Bon Appetit!

6.26

To maintain great wellness, I've consistently ascribed to an 80/20 or 90/10 approach to meal planning and eating. Once we find our nutritional groove , and know what foods brings us health and healing, we should lean into those foods for the majority of our calories. It's okay if 10-20% of our calories originate outside our wellness goals...

Thanksgiving is the biggest celebration of food that we have every year. A time of family and community and feasting. But not a time to completely set aside our wellness convictions and goals. With that said I wanted to pass along a fun and engaging food resource that highlights tremendous foods, and I think it can help anyone enjoy this season of celebration and gratitude.

The resource is the Bon Appetit  channel on YouTube. One of our kids turned us onto Bon Appetit last year, and it has become a fun 'cooking show' distraction for us to watch together. This Channel is a sister to the Bon Appetit magazine and web site of the same name, and gives the viewer a behind the scenes look at the world-class staff and editors that make it all possible.

Note well, Bon Appetit isn't about foods that are particularly healthy or healing, but they are certainly about quality, taste and community. And their recent YouTube post are all about Making Perfect Thanksgiving...from turkey to sides to desserts, they have Thanksgiving covered.

So be sure to celebrate gratitude, providence, community, family and more this Thanksgiving. Maybe mix in a new dish that respects your wellness goals, while at the same time taking advantage of the abundance available to us. Bon Appetit!

By the Way

If you are looking for great holiday recipes that DO respect your wellness goals, go over to Dr. Josh Axe's content, or Mark Sisson's (Mark's Daily Apple). Tons of valuable content from these two sites!

The Joy of Gathering

6.25

Fall is here, summer is over, and it's time to settle in for the Holiday season. Hard to believe...

As we work on our wellness lifestyle, and our health, and express concern for those around us, we have the opportunity to do life together, and grow and appreciate the days we're given. That's really what a wellness lifestyle is all about. Have we engaged in today, in a significant way? Have we sought healthy foods, healthy movement, and healthy relationships?

With the holidays come all kinds of opportunities to gather over food. As the decades go by, I think a lot of folks think that the food is the important part of getting together. So many memories are built on cooking, feasting, and celebrating over and with food... But I think the real celebration is in the gathering, not the food.

Think of the best celebrations you have enjoyed. The weddings, the graduations, the birthday parties; the anniversaries, the wonderful holiday celebrations at Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Years. All involved food, yes, but they also involved wonderful opportunities to connect and reconnect, time to celebrate others, and to celebrate milestones.

If we think that celebrations are more about the food, as we age and our relationship circles grow smaller, we may lean on food at the catalyst to rekindle the great memories of the past. But if it was actually about the gathering (not the food) we may have a frustrating journey of misplaced expectations and unfulfilling celebrations.

So make sure you're finding a great circle of friends, relations or family to do life with this holiday season. Find joy in gathering to enhance your wellness journey.

By the Way

New circles of friends can come from unlikely sources. Don't miss opportunities to connect with folks in areas related to work, or a local gym or fitness club, or maybe a place of worship. And be wary of online gatherings to fill this need - while technology can keep us aware of the world around us, it is a poor substitute for actually meeting with other people, face to face. Keep your gatherings real.