Category: nutrition

The Myth of All-Natural Products

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The government does not specify what ingredients are required to label a product All-Natural. In fact products labeled All-Natural often have chemicals in the form of natural flavor. There is nothing All-Natural about these products.

Any food that is a “product” is cheap because it contains chemical additives called natural flavor. The government allows food and drink companies to use the term natural flavor instead of listing the real chemical name.

Food and drink companies use natural flavor because the chemicals are cheap ingredients that lower the cost of making the product. We should not be buying food because it’s cheap. It’s really screwed up when it’s cheaper in America to make yourself sick and more costly to remain healthy.

I would say like others have to pass up on food and drink with chemical additives and ingredients that appear to be chemicals. Simply doing this should help a person maintain their health.

Real Talk About Health

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We need to have an honest talk that centers on the idea of how much a person “should” weigh:

NOT 103 pounds for 90 percent of us.

A talk about how much exercise a person really needs to do each week:

NOT 2 hours a day every day in the gym.

A talk about why people are looking in our plates and judging what we’re eating.

Instead each of us should be enjoying the food on our plates guilt-free.

In the coming blog entry, I will revisit a topic I’ve touched on in here before: The use of unnatural ingredients in food products.

I don’t want to live to be 80 if I’m in poor health and need 5 or 6 pills to swallow each day for health issues.

After I talk about food I will delve into how I’m changing my eating plan and firing up the kettlebell again. To regain my health and fitness after the freak accident with my arm.

My hope is to encourage and motivate readers to create a SMART goal this year. One that is Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic and Time-Focused.

It’s not realistic to want to weigh 127 pounds when you weigh 205 pounds. It’s not smart to mindlessly consume food and drink products.

I’ve studied nutrition and fitness for decades by checking books out of the library to read for free. What I’m writing about is not a gimmick or sensational so I’m not going to get a book contract to peddle that pablum.

I’m an ordinary person who’s figured out how and what to eat by reading a book like How to Be Well by Dr. Frank Lipman, MD. I’m reading my copy again for a refresher.

Can we really believe the Medical Medium who allegedly channeled an Angel or Spirit to get and give health information? I don’t think so.

Common sense is not common today. Expecting quick easy results to our health and fitness goals sets us up to feel poorly when we can’t meet this strict restrictive deadline.

That’s why I’m giving myself one whole year in 2025 to reboot.

I also don’t think we should frame a goal as engaging in self-improvement. I happen to think the majority of us are OK the way we are. Instead, I use the term self-development project to talk about a goal. Striving to learn a new skill or adopt a better habit over time. Not because we’re deficient or inferior in anything. Only because we want to “level up” from where we are today.

We don’t need “fixing.” Even though people like the media darlings given column space on the internet and book contracts judge and attack us for a myriad of sins.

Each of us should start where we are. Chances are we have what it takes. Even though we could feel ashamed and buy into the myths out there that say we’re not good enough. That if only we buy a product an influencer is selling we’ll magically become worthy lovable have a better life or whatever.

Read on for the topic I’m going to resurrect in here: the use of unnatural ingredients in food products. This has been my wheelhouse in terms of nutrition and what I think is the biggest culprit holding us back from optimal health.

Water The Drink of Life

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The mug in the photo I bought in a museum gift shop. I get a kick out using the coral-and-turquoise green cup. Filling it up with water throughout the day in my apartment.

I cannot abide anything “neutral”–in the color of my clothes nor in the walls and furniture and items in my home.

Why not treat yourself to a mug you’ll feel wonderful using.

Take a stand every day by making each moment stand out for its beauty. There’s no shame in wanting to surround yourself with beautiful objects like a new mug.

Everyone and everything is beautiful.

Making it convenient to do what’s healthy for you is the way to succeed at your wellness goals.

Would a white ceramic mug be as motivational an ally in drinking water. It’s possible a white mug will inspire you. Who knows.

I go against the critics who claim you don’t need to drink plenty of water every day. They assert that “everyone” gets enough water in the food we eat.

Really. What about people chowing down on a Big Mac fries and cola for dinner. Frosted flakes of cereal for breakfast. Fried chicken nuggets for lunch.

You see why I don’t take self-appointed “experts” seriously.

Comparing your needs to what other people are able to do is foolish too. I for one strive to drink 72 ounces of water every day. Even when no one around me is drinking any water at all.

It’s our choice to decide: Are we going to be upset that others can “get away” with munching on Doritos and appear to remain healthy.

Food is fuel for our bodies which are workhorses to achieve our goals. Water is the drink of life.

If you ask me everyone should get a once-yearly checkup with a reputable primary care doctor that you trust and like and who is reputable. This is how to find out what you need to do to remain healthy. I employ an Integrative Health Coach too.

The other thing is to buy a colorful water bottle to fill with water to keep on your night table. Drinking the bottle of water when you wake up has benefits.

