For The Chocohalics

So I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I love chocolate.
In fact, milk chocolate has forever been a favorite of mine. I could not stand dark chocolate. Where was the sweetness? Where was the satisfying chew of the high-sugar content? Where did all this dark cocao come from?

The thing about dark chocolate, is it also has a low usage of dairy.
Despite what our schools tell us, and the famous Got Milk? ads, many people are lactose-intolerent for a reason. Dairy is not good for us. Not only does it make us bloat, but give us a high risk of fractures, high in calories, but dairy consumption will put you at dangerous risk of lethal prostate cancer. Sure, it's high in potassium, which is good for our bones. But to be honest, why risk it, when you can just eat straight-up potassium?
Besides, unless milk is organic, you're just feeding your body hormones. That blocks out what milk is supposed to be good for your body.

Here's an excerpt about milk from an article of its pros and cons, from http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthy-kitchen-11/dairy-truths?page=1:

"Not everyone thinks that was a good idea. Indeed, experts at the Harvard School of Public Health have labeled the milk recommendations a “step in the wrong direction.”  One the most prominent critics is Walter Willett, MD, PhD, professor of epidemiology and head of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health.

“One of the main arguments for USDA recommendations is that drinking milk or equivalent dairy products will reduce the risk of fractures. But in fact there’s very little evidence that milk consumption is associated with reduced fractures,” Willett tells WebMD."

Okay, so you're now wondering what you can have instead of dairy. Like I said about the straight-up potassium, what you are trying to get from milk, just get the solid version. Vitamins are key; multi-vitamins are helpful, too. Try searching for your Community Food Co-Op and ask the vitamin-consultant in charge about what's the best vitamins for you and your body.

So what if you can't, or don't want to, get rid of your chocolate eating habits?

I found that ever since I haven't been eating any sugar, when I discovered a dark chocolate that was not only sugar free, but completely raw, organic, and made from superfoods. No chemicals, no fake sugars. In fact, it's sweetened with Agave Nectar. But it's also dairy free.

A good way to start with the journey to dairy-free dark chocolate if you are a sweetaholic, is Rice Dream's milk chocolate. It's made with Rice Milk, so it's very sweet but sugar free. Just keep in mind, that like other chocolate, it can not only be expensive but it can also be high in the calories. So eat a little bit every day at most, and eat/purchase wisely.

Here's a link to where you can find them (you can also buy them at your Community Food Co-Op): http://www.tastethedream.com/products/category/493.php.

Another alternative, if you like sweets but you aren't an overly-sugary fan, or on the way to reducing your sweet tooth, are Flora Omega Truffle chocolates. Delicious, organic, and infused with necessary omega oils. Omega can do so much for your body and your health; starting with a healthy immune system. They are pricy however, so spend and eat wisely.

You can find them online, where in bulk it's cheaper, or at your Community Food Co-Op. For those living in WA state, you can get express shipping for cheap or standard for free, since it is not too far away from the Canadian border that is five minutes from Abbortsford, CA.

Here: http://www.florahealth.com/product_categories_usa.cfm?category_id=7&prod_id=243

My mother is a huge fan of these chocolates. She recommends the Dark Chocolate Matcha Green Tea and the Milk Chocolate Hazlenut. They have many other flavors too.

And after all that is done, there is the dairy-free, sugar-free chocolate that I oh so love:

http://thelightcellar.ca/

They are also the perfect source for other superfoods, to be touched on next or the week after.

-Anna

PS: If you are experiencing anything you want or need questions about, feel free to ask! Just post it as a comment. Don't be shy; you have a free nutritionist, two personal trainers, and someone who has gone through the exact same, guaranteed-to-work plan at your disposal. And this is the only place to get it.

The Super Road- My journey to a healthy lifestyle

Hello! My name is Anna, I am sixteen years old, and I want to take you with me as I take the road into a healthy lifestyle. Let me tell you what I mean:

-My family consists of two personal trainers (mom and brother) who are really health-driven and oriented. My new year's resolution inspired my dad to take the healthy road. (The resolution was no sugar- candy, sweets, ice cream, nada.)
-At first the no-sugar thing was hard. But it slowly became easier and easier until I had no cravings at all. Now I am less moody and more aware of what's going on around me. I see every day how much sugar people have and put in themselves without even realizing it. You could have 6 cups of sugar today and think you had less than a tablespoon. It's because what's in our food, what claims to be all-natural, is really DDT, perservatives and high-fructose corn syrup. Even if you cannot afford organic, avoiding the high-fructose corn syrup could save your life.
-Gladly I can afford organic, and I am ever so grateful for that. But if you can't or can, keep in mind that eating non-organic meat, vegetables and fruit does the opposite of helping you: in fact, it slowly breaks down your liver until you get a heart attack or lose control of your body in any way completely.
-My mom hired me a personal trainer (who I love dearly) to help me get healthy and fit. Just because you are eating salads all the time doesn't mean you're healthy. Because of her I am healthy and, well, fit!
-I eat superfoods. Organic superfoods.
-What's a superfood? Here, the definition from sqidoo.com:  "Foods that are beneficial to your health are known as 'super foods'. They have various SUPER health properties such as concentrated levels of vitamin C or high levels of Phytonutrients, etc."


With my journey to a healthy and healthier lifestyle, I hope to take you with me. I want YOU to be healthy and get thin the healthy way. And if you're already thin? That's great! But are you healthily thin? Because being thin isn't what's beautiful, though it may seem like it in our media today; it's the health of your body that counts. 


Follow my plan, or tweak it a bit to fit your financial status. But I PROMISE* you, that I can guarantee you not only a longer life, but a healthy body. I am ready to bring us both on the super road- the right road, that everybody should be on.


I am going to give you and me a challenge each new post, which will be weekly or every two weeks. Comment your hardships with the challenge, what was easy, and what you have noticed as a change in your health. They will grow to be harder and harder. But this way will work, and you will not be the only one proud of yourself: I will, and so will your body.




Challenge One
Is there a community food co-op where you live, or anywhere that you can purchase organic food? Whether or not your financial status is at the point where you can eat organic all the time, try to find a long stalk of broccoli, celery or a carrot stick. Buy one that's organic and one that's not organic. Try to see if you can taste the difference; but, more importantly, can you feel the difference? Eat the organic first, and don't eat the non-organic until you completed a 2-4 time window. You can eat other foods of course, but stay away from the fast food chains. Then eat the non-organic; do you feel the difference in your stomach? Do you feel the difference in your body? When you ate the organic, did your body thank you?


Whether you answered yes or no, it will help you follow the right steps in The Super Road plan.


AND MAKE SURE to tell your friends and family about this blog! Not so I can gain more followers and subscribers and be the blogging queen of the world (I could honestly care less), but to help them be on the right track and the right road to a healthy and happy lifestyle.


I look forward to that carrot!


-Anna




*You were expecting this star, weren't you? That there was some catch, some thing that wouldn't work with this plan. Well, guess what? There isn't. And what's more, I am giving you this plan free of charge. Because I get paid just seeing and experiencing other people take the healthy route to a long-living, healthy life.