It means that the holiday season is right around the corner!  Make sure that you are making exercise and healthy nutrition a priority now, so that you do not backslide over the holiday season.  It’s a downward spiral really, you stop exercising because you don’t think you have time and you start eating horribly because you are too busy so you just grab “something quick.”  Soon, you are feeling sluggish and the LAST thing that you want to do is go to the gym, when that is exactly what you need to get your mind working freshly and to feel rejuvenated once again!  The more you sit around the more you want to continue sitting around! 

I have found this true in my own life.  When I have had periods in my life when I don’t make exercise a priority I have felt more grumpy, tired all the time, unmotivated… the term I use for this (very technical one too!) is BLAH.  I just felt BLAH.  Want to get rid of the Blah’s??  Start exercising and consuming good foods.  It’s truly amazing what a difference it makes not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well.  Amazing indeed!!

My next post will be on time management… I think with the school year in full swing this is something that many of us are struggling with.  When we are in a time crunch how can we consume healthy foods?  How can we find time for exercise?  Two questions I will try to answer. 

And I am going to now have monthly recipes, so stay tuned for that!!

Question- if I told you there was a way to burn more calories and loose more fat in a shorter period of time, what would you say?  My guess is that you’d be all over that!  So, I didn’t say that it would be EASIER, just take less time.  The truth is, high intensity interval training (HIIT) is not for everyone as it is very physically demanding, and well… kind of sucks (but in a good way!).   

Quickly before we move on… what is EPOC?  After cardiovascular exercise or weight training, the body continues to need oxygen at a higher rate than before the exercise began. This sustained oxygen consumption is known as excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC).  This shatters the still held belief by many facilities and trainers that we must only work in our “fat burning zone.”  Working at a high intensity (we will discuss HIIT or high intensity interval training shortly) increases for the oxygan your body needs postexercise (EPOC), meaning you are still burning calories after you’ve already finished your workout!  Studies show that EPOC lasts at least 38 hours AFTER a high intensity workout (HIIT).   So, by elevating EPOC, you help your body burn calories all day long.  Who wouldn’t want that?!

Moving on…

High Intensity Interval Training… just what is it?  After a good warm up, it is just what it sounds like-  HIGH INTENSITY for a brief period of time, followed by recovery, and then repeated.  And by high I don’t mean a fast jog on the treadmill, I mean a sprint, I mean getting chased uphill by a killer dog.  These intervals are SHORT, so this means you have to go all out during them.  You can do almost anything for 45seconds-1 minutes, right?  

Okay, so if you want to be burning fat all day long instead of just the 300 cals you burn during your steady state cardio session, let one of us trainers know and we will whip out a fabulous HIIT program for you.  I don’t know how many people I have put through something like this who tell me they would not have pushed themselves as hard and now know what they need to do when they’re on their own.

I will leave you with a quote:

Fat loss is an all out war… attack it with all that you have…Revelation says it best: ‘You are lukewarm and I shall spit you out.’ Moderation is for sissies.”
— Dan John, Legend 

Have a fabulous weekend!

You friendly neighborhood trainer, Lindsay 

It all depends on where it comes from, doesn’t it?

By Lori Lipinski

The subject of milk sparks just about as much controversy as the subject of fats. Many alternative practitioners feel that it’s not necessary for humans to consume cow’s milk and link its consumption to health problems, such as ear infections, allergies, cancer and diabetes. On the other hand, the medical community has convinced us that if we don’t drink enough milk our bones will disintegrate. And the American Dairy Association wants us to think we’ll be cool like celebrities with milk mustaches if we drink lots of milk.

The purpose of this article is not to convince you to drink milk or not to drink milk. Instead, it addresses those who do–or would like to–drink milk and consume dairy products. If you fit into this category, then you need to know where your milk has come from and what it has been through.

LIVING CONDITIONS

If I were to ask you to picture a cow, you would most likely see in your mind a cow grazing in an open pasture, like one you’d probably seen before on a small family farm. That’s a lucky cow, compared to most of the cows bred for dairy production in this country. The majority of commercial dairy cows don’t have the luxury of grazing on open fields. Instead they are kept in intense confinement, in individual stalls, on hard cement floors, hooked up to milking machines, forced to produce milk ten months out of the year, in an overcrowded building. This is how the average commercial dairy cow spends her short, miserable life–42 months on average, compared to 12-15 years for a cow on pasture.

