What's Good For Lunch!

I always ask my patients what they've had for breakfast and lunch.  I'm amazing at how boring lunch has become for some of them - it's no wonder they go for the Manhattan 'roach coaches' for their daily fare and indulge in greasy fast food.  O.K., folks...bring your lunch to work.  Home made lunches are delicious, nutritious and cheap eats!  Here's an example of what I bring to lunch during my work day...

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Make a visit to Fairway or Whole Foods.  Purchase a rotisserie chicken (at $8 already cooked, you can't make one yourself for cheaper), mixed salad greens, boil and skin some red or golden beats and cube them up, Tsaziki sauce (low fat, low cal and delicious greek yoghurt sauce), tabouleh, cherry tomatoes, avocados, a can of chick peas, alfalfa sprouts, and olives.  combine all or various combinations of the above ingredients and take a tupperware to work with you.  Add a flat bread or pita to go with your lunch and don't forget a lovely blood orange or some other fruit for  a late afternoon snack.  This is a delicious and nutritious lunch that is much more interesting, tasty and healthier for you than that junk you're buying on the street.  Add some pizazz a few days per week and throw some trail mix over the salad, or instead of chicken, try feta cheese and chick peas as your protein source.  With ingredients like these, you have no excuses to make lunch an event to look forward to!  If imagination and planning don't come easy to you, schedule an appointment today and I will design a week-by-week food plan for you that will encompass most of your favorite foods!

Traditional Chinese Medicine and Nutrition

Balanced dietary and nutritional practices are a very important component of Traditional Chinese Medicine and are considered to be crucial to overall good health and well being.


Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  When you partner with your practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (who is well-trained in Eastern and Western nutrition), together, you will shape and form your diet to accommodate your lifestyle and specific needs to create balance, weight maintenance and good health. The Eastern diet incorporates a wide variety of foods - various tastes are combined to fine tune the individual’s diet to best accommodate their health concerns.

Daily Nutrition Numbers and YOU

Ok...Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  don't make me feel like I've wasted my time giving you the following information....it took quite a bit of time to type, so save it in your mobile unit, your computer and print out a copy.  Refer to the following information and see where you're at!

According to Cooking Light Magazine, the following is a daily nutritional numbers chart.  It's a pretty simple guideline to daily intake of certain important elements to good health.  Of course, individual health issues should be taken into consideration, such as pregnancy and lactating women.

Women ages 25-50
calories:  2,000
protein:  50g
fat:  65g or less
saturated fat:  20g or less
carbohydrates:  304g
fiber:  25g to 35g
cholesterol:  300mg or less
iron:  18mg
sodium:  2,300mg or less
calcium:  1,000mg

Women over 50
calories:  2,000 or less
protein  50g or less
fat:  65g or less
saturated fat:  20g or less
carohydrates:  304g
fiber:  25g to 35g
cholesterol:  300mg or less
iron:  8mg
sodium: 1,500mg or less
calcium:  1,000mg

Men over 24
calories:  2,700
protein:  63g
fat:  88g or less
saturated fat:  27g or less
carbohydrates:  410g
fiber:  25 to 35g
cholesterol:  300mg or less
iron:  8mg
sodium:  2,300mg or less
calcium:  1,000mg

Beans, Beans and Beans

I've always enjoyed various bean dishes and coming from a background of Mediterranean cooking, there are gazillions of ways to prepare and enjoy these low-fat, high in protein wonderful foods.  Sad to say, for the past 10 years, I have experienced a food sensitivity to legumes - let's put it this way...if you've ever seen the 'Alien' film trio where the beast rips itself from the chest cavities of humans, that was how I felt after eating beans!  There's not enough Beano in the world to save me from two tablespoons of black beans or lentils until....
I ran into a neighbor of mine who is a fab nutritionist and whined to her about my legume issue.  She suggested that instead of soaking my beans for just 12 hours, that I soak them for over 24 hours in cold water, continuously changing the water.  An added bonus would be to add seaweed to the cooking process.  So, I thought I'd try it.  At least, if the technique didn't work, I'd know what I was in for and had no patients scheduled for the next morning (this had possibilities of becoming ugly!).
Viola!!  It worked!!  Black beans, Cuban style with brown sweet rice, red snapper and green snow peas from a friend's garden.  Meal of meals....yummy in my tummy!!!!

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Legumes are really heart healthy, low fat and high in protein.  They're cheap eats too!  When preparing any legumes, do what I did - soak those suckers for over 48 hours (yes, I soaked them for 2 DAYS) and keep changing the cold water.  You and your guests will have no ill effects from the legumes and you won't have to say 'pass the Beano, please'!  I can't wait to make an herb-infused butter bean puree that I used to enjoy so much!!  I'm off to the market to get me some beans!!

