Day 2 and feelin' groovy

Woke up hungry this morning!  Ready for another Holistic Health Coach tip?  You know how you always hear "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day?"  But then so many of my clients say "But I'm not hungry for breakfast!"  Often when that happens, it is because of a too large or too late dinner or late-night snacking.  Ideally, aim for your dinner before 7pm, (8pm latest), and then don't eat anything afterwards.  That way, you get a good 10-12 hour FAST each day to allow your body to assimilate the food you have eaten, form good stool, and then detoxify, rest and heal.  Then I bet you wake up hungry for breakfast too!

I was heading off to aerobics class this morning though, so I just had a banana and a cup of chai with almond milk.  After jumping around like a happy fool in aerobics for an hour, I sat on the grass of the club and ate this:

That's 2 little Hermon apples and an entire pomegranate.  So pretty!

I promised the kids we would go out for falafel when they got home from school at 3pm, so mid-way through the morning-afternoon, I needed another meal.

I am still eating leftovers of the Shabbos soup:  Veggies w/Mung Beans and Potatoes.

Then here is my falafel.  I was already in the middle of eating it when I remembered to snap the picture.  Sorry if that's kind of gross.  Falafel is just the tastiest dang thing.

After that I had a cup of coffee with soy milk and a few vegan cookies for dessert.

I'm totally stuffed, so will be skipping dinner tonight.  (We ate the falafel around 4:30pm)  The dinner I made for my family was vegan too:  Stir-fried veggies with rice noodles.  But I am too ensconced on the sofa at the moment to take a picture of it.  I'll snap it when I eat the leftovers in the days to come.

Over and out!

Day One of a Hundred

DISCLAIMER:  I don't want people to think that to work with me as a Holistic Nutrition Client you must pledge to be a vegetarian or listen to me prattle on about animal rights.  I believe in Bio-Individuality, which states that one person's perfect food could be another's poison.  The hallmark of my private nutrition work in fact, is helping each client figure out for herself what foods work with her body/life and what does not.  Vegeterainism is good for some, but not so good for others.  The important thing for EVERYONE though is to decrease the amount of animal protein eaten while increaing vegetables and plant matter.  Pretty much every diet plan agrees with that.

With that out of the way, let's talk food:

On Friday I went to the shuk (outdoor fruit and vegetable market) near my house and took a picture of all the beautiful things I bought:

Yum

For breakfast today I had a BIG GREEN Smoothie.  I didn't snap a pic but I eat this almost everyday so I'll get it tomorrow.  In it was:

1 banana

1 mango

2 handfuls spinach

1 cup chopped red cabbage

1 T ground flaxseeds

3 cups water

Sounds gross?  It looks bit gross too, truth be told, but it is DE-LISH.  Seriously, it just tastes fruity and sweet and it is just packed with energy, fiber, and nutrition.  It makes a full blenderful so I drink it over time.

I was teaching a class in Raanana at lunchtime, so I saved a bit of the lunch I served at class to eat when I got home.  I always serve food to the weight loss groups I teach.  I think it's very important to show people how to make things and to let them taste it as well.  I also find that it's a real treat for women to be fed.  We spend so much of our time feeding others and then stuffing something icky or unsatisfying in our own mouths.  Like we don't deserve to take the time to make our own healthy food and eat it.  Let's just turn that on it's head already, shall we?

This is Tempeh Chili, Cheezy Vegan Potato Skins and a salad with avocado dressing.

I had two helpings of that and then some chai tea with almond milk so I wasn't so hungry when we got to dinnertime.

Leftover Vegetable Mung Bean Soup from Shabbat and a few brown rice cakes with hummus topped me off for the evening.

Sundays are the first day of the work/school week here in Israel and they always feel like a full-out sprint from sun-up to sundown.  I'm heading off to bed with my bookclub book.

Here's the recipe for the Potato Skins.  If you want any of the other recipes, please leave a comment below or email me at Emily@TriumphWellness.com

Cheezy Vegan Potato Skins

inspired by recipe of the same name on Compassion Over Killing http://www.cok.net/

4 baking potatoes

1/2 butternut squash

1 head garlic (you will only use 4 cloves, the rest can be saved to spread on bread or use in recipes)

cumin or shwarma seasoning to taste

1-2 T olive oil (optional)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C.  Wash and prick the potatoes.  Place them in hot oven.  Place the squash, cut side down in a pan with a bit of water.  Place it in the oven also.  Lastly, slice off the top of the garlic head, wrap it in foil and place it in the oven with everything else.  Bake all for 1 hour or until soft.

