becomingwhole2

A Wonderful Gift From "Veganist" Kathy Freston

A facebook friend of mine posted this great two minute meditation from Kathy Freston which is a great quick centering tool to keep you on track. Love her voice. Here's the link!

Adapting Recipes

Has anyone tried this easy, healthy plant-based recipe that I recently had on the Huffington Post? My quick Indian Chickpea Bowl, is one of my daughter's favorite wheat- & gluten-free dishes.

I was thinking that it would be fun to come up with 100 ways to adapt this recipe. For example, my sister-in-law, Peg, tried it and she used 1 can of chickpeas and 1 can of lentils instead of 2 cans of chickpeas. Her husband loved it.

Another commenter, who calls herself macro4u2, used squash instead of potatoes, dropped the spices I used, but included miso for flavoring.

Such creative ideas! What's yours? If  you've tried my recipe and have substituted ingredients, or if you've made it into a completely different dish, please share you work of art with us on the Huffington Post comments section!

Get the recipe here, if you haven't already see it.

 

Following Bliss Highly Prescribed By Leading Health Expert

When I was driving back from dropping my daughter off at the airport this morning I caught the *Dr. Lisa Belisle Radio Hour on WLOB 1310 (Portland, Maine).

Lisa interviewed the visionary pioneer and the world's leading authority in the field of women's health and wellness, Christiane Northrup, M.D.

What really resonated with me was that Dr. Northrup stresses the importance of doing WHAT YOU LOVE  as an elixir for vibrant health. She says that family will follow suit and you'll help the world in ways that you could never imagine!

I know that when I follow this prescription for joy my life force gets REALLY strong. Today after listening, I'm inspired to follow my bliss! How about you?

Listen to this wonderful free podcast on Dr. Lisa's Bountiful Blog.

My Recommended Foods To Add In 2012!

Portland Press Herald's Natural Foodie, Avery Yale Kamila interviewed me for her recent article Go Ahead, Make The Change (January 4, 2012).

Avery asked me to list two or three foods I would recommend that people should add to their plates and others that I would suggest people avoid.

Here is my choice of three in each category:

Foods to Add To You Plate

1. Veggies. Veggies, veggies and more veggies! Leafy greens like kale, collards and spinach. Mushrooms are also high on my list, shitakes are one type. I like Oyster Creek brand dried mushrooms grown in Damariscotta, Maine.

I encourage any and all types of vegetables though, and personally I aim for eight to nine servings a day. If you don't eat any at all, aim for one or two a day for starters. A tip for starting to eat kale is to try small amounts like a 1 Tablespoon serving of lightly steamed  kale.

2. Beans

The best thing parents can do is to get their kids used to eating beans early in life! My sister's pediatrician once gave her this sage advice. They are great for parents, too. Beans are high in nutrients (including protein!), fiber and low in fat and calories. The perfect heart food.

Personally, I like the Maine-grown pesticide-free Jacob's Cattle beans, kidney, soldier and yellow-eyed beans from Green Thumb Farms, in Fryeburg. I like canned beans, too, especially black beans, chickpeas and black-eyed peas are tasty. 

3. Whole Grains

Brown rice and quinoa top my list. Again, these are high in fiber and nutrients. Beans are complex carbohydrates that give us energy, not to be mistaken for simple carbohydrates like sugar, which brings me to my list of  foods to avoid, or to cut down on (below).

Foods To Avoid or Decrease On Your Plate

1. Sugar. Most people know they need to cut sugar out of their diets or cut down on it, but find it hard to get off. Sugar is addictive. When I got off sugar 13 years ago, I went cold turkey and cleared my cupboards of it. When you cut out the refined sugar, vegetables and other real whole foods start to taste great.

2.  Highly Processed and Chemicalized Foods. These foods usually are low in nutrients and fiber, high in salt and fat (poor quality hydrogenated fats), and contain artificial additives AND sugar!

3. Animal Protein

Cut out or cut way down on animal protein because it's high in fat (and dairy is high in casein a cancer causing toxin). Environmental toxins (cancer causing) are stored in fat and animal protein is high in fat calories. See T. Colin Campbell Foundation article.

