Getting Started | Amber Keinath

How to Get Started with Juicing!

Getting Started, Nutrition 101, Organic/Raw No Responses »

Mar 162012

A few weeks ago, I brought you an awesome article from Karen Knowler, the Raw Food Coach, How to Set up Your Own Smoothie Bar. As a follow up to her smoothie article, I am bringing you “How to Start Juicing at Home” so you can learn how easy and tasty juicing can be!

So why JUICING? They are quick and delicious, and deliver an instant blast of sustainable energy. I like to think of it as high-dose nutrition in a glass!

Home-made fresh juice is lacking the yucky preservatives and additives and the nutrients are easily assimilated in your body! This helps your body absorb more of the good stuff which will give you tons of energy!

Fruit and veggie juices are cleansing, have tons of antioxidants, natural sugars, and chlorophyll that will get you on the road to looking and feeling amazing!

What I have noticed the most is that I no longer have the acne breakouts (having those in your late 20s is embarrassing enough!), my complexion looks awesome, and I have more energy! The past few weeks my co-faculty members have all been affected by colds and the nasty flu. The only problem with me being healthy despite their cold/flu is that I have had to be at work every day!

Start juicing and let me know how you feel!

Step 1: Tool Time.

You don’t need a lot of equipment to start juicing. All you need is a juicer. There are a bunch of different juicers out there on the market and can range in price from around $30 to $500 or more! You can get away with spending what you can on a juicer that gets great reviews on Amazon.com.

If you are looking for a solid juicer that can do many different functions besides just juice, minimizes foam on top of your juice, and minimizes nutrients lost, I recommend…

Last spring I bought an Omega 8006 after reading tons of reviews and health information about juicers. I absolutely love it! It maintains all the awesome nutrients and enzymes and does not have as much of that gross pulp left on the top of the glass.

It is pricey, but it is one of the best investments you can make for your health. I have made it part of my healthy living toolbox.

Some more helpful kitchen tools that are not required but are worth investing in, is a good cutting board that you will only use for fresh produce, a quality chef’s knife, and a fun juice glass! J

Step 2: What to Juice?

The main things that you can juice are fruits and vegetables.

I find juicing a combination of various fruits gives you a great burst of energy. Juicing a combination of fruits and vegetables makes you feel more nourished as well as energized. Vegetable Juices are more detoxing and nourishing.

All I can say to this is to experiment with various combinations! Click here are 3 simple juice recipes to get you started!

Step 3: Set up your Juicing Station.

Find a place in your kitchen that you can designate as your juicing station. Make it convenient to the refrigerator and kitchen sink to make it easier to grab and wash your produce. The key is to not make it difficult to set up your equipment, gather your ingredients, and juice because you will be less likely to ever juice if it is a pain to even get started! Make life simple: keep supplies close!

Step 4: How to Juice!

Set up all your supplies! Pull out your juicer, the fruits/veggies you are going to juice, and your juice glass (fancy & fun to drink your awesome juice in)!
Be sure to wash all your fruits and vegetables. I use the fit wash that can be found at most grocery stores.
Chop and pit and any other preparation that needs to happen to make the fruits and vegetables easier to put through the juicer.
In no particular order, feed your produce into the juicer!
Pour into your fancy and fun juice glass!
Enjoy! Share with family and friends!

Ready for 3 refreshing and tasty juice recipes to get you started? Check out my juice recipe post by clicking here!

Before I wrote this blog post, I had a few readers ask about what I thought about juicing and what type of juicer I recommend. So, for those readers who were wondering what type of juicer I recommend…

The Omega 8006 and I highly encourage you to make the investment if you are serious about getting healthy!

So, Get out there and start juicing!

Leave me a comment below because I want to know: Do you have any questions about getting started juicing? If you have started, what benefits have you noticed and what is your favorite recipe for juicing?

To your health journey success,

P.S. Get started on your health journey with your own printable healthy eating guide! Join me by Clicking Here!

