Assembling Your Elephant: "It Looks Like a Fan!"

Julie Andrews is ringing in my ears right now. "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. Brown paper packages tied up with string." Today I ask, 'What are a few of your favorite things?' Identifying what you are a Fan of is the next piece of the Elephant.

Be a fan of your food: Thirteen essential vitamins exist in nature and are required by the human body; they are are essential because they cannot be made within the body and are needed for immune function, growth, hormone production, digestion, cellular respiration and many other secret activities that take place under the skin. Getting those vitamins out of nature and into your body is key. Salads, for sure, are easy go-to assemblies of vitamins and minerals, but if you don't like the garden variety salad, it's probably not on your menu. Take a moment and think about vitamin packed foods you not only like, but will actually eat. Simplify your grocery list by purchasing fan favorites and then... eat them. (An incomplete list of Nutrient Dense foods can be found here.)

Be a fan of your movement: Interest in exercise in individual. While I like to run, my son likes to rollerblade. While Cadence likes to pedal her way around the world, Kendra likes to chase a soccer ball. While my husband is swimming and biking and running to the base and beyond, I am gardening, cleaning and walking beside the dog(s). We all know we need to move around in order to create and expend energy; it's time to stop waiting for Monday and decide what type of exercise you are a fan of. And then... go do it! Don't worry about all of the days you didn't do it, just seize the moment and work it out!

Be a fan of your work: My job is not a singular one. I am a mother. Wife. Health Coach. Teacher Assistant. Student. Friend. Family Traveler. Wine enthusiast. Just like you, I have many things I work at on a daily basis; things I have chosen and that I love to nurture (me, kids, gardens, etc.). There are also things I am not a fan of. Instead of dwelling on things I dislike (dirty toilets, bills, the post office), I have identified what I love and have willingly focused the bulk of my energy on those things. Now is the time for you, dear reader, to decide if you are a fan of your work! If you are not, ask, "What am I a fan of?" and then... be it!

Be a Fan of Your Elephant:  Dear reader, you have followed me along this path of Assembling Your Elephant with dedication and interest, and I thank you.  So far I've rambled on about walls, snakes, trees, spears and fans, and hope you have taken something away that has helped you assemble your elephant.  My final post in this series will be Wednesday.  Before then, please send me a picture (literary articulate description or photo) of your elephant.  I would love to include reader photos and comments, with your permission of course, in the final post.

While you craft or photoshop, eat real food, drink plenty of water, give your vitamins their vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands.  

Anna~

Comment or send your thoughts and photos to anna@infiveparagraphsorless.com.  Thanks!

Assembling your Elephant: "It Looks Like a Snake!"

Snakes: a long limbless reptile that has no eyelids, a short tail, and jaws that are capable of considerable extension. Some snakes have a venomous bite. - Thank you Dictionary.  Snakes can be brightly colored and obvious or hidden within their surroundings.  Snakes can be beautiful and intriguing or can be defensive and dangerous.  Snakes can be larger than life or barely noticeable.  No matter their shape, size, coloration or demeanor, all snakes are sneaky.

There are several ways we can apply this to your Elephant.  Let's begin with diet.  Within your diet are sneaky ingredients that can sabotage even the most ambitious efforts.  Aspartame and the like.  High fructose corn syrup. Artificial colors and flavors. Sugar.  Nitrates.  Sulfites. Tartrazine. Sodium benzoate.  Even ingredients like E1520 and E620 are snuck in to assist with color, flavor or shelf life.  These all but invisible ingredients (dozens more exist) are found within packaged, processed foods products conveniently designed and marketed as natural or healthy.  What is E1520 anyway? 

There are larger, more obvious food snakes as well. Soda.  Ice cream. Fast-Food.  Luncheon meat.  Breakfast cereal.  Powdered cheese sauce.  Minute rice.  Canned fruit.  Bagels.  Microwaveable vegetable pouches.  Bread. Turkey Bacon (I know I probably lost a few readers on that one).  Many of these foods are relatively fine all by themselves if eaten once a month or when in a bind, but if your menu is breakfast cereal and canned fruit for breakfast, a cold cut sandwich with a soda for lunch, and minute rice with steamed, microwaved veggies for dinner and ice cream for dessert, you may be sabotaging your health without even knowing it.  

Snakes mightn't be food at all but sneaky behaviors that derail even the most determined train.  Self doubt.  Complacency.  Comparison to others.  Excuses.  Denial.  Fear.  These mind sets sneak in and with considerable extension smother determination, dreams, goals, interest, passion, purpose, growth, life and possibility.  Sometimes it happens so invisibly over time that it isn't recognized until  a bottom is found.  The good news is that at any moment you have the ability and courage within you to rid yourself of the snake.  It may take more than one foul swoop, but it is possible.  

Start with real food.  Foods without labels make great snake repellents.  Give your vitamins their vitamins by eating many colors and textures and flavors.  Wash it all in with water.  And, because snakes have a musky odor, remember to wash your hands. 

How is your Elephant coming along?

Share your story, ask your questions, or report your progress below.  I would love to have a conversation with you!

Anna~

Break-Up With Sugar Series:

"If you are constantly receiving deliveries, you cannot relax, you cannot disassemble stored goods, and you cannot access the furniture." me 

A friend of mine recently asked me about the relationship between cholesterol and diet. She is thoughtful and contemplative about taking a Lipitor like drug to reduce elevated cholesterol. I offered a handful of advice including reading labels, avoiding dried fruit, minimizing animal based foods and watching sugar intake. She admitted her dislike toward reading food labels and examining ingredients for reasons we didn't discuss. I then simplified things: "Buy and eat foods without labels."

When reducing sugar, just like reducing cholesterol, eliminating foods with labels is quite possibly a most effective practice. Instead of a boring science lesson, imagine you've moved. On the day the truck arrives with all of your belongings, multiple people scurry in and out of the truck and deliver goods to different rooms of your house. There is a rush to unpack the kitchen and the coffee maker, a scramble to find the kids underwear and favorite stuffed animals, and a last hoorah at the end of the day to make the beds with at least a fitted sheet if the flat can't be found. 

