I’m thrilled to be featured in a new book premiering today, “Is She Naturally Thin, or Disciplined: Insider Secrets of the Sexy and Slim!” penned by my friend Sally Shields.  The book is so darn cool that I can’t help but be excited to share my story of how I stay trim and healthy.  And it’s chock full of beautiful pictures and stories of amazing women that will motivate you into action!

Today only, you can receive oodles of freebies within minutes… — hundreds of dollars’ worth of  F-R-E-E  gifts — if you do just ONE thing today!   In honor of the summer season,
my fellow contributors and I are all celebrating the official launch of Sally’s new and highly acclaimed book, Is She Naturally Thin, or Disciplined?

http://www.sallyshields.com/thinbooklaunch/

Today, TUESDAY July 19th, we have a personal goal to help Sally reach the #1 position on Amazon.com and we really need your help. And, for helping, we’re going to reward you in a big, no make that
HUGE way! 

This offer requires the tiniest investment, but will bring you a fabulous return: for only $14.95 you can get a copy of Is She Naturally Thin, or Disciplined?  ..and over 50 free gifts (from yours truly and lots of other amazing people too)!!!! 

You will get advice from over 50 relationship advice experts, health coaches and success coaches from around the world to give you an exceptional offer! 

Go here to find out more about this promotion that makes buying a copy of Is She Naturally Thin, or Disciplined? really worthwhile TODAY, Tuesday, July 19th! Get all of the details here:

http://www.sallyshields.com/thinbooklaunch/

Discover the secret advice and tips from real women who have found a solution to their weight issues at last … 

“This book is NOT ‘another one of those’; it’s radically different and inspiring. Seeing photos of women sharing their stories elevated this from another ‘rah rah’ book about dieting to one showing that whether you’re 20 or 70, healthy weight loss and a healthy life are possible.”
 
~Christa Allan, author

This is a one-time-offer… never to be repeated again, available for the next 24 hours only.  So, grab this unique bundle of gifts and order Is She Naturally Thin, or Disciplined? book right now.  At no other time can you get such value for so little. This is a truly unique offer that’s valid for TODAY ONLY!  

I hope you’ll join me in celebrating great health and vitality featuring amazing women telling their stories.

P.S.  Please share this offer with your friends and family. It’s easy…just send them this link by email to let them know about the many gifts we have made available for them today: 

http://www.sallyshields.com/thinbooklaunch/

One of the principles of clean eating that I often struggle with is drinking enough water.  As I know you know so well, drinking fresh clean water is essential to maintaining a healthy, clean eating  lifestyle. It helps up detox, helps our organs function more efficiently, helps prevent disease, supports weight loss and increases our energy, just to name a few.

I try my best to get ample amounts in, but truth be told, some days I’m a water drinking rock star and other days my efforts leave a lot to be desired but my goal is to become a water drinking rock star every day.

Over the last few months, however, I’ve had a steady increase in my water intake thanks to my trusty Copco cup. I discovered this awesome, reusable cup in September when we were in Maine.  We were in Stonewall Kitchen, one of my favorite gourmet stores, when I saw a large bin with brightly colored cups in hot pink, purple and orange calling my name.  What’s not to love about drinking water from a fun cup?! What I love is that it has a durable straw and a screw on top.  Sure beats wasting paper cups or bringing a glass to work that I sometimes tip over in meetings.

Best thing is water drinking is sooo easy for me with a straw. It just seems like it glides down effortlessly and before I know it, I’ve had lots of water throughout the day.

I bought an orange up when we were at the store that I promptly took to the office.  It’s snap to wash and refill each day.  But then I realized that it would be great if I also had one at home too – perfect for sipping during workouts and leaving on my nightstand.  I walked into Bed, Bath and Beyond and they had a huge bin of brown and pink ones.  I’ve even gone so far as to get a third cup for another office out of which I sometimes work so now I’ve got all my water drinking bases covered.

What’s your favorite strategy to stay hydrated every day? How to you ensure you get enough water in?

Bittman adopted a vegan diet part of the time — he would eat vegan until 6 pm and then he enjoy whatever he liked after that.  But his shift to eliminating animal products and eating a much cleaner diet paid off – he lost 35 pounds over the course of three months.

