Category: Optimal Health

Eating healthy is vital and something I continue to try to work on in my personal life. I still love potato chips, candy bars, cakes, and many of the other options out there that are not the best for overall health. I will eat healthy one day and eat crap the next day. Consistency is key to thriving.

I would like to give you some examples of full healthy meals in an effort for us all to maintain a healthy life. Without good health, there is nothing. So, this week I share with you an example of one of my dinners complete with picture.

1. Arugula: Arugula is a low-calorie, nutrient dense food that is just packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It has high levels of folic acid, vitamins C, K, and E, carotenoids and minerals such as potassium, manganese, iron, and calcium. As if that is not enough, another great benefit is its content of phytochemicals that have been shown to assist in preventing cancer. I say go have some arugula.
2. Grilled Chicken Breast: Every dinner plate must have a protein source. A grilled chicken breast is a good source of lean protein. You can think of protein as the building blocks for bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, blood, enzymes, hormones, and vitamins. In other words, it is essential. If you are vegetarian, there are plenty of whole food based proteins such as beans, nuts, and berries. The important thing is that you are getting the proper amount daily. 
3. Avocado: There are 20 vitamins and minerals in one serving of avocado. Wow. Avocados also contain monounsaturated fat, which is the good fat that helps lower the bad fat. Last but not least, avocados are very high in fiber that helps to stabilize blood sugar and maintain a regular bowel pattern.
4. Tomatoes:The fiber, vitamin C, potassium, and choline in tomatoes support good heart health among their many benefits. The body also relies on vitamin C to produce collagen. One of the well-known benefits of collagen is its ability to make your skin vibrant by maintaining its elasticity. So eat more tomatoes and possibly skip a Botox session. More importantly, the collagen also lines our gut and aids in good gut health. Good gut health is the key to overall health.

Now that’s a healthy dinner plate. Drizzle a little vinaigrette dressing over the top and enjoy.

I would love to hear some of your healthy meal options. I will also be sharing more easy to prepare meals in the coming weeks that are healthy and nutrient dense. I look forward to your feedback.

 

Until next week,

Be Healthy

The recent Supreme Court decision related to the baker refusing to bake a cake for the gay couple has me thinking. According to the constitution, what exactly is one’s right? Do we all have equal rights or not?

There seems to be an overwhelming need to be right in society today. Is that need to be right really an attempt to control things?

Suppose you came into the Emergency Room where I was working and you needed CPR or life support to save your life but it was against my religion to use artificial means to save anyone’s life? So I would refuse and let you lie there and die? Of course not. It is my right to continue to believe the way I believe about artificial life support but it is also the right of the patient to have artificial life support.

Suppose you go to the store and the Catholic behind the register refuses to sell you birth control because it is against her religion. The Muslim behind the register refuses to sell you that Easter Ham because it is against their religion to eat pork. The Mormon behind the register refuses to sell you Coke because it goes against their religious belief. The Jehovah’s Witness refuses to sell you that birthday card that you need badly for a birthday party tonight because Jehovah’s Witness believe it is wrong to celebrate holidays or birthdays.

No one wants to be forced to do anything that is beyond their religious belief but where to we draw the line.

I’m not asking the Muslim to eat the ham. I am only asking him to ring me up at the register. The gay couple was not asking the baker to attend the wedding and celebrate with them. They were only asking him to sell them a cake. I am not asking the Jehovah’s Witness to celebrate or attend the birthday party with me. I am only asking her to sell me the birthday card.

Is this where we are headed? Anyone can refuse you any service based solely on the fact that they do not believe the way you do?

It is time we all look past our nose and stop all the judgment. It is not anyone’s place to refuse service to another based on what you believe is right or wrong. That is called judgment. You are judging another by refusing service. You are saying they are wrong. You are essentially taking away their rights so you can practice your rights.

So you believe in the Bible. Does that give you the right to refuse service and kindness to someone who doesn’t? Remember Jesus sat down and had dinner with the scribes and Pharisees. They were considered the chiefs of sinners but he didn’t deny them their right to dinner just because they didn’t believe the way he did. He instead showed them love, kindness, and respect.

We all deserve equal rights but what happens when you use your rights to deny me my rights? It all comes down to respecting and loving all regardless of religious belief, sexual orientation, or any other belief.

All the different religions in the world are man-made and often used to divide us. Many wars are the result of religion. Many court battles are the result of differences in religious belief. Fighting in the name of God. Something about that just doesn’t seem right to me.

I have come to realize that I am only responsible for me. I love a quote from the bible that says, “Let EVERY man work out his OWN soul salvation.” It did not say for you or I to work out another’s belief.

Lets all work together to ensure that EVERYONE has THE RIGHT. If the baker doesn’t want to bake the cake, fine. That is his right. Move on to a baker who would love to bake the cake. Why the court battle and drama? If a gay couple wants to express their love through marriage, fine. That is their right. Why all the discussion, arguing, and discrimination? Why is it you can vote on how I live my life but I have no say so in how you live yours?

Allow each individual to live the life they love.  It is their right.  

What are your thoughts on this matter? I would love your feedback.

As always, thank you all for your love and support.

Until next week, live in peace and allow others to do the same.

Vince

 

 

 

Am I who I say I am? Do my actions line up with my words? Do I always fully embody what I write about?

As a writer, I felt it necessary to ponder this question for myself. This pondering lead to a deeper reflection of the question, Am I who I say I am?

I say I am Love. Do my actions reflect love towards ALL beings?

I say I am Peace. Am I peaceful? Do I promote peace at work, home, in my family, and in my everyday life?

I say I am inclusive. Do I really see EVERYONE as equal?

I say I am kind. Do I practice kindness with EVERYONE I see?

I say I believe. Do I let go of the fear and just trust?

I say I want a monogamous relationship. Am I willing to commit to one?

I say I am happy and fulfilled but am I really?

In my writing I have more recently began to share more personal things about my life including my sexual orientation. All in an effort to be who I say I am.  But it goes much deeper than that as evidenced by the questions to myself in the previous paragraph. I want to be a doer of my word. I want to practice what I preach. But do I?

This one thing I do know. My actions never line up with my words 100% of the time. Does anyone’s?

Perhaps the best I can do is to be more mindful of what I say, in an effort to do and be just that. I have the right intentions but there are challenges along the way that I allow to veer me away from those intentions. Then I become someone different from who I say I am.

When I write, I am actually writing to myself realizing that the things I write about are things I need more work on. They are things I need to be more conscious of. I am a work in progress and would never pretend to be anything else.

The mission of what I say through my writing is: To Create Change and Stimulate Self-Healing.Key word here is self. I have been incredibly blessed that it has also created change and stimulated self-healing in many of you as evidenced by your feedback. For that I am deeply grateful.

Writing actually increases my awareness of what I say. I will continue to try to be what I say. It is my desire to be the same person at home, at church, at work, around family, friends, and in my everyday life. I recognize that to be anything else is a bit hypocritical.

Are you who you say you are? It is not so much about the words as the action. We’ve all heard the saying, “Actions speak louder than words.”

I will leave you with a Japanese quote.

Many people have 3 faces. The first face you show the world. The second face you show your close friends and family. The third face you never show anyone. It is the truest reflection of who you are.

Until next week,

Be Good, Do Good. If we “Do good” we become our actions.