The Vegg Vegan Egg Yolk is a 100% plant-based egg yolk replacement used to make vegan omelets and a variety of other vegan foods that are usually made with eggs. I've been interested in trying it, for a while,  and recently came across a good deal on VeganCuts, The Vegg Combo Pack, which consisted of a can of The Vegg Vegan Egg Yolk and The Vegg cookbook.

I wanted to see what it was like, without a bunch of extra stuff to hide the taste, so I decided to try a basic omelette. When I first opened the can, I noticed the texture was almost exactly like nutritional yeast - which makes sense, because that's the base of it - and it did have a distinct egg smell, which comes from the black salt. I have a jar of Kala Namak (black salt), that I've been using it my tofu scrambles, to give it an "eggier" taste so I knew that's where the smell came from.

The only omelet recipe I found involved tofu, so I decided to use the crepe recipe instead. Cutting the crepe recipe in half, I made an omelette. It's basically The Vegg powder, flour, soy milk and butter. Now, I don't know if the batter was suppose to be thick but, when I did it, it was very thick so next time I'm going to use more water or soy to thin it out a bit more.

It definitely looked like an omelet, but it wasn't as eggy as I would have liked but I can see how it would probably taste really good mixed with some peppers, onions, garlic, spinach and maybe a little extra black salt - which I think that I'm going to try to make, tonight, for dinner.

Overall, I was happy with the results. There are plenty of recipes, on the website, so I'll definitely be checking those out.

I subscribe to the list of free and discounted Kindle books from Pixel of Ink. Yesterday, they had "Paris Letters" by Janice MacLeod for $2.99 and since I saw the word "Paris" of course I had to check it out. One of the reviewer's on Amazon described it as: "A memoir, a travel log, a romance, a self-help guide, all rolled into one exquisite and delicate confection." Right up my alley! I was sold.

Little did I know that it also included a tid-bit about one of my other passions - veganism! Granted, the author doesn't stay vegan - at least up to what I've read so far - but it was nice that she gave it a little shout out and even acknowledged that going vegan actually saved her money!

--------------------------

(Chapter 5: Cut Down on Groceries. Starts on page 37 of the Kindle Edition)

"And then came the vegan thing. I never really thought much about veganism or vegetarianism beyond my mother and aunts huffing at having to make a vegetarian lasagna because a few of my veggie cousins were coming by for dinner . Then after the dinner, when everyone had left, someone would wonder aloud if vegetarianism was a healthy choice. How can you feed your children on a vegetarian diet, for heaven’s sake? How can you possibly feel satisfied without a decent piece of meat? That’s just it. Films and books were coming out about factory farming, and I became aghast at how there are hardly any decent pieces of meat left. Factory farming made up 99 percent of the meat in our grocery stores. To find that 1 percent of meat that came from animals that had a good life and a humane death was so difficult that I threw up my hands. The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone provided me with all the logic I needed to become vegan. I want to be healthy. I want to be kind to the planet. And I could do them both just by not eating meat? I bought into the kindness factor. Sign me up.

Turns out saving the planet didn’t cost near as much as ruining it. After deciding to go the veggie route, I saw I could save a lot of money, which was appealing if I were to ever quit my job and hit the road. Without the dairy and meat in my diet, my grocery bill was halved. Did I mourn the loss of burgers? Nah. Did I mourn the loss of cheese? You betcha. Great big sobbing mourning about not getting to have melted cheese slathered all over and oozing out of everything. Science has proven that cheese is actually addictive. The primary protein in milk is casein, which gives that satisfied reverie we cheesists feel on a soul level. I was a happy cheese addict. But I knew if I took out the meat from my diet, I’d overdo the cheese. I know me. I know what I’m capable of. My path to veganism had to be paved with oatmeal. I thought veganism would be hard when I went out to eat. Not so. I discovered that in California, all restaurants must have at least one vegetarian meal on the menu. I started appreciating the limited options. I remembered what I learned from clearing out my closets: There is a certain freedom in not having so many choices. And my body didn’t seem to mind one way or another if it had meat. I was already tired and miserable all the time. I was still pretty much tired and miserable as a vegan, except now I had a glimmer of hope that it could actually be possible to save enough money to buy myself a year or two of freedom from my advertising job. And that little nugget of hope was more delicious than a chicken nugget any day of the week."
--------------------------

Also, reading that reminded me that Alicia Silverstone should pay me a commission for the amount of books I sold for her at Farm Sanctuary's "Celebration FOR the Turkeys" in NYC a couple years back. I kept pointing out the recipe for peanut butter cups and we sold out of her book within an hour or so! The other people at the Merch Table were very impressed with my selling skills :)

What's your mission? What's Your purpose? If you struggle with these big questions - you're not alone. So, where do you even start to put the pieces together?

