FOOD

Most of us love to eat. We all have tastes and textures that we just can't get enough of. Over my years of working with people trying to change their bodies and their lives, I have seen a strange relationship between people and food evolve.

In an effort to "control" their weight, food becomes the enemy. Something to be managed, stressed over and scary. Certain foods (often labeled "binge foods') become barred from the house and they become invested with such power that they are like "the boogie man" of our childhood fears.

I remember one client had this relationship with french fries. Others have it with peanut butter or with candy etc. Even if you don't have one food that you tend to be a little strange with, you may have other types of emotional eating issues. I know very few adults who do not have any kind of emotional attachment to food.

How do we strip our groceries of "power"? How do we turn this strange cycle around? Most people know exactly what they should be eating but the problem seems to be finding the way around these emotional land mines.

I have learned that the path that seems to work the best is one that leads people away from "dieting". Food needs to be celebrated and redefined. Food needs to be something you love and relish and enjoy again.

If you "diet" all day and strip all the joy out of your meals, at night, after all you do for the rest of the world, you are going to want a "reward". You will find that "forbidden fruit" impossible to resist.

How did I handle my client with the french fry obsession ? I told her I wanted her fridge FILLED with french fries. I made her promise me to eat french fries at every meal. We made huge changes as I explained all the healthy foods that she had to try to fit into her day. (The healthiest diet is based on diversity and every color of vegetable needs to be a part of our diet along with lean meats, fruits,nuts and seeds which ends up being a lot of food !).

Whatever your favorite food, there is likely a way to work it into your daily life in a way that is healthy and that can make it no longer "taboo" which is a far healthier emotional place for it to be.

Some foods (like french fries) are so unhealthy that first you need to find a way to improve them before you work them into your diet. This is easily done by possibly using sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes and then working on a healthy oil or even possibly baking them. Other foods that are pretty healthy already just need to be put into your diet in a way that makes sense and helps balance out your eating as a whole. There are many ways of doing this. If you have specific questions or need ideas, you can consult a dietitian, find great recipes on the Internet or even email me !!!!

The important thing is to stop "dieting" and take the fear/power out of food. Find the joy again in what you are eating and start to look at fueling your body like a fun puzzle. How will you fit all those great foods into your day? How will you ever be able to EAT all that food ?

I am going to start blogging some cool ways that I am helping specific people tackle these issues. I will also share some really great and pretty easy ways to make healthy food truly delicious.

Be well !!!!

Story von Holzhausen

human contact

This is a magical time of year. It is also a stressful and sometimes lonely time of year. As we move forward in the age of technology and "delivery" of anything and everything, we leave our houses less. We step outside our comfort zone less often. Here is NYC you can be cramped in a train full of people and be completely alone. All of us with our ear buds/ I-phones/crossword puzzles/smart phones/kindles, stand isolated in a crowd of people. Many studies have also shown that our brains stay healthy and young by changing our daily patterns.

I spend my first year teaching in NYC literally morning, noon and night and had no friends. I had a "cult following" and was so lonely. I know on some levels everyone can relate to that. It seems much more common in a big city to be lonely than a small town. We rarely have "old friends" who live here and if we do, they may very well be in a different phase of life than we are.

There have been small towns where people live much longer than normal. These towns have been studied and one factor that seems to be within these communities there is a strong sense of well, community. People are connected to each other and have daily interactions.

If you do not have co-workers like many people who do one on one work or own their own businesses, you spend most of your time alone or with people that it would be unprofessional to spend time with socially. Many stay at home parents or out of work individuals also suffer the effects of isolation. Sometimes, being a "new Mom" can be the most isolating thing to happen to a person. There are so many scenarios that can potentially lead a person to feeling "alone".

How do we create this sense of "community" in our lives? In this world of electronic intervention, how do we stay connected? I have been pondering this and have some ideas.( I would love to hear some of your ideas too):

1) Join a place of worship (there are places that don't follow any religious dogma but are open to whatever your beliefs are.

2) Learn a new sport (there are clubs for fencing, running, boxing, martial arts etc. and you can meet an amazing array of people there)

3) Take a class to learn Chess/bridge/a new language etc. Not only is this good for your brain but it is also really good for YOU.

