HEALING POWERS Book Series: 5 Sweet Secrets to Dump Winter Weight

Enjou Chocolat's Healthy Chocolate Bars

Ever wonder how to lose those pesky pounds? I've got a secret (or five)--and it comes from my Healing Powers book series. I'm talking chocolate and vinegar, olive oil, honey, and coffee. This time of year many of us have packed on unwanted weight and we want to dump it ASAP. Well, I've got the secrets (and you can find 'em in any of my books: The Healing Powers of Chocolate, Vinegar, Olive Oil, Honey, and Coffee).
1. Dark Chocolate: No kidding. In my book The Healing Powers of Chocolate I discuss how eating chocolate (70% cocoa content) in moderation can curb your sweet tooth and help to curb cravings to eat fattening sweet stuff. And yes, the sweet bars (the ginger orange peel one is unforgettable) in the photo above will titillate your taste buds with flavor and texture.
2. Vinegar: The acetic acid in apple cider vinegar is the compound that can help you to blast those unwanted pounds away. It can boost your metabolism (calorie buring power) and suppress your appetite, too.
3. Olive Oil: Ah, yep. This monounsaturated fat is good for you and it, like vinegar, can help to satisfy you so you don't have those hunger pangs. It's the must-have healthy fat to drizzle on stir-fry vegetables and salads teamed with red wine vinegar.
4. Honey: My fave of all. Sweet, raw honey. One teaspoon in a cup of tea or solo will boost your energy and then you'll want to go do it.
5. Coffee: And java is comforting and can also give you more energy to go do it, whether it be pre-spring cleaning or walking the dog. I'm living proof. Just got back from a swim and hot tub.

P.S. The best part, by incorporating these five superfoods into your diet (4-5 mini meals per day) along with eating a Raw Caveman Diet for a few days (veggies, fruits, nuts) and drinking herbal teas and coffee (in moderation) you're going to lose up to 5 pounds or more within two days (about 1200-1300 calories for an adult woman; 1500 for a man). Repeat as needed. Get a move on every day.  I weighed myself at the spa and am back to 120 lbs., size 4, at 5' 5". Yes, the Healing Powers of these foods found in my Healing Powers books work wonders (click your mouse on the previous link and see your friendly superfoods busy at work).

Foodie BlogRoll Contest: Win Super Sweets for Heart Health Month

The Prize: THE HEALING POWERS OF HONEY & CHOCOLATE PISTOLES 

Drawing on the latest honey buzz and interviews with medical doctors, beekeepers, and researchers, this charming and enlightening book (sweetened with stories about honey bees and humans) reveals 30 healing honey varieties paired with cinnamon and teas, tells you how to incorporate honey into Mediterranean-style, heart-healthy recipes such as Honey Custard French Toast, Honey-Glazed Game Hen, and Filo Pear and Honey Tarts, and provides more than 50 home cures that combat digestive woes to skin woes. Find out more about The Healing Powers of Honey book.

And Enjoy Intentional Chocolate Milk or Dark Chocolate Pistoles!
You can also win a 7 ounce bag of chocolate milk pistoles or dark chocolate pistoles.

• 100% pure Hawaiian Vintage dark chocolate accented by notes of plum and a hint of ecstasy!
• Infused with the spiritual energy of experienced meditators personally trained with the Dalai Lama.
• The first product on the market embracing the revolutionary new field of intention-enhanced food.
• Academic study found Intentional Chocolate increased vigor, energy by 67%.
• 50% of profits donated to organizations benefitting humankind.

Sweet Powers of Chocolate for You and/or Your Sweetheart

Intentional Chocolate

Preface to The Healing Powers of Chocolate

(#3 of the Internationally Popular Healing Powers book series)