Growing up, the only resources I had were suggestions from my parents, what my peers were doing...and a poorly delivered career test given in my high school. This just created gaps between what my brain and heart were telling me.

What if you had the resources for finding a career and calling that fulfills your potential and inspires you?

Finding Your Life’s Calling is available for FREE online from March 24-26, 2014!

Finding Your Life’s Calling is a virtual conference gathering some 12+ remarkable visionaries who have dedicated their life to helping people find what it is they are meant to do.

We’ll be talking about how to reach your unique potential, move through fear, enliven your life with authenticity, and discover your passion so that you can find the path you’re meant to be on.
Hope to see you there!

Finding Your Life’s Calling Virtual Conference
Dates: March 24 - 26, 2014
Price: FREE
​Where: Sign up online here!

We wonder why women have eating disorders and disordered eating? This is why.

When I lost all of my weight, I was conscious of the calories that I ate, but I never actually counted calories or did much exercise - it was a combination of a bunch of little things - learning how and what to eat, learning about proper portion size, reading food labels, parking further away, taking the stairs, etc, that were instrumental in my weight loss. Over time, little changes add up to big changes.

I've been listening to the en*theos Supersize Me 10 Year Anniversary #FixFood Summit and one of the speakers, Jonathan Bailor, wrote a book called "The Calorie Myth", which I found fascinating.

Now, I haven't read it, yet, but the things he said during the interview made a lot of sense. The main idea of the talk can be summarized by this statement: "In the book, nowhere does it say that calories don't count, it says you don't need to count calories; there's a big difference between those two statements."

Available, on Etsy, by ForSuchATimeDesigns

Humans (mainly Americans) are the only ones obsessed with counting calories. Wild animals don't count calories, yet they aren't obese and somehow, instinctively, know when to stop eating. For the most part, they eat a all natural, non-processed diet and survive just fine.

It's not the calories that people eat that's the problem; it's the quality of food that's the real issue. The food industry has made it so easy for people to be lazy, by supplying us with every kind of pre-packaged food imaginable, that we're not getting the quality of food that we should be getting.

200 calories of Pop Tarts (which is only 1 Pop Tart, by the way...) is VERY different from 200 calories of broccoli. Not only in the amount that you eat, but also in the nutrients and inflammation that it causes in your body.

Another problem is that the food industry has done TONS of research on what appeals to our senses and, in turn, engineers the food to satiate our fat, sugar, and salt receptors - thereby causing us to want more and more, thus becoming addicted. It's those, pre-packaged, processed foods that are killing America by making us obese, unhealthy and obsessed with weight and dieting.

Just this weekend, I talked with a woman that had no clue that an order of Aussie Cheese Fries, from The Outback, have  almost 2,000 calories (1,913 to be exact) and that's not including the ranch dressing. It says that it's six (6) servings, but how many people actually know/follow that rule? Between the three of us, my parents and I would eat that whole thing (est. 800 each /with ranch), plus a Bloomin' Onion (1948 cal / est. 800 each /with petal sauce) then I'd have a full bowl of Alfredo pasta (est 800 cal) and chocolate cake (1574 cal).* That whole meal, calorie-wise, is more than I eat in two days and definitely not at all beneficial for anyone's body.

Then when I mentioned a few simple, healthier ways to cook some of her favorite meals, she seemed completely shocked. It was so strange because, to me, it's common knowledge, but the more I talk to people the more I realize that people really have no clue about the food that they're putting into their bodies and that there are things they can do to regain control of their health - and that's scary.

