Introducing Mr.& Mrs. "Bitch Chore" Chart

I am proud to say I've designed and introduced this "Bitch Chore" chart in our household three weeks ago. At first, my husband thought I was out of my mind, or PMS-ing again. Then he noticed the maid flyer I had posted on our fridge. He knew I meant business this time.

The truth is that up until I started school at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I had more spare time for cleaning. Lately though, I had been feeling frustrated about having to do most of the cleaning without it even being noticed. I'm now busier than ever juggling my school, the kids and our various activities, and I don't want to feel angry or resentful every time I wear those sexy green rubber gloves. The truth is, cleaning our place every week doesn't take THAT much time. It just takes a little motivation and organization.

So, I thought that instead of paying a maid, we could pay ourselves for the chores we do around the house, that way we would feel less frustrated and we could actually spend a little money on ourselves guilt-free. We are now putting our earnings in our "Health & Wellness Fund", so anything that helps improve our physical, emotional or spiritual health is an acceptable expense. For example, I've already earned enough to purchase a good quality natural supplement I will add to my morning smoothies. I can't use the excuse "I don't have the budget for this supplement", because I do now.

And how is my husband doing with this chart, you ask? Amazingly well! He earned more money than me on the very first week! ($23 versus $21,50) Why does this work so well with him? 

-First of all, with a clear description of everything that needs doing around the house, he is more inclined to pitch in. There is no nagging involved here, no obligation to do anything, and men love that! 

-Second, the more chores HE does, the less money I'll make and the less I will get to spend! I think it's in men's DNA to want to try and reduce their spouses spending in any way they can! 

-Third, I think it appeals to his competitive nature : he's going to show me how he can earn more than me! (and that's totally cool!)

-Fourth, it's a good feeling to add up the earnings at the end of the week and see how much he made. Cleaning the throne is way more fun when you make $2 / toilet!

-Fifth, I think he believes a beer making kit qualifies as a "spiritual health and wellness enhancer"...

Perhaps I'll let that one slip...as long as a trip to Cuba fits in the same category!

Warmly,
Lise (www.lisevilleneuve.com)

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What Do Beethoven, Shakespeare, Mother Teresa And Billy Crystal Have In Common?

What Do Beethoven, Shakespeare, Mother Teresa And Billy Crystal Have In Common?

They all have large foreheads? Guess again! They are all INFJ's...and so am I.

Huh? INFJ's? Integrative Nutrition's First Juicers? Not quite. 

This stands for Introverted / Intuitive / Feeling / Judging. This is a personality type based on the Myers-Briggs (Carl Jung) psychology test designed to highlight a person's strengths and preferences. These four famous individuals apparently were all INFJ's such as myself (so I should be famous any day now, right?:)

Part of our homework this week at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition was to take the test and see if the results surprised us. That's right, we had to psychoanalyze ourselves! Having a degree in Psychology, I'm quite familiar with these kinds of tests, and I must say I was a little reluctant to take it. Why? Probably because I've read too many Eckhart Tolle books! I've been slowly shifting away from wanting to hold on to a certain mental construct of who I am (my story, my personality, my limiting beliefs). Instead, I've been moving towards letting go of these "labels" to just try and BE without analyzing it too much. Maybe this makes no sense to you at all, but that's ok, cause I took the damn test!

Drum roll please...the results...

It was nice to read that working as a Health Coach is probably a good fit for me:

INFJs have a knack for fluency in language and facility in communication. In addition, nonverbal sensitivity enables the INFJ to know and be known by others intimately. Writing, counseling, public service and even politics are areas where INFJs frequently find their niche.

INFJs are effective in occupations involving substantial intellectual work, caring for other people, and requiring creativity. INFJs build successful careers in a broad range of organizations. Social and community care services, counseling, teachers of humanities and social sciences, healthcare workers, various service-oriented professions.

Apparently, I have a reputation as a "prophet and seer"....(LoL!)

Introverted intuitives, INFJs enjoy a greater clarity of perception of inner, unconscious processes than all but their INTJ cousins. Just as SP types commune with the object and "live in the here and now" of the physical world, INFJs readily grasp the hidden psychological stimuli behind the more observable dynamics of behavior and affect. Their amazing ability to deduce the inner workings of the mind, will and emotions of others gives INFJs their reputation as prophets and seers. Unlike the confining, routinizing nature of introverted sensing, introverted intuition frees this type to act insightfully and spontaneously as unique solutions arise on an event by event basis.

