I’d like to focus exclusively on your health here for a minute.

What kind of results are you experiencing today? Are you feeling inspired and full of energy all the time? Are you satisfied with your body and level of personal fitness – or at least working hard towards that end? Or do you feel lethargic and beat down, worn out? Out of shape and not feeling like you’re at the top of your game?

The single most important thing for you to realize is that right now there are countless people experiencing exactly what you’re experiencing; but even more important, there are countless people experiencing the exact OPPOSITE of how you’re currently feeling. Grasp the real importance of this: if you’re feeling tired and “out of it” all the time, stressed out and falling out of shape, there are countless others who have turned that around in their lives and found themselves with boundless energy and inspiration, the body of their dreams and an incredible state of health and overall vitality. You can do this, and it’s entirely possible for you.

On the other hand, if you’re experiencing incredible health right now…just realize that your daily habits have taken you there. Never take your daily habits for granted, but rather maintain and continually build upon them in new, exciting ways. You know where you stand on this scale. With 1 being a state of chronic disease and 10 being a state of incredible, luminous health and vitality, where would you place yourself on a scale of 1-10? Ground yourself and realize that this is just your starting point on a path that will lead you beyond what you ever thought possible.

This becomes possible for you through your DAILY HABITS. Your daily habits are the actions you take consistently every day that either move you progressively forward or progressively backward. Your current daily habits are the cause and effect that determine your health, fitness and energy levels. All of the results you’re experiencing today, and will experience in the near future, stem from your current daily habits.

Let’s pull out the magnifying glass. Zooming in on fitness, if you never worked out and just sat at a computer all day, you’d likely have less-than-optimal personal fitness levels. On the other hand, if you live an active lifestyle and commit to a few powerful workouts every week, you’re on course to enjoying an incredible body and experience of life. It’s not your genetics. It’s not your lack of time. It’s not because of work. It all comes down to the effectiveness of your daily habits.

In changing your results, you need to take a glance at cause and effect. The causes are your daily habits – the actions you take consistently every day. The effects are the results you’re seeing – your state of health, personal fitness, energy levels, mood, enthusiasm in life, mental performance, etc. To change the effects (your results), all you have to do is change the causes…your daily habits.

The only way to really see your causes – and the effects they bring you – is to become aware of them. The best way to do this is through a daily checklist of some kind. It could be on a small notecard you carry around in your pocket, a folded 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper, a task list on your cellphone, or any other way you can think of. The true value of this practice is first and foremost building an awareness of your current habits. By taking the same actions consistently every day (or every week), you can track your results and see which actions are really panning out for you and delivering value to  your life.

It’s almost like running a business: you wouldn’t just hire someone to do a few random actions for your business each day. You’d have a step-by-step plan for them to get the most out of their time. Manage your life in the same way. Track your daily habits and notice how they make you feel. If certain ones instantly improve your mood and energy, keep them and even see if they could be improved upon! The ones that take away your energy, ditch em and  replace them with new, empowering daily habits.

Here’s your 60-second action step of the day:

Grab a notecard or quickly fold up an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper in half. Whatever you chose to go with, hold it so it appears tall from top to bottom (not short and side-to-side). Title your card or paper, “Current Daily Habits” and brainstorm some ideas. Include your morning routine as it is today, and then think of some ways you could improve it. This could means batching tasks together, such as bathroom tasks, to save time and energy, or adding new habits that give you energy in the morning. Include your work schedule as a single habit, and if you have a lunch break in-between schedule that in as well.

=> Here’s how mine starts out as a real-life example:

Current Daily Habits:

* Watch MindMovie and Review Goals/Objectives

* Morning Water w/ Celtic Sea Salt

* Shower Up

* Superfood Smoothie w/ Fresh Greens from Garden

…………………………………………………

I start my day by watching an inspiring “MindMovie” – a blend of pictures, affirmations and music to get and keep you focused on what you want in life. I then head downstairs and grab my morning glass of water with a pinch of celtic sea salt (for electrolyte content). After that splash of hydration, I then shower up to start my day and make a tall superfood smoothie for breakfast (heading outside to the garden to grab some fresh greens to blend in). This gives me the mental clarity, focus and concentration I need to tackle the day head-on.

