February 1st is tomorrow!  If you are joining me for the 30 Day Challenge, this is what your plate should look like.  Yes, you will eat a variety of whole, delicious foods and LOSE WEIGHT doing it.  

As pictured, half of your plate should be loaded with vegetables, cooked and or raw--the more you pile on the better.  The other half of the plate should be what I like to refer to as the "starchy" half of the plate.  This is where you will be putting your whole grains--brown rice, quinoa, whole grain pasta, etc., and or some sort of plant protein such as chickpeas, lentils, black beans, pinto beans, tofu, etc.  

I'm sure this way of eating is "foreign" to many people.  We are so accustomed to eating meat, (being the center of the plate), potatoes and vegetables.  This way of eating is just pushing the meat and dairy off the plate, and replacing those foods with a variety of vegetables, starches, and a different type of protein.  Plant protein gives our body exactly what it needs to keep us healthy--and plant protein provides us with not only a host of vitamins, but this type of protein is loaded with FIBER--something that is so lacking in the Standard American Diet, (SAD).  

So many people are so concerned with protein--that is the LEAST of our worries--we need to be concerned with FIBER instead.  When you eat a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet, you will get a boat load of FIBER which will lower cholesterol, stabilize blood sugar, "scrub" your intestines out to keep things running smoothly, keep us feeling full, and helps us LOSE WEIGHT FASTER!!!

This way of eating does not have to be labor intensive--it can be as simple as eating a huge salad loaded with all kinds of vegetables, a handful of chickpeas on top and air-fried potatoes--YUM!!

Here is a guideline for what your day should look like:

BREAKFAST:  Rolled/Steel Cut oats sprinkled with cinnamon and fruit on top
LUNCH:  Big vegetable salad and a bowl of soup
DINNER:  Steamed broccoli with rice and beans

Here are a few recipes to help you out:

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However, you don't necessarily need to follow any recipes--you can just throw together whatever veggies you have on hand into a soup pot of water with some vegetable bullion, whatever seasonings you like, and a can of beans--and there you have it--soup!

Again, this is not rocket science, but it does require effort on your part.  You have to shop for your staple items, I find it absolutely necessary to batch cook potatoes, rice, and a big pot of soup for the week, and you can literally have food on the table in 15-20 minutes.  Delicious, healthy food that will give you the results you are looking for!

Why wouldn't you try this for 30 days?  Your body will thank you........

Our 30 Day Challenge will be here in 3 more days!!  Are you ready?  Do you have your kitchen cleaned out??

The secret to success is having a plan in place.  Remember my motto:  Fail to plan, plan to fail.  

All the tempting foods that call our name need to be either out of the house, (preferred), or out of sight if other family members will be eating these foods.  Another favorite motto of mine is:  If it's in the house it's in your mouth!  We want to be as compliant as possible--the bigger the changes you make, the BIGGER the results you will get.

Over the next few days, get to the grocery store to pick up a few staple items:  potatoes, (white or sweet or a mix), brown rice, beans, (chickpeas, lentils, black beans, red beans, white beans, any kind of beans you like), and the beans can be in a can if you don't want to make your own from dry beans, frozen vegetables and frozen fruit.  These are the foods that will not go bad on you quickly.  Of course, the frozen foods will last for months.

The produce that you will be buying will be greens, (romaine, spring mix, 50/50 blend--whatever you like), bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, scallions, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli--whatever you like--but until you are ready to start eating these foods, hold off on buying them.  These are the foods that will spoil if they are just sitting in your fridge for days.  However, once you get started on this lifestyle, you should be having a GIANT SALAD everyday--YES, EVERYDAY.  

Now, salad is NOT the only food we will be eating--NO ONE can just eat salad.  BUT, to give your body all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and immune fighting "ammunition", you NEED to eat a variety of vegetables and fruits daily.  The best way to get a large amount of these foods into your diet is a big salad.  

Once you eat your salad, (which it's best to have one before your lunch and your dinner), then we will go on to eat the "main course".  That may be a loaded baked potato, stir fry vegetables over brown rice, pasta primevera, etc.  It's not just about eating lettuce--BUT, eating a salad prior to the main course starts to fill your stomach up.  There's very little calories in vegetables, so by eating the veggies first, and then eating the main course, your stomach will be full and your calorie count will be low. 

