Don't Forget Your Milk and Cookies!

Did you know that in 1912, the government recommended bread, a giant serving of milk, and cookies as a healthy dinner?  They also recommended cutting back on fruit and veggies since they weren't high in protein.  Milk and cookies were the recommended diet for energy for factory workers.

Parents were told to choose whole milk over skim and don't forget to butter your bread!

In 1939, the USDA recommended getting your vitamins from cereal and butter.

So now you're thinking, "well, that was a long time ago.  Surely we've come a long way since then."

In 1992, concerned about high fat diets that were causing heart disease, the USDA produced the Food Guide Pyramid, which we all know and love, recommending 6-11 servings from the "Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta Group."  As a matter of fact, considered more nutritious than fat- any fat, including the healthy ones - was saltines and white bread.

The Food Guide Pyramid gets even shadier.  “In 1998, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) filed a federal lawsuit against the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services.  PCRM claimed that federal laws were violated when the USDA selected six out of the eleven people with financial ties to various food industries to serve on the Dieteary Guidelines Advisory Committee….[These] affiliations included the American Meat Institute, National Livestock and Beef Board, the American Egg Board, the National Dairy Promotion and Research Program, the National Dairy Council, Dannon Company (yogurt), Mead Johnson Nutritionals (milk-based infant formulas), Nestle (milk-based formulas, ice cream, condensed milk, and Slim-Fast (milk-based diet products.)  How dare they?” – Skinny Bitch

And continuing in that vein, even the US surgeon general has propagated questionable information.  “In the first-ever report on the ‘state of the nation’s bones,’ the US surgeon general warned of an impending ‘osteoporosis crisis’ expected by the year 2020.  In order to ward off this potential disaster, the Surgeon General’s report recommended three glasses of milk a day.  [The report was issued by] The Department of Health and Human Services.  Trust no one.” – Skinny Bitch

If you remember the information on dairy, drinking milk can actually cause osteoporosis.  These authorities who we have trusted all our lives to tell us what to eat have ulterior motives.  Do the research.  A long and healthy life is worth it!

Of course, the USDA has introduced a new directive now:  "Fill half of your plate with fruit and veggies, half with grains and protein, and get a little low-fat dairy on the side."  Better, yes.  But do you want to take their word for it entirely?

Have you looked around?  Does everyone look healthy to you?  Somewhere along the food chain something has gone wrong.  Marketers actually have experimented to appeal to our chemistry - to make us crave unhealthy foods so that they can make money.

Watch:  Food, Inc.  Check out PCRM's site to stay on top of current legislation and how to make a difference.  The more you look, the more you find that is VERY interesting...

Day 21- The Beauty of a Plant Based Diet

“What we eat is a matter of life and death.  Food is who we are.” – Scott Jurek

It’s the 21st day!  We’ve done it!  I’ve heard wonderful stories from many of you about losing up to 11 pounds, feeling lighter and happier, performing better in sports and increasing running distance, and feeling liberated by the consciousness of your choices.  I concur with all of these, although I’ve only lost 7 pounds (so far).  Works for me!

We’ve learned a great deal about how beneficial it is to eat a plant-based diet.  Here are a few more facts.

“Genetically and structurally, we are designed to thrive on plant foods…Plants store the sun’s energy, which we receive by eating them.  If you can, just picture the light energy from the sun beaming down to the vegetables and fruits, and as we eat those foods, imagine that energy being transmitted into our bodies.  Our nervous systems are maintained and stimulated by this light.  What an amazing gift from nature- to be able to eat such pure foods that give our bodies so much!” – Skinny Bitch

If you’d like to step it up a notch, opt for organic, preferably locally grown veggies.  According to Dr. Todd Pesek’s book, Eat Yourself Super, based on studies performed on individuals who display longevity, it’s “worthwhile to note that their foods are locally produced whenever possible and grown in rich soils.  Your sense of place is in your local ecosystem.”

The picture to the left is all produce from local farmers.  I'm not sure what I will do in the winter!

Click here if you would like more info on where to find local produce.

If you would like more information on going vegan or vegetarian, there is some great info at Goveg.com and you can even order a free vegetarian starter kit.
 If you enjoyed this 21-day program, another one that I would strongly recommend (that I have done several times and really like) is PCRM's 21-Day Vegan Kick Start.  They share delicious recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all 21 days.

“My refusing to eat flesh occasioned an inconveniency, and I was frequently chided for my singularity, but, with this lighter repast, I made the greater progress, for greater clearness of head and quicker comprehension.” – Ben Franklin

Not only does a vegan diet “restore health and tighten waistlines, there’s evidence it extends our lives as well.  The U.S. National Institute on Aging did a study of the longest-lived peoples in the world and found the people of Okinawa (Japan), Sardinia, and Seventh Day Adventists are among the longest lived on earth.”  Their common traits are:

• They eat lots of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains

• They don’t smoke

• They are active every day

• They stay socially engaged

• The Adventists also eat lots of nuts and beans

-The Kind Diet

Thank you for joining me on this journey of learning and experimenting with health and nutrition.  It has been an absolute joy for me to share this information with you and I hope you’ve found it helpful.  I’ve found this way of living to be so beneficial that I plan to continue a vegan lifestyle, while avoiding gluten, sugar, caffeine, and alcohol.  It sounded so difficult at first, but now I’ve found many delicious substitutes and new recipes.  I will re-introduce occasional dark chocolate (it’s dairy free!) and may have a glass of wine, a cup of green tea, or fresh baked bread from time to time, but I fully intend to maintain this healthy lifestyle.

