Does your workday appear as a black spot that makes it impossible to achieve the lifestyle you want? There are many reasons for this. First, sitting in an office sloped over a desk for hours on end doesn’t exactly promote an active lifestyle. The workplace can also be a junk food trap filled with co workers ordering takeout, meetings supplied with pizza and even peer pressure from co workers to eat an equally unhealthy diet.

Ending these habits can be the breakthrough you’ve been looking for, after all, you spend 8 plus hours a day at work. A small change that can go a long way at work is to take a small break every hour or so. Walk through your workplace, stretch your legs, walk a flight of stairs or bring exercise equipment and do a quick set of exercises in a vacant conference room. Believe it or not, but this intermitant activity will make a big difference in your health. The regular activity will create more energy to keep you focused throughout the day. It will also raise your metabolism and cause you body to burn more calories, even while sitting at a desk.

Fast food diets are often encouraged in many workplaces, but there are ways to kick this nasty habit. One simple way is to bring leftovers for lunch. This is  an inexpensive, time-efficient way to consistantly  eat well while co-workers stumble through the drive-through. Keeping healthy snacks like almonds, oatmeal and granola bars stashed in your desk is also a great idea. These snacks will keep you eating 5-6 times a day, which will prevent overeating during larger meals like lunch and dinner.

The key to losing weight and changing your health is reprogramming your lifestyle. Meaning, the little things you commit to can make the biggest changes. Adding these small practices to your workday can add up and make quick changes for you. Your newfound habits at work could end up inspiring others in your workplace.

Pepsi announced plans to reduce sodium in their products by 25% over a five year time span. This means significant changes to Pepsi’s beverages, as well as items from Fito-Lay. During the company’s two day conference Pepsi also mentioned cutting the values of sugar and saturated fat, over the next 10 years.

Pepsi isn’t the first to announce sodium reductions in food, the beverage juggernaut joins Kraft Foods, ConAgra Foods Inc. and Campbell Soup Co. This comes as a reaction to consumers’ demands for healthier food options.

The major question concerning these companies’ plans is, why take so long to make necessary changes to your products? Are these companies giving a whole hearted effort to improve the health of our nation by taking 5-10 years to cut the salt in soda or macaroni and cheese?

1. Weigh Yourself Often: This can help prevent weight regain. If you want to maintain a certain weight, weighing yourself can be an early warning system.

2. Turn Off the TV: Seeing food on TV can lead to food cravings late at night. Eating at night, especially carbs can be your worst enemy, and watching TV encourages this. So stay away from TV to get the upper hand on losing weight.

3. Junk Food Tastes Better: Your body craves and reacts more favorably to junk food when you are hungry. Have between meal snacks handy to keep yourself from making a trip to the vending machine.

4. Snack on Nuts: Nuts are an excellent source of lean protein and healthy fats. They are also an easy food to throw into a backpack or keep in a desk at work. Almonds and cashews are some of the better nuts to snack on.

5. Take Advantage of Long Days: Spring/summer days are the best time to begin your weight loss journey. The days are long, warm and a great time to workout outdoors. More daylight also means more serotonin and more energy to workout.

6. Drink More Milk: Consider drinking milk with every meal. Milk is a great source of protein, calcium and vitamin D. Calcium is important to your diet because it helps your body breakdown fat more efficiently.

7. Add Competition: Start your weight loss journey with a buddy. A friend not only serves as a great workout partner, but healthy competition can also accelerate your weight loss. Start a 90 day weight loss goal with a friend to see who loses the most.

8. Eat a Big Breakfast: Breakfast in fact IS the most important meal. If you are going to splurge on a meal do it in the morning. You will work off the calories throughout the day, it will provide great sustained energy and will keep you feeling full throughout the day preventing overeating.

9. Eat More Protein: Throughout the day your body is constantly breaking down/building muscle. Keep a constant supply of protein in your system so you are building muscle more often. Lean protein gives you a sense of satiety making you feel full throughout the day.

10. Get Enough Z’s: Sleep is the body’s recovery mode. While sleeping your body recovers and replenishes from any physical activities earlier that day. Your mind also sorts through any lingering issues, problems or stresses while asleep.

It’s commonplace for first ladies to find a public health issue to address. Nancy Reagan and her campaign on drug use is a great example of this. Currently, Michelle Obama is aggressively settting her sights on childhood obesity with her campaign named “Let’s Move.” Obama has set an ambitious goal of eliminating childhood obesity within a generation.

Currently, in our nation, one in three children are at risk of becoming obese. Not to mention that the percent of obese children has tripled in the past 30 years. Our nation also spends a staggering $150 billion each year on treating obesity related diseases.