4) Change the timing of your day and see what new people you meet.

5) Throw a party and have everyone you know bring 2 friends you don't know.

6) Volunteer.

7) Go to a dog run (even if you don't have a dog, you can always do some research to figure out if you want a dog or what kind of dog would be a good fit).

8) Tag along with a friend through their day. Anything outside of your norm leads to all new possibilities of interaction.

9) Go to a neighborhood you have never been and sit in a small coffee shop and be friendly to the people there.

10) Unplug. Look around you. If you think something (like how nice that sweater is on the person is next to you, SAY it). When you "make someone's day", you make your own. We all have amazing power to create joy all around us.

11) Do good. Look for ways to do this. It may be a stranger or it may be someone you already know very well.

12) Listen to your mother. Ask her what she did when she was younger. You may get some ideas.

Story von Holzhausen

steel cut oats

I hope everyone had a great holiday and you are all looking forward to the rest of the season. I wanted to take a minute and give some really basic info on some ideas for healthy and stress free eating and to answer some questions that some of you have asked.

Lauren asked about freezing Steel Cut Oats. They are actually really easy to freeze. They are slow to cook and can be "started" by soaking them overnight before you even begin the boiling process. I have some really big containers and just leave one on the counter overnight with the lid off to thaw it out for use the next day.

Steel cut oats are so filling and they can be prepared as a sweet or a savory. Kurt adds some really funky things to his that I am going to share as these ideas will keep you full and add a ton of nutrients and antioxidants. I suggest changing it up so you do not get "sick" of steel cut oats.

Kurt is not eating Dairy and I buy Organic unsweetened (this is VERY important as milk contains lactose which is a natural sugar and most almond/soy/hemp/rice milks have added sugar unless you are buying ones that state "unsweetened") Almond or Hemp milk with calcium and vitamin D if I can find it. I use organic skim milk for myself and kids. The sundry list of "toppings":

Sweet steel cut oats

1)Cinnamon (great for blood sugar and metabolism)

2)raw coconut flakes (natural fats keep you full/antioxidants)

3)cocoa nibs (antioxidants)

4)ground flax seeds (yummy nutty flavor with Omega-3s)

5)ground hemp seed (" " some protein too)

6)nuts (huge benefits that we are just starting to learn about such as brain and anticancer powers)

7) bananas (potassium and other nutrients)

8) raw sunflower/pumpkin seeds

9) berries or fruit of any kind.

10) Stevia sweetener

11) honey/maple syrup or agave

12) real vanilla extract

13) nutmeg

Savory steel cut oats (something akin to grits)

1) veggies

2) olive/hemp oil

3) garlic

4) turmeric/chili powder/Tabasco

5) tomato puree or salsa

6) lean proteins in a slices or cubes

7) grated cheese

8) avocado

9) Hummus or Tahiti swirled in

10) fresh or freeze dried herbs

Thanksgiving

Yesterday I had everyone focus on gratitude. We all know we should do this more often. The things we have in our lives that we barely "see" anymore they are so familiar are exactly the ones that deserve our gratitude the most.

What I ask of you now is different from the usual. I want you to take a deep breath and with great courage, look at the parts of yourself that you are the most ashamed of. The parts you cringe at if forced to contemplate.

Hopefully we are on a never ending journey to be better people. To grow and evolve. Learning to let go of fear, jealousy, judgement and hate (towards others and towards our "selves"). To free ourselves up for all the beauty of our potential. This year I want you to stand on that "road" that can seem so long and overwhelming. I want you to turn around and see how far you have come. I want you to be grateful for even one step you have had the courage to make on the road towards evolving in to who you might be. If you think and remember, you may just be surprised at how far you have come. Let yourself be inspired and fortified to endure on your path. That journey, however slow your pace, is the true measure of who you are.

Homecoming

I have always loved the word "homecoming". I love the Fall season and the smell and sound of leaves crunching under my feet. Growing up in the extreme north, Fall is crisp and vibrant. The smell of apples and leaves transports me home. The memories of football games, floats and cider still make me giddy even after all these years.

This is a season that we, as humans ,begin our preparations for the winter. We crave hearty food and comfort. Some of us dread the coming winter and some of us love every second of the string of holidays that are underway.

