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Happy New Year to you!!!

Many people start diets in the new year. This post may have you rethinking that a bit. Lately, I have been studying more about Intuitive Eating which is about rejecting diet culture, listening to the body’s cues, and trusting oneself with food.

Eating a plant-based diet has helped me to work on Intuitive Eating. A plant-based diet is not a weight loss diet; it’s a lifestyle choice. I’ve noticed that going plant-based has helped me to allow myself to eat what I want and as much as I want more of the time. I am learning to trust myself with food. 

This week I reflected on the problems with dieting and diet culture. 

Evelyn Tribole says, “The problem is that whatever names diet culture falls under, its roots remain the same: the perpetuation of fat phobia, body shame, and self-disconnection.” Dang! That’s quite an indictment against dieting.

I started dieting at around 13 years...

My daughter was right. My 17 year old daughter had been begging me for almost two years to make nourish bowls for our lunches. These bowls are filled with raw and cooked foods and are also known as macro bowls and buddha bowls. I was not that convinced that this would be a game changer for us as we are already eating a lot of vegetables and we are 100% plant-based. Also, my husband likes eating hot, cooked foods except for lots of fruits and the occasional raw cucumber. So, I was hesitant to make these hearty salads as our regular lunches. Then my business coach Corinne, who is also plant-based, shared that she was feeling so great after eating these bowls for lunch. So, I set off towards the nourishing world of nourish bowls.

What makes a regular salad into a nourish bowl?

1. Greens: Start with a bed of raw greens like romaine, baby spinach, spring mix, or massaged kale.
2. Grains: Cook a cup of quinoa, brown rice, wild rice, millet, bulgur, couscous or other whole grain. I use...

My husband is reading the book “Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think” by Hans Rosling. Rosling was a Swedish M.D. who spent years in Africa, turned to public health, and became a tireless educator, teaching the world about public health statistics. The basic premise of the book is that health, infant mortality, female education, and life expectancy have dramatically improved throughout the world. He shows how it no longer fits the facts to talk about a gap between the rich and the poor in the world -- most people are now in the middle. You can watch many of his TED Talks here. 

Rosling said that he was accused of being an optimist. He vehemently disagreed. Instead, he called himself a “possibilist.” In a world where there is much negative and triggering news, it can be hard to notice the bright side or to believe that we are making improvements and progress as a human race.  

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Plant-based foods are gaining more traction as people realize the environmental impacts of consuming animal foods such as milk. Dairy cows and their manure produce greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to climate change. Poor handling of manure and fertilizers can degrade local water resources. And unsustainable dairy farming and feed production can lead to the loss of ecologically important areas, such as prairies, wetlands, and forests. But we love milk in our cereals, in our hot drinks, and as a part of the base for making fettucine alfredo. So, what to do?

Alternative milk is more sustainable than dairy milk as it uses less land and water and generates lower amounts of greenhouse gases. A trip to the grocery store shows us that plant milks are becoming widely available and popular. However, given the varieties available such as oat milk, almond milk, and soy milk, how do we know which one to pick?

Almond milk is complicated because even though it has the lowest greenhouse...

It’s hard not to feel rising anxiety levels during this time owing to daily sensational updates on the coronavirus pandemic, unrest and strife in the world, and looming natural disasters.

One helpful technique to combat anxiety is called the full yogic breath, otherwise known as the 3-part breath. It’s called 3-part as it involves: 1. diaphragmatic breathing (into the lowest part of your lungs), 2. thoracic breathing (into your chest) and, 3. clavicular breathing (into the top most part of your lungs).

Breathing through your nose, begin by placing your hands on your belly and exhaling all of the air out. Then fill the belly with air like a balloon. Fill it up with air and exhale to deflate the balloon. The tummy swells out because you are expanding the diaphragm. Repeat this process several times. The chest and shoulders should be relaxed and not moving. You can spend from 1-5 minutes enjoying this abdominal breathing.

In the second step toward Full Yogic Breathing, fill...

I hope you are doing well. We are sending so much love to our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan, Haiti, Lebanon, California and all the places where fear, sadness, and suffering are running amok. Prayers that you continue to protect your heart and your health and keep kindling the light of love, peace, and kindness in your own ways.

One way that we are trying to protect our mental and physical health in our house is by eating more vegetables and fruits. I recently read a medical study that said that 7-8 servings of fruits and vegetables per day have been shown to reduce anxiety and depression as much as some medications. Isn’t that incredible?

Have you ever heard of the plate method?

The plate method is an easy way to add more veggies and fruits to your plate. Using the plate method, ¼ of your plate is protein, ¼ of your plate is starch or grains, and ½ of your plate is filled with vegetables and fruits.

For breakfast, this could look like oatmeal cooked...

Happy Summer 2021! The flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, and this summer already feels so much better than the Covid summer of 2020. I hope you can feel the hopefulness in the air.

The theme of June in my classes is "service." After all, the more you give, the more you receive. I know that you all do so much for so many. So, for me, service is not necessarily about "doing" more. It is about cultivating an attitude of service. I once heard Deepak Chopra say that one mantra that he repeats all day long is "How may I serve?" 

I did this recently in the grocery store. The line for the one open check-out was really long and the customers (me too!) were getting flustered and edgy. I took the approach to start repeating "How may I serve?"

Another cashier soon showed up and made the announcement that the next person in line should come to her check-out. Of course, when this happens...which customer is actually next? There were like six of us.

So, I nudged the guy ahead of me to...