Are You Consuming 50% More Calories by Doing This?

The Weekly Bite

Fast, easy, bite-sized ideas for healthy living.

If you're like most of us, you spend more time in traffic than in your own kitchen.  It's far easier to pick up dinner on your way home or stop in for a quick bite between meetings for lunch, but eating out has its costs (beyond your wallet)!  

Research shows that people consume 50% more calories, fat and sodium when they eat out.

This means that eating out everyday could lead to an extra 2.5 lbs gained per month!  Reintroduce yourself to your kitchen...if even for 10 minutes a night.  Why wait 182 days to make that New Year's resolution? Especially when we're serving up our Butternut Squash Enchiladas and Socca Pizza!  It might as well be carry-out.  Don't forget our new add-on's this week:  Kale Chips, Zucchini Wraps, and Spinach Cranberry Salad.

New Healthy Offerings

Happy Fourth of July!

As promised, we have added some new RAW, ALWAYS DELICIOUS, VERY NUTRITIOUS snacks and salads to this week's menu.  Give these a try to make your busy summer lifestyle a cinch!  Perfect to travel with, take to the pool, or keep at your desk.

Only $12 Each!  Get 'em while they're cold...

The Best Health Insurance Money Can Buy

The Weekly Bite

Fast, easy, bite-sized ideas for healthy living.

Insurance:  a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss.

Risk…uncertainty…loss.  All words that can make us squirm in our seats and lose sleep at night.  What if, when it came to your own personal health, you understood your risks, felt certain about your future, and held no worry about potential loss?  I’m telling you the possibility of this kind of life exists if you believe it does.

“You don’t get what you want, you get what you believe”

-Oprah Winfrey 

The healthiest people in the world create an environment of health.  In studying longevity research,Dan Buettner identified the habits of the world’s healthiest people.  They reached the age of 100 at ten times greater rates than most of the United States, while suffering a mere fraction the rate of heart disease and cancer as the rest of the world.  Read more.  Specifically, the nine lifestyle habits they adopt are:

1.     1.  Move naturally.

2.     2.  Know your purpose in life.

3.     3.  Downshift (i.e., slow down).

4.     4.  Eat only until you’re 80% full.

5.     5.  Eat a plant-based diet.

6.     6.  Drink red wine.

7.     7.  Belong to a healthy social network.

8.     8.  Have a belief system.

9.     9.  Put your family first.

Adopt the best and most proven health insurance in the world.  Remove your risk.  Stop worrying.  You have permission to be healthy.

Confessions of a Junk Foodie

The Weekly Bite

Fast, easy, bite-sized ideas for healthy living.

So, I have a confession to make.  Though I own a health food company, I LOVE junk food like pizza and burgers.  But let’s face it…after seeing how they treat those poor cows and seeing pink slime all over Facebook, I can’t bring myself to eat what's out there in the way of junk food.  (I mean, it’s called JUNK food for a reason…as far as I’m concerned, we can drop the ‘food’ part of it and just call it junk.)  

In the spirit of summer and for all you fellow junk foodies out there, I've included two healthy, delicious recipes on our blog ~ Socca Pizza and Chickpea Burgers.  Both are under 500 calories and naturally gluten-free.  Check our Facebook page later for a short video.  

Want to Be 10 Years Younger?

About 5 years ago, I decided to live to age120...which would make today, my 35th birthday, the equivalent of the first 30% of my life.  According to actuarial science, the life expectancy for women is 85, of which the first 30% of your life is over on your 25th birthday.  What all this crazy Asian math means is that 25 is the new 35 for those of us who decide to live to 120!  (By the way, Brian decided he only wanted to live until age 100. Though he gave me permission to remarry, I felt like after what would be 74 years of marriage, I would want to just play the field for the last 20 years of my life.)

So, how you live to be 120?  

Answer:  Visualize.

Most of us who want to get from Point A to Point B think about A - where we're at now.  Here's how the pros do it (and by pros, I mean professional athletes, CEO's, musicans, actors, and rock star moms):  they start with Point B and work their way back.  I guarantee you that three and a half years ago, Michael Phelps didn't just get in the water and start swimming laps.  I'll bet you that he thought about being in London in August 2012 - each event, how fast, and who'd be in the next lane.  And then, I bet he thought about how to taper for this Olympics in the month leading up to it, what kind of nutrition to be getting the 3 months prior, and what kind of races he wanted to have at the qualifers in Omaha.  The pros start with their goal and illuminate the path all the way back to right now.  

