Mediocrity

_{_{Another great post by Kevin Deeth—be sure to visit his site.}}

Social Acceptance of Mediocrity

I read this article the other day and thought it was just plain awesome. I wanted to share it with everyone to hopefully encourage people to exercise and stay active.

“I have a list of sayings that make my blood curdle, and “hey now, at least they’re up and moving” is close to the top of that list. We’ve all heard it before and probably have said it ourselves, but if you think about it, it’s depressing to see how that saying has become a norm nowadays.

We now live in a society where doing the bare minimum required to keep your heart beating is supposed to earn you a pat on the back and a sugar-free cupcake (don’t worry, its only 100 calories…guilt free!). Since when did getting off the couch and moving around become an acceptable form of exercise? You may say, “Hey, at least they are moving around”, and yes, you’re right, that is the least they can do–but the problem is that they shouldn’t be stopping there. Getting off your ass should be the thing you do when you wake up, not the physical highlight of your day.

90% of the time, I hear this saying when discussing those who walk as their main form of exercise. Sorry, but walking 15 minutes is NOT a workout; it’s a warmup for your warmup. Just for comparison, Alexander’s army marched over 5000 miles from Thessaloniki to the Indus river. That isn’t even counting the stops at tourist attractions or the journey home.


How long would this take you at 15 minutes a day?

Seriously, what happened to the grit that people used to have? My grandpa would call those people “the old breed”. When he lived in Africa, he would run 9 miles to school and 9 miles home everyday, with no shoes. See if you can get one of your fellow Americans to do something remotely intense for even 9 minutes before crapping out, but not before they congratulate themselves for at least “getting off the couch”.

Folks, you shouldn’t be fine with doing the least amount of work. Putting in the least amount of effort will get you the least amount of results. It shouldn’t be enough to simply walk around, you should be challenging your limits almost daily. I understand if you have a debilitating injury that limits your mobility, but most people don’t have debilitating injuries, they are just bloated and lazy.”


Directions on walking, in case you forgot.”

Conclusion

I really enjoyed reading this. I see this in the gym all the time. People get dressed in their “workout gear”, grab a sugar loaded gatorade, and sit on the bike and pedal at a slow to moderate pace for 15-20 minutes before calling it a day. 100 calories-burned later and mission accomplished. I get the same reaction when i talk to people about this. “well, at least they are in here trying”. I would much rather have people burn 100 calories playing with their kids or doing something active in the community then doing a moderate cardio routine like this. However, we live in a lazy society where convienience and luxury take priority over physical well being and activity. Do yourself a favor and surround you and your family with a group of people who live an active and healthy lifestyle so they hold you accountable when you say you are going for a 15 minute stationary bike ride and claim it to be a “workout”.

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions.

From South Bend,

Kevin

kdeeth21@gmail.com

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, Exercise, Guest Blog, Nutrition Leave a comment

Clean Chocolate Bars

Thinking about the holidays? I plan on giving all homemade gifts this year (yes, I am broke). Because my sewing and knitting capabilities are lacking, I am looking for healthy recipes that follow along with our no artificial, whole, clean foods eating plan. Here is a recipe Kathy stumbled upon that might be a keeper.

Chocolate Bars

(12 servings)

3/4 cup pure coconut oil

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup honey

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp sea salt

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Whisk well. Then spread the mixture over parchment lined cookie sheet and chill in the fridge over night.

Bah Bam!!!! Now that is my kind of easy recipe!!!!! Beware —you all may be getting these for the holidays!!!

You can find more clean recipes at http://www.thegraciouspantry.com This is a great website with tons of CLEAN recipes!

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Simply Become Who You Are

The “Simply Become Who You Are” cookbooks are in and now available for only $10.00. These cookbooks are complications of recipes received by you wellness warriors over the last 16 months. Many thanks go out to all of you skinnies that have helped contribute and participate in keeping our Wellness Program going. The cookbooks make a fabulous gift for the holidays as I can’t imagine a better gift than giving someone the gift of health. We only have around 50 copies left so get a move on! The book has hundreds of recipes of healthy cooking options! The books aren’t vegan or paleo but they are easy recipes that can be modified to fit the type of whole foods you are trying to incorporate into your diet. Free of artificial ingredients and additives is how we roll! Whole foods baby and eat your veggies!!!!

Call and reserve one today or stop by and pick one up at the office.