I include this just to give you an idea about how you can innovate and improve existing systems. Notice how I have that glass of water before my shower, which allows me to hydrate myself in the morning before eating breakfast. It’s always about the little things we do each day – our daily habits. Start your list now and leave me a comment below  — if you’re up for it, even post a few of your own daily  habits! Looking forward to hearing from you.

Unleash Your Vitality,

– John Brackett

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

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Here’s one that hits close to home: chocolate. It’s a worldwide phenomenon and a snacking bliss that’s been enjoyed since before you can remember. Actually, when you think about, how long has chocolate really been around? Chocolate bars with sugar, dairy and other additives certainly haven’t been around for centuries! Let’s take a look at a quick overview of how cacao came to be known in today’s world, and how much things have changed. I give you: “The Secret History Of Chocolate”.

Theobroma cacao was first native to South America (regions of the Amazon and Venezuela) as well as Central America and even key areas of Mexico. Cacao trees grow well in tropical climates and other areas with temperatures consistently in the 70s and 80s (degrees Fahrenheit). Because of this, as well as trading incentives, cacao from Venezuela was planted off the coast of Africa for the first time in the late 1500s. Thus began the incredible growth of cacao as an export for various nations in Africa over the next few hundred years!

What’s really exciting to me is what chocolate REALLY is…the cacao bean, sometimes called a nut, of the fruit of the cacao tree. Although more and more adults are starting to catch on to the true nature of the chocolate, the kids that are devouring sugar candy being sold as “milk chocolate” have no idea what true chocolate really is. What’s happened is that we’ve fallen completely out of touch with real, genuine food. The solution? Learning and education – exactly what you’re up to right now :)

If you’re not familiar with how cacao is grown, the trees produce bright, vibrant fruits year-round that often resemble American footballs in shape. These range from deep shades of a red-orange-yellow color all the way to a dark bluish-purplish color. They’re incredible to view – you just can’t help but wonder at them. They’re often harvested 2-3 times a year.

Breaking open these fruit pods, you’re likely to find a few dozen cacao beans in each (surrounded by the white, pulp-like fruit inside). It’s these cacao beans that are real chocolate – raw chocolate at it’s best. Raw cacao beans are loaded with nutrition, especially coming from the alkaline minerals that are becoming harder and harder to get in today’s food supply! Things like magnesium, iron, chromium and a number of other factors can all be found abundantly present in the raw cacao bean. So what are today’s chocolate bars?

It’s almost as if the history of chocolate has been hidden from us all this time. We’ve grown up on cacao beans that have had the oil pressed out of them, turning into cakes, and then been powdered into cacao powder or cocoa powder. This in itself is fine, but it’s what happens next that really makes the difference (although a lot of the nutritional value can be lost here, depending on the pressing process). What happens next?

Besides the myriad of other processing stations for mass-produced chocolate, poor-quality additives are blended into the mix. Dried milk powder, refined sugar and all sorts of artificial flavor chemicals are mixed together into a liquid that becomes a “milk chocolate” bar. My personal stance? No thanks!

Now, this is clearly not how every company operates. Mass production? Absolutely. Some of the new, up-and-coming organic chocolate brands? No way. The industry has come a long way quickly as people have demanded higher quality ingredients and products from manufacturers. We now recognize that it’s the not the synergy of dairy, sugar and chocolate that makes us feel good – it’s just the cacao, real chocolate.

The Mayans and Aztecs recognized the inherent value of the cacao bean centuries before the milk chocolate bar was first produced in 1879. When Cortez came to Tenochtitlan in the 1500s, he was surprised to find a currency not of gold, but of cacao beans. Did you read that? The ancient currency of choice was raw chocolate! Cacao drinks were prepared and enjoyed in their civilization, and it seems that chocolate played an even bigger role back then than it does today!

