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In keeping with our continuing theme on better self care, welcome to the next installment on the Paleo diet. Today we are going to take a closer look at the foods to keep in your kitchen.
There is a lot of info for you to chew on in 2012 as I embark on my new healthy life. I hope you will come along.
The Wicked White: From Cocaine to Sugar
We are almost powerless when it comes to food, says Robb Wolf, author of The Paleo Solution. “Some do better than others, but the reality is our ancestors never faced the types of foods we pack into our pantries. The sugar, the refined carbs. They are completely new and they are addictive,” he stated.
“We worked with a woman who was, no joke, addicted to crack at one time,” he said. “She overcame that addiction only to succumb to a massive sugar addiction. She started working on her food, and in her own words, she found kicking sugar and refined grains to be much harder than quitting crack.”
He continued, “This may sound preposterous, but the same receptor sites in our brains that respond to heroin and opium–the opiate receptors–are triggered by wheat. This combo is made more powerful when there is sugar present. Junk food is really addictive. You need to plan if you want to succeed.”
Let’s Go Shopping
Anyone who knows me knows that I love shopping, and grocery shopping is no exception. So with Robb’s advice, let’s get started.
The first step toward Paleo living is to stock your kitchen with lots of produce and high-quality protein, as well as some healthy oils, spices, and a few indulgences, that will make the Paleo diet a delicious way of life.
Vegetables and Fruit
When buying produce, Robb recommends focusing mostly on vegetables, with a judicious amount of fruit, especially if your goal is that of fat loss.
Buy organic if possible. “Do not use a lack of organics or a prohibitive price on organics to forgo fruits and vegetables in favor of brown rice or Little Debby Snack Cakes,” he said.
Brown rice, long thought to be a ‘healthy’ grain, is not a health food.
Said Mark Sisson, author of The Primal Blueprint, “If your average unhealthy person were to ask for the top three things to avoid in order to get healthy, I would tell them to stop smoking, to stop drinking their calories–as in soda or juice, and to stop eating grains. Period. Full stop. They really are that bad.”
In order to obtain the fiber you need in your diet, turn to vegetables and fruit.
When buying your produce, Robb advises buying seasonal. “Watermelons are not in season in North America in January,” he emphasized. Seasonal produce is the most nutritious and natural option for you.
Do the best you can. If you have a local farmer’s market, that’s even better. You are guaranteed fresh seasonal offerings at your farmer’s market. You really can’t go wrong with vegetables and fruit. Buy what you love, but avoid starchy foods like potatoes, and eliminate the grains, like corn. Contrary to popular thought, corn is not even a vegetable. It is a grain.
Seafood
Robb recommends sardines, mackerel, pacific salmon; shellfish such as shrimp, mussels and clams, and the delicate white fish that I adore, petrale sole.
When buying seafood, Robb cautioned, “There are mercury bioaccumulation issues with larger species such as tuna and swordfish. Look for smaller, shorter-lived fish because they tend to accumulate far fewer toxins.”
‘Wild’ fish is definitely superior to farm-raised fish. Look for ‘wild’ when you are buying fish. Farm-raised fish is fed a diet of refined grain products, which alters their omega fat ratios.
As with your produce, if you cannot find or afford wild-caught fish, it should not be a deal breaker. This is one of the common arguments that Robb hears when consulting clients.
“Oftentimes people strive to be perfect just so they can ‘fail’ and give up. Don’t do it–don’t complicate this stuff. Tackle the refinements in steps so you do not get overwhelmed,” he said.
Meat & Poultry
Seek leaner cuts of conventional meats, such as London broil, pork loin, lean ground beef, and whole or parts of chicken and turkey, like breast and thighs.
Grass fed meats are a great choice. “This typically refers to beef, bison, and similar grazing animals,” Robb explained. “It should mean that all the critter has eaten is grass and similar nongrain feed. Why does this matter? Because grains make critters fat and sick, just like us,” he continued. “The animals get so sick from eating grains, it’s a race to get them fat enough for slaughter before they die from digestive complications.”