Back in context, the moving truck is your meal, the coffee maker, sheets and underwear are the sugars, and the rush, scurry, and scramble is your insulin response. Sugar, especially refined, easily accessed, high glycemic load sugar, requires a long and fast insulin response from your pancreas. Simplified, insulin moves fuel, sugar and nutrients to the cells of your body for storage or for consumption during and after meals. 

Only when insulin is turned off and inactive within the body, can other hormones access stored sugars and fats for fuel ~or~ Only when the moving truck pulls away and you are sure all of your belongings are back in your possession can you relax and slowly disassemble the boxes and access the furniture. The problem with sugar is this: If you are constantly receiving deliveries, you cannot relax, you cannot disassemble stored goods, and you cannot access the furniture. 

Real foods offer a diverse amount of sugar, fat, carbs, nutrients and protein in tasty, recognizable packages. Chips, breakfast cereal, soda, Aunt Jemima, Hamburger Helper and Skippy aren't real foods. Instead choose roast sweet potatoes, eggs, water, maple syrup, grass fed beef tips and peanuts for all of the flavor, a fraction of the sugar and thrice the benefits. While you're at it, make sure to give your vitamins their vitamins, wash your hands and think of this:

“Some of the largest companies are now using brain scans to study how we react neurologically to certain foods, especially to sugar. They've discovered that the brain lights up for sugar the same way it does for cocaine.” ― Michael Moss


Anna~

Throw Back Thursday: Sweet Information

Sweet Information from August 22, 2013

My sister tried a few recipes and suggestions from this week's posts and the results were not 100% satisfactory.  To be completely truthful, I don't eat yogurt.  I love to smear it on my face to eat away dead skin and moisturize like none other, but to eat?  My taste buds are not of the yogurt loving variety. So, when I suggested eating plain, unsweetened yogurt and adding real fruit, my sister took my advice (for on that matter I can't take my own).  "It was very bitter," she reported.  "I think next time I will add some honey."

Honey.  Other than a sweet, sweet flavor, did you know that honey has benefits? (If you saw The Rachael Ray Show yesterday, you do.)  Natural news sums it up beautifully:

"Raw honey has anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties. It promotes body and digestive health, is a powerful antioxidant, strengthens the immune system, eliminates allergies, and is an excellent remedy for skin wounds and all types of infections. Raw honey's benefits don't stop there. Raw honey can also stabilize blood pressure, balance sugar levels, relieve pain, calm nerves, and it has been used to treat ulcers. Raw honey is also an expectorant and anti-inflammatory and has been known to effectively treat respiratory conditions such as bronchitis and asthma.

Raw honey is an alkaline-forming food that contains natural vitamins, enzymes, powerful antioxidants and other important natural nutrients. These are the very nutrients that are destroyed during the heating and pasteurization process. In fact, pasteurized honey is equivalent to and just as unhealthy as eating refined sugar."  (Learn more at Natural News.) 

Not all honey on the shelves is the same.  Look at the bear in your pantry for words like 'unprocessed', 'raw', 'unfiltered', 'natural' and 'unheated'.  Not there?  The shelves of your supermarket will have the refined and raw varieties; next time you shop, take a look.  You'll find raw honey from select flowers and bouquets.  Then, when you add fruit to plain yogurt and it's still a bit bitter you can drizzle in the benefits of honey!  Isn't that sweet?

Enjoy real food. Drink plenty of water.  Give your vitamins their vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands.

Anna~

Break-Up With Sugar Series:

It's not the Sugar we Battle - It's the Cravings!

Sugar.  The plain simple truth is this: the human body needs and runs on sugar.  We have already decided, along with the good advice of the AHA, that women should consume 25 grams, men 37, or less on a daily basis. One soda, a fruit juice box, one thick and creamy yogurt, one fudge pop tart or a single serving of Mott's applesauce rings the bell.  Because that much sugar resides in such small packages, and because the human body runs on sugar, it takes a conscious effort to break out of the sugar cube fortress.

Sugar cravings come from many places.  Mental anguish.  Physical exhaustion.  Emotional stress.  Sleep deprivation.  Joy.  Routine.  Convenience.  Ancient History.  There are no known sweet foods on the planet that are poisonous, which means we, as a species, evolved with a common thread; the proverbial sweet tooth.  Craving something sweet is inherent, but craving Mountain Dew for breakfast and seeking an afternoon sugar buzz is something else.

You and I both know how to reduce our sugar intake; simple math on that one.  The trouble comes in when we have to battle our sugar cravings.  I rely on the saying, 'nothing changes if nothing changes'. If you buy the same treats and place them in the same cabinets; if you purchase the same sugary drinks and fill the same shelves in the fridge; if you pattern your day with the same old sugar dependent rhythm, your sugar cravings will not change.  Cravings can only be undone when something changes or something new is introduced.  Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes.

Today you can change one thing.  You can replace one soda with an herbal tea or lemon water.  You can go for a brisk walk to invigorate your body to replace the afternoon candy bar.  You can replace one treat for a banana.  Instead of saying 'can't have,' replace those words with 'why do I want?'  Have a conversation with yourself to decide what is worth your 25 grams in sugar and what is not!

The best way to remove added sugar from your diet is to eat foods without labels.  Real foods not only offer the blood sugar our bodies so readily require (especially us busy moms and military wives), but they provide nourishment as well.  You can't find nourishment in a sugar cube.

You know what to do.

Anna~

'Break-Up with Sugar' Series:

First Thing's First:  How Much Sugar Are You Eating?

Today, a hot lunch served in the lunchroom at my school, a lunch lunch containing only cold food items, ironically enough, contained 66 grams of sugar.  Sixty-Six.  A single strawberry Dannon yogurt, a 1% milk fat string-cheese stick, a single serving bowl of Total Raisin Bran with a cup (8 oz) of 1% White or Nonfat Chocolate milk, and Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Giant Grahams for dessert. Sixty-Six grams of sugar for lunch.

