Green-washing, Pink-washing: Will the dirty laundry ever end?

Social responsibility is hot. Companies have done their homework and they know consumers are willing to shell out as much as 20% more on the purchase price if they perceive the company as socially responsible. How about that, we really do care about each other.

But what’s burning a whole in your wallet, health and belief in humankind are empty promises by companies exploiting your good intentions and lack of time to investigate every single product claim. Huh?

Believe it or not, those claiming to be “green” and now this month “pink” for breast cancer awareness aren’t always committed to the environment or erradicating cancer.

As a cancer survivor myself, I tend to avoid much of the cancer causes. That’s an entirely different blog post but I can’t support causes that many times, are perpetuating their existence. Buying M&Ms and plastic products that support breast cancer awareness is like giving an alcoholic alcohol. For those who don’t know, sugar and plastic both contribute to cancer. While there is a mystery why some people develop cancer and others don’t, there is no doubt about what contributes to it and anyone who tells you differently, is robbing you of your best chance at beating cancer: preventing it all together.

So now it seems even some benign cancer-causing products aren’t as rosy pink as we’ve been lead to believe. From fine print limiting donations to making you jump through hoops to get your donation where it belongs, find out if your money for breast cancer awareness is going where you think it’s going. Check out “Think Before You Pink” here.

And use that noggen to not only find out where your money is going but if it would be better spent on a pro-health cause like organic food or environmental clean-up. Then maybe we could eliminate this loop hole and breast cancer altogether.

Yippee! I’m healthy!

Exhale. I just got back from my yearly oncologist appointment. Nothing like a yearly cancer check-up to remind you how fragile and whacked out life is. It’s been 12 years since I’ve been doing this yearly ritual. Seventeen and a half since I’ve had my own cancer doctor.

The first five years after your cancer treatments, you go every six months because you’ve only earned a “remission” label. It takes five years to graduate to yearly appointments and the coveted “cured”. And even then, the healing has just begun.

Some think the first five years are the most nerve-wracking. You still think every ache, pain and/or lump means you have one foot in the grave. You sit in the doctor’s office, with the smells of chemo and plastic needles still enough to make you nauseous. You look at the other patients in the waiting room and you have to fight back tears because you still feel raw from the whole experience.

The emotional fragility of this point in time is unparallel. You are scared shitless and put your faith into everything the doctor says. She/he has become God to you because the other God you somewhat believed in, has a funny way of showing he cares.

But then, if you eat well, exercise, keep your environment as non-toxic as possible, find a sense of spirituality that helps you navigate life and no doubt, have a lot of luck, the years accumulate. You no longer wake up every morning fishing for lumps and the joint pains you chock up to working out too much. Cancer no longer runs your thoughts.

I can’t speak for every person who has experienced cancer, but for me, to truly move on with my life, I had to figure out why this happened and then if I couldn’t find answers, make a reason. I know conventional medical information, outside of lung cancer, can’t tell you why cancer happens. But being a big picture thinker and in the wellness field, I know a lot of medical information is funded by profit-motivated groups and the nature of research itself doesn’t look at system synergies but more isolated pieces of the puzzle. Yet, the human body is the most complex system in the world.

The more I research, the more I feel these years after being cured are more perplexing. I have to be vigilant about breast and thyroid cancers from the radiation I received. These are serious risks that I don’t take lightly. As my Dad says, “There’s always a trap door that can open on your ass.”

So why does my insanely intelligent oncologist, who I really admire and like, still tell me that eating well, working out and doing yoga “doesn’t hurt” my chances of reoccurrence or secondary cancers from my chemo and radiation treatments (especially as the waiting room is overflowing with patients)? Is it really smart to get yearly CT, Mammogram and/or MRI tests when we are now finding out these can be contributing to cancer? Why are known carcinogens like BPA and DDT still in our environment when we’ve known for decades they contribute to cancer? And how do I trust the American Medical Association (AMA) when back in the day, they were in cahoots with the tobacco industry to delay the obvious conclusion that cigarettes cause cancer?

I’m not paranoid. I’m smart, have common sense and am insanely well-read. And I can no longer go on blind faith. I’ve been through too much. I brought “The Secret History of the War on Cancer” to my oncologist this morning to suggest he read it. It’s where I found some of my answers to how I want to work with him to manage my health. Yes, they are MY answers, not the answers. But it’s also MY health and my responsibility to do everything I can, including asking the hard questions, so I can continue to only come back once a year.