If you decide to continue omitting any of the Big 5 from your diet, Kathy Freston encourages us, “remind yourself that you have free will and it is your choice to have or do whatever you want.  And then say to yourself, ‘Okay, I can have this piece of cake [or jigger of Scotch or chunk of cheese, or what have you], but if I do, these are the consequences.’ And then list them.” 

Starting tomorrow, I will begin regularly posting on Mondays and Thursdays.  I hope you will follow my adventures as I continue the search for life’s balance through nutrition, exercise, and whatever else life brings!

To conclude the cleanse, I would like to share Kathy Freston’s parting words:

“Now you know just how powerful you are.  Now you know that you are the healer who can heal yourself and extend that healing out into the world.  May you be well and thrive in every respect, and may you use this foundation of power to help move us all forward.”

Day 20 - Awakening to the Power of our Food Choices

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” – Albert Einstein

There are some weighty health and spiritual implications that we have now managed to free ourselves from for nearly 21 days – long enough to change a habit!  We will discuss conditions that affect our health in the big business of meat and dairy, a little bit about the abilities of animals, as well as the severe environmental toll caused by these industries.

This is all so important – I wish everyone could know these scary facts about what happens to our meat.  You must know what you are putting into your body.  You have a choice.  Though this gets a little heavy, I left out the bits about the animal treatment in the slaughterhouses.  You can look that up for yourself, if interested.

“You have just dined, and, however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

First, let’s continue talking about our health:

“Illegal hormones are regularly pumped into veal calves, which are suspected of increasing the growth of cancer cells in the humans who eat them.  The USDA has not only been accused of overlooking these practices, but also of falsifying lab results, altering records, and pressuring staff to lie about events.” *  If they operate like this with veal, who is protecting the rest of the meat?

When a worker in a horse slaughterhouse was interviewed, he said, Might be part of him’s [a contaminated horse] bad, might be the pneumonia’s traveled everywhere.. The meat’s supposed to be condemned, but still you’d cut it up and bag it.”  When asked, “Doesn’t it have to be stamped ‘USDA inspected?’ the factory worker replied, “He [his boss] got the stamper.  He can stamp it himself when the doc leaves…You take a condemned horse, skin him up, sell the meat…We’ve sold it as beef.”

The USDA has also allowed the processing of “downed” animals, or ones that are too sick or injured to walk.  In 2004, with the outbreak of mad cow disease, this was banned.  But then in 2005, it was announced that downed animals could once again be used for human consumption.  “So in addition to all the other filth you’re eating, you’re also eating whatever illness the animal had.  You are what you eat.”

At the expense of our health, large corporations are making billions of dollars.

Did you know that the USDA is “responsible for ‘the safety’ of meat, poultry, dairy and eggs and also promotes the sale of them.  In fact, they even go so far as to purchase the products themselves, using our tax dollars.  The USDA will spend $30 million a year on beef buyouts alone.  Another $30 of our hard-earned money goes toward pork purchases…” 

And where do these products go that couldn’t be sold to consumers?  The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is “a nation-wide $4 billion scheme that allows the USDA to buy up all this meat, milk, and cheese with our tax dollars, and then dump this crap into the bodies of more than 26 million school children.  Ever wonder why school lunches are required to include milk?  The NSLP directly benefits the meat, dairy, and poultry industries at the expense of our nation’s children.”

When we hear the terms “grass-fed” beef, “free-range”, “free-roaming”, we imagine happy animals enjoying sunshine, fresh air, and the company of other animals.  “But labels- other than ‘organic’ on egg cartons” or beef products are not subject to regulation by the USDA.  And even if the farm is free-range and humane, the animals are still being sent off to the slaughterhouse, where the conditions are unconscionable. 

Then there is the spiritual side – the kinship with other living beings.  Did you know that “cows actually nurture friendships and bear grudges?  One study showed cows displaying excitement while solving intellectual challenges.”

“Chickens are as smart as mammals, including some primates…they are apt pupils and can learn by watching the mistakes of others…A PBS documentary revealed chickens’ love for television and music.”

And here’s a fun one – Pigs can play video games!  “They’ve been labeled as more intelligent than dogs and three-year-old humans.”

If you choose to go vegan, you are sparing the lives of over ninety animals a year.

“An individual can adopt the way of life of the future- the nonviolent way- without having to wait for others to do so.  And if an individual can do it, cannot whole groups of individuals?  Whole nations?” – Mahatma Gandhi

There is also issue of environmental devastation.  In Quantum Wellness Cleanse, Kathy shares the results of a United Nations scientific analysis of raising animals in order to eat them.  They declared eating meat, dairy, and eggs is “one of the …most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems at every scale from local to global” and “should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity.”