ENVIRONMENT

Not only is the unnatural building environment a problem for the cow, but it can be a huge problem for the people around it as well. The massive amount of waste produced on a factory farm is overwhelming and can have devastating effects on the surrounding environment. Over one-fifth of the country’s dairy products are produced in the central valley of California where confinement operations create as much waste as a city of 21 million people! Much of that waste is forced unnaturally into the environment, polluting our lakes, rivers and streams. On the other hand, small farms are able to recycle manure back into the earth to enrich the soil.

FEED

A cow’s natural diet consists mostly of grass, but since there isn’t enough grass to go around on the factory farm, today’s factory cow is fed a diet of mostly grain, and other things” that they would not normally eat. The bulk of the feed consists of corn and soy, which receives 80 percent of all herbicides used in the US. When we think of pesticides we usually think of produce, but animal products can contain up to 14 times more pesticides than plants!_¹

Simply switching the cow’s diet from grass to grain can cause many problems, but that’s only the beginning. According to a recent article in US News & World Report, Some 40 billion pounds a year of slaughterhouse wastes like blood, bone and viscera, as well as the remains of millions of euthanized cats and dogs passed along by veterinarians and animal shelters, are rendered annually into livestock feed

. . . . Animal-feed manufacturers and farmers also have begun using or trying out dehydrated food garbage, fats emptied from restaurant fryers and grease traps, cement-kiln dust, even newspapers and cardboard that are derived from plant cellulose. Researchers in addition have experimented with cattle and hog manure, and human sewage sludge.”²

When I first read this I thought there were probably only a handful of farmers crazy enough to feed dead cats and dogs and other animals parts to their vegetarian cows, but I was dead wrong! During the BSE scare, the FDA ordered a halt to feeding all slaughterhouse wastes to cattle and sheep in the US. At that time 75 percent of the nation’s 90 million cattle had been eating feed containing slaughterhouse by-products!

Like humans, animals need nutrients to thrive and be healthy. Obviously the feed given to factory farmed cows is not intended to provide proper nourishment. Instead, farmers, or shall I say food manufacturers, are interested in stuffing whatever they can into the cows to bulk them up as quickly as possible. This can quickly lead to sick animals and heavy doses of drugs. Like pesticides, these drugs end up in the milk of the dairy animals, as do trans fats from bakery wastes, undigested proteins from soy and animal foods and aflatoxins from moldy grain. To make matters worse, levels of vitamin A and D drop off precipitously when cows are given any feed other than green growing grass.

ANTIBIOTICS

If you’re like a growing number of people today, you would rather not take antibiotics when you get sick. You may even be proud of the fact that you haven’t had to use them in years. However, if you drink commercial milk or eat commercially raised meats and poultry, you could be consuming antibiotics on a daily basis,without even knowing it! Over 50 percent of all the antibiotics produced in this country are mixed directly into animal feed. Ideally, antibiotics should be used in farming only when necessary to treat infection. However, due to the sickly nature of factory farmed animals, they are fed a constant supply of antibiotics from birth until the time of slaughter.

Antibiotic resistance is a serious issue that has gotten a lot of press in recent years. Basically, bacteria are mutating and outsmarting the antibiotics, making them ineffective. (The same phenomenon is occurring on farms where bugs are mutating to withstand pesticide applications.) We criticize medical doctors for over-prescribing antibiotics, but that is only part of the problem. Not only are antibiotics overused in this country, but they are also over-consumed. People are unknowingly consuming more antibiotics than they are actually taking by choice. Due to the heavy doses of antibiotics used on factory farmed animals, your steaks, hamburgers, chicken, and hotdogs are all laced with antibiotics. Milk alone contains traces of up to 80 different antibiotics!³

HORMONES

Back in 1930, the average dairy cow produced 12 pounds (about a gallon and a half) of milk per day. In 1988, the average was 39 pounds per day. This was accomplished by selective breeding to obtain dairy cows that produced a lot of pituitary hormones, thereby generating large amounts of milk. But the industry was not satisfied with this output. Today rBGH, a synthetic growth hormone, is used to get even more milk out of the dairy cows, bringing the average up to 50 pounds (over 6 gallons) of milk per day.

A typical modern dairy cow. Her udder is so full it almost drags on the ground and she must be milked three times per day. Note the unusual growth in front of her forelegs–a goiter or a tumor?

