Is it a floor wax, poison, or a great source of Vitamin C? Experience the Rainbow...

March just blew by without a blog post in sight. Sorry about that. Good news! My readership has doubled from 2 readers, to 4 readers so I'll get to stay in business! Now that I'm not just writing to myself, I had better step up my game. Not likely. But I am happy to catch up on some of my musings and studies.

Yesterday was a disastrous, but enlightening experiment...

As of December, I haven't had any refined sugar, or artificial colors/flavors (in their pure forms). I may have accidentally had this stuff in restaurant food, but I haven't had any candy, cakes or soda pop, etc. that use refined sugar or corn syrup. Sure there's been some maple syrup, and raw, cold-pressed agave syrup in an organic treat now and again, but that's it! Yesterday, Brian and I had our usual weekly free day, but decided we'd really go off rails. I mean, we decided to go NUTZ! If you know this diet, then you know that 7-11 (our local convenient store) is not the place to be purchasing Weston Price approved foods. We were like a couple of recovering drug addicts that just met a free dealer and found out our baby was hit by a bus and there was nothing left to live for. We went off the deep end. Off the deep end these days was an average day in the past: Twizzlers, Skittles, Sour Patch Kids, Reeces Peanut Butter Cups AND Sprite... No. 2 Corn (corn syrup) aside, the levels of artificial coloring in those products could kill a large rat.

Well, I'm not a large rat, more like a large monkey (pic below is me, after taking my dose of Skittles), but lemme tell you...I could have DIED today from pain. Before today, I have been glowing. Seriously, no exaggeration, no-tooting-my-own-horn-vanity... Glowing! Strangers have remarked on how healthy I look. I have felt good. good. good. Whatever pain I've felt has been the result of weight lifting and not from toxic sludge in the sewers of my intestines. Not today. Today, I woke up in so much pain. Had it been just me, I would have written it off as a bit of arthritis or tendonitis, but Brian was in pain and he's like the hulk, usually. He doesn't bitch and moan about his aches and pains like I can. I couldn't move my hands. My knees were almost worthless and on fire. And Brian was hobbling around complaining about his knees, too. It's 8:00pm the following day, almost 24 hrs later, and I'm just starting to type without pain. Brian said we hit bottom. All addicts need to know their bottom; sometimes we need to know our edge, to know how far, is far enough. Mark my words-- NEVER will I eat a bag of Skittles again, or Twizzlers, or Sour Patch Kids (but really Skittles are what I ate yesterday). **Hey don't get me wrong-- I LOVE Skittles, I used to eat at least a bag a week, and you should too.**

Skittles. What's in them? The bag claims that they are an excellent source of Vitamin C. Really? They are also an excellent source of No. 2 Corn. The second ingredient is corn syrup, and if you're one of my third grade readers, you know that "corn syrup is bad" and a whole lot of poison on a deep existential, humanitarian, cultural, economic and agricultural level. Apparently, there's also some beef in Skittles (does that mean I get my protein!?), but I'm not sure if it's 100% grass fed. Shucks, my guess is-- not. My guess is there are probably some downer cows in that gelatin, but that's only a personal best guess...

In response to your email regarding SKITTLES BITE SIZE CANDIES. Thanks for your email. The gelatin used in our SKITTLES BITE SIZE CANDIES is derived from beef. The gelatin used in our STARBURST FRUIT CHEWS is also derived from beef with the exception of our STARBURST GUMMIBURSTS where the gelatin is derived from pork. We hope this information is helpful.

Have a great day!

Your Friends at Mars Snackfood US

It must be that beefy gelatin that gives them a nice chewy, floor wax texture. Here is Skittle’s ingredient list, which you cannot find on the psychedelic trip through their website:

Sugar, Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, Apple Juice from Concentrate, Less than 2% Citric Acid, Dextrin, Modified Corn Starch, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Coloring (Includes Yellow 6 Lake, Red 40 Lake, Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 2 Lake, Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 1 Lake, Blue 1), Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C).

I don't see beef, or gelatin, on the ingredient list, so which ingredient is the gelatin? Dextrin? Yes, and after a quick Google search I found out that Dextrin is also great for use in Pyrothechnics! WTF is all this crap? There are EIGHT artificial colorings. Wow. And I was wondering why I felt like I took a dose of poison. I can't compute this. I feel like I need a PhD in Food Engineering to understand what this all means. I'm pretty sure none of this is actually food? I'm truly overwhelmed, so I'm going to just stay focused on the Apple Juice. Thank goodness there is some apple juice in there so I didn't completely poison myself.


**This is a disclaimer statement. The author of this blog has no ill will toward Skittles or Mars Snackfood US**

Wherever you go, there you are: An experiment in getting ethical food in the middle of nowhere!

This blog post will document my effort to maintain our high maintenance, "clean" "conscious," "ethical," healthy eating regime while in the middle of nowhere U.S.A.. Without getting too specific (for the sake of privacy-- what privacy? it's 2011. good point.), I'll just say that my husband and I will be traveling to an unincorporated town in Wisconsin, that's at least four hours from any city that has a Whole Foods. So, in order to put my money where my mouth is, I'm conducting my biggest experiment yet! I'm not going off this nutritional plan; somehow, some way, I'm sustaining it. Even if I have to eat snow and forage for twigs in the forest. The Null Hypothesis of this experiment posits that "it is not possible to sustain a hippie, clean eating, slow food, Non-GMO, ethical diet in the middle of Walmart's middle America without access to a city." My goal as this experiment's Principal Investigator, is to prove that the null hypothesis is bullshit wrong.

I will be updating this blog as the experiment progresses over the next week. It begins in Los Angeles, as I prepare for travels a few days in advance. I think ahead. Hmmm... are there any local farms? There must be. What about CSA programs? Where will I get raw milk? It's dairy land, there must be raw milk somewhere! In my afternoon research, I have found only 4 farms listed and a couple others off the beaten path that sell raw milk. It's dairy land; this is a seriously controversial issue (it's not hippie dairy land California, after all.). Will I drive 6 hrs for milk? I might, just to prove a point that the consumer always has the power. I can't find meat yet. Then I try a search at the very helpful, grass fed site, EatWild and I find a bunch of great farms, but still many hours away. I'll have to research that when I'm actually there and can get a sense of the conditions. In the meantime, I'll support online sellers, to sustain us for the first day or two.

To begin: I have ordered a box of grass finished and pastured meat from U.S. Wellness Meats. I was concerned about shipping issues to this very rural area, where at times overnight shipments have been delayed by days. So I put an e-mail into U.S. Wellness and here's the first exchange I've had in my experiment:

Hi There,

We are ordering this so we have access to high quality meat while we are traveling in Wisconsin. We are hoping to receive this shipment by Friday, Feb 25. If this is not possible, please let us know. We may be willing to pay an increased Fed-Ex charge if that's something you offer.