According to Freston, the meat and dairy industry’s deleterious effects on climate change, for instance, are more significant than “all the cars, trucks, and planes in the world combined.”

To look at the even bigger picture: “The amount of feed that it takes to funnel through an animal to create one 8-ounce steak could fill forty to fifty bowls with cooked grain….the world’s passion for meat is a much bigger cause of global hunger than its passion for the car.”  This means that choosing to eat a vegan diet helps to combat world hunger!

In Matthew Scully’s book, Dominion, he writes “…inside the factory farm, animals…received no comforts, no names, no affection, no nothing, only my silent and resolute indifference…  Each creature bred and born just for me.  Confined and isolated just for me.  And then in lonely terror packed off to die, just for me.  And every time I saw and heard them I would have to remind myself just why I as doing this, to ask if my taste for pork loins or ham or steak or veal was really worth this price, to ask if this was really my choice and there was no other way…Therefore, I want no part in any of it.  I do not want this product…When you eat flesh extracted in this way, as novelist Alice Walker puts it, ‘You’re just eating misery.  You’re eating a bitter life…’ For me, it comes down to the question of whether I am a man or just a consumer…Whether to side with the powerful and comfortable or with the weak, afflicted, and forgotten.  Whether, as an economic actor in a free market, I answer to the god of money or to the God of mercy.”

*All quotes are from Skinny Bitch unless indicated otherwise.

Meditation (From Quantum Wellness Cleanse):
“I awaken.  I am no longer asleep.  What is good for my body is good for my soul.  I can take a huge leap as I move along the continuum of consciousness by staying alert and adhering to the great wisdom passed down through the ages that advises us to be loving, merciful, and compassionate.  I am no longer willing to be greedy, gluttonous, or ignorant.  Eating with spiritual integrity is of the utmost importance.”

Also, be proud that your choices can make a positive impact in the world.  By voting with our choices and our economic power, we can make a difference!


Spicy Black Bean Soup (in the Slow Cooker)
2 cups dried beans
8 cups water
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 roasted red pepper from a jar or bell pepper of any color, diced
2 ½ tomatoes, diced large
½ habanero pepper, diced small (optional)
1 TB olive oil
2 tsp cumin (one in the beginning and one for later)
2 tsp chili powder (one in the beginning and one for later)
2 tsp garlic powder (one in the beginning and one for later)
1 tsp salt
2 ears of corn, grilled or cooked (frozen corn would be okay, too – ½ cup)
½ yellow squash, grilled and diced into small pieces
For the garnish:
½ diced avocado
½ diced tomato
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, chopped

1.    Heat the olive oil in a small pan on medium heat.  When hot, add the onion and sauté for about 2 minutes.  Add 1 tsp each of cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder.  Then add the garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds, until garlic is aromatic.

2.    Place onion mixture, beans, water, tomatoes, roasted red pepper, and habanero pepper into slow cooker.  Stir, set on low, and cook for 8-9 hours

3.    One hour before serving, stir in 1 tsp each of cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt.  Re-cover and let continue to cook on low.

4.    Use an immersion blender or hand mixer to puree some of the beans to thicken the soup.  It’s up to you how many beans to puree and how many to keep whole based on the texture you like.

5.    Grill the corn and yellow squash, then scrape corn off and dice ½ of yellow squash.  (I used the other half in a salad that I served on the side.)  Place corn and yellow squash into slow cooker, stir and you are now ready to serve the soup.  Check seasonings and add more salt/chili powder/cumin, if necessary.

6.    Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with diced tomato, avocado, cilantro, and green onions.

If you like, you could bake corn tortillas, cut them in strips, and float on top of the soup.  This would probably take 2 hours on the stove.  If you don’t have a hand-held immersion blender, you could scoop some of the soup out and put it in a blender to thicken.



I served with a salad on the side to make it a beautifully balanced meal.

Day 19 - All That Hype about Protein

The first time I went vegan (almost 3 years ago), I gained about 15 pounds.  Dismayed, I declared, “I must need more protein.”  The real trouble?  I told myself that since I wasn’t eating meat, I was “healthy” as I ate French fries.  Anything that wasn’t an animal product was fair game.  I ate all the bread I could get my hands on.  Dessert.  The only vegetables I would eat were broccoli, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, and corn.  Breakfast would be coffee.  Lunch would be a frozen meal, microwaved, with a side of French fries.  Dinner would be perogies or another easy, white starch.  Snacks: potato chips, candy bars, cappuccinos from a machine. Yeah, must have been the lack of protein…(can you detect the sarcasm?)

Granted, I was in a program to get my Master's Degree in 11 months while simultaneously student teaching full-time, so to my credit, the faster deduction was all I had time for...

But why did I immediately blame the protein instead of taking a closer look at my diet?  And when we tell people we are vegan/vegetarian, why are they so quick to shout:  “But what about your protein?  You have to get enough protein!  Stop right now!  Eat some meat!”

