Yesterday, the Teaching Garden planted its second garden at the Will Rogers Learning Community School in Santa Monica, Calif. I joined my good friend Kelly Chapman Meyer at the event to lead the kids in an exercise routine, and spent a great morning with them, jumping around, exercising, and generally having fun.
It is simply wonderful to watch this program grow — we launched with our first garden just a few short weeks ago. What I like so much about the Teaching Garden is that it brings an innovative, hands-on nutrition and fitness curriculum to kids. This event paired Will Rogers students with volunteers from AARP’s Create The Good, so in addition to learning more about healthy living, the kids were able to spend time with adults who know a thing or two about being active and eating right. Hopefully, these schools will continue to pass the torch to other students and schools across Los Angeles and beyond.

It was exciting to have my husband, Laird, and two of my daughters at the event today. Laird and I are always trying to teach our kids the importance of eating healthy and exercising regularly. We joined Jessica Stroup and Daniella Monet in the garden to help plant vegetables with the kids. Create The Good, with EIF’s iParticipate campaign, is helping the Teaching Garden meet their goal to get 1,000 gardens opened in schools across the country over the next couple of years. They’ve put together a toolkit that helps people either start or join a school garden, so really, this great program now can be taken into communities across the country. It’s amazing! Principal Chi Kim was really grateful to see the AARP members helping the kids plant in the garden because they are an integral piece of the sustainability of this project.

The Teaching Garden combines mentor-ship, nutrition, education, gardening and sustainability principles with community service and engagement. My part is easy — I get the kids moving. With every new garden, however, my goal is to reinforce the message that we need to make better choices about the foods we eat and the exercise we get. Kids need to run more, jump more and play more.

The laughter, the fun and the smiles had yesterday — not to mention the gardens that resulted from all of that work! — are evidence of how projects like this can bring a community together to take its first steps toward living healthier and eating right.

In a time of feeling like everything is out of control; war, economy, strange weather, kids etc, this is THE BEST TIME to take control of your health.

I know I sound like a broken CD, but in reality there really is so little we are in control of. I personally like to plan for the future and act like I am in control, but deep down inside I know the joke is on me. Who really knows what tomorrow brings?

Which leads me to the now, and the things you can choose to do:

*You can choose to take care of yourself.

*You can choose to stick things in your mouth that will serve your body, and over all health.

*You can choose to stress out about every little thing not happening or happening around you (traffic, rude people, children dropping glasses of grape juice on your new floor), whatever.

*You can choose how you’re going to treat others.
How you are going to react to your partner regardless of their choices they are making in their own behavior? Are you going to let some unhappy knuckle head at work who is choosing to somehow take some of their garbage out on you get in your way or take you out of your game? We really have so little control, but in the areas we do, why are we all not maximizing our ability to make GREAT choices?

*Strive to be all we can be.

*Try to conduct ourselves as graciously as we are humanly able at that moment (believe me I know about being human and things ebbing and flowing).

*Exercise as often as we can or create a moment.

*Eat foods that are about health and not about emotion.

*Display tolerance for others.

*Try to be positive.

*Let others deal with their own choices. You deal with yours.

*Don’t get caught up in the gossip about you, and don’t waste any time on things that no matter how much you “discuss” them don’t change the outcome.

Oh, and when I say this believe me I point the finger right back in my direction. This is a discipline I work at every day; some days more successfully than others.

Take care of your health because it’s within your control, and truly does make dealing with all the out of control stuff easier.

On Saturday the state of Hawaii was put on a tsunami alert following the devastating 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile.  In pure Laird form he was up and at em’ first thing in the morning moving all vehicles to high ground.  Here are a few photos of Laird moving my dingy out of the river, putting jet ski’s in the trailer, moving trucks, and tractors.

Luckily the water barely surged in and out a few inches, and then everything went back to normal for us.

We drove to the end of our road to take a look around and ran into an old friend of Laird’s (George the Greek). He was on his way to pick up his horse who was staying at a friend’s place during the warning. He was kind enough to let my girls visit with Royal his horse. Nothing like a Sunday drive.

