My eldest son has been sucking his thumb since he was in my womb. During his 1st year of life he began sleeping with a “mimi” also known as a security blanket. Since he was a baby, all I had to do was show him the mimi, or shake it (it had a rattling noise) and immediately his thumb would enter his mouth. That was his signal to go to sleep. It was a blessing!!!!! But by the age of 4 this blessing had become a curse. My son did not know how to sleep without his mimi. We were slaves to this thing…making sure never to leave home without it, or leave it where we were. True story: we were in Disney World one time and I left my purse on the train with my wallet and phone. Obviously we were upset, yet my husband turns to me and says “Caro, it could be worse…. you could have left the Mimi on the train!!!!!”

We should have eliminated the mimi when he was smaller but he is our first child and we couldn’t bear to do that to him. As he got older, he became more attached. One day, at the age of 5, my son misplaced his mimi. It was in the house but no where to be found. This was a common occurrence. We would look for it, he would cry, and eventually we would find it. But we knew as parents this had to stop. After a few minutes of looking, we stopped the search and told our son he had to go to sleep without it. It was a rough, sad night..but eventually the kid fell asleep. The next day was the same and the day after that.

What you don’t know is that my son would ONLY suck his thumb when he had the mimi in his hands. One of the reasons he was so upset when it was gone was because he felt as if he could not suck his thumb without it. By this point the dentist had already warned us that he needed to eliminate this habit. As sad as I was to see him miss his mimi so much, I was relieved that he had stopped sucking his thumb. You can imagine that when the time came that I did find the mimi, I chose not to tell him I found it. He had come so far, I was afraid it would set him back. I put the mimi in a safe place and carried on.

Fast forward months later to Easter. The Easter bunny came and left eggs, toys, and a fuzzy bunny doll. The bunny was soft and cuddly. I think the “Easter Bunny” (my inlaws) intended the bunny to be for the little ones, but the one that liked it was Orly. He clung to that bunny for dear life. He asked if he could sleep with it. He took it with him to places.  We thought he was a little too old for the bunny but we let it slide. We figured it was like having his mimi back sans the thumb sucking. That was the best case scenario.

And then the unexpected happened. A few days later, Orly approached his father with his bunny in hand and said to him “Daddy, this bunny makes me want to suck my thumb. I love it but I know sucking my thumb is not good for my teeth, so I need you to take the bunny and throw it away.”

WHAT? Did our 5 year old really just voluntarily give up something he loved only because he knew it was not good for him? yes he did. I don’t know if Orly sucked his thumb during the days he had his bunny. But I can tell you he does not suck his thumb now. I can also tell you that he doesn’t have a mimi or a bunny, although he still confesses he misses them from time to time. When my husband came to tell me what happened that day, he said “Caro, I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of my son than I am at this moment. He has just done something most adults can’t do.” He’s right.

A plushy, cozy security blanket or stuffed animal was a 5 year old’s trigger for his addiction to sucking his thumb. How many triggers do we have for our addictions? Whether it is food, alcohol, smoking, drugs, sex, gambling…we all have triggers that prompt us to do things we know are not good for us.

What if we all did what my 5 year old did that day? What if we simply eliminated the trigger from our lives? Of course you may think, well its a lot easier to eliminate a stuffed animal than it is to eliminate all the triggers that prompt me to eat sweets or unhealthy food. That is true. But what was not easy was to make the decision to give the bunny to his dad. Confronting the problem, knowing that what you want to do is not what you should do, is the hardest part. And for a 5 year old the desire to suck his thumb was every bit as great as it is for you to have that piece of cake at a birthday party. As babies and toddlers, we have no choice but to engage in self discipline. We are weaned from the mother’s breast, weaned from a bottle, from a pacifier, from thumb sucking. We go from crawling to walking, from diapers to toilets, from the comfort of our homes to a scary classroom with strangers.

And yet for most of us, as we get older, change and discipline become more difficult. We have long forgotten the many times we were confronted with change and discipline as children. We have long forgotten how successful we were then. We forget how many times we fell before we were able to stand up and walk. We forget how many accidents we had before we finally got the concept of going to the bathroom in a toilet. And we think we are no longer capable of the same now. But we all are. So if you are reading this and know what your triggers are, then remind yourself you are the same as you were when you were born: Strong, disciplined, and capable of adapting to change.

