Labels Lie! Here's the proof...

I don't normally eat a lot of processed food (and this post in and of itself explains mostly why!) but I was cat-sitting for my parents while they were out of town and happened to be there around dinner time.  I was hungry and I saw this in the pantry and thought, "Serves two!  Perfect!  I'm one, and I can save the other serving for later!"

Upon closer inspection (and unfortunately after I had eaten half the container thinking that was a serving), I realized I had been conned. 

Notice that on the label, it states that the package contains "about 4" servings...  I guess, theoretically, it DOES serve two... and then some.  But how many of us would assume the same thing I did?  And I KNOW packaged food is often labeled in a misleading way. 

It turns out that the actual serving turns out to be about a half cup of tortellini.  I don't know about you, but a half cup of tortellini doesn't seem like much of a meal to me!  If you were to split this bag in half to "serve 2," you would actually be getting almost a GRAM of sodium and 14 grams of fat!  And that doesn't even include the salt they suggest you use in the cooking water or the sauce you use on your pasta.

What would my dinner (also ready in 10 minutes) look like at home?  Perhaps half a grilled chicken breast (thank you, George Foreman grill!), some steamed or frozen veggies, a salad, and some flatbread or half a sweet potato (followed by some dark chocolate or fruit for dessert.. YUM!).  It's certainly more filling, more satisfying, and better for you!

So it seems my "convenient" dinner wasn't so convenient after all.

What foods have surprised YOU either by how healthy and easy they turned out to be, or by how unhealthy they were once you read the label?  Leave them in the comments below...

Living healthy on a budget

Impossible, you say? I've heard it all... "But doc, all I can afford is mac and cheese out of a box!" "But the dollar menu at Mickey D's is all I have money for..." Those, my friends, are words that stem from pure laziness.

Let me start from square one. Let's assume you live in a 200 square foot studio (for argument's sake), and the closest you come to a kitchen is a hotplate and a bar fridge. All hope is not lost. First of all, rice and beans are not only a complete protein, but pay a buck for a bag of each (if that) and you're eating for a week! They are easily flavored with herbs from a small window herb garden (a desk lamp with a fluorescent bulb will do the trick if your place is devoid of light). Other things you can grow inside? Salad greens, tomatoes, and peppers can all make it with a grow light, however, if you have a "black thumb" all hope is not lost! Frozen veggies are an excellent economical option. The methods used these days regarding harvesting and flash-freezing are so effective at preserving nutrients that in today's market, frozen can often be better than fresh that has been sitting in a warehouse, truck, or store for two weeks or more. Once something is harvested, it's nutrients immediately start breaking down. Flash-freezing stalls this process. Watch for sales and use coupons and stock up! Frozen veggies are always on sale and a whole bag can often be purchased for a dollar or less!

Another thing to remember when grocery shopping: The more packaging, processing and marketing, the higher the price! Stick with simple ingredients - eggs, milk, produce, beans, rice, and herbs - and you'll not only spend less, you'll be eating healthier!

As far as exercise goes, who needs a gym membership to get moving? My friend Godelieve Babey, a personal trainer, shows people how to use playgrounds, parks, and even their own backyard to get a good workout. Really, all you need is a good pair of sneakers and your imagination. A jump rope, a few cans of soup, a flight of stairs... all can be used to create a great workout that gets your heart pumping, muscles stronger, and nerve cells firing to make a healthier you!

But truly, the most powerful instrument you can use to be healthy and stay healthy is free and everyone comes into this world fully equipped with one. It's your mind. Refuse to harbor unhealthy thoughts. We cannot control the world around us, but we can control the world within us. Be kind to yourself, refuse to pass judgment, accept yourself and others... Love yourself, and healthy actions will simply be the logical choice. Now go and get 'em, tiger!

How dare you put sugar in my gas tank!

