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Recipe for the holiday season: Butternut squash soup

I saw a box of butternut squash soup in the store the other day and it called my name. Not being a fan of things that come in packages, I decided to make it myself. I decided to figure it out without internet research, but based on what I'd put in a butternut squash soup if told I needed to make it from scratch without direction, and this is the result (slightly tweaked). I think it's quite yummy if I do say so myself.

It's great for this season, and really quite easy. The hardest part is chopping up the squash. Let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped ginger, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tbsp cultured butter (can substitute with 2 tbsp coconut oil if dairy restrictions)
• 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut in 1/2 “ squares
  
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 32oz chicken stock (preferably homemade) (can replace with vegetable stock if vegetarian)
• 1 tsp raw honey (can substitute agave)
• add salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion in butter for 2-3 minutes on medium temperature. Add garlic and ginger, stir to mix and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add squash. Cook for another 4-5 minutes. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and honey, and stir well to mix. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to minimum and cook until squash is tender (about 20 minutes).
Puree with a handblender and eat!

A sacred space to honour our bodies

When was the last time you took a few minutes to really appreciate your body? To feel good in your skin and thank all the processes that happen without you having to think about them or do anything about them? (like breathe or circulate blood or digest your food – just to name a few) When was the last time you took a moment to appreciate your body as the magnificent being that it is? Really… when you think about it, it’s miraculous what is happening inside of us at every single moment.

So often we look at our bodies with disdain and sometimes even disgust. “These jeans make me look fat” or “I wish I had better hair” or “will this skirt hide my ass?” How loving is that? This continual nitpicking and negative self-talk about our bodies only serves to keep us unhappy and dissatisfied with ourselves. And ultimately, it keeps the true health and vitality we seek just out of reach.

Believe me, I know of what I speak. I started studying classical dance when I was very young, and by the age of 10 could list off all the things that were “wrong” with my body. I would spend literally hours scrutinizing myself in the mirror, dissecting all that wasn’t absolutely “perfect” by some totally unachievable standard. By my teens, my list of body flaws was pages long. Even now, when I “should know better”, I struggle sometimes when I look in the mirror.

Recently I’ve been doing more work with clients on reframing this relationship with our bodies. How can we take some time to love and cherish these beautiful and incredible physiques we live and move in?

Here are three ways you can create sacred space to honor your body and thank it for all it’s doing for you every day:

1. Soak your feet in a tub of hot water with lavender essential oil and Epsom salts at the end of the day. It’s a beautiful and soothing way to ground yourself, to take a few quiet minutes before you go to bed to get into your body, and to warm up cold toes in the winter months.
2. Light some candles, pull out the yoga mat, and do some nice slow stretches and gentle, calming yoga poses like child’s pose before bed. This is a time to take some deep breaths, to calm yourself, and to quietly acknowledge what your body has been doing for you all day long.
3. Fill the bathroom sink with hot water and, using a washcloth or small hand towel, give yourself a hot towel scrub. Just dip the washcloth in the hot water, wring it out, and scrub your skin lightly until it’s a little pink and warm. You don’t need soap or oils, just use hot water. Light some candles to create some ritual around the experience. Wash yourself with the same love and care as you would your own child.

How will you honor your body this weekend? Will you join me and set aside some time – even just a few minutes – each day to really love and appreciate your body? Let me know what works for you! Every person is different and you’ll find a way and a practice that fits into your life and schedule. It only takes a few minutes, and you’ll be surprised at how powerful it can be in changing the way you look at yourself in the mirror.

Tri-color pepper salad with fresh herbs

Something I'm always encouraging my clients to do is to eat "by the rainbow". Eating a wide variety of colors ensures you're getting a wide range of different antioxidants. The pigments responsible for the different colors in plants (and thus your fruits and veggies) are the antioxidants. So, different colors = different group of antioxidants.

Inspired by this principle, I made this salad on the weekend. It's fast and easy and is a very colorful (and thus healthful) addition to your dinner table. Its simple and light flavor doesn't take away from other aspects of your meal, and it met to rave reviews from our friends (who asked for the recipe days later so they're not just saying that!)