The secret history of chocolate may never be fully understood by our civilization. We’ll continue to uncover new history and information on chocolate as we move forward, as well as new nutritional discoveries as we advance in our understanding. For now? Think over and wonder about the history of chocolate during the day today. And more importantly, don’t settle for the cheap stuff :)

Sources: Wolfe, David. Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future. Berkeley: North Atlantic, 2009. Print.

Unleash Your Vitality,

– John Brackett

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

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I  understand your healthy skepticism. You hear a word like “superfoods” and while a part of you lights up with anticipation, you know full-well that it sounds like another scam or new product on the market. I’m here to talk to that small part of you that just lit up with the light of possibility, and reveal how superfoods are actually a food group…and one that you’d best start paying attention to – today.

Superfoods are a class of foods that have risen above and beyond the traditional “food” label. Conventional foods give us the essential nutrients we need to survive, but superfoods deliver the things our bodies and minds need to THRIVE – in a multitude of ways. Nearly all classified “superfoods” (such as goji berries, spirulina, bee pollen, maca, aloe vera, hempseeds, etc) work to enhance the immune system in dramatic ways. They deliver the exact key players for incredible immunity, but do it in the context of an extraordinary whole food – not a refined, chemical supplement that our bodies can’t assimilate.

Superfoods go far beyond immunity, however. They deliver practical, tangible results in your health, fitness and energy levels on the spot. We can all laughingly understand that no person can feel good or perform even remotely well living off just donuts and junk food. But then we stop mid-way. If that’s the bottom end of energy and personal performance, what’s the top? It’s certainly not the traditional American or European dietary lifestyle! If we consider that (which is causing incredible amounts of disease, obesity, and unnecessary pain and suffering) as the “middle point” on the scale of energy levels and personal performance, what IS the top?

The truth is, we’re just discovering what that top is now. And a few years down the road, we’ll know even more about that peak state. As we continue evolving in our understanding of nutrition, lifestyle and the human body, we’ll continue to redefine what we think is possible. The problem right now? What we know is possible is far beyond where most people have settled. Enter: superfoods. Superfoods are the missing piece of the puzzle, the “long-lost ingredient” that we’ve been searching for. We already know that they can dramatically enhance our immunity and keep us happy and healthy all year long, but the story goes so much deeper than that.

Do you realize that you can get all the protein you need (complete proteins with all of the essential amino acids), all the vitamins and minerals you need, all of the incredible enzymes and co-enzymes missing from the conventional modern diet and so much more…all from these so-called “superfoods”? What you’ve been told you’d have to take daily supplements to get is now available in the form of raw, organic superfoods grown in pristine, fertile soils in South America and beyond – score! Who in their right mind would rather take a handful of pills than enjoy a colorful, vibrant meal of foods that could revolutionize your health and energy levels daily?

A fascinating thing that starts to happen as you get into this is the falling away of old habits and food choices. You start to realize that if you take 5-10 minutes to blend up a quick “superfood smoothie”, you’ll feel incredible for hours – and, in fact, likely the whole day! Suddenly, when you’re faced with the option to grab a quick lunch of some fast-food meal with 70+ ingredients you can’t read or understand, you’re aware of the difference in how you might feel. You start to make the choices that lead to this enhanced state of wellbeing – where you have the energy to do what needs to get done, you’re more fun to be around because you’re in a better mood, and everyday just seems to be “one of those great days” :)

This new sense of energy comes from so many individual but connected factors, ranging from eating less of the things that drain your energy in the first place to gentle detoxification of old, stored toxins currently hampering your health, all the way to weight loss and the palpable energy actually in these superfoods. Many, if not all, classified superfoods are alkaline in nature – meaning they help to balance your body’s pH level back into a more neutral state. This is becoming more and more vital as people increasingly become dramatically more acidic (a breeding ground for disease). The other part of the equation that I’ve touched on before is the importance of alkalinity in energy levels. Alkaline blood is healthy, and is better able to carry the red blood cells that deliver the oxygen we need; this, in turn, determines our energy levels throughout the day (or is at least responsible for somewhere around 90% of it).

