Aaack! On the Journey to Speaking Nutrition & EFT

OK, I'm stalling... but who likes public speaking?? I certainly don't, at least not yet! My wonderful friend D'Marie is starting up a public speaking class for spiritually minded folks, like me, and I have been part of her class for the past few months. Me, the quiet mouse, who dreads public speaking! I chose to participate in her program because I feel my lifepath is leading me in the direction of speaking out to families, students, and health-minded folks. My heart races every time I've had to speak, which is once every single meeting for 3 minutes on a topic I don't know until the minute before I have to speak! Aaack is right! =P

I have to admit, my public speaking skills have definitely improved over the past few weeks. I can now speak outwardly, look at and connect with my audience one person at a time, change the tone of my voice, add emphasis, etc. It is a HUGE improvement than before. But, I still have anxiety attacks before each meeting all the way up to the point where I stand and pick my topic!

Well, I have a 10 minute impromptu quarterly assessment speech with the topic of my choice to present on Tuesday. So, the past two weeks I have been feeling rather stressed out, in fact, stressed out enough to be physically ill and incapable of doing anything else, including finishing my remaining project and final exam for the first phase of my masters. Ugh.

So, after spending this entire weekend (and last week and part of the week before) stressing and having stomach flip-flops from the mere thought of the talk, I finally pulled out my dusty EFT manual. EFT as in Emotional Freedom Technique, an amazing method anyone can use to release himself/herself from emotional issues/phobias/self-sabotage/negative emotions/etc. You can find more information about EFT at this official website. It's been two years since I read up on EFT -- initially I looked into it for my fear of swimming (a topic for another time LOL!). Now, I'm realizing that EFT can be used for alot of things -- including emotional issues around food and public speaking about nutrition!

The process is really easy to do.. it involves physically tapping different parts of your body in a particular order. The process may be more complicated than that, but I haven't dealt with anything "beyond the basics." So far, it feels like it's working. After a few session of self-inflicted basic EFT, my stomach does feel better now. I don't feel so anxious or ill! Yay! Let's hope this keeps up for the next two days! =) =)

Of course I'm talking about nutrition. In fact my topic is "Incorporating healing foods into your life". Perhaps I will blog about it later!

Happy Earth Day!

Wishing you all a Happy Earth Day. I just saw this quote in someone's signature:

Live simply so that others may simply live.

It is so profound, and yet so simple. Can we all be in agreement that we can all take one step closer to Mother Nature? We can all use a little less water, a little less soap, fewer chemicals, fewer additives, and more real food!

In addition, I found this deal for Reynold's recycled aluminum foil. Check it out for a free roll!

Happy Earth Day!! Enjoy!

~Erica

Image courtesy of woodeywonderworks

Primal/Paleo Avocado Ice Cream (Dairy-free!)

Photo courtesy of joyosity

Remember those ice cream cones you ate when you were a kid? Sometimes you miss them as an adult, especially if you A) have a dairy allergy/intolerance or B) choose to eat primal-/paleo-style or C) are "dieting". Well, I say everything in moderation, and sweets fit into the "every once in a while" category.

Avocados are Mother Nature's green butter. Avocados are real food! It is mostly composed of monounsaturated fats, like olive oil, which is known to lower total cholesterol and "bad" LDL cholesterol and raise "good" HDL cholesterol. It also has the most fiber of any fruit! Avocados also have lots of vitamin Bs, vitamin K, potassium, and a multitude of phytonutrients that have yet to be discovered.

Avocado ice cream??? Some of you may say, "Ew!" to having avocado in your ice cream, but unless you try it, you really won't know for sure, will you? I found this recipe refreshing and good on a hot day. Adjust the agave nectar or sweetener of your choice to taste -- I don't like sweets so I keep it minimal. I'm still working out the kinks to this, without adding any additives or ingredients I don't normally eat. If you have suggestions, let me know!