Laird is back at it today, and since the day is a bit windy the choice of fun was the foil board.  He and Terry Chung are foiling in the middle of the bay.  Everyone seems a bit tired, and I attribute it to the emotional situation of waiting to see if there was in fact going to be a damaging tsunami.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families dealing with the earthquake that struck Chile.

Best, Gabby

I think I end up starting new challenges weekly.  I have the one month challenge, the no chocolate or bread challenge, the only drink water challenge, and the list goes on and on.  What I do like about setting a clear cut goal is it does create a STARTING POINT which I think is critical, and a very focused goal.  I will exercise for 30 minutes, 6 days a week, end of story.  I will not shove any wheat products in my mouth, period.  If I give myself any open window I’m never as disciplined as when I just shut the door.  A crack in the window ends up being the entire side of the house gone, and before you know it, it’s Nutella on baguettes (god, I love those). No matter how in shape (or not) your new goals and challenges are imperative to the continued pursuit of fitness.

My new thing has been biking, and lately I have had the luxury of getting my tail kicked by our dear friend Mr. Don Wildman (who by the way is 77).  Not only has he been a great riding partner who pushes the pace, but he has also been gracious enough to divulge little tricks of the trade to help me become a better rider; especially on the dirt, and in areas that I would be to chicken to tackle on my own.  Have you ever fallen with clips on?  That is some fun stuff.

I know it may be cold where you are and a less than desirable environment to start a new challenge, but what better time is it to get going than NOW? I encourage and support all of you, and may you be hugely successful at whatever challenge you have set up for yourself.  Remember, even if it’s only a day long challenge take on something that you have been wanting to get to.  Baby steps or sprints, it’s just about continuous forward movement.  Don’t judge yourself or compare to how someone else is moving through their life.

And since baby steps seem to be the best way to start, our Flip Challenge is a great starting point for you.  Each day the goals we have set for you  are small yet effective, use this as a stepping stone to get you going.  After all  my goal here at the honeyline  is to support and inspire YOU!

Oh, and by the way besides trying to train really hard,  my goals include desperately avoiding bread and wheat products of any kind as well as spending more quality time with my family and enjoying and really listening to them.

The albatross is a special bird that we’ve been visiting regularly here on our morning walks. Brody likes to call them ‘humongous’ in her 2 year old way. The albatross mate for life and return to lay a single egg in December.  Once the baby hatches, they stay with it for a couple weeks,and then both parents leave to feed at sea.  They eventually will return to feed the baby, and once it’s big enough will leave the island and not return for 3-4 years.  It’s pretty magical to watch Brody and Reece get to experience this. The Brody photo is from our morning walk when we go see Milo, the kitty.

Best, Gabby

Metabolism: It’s Just Science

Want to boost your metabolism? Be a musclehead. All you ladies out there who don’t want to get “too big” lifting weights at the gym, listen up.

The one thing that really does help you lose weight or stay slim is how efficiently your metabolism works. So what does resistance training have to do with your metabolism? Science.

The reason an individual becomes overweight is scientific: They’re taking in more calories then they’re burning. On the rare occasion, it can be attributed to something else, but usually it’s that simple. Crazy, huh? All this talk about losing weight and it really comes down to burning more calories or the same amount of calories you consume in a day. Did the heavens just part for you and the light coming shining down? Why have we gotten so far away from the simple truth of it all?

OK, enough preaching-let’s get back to your muscles. If you’re doing a cardiovascular activity (running, biking, swimming, walking), you burn calories for the duration of the time you’re exercising. Now if you build muscles, your muscles become a calorie-burning machine. So let’s say you lift weights for an hour. Your muscles will burn calories all day long.

I read about a study done by Tufts University that stated women who resistance trained for 15 weeks increased their metabolic rate by 15%. That’s 1% a week! Walk that one around the block.

Why? By building muscle tissue, the ladies create tissue that burns calories even when they’re  not exercising. That’s why when you go on a starvation diet, the first place your body attacks for calories is not the stored fat, it’s the healthy yummy muscle tissue. Good stuff, those muscles.