Thank you for providing great meat products!

Julie
---

Hi Julie,

Thank you for the patronage.

Your order should land in Wisconsin on Wednesday or Thursday at the latest.

No extra Fed Ex charges required.

Sincerely,

John Wood

founding member

"Our animals eat right so you can too!
U.S Wellness Meats
204 E. Lafayette Street
P.O. Box 9
Monticello, MO 63457
URL: www.uswellnessmeats.com
Toll Free: (877) 383-0051
Direct: (573) 767-9060
Fax: (573) 767-5475
YouTube: http://www.grasslandbeef.com/Page.bok?template=video.html

--

Thanks so much John! It means a lot to me and my family that we have access to such great quality meat!

Julie

--

Hi Julie,

Your welcome and thank you for the kind words.

John

--

Well that's a pleasant start to my experiment. Next, I order an organic sampler box from Diamond Organics. Not quite as pleasant. The produce looks gorgeous and they have some quality pasteurized, but non-homogenized milk products. Though not on the "best" list by Weston Price Foundation, they qualify as "good," so that's good enough for this experiment. No trip to a dairy farm will be necessary this phase. The reason it's not so pleasant however: the shipping cost. Yikes! If I wanna be deeply ethical and "green," I'd drop this idea. Shipping distance is about 2,500 miles (talk about not local) and they only ship overnight because the products are perishable. Not only is there airplane fuel involved, the shipping fee was the same cost of the order. Great idea Jules, overnight ship a heavy box of potatoes. I'm exaggerating (only slightly). That said, we will be receiving two boxes of organic, slow food. I'm looking forward to being there for their arrival. Big bunches of Organic Kale right there in Walmart country. Before I bad mouth Walmart too much, they are negotiating changing their model to include more of what I've been talking about. So if you can't drop your first born's tutition on shipping organic to your midwestern home, please have the courtesy to vote for the health of your people, by buying whatever organics they have at Walmart.

Until my next update, here's an *uplifting* video for you and a link to an informative blog about buying organic online if you live truly in the middle of nowhere, go here: http://hubpages.com/hub/--Buy-Organic-Online. Yes, I fall asleep studying this and that's why I've started having dreams about cows.

Trying not to clip my own wings (oh, and a recipe for high protein flax bread. why not?)

It's 1776, and I say to you, "One day a rectangular thing called a 'display screen' will float from my living room wall and show me colorful moving pictures of the world. People will talk to me and the display will be called a 'plasma' display. The display will work because of a solution that consists of millions of phosphor-coated miniature glass bubbles containing plasma. An electric current will flow through the display screen, causing certain plasma-containing bubbles to emit ultraviolet rays, triggering the phosphor coating to produce the proper color (red, green or blue). That's how I will watch pictures on the wall in my home." Remember, it's 1776, oh and then I tell you that "I will write about this topic, on a thing called a 'laptop' which has another type of display, and a thing called a 'keyboard' in which I can communicate with the world and watch these moving pictures in my very own lap, while on my couch."

(The picture is Abigail Adams. In 1776, she was fighting for women getting the right to vote, get an education and not be treated like second class citizens. Had she not been having to fight for archaic bullshit that seems like basic humanity, she might have been dreaming of a plasma tv)

This idea probably would have landed like a fart in church... 1776, a time when the Declaration of Independence was drafted in ink and electricity wasn't due to fully hit the suburbs of wealthy industrial countries until the early 1900s- 125 years later. 100 years later, I'm watching my old school plasma tv and typing this on my laptop. So what's my point? My point is that the unimaginable must be, and is always possible. Had I told you about my plasma tv in 1776, you would have told me to fuck off, in a slightly British accent you may have said, "Please do fuck off." I would have felt dismayed, because it was only some intuition and a dream I had, a slight glimpse of possibility, but nothing close to reality of a modern 1776 lifestyle. That kind of dismay sucks and is present now- everywhere. You've been there-- shot down by your own fear, or by another. Hey, don't misunderstand me I'm not some magical thinking, cupcakes and rainbows dreamer. As proof, I worked at UCLA for many years in a scientific research program, and we conducted blockbuster, big money science-- no cutsie pseudo science. So I'm the first person to fall prey to, and advocate, what's called healthy skepticism. I think skepticism is very important for survival. So much so that I openly offer a YouTube video to teach you how to be a skeptic.



All that said, why am I writing about this topic? It's because at any given moment, I can fall prey to my own personal skepticism (read: self-doubt), and my own fears about possibilities. I'm not trying to invent a plasma television, I'm just trying to invent a yummier high protein bread, have a little faith in my own goals (which I've got a laundry list of) and not clip my own wings. I've come to think lately, that for reaching some of my goals I'm just going to shut the skeptic off. I'm trying not to clip my own wings, but today was tougher than others. Rather than fully immersing myself in finishing a task for a big (hush hush) opportunity I've received, I watched 17 Again on Cinemax and gave myself a headache. It was only a few hours of my mostly productive day, but it was the few hours delegated to the most important thing of my day. If you know me, you know that I've been trained to call this Upper Limiting (it's a form of self-sabotage...to learn about this very helpful concept check out Gay Hendricks). For now, for tonight, I'm done with it! Because the miracle plasma tv exists, so do my dreams.

As for my recent dream... as promised, yummy low carb bread... dreams do come true. You can make sandwiches with this bread, and if you add a bit of cinnamon and sweetener, it makes some damn good low carb french toast. For serious, people.

High Protein Flax Bread
(189 calories per serving, 7g carbs, 10g protein)

DRY INGREDIENTS
2 Cups Organic Golden Flax Meal
1/4 Cup Natural Flavored (unsweetened) Whey Protein Powder (cold processed, grass finished is best)
1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
1 Tablespoon Organic Baking Powder
(Optional 2 tsp of Sweet Tree Coconut Palm Sugar for sweeter uses, like French Toast)
(Optional herbs like Garlic Powder, Thyme, Rosemary for savory uses, like BLT sandwich)

WET INGREDIENTS
1/4 Cup Melted Extra Virgin, Cold Pressed Coconut Oil
1/4 Cup Water
4 Beaten Eggs

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350. Put parchment on a baking sheet. Mix dry ingredients thoroughly. Add wet ingredients to dry, and combine well. Let mixture rest for a few minutes to thicken, and for flax meal to absorb wet ingredients. Pour batter onto pan, spread out and evenly away from the center of pan. Batter should not touch sides of pan, but you can experiment with your own pan.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until the bread springs back when you touch the top, or when the edges are brown.Cool and cut into slices. The result is a pan style flat bread, approx 3/4 of an inch.