How to Eat a Simply Healthy Breakfast

Getting Started, Nutrition 101 No Responses »

Mar 012012

Breakfast seems to be the most overlooked meal of the day. I grew up eating a breakfast of sugar-filled cereal in vitamin D milk and a PopTart.

My husband either went without breakfast or would have one of those combinations of heart stopping bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, etc.

My sister doesn’t eat breakfast at all.

More and more studies have shown the importance to not only health but to maintaining a healthy weight.

I like to illustrate the importance of breakfast to my clients by asking going through the following: when was the last time you ate? Usually dinner is around 7pm. How long until the next meal if you skip breakfast? That is probably around 16 or 17 hours without anything to eat! What is your body using for fuel? It needs something to keep going just like our cars!

Breakfast is a necessary part of giving your body the necessary energy to face the day!

So eat breakfast!

Now comes the tricky part: what do you eat for breakfast that is actually healthy?

A Pretty Pink Sprinkled Donut? NOPE!

The majority of all food that is advertized for breakfast is not healthy and contains loads of sugar, unhealthy fats, and cholesterol.

Here are my 9 favorite Healthy (& Vegan) breakfast ideas:

Green Fruit Smoothies
Nondairy Yogurt with sliced fresh fruit and topped with granola
Vegan French toast
Fruit spread (with no high fructose corn syrup) on whole wheat toast
Vegan muffins
Fresh fruit topped with finely chopped nuts (or nut butter)
Whole grain cereal with nondairy nut milk
Non-instant oatmeal with fruit
Green Fruit Juice

As you probably tell from this list is I tend to eat more fruit in the morning. I feel fruit is a great way to get energized for your day. To help you feel full longer, add nuts or seeds.

Now, I need your help! What is your high-nutrient breakfast favorite? Leave a comment below so I can add it to the list!

To your health journey success,

P.S. Get a Healthy Lifestyle Coach to help you Get Healthy, Lose Weight, and have FUN. Join me by Clicking Here!

How to Set Up Your Own Super-Smoothie Bar!

Getting Started, Kitchen 101 No Responses »

Oct 242011

As many of you know, I LOVE smoothies and I’m also pretty good at creating and making them (even if I do say so myself!), so this issue I thought I’d share with you my guide to creating a smoothie bar in your own home that’s good to go at any time of day and is quick and easy to use.

Why smoothies? Because they’re fast, quick, fun, delicious and they are great at any time of day and can often deliver a hefty dose of nutrition in a tasty and beautiful package!

My kitchen sees a lot of smoothie action, whether it be green smoothies for lunch or nut milk-based smoothies for supper… and I hope that with the help of this issue, yours will soon too!

Step 1: Tool Yourself Up. The only piece of equipment you need to make a great smoothie is, of course, a blender (but if you want to make nut milks using whole nuts you’ll want a nut milk bag too – more about that next issue.)

Now, as may or may not know, all blenders are not equal! Certainly you can get away with a High Street blender costing around $20-$30 for a fair amount of time if you treat it kindly, but if you’ve got the money and the passion then the best place you could invest your money for the long haul is without doubt in the very “hardcore” blender that is the Vita-Mix TNC (pictured). Yes, they are pricey (especially here in Europe), but they are soo worth it.

I am fortunate enough to own one myself and like many others who are also proud owners of these beautiful machines I really do think it’s one of the best investments in my health I have ever made. I use it every day and it’s my favourite piece of equipment in my entire kitchen.

All that said, if budget does not permit you to spend nigh on $400 on this particular piece of kit, then all is not lost, just spend the most you can on something that’s got good reviews on Amazon or similar and when you’ve got that part sorted, you’re ready to go!

Step 2: Gather Your Ingredients. Before you start let’s take a look at what you could have on hand to make your smoothies with.