Ingredients:

• 1 each: red, yellow & orange bell pepper, chopped in 1/2" squares
• 1/2 15oz can of organic garbanzo beans (if possible, get the low-sodium variety)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs (This is a great time to graze your herb garden if you have one. I took clippings of basil, mint, garlic chives, and dill)
• 1 bag organic baby spinach
  

Dressing:

• 1/3 cup pumpkin seed oil
• 1/3 cup raw apple cider vinegar
• pinch of fresh ground pepper and fresh ground sea salt

Combine the three peppers, garbanzo beans and fresh cut herbs in a bowl and mix well. Plate on top of the spinach, and toss with dressing just before serving.

Delicious and easy red quinoa pilaf (vegan)

Today is SPUD day. What does that mean? That means that today is the day that one of my favourite companies of all time, SPUD (aka "Small Potatoes Urban Delivery") delivers delicious, organic, local and best of all affordable groceries to our doorstep. Being the total food nut that I am, SPUD days are always good days. (if you live in LA, Orange County, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria, or Calgary, check them out!!! www.spud.com. Enter the code CR5-994937 to get a $25 discount on your first few orders)

The only downside to SPUD days is that until the delivery arrives, we're down to the scraps in the fridge, and I'm required to be much more creative with dinner. Well, today's creation proved to be so delicious, quick and easy, I thought I'd share it.

Red Quinoa & Leek pilaf (Serves 2)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup red quinoa
- 2 large leeks, chopped
- 1 big bunch spinach, washed and chopped
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 avocado
- 1 cup cultured raw veggies
- fresh ground salt & pepper to taste

In a small pot, combine the quinoa with 2 cups water and a dash of salt and bring to a boil. Put a lid on the pot, turn the heat way down, and leave for about 15-20 minutes, until the quinoa is nice and fluffy and the water has boiled down.

While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the leek and spinach. Heat coconut oil in a med-sized pan, and add the leek. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until just tender. Add the pine nuts and spinach, and cook until spinach is wilted - about 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

When the quinoa has finished cooking, add it to the leek, spinach and pine nut mix and add salt and pepper to taste. Divide the mixture between two plates, and add a 1/2 cup of the raw cultured veggies to each plate. Cut the avocado in half, and garnish each plate with avocado slices.

The one most important thing you can do for your health

Long before I decided to pursue a formal career in nutrition and wellness, I was passionate about finding the key to good health. There must be some secret. Something magical. A formula that if I just got it right, I’d find myself the vision of perfect health, fitness, and weight.

Since I’ve become a nutritional therapy practitioner, the top question I get asked is: What’s the one most important thing I can do for my health? What’s that one key change that is going to make all the difference?

Well… I am about to unveil that mystery. But first, indulge me for a moment and do a little play-along exercise. Grab a scrap of paper and pen.

#1. Write down the top five changes you could make RIGHT NOW to get healthier, fitter, and become your ideal weight.

#2. Look at the list. What feels the easiest? What do you feel is really doable, maybe even a little fun?

#3. Pick that one thing.

#4. Do it.

#5. Do it again, every day for 21 days.

And now… drum roll please as I unveil the mystery of true health…

That’s it. You just wrote it down. That one thing you think you can do and do for the next 21 days is the thing that is the one most important thing YOU can do for your health.

Disappointed? Looking for the magic formula? Ideal action? Worst or best food to eliminate or add to your diet?

Well, my friends you’re not going to get that from me. Because let’s face it. We all know what to do. Cut the pop. Eat more vegetables. Eliminate sugar. Drink more water. Eat less refined food and more whole foods. Exercise more. Get to bed an hour earlier. Have one less drink on the weekend. The list is endless when you get going. But none of that helps, because we all KNOW that, but we don’t DO it.

The most important thing you can do for your health is DO it. Do something. Anything. Pick one thing that feels easy, that feels right, that feels doable. And then commit to doing it. They say 21 days creates a habit they say, so commit to doing it for 21 days. Make it a habit and see how you feel.

