Master herbalist Cormac Ferguson

Never stop learning.  Two weeks ago I begrudgingly walked back into Yo-San University, my Traditional Chinese Medicine Alma Mater for a CEU class on herbal remedies for musculoskeletal injuries.  I say begrudgingly because after 4 straight years of sitting in a classroom in that building, I’ve still had enough!

That beings said, as soon as my instructor, the great Cormac Ferguson began lecturing I became filled with energy.  My bread and butter is treating pain and injuries, I see them every day.  I would actually be bold enough to call myself an “expert” in the area of orthopedic injuries and pain.  However, I now recall the words of many wise teachers who had said that the real learning doesn’t begin until school is finished! 

Being a student is a gift that we should all look forward to and an opportunity not to be missed.  So whatever your subject is, whatever your area of “expertise” may be in, stay educated.  Take classes, take CEU courses, seek out other experts in your field and learn from them.  Once we stop learning we become stagnant and our skillset begins to decline.

Thank you Cormac Ferguson for turning a day in the classroom into a magnificent experience.

I just finished reading the book “Rework” by Jason Fried and David Hansson and highly recommend it for those of you with your own businesses or to those of you that are thinking about starting your own business.  One of the chapters that caught my eye was the following:

Inspiration is Perishable

“We all have ideas.  Ideas are immortal.  They last forever.  What doesn’t last forever is inspiration.  Inspiration is like fresh fruit or milk:  It has an expiration date.

If you want to do something, you’ve got to do it now.  You can’t put it on a shelf and wait two months to get around to it.  You can’t just say you’ll do it later.  Later, you won’t be pumped up about it anymore.

If you’re inspired on a Friday, swear off the weekend and dive into the project.  When you’re high on inspiration, you can get two weeks of work done in twenty-four hours.  Inspiration is a time machine in that way.

Inspiration is a magical thing, a productivity multiplier, a motivator.  But it won’t wait for you.  Inspiration is a now thing.  If it grabs you, grab it right back and put it to work.”

What does this have to do directly with dropping your blood pressure or cholesterol numbers you ask?  Probably not a damn thing.  What it does have to do with however, is your overall happiness as a human being and coincidentally what we’re far more interested in here at WPC than simply your lab scores is – your life, fully expressed. 

It is my firm belief that more you live your life in a fully expressed fashion, the happier you will be and the happier you are, the healthier you are.  The healthier you are – physically, emotionally and any other way – the lower your blood pressure will be and the lower your cholesterol will be. 

How could this possibly be true – you ask?  Well, to be honest, I care very little about the biochemistry and physiological aspects of self-actualization and happiness.  Leave that to people who wear lab coats all day and drink Mountain Dew.  That being said, when you are under stress (if you’re not feeling stressed, please watch 20 minutes of CNN just for the experience) your body releases cortisol, growth hormone and norephinephrine into your blood stream.  Cortisol is believed to affect the metabolic system and norepinephrine is believed to play a role in ADHD as well as depression and hypertension.  Flooding your body with these hormones all day long is a surefire way to end up overweight, sick, with attention deficit and high blood pressure!

What’s the best way to remove stress from your body?  Do what you love, all day long.  (If you’re going to argue that you “can’t” do what you love, stay tuned for the next post)

So if something inspires you, run with it.  Run as far and fast as you can and then welcome into your life the peace that seems to have eluded you in your cubicle – and the health that magically comes with it.

I’m fortunate enough to be in Osaka Japan at the moment and being here has inspired this next post.  For those of you that have not had the opportunity to visit this country, I highly encourage coming here and exploring for a bit.  This morning, with a touch of jetlag, I got up with the sun and decided to go for a run through the streets as a way of getting back in touch with the sounds, smells and sights of Japan.  My legs spent 12 hours on an airplane yesterday and were begging to be used so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone -  working out while taking in the lay of the land around the hotel from which I’ll be working for the next few days.

While running, I was pleasantly re-surprised at just how immaculately clean the streets are here.  With the exception of the occasional cigarette butt (90% of the males smoke here, yet there is far less cigarette trash here than in NYC and LA…go figure), there is literally no garbage here on the streets – no Big Mac wrappers, no beer bottles, nothing at all.  How is this and more importantly you ask, what does this have to do with wellness?  Great question, here we go.

When I was ten years old and on the verge of moving to Tokyo with my family, my dad took me aside and told me that when we got to Japan he wanted me to take a good look around and watch the people.  He said, “If you see someone sweeping the street watch them.  Their goal is to be the best street sweeper that they can be.  They take pride in their jobs, no matter what that job is and they take personal responsibility for the work that they do.”  Now at the age of 10, I thought that is was not nearly as interesting as  my Hot Wheels, however as an adult, and especially as a health practitioner I realize that what he told me was of profound importance.

“They take personal responsibility for the work that they do.” – what a statement!  Can you imagine a country as great as ours, only with everyone in it taking personal responsibility for their health?  Can you imagine a more empowered group of people than health conscious Americans?!  I cannot and you should not. 