How much sugar should you be eating?  The answer, of course, depends.  There are natural sugars, like those found in bananas, honey and milk, and there are added sugars, like those found in Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Giant Grahams.  Real food deserves consideration for balancing sugar intake on the whole, but processed foods are the real culprit when it comes to a diet too sweet to be true.


"The maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day are: Men: 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons). Women: 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons)." Dr. Oz, CNN, AHA, Men's Health, Woman's Day...  you name it, they all refer to the American Heart Association's recommendation.  Surpassing the recommended sugar intake limit is awfully easy to do.

Where is added sugar found?  Everywhere.  The spoonful in your coffee, the syrup on your pancakes, the popsicles in your freezer, the peanut butter in your pantry, and in every other processed food package marketed with cheap prices and coupons to boot.  Look on the label or for words that end in 'ose'.

While you are raiding your pantry to add up your sugar intake for the day, grab an apple.  Drink some water or herbal tea.  Eat foods that give your vitamins their vitamins.  Wash your hands of marketed, mass produced, pre-packaged food stuffs and get back to what nature knows best.

Tomorrow, the break-up process begins!

CRAP? No. FOOD? Yes!

Lunch has always been a slight point of contention around here.  Three kids packing their lunch at 6:30 in the morning while I am cleaning up breakfast dishes and Scott is trying to make eggs hasn't been working for awhile.  So we have been gradually reorganizing the process of packing lunch.  Along with that, we have been dividing kitchen chores as elementary as possible.   All in all, I think we have made about 5 essential changes to make our kitchen run without a hitch in the 'giddy-up!"

1.  Eat family style meals together and at the same times everyday.  Easy, right?  Not in our house.  Making an effort to eat a 6:20am, 11:30am, and 5:30ish in the evening takes a coordinated effort, for sure, but the benefits of doing so are life changing!  Hunger rhythms and blood sugars regulate, family hunger patterns and moods coordinate, meal preparation is predictable, and more is shared than meals.  

2.  Empty the dishwasher at the same time every day.  My in-laws empty theirs first thing in the morning, I empty mine just before dinner, my parents empty theirs after breakfast.  Utilizing the dishwasher relieves the kitchen of clutter making meal prep and clean up a much simpler, more concise act.  

3.  Assign chores to make coming to the table less complex.  At meal time, one kid pours the drinks, one kid sets the table, one kid puts the dog in the kennel (almost) like clock work.  After meal time one kid clears the table, one kid stores leftovers and one kid loads the dishwasher.  Breaking apart multi-step chores gets everyone involved and relieves the cook of multiple tasks as the roast is coming out of the oven or the pots are being diligently scrubbed.  

4.  Pack lunch after dinner.  We have recently adopted the brilliant idea of dividing the leftovers into lunch sized containers immediately following dinner.  Everything gets plunked in the fridge, sticky- noted, and paired with a fruit; morning lunch prep is reduced to filling a water bottle with fresh water and grabbing something crunchy for a snack.  (Plunk is also one of my favorite words.)

5.  Make the available foods 'Yes" foods.  Almonds?  Yes!  Goldfish?  No.  Clementines?  Yes!  Cheese Doodles?  No.  Apples and Peanut Butter?  Yes!  Doritos and Mountain Dew?  No.  High sugar, highly processed foods cause mood swings, hunger roller-coasters, and addicted tastebuds.  Get rid of the C.R.A.P. and get real F.O.O.D.  

You know what to do~

Anna~

Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes!

Preparing dinner nightly is something I truly love.  Our kitchen is separate from the rest of the house, allowing me some time for creation, quite, and a glass of red while I assemble a meal meant to nourish those at our table.  This last 12 days have tried my culinary abilities due to the fact that an elimination diet has outlined our dinner ingredients.  More than resetting the system and allowing for good elimination, an elimination diet calms inflammation throughout the body allowing the body to function, heal, and metabolize properly.

To explain, an elimination diet removes dairy, gluten, soy, eggs and corn, as well as stimulants, sugar, and meats, fruits and vegetables that can cause inflammation within the body.  We mostly followed the below chart for 7 days:

my-clean-diet-experiment

Scott has allergies to many of the foods on the 'can eat' side of the diet, but he willfully refrained from most of the restricted foods.  Because he has never had any problems digesting red meat (O-, Eating Right 4 Your Type), we did have steak tips over greens, onions, broccoli and red cabbage as a meal. 

Inflammation is the body's natural response to space invaders.  Viruses, damage, bad bacteria, poorly digested food, or a highly acidic environment can cause inflammation.  Low stomach acid, high sugar intake, caffeine, alcohol and/or a sedentary lifestyle can also cause inflammation to sneak around inside the body.  Inflammation is commonly mistaken for fat, for tiredness, for sleeplessness, for headaches, for allergies, for constipation, for diarrhea, for unpleasant periods, for arthritis...  the list goes on.

I did not follow this diet as strictly as Scott did (and still is after 12 days), but as I watched his allergies calm, his waistline decrease, his sleep improve, his complexion brighten, and his mood hover over a more even keel, I encouraged him to keep going based on results.  After 7 days of strict food selections, we moved to no eggs, no dairy, no soy, no gluten, no corn, no sugar, no stimulants, opening up many of the fruits and vegetables we had avoided per the chart's suggestions.

Now he is slowly reintroducing foods.  He has had raw cheese and eggs to find they do not  cause stomach upset, irritable bowels or cold symptoms.  He has not reintroduced gluten, corn, soy or sugar, for these are the foods he fears cause inflammation in his feet, in his face, in his body.  He has lost 12 pounds of belly fat in 12 days and has had increasingly successful workouts; higher output, less pain and soreness, shorter recovery times.  His allergies are not completely gone, but the results we've witnessed is worth avoiding inflammatory foods.  

