Chocolate – Yes, It Really IS Good For You!

The Mayans did it. The Aztecs did it. And now you can do it too – guilt free. What is it? One of my favorite things in the world – Chocolate.

Cocoa powder and chocolate are gaining recognition in the scientific community as a rich source of fiber, proteins, and vitamins including A, E, and folic acid. The compound in chocolate that is gaining the attention however, is flavonoids.

Flavonoids are naturally-occurring compounds found in plant-based foods recognized as providing certain health benefits. Flavonoids are found in a wide array of foods and beverages, like cranberries, apples, peanuts, chocolate, onions, tea and red wine. There are more than 4,000 flavonoid compounds; flavonoids are a subgroup of a large class called polyphenols. 

In terms of chocolate, ClevelandClinic.org writes that flavonoids provide important protective benefits to plants, such as in repairing damage and shielding from environmental toxins. When we consume plant-based foods rich in flavonoids, it appears that we also benefit from this “antioxidant” power because flavonoids may help reduce the cell damage that can spur tumor growth.

It doesn’t stop there; LiveScience.com reported today that a new study suggests that chocolate may decrease your risk of stroke as well as your risk of cardiovascular disease. Science Daily also writes that the "chocolate cure" for emotional stress is getting new support from a clinical trial published online in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research. It found that eating about an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a day for two weeks reduced levels of stress hormones in the bodies of people feeling highly stressed.  

Okay, so we have a good source of fiber, proteins, and vitamins that contains flavonoids that have antioxidant properties AND can reduce your risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease and decrease your stress levels – and its in chocolate. Yes, chocolate.

Before you head out to the grocery store though, it’s important to note that not all chocolate is created equal. If you’re going to eat chocolate and you hope to get any health benefits out of it, you had better make it dark, like at least 70% dark. Which is also, coincidentally, my favorite!

Dark chocolate contains a lot more cocoa than other forms of chocolate. And standard chocolate manufacturing destroys up to half of the flavonoids. But chocolate companies have now learned to make dark chocolate that keeps up to 95% of its flavonoids, and generally, dark chocolate contains far fewer ingredients.

As with anything, make it organic, and if you doubt me on this one, check this out, unless chocolate is organic it contains pesticide residue and here is what some of those FDA approved levels of residues do to you – negatively affect digestive system tissue, genetic damage, effects on reproduction, carcinogenicity; can lead to acute toxicity, thyroid effects, nerve degeneration; not to mention an increased risk of central nervous system disruption. None of which sounds like a good time.

Eat your chocolate, and remember to make it dark – make it organic – and make it soon!

Here’s to your health!

Tip of the Week - New Year, New You?

People around the world see the new year as the perfect time for a new set of resolutions for change. For some, that could mean a new gym membership or treadmill for the spare bedroom. For others, more time and energy could be the goals, or maybe even focus or clarity to make changes or tackle a long neglected project or dream.

Bottom line, whether you want to lose weight or have more energy or focus, streamlining your foods is a crucial first step. True health, and the changes you need to make to attain it, can be found in your kitchen and the foods you buy to stock it.

The first step, or tip for this week, is to take the process out of your diet…and by process, I mean, processed foods.

Processed food is made from real food that has been put through devitalizing chemical processes and is infused with chemicals and preservatives. According to Reader’s Digest, ninety percent of Americans' household food budget is spent on processed foods, the majority of which are filled with additives and stripped of nutrients. As a matter of fact, most processed foods are laden with sweeteners, salts, artificial flavors, factory-created fats, colorings, chemicals that alter texture, and preservatives. But the trouble is not just what's been added, but what's been taken away. Processed foods are often stripped of nutrients designed by nature, such as soluble fiber, antioxidants, and "good" fats. Combine that with additives, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Tara Gidus RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association was recently quoted on WEB MD as saying, “We live in a society that eats so much processed and manufactured food, that I think there's some genuine confusion about what qualifies as a whole food. When you eat whole foods, you're getting the food in its natural state. You're getting it intact, with all of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that are in the food."

Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible before being consumed. Whole foods typically do not contain added ingredients, such as sugar, salt, or fat. Examples of whole foods include unpolished grains; fruits and vegetables; unprocessed meat, poultry, and fish; and non-homogenized milk.

In my experience, whole food is what my grandmother cooked. In a typical shopping trip, I buy staples - cheese, yogurt, potatoes, rice, fruits and vegetables, my meats thankfully come from a local farmer, as do many of my seasonal fruits and vegetables. And that’s what it is, staples, that’s what I buy, that’s what I cook.

It took some time, to take the process out of my diet – but the end result has been worth it. I have lost weight, have more energy, more focus, and less of the seasonal colds and flus. Eliminating every guilty pleasure in life is not the end goal here, and not a particularly realistic approach to making changes, especially in the beginning. I mean, let’s fact it, we all enjoy the occasional cheeseburger, order of fries, or bag of chips. This elimination of processed foods is a process. Moderation is the first step, and then you will find yourself moving from mainstay to moderation and eventually to elimination.

Keep it simple, look for things you can pronounce and maybe even recognize. Make sure it has the fewest ingredients, and when possible, go organic. You can easily avoid additives and the health problems they may cause by eating fresh, locally grown unprocessed foods. Make matters easier and try to cook most of your foods from scratch, using clean, natural or organic products. As you start to read the labels in the grocery stores, you will find yourself buying less convenience foods and more of the kinds of foods you cook, or better yet, incorporate more raw foods into your diet, as cooking removes many of the nutrients, including enzymes our body uses to actually digest the food we are eating. With increasing organic selections, you may put a little more work into your meal, but your body will definitely thank you for it. By taking the time to really feed your body with good, clean, foods, you will begin to feel better, faster. It truly is one of the best things you can do for yourself as you work to put your resolutions in action and reclaim your health, and your life.

Listen To Your Own Truth

Be Willing to Accept the Disapproval of Others – one of the essential principles for finding your way to an Inspired Life, and according to Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, a way of making sure that inspiration is your master or driving force, even through following it might disappoint others.

“When we begin to follow our ultimate calling, there will be a lot of resistance,” Dyer writes. “In fact, the purpose of the slings and arrows sent our way is to get us to change our mind and be reasonable, which translates into “Do it my way!”

 

This section in Dyer’s book, Inspiration, follows the thread I began with A Matter of Focus last month, which discusses the “shoulds” placed on us by our friends, family and community at large – what we “should” be doing for a living, where we “should” live, where we “should” educate our kids, what kind of opportunities they “should” have, what types of vacations we “should” take, and on and on and on it goes. What we “should” do however, is what we feel driven to do, what takes our breath away, what we feel is our purpose.

As I discussed in A Matter of Focus, “shoulds” are everywhere. And really, until the past few years, I could have easily been dubbed the Queen of the Shoulds. But something changed….I started to feel a sense of unhappiness I couldn’t shake. I couldn’t identify it, I couldn’t wrap my head around it, heck I couldn’t even shop it away. And believe me, I tried.

Let me give you an example from my own life. Several years ago, I had a great job with a local governmental agency as a writer. A dream job for many, filled with benefits, retirement plans and a crazy number of paid holidays. But it was flat. There was no spark, no joy, no excitement. It was words on a page, day in, and day out. It wasn’t the words I wanted to write, or the stories I wanted to tell. It was words for hire.

But wait, state job, paid benefits, so what, right? Wrong. The reason I started writing in the first place, the reason that words had carried me this far was because I had passion. Passion for telling the story, sharing lessons from the journey, bringing the truth to light, being the voice for the voiceless, a true breathtaking passion for the art and craft of writing. And with the job, telling the same story a million different ways was not doing anything but killing that passion and removing the joy that brought me into the field in the first place. I thought…and I thought…and I thought, and with nothing but belief in the dream I quit. Walked away from a state job, walked away from benefits, paid holidays and stability and ran straight back into the realm of freelancing.

