Practical Stuff Grows Here
preheat oven 375
grease a 9 x 14 glass dish or similar with Coconut oil
sprinkle with greek freak spice blend by Spicology, on Amazon
break up a pound of ground meat ( bison, beef, venison, lamb, etc ) place in dish
cover with chopped purple or yellow cauliflower
add a sliced up red pepper
dowse with olive or avocado oil and more Greek Freak spice blend plus S&P
bake until veggies are tender 30-45 min
Extra credit - serve with kraut or slaw, live cultures. add raisins.
Preheat oven at 385
“Grease” a 9x9 or larger glass baking dish with coconut oil
Cut in Half all those B sprouts, into glass dish
Chop up an apple, add
Chop up sausage or bacon - try to use well sourced, ie Grass fed meat
Douse with olive oil, good for ya so go for it
Add spice blend - Mediterranean / Italian blends are sure bets, middle eastern blends more adventurous
Bake, at aprox 30 mins and stir and check how done, likely 45 mins total
10 min prior to being done, sprinkle on raisins and nuts. Balsamic could add a nice flair if using med spice blend, I have not tested yet, hmmmmm…
Great with salmon or any grass fed 4 legged beast that sounds yummy ;-)
Increase calories - That's right, cutting calories / “dieting” is a medically proven way people reduce their immunity vs what's “going around”. Calories are often reduced intentionally or accidentally due to busy schedules / stress - either way, lower calories are not helpful for best immunity.
Avoid sugar and processed carbs - As always, you only have so much room on your plate, but especially if you are fighting something off this is an important time to focus on eating the most nutrient dense foods.
Double up on Vit D. You are taking daily vit D already, yes? Gotta get that D. get outside too, 20 min sunshine on the skin is best vit D source.
Vit C - sure it's good, but like always skip the orange juice - eat citrus fruit instead.
Zinc lozenges - Zicam or similar. Helps a sore throat / acts as a prevent defense.
Comfort nutrition! - Homemade chicken veggie soup
In a saucepan, olive or coconut oil, med low heat, add these…
Chopped purple cabbage
Red onions
Garlic, as much as you can handle
Shiitake / maitake mushrooms - chop and add
Beet greens - buy a bunch of beets, with greens attached. Wash and chop beet greens - add wet greens to pan, cover to steam / cook them. Save actual beets for another day.
Red pepper, broccoli, etc - whatever other veggies sounds good
Optional - some cooked brown rice / faro
Protein - chicken, beef, lamb, sausage - whatever you have already cooked up
Epic brand bone broth - any flavor, simmer for 10 minutes until everything is tender
Journal a few pages - proven stress busting process.
Give the positive cheerleader part of yourself the day off.
Break out a pad of paper and a pen - not digital.
Write out any and everything that's bothering you these days, 3 pages min
Draw a sketch or two as well.
Maybe assign stressful items an order - biggest to smallest bothers.
Notice that some things may be transitory, rare, very short term, while others more nagging, deeper, longer term.
Stress and immunity aren't compatible - stress changes circulating hormone levels, etc so addressing chronic stressors is super important and worthy of your time and attention.
Consider adding a counselor to your existing success team of doctor / nutrition coach / personal trainer / etc already in place. You are worth a team of pros that help keep you on track and in good health. You deserve to be fully supported.
Avoid Antibiotics
They are ineffective at fighting viral infections / most colds
They are a nuclear option wiping out so much of your best gut microbiome
Stick with the above and over the counter symptom relievers if at all possible
Use getting this cold to motivate your goal of dramatically improving your diet, reducing your stressors and improving your overall health.
Lastly, stay hydrated, winter with HVAC running really drys out the air, extra water helps your body stay healthy and balanced. Until next time, stay well and enjoy life.
Optimizing your immunity - it's a hot topic in nutrition circles - never more important than right now. Turns out that along with looking at fats, carbs and proteins focussing on foods that enhance the number and variety of good bacteria in your microbiome can have huge positive health effects. Your good gut bacteria control everything from getting more nutrition from the foods you already eat to effectively keeping bad bacteria out of your system while keeping your natural immunity high.
