A Happier Meal

A Happier Meal 

 

Whatever happened to Grimace, Hamburgler, and the Fry Guys?  I remember the days of sitting on the brass statue of Ronald McDonald down on the Plaza as I eagerly awaited my good old Happy Meal.  It wasn't so much the food or the toy, just the experience.  I mean, how could you not like something called a Happy Meal? Brilliant marketing...

At Conveniently Natural, we like to think we are bringing you a Happier Meal.  For those of you who like direction and guidance about how to eat your meals, we offer you the Happier Meal tutorial.  (For those of us that don't follow directions or color within the lines, simply pick up nearest fork and dig in.)

 

Step 1 ~ Choose one main dish and scoop 1/3 to 1/4 onto clean plate.

 

Step 2 ~ Choose two side dishes and scoop 1/3 to 1/4 of each onto happy plate.

 

Step 3 ~ Clean your plate.

 

Yes, we know, those 24 oz containers can be deceiving. The above picture shows you a quarter serving out of three 24 oz size dishes.  Though we don't offer you caloric or nutritional information, we do provide some guidance on the "How To Eat" section on our website.  

The Carnivore's Guide to Cleansing

  The Carnivore's Guide to Cleansing

 

Congratulations to you dedicated cleansers out there who committed to give up (insert food group here...meat, dairy, gluten, caffeine, alcohol, sugar) in order to gain more energy, better focus, and spiritual insights while releasing toxins, food addictions, as well as that bulging muffin top.  I lost count of the number of conversations I have had whereby a sweet, well-intentioned wife contemplated a viable strategy to get her husband to join her in "eating clean".  If none of the aforementioned benefits are effective, I wanted to pass along some good sales strategies.  See below.

1.       Tell him that cleansing the body is just like cleaning his car engine.  When the engine is dirty, it uses more gas per mile.  When your body is clogged with toxins, it is running inefficiently.  A clean digestive system needs less food to maintain the same level of activity.  (Note:  you may actually SAVE MONEY at the grocery store because you'll be eating less food.)

2.       Former Chiefs tight-end, Tony Gonzalez, would NOT have risked a five-year contract and millions on the line in order to optimize his health and performance when he began a plant-based diet four years ago.  (We know your husband probably isn't playing at the NFL level, but he is...in his own mind.  Cleansing can help him relive those glory days in his fast-pitch softball league, the church basketball team, or even his Xbox 360 NCAA Football game.)

3.       He Can Bring Sexy Back!  Check out our news clip and watch for Conveniently Natural Chef "Dancing Bobby"...who used to be an uncoordinated, rhythm-less white guy relegated to the corner during family weddings while everyone else did the Electric Slide with ease.  After cleaning up his diet, he brings the funk to the dance floor and rocks some serious flair in our kitchen.  Yes, of course, the "Sprinkler" and "Running Man" will never go out of style, but just think what a stud he could be at that next high school reunion...


 If you missed our news clip, click here to view online!

How Do You Call Yourself?

How Do You Call Yourself? 

 

So what are you anyway? Are you a omnivore, flexitarian, vegetarian, vegan, healthier eater? Even better are you a Republican or Democrat (since this is an election year)? Do you identify yourself at all with these words or labels? How about Human Being... 

One of the things I have found most interesting on this journey of life is the penchant of people to categorize or label. There are sound psychological reasons for this of course as it enables us to make sense of the very complex reality that each individual human being really is. The interesting part of this labeling is that we all do it, including me. When it comes to food and healthy living, we have created all sorts of labels to describe or "group" people who do one thing or another. What is regrettable about labels is that many times they also come with stereotypes and judgements. What do you immediately think of when I say vegan (or ovo-vegetarian)? 

Since we began Conveniently Natural, very interesting things have happened in our lives. Our intent from the very start was to create a business that was all inclusive. We never wanted anyone to feel threatened or weird regardless of your food label. Our sincere hope is that week in and week out you feel taken care of and loved rather than judged or punished.

