All posts by Suz

I was a Project Manager and writer for many years. I have had a passion for animal and human welfare, natural health and beauty and was laid off my corporate job this year, allowing me to go from a time famine to being able to start this blog and potentially inspire and help others on their journey to living their best holistic life.

PurePet – Pet Food Review

This is Rhett (Full name Hieronymous Rhett Thomas O’Brien Puppy).  He is almost 8 years old here in this photo.  See my separate Pet Food Rant.  I am passionate about creating a tipping point in the food industry where we hold companies accountable, with our awareness and wallets, to producing good quality foods for us and our pets.  I spent a year studying with Hippocrates Health Institute, then studying Canine Nutrition and want to share what I know to help anyone who wants to listen.  🙂

Kibble is easy, and as a Canine Massage Therapist, I work with a few rescue groups who feed kibble.  It’s cheap and easy.  The problems with it though are many.  Firstly, it dehydrates your dog (or cat).  Sure the animal will most likely drink more water but in many cases, they will not get enough to compensate for the lack of moisture.  Next, most kibble utilizes a high heat extruded process that essentially wipes out all nutrition and all natural enzymes vital for proper bioavailability/digestion.  This is why the label will say proudly ‘Added Vitamins and minerals’ or some such.  It’s because they HAVE to!  There’s no nutrition left in the over processed product. Finally, what goes into these kibbles runs the gammut in quality, from animal parts unknown and awful such as chicken feathers and feet to rendered carcinogenic cows. On the higher end of the spectrum (you doing your research and asking questions and feeling decent about serving a particular kibble) you may get something holistic, organic, human grade etc.  Orijen for example does not use the high heat extruded process on their kibble.  I realize folks have budgets.  We can only do our best right?  If you have one dog, it’s easier to spoil them than it is if you have five.  We do what we can.

Add SuperFoods – There are superfoods that you can augment any meal of choice with.  In the book below, I note a recipe and as a Canine bodyworker, I also sell one too;  human food grade bone and joint supplements.  Superfoods add micronutrition to the food.  In this day and age with soil erosion, pesticides, man-made chemicals in nearly everything, bad air and water, we (all of us) need all the help with minernals, nutrition and detox that we can get.

Go Organic, wild crafted, holistic, Non-GMO – This is the very best way to avoid Genetically Mutated/Modified Organisms, pesticides,  questionable meats and other ingredients that will otherwise be present in the pet food you buy.  The label should tell you it is certified organic and many times will also tell you it is GMO free.  The best of both worlds is seeing both statements on the label.

What is Holistic? – Holistic simply means taking a whole or entire body approach to resolving concerns.  Western Medicine looks at symptoms and then how to treat that symptom.  Many times this works great.  I have a headache, I take an aspirin, headache remedied.  But when we delve into headaches holistically, the worker wants to know the underlying cause of my headaches and treat that and not just the sympton.  When we discuss food, rather than the cheapest ingredients and proceses out there, a more health forward approach has been taken, ostensibly.

GOOD Homemade Food – You can make foods at home, and it is really easy once you get the hang of it.  I use Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide To Natural Health For Dogs & Cats.  It is a great resource to look up  health questions, natural remedies,  as well as some great recipes.   I make up my Healthy Powder and am ready for home made yumminess on the week-ends.  Rhett is used to eating a varied diet, much like how we eat, so I like to change up his flavor profile so he doesn’t get bored.
Another terrific reference book is Martin Goldstein’s he Nature Of Animal Healing. There are some great natural ways to mitigate heartworm (Black Walnut) amongst other remedies. This is one of my ‘go to’ books when I want to look up a problem and how to resolve it.

Freeze Dried etc -There’s some really good raw, freeze dried and dehydrated options on the market today! I mentioned kibble is dehydrating. When you prepare home made meals either from scratch or by using something you can rehydrate in the kitchen, you are amping things up to a whole other level for your pet.   I like things easy but healthy.   Dr. Harveys Canine Health (and the entire line) is just fantastic!  I am also a big fan of Honest Kitchen which has recently created a complete serve it dry like kibble offering called ‘clusters’ that we have our new puppy on. First you have freeze dried dog food that comes complete, you just add hot water to re-hydrate. If you are wanting to provide the protein source, they have great bases or mix-ins, like veg-to-Bowl, Oracle or Raw Vibrance and, Canine Health which has grains.  Mix-ins are great to add in your protein of choice and particularly good for situations where you have to limit or add additional protein.    What is great about it is that it’s organic, human grade,healthy wholesome ingredients created by folks that truly care about your pet.