Including delicious pre and pro biotic foods in your diet can dramatically improve the symbiotic relationship you have with your microbiome. To learn more grab a copy of The Microbiome Solution by Chutkan, a great read.
You can also attend my upcoming Desert Sports and Fitness seminar - Optimizing Your Immunity by Improving Your Gut Health - Dec 14th at 1pm and again at 6pm. Hope to see you there!
A delicious meal, one where every item is full flavor, all competing for your praise and attention. A meal that leaves you more than fed, more than even satisfied, a meal that delivers, crushing any remaining hint of hunger. Now thats a great dinner, one that can be an every night occurrence in your home.
So how do we pull that off? To start lets choose foods that are whole and come straight from mother nature. By definition this gets us away from processed foods made from the deadly combo of white flour, sugar, “vegetable oils” and an array of unnatural chemicals. Clean meat or fish. Colorful vegetables. Good fats. A bit of tasty pre and pro-biotics to keep our gut microbiome and immunity super strong.
How about an example? Heres a shot of last nights delicious little fest. Lets see how it fits the bill…
Pretty food, food with color is way more enticing and as it turns out, almost always more nutritious and flavorful. Take purple cauliflower, rice it in a food processor, sautéed it in Kerry butter or olive oil with some cherry tomatoes, Himalayan sea salt and bam, its hot creamy moist and delicious. Grass fed ground beef, cooked med rare and covered in sautéed red onion, both keep the meat tender and moist. Add a spice blend, tonight we did a Moroccan blend and served on a slice of Swiss cheese from, you guessed it, grass fed cows. A few slices of baked sweet potato cooked alongside our sliders and you have a sweet n savory meal.
Off camera we added a nice little salad - baby spinach, strawberries and raw pistachios tossed in a Primal Kitchen avocado Caesar dressing. And to wash it all down, a fresh and bubbly Passion Berry kombucha to which the gut bugs that keep us well said thank you!
This meal features plenty of good fats - olive oil, butter and cheese from grass fed cows, avocado, and grass fed beef. We got enough good quality protein. And we had 3 different veggies, all low starch / high nutrition. We avoided the costly processed stuff, we kept our blood sugar low avoiding simple carbs. And best of all, like most good cooking this came together quickly, indeed writing about it took me longer than cooking it up.
Until next time - happy eating ;-)
Studies and books and history are awesome and instructive on questions like diet. Taking that science to the next level - wouldn’t it be great to have personal studies and data about YOU. Your physiology, your age, sex, heredity, ethnicity, etc. Good news, You can now design your own dietary study, get your own blood work, track your own results, on Diet A vs Diet B, which is best for You?
Let’s say you want to test a low fat diet against a low carb diet, both are popular but which is better for you? Two objective measures might be a panel of blood tests and your bathroom scale. A 3rd criteria is which one was delicious, satisfying and thus easier to sustain.
Heres how to do it. For 8 weeks track the foods and beverages you consume. Amounts and calories are less important than just noting what it is that you eat. At end of 8 weeks on say a low fat low calorie diet program get your blood work done. Link here, this one is a best female blood test panel from lef.org. they ave male panels available as well. Many other sites support this direct approach. Cost is aprox 300 bucks, even lower at 225 in early April as tests go on sale. Many companies offer this, Google “ blood test online direct “. Yes you can get some tests through your Doc and insurance by its often a battle and timing is important here, you want a test the last day of that 8 weeks because after all this is science so lets be precise.
