Chocolate - the best of the best

The absolute best type of chocolate you can consume is Organic Raw Cacao.
If you do a little online research, you will find that there are many health benefits of this superfood.

Almost half of the worlds chocolate is being produced with child slave labor in West Africa - so yes, the brands you purchase have a powerful impact in the world we live.

What we choose to eat will either improve or ruin our health and will also contribute or contaminate the consciousness of the planet we all live on.

I personally purchase Fair Trade and usually get chocolate or cacao from small, local companies that sell to my local health food stores. Since I live in downtown Manhattan, there is plenty of good health food stores all over that have great brands that I trust, eat and recommend.

If you use it wisely - that means choose a high quality product, and don't eat it too often and not too much, chocolate or cacao can be quite healthy.

Choose the wrong type (commercially produced junk foods, candies and chocolate bars which are loaded with sugars and artificial ingredients) and it can make you fat.

Either way, there is a stimulant (similar to caffeine) in chocolate & cacao, so be careful how much you use.

I only eat dark chocolate and not milk chocolate and recommend the same for most.

These are my favorites:

Sunfoods

http://www.ulimana.com/index.html

http://oneluckyduck.com

http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com/


http://gnosischocolate.squarespace.com/


http://www.livingfuel.com/



These are just a few of the cacao and chocolate products I like -- what about you?
Please email me your favorite chocolate treats!

Shakes - Gain Weight or Lose Fat, Your Choice!

I hope you had a great weekend.
The heatwave has passed and we had a gorgeous weekend in NYC!

I got lots of emails last week asking about protein shakes so I decided to tell you about another big fat loss mistake and let you in on one of my favorite products!

You know, there are tons of protein powders and shake mixes on the market - and most of them are garbage.

Why are they garbage?

Well, most are using denatured whey protein that, believe it or not, is actually a waste product form the dairy industry.

Another reason is that a great majority of people cannot tolerate dairy (and soy) products and close to 99% of the people I have talked to in my 15 years as a fitness & nutrition professional have all said the same thing about protein powders:

'They make me bloated!'

And please don't fall for the alternative 'health' food protein powder: soy.

Today, I want to share with you my favorite shake - it has no dairy, soy, other allergenic, synthetic ingredients or artificial fillers or products.

In fact, it is the 'original' organic & raw shake on the market and it works really well with everyone I know who has used it.

It's called Living Fuel.

And its called 'Living' for a reason.

It's loaded with protein, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes and probiotics.

It's easy to use and is excellent for busy people on the go.

I have a cookbook coming out soon where I share some awesome shake recipes I use with Living Fuel. Untill then, you can check out their website. They do have other great products, but this is by far, my favorite.

My Favorite Shake

Unlike some popular nutrition 'experts' and fitness celebrities, I am not sponsored by any company, I don't make money promoting anything and my message and core values are never compromised by any corporation.

This is my favorite shake and I do recomend it to my clients.

I will have a whole section on shakes in my upcoming cookbook - so stay tuned!

In the coming weeks, I will also be sharing some of my favorite places to get organic food on the go! For those of you who don't live in NYC and read this blog --> it's not Sex and the City, but it will get you healthy and help you lose fat fast!

Check it out at Living Fuel

Snacks for the Success

As I mentioned, you need good snacks in order to get healthy and lose fat.

You don't wait until your hungry and then go hog wild at the local corner store.

Here are just a few of the bars and snacks I use and recommend.

The main reason I don't sell a 'diet' like all the other so-called nutrition, fitness and fat loss 'experts' is because we are all individuals and there is no one size fits all approach that works.

So please PAY ATTENTION to how you feel after you eat -- as some people cannot tolerate nuts and seeds.

The one good thing consistent with all the snacks and bars I recommend is that are no GRAINS and NOTHING ARTIFICIAL.

They are all whole foods, mostly raw and SHOULD ONLY BE USED ONCE IN A WHILE AS A SNACK!

TRAIL MIX
http://www.jkgourmet.com/

http://www.enjoylifefoods.com

Homemade Mix -- http://www.elanaspantry.com/2008/03/31/my-favorite-trail-mix/


BARS
Cliff Bar Nectar - Note, this is the only bar from Cliff that I recommend.
http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_nectar/

http://www.organicfoodbar.com/

https://www.larabar.com/


http://www.thinkproducts.com/organic-bars.php

One of my favorite companies - they have all kinds of goodies:
http://www.oneluckyduck.com/