* Fresh fruit (in a bowl and/or fridge)
* Fresh greens (in your fridge. e.g. spinach, watercress, lettuce, kale, chard etc.)
* Frozen fruit (in your freezer)
* Ice-cubes (in your freezer)
* Sweeteners (e.g. dates, agave nectar, maple syrup , honey, stevia etc.)
* Flavourings (e.g. mesquite meal, carob powder, cacao nibs/ powder, vanilla pods/ essence etc.)
* Superfoods (e.g. maca, bee pollen, green powders, hemp protein powder, etc.)
* Nuts and seeds and/or their butters (for nut milks)
* Cartons of coconut water/ milk
* Oils (not necessary, but some people like to use hemp, flax or coconut oil in their smoothies for EFAs)

Obviously fresh fruit, greens, nuts and seeds are easy to buy in the shops these days, as are some of the other more specialised foods. But for those ingredients that are new to you or that you can’t get hold of locally, the good news is that all of these ingredients are now easy to buy mail order wherever you are in the world. Yes, I will be biased and recommend that if you are in Europe you get them from The Fresh Network (!), but if you are overseas you can get all of these from a variety of online stores such as Nature’s First Law.

If most of these are new to you, then the ones I recommend you start off with are: dates for sweetening and agave nectar (light) if you want something new to try; vanilla pods or essence and/or mesquite powder for flavourings; bee pollen (for non-vegans) as an incredible superfood and coconut oil for fat if you’d like some.

Whatever you choose, make sure that you gather all your non-refrigerated ingredients into one place so that they are all together, which leads me nicely on to…

Step 3: Pick Your Spot. Whether you choose to make your smoothies at home or at the office, picking the right spot is key. Why? Because if it’s somewhere awkward to get to, or not near to the sink or a million miles from your fridge, ingredients or glasses, then you’ll feel much less inclined to actually use your smoothie bar! To give you a brief glimpse into my world, my blender is located with my sink to the left, my smoothie ingredients are to the right on a shelf above (you could have yours in a box or tray if you don’t have shelving in your kitchen) and my glasses are located up to the right in a cupboard next to the ingredients. And the fridge is just 2 steps away. Even though this all sounds like perfect common sense, it’s amazing how many of us make life difficult for ourselves and dot everything all over the place! By keeping these 5 things all close to hand, you will now officially have your “bar” in place and will be all set to get creative.

Step 4: Choose Your Recipes. Now that you have your blender, your ingredients and your actual “bar” all set up, what are you going to make? Well, this is where the past few eZines come in. So far I’ve published 4 different smoothies recipes in the past 5 issues, so they should get you started! Then of course there’s your Raw Bible – if you haven’t picked some smoothies recipes yet, now would be the ideal time to do so. Photocopy them (or print the eZine recipes off) and file them in those clear files you bought and you’ll be all set to go.

Step 5: Get Smoothie-ing! I generally recommend that if you are very new to smoothie making that you start very simply, as I did, with pure water, a couple of small bananas (or one big one) and one handful of fresh fruit of your choice. Strawberries work well, as do any berries, or peach, nectarine, pineapple or mango. All of these are good and very straightforward to buy and use. From there, when you have your confidence up and are ready to try new things, you can start to get a bit more experimental and add in other more unusual ingredients such as the powders and potions and even a little bit of oil if you’d like to (ideally no more than 2 teaspoons per pint). Personally I keep oils out, but then getting enough calories is not my concern as my needs are pretty low in that department! One step beyond that is to experiment with using nut or seed milks for a base instead of bananas, which is where your nut milk bag will come in. This is really easy to do, but I’ll keep the “How To” for another article which will follow next issue. Until then, I’ll be expecting you to set your smoothie bar up to perfection ready and eager to go for next week!

Do we have a deal?!

Karen Knowler

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Karen Knowler, The Raw Food Coach publishes “Successfully Raw” – a free weekly eZine for raw food lovers everywhere. If you’re ready to look good, feel great and create a raw life you love get your FREE tips, tools and recipes now at www.TheRawFoodCoach.com.

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Hope you enjoyed this awesome article by Karen! If you haven’t done so already, check out her blog that is loaded with tons of great information about going raw. Instead of using the Vita-mix, I prefer the BlendTec which I feel is like Vita-Mix’s automatic cousin. They are both awesome blenders, but BlendTec seems made for the 21st century! You can’t go wrong with either blender though!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Are you going to set up your kitchen for some awesome smoothies?