And in 21 days, do the exercise again, and add one more thing. And you’re rocking and rolling.
Because it’s far more important that you actually DO something than that you wait to figure out the perfect thing to do.

So get out there. Follow Nike’s sage advice and just get the heck out there and do it.

Spinach toasts - slightly tweaked version of an old favourite

One of my fondest memories is my Gramma making me creamed spinach on toast when I was little. I can still remember hanging out at the old chrome-rimmed kitchen table, trying not to play with the violet that was always the table centrepiece (no one could grow violets like my Gramma), mouth watering with anticipation. I think my future as a nutritional therapist was solidified in those moments - what other little kid craves spinach?

I came across this recipe for "Spinach Toasts" on Dr. Andrew Weil's site and it looked suspiciously familiar. He made some changes to my Gramma's recipe (how cool that he knew her! ;) and I made some further tweaks to his. Here's the result:

Spinach Toasts

Description

Cooking spinach takes very little time, but you need to wash and drain it carefully, and remove tough stems first, which may take 5 or 10 minutes. Plan accordingly. The spinach on these little appetizers is a great source of iron and vitamins A and C.

Ingredients

3/4 cup purified water 2 bunches fresh spinach (about 2 pounds), stemmed 8 pieces thinly sliced sprouted wheat or gluten-free bread 1 small onion, minced 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tablespoon extra-virgin cold-pressed olive oil 1/2 cup whole milk, organic plain yogurt 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint Freshly ground pepper to taste 11/2 tablespoons chopped raw walnuts GARNISH 1 red apple, cut in thin wedges

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300°F. Pour the water into a large stainless steel pot and bring it to a boil. Drop in the washed spinach and cook for 3 minutes, stirring several times. Drain the spinach in a colander over a pan to catch all the water, which you can save to make vegetable stock. Squeeze excess water from the leaves. Cut the bread slices on the diagonal to create 2 triangular pieces, then cut again to make 4 triangles. Put them on a cookie sheet and bake until lightly toasted, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil in a medium nonstick sauté pan over low heat until onions are softened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Put the spinach leaves into a medium bowl, along with the onions and the garlic. Add the yogurt, mint, pepper, and nuts and toss thoroughly with a fork. Spread the spinach mixture on the toasts just before serving. Garnish with apple wedges.

Cool as a Cucumber

Here's an easy, quick soup recipe for when you're needing something fast, cooling and creamy. Credits to Institute of Integrative Nutrition for this little gem.

Ingredients:

• 1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
• 1 avocado
• 2 green onions
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 cup organic, whole milk plain yogurt
• 1 cup water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Roughly chop the cucumber, avocado and green onions and toss in the blender. Add other ingredients and process until smooth. If soup is to thick add water as needed.Garnish with fresh cilantro and a dash of cayenne.

Goddess Dressing

Today’s recipe is Goddess Dressing – one of my new-found favorites. This is a great dressing that can be stored in the fridge for several weeks and works well on all sorts of salads, steamed veggies, and other miscellaneous sauce-needing dishes. I like to have some of it on hand all the time.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup organic sesame seed oil (or extra virgin olive oil if you like a slightly milder flavor)
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup organic tahini (ground sesame seeds)
• ½ tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar or red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp Braggs Amino Acids or low-sodium soy sauce
• Optional: 1 small clove minced garlic (if you like garlicky dressings; if not, then leave this out because the raw garlic can be quite strong)
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Puree all ingredients except oil in a blender or food processor until smooth. Slowly pour in the oil with the mixture still blending at the end. Store in the fridge.

An easy classic: hummus

There’s a part of me that can’t believe I’m blogging about making hummus… It’s so over-made!! How many university potlucks did I go to where at least 3 guests brought some kind of hummus?

But it's a favorite for a reason: it’s delicious, it’s so easy and quick to make, and it’s really good for you. It’s high in protein, high in fibre, and packs lots of good energy. I like to keep a container of it in the fridge at all times for snacking on with raw veggies. It also makes a great spread for wraps. Here’s my version.

