Recipe Of The Day ... Carrot Ginger Soup With Chicken

I'm not sure why the pic won't face the right way...Damn blogspot~!~

This is an easy recipe that tastes great and is really good for you.

INGREDIENTS:
10 large carrots cut into thirds
6 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed
1 2 inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and chopped
1 14oz can coconut milk
enough water to cover everything
salt and pepper to taste

Throw it all in a crock pot or in a pot on the stove .. make sure there is enough liquid to just cover everything.
Cook until the carrots are soft then turn off the heat and let it cool a bit.
Pour it all into a blender and process it until smooth..don't fill your blender cup more than 3/4 full or it will spill out and burn you!

At this point it's ready to eat...
This is a good soup base , but a bit bland. Add whatever you want.. chicken, beef, turkey more spices etc
I added shredded chicken from a rotissere chicken I bought at the grocery, some fresh chives from the garden, a splash of apple cider vinegar and a few dashes of cayenne pepper.

I figure I got at least 2 servings of veggies from a small bowl, but you could get alot more if you add more veggies to the base .

Enjoy!!

Back Again

It's been about 4 months since my last post.  I can't believe it's been so long....

The last few months have been a little crazy, but I am getting back to normal.

Ten weeks ago I was in the hospital with a bad case of pneumonia.  Doctors told me I was going to die.....  bunch of quacks...what do they know!
Obviously I am very much alive and I have to admit I am thriving.
My weight dropped by almost 50 pounds during my illness, but after 2 months on the moms house diet I am back to 185 and needing a diet to get back into shape.

Thanks to my illness I was forced to move back home with my mom to recover and rebuild my life.  The doctors told me I would not be able to work for at least 3 months, but I was ready after just a few weeks.


I always say that life will give you what you ask for so be careful how you word it.  I had wanted to move back to Texas for a long time and I wanted to have a garden so I could grow most of my own food.  I did not expect it to happen because I almost died..... but I am alive and able to enjoy it...that's what really matters.

I have turned a good portion on my moms backyard into a garden and I am loving the feeling it gives me to watch my food grow day to day.  I could do without the 110 degree temperatures...  I have quite a few things growing in the garden...watermelon, catalope, honeydew, salad greens, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, sunflowers, crenshaw melons, brussel sprouts, radishes, pumpkins, eggplant, and squash...so far.
I have been working on doubling the size of the garden with the lasagna gardening method  (not as cool as it sounds)... Hopefully the heat will break soon and we will get some rain.  My fall garden should be even bigger.  It's great that we can grow for about 9 months out of the year here.

I will have to share more photos of the gardens as they progress.

I have also started eating better and exercising more.  For several months I have been eating everything in sight and lounging on the sofa more than I care to admit.  Now that I am working again my clients have been asking what I eat and how much I workout to stay in shape..  To maintain my current round shape I eat as much crap as I can and sit or lay around for hours on end.  That's not so much fun anymore so starting tomorrow I will be eating a healthy diet and exercising daily...and sharing it all with you...whoever you are.  In the coming weeks I will also be filming new youtube fitness videos to share.

Weight Loss Made Easy?

Weight loss is easy...right?
All you have to do is eat less and move more.
How much easier can it be?!?!?

Well, unfortunatley  it's not quite that simple.  Life gets in the way.  We can't exercise as much as we would like, we eat things we know we should not, we don't get enough sleep... I could list excuses all day long.
The truth is weight loss happens when we decide we are dedicated to making it happen and we make time to do all of the right things.  It's not really that hard when we commit to doing it.

I can't tell you how many clients I have had who have come to me to lose weight and see no weight loss after months of working out.  Sure they get stronger and more confident, but their weight stays the same or changes very little.  They are the ones who refuse to make any changes in the way they eat.  They are the ones who expect to lose a ton of weight just by adding a few hours a week of exercise.  The reality is, if you are eating crap and working out to balance it out you are going to have to spend a few hours a day exercising to make up for your bad dietary habits.

If you really want to lose weight you are going to have to commit to long term changes in your diet to see a real difference.  Eat more fruits and vegetable (preferably in their natural raw state), lower the amount of fat you consume and eliminate or drastically cut back on junk food.  See it's easy!

There is no magic bullet, so stop looking.
Eat right, get enough rest, exercise regularly and the weight will come off!

