Nutritionist and Athlete Yvonne Camus

This spring, we hosted a remarkable guest on Marni Wasserman’s retreat with us.

Yvonne Camus is one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met.

Yvonne competed in Mark Burnett’s televised Eco-Challenge, where she completed a 500km race in Borneo, racing 24 hours a day, and burning over 23,000 calories each day.

She’s also a mother, wife, successful nutritionist, and an agency-repped motivational speaker. She continuously pushes herself physically.

I asked Yvonne how she motivates herself to stay healthy, and she had some great insights.

Yvonne paddleboarding on a recent trip to Hawaii

#1 – Develop Strategies to Nudge Yourself on Track

“It’s about progress, not perfection,” says Yvonne. “A big misconception is that people ‘on the outside’ look at healthy individuals and assume that it’s easy for them to stay on track, and that they’re always perfect.

That’s not true – in fact, those people fall off the wagon as well. But those people are just better at bringing themselves back on track more often.”

A 2009 House of Verona Poll found that only 13% of self-defining “raw vegans” are actually 100% raw. The reality is that people fluctuate between 50% and 90% raw, and have ways to get back on track when they’ve eaten a little too much SAD food.

#2 – Talk Yourself Into It

Yvonne goes on: “I’ve noticed that when you’re at a place of indecision, you either talk yourself into something or talk yourself out of it.

With healthy eating, I’m amazed at how many people talk themselves out of eating well. For example, ‘I had a glass of wine, so I might as well give up on the whole day.’”

Practice talking yourself into healthy eating; build up ammunition of talking points. Here’s what has worked for me in the past:

• If I work out, I’ll naturally wake up early, and stamp out some negative thoughts.
• If I eat that burger, I’ll have indigestion. But if I have the salad, I’ll feel light and energetic.
• If I have even a small green smoothie in the morning, I’ll be in a happier mood.
• If I bring easy-to-carry fruit to the office, I won’t crave something sweet at 3pm.

The very inspiring Yvonne can be reached for nutritional consultations in Toronto at 416-618-9242 or yvonnecamus@hotmail.com.

Also, sign up for Marni’s upcoming fall retreat at the House of Verona and join the company other highly inspiring guests. Book at 1-800-252-2826 or email bookings@houseofverona.com.

Photo credit: Kelly West Mars

Fresh. Definitely Fresh.

Ask any food scientist – all food manufacturers must blanch produce before freezing them.

We recently sat down with Food Scientist Jinny Lok, B.Sc., MBA. She explains, “vegetables contain enzymes. If enzymes are not deactivated through blanching prior to freezing, they can cause vegetables to rot, lose colour and flavour even after the vegetables are frozen.”

“Blanching vegetables means submitting them briefly to boiling water or steam. The heat treatment destroys the enzymes, changes the texture and sets the color.  For extended storage, this improves the keeping quality of the vegetables.”

In addition to the loss of nutrients due to blanching, the freezing process also degrades certain vitamins. An Italian university published a finding in the Journal of Food Science that freezing broccoli caused a decrease of 39% of vitamin C and a 29% decrease of sulforaphane (an anti-cancer compound).

The argument against eating fresh produce stems from a concern that produce loses nutrients when it travels for a week across a continent, as well as the fact that unripe fruits are more acidic than ripe ones.

If you’re able to buy locally grown produce, and eat it fresh, you are able to save a large amount of nutrition versus eating frozen vegetables.

Here are some links to farmer’s markets in Canada and the U.S. to find a market near your home:

• Farmers Markets in Canada
• Farmers Markets in Ontario
• Farmers Markets in the USA

Follow Jinny’s blog or Tweets here.

We’ve designed them to be easy, quick, and require minimal kitchen equipment.

Handmade Tea

It’s very easy and inexpensive to make your own tea. Here’s what we came up with.

The House of Verona Costa Rican Blend – the crowd favourite

• Green tea leaves
• Cacao nibs
• Whole vanilla bean, chopped into little pieces
• Dried mangoes
• Whole cinnamon sticks, chopped small pieces

The House of Verona Ontaio Cottage Blend

• Green tea leaves
• Fresh mint
• Chamomile flowers
• Lavender petals
• Dried cherries

Mix ingredients together and steep as you would any other loose-leaf tea.

Canapés

• Cucumber gazpacho cup
• Herbed salad in a sesame-date crust
• Fresh organic watermelon slices
• Cacao-maple brazil nut truffles

hollow English cucumber cups

Cucumber gazpacho cups

• Slice an English cucumber into 1-inch pieces. Scoop out the centre with a spoon.
• In a blender, blend the cucumber centres with half an English cucumber, half a tomato, half a red pepper, a bunch of mint, sea salt, ground pepper, flax oil, and a spoonful raw honey.
• Spoon the gazpacho into the cups and chill until you’re ready to serve.

Herbed salad in a sesame-date crust

• Create your favourite salad
• In a food processor, add in 1 cup of sesame seeds until they are slightly ground. Add in 10-15 soft medjool dates one at a time until the mixture becomes a mould-able crust.
• Press the crust into small bowls and fill with the salad you created. Serve with forks.

