...is today's headline on Nursing Times. Not only do calorie-dense, nutrient-poor junk-foods make children fatter than they should be, they may also turn them into junk-food junkies.
See The Science of Food Addiction , How Junk Foods Hijack the Brain , I'm a secret lemonade drinker... and Dopamine and Obesity: The Food Addiction?
It's currently illegal to advertise cigarettes & alcohol to and/or sell them to children. Would it help to tackle the child obesity problem by making it illegal to advertise sweets, chocolate, crisps, cakes, biscuits, sugary drinks & take-away foods to and/or sell them to children?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Day 358
Thoughts: Quorn. Moldy food. Toxic food.
Quorn is a money making company that sell cheap frozen dead organic matter created from toxic ingredients. Well that is my opinion, their opinion as stated on their website say 'Quorn is the brand name of a premium line of all-natural, meat-free frozen foods.' They claim to make their products 'from natural ingredients.'
An American lobby group claimed that Quorn, a meat substitute that is popular with vegetarians, causes "life-threatening" allergies, and filed a law suit against its main American manufacturer. Michael Jacobson, the centre's director, said the public should know the meat alternative can cause "unsavoury gastrointestinal symptoms, or even potentially life-threatening anaphylactic shock".
Another vegetarian website wrote 'Quorn, a Laboratory Mold Creation, Invades the U.S. Is it a mushroom, a fungus, or just plain mold? Is it a food or yet another laboratory creation disguised as food?
Here's how un-natural their food is using the ingredient list from one of their products: 'chik'n nuggets'.
The first ingredient is Mycoprotein. Mycoprotein means protein from fungi. The fungus is grown in vats using glucose syrup as food. Glucose syrup is most commonly made from cornstarch. Not only does it contribute to our obesity epidemic, but it has also been linked to diabetes and metabolic syndrome. And it contains zero enzymes, vitamins or minerals — and it leeches micronutrients from your body. It doesn’t metabolize the same as sugar and because it’s often consumed as a liquid, it’s negative effects are multiplied. And then Fusarium is added to create Mycroprotein. Fusarium is a large genus of filamentous fungi, and in humans whose immune systems are weakened in a particular way, aggressive fusarial infections penetrating the entire body and bloodstream (disseminated infections) may be caused.
The second ingredient in this Quorn product is rehydrated egg whites which is powdered dehydrated egg. 900 parts per million (ppm) of fluoride is in dried eggs. Two national environmental organizations challenged the safety of new food tolerances issued by the EPA for the fluoride based pesticide, sulfuryl fluoride. Read article here. Fluoride has an undisputed status as a highly reactive neurotoxinand more recent studies suggest that ingestion of fluoride can damage the thyroid gland and reduce children's IQ levels.
The third ingredient is enriched wheat flour. Wheat flour is a poorly digested filler, and can cause allergies and bowel problems. Quorn say it is enriched with niacin: often leads to side effects that can include dermatological conditions such as skin flushing and itching, dry skin, and skin rashes including acanthosis nigricans.
Reduced iron: The reducing of iron (gas) is a mixture majority of Hydrogen (H2) and Carbon Monoxide (CO) which acts as reducing agent.
Thiamine mononitrate: Cheapest, poorly assimilated source of Thiamine, Vitamin B-1, needed for nervous system and mental attitude.
Riboflavin: can interfere with the normal metabolism and function of vitamin B2 and increase it urinary excretion.
Folic acid: is found naturally in foods like leafy green vegetables like spinach and asparagus. Once it is extracted from the vegetables the folic acid provides you no nutritional value what so ever.
Other ingredients include:
Natural flavors from non-meat sources: this could mean anything
Butter milk powder: gimmick.
Wheat starch: Poor carbohydrate source causes allergies.
This list of ingredients goes on - see their website to see for your self.
As well as Chicken Nuggets, they sell Turkey Roast, Chicken Tenders, Meat Balls just to name a few - all uhhh meat-less. If you are going to eat a chicken nugget why not make it with real whole & authentic ingredients?! Instead of compromising with highly toxic ingredients to taste like chicken- I say if your going to eat chicken nuggets - eat real freaking chicken nuggets - with chicken! BUT make them your self so you are aware of all the ingredients :) If your a vegetarian and still want to eat something that tastes like chicken...I would say, why?!
I posted a quick & simple recipe on The Earth Diet Website for chicken nuggets using entirely ingredients naturally created from the earth - enjoy :)
The healthiest foods are as they are - they have no ingredient list.
This blog is thanks to the brilliant and creative being Izabela Wasilewska!
Quotes: The insanity of the collective egoic mind, amplified by science and technology, is rapidly taking our species to the brink of disaster. Evolve or die: that is our only choice now. -Eckhart Tolle
What I Ate Today:
Meal 1: A beetroot (beet), carrot, celery & ginger juice.
Meal 2: An apple.
Meal 3: A Sweet & Spicy Avocado Salad. Ingredients: Avocado, lettuce, kale, baby spinach, garlic, ginger, spring onion, green chilli, dates, coriander (cilantro), coriander seeds, cucumber, lime, olive oil!
