Convenient but Healthy
In our workshops, we talk about the importance of preparing your own meals, and eating foods as close to their natural state as possible. There is no controversy – the health benefits are great!
And most healthy meals are actually very convenient. Cut up some veggies, add oil, lemon, salt and pepper, and you have a salad. Throw oats, berries, nuts and almond milk in a bowl, and you have a power breakfast. Get a piece of wild salmon, salt it lightly, and bake or broil with some steamed broccoli for a fast dinner.
But sometimes, it’s nice to have some help. You may not want to create everything yourself, either because you don’t have the time, or you don’t enjoy it. Either way, the good news is that while we don’t encourage eating many of pre-packaged or pre-prepared foods, there are some healthier options out there. I thought I’d share some of my favorites.
The Deli at Natural Grocery Stores
This is my favorite. The deli section of places like PCC and Whole Foods can be heaven to those who are health-conscious but short on time. Pre-made items are often made right there, with fresh ingredients. Bonus: you can taste them before you buy! My favorite (as many of you already know), is PCC’s Emerald City Salad. I also love their Perfect Protein salad and veggie wraps!
Snacks
The healthiest snacks can be the most convenient, such as whole pieces of fruit, veggie sticks, and nuts. However, here are some other ideas:
- Trader Joe’s Roasted Seaweed Snacks: I just discovered this last week. Sea vegetables are nutritional powerhouses. I’m in search of an organic version of this, so let me know if you see one! It is absolutely delicious!
- Fruit Leather: This is a no-brainer. Home-made fruit leather tastes way superior, but unless you have a heavy-duty dehydrator, it’s not easy.
- Apple Sauce: Another no-brainer. But have you thought about adding it to oatmeal?
- Beef/Turkey Jerky: Organic jerky is readily available, and great to gnaw on, especially on hikes.
- Apple chips: Dried apples keep well, and are usually not sweetened, unlike other dried fruit.
Meals & Sides
Aside from great main and side dishes offered at natural grocery stores (and quick meal ideas listed at the top), you may find that the products below can save you time and energy.
- Kelp Noodles: These are nutritious, raw, gluten-free, dairy-free, and convenient! Just take them out of the package, rinse. If you want to make them softer, you can soak them in lemon juice and rinse, or cook them slightly. You can toss these in your favorite sauce, and serve!
- Elevate Me! Bars: These are bars that we get when we go to Dr. Chestnut’s Eat Well – Move Well – Think Well camps. My favorite is the original flavor. They are nutritious and delicious.
- Granola: The bulk section of a natural grocery store always has many varieties of granola. You can eat them plain, with almond milk, or sprinkled on a bowl of fruit. Just check for sugar content on some of these granolas, as they can get a bit carried away.
- Gluten-free Pasta: Pastas are easy, but grains shouldn’t take up a large portion of your diet. If you do go with pasta, choose a gluten-free pasta, so at least you are limiting the damage to your health. Dress it up with pesto, tomato, meat sauce, or a lovely olive oil-based sauce (don’t forget the garlic!) Add some vegetables to the sauce to increase the percentage of veggies in your meal.
- Wolfgang Puck’s Organic Soups: I admit, canned soups have very little nutritional value. But they are sure convenient, and can be tasty. Instead of having a meal of just canned soup, consider having some soup with a big salad. Of the various organic soups, Wolfgang Puck’s vegetable soup is our favorite.
- Organic Sloppy Joe’s Mix: Transform your organic, grass-fed ground beef into something yummy. PCC carries an organic Sloppy Joe mix that you can whip up quickly. Instead of the traditional bun, try scooping it onto cabbage leaves instead.
For the Sweet Tooth
- Organic frozen berries with chocolate sauce: Scoop some berries onto a small plate, and pour a bit of hot chocolate sauce (melted chocolate thinned with almond milk, and a little vanilla) on top. The hot sauce will melt the berries slightly, and voila! Dessert.
- PCC’s Vegan Carrot Cake: I love to cook, but I don’t bake. When a birthday rolls around, I often turn to this cake. Don’t let the vegan label drive you away – non-vegans will lick their plates clean.
Like I said, the best approach is to prepare your foods from scratch, and the healthiest meals are the easiest. There are many ideas and recipes on our Facebook site, www.facebook.com/LiveWellUSA. Just go to the “Discussion” section to find recipes from us, as well as our Facebook Friends!
Get off the Iceberg
When we think about chronic illness, it’s easy to think that somehow, the body has stopped working properly. Somewhere along the way, the body has started to malfunction. That’s why we get sick, right? No, that’s not why! Ready for a perspective shift?
