If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve seen the photos I post of the meals I prepare and eat. While this is second nature to me, I’ve realized that the rest of you are curious about the food I eat. Over the next few weeks I’ll share with you my food journey, the foods I don’t eat, the foods I do eat, the foods I crave, what I drink, what I don’t drink – my personal seven health principles.

But first, an overview of my food journey.

I’ve always been a really healthy eater. From childhood, the food on my plate was a lot of fresh, organic veggies (that I planted, raised, harvested with my bare hands), fruit, organic whole wheat flour (that I ground), whole milk and then skim milk, goats milk that I milked (make sure they don’t eat onions!), honey versus white sugar, 100 percent pure maple syrup that I helped make from maple trees on our farm (fun fact: it takes 40 gallons of raw sap to make one gallon of pure maple syrup), drank my first soy milk when it first came out (1986? 1985?), ate kale before it became the 2012 buzz word (back in the early ’80s), only drank water (no soda, barely any juice and no coffee), and if we ate meat we killed it. I knew where my food came from, how it was raised and the blood, sweat and tears it took to get that tomato on my plate.

I started cooking and baking at the age of 5. I began making breakfast then lunch and dinner. Everything was made from scratch, all organic and of course tons of vegetables. I enjoyed experimenting and creating new dishes. I cooked with fresh herbs and whatever was in season. It’s probably why the kitchen is one of my favorite rooms in a house. I love, love to cook and prepare tasty, colorful dishes for other people. If you’ve ever had my cooking, you know this first hand.

For four years (1994-1997) I had a successful bakery with my two younger sisters where we made everything from scratch. We ground organic wheat berries to make the whole wheat flour, we used honey  (I remember lugging 50 pound buckets of fresh honey up to the kitchen) vs. white sugar, we used all organic ingredients, fresh, in-season fruit, fresh organic brown eggs, organic dairy and of course made with a lot of tender loving care.

Translation = no processed crap, no food dyes, no additives, etc. in the food we ate. If it was a cookie, cake or tart, it was made with the freshest, purest and organic ingredients.

I remember when Muir Glen, Garden of Eden, Cascadian Farms and Stonyfield Farms weren’t household brand names. Yes, I now feel old.

When I went to college, my body was shocked that the rest of the world didn’t eat like I had. It was a great eye-opener. After college, I was happy to be back in my own kitchen and cooking/baking again!

Then in the early 2000s I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. For being so young I thought it was ridiculous that I was put on a variety of medicines instead of being encouraged to look at other treatments. (Prescribing pills is quick. Healthy treatments can be a long process.) I strongly dislike medicine(s) and took myself off them after a few months and began other methods of natural treatment and making sure the food I ate was organic and as fresh as possible. Much like I grew up on. For the first couple of years my body seemed to do well with it and I was happy that I ditched the medicine. Then my training started to increase and other added stress began to take its tole on my body and my endocrinology and adrenal system took a huge hit. My body responded my treating everything I ate as inflammatory. Now a little side note. Autoimmune diseases need anti-inflammatory foods. Combined with turning older (God bless aging), I needed to do something different.

So, I started experimenting with the foods I was eating. I did extensive research and came to the conclusion that I should take grains out of the food I was eating. A few months later I took dairy out. I loved cheese. I thought it would be really hard for me not to have it, but you know what? A few months into it I decided to have a cube of cheese at a party and I couldn’t stand it. Proof that your body can learn new tricks. And by taking grains and dairy out of the food I ate, it pretty much eliminated sugar as well.

Since removing all dairy, grains (not just wheat or “Gluten Free”), legumes (and I loved beans) and pretty much all sugar (even honey) I’ve noticed substantial positive body improvements. My body isn’t fighting with itself (as much). I’m still a work in progress. I do have an occasional – and when I say occasional that means one or two times a month – a baked goodie. Like a cupcake.