Leave a comment below…

To your health journey success,

P.S. Get a Healthy Lifestyle Coach to help you Get Healthy, Lose Weight, and have FUN. Join me by Clicking Here!

The “How Get Started with Healthy Eating” Blueprint

Getting Started, Healthy Eating, Nutrition 101 4 Responses »

Jan 192011

Eating right for ultimate health is a must!

By going back and reading all the nutritional literature there is out there on what diet best leads to ultimate health has shown that the more plant based diet you consume, the healthier you will be.

However, it can be difficult to start eating in a manner that is so radically different than the standard American diet of processed foods and lots of animal products.

So how do you start on the road to eating for your health so you can be most successful? Check out this video to see the step-by-step blueprint for your healthy eating success:

Determine your “why”. Why do you want to eat healthy and what do you hope to achieve out of changing your diet. This will help you stay motivated even if it gets tough.

Start out with small changes to your diet. Start with one meal or snacks and work your way up. Don’t overwhelm yourself.

Learn about your food. Research everything you can about fresh whole foods and how to buy them, store them, and prepare them.

Get a great recipe book that will help you get ideas and recipes for healthier meals.

Get the right kitchen equipment. For a video I did on some kitchen equipment you might need when you switch to a more plant-based diet, visit my Healthy Kitchen Equipment 101 video.

Stock your refrigerator and pantry with fresh whole foods and get rid of the processed foods.

Remember to eat lots of fresh foods! Just keep eating!

Eat a variety of foods! There are so many different fresh whole foods out there that boredom shouldn’t be possible!

Don’t let yourself get hungry! There is no excuse! Just keep eating all the fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains you can because they are all so low in calories for the nutrient punch you
get. With this way of eating, counting calories and deprivation are no longer in your vocabulary!

Finally, experiment with your food! Get creative and have fun trying new foods and recipes and just enjoy how this healthy way of eating makes you feel!

You can achieve great health by switching to a plant based diet! Go out there have fun and get healthy! If you need a little help getting started, check out the free gift I have for you on my blog: Get Healthy with Amber Food Guide and Shopping List.

Leave me a comment below and answer this question of the day: What is your favorite healthy meal and why?

To your health journey success,

P.S. If you are ready to learn more about how to create a life of health and wellness, join me by Clicking Here! Find and connect with me on my Facebook fan page and on Twitter!

How do I Start Eating Healthy?

Getting Started, Healthy Eating 4 Responses »

Jan 122011

Everyone at some point in their lives has asked themselves, “how can I start eating healthier?”

Well, today I have a video for you that will give you some great ways to get started today! There are no more excuses for you to keep eating all that junk that is considered food. Most of the stuff us Americans eat daily are just a bunch of chemicals and food additives that are put together to resemble something edible. Real food is whole and fresh. It is not made in a factory.

So how do you get started right now eating healthier? Watch this video below:

For Review: the top 5 steps that I recommend to my coaching clients for getting started with healthy eating:

1. Start simple and fun!

2. Stock your fridge and pantry with healthy fresh, whole foods.

3. Combine 2 food choices from each section of foods such as green leafy vegetables, cooked vegetables, nuts, and seeds for unlimited salad ideas.

4. Get rid of all that processed and packaged junk in your fridge and pantry.

5. Look up vegan or raw food recipes and be sure to try 1 new recipe a week or more depending on how much time you have!

Healthy eating should be fun, colorful, and should taste awesome!

Leave me a comment below: What is one fun and easy healthy food choice that started you on your road to health?

To your health journey success,

P.S. If you are ready to learn more about how to create a life of health and wellness, join me by Clicking Here! Find and connect with me on my Facebook fan page and on Twitter!

How to Eat Healthy vs What Not to Wear

Beauty/Style, Getting Started, Healthy Eating 2 Responses »

Jan 062011

What the heck does the TV show “What Not to Wear” have in common with Healthy Eating?