We have been brainwashed as a society to eat protein, protein, protein.  Protein to lose weight.  Protein to gain muscle.  Protein to save the world.

“The average 19- to 30-year-old American consumes 91 grams a day, nearly twice the recommended daily amount (56 grams for an adult male, 46 for an adult female)…Too much protein stresses the kidneys…and can leach calcium from the bones.” – Scott Jurek, Eat and Run

“It is a complete myth that we need a massive amount of protein,” write Barnouin and Freedman.
As a matter of fact, over-consumption of protein – especially animal protein- “can impair our kidneys; leach calcium, zinc, vitamin B, iron, and magnesium from our bodies; and cause osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer, and obesity.”

Can you remember the last time you heard of someone being hospitalized for a protein deficiency (kwashiorkor-is the clinical term)?  Never heard of it.  How about cancer, kidney failure, heart disease, osteoporosis, obesity?  Now those sound familiar…

And on quality of life:  “High amounts of protein can damage our tissues, organs, and cells, contributing to faster aging.  People in other cultures consume half the amount of protein that we do, yet they live longer, healthier lives.” – Skinny Bitch

According to Rip Esselstyn, as a vegan, “not only will you get all the protein that you need, for the first time in your life you won’t suffer from an excess of it.”

Even the strongest animals in nature – gorillas, elephants, hippos, bison –are plant eaters.  And they don’t seem to have any trouble growing and thriving while eating only veggies.

According to the American Dietetic Association, “eating a vegetarian diet provides twice the amount of protein needed daily.” 

Carl Lewis, winner of 10 Olympic medals in track, said that his best year competing was the first year he ate a vegan diet. 

Strength trainer Mike Mahler says, “Becoming a vegan had a profound effect on my training…My bench press excelled past 315 pounds, and I noticed that I recovered much faster.  My body fat also went down, and I put on 10 pounds of lean muscle in a few months.” – From Quantum Wellness Cleanse  (That's him to the left.)

Beans, nuts, seeds, lentils, whole grains, soy products, fruits, and many vegetables have plenty of protein.

Those Skinny Bitches tell us, “If you want an extra boost, treat yourself to spirulina, a high protein algae that contains omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, B-12 (important for vegetarians), enzymes, and minerals.  It also supports the immune system, fights cancer, and helps with hypoglycemia, anemia, ulcers, diabetes, and chronic fatigue syndrome.  Spirulina also contains all nine essential amino acids.” 

In The Kind Diet, Alicia creates a chart that is very illuminating, so I’m sharing.  This chart demonstrates the protein in steak vs. the protein in beans.

Steak                                   vs.                    Beans
20% of calories from protein                          25% of calories from protein
80% of calories from fat (mostly saturated)     5% of calories from fat (unsaturated)
0% of calories from complex carbs                  70% of calories from complex carbs
Contains excess hormones                              Help discharge excess hormones
Raises cholesterol                                           Lower cholesterol
No fiber                                                         High in Fiber
Contains steroids, antibiotics                          If organic, contains no chemicals
Constipates                                                    Keep you regular
Unsustainably produced                                  Sustainably grown
Depletes the earth                                          Beans add needed nitrogen to soil
$5-$10/lb (1 serving)                                     $2-$4/lb (4 servings)

Another thing you've probably heard is that “animal proteins are complete proteins and plants are not.”

According to Esselstyn, “The myth that [plant proteins are not complete] or are of a lesser quality than animal proteins, dates back to experiments performed on rats in the early 1900s.  Forget the fact that rats aren’t humans, have different nutritional requirements, and need more protein than humans to support their furry little bodies.  The meat, dairy, and egg industries have marketed the hell out of this ancient research and …most every Dick, Tom, and Jane thinks the only way to get complete protein is through meat, eggs, or dairy.”

So don’t worry about protein.  Now you are free to focus on world peace.


Another resource on vegan protein power meals for athletes: http://www.mikemahler.com/online-library/articles/nutrition-programs/power-vegan-meals.html
 
Thanks for the spirulina tip, Zeljka.  I just ordered a pound of it online to put in smoothies!

Here is a protein-packed dinner:


Cilantro Tomatillo Rice and Beans

3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, diced small
1-2 serrano peppers or 3 jalapenos, de-seeded and diced (less if you don’t like the heat)
½ bell pepper (any color you like)
4-6 tomatillos, diced
2 (15 oz) cans of black beans, drained
1 can pinto beans, drained  (you can swap these if you like pinto better than black)
1 Tablespoon water
½ cup fresh chopped cilantro
Juice from ½ lime
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
Brown rice
1 avocado, diced
1 tomato, diced (mix avocado and tomato together with more chopped cilantro)

1.    Prepare brown rice according to package (When I prepare 1 cup dry, I have some rice leftover for other recipes.)

2.    Heat oil on medium high.  Add onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes.  Add peppers, tomatillos, chili powder, cumin, and salt.  Add garlic and reduce heat to low.  Simmer for about 5-7 minutes, until onions are translucent and tomatillos are softening.

3.    Add beans and water.  Cover and cook until beans are heated through (5-15 minutes depending on how soft you like your beans.  I tend to go more towards the longer side.