Eating After Dark

I hear alot of people lately talking about how they stop eating at a certain time of day to be "healthier" and I wonder where they are getting this information.  I know Oprah talked about that a few years ago, but I believe she stopped eating 2 hours before bed time...whenever that was.  This makes sense to me because it will help you sleep better, but I don't think it has alot to do with health unless you are eating nothing but junk after dark.
 
I was at a friends house for dinner the other night and one of the people at the table was not eating.  Someone pointed out that he did not eat after 8pm and everyone at the table (except me) starting going on and on about how healthy that was.  Apparently I was the only one at the table who noticed he was pounding away the rum and cokes.  I counted four drinks in the first hour he was there alone.  I am the first to admit I am no expert, but I am pretty sure eating a balanced meal would have been much healthier than drinking a bottle of coke and a bottle of rum.

The lesson here is use a little common sense when it comes to your health.  Eat when you are hungry, eat healthy clean foods and don't fool yourself into thinking things like alcohol are healthy even in moderation.  I'm not saying you have to stop drinking ( you should, but I won't get into that now), I am saying if you are going to do it at least have the self respect to acknowledge that you are doing harm to your body and definately don't try to tell me you are being healthy by getting wasted and not eating because if you do I will be forced to out you to the world ... at least the section of the world that reads this blog...

Clean Eating Challenge

So I have been noticing a few of my friends on facebook posting about how they are doing the clean eating challenge and eating clean for the month of January.  That sounds great and I am happy they are making an effort to eat better, BUT..they are still eating crap!  One of my friends has been posting pics of her dinner every night and I am shocked that she actually thinks she is eating well.  Every night it is some mixture of dairy, some overly processed soy product like bacon bits, an overly processed "low fat" bread product and some assorted greens.

Last time I checked any sort of processed food was still junk.  Just because it says organic or low fat does not mean its healthy.  If you want to eat clean then go for organic whole foods like fruits and vegetables.  You can eat all you want and it's healthy.

Today I had 6 grapefruits, 5 bananas, a cup of fresh cherries, 8 oranges, 10 dates, 2 apples, a bell pepper and some pineapple.  I can't imagine being any cleaner than that!

I can't wait to see what kind of changes in health and weight my clean eating friends are going to have after 30 days.  I have lost 30 pounds in the last 60 days eating mainly fruit... I have had a few cheat days.. and I feel great.  I wonder if any of the clean eaters will have those kinds of results.

3 months

Ok
So I have not posted anything in almost 3 months.
It's been a rough few months.
My back just got worse, my respiratory infection turned into bronchitis... I still have it!
I have spent the last 4 days eating nothing but fruit in an attempt to finally get rid of this bronchitis and it's helping, but I have a feeling it's going to take a bit longer.
I plan to stick to the fruit based diet. 
I am going back to the 80/10/10 low fat raw vegan diet.
Today is day 4 and I feel much better and I have lost weight..mainly because I am not eating nearly enough.
Today I had:
4 cups of fresh pitted cherries
1 banana
4 large stalks of celery stuffed with 4 dates and a tablespoon of tahini.... one of my favorite snacks!
1 whole pineapple
6 grapefruits juiced
I have only had about 1700 calories so far so I need to eat another 1000 before bed, but since it's 9pm and I am exhausted I have a feeling that ain't gonna happen.

I gotta work on getting my calories in early...and I need to get to bed before I pass out!

Again....

My 42 day program has been side tracked for the last 3 weeks due to illness.  First I hurt my back then I got sick and now my back is injured again.
All of this has made me realize how badly I have been treating my body for the last 2 years or so.  The illness got really serious when I decided to do a Master Cleanse.  I have done the Master Cleanse several times and had great success with it, but this time I got really sick after only 2 days.  The flood of toxins into my system was more than I could handle.  After 2 days my tongue was swollen and covered in canker sores, my mouth and throat were also covered, my sinuses were infecte, as were my ears and my lymph nodes were swollen and painful.  It's been about 2 weeks since this started and I am feeling much better, but I am still coughing up alot of junk, my tongue is still a bit swollen and my ears still itch.  Everyday I feel a little better, but the frustration of not being able to workout has been getting to me.

Today I have been eating nothing but watermelon.  I can't really say why... I have been drwan to watermelon since I started getting sick.  Everyday for the last 2 weeks I have had at least one small watermelon.  Today I have had one large and one personal sized watermelon so far.   Watermelon is very cleansing for the kidney and I believe the lungs.  I have been coughing up so much more today since I have limited my self to watermelon.  I don't know how long I will do just watermelon.. until I get sick of it I guess.

