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Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
How to Make Lasting Change
This blog is about getting fit, becoming more productive, and living a happier, stress-free life. These are all changes that you can make today, if you’re willing to implement the simple steps in this article.
So you want to make a change…
Here’s what usually happens when we want to change: let’s say the goal is to lose weight and get fit, my favorite example. Why do people struggle? It’s not because they’re lazy, or unmotivated, they struggle because they lack the critical element to success. That critical element is ¨balance;¨ let me explain.
In order to make progress, that is, to go from where you are to where you desire to be, you have to change; this is self-evident. But "how" we change is the critical piece that is often overlooked. You can’t just ¨change,¨ it’s not that simple, the "how" is the important part.
Imagine your goal is to eat a Paleo diet (one that eats only whole food, fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc., nothing processed or from a package and no gluten, dairy or refined sugars), but you currently consume bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, McDonald's breakfast sandwich. Burger King for lunch, and Taco Bell for dinner.
If you tried to make the change from being a fast foodist to a whole foodist overnight, then you will likely snap your capacity to change rubber band. You may be able to be consistent as a raw foodist for a few days, maybe even a few weeks, but eventually, you will feel the enormity of the task, and you will retreat back into your comfort zone.
So what do you do?
You could make small changes, right, but that won’t work either. Why not?
If you make changes that are too small towards your goal, then you won’t see significant results, and you won’t be motivated to continue, once again, you will retreat back into your comfort zone.
Your changes have to be drastic enough so that you can see the benefits, but not so drastic that it snaps your rubberband. Your goal should always be balance: to do enough so that you’re challenged every week, but not so much that you quit.
Let’s say you want to be more productive. You may consider getting rid of all of your televisions. But once again, if you watch television five hours per day, you may not want to give it up overnight. If you do attempt to give it up overnight, you will likely snap your capacity to change rubberband. Instead, try reducing your television time by one hour over each of the next five months. Allow your rubber band to stretch gently, keeping it intact.
But what do most of us do….we want immediate results, overnight success, we want to go from being at Level 1 (for the past 30 years) to being at Level 10 tomorrow. But you can’t go from eating Burger King everyday all day to eating broccoli everyday all day. That’s too much, too soon, and in all likelihood you will pop your rubber band.
You can only grow, develop, change, and get better at a certain speed. The key is to push the outer limits every week, enhance one more thing, get a little bit better…until it becomes second nature, and eventually you will arrive at your intended destination.
This process will work for any goal, from living a stress-free life, to writing a book.
People always remark to me that my diet is so ¨extreme,¨ they don’t see how they could ever do something like that. But the reality is that my diet has evolved over the past few years, what I eat today, is not what I ate ¨yesterday,¨ I had to work towards it, the same is true for you. You must evolve.
Evolving
Remember, you don’t just become a healthy, fit, well-adjusted, confident, successful person overnight. You take one goal at a time, and you challenge yourself every week, without over extending yourself. You do what’s reasonable for you. What’s reasonable for me is not necessarily what’s reasonable for you. I have different time commitments, and different challenges. But if you commit to get a little better every week, you can accomplish whatever you really want to. One thing at a time, one week at a time; I like to say, you can do anything, but not everything.
So begin right now, challenge yourself this week, reduce your television or social media time, make one important change to your diet, workout for 10 minutes every day this week, don’t pop the rubber band, and in time, you will astound even yourself.
Here's to you and your lasting successful changes.
Remember if you want something different, then you have to do something that you've never done before.
Cheers!
So you want to make a change…
Here’s what usually happens when we want to change: let’s say the goal is to lose weight and get fit, my favorite example. Why do people struggle? It’s not because they’re lazy, or unmotivated, they struggle because they lack the critical element to success. That critical element is ¨balance;¨ let me explain.
In order to make progress, that is, to go from where you are to where you desire to be, you have to change; this is self-evident. But "how" we change is the critical piece that is often overlooked. You can’t just ¨change,¨ it’s not that simple, the "how" is the important part.
Imagine your goal is to eat a Paleo diet (one that eats only whole food, fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc., nothing processed or from a package and no gluten, dairy or refined sugars), but you currently consume bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, McDonald's breakfast sandwich. Burger King for lunch, and Taco Bell for dinner.
If you tried to make the change from being a fast foodist to a whole foodist overnight, then you will likely snap your capacity to change rubber band. You may be able to be consistent as a raw foodist for a few days, maybe even a few weeks, but eventually, you will feel the enormity of the task, and you will retreat back into your comfort zone.
So what do you do?
You could make small changes, right, but that won’t work either. Why not?
If you make changes that are too small towards your goal, then you won’t see significant results, and you won’t be motivated to continue, once again, you will retreat back into your comfort zone.
Your changes have to be drastic enough so that you can see the benefits, but not so drastic that it snaps your rubberband. Your goal should always be balance: to do enough so that you’re challenged every week, but not so much that you quit.
