The China Project offered a rare opportunity to study disease in a precise manner because of the unique conditions that exist[ed at the time of the study] in rural China. Approximately 90% of the people in rural China live their entire lives in the vicinity of their birth. Because of deeply held local traditions and the absence of viable food distribution, people consume diets composed primarily of locally produced foods. In addition, there are dramatic differences in the prevalence of disease from region to region. Various cardiovascular disease rates vary by a factor of about 20-fold from one place to another, while certain cancer rates may vary by several hundredfold.

Buy The China Study on Amazon.

Ingredients
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 Leeks (thinly sliced)
1 lb. Carrots (peeled and thinly sliced)
1 Medium-sized potato (peeled and coarsely diced)
1 1/2 tsp. Peeled and minced/grated fresh ginger
5 Cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 Cup fresh orange juice
2 Tsp. grated orange zest
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
Thin orange slices for garnish (optional)

Serves 4 to 6

Directions
In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the leeks and sauté until just slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the carrots, potato and ginger and sauté until the vegetables are just softened, about 5 minutes more. Add the stock, cover partially and simmer until the vegetables are completely softened, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat. In a blender or food processor, puree the soup in batches, leaving some texture, and return the soup to the pan. Set the pan over medium heat and stir in the orange juice and zest. Season with salt and white pepper. 
Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and garnish each serving with an orange slice and a sprig of mint.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Soup, by Diane Rossen Worthington.

The relationship between physical environment and wellbeing is sometimes overlooked, yet having a calming safe haven from the demands of the world is often the key to recharging one’s batteries. 

When you return from a long day what awaits you? Do you face clutter, conflict and many more things to be done in the way of housework? If so it may be time to invest some time and thought into creating a place that will allow you to relax, be yourself and practice self-care. 

Check out this great Freshome.com article, How to Make Your Home Feel More Relaxing, for insight on where to start and specific room-by-room suggestions to optimize your home environment.

RESOLUTIONS: WHAT IS THE GOAL?
Do you have a new year's resolution, or several? 

If you do have more than one and they are large in scope, such as losing weight or getting a new job, the best approach is to be realistic in your change goals and to accept that change is a slow, but very rewarding, process. 

If you want to change many things about your life, it may help to reflect on the change you believe to be the most material to your happiness or sense of fulfillment. What really is the most important thing to you right now, January 2016? 

Is it career satisfaction? Finding more balance? Adopting a healthier, more sustainable, lifestyle? Making more time for family and close friends? Learning to take care of yourself, along with everyone else that depends on you?

WHAT IS THE PLAN?
The key to the plan is WHAT IS REALISTIC BASED ON MY LIFE?

Focus on the your one key goal and accept, for now, the others things about your life you would like to change. 

Now compose a REALISTIC plan based on the amount of time and energy you have given your weekly schedule to begin and sustain gradual, slow, evolutionary change. 

SLOW AND STEADY STAYS THE COURSE
Behavioral change is not often accomplished in a linear fashion. Maintain your patience as your change slowly, with the support of others. Often change occurs in a recycling pattern, so staying confident and committed during a perceived set back is very important. 

Often successful lasting change will come from this: one step forward, two back, four forward, two back, etc., course correct, and keep going. But slowly change takes hold and requires less and less effort. 

Learn more about change theory by scheduling a free coaching session.

Work with a wellness coach to get a new perspective this year.

Can't think of what to get someone on your shopping list?

What about planning something to do together in the coming months, such as brunch, a movie or a concert?

Collect moments, not things, this year.

Ingredients
6 oz. Ginger Beer
1.5 oz. Vodka
0.5 oz. Cranberry Juice (or other juice)
0.5 oz. Lime Juice, freshly squeezed
Frozen Cranberries to Garnish

Directions
Combine the juices and vodka, and pour over ice. Top with ginger beer and three frozen cranberries per drink. 

Cheers!

"The health care establishment is structured to profit from chemical and surgical intervention. Diet still takes the back seat to drugs and surgery.

One criticism that is constantly leveled at the dietary argument is that patients will not make such fundamental changes. This criticism is not only wrong and insulting to patients; it is also self-fulfilling. If doctors do not believe that patients will change their diets, they will neglect to talk about diet, or will do it in an off-handed, disparaging way.” 

Except from T. Colin Campbell's, The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health.

Ingredients
2 Cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 Cup unsweetened coconut milk
3 Cups canned pumpkin
1 Cup sliced onions, sautéed
3 Garlic cloves, roasted
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon adobo sauce (plus reserve more to add to taste per serving)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Place all ingredients into a Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid
2. Select Variable 1
3. Turn machine on and slowly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High
4. Blend for 6-7 minutes or until heavy steam escapes from vented lid
5. Serve immediately or refrigerate overnight
6. Serve with the adobo sauce on the side, added to taste
7. Optional: Reheat and serve in a slow cooker 

Note: The adobo sauce does have heat so add slowly to taste. The soup is also wonderful without the adobo sauce for those that don't like spicy foods. 

The T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies (CNS) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Ithaca, NY, home of Cornell University. 

Started in 2007 by T. Colin Campbell, PhD, and Megan Murphy, the Center grew out of T. Colin Campbell’s life work in nutritional research and the recognition of The China Study, the 2005 book co-authored with his son Thomas Campbell, MD. 

In 2009 CNS, in collaboration with eCornell, began offering the Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition. The certificate program has become a nationally-recognized nutrition education program, enrolling thousands of students who have gone on to use their knowledge in a variety of endeavors. 