Make the decision to identify what your triggers are in the problem areas of your life. Then eliminate these triggers as much as you can. The first step is to eliminate the triggers from your home. That way you have a safe place. Then slowly work on ignoring the triggers when you are out.  And if you fall, remember that’s okay too. You will get up again. After all, you’ve done it before.

Mango, quinoa, cucumbers, pears, avocados, tomatoes, shaved carrot, slivered almonds, chia seeds, hemp seeds

I made a delicious mango salad this week that I had to share.

Ingredients:

• Arugula greens
• 1/4 cucumber sliced
• 1 shaved carrot
• 1 sliced tomato
• slivered almonds
• 1/4 pear sliced
• 1/4 mango sliced
• sliced avocado
• pre-cooked quinoa
• sprinkle of chia and hemp seeds
• drizzle olive oil & balsamic vinegar to dress the salad

These measurements are for a personal salad. You can add as much or as little of each ingredient. Finding the right balance is really a matter of personal taste. I tend to go light on the fruit because it is really an accent to the salad. A touch of sweet but good.

This is so simple and fast to make. Pack it up for lunch or enjoy it with a nice piece of fish or a grilled chicken for dinner.

*I forgot to mention in my original post that I had included a leftover quinoa meal I had from the night before (kim chi fried rice). If I have leftovers from a meal that would work well into a salad I like tossing that in there to get some added nutrition. In this case I added the grains from the quinoa, kim chi, and the veggies that were in the quinoa. It was a nice touch and kept my salad authentic. You can simply add pre-cooked quinoa to add texture and grains to your salad.

Enjoy!

Here in Miami, I feel like there are mangoes falling from every tree in the city. Everywhere I turn, there are mangoes on the floor, mangoes at the store, mangoes for sale on a street corner, or in a give away bag by those generous mango tree owners.

I happen to LOVE mangoes. They are by far my favorite fruit. Problem is that I’ve always heard that they’re super fattening. They definitely taste sweet enough to feel fattening!!!!

I decided to do some research on the pros and cons of this delicious sweet fruit and this is what I found:

• About 40% of the fiber in mangoes is soluble, mainly pectin.
• It is an excellent source of vitamin A, and a good source of vitamin B6. It also contains a wide variety of carotenoids, including beta carotene, alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin and other phytonutrients, including quercetin. These substances can protect cells from damage, lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and provide other health benefits. Together; these compounds have been known to have antioxidant properties and are essential for vision. Vitamin A is also required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin. Consumption of natural fruits rich in carotenes is known to protect the body from lung and oral cavity cancers.
• It is also a very good source of vitamin-C and vitamin-E. Consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful oxygen-free radicals. Vitamin B-6 or pyridoxine is required for GABA hormone production within the brain. It also controls homocystiene levels within the blood, which may otherwise be harmful to blood vessels resulting in CAD, and stroke.
• According to new research study, mango fruit has been found to protect against colon, breast, leukemia and prostate cancers. Several trial studies suggest that polyphenolic anti-oxidant compounds in mango are known to offer protection against breast and colon cancers.
• Fresh mango is a good source of potassium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps in controlling heart rate and blood pressure.
• It composes moderate amounts of copper. Copper is a co-factor for many vital enzymes, including cytochrome c-oxidase and superoxide dismutase (other minerals function as co-factors for this enzyme are manganese and zinc). Copper is also required for the production of red blood cells.

In addition to the health benefits, I found that Mangoes score a 51 in the glycemic index but score under a 5 in the glycemic load and are a high carbohydrate food but a low calorie food.

What does this all mean? In my opinion, what it means is that mangoes are a WHOLE FOOD. Exactly the kind of food we should be eating in our diets. We are supposed to have fiber and carbs and vitamins and phytonutrients in our food. Sure they are higher in the glycemic index than berries for example, but that does not mean they need to be avoided.

If you are trying to lose weight and are counting calories, look up the nutrition facts for a mango and take that into account for your daily caloric intake. Otherwise, eat it in moderation like all other whole foods should be eaten. We need carbohydrates and fiber in our diets….mangoes are a great way to get our fill assuming we are not eating excess carbs in addition to the mangoes.

