For 12 years I have eaten an 80% wheat free diet but decided to really commit to being 100% wheat free about 3 months ago.  I chose to do this because I want to be as healthy as I can be without living life in the “no fun zone” and this I knew would probably be a very easy shift for me. Wheat creates inflammation in the body and an inflamed body wreaks havoc on the immune system, in ways that people may not realize – think Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis and Asthma to name a few. I also decided that I was drinking too much wine, so I have reduced that by a lot.  I subscribe to the theory that most things are okay in moderation so I like wine and haven’t completely given it up but I have switched to soda water which I have always liked.  I am still unclear on whether soda water leaches calcium from the bones as I have seen mixed information on that but I figure it is better than wine and again, if my main drink is plain water then I am doing okay.

So… the slide.  After doing really well and finding my new changes quite easy, I started to back slide.  It started with a wine tasting on a Thursday, then friends coming over for wine and cheese on Friday.  Then on Sunday, my boyfriend brought home some cookies from the French bakery (I also skipped my work out this day and went golfing, which by the way, unless you out of shape and are humping your clubs all over the course on your back, is NOT a work out), then I was too tired after being in the hot sun on the course to want to make dinner so he served wine and cheese.  The next morning I woke up and decided that I had a craving for a bagel and cream cheese.  I could see the slide happening.  I did a quick check in to remind myself of my commitment to my health.  Instead of giving in to the craving, I went to a kettle ball fitness class, had a protein shake after and the rest of the day went smoothly and I was back on track.  How did I not let myself go down that route that so often happens when people make a healthy change? I checked in to my commitment. I checked in to what I really want for my health.  A vision statement can be a very powerful tool.  You can do this for any area of your life.

How to do this: Think about what you want.  Imagine how you are going to feel once you reach your goal.  How do you feel now? What do you want to be different?  Where do you want to be? Create a statement around that in the positive and stated in the present. Create a vibration in your body as you say your statement, feel the excitement, visualize yourself there in that moment, what are you seeing, smelling, hearing and touching. For e.g.  I am visualizing myself at a summer party wearing a sleeveless silk dress, I am with friends, we are laughing, the air is warm and breezy.  My statement is: “I feel so amazing and so happy that every day I wake with energy and can handle the activities of the day with ease.  My muscles are toned, I look fab and I feel strong!”  If this were your vision statement you would say this with an energy that made you believe it has happened. A good idea is to have this statement posted at the ready around your home and office so you see it regularly. Knowing your WHY for getting healthy is a key ingredient in keeping yourself healthy. If you would like to explore this more, please feel free to be in touch.

This article is hopefully going to clear up some misinformation about various protein shakes out there.  These days it is becoming increasingly important to know what we are putting into our bodies.  Our environment is becoming more toxic and thus so is our food. Food manufacturers are putting things into our foods that really should not be there even if the FDA and the CFIA approve them.  These manufacturers are allowed to indulge in tricky advertising practices that leave the average person who doesn’t want to make a career out of nutrition wondering if they are making the best choices.  Those who are interested in being healthy want it simple.  They want a protein shake that is going to give their body the fuel it needs to operate best. I am going to compare the Body by Vi shakes to the Isagenix Isalean shake but you could sub any of the popular shake brands in for Body by Vi, including Boost, Ensure, Slim Fast and Carnation and I will tell you what to look for.

Here are some important and significant differences between these two shakes:

• Body by Vi uses Sucralose (an artificial sweetener) and artificial flavorings. The Isalean shake has none of this and is sweetened with fructose (different from high fructose corn syrup) from organic beets and pears.
• Body by Vi is not a complete meal replacement, it is more like a snack. The IsaLean Shake is a low-glycemic, complete meal replacement that contains balanced nutrients including fats, carbohydrates and proteins.
• The first ingredient in the Vi-shape Shake label is soy protein, which is inferior to whey protein. Whey protein is the first ingredient in the IsaLean Shake and it boosts the immune system by up to 300%.
• The organic difference. The Isalean shakes contain organic whey protein from New Zealand. The Body by Vi shake is soy based which is an allergen for many people.
• The Isalean shakes contain many more vitamins and minerals than the Body by Vi by a long shot.  A quick snapshot shows the following:

A few weeks ago I posted a delicious curry pasta recipe  based on what I had available to me. Tonight I am remaking this pasta but in a bit of a different method as I have more ingredients.  I think it will be delicious, so before I even make it, I am posting it here.  If you make it, let me know your thoughts and your adjustments.