This sounds like a great thing for dairy farmers, right? However, when you mess with Mother Nature, you will suffer the consequences. FDA documents show that cows injected with rBGH are 79 percent more likely to contract mastitis.⁴ In 1991, a report on Monsanto’s BGH test herd at the University of Vermont found the same kinds of problems identified by the FDA, plus an alarming number of dead and deformed calves born to cows treated with BGH.⁵ Other problems include reproductive difficulties, increased need for antibiotics, digestive problems, enlarged hocks and lesions, and foot problems.

According to the Humane Farming Association, The FDA admits that BGH injections increase sickness and drug use in dairy cows. Consumer’s Union reports that because of increased udder infections, it is more likely that milk from treated cows will be of lower quality–containing more pus and bacteria–than milk from untreated cows.”⁶

PASTEURIZATION

Pasteurization is a process of heat treating milk to kill bacteria. Although Louis Pasteur developed this technique for preserving beer and wine, he was not responsible for applying it to milk. That was done at the end of the 1800s as a temporary solution until filthy urban dairies could find a way to produce cleaner milk. But instead of cleaning up milk production, dairies used pasteurization as a way to cover up dirty milk. As milk became more mass produced, pasteurization became necessary for large dairies to increase their profits. So the public then had to be convinced that pasteurized milk was safer than raw milk. Soon raw milk consumption was blamed for all sorts of diseases and outbreaks until the public was finally convinced that pasteurized milk was superior to milk in its natural state.

Today if you mention raw milk, many people gasp and utter ridiculous statements like, You can die from drinking raw milk!” But the truth is that there are far more risks from drinking pasteurized milk than unpasteurized milk. Raw milk naturally contains healthy bacteria that inhibit the growth of undesirable and dangerous organisms. Without these friendly bacteria, pasteurized milk is more susceptible to contamination. Furthermore, modern equipment, such as milking machines, stainless steel tanks and refrigerated trucks, make it entirely possible to bring clean, raw milk to the market anywhere in the US.

Not only does pasteurization kill the friendly bacteria, it also greatly diminishes the nutrient content of the milk. Pasteurized milk has up to a 66 percent loss of vitamins A, D and E. Vitamin C loss usually exceeds 50 percent. Heat affects water soluble vitamins and can make them 38 percent to 80 percent less effective. Vitamins B6 and B12 are completely destroyed during pasteurization. Pasteurization also destroys beneficial enzymes, antibodies and hormones. Pasteurization destroys lipase (an enzyme that breaksdown fat), which impairs fat metabolism and the ability to properly absorb fat soluble vitamins A and D. (The dairy industry is aware of the diminished vitamin D content in commercial milk, so they fortify it with a form of this vitamin.)

We have all been led to believe that milk is a wonderful source of calcium, when in fact, pasteurization makes calcium and other minerals less available. Complete destruction of phosphatase is one method of testing to see if milk has been adequately pasteurized. Phosphatase is essential for the absorption of calcium.

ULTRAPASTEURIZATION

As the dairy industry has become more concentrated, many processing plants have switched to ultrapasteurization, which involves higher temperatures and longer treatment times. The industry says this is necessary because many microorganisms have become heat resistant and now survive ordinary pasteurization.

Another reason for ultrapasteurization is that it gives the milk a longer shelf life–up to four weeks. The grocers like this but many consumers complain of a burnt or dead taste. The milk is virtually sterile–is that what you want to drink?

Milk producers are not advertising the fact that they are ultrapasteurizing the milk–the word is written in very small letters and the milk is sold in the refrigerator section even though it can be kept unrefrigerated until opened. Horizon, the major organic brand, is ultrapasteurized, as are virtually all national brands.

HOMOGENIZATION

Milk straight from the cow contains cream, which rises to the top. Homogenization is a process that breaks up the fat globules and evenly distributes them throughout the milk so that they do not rise. This process unnaturally increases the surface area of fat exposing it to air, in which oxidation occurs and increases the susceptibility to spoilage. Homogenization has been linked to heart disease and atherosclerosis.

MILK: TO DRINK OR NOT TO DRINK?

Considering how modern commercial milk is produced and processed, it’s no wonder that millions of Americans are allergic to it. An allergic reaction to dairy can cause symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting (even projectile vomiting), stomach pain, cramping, gas, bloating, nausea, headaches, sinus and chest congestion, and a sore, or scratchy throat. Milk consumption has been linked to many other health conditions as well, such as asthma, atherosclerosis, diabetes, chronic infections (especially upper respiratory and ear infections), obesity, osteoporosis and cancer of the prostate, ovaries, breast and colon.

