Wow..it's been awhile since i've posted! Things have been busy: work, kids, work, kids kids kids. We just got through the USAG season with the little one, and cheer season is almost over for the bigger one. Whew! I am looking forward to a break!
That being said, I have not taken a break! I'm still growing strong. Although, I recently subluxated (read: popped out) another rib, so i'm taking it a bit easy. Pushups seem to be the culprit, as well as heavy lifting over my head. I've gone down from curling 25s to 15s for a while. I'm hoping that the change in weight will give my muscles ample time to relax and reform around my vertebrae, offering better resistance to the ever-loving popping out ribs. I'm a bit sick and tired of it.
For the past few months, i've been sticking to my OWN routine--not following anything by the books, but just going at it on my own. 3 days of cardio, 2 days of weights. I like it; my body seems to like it. I haven't been as strict on my diet, and my tummy shows it. I'm a little poofy around the midsection, but i know a week of clean eating will get rid of that--no weight gain, so no big whoop.
Worked arms yesterday, and those 15s (with lots of reps) gave me a pretty good hurt. :)
Take care, all! Remember to keep pushing play--you're all worth it!!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Shakeology article from 'O' magazine
The Superfoods That Could Change the Way You Eat, Feel, and Live
By Susan Casey
O, The Oprah Magazine
April 05, 2011
O’s editor in chief travels to Peru to experience a trove of life-giving superfoods that just might revolutionize your view of nutrition.
Around 4 o’clock on any given morning, Darin Olien will walk into his Malibu, California, kitchen and make himself a smoothie. This will not be an ordinary drink. The other day, for example, he tossed the following into his blender: coconut water, fermented sprouted brown rice, maca, aloe vera juice, barley grass powder, kamut juice powder, almond butter, camu camu, avocado, goji, lucuma powder, noni juice, cacao nibs, MSM, maqui, bee pollen, sacha inchi oil, omega-3–DHA/EPA oil, Hawaiian deepwater salt, chia seeds, nopal, goat yogurt, luo han guo, and a powder called Shakeology.
If you’ve never heard of many of these ingredients, you’re not alone. But stay with me here, because they’re among the most powerful nutrients on Earth. Olien’s specialty is what’s known as “formulating,” taking wildly beneficial substances and combining them into something even more potent: a supplement, a snack, a tea, a medicine, a smoothie. Every food in nature contains a mix of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, along with noncaloric vitamins, minerals, fibers—all of which fuel our cells—and each one has unique abilities that we really don’t understand, but it is now clear that some foods pack an extra biochemical punch. Camu camu fruit, for instance, provides the richest source of vitamin C known to exist. Maca, a hearty root that grows only in the high Andes, comes in yellow, red, and black varieties, boosts fertility, is said to balance hormones, and dispenses a day’s worth of kick-ass energy. Sacha inchi is another South American treasure, a protein-rich, metabolism-revving nut that delivers an omega-3 bonanza. Olien’s final ingredient, Shakeology, contains more than 70 components itself, a crazy cornucopia of good.
No one understands Shakeology better than Olien, who created it in 2008, after Carl Daikeler, CEO of the fitness company Beachbody, challenged him to come up with a supplement to match the tagline The Healthiest Meal of the Day. His customer was someone who wanted optimum wellness, wanted to lose weight, wanted cholesterol levels to drop—but had no intention of eating a platter of broccoli each day. Daikeler gave Olien no limits on quality, no cost/revenue restrictions; the goal was to shoot the moon, to seek out and combine the most extraordinary plants, fruits, nuts, herbs—nature’s secret weapons. And Olien found them: ashwagandha from China, cordyceps from Bhutan, yacon from Peru. An alphabet of vitamins and minerals from the purest sources. Prebiotics. Probiotics. Green tea and grapeseed extracts, chlorella and spirulina and hydrilla, a spectrum of enzymes. Since hitting the market in March 2009, more than 400,000 bags of Shakeology, at $119.95 each, have been sold.
Olien himself is a strapping guy, north of six feet and solid. He looks, in fact, like the steak-fed Midwestern varsity football player that he was, until a back injury derailed his athletic career. From that low point Olien had tried to rehabilitate himself using traditional methods—lots of animal protein, relentless physiotherapy—but it was only when he adopted a radically new diet of superfoods that he was able to regain his strength. This not only improved his health, it revealed his calling. “It was one of the greatest turns in my life,” Olien says, “because it got me into the question, ‘What can I do to fix this?’ I became very curious about the body, switched my major to exercise physiology and nutrition. Then I healed myself.” Over the years he also managed to help many others with their diet and fitness regimens, and Olien’s “concoctions,” his powders and bars and health innovations, began to attract attention.
On the first morning I met Olien I watched him doing squat jumps holding 40-pound weights, while holding his breath underwater. Another workout he likes to do involves harnessing himself to a 150-pound railroad tie and dragging it through thick sand. Whatever he eats needs to fuel these exploits, so people are often surprised to hear that his diet consists mostly of plants. Olien consumes no processed foods, no polysyllabic ingredients invented in labs, no high-fructose corn syrup or trans fats, no artificial flavorings, no antibiotic-laced dairy products, nothing that comes out of a drive-thru. In short, he doesn’t eat what’s generally on offer in the modern food world. “When people find out that I don’t eat this or I don’t eat that, I feel a sense of pity coming from them,” he says, “and I think, ‘Wow! You have no idea. I’m not deprived at all. Come to my kitchen! I’ll blow your mind.’”
Thing is, science is now catching up to something that nature has known all along: the rich greens, the vibrant yellows, the deep indigos of plants are key to our well-being. That meat we love so much? Proven to clog our arteries. Convenience foods—heavily sweetened and salted, laden with fat and chemicals—wreak havoc on everything from our immune systems to our moods to our weight. Here are the facts and they’re not very pretty: Americans are the fattest people ever in history. Obesity, a body composition topping 30 percent fat, is the most pressing health crisis we face, with 34 percent of the adult population falling into that category (plus 29 percent of all children). If you add in the merely overweight it’s closer to 68 percent. In the past 50 years the weight of the typical American citizen has increased, on average, by 25 pounds. If we continue at this rate, by 2050 every last person will have eaten himself into the danger zone.
“Every time you eat processed foods, you exclude from your diet not only the essential nutrients that we are aware of, but hundreds of other undiscovered phytonutrients that are crucial for normal human function,” Joel Fuhrman, MD, writes in his new book, Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, which stresses the importance of a diet full of high-quality produce. Mehmet Oz, MD, who wrote the foreword to Fuhrman’s book, believes that even a slight shift away from meat can improve your health. “What we really want to do is have people nudge themselves in the right direction,” he told me. “If you want to have a few bacon bits on your salad, God bless you, fine. That’s not where we’re losing the battle. We’re losing the battle when you have sausage for breakfast, a big pastrami sandwich for lunch, and pork chops for dinner.”
Yet we live in a mass-produced, big-box culture, where economic interests hold sway. Meat, corn, sugar—they come cheap, and we buy them. Plus, we tend to like the taste. But there are steep hidden costs in a food system that makes calories rather than nutrients—from the factory farms that treat animals like parts on an assembly line to the fact that obesity-related ailments like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes are skyrocketing and account for approximately $150 billion in healthcare expenses each year.
As both Fuhrman and Oz would attest, anyone consuming a steady diet of man-made edibles would benefit even from something as prosaic as lettuce, but far more intriguing foods exist. As Olien began to talk about the vegetables, fruits, grains, herbs, and other plants he was hunting, I realized there was an entire universe out there I didn’t know about. I had never heard of lucuma or sapote or aguaje. What the heck was gac? The list was long.
Learning more requires a passport, because in acquiring these superfoods Olien doesn’t simply call up a supplier with his FedEx number, he goes directly to the source.
In doing so he often ends up in extreme places, searching out plants that—although they may have been revered by past civilizations—are now largely forgotten. South America, with its jungles and rainforests and mountains, is especially rich. So when I heard that Olien was headed back to Peru, I invited myself along. I wanted to see firsthand what he was up to because it sounded so incredible to me, so mysterious and even magical. I wanted to taste these lost, powerful foods that had fueled warriors and emperors, plants with miraculous properties that had somehow almost vanished, disappearing beneath a sea of fast-food wrappers.
Lima
From the outside, Nicolaza Mendoza’s warehouse looks like any other drab building on the industrial fringe of a sprawling Latin American city. When I walked through the door, however, that impression was washed away by a wave of earthy scent. Colorful sacks were piled high on wooden palettes, each one stuffed with precious plants. Their names—uña de gato, achiote, huasca—were written on the sacks in thick black marker. Mendoza, a small-statured woman with a serious face, is one of Peru’s most respected herbalists. She spoke no English; her daughter Luz María, a striking 32-year-old in a short black skirt and lavender eyeshadow, was there to translate.
“How do you say, ‘Hit the jackpot’ in Spanish?” Olien asked, smiling. He was carrying a list of substances he wanted to investigate, and it was a good bet that many were on the premises. Standing beside him, Bernd Neugebauer, PhD, surveyed the warehouse and nodded. At 59, with a mane of white hair and vivid blue eyes, Neugebauer has a distinguished air, bolstered by the four languages he speaks fluently and his provenance from one of Germany’s oldest forestry families. Neugebauer’s accomplishments and interests include cultivating organic aloe vera, beekeeping, shamanism training, and studying ancient farming methods. Currently he is restoring an entire Mayan village in the Yucatán. But his primary interest is soil. Only healthy, mineral-rich soil produces healthy, mineral-rich food, and the world’s topsoil is under great stress these days, overused, undernourished, and (due to increasing deforestation) prone to erode into the sea. Though he is an organic farming expert, Neugebauer has gone even beyond that, reaching into history to discover how past agricultural empires—Maya, Aztec, Inca—treated the land, and what we can learn from them. In 2006 Olien read an academic paper by Neugebauer about creating holistic and sustainable agricultural practices, and sought him out as a kindred spirit. Now the two team up often, with Neugebauer helping the farmers who grow Olien’s raw materials get the most out of their crops without pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
Olien’s relationship to his suppliers is a deeply personal one. He believes in cultivating relationships first, supporting indigenous practices, seeking the highest-quality products and paying generously for them. The farmers he works with have become his close friends. “It’s fair trade on steroids,” he says of his approach. To that end, every last leaf that now sat in Mendoza’s warehouse met this gold standard. The herbs here were locally grown and carefully harvested. Her collection was all the more impressive when you considered Peru’s outlandish biodiversity. Luz explained how her mother traversed the country constantly, from one extreme to another, from the Amazon to the Andes to the Pacific Coast and everywhere in between, seeking out each region’s botanical treasures. The stakes were high: Billion-dollar drugs had been obtained in the rapidly dwindling rainforest—antimicrobial, antipain, anticancer medications, among countless others—and yet scientists agreed that only a small fraction of nature’s pharmacopoeia had ever been studied. “I’m amazed by what she knows,” Luz said, shaking her head.
I walked down the aisles behind Mendoza and Olien, leaning over the herbs to examine them. Uña de gato, or cat’s claw, was a vine that had been chopped into little shingles; it was adobe red and smelled like the primeval forest. I had seen it referenced in a number of books as an antiaging “superherb.” Recently scientists have discovered that the most prized plants and herbs in native cultures contain high levels of nutrients that contribute ferociously to cellular health in ways we are only beginning to understand; cat’s claw has been shown to fight infection, decrease inflammation, and repair DNA. “This is the real pharmacy,” Olien said, gesturing at the sacks. “Hippocrates said, ‘Let food be your medicine’—and there’s a lot of medicine out there.”
There was a row dedicated entirely to teas, lush manzanilla (chamomile), lemony cedron, eucalyptus, and menta blanca—white mint so strong it was as though an entire field had been squeezed into a teacup. Every smell was amplified. “Stand here for three minutes and just breathe deeply,” Neugebauer advised, “and you will be in wonderful condition.” The intensity of these substances was striking, given that we live in a diluted world, willing to eat a tomato that only vaguely tastes like a tomato, or an orange that looks orange only because it’s been shot full of dye.
One sack had frayed at the ends and its contents spilled out, revealing a root that looked like a thick, spiral cinnamon stick. I was examining it when Miguel Berumen, another member of Olien’s team, came over. Berumen was a walking superfoods encyclopedia, and the learning had started early. As a boy growing up outside Mexico City, he’d watched his grandmother heal family members with plants from her garden. “I’d get sick,” he recalled, “and she’d come over and brew up some herbs and say some prayers. That was just the logical thing to do.” When Berumen was asked a question about, say, sarsaparilla, the knowledge poured out, streams of words rushing and tumbling over themselves in excitement. “In ancient times they used this herb to make root beer. They also used sassafras. And manioc root to generate the bubbles!”
“Can you ask Nicolaza about kaniwa?” Olien asked Berumen. He’d mentioned kaniwa, a grain I’d never heard of, several times today.
“Kaniwa is a beautiful plant,” Neugebauer said, with admiration in his voice.
“It bounced off the page to me this morning,” Olien said, pointing to his notes. New quinoa, high Andes, he’d written in the margin. “We could sprout it. Make it a little more bioactive.”
Olien had explained to me how his formulas come together first by instinct, a gut knowing that eventually leads him into the lab, where everything will be rigorously tested. “I start with a question,” he said. “For Shakeology it was, ‘What do people need to thrive?’” From that point the different ingredients pop into his mind, inspirations bubble up, ideas appear—”and then I back into the science.” Once a product has been fine-tuned, Olien uses himself and his friends as guinea pigs. “That’s the ultimate test,” he said. “In your own body.”
The intricate synergies that keep our livers humming and our eyes focused and our brains remembering where we put the car keys are mirrored in the plant world. Each organism contains a universe within itself, countless components working together seamlessly to keep things in perfect balance. When Olien combines his raw materials—all of them functional foods—he’s seeking this same effect, in which the whole adds up to more than the sum of its parts. When we supplement our diets with specific vitamins—a vitamin D capsule, a CoQ10 pill—we’re doing the opposite: breaking nature’s systems apart. “The best example of this is the work that’s been done on vitamin A,” Oz had told me. “When you eat vitamin-A-rich foods like carrots, you reduce the risk of lung cancer. When you take vitamin A as a pill you increase the risk of lung cancer. How is that possible? It’s possible because when you take a carrot and put it into your mouth you don’t just get vitamin A, you get all the retinols. The different subtypes of all these different phytonutrients. And they’re in the perfect mix for us. Literally dozens of them in the right combinations—they’re the key that unlocks the cells’ abilities to defend themselves against cancer. If you take only a massive pharmaceutical dose of vitamin A, then you actually block the body’s ability to absorb the other components of the carrot.” The way these things operate, Oz said, is like a band playing in perfect tune: “The true benefit doesn’t come from just having the drum banging. You need the guitar, a little trumpet, a singer. That’s what makes the music.”
