You and all your friends are invited to a FREE Healthy Habits 7-Day Challenge starting Monday, August 11, 2014! The object of this healthy challenge is to implement healthy habits, get in a little exercise and have fun doing it! Anyone and everyone is invited. We'll meet in a private group here on Facebook. The challenge will be filled with supportive people who want to be healthy, vibrant people.
The foundation of my nutrition coaching program is to work with people one-on-one to develop healthy habits that will last a lifetime. My belief is that, for some people, it can be very overwhelming to try to fix everything at once. For those folks, I highly recommend working with me one-on-one. However, for some people it can be good to take a bit more of a running start. For those people I have developed this Healthy Habits 7-Day Challenge. But, anyone is welcome - those who like to start at a crawl or those who like to hit the ground running (or anyone in between). If you're considering nutrition coaching this FREE challenge will give you an overview of my program.
Each day I will introduce the Healthy Habit of the Day that you'll be working on. Also, we will have an exercise challenge (it won't be too hard, I promise!). And there will be encouraging words throughout the day. I’ll be there to support you all the way – as will your fellow challengers!
Click the link below to join the group!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/aug2014healthyhabits/
Can't wait to have you part of the group!! It's going to be FUN!
Is organic really better than conventionally grown?
Short answer: Yes. Emphatically, yes.
Longer answer:
Organic food is grown without the use of chemical pesticides. Because the pesticides are systemic to the food one cannot simply wash off all the pesticides. The chemicals are systemic to the food (all throughout).
Also, a recent study from Stanford University, along with a review of over 300 other studies by European scientists, show that organic foods have 48% lower amounts of cadmium which is a toxic metal which causes cancer.
And though I could go on for much longer about the benefits of organic food, I will leave you with just one last thought. The same study I mentioned above discovered that organically grown foods have 18-69% more antioxidants than conventional foods. And why is this important? Antioxidants protect your body from damage by free radicals. And damage from free radicals can lead to chronic disease including cancer, Alzheimer, and Parkinson's.
Can't afford to go all organic? You're not alone. Try switching over a few of the "dirtiest" fruits and veggies, which have the most amount of pesticides, over to organic.
Here they are:
Apples
Strawberries
Grapes
Celery
Peaches
Spinach
Sweet bell peppers
Nectarines (imported)
Cucumbers
Cherry tomatoes
Snap peas (imported)
Potatoes
Hot Peppers
Blueberries (domestic)
Want to read more about the benefits of organic foods? Check out this article by Dr. Mercola, a well known naturopathic physician.
http://tiny.cc/wbkrjx
We all know we should be eating our veggies, every day, with every meal, right? Well, if you didn't know that - now you do. But, here's a little peak into the science of it.
We will take broccoli, for instance. Broccoli has compounds called isiothiocyanates. The liver has specific genes which detoxify (get rid of) cancer-causing chemicals and other toxins. BUT - and here is where it gets really cool - these genes in our liver stay DORMANT, or inactive, until we enter isiothiocyanates into the equation. Those genes in our liver, which could do a whole heck of a lot of good, won't do anything for us unless we give our liver what it needs to turn on these genes. Broccoli "turns them on".
Another example is cooked tomatoes. This one is probably a bit more familiar to you due to advertising. Cooked tomatoes have a compound called lycopene. Lycopenes switch OFF genes in the prostate that increase risk of cancer. So, if men eat more cooked tomatoes, this gene gets turned on and their risk for prostate cancer decreases. Lycopene has also been shown to protect against cervical cancer.
Moral of the story: eat your vegetables. Your health depends on it.
I find it very hard to consume an adequate amount of vegetables when my life is very busy. Being a full-time mom who is starting her own business and studying for a certification all at the same time makes my life feel a tad chaotic some days. In order to maintain my healthy eating habits I need to use a few strategies. This is especially true when it comes to veggie consumption.
I have two main strategies to make sure I keep eating enough vegetables. The first is blending vegetables in my protein shakes. I started this practice a number of years ago. At first the only thing I added in my shakes was spinach. And trust me when I say it really doesn't add much flavor. Cucumber can also be added without too much flavor. When I first started adding veggies I used a Magic Bullet. And it worked just fine for the easily blended spinach or other greens. Today, however, I add a lot of stuff to my shakes and my palate has adjusted to all the flavor "boosts". In fact, I CRAVE these shakes. I add all sorts of greens including kale, spinach, collards, and chard. I add small bits of beet, celery, cucumber, and carrots. Today I have a Vitamix and it was one of the best investments that I have ever made. Every smoothie is SMOOTH. (By the way, be sure to add fat into your smoothies. It has a lot of health benefits but the purpose here is for your body to absorb those antioxidants in the veggies (and fruit) more easily.)
My second strategy for increased/adequate veggie consumption is chopping up a huge batch of salad veggies and eating at least one salad every day. Today I chopped up cabbage, carrots, red bell pepper, cucumber, and celery. I've chopped enough for about 5 days. It doesn't take that much time to chop the vegetables. You can spend 30-45 minutes (depending on your knife skills) and you've got an easy meal for almost a week. I add avocado or nuts and a homemade salad dressing and I'm ready. Sometimes I also add precooked chicken strips that I get at Costco or some other protein. (True Story organic roasted chicken breast is delicious. And quick!)
Eating healthily does not have to be hard or laborious. Just find a few strategies that help you easily consume healthy foods. Veggie Up!
