Articles

It’s still dark outside and the alarm clock starts ringing. You reach for the snooze button and dread the thought of getting out of bed. Once again, you wonder why you are so tired. You vow to be your best today and wish you would have gone to bed earlier the night before and promise yourself tonight will be different. But right now, you have to concentrate on getting out of bed and preparing for the day ahead.

One of the most important things you can do for yourself in the morning is eat a healthy breakfast. Your body needs food first thing in the morning, but it is also important to nourish your body with protein and fiber, not caffeine and sugar. Of course, it is easy to run to the corner deli and pick up a muffin and coffee. Don’t be fooled: a low-fat muffin is not the answer. Taking out the fat means adding more sugar. Not only is the excess sugar going to zap your energy, it is also going to get stored as fat — double jeopardy!

Consider oatmeal with fresh fruit sprinkled with pumpkin seeds or almonds. Prepare hard-boiled eggs with whole grain bread and peanut butter. Get your caffeine from green tea. Certainly, there are many choices for a nutritious breakfast.

Alas, the day has been rushing along from one task to the next, and you are trying your best to keep up. Like clockwork, you look up at 3pm, shrug and think, “how am I going to make it through the rest of the day?”

Please, avoid the vending machines. I know they may “look” convenient, but in reality, the junk food you will eat will make your life harder, literally – it will be more difficult to concentrate after the sugar high wears off. Be prepared for the 3pm slump by bringing a healthy snack from home. [Brown] rice cakes with almond butter and an “all fruit” spread will provide a sustained energy boost. You can take a short walk to pick up a cup of green tea to enjoy with your snack. Or, try a Larabar or a Jaybar, two of my favorite bars (I never leave home without at least one in my bag). The important thing to remember about your 3pm snack is to avoid sugar; eat something light (so it won’t weigh you down and bring your energy level down) with a mix of protein and carbohydrates to give you a balanced energy boost.

Food and energy can be considered synonymous, depending on the context. What we eat has a direct correlation to our energy levels and, perhaps, our productivity. But there is also another aspect to our energy and productivity that is of equal importance: movement. During the day, so many of us feel “chained” to our desks. I know I used to be that way; the thought of stepping away from my desk for 30 seconds made my heart sink. I’d think, “what if…?” I’d tell myself that the project I was working on would not get completed if I dared to take a 10-minute walk around the block for “some air.” Hah! What I should have told myself was that the task could get done more efficiently if I took a few minutes to re-energize my mind and body. Take a break, or two, even three, throughout the day.

When you are debating whether or not to take a break, think about this: In a study done at Louisiana State University and published in Computers and Industrial Engineering, a schedule that included brief, more frequent breaks was best in terms of fighting fatigue and increasing productivity. A win-win situation!

How are you feeling right now, as you read this? Overwhelmed; as if there is no way you “have time” to take a break or plan a healthy snack? Please, trust me. You do.

One way to get comfortable with these strategies to avoid fatigue and stay productive is to actually breathe and allow your body and mind to “feel” comfortable. What am I talking about? Meditation. At work? Yes! When you first arrive at the office, sit quietly and breathe. Just 2-3 minutes, a mini-meditation, can give your body a morning jolt to tackle your to-do list. After lunch, do the same thing. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and calm your mind. Yes, the voice mail is probably full and many more emails are in your inbox. That’s OK, breathe and feel your body relax so you are calm, comfortable and ready for the tasks at hand. Later on in the afternoon, once again, allow yourself time for meditation. Think about it. If you did this three times a day for three minutes each, that’s a total of nine minutes. You can do it!

I bet all your co-workers will be asking, “where do you get all your energy?”

Your assignment:

1. Eat a healthy breakfast (I bet you knew I was going to assign this to you.)
2. Prepare a healthy snack to carry with you. (This won’t take long, I promise.)
3. Schedule breaks in your day. (Yes, write them in your calendar.)
4. Make time to clear your mind and breathe. (Sure, go ahead; write this in your calendar in addition to #3.)

This assignment will help you keep your energy levels high throughout the day, not to mention your productivity. If you are concerned about your nutrition and lifestyle routines and know you want to do things differently so you can best your best every day, contact me at jodi@bravowellness.com or call 917-603-2318. At Bravo! Wellness, I work with my clients to create manageable lifestyle changes so they are able to achieve their greatest potential in life, health and business.

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When was the last time you woke up and thought “How’s my liver today?” Probably not recently….or ever. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Before we relegate the liver to after-thought status, let’s take a look at how this incredible organ keeps us looking and feeling our best.

