My husband and I have been watching the series, “Mad Men”. Thank goodness for Netflix! I have a fascination for this time in our history. Some of the people I admire the most in life were young adults during that time, and I loved listening to their stories. I would ask my Grandfather tons of questions about what it was like during civil rights, or during the wars, or what it was like in NY. My Grandmother was a Columbia student, involved with protests in the 60′s, she was drenched in fighting for the rights of others, and I could never stop listening.
I know Mad Men is not an exact interpretation of that time period, but non

Plant-Strong Marathoning!

If you were reading our blog posts back in September, you might remember that we wrote about being plant-strong athletes, and specifically covered Tara and Craig’s triathlon race.  Last week, they took on their next athletic endeavor: the marathon!
For the past four months, Tara and Craig had been training for their first marathon.  As you may have read in our recent morning workout post, we prefer to exercise with, or before, the sunrise.  Tara and Craig were up at 6am every day doing hill workouts, mile repeats, fartleks, distance runs, and pool workouts.  Sunday, May 5, (right smack dab in the middle of finals week), was the day they had been eagerly anticipating all

 
This week Jeff continues his series all about getting healthy this summer! Each week he will have advice, tips and insights into helping you get to your ideal weight! As always, leave a comment to win one of Jeff’s great DVD’s! This week tell us if you have applied the principles of calorie density in your life, if so what were the results?
A Common Sense Approach To Sound Nutrition ©Jeff Novick, MS, RD
Calorie density, is the simplest easiest approach to healthy eating. It is easy to understand and follow and I have outlined the principles here. It is the most common sense approach to sound nutrition.  In addition, by  following the principles of calorie density, you will

I am writing this blog at 40,000 feet – on my way to Salt Lake City for the Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions with the Kansas City Golden Gloves Team. Cam F. Awesome is the team captain. He is competing for his tenth national title. He’s been busy at the USA Olympic Training Center getting ready for international competition that starts as soon as the tournament in Utah is over. As Cam heads off to an exotic locale for sparring and tournaments, we will be heading to a new locale as well. At the end of May we are relocating to Saint Louis, Missouri! I am excited for the opportunity to explore a new city

Early Feb 2013 I had just seen my doctor after a terrible health year in 2012 with 7 lung infections that sent my asthma off the charts and put me on steroids much of the year along with back to back antibiotics causing the fluora in my gut to be completely out of whack so everything I tried to eat came out FAST and OFTEN to the point I started avoiding eating at all which had its own health problems in slowing down metabolism and so much more. I went on probiotics to help myself in some way get control of my health but after my appt. in early Feb 2013, I came home in

This week Jeff is starting a series all about getting healthy this summer! Each week he will have advice, tips and insights into helping you get to your ideal weight! As always, leave a comment to win one of Jeff’s great DVD’s! This week tell us how you like to stay active!

How To Jump-Start Your Metabolism © Jeff Novick, MS, RD

Have you been told your metabolism is slow?  Have you  heard of different “tricks” for jump-starting your metabolism?  Do they really work?  Are they even true?
There really is no such thing as a “slow metabolism” the way most people refer to it with regard to weight. While there are some medical conditions (such as thyroid) that

Thanks so much for all of the lovely birthday wishes – you all really made my day! We spent the weekend out of town, celebrating my birthday.  It wasn’t really a weekend for relaxing – we did a lot of sightseeing and driving.  By the time we got in last night, we were pretty exhausted.  Just thinking about the alarm going off at 5am was enough to get out the crock pot to make a batch of overnight oats.  I do this often and they turn out great.  My crock pot has a timer – I set it for 5 hours on low – and then it switches to warm for 3 hours. Just add

Today we are giving away a ONE YEAR membership to Engine 2 Extra! One year of support, coaching, Ebooks, 28 day challenges, live chat, interviews with the top names in plant-strong education and more. Be sure to read this post, and find out at the end how to enter!
If you are on Engine 2 Extra, you have probably had the chance to talk to one of the three coaches. We’re like the three musketeers. All of us have had tremendous success living our plant-strong lives, and we are still very much on the journey. In order to be plant-strong for the long haul (like the three of us) we have learned one thing, you’ve got to

No, not vegetable stock.
My birthday is this week. I always take a bit of time to take stock of the previous year, how was it? Did I accomplish my goals? Did I enjoy the past year? What would I change? How can I improve? I do this more and more, the older I get. Sometimes on New Years Eve, sometimes as the seasons roll.  I am nostalgic and tend to be a bit romantic about ‘firsts’ and bucket list items. Yes I have bucket list!
Taking a hard honest look at our health, our fitness and our well-being can be tough sometimes.  Often, we know things need to change, but don’t really know how to get