I have used Dr. Harveys since Rhett was a puppy but a couple of years ago, after my holistic alternative vet retired, I was left floundering with how to continue to treat Rhett’s kidney issues.  The vet we use for his regular blood work, just tossed a bag of Science Diet KD at me and that, I already knew, was the wrong path.  Their eyes glazed right over as I ranted about GMOs, corn in the KD, pesticides if the food is not organic etc.  My chart at the vet just says I am ‘refusing standard treatment due to lifestyle choices’ which sounded vaguely judge-y. But also, I find the stance very interesting because they are IN the health care business!

Your Vet is not trained on pet nutrition in veterinary school.  Your vet should be primarily concerned with making your pet live the longest, highest quality life possible.  When it comes to life saving emergency work and needed surgeries, Western medicine is where you need to go but sadly, unless you are seeing a well rounded holistic veterinarian, big pharma has already trained them on how to use (and sell) their pesticides and other medicines.  Just as with us humans and WM docs,  they seem mostly to understand how to prescribe more shots and prescriptions that make the pharmaceutical companies rich.  And provide sub par foods that kill your companion far faster. The insideous business of this is that, as a vet, we trust them.  We must take up the mantle of doing our own research here because there are so many great and wonderful things veterinary school teaches and a seasoned vet knows.  Nutrition, unless they have taken it upon themselves to become certified in animal nutrition later, is not one of them.

A client recently told me to stop talking about food choices for her dog with recent diabetes. She was certain her vet would know more.  I knew what would happen, I just had to back away and let it play out.  She was prescribed Science Diet for her diabetic dog.  But as she is my client, very bright and we talk quite a lot, she became concerned about all the corn (GMOs and Pesticides as it is NOT organic corn) in her dogs prescription diet,    This is the best part….she went back to her vet, brilliant at medicating the diabetes…and voices her concern about the kibble.  Her young vet sighs and calmly explains ‘These companies have been around for decades making and researching pet food.  I am not going to recreate the wheel.’  In case you feel I am picking on the WM vet, I am not.  You will find the same issues at most doctors offices.  They will tell you veganism will kill you, that dairy is good for you and other misnomers.  They just don’t have that training.

Seek Out Specialists – None of us can ‘do it all’.  If you need guidance on food, go to a pet nutritionist who has certified in animal nutrition.  If you need animal chiropractic, Massage or Acupuncture, go to a specialist certified in these modalities.  Again, none of these things are taught in veterinary school.  A vet may add these certifications to their training but keep in mind, none of us can do it all marvelously, so specializing works out best for your fur kid.

COMPLETELY FLOORED
Our alternative vet retired. Due to China tainted meat in a big brands dog treats, Rhett ended up with Kidney failure or in TCM we like to say Kidney Deficiency which sounds so much better.  I knew enough to be dangerous so I kept him going, however, I really wanted some guidance. In my website there is a page dedicated to recommended holistic wellness practitioners.  Please see that if you are in the DFW area.  The vet we used for Rhett’s bloodwork suggested Dr. Pam who was the only other alternative vet I knew of in the area.  I spent 2 full years trying to get Rhett in to see her.  She was always going to call me back and finally the 2nd year, stated through her admin that she was just too busy.   I am sure she knows her stuff…but waiting 2 years and still no time means she is not in my recommended list.  I have nothing to judge her off of as my pet could not get an appointment.  Frustrated, I wrote to Dr. Harvey one day when ordering a sample of the new Paradigm food.  Lo and behold, Dr. Harvey called me back.  He continued checking up on Rhett, offering help which is very appreciated.   This is very appreciated as my WM vet I was seeing had Rhett, a 100lb Doberman, on 8oz of protein every 3 days, meaning I would make up a batch of his food adding only 8 oz of protein for a 3 day span and when his BUN was still elevated to reflect early stage renal, she suggested dropping his protein lower.  The boy lost 10lbs of muscle in 3 weeks and continued to get skeletal. He got some gray hair, noooooo.  I spoke with another vet who stated older dogs actually require more protein as they don’t metabolize it as well as they did when young.  The trick was getting enough protein without too much to send his kidneys over the edge.  Feed him as much protein as you can without seeing issues was the new plan.  Rhett went from 86lbs back to 100 where he looked awesome.  His original fighting weight was 115.  100 looked good on him.  His hair came back rust and tan again.  He looked good.  Rhett remained in ‘Early stage’ renal from just over a year old until his death at 9.5 years old.  We assume a massive heart attack but it wasn’t, in the end, the kidneys that took him out.  I attribute this longevity of damaged kidneys to all the great holistic food and superfoods and detox herbals etc that he was on.  He was not subjected to annual shots, his water was purified and he ate so well.