Thank you for reading. I hope this inspires you to make small or big changes if you choose!

How To Get Started With Healthy Plant-Based Eating

Someone asked about steps to get started with plant-based eating. Here are mine ...

1. Add more fresh vegetables! I aim for 5-9 servings a day. Sound daunting? Start with 3 and work up. Do what works for you. Fresh organic is best, but if you can’t get organic don’t let this be the show-stopper. Frozen or canned are OK.

 

2. Eat fruit for dessert in place of junk or non-nutritive foods high in sugar and chemical additives. Whole fruits eaten in season are better choices than fruit juices. Locally in Maine, try blueberries, raspberries, apples, pears, watermelon, melons. And remember that fruit doesn’t take the place of vegetables. Fruit is best after meals, or between, as a snack.

3. Add whole grains to your diet once a day. I eat it two or three times a day. Learn what a whole grain is. Brown rice, millet, barley, quinoa, amarath ... and there are many more. As Americans we're not used to whole grains other than brown rice. Fortunately, that’s a good one to start with! When my son went off to college a few years back I bought him a special rice cooker. One that cooks brown rice, and it was digital. He'd put in water, rice and sea salt, and set the timer. And when he was back from his classes, it was ready. Whole grains are complex carbohydrates, as opposed to cakes and cookies. These are simple carbs and this is the type to avoid eating on a regular basis. Rice won’t make you fat (it’s the junk). Complex carbohydrates give us energy and students working long hours obviously need energy. Complex carbs are also high in fiber so they fill us up. They also help curb cravings for simple carbs. Cracked grain, like whole-grain breads, pastas and polenta are also good choices, but try adding some whole grains, too.

4. Add beans to your diet — black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils … the list goes on. Learn to cook beans … or start with organic canned. Try bean products such as tofu or tempeh, too. Beans are low in fat compared to animal products and contain no saturated fat. Start by having them twice a week in place of animal protein (yes, cheese is animal protein). If you aren’t used to eating beans and are worried about digestive disturbances, remember to chew each mouthful very, very well. This is the key to digestion and gas problems. Eventually your digestion will improve. If you don’t like beans much (this goes for other foods, too), start by just trying small portions — this is OK — even to be applauded! Even a few bites, and conscious effort over a period of time will help you to develop a taste for these foods. If you eat animal protein, eat the leaner cuts (organic if possible) and smaller portions and eventually eliminate if you choose to go vegan.

5. Nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts, peanuts),seeds (such as pumpkin & sunflower), and dried fruits make good, healthy snacks.
 
6. Beverages: Drink filtered tap or spring water, cut down on caffeine from coffee or try cutting you consumption in half. Green tea may be a good substitute. Twig or kukicha tea, available in health food stores has little or no caffeine.
 
7. Keep a limited supply or no junk foods (sugary non-nutritive foods) in your living space and lots of the good stuff! It’s about developing good habits.
 
8. Try your best to eat three meals a day, without late-night eating. I know breakfast is a hard one for some folks, but a good bowl of oatmeal (or leftover brown rice for that matter) — even if it has to be instant oatmeal — with a small handful of organic trail mix and or seasonal fruit will keep you alert and satiated until lunch.
 
I can hear you thinking (!) ... Where’s the calcium? I get plenty of calcium from green leafy vegetables like kale, collards and mustard greens. Supplements are OK, but do not take the place of food (that’s why they are called supplements).

If you go totally vegan a B-12 supplement is a pretty standard recommendation.

Read, study and educate yourself, cooking classes help immensly, but mostly try the food and see how you feel. For some quick and easy recipes see my Huffington Post recipes.

Best wishes for a healthy New Year!

Jake's 120 lb Weight-loss Story!

Jake Castonia's Thank You Letter:

From Overweight To Triathlete!    

Last May while doing a book signing with Dr. T. Colin Campbell at Whole Foods Market in Portland, Maine, I met Jake Castonia. I was surprised when this good looking young man he told me that he'd been following a plant-based way of eating and had lost lots of weight after reading Becoming Whole.

