Health Immersion Post #6

by columbus, October 22, 2009 | Permalink

10.22.2009

I am sad that today is our last full day. We have learned so much and now will face the barrage of processed foods and confections and peer pressure and media outside of the confines of our immersion. Living this way would be easy if I lived in a box. Fortunately, the AMAZING team at Eat Right America, are providing us with a ton of support after today. So it would seem that we cannot fail. Eat Right America won’t let us. Hope partnered with support is a beautiful thing!

Today, we built up our take-home arsenal by watching a cooking demonstration by Chad Sarno, the Whole Foods Market® Global Team’s Healthy Eating Chef. We made some rockin’ stuff! I’ll be sure to post them in a subsequent post for everyone to try!

Today’s Menu

Breakfast:

Same as Monday –Wednesday

Lunch:

 Salad and Fresh Fruit

Cauliflower Soup

Steamed Green Beans

Apple, Fennel & Butter Lettuce Salad

Seitan Shepherd’s Pie

Dinner:

Salad and Fresh Fruit

Brown Rice Sushi

Wild Rice Stuffed Sole with “Bechamel”

Braised Tempeh with Mushroom Gravy

Chocolate “Custard” with Raspberry Coulis

Health Immersion Post #5

by columbus, October 21, 2009 | Permalink

10.21.2009

Another day full of tons of info! It was great. Many of us are suffering from headaches, but Dr. Fuhrman assures us these are natural withdrawal symptoms of eliminating caffeine, animal protein and sugar from our diets. It should subside within a day or two. He strongly advises against medicating ourselves to mask the symptoms.

Here’s an interesting observation: when we first got here, we were all loading into the two (super slow) elevators. As the week has progressed, nearly everyone takes the stairs up and down…could it be the food making us feel more energetic? Could it be positive peer pressure from the newly created culture of wellness? No matter, it’s better!

Today’s Menu

Breakfast:

Same as Monday –Tuesday

Lunch:

 Salad and Fresh Fruit

Pumpkin Soup

Steamed Kale

Lentil Dal “Burgers”

SW “Burgers”

Bean Salad

Dinner:

Salad and Fresh Fruit

Red & Green Cabbage Salad with Thai Dressing

Green Curry with Eggplant, Snow Peas and Peppers

Green Bamboo Rice

Poached Salmon

Coconut “Cream”Pie

Health Immersion Post #4

by columbus, October 20, 2009 | Permalink

10.20.2009     6:05 p.m.     Resting my brain

I’m a Sagittarius. I’m not sure I really believe in astrology, but I think it’s fun to read and my mom forwards the really good ones to me. Here’s the one she sent for today:  Envision what you can accomplish … create a crystal-clear picture in your mind of what you want. Focus on that image and try to emulate it with your actions. In a sense, you’ll be giving yourself a road map to follow for the future. From working up the nerve to talk to that amazing person who makes your heart go aflutter to marching into your boss’s office and asking for that overdue raise, you’ll find the courage you need by picturing the scenario.

You know what they say, “Momma always knows…” because this couldn’t have been a more appropriate prediction of my day! Dr. Stoll, another partner with Eat Right America gave an amazing presentation, encouraging us to determine our “why” for being here. I came up with my list:

1.       I’m tired of being a hypocrite.

I work for a company that sells the healthiest food on this planet! However, I am not a living a truly healthy lifestyle and I’m not being an ideal representative of WFM.

2.       I am worried about Jake’s well being.

Jake is an amazing little boy! However, there was a day a couple weeks back when, by dinner, all Jake had eaten was a donut, some cheesy potatoes, cake, ice cream, some cookies and a couple juice boxes. Oh my! This child has eaten NOTHING OF NUTRITIONAL VALUE. How embarrassing! And what a failure of parenting! He deserves to be set up for success and the life lessons that I am helping to teach him are doing far more damage than good. My little buddy deserves more.

3.       I’m worried about Eric’s well being.

I want for us to grow old together. I want us to spoil our grandchildren together. I am so scared to think that my time with him is potentially cut short because we aren’t caring for ourselves today.

4.       I want to look smokin’ hot in my wedding dress.

OK, so this is a short term “why” that doesn’t have sustaining power, but I would like to make Eric’s jaw hit the floor. That would be fun.

9:57p.m.   Settling in for the Night

Another truly spectacular day! I feel like I earned a degree from the Cliffs Notes School of Medicine after today’s program! Dr. Fuhrman is truly amazing with his information and his ability to relay that info with passion and clarity. I now know how our diet can create or can eradicate diseases like diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and sarcopenia. I am convinced.