Meal 4: A chocolate peanut butter cup. Created with cacao, agave, peanuts and coconut pulp.
Meal 5: Raw Tacos! Created with flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, onion, garlic, avocado, lime, tomato, cashews, pine nuts, fresh herbs and more!
Meal 6: Strawberries.
Recipe:All recipes are available free on The Earth Diet website www.TheEarthDiet.Org
Exercise: Out & about today at the farmers markets selling raw organic chocolate balls, salsa, peanut butter and zucchini pasta pesto ;) The salsa was popular today!
7 days to go!!!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Halloween Candy—An Annual Treat? You’re only tricking yourself.
Eat the candy. Break the rules!
Halloween candy doesn’t have to be scary. That is, if candy and sweets aren’t viewed as evil. We never called it junk food in my house. Junk food, by definition is high in calories and low in nutritional value. And while there may be little nutritional merit to candy, anyone who has ever eaten a fine piece of chocolate knows better than to call it junk. There is value in the form of pleasure that we get when we eat foods that taste good, and take the time to truly enjoy the experience. And in the scheme of things, it is better to allow ourselves to include these satisfying sweets—not just on Halloween, for one night, but throughout the year.
Halloween in our home
From their earliest years, after trick or treating, I had my kids place their candy in plastic bags, each marked with their names. We then placed their stash in a kitchen drawer, easily accessible to them. Candy was to be eaten in the kitchen—not with the TV, not in the bedroom—and they could opt to take a piece or two to have with their lunches at school as well. When they were hungry for a snack, they could opt for a Snickers, Kit Kat or whatever delighted them, perhaps with a glass of milk, eaten mindfully at the table.
It may be hard to believe, but their Halloween reserve lasted well into the next year, with the least desirable candies remaining until the following October. Unlike the approach taken by many, I did not restrict their access to candy, warn them that at the end of the week the rest would be thrown out, or send them (the candies, not the kids) to my husband’s office. As a result, I believe they trusted that the candy was going to be there. It was not “now or never” eating chocolate. And they were not told to finish their vegetables in order to earn their candy. And they never binged on candy, or anything else, for that matter.
When my kids were little, we never bribed them with candy, not even to potty train, as many parents do. Ok, that’s a lie. There was one time my husband and I decided to bribe our sons, then 5 and 7, to motivate them. It was their first really hard hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, a trail up to almost 5,300 foot elevation, an almost 9 mile hike round trip. Seemed necessary at the time to hand out the Skittles one by one as they progressed along their challenging climb. While it’s definitely not my style to use food rewards, I must admit it worked. To this day, my boys have a love of hiking to great heights (although I’d caution that it wasn’t solely the result of the Skittles!)
This may seem like a crazy approach, legalizing junk food, but it works. It’s valuable for you, and if you have them, for your kids. And it’s not too late to change the system, to let go of the rules. As for weight management, where does that fit in with my freedom to eat candy? Perfectly! Restricting access to desirable and enjoyable foods hardly solves or improves our relationship with food. It increases demand, and makes us feel deprived. And even if you see some short term “success”, I caution you to look at the big picture. What was your experience around chocolate weeks later? How did you handle social eating situations when you finally had exposure and access to those beloved sweets? And did restricting these items, the junk food, solve your eating problems?
I return to that definition of insanity, referenced in a previous post. It makes no sense to maintain the same thinking and approach to eating hoping that this time it might work. Perhaps it’s time to sit down with a good piece of chocolate, add a glass of milk or chai tea, and truly enjoy it!
Happy Halloween!
Day 357
Thoughts: Food, Shopping and the Ego, with Eckhart Tolle.
Attachment is one of the greatest sources of our suffering. Addiction is a prevalent form of attachment.
We are addicted to food, shopping, relationships, the internet, or any number of things, thoughts or activities. You can be addicted to anything, even love.
We are a species that suffers from addiction. Animals do not become addicted in the way that humans do. Animals also do not have egos. And this makes sense because addiction arises from ego.
Our addictions are a substitute for the loss of aliveness that results from being an ego-dominated creature. Our ego gives us an empty experience of life. We go through each day and deep down we know we are missing something.
We long desperately for something. We search and search, here and there, and the longing is never satisfied. We live and die longing for an unidentified something.
We are longing for our own presence, awareness and sense of aliveness. The experience of our own living presence is the only true source of happiness we will find in the world.
Any addictive behavior is the misdirected attempt to experience presence. This understanding is what helps us to become liberated from addiction.
Ask yourself right now, what are the addictions you suffer from? Do they satisfy you? Do they bring you closer to your sense of aliveness and presence or further away?
Learn more about addictions and ego in this video segment with Oprah & Eckhart.
Quotes: A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people. -Mohandas Gandhi
What I Ate Today:
Meal 1: Water with a squeeze of lemon.
Meal 2: An avocado.
Meal 3: A ginger tea. Boiling water with chunks of organic ginger. mmm - a quick & soothing way to warm the body.
Meal 4: A beetroot, carrot, celery and ginger juice.