The Basic Synopsis about the TV “What Not to Wear” for those of you who have not seen it is that 2 stylists, Stacey and Clinton, find an unsuspecting person and make’s over their appearance from their clothes and makeup to their hair.

Check out this video to learn how this has to do with Healthy Eating!

Just like we take the time to look good on the outside, so many of us to pay attention to looking good on the inside and paying attention what we put into our bodies.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!

Your body is made up of what you put in your mouth.

If you are like the majority of Americans, your diet consists of packaged, processed foods, lots of refined grains, and tons of animal products.

When you are feeding your body food that is low in vital nutrients like in the American diet, how do you expect your body to look its best and function healthfully for a vibrant and disease-free you? Its time to make over your body and focus on giving it the most nutrient dense food so your body can look and feel its best!

The most nutrient dense foods are green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, beans, fruit, whole grains, and nuts and seeds.

And you guessed it! Animal products and processed foods are way below in the nutrients compared to those above!

So, now you know what to put in your mouth to make sure your body is healthy and full of energy! Imagine how vibrant you will look and feel!

Stop focusing just on appearances with your clothes, but also focus on how your body looks overall. Give it what it needs to be made over and look amazing!

Click here for a free guide to starting your road to healthier eating: I want to Eat Healthy!

Don’t forget to leave me a comment below and answer this question: Have you heard of the nutrient based diet and what do you think about it?

To your health journey success,

P.S. If you are ready to learn more about how to create a life of health and wellness, join me by Clicking Here! Find and connect with me on my Facebook fan page and on Twitter!

Ask Amber: Brown Rice vs. White Rice & Best AM Pre-Workout Snack

Getting Started, Healthy Eating, Healthy Fitness 1 Response »

Jan 042011

I finally have put up the Ask Amber video for today (I will be doing these every tuesday, so if you have any healthy living questions leave me a comment below and maybe Ill answer your question next week!)

Today the 2 questions that I was asked are:

Is brown rice really that much healthier than white rice? Aren’t they both just rice?

-and-

What should you eat before a morning workout?

(Check out the answers in this latest Ask Amber video below!)

So, what do you think of these answers?

Have you thought of another question you have of healthy living? (Ask me by leaving a comment below)

Well, when it comes to whole grains vs. enriched grains, the answer is always that whole grains win out! They have all the fiber, minerals, and vitamins necessary for your ultimate health. Throw out those white grains which do nothing more for you than raise your blood sugar level leading your body to store more fat.

As far as what to eat before a morning workout session, remember to stick to carbs! Don’t forget that these should come from whole food sources, not that stupid enriched junk I just finished talking about! If you have any other ideas for morning snacks, leave me a comment below!

To your health journey success,

P.S. If you are ready to learn more about how to create a life of health and wellness, join me by Clicking Here! Find and connect with me on my Facebook fan page and on Twitter!

The 5 Top Tips for Healthy Holiday Travel

Getting Started, Healthy Eating No Responses »

Dec 222010

Guess what!? I get to go back home to California for Christmas this year! I haven’t been home for Christmas in a few years! I am so excited!

I am sure there are many of you who are traveling during this Christmas season! Traveling can be a very challenging time for staying up with your healthy eating plan. So here are 5 quick tips for helping you stay healthy during your holiday traveling!

Plan ahead.

Pack healthy snacks.

When you do have to eat on the road or at the airport, choose healthier options.

Walk as much as possible.

Drink water.

Use these 5 tips during travel and you will feel great and not slide off the healthy living bandwagon.

Leave me a comment below and let me know where you are traveling this season or your mode of transportation or any tips you may have to add to this list of how people can travel healthier!

Have a Merry Christmas!

How to Get Started with Healthy Eating 101

Getting Started, Healthy Eating 6 Responses »

Oct 222010

What do you think of when you think of changing your life by finally taking control of your health?