My advice to you is the same as my advice to him:  Nothing changes if Nothing Changes~ If you are experiencing symptoms that you dislike, instead of taking an allergy pill or a sleep aide, try changing your food.  Listen to your body as it tells you what it can tolerate and what it can't.  There are so many resources to help you find what real foods you should or shouldn't eat~  I am one of them.  Make sure to drink plenty of water while you research, give your vitamins their vitamins, and, as always, remember to wash your hands -  you eat with those things!

Anna~

Contact me if you would like more information.

Acceptance Must Come with a Side of Understanding.

Organic food and their inorganic counterparts are scattered across the news.  Thick skinned, inorganically grown bananas and fruits are said to be fine, while we are urged to eat organic lettuce and other delicate veggies.  We don't eat the skin of the banana so it makes sense when the FDA suggests the banana itself is safe from chemicals.  Also understood, lettuce, a veggie we consume in its entirety, should remain clean and unbathed in chemical solution for our own safety.  For me, organic isn't as much about what we end up eating on our produce; it's more about what we end up eating in our produce.  "You are what what you eat eats!" -Michael Pollen


Lets pretend, for a moment, that the ground is fertile, the air is clean, water is abundant, and food grows naturally from seeds deposited on the earth from animal droppings, wind distribution and fruit decay.  A long time ago, right?  Today, crops are grown mono culturally.  Seeds are more or less created through hybridization with the intent of producing higher yield crops with larger fruit in a shorter maturation time.  Plants are sprayed for bugs, the soil is treated for weeds, man and animal made fertilizers are then reintroduced and viola~  your super market is stocked with global produce.

Now, there is a big difference between the natural or organic growth cycle of a plant and mono agriculture; that isn't hard to accept.  So where does organic farming fit in?  Organic farming in America is an agricultural practice where mono culture growing methods are still used, but without spraying for insects and introducing chemicals to the soil.  In theory, clean water is used to water, insects are used to kill insects and crops are rotated so the soil is not depleted of nutrients; a middle ground between farm stead gardening and conventional agriculture.  The growing season is longer, the yield is less, the cost is more for a myriad of reasons, but the produce is of higher nutritional value.

It is easy to see and accept the fact 'chemicals are poisonous'.  As a society, we also accept a number of other chemical results:  seeds that are modified to withstand drought, temperature variance, and pests;  fruits and veggies that are sprayed with chemicals that kill or repel bugs;  soil that is sprayed with chemicals to keep water-drinking, nutrient-absorbing weeds from encroaching on intended crops.  This acceptance, though, must come with some understanding:  crops are watered and washed from rain which saturates the soil with residual chemicals;  plants then become the water, nutrients and chemicals found in the soil while creating the produce intended.   We, the people, then, visit our local markets, pick the fruit and ingest all the fruit itself has ingested whether we peel it or not.

Is it acceptable that plants grown without chemicals are a healthier choice?  You decide.  While you think, eat real food, drink plenty of water, give your vitamins their vitamins, and, as always, remember to wash your hands (especially after gardening).


Anna~

One Small Change

We are nearly into the 3rd month of the year and Spring is arriving.  Days are a touch longer.  The sun is casting a warmer blanket directing a longer shadow.  I can feel the anticipation of the changing season within me just as I can see it on the world.  Change, evolution, doesn't happen all at once; instead it is a series of small changes connected together that wow observers and beholders alike.  One simple change can align your efforts toward accomplishing your nutritional or lifestyle goals, just as the warmer sun coaxes the trees to bud.

Again, I ask, "What is your goal?"  All of us have plans.  Weight loss.  A Marathon.  Reducing Sugar cravings. Balancing the check book.  Clearing clutter.  Starting a business.  Goals are individual aspirations that deliver a sense of belonging in the world; aspirations should not be ignored or discredited for aspirations come from intuition.  Intuition, by definition, is the ability to understand something without the need for conscious reasoning.  As you identify your goals, listen to your intuition- you will then realize a path of least resistance to deliver you to your desires.

I have much going on in my world these days.  I work 4 hours a day during the school week.  I am in module 14 of 40 perusing a health coaching career through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.  Because of my commitment to achieving my certificate, I have morning meetings, lectures to absorb, health history practices to schedule, and a program to structure.  I have a goal of delivering a healthy lunch lecture to the Middletown Public School System, possibly in March, which I need to construct and have approved.  I also have kids, a husband, a dog, a puppy, a cat, bills, a household to manage and myself to take care of.  No one ever said perusing goals was easy.

Following a path takes energy.  Positive energy, physical energy, emotional energy, mental energy, love, and intuition.  Energy is derived from water, sleep and the food you eat.  I believe that food is the foundation of all other things; if your body is nourished, your mind is hydrated and your soul is fed, then all things are possible through defining desires and demanding them to be true.  Each of us is worth living in our purpose, dear reader, and each of us has the power to evolve into ourselves!

While you describe your desires and tune in to your intuition, grab some real, whole, naturally occurring food.  Wash in the nutrients with plenty of clean water.  Pick your foods from colorful produce, crunchy nuts, soft fruit, tart berries, sweet honey, deep roots, delicate greens and local meat to ensure your vitamins get their vitamins.  Wash your hands of fear and take one small step into the familiar unknown of your intuition.  As you bud, and then bloom, you will coax those around you to do the same...  all it takes is one small change...

Anna~

How Are You?

The very first question on my Health History form is, "What is your name?"  Names of people, like names of vitamins, have meaning.  Most times a person lives up to the meaning of their name without  the intention to do so; my Cadence is musically inclined, my Sean is giving and considerate, my Kendra knows everything, but if you ask them what their names mean they wouldn't be able to tell you.  It is the same for vitamins and the fruits and vegetables that deliver them; beautiful representations of what they have to offer without intending to be anything more than a fruit or a vegetable or a vitamin.