2 C coconut milk (not the butter/oil!)
1 peeled & seeded avocado
2-3T raw honey or agave nectar

Mix all items in a blender. Take top portion of blender (where all your yummy is stored), cover with lid, and stick into the fridge for at least an hour or two (or overnight). Once chilled, put into an ice cream maker for about 25 minutes or so. Enjoy and savor every bite!


Thanks to Diane for her Friday Foodie Fix on Avocados for inspiring this blog entry!

The Best Boiled Eggs in the World!

I know, the last post was on my Japanese Egg Scramble, but why not add more to the charm of eggs? You can find the benefits of eggs on my previous post, so I won't go into all that jazz here. I will instead share with you the recipe of the best, most perfectly boiled eggs.

This is a recipe from DH (aka known as Dear Hubby, aka Brad). He loves his eggs in the morning for a take-away breakfast to work. I usually get to them as a nutritious snack to tide me over until lunch or dinner. After months of making them himself and perfecting his own recipe, he didn't bother to share it with me until last week, the nerve of him! J/K (I know he reads this blog from time to time...) =) =) =)


What I love about this recipe is that these eggs are divine. I used to need salt to choke down overly cooked boiled eggs, but not with these eggs. They are cooked to a just-done texture, where the moist yolk is a nice bright yellow color and no ugly grey rings to be had.



You'll need:

Eggs

Water

Take a medium-sized pot and fill with eggs so they are one single-layer. Fill pot with water to cover tops of eggs by at least 1/2 inch of water. Put under medium-high heat. Watch carefully! Once the water begins to boil (large bubbles), turn off heat or move pot away from burner. Leave in hot water for 9 minutes. Once 9 minutes are up, drain hot water and replace it with cool water.

PS - I have been told that older eggs make better boiled eggs than newer eggs. Apparently, they are less likely to stick to the shells when being peeled. If this works for you, please let me know. I don't think I ever have eggs that are "old" since we go through them so quickly!

Photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks

Eggs on My Mind

As tribute to Diane at The W.H.O.L.E Gang, I'm blogging about EGGS, the Secret Ingredient of the Week! I love eggs, especially free-range, pasture-fed, happy chickens. Mine are from a local farmer who does not supplement the bugs with soy, which keeps me soy-free and happy!

Eggs are one of the cheapest protein sources around. They are fairly low in calories at about 75 a pop. The best nutritious part of the egg is the yolk! It is high in vitamin A, some B vitamins, vitamin D, vitamin E, all the fat, and good cholesterol, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and zinc. Eggs are rich in choline, which is essential for cardiovascular and brain function, as well as the health of your cell membranes. Egg yolks are also one of the richest sources of a phospholipid called phosphatidylcholine (try saying that three times fast!), which helps prevent the accumulation of cholesterol and fat in the liver. Eggs also contain lutein and zeaxanthin, both of which are among the most effective supplements for eye health (reducing your risk of macular degeneration). Eggs are a superfood!

As far as cooking goes... Eggs are so versatile -- they can be scrambled, poached, stir-fried, fried, boiled, made into omelets, quiches, egg-drop soups, etc. The list goes on and on!

As you can probably tell, I eat alot of eggs -- especially now that I have found eggs from chickens that do not egg soy. Below is one of my favorite recipes in the universe! I usually eat eggs for breakfast, but this works for a simple dinner for two or more (just vary the ingredient amounts). One of my favorite quick breakfast recipes is to heat up some homemade beef or chicken stock until boiling and then add two eggs until they are mostly cooked. Once you make homemade stock, I swear you can't go back! The stock is rich in nutrients (see Weston A. Price Foundation for details), plus the eggs make an efficient, lasting breakfast.

My Japanese Egg Scramble
My wonderful mom used to make this dish for me for my birthday. Obviously you can tell that this is a special recipe for me. I suppose if you don't have Asian parents, you may not appreciate the beauty of this recipe, but oh well... Try it anyways! This is a soy-free, gluten- & wheat-free real food recipe. I don't eat much pork anymore, so you can substitute chicken thigh meat instead.