For many people, getting healthy seems hard. They think of gross, tasteless health food. They think of not being able to eat some of their favorite foods. They can also see it as a chore, a struggle, or a hassle.

What would it take to start your road for healthier eating? What if I told you that you can be healthy without giving up everything you love? Would you be interested?

The feedback that I am getting from many of my readers is that you just don’t know where to begin. There is so much information out there, it is just so dang overwhelming.

I came up with 7 strategies to help jumpstart your road to healthier eating. These are the same steps I took during my personal transition to a lifestyle of health or what I like to call my healthstyle!

Everything always starts with mindset!

This applies to all areas of your life such as with business, friendships, work, personal development, and of course health! In order to get started effectively with healthier eating, it is imperative that you have a positive mindset.

You can be healthy! Thank about how great you will feel when you are filling your body with all the nutrients it needs! Imagine, all the energy you will have, not to mention being able to sleep better at night.

What is motivating you to eat healthier? If you believe you can be successful, you can achieve that success!

The key to any lifestyle change is to start small.

Think about a time in your life where you wanted to achieve something big, but got so overwhelmed that it all fell apart. Why do you think you failed?

Now, what if you wanted to achieve something, but instead of reaching for the ultimate goal, you decided to break it into small steps or changes? You would be more likely to be successful. The same goes for healthier eating. If you try to give up everything unhealthy that you absolutely love to eat, you are not going to stay motivated.

The key is to start with small goals and the motivation that comes with each small goal reached will keep you marching on and eventually leading you to the ultimate goal you set for yourself. It all starts small!

Plan a week’s worth of meals by putting together a menu.

How many times have you come home from a long day at work and had no clue what to make for dinner? That happened to me A LOT.

Before I began planning weekly menus, eating out was a regular occurrence. This is not healthy by any means (don’t give me the excuse that you went to a healthy fast food place like Subway because that doesn’t cut it!).

The key here is to plan ahead of time so you know exactly what to make and will be healthier because of it! Have fun and see what creative meals you can come up with!

Once you have your menu figured out for the week, make a shopping list!

The key here is to stick to it! This means no slipping in that chocolate bar just because you went down that aisle!

Creating a shopping list can also help you save money! Look for coupons for items on your list. A great way to do this is to go to the websites of the brands you usually purchase. Many of these websites have coupons you can print off. Double your savings for your healthy food by finding a corresponding coupon from the store!

Get healthy and save money by planning a week of meals, building a shopping list, and finding coupons!

Eat what you love!

Stick to healthier choices of food you love and don’t completely give up your favorites like pizza and ice cream right away! Maybe cut down these foods you love that are not healthy to one day a week only!

A boring or tasteless meal is not going to inspire you to continue on your journey to healthy eating! Plan your healthy eating menus so that you can enjoy your food and stay inspired.

Making healthy eating a mainstay of your lifestyle, you must make sure to have fun, party, and get creative!

When you are having fun, flexing your creative ability, throwing some parties, your motivation and inspiration level for sticking with your healthier eating plan will be 10x higher than making health food boring.

One lapse is not a relapse.

Okay, so your had a bad week. Get your butt back in gear and get next week’s menu planned and ready to go! Just because you did a bad week. This does not mean your healthy eating plan drop-out!

Your road to ultimate health may be a bumpy ride. However, you have the skills to keep picking yourself back up and get moving forward! Never QUIT!

Hope these 7 strategies help you on your road to healthier eating habits. These strategies may be cyclical and you may find yourself going back and starting over. It’s all a journey. As you keep moving you are getting closer to your ultimate goal. Pretty soon some habits will be formed and you may find yourself doing things you don’t think possible!

Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think of these 7 strategies? Do you have any other ideas you have found valuable that you can share with others who are currently struggling with improving their eating habits?

Don’t forget to share the love by sharing this with your friends by clicking the social media links below!

To your health journey success,

P.S. If you are ready to learn more about how to create a life of health and wellness, join me by Clicking Here! Find and connect with me on my Facebook fan page and on Twitter!