Ingredients:

• 15 oz can of garbanzo beans (chick peas), preferably organic - drained, but keeping the juice in a side dish
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Garlic clove, mashed
• 1 tbsp tahini (sesame paste – you can buy this near the peanut butter / nut butter in most grocery stores – it lasts and keeps forever)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Salt to taste

Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Use the juice from the garbanzo beans to add liquid as necessary.

Here are some things you can add to make your hummus special:

• Pine nuts
• Sundried tomatoes
• Black beans
• Roasted red peppers (to roast a pepper, simply cut it up in strips and put it in the oven on the top shelf on broil – stand close!! It will roast quickly. You don’t need oil or anything. Just keep stirring it and when the skins start to go black, you’re done. Let the peppers cool, and then peel them. The skin should peel right off if they’re done.)

Homemade Sauerkraut – Raw cultured veggie goodness!

Yesterday’s recipe was for homemade cream cheese with a handy by-product of whey. Today, I’m going to use some of that whey we made in another one of my all-time favorites: homemade sauerkraut.

(Another big thank you to Sally Fallon and her fantastic cookbook Nourishing Traditions: The cookbook that challenges politically correct nutrition and the diet dictocrats for this recipe.)

You can buy sauerkraut from the store, but often it’s made with vinegar, too much salt, and the vegetables are pasteurized, which reduces their nutritional value. This homemade sauerkraut is a type of raw cultured vegetable - a whole different creature.

Raw cultured vegetables – also known as lacto-fermented vegetables – are vegetables preserved through a process of lacto-fermentation. Lactic acid is a natural preservative that inhibits putrefying bacteria. Starches and sugars in vegetables and fruits are converted into lactic acid by many species of lactic-acid-producing bacteria, or “lactobacilli”. Numerous important chemical changes take place during this type of fermentation, far beyond their practical purpose of preservation.

• Cultured veggies are already partially digested, so they’re easy on the system. Not only are they readily absorbed by your body, they enhance your body’s ability to digest and absorb nutrients from the other things you eat at the same time.
• They’re delicious, and add a unique flavor to your meals.
• They help to balance the pH of your digestive tract.
• They offset the toxic and carcinogenic effects of the charcoal from BBQ.
• They are naturally packed with digestive enzymes and probiotics, which support the health of your digestive system.
• They help to heal the lining of your intestines by promoting the growth of healthy flora.
• They promote a healthy and strong immune system.
• And last but certainly not least, they help reduce sugar cravings.

I could go on, but you get the picture. Many traditional cultures have preserved veggies and fruits using this method. The most commonly known is the European version: sauerkraut, or lacto-fermented cabbage. Here’s how you make it.

Equipment you’ll need:

• Big bowl
• Meat hammer, wooden pounder or a pestle
• Quart-sized mason jar

Ingredients:

• 1 medium cabbage, cored and shredded
• 1 tbsp caraway seeds
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 4 tbsp whey (see whey recipe from yesterday’s posting)

In bowl, mix the cabbage with caraway seeds, sea salt and whey. Pound the mixture with the hammer, pounder or pestle (my personal favorite) for about 10 minutes to release juices. Place in a quart-sized, wide-mouth mason jar and press down firmly with a pounder or meat hammer until juices come to the top of the cabbage. The top of the cabbage should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days before transferring to cold storage. It keeps for months. The sauerkraut may be eaten immediately, but it improves with age.

Homemade cream cheese with a useful by-product

As I mentioned in my post from yesterday, I spent a little time this weekend doing food prep to make sure the fridge is stocked with healthy, yummy options. I’ll be sharing the recipes I used over the next few days. This recipe – it’s more of a process than a recipe, actually – is often one of my starting points: homemade cream cheese.

(A big thank you to Sally Fallon and her fantastic cookbook Nourishing Traditions: The cookbook that challenges politically correct nutrition and the diet dictocrats for this recipe.)

Why start here? Well, it’s actually not the cream cheese that I’m going for; it’s really the by-product of the cream cheese – whey – that’s produced in the process. But the cream cheese is delicious, nutritious, and because I made it from organic whole milk plain yoghurt, I know it’s got nothing in it except the nutritional goodness I’m looking for (or what I add to it for flavoring).

