Rule #1 – If it’s something that will take less than 2 min.  Do it now.  Please read this again, think about it, and remember it.  This stems from one of the greatest guys at doing stuff Og Mandino.  He has given me my productive mantra, and that is simply, do it now, do it now, do it now. (say it to yourself… it’s fun!)

Rule #2 – Keep a list of stuff to do.  It’s nothing new and many of us do this, a little sticky note, or a 3×5 index card, or a fancy iphone app. Here’s the trick.  Make sure that stuff on the list is done in the correct order.  I have 2 different approaches that have worked for me, and I encourage you to give them a shot.  Spend some time in the morning making your todo list for the day.  I like to do this first thing in the morning when I get to my desk at work.  I list out everything I have to do.  This stuff is work related, personal, and stuff that is somewhere squished in between.
Approach numero uno… Once you have made your list, take a moment to see if anything will take 2 min or less and remember Rule #1. (AND DO THEM NOW) — If you have, let’s say 10-30 things to do that take 2 min or less, make one todo item for those things and prioritize them as one uber task.  Now, you’ve got 10-20 things to do, or maybe even just 5.  What are the top 3 things that you MUST DO TODAY?  Simply go ahead and mark those things as special…. I just write a small MDT and circle it next to the task.  Do those things today.  Those things are your priority, and everything else is secondary.  Speaking of priority…
Approach el número dos… We often have this list that is daunting, and it sometimes just never gets done.. things get pushed off to the next day, and then you’ve got a list that just seems to suck all the energy out of you.  Think about prioritizing your list by not what’s most important, but by the items that are hardest to accomplish.  By doing the hard stuff first, there is psychological magic that happens.  The hard stuff, or the stuff you don’t want to do gets done early in the day, and the easy stuff, or the stuff that you don’t mind doing, gets done at the end of the day.  The day gets easier and easier and better and better…  Now you’ve gotten a lot done, and by the time the night rolls around, you are happy, and you feel a sense of accomplishment.  It’s amazing!!!!

Shoot me a note if there is anything that you want information about to make your life EXTRAordinary in 2012.. It’s time.  Do it now.

Last year I had the pleasure of attending a workshop hosted by Daniel Vitalis over at Catch A Healthy Habit in Fairfield.  The workshop hit on many points, but I was intrigued by the notion that we are messing with our hormones due to toxins and environmental factors.  There are plenty of phytoestrogenic “things” out there and we are negatively impacting our testosterone levels – like soy, plastics, crap in our tap water…  Daniel spoke about the benefits of pine pollen. When it is tinctured, our testosterone becomes more readily available for the body to assimilate.  His Company SurThrival offers a tincture of the Pine Pollen, in two different strengths. A 1:1 extract (Pine Pollen Gold) and a 1:4 extract (Pine Pollen Silver).  I picked up a few bottles of both and have been experimenting with them.

For therapeutic dosing, It is recommend that one uses the Pine Pollen “Gold” product.  I was curious as to how this works, and did a bunch of research.  There was some peer reviewed medical research out there, and I was glad to see some science back up the anecdotal folklore evidence.  Pine Pollen is an adaptagen, meaning that it regulates (adapts) to a dosage your body needs.  It’s also a tonic medicine, and that is great because it means it can be used indefinitely, without it having toxic effects on your body.  In powder form, it is more like a food.  It contains Vitamins A B-Carotene, B1, B2, B3, B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin D (assimilated when taken with fat), and Vitamin E. It also contains tons of minerals and over twenty amino acids and all eight essential amino acids. Yup… it is a complete vegan source of protein.

According to the SurThrival website, “Pine Pollen has the potential to increase immune and endocrine function, reduce sensitivity to pain, lower cholesterol, stimulate liver regeneration; it is an anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, and anti-tumor. Another potent function of Pine Pollen which has brought a significant amount of attention to it, is that it is an androgen. The fact that Pine Pollen is an androgen means that it has the ability to raise testosterone levels effectively, making it a naturally derived source of testosterone! This is a huge discovery, as sources of testosterone in nature are few and far between. Pine Pollen raises the testosterone levels in the blood and balances the ratio of androgens to estrogen. What it is in the Pine Pollen that has this effect on the hormonal levels, are the sterols. The sterols are basically plant steroids, which benefit us, though also help the pines grow and develop!”

