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Showing posts from November 17, 2016

Friday Morning Iced Coffee Date (11/18)

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Good morning and happy Friday to you! Let’s get right to the coffee talk , shall we? Has anyone tried the new Spiced Sweet Cream Cold Brew from Starbucks? It sounds heavenly. Hopefully, it’s not too sweet, but I love the idea of spiced creamy cold brew! I can’t believe Thanksgiving is next week . November is FLYING by, right? What are your plans for Turkey Day? Are you hosting? What are you making for the holiday? So, I stumbled upon a recipe for Cauliflower Stuffing on Facebook the other day, and it sounded so good. My Grammie also requested a “healthy vegetable side,” so it seems like the perfect dish for the holiday. I’m also making this Candied Pecan Chex Mix , which is the best ever . You know what else is the best ever? Quinn is almost caught up with his language skills for his age! At his weekly Early Intervention (EI) session on Monday, his EI specialist said he probably won’t qualify for services at his year appointment in March because he’s doing so well. Seriousl

7 Lighter Takes on Essential Thanksgiving Sides

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Is there anything more necessary than a generous scoop of mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving? A slice of hot buttered cornbread is nice, too. Some would even say it’s the green bean casserole that really makes the meal special. Personal preferences aside, we can all agree that the sides are the best part of Thanksgiving — next to the smorgasbord of pie, of course. And since we only get to enjoy this celebratory feast one day each year, why not dig in to the indulgent dishes that are so representative of the holiday? Then again, if you plan on having a lot of leftovers, you could be enjoying these dishes for a few days (or an entire week) after Thanksgiving has passed. That’s incentive to throw some healthier options into the mix. Here are the classic, comforting sides we all long for, with a few minor alterations to make each one less of a splurge. As it turns out, your healthiest Thanksgiving could be your most-traditional yet. Who knew? Mashed Potatoes (pictured above) Food Network

Food and Fiber: The Consumer Revolution

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As you might know, Robb and I are HUGE fans of The Savory Institute. He and I were both invited to their recent conference in Boulder. Robb had another event he was committed to, but I hopped on a plane and was so thrilled to be a part of if. I have to say it was one of the best conferences I’ve attended. As a bonus, the day after the big event, I got to visit a bison ranch that practices holistic management. Having never seen bison up close before, this was a real treat. The mix of attendees was fascinating. I had a chance to speak with ranchers, marketers, and venture capitalists who are all deeply interested in the work of Allan Savory (if you haven’t seen his famous TED Talk, check it out here .) Bison grazing at West Bijou Ranch in Strasburg, Colorado Allan talked about how he’s in the “departure lounge.” This may sound depressing to you, but coming from him, it was sobering yet inspirational. He said he’ll never see the full results of what he’s started, and how importa

Promises and Limitations of the “Personalized Care” Movement: Where We Are Now

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Several years ago, I gave my take on the “personalized care” movement : the broad push to use a person’s genetic data to design optimal therapies, treatments, interventions, and pharmaceuticals. I was supportive and hesitantly optimistic, but I also acknowledged the limitations and drawbacks. Yes, genetics  do  determine how we respond to different therapies, and we can optimize medical care using the information—if we understand what our genes are saying and how they interact with the environment. It’s only picked up steam.  In last year’s State of the Union address, President Obama announced the Precision Medicine Initiative , pledging renewed efforts and funding to develop treatments tailored for an individual’s genetics, lifestyle, and environment.  Businesses have sprung up promising to analyze your genetic data and create personalized workout routines, meal plans, and daily habits. We’ve made big strides in personalized medicine . We’re often able to fine-tune dosages of phar

The Definition Of Balance

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Healthy living bloggers love to talk about “balance.” How many times have you heard that “healthy living is about moderation and balance” or “a blog about balanced living” (wasn’t that my tagline at one point?) or “balance is the key to health”? Balance is important. But what does it actually mean? Generally we think: A lot of kale, a little cake A lot of running, a rest day A lot of X healthy thing, a little of Y splurge thing My definition of balance is this: That goes for body and soul. All the feels. Jess Lively talks a lot about flow a.k.a. “going with the flow and what feels right” in her podcasts. I think flow and feel go hand-in-hand. Perhaps feel is the physical version of flow. If you focus on how you feel, you won’t be pulled into one extreme or the other. Exercise when you feel like it and because it feels good If you are exercising for the wrong reasons and not focusing on how it makes your body feel, you will start to resent it and that can lead to bur