Rice pasta
Curry
Onion
Garlic
Olive oil
Nutritional Yeast
Miso
Red Pepper
Cauliflower
Organic low sodium vegetable boullion
Toasted pumpkin seeds, raw would be healthier but I feel like toasting them.
Sea salt

Sautee chopped onion in water with vegetable boullion.  Add 9 cloves of garlic.  Once cooked, add 1-2 TBSP organic miso paste in some water and whisk, add, 1/2 cup nutritional yeast  & 1 TBSP curry and salt to taste , mix with onions.  Add more water if necessary. Separately, steam cauliflower and chopped red pepper until tender and still slightly crisp.  Add veggies to the onions and mix.  Add more water if necessary. Add cooked pasta, mix and coat pasta with sauce.
Top with fresh ground pepper and pumpkin seeds.  If necessary add some olive oil to the dish – this is optional.

I am going to serve this with a spinach salad.

Leave a comment if you made this and let me know what you thought or how you changed it for the better.

I travel a lot… this means that I am emptying my fridge and cupboards all the time. This last trip had me in limbo for about two weeks enroute from Canada to the US, so I took some needed items with me to my temporary location. I didn’t want to be without my favorite items of organic miso and nutritional yeast which is easy to find in most Vancouver stores but not so easy to find in Scottsdale stores, so I packed them as well as a few other items.  I arrived on Dec 23rd late in the evening and was hungry.  The ingredients I had were few and far between:

Butter, miso, curry, garlic, nutritional yeast, almonds, cashews, white wine & rice pasta. I love a challenge and figured I could make something tasty with what I had. Here is what I threw together and it was delicious!  This isn’t the healthiest or lowest fat meal but you could sub the butter for veggie broth and omit the wine.

7-9 cloves of garlic
1TBSP curry powder
2 TBSP butter
3-4 TBSP nutritional yeast
1/2-1 TBSP miso
Splash of wine
2 TSBP crushed cashews

Sautee garlic in butter, whisk in the miso, add curry and some water to make it still thick but not too thick, a splash of white wine.  Blend in nutritional yeast.  Add cooked pasta and mix.  Top with crushed cashews.  This was amazingly good.  If I had planned this meal I would have added onions and fresh steamed veggies like broccoli.

Normally I would have a salad and a protein with something like this and as as such we were still hungry.  I looked around at the remaining ingredients and figured that Spiced Nuts were next on the menu.

1- 1 1/2 cup of mixed nuts, I used cashews and almonds but you could also add pecans or filberts.
In pan heat the nuts until toasted about 4 mins.
In a saucepan mix 1-2 TBSP butter, add something sweet, I had maple syrup on hand but you could use brown sugar and water or agave syrup.  I used about 2 TBSP of syrup.
1 TBSP curry powder
2 TBSP nutritional yeast
salt as needed

Add nuts to the liquid and mix.  Put on a plate to cool and enjoy.

Nuts like this don’t have to be just a holiday treat.  Keep in mind though that nuts have more nutrition when they are eaten raw, rather than cooked.

Ringing in 2011 with new friends in AZ

Usually every year around this time I do major goal setting and plan my year.  This year, I am not chomping at the bit to do the goal setting, which I think is probably a good thing for me.  I have a few goals that I am still working on so I don’t want to put anything more on my plate and become unfocused. What I do want to look at are the goals and accomplishments that I achieved over the past year.  Often we forget to give ourselves accolades for the things we accomplished.   It is important to celebrate our successes, this is one of the reasons why having an accountability partner or support group can be so helpful.  Many of these goals are the ones I had written down last year and some were just fun things that happened a long the way.

I can’t believe that the year is already over and I am looking back.  Last year I spent New Year’s Eve with new friends in Arizona at the resort where in 2010 I bought my first vacation home (one of my goals in 2010).  We rang the new year in at 10 pm which I thought was really strange. Yeah, it was midnight in New York but it wasn’t for us, maybe it was some Arizona thing, it seems that everyone there is from somewhere else.