Once you understand how modern milk is produced and processed, it seems logical to just avoid it altogether. But Real Milk–full-fat, unprocessed milk from pasture-fed cows–contains vital nutrients like fat-soluble vitamins A and D, calcium, vitamin B₆, B₁2, and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid, a fatty acid naturally occurring in grass-fed beef and milk that reduces body fat and protects against cancer). Real milk is a source of complete protein and is loaded with enzymes. Raw milk contains beneficial bacteria that protect against pathogens and contribute to a healthy flora in the intestines. Culturing milk greatly enhances its probiotic and enzyme content, making it a therapeutic food for our digestive system and overall health.

So the answer to the question is–go ahead and drink milk only if you can get unprocessed milk from pastured cows. In the meantime, here are a few steps that can help you make the transition to more natural dairy products.

STEP 1: REMOVE COMMERICAL MILK FROM YOUR DIET

Normally I propose a step-by step process for making a dietary change, but considering where commercial milk has come from, and what it has been through, it is best to just remove it from the diet altogether. Instead use some of the better quality dairy products such as raw cheese, good quality whole yogurt, butter and cream that has not been ultrapasteurized. (You can use butter or cream mixed with water on breakfast porridge.) Check the Weston A. Price Foundation Shopping Guide for a listing of good quality dairy products sold in supermarkets and health food stores.

STEP 2: FIND A SOURCE OF REAL MILK IN YOUR AREA

In states like California, this is easy because raw milk is sold in health food stores. In other states you need to either purchase raw milk from a farm or through a cow-share program. The best place to start is by contacting your local chapter or visiting the realmilk.com website. Most people who cannot tolerate commercial milk do beautifully on Real Milk–milk that comes from pastured cows, that contains all the fat and that is unprocessed. It is an especially good food for growing children who need extra nutrients during their growing years.

REFERENCES

1. Nutrition News and Views, Nov/Dec 1999, Vol 3, No.6, p. 2.

2. The Next Bad Beef Scandal?” US News & World Report, September 1, 1997.

3. Nutrition News and Views, Nov/Dec 1999, Vol 3, No.6, p 2.

4. Mark Kastel, Down on the Farm: The Real BGH Story- Animal Health Problems, Financial Troubles,” published by Rural Vermont, 1991.

5. Andrew Christiansen, Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone: Alarming Tests, Unfounded Approval: The Story Behind the Rush to Bring rBGH to Market,” published by Rural Vermont, 1991.

6. http://www.hfa.org/campaign/dairy/htm.

For many people the concept of “eating healthy” means sticking to a temporary diet for a short period of time. But when you truly understand what it means to eat healthy, you realize this is not just something cool to do for a little while and then quit–it’s something you need to do everyday. Eating healthy is a way of life. For most people this transition can be a little overwhelming at first. Many people are so afraid to change, they never do. Others make changes, but easily give up and go back to their old ways. Some jump in head first and change everything, but have no idea where to go from there. Sure, when it comes right down to it, most people want to be healthier, but just don’t really know how to make it happen.

If you want to be healthy, it makes sense to stop doing things that make you unhealthy! This article will help you get started making the kitchen transition by getting rid of six ingredients that compromise your health. You’ll also learn why these foods should be eliminated from your diet and what foods to replace them with.

Pick a day for your kitchen makeover. Get out a big trash can and then open up the refrigerator and all your cupboards. Now you are ready to begin!

REFINED SUGAR AND ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS

In today’s over-processed, sugar-crazed society, the average person consumes 154 pounds of sugar per year! That’s 53 teaspoons of sugar per day! Now let’s pretend that sugar actually has some benefits, eating one-half pound per day may not seem like such a bad idea. But the truth is that refined sugar has absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever. Not only does it completely lack nutritional value, it also robs the body of enzymes, minerals and vitamins, especially B-vitamins. Symptoms of B-vitamin deficiency include: fatigue, depression, anxiety, inability to concentrate, poor memory, insomnia, rapid/irregular heart beat, swollen/inflamed tongue, dry skin around the nose and cracking around the lips. Considering the amount of sugar consumed in this country, it’s no surprise so many Americans suffer from symptoms of a B-vitamin deficiency.

Eating too much sugar also creates blood sugar imbalances in the body. When blood sugar drops too low (shortly after eating a high-sugar meal or snack) the fuel supply to the body is impaired, with adverse effects on mental function, physical energy and emotional stability. Symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) can range anywhere from headaches, irritability and shaking when hungry to explosive anger, panic attacks, or crying easily for no apparent reason. Not only can sugar affect the quality of your day but it can also make you sick. Many studies have shown that sugar is very effective in weakening the immune system and is a source of fuel for feeding cancer and tumors.