Meal 5: A Chocolate Almond Butter Cup Cake :) A cup cake with no sugar, no dairy and no artificial anything! woo! Ingredients: cacao, agave, coconut pulp, almond butter, water and some fruit to top it off - banana and strawberry!
Meal 6: Raw Pizza! Created with pesto, caramelized onions, herbs, tomatoes, dates, olive oil, lemon, macadamia nuts, almond butter, avocado, buckwheat and nutritional yeast!
Meal 7: Strawberries dipped in almond butter! mmm! My husband likes them dipped in peanut butter and says it tastes like peanut butter and jelly ;)
Recipe:All recipes will be published in The Earth diet book and are available free on The Earth Diet website www.TheEarthDiet.Org
Exercise: A run in the morning, yoga and then a Zumba Class at Big Al's Family Fitness! Zumba is a fusion of Latin and International music that creates a dynamic, exciting, and effective fitness system... and a sweaty one! ;)
8 days to go!!!
Day 356
Thoughts: Below are thoughts from Deepak Chopra - on the benefits of eating foods that the earth naturally provides, some being easy digestion and removing stored toxicity from the body.
If the words he uses throws you off don't stress about learning them, replace them with 'life', 'death' 'toxic' 'energy' - whatever words you can relate to.
Agni or the “digestive fire,” is one of the most important principles in the ancient science of ayurveda. It refers broadly to our ability to process all aspects of life, including food, experiences, memories, and sensory impressions. Agni is responsible for absorbing the nutrients and essential elements the body needs while burning off waste products (agni is the root of the English word “ignite”).
If our agni is strong, we’re able to digest food efficiently and easily assimilate our daily experiences. On the other hand, if agni is weak, our body won’t digest well, creating toxic residue or ama that lodges deep in our cells.
Agni
According to ayurvedic teaching, strong agni leads to excellent health and well-being, while the accumulation of ama results in the slow deterioration of the body and—ultimately—disease. The inability to metabolize emotions produces just as much toxic residue as undigested food. In fact, pent-up anger, long-held sadness, and lingering guilt are more debilitating for most people than problems with physical digestion.
Ojas: The Vital Nectar of Life
If we desire perfect health, it’s crucial to eliminate the ama stored in our body and focus on producing ojas, which is the essential life energy. A Sanskrit term meaning “vigor,” ojas is the pure and subtle substance that’s extracted from food that has been completely digested. Ojas circulates throughout the bodily tissues and heart, sustaining the physical self, bringing clarity to the mind and balancing the emotions. In short, when the body produces ojas, the vital nectar of life, we feel blissful. The cells sing with happiness because both the mind and the body are receiving the nourishment they need.
To promote the creation and flow of ojas, we need a good diet focused on pure foods, referred to as “sattvic” in ayurveda. The body can easily digest sattvic food and extract its ojas or prime energy. The most sattvic foods include organic milk & almond milk, almonds, sesame, honey, rice, and fruits. It’s not necessary to eat these foods exclusively — just focus on having them on a regular basis.
Some foods are difficult if not impossible for the body to convert into ojas, including meat, poultry, fish, oily foods, cheese, leftovers, processed food, and items with an excess of sour or salty tastes. Food that has been canned, frozen, or reheated won’t produce as much ojas as freshly prepared meals. In addition, consuming alcohol and smoking cigarettes destroys ojas.
The following chart will help you determine whether you have healthy ojas or an accumulation of ama in your body. If you’ve been storing toxicity, you can choose now to begin to nourish yourself and enjoy increasing levels of joy and well-being in your life.
Signs of Ojas
You feel rested upon awakening
Your skin has a healthy glow
Your tongue is clear and pink
You feel centered throughout the day
Your digestion is strong without bloating
You feel energized & enthusiastic
Your mind is clear
Your body has a pleasant smell
You rarely get sick
Your body feels light, regardless of the number on the scale
Signs of Ama
Bad breath
Coated tongue
Dull appetite
Delicate digestion
Generalized pain
Fatigue
Depression
Susceptibility to infections
Difficulty manifesting intentions
Sluggish or irritable elimination
Creating Nurturing Mealtimes
Our experience while we’re eating is just as important as the kinds of foods we’re consuming. If we’re having a fight with our spouse over the dinner table, our stomach cells are aware of the upset and send distressed chemical messages throughout the body. As a result, we’re not able to create ojas because of the indigestible emotions coursing throughout our cells and organs.
Since ojas is the by-product of all the signals our body receives, we need to create a nurturing atmosphere for our meals, paying attention to all of the senses — taste, sound, sight, touch, and smell. Here are a few tips for making your body happy while you eat:
* Eat in a settled atmosphere
* Don’t eat when you’re upset.
* Always sit down to eat (don’t eat in front of your computer or TV or while you’re driving).
* Only eat when you’re hungry.
* Dine at a moderate pace. Don’t gulp down your food or eat too slowly.
Deepak Chopra
Quotes: Attachment is one of the greatest sources of our suffering. Addiction is a prevalent form of attachment. - Eckhart Tolle
What I Ate Today:
Meal 1: A water with a squeeze of lemon.
