Raw Nut Butters!

Raw Pecan Nut Butter!

enjoy!

Daily Candy -

Daily Candy diggs The Movement Dallas RECESS!

Come join us for good old fun and games... and get a workout too!

Would LOVE to see you there!

Relax - less is more

Being that it's Friday I thought this post was appropriate. Most are whipped from a long 'productive' week. Taken from the site (zen habits) it's another idea that less often times is more, or as I spoke in another post 'quality precedes quantity'. I feel we so desperately need to take the advice given in the article and RELAX>. Listening to your body is the best thing you could ever do for yourself and others.

Simple Productivity

Get Less Done: Stop Being Productive and Enjoy Yourself

Stop doing, and just be.

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

There’s too much emphasis these days on productivity, on hyperefficiency, on squeezing the most production out of every last minute.

People have forgotten how to relax. How to be lazy. How to enjoy life.

Try this: read some of the best books, magazines and blogs on productivity, and see how many will tell you how to get the most out of the time you spend waiting, how to maximize your energy, how to make use of your commute time, how to make every meeting more effective, how to get more out of your workday, how to crank out more widgets.

People are working longer hours, constantly checking their inboxes, constantly focused on Getting More Done.

But to what end?

Are we producing more in order to make more money for corporations? Or to make more money for ourselves? Or just to hold on to our jobs — jobs we might not like anyway?

It’s possible we’re trying to get more done because we love doing it — and if that’s the case, that’s wonderful. But even then, working long hours and neglecting the rest of life isn’t always the best idea. Sometimes it’s good to Get Less Done, to relax, to breathe.

Let’s take a brief look at how to do that.

The Beauty of Getting Less Done
While working long hours and cranking out a lot of widgets is one way to go, another is to work on important things, to create amazing things, and then to relax.

I’m not saying you should surf the web all day, or take naps all afternoon … but why not? Why not enjoy a lovely nap? Why not take a long lunch and then a siesta? Why not enjoy a good book?

I get people who ask me all the time, “What should I do on those days when I can’t seem to be productive?”

My answer: “Enjoy it!”

Sure, we need to produce sometimes, especially if we have to pay the bills, but an obsession with productivity is unhealthy. When you can’t get yourself to be productive, relax. Let go of the need to be hyperefficient. Stop feeling guilty about enjoying yourself.

But what if you can’t motivate yourself … ever? Sure, that can be a problem. But if you relax, and enjoy yourself, you’ll be happier. And if you work when you get excited, on things you’re excited about, and create amazing things, that’s motivation. Not forcing yourself to work when you don’t want to, on things you don’t want to work on — motivation is doing things you love, when you get excited.

It’s how I work every day. I work on lots of projects, on things I really care about, with people I enjoy working with. (See my guide to becoming self-employed if you’d like to do the same.)

How to Relax
It’s funny that I’d even need a section on this topic — how to relax. It seems like it should be something we all know how to do. After all, aren’t we constantly searching for ways to be less lazy? And doesn’t it logically follow that we already know how to be lazy?

It’s possible you already have mastered the art of relaxing. And if so, congratulations. You are a Get Less Done master. All you need now, perhaps, is to let go of the guilt you might feel, and enjoy this relaxation.

But for those of you who have forgotten how to relax, you’re going to have a tougher time. Here’s a hint: don’t stress out about it. If you don’t know how to relax, it’s OK. Breathe. Take it slowly. One step at a time.

Some steps:

• Take 5 minutes to go outside for a walk. Breathe the fresh air.
• Give yourself more time to do things. More time means less rush.
• After work, get outside, take in nature, run around if you can.
• Play. Play like a child. Play with a child. Play when you work.
• Give yourself a day off. Sleep. Watch TV. Eat bon bons.
• At work, give yourself an hour off. Don’t try to be productive. Just have fun.
• Work with someone who is exciting. Get excited about a project.
• Take evenings off. Seriously, no working in the evenings.
• Get a massage.
• Breathe.

