1) George Foreman Grill: George, I am disturbed that you have named all your children after yourself, but I gotta love your grill. I bought my GFG back in 2005 when I began eating meat again and had to consider cooking it myself. It sat, unused in box, until this fall. Now it is a permanent fixture on my counter and gets used several times a week! 3 pounds of chicken breasts, cooked and ready to go in 30 minutes! Fish fillets, grilled to perfection in 3 minutes?!?!? YES, YES, YES. I no longer have to worry about spills or messy oven clean-up, I can cook a week’s worth of protein in less time, and I cannot even begin to tell you how much easier it is to keep ready-to-eat lean protein in the house now. I only wished I had been brave enough to crack open the box 6 years ago. George has more grill varieties than you can shake a boxing glove at  here.

2) Vitamix: My first kitchen tool and my first big ticket household item, a Vitamix has been an staple in my home since I was 18 years old. I make smoothies, emulsify dressings, grind nuts, and can make my wheat-free flour in 45 seconds at less than half the price. My food processor hasn’t been used in years (probably as long as I’ve had that George Foreman grill) is in a box to be donated to charity. Yes it’s pricey, but it is worth it. Ask anyone who owns one; our pupils dilate a little, our voice gets higher and it’s hard not to get ecstatic at the opportunity to fawn over our high horsepower kitchen tool. You can check out a video on the Vitamix awesomeness here and order one here (use coupon code 06-001737 to get free shipping)

3) Zrii: How is it that I am never sick? How can I wake up refreshed on less sleep than in my 20′s? How is it that I ran 150 miles a month and completed a marathon and three half marathons in 6 months? Zrii. This red bottle of Ayurvedic magic is my primary tool in keeping my body balanced and strong. Deepak Chopra and his colleagues at the Chopra Center for Well-being developed this tonic a few years ago and I’ve fallen in love with it. It’s sweet tart flavor and potent herbal formula is kind of addictive. Be forewarned. Learn more about Zrii and try it out yourself by clicking here.  I also share this product with clients and others and am very familiar with the entire line, so you can email me with any questions you have about it!

4) Garmin Forerunner: I’m an info junkie. I use my Garmin to keep track of my heart rate, mileage, route taken, altitude, direction, and more. It kept me from getting lost running in Paris in the early morning and trekking through small Costa Rican towns. It teases me by displaying my split times so I know if I am going faster or slower than I was the mile before or the day before. And I can download all the data and cross-reference to my heart’s content. I have the 305 – an older model. The 405 is prettier, yes, but consistent in-person and internet reviews indicate that the touch bevel creates more problems than convenience. My advice is to stick with the bulkier but better designed 300 series and opt for the studly, waterproof Forerunner 310 with heart rate monitor.

 The Flavor Bible: A must-have  guide for those ready to delve into kitchen alchemy, this book is probably my top gift giving item every year. Look up apples, see they pair well with sour cream, almonds, and rosemary – then take that to the kitchen and revamp your old sour cream coffee cake recipe. I found persimmons at the farmer’s market last winter and wanted to play with them so I brought a few home and created this recipe. The Flavor Bible is a culinary cheat sheet that allows you to boldly step out of your comfort zone. The pages contain whispers of great chefs and menu-making magicians ensuring you can do no wrong. It’s one of my best (and least kept) kitchen secrets and a treasured gem for any food lover!

Detoxification happens naturally within our bodies every day. Our system is in a constant state of detoxification and rejuvenation, utilizing the filtering capabilities of the liver and kidneys to remove unwanted compounds that exist naturally from simply being alive, as well as external toxins such as alcohol and pollution. In order to maintain vibrant health and wellness, we must be able to balance our body’s ability to detoxify with our capability of rejuvenation.

Cleansing offers us a great way to prevent seasonal illnesses that come with these changes because it allows out body a period of rest and rejuvenation, as well as a clearing out so that it is less burdened by seasonal changes. I would argue that  external detoxification and cleansing protocols are essential to well-being in this day and age for the following reasons:

1) Our food quality is at an all-time low. GMOs have permeated the marketplace, our topsoil is largely at the ocean’s floor, and even organic foods are not as nutritionally dense as they were 50-60 years ago. Our industrial commercialization of the food supply is for the purpose of convenience and commercial profit – NOT health. Consequently, we are consuming far less nutrition from the same apple eaten today as our parents or grandparents did. Our ability to rejuvenate is thus compromised, and our food contaminants are incredibly high.