A few cups of spinach, cleaned & cut up into bite-size pieces
1.5 C of pork (or chicken thigh meat), chopped into bite-size pieces
1 C of black fungus (you can find this thin, fresh mushroom at an Asian grocery store)
5-6 eggs
olive oil
sesame oil
salt & pepper to taste

Sautee the pork in a some olive oil and a little sesame oil in a large pan. Sesame oil is very strong in taste and smell, so you don't need alot! Cook until pork is mostly done. Add spinach and black fungus. Cook until the spinach is wilted and just about done. Set all items on plate.

Scramble up eggs in a bowl. Salt & pepper eggs. Using a little olive oil and sesame oil again, scramble eggs in the heated pan. When most of the way cooked, add back in pork, fungus, and spinach mixture. Mix well. Salt and pepper some more to taste. Enjoy!

Eight Ways to Join the Local Food Movement!

Here are some great ideas for bringing real food into your life as often as you can! This is courtesy of the Organic Consumers Association, who sent this list to me via their Organic Bytes e-newsletter. The OCA's logo is "Campaigning for Health, Justice, Sustainability, Peace, and Democracy." How can you go wrong with that? The OCA website is a wonderful resource of green, sustainable information. This list below caught me eye as I was reading through emails, and I thought I would share it with you. Enjoy!

1) Turn your lawn to a vegetable garden or join a community gardening program.
2) Start a community garden program if there isn't on in your area.
3) Eat more vegetables--a heavy meat diet creates more greenhouse gases.
4) Can your foods and throw a "preserve party" to swap foods.
5) Create a group to glean local farm fields of unharvested crops.
6) Look for farmers markets, roadside stands and CSAs.
7) Form an organic food buying club.
8) Throw potlucks, with an emphasis on organic and locally-grown foods.

Metabolic Typing

Are we metabolically different? So says William Wolcott in his book, The Metabolic Typing Diet.
A discussion from the Native Nutrition Yahoo group as well as my nutrition consulting coursework prompted me to look into MT. I was curious: could we actually look at nutritional therapy for people based on their individual metabolic types and could there actually be major differences? So, here's my opinions on what I've researched so far...

Wolcott (2000, p. 17) mentions: "When optimum energy is available to your body on all levels -- to your cells, organs, glands, and systems -- then optimum (balanced and efficient) functioning, or good health, is possible." He feels that depending on your metabolic type, the foods (macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fats) that make your body run efficiently will not necessarily be the same foods that help someone else. This metabolic type is dependent on several factors: autonomic, endocrine, oxidative, acid/alkaline, prostaglandin, electrolyte, blood, consititutional, and catabolic/anabolic types. All of these factors affect how quickly your body metabolizes what you eat (as well as what you drink, feed your skin/hair, breathe, etc.)

To boil it down to a nutshell, after you complete the questionnaire in the book, you end up fitting into one of three categories: Protein Type, Carbo Type, or Mixed Type (a little of both Protein and Carbo Types). This seems a little too simplistic for me, but perhaps it is that simple? I am concerned that with all the various factors mentioned in the previous paragraph, there are only three types.

Dr. Ross Hauser has also created a metabolic typing diet using animals (lions, bears, otters, monkeys, and giraffes - oh my!) to identify varying optimal levels of protein, carbs, fats, and even vegetarian tendencies for one type. You can take a test online at http://www.hauserdiet.com/ to see which type you are. I fell into the otter category (modified high protein diet with emphasis on greens). I think otters are cool animals, so it's fun that I eat like one! My DH turned out to be a monkey with a balanced diet, and he generally doesn't need to eat as much protein as I do.

Interesting stuff... I definitely have more to read!

~E

Reference

Wolcott, W. (2000). The Metabolic typing diet: the ultimate guide to: premanent weight loss and optimum health, high energy and peak athletic performance, preventing and reversing disease, staying young at any age. New York: Doubleday.