Eggs
Add to your cart some omega-3 enriched eggs. The yolk of the egg, which contains all the fat, is very healthy and provides much-needed vitamin D.
Oils
Olive oil is “a great source of monounsaturated fats and disease-fighting phenolics and antioxidants,” Robb stated. Robb smartly recommends buying two types of olive oil–an inexpensive one for cooking and a second, pricey version for dressing salads. Pacific Sun olive oil is the brand he recommends for your high-end.
Coconut oil. This short-chain saturated fat is perfect for high-temperature cooking. Look in your health food store, or you can order it from tropicaltraditions.com.
Coconut milk can be found in the Asian foods section of your grocery store. Delicious in curries and stews, coconut milk “has potent antimicrobial action and helps to heal irritation in the digestive tract,” Robb stated. I love eating it with fruit.
Herbs & Spices
Be sure to stock up on things that add flavor to all the great healthy foods you’ll be eating. Ginger, basil, cilantro, onions, shallots, garlic, peppers, mint and rosemary are a few things to consider while you’re in the produce section.
In addition, load up on dry spices so you’ll really love the way your food tastes.
Little Indulgences
Because we’re all only human, Robb advises grabbing a few bars of 85 percent dark chocolate, and if you would enjoy a little red wine or a good bottle of Tequila, please do so, in moderation. But don’t forget the limes.
What Belongs In The Trash
Throw away your low-fat granola and your boxes of cereal and cereal bars, energy bars, ‘meal-replacement’ bars.
Even so-called healthy cereals, like oatmeal, or those with wheat or oat or bran, are considered toxic by experts as we learn more about what constitutes a healthy diet for the human animal.
Anything that’s filled with sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, additives, preservatives, chemicals, and things you can’t pronounce should also go in the trash.
Get rid of your pasta, your rice, and your processed foods, and meet me back here next Friday for ideas on how to use your healthy new foods deliciously, as part of the Paleo way of life. I can’t wait for us to get started.
There are many contrasting philosophies when it comes to diet and exercise.
The low-fat, high-carb thinking is a thing of the past, and it’s ineffective. Research proves that a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet is not the answer to looking or feeling good. In addition, our notions about exercise are flawed as well.
There are two great books worth reading that clear up all the nutritional noise and exercise mayhem that’s out there.
The first book is The Paleo Solution, by Robb Wolf. Having grown up in a family full of illness and surgeries due to unhealthy lifestyle choices, Robb was determined to defy the fate of his parents. He got his degree in biochemistry, was a California State Powerlifting Champion, and had become a devout vegetarian.
Robb candidly described another motive behind his vegetarian tendencies in The Paleo Solution: “My move toward vegetarianism carried the ‘prize’ of hippy girls,” he admitted. “Hippy girls who tended to be both vegetarian and pretty hot. I traded in my BBQ grill for a rice steamer and pressure cooker. As a bonus, I scored a host of medical problems.”
Through his own struggle with crippling health problems, Robb achieved nutritional enlightenment. Struggling with high blood pressure, “debilitating” depression, and a myriad of other illnesses by the time he was 26, Robb studied at top macrobiotic institutes and spoke to countless experts in the fields of both Eastern and Western medicine, who could not understand why a normal young man eating a practically ‘perfect’ vegetarian diet of hearty whole grains, beans and tofu, and tons of fresh vegetables, was, quite simply, near death.
At last, Robb abandoned everything he had learned from the best schools and doctors, ditched the government-recommended complex carb meals, and took instead to eating…meat: beef, pork, chicken and fish.
As politically incorrect as it sounds to some people, the bottom line is, the human body needs the protein, fat and nutrients that you get from meat. You will not get what you need from fruit and vegetables alone.
Aside from incorporating meat into his diet, Robb eliminated grains and dairy, and embraced the gluten-free Paleo diet, based on what our ancestors, the hunters and gatherers, ate.
Now in excellent health, Robb, above, coaches athletes at the highest levels of competition and consults with Olympians and world champions in mixed martial arts, triathlon and other sports. He has dedicated his life to educating others on the power of going Paleo.