Los Angeles Farmer's Markets - 7 days a week

MONDAY

West Hollywood Monday Farmers' Market

Day: Monday Hours: 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Location: Plummer Park -

N. Vista and Fountain Ave City: West Hollywood County:Los Angeles

Manager: Beth Smith Office Address: 8300 Santa Monica Blvd, W. Hollywood, CA 90069 Phone: 323-845-6535

Web Site: Click Here to open

TUESDAY

Old L.A. CFM

Day: Tuesday Hours: 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Location: Marmion Way between Ave. 57 & 58 City: Highland Park County:Los Angeles

Manager: Misty Iwatsu Phone: 323-255-5030 Web Site: Click Here to open

Culver City CFM

Day: Tuesday Hours: 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Location: Main & Culver City: Culver City County: Los Angeles

Manager: Steve Whipple Office Address: 9770 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232 Phone: 310-253-5775

WEDNESDAY

Los Angeles Medical Center Certified Farmers’ Market at Barnsdall Art Park Day: Wednesday Hours: 12 noon to 6:00 pm

Location: Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd. City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles Manager: Matthew Bachler Phone: 323.463.3171Fax: 323.463.1062 Web Site: Click Here to open

L.A. Adams/Vermont CFM

Day: Wednesday Hours: 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM June - August & 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM September - May

Location: 1432 W. Adams, St. Agnes Catholic Church City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles

Manager: Leroy/Ida Edwards Office Address: 1866 W. 94th Place, Los Angeles, CA 90007 Phone: 323-777-1755

West Los Angeles Kaiser Permanente Certified Farmers’ Market

Day: Wednesday Hours:9:00 am to 1:30 pm

Location: 6041 Cadillac Ave. City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles

Manager: Cynthia Ojeda Phone: 562.495.1764 Fax: 562.495.1853

THURSDAY

Central Avenue Farmers' Market - Will re-open 2010

Day: Thursday Hours: 12 noon to 5:00 PM

Location: 4301 S. Central Ave. City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles

Manager: Laura Gonzales Office Address: 6605 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 220, Los Angeles CA 90028 Phone:323-463-3171 Web Site: Click Here to open

Century City CFM

Day: Thursday Hours: 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM

Location:Constellation Blvd & Avenue of the Stars City: Century City County: Los Angeles Manager:Jennifer McColm Office Address: 19301 Caladero St., Tarzana, CA 91356 Phone:818-591-8161

L.A. La Cienega Farmers' Market

Day: Thursday Hours: 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Location: South La Cienega Blvd and West 18th Street City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles

Manager: Cynthia Ojeda Office Address: 838 Pine Ave - #302, Long Beach, CA 90813 Phone: 562-495-1764 Fax: 562-495-1853

L.A. Seventh & Figueroa Thursday Farmers' Market

Day: Thursday Hours: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Location: South Figueroa Street & West 7th City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles

Manager: Kat Antal Office Address: 725 S. Figueroa St.#1850, Los Angeles, CA 90017 Phone: 213-955-7176

Little Tokyo CFM

Day: Thursday Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Location: Los Angeles City Hall City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles Manager: Susan HutchinsonOffice Address: 2464 Lindsay Lane, Los Angeles, CA 90039 Phone: 323-660-8660 Web Site:Click Here to open

Westwood Farmers' Market

Day: Thursday Hours: 12 noon to 6 p.m.

Location: Vets Garden City: Westwood County: Los Angeles Manager: Mark Wall Phone: 310- 861-8188 Parking: FREE Web Site: Click Here to open

FRIDAY

Echo Park Farmers' Market

Day: Friday Hours: 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Location:Parking Lot #663 on Logan Street, south of Sunset Boulevard City: Echo Park County: Los Angeles

Manager: Holly Calhoun Office Address: 6605 Hollywood Blvd, Suite 220, Hollywood CA 90028 Phone: 323-463-3171 Fax: 323-463-1062

L.A. Eagle Rock Farmers' Market

Day: Friday Hours: 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Location:2100 Merton Avenue City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles

Manager: Robert Sapp Office Address: 4771 Eagle Rock Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90065 Phone: 323-225-5466

SATURDAY

Crenshaw Farmer's Market

Day: Saturday Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Location:Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles

Manager: Betty Brown Office Address: 6605 Hollywood Blvd. #220 Phone: (323) 463-3171 Fax: (323) 463-1062 Parking: Public parking at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.

East Los Angeles Farmers Market

Day: Saturday Hours: 9:00am - 2:00pm

Location:East L.A Civic Center; 4801 E.3rd St. City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles

L.A. Silver Lake CFM

Day: Saturday Hours: 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Location: West Sunset Blvd & Edgecliffe Drive City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles Manager: Edwin Gomez Office Address: 4019

Watts Healthy Farmers' Market

Day: Saturday Hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Location: Ted Watkins Memorial Park (103rd and Central Ave.) City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles

Manager: Ashley Hiestand Office Address: 6605 Hollywood Blvd, Suite 220 Los Angeles CA 90028 Phone: 323-463-3171 Fax: 323-463-1062Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90029 Phone:323-661-7771

SUNDAY

Atwater Village CFM

Day: Sunday Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Location: 3250 Glendale Blvd. (at Brunswick) City: Atwater Village County: Los Angeles Manager: Pompea Smith, Joyce Chan Office Address: 6605 Hollywood Blvd. #220 Phone: (323) 463-3171 Fax:(323) 463-1062 Parking: Public parking lot is located across the street, just West of the market. Web Site: Click Here to open

Beverly Hills CFM

Day: Sunday Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Location: 9300 block of Civic Center Drive City: Beverly Hills County: Los Angeles

Manager: Greta Dunlap Office Address: 455 N. Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Phone: 310-550-4796 Web Site:Click Here to open

Hollywood Farmers' Market

Day: Sunday Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Location: Ivar & Selma Avenue City: Hollywood County: Los Angeles

Manager: Pompea Smith Office Address: 6605 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 220, Los Angeles CA 90028 Phone: 323-463-3171 Fax:323-463-1062 Parking: Cinerama Dome: $2 for first 2 hours with Market Validation (entrance at Ivar & Delongpre). Metered Parking: Check Parking Enforcement signs. Some meters FREE until 11AM on Sundays. Doolittle Theatre: Limited free parking. LA Film School: $2 parking; at NE corner of Ivar & Sunset. Transportation: Near the Hollywood & Vine Metro Station - Red Line Web Site: Click Here to open

Larchmont Village CFM

Day: Sunday Hours: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Location:Larchmont Blvd Parking Lot #694 City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles Manager:Jennifer McColm Office Address: 19301 Caladero St., Tarzana, CA 91356 Phone:818-591-8161

Melrose Place CFM

Day: Sunday Hours: 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Location: Melrose Place & Croft City: Los Angeles County: Los Angeles Manager: Jennifer McColm Office Address:19301 Caladero St., Tarzana, CA 91356 Phone: 818-591-8161

C is for Cookie

My inner child just had to post the cheesy, but heartwarming cookie monster song. He's my fuzzy blue Freudian Id. This blog post is inspired by love for my man, whose om nom nom nom love of cookies makes me want to bake! But now I'm baking with a new found sense of health and wellness, out of a deeper sense of love. Today's recipe experiment is another baking renovation of our household favorite: chocolate chip cookies. The original recipe belongs to Martha Stewart's Cooking School and her recipe for traditional drop cookies. I renovated it with new measurements and alternative ingredients. And, it turns out that "health food" can be pretty tasty after all. Just to give you an idea of their healthy qualities, these cookies are rich in good-for-you fats, including Omega 3s, and a ton of vitamins and minerals. Three separate taste testers have confirmed that they are very yummy cookies.