Vow today to take complete responsibility for your health and wellness.  Take pride when you go six months or a year without a cold. Feel pride when you look into your medicine cabinet and don’t find anything that hasn’t been extracted from nature.  Take pride in your weight, your body composition, your diet, your exercise routine, your spiritual life and your relationships.  Take tremendous pride when your health is good and be equally as responsible when it is not.  Are you getting frequent colds?  How come?  Is your weight not where it should be?  What actual steps have you taken to change it – have you begun a workout program or altered your eating habits?  Is your mind cluttered?  Are you meditating? If the answer is no, then why not?   

Your health is most important asset, more important than money, success, and all things material as without it you can enjoy none of the things that you ignore it in order to acquire.  We’re all going to end up in the same place folks, how smooth the ride is and what shape we show up in is entirely up to us.  Entirely.  Vow today, right this very moment to take complete and total responsibility for your health and wellness.

Thank you to everyone that came last Thursday night to Wellness Night at Alki!

What is the fastest way to mastery?  Be it a physical skill such as playing the piano or learning to surf, the fastest way to get from where you are to where you want to be is through the use of a coach.  What happens to a group of children that shows up for their first Little League practice?  Are they left to their own devices to figure the rules of the game out, let alone the nuances of being a great pitcher, catcher or hitter?  It would most likely end up in disorganized chaos if that were the case.
Why is it then as adults, we’ll decide on mastering an area of our lives, be it finances, health, or running and forge out on our own?  My old boss Gavin de Becker used to say that he suffered from “expert-itis” meaning that because he was an expert in one area he had to remind himself that that didn’t immediately carry over and turn him into an expert in every other area!  Personally I have been “learning to play the guitar” for years on my own.  How good of a guitar player am I?  Let’s just say that every time that I take my guitar out, I have to blow the dust off of it and my neighbors quickly shut their windows.  I am an awful guitar player and have yet to listen to my own best advice in this area.
Some of the best advice I have ever been given is to find people that play at what you consider to be work.  If you want to become a better guitar player, find someone that loves to play the guitar.  If you want better health, find someone that stays up late thinking about nothing more than wellness.  If your finances aren’t what you want them to be, get yourself a financial coach. 
A coach will not only keep you motivated, provide accountability to you but will also use the lifetime of experience that they’ve gathered and apply it to you and your particular situation.  I have personally been a client of Joy Pecchia (www.joypecchia.com) for a number of years now.
When I started with Joy, my life was very chaotic.  I had a loose idea of what I wanted to do with my time and energy but kept running into the same situation – I’d get only so far on my own and then fail to see things all the way through because a new and more exciting idea would pop into my head.  Through working with Joy I was able to hone in on what I really wanted to do with my time and energy and was able to focus only on the most important aspect of creating exactly what it was that I was after.  Allowing the ideas that didn’t support my end vision to fall by the wayside freed up a lot of mental space giving me more energy to fulfill my goal.
If your health is not up to the level that you want it to be at, find yourself a Wellness Coach.  Be it one from WPC or another company, a Wellness Coach will get you on track and most importantly keep you on track!  There are people out there (and everyone of my coaches is like this) that eat, sleep and drink health and wellness – all day long.  Take control of your health and the world is your oyster, let it fall and the world owns you.

Healthy deliciousness!

Here’s another great recipe from the lovely ladies of Sweet Cheeks HQ!! Thank you to Alyssa and Shirley for keeping us supplied with quick, healthy and delicious ways to eat. Please click on the logo on the right to check out Sweet Cheeks HQ for more!

Rosemary trout with spinach

12 ounces of spinach
1 1/2 pounds trout, head and tail removed, cut in half with skin still on ( I found this trout in Trader Joes)
2 tablespoon olive oil
3 2-inch pieces of fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
2 tablespoons slivered almonds
2 tbsp raisins
2 fresh lemons
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place tin foil on a cooking sheet. Place trout skin side down on foil. Drizzle trout with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Place the rosemary on one half of the trout and put the other piece on top with the skin side facing out. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until the trout is flaky.

While the fish cooks, heat 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over medium low heat in a large skillet. Add garlic and then half the spinach. Add almonds and raisins and gently mix everything. Continue to mix while the spinach cooks until it is wilted. Add the remaining spinach and mix and cook until this is wilted too. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper.

Open up the cooked trout and discard the rosemary. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice out over the fish. Serve with the spinach on the side.

Enjoy!

Save the date folks!  Next Thursday, April 22nd I am pleased to be joining Marc and Karen Grandle for a night of refreshments and good ole fashion Wellness discussion.  Marc and Karen will be sharing their insights on Chiropractic and Myotherapy with regards to day-to-day health and I will be speaking on the relationship between the 5- Elements and health.
Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood make up the 5 – Elements and their relationship with each other in our daily lives is immeasurable.  Would you like to better understand your spouse, your co-worker and of course,  your own health?  This talk will serve as an opener to the deep interweaving of all of the elements in our daily lives with regard to our innate personalities, human relationships as well as the health opportunities and challenges that each element brings with it.
The night starts at 6:30 and will go for about an hour.  Healthy foods and good people will be in abundance.  See you all there!

Here’s an interest video via CNN on some of the trouble that Americans are having with prescription pills.  The prescribing and dispensing of narcotics legally is a multi billion dollar per year business yet we hear very little about the addictive properties of these drugs.  We hear almost nothing of the lives that get ruined, the families that get torn apart, etc. 