Cacao-maple brazil nut truffles

• In a mixing bowl, add in 4 heaping tablespoons of cacao powder
• Add in 4 tablespoons of maple syrup and 1 tablespoon of liquid coconut oil
• Mix until it forms a chocolate sauce.
• Add in chopped brazil nuts, and any other nut or seed you like. Coat with the chocolate sauce and serve in small paper cupcake cups.

Have fun!

image: Aran Goyoaga

One of our retreat guests inspired our team so much that I want to share her story with you all.

In 1982, she was 5’5” and weighed 230 lbs. Being overweight was causing her some depression and low self-esteem.

One day, in 1982, she was sitting on the subway, eating a chocolate bar, and thinking about how she desperately needed to lose weight.

Suddenly, in a moment of clarity, she looked at the chocolate and realized that junk food certainly wasn’t helping her lose weight. In that moment, she resolved to stop eating all types of dessert altogether, and see what happened. She didn’t change anything else – just eliminated sugar.

Amazingly, she stuck to it: she hasn’t had a drop of sugar since that day in 1982. For 28 years, she has been ‘sugar sober’.

What is wonderful is that she didn’t set out to cut out sugar for life – she just took it one day at a time.

When we hosted her, she was as slim as can be – not too skinny, but absolutely within her normal BMI range.

The other guests were curious when she declined all raw desserts that were offered – she simply explained that she treats herself as a recovering alcoholic would treat alcohol – not one drop.

“Don’t you miss desserts?” they’d ask. “Not at all – I don’t even notice it. I much prefer being healthy and happy.”

The thought of cutting out sugar completely can be scary when we’re starting a new cleanse. However, every single person I know who has cut out sugar or junk food reports:

• After 1-2 weeks, cravings vanish
• They have a higher level of happiness
• They can enjoy the smell of tempting foods without needing to eat them
• They are infinitely happier this way than experiencing mood swings which sugar contributes to

To learn more about how to kill cravings, have a look at our 3-part series here:

http://houseofverona.com/how-to-kill-junk-food-cravings-part-1/

http://houseofverona.com/how-to-kill-junk-food-cravings-part-2/

http://houseofverona.com/how-to-kill-junk-food-cravings-iii/

I made dinner for my housemates last night – who aren’t raw vegans – and they adored the recipes, inspired from the French countryside. I looked through Julia Child’s classic French cookbook and modified recipes – for example, by using healthy raw fats instead of butter (i.e. macadamia nuts), and eliminating the heating process. Et voila.

The menu (all raw vegan):

• Creamy leek soup
• Loaf of sprouted bread with a strong ‘cheese’
• Friseé salad with almonds, raspberries & ice-wine vinaigrette
• Summer vegetables in a basil cream sauce
• Red ice wine gelato

I’d love to share these recipes with you. All are for 4 people. If all you have is a blender, you’re good to go.

Creamy leek soup

Blend together:

• 1 large leek
• Handful Brazil nuts
• Salt & pepper
• Spoonful honey
• 1 shallot
• 1 bunch basil
• Spoonful olive oil
• Cup of water

Garnish with chopped Brazil nuts and sliced basil leaves.

Strong ‘cheese’

Throw these in the food processor:

• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• 2 tbsp macadamia nuts
• A whole lime, with the peel chopped off
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 bunch basil
• A little water to get it all going
• 1 clove garlic

I purchased the sprouted loaf of bread from The Big Carrot, who sources them from Patricia – here’s her website: http://www.naturallyalive.ca/Products.aspx

Eat this way all the time & you'll skinny like a French girl

Friseé salad

Blend these together for the dressing:

• 1 whole lemon, peel removed
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp white ice wine (or regular wine if unavailable in your region)
• 2 tsp salt
• Ground pepper
• 1 tbsp honey
• 10 macadamia nuts

Salad ingredients:

• Friseé, washed and chopped into very small pieces
• 1 large bunch of fresh mint
• 1 carton of raspberries
• 1 handful of chopped almonds

Pour the dressing over the body of the salad and serve. Mmm.

Summer vegetables in a basil cream sauce

This was everyone’s favourite, by far.

The vegetables I used:

• Asparagus (each spear sliced into 4 long strips)
• Snow peas (each sliced into 4 strips)
• Heirloom carrots (sliced into strips)
• Radishes (cubed)
• Shallots (sliced into thin coins)
• Endive (sliced into thin strips)

Marinate the vegetables in olive oil, lemon juice, and honey while you prepare the sauce.

The sauce: throw the following into a blender:

• 2 cups water
• Handful macadamia nuts
• Whole lemon (peel removed)
• Salt & pepper
• 1 bunch basil
• Clove garlic
• 1 small spoonful nutritional yeast

Pour the cream sauce over the vegetables and serve. If you have time, let marinate for 30 minutes.

Red ice wine gelato

Blend the following together:

• 1 branch of red grapes
• Vanilla
• Half cup almonds
• 1 cup water
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp red ice wine

Pour into a container and freeze, stirring every hour if you have the time. If you don’t have the time, after it’s frozen, place it in the fridge to thaw for a few hours, or outside for 1-2 hours. Serve into bowls and before giving to guests, add on 1 tbsp red ice wine and a few grapes.