So.. why am I writing about this?  Well.. I started taking pine pollen myself, and my energy has increased drastically over the last several weeks.  It turns out the the person I was working with did some followup bloodwork, and his testosterone levels are increasing as well.  With what seems to be no negative impact in taking Pine Pollen, and the benefits that I’m feeling, I just wanted to put this information out there so that you can make your own informed decision on supplimenting your wellbeing with something that you are not going to hear about at your pharmacy.

Control your own health, destiny, and well being by rolling your own healthcare… it’s up to you to thrive in this world by not sitting on your butt and just listening to what the doc tells you.

The questions have been coming at me like wildfire lately.  “Should I IF [intermittent fast] after a binge?” “Should I eat healthy food, like a salad, if I know I’m going to be eating badly? Or does it not matter at that point?” – My favorite statement: “I can’t wait until Saturday, I’m going to eat tons of pizza and drink heavily.” Or, does this sound familiar? “I’ll start watching what I eat again on Monday.” — That is great… do you not watch what you eat everyday?  I mean, you don’t look at what you put in your body on the weekends?

Planning a food binge is just like setting up a night of hookers and cocaine.

Here’s the deal.  Planning a food binge is just like setting up a night of hookers and cocaine.  It’s detrimental to your health.  There are PLENTY of situations that we face that can lead to us falling off the eating right wagon.  Why plan your cheats?  If you are out with friends.. it’s OK to eat nachos every few weeks, or have a few drinks… but why PLAN the binge?

5 things I like to keep in mind:

1. Don’t eat to numb your emotions – eat for the pleasure of eating (don’t cheat with crappy food)
2. Don’t pre-plan your cheats - live life and cheat opportunities will present themselves
3. Just because you don’t eat perfect, doesn’t mean you jump ship. – Get back on the wagon the next meal, not the next day.
4. If you are intolerant to food, seriously think about the consequences of your actions. – For example: Gluten Free? Cheat with a GF pizza, not a full blown gluten laced pizza.  Is it really worth it?
5. Re-saturate your muscle glycogen stores – having occasional cheats in your “healthy” lifestyle, may just be helpful.

This book is a great hardcover, with amazing pictures and in a simple, easy to use, format.  If you are a regular follower of this blog, or the RW facebook page, you might notice that there is a propensity towards a raw food lifestyle.  If you have dabbled at all.. I’d recommend this book.

While there are some great simple recipes, like asparagus with a raw hummus or olive tapenade, there are also some more advanced dishes like a Chili sin Carne (kind of like a raw jambalaya).  I’ve made several of the recipes, including one for raw brownies made with avocado and coconut oil (gluten free of course) that are pretty RAWkin… I actually found the brownies to be really rich.  I kept them in my fridge and broke off pieces of them to put in my chia pudding in the mornings… imagine, I got to eat chocolate for breakfast most mornings for weeks and it was GOOD FOR ME!

While, if you are new to raw foods, you might be lacking some of the equipment… (like a food dehydrator), you will definitely want to check out this book if you are familiar with the raw food lifestyle.  If you have it in your arsenal, you will be prepared for every day recipes, as well as some treats for special occasions.  ENJOY!

This book is currently on SALE: The Art of Raw Food: Delicious, Simple Dishes for Healthy Living

Celebrate your passion for self-love, self-discovery, and finding your own personal groove during an evening with best-selling author, happiness guru, and motivational speaker GABRIELLE BERNSTEIN.

Join us for FREE hors douvres and signature cocktails courtesy of The Amber Room Colonade, cupcake pops courtesy of The Cakepop Girls, anti-aging solutions courtesy of Baroody Plastic Surgery; beauty tips & make- up applications courtesy of Adam Broderick Salon & Spa; Angel Readings from Lisa Jones of Art of Living Happy; and fabulous items & great Silpada jewelry from Nancy O Boutique (10% of all jewelry purchases donated to Ridgefield Playhouse). Raffle items & special offers too!

A recognized expert in the field of Self-Love and Mindful Happiness, Gabrielle will invite your heart & spirit to remove negative thought patterns and limiting beliefs by helping you to connect with your ~ing (your inner guide).

Gabrielle will offer empowerment and guidance on how to create excitement around your unique & amazing self and talk about important topics to the female psyche such as self- love, wellness, self-help, body-image, career, love, and more.

Attend Gabrielle’s self- loving aha! movement and ignite your own personal positive change that is guaranteed to transcend your life journey into new possibilities.

This fabulous event is perfect for a Girl’s Night Out, a Mother/Daughter moment, or even a sneak-away- by-yourself treat. A can’t- miss event for girls & women of all ages!

