Holiday Indulgence Without the Guilt
Whenever I break out of my sheltered world of health conscious people who eat organic whole foods and use natural products to clean their clothes, homes and bodies, I am reminded of just how much work is left to do to educate the masses about the importance of diet and environment on our health. As a nation we’re obese, sick and for the most part unconscious. We’re fueled by sugar, caffeine and artificially flavored and colored manufactured consumables that don’t deserve to be labeled food. In spite of a seemingly raised awareness of the role of our daily choices on the state of our health, there are still huge segments of the population that hasn’t a clue.
As a part of some seminars I’ve been investing in to improve my ability to more fully service my tribe of health seekers, I was asked to identify my mission in life. My mission was described as the far reaching and BIG impact that I yearn to have on the world. I was told that it needs to be big enough that it is unlikely to be reached in my lifetime, yet throughout my life, my day to day actions contribute to the its fruition.
I spent a lot of contemplative time exploring my inner crevices to determine what my mission is. After some deep soul searching, here’s what I came up with.
“My mission is to end needless pain and suffering from lifestyle related diseases. These include “The BIG Three”, cancer, heart disease and diabetes” as well as so many others.”
As the flight attendant came around and asked if I wanted to purchase a meal and described the choices, I realized that another mission, a step if you will on the path to the big mission, is to facilitate the creation of a world where whole, fresh organic food is the ONLY choice on airplanes, fast food restaurants, private homes and all other places where food is available.
Imagine a world where EVERYONE returned to eating only real whole food. Imagine no temptations, no pressure to eat processed food from well meaning yet misguided friends and family members. In such a world, there would be vibrant health, compassion, joy and true peace.
As we head into the holiday season, I’d like to offer a suggestion to you IF you’d like to enjoy vibrant health, powerful energy and joyful interactions throughout this season of celebration. Do this exercise only if you’d like to wake up on January 1 in a body that you love – a comfortable, energetic body that is at or on the way to your ideal body weight.
Sit down in a comfortable place with pencil and paper and make a list of all the foods that you associate with your enjoyment of the holidays. Rate each on a scale of -5 to +5. Foods that are negative have a negative impact on your health, positively numbered foods have a positive impact on your health. The larger the number the more positive,. The more negative the number the more harmful the food. An example of a -5 food is anything containing hydrogenated o heated oil, such as margarine or many commercial pie crusts and snack foods. Foods that qualify as +5 are foods that are very nutrient dense, like green juice and sprouts. Make a commitment to yourself to only eat foods with positive numbers.
It’s quite possible that you can find or make variations of your favorite negatively rated foods that would rate as positive.
We’ve created a class called “Healthy Holiday Feasts: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Living Foods versions of Traditional Holiday Favorites” to provide you with the tools you need to create delicious and satisfying versions of traditional holiday favorite that you can enjoy without guilt and with the assurance that this year you’ll sail through the holidays with your waistline in tact and wake up on New Year’s Day feeling energetic, strona anf on your way to a phenomenal year, without the need for soon to be broken New Year’s resolutions.
We’re excited to offer the class as a webcast as well as a live and in person one, and to make the high quality videos available afterward. These videos will nicely round out your holiday recipe collection.
In a few short hours, you could be learning recipes like eggless egg-nog, turkeyless turkey loaf, potatoless mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, pumpkin pie and more. The pumpkin pie is a new lighter, lower fat version of the one in my book “Thanksiving Feasts” book and it tastes just as delicious.
Whether you’d like to create a complete Thanksgiving feast or simply replace some of your old favorites with healthier gluten-free, vegan living foods versions, you’ll learn lots of tips at the class. And you’ll be giving yourself the best gift of all this holiday season – the gift of health!
Learn more and sign-up at
http://www.drritamarie.com/videoclasses/holidayfeasts2010-11
On the web, in person or on video afterward, this class is a winner.