This vast, emerging alchemy was the most exciting part of his work, Olien agreed, stepping out of Mendoza’s warehouse into the hazy afternoon heat: “I’m not a fan of isolating. Who are we to separate things out? All of these herbs and vitamins have their buddies, and they want to come together.” He walked toward the bus that would take us from Lima into the wild folds of Peru. “It never ceases to amaze me,” he added, “watching the magic.”
Tarma
Fresh cacao is a strange and wonderful fruit. Outside, it’s a tough vermilion pod the size and shape of a toy football, but inside it contains another set of textures: a mass of wonky-shaped cubes nestled in a 3-D jigsaw puzzle, each with a furry white covering and a chewy bean in the center. When you bite into cacao the sensation is sexy and silky and delicious, kind of bitter and kind of sweet, with a darkly complex flavor that only hints at the chocolate it will eventually become.
“They called it the Food of the Gods,” Olien said, handing me another cube. “And it truly is.” He was wearing a pair of black shoes that slipped on like gloves, all five toes outlined, giving his feet the appearance of paws. It was perfect jungle footwear. We stood on the slippery hillside with three men from the small, organic cacao plantation where these fruit trees had been planted. Olien was always on the lookout for good sources of cacao, a key ingredient.
Botanists and herbalists—and superfood hunters—tend to get very worked up when describing cacao; its health attributes seem almost too good to be true. Cacao has more protective antioxidants than red wine, pomegranates, and blueberries combined. It’s a huge source of magnesium, a critical mineral for heart health, bone strength, and brainpower that many of us could use more of. These little beans contain a rainbow of minerals, a wallop of vitamin C, many essential fats, and the calming amino acid tryptophan, which in turn elevates levels of the happiness-inducing neurotransmitter serotonin. “Cacao is an absolutely perfect mood stabilizer,” Olien said. And more: The beans are rich in a wonderful substance called phenylethyl-amine (PEA) that our bodies produce when we fall in love; PEA also acts as a natural appetite suppressant. An aphrodisiac that helps you lose weight is so precious, in fact, that the Maya and Aztecs used cacao beans as currency, valuing them above gold.
“I want to make a convenient medicinal chocolate,” Olien said, holding up one of the pods. “As pure and raw as possible, all hand grown. It’d be like handing out delicious antidepressants to people!” To be honest, it was quite an idea: What if the foods we loved also happened to be incredibly good for us? What if, instead of doughnuts and nachos, we craved nature’s most exquisite gifts? What would the world look like if everyone functioned at peak energy, tipped the scales at their ideal weight, and ran around in a good mood? What if we didn’t need to take drugs to be happy or keep our hearts running smoothly or get a decent night’s sleep?
Neugebauer began to talk to the farmers, giving them some new ideas to fend off a fungus known as Monilia that was reducing their harvest. I watched him speaking to them in Spanish, kneeling down next to the trees and examining the soil. A walnut-skinned man in black rubber boots listened intently, a curved machete hanging from his belt. Standing at the edge of the path, Olien and Berumen were deep in conversation. “It can’t help but propel me into neurotransmitters,” I heard Olien say. His face was still smeared with red achiote dye from a stop we’d made earlier at a lowland jungle village called Pampa Miche, where we’d visited a tribe called the Asháninka, renowned for their knowledge of local plants. Olien had stood by good-naturedly as a group of village women painted his face with scarlet stripes, looped boa constrictors around his neck, and dressed him in a native outfit consisting of a loose caftan, an elaborate sash of beads, and a jaunty straw hat.
Later, on an exploratory walk through the rainforest, he had downed a murky brown drink with a bitter flavor and the texture of phlegm. “What are the medicinals in this?” he asked Nuria, a sturdy woman in a red headscarf. She responded in a gale of Spanish, gesturing at the towering trees.
“Five different tree barks,” Neugebauer translated.
“Para potencia!” Nuria stressed. The women erupted in giggles.
Olien went on to sample wild cashew nut, a reddish fruit shaped like a small bell pepper. The shell of the nut contains a burning acid (something Olien had learned the hard way in Mexico last year, and ended up having the skin of his lips peel off). Stepping off the path, one of the Asháninka men, who happened to be carrying a small monkey, reached up with a long knife and cut into the trunk of a nearby tree. A thick red sap began to ooze out. “Sangre de grado,” Berumen said, leaning over to examine it. “Dragon’s blood!”
This was a sighting: Sangre de grado is a substance so valuable and rare that counterfeit versions often show up in the markets. Used externally as a salve, it acts as a second skin to close wounds and stop infection; taken internally it heals ulcers and other stomach ailments. Dragon’s blood also exhibits antitumor and antiviral activity, qualities that have captured the pharmaceutical industry’s attention.
Nuria rubbed a few drops onto Olien’s forearm. The sap first looked red, then quickly turned a shimmery golden, before morphing again to a soapy white. “It’s sticky,” he said, touching it. “That’s how you know it’s really good,” Berumen said. “When it gets creamy like that.”
The visual effect was startling. The dark red liquid stood out against the light bark, as though the tree really were bleeding. It looked eerily like a human arm or leg. Olien traced the wound, letting the liquid drip onto his fingers. He was completely transfixed, and he stood there for several minutes, oblivious to anything else around him, even the scampering monkeys.
Junín
At 14,000 feet in the Andes, not much grows in Junín. There is one noteworthy exception: maca. This windblasted place is the maca capital of the world, and for that Olien loves it. “Ah, yeahhh,” he said as the lunar vistas rolled by, dust-colored barren hillsides dotted with the tiny figures of llamas and vicuñas. The more I’d heard about maca, the more fantastic this little tuber seemed: A relative of the radish, it has been cultivated for 2,000 years in these parts. Maca is an adaptogen, Olien said, explaining how the brutal terrain had bred into the plant a kind of survivors’ guile that enabled it to respond to any conditions. In the body it helps balance whatever’s out of whack, particularly hormones. It boosts endurance, allowing people (and animals) to work long days at high altitude. Incan warriors liked to take maca before going into battle. In Junín, the local people ate it roasted, stewed, marinated, dried, fermented, made into tea. But for all its benefits, maca had flirted with extinction. In 1979 only 70 acres of it could be found in Peru. Since then its stock as a superfood has been steadily rising, and small farmers have started planting it again, realizing it’s worth far more in the marketplace than potatoes.
We were headed to visit Dina Guere Vega, a maca farmer whom Olien had been working with for six years. She and her family lived in a jumbled compound of low buildings that included a warehouse filled with maca bulbs. Guere Vega was a pocket-size woman with large brown eyes and a brilliant smile, bundled in a hand-knit alpaca sweater, and she greeted Olien, Berumen, and Neugebauer like family. Her husband stood beside her, wearing a wool hat with earflaps. Outside the wind howled, shaking the roof.
The smell of maca is intense and unique, like earth meets nuts meets a wood fire with undertones of licorice and wasabi, and it filled the warehouse—sacks of maca lined the walls. On one side of the building two women sorted through a sea of bulbs spread across a tarp. Olien reached into an open bag and pulled out a handful. The root looked like a petrified fig. “Powerful stuff,” he said. “This is dried. Takes about three months.” After that it would be carefully powdered and shipped to the United States. Maca’s strong odor (and that of other pungent herbs) had challenged Olien when it came to perfecting Shakeology’s taste without resorting to artificial ingredients. “I spent a year trying to get it right,” he said, describing the two flavors that resulted, chocolate and greenberry. “Because if I didn’t, no one in Middle America would drink it. You have to meet them in the place where they can receive it.”
Dina and her husband reappeared holding trays of a golden liquid. “Liquor de maca!” Neugebauer said, reaching for a glass with a somewhat shaky hand. Since our arrival we’d been chewing coca leaves, the native remedy for altitude sickness, but he was feeling the elevation, and hoped that a little maca toddy would clear that up. We had three rounds of the stuff and later we would drink more maca, blended with dark beer and papaya. Its effect was smooth and kicky, like stepping on the accelerator of a fine sports car. As Olien said, it was an easy plant to love. The locals felt the same way and had even installed a 70-foot-high, shocking purple maca monument in the nearby town of Huayre.
But the picture wasn’t entirely rosy. Part of Neugebauer’s task here was to solve a pressing problem: Over the past year Dina’s fields had been producing far less maca, and the plants that were growing had shrunk dramatically in size. Dina thought that climate change was the culprit, erratic weather patterns bringing warmer temperatures and rain out of season. Neugebauer, however, believed a change in planting methods would not only restore her maca yield but double it. The two of them hunkered on a couch in the drafty room with wool caps pulled low over their heads. “He wants her to use a crane rather than a tractor,” Berumen translated. “To reach out and loosen a little area without turning the soil over. And he doesn’t think she’s digging deep enough.” Neugebauer also explained how he had resurrected the chaquitaclla, an Incan maca-planting tool shaped like a spear gun: “I took it into a machine design shop in Germany and told them, ‘Please mechanize this.’”
As old as maca’s tradition was, I could see that much of what was happening here was new. “Five years ago, none of this existed,” Olien said, surveying Dina’s compound, where a 2,000-year-old crop was being reintroduced to the world. Though we tend to think of progress as a straight charge ahead—more, new, bigger, faster—in maca’s case, moving forward required going back in time. I recalled a conversation I’d had with William Li, a Harvard-trained MD and the cofounder of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a vanguard group that’s proving how, at the molecular level, the foods we eat have a direct impact on whether our bodies are vulnerable to cancer. “Today we’re at a very awkward moment, I think, in human existence as it relates to food and health,” Li had said, “where we know intrinsically that there’s more to these things than we concretely recognize. And there’s a lot of historical stuff that’s been lost. How do we rediscover that? How do we take ourselves out of this cereal box?”
“I mean, why not think about trying to replace wheat with maca, for example,” Neugebauer had mused earlier. “Maca is the absolute superfood. Wheat has all sorts of problems.” On the surface this sounds preposterous—but is it? Considering that we’ve adopted a food system that’s created massive increases in both obesity and hunger, where prices are spiraling out of control, and monoculture and genetic modification work in opposition to nature’s strategy of endless diversity, what these maca fields really represented, I thought, were ancient yet urgent ideas about how to live.
Huánco
“What does this look like?” Berumen asked, holding up the aguaje fruit in the open-air market.
“A hand grenade?” I said. Because it did.
“An ovary!”
The aguaje is a huge source of phyto-estrogens, Berumen said, and a perfect example of biomimicry in action. In other words, even before there were textbooks and search engines, nature had given us very clear directions. It’s no accident that walnuts, with their squiggly oval hemispheres, are the ultimate brain food. Or that a plant the rainforest natives call chanca piedra (“stone breaker” in English), which produces tiny green balls, is a natural remedy for kidney stones. Or that dragon’s blood, the sap that acts as a coagulant, actually bleeds out of the tree.
We stood in an aisle of the Huánuco market, squeezing aside as people bustled past. A short woman in a flouncy skirt walked by with a pig on a leash; another woman crouched on the ground next to a net bag writhing with tiny chicks. Fruits and vegetables were heaped everywhere. A light rain drizzled outside. Huánuco is a midsize city in central Peru, usefully located between the sierra and the high jungle. If you’re a farmer, there’s a lot of business to do here.
“The phytoestrogenic property of aguaje is different than soy,” Berumen continued, citing another plant with strong hormonal effects. “It actually assists the body in making estrogen.” He cut into the aguaje and handed me a piece. The fruit was bright orange, with the dry texture of cheese. The vivid colors in fruits and vegetables—created by chemicals called flavonoids—signal power. So far scientists have identified about 6,000 of these compounds—names like peonidin, kaempferol, apigenin, hesperitin, quercetin—but undoubtedly, thousands more exist. Flavonoids have been shown to improve brain function, motor skills, blood flow; they protect cells from inflammation and potential damage that can lead to cancer.
Eating a variety of plants is the best way to assure your body a wide array of flavonoids; in Peru, I’d discovered, this wasn’t a problem. Since my arrival I’d been presented with a steady stream of unknown foods. Along with cacao, maca, and aguaje I’d tried granadilla, a fruit that cracks open with a snap, revealing a fist-size mass of seeds, each covered in a translucent membrane. The seeds were crunchy and sour, the membrane was soft and sweet, the combination was sublime. Olien had produced a bag full of dried aguaymanto, raisinlike fruits with a sharp citrusy tang. Berumen had talked about “monster fruit”—a corncob-shaped plant that tasted like a cross between a guava and a pineapple—and declared it “the most delicious thing ever.” But Monstera deliciosa (its Latin name) had to be carefully ripened and prepared, he warned: “If you bite into it fresh, it’s like eating razors. It cuts up your whole mouth.” There was black sapote, a fruit that tasted like chocolate pudding, and the succinctly named peanut butter fruit. In the market we had also come across lucuma, a fruit Olien likes for its mild, butterscotchy taste (in Peru, lucuma-flavored ice cream is as popular as chocolate or vanilla). “It blends well,” he said, slicing the skin off like that of a mango. “Balances out the astringents.” The fruit had a soft, cakey texture. “It’s one of the most mineral-rich foods in the world,” Berumen added.
We walked past rows of fish on ice, midsize animal carcasses dangling from hooks, rafts of flowers and sheaves of herbs. A heavyset woman in fuchsia lipstick presided over bushels of coca leaves. In a back corner, a group of older ladies had gathered around two large pots. One of them, an Indian woman with a long braid, ladled something that looked like porridge into a metal bowl. “Medicina!” she said, pointing at Olien and then handing the bowl to him. Then she pointed to her stomach: “Medicina!” she stressed again, flashing a smile that revealed many missing teeth.
“Ah, the gringo needs some medicine,” Olien said, raising an eyebrow. “What is this?” he asked Berumen to inquire. The stuff in the bowl smelled acrid, even rotten. Berumen spoke to the women in Spanish and then after a moment he turned to us. “It’s called tocosh,” he said. “A traditional Andean food made from fermented potatoes.” The process, he translated, involved burying the potatoes in river soil for up to two years. Amazingly, this produced a natural penicillin.