We then became Facebook friends, I started reading his training posts, and recently he sent me this email. I think you will be inspired by Jake's story!

Meg,  

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, and to let you know how much your book Becoming Whole has changed my life.  I was on a crash course for a certain collision with heart disease and type two diabetes but your book was the catalyst for a complete 180 degree turn around in my life.  Your words in that book were so touching to me that it made me cherish life on a whole new level.  It helped to open my eyes to the medicinal power of food, and left me a changed man.

 

To give you a little background, the change came for me at the age of 31.  I was playing a dangerous game of Russian Roulette with my health, and the scariest part was I had no idea I was playing.  I was a 280 pound husband and father of 3.

I had reached a point in my life that I felt as though I had enough financial responsibility to warrant opening up a life insurance policy on myself.  So I did the physical exam.  They weighed me, drew my blood, and about 2 weeks later, I go the call.   They told me that they would cover me, but they wanted to put a rider on my policy due to my weight, elevated cholesterol levels, and elevated blood pressure.  This was a huge wake up call for me.  The insurance company was telling me in their on way that they were planning on me having some sort of cardiac event at some point.  I knew that I had to change.

 

One day not soon after, my wife came home with your book, Becoming Whole.  She read it cover to cover in one evening, and was so moved by your story of recovery and survival that she made me sit down and read it too.  We were both blown away.  In short your book completely transformed our outlook and philosophy on food, and the roll that food plays in our life primarily.  we started making the transition to a whole foods, plant based diet the next day.  At first we had many questions.  The biggest question being, what exactly do we eat if we take all of these animal products out of our diet?  To our delightful surprise, we found that for every one thing we eliminated from our diet, we were discovering ten new and delicious things that we never thought of eating before.  With your help, we realized that this was not a restrictive way to eat, but a very abundant way to eat.  

 

I am almost 36 now.  In the last five years since switching to a plant based lifestyle, I have dropped 120 pounds.  I was able to lower my cholesterol by almost 120 points!  I have discovered a vast well of energy and endurance that I never knew I possessed.  I have trained for and run 3 marathons.  I have also gotten into competing in long distance triathlons, just having finished my first Halfiron distance race about a month ago (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run) Switching to a whole foods, plant based diet has allowed me to have the energy to engage in these activities that have become part of my identity.  This lifestyle has not only let my body recover properly from all of the training, but also has added years to my life, and quite possibly saved my life.  Your honesty, bravery, and willingness to share of yourself played a major role in all of that.  From the bottom of my heart, I can never thank you enough.

 

A new favorite book of ours is A Life In Balance.  We have a well worn, and dog eared copy of it in a prominent place in out kitchen.  We always look forward as a family to trying one of the many fantastic plant based recipes from that book.  We love it!

 

Thanks again Meg.  Here's to promoting a plant strong lifestyle.

 

Best, Jake

 

To read more about Jake and his Plantstrong lifestyle please visit his web site. Jake now does lifestyle counseling to help others!

 

To see Jake's amazing before and after photos, please sign-up for my free newsletter!

Money's tight for healthy school lunches, but there are ways around funding woes

This is from my fellow board member Amie Hamlin, executive director of the New York Coalition For Healthy School Food. I thought her message was well-timed and definitely worth sharing.

The New York Coalition for Healthy School Food may be based in New York, but its resources and website are helping schools all over the country.

Schools realize they need to make changes in the meals they serve children, and the changes most often focus on adding more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat milk. That’s great, but something’s missing. Entrées need to be addressed, too.

Typical entrees are based on meat and cheese and are highly processed: cheeseburgers, mozzarella sticks, chicken nuggets and pizza. They contribute to poor health because they contain cholesterol and saturated fat and lack fiber and phytonutrients. These entrees are commonly used because federal tax dollars are used to supply these foods, essentially for “free.” At the same time, our tax dollars are being used to figure out how to fight diseases related to the consumption of these foods!

Words like “baked” in relation to mozzarella sticks and chicken nuggets often hide the fact that these foods are fried at the factory, then baked at the school. Whole-wheat coating on chicken nuggets does not make them a health food, nor does “low fat” cheese on a pizza, which much more frequently is part skim or reduced fat – misleading claims since the cheese actually is more than 50 percent fat as a percentage of calories.

