We all Gotta Eat…

Judy, you are right!  We do think way too much about food in our society…and I read very deeply into things regarding health.  I always have, and I always will.  In 6th grade, my teacher gave me 2 books at the end of the school year as a gift for being the biggest reader.  While I don’t remember what one was, the other was a book about a girl with a physical disability and I loved it and it began a life time of interest in all things related to the human body AND the human spirit.  Through my years of teaching fitness, I have pushed people to jump, run, dance and lift more because I always believed it to be the magic bullet (and I still do).  More recently I “push” the plant-based diet thing, because I believe there are some disconnects.  I promise, I don’t do it for me, I do it because I believe it can cure the incurable.  No, Rita, you are not alone, because others that are perfect weight, or even on the low end of their ideal weight, have also been diagnosed “pre” diabetic, so there is a disconnect somewhere.

There is also a disconnect between how much food we have in our country and the fact that still, people go hungry.  Thank you Lesley and Richard, for allowing me to join you at the soup kitchen yesterday and get a glimpse into what it is that’s going on there, how you are helping and how I can help, too.   If you are local and you are reading this and know of any restaurant or store that discards ANYTHING food-wise or otherwise at the end of the day, please let me know so I can pass that information on.  This place is in need of most everything, yet they manage to feed over 100 hungry people each day (amongst other things that they help with).  I will be organizing a fund-raising effort in the form of a Friday evening class, probably in late February or early March.  More about that as I figure it all out!

* “Because the suffering of any human being diminishes all of us, it’s our responsibility to try to ease that suffering. It is not a matter of titles, but of responsibilities.”
Khaled


Curing the Incurable

Cover of "The China Study: The Most Compr...

After weeks of wracking my brains out, reading, researching, trying to make head or tails out of what’s going on with so many people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I am convinced of several things.  I will refrain from saying anything more about the test and Big Pharma, because I think I have already expressed my feeling on that. (Ya think??) I will say that I revisited The China Study, specifically the chapter on this disease, and am reminded of one of the many reasons I chose a plant-based diet.  In study after study, from continent to continent, culture to culture, those who develop diabetes are those who consume the most animal protein. While I will not bore you with all the details of the many studies, “all the findings support the idea that both across and within populations, high-fiber, whole, plant-based foods protect against diabetes, and high-fat, high-protein, animal-based foods promote diabetes.“  Western medicine is prescribing a diet that neglects these findings, (for several different reasons) and we are being made to feel that we are doing all we can and still “failing” at our efforts.

While radically changing our diets is incredibly impractical and often rather undesirable,  how practical or desirable is it to have a lifelong condition such as diabetes?  The big bonus is the same “diet” that can prevent diabetes can prevent so many other dread diseases.  I am a firm believer that The China Study should be required reading for EVERYONE.  No, we don’t always want to know, as ignorance can be bliss…but illness definitely is NOT and knowledge is power.

And never, ever underestimate the power of exercise.  What a beautiful thing to lunch yesterday with almost 100  of our students. The SilverSneakers program has done so much to improve the quality of life of senior citizens…and me!

 

Divine, Sublime… it’s Birthday Time

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ6tDLx_KksuJsAR0mQ9wYUw0maoA5ahNtIIyjlBJrYuPT0wVtSGood morning and happy birthday to one of my very favorite people, who also happens to also be my son, Derek.  28 years ago, this morning, the entire world became a better place because he entered it!  Last night, we (Mitch, Derek, Michele and I) went to Sublime to celebrate (missing Kyle and Nicole, of course!!!) and the food was, once again, simply divine.  For those that don’t know, Sublime is an all vegan “fine dining” establishment in Ft. Lauderdale, open only for dinner, with a beautiful ambiance, incredible service and equally beautiful and incredible options!   We ate the crispy cauliflower (to die for and as Michele said, no one would even have to know it was cauliflower) and stuffed artichoke as appetizers and after sharing one chopped salad, we were well on our way to full.  Michele and Derek ordered the enchiladas, Mitch the penne pasta and I, of course, felt compelled to try their veggie burger, new to the menu since I last went.  It was a little on the “less firm” side, but very, very good.  We shared some dessert because we had to sing!   One piece of pumpkin cheesecake and one piece of chocolate nirvana.  OMG!  While we had no celebrity sitings last night, it is the hot spot for celebrity vegans like Paul McCartney and Pamela Anderson.  The waiter said we would know if she was there :)   Just saw a picture of the good Dr. Oz with the owner, who is said to donate all her profits to animal causes.