I was drawn to this article because I’ve been toying with the idea of eating less meat for some time. And when I read it, it struck me that I pretty much practice part-time veganism too although it hasn’t been intentional. I didn’t wake up one day and say “today, I’m going to become a part-time vegan,” rather it unfolded through my weekly meal planning efforts and just felt right.

Since I do most of the cooking in the house, I plan the meals and do the grocery shopping.  I’m naturally drawn to more soups and stews in colder months and I often end up making vegan dishes that contain copious amounts of beans.  So in a very natural way, my husband and I started eating more meat less dishes at lunch time and lots of healthy snacks in the afternoon - like red pepper strips with hummus and an apple.  And since we don’t eat meat with breakfast, it’s not so hard to go through a large portion of the day without any meat at all.

Awhile back I did plan a week of no meat at all, even with dinner. Bruce reluctantly went along with the program but he wasn’t so thrilled.  Even though we don’t eat a lot of meat (usually chicken, turkey and fish), he missed the opportunity to have meat and he kept reminding me how important protein is to his weight lifting routine.  Needless to say, we got through the week but he was definitely not into my plan to extend our vegan experiment another week!  Ironically, just the other day he suggested that we have another week of no meat at all and you know I was game. That’s coming up next week and I’ll share the details of our menu planning.

I can see how being a part-time vegan is something that can work in our home.  It’s a healthier, clean eating happy medium that’s balanced by some meat later on in the day but even that doesn’t have to happen every day and can be in small amounts.  Seriously, this is so much a healthier way to eat and live and it feels like it fits both our needs better than the all or nothing approach. And I have to say that after four to five months of eating this way, Bruce has shed roughly20 pounds so he’s reaping the health benefits and feeling great about how he looks.  To me, eating this way screams, “I want to prevent chronic disease,” and we’re both committed to that.

Have you tried being a part-time vegan? What’s your experience been like and how has it helped you create a healthier, clean eating lifestyle that supports preventing chronic disease?

The good news is that I’m doing well with my eating, focused on clean, unprocessed foods that I’ve been making on the weekends. I’ve been enthused to try some new recipes, do some entertaining (we even hosted a clean eating dinner party over the weekend with some yummy dishes) and stay pretty true to my clean eating roots (doesn’t mean I haven’t had a few detours, but all in moderation).

But this does beg the question of what one’s to do when faced with the winter doldrums about eating. Once you fall off the wagon, it can be easy to just not get back on, justify that you deserve to not exercise or eat well because you’re tired or sick of winter, and just plain not do what you know you should.

Question is, what will it take to motivate you to eat clean, get through the next few weeks of winter and feel energized for spring?  I’ve put together a few simple things you can do to kick the winter doldrums to the curb and get reinvigorated about clean eating without a whole lot of “I really don’t want to do it” drama.  Remember, clean eating is all about keeping it simple, so no fancy schemes needed here.

1. Try a new recipe or food that intrigues you.  I’m a big fan of experimenting with foods that I’ve never tried making. For example, there was a recent article in Clean Eating magazine about how to prepare fresh artichokes. That’s one of those foods that I’ve never tried making because it looked complicated.  Truth be told, it’s really not, I just needed a little information and inspiration to help me.
2. Eat less meat and lighten up. It’s so easy for Americans to OD on meat.  We eat far more protein than we need and it’s often of mediocre quality, at best.  Plan your weekly meals with at least 1-2 less servings of meat and instead focus on the variety of plant based proteins that exist. I’m a huge fan of beans — they’re inexpensive and eat to prepare.
3. Add more whole grains.I’m always amazed out how easy it is to eat clean and inexpensively when you build more whole grains into your diet.  I love quinoa and making a pot on Sunday can add a healthy side dish to our repertoire that we’ll eat for 3 or 4 days.  Check out one of the simple recipes on my blog for delicious quinoa dishes — quinoa tabouli, Southwestern quinoa stew or basil quinoa — yum!
4. Revel in a leisurely meal.  So many of my clients spend copious amounts of time running around from one task to the next barely making the time to eat, let alone to really enjoy and savor a meal.  One of the simplest ways to tune into your body, eat less and kick start weight loss is to make time for meals when you can be present to your food.  Can’t do it every meal? Commit to at least twice a week when you can sit down without distraction (yep, I mean NO TV!) and enjoy your food.
5. Visualize how you’ll look and feel a month from now.  I’m a big picture kind of a girl and I love visualizing the result I want to achieve. There’s no time like the present to create a vision for your energetic, fit and happy spring self. It just may motivate you to try one of the first four steps.