It's Heart Health Month and Valentine's Day is Coming...  It's time for heart-healthy chocolate!
One summer morning, I woke up and had chocolate on the brain. I did brew a cup of fresh Italian Roast (The Healing Powers of Coffee will be released July, 2012) splashed with organic chocolate milk and paired it with a warm dark chocolate muffin. And then, my creative juices were in high-octane gear. I got a craving to e-mail a query to my book editor. I wanted to write a new book on the healing powers of chocolate. But I hesitated and thought, “This is a crazy idea. Chocolate is a decadent food.”
Later that day I pondered the topic like I would scrutinize a truffle. After all, I had gone to Vinegar World and Olive Land in my two books The Healing Powers of Vinegar and The Healing Powers of Olive Oil. Would my publisher at Kensington really be interested in sending me to Chocolate Nirvana? Or was my idea just a sweet pipe dream of a self-professed chocoholic?
I decided I had nothing to lose, so I sat down in my study and wrote a quick query regarding writing a book on chocolate. A few hours later, I received a response from my editor, Richard Ember. I’d snagged his interest. Within a couple of weeks, the idea was sealed into a chocolate book deal. At last, I was given the go-ahead to write the book I had wanted to pen for more than a decade.
Back in 1999, I pitched the idea to another editorial consultant when I was writing those mini mags sold at grocery store checkout stands. My editor showed interest, but then there was a shake-up in the company and my chocolate-book idea fizzled like hot chocolate gone cold.
Ironically, in both books on disease-fighting antioxidant-rich vinegar and olive oil, I did mention chocolate (also chock-full of disease- fighting antioxidants). And, as a health-conscious Californian and self-professed chocolate lover, I have touched on the once forbidden food—chocolate—in health articles for women’s magazines including Woman’s World and Women’s Weekly. But I noted only chunks of its virtues, from how the good-for-you fatty food can boost your energy to how it can rev up your libido (maybe).
The amazing part is, I was assigned to write a book about my passion—chocolate—and this is how The Healing Powers of Chocolate became one of my favorite love affairs and was finally written by me, a health author who simply loves chocolate.
By being a San Francisco Bay Area native (a popular home of experienced chocolate makers and artisans), I was given the opportunity to share the real chocolate world through my research of famous chocolate makers (three major companies: Guittard and Ghirardelli, part of the Lindt empire; and Scharffen Berger, part of the Hershey moguls).
Also, olive oil, vinegar, and chocolate are linked to the traditional European diet and lifestyle, which continue to make headlines in research and news articles, and which I practice and preach to anyone who is interested in staying healthy and living longer by teaming health and indulgence.
I immediately began my mission and set out in the real world and cyberspace to discover the past and present standout benefits of chocolate: heart health, weight loss, home cures, beauty uses, and so much more. And never did I imagine what a wealth of information is in the wide, wide world of chocolate.
I took the holistic route to chocolate’s wonders and confirmed my instincts that chocolate is good for the body, mind, and spirit. I delved deep into the cutting-edge health benefits, original and edgy home cures, and anecdotes from both famous and everyday people, past and present. And that is why The Healing Powers of Chocolate will surprise you with its extraordinary surprises—like a box of healthful and heavenly chocolates, all natural, of course, and full of flavor.
So make yourself a cup of hot (or iced) chocolate (depending on what season it is), sit down, and grab a pencil (you’ll want to take notes!). I’ll show you, page by page, how this ancient “food of the gods” can be your best friend, too, for the end of time.

10 Hot Ways to Blast Cabin Fever: Winter Blues

By Cal Orey, The Writing Gourmet

Ah, the scourge of winter blues. Ever get it?  Today, I was told by a friend that her dogs have fallen victim to "cabin fever." Yep, it's possible. Sure, fresh white powder can be a joy for both two-leggers and four-leggers. But black ice fun? Not so much.
Last night I spoke with the one that got away (two-legger) and he told me how he's not as physically active or prone to clean house during the colder, winter months. At first, I disagreed but then I got it. Sure, come spring, I, too, get that surge of energy.
Yesterday, I went swimming/hot tubbing and wow. It's like taking a mini vacation to another location. No cold temps or fear of falling. A warm, Mediterranean or tropical climate is awesome at the end of January. And I'm hooked.

10 Ways to Get Warm & Cozy

* Make a fire; bake something healthful at the same time.

* Wear a hooded sweatshirt, leggings, and soft socks.

* Turn up the heat while brewing hot herbal tea.

* Open the blinds during the day and let the light shine in/shut at night.

* Layer the bed with thick, cotton comforters, turn up the water heater thermostat.

* Take hot, steamy showers and use fluffy towels next to the wall heater.

