Meet a Woman Who Takes Control of Her Life and Loves It!

Posted on December 16, 2012 by admin

I’ve known Lisa Lewtan for a number of years as the entrepreneurial go-getter. There’s not a lot of drama in what Lisa does. In fact it’s quite simple. When she wants something, she goes after it.

I met another side of Lisa approximately 2 weeks ago that I hadn’t anticipated. We met for tea at Cafe L’Aroma. Each time I see Lisa, she looks like she just stepped out from a Cosmo shoot and this time was no different.

Frankly, I had anticipated talking about what two suburban mothers typically discuss: children, schools, etc. I didn’t know, though, that Lisa is a regular meditator, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a certified “Let Your Yoga Dance and “Journey Dance” instructor. Lisa’s passion is to help people “let it go” and not take life or themselves so seriously.

When I left our meeting, I had that uplifting feeling when you meet with someone who is so full of positive, grounded energy.

I love having the type of paradigm shifts I experienced with Lisa. We judge people by their appearance and then find how wrong we were. This happened to me when I did my first weekend long meditation seminar with Sharon Salzberg, New York Times best selling author of Lovingkindness and several other books. I walked into the room and saw a very overweight, unattractive middle-aged woman. With terrible judgement, I thought, “I’m going to spend a whole weekend with her.” She must have read my mind because at that very moment, she looked at me with the most penetratingly beautiful smile. At that instant, my thoughts shifted to, “How lucky that I’m going to spend a whole weekend with her.”

From that experience, I learned that there is much more depth to each person, despite their appearances. Each of us has an interesting story to tell. The problem is that many of us are too wrapped up in carrying all the baggage from our past into the present moment and future. As a result, we’re uptight, vindictive, depressed and/or any number of negative emotions.

Just like you and me, Lisa and Sharon have their own issues, but they don’t allow those issues to dictate their lives. That’s why it is such a joy to spend time with them.

I had a health session with a client who battled with weight issues. She told me that her father used to tell her that she was “not good enough.” She married a man who let her know that she’s “not good enough.” She identified herself with “not good enough” so sadly she made herself “not good enough.” No wonder her mood and appearance were both heavy.

This client didn’t have a choice to be born into such a difficult family, but she does have a choice to disengage from it. The sad reality is she decided to live with the “comfort” she was familiar.

A fresh-pressed, organic juice cleanse in which you eat clean foods is a first step to move beyond our past traumas so that we can live a more fulfilling, satisfying life.

Cleanse and you may just find an even better “comfort” zone!

Laugh Your Way Out of Illness and Depression

Posted on December 11, 2012 by admin

My father didn’t have a particularly great diet, but he laughed a lot. I believe his good humor was what kept him out of the hospital for 78 years.

Unfortunately, the pain of seeing me go through a difficult divorce must have
weakened his immune system. Within a month of the finality of my divorce, he was diagnosed with cancer and quickly deteriorated.

Norman Cousins wrote about how he laughed his way out of a supposedly incurable illness in his book Anatomy of an Illness approximately 40 years ago. It’s sad that this type of therapy is still not widely used and undervalued in hospitals today.

I’ve also heard people who literally healed their supposedly incurable cancer just by watching funny movies.

So the next time you’re feeling down, laugh! It’s challenging because it’s the last thing we want to do when we’re feeling low and tired, but this simple action may be the most powerful medicine.

Fresh-Pressed Organic Juice For Silky Hair, Strong Nails and Glowing Skin

Posted on December 4, 2012 by admin

All it takes is a little hydrogen peroxide to whiten teeth. How easy is that!

I am very careful to use make up, face cleansers and skin creams made from chemical-free ingredients. When I read that just a dab of hydrogen peroxide can whiten teeth, I thought, “I’m so healthy, what can a small amount of a toxic product going to do to me?”

For 2 months, I rinsed with the tiniest amount of hydrogen peroxide. Sure enough, my teeth started to whiten, but so did my hair. In fact, it became so damaged that I had to cut 3 inches off.

At first I equated my damaged hair to stress. After all, it’s the beginning of the school year, a time of seasonal change, etc., but stress had never had such an impact on my hair.

A few days ago, I happened to be listening to an advertisement on the radio for a product that helps prevent grey hair by inhibiting the build up of hydrogen peroxide. I immediately started to research this and found that as hydrogen peroxide builds up, we go gray, according to a study at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom.

As soon as I stopped using the hydrogen peroxide, my hair resumed back to normal.