Fortunately for us though here in America, we have the War on Drugs going strong and what a war it is! 

Prescription drugs are the second most commonly abused category of drugs, behind marijuana and AHEAD of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs. The National Institutes of Health estimates that nearly 20 percent of people in the United States have used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons. 

In 2000, about 43 percent of hospital emergency admissions for drug overdoses (nearly 500,000 people) happened because of misused prescription drugs. This type of drug abuse is increasing partially because of the availability of drugs, including online pharmacies that make it easier to get the drugs without a prescription, even for minors.

Hospital stays from an unintentional overdose of opioids (such as Vicodin and Percocet) and sedatives (such as Valium and Ativan) jumped 37 percent between 1999 and 2006, a study by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine found. Intentional overdoses of these drugs skyrocketed by 130 percent in that time.

“The biggest and fastest-growing part of America’s drug problem is prescription drug abuse,” says Robert DuPont, a former White House drug czar and a former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “The statistics are unmistakable.” 

About 120,000 Americans a year go to the emergency room after overdosing on opioid painkillers, says Laxmaiah Manchikanti, chief executive officer and board chairman for the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. 

So here we have drugs that are abused more often than cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines yet they can be obtained by simply stating that you have back pain.  That is all.  No tests, no oversight, no background check into doctor shopping, not even a simple check to a neighboring pharmacy to see if this prescription has been picked up already. 

My question is where are the taskforces?  Where are the men in black kicking in doors of doctor’s offices with guns blazing?  Where is the outrage?  If 120,000 people had to go to the emergency room per year after Chiropractic visits, would the public be as calm, cool and collected over the state of Chiropractic?  I highly doubt it.  If 120,000 people overdosed on a Traditional Chinese Herb, would it still be on the market?  Ephedrine and the outcry over a dead baseball player gave us the answer to that question (fortunately the pharmaceutical equivalent, psuedoephedrine, is still readily available). 

The point of this post is again not only to point out the highly addictive properties of pain killers and the fact that there is real damage being done to real people by their prescription.  The point is to ask the question, “Why are we allowing this to happen?”

While pharmaceutical companies make billions of dollars selling these products, where is their investment in treatment centers for the people that become addicted to them?  Where is the responsibility that we so often enforce on companies in areas outside of the health arena?  Should Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of Oxycontin, one of the most addictive pharmaceuticals on the planet be held in some form responsible for the product that it makes?  Or does the company’s responsibility end once the consumer is addicted?

Or do we simply blame the addict?  Does the responsibility lie with the user of the product to make sure that they don’t become addicted?  Do tell.

Who to believe? A study done by Princeton University recently showed that rats given High Fructose Corn Syrup gained significantly more weight than rats given an equal amount of calories from natural sugar. The Corn Refiner’s Association would have you believe that the study was faulty and that all sugars are created equally. America is in a health crisis; we’ve talked about this before and will continue to do so. What I take away from the video is that the Association is positioning HFCS as a substance that if enjoyed in moderation is relatively harmless. Ok, got that part. However, what they aren’t telling you (beside the fact that they are advocating continuing to give this product to children…who oddly enough seem to be getting obese rather quickly) is that HFCS is inundated in SO many of the products that Americans buy. Here is a just short list of some of those products:

Baking and Cooking ingredients

Kellogg’s Corn Flake Crumbs
Nabisco Oreo Cookie Crumbs
Shake n Bake – Tangy Honey Glaze
Shake n Bake – Honey Mustard Glaze
Stove Top Stuffing – Chicken
Stove Top Stuffing – Cornbread
Stove Top Stuffing – Homestyle Herb
Stove Top Stuffing – Pork
Stove Top Stuffing – Turkey

Beverages:

A&W Root Beer
Capri-Sun Iced Tea
Capri-Sun Juice Drink – Fruit Punch
Capri-Sun Juice Drink – Grape
Capri-Sun Juice Drink – Lemonade
Capri-Sun Juice Drink – Mountain Cooler
Capri-Sun Juice Drink – Orange
Capri-Sun Juice Drink – Pacific Cooler
Capri-Sun Juice Drink – Red Berry
Capri-Sun Juice Drink – Splash Cooler
Capri-Sun Juice Drink – Strawberry
Capri-Sun Juice Drink – Strawberry/Kiwi
Capri-Sun Juice Drink – Surfer Cooler
Capri-Sun Juice Drink – Tropical Punch
Capri-Sun Juice Drink – Wild Cherry
Capri-Sun Refreshers – Orange Dragonfruit
Capri-Sun Refreshers – Rasberry Passionfruit
Capri-Sun Refreshers – Strawberry/Kiwi
Capri-Sun Refreshers – Tropical Fruit
Capri-Sun Sport Drink – Berry Ice
Capri-Sun Sport Drink – Clear Cherry Chill
Capri-Sun Sport Drink – Light Speed Lemon Lime
Capri-Sun Sport Drink – Orange Edge
Capri-Sun Sport Drink – Thunder Punch
Coca-Cola
Darigold Chocolate Milk
Hanson’s All-Natural Soda (all flavors)
Hanson’s Tonic Water
Jones Soda
Newman’s Own Pink Lemonade
Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice
Orangenia
Pepsi
PowerAde
Snapple -Cranberry Raspberry Juice Drink
Sprite
Starbucks’ Frappuccino
Thomas Kemper Soda’s
Tropicana OrangeAde
Tropicana Smoothies
Village Lemonade