What’s whey? you ask. Whey is the liquid that remains after milk has been curdled and strained – a byproduct in the manufacture of cheese. Whey is filled with minerals, it helps digestion, and it’s a great starter for one of my favorite foods: cultured vegetables! (stay tuned for a recipe for cultured sauerkraut later this week!)

I don’t like to go through the whole milk curdling process, so I skip that step by using yoghurt instead. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Big bowl
• Large sieve
• Clean tea towel or cheese cloth

Ingredients:

• 1 large container organic, whole, plain yogurt (the best quality you can find! If you’re lucky enough to have a source of RAW milk yoghurt, that would be the ideal find.)
• Sea salt to taste

Line a large strainer set over a bowl with a clean tea towel or cheese cloth (I prefer the tea towel). Pour in the yoghurt, cover and let stand at room temperature for several hours (this can take up to 12 hrs). The whey (clear liquid) will run into the bowl and the milk solids will stay in the strainer. Tie up the towel with the milk solids inside being careful not to squeeze. Tie this little sack to a wooden spoon placed across the top of a container (like a big pitcher) so that more whey can drip out. Store the whey in a mason jar in the fridge (keeps for up to 6 months), and the cream cheese in a covered glass container (keeps for about 1 month).

I add a little dash of sea salt to the cream cheese for a really delicious and nutritious cream cheese. If you want to spice it up a little, you can also add:

• Roasted red pepper, diced
• Spinach, chopped fine
• Garlic, minced
• Chives, choped
• Olives, chopped

Use your imagination and try different flavors. It’s delicious and makes a great quick snack by spreading it on celery sticks.

Labors of love

Today is Labor Day, a national holiday in both of my home countries (Canada and the US, in case you didn’t know). To celebrate this long weekend and the end of a wonderful summer, I spent a couple of hours doing something that gives me some of the greatest pleasure: preparing really nourishing foods for me and my loved ones so the fridge will be stocked and there are lots of healthful options ready on-demand.

Something I encourage my clients to do is set aside some time on the weekend to do food preparation for the week. It really doesn't take much time - just a little forethought and a few key ingredients. In less than two hours this weekend, here’s what I was able to make:

• Cream-cheese (from organic yoghurt – delicious!)
• Sauerkraut (my personal favorite of the cultured veggies I make – loaded with probiotics to promote gut health, aid digestion, and replenish the beneficial flora)
• Hummus (an easy classic that’s great for snacks)
• Goddess dressing (vegan and easy)
• Chicken stock (a handy by-product of a delicious roasted chicken)
• Mayonnaise (a healthful alternative to the store-bought types, packed full of digestive enzymes)

All of these are very healthful, nutrient-rich alternatives to what can be a concoction of chemicals, over-processed ingredients, fake fats, and preservatives when purchased ready-made. And they are surprisingly easy and quick to make. Over the next few days I’ll share the recipes of these labors of love.

It's fig season! Easy gourmet appie recipe

Yesterday I was sent home from a dear friend's place with a purse full of fresh figs from the tree in her back yard (that's why I like to carry such a big purse - you never know when the product of someone's garden is going to need transportation to your kitchen). Yum!! There are few things I enjoy more than fresh figs.

I had a party to go to last night, and all I could think about were figs figs figs. So I did a little research online, and came across this recipe for "Elegant Fig Appetizers". Minimal ingredients, and it took all of 10 minutes to make as I was rushing to get party-pretty. It was absolutely delicious and a total hit. Thank you to Christine M on allrecipes.com for the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 12 fresh figs, halved
• 4 ounces herbed goat cheese (chevre)
• 24 almonds
• 1 tablespoon honey (I used agave instead)
  
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven broiler for high heat.
2. Place the fig halves, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Top each half with about 1/2 teaspoon goat cheese. Place one almond on each, press to push the cheese slightly into each fig.
3. Broil the figs in the preheated oven until the cheese is soft and the almonds are turning a rich shade of brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the broiler and let cool for 5 minutes. Arrange the figs on a serving platter and drizzle with honey and balsamic vinegar. Serve warm.