I personally have been eating and feeding my children a couple of mangoes a day. It is a pleasure to enjoy a seasonal, locally grown fruit. I will take full advantage until the season ends! Stay tuned for some mango recipes coming up this week!

My dad and I just came back from the National Speakers Association annual convention. We had a wonderful time and met a lot of fascinating people. I returned home feeling energized, inspired and recharged. Talk about living a healthy lifestyle… there is nothing healthier than feeding your mind and your soul.

During the convention I attended an informational panel in which GJ Hart (California Pizza Kitchen) and Kat Cole (Cinnabon) were interviewed. Kat Cole, the president of Cinnabon, is poised, pretty, well spoken, smart, charming and has a powerful story. It made me mad that a super star like her works for Cinnabon. Imagine if a talented woman like her could grow a healthy restaurant chain!

After the session I just had to question her!!!!

I asked her two questions in which she I confess she gave me great answers. The first question was “How do you stay so skinny eating Cinnabons??” to which her response was that she does eat Cinnabons, but when she’s not treating herself to a Cinnabon,  she eats a very strict healthy diet…fruits and veggies….She claims with her its either totally healthy or totally naughty (Cinnabons) but nothing in between.

My second question was “How do you handle running a company like Cinnabon with  these healthy, anti-sugar movements that are becoming so popular?”

Her response was…. Cinnabon is totally unhealthy. But they are honest. They do not lie about the ingredients. They don’t try to disguise that they are fattening and bad for you. She suggested that many companies try to cater to healthy eaters by disguising their ingredients and being dishonest and that’s where they get into trouble. If you choose to eat Cinnabon, you have chosen to treat yourself to something that is bad. And that’s a choice you can make. She also added that they have created smaller portion sizes for those who wish to take a bite of the cinnabon without a full splurge.

I thought that was a fantastic answer. You see, I believe we all have a choice. I don’t see anything wrong to have an unhealthy treat once in a while if it is something you would truly enjoy. I choose not to eat Cinnabons ever because it is just too much sugar for me. I would prefer to eat something sweet that I would enjoy more and is healthier. But again that is my choice. As long as your diet focuses on vegetables, fruits, lean proteins and good fats…why shouldn’t you splurge from time to time on a sinful Cinnabon???

But Kat’s answer didn’t appease some of my fellow healthy bloggers/authors. My friend Connie Bennett, author of Sugar Shock! was not pleased with this response and this is why. Processed food companies use sugar, salt and fat to addict us. According to Michael Moss, Pullitzer Prize winning investigative reporter, author of Salt Sugar Fat, food scientists use cutting edge technology to calculate the exact quantities of each of these ingredients to hook us and leave us begging for more.
So if that is the case, then maybe my choice argument is not 100% accurate. If we are so addicted to these foods that we can’t stop eating them, do we have a choice? And if we do manage to break the chains of addiction and stay away from these foods, will an occasional Cinnabon bite send us spiraling down the road of addiction making it oh so difficult for us to stay on track???

And even more thought provoking is what our brains experience through this process. Once we cave to this little treat and the addict within us is reactivated, then to deny more puts us in a state of resistance. That state of resistance causes us much stress. Should we live under a state of distress, constantly flexing the will power muscle to stay healthy? Deepak Chopra, in Super Brain, argues that we are not designed to live in a constant state  of resistance and to do so is harmful to our brains and bodies.

Knowing this, are these food companies responsible for our poor food choices? Should they be blamed or do we blame ourselves for caving in to these addictive foods? Do the food companies have a duty to protect us from obesity and disease? Or is this simply a matter of survival of the fittest, every man for himself?

Having explored both sides to this argument I am left confused. I don’t have an exact answer. But one thing I know for sure. Regardless of what the food companies are doing, the best way to keep your ability to choose is through EDUCATION. We need to know what the ingredients are. We need to know what these foods do to our bodies. If we are going to choose, we cannot be ignorant…and if we are, then we never had a choice in the first place.

I would love to know your thoughts about this. Please share.