Step by step, learn to relax. Learn that productivity isn’t everything. Creating is great, but you don’t need to fill every second with work. When you do work, get excited, pour yourself into it, work on important, high-impact tasks … and then relax.

Grass-Fed Beef

by Brian Johnson

(special thanks to Christine and her editing skills for making this readable!)

Most of us have been taught that all meat is the same – that a log of beef at the discount shopping club is the same as ground beef that has no hormones or antibiotics. This is simply not true! Let me take you on a little journey through the world of beef production today. The truth may shock you.

Let’s start with the fact that cows naturally eat grass. They have been doing so for thousands of years. However, most cows today are fed a corn-based diet. Even if cows eat grass at the beginning, these days they are almost always finished (at least the last 60-120 days) on grains, plus other remnants that are allowed in their feed such as cardboard, newspaper, and sawdust. The purpose of this feed is to fatten them up, which renders more weight come selling time. When cows start eating a diet of grains instead of grass, they get sick, which means they have to be injected with antibiotics and chemicals. What that means for you, the consumer, is that you are eating sick meat.

As I mentioned in the last article on eggs, you cannot expect health from that equation. Grains like corn (or whatever other garbage is thrown into the feed) are not meant for a cow’s digestive system. Much like humans, if we eat foods that we aren’t meant to eat, we are going to get sick. The problem is many of these diseases and infections get passed on to the consumer; yet the consumer doesn’t realize what they are eating.

In Paul Chek’s book, How To Eat Move and Be Healthy, it states that in 1998, the USDA inspections and safety system reclassified an array of animal diseases as being “….defects that rarely or never present a direct public health risk,” and said “unaffected carcass portions” could be passed on to consumers by cutting out lesions. They also stated that the following animal diseases do NOT pose health risk to humans: cancer, pneumonia of poultry, glandular swellings or lymphomas, sores, infectious arthritis, intestinal worms or tumors. Are you kidding me? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want any part of that!

Knowing that when a cow eats grass, they are healthier, it only makes sense that grass-fed beef is a healthier option. Nutritionally speaking, a grass-fed cow is going to have a much better ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids and a much leaner marbling of fat. It also has a higher CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) content, which has been shown to be a powerful antioxidant and to help the body utilize fat as fuel, further aiding in weight loss. All of that simply means that when we eat healthy 100% grass-fed beef, we get more Omega 3s and protein, both of which are great for our bodies.

At The Movement Dallas, we get all of our 100% grass-fed beef from Burgundy Farms. Burgundy’s cattle are free to roam around and eat as much grass as the land has to offer. The beef that hits tables in America today comes from feed lots of tens of thousands of cows packed in and full of disease. With stats showing that the average American eats over twice their body weight in meat per year, you can see how all these factors can either be positive or negative. Next time you are shopping for beef, consider whether your beef is conventional or grass-fed. We want to make it easy for you to get grass-fed beef for yourself and your family. We have a vast variety of grass-fed beef at our studio at an affordable cost. Just come in, choose your cut, and enjoy great health.

Knowing the truth makes your decisions a lot easier doesn’t it?

Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

Great article in Time magazine about the effect of our desire for more. Particularly in the meat industry, we have become an economy of excess. This article clearly articulates the need to change the system or it will continue to change us. Again, I highly recommend the new documentary FOOD INC. , which is now playing nationwide. Educate yourself as to where your food comes from, make changes and great things can only happen.

Enjoy!
Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food

Simplify

Happy Friday peeps!

One thing that has consistently been on my mind recently is the desire to simplify my current lifestlye. In an age where we are taught 'more is better' we have lost site of what truly matters. In my opinion the best way to get back in touch with what is important is to get rid of the things in your life that truly don't add value or make you or others better. My mentors Frankie Faires and Craig Keaton at The Movement Dallas say 'better is better' and 'better is more', which rings true in my mind. We should strive for quality in all things we do and quantity ends up merely a by-product. Allow this new mentality to take hold and experience it for yourself.

