Andy's Idea Factory

I'm halfway through my 30 days without sugar, and feeling the benefits. My psoriasis is clearing up, the inflammation in my palms is noticeably reduced, and the cravings are next to nothing. I had one breakdown and it was on the day trip to Denver last weekend. Something about being in a car for 6 hours makes an old reflex kick in. I will confess. I ate a doughnut. I'm putting it behind me. I have always had an addiction to sugar, and I'm not alone. During the past 100 years, the average American's intake of sugar and other natural sweeteners doubled- from 80 pounds a year to over 130 pounds a year. In a lifetime, that equals enough to fill a dumpster. And knowing what sugar does to us, it's no wonder why our health has decreased over that time as well. We have the technology and the knowledge to be healthy, but we're not. Sugar suppresses the immune system, leads to chronic inflammation (next blog post), and if you're craving sugar, you're probably...

We are living in a very acidic world; it seems like nearly everything we do lowers our pH, and in a low pH internal environment, inflammation occurs, bad gut flora thrives, our bodies oxidize faster, and disease sets roots. Therefore eating an alkalized diet is a must to return the body to it's natural state of self-healing. When I look at these two food charts it's easy for me to see why the new "food pyramid" and FDA recommendation is for 70-80% vegetables and fruits at every meal. That's no easy task, but the 30 days of sugar-free and  Transform 30 program I embarked on this past Monday helps me alkalize my body. I know that when I eat that way, my body feels better, I have more energy, I sleep better and wake up refreshed, I heal faster and generally don't get sick. When I am acidic, my joints hurt, I'm sluggish and unmotivated, and I've even gotten gout (as a vegetarian, that's pretty hard). But even though I know better, eating right ...

I've embarked on my 30 days without sugar and want to first report on the date crystals from a date farm in Arizona.  While I wean myself off the sweet addiction, dates are going to be my sweet treat anyway, but I was excited to start finding recipes with the date sugar substitute. Eventually I hope to steer clear of grains all together, but the date sugar intrigued me, and I'm a baker by DNA, so fully grain-free is a stretch. In a 2013 Virginia Tech biochemistry study ranking the health of the 12 most popular sweeteners by antioxidant content, date sugar ranked the healthiest. Flourless banana bread from Chocolate Covered Katie The first two recipes I went for were banana and zucchini breads - both gluten free, one vegan, one with eggs. After looking at several top rank options based on ingredients, the banana bread recipe I went with was from Chocolate Covered Katie .  The foundation for this recipe is GF Oat Flour, calls for honey, not date sugar, and is entire...

Every year at this time we commit to something new; changes for the better that we hope will stick. I've found that publicly committing to something and having a buddy in doing so is exponentially more successful than just writing some wishes in my journal, especially when the new plan is a big one. Last year I spent a month of summer sugar-free. It wasn't my first attempt, I've spent the last 7 years on one elimination diet or another in attempts to take better control of my health and the auto-immune and inflammation symptoms my body's been displaying. I've been gluten-free for those 7 years, dairy-free off and on for 30+ years, and even meat free for a portion of my life as well. So I know that cutting out foods is never easy, and for each of us, there's always one vice that's the hardest. Dairy, wheat, starches, sugar, alcohol, salt, it doesn't matter; if it's our crutch, eliminating it feels like we're depriving ourselves of the pleasur...

This will be the fourth year I've taught this wonderful course and I'm super excited to share it again with my fellow Steamboaters. A few seats remain, take a look at what this course offers! www.innerselflightworks.com/synchronicity Based on James Redfield's Celestine Prophesy' s first 9 insights, this course is an in-depth look at: What Jung's definition of synchronicity means and how to use it for creating the life we want to live Where we've come from in the last 100 years and where we may go from here How the Earth's energy moves around us and what it means to connect to us The four human psychological dramas and how to navigate them with peace and groundedness Why we've chosen the parents we were born to and how to learn from their lessons and forgive the past How the many religions of the world are connecte d and tapping into that One energy We learn the quantum tools for manifesting: mantras and affirmations, meditation, intention ...