2) We are stressed and overstimulated creatures! Finances are on nearly everyone’s mind, we work more hours than ever before and are paid less for those hours. CNN can give you the update on the state of our Union – I don’t need to share this with you. These stressors filter out into our workplace, our relationships, and burden our families. With less downtime to restore ourselves and a greater pressures in our culture, we are all in a chronic low level state of stress. Chronic stress inhibits all of the body’s functions, including metabolism, liver, kidney, lymph detoxification, and cellular rejuvenation.

3) We encounter greater pollutants which tax our bodies. Regardless of location, we are all inadvertently exposed and ingesting several man-made compounds that did not exist even 10 years ago. This comes from air, commercial and private buildings, food supply, cosmetics, and many other sources. All of this stress inhibits the body from ridding of toxins AND decreases the absorbability of nutrients we receive from the foods we eat, further taxing the burden on the body via low level malnourishment.

Many people think detoxifying involves strict, radical means such as juice fasting, harsh stimulants which purge the colon, or radical diets of nothing but soup or fruit. Not so! In working with active populations, I have designed detoxes which allow the body to detoxify while maintaining a work schedule or a physically active life. (note – this does NOT include high intensity or peak athletic training!) My detox time is always a great opportunity to whip up some of my favorite meals, like nori-wrapped salmon and detox-friendly pesto, and I never go hungry or suffer from low blood sugar. Detoxing can also extend out beyond food choices. A media detox is strongly recommended during times of overstimulation or stress; many, many people experience great epiphanies when they carve out the space to listen to the small quiet voice within.

In connecting with our body, a cleanse can offer us insight into the foods that may be problematic or troublesome for us. For those who are having digestive issues or difficulty taking off weight, I recommend very systemically re-introducing foods to determine exactly which dietary habits are responsible for ill health and poor weight. It is not uncommon to gain 3-6 pounds of water weight after consuming a food we are intolerant to. Consuming such foods regularly may not create overt or severe symptoms, but they can be the hidden reason why weight has plateaued or why it has been challenging to reduce in the first place.

Cleanses can be powerful to reset ourselves for the new season and get back on track. They allow us time and space to reconnect with our most precious possession – the vessel we live in and the spirit it contains – and bring us back to a place of honoring that.

Are you ready to detox? Ask yourself the following questions:
Did you have a touch too much fun over the summer? (You know what I’m talking about!!)

Do you feel sluggish and tired despite adequate sleep?

Do you have skin inflammations, achy joints, or seasonal allergies?

Are you susceptible to all those illnesses that comes around this time of year?

Do you have trouble taking off weight you’ve gained?

Do you have digestive issues (such as constipation, loose stools, stomach heaviness, bloating, or cramping, indigestion, etc) that you’ve deemed as ‘normal’ because they occur so often for you?

Do you feel groggy or get brain fog after lunch?

The more questions you answered ‘yes’ to, the more likely you’d benefit from a cleanse! Know that any ‘yes’ (aside from summer fun) is a sign of an abnormality, and it doesn’t have to be something you live with daily! Small steps can cause huge changes in our energy, digestion, and health. If you are interested in detoxification or suspect you may have a food intolerance, email me for more information and to set up a complimentary consultation. Mention this post and receive 10% off our new detox program, Purify! This 7 day detox focuses on cleansing all systems – lymph, liver, kidney, blood, and fatty tissue, and can be done without great interference in your daily routine.

1) Our food quality has gone to hell – Agribusiness has cut down forests and depleted praires, allowing nutrient dense topsoil to dry out and blow away in the wind, ending up at the bottom of the ocean. This is of great ecological concern as one inch of topsoil can take 500 years to form naturally.(1) An apple today contains almost 15-40% less nutrition than it did in 1950!!! (2) The nature of how we grow food – maximum yield in minimum time – is blamed for this. Also to note – conventional produce uses fertilizer which contains 3 minerals – Carbon, Phoshorus, and Potassium. There are FAR MORE nutrients essential to good plant and human health!

2) And – you’re not absorbing as much as you think you are! Antibiotics (via prescription or polluted water/animal products), stress, lack of mindfulness, adequate chewing and low nutrition all prevent our bodies from properly absorbing nutrients, so even if your diet was perfect, your ability to ABSORB your nutrition may not be. Certain supplements can facilitate nutrient absorption by boosting the effectiveness of the digestive system.

