Blog Posts

How To Take A Compliment

3/3/2014

It may sound funny, but one simple way to improve your relationship with your spouse (or other romantic partner) is to learn to take a compliment! Seems too simple? Actually it's not. I would say the majority of women I know (and some men) just don't seem to handle this well at all. (Note: This post is not just for women, although women seem particularly susceptible to this malady. If you're a man who has trouble accepting compliments, read on. If you can take a compliment like a champ, but your lady can't, share this post with her!)

I'm not sure if it has to do with our poor body image as a nation, the constant barrage of airbrushed advertising, or simple false modesty, but for some reason we women seem nearly incapable of accepting a compliment. (I used to be one of them, and I'm still working on it, but I've gotten a lot better at it over the past few years - through conscious choice - mind you. It has definitely made a difference - particularly in my romantic relationships!)

First of all, let's review some popular ways NOT to respond to a compliment (I've heard some version of just about all of these within the past 30 days), and then we'll discuss why these responses are so destructive to your romantic relationships:

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Your Body Is Smarter Than You Think...

2/23/2014

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Many of us don't necessarily think of our bodies as intelligent beings. After all, our dominant conscious mind is a function of the brain, not the body, right? But there are literally thousands of impulses moving throughout our bodies, to our brains, and back, every second that we're alive. And some of those impulses actually are conscious, and even more of them have the potential to be - if we just listen....

Eastern mystics and yogis for centuries have learned to consciously regulate things as "automatic" as their heartbeat, and meditation is a way of consciously altering brain function. So why do so many of us treat our bodies as inanimate objects - sacks of blood and bones, incapable of doing anything other than responding to stimuli unless told to do so by our almighty brains? If you stop and listen to your body once in a while, you might be surprised at what you might learn.

Obviously you know that your body can tell you things like when it's hungry, thirsty, or needs to sleep. But did you know it can also tell you what food is good and bad for it? How to relieve pain? What kind of exercise it needs? Actually it tells you these things all the time. We just don't notice, as most of us aren't trained to listen.

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3 Tips for Successfully Managing College Costs

2/16/2014

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College costs continue to rise every year - and so do the number of students graduating with heavy debt loads. Nothing can throw your long-term financial plan off balance like $100,000 of student loan debt right when you're starting your new adult life at an entry-level job! And if you're a parent, nothing can throw your long-term financial plan off track like having to figure out how to get your kids through college, while facing the prospect of retirement just a few years later....

More and more families are forced to put their retirement plans on hold due to the high cost of college, while more and more graduates face daunting levels of debt all the way into their 40's - and sometimes even beyond. College costs don't seem likely to drop anytime soon, so how can you maintain financial balance and still get a good education?

Today I'll share three helpful tips that can help you navigate the costly maze that is a college education, and come out ahead - or at least not so far behind. Whether you are a parent or a student, these tips should help!

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The Happy Cow, Or, Does Your Food Dance?

2/9/2014

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Last week we talked about the ethics of eating meat, and in particular, the problem of animal suffering. What we did not talk about, although Michael Pollan goes into it in some depth in his book, is the opposite side - the question of animal happiness.

I'm sure if you've ever been to a grocery store, you've seen some variation of "the happy cow." Maybe it was in the form of a smiling cartoon cow on a milk carton or package of cheese, or cows grazing peacefully in a meadow on the label of a plastic-wrapped roast. Whichever form it was in, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Because although we humans don't like to think too deeply about the fact that the steak we're cutting into was not so long ago a live animal, when we do think about it, we like to think of the animals we eat as happy. We want to believe that they had happy cow/chicken/pig lives, doing what cows/chickens/pigs like to do, before they became dinner on our plates.

Sadly, this is rarely (VERY rarely) the case in reality.... But we don't dig too deeply. For most of us, the happy cow on the box is enough "proof" to assuage our guilty conscience - although, as I often remind people, just because you refuse to know it's happening doesn't mean it isn't!

To tell the truth, if you will take a moment to look a little further, and not turn away this time, the majority of animals in the industrial food system are treated pretty horribly. Not necessarily abused in a malicious sense (although that almost certainly happens sometimes), but certainly not living out their natural desires. Most are kept in tiny cages or pens, without access to the outdoors - contrary to what that pretty, grassy pasture looks like on the milk carton. Some (cattle in particular) are basically force-fed things they were never meant to eat (i.e. corn), which makes them sick, which makes them require lots of antibiotics and other drugs to keep them alive long enough to slaughter.

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The Ethics of Eating Meat

2/2/2014

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Thanks to those of you who submitted suggestions in reply to our question last week! Keep an eye out for posts addressing your preferred topic(s) coming soon....

I am nearing the end of The Omnivore's Dilemma, having taken my time to really think about each section, and enjoying my leisurely way through the story that is so well-told in its pages. I am now well into the hunting & gathering section, and it has made me think (again, as I often have before) about my feelings about eating meat.

As you probably know by now, I am not a vegetarian, and don't intend to become one. However, you never know how your tastes may change, so I won't say it's out of the realm of possibility. If I ever do make such a change, it probably will be for one reason only. As you also probably know by now, I do see humans as omnivores, and (clean, naturally & sustainably raised) meat as a healthy thing to eat (in moderation). After all, humans from all cultures, areas of the globe, and walks of life have been eating meat for thousands of years.

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What's Your Story?

1/26/2014

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Obviously we write a lot about health on this blog - and in particular healthy eating, real nutrition, and the connections between your health and the food you eat - since that is my main passion. But we also want to know what you want to read about, so we can provide information on the topics you're seeking to learn about!