Here is a great (zen habits) article to help you simplify.

Enjoy!

Your Life, Simplified

Simplicity is lovely.

“Our life is frittered away by detail … simplify, simplify.” - Henry David Thoreau

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

A lot of people seem to connect with my message of simplicity, and yearn to find a simpler life in this world of ever-increasing complexity, of overwhelming technology.

We want to take the good things in our lives, the benefits of technology, but simplify things, get rid of the complexities.

And while I’ve written dozens of articles on simplifying (and an entire book on it), I’d like to offer a simple method.

Something you can do today, without being overwhelmed.

A 12-step method, perhaps, simplified into just 6 steps.

1. Write down your top priorities. We all have a long list of things we want to do, to try, to learn, to accomplish. Just pick 4-5. You can do that right now — make a short list of the things that are most important to you. My list: spending time with my family, writing, reading and running. These are the things you’ll build your life around, for now. You can always change this list later, as your priorities change.

2. Reduce one commitment. What is something you do every day or week that’s not on your short list? Is there any way you can get out of it? Make a phone call or send an email right now that will get you out of that commitment. It might mean disappointing one or many people — but you are going to create the simple life you want, not the complicated life others demand of you. By reducing this one commitment, you are simplifying your life, creating more time and space for the important stuff. Make the choice to put your priorities first, to find the time for them, by reducing your commitments.

3. Simplify your to-do list. Same concept, but at a smaller level — what’s on your to-do list that doesn’t need to be there? Something you’ve been dreading that you don’t absolutely have to do? Can you tell someone you’re just too busy to work on this? Can you give it to someone else, or automate it? See if you can pare your to-do list to just the most important things. Alternatively, just pick 1-3 things to do each day, and don’t worry about the rest.

4. Set aside some disconnected time. If you’re connected all the time, this step is essential. Don’t skip it! Pick one hour to be disconnected — no Internet, no email, no IM, no phones. You can use your computer, but just for desktop computing, like writing in a word processor or text file, or working in Photoshop, or what have you. Use this time to really focus, to pour yourself into important tasks that you love to do. Or you can use this disconnected time to relax.

5. Create your perfect day. You’ve blocked aside some disconnected time, but let’s take that a step further: what would your ideal day look like? What would you do when you woke up, what would your work day look like (hint: it doesn’t have to be the work you’re doing now, but it could be), would you have time for exercise or sports or taking a walk or relaxing or reading or doing a hobby, would you have time for loved ones, time to clean or do errands, time for checking email, etc.? List the things you’d do, ideally, then simplify to the most important ones. Then lay them out in a schedule. You don’t have to stick to this schedule exactly, but knowing what’s ideal gives you something to work toward. In some cases, you can simply start living this day, tomorrow, but in others you’ll have to make gradual changes to allow this ideal day to happen. The key: taking control and responsibility for making the perfect day a reality.

6. Declutter. You want a nice, decluttered, serene space to surround you in your new simplified life. So you’re going to create it. Two ways to go here: if you don’t have much time, just do 10-15 minutes for now, and continue to do small increments until you get to where you’d like to be. Here’s how. Second method is if you have an entire day or weekend — set aside a big block of time and just overhaul your workspace or one or two rooms in your home. Here’s a good method.

Next Steps
Once you get to this stage, things should be a bit more simplified. But you’re probably interested in going beyond that. Here’s what you can do next — but please, please, don’t try to do these all at once. Pick one at a time, and do it slowly, over time. Simplifying isn’t a race — it’s a life.

• Declutter some more. Read.
• Letting go of wanting to buy more. Read.
• Reducing more commitments. Read.
• Transitioning to doing only work you love. Read.
• Creating time for solitude, quiet and relaxation. Read.
• Slowing down in everything you do. Read.
• Being present more often. Read.
• Single-tasking. Read.

