Why is it so hard to stick to New Year’s resolutions? The majority of people take a vow to lose weight, exercise more or volunteer more. These are all commendable resolutions, but most people don’t fulfill their resolutions and end up putting it on the list of things to accomplish in the following year. We’ve all been there.

Here are some ways you can make your intentions a reality:

Write down your intentions and keep them in a visible place, like taped to your bedroom mirror.

Figure out the bad patterns from your past that has kept you from achieving your goal. Are you in a stressful relationship that causes you to eat a pint of Ben & Jerry’s every night? If you don’t tackle the root of the behavior it will be much harder to accomplish your weight loss goal.

Be clear as to what your life would look like once you achieve these goals. If you resolve to go to the gym more, how will this benefit you?

Share your resolutions with a friend or a loved one. Hold each other accountable for achieving your goals. If you want to go to the gym more, have a friend call you two or three times a week to see what time you’re going or invite them to join you.

Reward yourself with every little accomplishment. If your intention is to lose weight and you lose 1 pound a week, pamper yourself with a massage.

What are your intentions for 2009? Let it be your best year yet.

Tags: Healthy Tips by Joshua Rosenthal
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Lately, people are being more conservative with their money: spending less at department stores, salons, car dealerships and restaurants. While these businesses have seen a decrease in sales, fast food restaurants have seen an increase. People can feed the whole family on very little money. But what is this cheap food really costing you?

Eating cheap, chemicalized junk foods may save you money right now, but ordering off the dollar menu can serve up helpings of high blood pressure and heart disease and could end up costing you down the road with medications and operations.

Many people think preparing their own organic meals is pricier and takes more time. People want fast convenient options.

The truth is, making your own meals does not have to take more of your time, and it’s not necessarily more expensive. It takes about 5 minutes to chop vegetables and another 5 minutes to sauté them for a quick stir-fry.

Experiment for two weeks. Go to the grocery store and buy ingredients for your favorite meals. For ideas you can check out hundreds of our quick, healthy recipes. Keep track of how much money you spend. For the second week buy prepared dishes or your meals from restaurants.

Besides saving a lot of money, you may notice a difference in how you feel when you prepare your own meal compared to when you buy a pre-made dish. Oftentimes, when people make their own meals, they feel more energized and enjoy their food more because of the love and time that went into the preparation. Let us know how you feel as you incorporate more home-cooked meals into your life.

Tags: Food, Healthy Tips, Uncategorized by Joshua Rosenthal
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Many Americans associate eating carbohydrates with weight gain. Is this really the case though? Think about other cultures. The Japanese consume high-carbohydrate diets composed of a lot of rice and starchy veggies and yet the majority of them are thin. What’s up with that?

The truth is all carbs are not created equal. It’s the highly processed ones found in white bread or cakes and cookies that are the problem, not the kind found in whole grains, fruits or vegetables. As more Americans are starting to eliminate them from their diets in order to lose weight, scientists are finding a link between fuzziness and carb-intake. In fact, a recent study found that eliminating carbs could leave you fuzzy headed and forgetful.

This supports the idea that there is actually a connection between the foods we eat and how we think. Carbohydrates are fuel for the brain. The body breaks them down into glucose, which it uses to fuel brain activity. Proteins then break down into glycogen, which can also be used for fuel by the brain.

Try an experiment. If you have eliminated carbohydrates from your diet, incorporate more whole grains into your diet, like long grain brown rice, kasha or quinoa. See you how feel. If you tend to eat a lot of carbs on a regular basis, try eliminating them from your diet for a few days. In either case, note how you feel. Do you notice any difference? Everyone is different, so it is important to tune into your body.

Tags: Food, Healthy Tips, Uncategorized by Joshua Rosenthal
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When the NY Department of Health and Mental Hygiene passed a law that required chain restaurants to post calories on their menus restaurant six months ago, owners didn’t believe it would make a big difference in what people ordered. A recent survey, however, found that nearly a quarter of consumers say the nutritional information is having an impact on what they eat. Read this interview to see the healthy changes New Yorkers are making.  