Let’s say you want to be more productive. You may consider getting rid of all of your televisions. But once again, if you watch television five hours per day, you may not want to give it up overnight. If you do attempt to give it up overnight, you will likely snap your capacity to change rubberband. Instead, try reducing your television time by one hour over each of the next five months. Allow your rubber band to stretch gently, keeping it intact.
But what do most of us do….we want immediate results, overnight success, we want to go from being at Level 1 (for the past 30 years) to being at Level 10 tomorrow. But you can’t go from eating Burger King everyday all day to eating broccoli everyday all day. That’s too much, too soon, and in all likelihood you will pop your rubber band.
You can only grow, develop, change, and get better at a certain speed. The key is to push the outer limits every week, enhance one more thing, get a little bit better…until it becomes second nature, and eventually you will arrive at your intended destination.
This process will work for any goal, from living a stress-free life, to writing a book.
People always remark to me that my diet is so ¨extreme,¨ they don’t see how they could ever do something like that. But the reality is that my diet has evolved over the past few years, what I eat today, is not what I ate ¨yesterday,¨ I had to work towards it, the same is true for you. You must evolve.
Evolving
Remember, you don’t just become a healthy, fit, well-adjusted, confident, successful person overnight. You take one goal at a time, and you challenge yourself every week, without over extending yourself. You do what’s reasonable for you. What’s reasonable for me is not necessarily what’s reasonable for you. I have different time commitments, and different challenges. But if you commit to get a little better every week, you can accomplish whatever you really want to. One thing at a time, one week at a time; I like to say, you can do anything, but not everything.
So begin right now, challenge yourself this week, reduce your television or social media time, make one important change to your diet, workout for 10 minutes every day this week, don’t pop the rubber band, and in time, you will astound even yourself.
Here's to you and your lasting successful changes.
Remember if you want something different, then you have to do something that you've never done before.
Cheers!
Friday, January 29, 2016
Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten-free, grain free and nut free)
Super Easy and Fast!!!
Of course, working with coconut flour comes with its own set of challenges. What I love about coconut flour is that it’s more affordable than other grain-free flours; it’s so absorbent, a small amount goes a long way. However, it’s also a very tricky ingredient! If you don’t measure the coconut flour correctly, it can affect the results dramatically.
Instead of being dense and chewy like a traditional chocolate chip cookie, this particular recipe yields a much lighter, almost cake-like cookie, similar to a chocolate chip muffin top. It’s simply impossible to create a chewy cookie with coconut flour, without resorting to adding a bunch of other fillers, like starches or nut/seed flours.
Since I prefer to keep my recipes as simple as possible, I’ve decided to embrace the texture that coconut flour provides, and go with the cake-like consistency. My son Dylan said these are his favorite. I hope those of you who enjoy softer cookies will love these too!
—
Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies (Grain/Gluten and Nut-Free)
makes 12 cookies ( so I would suggest to double the recipe)
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (or ghee butter)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 whole eggs
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips - I highly suggest using Ghirardelli Chocolate 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips!!!
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and eggs until a uniform batter is created. The batter will start off a bit runny, but will thicken as the coconut flour starts to absorb the moisture. Add in the chocolate chips, and stir to distribute them evenly.
Bake at 350F for 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
*Note: These cookies can be stored on the counter for a few days, but I found that they get even softer after a few days at room temperature, so they are best stored in the fridge for the longest shelf life.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Gluten Free Coconut Flour Flax Bread
Servings: 8-10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Pre-heat oven at 325 degrees
Ingredients:
½ cup coconut flour
½ cup ground flax seed
¼ cup organic unsweetened shredded coconut
½ teaspoon pink himalayan salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
5 eggs
½ cup coconut oil or ghee butter melted
⅛ coconut water (or regular water if you don’t have)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
⅛ maple syrup (optional)
Directions:
- Mix all the dry ingredients together.
- Combine all the wet ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and beat well. Batter will be thick.
- Optional - Stir in dried cranberries or dark chocolate chips.
- Pour into a greased loaf pan (smaller size) and bake for 35 minutes for a convection oven. 40 minutes with a non-convection oven.
- Cool completely before slicing
Note: The water in the recipe can be replaced with yogurt if you want it to be super moist. I don’t use the yoghurt, as I consume a dairy-free diet. However, I did try it using a coconut based yogurt and it was fantastic.
Happy Baking and Healthy Eating
Flax-Appeal Almond Butter Snack Bites
Servings: 20
Prep Time: 10 minutes
No baking required
Ingredients:
½ cup almond butter
¼ cup honey (manuka preferred)
1 cup large flaked rolled oats
½ cup ground flax seed
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup dark chocolate chips or cranberries (optional)
Directions:
Mix almond butter and honey in medium bowl until blended. Stir in remaining ingredients.
Roll into 20 (1-inch) balls.
Place in container a refrigerator for 30 minutes before consuming.
Happy Baking. Healthy Eating
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