ABSOLUTELY DIVINE

Historians first started recording the use of coffee somewhere in the mid-1400’s, possibly in the Ethiopian area of Africa and it spread into Arabia and around the Mediterranean into today’s Europe and finally into the Americas. Even then its use was met with controversy. To consume or not consume seems to have always been the question… condemned by rulers and religions as addicting and too stimulating, then again touted by rulers and religions as enlivening and enlightening…

I enjoy Christmas. I know that commercialism has taken over a lot of the holiday, but we still have choices to make as we create the memories that mean so much. It’s our choice, at this time as well as any other, what we will focus on. One of the things that I love about this time of year is that EVERYBODY has a sale going on. The stores get really competitive and it’s a time when the latest and greatest is front and center. Since I love food, anything that is a kitch

What? Is that even possible? Thanksgiving, Christmas Parties, New Year’s! Three huge holidays in a row really set us up for major stress… and they are back to back to back. In a way, it’s good that we can get all of the stress over with all at once. So, let’s look at some strategies. It really is all about our outlook If you are fortunate enough to have a large and loving family, share the chores. Gone are the days of “going to Grandma’s house” who lovingly had the ava

All of our lives, we have been told that Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Don’t ever skip breakfast. If you do, you are setting yourself up for obesity and other health issues. This is what we have been told. Yet, I meet people often who say that they can’t eat first thing in the morning. The truth is, there are different body types and things change as we age. A good healthy breakfast filled with protein and/or whole grains is wonderful for most of us when we

Are you using artificial sweeteners for weight loss? If so, STOP!!!!!! Here’s Why… While they have little or no calories, they are not helping you to lose weight. Most of these sweet chemicals cause your insulin to rise. When insulin rises, your blood sugar is lowered. Low blood sugar causes you to crave and eat more. Studies have shown that people who consume artificial sweeteners eat more calories than people who don’t. Additionally, this rise in insulin signals your body t

For many of us, the start of the new year marks the time to take on – perhaps for the umpteenth time – a new diet. It turns out our success or failure may be closely linked to our ability to shape a plan that conforms to our specific body type. Nutritionists, fitness instructors and health professionals recognize that different body types gain or lose weight at different rates. They have given those types different names and few individuals will fit precisely into a single c

When I was a kid, my parents started me on the road to good oral health. I went to the dentist regularly, had my teeth cleaned and took care of any cavities that I had. Then in my early adolescence, I got braces. My upper palate was too narrow for all of my teeth. So we started with this bar that went across the roof of my mouth and everyday my mother would insert a kind of key and give the apparatus a quarter turn. Over the course of a year, this was to widen my palate and g

Our Autonomic Nervous System has two parts to it: The Sympathetic – the Fight or Flight part and The ParaSympathetic – Rest and Relax part. These two parts are always on, all the time. However, in any given situation, one should be more dominant than the other. And they should work in equal measure. We really weren’t created to be “FULL THROTTLE” all the time, neither were we meant to be “SLOW AND EASY” all the time either. Unfortunately, it seems that in our fast-paced world

As a kid, I was skinny. In fact, most of my classmates were also. It was rare for a contemporary to be “chunky” and I don’t remember ever seeing a truly obese person. This trend continued through my adolescence. Just about the time that weight started to become an issue for me; after the birth of my first child, the foods on my grocery store shelf started to change – drastically. Low-fat foods popped up on those shelves in startling numbers. And they promised a slim figure an

We all know that exercise is good for us. Unfortunately, most think of exercise as the way to achieve our ideal weight; the way to have the body that we have always dreamed of. There are, of course, many benefits to exercise. Interestingly enough, weight loss is not usually one of them. The biggest impact one can make in tipping (or not tipping) the scale is to eat a healthy, whole-foods diet with reasonable portions sizes. Let’s consider some of the actual benefits of exerci