Olien raised a gloopy spoonful to his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and then bravely swallowed it. Even from three feet away the aroma made my eyes water. “It’s a lot better than it smells,” he said, delivering the verdict. “It’s actually good.” I tried it, and agreed. The tocosh was warm and subtly sweet, with hints of vanilla. There was something comforting about it, and I could feel my body wanting more. Later I would learn that tocosh had been an Incan delicacy, and that even in sophisticated cities like Lima, Peruvian doctors still prescribed it for stomach disorders, and for its overall healthful effects.
“Oh my God, would I like to see the nutrient content on this,” Olien said, taking another spoonful. “Because that is not a potato anymore. It’s a completely new structure.” Fermenting a food, he explained, was like turbocharging it. This is the process, of course, that turns grapes into wine, milk into cheese. Essentially you’re letting food go bad in a good way, by creating an oxygen-free environment around it. During fermentation, benevolent armies of bacteria break down starches to sugars; those are converted to health-enhancing alcohols and acids. Whole new vitamins, enzymes, and amino acids can spring up. The result is a food with alchemical potency. This technique is so ancient that we don’t have any records of its origin, but historians believe it goes back at least 9,000 years, to China.
“If you look at the history of food, there’s been this tribalism,” William Li had pointed out. “Things are passed down—and there’s so much we don’t know. Space is a frontier. Oceans are a frontier. I think food is a whole other frontier,” he said. “And it’s not something you have to train with NASA for, or put on scuba gear for. It’s sitting in front of us every single day.”
Ambo
The Yacon farm was perched at the top of a road that zigzagged up the mountainside in a series of hairpin turns. The road was narrow and crumbly with scree, its thin ribbon of shoulder edged by sheer cliffs. There were no guardrails. I watched the bus driver hunch over the wheel in tense concentration, muttering under his breath. The view at the top, however, was worth the white-knuckle ride. The farm was tucked in a pristine valley glowing with more shades of green than the spectrum seemed able to hold, ringed by majestic peaks.
“Have I talked to you about yacon?” Olien asked, describing the potato-shaped vegetable that was, improbably, a cousin of the sunflower. “It’s an amazing food, a tuber that has a bunch of different sugars in it.” The most important of these sugars is a rare type known as fructooligosaccharide (FOS), and yacon is the richest known source of it. Although FOS tastes beautifully sweet, it’s not processed in the body like other sugars because we lack the enzymes to digest it (making it perfect for diabetics—and dieters, because few calories are absorbed). But rather than being expelled like some alien substance, on its way through your body yacon does a number of helpful things. It acts as a prebiotic, encouraging healthy bacteria in your intestines and colon, and aids in fat metabolism, cholesterol management, vitamin absorption, blood sugar regulation, even bone density. “It could be a sweetener solution for the entire planet,” Olien said.
The farm’s owner was a local man named Luis Alva, known to his friends as Lucho. He was burly, in his 30s with a wide face that looked both tough and kind. Alva had a quiet gravitas, which made sense when you learned what he’d been through on his family land. Twenty years ago, at a house only a mile away, his father was killed by the Shining Path, the leftist guerrillas who brutalized Peru during the ’80s and ’90s (and remain on the U.S. State Department’s list of terrorist groups). It was not a tragedy that anyone around here had forgotten. But today Lucho was buoyant, glad to see Olien and Berumen again, and to meet the rest of us.
In 2006 Berumen had been trolling the Internet and came across an arcane reference to yacon. He sent it to Olien, who was astonished by the “perfect storm of health benefits” the plant seemed to provide. “I thought, ‘This is an amazing product,’” Olien recalled. “You can’t get it anywhere, not even online. And then I was like a pit bull. I just kept saying, ‘We gotta bring it here.’ And maybe I got ahead of myself….” He laughed, then added: “But that inspired all of what’s growing here.”
The next morning we headed to the fields in Alva’s truck, driving up a red dirt road that also served as a thoroughfare for Andean shepherdesses and their flocks. The women wore bright shirts and shawls in magenta, canary, emerald, tangerine, turquoise, along with the traditional pleated wool skirts and black flat-brimmed hats, which they decorated with bits of tinsel. We passed a group of alpacas, shaggy white beasts with unicorn faces and cranky dispositions, and a cow with long eyelashes that was mowing some bushes.
Yacon produces large green leaves that gave Alva’s fields a lush appearance, like a vast carpet of salad. “Historically, yacon was called the apple of the Earth,” Berumen noted. After sitting in the sun, apparently, it literally tastes like an apple, though the tuber itself resembles a yam. “You can dehydrate it, extract juice, or make a syrup out of it,” Berumen said. I watched as a field hand pulled up a plant, its roots caked with soil. Alva peeled the brown skin with a knife. Inside, the yacon was crystal white with tiny violet dots around its perimeter. It had an icy, juicy look and a crisp texture and it tasted fresh and light, like highly delicious air or a ghost carrot. I could have eaten it all day. “No applicación de herbicida,” Lucho said. “Nada, nada, nada.” He used only organic fertilizer in his fields, no chemicals at all.
The spectacular valley, the happy workers, the mountain air, the bountiful crops—no one could argue against this as an ideal. Earlier I’d asked Olien what I thought was a key question: Is it possible to mass-produce this kind of quality? “I think we’re proving that you can,” he answered without hesitation. He added, “If you get the highest nutritional value from your food, you need less of it. The vacant foods—we need more of them, because they’re posers. They’re empty.”
He was right. It was really that simple: The body with its unknown galaxies of cells, its unseen cogs and wheels, its ropes and coils of DNA, needs to be nourished, and it doesn’t thrive on red dye #40 or propylene glycol or butylated hydroxyanisole with a ciprofloxacin chaser. “These plants you’re writing about have powers that are sacred,” Oz had stressed. “That word belongs in your story.” And these sacred foods do not have to remain in backcountry Peru. They could be available to all if we were willing to think and farm and eat differently.
Alva pulled his truck over to the side of the road and pointed to a field where eight varieties of yacon were growing. He wanted to see which type would do best in this environment, and produce the most FOS. The winner would be a kind of superyacon, a super-superfood. Olien opened the passenger door and got out, walking to the edge of the field. Below he could see the blue rooftops of a tiny school, kids playing soccer in front of it. The workers moved among more yacon, small figures bent in the furrows, and the Arischaca River rushed in the background while the Andean women tended their sheep in the peacefulness and fullness that was now here. The valley stretched out before him, green and red, the vertiginous perfection of it all, the terraced fields, the veins of soil. In the gold afternoon light Olien sat down in the yacon field, among the floppy leaves. And then he lay back and closed his eyes, smiling.
**want some for yourself: http://bit.ly/shakeItup**
By Susan Casey
O, The Oprah Magazine
April 05, 2011
O’s editor in chief travels to Peru to experience a trove of life-giving superfoods that just might revolutionize your view of nutrition.
Around 4 o’clock on any given morning, Darin Olien will walk into his Malibu, California, kitchen and make himself a smoothie. This will not be an ordinary drink. The other day, for example, he tossed the following into his blender: coconut water, fermented sprouted brown rice, maca, aloe vera juice, barley grass powder, kamut juice powder, almond butter, camu camu, avocado, goji, lucuma powder, noni juice, cacao nibs, MSM, maqui, bee pollen, sacha inchi oil, omega-3–DHA/EPA oil, Hawaiian deepwater salt, chia seeds, nopal, goat yogurt, luo han guo, and a powder called Shakeology.
If you’ve never heard of many of these ingredients, you’re not alone. But stay with me here, because they’re among the most powerful nutrients on Earth. Olien’s specialty is what’s known as “formulating,” taking wildly beneficial substances and combining them into something even more potent: a supplement, a snack, a tea, a medicine, a smoothie. Every food in nature contains a mix of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, along with noncaloric vitamins, minerals, fibers—all of which fuel our cells—and each one has unique abilities that we really don’t understand, but it is now clear that some foods pack an extra biochemical punch. Camu camu fruit, for instance, provides the richest source of vitamin C known to exist. Maca, a hearty root that grows only in the high Andes, comes in yellow, red, and black varieties, boosts fertility, is said to balance hormones, and dispenses a day’s worth of kick-ass energy. Sacha inchi is another South American treasure, a protein-rich, metabolism-revving nut that delivers an omega-3 bonanza. Olien’s final ingredient, Shakeology, contains more than 70 components itself, a crazy cornucopia of good.
No one understands Shakeology better than Olien, who created it in 2008, after Carl Daikeler, CEO of the fitness company Beachbody, challenged him to come up with a supplement to match the tagline The Healthiest Meal of the Day. His customer was someone who wanted optimum wellness, wanted to lose weight, wanted cholesterol levels to drop—but had no intention of eating a platter of broccoli each day. Daikeler gave Olien no limits on quality, no cost/revenue restrictions; the goal was to shoot the moon, to seek out and combine the most extraordinary plants, fruits, nuts, herbs—nature’s secret weapons. And Olien found them: ashwagandha from China, cordyceps from Bhutan, yacon from Peru. An alphabet of vitamins and minerals from the purest sources. Prebiotics. Probiotics. Green tea and grapeseed extracts, chlorella and spirulina and hydrilla, a spectrum of enzymes. Since hitting the market in March 2009, more than 400,000 bags of Shakeology, at $119.95 each, have been sold.
Olien himself is a strapping guy, north of six feet and solid. He looks, in fact, like the steak-fed Midwestern varsity football player that he was, until a back injury derailed his athletic career. From that low point Olien had tried to rehabilitate himself using traditional methods—lots of animal protein, relentless physiotherapy—but it was only when he adopted a radically new diet of superfoods that he was able to regain his strength. This not only improved his health, it revealed his calling. “It was one of the greatest turns in my life,” Olien says, “because it got me into the question, ‘What can I do to fix this?’ I became very curious about the body, switched my major to exercise physiology and nutrition. Then I healed myself.” Over the years he also managed to help many others with their diet and fitness regimens, and Olien’s “concoctions,” his powders and bars and health innovations, began to attract attention.
On the first morning I met Olien I watched him doing squat jumps holding 40-pound weights, while holding his breath underwater. Another workout he likes to do involves harnessing himself to a 150-pound railroad tie and dragging it through thick sand. Whatever he eats needs to fuel these exploits, so people are often surprised to hear that his diet consists mostly of plants. Olien consumes no processed foods, no polysyllabic ingredients invented in labs, no high-fructose corn syrup or trans fats, no artificial flavorings, no antibiotic-laced dairy products, nothing that comes out of a drive-thru. In short, he doesn’t eat what’s generally on offer in the modern food world. “When people find out that I don’t eat this or I don’t eat that, I feel a sense of pity coming from them,” he says, “and I think, ‘Wow! You have no idea. I’m not deprived at all. Come to my kitchen! I’ll blow your mind.’”
Thing is, science is now catching up to something that nature has known all along: the rich greens, the vibrant yellows, the deep indigos of plants are key to our well-being. That meat we love so much? Proven to clog our arteries. Convenience foods—heavily sweetened and salted, laden with fat and chemicals—wreak havoc on everything from our immune systems to our moods to our weight. Here are the facts and they’re not very pretty: Americans are the fattest people ever in history. Obesity, a body composition topping 30 percent fat, is the most pressing health crisis we face, with 34 percent of the adult population falling into that category (plus 29 percent of all children). If you add in the merely overweight it’s closer to 68 percent. In the past 50 years the weight of the typical American citizen has increased, on average, by 25 pounds. If we continue at this rate, by 2050 every last person will have eaten himself into the danger zone.
“Every time you eat processed foods, you exclude from your diet not only the essential nutrients that we are aware of, but hundreds of other undiscovered phytonutrients that are crucial for normal human function,” Joel Fuhrman, MD, writes in his new book, Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, which stresses the importance of a diet full of high-quality produce. Mehmet Oz, MD, who wrote the foreword to Fuhrman’s book, believes that even a slight shift away from meat can improve your health. “What we really want to do is have people nudge themselves in the right direction,” he told me. “If you want to have a few bacon bits on your salad, God bless you, fine. That’s not where we’re losing the battle. We’re losing the battle when you have sausage for breakfast, a big pastrami sandwich for lunch, and pork chops for dinner.”
Yet we live in a mass-produced, big-box culture, where economic interests hold sway. Meat, corn, sugar—they come cheap, and we buy them. Plus, we tend to like the taste. But there are steep hidden costs in a food system that makes calories rather than nutrients—from the factory farms that treat animals like parts on an assembly line to the fact that obesity-related ailments like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes are skyrocketing and account for approximately $150 billion in healthcare expenses each year.
As both Fuhrman and Oz would attest, anyone consuming a steady diet of man-made edibles would benefit even from something as prosaic as lettuce, but far more intriguing foods exist. As Olien began to talk about the vegetables, fruits, grains, herbs, and other plants he was hunting, I realized there was an entire universe out there I didn’t know about. I had never heard of lucuma or sapote or aguaje. What the heck was gac? The list was long.
Learning more requires a passport, because in acquiring these superfoods Olien doesn’t simply call up a supplier with his FedEx number, he goes directly to the source.
In doing so he often ends up in extreme places, searching out plants that—although they may have been revered by past civilizations—are now largely forgotten. South America, with its jungles and rainforests and mountains, is especially rich. So when I heard that Olien was headed back to Peru, I invited myself along. I wanted to see firsthand what he was up to because it sounded so incredible to me, so mysterious and even magical. I wanted to taste these lost, powerful foods that had fueled warriors and emperors, plants with miraculous properties that had somehow almost vanished, disappearing beneath a sea of fast-food wrappers.
Lima
From the outside, Nicolaza Mendoza’s warehouse looks like any other drab building on the industrial fringe of a sprawling Latin American city. When I walked through the door, however, that impression was washed away by a wave of earthy scent. Colorful sacks were piled high on wooden palettes, each one stuffed with precious plants. Their names—uña de gato, achiote, huasca—were written on the sacks in thick black marker. Mendoza, a small-statured woman with a serious face, is one of Peru’s most respected herbalists. She spoke no English; her daughter Luz María, a striking 32-year-old in a short black skirt and lavender eyeshadow, was there to translate.