If you'd like to read more on this subject / books, you can check out these articles:

• How Sweet It Is by David Kamp (New York Times)
• Dr. David Kessler, author of The End of Overeating, On Why We Can't Stop Eating by Louise McCready (Huffington Post)

*Information taken directly from nutritional info at: http://www.outback.com/nutrition

Let me preface this by saying that I do believe that, in certain cases, medication is absolutely necessary and that I know that statins are helpful, to some people, but a majority of the people who are taking them, don't need to be.

So when I heard about this, this morning, it made me raise an eyebrow.

----------
"New guidelines may put 13 million more on statins ¹"

"Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs could be prescribed to an estimated 33 million Americans without cardiovascular disease who have a 7.5 percent or higher risk for a heart attack or stroke within the next 10 years. That’s according to a new cholesterol guideline from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology.

This is a dramatic change from the 2002 federal cholesterol guideline, which recommended that people should only take a statin if their 10-year risk level exceeded 20 percent. The old guideline only considered a person’s risk for heart disease, leaving out the risk for stroke."

The guideline recommends statin therapy for the following groups:

• People without cardiovascular disease who are 40 to 75 years old and have a 7.5 percent or higher risk for heart attack or stroke within 10 years.
• People with a history of heart attack, stroke, stable or unstable angina, peripheral artery disease, transient ischemic attack, or coronary or other arterial revascularization.
• People 21 and older who have a very high level of bad cholesterol (190 mg/dL or higher).
• People with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes who are 40 to 75 years old.

----------

As it is, doctors are too quick to diagnose and prescribe medication, based solely on symptoms, without really addressing the root cause of problem. Now, with these new guidelines, it seems that instead of lowering cholesterol the natural way - by first advising patients to go on a low cholesterol diet - they're going to be prescribing statins much quicker. I'd also like to know how they're calculating the "7.5% or higher risk factors" since technically, everyone has a chance of getting heart attack or a stroke - no one is immune.

----------
"Obesity should be treated like a disease and cholesterol-lowering drugs could prevent cardiovascular disease in more Americans than previously thought, according to new cardiovascular prevention guidelines released Tuesday by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology." ³
----------

Throwing drugs at someone who is overweight isn't going to help them. If they want to treat obesity like a disease, then they need to get to the root and ask their patients two simple questions: When did you start gaining weight (and) Was there anything, around that time, that may have triggered it? Weight loss is crucial and the only way that doctors are going to help people is by going back to school and getting a better education in the fields of nutrition and psychology. People need to better understand how (and what) to eat by learning about proper portion size, how to read labels, what goes into our food and why they started to eat more in the first place.


 And then there are the statins potential side effects ⁴:  cognitive impairment, increased risk of raised blood sugar (which could lead to Type 2 diabetes - which, ironically, the statin is also suggested to help treat) and if paired with certain other types of medication, it can increase the risk of muscle damage.




For an otherwise healthy person who should be able to control their blood pressure, through proper education, diet and exercise, is the risk of these side effects really worth it? Apparently, I'm not the only one who thought this way...

---------------
"For healthy individuals who may have some risk factors for future heart trouble, doctors have always been reluctant to prescribe medications when so much of heart disease is preventable, with proper diet and exercise. “For people with no history of heart disease, but who are trying to prevent heart disease, there is already a tremendous amount of overuse of statins in my view in this country,” says Eric Topol. “So my concern is that the new guidelines will lead to potentially even more promiscuous use of these statins than already exists.” ⁵

( Dr. Eric Topol is a cardiologist and chief academic officer of Scripps Health)
------------------------

The best thing we can do is to become our own health advocate. I know that Doctors hate when patients self-diagnose, and come in with a list of things that they could possibly have, but keep doing it! It's your life and your health and you have the right to feel as if you're getting the best care possible. And if you don't feel as if you are, get a second opinion. You know your body, better than anyone else, and if something feels off you're probably right. Do your own research. Dig for the root cause of the symptoms and figure out what can be done to nip the issue in the bud instead of wasting precious time and money on just treating the symptoms.

The face of medicine has to change and it needs to start with us.

In Super Size Me, Alex Jamieson helped change the way we think about fast food and how what we eat affects our bodies but 10 years after Super Size Me rocked America we’re still facing some big challenges and we need to come together and #FixFood.