As your energy skyrockets and disease starts getting stopped in its tracks, you’re also getting re-mineralized. With mineral-deficient soils and foods as the norm, you’ll find that this aspect makes all the difference in the world. And when I say re-mineralization, I don’t just mean your bones and teeth. I’m talking your whole body, which includes your hair, skin and nails, muscle tissue quality, your organs, etc. Just one word of warning: as your body becomes increasingly nourished and revitalized, your mind follows in turn. With an incredible diet comes incredible mental performance, and it has been noted that superfoods in particular can lead to a re-evaluation of values in your life. What’s important to you at any given moment is determined by the state that you’re in…change the state, and you change the game at a fundamental level. The catch? The first move is up to you.

Unleash Your Vitality,

– John Brackett

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

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I hope you’re awake and refreshed because today’s post could change your life in more ways than you might think. If you’ve ever been laying down in bed at night with chronic, racing thoughts flying through your mind – getting more and more frustrated at not being able to fall asleep – then what you’re about to read can really help you take your nights – and all the incredible benefits of a great night’s sleep – to the next level.

The first strategy is simple, and you may or may not already be doing it in one way or another: have an evening salad. Hold on, don’t look past this one. We already know that having a large salad is incredible for our overall health and energy levels. It gives us so much of what we need to thrive in today’s world. But there’s a few aspects to having that salad in the evening that you may have looked past.

Salads naturally have a calming and cooling effect on our minds and bodies. They relax us, both in mixed green smoothies and especially when you chew through a fresh salad. When you take the time to chew the leaves, you’re getting some of the most significant benefits in not only really using your teeth and jaw, but in the additional calming sensation you get from chewing the alkaline leaves. Another huge benefit is that chewing has been shown to dramatically increase the production of serotonin – that feel good chemical that’s essential to healthy brain function. All of this combined into an evening salad allows you to take that calm relaxation right into the bedroom for a good night’s rest.

A second alternative or additional measure is to try new herbal teas and go the herbalism route. Over the last few weeks, we’ve touched on the value of peppermint tea as an incredible way to relax yourself while staying clear-headed and refreshed. You can try out your own individual herbs or synergistic blends and determine what plants help put you into the exact feeling state you’d like to achieve. Just as certain teas can stimulate mental alertness and concentration, many teas can bring all kinds of different stages of relaxation and help you to unwind a bit from the day.

Now here’s where I really want you to pay attention. We just addressed two of the most powerful nutritional strategies to get your body really into a balanced state of relaxation where it’s possible for you to fall asleep easily. However, the mental aspect of relaxation is even more important. So much of insomnia is caused by chronic, racing thoughts about all kinds of topics in your life. Unfinished tasks, stresses from work and lifestyle, worrying about whether or not you made the right decision today, this week, this year, last year…it just doesn’t end. But it can.

If you’ve ever experienced this feeling, it’s time to take a different action and get a different result. What I’m about to share with you is one of the most powerful and effective tools not only for insomnia and getting a good night’s sleep, but also for stress relief, personal growth and development, and so much more. Here it is: as soon as you wake up in the morning and right before you fall asleep, name 10 things you’re grateful for and 10 things you honor yourself for. That’s it. It’s only takes minutes at the MOST, but here’s what this habit will do for you:

• Stop the stream of chronic, racing thoughts
• Calm, center and relax you almost instantly
• Put you in a state of wonder reviewing all the good things in your life
• Enhance your self-esteem and self-honor
• Allow you to feel good about the decisions you’ve made
• Enjoy a greater sense of achievement and accomplishment in your life

Think about it. Imagine you had to predict the results that two people would see in their lives. Joe goes to sleep every night worrying about his financial condition, stressed out about work, and insecure about his personal life. It often takes him 2-3 hours to fall asleep because of the amount of stress on his mind and body, and he wakes up early for work but is always tired and irritable because of the lack of sleep. Now imagine Crystal. She’s no top earner, but she goes to bed every night naming all the things in her life she’s grateful for, and honors herself for all the decisions she’s made throughout the day. How does she feel everyday when she wakes up? How does she feel when she goes to bed every night? Doesn’t it make sense that if she stays committed to this simple habit, it’s almost impossible to go to bed stressed out?

