Oh, have you heard of Mike Adams?

www.healthranger.com



He's into serious fitness, and I believe that he's into mostly raw foods, sprouts, and lots of green food smoothies.



He has lots of details on his website.

Well, if all you super fit people join your exclusive gym, then I'll be able to enjoy my time at the Y, lifting way too little weight, using the cardio equipment, and doing my crunches on the mat without having some muscle-head growling at me for getting in his precious way.

Hummus is made of garbanzo beans, sesame seed paste, garlic, and lemon juice.



What's not to love?



Sesame seed paste (tahini) is one of the best sources of calcium on the planet!

Garbanzo beans are low-fat, high-fibre, and high protein.

Garlic is just plain good for you.

The lemon juice is for flavor and preservative.

Raw food smoothies start my day... after that, though, I just try to work in as much raw as possible.



I'm not sure I could go 100% raw... going vegan was enough of a paradigm change for this year!



Oh, and yes, I've sprouted some, really want to sprout more (and have some seeds in a dark cupboard).

There is also Hemp protein, which is very good for you, and provides Omega 3s and 6s.

There is rice protein, soy, and a whole plethora of others. I'd suggest a google search on protein powders or protein suppliments.

I want something totally different from a trainer.

I want someone that understands physiology, and arthritis, and joint pain.

Who can design a nice weight training program for someone that can't walk without it hurting, a program that will gently strengthen the muscles that support the knees, the back, the hips.

A trainer that will celebrate the small successes that mean greater mobility for impaired people.

And, while doing this, taking it all seriously, and treating the clients with absolute respect, the same way your Atlas trainer treats the muscle-necked guy that bench presses Buicks.

Ewwww.

You know, balance is everything. Have you considered the vitamins/minerals that are being shoved out of your daily diet?

Eggs... ewwwwwww.



I'm not a nutritionist, but I think if I was, I'd probably say "Ewwwwww".

My husband has something similar to RLS... he gets leg "twitches" when he sleeps, and occasionally when he's awake. It is related to how tired he's gotten at work (he has a very physical job).

He eats bananas to calm them down. He feels that it is directly related to potassium intake.

Recently, he's started taking some supplimental iodine, and the twitching has lessened even more.

Here is a list of articles on the effects of soda, and how mega corporations have bought the "study results" that they want, in order to sell their poisons:

http://www.newstarget.com/soft_drinks.html



Personally, I use stevia in my daily tea.

Stevia is an herb that has been used for thousands of years, and has some health benefits.

This is an incredibly serious statement.



The incredibly amazing part, is that people who care about their health, are buying into an advertising campaign, regardless of the actual clinical studies that show that drinking milk from animals is detrimental to human health.



www.notmilk.com

Milk has one of the best-funded lobbies in Washington.

Milk has an incredibly huge advertising campaign.

Milk is a veritable gold mine for dairy companies.



Milk is designed for baby animals.

Each species has its very own formula of milk.

It would make a heck of a lot more sense for people to drink human milk, and yet no one is seriously promoting that (for adults)...

So, why would you want to drink the milk of some other animal? ewww



www.notmilk.com

You're lazy. Run more.

Hormonal fluctuations can create incredible cravings.

One of my favorite books is "Why women need chocolate" by Debra Waterhouse, M.P.H., R.D., which explains some of the cyclical pressures that women have, and how to work WITH them, to attain successful weight loss and health.



Sometimes, the rational answer is to eat some chocolate now, rather than binge later.

Welcome to the group!



Support: You can do it! We know you can! Woo hooo!



Advice: Pick a reasonable goal, choose a reasonable program, and stick with it for the long haul. There is no quick fix, and it isn't going to be easy. Just remember... a year from now, it will be a year from now. If you stick to your workout plan and eating healthy for year, you'll be that much further towards your goal... if you don't, you'll just be a year older.



That's what works for me

Special treats:

Figs

Pomegranets

Fresh blueberries, raspberries, etc.



Staples:

Dark vegan chocolate (like Endangered Species)

Hummus (I often make my own)

Organic short-grain brown rice

Curry fixin's

Tofu (about twice a week)

Fruit -- bananas, apples, oranges, berries

Baby carrots



Guilty pleasures:

Organic tortilla chips. Yeah, I know... but, ... well, yeah

I'm a vegan, so I don't eat seafood.

For Omega 3's and 6's, I use Hemp oil, Hemp protein powder, and Flax meal (ground up flax seeds) or flax oil.



Hemp protein powder, added to a smoothy, gives you lots of protein, and the omegas, without being "fishy"... and without the mercury, and the other pollutants which are very prevelant in seafood.

Kale, Collard greens, Spinach, Beet greens.

Beets!

Sweet potatoes, squash...

Leeks... peppers, all colors...

Cucumbers... mushrooms...

GARLIC!!



You might try going to a Thai restaurant, and having a veggie curry. I have a preference for pineapple curry, as they put lots of barely-cooked skinny carrot wedges in it. It could be that you are having your carrots either raw or overcooked... just barely tender is incredible.

