Okinawan Lifestyle

I have been reading the Okinawa Program.
http://amzn.com/0609807501

I have had the book for a while and have heard about how the Okinawa people are the healthiest in the world and with my vegan month only a few days away, I thought that this book may give me some inspiration and motivation.

The diet is quite interesting.  Most healthy living lifestyles I have read about in the past are all about eliminating foods from the diet.  This seems to embrace all foods, just certain ones need to be in moderation.

Here is the breakdown.

1. Eat 10 fruit and vegetables daily
2. Eat 10 whole grain foods daily
3. Eat 2 calcium foods daily
4. Eat 3 flavinoid foods daily
5. Eat 2 omega 3 foods daily
6. Drink 8 water or tea daily
7. Eat meat in moderation, only twice weekly
8. Eat sweets in moderation, only twice weekly

To me the idea of eating 10 whole grain foods seems pretty unlikely.  Just eating 10 fruit and veggies seems very overwhelming at times.

The other aspects of the lifestyle of the Okinawan is Exercise and Stress reduction.

Exercise is simple, walk more and move more.  There are no rigorous fitness programs to follow, just walk more and move more.  Something most of us have seemed to have lost with the age of technology.

Gardening is also a large proponent to the lifestyle.  Which I think is a way of being spiritual beings and one with nature, which in turn lowers stress.  Another detriment to the age of technology, people are moving away from nature and spirituality and stress levels are on the rise.

The whole package is needed to maintain health throughout our lives.  Diet, exercise and spirituality are the keys to long life.  The trouble is finding a balance with all three and fitting that within our hectic lives.  That is always the problem I find, organizing my life to to make health and happiness the priority.

Vegan for a month

I have been dabbling in veganism for a while now and have decided that I will go totally vegan for the month of November.  I thought that November would be the most realistic month to try since it is after Thanksgiving and before my trip to Florida.

Quite a few of my meals are vegetarian and vegan already, but I want to see if cutting out all meat products for a month would improve my health.

I thought I would use this blog as a record for progress and changes if any and to see if eliminating meat really does improve your health.

Hiding Vegetables

The trend I dislike the most lately is all of the cookbooks that teach parents how to hide vegetables and fruit in foods. I understand picky eaters, I have two of my own, but I don't understand how hiding spinach in a brownie will create healthy eaters. The one thing I don't do is I don't lie to my family by hiding healthy food. That seems like such a backward way of thinking. Why not tell your children that a brownie has black beans in it or pumpkin, if it tastes good, then they will appreciate the taste and may like that ingredient when it is not surrounded by chocolate. Giving children as much information as possible is the best way for them to learn to appreciate and enjoy new foods.

We need to get children to be passionate about what they eat and why healthy eating is so vital to our survival. Today's children are being raised on a McDonald's mentality, if it is fun and is loaded with salt and sugar than that is the only thing worth eating. Fruit and vegetables are foreign to children because they are no longer a part of their every day life.



What is wrong with telling your children that eating healthy food is good for them? What is wrong with giving children healthy food to eat at every meal. Most picky eaters are developed because parents stop trying to introduce new foods or reintroduce foods disliked in the past. It is much easier to get younger children to try new foods or reintroduce foods than it is older children and adults.

Here is what we do in our house:

1. Always try at least one or two bites of all new food.
2. If a food is not likes it will be tried again in a few months (we always say that to our son that his taste buds grow up and get big too, maybe your taste buds will like the food now)
3. If a food is not liked with a certain cooking process then another way is tried.
4. 5 bite rule. There are times when food becomes part of testing and Independence, at that point 5 bites have to be eaten before the meal is finished, no negotiation.
5. There is no short order cook that works in my house, whatever is made for dinner is eaten by everyone.
6. Food is discussed in our family, health, nutrition and the importance of all food has always been part of our dinner conversations.
7. Dinner is made by everyone so that even the very young can see how easy and important it is to create healthy foods.

Don't underestimate your children. Knowledge is power. The more they know, the more they will learn to appreciate healthy eating.