Anyways, if you really want to psychoanalyze me, feel free to read the entire INFJ profile!

And what about you? What type are you? This website allows you to take an abbreviated version of the test online in about 5-10 minutes and then gives you the results and even suggests good career choices for you. Let me know how you did! Any other INFJ's out there?

Warmly, 

Lise (www.lisevilleneuve.com)

Opening Pandora's Box?

 

First of all, my stats show me there any MANY students from the IIN that have taken the time to come over and read my blog. This means a lot to me and I want to send you a warm, cyber THANKS! (I know it sounds a little creepy, but I am very grateful for your presence here!)

So, opening Pandora's Box...what's that all about? Wikipedia tells us "today, the phrase to open Pandora's box means to perform an action that may seem small or innocent, but that turns out to have severe and far-reaching consequences."

You see, the more I dig and read about health topics, nutrition research, disease prevention, the food industry, etc, the more I feel like I'm opening that box...or maybe even a can of worms! I am so surprised by some of the things I'm learning that I'm questioning everything now. I think to myself "How did I not know about this? How does the general public not know about that?" What exactly am I talking about? I will start to include these personal discoveries in the "Tips-Recipes" section on my website, so please sign-up, it's free and fast!

 It seems like we could be on the verge of a giant paradigm shift in regards to health and nutrition, but there is still some ways to go in terms of getting these new ideas/theories accepted by the scientific/medical communities and also educating the public about them. 

So, fellow classmates, do you also feel like you are opening Pandora's Box a little more every day? Together, we are agents of change in this Health Revolution!

Warmly,
Lise (www.lisevilleneuve.com) 

A Life-Changing Trip...

When people ask me how things are going with my school, I find it difficult to adequately describe what it feels like to be a student at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Maybe I'll do a better job writing about it in this blog. Actually, that picture of me on a catamaran in Cuba sort of illustrates it... 

I feel like I got on a boat that is leading me to an amazing, exciting destination, and the ride is absolutely exhilarating! I feel like I can trust the captain (Joshua Rosenthal, Founder of the school + teachers) to bring us closer to our destination (becoming a Health Coach) slowly but surely. 

Sometimes (like this week), I feel like the pace is a little slow, but then I just open my eyes, look around, and find a million things to explore, learn and discover on my own (things that won't be on the exams, so no pressure, just pleasure!) I haven't felt this much passion in a long time! This passion -that is fuelled by the prospect of having a new, meaningful career and that is intensified by interacting with many other enthusiastic students- generates tremendous energy in my life and consequently my creative juices are flowing like never before! (Naughty Food is just one example!) I didn't expect to make amends with my creative side at a nutrition school! 

As a singer-songwriter, I have always believed that creativity and self-expression were essential parts of the human experience. Without them, we cannot completely feel balanced and whole. We are here to express ourselves freely with joy and love, just as the Universe (or Consciousness) expresses itself through us. But I won't go too deep into that. Let's just say my creativity had been blocked for many years and now the flood gates just opened again...

Why is that? Well, in addition to the reasons I mentioned above, the IIN succeeds in making us feel damn good! I suspect all the students will experience IIN withdrawal symptoms after they graduate! The school teaches us about the primary foods (healthy relationships, fulfilling career, regular exercise and a spiritual practice) and they make sure we practice what we are going to preach. So, we are given tools to take better care of ourselves: we listen to our bodies, we breathe, we make time to exercise, we eat healthier foods, we look at the ugly parts of our lives and work towards improving them. This program is like a one year wellness retreat! I now understand why so many graduates from the program say going to this school is a life-changing experience!

So when people ask me how school's going and I say "awesome!!", the above paragraphs are really what I meant to say!;)

Lise (www.lisevilleneuve.com)

Drinking, Drinking, Drinking...

One thing I really love about being a student at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition is that, so far, most of our homework has to do with taking better care of ourselves! The IIN really emphasizes the importance of self-care and they give us clear, practical steps to achieve this (log in to my website (free) and click on the "Tips-Recipes" section in the menu for access to many of these self-care tips, as well as a quick and fun test that will show you the imbalances in your life).