Double Chocolate Chunk Flourless Cookies
(Nutritional stats per serving: 1 cookie = 1 serving: 96 calories (76 cal w/Stevia), 3.0g protein, 7.9g carbohydrates (2.6g carbs w/Stevia), 2g fiber. 36 servings total)

1-1/2 cups Organic Golden Flaxseed Meal
1-1/4 cups Almond Flour
1/4 cup Whey Protein, or other protein powder (non-denatured, 100% grass fed is best)
2 Tablespoons Organic Cocoa Powder (omit this to create more traditional blond cookie dough)
1-1/2 Teaspoons Sea Salt
2 Tablespoons Baking Soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) Unsalted Raw Grass Fed, or Whole Milk Organic Butter
1 cup Grass Fed, or Organic Whole Milk Plain Yogurt (firm, not European style)
1 cup Organic Unrefined Blond Coconut Palm Sugar (This is a low glycemic sweetener, but if you want to reduce carbohydrates/calories further you can substitute with Raw Unrefined Stevia. If so, do not omit the Cocoa Powder, or your cookies will be green!)
2 large Free Range Eggs
1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Dark Chocolate Chunks, or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (you can modify with your own add-ins, ie., dried fruits, nuts, etc... this will obviously change nutritional counts above)

Follow these directions explicitly, or your cookie experiment will become a stiff cookie pancake:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. One rack in center, one rack in bottom 1/3 of oven. Line two cookie sheets with parchment, or grease sheets with butter. Whisk together flaxseed meal, almond flour, protein powder, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Place room temperature butter, yogurt and palm sugar in separate mixing bowl. Cream together sugar mixture by mashing and stirring with a wooden spoon (or electric mixer), for approximately 3 to 6 minutes until the mixture is very light and fluffy. Don't over mix, or the cookies will become runny. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until thoroughly incorporated after each. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three additions, allowing each addition to fully incorporate before adding the next. Then add chocolate chips, or other mix ins. Seal bowl and refrigerate mixture for at least 30 minutes, allowing flaxseed meal to expand and creamed ingredients to stiffen. Drop chilled mixture onto cookie sheets using a small 1-1/2 inch ice cream scoop (approx. 2 tablespoons per cookie), allowing for 3 dozen cookies.

Bake for 13 - 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Rotate cookie sheets top to bottom/bottom to top halfway through baking time. Serve warm. Cookies will be soft right out of oven, but will harden when cooled.

Pancakes Galore: Yup, a healthy breakfast includes pancakes. I knew it.

According to my nutritionist and my recent health research, the picture to the left portrays a healthy breakfast. What!? Impossible. These three items have been the demonized fat mongers of American culture-- well, not anymore. They have been reclaimed. Here's how.... The bacon you see is nitrate free and you can buy this kind of "healthy bacon" from a couple of places (Applegate Farms and U.S. Wellness Meats).Also, check out Caw Caw Creek Farm for happy, well-treated pigs and therefore more ethical pork products. According to yes, my nutritionist, and a book called Fat by Jennifer McLagan, bacon's fat is similar to olive oil: "45 percent of the fat in bacon is monounsaturated, the good-for-you fat that can help lower bad cholesterol levels. Better still, bacon's monounsaturated fat turns out to be oleic acid, the same fat found in olive oil." Even better yet, it doesn't go rancid the way olive oil does when you cook with it at higher temperatures. Find out more about healthy bacon from Bon Apetit's article on 10 Surprising Health Foods. The eggs you see are farm fresh, local, free-range eggs from happy chickens. They are so fluffy-- it's wonderful. I want to get to the "healthy" pancakes, so I will do a feature blog on eggs in the future. Do some research of your own; eggs are good for you! Oh, and the touch of butter-- whole milk, raw, wonderful butter... more on this in the future.

Yay, pancakes! Wonderful, warm puffy circles of heaven. My husband and I have been very focused on a high protein, low carbohydrate nutritional plan. Not only for weight loss, but for stamina and overall health. The nutritionist thinks that counting calories is a waste of time, so instead we count carbs, and the ratio of carbs to protein. A couple of readers of my last blog bemoaned the lack of carbohydrates (and grains which I accidentally omitted, and will add). I'm now here to say that I've reclaimed pancakes and they are are on the menu! Brian and I have been longing for bread products, and our much loved Saturday morning, pancake diner runs. Out of my own desperation, much research and studying, I can happily report that today's first Experiment in Pancakes was born! High protein pancakes. No way. Don't ask me how I figured this out, since I'm not a chef, but because of my new extreme nutritional plan, I've had to learn how to "substitute." This is my first ever self-designed recipe. Needless to say, I'm proud. I did a lot of research in the gluten free and low carb cooking communities and adapted other traditional pancake recipes. (FYI-You can purchase most alternative flours from Bob's Red Mill.)

This morning's Experiment...

Flourless High Protein Flaxseed Pancakes (aka Puffy Circles of Heaven)
(Nutritional value per serving: 193 calories, 15 g protein, 7 g carbohydrates,) 3 servings

1/4 Cup Organic Flaxseed Meal (Make your own, 1/8 cup flax seeds will make 1/4 cup flour)
1/4 Cup Almond Flour (or Make your own)
*1/4 Cup Whey Protein Powder (pick your own, grass fed is best)
*1/4 Cup Whole Milk
*1/4 Cup Whole Milk Plain Yogurt
2 Large Free Range Eggs
4 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Real Vanilla Extract
1 Teaspoon Coconut Palm Sugar (or other sugar substitute of your choice)
1 Pinch Sea Salt

You don't have to double this recipe unless you are cooking for 4 or more people. One pancake is very filling.