Meal 2: An avocado.
Meal 3: 3 tablespoons of almond butter.
Meal 4: 4 nectarines.
Meal 5: Strawberries!
Meal 6: Mexican Rice and Beans :) With avocado and yucca! Created with Red onion, Green Pepper, Pinto Beans, Brown Rice, Tomato Paste, Cumin, Chilli, Coriander (Cilantro), avocado, lime!
Meal 7: 3 Chocolate Almond Butter Cups :) Divineeeee! And a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup!
Recipe:All recipes will be published in The Earth diet book and some are currently available free on The Earth Diet website www.TheEarthDiet.Org
Exercise: A run in the morning, a stretch and yoga.
9 days to go!!!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk
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| Smooth and silky vegan butternut squash soup with coconut milk. |
Halloween is creeping toward us, minute by soon-to-be-an-hour-saved minute. Soft and slow but deft on black cat paws. I wake to the dry scratch clatter of leaves spinning down the sidewalk from Santa Monica Boulevard, riding the wind downhill like a gaggle of flattened tumbleweeds. I yawn awake dreaming of soup, imagining my favorite wooden spoon stirring the humble beginnings of some jewel toned potage as the French like to call it. Or so I'm told.
I don't speak French.
I don't speak French.
I'm craving soup like a mad woman, you see. Like some Shakespearean witch in the wild woods of West Hollywood, I long to stir a little seasonal magic into a pot of silky, orange hued soul food. So this week I conjured cooked up a curried fall classic. Every October I make batches of this gorgeous, comforting soup. That just so happens to be gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan.
The secret is- use ripe flavorful squash. Choose a butternut squash with firm golden-tan skin. The squash should make a hollow ring when thumped.
The secret is- use ripe flavorful squash. Choose a butternut squash with firm golden-tan skin. The squash should make a hollow ring when thumped.
Read more + get the recipe >>
Day 355
Thoughts: A healthy and RAW alternative for cheese lovers! ... nut cheese ;)
Currently people from around the world are taking on their very own Earth Diet Challenge - of eating only foods from the earth for 9 and 21 days. I have received emails from people and one of the most common challenging foods to not eat seems to be cheese.
So here is a recipe for cheese; dairy free, sugar free, artificial anything free, chemical free, additive & preservative free, gluten free.
Regular Cheese has ingredients including animal rennet, an enzyme which is extracted from the fourth stomach of calves. Find out more on my blog Day 18.
This nut cheese is made from nuts, is also RAW - fresh and healthy!
Nut Cheese Ingredients
2c macadamias (or walnuts, almonds, cashews)
1c pine nuts (or walnuts, almond, cashews)
2T lemon juice
2T nutritional yeast
2 yellow peppers
2T fresh parsley
1T fresh thyme
2t himalayan salt (or sea salt rocks)
1⁄2c water as needed
Action: Process all ingredients together adding as little of the water as possible until a fluffy consistency is achieved.
Store it in the fridge to let it form a mould - or put it straight on your raw lasagana, raw pizza or raw pasta pesto! (Recipes for those on the website!)
Nut Cheese makes a great layer in Raw Lasagana!
And if you like Cheesecake - there is a website for RAW Cheesecake also on the website.
Quotes: Stop thinking and end your suffering.
What I Ate Today:
Meal 1: A water with a squeeze of lemon. (liver cleanse)
Meal 2: A grapefruit and orange juice. (fat burner and muscle soother)
Meal 3: An avocado.
Meal 4: A Green Salad with avocado! mmm! Created with avocado, baby spinach, green lettuce leafs, garlic, spring onion (shallots), coriander (cilantro), green chilli, cucumber and lime.
Meal 5: Some oats with agave syrup and almond slices - mmm so yummy and warming on a chilly day.
Meal 6: A ginger tea with lemon.
Meal 7: 2 Almond Soldier Chocolate Balls with peanut butter (ingredients: peanuts!)
Recipe:All recipes will be published in The Earth Diet book and are available free on The Earth Diet website www.TheEarthDiet.Org
Exercise: A run in the morning, stretching and yoga breathing and poses :) I also danced to 2 of my favourite songs! And bike riding - oh and walking in a beautiful park :) A nice active day!
10 days to go!!!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Day 354
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Thoughts: Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear.
Colours blind the eye. Sounds deafen the ear. Flavours numb the taste.
The master observes the world but trusts his inner vision. He allows things to come and go. His heart is open as the sky.
What does that mean that success is as dangerous as failure? Whether you go up the ladder or down your position is shaky.
When you stand with your 2 feet on the ground you will always keep your balance.
Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the south.
See the world as yourself.
Have faith in the way things are.
Love the world as yourself. Than you can care for all things.
Stop thinking and end your suffering.
Lessons for us all and parts of The Tao Te Ching - written in Asia 2500 years ago.
Quotes: Challenges are wonderful, and they are simple because they are only now. There is nothing that big that can come into the field of now. -Eckhart Tolle
The next Earth diet Challenge begins next Tuesday the 2nd of November. Visit http://www.theearthdiet.org/your-earth-diet-challenge.html to join.