On my 120th birthday, I'll likely be telling inappropriate jokes (still), enjoying a glass of Pinot Noir (still), and talking to my grandchildren's grandchildren.  What will you be doing at 120?  What kind of loving relationships will you have at 100?  What kind of exercise will you be getting at 80?  What will your cholesterol level and blood pressure be at age 60?  What kind of nutrition will you have at age 40?  What will you be eating next week? 

Eating on the Go: Organic, Plant-Based and Raw!

The Weekly Bite

Fast, easy, bite-sized ideas for healthy living.

I have never been a Boy Scout - not just for the obvious reasons, like not being a boy and having a dislike for camping.  Their famous motto, "Be Prepared," is not something that people who know me would say is necessarily fitting either.  I've thrived by the old "Fly By the Seat of My Pants" motto, so that's why I joined the Mom's Club and Entrepreneur's Circle.  As I approach my mid-thirties, however (sniff, sniff by the way), I am starting to appreciate those darn Boy Scouts.  "Be Prepared" means always being in a state of readiness in mind and body, like being physically strong and mentally thinking of every possible situation to do whatever needs to be done.

Well, my seat is growing and my wings are starting to atrophy, so I think now is as good a time as any to change my motto.  "Flying By the Seat of My Pants" has gotten me from where I was to where I am now, but I think "Be Prepared" will get me from where I am to where I want to be.  Part of being prepared is to plan. Ideally we'd all be sitting down at the table when we eat (and I don't mean in front of the computer) enjoying every last forkful.  We know that your busy, on-the-go lifestyle doesn't allow for such idealistic goals all the time, so starting in July, Conveniently Natural will start providing you with healthy, easy meal and snack options to take with you on the way to soccer practice, board meetings, or that Boy Scout camping trip.

Our healthy snacks will be Organic, Whole Foods, Plant-Based, and Raw! 

Included in these easy, on-the-go offerrings:  Kale Chips, Breakfast Bars, Salads, Crackers, and More!  Stay tuned for more information!

The Introvert's Guide to Accountability

The Weekly Bite

Fast, easy, bite-sized ideas for healthy living.

Bok!  Bok!  We've got a few new dishes this week, like our Chicken-Friendly Alfredo Pasta, Scallion Sweet Potatoes, and Asparagus Mushroom Risotto.  It's the first official week of summer and we're thinking about all of you at those backyard BBQ's and getting the kids off to a healthy summer.  (Think Sweet Potato Fries!) Look for suggested pairings and creative cooking ideas on our How to Eat page next week!

Chew on this

So, summer is officially here.  Is your (spiked) lemonade glass half empty or half full?  Are you thinking, "Hurray, summer fun, relaxation, longer days, and travel!" OR "Oh crap, it's swim suit season!"  Whether it's personal or professional, I can tell you that the key to health/weight/feel good success is accountability.  The gurus out there have great tips for creating accountability, but what about those of us that are a little more private?  If you at all read these weekly emails, you know that I'm not a classically defined introvert, but I also don't need all 297 of my Facebook friends to know how much I weigh or what I ate for breakfast just for the sake of accountability.  Nor do I feel comfortable or make time for meetings, support groups, or online community forums.  

So, here it is ~ quick and easy, down and dirty:  The Introvert's Guide to Accountability

 Take 5 minutes every night to track these 5 Daily Metrics:

1. How did I feel today?  (Rate 1-10):  This means physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, everything.  Take an average of the entire day, with 1 feeling crappy, pathetic, and depressed and 10 being Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah ~ Ain't life Grand!  You may have other health goals here, like weight loss goals or medical goals but I'm telling you, the more 10 days you have, the closer you'll be to looking good and healing fast.  As you progress in your tracking, make it a priority to find out how to get 10's (or at least close to it) for yourself more days than not. 

2. How much sleep did I get in the last 24 hours?  (# in hours)  

3. How much did I move today?   (# in minutes)  Note:  This can be exercise or even chores.  Light cleaning like vacuuming, changing sheets, and taking out the trash burns 86 calories per hour.  (One hour of Zone Defense for two toddlers burns 106 calories...how ironic...the exact number present in a glass of Pinot Noir.)  

4.  How many greens did I get today?  (# in servings)  Tracking all of your food can be overwhelming, so just count your servings of greens.  (One serving is the size of the palm of your hand.)  Aim to get over 7 each day.

5.  How much water did I drink today?  (# of ounces)  Optimal amount = your weight divided in half equals the number of ounces.  

So, here it is, my privacy preferring people.  It may not seem like much, but I promise you in 30 days, you will see results.  As we say, Conveniently Natural was born out of the idea that life, especially a healthy life, just doesn't have to be that hard.  See our menu below to keep riding the easy train.