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Showing posts from May 22, 2017

35 Reasons Why Mal is the Best Human I Know + Funfetti Smoothie Recipe

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Happy Tuesday and, more importantly, HAPPY 35th BIRTHDAY TO MAL!!! When I think about really amazing people, Mal will always be the first person who comes to mind. He’s the greatest husband, father, friend, and honestly, he’s just an awesome human. He’s been stuck with me for 20 (!!) years – married for 9, together for 14, and friends since high school . It is an incredible honor to have Mal by my side, and I can’t imagine life any other way. He’s the  best  person I know in every since of the word. To celebrate 35 years of Mal, here are 35 reasons why I love him so very much: What you see is what you get. Mal is straight-forward, honest, and doesn’t have a phony bone in his body. Related: He not a fan of sugar-coating anything. He’ll tell it like it is – no matter what the situation! He’s a “glass half full” kind of guy and always sees the good in things. Mal is an awesome dad. I truly couldn’t have asked for a better father to my child. He likes to act silly with Quinn. And

Is There Really A Healthy Ice Cream Brand?

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I love ice cream! When I want a treat, ice cream is one of my favorites! But take a walk through the typical ice cream aisle and you’ll find a minefield of risky (and sometimes dangerous) additives mixed with factory farmed milk. I’m a firm believer that everyone should still enjoy treats from time to time, but don’t consider it a treat to poison myself with heart-wrecking trans fats, carcinogenic poisons like glyphosate, and additives linked to gut inflammation. I’ve learned that you can enjoy treats (even ice cream!) that won’t destroy your health and pack on the pounds, but you just need to know what to look for.  There are now some brands that seem healthier like Halo Top and Arctic Zero, and many people have been asking me if they are TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. I’ll get to them in a moment, but first let’s check out what you’ll find in the major ice cream brands. If you see any of these additives in ice cream, do yourself a favor and put it back on the shelf… Gut wrecking emulsifi

Dear Mark: Roundup Safety and Polyamory to Monogamy

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For today’s edition of Dear Mark , I’m covering two entirely different topics. The first is a fairly familiar topic to readers of this blog—whether a popular pesticide is actually dangerous or not. The reader asking the question thinks the data is clear, and Roundup is safe, but I’m not so sure. Second, I discuss the evolutionary underpinnings of our transition from polyamory to monogamy. Let’s go: Moreover, the research they reference has been reviewed to death by every regulatory agency on the planet, and none of them are convinced that glyphosate is dangerous, unless anyone here plans on drinking it. Humans simply aren’t exposed to enough of the pesticide to experience any negative health effects. See the most recent EPA report on the subject: http://src.bna.com/iE2 Thanks for the pushback. I hear what you’re saying—folks on either side of the issue can really misrepresent the facts. There’s nothing I hate worse than unfounded fear-mongering. And even when the fears aren’t to

How One Simple Vending Machine Tweak Could Prompt Healthier Choices

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You’re at work, feeling a little hungry, low energy or just in the mood to take a break, so you stroll down to the vending machine in search of a snack. You feed some cash into the machine and choose something that catches your eye. A few minutes later, you’re sitting at your desk with an empty bag, greasy fingers and an unmistakable sense of regret. Why didn’t you choose something healthier?   Making snack decisions in a snap doesn’t always bring out the healthiest eater in us. To quantify this truism, researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago created a device that can be installed in vending machines that delays the dispensing of unhealthy snacks (candy and chips, for instance) for 25 seconds and but allows healthier snacks (nuts, popcorn) to be dispensed straightaway. A sign on the vending machine lets people know unhealthy snacks will take extra time to receive.   Guess what happened when the experimental machines were made available around campus? Yep, people

Celebrating Mal’s 35th Birthday

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Good morning and happy Monday to you! I hope you had a lovely weekend! Saturday morning started with our usual CrossFit + donuts and iced coffee from Coffee Shack… but the workout was ridiculous this time. Holy quads. I paired up with my friend Marisa and thank goodness that I had her to keep me going. I was struggling at points, but I made it… without dying… just barely. I mean, Karen (150 wallballs) + 50 Squats Cleans? Um, yea, I’m still insanely sore today! Post-CrossFit, Qman and I hit up Coffee Shack for an iced coffee and donuts. We shared a chocolate frosted one – his favorite! And then brought home a glazed donut for Dada – his favorite! Back at home, we did a few things around the house to get ready for Mal’s birthday party and then I headed out to Whole Foods to pick up our catering order and a few last-minute items (while Mal put Quinn down for a nap). When I returned home, it was just about party time! Before long, our hometown friends (+ their families) arri

It Takes Guts To Live Healthier

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This post is sponsored by Swanson Health Products, but all opinions are my own As I mentioned last week, later today I will be boarding a plane to head to Los Angeles for a big media tour with Swanson Health Products. I’m so excited for this trip, but I’m also nervous! Please send me good vibes! I want to take the time today to tell you a bit more about this new line of probiotics! Simply put, probiotics are the “good” bacteria that promote the ideal conditions for your digestion to take place, helping to break down food and promote a healthy immune system and GI tract.  If your gut bacteria, a.k.a. flora, is out of whack, you might have symptoms ranging from occasional gas and bloating to stress and mood fluctuations along with possible skin and dental health concerns. As Hippocrates famously said, “all disease begins in the gut.” Probiotics are naturally found in fermented foods like kombucha, yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut and kimchi. Ideally, you’d eat these every day, but many