Improve Your Digestion

3 Tips to Improving Your Digestion 

 

1. Eat Your Veggies ~ the digestive enzymes and fiber in vegetables stimulate the breakdown of food into nutrients and transport toxins (waste).  Your mom wasn't lying (at least about this).  We only borrow our food for a period of time - don't let yours stay overtime.

2. Do NOT Work Through Lunch ~ We know you're super busy and can hardly take a bathroom break, let alone a lunch break. But added stress while eating can slow down or even shut down your digestion.  So, take a break - turn on Baroque, call a friend, do the Funky Chicken...

3.  Use chopsticks ~ As a Faux Asian (born in Korea, raised in Kansas City), I much prefer the fork at an Asian restaurant because it slows down the rate at which I can eat, but I feel like a sell-out otherwise.  This is exactly why eating with chopsticks can help your digestion - dinnertime is not a race. Pause, chew, breathe... 

Longevity

A Question of Longevity      I have been an avid researcher of food, nutrition, and health for the last several years.  In fact, my wife would say that I was obsessed with finding out the perfect way to live.  I don't know about you, but I don't want to just survive, I want to thrive!  So I decided to look at what the centurions do to live so long.  Interestingly, there are centurions on every continent and in every country.  They do different things, they eat differently, they exercise differently, etc.  The more I looked into it, the more confused I got.  Then one day I was reading a book that is a collection of interviews with centurions from around the world and there was one word that stuck out to me in these stories: SIMPLE.  Yes, these people led simple lives.  They ate simply and not too much, they took time for relaxation often, mostly they let things be okay in their life no matter what the circumstances were... That's where we come in.  Our goal has always been to simplify your life so there is one less thing for you to do.  Most of the centurions I have read about worked more at being than doing.  Allow us to do the doing  so you can get busy being the great Human Being that you are!

Care for the Caring

I had the absolute pleasure of listening to Dr. Michelle Robin ofYour Wellness Connection speak last week at the eWomen Network Wellness workshop.  As a local business owner in the health industry, I'm always looking for ways to improve my business.  Eager to attend and find some ways to help our customers, I came away with the single best tip to help elevate my business, contribute more to my family, and positively impact this great community.  To paraphrase, 'The more well I get, the more well my family gets...the more well my business gets, the more well my community gets...the more well the world gets.  Therefore, not taking care of myself is selfish.' 

 

  

Speaking for myself and the parents I know, we often put ourselves last in attempt to give and be more for our children, spouse, boss, church, friends, neighbors...But what if what she said were true?  If being the best spouse, parent, community member, citizen, and human being meant fulfilling your own   unique needs, desires, and purpose in life, are you doing everything you can to take impeccable care of yourself?  Can you change the world by doing one thing today for yourself?  The answer:  of course.  What is your next action?  

The Perfect Diet

The Perfect Diet

  

People often ask me how I became a "vegan".  My standard response is that I just really started listening body and woke up one day eating mostly plants.  Is this the perfect diet for everyone?  I don't know, but I know it works great for me and I think it would benefit all people to eat mostly plants if nothing else.  That being said, I have conducted a very unofficial, unscientific study into who the healthiest people on earth are/were and what they eat.  What I have found is very interesting and in many cases surprising.

Succotash Dish

 

Many contemporary researchers and scientists today believe that our ancestors who were hunter-gatherers had the healthiest lifestyle.  In a nutshell, hunter-gatherers were nomadic foragers of food, eating wholesome natural food (because that was all that was available).  What has come to light in recent years is the variety of food eaten by hunter-gatherers.  In fact, the diet varied so widely by geography that most researchers cannot answer the question, "What is the perfect diet for human beings to eat to live long, healthy lives?"  The correct answer it seems is that it depends.  When faced with my own health challenges I sought the "correct" answer from books, CDs, seminars, researchers, doctors, etc for years.  In other words, I looked everywhere OUTSIDE myself.  After becoming intensely frustrated following others' advice explicitly to no avail, I finally started listening to my body.  In very short order, I got my answer.  What is your body telling you?