I’m not talking about becoming Arnold. I’m talking about supplementing your exercise life with some form of resistance training. If you’re truly paranoid about getting too big, then lift very light weights and do 12 to 15 reps. If you’re not doing any kind of sport performance, then do time under tension training. That’s where you do an exercise for a minute or two. Time under tension training isn’t good for you if you’re trying to be explosive (jumping or sprinting). It’s not great for the fast twitch muscles. If you’re just working out to look good and stay healthy, then it’s wonderful. Any weight you can lift for 2 minutes isn’t going to make you big. Trust me. Muscle is your metabolism and butt’s friend. Love muscles.

If you want to take care of your metabolism function, then try to get decent sleep and don’t skip meals (especially breakfast). You start off your day behind the metabolic eight ball if you skip the first meal of the day. Your body spends the rest of the day playing catch up, and you’re not functioning at an optimum level. Once you get this system dialed-eating well, exercising, and adding resistance training to your life-it does become easier. It’s like priming the water pump. Yes, you have to work hard in the beginning to get the water out, but once things start flowing, then you just have to tap the handle to get a bucket of water. Look at your calorie burning efficient self the same way.

I will say it one more time before I go-it’s just science. Granted, overeating is a tricky emotional topic, but the way to stay a certain weight or get down to a desired number is very straightforward.

I have made silent (now not so silent) New Year’s resolutions where I decided to recommit myself to some great ideas: ideas that I’m always striving for and always falling short.

For starters I am going to do my best to not give the drama in my life a life.  How?  By not going on and on about the things or people that are bugging me.  I will see that something needs changing and make the change.  I catch myself re-telling stories about people or circumstances that I’m not thrilled about, but yet I’m going on and on about it?  Hello?  If I’m having a situation with a friend I will deal with it between them and then move on.  Not find myself “discussing” it with other friends or my husband.  I just took something that was a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10 and gave it the energy of a 7.

Second, I will do my best to see the positive, avoid or ignore the negative, and put myself in good situations.

Third, is to be even more mindful of what food goes in my mouth, including what I drink, and to control what words come out of that same mouth.  Ok, I may cut myself some slack at 7 PM when I’m tired, trying to get kids clean, fed, and to bed.  I mean a girl needs to have an end of a rope here and there.

Continue to be grateful for things…
Work harder and smarter…
Enjoy as many of the small moments as I can…
Laugh more…
Cut to the chase more…
Take things less personal…
I’m sure the list will continue to grow…

I would love to hear your resolutions!  Just know that all of us here at the honeyline will continue to figure out ways to share ideas on how to help you be your best.  Thank you for being a part of my honeyline and for allowing us to be a part of yours.

Best, Gabby

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I can see how vitamins are confusing, an added expense, and a pain in the butt. However, none of us are getting the 39 essential vitamins and minerals we need in our food so, in my mind, they’re something we should rotate in and out of our diets. You can run down to Costco or to GNC when they are having a sale and go grab a bottle. Sorry, it’s not quite that easy.

What are the things you should consider when buying and taking vitamins?

First of all, keep it simple. If you are taking twenty-three pills three times a day, eighteen minutes after you eat, but not forty five minutes before bed it is not going to happening. On the functional side, you have to get a quick understanding about the differences between the kinds of vitamins, how they absorb in your body, and who is making them.

1. Vitamin Absorption
Better to buy a whole food vitamin since it’s a food already. There are tons of studies showing that the body can absorb these vitamins 20x greater then synthesized vitamins. So yes, the buy in bulk vitamin is cheaper, but you may only be able get 1% of the nutrients if any at all. Talk about a waste of dough!

2. Vitamin Quality
Not that it would matter to me but the FDA does not regulate the vitamin supplement industry (probably not enough money in it). You want to buy from a company that self regulates and holds it’s products to high standards. Check to see if they display USP-DSVP stamp (US Pharmacopoeia Dietary Supplement Verification Program).

3. Natural Vitamins
Given that the vitamin is produced by a solid company, a natural vitamin is easier to absorb. Be mindful that they don’t often taste great, won’t be cheap, and will have an expiration date.

4. Liquid Vitamins
The good news about the liquid supplement is they have about a 98% absorption rate. The inconvenient part is that they need to be refrigerated so not good for on-the-go or traveling supplementation.
5. Don’t Take a Vitamin Instead of Food
It’s not a good idea to rely on vitamins as a source of nutrition, hence the word “supplement”.