I bought a 23-ounce lavender water bottle in a drugstore. I drink the water when I wake up. I have a 27-ounce Kleen Kanteen purple water bottle I use at my job when I have lunch.

Water is the Drink of Life. It truly is. Tests can reveal that you need to drink more water when you get a yearly checkup.

Forget the so-called experts who hang out a shingle. They’re likely selling products. Like Dr. Gundry’s Reds which I’m skeptical of without having bought.

The products might not harm us. Yet we often really don’t benefit from the products like the experts say we will.

Water. Drink up!

Metabolical

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I checked this book out of the library and stopped reading it.

The premise is scientifically sound. The reason I didn’t read it is because the M.D. author wrote: “Shop the perimeter of the supermarket.”

In my view no one should be going in person to a market to shop for food unless they’re NOT buying processed food and not buying food with chemicals listed as natural flavor in the ingredients.

I didn’t like that the author conceded that it’s okay to shop in the perimeter. Not everything sold in the end aisles is healthful. That’s obvious in the Stop-n-Shop I’ve gone to.

In Metabolical the author talks about those of us who are TOFI: Thin Outside Fat Inside.

You want to be healthy: Lay off the Starbucks drinks and diet and regular colas and resist taking up smoking.

It’s as simple as that. I found a recipe for chocolate pudding that I’ll post here. As store-bought instant pudding has food coloring and other not-good ingredients.

We should each of us enjoy life and Eat to Live. There’s no shame in wanting to be happy and healthy.

There’s no shame in having an illness either. A person might not be in remission (the medical state of having no symptoms). Yet they can recover in terms of having a life they love.

Illness makes it harder to live your life. My sincere hope is this blog can be a ray of light in readers’ lives.

I would say 90 percent of what happens we can’t control in our life. In my view the things that are under our control should be taken advantage of.

Mediterranean Diet

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Step away from the Starbuck’s.

It’s a myth that “calories in versus calories out” or burning off more calories than you consume is the best way to eat or lose weight. It’s the type of food that counts.

Today I’ve been figuring out how to “cook” up my dinners when I have no energy to cook and desire to clean a dish and saucepan after.

The magazine above which I found in Walgreen’s has easy healthful recipes that I’m going to make this summer. In the next blog entry I’ll share one for tuna salad.

My approach is that I want to eat 90 percent of my food coming from God’s green earth or the bright blue sea.

I have a big chocolate chip cookie or whoopee pie here and there. However I try to watch what I eat and drink consistently.

The Mediterranean Diet is touted as the healthiest diet. Really it’s not a restrictive “diet” it’s a lifestyle.

This summer I’ll make one of the recipes that calls for using a Dutch oven.

Coming up the tuna salad recipe.

Like Italians say:

Mangia bene – vivere bene.

Eat well to live well.

Sustain-Ability

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The photo above is of a “continental breakfast”-style dinner.

I’ve taken to making this meal when I have no energy or desire to cook and then clean dishes pots and pans.

Food items:

Mary’s Gone Crackers gluten-free crackers.

Black seedless grapes.

Driscoll’s organic blackberries.

Cento olives in the yellow can.

Grillies halloumi cheese.

Have no idea if this is a healthful dinner.

What I’ve come to realize is that sustainable habits like a weekly routine should sustain our ability to thrive as human beings living in a society where the scarcity mentality is alive and well.

We shouldn’t view things in terms of competing with each other to get what we need to survive.

To sustain our ability to live life whole and well I think adapting and being flexible is paramount.

So take having that weekly routine:

In some weeks we’ll be cooking our dinners 4 or 5 times a week. In other weeks we’ll need to find quick-and-easy meals to prepare because our energy is shot or we don’t have the time to cook and clean.

Before we can save the planet we need each of us to attend to our own health and well being.

That’s because we might live on God’s newly green earth down the road. Yet if we don’t have the health to enjoy our time here it’s likely going to be harder to feel good about ourselves.

I eat well to feel well.

With the summer heat coming on I’m all for making dinners that don’t require using the hot oven. A way to save on your gas or electric bill too.

Christina’s Tofu Eggs

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A really long time ago I used to saute tofu cubes with broccoli in sesame oil for dinner. That was over 7 years ago.

The author of Fridge Love talked about how Joel Fuhrman, MD the Eat to Live author and creator of the nutritarian diet advises followers not to use any oils at all. Not even olive oil.

Using the recipe in Fridge Love I was able to cook the Tofu Eggs dinner as seen in the photo above. The tofu eggs taste better than the old way with sesame oil.

It’s a quick and easy 10 minute total cooking time. The extra time upfront is the 15 minutes where you press the firm tofu dry using the instructions in the Fridge Love book (listed in the blog entry where I shared this recipe).

I recommend lowering the flame a little. The recipe calls for medium heat. My stove is hotter so I lowered the flame to just below medium. I would even say to cook the last half of the time for only 5 minutes not 7. My pan got browned so I soaked it in water and dish detergent before cleaning it.