Breads:

Brownberry Breads
Pepperidge Farm’s line of 100% whole grain breads
Sara Lee Heart Healthy Whole Grain Bread.
Thomas English Muffins
Wonderbread

Breakfast Cereals

Kellogg’s Frosted Rice Krispies®
Kellogg’s Tony’s Cinnamon Krunchersâ„¢
Kellogg’s Corn Flakes®
Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes®
Kellogg’s Smorz®
Kellogg’s Special K® Red Berries
Kellogg’s All-Bran® Bran Buds®
Kellogg’s All-Bran® Extra Fiber
Kellogg’s All-Bran® Original
Kellogg’s Apple Jacks®
Kellogg’s Cinnamon Crunch Crispixâ„¢
Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies®
Kellogg’s Complete® Oat Bran Flakes
Kellogg’s Complete® Wheat Bran Flakes
Kellogg’s Fruit Harvestâ„¢ Strawberry Blueberry
Kellogg’s Honey Crunch Corn Flakes®
Kellogg’s Kellogg’s Crunchy Blendsâ„¢ Just Right® Fruit & Nut
Kellogg’s Kellogg’s Crunchy Blendsâ„¢ Low Fat Granola without Raisins
Kellogg’s Kellogg’s Crunchy Blendsâ„¢ Low Fat Granola With Raisins
Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats® Frosted Bite Size
Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats® Frosted Original
Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats® Strawberry
Kellogg’s Crunchy Blendsâ„¢ Mueslix® with Raisins, Dates & Almonds
Kellogg’s Product 19®
Kellogg’s Raisin Bran
Kellogg’s Raisin Bran Crunch®
Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats® Cereal
Kellogg’s Rice Krispies®
Kellogg’s Smart Start® Antioxidants
Kellogg’s Smart Start® Soy Protein
Kellogg’s Special K®
Kellogg’s Special K® Vanilla Almond
Kellogg’s Fruit Harvestâ„¢ Peach Strawberry
Kellogg’s SpongeBob SquarePantsâ„¢ Cereal
Kellogg’s Corn Flakes® with Real Bananas
Kellogg’s Spider-manâ„¢ Spidey-Berry Cereal
Kellogg’s Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes® 1/3 Less Sugar
Kellogg’s Special K® low carb lifestyle
Kellogg’s Fruit Harvestâ„¢ Banana Berry
Kellogg’s Disney Pixar Finding Nemoâ„¢ Cereal
Kellogg’s All-Branâ„¢ Bars Honey Oat
Kellogg’s All-Branâ„¢ Bars Brown Sugar Cinnamon
Kellogg’s Disney Pixar The Incrediblesâ„¢
Kellogg’s Tiger Power
Kellogg’s Smart Start® Healthy Heart
Kellogg’s Disney Lilo & Stitchâ„¢
Kellogg’s Special K® Fruit & Yogurt
Kellogg’s Mini Swirlzâ„¢ Fudge Ripple
Kellogg’s Toasted Honey Crunchâ„¢
Kellogg’s Cran-Vanilla Crunchâ„¢
Post Blueberry Morning Cereal

Breakfast Pastries

Eggo® Pancakes Buttermilk
Eggo® Waf-Fulls™ Blueberry
Eggo® Waf-Fulls™ Strawberry

Candy Bars:

Hershey’s Watchamacallit
Lifesavers – Butter Rum
Lifesavers – Chill-o-mints
Lifesavers – Cryst-o-mint
Lifesavers – Five Flavor Value Pack
Lifesavers – Hard Candy Sours
Lifesavers – Sours
Lifesavers – Tropical Fruits
Lifesavers – Wild Berries
Lifesavers – Wild Cherry
Optimum Opti-Pro Meal Lite Bar
PowerBar

Condiments:

Heinz 57 Sauce
Heinz Ketchup
Hunt’s Catsup
Miracle Whip

Cookies and Cakes:

Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats® Squares Caramel Chocolatey Chunk
Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats® Squares Original
Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats® Squares Rainbow
Kellogg’s Cereal & Milk Bars Frosted Flakes®
Kellogg’s Cereal & Milk Bars Cocoa Krispies®
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Frosted Hot Fudge Sundae
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Spider-manâ„¢ Spidey-Berry
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Apple Cinnamon
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Blueberry
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Brown Sugar Cinnamon
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Chocolate Chip
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Frosted Blueberry
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Frosted Cherry
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Frosted Chocolate Fudge
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Frosted Chocolate Vanilla Creme
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Frosted Grape
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Frosted Raspberry
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Frosted S’Mores
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Frosted Strawberry
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Frosted Wild Berry
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Low Fat Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Star Warsâ„¢ Frosted Lava Berry Explosion
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Frosted Caramel Chocolate
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Frosted Cookies & Creme
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Cinnamon Roll
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Low Fat Frosted Chocolate Fudge
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Low Fat Frosted Strawberry
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Strawberry
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Yogurt Blasts Blueberry
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Yogurt Blasts Strawberry
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® French Toast
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® SpongeBob SquarePantsâ„¢ Wild Bubble-Berry
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts® The Incredibles Incrediberry Blast
Nabisco Barnum’s Animal Crackers
Nabsico Chips Ahoy
Nabisco Fig Newtons
Nabisco Fig Newtons – Fat Free
Nabisco Fig Newtons – Whole Grain
Nabisco Honey Maid Graham Crackers
Nabisco Lorna Dornes
Nabisco Nilla Wafers
Nabisco Nutter Butter
Nabisco Mallomars
Nabisco Oreo Cookies
Nabisco Snackwells – Creme Sandwich
Nabisco Teddy Grahams
Nutri-Grain Twistsâ„¢ Apple Cobbler
Nutri-Grain Twistsâ„¢ Cappuccino & Creme
Nutri-Grain Twistsâ„¢ Strawberry Cheesecake
Nutri-Grain® Muffin Bars Banana
Nutri-Grain® Muffin Bars Cinnamon Raisin
Nutri-Grain® Cereal Bars Apple Cinnamon
Nutri-Grain® Cereal Bars Blueberry
Nutri-Grain® Cereal Bars Cherry
Nutri-Grain® Cereal Bars Mixed Berry
Nutri-Grain® Cereal Bars Raspberry
Nutri-Grain® Cereal Bars Strawberry
Nutri-Grain® Chewy Granola Bars Honey Oat & Raisin
Nutri-Grain® Chewy Granola Bars Chocolatey Chunk
Nutri-Grain® Chewy Granola Bites Chocolatey Chip
Nutri-Grain® Minis Yogurt Icing Blueberry
Nutri-Grain® Minis Yogurt Icing Strawberry
Nutri-Grain® Yogurt Bars Strawberry Yogurt
Nutri-Grain® Yogurt Bars Vanilla Yogurt
Nutri-Grain® Muffin Bars Blueberry
Nutri-Grain® Chewy Granola Bites Caramel Nut Crunch
Grandma’s Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies

Cough Syrups:

Delsym 12 Hour Cough Suppressant for Children, Orange
Delsym 12 Hour Cough Suppressant, Orange
Delsym Cough Suppressant
Children’s Dimetapp Decongestant Infant Drops
Children’s Dimetapp Decongestant Plus Cough Infant Drops
Robitussin Infant Cough DM
Robitussin Infant Cough & Cold CF
Robitussin DM Cough Relief Infant Drops, Fruit Punch
Robitussin Pediatric Cough & Cold Formula
Robitussin Pediatric Cough Long-Acting
Robitussin Pediatric Cough & Cold Long-Acting
Robitussin Maximum Strength Cough & Cold
Robitussin Head & Chest Congestion PE
Robitussin Cough DM
Robitussin PE Nasal Decongestant and Expectorant
Robitussin Cough, Cold & Flu Nighttime
Robitussin Chest Congestion Guaifenesin Syrup, USP
Robitussin Cough & Congestion
Robitussin Cough Long-Acting
Robitussin Honey Cough Natural Cough Drops, Honey Center
Vicks NyQuil multi-symptom – original
Vicks NyQuil multi-symptom – cherry
Vicks NyQuil Cough
Vicks Formula 44 Cough
Vicks Formula 44 Expectorant
Vicks Formula 44 Decongestant
Vicks Formula 44 Mult-symptom
Pediatric Vicks 44E Cough & Congestion
Pediatric Vicks 44M Cough & Cold
Vicks Casero

Crackers:

Kraft Cheese Nips
Nabisco Harvest Crisps – Wheat Thins 5 Grain
Nabisco Ritz Bits – Peanut Butter
Nabisco Ritz Bits – Graham Cracker S’mores
Nabisco Ritz Chips – Cheddar – Oven-Toasted Crunch
Nabisco Ritz Crackers
Nabisco Ritz Crackers – Low Sodium
Nabisco Sociables
Nabisco Wheat Thins
Nabisco Wheat Thins – Baked
Nabisco Wheat Thins – Low Sodium
Nabisco Wheat Thins – Multi-Grain
Nabisco Wheat Thins – Ranch
Nabisco Wheat Thins – Reduced Fat

Dairy:

Breakstones Cottage Cheese & Toppings – Peach
Breakstones Cottage Cheese & Toppings – Pineapple
Breyer’s Yogurt -Fruit on the Bottom – Strawberry Lowfat
Cool Whip
Cool Whip – Extra-Creamy
Cool Whip – Lite
Knudsen – Cottage Double (Peach)
Knudsen – Cottage Double (Pineapple)
Knudsen – Cottage Double (Strawberry)
Yoplait Yogurts

Drink Mixers:
Saratoga Salsa Bloody Mare Mix (spelling is correct)
El Paso Chili Key Lime Margarita Mix

Frozen Foods:

Fruits and Vegetables:

B&M Original Baked Beans
Contadina Tomato Paste
Claussen Pickles – Bread and Butter Chips
Claussen Pickles – Kosher Dill Burger Slices
Claussen Pickles – Sweet Gherkins
Claussen Pickle Relish
Del Monte canned petite diced tomatoes with italian seasonings
Del Monte Fruit Naturals Red Grapefruit
Heinz Pickle Relish
Mott’s Applesauce
Mt. Olive Sweet Relish
Mt. Olive Bread and Butter Pickles
Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce

Ice Creams

Ben & Jerry’s – Chubby Hubby
Ben & Jerry’s – Cherry Garcia
Ben & Jerry’s – Neapolitan Dynamite
Ben & Jerry’s – Cherry Garcia Body & Soul
Ben & Jerry’s – Cherry Garcia Low Fat Frozen Yogurt Pints
Ben & Jerry’s – Cherry Garcia Original Ice Cream Singles
Dreyer’s – Girl Scouts Samoas Cookie Ice Cream
Dreyer’s – Almond Praline Grand Ice Cream
Dreyer’s – Cherry Chocolate Chip Grand Ice Cream
Dreyer’s – Cherry Vanilla Grand Ice Cream
Dreyer’s – Cookies ‘N Cream Grand Ice Cream
Dreyer’s – Dulce de Leche Grand Ice Cream
Dreyer’s – Nestle Toll House Cookie Swirl Grand Ice Cream
Dreyer’s – Spumoni Grand Ice Cream
Dreyer’s – Toffee Bar Crunch Grand Ice Cream
Dreyer’s – Turtle Sundae Grand Ice Cream
Dreyer’s – Ultimate Caramel Cup Grand Ice Cream

Jams, Jellies, and Syrups

Eggoâ„¢ Syrup Original Syrup
Eggoâ„¢ Syrup Buttery Syrup
Eggoâ„¢ Syrup Lite Syrup
Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
Knott’s Boysenberry preserves
Smucker’s Grape Jelly

Meats

Oscar Meyer Pickle and Pimento Loaf

Pastries

Nabisco Nilla Wafer Pie Crust
Nabisco Oreo Pie Crust
Jello No-Bake – Chips Ahoy
Jello No-Bake – Oreo
Pepperidge Farm’s Puff Pastry sheets

Salad Dressings:

Emeril’s Italian Vinegrette
Kraft Salad Dressing – Light done Right Creamy French
Kraft Salad Dressing – Thousand Island Fat Free
Maple Grove Farms Caesar Fat Free
Miracle Whip Salad Dressing
Miracle Whip Salad Dressing – Hot n Spicy
Miracle Whip Salad Dressing – Light
Miracle Whip Salad Dressing – Light Super Easy Squeeze
Miracle Whip Salad Dressing – Non-fat
Miracle Whip Salad Dressing – Super Easy Squeeze
Wishbone Ranch Dressing
Wish-Bone Classic Caesar

Sauces:

A1 Steak Sauce Marinade – Cajun
A1 Steak Sauce Marinade – Chicago
A1 Steak Sauce Marinade – Teriyaki
Bull’s Eye BBQ Sauce
Bull’s Eye BBQ Sauce – Honey Smoke
Bull’s Eye BBQ Sauce – Smokehouse Hickory
Bull’s Eye BBQ Sauce – Sweet Hickory Smoke
Bull’s Eye BBQ Sauce – Texas Style Mesquite
Crazy Jerry’s Alotta Bull BBQ Sauce – Torrid Toro (Hot
Holy Smoke – Sticky Wings Glaze
Holy Smoke – Bar B Q Glaze
Jim Beam Steak Sauce
Jim Beam Herb & Garlic Gourmet Marinade
Jim Beam Lemon & Herb Gourmet Marinade
Kraft Barbecue Sauce
Penn State Nittany Lions Lime Grilling Sauce
Pork Rubbers Original Competition BBQ Sauce
Tuttorosso Marinara
Tuttorosso Three Cheese
Tuttorosso Traditional
Tuttorosso Flavored With Meat
Tuttorosso Mushroom
Tuttorosso Tomato & Basil
Tuttorosso Tomato, Olive & Garlic
Virginia Gentleman Bourbon BBQ Sauce

Snacks:

Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese Strawberry Cheesecake Bar
Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese Chocolate covered Strawberry Cheesecake Bar
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – All Star Burgers
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – All-star Hot Dogs
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – Chicken Dunks
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – Chicken Strips
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – Cracker Stackers
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – Nachos
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – Peanut Butter Pile-ups
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – Pizza
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – Pizza Dunks
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – Pizza Pile-ups
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – Pizza Stix
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – Pizza Swirls
Oscar Mayer Lunchables – Tacos

Soups
Campbells Vegatable soup (in microwaveable bowl)

And maybe a quick list of some of the foods served in Fast Food Restaurants that contain HFCS:

Arby’s

Fat Free Italian Dressing
Honey Wheat Bread
Light Balsamic Vinaigrette
Raspberry Vinaigrette
Santa Fe Ranch Dressing
Spicy Brown Honey Mustard

Blimpie

Blue Cheese Dressing
Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Cinnamon Roll
Fat Free Italian Dressing
Fudge Brownie
Honey French Dressing
Marbled Rye Roll
Mustard Potato Salad
Potato Salad
Sweet Peppers
Thousand Island Dressing

