Archive for Mind/Body

I Want To Feel Energetic, Vibrant, and Alive! (and a DIY lotion recipe)

December 18, 2013 / / Comments Off on I Want To Feel Energetic, Vibrant, and Alive! (and a DIY lotion recipe)

me cookingOh my gosh, one more week til Christmas! It’s a busy time, but we can still be healthy, right?  What we do when life is hard/busy/stressful, that’s who we really are.

I’ve heard from more than a few people expressing sadness about weight gain, specifically, weight gain since Thanksgiving;  the dreaded Holiday 5 Pounds.  You’ve got a choice here, you either go with the line, ” I’ve already blown it, New Years Day is right around the corner, I’ll start new then.”  or this line,  “More vegetables, more fruit, more healthy fats and proteins; I’m going to plan the next few days well and get back on track because I don’t like feeling this way.”

Pick a line and go with it.  If it’s the second line, MEDITATE ON IT.  Choose your thoughts; quit letting a momentary whim lead to actions that make you feel horrible later.   Do this for me:  next time you want some food that’s not healthy, set a timer on your phone and see how long the desire lasts.  Unless you’re genuinely starving, Hunger Is Temporary.  Seriously.  If you turn out to still be starving in 15 minutes, evaluate what you ate at your last meal.  Was there enough fat, enough protein, enough vegetables, enough Real Whole Foods,  or did you do the “diet” thing and now you’re hungry?  Give your body the nutrients it needs, and that compulsive desire to eat will start to fade away.  Weight loss (if you need it) is a side-effect of eating healthy.

On a different note, I’m obsessed with DIY lotions – they’re so fun!  But that’s not why I’m making them;  I’m making them because the ingredient list for store bought lotions is gross, honestly.   Look at Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizer, it’s a Best Seller:  16,300 bottles are sold A DAY; that’s about $700,000 A DAY for just this product.

Here’s the ingredient list:

Water, Mineral Oil, Sesame Oil, Propylene Glycol, TEA Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate, Lanolin Alcohol, Petrolatum, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Yellow #5, Yellow #6, Red #33.   For the $38 – $46 you’ll shell out, here’s what you get:  dyes that the FDA say cause cancer (this would be the “transdermal” way to get cancer), Glyceryl Stearate, which is a petrochemical; the mineral oil and Petrolatum are inexpensive by-products of petroleum, and the two parabens?  They’re estrogenic (that means it mimics estrogen), carcinogenic, and allergenic.  Think I’m exaggerating because dangerous products aren’t allowed to be sold to the public?  Think again.

Fact check your products with EWG’s site, skin deep to see what they contain; or look here.

bowl in panHere’s a lotion I’ve been making from the wellness mama site, talk about luxurious!

1/2 c olive or almond oil            ingredients

1/4 c coconut oil

1/4 c beeswax (beeswax is cool!)

1 tbsp vitamin E oil

2 tbsp cocoa butter  and/or

2 tbsp shea butter

essential oils.   I’ve used Peppermint, Vanilla, Sweet Orange, Frankensense, and Neem, so far.

Directions:  put a pot on the stove that has 2-3″ of water in it and turn the heat to med-high.  Place all the ingredients in a mason jar, and then place the jar in the hot water. Stir til everything’s melted, then add your essential oils.   After that, you can redistribute to smaller jars, like I did, or keep it in the one jar.

Some of you might be thinking I’ve crossed a line. First, I’ve been asking you to plan, shop, cook and pack;  now I’m saying personal care products need to be made in the kitchen.  I SWEAR I’M NOT SAYING THAT!!  I’m just planting a seed.  I know better than anyone that sometimes, changes need to be made slowly.  But true Growth, becoming a better person, that’s always a goal, right?  I want to feel good, energetic, vibrant, alive – you do too, I know it!  What we put on our body is just as important as what we put in our body. Those chemicals from the personal care products,  they’re through the skin and in our blood stream in seconds.   Just a little seed.  ( a mustard seed.)

Let me finish with the three quotes for the week:

* “Most of us have practiced doing things the wrong way for years, we can’t expect everything to turn around in a few weeks.”  Joyce Meyers

* “Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Norman Vincent Peale

* “Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life.”  Golda Meir

 

Category: Looks Healthy But Isn't, Mind/Body, Psychology of Eating, RWF / Tags: , , , ,

All Behavior is Belief Driven

December 16, 2013 / / Comments Off on All Behavior is Belief Driven

elfJust 9 days til Christmas – I feel the energy in the air!!  Along with a giant To-Do list in my notebook.