What seems like a hundred years ago, I remember my mother starting a diet called “la sopa milagrosa.” As happens with most memories, I cannot remember this time entirely. My memory is simply highlighted glimpses of what I captured at that time. I remember I was very young, although not sure how old I was. I remember seeing a big pot on the top of the stove boiling contents I was not familiar with. I remember thinking it looked absolutely disgusting and being thankful I was too young to have to be on that diet. And I remember never hearing about that soup again for the rest of my life.

I don’t remember what was in the soup or what the rest of the diet entailed and I don’t remember if my mother ever lost weight as a result of that soup.

Ironically, soups have now become a huge part of my family’s diet. On a regular basis we eat cabbage soups, lentil soups, chicken soup, butternut squash soup, potato-leek soup…we love soups!!!!

A couple of years ago our cousin began eating healthy like we did. She lived in California at the time and she started making soups for herself, mainly because she was only cooking for 1 and soups allowed her to use lots of vegetables and have food for the week without the fear that everything in the fridge would perish quickly. She introduced her soup to her grandparents on one of her trips to Miami and they loved it. They started making the soup and having a bowl every night for dinner without altering anything else from their daily diet. All the sudden they began losing weight and going to the bathroom regularly. They were thrilled. The soup became a staple in their home. Every time we go to their house we eat a huge bowl of it. My kids love it. Its a happy soup…full of good ingredients and love.

Recently I was making the soup at home for my dad (in my never ending quest to get him to eat healthy!). He came over to have some and despite the fact he has no palette for vegetables, he enjoyed the soup. I thought to myself…wow this is una sopa milagrosa (a miracle soup). The thought immediately transcended me to my mother’s kitchen so many years ago. Funny how the name of that soup stuck in my head despite me not liking the smell of the soup or even trying it myself.

It made me wonder what was all the hype of that soup as a diet so many years ago. Luckily for me… we now have google. A 2.5 second search gave me all the answers I was looking for. This is a 7 day diet written in spanish, in which each day during the 7 days you’re told exactly what you can consume in addition to the soup that they have you make. It basically goes like this:

• day 1 – fruits and soup only
• day 2- no fruits, only greens including soup
• day 3- fruits and veggies combo

You get the idea. The diet claims you will lose 8.5 kilos (roughly 18.7 LBS) in just 7 days. That is pretty intense…I have no idea if its true or not but I can definitely see WHY the diet makes this claim. This diet is essentially a cleanse.  The ingredients of the soup are celery, cabbage, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, and chicken stock.

If you eliminate all grains, processed foods, refined carbohydrates, and only consume fruits and green vegetables you will obviously lose weight! Of course the soup is miraculous…its putting nothing but good into your body and eliminating all the bad.

But I have a problem with this diet. My problem is on day 8. Anyone can do this diet, but if you do not like vegetables and fruits, if you are accustomed to eating a certain way, if you are only looking for a quick fix…from day 8 on, you will inevitably revert to your old eating habits and regain the weight you lost.

Although the soup may be excellent for you, the process is so painful that it is unsustainable. Cleanses are super popular these days and heavily promoted. But I don’t think cleanses are for everyone. Cleanses require much will power and can leave you feeling exhausted. Especially in our high stress lives…our brains are not designed to endure so much sacrifice. So essentially even if we make it through the cleanse…we can easily be setting ourselves up for failure.

Eating well should not have to be so hard. Now, if you have 15 days until you have to go out in a bathing suit, you may be willing to make all sorts of sacrifices to lose weight quickly. But these quick fixes come with a price if you’re not careful.

I say Don’t Eat The Marshmallow! Focus less on the instant gratification of weight loss and more on the long term effects of changing your dietary habits.

Did you know that just a 20% change in your dietary habits can have huge long-lasting, weight impacting effects on your body?

So if you’re open to making small changes that make big impacts, try this experiment. Make yourself a big pot of this killer, awesome for you soup (our recipe not la milagrosa recipe). Store it in several individual-sized portion containers -depending on your family size and how many of you will be having some. Keep a couple containers in the fridge for the week and freeze the rest. Then begin eating the soup before dinner, for dinner or for lunch.  If you’re still hungry after you eat the soup, eat a small portion of whatever you want. You can try different combinations. For example, one night you may eat a piece of grilled chicken or a fillet of fish and the soup on the side. Another day you could eat the soup on top of some quinoa.