Then start phase 2 of your own personal science experiment - 8 weeks on what is fast becoming the consensus diet for good health long term and healthy weight, a Low Carb diet. Parameters are enough protein, formula is aprox. 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. For most Americans this is what we eat anyway, aprox a playing cards size portion 3-4 times a day from a mix of all sources, choose best quality protein you can; grass fed beef, wild caught fish, organic eggs, full fat grass fed dairy, etc. Add tons of low carb veggies - cruciferous veggies, greens, etc. Exclude all high carb “veggies" like any potato, rice, grain. You can add in a little slow burn / low glycemic grain like faro, 1/4 cup with a meal. No flour based products - bread, pasta, pastries, cake, bagels. Drop the sweets, anything with sugar, honey, HFCS, etc. Fruit is ok, mostly berries. Avoid high glycemic super sweet fruits. No fruit juice. Be French, fruit ok with fat or after a meal as dessert. Wine max 1 glass per day after or with food, preferably high fat, like the French do, wine n cheese, wine with dinner, not before, not on empty stomach, avoids big glucose spike.
Add lots of fats, both saturated and unsaturated. Eggs, bacon, butter, olive oil, fatty fish, pork sausage, butter, cream, spices and sauces galore, way more romantic and fun than low fat can ever be. Exclude all processed foods / fast food. They are fun of bad oils, white flour and sugar. Exclude all bad fats. This includes “vegetable oils” really seed oils, all man made, heavy in omega 6s and deadly. Includes corn, soy, cotton seed, safflower and canola.
Don’t scrimp on calories, don’t be hungry. Have a big breakfast, smaller and earlier dinners. Again, track diet for 8 weeks, then blood tests and scale check like above.
The results…. my prediction is that objective scientific highly personalized experiment will show clear cut results for you. Your blood tests and weight will be much healthier after phase 2. This low carb, full fat, full flavor, guilt free, hunger free way of eating will prove to be not only healthier but tastes better than low fat and always leaves you feeling satisfied.
Low fat diet reliance on carbs that increase cravings for sugar will be gone. Low calorie diets that rely on unsustainable amounts self control and hunger - gone. Both are negative feedback loops both physically ( lead to insulin insensitivity and fat storage ) and emotionally ( leads to shame, guilt, depression, emotional eating ). This low carb diets features of quality protein, lots of low-carb veggies, plenty of good fat and flavor - that will prove to be healthy, delicious and sustainable - the 3 things a good diet should be.
As we look at your blood tests we will focus on HDL ( good cholesterols will be much higher) your triglycerides (will be much lower). Your glucose and insulin ( these control fat storage vs fat burning, the key to achieving and sustaining healthy weight, they will be reduced). Your insulin sensitivity will be improved as well. We will largely ignore outdated metrics of total cholesterol and LDL, these offer weak to non existent correlation with important goals we care about - things like lower rates of cancer, heart disease, etc.
Of course stress reduction and exercise, time in nature and time with friends - those are all good any time but none are needed here. Testing 2 different dietary approaches with personal metrics, that will be highly revealing ;-)
Email me with questions or to review your results - I am excited for you ;-)
Kidney Stones
Kidney stones are actually not stones at all - worse, they are pointy sharp crystals which helps explain the excruciating pain they can cause. Let’s make sure you never feel that again.
In nature crystals form from concentrated solutions, like in caves where very little water carries a very high mineral load and forms stalagtites. Same in the body with crystals forming around the kidneys when water is limited.
The easiest and most effective solution - stay well hydrated. This is especially true for anyone who exercises a lot or eats a good amount of animal protein or lives in a dry climate or all three. Also folks over 50 as their thirst mechanism is often impaired. Drink water or tea - skip the soda. Soda has far too much sugar and even if “diet” it is actually low in usable liquids vs water or tea.
Drink more than you think you need, that's the rule of thumb. Always keep your urine running clean and clear. Keep a full water bottle in your car, a glass of water at your desk, etc. Do avoid bottled water, the disposable plastic bottles give off estrogen like substances which are unhealthy.
Bonus tips…
OK, so besides staying well hydrated what else can you do to avoid those super painful kidney stones?
Yogurt - keeping your microbiome healthy and happy can lower oxalates that cause many kidney stones by a whopping 50 percent.
