So even though the weather is dismal, these kinds of opportunities are some of my favorites during the year.  You don’t have to feel bad about not getting outside to enjoy the day.  You don’t have to feel guilty about watching ANOTHER made for TV movie (ok, well, that’s debatable).  You don’t have to feel guilty about wearing your PJ’s all day.  You get a free pass to be lazy!!  And if you’re an over-achiever, you might fit in an at-home workout, but really…give it a rest.  Eat, drink, be merry….and stay dry!

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You see, a cow is a grazing animal.  They are meant to graze on grass.  When they eat grass, and aren’t crammed in pens, they don’t get sick, and thus don’t require preventative dosing of antibiotics.  Their gut bacteria is also balanced.  Corn and grain fed cattle get indigestion, which leads to improper types of gut flora, which fosters the growth of e.coli bacteria. You know, the kind that keeps making it in the news for contaminating your spinach and peanuts?  That contamination comes from run-off from neighboring big business cattle farms onto other big business produce farms.  See how this cycle works?

Now, where was I.  Right, e. coli.  The other issue with these high-fat, e.coli filled, antibiotic dosed cows is that they aren’t slaughtered one at a time.  The images I’ve seen should have turned me vegetarian right then and there in documentaries I watched about farms, but the truth is these poor, sick animals are all thrown into one huge communal pot of meat.  That sounds awful.  And it is.  From all over the country.  There are only a few processing facilities in the country, for hundreds of cattle farms.  The pound of ground beef in a conventional grocery store came from a vat of meat from thousands of cows.  If you buy local, however, you know exactly where that meat came from, possibly down to the exact animal if you ask the farmer at a farmers market.  Obviously, this pertains to ground beef, since specific cuts of meat are obviously from one animal, but that animal still could have started in California, and wound up on your grill in Louisiana.

So let’s be clear.  Candy is certainly NOT going to make your burgers taste like SweeTarts.  Like corn-fed cows, though, it will make the cows fattier and more unhealthy.  It will therefore make you fattier and less healthy.

So this leads me to my final statement about meat.  And I hear this a lot.  Local, grass-fed beef is expensive and out of the buying question for most people.  Yes, if you want to eat meat every day.  But even for people like me, who do benefit from animal protein in their diet, meat is not a daily necessity.  Like I said, I can go up to 3 weeks without eating meat (a little less than that as a breastfeeding mama right now).  We look at meat entirely backwards in this country.  It should not be the main course, it should be a side dish or condiment.  Or, it should be consumed as a main dish only a couple of times a week.  Protein IS an important nutrient in our diet.  We do need protein.  But we are getting too much of it, mostly in the form of animal sources (meat, dairy).  Too much animal protein leaves the body acidic, which causes inflammation.  It also weakens our bones.  When the body is overly acidic, minerals are pulled directly from bone to alkalize the system.  This is one of the real reasons for osteoporosis beyond what would be normal for aging.  There is protein in many plant sources, even if they are known as “incomplete”.  When you eat a wide enough variety of vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, the body is smart enough to add all of those incomplete particles together in combinations that are nutritionally complete.

So let’s wake up people and take a closer look at the cycle we are setting up in this politicized food system.  What is it doing to the animals, and therefore, to you? Would you replace your pet’s food with candy because it’s cheap?  No.  Would you not try to get your kids to eat more veggies, and just throw in the towel and give them Skittles for three meals a day because it’s cheap?  No.  We need to care about what farm animals are eating for the same reason.  Because what they say is true.  You are what you eat.

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So after a couple months of diapers, tears and baby giggles I am ready to re-establish myself as a professional mom, spreading the word on healthy living! I gave a talk on sugar last week at the Branding Brand office that re-energized me and had me craving more. I have to admit though, it has been hard for me to keep up a super healthy routine since Deven arrived. I have yet to nail down a way to schedule work-outs regularly, so they’ve been virtually non-existent save for a few rounds of push-ups and sit-ups I recently reintroduced. What I really want to do is run. I miss the feeling of a good sweat after a couple of miles, and my husband and I are considering purchasing a treadmill. If anyone has any recommendations as to the best brand for the best price, let me know! I do not know much about treadmills, other than I like to run on them (and they have to have an adjustable incline).