3) Pollution taxes the system and creates additional nutrient needs - agribusiness is also a huge contributor to pollution, in addition to industry in general. Our waterways are polluted, our soil is polluted, and our air is polluted. This has been very noticeable to me, as I was raised in Alaska, which has the  cleanest air and water in the country. If you live in the city and do not travel much, you may not realize how poor the environment you live in is. Pollution is poison, and it takes our cells and organs extra energy and nourishment to be able to detoxify unhealthy compounds that we are continuously exposed to. Antioxidants, phytochemicals, and key vitamins and minerals for cell, liver and lung health are key to keeping your system operating optimally!

4) You are under more stress than you think – and that means you need more nutrients! Even if you do not feel stressed, you are likely working too hard, sleeping too little, are nutrient depleted  and overstimulated by lights, media, and the hullabaloo of modern living. We have ancient bodies that are coping marvelously well given the copious stimulation of modern society! Stress – be it physical, mental or emotional; conscious or unconscious – taxes the adrenals, which then need additional vitamins and minerals to produce hormones for normal functioning. Just being nutrient depleted puts stress on the body because it is trying to cope without tools it needs! You can see how this can be a powerful negative feedback loop that leads to chronic disease ten, twenty, or thirty years from now?

5) The RDAs were made to prevent gross deficiency, not achieve optimal human health - Nutrition is a very young science – we did not even know vitamins existed until about 100 years ago! The RDA’s were made to prevent extensive diseases that were becoming common at the time – rickets, beriberi, scurvy and the like. The RDA’s were created looking at DISEASE, not looking for OPTIMAL HEALTH. Since they were first created, many revisions have been made and we are discovering that most of them are likely far too low. Vitamin D is a common nutrient we are deficient in – the NEW RDA is set to 600- 800 IU, (3) but clinical treatment of low D stores is upwards of 50,000 IU. Given that over 90% of the country is low on Vitamin D, what we are getting supplementally clearly is not enough. Low Vitamin D is linked with autoimmune disorders and cancer … conditions we were not looking for in 1905.

6) Even if RDA’s were enough – you still aren’t meeting them! All that said, we are still not even meeting the RDA’s! Less than 15% of Americans are getting enough of at least one nutrient (Vitamin E). Chances are, every single one of us is consistently lacking in at least one nutrient. Supplementation is an inexpensive way to give your body an extra boost considering your health and energy is the most valuable gift you have!

Sources:

(1) http://earthleaders.org/publications/stress_topsoil

(2) http://www.nowfoods.com/?action=itemdetail&item_id=43732

(3) http://www.vitamind3-cholecalciferol.com/vitamin-d-rda.htm

More Info:

http://www.organicconsumers.org/ofgu/vegies121205.cfm

http://www.xylzw.com/nutrient-bombardment/

Click here to read more from the Time magazine article:

My thoughts – definitely an improvement, I’d like to learn more and I disagree that fruit should be free (yes if health is the objective, no if fat loss is). I think Jennifer Andrus’ comment about a calorie is a calorie is factually correct, but for purposes of health and fat loss, absurdly inappropriate to come from the mouth of a nutrition professional. Fat loss is far more complex than the units of heat we ingest (calories). Consuming sugar causes hormonal releases in the body that promote fat storage, while consuming protein does not. Yes, you can gain weight by consuming too many calories of any food, but to lose fat effectively, one must be discriminating in determining where one’s calories come from.

Sports Nutrition on the Road

Chewing my food did not really come to my attention until I was doing some post-grad studying at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. How I managed to move through over a decade of studying and a university education without “getting” this concept is a mystery. It may simply be that, like drinking water, chewing is one of the simplest things you can do to improve your health.

I first conducted my own chewing experiment after hearing Andrea Beaman share  the lesson she received from her macrobiotic teacher, Michio Kushi, who explained the importance of chewing each bite 100 times. Andrea related that such a task was difficult to do, but encouraged us to try chewing each mouthful 30-50 times to observe what happened.

What I initially noticed was how little I actually chewed. Try 6-10 times before swallowing! Large chunks of food were sliding down my esophagus, burdening my stomach and digestive system. When I stopped to chew, amazing things happened:

1) I grew bored, and quickly! Chewing is a tough task for those of us used to eating on the fly, multi-tasking, or otherwise handling multiple levels of information at once. The task of counting each chew was agonizingly dull at first. Then I began to notice other things…

2) The more I chewed, the more the flavors within foods changed: crackers and apples became much sweeter!

3) I came to understand the compulsion of swallowing – you literally cannot help it after a certain time…small amounts of food become liquid and the need to swallow arises from an area of the body unaffiliated with our conscious mind.