I’m going to blast some facts at you, because : All Behavior Is Belief Driven.  Think it’s hard to walk past platters full of doughnuts, cookies, or bagels without eating any? It depends on your belief:  do you believe that flour and sugar are literally toxic to your brain and body, or do you still look at food as calories that you can work-off or starve-off later?

Fact: flours that contain Gluten (a group of proteins that are in grains) have ADDICTIVE properties, they literally stimulate pleasure centers in your brain that make you want more.

Fact:  no human being on earth has the digestive enzymes to break down glutens from wheat, barley, or rye.  Think you don’t have a problem because you’re not a Celiac?  Celiac disease is an AUTO IMMUNE reaction to the glutens. That happens to some people.   For the rest of us, the damage accumulates over YEARS:  the undigested proteins leak thru the gut wall, inappropriately; our immune system responds to the foreign objects, and where we’re most vulnerable (joints, brain, nervous system, thyroid, etc) gets attacked.

Fact:  sugar has ADDICTIVE properties. Studies show that it’s MORE addictive than Cocaine.  In 1700, the average American ate 4 lbs of sugar a year; in 1800 it was 18 lbs;  in 1900 it was 90 lbs,  in 2009, it was 180 lbs.   

Imagine the power that foods containing both Gluten and Sugar possess.  Think you can have just a little?  Maybe,  there’s actually still some people left that can have a bite and walk away, but they’re in the minority.  Most people have their appetites seriously triggered, and it tends to stay triggered.

Fact: in 1890, 3% of the population was overweight,  in 2010, 70% of our population was overweight.

Fact:  Gluten and Sugar are conclusively linked to Cancer, Heart Disease, Obesity, Migraines, Diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Auto Immune Conditions, Depression, ADHD, ADD, Anxiety, and just about every disease out there.

Fact: 70% of Illnesses today are PREVENTIBLE.  70%.

There’s a sweet, sweet girl who’s wisdom I follow, her name is Charis.  She wrote one of the most profound statements this past weekend.  She said to spend time before the New Year thinking about what you manifested this past year.  OMG I LOVE THAT.  Our life, our body, our thoughts, our “luck”, our relationships, they’re all exactly what we made of them.  Evaluate where we are, where we want to be, and how to get there.  If it’s a different place, it won’t be doing the same old thing, that’s for sure.

We only have a few weeks left of the Change.   Nothing changes if our thoughts don’t change.  Nothing.  Actually, I should say, nothing PERMANENTLY changes.  Will powering through situations is do-able, for a little while.  Then there’s the backlash.  Remember that quote I used the other day, ” for every diet, there is an equal and opposing binge”?

Practice making the association between every bite you put in your mouth and your health, your energy, and your resilience.   If you have children, help them make that association too.  We live in a world that promises happiness if you drink diet coke or eat pop tarts and frozen pizza.  We’re bombarded with ads promising quick fixes with pharmaceuticals.  We see pictures of beautiful people indulging in alcohol, chips, and candy, sending the message that if they do that and look that good, we can do that and look that good.  It’s not true.  Our body, our brain, and our spirit need Real Whole Food, sleep, exercise, and love.

I’ve got 3 quotes for you; if you really want to change, write them down and meditate on them.  Post them on your lamp your mirror your steering wheel;  practice positive, productive thinking.

(1) “Most of us have practiced doing things the wrong way for years, we can’t expect everything to turn around in a few weeks. ”  Joyce Meyers

(2) “Change your thoughts and you change your world.”  Norman Vincent Peale

(3) “Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life.”  Golda Meir

 

Category: Mind/Body, RWF, Sugar / Tags: , , ,

For Every Diet, There’s an Equal and Opposing Binge

December 12, 2013 / / Comments Off on For Every Diet, There’s an Equal and Opposing Binge

christmas goodiesI hope I’m not beginning too many posts with “I got an email”, but honestly, I got an email that probably applies to so many of us, that I have to answer it here.

Hi Debbie,

I’ve been reading your blog for a while now. I meant to make this the one December in my life that I didn’t gain so much weight that I hated myself in January.  I was determined to “stay on the wagon” as you put it the other day.  But I’ve fallen off.  I feel hopeless. Between the parties and goodies that people are bringing into the office, I don’t see how I can possibly lose weight in December.