So this week, rather than another general article, I'm asking you to get specific and let us know what information you find most valuable. Are you most interested in fitness and weight loss? Healthy & delicious recipes? Ways to relieve pain naturally? Living a cleaner, greener lifestyle? Or maybe you want to know how you can relieve stress and find a spiritual connection with the universe? Whatever you're looking for, let us know, so we can write about it!

Obviously holistic living is a very broad topic, and we try to cover the various aspects of living a healthy & balanced life on this website.

But you probably have one or two topics you just really want to know more about. We'd love to hear what those are!

And if you have a specific reason for looking for information on your preferred topic, we want to hear about that too - what is your story? What brings you to seek more information on healthy and holistic living?

Please drop us an email, or fill out the contact form below, or comment on our Facebook page, and let us know what you want to know more about. Although we cannot provide medical advice, we would be happy to share general information on how you can be healthier in whatever aspect of your life you need the most help in.

I look forward to hearing from you - and keep an eye out for more posts on the topics you requested coming soon!

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Dying For Health

1/19/2014

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This week at the office was a tough one, as we were all rather shocked by the loss of one of our colleagues, who passed away suddenly last weekend. The final word is not in yet, but it seems likely that he succumbed to a diabetic coma, as he had quite severe Type 1 diabetes, and had frequent problems controlling his blood sugar. I had known him for several years, and a more caring, kinder soul would be hard to find. I was deeply saddened, and have spent the week pondering mortality, the shortness of life, and the value of the people I love.

However, I was not as surprised by his untimely demise as some. You may have heard me mention him from time to time as "my vegan friend." Not even 50 years old, he had the look of someone older, and always looked rather sickly and pale to me. I am not necessarily attributing this to his veganism, although, as you may have read in previous blog posts, I don't see it as the healthiest way to eat. I remember thinking as he vehemently espoused the vegan lifestyle to anyone who would listen (or even look in his direction), that I wondered if he would live to 60.... A terrible passing thought to have, but he was one of those I would call a "rabid vegan," who sought constantly to convert others to his way of eating, though the effects it seemed to have had on his body and health didn't really appear to be all that positive.

Don't get me wrong: I feel there is room in the world for all types of eaters - vegan, vegetarian, omnivore, whatever floats your boat - it's ultimately up to you. However, I also know that unhealthy eaters can be found in all of these genres. Affiliating yourself with a certain type of eater doesn't automatically make you healthy, although many people seem to think it does.

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Empire of Corn - Part 2

1/12/2014

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Last week we talked about corn, and especially about the detrimental effects of corn being fed to animals - particularly cattle. We left you with the surprising fact that each person in the US consumes about 1 ton of corn per year. How does one person possibly eat that much corn? Besides feeding meat animals, and your gas tank, here's what happens to most of the rest of that corn:

It is processed.

First, the grains of corn are usually soaked in an acid bath, then ground, the germ separated out, the kernels crushed, then further ground, filtered, spun, etc. Water is added, more acids are added, dissolving, pulverizing, separating into different components, and the process goes on. If it sounds like quite an intensive process, it is. According to Michael Pollan's book, The Ominivore's Dilemma, for every calorie of processed food produced from corn, 10 calories of fossil fuel energy are burned.

Along with corn syrup (not surprisingly one of the largest uses), corn also becomes corn starch, citric and lactic acid, glucose, fructose, maltodextrin, ethanol, sorbitol, mannitol, xanthan gum, modified and unmodified starches, dextrins, cyclodextrins, and MSG - among hundreds of others. Most all of these will be familiar to you if you've ever looked at the label of most processed food items. It's no wonder that you eat a lot more corn than you might think you do!

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Empire of Corn - Part 1

1/5/2014

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Happy New Year everyone!! I hope you had a wonderful, safe, happy and healthy holiday season! It's hard to believe it is 2014, and the new year stretches ahead full of possibility. Let's make it a wonderful year to remember! I know it will be for me, as I'm getting married this year! :-)

I know I promised to report on The Omnivore's Dilemma, and I will share more soon, but I'm not quite finished with it. I read quite a bit of it on Christmas vacation, and it's really such an amazing book! Today I wanted to share just a few tidbits that you may not know - I certainly didn't!

The first part of the book goes into the history of corn, which you would think would be a less than fascinating subject, but it is very well written, and I found myself drawn into the strange world of this exotic and unique plant, which has shaped so much of our culture and food chain, and without which our country would probably look very different right now. Interestingly enough, it is a very co-dependent relationship, as without humans, corn would likely not have survived as a species either!

It is hard for me to adequately explain the ridiculous and convoluted system that has made corn the basis of our entire food system, or the full scope of destruction this system is wreaking on our land, our farmers, and our health. The book goes into it in depth, and for a more detailed explanation I recommend you grab a copy, but here are the highlights:

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A Rich & Satisfying Life

12/22/2013

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I was going to write about something else this week, but was caught by this passage I heard in church this morning, and was so enthralled by it, I thought this would be the proper season to share it with everyone. If you're reading this blog, I'm willing to bet it will also resonate with you, whether you are a Christian or not.

This phrase actually sums up everything that most of us are ever looking for. It is the reason we do everything from rising in the morning, to going to work, to building relationships, caring for our families, shopping, eating, taking vacations, giving to others, and all the myriad other things we do to feel fulfilled. Yet so very many of these things fall short in giving us the one thing we really want....

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