When everything is cool enough to handle, slice the potatoes in half and scoop out the innards, leaving a potato skin shell.  Put the potato innards in a bowl and mix in the squash innards and 4 cloves of the now soft, roasted garlic which will squeeze right out of it's skin.  Add the oil if using and the seasoning to taste.  Mash it all up smooth.

Spread about 1-2 T of the mashed potato-squash-garlic filling back into the skins.  Place them back in the oven for about 15 minutes until crisp and golden.

These LOOK cheesey and they TASTE cheesey but they don't have any artery-clogging, zit-producing, cow suffering dairy.  Yay!

100 Days of Vegan Yumminess

Today my blog takes a turn in a different and more personal direction. I hope you don't mind! Contrary, I hope this will make for interesting and hopefully inspiring reading.

First of all...quick trip through memory lane:

I have been a vegetarian more or less since high school. There have been periods of meat-eating thrown back in there, but mostly just lacto-ovo vegetarianism. I initially became a vegetarian "because of the animals" blabitty-blab, but continued on, not just because of the animals, but because I learned that it is a healthier way of living, it's better for the environment, it's easier to control my weight, it makes me feel like a better person.

Latco-ovo vegetarianism means eating no lamb, chicken, beef, fish or pork, frogs, snails, dogs... ack, ok whatever, but it does include consumption of dairy products and eggs. I have known for sometime that the dairy and egg industries are also brutally cruel to the animals and that both feed directly into the beef and poultry industry, but yet I was never really able to motivate myself to stop eating them, save for two 30-day long Raw Vegan Challenges I did a few years ago. I have been edging ever closer to Veganism in recent years and now have decided I am ready to take the plunge.

In fact, I bolted awake at 4am this Friday morning past with the words "100 Day Vegan Challenge" on my lips. And "blog about it" was thought #2.

So here we are. I am starting, tomorrow, Sunday, November 15, 2009, a 100 day Vegan Challenge where I will do my best to not eat anything that came from an animal. I'll post here anything interesting, good recipes, tips and all sorts of vegan goodness.

What are my objectives for undertaking this challenge? (Holistic Health Coach long-term motivation tip: It's always important to know WHY you are doing something and even better to be EXCITED about why you are doing something.)

1. The animals, the environment, my physical health, my spiritual health. I plan on talking more on each of those subjects in the days to come. (But not in a self-indulgent, boring, navel-gazing way!)

2. Dairy is gross. It's cow breast milk. I'll say more about this later, but basically, Ick.

3. Eggs are chicken periods. I mean seriously. WHY are we eating the product of their reproductive cycle?? I wouldn't eat something that came out my own hoo-haw, so....

4. You still with me? Good, stick around. I promise this will be fun and non-preachy scary. Most of the time.

4. I'm ready to lose a little more weight. I have been holding steady here for almost 7 years now, after losing 70 lbs. It's fine, I'm a normal weight and my blood sugar numbers look good, but I am finally ready to get a bit leaner. I have a feeling this is going to help me get there.

5. I have lactose intolerance. I contiually play Russian roulette with my digestive tract and that's just dumb.

6. The last and potentially most exciting reason for me, is that I am finally in a position to influence a larger audience of people. Already many of my nutrition clients are embracing vegetarianism in their lives, from going all the way, to eliminating dairy, to just including more vegetarian dishes now and then. It's all good. Every little bit we do helps. Every animal we don't eat is...well, an animal we don't eat. And an artery in our own body that doesn't get more clogged.

So please, stick with me here, check back often, be inspired by a recipe, enjoy my writing, challenge some of your own ideas about the food we eat. I promise to make this FUN! Or funny. Or embarrasing, which will be funny for everyone except me. So still funny for you.

I'll see you all tomorrow armed to the teeth with Tofu!

Junkfood as "addictive as drugs"

I have been saying this for a long time and am thrilled that the scientific community is finally doing some research in this area!

November 6, 2009 - Source: www.NaturalProductsOnline.co.uk

New research by US scientists will strengthen evidence that junk food is addictive and that prolonged consumption turns fast food eaters into junkies.