Mix together Almond Flour, Flaxseed Meal, Whey Protein, Baking Powder, Salt and Sugar. Beat together Eggs, Milk, Yogurt and Vanilla. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix together thoroughly with a fork, or whisk. Let stand for a few minutes while preparing griddle. Heat griddle to medium heat. Melt extra virgin coconut oil, or whole milk butter and pour pancake batter onto hot griddle by 1/4 cupfuls. As they cook, they will begin to bubble like traditional pancakes. After many bubbles appear on tops of pancakes, flip over and allow to cook for another minute or two.

*For the lactose intolerant: You can substitute Whey Protein with vegan Raw Protein. It will reduce the protein content and the overall whole food benefits, but for your own Experiment you can also substitute the milk products with coconut products. EXPERIMENT WITH: 1/2 cup So Delicious Coconut Creamer, OR 1/4 cup So Delicious Coconut Milk and 1/4 cup So Delicious Cultured Coconut Milk.

The photos below are of the experiment in process. To my surprise, they really turned out to be regular pancakes in both taste and texture. Totally Guilt free!

All Killer No Filler: Experiments in Nutrition

This blog is a work in progress and I will update periodically. Recent addition include grains...

As my husband says about great pop music mixes, this blog is gonna be "killer with no filler." But as a filler preface to the main content of this post, I need to start by saying that this post is by request, and I'm not trying to proselytize. These are just my experiments that others have taught me. People have been seeing me and wanting to know "what are you doing? you look great!" By the way, this is exactly how Brian and I came to get onto the nutritionist's band wagon. He saw an old friend of his who had lost 45 lbs and was glowing from the inside. Brian immediately asked him what he did to achieve that, and down the rabbit hole we went. Since the visit to the nutritionist, Brian and I have been feeling so much better. I have had a few friends, who I hadn't seen in a while, spontaneously remark on how I'm "glowing" and "fresh and pink" and "looking great" and "your skin looks beautiful." My skin? Who are they talking about? I think that's an exaggeration, but I'm feeling 100% better. Brian has lost 5 lbs- that's huge for him. Mr. Kit Kat Bar himself.

We love our nutritionist, but she's a pain-in-the-ass Sargent of Non-GMO veggies and very demanding; this is not an easy program... But on the bright side, we did learn the hard way that she's onto something. On Friday night, we went to The Tower Bar at Sunset Tower. As you may know, we probably spent the cost of a television set on dinner (TV dinner!). It's considered some of the best food in Los Angeles and it made us ill. Yup--ill. Not because the food wasn't delicious (I'm not bashing Tower Bar- we like it there). We thought we would be fine. Instead, we woke up the next morning feeling like total CRAP. We couldn't believe it. We weren't excessive-- we ate fish and veggies, only a touch of bread and light dessert. Not excessive by any standards. Brian said that he felt like he had a hangover; a "food hangover." A large boulder took over my body and I felt so sluggish. I had reverted back to my broken out, ruddy skin, puffy face, and just ill from the inside out. Brian reverted to junk food cravings. After that, we were believers. Two days later, I'm starting to feel a bit better, but not back to where I was Friday morning.

Since I've done all the dirty work research, I'm just gonna lay it out for you here, quick and dirty....

THE QUICKY OVERVIEW:
is basically this: ALL ORGANIC raw, or only lightly cooked vegetables and some fruit, NO-GMOs, Healthy Fats/Oils* (organic, extra virgin, cold expeller pressed ONLY), Low Carbohydrate, No breads (incl. no wheat-based or oat products... cellulose is not so good for the human...hello insulin intolerance and a fat ass), NO refined sugars (replace with raw honey and unrefined Grade B maple Syrup, unrefined maple sugar, coconut palm sugar, date sugar and green raw powdered stevia-- no cane sugar, agave, refined stevia, artificial sweetners, etc... bleh!), No processed foods, Lots of animal protein at every meal from ONLY Grass fed and finished, organic, pastured/range free, happy healthy animals, raw milk, fertile eggs, raw cheese, raw butter and uncured bacon, lots of bacon if you want (from rare suppliers). Lastly, some grains are allowed, in serious moderation, as these too can quickly become the dreaded carbohydrate. Approved complex carbohydrate grains include only organic: barley, brown rice, whole grain buckwheat, buckwheat groats (kasha), bulgur (tabouli), crude corn bran, corn grits, couscous farina, millet, oats, polenta, popcorn (popped), quinoa, rye, whole grain dry semolina, tapioca, triticale, whole grain wheat, crude wheat bran, wheat germ and wild rice.

*There are only a few "healthy fats" and I will get to that in a moment.

As for food ratios, a low carbohydrate diet is 25% carbs, 40% protein and 35% healthy fat. A very low carbohydrate, ketogenic, diet is 10% carbohydrate, 45% protein and 45% fat. Our plan from the nutritionist is a balance between these two, with one "free day off" per week.

A daily carbohydrate-protein-fat ratio for a 2000 calorie, with 5 meals per day looks like this:

	CARBOHYDRATE	PROTEIN	FAT
GRAMS PER DAY	125g	200g	77g
GRAMS PER MEAL	25g	40g	15.4g
CALORIES PER DAY	500 cals	800 cals	700 cals
CALORIES PER MEAL	100 cals	160 cals	140 cals

PRODUCE
These products can be difficult to find in some parts of the U.S., but I have found realistically affordable online suppliers of organic non-GMO produce and products. And if you are in the hinterlands, there is a strong likelihood you are not too far from one of the numerous organic farms in the U.S.. In Los Angeles, go to a Farmer's Market. From just about anywhere in the U.S., you can find a community supported agriculture program (find a CSA). I've been getting CSA boxes from South Central Farmers Co-Op, and made a yummy, fresh mustard green salad from my box tonight. If you're lazy, have Farm Fresh deliver to you for a slightly higher cost than South Central.

BEEF
For folks in Los Angeles East Side Silver Lake Los Feliz, you can buy grass finished beef at McCalls Meat on Hillhurst. You have to request it. Also, in general Whole Foods has it, but double check that it is grass finished. Cows have four stomachs so that they can digest cellulose (grass based plants). They are unable to properly metabolize corn and other feed (even if it's "organic"). Eating these other feeds, they get sick, and our ranches turn into wastelands, and we all get sick. Cows need grass and only grass! Don't settle for less than a cow who had a happy life in a field of grass. They started feeding cows corn in the 50s when there was a surplus of corn in the agriculture industry; then consumers got hooked on the marbled meat of the sick, fat cow, and we all started turning into sick, fat cows ourselves.

As for other meats, chicken, pork, lamb etc... I need more research, so to be safe stick with ordering online from U.S. Wellness (which is really the only place to buy healthy, yes, I said HEALTHY bacon. Applegate Farms at Whole Foods is also a good "uncured" nitrite free bacon.) Once I get more research done, I'll keep you posted.

