Today it’s my pleasure to introduce Follow Friday, a new feature on my blog, which I’ll run two or more times a month. On Follow Friday, you’ll find out about awesome people, books, podcasts, non-profit organizations, healthy foods and other goodies.
Please help me choose the cover of my new book, I blew my diet! Now what? Vote now for your favorite of four awesome designs from the talented Pete Garceau.
Today, as you know, is Valentine’s Day, the Day of Love. You and your honey—if you have one—will likely do something special […]
Are you headed out of town next holiday weekend? Do you travel a lot by plane, train or automobile? And when you […]
I totally forgot to announce that I recently (on April 15) celebrated 17 years sugar-free.
Isn’t that entertaining — that eating healthy is so second nature to me that I simply overlooked my 17 years anniversary of being sugar-free, well, mostly.
Learn now about at least 7 Benefits from Being Sugar-Free.
Which of these seven reasons most appeals to you?
LeBron james_20k_011513 (2)
Hurrah to a leaner LeBron James, who’s now drawing attention to a cleaner way of eating, thanks to his strict, off-season diet.
HIs slimmer physique came about because he ate “no sugars, no dairy, no carbs.” (Well, that’s not exactly true, because vegetables contain carbs and fruits contain natural sugars.)
“All I ate was meat, fish, veggies and fruit. That’s it. For 67 straight days,” James told reporters at the unveiling of his new LeBron 12 sneaker.
The athlete’s meals — photos of which he’s posted on Instagram — look qjuite tasty.
For one lunch, as he shared, he ate arugula salad with chicken, strawberries, mango, cashews and olive oil or lemon oil vinaigrette dressing.
James stuck to his diet while vacationing in Greece, and he even turned down a personalized cake offered to him, because it contained sugar.
The 6-foot-8-inch Cleveland Cavaliers forward, who is entering his 12th NBA season, says he lost weight to be in top shape for training camp and to test his “mental fortitude.”
While we don’t know exactly how much weight James lost, it’s probably between 10 to 20 pounds.
James was quite disciplined and determined even though, as he joked, “I had a cookie monster chasing me a few times in my dreams.”
You can watch James below discuss his diet, starting at 2:44.
Join the conversation: Are you ready to try a diet like this?
Join the conversation. Please tell us what you’re doing as part of The 31 Days of Kindness-and-Sweetness Campaign. How will or are you being kind and sweet to others?
When was the last time you did something really kind and sweet for someone else with no expectation of getting anything back in return?
Have you noticed that when you give freely to other people or organizations that you tend to forget or at least ignore your pressing problems? Plus, you feel so good for being so generous.
Now, for those of you who ned to weight , your frustrations about about the number on your bathroom scale won’t seem all that important when you’re focused on giving.
Plus, if you’re a sugar or carb addict, your plight will fade away or at least greatly diminish when you do something sweet for someone else or several something elses.
In fact, being kind and sweet makes you feel so good that it’s a lot easier and more enjoyable to eat healthy, wholesome, unrefined, natural foods that don’t contain a lot of sugar, gluten, salt, fat or other additives.
Anyhow, I’m so excited to invite you to join me for The 31 Days of Kindness Challenge.
Although I’d love to be able to claim this fabulous idea as my own, I can’t.
This great suggestion for The 31 Days of Kindness Challenge. comes from speaker/communicator Ryan Avery,, who is co-author with Jeremey Donovan of Speaker, Leader, Champion: Succeed at Work Through the Power of Public Speaking, featuring the prize-winning speeches of Toastmasters World Champions.
Ryanaverys31daycahllengeFYI, please note that I’m personalizing the experience. Although I plan to do kind and sweet things every day for 31 days (and probably longer) and I’m printing out Rya’ns list, I won’t t follow his guidelines exactly. Rather, I’ll use them as suggestions.
Ryan-Avery-Keynote-Speaker-300x300Furthermore, with Ryan Avery’s blessing, I hope, for my fans, I’d like to rename this The 31 Days of Kindness-and- Sweetness Campaign, because you’ll be focused on giving or doing something kind and sweet instead of stuffing your face with something sweet.
Now, let me tell you how I plan to kick off tomorrow, day one of The 31 Days of Kindness-and-Sweetness Chaallenge.
At last, I’ll write a thank you letter to the amazing pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig for the valuable work he’s done to raise people’s sugar consciousness and to improve the health of the planet.
More importantly, though, along with my thank you note, I plan to make a donation to his Institute for Responsible Nutrition, whose mission is to reverse childhood obesity and type 2 obesity.
Institute for REsponsible Nutrition rewbztj9dvkvr8ifs30aThis is something I’ve been planning on doing for a while. In fact, my envelope (without a stamp attached yet) has been ready for weeks. So tomorrow, thanks to Ryan Avery’s polite nudge, I’ll finally do this.
As you probably already know, the remarkable Dr. Lustig is acclaimed for his powerful Sugar: The Bitter Truth lecture, which has had nearly 5 million views on YouTube.
You can watch Dr. Lustig’s lecture below. (By the way, Dr. Lustig will be participating in my upcoming Sugar World Summit. Stay tuned for details.)
In addition to watching the video below, I urge you to get Dr. Lustig’s remarkable, bestselling book, Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease.
So will you join me in The 31-Days of Kindness-and-Sweetness Campaign?
