So how do we create a healthy habit? First things first – HONESTY!

Many of us are not actually doing the things we “think” we are doing. Are you perpetuating a vicious cycle of chronic self-talk, make-believe OR living with lifelong unconscious patterns of deceit? Let me explain – in essence, many of us are NOT actually doing the things that we are telling others we are doing.  An example of this would be “I eat healthy.” Although we may THINK we eat healthy, it is easy to conveniently forget the times when this is not so. In other words, the truth would be better stated by the following dialogue,

“I eat healthy except when I go out to eat and have a steak, except on holidays, except when I am invited to a friend’s house, except for Saturdays, except for the ice-cream, except for the occasional snack at work, etc.”

Are you one of those people who are convincing yourself and your loved ones that you are making more healthy choices than unhealthy ones? So the first step is getting honest about how many unhealthy habits you are really doing.

The second step in embarking on this new dietary plan is to take responsibility for your current state of health and bring simple AWARENESS to all your actions without passing judgment. You have to know where you are in order to get to where you want to go. For example, we need to bring into awareness that eating dead and decaying flesh is not in our best interests and most certainly is NOT is the best interests of the animals who have sacrificed their lives.

The third step is to write down your goals (business, personal, financial, spiritual, etc.) and answer the “what, why, when, and how.” By understanding and bringing clarity to your goals, you will come to recognize that there is a common denominator – YOU NEED YOUR HEALTH TO ACCOMPLISH YOUR GOALS!

With this knowledge, your health becomes your top priority – your most precious asset. I often see too many people fail due to a lack of commitment to this particular step. I believe, that without this process, you will never get what you want. Simply put, you can’t have what you want if you do not know what it is that you want.  

The fourth step is habituation of mind. Our mind learns new habits through repetition. Therefore, we need to create new self-talk that the mind/body can actually create. Every morning write down your goals as formulated in step three in order to allow your thoughts to move from the non-local to the local, from the ether of thought to the material, and finally from the un-manifested to the manifest.

The fifth and last step is habituation of action. It is time to awaken from your past programming of the subconscious, from cultural indoctrination (EAT YOUR MEAT!) and all the self-defeating thoughts from the past. This step is about starting and not stopping. This step is about respecting yourself, your wishes and goals. By taking action you will begin to change. Avoid the wise definition of insanity which states the following: doing the same thing and expecting a different result. If you become overwhelmed, remember that you do not need to know HOW to get there, you simply must take action in the right direction. It is not about perfection – it is about progress.

We all wish you luck on this journey – remember, your thoughts create your feelings which direct your actions which will manifest your RESULTS. Use the resources, people, and events during the month of March to transform your life away from illness and towards optimal health and wellbeing through the use of a whole foods plant based diet!

Join us for a special LIVE WEBINAR on Thursday, March 6, 2014 hosted by Executive Director of The Girls Gone Green and No Meat March organizer, Julie Watkins.

Don't miss your chance to hear how you can get the most out of your No Meat March journey! All you need in order to attend this session is a computer or tablet and a quiet spot. The presentation is absolutely FREE, but space is limited so sign up quickly.

The webinar is not open to the public, but if you think a friend or family member would benefit from the information, then by all means share this blog! Julie will save some time at the end of the webinar to answer any of your No Meat March and beyond questions.

Julie will cover 4 main ways to have a successful No Meat March which will be broken into these topics:

• 5 Foods You Should Definitely Eat
• 5 Bad Habits to Avoid
• 5 Ways to Succeed in the Challenge
• 5 Results You Can Get Excited About.

They will all be presented in a fun, yet informative way that will help you have a super successful No Meat March challenge.

WHEN
Thursday, March 06, 2014
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Eastern Time (Add to Calendar) 

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Julie Watkins is Founder and Executive Director of The Girls Gone Green - a nonprofit dedicated to environmental, animal and health issues. Her organization hosts the annual events Northeast Florida Veg Fest in November and No Meat March in March. Both of these events promote a healthy lifestyle by providing various resources and information to the community. A recent campaign called Hang Up the Foam works to rid beach restaurants of the hazardous Styrofoam to-go containers and switch them out for more eco-friendly alternatives. When not working on events and campaigns, Julie Watkins is a meteorologist at Action News Jacksonville CBS47 and FOX30. She credits her meteorology background for her love and dedication to protecting the environment and its biodiversity.

