Improve Your Eating For Whom?

Maybe one reason you can't get on board with changing your eating is because you have made peace with how you look and how you feel. You are OK with belly fat, aches and pains and declining energy. 

Well, I just had a revelation today. It's not about you. It's about those whose lives you impact.

• A spouse who needs you at peak energy and full functioning
• Children who need the example of healthy eating to grow up in the best way
• Grandchildren who also need the role model
• Friends who are stuck in ruts and need an example to inspire them
• All the other people whose lives you impact: neighbors, other family members, co-workers, and anyone who ever sees you and interacts with you

You may respond, "I'm not that important."

Yes, you are. You may be the only book on healthy eating that other people read. You may be the only chance someone will have to rescue themselves from disease, discomfort and misery. You are that important. Yes you are!

It's not about you or me, but about those whose lives we impact, whether we know it or not. Think about it and pray about it and see if that resonates with you.

Save Money on Barley Max

I love my morning smoothie made with Barley Max, frozen bananas, frozen wild blueberries, organic pineapple/coconut juice and almond milk.

I used to use Barley Max Mint which tastes wonderful.  Then I got Barley Max plain by mistake and decided to add mint from my mint patch to add flavor. It works.

All I do is pick a handful of mint leaves, remove from the stems and add to my Blend Tech blender to make the smoothie. Minty and worth savoring every sip.

Little money adds up to big money and the few dollars I will save add up.

Are You Always Hungry?

If you are hungry all the time, let me hazard a guess as to why. Most of the time it's because the food you are eating is not nourishing or feeding your body.

How could that happen?

When food is heated more than 105 degrees, the enzymes and vital nutrients that feed your body break down, deteriorate and all you are eating is a hunk of fiber. When the food you eat is 105 degrees or less, the nutrients are "living" and feed you.

It's not just living food that is important. It's also living supplements.

When I drink some Barley Max in water 2 - 3 times a day and also drink some fresh vegetable juice, I feel full. If I forget, I get hungry.

How about you?

If you have never had Barley Max, read about it at http://www.hacres.com/  Then order some. I like the mint flavored variety. Give yourself one month to notice the difference. The amino acids in the Barley Max feed your body the protein substances you need. You will be full and you will naturally lose weight.

If you decide to order some, remember that I am your Health Minister, Pin # FTP.

Cheap Protein and Calcium

I mean cheap!

If you want to eat good quality protein and calcium, sprout some mung beans. Let me tell you how.

I don't have a kit; I don't have a sprouter. I have a bowl, a napkin, a rubber band and some mung beans. Buy them at a health food store, or anyplace that sells seeds.

They are green and small and when sprouted yield a good quality food.

I take a soup bowl about 12" in diameter. I put about 3 tablespoons of mung beans in the bottom. Then I fill with about 2 inches of water. I put the napkin over the top and anchor it with a rubber band. Then I put it in a cold oven, off.

Caution: Be careful if you use the oven and forget the beans are in there. You will ruin them.

After a day or even 18 hours, I take off the napkin and look at the beans. If they are starting to grow and some white appears, you have a choice. You can rinse them using a strainer, to get the old water off. Then you can put them back in the bowl and cover with water for a day more or less.

Or if they grew real fast, you can rinse and eat them.

That's it.

I put them in my salad and salad dressing. I eat them by themselve and season them with any dressing I like.

That's it.

Cheap protein and calcium. They are good for you and I like the crunchy texture.

Saturday Lunch

I love my lunch.

First I took fresh watercress and cut the biggest part of the stems offs. Then I toasted a slice of Ezekiel bread. I them assembled and later devoured, my version of an English cress and cucumber sandwich.

Yesterday I spread garlic hummus on the bread. Today I used leftover Alfredo sauce from zucchini noodles (see an older post). It is made of Vegenaise and nutritional yeast.

I added some fresh pomegranate seeds to the hummus.

Then I folded the bread in half and chomped in ecstasy. So delicious!