Sickness and death happen to us all.  None of us gets out of here alive.  That stated, we can all let food be thy medicine and do our best to support companies that truly care, do our research and make the better choices that improve our quality of life.  The first thing people always said (up to the day he died, 9.25.19 while on a play date, whenever they saw Rhett, was  ‘What a handsome and healthy dog!’  Rhett looked like the Arnold Schwarzenegger of Dobermans.  I believe he had good genetics and next it was the food that helped him reach his maximum potential.

TOXINS – RAW VS COOKED – When you cook anything, particularly at high temps, you ruin the natural enzymes and you create toxins that the body has to rid itself of in the digestion of the product.  Raw or low cooked foods are best, for us and for them.  I go for fresh organic meats for our new puppy so that her growing body doesn’t have to work so hard at digesting it.   Then I add in greens, like wheatgrass, Chinese Chlorella, Klammath Lake blue-green algae,  along with walks and massage.

Some other sites I go to frequently are:  Onlynaturalpets.com, Petwellbeing.com, pawhealer.com and fiveleafpharmacy.com.

Hope that this information helps you and I’d love to hear about it!

Work And Life Balance

There’s been a lot of buzz about work and life balance.  My former company (and that of my husbands) mention it routinely.  But talking about it doesn’t make it so.  I am going to address what is and what is not balance as well as why all corporations, hospitals, every single entity that employs staff, must honestly strive for it.

TIME – Other than learned skills, the primary commodity an employer buys, is your time, which is finite and a different quantity for each individual.  Stress shortens life.  It’s ok to work hard at something and preferably something that brings you satisfaction, but it is equally important that you balance time spent at work with personal pursuits which should take up a large percentage of your day/week and allow the feeling of abundance and joy. Essentially, this time spent in personal ways provides the moments of pause necessary to truly appreciate that paycheck because you are feeling, directly, the reward.  When you spend too much of your day/week on work rather than personal things, you are just a hamster in a wheel.  And this would be sucky job satisfaction. Editing: “Work And Life Balance”

We all want job satisfaction because we want high quality output.  We also want balanced and friendly people.  I have seen some strange come from folks who routinely skip their PTO and over work too much.  When you are too tired, things take longer and flat are not done at the best level because you are no longer at your best.

WHEN YOU TAKE CARE OF YOU, YOU ARE ALSO TAKING CARE OF THE COMPANY.  Taking care of you works in three ways.  Firstly, you want quality of life and quantity.  Ultimately, you want to live a long and healthy happy life.  When you are healthy, due to more free time and less stress, you gain more productive to society years. Next, your company directly benefits from you taking the very best care of you.  There is less spent on sickness and shoring up when you are absent from work.  There are also fewer mistakes.  Lastly, if you do get the ax, you are not a spent shell of a person out there hoofing the pavement looking like left overs.

BALANCE – Balance can be that you always work an 8 (or fewer) hour day.  Balance can also mean you work for a set period of time,  kama kazi mode 10-12 hour days on a project with a finite scope, where, at the end of it, you get comp time and a fat bonus. Yes, both.   Think about your most favourite thing to do in the world.  It could be rock climbing, horseback riding, jogging, yoga, reading, watching TV or downing a tub of popcorn.  For ANY of the favorite things which spring to mind, would you in complete honesty want to do that one thing for a solid 8 hours straight?  How about 10 or 12 hours?  How about long hours, at least 5 days straight, for months on end?  Put this way, we can then understand that 8 hours of anything isn’t balance either, but it does provide for 8 hours of sleeping and another 8 to get personal pursuits tended to.  We need to stop thinking of an 8 hour day as a short day or that people who work only 8 hours are somehow not as worthy as those of us who put in twice that. For those who drive into the office, some of those hours will be spent in that space of working while driving into work.  I count that as work time because I spend that time thinking about and planning my day out, and sometimes taking a few conference calls.  Don’t discount this time, those treks in are also working for your company.  If you were not driving into the office, those hours would be spent at your home office.  And on that note, we move into working from home.