What’s your plan to make it through the rest of winter and what’s one proactive step above you can easily take to give you a late winter kick start and banish those doldrums?

I know you know what I mean…you’re hankering for something sweet or full of fat even though you know it’s probably not a clean eating food, you’ve told yourself that you deserve a treat, you know you might feel bad after eating it but you go ahead and do it anyway. 

Yep, I’ve definitely been there before, especially for the part where I beat myself up over eating it. In my case, it wouldn’t so much be about losing weight, but the simple notion that I was indulging in less than healthy and clean eating foods.

The thing is, you can easily overcome those tempting moments by hitting the pause button and stave off unnecessary weight gain.  You know that moment in between thinking about what you might eat and then actually retrieving it from the pantry or refrigerator? Well that’s the moment we want to seize and think about our choices by pausing briefly to consider the options.

Case in point, this morning I had a couple of breakfast choices — a bowl of granola, naturally sweetened with almond milk or a green smoothie with raw kale, antioxidant berries and avocado.  I could already tell that eating the cereal was the path of least resistance. Put it in a bowl and start eating immediately. I also could tell that making the smoothie would take more time but would also ensure that I could get in some much needed nutrients first thing in the morning — a serving of vegetables along with a couple of fruits not to mention some healthy omega 3s.

When I thought for a moment about my health goals for the day — getting lots of water in, fresh fruits and veggies and healthy fat, that’s all I needed to remind me that a few minutes of effort would move me closer to my health goal.  For me, hitting the pause button and stopping to consider my options was a simple yet powerful action to keep me focused on my clean eating goals for the day and week.

One of the tools I find helpful to keep the pause button within reach is utilizing my friend Millie Grenough’s book, Oasis in the Overwhelm.  Millie is a life coach who got inspired to write this book after a near-fatal accident several years ago. This quick read is chock full of helpful tips to help you hit the pause button in less than 60 seconds like the 3-B-C, the 3 breath countdown. By tuning it, relaxing in the moment and slowing down, you can be more mindful about your choices and support better health.  For me, it means that clean eating doesn’t have to be hard at all — a reminder that it’s always within reach.

I also sometimes set my kitchen timer for one minute and just sit quietly before making a food choices.  When I slow down and get out of my head, I can listen to what my body most needs — healthy, energizing foods.

What’s your favorite trick to hit the pause button before overindulging and ensure what you’re about to consume is a fresh, whole, clean food? What do you have actively due to prevent weight gain?

With the new year upon us, and many of us wishing we hadn’t indulged so much during the holidays, the good news is that it doesn’t have to be so hard to get on track. 

If you didn’t eat so clean during the holidays, no worries. Now’s the perfect time to practice slow but steady clean eating changes that have nothing to do with going on a diet! Yep, it’s true, diets don’t work and all they really lead to are depriving yourself, expending too much energy on trying not to fall off the wagon…and ultimately, falling of the wagon!

Here’s my post holiday advice: establish a few realistic goals for clean eating — not the “I’m going to lose 25 pounds in the next month” kind of a goal, but a goal that you can actually achieve.  Here’s a sampling of some clean eating goals that might spark your imagination:

• eat at least two more servings a vegetables a day
• drink 32 ounces of water by 12:00 and another 32 ounces by 5 pm
• eat at least 4 out of 7 dinners per week without any distractions like the TV
• chew each mouthful of food at least 25 times
• add at least three types of whole grains to your diet per week
• add 2 more vegetarian meals to your diet per week

Clean eating is all about improving the quality of your food — less processed food, more whole foods, more locally grown food, — and the experience you have while eating it. To me, it’s about increasing your awareness and tuning in.   When you eliminate distractions like the TV, you taste your food more fully and eat less.  You’ll actually need less food to feel filled up because you’ll be enjoying your food with reckless abandon and paying attention to the signals your body is sending you.  This is key to successfully losing weight and keeping it off.