With that being said, this is not a "diet that requires you to count calories".  This is just the opposite--when you eat the right foods, you eat when you're hungry and stop when you are full, no "portion control" or counting calories required--that's the beauty of this lifestyle.  You can literally eat a LARGE VOLUME of food and LOSE WEIGHT!!!

So, get your kitchen "cleaned out" and start stocking up on the foods we will be eating for 30 days!  Again, the 4 Food Groups we will be choosing our foods from are:

1. Vegetables
2. Fruits
3. Whole grains (Brown rice, quinoa, farro, millet)
4. Legumes (beans, peas and lentils)

Don't worry that you don't know what some of the whole grains are--stick with what you know you like so you are not wasting any money/food.  This is a VERY EASY way of eating--however, it does require effort on your part as you will need to be preparing these foods at home.  You will not be able to eat out 3-4 times a week at a restaurant and get the results you want--it just will not happen.  Restaurant foods may taste delicious--the reason being those dishes are loaded with fat, salt and sugar.  That's why it tastes "so good".  

However, once we get those "foods" off our plate, your palate will absolutely change and you will lose your craving for those foods.  

So, Saturday is the first day of the challenge.  Here's what your day should look like:

BREAKFAST:  Rolled oats sprinkled with cinnamon and topped with fruits (any kind of fruit, fresh or frozen)
LUNCH:  Large salad (greens, peppers, onions, shredded carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms, shredded cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, a handful of beans) with a bowl of soup
DINNER:  Loaded baked potato
DESSERT:  Fruit--fresh or frozen

Remember, we are going to be "batch cooking" so putting meals together will not be too time consuming.  So bake a large cookie sheet full of potatoes, white and sweet, so they are ready to go for the week.  Put them in a ziplock bag in the fridge so they are ready to reheat during the week.  Cook up a big batch of brown rice, or get the Success Brown Rice--that takes 10 minutes to cook--easy!  Make a big pot of soup for the week so you can grab it and go.

Here are the recipes for the loaded baked potato as well as a soup recipe.  If there's something you don't like in the recipe, swap it out.  You don't even need to follow a recipe--these are just guidelines for you.

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I am very excited--one week from today is the beginning of our 30 Day Challenge.  February 1st--Let the journey begin!  

A Whole Food Plant Based, (WFPB) lifestyle does not need to be complicated--it can be extremely simple.  Now, with that being said, let me just say if you are eating a Standard American Diet, (SAD), fried chicken, cheese burgers, pizza smothered with cheese and dripping with oil, doughnuts, pastries, french fries, chicken wings, etc., transitioning over to a WFPB "diet" may be slightly "challenging" in the beginning.  However, this is a CHALLENGE after all.

Why will this be challenging?  Because your taste buds are "used to" those highly addictive substances--when you eat a SAD, the foods are loaded with salt, sugar and fat--ingredients our taste buds "love", but wreak havoc with our body.  These foods damage our health, (high blood pressure, heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity), and pack the pounds on us easily.  

However, once we get away from these types of food, our palate WILL CHANGE.  It will not happen overnight...it takes a little time, but once we get over that hump, the cravings are gone and the whole foods taste delicious.  The secret to success with this way of eating is to completely abstain from the foods that are making us sick--that means, don't let yourself take just "one bite" of that chicken or pizza or cookie--if you keep giving yourself "just one", you will never allow yourself to lose that "craving".  Once you completely get rid of that food, the craving for it will disappear.

This way of eating can be as simple as you want it to be.  We are choosing foods from Four Food Groups:

1.  Vegetables--this group includes non-starchy vegetables as well as starchy vegetables (potatoes, squash, corn, etc.)
2.  Fruits--all fruit
3.  Whole Grains--oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice as well as many other whole grains
4.  Legumes--chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, black beans, cannelini beans, white beans, red beans, etc.

A typical day of eating could look like this:  Breakfast--oatmeal with cinnamon and fruit.  Lunch-- veggie loaded salad with a giant bowl of soup.  Dinner--salad, vegetable stir-fry, and fruit crumble for dessert.  If you are truly hungry in between meals, have a piece of fruit or vegetables dipped in hummus (oil-free).  

Batch cooking is another GREAT TIP to make this successful.  Because we will be eating a lot of potatoes, rice, whole grains, vegetables and beans, by cooking these dishes in advance, putting meals together during the week will be easy!  For instance, I roast cookie sheets full of potatoes once a week as well as making a batch of rice.  I also make a big pot of soup once a week.  By doing this, you are not spending hours in the kitchen preparing food everyday.  Let's face it, no one has time to do that.  

