Dear Friends,

Think for a moment of a food from your past, one that makes you feel great after you eat it for no specific reason. Maybe it is macaroni and cheese, slow-simmered tomato sauce, ice cream cones or potato pancakes. Eating comfort foods (every now and then) can be incredibly healing, even though your rational brain might not consider it highly nutritious.

Food has the power to impact us on a level deeper than just our physical well-being. What we eat can reconnect us to precious memories, like childhood playtimes, first dates, holidays, our grandmother’s cooking or our country of ancestry. Our bodies remember foods from the past on an emotional and cellular level. Eating this food connects us to our roots and has youthening and nurturing effects that go far beyond the food’s biochemical make-up.

Acknowledging what different foods mean to us is an important part of cultivating a good relationship with food. This month when we celebrate lovers and relationships, it’s important to notice that we each have a relationship with food—and that this relationship is often far from loving. Many of us restrict food, attempting to control our weight. We often abuse food, substituting it for emotional well-being. Others ignore food, swallowing it whole before we’ve even tasted it.

What would your life be like if you treated food and your body as you would treat your beloved – with gentleness, playfulness, communication, honesty, respect and love? The next time you eat your soul food, do so with awareness and without guilt, and enjoy all the healing and nourishment it brings you.

With love, respect, and other nutrients,

Ella

Dear Friends,

As your resident good food advocate, I should tell you that already, in the first three weeks of 2010, there have been six U.S. recalls of tainted meats and this week and Russia banned U.S. imports of chicken out of concern about the disinfecting chemicals. While alarming, this doesn’t even begin to address the problem that is lurking at large in our food supply.

Infertility. Allergies. Toxins. New diseases. Immune Dysfunction. Stunted growth. Antibiotic resistance. These are just some of the side effects linked to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). If you only look at the influx of fertility clinics post-baby boomers you may realize that something is off. Didn’t women have to try not to get pregnant? Fertility rates in the US declined sharply between the 1950s to today. So, while GM foods stir up their share of controversy, it appears to be much more dire than the debate even allows.

The company that brings us 90% of the GM seed in the U.S. is the Monsanto Corporation – which not only pushes this altered seed on struggling farmers, but is responsible for bringing the world DDT (pesticide), Agent Orange (humanicide?), bovine growth hormone and aspartame. Quite a toxic resume, n’est pas? The really bad news is that Monsanto has its employees, past, present, and future in Top Brass positions within the FDA. Hmmm.

What many people don’t know about GM foods, and especially vegans, is that much of this Frankenstein food is created by mixing the genes of plants with those of animals. So you could be biting into a tomato that is made with fish genes. And I promise you, the fish were not party to this experiment. What’s worse, the mice and rats used to test the “safety” of this food often avoid GM foods! And when they are force fed them, they develop cancers, ulcers, and a whole slew of other disorders.

There are many reasons to buy organic, and one of them is definitely taste, for me. I have done the taste-testing, and by and large organic produce tastes much, much better. (As in – there is still taste.) But avoiding massive collateral damage is another good reason, as in, avoiding GMO’s. Organic food cannot contain GMO’s. Check your labels, please. Contact our representatives, tell them labeling GM foods should be mandatory! The top 4 genetically modified foods in the world are corn, soybeans, canola and cotton. And as corn is in nearly everything these days, checking labels is more important than ever.

As always, I strive to bring you the freshest, healthiest food available. I encourage you to do the same for yourself, your family, and the planet.

With love, respect, and other nutrients,
Ella

Dear Friends,

Every week, I wax poetic about some way that you can help yourself feel better, perhaps get inspired to eat better or to incorporate some new healthy practice into your already beautiful life. This week, I am recommending something that I am desperate to do as well.

There has been a bit of an energetic shift for me, working harder at getting healthy foods to more people – i.e. getting my “Faux Gras” into the marketplace (mind you, we are in many new stores! Read on) and doing a few workshops in the coming months. What I need to do is something so simple, so free and yet so conscious, everything else needs to be put aside to incorporate it.