See how eating this soup regularly affects your digestion, your bowels and your food cravings. I believe that if you commit to doing this for a couple of weeks you will see miraculous things happen. Your brain will naturally start making better choices throughout the day without so much sacrifice. You will like how eating this soup makes you feel. You will notice the difference when you go to the bathroom. You may even shed some weight. If any of the above happen for you, you will inevitably want to start making more changes. The beauty of this experiment is you can do it without any huge expectations or huge sacrifices. There is no pass or fail.

I will reiterate: this relaxed approach to transitioning into a healthy lifestyle may not sit well with someone who has a goal of losing XX IBS in a certain amount of time. But I am not trying to help you meet your goal. I am trying to help you create a system. I am hoping that by eliminating goals and creating systems – we can eliminate this yo-yo way of life that becomes so taxing on our bodies and psyche.

Give yourself this gift…the right to eat healthy and enjoy it without the pressure of a diet. Good luck and have fun.

Stephanie’s Super Veggie Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 chopped tomato
• 1 chopped green pepper
• 1 chopped red pepper
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of cremini mushrooms
• 1 stock chopped celery
• 2 boxes of organic vegetable broth
• 3 chopped carrots
• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1 head of broccoli
• 3 leaves of kale
• 3 leaves of collards
• 1 baby bok choy
• 1 cup of spinach
• 1/2 Daikon
• 1 sprig of parsley
• celtic sea salt to taste

Directions

• Sautee onions, tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, garlic, celery, and cremini mushrooms in a little bit of coconut oil. You can add a dash of celtic sea salt for seasoning.
• Once those veggies are soft and aromatic, add 2 boxes of organic vegetable broth (you can buy at the store or make your own whichever you prefer) and bring to a boil
• Once the broth is boiling add your carrots, cauliflower, and daikon since they take the longest to cook. Reduce broth to medium heat. You can add celtic sea salt to taste, black pepper, kelp, turmeric, or any other spice you enjoy cooking with.
• After a few minutes when the carrots and cauliflower start to get soft, add your leafy greens and parsley. These should wilt in about 3-4 minutes. Once they have wilted and are still a beautiful green- take the soup off the heat.
• You can serve and eat as is or you can put the veggies in a blender with a little bit of the broth and blend into a puree. (That is the way I eat it)

NOTE:  I can’t give you exact quantities of the ingredients because it really all depends how much you make of it. My measurements were estimates and you can put more or less depending on your tastebuds. Also, you do not need to put in every single vegetable I listed. And you can add or replace any of these veggies with your own choice. If you don’t recognize some of these veggies, don’t let that intimidate you. Simply skip them for your first try. Then if you like the soup, you can always look for those later and incorporate them in another soup. And change it up. If you put in and leave out certain ingredients, you will essentially make different soups and avoid getting bored of the same ole recipe every time.

Your options are endless. Put on a little music in the background and let chopping and cleaning these veggies be more therapy than work. Let this be an experience.

To happy cooking. Have a wonderful week.

On Saturday night we celebrated my mother in laws birthday at our aunts house. It was a small dinner-just the family- coupled with some nice jazz music in the background, wine, and good laughs. It was a nice night. But there was something different about that night than similar dinners we’ve had in the past…what we ate. A few years ago we would have had exactly the same celebration and the menu would have likely been “arroz imperial” (chicken with yellow rice, ham, and cheese) or some other meal that included rice, bread, fried foods but not likely to have any good vegetables. Last night we had a perfectly cooked rib eye steak, salmon, baked pieces of sweet potatoes and asparagus. The meal was absolutely delicious. What I found wonderful was that at the end of the night, everyone was satisfied. No one was overly full or unbuttoning their jeans. Those who wanted Dessert weren’t trying to make space in their bellies. It was a light, pleasant, and tasty meal.