And then there’s the steady part — consistently putting a meal plan into action week after week. To me, meal planning is the system by which I stay on track with my clean eating. It’s the vehicle by which it all happens on a weekly basis. And not only do I practice this religiously, but I work with my clients to do the same and what a difference it makes.

I’d love to hear about what you’ve got planned for 2010 to practice clean eating. What are you clean eating goals that will help you maintain your weight or loss some? What will you do differently this year to feel your best?

Here are a few clean eating goals of my own:

• Eat at least three different varieties of greens per week (I just bought kale, collards and Brussels sprouts as part of this week’s meal plan)
• drink 6-8 glasses of water per day, consistently (I struggle with the consistent part, working on new strategies; check out a recent post on how I’m getting better)
• eat less meat and create at least 2  meat-free dinners (this shouldn’t be hard, we don’t eat that much anyway) per week
• whip up a raw, green smoothie for breakfast with fresh greens at least 3 times per week

So cough it up, let me know what you’re inspired to do and create in 2010 regarding clean eating! If I can do it, you can too!

PS If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to clean eating, let me know. We can set up a complimentary 30-minute consultation to talk about your health goals and how yours truly, the Clean Eating Coach, can help you reach them.

I’m not suggesting that simply eating more clean foods alone will make you lose weight in an instant. Needless to say, it does take more effort than that, but when you increase your awareness about what you’re eating, focus on fresh food and combine that with the right kind of exercise, you can find a clean eating-weight loss zone that feels great…and doesn’t have to be so hard.

I just have to focus my gaze in the direction of my husband Bruce to know that there’s something to this idea.  Bruce has been itching to lose some weight yet he didn’t want to take the calorie counting road (he always falls off the wagon), follow a diet like Atkins (they never work) or eat packaged food like NutriSystems (that’s definitely not clean eating).  But in our simple efforts to practice clean eating, he’s realized great results with weight loss (15 pounds so far) but in a way that hasn’t been hard or felt like deprivation at all.

Why such an easy transition to a clean eating lifestyle? Simply put, clean foods that are fresh taste good and are more satisfying.  When food is locally grown and fresh picked, it has lots of flavor and is bursting with nutrients. Buying fresh produce at your local grocery store chain, however, can be iffy because you don’t know how long it’s been there or from where it’s come.

When you eat clean food that tastes good, you don’t need as much to satisfy you.  In this country, we’re obsessed with large portions and mindless eating, the philosophy being the more, the better. But clean eating is about just the opposite. High quality ingredients with healthy fat, natural sweeteners if any at all, and food that supports the local economy and environment. Just take a look at some of the recipes I post, like my quinoa southwestern stew and butternut squash soup, and you’ll have an idea for what I mean by clean eating with simple, fresh ingredients.

I think Bruce has also been successful because he’s replaced his mindless snacking with a combination of cleaner, healthier snacks and he’s paying greater attention to what he puts in his body and how much.  And the fact that we’re back in our exercise routine and loving it, sure helps with the weight loss too.

The last key to our success has been copious amounts of meal planning. As you know, healthy food doesn’t just arrive on our plates, it takes some effort.  And for us, all the clean foods we’re eating have everything to do with planning them into well balanced and tasty meals that are satisfying. So my weekly meal planning efforts, and prepping food beforehand, have everything to do with the healthy weight loss results he’s been realizing.

What have you discovered about the connection between clean eating and weight loss? How does eating fresh, clean food help you lose weight or maintain what you’ve already lost?

In our house, my husband and I do a pretty good job of eating clean most of  the time. Honestly, it’s hard to do it perfectly every day, but that’s really not the point. We use the 80-20 rule although I’m always trying to inch toward the 90-10 rule — 90% of the time we eat clean.  In the end, it’s about adopting a clean eating lifestyle that you can maintain and that’s something that can evolve over time.