Vegetables - besides supporting general good health, eating leafy green vegetables lowers your p/h and reduces uric acids and ketones which contribute to stone formation.
Avoid processed / fast foods - they always come with a load of bad fats, high sodium, sugar, etc. These foods are linked to most all disease states, kidney stones included. Eat real home cooked food and stay healthy instead.
Citrus - eat more limes, lemons, etc. Besides tasting good they are helpful in dissolving kidney stones before they can become an issue. Adding fresh squeezed citrus to your water is a healthy and delicious way to go.
A good video summary here https://youtu.be/jJhbMUzCInM
Best of health !
Lets take a minute to look at common blood tests, what they tell us and how to respond if key metrics are out of bounds.
Most people are familiar with Total cholesterol and LDL ie bad cholesterol. A surprise to many in our 50+ demographic though is that both metrics are actually rather poor predictors of cardiovascular disease and overall mortality and thus are less of a focus these days.
So what are the best bio-markers, the ones that are highly predictive of heart attack, strokes or overall mortality?
Better bio-markers
HDL - shows how you are managing blood sugar via diet and levels of exercise - it correlate well to heart disease as well as many other risks. You want yours above 30, preferably in the 40-50 range.
Triglycerides - target is under 100. Again, an indicator of how your body is managing dietary carbohydrates amongst other things.
Triglyceride to HDL ratio - this one is the holly Grail. Ratios of less than 2 ; 1 are good.
Other important metrics…
Fasting blood glucose and insulin - these two point out a danger, 40% of Americans are pre-diabetic and the number is rising fast. Add your hemoglobin a1c scores for an accurate picture of your blood sugar picture.
sd LDL - small dense LDL particles matter much more than total LDL, sdLDL are damaging particles that lead to arterial plaque and are driven by a combination of high triglycerides and blood sugar.
Clotting Factors - Fibrinogen is one that when high can lead to excess clot formation causing heart attacks and strokes, especially in combination with smoking.
CAC - this a heart scan looks for CAC coronary artery calcium which is another heart disease warning sign. Get a clean zero score and you are good for 10 years, get a bad score and you have work to do.
All these bio-markers are highly predictive per the data, and if out of bounds strong indicators you need to take corrective action with lifestyle changes being top priority vs just popping pills, all of which come with bad interactions and side effects.
Which brings us to stains, a class of drugs effective at lowering LDL and a huge profit center for Big Pharma. But the data is piling up that they offer patients very limited / almost non-exsistent benefits helping just 1% of patients vs a placebo. Yes they lower LDL and total cholesterol but again, those markers do not show strong correlation with heart disease, heart attack, stroke etc. Statins also fail to reduce all cause mortality, the true measure of effectiveness. Statins do lower inflammation a bit which is of benefit but like most drugs they come with a long list of side effects which increase with dosage and time on the drugs.
Common side effects - muscle pain and weakness, joint pain, cognitive impairment, erectile dysfunction, possible cancer risks and perhaps worst of all - statins double your risk for T2 diabetes. Meanwhile Lifestyle interventions like dietary changes and exercise offer much greater benefits plus all the “side effects” are quite positive.
The bottom line - good health rarely comes in pill form and important health decisions ultimately rest with you. There are many good books on this topic of statins and heart health, many good studies and papers as well as many TedTalk lectures and expert interviews on YouTube - an easy way to get a decent overview while eating breakfast or relaxing on the couch in the evening.
Many videos to choose from but Dr David Diamond is a great start. He is a PHD scientist, very bright, well read and refreshingly… has nothing to sell. No books, no website, no pharmaceutical sponsors. He dose research, interviews, speaks at medical conferences etc. You can take a listen and make your own judgment on the data he presents - personally, I think you’ll be impressed.
https://youtu.be/dOzgrhG0xKI?si=oMWE3GwjpOQtrtjY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaEmiUfL7ts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj7ldyKQnRA
For a more in depth on blood test, optimal ranges, what to do to correct each - ring me up and we can work together to improve all your bio-markers, and we’ll do it all without drugs ;-)
Well this will likely get me run out of town by angry moms but heres goes...