While it’s great that this change has made consumers more aware of what they are putting into their bodies, it is also important to understand the caloric density of foods. In other words, how much nourishment are you getting from those 100 or 200 calories? For example, a 100-calorie pack of cookies may have fewer calories than a handful of almonds, but the nuts have much more nutritional value. Empty calories found in lower-fat foods may not sustain you the way a food with higher fat and calorie content would.

Do you think restaurants should be required to post ingredients on their menus as well so you know exactly what benefits you’re getting out of your meals?

Tags: Food, Healthy Tips, Politics, Uncategorized by Joshua Rosenthal
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Granddaughter of author, Ernest Hemingway, actress with over 30 films under her belt, more than a handful of television appearances and mother of two, Mariel Hemingway has had a full life.

For the past 20 years she’s also been pursuing her passion for yoga and health and is now a voice for the holistic movement. Through her books, Healthy Living from the Inside Out: Every Woman’s Guide to Real Beauty, Renewed Energy, and a Radiant Life and Finding My Balance: A Memoir with Yoga, and her blog,  she journals about her experience to find health and happiness.

Like Mariel, many of us go through some sort of spiritual journey to find health and balance at some point in our lives. We recognize that certain relationships, jobs or diet plans do not support us in the way they once did. While we would like to snap our fingers and be happy—finding health and happiness takes some trial and error.

Recognize where you are in life. How are your relationships? How is your spiritual practice? Are you happy with your health? Wherever you are enjoy the process of finding balance, whether that is through picking up a yoga or meditation practice, eating different foods or exploring different relationships. Find what works for you.

Tags: Career, Celebrity News, Food, Healthy Tips, Relationships, Spirituality, Uncategorized by Joshua Rosenthal
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Guess what’s the next hot activity for kids? Cooking.

Many studies have found that the more kids are involved in meal preparation, the more willing they will be to try new dishes. The marketplace has seen a surge of children’s cookbooks and even video games to accommodate this new trend. These teaching tools go beyond learning how to bake cookies, but offer up recipes for main courses and side dishes, like roast chicken and brisket. They also speak to the family bonding experience of parents cooking with their kids.

The new cookbooks include: “Paula Deen’s My First Cookbook” and “The Second International Cookbook for Kids,” by Matthew Locricchio. Video games from Nintendo include “Personal Trainer: Cooking,” featuring cooking techniques and more than 240 dishes from countries around the world.

With rising rates of obesity and diabetes in children, it’s no surprise that we are seeing a push to get kids active in the kitchen. Cooking is not only fun, but creates healthy habits at an early age.

The next time you’re at the bookstore scan the cookbook section for books with colorful pictures and steps you know your kids can help out with, like washing vegetables or rolling out dough. Happy cooking!

Tags: Celebrity News, Food, Healthy Tips, Recipes, Relationships, Uncategorized by Joshua Rosenthal
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In recent years paparazzi and the rest of America has had their eye on Simple Life star and daughter of Lionel Richie, Nicole Richie, because of her dramatic weight-loss. Nicole claimed to have never had an eating disorder, but rather after years of abuse she was finally taking care of her body.

It seems now that she is raising a child she is not only taking care of herself, but also her husband Joel Madden and her baby by not having any junk food in the house. Joel was resistant at first, but he now says that he has more energy during the day and sleeps better at night.

Many people believe that celebrities eat whatever they want because they can afford to have trainers to ward off the effects of chemicalized junk food, but it seems that celebs are finally realizing it’s not just about what they look like, but also how they feel. Take Britney Spears, Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Applegate and Madonna for instance. They have all started paying attention to the benefits of whole foods on their energy levels and their bodies.

It’s great that stars are speaking out about their healthy diet changes and how it leads to increased energy and better sleep. As you start to incorporate more whole foods into your diet and crowd out the processed foods, what changes do you notice?

