ASK MIKE...IS EATING RIGHT WORTH THE MONEY?

ASK MIKE
June 30, 2015

My lifelong friend, Marc, submitted this question for consideration. It is a question we are all concerned with. I can't begin to tell you how many people have said to me "I would love to eat the way you do, but it is too expensive".

Q. Mike, Do you believe that the extra money stores like Whole Foods charge for their products are really worth it in health benefits, since a lot of those labels seem to be meaningless?

A. Great question Marc, there are a lot of moving parts here and I hope to get to all of them for you.
I would like to start by saying that my wife Mary and I are fully committed to eating vegan and much of it in its natural uncooked state. We are on this path for many reasons which we can discuss at different time. We share a lot of the duties regarding this lifestyle and more specifically the food we eat. We believe that eating food that is organic, local, in season, whole, pure and in its natural state brings great health benefits at many levels.  That is our commitment, so with that as a back drop, let's continue.

Executing this lifestyle is of course where the tires hit the road. We have set up informal rules for ourselves that serve as a blueprint for how we do this.  Here they are for the first time ever in written form.

1. We acquire and prepare most of our food ourselves in a conscious manner
2. In carrying this out we try to buy all of our food from conscious growers and vendors. I personally vet almost everyone we buy from and actually have called their suppliers to see if it is all up to speed. I have a list of questions I ask each one of them. Sounds like a lot of work but it really is fun.  I learn a lot, and it gives me great confidence in what I am eating, as well as who I am buying from. Once you have vetted your main products and suppliers you only have to do that once in awhile. Just yesterday I vetted stevia products and vendors. (See yesterday's blog for results.)
3. When we eat out we will always try to eat at some type of conscious restaurant, typically not chains, steakhouses, etc. But on the road in a pinch who knows, but it will always be plant based foods.
4. We always try to carry our own food with us wherever we go so we have more control over the quality. Coolers are great and our little RV has a fridge.
5. We try to keep our packaged or processed foods to a minimum. It doesn't always work out that way so we are diligent label readers. We watch for additives, sugars, preservatives, unknown chemicals, etc, and try to avoid them.
6. If an item is on "the dirty dozen list "(Google it) we will ONLY buy it organic, otherwise, we will do without. If it is on the "Clean 15" (Google again, we might buy it if organic is not available or too expensive.

With all of this said we discover fun things and have great adventures together, even when we travel, which is a lot..Let's move forward with the cost of living this way that is mostly organic and live foods. Although we do much of this together, Mary is a very careful shopper both in selection, quality and pricing. She knows how much things should cost and which stores have the best products at the right price, which includes farmers markets. Since we want things as fresh as possible we shop or "pick a few things up" quite regularly. The days of giant shopping and stocking up (my bad habit) for us are history.Once again short frequent stops are just built into our daily lifestyle.  I am going to tell you we do have a Whole Foods within walking distance of our condo in Phoenix, but for the reasons stated above it is not our primary shopping spot. We don't actually have a single shopping spot but rather several, and based on what Mary observes it is a fluid process. The following are several places we shop in Phoenix area.   Sprouts Market mostly for our staples and quick pick ups. Whole Foods for whatever Mary says we need there  She also added that WF has great sales items so we can try new things at a great price. Costco has become the largest organic retailer in America.  I have vetted their suppliers and am happy with the info I have gotten for organic non-GMO products that we use regularly.  Plus they come in great sizes.   Local farmers markets for produce in season So this is where we buy more than 90% of our food. We also belong  to a great community garden in Bozeman, so we get some of our food from there as it is ready to harvest.

So keeping your food budget down while keeping the quality and health benefits up can be built into your lifestyle. Of course, eating right and preventing disease is ALWAYS going to be less expensive than paying the doctors to fix what is broken or not working right. Prevention will always be the best cure.

Here are 8 Tips:

1. Shop in several stores for specific products, be aware of pricing for your key items. Spread the wealth.
2. Shop at local farmers markets.
3. Prepare most of your own foods and keep them with you..
4. Be select on the restaurants you choose.
5. Read labels, Non-GMO Certified Project and FDA Certified Organic are the ones we trust as of today.
6. The words natural, genuine, healthy are all meaningless.
7. Be an informed consumer, vet your suppliers, read blogs like this.
8. Feel free to contact me to check out a product for you. I love it.
wholehealthwarrior2012@gmail.com

Being a Whole Health Warrior is being your own advocate. As we say,
"your body should last a lifetime".  Enjoy the journey.
.