Thanks in part to a certain famous firefighter, a lot of people have been exposed in the last year or two to the “plant-based diet.” Maybe some of you have tried it or thought about trying it. Maybe you even bought that red and yellow cookbook. But, you know, your friends looked at you funny when you mentioned it, your ever-helpful relatives sent along a box of steaks for the holidays, and it just kind of didn’t happen. Or maybe you’ve just seen all this new stuff at the grocery store and wondered, “Who eats that?” “Does it taste good?” “Is eating that way really healthier?”

Well, starting on March 1, you’ll have the opportunity to get all of your questions answered, your curiosity satisfied, and your efforts rewarded by more support and positive reinforcement than you know what to do with!

That’s because every March is also known as “No Meat March,” a whole month set aside to try out a plant-based diet for yourself. Originally a local initiative started by The Girls Gone Green, an organization based out of Jacksonville, Florida, dedicated to “exploring environmental, animal and health issues,” the effort has since spread far and wide, even to other countries!

So here’s how it works:

1) Go to the No Meat March website

2) Click on the “Take the Challenge” tab

3) Pledge to not eat meat for the entire month, or even add in dairy and eggs

4) If you’re on Facebook, “like” the No Meat March page (Trust us, this is key.)

That’s it; just a few mouse clicks…so easy! And here’s what you’ll get out of signing up:

1) Daily emails full of info, tips, recipes, support, event announcements and more (“Daily” might sound like a lot, but you’ll quickly realize that you look forward to them, if for no other reason than that when you see the “No Meat March, Day X” title, you really feel great about sticking with something for that many days.)

3) Invitations to different events throughout the month: speaking events where you’ll hear from experts, demos, fundraisers, potlucks, field trips, good old parties and more (Seriously, there are so many! Keeping track of all the invites is just one of the reasons connecting on Facebook is a good idea.)

4) A community of people ready, willing and able to support you (This is another great reason to connect on Facebook: share your successes and challenges, get answers to your questions, find support from like-minded people no matter what your reason for taking the challenge.)

5) Better health and healthier habits (If nothing else, really thinking about the food you’re eating for a month might provide the impetus for making some healthy changes. Maybe you’ll find you didn’t realize just how much you snack or how big today’s meat portions have gotten. You never know until you try. One thing’s for sure though: You will feel better by the end of the month. The first thing most people taking the challenge report is that they feel less sluggish and have more energy. Hey, that alone is worth 31 days, right?)

First up in this exciting challenge is the No Meat March kickoff event on February 28. This is really going to be a great time. There will be an animal product-free dinner at 6 p.m. at Latitude 30 in Jacksonville for those who purchase VIP tickets. That will be followed by a screening of Unsupersize Me (click to watch trailer), which will be followed by a Q&A with two experts in the fields of health and fitness. We’ve got the details below, but to purchase your ticket (either VIP or just movie/Q&A), go to the No Meat March event page.

Of course, there’s a lot more we could say about No Meat March, but there’s nothing like having the experience yourself.

And we here at The Organic Adventurer will be right there with you the whole time. We’ll be doing a series of No Meat March-related posts, answering reader and client questions, from now through the end of March, so comment with your questions, stories, suggestions, recommendations or whatever else you’ve got, or use the contact form to send your thoughts directly.

If you’re ready to take the challenge, we can help! Your custom consultation can include nutrition issues, eating-out guidance, meat-free cooking at home (How about a private lesson or a small-group demo with friends?), reading labels, shopping…we’ll even go to the store with you (in person if you’re local or via phone if you’re not); you don’t have to make that maiden meat-free shopping voyage alone!

Finally, whether you’re ready to ditch the animal products entirely or not, there’s a lot you can do for your health and the health of the planet. Use the contact page to schedule your consultation today. (Remember: We also do mini-, one-question consultations!)

Happy No Meat Marching!

My name is Heather and along with my husband Lee, we have been on a plant-based diet since August 2011. Our journey began as we tried to lower Lee’s ever-rising cholesterol. It had always been well into the 200’s during our twenties and we were frustrated when extreme exercise did not help in a significant way. By our mid-thirties, Lee’s total cholesterol was 311 and his triglycerides were 305. He wasn’t overweight and was very physically active, so needless to say we were stumped.  Adamantly opposed to medicine, we searched for other ways to lower Lee’s cholesterol.