Now I have many things to say about all the above. I wish I could write them all right now. But you don’t want to read the entire journey right now.  And I need to keep your interest so you’ll come back and read the rest of it .

However, I’ll leave you with a few thoughts based upon my research, working with people across the country, traveling across the country and my own personal opinions. I’ll explain in greater detail in future parts what exactly I mean by each point. Here they are. Get ready, they are deep (laugh, it’s a joke).

1) Too much dairy in our ‘diet’ (diet meaning the food we eat, not a diet plan)

2) Soy is not a health food

3) We don’t know where our food comes from, how it is made or how it made it onto our plate

4) We mask our disease with pills vs. healing our bodies with real food that God created

5) We buy packaged food – wrappers, boxes, bags, etc. vs. buying or growing fresh produce

6) Farms and farmers are being replaced by developments OR being paid to genetically (GMO) grow crops (corn being a great example) (The food we eat today is vastly different then the food we ate 10, 50, 100 years ago)

7) We are a lazy, sick nation instead of being a hard working, healthy nation when it comes to our health and the food we eat

I believe we have the ability to heal our bodies (granted with God’s help) and it is our responsibility to take care of the body God gave us (as well as the land He created)

In the coming weeks we’ll discuss these points, I’ll share the foods I do eat, recipes I’ve created, some of the myths and truth behind the different foods and why I believe that if everyone took their health as seriously as I do, some of the health problems we are seeing might cease to exist or be drastically reduced.

peace, sweat, love: life

Yesterday (Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012) the announcement that had been highly talked about, was finally made. Paula Deen has Type 2 Diabetes. It comes as no surprise. Her cooking recipes don’t just use butter, no, they use VATS of butter. Not to mention tons of sugar, fried, processed flour and other fake ingredients. Even if it’s a vegetable or fruit you can bet your deep fryer it will be turned into some kind of deep fried creation.

This won’t be the only post I will write about Paula Deen’s announcement. This one will focus on the statement that she gave. Goes something like this. “I won’t change my lifestyle, I’ll just take a pill.”  And then get a pharmaceutical company to back me and then promote drugs as a main dish or side dish. Paraphrasing of course.

Reading that just about sent me to the moon and back again seven times. Thank God for gravity.

SO, let me get this straight.

1) Eat like crap, take a pill and that fixes everything?

2) Get a pharmaceutical company to endorse your horrible eating/cooking/way-of-life choices?

3) Receive a disease diagnosis and DO NOTHING TO CHANGE your lifestyle?

Instead of using this chance to change her lifestyle and her cooking she instead is opting for no change and continuing to live a disease-filled life. This makes me sad. And livid at the same time. Diabetes can be prevented! By simple life style changes! By realizing that you only have one body so you may as well live a healthy life!

Quick side note. A LOT of diseases CAN be prevented. Our food system has been so tarnished with toxins, chemicals, processed, etc that our bodies can’t fight always fight back. Our bodies are incredible and have the ability to heal themselves. But taking a pill, an injection or medicine seems to be the option most people are willing to accept. Because changing the way you live would take work. And effort. And commitment. And dedication.

As Deen reminded me through her statement, this reality began to sink in. It is easier to push aside personal responsibility and ignore the problem. Cover it up with medicine. Make excuses. Blame it on something. You name it.

Deen isn’t the only out there. No, there are countless others who have received a disease Rx and have gone on to live the same old life. You probably know someone like this. Have cancer, but keep on smoking. Heart attack but keep on eating processed crap (it’s not food). Whatever the disease is, it doesn’t really matter. The point is that people view a disease as a license to keep doing what they’ve always done. Few doctors urge their patients to start BEING, LIVING healthy, but prescribe medicine. While medicine might be needed at the start of a diagnosis, it doesn’t have to be a life long plan.

How many times on the Biggest Loser have you see people lose their disease Rx? All the time! What did they do? Sweating, eating better, unprocessed food and drinking water. It’s not rocket science. But somehow we have made a LIVING a real-food life complicated. Granted our food system makes it tricky, but if you just spend a little more time reading labels or avoiding labels all together, it is not hard.