WORKING FROM HOME – Some jobs are perfect for this planet saving, emission reducing tax write off.  For over a decade I’ve had a full-blown home office and LOVE it!  The tax break each year means the difference in getting money back or paying in.  Not every job can accommodate this of course. If you are a surgeon, a contractor or Starbucks Barista, working from home is not possible.  But many jobs are and this is a great way to increase productivity, reduce corporate costs and provide a space, typically 2 extra hours that would otherwise be spent driving, to get extra work done.

It takes the right mindset, someone who can work autonomously, putting the needs of their company at the forefront without direct supervision and be the role model that allows this opportunity to thrive within your company.  I worked on my director for years before he finally relented.  For me, it got creepy working late in the office when the lights dimmed and the vacuum cleaners started humming as the cleaning crew went to work.  Then someone was robbed in the parking garage.  Then someone was murdered at their desk located inside a secured, badge required building.  I did not like driving home alone at night in the dark either. But when I was on a hot project, I really hated to waste any of my time that could be better spent.

The downside to working from home is that you can easily just work around the clock and center your entire life around work with your personal needs, all of them, taking a back burner.  I had to set timers to get myself free of the computer, to set relaxation hours and work hours so that I created a separation of church and state.  I only crossed those lines when necessary, such as when I had scheduled late night business to attend to.

An old manager used to tell our entire team how lucky we were to work from home.  All of us were pulling 12+ hour days.  I did not feel lucky, I felt spent and under respected.    There must be balance in the way both the employee and the corporation thinks about both a workers time and work from home opportunities to create that win-win. In short, someone working from their home office should be working every bit as hard as someone driving into someplace.  The only difference is the drive time and the fact that they can also toss in a load of laundry in between conference calls.

When strong employees are enabled to work from home,  the company is lucky, spending less on office space and upkeep, as well as supplies. In the event of an urgent issue or in a situation of flex time, workers with laptops are able to step into work from their home office on a moment’s notice.  Working from home can mean the very difference between being able to put in extra time and leaving their employment due to personal life and work conflicts.

For anyone seeking a true work life balance, I recommend Thank God It’s Wednesday, by Mark Langford.

For those of us who hike into the office daily, there are electric cars to help the planet and ways to work smarter and take control of your over hours.   At the end of it all, nobody says they didn’t spend enough time in the office when reviewing their joys in life.

Here’s to being joyful, productive and balanced!

The Truth About Beef

Below is a link on an article, The Truth About Beef.  This is a lengthy but very well rounded article surrounding the eating of beef.  I love it because it is one of the most complete picture of the current state of affairs on this planet that I have read.  I recently went to a party, old friends of ours, and got into a discussion (as I am vegan) and so people tend to talk to me about why eating meat, dairy etc is or isn’t ok.  
Because transition is hard on the brain, I’ve included a link to a great book, Going Vegan,  to ease your transition.
Most of us work for a living and are busy people.  I was one of those people too, up until the Sprint layoffs.  I chose to invest this great gift of time into studying the state of our health in America (The SAD diet) and the state of this planet, our cruelty to animals and become an activist toward global change.  I studied at Hippocrates Health Institute a full year. During this full year of studies, I partnered with other organizations on the same mission, watched documentaries and while some may consider me having gone down a rabbit hole, I know my topic well.  I also know that, contrary to what friends have said ‘It’s not that bad’ that, yes, it truly is very bad.  Just understanding that 2000 gallons of water is required for 1 lb of beef is a sobering fact, as we run short on water. Without water, there is no life.  And with that, I leave you to this article.

 

https://foodrevolution.org/blog/the-truth-about-grassfed-beef/

https://foodrevolution.org/blog/the-truth-about-grassfed-beef/?utm_campaign=frn17&utm_medium=email&utm_source=email-automated&utm_content=2394&utm_term=existing-email-list&email=suzkarmah%40aol.com&firstname=Suzanne&lastname=

A Glass of Chianti, Sprout Salad and Fava Beans; When Hanibal Goes Vegan.