TURBO TASTY GREEN SMOOTHIE

TURBO GREEN SMOOTHIE MADE EASY

This will give you the base for any green smoothie. The idea is to get as much greens into the drink as possible to pack in the minerals. Too heavy on the fruits taste good but is overloaded with sugars, so use fruit as a side sweetener. 

Large handful of spinach or kale or other green leafy veggie.

A bit of Xylitol or stevia will offset the bitterness of the greens.

8-10 oz. of nut mylk 

4 ice cubes

Now kick ck it up with a hand full of blueberries or strawberries

1 TBSP bee pollen (local if possible

1 TBSP vegan protein powder (hemp or pea is good)

1v TBSP of a good green powder (premier greens is my favorite or Sun is Shining)

1 TBSP spirulina

2 walnuts

2 Brazil nuts

1 TBSP ground flaxseed

10 Goji berries

This should make your day....

STEVIA - THE SWEET TRUTH

 STEVIA  2015

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

What is really exciting about being on the Whole Health Warrior journey and the quest to raise consciousness is that we are always learning, growing and discovering. One lesson I have learned is never to be afraid to jump in at anytime for fear of the development of the proverbial better mousetrap. What a horrible non-vegan image, but you get the idea. I hold this standard with my food choices, using the best information at the time to make my decisions. Study what is available, be discerning, decide, and move on. Never being afraid to come back and revisit this when “new” information is made available.

So is the case with stevia. When I first started using stevia, the object was to replace sugar and any of the common artificial sweeteners. In my mind the evidence regarding each of those was no longer debatable. Stevia is a plant that has been used for centuries as a medicine and sweetener which has zero affect on insulin levels in the blood so I started using it...

In those days you basically got stevia in a shaker, sort of ground up greenish stuff, we didn’t use much because it was very sweet but it worked fine. Then something happened to our stevia. It started to look like sugar, came in little packages of white powder in coffee shops, and in liquid bottle droppers with fancy flavors, plus it was given fancy names like Truvia, Stevia in the raw and so on. Intuitively I knew something was amiss here, but by then I wasn’t using much because I had moved onto different non glycemic sweeteners. When people asked me about stevia I would tell them it had no impact on insulin, that I wasn’t crazy about the taste, etc.

FAST FORWARD TO TODAY

Recently my friend asked me to read an article by a person names “Food Babe” (Vani Hari) dated 6/28/15 entitled INVESTIGATING SNEAKY INGREDIENTS IN STEVIA.

In summary here is what she writes:

She starts by telling us how bad sugar is for us, which most of us already knew, and that Americans eat way too much (130 pounds per year), and that it is addictive. Got it!

She then shares with us a brief history of stevia and how it is a plant from South America, That the extract is 200 time sweeter than sugar, and zero impact on blood insulin levels.  Got it!

Here's where it got interesting for me, thank you Food Babe for making my life easier.

ENTER BIG CORPS

The sweetener market is huge generating megabucks, so of course BigCorp wants their share. By now sugar and artificial sweeteners like aspartame are getting bad raps (rightfully so) so it’s time to find a new cash crop, enter stevia. BUT we need to reformulate it because natural is no good, rebrand it, who wants to call a food by its real name, repackage it remarket it, and all the rest.

So today we have a something new (not sure what it really is) that people are using as stevia. Some issues to consider:

1. Many of the brands are highly processed with as many as 40 steps.
2. In some cases the processing itself is patented.
3. Many of the processes are using chemicals, even possible carcinogens.
4. Some of the processes include acetone, methanol, ethanol, acetonitrale, isoproponol and other hard to pronounce non food items.
5. Then you might find additives to the final product such as dextrose, erythrotol, agave inulin, even silica.
6. Much of all of this includes non organic and GMO products or by-products
7. Stevia leaf has a long history of human usage while this other stuff doesn’t. Is it safe?

So as you can see the poor friendly little stevia plant is under assault and the finished product is now called a food. Any questions?

MY PERSONAL TAKE ON THIS

BigCorp is going to do their thing but I WILL NOT be participating.

I will not buy brands such as Truvia (by Coca Cola), Pure Via (Pepsico product), Stevia in the Raw or any other product that appears to processed in these ways. Don’t need the product that bad, value my health too much, and do not want to feed the BigCorps until they wake up and become conscious.