In an attempt to avoid the problems associated with sugar, many people have been convinced that artificial sweeteners are a better alternative. The word artificial should give you a clue that they are not. Artificial sweeteners are associated with cancer, weight gain, increased cravings for sweets, impaired coordination, decreased mental function, diabetes, MS, Parkinson’s, seizures and migraine headaches.

Trash It: It’s fair to say that no other food contributes to as many health problems as sugar. So if you want to achieve your optimum health potential, avoiding sugar is the best place to start. You can begin your kitchen transition by throwing out that big bag of sugar and all those little packets of artificial sweeteners. Then get rid of all the products in your cupboards and refrigerator that are made with refined sugar (sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltodextrin). This will include all commercial brands of cookies, candy, pop, ice cream, pastry, cakes and pies. It may seem like a good idea to pass these foods along to family, friends, neighbors, or coworkers–but considering the problems caused by excess sugar consumption, it’s best just to throw them out. Even if it seems like a waste of money at the time, the savings in your health, and the health of those you care about, will be well worth it.

Stash It: The best sweeteners to use are those that occur naturally such as raw cane sugar (Rapadura), pure maple syrup, raw honey or molasses. These are best used for baking. Stevia, an herb that is much sweeter than sugar but does not affect blood sugar levels, can be used for sweetening beverages (if necessary in the initial stages of transitioning your diet). Keep in mind that even natural sweeteners can affect your blood sugar and contribute to cravings for sweets. For this reason it’s best to avoid eating sweets by themselves; instead include dessert made with whole foods as part of a balanced meal, no more than 2-3 times per week. Good fats and protein help to stabilize blood sugar and reduce cravings for sweets. A steak with some steamed veggies and butter, a salad topped with a dressing based on olive oil and a couple of naturally sweetened cookies would be a healthy and balanced way to include dessert. Avoid having dessert with a meal that is high in carbohydrates like pasta, bread or rice. (Nourishing Traditions is loaded with many incredible dessert recipes!)

WHITE FLOUR

Now that you’ve eliminated the sweet sugar from your kitchen, your next step is to get rid of the “other” sugar–white flour. White flour breaks down just like sugar in the body and can lead to many of the same problems as white sugar. During the process of turning whole wheat into white flour, the B-vitamins as well as vitamin E, calcium, zinc, copper, manganese, potassium and fiber are removed. Due to the lack of fiber in white flour, it is a major contributing factor to constipation and other bowel problems. Wheat is also a major allergen and can cause reactions such as headaches, fatigue, malabsorption, irritability, upper respiratory congestion, nausea, diarrhea and other bowel disorders like celiac and Crohn’s disease.

Trash It: Search for anything in your kitchen made with enriched wheat flour and toss it out. That includes most commercial breads, crackers, pasta, bagels and stuff like pancake mixes. While you’re at it, you can throw out white rice and all other processed grains such as corn bread mixes, instant oatmeal, and all processed grain cereals–even if they are organic. During the extrusion processing of whole grain flakes and puffed cereals, high temperatures and intense pressure destroy nutrients, cause fragile oils to become rancid, and make the processed cereals very difficult to digest.

Stash It: Although many commercial brands offer “whole grain” breads available at the grocery store, there are none that I really recommend. In most cases, the bread is still made from enriched wheat flour with a few whole grains added in. And even if the bread is made purely from whole grain, it most likely still contains unhealthy ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oil. To get good quality whole grain bread, you’re going to have to take a ride to your local health food store. Look for bread that is made from whole grains, even better organic, sprouted whole grains. My favorite brand of bread is Alvarado St. Bakery, which is available at most natural food stores. If yours doesn’t carry it, ask them to. It’s a light bread with a chewy texture, a perfect sandwich bread! You can also find whole grain pasta and bagels, however, they are extremely high in carbohydrates and have a major effect on blood sugar. So unless you can use control to limit the portion of those foods and eat them sparingly, it’s best not to eat them at all.

Despite the fact that 98 percent of the wheat consumed in this country is refined wheat flour, surprisingly it is pretty easy to find whole wheat flour at almost any grocery store. Keep in mind, however, that shortly after wheat is ground it begins to lose its nutrient value and quickly goes rancid. So if you plan to do any baking with whole grains, it is best to grind them yourself. (For more information on how to properly prepare whole grains, see Nourishing Traditions.)

HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS

For many years the media have told us to replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats, like those from vegetable oils. This is not very good advice considering that, in the process of producing vegetable oils, toxic chemicals and high temperatures are used to extract the oil from the seed or bean. In this process virtually all of the nutritional value has been destroyed, not to mention the fact that high temperatures turn the oil rancid before you even bring it home.

Even worse, most vegetable oils in processed foods have been hydrogenated, a process that rearranges the fatty acid molecules and creates trans fatty acids. Not only are trans fats difficult to digest, but they have also been implicated as a cause of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and sterility.

Trash It: Since most packaged food that contains sugar and white flour, also contains hydrogenated oil, you should have already eliminated those foods from your kitchen anyway. Hydrogenated oils are found in almost all processed foods, commercial salad dressings, sandwich spreads and, of course, margarine. Rather than just throw away these items, rinse out the containers and recycle them–at least it won’t be a total waste.

Stash It: A “must have” in your kitchen is real butter! Butter is a rich source of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. and contains important minerals like manganese, zinc, chromium, and iodine. The saturated fat in butter enhances our immune function, protects the liver from toxins, provides nourishment for the heart in times of stress, gives stiffness and integrity to our cell membranes, and aids in the proper utilization of omega-3 essential fatty acids. Butter will add extra nutrients and flavor to your vegetables, whole grain breads and sautéed dishes. Organic butter produced without the use of hormones, steroids, and antibiotics is available at natural food stores and even many grocery stores. Or, check out the classified ad section in this magazine to find sources of high quality butter by mail order.

Another important oil to stock in your kitchen is olive oil. Olive oil is a rich source of antioxidants, relieves the pain and inflammation of arthritis, normalizes blood fats and cholesterol, stimulates strong gallbladder contractions, and is known for increasing longevity. Olive oil can be used for sautéing at moderate temperatures and is a perfect base for salad dressings.

Another fat you may want to try is coconut oil, a once-maligned but very healthy fat that is making a come back. Coconut oil is a rich source of medium-chain saturated fatty acids, especially lauric acid, which has strong antifungal and antimicrobial properties. Coconut oil is extremely heat stable and can be used in baking, frying, sautéing, and especially for making popcorn! I recommend unrefined, organic coconut oil from Garden of Life–available online or at many natural food stores.

COMMERCIAL DAIRY

We have been told for years to drink milk because it’s good for our bones and makes us strong and healthy. But milk is only as good as its source. Unfortunately, it is common practice for commercial dairies to keep their cows in confinement with little or no access to pasture. Instead of their natural grass diet, cows are fed a diet of grain. Grain feeding leads to digestive disorders in the cow and diminishes the nutrient content of the milk, particularly vitamins A, D and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid, a fatty acid naturally occurring in grass-fed beef and milk that reduces body fat and protects against cancer). Furthermore, corn and soy, which make up the bulk of a cow’s grain diet, are commonly genetically engineered foods that receive heavy doses of pesticides. Commercial dairy cows are also given hormones and antibiotics, which ultimately affect the consumer.

Another thing to consider is the processing of milk. Once the milk is exposed to heat through pasteurization, enzymes and beneficial bacteria are destroyed, and the availability of nutrients like B-vitamins, vitamin C, calcium, and fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and E is greatly diminished. Consumption of commercial milk has been linked to many health conditions, such as allergies, asthma, atherosclerosis, diabetes, chronic infections (especially upper respiratory and ear infections), obesity, osteoporosis and prostate, ovarian, breast and colon cancer.

Trash It: Considering where commercial milk has been and what it has been through, it’s best to avoid it altogether. Clean out your fridge and get rid of commercial milk and all other commercial dairy products, such as yogurt, sour cream, and cottage cheese–and don’t forget to recycle!

Stash It: To avoid unnecessary hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides in dairy, it’s best to buy organic dairy products. Stock up on raw cheese and good quality whole milk yogurt. These foods are available at natural food stores and even at many grocery stores. Even if you can find organic milk at the store, it has still been pasteurized or even ultrapasteurized, destroying many of the nutritional benefits of the milk. So unless you can get milk in its natural state, raw and unprocessed, just skip it.

CAFFEINATED BEVERAGES

Caffeine addiction is a serious problem for many people, even those who are health-conscious. But no matter how good your diet may be, that innocent little cup of coffee in the morning can wreak havoc on your health for the rest of the day. Caffeine stimulates the adrenal glands, leading eventually to adrenal exhaustion and symptoms like fatigue, lack of physical endurance and stamina, impaired ability to deal with stress, depressed immune system, allergic reactions, weight gain, low blood pressure, dizziness and lightheadedness or blacking out when standing up. Caffeine also stimulates the liver to release more sugar in the blood stream and further stresses the body’s delicate sugar-regulating mechanism. Besides creating major hormonal imbalances in the body, caffeine also impairs calcium absorption. This is a major concern for children who consume a lot of soft drinks while their bones are still developing.

