The Better Health Coach

07/27/2022

Wow! These are beautiful! These are the first “twin” blooms I have enjoyed, ever!

11/18/2014

One of the main ways to avoid weight-gain is to examine the quality of the food you are eating, rather than the quantity (calories).
Organic food does not contain harmful chemical preservatives, hormones, or pesticides that cause weight-gain. Stay away from overly processed food as you will only get frustrated when you discover the food you’re eating is laced with weight gain factors.
If foods are advertised, it is almost certain they are bad for you. When was the last time you saw a commercial advertising apples? Kale?
Buy whole, organic foods, and cook from scratch. This will automatically reduce your sugar consumption, which is the root cause of insulin resistance and weight gain. If you buy organic produce, you’ll also cut your exposure to pesticides and genetically engineered ingredients, and in ditching processed foods, you’ll automatically avoid artificial sweeteners and harmful processed fats.
Healthy fats are essential, so make sure you aren’t consuming the wrong fats. Sources of healthy fats to add to your diet include avocados, coconuts and coconut oil, unheated organic nut oils and raw nuts and seeds.
Opt for glass packaging and storage containers to avoid endocrine disrupting chemicals.
Make the process a learning journey, implement slow changes and have fun along the way. Eating good-for-you-food doesn’t have to be a struggle.

06/03/2014

By Brianna Steinhilber

You don’t have to give up meat to make room in your diet for plant-based proteins. Legumes are linked to longevity and reduced risk of disease. Beans are often touted for their fiber and protein content, but they’re also great sources of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that support a healthy body. Opt to go meat-free a few meals a week and build a dish around beans or lentils instead for a dose of fiber with a major health boost.
Try this torta!
http://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/recipe-of-the-day/tijuana-torta/

Just in case you didn’t get to enjoy enough Cinco de Mayo foods yesterday, here’s a unique dinner idea that will keep the Mexican celebration continuing. If you’ve never heard of a “torta,” it’s similar to a burrito but instead of wrapping your ingredients in a tortilla, a hollowed-out whole grain b…

05/29/2014

We all like to think of yogurt as a healthy breakfast, but as it turns out, many of the most popular yogurt brands have more sugar than a junk food you'd never consider eating.

The American Heart Association recommends that men eat no more than 36 grams of sugar per day, and women no more than 20. One Tw***ie makes a big dent in that recommended daily max, packing 19 grams of the sweet stuff, Time reported. Many of the top-selling yogurts have even more.
Part of this high sugar count is due to sugar that occurs naturally in yogurt, but the amount of natural sugar varies dramatically, depending on the kind. Lowfat yogurt, for example, is notorious for being high in sugar, Monica Reinagel, M.S., LDN, CNS tells The Huffington Post. The first 17 grams of sugar per serving, in lowfat varieties, is naturally occurring lactose. In original yogurt, it's common to see anywhere between 12 and 15 grams of natural sugar, according to Heather Bauer, R.D., CDN. That's why Bauer recommends going Greek. Greek yogurt, she said, has as little as 6 grams in plain flavors.
What really ups the sugar, though, is what we put into that plain yogurt. Fruit, especially the syrupy kind mixed into store-bought yogurts, is a common culprit. Plus, once you start throwing in candied nuts or sweetened granola, you've can quickly find yourself well beyond the sugar content of an entire Tw***ie. "If you're going to add toppings, always stick to a plain flavor," Bauer says.
But many would-be yogurt eaters will tell you they just don't care for the bitter taste of a plain scoop. To make it more palatable, nearly all big brands, like Yoplait and Dannon, offer a large selection of fruit- and sometimes even dessert-flavored options. It's often these sweet additions that give some yogurts more sugar than a Tw***ie. Check the label for grams. Some are as high as 25 grams of sugar for an 8 ounce serving. A single Tw***ie cake has 19 grams of sugar, or the equivalent of 4 1/2 teaspoons.

05/28/2014

Vacations often include travel. Travel often includes sleeping in a rented room. Choose your accommodations carefully. Some "guests" are not choosy. Bedbugs are not choosy about where they stay! They check into hostels and five-star resorts across the globe. They cause itchy red bites on the face, neck, arms, hands, or other body parts. These marks can take up to two weeks to show up. To find those stinking bed bugs, look for tiny bugs in the folds of mattresses or sheets, rust-colored spots on the mattress, and a sweet musty odor.
Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite!

12/25/2013

The fact is that most Americans get enough protein in their diets. Adults generally need 10 to 35 percent of their total daily calories to come from protein. Based on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, this amounts to about 50 to 175 grams a day. Of course, you can get protein from sources other than meat.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends choosing a variety of protein foods, including eggs, beans and peas, soy products, and unsalted nuts and seeds. The guidelines also suggest replacing protein foods that are higher in solid fats with choices that are lower in solid fats and calories. The fats in meat, poultry and eggs are considered solid fats, while the fats in seafood, nuts and seeds are considered oils.

11/13/2013

PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING

By Hannah Kaminsky, author of My Sweet Vegan
Serves: 6 or more
1/2 pound crusty bread
1 cup pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)
1 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of salt
1 cup plain soymilk or other nondairy milk
1 tablespoon dark rum
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. and lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes, and set aside.
Whisk together the pumpkin puree, cornstarch, sugar, spices, and salt in a large bowl. Once smooth and thoroughly combined, slowly drizzle in the soymilk and rum, and stir until the mixture is homogeneous. Toss in the bread cubes and crystallized ginger, and use a wide spatula to gently coat the bread with the pumpkin.
Pour the lumpy mixture into your prepared pan, and smooth the pieces down into an even layer. Let stand for 10 minutes at room temperature for the liquids to soak in a bit, and then bake for 45 to 50 minutes. The edges should appear set, but the interior will remain quite soft and moist. Good bread pudding should be very moist, so be careful not to over bake it!
Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving. You can either take the time to make nice, neat slices like I did, or just grab a large spoon and scoop it out onto plates. Serve warm with Caramel Sauce.

11/13/2013

Let's not allow the energy to becomes negative during these holidays because of the focus on the products. Our souls do not truly enjoy materialistic objects whereas our human egos do. This disagreement occurs so we begin to have some negative feelings. Then, the snowball effect begins. One person’s negative energy is rubbed off on another, and the link begins. If we can do our part to reset our energy before we catch the negative vibrations, we can help to break the chain and make the shopping experience a lot more peaceful and enjoyable. It can be done, I know from experience. I stop and take some cleansing breathes and then move on beyond the negative action and/or words.

10/24/2013

Today, the world daily average consumption of added sugar per person is 17 teaspoons.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/credit-suisse-the-global-sugar-epidemic-2013-10?op=1

10/24/2013

17% of the American Diet is sugar!
http://www.businessinsider.com/credit-suisse-the-global-sugar-epidemic-2013-10?op=1

10/24/2013

Sugar in the average American diet is hugh!