While sometimes I long for the days when I believed the doctor knew best, I also know from my yoga practice, life has no absolutes (it’s probably why I fundamentally believe in yoga as its truths pop up everywhere – no faith required). On the flip side, I’m thrilled to no longer be so close to my initial diagnosis that I fear the delay in the doctor coming to my exam room means something was found in my blood work.

In these 17 years being cancer free, I’ve been able to figure out why this happened physically and emotionally. As a result, I’ve put more faith in the Universe and myself, especially as my common sense, knowledge and hunches seem to years later, be confirmed by scientific research. However, the more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know. So I’ll continue co-pilot my health with my doctor, finding some sort of balance that I hope, continues to tip in my favor.

Another way to be Patriotic

I have a few grips in life that as I get older, make me laugh more than get all huffy and puffy like I did when I was younger. I realize now that getting angry and presenting facts don’t do much to change people’s minds who have their own anger and facts. It doesn’t work all the time, especially when it comes to health-care.

One thing that makes me curious all the time, especially since 9/11 is what it means to be patriotic. America was founded on a radical vision, intelligence, progressive ideas, separation of church and state and white guys trying to get out of paying taxes. Except for the later, these ideals are trashed in much of the media and on the Bill O’Reily right as either “elitist”, “liberal” or “socialism”. Especially these days as the debate on health-care heats up (I’ll write more about this later).

But what if we just re-instilled progressive ideas as a value? What if we took a conservative approach and got back to basics when America at one time was about the best and brightest, not about the biggest pocket book. Because in exchange for a few industries making huge financial profits, we are suffering catastrophic financial and quality of life calamities on a citizen level. For example, 1 in 3 citizens lives with chronic disease, 1 in 2 men will get cancer and 1 in 3 women will get cancer. And the outcomes of these diagnosis is poor: our health-care effectivness rating in 2000 was 37th (out of 191) and is currently ranked next to Serbias despite spending more than any other country.

What if we did whatever it took, like our Founding Fathers and Mothers and looked to what other countries are doing, many considered “third-world”, who have healthy and happy citizens? What if we considered all ideas – yes even from those “socialist health-care systems” who get much better results than America’s current corporate dominated health-care INDUSTRY?

Instead of getting defensive and simple-minded that America is “the greatest country” – what if we acted like the greatest country and did whatever it took to get this beautiful country back on track versus come from a place of fear? That is being truly patriotic.

But always preferring to be part of the solution than the problem, I’ve found a couple great answers from Slovenia. Part of my family origin is Slovenian, a beautiful country with beautiful people I had the pleasure of visiting in 2002.

My Aunt sent me this wonderful article from the Faster Times about what we in the U.S. can learn from Slovenia in terms of food and effect, health. You see, real health-care doesn’t happen in your doctor’s office. It starts in your kitchen with real food and taking personal responsibility for your health. It’s a perfect blend of being radical and conservative at the same time.

Check out the article here and then get to your farmers market! This time, the revolution starts in the kitchen.

Ali’s Intern Speaks

Ali’s note: Due to the busyness of my schedule, I asked my intern Kristina to write a blog post about her experience working with me this summer. I find that I can write and talk all about healthy eating but it’s in my client’s stories (and now Kristina’s) that people grasp the power of nutrition. Below is Kristina’s entry – I only made minor grammatical edits (and her review isn’t dependent on this either!).

What a crazy summer it’s been. Between the weather and the nice winning streak the Phillies have been on, (cross your fingers!) time is flying by.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Kristina and I’m Ali’s Intern. I found this opportunity through the business school at Temple University, where I’m studying marketing and public relations. Since this is going to be my third year there, I thought it was time to get some real world experience, which lead me to find the business development internship in the Health Counseling field. I thought this summer I would assist Ali in whatever she needed but never thought she would be able to help my health along the way.

Starting when I was young, I’ve always had health issues. At 13 I found out I had cysts all over my kidneys and ovaries that caused me extreme pain. Since the age of 15 I’ve been going to a chiropractor for my back. Starting dance at a young age added to the strain on my back and even affected my knees causing me to see a physical therapist so I could walk without pain. On top of that, I always believed I had arthritis in my hands and was allergic to random items like rhodium, purple dyes, and tree nuts that I thought gave me rashes. I’ve lived with it all, always exercising and eating right, and at 140 lbs. and 5’8, I thought I was healthy.