Who hasn’t seen the film?  It left me wondering, for decades, one thing; what do Fava Beans taste like?  And yet I could never find them.  Flash forward, I did, and they are delicious in many recipes.

Mmmmm Fava Beans! I bought cans of them, and dried beans for planting too.  Recently,  when tending my garden, a couple leaves broke off, well, I had to try them while brief thoughts of ‘ are the poisonous’ crossed my mind. These thoughts were quickly allayed by the tender buttery taste of these delightful top leaves. Yes, I’ll be back for more. And here’s a recipe using the leaves, as I found myself still alive and feeling strong enough to google search.  I plan to use the leaves in salad primarily because cooking (above 118)  removes nutrients and active enzymes from the food.

Fava Beans can be a real challenge to find. so below in the coloured ink is an amazon link for the Fava’s.

I am very excited to finally be growing them and enjoying them in many dishes.  I’m doing a hummus next!

 

http://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Easy-growing-fava-leaves-heartier-than-spinach-2754939.php

PurePet – The Humane Dilemma

Most of us have an affinity for our fellow earthlings, we are curious, fascinated, protective but not all of us have cultivated compassion or respect and how we treat our fellow animals dovetails into how we also treat each other.

Pet.  The word seems to demean but really, it doesn’t, or shouldn’t.  A pet is something treasured, held upon a pedestal, something adored, loved, something set apart which brings joy to life.  I realise they can also pee on the carpet, wreck the potted plants and chew through a sofa (untrained and unsupervised) but the point is that this word,  when created, was meant as a description and meant in the most positive of ways.

Humane comes from human.  Anything inhumane is something considered barbaric, subhuman, a treatment beneath us, shocking and atrocious, what one wouldn’t ever do.  And yet barbarism, as well as amazing grace and altruism is within our scope, how we are all wired, even the meekest of us.

I have studied the animal condition at great length, read books, watched films and seen what cannot be unseen on the atrocities of farm animals, both dairy and the meat industry.  Perhaps it is simply that social media is now a thing which brings it all to light, but there seems to be far more violence perpetrated upon our fellow animals these days, from kicking a cat to tricking a dog into picking up a firecracker.  It makes my heart ill to see these innocents mistreated because I know now, how they tick, how they think.

As a kid I was not as patient with a bird as I should have been and once over punished a cat I adored.  Both forgave me but the pain of my actions, both immediately afterwards and later have served to remind me that I, too, have the capability of evil, of unkindness,  a set of expectations that, when not met, harbour such impatience within me.  I have evolved, grown in my awareness and understanding, however these two childhood episodes confirmed for me that I am not exempt from and must ever be mindful of my ill-actions, to take power over them, so that I walk the planet ever mindful to cause less harm.

I often wonder about God.  I was brought up that we were created in his image and we are to have dominion, guardianship, over all the animals, land and sea.  I know how we treat them., and I often wonder, what happened because we have fallen so far.  How did we travel such distance in our nature from a creator who made all of them and us in his image?  Or perhaps our creator just has far more control over himself than most of us do.

Animals continue to amaze and inspire me.  They generally have a lot of self-control and patience, such as with their young and with us too.  They are clear in their messages, in their communication of their needs and wants and can be exceedingly loyal and loving, and forgiving.  I like the way that they tend to live life in the present, and with hope for goodness.  Now, I typically wake up in a good mood, but my mind may be on various things, my daily morning chores, for example. I have timelines in my head.  And I used to have a corporate job to go to.  Now that I don’t need to pad down to my office and check the laptop by 7 am, I have really enjoyed observing my bed mates in the morning.  Our Doberman, Rhett, likes his belly rubs and rolls over (generally ONLY in the morning after waking) for a belly rub.  I brush his fur, clean his ears, brush his teeth, tell him how handsome he is and he totally gets everything I am doing.

If the kitties have already gotten up, they run over to me when they hear me stir.   It’s time to share the joy of a new day with me.  I am honored by their sweet greeting.  I am glad for the time not to rush all this, as I had done for countless years.  None of us knows the hours or the days we have left so treasuring now is what they have taught me.

Once Rhett’s feet hit the floor, he grabs a toy and this lets me know his mood.  I also like that his first thought for the day is fun.  What is our first thought for the day?  How often is our first thought on fun?