New regulations are suggesting that one serving of legumes can count as a vegetable or a protein once a week. Yet it would make much more sense to require that the weekly legume offering replace meat and cheese rather than healthy vegetables.

Schools have very limited funds to cover the cost of providing required components for meals. Something has to give.

Many schools have moved from whole and 2% fat milk (which is actually 37 percent fat, but that's another article), to low-fat or skim, which has more animal protein. The added protein and other components of milk contribute to illnesses that are hidden from the general population because of the dairy industry's power. Most children of color cannot now or will not be able to digest milk in the future. One has to wonder how many children are experiencing chronic belly aches at school – affecting their ability to concentrate and do their best.

Most people would be surprised to learn that research has proven that milk does not reduce osteoporosis risk. Yet this idea – and others about dairy – are so ingrained in us that they're hard to shake.

School food activists struggled to get more money to fund school meals in the latest Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act. Sadly, Congress only approved 6 cents more for school lunches, and at the same time is suggesting improvements that will cost much more. And this money only will be available to schools meeting certain criteria. The question is ... where will schools get the funds so they can meet the criteria?

Schools could have healthier meals and more money to spend on them by skipping the milk – yet this literally would take an act of Congress. Giving up milk at breakfast and lunch would give schools an extra 22 cents per meal for better foods.

The new regulations, while not yet approved, make a huge mistake. They require a meat (or meat alternative) to be offered every morning at breakfast. Currently, schools can offer two grain servings, one grain and one meat serving, or two meat servings, so they are not required to offer meat. This new rule would increase the amount of the very foods we all need to be eating less of.

School food service directors already have been struggling for years with increased food, transportation and health care costs, effectively leaving them with less money than ever before.

New recommendations attempt to get it right by offering more fruits and vegetables – yet with lunch periods that leave only about 15 minutes eating time, children don’t have time to ingest the fruits and vegetables they're already getting, and most end up in the garbage. It would make much more sense to make more fruits and vegetables a classroom snack – and to actually provide the funding for this.

The government already has a program that does this in every state – the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program, but only in a very limited number of schools due to lack of funding.

The NYCHSF began a private version of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program and ran it for more than two years years in Ithaca, N.Y. According to the principal and teachers, the culture of the school changed as a result. Children readily ate vegetables that no one expected them to eat. Adults were surprised to see children eating raw beets, kale, bok choy, and turnips, all without dips or dressings. Children came back to school after weekends and vacations and said they missed their fruits and vegetables, and just didn’t feel the same without them. This heartwarming result also was sad for the children who did not have such foods at home. Most importantly, children actually learned that fruits and vegetables made them feel better.

The NYCHSF addresses many different aspects of school food, but a particular area of expertise involves developing plant-based entrees for the protein component of the meal (instead of animal-based). In partnership with the largest school food service operation in the country, New York City Office of SchoolFood, the NYCHSF has programs in 19 schools, with a waiting list of 48 schools.

The partnership also includes Candle Café and Candle 79 restaurants, the James Beard Foundation, Food and Finance High School, and Henry’s Restaurant. NYCHSF also partners with the Ithaca school district Child Nutrition Program to use local organic beans and grains through a Farm to School program.

Partners also include Moosewood Restaurant, Cayuga Pure Organics (a farm that grows organic beans and grains), and Italian Carryout (which makes pizza crusts for a white bean pizza, using local organic wheat).

There is much to be learned from the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food. All the pieces are in place to greatly expand its program, except for the funding.

The NYCHSF Fall Gala: Healthy Food in Fashion will be 6:30-9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at the New York Academy of Medicine. This deliciously fashionable evening will include 20 restaurants and caterers offering mouthwatering, plant-based foods, and a unique fashion show. Click here for more information or to reserve tickets.