Obama is striking childhood obesity from various angles including; giving parents support to influence their children’s lifestyles, healthier nutrition choices in schools, getting children more active and making healthy food more accessible. Obama has a comprehensive wealth of information on how to stop or deter obesity in children. The site tackles 4 major aspects of healthy living; healthy choices, healthier schools, physical activity and accessible and affordable food.

The first ladies’ site comes complete with a plethora of social media outlets including; blogs, youtube,  facebook and PSA videos. Let’s move even has a section that is devoted to informing children about living healthy. Complete with downloadable books, planners and videos.  Let’s move has also teamed up with the NFL’s Play 60 campain. Play 60 is aimed at getting children to play for at least an hour everyday, in an effort to fight childhood obesity.

Go to letsmove.gov to view the first ladies’ campaign first hand.

Turmeric is used extensively in Ayurvedic medicine and has numerous beneficial properties. Curcumin is the constituent within turmeric believed to have the majority of the anti-inflammatory properties. Studies have shown curcumin’s anti-inflammatory effects  to be comparable to drugs like hydrocortisone and ibuprofen, without the side effects.

Ginger contains gingerols, a compound with very potent anti-inflammatory properties . Many of my patients who consume this anti-inflammatory tea and eat ginger regularly experience a lessening of their pain levels from musculoskeletal and arthritic conditions. Inflammation can reside in many tissues in the body, not just joints and muscles. Ginger is also on my  list of superfoods.

Next is green tea, you guessed it-superfood. In the August 2006 edition of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, they found that green tea is a healthier choice than almost any beverage, including pure water, because tea not only rehydrates as well as water, but provides a rich supply of polyhenols protective against heart disease.

Cloves give this tea a nice spicy taste. Cloves contain Eugenol, which is the primary component of clove’s volatile oils, and is anti-inflammatory. Cloves also contain flavonoids , which further contribute to the anti-inflammatory (and antioxidant) properties of this tea. There you have it, three superfoods and one super spice in one drink… what’s not to love?

I like to make a big batch and drink it over several days.

P.S. It’s great iced in the summer.

Dr. Ron’s Anti-Inflammatory Spiced Green Tea

2 whole turmeric roots, peeled and cut in 1/4 inch slices

4 inches whole ginger root, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch slices (or just get one of the biggest and freshest whole roots available and use the whole thing)

6 whole cloves

10-12 green tea bags or similar amount of whole leaf tea

Juice of 2 lemons

To make the tea, boil about a gallon of water in a big pot. Once it’s boiling add the cloves, ginger and turmeric and immediately reduce to a simmer. Cover and continue simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Put the green tea bags in for the final two minutes to steep. Strain and add lemon to taste.

You can also add stevia or raw agave nectar as natural sugar substitutes if you like it sweetened. Feel free to play with the green tea recommendations (i.e. use different whole leaf green teas with a tea ball infuser, caffeinated vs. non-caffeinated etc.)

Enjoy!

P.S. I really like this Royal Matcha Green Tea

Reference: www.wholefoods.com

Many of the ingredients in my vegetarian recipe are powerfully alkaline. A benefit of alkaline foods is that they contain a considerable amount of negative ions that will bind to free radicals. Negative ions can also subdue levels of a neurohormone called serotonin, and have a calming effect on the body.

There are many benefits to alkalizing foods. Most of what ails us is due to inflammation. This broth is also an anti-inflammatory food.

Ingredients… 

4 carrots cut in 2 inch chunks

4 stalks of celery

4 red radishes

1 beet, quartered

Big handful of fresh green beans

Big handful of fresh Italian parsley,

1 leek, quartered (tops cut off) (wash well inside)

4 okra split in half

2 inches burdock root

3 red skinned potatoes, quartered

½ head of green cabbage

3 1-inch chunks of peeled ginger root

A few shavings of turmeric root or a few shakes of turmeric powder

2 green onions

2 tbs of extra virgin coconut oil

3 cloves of garlic

2  cucumbers,  cut in 1 inch chunks

Small handful of Himalayan Sea Salt ( 2-3 tbs)

A few dashes of cayenne pepper

2  tbs Braggs Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

2 cloves

1 gallon of water and…

a cup of red wine (optional)

Now, here’s the best part…

Put it all in the slow cooker, turn it on low and go do something else for 8-24 hours.

Strain out all ingredients, discard veggies and keep the Anti-Inflammatory Alkaline Cleansing Broth. Add more salt or pepper to taste. If you don’t have all of the ingredients that I used, that’s fine, just make it with the ingredients that you do have, it should turn out great!

Sip on it all day and do a broth cleanse. Or, replace a few dinners in a row with the broth. Add free range chicken to it if you want. Most of all, enjoy making it and be thankful eating it.

WARNING: I have a big slow cooker.