Our bodies are sick because it is in a chronic state of stress. Stress can be caused by anything that elicits a stress response in the body – an attack from a tiger, an unhealthy meal, lack of movement, and negative emotions. Stress in and of itself isn’t always bad, and in fact, we are brilliantly wired to deal with stress, and survive when our life is threatened. However, we are not wired to deal with CHRONIC stress. Let me explain.
Let’s imagine you see a tiger and it starts coming your way. Once you recognize this threat, the stress response is initiated. Your mind and body respond in multiple ways, and here are just a few:
- All fear and protection, fight or flight functions are increased (i.e. heart rate, blood pressure, increased blood pressure, etc.)
- All growth and repair activities are down regulated (i.e. growth hormones, digestion, immune system (not needed until you survive), sex drive etc.)
- Areas of brain for logical behavior and short-term memory are inhibited, and areas of brain for emotional learning and instinctual behavior get stimulated (no time for logical thinking)
- Sensitivity of sensory systems is increased, resulting in heightened senses but loss of concentration (enables quick reactions)
It’s brilliant. Your body and mind does this choreographed, highly intelligent dance. What is the purpose of this dance?
The sole purpose of the stress response is to BUY YOU TIME. It buys you time to change your environment. It allows you to fight the tiger, or run from it. Either way, you are changing your environment.
Humans are great at responding to stress, and then recovering from it quickly. We are designed for it. However, we are not designed to stay in the stress response hour after hour, day after day, year after year.
Yet, that is exactly what we are doing to ourselves. No wonder our bodies are breaking down! The breakdown is seen through chronic disease, which is what accounts for 75% of deaths in our society.
The kicker is, our minds and bodies will go into a stress response regardless of whether or not the tiger is real or imagined. It will go into a stress response when you are being physically attacked, or if you are thinking about your mortgage, or gritting your teeth in traffic…
You get the idea.
Your body also goes into a stress response anytime your body detects a toxicity or deficiency in what you eat, how you move, and how you think.
Here is another great analogy from The Wellness Paradigm. Imagine we are on an iceberg.
In response to this stress, our bodies will start to pool blood away from extremities and shift it to your brain and organs. This is an extremely intelligent response, because your innate intelligence is allowing your big toe to die in order to save your organs and brain, which is required for survival.
Again, the stress response is BUYING YOU TIME TO CHANGE YOUR ENVIRONMENT. It is giving you time to get off that iceberg.
It doesn’t matter what drug you take on the iceberg, if you don’t get off the iceberg, it’s over. You could develop a drug to stop the pooling of blood to your organs and to your brain and I’m sure you could develop a surgery to shunt blood to your big toe. You could even do a randomized controlled trial that would provide evidence that these interventions could stop or treat gangrene of the toe. In the meantime the person is still on the iceberg and they are still dying. They will just die without gangrene. Further, they will, in all likelihood, continue to ignore the fact they are on the iceberg because they don’t even have the gangrene as a huge wake up call to let them know they are in trouble.
The iceberg represents our society’s current lifestyle. We must not ignore the iceberg, or ignore the gangrene. It is imperative that we pay attention to our minds and bodies, and change our environment so that we can thrive. It’s time to stop making ourselves feel better on the iceberg, and get off.
Come to the Kirkland Health Fair Today!
What a fabulous day! It’s a sunny, summer day, the type of day that inspires us to be our best. The foundation of being our best is being the healthiest we can be – because it allows us to experience life at its fullest.
There are many different lifestyle choices you can make to improve your health, for the short and long term. Come learn about some of these choices in a casual and fun atmosphere – at the Kirkland Health Fair!
LiveWell USA will have a booth, along with many other organizations whose goal is to help you on your health journey. There are kids activities, and free showing of movies such as Food, Inc.
We are looking forward to hanging out with like-minded people. To make things even more interesting, we will have a wobble board contest, along with a fun quiz to get folks thinking about health. Participating gets you entries into the drawing for prizes!
We’re heading out the door to set up now! But before we go, here are answers to quiz questions…
What percentage of the American working population has been diagnosed with a chronic illness?
35%45%- 80%
What percentage of deaths in western nations are caused by lifestyle choices?
25%50%- 75%
We now have the first generation of children who will likely have shorter lifespans than their parents.
- True
False
The number of per person prescription medication rates…
…is staying the same over time…is decreasing every decade- …is doubling every decade
The United States spends this much PER DAY on Heart Disease.
$5,000,000$10,000,000- Over $500,000,000
Which illnesses are caused by how we eat, move, and think?