Now put yourself in Crystal’s shoes. Commit to trying out this habit tonight, as well as tomorrow morning first thing when you wake up. Your husband or wife doesn’t have to know! Just do it in your head, and you’ll soon be surprised at how much you’ve got to be thankful for right here, right now…and that your sleep has already improved by spades :)

Unleash Your Vitality,

– John Brackett

Leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

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The benefits of seaweed just keep piling in…have you tried it yet? If you missed the background, kelp would be my #1 pick to get you moving and feeling better in no time. You can look back to past posts for more information on kelp and other healthy seaweeds, but today we’re going to look at some new research on a certain fiber in kelp that helps significantly with weight loss – something many of you have asked for advice with.

According to Sherry Baker, Health Sciences Editor at Natural News, recent studies at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom have identified a specific fiber in kelp that helps the body to absorb less fat…by up to 75%. After testing more than 60 fibers in the laboratory, the research team discovered that alginate (that specific fiber in kelp) actually helps prevent fat uptake and storage in the body vastly more effectively than harmful, over-the-counter, anti-obesity treatments. I hope you heard that clearly – it’s natural, healthy and far more effective than conventional treatments!

People everywhere are desperately turning to the next solution for fat loss – and growing frustrated because the product either doesn’t work, or it works with side effects WORSE than the extra weight itself. Here’s my advice: go natural. Many times the reason for issues with weight control isn’t the actual main food itself; it’s just the additives, preservatives and other miscellaneous chemicals that wreak havoc on your body.

Go from the packaged turkey or chicken with 10-15 ingredients on the label to fresh, organic poultry (with just one ingredient, by the way!). Instead of snacking on a trail mix with 37 ingredients – almost none of which are why you bought it in the first place – buy the fresh, organic nuts, seeds and fruits yourself. Many times it’s these simple changes that will allow you to not only have more health and energy, but also get rid of the blockages to fully being able to control your weight. Your hormones will thank you!

On an ending note, Dr. Brownlee (head of the research time) and his colleagues are now excited to get this research out there and applied in the real world. They see many possibilities in adding this natural fiber into the foods people are already eating on a regular basis. The benefits are two-fold: one, there’s a greater chance of lowering and/or avoiding obesity, and two, consumers get all the benefits of a diet higher in fiber. We know that a diet high in fiber not only helps with blood sugar control, but can aid in weight loss and control, lower LDL cholestrol levels, and even slash the risk of colon cancer. How’s that for a natural fiber found in seaweed?

So where to go from here? Continue making simple, easy switches and pay attention to the ingredient labels on the foods you buy each week. Go simple and go natural, and be easy on yourself. And, if you’re feeling adventurous, add in some seaweed to a smoothie or your favorite dish this week!

Unleash Your Vitality,

– John Brackett

Leave a comment below and share your thoughts, ideas and opinions on this post!

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Depending on how far you’ve been able to burrow into the world of natural health, you may or may not be aware of the whole juicing controversy going on. What is it? Essentially this: people are fighting over juicing versus blending.

Sure, it’s funny – but it’s also an important topic to take a closer look at and get to the bottom of. After all, if you have a juicer or blender in your home or plan on getting one soon, there are some key points you’ll want to take home today. No matter what your position, at least you’ll have an intelligent comment to contribute should you get caught in the controversy first-hand!

Advocates of juicing say that it’s the easiest way to get nutrients into the body; you simply “juice” any fruit or vegetable, and you’ve got a light, easy drink ready-to-go! Because it’s just the juice, it’s quick to drink and even quicker for the body to absorb. It’s getting the true value of the fruit or vegetable without having to deal with the trouble of eating it.