4.    Stir in cilantro, lime juice, and salt.  Cook for 2 minutes and check seasonings to see if you need to add more chili powder, cumin, or hot sauce.  Serve over rice or mixed into rice.

5.    Top with avocado/tomato mixture.  You may also want to add green onions.  Yum!


Note:  Yours will probably not look like mine in the picture.  I actually messed up and it was still delicious.  I thought I had the recipe memorized and cooked the beans on a higher heat for a long time and ended up with more of a sauce.  I added a little bit of cornstarch and served it over the rice instead of mixed in like I usually do.  I mixed some with rice and left some as sauce, then made enchiladas out of the leftovers the next day, similar to the recipe here: http://laurajnovak.blogspot.com/2012/07/day-4-whats-wrong-with-gluten.html.  I filled the tortillas with bean mixture, rice mixture, then topped with bean mixture and baked.  It was quite delicious!

This is great served with a salad on the side – I like to reserve half of the avocado/tomato mixture and serve it over lettuce.  Then I mix up my own dressing:

Mexican Dressing
2 TB chopped cilantro
½ cup peanut or canola oil
1 tsp honey
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt

Day 17- Sugar’s Evil Step Sisters- Mmmm, Chemicals!

Let’s talk about Soda (“Liquid Satan.”)  Not only does a typical soda have 10 teaspoons of sugar (which I bemoaned yesterday,) the high levels of phosphorous can leach calcium from your body, which can lead to bone loss and even osteoporosis. 

“There is nothing in soda that should be put in your body,” according to the Skinny Bitches.

If you are proudly saying, “I drink diet soda, I’m good!” you may, unfortunately, be even worse off.

“Aspartame (an ingredient commonly found in diet sodas and other sugar-free foods) has been blamed for a slew of scary maladies, like arthritis, birth defects, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes.” – Skinny Bitch

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received more complaints from the public on aspartame than any other “food” product.  There are actually aspartame victim support groups.  Also according to Freedman and Barnouin, “Some of the ninety-two aspartame side effects listed by the FDA include memory loss, nerve cell damage, migraines, reproductive disorders, mental confusion, brain lesions, blindness, joint pain, Alzheimer’s, bloating, nervous system disorders, hair loss, food cravings, and weight gain.”  No, I didn’t make a mistake.  Diet soda leads to weight gain.

NutraSweet and Equal are the chemical sweeteners that contain aspartame.  So why is aspartame so dangerous?  When eaten, methyl alcohol, one of the ingredients in aspartame, changes into formaldehyde, a deadly neurotoxin which is carcinogenic (cancer-causing.)

Also, when aspartame is combined with carbs (chips and diet soda), it “causes your brain to slow down its production of serotonin.  A healthy level of serotonin is needed to be happy and well balanced.  So drinking diet soda can make you fat, sick, and unhappy.” – Skinny Bitch

Equal goes even a step further, increasing your risk of seizures, depression, and schizophrenia due to high levels of phenylalanine that go to your brain.

So, you prefer Sweet & Low?  (You thought you were going to sneak on by, didn’t you?)  It contains “saccharin, a coal-tar compound.”  Mmmmm.

And Splenda?  Ah, I wish I could go back in time and take Splenda out of my cabinets years ago.  It contains small amounts of heavy metals, methanol, and arsenic.  Sucrose, in Splenda, is made by chlorinating sugar and “has been found to cause diarrhea; organ, genetic, immune system, and reproductive damage; swelling of the liver and kidneys; and a decrease in fetal body weight.” – Skinny Bitch 
Additionally, there is evidence that Sucralose may increase appetite.  (Wait, what?)

Please, throw those nasty chemicals AWAY!  I won’t even go into the legal battles that happened to get them into our food, but I will say that they were shady and not in the best interest of human health.  (Hint: $)  According to The Kind Diet, all artificial sweeteners followed the same path: “failing safety tests, being approved by the FDA anyway, and now producing ever-growing anecdotal evidence of ill effects.”

Also, beware of “low-fat” or “fat-free” claims on packages.  What these words really mean, according to Skinny Bitch, is “Chemical Shit Storm.”  Foods go through more processing to take out the fat.  Typically, it means adding extra forms of sugar (or sweeteners), stripping the “food” of more minerals and vitamins, and adding hydrogenated oils (not diet food, really.)



I just heard someone say, “I’ll eat what I want now and just take medicine later.”  Ugh.  If your body is saying, “I don’t like this,” that’s a natural signal to keep it out of your body.  “Every time you take medicine, you interfere with your body’s natural ability to heal itself.  You are alleviating those intelligent responses that alert you to a problem, and sending false signals to your brain…most likely, your body is having an adverse reaction to the unhealthy crap you’re eating.” – Skinny Bitch


When we pay attention to our bodies and take proper care, the body is a perfect machine.  We have the ability to heal ourselves.  When we cover up the problems with medicine (chemicals), we cause other side effects that ruin the balance in other ways.  Of course, there are times when medicine can be a necessary evil, but if you have a little headache, drink some water (you could just be dehydrated.)  Or rest!  The more chemicals that we regularly add into the body, the more likely we will be to fall out of balance and have to take more and more to ease the symptoms.