I WILL DO THE FOLLOWING

Continue to research this issue and report back to you when I have something worthy of reporting, such as new suppliers or new news on this topic. New tips such as looking for the words “whole leaf stevia” on labels (good).

I will endorse and buy from companies that treat our food with respect and consciousness. The following are 3 companies I have vetted and will buy from them (already have) and will use their stevia products. (More to come- this is a work in progress).

We will start to carry the best Stevia we can find in our online store at whwstore.com

Will have it online July 15^th. Always at a 20% discount.

1. Sweet Leaf Stevia (Wisdom Natural Brands)

Gilbert AZ. 800-899-9908 – sweetleaf.com

I have vetted them, only organic stevia leaf, no chemicals, water based extraction, and flavorings are botanical herbs, fruits, and veggies. No GMO, MSG, or other bad stuff.

Product is heat stable, can be used in cooking and baking. (Liquid drop form).

Call Melissa if you have any questions, she is very helpful.

2. Green Stevia Leaves

Greengreenstevia.com

All organic – simply dried leaves- you may grind it up yourself.

Available on Amazon for $16.88

3. Frontier Natural Products Coop

Green leaf stevia powder – (organic)

800-669-3275

Frontiercoop.com

16 Oz. - $22  

So hope this helps and many thanks to FoodBabe for bringing us up to speed.

Google her for her website and blog or follow her on Facebook.

Baruch Hashem

INSPIRING WARRIOR WORDS - (2.8.15)

Warrior Words to live by from Lao Tzu

When you find the way
Others will find you
Passing by on the road
They will be drawn to your door
The way that cannot be heard
will be reflected in your voice
The way that cannot be seen
Will be reflected in your eyes

~ Lao Tzu

A Whole Health Warrior is judged by his or her actions
not by what they say they say they are going to do....

WARRIOR WORDS THAT MATTER

Warrior Words

“Life is what you make it,” this is very true.
Find beauty and magic in all things,
and the Love that sees you through.
When you look at the world where you live,
seek not your gain, but what you can give.
When a man is poor, and hungers, and thirsts,
serve not yourself til you serve this man first.
When a man is down and seeks shelter from cold, give him shelter.
You’ll receive blessings untold.
Live by the Golden Rule:
Do unto others as you’d have done unto you.
And always remember:
When you destroy, you destroy a part of you, too.
Life is what you make of it!

~ Unknown

ANYONE WANT TO DO THE NEXT 7 DAY FAST WITH ME?

On a roll here and don't want to stop...

If anyone wants to start fresh or continue on let me know so we can stay in touch...

It's such a gift I have trouble stopping a fast...

Baruch Hashem...

DAY 7 – THOUGHT IT WOULD NEVER GET HERE

Parting is such sweet sorrow…well maybe not!

The end of a fast is bittersweet.  You now get to go back to eating solid food but you are getting off of God’s sacred operating table. You have done amazing things to improve your health including the activation of what is called the “Youthing Gene”. That’s right, when you are on the table you are actually turning the clock back. The bitter part is this phase is over, BUT you can continue to do amazingly good work and remain close to the Divine by eating the Divine evolutionary way of plant based, organic, high percentage of raw, meditating, walking and all the rest  You have all of the tools, it is now up to you. Let’s meet again next January for another go at this, or if you are interested, I fast four times per year, so let me know if you would like to join me…Baruch Hashem

 7 Tips for Day Seven…

1.     You must read Day Six instructions again, it is what you are doing today.

2.     You have regenerated your taste buds…savor the flavors of every bite.

3.     Tomorrow you can have a smoothie…not too much fruit maybe some berries (sugar) Add a fermented food into your daily diet, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchee, non-dairy plain unsweetened yogurt, etc.