FISH
See my other blog post about fish.

DAIRY
I will need more time to post on my initial reluctance and the benefits of raw dairy products, however now I'm a big fan, and advocate. As you may know, I am lactose intolerant. A discovery that became clear when I was hanging out of a colleague's car window puking after drinking a small carton of milk (not quite as sexy as a night out on the town with champagne- the milk hangover- yuck.). That experience was actually a miracle, as I had been having undiagnosed, terrible gastrointestinal problems that my doctor had no solution for. I rarely drank straight-up milk, and I just LOVED cheese, which only caused vague, terrible gastrointestinal problems. I overshared all that, to really emphasize the beauty of raw milk... because I can now drink straight raw milk, and love it! Organic Pastures is one of the few farms that has it in the country. In Eastside Los Angeles Los Feliz/Silver Lake, they sell it at Nature Mart. You can also get cheese, cream etc. from there. For cheese, butter etc. if you are in other areas, also check out Miller's Organic Farm. Go on your own hunt to find "Real Milk." The USDA is obsessed with leaching out the nutrients and enzymes in our foods through refining and pasteurizing. It's bad news, and we're convinced it's a good idea, because we went from germ conscious to germ-o-phobes. But hey, if you are elderly, or very ill, please consult with your nutritionist and doctor, don't take my blog as any type of medical knowledge-- it's not.

FATS and OILS
Oh, sheesh. Where do I begin? We are so fat obsessed in this culture, that we project our disgust with our own body fat onto anything that's labeled "fat." We need a lot of healthy, whole food fat in our diet. Fat is so important to our well being that we must consume a large percentage of it everyday or we become ill. There is a lot of misunderstanding about fat. I'm not going to get into it, I'm just going to tell you what I've learned from research and from the nutritionist. Butter is awesome! Eat whole fat butter, importantly raw butter, but if you cannot find raw use real butter and Ghee Butter. Margarine, butter spreads, etc, will damage your cells, and make you fatter- truly. As for oils, there is an overwhelming choice at the market, and overwhelming misinformation. Any oil that is refined is not good for you, processed with chemicals like hexane, nutritionally worthless and leaches nutrients from the foods you cook it in. Most oils go immediately rancid in heat, and therefore contaminate your beautiful grass fed steak and your cells (my gourmet favorite, Olive Oil, goes rancid in heat). I don't have time to write about the genetically modified quality of most vegetable oils, so please do some research of your own at the Non-GMO Project. Avoid mainstream commercial canola, corn, vegetable, cotton seed, hemp, soy and grapeseed oils at all costs. "Partially hydrogenated" are the worst... avoid, avoid, avoid.

Here is the short list of "acceptable oils" but there are more:
Coconut Oil- unrefined, expeller pressed, extra virgin... it's the elixir of the Gods...
Lard
Extra virgin, organic, cold pressed, unfiltered olive oil (salad dressings- not to be used for cooking with heat)
Omega Nutrition Sesame Oil
Organic Mayonnaise

GRAINS
Always buy grains in their natural state. Avoid processed grains, including those that are genetically modified. Never eat packaged grains that include additives. Approved grains are listed below. The following "real carbohydrate" selections contain approximately 15 grams of carbohydrate per listed serving size:

organic, barley, 1/2 cup
brown rice, 1/2 cup
whole grain buckwheat, 1/2 cup
buckwheat groats (kasha), 1/2 cup
bulgur (tabouli), 1/3 cup
crude corn bran, 1/4 cup
corn grits, 1/2 cup
couscous farina, 1/2 cup
millet, 1/2 cup
oats, 2/3 cup
polenta, 1/2 cup
popcorn (popped), 2-1/2 cups
quinoa, 1/2 cup
rye, 1/4
whole grain dry semolina, 2 tablespoons
tapioca, 1/4 cup
triticale, 2-1/2 tablespoons
whole grain wheat, 1-1/2 tablespoons
crude wheat bran, 1/2 cup
wheat germ, 1/2 cup
wild rice, 1/2 cup

Additional shopping guides:

The Non GMO Project PDF Shopping Guide

Contact Weston Price Foundation via telephone to order a hard copy of their very comprehensive shopping guide

Seafood Watch PDF Shopping Guide

More Information for the economically minded.
The text below is quoted from Organic Farming Research:
Why does organic cost more?
The cost of organic food is higher than that of conventional food because the organic price tag more closely reflects the true cost of growing the food: substituting labor and intensive management for chemicals, the health and environmental costs of which are borne by society. These costs include cleanup of polluted water and remediation of pesticide contamination. Prices for organic foods include costs of growing, harvesting, transportation and storage. In the case of processed foods, processing and packaging costs are also included. Organically produced foods must meet stricter regulations governing all these steps than conventional foods. The intensive management and labor used in organic production are frequently (though not always) more expensive than the chemicals routinely used on conventional farms. There is mounting evidence that if all the indirect costs of conventional food production were factored into the price of food, organic foods would cost the same, or, more likely, be cheaper than conventional food. Cost, however, is very dependent upon market venue and consumer product choice. It is possible to consume a moderately priced diet of organic foods by purchasing directly from farmers at venues such as farmers markets, and by choosing unprocessed organically grown foods at the grocery store.

You're not as old as I am, you're still young and growing up

Yesterday in yoga class, I became so discouraged. I suddenly came face to face with my own mind and my own mental limitations; not just my physical limitations. I had the unfortunate, or fortunate (depending on your view) pleasure of taking a yoga class with several of my instructors (all in their 20s) and other advanced yogis in the class. The class is surrounded in mirrors, and we are asked to look at ourselves, so it's ego confrontation central. In every move, I was the one at the highest elevation in the room, with the least bend, the least flexibility, and the least strength. I would look at the others bent like rubber bands and full of strength; that ole compare and despair habit kicked in. I started justifying it with age. Thinking to myself, 'oh, i'm almost 20 yrs older than most of these people.' After class I talked to my instructor about how my lower back was continuing to hurt and my knees were beginning to hurt. She asked me to modify the poses even more, so that now, I might even be worse off than the 70 yr woman who is in class sometimes.

That said, during class I decided that much of what I was facing was my own fear and resistance. So throughout class, despite my pain, disappointment and truly wounded ego, I started smiling. I didn't feel like smiling, but it helped anyway. I smiled through every single pose and made it through. Later though, when I got home, I was still discouraged inside. And as most of us do (I imagine), I was trying to find something in the outside world, outside of me to blame it on. I had many thoughts, such as, 'oh I'm in a class with a bunch of 22 year old rubber bands.' The better part of myself debunked that, by reminding myself, that of all the yoga classes I have attended in Los Angeles, Bikram has largest group of over 55 year old students, who by the way, are a hell of a lot more agile than some of the 20 year olds I've seen. So back to my fear, my submission to suffering and misery as my state of being. This is a character defect of mine.