Eating-wise…well…it’s been hit or miss. I finally realized I had to say goodbye to the gluten-free bread I was living off of. It’s just too processed, and if I’m going to eat starchy carbs, there are better choices out there. So I haven’t had a sandwich in a while. I’ve been eating a lot of fruit, nuts and eggs, but I also think I’m overdoing the nuts in a big way. I definitely need to regain my balance and get a few more greens in, which has been going better since I stopped making sandwiches. I put my sandwich fillings on salad greens now! It makes a big difference in how I feel post meal I realized. I just feel cleaner!

So, this new life and schedule is still a work in progress. I’m holding steady at 8 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight, which I don’t think will really change until I start working out more. So that’s my next big goal.

In other news, Ameesh and I are a week away from moving into a brand new house! Let me tell you a little story about the law of attraction! We had been casually keeping our eye out on houses in the city to get an idea of what we want vs. what we can afford. We were not organized AT ALL or prepared to buy a house, but we went to a few open houses, and made an appointment at a couple of houses we saw online we thought warranted a closer look. Well, during this “window-shopping” of houses, we fell in love. There was that moment, when you’re walking by a Nordstrom’s display, and suddenly the track you were on splits to the track that leads to you walking out with bag and a lighter wallet. Well, this house was everything we ever said we wanted in a house. Plenty of bedrooms, plenty of bathrooms, a beautiful look, fixtures we would have picked out ourselves had we renovated the place…just gorgeous. We also knew this was a semi-pipe-dream house. It was simply over our budget. This was a Louis bag, when we really should be shopping for Fossil. BUT, I knew we had to have that house. When we got home, I wrote on the white board next to our front door “We’re getting our dream house!!” I don’t know why, knowing we could not spend the asking price (or even a lowball offer for that asking price). Well, over the next month, we kept our eye on the place online. And slowly, the asking price started to come down. Ten thousand one week, then twenty a couple weeks after that! It was still more than we could or should spend, so we still just kept it as a “imagine if” house. Then one day, it disappeared from the online listing. We drove by the house and the for sale sign was gone. My heart sunk. I mean, I knew someone would want the place eventually, it was only a matter of time. But I really got my hopes up on this place. So, we went on with our lives, because in reality, we were never getting this house anyway. Then one morning as we were getting ready Ameesh was checking his phone and stops dead: “Babe. The dream house is back online. It dropped forty thousand dollars!” I practically did a cart wheel across the bed. We made an appointment to go look at it again, and the day after that told the listing agent we wanted to make an offer. We were coached how to play the offer game, and after our first offer was rejected, and we didn’t like his counter offer enough…we were stuck with what to do. So after consulting our fathers, (because don’t dads know everything?) they both independently of each other told us to ask the same price. Which we did. Which was accepted. I couldn’t believe it! We thought we’d have to go up more, which we really didn’t want to do. So now…we are under contract and scheduled to close next week!! I am convinced that me writing on the white board is what set the energy in motion!! I mean, maybe it’s a coincidence, but I prefer to think not. I’ve always heard that if you write something down, it’s more likely to happen, and from now on…I’m going to write everything I want down!

So if you want something…try it out and see for yourself! Next thing going on the white board? Hmmm…..maybe something about winning the lottery Or at least losing 8 pounds.

OK, and the baby is crying so I guess this is where I sign off. Hopefully more on health soon!

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Let this man inspire you.  Let him shake you out of your rut.  Chances are, you’re starting in a much better position.  Think of how good you could feel by following his example.  The only thing holding most of us back is apathy and a general acceptance of not being happy.  This has become the American way.  And that’s a darn shame.  Watch the video, go do some push ups, drink some water, and tell me that you feel better already.