“How do you say, ‘Hit the jackpot’ in Spanish?” Olien asked, smiling. He was carrying a list of substances he wanted to investigate, and it was a good bet that many were on the premises. Standing beside him, Bernd Neugebauer, PhD, surveyed the warehouse and nodded. At 59, with a mane of white hair and vivid blue eyes, Neugebauer has a distinguished air, bolstered by the four languages he speaks fluently and his provenance from one of Germany’s oldest forestry families. Neugebauer’s accomplishments and interests include cultivating organic aloe vera, beekeeping, shamanism training, and studying ancient farming methods. Currently he is restoring an entire Mayan village in the Yucatán. But his primary interest is soil. Only healthy, mineral-rich soil produces healthy, mineral-rich food, and the world’s topsoil is under great stress these days, overused, undernourished, and (due to increasing deforestation) prone to erode into the sea. Though he is an organic farming expert, Neugebauer has gone even beyond that, reaching into history to discover how past agricultural empires—Maya, Aztec, Inca—treated the land, and what we can learn from them. In 2006 Olien read an academic paper by Neugebauer about creating holistic and sustainable agricultural practices, and sought him out as a kindred spirit. Now the two team up often, with Neugebauer helping the farmers who grow Olien’s raw materials get the most out of their crops without pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
Olien’s relationship to his suppliers is a deeply personal one. He believes in cultivating relationships first, supporting indigenous practices, seeking the highest-quality products and paying generously for them. The farmers he works with have become his close friends. “It’s fair trade on steroids,” he says of his approach. To that end, every last leaf that now sat in Mendoza’s warehouse met this gold standard. The herbs here were locally grown and carefully harvested. Her collection was all the more impressive when you considered Peru’s outlandish biodiversity. Luz explained how her mother traversed the country constantly, from one extreme to another, from the Amazon to the Andes to the Pacific Coast and everywhere in between, seeking out each region’s botanical treasures. The stakes were high: Billion-dollar drugs had been obtained in the rapidly dwindling rainforest—antimicrobial, antipain, anticancer medications, among countless others—and yet scientists agreed that only a small fraction of nature’s pharmacopoeia had ever been studied. “I’m amazed by what she knows,” Luz said, shaking her head.
I walked down the aisles behind Mendoza and Olien, leaning over the herbs to examine them. Uña de gato, or cat’s claw, was a vine that had been chopped into little shingles; it was adobe red and smelled like the primeval forest. I had seen it referenced in a number of books as an antiaging “superherb.” Recently scientists have discovered that the most prized plants and herbs in native cultures contain high levels of nutrients that contribute ferociously to cellular health in ways we are only beginning to understand; cat’s claw has been shown to fight infection, decrease inflammation, and repair DNA. “This is the real pharmacy,” Olien said, gesturing at the sacks. “Hippocrates said, ‘Let food be your medicine’—and there’s a lot of medicine out there.”
There was a row dedicated entirely to teas, lush manzanilla (chamomile), lemony cedron, eucalyptus, and menta blanca—white mint so strong it was as though an entire field had been squeezed into a teacup. Every smell was amplified. “Stand here for three minutes and just breathe deeply,” Neugebauer advised, “and you will be in wonderful condition.” The intensity of these substances was striking, given that we live in a diluted world, willing to eat a tomato that only vaguely tastes like a tomato, or an orange that looks orange only because it’s been shot full of dye.
One sack had frayed at the ends and its contents spilled out, revealing a root that looked like a thick, spiral cinnamon stick. I was examining it when Miguel Berumen, another member of Olien’s team, came over. Berumen was a walking superfoods encyclopedia, and the learning had started early. As a boy growing up outside Mexico City, he’d watched his grandmother heal family members with plants from her garden. “I’d get sick,” he recalled, “and she’d come over and brew up some herbs and say some prayers. That was just the logical thing to do.” When Berumen was asked a question about, say, sarsaparilla, the knowledge poured out, streams of words rushing and tumbling over themselves in excitement. “In ancient times they used this herb to make root beer. They also used sassafras. And manioc root to generate the bubbles!”
“Can you ask Nicolaza about kaniwa?” Olien asked Berumen. He’d mentioned kaniwa, a grain I’d never heard of, several times today.
“Kaniwa is a beautiful plant,” Neugebauer said, with admiration in his voice.
“It bounced off the page to me this morning,” Olien said, pointing to his notes. New quinoa, high Andes, he’d written in the margin. “We could sprout it. Make it a little more bioactive.”
Olien had explained to me how his formulas come together first by instinct, a gut knowing that eventually leads him into the lab, where everything will be rigorously tested. “I start with a question,” he said. “For Shakeology it was, ‘What do people need to thrive?’” From that point the different ingredients pop into his mind, inspirations bubble up, ideas appear—”and then I back into the science.” Once a product has been fine-tuned, Olien uses himself and his friends as guinea pigs. “That’s the ultimate test,” he said. “In your own body.”
The intricate synergies that keep our livers humming and our eyes focused and our brains remembering where we put the car keys are mirrored in the plant world. Each organism contains a universe within itself, countless components working together seamlessly to keep things in perfect balance. When Olien combines his raw materials—all of them functional foods—he’s seeking this same effect, in which the whole adds up to more than the sum of its parts. When we supplement our diets with specific vitamins—a vitamin D capsule, a CoQ10 pill—we’re doing the opposite: breaking nature’s systems apart. “The best example of this is the work that’s been done on vitamin A,” Oz had told me. “When you eat vitamin-A-rich foods like carrots, you reduce the risk of lung cancer. When you take vitamin A as a pill you increase the risk of lung cancer. How is that possible? It’s possible because when you take a carrot and put it into your mouth you don’t just get vitamin A, you get all the retinols. The different subtypes of all these different phytonutrients. And they’re in the perfect mix for us. Literally dozens of them in the right combinations—they’re the key that unlocks the cells’ abilities to defend themselves against cancer. If you take only a massive pharmaceutical dose of vitamin A, then you actually block the body’s ability to absorb the other components of the carrot.” The way these things operate, Oz said, is like a band playing in perfect tune: “The true benefit doesn’t come from just having the drum banging. You need the guitar, a little trumpet, a singer. That’s what makes the music.”
This vast, emerging alchemy was the most exciting part of his work, Olien agreed, stepping out of Mendoza’s warehouse into the hazy afternoon heat: “I’m not a fan of isolating. Who are we to separate things out? All of these herbs and vitamins have their buddies, and they want to come together.” He walked toward the bus that would take us from Lima into the wild folds of Peru. “It never ceases to amaze me,” he added, “watching the magic.”
Tarma
Fresh cacao is a strange and wonderful fruit. Outside, it’s a tough vermilion pod the size and shape of a toy football, but inside it contains another set of textures: a mass of wonky-shaped cubes nestled in a 3-D jigsaw puzzle, each with a furry white covering and a chewy bean in the center. When you bite into cacao the sensation is sexy and silky and delicious, kind of bitter and kind of sweet, with a darkly complex flavor that only hints at the chocolate it will eventually become.
“They called it the Food of the Gods,” Olien said, handing me another cube. “And it truly is.” He was wearing a pair of black shoes that slipped on like gloves, all five toes outlined, giving his feet the appearance of paws. It was perfect jungle footwear. We stood on the slippery hillside with three men from the small, organic cacao plantation where these fruit trees had been planted. Olien was always on the lookout for good sources of cacao, a key ingredient.
Botanists and herbalists—and superfood hunters—tend to get very worked up when describing cacao; its health attributes seem almost too good to be true. Cacao has more protective antioxidants than red wine, pomegranates, and blueberries combined. It’s a huge source of magnesium, a critical mineral for heart health, bone strength, and brainpower that many of us could use more of. These little beans contain a rainbow of minerals, a wallop of vitamin C, many essential fats, and the calming amino acid tryptophan, which in turn elevates levels of the happiness-inducing neurotransmitter serotonin. “Cacao is an absolutely perfect mood stabilizer,” Olien said. And more: The beans are rich in a wonderful substance called phenylethyl-amine (PEA) that our bodies produce when we fall in love; PEA also acts as a natural appetite suppressant. An aphrodisiac that helps you lose weight is so precious, in fact, that the Maya and Aztecs used cacao beans as currency, valuing them above gold.
“I want to make a convenient medicinal chocolate,” Olien said, holding up one of the pods. “As pure and raw as possible, all hand grown. It’d be like handing out delicious antidepressants to people!” To be honest, it was quite an idea: What if the foods we loved also happened to be incredibly good for us? What if, instead of doughnuts and nachos, we craved nature’s most exquisite gifts? What would the world look like if everyone functioned at peak energy, tipped the scales at their ideal weight, and ran around in a good mood? What if we didn’t need to take drugs to be happy or keep our hearts running smoothly or get a decent night’s sleep?
Neugebauer began to talk to the farmers, giving them some new ideas to fend off a fungus known as Monilia that was reducing their harvest. I watched him speaking to them in Spanish, kneeling down next to the trees and examining the soil. A walnut-skinned man in black rubber boots listened intently, a curved machete hanging from his belt. Standing at the edge of the path, Olien and Berumen were deep in conversation. “It can’t help but propel me into neurotransmitters,” I heard Olien say. His face was still smeared with red achiote dye from a stop we’d made earlier at a lowland jungle village called Pampa Miche, where we’d visited a tribe called the Asháninka, renowned for their knowledge of local plants. Olien had stood by good-naturedly as a group of village women painted his face with scarlet stripes, looped boa constrictors around his neck, and dressed him in a native outfit consisting of a loose caftan, an elaborate sash of beads, and a jaunty straw hat.
Later, on an exploratory walk through the rainforest, he had downed a murky brown drink with a bitter flavor and the texture of phlegm. “What are the medicinals in this?” he asked Nuria, a sturdy woman in a red headscarf. She responded in a gale of Spanish, gesturing at the towering trees.
“Five different tree barks,” Neugebauer translated.
“Para potencia!” Nuria stressed. The women erupted in giggles.
Olien went on to sample wild cashew nut, a reddish fruit shaped like a small bell pepper. The shell of the nut contains a burning acid (something Olien had learned the hard way in Mexico last year, and ended up having the skin of his lips peel off). Stepping off the path, one of the Asháninka men, who happened to be carrying a small monkey, reached up with a long knife and cut into the trunk of a nearby tree. A thick red sap began to ooze out. “Sangre de grado,” Berumen said, leaning over to examine it. “Dragon’s blood!”
This was a sighting: Sangre de grado is a substance so valuable and rare that counterfeit versions often show up in the markets. Used externally as a salve, it acts as a second skin to close wounds and stop infection; taken internally it heals ulcers and other stomach ailments. Dragon’s blood also exhibits antitumor and antiviral activity, qualities that have captured the pharmaceutical industry’s attention.
Nuria rubbed a few drops onto Olien’s forearm. The sap first looked red, then quickly turned a shimmery golden, before morphing again to a soapy white. “It’s sticky,” he said, touching it. “That’s how you know it’s really good,” Berumen said. “When it gets creamy like that.”
The visual effect was startling. The dark red liquid stood out against the light bark, as though the tree really were bleeding. It looked eerily like a human arm or leg. Olien traced the wound, letting the liquid drip onto his fingers. He was completely transfixed, and he stood there for several minutes, oblivious to anything else around him, even the scampering monkeys.
Junín
At 14,000 feet in the Andes, not much grows in Junín. There is one noteworthy exception: maca. This windblasted place is the maca capital of the world, and for that Olien loves it. “Ah, yeahhh,” he said as the lunar vistas rolled by, dust-colored barren hillsides dotted with the tiny figures of llamas and vicuñas. The more I’d heard about maca, the more fantastic this little tuber seemed: A relative of the radish, it has been cultivated for 2,000 years in these parts. Maca is an adaptogen, Olien said, explaining how the brutal terrain had bred into the plant a kind of survivors’ guile that enabled it to respond to any conditions. In the body it helps balance whatever’s out of whack, particularly hormones. It boosts endurance, allowing people (and animals) to work long days at high altitude. Incan warriors liked to take maca before going into battle. In Junín, the local people ate it roasted, stewed, marinated, dried, fermented, made into tea. But for all its benefits, maca had flirted with extinction. In 1979 only 70 acres of it could be found in Peru. Since then its stock as a superfood has been steadily rising, and small farmers have started planting it again, realizing it’s worth far more in the marketplace than potatoes.
We were headed to visit Dina Guere Vega, a maca farmer whom Olien had been working with for six years. She and her family lived in a jumbled compound of low buildings that included a warehouse filled with maca bulbs. Guere Vega was a pocket-size woman with large brown eyes and a brilliant smile, bundled in a hand-knit alpaca sweater, and she greeted Olien, Berumen, and Neugebauer like family. Her husband stood beside her, wearing a wool hat with earflaps. Outside the wind howled, shaking the roof.
The smell of maca is intense and unique, like earth meets nuts meets a wood fire with undertones of licorice and wasabi, and it filled the warehouse—sacks of maca lined the walls. On one side of the building two women sorted through a sea of bulbs spread across a tarp. Olien reached into an open bag and pulled out a handful. The root looked like a petrified fig. “Powerful stuff,” he said. “This is dried. Takes about three months.” After that it would be carefully powdered and shipped to the United States. Maca’s strong odor (and that of other pungent herbs) had challenged Olien when it came to perfecting Shakeology’s taste without resorting to artificial ingredients. “I spent a year trying to get it right,” he said, describing the two flavors that resulted, chocolate and greenberry. “Because if I didn’t, no one in Middle America would drink it. You have to meet them in the place where they can receive it.”
Dina and her husband reappeared holding trays of a golden liquid. “Liquor de maca!” Neugebauer said, reaching for a glass with a somewhat shaky hand. Since our arrival we’d been chewing coca leaves, the native remedy for altitude sickness, but he was feeling the elevation, and hoped that a little maca toddy would clear that up. We had three rounds of the stuff and later we would drink more maca, blended with dark beer and papaya. Its effect was smooth and kicky, like stepping on the accelerator of a fine sports car. As Olien said, it was an easy plant to love. The locals felt the same way and had even installed a 70-foot-high, shocking purple maca monument in the nearby town of Huayre.
But the picture wasn’t entirely rosy. Part of Neugebauer’s task here was to solve a pressing problem: Over the past year Dina’s fields had been producing far less maca, and the plants that were growing had shrunk dramatically in size. Dina thought that climate change was the culprit, erratic weather patterns bringing warmer temperatures and rain out of season. Neugebauer, however, believed a change in planting methods would not only restore her maca yield but double it. The two of them hunkered on a couch in the drafty room with wool caps pulled low over their heads. “He wants her to use a crane rather than a tractor,” Berumen translated. “To reach out and loosen a little area without turning the soil over. And he doesn’t think she’s digging deep enough.” Neugebauer also explained how he had resurrected the chaquitaclla, an Incan maca-planting tool shaped like a spear gun: “I took it into a machine design shop in Germany and told them, ‘Please mechanize this.’”