When I turned 20 by body stopped producing periods. Going from doctor to doctor, the only thing they could tell me was that the cysts on my ovaries and kidneys were not the cause. After a year of searching for answers, I thought I was just infertile and would have to live with the idea that my body could not have children.

After explaining this all to Ali one day in her office, she looked at me and said, “You’re allergic to gluten and most likely have Celiac disease” I didn’t even know what gluten was. Being Italian, I had eaten bread, pastries, and pasta all my life. Was I really allergic to the “healthy” food I had been eating all these years? Apparently in my case, whole grain doesn’t mean it is good for you. This was just the start of things I learned from Ali.

Since meeting with her I have stopped eating bread and pasta, switching to a Gluten-Free diet. Many college kids my age just care about their image and weight but for me it was much more than that. I was looking at facing infertility, arthritis, back pain, headaches, the list went on and on for me if I didn’t change my diet. Living on a limited budget has been hard to stay on track but I truly think if I can change my nutritional decisions, there is no reason why someone else couldn’t. I’ve even gone as far to make a Gluten-Free alcohol guide so I knew what my beverage options were instead of beer and cheap wines.

After being off gluten for a few weeks, many of my symptoms disappeared. I went home to my parent’s house and was really missing my Mom’s baking. I thought, “what if this is just making me feel better because all I eat is insanely healthy foods and I’m not really allergic to gluten?” I conducted my own experiment that weekend and ate as much gluten as I could in 24 hours after being gluten-free for two weeks. I’m talking about pizza, hoagies, bagels, cookies, pasta, and even a few beers. By noon the next day, I didn’t want to move. The arthritis in my elbows, hands, and knees were back. My head and back hurt, along with crazy stomach pains. I’m not a licensed doctor but I then decided I am without a doubt allergic to gluten. (Ali’s note: what Kristina did without realizing it is an Elimination Diet – removing the suspecting food allergy for 2-3 weeks and then adding it back in to see the effects. It’s the best way to test for food allergies, especially gluten and dairy.)

I appreciate medicine and all that doctors do to cure disease. But throughout my experience, I don’t need to go to one every time I think I have a problem with my body. Taking a pill and wanting an instant cure is not the answer. We as consumers rarely read the side effects of the medication we’re given and more often than not, the doctors don’t explain them to us. When I have a headache now, instead of reaching for an Advil, I think, am I hungry or tired? Your body is telling you something and in order to keep it in pristine condition, you need to listen to it.

Every day is different for me, and I still have yet to get used to going to a restaurant and asking the waiter if anything on the menu is Gluten-Free. I want a healthy life, free of disease at all cost. Being gluten-free doesn’t affect who I am but without it I’m happier. I actually feel 20 again, without the pain.

So my summer had turned out to be life changing, who knew? I joined Ali to help her expand her business but she gave me the life I didn’t know I could have. That’s pretty awesome to me.

Why don’t you ask yourself, how great do you feel today? If the answer isn’t fabulous, what are you waiting for?!

Food Inc. Opens In Philadelphia

If you care about anything in life, go see Food Inc.This movie will show you how every bite makes an impact on your health, the environment, animals, human rights and happiness. Food touches all aspects of our lives and now, our very lives depend upon us making better choices.

This film is like Omnivore’s Dilemma on the big screen and a great reminder to keep shopping at farmers markets and putting your health and in effect, everything that matters to you, a top priority. I love getting the most bang for my buck and that’s what you do every time you vote with your food choices. When you support local farmers, you vote for your health, your families health, a cleaner environment, everyone’s access to human rights, animal rights and your national safety. What a deal!

For more info and showtimes for Philly, click here

Soy: Or as we say in Pittsburgh Double Yoi!

Myron Cope, the internationally famous Steeler announcer, used to famously use the Yiddish term “Yoi” (to all non-Pittsburghers this roughly translates into “Wow”) and on special occasions “Double Yoi” to exclaim a remarkable, unbelievable Steeler play.

Growing up in a Pittsburgh suburb with a population of 45,000 and some change, I was maybe one of four Jewish kids (and even I was half-Catholic at the time).  And along with my sister, probably the only kids in our neighborhood not at church on Sundays.