Your kids are overscheduled. They are too busy with too many activities. And silly because they have a whole lifetime ahead of them for fun activities with friends. The time you have with them is short, soon they we will have flown the nest, now is your chance to teach them critical life skills and bond with them while you do it.
And what better way to bond than the family kitchen. You can start with a new tradition, a big family dinner every Sunday eve. Be a grown up, wall it off, make it sacred and then get cooking. But not alone, each week involve the kids, from recipe planning, food shopping to cooking it all up together.
The results will be a fine family meal, everyone at one table talking about the week passed and the one ahead - a time of true connection. Beyond that though, you will be passing on critical life skill to your kids - how to take care of themselves and stay healthy. Is there really any better gift you could give them? And it sure beats driving all over town rushing from thing to another. They can do that themselves once they get their license. For now though, its your time together - make the most of it, cook together - your kids will thank you for it someday.
We are not allowed to make fun of anyone in America today, it's not socially acceptable to mock or judge anyone based solely on their appearance...unless, they are fat. Why this exception?
Sadly the perception is that fat folks are lazy and immoral, given to gluttony and sloth, both sins by the way - nice. Even science seems to pile on - fat is simply an imbalance between calories in vs calories out - that's what Food Inc says every time we criticize soda pop or sugar coated cereals. It's your fault fat folks, show some restraint and maybe pry your ass off the couch and hit the gym tubby. Geez!
But wait just a minute...... have you ever tried their prescription? Losing weight by increasing exercise while cutting calories? It doesn't work! Clinically proven to fail most every time. It actually it triggers greater fat storage! It also comes with more shame and self blaming which equals stress which by the way makes things even worse.
So here's the big "secret" that Pepsi and Wonder Bread hope never gets out - it's not you or your moral compass, it's not simply how much you eat vs how much you spend - it's actually what you eat! Thats right, reaching and maintaining your healthy happy target BMI is a matter of focussing on what you eat which directly affects how much fat gets stored around your belly vs calories that are burned or expelled.
This was once common knowledge, look at Harvard or Stanford obesity texts from the 40s - avoid breads, pasta, cakes, cereals - anything made of flour. Skip white potatoes, corn and rice. Avoid all added sugar - soda, sweets, etc. Instead focus on well sourced clean protein - grass fed meat, wild caught fish, pastured poultry and eggs. Veggies, lots of them and some fruit and certainly good fats. They knew this worked, they had no idea why though.
Now we know why - foods with high glycemic loads trigger a hormone cascade (insulin, leptin, on and on) that leads to fat accumulation. Here's worse news - if you are above your target BMI you will store more calories from high GL foods than you would if you were at your optimal BMI. Thats right, high GL foods are like the high school bully, picks on the fats kids, leaves the jocks alone. Gulp.
So what to do - eat low glycemic load foods, ie stuff that does not cause your body to freak out and store calories as belly fat. No expensive pills or potions required - it can be done with food, damn tasty and delicious food.
Start by eliminating added sugar and the quick carbs - ditch PBR - not the cheap beer but potatoes & pasta, bread & baked goods and rice. Don't panic, you can add some of this back later but for now - go Paleo and get your system working right again.
Lots of veggies, enough clean protein and some good fats too. 1 drink a day max. Take a walk everyday. Love yourself - positive affirmations each evening.
The foods on this very site are here to help you, as am I. if you get stuck or confused email me and we'll talk. Remember though - you can reach your goals. You have all you need today so get started - every step in the right direction is a win - for you!
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Perhaps I will never make the Lumberjack World Championships. Splitting wood is fun though and gets me off the couch and outside in the fresh air. All good things.
Your Goal - enjoying healthy home cooked meals that spool up quick for the busy work week ahead.