But here’s where proponents of blending come in. Although blending eliminates “the trouble of eating it”, it doesn’t eliminate the fiber. That’s the #1 most significant difference between juicing and blending – and the real source of any argument. When you take out the fiber in juicing, the body can absorb the juice incredibly efficiently – but when sugar is involved, it often ends on a sour note with an energy crash (and certainly mood as well). On the other hand, the fiber in blended foods remains a part of the final product, which allows it to be absorbed closer to its natural rate of absorption – which, again, is absolutely critical when sugar is involved.

Let’s consider a modern example that may hit home for you personally: orange juice. It’s easy to learn new information like this, but more challenging to apply or implement it in our lives. That’s why we turn to a household juice. The process doesn’t start with pouring a glass out of the container in the fridge; it starts with whole, ripe oranges. Traditional orange juice has no fiber (or “pulp”), while certain brands offer the juice with the pulp intact (think more along the lines of blended oranges). What’s the difference? It’s not just taste.

The traditional orange juice can cause a tremendous spike in blood sugar and an avoidable mid-day crash with overindulgence. It’s easy to throw back a glass or two of orange juice in the morning – after all, it’s sweet and it tastes great ;) The point here is to realize that it’s simply fruit juice, and that adding that fiber or pulp back in helps to control the release of those natural sugars for more even energy throughout the day. You can also think of it as eating a whole food, rather than pressing out the “sweet nectar”. It’s tempting, but follow your body. The next time you’re juicing or blending — or even just reaching for a glass of orange juice — pay attention to how you feel drinking different amounts and trying new options. You might just get rid of that mid-day crash and find an easy way to increase your daily energy!

Unleash Your Vitality,

John Brackett

Leave a comment below and share your thoughts, ideas and opinions on this post!

Let’s face it: I’m sure you’ve heard people talk about the wonders of seaweed before. Whether it’s in the spa and therapeutic arena or just in your local health food store, seaweeds have been creating a buzz in the natural and alternative health realms for quite some time. Why all the buzz? What are people talking about here?

The most critical point you can pick up about seaweed is that it’s wild. It’s a group of completely natural plants that thrives in the oceanic environment – which, by the way, means that these plants are grown with ALL minerals in the “soil”. Besides some of the more common minerals we get here, we’re getting all of the trace minerals that are depleted in today’s modern agriculture. Think 30 minerals is healthy? Try getting all 92.

While this gives you some insight into why the plants may be so therapeutic in spa treatments and alternative therapies, what we’re going to focus on here and now is eating seaweed. Now, I know what you’re probably thinking: “I don’t know if I really want to eat seaweed…” but the truth is, you don’t have to turn this into a meal at all…or even a chore. Two easy ways to get this powerful group of foods into your diet regularly are by sprinkling a powdered/flake form (think salt container and low-sodium salt alternative) over your salads and other meals, or by adding a bit to a healthy smoothie (so you don’t even notice the taste, but reap all of the health benefits).

Before we get too far into the how, I’d like to really get back into why again. We know that “sea veggies” are highly-mineralized, but let’s consider just how potent and concentrated they are as well. You can get some of the highest-quality nutrition out there just from a teaspoon full of the flaked form – easy! This is because dried seaweed is so much more compact than the original wet seaweed. This gives you an awesome advantage – not to mention a better texture than the original slimy leaves!

Another reason to consider taking a closer look at seaweed is their alkalinity. Seaweeds are generally extremely alkaline, which can help balance out the acidic imbalance of most common diets today. This allows your blood to move more smoothly and can dramatically enhance the amount of energy you have available to yourself in your daily life. Having a strong acid-alkaline balance (closer to 7.0) means more energy for you, but also vastly improved health. Improved health means a better body, mind and lifestyle – and, more often than not, longevity…being able to stick around and see the wonders of life for a few more years than you would’ve had you not taken care of yourself.

