Blog

February 2014

‘Tis the Season…

Submitted by Christina on February 10, 2014 - 4:32pm

You survived it…the summer of beach time, barbecues, block parties, late nights. ‘Tis a new season as we face the reality of head colds and flu…and surviving that!

Holiday Feasting, In the Plant World

Submitted by Christina on February 10, 2014 - 4:32pm

Holidays can be challenging on many levels, but if you really want to throw your family into a tailspin, tell them that a vegetarian, or worse…a vegan, will be joining you for your holiday feast. My most amusing conversations have come from the panicked inquiries of hosts wondering what in the world to cook for me during the one season of the year seemingly dedicated to stuffing things, including ourselves.

Again with the Resolutions?

Submitted by Christina on February 10, 2014 - 4:32pm

Are you as sick of New Year’s Resolutions as I am? Every year, we hear the same things: make this the year you get fit; slim down; make healthy lifestyle choices; eat real food.

And by February 1, the gyms are once again quiet and most of us are back on the sofa with a bag of chips wondering how the year went south so fast.

You know it doesn’t have to be that way, right?

A few simple disciplines (yes, there’s that awful word…) and you might just get your feet on the path to a healthy and fit body once and for all.

No Choice but to Be Fat?

Submitted by Christina on February 10, 2014 - 4:32pm

‘Sometimes I have no choice but to eat heavy, greasy food…’ goes the opening line in a television ad for ‘Activia,’ the yogurt enriched with ‘bifidus regularis’ (an invented marketing name for Dannon’s exclusively used probiotic) to normalize digestion. A professional-looking woman runs through her day, grabbing a hot dog, cake at a party to illustrate the point.

But it’s not Dannon and their manufactured bacteria that got me thinking about the health of this country. No, it was the opening line of the ad that got me.

Foods Your Family Will Love

Submitted by Christina on February 10, 2014 - 4:32pm

We have all had those days…or heard the stories. You are worried about your family’s health. You desperately want them to eat healthy food so you buy books, scour the internet for recipes, attend cooking classes. You create a colorful, creative, flavorful meal for them to enjoy and they turn up their noses. You scrape it into the trash, despondent over the fact that your family wouldn’t even consider eating it….didn’t even try it.

Now what?

The Impulses of Impulse Eating

Submitted by Christina on February 10, 2014 - 4:32pm

We have all done it. We’re cleaning up after a party, holiday feast, or other celebration and you munch as you go. There’s one cookie left on the plate, and we eat it. We’re not hungry, but it’s there. Are you hungry? Nope, but we eat anyway.

What’s up? Are we weak-willed losers, or is there something more to impulse eating? Well, it’s complicated, and I am no expert on what makes us tick. Suffice it to say that I only know what I know from experience and talking to experts on the subject.

Why We Eat

Submitted by Christina on February 10, 2014 - 4:32pm

Thirty-five years ago, I changed the way I eat in order to regain my health during a life-threatening illness. Obviously, it worked out well, as I am here and healthy these many years later.

In the process of discovering my way back to health, I was introduced to Japanese philosopher, Georges Oshawa, considered to be the father of modern macrobiotics and its accompanying lifestyle. Oshawa has penned many books and in my reading, I was enchanted (and sometimes shocked) by many of his very black and white statements.

Is Healthy Living the Privilege of a Few?

Submitted by Christina on February 10, 2014 - 4:32pm

In these hard economic times, people are watching their dwindling money do less and less. We also continuously hear about living well, eating naturally and preventing disease. These three basic concepts of a healthy life have taken on the aura of out-of-reach luxury. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Can We Cut Crime by Changing Cafeteria Menus?

Submitted by Christina on February 10, 2014 - 4:32pm

I know; I know. It’s controversial. Some say crazy, but what if we could reduce crime and violence by simply changing cafeteria menus? A high school in Appleton, Wisconsin tried an experiment under the enlightened guidance of their principal, LuAnn Coenen. She wanted to see if she could positively affect the fighting, weapons-carrying and general lack of focus and discipline in the school by changing the food the kids ate.

Where Has All the Compassion Gone?

Submitted by Christina on February 10, 2014 - 4:32pm

I wanted to talk about something that seriously bugs me. I have lived a plant-centric lifestyle for more than 25 years and people rarely knew it. I always told myself it was because I disliked labels, so ‘macrobiotic,’ ‘vegan…’whatever was off my list of things to call myself.