What I Ate Today:
Meal 1: Water with lemon
Meal 2: An orange and grapefruit juice, mmm nourishing sweetness.
Meal 3: A green salad. Created with avocado, baby spinach, green lettuce leafs, garlic, spring onion (shallots), coriander (cilantro), green chilli, cucumber and lime.
Meal 4: Mum's Raw Cheesecake. A challenge is not so challenging when cheesecake is involved ;) Created with macadamia nuts, cashews, dates, dried coconut, coconut oil, lime juice, agave, vanilla bean and fresh berries!
Meal 5: A beetroot, carrot, celery and ginger juice to cleanse the bowels ;)
Recipe:Mum's Raw Cheesecake and Green Salad are available free on The Earth Diet website www.TheEarthDiet.Org
Exercise: Stretching.
11 days to go!!!
Day 353
Thoughts: Day 1 of the first global Earth diet Challenge!
And in 12 days I will complete my 365 day challenge of eating only foods naturally provided by the earth! I will post a blog soon about my adventure along the way - people have asked me what I will do when I finish - and although I am curious to try an oreo stuffed with gummi bears which I previously loved - the thought doesn't entertain as much as creating a new flavour chocolate ball, (which we just got distribution for on Long Island New York!) this is my new lifestyle, and it's not a challenge for me anymore - it's who I am, it's who I've become, and it's been transformation in many areas in my life, and not just the physical.
I will continue to live a simple and sustainable lifestyle, and eat only foods naturally provided by the earth, and will continue to grow and learn how this can be possible in the fast paced world.
The first Earth diet Challenge is now closed - another 9 day challenge cleanse will begin in 9 days on Tuesday the 2nd of November. So the 1st day of November is there to get your mind around the idea of eating only foods naturally provided by the earth, what does that mean? what kinds of foods exactly? what to avoid? what do I eat now? And then on the 2nd we set an intention, you create your own challenge, and choose from the recipe plan we created, then we put it into action.
Things I noticed today on the first day of the challenge:
-Food is an escape for me - I eat foods when I am not hungry for the sake of eating them. And I usually go for the sweetest things first like fruit and chocolate balls. If you do the same, join me in setting an intention before you eat, something like, I eat this food with the intention that it provides sustainability to support my physical existence. Dr. Wayne Dyer writes about intention and how it creates who we are in his book "The Power Of Intention". A sports champion Muhammad Ali taught us that the power of intention changes reality. Your health. Your career. Your world.
I also wanted to share an email I got from Lauri who is one of the participants. Lauri has taken on the challenge cleanse for 9 days and this is what she intended to eat on her first day.
Fresh lemon squeezed in water first thing
-Juice; beet, ginger, ceasar lettuce, carrots, wheat-grass (which I grow) and celery
-Avocado mid morning
-Pumpkin Soup (your recipe) for lunch
-and, a salad for dinner - ingredients to be determined.
Lauri also suggested for the people out there like her who live busy lives, to make juice and freeze it so you have juice for each day of the week and don't have to spend time each morning prepping a juice, possibly cutting vegetables, and then cleaning a juicer. Obviously the fresher the better for you, and if you are unable to spend that time in the morning, afternoon or night making fresh juice, then freeze it in mason jar or other glass container as soon as you make it!
Another thing I noticed today was that my body is more acidic than alkaline. Lemons are more sour, ginger is spicy and I am moving slower and breathing shallow. This is a body check that I have allowed my self to become acidic, using food and lower frequency thoughts.
This Earth diet challenge cleanse is about becoming alkaline in all areas of your life, where no dis-ease can survive ;) My intention is to drink lemon juice in water each morning during the cleanse!
To join the next Earth diet Challenge or for more info visit this link
Quotes: Transcend Your Circumstances. By choosing to hang on to your corner of freedom in even the worst situations, you can process your world with the energy of appreciation and beauty, and create an opportunity to transcend your circumstances. - Dr. Wayne Dyer
What I Ate Today:
Meal 1: A orange and grapefruit juice.
Meal 2: An avocado.
Meal 3: 5 white flesh nectarines (if you are on the run fruit makes a great quick meal - no prep time needed ;)
Meal 4: A salad with green lettuce, baby spinach, coriander (cilantro), green and red capsicum with a squeeze of lemon.
Meal 5: Another avocado.
Meal 6: 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, ingredients: peanuts - no added anything like salt or sugar! 3 walnut chocolate balls and 1 almond soldier ;)
Recipe:All recipes are available free on The Earth Diet website www.TheEarthDiet.Org
Exercise: A bike ride to the park with my beautiful husband :) It is my first time experiencing a season change where the trees leaves change colour and drop (my first time living in NY during this time of year!) so it was so refreshing to explore and hang out with nature today :) We breathed in deep amounts of fresh clean air!
12 days to go!!!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Day 352
Thoughts: The last day to join the challenge cleanse of eating only foods from the earth for 9 or 21 days! Experience what it is like to eat what nature intended ;)
As soon as you join you get an email with...