In the Super Size Me 10-Year Anniversary virtual conference, Alex is bringing together the powerful voices that shaped the film and helped make this little documentary a global sensation. She’ll also ask the 30+ top experts in food and health who have come up in the last 10 years how they intend to help all of us #FixFood.

Super Size Me 10-Year Anniversary is available streaming for FREE online from March 10 - 14, 2014!

Get inside information on what the future holds for food from Alex Jamieson, and experts including JJ Virgin, Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Mark Hyman, John Robbins, Robb Wolfe and many more.
We have the power to change food culture - and it all starts here. See you March 10!

What you need to know:
Dates: March 10 - 14, 2014
Price: FREE
Where: Sign up online at https://www.entheos.com/Super-Size-Me-10-Year-Anniversary?c=tlb_1013

The New York City Vegetarian Food Festival was back at the Metropolitan Pavilion again, this past weekend, and they expanded to two levels this time around.

I think it's safe to say that everyone, including myself, would love for this event to be moved to a larger venue - like The Javits Center - to accommodate all the people without having to wait on such a long line to get in. Granted, this year we only had to wait 45 minutes - past years, people waited for hours and never got in - but it would have been nice to wait on a much, much, shorter line.

We didn't actually get into the building until after 2pm, so we weren't able to listen to a lot of the speakers, but we did have ample time to roam around and check out all the awesome vendors and sample their products!

I think the biggest disappointment of the day, for me, was that Sweet & Sara wasn't there this year. I was looking forward to stuffing myself with some vegan marshmallows and stocking up on some Easter Treats. Also, I missed checking out the latest fashions from Vaute Couture. Please come back, next year, okay?

While there were a ton of awesome exhibitors, I did manage to narrow it down to my top three favorites: three very new and delicious products, that I hadn't seen at the past events, that I hope to see more of in the future.

Vegan Fast Food 
http://www.veganfastfoodny.com/
@VeganFastFoodNY

As a Buffalo Chik'n connesiour, I've tried some amazing vegan drum sticks, namely from Red Bamboo [NYC] & Veggie Heaven [Teaneck, NJ], and I don't know what kind of magic these guys put into their food, but these Buffalo Drum Stix are probably the best ones I've ever had.

The outside of the drumstick was nice and crispy and the chick'n inside had a kind of creamy texture but it really was fantastic and the hot sauce had just the right amount of heat in contrast to the coolness of the blue cheeze dressing.

 There's very little info on these guys right now, but it seems that they're going to be opening up a shop, somewhere in NYC, in the very near future. I can't wait until they do!               HeatSweets
http://www.heatsweets.com
@HeatSweets  

They had a couple of unique varieties available, but we decided to go for the Jalapeno Strawberry Jelly. It's a nice mix of sweet with a bit of heat at the end and tastes amazing on a bagel with a little Daiya cream cheese. We also got to test out their Jalapeno Carrot Mango - which would be great as a glaze on veggies. 


Nuttin Ordinary
http://www.nuttinordinary.com
@nuttinordinary

I'm not a fan of "nut" cheeses, so I was completely surprised when I tried the Spicy Cheese Spread and loved it! The spicy version has a distinct nacho flavor and none of the weird aftertaste that I've noticed with some other brands I've tried. Definitely a HUGE thumbs up!

Onto the Speakers...

We were so busy checking out all the vendors that we missed most of the speakers, but we did head upstairs, to the Apple stage, and wound up catching a couple that I had wanted to see.


Dr. Joel Kahn

Holistic Tips to Power Your Heart
http://www.drjoelkahn.com
@drjkahn

It's always nice when you hear about a medical doctor embracing plant-based nutrition and holistic medicine. I fully believe that Western medicine is useful, in some cases, but a lot of today's diseases can be cured with preventative care & maintenance. If more doctors would incorporate at least some of these ideas, people would much healthier and in turn, be paying less in medical bills and for prescriptions.

Jasmin Singer
& Mariann Sullivan
Fed Up? A New Way to Feed Your Body, Your Soul and the World
http://www.ourhenhouse.org
@ourhenhouse

I volunteered with Jasmin, at some events, for Farm Sanctuary and I gotta say that she is one amazing human being. Her and Mariann have done so much to make the lives of animals SO much better.