When I leave the house and return, there again, I get the marvellous greeting home.  They bring such dimension to our lives, each one in their own special way.   We are rushing around, driven by work, chores, finances, keeping house and socializing.  Our fur companions are focused on joy, on play, on being with us, living in the present, getting some yummy food, excercise and relaxation.  When you watch and learn about farm animals or all the exotics in the wild, if you spend enough time with them, you see all these amazing and unique personalities come into play and learn from each experience. And, like any relationship, time adds layers of complexity, of grace and trust and adds to the sweetness of life.

When it is said that the meek shall inherit the earth, I often wonder who that will be.  PS That’s Loki inside the planter and Hydra next to it.

Recommended Reading:

Wayne Pacelle Humane Economy 

Wayne Pacelle The Bond

Dominion Matthew Scully

Carl Safina Beyond Words

LOVE, GOD, SEX, RESPONSIBILITY and RESPECT

What is love?  Where is God?  The body is a temple. I believe when we clean and green what we put into our bodies, we gain spiritual benefits which change our scope and capacity for love, empathy, being fully present, better able to take responsibility and grow boundless kindness.

Conversely, when we over pollute our bodies, with alcohol, sugars, processed foods, animal fats, we are completely disrespecting ourselves.  How can we come from a place of peace and be empowered to help others when we are not yet willing to put kindness first with ourselves?  When we disempower ourselves from the responsibility we all have to nurture and maintain our own health and happiness, how are we then able to truly give to another being in a balanced holistic way?

While sex is utilized for procreation, it can also bring us closer or, if used incorrectly, alienate us, use us up and make us feel disrespected.  Used to bring a couple together, it strengthens the bond, uplifts both parties and makes both feel wanted, needed, adored.  There are people who are confused about who they love, who they want or that they want to go orgy style and mix it up.  You can call that hedonism but you cannot really call that love.  Love needs nurturing and attention and to be made special.  When you are with different people with no faithfulness held you cannot be loving and nurturing, you are hedonistic, just out for yourself.  But being hedonistic also disempowers you along the way.  In sex, there is a spiritual oneness. And this is where God comes in.  Don’t believe in God?  Have no spiritual affinity whatsoever?  Perhaps you are on the wrong blog, but stay with me a moment.  What about the order in the chaos when you look at how this world works?  I am not talking about what men have done to the planet, but actually how the world works, how the animals, the fish, the seas, the seasons, how everything beautifully ties together.  How could all this become, with such diversity, majesty and beauty out of complete and utter chaos?  I believe that it couldn’t any other way but to have been created by someone who wanted to make all this happen.  Love is many nuances, vibe and responsibility.  Responsibility is feeding the cat because he’s hungry and I do love him but I may not really feel like getting up and opening a tin for him.  I do it for love.  I clean the house, wash the dog, fix dinner, earn a living, all for love.  I stay faithful to my husband because I love him and not for any other reason.

Love is many nuances, vibe and responsibility.  Responsibility is feeding the cat because he’s hungry and I do love him but I may not really feel like getting up and opening a tin for him.  I do it for love.  I clean the house, wash the dog, fix dinner, earn a living, all for love.  I stay faithful to my husband because I love him and not for any other reason.

Straying is the highest of insults anyone could ever do to another. The second highest is lying about it.  Some people say they are in an open relationship etc, but the fact is when someone won’t be faithful to you, it really means they don’t care enough about you, they are merely using you for their own gain.  Plain, simple.  They don’t have enough of a jot of care about you that extends beyond themselves and their own needs.  It’s a disorder, an emotional imbalance, a lack of control due to failure to exercise power over one’s own faculties.    There are always excuses.  And that dovetails into respect.  If you don’t respect yourself, who will?  Someone may, but it really begins with you.  If you are in a situation which is usury, just sex,  not truly love, not balanced, not working, then get out of it.  There will always be complications.  Usually when I hear ‘ Well, there are complications’ it means money or lack of self-respect.  Someone is staying for the monetary support or someone is a doormat.  Neither are truly good and loving reasons to remain in something that is a failure.

Sometimes life takes us in weird directions, places we thought we’d never go and robs us of peace.  When you think about your partner, does he or she bring you closer or farther away from peace?  We are all imperfect beings.  We are here, primarily to learn how to responsibly, truly and more perfectly love each other.  This is not easy, but it absolutely is doable.