I’ll add in one more bit, too: the glyconutrient profile of seaweed is astounding. While commonly termed glyconutrients, these long-chain sugars are also referred to as polysaccharides – you may know them by any one of these descriptions. What’s important is that these long-chain sugars give us steady, long-term energy to run off, as well as boost our immunity and restore elasticity to our joints and tissues. By cycling in various common types of seaweeds (such as kelp, nori, dulse and sea lettuce), we’re able to get all 8 essential glyconutrients into our diet – and thrive as a result.

I’d like to thank you for sticking with me through one of the tougher topics for people to wrap their heads around; seaweed can be one of those “mental blocks” for some people, and they simply won’t allow in important information that could change their lives for the better. I personally enjoy small amounts of kelp, dulse, laver and sea lettuce on a regular basis and it couldn’t be any simpler! Take advantage of the mineralization, alkalinity and glyconutrient profiles of these wild, vital plants and let me know how it goes!

Unleash Your Vitality,

John Brackett

P.S. If you’re one of the people wondering where they can find this stuff, it’s commonly right around the corner at your local health food store! If you’d rather not have to take the trip or can’t find one nearby, you can pick it up online for cheap anytime over at Sunfood.com.

Leave a comment below and share your thoughts, ideas and opinions on this post!

Alright – we’ve had some time to get clear and specific on our reason to live (cherishing our close relationships and doing what we love). Now, it’s time to get even more specific about how to keep your body in a state of peak physical performance (read “younger” and vibrant).

One of the easiest-to-implement tips out there – that’ll actually make a dramatic difference worth taking action on – is to make bright, colorful fruits and vegetables a regular part of your diet. Again, it’s simple and many people have heard it mentioned at least several times in their lives…but are you actually doing it? Are you actively purchasing a healthy variety of colorful fruits and vegetables every week when you go grocery shopping, and working them into your meals religiously? If not, there’s a divide between the knowledge you have and the actions you’re taking. Get to it!

The reasons are far and many, but among the top that resonates with people is the ability of the flavonoids found in these foods to help keep your skin young, elastic and radiant – never a bad thing! In fact, the condition of your skin – a vitally important organ and line of biological defense – is paramount to your health and longevity. The nutrients found within these colorful fruits and vegetables not only keep your skin healthy and glowing on the outside, but work from the inside-out. This is the difference between trying to “save yourself” and cover up from the outside-in with lotions and oils, and taking the time to eat the right things that work from the inside-out to deliver incredible internal health that works its way all the way back to the skin!

These same foods are also loaded with carotenoids and antioxidants, which will help keep you healthier and more energetic for years to come – as well as far less likely to suffer from many types of diseases. These foods not only give you exactly what you want in terms of quality of life and longevity, but in fact help to keep at bay the things you don’t want in your life! Not everything in life is a win-win combination, but this is one of those things.

So this week, load up your cart with colorful, vibrant fruits and vegetables and start enjoying the kind of life you deserve to live…for years longer than you thought you could!

Unleash Your Vitality,

John Brackett

Leave a comment below and share your thoughts, ideas and opinions on this post!

Fruit!

Without a doubt, you know by now that fruit is one of my favorite topics, and that I’m big on the importance of getting in fresh fruit to your diet. There’s so much that fruit has to offer, and so much value brought to the table. But here’s the big frustration that I hear from many people: “I don’t like to eat fruit because it upsets my stomach”.

Surprisingly, for such a natural food, this problem comes up all the time. I’d like to take a few minutes today to address this once and for all, and give you the insight and clarity that will allow you to never worry about eating fruit again!

With that said, let’s take a look at the real problem here: food combining. It’s all about the combination and timing of different foods – it’s not the fruit. When you combine sweets (whether that’s natural, fresh fruit or refined sugar) with fats and carbs, you get digestive disturbances on some level. The simple sugars are made to be digested and utilized quickly by the body, and when they’re trapped in with longer-burning fuels like complex carbs and fats, the sugars ferment and create gas.