While I've heard a lot of the information presented before I did enjoy the skit on 'What would it be like if an alien came to earth and saw how we were living." While it made everyone in the audience laugh, there were some very valid points made - which is one of the best ways to get a message across to people. Kudos you two!

All in all, I had a fantastic time and am looking forward to what next years vegetarian food festival brings. If you're vegan, vegetarian or even the slightest bit curious OR just love yummy food, you should definitely plan to be there next time. :)

My boyfriend shared this article with me. Now, it's not the article, itself, that got me riled up - it's articles like that, in general, and the comments that follow.

There were a few things, in the article, that made me raise an eyebrow, but hey, it's what the guy believes, so I really can't fault him. He did his research and cited his sources but I don't necessarily agree with his findings.

Here are a few excerpts:

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"Vegan diets, in particular, are almost completely devoid of certain nutrients that are crucial for physiological function. Several studies have shown that both vegetarians and vegans are prone to deficiencies in B12, calcium, iron, zinc, the long-chain fatty acids EPA & DHA, and fat-soluble vitamins like A & D."

"I do not think it’s possible to meet nutrient needs on a vegan diet without supplements—and quite a few of them. Vegan diets are low in B12, biovailable iron and zinc, choline, vitamin A & D, calcium, and EPA and DHA. So if you’re intent on following a vegan diet, make sure you are supplementing with those nutrients."

"While it may be possible to address these shortcomings through targeted supplementation (an issue that is still debated), it makes far more sense to meet nutritional needs from food. This is especially important for children, who are still developing and are even more sensitive to suboptimal intake of the nutrients discussed in this article. Like all parents, vegetarians and vegans want the best for their children. Unfortunately, many are not aware of the potential for nutrient deficiencies posed by their dietary choices."

-----

I was going to reply to some of the comments but figured that it would fall on deaf ears. Every time an article like this is posted, the vegans get all up in arms, the meat eaters fire back and no one actually pays attention to anything the other person is saying.

It's also about knowing your audience. The site also promotes "Paleo Weight Loss" - AKA the Caveman Diet - which is high protein, low carb. Plant-based diets, by design, are going to be are higher carb so anyone following that site would most likely frown upon it.  If there's one thing I've learned, over the years, it's that you should pick your battles. When people are resolute in their beliefs, and you're on a site where people obviously feel a certain way about something, there is no chance of having an open, engaging,discussion where both parties can respect each others views and opinions. In those cases, I just step away.

There was one thing Chris said that I agree with is about B-12.  On a plant-based diet it is more difficult to get it and that you have to either take a supplement or make sure you eat and drink things that are fortified with B-12. As for everything else? In my personal experience, it's not true. I get my blood tested, for all the things he mentioned, every year or two and I've never come up deficient in any category. I even donate blood whenever the Blood Mobile is in the area. They test your hemoglobin levels (the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in the red blood cells) every time you donate. If it's below a certain number, you're turned away. I've been turned away twice, for low hemoglobin since I started donating, 17 years ago, and both of those times were before I went vegan.

ANYONE can be deficient in the nutrients he mentioned. Eating meat and dairy doesn't ensure that you're going to have a healthy diet. Eating plant-based doesn't ensure that you're going to have a healthy diet either. It's up to the individual person to make sure they do their best to eat as healthy as possible, not matter what diet you choose to follow - that's what it boils down to.

The truth is that, on the internet, anyone can find "scientific fact" to support their viewpoint/opinion. Be sure to read ALL the "evidence"  - both for and against your argument - and then, with an open mind -  look at all the information provided and figure out what is right for you.

A couple of years back, SkinnyBitch.net was looking for weight loss success stories from people who had read the book, Skinny Bitch, so I sent mine in.

Shortly thereafter, I received an email saying that I was chosen to be featured on the site! To say I was excited was an understatement. They were going to put together a video about little ole me and put it on the site. I had a phone interview (for the voice over) and then sent in some before and after pictures to be featured. I waited for about a month before contacting the woman again and last I heard, they were "in the midst of the production on my video and it should be done in a month or so". That was a couple of years ago and I still haven't seen that video. I also noticed that they hadn't added any new videos to the page, since, so maybe they decided to not do them anymore for whatever reason.