Personal responsibility. Paula Deen. What do the two have in common? None. By refusing to take personal responsibility for her health, she chose the cop-out. Don’t let this be you.

Two quick responses to comments/questions that I always get. I’ll address them right here, right now.

Perhaps you run 100 miles per week. Spectacular. But that doesn’t mean you can eat whatever. It means that you CAN eat more fresh fruit veggies, fruit and lean, farm-raised meat. Nuts (almonds, walnuts). Drink more water.

Perhaps you work out and burn 2,000 calories. That’s fantastic. Now fuel up the proper, healthy way. Fresh veggies. Fresh fruit. Lean, farm-raised meat. Nuts (almonds, walnuts). Drink water.

Key quote: You burn calories to live, not to eat whatever.

I love you people! My heart yearns for this nation. This world. The stats are depressing. I wish I could show EVERYONE how easy, how delicious, how simple and how fun it is to cook with real, fresh, whole, colorful food. You don’t have to live the rest of your life based on a bad Rx. Make the commitment RIGHT NOW to start making small, healthy changes. Refuse to let a disease take your life.

I have many, many more thoughts to write about this topic, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, here is your homework.

- Don’t succumb to the medicine mindset.

- Start making real food choices DAILY.

- Drink water. And a lot of it.

- Be the positive example. Someone is watching. Someone is counting on you to do the right thing.

Need help? Motivation? Recipes? Please let us know. We are here to help. We are all in this health journey together. Let’s make this sick, unhealthy nation into a healthy nation. Game on!

Peace, sweat, love: life.

Photo credit: Mel R

Last night I went on a little rant. 512 words to be exact. I wasn’t talking about the birds & the bees. Or 25 reasons to love dark chocolate. I was ON FIRE about obesity.

All of my posts, tweets, #lifeTruth thoughts are all sparked from personal experiences. What sparked these specific posts last night was working with a family where food was is being used as weapon, not as nutrition. It broke my heart all over again. And I wanted to share what I see with my own eyes.

I am passionate about many things. And one of the topics I am extremely vocal & passionate about is kids + parents + food. Obesity. You’ll see the stats below. Please don’t confuse my passion with being mean, attacking, etc. I only want to help.

Our nation is in a crisis. Its time that we stop skirting the issues, being defensive, making excuses and take personal responsibility.

If you missed it, here is the recap. If you did catch my live tweeting, I would urge you read it again. There are some good facts not to miss!

————————————

Hey parents, just because you feel guilty does NOT mean you give them junk food to eat!!

No, I’m not sorry. I won’t back down from helping people, parents, kids be aware of the food they eat & what they drink.

America is leading the charts on obesity. 1 in 3 kids & 2 in 3 adults are obese. It’s a crisis. And it starts with personal responsibility.

I watch parents feed their kids processed food because they’ve been gone for 14 hours & feel guilty about that. At least give them an apple!

Making a lot of $ does mean you sacrifice your kids health. Loving your kids doesn’t mean you buy their love by feeding them crap.

You can’t buy your kids love via food. If you think you can, you’ve been fooled.

I wish – I pray –  that each of us will wake up & realize that if you put crap in your body & your kids, you’ll get grouchy, sad, unhappy people

I am passionate about kids, food, people. I seek no greater joy then to help people understand the two. And to sweat too

And please never give a kid a “treat” that is junk. If you have to, at least make it healthy. But remember there are no treats in adult life!

Oh, one last thing. It’s not about being a size 0, only eating celery juice (whatever that is) or being judgmental. It’s about being healthy.

Re: treats in life: every time you go to work you don’t get a “treat”. Example, kid woke up from nap, he got a sugar pop. For waking up??!!

Re: no treats in life f/u. You stop at red lights. You pull over when an fire engine goes by. Do you get a “treat” for doing so? No.