If you have your "staple" foods prepared and ready to go, you would be able to come home from work, take a cooked potato out of the refrigerator, stir fry some vegetables, (fresh or frozen, it doesn't matter), with a tasty sauce, microwave your potato just to heat it through and pour those vegetables on top of it and dinner is done!  How long will that take you?  About 10-15 minutes tops--talk about "fast food"!!

So, at this point, you should be starting to clean out your kitchen of all the foods we will not be eating during this 30 Day Challenge, and start stocking up on potatoes, rice, beans, all kinds of vegetables and fruits.  I typically buy a lot of frozen vegetables and fruits this time of year because they are cheaper.  I do make GIANT salads everyday, so I tend to stick to  fresh vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers, cucumbers, onions, etc., to make my salads.  Also, the salads that I eat as a "meal" contain potatoes, rice, beans, etc.  This way of eating is not just about eating vegetables, you MUST eat starches also to keep yourself feeling full and satisfied.  

Foods to stock up on this week:

• Potatoes, white and or sweet
• Brown rice  (Success rice has a boil-in-bag version which is fine but more pricey than bagged brown rice)
• Frozen vegetables--get a variety
• Frozen fruit
• Legumes--any kind you like--black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, white beans, etc.
• Whole grains--oatmeal, (the cooked kind, not instant), quinoa, barley, etc.

This is a good start.  Fresh fruits and vegetables you will need to use your judgement on.  I don't want you to buy the fresh produce unless you know you will be using it up.  I typically buy the big containers of organic greens at Walmart as I eat a lot of greens weekly--the big containers at Walmart are so much cheaper than the grocery stores, like $2 cheaper.  However, you have to gauge how much you will use over the course of the week so you are not throwing food away.  I like to eat a salad for both lunch and dinner so I go through greens very quickly.  I will also teach you how to batch prep salads so you aren't chopping vegetables every single day.

So, get that kitchen cleaned out and sharpen your knives--February 1st will be here before you know it!!

Fail to plan, plan to fail.......

Diets do not work.  Most "diets" are centered around the main concept of calorie restriction--and this is the REASON why they don't work.  As long as our willpower holds out, we will most likely lose weight.  However, because we are focused on "calories" and not really on what KIND of calories we are consuming, we just can't seem to follow a "diet" long term.  Once we get the weight off, in time, it comes right back on.  WHY????  Why do we work so hard to get it off and then we just can't seem to maintain that loss.

The answer is really very simple.  We are not eating the "right" foods--the foods that our body needs to keep us healthy, keep our immune system running strong, and give us the energy we are all looking for.  When we get the food right, everything else falls into place--health, energy, and weight loss.

If you look at the picture above, it shows us what 500 calories look like in our stomach.  The first picture is oil--that's 500 calories worth of oil--that certainly will not keep us full, it clogs our arteries, and there is just about no nutritional value in that 500 calories.  

The next picture is cheese--oh boy--who doesn't LOVE cheese??  500 calories of cheese barely fills the bottom of our stomach--it comes packaged with a boat load of salt, saturated artery-clogging fat, cholesterol and zero fiber.  So many calories and very little nutritional value for our body.  And did I mention the amount of cholesterol in cheese??

Next picture is meat--at least it fills us slightly more than the cheese, BUT, what are we getting from the meat?  Well, we are getting more cholesterol, saturated fat, the link to colon cancer and meat is well-known, and, what most people do not know is when you cook meat, something called hetero-cyclic amines form on the surface of the meat which are highly carcinogenic.  Another cancer causing substance--and we wonder why so many people in today's world have been diagnosed with cancer.

The next picture is potatoes, beans and rice--look how full our stomach is getting for those 500 calories.  So many people are afraid of starches--what the majority of people don't know is this type of starch is so good for us and it keeps us satiated.  These foods are filled with fiber, vitamins and minerals--as a matter of fact, one of the most nutritious meals we can have is a meal of rice and beans--easy, fast, filling, spice it up and it is delicious!  Not to mention, it is not EXPENSIVE.  So many people will say they can't afford to eat healthy---What??  Potatoes, rice and beans are CHEAP!  

The last picture is fruits and vegetables--our stomach is filled to the brim for those 500 calories.  Not to mention, the vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and FIBER come packaged with all those fruits and vegetables.  Everything our body NEEDS to keep us healthy and strong comes from plants.  