4) And most importantly: I became full on 50 – 75% less food. I realized how little mass my body actually needed to be satisfied, when given the chance to fully assimilate and absorb the nutrition it was receiving. I had the very personal experience of understanding how to work with the digestive process. (remember – it takes 20 minutes for our body to receive the hormonal signals to shut down appetite!)

Truthfully, I still have a hard time chewing 30 times. I still get distracted, bored, and my ego steps in and convinces me I have “more important things to do”. each time I do though, I find I get greater enjoyment and satisfaction from my meal, I lose weight, and I experience more moments of peace throughout the day. This week I’m making the commitment to chew at least one meal very, very thoroughly. I encourage you to give it a try and let me know what YOU notice!

A standard monthly visit to the local Asian grocery store is always exciting. Having been raised in Western culture, many of the fruits, vegetables, and packaged goods are new and mysterious. So on every visit I pick a vegetable I am unfamiliar with.

Last month I chose lotus root. It was crispy like water chestnut, but lovely in shape and added a touch of elegance and sophistication to my Sea Goddess Saute’. This month I’ve chosen bac ha. I’ve never seen it or heard of it before. It is a stalk like celery or bok choy but has a spongy looking interior, like bone matrix or your bathroom sponge. It is a green vegetable. I’ve brought it home and googled it’s name. From this I have discovered that it is known as taro stem and elephant ear. I’ve also managed to take home a vegetable that must be cooked, lest microcrystals of calcium oxalate irritate my mucous membranes.

Never a dull moment in my kitchen!

What I’ll do next is find a recipe that uses this vegetable, further expanding my culinary horizons and adding a new recipe to my ever-growing list. It seems most common in Vietnamese food, and you’ll be certain that whatever the winning recipe is, it will be posted here!

This method of exploring new foods also works well to get children to eat produce. Bring them to the grocery store and have them each pick out a fruit or vegetable to try. Have them help prepare the produce as age appropriate and they will be more likely to try it!

Mindfulness is a key element in successfully maintaining weight loss, determining which foods work best for your body, and for staying healthy and balanced in all areas of life. With countless external cues creating an environment suited to overindulgence, vigorous attention to our body’s cues is perhaps the most effective tool for health available — and it costs nothing!

We can all agree that what we eat has a huge impact on our health and energy, but what is less commonly known is how what we eat affects our appetite, our moods, and our thoughts. With hectic, busy lifestyles, we are no longer aware of the impact that our food choices have on our level of functioning, and many have lost sight of what high level functioning feels like.

When we begin to pay attention, our entire world becomes possibility for change.

By noticing how the foods we eat affect our body, we empower ourselves to make different choices. One of the key things clients who work with VIBRANCE experience is a greater connection between food and body wellness, and a greater understanding of the language their unique body uses to communicate with them.
When we begin to make different choices based on how our body feels, we capitalize on the body’s ability to restore and heal itself and experience a greater sense of wellness and vitality.

In the arena of weight loss, mindfulness is mandatory for sustained success.

When I first started setting everything aside to enjoy my meal, I found it boring. Painfully so! I wanted to rush through my meal so I could get back to whatever seemed more pressing at the time.
Then I slowed down even more, focusing instead on the food that was in front of me — the gloss of the dressing on my spinach leaf, the sensation of biting into a crisp bite of apple or celery, the feel of different textures and tastes in my mouth as I chewed. I became aware I only chewed about 6 – 10 times before swallowing, so I tried to quadruple that and I found I needed to take smaller bites. Then I noticed I was full long before my plate was empty.

So I started putting less food on my plate…   You can see where this is going.

Multi-tasking is registered in the brain as stress; inducing a fight or flight response because the brain is divided between important duties.  The adrenaline kicks in to increase our attentiveness, but ultimately this has negative impact on our short term memory as well as our overall health and well-being.

When we multi-task while eating, we do not pick up on the very food cues that initiate digestion. The smell of food, even the thought of food starts our systems preparing for digestion and assimilation. Chewing begins the process of tearing down a meal and key enzymes located in saliva are responsible for digesting carbohydrate.  The sight of our meal cues the hormonal cascade that lets us know we are full 20 minutes after we begin eating.