Ode to a perfect Sunday

Very atypically for me, I left this past weekend wide open and plan-free. To be at home for a weekend is unusual for me. To be at home and without a jam-packed calendar is unheard of.

The results were delightful, and more evidence that leaving space in your life for the unknown and for self-care reaps tremendous rewards.

At the risk of being self-indulgent, let me share my day with you:

It began with a nice snoozy sleep in. The type of sleep in where you wake up, aware that you could get up if you had to, but that you can sleep in too, and so you choose rest. And then you delight in the “I have nowhere to be right now, and this bed is so comfy I choose to stay right here” feeling. Result: a day begun well rested and steeped in a strong dose of appreciation.

Then it was breakfast time. Yummy eggs scrambled with lots of fresh veggies, a wee bit of sausage cause it’s Sunday and fun, and a piece of buttery (gluten-free) toast. Wow. So very good. Result: starting the day with delicious home-cooked whole foods that nourish body and soul.

After a little encouragement from my partner in crime, we brought out the bikes and went for a nice long ride, ending with a cruise along the beach: probably my favorite place to bike. The day was glorious, the bike through town surprisingly casual and relaxed (I live in LA, remember – that doesn’t often happen here), the beach an amazing treat at the end. Result: leave the car at home, and simply getting around town becomes great exercise and tons of fun.

I biked over to my little garden plot in Venice, and spent a couple of hours weeding, delighting at everything that’s been growing abundantly in my absence, and planting the next round of yummies. I harvested some fresh greens, peppers, strawberries, and carrots that I planted as seeds or seedlings, and felt so much love for the air and sunlight and dirt that spin their magic into deliciousness for my dinner plate. Result: I connected strongly to where my food comes from, and was amazed at what just two hours in the garden can produce.

A friend called: the wind was strong and the ocean was calm. Did I want to come out for a sail? Um, YES! Could the day get more perfect? Great friends, beautiful boat, the wind, the ocean, the sun. My cheeks hurt I smiled so hard. Result: a day fully spent outdoors, playing and laughing and feeling fabulous.

The bike back home (mostly uphill) was fast and fun, and we stopped at the market on the way home to pick up the missing pieces (some grass-fed steak – yum!) for dinner. We sipped a glass of red wine by candlelight, ate our delicious home-cooked meal, and relived every perfect moment of the day. I fell into bed exhausted, happy, and forget counting sheep – I was counting my many, many blessings.

What did I learn from this day? I learned how amazing a day without plans can be. How important and nurturing it is to spend a day almost entirely outside. How much you can integrate activity and exercise into your day in a way that you barely notice you’ve done it. How just relaxing into the weekend and taking it as it comes and enjoying every little minute of it can be one of the most nourishing things you can do for yourself.

Summer-inspired healthy habits

There’s no better time than the summer to make a renewed commitment to getting healthy. The long days, the blue skies, the warm evenings… all provide ample opportunity to build in healthy habits that are so much fun you barely notice they’re good for you.

Here’s a small sample of some healthy habits that I’ve been playing with the last couple of months. Try them out and let me know if you have some to add!

• Early morning yoga, outside in your backyard or patio. You don’t have to be a full-fledged yogi to do some nice morning stretches. Dust off that yoga mat, take it outside at the crack of dawn, and do some sun salutations.
• Long evening walks. Explore your neighborhood. Take the dog out. If you don’t have a dog, take your cat. Or your spouse/child/boyfriend/girlfriend/next-door-neighbor/coworker. Or even just yourself. It’s a great opportunity to turn off the TV and move your body.
• Get to know your farmer’s market. Dedicate a weekend morning to explore what’s growing in your area. Pick a fruit or vegetable you’ve never tried before, ask the farmer how to prepare it, and try it out! You’ll be surprised at what you come up with. (That’s how I learned about Kohlrabi – a vegetable I couldn’t even pronounce, let alone prepare, until a month ago.)
• Spice up your water. Summer’s a time when it’s more important than ever to pay attention to your water intake. Add a few slices of cucumber, some fresh mint, or a slice of grapefruit, orange, lemon or lime to make water a little less ordinary.
• Get out of the gym. Gym’s are obviously great places to exercise, especially in those deep dark months of winter. But on glorious sunny summer days, consider moving your gym workout outdoors. Dig your old Frisbee out of the far recesses of the hall closet. Exercise can double as play time, and vice versa.
• Take the family for a hike. Pack up a picnic, bring lots of water, and head into the hills. In most cities you don’t have to go far to find some beautiful outdoor spaces to explore.