The Experience of a Mark Bittman Interview

Getting Started, Healthy Eating 2 Responses »

Oct 082010

Last night I had the awesome experience to get to meet the big man when it comes to conscious eating.

He has a ton of different cookbooks including “How to Cook Everything” and a very popular column in the New York Times. This accomplished journalist has paved the way for the rest of us to know how we can eat healthier and save the planet at the same time.

This event was an interview done with Mike Bittman and a local radio show promoting his latest book release: Food Matters Cookbook. If you have not read anything by Mike, I highly recommend it! He has a no-nonsense approach to healthy eating and is HILARIOUS!

So what is Mark Bittman all about? He is all about small and easy changes that we can make in our everyday life that can have a huge impact on our health and the health of our planet.

Health is all about the journey. It is not the destination. Sure, it would be in the best interest of your health to eat a vegetarian or vegan diet as that is what all the research is saying is the best diet for ultimate health.

However, it is more about the journey of you making your way to eating more whole, fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains rather than you hurrying up to get to the ultimate vegetarian or vegan diet.

I really enjoy how he makes it fit each individual personally. He is not condemning you for not being a perfect vegan, he is just helping all of us get a little bit closer to that ultimate healthy diet. Whatever small changes you can make by incorporating a little more vegetables into your diet is a success story.

We did ask him what he recommends for pizza toppings! See, you can still have your favorite comfort foods! He just recommends putting veggies as toppings as opposed to extra cheese and that sausage.

Another great word of advice that Mark Bittman gave during this interview was how much our nutritional world these days is focusing on individual ingredients such as antioxidants, potassium, sodium, fat, calcium, etc. He was all for concentrating all your energy on getting enough fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains into your diet.

I can go for that! It is a lot less to worry about! And, if you are getting enough of these fresh whole foods, you are probably getting a wide array of all the vitamins and minerals you need to be healthy! Everything else will take care of itself. Whew! That makes healthy eating easier and less of a hassle!

One thing that I did not know before I started reading Mark Bittman (and Michael Pollan) a few months ago, was how prior to World War II, the American eating habits were focused more on whole fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains rather than meat. As we all know, now the American diet is all about the meat.

Really, we don’t need all that meat to be healthy! The average American in getting 3x the amount of protein in their diet with the vast majority coming from animal sources.

Anyways, back to more about what Mark Bittman said in regards to the diet change in America with World War II. It was due to the rations of meat that kept people healthy by focusing on the whole foods instead of solely on meat. In the 1940s, 40% of the country’s produce was grown in people’s own gardens. That would be awesome! I love the idea of going out and picking produce (and of course its the cheapest organic produce around!).

Now, I don’t want you to think Mark Bittman is totally opposed to eating meat. He is against factory raised meat which is what you find (mostly) in the grocery store. He equates this meat with processed foods in how many extra junk is included in the meat such as hormones, chemicals, etc. He is okay with choosing higher quality, less processed, and more sustainably raised meat.

You may be asking, how in the world can I afford that? Well, his philosophy is to use meat as a topping or flavor enhancer not as the main course. This way you can get the benefits of the vegetarian way of eating whole foods but can still have your meat (and eat it too)! Sounds like a great compromise and then we don’t have to give up all our comfort foods in order to be healthy!

In conclusion, I loved being at this interview of Mark Bittman. He is such a funny guy and has amazing ideas and a great philosophy on helping us average Americans who don’t have the willpower to give up our comfort foods for a healthy vegetarian or vegan diet eat better so we too can enjoy health!

Healthy eating is all about making the changes that you can make to get you ONE step closer to a more plant based diet with less meat or processed foods. One step can get you that much closer to ultimate health!

What is one step you can make starting today to get you closer to a healthier way of eating? Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think of this post, Mark Bittman, and healthy eating! Don’t forget to share the love by sharing this post with your friends by clicking on the buttons below!

To your health journey success,

P.S. If you are ready to learn more about how to create a life of health and wellness, join me by Clicking Here! Find and connect with me on my Facebook fan page and on Twitter!