My next fear-based, blame the outside world excuse: I decided I needed a new yoga studio. It's the yoga studio's fault, of course! I quickly develop a grumpy laundry list of why Bikram is too hot, too smelly and too young (all of it not true); again, more fear. But I indulge this dark mental whim in myself, and go hunting for other HOT, sexy yoga studios. I come across "Power Yoga." I peruse several different centers for power yoga, and again I find that every teacher, and every student in the class photos is sleek and under the age of 30. They all look like rubber bands. I'm then reminded of my horrifying experiment with a Wii Fit game at my mother's house which reported that my "Wii Fit age" was actually 49 yrs old. Ahhh! That's not true! It can't be. I'm so young-- I cannot be physically accelerated in age by 12 years!

Now I'm so pissed at myself, at how this discouraging line of thinking is going to send me back to the couch with bon bons in hand and a Wii Fit Age of 91, that I begin to psyche myself into a Brett Favre mindset: you're not too old for this game, and I'll prove it to you! So I google "old yoga instructors in Los Angeles." I know, a desperate search query, but I was feeling desperate... just hoping I could meet a guy like Frank again. Frank was a 70+ year old yoga instructor who used to yell in class, "We don't burn incense- we burn calories." I didn't find any "old" instructors in Los Angeles, but I didn't look too hard. Before I could, I happened across this woman, and she inspired me just enough to get my positive spirit back. I hope you find her inspiring, too.

Give a woman a fish- she'll eat for a day. Teach a woman to fish- she'll eat for a lifetime.

It's another day, and I still need to eat, still need to stay alive, and continue to try and do this thoughtfully (mostly), ethically and healthfully. It's quite difficult, because I would much rather be at McDonald's right now eating a filet-o-fish with an apple pie for dessert. That's all changed now that I know for sure that I would feel like total crap about 30 minutes later.

So today's dilemma for me is fish. I hate fish markets. They depress me and they usually smell so awful that I want to run out the door, or puke. Also, I have no idea how to fish, how to gut a fish, how to cook fish, how to buy it, or even which kind of fish is which. But, I love fish; they are beautiful creatures that breathe water, taste yummy, and if eaten correctly, are super great for health. So I'm attempting to tackle my current issue of fish.

What I have learned so far, is that fish should NOT smell fishy when you buy them, cook them, or eat them. Most fish markets have rancid, smelly fish because they are not so close to a nearby sea or fishery. That means the fish have traveled quite a distance to get to the fish market. Upon the advice of my hardcore nutritionist, I have opted for frozen fish (except when I'm eating my Uncle's fresh catch). Frozen fish is about the freshest you can get, unless you are standing at the docks.

I'm glad I solved that. In my urban lifestyle, I think this is technically learning to fish. On to which fish to choose... Does it have mercury? Did they kill dolphins and baby seals to get it into a can? Well, look no further: The Monterey Bay Aquarium has provided us with wonderful resource on what fish to buy, why, and what kind of fishery it is. They have a guide to support ocean-friendly, environmentally conscious, sustainable fishing.

CHECK IT OUT: The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch

Here is their January 2011 "BEST" Choices for Fish Purchasing List (the ocean is constantly changing and in peril, so go to their site to get the most recent information)...
Abalone (US farmed)
Arctic Char (farmed)
Barramundi (US farmed)
Catfish (US farmed)
Clams, Mussels, Oysters (farmed)
Cod: Pacific (US bottom longline)
Crab: Dungeness
Halibut: Pacific (US)
Lobster: Spiny (US)
Rockfish: Black (CA, OR,WA, hook & line)
Sablefish/Black Cod (Alaska, BC)
Salmon (Alaska wild)
Sardines: Pacific (US)
Scallops (farmed off-bottom)
Shrimp: Pink (OR)
Striped Bass (farmed or wild*)
Tilapia (US farmed)
Trout: Rainbow (US farmed)
Tuna: Albacore including canned white tuna (troll/pole, US and BC)
Tuna: Skipjack including canned light tuna (troll/pole)
White Seabass

After that daunting education, I'm standing at Whole Foods and they have what they have. I don't have that many choices, but I find a frozen wild Mahi Mahi from a sustainable fishery. Now, I'm all excited-- I feel confident about this purchase. If like me, you are not so confident about buying fish, an outfit called Vital Choice will solve your problem and ship it to your door... they are expensive but provide ethical access to very high quality, gourmet, sushi grade, amazing fish.
CHECK IT OUT: Vital Choice Wild Seafood and Organics

On to my last issue: cooking. I don't know how to cook fish. Luckily, despite my new healthy eating program, I am still obsessed with The Food Network and their shows, so I have access to how to figure it out. Shockingly, I found a great recipe from the deep fry queen herself, Paula Deen, that is very healthy, especially when I dropped in my own modifications.

PD Mahi Mahi Lettuce Wrap Redux
(for you calorie counters, this dish is 326 calories, total)

• Organic Fresh or Frozen Mango, 1 cup diced
  
• Organic tomatoes, 1/4 cup diced
  
• Organic Onion, 1/4 cup finely diced
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped organic cilantro leaves
• 1 organic lime or lemon, juiced
• Sea salt and pepper
• 1 frozen wild mahi mahi fillets
• 1 teaspoon organic expeller pressed coconut oil (Spectrum has a decent quality)
• Organic butter lettuce, or any other organic large leaf lettuce as substitute
  

Directions

Preheat saute pan to medium-high heat.

Combine the mango, tomatoes, cilantro and lime/lemon juice in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. (I used fresh salsa from the night before and just combined it with the mango). Put a teaspoon of solid coconut oil in pan and allow to melt. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Saute for roughly 3 to 4 minutes per side, until just opaque in the center. Set aside to cool

When slightly cool, chop into large chunks. Once mahi mahi chunks have cooled, lay them on a single lettuce leaf and spoon mango salsa mixture on top. Wrap and eat.

Ta dah!

My Urban Granola Manifesto: Experiments for Wellness (in Los Angeles and beyond)...

So, I started the whole New Years get-well kick in March of 2010, then again in December 2010. In January 2011 it has fully kicked in. I'm officially starting to feel great and ready to face a new year in a new way! As I'm on a slow approach to my forties, and my personal health has declined (due to my lack of healthy habits), I thought it was high time to feel better. I know, I know; I'm young compared to some of my old fart friends, but I was getting stiff, gaining weight, generally feeling ill, tired and super run-down. Given my years of advocacy for mental health and feeling a sense of well being, I decided to step it up a notch for myself... into full body awareness and self-care.