Disabled Vet Turned Yogi

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As of yesterday, I hit the 37 week mark of pregnancy, which means the baby is safely ready to be born into this world.  That does scare me a bit.  I’m not too impressed with this world right now, and part of me feels a little guilty for bringing a new person into the mess.  A person that will have to deal with the consequences of what humanity is doing right now to our earth, to civilization.  We live in a world where most of us don’t think too much about the consequences of our every day minor actions…  an extra long shower, plastic grocery bags (we won’t re-use or recycle), chemicals in our products, in our food.  When things don’t seem to affect us directly or instantaneously, it’s easy to fall into the “ignorance is bliss” category.  But our world is rapidly changing.  Human health is rapidly changing.  And it’s because of a culmination of all of our seemingly insignificant actions that add up to gargantuan changes- to our bodies and to the planet.  A chain reaction of events is taking place right now changing eco-systems, habitats, the livelihoods of billions of people…  Most people know this somewhere inside, but are too busy with their every day lives to have it really matter to them.  But it matters to me.  Because now I’m going to have a child that will live in this world and possibly, if not probably, see it fall into further disarray than I will in my life.  My child’s very own health might be affected.  Endocrine systems are changing, chronic diseases are on the rise, children’s allergies are worse than they’ve ever been. It’s not a positive outlook.

I know there are many people who look at us “green” folks as somewhat silly, or outright hippies.  But being green isn’t just about hugging a tree and saving a polar bear.  It’s about the world our kids and grand-kids will live in years down the line.  It’s about understanding the toxins in everything we touch, and how they really affect us and our environment.  It’s about caring about our own health enough so that we actually FEEL healthy, which means feeling happy and energetic and free of any issues we deem more of a nuisance than an actual problem.  We “deal with” so many things without actually dealing with them!  We’re considered healthy as long as we lack a diagnosis for anything in medical literature.  And even when we get a diagnosis, most of us deal with the symptoms instead of the cause.  This happens to our planet, too.  This happens in agriculture, in politics, in capitalism, in the environment.  We’re a world that keeps replacing bandages over a severed limb, expecting that to help it re-grow.

So I hope this baby I’m about to bring into this bleak picture becomes part of a new generation.  A generation that cares, and seeks answers, and actively participates in making the world a better place.  I know it’s an uphill battle, but being green at least no longer solely references a Kermit the Frog song…  There is a small movement, and small battles being fought, some even looking optimistic for a win.  I hope positive changes happen in our generation, and I urge you all to make small changes where you can and when you can.  You may not get the instant gratification you seek from eating an organic apple or purchasing an eco-friendly cleanser, but believe me – it IS making a difference to you and to the world, one baby step at a time.

And that’s the most important thing we can do right now, is take green baby steps…for our babies’ sake.

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So when people get sticker shock over the cost of real food, or quality supplements, you have to think of it in terms of spending now or spending way more later in money AND quality of life, happiness, security.  Taking Omega-3′s every day, drinking water over sweetened drinks, and eating as much organic food as possible now will drastically lower your odds of having to take medications, or worse, down the line.  We’ll scrunch our noses and pass up a bottle of super-food nutritional supplement because it costs $40 (or about $1 per serving), and then spend $4 a day on a coffee at Starbucks.  People who WANT to be healthy, and who are genuinely interested in feeling better do this.  The reality is, we’ve become a culture who’s only interested in the here and now.  We’re not interested in gradual changes, and we think we’re immune to degeneration from our current daily habits because most of us don’t notice the subtle decline in health until it gets to a point of obvious disease and malfunctioning.

People, we have to stop living for instant gratification.  Instant gratification is killing us.  And it’s costing you and the nation serious money.

It may seem like staying healthy comes at a cost, and in a way… it does.  My grocery bills would probably be less if I didn’t include supplements or much of the organic produce I buy in them.  However, I do not buy juice, or soda, or frozen meals, or bags of chips and pretzels to keep around the house.  There is no steady supply of ice cream in the freezer, or 6 boxes of Honey This, Cocoa That cereals in the pantry.  The foods we have in the house are for the most part, simple staples that can be jazzed up with varying healthy condiments when we want a little something extra out of them.  So, does it wind up balancing out for me?  Would I spend what I spend now if I included the Standard American Diet staples into my grocery cart without my vitamins and organic apples and celery?  I’m not entirely sure, but I can tell you this: it’s worth every penny extra if it still costs me $5 more per grocery bag than the typical American might spend.  It’s worth not having the horrible allergies I had as an adolescent.  It’s worth not having the eczema that tried to consume me in my mid twenties.  It’s worth having a healthy self esteem about my body when it seems like everyone around you is unhappy with the way they look.  It’s worth it to know that the choices I make today can help encourage others to go down the same path I’ve explored the past 7 years and lead them to a better place.