Meditative Moments

One of the often-forgotten but oh-so-critical elements to healthy living is a quiet and peaceful mind. Clear thinking, reduced stress, and better sleep are just some of the many benefits attributed to such a state.

Personally, this is one of my biggest health challenges.

When I think of a quiet mind, I conjure an image of zenned out bliss… and in most moments of my day, the utter busy-ness of my brain keeps me far away from anything close to this. My overactive mind can propel me out of the deepest sleep, distract me from even the most compelling conversation, and have a significantly negative impact on my quality of life.
I’m not a big New Years resolution kind of gal, but this year I made a commitment to incorporating the one thing that I felt would impact me in every aspect of my life: meditation.

Being me, and never doing anything lightly (ever the perfectionist – see my last post “Lessons from a two-legged dog” for some reflections on that little beast), I launched in with a commitment to sit still and calm my mind for 10 minutes every morning. I promised myself I would do this EVERY DAY of 2009.

January 1 didn’t start off so well. A little too ambitious with the festivities the night before. Enough said.

January 2: well… I’m still at a dance convention and where am I going to find somewhere to be still and quiet by myself for 10 whole minutes?

January 3: still at the dance convention… still making excuses.

January 4th I am back home and force myself to sit, this time for 40 minutes (to make up for the last three days you see) and I get about 20 minutes into it when the phone rings, I answer it, and that’s that.

I think since January 1st (yes, I am well aware that it’s April 30th) I have sat quietly and meditated for a grand total of 2hrs. That’s roughly 2 minutes a day. Not bad, but nowhere near the 10 minutes /day I originally committed to. And probably 1.5 of those hours were “make up” sessions where I was on an airplane and thought I’d take advantage of the enforced sitting-still time to cram a bunch of 10 minute meditations in at once.

Now, I’m not knocking my efforts here. Those were 2 hrs of quiet time that I wouldn’t have afforded myself had I not made this explicit commitment. But I did realize that this 10 minutes/day commitment isn’t working for me and I need some amendments.

Which is how I came up with what I like to call “Meditative Moments.” If you remember the lesson of the two-legged dog and that working with what you’ve got is much more productive than waiting for the perfect set of circumstances to appear, you’ll have already guessed what I’m talking about. Meditative Moments are those moments throughout the day – and there are many of them if you start paying attention –where you have the opportunity to sit still, to take a deep breath or two or even three, and calm your mind.

These are the moments at a traffic light where you turn off the music, put down your phone and just take in the moment of stillness before zooming off again. They’re the moments when you sit down to a meal without (gasp!) the TV on, a book, email, facebook, your phone, the radio, or any other distraction, and just enjoy the meal. They’re the extra few moments you take at the end of a hot shower, just breathing in the steam, letting the water fall over your shoulders and feeling your body relax.

These meditative moments have become my new obsession. I look for them everywhere. And, as a result, I find them everywhere.

Are they as effective as sitting in total silence and stillness for 10 minutes every morning? I’m not sure. If I get to a place where I can build that into my life, I’ll let you know. But in the meantime, finding and really milking these moments has been a wonderful way of keeping myself calm, grounded and even peaceful on even the busiest of days.

Try it! And let me know where you’ve found your unexpected meditative moments.

Lessons from a two-legged dog

I have been known to be a perfectionist; an all or nothing type of girl. I like things to be just “so” and if they aren’t just right then my tendency is to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. As I’ve learned over the years, the way we do one thing tends to be the way we do everything, and so yes, this tendency has at times crept into my approach towards my health.