There’s more, but you get the gist.  Here’s my answer:  please don’t give up – and don’t plan on trying to lose weight in December either.  How bout for now, you practice different thoughts ?  That’s the point of the Mantras (this week’s Mantra is “I think long term.”):  to change your actions, and your body,  by changing what goes on in your head.  This takes time, attention, and effort.

Bad habits are so easy to develop; they give this short, momentary pleasure ( hormones and endorphins) that create neural circuits (think: road maps) in your brain.  Deviate from your normal patterns, and those neurons send STRONG signals that COMPEL you to do what you’ve always done in the past (keeping you right where you are).  Breaking habits means muscling through a few of those compelling messages, so that you can create NEW neural circuits.  Here’s the tricky part, I’m using the term ” muscle through “, which implies Will Power. Unfortunately, WillPower is in very limited supply.  Will Powering through situations is going to be a temporary ability.  That’s why, “For Every Diet, There’s An Equal and Opposing Binge That Happens.”  Ever heard that one before?  Ever experienced that?

The trick is to change how you feel about food and eating at the neural/brain level.  Work on that for now: ”  I think long term, I think long term. ”  Keep reading, keep learning, keep thinking about your habits now, and what you want your habits to be a year from now.  Real change is peaceful, not stressful;  you can have real change, but not from a specific diet plan, pill, cleanse, superfood, super drink, etc etc,  Real Change comes from changing your brain.  The time to start practicing is now.

Waiting for the holidays to be over, a new month to begin, soccer season to end, a project at work completed, Monday,  yada yada yada, is a Diet Mentality that keeps you on the Diet Roller coaster.  Get off the roller coaster.  This is your life.  There’s always stress, there’s always complications, and there’s always co-workers, loved ones, and friends, who push food on you.  It’s normal.

***** The Food Isn’t Your Problem.  Your Mind is The Problem. *****  Work on changing your mind and in a year you can be a whole new person.  Keep putting it off, and stay exactly the same.

Category: Mind/Body, Psychology of Eating, Question of the Week / Tags: , , ,

Tire Out Your Kids – Make Them Do Tabata’s With You!

December 10, 2013 / / Comments Off on Tire Out Your Kids – Make Them Do Tabata’s With You!

Right now I’m sitting in my house watching a snowfall that’s supposed to bring 6″ in 6 hours.  For most of us Virginians, that means life comes to a halt, or at least slows down.  I know, I know, for all you New Englanders and Westerners, we’re a joke. I lived in Aspen from 91 to 93, so I get it.  Still, this is what happens here!

This is to all my fellow moms, who won’t be going to the gym today and taking my class, or anyone’s class; and to everyone I won’t be training today:  a Workout to do At Home:)

If you have little kiddos around you, demanding your attention, they’ll enjoy this.  Maybe it’ll head standmake them so tired they’ll take a nap this afternoon, or at least go to bed earlier tonight.  ( Not that us moms count the hours til bedtime……)

tabata timer Install or download a Tabata Timer app on your phone.  Turn the volume all the way up.  You’ll get an Interval timer that will give you 10 seconds to get ready, then for the next 4 minutes, you’ll get a whistle that blows after 20 seconds, and then 10 seconds.    I use this in class all the time, but I also use this at home.  It’s awesome!

Here’s 2 workouts, do one or do both, depending on time and (kid) demand :

jumping jacks for 20 seconds  ( bad bladders, pee before hand)

squat and hold for 10 seconds,   do this for the whole 4 minutes

********

mountain climb for 20 seconds

rest for the 10 seconds

jump squat for 20 seconds

rest for the 10 seconds,  keep repeating for 4 minutes

Here’s my biggest piece of advice for today:  Don’t give in to  (regrettable) desires to pig-out.  Remember the Mantra of the week:  “I think Long Term.”  Stay away from crackers, ice cream, and Christmas cookies. Better yet, if you have these, throw them in the trash and pour dish soap on them. No one needs them.  Focus on eating good fats, good proteins, and tons of vegetables and fruits.; use the day to cook casseroles or meals that you can freeze/store/eat later.

If you do Fall Off The Wagon, GET BACK ON THE WAGON.  One or two slips-ups aren’t as bad as a full day of slip-ups.  Really there’s nothing that can’t be fixed or undone.  Positive thoughts, positive actions.  I’m off to workout!