This week, we are encouraged to change one thing in our life/diet and notice the results. Hum, what could I change in my diet? I just came off the Candida diet (absolutely NO sugar, including most fruits, carbs, grains, legumes). I did that for about 2 weeks and it was HARD! Should I try and stay off dairy for a week? How about coffee? Honestly, after the Candida diet, I'm psychologically exhausted! Sugar and coffee (lattés)...those are my achilles heels! I know I will eventually be weaned off of them (hopefully!), but I believe permanent change requires some time (for habit-changing) and some "crowding out" (add good foods and eventually the bad ones will be gently pushed out), not just willpower. That being said, I will NOT be eliminating dairy or coffee this week (thus I should be able to function normally and keep writing blog posts!;) 

As you have probably guessed, what I WILL be doing is drinking more clean water. Not that I usually drink toilet water, but most of my water is in the form of herbal tea or straight from the tap. The problem with that is the fluoride in the water here (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada). I found out recently that boiling water increases its fluoride concentration (makes sense when you think about it). And what is wrong with putting fluoride in our water? Have a look at this article 

So, I pulled out our Brita pitcher from the kitchen archives, put in a new filter and voilà! Well, not so fast. Do Brita filters remove fluoride? Nope! So, how do we remove fluoride from the water? Here is another interesting website. Unfortunately, there are no quick and easy solutions. The options are: distillation, reverse osmosis, alumina and B-C Carbon. Huh, you say? Wouldn't it be easier to just stop fluoridation? That's what the city of Calgary did. Look what happened. Needless to say, water fluoridation is a pretty controversial topic.

Let's move on to my next question: how much water should we drink daily? I found this cool and quick hydration calculator. It asks you a few questions and then tells you how much water you should drink! I should drink 2.4 litres/day, or 81.5 ounces. How about you?

Gotta stop writing and start drinking now...

Eat This, Don't Eat That...

Our assignment this week is to talk about our "cooking culture" and to identify the main differences between the dietary guidelines we are taught at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition versus the recommendations provided by our respective countries.

Well, let me tell you about my cooking culture, or background. My mother is a Canadian-Italian, she did pretty much all the cooking at home. My dad is a French-Canadian from Alberta, he cooked eggs and served whatever else he could find in the fridge when mom was away! (but they were the best soft-boiled eggs my 3 siblings and I ever had!) Mom would make large (3 or 4 course) meals that included plenty of meat, pasta, bread, rice, veggies, fruits and dairy. We ate food that was pretty typical at the time. 

I grew up thinking:
 1) you need meat (protein) at every meal and if you don't have it, you'll be anemic (I have a genetic blood disorder called thalassemia minor and iron deficiency is a constant concern in my family)
2) drink your milk if you want to be big and strong
3) there is nothing wrong with white flour
4) desserts are fine (if you eat your supper!)

The IIN says:
1) Most people eat way too much meat! We only need about 40-50 grams of protein daily and non-animal sources are better for us given we are able to combine foods in order to make complete proteins (as opposed to incomplete proteins). Meat IS a good source of heme iron (the most easily absorbed form of iron in our body) but plenty of non-animal foods also have nonheme iron (beans, pumpkin/sesame/squash seeds). So mom, I'm going to stop feeling guilty if I don't eat meat at every meal!;)

2) The IIN recommends eliminating dairy completely from our diet. I will not go into details on this topic right now, we'll save this controversial one for another day! As for other calcium sources...there are plenty!

3) White flour is just like table sugar, i.e. junk. I'm discovering a lot of interesting grain alternatives such as quinoa, amaranth, barley, teff flour, millet, buckwheat, many kinds of dark rice...etc.

4) Excessive sugary desserts are like poison and are often filled with hydrogenated fats and preservatives. But they taste so good...I know! I'm working on that one!;)

Here is the latest version of Canada's Food Guide:

Canada's Food Guide says women aged 19-50 years of age should have 2 servings of Milk and Alternatives daily. I suspect this will change soon, considering how controversial dairy is becoming. It also suggests 6-7 servings of Grain Products, but does not specify "whole grains". Has anyone read "Wheat Belly" by Dr. William Davis!? There is a HUGE difference in nutritional value between, say, white bread and brown rice!

This being said, I really like the fact that the IIN put "career, physical activity, spiritual practice and relationships" on their plate, because food alone doesn't make someone healthy and balanced.

Isn't That A Little Personal?