# The Earth Diet Challenge Recipe Choices for Day 1 through 9 - choices for each meal
# An entire list of all foods naturally provided by the earth
# A list of alkaline and acidic food
# The Earth Diet Pantry - what is in my cupboards and where to buy it
And throughout the week the members only page will be updated with ongoing questions, answers shares including...
# Natural alternatives
# cleansing recipes
# The benefits of juice and juicing recipes
Some questions I had today from one of extraordinary the participants in the USA were:
Can I eat Quinoa?
1. Quinoa is great! I did not include that in any recipe from day 1-9 - but there will be some between day 9 - 21. If you can on the 9 days eat it raw - as when it is cooked it is depleted of lots of it's nutritional value and just becomes a filler for the body. Can you recommend some great quinoa recipes? Let me know if you would like to share them with the rest of the participants on this Earth diet challenge :)
Can I have almond milk?
2. Yes almond milk is great. Do you make your own or purchase it from a store? When ever you can in the next 9 days make your foods from scratch. Here is a link for a great raw recipe. And make sure any almond milk you buy has NO SOY LECITHIN. Poison.
Can I have tea?
3. Green tea, rooibos tea and yerba matte are great too! Also this week, if you are drinking tea make sure it is the whole leafs and not tea bags. Tea Bag tea is like the fast food of teas! Herbs& plants like mint, green tea, lemon myrtle, ginger, dandelion and lemongrass make great cleansing teas and are quite assessable.
Can I have coffee?
4. Coffee is not out on the earth diet. Coffee beans come from the earth naturally. Like the cacao bean (chocolate bean) however it can be addictive and become a drug - so if you usually have coffee everyday - go without for 9 days. Allow your body to clean it's self out of familiar comfortable tastes.
If you want to join visit this link http://www.theearthdiet.org/your-earth-diet-challenge.html
Quotes: Without health life is not life; it is only a state of langour and suffering - an image of death. Buddha
What I Ate Today: A mono food day - getting prepped for tomorrow's 21 day Challenge!
Meal 1: A grapefruit and ginger juice.
Meal 2: A raw breakfast bar I make with oats, walnuts, cashews, almonds, dates & chia seeds!
Meal 3: An avocado with walnuts.
Meal 4: A beetroot (beet), carrot, celery and ginger juice.
Meal 5: A green salad with lettuce, baby spinach, avocado, spring onions, garlic, ginger, green chilly, and lime juice! mmm refreshing!
Recipe:Recipes are available free on The Earth Diet website www.TheEarthDiet.Org
Exercise: Lots of walking today! And working, standing, chatting at the farmers markets!
13 days to go!!!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Day 351
Thoughts: Health starts NOW.
It is never too late to choose health or to start again. The Earth Diet Challenge begins on Monday 25th October - an opportunity for your self to eat only foods from the earth for 9 or 21 days with participants across the globe.
As well as focusing on body health transformation, we will be reminding ourselves to be present throughout the entire challenge and live in the current moment, fully and completely.
A great teacher Eckhart Tolle reminds us, Life is now. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be
Nothing ever happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now.
The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future — which, of course, can only be experienced as the Now.
Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry — all forms of fear — are cause by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.
The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. To put it more accurately, it is not so much that you use your mind wrongly—you usually don't use it at all. It uses you.
Love, joy, and peace cannot flourish until you have freed yourself from mind dominance.
Pleasure is always derived from something outside you, whereas joy arises from within.
En-joy - Liana:)
To join The Earth Diet Challenge click this link. 3 days left to join!
Quotes: There is a voice in the Universe urging us to remember our purpose for being on this great Earth. This is the voice of inspiration, which is within each and every one of us. DR. WAYNE W. DYER
What I Ate Today:
Meal 1: A pineapple and fresh mint juice.
Meal 2: A Raw Chocolate Cup Cake with chocolate frosting mmm!
Meal 3: Mum's Raw Cheesecake!
Meal 4: Orange and grapefruit juice with a squeeze of lemon for extra cleanse!
Meal 5: Sweet and Spicy Avocado salad.
Meal 6: Mint tea. (We have lots of mint in our garden - and it's the only thing that has survived the season change in NY!)
Recipe:All recipes will be published in The Earth Diet book and are available free on The Earth Diet website www.TheEarthDiet.Org
Exercise: A run in the morning and a stretch :) Some yoga also!
14 days to go!!!
Fairytales Of Weight Management.
Everything was stunning, from the calligraphy-adorned table assignments to the flickering candle-lit tables with their elegant glass and floral arrangements. My sea bass begged to be photographed in its Asian inspired preparation. And the desserts were splendid to watch disappear. Sorry, I was so busy enjoying them that I totally forgot to take photos! And then there were the guests. Truly gorgeous, strikingly so, every one of them. I aspire to be as healthy looking and as fit as my 60 and 70- something year old aunts, uncles and second cousins—really!
