I have never had a session with a client where we did not talk about cravings. Our cravings are not something to ignore. There are many reasons why we have them, but one that we often forget about is our ancestry. Where we come from, and the foods our ancestors used to eat can play a role in the type of foods we crave today.

Many of the foods that I crave most can be traced back to my Middle Eastern roots. For example, tabouli used to be a favorite before my UC diagnosis. Tabouli is a very popular Middle Eastern salad, but is typically made with wheat (bulgur), which is a substance that my body does not digest well anymore. When I came across a tabouli recipe on 101cookbooks.com, I decided it was time to try my own version of tabouli.

To satisfy cravings for foods of your ancestors, try a healthier version. This tabouli recipe has a similar consistency to the Middle Eastern favorite, but is a little more nutrient dense. Asparagus is in season right now and is an excellent source of vitamin K, folate and vitamin C. It is good for the heart and digestive system. Asparagus makes a great snack – I like to dip it in hummus, go figure.

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, cooked

1 bunch asparagus, chopped into ½ inch pieces

1 cup frozen or fresh peas (not canned)

1 cup walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped

Sauce:

Juice of 1 lemon

¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 teaspoons brown mustard

1 teaspoon water (if desired)

Directions:

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil.

Boil asparagus pieces and peas for 30 seconds – just enough so they soften outside but remain crunchy on the inside.

Strain and let cool.

While the asparagus and peas are cooling, combine lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, and brown mustard in a small bowl. Add 1 teaspoons of water to get desired consistency.

Combine asparagus, peas, quinoa, and chopped walnuts into large bowl.

Stir in dressing and serve.

Did you know that if you place a frog in a pan of water, he just sits there? If the pan is heated very slowly and gradually the frog won’t even notice that the temperature of the water he is sitting in is getting warmer. The frog “gets used to” the increasing heat and will likely boil to death if the heat is not turned down because his sensory capabilities fail to warn him that he needs to hop out of the pan in order to survive.

So why am I sharing this gruesome tale with you? We, the American public, have become the frog and the food companies and Standard American Diet (SAD) are like the water. Overtime, we have become more and more dependent on artificial ingredients and processed foods, but because this has been a gradual increase, we hardly noticed. Today, we (as a country) are sick, diseased, exhausted and overweight. The water is near boiling and we have to “hop out” to save our lives. For many, “hopping” is easier said then done.

Convenience, culture, tradition, perception of finances and taste preference “trap” us, even though our current diet is not in our best interests.

I spend most of my day, every day, advising people on how to live a healthier life. I help them understand that eating healthy doesn’t have to leave them with an empty wallet and that healthy foods and tasty foods are not mutually exclusive. The thing is, I am a human too. No human is perfect. We are biologically programmed to seek out the most calorically-dense foods and eat as much of them as possible. A long, long, very long time we had to rely on our opportunities of feast in order to survive during famine. This innate instinct is now confused in our modern environment of super-sizing and drive-throughs. We have an unlimited amount of food available anytime and anywhere.

I know better than to eat sugar and drink caffeine. I know the effects they have on my body, but like I said, I am human too, and no human is perfect. So this week when life got busy, schoolwork piled up and clients were scheduled back to back, I resorted to one of my old habits – caffeine – for that extra boost to get me through. Although I haven’t had a sip of coffee in years, tea has a similar effect on me. The caffeine, felt good initially and I felt energized and empowered to get through my grueling tasks. It didn’t take long before I felt tired, starving and craving sweets. Everything felt out of whack and off balance by the end of the day.

The next day, I woke up feeling hungover and sluggish, so what did I do? I put some water on to boil and had a nice hot cup of caffeinated tea – actually, make that plural – cups of tea. I was feeding myself poorly to make myself feel better. Does that sound familiar or may be it’s just me? After another day of this routine, I decided enough was enough and the next morning I woke up and had some hot water with lemon. While not nearly as satisfying at the time, I felt a heck of a lot better by the end of the day, and feeling more like myself. I “hopped” out of the boiling water.

Sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in the pleasure trap because it can feel so good and getting out of it doesn’t initially. The following books provide more information about “hopping” out of the boiling water. The Pleasure Trap by J. Lisle Douglas and Alan Goldhamer and The Yoga of Eating by Charles Eisenstein provide wonderful and insightful information about the motivational factors that cause us to give in to an excessive diet and lifestyle and how to communicate with our body to get on and stay on a healthy, energizing and mindful track.