Monosodium glutamate, mono sodium glutamate (MSG), is a compound added to foods prepared at home, in restaurants, and by food processors. It’s main purpose is to enhance flavor but unfortunately it comes with some serious baggage. Neurotoxic, brain damaging, cellular destructing, baggage. Not to mention that it has HUGE (sorry for the pun) effects on being overweight and obese.

The FDA politely describes MSG as “the sodium salt of the amino acid glutamic acid and a form of glutamate.” Similar in appearance to salt or sugar crystals, it doesn’t have a particular  flavor of its own. However, the FDA reports, “Scientists believe that MSG stimulates glutamate receptors in the tongue to augment meat-like flavors.”  If MSG wasn’t harmful, it wouldn’t be hidden under a variety of different names.

Remember this list…

I dare you to go through your pantry and look at anything in a package or a box and not find these ingredients. Please…learn to read labels!

High levels of MSG can lead to… hypothyroidism, inflammation, high blood pressure and obesity…that we know of. In particular, MSG directly stimulates the pancreas to release insulin, which in turn drops blood sugar levels. Studies show an over release of insulin can lead to Type II Diabetes. If you are suffering from any of the following symptoms then you could be suffering from a condition known as MSG symptom complex…

• burning sensation in the back of the neck, forearms and chest
• numbness in the back of the neck, radiating to the arms and back
• tingling, warmth and weakness in the face, temples, upper back, neck and arms
• facial pressure or tightness
• chest pain
• headache
• nausea

Msgtruth.org calls MSG the “anti-appetite suppressant.”  Meaning that it actually has the ability to make you hungrier. It’s also possible to become addicted to MSG.

Here’s the ugly part of big business… If billion dollar companies make foods that include an ingredient that makes us crave more of it, what does that do to their bottom line? Can you say “billions?”

If you’ve ever noticed how eating lots of fast food makes you crave it even more?

This could be due in part to MSG, not just your willpower. This is why MSG can lead to weight gain. Consider avoiding this stuff at all costs.  You’ll be shocked to find out how many of the foods that you eat each day are laced with MSG.

In January 2009, a team of researchers at Princeton University and The Cancer Institute of New Jersey discovered the gene involved in breast cancer metastasis.  The gene effects cells susceptibility to glutamate excitotoxicity.  This gene is involved in the metastasis of breast cancer and other malignant tumors. Currently, excessive glutamate neurotoxicity due to MTDH, is believed to cause dementia.

Here’s an eye opening, life-changing video telling the TRUTH about how rampant MSG is. It could even be in your infants formula. MSG contains excitotoxins and causes brain damage and new research is saying it can cause cancer as well. It’s my declaration that 100 years from now, people will look back on this and say “What were they thinking?”

If you’re feeling ‘poisoned’ inside, you’re not alone. That’s one reason I recommend our CleanseToThin^TM colon cleansing powder. It gently eliminates toxins and waste build-up, leaving you healthier and feeling clean.

Here are a few great resources on the subject.  Truth In Labeling and http://www.msgtruth.org/related.htm

Low-glycemic fruits won’t give your blood sugar that undesirable sudden spike.

Fruits are rich in vitamins needed to support a healthy body. Citrus fruits and many other fruits contain vitamins C, A and E and work as anti-oxidants, protecting the body from the damage caused by free radicals.

Fruit aids in digestion, working as a natural laxative. The fiber in fruit encourages the body to rid itself of toxins and waste. Fruit is a much better source of all-important fiber than are grains, which can inflame the body.

Phytochemicals work with nutrients and dietary fibers to protect against diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. They also give fruit their naturally bright color.

It’s important to eat a wide variety of colored fruits to ensure that your body gets a variety of phytochemicals, all of which offer their own individual nutritional benefit. This is known as the “Rainbow Diet” principle.

Fruit also has a positive impact on brain function. Plenty of fruit can actually improve memory. The natural sugars in fruit stimulate the brain so we can think faster and recall information more quickly.

Fruit is also low in sodium so it helps reduce the chance of gaining water weight.

Ample fruit consumption helps fill the stomach faster, encouraging fewer high calorie foods to be consumed. As a result, fruit promotes weight loss and cleansing.

• Cherries
• Grapefruits
• Kiwi
• Grapes
• Oranges
• Prunes
• Pears
• Plums
• and apples are great lower-glycemic fruits.

But don’t just revolve your choices around the glycemic index. Fruits like blueberries are truly a superfood as is pomegranate. They have a higher glycemic index but are amazingly healthy and should be eaten.

Where people get in trouble is when they confuse store bought orange juice with a a raw orange. The latter is really the only healthy choice.

Fruits are perfect, as nature intended, for health, wellness and weight loss.