“He that takes medicine and neglects diet, wastes the skill of the physician.”
-Chinese Proverb

Polenta Gnocchi in Tomato Sauce

¼ cup olive oil
Prepared polenta (follow instructions on box.  I like to buy a pre-made roll of polenta from Trader Joes- I know what you’re thinking and I checked the ingredients – organic yellow corn meal, salt, water, vitamins)
2 cups spaghetti sauce (hopefully leftover from yesterday- if not, see below for a quick sauce)
¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley or basil, for garnish
Freshly ground black pepper

1.    Prepare a baking sheet by placing a layer of aluminum foil over the surface, then greece with half of the olive oil.

2.    Spread the polenta in a smooth layer on the baking sheet and refrigerate the polenta until cool and firm, 2 to 4 hours.  Use a biscuit or ravioli cutter to stamp out rounds of polenta (this is why I buy it in a tube – I just cut the circles.)

Note:  For a thicker sauce, puree in a blender for 10-15 seconds.  It makes it even and it spreads more nicely on the polenta.

3.    Preheat the oven to 400 F (204.5 C).  Prepare a baking dish by coating it with the remaining olive oil.  Arrange the polenta gnocchi so the pieces are slightly overlapping one another in the bottom of the baking dish.  Generously spoon the sauce over the polenta gnocchi and bake until hot, about 30 minutes.

4.    Remove the gnocchi from the oven and sprinkle with the parsley, then grind some fresh pepper over the top.  Serve immediately.

Great with a salad!

Quick and Easy Pasta Sauce
Your favorite jarred (32 oz) sauce (I like Mids and Ragu)
1 TB olive oil
1 onion, diced
½ yellow bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
½ tsp parsley
1 pinch rosemary
1 tsp garlic powder

1.    Heat the oil on medium-low and sauté the onions when hot.  After 2 minutes, add the pepper.  Add the oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary, and garlic powder.  After 3 minutes, add the garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds (it gets aromatic.)

2.    Pour about half to ¾ of the jar into the sauce pan (depending on if you want leftovers.)  Bring to a gentle boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

You can add diced tomatoes if you add a tablespoon of agave nectar and simmer for at least an hour.

Day 16 – Your Love for Sugar is Unrequited

This is really awkward… I’m so sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but your sweetheart, Sugar – she’s never going to love you back.  As a matter of fact, your SweetTart, your Love, your Sugar…has been trying to kill you for years.  I know it must be hard to hear.  But from what I can see (the attempted murder and all), I’m not sure it’s going to work out between you two…

“Sugar is like crack, and food manufacturers know that if they add it to their products, you’ll keep coming back for more.” – Skinny Bitch

White sugar, often called an “antinutrient” actually steals nourishment from your body.  It leaches vitamins and minerals from your blood and bones.  That’s why you get cavities, as I’m sure you know, but it also leads to bone loss, depression, and weak blood.

Additionally, “Refined sugar, a simple carbohydrate, has been linked to hypoglycemia, yeast overgrowth, a weakened immune system, hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder, enlargement of the liver and kidneys, mental and emotional disorders, cavities, and an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain.” – Skinny Bitch

Not bad enough?  White sugar is associated with cancer.  “Cancer cells swarm to sugar like bees to honey, because it is an important source of food for them.” – The Engine 2 Diet, Rip Esselstyn

Sugar contributes to insulin resistance and diabetes, where your “blood sugar remains high, but your cells are starving.” – Kind Diet

Also according to Alicia Silverstone: “Sugar makes you fat…Because excess refined sugar converts to fat, every soda, every cupcake, and every candy bar is going straight to your thighs.”

Rip Esselstyn agrees, “When sugars are refined, adulterated, and processed, they become empty calories: They contain almost no nutritional value, can raise cholesterol levels, and make a beeline for your waistline.”

Did you know that it was the arrival of refined flour and sugar that brought disease to isolated areas?  “Western diseases followed closely on the heels of the arrival of Western foods, particularly refined flour and sugar and other kinds of 'store food.'…When one Western disease arrived on the scene, so did most of the others and often in the same order: obesity followed by type 2 diabetes followed by hypertension and stroke followed by heart disease.” – In Defense of Food, an Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan

According to Kathy Freston's Quantum Wellness Cleanse, “the most important thing to realize  is that no matter how out of balance your system is, even if you have type 2 diabetes, you can do a great deal to get healthy again by cutting out sugars, refined carbs, and high-fructose corn syrup, and by exercising regularly.” 

Continue to avoid:

• Soda (Deemed “Liquid Satan” in Skinny Bitch)

• Store-bought cookies, cakes, or pastries

• Candy

• Condiments that contain sugar or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is processed even more than refined sugar

• Ice cream or frozen yogurt

• Other words for refined sugar on packages: evaporated cane juice, sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, honey, barley malt, or beet sugar.

• Also, a tip from The Kind Diet: “All ingredients ending in “-ose” should be considered white sugar: Dextrose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, and fructose are all simple sugars.”

