“Do Your Best, and Then Let Go” So reads one of the 13 chapters- and morsels- of kitchen wisdom in Alana Chernila‘s new cookbook, “The Homemade Kitchen.” This is a book whose message is as much about how to approach life at a slow, measured and pleasurable pace as it is about about cooking with the same intentions. “Start Where You Are.” “Feed Yourself.” “Put Your Hands in the Earth.” “Do the Work.” “Slow Down.” Alana has these phrases and others taped to her refrigerator. I do the same thing on mine with inspirational quotations such as: “Just as the
Read more →September is National Prostate Awareness Month. Frankly, I would never have known if I did not write and report on health topics. Prostate cancer does not get the “noise” that breast cancer, or even ovarian cancer, receives. Yet, it is the most common cancer in men after skin cancer. According to statistics from the American Cancer Society, one in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer as compared to one in 8 women diagnosed with breast cancer. There are about 220,800 new cases of prostate cancer and 26,540 deaths from the disease. While prostate cancer is a serious disease,
Read more →Deanna Won is a former U.S. Air Force Colonel and physicist who specialized in electro-optics and lasers for over 26 years. She worked in space launch, missile defense, biological defense and NATO operations. But no military training prepared her for a battle with ovarian cancer. “When I was 45 years old, I experienced excruciating pain in my abdomen and had trouble breathing, which landed me in the hospital, where even the morphine could not reduce any of my pain,” says Deanna. “When I found out that I had ovarian cancer, I made the immediate decision to completely change my nutrition and diet to an
Read more →Imagine being diagnosed with a life threatening illness. “How can I gain control of my life and manage my health?” you ask. It’s happened to me and to many friends and colleagues. And it happened to my guest August 24th on Fearless Fabulous You! Shari Leidich was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2004. MS affects approximately 2.3 million people worldwide. MS is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. At this time the cause is still unknown, and there is no cure. Research is being done in many areas including genetics, immunology, hormonal and environmental risks. According to the National Multiple
Read more →Many people, including myself until I was diagnosed in August 2009, never really understand the complexity of breast cancer, which affects 1 in 8 women. Breast cancer impacts women- and men- of all ages and cultural backgrounds. While lifestyle choices may help reduce your risk, there are many factors that can be related to a breast cancer diagnosis such as genetics and family history, but there is no one cause. And anyone who is diagnosed with breast cancer should not feel any blame or shame, or a “what if” or “if only” mind set. The focus should be on getting the best treatment
Read more →Can you eat on a $4 a day budget? I bet your $4 latte or juice you say you can’t. But $4 is the daily budget 46 million Americans must survive on to eat, based on the allocation of SNAP, the U.S. government’s food stamps program. And millions more, including cash strapped working parents, fixed income retirees, students and grads entering the workforce, live with similar limitations. We’re talking food and nourishment and the fact that many people don’t have enough on their plates for themselves or their families despite living in a country where food is plentiful. It’s called food insecurity
Read more →In a recent issue of MORE magazine entrepreneur Susan Lynne, founder of BBG ventures, an company than investments in women-owned tech startups said, “Learning to code is far more valuable than learning to speak French. Coding is a universal language. It allows you to work wherever you want.” I filed that one in the back of my mind. Growing up as a teen the word “code” was usually associated with “secret” and “Morse” and the only languages offered in my high school were Spanish and French. Today “code” means the language of technology, and it goes far beyond gigabytes, search engine
Read more →The Greek economy may be in turmoil, but the Greek diet is healthier than ever. International renowned Chef Maria Loi joins me July 13, 4pm EST on Fearless Fabulous You! to discuss her 12 Pillars to eating healthy using fundamental and simple recipes that are fresh and flavorful from her book The Greek Diet. The Greek Diet by Chef Maria Loi and veteran health journalist Sarah Toland offers a path to healthy eating that is not only sustainable but also completely satisfying and enjoyable. A few things I love about Maria’s approach: Yes, you can, enjoy good coffee and wine, both in moderation, and everything
Read more →I’ve been curious about alternative and complementary medicines after researching my books and studying integrative nutrition. One that fascinates me is homeopathy, a system of natural medicine dating back over 200 years. It is very common in Europe where its originator, Samuel Hahnemann, created the word “homeopathy” from the Greek words for ‘similar suffering’ referring to the ‘like cures like’ principle of healing.” Ref: http://www.homeopathyschool.com/. Benefits can alleviate side effects from traditional Western medicine, strengthen your immune system, help healing and reduce pain, among other conditions. You probably have seen all sorts of homeopathic essences, gels, creams and pellets at your local health foods store. But do
Read more →Every cancer survivor I speak with remembers their “cancer-versary.” It’s the date you were diagnosed. And every cancer survivor will tell you hearing the news is gut wrenching. Your head spins; your heart skips a beat, and many people, including myself, go numb or break down in tears. Imagine being a beautiful young woman whose life is filled with promise hearing this news. Maybe you are newly married or a new mother. Maybe you are a fun loving single gal who looks forward to finding that someone special. The future and its possibilities seem limitless. Then cancer pays an unwelcome visit
Read more →As I’ve grown older I’ve noticed so many unwelcome marks on my body: brown spots, red blotches, strange folds and dimples and lines marking their territory. One of the areas that give me grief- and other women as well- are my legs. Forget cellulite! I’m talking spider veins. I’ve tried needles but now I just wear longer shorts and hemlines to cover them up. But, what can be done to avoid or minimize spider veins and varicose veins? I’ve invited Dr. Danielle Bajakian, Director of the Critical Limb Ischemia Program at Columbia University Medical Center, to join me June 22, 9:28pmET on Fearless Fabulous You!
Read more →Living with a chronic illness does not mean your quality of life or your outlook on how you choose to live needs to be compromised. @mightymelanie @lyfebulb #fearlessfabulousyou At age 17 Dr. Karin Hehenberger was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (T1D). A competitive tennis player and outdoors woman living in Sweden, Karin kept her diagnosis under wraps for 20 years out of fear and shame of living with chronic disease. As she grew older diabetes impacted her body and Karin under went both life saving kidney and pancreas transplants. Watch Karin’s story here. Her body may have taken a hit but
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