Heart DiseaseCancerObesityDiabetesOsteoporosisArthritis- All of the above, plus all known chronic diseases
What did Type II Diabetes used to be called?
Type I Diabetes- Adult-Onset Diabetes
Congenital Diabetes
LiveWell USA and the Innate Lifestyle Program helps you to:
Eat WellMove WellThink Well- All of the above
See you there!
Do you know the facts?
Tomorrow is the Kirkland Health Fair! We are looking forward to having a great time. Stop by our booth and take the following quiz – just for trying, you are entered into a drawing for cool prizes. The answers to the quiz will be posted here tomorrow. We will also have a wobble board challenge throughout the day, where you can earn more chances to win prizes.
See you there!
- LiveWell USA Team
What percentage of the American working population has been diagnosed with a chronic illness?
- 35%
- 45%
- 80%
What percentage of deaths in western nations are caused by lifestyle choices?
- 25%
- 50%
- 75%
We now have the first generation of children who will likely have shorter lifespans than their parents.
- True
- False
The number of per person prescription medication rates…
- …is staying the same over time
- …is decreasing every decade
- …is doubling every decade
The United States spends this much PER DAY on Heart Disease.
- $5,000,000
- $10,000,000
- Over $500,000,000
Which illnesses are caused by how we eat, move, and think?
- Heart Disease
- Cancer
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Osteoporosis
- Arthritis
- All of the above, plus all known chronic diseases
What did Type II Diabetes used to be called?
- Type I Diabetes
- Adult-Onset Diabetes
- Congenital Diabetes
LiveWell USA and the Innate Lifestyle Program helps you to:
- Eat Well
- Move Well
- Think Well
- All of the above
Come see us at the Kirkland Health Fair!
Looking for a fun way to spend a summer day, and feel good while doing it? Come to the Kirkland Health Fair on July 23, 2011 for a day filled with free samples, demos, inspiration, empowerment, and priceless info.
LiveWell USA is one of over 50 exhibitors at the fair, which will also have kids’ activities, and free showings of movies such as “Food, Inc.” We will have wobble board contests (with prizes!) and other fun activities, so stop by and say hello! We are super excited to meet other people interested in health and well-being. It will be a good time!
The fair takes place a the Kirkland Parkplace Center, from 10am – 5:30pm. Joel Salatin, the farmer featured in Michael Pollan’s famous book The Omnivore’s Dilemma and the movie “Food, Inc.” will be hanging out at the fair as well. If you are interested, buy tickets to his lecture for later that evening.
Check out the fair’s website at www.kirklandhealthfair.org.
Hope to see you at our booth!
- LiveWell USA Team
Almost 80% of the working population have at least one chronic condition. 55% of workers have more than one.
Chronic illness rates have skyrocketed the last several decades, yet we are designed to live a healthy life, full of vitality.
What’s going wrong? What can we do? Come find out!
LiveWell 101 Workshop
There’s no cost, and it changes lives.
- Sat. May 14th, 10am
- Wed. May 18th, 6:30pm
- Thurs. May 19th, 6:30pm
Comprehensive Wellness Assessment
Want to know where you are on the Wellness Scale? Come find out the truth, and see your potential. There’s no cost - it’s our gift to you.
- Sat. May 21st, 9am
- Sun. May 22nd, 9am
Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.
- Chinese Proverb
We will share evidence that shows that disease and chronic illness isn’t due to bad luck, bad germs, or bad genes. You can work WITH your body to comfortably, and easily move towards true well being.
- Achieve ideal body weight and fitness
- Maximize your health and healing capacity
- Maximize your ability to prevent illness
- Maximize your energy and vitality
- Maximize your self-control and self-esteem
- Maximize your happiness and confidence
- Live a longer, healthier, happier life
Contact us to save a seat today.
- LiveWell USA Team
Start Moving, or Start Dying
Movement and exercise aren’t things that you do to lose weight or reserved for athletes and celebrities. Movement is ESSENTIAL TO LIFE – our bodies are designed to expect movement, and without it, we start to die.
Did you know that when we cease to move, our body thinks we are INJURED, and starts laying down scar tissue?
Movement creates a type of electricity for your body and brain on which it runs. Without it, our bodies have to adapt, which shows as disease and death.
Still not convinced? Consider these facts.