Kathy recommends avoiding fruit juice because “it contains high concentrations of naturally occurring sugar.”  If you really love your juice, I have a trick to share that was taught to me by my good friend, Arlyn.  Pour yourself ¼ glass of juice, then fill the rest with water or sparkling water.  You get the flavor, but much less sugar.  It’s especially good with pomegranate juice, which has a strong flavor.

If you get a craving for sweets, these are some delicious substitutes:

• A piece of fruit (mango, apple, peach, banana, grapes, whatever you like!)

• You might just be thirsty – have some water with a squeeze and slice of lemon (or soak some cucumbers, oranges, or lemons in water for a couple of hours in a pitcher- so refreshing!)

• A spoonful of unsweetened, natural peanut butter- this has been my lifesaver.  It tastes sweet and indulgent and the high protein and healthy fat keeps me full.

• Agave nectar (actually contains vitamins and minerals and does not affect blood-sugar levels), maple syrup, molasses, Stevia, brown rice syrup, Turbinado sugar, and raw sugar.  Do not use artificial sweeteners.  More on that tomorrow.

Today's meditation is below the recipe.

My dad used to start this sauce at 6am on Sundays to serve the family (early) dinner.  Everyone loved getting an invitation to Joe’s for pasta!  The longer it simmers, the sweeter it gets- that's one of the secrets.

Joe-Daddy’s Famous Sauce Goes Vegan!

2 TB olive oil
3 medium onions, diced large
4 cloves garlic, diced large
1 yellow bell pepper, diced small
9 roma tomatoes, skin peeled and crushed by hand (or a 32 oz can whole tomatoes)
1 small can tomato sauce (8 oz)
1 small can diced tomatoes (16 oz)
1 small can tomato paste (6 oz)
1 TB oregano + 1 tsp
1 TB basil + 1 tsp
2 tsp dried parsley + ½ tsp
½ TB garlic powder
½ tsp crushed red pepper
1 bay leaf
2 TB Molasses
Gluten-free Pasta of your choosing (quinoa pasta, brown rice pasta, etc.)

1.    Heat the oil on medium.  Once hot, add the onions.  After about 2 minutes, add the spices (oregano, basil, parsley, red pepper & garlic powder- use the first measurement – the second comes later.)  Stir.

2.    Once onions are getting soft (about 3 more minutes), add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant.  Immediately add the crushed tomatoes.

3.    Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste (fill can once with water & add), bay leaf, and Molasses.

4.    Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to very low and simmer with lid tilted for 2.5 to 4 hours, stirring every 15-20 mins.

5.    Add diced yellow pepper and spice measurements after the “+” sign (oregano, basil, parsley) and simmer for another 1-2 hours.

6.    Make pasta according to package directions.  After straining, spoon 3 large scoops of sauce into the pan with the pasta.  Mix to coat.  Serve on plates and then add several generous scoops of sauce to top the pasta. Sprinkle with a dash of red pepper flakes, if desired.

Save some for tomorrow's recipe - you should have quite enough.

Today’s post on sugar is dedicated to my Love.  I caught that damn mistress Sugar trying to poison him again and I just wish he would stop loving her so blindly…
And to Jess G.  You can do it!

Dedicated especially to Joe-Daddy.  I didn’t share all your ingredients, so don’t worry!  I know you are chuckling about the ones I still don’t know…Thanks for teaching me to make real sauce.  I know you’re with me every time I make it and I hope you can hear me talking to you while I stir in a  little extra love.

Kathy’s Meditation:
“I choose wisely.  I am more than just a body on autopilot.  I am a thinking, rational, strong person who has pointed myself in the direction of ever-evolving wellness.  I am no longer willing to do things just because they feel superficially or temporarily good.  I want to experience a deeper sense of satisfaction now, which includes being responsible to myself and to the world around me.  I know that sweating it through this period of discomfort will pay off.    I choose wisely, and with each day, that wisdom lifts me to a higher level.”

Day 11 Makes the Cheese Monster Cry and Say Goodbye

Free yourself from dairy and animal products.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my nickname used to be “The Cheese Monster.”  My sister and I could polish off an entire 24 pack of Kraft singles in two days.  Judging by the fact that I was at a hefty 140 pounds in 5th grade, it was probably more me than my sister… When I was diagnosed with dairy allergies in 6th grade, I listened to the doctor and stopped eating dairy products for 6 months.  I lost 30 pounds!

Unfortunately, after about a year, I rediscovered my love of cheese and suffered from constant sinus infections, headaches, never being able to breathe through my nose, and…well…a constantly uncomfortable tummy.  I thought it was normal.

Dairy is NOT normal.  We are the only species that drinks milk after infancy and the only species that drinks the milk of other species.  And why did we pick cows?  Cows produce the largest quantity of milk and it’s more economic to house them than elephants.  (“Lucky elephants!” say the cows.)