And most importantly: enjoy the process! The important thing isn’t a destination — a perfect, simple life — but the journey along the way.

Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires.
- Lao-tzu

All About Eggs

Why All the Fuss About Eggs?

by Brian Johnson @ The Movement Dallas

There is way too much confusion these days when it comes to food production and labeling. Honestly, most of us do not have a clue what’s in our food, let alone where it actually came from. This is a vast difference from even 30 to 40 years ago. Many of us have grown up taking nutrition for granted and letting the “powers that be” dictate what, when, and how much we should eat. Unfortunately these “powers” don’t always have your best interest at heart and are really looking to fatten their back pockets. This is where the spread of misleading information begins. With so many products now labeled “organic”, “natural”, “free-range”, “raw”, and “pure,” we need to educate ourselves to know what it all means. These labels can often be the byproduct of good and effective marketing. In this article, I would like to specifically explore the labeling of eggs and why they can be so different, specifically from a nutritional standpoint.

The egg is one of Mother Nature’s finest foods. One egg supplies anywhere from 50-80 calories with 3-5 grams of fat and 4-6 grams of protein. With that being said, not all eggs are created equal. It all starts with how the hen, which produces the egg, is raised. For most conventionally/commercially-raised hens, it starts with a tight cramped space filled with many other hens, which are stacked on top of one another. This naturally creates territorial tension forcing producers to clip the beaks as to protect one another. It has been documented that these hens are literally considered insane. Most hen houses store roughly 125,000 hens per shed. These sheds are fed artificial light, causing the chickens to stimulate egg production year round, which as we know ourselves increases the release of cortisol (which is not a good thing). I know I wouldn’t want the lights on and to be awake 24/7. You cannot expect to maintain any level of health this way. Due to this light exposure, the average hen produces roughly 300-400 eggs per year. Only with the combination of forced breeding, artificial light, super-feed and antibiotics can this be possible. Just to show the contrast, in 1900, the average chicken produced 83 eggs per year!!!

For those of you who think that “more is better,” you should know that from a strictly nutritional perspective, a conventional egg is far less superior to that of a pastured hen. Before we go into that, let’s first define what “pastured” or “pasture-raised” means. According to the USDA Trade Descriptions, “birds are raised outdoors using movable enclosures located on grass and fed an organic diet (without hormones or non-organic additives) and/or raised without antibiotics (drugs that are intended to prevent or treat animal illnesses)”.

So naturally, eggs have an equal ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids (which is a good thing) but commercially-raised hens can be anywhere from 1-16-30. The problem here is that as Americans, we already have a higher than desired Omega 6 and beyond in our diets. Many of these fatty acids have been shown to increase inflammation and contribute to a host of degenerative diseases. Aside from the fatty acid profile, a host of other vitamins in commercially-raised eggs are severely lacking or non-existent. According to EatWild.com… “When chickens are housed indoors and deprived of greens, their meat and eggs also become artificially low in omega-3s. Eggs from pastured hens can contain as much as 10 times more omega-3s than eggs from factory hens. It has been estimated that only 40 percent of Americans consume an adequate supply of omega-3 fatty acids. Switching to the meat, milk, and dairy products of grass-fed animals is one way to restore this vital nutrient to your diet.”

With that being said, your best choice is either completely organic or pasture-fed hens. Do not be fooled by terms like “free-range” or “cage free” – unfortunately, these are merely marketing terms that mean absolutely nothing and have no regulation whatsoever. More about that here.

Remember, what it comes down to is QUALITY over QUANTITY. I would rather you eat 1 pastured egg than 4 commercial eggs (much less one commercial egg). Also know that the nutrition you get from any food is only as good as its source. I prefer not to eat eggs from a sick chicken, but that’s just me. Just knowing where and how your eggs get from the hen house to the table can not only empower you, but extremely benefit your health.

- Brian Johnson

Food Toxins to Avoid

Hope everyone is having a fabulous week!

