12 Terrific Health and Wellness Books

Hi everybody!

I am constantly reading books! Since I became very interested in my health and well-being, I have been devouring all of the knowledge I can to educated myself. Here are a few of my favorites! I am sure there will be another post like this to come, as I will probably forget a few! If you have some free time, pick one up, and learn how to be an even better you!

1. Blue Zones by, Dan Buettner. I wrote an entire post on this book in December. Blue Zones tells of the regions in the world in which people live the longest, most quality lives. It discovers the reasons for this great level of longevity and develops a plan in which we can implement these practices into our daily lives!

        

2. Thrive by, Dan Buettner- Thrive does the same as Blue Zones, but examines the happiest people in the world, and what about their lifestyles makes them so happy. It is very interesting in that it contradicts many of America's social norms. However, the research doesn't lie! This book will definitely make you think. 

     

3. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by, Deepak Chopra . You know this is one of my favorites. We have one law left in our review of this book! A great resource in learning how to reach your fullest potential and manifest your dreams. 

  

4. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga by Deepak Chopra and David Simon- I am reading this book right now and absolutely love it. It teaches many of the basic principles of yoga philosophy. It then applies the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success to your yoga practice. In addition, it explains the many health benefits of yoga and why it should definitely be included somehow in your wellness routine! 

    

5. Slim, Calm, Sexy Yoga by Tara Stiles- This book tells of how yoga can truly benefit our minds and bodies. It focuses on how yoga can eliminate stress in our lives, which is directly related to weight gain and disease. Yoga keeps you fit, while keeping your mind calm and centered, cultivating a sense of ease which overflows into every aspect of your life.

   

6. Thrive: The Vegan Nutritional Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life by, Brendan Brazier- I've talked about Brendan Brazier before. He is an unbelievable resource for plant-based nutrition. This book focuses on the science behind how different foods fuel our bodies. It busts any myths that vegan's are weak and malnourished. A professional triathlete, Brendan shares how a plant-based diet provides our bodies with pure and efficient fuel to live life to its fullest. 

     

7. Thrive Foods by, Brendan Brazier- Thrive Foods is Brendan's most recent book. It again offers tons of scientific nutritional and environmental information. The main purpose of the book is to provide wonderful cookbook of nutritious, performance enhancing, plant based recipes. 

         

8. The Starch Solution by,  John and Mary McDougall- This is another wonderful book on plant-based nutrition. It provides detailed scientific research and testimonials on the medical benefits of a plant-based diet and tips on how to eat towards better health. Dr. McDougall is very much connected to the group of medical professionals behind the film Forks Over Knives. 

  

9. The Happy Herbivore Cookbook- Happy Herbivore is my absolute favorite plant-based cookbook series. The recipes are easy and delicious. They are all low fat and use no added oils. Also, nutritional information is included for each recipe! Check out Everyday Happy Herbivore, Happy Herbivore Abroad , and her website too! 

10. The complete idiot's guide to Plant-based Nutrition by, Julieanna Hever- This one is pretty self- explanatory. The book provides a complete nutritional overview of a plant-based diet. It busts all of the protein and calcium myths, provides guidelines on how to cover all of your nutritional bases, and has special sections dedicated to exercise, pregnancy, and children! Great resource to have on hand. 

11. The Alchemist by, Paulo Coelho- I also wrote an early post on this book. It is a simply beautiful allegorical tale about following your dreams. It will shake any beliefs that you are not in control of your own destiny. Wonderful, wonderful book. 

  

12. Eat This, Not That Series- I wrote a post about these books in december, but never published it. Eat this, Not That educates readers about the nutritional information of chain restaurants and processed foods in America. Overall, I really advocate for a Whole Food, Plant Based diet which avoids most of these things. However, I did read these books before I became a vegan, and they were a great stepping stone in my wellness journey. The books reveal many of the nutritional downfalls of foods that so many Americans eat every day. If you do regularly go to chain restaurants and buy processed foods, this series will help you make the best choices. I hope it will open many people's eyes to what this kind of "food" really is. So, take a look, but strive towards natural, whole ingredients! 

         

Whewf! That was a lot. Whenever I feel that I need a little extra push in my wellness motivation, I will pick one of these books up again to get back on track. I hope you read a few and find your own inspiration! 

Be Well. 

Love, Julie

You knew this post was coming...time for resolutions!

Hi everyone! Ok, now that the holiday season has basically come to an end, all the craziness is over and I’m back! For real this time. I had an absolutely amazing New Year’s with some of my absolute best friends in Burlington, VT. Yes, they dragged this beach bum even more north than I needed to be. Despite the cold, it was a wonderful few days of fun, relaxation, and girl talk with some of the best people I know. Today, I am home, feeling rejuvenated and ready to take the world by storm this year! 2012 was such a huge personal growth year for me. Although I know there is a long way to go, I feel that I have come so far, and am ready to put all of the lessons I have learned into action for an awesome life. Yay!