 

 

 

Category: Mind/Body / Tags: , , ,

Bad Eating on a Snow Day; and Insulin Resistance

December 9, 2013 / / Comments Off on Bad Eating on a Snow Day; and Insulin Resistance

snow hereOh man I love snow days!! The house is decorated, we watched a movie with Shelby, the horses got their blankets on, and Mark put together his annual yearly picture collage with a couple hundred photos.  It feels good to get things done:)  You know what didn’t happen?  Bad eating, and that feels great!  When we ate munchie foods and snacks, we always kept them in the house;  now that we don’t snack between meals, there’s nothing calling us from the Pantry or Fridge!  No markcrackers, no chips, no cookies, nothing.  Between not having the junk in the house, and eating our high fat meals, Cravings Are Gone.   I know from my emails, and I remember myself, how loudly food can call to you;  change your thoughts, change your kitchen, change the way you cook, and those food voices get softer and softer until they disappear.  Honest.  You don’t have to Change Everything All At Once; just have a plan.  Make one small change every week.  Write it out.  Stick to it, be determined even in the face of set backs.  It’ll happen, I promise.

 

shelby mad

The picture on the right is Mark making the collage.  The picture on the left is Shelby pouting because we have no junk food; she had to cook up a snack of chicken sausage and was wishing she’d spent the snow day at a friends house.  Kids….

That leads to the Change your Mind / Change your Body plan.  The mantra for this week is “I think Long Term.”    So often we just think with a little spot in the brain that’s full of  “addicted neurons”; think Long Term and you’re using consequences to guide your behavior instead of momentary desires.  Your body and  your health will permanently change when your thinking does, so solidify in your mind why food matters.  Here’s some fodder:

I got another good question this weekend,  “what exactly is Insulin Resistance?”.  One of my nutrition clients is trying to figure this out, but we all need to know the answer because according to pubmed, at least 25% of the US population is Insulin Resistant.  Tests are showing that some babies are actually born insulin resistant (moms- cigarettes and alcohol aren’t the only thing you should avoid when pregnant, grains and sugar do damage too.).

Insulin Resistance is the condition before full blown Diabetes Type 2; here’s what happens (the short answer):  When  you eat carbohydrates (any and all) they break down to Glucose.  The Pancreas releases Insulin to shuttle the Glucose out of the blood.  It takes it to the muscle cells for fuel, the liver for storage, and then takes it to a different part of the liver where all the leftover glucose gets converted to triglycerides/fat, and stores it.

Go back to the muscle cells:  Insulin is a Caustic, Irritating, Damaging hormone.  (It wrecks havoc on our arteries as it courses through our veins).  When there’s not too much of it, the muscle cell doors “open” to let the insulin carry the glucose, and other nutrients, in.  When there’s too much insulin, from eating carbs all day and keeping blood sugars high, the cell doors “close”.  They say “NO” to the insulin.  Glucose and nutrients can’t get in.  That’s Insulin Resistance.

When the Glucose can’t get in the cells, the Pancreas gets a signal that blood sugar is high, and makes more Insulin.  More Insulin courses through our body, causing more damage.  More Glucose is converted to Fat, since the muscle cells can’t use it.  The excess glucose and insulin stay in the blood stream too long, causing free radicals, and damaging the cells on the back of the eyes, the kidney, and the extremities – these cells can’t resist.  ( a condition Diabetics are all too familiar with).

What else happens during Insulin Resistance?   It’s not a good list:  nerve damage, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high LDL, coronary artery disease, fatty liver, wrinkles and age spots, impotence, polycystic ovary disease, and I could go on and on and on.  Insulin Resistance can last for years before full Type 2 develops.

High blood sugar and high circulating Insulin are really really bad for you. What we eat matters!  What we eat determines our weight, our moods, our skin, our energy levels, our health.  Insulin Resistance is reversible, and preventable.  Choose wisely, choose Real Whole Food.  Check my What I Eat Page for Ideas, and if you’re in the area, drop in this Friday, December 13, between 12 and 2, for my Paleo Christmas Party!  Taste delicious Paleo foods without causing the blood sugar and insulin spikes:)

Category: Mind/Body, Psychology of Eating, Question of the Week /

Thanksgiving Recap, and Choose Your Attitude

November 30, 2013 / / Comments Off on Thanksgiving Recap, and Choose Your Attitude

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and a good start to the holidays; we did at our house:)  All four daughters were home, even the one who’s working in Puerto Rico; 3 boyfriends joined us, and we had our first 100% Flour Free, Sugar Free Feast.