You might naively look around the room and yearn to be like the beautiful guests—happy, seemingly carefree, enjoying the celebration, apparently having it all. But just like everyone else, they aren’t free from knowing pain and suffering. They’d struggled with depression, in years past and present and lost loved ones prematurely, like my Dad, a non-smoker, who died of lung cancer. There was my beautiful, sweet cousin whose permanent absence resulted from a drug overdose and attendees present because they survived in spite of themselves. “It’s so great to see you up there dancing”, I was reminded by an acquaintance, acknowledging not only my diagnosis with MS, but the difficulties her mother struggles with, with the very same disease.
It’s easy to project onto others, to assume that everyone else has it easy—that they manage everything with ease, and can even effortlessly manage their weight, eating whatever they want—but that you are different. You may watch someone eating a meal, a small part of their day’s intake, then believe they eat that way all the time, with such control, perhaps. Yet you have no idea what they are really going through beneath the surface. You may conclude that you, and you alone, struggle with eating (and other) issues.
It may seem strange, but this has everything to do with managing your weight.
If you start comparing yourself to someone else at the table resisting dessert, you may feel bad about yourself as you clean your plate of chocolate cake. Even if others are enjoying dessert, you may think that you are not entitled, that the same rules just don’t apply. “You shouldn’t be eating that”, you may say to yourself. And that bad feeling may lead you to thinking that you already blew it, that it just isn’t worth trying anymore, resulting in the “what-the-heck-effect”. And this can trigger continued slips, in terms of eating and eating disordered behaviors, causing you to sabotage your own efforts to stay on course. And then you’re left feeling even worse.
We can’t help but compare ourselves to others, or so it seems to me. But we can focus on better meeting our own needs, regardless of what others are doing. Take half the prime rib home, or ask for a sauce on the side, if it makes eating out easier. You’re not alone in your struggles with food! Don’t just go with the flow, if you’re not comfortable doing so. And don’t eat to be like the others, or not eat to be like the others, as the case may be. But listen to your body and its signals.
Ask for foods the way you’d like them, to help manage challenging situations. Tend to overeater? Remind yourself that this is not your last chance to eat this delicious food. Move foods off their lists. You know, the good food, and the bad food lists, allowing yourself to eat what you truly enjoy—but just as much as you truly need. It really helps, and it’s quite liberating! And remind yourself that every day should start with a clean slate (not a clean plate!)—a fresh start, even if you’ve eaten way beyond your need the day before. It’s the only way to break the cycle.
By the way, that beautiful couple in the photo? My parents, divorced after 27 less-than-perfect years of marriage.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Day 350
Thoughts: Can you go without sugar for 9 days?
If you will take on a challenge to eat only foods from the earth for 9 days and be part of the very first Earth diet Challenge, there are 4 days left to join. This link to do that.
One of the endless possibilities inside this challenge is replacing processed and refined sugars, to sugars that are provided whole & naturally by the earth - like sugar cane! Have you ever sucked the sweetness out of one of those things - it's like beautiful crisp sweetness :) And pineapple, and honey, and cherries, and nectarines, and apples, and sweet sweet lichees, peaches, ooh grapes, oranges, and mandarins or clementines as some say, water melon and this list could go on and on and there are fruits I am sure I haven't even heard of yet!
I read this conversation on saint loius sucre and wanted to share it with you all...
What is sugar from a nutritional point of view?
Sugar, also known as sucrose, is a member of the glucides family. Together with lipids and amino-acids, it constitutes one of the three groups of nutrients that are vital to the human body. Glucides supply the energy required for the operation of the body. Simple glucides (glucose, fructose, lactose) contained in fruits and milk, have a characteristically sweet taste, unlike complex glucides (e.g. starch).
Is sugar bad for one’s diet?
When consumed in reasonable quantities, sugar is not fattening. Indeed, a sugar cube only contains some 28 kilo calories. It is the frequent overeating of sugar that can cause people to pile on the pounds. People need to control their feeding habits in order to balance the impulse of a sweet tooth with their actual needs.
A balanced diet consists of 30-35% lipids, 10 to 15% protein and 50 to 55% glucides.
Why do I like sugar so much?
Our sense of taste comprises four basic components known as ‘fundamental tastes’: sweet, salty, bitter and acid. From the earliest age, babies demonstrate a particular predilection for sweet milk, with which they associate the notion of pleasure. This predilection, which varies from person to person and depending on a subject’s social and cultural background, is reinforced by sugar’s sweetening effect, which imparts a sweet taste to many foods, thus heightening their taste. Indeed, for a long time, sugar was considered as a spice.
Is sugar bad for my teeth?
The organic acid which causes cavities is generated by bacteria that feed on and process glucides in our mouths. Saliva usually plays an important role in neutralising this acid. But it cannot block the cavity generation process outright. The development of cavities depends more on the total amount of time during which glucides come in contact with the dental plaque than on the actual quantity of sweet foods ingested. Hence the need to brush one’s teeth regularly!
What is glycemia?