Warm Weather is Here...Eat Light and Feel Great!

The warm weather has arrived and it's time to adjust our eating patterns and change up the food varieties.  Heavy meat dishes and winter vegetables should be out of your mindset and it's time to think about the beautiful colors of fresh fruits and vegetables this summer.  Don't know what to eat????  Think color palettes!
-Shrimp with mango slices, frissee, and beefsteak tomatoes - drizzled with balsamic vinegar (or fresh lemon) and olive oil.  Enhance with a sprig of mint.
-Brown rice with fresh lemon drizzled over it, served with 2 eggs over easy and steamed brocoli on the side with fresh sweet cherry tomatoes...oh yum yum!
-Freshly shucked peas, tossed in lemon scented fettucini with smoked trout, oyster mushrooms, rosemary infused seasalt and a bit of fresh light creme.  Side green salad.
-Roasted red peppers, feta cheese and tossed mixed green salad with a nice piece of grilled river trout drenched in lemon and garlic.
Get the Picture??
Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Make your food look pretty on the plate.  Use colors and paint a beautiful picture with food.  Your palette is full of blues, greens, reds, yellows, oranges...it's only up to your imagination to stop you from having low cal, low fat, low sugar fabulous food this summer.  Our summers are short here in NY, so get with the program and get to the store and get those great paintings going on your plate today!
Bon Appetit!

Fitness Buddies

Sometimes, it's a bit difficult to stay with your fitness program.  Many people join gyms, Weight Watchers, hire personal trainers, nutritionists...just so that the road to wellville isn't a lonesome journey.  The patients that enroll in my wellness program are given an individualized program that encompasses the psychology of wellness to what exercises and food choices over the longrun will create better health and overall wellness in their lives.
Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  There's a SECRET WEAPON that's FREE and readily available for you to use on your fitness journey.  It's called A BUDDY!  What's a buddy?  It's your dog that needs his/her exercise that's the cheapest and most fun exercise machine.  A buddy is a friend who also wants to get healthy and joins you for a pot luck healthy dinner on your rooftop garden, while you both plot your wellness plan for the upcoming week.  Your buddy is someone you see in the park or gym everyday, also alone, who you might engage into a fitness session together.  Your buddy is your personal computer which is a plethora of worldwide information on exercise, nutrition and other healthy information.  Ever go onto Twitter and explore organic food groups?  There are people all over the world willing to share their experiences and knowledge.
Get a buddy and get fit!

12 Food Additives You Should Avoid

Jean Weiss for MSN Health & Fitness has written a great piece on the 12 food additives we should avoid.

She writes,  "Whoever coined the term food additives had it all wrong. Including something new in a food doesn't always add up to more, at least when it comes to your health. Studies that test the safety of additives are based on animal trials. It is difficult to deduce whether the results of an animal study equate to human health, though many of these studies show that some additives could be cancer-causing. "

Read all about these food additives on my nutrition page and bookmark it in your blackberry.  The next time you go food shopping, you'll have the list at your fingertips, and you can avoid purchasing foods containing these additives.
Here's your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Better Education Leads to Better Health!  And, let's not forget to say 'thank you' to Jean for sharing!!
http://www.kmondesire.com/nutrition.html

Organic Food...Some Facts You Should Know

Organic Foods - Worth Buying Or Not?


Organic foods are more expensive than nonorganic because these foods are more labor-intensive to grow and do not receive government farm subsidies.
Consumer Reports recently published a list itemizing of organic foods and some guidelines when considering spending that extra cash to purchase them. The criterium included the government standards required for certified ‘organic‘ - use of pesticides, antibiotics or hormones in the raising or production of organic food products. Environmental issues were not considered:

Organic foods to purchase as often as possible: Apples, baby food, bell peppers, celery, cherries, dairy, eggs, imported grapes, meat, nectarines, peaches, pears, poultry, potatoes, red raspberries, spinach, and strawberries.

Organic foods if you‘ve got deep pockets: Asparagus, avocados, bananas, bread, broccoli, cauliflower, cereals, sweet corn, kiwi, mangos, oils, onions, papaya, pasta, pineapples, potato chips, and sweet peas, canned vegetables and dried fruit.

Organic foods not worth the money: seafood and cosmetics. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has no set standards for organic seafood; wild and/or farmed seafood can be labeled "organic" even if they contain contaminants (mercury and PCBs).

Cosmetics typically contain a mélange of ingredients that do not necessarily originate from organic agriculture.