It got me thinking about why the menu changed. It’s been happening subtly over the years. It used to be that my cousin was always eating on a somewhat strict regimen and she would come to our parties but would bring her own food or eat only certain things. Then I started to eat healthy so I would eat the ground turkey but skip on the rice and bread. Orlando joined in a few months later and would offer suggestions like, hey could we make a side salad for Caro and I? It was mostly the younger generation of our family that was becoming more aware and more involved in the food choices. Just like anything the atmosphere started becoming contagious. Our aunt and uncle who are the most gracious hosts started making sure that we had salads and vegetables available to eat… And they began enjoying them also. The gradual change led us to this Saturday night dinner. What was wonderful was that there was no sacrifice involved. No one was turning away the white rice because it wasn’t offered. The sweet potato was not coated with brown sugar just light salt and pepper. The salmon and steak were cooked to perfection, not to mention the roasted asparagus. And at the end of the meal those who wished to have dessert (apple pie with vanilla ice cream) did so knowing it was Saturday night and the only cheat of the evening. 😉 I chose my piece of dark chocolate not because I had to but because it was what I was in the mood for. It felt good to be in an environment where I wasn’t being looked at as if I were on a diet, or as my way of eating was “special”.
Actually it was quite the contrary.

This made me think… Why shouldn’t eating healthy be the norm? Why is it such a big deal in the first place?
Isn’t it wonderful to eat in good company… Well wouldn’t it be even more wonderful to eat healthy, delicious, food in good company??

The next time you host a dinner party or are invited to bring a dish to a dinner party, maybe you can start that subtle trend. Maybe you can introduce a healthy option that blows people away. Little by little we can spread the word and create a community of nice music, good laughs and healthy food- what a wonderful world it will be. 🙂

One of the funnest parts of starting a new hobby is usually the gear that accompanies it. Newfound cyclers start with a cool new bike and then of course they start gathering all the accessories; the helmet, the shorts with the cushion, the lights for night riding, maybe even a heart monitor or an iPod arm strap. It’s fun and exciting to get all geared up and go out for an awesome bike ride. The same goes for any hobby from playing golf to sewing or photography… There is always gear. The drawback is that once the interest in the hobby fades or life starts getting in the way, the gear finds its own little spot in your home to collect dust, act as an accessory or gets tossed in the goodwill pile. I am aware of this cycle… We have all been victims of it at least once! The lesson I have learned is to test drive your hobby before you commit to the gear. That will save you money and storage space.

The kitchen is similar but different. When you move in to your new place or start a wedding registry, you tend to accumulate kitchen appliances. Blenders, mixers, food processors, cheese graters, etc. If you enjoy cooking you are familiar with these tools and may even be partial to some brands. If you’re not familiar you may put some of this stuff on your registry anyway because it looks cool and you think you might need it one day anyway, as you are convinced you will start cooking at some point. We fell into both of these categories, so our kitchen is pretty stocked up with appliances. The cool thing about that is that when you make the switch, you don’t have to go out and buy all new things. You probably have tons to work with already in your home.

When I started eating healthy, I already had a salad spinner, a good peeler, a food processor…I even had a mandolin (which I am totally going to write about in another post)

But I did go out and buy a couple of new things that I didn’t know about, like a kitchen scale and some green bags to preserve my veggies. I was really excited about those.

And then I learned about blenders. Smoothies require a blender and I already had a blender that I received as a wedding gift so I had no issues. (Or so I thought). There began my long journey to find the right blender. A few months after using my run of the mill wedding gift blender, it died on me. It wasn’t too tragic because it was big and bulky and a pain to clean. I had heard of this bad boy blender called the Vitamix but it was so expensive I thought to myself… I’m not going to fall into the new hobby trap. What if I buy this Vitamix and I stop making smoothies in a month and now I wasted the money.  So I ruled out that option. I did, however, think it would be the perfect opportunity to invest in a magic bullet! Everyone was talking about them so I got it and I was in love! I would make my cups of smoothie, one for my husband and one for me…and it blended so much better than my first blender. But after 9 months that fell apart. It didn’t work the same anymore and I was now making smoothies for my sons too and the individual cup situation was getting annoying. Then I learned about the Ninja. And it was only $99! How could I go wrong??? Oh, it went wrong.  I didn’t enjoy the ninja at all. The lid is overly complicated to put on and take off and it breaks quite easily. The blender is a decent blender but my smoothies were always chunky. I couldn’t stand to have a carrot smoothie because of the texture. So I bought a cheese cloth to squeeze the juice out but that takes forever.