You know how it is… you’ve just taken on a new way of eating; let’s say you’ve just eliminated refined sugar from your diet. It’s going brilliantly and you’re all proud of yourself: you feel great. And then a few weeks later, in a moment of weakness, you reach for that one cookie. And we all know it’s never just one cookie. Once you’ve had that cookie, you rationalize: “Well, now I’ve screwed the whole thing, I might as well have a whole HANDFUL of cookies, and why not that tub of ice cream while I’m at it?” And it goes downhill from there.

With crazy schedules, it can be easy to fall into this habit of all or nothing and to use our busy-ness as a reason to not do anything. I’m a long distance runner, and I sometimes find myself not going for a run because I don’t have time for a 5 mile run or more, and for whatever reason 3 miles - even though really that’s better than no miles - feels somehow like not enough. So I end up doing nothing. It’s silly, but we all do some version of that.

Today on my (yes, 5 mile) run, I was feeling particularly proud of myself because not only had I made time for a run, but I’d done a full workout before running. As I was cruising along feeling good, I came upon a woman walking her dog – a dog that had been badly injured and had its two hind legs strapped in a trolley. I think this situation was a new one for the dog, because it was really struggling to move forward using only its two front legs, and the woman had to do a lot of gentle encouraging and steering to help him along.

The dog looked up at me as I passed and I almost immediately got teary. I realized how silly it is that sometimes I will forgo taking care of myself because all the bits and pieces aren’t perfect. All or nothing really is only nothing. As a very wise woman recently said to me: “Perfection is the lowest standard.” And that dog’s determination and will and making do with what he had is absolutely the highest standard.

Let’s take this lesson into our busy lives and remember the two-legged dog when we use our busy-ness as reason to not take care of ourselves. Walk (or run) up the stairs instead of taking the escalator if you don’t have time to hit the gym. Make use of the heaviness of your laptop bag when you’re waiting in line at the airport and do some bicep curls. Maybe you don’t have time for a full yoga class, but why not do a few sun salutations in the morning, and finish the day with child’s pose? Grab the apple instead of the cookie when you’re craving something sweet. Work with what you’ve got, no matter how little it seems.

I have a feeling the rewards will be worth it.

Walk your cat?

So I’m sitting in a lecture by Dr. Arthur Agatston, creator of the South Beach diet. It’s just before lunch and I’m getting distracted by thoughts of food, as often happens before ‘feeding time.’ As he’s closing, Agatston throws out two statistics that catch my attention:

1) Dog owners live longer than cat owners
2) People who live in walking cities like NYC and San Francisco live longer than people who live in driving cities like LA and Atlanta

My initial reaction is “Duh! Isn’t that obvious?” But that is quickly followed by a moment of internal pause as I realize I fall on the shorter-lived end of things on both counts: I have two cats and I live in LA.

Hmm.

A little put-off, I get defensive and think to myself, “What’s a girl to do? Walk her cat?”

Even as the thought crossed my mind, I found myself confirming something I’m realizing more and more everyday:
We lead crazy lives in crazy times. Squeezing in career (often several of them at once), our family priorities, our extensive social commitments, and endless to-do lists, who’s got the time to be healthy? Let alone the resources?

And the odds seem stacked against us: environmental toxins creeping into our air, water, and food supplies; economic downturns requiring we think twice about booking that much-needed massage; daily agendas so packed I sometimes have to schedule in a shower or it just doesn’t happen.

Is getting healthy even possible in this kind of world? And what does this have to do with my cat??

Well, what I realized while pondering the logistics of walking my cat is that being healthy even in our crazy lives is not only possible, but can be a lot of fun and an opportunity to get creative. In fact, out of pure necessity, that’s becoming my specialty: finding creative ways to incorporate healthy choices into all aspects of even the busiest day. Amidst all this craziness, we might as well get our bodies working FOR us instead of against us, don’t you think? Hence the title and theme of my blog: Walk your cat. Check back often for creative and unusual ways to get healthy.