So, yes it may seem expensive to be healthy, but put things in perspective and assess your priorities.  Don’t wait until it’s too late and you have to spend everything you would have spent on vegetables on life-saving procedures or risky medications with 47 possible side effects.

THAT is not worth it.

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So this week, I have a mission for you – do something that makes you feel 1.) happy and 2.) healthy.  I’d like the first week of my new year to be both of those, so I’m going to the grocery store to get some healthy nibbles before the sun that’s out now turns into a predicted thunderstorm later this afternoon.  Blue skies make me happy, and if I can get a few more fresh veggie juices in this week and completely eliminate processed sugar for the next 5 days, I know I’ll feel a good sense of pride and genuine happiness too.  Processed sugar is a leading cause of getting the blues, so now that my house is free of it, my birthday is over (I even had cheesecake over the weekend, gasp!) and I have no excuses to indulge, I’m on a mission to finish out this pregnancy with a big gush of health.  I haven’t had any crazy pregnancy cravings, but I have noticed my taste preferences have swerved to the lightly sweet and carby side, which does bother me a bit, since I used to actually crave hearty veggie packed salads.  In an effort to make sure I don’t eat pancakes for breakfast every day, I’ve been relying on banana protein smoothies with almond milk and a scoop of super-greens veggie powder to get me that indulgent sweetness that satisfies me just so, with at least some green power and baby-building protein in there.  This week, however, I am on a mission to actually eat my greens with a fork, so I’ll be on the hunt for some dandelions and watercress in the store today so I can make the salads I talked about in my last blog entry.

Finally, I’d like to do a little more working out this week, which I have to admit, has been very hard for me the past couple weeks.  I get winded so easily these days, with baby pressing up into my lungs, that just walking up the steps in my house can leave me breathless for a minute.  I also get struck by the sudden urge to nap much more easily, which doesn’t help.  But I’ve gotta get these legs toned up for D Day, so some squats and lunges are in order this week.  Hold me accountable to it!  And do a few rounds for yourself while you’re at it

OK, don’t want to wait any longer while this sun is out.  Hi-ho-hi-ho, it’s off to Whole Foods, I go!  (Or maybe the East End food co-op!)

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It is spring, though, which means our livers are in spring cleaning mode. Help it out some by loading your plate with healthy green leaves, the more bitter the better. Dandelion greens are some of my favorite. To help counter-act the bitter flavor, my favorite preparation of them is to make a salad with chopped dried fruit (I like prunes or dates myself), a sprinkling of your favorite nuts or seeds, and a dressing made of lemon juice, maple syrup (the 100% real kind, not the high fructose corn syrup maple flavored kind!), and olive oil. The sweet and sourness of the dressing and the fruit really helps balance out the bitter from the greens. This tactic can also be employed in my other favorite green this season: watercress. Watercress is more peppery than bitter, but boy is it a super-hero of the veggie world. Antioxidants abound, liver cleansing properties, and it’s super high in calcium to boot. I like preparing watercress in a salad with a few other baby greens and halved red grapes.

There are obviously other great greens out there to try this season… these just happen to be two of my favorites. You can’t not feel healthier after eating them! Hit the store,  and pick up a different green every few days. Arugula, escarole, kale, spinach… If you have a variety of these greens during the week, especially paired with a reduction of sugar and starches in your diet, you WILL feel a difference! It just takes a little self-motivation to do it.  Seeing as how last week was a sugar-laden week for myself actually, (if anyone else lets me see chocolate right now, I WILL slap you), I think I need to seriously start taking my own advice!