4.     Think seriously about dismissing some of your old habit.

5.     Tomorrow continue with the salads. Add the fats we mentioned earlier if you wish.

6.     Meditate, Walk, and Yoga, should now be embedded into your life.

7.     Most of all thank God for the gift you have been given…

So I leave you to carry on and pray that you stay close to the Divine way of life and become a Whole Health Warrior…Baruch Hashem

DAY 6 - IS TOMORROW THE END OF THE TUNNEL or JUST THE BEGINNING

Day 7 is always exciting, but the work is just beginning

You have done an awesome job. Completing a seven day juice fast is no easy task. You will have done what most everyone else will never do.Completing a seven day juice fast in the right way never seems to make a person arrogant but rather just the opposite is true, it humbles us. It helps us reflect on our place in the universe, it resets our DNA, It helps us check our egos, and helps us become closer to the Divine. Pretty powerful stuff...Don't you think ???..
So you've done a lot in seven days but the hard work is in front of you... You must break the fast correctly...and equally as important RIGHT NOW is the time to consider your life and eating patterns after the past. Will you go back to old unhealthy patterns? Will you adopt a plant based diet? Will you continue to walk and meditate? All these questions should be addressed now.
As a reference to what you might consider you might take a holistic wellness class from WHOLEHEALTHWARRIORACADEMY.COM...It is the online school we are launching January 28th, or you might wish to read the book we wrote, The Whole Health Warrior available at mikechaetbooks.com...Whatever you do continue on the path you have been on during your fast, it is a great gift from the Divine.

SEVEN RULES to Break Your Fast

1. Meditate for 15 minutes before you eat...
2. Bless your food...
3. Eat in silence./ Chew each bit 50 times/ savor each bite till it is gone and before you take the next bite....
 DO NOT OVEREAT..
4. First 2 meals. should be a SMALL organic, fresh salads...cucumbers, tomatoes, grated carrots, finely sliced cabbage, romaine letttuce or some baby greens, red bell pepper, no onions or garlic please.Squeeze fresh lemon or lime as a dressing.
5..Sprinkle tablespoon of ground flax on your salad.
6. Take some form of probiotics to repopulate your gut.
7. No fats the first day, olives, oils, avocados, nuts, seeds, etc, til the second day and then only small quantities for a few days.

What a treat you are in for...the Divine is giving you an amazing reward or the work you have done...
Share your experiences with me at wholehealthwarrior2012@gmail.com

DAY 5 MOVING INTO SPIRITUAL MODE

Congratulations Superheroes...you have done 5 days of green juice fasting..

So today while walking to the gym I found a dime on the ground. I did pick it up and put it in my pocket and then wondered what I should do with it...It's only a dime....Not worth much...
Then I decided to give it away...A Kabbalistic way of thinking, "receive in order to share"., but then it's only a dime...Then the answer came to me...at home we have a Tsedoka box...we put spare change in the box along with an occasional bill or two...Then when full we donate the money to a charity of some sort..You would be surprised at how quickly those found dimes add up...By the way Tsedoka giving is a mitsvot (good deed) straight out of the.Torah...So on day five I started to break through the spiritual  ceiling with one little dime...It is the small things that count...

Seven fasting tips for today...
1.  Avoid looking in the fridge, pantry, or food shelves...not good cues on a fast.
2.  Take some time and commune with nature...sit under a tree, play in the snow, walk by a river...
3. Sit quiet and meditate...where have I heard that before?
4. Add a jalapeno or 1/2 of a sweet potato for the day in your juice when you are making it...
5. Here is a good one...CHEW YOUR JUICE..yes do it...the chewing motion stimulates the enzymes in the mouth, ptyalin (an amylase enzyme)...which helps to break down starches...
6. Make a potassium broth and drink a cup per day...put the peelings of 10 potatoes, a bunch of parsley...in a pot   add clean water ...bring to a boil...turn heat down and let simmer for 45 minutes...let cool... strain the solids out and drink a cup of the broth...Very high potassium...good for the heart...
7.  Do some yoga...at least 15 minutes or more per day...

Stay the course you are doing great
email with questions comments...wholehealthwarrior2012@gmail.com

DAY 4 TIME TO TAKE IT UP A NOTCH

Bamm..let's kill the boredom

Day four and you are halfway there. But you might find drinking the same green juice is getting a little boring so here are a few tips and ways to spice up the days ahead.

1. Add a tomato, a red pepper, or a jalapeno pepper to spice it up.
2. Once you have made your juice stir or blend in some red cayenne pepper flakes, and or pink himilayin salt
3. If your tongue is white...GOOD... means you are cleansing. Buy a tongue scraper and scrape till pink just before you brush. No tongue scaper, no problem, use your toothbrush to scrub your tongue. Be sure to floss every night.
4. Walk...walk...walk...
5. Take a relaxing bath...sauna...or steam...
6. Get a massage...you have earned it...
7. Oh ! guess what....Meditate...Meditate...Meditate.