Here’s a picture of everyone:

thanksgiving group

 

And here’s the menu:  Turkey from Dark Hollow Farm in Markham, Va ( shout out – they raise them in the woods and they’re delicious!).  Oh, I have to stop here.  We decided to roast the turkey in our Big Green Egg, which we’ve used for several roasts and a couple big chickens this past year, so I felt comfortable.  We live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, and it’s been super cold; when we went to light up the Egg, it was frozen shut!  Woops.  Mark was able to feed some starter bricks in the bottom, but even when the inside temp was 400*, the lid stayed frozen.   A little panic set in.  He poured water on it over and over and it eventually opened, but our dinner was a slightly delayed because of this.  Lesson learned though: the Big Green Egg can freeze shut in the right weather.  Plan accordingly.

We also had:  stuffing made with coconut flour bread; mashed potatoes, sweet potato muffins made with coconut flour, brussels with bacon, green beans, mushroom sauce/gravy which I thickened with a tablespoon of arrowroot starch(worked perfect), and carrots with butter and cinnamon.

coconut and barkFor dessert, we had pumpkin pie with a nut crust, apple caramel cake (OMG!!), homemade ice cream w/coconut milk, regular vanilla ice cream from the store, chocolate pomegranate bark, pecan pie bark, and toasted coconut flakes.   The pumpkin pie, apple caramel cake, the barks, and the mushroom sauce/gravy are all on my Pintrest page, but here’s the change we made:  we used Swerve Sweetener – and LOVED it!!  Definitely my new Go-To.

Paleo Cookie Exchange at my house on December 13, from noon to 2.  Bring a flour free/sugar free dessert – or don’t!  I’ll have plenty and everyone’s invited!

Are you remembering your mantra?  “Attitudes don’t just happen, they’re the product of our choosing?”  Our eating habits, our response to situations, how we react to people, these are all ACTIONS we can change or improve.  Nothing about us is set in stone, but plastic.  If you want to change your body, you have to change your mind first, this is an absolute.  If your thinking doesn’t change, nothing changes.  Instead of fixating over weight or thighs or food, think about your heart, your mind, and the vibrations and energy you give off or give away.  You can either start the changes today (or continue the changes you’ve started), and be a new person by January 1, 2014; or you can keep doing the same old thoughts, actions, habits, and attitudes and be the EXACT same person.

Enjoy your Holiday Weekend!  We’re off to the gym for HITT cardio, and biceps/triceps.  Catching Fire Tonight!!!

Category: Mind/Body, RWF / Tags: , , , , , ,

Addictive Behavior, Diet Strategies over the Holidays, and a Paleo Cookie Exchange

November 25, 2013 / / Comments Off on Addictive Behavior, Diet Strategies over the Holidays, and a Paleo Cookie Exchange

motivation and habitI got a great email yesterday from someone who says she loves my “Change Plan“, and she’s going to start it as soon as the holidays are over…………………..  Ummm.

If you want to change your weight, your life, your outlook, your health, or the health of your family, you’ll want to start right now.

(Don’t worry, I’ve already emailed her and given her a heads-up about this.)

Waiting for all the Stars to Align is a “diet strategy”.  Diet Strategies NEVER work (statistically, more than 95% of everyone who loses weight on a diet gains it back.).  The Change Plan is about stopping that Diet Mentality, and getting off flours, sugars, and chemicals forever because they’re really, really bad for you.

Here’s a couple of thoughts for the week:  one, flours and sugars trigger “opioid centers” in the brain.  That means they literally stimulate neurons that make us feel pleasure, and then later those same neurons send out signals telling us to go find more flour and sugar so they can feel that way again.  This is real.  This is a scientific fact.  Even those “healthy whole grains” with the AHA seal of approval do this.  It’s easy to see that smokers and drug users have addictions, but honestly, flour and sugar create the same addictive brain patterns.

Another thought (this is the mantra for the week), “Attitudes don’t just happen, they’re the products of our choosing.”  This is a Joyce Meyers quote from her book, Power Thoughts.  She goes on to say that we establish thought patterns in our minds so easily that much of our life runs on “autopilot”, and we respond to certain situations out of habit, as opposed to what would be best.  We need to PRACTICE interrupting those autopilot situations and replacing them with thoughts, attitudes, and actions that lead to a better long term outcome.