Another question on the form is, "What are your health concerns?"  I believe health can be brought about by food.  Think of a blueberry.  A cherry.  A cranberry.  A round cut from the center of a carrot.  All are round and full of color and represent the eye: all are delicious carriers of essential vitamins and minerals that support good vision.  What about salmon, pink and clear; walnuts and almonds, with their creamy white, smooth flesh; eggs with their elasticity and definition:  all are good for healthy skin.  Apples are good for clear lungs.  Oranges are good for clean kidneys.  Garlic is good for the heart. -Foods do a fascinating job representing the organs they support but we can only reap their benefits if we eat them.

Another question still, "What do you typically eat?"  Food selection can define a person in nutritiously predictable ways.  Food has energy, vitamins, and nutrients to balance the energy, vitamins and nutrients within the person who eats it.   If energy is lacking, chicken or fish, coffee, and dark colored fruits and vegetables can bolster a bounce.  If clarity is coveted, nuts, seeds, citrus, tomatoes and red wine can carry it through.  When rest is desired, whole grains, calm animals, herbal tea, dairy, stew and skipping the stimulants will deliver. -The energy and nutrients of the food you eat becomes who you are - and how you are - whether you intend it to or not.

The last question on my health history form is, "What is one thing you can do to improve your health right now?"  The answer is different for everyone, I am finding out, for food is not the only health concern people cultivate.  Health is a multifaceted concept that rests in the bed, that walks to the bus, that pays for the water, that cries and bleeds and smiles and breathes.  Health is fed by laughter, by love, by encouragement, by education, by accidents, by reward, by conversation, and, among many others, by food.  -You may not intend to live up to your name and you may not intend to become your food, but you can have intentions that will develop and define your health...  and ...you've already begun.

When all else seems complicated, eat real, simple, whole, naturally occurring food.  Wash in the vitality with water.  Make sure you support your vitamins with vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands.  When you are wondering what else is on my Health History form, click on the 'Make a Connection' tab above and I can walk you through it.  All I need is your name~

Anna~

InFlammation!

Exercise: activity requiring physical effort, carried out esp. to sustain or improve health and fitness. Seems simple, right? Jump on a bike, assume the plank position, crawl across the pool, turn some cartwheels, don the running shoes, handle the bars, or take your dog for a walk. It's all fun and games until sore muscles kick in. Is the soreness worth the serenity? You bet, but it is important to know why your muscles get sore and how to lesson the pain in order to get back on the horse or treadmill or yoga ball.

Let's start with muscle movement: adduction and abduction;  flexion and extension; rotation and circumduction.  The human skeleton is strapped with muscles in a way that allows a range of motion limited only by muscle and tendon length, strength and vulnerability.  All muscles are connected, although groups of muscles can be isolated during exercise.  When one group of muscles is worked and others neglected, a size imbalance occurs and vulnerabilities in the system develop.  Equally true, when one action, say adduction, is exercised more often than abduction, muscle and tendon lengths will vary and vulnerabilities will occur.  

When muscles are taxed, they tear or break down.  The body then creates more muscle tissue from amino acids and other nutrients within the body and fills the gaps to lengthen the muscle or build the muscle for strength.  During exercise oxygen in the body decreases and muscles are then used to boost energy by an anaerobic process during which muscle cells produce lactate.   The acidity within the muscle cells then increases. The long and short of it is when you exercise you over use muscle tissue and the process causes pain, both immediate pain that alerts the body stop and recover, an delayed pain referred to as DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).   

Inflammation is the root of the problem but can be treated in a number of ways.  Water.  Plant based foods (skip animal based foods for they cause inflammation within the body as well).  Sleep.  Message.  Cold compress.  Patience.  Education.  A series of soothing stretches that cover all muscle movements might be the best medicine for a sore muscle structure.  All of these treatments are great after work-out remedies.  Eating fueling, reparative foods before your workout is also good practice.  (Men, this is a better source of information for you.)  A cup of black coffee, a bowl of real oatmeal with bananas, a glass of water and an orange are great an hour before any work out no matter what gender you are!

Eat real food, drink plenty of water, give your vitamins their vitamins and remember to wash your hands.  Then Go get your Work-Out On!

Anna~

Need a source for anti-inflammatory foods?  Check this out!  

How Healthy is Your Well?

Pancakes on the table for breakfast, a whole chicken in the crock pot for dinner, breakfast dishes done, three of the three off to school, a blank calendar this afternoon, and yoga in about 40 minutes.  Mornings like this, when things fall into place without chaos or confrontation, come few and far between in our home but the span is getting shorter as we move deeper into our evolution toward eudaimonia.

Eudaimonia?  A great word to research and investigate, for sure, but for short it means 'human flourishing'.  Physical wellness.  Financial wellness.  Spiritual wellness.  Holistic Wellness.  Well.  The human body is much like a well; everything that comes in contact with it contaminates or cleanses the entire being.  Eudaimonia is a state in which a being is able to appreciate, assimilate or convert all things it comes in contact with into nourishment, positive energy and practical wisdom.  A desirable state indeed.

Our evolution started with simple, conscious changes.  Drinking water in the morning to rehydrate the body and allow the cells to breathe.  Eliminating breakfast cereals was the next step; an exchange of unidentifiable ingredients for oats, eggs, whole wheat pancakes and whole grain breads.  Exercise was next.  Less time watching others participate in life on the television and more time actually participating in life.  Down-hilll skiing, mountain and road biking, 5 and 10k organized running, yoga, hiking, and conscious cooking.  We have also learned to encourage our children to run, to jump, to play, to laugh, to ski and to do it along with them more and more.  Today we are on change number 721, at least.

Change happens over time, not over night.  At times when I feel my evolution has taken a vacation I preform an evaluation of progress (yesterday was one of those days).  Evaluation is born of the beautiful word 'value', cousin to valuable.  I am valuable.  My husband, my children, our finances, our home, and our wellness is valuable, as is our progress toward eudaimonia.  I encourage you all to evaluate how healthy your well is.  You will most certainly find positive change among the mistakes and progress among the set backs;  appreciate yourself for all of your movement in the right direction.

Then celebrate.  Make a beautiful meal of real, naturally occurring food, wash in the goodness with water, give your vitamins their vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands.  Be glad in it, reader, for you choose your evolution!

