…to feel the best I can.

I’ve realized over the last few years, that there are multiple things to consider — such as:

• Assuring I get enough sleep.
• Assuring I eat the ‘good for you foods’.
• Assuring I continually have balance (work, and play!)

Recently, I’ve discovered three web sites that have really helped me gain a higher level of understanding of taking my quest to the next level.

I’m going to share them with you, here’s 3 Sure Fire Ways to Feel Better:

1. www.Lef.org – LifeExtension – specifically visit the Health Concerns section, they have top-notch health information.
2. www.VRP.com – Vitamin Research Articles – be sure to visit the Research Center, they’re passionate about nutritional science.
3. www.SparkPeople.com – This is still one of my favorites, because not only does it have great resources, it has a great community you can get involved in as well.

Do you have any other web sites that you reference for hints, tips or techniques on feeling the best you can?  Please share them below!

Thanks so much,

Charly

…and your family?

Who isn’t, right?

Kristin Doyle, an RN, has created a wonderful book called the “Therapeutic Chef” that provides recipes to prevent cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

This book will, quite literally, transform your life.

It is packed full of information on what foods are helpful for preventing illness and disease.

There are over 300 recipes that range from super simple to more complex.  While you’re cooking you’ll get to learn about the medicinal value of the ingredients used, and that, my friends, is invaluable.

There is:

• a pantry list,
• an equipment list,
• a glossary of Powerfoods,
• a section on Herbal Remedies for First Aid, and
• a list of Gluten-Free Recipes.

Every recipe was created to help prevent cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

There is an explanation of what foods are the very best for helping to fight those conditions and what foods you’ll want to avoid.

I think the biggest bonus is that you’ll learn why eating this way is also beneficial for our planet!

Take a look, it’s on Amazon.com, and it’s called the Therapeutic Chef!

Enjoy,

Charly

…it’s been clear that with most of my findings, it happens to others as well!

With that in mind, here’s five foods that will help you sleep:

1. Turkey – it has very high levels of tryptophan, which is a known sleep inducer.  Also, seafood, chicken and soybeans will do the trick too.
2. Yogurt – it is also high in tryptophan.
3. Almonds, and other nuts – they’re also loaded with tryptophan, and the calming magnesium.
4. Beans and soy are high in magnesium & tryptophan.
5. Spinach – loaded with B vitamins, and magnesium.

You’ve probably experienced that sleepy sensation after Thanksgiving Dinner, you’re totally on to something!

Do you have any foods that make you tired?   Let me know by commenting below, I’ll give them a try!

Thanks so much,

Charly

it’s been loud and clear…

I’ve proven it to myself, as have millions of others:

Regular physical activity gives you energy, levels your body out, and most importantly, cuts the risk of heart attack and stroke!

Here’s 5 Ways to take care of your heart (and live longer!) through exercise:

1. Document your exercise goals – in writing!  Look at them daily, try for 30 to 60 minutes three days a week of biking, brisk walking, or running.
2. Use visualization – keep an ideal image of yourself in mind, and readily accessible.  I found my f#$(*1@ inspiration, and it’s really helped me!
3. Make exercise a priority – many times, this is easier said than done.  The big thing that’s changed in my mindset is the fact then I don’t think about doing it, I just DO it.
4. Take action and start moving – keep in mind, a body at rest, tends to stay at rest, and a body in motion tends to stay in motion.
5. Buy a pedometer – “you can’t change what don’t measure” and this plays a key role in elping you understand how much you walk per day, aim for 10,000 steps a day.

Another approach that’s worked very well for me is disguising my exercise – for example, I’ll:

• walk to the bookstore (about a mile away),
• ride my bike to work (about 3.5 miles away),
• walk to a restaurant (about a mile away), and
• take the stairs.

If you’d like to learn more, here are some great books I’ve found.

Take care, and I hope this helps you!

Charly

web site provided by the US Government is a great start!

MyPyramid Blast Off is an interactive computer game where kids can reach Planet Power by fueling their rock with food and activity.  The game assures they understand what food goes in what food group, and helps them understand how their choices fit into the pyramid of what you’re supposed to eat.

It’s a great way to help kids understand the value of different food.

If you’re looking for other uplifting, education material online, be sure to check out HaveFunTeaching.com, ColorMeGood.com, and Free-Worksheets.com.

Mark, the founder of HaveFunTeaching.com, also has a “Songs for Kids” CD available on Amazon.   My girls love “Hey Bully“, “The Noun Song“, and their absolute favorite is “The Verb Rap Song“.

Enjoy!