And if you are single and searching, take your time.  There is no need to rush into the unknown before at least some modicum of time has been spent so that you have a better idea of what you are getting into.

We are responsible for our own life and are also our brothers keeper, whether we like the idea of that or not. Clint Eastwood said ‘A man has got to know his limitations’ and I adore that line.  We need to understand ourselves enough to have a full grasp of our limitations so that we minimize causing upset in others lives due to our intentions being less than honest, less than pure.  When we know ourselves, we can speak our truth, whatever that is.  Truth changes just as our limitations do, provided we do our own self-work and grow, keep moving forward as we age rather than degenerate into toddlers.    We are always moving, therefore, we are always, each day, going the one way or the other.  Which way do you want to go?  Which way brings you closer to peace and causes least harm?

Whatever you have done and wherever you have failed, know that we all fail to some degree and that each day brings with it an opportunity to go and do better.  Be blessed with actions that

Be blessed with actions that honor your temple today.

Check out this book to help you on your journey: My Body Is A Temple by Christina Sell

Hippocrates Health Institute Online Life Transformation Program – Get Your Free Syllabus Here!

I want to share the Hippocrates Health Institute’s Online Program with you, but below is my personal story.

I worked at Sprint 28 years.  Last year, they did a massive reduction of their  Implementation Project Managers and I found myself with the gift of time.  I called it gainfully unemployed as I had a severance to live off of which has sadly expired now.

I spent the entire year of 2016 on Hippocrates and alternative studies.  I watched documentaries like Earthlings, Eating You Alive, Genetic Roulette and spent countless hours involved in various petitions to save various animals and people from cruelty.   I had considered myself fairly enlightened prior to this significant knowledge download.  I shunned pesticides, did all organic gardening, ate primarily organic food, ate meat not more than 2x week, read my labels, shunned sugar, particularly high fructose corn syrup, did yoga, walked the dog and thought I was doing alright.

My hip-flexors were in near constant pain between all the sitting (12+ hour days at Sprint) and the yoga and walks  I squeezed in between work.  Anytime I did any heavy lifting with my hands, I ended up with pain in my hands for a few days afterwards.  My blood pressure was higher than it should be and I was heavier than I should be too.  was mostly vegetarian, taking the Hipp

With my gift of time, I took the Hippocrates Life Transformation course because finally it was offered online.  For decades, I had wanted to visit the location for a 3 week detox stay, in gorgeous West Palm Beach.  Well, now I had the time even if I really couldn’t justify the cost of actually staying there.  was mostly vegetarian, taking the Hipp

Taking this self-paced course was brilliant and it changed my life.  I look younger, dropped unnecessary weight and no longer have the joint/tendon pain I once did.  People comment all the time about my skin tone and weight loss.

Anyone can lose weight, I think we all know how to diet and drop a few pounds, which typically find us again when we go back to eating again.  This course is about a lifestyle, a way of vibrant health, a way of knowing how to shop at the grocery store, what to eat, a full on education on vitamins, minerals, the state of our food supply, the planet and how to live your most resilient and healthy life and become the change necessary.

When I say this course changed my life, I think the only other thing I have ever said that about is when I met my husband.  I encourage you to respect and love yourself enough to check out the free syllabus.


	

Hiring a Vegan Lifestyle Consultant

Most of us learned how to eat from our parents.  They may have been well meaning but if you were raised on the Standard American Diet (SAD) then their best intentions boiled down to poor dietary choices.  The body takes whatever ‘food/fuel’ you provide it and does its level best.  But most Americans are calorie dense and nutrient bereft, leaving the body always hungry and chronically dehydrated.

If you want to lose unnecessary weight (or gain healthy weight such as body building) you want to minimize your risks of heart disease and diabetes or reverse these issues, then a PBL (Plant Based Lifestyle) is for you!

Now comes the freak out, if you are like me.  I had been vegetarian years ago but I sort of panicked.  Now what do I do for food, what do I fix and how do I get creative with it (because I am married to an executive chef)?  I had the great benefit of training at Hippocrates Health Institute who stepped me through everything from enemas to juicing to the importance of organic clothing.  I had been a project manager with long hours before my Hipp training.  I knew that most Americans were over worked and short on time.  And this creates a very negative cycle.  Rather than fix our own food, even growing a lot of it, as our grandparents did, we have allowed ourselves to become dependent upon big business to provide fast foods.