The Plan - this weekend plan out 3 dinners for the coming week. Select recipes, dump them onto a shopping list and head to the farmers market or the family freezer.
Aim for a 30 min total meal prep time so you will actually make it, even after a full day at work. You can cheat like a chef by doing all your slice and dice, your soaking and sauteing, etc on Sunday. For a fuller discussion of this genius approach see - Well Fed 1 and 2 here
Recipes are great but templates are infinitely more adaptable.
Meat - Even if you go with veg proteins for breakfast and lunch, dinner in America usually means meat so let's make it good. Plan on aprox 3oz per person. Avoid high / dry heat - especially for long durations. A quick searing, a slow gentle saute or long slow simmer in a crock pot...all good.
Vegetables - Serve at least two. Add good fats like olive oil, butter or nuts, make them fun.
Grain / Legume - farro, quinoa, beans, etc. Soak them overnight, takes just a minute before bed. Rinse next day, then refrigerate or cook and enjoy. The cooking part will go much faster thanks to the soaking. Makes them easier to digest too.
Flavor - Herbs and spices often grouped together to form an ethnic palette; Italian, Moroccan, etc. Recipes list spices of course but you can also cheat by having ethnic spices mixes on hand. Like going out for Indian food? Amazon search for "Indian spice mix" and bam, you are making chicken korma.
Know your flavor palette, it helps when you are faced with plain fish, chicken, veg without a recipe. i like olives and bacon, add it to chichen and boom, it tastes good to me. i like cinnamon and molasses, add it to oatmeal or sweet potatoes - boom i like it.
Adopt restaurant tactics to make home cooked meals super efficiently - first rule is the economies of scale - never cut up just one item - you have the cutting board and knife ready - slice n dice everything. Never cook just one item, never prepare just one serving. Whether it's omelettes, grilled sweet potatoes, oatmeal, etc - make several servings and refrigerate for super quick meals later on.
Stove top efficiencies - saute peppers, then greens, then sweet tators, then an omelette - same skillet, it's already hot, no wash each time. Same with the oven - bake fish, sweet potatoes and some carrots - 3 dishes in oven at once, hyper efficient.
You can do this - once you try the system above you'll see how easy it can be ;-)
Getting overwhelmed - Food and nutrition can quickly feel overwhelming, you can get discouraged and suddenly beer and Oreos look tempting. Deep breath, each small step you take in the right direction is a win. Keep moving forward, you got this.
Buying into the PHD myth - No need for a lab coat and a degree in nutrition science, who has time for that. No need to know the nutrient count of every food. Just eat real food, food that your great grandma would recognise, buy it and cook it yourself and you’ll be on your way.
Watching the news - This week eggs are good, next week they are bad. Hmmmm, it’s almost like they just want you to tune in each day, like they only care about eyeballs and ad revenue and not your families health. Don’t look to the media or the “news” as your source for objective info on healthy eating.
Thinking good food is only for the rich and famous - Nope, that’s BS. Grow a garden. Cook at home. Beans, greens, cornbread and some chicken are way more healthy than piles of feedlot meat, boxed food and eating out.
The organic or starve mentality - Eating real whole food, including lots of vegetables and fruits - that’s top priority. If you can find and afford organic well then great. Regardless - eat real foods, the benefits vastly outway any chemicals.
Calling it breakfast - That can get you boxed in and marketers of junk food know it. They sell cookies and crap cereal as “breakfast” but don’t fall for it. Instead call it “my healthy first meal of the day” and suddenly you are free to choose better more wholesome food that powers you right into a productive day.
The siren song of perfection - don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Incremental steps in the right direction are way better. Add veggies to your morning eggs making it a nutritious and delicious omelette - thats a win! Add blueberries to your yogurt - you win again.