Also, I just started Chalene Johnson’s 30 Day Push challenge http://www.30daypush.com/ . You all know she is one of my complete favorites. This challenge is all about priorities and achieving your goals. Just take about ten minutes a day to log in, watch her video, and do the small brainstorming activity. Today was Day 2, but you can catch up! It’s also perfect for the New Year and will help you hone in on those goals and resolutions.

So, resolutions! I must say, I do not usually make them. I usually just go with the flow and do my best. However, after this year full of revelations about how to realize your dreams and goals, I recognized how important it is to write them down somewhere, and to focus on how you can achieve success!

Here are a few of mine =) By sharing them with you, I hope it will hold me more accountable.

1. Make myself my number one priority. – Continue to focus on my own health, emotional well-being, confidence, purpose etc. To not let other people dictate my happiness or self-confidence, to become more present in my everyday life, to put an end to self-criticism, to not accept less than I deserve. Without taking care of myself first, I cannot be a positive force in other people’s lives. As Osho says, we need to love ourselves before we can love another.

2. Be a better friend everyday- Continue to work on truly listening to my friends, and being there whenever they need me. Enjoying and being present in all social situations.

3. Cultivate ease in my life- (Inspired by Tara Stiles) Breathing deeply, choosing not to be stressed, being present, ending the constant “I need to do this” in my head

4. Establish a daily meditation practice- The challenge starts today! We will see how I do in this. Yet everything I read says, in order to unleash your fullest potential, you need to connect with your deepest self first.

5. Continue AND improve this blog- I’ll admit, I am not a natural journal-er, or writer. I always give up on my projects, or lose motivation. Starting this was a huge step outside of my comfort zone, and a huge challenge. I hope to learn more about the blogosphere, and grow my audience! (If you have any tips, please share).

6. Get my personal training certification.- I think this is the next step in my professional wellness journey. It is something I can afford to do right now, and pursue as I further my career and work towards my ultimate goal of health coaching etc! I plan on buying the book this week. I know it will not be easy, but I’m determined to make it. That way, I can share more physical fitness tips with you!

7. Become an awesome chef! – I’m more of a natural baker than chef. Yet, I have been gradually tackling this resolution recipe by recipe. I want to be able to whip out killer healthy meals for my loved ones.

8.  Live life to the fullest- Cliché, yes, but necessary. I have noticed, at times I choose to veg instead of going on adventures. No more! I have been steadily making improvements on this for a while, but writing it down helps=) Here is to fun, friends, and seeing all this beautiful world has to offer. Yay!

These are my resolutions in a nut shell! Have you made yours? Let’s make 2013 the best year yet, by taking care of ourselves, becoming the best versions of ourselves, not being weighed down by negative energy, excess weight, or toxins in our body, loving who we are, and having tons of fun! We can do it. I know we can.

Be Well.

Love, Julie

Lessons from Zumba

            I’ve always been one who wants to get all of the certifications/expertise I can about areas that spark my interest. The first (and least expensive) thing I was able to do is become a certified Zumba instructor! I was the first Zumba instructor at Wake Forest, and then became a core member of the UM group exercise team when I transferred. My Zumba career lasted about two years before I decided to step away from teaching, and taught me many lessons along the way.

1. When it comes to working out, you get out of it what you put into it.-

 Zumba is a trademarked class that provides a lot of standard choreography etc. However, it is also a genre of group fitness that gives teachers a ton of freedom. Instructors are able to choose their songs, sequences, and intensity. What we learned in our certification is that the company likes 60-70% of the class to be pure Zumba material, and the rest is up to you! What results from this is that one’s experience in class depends very much on the instructor.

Well, I became known as the super energetic, bouncy, crazy teacher (luckily, in a good way). I would often hear from students about how with other instructors, they would take an hour class and then be able to do another cardio kickboxing or something. They quickly learned that that would not work with me. My philosophy was (and is), that if you dedicate an hour to doing something, you should make the most of that time and reap its full rewards, not have to do a whole extra hour to get what you want. There is no way you should be able to do two crazy cardio classes back to back. Something is wrong. You are not working hard enough. So, my classes became high energy and high in intensity. We would sweat, a lot, while often times looking completely ridiculous doing crazy Zumba moves. Not everyone always made it all the way through. But at least they knew their body was working hard! I would always tell my students, give it your absolute 100%. If you need a water break, that’s ok. If you need to just mark the moves, that’s ok too. But don’t walk out feeling like you have energy to spare. If you put in a moderate amount of effort, you’ll get moderate rewards. Give it all you got, and you’ll walk out stronger, tougher, and with a wonderful sense of pride and accomplishment.