After a few internet searches, I learned that our liver makes all the cholesterol we need and dietary cholesterol, found in food, can increase total blood cholesterol levels.  It turns out that plant food contains no cholesterol and all animal foods have some amount of cholesterol. I stumbled upon the community of researchers and clinicians that provided the data to support the benefit a whole foods, plant- based diet can have on our health. I never thought that veganism would be necessary, or a reason to switch would be for one other than animal ethics. However, my husband and I were on board for what we thought would be a 6 week experiment. 

After six weeks, my 5’10” husband went from 170 pounds to 155 pounds, and his total cholesterol went from 311 to 232, and triglycerides from 305 to 103. A year later he was down closer to 200 and has maintained the same weight. After 1.5 years, my total cholesterol also improved from 233 to 179! We are obviously a work in progress, however forever changed by what we have learned in such a short amount of time. We are also so grateful to have found out about the significance of a plant-based diet before we became a statistic. No more waiting for the other shoe to drop or worrying if our genetics have any say in our health! 

One of the more difficult aspects of transitioning to a plant-based diet is finding places to eat!  In a partnership with The Girls Gone Green, VegHealthyJax is a community initiative that was created to make it possible and convenient to eat healthy while dining out in Northeast Florida. We were awarded a $1,000 grant from the Pollination Project towards promotional efforts to help market the local restaurants that agree to offer healthy, plant-based meals. If you are interested in being an active member of this initiative, please join VegHealthyJax on www.meetup.com. 

As you may have seen in previous No Meat March emails, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is a Washington D.C.-based non-profit that promotes preventative medicine, especially through good nutrition. Food for Life is a PCRM program that offers cancer, diabetes, weight management, and kids classes that focus on the lifesaving effects of healthful eating. Each class includes information about how certain foods and nutrients work to promote health, along with cooking demonstrations of simple and nutritious recipes that can be recreated easily at home. There are over 100 Food For Life instructors across the U.S. and I’m very excited to have been chosen as the instructor for the Jacksonville, FL area. You can keep up with future classes on Facebook by liking ‘Food for Life Jax’ and can check out my bio here. 

Being an advocate for all things green and leafy is a new thing for me!  I was born and raised in Wisconsin, land of all things cheese, and grew up eating the Standard American Diet (or S.A.D.) as did all of my friends.  I subsisted on diet soda, candy, processed snack foods and desserts, fast food, dairy in all its forms, and meat at least twice a day.  Not surprisingly, I was overweight/obese my entire life.  I haven’t eaten land animals in over 12 years but I continued to eat cheese and small amounts of dairy.  In fact, when I removed the meat from my plate I replaced it with cheese!  I learned firsthand that vegetarian fare isn’t necessarily healthy.  

I have been with Whole Foods Market for 6 years now, and I am amazed at all I have learned about healthy eating.  When I started I was working as the cake decorator, my sweet tooth took over as I rode the roller coaster of sugar addiction tasting my way through the pastry case.  I rationalized: “how can I sell these cakes, cookies, pastries and breads to customers if I haven’t tried them?”  You may not be surprised to hear that I gained 30 pounds in 6 short months of eating this way.  When I moved to Jacksonville in 2008 to help open the store and joined the marketing team, I swapped cheesecake for fresh strawberries and I haven’t looked back since.  

I have been maintaining a 65+ pound weight loss for four years and counting, and I am happy at a “normal” weight without counting calories or stressing over every bite.  I went from a bona-fide couch potato that dreaded having to run laps in gym class to completing a couch-to-5K program in 2009.  I have so much more energy eating healthy that I have continued running – I finished 3 marathons and 6 half marathons to date – and I love how I feel.  

What worked for me was the concept of baby steps: I would take a healthy eating nugget that I learned at work and incorporate it into my life.  After a few days I felt a difference in my energy level, my quality of sleep, and my mood.  My skin became clearer, and my hair and nails became stronger.  These changes motivated me to keep it up and to try more and more positive habits.  The number one most important change I made to my way of eating was to enjoy fresh fruit instead of processed sweets, and learning how to make ice cream at home using bananas changed my life – really!  Here is a decadent, vegan, super easy recipe for Banana Nice Cream: http://wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/banana-nice-cream, and a creamy-tart Raspberry Nice Cream: http://wholefoodsmarket.com/recipe/raspberry-nice-cream.  Get your blender motors revving!