This experience made me realize how sensitive our bodies are to toxic and synthetic substances, including make up, food, etc. We consume junk and then wonder why we get sick. We’ve stopped equating the power of nutrient rich foods to health!

I learned about the real power of organic plant foods many years ago when I got sick. The doctors were stumped how to treat my illness. With every medication they gave me, I became sicker. Fortunately, I was introduced to juice and within one week of drinking it several times a day, I was completely healed – and hooked!

I founded a company, JOOS, which is based ona culmination of the research I’ve conducted world-wide to develop the healthiest food/beverage you could possibly consume. Try it and see what I mean. At first it can be an acquired taste, but your body will start craving it.

I’d love to hear your comments how about how juicing has helped you!

Don’t Starve With Salad

Posted on November 19, 2012 by admin

Tammy eats salad for lunch, but remains 15 lbs over-weight. By mid afternoon, she is craving coffee and sweets. By dinner, she’s starving.

Sound familiar? We are the only country where people eat only salad for lunch. In most countries, people eat meals. In fact, they eat their heaviest meal during lunch time.

Salads are particularly bad for us during the cold winter months because our bodies need warm foods. Salads, on the other hand, are a cooling food. As a result, our bodies are cold so we reach for something that will give us a boost of energy: a simple sugar, soda or coffee.

Here’s a rule of thumb that many of you have heard me say: If you’re still hungry by dinner time, chances are that your lunch wasn’t big enough.

In last week’s post, I gave a list of foods that will satiate you during the winter so that you remain at your optimal weight. In brief, these include heavier, more oily and fattier foods, including stews, avocados, steamed vegetables, ghee, stir-fries and soups. If you are inclined to eat a salad, then eat a heartier one like the Baby Bok Choy Ramen Salad (recipe below).

Baby Bok Choy Ramen Salad

Ingredients

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup blanched slivered almonds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodle pasta, crushed
1 medium head baby bok choy
3 green onions (scallions)
Optional, sliced celery and/or fennel

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, sugar and soy sauce. Set aside.
Crush the ramen noodles while still in their packaging and sautée over medium heat in a small skillet with the almonds and sesame seeds until everything is golden brown. Remove from heat and drain on a paper towel.
Chop the bok choy and green onions and add to a large bowl. Just before serving, sprinkle with the noodle mixture and dressing, and toss to coat.

Eating the Right Foods Can Make You Smart(er)

Posted on November 15, 2012 by admin

Yoga Journal highlights seven ways we can keep our mind functioning well into our elderly years, according to medical experts:

1. Vitamin D: Research suggests that Vitamin D is essential for cognitive function and helps to keep our bones strong through metabolizing calcium.

2. Brain tonic: As foreign as this is to many of us, brain tonics have been around for thousands of years in Ayurveda, an ancient Indian medicine. The herb Brahmi has been highly recommended. My personal favorite is chyavanprash, which has been incredibly effective in immune support.

3. Frequent socializing, including dancing, travelling, volunteering, playing board games, etc. have been found to lower risk of dementia.

4. Positive outlook: Studies have found that negative thinking is bad for your brain! According to Jeffrey M. Greeson of Duke University Medical Center, chronic anger, hate and resentment produce stress causing your adrenals to release the hormone cortisol. High levels of cortisol shrink the hippocampus and can actually lead to more negative thinking.

5. Vitamin B12: Studies have shown that B12 deficiency is linked to memory loss.

6. Regular meditation: According to several studies, meditation can keep your mind nimble and clear.

7. Frequent Exercise: Simply put, habitual exercise promotes healthy brain function.

Here is one that Yoga Journal omitted:

8. Eat Dark Leafy Greens!!! They contain antioxidants, help reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol levels and protect the immune system.

Stay Healthy by Eating Right for The Cold Season

Posted on November 14, 2012 by admin

Here’s a statement you probably thought you’d never hear from me: If you enjoy consuming animal meat, this is the season to eat it.

The optimal way to eat to avoid illness, lose weight and stay healthy is to eat with the seasons.

Winter is the time of hibernation and we need to insulate ourselves from the cold. It’s normal to gain about 5 pounds during the cold, winter months.

Here are 6 suggestions for an optimal winter diet to keep us balanced, warm and healthy:

Eat a high protein/high fat diet (e.g. 40% protein, 30% fat, 30% carb).
Eat sweet, sour and salty foods that nurture and warm us.
Cook with ghee (clarified butter). I love ghee because the casein (one of the proteins in milk) is eliminated and it is fully saturated so that it can not turn into an unhealthy trans fat. Eat warm, unctuous (oily) foods, such as hearty stews, soups, avocados, herbal teas and steamed vegetables.
Avoid fried foods that are hard to digest.
Avoid cold or ice-cold foods, since they douse the digestive fire.
Drink warm lemon water to cleanse your lymph each morning.