I found the email that I sent, recently, so for those of you that don't know my story, I figured that it'd be a worthwhile share:

Most people don't know the day their life changed, but I do: May 17, 2008.

Farm Sanctuary was having their annual gala and, compelled to check out the celebrity arrivals after hearing that one of my favorite actresses would be there, me and a group of friends decided to go check out the red carpet arrivals.

The events of that day changed my life forever.

A little history: I had been overweight almost my entire teenage/adult life. My weight never prevented me from enjoying my high school years--I had great friends, participated in the high school band, plays and other activities, but it did stop me from trying unfamiliar things and stepping out of my comfort zone. This continued even after I graduated. Throughout my twenties I had a good group of friends, but I still missed out on a lot because of my weight. It held me back from going after so many things I'd wanted to do and from achieving my full potential. Throughout my life, I tried many different diets, but none ever worked in the long term. This history, combined with the fact that most of my family is overweight, led me to believe nothing could be done--this was part of my biology, simple as that.

By January 2008 I'd hit a rough patch. I had just turned 30 and, standing at 5'7" and weighing at least 215 pounds, I was not in a good place mentally, emotionally, spiritually or physically. I knew I needed to do something to fix things, but what?

The answer came in May of that year, waiting outside that Gala.

Shortly after arriving, we met a photographer and his friend, Kyle. As we passed the time chatting, Kyle asked me if I was vegetarian (which I wasn't at the time) and then suggested that I read a book called "Skinny Bitch". I remember laughing at the name and thinking, "What kind of name is that for a book?" But the title stuck with me and I mentally filed it away to look into later.

The next day my friend and I went to pick up a copy of the book and it took me less than a day to devour the contents. Captivated by the material, I spent the next two weeks researching everything I could on veganism, weight loss, nutrition and animal advocacy and on May 29, 2008, I officially banished all animals products from my life and my body.

One year later, I was a totally different person. I was down 70+ pounds, felt happier and healthier than I'd ever been before and for the first time, I was fully at peace with who I was. My weight was no longer holding me back from being who I wanted to be and a whole new world was opening up to me: I was getting out there and trying new things, having new experiences and was more conscious of things going on around me and of what I put into my body.

Now, almost four years later, I'm proud to say that I have successfully maintained the weight loss and try to give back by, as much as I can, by volunteering and helping others to improve their own lives. Everyday is still a learning experience for me and I try to educate friends and family about nutrition, weight loss and conscious eating as well as try my best to open people's eyes to what goes on on Factory Farms, in an effort to help improve the lives of people and animals alike.

I often wonder where I'd be now if the day of the gala had gone differently. What if I hadn't gone to the gala in the first place? Would I still have discovered Skinny Bitch on my own? All I know is that my life would be vastly different than it is today and I will forever be grateful for the second chance, that I've been given, at an amazing life because of Skinny Bitch! <3

Thought this was written a few years ago, the sentiment is the same. I have gained about 10lbs, which I've been battling to take off again, but overall, I still feel as great as I did when I initially lost the weight and am still extremely grateful for everything that has come my way.

Over the years, I haven't been the best at letting people know how I really feel. Somewhere along the way, I started to equate emotion with weakness and had learned to control my emotions so well that nothing could affect me.

What I’ve learned is that you can’t live like that.

Just because you suppress an emotion, doesn’t mean that it doesn't exist and the longer you push it down, the more it’s going to try to manifest itself in other ways, which just does more harm than good. Sure, letting people in is scary; letting them see the ’real’ you opens you up to rejection and heartache but it also opens you up to acceptance and love. Wouldn’t you rather have someone in your life who loves you for who you are and not someone you pretend to be? Opening yourself up to isn’t a sign a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of strength. You’re strong enough to take a chance on the unknown. The outcome may not always be what you had hoped for but living your life and taking chances on people (and experiences), is so much better than wondering “what if”?

I missed out on so much in my 20’s because I was afraid to take chances. I over-analyzed everything I did and always worried what people thought of me but since I've turned 30, I’ve learned to stop worrying so much and to just enjoy life and be grateful and take advantage of every opportunity that I’m presented. I try not to take anyone (or anything) for granted anymore and when I have the chance, let them know how much I appreciate them.