So, when we absolutely FILL OUR PLATE with a variety of  vegetables, starches, fruits, and beans, we are not only filling our stomach up with delicious foods, but we do NOT have to count calories, use portion control, weigh and measure food, etc.  We can lose weight with a full plate and never have to be hungry again!

If this way of eating is something you think you would like to try, I will be posting recipes for a 30 Day Challenge of eating a Whole Food Plant Based diet starting February 1st.  

I am also offering a Nutritional Seminar on two consecutive Saturdays, February 1st and 8th, 10-11:30 in my Watervliet office.  The cost is $50--you will receive so much information on how to transition to this way of eating, tips, tricks and recipes.  If you want to Lose Weight With a Full Plate, come and join us--drop me a line so I can reserve your seat at my table!

I think we can all agree, America has an obesity problem.  Not only have we put on all this weight, but our chronic disease rates have skyrocketed--type 2 diabetes, (what once was called Adult Onset Diabetes, had to be changed to Type 2 diabetes because our 9 and 10 year olds are being diagnosed with this), hypertension, high cholesterol, acid reflux, arthritis, diverticulitis, gout, etc., etc.   What is happening?  We live in the United States with great healthcare, how can this be happening.

Let me give you some statistics--people in the US spend the MOST money on healthcare costs, but we are not the healthiest country of people--we are ranked as #40.  Not so healthy.....but there are people profiting from our bad habits in this country--the "food" industry, pharmaceutical companies, and, because we have so many "chronic diseases", health care providers and hospitals are lining their pockets with our money all in the name of "trying to keep us healthy".  We do not have a healthcare system, we have a disease-care system.

It doesn't have to be this way!!  We have within our power to PREVENT DISEASE, STOP DISEASE, and most times REVERSE DISEASE with our lifestyle choices.  Follow the science, what I am telling you is all BACKED BY SCIENCE.  

Unfortunately, most physicians are not educated, truly educated in nutrition.  However, Kaiser Permanente is the nation's largest managed healthcare system with hundreds of participating physicians--they have followed the SCIENCE of the benefits of Lifestyle Medicine, (i.e. not smoking, getting exercise, eating a whole food plant based diet), and have literally turned the health around for thousands of their members.  Kaiser is now educating their physicians on a whole food plant based diet, what it is and how to transition patients over to eating this way, and by doing this, they are saving thousands and thousands of dollars in health care costs.  Healthy people don't cost insurance company money.  Healthy people aren't on a laundry list of medications.  Healthy people aren't spending a lot of time in doctor's offices.  Healthy people don't require medical procedures.  

Everything in moderation doesn't work for many people.  Why?  Everyone says "everything in moderation" can be healthy.  The food industry has created "food" that tastes absolutely delicious--they have brilliant scientists coming up with all these "flavors" that are highly addicting, so much so that we just can't get enough.  The reason for this is some of these ingredients hit our brain receptors just like drugs do.  They hit our "pleasure receptors" making us want more and more.  Our bodies were NOT designed to eat this type of "food"--this is food made in a laboratory, not food found in nature.  Our body does not know what to do with all these ingredients that are not found in nature....therefore, these ingredients are stored as fat in our body.  Our body is very intelligent--it will try and protect us from "foreign invaders" as best it can, but when we continually abuse our body daily, it will start to break down over time and then we end up with some kind of chronic disease.  

For many of us struggling to get our health back and take pounds off, we must stay away from the foods that got us here to begin with.  Once we eliminate the "foods" that are making us sick and fill our plates with the foods that promote health, our palate will change.  It doesn't happen overnight--we didn't get in the predicament we are in overnight, but give yourself 3-4 weeks, your palate will change and your body will be CRAVING the HEALTHY food.  

However, if you decide one cookie won't hurt, or a bite of that won't kill you, guess what--you're sabotaging yourself--you won't get over that "craving" for sugar, or dairy, or whatever food it is that you think you love.  Eat really clean for 3-4 weeks and the cravings will absolutely vanish--gone.  Give yourself a little moderation--you will NEVER get to where you want to be.

In order to get BIG RESULTS, (reduce/eliminate medication, drop weight), you need to make BIG CHANGES.  However, once you learn HOW to do this, (it isn't rocket science), the only question you will have is "why did I wait so long?"

I am doing a 30 Day Challenge starting February 1st.  All the information will be right here on this blog.  