It has already shown that many commonly eaten junk foods can become a substitute for happiness. The latest research will show just how dangerous the junk food addiction can be.
The soon to be published study by Paul Kenny and his team at Florida’s Scripps Research Institute found that a diet of burgers, chips, sausages and cake will programme the brain into craving even more foods that are high in sugar, salt and fat.

The Scripps team fed rats either healthy food, a diet containing restricted amounts of junk food or a diet with unlimited amounts of junk food. They found that the rats that ate as much junk food as they wanted quickly became very fat and started bingeing. There were no adverse effects on those fed the other diets.

The researchers electronically stimulated the part of the brain that feels pleasure, and found that rats on unlimited junk food needed more stimulation to register the same level of pleasure as the animals on healthier diets.

After just five days the bingeing rats showed “profound reductions” in the sensitivity of their brains’ pleasure cells. They had quickly become used to the unhealthy food and, although they didn’t need it, ate more to make themselves feel happy.

The Scripps team believe theirs is one of the first studies to demonstrate brains may react in the same way to junk food as they do to drugs.

“This is the most complete evidence to date that suggests obesity and drug addiction have common neuro-biological foundations,” said Paul Johnson, a member of Kenny’s team told the Daily Express. He added: “You lose control. It’s the hallmark of addiction,” he said.

Focus on Food: Root Vegetables

The roots of any plant are its anchor and foundation; they are the essential parts that support and nourish the plant. Root vegetables lend these properties to us when we eat them, making us feel physically and mentally grounded and rooted, increasing our stability, stamina, and endurance.

Roots are a rich source of nutritious complex carbohydrates, providing a steady source of necessary sugars to the body. Instead of upsetting blood sugar levels like refined sweet foods, they regulate them. Since they absorb, assimilate and supply plants with vital nutrients, roots likewise increase absorption and assimilation in our digestive tracts. Long roots include carrots, parsnips, burdock and daikon radish. Round roots include turnips, radishes, beets and rutabagas. Long roots like burdock and daikon are excellent blood purifiers and can help improve circulation in the body and increase mental clarity. Round roots are nourishing to the stomach, spleen, pancreas and reproductive organs and can help regulate blood sugar, moods, and alleviate cravings.

Recipe of the Month: Roasted Root Vegetables
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25-35 minutes
Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients:
1 sweet potato2 parsnips
2 carrots2 turnips or 1 large rutabaga
1 daikon radish (or substitute/add in your favorites, like squash)
olive oil
salt and pepper
herbs: rosemary, thyme or sage (fresh if possible)

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C.
2. Wash and chop all vegetables into large bite-sized pieces.
3. Place in a large baking dish with sides.
4. Drizzle with olive oil; mix well to coat each vegetable lightly with oil.
5. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs.
6. Bake uncovered for 25-35 minutes until vegetables are tender and golden brown, checking every 10 minutes to stir and make sure veggies are not sticking.

Tip 1: Roasted veggies can then be pureed and made into a delicious, nourishing soup!

Tip 2: Wrap a whole head of garlic in foil and place it in the oven with the veggies. It will become soft and sweet and you can spread it on bread, crackers, potatoes etc. Yum!

Mastering Time

Have you ever wished for a few more hours in the day? Why is it that some people seem to get everything done effortlessly and others feel that time constantly eludes them? The secret to managing your time well isn’t working more hours. The secret is working smarter, not harder. It is about prioritizing the important things and learning to use the time you have more efficiently and effectively.

Some of us, by nature, organize and get tasks out of the way before we relax, while others of us play first and work later. It is important to first recognize which type you are and whether your style is allowing you to have the life you really want. Maybe you are super-organized at work, but burned out because you don’t know how to make time for yourself. Maybe you are naturally a less organized person who knows how to relax, but you are dissatisfied because you aren’t fulfilling your goals and dreams.

Rather than labeling yourself or beating yourself up, realize that time management is an area of your life that you can strengthen. Like a new muscle, it takes practice and repetition to make it stronger. To help you get started, here are some steps to streamline your days at work and at home. Try the first one or two that jump out at you:

- Allocate time for planning and organizing.
- Create to-do lists that are realistic, not intimidating. Use only one to-do list.
- Under-schedule your time: leave time for the unexpected and for interruptions. When you estimate how long something will take, add on 1/3 of that time.
- Schedule your time in a way that reduces interruptions that lower your productivity.
- Practice the art of intelligent neglect: eliminate trivial tasks.
- Prioritize what is most important and do that first.
- Consider your biological prime time: at what time of day do you work best? Plan to do your most important work at that time.
- If you say yes to everything that comes your way, learn to say NO.
- Ask for help and delegate.
- In the evening make your to-do list for the next day, so it will be out of your brain and on a piece of paper. Leave work with a clear head and a clean desk.
- Acknowledge yourself daily for all that you have accomplished.