I’ve got kale in the fridge right now. I’m planning a date with my juicer this afternoon!

In other life updates, I am approaching my 34th week of pregnancy, which means anywhere from 3 to 8 weeks from now, I could have a baby in my arms.  This is getting very real, very fast!  I have been feeling pretty good, but I admit, last week’s chocolate melt-down has been making me feel noticeably moodier.  I could say it’s from pregnancy hormones, and maybe there’s a little of that going on, but an increase in sugar consumption always makes me feel down, so I’m sure it’s definitely not helping.  Physically however, I’m just feeling like I have no more room left to spare in my midsection!  I’m grateful that I have none of the other major bummer symptoms of pregnancy right now (swollen feet and fingers, calf cramps, chipmunk cheeks, etc.)  We’ll see what the next few weeks bring about, though.  The biggest annoyance I’m dealing with is difficulty breathing, as I feel like I can never take in a full breath, and I get easily winded.  I’ve put on almost 18 pounds so far, which may seem like a small amount for pregnancy up to this point, but keeping in mind that I am barely 5 feet tall, and was less than 100 lbs to begin with, so my body is certainly not used to having to keep up with a weight gain like this!  All in all, it is definitely an interesting experience, especially for a person who’s job it is to study and understand the inner workings of the human body!  Stay tuned as the time draws near for D-Day!  And please, send me good vibes for Baby Kapoor’s easy and healthy arrival!!

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A society in which people are walking around, with no concept of how or why they are living. All of our brains have been programmed to believe corporate messages, and it doesn’t occur to us to question an alternative. Nobody wants to explore the universe inside their skin, they just want it to get them from place A to B as fast as possible, while looking aesthetically pleasing to those around them. When a part seems to be on the fritz, we rely on outside human mechanics to fix us, and hope it doesn’t cost too much.

Why does no one care about their bodies these days? It is so frustrating to see so many talented, intelligent people completely oblivious to the ONE thing you can’t replace in this life. Your own body. Everyone deprives themselves of vitamins, minerals, sleep, exercise, and happiness for what? For a paycheck. Paychecks are important, yes. But don’t you need a well functioning body to earn the best paycheck possible? Yes. So why do people not care to learn how their body actually works? It’s a miracle people. Scientists know less about the human brain than they do outer space. What does that mean to you? It means we have untold abilities within ourselves and we don’t even want to ponder it. Do you know the sequence of events that takes place when you are exposed to a germ? Or when you quickly jump out of the way of a speeding vehicle? It is absolutely amazing the things our body is programmed to do without our conscious brain conducting it…or a doctor…or a politician… or a CEO… But in today’s society, our bodies are the last thing we think about and we believe everyone else over any intuition we may have once had. This puts us in an incredibly vulnerable spot. Especially in today’s heated political-corporate world. Any information filtered down through us through professionals comes from an incredibly dense population of lobbyists and corporate interests. They fund political campaigns, schools, hospitals, even churches. They can decide which information can be made readily available to us common folk, by sponsoring TV stations and programs, newspapers, magazines and if it looks like they’re going to be painted in a negative light…the threat of taking money away always has a way of influencing people. Look at what is happening to Rush Limbaugh right now after his incredibly evil remarks on his program regarding birth control. Advertisers pulled out (pun intended.) Anyone who has a voice and a platform to reach a huge audience is still a dog on a leash to their advertisers and sponsors. Everyone is so afraid of losing funding, they’ll agree to word things in any way the source of that money deems fit. It may sound like conspiracy theory stuff….but sadly, it’s not. Two Fox news reporters were eventually let go from their jobs after presenting their research on recombinant bovine growth hormones in dairy products. What they found out is critical information consumers need to know about, but their report had to appease all the dairy companies who advertised during commercial breaks, and after rounds and rounds of edits, their story was finally scrapped. When the journalists fought back about getting this information out there…they were fired. Is this the society you want to live in? Don’t you want to know what is happening when you open your mouth and ingest something? Don’t you want to know that your body is capable of handling more than you’ve been taught you can handle? Don’t you want to know what it’s NOT capable of handling in this modern, mechanized world? I certainly do. Don’t you wish you could trust your intuition and believe it to be the truth about your body, instead of allowing yourself to be convinced by an outside source that your intuition is plain old silly and unfounded?