Located just below the diaphragm, primarily in the upper right part of the abdomen and behind the ribs, the liver is the largest solid organ in the body. Here’s a look at the liver’s crucial role in the complex human body:

• Manufactures proteins to help maintain the volume of blood and create blood clotting factors
• Metabolizes fats, including fatty acids and cholesterol
• Metabolizes and store carbohydrates, which are used as the source for the sugar in blood
• Forms and secretes bile to aid in the intestinal absorption of fats and the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.
• Eliminates the potentially harmful biochemical products produced by the body
• Detoxifies drugs, alcohol, and environmental toxins

Phew! That’s a lot of work for one organ! I’m sure you can understand why it is absolutely necessary to make sure our livers are in tip-top shape. But how can we tell if our livers are functioning properly? Unexplained nausea, unexplained headaches (including migraines), skin rashes and acne, hormonal imbalances, chronic constipation and lack of appetite in the morning are all signs that our livers are sending out an SOS signal.

Here are five ways to give your liver the care it needs:

1. What You Eat: Eat organically grown foods that support liver function, like artichokes, oatmeal, garlic, cabbage, rosemary, turmeric, ginger, beets, orange foods and green foods – try the kale recipe featured in this ezine
2. How You Eat: Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full. Eat slowly and chew your food until it’s become liquid to aid digestion.
3. How You Move: Consistent, gentle activity like walking, hiking and biking improve circulation in and out of the liver. Make sure you have movement in other areas, too – aim for two-three bowel movements per day.
4. What You Drink: Drink more water. Divide your body weight by 2 to get the number of ounces you need to drink daily. For example, a 150-pound person needs 75 ounces of water.



5. How You Feel: In Chinese medicine, anger is the emotion associated with the liver. Acknowledge and work through anger using a journal (or seek professional help). Then, focus your attention on all the positive things in your life and acknowledge them daily. (This is why I want to “warm your heart” and keep you happy.)

For more than 2,000 years, healers have used milk thistle to treat liver ailments. Visit my blog for more information on this potent and important herb.

Your assignment:

1. Add more liver-friendly foods to your meal plans. Try the kale recipe in this ezine as a start.
2. Consciously chew your food; count how many times you chew before swallowing.
3. Drink water. Do I sound like a broken record? It’s for your benefit and I want to keep you healthy and happy.
4. Make a list of what makes you happy and engage in at least one “happy” activity every day.

This assignment will help to keep your liver functioning at its optimal level at all times. If you are concerned about your nutrition and lifestyle routines and know you want to do things differently in the new year, contact me at jodi@bravowellness.com or call 917-603-2318. At Bravo! Wellness, I work with my clients to create manageable lifestyle changes so they are able to achieve their greatest potential in life, health and business.

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Let’s face it – we’re busy people! A flight for work, a busy day of errands, a road trip to a friend’s house, back-to-back meetings, a weekend away with someone special (not to mention carpools for the kids)…. We’ve got places to go, people to see and things to do. So how do we fuel ourselves healthily when we’re on the run?

If you are driving somewhere, you need to make sure you fill the gas tank so your car has what it needs to operate efficiently. You wouldn’t want to risk getting stuck on the highway with an empty tank of gas, would you? What about your body? Do you care about your body as much as you care about your car? Do you take the time to think about where you are going to be and what food will be available to eat?

Or, are you like most people who think, “I’ll just grab something when I get there.” [translation: fast-food]

Don’t fret. Planning isn’t difficult; in fact, it is quite simple. Just remember your “QTQs”. Nope, that’s not a stock symbol for a high-tech company. “QTQ” stands for Quality, Timing and Quantity, three easy concepts to keep in mind when eating on-the-go.

Quality: Aim to eat the least-processed foods available. The closer a food is to its natural state, the higher the quality.

Timing: Timing is crucial when eating on-the-go. Make sure you have a snack with you for those “just in case” moments (especially when timing is out of your control…traffic, meeting runs late). If you’re ravenous, you’re far more likely to fall prey to the siren call of the drive-thru.

Quantity: It’s easy to mindlessly indulge when you’re driving or bored at the airport. Take time to breathe and chew while you eat, so you can really feel when your body has had enough. Aim to eat to the point of feeling like you’ve refilled your energy provisions, and then stop. You want your food to fuel you up when you’re on the run, not slow you down.