In love and gratitude,
Dr. Ritamarie
Tags: Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, DrRitamarie, gluten-free Thanksgiving recipes, healthy holiday food, healthy thanksgiving recipes, heart disease, Holiday Recipes, organic food, raw and living foods, raw food holiday recipes, raw food prep classes, raw food Thanksgiving, whole foods
Posted in Gluten Free Diet, Holiday Recipes, Living Foods, Raw and Living Foods, Raw Foods classes
Heart Felt Gratitude For all My Gifts
by
Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo
Thanksgiving is a special day for me. While I intend daily to express gratitude for all my gifts and to those who make my life so fulfilling and joyful, I sometimes fall short of my goal.
Thanksgiving day gives me the opportunity to reflect on all that I am grateful for. To me, the holiday is more about the connections than the food. My life has been rich and full, and the tough times as well as the wonderful times have contributed to making it so. For both I am grateful.
Here’s a partial list of what I’m grateful for:
* Waking up each day in a warm bed with a roof over my head. Many people don’t have the same experience.
* My daily green smoothie, which energizes and nourishes me more than anything I’ve ever done.
* That my 11 year old son, Kevin, still likes to cuddle with his Mommy.
* That my 15 year old son, Eric, is dedicated to justice and fairness and is willing to risk his own comfort to help his friends when he feels that they’ve been wronged.
* My husband Scott, who makes me my green smoothie most mornings and cleans the kitchen after me when I make his.
* The illness I experienced during my 20′s that spurred me to learn more about my health and become more healthy and energetic today than ever before. That experience has allowed me to impact the health of thousands of people over the years.
* The miscarriages that caused me to decide to adopt children and the women who birthed my beautiful boys. Had the outcome been different for me, Kevin and Eric would be experiencing lives much more difficult than anything they’ve ever experienced.
* Sunshine and warmth and the joy I get from both of them.
* Green foods, and the vibrant health they create in me.
* Learning about the powers of Heart Math, becoming certified and using it to transform my life and the lives of those who’ve learned it from me.
* My “team” that supports me in my life’s work: Jimmy for taking over the web support from me(he’s so much better than I), Tracey who keeps up with my email, sets up my new radio show “Creating a Vibrant Life”, keeps me up to date on facebook and twitter and countless other tasks, Scott who handles all things accounting, my newest helper, Aran who will be handling my blog and video posting, and all those who volunteer in exchange for learning.
* My sister Cathy, who’s death last summer from Lymphoma strengthened my commitment to spreading the message of health through nutrition and self care.
* My surviving 3 brothers and 4 sisters, who all thought I’d lost my mind 25 years ago when I rejected all the foods of my past and adopted the healthy lifestyle I now own. Several of them are now open to my message.
* My father who taught me when I was very young that I could do ANYTHING I set my mind to and was determined to do. I just wish he was still around to hug and thank in person.
* My mom, whose stubbornness and strong will I didn’t much appreciate until I realized how much like her I turned out to be. I’m sure she’s turning over in her grave and having a good laugh about that now.
* My Italian paternal grandmother who taught me to love to feed people.
* My Irish maternal grandmother who taught me about kindness and unconditional love.
* My maternal grandfather who taught me about gentleness and acceptance and whose influence caused me to marry a kind and gentle man
* My English teacher in 11th grade who encouraged me to express myself on paper.
* My cousin Marybeth who taught me how to be playful and have fun.
* My friends near and far who’ve supported me through many an idea that seemed far fetched and unreasonable.
* My vitamix blender.
* My affiliate team who’ve promoted my books and programs and helped me to spread the message of healthy lifestyle.
* My stubborn determination, unwillingness to take no for an answer and dedication to doing what’s right.
* You, for listening to my words and taking action towards a better life.
Thanks again. Have an amazing Thanksgiving.
Please post a comment below and share at least one thing you’re grateful for.
Love, Health and Joy,
Dr. Ritamarie
P.S. On Thanksgiving, I’ll be making the cranberry orange relish, apricot pecan yams, mushroom gravy and pumpkin pie from my Thanksgiving Feast e-book. Post a comment below and let me know what you’re making
Tags: Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, DrRitamarie, gluten free holiday, gratitude, healthy thanksgiving recipes, Living Foods, livingfoods, raw and living foods holiday recipes, raw foods recipes, raw Thanksgiving recipes
Posted in Articles, Healthy Holiday, Raw Foods