Here is a great article on the various toxins that should be avoided in foods...


13 Food Toxins You and Your Family Should Avoid!

I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks for viewing!

Rules to optimal health and weight loss...

This was taken from a website that I like to visit occasionally for practical 'life' information (zen habits). It is a VERY simplistic approach to achieving optimal health and weight loss.
Enjoy!

The 7 Essential Rules To Optimum Health & Weight Loss

Eat real food, move naturally, live healthily.

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Chris Lopez of Fit and Busy Dad.

We live in an information overloaded society. There has not been a moment in history when information has been this available, right at our fingertips. By typing one simple phrase, we now get hundreds, thousands, sometimes even millions of answers to our most desired questions. And now it seems, because of the abundance of information available to us, that a lot of us are confused.

No more confusing has been our struggle with living excessively. As a result, many of us are in debt, have too much stuff and are overweight.

There are too many questions on how to exercise, how to eat, or how to live healthily - cardio or weights? How much protein? Does fat make me fat? Will situps give me abs? Am I going to get big, bulky muscles?

I don’t profess to know the answer to EVERY question out there, but I do know that all things being equal, the simplest answer is most likely the right one (Ockham’s Razor). That holds true in life as much as it does in weight loss, exercise and general health.

So in saying that, I have devised a list of The 7 Essential Rules to Optimal Health.

You may read these rules and be turned off that I’m insulting your intelligence. But let’s face it, now more than ever, do we need to get back to the basics in order to save our waning, unhealthy & obese society.

We’ve veered off the path of “simple” and have really made things more complicated than they are.

1. Eat REAL Food.

For a busy population who doesn’t have time to count calories or how many grams of protein or how much sodium or saturated fat, this is your answer to health and weight loss.

Anything that Mother Nature put on this earth in it’s simplest form is real food - unpackaged, unprocessed, unpreserved fruits, vegetables, legumes, naturally raised meat & fish. Steak from a cow that has been allowed to eat from a pasture, not an all-beef hot dog. Water, not soda. Apples, not apple fritters.

Here’s the truth … if you eat nutritious real food then your body feels nourished and doesn’t feel the need to consume more. If you eat the common processed food products of today with empty calories and little to any nutrition value, then your body needs to 1) work harder to digest and assimilate what you’ve eaten thus using energy 2) still feel hungry because what you’ve eaten provides no nourishment and 3) throw your systems out of whack because your body has no idea what you just ate.

2. Live Life Actively.

Our society was the healthiest when there were no such things as treadmills, ellipticals and Pec Decks. We used the gym to support our activities (like what athletes do). We rode our bikes, skied, surfed, played pick-up basketball and walked everywhere.

Now, we go to the gym. We run on treadmills like rats in a cage, partake in bodybuilding programs that give us bulky, unuseable muscles and create imbalance & injury, and do aerobic classes that give us little to no benefit with the way we look.

As our society transitioned from an active culture to a gym-going culture, obesity, heart disease and diabetes slowly started to increase. Coincidence? Maybe. But staying active and trying new things - playing a sport, going for a hike, being active with family, playing frisbee with the dog- never killed anyone.

Ask yourself these questions…When was the last time you got excited to go to the gym (to actually workout, not to see the hot aerobics instructor or personal trainer)? And what about when you knew that the weekend was just around the corner and you were going to the beach to play some volleyball? Or out to the golf course with your buddies to play 18 holes?

Live actively and use the gym to support your efforts.

3. Get outside.

This goes hand-in-hand with the point above.

True that some of us live in a climate that isn’t always condusive to outdoorsy things. Hogwash.

Unless it is 110 degrees in the shade or sub-Arctic temperatures outside, there are always options for us to be active outdoors - even if it’s just for a walk after dinner. Our bodies crave the outdoors and being with nature. It’s hard-wired into our systems. Being outdoors gives us a feeling of freedom and calm that no gym, mall or office building could ever provide for us.