To participate, first get guidance from Ryan Avery, who offers great ideas on how to join in.
Then, will you join me by kicking off your involvement in The 31 Days of Kindness-and-Sweetness Campaign tomorrow by making a tax-detuctible donation to Dr. Robert Lustfg’s important Institute for Responsible Nutrition?
Join the conversation. Please tell us what you’re doing as part of The 31 Days of Kindness-and-Sweetness Campaign. How will or are you being kind and sweet to others?
Join the conversation. What is your favorite way to consume dark chocolate or cacao? Talk to us.
In recent years, one study after another has shown that dark chocolate can be healthy for you.
Cacao beansNow, new Swiss scientists have discoverd that it can be helpful to eat 50 milligrams of dark chocolate two hours before a stressful event.
In short, dark chocolate can soothe your stress!
Pretty cool, eh?
Specifically, the new study, which was published in the Journal of the American Colllege of Cardiology, reveals that dark chocolate blunted increases in cortisol and epinephrine.
Cortisol, as you may already know, is often called the stress hormone, and epinephrine — which is better known as adrenaline — is a hormone released by the adrenal glands and its major action, together with noradrenaline, is to prepare you for your infamous fight or flight response.
Of course, that fight-or-flight reaction helps us humans, as well as animals, to mobilize our energy rapidly so we can deal with threats to our survival.
Meanwhile, as resarchers have been finding for years, dark chocolate — but not sugar-laden milk chocolate or white chocolate — is healthy in at least 9 other ways, too.
For example:
Dark chocolate is nutritious, containing such goodies as fiber, iron, magnesium, copper, and manganese, as AuthorityNutrition.com points out.
It can lessen cravings for sweet, salty or fatty foods. That’s certainly good news for sugar addicts.
Dark chocolate is a powerful source of antioxidants. One study even called cacao a “super fruit” and found that it contains more antioxidant activity, polyphenols and flavanols than other fruits tested, which included blueberries and Acai berries.
Dark chocolate may lower your risk for cardiovascular disease;
And it may improve your brain function.
It can even boost enhance your coronary circulation.
It also raises HDL (the good stuff) and lowers LDL
Plus, dark chocolate has achieved recognition as an anti-depressant and mood leveler.
Dark chocolate may protect your skin aginst the sun.
Cacao-powderNow, please bear in mind that I’m not urging you to rush out and get sugar-filled chocolate!
Ideally, you want to eat dark chocolate hat has a high cacao content, is high in fat (yes!), and low in sugar.
To get some guidance on what to get, check out Mark’s Daily Apple’s wonderful review of the 5 best dark chocolate bars.
Now, if you’re really into being sugar-free, I highly recommend that you nibble on unprocessed cacao beans (it goes great with nuts).
Or you can use cacao powder to make a healthy smoothie.
In fact, every morning I add 2 or 3 tablespoons of organic cacao powder from either Navitas Naturals or Sun Foods in my sugar-free, super-healthy Cacao-Chia-Protein Smoothie. (Stay tuned, because I’ll post a recipe sometime.)
Anyhow, it’s exciting to discover that cacao also can help you deal with stress.
Join the conversation. What is your favorite way to consume dark chocolate or cacao? Talk to us.
Do you you crave ice cream or sorbet but are frustrated because you just can’t find any frozen desserts that are s healthy — I mean, really healthy as in organic, no sugar, no dairy, no gluten, no agave, no added sugars and no artificial sweeteners?
Wouldn’t it be nice to easily, quickly get delectable, healthy frozen dessert that’s:organic, sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, low in calories and carbs and containing no artificial sweeteners, honey or other sweeteners?
I know that’s a pretty tall order, but you can actually quickly make this delicious dessert all by yourself, thanks to the amazing new contraption, the Dessert Bullet.
For instance, to your left is a photo I took of last night’s after-dinner dessert, Organic, Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free Raspberry Sorbet. (I added some unsweetened shredded coconut. Oh, and I placed the dessert on top of my wonderful Zeolite Earth Energy Plate from VibesUp )
I just love my new culinary gadget. Yesterday, I went to a local Bed Bath and Beyond to get my Dessert Bullet. (I didn’t want to wait it to arrive via mail even though it comes with a cookbook.)
Photos – 1-14-14 002Now, you can see today’s Frozen Blueberry Dessert, which I enjoyed for a late afternoon snack after having an organic hard-boiled egg. All I used to make this dessert were frozen blueberries (1 cup). Then I topped the dessert with some cinnamon, shredded coconut and some cacao nibs.
I love this invention! It’s great for those of us, who seek to eat healthily but are frustrated, because we can’t ever have sorbet or ice cream when dining out.
Wow, I can even make chocolate ice cream with this recipe! (I would divide it up into three portions so as not to take in too many carbs at once.)
Full Disclosure: I’m NOT being paid by the Dessert Bullet to mention this product, which I purchased last night at Bed Bath and Beyond in my area. I just like to share great products from time to time with readers. Learn about another great find, too, the NoOodle and The Miracle Noodle.
Join the Conversation: If you buy this incredible gizmo, what will you make first?
On this Gab With The Gurus show, Caroline Sutherland — who is Louise Hay’s personal health coach — will share tips on aging well, feeling your best, balancing your hormones and weight, and controlling your Candida and food allergies.