Lesson learned…

Two summers ago I planned an overnight trip to Chicago. I was to fly from New York City to Chicago, attend meetings, sleep at a hotel and fly early the next morning to Albany to meet my husband for a weekend in the Berkshires. I packed protein bars and snacks for the travel day on Friday and a bar for Saturday. All went well on Friday, but things began to unravel on Saturday when I stayed in bed a little too long. I did not have breakfast at the hotel, knowing I had one protein bar in my bag. When I arrived at the airport, despite having a confirmed seat, I was not allowed to board the plane. I was told the plane was too heavy (I remember wondering if the universe was trying to tell me something).

I grabbed a cup of tea and ate my bar as I tried to sort out how I was going to get from Chicago to Albany. I was soon re-booked on another flight and scheduled to arrive in Albany around lunch time. No problem.

A little while later I was horrified to find out the second flight was cancelled and I was told I couldn’t get on a flight until 3pm (it was only 9am!) So now, a relatively short travel morning was beginning to stretch into the afternoon. I was stuck in the airport with none of “my” food.

To make a long story short, I was able to get on a flight at noon and brought along a few bottles of water (purchased after going through security, of course); and, I was given a first-class seat. Luckily, no one seemed disturbed by my stomach growling. [Hmmm…in all honesty, I'm not sure which was worse, the fact that I had been stuck in an airport without food, or that my husband had time to "waste" en route to Albany so he shopped - without me, obviously – at the Woodbury Commons outlet mall for a couple of hours.]

Back to the lesson…

It is so important to take time to think about your nourishment every day, on air travel days as well as “regular” days – work, carpools, etc. Even though I did prepare for my trip, I didn’t consider the possibility of a flight delay or cancellation (it was June, so snow wasn’t a factor). Just one more protein bar would have made all the difference; or, had I woken up a little earlier (T for timing) and had an omelet or oatmeal at the hotel (Q for quality), I would have had a spare (quantity) protein bar for emergencies.

Your assignment: (don’t pass this up, some goodies below)

1. Visit Bravo! Wellness on facebook and read my list of favorite travel snacks.
2. Visit my blog to see my favorite links to great resources – finding healthy food options around the USA – even around the world – is easy online.
3. Create time in your daily calendar to plan meals. Look at your schedule – how much time do you have for breakfast? For lunch? For dinner? Where will you be? What is available?
4. Make a list of your favorite, simple on-the-go meals and snacks and always make sure you have a supply on hand, ready to go when you need them.

This assignment will help you plan your meals and snacks more efficiently, so you appreciate the value of eating healthily, even when you are on the go. If you are concerned about your nutrition and lifestyle routines and know you want to do things differently in the new year, contact me at jodi@bravowellness.com or call 917-603-2318. At Bravo! Wellness, I work with my clients to create manageable lifestyle changes so they are able to achieve their greatest potential in life, health and business.

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Cleanse = addition + subtraction

The last Bravo! Wellness e-zine introduced cleansing and the process of removing toxins from our bodies. Dr. Elson Hass, renowned integrative practitioner and author, coined the term SNACCs to identify his top five: sugar, nicotine, alcohol, caffeine and chemicals). However, removing toxins is only one side of the cleansing equation. The other side, which is just as crucial, is adding in nutrient dense whole foods. Experiment with this formula: reduce SNACCs, increase whole foods.

Now, keeping this formula in mind, there are different degrees of cleansing. You can go out in the desert and live on water for 40 days, or you can simply eliminate one food that you rely on every day. It could be your morning bagel, your 3:00pm mocha latte or the fast-food drive-thru lane you find yourself in on the way home from work.

Remember, eliminating toxins is only one side of the equation. So you’ve decided which SNACC you are getting rid of – great! Now the question is, what will you add to your daily diet? A good idea: greens…and lots of them. Some examples of nutrition-dense vegetables include kale, collard greens, dandelion greens, spinach and arugula. Greens are the food most missing from modern diets, yet they are loaded with beneficial phytochemicals and cleansing fiber. Phytochemicals, from the Greek word meaning “plant,” are natural compounds found in plant foods that work with nutrients and dietary fiber to protect against disease.

Don’t let adding in greens overwhelm you. Start with adding some variety to your salads – use spinach as a base instead of lettuce. Easy! Or, start snacking on one of my favorites – kale chips. Spray a little olive oil on a cookie sheet or tin foil. Arrange kale in single layers and then sprinkle with salt, pepper, even cinnamon. Bake on 350-375 degrees until crispy (flip over, if desired, after 10 minutes). Total cooking time may vary based on oven strength.

Another (easy) way to add more greens to your diet is…wheatgrass juice! Seriously, a shot of this powerhouse will undoubtedly give you a great jump start to greens. Wheatgrass first became widely known in the West in the 1930s when a man named Charles Shnabel began touting its benefits. He claimed “15 pounds of wheatgrass is equivalent to 350 pounds of the choicest vegetables.” Although science hasn’t proven that claim, it has proven that wheatgrass has one of the highest concentrations of nutrients and is the fastest and easiest grass to grow. The best way to absorb its goodness is by extracting the juice.