Re: treats in life f/u 2) you find “treats” in life by helping others, not through food/$. Neither of those bring happiness.

More: kids want to be noticed. They want attention. Are they crying? Out of control? Chances are if you just play with them, things will be better. I can’t stress this enough. Put down all things tech & go to the park, soccer field, etc. Time with kids is far better then candy!

When kids equate food as love, it sets them for failure in so many ways its sad.

I’m not trying to offend anyone, just stating what I see on a daily basis. And if it wasn’t an issue, why are the stats the way are?

Listen, I’m here to help & support parents. But I’m not going to apologize when I see with my own eyes what is going on!

Bottom line (as I’ve said before) personal responsibility. And that means if you are a parent, you are responsible for what your kids eat

Yes, I don’t have biological children, but I have raised 3 from the day they were born. And have contained to work with kids ever since. I’m speaking from experience & first hand knowledge. I know it’s not easy. But if you make wise, educated choices its a step in the right direction.

I’ll write more in a blog over the coming days/weeks. It’s a complex issue. I only want to give hope to kids and moms/dads. Love you all!

And at this point I’ll need a body guard!

Sarah Stanley is a professional endurance athlete who is passionate about life, health, kids & sweating. Sign up for her newsletter for more inspiration!

Photo by: Gunna

I love interaction. I love asking questions. I love thinking (that’s not a surprise:)). I try to ask a daily question to my Twitter followers. And I love sweets. Duh, don’t we all?!

It may come as a surprise to you, but I struggle with food. Mainly sweets. I like chocolate brownies, cake, chocolate chip cookies. See the theme? Yeah, it’s bad. We ALL know that I have the determination to do pretty much anything. But why are sweets so damn hard to “say no to”?! So with that I asked my question “what is your biggest challenge when it come eating the right food?”. Here are some of the responses I received.

Ali: “My Effin sweet tooth”

Rachel: “The bad food you could be eating instead!”

Brian: “The bad foods are so good and way too easy to get!”

Ryan: “Having the time to cook vs the cost of having fresh all the time”

Liz: “Portion control. Oh and chocolate. I swear my body begs for it daily!”

Ashley: “Portion size!”

Kate: “Peanut Butter!”

Tyler: “Fresh food spoils too quickly and leftovers get old after a day or two”

Roxy: “Peppermint Latte from Starbucks”

Jason: “Other people. For some reason people like to try & get me to eat badly”

Oliva: ” Ditto! Portion control is my downfall! I will eat the healthiest foods, just too much because I love it all!”

Nathaniel: “The time it takes to prepare fresh and healthy meals every day. It’s hard to take time for yourself!”

Luau: “Getting my family to eat the same way I do”

Julie: “Portion size!”

Zoe: “The fact I love to bake cakes!”

Any: “Time. Or lack of it.”

Jen: “Boredom, Mexican food and office snacks are my downfall. Not necessarily in that order.”

Nahlan: “All the saboteurs in my family.”

I love the responses. Some of them are SO true. How often does someone give you an “excuse” to eat something that you know you shouldn’t? They convince you that you earned it (“you just ran 200 miles in an hour” or “you went to the gym, you deserve a treat” or “you only live once”). These are awesome reasons to eat whatever what is on your spoon. Or fork.

But here is the fact of the matter. In 9 years, did you know that the number one cause of death in the USA will be obesity? Yes, you only live once, but let’s live our life healthy. And with purpose. So here is what I am going to do. I invite you to join me:)

#1) Every time I am tempted to have something “bad” I will ask myself, will this make me faster on race day?

#2) If I had a Bikini shoot tomorrow, would I be ready?

#3) If a Navy SEAL were next to me, would I eat this?

#4) I am setting an example to all around me. Will this be positive?

#5) Knowing the feeling of the satisfaction, pride & determination that I said no.

Quick note. I am NOT saying to NEVER have chocolate. I am not saying to be a size zero. It’s all about balance. It’s a lifestyle. Makes yours healthy.

