  At this point in the information age, I think many actually believe that grains do cause disease, and definitely weight gain.  It’s just that………the thought of No More Grains is so Sad.

Let me help you get over that.  No one’s more addicted and in love with grains than I was, and I’m free.  You can be too.

It’s like getting off drugs and alcohol; you’ll feel SO GOOD without it.  You’ll be free from bloat, brain fog, headaches, bad periods, high blood pressure, resistant weight loss, sore joints, and the list goes on and on and on.

If you’re carrying extra weight, you’ll be free from that too.  

Grains, both gluten-free and gluten-loaded, are a veritable boat load of problems.  If your doctor’s telling you ( like ours does ) that whole grains are “good”, ignore that.  Main Stream dogma has created a U.S. that’s 70% overweight, 70% on medications, and a population literally riddled with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Add to that, our kids are on more medications for behavior and health issues than we could have ever imagined.

Every single paradigm that’s been pushed on us for the past several decades needs to be identified, examined, and stopped.  One of those paradigms is that Grains Are Good For Us, and we need carbohydrates for energy and health.

Pure lies.

Grains make most of us Fat; and if they don’t make us fat ( they didn’t make me fat ) they make us Bloated ( I had the stomach of a 7 month pregnant woman every afternoon for years ), or sick.  Grains are digested in the gut to simple sugars, either Glucose or Fructose.  ( White sugar and honey are also digested to Glucose or Fructose, hence, a carb is a carb is a carb. ) Glucose goes through the intestine wall and into the blood stream, then it’s known as “Blood Sugar”.

Americans, and much of the World, have notoriously high blood sugar. ( China has the most diabetics, India’s next, and we’re 3rd.))  Insulin is the hormone sent out to lower blood sugar.

Read this:  High blood sugar wrecks havoc on our arteries, our nerves, our brain, our hormones, our skin, and our weight.  Excess blood sugar is converted to triglycerides /fat and stored, mostly in our torso region.  High insulin is also incredibly damaging, leading to inflammation all over the entire body.

High Insulin causes the body to hold on to salt, high insulin inhibits the body from absorbing magnesium, high insulin damages artery walls;  high insulin causes Diabetes, high insulin is highly correlated with several cancers; high insulin causes high cortisol – which is damaging in it’s own right; high insulin upsets our sex hormone production and balance.

I could go on and on, but that’s a little surface scratch of the damage high blood sugar and high insulin cause in us, and our children.

To add insult to injury, grains contain “anti-nutrients”.

“Gluten’s” a notorious term; there’s constant debate about whether it’s okay for us if we’re “not-sensitive”, or is it bad for everyone.   It’s bad for everyone, honest.

Glutens are proteins found in grains that are nearly impossible to digest.  Wheat alone, “is capable of producing no less than 23,788 different proteins”  Proteins from grains wreck havoc that proteins from animals don’t even come close to causing.

No matter what Main Stream says, NO HUMAN ON EARTH HAS THE DIGESTIVE ENZYMES TO BREAK DOWN GLUTEN PROTEINS.  No Human.  What this means is that eventually… gluten is going to get you.  Your body might be able to repair the damage gluten does for years, decades even, but not forever.

70% of reactions to Gluten don’t even happen in the gut, so if you don’t experience bloat, pain, gas, but instead have joint issues, skin issues, headaches/migraines, trouble focusing, or Moms:  behavior problems, there’s a good chance it’s a gluten sensitivity or allergy; possibly even full celiac.  (  GET TESTED FOR CELIAC AND GLUTEN ANTI-BODIES IF YOU’RE SYMPTOMATIC. )

One last fact about the proteins in grains:  many of them are OPIOD in nature.  This means their structure is compatible with opiod receptors in our brain.  THIS IS WHY THE THOUGHT OF BREAKING UP WITH GRAINS IS SO HARD, THEY’RE LITERALLY AN ADDICTIVE PLEASURE.

How do you quit? Make a plan! You’ll need to shop, cook, and pack.  Moms, I hear you already:  “My kids/husband will ONLY eat pasta/bread/pizza/chicken nuggets.”  I know.  We lived that way for yeaaarrrs.  We’re American, and that’s the crap we eat.  When I put a cold turkey moratorium on Grains, there was an honest to God uprising in my house.  Teenagers and husbands are a tough mix to battle, but it’s a battle you need to win.

What to do initially: start replacing the wheat flour products with gluten-free products.  (Weaning is always easier than cold turkey. Trust me, you won’t be able to just change your household with the blink of an eye.  If only… )  Simultaneously focus on replacing the breads and desserts with grain-free flour recipes. (There’s a learning curve, but it’s worth it).  There’s hardly a store in the world not selling almond or coconut flour, but if you live some place that doesn’t carry it, order them on line.  I promise you, after the initial upheaval, practice/persistence/patience will prevail.

If you’re intimidated by the thought of the time it takes to make Real Whole Food for yourself and your family, as opposed to throwing pasta in water or chicken nuggets on a pan, GET OVER IT.  Honestly!  We’ve been brainwashed since birth that Fake Food/Crappy Food is “Okay”.  It’s not.  Ever.  Work on changing your thoughts from “ugh, too much time”, to the sequence of steps you need to take to make a meal.

Don’t focus on the Problem, Focus on the Solution.

Some of my favorite recipes?  Coconut milk bread, everyone loves this.  Pizza crust from Zen Belly.  And if you’re looking for sweets ( and anything else), the options are literally endless:

http://www.rocksolidnutritionandwellness.com/food/what-am-i-eating-today/

OMGPaleo

Elana’s Pantry

Simple Stupid Paleo

All Day I Dream About Food

Finally, with Thanksgiving in a few days, here’s a post from last year (2013) on our Thanksgiving food and recipes; 100% totally grain free and delicious:

http://www.rocksolidnutritionandwellness.com/thanksgiving-recap-and-choose-your-attitude/

Resources:

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/page/opening-pandoras-bread-box-critical-role-wheat-lectin-human-disease

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/page/dark-side-wheat-new-perspectives-celiac-disease-wheat-intolerance-sayer-ji

http://authoritynutrition.com/6-shocking-reasons-why-gluten-is-bad/