If you need hands-on help, I am offering a two day Nutritional Seminar, February 1 and 8th from 10-11:30 at my Watervliet office.  The cost is $50--it will be the BEST $50 you ever spent! 

Because seating is limited, please drop me a line so I can save you a seat!

Permanent, healthy weight loss....this is what so many of us are looking for.  What we eat everyday, day in and day out, is more powerful on our body than ANYTHING else.  If you go to the gym everyday and spend 2 hours doing cardio and lifting weights, YOU WILL NOT GET THE RESULTS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IF YOUR DIET ISN'T "RIGHT".  Period.  You cannot "exercise away" your bad food choices.  You. Just. Can't.

However, when the food is "right", our health soars AND the numbers on the scale plummet whether you exercise or not.  Now, I'm not saying exercise is not necessary, it is--it keeps us flexible, tones our muscles, when we work our muscles they "feed" our bones--everyone should be moving for at least 30 minutes a day, even if it is just walking.  But for optimal health and weight loss, it's all about the food we put in our mouth.

What I promote is NOT a DIET.  Diets do not work!  This is a comprehensive program that promotes weight loss better than any diet ever could.  Diets promote calorie restriction--this lifestyle doesn't count calories or anything else.  

Researchers have found certain factors that are critical to the success of long-term weight control:

• Certain foods add easily to fat stores
• Certain foods will alter your metabolism so calories are burned more efficiently
• Weight loss should be gradual not sudden
• Most importantly, a low-fat menu, high in fiber and carbs, but modest in protein is EXTREMELY powerful for weight control.

Diets focus mostly on quantity--a whole food plant based diet focuses on the "type" of food rather than the quantity of food.  Eating this way allows you to eat until you are full, but you STILL LOSE WEIGHT.  The type of food is much more IMPORTANT for permanent weight control than the portion size.  

This is the science--when we cut way back on eating, our metabolism slows down--our body is extremely smart--our body will "hang on" to the fat stores to save as much of the fat it can.  This is very frustrating!!  This slowed metabolism can go on for weeks beyond the "dieting" period.  For this reason, fat is easily and rapidly accumulated again after the dieting period has ended.  This is the yo-yo phenomenon--dieters lose weight then re-bound to a higher weight than when they started.  This is the reason why diets just do not work.

So, if you are ready to get off this roller coaster, join my 30 Day Challenge which begins February 1st.  This is a Whole Food Plant Based lifestyle that will give you your health back, help you to reduce/eliminate medications, and give you the energy you are looking for.  

I am also offering a two-day class explaining what a Whole Food Plant Based, (WFPB) lifestyle is, how to transition to it from the standard American diet, (SAD), and how to put healthy, delicious meals together very simply. 

The first class is February 1st, the second class is February 8th--10-11:30 both days, and they will be held at my office in Watervliet.  The cost is $50.  If you would like to join us, please let me know as seating is limited.

I hope to see you all at my table so you can take back control of your health one meal at a time!

The most comprehensive analysis of the causes of death ever undertaken was published recently in the Lancet, one of the world's leading medical journals.  This study is called the Global Burden of Disease, which involved nearly 500 researchers from more than 300 institutions in 50 countries and examined nearly 100,000 data sources.  Wow!

So much information came out of these studies--information that every single American should know about--information that I believe should be in the daily news, and information that I believe every physician in this country should pass on to their patients.  However, this is certainly not the case.  Why?  The answer to that question gets a little "sticky".  

We have to remember the American public is up against Big Pharma--Pharmaceutical companies are one of the richest industries in this country.  Why wouldn't they be--they have brilliant lobbyist and have billions of dollars behind them.  The American people are led to believe they need a pill for every aliment they may have.  And believe me, there is a pill for anything that ails you.  However, taking medication is NOT the ANSWER to your medical issues.

So, what information came out of the above study?  Well, the number-one risk factor for death in the world they identified is high blood pressure.  High blood pressure lays waste to nearly 9 million people worldwide every year.  It kills so many people because it contributes to death from a variety of causes, including aneurysms, heart attacks, heart failure, kidney failure and stroke.

Increased blood pressure puts a a strain on the heart and can damage the sensitive blood vessels in your eyes and kidneys, cause bleeding in the brain, and even lead to certain arteries to balloon and rupture. In the US, about 1 in every 3 people have hypertension.  