4. Constantly strive to improve in order to see change.

If you are doing the same thing, day in and day out (lifting the same weights, running the same distance for the same time, etc) without any change or improvement, then nothing is going to happen to your body.

Your body wants to stay the same, and it is only when you decide to venture outside of your comfort zone that you will actually see any improvement - and that rule holds true with life as much as it does with exercise. Set goals, break records and constantly strive to get better. If you ran 5km in 30-minutes yesterday, then the next time out, aim for 29-minutes. If you did 10 push-ups yesterday, then aim for 11 the next time you attempt them.

Force yourself out of what’s comfortable and you will change - both in body and in mind.

5. Get some sleep.

Often the “missing link” to everyone’s weight loss quest is their lack of quality sleep. Healthy adults require 7-9 hours of uninterrupted, good quality sleep EVERY night.

Sleep helps regulate your hormones. It kills off bad bacteria that has accumulated in your gut throughout the day and it’s the primary time for your body to repair its tissues - especially your muscles. Don’t get enough of it and your immune response will suffer (your ability to fight off disease & sickness), you gain belly fat (because of the higher amounts of the hormone cortisol) and you’ll experience lows in energy.

6. Practice Active Recovery .

This is the Yang to intense exercise’s Ying and is probably the most overlooked rule. You were not designed to “go hard” 100% of the time.

Regardless of what you may believe, exercise, with all it’s benefits to your body and health, is still stress. Any response that produces an adrenalin rush will also produce a stress response in your body. Because of this, we must balance our intense exercise activities with calming, stress management exercises. Traditional yoga, tai chi, qi gong or some form of deep breathing or meditation are the most common examples of ways to handle stress.

Try to incorporate at least one of these activities into your weekly (if not daily) practice. Only a few minutes of deep breathing or mediation is all you need to regain balance move on with your day without anxiety or nervousness.

7. Use Natural Movements.

There are 5 natural movements - Squatting, Lunging (which includes walking & running), Pushing, Pulling & Rotation. If you want to save time, increase results and live healthy, then all your exercises should incorporate at least one, if not more, of these movements.

Is there a need to stand in front of a mirror holding dumbbells and lifting them up to the side while standing on a ball? No. Is there a need to sit on a machine, strapped in and squeeze your thighs together or push them out? No. These movements are unnatural. They force you to break your body up into individual parts, when in truth, your body operates as a network of nerves, bones and muscles to move you and the objects you lift or carry from Point A to Point B.

Exercise naturally, move naturally, be healthy.

So Now What?

Use the above rules as a checklist and try to incorporate and adhere to one rule per week, introducing a new rule each time you have mastered one.

Try not to get overwhelmed. This isn’t a “shotgun” approach. We’ve gotten away from the basics of health and it will take time to get back. Just keep at it and be consistent and you’ll get there.

By just living with these 7 rules in mind, you’re sure to become a healthier, happier and more fulfilling life.

For those interested in REAL food, movement etc please click here. I would highly recommend reading through our blog as well...

Here's to great health!

Organic Foods on a Limited Budget (from Mercola)

For cheap organic food, try your local farmers' market, where you are likely to find organic items available for considerably less than what you pay in the grocery stores. Going to the farmers' market is a great habit to get into anyway, since you'll find wonderful fresh foods and you will help sustain local farmers.

You can also join a food co-operative or buy a "share" of a farm through community supported agriculture (CSA). You get delicious, healthy, organic food at a reasonable cost and help local farmers as well.

Here are some other tips:

• Stick primarily to unprocessed foods. The price of prepared organic food is steep, but if you eat mostly unprocessed food you will save money.
• Try the bulk bins. Many regular supermarkets have started carrying bulk organic items, and your local natural food store will probably have an even better selection. Rice, pasta, oatmeal, nuts, etc. are all there and at rock bottom prices.
• If you have the time, space, and desire, grow your own. Even a row of green beans or a couple of cherry tomato plants on your balcony can provide a lot of food for just a few dollars’ worth of investment in a packet of seeds.
• Look into joining a natural food co-op in your area. Members take advantage of the idea of bulk buying to get better prices on items.