To make a long story short, I bought 3 different types of blenders, a juicer, and a cheese cloth in my quest to make good juices/smoothies. When my last purchase, the Nutribullet, started giving me trouble I caved. I have been eating healthy now for almost 3 years. I make smoothies probably 5 times a week. I need a blender that will last me more than 1 year. If I were to add up all the purchases I made in this quest, it would have cost the same as a good blender! That is the bad news.

The good news is that by the time I started looking to invest in a good blender, I felt like I had EARNED it. I am committed to this lifestyle. I have drank the chunky smoothies, the pulpy juices, I have struggled with my recipes…but I kept at it. Now it was time to say goodbye to all these gadgets, clear my kitchen cabinets and make room for the real deal.

After doing all my research I chose the Blendtec. The final deciding factor for me between the Vitamix and Blendtec was the Twister Jar the Blendtec offers. I liked it because its great for baby food and nut butters and I make both often.

And then there was an added perk to this purchase. Starting a new hobby, health plan, exercise routine is exactly that…NEW. New is fun, different, exciting…even when painful or uncomfortable. But after a while new becomes routine, ordinary and boring. There is nothing wrong with that but its always nice to spice things up. The new blender did the trick for me. Not only was it fun to use my cool new toy, but it also came with a recipe book.

My favorite of all was a Cocoa-Nut Almond Butter recipe I tried with my twister jar.

Here it is:

• 1 1/4 cup raw almonds
• 1 Tbsp raw cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes
• 2 Tbsp of coconut oil
• a dash of celtic sea salt

Yummy!!! This was my modified recipe. (the recipe called for sugar but I didn’t add any) This butter is delicious with a banana or pear or a slice of ezekiel bread. And it is sooooo healthy and full of good fats. Its a must try.

As for the quality of the blender, I am totally in love and impressed! My smoothies and juices (yes it actually makes whole juice) are smooth and delicious. My husband who never liked the texture of these drinks before is constantly pleasantly surprised! And it works great for soups and purees and all the good stuff we eat here at the Pile On the Greens household.

I have decided to keep my nutribullet to travel with because of its size but I had to order new parts.

In summary, if you can make the investment, go for it…you won’t regret it. But if you can’t…that is no excuse! You don’t need a fancy blender to commit to a healthy lifestyle. You can make do with a cheaper alternative.

What you do need is the will to make the change, the right state of mind, and the time to prepare. Those things, my friends, are priceless!

Ok I’m going to come right out and admit that every year during the New Years holiday I make it a point to reflect on the past year. I contemplate my high moments and my low moments; my successes and my mistakes. Some may think its cliche but for me it helps recharge my batteries. A few weeks ago I had a long, interesting, philosophical conversation with my doctor about nutrition, medicine and staying healthy. We discussed how science is continually changing and how experts have such differing opinions in the benefits or detriments of different things. For example, there are scientists who swear by taking fish oil while others argue that it is actually detrimental to consume fish oil supplements. The conclusion of our conversation is that at the end of the day there is so much we just don’t know. This got me thinking.

During New Year’s Eve as I sat and reflected, it hit me that one of the mistakes I have made since my health journey began is that I got married with my ideas. I learned a lot when I made the commitment to change my eating habits. I read, I watched videos, I spoke to experts. But when I learned something, I accepted that concept as truth and that’s it. And if what I know is truth then that makes a contradictory concept false, right? Therein lies the problem.

Because there is not one truth. There is so much complexity in our system. Some people gain weight easier than others; some are susceptible to diabetes and others to heart disease; we metabolize foods differently and react to medicines differently. There is no perfect science. That’s why smokers often justify their habits by pointing out that their grandfather smoked until age 90 and never got lung cancer. And others tell the tale of that friend or family member who was young, fit and healthy and died of a sudden brain aneurism. And then there are those who smoke and do get lung cancer and those who are fit and healthy and live long healthy lives. There is no way to be totally sure and we have no guarantees. Furthermore as science develops we discover different complexities that change what we know. How we process food, what our DNA says, our genetic makeup, the power of our thoughts. There is simply no one formula that fits all.