Talk about slings and arrows – wow! My parents were flabbergasted, and probably thought I had lost my mind. My friends thought I was making a horrible mistake. Heck, even my ex husband called to see if I had gone insane. But I knew….just knew I was making the right decision.

The same type of decision I am once again consciously making as I turn away some freelance projects in search of more space for my growing coaching practice and the writing associated with that. There is passion, and it is something I feel called to do. Ultimately, we do what is before us, we do what we are compelled to do. We grow, we change, and we move with it. And when we listen to that voice, to our authentic selves, we make these moves and changes with grace and ease.

That grace and ease will also enable us to be stronger in our decisions, because believe me when I say, slings, arrows, anger and disapproval will come as soon as you deviate from the “path” that has been set before you. The path of “shoulds”, “woulds” and “ought-tos”, guarded diligently by friends, family and the community at large.

Dyer sums it up beautifully as he writes, “As we gain the strength to ignore the pressure to conform, resistance will diminish and ultimately change to respect. When we steadfastly refuse to think, act, and conform to the mandates of others, the pressure to do so loses its momentum. All we have to do is endure some initial disapproval such as dogmatic persuasion, anger, pouting, silence, and long-winded lectures…and then we’re on our way to inspiration rather than frustration.”

Think about it…do you want to be frustrated or inspired? Do you want to look at what you should do, or do you want to think about what you could do? Do you want to walk the walk and talk the talk or do you want to tune it all out and just dance? Get inspired, dance the dance, and savor the journey. And bottom line, listen to your own truth, not the opinions of others.

Enjoy Every Moment

Stay Detached from Outcomes – one of the essential principles for finding your way to an Inspired Life, and according to Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, a key element for living fully in the moment.

“Our purpose in life isn’t to arrive at a destination where we find inspiration, just as the purpose of dancing isn’t to end up at a particular spot on the floor,” Dyer writes. “The purpose of dancing – and of life – is to enjoy every moment and every step, regardless of where we are when the music ends.”

This section in Dyer’s book, Inspiration, really spoke to me on a number of levels. As he writes, many of us are seduced into believing that having goals is necessary for a successful life. Too much focus on the goal, or on the prize can in all actuality keep us from feeling inspired because we are living a life of striving while foregoing arriving.

A huge spiritual truth, discussed by Dyer, Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now, and many, many other spiritual teachers, is that there is only Now. Think about it, just this moment.

I had a teacher share that with me once during a session, while exploring my fears. He simply looked at me and said, “You are too worried about the past, too fearful of the future when in all reality you have only this moment, and this one, and this one and this one. Moment by moment we live our lives and it is our responsibility to savor each moment and to celebrate and live it fully.”

Goals, if we place too much emphasis on them, can rob us of that ability. If we have our eye on the prize continually, if we are driven by our to-do lists, and we measure our worth at the end of each day by the amount of tasks we were able to accomplish, we are striving, not arriving.

If we instead take a moment, a Now moment, meditate, dream, and listen for our direction, we will naturally go there. If we make goals less about measurable accomplishment and more about the love of the journey, things will naturally fall into place. If we trust that the same force that brought us here and has supported us each and every day of our lives will not fail us now, we will be amazed at the outcome.

Think for a moment about goals. They are fluid and ever-changing.

When I get this or that, I will be happy…
When I get a promotion, I can start working a few less hours and enjoy life a bit more…
When the kids are in school, I will write that book…
When I get two books published, I will go to Europe…
When the house is paid for, I will look at getting this or that…
When I…When I…When I…

By the time you arrive at a When I, chances are, there are three more When I’s that have been put in place, so the happy, or the inspiration, or the this or that can’t happen yet, because another goal or When I has to be accomplished first.

Goals can be worthwhile, and are definitely useful to help us move with direction along our path…as long as they don’t rob us of our worth and take away from the enjoyment of the journey.

Goals and dreams can serve as guides, but should not define us, and should not take away from the moment.

Take a moment to look around you. What do you see? Can you take a deep breath, stretch, and savor this moment, and the next one, and the next? Can you focus on the dance and enjoy the journey? Or do you have too many things on your to-do list?