Ok, so it’s not much to look at. I’ll be the first to admit it, but it sure does taste good. This side dish has the consistency of mashed potatoes, but made with cauliflower, which is more nutrient dense than a potato so you’re getting a lot more out of your meal.

You might recall from my Peanut Butter Cauliflower entry that I stocked up on a few heads of cauliflower when it was on sale last week. Well here is the second dish that I made with this delicious and versatile vegetable. Inspired by a recipe I found in Dr. Fuhrman’s recipe library, I think you’ll find that this recipe is a great alternative to mashed potatoes.

A big misconception about health coaching and cleaning up your diet is that you’ll be stuck only eating broccoli and kale for the rest of your life. Not true! It’s all about balance, and this dish is a perfect example. Mashed potatoes are a classic favorite for many, but swapping the potatoes for the cauliflower boosts the “healthy” level a couple of notches, and still satisfies.

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower

1 tablespoon cashew butter

1 tablespoon Vegizest

1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

3 – 4 heaping handfuls of spinach

1 small clove garlic

Optional: Almond milk (or milk / milk substitute of your choice)

Directions:

Steam cauliflower and garlic until tender. Set aside.

Steam spinach until wilted and set aside.

Combine cauliflower, garlic, cashew butter, Mrs. Dash, onion powder and Vegizest in blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. If mash is too thick, add a small amount of almond milk and process again in blender until desired consistency has been reached.

Pour mash into bowl and mix in wilted spinach with spoon.

Serve warm.

It doesn’t take Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys to see that the majority of people have issues with digestion. Just take a stroll through your local supermarket or pharmacy and you’ll find product after product to relieve constipation, others to aid those suffering from diarrhea, more for heartburn and still more options for gas relief. Digestion is something a lot of us don’t feel comfortable talking about, but it’s clearly something that causes a lot of discomfort, or there wouldn’t be so many options so easily accessible.

All animals, in fact every organism, has to digest the food they eat, so why is it so difficult for us? Is it possible to live in a world where you don’t need a box of pills (or that morning cup of Joe) to pass a bowel movement? That’s right, I just said bowel movement. No big deal.

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is to blame for our inefficient and malfunctioning digestion epidemic. Sorry, but there is no sugar coating or tiptoeing around this. Packed with processed foods and few fruits and vegetables, the SAD consists of foods high in lots of things the body really doesn’t need. The SAD is loaded with high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and lacking in the basic essentials like vitamins and minerals. Packaged foods have little, if any, nutritional value. It’s no wonder our bodies don’t know how to handle them.

It is possible to have a happy and healthy digestive system. Although our digestive system is tied to many different factors including physical activity and mental health, what and how we eat plays a huge role in how we feel on the inside. Cleaning up your diet is the first step.

This is some of the stuff I work on with my clients. So many people that I work with think that it is acceptable and perfectly normal to constantly be uncomfortable and carry around at least one over-the-counter product that brings them relief everywhere they go. Trust me, this isn’t normal. Why live with unnecessary pain and discomfort?

My friend and fellow classmate at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Michelle, has a great website and flourishing health coaching business. After a few hours of studying I took a break to do a little web surfing and stumbled across her Red Velvet Coconut Muffins. Holy moly did they look good! I happened to have all of the ingredients already in my kitchen, and they seemed easy enough that I thought I’d take an even longer study break to whip up a batch.

The study break was well worth it – they came out moist and delicious! I followed Michelle’s recipe except I substituted wheat flour for almond flour, because I already had almond flour in my house. I brought half the batch to my sister who is a student at Warren Wilson College about 15 minutes away, and she and her friends loved them too.

I just had to share the recipe with all of you, and Michelle graciously gave me the thumbs up to post her recipe on my website. So enjoy the muffins and if you dig ‘em let her know – she’s working on a cookbook!

Ingredients:

1 cup roasted beets, shredded (about 3 beets)
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup dried, unsweetened coconut (plus more for topping)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. In food processor or with a grater, shred beets. Combine with all wet ingredients in a medium sized bowl. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add wet mixture and blend. Spoon batter into muffin tin and fill each cup to the top or even overfilling a bit. Sprinkle with more dried coconut if you wish. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

You just finished working a full day – whether that means back-to-back meetings at the office, studying for midterms or carpooling your kids around town – and you’re tired and ready to sit down, unwind with your favorite TV show while you fold laundry and pay bills. But before you can do that you need to figure out what’s for dinner. You haven’t been to the grocery store in a few days and are feeling tempted to order takeout from your favorite restaurant. Sound familiar?

