Eating Healthy Food… Sometimes the Journey is not Linear Ok, ok… I admit it.  Once in a while I fall off the wagon.  The eating healthy food wagon that is. Yesterday I baked a cake for our friend Stubbs.  His real name is Steve, but we call him Stubbs… long story that goes back about 45 years, I am told.  Stubbs was a childhood friend of my husband, Rob, and has become a regular on Thursday nights when he comes over for dinner and brings a terrific bottle of wine (‘cause Stubbs knows wine!). Rob and Stubbs play guitars, and the three of us sing our hearts out after dinner.  Rob…

Three Steps to a Better Body Image A positive body image is an important element of a satisfying and rewarding life. Your body image impacts your self-esteem. It affects how you relate to other people and the risks you are willing to take both personally and professionally. If you feel badly about your appearance, it’s time to take some steps to improve your body image. You are a beautiful person, and it’s high time you believed that. 1. Take One Small Step to Take Care of Your Body This discussion isn’t about losing weight or starting an exercise program. It’s about taking steps to appreciate your body and to develop…

You Need to Change to Change and Lose the Weight Are you afraid you will never be able to lose the weight you want to lose? Do you think at your age, that’s just what happens and that there’s nothing you can do about it? I’m here to tell you that you can change your body; you can lose the weight, and you can get in shape. If I can do it, you can do it. While I’ve never been terribly overweight, I’ve over eaten at times, eaten the wrong things and packed on some extra pounds. Once, when I was particularly unhappy, I got into the happy of baking desert…

The Road to Better Health, and Curing Depression How to begin… How to begin down the road to better health; how to start can be overwhelming. The road to better health can be a confusing one.  There are so many factions out there trying to convince you their method, diet or, too often, drug is best. First of all, in my personal experience, drugs (meaning anti-depressants), were not the answer, not the cure.  For me, the cure was an accidental discovery which I am beginning to share now in the hope that it helps others back from their struggle too. My journey from being depressed to curing depression, feeling “normal” and most days…

How to Handle a Cold… Make Your Own Natural Cough Medicine Recently, in fact, currently, my husband came down with a really bad fluey-type of cold.  The aches, pains, headache, sinus stuff, and then it headed for his chest.  Landed there and decided to stay. He developed a really bad cough that was so out of control he couldn’t sleep well and was exhausted from the coughing.  It was so bad and so constant he felt like he had done about two hundred crunches.  I remember my mother actually cracked a rib coughing with one bad cold she had, so we had to figure this out. Rob was beginning to…

Ten Dieting Facts You Need to Know While I don’t believe in dieting, because I frankly think they don’t work, many of us are wired to diet. My point of view is that if that mindset helps you get started on the road to long term healthier eating, have at it! Arming yourself with information is a great way to begin a new diet/way of living in harmony with your mind, body and good, healthy food. Here are ten “dieting facts” to start you off: 1. Skipping meals is not beneficial – Although many individuals think otherwise, skipping meals is not a good idea. You want to eat in a…

How to Get More Nutrients from Your Food You probably know that eating healthy, whole foods is the best way to get the nutrients…vitamins and minerals…your body needs. The shift from relying on supplements back to food-focused nutrition is great because it benefits your health in so many ways that simply taking a vitamin cannot. There are, however, some steps you can take to maximize the nutrients from your food. Eating Plants with Meat Have you heard about plant sterols? When they’re eaten in the form of fruits and vegetables, they can help reduce your LDL (bad) cholesterol and boost your HDL (good) cholesterol. For those of you who eat meat,…

Benefits of Hemp as Food In spite of the colorful history of this plant, there are many environmental benefits associated with the ease and speed with which it grows. Hemp has the potential to replace many textiles, paper products, building materials and fuels that are damaging to the environment. There are many different products that can be derived from industrial hemp; its role as a food source is one of the most exciting, due to the many health benefits that have recently been discovered. High in Plant Based Protein – The slow moving protein provided by hemp helps keep blood sugar regulated and aids in keeping you feeling more satisfied after a…

Hemp…It’s not Just for Getting High Anymore… Actually, that’s not true.  Hemp was never for getting high, but I wanted to get your attention!  Worked, didn’t it? You’ve probably heard about the struggle between states and the federal government regarding the cultivation of industrial hemp. But, did you know that hemp barely has any resemblance to the marijuana plant for which it is associated? They both come from the same species of cannabis plant, but the hemp variety has absolutely no psychoactive properties. Hemp does however, have a great deal of value as a sustainable crop offering seeds, oil, fiber, and so much more. It can be used to make textiles,…

One Diet Doesn’t Fit All… I have a friend who has put herself on the Paleo Diet.  She’s been on it for a couple of weeks, but really isn’t losing much weight…only a pound or two so far.  We were talking about it yesterday, and she was telling me how good she’s being about what she’s eating;  she’s been sticking to the diet, not drinking alcohol and doesn’t understand why she’s not losing more weight. The question that occurred to me was to ask her about her portion size when she eats.  That struck a nerve.  Turned out she knows she’s eating too much. Then we talked a bit about…