As the Healthy Eating Specialist for Whole Foods Market – Jacksonville, I am honored to play a role in changing the way my fellow Team Members and customers eat.  I truly believe that the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach (sharing tasty and satisfying food), and healthy plant-strong meals are the most direct path to a longer and more joyful life.  We have the power to increase our quality of life and our health through what we choose to put on our plate.  The more colorful the food, the better!  Remember that old saying, “eat the colors of the rainbow every day”?  Plants are where all the good stuff is – the micronutrients – vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidants.  In fact, Plant-Strong is one of the four pillars of healthy eating in Whole Foods Market’s healthy eating education program: Whole Foods, Plant-Strong, Healthy Fats, and Nutrient Dense.  

You can learn more about Health Starts Here, and of course enjoy healthy vegan recipes, by signing up for events at the store: cooking classes, supper clubs, store tours, 28-day challenges, individual consultations, and more!  Visit our online calendar of events at: http://wholefoodsmarket.com/events?store=6583 for details.

You have a lot to be proud of!  Take a moment to reflect on the positive changes you are experiencing as you choose to eat plant-strong, and pat yourself on the back for making healthier choices.  My hope is that this experience is the beginning of a new way of life for you.  Good nutrition is the foundation of your health, and it’s truly amazing what your body can do when you choose to enjoy whole, nutrient dense foods.  Keep up the great work, and I hope to see you at healthy eating events at Whole Foods Market!

Heather Olsen is the Healthy Eating & Green Mission Specialist for Whole Foods Market – Jacksonville, and is a Certified Holistic Health Coach.  

Heather facilitates cooking classes, store tours, recipe demonstrations, 28-day challenges, and presentations for groups of all ages, and in addition provides healthy eating consultations to individuals.   

Heather has worked for Whole Foods Market for 6 years and she enjoys educating others about the company’s Core Values, in particular healthy eating education and caring about our communities and environment.  

As a mom, I can relate to the challenges of feeding kids. They can be so particular and finicky! As a vegan mom, I can share some tips for getting healthy foods into your child. First and foremost - smoothies! Oh smoothies are a mom's best friend. Kids love 'em. I start with bananas as the base, adding strawberry and blueberry usually. Here is where you get creative -- I throw in avocados, frozen broccoli, almond butter, kale, chia seeds, and filtered water or almond milk -- depending on what concoction I'm going for. Boom, there you have a few servings of fruits and veggies in one glass.

            "Smoothies are a mom's best friend. Kids love 'em."

My son is a huge fan of oatmeal. He pretty much requests it every day. Cooking old fashioned rolled oats is so much easier than you might imagine. I put a cup of oats in a pot with three cups of water -- the good ole 1 to 3 ratio. It boils for about 3-5 minutes, while stirring so it doesn't stick. Then I turn down the temperature to low and let the oats absorb the water. I toss in a cut up banana, a small handful of dried cranberries, sliced almonds/ walnut pieces, and a couple splashes of pure maple syrup. Voila: a warm filling start to the day.

Lunch is usually very simple. My son loves peanut butter and jelly or almond butter and jelly on whole wheat bread, kale chips, apple slices, hummus and chips. We often eat leftovers for lunch, and sometimes we get creative. The other day, we hadn't made our trip to the grocery store, so I perused the pantry to see what I could throw together. I made some organic alphabet pasta, and whipped up a cashew/nutritional yeast cream sauce (something similar to this: Vegan Mac and No Cheese) - from the heart, with no recipe. I added some edamame and basil, and we had a delicious lunch. 

Another favorite around our house is "quesadillas" minus the cheese. We make black bean and sweet potato quesadillas on the regular. Serve with guacamole, and you've got a pretty balanced nutritious meal. Smoky white bean quesadillas (vegweb.com) are a hit as well, and another way to sneak in some spinach and tomatoes. We eat butternut squash ravioli a lot, too. You can find these in the frozen section at Native Sun and Whole Foods. We almost always make a big delicious salad with green lettuce, carrots, cucumber, cranberries, and nuts. As long as my son gets a bite with cranberries, he loves salad! Ok, love might be a strong word there. Black bean burgers, lentil soup, falafel, and pesto pasta all make weekly appearances on our dinner table, as well. 

Juicing your own fruits and veggies and making kale chips are fabulous ways to add greens and nutrients to your child's diet, too. Many children instinctively do not like meat. If you offer them delicious alternatives and not fried convenience foods, they will quickly come to love and request these healthy options. Check out vegfamily.com and lunchboxbunch.com for more information and recipes. Enjoy!