 I have gone back and forth about my career choice for the last few years.  I have not been entirely happy with working in fitness.  I realized this week that I felt that way because I was not taking care of myself.  My health and my bodies appearance have suffered and have made me feel like a fraud.  I realized that I can not go on telling people how to be healthy if I am not living it myself.  I am committing myself to getting my heath back so that I can better help others. 


This blog is going to focus on my journey back to health...at least for a while.  I will be posting daily and doing new videos 4-5 times per week to demonstrate some of the workouts I am doing along the way.  I have been hesitant to do any videos for the last 2 years because I look awful on camera, but the hell with it. If doing the videos helps other people get healthier and helps me stay on track its a win win...  I will try to a short video tomorrow if I can stop coughing long enough to film it........no one wants to see me hacking stuff up!

42 Day Challenge

Today I am on day 3 of my 6 week weight loss challenge.  I have a few clients doing this with me as my guinea pigs.  My goal is to lose 20ish pounds on 6 weeks. It's a pretty simple program.  45-60 minutes a day of activity 6 days a week and a low fat vegan diet.  Cheating is allowed on occasion, but only if the excess calories are burned off with additional exercise.
I have been doing very well and I already feel and look like I have lost weight.  I stated at 185 and hope to get down to the 165-170 range.  I don't own a scale so I will weight myself at a friends house when I get a chance.
For my daily activity I am keeping it simple...just walking.  I am also doing my bootcamp classes during the week and will be adding some pilates classes at the gym in a few weeks.

Today I have eaten a super big mango, 2 peaches, 4 corn tortillas ( a cheat), some steamed white rice (another cheat), and kidney beans, cauliflower, onion and tomatoes I made into a soup.


My crockpot is my new favorite kitchen device.  I throw veggies in it all day long so my soup changes with every meal, but my crock is always on.

Today I did 30 minutes up and down the stairs in my building (in my bare feet to help with my plantar fascitis), a little power yoga and a 90 minute walk.  I might go walk a little later to make up for the rice and tortillas.

We will see how it goes...here's hoping the weight falls off fast!

Inhaled pea sprouts in man's lung...wow!

This is crazy!.. A man goes to the hospital with respiroatory problems thinking he has cancer and finds out a pea has sprouted in his lung!
Check out the video 
Inhaled pea sprouts in man's lung
I hope this does not scare people away from eating their fruits and veggies!

Apple Juice Cleanse

I decided on Thursday that I was going to do an apple juice cleanse over the weekend.  The cleanse is pretty simple.  You drink a glass of prune juice first thing in the morning then alternate glasses of unfiltered apple juice and water all day.  The cleanse is supposed to last 3 days to act as a colon cleanser. 
It works!  I only did one day...yesterday.. but I did not leave the house at all.... i could not leave the house!
Today I am drinking apple juice banana smoothies because I still have a gallon of apple juice.
I had planned on doing 3 days, but I am going to a street fair today and I know that I would not be able to resist the fair food if I was just having apple juice.  The smoothies should fill me up enough to keep me from eating all that junk.  I also knew that if I did not have any solid food I would be tired and get cranky... not a good thing in a large group.
Well, I'm off to the fair then home for a nap and a trip to the grocery to buy fruit later in the evening.

Starting Over

I had another cheat day yesterday.
I don't know what came over me, but I just could not stop eating crap.
I feel like shit today.
I have had to re think my 100 day trial.
I am going to start over today.
My goal now is to go 2 weeks on the low fat raw vegan diet and see how I feel.
After 2 weeks I will decide if I want to continue another 2 weeks.
I have attached a photo I took yesterday before I pigged out.
Hopefully having those pics posted will give me the incentive to stay on track.

Day 11 & Oil Pulling

Today is my 11th day of doing a low fat raw vegan diet....sort of.
On Days 8 and 9 I pigged out on all kinds of junk that was neither raw or vegan.  The food was great, but the last few days have been horrible.  I have felt sick, tired and bloated.  Hopefully in a few days I will be back to normal.

I have been telling a few people about how I have been able to fight my gum disease and keep my teeth clean and white without going to the dentist so I thought I would share it here as well.

About 10 years ago I had some major issues with my gums.  At 27 my dentist told me I would be lucky to have any teeth left by the time I was 30.  I am happy to say that I still have ALL of my teeth and my gums are getting much better thanks to oil pulling.