It’s called, simply, raising your awareness. If you can bring your awareness – your most basic attention – to your mood, your food, your breath, your actions, your appetite, your love, your thoughts, your thoughts behind those thoughts, and the thoughts in between those – you will be transformed. As Deepak Chopra says, bring your awareness to the thoughts in between the thoughts. That is where your connection to all the knowledge that exists in the whole world lies. When you allow yourself to listen, you are creating yourself anew.

And if in those thoughts, behind all the things you think you are thinking of, you remember, you hear a voice inquiring – to take good care of your body this week – I am here.

With love, respect, and other nutrients,

Ella

Dear Friends,

People often ask me how I get my protein. I think lots of vegetarians get this kind of question. And people are actually concerned. For those of you that know me, you know I am a healthy girl with no signs of protein deficiency. So, no worries. I actually get my protein from a multitude of sources, and you can too.

There is some debate on how much protein we actually need during the course of a day. Reports range from 25-70 grams a day, depending on sex, age, and athletic performance, and we do need to get all 9 amino acids – which means we need complex carbs. An average 5’5″ woman needs only 25-45 grams a day. In a developed society it is almost impossible to be protein deficient. And protein is not one of those “more is better” kind of nutrients. High-protein diets actually contribute to osteoporoisis and kidney failure, not to mention weight gain, lethargy, halitosis, body odor and constipation. Meanwhile, low-protein diets can leave you feeling spacey, anemic, tired or too thin.

Everyone needs to honor their own desires for protein, though it is definitely easy to get enough as a vegan or vegetarian. Check out the following guide to see how easy it is to stack up your proteins.

1 cup of oatmeal 7 grams
1 cup of tempeh 41 grams
3 oz of seitan 31 grams
5 oz tofu 11 grams
1 cup of lentils 18 grams
1 cup of black beans 15 grams
1 cup of quinoa 9 grams
2 tbs peanut buttter 8 grams
1/4 cup of almonds 8 grams
1 cup of brown rice 5 grams
1 cup of cooked broccoli 4 grams
1 cup of cooked peas 9 grams
1/4 cup of cashews 5 grams

You can see how easy it is, as long as you are having a balanced diet. At Regal Vegan, we make sure you’re getting a good serving of healthy, plant-based proteins with every meal. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

With love, respect, and other nutrients,

Ella

Dear Friends,

How do people get their New Year’s resolutions resolved? Do you find you have a 3-week or 6-week commitment to your resolution before it tapers off? A good thing to consider is how different your life will be once you actually resolve to do these things. Instead of focusing on the resolution, focus on the way your life will improve. Get into that feeling, and it will be easier to accomplish.
Here are some ways you can make your intentions a reality this year:

1. Write down your intentions and keep them in a visible place, like taped to your bedroom mirror or the dashboard of your car.

2. Get to the source of whatever is keeping you in a rut. Are you in a stressful relationship that causes you to eat a pint of Ben & Jerry’s every night? Are you stressed at work and feel too tired to exercise after work? If you don’t tackle the root of the behavior, it will be much harder to accomplish your goal.

3. Be clear about what your life would look like once you achieve your goal. If you resolve to go to the gym more, how will this benefit you? Get connected to the result of your action, and you will be more likely to stick with your plan.

4. Share your resolutions with friends and family. 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 check on you or invite them to join you.

5. 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.

Big changes do not require big leaps. Permanent change is more likely to happen gradually than through one big restrictive plan. Allow yourself to climb the ladder one rung at a time.

If getting more healthy food into your life is part of your New Year intention, let Regal Vegan make it easy for you with a week of meals designed to get you back in the black.

