Teleclass this Tue Sept 2 - Meat and Dairy

Take the opportunity to take part in a FREE teleclass all about meat and dairy this Tuesday September 2 at 6:30pm Pacific.

During this 40 minute talk I will share with you my

* Tips for making your meat and dairy healthier

* My Top alternative power foods for calcium, protein and iron.

If you are interested in taking part please email me at info@poweroffood.com and I will provide you with the access code.

Due to limited space this opportunity is only available to the first 20 people who contact me.

Ask Adam - Meat and Dairy

first want to thank all of you for your enormous support and generosity over the past week. I received a number of phone calls and emails filled with good wishes in response to my new column in the Sea to Sky News. It is my pleasure to be with you every week and I return the thanks for embracing me with open arms.

Now down to business!

This weeks Question

Hi Adam,

Thanks for the great article in the recent edition of Sea To Sky News (August 21/08).

My question is in regards to milk products. I don't eat a lot of milk products for no other reason than I tend to eat a simple diet which involves soy milk and maybe a bit of cheese.

However, now that I have small children, I am buying more and milk products because I have read and heard that milk (calcium) is very important for growing bodies. My children have milk, yoghurt, and cheese each day.

I recently read a book claiming the dairy (and red meat industries) have really pushed the "health benefits" of their products to promote their sales. And, that milk products are really not as critical for children as what my generation has grown up to believe.

In addition, this book talked about other countries in the world (especially Asian cultures) which consume minimal amounts of dairy products but still maintain well-balanced diets.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

Thanks

My Thoughts

Your inquiry into the importance of milk is a fantastic first question to receive. The topic is worthy of an entire book, but for the sake of all the readers I will keep my thoughts to a few paragraphs.

I grew up all meat and potatoes. If I did not have a piece of meat on my plate where was my protein coming from? How about the iron? As for dairy, right from a young age I learnt from multiple sources, whether it was family, friends, teachers and my doctor or television commercials all about the importance of eating dairy to ensure I received the calcium necessary to have strong and healthy bones.

How many of you can relate to this?

There is a lot of politics involved when it comes to the world’s resources and food is one of the biggest. Without getting too political, we are at the mercy of big agriculture and therefore we are forced to consume their multi million dollar marketing campaigns. For decades we have been told of the benefits of eating meat and dairy. I am not here to tell you to stop eating them, but I know first hand that my ability to regain control over my own health started when I reduced my intake of meat and dairy.

I leant about the Power of Food at the age of 28, until then I just ate

Having discovered “whole foods”, which are nuts and seeds, grains and beans, fruits and vegetable at the age of 28, I have since been able to regain control over my weight, my pre-diabetic state, cholesterol levels, energy levels and so much more. At first I could not believe how great I was feeling, eating seeds and grains in replacement to meat and dairy. When I began to switch my daily consumption of meat and dairy to whole foods, many of my friends were stunned as they started to make fun of me for eating like a bird. Some would say it’s not very manly, eating seeds, but who cares what others think if you’re feeling great and I started to feel fantastic. No more bloating, my heartburn started to disappear and I even began to lose a few pounds.

The point is that in North America we over consume steak, burgers, cheese, milk etc. to the point where our bodies are having difficulty functioning on a healthy level. I know now my living off Zantac (antacid) for three years to ease my daily heartburn was due to the excessive protein I consumed through meat and dairy. Having discovered many alternative sources of calcium, iron and protein such as hemp seeds and quinoa (grain) my digestion has improved and my nutrient absorption has increased, improving my overall health.

When feeding our families it is important that we begin to start taking matters into our own hands. Kerri, it sound as if you have begun to do this by reading a book based on the dairy and meat industries. By creating our own awareness we are able to make healthier choices for our families.

I have so much more to say about this topic, but so little space to say it. Therefore I would like to offer everyone an opportunity to take part in a FREE teleclass on this very subject on Tuesday September 2 at 6:30pm. During this 30 minute talk I will share with you my top three tips when eating meat and dairy as well as my top power foods for calcium, protein and iron. If you are interested in taking part please email me at info@poweroffood.com and I will provide you with the access code. Due to limited space this opportunity is only available to the first 20 people who contact me.

What would you like to read about? Ask Adam at info@poweroffood.com

"Living from the Eye of the Storm"

Hey All

Well I am now married....Yahhoooo. Since the July 19th Big Day I have been having lots of fun. One of the highlights has been calling Suzie my wife. It's funny how warm and comforting saying "my wife" has made me feel and I couldn't have wished for a better partner to share my days with. The wedding was a blast and we are both so happy with the way everything turned out. Having all our friends and family around over the past month has been a real treat and I look forward to the married life.

For the past month I have spent most of my time enjoying each and every moment without the pressure of having to get things done. At first taking the month off was causing me stress as I am conditioned to the 9-5 gig that so many of us North Americans spend our daily routines doing. Having begun to create a different way of living, one that allows me the time to do what I want when I want, was something I never expected to happen so fast.

On July 1 I decided to take off the entire month. Yes getting married on the 19th made it easy to make this decision, but I could still have put time in up until the 14th of July when guests started to arrive. Instead I decided to remove myself from the hurricane around me and chose to live the next month from what I call "The Eye of the Storm".

Have you ever felt as if your whole life was like living in a hurricane? Everyday accomplishing tasks on your "to do" list and then by the end of the day adding a few more things back on the list for tomorrow? Each and every day spent occupied by accomplishing things on your "to do" list? This is like trying to paddle up a river without any paddles.....YOU CAN"T DO IT. What if you where able to turn that boat around? How nice do you think it would feel if you were now able to float down river with ease? Throw away your "to do" list and feel how great it is to start going with the current of life instead of against it.

The first few days in July were met with feelings of guilt for not getting up at 7am and being at my desk and ready to go by 8am. This was followed by feelings of stress roughly at the start of week two. If i'm not being productive in some way how are things going to get done, how am I going to keep progressing, who's going to come and visit this blog?. These were the thoughts that kept creeping into my mind as I battled to enjoy my time off and just breathe a little.

As the month rolled on everything seemed to become a little clearer. There was no pressure to achieve something each and every second of every day. I found that by the time I was ready to get back to being productive, all the things that I would normally spend my time doing on my "to do" list were getting done on their own. It was as if I had put my attention, energy and focus into just observing all the chaos around me without needing to touch, fix or respond to each little thing. I call this "living from the eye of the storm" I had entered a state where I was able to be the witness of all the chaos around me, but from a place of being calm and free. As long as I continued to consciously live from this place, everything around me seemed to take care of itself.

For those of you who would like to know what it feels like to live with ease and begin regaining control over your own health, I encourage you to begin today. Think of it as if you were going to train in the gym and build some muscle. If you go to the gym for one week will you have any more muscle? not really, but if you train long term your muscles will grow and keep strong. That is the same for living with ease. I have been feeding myself countless exercises on how to live consciously and I am just starting to tap into the real power of conscious intention. My conscious muscles are getting stronger each day and my life around me is the results of this intention.

It is possible to live a life of purpose and joy each and every day. You just have to want it bad enough and then start living it. I encourage you to use any resource possible to being strengthening your own consciousness such as the internet (www.ted.com is a great site and sign up for www.tut.com) read books such as "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle and find mentors (I would love to be that for you) and keep trusting in the process.

"Living from the eye of the storm" is a tough thing to comprehend when many of us are conditioned from such a young age to do and be a certain way, but it's in the letting go that we find the space to breath, be still, be present and become the witness of our lives. It's from this place that we make conscious decisions that propel us forward to achieve all our dreams and goals with ease.

Speak to you soon

In Good Health
Adam