Tags: Celebrity News, Food, Healthy Tips, Uncategorized by Joshua Rosenthal
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In recent blogs we’ve talked about the Mediterranean diet and the Macrobiotic Diet. Another way of eating that we address at Integrative Nutrition is Ayurveda.

Ayurveda translates to “the science of life.” It is an ancient healing system from India that emphasizes eating in accordance with your individual body type and the seasons. The system promotes health and disease prevention through balancing the doshas, or mind-body types.

Foods encouraged and restricted depend on your particular dosha, but some general guidelines apply to all meals. A basic meal should have something warm, something with protein, a salad and/or vegetables with good oil, spices and flavorings, and something small and sweet for dessert. If you are following an Ayurvedic diet, heavily processed foods, excess sugar and caffeine and large amounts of animal protein are restricted.

Sample menu:

Breakfast: Hot cereal with walnuts, honey and spices

Lunch: Portobello mushroom curry with basmati rice, mung bean dahl and sautéed spinach

Snack: Almonds, Eater’s Digest tea

Dinner: Tandoori salmon with yogurt, turmeric and pineapple chutney, brocooli salad and sesame oil and sesame seeds

Desserts: Rice pudding with cardamom, cinnamon, honey and almond milk

The Ayurveda philosophy advocates for people to eat their biggest meal in the middle of the day, because it’s the best time for our bodies to take in and digest a large meal. This way of eating is not for everyone though. You may feel best when you have a large meal at breakfast or at dinner instead. Some people feel better when they eat a large breakfast and lunch and then have a small snack for dinner; others do best with five small meals throughout the day. Experiment with the times of the day you eat and the size of your meals.  

To learn more about the doshas and your particular dosha visit www.lifespa.com.

Tags: About IIN, About IIN Blog, Food, Healthy Tips, Uncategorized by Joshua Rosenthal
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Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, wouldn’t it be nice if everyone could just slow down? The reality is December is filled with just as many parties, cooking, entertaining and shopping as November. Before you stress out over the next meal you have to prepare or holiday party you have to attend, read this article which outlines ways to de-stress during the holiday season.

Visualize your ideal holiday. Imagine who is sitting around your ideal holiday dinner table. Don’t be afraid to re-evaluate family traditions and start some new ones.

Define what relaxation means to you. Whether it means taking a bath, going to the gym or taking a yoga class, find ways that help you recharge your batteries so you are not constantly on the go.

Schedule down time. Enjoy time alone by listening to music or reading a book. Turn off your phone, if you can, so you are not distracted.

Recognize when you’re experiencing too much stress. Decrease your stress levels by deep breathing or visualizing a place you’d like to be.

Keep focused on your goal. Remind yourself why it’s important to stay relaxed and balanced.

Staying relaxed is not only important around the holidays, but year-round. When you are living in harmony with your own body, you will live a healthier and happier life.

Tags: Healthy Tips, Relationships by Joshua Rosenthal
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Gluten-free diets are gaining popularity with Americans as more people are realizing they have sensitivities to eating products with wheat, barley or rye. One study found that we spend more than $2 billion dollars a year on gluten-free products.  

Gluten, found in cereals, bread, cookies and cakes, is associated with many health problems like allergies, brain fog, candida and mineral deficiencies, and more minor symptoms like bloating, constipation or gas. Many people are allergic to wheat but don’t know it. If you think you might be sensitive or allergic to gluten, you can remove all wheat and gluten products from your diet for a few weeks and see how you feel. 

While it may seem difficult to avoid wheat, there are delicious grains like amaranth, brown rice, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, sorghum and teff that you can add to your meals. Many people find that when they remove these products from their diet, they start eating more fruits and vegetables. Instead of whole wheat bread for your sandwich, make a wrap using lettuce.

Even those who know they are not allergic to gluten say they feel healthier by sticking to a gluten-free diet. Try it out and let us know how you feel.

Tags: Food, Healthy Tips by Joshua Rosenthal
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