As old as maca’s tradition was, I could see that much of what was happening here was new. “Five years ago, none of this existed,” Olien said, surveying Dina’s compound, where a 2,000-year-old crop was being reintroduced to the world. Though we tend to think of progress as a straight charge ahead—more, new, bigger, faster—in maca’s case, moving forward required going back in time. I recalled a conversation I’d had with William Li, a Harvard-trained MD and the cofounder of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a vanguard group that’s proving how, at the molecular level, the foods we eat have a direct impact on whether our bodies are vulnerable to cancer. “Today we’re at a very awkward moment, I think, in human existence as it relates to food and health,” Li had said, “where we know intrinsically that there’s more to these things than we concretely recognize. And there’s a lot of historical stuff that’s been lost. How do we rediscover that? How do we take ourselves out of this cereal box?”
“I mean, why not think about trying to replace wheat with maca, for example,” Neugebauer had mused earlier. “Maca is the absolute superfood. Wheat has all sorts of problems.” On the surface this sounds preposterous—but is it? Considering that we’ve adopted a food system that’s created massive increases in both obesity and hunger, where prices are spiraling out of control, and monoculture and genetic modification work in opposition to nature’s strategy of endless diversity, what these maca fields really represented, I thought, were ancient yet urgent ideas about how to live.
Huánco
“What does this look like?” Berumen asked, holding up the aguaje fruit in the open-air market.
“A hand grenade?” I said. Because it did.
“An ovary!”
The aguaje is a huge source of phyto-estrogens, Berumen said, and a perfect example of biomimicry in action. In other words, even before there were textbooks and search engines, nature had given us very clear directions. It’s no accident that walnuts, with their squiggly oval hemispheres, are the ultimate brain food. Or that a plant the rainforest natives call chanca piedra (“stone breaker” in English), which produces tiny green balls, is a natural remedy for kidney stones. Or that dragon’s blood, the sap that acts as a coagulant, actually bleeds out of the tree.
We stood in an aisle of the Huánuco market, squeezing aside as people bustled past. A short woman in a flouncy skirt walked by with a pig on a leash; another woman crouched on the ground next to a net bag writhing with tiny chicks. Fruits and vegetables were heaped everywhere. A light rain drizzled outside. Huánuco is a midsize city in central Peru, usefully located between the sierra and the high jungle. If you’re a farmer, there’s a lot of business to do here.
“The phytoestrogenic property of aguaje is different than soy,” Berumen continued, citing another plant with strong hormonal effects. “It actually assists the body in making estrogen.” He cut into the aguaje and handed me a piece. The fruit was bright orange, with the dry texture of cheese. The vivid colors in fruits and vegetables—created by chemicals called flavonoids—signal power. So far scientists have identified about 6,000 of these compounds—names like peonidin, kaempferol, apigenin, hesperitin, quercetin—but undoubtedly, thousands more exist. Flavonoids have been shown to improve brain function, motor skills, blood flow; they protect cells from inflammation and potential damage that can lead to cancer.
Eating a variety of plants is the best way to assure your body a wide array of flavonoids; in Peru, I’d discovered, this wasn’t a problem. Since my arrival I’d been presented with a steady stream of unknown foods. Along with cacao, maca, and aguaje I’d tried granadilla, a fruit that cracks open with a snap, revealing a fist-size mass of seeds, each covered in a translucent membrane. The seeds were crunchy and sour, the membrane was soft and sweet, the combination was sublime. Olien had produced a bag full of dried aguaymanto, raisinlike fruits with a sharp citrusy tang. Berumen had talked about “monster fruit”—a corncob-shaped plant that tasted like a cross between a guava and a pineapple—and declared it “the most delicious thing ever.” But Monstera deliciosa (its Latin name) had to be carefully ripened and prepared, he warned: “If you bite into it fresh, it’s like eating razors. It cuts up your whole mouth.” There was black sapote, a fruit that tasted like chocolate pudding, and the succinctly named peanut butter fruit. In the market we had also come across lucuma, a fruit Olien likes for its mild, butterscotchy taste (in Peru, lucuma-flavored ice cream is as popular as chocolate or vanilla). “It blends well,” he said, slicing the skin off like that of a mango. “Balances out the astringents.” The fruit had a soft, cakey texture. “It’s one of the most mineral-rich foods in the world,” Berumen added.
We walked past rows of fish on ice, midsize animal carcasses dangling from hooks, rafts of flowers and sheaves of herbs. A heavyset woman in fuchsia lipstick presided over bushels of coca leaves. In a back corner, a group of older ladies had gathered around two large pots. One of them, an Indian woman with a long braid, ladled something that looked like porridge into a metal bowl. “Medicina!” she said, pointing at Olien and then handing the bowl to him. Then she pointed to her stomach: “Medicina!” she stressed again, flashing a smile that revealed many missing teeth.
“Ah, the gringo needs some medicine,” Olien said, raising an eyebrow. “What is this?” he asked Berumen to inquire. The stuff in the bowl smelled acrid, even rotten. Berumen spoke to the women in Spanish and then after a moment he turned to us. “It’s called tocosh,” he said. “A traditional Andean food made from fermented potatoes.” The process, he translated, involved burying the potatoes in river soil for up to two years. Amazingly, this produced a natural penicillin.
Olien raised a gloopy spoonful to his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and then bravely swallowed it. Even from three feet away the aroma made my eyes water. “It’s a lot better than it smells,” he said, delivering the verdict. “It’s actually good.” I tried it, and agreed. The tocosh was warm and subtly sweet, with hints of vanilla. There was something comforting about it, and I could feel my body wanting more. Later I would learn that tocosh had been an Incan delicacy, and that even in sophisticated cities like Lima, Peruvian doctors still prescribed it for stomach disorders, and for its overall healthful effects.
“Oh my God, would I like to see the nutrient content on this,” Olien said, taking another spoonful. “Because that is not a potato anymore. It’s a completely new structure.” Fermenting a food, he explained, was like turbocharging it. This is the process, of course, that turns grapes into wine, milk into cheese. Essentially you’re letting food go bad in a good way, by creating an oxygen-free environment around it. During fermentation, benevolent armies of bacteria break down starches to sugars; those are converted to health-enhancing alcohols and acids. Whole new vitamins, enzymes, and amino acids can spring up. The result is a food with alchemical potency. This technique is so ancient that we don’t have any records of its origin, but historians believe it goes back at least 9,000 years, to China.
“If you look at the history of food, there’s been this tribalism,” William Li had pointed out. “Things are passed down—and there’s so much we don’t know. Space is a frontier. Oceans are a frontier. I think food is a whole other frontier,” he said. “And it’s not something you have to train with NASA for, or put on scuba gear for. It’s sitting in front of us every single day.”
Ambo
The Yacon farm was perched at the top of a road that zigzagged up the mountainside in a series of hairpin turns. The road was narrow and crumbly with scree, its thin ribbon of shoulder edged by sheer cliffs. There were no guardrails. I watched the bus driver hunch over the wheel in tense concentration, muttering under his breath. The view at the top, however, was worth the white-knuckle ride. The farm was tucked in a pristine valley glowing with more shades of green than the spectrum seemed able to hold, ringed by majestic peaks.
“Have I talked to you about yacon?” Olien asked, describing the potato-shaped vegetable that was, improbably, a cousin of the sunflower. “It’s an amazing food, a tuber that has a bunch of different sugars in it.” The most important of these sugars is a rare type known as fructooligosaccharide (FOS), and yacon is the richest known source of it. Although FOS tastes beautifully sweet, it’s not processed in the body like other sugars because we lack the enzymes to digest it (making it perfect for diabetics—and dieters, because few calories are absorbed). But rather than being expelled like some alien substance, on its way through your body yacon does a number of helpful things. It acts as a prebiotic, encouraging healthy bacteria in your intestines and colon, and aids in fat metabolism, cholesterol management, vitamin absorption, blood sugar regulation, even bone density. “It could be a sweetener solution for the entire planet,” Olien said.
The farm’s owner was a local man named Luis Alva, known to his friends as Lucho. He was burly, in his 30s with a wide face that looked both tough and kind. Alva had a quiet gravitas, which made sense when you learned what he’d been through on his family land. Twenty years ago, at a house only a mile away, his father was killed by the Shining Path, the leftist guerrillas who brutalized Peru during the ’80s and ’90s (and remain on the U.S. State Department’s list of terrorist groups). It was not a tragedy that anyone around here had forgotten. But today Lucho was buoyant, glad to see Olien and Berumen again, and to meet the rest of us.
In 2006 Berumen had been trolling the Internet and came across an arcane reference to yacon. He sent it to Olien, who was astonished by the “perfect storm of health benefits” the plant seemed to provide. “I thought, ‘This is an amazing product,’” Olien recalled. “You can’t get it anywhere, not even online. And then I was like a pit bull. I just kept saying, ‘We gotta bring it here.’ And maybe I got ahead of myself….” He laughed, then added: “But that inspired all of what’s growing here.”
The next morning we headed to the fields in Alva’s truck, driving up a red dirt road that also served as a thoroughfare for Andean shepherdesses and their flocks. The women wore bright shirts and shawls in magenta, canary, emerald, tangerine, turquoise, along with the traditional pleated wool skirts and black flat-brimmed hats, which they decorated with bits of tinsel. We passed a group of alpacas, shaggy white beasts with unicorn faces and cranky dispositions, and a cow with long eyelashes that was mowing some bushes.
Yacon produces large green leaves that gave Alva’s fields a lush appearance, like a vast carpet of salad. “Historically, yacon was called the apple of the Earth,” Berumen noted. After sitting in the sun, apparently, it literally tastes like an apple, though the tuber itself resembles a yam. “You can dehydrate it, extract juice, or make a syrup out of it,” Berumen said. I watched as a field hand pulled up a plant, its roots caked with soil. Alva peeled the brown skin with a knife. Inside, the yacon was crystal white with tiny violet dots around its perimeter. It had an icy, juicy look and a crisp texture and it tasted fresh and light, like highly delicious air or a ghost carrot. I could have eaten it all day. “No applicación de herbicida,” Lucho said. “Nada, nada, nada.” He used only organic fertilizer in his fields, no chemicals at all.
The spectacular valley, the happy workers, the mountain air, the bountiful crops—no one could argue against this as an ideal. Earlier I’d asked Olien what I thought was a key question: Is it possible to mass-produce this kind of quality? “I think we’re proving that you can,” he answered without hesitation. He added, “If you get the highest nutritional value from your food, you need less of it. The vacant foods—we need more of them, because they’re posers. They’re empty.”
He was right. It was really that simple: The body with its unknown galaxies of cells, its unseen cogs and wheels, its ropes and coils of DNA, needs to be nourished, and it doesn’t thrive on red dye #40 or propylene glycol or butylated hydroxyanisole with a ciprofloxacin chaser. “These plants you’re writing about have powers that are sacred,” Oz had stressed. “That word belongs in your story.” And these sacred foods do not have to remain in backcountry Peru. They could be available to all if we were willing to think and farm and eat differently.
Alva pulled his truck over to the side of the road and pointed to a field where eight varieties of yacon were growing. He wanted to see which type would do best in this environment, and produce the most FOS. The winner would be a kind of superyacon, a super-superfood. Olien opened the passenger door and got out, walking to the edge of the field. Below he could see the blue rooftops of a tiny school, kids playing soccer in front of it. The workers moved among more yacon, small figures bent in the furrows, and the Arischaca River rushed in the background while the Andean women tended their sheep in the peacefulness and fullness that was now here. The valley stretched out before him, green and red, the vertiginous perfection of it all, the terraced fields, the veins of soil. In the gold afternoon light Olien sat down in the yacon field, among the floppy leaves. And then he lay back and closed his eyes, smiling.
**want some for yourself: http://bit.ly/shakeItup**
Monday, June 20, 2011
Asylum, Day 30, Fit test numbers
Same drill, people. I didn't see a huge spike in numbers, but what i DID see was a huge increase in strength and proper form.
Exercise : Day 1 : Day 30
Agility heisman : 11 : 13
In & out ab prog. : 44 : 65
lat push ups : 18 : 20
Mtn climber switch kicks : 67 : 72
agility shoulder taps : 5 : 4.5
x jumps : 29 : 28
moving push ups : 3.5 : 3.5
agility lateral shuffle : 17 : 20
agility bear crawl : 13.5 : 15
I'm pleased with these results. Like my husband said, I'd see bigger results if I wouldn't have just come off of months and months of Insanity. I agree. I'm really pleased with my lat strength though--there's a definite deeper dive in pushups.
Next up: Asylum/P90X hybrid! But first...rest week!
Exercise : Day 1 : Day 30
Agility heisman : 11 : 13
In & out ab prog. : 44 : 65
lat push ups : 18 : 20
Mtn climber switch kicks : 67 : 72
agility shoulder taps : 5 : 4.5
x jumps : 29 : 28
moving push ups : 3.5 : 3.5
agility lateral shuffle : 17 : 20
agility bear crawl : 13.5 : 15
I'm pleased with these results. Like my husband said, I'd see bigger results if I wouldn't have just come off of months and months of Insanity. I agree. I'm really pleased with my lat strength though--there's a definite deeper dive in pushups.
Next up: Asylum/P90X hybrid! But first...rest week!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Asylum, Day 30--measurements
So, today was my last day of Asylum. Tomorrow, I have the fit test, then next week is rest week, then I start my hybrid.
According to my measurements, not much has changed--my arms have gotten bigger, but that may just be because i'm a badass (i'm sure the millions of pushups had nothing to do with it). I can definitely see more muscle tone though, so i'm cool with it. So, without further ado, here are my measurements:
Bodypart: Day 1 : Day 30
chest: 35.25 : 34.75
rt arm: 10.75 : 11.5
lt arm: 10.5 : 11.25
waist: 26 : 26
hips: 36.5 : 36
rt thigh: 21.75 : 21.5
lt thigh: 21.5 : 21.25
weight: 127 : 129
Which hybrid am i doing, you ask? Asylum/P90X. Watch for fit test results tomorrow!
According to my measurements, not much has changed--my arms have gotten bigger, but that may just be because i'm a badass (i'm sure the millions of pushups had nothing to do with it). I can definitely see more muscle tone though, so i'm cool with it. So, without further ado, here are my measurements:
Bodypart: Day 1 : Day 30
chest: 35.25 : 34.75
rt arm: 10.75 : 11.5
lt arm: 10.5 : 11.25
waist: 26 : 26
hips: 36.5 : 36
rt thigh: 21.75 : 21.5
lt thigh: 21.5 : 21.25
weight: 127 : 129
Which hybrid am i doing, you ask? Asylum/P90X. Watch for fit test results tomorrow!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Asylum, Day...something-or-the-other
Just did Speed and Agility--I LOVE that workout. That and Back to Core are my favorites of the set. Two things I noticed today:
1. The ONLY reason I ever had to take a break is because my legs were starting to give out, NOT because i was out of breath or tired.