Michelle or Kathy 317-217-2626

Also a quick reminder that the IU West Fall Farmers Market will be held this Friday November 2nd from 10:30 to 2:00pm to get locally grown inexpensive whole food ingredients. Happy cooking!

Another big reminder—The Biggest Loser contest will start Nov 1st!!!! We already have many enrolled so get signed up!

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

New York, New York

New York—a place of culinary delight, the city that never sleeps–and unfortunately today, shut down and holed up because of hurricane Sandy. Well she may have been worthy of “Greased Lightening” but this kind of disaster is not welcomed with a Pink Lady slumber party! Our best wishes and tons of positive energy being sent to all those suffering the effects of Hurricane Sandy right now. It also prompts me to say ” Are you living the best life you can?” Did you actually wake up this am grateful for shelter, food, and health? I didn’t and I feel convicted saying that. We should all strive for happiness every day–this day could be our last — Simply become who you are and get on with your happy self!

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Angela in Benevolence, Body, Call to action, Spirit Leave a comment

Unjunk your candy!!!

Emma-the Princess with Attitude!

Trick or treating time is here and it poses a difficult decision for parents. How much nasty sugary candy do we actually allow them to eat? I remember back in my childhood days of trick or treating that it was not uncommon to be invited into a neighbor’s house for popcorn and apple cider. These days we scan for razors, fear arsenic laden homemade treats, and dread “that house” that passes out the healthy stuff. Heck, I even think I went haunting without my parents well after dark and actually survived to tell about it. That was a different time and we live in a much different world. The reality of Halloween is that nothing fresh is safe, we trust the packaged brand name candy, and want our children to just be happy. Therefore, we allow the high fructose corn syrup laden candy and attempt to ration it with validation of good parenting. The truth is—-we might as well be injecting heroin or allowing our kids to sniff bath salts for all that good validating happiness on one evening. Have you ever really looked at the candy labels? I hadn’t until I started trying to be more conscious. The all too tasty Mounds and Almond Joy contain hydrolyzed milk protein which is a pseudoname for MSG. Snickers (satisfying) contains partially hydrogenated soybean oil. Reese’s has a preservative in it that is closely related to butane. Mars and M&M’s are laden with artificial coloring as well as those Hershey’s products which are made with partially hydrogenated oil (major artery clogging stuff). It makes me want pass on rolling that Rolo to my pal! I’m no drug dealer!

Hence— a solution to our parenting woes—

“A few years ago, Michael and his 13 year old son Nicky got into an argument over Halloween candy. Nicky came home with his bag of loot, went to bed, and woke up the next morning to find that his dad had confiscated most of it. It played out the way these fights normally do, with the candy gone and Nicky going to his room.

Later, Nicky did some research online (to prove to his dad that candy isn’t so bad). He discovered that his dad was right (for once).

It’s not that Nicky thought candy was healthy. It’s that he didn’t know how bad it really was. What Nicky learned was that the worst parts of candy (like hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives) aren’t there to make it taste good. They’re there to make it cheaper to produce.

Nicky had a hunch that without the junk, candy could taste better. With the help of his older brother Kris, and his dad, they set out to prove it.”

From that ingenious question stemmed a great corporation called “Unreal”. Unreal candy values not using HFCS or any artificial colors/flavors. Unreal products can be found at major retailers such as Kroger and Target. So thanks Nicky for being proactive and helping raise awareness that will benefit many generations of trick or treating yet to come.

Some of Unreal Candy’s ingredients:

Milk Chocolate (chocolate, skim milk, cane sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, organic blue agave inulin, soy lecithin, vanilla extract), Peanuts, Cane Sugar, Calcium Carbonate, Peanut Oil, Colored with (beetroot juice, turmeric root extract, purple cabbage juice), Gum Arabic, Vanilla Extract, Carnauba Wax & Beeswax

Contains milk, soy, peanuts. May contain tree nuts, wheat

You can visit their site at http://www.getunreal.com

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, disease, Humor, Nutrition, vegan Leave a comment

Genetic Roulette

Here is the trailer to Genetic Roulette which will help explain a little about GMO’s and why our food is making us so sick! The version above is closed captioned and the one below is subtitled in spanish.