Charly

Only eat the foods that have an ingredient list you completely understand!

It gets really easy really quickly, when you realize you know what’s in the following foods:

• bananas,
• lettuce,
• green & red peppers,
• carrots,
• celery,
• blueberries,
• strawberries
• apples,
• oranges,
• pears,
• plums,
• apricots, and
• onions.

To name a few…

What gets more interesting is going on a search to find foods, such as crackers, snack bars, and so forth that have an ingredient list you can understand.

If you do this exercise for one day, I think you’ll start to see the world a little differently.

Let me know how it goes for you, okay?

Here’s to eatin’ simple, healthy foods that are just downright good for you!

That’s what I used to say…

Now, I know there’s a world of difference!

White bread is usually made from white flour, which quickly turns into (refined) sugar in the body.  Refined sugar fuels cancer growth and triggers inflammation.

100% Whole Wheat bread (especially 100% Whole Grain bread), on the other hand, is filled with phytochemicals and antioxidants — and packed, naturally, with B & E vitamins, along with magnesium, iron and fiber.

It’s really important when you pick a wheat bread that it says “100% Whole Wheat” or “100% Whole Grain”, watch out for phrases like:

• multi-grain,
• seven grain,
• bran, and
• stone ground.

Even if a bread is brown, it doesn’t mean it’s 100% Whole.

Here’s to eating what’s what best for you, and your body!

My old lifestyle consisted of a lunch like this:

and it was very common to find me passed out, napping, about 45 minutes after lunch.

I was riding a constant roller coaster throughout the day, and after I discovered it, I’d know:

• I was most productive from 10a to lunch,
• After lunch (while I was on a sugar high), I felt like I had attention deficit disorder – I just couldn’t concentrate on any task,
• I’d crash about 1pm, and come back to life about 2:30pm or 3pm,
• I was fairly productive from 3pm to dinner,
• After dinner, the whole thing started again, UNTIL…
• It was about 10pm, and I was a Coke or two into the evening – I was very productive from 11pm to usually about 1 or 2 in the morning.

I imagine I was riding on sugar high throughout the night…

Once I read a blog post titled “What Happens To Your Body Within an Hour of Drinking Coke“, I felt incredibly enlightened, and knew it was time.

It was that very evening, at my dad’s house in Atlanta Georgia, that I sipped my very last Coke, dug in and made my commitment.

It was time.

I decided to make fruits & vegetables my mainstay, and minimize everything else.   Notice, I didn’t say “stop eating everything else”.  My primary focus was (and is) the simple, colorful, healthy foods that humans haven’t monkey’d around with (well, too much, anyway!)

My biggest find?

I saw my energy level stay up, all throughout the day.   Amazing!

I was so programmed to shutting down around 2pm that it took a while to unlearn that unproductive time & behavior at that point in the day.

If you’re looking to bump your energy levels, you should at least test a new lifestyle in which you minimize the bad foods, and maximize the good ones.

Try it for a few days, see how you do – eat fruits & vegetables to see your energy go up!

It comes down to three things – what you put:

1. in your mouth,
2. on your skin, and
3. in your lungs.

If you want to find safe, healthy, green products for you and your family — you have to check out:

GoodGuide.com.

GoodGuide offers you the ability to:

• see ratings,
• find the best products, and
• compare & save!

It also provides a great way to learn about issues, news and product recalls — AND, they even have iPhone App!

Here’s to living the good life, and being an informed consumer!

Thanks, GoodGuide!

“I’m going to try to stick to foods we (humans) haven’t screwed with”

Fortunately for me, I already really liked most of those types of foods, such as:

• Carrots,
• Blueberries,
• Strawberries,
• Whole Grain Breads,
• Nuts, and
• Edamame.

As any who knows me really well will tell you — I forced myself to like raw tomatoes — simply for their beneficial value (lycopene among others).  Now I love them!

Just recently I’ve been reading articles & web sites about the anti-cancer, or cancer killing superfoods, and they basically take these forms:

• Vegetables,
• Omega-3 acids,
• Citrus Fruit,
• Dark Chocolate,
• Vitamin D,
• Green Tea,
• Mushrooms,
• Herbs & Spices,
• Berries, and
• Soy.

Their benefits to our bodies are amazing, for example:

Broccoli & Cauliflower contain molecules that can help stop cancer causing cells develop into malignant tumors.

Brightly colored fruit and vegetables, such as carrots, yams and apricots, contain Vitamin A and Lycopene which can inhibit growth of several cancer types, a process initiated by the immune system as a response to an injury or an infection.  This reduces cancel cell growth in tumors of the lung, breast, kidney and colon.