That’s why I find it so admirable that my doctor who knows so much accepts that he has so much to learn. I find that to be admirable but quite difficult to practice. Why is it so hard? My theory is that when you think you know something it gives you a sense of control. That feeling of control helps in child rearing, in dieting, in the workplace. It helps you lunge forward thinking that you are doing things right. And then you grow older… Times change …. Knowledge changes….and suddenly things are being done differently. It is hard to think you we’re doing whatever you were doing incorrectly or things weren’t the way you thought they were. Some stay married to their old ways to make sense of it all… To sustain that feeling of control they had once. Others accept the change happily… And they are grateful to have the opportunity to discover more, to be better than they were.

During this reflection something my doctor has told me many times before really clicked for me. It doesn’t matter if things change… It doesn’t matter if what we did or how we did it wasn’t perfect. What matters is that we do the best we can with the information we have available to us right now. What matters is that we act in good faith and with love. And many times just the fact that we think we are doing whats best for ourselves or for our loved ones is more important than what we are doing.

After all, we all change. Our goals, our priorities, our physique, even our marriages change through the years. So my goal for this year is not to get married to any idea. To know that my way is not the only way… And to keep learning… All the while knowing that what I learn today may not be true tomorrow but that’s ok because I am and will always act in good faith and with love.

Happy new year. I wish you all health, happiness and prosperity.

Ok I’m going to come right out and admit that every year during the New Years holiday I make it a point to reflect on the past year. I contemplate my high moments and my low moments; my successes and my mistakes. Some may think its cliche but for me it helps recharge my batteries. A few weeks ago I had a long, interesting, philosophical conversation with my doctor about nutrition, medicine and staying healthy. We discussed how science is continually changing and how experts have such differing opinions in the benefits or detriments of different things. For example, there are scientists who swear by taking fish oil while others argue that it is actually detrimental to consume fish oil supplements. The conclusion of our conversation is that at the end of the day there is so much we just don’t know. This got me thinking.

During New Year’s Eve as I sat and reflected, it hit me that one of the mistakes I have made since my health journey began is that I got married with my ideas. I learned a lot when I made the commitment to change my eating habits. I read, I watched videos, I spoke to experts. But when I learned something, I accepted that concept as truth and that’s it. And if what I know is truth then that makes a contradictory concept false, right? Therein lies the problem.

Because there is not one truth. There is so much complexity in our system. Some people gain weight easier than others; some are susceptible to diabetes and others to heart disease; we metabolize foods differently and react to medicines differently. There is no perfect science. That’s why smokers often justify their habits by pointing out that their grandfather smoked until age 90 and never got lung cancer. And others tell the tale of that friend or family member who was young, fit and healthy and died of a sudden brain aneurism. And then there are those who smoke and do get lung cancer and those who are fit and healthy and live long healthy lives. There is no way to be totally sure and we have no guarantees. Furthermore as science develops we discover different complexities that change what we know. How we process food, what our DNA says, our genetic makeup, the power of our thoughts. There is simply no one formula that fits all.

That’s why I find it so admirable that my doctor who knows so much accepts that he has so much to learn. I find that to be admirable but quite difficult to practice. Why is it so hard? My theory is that when you think you know something it gives you a sense of control. That feeling of control helps in child rearing, in dieting, in the workplace. It helps you lunge forward thinking that you are doing things right. And then you grow older… Times change …. Knowledge changes….and suddenly things are being done differently. It is hard to think you we’re doing whatever you were doing incorrectly or things weren’t the way you thought they were. Some stay married to their old ways to make sense of it all… To sustain that feeling of control they had once. Others accept the change happily… And they are grateful to have the opportunity to discover more, to be better than they were.

During this reflection something my doctor has told me many times before really clicked for me. It doesn’t matter if things change… It doesn’t matter if what we did or how we did it wasn’t perfect. What matters is that we do the best we can with the information we have available to us right now. What matters is that we act in good faith and with love. And many times just the fact that we think we are doing whats best for ourselves or for our loved ones is more important than what we are doing.

After all, we all change. Our goals, our priorities, our physique, even our marriages change through the years. So my goal for this year is not to get married to any idea. To know that my way is not the only way… And to keep learning… All the while knowing that what I learn today may not be true tomorrow but that’s ok because I am and will always act in good faith and with love.

Happy new year. I wish you all health, happiness and prosperity.