With love, respect, and other nutrients,

Ella

Dear Friends,

How has the New Year been so far for you? I hope it’s been as raucous or as restful as you would have liked. It’s important to make sure that you are choosing the kind of experiences you desire. In fact, I’d like to help give you more of those experiences so – please let me know how our service has been treating you. Your feedback is important to us, so if we see you’ve submitted your form, you will receive a certificate for a free dinner with your next order! Just click here to fill out this easy online form, and get your free dinner on the way. Thank you in advance for your contribution.

So, feeding your brain. Everyone wants to be smarter, healthier, happier right? And certainly doing things like crossword puzzles, learning languages and problem solving help your brain stay healthy and sharp. But how can food help? Well, you may have heard about this little miracle called Omega-3 Fatty Acids. This amino acid has proven cognitive effects, and has been shown to improve learning and memory. That’s why moms are feeding this supplement to their kids every way they can. But this delicate acid – which is sensitive to heat and light can found in fatty fish. And vegetarian sources of it can be found in ground Flax Seeds, Walnuts, Cauliflower and Cabbage. Omega 3′s are known as the “good fats.”

Other great brain foods are those Antioxidants everyone keeps talking about. These are the vitamins A, C and E which are found in large amounts in apples, blueberries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, squash and many other plant foods. Antioxidants have so many benefits, and certainly, the brain and its capacity for good functioning over the long haul is one of them.

Folic Acid is another good one (think again of pregnant women and what they are crazy for supplementing with). This magical complex vitamin helps ward of cognitive decline. And i don’t only mean the kind that comes after too much New Years celebrating. You can up your folic acid intake by having more spinach, asparagus, collards, broccoli, beets and lentils.

As you can probably tell, eating a plant-based diet is an amazing source of brain food. It happens to be an amazing source of everything else food too. I encourage you to experiment with some full on Omega-3/folate/antioxidant eating for a few weeks and see if you can’t get through the Sunday crossword or a day at work, with a little more finesse.

Here’s to welcoming you back, feeding your brain and wishing you an amazing year to come.

With love, respect, and other nutrients,
Ella

Dear Friends,

As the first decade of our century rapidly draws to a close, I would like to extend some deliciously warm wishes of peace your way. I honor the beauty inside you, the divinity, and the strength you possess. May the New Year bring you all that you wish for, your heart’s desires, your potent and poetic dreams.

I sit here musing on the meaning of a New Year, a new decade, new resolutions, new ideas, new hopes, new intentions a new you. The possibility of change is so imminent, so exciting, so – so possible! The concept of a New Year to incite change is a powerful tool, but alas, limiting. Our Gregorian calendar appears to give us one chance every year to change – to hit the gym more, to eat better, to spend more time with our loved ones… what have you.

A deeper glance reveals that this opportunity exists every new day, every new minute, every new second. A calendar only feels the change into newness by virtue of it needing replacement at the end of the year. But you, you can feel the newness right now, or right then. Right when it’s right for you.

What will it take for you to truly change? To get in touch with your truest desire. To go deep and see, beneath the mask of ego and fear, what it is we truly, truly want. More health? More love? More freedom? More success? Going deep makes life so much easier – little question remains. When you want more success, unequivocally, your choices become easier to make. You avoid the things that don’t get you there, as best as you can. You’ve become certain, that it is what you want,
and soon you start to be able to see what it feels like when you get there. So you solder on. Like when you want more health, sometimes you have to say no to the more social parts, the cheese parts … or when you wish for more love, then it’s no to the negative thoughts, the judgement, the isolation.

This week, I offer no menu. I offer blessings of peace, and wishes for you to realize amazing intentions. I’m hard at work getting “Faux Gras” and other healthy foods into people’s lives. It is with great love, certainty and intention that I choose to bring delicious, healthy food to you. I only ask that you continue to enjoy them.

Happy New Year!

With love, respect, and other nutrients,

Ella

Dear Friends,

Most people have no idea how much their food affects their mood. It’s not a new theory, in fact, it evolved from the 4,000 year old tradition of Chinese medicine.