How would you feel about posting a picture of the inside of your fridge on Facebook? That was our assignment at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition last week! We had to post it on the IIN's Facebook Group page (of about 1000 members!) For some reason, I never got around to posting a real picture of my fridge, only the above pic of my daughter's Barbie kitchen! How on earth to those Barbies stay thin like that eating all that junk food? But perhaps that's beside the point right now. Let's focus on my resistance to posting the fridge picture!

At first I thought "I can't take the picture today because the fridge is almost empty". I'll go shopping, then take the picture." When the shopping was done, I thought "maybe I should clean the fridge now" (after having seen hundreds of pristine fridge pictures filled with foods so healthy they made me want to eat a bag of chips... my fridge was still not ready to show off). But then I thought "the whole point of this assignment is to track our improvement over the year and to be able to look back at our fridge picture and say...I'm eating much healthier stuff now." That being said, I think most people are cheating with their fridge pictures!

Honestly, our fridge is not that bad, but I'm still resisting the photo shoot. It sort of feels like posting a picture of the inside of my mouth. It's unique, personal, and if I don't clean it once in a while, I'll find some stuff past it's expiration date. But that's personal, right? Sorry, but it just doesn't feel right to me to post that picture. I do hope I still get to graduate. I'm hoping our next assignment will not be to post naked pictures of ourselves to see the "before and after" results. Well, that's one way the IIN could increase their web traffic!

Shining Out The Winter Blues?

Winter arrived in Edmonton this weekend! I moved here one year ago (from Montreal) and I must say I found the bitter cold last year very difficult! My overall energy level was really low and I think part of it was due to lack of sunlight. A friend of mine told me about these "Litebook" lamps that help compensate for our limited exposure to sunlight during the winter. I've never tried one yet, but maybe I should invest in one this year. Has anyone tried it? Would you recommend it?

Anyway, today I was studying at the library like I usually do on Tuesday afternoons. I was facing the window and the sun was radiating on my face. I enjoyed this very much, it was warm and soothing, and I wondered if I could get any benefits at all from this sunlight, even though it was filtered through glass.

I had my doubts, but a quick google search surprised me! It turns out that glass blocks the shorter-wave UVB rays while allowing most of the longer UVA rays to pass through. So...I was receiving the more damaging rays without the normal protective benefit of vitamin D production from direct sunlight (that serves to counteract skin damage and inflammation)

Here is more information on this topic.

My Intentions At the IIN

Our assignement this week at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition is to clarify our intentions. We are asked to think about some keywords that resonate with us. These words will guide us through the year and help us focus on what is truly important to us as Health Coaches. Above are the words I have chosen. 

I am currently enrolled at the IIN because I want to learn how to be the best possible version of myself (inside and out) and I wish to inspire others to do the same. My goal is to have an optimally healthy, happy, vibrant, creative life full of love and joy, and to be surrounded with like-minded people. I want to heal myself, help heal others and heal our planet.

Doing A Kitchen Re-Org!

Our kitchen was a mess! We had plastic bags filled with mysterious ingredients in our shelves and pantry. Then I noticed all this unused space above our cupboards! Sure, it's pretty high, but we have a step ladder in our kitchen, so no big deal, right? Off I went to the Dollar Store to buy 22 glass jars. I washed them all out and had fun labeling and filling them with all kinds of goodies: lentils, beans, quinoa, amaranth, barley, oats, teff flour, almond flour, garbanzo flour, sundried tomatoes, raw hazelnuts...just to name a few! Now, when I'm wondering what to eat, I just have to look up! It's also much healthier to have the food in glass instead of plastic bags! What would you put in your jars?

Making Time For School!

These are my beloved munchkins! How I love to spend time with them! We read books together, make train tracks that take up the entire living room, we play zombie tag at the park (and mommy looks a little strange making those zombie noises, but that's ok!) As much as I love those moments, I'm finding that I ALSO really love my designated study time! My little guy is only four, so he spends most of his days at home still...except for Preschool two afternoons a week! That's when I RUN to my nearest library with my "school kit" (computer and headphones) and get to really focus. I had almost forgotten what that felt like!

Not too long ago...I had a pretty embarrassing experience at the library! Here I was, listening to my audio lecture on time management, comfortably seated. A good 10 minutes later, a library employee tapped my shoulder and said "Excuse me? Are you aware that everyone can hear what you are listening to?" I must have turned bright red at that point. My headphone jack had not been pushed in all the way! Well, that will never EVER happen again! Hope everyone enjoyed the free lecture! ;)

Are there any IIN students reading this blog by any chance? How do you make time to study? Do you have kids? Do you work? Are you sometimes worried you won't be able to get everything done?