And I am so proud to be a part of this “revolution”.

Of course, I can’t forget all of the delicious food:

Breakfast:

“California” Tofu Scramble (spicy & yummy!)

Egg Whites with Wild Mushrooms

Whole Grain Porridge

Ezekiel Toast with Nut Butter

Fresh Fruit

Lunch:

Thai “Sauteed” Broccoli

“Water-Fried” Bok Choy

Soba Noodles w/ Pure deliciousness

Miso Soup w/ a fun “condiment bar” of fresh cut veggies

Salad and Fresh Fruit

Dinner:

Assorted Veggie Pizza with Soy Cheese on Whole Wheat Crust

Wheat Orzo with Roasted Veggies

Beet Salad w/Walnut Chutney

Cauliflower “Risotto”

Salad and Fresh Fruit

Health Immersion Post #3

by columbus, October 19, 2009 | Permalink

10.19.2009     10:15 p.m.     In Bed

What a long day! We started with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. this morning and just finished up moments ago with Ballroom Dancing! The agenda was packed with an intro to Eat Right America and our program. Then we had a presentation by motivational speaker, Sean Stephenson. Sean is author of Get Off Your ‘But’, a book focusing on eliminating excuses and ridding people of their insecurities.  Wow! We were all moved.

Dr. Fuhrman spoke next. Essentially, he covered what I consider the “where we are now” scenario. When you lay out the numbers, like 60% of calories consumed in America are from white flour, sugar and oil or that our vegetable consumption as a nation totals only 5% when you remove white potatoes from the count, it’s easy to understand why we  all look and feel the way we do. It comes down to a basic fact: we are facing nutrient deficits that lead to overeating and cancer and obesity. Dr. Fuhrman’s theory is that when we eat a diet rich in micronutrients, we naturally consume less junk food because it is no longer appealing to us. This concept is so simple and straight forward, but may be one of the hardest things that we ever undertake! Our food additions are incredibly powerful and our internal dialogue can damage or discourage progress.

The evening was spent sharing great food followed by dance lessons and a show by professional ballroom dancers! It was so fun (and it was exercise)!

Today’s Menu

Breakfast:

“California” Tofu Scramble (spicy & yummy!)

Egg Whites with Wild Mushrooms

Whole Grain Porridge (I made up this name because I have no idea what was in it, but it was tasty)

Fresh Fruit

Lunch:

Mock Tuna Salad Wrap

Seitan and Veggie Wrap (AWESOME!)

Salad and Fresh Fruit                                                             

Spinach Stuffed Tomatoes

Smoky Lentil Soup

Dinner:

Salad and Fresh Fruit

“Sauteed” Chard with Onions

Charcoal Grain Salad with Asparagus

Tofu Manicotti

Assorted Truffles (Lemon Coconut, Goji Berry, and Chocolate)

Again, the food was outrageous. All catered by the Whole Foods Market in Princeton. Kudos to their team for an amazing job!

Time for bed…yoga is at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow!

Health Immersion Post #2

by columbus, October 18, 2009 | Permalink

Disclaimer

I am a Whole Foods Market team member who has been given a tremendous opportunity to share my experiences while I’m on my Health & Wellness Immersion Program. I am voluntarily providing this information so that others may benefit from my experiences. The thoughts shared here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Whole Foods Market, their employees or their affiliates. Thank you for reading!

9:09 p.m. In my room

Dinner and conversation was awesome! What an experience to meet Team Members from California, Colorado, Texas, and Georgia (and that was just at my table)! We’re all from different backgrounds, have our own story and reason for being here…I am so excited about the camaraderie!

The food was really fantastic. We all were surprised, I think. But really, why should we be? After all, it was catered by Whole FoodsJ.

Here was the menu:

·         Butlered Hors D’oeurves of Tofu Spinach Cakes with Mint Chutney, Tropical Tofu Skewers, Rye Crackers with Cashew “Cream Cheese”, and Tofu “Ricotta” Stuffed Peppadews

·         An enormous salad bar with grains, beans and some unusual veggies

·         Wild Mushroom (and tofu) Risotto

·         Veggie Antipasto Salad (the marinated beets rocked!)

·         Kale Salad with Creamy Avocado

·         Steamed Broccoli Rabe

·         Seitan “Meatballs” with Gigande Beans

·         Coconut Apple Cake

We could tell that the food was super fresh and had been prepared without salt. And the real unexpected kicker for me was that there was NO SALT on the tables! Interestingly, I didn’t even miss it and I actually feel really great! Not stuffed and lethargic like my usual post-dinner food coma. Looking forward to tomorrow…still thinking about the next meal.