I started pulling about 4 years ago after I read about it on one of my favorite website http://www.curezone.com/
Oil pulling is pretty simple.  All you need is some sort of unrefined oil and about 15-20 minutes a day.  I usually use coconut oil, but you can use sesame or sunflower as well.... most others are too thick.

First thing in the morning I take about a tablespoon of oil put it in my mouth and swish it around for about 15-20 minutes.  The oil causes you to produce saliva..lots of saliva.. which helps to break down tarter and plauque.  It also get in between teeth and under the gum line better than flossing can.  The mixture of the oil and saliva breaks up the hard stuff that collects on teeth and gums causing problems.  I noticed a huge difference in the appearance and feel of my teeth after the first time.  People are always asking me if I have had my teeth whitened.

Alof of people say that oil pulling also detoxes your body through the tongue.  I am not real sure about how well it detoxes the whole body, but I am sure that it cleans the mouth and the sinuses.  The first few times I pulled I had lots of sinus drainage, which helped to get rid of chronic sinus infections.

This webpage has some good info check it out and good luck!
http://hubpages.com/hub/Health_Benefits_of_Oil_Pulling_

Day 8....Cheat Day

I decided yesterday I wanted a cheat day even though I commited to 100 days of the low fat raw vegan diet.
I went out to eat and pigged out on all kinds of junk.  I have to admit it tasted really good!
This morning I woke up feeling like I had been hit my a truck. My body hurt, my eyes were swollen and crusted over, the fluid in my ears which had gone away was back, I was congested, groggy and in a bad mood. No more cheat days!!!

After dinner my friend took me to the asian market and I found all kinds of new and interesting fruits and veggies.  This makes me very excited since I was getting bored with the stuff I have been eating.  Today I am going to the Hillcrest  Farmers Market in San Diego.(my third in 3 days)  This market has been my favorite so far.  Most of the others I have gone to are full of prepared foods and other non food items, but they have very little produce.  Hopefully today I can find some fun stuff.

CRONO-O-Meter & Day 6

 have been using the coolest program to track my calories and nutritional targets.
It's called CRON-O-Meter and it is FREE!
The only drawback I have found is that it is not web based so you have to download the program to your computer.
You can download it for free and read more about it at:
http://cron-o-meter.en.softonic.com/

I have been doing this to make sure I get enough calories.  I have been amazed at how much food I need to eat in order to get enough calories while doing the low far raw vegan diet (LFRV).  My goal is to get between 3000 and 3500 calories a day, which is crazy to me.  In the past when trying to lose weight I have cut back to 2000 calories a day and that has been effective, but I was always hungry.  With the LFRV diet I am never hungry unless of course I wait to long to eat.  I have been trying to get 1000 calories for breakfast and eat about 3-4 additional meals.
As hard as it is for me to believe I have already lost a noticable amount of weight eating over 3000 calories a day.
I will take some new pics this wekend and maybe post my before pics and the new ones..
I have included a screen capture of my CRON-O-Meter for today.
It is almost 9pm and I may eat a little something else before bed but it will give you a general idea of how much I am eating.

I am aiming for 80 percent of calories from carbs, 10 percent from fat and 10 percent from protein.
I have had a hard time hitting my protein every day because I have not been eating my greens like I am supposed to.  I will go buy some tomorrow and get back to that.
If anyone has a good low fat raw vegan salad dressing recipe let me know.

The Dirty Dozen ... and Day 3

I saw this the other day and thought it was interesting. It's a handy list of least and most pesticide-containing produce. I used to think things with tougher peels / wrapping were "cleaner" but not so - some just don't get pests (like onions) and don't require pesticides.


The EWG, a nonprofit environmental research organization, calls the 12 fruits and vegetables that carry the most pesticide residue "the dirty dozen." These include (in order of most residue to least): peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, imported grapes, carrots, and pears.

The EWG's "clean 15," the fruits and vegetables with the least pesticide residue, are (in order of least residue to most): onions, avocados, sweet corn, pineapples, mangoes, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwifruits, cabbages, eggplants, papayas, watermelons, broccoli, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes. Grapefruit is number 16. Oranges and tangerines, staples of midwinter, fall midway on the list of the 47 fruits and vegetables tested.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says organic is cleaner but takes care to point out that "measured residues on most products, both organic and nonorganic, do not exceed government-defined thresholds for safe consumption.".... whatever that means

When it comes to foodborne illness, organic isn't immune, as the 2006 outbreak of E. coli in organic bagged spinach proved. Contamination is all about who or what touches the produce along the way. Distribution of mass-produced foods will spread a tainted batch far and wide, while small farms have a narrower reach. Organic food can't be irradiated, a controversial technique approved to kill pathogens in some foods, or genetically modified, a practice whose long-term safety is unknown.