Which brings me back to this ladies statement about waiting til after the holidays.  The assumption is that she’s going to be so surrounded by irresistible food that she either can’t or doesn’t want to say no.  Did you know that if you count holidays, weekends, birthdays, etc, it adds up to over a third of the year?    This is just plain, normal life.   The stars are aligned and we all need to start eating healthier and thinking healthier today.

Take it from a former food addict/diet addict/binger/every Monday it’s time to buckle down:  It’s totally doable, I swear.  Start with baby steps, practice your mantras, learn about the effects foods have on your moods, your hormones, your health and your biology, and it gets easier and more natural every day.   Our body and our mind thrives on Real Whole Foods.

Speaking of Real Whole Foods, I’m hosting a Paleo Cookie Exchange on Friday, December 13th, from noon to 2.  If you’re in the area, please, please plan on attending.  If you want to bake and bring something, that’s great.  If you don’t – come anyway! I’ll make sure there’s plenty to share.   This way you can see how sweets made with coconut and almond flour taste.  More on this later, but save the date now.

 

Category: Mind/Body, Psychology of Eating / Tags: , , , , ,

26 Years of Marriage, and Eating in Nemacolin Woodlands

November 23, 2013 / / Comments Off on 26 Years of Marriage, and Eating in Nemacolin Woodlands

IMG_2768My husband Mark and I have made it to 26 years of marriage – Yea Us!  We’re away for the weekend in Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, and having fun 🙂  He rented us a townhouse here so that we’d have a kitchen,  because we both love home cooked food.  Here’s the low-down so far:  yesterday morning, I had my Kitchen Sink Smoothie for breakfast, and he had 2 scoops of protein with Raw Milk; have I told you he drinks half a gallon of raw, whole milk a day and has for almost 2 years now?   Some may say this is over kill, but I’ve got to admit, it works for him.  My husband has also (almost) totally given up bread, pasta, and desserts in 2013.  I say almost, because he probably still indulges once or twice a month, which is a HUGE change from a few times a day every day.  He’s also cut his beer consumption waaaayyy down for the past several years, and this year he’s switched to Hard Cider (gluten free, no sugar added) about half the times he does feel like a drink. The guy’s become LEAN.  He’s liking the changes – and so am I:)

By lunch time, we were on the road; he had another raw whole milk and protein before we left, and I ate a baggie of nuts and a pear.  We stopped right past Cumberland Md at a Sheetz ( which had a DRIVE THRU!!) for a tea and bathroom break. ( I’m so weird I travel with my own tea and stevia, so really, I just paid for the cup and the hot water.)

The townhouse is great, and as far as kitchens go, pretty complete.  I’m a good packer, so I’d food in fridgeincluded a sharp knife, a cutting board, salt and pepper, and a plug in food on counterfrying pan with a lid ( you never know what a kitchen is going to be missing).    Here’s the counter and fridge loaded with items I packed:  lamb, sausage, kale, brussels, cheese, mushrooms, carrots, onion, garlic, avocado, slow roasted tomatoes, bacon, a green pepper, eggs,  coffee ( go Paul Newman Vanilla!), stevia, raw cream, raw milk (2) and protein powder.  (I keep a running list on what I want to bring when I travel, it helps me not to forget anything.)

Here’s the dinner pic:  burgers stuffed with tomato and covered with cheese, and a side of brussels sprouts w/bacon, onion, and mushrooms.  That cheese plate in the middle was sent by a friend of Marks as an anniversary gift:)    After dinner, we walked thru the resort ( it’s probablynemacolin dinner around half a mile – inside), and split a dark chocolate bar.

Why do I enjoy packing and cooking on a vacation??  Because I’ve trained my brain to enjoy cooking; and it takes no training whatsoever to appreciate that after I eat home cooked food as compared to restaurant food, there’s no feelings of “too full/sick/indigestion/guilt/brain fog,  etc etc etc”.  In my mind, it’s a win-win.

 

The way we think is everything!!  That leads me right into our Positive Attitude/ Positive Changes plan:  the mantra is, ” Find someone no one else loves, and love them.”  Chase those negative thoughts about your body right out of your mind –  they just keep you in the same habits and patterns you’re in now.   Instead, focus outside of yourself, and if that’s hard to do, PRACTICE it.  We can do anything we train for and practice!

We’re off to the Spa/Gym now, we checked it out last night and it’s Beautiful!!!! Remember: choose foods and actions and thoughts that make you feel good later, and you’ll change your life.