Next week, VFT, back on at the house.  It’s the third week of birthdays, so next week we celebrate Pete.  That definitely calls for a Shepherd’s pie.  Hoping to see some of the missed faces back around the table as we begin a new year together.

 Still trying to figure out why I can’t post my blog to Facebook, but I will catch up with my other favorite guy over the weekend and get that resolved.   I am nothing without my webmaster, but I know how busy he is at Steelcast.

 I will be at Tamarac Fitness for my regularly scheduled 11:30 SS class this morning.   Last class of the year 2011.   The gym will be closed for the weekend and reopen with our regular schedule on Monday morning.   It’s been a great year and look forward to the next one with all my students and the new ones to come!  

Giving thought to some resolutions?  It is suggested we don’t overshoot and set ourselves up for failure.  Narrow them down and be specific.  More about this over the weekend.  Much love.  Be safe on the roads!

A Rainbow of Colors

Veggies for Roasting

Good morning.  This being Vegan Feast Thursday, I always have lots of things I consider writing about.  When I sat down to my computer I found that I never closed the window to a page offering nutritional info about a wide variety of veggies.  Since I have been on a mission to help people learn to love not just their greens, but also oranges, purples, reds, whites and more, I decided to simply post this chart.  Hopefully the links will work and you can find the bounty of flavors, colors, nutrients, antioxidants and medicinal benefits of a wide array of the gifts mother nature offers us for the taking.  One thing I have learned along my vegetarian and vegan journey is that there is NO end to what you can do with your veggies.  This week alone, I have made roasted brussel sprouts with grapes and walnuts, (testing a recipe for Thanksgiving–it definitely passed the test)  home-made burgers with mushrooms, onions, celery and beans and roasted garlic and cauliflower soup, which I can’t really report on till tonight.  Soup always takes at LEAST a day (2 days, even better) for all the flavors to marry.  Amazingly enough, it’s easy to make soups creamy by simple putting them in the blender or food processor once done, and then dumping back in the pot!

One of the questions I am asked most often about my plant-based diet is how I continue to stay so committed, making sacrifices and depriving myself of non-plant based foods.  It’s interesting perspective to me, because I don’t feel even slightly deprived.  (And since I am not allergic to any foods, I CAN eat them whenever I want, if I want…such as the case with an occasional slice or two of pizza when pizza calls me….it’s probably the ONLY non-plant based food that does!)  When Bill Clinton, a one-time big eater of all things unhealthy  was asked this same question, he answered with such a cute smile on his face and with such an innocent voice, saying how much he loves the things he is eating NOW.  Worth repeating– what I have learned over the past year and a half—  I have never felt less conflicted about my eating than I do on a plant-based diet.  The second most often asked question is where I get my protein from.  It takes a little work, but most people really don’t need nearly as much protein as we have been told–but this is a topic for a different day.

Here goes nothing.  My computer skills still lack without Kyle here.  If for some reason the links don’t work, or the pictures don’t even post, visit www.nutrition-and-you.com/vegetable-nutrition.html

“Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food” – Hippocrates

 artichoke Artichoke     arugula Arugula    asparagus  Asparagus
 beets Beets    bell pepper Bell pepper  bitter gourdBitter gourd (melon)
   bok choy Bok choy   broccoli Broccoli  brussel sprouts Brussel sprouts
  butternut squash Butternut squash     cabbage Cabbage      carrot  Carrots
  cauliflower Cauliflower collard greensCollard greens    cucumberCucumber
    eggpalnt  Eggplant endive  Endive     fennel Fennel
french beansGreen Beans   jicama  Jicama    kale  Kale
  kohlrabi Kohlrabi     leeks Leeks    lettuce  Lettuce
  mustard greenMustard greens       okra  Okra     spanish-onion Onion
parsnipsParsnips green peasPeas  potato  Potato
  pumpkin Pumpkin    purslane Purslane    red globe radish   Radish
  rhubarbRhubarb     shallot  Shallots   spinach Spinach
sweet potatoSweet potato    green chard  Swiss chard tomatoes Tomato
    turnips Turnips  watercress  Watercress       yams    Yams
zucchini Zucchini