Mixed martial artist Glen Cordoza is one of Robb’s most vocal advocates. “Like most people that have been sold on the food pyramid or other diets that stress whole grain products, I met the Paleo diet with harsh criticism,” he said. “I questioned everything, and was highly skeptical. I mean, who was this guy telling me that whole wheat and grains are bad for you? It went against everything that I’ve been taught. He told me the benefits that I would receive and suggested that I try it out for a month to see if it worked. I did, and almost immediately I felt like a new man.”
“Now that I have been a student of his for two years, I no longer consider Paleo a diet,” Glen said. “It has become a lifestyle.”
But what if I’m a vegetarian, you may be asking.
Get over it. I converted to vegetarianism once. It lasted seven days and I hated it the whole time. It wasn’t a health decision on my part by the way, it was an ethical dilemma. I just felt it was wrong the way our world abuses and uses innocent animals. I wanted to take a stand against corporate farming. Now I make a statement by supporting companies that have integrity. I buy my meats from intelligent, humane sources, such as U.S. Wellness Meats, where sustainability and biodiversity are maintained.
Look for an upcoming article on lifelong farmer and founder of U.S. Wellness Meats, John Wood. He’s a true visionary.
The Paleo Solution also discusses the importance of exercise–specifically, smart cardio and flexibility–in addition to strength training for muscle mass. And finally, every good girl needs her sleep.
Forrest Griffin, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion said Robb “helped me understand just how critical diet and sleep can be to your overall health and life.”
The second book you must know about is The Primal Blueprint, by Mark Sisson. Mark is founder of MarksDailyApple.com, a health and fitness blog with three million monthly page views.
At age 55, Mark has an amazing body and an incredibly hot 53-year-old wife, Carrie. They practice what they preach, and it shows.
Carrie’s body is not the result of plastic surgery, but rather, what they call Primal Living. She’s given birth to two kids and looks better at age 53 than many teenagers I’ve seen.
Primal Living is basically eating Paleo–it’s a diet rich in fats, high in quality protein, filled with fresh produce, and devoid of the “healthy” grains, which are, in fact, contrary to good health…but this approach allows dairy.
The plan must include sensible exercise, such as some cardiovascular work, weights and yoga…
And again, adequate sleep is key.
“Since we started focusing on Primal Living,” Carrie said, “I feel better and am stronger than any other time in my life.”
Visit BSSTW next Friday as I unearth more about the Paleo Diet and arm you with your first nutrition assignment: grocery shopping, and cleaning out your kitchen. It’s out with the old and in with the new, in 2012.
As part of my New Year’s resolution for better self care, I will be taking a closer look at the Paleo diet. It is not only nutritionally sound, but also proven by evolutionary science.
Our early ancestors were not barraged with heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and other illnesses that plague modern society.
Today we are inundated with diet books, nutritional scams, infomercials and much misinformation. But what I will be investigating is based on the foods that our ancestors ate, and compelling data that has surfaced recently.
Exercise and good nutrition are the ultimate path to good health. Hippocrates said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
If you start this way of eating, you are going to love the way it tastes and the way it makes you feel. You will lose weight and be healthier.
I will break it down and discuss specific foods later, and I’ll be providing resources and recipes, as well as tips for grocery shopping and dining out that will make this form of eating a way of life, and an easy and tasty transition.
Look for it here, in my forthcoming nutrition installments each Friday on Beauty Shall Save the World. Talk to you soon.
Every year when I was a little girl, I would make the same New Year’s Resolution. I’m going to stop biting my nails, I would swear. And every year I failed.
Finally one year, out of the blue, I stopped chewing on my fingernails. It wasn’t a New Year’s triumph–in fact, I didn’t even try to stop–it just happened.
I had reached a point in my life where I was truly happy and content with myself, and I was at peace.
Once in a while I still get stressed out and my nails turn into the nervous painful manifestations that remind me of my childhood.
That’s life, however; I have learned to try to take things one day at a time and manage my emotions, and my work load, more intelligently.
Maybe I’ll never reach a permanent Nail Nirvana, but my point is: it is never too late, or too early, for better self care.