Sigh, I know this is a really big wish, and there are definitely some positive signs that people are starting to think a little deeper about what they’ve been told about their bodies, but I fear the vast majority of the population is still at high risk. And they have power. Scarier still…our corporate climate loves these people. People who are brainwashed easily to keep buying the products that are slowly killing them, then convinced a series of prescription medications and over the counter remedies are their only way back to “health”. People who question the system and fight for their own biological rights are villain-ized and a threat to society. It’s much much better for us humans to just fall in line, believe what we’re told, and forget we even have our own bodies or brains or emotions.

Well, I for one…will certainly never be that kind of robot. Take a stand, people. Ask questions. Seek answers. Have faith that you were given a body designed to accomplish things all by itself, and most importantly…CARE about yourself! It doesn’t make you selfish, I promise.

(seem ridiculous?  let’s hope it doesn’t take another 70 years for us to realize how ridiculous today’s marketing campaigns are)

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Obviously, this is a big year for the Grater/Kapoor family.  One thing we know to expect in our future is a baby.  Everything else we’ll have to play by ear!  Since moving to Pittsburgh in December the ball has also been rolling for me professionally, as I’ve met some incredible people here all working in different aspects of the wellness spectrum- relationships and friendships that will definitely all roll up into some fun and engaging opportunities in the months ahead.  I’m very excited by it all and so grateful to those special people I’ve met recently!

So a funny thing happens when I get this kind of optimistic buzz from life-  I want to be healthier!  Funny how that works out, huh?  There is a cycle of health and happiness that happens that spins us off in the right direction.  Many people may be more familiar with the cycle working in the opposite direction- feeling down about life can park us on the couch with a pizza and Ben n Jerry chaser.  But that same system is at work in a positive way when life feels positive, so I encourage you to get out and smell the roses, meet new people, network for a new job opportunity, sign up for yoga classes, SOMETHING that gets you feeling like you’re taking control of your life in a way that will make you happy.  Trust me…you’ll thank me later!

To celebrate me feeling good about life, I was motivated to make a super yummy healthy meal for me and the hubby tonight. It started with a trip to the food co-op, which I am super duper thrilled I found out about.  When I saw the fresh, bright green watercress, and felt the warmth in the air, I knew I had to do something with it.  Cilantro, too.  Heck…I wanted to clear out their whole produce section.

So this afternoon began with the inspiration to make a cilantro pesto.  Didn’t know where I’d go from there…but before I could ponder it in my head, my body was taking over and putting the cilantro and a handful of walnuts into the food processor.  A little apple cider vinegar, salt and olive oil rounded it out.

I needed to ponder how I’d incorporate it into dinner later, so after my prenatal yoga class, I came home ready to mix and match.  I took the peppery fresh watercress, chopped it up, and threw it in a bright yellow bowl.  Food always looks yummier when presented well.  Into the mix went a half of an avocado and some crumbled goat cheese.  Hmmm…”I think a sliced pear would compliment this well” I said to myself.  Meanwhile, I had cooked up some sweet onion, garlic and a package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (organic, free-range obviously) in my cast iron skillet with some salt, pepper, and lemon zest.  Enter cilantro pesto.  It was very thick, almost paste-like, so I squeezed half a lemon into a small bowl, took about a tablespoon of the pesto, and whisked them together with some extra olive oil.  Drizzle that over the pretty salad in the pretty yellow bowl, place a few chicken thighs on top, and voila!  We had ourselves what felt like a perfect spring time meal.  Lots of protein, healthy fats, super-food goodness that was satisfying, yet still felt light and fresh.  My favorite kind of meal!

So here’s to you, Spring.  Thank you for always putting some spring in my step.  To all you couch potatoes now…it feels good to get up and move around and discover a new vegetable, so try it out!!

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