Just.a reminder that you are on a spiritual green juice fast...
calm the spirit whenever possible read from your most.special book...
Mine is the Torah..

Email if you need anything
wholehealthwarrior2012@gmail.com

DAY 3 - ALMOST HALF WAY THERE

Have some treats for you today....

So today is day 3... at noon tomorrow you will be half way there nice job.
As I said earlier today is the day your hunger will go away...If not, too bad there is always tomorrow.
Just kidding, should start to go away except  for one boogey man that I call cues. Cues are things that you identify with the pleasure of food and eating. For example driving by your favorite restaurant, or walking into the house at dinner time, seeing a food ad on TV, even seeing a favorite treat on the shelf or in the fridge. They are cues and play tricks on your mind. Think about the smell of coffee, or popcorn at the movies or cinnamon rolls baking, all are cues getting you ready to eat so tip number one for today...

1. Avoid, ignore, or recognize cues. Consciously avoid or say no to them.
2. Build new cues, like the feeling of your flat stomach, the sun coming up bringing in the new day.
3. Essential oils are a great cue, lavender on the pillow makes the bed more welcoming, sandalwood's aroma is rich and creamy, lemon or orange scents are satisfying to the spirit. My favorite is frankenscence anytime...
4.Treat yourself today with a cup of organic veggie broth. Our favorite is Imagine or Pacific brand in a box. Almost no nutritional value so won"t trick body into thinking you are eating.
5.Read some educational material or book on the benefits of raw food.
6. Do not use microwave during your fast.
7. MEDITATE...MEDITATE...MEDITATE...Find a quiet comfortable spot and MEDITATE...

THERE YOU HAVE IT ...ENJOY THE JOURNEY

Email with questions and comments... wholehealthwarrior2012@gmail.com

DAY 2...ARE WE HAVING FUN YET????

Whole Health Warrior Fasting Wisdom

So how did day two go for you?

Here are 7 more tips to help you out.
1. Headaches you say? Don't worry it is normal...remember you are stirring up toxins in the body. Don't be surprised at almost anything from headaches to a few heart palpitations.
2. Always remember this whole process is a gift from the Divine. As Paul Bragg always said, "you are on natures operating table".
3. Still hungry....no problem ...it will go away in a day or so.
4. Meditate...Meditate....Meditate
5. Think about this...The enlightened masters typically did 40 day dry fasts...no water...no food...
So 7 days is doable for us mere mortals...anyone want to do 40 let me know...
6.Moses did 2 40 day fasts almost back to back while receiving the Torah and 10 Commandments...yowser...my hero...
7. Tip #7- Enemas...If you feel like you need to take them to clear out toxins in the colon or to move things along...go for it...Enema kits are inexpensive but work wonders if you need to. Follow instructions...

So there is today's 7 bits of FASTING WISDOM...
Keep checking this blog - email me if you need anything...
mikechaet@gmail.com

THE SEVEN DAY GREEN JUICE WINTER WARRIOR FAST - Day 1

Here We Go Everyone

Today is day one for our winter green juice Warrior Fast. Hope you are having a good day Mary and I started the day by juicing enough for one day. To the basic green juice as described below we are adding tumeric root to the drink. BEST ANTI-OXIDENT EVER..
Here are todays 7 tips to make this a great journey.

1. No pressure to perform..the fast is seven days...do what you can...
2. It is a spiritual fast...meditate as much as you can...keep the stress down as much as possible...
3. We bottle our juices in 16 oz. glass kombucha bottles...3-4 per day...
4. BEST TEA EVER...Longevity tea by Dragon Herbs...available at whwstore.com at a discount. We will drink 3-4 mugs per day. Make up a thermos full and sip through the day.
5. After 2 to 3 days hunger will vanish....
6. Rest whenever you have to.
7. Enjoy the journey...It's the best gift you can ever give yourself....

WATCH THIS BLOG DAILY FOR SEVEN TIPS for your
 SEVEN DAY GREEN JUICE WARRIOR FAST.

READY TO JOIN US?

Winter Green Juice Fast and Cleanse...

If you are ready to commit to our seven day fast email me at
wholehealthwarrior2012@gmail.com..

All guidance and assistance is free.
You will be part of a great little community.

Baruch Hashem

Mike