Sweetie, I love you, but only on birthday’s. Or Christmas.

Photo by Chotda

Did you know that tart cherries are really, really good for you? They are a power house food! Woohoo! Enjoy!

Cherry Vanilla Smoothie

Ingredients:
2 cups pitted, tart cherries (unsweeted) frozen
1 cup non-fat or low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 cup non-fat milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup ice

Directions
Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth.

Makes 2 (yummy) servings! Enjoy

Photo by lepiaf.geo

Do you go out for food? Do you drive there? Ok, stop! If you MUST get food to go or eat out, try to walk or bike to the place. You’ll burn some calories before AND after. And if you have kids, YES! They can walk & bike to! And besides, you’ll just feel a lot better. You **may** even sleep better at night:)

Photo by Moriza

As we move onto the weekend, it is easy to fall away from our goals of eating healthy or exercising. Don’t let this happen to you! TIP: plan your meals in advance! If you know you are going to friends eat something before hand.

And a double REAL tip ’cause its the weekend:) plan your events around your workouts! This will make sure you don’t forget to make them happen!

Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography

Today’s tip is brought to you from my own experience:)

Is food winning over you?

Try this: get a small notebook or use your computer to track down EVERYTHING you eat. It may take some time to get used to doing this. BUT, when you think about having that double scoop of ice cream or hot dog or whatever your favorite unhealthy food is, you will think twice about eating it.

AND this method is also a great way to see what vitamins or minerals you might be lacking. Go try it!!!

Photo by Abulic Monkey

Q: Do you start the week off by thinking that “this is the week I am going to not eat junk food, cut out sugar, drink more water, say no to coffee, and workout 5 days a week”?

A: Raise hands

Ok, so, why do “we” fail with our GREAT intentions? Below are some reasons WHY (weren’t you just dying to know this info? )

#1) Too many goals at one time!

#2) Start SLOW!

#3) Go SLOWLY

#4) T0 succeed you must PLAN to succeed

#5) Make excuses (hard week, stressed, I “deserve” this ________ (fill in the blank)

#6) No support

Those are just a few of the reasons why our best intentions fail. Do you want to be successful? Go ahead, raise BOTH arms!!! YES!!!!! YOU CAN!!:)

THIS WEEK DO ONE of the following things:

#1) Define YOUR weekly goal (drink more water, less soda) really think about. What do you want? Will you be able to do it?

#2) Get sweaty for 30 minutes a day! Brisk walk, stair climber, jog, just MOVE!

#3) Set your clock 15 minutes before you usually wake up (yes, that is right). You will be surprised what those 15 minutes can do for your day ahead!

#4) Make a daily choice to make healthy choices (do I really need this 5th cup of coffee? Do I really need this cookie? Do I really need to stress about “this”?).

I hope these ideas sparked your interest & you are able to use them! Please let me know! Watch this week for more ways to make YOUR life HAPPY, HEALTHY and FIT!!

Photo by lepiaf.geo

We are all familiar with the WORD diet. It is probably the first word we learned about but never spoke. We watched our families, friends and others talk about how they needed to eat healthier or eat a pint of ice cream, then regret it later. Or making sure they got in their favorite foods during the month of December so on January 1, they could start the “diet” only to fall off the commitment weeks later.

Whatever the story, we know that our diet affects us & will make us gain or lose weight.

My approach to the diet is to take the word out of our minds, habits and any feelings we have about it and replace it with the words: healthy food. It may seem basic. But if we chose “healthy food” over “diet food” we will be more successful in maintaining a healthy life style FOR LIFE.

Over the next few weeks I am going to be writing about healthy food, what changes you can make to you daily eating habits, foods, ingredants to avoid, and ways to make healthy meals, snacks. If you have a specfic question, please let me know and I will answer it for you!

To YOUR healthy, fit AND happy life!:)

Photo by Pink Sherbet