The link below contains a Winter Grocery List by my favorite Ayurvedic practitioner, Dr. John Douillard

http://www.lifespa.com/article.aspx?art_id=57

Nobility in Action

Posted on November 12, 2012 by admin

Farah sat across from me in her silk purple burka at a Daniel Goleman (author of Emotional Intelligence) seminar and I wondered why she was there. During the first night of the seminar when we were asked to introduce ourselves and state the purpose why we had attended the seminar, I had said that I wanted to learn to deal with a complicated family situation in a more emotionally intelligent way. Farah, a PhD in Chemical Engineering and president of an organization to empower girls, travelled all the way from Kuwait to gain further insight into Dr. Goleman’s teachings.

After one session, I thought I was speaking privately to Dr. Goleman about my personal situation, but evidently Farah had overheard the conversation because she said to me, “Lauri, come with me, I want to tell you something.”

We sat in two wooden chairs at the back of the room. She put her hand on mine and said in a soft, but firm tone, “Do you know the main message I want to teach the young Kuwaiti girls who have been abused?”

“To educate them how to speak up for themselves and strike back,” I immediately replied.

She gave me a warm smile, “No, to learn to be noble, but not in a self-righteous way. I want to tell you a story.”

One of the girls Farah used to counsel, who is now a young woman, was beaten by her father as a child. As a teen, the girl was offered a scholarship to study law at the University of Kuwait. At the time, her father was ill, so she turned down the opportunity to care for him. One day when she was bringing food to him, he beckoned her to his bed. She noticed a tear rolling down his cheek. He whispered in a barely audible voice ”I did some horrible things to you when you were a child. I’m sorry. I didn’t know better. You have taught me what it means to love.”

After the seminar, I asked my 11-year old daughter, Julia, what she thought the word noble meant. She ran to the dictionary and said, “Honest and of good and generous nature.”

Julia looked at me for a while and I could tell that something was going on in her head. Finally, she blurted out, “Mommy, just imagine if people acted noble, even half the time. There would be less divorce, crime, lawsuits, fighting and wars.”

“That’s true,” I replied, “and wouldn’t that also mean that people would respect themselves more and take better care of themselves?”

For me, acting noble is to realize that we will have a reflex reaction to a situation, but not acting on that. Instead, it is about making space so that we act with grace and skill. It means that when we are frustrated and angry, instead of gorging ourselves, screaming at the person, giving them the finger, etc., we resist the temptation by finding a peaceful place to settle our minds.

True Transformation

Posted on November 8, 2012 by admin

Amy and her family suffered with weight issues. The entire family tried the latest diets for years, but nothing seemed to work. A couple years ago, Amy did her first JOOS Reboot. After that, she maintained it by drinking 1 or 2 JOOS per day and periodically did other Reboots. Within a few months of her first Reboot, she was down to her wedding day weight.

I thought she would have been thrilled, but one day she called me in tears saying, “I can’t handle being so thin. What do I have to hide behind now? I had always hid behind my weight?”

Amy and I met regularly to get to the root of her emotional issues around food. It was not an easy process to face the demons of the past, but it was the most liberating for Amy to learn that she was worthy of living with a healthy body and feel great about herself.

Now it’s two years later and Amy is still at her wedding day weight. This is precisely the goal of the JOOSReboot: to empower us so that we can realize our goals – and our dreams! Many ask how a cleanse/reboot could accomplish this. Simply put, theJOOS Reboot makes us face those emotional issues and break them by becoming more mindful.

I have met many people who are afraid to do the JOOSReboot because they are not ready to lose the familiarity of the emotional burden they’re carrying. When they finally make the leap of faith though, the experience can be truly transformative.

“Breaking the Sugar Habit” With Susan Altman

Posted on November 5, 2012 by admin

I am thrilled to feature this very important article by guest writer, Susan Altman, Certified Health Coach, AADP, LLC.

Breaking the Sugar Habit

By Susan Altman, CHHC, AADP

As a nutrition based Health Coach, I am constantly hearing about what people eat.They tell me what foods they crave and when and why they crave them. I am a big believer of listening to your own body wisdom, especially when it comes to cravings. When speaking to my clients, there is no simple answer because everyone is unique when it comes to cravings. For example, some people have strong cravings for cheese, others for bread. But the one common craving amongst most of my clients is for white, refined sugar.