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Angela in Body, Call to action, cancer, Diet, disease, Nutrition, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Indiana Persimmon Pudding

It’s that time of the year to harvest those Indiana persimmons. Many of my patients make that traditional persimmon pudding and have offered to share their favorite recipe. We have modified it some to make it a little friendlier to the Angela MD plan. Persimmons have wonderful health benefits in that they contain the tannins catechins and gallocatechin which are antioxidants and help improve lipid metabolism. They also contain the anti-tumor substance betulinic acid. There is no fat in persimmons and they are loaded with vitamin c and calcium. They also contain the substance Zea Xanthin which is thought to help with age related macular degeneration. Cooked persimmons are used in many other cultures as a treatment for diarrhea.

Traditional Indiana Persimmon Pudding

2 cups persimmon pulp, removed from the skin

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup sugar (substitute with agave syrup)

2 cups all-purpose flour (substitute with 2 cups gram flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 cups milk (substitute with almond milk)

1 egg (pastured and organic)

1 tablespoon melted butter, plus more for buttering dish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9×9 baking dish and set aside

Stir the baking soda and sugar into the persimmon pulp and set aside. This mixture may thicken as it sits… that’s ok!

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Add to the persimmon mixture all at once and stir until flour is almost completely incorporated.

Whisk together milk, egg and butter and add to the persimmon and flour mixture. Batter will be very loose. Pour into the baking dish.

Bake for 1 hour covered with foil, or uncovered. If you make the pudding covered, you’ll have a very wet and moist pudding. If you bake the pudding uncovered, you’ll have a drier pudding topped with a bread like crust.

Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, Organic, vegan, Weight Loss, Whole Food Leave a comment

Stress–is it killing you?

There is no doubt in my mind that chronic unrelenting stress makes you sick! It inhibits fat loss by way of elevating the hormone cortisol. Cortisol robs the body of metabolic muscle tissue and messes with your hormone levels. Unfortunately, today’s society leaves most of us feeling overworked and unrested. Our current culture thrives on material rewards, debt and drama. Needless to say, it’s no wonder we are all fat, sick, and nearly dead. Here is a little description of how the HPA axis works to cause weight gain.

1. Stress causes the hypothalamus to produce CRH (corticotropin releasing hormone) to the pituitary gland.

2. The pituitary gland then releases ACTH (adrenocorticotropin) to head to the adrenal gland.

3. The adrenal gland then receives the ACTH and starts producing cortisol.

4. When the hypothalamus senses the cortisol production is up—it turns off the production of CRH

Under normal conditions, the body programs a perfect cycle to rev up cortisol production and then shut it back down. However, if you continue to have unrelenting stress constantly –the cycle revs up and begins to dysfunction with the constant ups and downs of cortisol levels. Imagine if you were constantly washing your favorite pair of jeans, drying them and then rewashing –eventually, the jeans wear out and the machine breaks!

So why does stress give you belly fat? There are 4 more times cortisol receptors in abdominal fat versus subcutaneous fat.

Breathe, Live in the Moment, Smell the Roses, and Relax!

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, Nutrition, vegan, Weight Loss Leave a comment

Exercise Apps

So I’m sending a shout out to submit your favorite smart phone exercise apps! My personal favorite is RUNKEEPER.

This app works not only for runners, but for walkers too! It’s for anyone who is just starting to move, and for experienced runners. It tracks your time, pace, even the exact route using GPS coordinates. This email just came into my mailbox and it reminded me to spread the word plus it has a great new feature for setting goals through your cell phone or on the web or both. This is what the email contained: “Here at Runkeeper, we’re always trying to help you better achieve your fitness goals. We know that many of you aren’t just tracking your workouts for the sake of tracking, but have specific goals that you are trying to achieve. We wanted to make it easier for you to hold yourself accountable towards achieving those goals. And for those of you that don’t have goals yet, what better time to start? We’re pleased to announce that you can now set specific goals on your RunKeeper profile page and see how you are doing against those goals over time. You can set four types of goals: achieve a specific distance by a certain date, finish a race, lose a certain amount of weight, achieve a cumulative distance. For extra motivation, you can share these goals through Facebook or Twitter.” I’m going to log in now and set a goal to lose 20 pounds as an attainable somewhat short-term goal and to walk 50 miles. Let me know what your goals are with a comment below!

Let’s do this Marines!—we can get healthy together if we try!

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Angela in Body, Diet, Exercise, Nutrition, Weight Loss 2 Comments

Healthy Spices by Kevin Deeth

Healthy Spices You Should Add To Your Diet.