Studies have been done proving when we eat a low sodium diet centered around whole plant foods--whole grains, beans, vegetables, fruits, and dark leafy vegetables, there is no hypertension!  High blood pressure, then, appears to be a choice.  You can choose to eat the Standard American Diet, (SAD), or you can choose to take off the pressure. 

There have been hundreds of studies done to date that show after just one salty meal, not only does our blood pressure increase but the arteries actually begin to stiffen.  People think that because  they are not adding salt to their food, they aren't eating a lot of salt.  Not the case!  The food industry uses dirt-cheap salt and sugar in all of their foods to make it taste good and preserve it for a very long time allowing that "food" to sit on a store shelf for months.  

For instance, meat--who thinks about salt in meat?  Well, let me educate you--the meat industry adds salt to meat to draw in water.  This way, the meat industry can increase the weight of the meat by nearly 20%--more weight, more profit.  Chicken has more salt in it than a large McDonald's fries or a serving of salted pretzels!  The poultry industry injects the chicken carcasses to increase their weight and can still label the chicken as "100 percent natural".  Consumer Reports found that some supermarket chicken were so pumped full of salt that they registered 840 mg of sodium per serving!!  No one ever thinks about salt in meat.

What foods can lower blood pressure?  Studies reveal that a diet rich in whole grains give you the SAME benefits as blood pressure medication.  Now, the grains have to be WHOLE grains, not REFINED grains.  By whole grains I mean oats, brown rice, whole wheat, etc.  Refined grains, white bread, white rice, crackers, etc., have shown to increase your risk for high blood pressure.  

Other foods that help lower blood pressure are flaxseeds, hibiscus tea and nitrate-rich vegetables.  Cooked and raw vegetables will help lower blood pressure, but raw veggies are slightly more protective.  Loading up on beans, split peas, chickpeas and lentils also help to bring down blood pressure as well as fruits.

So, the choice is yours--deal with high blood pressure and the medication, and all the side effects that come with it, OR, push the foods off our plate that causes it, and load our plates with the foods that can PREVENT it, STOP it and REVERSE it--the only side effect by doing with a WFPB diet is WEIGHT LOSS.  

The truth is, eliminating the primary risk for death may be simple:  no drugs, no scalpels, just forks.

Imagine finding a way to eat that makes you feel fantastic--you have an abundance of energy, you have no aches or pains, and you can LOSE weight and MAINTAIN your weight without counting calories or worry about portion control.  To put the frosting on the cake, what if this way of eating also could actually PREVENT type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancers and even REVERSE existing chronic diseases--REALLY??

A Whole Food Plant-Based "diet", (WFPB) has been scientifically PROVEN to do all of this--it all starts with the food we put in our mouth.  When we follow this way of eating, we will be choosing foods that have no nutritional labels on them--foods that we find in the produce aisle--there are no "labels" on peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, apples, or oranges....these are whole foods.  They are grown in nature with nothing added to them or ingredients removed from them.  Our goal is to eat as "minimally" processed as possible.  For instance, Almond Milk, a plant-based milk, is minimally processed--the "milk" is made from the almond--we don't find Almond Milk in nature--so minimally processed foods are acceptable.  A Little Debbie's snack, on the other hand, is an extremely processed "food" that comes with an ingredient list a paragraph long.  Not to mention, we can't even pronounce some of those ingredients let alone know what they are.  

It's very easy to get caught up in the processed food trap--they are easy to eat, are readily available, and the food industry makes sure the "taste" of these foods are delicious.  They are made with so much salt, sugar and fat, not to mention all kinds of preservatives to make them shelf-stable--but these food, over time, will break down our bodies and make us sick.  These foods may not hurt you today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually you will suffer the consequences, and often times they are deadly consequences.  

The choice you make, several times a day, to eat one type of food and not another, is the MOST IMPORTANT choice you  could possibly make for your own health.  As long as you still eat every day, it's never too late to start.

There is a wealth of evidence that those who eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes live longer and HEALTHIER lives and avoid chronic disease.  

If you would like to give this lifestyle a try, join me for a 30 Day Challenge which begins on February 1st.  I will give you the information you will need to put this all together with SIMPLE RECIPES.  During this challenge, our goal will be to eat real food, nothing in a box, bottle, carton, package that comes with an ingredient list a paragraph long.  That is not food--it's a food-like substance that was made in a laboratory.