Mixing food with politics - you vote with your fork 3 times each day and that’s a vote that really counts. What you buy sends a powerful market signal up through the food chain. The grocer orders more grass fed beef, the farmer plants more greens, the kombucha isle expands, the soda isle shrinks. Your choices trigger real change
Trying to solve all of the world’s problems - Start by taking care of yourself and those you love. The environment, animal welfare, our messed political system - they will all be made better off by your very smart buying and cooking choices.
All or nothing thinking - you don’t have to buy a farm, do back breaking labor to harvest veggies or milk a cow. No need to live in a cave and hunt big game each morning. It’s easy to get great food direct from farmers, ranchers and fisherman without ever getting your hands dirty or breaking a sweat. It's helps our farmers too.
Garlic press - no peel no mess - a bomb proof press here
Tea strainer / infuser - my fave here Sturdy and easy to rinse
Tea kettle - XOX here Sexy shape, looks good, boils fast
Coffee bean grinder - here Fresh ground beans make better coffee
Cutting boards - sweeet here These are so nice, we have 6
Knife sharpener - super easy here Sharp knives are safer
Bread knife - my fave here Pre-sliced bread, oh how pedestrian
10” Calphalon stainless steal skillet - here Toss the teflon mama
Salad dressing cruet - here store bought dressings are mostly sugar, cheap oil
Vegetable Brush - the skins are where much nutrition lives, scrub vs peel love this little guy right here
Glass containers - never use plastic to for hot food - here
Stainless steel bowls with sticky rubber bottoms (giggle) - my fave here
Eating a salad for lunch each day is a great way to get your veggies...
Salad Template
Dark Leafy Greens - baby kale, micro greens, spinach, chard, etc
Legumes - cold beans or whole grains - farro, quinoa, barley, etc
Protein - tuna, chicken, salmon
Nuts or seeds - pumpkin, pistachios, pecans, etc
Veggies - sliced peppers, beets, veggie salad from deli
Fruit - berries, kiwi, melon, plums, grapes, citrus
Cheese - feta, goat, etc. From grass fed / pastured animals.
Avocado
Dressing
Dressing is the key to tasty salads Step 1 is to drop commercial salad dressings - they are usually nothing more than sugar, artificial flavors and unhealthy oils. They cost a lot too.
Buy an OXO salad dressing cruet / shaker / container. Make your own fresh in under 2 minutes. Start with this ultra simple recipe and experiment adding stuff you know you like. This is all healthy stuff, use a lot, make it taste great.
olive oil - this is the main ingredient, the others are for flavor
balsamic vinegar
apple cider vinegar
maple syrup
lime juice
dijon mustard
chopped herbs - thyme, parsley, tarragon
Tossing - always make salad in a big bowl, I like satinless steel bowls with a rubber non slip bottom. Always pick one plenty big to make tossing easy. Mix dressing in and on so each leaf is lightly coated with your custom made house dressing.
I make enough to cover 3 salads, saves time.
If taking a salad to work for lunch reserve dressing in a separate container. This keeps salad crisp and fresh - just add it right before eating and "toss" in the container then eat up.
Split your protein intake 50/50. Get half your protein from animal sources and the other half from plants.
My Top 7 plant protein picks below. A few might sound foreign but all are delicious and nutritious too.
Yes, it's best to get all you need, including protein, from real, whole, natural foods. However, to preserve muscle mass during weight loss, to get a quick protein bump timed just after a weight workout or to maintain muscle mass one you get up in years….
Whey is widely accepted as a good supplement for success. Buy smart though - these few paragraphs below are spot on. Brazenly stolen from Eat This, Not That! website - check them out Here
“When you're looking for the proper animal-based protein powder, look out for words like cold processed, concentrate (isolate only if you're sensitive to lactose), hormone-free, grass-fed, tested low for heavy metals, and does not contain sucralose or any artificial color, flavor or sweetener. ( GK - Stevia is cool though )
If you want a "fast acting" protein that will stimulate protein synthesis after a workout, go with whey. While a whey protein concentrate has a lower percentage of protein than whey isolate, it contains more bioactive compounds found in the milk fat that positively influence metabolism and immunity—just make sure it's low-temperature-processed (raw or cold-processed). This method allows the protein powder to retain many of its fragile immune factors and nutrients leaving it loaded with the ideal blend of easily-absorbed amino acids, anti-inflammatory compounds, essential fats, energy-replenishing carbs, metabolism-boosting peptides, potent antioxidants, and alkaline minerals.