2. I was MUCH faster.
I can't wait for Day 30 so I can retake my fit test. I feel so much stronger than I was when I started this. Don't get me wrong--Shaun T still makes me work so hard I want to puke--but that's a good thing! I am really digging this program, and am looking forward to doing the Asylum/P90X hybrid.
In other news: Today is the last day of school for the girls. Wish me luck, as I work fulltime from home and am used to extreme peace and quiet! Actually, just pray that they can behave and not kill each other this summer. Yeah, that'll work.
1. The ONLY reason I ever had to take a break is because my legs were starting to give out, NOT because i was out of breath or tired.
2. I was MUCH faster.
I can't wait for Day 30 so I can retake my fit test. I feel so much stronger than I was when I started this. Don't get me wrong--Shaun T still makes me work so hard I want to puke--but that's a good thing! I am really digging this program, and am looking forward to doing the Asylum/P90X hybrid.
In other news: Today is the last day of school for the girls. Wish me luck, as I work fulltime from home and am used to extreme peace and quiet! Actually, just pray that they can behave and not kill each other this summer. Yeah, that'll work.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Day 8, Asylum--Back to Core
Again, this workout hurts muscles that you didn't know you had. Shaun T's all, "Okay, now hold it up your arms and pulse it..." then YOU start going, "Ow, Ow, OW!!! What the hell is THAT muscle???" and it hurts. Then it hurts some more. But i can feel these weird back muscles that I know are going to make my back look kick butt. Shaun T also keeps saying, "Pretend you're squeezing a pencil in there..." (between your shoulder blades.) Okay, i'll do that. And once my back gets cut enough, i'll actually just store the girls' pencils in there since they always lose them anyways.
"Mommy, do you have a pencil?"
"Why, yes, yes I do--right here between my shoulder blades."
See? That would just work out well for EVERYONE.
Vertical plyo tomorrow. I'm already scared.
"Mommy, do you have a pencil?"
"Why, yes, yes I do--right here between my shoulder blades."
See? That would just work out well for EVERYONE.
Vertical plyo tomorrow. I'm already scared.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
See the change
“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” – Unknown
Read that. No, really READ it. Now think about yourself. Now read it again. Does that apply to you?
The first time I read that quote, I just skimmed it. Then something made me read it again. So I did...slowly and surely. Then I thought about myself and looked at it again. That quote holds so much truth, doesn't it? I mean, i'm not trying to force you to apply it to yourself, but heck, it certainly applies to me.
My fitness journey, and this is what it IS...a JOURNEY--because there's no end--started with my discomfort. My sudden realization that not only did I THINK I was out of shape, but that I really and truly was. Know what I mean? For a long while there, I thought, "Eh, i'm heavier/wearing a larger size than normal, but i'm not really out of shape." "I keep getting a cough/cold, but it's not because i'm unhealthy--it's just allergies." Really? How many of us deceive ourselves like that?
If you're anything like me, I just put it on the backburner. I'd tell myself, "Oh, I just have big thighs because I've ALWAYS had big thighs--they're just more muscular than most," or "I just have a bubble butt--that's how it is. It's been there since birth." Or, i'd make a million other random excuses: "I don't have time." "I'm a mom now--when am i going to work out?" So, the day came when I finally realized that what I was thinking--that i was unhealthy--was the truth. Oh my. And that would be the final line of the quote, "For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers."
So, I decided to jump out of that damn rut. Sometimes, you just gotta hit rockbottom, ladies and gents, before you make a change. I was propelled by my discomfort. And honestly, I am still driven by the memory of that discomfort every day. I don't want to go back to that unhealthy part of my life. I don't want to, and you can't make me. I'm not going to do it. I replaced excuses with action. And you know what? It wasn't NEARLY as difficult as I thought it would be! OWN the change you want to see in yourself. I am so much happier. I feel like i have more control. I just feel...GOOD. You can, too. :)
Step out of your rut. I'll even hold your hand if you need help. Come on.
Read that. No, really READ it. Now think about yourself. Now read it again. Does that apply to you?
The first time I read that quote, I just skimmed it. Then something made me read it again. So I did...slowly and surely. Then I thought about myself and looked at it again. That quote holds so much truth, doesn't it? I mean, i'm not trying to force you to apply it to yourself, but heck, it certainly applies to me.
My fitness journey, and this is what it IS...a JOURNEY--because there's no end--started with my discomfort. My sudden realization that not only did I THINK I was out of shape, but that I really and truly was. Know what I mean? For a long while there, I thought, "Eh, i'm heavier/wearing a larger size than normal, but i'm not really out of shape." "I keep getting a cough/cold, but it's not because i'm unhealthy--it's just allergies." Really? How many of us deceive ourselves like that?
If you're anything like me, I just put it on the backburner. I'd tell myself, "Oh, I just have big thighs because I've ALWAYS had big thighs--they're just more muscular than most," or "I just have a bubble butt--that's how it is. It's been there since birth." Or, i'd make a million other random excuses: "I don't have time." "I'm a mom now--when am i going to work out?" So, the day came when I finally realized that what I was thinking--that i was unhealthy--was the truth. Oh my. And that would be the final line of the quote, "For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers."
So, I decided to jump out of that damn rut. Sometimes, you just gotta hit rockbottom, ladies and gents, before you make a change. I was propelled by my discomfort. And honestly, I am still driven by the memory of that discomfort every day. I don't want to go back to that unhealthy part of my life. I don't want to, and you can't make me. I'm not going to do it. I replaced excuses with action. And you know what? It wasn't NEARLY as difficult as I thought it would be! OWN the change you want to see in yourself. I am so much happier. I feel like i have more control. I just feel...GOOD. You can, too. :)
Step out of your rut. I'll even hold your hand if you need help. Come on.
Asylum, Day 7--Strength
WOO. HOO. Increased my weights today (which explains why i have to keep backspacing to correct typos--heavy weights kill my wrists, which, in turn, leave me unable to type) to 20s, 15s, and 10s. Last week, I used 15s, 10s, and 8s. Dug deeper today--and really, and I mean REALLY, pushed it hard. Really concentrated on my core, and i could feel a difference in the work it was doing.
Sitting here, lamenting over my hurty wrists, drinking a chocolate Shakeology--not too shabby. Feeling good!
p.s. I still think Shaun T is trying to kill me.
Sitting here, lamenting over my hurty wrists, drinking a chocolate Shakeology--not too shabby. Feeling good!
p.s. I still think Shaun T is trying to kill me.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Asylum, Day 6
I CRUSHED IT TODAY. Oh yeah, if 'crushed' means nearly crying like a baby, grunting like I was porcine, and sweating like a horse in a glue factory. So, if we share the same definition, then YES, I crushed Day 6.
But seriously, I saw improvements. Improvements in just 6 workouts! Either that, or i've just become ridiculously incapable of gauging my fitness level. Well, it could be. Who knows. I ate mashed potatoes yesterday. Mashed potatoes with BACON in them. I'm not positive, but i'm sure they affected my brain somehow. They were delicious. But so was today's workout! Deliciously AWESOME!
Don't get me wrong--still tougher than cheap beef jerky, but such a great workout!! I am becoming lithe and nimble. (Actually, probably not, but go with it, people.)
Yay me!
But seriously, I saw improvements. Improvements in just 6 workouts! Either that, or i've just become ridiculously incapable of gauging my fitness level. Well, it could be. Who knows. I ate mashed potatoes yesterday. Mashed potatoes with BACON in them. I'm not positive, but i'm sure they affected my brain somehow. They were delicious. But so was today's workout! Deliciously AWESOME!
Don't get me wrong--still tougher than cheap beef jerky, but such a great workout!! I am becoming lithe and nimble. (Actually, probably not, but go with it, people.)
Yay me!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Asylum Day 4--Vertical Plyo=horizontal death
Holy crap. (Honestly, i think all my Asylum posts start with something like that, right?) Vertical Plyo is the hardest and craziest workout i've ever done. It's a lot more of Shaun T just making up crazy shit. Pushup jacks with resistance bands on your arms and legs, TONS of jumproping, and a whole heckofalotta jumping over that damn ladder. My FOREARMS are sweating. My WRISTS are sweating. That's just gross. I think the tops of my hands are sweating, too...yes, yes they are.
I felt like a totally uncoordinated twit doing this workout. I busted my butt, but i feel like I spent a lot of time looking at the tv with a look of pure confusion on my face and asking, "Whaaaa?" Some of the moves, he'd be yelling, "Come on! You can do this!" but he was too late, because i was already in a horizontal position, in a pool of sweat, crying, near death.
I think Shaun T is trying to kill me. If he asks, don't tell him where I live.
I felt like a totally uncoordinated twit doing this workout. I busted my butt, but i feel like I spent a lot of time looking at the tv with a look of pure confusion on my face and asking, "Whaaaa?" Some of the moves, he'd be yelling, "Come on! You can do this!" but he was too late, because i was already in a horizontal position, in a pool of sweat, crying, near death.
I think Shaun T is trying to kill me. If he asks, don't tell him where I live.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Asylum Day 3--What the hell is THAT??
This workout left me asking, "WTH?" the majority of the time. Shaun T just makes crap up--i'm quite convinced of it. I mean, no one in their right mind, would try to do this kind of stuff to their body. I've never been working out and thought, "Hmmm..think i'll do a reverse plank, then pulse up my legs--alternately." Really? A REVERSE plank? Then you want me to lift one of my legs off the ground? I did it, but graceful, I am not.
He also does all these moves that start out not hurting, then end up killing you by the end. The pain sneaks up on you. And the pain is in these random spots that have never hurt before. Then he continuously tells you, "It doesn't start working 'til it starts hurting." I'd like to punch him in the face. I hope he's right, because after I finish the exercise, it's STILL hurting. Dammit. It better be working.
As much as I bitch about this program, I love it. It's hard. It's challenging. I have to push myself. EXTREMELY HARD.
I'm going to be paying for this tomorrow...
He also does all these moves that start out not hurting, then end up killing you by the end. The pain sneaks up on you. And the pain is in these random spots that have never hurt before. Then he continuously tells you, "It doesn't start working 'til it starts hurting." I'd like to punch him in the face. I hope he's right, because after I finish the exercise, it's STILL hurting. Dammit. It better be working.
As much as I bitch about this program, I love it. It's hard. It's challenging. I have to push myself. EXTREMELY HARD.
I'm going to be paying for this tomorrow...
Day 2--Strength--repeat
So, I started Asylum over. I got to Day 2, two weeks ago, then a whole bunch of family crap happened. Long story short, I ended up taking a "rest week" last week. When I started back at Asylum on Monday, I was better and stronger than ever--'rest week', eh? Who knew that it would've done me good?!
So, Strength, Day 2, repeat:
HOLY TACOTRUCK, people. I don't know if i just wussed out on this last week, or what, but this time, Day 2 kicked me right in the butt and left a footprint. I used 15s this time (i used 10s last week), and honestly, I could have used 20s, but i have this inate fear of dropping weights on my head. Particularly during moves such as halos, and skull crushers. Another thing is, they're really hard to handle. I mean, the devil...um, Shaun T. I mean....has us holding them by the weight, rather than the grip (does that make sense)? and i feel like my hand doesn't have a good enough hold on it. I need to get some gloves.
Anywho...I was totally ripped up yesterday. Shaun T KILLED me. And everytime I thought, "I just can't do anymore," he'd come through, loud and clear saying, "You CAN do this!" I don't know if he actually knows at which point people are going to die or what, but he always says the right thing at the right time.
I finished strong, and sweaty, and proud of myself.
Today, my hands hurt from holding weights.
Can't wait for today's workout!!!
So, Strength, Day 2, repeat:
HOLY TACOTRUCK, people. I don't know if i just wussed out on this last week, or what, but this time, Day 2 kicked me right in the butt and left a footprint. I used 15s this time (i used 10s last week), and honestly, I could have used 20s, but i have this inate fear of dropping weights on my head. Particularly during moves such as halos, and skull crushers. Another thing is, they're really hard to handle. I mean, the devil...um, Shaun T. I mean....has us holding them by the weight, rather than the grip (does that make sense)? and i feel like my hand doesn't have a good enough hold on it. I need to get some gloves.
Anywho...I was totally ripped up yesterday. Shaun T KILLED me. And everytime I thought, "I just can't do anymore," he'd come through, loud and clear saying, "You CAN do this!" I don't know if he actually knows at which point people are going to die or what, but he always says the right thing at the right time.
I finished strong, and sweaty, and proud of myself.
Today, my hands hurt from holding weights.
Can't wait for today's workout!!!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Oh look...there goes the wagon...
...that I fell off of. Jeesh. So, I was on my 3rd day of Asylum. Then Good Friday happened. Did a photoshoot that morning, then had promised the kids i'd take them to the movies. Before I knew it, Friday was gone. Saturday, was my nephew's first birthday--that day flew by. Sunday: Easter, church, time by the pool--bye, bye, Sunday.
Next thing I know, it's Monday, and i've got a sugar hangover. I knew that I wouldn't be able to give Asylum 100%--and that's what that program needs. I refuse to workout half-assed. If i'm not going to give it my all, then i'm not going to do it. So--the decision? This week is a self-proclaimed 'rest week.' I can't remember the last time I took one, actually...January, maybe?
So, i'm having a ball this week. Not watching what food is clean or not, not worrying about working out...just doing the 'ol day job.
But next week--I'm starting over at square one. Yeah, next week better RUN AND HIDE.
Here's a preview of the photoshoot: (you can see more on my team page)
p.s. I can't believe I grabbed 10s for that shot. I should have at least spun it so you couldn't see the number!
Next thing I know, it's Monday, and i've got a sugar hangover. I knew that I wouldn't be able to give Asylum 100%--and that's what that program needs. I refuse to workout half-assed. If i'm not going to give it my all, then i'm not going to do it. So--the decision? This week is a self-proclaimed 'rest week.' I can't remember the last time I took one, actually...January, maybe?
So, i'm having a ball this week. Not watching what food is clean or not, not worrying about working out...just doing the 'ol day job.
But next week--I'm starting over at square one. Yeah, next week better RUN AND HIDE.
Here's a preview of the photoshoot: (you can see more on my team page)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Asylum Day 2--Strength
Again, Holy Cow. Shaun T didn't back down for this dvd--it is CA-RAY-ZEE. I couldn't even get through most of the moves--muscles just backed down on me. That's when you know it's tough--when your muscles scream at you, "NO MORE!!" then refuse to work. I can sit there and will my arms to move all I want, but if my biceps are going to argue with me, what the hell can I do? However, i'm determined to crush this dvd before day 30 hits.