Though many may not get the connection, they’ve heard of the theories of Yin and Yang. They kinda get that white swivel and black swivel with the opposite color dots inside are about balance. This very theory is the one used to understand the food and mood connection. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it, and even more amazing when you put it into practice.

Foods that are very “Yin”, like sugar, chocolate, alcohol, fruit etc can make you feel like your mood has been elevated for a short time. After your brief ‘high’ you may feel spaced out, or sensitive, confused, sad or dreamy. And since the body craves balance, you may immediately start to crave something salty. Has that ever happened to you?

Salty foods are on the opposite end of the spectrum. Also meat, cheese, eggs, miso – all these foods are “Yang”. Eating them may send you spiraling into a craving for something sweet. They may also leave you feeling aggressive, competitive, stubborn or angry.

So, how do you get a handle on this swinging pendulum of emotions? The first thing to do is become aware. Practice some self-reflection, and you may start to observe the food-mood connection in action. You can also choose to eat foods that are more in the middle of the spectrum, like whole grains and vegetables. These will give you more steady energy, fewer cravings and less dramatic mood swings.

I’ve definitely discovered the difference in eating this way, and find myself struggling for balance around the holiday time. Luckily, everyone who gets to eat Regal Vegan meals has this work already thought for them. I hope you enjoy the luxury of balance.

With love, respect, and other nutrients,

Ella

Dear Friends,

Almost all of us have a distorted image of our body, often due to the importance our culture places on outward appearance and the onslaught of media images of airbrushed models and celebrities. On a daily basis, we talk to ourselves in ways we would never speak to another. Imagine speaking to a child the way you speak to yourself about your body. It would devastate and squelch a child. It affects you similarly, causing stress and emotional pain in your body, which can make improving your health or losing weight even more difficult.

Think of all the intelligence, creativity and time you spend on improving, altering and judging your appearance. Who would you be and what could you accomplish if your valuable resources weren’t used this way? Constant emphasis on the external makes us discount the great presence and intelligence that is housed by the body. It makes us forget the magic of our internal rhythms and fail to acknowledge the beautiful bodies we have.

The body you have right now is incredible! It never misses a heartbeat, it maintains homeostasis and it miraculously digests whatever you put in it. It is your instrument for expressing your creativity, intelligence and love. By focusing on the 1% you don’t like or wish were different, you may be ignoring the remaining 99% about your body that is beautiful, unique and delightful.

What would your life be like if you were simply at peace with the body you have? You may wish to make your body healthier and stronger, but could you do that out of love and respect for your body instead of the opposite? Could you begin to treat yourself with kindness, to limit the negative self-talk and to reconnect with your inner wisdom? Take a minute to imagine what that would feel like. It would mean celebrating your body rather than punishing it. It would mean nourishing your body rather than depriving it. It would mean a chance to watch your body flourish when treated with care and respect.

If you’re ready to start feeling good in your body, about your body, email health@ellavation.com to schedule your free one hour consultation with me.

In the meantime, enjoy this week of elegant food bound to make a body feel great.

With love, respect, and other nutrients,

Ella

Dear Friends,

Today I am speaking on behalf of the stomach. Kind of like the Lorax from Dr. Seuss, but instead of speaking out for the environment, I’m speaking out for the digestive system. I feel my own stomach saying it to me. No more, please. Let me rest.

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the average weight gain is 5 pounds. Ugh… We’ll be carrying that around well into the New Year unless we break the chain. The holiday feast, the leftovers, the parties, the hors d’oeuvres, the extra drinks, the parting gifts, the corporate gifts, the free lunches, the group dinner, the pot lucks, the department celebrations, the tree-decorating cookies and nog and on and on. They all sound so great! But they tend to take a toll unless we find our balance.

What can you do? Take control of as many meals as you can. Make them re-balancing meals. This week, I’m offering a special menu of light, cleansing food. Thanksgiving is known as the biggest eating day of the year, and this is just the beginning. Give your tummy a break, and realkalize yourself for best health.

With love, respect, and other nutrients,

Ella