Photos from an amazing National Gourmet Institute graduation

Chilled Corn Soup with a swirl of Radish-Basil Pesto & Roasted Corn Kernels. Photo: Celine Beitchman

My daughter Cammie was part of the 198th National Gourmet Institute graduating class this summer. The graduation dinner was seriously one of the best meals I have ever had the pleasure of eating! I was so impressed! Take a look at the full album here.

Bikini-Ready Without Heavy-Duty Exercise? It Is Possible?

Whether you're a woman hoping to just look 'normal' in one-piece or man wanting to stand out in a Speedo, most people are concerned about how they look in a bathing suit. Ladies: Want to forget about wearing shorts over your suit? Guys: Would you like to bare your chest with confidence?

If I could market my weight-loss solution in the form of a pill, it would be headline news!

Barring that, here's my tried-and-true (and easier-than-you-probably-think) method: Start eating a healthy, plant-based diet, rich in whole unprocessed grains, beans and bean products (like tofu and tempeh), vegetables and sea vegetables, soups and, yes, even desserts (limited).

Many celebrities eat this way to stay healthy and gorgeous. Many others are finding that this way of eating can help them regain their health. I'm in the latter group.

Twelve years ago, after being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, going through conventional treatment and being told that my cancer would return within a year, I adopted a plant-based healing diet to help increase my chances of survival. I've remained healthy and cancer-free -- and have continued to eat this way because I love it.

That wasn't the case immediately for me. When I first began my healing lifestyle, it was for cancer-related reasons only. I wanted to do anything I could to stay alive!

But I discovered along the way that eating a plant-based diet is a very easy way to shed unwanted pounds. Who would have guessed that a diet high in nutrient-dense foods and not super low in calories would let me drop 30 pounds in a year, without exercising excessively? I did go out for walks on my crutches for 20-30 minutes a day, but most people wouldn't consider this strenuous exercise. Let me make it clear that I'm not against exercise - I actually love walking and I'd do more, but I'm limited with my prosthetic leg.

I want to help you understand that, in my opinion and in the opinion of many medical doctors and that what you eat is most responsible for losing or gaining weight.
 
So I hear you asking, "Where do I start?" I'll continue writing posts about this subject, but for essentials, my weight-control/health control routine involves eating:

•  Lots of hearty whole grains (like brown rice, millet, quinoa and many others). Complex carbs give us energy and are high in fiber, so they fill us up. They also help curb cravings for simple carbs.

• A variety of beans. You can learn to cook beans (it's easy) ... or start with organic canned. Try bean products such as tofu or tempeh, too. Beans are low in fat compared to animal products and contain no saturated fat.

• A plethora of fresh (and sometimes frozen) vegetables. Try eating more vegetables. Organic is best, but if you can't get organic, don't let this be the show-stopper.

I recommend eating fruit for dessert in place of junk- or non-nutritive food high in sugar and chemical additives - especially if you're trying to lose weight. Nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts, peanuts), seeds (pumpkin & sunflower), and dried fruits make great, healthy snacks, too.

Try your best to eat three meals a day, with no late-night eating. Breakfast is hard for some people, but a bowl of oatmeal, even if it's instant, with a handful of organic trail mix and or seasonal fruit will keep you alert and satisfied until lunch.

I made some lifestyle changes that keep me healthy (and lean), too. I was often on the run, but I now sit down to meals and try to carefully chew my food.

In the beginning, while healing, I used a limited amount of (olive, sesame, safflower, etc.) oil in my cooking, so my weight stayed pretty low. When I added more oil back, I easily gained back 10 pounds -- which was actually a healthier weight for me. So use limited amounts of oil to drop the pounds.

I kept the other 20 pounds off, more or less. I no longer have several sizes of clothes, which is nice. And though I don't wear a bikini, I have no problem putting on my one-piece bathing suit without the previous worries about whether last year's suit will still fit.

Good luck!

Do you have a plant-based weight loss story that you'd like to share? If so, please add it here to my comments section.

Need help with recipe ideas? Please sign up for my free monthly newsletter and check out my new cookbook.

Read my Huffington Post articles here!

Find your nearby farmers' market

Hip, hip hooray!

Farmers' markets are opening again. Not sure where/when the famers' markets are near you? The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association has a handy online directory. Check it out!