Feeling Inspired Again!

Feeling inspired is such a wonderful, energizing state of being! Ever since I signed up at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition one month ago, I've been on a high! Things have been effortless and I've felt the flow of life gently take me by the hand. I'm feeling passionate and happy to be learning new things and I'm so excited to be working towards developing a career again!

This forward motion is huge for me, because I've been a "stay at home mom" for quite a few years now. I love spending time with my kids and I want to be present for them as much as possible. I'm thrilled because I still get to do that AND I get to study (it's an online course that is very well designed and easy to follow), AND I'll be a certified Health Coach in just one year! But honestly, I don't really care about the certificate. If I've learned a great deal and I've developed the confidence to go out there and help clients, then that's all that matters! The certificate is just a pat on the back!

Being a student again is great! After all these years at home with the kids, having to figure things out on my own, it feels so reassuring to have such a specific plan for the year ahead! Everything is already sketched out for me, I get emails telling me exactly what to do, what to read, what to write! Piece of cake!

Classes officially start Monday, October 28 even though I've been getting ahead and learning new things for almost a month now. One big thing I learned was about candida albicans. I'll write about that in another post, you'll be surprised to know how many people have yeast overgrowth in their systems without even knowing it!

Learning About Candida Albicans...

Check out the information below on candida albicans. It so happens I have it...and I'm currently on the candida diet (zero sugars or carbs!!). Aaaaaaaaaa!

Lise

http://www.thecandidadiet.com/whatiscandida.htm

Candida Albicans is an opportunistic fungus (or form of yeast) that is the cause of many undesirable symptoms ranging from fatigue and weight gain, to joint pain and gas.The Candida Albicans yeast is a part of the gut flora, a group of microorganisms that live in your mouth and intestine. When the Candida Albicans population starts getting out of control it weakens the intestinal wall, penetrating through into the bloodstream and releasing its toxic byproducts throughout the body.

As they spread, these toxic byproducts cause damage to your body tissues and organs, wreaking havoc on your immune system. The major waste product of yeast cell activity is Acetaldehyde, a poisonous toxin that promotes free radical activity in the body. Acetaldehyde is also converted by the liver into ethanol (drinking alcohol). Some people even report feeling a drunk or hungover feeling along with debilitating fatigue from the high amounts of ethanol is their system.

Do You Have Candida?

Is Candida Albicans Always A Bad Thing?

Almost everyone has Candida Albicans in their gut, and a significant proportion of us may have Candidiasis, or an overgrowth of Candida. Candida Albicans starts to cause trouble when there is some change in your body that allows it to overgrow. This change could be anything from a few courses of antibiotics, a prolonged diet rich in carbohydrates and sugar, or even something as common as a lengthy period of stress at work.

So if you suspect that you have an overgrowth, the first place to look is your lifestyle to find what could have caused this imbalance. Antibiotics? Oral contraceptives? A diet high in sugar and carbohydrates? Alcohol and drugs? Stress? Or all of the above? Eliminating all of these risk factors is a crucial step in tackling your Candida problem.

Many sufferers of Candidiasis remain undiagnosed by their doctors and unaware of their condition. Unfortunately, many doctors don’t recognize the systemic problems that Candidiasis causes. They only treat the symptoms such as vaginal infection or oral thrush. Don’t be surprised if your doctor thinks it’s all in your head and sends you off with a anti-depression prescription. Some healthcare professionals don’t believe in Candida, so you need to find a doctor with an open mind, or see a naturopath, homeopathic doctor or kinesiologist.

So why is Candida a bad thing? Ordinarily it isn’t – the Candida Albicans population is kept under control by the friendly bacteria in our gut. However, when your immune system is down, Candida starts to multiply and can quickly take over.

The overgrowth of Candida Albicans produces toxins that your body’s immune system can struggle to cope with. The wide-ranging side effects of this battle range from headaches and fatigue to abdominal pain and depression.

The occurrence of Candidiasis has actually been increasing rapidly over the last few decades. Our modern diet of processed food and sweets is partly to blame, but so are the increased prevalence of obesity and diabetes, plus the much more frequent use of antibiotics.

Candidiasis is a debilitating condition that prevents you from waking up strong, healthy and bursting with energy. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to fight it.