As The Seasons Change, We Change!

Fall is here, and that means Winter is right around the corner. This is the time of year when our bodies start to change and prepare for the "cold days' ahead. We are in tune with nature and our natural rhythmic cycles are preparing us for hibernation in a sense..just like the bears! Are bodies are no fools, even though we often treat them that way by feeding them junk and processed food. But, if you are in tune with your body and how it feels, it will usually tell you when it needs some TLC in the form of exercise, yoga, healthy food, or whatever. This is the time of year, to especially nurture your body and eat healthy!

Most of us eat on the run and don't tune in to what our bodies really need. This time of year is especially hard as the holidays approach and we get even busier. AND, there's all those dreaded temptations lurking around every corner which starts from the beloved Halloween holiday until straight after the New Year rolls around. By then we are feeling horrible and most of us are 6-10 lbs heavier than where we started in October. And that's not 6-10 lbs of muscle my friends, it's PURE FAT!!!

Yes, we need to slow down at this time of year, or at least our bodies do to prepare for the change in weather. When we feed our bodies processed, junky food full of sugar and fat, most of the time our bodies will revolt will illness. Did you ever notice that most people catch the "flu" or get really ill during or immediately after the holidays? And why does the media always blame it on some new flu strain from some other country that is taking over the USA?? To sell more pharmaceuticals?? Why don't we blame it on what it really is...OVEREATING, OVERINDULGING AND HOLIDAY GLUTTONY!!

Our bodies cannot handle the overload of sugar, fat and salt that we give it during the h0liday season and it will literally revolt by getting sick. That's the bodies way of saying, "STOP..feed me something good..take care of me." Yes, we all like to indulge a bit over the holidays, as it's festive and it brings our families together over the dinner table, but did you notice that every holiday in the US is centered around EATING crappy food and ingesting large amounts of alcohol? Valentine's Day = chocolate, Easter = more chocolate & processed marshmallow peeps, St. Pat's day = beer, 4th of July = BBQ's with greasy food and loads of booze, Labor Day = more alcohol and greasy food. When does it end, because then we move into the holidays and we all know what kind of food we eat then! What has happened to our society which is now riddled with people dying every day of diabetes and heart disease???

It's not just about the changing of the seasons, it's about taking care of yourself, slowing down and making the right choices with your food to keep you healthy as the weather changes, and we move into our shorter days and colder months.

Make sure you are still exercising, but also allow time for relaxing, getting more sleep and enjoying time to yourself so that you can nurture your body and soul at the time when it's most vulnerable to illness and disease. Honor the changing of the seasons and HONOR YOUR BODY!!!

The Benefits of a Vegan Diet

Veganism is a word that often scares people and why wouldn't it? Most people think a vegan diet is bland, lacking flavor, variety and most importantly, PROTEIN!

But these thoughts couldn't be further from the truth.

Being a vegetarian myself for many, many years, and a vegan off and on, my diet consists of a multitude of foods. Fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds & healthy fats. If you think about it, meat is one type of food, all the other food out there is vegetarian in a sense, as long as it's in it's whole state. So you ask, where do I get my protein from on a vegetarian/vegan diet?

And I answer, plenty of places. One, whole grains, especially quinoa, amaranth and millet are high in protein, perfect protein in fact, as well as loads of vitamins and minerals. They are a nutrient-dense food and easy to digest. Secondly, veggies are a great source of protein. Protein is made up of amino-acids and when you ingest amino acids, they turn to protein in the body and there are tons of aminos in veggies. Legumes, nuts and seeds are all sources of high levels of protein.

Numerous studies have shown that animal protein & products, in fact, are a large contributor to cancer, more specifically, liver cancer. T. Colin Campbell's book, The China Study proves this enormous and sobering fact through 20 years of food and nutritional studies conducted using people and rats. Campbell also proved that active cancer cells can be made dormant by changing from a diet consisting of animal products to a plant-based diet.

Brendan Brazier, Professional Ironman Triathelete and author of Thrive, The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports & Life, touts a vegan diet for highest & quickest recovery rate after long and grueling workouts. Brendan ate every kind of diet under the sun, but after 20 years of experimenting with food, he concluded that eating a diet free of animal products resulted in a phenomeonal boost in energy, reduction in stress, quickest recovery after workouts and unending vitality.

Yes it is true that we need protein to survive, but Americans especially, have taken protein to an unhealthy level. We are eating above and beyond what our bodies need to survive, grow and heal, which can lead to an acidic environment, arthritis, digestive problems and a whole slew of other ailments. Studies have proven that plant protein allows for the slow-yet-steady synthesis of new proteins in the body, which is the healthiest way to acquire protein. To read another article on the vegetarian diet and protein, check out Veg News.

This is not meant to make meat eaters feel badly. This is to an bring awareness that anyone can get sufficient amounts of protein by following a vegan/vegetarian diet. It does take some planning and level of commitment, but it's worth it and I promise you will feel healthier, look better and maybe even live longer!! Remember your body is like a bank account, you are making an investment in your health! SO give it a try, give up meat maybe once or twice a week. How about on Mondays? Check out Meatless Monday's for some amazing Veg recipes!