Anna~

This Simple Phrase

Christmas Cookies.  Home made fudge.  Candied yams.  Pumpkin pie.  Ambrosia.  Decadent sweets beautifully and deliciously offered in addition to large meals representative of sharing the year end feast.    Holiday traditions vary from home to home, as do financial means to deliver an ample feast to the table, but if we look at the hem in the table cloth we can find a common thread between us all; indulgence.

Indulgence is not a four letter word.  The Christmas season brings food to the table that may only be eaten once or twice a year.  There is nothing you can do to avoid the spread of sweats and savories created to share, so don't restrict yourself to the celery plate.  Eat.  Share the food and the experience.  Bake with your kids.  Make your grandmother's recipes with your sister.   Relax your 'I'm only going to have one bite' mentality and allow yourself some flexibility.

To get through the holiday feast and still be able to get through the door, there are many, many things you can do that don't require a gym membership.  The most important tool you can use is your body.  Listen to the cues.  When you slow down, chew your food well, and allow time for your stomach to send messages to your brain, you will find you eat well ...  but less.  Eating when your body says you're hungry and stopping when you're full can save you indigestion, bloating, constipation, cramping, lethargy, regret and mental upset from 'over doing it'.  Take your time this holiday season and listen to what your body has to say.

Several more tricks and tips can help your body digest the feast.  Drink hydrating fluids.  Alcohol actually diminishes your body's ability to digest fat so it stores it away to deal with later.  Try lemon water, warm mint tea or club soda instead.  Also, add raw veggies to the feast.  A broccoli and red cabbage salad with walnuts can add essential nutrients and fiber to your plate to help move the rest of the meal through your system.  Bring something green or raw or fresh to all of your holiday pot lucks so you know you always have a healthy choice.  And, before you hit the party, take in a brisk walk around the neighborhood.  Better yet, get moving after dinner!  Dance!  Laugh!  Play charades at the party you're hosting and you'll meet both wickets.  

More tomorrow on mindful eating and enjoyable feasting, but for now I encourage you to eat real food.  Wash in the goodness with plenty of water.  Don't forget to give your vitamins their vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands.  My sister enveloped my thoughts with this simple phrase, "Be clean inside and out."  (Thank you, Kelly~)

Anna~

Cravings Never Cease~

Eating a well balanced diet is a very diverse and flavorful adventure.  We are all on a diet, whether it's restrictive, plant based, meat packed, McDonald's infused or a combination of the lot.  A diet can work for you by delivering ample nutrients, a variety of flavors and textures, and excitement for for tastebuds, or a diet can make you feel deprived, frustrated and hungry.  Reader, if you are feeling deprived and frustrated so you can reach another notch on your belt, jump off the train at the next exit and begin anew (your cravings will eventually derail the train anyway).

Cravings are the directors of our tastebuds.  In the gut there are millions of bacteria (good and bad) that help digest our food.  The type of bacteria present depends largely on the choice of food delivered to the body.  There is direct correlation between the bacteria we house and the foods we crave because our bacteria conduct many of our cravings.  If many starchy, sugary, processed foods are the bulk of a diet, sugar-eating bacteria, fungi and parasites signal when supplies are low - and the cycle continues.  Undoing the cycle is easy, though it takes a plan.  Add whole foods, add cleansing herbs and spices, add good pro- and pre-biotics, add water and tea, add a bit of exercise and feel your cravings change.

Cravings also exist when nutrients are deficient.  I had an interesting conversation about this with my brother-in-law Paul;  hunger is in fact not the only reason we crave food.  Hunger signals a need for fuel, true, but cravings are separate from hunger.  Cravings are a signal sent to the brain with a direct food in mind:  spinach, chocolate, sugar, starch, mint, tomatoes, even allergens.  A craving is meant to satisfy a chemical process within the body or brain by feeding in a specific deficient nutrient, acid, or fat.  Fantastically enough, you have the power to satisfy those cravings with healthful foods instead of unworthy participants.

There are several ways to cope with cravings, all of which include eating.  Yes, eating.  In fact, if you take foods off the list of things you 'can' eat, the result will certainly lead to more or stronger cravings (again, we are back to addition).  Add something sweet, something salty, something green, something white, something rich and something spicy to your day and see how you feel after the day is done.  Write down how you feel.  Write down the foods you ate.  Write down the outcome of diversifying your diet.  Make no mistake, reader.  I am not suggesting you indulge in a glazed donut, a salted carmel donut, a green monster donut, a cream cheese frosted donut, a Big Mac, and a cinnamon donut --- I am suggesting you use whole foods to satisfy your cravings categorically and in response to your body without the words, "I can't eat that," on your lips.

Start today.  Find real foods that satisfy your cravings.  Eat them with consideration and enjoyment.  Eat often with a tall glass of water or a warm cup of tea.  Give your vitamins their vitamins and watch your cravings move from mischievous to manageable.  And because your hands go on your food and your food goes in your mouth, wash your hands of bacteria that can cause you harm; it'll do your body good!

Anna~

5 Underestimated Super Foods

A few weeks ago I touched on typical Western diet staples:  pasta in the pantry, butter in the fridge, flour in the canister, oranges in the 'other' drawer.  Staples make up large portions of prepared meals while main ingredients change;  instead of chicken it's beef, instead of pork it's fish, instead of salad it's sauce.  As the food on the table are given a value, each food typically fills one or two main nutritional requirements- that valuation process is how the many variations of the very flawed food pyramid came to balance the American diet for us. To reach optimal nutrient intake with typical American foods, too much of the wrong foods need to be consumed.

Some foods, coined 'super foods', pack a greater all-around punch to the nutrients the body uses in abundance.  Some of these super foods may even be on your table but you may have underestimated their value.  The first of which is broccoli - one of the worlds healthiest foods!  Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, calcium, protein, tryptophan, etc.  Steamed or raw broccoli supports vitamin D, K and A in balance, can help manage allergies, and can help lower cholesterol in the blood.  Add some to your dinner tonight!