This unscientific but probable ratio, reflects the city as a whole. So to think about how a somewhat conservative Christian town rallied around a Jewish guy and his Yiddish expressions tells me two things: life is ironic and the Steelers can bring anyone together.

The ironic part certainly reflects the history of soy. In its purest form, soy is a health food. By pure I mean its natural state like edamame, tofu or miso soup. But when it starts getting genetically modified (which most non-organic soy is), reconfigured into fake meats, stuffed into candy bars masquerading as health bars and even processed into soy milk (traditional Asian cultures make soy milk much differently than Big Food companies), it’s just not the same.

It’s kind of like someone trying to impersonate Myron. It just doesn’t work because you don’t get the full effect.

Yes that’s right, soy milk isn’t a health food. Soy Vey! Too much of any food (minus those leafy greens!) is bad news. Soy is in so much of what we already eat these days: soybean oil, soybeans fed animals, and soy filler in many processed foods. Eating it in other funky forms that are difficult to digest like tofurky and soy chips taxes your digestive system and can cause a range of health problems (irregular bowels, inflammation, allergies, etc.)

Many foods take this same fate and the story of soy reflects what’s happening to many foods being gobbled up by Big Food companies and turned into products. For example, the most famous soy milk brand Silk, was started by a pioneering guy who used 100% organic soy beans purchased from U.S. farmers. Organic soybeans cannot be genetically modified which makes them better than their conventional counterparts.

Eventually, Silk was sold to Dean Foods, the same company that owns Horizon “Organic” and is now making its soy milk from soybeans imported from China. According to the Cornicopia Institute, “Dean Foods reformulated their Silk product line changing almost all their products over to “natural” (conventional) soybeans. They did this, quietly, without telling retailers or changing the UPC code numbers on the products. Many retailers reported that they didn’t find out until their customers noticed and complained.” To get the full report, click here

Even if you don’t care about the health benefits of organic, you probably care about getting ripped off. The interesting thing is that Dean Foods didn’t pass their savings onto you, but rather raised the price of your original organic soy milk and changing the taste of your original purchase.

And this isn’t their first offense. Horizon “Organic” has been boycotted by the Organic Consumer Association for not adhering to the legal definition of organic. Yes, despite the packaging there is no happy cow and certain “leadership” teams of your Big Food companies are contributing to rising cancer rates, environmental degradation and the subsequent health problems associated with a toxic environment. I’d love to hear that boardroom conversation!

Myron would give this the rare Triple Yoi.

But here’s the Hail Mary: Eat food, not products, and touchdown! It’s much simpler than deciphering Myron’s voice when he got excited.

Remember this: there’s a lot of profit in confusion. But with a little common sense and some well-documented history, there’s no debate over what’s always been good for the body and soul – whole foods and Steeler Football with some Myron on the side.

What is a safe salad dressing?

June is National Safety month and so in that spirit, I’ll discuss food safety tips for the next four Mondays. I won’t be talking how long you can keep food unrefrigerated but more tips and articles on how to eat safely for your body.

This month my food focus is also salads and last Friday, I posted a fabulous dressing recipe. Tying this all together is being aware of dressings and salads pitched as health food when in fact, many salads are unhealthy meals piled upon lettuce and dressings are loaded with high-fructose corn syrup, sugar and bad oils.

Salads used to get a bad wrap as “diet food”. Nowadays, capitalizing on American’s health obsession craze (despite being one of the most unhealthiest nations), food companies and restaurants market junk food as all sorts of salads and dressings, along with thousands of poor quality ingredients and calories.

Here are some guidelines for keeping salads dressings safe for your body:

1. Make your own dressing when possible. Most take no more than five minutes and a blender. Check out the Lemon Mint Dressing recipe I posted last Friday and more dressing recipes to come this month.

2. Scan store-bought brands for these ingredients: high-fructose corn syrup, anything ending in -ose, more than 1 g of sugar per serving, soybean, canola or any hydrogenated oils.  Annie’s is a decent brand.

3. When at a restaurant, assume all dressings contain the ingredients in number 2. Opt for unrefined, cold-pressed olive oil and balsamic or red wine vinegar.

4. Or if you order a different dressing, do the old stand-by and ask for it on the side.

An Alchemist’s Recipe for Dreaming Big

It’s Memorial Day weekend…time to kick-off the most relaxing season: Summer! I’m writing this on Thursday as Carlos and I are headed to Lancaster this weekend for some much needed R & R. I’ll be posting the following Monday about our trip as there is a HUGE farmers market there. I’m so excited to get away and start dreaming big about the next steps for my role in spreading the word on healthy living.