Sources:
Stretcher.com

At The Movement Dallas we offer a WIDE variety of fresh, local and organic products at a VERY reasonable price.

Healthy Lifestyles and Wellness: Water -

Healthy Lifestyles and Wellness: Water -

Water -

Fluids:
Choose water! Well, spring or purified by reverse osmosis….no tap! If you like tea or coffee there are a few recommendations. First off I would test it. How does the coffee or tea make you feel before, during and after it's consumption? Do you feel like you must have it? I would suggest organic and swiss water decaf for either. Coffee beans and tea are among the most heavily sprayed with pesticides so steering clear would be a great option for increased health. Just remember, there is NO substitute for water!

"You ARE water; water is you." Wayne Dyer

Our bodies are over %75 water.

"Drink water silently today, while reminding yourself with each sip to nourish others in the same life-flourishing way that streams give to animals and rain delivers to plants. Note how many places water is there for you - serving you by flowing naturally. Say a prayer of gratitude for this life-sustaining, always-flowing substance." -WD

REAL Food... And all the rest

To finish up the 3 part series on REAL food...


Seasonings, sauces and condiments:
Fresh herbs, spices and Celtic sea salt are the best choices. Be aware of MSG and added natural flavors and spices that add “flavor” to most sauces and condiments. Annie’s makes great mustard, and Muir Glen makes great ketchup. There are not any decent bottled salad dressings. Your best bet is a homemade dressing (3 parts olive to 1 part any vinegar and you can add fresh herbs lemon, garlic, pepper, sea salt).

Sweeteners can only come from a natural source. Carob, local honey raw and uncooked, Organic Grade B maple syrup, unsulfured molasses, rapadurah (unrefined sugar), and stevia. ABSOLUTLY NO artificial sweeteners of any kind.









Baking ingredients:
Pamelas Baking and Pancake mix
Mary Janes Farm Organic Gluten free budget mix (www.maryjanesfarm.org)
Arrowhead mill: Organic yellow corn mill, Brown rice flour, buckwheat flour and more.
Coconut Flour (www.tropicaltraditions.com)
Aluminum free baking soda
Aluminum free baking powder
Organic CoCoa


Food bars:
It is best to choose live foods over food bars but, if you are going to do it make sure they are organic RAW food bars. There are different brands that can be found at whole foods. Raw Organic food bar is a brand that has a variety of flavors also, Pure, and Nutiva flax bars are some great brands.


Fluids:
Choose water! Well, spring or purified by reverse osmosis….no tap! Tea is fine, just make sure it is from an organic tealeaf and you brew it yourself. Most bottled teas have added sugars and hidden flavors in them. Coffee needs to be organic and if possible fair trade (963coffee.com) all decaffeinated coffee needs to be swiss water decaf (no chemicals are used to remove the caffeine). Remember to use Stevia, Agave Nectar or Honey to sweeten your tea. Instead of pasteurized cream or any of the sweetened creams, coconut milk is dairy free and is a much better substitution.

REAL Food... everything plant based (grains, produce etc)

Quality over quantity everytime. The most common mis-conception I hear is that healthy eating is too expensive. The funny thing is, the better the quality, the less your body actually needs of any particular thing. A reason American's eat so much is due to the fact that there is so much food void of any nutrients. Of course we will keep eating, the body needs something!