When stressed or distracted, our digestive system takes a backseat. The body isn’t interested in extracting vitamins from an orange when it’s white-knuckling it through a stack of emails or preparation for a board meeting.  Consequently, digestion is impaired and stomach troubles,  fat storage, and blood lipids increase while the ability to detoxify, extract vitamins and minerals,  feel full and be satisfied decreases.
Simply sitting down, looking at your food, and paying attention to how it feels will make you feel more satisfied. Make it a habit and you’ll likely drop some weight, improve your digestion, and you may even find out you don’t actually like the convenience foods you’ve been eating all this time. (it’s happened before!)

Give it a try for one meal a day for the next 10 days and let me know what the effects are.  I’d love to hear back from you.

More information:

The Pitfalls of Multi-tasking

Why Being Mindful Matters

The study, as reported by the British Telegraph, said that a stress-inducing test caused a reported 25% increase in stress levels by those who did not receiving tea following their stress test. Those who did receive tea reported a 4%  decrease in stress. (click here to read more about this study).

Keep in mind this is a British study, and the Brits have had a longstanding cultural relationship with tea. Even though Americans do not engage in teas to the extent of our British cousins, the image and experience of making a cup of tea can induce similar ideas of unwinding; this idea permeates our culture mostly in advertising and movies instead of occurring in the home.

Give it a try and see what happens! Below is my favorite way to prepare tea:

Aimee’s Cuppa

I never liked tea, nor drank it in the British style, until I met my friend Nefratiri. I would go over to Nef’s house when I was about 18 to talk about religion and government and all sorts of juicy topics.  She would make me tea using soymilk and maple syrup and I became HOOKED on the stuff.  It has since become a very soothing staple on cold days or whenever I need a little extra love.

• 1 teabag or loose-leaf tea in a teaball (some of my faves: Celestial Seasoning’s Tension Tamer or Gingerbread tea; Republic of Tea Blackberry Sage, Morning Glory Chai or a redbush chai)
• 1-2 tsp maple syrup
• 1/4 cup soy milk, almond milk, or hemp milk (rice milk is too watery)
• boiling water

Bring water to a boil in a kettle or pot. Remove from heat. Add the teabag to your favorite mug and top with water, leaving room for “milk”. Add milk and maple syrup and stir.

Sit back, inhale deeply, and enjoy.

The biggest single contributor to added sugars is high fructose corn syrup, which became a big hit with manufacturers in the 70′s.  Back then,  Americans consumed about 9 teaspoons a day of fructose, according to a 2008 study. By the mid-1990s, consumption nearly doubled to 14 teaspoons a day. Today, the average American guzzles about 22 teaspoons of added sugar a day, mostly as fructose, according to the National Cancer Institute. Tragically, the young consume the most – teenage boys average about 34 teaspoons of sugar every day (that is over 2/3 cup of added sugar).

What does this mean?

High fructose corn syrup is extremely unhealthy, disrupting metabolism and cellular communication in a way that is believed to be linked to metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and diabetes. In a study of more than 6,000 people (the Framingham Heart Study), people who drank at least one soft drink daily had a higher risk for developing metabolic syndrome compared with people who did not often have a soft drink. The Nurse’s health study supports the negative effects of soda, demonstrating soda drinkers to average ten pounds heavier and be twice as likely  to develop diabetes over an 8 year time span.

Think diet soda is a better option? Think again. Diet soda drinkers tend to weigh more than regular soda drinkers, according to a study conducted at Perdue.

Unfortunately, even eschewing sodas doesn’t mean you’ll effortlessly keep sugars at bay.  Manufacturers cleverly slip sweeteners into all sorts of products you wouldn’t think of — crackers, spaghetti sauce, chips, sauces on frozen or packaged entrees, and almost anything they can get away with. The sweet taste is one that has a powerfully alluring effect on human beings, and food manufacturers make the most of this fact.  It truly is a case of “Buyer Beware” out there; label reading is an essential skill in navigating a grocery store these days.

Meanwhile, Mayor Newsom and others are looking at making it harder for us to get our hands on sugar. While suggested limits and taxes may be helpful, a nation addicted to sugar won’t be so easily dissuaded.

If obesity, diabetes, hypoglycemia, metabolic syndrome or other blood sugar diseases run in your family, it is important to begin to get savvy about your food labels to prevent a similar future. Make it a priority to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from your home, and be mindful that common dishes such as the pancakes and sweet and sour chicken you order will likely contain added sugars as well.  Become a sleuth at detecting hidden sugars and keep your intake of sweets down whenever possible.

Sources: Seattle P.I. October 12, 2009 (click the source for a list of the amount of calories from sugar in several food items)