Glycemia is the scientific word for the level of sugar in the blood. Measured on an empty stomach, it usually varies between 0.8 g/l and 1.1 g/l. When sugar derived from the food you’ve eaten passes into the blood stream in the form of glucose, the pancreas secretes a hormone called insulin which cells then use to break up and consume the glucose. Insulin also regulates the storage of sugar in the liver and the muscles in the form of glycogens. If the blood sugar level drops sharply, the liver secretes another hormone, glucagone, which frees the stored sugar to supply the cells with energy, whereas the sugar stored in the muscles is consumed in situ. Thus the blood sugar level is constantly regulated.
Can diabetics eat sugar?
There are two distinct forms of diabetes: insulin-dependent diabetes and so-called ‘maturity onset’ diabetes. Insulin-dependent diabetes is a genetic disease of the pancreas. Scientists have recently discovered that sugar was not directly related to the onset of this type of diabetes.‘Maturity onset diabetes’ affects people of a certain age who are overweight. In their case, the level of sugar in the blood is deregulated owing to a malfunction of the pancreas. This form of diabetes can be kept under control by adopting a suitable diet.
What is the difference between slow and fast-absorption sugars?
Slow and fast-absorption sugars owe their different characteristics to the way their molecules are organised. Slow absorption sugars (such as those found in rice, pasta or potatoes) consist of complex molecular chains which must be broken down into glucose by digestive enzymes before reaching the blood stream.
Conversely, fast-absorption sugars have a molecular structure which requires less complex processing. They consist of small molecules which are able to release glucose into the blood faster. Examples of foods containing fast-absorption sugars include honey, sugar, and usually all sugary foods.
Do athletes need sugar?
Athletes take great care in priming their bodies for physical activity, and tend to balance their intake of slow and fast absorption sugars, known as the ultimate source of energy. Whereas slow-absorption sugars are recommended as part of the diet of an athlete prior to a sporting event, fast-absorption sugars are recommended during the physical effort stage itself.
Quotes: This is just a machine part of me that I am constantly learning to go of.
What I Ate Today:
Meal 1: A beetroot (beet), carrot, celery, ginger, garlic and tomato juice.
Meal 2: Porridge with agave syrup.
Meal 3: 2 tablespoons of peanut butter.
Meal 3: Strawberries.
Meal 4: A Peanut Butter Breakfast bar I was experimenting - I will share the recipe with you once I get it just divine. It was made up of peanut butter, oats, walnuts, chia seeds, dates and agave syrup.
Meal 5: An avocado
Meal 6: A grapefruit and orange juice squeezed by me and an avocado. A light crisp meal to end the day and ready to bounce out of bed tomorrow as I have a full weekend of farmers markets and ball rolling heheheee ;)
Recipe:Recipes will be published in the earth diet book and are available free on The Earth Diet website www.TheEarthDiet.Org
Exercise: Yoga today :)
115 days to go!!!
Day 349
Thoughts:
There is a natural alternative to just about anything - and if there's not it's probably best we don't consume it! Manipulating natural processes is a fact of life in most of the world's food supplies.Previous to The Earth Diet I would tell my self 'I will never have sugar again, or I will never have chocolate again', only to break that word as soon as I craved it! My mind was the first thing that got in the way to health. The most challenging obstacle which stands in the way of our health and relationship with our body, is our mind. So on The Earth Diet we don't completely cut all the foods you have enjoyed eating for the past decade or so - we say why not make them using only whole ingredients naturally provided by the earth? The best thing is they taste even better, more alive, so rich, full of flavour, more fulfilling, when you create them using foods that nature intended. And the ingredients have not been depleted in any way from machinery and hence are loaded with nutritional value which prevents over eating.
Here are recipes for healthier alternatives to these favourite foods - sugar free, dairy free, soy free, gluten free, artificial anything free!
These recipes are also included on The Earth Diet Challenge beginning Monday 25th October! 4 days left to join! Visit the website for more details.
Pizza
Created with pesto, caramelized onions, herbs, tomatoes, dates, olive oil, lemon, macadamia nuts, almond butter, avocado, buckwheat and nutritional yeast!
All recipes will be published in The Earth Diet book and are available free on www.TheEarthDiet.Org
Quotes: Forgive your body - it's always there for you. -St Francis
What I Ate Today:
Meal 1: A beetroot (beet), carrot, celery, ginger, tomato and garlic juice.
Meal 2: An apple.
Meal 3: Avocado Sweet and Spicy salad. Ingredients: Avocado, lettuce, kale, baby spinach, garlic, ginger, spring onion, green chilli, dates, coriander (cilantro), coriander seeds, cucumber, lime, olive oil!
Meal 3: Strawberries and peanut butter (organic - just peanuts). mmm! This is also my husbands favourite - it tastes like peanut butter and jelly Andrew says! ;)
Meal 4:
Raw Tacos! Created with flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, onion, garlic, avocado, lime, tomato, cashews, pine nuts, fresh herbs and more!
Recipes: Avocado Sweet & Spicy Salad, Raw Tacos and Raw Chocolate Ice Cream recipes are available free on The Earth Diet website www.TheEarthDiet.Org
Exercise: A 1 hour workout at Big Al's Family Fitness - cardio, legs and core work and then a stretch in the sauna :)
16 days to go!!!
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