Once you learn to love yourself, and put yourself as a priority, and view yourself with the kind of empathy and importance that you should also be showing to others, everything else will fall into place.
And although I’m quite certain that I will continue to fail at some of my goals, I’ll always persevere. I hope I can inspire you to do the same.
Now without further adieu, here are my New Year’s Resolutions, every one devoted to better self care. Like life itself, they are each a work in progress. Stay tuned to Beauty Shall Save the World for exciting updates in 2012.
It’s a total cliche–and that’s because everyone says this–but my first resolution is regarding diet and exercise.
Get ready to throw away your outdated conventions about nutrition and physical activity, because I am going to reveal a new way of thinking about these two platforms that will blow your mind.
The newest research proves that the healthiest diet is also the one that keeps you looking great–and feeling vital–well into old age. Plus, it can also taste quite yummy. You are going to love it.
I’ll be including ground-breaking evidence that debunks everything you’ve learned about what to eat, plus recipes and grocery shopping techniques that will streamline your life and simplify things, once and for all.
In addition, there’s new data surfacing regarding the types of exercise that are most beneficial, so you can spend less time in the gym, with greater reward.
My second resolution is to quit smoking. Any smoker will tell you that smoking is not glamorous. I wish I had never started.
Not only does smoking destroy your hair, skin, nails, and teeth…it also stinks horribly, costs a fortune, and kills you.
I have tried every smoking cessation technique available–from patches and gum and lozenges, to the hardcore pharmaceutical Chantix–and all with no success.
In fact, every time I relapse, it just gets worse. If you are as addicted to nicotine as I am…if you feel powerless, and like a slave to those cancer sticks, join me as I share the best way to quit smoking. I promise you will not be disappointed. It’s easier, safer, and more affordable than any alternative, and it is guaranteed effective or your money back.
They say that beauty is only skin deep. For some of us, that’s deep enough. Taking care of your skin and getting on a good regime now–no matter what your age–will pay off in the long run. So that brings me to my third resolution of 2012: better, more conscientious skin care.
My career and training has afforded me the luxury of experimenting with the best of the best in skin care products. I’ve routinely used creams that cost $200 an ounce, $300 an ounce, but more expensive is not always better.
I am thankful to know a woman who I consider to be one of the best dermatologists in the world. Her name is Dr. Kathy Fields, and she practices in San Francisco.
She and her business partner Dr. Katie Rodan are both Stanford-educated dermatologists who meet every skincare challenge with the utmost thought, precaution and integrity.
They became famous for their Proactiv solution skincare line made to fight acne. The regime is used by celebrities like Katy Perry, above, as well as Avril Lavigne, Julianne Hough and Justin Bieber, among just a few. These are people who can afford anything but choose Proactiv because it’s effective, gentle, and economical. It works, and it works fast. If you have acneic skin, check out the testimonials for Proactiv solution.
I remember seeing Jessica Simpson’s skin transform in front of my very eyes under the media spotlight when she started using Proactiv. You can hear what Jessica says about Proactiv in this youtube video.
The easy, three-step system is very reasonably priced and convenient. You can order Proactiv right off the television or the internet and have it delivered to your door.
If you have skin problems and can make it to San Francisco for a visit, I recommend Dr. Kathy Fields. If not, stay tuned to Beauty Shall Save the World for updates on the amazing products that Rodan + Fields have created for every skin type and condition.
The best part about Rodan + Fields products, by the way, is that their effectiveness is matched by their affordability, so no matter your budget–or your skin affliction–I guarantee you will get incredible results under the care of a Rodan + Fields product specialist.
I use Rodan + Fields products and love them. I’m always writing about them for this very website, and I found myself recommending them so often to everyone I know that I began offering them for sale here, on BSSTW. For a brief introduction to my dermatologist Kathy Fields, and her partner Katie Rodan, you can watch this 3-minute youtube video.
Anyone interested in bettering their complexion should subscribe to the fact-rich Derm RF, which sends the most entertaining emails regarding smart skin care, written by the doctors and their knowledgeable, compassionate staff. It’s one email list that’s really fun and worthwhile, and it’s free.