Not one thing you buy fast, a pre-made and bottled green juice, or a mas produced sandwich, is ever going to be as quality controlled and fresh as it would be if YOU shopped all ingredients and put it together yourself. Sometimes, we want to just buy a pre-made vegan mayonnaise rather than making it from scratch and I totally get that and yes, I sometimes do that too.  But what I am calling you to take note of here, is when you make that choice, you are trading convenience for some nutrition loss and loss of ingredient and freshness control.  This may be ok if you are very familiar with the brand you are buying or are temporarily out of time.

Straight up, this lifestyle takes planning and it may make sense for you to hire someone like me to help you get started and stay the course.

With busy-ness in mind, during this year long study, I took a lot of time to ramp up on researching the best tools, from juicers to cook books to best ways to sprout, in order to offer help to others going down my same path who are short on time but really want to take control of their health, weight and happiness.

I either physically or virtually take folks down the shopping aisles at grocery stores, helping them with re-learning how to shop, what to look for, how to read labels.  I help folks get started growing their own sprouts!  Sunflower sprouts are delightful!  And, if you are lucky enough to have them where you live, I am jealous because until I grew my own, I had never ever even heard of them!

This lifestyle is about planning ahead a bit, soaking your seeds over night, and planning ahead for meals so that you are truly taking care of you and not putting yourself in a compromising position of being hungry and not having something nutritious on hand.

From growing your own garden or mini garden to natural home cleaners to organic skincare and air purification, I can help with my knowledge share and support.

Walnut Tacos

Most of us were not taught the importance of enzymes in our food and how cooking  destroys them.  Whenever you cook anything above 118, you lose the enzymes and much of the vitamins too.  Combine this with the general sadness of our air, water and soil and you have a tsunami of dietary deficiencies.   We no longer rotate our crops, let the soil rest nor do we generally replenish our soils with all the minerals truly needed.  This causes us to be hungry and consumer empty calories in search of the needs of our body.  So my suggestion here for this recipe is to dehydrate your walnuts on low temp for  day until they are nice and crunchy.  You can still stick them in a 400 oven for 10 minutes or so too.  But I hope I have inspired you to take the slow way.

Walnut Tacos – I love these for the texture, the flavor and colour as it does indeed resemble the typical ground meat you would locate inside your taco shell.

Take a couple of cups of dehydrated walnuts and process them in a food processor until they resemble ground meat.  Set them aside.  Now take a skillet and saute your (on low heat) everything else you normally like in your taco, such as onion, garlic, mushrooms, tomato or salsa.  Add in your walnuts at the last minute to mix it all together and just warm them a bit and serve.

You can add some vegan cheese on top if you like but they are tasty just with some chopped onion and lettuce over the taco mixture.

 

ENJOY!

 

Plant Based Diet – Dipping a Toe In (and saving our planet one toe at a time)

How many of you woke up today and poured sugar in your gas tank? I think of your body like you do your car where to get the best life and performance out of

Think of your body like you do your car, where to get the best life and performance out of it,  you have to feed it with clean fuel at the right octane levels,  and perform ongoing maintenance.

Few folks are going to do a 180 in their diet, but I am here to help if you are.  Most folks will want to dip a toe in, test the waters and, over time, incorporate a healthier lifestyle, from home and skincare products to vitamins and food.  I am here for those people too!  We can work together to assess your goals and how best to reduce toxic exposures and add nutrition to your life.

Living a plant-based lifestyle becomes like peeling the layers of an onion.   When you begin to care deeply about your health, you end up carving out time to learn about it.  Then you begin to care more about your family’s health and your friends, your pets and finally the state of our planet.

Learning this lifestyle may very well take you down the rabbit hole, as it did me.  But the truth is always far more refreshing than living a lie, particularly when it is quietly killing you or making you chronically sick.

Whether you eat meat today with every meal as many of my friends do, or you have already reduced dairy and meat consumption, or have gone completely vegan, there are so many surprising things to learn that can shift your health even further to the best that it can be.

The body is an amazing healer, but whatever you feel in the moments, know that it takes the body a full 7 years to completely regenerate.  This means that if you go clean with your diet, your household cleaners, eschew garden chemicals and put only food grade organic products in your bath and on your skin, you will have a long period of detoxing that takes place in waves, as you become healthier and made brand new again.  The outcome is worth the effort.  🙂