Are You a Sugar Addict?

Just about every addicition has its handy questionaire that you will likely lie on the first time you take it.  An astronout's wife took a similar alcoholism quiz in Cosmopolitan and when she finally stopped lying to herself, she checked herself into rehab.  In the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, the actress playing this woman depicted her as taking the quiz with a double rum and cola or other similar drink in hand.  I will submit to you that if you take this quiz while eating a donut that you are addicted and don't have to finish the quiz.  Get help now!!!
For the rest of you, this quiz is worded so that the answer that shows your healthy lifestyle is True and there are twelve questions.
Personally, I thought (or was justifying) that eating fruit was a healthy alternative.  Perhaps, but not 6-8 pieces per day!!!  I am a confessed sugar junkie.  Now I'm dealing with it with the help of an incredibly talented healer in the area...I'm feeling better and better.
Let me know how you fair...sugar junkie or culinary saint.

1. I don't eat refined sugar every day.   T    F
2. I can go more than a day without eating some kind of sugar-containing food.  T   F
3. I never have cravings for sugar, coffee, chocolate, peanut butter, or alcohol.  T    F
4. I've never hidden sweets around the house so I can eat them later.  T    F
5. I can stop after eating one bite of pastry or one piece of candy.  T    F
6. There are times when I have no sugar around the house.  T   F
7. I can have sweets in the house without eating them.  T   F
8.  I can go at least 3 hours without eating without shakes, fatigue or bad moods.  T   F
9. I do not eat something sweet after every meal.  T  F
10. I rarely drink coffee or eat donuts or sweet rools for breakfast  T   F
11. I can go more than an hour after waking without eating.  T   F
12.  I don't drink sweetened soft drinks every day.  T  F

For the record, if you answered four of these questions FALSE then stop lying and seek help for your sugar addiction.

If you answered between 1 and 3 queations as FALSE then you may develop and addiction later, unless you lied.

Zero FALSE answers means you don't have a problem, unless you lied.  Con on, fess up!!!

Carrot Ginger Soup

From the Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Raw

Healing Foods
A carrot a day might help keep the eye doctor away.  Half of a medium-size carrot supplies you with 100 percent of your vitamin A requirement in the form of beta-carotene.  Beta-carotene has been shown to be essential for eye health and, due to its antioxidant activity, has been reported to lower heart disease.

4 cups carrot juice
1/2 cup macadamia nuts
1/4 cup avacado mashed
2 TB. ginger, minced
2 tsp. nama shoyu
1 TB freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp. curry powder (optional)
1/2 tsp. fresh dill or 1/4 tsp dried dill
pinch cayenne
pinch salt
pinch freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup carrot, peeled and shredded (optional)
1/4 cup beet, peeled and shredded (optional)
1/4 cup corn (optional)

Blend 1 cup carrot juice, macadamia nuts, and avacodo in a blender on high speed until smooth.
Add ginger, nama shoyu, lemon juice, curry powder, dill, cayenne, salt, and pepper and blend on low to medium speed for 15-20 sewconds.  Slowly add remaining carrot juice whil blending on low.
Serve immediately at room temperature.  Pour into bowls and top with shredded carrot, beet and corn. (if using)

Basil-Mint Salad

Found in all green foods, chlorophyll packs a stong nutritional punch.  Chlorophyll has an identical molecular structure as Hemoglobin (the stuff found in the blood that carries oxygen to all of our cells) But instead of Oxygen, chlorophyll carries Magnesium to support our health.

Raw Mint Tea

This simple and delicious recipe was shared by a fellow yogini, Freia Ramsey of Integral Life Healing.  You can check out Freia at www.shaklee.net/integralhealing.
Don't wait too long to try this recipe, once we have our first frost, it may be hard to find the main ingredient.

Yoga is Therapeutic

I have had the privilege of working with hundreds of individuals since I began teaching yoga in 2001.  The one common thread that I have seen is EVERYONE has a habitual pattern of movement that impairs their biomechanics to some degree.  Over time, these imbalances can lead to injury.  Yoga works to correct these biomechanical imbalances.