-Angel

Health Immersion Post #1

by columbus, October 18, 2009 | Permalink

Disclaimer

I am a Whole Foods Market team member who has been given a tremendous opportunity to share my experiences while I’m on my Health & Wellness Immersion Program. I am voluntarily providing this information so that others may benefit from my experiences. The thoughts shared here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Whole Foods Market, their employees or their affiliates. Thank you for reading!

10.18.2009

12:04 p.m. On the Plane

Parting from Eric and Jake at the airport was tough. Way tougher than I imagined. [Yes, those were tears in my eyes.] Our ride there was pretty quiet although rushed; I am always rushed. Eric and Jake were wolfing down cold waffles that I had made this morning. I had decided to use applesauce instead of the vegetable oil that the recipe on the package of mix called for. Why not start off on the right foot with the healthy eating thing, huh?. Wonder what will I eat for breakfast next Sunday? What will I feed Eric and Jake?

Actually, I couldn’t get my mind off of food all week. Well, that’s not all that unusual, my thoughts typically revolve around “what’s for my next meal?” quickly followed by “when is my next meal?” But this week, thinking of food had far more poignancy.  I had started reading Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat For Health books so thoughts of food were naturally front-of-mind. What was more pronounced was the emotional nagging at my heart when I thought about French fries or a bowl of ice cream or delicious brie en croute! There is a physical ache when I consider that I may never eat those things again. Dr. Fuhrman wrote about the emotional connection that people have with food and I’ve always known this, but being faced with my imminent experience, I am clearly able to see how dependent I am on food for comfort, release and entertainment.  Going into this I am facing fear of loss and perhaps more importantly fear of failure. I can’t imagine my life as Dr. Fuhrman describes, but I am going to give it my best shot.

2:45 p.m.

Deplaned

I ran into some other WFM folks at the shuttle bus stop. It’s good to know I’m not alone. On the way to the hotel we all swore that we could smell something fried. Jan from Central said, “I think it’s fried chicken.” It smelled more like donuts to me. I could go for either. I’m starving.

-Angel

Whole Foods Market Sends Team Members to Health Immersion Program

by columbus, October 18, 2009 | Permalink

Disclaimer

I am a Whole Foods Market team member who has been given a tremendous opportunity to share my experiences while I’m on my Health & Wellness Immersion Program. I am voluntarily providing this information so that others may benefit from my experiences. The thoughts shared here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Whole Foods Market, their employees or their affiliates. Thank you for reading!

Program Background

Here’s the scoop on this blog and why it’s even being written.

I am a Whole Foods Market (WFM) team member and have been so for over seven years. I am deeply connected with the culture of the company and truly believe that it is one of the smartest, most thoughtful, most revolutionary businesses in the world. So, my thoughts here will be biased. Let’s be clear. I love Whole Foods. I plan to retire from this company one day.

Several months ago John Mackey, our CEO, and the team from WFM’s global office introduced a seventh core value: educating our stakeholders on healthy eating. Now, our other core values are very literally the guiding statements upon which every one of our business decision are made. I know this because I see it every day in what we do: from the products we sell to our recycling in the cafés to the employee benefits I receive to our community and vendor partnerships that each of us help to nurture and beyond. WFM and its team members don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk.

So, what’s this new core value all about? Here’s my summary: it’s about going back to our roots as a company. WFM was founded by John and his buddies when they realized that their community needed a place where people could buy good-for-you, wholesome, whole foods. They stocked their shelves with truly all natural foods, lots of organics, and more and all of it was fresh and presented in its natural state, just as it was grown on this earth. Core value number seven comes at a time when our society is in turmoil. We are all touched by diseases and afflictions that we ourselves cause through eating poorly. John believes (and I do too) that WFM can affect change in our society if we recommit ourselves to educating our customers and to selling honest-to-goodness wholesome food.

All of that is a whole lot easier said than done, but WFM has faced great challenges before and we have succeeded. WFM’s first step is to educate our team members. To facilitate this, WFM Global offered a voluntary immersion program where team members from across the nation could learn more about the role diet and nutrition plays in creating a healthy body. It didn’t take any convincing for me; this is an opportunity of a lifetime! To successfully fulfill our seventh core value, I needed to learn to walk the walk. The following blog entries are my experiences during my 5-day program with Eat Right America and Dr. Fuhrman in Princeton, New Jersey.

Thanks for reading,

Angel