This year is interesting for my family since Kurt is eating "raw" and our menus are so radically different than normal. We have always eaten very healthy food. I have come to realize that people crave and love the food that they eat the most. I see this is my children most of all. If kids have always eaten healthy, they love and want healthy food. The very same thing is true about us.

After cooking fish at lower temperatures and for less time, when I see the salmon I used to eat at my local deli, it looks awful to me. It appears shriveled and burned. My "norm" has been shifted. Many times over the years I have noticed this amazing phenomenon. We get to choose what our "normal" is. That is a pretty cool thing.

When I am teaching a lot (which over the years I have taught up to 5 classes a day), doing 3 spin classes a day is no big deal. Earlier this year when I was pregnant, I would remember my "younger years" of training and be shocked that I could ever have run 10 miles in a stretch and teach all those classes. Training at that level seemed impossible and I was sure that now, being 42, I could never do that.

Just a few months later (not being pregnant anymore), I am back to that amount of activity level. It was a slow increase and I hardly noticed until I thought about it. The more we do the more energy we have. I am amazed that at 43 I can run 10 miles no problem and teach 3 classes a day and not blink an eye. My "norm" was simply recalibrated.

When it comes to what we feed our bodies, we do the very same thing. After these last few months of experimentation and exploration, I have come to believe certain things about food. Having studied nutrition in college and having many of the "facts" I learned later proven to be false, I do not think we know very much about the food we eat. The idea of flavanoids, photochemicals and enzymes being present in food is just beginning to be discovered. Many people (doctors, nutritionist and holistic health practitioners) sound pretty out there with their philosophies on food science.

One of my best friends is a very talented and quite famous dietician. She helps people find practical ways to eat healthier. Her clients feel better and lose weight. She can take your take out menus and shopping lists and work wonders. Sharon knows about brands and products you don't even know existed that can help make your life easier and get you to your target weight with ease.

The average person knows very little about the science behind food. For those of us on the other side of "normal", we are a different beast completely. One of my students is so "food phobic" that she eats almost nothing. She could scare you off of eating almost anything with tales of chemicals, pesticides, mercury etc. There is actually a new "eating disorder" that is classified as being overly aware and obsessed with healthy eating.

Somewhere between the "average American" and the "health nut", there is a balance. I believe that we need to take more responsibility for our food. We have gotten very lazy and lost many skills that our grandparents had.

We can re-set our idea of "normal". Even the busiest person has time to feed themselves an their family well. It is not so hard to cook our own food. Once we get into the habit, it actually is no big deal. With a little creativity and a freezer, you can actually work LESS.

I am going to tell you what I believe to be true about food. This is a blog. My blog to be specific. Although I have done extensive reading, research and experimentation and truly believe these truths, I am not going to explain all the reasons behind them. It would simply take too long and I am not sure that anyone cares of would be able to follow the science without a background in food science:

1) Our bodies have a Ph. When that Ph balance is off, all kinds of problems arise including yeast, energy and health problems. When we eat more plant based foods in their natural/raw state and less meat products and processed food, we help keep a healthy Ph.

How do you do this? Here are some very easy ways:

a) Cook a huge pot of steel cut oats over the weekend. Freeze some and keep the rest in the fridge to be eaten for breakfast and even as a snack or dessert. Flavor it with nuts, stevia ,cinnamon, crushed flax seed etc.

b) Eat salads. Be brave and creative with what you can eat raw. Bok Choy, sprouts of every kind, grated purple cabbage, raw pumpkin and sunflower seeds, berries, pomogranite seeds. Almost any fruit or vegetable can find it's way into a salad and add really great texture and flavor.

c) Bring food with you. Don't get stuck starving with no options. Toss an apple in your bag. I have been making an AMAZINGLY yummy "trail mix" lately that is super easy to make:

1) Bare Fruit freeze dried cinnamon apples

2) raw almonds

3) raw unsweetened coconut flakes

This mixture is beyond yummy and has great texture and really satisfies you.