Before you reach for the menu and your phone, consider this: You don’t have to be Bobby Flay to make a delicious meal or Rachel Ray to do it in 30 minutes or less. Besides, eating clean, real, simple food is one of the easiest ways to feel your best for the long haul. All it takes are a few basic foods in your pantry, freezer or fridge and you have a delicious healthy meal in no time.

So let me show you how this works in real life…

Now that I’m back in school and working with clients, my time in the kitchen is budgeted (on time and pennies). I spent most of the day studying for an exam, well actually two exams, and my sister called to make plans for dinner. She had spent the day on campus and was tired too. Sometimes you just aren’t in the mood to cook a 3-course dinner.

Step 1: Get a grain going. Brown rice, quinoa, kasha, whateva – pour it into the rice cooker, hit the switch and let it do its thing. This usually takes the longest to cook so it’s a good idea to start this first.

Step 2: Decide on a protein. Beans are my typical go-to so I always keep a supply of canned beans in my pantry for these “I don’t wanna” days. Just remember to check the ingredients listed on the back of the can to make sure there aren’t any surprises. Experiment with new beans to keep your meals fresh. There are so many to choose from. On this particular evening, my sister came over with tempeh so that was our protein. We chopped it into cubes and tossed it with some spices (paprika, tumeric, etc.) and a little olive oil and popped it in the oven.

Step 3: Veggies, veggies and more veggies. Seriously, you can’t make enough vegetables. We steamed kale, cabbage and carrots. Frozen or fresh, it doesn’t matter. Just eat ‘em!

Step 4: Get saucy. Sure you can eat your rice, beans and veggies plain or you can add a little something on top to spice things up. The right sauce will not only add flavor, but more nutrients to your already nutrient-dense meal. We used split pea soup as our sauce that I had made earlier in the week. The soup is delicious and thick – makes for a perfect topping or is great all by itself. No time to make soup? Try some hummus or a few avocado slices instead. Or try my favorite avocado spinach sauce (pictured below).

Avocado Spinach Sauce

Ingredients:

1 avocado

2 tablespoons tahini

Juice from 1 lemon

Parsley – small handful (optional)

Spinach

Directions:

Start by blending the avocado, tahini, lemon juice and parsley. Then add a small handful of spinach and water – it’s easier to blend if you add the spinach gradually. Stop to blend after each handful of spinach. Keep adding water and spinach until you get the flavor and consistency that you want.

Now doesn’t that look pretty and colorful!

So there you have it. Clean, simple, real, good food made on the fly. You are what you eat and who doesn’t want to be clean, simple, good and real, right?

So like I said… meet Nancy!

Please explain how you met Penina and why you decided to become a client.

I first met Penina when she signed up to volunteer for my organization. We met up at a coffee shop to discuss the volunteer opportunities and I confessed that I was trying to eliminate dairy in my coffee because I wanted to find the culprit to my digestive problems. Soon after I learned that she was a health coach and that she could help me – so I decided to try it!

What were your main health concerns when you met Penina?

My main health concern was the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) that had plagued me since I was a teenager. Over the years I’ve had two doctors offer to give me medication, which I refused, and one who told me to take fiber pills, which only made it worse.  Even though the condition is genetic in my family I knew that it had to be the result of something that I was eating or not eating. I could do something about my IBS with diet when I was ready to make a serious change. Other health concerns I had were weight loss, and defying the other various health conditions that run in my family including heart disease, arthritis, and dementia.

What was your 50-minute complimentary wellness consult like for you?

This initial meeting was very comfortable for me. Everything, of course, was confidential and it just seemed very natural to share my medical concerns, family history, and personal goals with Penina. You hear a lot of people say “I already know what things I need to change”, but actually sitting down and discussing them, putting your goals on paper and having a professional to be accountable to makes a big difference in your success!! I guarantee that there are many people out there who think they are living a healthy lifestyle, who in fact, can do much better!

What were your health and life goals when you started working with Penina?