Another underestimated super food is spinach!  This little leaf is full of phytonutrients, vitamin K, calcium, glycoglycerolipids, and a potent list of vital vitamins and minerals.  Eating spinach raw in a salad or wilted in a soup or even dip can boost your immune system, balance your nutrients, and fight off fatigue.  Spinach is not just 'good for you', it's a super food!

An unlikely super food duo, so you may think, is the avocado and the garlic bulb.  (Guacamole anyone?)  Avocados have been spread upon the news lately for their 'good fats' and their 'healthy oils' but avocados offer much more than that.  Fiber, potassium, vitamins C, B and K, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyhydroxylated fatty alcohols (PFA's) and carotenoids.  Pair it with garlic, another superfood often only looked at as a spice, and you have a powerhouse blend.  The combined benefits of avocados and garlic will go straight to your heart!

Fifth in today's superfood list is Celery, an appropriate food for this time of year.  "In addition to well-known antioxidants like vitamin C and flavonoids, scientists have now identified at least a dozen other types of antioxidant nutrients in celery" WHFoods.com.  Chop it up, stick it up, slice it up, snack it up, but don't underestimate it's ability to boost you up!  

Eat real food, drink plenty of water, give your vitamins their vitamins, and remember to wash your hands~  

Anna~

Give your Vitamins their Vitamins!

At the bottom of every post I offer some very simple advice:  eat real food, drink plenty of water, give your vitamins their vitamins, and remember to wash your hands.   Offering advice and following advice are two very different animals.  Even I, the knower of many food-y, nutritional things, have trouble following simple, sound, sensical advice even though I know why I should.  I, just like all of you, only try to make today healthier than yesterday.  So, today I would like us all to take our vitamins!

No.  I don't mean wander out to Walmart to find cheaply made and nutritionally defunct vitamins in pill form.  Our bodies need dozens of vitamins and minerals to assist the vitamins we already make and to replace the vitamins our bodies continually use up.  Hormones, gastric juices, connective tissues, hair, teeth, gums, skin, and everything in between is made up or supported by the vitamins we eat.  If we loaded up the cart at wally world with all of the nutrients our bodies need we would be swallowing pills all day long~  multivitamins are none the wiser.

So how, then, do your give your vitamins their vitamins?  This may sound redundant, but the answer lives in real food!  The key is diversity and the clutch is we actually have to eat it.  Looking at great spinach recipes online for food inspiration is a fantastic way to diversify your diet, but if instead of spinach leaves wilted in clean, steamy water you use frozen spinach, thawed and drained, you are depleting the recipe of it's vitality.  Don't care for spinach?  Find foods that sound good to you and eat them~  but stick to the real version instead of the imitation, processed, fortified variety.

Why not fortified foods?  Fortification of food happens after a real food ingredient has been processed or heated in a way that diminishes its original nutrients.  The vitamins and minerals that are added back to the food are in lesser amounts, and typically of a man made or synthetic variety.  Vitamins are not regulated so if you are depending on a manufacturing company - that processes food in order to make a large profit and gain repeat customers - to ensure you are getting your vitamins, you will get less than you bargained for.

We all eat.  More importantly, we all eat differently.  Finding vitamins amongst the vast food markets we have at our fingertips is greatly more flavorful than fish oil capsules and vitamin tabs from manufacturers.  My advice?   Write down what you eat for a few days so you may easily identify which vitamins are in abundance and which are missing.  Find whole food recipes that supply those vitamins and follow the directions.  Remember to wash them in with water and, as always, remember to wash your hands.

Good advice?

Anna~

A Week in Review: Fatigue, The Unruly Participant.

This may be the last weekend of rest before the holidays rush us through to the new year, or it may be a busy rush to get things done before Thanksgiving.  Either way, fatigue is likely to set in.  Here are a few delicious suggestions on how to undo the 'errand hangover!'

From April 24, 2013:

Fatigue:  The Unruly Participant.

Fatigue is unruly participant in any competition or challenge we face.  Fatigue, understood as exhaustion or feeling tired, is a complicated symptom or condition.  It can be caused by a lack of sleep, depression, poor circulation and poor oxygenation but can also be a result of stress, boredom or lack of exercise.  Fatigue can also be a side effect of medication, synthetic hormones or toxins built up in the body. Just as your body can become addicted to stress, it can become addicted to fatigue: what better excuse to ignore a challenge than, "I'm too tired!"

Let's go straight to the nutrients that may help you throw off the chains of fatigue.  Vitamin C.  Omega-3's.  Caffeine.  Fiber.  Pro-biotics. Water.  Complex carbohydrates.  Polyphenols, phytonutrients and balanced electrolytes: magnesium, chloride, calcium, sodium, phosphorus and potassium.  Looking at this list we can see similarities with the foods that help fight stress (in fact, the list is almost identical) and if we dig a little deeper we can see similarities with foods that promote sleep.

Where do we find these nutrients?  Start with a cup of black coffee in the morning.  Poach an egg and have it with whole wheat toast, freshly ground pepper and put a grapefruit on the side.  Right there you have fiber, whole grains, protein, antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamin C and caffeine.  Grab a hand full of almonds and cashews, 1/8 cup of raisins, craisins, or dehydrated cherries, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and dark cocoa bits for a snack (rocky mountain trail mix sold in the organic foods section of your supermarket has all of these).  These ingredients will fill in the need for omega-3 fatty acids while delivering more polyphenols to your system.