I’m glad to have found a healthful recipe that is quick and easy. You can even dice tomatoes to cook with the tofu.

Flexing Our Muscle at Any Age

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The book above received a ton of one- and two-star reviews on Amazon.

To be honest I checked the book out of the library and didn’t buy it. I thought it was an OK book and will read it again in my spare time to get inspired.

The reviewers who trashed Flex Your Age didn’t like that the guide offered no exercise routines and no eating plans.

In my humble blog here I’ve been reposting my workout routines for readers to use if you want.

What impressed me about Joan MacDonald the author is that she didn’t start lifting weights until she turned 70. By 71 she was lifting 175 pounds with a fully loaded barbell.

And I thought it was remarkable that I didn’t start lifting weights until I was 46. 3 years later I could lift 205 pounds with the trap bar at the gym.

Joan has me beat! Though this is not a competition. Nor should the two of us and what we’ve done intimidate readers or make you feel poorly if you can’t do these things.

The point to our stories is that change is possible at any age. Incremental change is always better to effect if you ask me.

Soon I will post my 2023 Fall Upper Body and Lower Body routines.

Water the Drink of Life

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A Health Coach told me to drink 60 ounces of water each day. I’m willing to trust that she is right that “Water flushes out toxins.”

Years ago I read a book an M.D. author wrote who claimed the health advice people are given is bad. At first I thought she could be right. Her confession that she drinks Naked Juice all the time killed her credibility.

This ENT doctor for kids in a hospital claimed you didn’t need to drink water throughout the day. That most of us get enough water from the food we eat. What about people who chow down on a Big Mac for dinner.

The more sensational your claim (the Medical Medium anyone?) the more likely you are to get a book contract to peddle your “knowledge” / “information” (often along with a product or pill for sale).

I’m not a licensed professional. What I write and speak about is to show readers and audience members things they can know to have a better life.

The truth is I practice what I preach–or else I too would be a charlatan selling modern-day snake oil.

My Health Coach is the one I turn to for solid advice. Right away after drinking 53 ounces of water for 7 days I saw a a difference.

Drinking water throughout the day helps you maintain energy. At least I feel lighter and more clear-headed when I drink water.

There’s a trick to make this easier. The Health Coach told me my idea was great to fill a water bottle before I go to bed and keep it on the night table. Quick and easy it is to drink the water first thing on waking in the morning.

In the drugstore I bought a 23-ounce double-walled stainless steel water bottle. As well I have a 10-ounce ceramic Venti mug of water with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The analogy is that you need to fuel up at the start of the day to feel and see the best benefit. It’s like filling up your gas tank before you take a road trip. Either way if you don’t do this in advance you’ll be running on empty for the rest of the day or the trip.

I’ll end here with this: wanting to be happy and healthy isn’t something to be ashamed of. Each of us deserves to feel good and be well. Even if our devotion to wellness threatens others who are miserable because they don’t like their own life.

The reality is you and I can live our ideal lives. Define “ideal”–it isn’t perfect or flawless. Ideal=authentic. That’s the difference.

I’m in cahoots with Marie Kondo on this one: Tidying up is the gateway to creating a happier and healthier life for ourselves. I’ll talk in the coming blog entry about how reading Kondo’s latest book sparked health as well as joy.

The Myth of Buying Organic Food

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In the Frank Lipman, M.D. book How to Be Well he exposes the following as unhealthful fats to avoid consuming:

corn oil

canola oil

soybean oil

vegetable oil

sunflower oil

safflower oil

and of course palm oil that is not ethically sourced.

The dilemma is that these fats are cheap. They are used in organic food “products” that come in boxes or bags.

This is not real food in its natural state.

Skinny Pop popcorn uses sunflower oil.

The other dilemma is that most organic products use “natural flavor” which is a chemical additive.

I steer clear of consuming any food or drink with natural flavor.

Ginger ale has natural flavor. These chemical additives are everywhere.

Food manufacturers use these fats and chemicals because they’re cheap ingredients. The cheaper the product is to produce the cheaper it can be sold. Which is not how to choose what you eat and drink: by whether it costs only $2 dollars as opposed to $8 dollars.

Those of us who live in poverty should not be forced to subsist on unhealthy food either.

Greenmarket season is in full swing in New York City. People who use SNAP can use their “food stamps” to buy produce at Grow NYC markets. They can get health bucks to use to purchase more food.

You can even use EBT benefits to buy food online at markets to deliver to your home in New York City.

I urge readers not to buy food “products” as a rule.

You’ll pay for it down the road in higher medical costs.

Coming up I will see about posting new recipes I’ve created.

In the next blog entry I will talk about setting long-term goals.

As I near retirement I’ve been thinking long and hard about my life and how I want to live in my Golden Years.

These years should be golden not tarnished with ill health.