Wheatgrass works by filling nutritional gaps in the diet and cleansing the blood. It is high in vitamins A, C and E (it has the same amount of vitamin C as an orange!). It is also an excellent source of essential B vitamins and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and sodium, all of which are necessary for healthy bones, teeth, hair and skin.

Wheatgrass juice contains natural enzymes which help the body’s defense mechanism by strengthening cells and removing poisons from the blood stream. It helps eliminate toxins accumulated from eating processed food, breathing polluted air and drinking impure water. Wheatgrass is approximately 70% crude chlorophyll, which can alkalize the body and have a highly energizing effect.

It is best to drink wheatgrass on an empty stomach and follow with a glass of water. Start with a quarter shot and build up to a full shot. To begin with, mix wheatgrass juice with other vegetable juices so you can get used to the flavor.

While mastering adding greens to your daily food intake think about what else you will focus on in 2010. Is your life cluttered – literally and figuratively? What will make you happy? The detoxification formula – toxins out, whole nutrients in – applies to every facet of your life, not just food. Living your best life NOW is possible by removing all things that detract from your best “you,” and adding in nutritious food, creating a peaceful environment and adding soul-inspiring activities to your daily routine.

Your assignment:

1. Make a commitment to add greens to your diet. Remember, it is OK to start slowly. Don’t get overwhelmed.
2. [This one is an easy one...] Drink more water. Yes, drinking water will help eliminate toxins from your body and avoid dehydration so you can maximize your energy.
3. Make a list of the fun activities you want to engage in regularly in the new year. Begin making some plans so you have time allocated in your calendar.
4. Carve out special time for yourself – to read, drink a cup of tea, take a walk, even watch television (a program that will relax you, not a shoot-‘em-up movie).

This assignment will help you better understand the importance of adding greens to your diet and making time for fun. If you are concerned about your nutrition and lifestyle routines and know you want to do things differently in the new year, contact me at jodi@bravowellness.com or call 917-603-2318. At Bravo! Wellness, I work with my clients to create manageable lifestyle changes so they are able to achieve their greatest potential in life, health and business.

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“An apple a day keeps the doctor away”…and there’s no better time to eat apples than right now. Labor Day is the official start of apple-picking season in the mid-Atlantic and northeast states. After a rainy summer, the apples are big and plentiful.

Did you know?

• Apples originated in the Middle East more than 4000 years ago.
• Apples arrived in England around 1066
• English settlers brought them to America in the 1600 and 1700’s.

A man named Johnny Chapman, born in Leominster, Massachusetts, on September 26, 1774, is credited with spreading apple crops to various parts of the United States. He was a skilled farmer who grew trees and supplied apple seeds to the pioneers in the mid-west. Johnny Chapman became known as Johnny Appleseed because of his love for apple trees. He died at the age of 70, after devoting 50 years to growing apple trees and spreading seeds throughout the USA.

Some important nutrition information about apples:

• Apples are absolutely fat-free.
• One apple provides as much dietary fiber as a bowl of bran cereal. That’s equal to one fifth of the recommended daily intake of fiber.
• Apples are loaded with pectin, a soluble fiber that aids digestion and may help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.
• The complex carbohydrates in apples give your body a longer, more even energy boost compared to high-sugar snacks. Snacking on apples can keep you going throughout the day.*
• Apples provide boron, an essential trace element that helps harden bones. Strong bones help prevent osteoporosis.

Apple facts courtesy of New York Apple Association

*When snacking on an apple, I combine it with a protein source, such as a handful of almonds, to counteract the effect of the sugar content. This helps to sustain the energy for an extended period of time.

Your assignment:

1. Plan a family outing and spend the afternoon apple-picking.
2. Add fresh apples and cinnamon to oatmeal for a delicious, nutritious breakfast.
3. Carry an apple and handful of nuts for a mid-afternoon snack. Or, spread a nut butter on apple slices.
4. Place apple slices on top of your salad for added fiber and flavor.

This assignment will help you incorporate more fruit into your diet. If you are concerned about the foods you eat and want to discuss how you can add more nutritious foods to your eating routine and live an energized life, contact me at jodi@bravowellness.com or call 917-603-2318. At Bravo! Wellness, I work with my clients to create manageable lifestyle changes so they are able to reach their goals and maintain a healthy and fulfilling standard of living.