Hiking in Arizona with Roxanne

For most of the winter I was in Arizona and one of my best friends spent Christmas and my birthday with me.  I thought I would have more visitors but my next ones didn’t come until June.

My dear friend Marion and her boyfriend Julien came from France to visit.  They loved the US and embraced everything about it.  It was so cool to see it from the eyes of someone in their early 20′s from France.  They rented a fun muscle car and did a road trip from Las Vegas to California.

Wine party at my place, me & Marion.

I saw my first rattle snake and king snake. Unbeknownst to me the 6 foot king snake had a nest in the large rosemary bush outside the house.  The night before we discovered this snake and his nest, I had asked my sweetie to get me some rosemary for dinner.  He went out in the dark and started trimming rosemary.  As the Brits say, I was gobsmacked the next day when I discovered the snake that was living there.  Thank goodness they are not poisonous.  In early January, I did a quick two week stint at a gorgeous resort on the Mayan Riviera where I did yoga every day and relaxed and met some really fun people from Edmonton – they know how to party! This past year was the year that I learned to golf and to play tennis – I actually took lessons and was gifted with more for my birthday this past week!

Firing up the balloon

I went on my first hot air balloon ride over the desert, this was a birthday gift for my sweetie, one I thought he would enjoy.  WRONG! All I kept hearing was “I was a mile in the air in a wicker basket with a flame over my head”.  Once on the ground at 9 am, the champagne was popped and we had a nice breakfast in the dessert, so he was fine.  It makes for a good story anyway and he seems to enjoy telling it. This year I played it safe and got him a golf related gift.

Champagne breakfast in the desert.

Speaking of telling stories, one of the best trips I did was to Greece two years ago to go sailing.  I had no idea how to sail, I am afraid of the water, as in, I won’t swim in an ocean or a lake and it was just two of us on a 38 foot sailboat.  On our trip the waves got to 10 feet high with winds of 40 knots, the boat was heeled over so much that the sail was in the water by 2 feet and we broke a sail.

Sailing the Greek Islands

My boyfriend the experienced sailor said he had never been in a storm like that – it is the Meltemi that blows only every 5 years in June.  So, as scary as it was, it was also exhilarating and in early fall, I booked another sailing trip for May.  Hopefully the weather will co-operate and I will have many more fun adventures and stories to tell.

This past August I went to San Diego with a group of girlfriends.  We mixed business and pleasure and plan to do it again this week but this time to Phoenix.

Once I was back in Vancouver, I rollerbladed the seawall almost every day from June to October.  In July I took a 3 week road trip to the Okanagan and the Kootenays and spent time visiting with my parents.  In mid October I did a 10 day real estate research trip to Hawaii, 5 days in Honolulu and 5 days in Maui. Even though I have been to Hawaii many times I really fell in love with it this last time.  I also expanded my business into Hawaii and Australia and reached the ranks of the top 100 in Isagenix, the company for whom I am distributor, which totally surprised me.

At the end of October, I closed on a real estate purchase of a vacation home in Whistler.  This is exciting because it means new adventures and skiing – a return to my youth.  I also saw my first black bear up close, eye to eye, I am sure this will be NO big deal to me by next year as they seem to be everywhere, even when I think they should be hibernating.  One of my biggest rewards was helping a lot of people have better health.  I saw people reach goals that they didn’t think would ever happen. The success stories are so heart warming and really keep me going.  I was also fortunate enough to pick up the phone one day and call someone who I knew could really benefit from the business end of what I do.  I showed her how to integrate Isagenix into what she is currently doing and within a few months, this mother of two, with a husband still in school was able to generate an extra $1000 a month.  I find it so rewarding to be a part of helping others to fulfill their dreams.

I have a few tricks up my sleeves for 2012 and most of those are already in motion so it is just a matter of time.  Have you had a chance to reflect on your life this past year?  Getting to where you want to go is much easier with a road map to help you.  There are a few other posts here on goal setting that might be of interest. All the best to you in 2012 and remember to take good care of your health.  Without it, all the money in the world means nothing.  My motto for years has been: Your health is your wealth.  Recently when I say this, I think of the late Steve Jobs.  What he wouldn’t have done to have had his health back and to spend many more years with his family.  His money couldn’t help him extend his life.  Blessings to you all!  If you feel inclined to share your wins of 2011 or your goals for 2012, please leave a comment.