* Cuddle at night underneath the covers with two loving dogs and one cat.

* Keep the fish aquarium lights on longer than in the summer months.

* Burn scented candles: Chocolate and Hazelnut.

* Take a teaspoon of raw, natural honey (for energy); a piece of dark chocolate (to boost mood); a cup of java in the a.m., paired with organic milk (to feel warm and fuzzy inside).

Bonus Tip: Swim/Hot tub. Repeat as needed.

Goodbye Coffee Land, Author Leaves Another Book Adventure

Today, I re-examined my latest manuscript The Healing Powers of Coffee (July 31, Kensington). I feel a sense of sadness, like I did when I left Chocolate World. Or, a metaphor that comes to mind is when my two Brittanys were puppies and once they grew up it was different. Something was missing despite I enjoy the full grown dogs.
So, now that may edited manuscript is back with the editors in New York, I am sitting here in the process of creating another Healing Powers book adventure. I know, I know...so soon? But the topic has been brewing and it is what it is.
Meanwhile, as I dabble with the new topic it feels like waiting to become pregnant (again). Excitement. Visions. Excitement.
Bottom line: I dedicate this blog post to my The Healing Powers of Coffee and the coffee people for all the pleasure it gave me throughout the researching and writing process. And when the galley arrives on my doorstep (in a few months) it will feel like going to the hosptial and waiting for delivery as "I" probe the final necessary words. Think final delivery before giving birth to my fifth Healing Powers book. So, goodbye Coffee Land. We will meet again. I'm counting on it.

Is it Doomsday for Honey Bees (and Cows)?

Did you know most beef and dairy products count on insect-pollinated alfalfa and clover?

News Flash: The honey bee and our food chain are linked big-time. (See the importance of bees and our planet in the honey bee trailer.)  In the new book The Healing Powers of Honey (Kensington), I discuss how crops depend on the beekeepers and small honey bee in a big way. Millions of acres of U.S. fruit, vegetable, oilseed, and legume crops depend on insect-pollination--and that includes the sacred honey bees.
It's estimated by the USDA that 80 percent of insect crop pollination is done by the hardworking honey bees. If you do the math that means one-third of the total human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants--all the good, healthful stuff that you and I love and eat each day. And that's not where the honey bee's work stops, either.
The problem is, beekeepers are witnessing the mysterious die-offs of bee colonies. But nobody knows exactly why the honey bee is going AWOL. Theories include climate change, diet, stress, pesticides, and more. And if the honey bee becomes extinct--our food chain and planet will end as we know it. So, here are ways we can help keep the honey bee alive and well.
* Devote a portion of your property to growing annual and perennial plants to help honey bees collect nectar.
* Reduce the use of pesticides.
* Supply fresh water in a way so visiting bees don't become a nuisance.
* Donate funds to bee researchers around the country who are trying to determine the causes of Colony Collapse Disorder and what can be done to bolster bee population.

Strange Forecast...No Snow in the Sierra

Today, January 4, 2012 I sit in my cabin getting over a pesky ear infection. Blame it on last week's swimming, hot tub, tourists, the altitude, or allergies. Perhaps all of it. Antibiotics Day 4. Starting to feel normal but when I look outdoors it looks anything but normal for Lake Tahoe. The weather is San Francisco Bay Area temps. Too weird for words.  No snow. (But I forecasted that we wouldn't have a white Christmas; we would have snow in January and February.)
Tonight I may make a fire. Or not. It may be too warm. Really. I'm sensing tourists aren't thrilled. Locals who count on tourists aren't thrilled. But me? Well, I'm torn. I like the white stuff, sort of. An oncoming storm is exciting. The snowfall late at night is soothing. Shoveling piles of powder is not fun. Walking the dogs on black ice is spooky. High utility bills and extra dog nail trims aren't fun either.
So, here I sit getting well in a mountain resort town with no snow during winter; an extended fall season (my dream come true). But hey, I predicted this would happen. However, I also forecasted the Sierra would get a few significant snowstorms this winter. I hold my ground (even though it's dry right now).We do have three months, give or take some days...But I'm wondering what to do with all that wood I purchased? Roasted marshmallows, anyone?