Burger King

Breakfast Syrup
Buffalo Sauce
Chocolate Shake Syrup
Coca Cola Classic
Corn Dusted Buns
Croissant (Croissan’wich)
Dr Pepper
Dutch Apple Pie
Hershey’S Sundae Pie
Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
Honey Mustard Spread
Icee – Coca Cola Classic
Icee – Minute Maid Cherry
Ketchup
Milk Shake
Milk, 1% Lowfat Chocolate
Mott’s Strawberry Flavored Applesauce
Sesame Seed Buns
Specialty Buns
Sprite
Steak Sauce
Strawberry Shake Syrup
Tartar Sauce

Chick-fil-a

Barbecue Sauce
Blue Cheese Dressing
Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Carrot & Raisin Salad
Carrot & Raisin Salad
Chicken Salad Cup
Chick-fil-A Southwest Chargrilled Salad
Chocolate syrup ingredients
Dr Pepper
Fat Free Honey Mustard Dressing
Fudge Nut Brownie
Garlic and Butter Croutons
Honey Mustard Sauce
Honey Roasted BBQ Sauce
Honey Roasted Sunflower Kernels
Polynesian Sauce
Reduced Fat Raspberry Vinaigrette
Sunflower Multigrain Bagel
Thousand Island Dressing
Yeast rolls

Dairy Queen

Chocolate Cold Fudge

Jack in the Box

Asian Sesame Dressing
Barbecue Dipping Sauce
Barq’s Root Beer
Bittersweet Chocolate Syrup
Blueberry French Toast Sticks
Bun
Chocolate Syrup
Coca-Cola
Croissant
Croutons, Gourmet Seasoned
Dr. Pepper
Fanta Orange Syrup
Fanta Strawberry
Grape Jelly
Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
Ketchup
Log Cabin Syrup
Low Fat Balsamic Dressing
Mayonnaise
Mayo-Onion Sauce
Minute Maid Lemonade
Oreo Cookie Crumbs
Original French Toast Sticks
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Secret Sauce
Sourdough Bread, Grilled
Sprite
Strawberry Syrup
Strawberry/Banana Syrup
Sweet ‘N Sour Dipping Sauce
Tartar Sauce

KFC

Potato Salad
Apple Pie Slice
Cherry Cheesecake Parfait
Lemon Meringue Pie
Lil’ Bucket Chocolate Crème
Lil’ Bucket Fudge Brownie
Lil’ Bucket Lemon Crème
Lil’ Bucket Strawberry Short Cake
Strawberry Crème Pie Slice
Apple Pie Mini’s
Mott’s Apple Sauce

McDonald’s

1% Low Fat Chocolate Milk Jug
Baked Apple Pie
Barbeque Sauce
Big Mac Bun
Big Mac Sauce
Biscuit
Butter Garlic Croutons
Chocolate Triple Thick Shake
Coca-Cola Classic
Deluxe Warm Cinnamon Roll
English Muffin
Hi-C Orange Lavaburst
Honey Wheat Roll
Hot Caramel Sundae
Hot Mustard Sauce
Hotcakes
Ketchup
Low Fat Caramel Dip (for Apple Dippers)
McDonaldland Cookies
McFlurry with Oreo Cookies
Newman’s Own Cobb Dressing
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
POWERade Mountain Blast
Regular Bun
Sesame Seed Bun
Southwestern Chipotle Barbeque Sauce
Sprite
Strawberry Sundae
Strawberry Triple Thick Shake
Sweet ‘N Sour Sauce

Subway

Chicken Strips, Teriyaki Glazed
Chipotle Soutwest Sauce
Chocolate Chunk Cookie
Deli Style Roll
Fat Free Honey Mustard
Peanut Butter
Sourdough Bread
Wheat Bread

Taco Bell

Caramel Apple Empanada
Citrus Salsa
Pizza Sauce
Salsa

Whataburger

Apple Turnover, Fried
Bread, Texas Toast Enriched
Buns, Wheat
Buns, White
Crackers, Keebler Original Club
Croutons, Njoy Seasoned
Dressing, Low Fat Ranch
Dressing, Low Fat Vinaigrette
Dressing, Thousand Island
Jam, Strawberry
Jelly, Grape
Milkshake, Malt Syrup
Milkshake, Chocolate
Milkshake, Strawberry
Pancake Syrup
Salad Dressing
Syrup, Cherry Coke Fountain
Syrup, Coca-Cola Classic Fountain
Syrup, Dr Pepper Fountain
Syrup, Fanta Strawberry Fountain
Syrup, Barq’s Root Beer Fountain
Syrup, Minute Maid Lemonade Fountain
Syrup, Minute Maid Orange Soda Fountain
Syrup, POWERaDE Fruit Punch Fountain
Syrup, Sprite Fountain
Tartar Sauce

The #1 tool in your wellness arsenal.

“If you want to find God, hang out in the space between thoughts.” – Alan Cohen

Imagine having to pick a topic to be the very first one blogged about on a Wellness site.  This was not a difficult task for me as I believe that all health, all wellness, all emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being begins on the inside.  I cannot emphasize strongly enough the power of the mind when it comes to the quality of not only your day-to-day experience, but of your health as well.  Do you really want to be healthy?  If so then step 1 is easy – Sit down, close your eyes, shut your mouth and breath.  That is all.  Meditation is profoundly simple and yet will take you on a life long journey.