I ran across this clip below with Will Smith talking about charting your own destiny. I found it exciting and inspiring. I remember hearing this stuff years ago. But it didn’t really resonate until I got my health in order.

I always wanted to believe you could create a life you wanted to bound out of bed in the morning for. But it wasn’t until I had a body I felt comfortable in, a mood that was consistently optimistic and calm, along with enough energy to “beat anyone on a treadmill (which you’ll get once you watch the video), did things like this video move me to action. It took an exceptional level of health to take this knowing in my head to a fundamental belief that flowed through my body. There’s a huge difference between knowing and believing.

Here’s Will Smith recipe for success. I’d add that to be able to out run anyone on a treadmill and be able to have the laser sharp focus and stamina Smith references, you need a top-notch nutrition and exercise plan for your unique body, a strong spiritual connection to keep guiding you and a great team to train and support you.

What is the missing ingredient you need to live the life of your best imagination?

O’ Cheerios!

One of America’s most beloved brands (and notice I said brand, not food!) is getting a long-over due visit from the FDA about its “Cheerios can lower your cholesterol 4% in 6 weeks” claim.

The sticking point isn’t over the 4% cholesterol reduction but about General Mills presenting this information in such a way to position Cheerios as a cholesterol lowering drug/supplement.

Hmmm…could it be in some ironic, dualistic Buddhist way, Big Food is trying to send a message that foods are our medicine??? If so, I’m on board….just not any Big Food Executive Board.

I don’t know what’s the most ridiculous/hysterically funny in a sad kind of way that you have to laugh at because if you don’t, you’ll throw your hands up in surrender piece of this situation: 1. The fact that relatively speaking, Cheerios is one of the least offensive brands the FDA should be losing sleep over or 2. That health claims like these have been legally prohibited since the 1993 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) and the FDA decided 16 years later to enforce the NLEA or 3. Any of us are still counting on food companies or the Corporate Dictatorship citizens frequently refer to as the U.S. government, to look out for our health.

Or, my favorite part that confirms our country is in one giant food coma, comes from Ad Age’s synopsis of the situation. Lynn Dornblaser, director of consumer package goods insight at Mintel, a global consumer, market and product research firm, said it’s not like consumers will change their minds about Cheerios or forget the messages they’ve seen in recent years. And changes to packaging, including specific health claims, may capture consumer interest for awhile, but after that, Ms. Dornblaser said, “it becomes wallpaper.”

This, from the Ad executives. They know if they keep drilling it into our heads, true or untrue, eventually it becomes a truth. Well, at least if you are cracked out on soda, fast food and sugar. In other words, the more people we get to drink the Kool-Aid, the more we sell.

I do have a point to all of this but want to make my own claim before you think I hate America, freedom and our government.

1. I love America. I think the potential here is amazing…we just aren’t living up to it right now.

2. Freedom is wonderful, until you infringe on other people’s freedom. This especially includes making it difficut to access and afford healthy foods (not brands). When you control what people eat, you control their mind/body/soul – which is a three part way of saying their lives.

3. Our government. Much of goverment food and health care policy and subsidies conflict with number 2. I hear Obama is trying to correct much of this but special interest tentacles are deep. We’ll see. In the meantime, I believe in civic responsibility and each of us taking an active role in making the whole better versus just complaining about it.

I’ve gone on long enough. But here’s what I’d like people to take away from another debacle known as our food supply:

1. Food IS medicine, not brands like Cheerios, Lean Cuisine and Snackwells.

2. Stick with whole foods – foods that don’t come in packages.

3. The more a brand needs to be advertised, the less of it you should eat. All the bells and whistles are distracting you from your commonsense.

3. Follow 1, 2 and 3 and you’ll never need to worry about lowering your cholesterol. I’m sure if you are eating well, you’ll have much more fun things to do with your time.

On that note, Cheerio!

You Wanna Go Where Everyone Knows Your Name…But Not Your Weight

I’m thinking this is how Kirstie Alley feels right now. She was so great on Cheers. She was great as a Jenny Craig spokesperson too. And she was great on Oprah a couple of weeks ago when she hysterically discussed gaining back 80 plus pounds. But for anyone who’s been in her plus then small then exta plus sizes knows, after putting on her funny face, she went home and stuffed it.