I will not bore you with all the details of how great I'm feeling but.... Sure, at times I'm still achy and dealing with chronic back pain from that old sledding accident, but I've lost 7 lbs (which is enough weight loss for me); I don't have insomnia anymore; my nervous energy has nearly disappeared; my allergies have decreased; I don't drink any caffeine (a miracle) and most importantly I feel a strange, new calm, blissful sense of well-being...

So here's what has worked for me in these experiments... Oh, and these are just MY experiments, and they work for me, and may not work for you... I want you to have wellness and happiness, so try your own!

THE MASTER CLEANSE

WHAT: The Master Cleanse... 10 days of detox... you suffer, and I mean, I suffered for 10 days, on only drinking a lemon juice concoction (no solid food). Yup, no solid food for 10 days.

MY BENEFIT: Clear glowing skin, big weight loss (some people lose 20 lbs, I lost 7 lbs, but I'm already small), really improved digestion, general feeling of wellness and detox, total reduction in all my physical complaints, increased energy, and a strange existential connection to something greater than myself, including a real faith in my body's resilience. Once all the detox symptoms passed, I felt like I was floating, literally.

MY SIDE EFFECTS: ***This detox is not for diabetics and one must consult with a holistic nutritionist/doctor if you have any health problems***. In the first few days, I wanted to die. I was in so much pain from sugar and caffeine withdrawal. I had detox symptoms: weakness, overwhelming food cravings and pain drove me to near madness. Then, by day 7, I was so bored, because I couldn't cope with life without food. I had an epiphany that my life revolved around eating. The boredom almost killed me (but it was just a detox symptom). Coming off the cleanse, I realized that I had no idea how to eat properly and had to relearn to treat my body well.

CHECK IT OUT: http://therawfoodsite.com/mastercleanse.htm,

http://www.rawfoodexplained.com/introduction-to-fasting/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1mK7TclJrs

BIKRAM YOGA

WHAT: 3-5 days per week of Bikram Yoga... not just any yoga... 700 calorie burning (per class), heart pumping, back aligning, hot ass, I mean HOT, yoga. If you like dripping in sweat and jumping around with yogis in bathing suits like I do-- you'll be in heaven. Yum!

MY BENEFIT: I have more energy, more strength and flexibility than I have had in years! I have better breathing, clearer sinuses, improved self-confidence and increased feelings of calm and well being.

MY SIDE EFFECTS: The classes are very difficult and the heat is stifling. Afterwards, I have muscle soreness, and dehydration when I'm not drinking (half my body weight in ounces) in water. I get so impatient with drinking that much water.

CHECK IT OUT: http://www.bikramyoga.com/

HEALTHY EATING

WHAT: Changing my eating habits...this is still an experiment in progress... but it includes seriously reduced carbohydrates, no white bread (unless I make it with organic flours), no sugar, absolutely no soy, no soy bullshit processed crap (like tofu chicken-yikes!), using only cold pressed coconut oil and ghee (clarified) butter (no processed margarine crap)... basically no processed crap food and BUYING LOCAL. I started with my local corner store. Corner stores are all over Los Angeles, run by little Mom and Pop families (the one near my house is run by an Armenian family and it's just a bit bigger than my living room). They buy local produce and they know their farmer, although not necessarily organic, I like that I know who I'm buying from and they know who they're buying from. I will blog in more detail about nutrition in another future post and my new organic, non-GMO obsession.

MY BENEFIT: Less gastrointestinal issues, reduced food allergies, a feeling of connection with what I eat, a sense of trust that I am doing the right thing for my health and maybe the planet, access to vitamins from my food and not from processed supplements, of course, more energy and no food comas or sugar crashes after I eat.

MY SIDE EFFECTS: It's tedious to become properly educated about food (and supplements). It's frustrating and overwhelming to break old habits. It's been daunting to fly in the face of mainstream industry and overcome the urge for easy access, mass produced food. The peer pressure from friends, and others, who wonder why I'm not eating refined sugar, or why I refuse that piece of crappy, highly processed, cake they are offering me. I've recently been insultingly called a "rabbit" by a friend who just couldn't understand the true benefits of eating better and eating a large proportion of almost raw vegetables. If I'm a happier and healthier person, then the world is a better place; one person at a time.

CHECK IT OUT:

GET EDUCATED: http://www.amazon.com/Prescription-Nutritional-Healing-3rd/dp/1583330771

GET EDUCATED: http://www.westonaprice.org/

BUY LOCAL: http://greenlagirl.com/locavoring-in-a-box-organic-csas-in-los-angeles/

YOU DON'T NEED TO BE A VEGETARIAN (don't ya know that our kale fields kill animals too), EAT HEALTHY ETHICAL MEAT: http://www.grasslandbeef.com/StoreFront.bok

IF YOU'RE A RABBIT TOO, GET MORE EDUCATED: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/lipid-hypothesis/the-vegetarian-myth/

MEDITATION

WHAT: Meditation and Mindfulness...everyday, whether it's 5 minutes, or 2 hours, I sit on my meditation cushion, or I attend a meditation class, or I listen to an audio meditation, or I'm sitting in traffic practicing mindfulness, or I'm walking, or doing the dishes; calmness is available to me (I'm learning).

MY BENEFIT: An increased sense of calm and reduced anxiety in the face of stress, a deeper connection to myself and something greater than myself (a feeling of interconnectedness), a spiritual/existential awareness, increased intuition and awareness of my thinking process, lower blood pressure and just generally feeling like a nicer, less impatient, less bitchy person.

MY SIDE EFFECTS: I mean, who has time to sit around!? Literally, sitting there doing "nothing," especially listening to my own whack thoughts, can be and has been kind of overwhelming, frustrating, tedious and sometimes pretty boring. The time factor has been my usual excuse... then I heard an interview with Richard Gere, who also seems to be an urban granola hippie like I'm discovering about myself, and he explained that he meditates, ritually, without interruption, everyday, regardless of his schedule or film stress or anything. He seems pretty busy, so I figured, I had no excuse.

CHECK IT OUT:

http://www.againstthestream.org/

http://www.deerparkmonastery.org/

OTHER STUFF WORTH MENTIONING

Lastly, I've added high quality pure Omega 3 by Nordic Naturals (http://www.nordicnaturals.com/), Chocolate Superfood by Amazing Grass ( http://www.amazinggrass.com/chocolategreensuperfood.html), Probiotics by Innate Response (http://www.innateresponse.com/ ) and decent quality B Complex with METHYLACOBALAMIN B12 and and occasional use of Bach Rescue Remedy (http://www.bachflower.com/index.html ) when I'm stressed out... all of it has helped, a lot.

In total, this is my current experimental recipe for feeling physically and emotionally great in 2011! It's working so far.