Underwritten by Adam Broderick Salon & Spa and Dr. Michael Baroody of Baroody Plastic Surgery

Sponsored by The Amber Room Colonnade, Cake Pop Girls, Lisa Jones Certified Soul Coach from Art of Living Happy and Nancy O Boutique.
For Tickets.. Head on over to the Ridgefield Playhouse’s website. – see you there.

If you are a reader of this blog, you know I’m a fan of adding raw and living foods into your lifestyle.  I try not to be biased to one diet dogma, but I am a firm believer that we all can benefit from raw foods in some aspect of our health.  Some folks are better suited to live mostly on raw foods, while others might want to use raw foods for a cleansing purpose.  Everyone is different.  The authors of this book actually share some of their stories about how they got into raw foods, their opinion on raw food, and even transitioning to a raw food diet.

In addition to information on the raw food diet in general, this book is mostly an “un-cook” book.  13 gorgeously filled chapters of recipes including how to make your own nut milks and cheeses, to simple meals, breads and crackers, some deserts, and more complex meals as well.  I’m a big fan of finding something new, and I’ve been playing with raw food recipes for a few years now.  The Butternut-carrot-ginger soup brought a new spin to my table.  I was also happy to see a raw version of falafel that I haven’t come across before.

If you are a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to raw foods, I would definitely add this book to your arsenal.  Simply put, this is a beautiful book that makes food for beautiful people.  Enjoy.

CATCH A HEALTHY HABIT CAFE &  PROMINDFUL, INC
present author, wellness coach & motivational speaker
KRIS CARR

When
THURSDAY JANUARY 20th 7:00pm

Where
FAIRFIELD THEATRE COMPANY
70 Sanford Street Fairfield Ct.
(200 yards from Catch A Healthy Habit Cafe, directly in front of the Fairfield Train Station)
****please do not contact  Fairfield Theatre Company
tix will only be sold through Catch A Healthy Habit Cafe

Investment in your Health
$40 includes a copy of “Crazy Sexy Diet”
*THE BOOKS ARE IN! BUY YOUR TIX & GET YOUR BOOK!
see below on how to reserve your seat.
This event will SELL OUT!
AS OF 12/12 tickets sold = 25 of 200
Tickets if left at the door will be $50.

What
CRAZY SEXY DIET & LIFESTYLE 101
Kris Carr, at 31, was diagnosed with a rare incurable cancer,
made a documentary about it called “Crazy Sexy Cancer”,
has written two books called “Crazy Sexy Cancer Tips”
and “Crazy Sexy Cancer Survivor”.
She will touch on this part of the journey briefly to get you where she is today!
A BOOK TOUR FOR THE JUST RELEASE “CRAZY SEXY DIET”
Kris Carr will “teach a class” called Nutrition and Lifestyle 101,
using her book CRAZY SEXY DIET as a guide, that you will receive at the door.
She’ll follow with Q & A, and sign books!

Purchased tickets will be non-refundable
All tickets will receive a copy of “Crazy Sexy Diet”
at the door or at the Cafe (BOOKS ARE IN!.)
Multiple tickets can be purchased at once,
please include names & emails for those tix
or the list at the door will have your name listed for those tix
$40.00

You will get a confirmation email if tix is purchased before Jan. 17th
if purchased on or after the 17th please bring your PPal receipt
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

*************
Extra Events
THURSDAY JANUARY 13th 7pm private screening of “Crazy Sexy Cancer”
at Catch A Healthy Habit Cafe — open only to those that have already
purchased ticket for the 1/20 event with Kris Carr.  Free.
—-
FREE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC SCREENING OF CRAZY SEXY CANCER
will be offered place & date TBA the week after the Kris Carr visit.
?Crazy Sexy Cancer is an irreverent and uplifting documentary about a young woman looking for a cure and finding her life. Weeks after she was diagnosed, actress Kris Carr began documenting her story. Taking a seemingly tragic situation and turning it into a creative expression, Kris shares her inspirational story of survival with honesty, courage, and lots of humor. Crazy Sexy Cancer is more than a film, it’s an attitude! It’s about rising to the challenge of life, and no matter what, refusing to give up who you are at your core. This story is as funny as it is frightening, as joyous as it is outrageous.
Ultimately, Crazy Sexy Cancer is a thought provoking film about friendship, love and growing up.

LISTEN TO THIS KRIS CARR  INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE