Losing a friend and one small step at a time

Today I devote my blog to Beth, a friend and talented actress, director and costumer who lost her 5 year battle with breast cancer this morning.  It's tragedies like these that motivate me to encourage people to improve their health.  Frankly I did not speak loud enough about this way of eating when I had the chance.  I need to be clear, it's unfair to say that anyone caused their own cancer because they didn't eat enough broccoli, superfoods, etc.  Certainly we all know that person who makes it to 90, smoked like a chimney and had bacon for breakfast everyday. We may even know a health fanatic who succumbed to disease before their time, but do not be discouraged!  I look at making good food choices as stacking the odds in our favor and feeling our best while we're here.  Sadly, Beth has no more options, but you do. It's hard to eat nutritiously in America, heck it's hard to breathe well.  I admit that it's time consuming, and sometimes confusing, so I encourage you to take it one step at a time.  It can, however, be very CREATIVE!

If you're not eating breakfast, then start eating something; a smoothie is a great place to start.  A friend told me she is eating whole oats for breakfast and I encouraged her to add some walnuts for protein, so she can make it to lunch.  You can throw in some dried fruit, flax seed (her idea) and spices (pumpkin pie spice)!  If you're eating two pop tarts for breakfast (and please don't make me tell you why you shouldn't) then eat only one, and have a bowl of fruit with walnuts as well.  If you're chowing on candy all day, then try to cut back gradually and replace it with something else, like nuts, carrots or pita with hummus.

The point I want to make is... start making small changes, think about adding, not subtracting and the real foods will soon take up so much room in your belly there won't be room for the others!  Don't beat yourself up for where you are now and share your self-pity with a bag of chips (my favorite snack).  You don't have to be vegan by COB, or ever for that matter, just start substituting real foods for processed foods a day, a week or a month at a time.  You determine the pace!  

Here's the SMOOTHIE I made today
1 whole peach  sliced w/skin but no pit - need a Vitamix for that and if you do, go for it!
1/2 frozen banana, or fresh works too
handful fresh spinach (or use other greens)
1/2 cup almond milk
3 baby carrots
1 Tbsp each of ground flax seed and hulled hemp seeds
crushed ice if desired

Whirl all ingred. in the blender till smooth, sweeten if you need to w/honey or stevia or whatever you have (remember one step at a time) and don't fret if you don't have spinach or flax or want to substitute other fruits.  Any smoothie you make at home is likely to be healthier than store bought because it doesn't contain additives such as corn syrup, artificial flavors and colors.  Smoothie recipes are in abundance in books and on the web, but I'll share some of my super kid-tested chocolate ones soon!

Yes, my daughter drank this smoothie.  Apparently I need a Vitamix because my blender keeps leaking, seriously it's Niagra Falls as soon as I start the motor!  It's usually ground up better than this, but I had to stop the blender before it was all on the floor.   I'm taking collections for the Vitamix, btw.