Continuing from yesterdays post on fats/proteins... (again this is NOT comprehensive)

Grains and legumes:
All grains should be sprouted. For hot cereals, beans, and rices let soak in filtered water the night before. The next morning drain the soaking water and add fresh water place on the stove and cook. The sprouting process breaks down amino acid protein bonds to promote digestibility of the entire grain. You can find bread, English muffins, tortilla and cereals that are already sprouted. Such as:

Ezekiel 4:9 Organic sprouted whole grain bread
Ezekiel 4:9 Organic sprouted cinnamon raisin bread
Ezekiel 4:9 Organic sprouted tortilla
Ezekiel 4:9 Organic sprouted English muffin
Ezekiel 4:9 Organic sprouted burger bun and hot dog bun
Genesis 1:29 Sprouted grain and seed bread
Organic brown rice tortilla
Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted cereal in original, vanilla, and cinnamon raisin.

Bobs Red mill Gluten free rolled Oats
Organic rolled Oats
Cream of Buckwheat
Organic Buckwheat grouts
Brown rice cereal
Organic corn grits-polenta

Organic long grain and short grain Brown Rice
Organic Brown Basmiti Rice
Organic Wild rice
Organic Jasmine Brown rice

Make sure all beans if canned are organic. If you buy organic dried beans make sure you sprout them before they are cooked.








Produce:
All fruits and vegetables should be Organic. Organic foods are produced according to certain production standards, meaning they are grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste, or sewage sludge, and that they were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives. Choose Organic or local and make sure they are fresh or frozen.

Nuts and seeds:
Nuts and Seeds should always be Fresh, Raw, and Organic only. Stay away from roasted, salted canned nuts. The same rule applies to all nut butters (peanut butter, almond butter, cashew, walnut to name a few). Make sure they are fresh, raw and organic only.

In good health!

REAL Food... Fats/Proteins

I want to do a little series on what healthy eating might look like. With so much mis-information out there it's good to clear the air of what is potentially the best choices for optimal health. With that being said this is by no means an extensive list. I am also not saying this is what will be best for YOUR body. We are all biochemically different, so we all need different things. This is only the beginning for awareness. Once healthier options are made the body starts to intuitively do some amazing things!

We'll start simple with fats and proteins (remember this is not an exhaustive list)

we have GREAT sources for all of these at

www.themovementdallas.com

High quality Food sources

Fats and oils:
Organic Virgin coconut oil (www.tropicaltraditions.com)
Organic Olive oil
Organic Butter
Organic Raw Almond butter or any other Raw organic nut butter
Organic Flax oil or ground flaxseed
Organic Coconut Cream
Organic Palm Oil

Dairy:
Pastured/Organic eggs
Organic eggs
Organic Raw cheeses (organic valley raw cheddar, sharp cheddar and jack)
Organic whole Milk (if you need for cooking, Organic Valley is preferred over Horizon)
Organic whole plain yogurts (add your own sweetners and fruit)

Non-Dairy Milk substitutes:
Homemade Almond milk
Organic Coconut milk (comes in a can)(watch out for other crap)
Organic Coconut Cream

Meats, Poultry, Turkey, Pork, and Fish:
When looking for animal protein sources always choose:
Certified Organic, free-range or grass fed
Organic
Locally farmed free range.
Conventional hormone free
Conventional (choose lowest fat source – if you are uncertain of a meats status always choose the lowest fat source as fat stores toxins).
All seafood should be Wild. Stay away from farm raised fish of any kind. Choose the heavier wild caught fish such as Anchovy, Sardines, Trout, Salmon, Clams, Crayfish, Oyesters, Shrimp, Lobster, Scallops, Tuna, Swordfish, Perch, Catfish, and Tilapia. The fattier the fish the less chance of exposure to mercury. Eating fresh cilantro with your fish will naturally chelate (to remove from the bloodstream) the mercury.

ANYTIME YOU CAN”T FIND ANY OF THE SUGGESTED PRODUCTS ASK YOUR BUTCHER OR STORE MANAGER THEY WILL HELP YOU WITH WHATEVER YOUR NEEDS

Eat slowly. If you cram your food down your throat, you are not only missing out on the great taste of the food, you are not eating healthy. Slow down to lose weight, improve digestion, and enjoy life more. Read more.