A diet doesn’t have to be boring. Eating the same thing every day can get repetitive and monotonous. I get this complaint a lot from people saying they can only eat so many chicken breasts, salmon fillets and stalks of broccoli before they need to change it up. Don’t let yourself get into a rut and add different fruits, vegetables, and meats to your diet. The second solution, and one which this article is based on, is seasoning your meat and vegetables with different spices which will give it a unique taste and provide numerous health benefits.

I cringe when I see people marinating a great piece of meat or fish in a sodium loaded sauce like barbecue soy sauce, or steak sauce. A small amount of marinade is generally acceptable but often times people over due it by soaking their meats in all kinds of preservative/sugar-loaded sauces. Instead of ruining a great tasting piece of meat with a marinade, opt for spices instead. Spices offer a wide range of benefits that all have unique health benefits and save you from the high levels of sodium, preservatives, and sugar found in most marinades that lead to several health problems

The Recommended Daily Amount of sodium is between 1500-2000 mg.

What to stay away from

Soy Sauce

The problem: Sodium content in 1 tbsp=1000 mg

Barbecue Sauce

The problem: While the sodium content is less, the sugar levels are still relatively high. The real problem lies in the ingredients and preservatives. Almost all BBQ sauces list high fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, xantham gum, and artificial flavors as just some of the long list the it takes to make this stuff.

Mesquite Sauces

The problem: Most mesquite sauces are loaded with sugars and unhealthy carbohydrates to go along with the high sodium levels and artificial ingredients.

The Spices You Should Use Instead

Black Pepper

Pepper is one of the world’s healthiest spices because it is known for its positive effect on the digestive tract. It also has antibacterial and antioxidant benefits. Pepper also provides Vitamin A, Calcium, Copper, Vitamin K, Iron, Manganese, magnesium and Potassium.

Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne pepper is derived from hot chili peppers. Cayenne pepper is great at fighting inflammation. Cayenne pepper is rich in Vitamin A, and also provides Iron, Manganese, Niacin, Niacin, Magnesium and Potassium, Riboflavin, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin K and Vitamin B6, making it one of the world’s healthiest spices.

Chili Pepper

Dried chili pepper powder adds heat and spice to chili, hot wings, and ethnic foods. Similar to cayenne pepper ground chili pepper provides anti-inflammatory benefits, as it contains capsaicin. Dried chili pepper is one of the world’s healthiest spices because it is also a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium, Iron and dietary fiber.

Cinnamon

Ground Cinnamon is not only very low in cholesterol, and in sodium, it is low in saturated fat. Cinnamon also boosts your vitamin intake with its Vitamin C , Iron, Manganese, and Vitamin K.

Ginger,

Ginger, like most spices, is low in cholesterol, low in saturated fat, and low in sodium. Ginger is one of the world’s healthiest spices and provides Copper, Manganese, Magnesium, Potassium, and Vitamin C. Ginger, even when used in Ginger Ale, is known for its positive effects on an upset stomach, or medically, on gastrointestinal distress. Ginger is a great way to quell motion sickness. It also has some anti-inflammatory benefits.In addition to exuding and incredible aroma when cooked, cinnamon has health-promoting properties, making it one of the world’s healthiest spices. Cinnamon promotes anti-clotting, can control blood sugar and improves digestive health.

Tumeric

Tumeric is low in cholesterol and low in sodium. The yellow tumeric also provides dietary fiber, Iron, Manganese, Magnesium, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, and Potassium. Tumeric is considered one of the world’s healthiest spices because of its anti-inflammatory qualities, it aids in digestion and it can help heal wounds.

Thyme

Thyme has a minty flavor and immune-enhancing properties. Preliminary studies show that it may increase the amount of omega-3 fatty acids present in kidney and brain cells. Like other spices, thyme is an excellent antioxidant and is rich in antibacterial and antispasmodic properties.

Conclusion

Marinating meat, fish, and poultry significantly decreases the amount of carcinogenic heterocyclic amines (HCAs) produced when the meat is cooked at high temperatures, like in grilling. Like i stated before, a moderate amount of marinade is acceptable. My suggestion is if you do decide to marinade, look at the ingredients of the marinade of choice and opt for something with natural ingredients and limited preservatives. If that isn’t an option opt for the spices listed above instead.

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions.

From South Bend,

Kevin

kdeeth21@gmail.com