I do feel a deep empathy for what she is going through as I myself was an emotional eater for about 20 years of my only 30 year old life. However, I don’t feel bad for Kirstie . There is enough research out there to know this wasn’t going to work. Diets like Jenny Craig, South Beach, Atkins, Nutra-System and Weight Watchers are just that, diets. They make people who are hungry for life, feel deprived on life’s most basic level. They make eating rigid and restricted versus fun and flexible and all you end up doing is focusing on food, versus living! You lose massive amounts of muscle mass and when you are thinner, you are really fatter and burn less. But most importantly, they don’t focus on the cause of weight gain, only the symptom. If losing weight was about counting calories and fat, anyone who made it past 5th grade math would be at their goal weight.

But losing weight is more about CREATING a life you love. And I’m not talking about cooking more, eating less and hitting the gym religiously. I’m talking about actually finding out how to feed your hunger.

For many who are emotional eaters or struggle with eating, there is a deep hunger for something that isn’t being fulfilled. It might be for a career that provides meaning and not just a pay check. It could be a spiritual hunger that will help you make meaning out of the haphazardness of life. Or it could be for self-love that can only come from the self-confidence, esteem and reliance that comes from carving out a life you want versus looks good on paper to your family, friends and community. This is where the work needs to lie, not in counting calories. Because when your life is firing on all cylinders, you get an energy and optimism surge that makes food a non-issue.

And for me, as someone who dieted for 66% of her life, I never believed people when they said they forgot to eat or weren’t wracked with guilt for overeating. I thought they were full of bullshit…or had some other addiction like cocaine that stunted their appetites. I thought everyone, at least secretly, had the same tormented relationship with food…they were just better at control. But they weren’t lying. I just wasn’t ready to stop using food as a crutch to distract me from the real pain in my life. But once I was, what a simple process weight loss became.

And believe it or not, for celebrities like Kirstie Alley or Oprah who seem to have it all, there is something that needs to be healed. It could be from being afraid they will lose everything or feeling they don’t deserve their success. I don’t know. And my guess is they are trying to figure it out themselves. But if they keep asking the questions, the answers always come.

And while it’s simple, it certainly is not easy. It requires allowing all food, and the options in your life, to be “legal”. It means exploring how your mind and body works – without judgement. It means fully embracing your hunger for the experiences in life you want – like falling in love or being a published author. It means you have to start playing to win versus trying not to lose. It involves asking questions that don’t always have obvious answers: What ingredients make your body and heart feel alive? What really makes you feel at peace versus what society tells you should make you happy? What makes me feel safe and centered in an ever-changing world? It’s all about being mindful.

For many of us who live on auto-pilot, just learning to fly with mindfulness takes time that doesn’t match with a high-school reunion you are trying to be 20 pounds thinner for or a Jenny Craig photo-shoot. But regardless, it must be done if you want sustainable weight loss and more importantly, a life that feeds you mentally and spiritually.

I know personally for me, it involved finding a career that matched my values of integrity, health, love or learning and supporting others. It meant finding faith in something after being diagnosed with cancer at 13 and not belonging to an organized religion. It meant being open to an amazing guy named Carlos who is my best friend and one of my soul-mates this time around. I wouldn’t have quit my Corporate job, or committed myself to yoga and Carlos if I wasn’t playing to win.

None of this happened overnight or in time for a summer swimsuit season. Feeling safe in a fear-based society takes some soul-searching. But it’s an amazing process of discovery. The rewards are incredible. Regardless of what the mainstream media tries to sell you, life is magical and completely in your control. I’m so thankful I gave myself that space to explore because now, food is a non-issue for me and ironically, (like most of life (and not Alanis Morissette Ironic” which isn’t!), I’m at a great weight without food pre-occupying me or having food determine if I had a “good” or “bad” day. The judgements (including comparing myself to society’s ideals) have stopped and the living has begun.

I applaud Oprah for embarking on this mindfulness path, which she declared after gaining 40 pounds herself. If she can be patient in the public eye, we can all give ourselves some space for exploration. Wouldn’t it be great if next time Kirstie Alley came on Oprah, she laughed about how she used to think dieting worked? If she gives herself the time and space to find what she’s truly hungry for, she’ll have a great figure, life and attitude. What more could one ask for? I don’t know – what are you hungry for?