To control the IBS, to lose about 15 pounds, and to make significant changes for life-long health.

Where are you today in relation to those goals?

The IBS absolutely went away within the first month, and I don’t just mean ‘better’. I mean that if I am eating what I’m supposed to be eating then it has gone away completely!! No more embarrassing moments.

I have not lost all of the weight that I intended to lose when I first started this program, but an amazing thing has happened: my thoughts have shifted from just plain ‘weight loss to look better’ to ‘life-long healthy body weight and feeling better’. I know that the track I’m on right now will lead to a healthy and sustainable weight and I’m enjoying the journey!

I have definitely made some major changes to my health that will stick with me for life! Every other time I’ve been on a diet or decided to make a change, I would jump in to it 100% — I’d rummage through my cupboards and throw out everything that wasn’t part of my new diet plan. The problem with that ‘all or nothing’ thinking was that if I caved and ate something that wasn’t ‘allowed’ it was easy to stay down that road of unhealthy eating. Penina worked with me to make gradual changes, which is a much better way to stick to a healthy diet and lifestyle.

What changes have you noticed since your first session?

The first thing I noticed was how my body responds to healthy eating and gives me immediate feedback when I’m off track! I’ve also noticed that my taste preferences really do change, and those unhealthy foods I once craved don’t taste nearly as good as feeling good and looking good. I’ve gotten compliments from people who notice a difference in me, but they’re not quite sure what it is:  “you’re losing weight, you’re eyes are bright, you’re glowing.” One thing that I’ve noticed most recently is that I don’t hate my pictures anymore. Not very long ago I would complain whenever someone wanted to take my picture, and if they did I was grumbling when I saw it. It started about two weeks ago when someone snapped a picture and when I looked at it I was actually happy with it! My face didn’t look fat, and I didn’t look tired!

What has been helpful for you through this experience that that doesn’t involve food?

I think the thing that has been most helpful was to discover that everything is related. Relationships, work, hobbies, etc. are all connected to how I treat my body. It’s hard to keep everything in balance but as long as I’m moving in the right direction then I’m doing okay!

Describe a typical session.

A typical session begins with checking in to see how things are going since the last session and what’s working. If something is not working then we discuss together what changes can be implemented. If things are moving too fast or if I’m not completely at ease with something Penina will slow down and go at my pace. The next part of the session focuses on my next steps. She gives me handouts with new healthy recipes to try, or educational materials that really encourage me to stay in the right direction (I’m the kind of person who needs to know ‘why’). One thing that I really appreciate about Penina is how she really works with my preferences and my lifestyle. She’s not going to tell me that I need to eat the foods she eats, or that I need to start eating things that I’ve never liked. She works with me in a way that feels natural.

How has health coaching affected you long term?

Health coaching has affected me long term because this is not a diet… this is not temporary… This is my new life. I’m not saying that there won’t be ‘cheats’ occasionally, but as I continue to see positive changes (mentally, physically and emotionally) they will occur less and less. Just last week I made a trip with a few friends to San Francisco and couldn’t help myself from eating sourdough bread. Guess what? I’m still paying for it! Your body really does tell you what it needs and what it wants if you just listen. The next time you can be sure I’ll think twice about the sourdough!

What is your new favorite food that you did not eat before you started working with Penina?

KALE!

What is your favorite new meal / recipe?

My favorite and easiest recipe that I eat at least 3-4 days a week is a big Mexican salad. I start with a bunch of greens (different lettuces, spinach, kale or a mixture of each), add whatever fresh veggies I have on hand (chopped carrots, tomatoes, avocados, peppers, onions, olives, etc) and top with a big scoop of beans (black or pinto – either canned or homemade) and salsa. I’ll eat it as a salad or stuff it into a ½ of a whole wheat pita. It’s a great way to clean out your refrigerator!

Isn’t Nancy great? I really enjoy working with her (both as a volunteer and as a client). When she first told me during a session how her tastes buds were changing and that she actually craved kale (I didn’t just tell her to say that for this interview), I think I laughed out loud! Really! I remembered that during the initial wellness consult about a month or 2 prior I had mentioned how my taste buds had changed when I first started to heal my body years ago and her facial reaction of absolute disbelief. Turns out, I wasn’t lying in the hopes that she’d become a client…

Feel free to leave her words of encouragement and kudos! She certainly deserves it!