I am ringing in the New Year with equal portions of gratitude and excitement! There are no words to express the sincere appreciation I feel for the kind words, thoughts and prayers I have received over these last several months as my parents and I navigate the difficult world of chronic illness. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! It is your continued support and my parents unwavering desire to live their lives to the fullest that allows me to awake each morning with hope, a positive attitude and a steadfast commitment to helping them and you. I'm happy to report that my father's heart condition remains stable and my mom has successfully undergone surgery. And while we're gearing up for 6 more months of chemo, I'm hopeful that I will be able to return to work in a limited capacity in early 2018.
As grateful as I am to have this time with my parents, I desperately miss working. I love helping people understand just how important their diet and lifestyle choices are to their health - how food can be their medicine or their poison. Heather Morgan said it best, "Every time you eat or drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting it." Do you realize that
poor diets are the leading cause of death and disability in this country, causing roughly 700,000 deaths annually? How empowering is it to know that ...
By making simple changes to our diet, we can reduce and maintain a healthy weight, prevent and even reverse heart disease and type II diabetes, lower blood pressure, maintain cognitive health, improve energy, mood, joint discomfort and gut health, protect ourselves against certain cancers, and eliminate the need for many medications?
Simply put, if you want to reduce your risk of premature death and chronic disease and you'd prefer to age well, then follow these two simple principles:
eat well and
keep moving. By taking charge of your diet and staying active, you can take charge of your health and your destiny. I implore you to start now; it's never too late.
Below I discuss the foods that benefit our health and should make up the majority of our diet. I also detail the foods that we should avoid or at least significantly limit. I think you'll find my suggestions surprisingly easy to implement and delicious ... they focus on whole foods not individual nutrients and the inclusion of all food groups. Research continues to show we need good quality protein, fat AND CARBS to thrive.