2. Smiles and Positivity go a long way.

                My favorite part of being an instructor was being a positive motivating force, inspiring others to enjoy taking care of themselves. This involved tons of smiling and words of encouragement, even in the midst of serious (and at times painful) cardio. I loved getting to know my regulars and hearing about how they loved the energy of the class. One of the greatest compliments I ever received was hearing I had been the inspiration for one of my students to get her teaching certification as well. As I continue on with my life, I carry with me these lessons on how to be a good role model and example for something I’m passionate about. In whatever you do, always smile and shed love on those you are hoping to inspire. Lead by example and make them want to share your secrets! No one wants to know more about people who seem too high on their horse or judgmental!

3. Sometimes you need to let things go * I think this is the most important* .

               I taught during the school year, sometimes once a week, sometimes twice, depending on the semester. With school work, and an increasingly busy college schedule, things began to become stressful. Teaching was like taking on another full class. It required many hours of outside work, putting together choreography …memorizing routines etc. Zumba began to be more of a source of stress than enjoyment. Things worsened when I began to struggle with anemia. My body would go in and out of periods of fatigue, which simply did not work when I had a pre-set time that I had to perform at 100% each week. Sometimes I wouldn’t feel great, resulting in days where I had to seriously push through class ( a little scary). My heart gradually started not to be in it anymore. The anxiety overshadowed the previous joy.

                

              I’ve never been a quitter. As a child I was always taught to stick to my commitments, and finish what I started. However, one day, when things were not going so well, I heard a remark by Chalene Johnson. She spoke about cutting out everything that caused anxiety in your life . She indicated how things like this are detrimental to our well-being, and if they're optional, should be put aside. What is the point of wasting our energy on things that do not make us happy? This seriously spoke to me. Although I had enjoyed teaching in the past, and had such fun being a motivator to others, things had changed. It was time to let Zumba go. I stopped teaching, and was able to focus on me and my own needs. Yes, I lost that income; but I gained back my sanity. Ever since, I have learned to filter my commitments, making sure not to over-exert myself to the point of a mild mental break down. I now only engage in things that I can put my full effort into, and that bring me joy. Take a look at your life. Are you compromising your inner-calm for anything? Is it worth it?

               

             Be Well.              

                 
                 Love, Julie

A little food for thought

                It’s been a crazy few days. In the past 36 hours I finished up my semester and flew all the way up the east coast to my beautiful home for the holidays. Living in Florida the past two years has made me pretty intolerant to the cold. But, I must say, when it comes to the holiday season, the chill in the air, warm fires, and promise of snow beat out the palm trees, hands down. Anyway, I figured I’d share just a little love tonight, as I relax after all the rushing around. In the next few days I will start delving into some good stuff once I’m all settled!

I found this little picture on Pinterest. In case you don’t get the gist, it is a tumblr, kind-of picture series on “Reasons to be fit”. The message is so simple, but something I feel so many of us forget. 

We were given one body and one mind when we came into this earth. They’re the only ones we’ve got, and our most important possessions. Every day, each decision we make pertaining to our thoughts and overall well-being affects this mind and body. I think sometimes people take that for granted, thinking we are invincible, and the important organs etc will always work, no matter what. But think about it. Are you treating yourself like a temple or a trashcan?

As our most important “possessions”, our minds and bodies should be treated like temples. They are the essence of who we are. Shouldn’t we treat them with the utmost care and respect? Once they are damaged and destroyed, so are we.

By not engaging in regular physical activity, one allows their body to become weak, frail, and vulnerable to injury and disease. They also deprive their minds of the mood boosting endorphins that come from exercise. Eating processed foods high in fat, refined sugars, and engineered ingredients floods our body with chemicals, toxins, and junk that we are not meant to handle. This extra “stuff” our vital organ systems don’t use gets in the way, clogging our arteries, taking our energy levels on a crazy roller coaster ride, and accumulating in excess fat which obviously causes its own slew of health issues (obesity, heart attack, diabetes). Anger, fear, and negative thoughts also qualify as trash that far too often is put into our bodies. Why would we cloud our minds and bring down our moods with these things when we have the choice to focus on the good?

By investing in our own well -being, we are caring for these temples. By exercising, we make sure our muscles, joints, heart, and bones work to the best of their ability and do not become stiff or weak. We can live our lives fully and not miss out on fun experiences. By eating whole foods we are giving each cell in our body the nutrients and fuel it needs to function properly, providing us with the utmost energy and health. By working to keep calm and positive minds, we fill our temples with beauty, peace, and love, allowing us to live happier, more abundant lives.

                 

            Caring about your health isn’t always the easiest or most convenient path. But for your one mind, and one body, I think it’s worth it.

                Be Well. 

                Love, Julie