Also take a look at the two biggest hindrances to using time effectively: procrastinating and lacking purpose. We usually procrastinate when a task seems too daunting, too large, too complex, or when we feel we won’t be able to handle it. When you get that “deer in the headlights” feeling, try “chunking”: break the large task into smaller, manageable action steps, and start with the first one. We also often drag our heels or use our time inefficiently because we are bored, unengaged, and uninspired. The most effective people will tell you that they love what they do and are aligned with a greater purpose. When it comes to managing your time, you may need to ask the larger questions, “Am I doing what I love to do? Am I doing something meaningful to me?”

As you strengthen your new time management muscle, keep your focus on getting organized so that you can live the life you came here for. Instead of being a chore, good time management can be your ticket to more fun, greater satisfaction, and a vibrant, exciting life.

Postponement and Reward

Update on the New Groups: We are postponing group sessions until after Sukkot and then we'll all begin. If you are interested in signing up for any of the 3 groups:

Weekly Weight Loss,
Weight Loss for Resistors,
or the last 30-Day Detox,

please email me at Emily@TriumphWellness.com asap!

Private counseling continues as normal throughout the Holiday period.

My weight loss method is a NO-DIETING method. When you eat delicious, healthy, whole, natural foods, weight releases from your body naturally. This allows you to also maintain what you've lost without constant deprivation, calorie counting, and struggle.

Lite bread filled with artificial flavors and preservatives, non-fat dairy products filled with chemicals fillers and fake fats, artificial sweeteners, packaged, processed food made by machines... all of these these are toxic and unrecognizable by your body. Each of those foreign substances are stored away in your fat cells and actually lead to weight GAIN! Ick. PLUS all of those artificial flavors just keep you jonesing for more and your appetite rages out of control.

Dieting is a temporary solution to your weight loss problem. You lose weight while you're on the diet white-knuckling through with will-power, but then you fall off the diet because it's so dang restrictive, and you gain your lost weight back. Sound familiar? Sure it does because we've ALL done it over and over again!

I'm sure you have all heard that expression about the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again while hoping for a different result.

How about trying something different? Something that makes sense and listens TO the wisdom of the body rather than stifling it with tortuous will-power and subjegation?

I invite you to hang up that ineffective dieting practice and learn to eat to feed your body and your health. Your body is an incredible machine and it knows what it's doing. I will teach you how to listen and give it what it needs to run at top efficiency.

Join one of the groups, work with me privately, read my newsletter, email me, call me...It's time.

OK, so if you got this far in the post I am giving you a reward! Last night two of my 30-day detox groups wanted to celebrate the completion of their detox, so we had a party. It was a pot-luck. Do you imagine that everyone brought cheesecake and chocolate, chips and soda to celebrate? No Way! They are all feeling so amazing and so hopeful that they ALL prepared beautiful, healthy whole-grain, veggies dishes that tasted SO GOOD! There was:

Creamy Roasted Vegetable Soup
Vegetarian Chili
A Giant Fresh Green Salad
Brown Rice Salad with Apples and Cranberries
Thin Tofu Slices with Tomatoes, Basil, Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar
Vegetable Casserole
Quinoa with Orange, Spinach & Chickpeas
Green Tahina Sauce with Herbs

Wow! Everything was really delicious. And I brought a yummy dessert that didn't have anyone's blood sugar flying off through the roof or set cravings in motion or anything! Safe, high-fiber, full of nutrients and delish. Here ya go:

Emily's Vegan Flax Cookies

1 cup oats, ground in the food processor to make a flour (1 cup ground actually)
1/2 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup ground nut flour leftover from making nut mylk
1/4 cup whole flax seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup pure maple syrup or agave nectar
1/3 cup sunflower or coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 180 C (350F). Oil a cookie sheet.

Stir together flour, flax, cinnamon and salt. Add maple syrup, oil and vanilla. Stir until combined. Drop teaspoon-fulls onto cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until turning golden. Cool on a rack.

Isn't this better than dieting???