Category: Mind/Body, RWF / Tags: , , , ,

What to Eat for Lunch Instead of a Sandwich, and a “Thought Changing” Quote

November 20, 2013 / / Comments Off on What to Eat for Lunch Instead of a Sandwich, and a “Thought Changing” Quote

I get asked all the time, “what do you eat for lunch if you don’t have a sandwich?”  That’s easy:  meats, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruits, and fats.   There’s nothing magic about a sandwich at lunch time, not even “ease of eating”;  lots of things are fast and easy to make / eat.

Start with dinner leftovers; actually, PLAN for dinner leftovers.  Buy and cook more dinner than you think you’ll need to, and pack the leftovers for lunch.  No leftovers?  Make sure you have nuts, seeds, fruit, veggies, or good lunch meat and cheese on hand to throw together in 5 minutes.  ( Planning is EVERYTHING.)

lunchHere’s a few recent lunches I packed:  that’s leftover sausage with broth, broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms, and those two white chunks on the side?  That a couple of chunks of coconut butter I popped out with a knife.

To the right, that’s left over fish with half an avocado, a baggie with a pear, and a lunch 2baggy with pumpkin seeds and brazil nuts.

This is a baggie of brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, almonds, dark chocolate, and macadamias, and a Granny Smith apple.   lunch 3 Easy!

What about kids?  Meat and cheese roll ups, bags of nut/chocolate/fruit mixes, fruits with nut butters, gluten free nut bars, carrots and celery sticks, salads,  homemade paleo treats, and occasionally, a sandwich with gluten free bread. (My youngest wears me down – but I do have  standards!).  I’ve got a post on feeding kids in the works, but know this for now:

*****You Are The Example***** Your health, your habits, your issues, you’re teaching them and conveying them to your children EVERY SINGLE DAY.    If your message is that you’re too busy, too tired, too overwhelmed, too sick, too too too too, your kids are sucking that right up.

On a different note, have you been thinking about the Mother Theresa quote, ” Find someone that no one else loves, and love them.”  ??  Remember, you’re taking a couple of months to ACTIVELY work on getting rid of your negative thoughts.  Check out the last several posts to see where that’s going.

Here’s a great quote from Joyce Meyer’s book, Power Thoughts,  “Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life.  If you continue to believe as you have always believed, you will continue to act as you have always acted.  If you continue to act as you have always acted, you will continue to get what you have always gotten.  If you want different results in your life or your work, all you have to do is change your mind.”  Anonymous

Love it!

Category: Cooking, Mind/Body, Question of the Week / Tags: ,

You Can Be Better By January, 2014, Or Not…. & More Gluten E Summit Facts

November 18, 2013 / / Comments Off on You Can Be Better By January, 2014, Or Not…. & More Gluten E Summit Facts

debbie (27)It’s been over a week now that I’ve challenged you to Change your Thinking if you want to Change Your Body; and I’m specifically talking about those negative thought patterns that I’ve heard so many people express:  I hate my thighs, if only they were thinner;  I hate my stomach; I hate my butt; I want to lose weight; If only I could lose 10 pounds…. etc etc etc.  Ask yourself how long you’ve been spinning on these exact same thoughts and how well they’ve allowed you to change.  How long?

Change doesn’t happen when you keep doing the “same old same old”;  negative thought patterns NEVER produce positive results.  Never.  Get your mind off of what you don’t like, and start focusing on improving yourself in your soul.  Seriously.  Focus on being kinder, gentler, more patient, more loving, more thoughtful.  Get your focus off your body (and calorie counts).  Use Mantras, Meditation, and Prayer;  write a quote on 10 or 20 sticky’s and post them all over: your mirrors, wallet, fridge, doors, car.  PRACTICE changing your mind.  Work on it.  It doesn’t just happen, trust me.

We had a speaker at church yesterday who’s a life long missionary, and a Mother Teresa fan.  He quoted her and I’m going to make it my quote for the week:  ” Find someone that no one else loves, and love them.”  This goes right along with “loving-kindness” meditation, where you don’t just pray for yourself and your loved ones, but for someone “neutral” and someone else you’re currently having difficulty with.  We’re not supposed to focus on ourselves so much, despite decades of advertising hypnotizing us otherwise.  Nothing good comes of that.