My fourth resolution is about dental care. I must admit, I really hate wasting time flossing and I absolutely detest sitting in the hygienist’s chair getting my teeth cleaned.
I get total panic attacks and have horrifying flashbacks of every bad dental experience I’ve ever repressed. Each time I get in one of those chairs, with my mouth agape, I’ll hear the maniacal buzzing of a dentist’s drill and feel helpless and terrified. I can’t stop thinking about Steve Martin in Little Shop of Horrors.
Now I go to Pacific Dental Associates in San Francisco. The highly capable staff attend to my every need with their comprehensive care…which reminds me, I am embarrassingly overdue for a checkup.
Honestly, it’s been a really long time since I’ve been in the dreaded chair. The longer I wait the more anxious I get, and the more ashamed I become.
Because good oral health is so much more than merely cosmetic, you should check out Dear Doctor, an insightful patient education magazine produced by the dental wizards at Pacific Dental, namely Garry A. Rayant, Editor-in-Chief. Subscribe to Dear Doctor online, or simply call 866.429.8188. A one-year subscription is four issues and costs $14.95.
Dear Doctor makes dental care fascinating–even to me–thanks to thought-provoking journalism and exclusive interviews with the likes of NFL legend Jerry Rice in Volume 3, Issue 4, which reports, for example, on sports and dentistry.
The issue talks about the importance of athletic mouthguards, what to do in case of a dental injury such as a chipped or completely knocked out (avulsed) tooth, as well as the health dangers of chewing tobacco, a seemingly omnipresent addiction in the career of professional baseball.
Dear Doctor offers solutions from esteemed experts, such as Jared P. Dempsey, Ph.D.–who has his doctorate in clinical psychology, and whose research focuses on nicotine dependent individuals.
Knowledge is power, and Dear Doctor equips you with the kind of information you need to have for, at the very least, a beautiful smile the rest of your life.
My fifth and final New Year’s resolution? I’m going to stop biting my nails, again.
Please follow my odyssey by subscribing to email updates from BSSTW. Have a Happy New Year everyone, and always remember to be kind to others, and also to yourself…because only beauty shall save the world. Cheers to you in 2012.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Joseph Schmidt is the nicest man you will ever meet, a true gentleman, funny, sweet, and infinitely enamored of chocolate. The doorman at his San Francisco home said that Schmidt regularly still fashions masterpieces for friends and family. “I can hear him up late at night, pounding. He works into the wee hours.”
And in fact Schmidt has worked in chocolate for some 30 years. He gave me a box and a bag filled with his confections, and I was touched. Why does chocolate mean so much to women?
 “I don’t know,” Schmidt told me, “but it makes them happy. And the smart man will keep the woman happy.”
Schmidt and I walked to the Fairmont Hotel and sat in the lobby, looking through album after album of breathtaking chocolate sculptures and art installments of epic detail that he created throughout his career.
There are pictures of chocolate tables, literally: tables nine-foot long, with intricate carving and edible gold leaf, made of solid chocolate…rows of his signature giant chocolate tulips, so vivid and alive with color. Year after year, page upon page of edible Valentine sculptures so amusing, so clever, so imaginative and beautiful, as to be rendered inedible, ironically.
But how does one become the most influential chocolatier in the world?
It’s an interesting story. After a failed petits fors business attempt in 1982 which resulted in 500 pounds of surplus chocolate, Schmidt, who was working as a pastry chef, with then-girlfriend and fellow pastry chef Audry Ryan, made the mistake pay off in a big way when Schmidt began experimenting with the chocolate, creating his signature egg-shaped truffles.
“Some people think I was inspired by women’s breasts, but that’s not the case,” Schmidt told me. “It was the best shape to produce it faster,” he explained.
“We had to figure out what to do with 500 pounds of chocolate,” Schmidt said, “And I found my passion.”
“The truffles were so in-demand that I worked from home 20 hours a day seven days a week” and a company, Joseph Schmidt Confections, was born.
Joseph Schmidt Confections caught the eye of big business and was later acquired by Hershey’s, which discontinued the brand in 2009.