You'll get even more of these nutrients when your powder is made from pasture-fed cows, which have a higher concentration of inflammation-reducing omega-3 fatty acids and two to five times more CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) than their corn and grain fed counterparts. CLA provides a variety of health benefits like burning fat and maintaining lean body mass. Besides toning your body, these two sources of dietary fat will also improve absorption of key vitamins and carotenoids. Not to mention, grass fed cows are less likely to be treated with antibiotics than grain fed cows, meaning you'll have a lower risk of building up antibiotic resistance or gaining unnecessary weight.”
Remember - it's a supplement, real food is better, and cheaper ;-)
As most of you know, in America today we are experiencing an unprecedented epidemic - obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and stroke. Millions of people young and old are suffering while healthcare costs escalate.
The science shows we can mitigate or fully prevent 80% of all disease just by making just a few lifestyle changes — a healthier diet being most important among them. Good food promotes wellness, improves quality of life, improves productivity and lowers healthcare costs.
We struggle as a society with healthy eating and conflicting media reports don’t help. Fortunately our time tested culinary traditions supported by the latest nutrition science offer us a proven path forward.
As a cancer patient trying to save my own life, I discovered nutritious and delicious foods that best support optimal health and wellness. Now healthy and well, my mission is to share what I learned with those who seek wellness not only for themselves but also for the ones they love.
I’ve created an engaging 45- to 60-minute presentation, “What to Eat”. Perfect for lunch-and-learns, this seminar focuses on eating for optimal health and wellness. Each participant receives a free, step-by-step implementation guide plus a monthly newsletter.
All the information presented is peer-reviewed nutrition science. It’s all mainstream information but presented in a fresh and memorable way. As a result, audiences engage, feel empowered and get motivated to make positive changes in their lives.
Introduction: My personal story and path back to health and wellness
A quick history of food: Where we've been and what we learned
The consensus: wise culinary traditions plus the latest nutrition science
The way forward: Identifying and enjoying full-flavor, high nutrition foods
Resources: Implementing a step-by-step, personal wellness plan
My talk, the companion website and step-by-step implementation guide are, for a limited time, all 100% free. There’s no catch — I’m a grateful man on a personal mission to inspire and inform those who seek wellness.
To schedule a 45-60 min seminar or a one on one meeting to learn more, just email or call 636.207.8000 and we’ll connect.
Here’s to your good health!
Greg Kiger
Steel Cut Oats and Banana Blueberry Smoothie
Like most stuff in life, breakfast takes just little proactive planning and bingo - things start going your way.
Start the night before... cook up a batch of steel cut oats. Best oats here Bob's Organic Steel Cut. These bad boys are hot and chewy and infinitely more pleasing than rolled / instant oat gruel suitable only for toddlers.
Just bring 3 cups of water to a boil, dump in your cup of oats, stir occasionally as it gently bubbles and simmers until done. And since you are at the stove anyway, cook up dinner or something else while you are there. Store your oat goodness in the fridge in glass container, like these not plastic - never hot food in plastic.
The next morning you are in a sleepy head haze and don't have all day to play chef fancy pants, gotta get to work dude. Mix the following and gently nuke stirring periodically.
Meanwhile, pop the top on that high dollar blender that has been gathering dust in the corner - dump in the following and whip it into sexy smooth goodness.
As you are eating, think about this - you just got 1/3 your daily protein, from a clean source. You got slow burn clean carbs to fuel you through your day. Some good fats so your brain works. And that kefir, its rushing reinforcements to your gut to man the front lines of your immune system. You rocked it !
+A Now get out there and take over the freaking world !