Here’s something I’m really into:  the way Science is Solidifying the Mind/Body connection:  eat flour/sugars, and you create a brain that ONLY thinks about flours and sugars.  As your body becomes unhealthier, and you become unhappier yet continue to eat flours and sugars, NOTHING CHANGES; the negative thought patterns continue, the addictive eating continues, the thoughts, the addiction and so on and so on.  Too addicted to think about quitting?  Fill your head with facts about what Flours and Sugars actually do beyond making you gain weight, because it’s pretty profound.  I hope I’ve persuaded you all to tune into the Gluten E Summit – what a wake up call!  It’s not too late to register and catch the final day presentations and listen to them in kitchen, your car, or during a workout.  Here’s some recent snippets:

From Dr. Amen, MD Psychiatrist

* Neuroplasticity, or the ability to Change Your Brain, has been a scientific fact for 10 – 15 years, but many doctors are still unaware and don’t practice/prescribe according to this.   We can make our brain Better or Worse through our Life Style Choices:  Food, Exercise, and Thoughts.

* Low Fat Diets and Bad Fats have horrible consequences for the brain ( because our brain is about 60% fat).  This applies whether you’re 2, 12, 22, or 82.

* There are MORE than 100 studies which show that Big Belly’s correlate with Smaller Brains.

* Genes are NOT as important as Behavior and Choices (Epigenetics).

* “Food is Medicine, or Food is Poison.”  You know I love that one!

* Gluten is Poison for most of the population. ( No human has the enzymes to break down the gluten proteins)

* ADD studies show 100% of people affected with this disorder show some level of improvement when Gluten and Casein (milk protein) are removed from their diet.  (Diet or drugs, diet or drugs???)

* “Why do we celebrate with Toxins?”

* The less insulin we need over the course of our life, the longer we live.  Insulin triggers many inflammatory pathways.  ( what triggers insulin?  Carbohydrates.  Not Fat. )

* Cancer uses Glucose (the breakdown product of carbohydrates) as it’s main fuel.

* Anyone with Thyroid issues MUST go Gluten Free.  Gluten affects the Thyroid in a myriad of ways, including inhibiting the conversion of the Thyroid hormone T4 to it’s active and usable form T3.

* 2002 Study from Journal Of Neurology:  Severe migraine sufferers (the study group were actually unable to work and on Workman’s Comp because of the severity of the migraines) were put on a Gluten Free Diet,   70% NEVER had another headache.

From Dr. Davis, MD Cardiologist (the Wheat Belly doctor)

* Heart Scans that measure Coronary Calcium Plaque show that once Plaque gets started, it grows at the rate of about 30% a year.

* STATINS DO NOTHING TO INHIBIT PLAQUE GROWTH.  NOTHING.  (don’t even get me started)

* What’s the biggest factor in Coronary Plaque?  HIGH BLOOD SUGAR.   He says if you have Pre-Diabetes, Diabetes, or Insulin Resistance, no drug in the world will stop the Heart Disease you’re nurturing with your high blood sugar.

* Main Driver of High Blood Sugar?  Wheat, Grains, and Sugar.

*Wheat, Grains, and Sugar also are the only foods that cause the body to create Small, Dense, LDL (the bad stuff).  The ONLY foods.  Small, dense LDL is sticky, and lasts up to a week in the blood.  This is totally different from big, fluffy LDL, which has beneficial side effects, like carrying essential fatty acids to our brain and glands.

* The Gluten Proteins in wheat are highly “opioid”, which makes them appetite stimulating and addicting.   Who’s addicted to meat?  No one.  Who’s addicted to foods full of flours and sugars?

*  If we continue on the path we’re on now, by 2044 the amount of money the US will need to treat JUST diabetes ALONE, will be MORE THAN all the tax revenue the Federal Govt collects.

* Yet, Main Stream Medical Advice/  Governments Health Advice is to eat a diet of 60% carbohydrates, many of them from “healthy whole grains”.

Quit thinking of food in terms of Calories In Calories Out, that’ll just lead to weight gain and horrible health.  It’s a wrong paradigm that’s made a lot of people a lot of money.  The Scientific Evidence against Grains and Sugars is overwhelming, and concrete.  Take your health into your own hands.  Ditch the grains and sugars, and eat Real Whole Foods.  Practice your Mantra.  You can be a whole different person by January 2014, or you can be the exact same.  It’s up to you.

Category: Carbs, Mind/Body, Psychology of Eating, RWF, Sugar / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
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