Read more at Wholeliving.com: Fresh Thinking: How to Shop for Fruits and Vegetables
 
 
 
 
I am in day three od my 100 day low fat raw vegan experiment.  I feel pretty good so far.  I have done this is in the past for up to 15 days...  As before I have a slight sore throat going into day 3.  Last time I went for longer than 4 days the sore throat lasted about 4 days and went away. I also have sinus and ear drainage.  I have been coughing up alot of mucus and I am starting to breath better.  The best thing is I look like I have lost weight already!
Pics are coming soon..

100 Days

I have been inspired by tv.  People say tv is useless, but I have to disagree.
I saw a comercial for the TNT Network and it inspired me...
The comercial os for their 100 days of drama... now don't think I want 100 days of drama.
In the comercial they say you can do alot in 100 days...that's what inspired me.

I am commiting to 100 days of a low fat raw vegan diet to improve my health and to be honest my appearance.  I have been really bad lately, eating lots of junk.  I feel like crap and I am getting fat!  I am currently the heaviest I have been in over 15 years.  I was 240 at my heaviest..I am 190 now... not super heavy but way heavier than I like to be.

I have gone back and forth with this way of eating for about 2 years.  I go for a few days then fall off.  I have used all kinds of excuses... 
For the next 100 days there will be no excuses, no trying, ... just doing!

I guess we will see how it changes my life... if it does.

I will be posting pics soon... I'm too embarassed to post my before pics right now!

Poll Of The Day

Posted by a friend of mine of Facebook:
"which do you think is healthier? Cool whip (fat free, low calories/contains small amounts of hydrogenated oil and high fructose c.s.) or homemade whipped cream (high sat fat/made with heavy cream and sugar)"

This  kind of reminds me of my last posting about real food.

Your diet should be low in fat, but if you are eating "plastic" food in order to stay low fat you are not doing yourself any favors!

Enjoy the real food, enjoy the fat and cut back on your fats for a few days after...and eat REAL FOOD!!!!

REAL FOOD

Everywhere you turn there is someone telling you how you can have junk food as part of your "healthy" diet.
I have one word in response to that "BULLSHIT!"
Cookies, candy, cake, burgers, hot dogs, beer... etc are not healthy.. no matter how you make them.
I am not saying you should never eat them.  I am saying that don't try to convince yourself or anyone else that it is healthy.
If you want healthy food look to nature.  Real Food spoils.  Real Food has a very quick expiration date.
If your food will last on your kitchen counter more than 3 or 4 days without going bad it probably isn't good for you!

The newest trend in "nutritional science" is to classify health based on caloric intake.  This is just plain stupid.  There are too many nutritionists out there who are telling people they can eat anything they want and be healthy if they stay within certain caloric guidlelines.  Most people are running around malnourished because everything they eat is processed junk... but they are staying withing their "healthy" caloric needs.

You want to be healthy and full of energy?  Then get your butt to the produce aisle and buy some REAL FOOD!

Hip Openers

Alot of people have been coming to me with back and hip problems.  Most of our back and hip problems come from our butt.  The following videos demonstrate some yoga poses  that will stretch the hips, back and butt to relieve some of the pain and pressure.  Make sure you check with a Dr before starting an exercise program to make sure you are healthy and injury free.

5 Easy Weight Loss Tips

Exercise Is Essential For Healthy Weight Loss
You should strive for five 30 minute sessions per week to maintain long term weight loss.

Keep A Food Diary
A food diary can provide a large amount of self-awareness. It can identify emotions and behaviors that trigger overeating and foster greater awareness of portion sizes.

Focus On Being Healthy .. Not On Being Thin
Many people become more successful at long term weight loss when their motivation changes from wanting to be thinner to wanting to be healthier. You should eat to give your body the nutrients it needs for optimal health.

Make Sure Portion Sizes Are Appropriate
With the advent of "super-size" meals and increasingly huge portions at restaurants, our concept of normal serving sizes is a distant memory. Be mindful of the amounts of food you consume.

Eat Slowly
It takes the brain 20 minutes to start signaling feelings of fullness. The amount of calories consumed before you begin to feel full can vary significantly depending on how quickly you eat. So slow down, take smaller bites and enjoy