“Cows’ milk, by design, grows a 90 –pound calf into a 2,000 pound cow over the course of two years.  It allows calves to double their birth weight in forty-seven days and leaves their four stomachs feeling full.  Sounds more fattening than human milk, right?  It is.” – Skinny Bitch

According to Freston, “So-called ‘2 percent’ milk may be 2 percent fat by volume, but it’s about 33 percent by calories, which is what actually matters.”

Remember all those nasty pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and steroids I mentioned yesterday that are in your meat?  By eating dairy products, it is just as bad as though you ate the meat directly.  As a matter of fact, Eggs have 10 times the hormone content of meat and dairy, along with a hefty dose of cholesterol and very possibly, salmonella.

Dairy products have been linked to osteoporosis, allergies, acne, anemia, anxiety, arthritis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, fibromyalgia, headaches, heartburn, indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, joint pain, poor immune function, ear infections, colic, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, autism, Crohn’s disease, breast and prostate cancers, and ovarian cancer.

Dairy can have a strong, crazy hold over us.  This picture was not taken during the cleanse!



I know that you are still saying, “but CHEEEESE!  What would I do without cheese pizza?”  That’s because you’ve been drugged.  Casein, present in cheese, eventually breaks down through digestion to become casomorphins.  Yeah, like “morphine.”  So casein is an opiate, sending pleasure to your brain, soothing you and making you want more.  You had no choice but to equate cheese with love.  Not only are you drugged, but casein and milk proteins have been shown to “dramatically increase blood cholesterol and its associated lesion that leads to heart disease.”  Not bad enough for you?  It also promotes cancer development.

T. Colin Campbell is responsible for the China Study, one of the most significant studies on the pitfalls of animal products and their link to cancer and other diseases.  After one of his clinical experiments, he wrote, “Even when huge doses of cancer-causing toxins were given to study subjects, tumors grew only when they were fed casein.”

The American Cancer Society recommends eating mostly plant sources and to limit high-fat foods, especially from animal sources, if you want to reduce the risk of cancer.

But your doctor said that milk “does a body good,” right?  Did you know that medical doctors receive less than 3 hours of training in nutrition, according to a Senate investigation?  So they are buying the garbage that those who profit from our drinking milk are spending millions of dollars to advertise.

As a matter of fact, milk actually leaches calcium from the body!   Where are the lowest incidences of osteoporosis on earth?  Surely America, since we drink all that milk, right?  WRONG.  Dairy –free countries. “The more milk a population consumes, the weaker its bones get.”  Yes, milk has calcium, but at the same time it also releases even more of it.  According to The Kind Diet, “Meat and dairy are the chief causes of osteoporosis, not the cures.”

So how to get your calcium?  Easy!  Eat fortified grains, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, cabbage, kelp, seaweed, watercress, chickpeas, broccoli, red beans, soybeans, tofu, seeds, and nuts.

Calcium Milligrams per 100-gram serving:


Butter
20
Whole Milk
118
Chickpeas
150
Collard greens
203
Parsley
203
Soybeans
226
Almonds
234
Sesame seeds
1160

“The Chinese, throughout their long and complicated history, have never included milk or cheese in their diets.  It’s only in the very recent past that dairy has been introduced as a daily food, and with it has come a rapid rise in health problems like obesity and breast cancer.” – The Kind Diet, Alicia Silverstone

Where women consume high-fat, animal-based diets, the American Dietic Association reports incidences of breast cancer at the highest.  In fact, “in countries where dairy is not consumed the incidence of breast cancer is so low as to be almost nonexistent.  Once women in those countries begin eating Western diets, however, their breast cancer rates increased eightfold.” – Kind Diet

So if you drop all animal products, these are the long-term benefits:
1.    More energy – Liver and kidneys work harder to digest – you are testing this right now!  Do you feel lighter?
2.    Clearer skin – Animal meat contains hormones
3.    Alleviation of chronic conditions, like arthritis – “80 percent of milk protein comes from casein, and casein is believed to aggravate arthritis.” –Freston

Not to mention, much lower risk of all the other diseases listed above.

When sugar is back on the menu, check out SoDelicious ice “cream” bars.  They are made with coconut milk and they are, well, SO DELICIOUS!  I make “Tofutti” cheese sandwiches (best if you combine with veggies – the taste isn’t exactly cheese) and pizza with Daiya shreds (still looking for a tastier brand, but it melts like cheese and holds the veggies on my pizza.)

Kathy writes:

Yes, this is a lot of information, “but with awareness comes resolve.  The more aware you are of why it’s so important to change the way you eat, the better you will be able to stick with the program.  With this knowledge under your belt, the cleanse will feel less like a restriction and more like the upgrade that it is.  And should you decide to maintain these upgrades after the completion of the cleanse, you will do so with the awareness that you have made a profound lifestyle choice with far-ranging, life-long positive benefits.”

Carrot Ginger Smoothie – Refreshing!

1 large carrot, cut into chunks
1 small apple, skin and core removed, cut into chunks
½ avocado
½ banana
Juice of ¼ to ½ lemon (depending on how lemony you want it)
About ½ inch fresh ginger
¼ cup chia gel
½ cup water

Blend together.  Add more water if too thick.  Enjoy!