Citrus fruits such as grapefruits, oranges and tangerines have been shown to penetrate brain cancer cells & lower their potential for invading nearby tissues.

Dark chocolate (who would have thought!) contains a cocktail of anti-oxidants that inhibit growth of cancer cells and limit blood vessel formation around tumors.  Go for 70% or higher cocoa & 20g a day!

Carnosol, found in Rosemary, is a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.

The antioxidant, ellagic acid, found in strawberries, blueberries and raspberries stimulates the elimination of cancerous substances — they also reduce the development of new blood vessels that supply tumors.

Soy, found in edamame & soy milk, reduces the effect of testosterone & estrogen in stimulating cancer cells.

Amazing stuff in simple, healthy foods, isn’t there?

I continually feel as though the more we screw with food, the more damage we do to ourselves.

that prompted my amazingly talented wife (aka chef!) to create this version:

which I now eat usually 3 times a week.

This colorful, delicious salad contains all kinds of good for you foods (and yes, aside from the feta cheese, they’re single ingredient, simple, healthy foods!), and it definitely helps me lose weight.

The ingredients are:

• Green peppers,
• Red peppers,
• Red onions,
• Tomatoes, and,
• Olive oil!

Not only is this salad good for me, it’s packed with fiber, too!

I usually have this salad with a peanut butter & jelly sandwich (on whole wheat bread) — one of my favorites!

It makes for a great lunch, or light dinner.

Do you have a good-for-you salad that you’ve created?  Please share it with us, we’ll have to give it a try!

Here’s a list of 38 foods I’ll bet you’re not eating — but should be…

The photo above is recent shot of our refrigerator, you may see a common theme, and you’re right!

Simple, healthy foods with one ingredient each!

As this article suggests, and as I’ve found in my 10 year life journey to losing weight and keeping it off — it’s eating simple, healthy foods that not only help you lose weight, but make you feel better as well.

Enjoy!

A few examples are:

• Apples,
• Strawberries,
• Oranges,
• Kiwis,
• Bananas,
• Pineapple, and even, yes,
• Blueberries.

As I’ve become a major fan of eating simple, healthy foods – which has been one of the biggest reasons I’ve lost so much weight – I’ve found that I absolutely LOVE blueberries!

Here’s 5 Reasons Blueberries Kick Ass:

1. They taste great!
2. They improve memory, coordination and balance.
3. They are great source of Vitamin C and Vitamin E.
4. They help reduce cell damage (reducing your chances of getting cancer).
5. They help maintain good vision & prevent mood swings!

As many know, they also make for a GREAT pie!

I’ve also noticed that one way to tell if a simple, natural, food tastes good is to see if we’ve created an artificial flavored version of it!

I have, I was there through the entire process and…

I miss my grandma big time.

I especially miss her now that my daughters are growing up, and don’t get to feel the love she so generously gave…

If you’ve watched someone you know slowly die of cancer (or even, in the best case, beat it!), you know you want to do almost anything to assure your very own safety against it.

Fortunately, we live in a world where we KNOW that certain foods fight off cancer, and provide other benefits as well.

Amazingly, they are simple, healthy foods that fit perfectly with the theme of this web site!

Here’s a list of some simple, healthy foods that combat cancer:

• Apricots
• Beans
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Cherries
• Fish
• Flax
• Grapefruit
• Grapes
• Lemons
• Limes
• Mangoes
• Onions
• Oranges
• Peaches
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes
• Walnuts, and
• Water!

About 3 years ago, I made the commitment to “like tomatos” for one reason: Their benefit to my health.  I’m glad I did.

If you have other foods you enjoy that combat cancer, please share them below!

If you’re below the age of 50, your odds are very low.

However…

Once you’ve hit 50, your odds go up, very quickly, and if you:

• are overweight,
• have had a moderate liquor consumption (three drinks a day vs. per week), and,
• eat a typical American diet (fried foods, meat, little vegetables)

that increases your odds even more!

Bottom line, no matter what age you are, it’s a good idea to eat the following foods.  As they are known to help you protect your prostate:

• Cauliflower
• Grapefruit
• Peanuts
• Tomatos
• Watermelon

Not only that, they are “good for you” foods with one ingredient, so you they’ll help you feel better overall, and lose weight if you make them a bigger part of your diet.

Interested in learning more?  Here’s a few articles that discuss the topic:

• Diet and prostate cancer
• Obesity hurts odds for prostate cancer recovery
• Prostate Cancer: Playing the odds