Here’s a super simple and tasty recipe that’s all about being clean, light and healthy.  Made with brown rice and black beans, it contains complex carbohydrates to keep you energized, is low in fat and is flavorful. By using locally grown produce in it (like cilantro I’m growing in the backyard, and tomatoes), it has even more flavor.  And if you find brown rice to be a little heavy, you can make it taste just as good by using quinoa instead.

Brown Rice and Black Bean Salad

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

½ tsp. salt
1 cup organic brown rice
2 cups water
1 cup chopped tomato
½ cup finely chopped green bell pepper
½ cup finely chopped onion
2 tbsp. Fresh lime juice
2 tbsp. White wine vinegar
2 tbsp. Olive oil
¼ cup finely chopped cilantro
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed well in a colander and well drained

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan bring water to boil with salt and. Add rice, cover and cook for 40-50 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Rinse rice is a sieve under cold water and drain it well. 
2. In a bowl, stir together the tomato, bell pepper, onion, vinegar, lime juice, olive oil and cilantro.  Add the beans, rice and salt and pepper to taste and stir salad until it is combined well.

What’s your favorite way to make a summer salad that’s light and clean and will keep you energized? What have you done lately to practice clean eating that prevents disease, helps you manage your weight and is loaded with all the right nutrients?

What do I mean by clean eating? It’s a way to approach and embrace food as a lifestyle not a diet. It focuses on whole foods — fruits, vegetables, whole grains, minimally processed meats. And it’s all about ditching all those man made products full of sugar, sodium, and artificial ingredients, which, while convenient, do a number on our bodies, sabotaging weight loss efforts.

So here are 5 reasons to clean up your diet that I think are compelling:

• You will feel a world better when you ditch processed foods. Your natural energy levels will increase and you’ll have more focus to do the things you love
• You will lose weight and keep it off.  We all know diets don’t work, this is about adapting your lifestyle. When you invest the time to do it consistently, you will see a difference
• You will save money! Clean foods (thinks beans, whole grains, etc.) can actually cost less. By creating a weekly plan and choosing foods like whole grains that aren’t expensive but are super nutritious, you can save some dough.  Meat isn’t cheap and it’s not that healthy either. When you clean things up, you’ll spend less (the key is in the planning)
• You will get to know and appreciate your body. Our bodies really weren’t meant to be garbage cans, yet many of us treat them that way by abusing them with the wrong kind of foods. When you eat clean and start to feel better, it opens up all kinds of possibilities to take better care of yourself
• You will inspire others to  action.  By making healthy changes, increasing your energy and feeling better, others will take note.  What’s better than losing a few pounds and being able to tell your friends and family you did it in a healthy way? Be a weight loss and clean eating role model!

What have you done lately to clean up your eating? How has that helped you lose weight and keep it off?

Need some help to make clean eating a habit? Want some simple, clean eating recipes? Check out my “Simple Summer Eating and Meal Planning” teleclass on Tuesday, August 4 at 8 pm ET. Join us and you can get on the road to clean, healthy eating. Go here for more details: http://budurl.com/sv6p

The good news is that I’ve finally gotten back on track and today I went to my new gym for my first workout.  And it was totally refreshing. The gym is large, bright and has some great equipment.  The weight machines are so much better than at our old gym, where half of them seemed ancient.  With lots of open space and multiple machines for just about every part of the body, there’s simply no reason why I shouldn’t be able to happily work on my definition and increase my strength. Not to mention that lifting weights helps to kick that fat burning into gear and supports healthy weight loss.

I also love that they have row after row of cardio machines (not that I’m such a huge fan of mindlessly using the machines.  I much prefer classes but they don’t offer them). Only downside is that as I was moving to a different treadmill today, I managed to step on the one next to me that my husband was on and didn’t see that it was moving! If you could have seen the spill I took and the scene I made as I, quite clumsily, fell to the ground, tumbled over and hit my arm.  The fact that I didn’t break anything is nothing short of amazing.  And thanks to the helpful gym staff I quickly got an ice pack on it minimizing the swelling.

Despite my little mishap, I have to say it was a great start at a new gym that’s got my very excited to maintain my motivation and stay in shape.

What have you done lately to get back on track with exercise when you were in a slump?