Bon appetite!

Enzymes are catalysts in chemical reactions. Our body is full of chemical reactions taking place all of the time, such as the one that uses vitamin C to create cartinine, to turn fat into fuel.

In chemical reactions, if enzymes are not present, the reaction requires twice as much energy to take place than if an enzyme was present, like the following chart demonstrates:

Raw foods are absolutely abundant with thousands of enzymes. When we eat enzymes, our body uses energy more efficiently because we are physically using less ATP to facilitate chemical reactions.

Heating food over 115F denatures enzymes: it breaks bonds, changes their structure, and leaves them unable to bond to other molecules in order to do their job.

So, eating raw veg & fruits replenishes your body’s enzymes stores, and thus amps up your energy levels.

(Source)

Why should you care? Because these are two critical amino acids which help fight off depression.

Why care about tyrosine?

• Tyrosine is an amino acid which is a precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine.
• Dopamine deficiencies have been linked with depression (and sugar cravings).
• Here’s the thing: depressed people are often told to eat more tyrosine-rich foods. However, most go-to tyrosine foods are animal proteins – steak, fish, etc.
• Of course, everyone who eats meat cooks it first – which we now know strips the food of the tyrosine that they were trying to get in the first place.

Why care about tryptophan?

• Tryptophan is an essential amino acid which functions as a biochemical precursor for the neurotransmitter serotonin.
• Serotonin deficiencies have been linked to depression.
• Serotonin is often recommended as a supplement to depressed individuals, typically in the form of animal proteins. As this research shows, it’s better to get tryptophan from raw, plant-based foods.

Eat these instead to get your tyrosine:

• Raw almonds
• Raw avocadoes
• Raw pumpkin seeds
• Raw sesame seeds
• E3 Live Blue-Green Algae

Eat these instead to get your tryptophan:

• Raw cacao
• Sprouted Oats
• Raw Sesame seeds
• Sprouted chickpeas
• Raw Sunflower seeds
• Raw Pumpkin seeds
• Spirulina
• Bananas
• Sprouted lentils

We’re currently developing an advanced retreat program at the House of Verona to help depressed individuals. If you’d like to hear more about this, click here. Thanks!

Margarine decreases IQ

The Department of Paediatrics from the University of Aukland found that children who eat margarine on a daily basis are associated with significantly lower IQ scores. (1)

Sugar decreases IQ

A remarkable study conducted by Dr Jane Goodman at the University of Connecticut found that test subjects who drank a single coke had a decline in mental performance just 30 minutes after consumption, and made twice as many mistakes on a test 1 hour later, compared to the control group.

It was deemed that the sugar in the coke is what was primarily responsible for this effect. (2)

Fresh fruits & vegetables increase IQ

An informal experiment done at the University of Oregon by a professor was set up to test the IQs of his students. Students took an IQ test, then  ate only raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds for 2 whole days following the test, and then took the IQ test again. Students on the raw diet scored an average of 40% higher on their IQ tests compared with their individual scores just 2 days earlier.  (3)

Try increasing your fresh produce intake and watch your mental performance take off.

Sources:

1. Dr. Russell Blaylock MD

2. Ibid

3. The Live Food Factor

There’s a brilliant new talk on TED.com by Stanford Professor of Neurology Robert Sapolsky on the uniqueness of human beings.

Among other smashing revelations, he shares a different way to burn calories:

Playing chess.

Or, for that matter, exercising the brain.

“… [with] chess masters in the middle of a tournament, they are going through six to seven thousand calories a day thinking. [They are] turning on a massive physiological stress response simply with thought and doing the same thing with their bodies as if they were some baboon that’s just ripped open the stomach of their worst rival — it’s all with thought.”

Of course, these competitors play for full days, so playing one game of chess will not burn thousands of calories.

Engaging your brain more often will help to burn up some marginal fat:

• Tackle analytical problems at work
• Read about game theory
• Learn a new language
• Do a crossword puzzle

Announcement: We’re going to be speaking at the Toronto IamYoga studio about Burning Fat at Work on March 3rd, 2010. We’ll be sharing the podium with a Team Canada athlete who will talk about Olympic Workouts. The cost is $10, or $5 if you are an S-Drive member. Sign up here.

In small Norwegian ski towns, the locals are thoroughly proud to be outdoors-men and women.

They relish cross-country skiing, running, fishing, and being outside all day with family.

As North Americans who live in colder areas, we often curse the winter for getting in the way of our lives.

Let’s instead embrace winter as a critical part of life.

We at the House of Verona now propose that we welcome the cold as part of our proud identity. Let’s stand up for the fact that we wear 5 layers before we go out.

If the Scandinavians can look fabulous in the winter, what’s stopping us from doing the same? Let’s:

• Run outside
• Go shopping outdoors instead of in malls
• Sit on a patio
• Go skating
• Walk & do lunges in a nearby park

Challenge yourself to do something you would only do in the summer.

Be strong. You can do it. And it’ll make you a better person for it.

Photo credit: Ida Frosk