Hello, Wellness Seekers! Today, I'm going to talk about your car. We all know that if you take good care of your car, it will last a bare minimum of 10 years. Sometimes even 20! (and if they made them like they used to, or you're hyper vigilant, it might even last you 40 or 50!) There's some things we need to stay on top of when it comes to caring for a car. To live a nice, long life, a car needs proper maintenance as well as hygiene. You need to wash it, and feed it the right gasoline and make sure the tires are properly inflated. You need to give it regular oil changes, and keep up with the belts, and filters. You need to wax it, vacuum it, and get it examined every couple years to be sure it's fit for the road. You need to drive it with care to avoid accidents and excess wear and tear. You need to keep it supplied with washer fluid, and oil, and antifreeze, and fresh tires. You need to replace the headlights and taillights, turn signals, spark plugs, and battery. And of course, there's the larger stuff that occasionally needs to be replaced like the alternator, the clutch... you know, all that car stuff that I'm not going to embarrass myself talking about. (I'm not a mechanic, and don't claim to be... I'll stick to the human body, and leave the car stuff to them.)

What we don't seem to recognize as a society is that the human body is the same way! If I put sugar in your gas tank, your car would not run, and you'd probably be pretty annoyed with me, and yet how often do we fuel our bodies with candy, cookies, ice cream, and soda. I hear people say it's different, but how different is it? We put so much energy into preserving our vehicles, which are relatively easily replaced and will work for us for a small portion of our lifetime, while we abuse our bodies relentlessly and refuse to give it the same attention. When our body wears out, there's no driving to the dealership for a trade in. We only get one nervous system. Shouldn't we take care of it? I see bodies ravaged with arthritis, and diabetes, and atherosclerosis, and cancer.... how sad to know that it could've been prevented if we had only dedicated a little time to regular maintenance. It's never too late to get your nervous system checked for interference!!! And for gosh sakes, please stop sugar in your gas tank... our body is so incredible, it can cope a lot better than your car, but it can't hold out forever...

I begin my blogging journey...

Welcome, to both of us! You, to my blog, and me, to the world of health blogging. I'm not new to the blog scene, but I realized recently that people are either clueless, apathetic, or hopeless about their health and what it means to be truly well, and as a Chiropractor, who lives, breathes, and was trained with a wellness philosophy, I felt it was my responsibility to get out there and educate. And this just happens to be one of the many ways I intend to do so.

I'd like to add a disclaimer at this point. I am, by no means whatsoever, "a picture of perfect health." I indulge my sweet tooth. I skip exercise to do other things. I even *gasp* eat such nutritionally terrifying foods like fried chicken and biscuits with gravy. I am not perfect, nor do I expect anyone else to be. But I strive for good health. I strive to be healthy the majority of the time, so that those days when I misbehave, it doesn't count quite so much in the long run. Some days, I do better than others. Some days, I let it all go, give myself a hug, and remind myself that I'm only human. And some days, I beat myself up with the best of them, before I remember, "Oh yeah. I'm not supposed to be perfect!" This blog is simply a place where I can share the latest in research, observations, and the wellness philosophy. I'll even throw in a recipe, cooking tip, or favorite exercise here and there. Topics you can look forward to are as follows (but don't even think I would limit my topics to these few!):

• Living healthy on a budget
• Affordable Organics
• Easy vegetable gardening for small or large spaces
• Why do parents feed their children things they wouldn't eat themselves?
• Exercise: Why bother when I don't have time?
• I'm going to the pediatrician for ANOTHER prescription????
• Vaccines
• ADD/ADHD
  
• Recently discovered causes of Asthma and Allergies
• Why put sugar in your gas tank when you wouldn't do that to your car?
  

And of course I'll throw some chiropractic success stories in there as well as general rants (be assured those will be both equally amusing AND disturbing).

I hope you enjoy our journey, and remember, true health is not simply the absence of disease, but a sense of vitality in which all our body's systems are working in harmony and the mind is at ease. It is a potential we are all born with, or we wouldn't be born at all. Unfortunately, through introducing toxins, depriving ourselves of nutrients, leaving our body to become one with the couch, and sabotaging it with toxic thinking, we give our health away. Time to earn it back! We are constantly traveling the distance between health and sickness... which direction are you going to choose?