In addition to the general public, CNS has helped educate a growing number of health professionals through its continuing education credit programs.

Learn about working with a wellness coach that is an alumni of this program.

According to the New York Times, surprisingly few, it seems. According to a new review of studies related to running and health, jogging for as few as five or six miles per week could substantially improve someone’s health.

The reviewers found that even with such skimpy mileage, runners generally weighed less and had a lower risk of obesity than people who jogged fewer than five miles per week or (more commonly) not at all. These runners also were less likely to experience high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, diabetes, strokes, certain cancers and arthritis than the barely- or nonrunners.

“It seems like the maximum benefits of running occur at quite low doses,” said Dr. Carl J. Lavie, medical director of cardiac rehabilitation and prevention at the Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans and lead author of the review, which was published in September in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

As little as “one to two runs per week, or three to six miles per week, and well less than an hour per week” can be quite beneficial, he said. Read more.

Visit Heidi Swanson's stellar cooking blog, 101 cookbooks, for this Ginger Soba Noodles recipe. 

Ingredients 
12 oz / 340 g Dried soba noodles

Ginger Dressing:
1 Tablespoon freshly grated fresh ginger
1 Teaspoon toasted sesame oil
zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 cup / 2.5 oz / 70 g Chopped white onion
1 Teaspoon mirin (optional)
2 Teaspoons brown sugar or honey
1/2 Teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
3 Tablespoons brown rice vinegar
1 Celery stalk, strings removed, then chopped
1/3 Cup / 80 sunflower oil or untoasted sesame oil

3 Tablespoons of chopped tarragon, plus more to taste

A few big handfuls of cubed tofu, pan-fried or baked until golden

1/3 Cup + toasted squash seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, or sesame seeds

Read the directions on 101cookbooks.com.

Its September tomorrow! 

For most of us, this means a return to crazy schedules and greater demands on our time for the rest of the year.

Fall can sometimes also feel like resolution or new habit time, with that back-to-school vibe that we all remember. This makes it a great time to set a goal or lay the foundation for a new wellness routine. 

The best way to push and stretch yourself into a more productive, happier and/or healthier you is to do so with some self-love and humor. 

We won't change if we expect perfection or are too hard on ourselves. We will have setbacks on a new path; that is distinctly part of the change process. But with a few depreciating laughs and the endurance that self-love fuels, you will perserve in the long run. And as with all lifestyle changes, time and realistic incremental steps will help you get where you want, and stay there permanently. 

So cheers to being as amazing as Queen Bey this Fall, by knowing that it doesn't mean we ever have to be #flawless.

1. The quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort. 

2. An approach to healthcare that emphasizes preventing illness and prolonging life, as opposed to emphasizing treating diseases.

The Definition of Wellness on Dictonary.com.

Discover three tips to add an inch to your arm in eight weeks from Men's Fitness. 

Schedule a free coaching session to tackle a new fitness goal this month. 

GENTLE YOGA APR 24 PLAYLIST

"Try recognizing the ways in which you meet obstacles with harshness. Experiment with being soft when your impulse is to be hard, generous when your impulse is to be withholding, open when your impulse is to close up, or shut down emotionally.

When there is grief or sadness, try letting it be here. Allow yourself to feel whatever you are feeling. Notice any labels you attach to crying or feeling vulnerable. Let go of the labels.

Just feel what you are feeling, all the while cultivating moment-to-moment awareness, riding the waves of "up" and "down," "good" and "bad," "weak" and "strong," until you see that they are all inadequate to fully describe your experience.

​Be with the experience itself. Trust in your deepest strength of all: to be present, to be wakeful."

From Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn




​

This morning's Gentle Yoga at Fountain of You fitness center focused on the theme of being present. 

Listen to the Gentle Yoga Apr 10 Playlist. 

BEING PRESENT READINGS

“Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry – all forms of fear – are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.”
- Eckhart Tolle

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
- Buddha

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land, there is no other life but this.”
- Henry David Thoreau

According to the Pew Research Center, Americans are spending an increasing amount of time on the internet—and 21 percent of us now report being online pretty much all the time.

The Pew Research Center says this is the first time that the response “almost constantly” was included when asking American adults about their Internet habits. This means there’s no way to know how this particular group has grown over time, but it’s clear this is now a “demographic” worth tracking. Thanks to the rise of smartphones and other mobile devices, it’s never been easier—or more tempting—to stay online. Read the full article on Gizmodo.

A great way to improve your diet slowly and gradually, without depravation, is to deploy the method of “crowding out.” 

Instead of going on a restrictive “diet,” crowding out entails slowly increasing your consumption of nutrient dense fuel foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, to gradually reduce the ratio of processed foods and/or the amount of animal products you eat. 

For many this strategy is a way to optimize your diet for health, without the overwhelming all or nothing approach. 

According to theWall Street Journal, chefs are taking note and reorienting restaurant offerings to appeal to this trend. 

The article explains, “Several trends have converged in a perfect culinary storm. Awakened by the national obesity crisis, many Americans want to eat more healthfully—though perhaps not enough to leave the table hungry. The Harvard School of Public Health recommends eating red meat no more than twice a week. But chefs know that dividing the portions across many meals is a smarter strategy. Studies show that having even a little meat on the plate makes for more satisfied diners. Increasingly, chefs like Jody Adams in Boston, Michael Solomonov in Philadelphia and Alain Ducasse in Paris are finding delicious ways to strike a balance between health and hedonism.” 

Read the full article: Meat on the Side: Modern Menus Shift the Focus to Vegetables.