The Cost ($$$)
50% is the average extra cost for organic food, but 100% extra is the norm for milk and meat.

Consumer Reports listed the following ideas to cut costs of organic foods:
• Comparison shop
• Buy locally produced organic foods from farmer’s markets
• Buy a share in a community-supported organic farm or food co-op to get a regular supply of seasonal organic produce
• Order by mail

Misting of foods in your local market can allow pesticide residue to run from nonorganic to organic foods. Be sure that your organic food choices are not placed on the shelves in too close proximity to the nonorganic foods.

Did You Know?
Widespread use of antibiotics in conventionally raised animals may cause drug resistance. Synthetic growth hormones may cause cancer or accelerate puberty for girls.
Synthetic growth hormones are banned for poultry and any organically raised animals. Something to consider for anyone planning to become pregnant, pregnant or nursing women. The criticism: The National Dairy Council's web site states that “milk from hormone-treated cows has repeatedly been shown to be safe for human consumption." You choose…we live in a democratic union….

What's 'Organic?'
• "100% organic": No synthetic ingredients are allowed by law.
• "Organic": At least 95% of ingredients are organically produced.
• "Made with Organic Ingredients": At least 70% of ingredients are organic; the other 30% are from a list approved by the USDA.
• "Free-range" or "free-roaming": Animals had an undetermined amount of daily outdoor access.
• "Natural" or "All Natural": Doesn't mean organic. Claims aren't checked.

Drug-free, pesticide-free, chemical-free….equals GOOD QI! Do the best you can when selecting your food choices. Not everyone can afford the prices of organic foods, but whatever your budget - buy as fresh and 100% organic as you possibly can! You’ll eat better and feel better!

The Eastern Diet...Eat Like A Shaolin Warrior & Look Like One Too!

What is the Eastern Diet?
The Eastern diet includes five tastes – spicy, sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Each taste has a specific property and is associated with a particular organ of the body. For example, hot spicy foods can be ingested to assist a patient with what can be considered a ’cold’ condition. This is an intentional oversimplification because tastes and combinations of properties can be quite complex given a patient’s particular condition.
The Chinese diet is quite varied and encompasses six food groups: meats, fruit, dairy, vegetables, grains, and spices and herbs. Meats are considered to be Yang in energy; vegetables are Yin. Loosely interpreted, Yang foods (warm foods) are considered appropriate for consumption in the wintertime (lamb, beef, organ meats), whereas the Yin foods are much more suited for the heat of the summer (melons, vegetables, legumes). Of course, the underlying constitution of the individual must be considered for any nutritional program. Free-flowing Qi throughout the body is harmonious and essential to good health. A diet rich in grains and legumes and fruits is best for this free-flow of Qi, while fats, refined sugars, alcohol and caffeine are encouraged only in moderation and not for frequent consumption. Here’s a bit of trivia…did you know that the famous Shaolin warrior monks have subsisted for centuries on a vegetarian diet?

Why Should You Participate in an Eastern Diet?

It has been proven that changes in dietary habits can truly help patients suffering from chronic sinusitis, digestive problems, obesity, joint pain, Meniere’s, vertigo, and fatigue. Eastern nutritional counseling with the additional modalities of Acupuncture and herbs can be an effective method in the treatment of these ailments.

I can work with you to create a nutritional outline to gradually and progressively bring you to the road of well-being and good health.   Contact my office today and learn how you can look and feel like a warrior.
 In the meantime…Bon Apetit!  Happy Eating!

The Half Marathon

As you read in this blog, my friend (who had his stomach surgically removed to prevent cancer) ran the More Half Marathon yesterday.  He started to jog in January....3.5 months later, he finished strong.  HIS TIME WAS 01:48:00!!  What a triumph of spirit and strength.  His family and friends came out to cheer him on and profess our gratitiude to modern medicine and research.  He's gone to Wellville!

Have you started your road to Wellville yet? 

I began this blog just after having knee surgery.  It's 2 weeks to Easter, 2 weeks to my goal of losing 10lbs and running again...well, so far, I'm just about at that 10lbs (my fat clothes fit pretty well now), I've run 2 miles on the treadmill, jumped rope for 20 minutes straight and I'm going to up the stakes and see what I can achieve this week.   My goal is to fit into my 'normal' sized clothing again and jump rope for an hour (that would be normal).   Now, I seriously doubt any of that is going to happen within the next two weeks, but I'm with the program today and will continue to try to get back into the best healthy condition that I can...and stay there!

What goals have you set?  Have you managed to stay on your path?  Share your story, share your joy, share your frustrations with me today!