Put the list down and listen to the music – dance the dance yet again, that’s the essence of the journey. Choose this moment to arrive.

A Matter of Focus

Be Independent of the Good Opinions of Others - one of the essential principles for finding your way to an Inspired Life, and according to Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, a way of making sure that inspiration is your master or driving force, even through following it might disappoint others.

“When inspiration makes its presence known, we must pay attention if our priority is to be who or what we were meant to be,” Dyer writes. “Suffering the consequences of living according to someone else’s wishes doesn’t make any sense; rather, we need to oppose the external opinions that try to force us to be what we’re not intended to be.”

Reading this section of Dyer’s book, Inspiration, I couldn’t help but reflect back on my own life, especially on my first marriage. There is no blame here, it is all lessons learned, but during that time, when my kids were small and we were starting our lives together as a couple and as a family, there were a lot of “shoulds”. Our parents suggested where we “should” live, our friends and the community around us suggested what we “should” be doing for a living. There were the suggestions on where we “should” educate our kids, what kind of opportunities they “should” have, what types of vacations we “should” take, and on and on and on it went.

We were so caught up in doing what we “should” do that I know personally I lost sight of what I could do. I lost sight of my dreams, my goals and my visions. My passion – writing – didn’t have that Steady Income appeal, it was feast or famine, and that was no way to raise a family so I was told how I “should” be looking for a j-o-b, filled with perks, benefits and retirement plans. It was suggested that I “should” put the dreams of writing aside and focus on something tangible and real, how I “should” parlay the success and recognition I had received as a writer to that point into a resume point and use that to propel me forward.

It didn’t matter that I had realized a way to be a voice for the voiceless. It didn’t matter that my social justice writing and award-winning column on raising a child with a learning disability were as crucial to me as the air I breathe. What mattered was that since I hadn’t landed on the cover of Newsweek and wasn’t making six figures, it wasn’t real to those around me. It wasn’t responsible. It wasn’t what I “should” be doing with two small kids and a mortgage.

Bit by bit, I let go of the dream. I picked up a part-time job, I volunteered with the PTA, I even bought a Pontiac – because it was sensible and parking my old reliable Toyota with 250,000 miles was really what I “should” do. I died a little bit each day, along with my dreams. Prozac replaced coffee and kids sporting and extra curricular events replaced dates. And with each breath, focusing not on what I could do, but on what I “should” do, the dream became a little bit smaller and dealing with life became a little bit harder.

Fast forward several years - death of a beloved friend – divorce from husband – and really a second chance. I could continue doing what I “should” do, or I could reclaim my path, realize that life is precious and move forward accordingly. I could stay where I was or find within me the courage to once again hear the song of inspiration and dance the dance of the dream.

Today, I am writing, realizing my dream, and using my skills to be the voice for the voiceless. I am also coaching, helping people discern their path and not worry about what they “should” do, and instead concentrate on what they could do.

I chose to hear the song of inspiration and dance the dance of the dream…try it, you might be surprised at the joy it will bring.

Finding Inspiration

Don’t Die Wondering – one of the essential principles for finding your way to an Inspired Life, and according to Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, one of the most important to take into account because it motivates us to act.

“We don’t want to be full of regrets because we failed to heed our ultimate calling. Attempting to do something, even if we don’t succeed is inspiring because we don’t tend to regret what we do, we regret what we didn’t do.” Dyer writes.

Think about it, we regret what we didn’t do.

We regret the chances we didn’t take.

We regret that we didn’t believe in ourselves enough to even try to meet our calling.

Those are some deep thoughts, for sure. Think about it – we all have regrets. The phone call we didn’t have the courage to make that could have landed us a date, a job, or really any opportunity. The fact we took the business trip to further the career but missed our daughter graduating from elementary school (yep, that one still hurts). The house we didn’t buy that now is worth 4x what we would have paid for it EVEN in today’s market (that one still stings too). The fact that we didn’t stand up for ourselves in one instance or another and were taken advantage of. The missed opportunity, the lost time, the mix up of priorities, all of those things can lead to regret.