Documented benefits of walking briskly 30 minutes a day:
- Prevent up to 91% of cases of obesity and Type 2 diabetes
- Prevent up to 50% of all cases of heart disease
- Reduce risk of stroke by 25-30%
- Prevent up to 50% of all stroke deaths
- Reduce congestive heart disease deaths by 63%
- Reduce hospital readmission for heart failure patients by 70%
- Normalize blood pressure and reduce risk of developing high blood pressure
- Restore or maintain heart and blood vessel health
- Restore and maintain normal cholesterol and triglyceride levels
- Reduce risk of breast cancer by up to 60%
- Reduce pancreatic cancer in overweight people by 50%
- Reduce lung cancer, even in smokers, by 72%
- Reduce melanoma – aka skin cancer – by 72%
- Prevent up to 50% of colon cancer
- Reduce risk of developing, and improve outcomes of those with rheumatoid and osteoarthritis
- Prevent osteoporosis and increase new bone formation
- Increase strength, flexibility and balance
- Decrease gallbladder removal by 20% and decrease gallstones
- Improve digestion and decrease indigestion
- Improve bowel function and elimination
- Increase immune system function
- Increase macrophage (anti-tumor) activity and antioxidant levels
- Decrease all causes of mortality by 67% in the general population
- Decrease all causes of mortality by 50% in 61-81 year olds
- Prevent up to 47% of cognitive impairment, prevent up to 62% of Alzheimer’s and 52%of dementia
- Improve physical function in older adults
- Decrease chance of ever being in a nursing home
- Decrease rate of aging
- Enhance learning by 12 times
- Increase dopamine and serotonin levels
- Decrease depression by 20%, including relapses
- Increased growth and healing hormones
- Decrease stress and body breakdown hormones
- Decrease body fat, obesity, and weight gain
And these benefits are from walking – not running, not lifting weights, not doing a boot camp, not running a marathon. And 30 minutes! Not hours in the gym. 30 minutes to gain all the benefits above. Thirty minutes to a longer, better life.
Wellness: A Whole Different Strategy
I was in Portland, Oregon this weekend hearing Dr. James Chestnut give scientific evidence after evidence proving that how we move, eat, and think – our lifestyle choices – are the single biggest factor in determining whether we are sick or well, and whether or not we will develop a chronic illness.
He gave one of my favorite analogies – one that we share with our participants and those who attend our LiveWell 101 workshops – and I want to share it with you here on this blog.
Fire Department, or General Contractor?
Imagine that your body is your home. If your house is on fire, who would you call? The fire department, of course! Those brave firefighters will arrive with their axes and hoses, using their skills and expertise to break down your doors and douse your house with water and chemicals, saving your house from burning to the ground.
Would you be grateful to those courageous and selfless firefighters for saving your house? You bet.
Now, imagine that you have a life-threatening health emergency. You’d call the ambulance, and those brave paramedics, nurses, and doctors will use their skills and expertise to save your life. They will use drugs and surgery to treat your crisis, allowing you to survive and live another day.
Would you be grateful to those brilliant paramedics, nurses, and doctors for giving all they have to save your life? Yes, you’d be eternally grateful!
But the next day, when everything in your house is wet and smoke damaged, the doors and windows are broken in, and walls are crumbling, would you call the fire department again to ask them to bring you home into a state of balance? Are the expertise they have in saving your home from fire, the same skills that will make your house a home again?
No, you wouldn’t ever do that. You would employ a whole different strategy, calling on a different set of skills and expertise. You would hire renovation experts to repair smoke damage, a general contractor, perhaps painters. You’d have an entirely different approach to bringing your house back to health, and maintaining the safety of your home so that you never have another fire.
This is no different for your body. Drugs and surgery are brilliant interventions for trauma and crisis, but to bring your mind and body to a state of well-being and true health, you need a whole different approach. You need an entirely different set of skills – lifestyle skills – to make yourself whole again, and to live a life full of vitality.
Eating well, moving well, and thinking well have been proven, unequivocally, to bring the body to a state of balance and well-being. This is great news, because lifestyle choices are within our control. In other words, we are not destined to develop the same diseases as our parents or grandparents, and we are not slaves to bad luck and bad germs!
Dr. Chestnut’s new book, The Wellness & Prevention Paradigm, is a great resource for understanding why this is true and that the science is clear. We have a copy in our lending library.
For a cliff notes version, you can attend one of our LiveWell 101 workshops. We have a few coming up in May:
- Saturday, May 14th, 10am
- Wednesday, May 18th, 6:30pm
- Thursday, May 19th, 6:30pm
The workshops are held at our Kirkland office, and last about an hour and a half. They are absolutely free, and there is no obligation whatsoever. We want to share this information, because we know it changes lives. It certainly has changed ours. Contact us to save a seat!
We hope to see you there.
- LiveWell USA Team