Take a strong multivitamin that contains all 39 essential vitamins and minerals. A few solid brands are Rainbow Light, Solgar, KAL, and Nutrilite. Look to sites like Dr. Mercola’s website, Dr. Al Sears’s website, Drugnatural.com, and naturalhealthconcepts.com. These are great places to start.

Like anything we ingest, it is smart to do one or two months on and then take a week off. Our bodies get use to anything so, in order to continue to get the benefits, it’s imperative to bring them in and out of your diet.

I realize it seems a little voodoo voodoo, but I am a real believer in vitamins helping us defend our health, sleep better, process stress, and just better overall body function. If you want to get crazy I’m all for natural Chinese herbs and teas.

Whoa, easy there, are you sure you don’t just want a Prozac? I mean tea can seem pretty scary, and it has been around for thousands of years. What do they know?

In all seriousness, here is to your good health.

by Gabrielle Reece

Women ask me all the time, what’s my diet like? It’s actually pretty straightforward. The short version is, I eat three meals a day, I drink water instead of Starbucks or Seven Up, and I avoid a lot of processed foods, wheat, sugar and other ingredients I can’t pronounce.

Try sticking to my basic commandments for a balanced diet and see if this doesn’t increase your energy, balance your moods, and make your favorite jeans hang just a little bit looser.

Reach for the H20: Instead of soda or juice, go for a tall glass of water. Sugary drinks have a lot of hidden calories and can leave you dehydrated.

Don’t skip breakfast: You put your metabolism behind the eight ball for the rest of the day by skipping or “forgetting” to eat breakfast. Start off your day with a good size meal. Eat some eggs or oatmeal. A bagel or muffin and a cup of coffee is not a meal.

Eat Something Green with Every Meal: It’s important to get enough green in our diets; it helps our pH balance and makes everything just run a little smoother.

Go Clear Not Creamy: Choose salad dressings that are vinegar, olive oil or balsamic based rather than those made with mayonnaise or buttermilk.

Stick with Real Food: Avoid too many nuked, frozen, or fast foods. Put the stuff in your mouth that is going to give you nutritional value. A fresh chicken salad is a good choice, as is fish you grill simply, with a squeeze of lemon to bring out its natural good flavor. And remember; if you can’t pronounce it don’t eat it unless, of course, you happen to be in a foreign country.

Avoid Preservatives: If a food has a shelf  life longer than the giant tortoise AVOID it! Why would you want to eat something that can stay preserved for 12 years? Yuck.

Watch Your Portions: It’s better to each five small meals a day then two giant ones. Avoid a huge dinner, except on special occasions (see below).

Don’t Cut Out All The Carbs: Don’t even try! Natural carbs, such as those found in beans, wholegrain cereals and vegetables, are a good source of brain food. If you remove all the carbs from your diet, you are liable to forget your own name. Doing this is not great for the moods either.

Eat the Good Fats: Good fats, such as those found in salmon, nuts and olive oil, are important because they make you feel full and satisfied. Don’t be afraid of healthy fats. If you put enough in your meals it can help you control your portion sizes.

Focus on Proteins: Proteins have a high nutritional value and are good for your muscle tone and development. Help yourself to sensible portions of lean meats such as fish, tofu, turkey and chicken.

Plan Your Indulgences: If you know you are going to your “favorite” restaurant that has the dessert you die for then be good all week and go and have a great time. Reward yourself by sucking it up the days before and then really enjoy your special night out.

Get Tough When You Need To: If you’ve been having a little bit too much fun in your eating then set a one-week moratorium for yourself. Eat strict for one week just to keep everything under control. You can do it, and once you do, you’ll feel like you have a handle on things.

Cut Yourself Some Slack: Whatever you decide to eat enjoy it. There is nothing worse than eating something and then feeling bad about it. It’s adding insult to injury. If it’s going to make you feel that bad to eat it, then ask yourself, “Why am I going to put it in my mouth”? One or the other, do it and love it. Don’t do it and feel good about that.

With that in mind, Eat Something Yummy Once a Day, Not a whole pie, but one bite, maybe two. Follow these simple rules, and see where it gets your body, mind and spirit.

Best Wishes, Gabby