Trash It: So if you still haven’t kicked your caffeine habit, there’s no better time than now! Simply get rid of all caffeinated coffee and tea (and soft drinks, if you haven’t done so yet).

But it may not be so simple if you’re seriously addicted to caffeine. You may actually need a little time to wean off of it. But you can do it, in fact, you need to if you want to achieve your true health potential. So, start by cutting your caffeine intake in half, do that for one week, and then cut it in half again, and continue until you are no longer consuming caffeine. This will probably require you to make huge changes in your lifestyle, both at home, at work and even in your car.

It’s important to understand why you liked caffeine so much in the first place. If you’re like most caffeine addicts, chances are you rely on caffeine to pick you up when your energy starts to fizzle out. This can be resolved by eating balanced meals at regular intervals throughout the day. Eating protein-based meals with natural carbohydrates and plenty of good fats will keep your blood sugar stable and reduce your cravings for both sugar and caffeine. Also, it is important to get enough rest at night, which is sometimes easier said than done. But, if you plan ahead and use your time more wisely during the day, you will most likely be able to squeeze some more, well deserved time into your sleep schedule! Finally, if you are feeling sleepy in the afternoon, there is nothing wrong with dozing off for ten minutes or so–a short nap can be extremely refreshing.

Stash It: The best way to kick a bad habit is to replace it with a better one! Don’t just stop drinking caffeinated beverages, start drinking healthier beverages- and there’s nothing better than water! ! Not drinking enough water can lead to symptoms like: dizziness, feeling lightheaded, nausea, stomach ache, muscle cramping, confusion, headache, and fatigue. Ideally, we should all drink ½ our body weight in ounces of water each day. So if you weigh 150 lbs. you should drink 75 oz. of water everyday, and even more if you are physically active. That may sound like a lot of water, but your body really needs it. We all understand the importance of taking a shower. Well drinking water is like an internal bath that bathes every single cell in the body. Without enough water it would be difficult for the body to eliminate waste- kinda like flushing a toilet without any water in it! Now that’s something to think about!

The cleanest water available is filtered through reverse osmosis (R/O). Serious water drinkers should consider investing in an R/O unit that can be installed under the kitchen sink (whole house units are available as well). If clean, refreshing, tasteless water is a little boring for you, try adding some fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice, or try adding a few drops of essential oils (cinnamon, tangerine, peppermint, etc.). You can also spice up your water with many varieties of naturally “un”caffeinated herbal teas. There are many types of flavored water available at the store, however, almost all of them contain sugar in one form or another. Glacieu makes a fruit infused water without added sugar, which is available at most natural food stores. But remember, when it comes right down to it, there is no substitute for good, clean water.

COMMERCIAL SALT

The salt that you find in table salt and most processed foods is sodium chloride. Salt in this form has been processed at high temperatures, which changes the molecular structure and removes vital minerals from the salt. Table salt also contains additives, anticaking agents, and even sugar. Excess salt consumption is associated with high blood pressure, fluid retention, heart and kidney disease.

Trash It: Dump out your salt shaker and toss out all other packaged or processed foods with a high sodium content. This should be pretty easy for most people.

Stash it: We have been told for years to avoid salt, but following this advice can lead to even more problems. We are all salty on the inside–our blood, sweat, tears, and even our urine–it’s all salty. It’s important to replenish the salt in our body, using the right salt is what makes all the difference in the world. The best way to put salt back into your body is to use Celtic sea salt. This high quality salt contains over 80 balanced minerals from the sea. Celtic sea salt is essential for maintaining proper fluid balance and utilization in the body. It also normalizes blood pressure, enhances digestion, and nourishes the adrenal glands. Celtic sea salt is available at many natural food stores or can be ordered through The Grain and Salt Society, call 1-800-TOPSALT.

NEW BEGINNINGS

Well, that was easy, right? Now that you’ve made the kitchen transition, you have built a solid foundation for your health. It can only get better from here–let the journey begin!

About the Author
Lori Lipinski is a Certified Nutritional Consultant, lecturer and writer whose articles have been published and quoted in highly respected national and international health journals and books. Lori developed the “Making the Transition” series to help people transition toward a REAL food diet, one step at a time.