But not before Schmidt graced the TransAmerica Exhibit at Golden Gate Park…the Natural History Museum…Disney…Market Plaza and Pink Gallery in San Francisco…and the Kraft Museum.
Companies like Starbucks and The Nature Company commissioned Schmidt to produce special products for their customers. There is nothing this man cannot create out of chocolate.
Infinitely beautiful and unique visions, like the 13-foot tall rocket filled with teddy bears, and gardens of flowers and baskets of giant tulips and daffodils, with butterflies, all in brilliant color and detail, are captured in countless portfolios.
His consistently awe-inspiring Valentine’s installments featured white chocolate cherubs with dark chocolate wings holding puffed hearts of red, seemingly impossible creations of chocolate.
Schmidt produced seven seasonal lines a year, including chocolate tool sets for Father’s Day and holiday elves and toy soldiers with faces rendered delicately in the delicious stuff.
 His famous chocolate boxes, made to hold more chocolates, came in every conceivable shape. The unforgettable dark chocolate puffed heart-shaped box of 2008 was filled with six decorated heart-shaped molded truffles, making it an outstanding gift for some lucky soul. It made such an impression on me that I had to have one too.
Each project could take “between 20 minutes to three days,” Schmidt said, “but you don’t count the hours when you have passion.”
The variety of the chocolates Schmidt gave me was quite amazing. No two were the same: salted milk chocolate with peanut butter in Schmidt’s classic slicks, stamped with edible gold leaf hearts; Hazelnut layered in between dark bitter Belgian chocolate; White chocolate-capped truffles…each candy uniquely beautiful.
The domed truffles caved into fruity liqueurs of strawberry and cherry and Schmidt’s personal favorite, Grand Marnier. Rum-soaked pineapple dipped in dark, each a joy to experience at the talented hands of Joseph Schmidt.
With each bite I reminisced the years I enjoyed his fabulous Santana Row shop, now a tiny jewelry store.
And, having shifted at this point in his career to training mode, teaching others in the fine art of confectionery, Schmidt reflects like a man with no regrets.
“There’s nothing like beauty. It helps you focus your mind into positive thoughts, away from evil and destructive thoughts,” he said.
“And it doesn’t cost you anything. Some people need other substances to get excited because they need to feel alive. But beauty makes you feel alive.”
Tuesday, November 30, 2010  Everyone talks about fish oil being great for the skin because of the high concentration of omega-3 fatty acids.
And it’s true. A diet rich in omega-3’s is great not only for your skin; but also your brain, joints, heart, bones, immunity, vision and mood.
I noticed a positive difference in my skin when I also incorporated plant-based omegas in the form of flaxseeds, into my diet. Now I take a flaxseed oil supplement. You can get them at Whole Foods.
Flaxseeds are the best plant-derived source of omega-3 fatty acids, and grinding them in a coffee grinder releases the potent yet fragile oil from the dark little seeds.
 Sprinkle them on salads, put them in yogurt or kefir, and start incorporating them into your diet and see if you don’t notice a difference in your skin.
You will feel the natural oils on your skin after a while, as your body absorbs the nutrients and valuable fatty acids. The greatest advantage is that it doesn’t cause you to break out or feel greasy in any way, just softer.
And I’m convinced it’s the combination of omegas in the form of fish oil and its vegetarian counterpart that makes my skin so soft and moist, pliable and glowey.
Now is the best time to start as the drying winter approaches. It doesn’t matter if you have acneic skin. Trust me, you will not break out!
Try to get two tablespoons of ground flaxseed a day, or simply add into your diet a flaxseed oil supplement (with lignans, if possible), like I do, and watch your skin gain a newfound glow and suppleness.
 Some good brands are Spectrum (cold-pressed, and with lignans) and the all-natural Rainbow Light, the first food-based vitamin company, established more than 25 years ago.
Try Rainbow Light’s Everyone’s Omega, which is a combination of organic flax oil and eco-harvested fish oil (from sardine and anchovy).
Rainbow Light cleverly incorporates lemon essential oil into these nutritious nuggets for a more pleasant experience. One softgel is equivalent to two fish servings per week.
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