Today I made a salad to follow up. First I put some organic field greens on the plate, then some cucumber, some tomato, some home sprouted mung bean sprouts, some grated fresh beets and a little sliced red onion. I drizzled this with some more of the Alfredo dressing. I used some of "Mary's Gone Crackers" to help push the food on my fork and then to crunch on with the salad.

After my salad, I ate a few Brazil nuts, a few walnuts (Yes, they could have been on the salad), and some carob spirolina for desert.

I love my lunch!

It's Too Hard

If you think eating healthy is too hard, try going through chemo or radiation or surgery!

Please don't be overwhelmed. Try one thing at a time. For example:

• Today for lunch, start with something raw, a fruit or a vegetable. Eat as much as you can and chew it well. If you are still hungry, then add something else. The raw beginning is the beginning of your savings account for good health.
• What one thing should you start replacing in your diet? Pick it and see if you can replace the unhealthy choice with the healthy choice, one bite or one sip at a time. At the end of the week, you will be impressed with yourself.
• What one food should you banish from your home? Be brave. Pick it up, bring it to a neighbor but why should you give them something that is not good for you. Put it in the trash and you will be so upset about wasting money, that you will never buy that again.
• What one food habit should you reverse: coffee instead of getting more sleep; coffee instead of walking to wake up; coffee instead of an apple? Challenge yourself and get someone else to do it with you.

When you have mastered this list, start at the first bulleted point and add a second thing. You can do this!

Easy Stew

It's late; I took a nap after work, and now it's dinner time. Here's what I concocted!

I took a frozen hunk of rice pilaf which I had made a few months ago. Literally, I hacked at it with a big knife until half broke off. I began to heat it in some olive oil.

I added a drained can of navy beans, diced garlic, chopped onion and green pepper and about 1/4 cup of tomato paste. Then I added a half cup of water and steamed it for about 8 minutes.

For seasonings, I added sea salt, kelp, marjoram and oregano.

Twenty minutes later, it was gone. We gobbled it up and enjoyed every spoonful.

For dessert we each had a half cup of vanilla coconut yogurt. I added slices of a white peach to mine and my husband added some fresh raspberries to his.

That was dinner and I feel very full and satisfied.

Cravings

What should you do when you crave a food or spice or anything eatable that is not on your eating program?

Do some sleuthing? What are you missing that makes you crave something else?

I know a few answers but you will have to sleuth the rest:

• If you crave sugar, you are missing some vitamins
• If you crave salt, you need good salt like that in sea salt, kelp or other sea vegetables

Belly Fat

Walking in malls, grocery stores, parking lots and everywhere my eyes see belly fat on others that used to be on me. I used to make excuses and say, “Well, belly fat is here to stay. Like it or leave it but it’s mine. Everyone else is wearing theirs and I know how to look good in clothes with it. I don’t know how to get rid of it. In fact, women of my age without belly fat look too thin.”

Honestly, that’s what I used to say.

It seemed overwhelming to me to ever be able to get rid of it. So it was there for good. But not for my good.  Just for the good of the clothing manufacturers who adjusted their sizes and styles to suit the millions of women like me with, yup, rolls of belly fat, jiggling away in front.

No more.

I got rid of my belly fat without exotic surgeries or secret strategies. I am very up front about it. I just stopped eating animal  fat of any kind (chicken, pork, beef, fish, milk, cheese, cream, ice cream, butter, mayonaise) and replaced that with Udo’s oil, olive oil, coconut oil, a pill of Omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids, some seeds and nuts and more. My husband is reminding me that I also gave up lots of empty carbs, like pasta, white potatoes and bleached rice. The “more” is lots of raw fruits and vegetables, beans, whole grains, minimal amounts of bread using Ezekiel sprouted grain products sparingly, crackers that are gluten free, coconut, cashew or rice frozen deserts, Barley Max, water and peppermint tea.

Try it. You will look and feel better than you ever have and you will get to buy new clothes.