2) We crave sugar and salt the more sugar and salt we eat. This is what companies know and use to get us addicted to junk food. I tell my students and clients, if you can't "pick it or catch it" don't eat it. After a few days of real food, you will be amazed at just how salty that can of soup tastes and how grossly sweet that salad dressing is.

3) Eat when you are hungry. So many people are obsessed with WHEN they will eat certain foods. Our bodies are very wise. They will guide us very well if we start to listen. Children eat more one day, less the next based on their activity level. We get used to our portion sizes. If we start to be open to the fact that sometimes we are really hungry, sometimes we are not, we will eat what our bodies need. There is a lot of research that shows that our metabolisms respond well to a varied caloric load. It is a bit like interval training. I call it "interval eating". If you eat a diet of 1200 a day, your body will turn down it's metabolism to survive on that diet.

4) Get over your fear of fat. Plant/fish fat is really good for you. Fat keeps your brain and skin healthy. It keeps you full and makes the food you eat really satisfying.

5) Cooking at high temps and for long periods of time, chemically alters food. Food that is brown/carmalized is cancer causing, will age you and has lost a lot of what we are eating the food for. Cook your fish below 325 and take it out when it is just flaking. Keep your vegetables vibrant in color and still crunchy.

6) There are a lot of chemicals on our produce. I will spare you the scary numbers but will tell you that there can be up to 20 different chemicals sprayed on your food. The FDA studies each one separately but has never studied how they may interact with each other. That being said, organic food is expensive. When we buy organic, we "vote" that organic practices are important to us. We send the message to farmers that we want them to be more ethical in their treatment of animals (watch the documentary "Food Inc" and you will NEVER buy anything but organic again). I buy only organic dairy products. ESPECIALLY for my children. Girls are getting their periods so young these days and many experts believe it is from hormones and chemicals in our food. For food like broccoli that I don't peel and that has a a porous surface I buy only organic. I also buy organic pears and apples since we eat a LOT of them. The foods, I will buy that are not organic are foods that have a thick skin like melon, bananas, citrus, kiwis etc.

There is a lot more to share and I promise to be better about blogging. Please reach out to me and let me know your thoughts and questions.

Story von Holzhausen

"The Lever" on you tube

I have posted "The Lever" on You Tube. There are 3 segments. The first is the tutorial. This is the most important. If you (even if you are advanced) do this only a few times, you will have great form and it will target and work on your entire lower body and core. The second segment is workshop and the third is Full Moon Cycle.

I invite all of you to really study this move. Understanding and getting this right will move you forward in your practice of Liquid Strength. I cannot say enough how beneficial this could be for everyone. I would love to hear from all of you as to your progress. This is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xJZ_geVeHI&playnext=1&videos=IaXEJeoJY7E&feature=mfu_in_o

getting our groove back

I love this time of year. It is room temperature outside and you don't sweat all day after you train. Running, cycling and walking outside allows you to see the beauty of the change of season and smell the leaves as they crunch under your feet.

Kurt is hanging in there with his mostly raw diet. At first it sounded so daunting but now that he is in the habit of packing his breakfasts, it feels effortless. So much of our behavior is just that, habit. We have the choice of what our habits are. Making those changes are not easy. The first day (or 3) are pretty darn hard. Especially if we think/make it hard. I have found that the 'lighter" I keep the choices :"I think I am going to just brush my teeth and go read now", around the time I am considering diving head first into the candy bowl, the easier they are. Our vices will be there tomorrow, but today we can just say "nah, think I'll pass".

Kurt loves and knows a lot about wine. He really enjoys drinking it and tasting it. He has begun to explore herbal teas at night and getting into that and now that is his habit. I have been buying actually leaves and twigs and roots and we boil it into a tincture. It's actually pretty fun !

Our classes have gotten very advanced and I find myself back in my creative mode and I love that. All of you are at a level now that there is a freedom in our classes that anything I can throw out at you, you are open and able to do.

Adding in the varied times, a lot more people are able to get to classes and the core group of Liquid Strength is growing. That is very exciting. I am trying to get together a "study group" of people to test drive my DVD while I watch so I can see what kind of graphics I need to add so that people will be able to do it.

The DVD will be released shortly. I am not very good at the "business" end of all this so I am trying to grow and learn become better......

Story von Holzhausen