There is some crazy crap going on in this workout--moves I never even would have considered trying. I did this workout wearing three layers of clothing, since i'm trying to cut water for a photoshoot tomorrow, but I guarantee you, I would have been sweating like a pig even if I were butt naked.
This is a tough one, and i'll know i'll be feeling it later!
Keep digging deeper!!
There is some crazy crap going on in this workout--moves I never even would have considered trying. I did this workout wearing three layers of clothing, since i'm trying to cut water for a photoshoot tomorrow, but I guarantee you, I would have been sweating like a pig even if I were butt naked.
This is a tough one, and i'll know i'll be feeling it later!
Keep digging deeper!!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Asylum Day 1
I can feel my shoulders tightening up as I type this (wow...nice alliteration, eh?). So, Day 1--in the books. All i can say is: HOLY COW. That was freakin' tough! I made it through every exercise, but i think it's because I was going slower than i normally would--i was concentrating on what Shaun T. was doing, and how he was doing it. Next time, i'll be able to push harder. There were tons of plank exercises--walking planks (through the agility ladder), shoulder tap planks, plank runs...ouch. And those plank runs on the ladder--CRAZY!!!
Here's my Asylum Day 1 pic:
Can't wait to see what Day 30 looks like!!
Here's my Asylum Day 1 pic:
Can't wait to see what Day 30 looks like!!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Holy goat balls
Of all things sweet and holy. I did the Asylum Fit Test. If that is any indication of my next 30 days, i'm in for a world of hurt. Shaun T, if i ever have the chance to meet you, i will first hug you, then punch you in the guts. You are evil.
Fit Test results
Day 1
Agility heisman: 11
In&out ab prog: 44
push ups 18
Mtn climb. switch kicks: 67
Agility shoulder taps: 5
X jumps: 29
moving push ups: 3.5
Agility lateral shuff: 17
Agility bear crawl: 13.5
I felt like a fool. A sweaty fool.
Fit Test results
Day 1
Agility heisman: 11
In&out ab prog: 44
push ups 18
Mtn climb. switch kicks: 67
Agility shoulder taps: 5
X jumps: 29
moving push ups: 3.5
Agility lateral shuff: 17
Agility bear crawl: 13.5
I felt like a fool. A sweaty fool.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Fitness depression
A very dear friend of mine admitted to feeling depressed today. And, of course, I got to thinking....which is quite scary.
To be honest, most days, I am a pretty positive person. I annoy the crap out of my husband, because I'm so positive. But, my positivity comes from a time when I wasn't so positive. It's a "learned" positive, if you will. And, when I say 'I'm positive,' I don't mean that I'm always happy-go-lucky, because i'm certainly not. Just like most parents, I get frustrated with my kids, I often feel overwhelmed, and sometimes i feel like i'm just not doing a good enough job. Don't we all? And, sometimes, I feel like i'm not doing a good enough job with my health and fitness.
Example: Today (yes, TODAY), I didn't want to work out. I wasn't feeling motivated to do it, and honestly, I would have rather sat here and tweeted about cloud computing or integrated lights-out (fun stuff). But I KNEW that if i didn't work out, i'd 1) be in a crappy mood 2) be extra cranky with my kids 3) feel depressed about it 4) feel squishy. So, i MADE myself workout. And did Insanity Max Interval Training, for crying out loud. The entire warmup, i was bitching to myself in my head. "I don't want to do this," "UGH, this is awful!" etc. etc. But I DID it. No, it wasn't my best workout ever, and after I finished, I felt like I was going to die, but I feel proud of myself that i did it. But see numbers 1-4 above? Those things won't happen now. I guess the whole point of my story is, that sometimes, the 'depression' that we allow to creep up on us can be wiped out by MAKING ourselves take action.
90% of the depression that people face can most likely be fixed. Maybe not immediately, but it CAN be fixed. Example no. 2: We're on the Dave Ramsey plan to wipe out our debt. Anyone else? It's not overnight. But last April, I got sick and freakin' tired of working so hard and not having any money, so we got on the plan. Are we debt-free? No. Are we on our way? YEP. Is that "money depression" gone? Absolutely. Because i know we're on our way to beating that monster down!
Back to fitness: If you feel depressed about how you look or how you feel, then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!! If you're saying, "Well, i'm too out of shape to do P90X/Insanity/fill in the blank," you're making excuses. Can you walk? Get out there and do it. Did you know that one of Beachbody's BEST coaches was (and often still is) confined to a wheelchair? She was depressed and feeling bad about her multiple sclerosis. She did P90X! FROM A WHEELCHAIR. There's another guy in the P90X dvds that has a prostethic leg. He did the program with one leg, people. All the excuses I ever had for my fitness depression seem so paltry now.
But, here's the key to it all: the way you look doesn't define you. Heck, your general health doesn't define you. BUT..the way you feel about yourself shows. If you feel depressed, people will notice it. You can only put on a happy face for so long. Give yourself the gift of health. Just get mad at yourself, and let yourself know that YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DEAL WITH FITNESS DEPRESSION any longer. YOU are an amazing person. YOU are worth it. YOUR body deserves to be treated right.
<3
To be honest, most days, I am a pretty positive person. I annoy the crap out of my husband, because I'm so positive. But, my positivity comes from a time when I wasn't so positive. It's a "learned" positive, if you will. And, when I say 'I'm positive,' I don't mean that I'm always happy-go-lucky, because i'm certainly not. Just like most parents, I get frustrated with my kids, I often feel overwhelmed, and sometimes i feel like i'm just not doing a good enough job. Don't we all? And, sometimes, I feel like i'm not doing a good enough job with my health and fitness.
Example: Today (yes, TODAY), I didn't want to work out. I wasn't feeling motivated to do it, and honestly, I would have rather sat here and tweeted about cloud computing or integrated lights-out (fun stuff). But I KNEW that if i didn't work out, i'd 1) be in a crappy mood 2) be extra cranky with my kids 3) feel depressed about it 4) feel squishy. So, i MADE myself workout. And did Insanity Max Interval Training, for crying out loud. The entire warmup, i was bitching to myself in my head. "I don't want to do this," "UGH, this is awful!" etc. etc. But I DID it. No, it wasn't my best workout ever, and after I finished, I felt like I was going to die, but I feel proud of myself that i did it. But see numbers 1-4 above? Those things won't happen now. I guess the whole point of my story is, that sometimes, the 'depression' that we allow to creep up on us can be wiped out by MAKING ourselves take action.
90% of the depression that people face can most likely be fixed. Maybe not immediately, but it CAN be fixed. Example no. 2: We're on the Dave Ramsey plan to wipe out our debt. Anyone else? It's not overnight. But last April, I got sick and freakin' tired of working so hard and not having any money, so we got on the plan. Are we debt-free? No. Are we on our way? YEP. Is that "money depression" gone? Absolutely. Because i know we're on our way to beating that monster down!
Back to fitness: If you feel depressed about how you look or how you feel, then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!! If you're saying, "Well, i'm too out of shape to do P90X/Insanity/fill in the blank," you're making excuses. Can you walk? Get out there and do it. Did you know that one of Beachbody's BEST coaches was (and often still is) confined to a wheelchair? She was depressed and feeling bad about her multiple sclerosis. She did P90X! FROM A WHEELCHAIR. There's another guy in the P90X dvds that has a prostethic leg. He did the program with one leg, people. All the excuses I ever had for my fitness depression seem so paltry now.
But, here's the key to it all: the way you look doesn't define you. Heck, your general health doesn't define you. BUT..the way you feel about yourself shows. If you feel depressed, people will notice it. You can only put on a happy face for so long. Give yourself the gift of health. Just get mad at yourself, and let yourself know that YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DEAL WITH FITNESS DEPRESSION any longer. YOU are an amazing person. YOU are worth it. YOUR body deserves to be treated right.
<3
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Asylum...it's almost here!
Read Steve Edwards' review. I think it's supposed to scare me; instead, i'm flipping excited.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
New workout & what's up
February already. I'm just hoping THIS year doesn't go by as quickly as last year. Time really is flying by.
Here's the health update on me:
2 weeks ago, I started a new program: Insanity/Brazil Butt Lift hybrid. I was doing the P90X/Insanity hybrid, but I didn't feel like i was getting enough from it, so i switched it up a bit. Plus, bathing suit season is around the corner, and my butt needs a lift. I'm pretty sure I can vouch for 90% of the mom population when I say my butt's a bit lower than it used to be. Yikes. I'm hoping BBL can give me a nice little bit of oomph to my booty. I checked out tons of success stories before I ordered it, and i'm feeling confident. If pain is any indication of it working, then by all means, IT.IS.WORKING. Holy cow...is it EVER working!!
I am still loving the heck out of Insanity. Best and toughest cardio i've ever done! If you're looking for something to blast off the fat, this my friends, is it. It will beat the crap out of you!! I can't wait for Asylum, the next installation of Insanity, coming out in summer 2011!! Yee hee!! I'm a glutton for punishment, but i am SO happy with how my body looks, that there is NO WAY i'm going back to what it was in October of 2009. This is my new lifestyle, and i'm going to continue to rock it.
Eating-wise, I'm practically vegetarian at this point. Because of Clairey's (my youngest daughters) gymnastics schedule, plus my oldest daughter's (Jenna) piano and Brownie schedule, we're rarely home for dinner. Both myself and my girls are heavily fortified through Shakeology, GrapeNuts cereal, and oatmeal. I generally cook on Sundays, and THAT usually involves meat. Since i've stopped eating so much meat though, when I do eat it (particularly red meat), i end up with a tummy ache. I'm still doing a rendition of Tony's Rant Diet, which now is just a part of my daily life. Cutting white/enriched flour from my diet is one of the best things i've ever done. After the first week of no white flour, I felt such a huge difference (and SAW a huge difference in my belly). I don't think i could go back to it--like red meat, when I eat it, my tummy hurts.
I can say with 100% confidence that this is the HEALTHIEST i've ever been. I know that I'm a Beachbody coach, but I couldn't have gotten this far without the encouragement and motivation from all my buddies and friends i've met on beachbody.com. I hope the people I coach feel the same way about me! :)
Here's the health update on me:
2 weeks ago, I started a new program: Insanity/Brazil Butt Lift hybrid. I was doing the P90X/Insanity hybrid, but I didn't feel like i was getting enough from it, so i switched it up a bit. Plus, bathing suit season is around the corner, and my butt needs a lift. I'm pretty sure I can vouch for 90% of the mom population when I say my butt's a bit lower than it used to be. Yikes. I'm hoping BBL can give me a nice little bit of oomph to my booty. I checked out tons of success stories before I ordered it, and i'm feeling confident. If pain is any indication of it working, then by all means, IT.IS.WORKING. Holy cow...is it EVER working!!
I am still loving the heck out of Insanity. Best and toughest cardio i've ever done! If you're looking for something to blast off the fat, this my friends, is it. It will beat the crap out of you!! I can't wait for Asylum, the next installation of Insanity, coming out in summer 2011!! Yee hee!! I'm a glutton for punishment, but i am SO happy with how my body looks, that there is NO WAY i'm going back to what it was in October of 2009. This is my new lifestyle, and i'm going to continue to rock it.
Eating-wise, I'm practically vegetarian at this point. Because of Clairey's (my youngest daughters) gymnastics schedule, plus my oldest daughter's (Jenna) piano and Brownie schedule, we're rarely home for dinner. Both myself and my girls are heavily fortified through Shakeology, GrapeNuts cereal, and oatmeal. I generally cook on Sundays, and THAT usually involves meat. Since i've stopped eating so much meat though, when I do eat it (particularly red meat), i end up with a tummy ache. I'm still doing a rendition of Tony's Rant Diet, which now is just a part of my daily life. Cutting white/enriched flour from my diet is one of the best things i've ever done. After the first week of no white flour, I felt such a huge difference (and SAW a huge difference in my belly). I don't think i could go back to it--like red meat, when I eat it, my tummy hurts.
I can say with 100% confidence that this is the HEALTHIEST i've ever been. I know that I'm a Beachbody coach, but I couldn't have gotten this far without the encouragement and motivation from all my buddies and friends i've met on beachbody.com. I hope the people I coach feel the same way about me! :)
Thursday, January 20, 2011
More Shakeology goodness...
(Borrowed from my lovely social media friend, Michelle Meyers.)
It’s no secret that I love Shakeology. I’m usually very resistant to meal replacements because until Shakeology, I’ve never found one I like. And by like…I mean CRAVE! While I may be extremely health conscious, there are way too many healthy foods that are enjoyable to waste my calories eating foods that taste like chalk just because they’re good for me.
But Shakeology doesn’t taste like chalk. It doesn’t have a bitter aftertaste. It doesn’t sit like a rock in my stomach. And I’m not hungry two hours after I drink it. It’s in a meal replacement category all on it’s own. (To learn more about the many benefits of Shakeology, click here.)
First of all, you’ve got to decide what kind of texture you like. I want it to be more like a shake than a drink and have moderate thickness, meaning I like to be able to sip it slowly through a straw, but I don’t want to eat it with a spoon, so I always recommend using the blender instead of a shaker cup. Experiment with the amounts of liquid and ice in each recipe until you find the consistency that works for you. I generally take a 32 oz. cup, fill it up 3/4 of the way with ice and use 2 cups of liquid (almond milk, skim milk, water).
As far as taste goes, I compare Shakeology to a piece of grilled chicken. By itself, grilled chicken is good. But if you add a little marinade or some seasoning, it turns into a delicacy. Shakeology works the very same way — add a little extra something to it, and you can take something that’s good and turn it into something amazing.