For this challenge, we will be staying away from animal products--meat, dairy, poultry, fish as well as processed foods and of course fast foods.  Over the next few weeks, I will give you the scientific REASONS whey we need to push these foods off our plates--all the information I give you is scientifically backed. 

We will, however, be piling our plates high with the colors of the rainbow--a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes that will give our body what it needs to give us our health back AND LOSE WEIGHT!

Remember:  "You are free to choose, but your are not free from the consequences of  your choice."

This is a quick over-view of how a whole food plant based diet looks.  As #1 shows you, the center of your plate will be starchy foods like potatoes, beans, and whole grains.  These are the foods that will keep us feeling full and satisfied and these foods also come packed with FIBER--something that is desperately lacking in the American diet.  The benefits of fiber are amazing:

• Normalizes bowel movements and helps maintain bowel health:  prevents hemorrhoids and diverticular disease
• Lowers cholesterol levels
• Stabilizes blood sugar levels
• Aids in achieving a healthy weight (keeps us feeling full longer)
• Helps you live longer--studies show dietary fiber decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancers

Where do we get fiber?  Fiber comes from PLANTS--How much fiber is there in animal products--ZERO!  Fiber is found only in the plant kingdom.  Great sources of fiber are:

• Whole grains
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Legumes (beans, peas and lentils)
• Nuts and seeds

So many people are so concerned with PROTEIN--how will I ever get enough protein eating this way?  Protein is NOT our concern--You will get plenty of protein eating a plant based diet.  What we all NEED to be concerned about is the amount of FIBER we get in our diet.  Fiber keeps everything running smoothly!!

When we follow a Whole Food Plant Based diet, we are giving our body EVERYTHING it needs, all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber it needs daily.  It also will give us all the protein and calcium we need--it is a MYTH to think we MUST eat meat and drink dairy for a healthy body.  Take a look around...we are in an obesity epidemic, diabetes epidemic, and heart disease still remains our #1 Killer.  It's the food......

I know it's a very "different" way of eating, most of us were raised on meat, potatoes and vegetables in that order.  What I am suggesting everyone do is fill your plate with the potatoes and vegetables, and push the meat over the edge of that plate!

February 1st--the beginning of our 30 Day Challenge--will be here before we know it.  Not only will you be feeding your body everything it needs for optimal health without counting anything, but the side effect you WILL experience is WEIGHT LOSS!!  

The best thing about eating this way--you will LOSE WEIGHT WITH A FULL PLATE--no calorie counting necessary!

Because so many of us are confused about nutrition, I don't think people realize the just how POWERFUL food can be.  There are so many studies out there, (Nutritionfacts.org is a plethora of evidence based information) showing that food can be more POWERFUL than medication.  Yes, that is a true statement!

For instance, did you know ground flaxseed can bring down blood pressure more effectively than blood pressure medication?  So many people just don't know this.  Unfortunately, no one has the ability to become rich promoting flaxseeds, but pharmaceutical companies become extremely rich promoting pills.  Of course, with the pills come a laundry list of side effects.  With flaxseeds, not only will your blood pressure come down, but you will be getting Omega 3's, they are rich in nutrients, help lower cholesterol, high in fiber, have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer, are a high-quality protein, lower blood sugar and helps to keep hunger at bay.  That little flax seed has the power to do all that!!

Because so many of us are just not educated in nutrition, (that includes physicians, they only get approximately 2-4 HOURS of nutritional education), we just don't have this knowledge.  Our physicians are trained to DIAGNOSE a DISEASE and prescribe a medication for the symptoms.  Unfortunately, this is not "curing" anything.  

Don't get me wrong, we absolutely need antibiotics to kill bacterial infections, (bacterial, not viruses), as untreated bacterial infections can become serious.  However, the chronic diseases we have in this country, i.e., high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, acid reflux, etc., medications prescribed do NOT CURE ANYTHING.  The medication will MANAGE the symptoms, but that's about it.  

I believe we need to get to the ROOT of the problem and FIX IT--get rid of it.  As science proves to us, this can absolutely be accomplished with a PLANT BASED DIET.  The food we put on our plates has the potential to give us the HEALTH we all so richly deserve.

To learn HOW to transition over to a more plant-based diet, jump on board!  Our 30 Day Challenge will begin on February 1st.  All you have to do is come to this website for all the information, instructions and recipes you will need.

It's so simple it doesn't sound like it will "work", but for every person I have worked with, this way of eating never failed!  

The only side effect from this--WEIGHT LOSS.....