A consistent piece of advice I give is this: If there is one *food* (or substance), where you shouldn’t give in to your cravings, it’s for white, refined sugar. It’s dangerous, and ridiculously addicting. If you can take only one thing away from this article, it’s to try as hard as you possibly can get refined sugar out of your diet. What might surprise you is that eliminating it for a week may seem impossible, but after you get over the withdrawal symptoms, you won’t even miss it.

Sugar was first introduced in the United States in the 1800′s. Over time, sugar has slowly and steadily integrated itself into our everyday lives. The days are gone when the average person ate only 18-20 grams of sugar per year. Now, the average person eats 150-180pounds of sugar per year. Take a moment to think about that.

Let’s think about how sugar likes to hide. You can find it in just about all processed foods and drinks including: sports drinks, flavored water, soda, yogurt, cereals, crackers, bread, cookies, cakes, canned soups, spaghetti sauce, chewing gum, breath mints and even deli meats. That’s just in the grocery stores! Digging a little deeper, other names of processed sugar are: table sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, cane sugar, corn syrup and sorghum. A good rule of thumb to follow is: if it ends in “ose” or “ol”, it’s most likely, a sugar.

The question now is why is sugar so hard on your health?

When you consume processed sugar, it is absorbed very quickly in the bloodstream. This causes the pancreas, the organ that maintains sugar levels in the body, to give off insulin to bring down the blood sugar levels. This yo-yo effect causes tremendous stress on the body, which can lead to diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, weight gain, premature aging as well as interfering with the absorption of crucial minerals into your body. Avoiding sugar is essential to maintaining your insulin levels, controlling the ups and downs of your energy and productivity levels, as well as stabilizing your mood.

If you would like to kick the sugar habit, here are a few tricks to stabilize your blood sugar: Eat a nutritious breakfast with some protein like eggs, fruit based protein shakes, or nut butters. Also, when you are first going about this, try and have smaller meals throughout the day. Eat every 3-4 hours and have some protein with each snack or meal (lean animal protein, nuts, seeds, beans). Also, avoid eating 3 hours before bedtime to give your body a chance to recover.

Let’s circle back to the beginning of this article where I spoke about cravings. Humans are naturally drawn to sweet foods. Instead of reaching for the highly processed baked goods, it is smart to learn about the naturally sweet foods. Fruit, root vegetables such as sweet potatoes and carrots, raw honey, maple syrup or agave nectar, are all delicious naturally sweetened foods. When a sweet craving for refined sugar strikes, instead of giving in to it, try and decipher what is going on in your life at that moment. Is the craving a habit? Is it because you are tired and need an energy boost? Get to the root cause, and you will have an easier time breaking the habit.

Spring is a great time to cleanse the body and get rid of old habits and toxins that aren’t serving you. Join me in a Spring cleanse where you will eliminate sugar (and other possible food allergens) from your diet for 5 days. You will have a fantastic, new starting point, wiping the slate clear and gearing up for your best possible health.

Overcoming Your Attitude

Posted on November 1, 2012 by admin

Many Japanese Americans landed in interment camps during World War II, and although Wat Misaka was never taken prisoner, he still encountered hate and prejudice.

Misaka had another strike against him: he was only 5’7″.

The difference between a champion and a quitter is that a champion isn’t bogged down by excuses, which Misaka could have easily done.

Instead, Misaka worked extremely hard to become a top basketball player and defied all odds. Ultimately, he led his team from Weber State to win an NIT title (the basketball gold standard at the time) in 1947 at the Garden.

Misaka was surprised and deeply touched when he played at the Garden how the crowd cheered for him, despite his being of Japanese descent.

The New York Knicks named him their first draft choice and Misaka became the first non-white professional basketball player.

We can always come up with excuses for not performing our best or for not giving up a habit: “My father mistreated me” “I didn’t feel loved as a child.” “I was teased because I was fat.” “My husband cheated on me, which led me to binge eat (smoke).”

The fact is, stuff happens to all of us, and the beauty of life is that we have free-will, that is, the choice, to be prisoners of the stories we weave in our minds or, like Misaka, build character and strength from what we’ve suffered.

You have the right to be healthy and live your best life!

How have you overcome obstacles to do what’s right for you?

JOOS

Live disease-free at your ideal weight forever! To Your Health!

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