Hey, What's For Lunch?

If your schedule is anything like mine, then lunch can be challenging.  No time to get out and buy a good lunch and very little time to eat the home made lunch you've packed.  Here's the answer to all your woes:

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Every week, take some time while you're watching television in the evening and make a beautiful pot of soup.  There are so many easy to cook soup recipes out there in cyber space or at your local bookstore.  Spicy Moroccan meatball soups, Thai seafood soup, chicken lentil, vegetarian soups...there are thousands to choose from.  Soups can be transported in a tupperware and microwaved in less than 2 minutes.  Soups can be loaded with proteins, carbs, vitamins, minerals and all types of yummy ingredients.  Soups are filling and satisfying.  Finish off your lunch with a piece of fruit and you're set.  Today, I had pulled chicken and red lentil and vegetable soup.  You can even cheat by purchasing a rotisserie organic chicken ready made from Whole Foods Market and throwing the whole bird into the pot.  Simply delicious!  Low fat and so good for you.  Soup's on in my house - how about yours?

It's Friday - Have You Had Your Acupuncture Yet?

It's Friday and I'll be winding down my week with my regular and new clients.  Regular clients come in for weekly treatments for conditions ranging from Parkinson's to pregnancy.  My Wellness Program patients arrive with their food journals, weigh in and most leave after treatment knowing they've lost a few more pounds, their blood pressure is lower and feel so much healthier and happier.  Expectant mothers are going through healthy and happy pregnancies and chemotherapy patients are embarking on their weekends nausea-free, sweat-free and much more relaxed.

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Make Friday YOUR DAY.  Schedule treatments on a weekly basis so you can experience the psychological and physical benefits of acupuncture.

Halloween Treat That's NOT a Cheat

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Start your day the right way with a delicious and nutritious protein shake.  Here's a Halloween treat that's definitely NOT a cheat! Order your own Shakeology at this link:

http://myshakeology.com/esuite/home/kmondesire

'Designer' Your Food Plate

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines have thrown out the food pyramid and replaced it with "MyPlate".  Here's what our very own custom-designed food plates should look like:
1/2 the plate should contain fruits and vegetables, a bit over 1/4 of the plate should be whole grains, protein gets a bit less than a 1/4 of your plate, and add a glass of low-fat dairy or calcium-fortified soy milk.  The servings are based on a 2.000 calorie per day diet.
Here's Your Healthy Tip of the day....the breakdown:
grains:  6 daily portions in total.  one portion is equal to 1/2c rice, oatmeal or pasta, 1inch slice baguette or hockey puck sized bagel.
dairy:  3 portions in total.  one portion is equal to 1 c milk, yogurt or calcium fortified skim milk, 1/2c ricotta cheese or 1/3c shredded cheese, 1.5oz hard cheese.
fruits:  2 portions total.  one portion is equal to 1c fresh fruit or juice, 1/2c dried fruit.
vegetables:  2.5 portions total.  One portion equals 1c cooked or raw veggies, 2c salad greens, potatoes the size of a computer mouse.
protein:  5.5oz total.  One portion equals 4oz fish, 3oz meat or poultry, 1/4c beans, one egg is an ounce, 2tblspns nut butter equals 2 oz protein.

Sleep More and Lose More Weight With Acupuncture Therapy

These tough economic times are taking their toll on our stress levels and quality of sleep.  Stress leads to insomnia or poor sleep patterns.  Poor quality of sleep has been proven to pack on the pounds, because lack of sleep disrupts proper metabolism and the endocrine system (hormones) which all help regulate weight.  Persons who work late night and overnight shift hours also suffer from obesity due to the body's unnatural wake/sleep patterns.  Insonmia promotes late night eating, which sends a signal to the brain to store fat overnight, instead of burning it during sleep.