When I started on my weight loss/life transformation journey, there were four people that had a huge impact on helping me to change my life. Two of them I had just met (and didn't know if I'd ever see them again) and the other two I had no idea if I'd ever get to meet but I vowed to myself that if I ever had the chance, I would tell them exactly just how much they had effected my life and how thankful I was for who they are and what they do. Saying “thank you” is such a small gesture, but sometimes it’s the little things that impact someone’s life the most.

I’ve been lucky. I was able to thank all four of those people for being such an inspiration for me and for just being them. A lot of time, people don’t realize the impact they’ve made on someone else’s life, so being able to thank them in person, and seeing their face light up is such an incredible, indescribable feeling. Saying ‘thank you’ has allowed me to give back, a little bit, to someone who has done so much to help me by just being them. And what better feeling is there then knowing that someone appreciates you for just being you?

If there’s something that you want to tell someone or something you want to do, just do it. Don’t wait until the ‘perfect’ moment (there is no such thing). Don’t wait until you think you know how the other person will react (because you never really do). Don’t worry so much about saying the right thing (the words will come to you) or not do something because you're worried you won't be good at it. (everyone has to start somewhere.). Put yourself out there and take a chance - on life and on yourself.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~ Mark Twain

What’s more important? Living your life and taking chances or standing still and letting life pass you by? The choice is yours. Carpe diem.

If we changed our thinking, could we change the world?

Over the past 5 years, I've read a lot of books on everything from dieting and nutrition to getting what you want out of life. Out of them all, there are three that have really resonated with me: Skinny Bitch, Naturally Thin and Meeting Your Half-Orange. If Skinny Bitch and Naturally Thin were the books that helped me to transform my body, then Meeting Your Half-Orange was the book that helped me to transform my soul.

Meeting Your Half-Orange is marketed as a guide to dating optimism but it's so much more than that. The author, Amy Spencer, talks a lot about the law of attraction and using dating optimism, to not only lead you to finding the perfect person for you, but to also get what you want out of life. It's a great read for anyone who wants more of life in general - single, dating or even married.

When people think "The law of attraction" they tend to think about The Secret, so naturally, when I was having a conversation with a friend about this book, it segued into a discussion about it. I've been wanting to read it but never seemed to have a chance and then she reminded me that the movie was streaming online. I found myself with a bit of free time this weekend, so I decided to sit down and watch it.

The basics of it is are that like attracts like: positivity attracts positivity, negativity attracts negativity. It makes a lot of sense. When things are going good, everything just seems to fall into place then one bad thing happens and everything seems to go down hill. Once that one bad thing happens, how do you react? I know that my whole attitude would change and I'd go from feeling like I was on top of the world to thinking that the world was going to end. Of course I wasn't going to attract anything good when all I was putting out was negative energy.

I find the law of attraction fascinating. I could go on and on about this stuff, but there was  one section of the movie, that really stood out to me: how to use The Secret to change the world. You think I've lost my mind, right? Let me explain.

"I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there." ~Mother Teresa

Thought can be a very powerful thing; I'm sure you've experience this before yourself. You think about a person that you haven't seen in a while and shortly thereafter, someone else brings up their name in conversation, they contact you or you just happen to randomly run into them.

People are so intent on fighting for what they believe in, but do we ever stop and think about what type of energy we're putting out there? For the most part, we're "anti-this" and "anti-that" and no matter how good the cause, "anti" anything just brings about negative feelings. With all these people putting those type of feelings out there, can you imagine how powerful that is? By trying to help, we're actually just adding to the problem.

What if we came from a place of love rather than than a place of hate? What if we just changed our thought patterns and wording? We'd still be standing up for what we believe in, but going about it in a different way. Instead of imbuing the negative with power, we'd be imbuing the positive with it. Instead of being "anti-war", what if we were "pro-peace"? Instead of  being "against the death penalty", what if we were "for life in prison"? What if instead of being "against animal cruelty" we were "for the humane treatment of animals"? As Newton states in his third law, "To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction; for every 'anti' there is a 'pro', so why not embrace it?