For lunch enjoy something green:  broccoli salad with walnuts and olive oil; avocado and turkey on whole grain flat bread; spinach salad with strawberries and almonds;  spring greens and tomatoes with 2 or 3 ounces of lean meat or fish.  The greens provide phytonutrients, vitamin C and a plethora of other fatigue fighting nutrients while the grains and proteins offer lasting fuel.  Have a banana for an afternoon snack to help balance electrolytes.  For dinner, green beans, brussels sprouts, or asparagus aside pork tenderloin, chicken or flank steak.  If you are feeling it, enjoy a yogurt for dessert~

The number one tip for fighting stress, fatigue and lack of sleep is,  "Skip the 'white' and 'processed' food that you might normally indulge in."  White bread.  Mashed potatoes.  Pasta.  Chips and crackers.  Doughnuts.  White rice.  Breakfast cereal.  Muffins.  Biscuits....  Instead, eat real, whole, naturally occurring foods.  Drink plenty of water.  Give  your vitamins their vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands.  Fatigue is only an excuse keeping you from being the best version of yourself.

Anna~

What is Affordable?

Winter is fast approaching and farmer's markets in the north are beginning to dwindle.  Gardens are beginning to freeze and will soon be swept under blankets of snow.  Community garden centers, who offer seasonal produce, will soon only have kale and potatoes on their roster.  If you live in the south your available produce may be greater in numbers and longer in season, but winter crops are volatile and greatly supported by the global, or at least, continental market.  Supply and demand, subsidies and season all effect the price of food (another post completely), and, for some, seeking out farmer's markets to shop for daily goods is an expense that cannot be made.

The alternative to fresh food is processed impostors.  Let's take Mac n Cheese, a classic American favorite, to the table.  Where authentic whole grain pasta can run between $3 and $4 a pound, Prince pasta (enriched) runs between a buck and a buck and a half.  Where real cheddar cheese can run between $4 and $6 dollars a pound, Velveeta is half that and has coupons to boot.  So if you want Mac n' Cheese for dinner you might spend between $12 and $16 dollars on great, wholesome ingredients or you might spend $9 or $10 on more processed alternatives, or you might just buy 3 boxes of Kraft and spend $4.  Food companies make it very easy for us to afford a greater amount in processed alternatives, but the cost is much greater than that.

Let's go back to the beginning of my investigation for a moment:  You are what you eat; Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.  If food is the foundation of health and if you choose the food you eat, then it is a reasonable idea that you choose your health.  Your body can only make the things your body can make, but without the right food, the right nutrients, the right fats, the right minerals, the right fuel, your body will fail at even it's basic functions.

If you choose whole wheat pasta and aged cheese made from good quality milk taken from a grass fed cow, when you make your mac n' cheese you're adding wholesome calcium, complex carbohydrates, good protein, lasting fuel and needed calories to your body.  Pairing it with a steamed organic vegetable or crisp salad can fortify the meal with plentiful vitamins, photochemical and antioxidants.  If you choose the box you get chemically made cheese, enriched, processed pasta, chemical or synthetic vitamins, very little fuel, simple carbohydrates, a few more dollars in your wallet, and hunger soon to follow.

Does this answer the question?  Where can Affordable food be found?  No.  Maybe I need to take another approach.  Until I figure out how to illuminate affordability in five paragraphs or less I will just encourage you to eat real, naturally occurring food.  While you plan your meals against your budget, calm yourself with cool, clean water.  Remember to give your vitamins their vitamins, and, as always, remember to wash your hands.  Bear with me and my passion, dear reader, for affordability does not only apply to the grocery cart~

Anna~

What Does it Cost?

Mixed among the staples in the refrigerator and pantry are hidden treasures and poisonous gems.  A grand bowl of seasonal greens and nuts are more valuable than gold, while the tub of spreadable margarine isn't worth the plastic it comes in.  The loaf of whole wheat manufactured bread is a mediocre source of whole grains, and the condensed soup and its round bottom can can be a sodium and sugar pitfall.  We all know white bread is not made of whole grains, that condensed soup is a poor excuse for soup, and we even know margarine is a poor choice of added fat but we purchase the little bastards anyway.  Why?  Say it with me, readers...  "They are cheap!"

Shopping for real food is not only time consuming, but costly.  Real butter is more expensive than margarine.  Making chicken stock is time consuming and the soups on the shelves are cheap and ready made.  Organic is more costly than conventionally grown produce; frozen is less expensive than fresh; canned is less expensive than frozen.  Hormone free milk is more expensive, and grass fed beef can break the bank when feeding more than one.  To add insult to injury, there aren't very many coupons for fresh produce and cage free chickens.

So what can be done?  First, it takes a plan.  What days of the week are you going to be home?  How many meals do you anticipate eating out?  How much money can be allotted for food?  How many people are at your table?  What season is it?  Knowing the answers to these questions can help you realistically shop and can eliminate wasted or unused produce.  I shop for 5-7 days at a time for 5 (including growing children) so I understand that it is no delightful task, but throwing away something that costs more to buy fresh is even less enjoyable.  Fruits and veggies are necessary staples in any diet; the benefits of fresh certainly outweigh the cost.

Take it one step further and plan for multipurpose meals.  Roast a great looking' chicken on Monday and use it for chicken soup, quesadillas, enchiladas or on a garden salad throughout the week.  A good roaster can cost anywhere from 8 to 20 bucks~  use every bit!  Boil the carcass with onions, garlic, celery, carrots, salt and herbs and freeze the yield so when a recipe calls for chicken stock/bouillon you have it on hand.  The same with pork roast; roast and root vegetables on Tuesday, bbq pork sandies and coleslaw on Thursday.  Beef roast on Wednesday with tomatoes and wild rice, then beef and broccoli over egg noodles on Saturday afternoon.  Utilize leftovers by repurposing the main dish!  If the budget doesn't support the grass fed varieties, choose good quality meats that fit your budget. Remember, you don't need meat at every meal.

Another tip?  Make some bread.  This week I made bread with my daughter via my mother's 'beginner's' recipe.  Whole wheat and white flour, milk, yeast, water, sugar, real butter, a bit of olive oil and a little bit of time produced great bread and much fun.  Because I had all of the ingredients and because I purchased all of the ingredients to support other recipes, the bread didn't really cost us a thing!  I encourage you all to eat as much real food as you can, to wash it in with water, to give your vitamins their vitamins, and to remember to wash your hands (especially if you are going to make bread).

Anna~