Here are a few of my favorite “marinated” Shakeology recipes:
Chocolate
Go Nuts! (245 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
1 TBSP dry sugar free fat free pistachio pudding mix
1 TBSP plain PB2
1 cup Almond Milk
1 cup water
Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie (350 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
1 package lower sugar maple & brown sugar oatmeal
1/2 cup almond milk
1.5 cups water
Butterfinger Blizzard (300 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
1 TBSP dry sugar free fat free butterscotch pudding mix
1 TBSP natural peanut butter
1/2 cup skim milk
1.5 cups water
Christmas Cookie (190 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Covered Strawberries (240 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 cup water
3/4 cup sliced strawberries (fresh or frozen)
Greenberry
Tarty Twist (180 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Greenberry Shakeology
2 cups unsweetened green tea
1 lemon, squeezed
1 lime, squeezed
Orange Mango Splash (285 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Greenberry Shakeology
1 cup Simply Orange with Mango
1 TBSP PB2
1 cup water
Trail Mix (210 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Greenberry Shakeology
1 cup unsweetened cran-apple juice
1 TBSP dry sugar free fat free pistachio pudding mix
1 cup water
Honey Almond Paradise (340 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Greenberry Shakeology
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tsp honey
1 TBSP natural peanut butter
Strawberry Peach Sundae (300 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Greenberry Shakeology
1/2 cup strawberries
1/2 cup peaches
1 cup skim milk
1 cup water
To order your bag of Shakeology, visit http://bit.ly/shakeItup. If you’re interested in how you could save up to 25% off on your purchase, contact me for more information.
It’s no secret that I love Shakeology. I’m usually very resistant to meal replacements because until Shakeology, I’ve never found one I like. And by like…I mean CRAVE! While I may be extremely health conscious, there are way too many healthy foods that are enjoyable to waste my calories eating foods that taste like chalk just because they’re good for me.
But Shakeology doesn’t taste like chalk. It doesn’t have a bitter aftertaste. It doesn’t sit like a rock in my stomach. And I’m not hungry two hours after I drink it. It’s in a meal replacement category all on it’s own. (To learn more about the many benefits of Shakeology, click here.)
First of all, you’ve got to decide what kind of texture you like. I want it to be more like a shake than a drink and have moderate thickness, meaning I like to be able to sip it slowly through a straw, but I don’t want to eat it with a spoon, so I always recommend using the blender instead of a shaker cup. Experiment with the amounts of liquid and ice in each recipe until you find the consistency that works for you. I generally take a 32 oz. cup, fill it up 3/4 of the way with ice and use 2 cups of liquid (almond milk, skim milk, water).
As far as taste goes, I compare Shakeology to a piece of grilled chicken. By itself, grilled chicken is good. But if you add a little marinade or some seasoning, it turns into a delicacy. Shakeology works the very same way — add a little extra something to it, and you can take something that’s good and turn it into something amazing.
Here are a few of my favorite “marinated” Shakeology recipes:
Chocolate
Go Nuts! (245 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
1 TBSP dry sugar free fat free pistachio pudding mix
1 TBSP plain PB2
1 cup Almond Milk
1 cup water
Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie (350 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
1 package lower sugar maple & brown sugar oatmeal
1/2 cup almond milk
1.5 cups water
Butterfinger Blizzard (300 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
1 TBSP dry sugar free fat free butterscotch pudding mix
1 TBSP natural peanut butter
1/2 cup skim milk
1.5 cups water
Christmas Cookie (190 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Covered Strawberries (240 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Chocolate Shakeology
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 cup water
3/4 cup sliced strawberries (fresh or frozen)
Greenberry
Tarty Twist (180 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Greenberry Shakeology
2 cups unsweetened green tea
1 lemon, squeezed
1 lime, squeezed
Orange Mango Splash (285 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Greenberry Shakeology
1 cup Simply Orange with Mango
1 TBSP PB2
1 cup water
Trail Mix (210 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Greenberry Shakeology
1 cup unsweetened cran-apple juice
1 TBSP dry sugar free fat free pistachio pudding mix
1 cup water
Honey Almond Paradise (340 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Greenberry Shakeology
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tsp honey
1 TBSP natural peanut butter
Strawberry Peach Sundae (300 calories)
Ice
1 scoop Greenberry Shakeology
1/2 cup strawberries
1/2 cup peaches
1 cup skim milk
1 cup water
To order your bag of Shakeology, visit http://bit.ly/shakeItup. If you’re interested in how you could save up to 25% off on your purchase, contact me for more information.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
"Shakeology is so expensive!"
People often ask me how I stay fit. I tell them that it's by using Beachbody workouts and by drinking Shakeology. They'll ask what Shakeology is, and I tell them. Everyone wants to try it, but always halts when they find out how much it is: around $130 a month--that includes tax/shipping/handling. And then they balk--"WHAT?!!!" "That's so expensive!!" "I can't afford that!" And here's where i tell you, "Of COURSE you can," and here's why...
Shakeology is a meal replacement. In one shake, it offers you an ENTIRE day's worth of fruits and vegetables, plus a multitude of other good things for your body. Unlike other meal replacement drinks, Shakeology is 100% natural--no made-up chemical crap in it--just 100% good nutrition. Think about it--when is the last time YOU nourished your body with a full day's serving of fruits and vegetables?? Before I started Shakeology, I can't think of one.
Here's an exercise for you (a checkbook exercise): Since Shakeology is a meal replacement, let's say you're going to have a shake instead of lunch each day for a month. Look through your bank statement/checkbook/receipts..whatever...add up how much you've spent at LUNCH for the past 30 days. If you brown-bagged it, or are a stay-at-home-mom, for those days you didn't eat out, add $1 (because you used what you had at home). How much did that add up to? I KNOW you went out to eat at least a couple of times. If you work at an office and went out with your coworkers, your lunch was probably around $10--and that's if it was CHEAP. $15 bucks a pop is closer to what you spend, right? If you're a SAHM, you can easily drop $6 on fast food for YOURSELF. ICK. It adds up.
And, in those meals--in all that money that you 'pooped' out--how much nutrition did you provide to your body?? Did any of those meals give your body amazing nutrition? Provide a day's worth of fruits and vegetables? Help prevent colon cancer? Reverse the symptoms of colitis? What about reversing symptoms of diabetes? No? Weird. Shakeology does all that, and more. One daily scoop of Shakeology has amazing affects on your body.
So, here's the scoop: I felt the SAME way about purchasing Shakeology. In fact, I had been using Beachbody programs for nearly a year, and still wasn't doing it--because i felt like it was too expensive. But, the more I read, the more i learned about Shakeology, the more i wanted to do it. I was working SO HARD to get my body in shape--the OUTSIDE of my body--but what was i doing to the inside? I was working hard to eat right, but i STILL wasn't fortifying my working body with the proper nutrition. I was taking some protein shake that i got at VitaminShoppe, and I thought that was good enough. So, in order to "prevent" myself from spending that $130 a month on Shakeology, I walked to my pantry, armed with an ingredient list from Shakeology to PROVE to myself that my $50 a month protein drink was just as good as Shakeology....
To say I was surprised would be an understatement. 90% of the stuff in my protein drink was unpronounceable (did i just make that word up??). "All-Natural"??? Not quite. That "healthy" protein drink I had been taking to "save money" on, was created in a lab. It was/is practically a container full of toxins. Why would i, after busting my ass to get in this shape, want to drink stuff that i can't even pronounce? I wanted to be fit and healthy on the outside AND the inside. At that point, I made the decision to take the Beachbody challenge: try Shakeology for 30 days. If you don't like it, and it doesn't deliver all that Beachbody promises, then you get your money back. 100%, no questions asked.
I also decided, at that point, to become a BeachBody coach. So, when i purchased my first 30 days of Shakeology, I immediately got a 25% discount--making my total $89--for a 30-day supply of Shakeology! And really...that's all it took--30 days. I started with one shake a day. After 1 week (yes, ONE week), I could tell a difference. My energy level was UP, my tummy was flatter (Shakeology helps to flush out all those 'bloating' toxins), and overall, i just felt GREAT. That was back in July of 2010.
Most days, I have two shakes a day--one for breakfast, and one for a late-afternoon snack. I crave the nutrients; well, my BODY craves the nutrients. I feel absolutely amazing! My kids LOVE the chocolate Shakeology, and I can feel good about giving it to them. How many kids do YOU know that get a full day's serving of vegetables? Mine do! I often make one shake, and split it--putting 1/2 into a thermos for each of them at lunch, along with their regular sandwich and piece of fruit. With that, i know that my babies are getting the proper nourishment--with no fillers, with nothing I can't pronounce--just 100% clean and healthy! LOVE IT.
And YOU will love it too! Is it worth the price? I can tell you with great confidence, YES. It 100%, absolutely is. Out of all the thousands of meal replacement drinks out there, Shakeology is the most effective for the price--I PROMISE you that. Learn more by viewing the videos below:
100 Doctors Don't Lie
Shakeology and the Glycemic Index
The Breakthrough
Then visit my site at http://bit.ly/shakeItup
If you'd like a free sample, email me at fitwisdom@beachbodycoach.com
Shakeology is a meal replacement. In one shake, it offers you an ENTIRE day's worth of fruits and vegetables, plus a multitude of other good things for your body. Unlike other meal replacement drinks, Shakeology is 100% natural--no made-up chemical crap in it--just 100% good nutrition. Think about it--when is the last time YOU nourished your body with a full day's serving of fruits and vegetables?? Before I started Shakeology, I can't think of one.
Here's an exercise for you (a checkbook exercise): Since Shakeology is a meal replacement, let's say you're going to have a shake instead of lunch each day for a month. Look through your bank statement/checkbook/receipts..whatever...add up how much you've spent at LUNCH for the past 30 days. If you brown-bagged it, or are a stay-at-home-mom, for those days you didn't eat out, add $1 (because you used what you had at home). How much did that add up to? I KNOW you went out to eat at least a couple of times. If you work at an office and went out with your coworkers, your lunch was probably around $10--and that's if it was CHEAP. $15 bucks a pop is closer to what you spend, right? If you're a SAHM, you can easily drop $6 on fast food for YOURSELF. ICK. It adds up.
And, in those meals--in all that money that you 'pooped' out--how much nutrition did you provide to your body?? Did any of those meals give your body amazing nutrition? Provide a day's worth of fruits and vegetables? Help prevent colon cancer? Reverse the symptoms of colitis? What about reversing symptoms of diabetes? No? Weird. Shakeology does all that, and more. One daily scoop of Shakeology has amazing affects on your body.
So, here's the scoop: I felt the SAME way about purchasing Shakeology. In fact, I had been using Beachbody programs for nearly a year, and still wasn't doing it--because i felt like it was too expensive. But, the more I read, the more i learned about Shakeology, the more i wanted to do it. I was working SO HARD to get my body in shape--the OUTSIDE of my body--but what was i doing to the inside? I was working hard to eat right, but i STILL wasn't fortifying my working body with the proper nutrition. I was taking some protein shake that i got at VitaminShoppe, and I thought that was good enough. So, in order to "prevent" myself from spending that $130 a month on Shakeology, I walked to my pantry, armed with an ingredient list from Shakeology to PROVE to myself that my $50 a month protein drink was just as good as Shakeology....
To say I was surprised would be an understatement. 90% of the stuff in my protein drink was unpronounceable (did i just make that word up??). "All-Natural"??? Not quite. That "healthy" protein drink I had been taking to "save money" on, was created in a lab. It was/is practically a container full of toxins. Why would i, after busting my ass to get in this shape, want to drink stuff that i can't even pronounce? I wanted to be fit and healthy on the outside AND the inside. At that point, I made the decision to take the Beachbody challenge: try Shakeology for 30 days. If you don't like it, and it doesn't deliver all that Beachbody promises, then you get your money back. 100%, no questions asked.
I also decided, at that point, to become a BeachBody coach. So, when i purchased my first 30 days of Shakeology, I immediately got a 25% discount--making my total $89--for a 30-day supply of Shakeology! And really...that's all it took--30 days. I started with one shake a day. After 1 week (yes, ONE week), I could tell a difference. My energy level was UP, my tummy was flatter (Shakeology helps to flush out all those 'bloating' toxins), and overall, i just felt GREAT. That was back in July of 2010.
Most days, I have two shakes a day--one for breakfast, and one for a late-afternoon snack. I crave the nutrients; well, my BODY craves the nutrients. I feel absolutely amazing! My kids LOVE the chocolate Shakeology, and I can feel good about giving it to them. How many kids do YOU know that get a full day's serving of vegetables? Mine do! I often make one shake, and split it--putting 1/2 into a thermos for each of them at lunch, along with their regular sandwich and piece of fruit. With that, i know that my babies are getting the proper nourishment--with no fillers, with nothing I can't pronounce--just 100% clean and healthy! LOVE IT.
And YOU will love it too! Is it worth the price? I can tell you with great confidence, YES. It 100%, absolutely is. Out of all the thousands of meal replacement drinks out there, Shakeology is the most effective for the price--I PROMISE you that. Learn more by viewing the videos below:
100 Doctors Don't Lie
Shakeology and the Glycemic Index
The Breakthrough
Then visit my site at http://bit.ly/shakeItup
If you'd like a free sample, email me at fitwisdom@beachbodycoach.com
Saturday, January 8, 2011
2011!
2011 is here, peeps. What are YOU doing to help your health and fitness? I have started my FOURTH round of P90X lean. You know what's crazy? It's STILL hard--even at my 4th round. I'm still busting through it--i can be in BETTER shape!
I add Shakeology to my daily diet--at least once, sometimes 2x a day! I drink it for breakfast, then usually as a mid-afternoon snack! You know, when i signed up to coach, I didn't sign up for Shakeology home direct right away; I thought it was too expensive, and i'm a cheapskate. BUT, then i learned more about it--this stuff is phenomenal--there's nothing like it on the market today. A FULL day's serving of fruits and veggies in ONE glass??? Absolutely. 100% natural?? Absolutely. Helps you to lose weight?? YEP. So, i bit the bullet, and signed up for home direct. Because i'm a coach, i get 25% off--so it costs me $89 a month. That's a bit less than $3 a day. I was blowing $21 bucks a week on nothing--why not put that $21 a week to something that would BENEFIT me and my health? Best decision i ever made.
This is YOUR year! Push it! Be your best! You can be at your PEAK--no matter what shape you are in now, no matter your age..it's possible!!
I add Shakeology to my daily diet--at least once, sometimes 2x a day! I drink it for breakfast, then usually as a mid-afternoon snack! You know, when i signed up to coach, I didn't sign up for Shakeology home direct right away; I thought it was too expensive, and i'm a cheapskate. BUT, then i learned more about it--this stuff is phenomenal--there's nothing like it on the market today. A FULL day's serving of fruits and veggies in ONE glass??? Absolutely. 100% natural?? Absolutely. Helps you to lose weight?? YEP. So, i bit the bullet, and signed up for home direct. Because i'm a coach, i get 25% off--so it costs me $89 a month. That's a bit less than $3 a day. I was blowing $21 bucks a week on nothing--why not put that $21 a week to something that would BENEFIT me and my health? Best decision i ever made.
This is YOUR year! Push it! Be your best! You can be at your PEAK--no matter what shape you are in now, no matter your age..it's possible!!
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