Nobody wants stomach pains and excess gas in their lives! But that’s not a reason to avoid fruit at all. Rather, be aware of when you’re taking it in. Instead of having a peanut butter sandwich with a large bowl of sweet fruit (simple sugars, complex carbs and fats), opt for fruit as a snack or meal of its own. The way I commonly  do this is through the smoothies you’ll find me drinking down – it’s usually a green smoothie, but occasionally a tall fruit smoothie as well…especially in the summertime. The smoothie can give you the calories and volume you need for a full meal, while providing both optimal nutrition and ease of digestion.

Besides the meal option, I’ll give you one more idea: having it in the morning or at night. In the morning, you’ll have a “clean slate” with an empty stomach assuming you haven’t eaten before falling asleep! That allows you to take in fruit and digest it with ease, with some only taking roughly 30 minutes to digest. Then, you can tackle your larger breakfast or snack – already having the health benefits of fruit tackled first thing in the morning.

The other idea is having fruit as your last meal in the evening. This works well for an entirely different reason: how good you feel when you wake up. If you eat your last meal at 8:00 pm and go to sleep at 10:30, you’re giving yourself a 2 1/2 hour window to digest that last meal. If that last meal is a few pieces of fresh fruit, you’ll be fresh and feeling good by the time you fall asleep – and when you wake up the next morning. However, if you make that last meal a random mix of fats, complex carbs and all sorts of other things, you can bet that you won’t be able to digest it by the time you fall asleep (if you can fall asleep – eating at night can be extremely stimulating). Imagine waking up to a stomach full of half-digested foods churning around! No wonder so many people aren’t excited about waking up every morning!

The bottom line with fruit is that you should enjoy eating every bite, knowing that you’re contributing to your overall health and vitality, as well as personal energy throughout the day. You’re giving yourself the kind of nutrition you deserve, but you should also feel good throughout the day. Start to keep these food combining principles in the back of your mind and you’ll find that eating the same foods – just a bit differently – can lead to a dramatically better quality of life.

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If you’re new to the concept of green smoothies, then you’re in for a treat. If you’re already familiar with them, then I’d love to hear your take on this post – as well as your personal favorites. If you’ve been around me for any length of time, you’ve probably seen me down at least a few “green smoothies”. What are these wild green drinks and why on earth would you want to drink one?

Green smoothies are fruit smoothies with added greens…blended in. It almost sounds outrageous until you get ahold of one and experience it firsthand. The truth is, green smoothies actually taste just like fruit smoothies, but deliver an unparalleled level of nutrition and personal energy for your day.

This morning is the perfect example: I woke up and relaxed to a tall glass of water first thing, and then made my way downstairs to the home gym setup for an amazing budokan workout (a vigorous blend of yoga, martial arts and meditation). The best post-workout meal? You guessed it: a green smoothie. If you’re ready for the challenge, I’ll give you today’s recipe: 2 cups of water as a base, 3 large bananas, 4 medium apples, a few handful of mixed berries and several large leaves of collard greens…all blended together. The net effect is a large, green smoothie; the net taste is a refreshing blend of bananas, apples and fresh berries.

If you’re looking for a way to have more energy in your day, feel better all day long, clear up your skin and just enjoy life more in general, green smoothies are one of the fastest ways to get there. It’s a daily ritual for me that’s second to none in health and fitness, but perhaps more importantly in mental clarity and peak performance. I like having a clear vision of the day ahead of me, and really being able to enjoy that day to the fullest.

Here’s the basic recipe so you can start enjoying life-changing nutrition today: 1.5 – 2 cups of water as the base, plenty of your favorite fresh fruits (like bananas, mangoes, papayas, apples, etc) and keeping it simple with 1-2 types of fresh greens (think spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, lettuce, etc). You’ll find that the blender brings those greens down into such small particles that their absorption into your body brings in a rush of good health and wellbeing. You’ll find mental clarity and energy for your day, just from a green smoothie that tastes amazing anyway!

The challenge is on the table: just make one green smoothie for yourself within the next day or so. I promise you’ll be blown away!

Unleash Your Vitality,

John Brackett

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