I believe that there are a variety of epidemics in the United States today (nope, swine flu isn’t one of them) affecting millions of people on a daily basis.  Leading the way is stress.  We as a society have gotten ourselves stressed out over just about everything, and mostly about the things that matter the least, but that’s a topic for a later post. Various studies conducted over the past 40 years by top universities, as well as  medical and research facilities prove that meditation is one of the strongest weapons against health problems, especially when it comes to stress. I’ve seen patient after patient return from a 2 week vacation with an absence of symptoms, only to have them come flooding back after a week or two of 60 hour work weeks, crappy food and general unhappiness.  Stress, and the biological and hormonal reactions to it act as precursors for a variety of illness, making it imperative that it be dealt with immediately – meditation is one of the most effective ways to do so. 

The medical benefits of meditation are numerous and include: an increase in blood flow, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and a significant decrease in the production of cancer causing stress hormones. When you meditate, you make use of breathing techniques to help rid your mind of unwanted stressors, of thoughts that bring you nothing but worry, fear, anger, sadness and other reactionary emotions.  Through meditation you will experience deeper levels of awareness and relaxation, giving way to increased creativity, improved ability to focus, improved perception and memory, and further development of intelligence.

What I personally have found to be an even greater benefit than the above is the development of a slight “pause”.  Imagine getting cut off in traffic and being able to push the “pause” button on the remote control of your life.  Then getting to consciously decide whether you are going to react out of anger - screaming at the offender and flooding your body with stress hormones, instantly skyrocketing your blood pressure, and generally ruining the rest of your day. Or perhaps you could realize that it was most likely an accident, the person does not know you or anything about you and probably just made the same mistake that you yourself have made from time to time.  Having the ability to make this split second decision over and over is the difference between a life lived purely in a reactionary mode or one lived in an empowered conscious mode.  Cumulatively, the decisions you make shape your entire reality.  Personally, I’d rather take calm and collected over uncontrolled anger any day.  One of my mentors used to say that the mind is like a chainsaw.  It’s great to have a chainsaw around if you need to cut down trees, however, having one constantly running in the background of your day will most likely drive you insane.  The mind is like an unruly child that has held center stage in your life up to this point and will most likely not go quietly into the night.

So, how does one meditate, how does one quiet this unruly mind?  This is an extremely common question.  “I would meditate if only I knew how.” Is something that I hear all of the time.  There are hundreds if not thousands of books on the in’s and out’s of meditation for you to choose from.  Here’re 3 that I would personally recommend.

1) Finding The Still Point
2) Breath by Breath
3) Guided Meditations, Explorations and Healings

That being said, the basics of meditation are very simple.  Don’t get me wrong, mediation is not “easy”, per say, and literally can take you a lifetime to master.  Meditation is like CrossFit for your mind!

Step 1 is to find a comfortable spot that will hopefully be relatively quiet, especially in the beginning of your practice.  If you don’t have a meditation mat, a chair will work equally as well.  The only stipulation is that you want your back to remain straight and not slumped over.  Sit in the chair, feet flat on the floor, back straight, chin tucked slightly.  The goal of this position is to use your body’s natural alignment to stay relaxed and comfortable at the same time staying focused and awake.

Step 2 is to close your eyes until they are just slits, allowing a tiny bit of light in to permit you to focus on a spot on the floor.  Some people like to close their eyes, but I have always found that to be a great way to either fall asleep or spend the half hour day dreaming of surf and Shakira.  Keeping your eyes slightly open will prevent the above from happening. 

Step 3 is to begin counting your breaths.  Inhale as slowly as possible, and exhale in the same manner with as seamless of a transition between the two as possible.  Count a long slow “1” on the inhalation and a long slow “1” on the exhalation.  On your second inhalation make it a long slow “2” on both as well.  Your focus is to not allow your thoughts to come screaming and take you away on a daydream before you can count to ten and begin again.  Yes, thoughts will come into your consciousness, yes you will have to admit to yourself that they are there and then you will have to let them pass by.  This is similar to flipping channels on a television.  You can sit in front of the TV in full consciousness while changing channels.  You know what shows are on, and you are consciously choosing to continue flipping and let one take you away!  This is the same attitude that you must have with your thoughts.  “I have to do laundry as soon as this is done.” – might come into your mind.  That is fine!  What you want to avoid is “I have to do laundry as soon as this is done…. laundry is no fun, I wish that I had a maid, that would be awesome…when I have a maid I can do more surfing…” and then it’s off to fantasy land for 5 minutes of unconscious surf daydreams before you realize that you never made it to counting to the number 3.

Remember, no matter what happens, no matter how deep into a thought pattern you might get pulled, you can always STOP and refocus on your breathing and restart your counting, beginning with the number 1.  That is the answer to 99.9% of the questions that come up about the “what if’s” of meditation.  No matter what happens, from leg cramps, to mind trips, to emotions arising, STOP, take a deep breathe and continue to count your breaths while not allowing yourself to be taken on a trip by your thoughts. Doing so will improve the quality of your life to no end. 

Have a question about meditation or a story that you’d like to share?  Post to comments and I’ll do my best to get an answer to you.  And of course, welcome to Wellness Pacific Coast!