We all have choices and how we choose to react shapes our lives. If we all chose to live our lives by coming from a place of love and compassion instead of a place of hate and judgment, I really do think we could make the world a better place.

Hello. My name is Tracie and I'm a coffee-aholic.

I love coffee - especially lattes - and I've been known to go to Starbucks at least 3-4 times a week. You know it's bad when the Barista knows your order by heart. At work, I'd have one to three cups of coffee a day. I'm sure that there are people who drink much more than I do but the amount of coffee I was consuming on a daily basis was becoming a bit much for me and I really needed to cut back a bit.

Over the past few months, I've done quite a bit of reading on PH Balance* and acidic vs alkaline diets, so after reading Kris Carr's book, Crazy Sexy Diet (which touched on those subjects again) I decided that it was time to take a little hiatus from coffee.

So for 28 days (the entire month of February) it was a Java Free School Zone.

The first few days were easier than expected. I've given it up in the past so I was prepared for the withdrawal symptoms to set in: headaches, body aches, restlessness, moodiness, etc. but this time around I lucked out. I was a bit more tired than usual, but other than that, nothing. I did get a few mild cravings but after about a week, those went away as well.

I learned a lot over the past 28 days. Without that much coffee in my body, I concentrate better, sleep more soundly at night and my 3pm crash isn't as bad. I've learned to appreciate tea much more. I've learned that a cup of peach tea in the morning can satisfy me just as much as a cup of coffee can. That a Passion tea soy latte can be as enjoyable as a hazelnut soy latte, That Jasmine tea is absolutely delicious and that I really enjoy sipping a cup of chamomile or mint tea while relaxing and watching tv at night

And then there's Teeccino. It's an herbal coffee made from herbs, grains, fruits and nuts that are roasted and ground to brew and taste just like coffee. It's caffeine free and non-acidic. They have a bunch of different flavors (Amaretto, Vanilla Nut, Chocolate Raspberry, Pumpkin Spice...) but if you love hot chocolate, try the Chocolate Mint. It tastes just like hot chocolate AND it's only 20 calories a cup! I could honestly give up coffee totally and be happy with just drinking Teeccino for the rest of my life. I think.

Halfway though the month, things were going fine and then I found out about the Coffee and Tea Festival in NYC. Groupon had a great deal on tickets and there was going to be a cooking demo on infusing baked goods with tea and coffee, so being an aspiring baker and chef, I just had to go! And the detox was half over, so I would be strong enough to escape the pull of the coffee aroma, right? Surprisingly, there was way more tea there than coffee; I'd say that for every 8 booths of tea there was only 1 booth of coffee. I'm happy to report that no coffee passed these lips but lots of different kinds of teas and fruit juices did! The cooking demo was a bit of a let down but the coffee and tea infused drink demo, that was right after it, was really interesting.

I  went into this detox fully intending to drink coffee again  - and I still am - but there are definitely going to be changes. I no longer need to have a cup of coffee to function in the morning and I plan to keep it that way by alternating mornings between tea and coffee and on the days that I do drink coffee, only having one cup per day. And I may even switch to decaf most of the time - but the jury's still out on that one :p

This was definitely a good experience for me but I'm happy that I'm able to have a latte again. The barista at Starbucks has been counting down the days, so when I walk through the door this afternoon, I know that she'll have my latte waiting and my hand will be outstretched ready to grab it! :)

Have you guys given anything up for a certain amount of time? How did it work out for you? Were you successful? Would you do it again?

~T

(Reposted from the now defunct, traciebee.blogspot.com from March 1, 2011)

*To sum up PH Balance, degenerative diseases such as cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease, kidney stones and even allergies have been scientifically linked to mineral deficiencies that result in your body fluids become more acidic. Parasites, viruses, and other diseases can't thrive in an alkaline environment, so a more alkaline diet would greatly reduce the chances of those diseases affecting you. If  you're as much of a nutrition nerd as I am, click here to see a list of alkaline and acid foods/drinks or check out these books: The Ultimate pH Solution by Michelle Schoffro Cook, The pH Balance Diet by Bharti Vyas & Suzanne Le Quesne and The Acid-Alkaline Diet for Optimum Health by Christopher Vasey.