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  If you are stressed, not sleeping well, working more hours that you should and are sleep deprived, book an acupuncture session.  A de-stress session will leave you relaxed - you'll most likely take a nap during your session, and your sleep will improve.  When you're less stressed and you have better sleep, your body will burn more fat, you'll have more energy overall and in the end, you'll lose weight.

Water and Weight Loss

I'm always asked the question 'if I drink more water, will I lose more weight?'

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Substituting water for calorie-containing beverages might help you lose weight.  If you drink appoximately 2 cups of water before each meal, you might lose more weight over a 12 week period than the person who doesn't drink the added 2 cups of water pre-prandial.
There will be no blog tomorrow or on Monday July 4th.  I'm goin' fishin', golfin', garden', ridin' and relaxing!  Happy 4th!

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.

How To Be Successfully Healthy

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  Want to be successfully healthy?  Here are a few pointers....
- Reaching your wellness goals will inspire others to do the same.  Imagine being someone's hero.
- Being an inspiration to others surely leads to greater experiences in life and the rewards that come with them.
- Make your wellness a consistent and persistent minful activity everyday.  Find a way to keeping your goals in sight everyday.  There will never be the 'perfect' start up day, nor will everyday be a perfectly healthy day...but we can strive for that 100% everyday!
- Don't obsess about yourself.  Obsessive behavior is not healthy and leads to stress and mismanagement of health.  That's why we have 'cheat' meals or days of 'cheat' exercise.  Allow yourself to be human.
- When other people reach their life goals, be happy for them and express your joy for them.  You would want the same.  Successfully healthy people (mentally and physically) know this.  Happiness comes from within.  Jealous, envious and miserable people look just that...jealous, envious and miserable.
- Be realistic.  Wellness takes some work.  Make a plan and try to stick to it.  If you're lost and can't figure this one out, call or email me and I'll get you rockin' and rollin' into a successfully healthy person.

Today's Topic is 'Portion Control'

I have a few patients who are into their 4th week of my Wellness Program.  Every single one of them has lost some inches and pounds and through various lifestyle modifications, they are enjoying new and exciting food groups and have traded in 'bad breakfasts, lunches and dinners' for delicious, low fat and seriously healthy fun meals.  They still have their 'cheat meals' once per week and are not feeling deprived of any food group.
So, how do you make something that's going great even better?
PORTION CONTROL WITHOUT PAIN.
It's easier than you think.

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  When you are at the market and you purchase an 8oz piece of chicken breast (or meat or fish), have the butcher cut it in half or do this yourself when you arrive home.  Immediately freeze or refrigerate one half of the breast and cook the remaining half for your dinner.  If you are cooking for 2 people, when the breast is done, cut the chicken into nice slices and serve it on a nice salad or with a plate of mixed vegetables.  You'll be satisfied with 4oz of lean protein and you'll be having a great dinner.  If you go out to a restaurant for dinner with a friend, split your appetizer, salad and main entree.  Every dining establishment is quite used to accomodating its clientele in this manner (since 80% of us are watching our figures).  You'll have a beautiful meal, proper portions and really enjoy yourselves.  If you are dining alone, ask for a half portion on your plate and a doggie bag for the other half.  In this manner, you won't be tempted to overeat.  When it comes to pastas, think fist-size.  Push what is fist-size to one side of your plate, enjoy it and have the remaining food packed to go with you.  Try this simple technique for a few weeks and see what happens!!

Help For The Holidays $30 Acupuncture Special Until New Years!!

Ok....I'm going to help you out this season.  Come into the Uptown Office Tuesdays from now until January 1st, 2011 and get a 1/2 hour de-stress session for only $30!!  5 small points pressed on the ear will have you smoking less, sleeping better and losing weight during the holiday season.

Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day:  This deal only comes around once a year, 250 West 57th Street office, Tuesdays, cash only.  Start booking your Tuesdays now, because I've put the word out over the weekend and sessions are getting gobbled up fast!!!
917-701-7582
k@kmondesire.com