But when it comes to the ultimate calling, now that sounds like the big stuff. What exactly is an ultimate calling? Are we born knowing it, or do we learn along the way? What is my ultimate calling? Do I know yet? Not really, but I do have things that are leading me in the direction I need to be going in to figure it out. I do have synchronicity, validations and so on reaffirming the decisions I am making as a woman, a mother, a wife, a writer, and a life coach.

Part of me has felt from a very early age that I would write books, and that those books would be filled with words of wit and wisdom, to entertain, to inspire, and to teach. As time has gone by, I realize that those books would provide me a forum where I could share my journey and my truth and hope that the book will help others find their truth and navigate their journey.

Maybe that is my ultimate calling? Maybe that is the music inside?

Maybe this article is bringing me one step closer to that calling? Maybe letting go of the things in my life that are NOT working and holding on to the things that are will bring me one step closer?

I believe in this context the ultimate calling doesn’t have to be lofty or weighty or even far-reaching – it needs to be a nudge to do something more. A step towards something greater, the strength to stand for and with what is working and the courage to let go of what’s not.

We all have a dream – whether it is writing, music, art, teaching, growing or just reaching for something more. Taking the chances, making the steps and believing in the dream, perhaps that is ultimate calling…it is definitely a good place to start.

Don’t die wondering what if…know that each and every day, you took the steps towards what could be.

This is the first in a series of articles based on Inspiration – Your Ultimate Calling by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer.

Every Little Change...

I recently read an interesting excerpt from Caroline Myss' 1997 book, Why People Don't Heal and How They Can, which read in part, "Healing is a "present time" challenge. Many people begin their healing process by researching every possible form of treatment available. While they are doing this research, however, they are not actually doing anything about their condition. They are assuming that the knowledge they are pouring into their heads is, in itself, a healing force. People often comment to me that they are simply unsure of which treatment is best for them, and until they can figure that out, they feel "safer" not doing anything. I take that to mean they are not ready to make the necessary changes in their lives. Postponing the decision to shift gears is more than unwise; it is dangerous. It is much wiser, and safer, to start anywhere than to do nothing. Every positive choice is a good one and activates a new current of energy in your life. A new step or change does not have to be big to be effective."

Myss' words, written more than a decade ago, ring true more than ever today. People set appointments with complimentary and alternative health experts all over the world, they read, research, and listen to the "experts" on how to reclaim their health. They dissect and disseminate every single book, radio show and Oprah guest that has something to say about for example the dangers of Genetically Engineered food or the harmful effects of preservatives or the importance of exercise, and they file that information away to either a) learn more about it, or b) start tomorrow. Ooooooh yeah, and many will stop at McDonald's, or something equally non-food like, on their way home from work to grab dinner for themselves or their children.

The thing is this - these experts - writers, speakers, practitioners, you name it - are all doing their work, and providing you the tools you need to discern, chart your path and make healthy changes in your life. Some may ring true for you while others may not. That is the beauty of it, there is such a wealth of information covering everything, literally, all aspects of your health, that finding the right fit for you is just a matter of you doing the work, finding a modality or path that resonates with you.

That's the kicker for many however, doing the work. We live in an antibiotic society, people want to take a little purple pill for 10 days and then be better again. When they do no more than take that little purple pill, they want to berate their physician or complimentary or alternative health practitioner for the fact they are still no better. But when asked, they oftentimes will admit that no, they didn't make the recommended dietary changes yet but they will, and no they didn't integrate exercise, yoga because they are so busy, on and on it goes, you name it - but damnit they took their purple pill/digestive enzyme/magnesium supplement AS DIRECTED. So what is the problem?

Get real - because results take work. Period. There is not one expert out sharing tools today that can make you better unless you work with what he or she recommends to actually get better. There is no expert that is willing or able to do the work for you. Period. And that's it takes, work. But remember, the best things in life are those that are worth fighting for, and always always know that any little change you make today will have definite positive results tomorrow.