Hello!  Stay tuned for an upcoming series that I have found to be SO full of great nutritional information that I absolutely wish everyone would read it and put it’s advice into practice!  It comes from one of my favorite websites- the Weston A Price foundation website.  I have began following the tradional diet that he paved the way for through much research and have never felt better!  There are a growing number of individuals who have began eating this way (or have been eating this way all along) in the Twin Cities and I have had the pleasure of speaking with many of them- including the farmers who I get much of my food from and know personally      

Here is a bit on the author of this transitional eating series:

Lori Lipinski is a Certified Nutritional Consultant, lecturer and writer whose articles have been published and quoted in highly respected national and international health journals and books. Lori developed the “Making the Transition” series to help people transition toward a REAL food diet, one step at a time.

If you have any questions or anything that you’d like to comment on, feel free to do so!  This is definitely going to stray from the norm of the American diet, and even what you may consider to be “healthy eating.” 

Cheers!

Here is a quote that I love (and I’m actually not sure who to give credit for it!).  It’s a continuation off the post on 6packs.  I shared this quote with a few of you that I saw a few weeks ago… but I just love it so much that I wanted to post it up here.

“clean up your insides if you want your outside to look good.  No Ab routine in the world is going to work for you if you inhibit the muscles of your deep abdominal wall through a dysfunctional lifestyle and a poor, processed foods diet”

This is saying what I always try to get across- diet and exercise go hand in hand and you really can’t slack in either one if you want true success. 

Yes, our trainers have a STELLAR ab routine for you, but we don’t want you wasting your time doing that when you won’t ultimately have success without also encorporating healthy nutritional practices.

I’m not talking about a six pack of your beverage of choice, I’m talking about 6 pack abs.  Everybody wants them.  Proof of your hard work at the gym.  Many think they must do hundreds of crunches a day to get them.  The truth?  Hundreds of crunches a day will sure take a lot of time, but they will not get you a six pack. 

Why?

1) You can not spot reduce.  At least a few times a week I get somebody asking me how to get rid of this or that (saddle bags, love handles, back fat, you name it and I’ve probably been asked it).  I tell every single one of them the truth- you can not loose without loosing everywhere.  Have you ever seen someone at the beach with a beautiful 6-pack and a flabby butt or love handles?  I suspect not.   I call it the “hidden 6-pack.”  It’s the 6-pack that you have from doing lots of core work but still having a layer of fat covering it up.  So, it’s in there… just hiding!  It will take a combination of cardio, proper nutrition and resistance training (including core work) to release that inner 6-pack. 

2) You won’t loose stomach fat without changing your diet.  Let this one sink in.  I can’t tell you how many people I’ve worked with that are hardcore at exercising and have stopped seeing results and start to wonder… what is the deal?  Then I ask them what they are eating.  Bingo.  It may not be a surprise to you that daily McDonalds and food from a box is not going to help you in your quest toward 6-packness, but it might suprise you just how important diet really is in this endeavour.  Stay tuned from some advice on nutrition in upcoming posts… it really is THAT important.  Don’t think you can exercise and not eat right, and also don’t think you can eat right and not exercise.  Think of exercise and nutrition as siamese twins that share some vital organ… very rarely does separation go well.  Okay, that may not be a perfect metaphor, but just know that you need both to thrive!    

3) You won’t loose stomach fat by doing lots of crunches.  Sounds obvious, but I’m surprised sometimes that some people really think they can just do crunches and nothing else and get a 6-pack.  To loose stomach fat you need to raise your metabolism.  How do you do this?  The more muscle you have vs. fat the higher your metabolism is, the more often you eat in a day (think 6 small meals, not 3 big meals and a bunch of snacks) the more your metabolism stays up, also through cardiovascular training (think intervals!).  More to come on metabolism in a later post… it’s such a complex system I don’t want to loose you here.  I took entire college courses on it!

So, if you’re ready to get serious about your goals grab your friendly neighborhood trainer and get to work!  Just know that it really is a science of a bunch of overlapping and interrelated body systems… they don’t pay  us the big bucks (HAHA!!!) for nothing. 

~Lindsay

Hello and welcome!  This blog is dedicated to sharing with you daily (hopefully- or close to it) wisdom about health and well-being… including but not limited to exercise, nutrition, stress management, time management, motivations, and goals.  I think this will be a great tool to help impart some words of advice and for you to ask questions!

Stay tuned for more from us!