It's my understanding that it takes three years for every cell in your body, and for your aura, to be renewed.

Up until three years have passed, there's a part of you, somewhere, that still thinks that it is part of the "fat" you.

Hang in there... this is a lifetime journey

That's okay, this is a Safe Place to ask questions



About vegetables, it is generally accepted that the order of preference is:

Fresh/Frozen, then canned.



Sometimes, fresh is best, and sometimes frozen is. It depends on whether the veggie is in season, and where it's from. If you can get good, local veggies, picked the day you get them, get fresh. Lots of wonderful veggies you will really only get frozen.



Canned generally has sodium in it, and the canning process, for some veggies, reduces the amount of vitamins the veggies have.



Lots of great veggies are perfectly wonderful raw! Wash and eat broccoli, cauliflower, celery, carrots, snap peas, peppers...

For the rest, a great way to fix veggies is to steam them. Get a pot, a steamer rack, and put the veggies over water. Bring the water to a boil, lower the heat so it simmers (from High down to medium, usually), and steam them for a few minutes.

Some veggies need only a minute or two, some need 10 minutes or more.



Baked potatoes are good, too... in moderation. Bake a potato, put some steamed broccoli on top, sprinkle with pepper, and you've got a meal.



It takes planning to eat well, and sometimes you will have to spend a little more time preparing your food, but it is worth it. Start small, I wouldn't suggest making HUGE changes all at once. Try working in one veggie serving a day, then another... keep at it.

Pick up a cookbook and look at suggestions for how to cook basic foods, rather than relying on frozen meals.



Perhaps the whole family will get interested, and you'll have some help in the kitchen

Water.



Often, if your muscles are tired, it's because they are dehydrated. Give them water.

Vegetables? Fruits?



Even though you are 17, with a nuclear reactor metabolism (I love that!), your body still need vitamins, minerals, and the phytonutrients to create healthy tissue, brain cells, and bones.



I see way too much processed food (artificial, chemical-laden), too much sodium, and trans fats. Sugar, or worse yet, artificial sweeteners.



What you eat now WILL affect your health for your lifespan.



Since you've asked for input on this, I'll give it...

Get some real food into you. Fruit. Vegetables. Whole grain bread.

If you have to eat dead animal, at least make sure that it is lean, and "real food", not something processed into fast/fake/frozen food. Think more along the line of a baked chicken breast, sprinkled with herbs, served alongside a large salad (or, cut up and put in the salad), than a corn dog.



Salads. Lots of salads. Lettuces, peppers, onions, cucumbers, with a little oil/vinegar type dressing. Tomatoes. A tablespoon of dried cranberries on top. Seriously good stuff here.



As much dark green, vivid orange, and deep red veggies as you can find.

Whole fruit rather than juices.



Good job on dropping soda from your life!

I want one.... just for the relaxation effect.

DO get and wear a helmet whilst riding your bike! Also, make sure that the reflectors are all bright and clear.

I KNOW you can do whatever you put your mind to!

Morning smoothy:



1 Banana

1/2 cup frozen berries

2 scoops hemp/flax/green stuff/maca/cocoa nibs mix*

1/2 tsp vitamin C crystals

1/2 cup green juice stuff

1/2 cup pomegranite/acai juice

about 1/2 cup vanilla soy milk



Blend in a strong blender (VitaMix or Bosch) until the cocoa nibs are mostly pulverized. Drink through a straw.



*Hemp protein powder, Flax seed meal, "Emerald Power" spirulina/chorella and other green things powder, maca root, and raw cocoa nibs, all blended together.

As a short, older, heavy woman, I am uncomfortable to begin with. Put me in a workout outfit, and I feel even worse.

Next, put me in a gym full of skinny, sweaty, toned-up people, and I feel miserable. Especially when those people treat me as though I am either invisible, or that I'm contaminating "their" gym (when I am paying the same membership fees they are) (oh, and I am faithful to wipe down the machines when I'm done).

All I really want to do, is walk on the treadmill for awhile, then maybe do some elliptical for awhile, do a few muscle toning things on the machines, and leave.



This is why I bought a Nordic trac and now work out at home.

I love sushi.

Sushi means "vinegar rice"... you don't need to add any high-fat ingredients to it.

Oh, and it is almost perfectly portion-controlled, as well.



I make my sushi with tiny strips of veggies, or pineapple, or both. Oh, and wasabi... gotta have wasabi!

This is a very good post, Jared.

Thank you.

Green or red leaf lettuce

Romaine

Red peppers

Yellow peppers

Red onion

Arugula

Alfalfa sprouts

raw almonds (I shoot for about 3-4 per salad serving)

dried cranberries

cucumber

avocado

topped with a vegan dressing....

Dark chocolate.

About an ounce is really all it takes for me.

But, it has to be really good dark chocolate!



There is something about the phytonutrients in chocolate that the body needs during menses...



Anyway, that's what I do, and it works for me.

They do make a brown jasmine rice.

There is also a brown basmati rice that is just heaven.