Food Revolution Day is a movement that looks to bring greater awareness and education to children (and, more importantly their parents) regarding their diet and health.

Today, there are over 43 million children in the US under the age of 5 that are overweight and/or obese. Unfortunately, proper food and diet education is not being taught or regulated at school or at home. School lunches are a disaster…poor quality food with very little nutrients, but loaded with chemicals and sugars. Furthermore, food education has practically been erased from the school curriculum. This is leading to greater disease and health risks, as well as poorer performance in school.

So, visit the official website: www.FoodRevolutionDay.com - there’s a lot of great information + recipes + Jamie Oliver (yes, the celebrity chef) will doing a live broadcast on Google Hangout at 8pm est on May 19th, titled Dinner with Jamie.

Also, check out my Food & Nutrition Guide – it’s full of helpful information about eating well. You’ll find helpful guides detailing when, where and how to buy nutritious food, as well as a complete list of local farmers markets, rules of thumb for everyday eating AND my Fountain of Youth Water Recipe.

Read the infographic below…and, let me know what you think!

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why not use those precious early morning hours to energize your body and fireup your metabolism. Follow these 4 simple steps to rock your mornings and your health!

First, start waking up at 6am – getting an earlier start to the day will help you get more accomplished and better organized to make healthy choices throughout the day. It will also help to reset your internal body clock to go to bed earlier.

1. 6am – 6:30am Do Some Light Stretching in Bed
Follow these 5 morning stretches to do in bed to awaken your body and get your blood flowing

2. 6:45am – 7:30am Go For a Morning Walk, Run or Bike Ride
Start slowly with a 5 min warm up and then work to a pretty good pace for the next 25minutes. Even 30 minutes of walking will have a big impact on how you physically feel throughout the day AND on your mental clarity…it’ll also help to jumpstart your metabolism. You can save your big workout or personal training session for after work.

3. 7:30am – 8am Breakfast
Make rolled oats on the stove, cooking only takes 10min, then top with a splash of Almond Milk, a dab of local honey or maple syrup and a handful of raw, unsalted walnuts and/or almonds.

4. Between 6:30am – 8am Drink 1 Liter of Water with Lemon (sipping, not gulping)
Use a 1 liter water bottle…add filtered room temperature water and the juice from half a lemon. Now, don’t chug the water down. Sip it throughout the morning. This will help to wake up your internal organs, and detox/flush out the previous days food intake. Also, you’ll just feel better drinking it than pumping your body full of coffee first thing in the morning. You can still have the coffee, just after the lemon water is done.

Rinse and Repeat every morning. You should start to see some real changes in the way your body feels throughout the day, as well as some physical changes taking place within the first few weeks.

Remember, good health starts each morning!

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hearing this phrase, most people believe that aging is primarily controlled by genetics. This is untrue…while genetics do play a role, they are hardly the most important element for looking and feeling great as we age.

Maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle is the most important thing you can do to keep a radiant glow as you age. And, a healthy, active lifestyle should include strength training.

Some of the benefits of strength training as it realtes to aging are:

• creates lean muscle which is great for losing AND maintaining weight
• helps prevent injury by increasing flexibility, mobility, balance and joint range of motion
• strengthens your heart by lowering blood pressure and increasing good cholesterol, essentially helping to prevent heart disease
• helps prevent age related diseases, such as: osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s

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He’s surfing and competing just as hard today, at age 40, than when he was 25.

What is Kelly’s secret formula?? Well, it’s not magic, he just follows a consistent program of training + stretching + nutrition. It’s proper training that keeps Kelly’s body strong, injury free and in peak performance shape.

Kelly’s not the only one, fellow professional surfers Laird Hamilton and Tom Carroll are both getting better with age through proper training, stretching and nutrition.

Watch below, Kelly Slater is talking about how he has been able to keep such a high performance level even at age 40.

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Walking is the most natural forms of exercise for the human body…we’ve been doing it practically our entire lives However, it’s often overlooked for it’s incredible health benefits.

Read below, for all of the incredible health benefits of walking!

• obesity
• heart disease
• high blood pressure
• poor digestion
• many cancers
• diabetes

What studies are finding is that it’s not just the meat itself that is causing the health problems…but, also how the meat is being processed and sanitized before being packaged. The meat you are buying (specifically ground beef) is not 100% pure beef…it’s mixed with a Pink Slime (a disgusting filler…read below) and is sprayed with harmful chemicals (ammonia…read below) before packaging.

Meatless March proved to be easier than I thought. In fact, I did not miss eating meat one bit. Instead, I had an amazing month where I took the time to try new fruits, vegetables and grains, as well as many vegetarian recipes from around the world! I felt amazing…experiencing:

• more energy than normal
• feeling lighter…my stomach never felt heavy or bloated
• feeling cleaner…probably due to eating so many more vegetables and legumes
• feeling better after meals…digesting meat is very tough on the body, taking more effort and more hours to complete pass through

I encourage you to give a meat free month a try! Or, at the very least, start by participating in the Meatless Monday campaign.

Below is an infographic with some startling facts regarding meat consumption in our diets and how it affects our health.

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1. Stop Drinking So Much Coffee

I know, the caffeine rush is addictive…but, the post coffee “crash” is sooo bad. Plus, it dehydrates your body and the acidity level makes it very hard on your stomach.

If you must have coffee to help you “wake up”…try drinking only one 12oz cup per day.

2. Drink 6 Glasses of Water – 10oz Each

Hydration affects every aspect of physical and mental performance…it’s not the only major performance factor, but it’s definitely one of the biggest.

Greater fresh water consumption aids the body in: muscular strength/endurance, blood circulation, digestion, ridding your body of toxins by cleansing the liver, hydrating your skin for a healthy glow and strengthens bones and joints.

People are amazed how they feel after drinking only water (no coffee, soda or juice) for an entire day…I guarantee you’ll feel stronger and more alert.

3. Take a 30 minute walk outside during your lunch break

Sitting in a office chair all day without proper exercise will lead to a number of problems including: poor circulation, weight gain, stiff joints/back, bad posture, pressure headaches, etc.

So, on your lunch break go for a 30 minute walk…it’ll help you: burn some calories, loosen your muscles and joints, relieve your lower back, clear your mind, plus the fresh air and sunshine will do you a world of good.

4. Do a few simple stretches right before bed to help you relax your body and help you sleep

Do these simple stretches before you get into bed…they will help you to completely relax, as well as provide much needed flexibility and greater range of motion for your body:

Lat Stretch

1. Stand with your feet together and raise both arms above your head.

2. Interlace your fingers so that your hands are now connected, still raised above your head.

3. Now, with the hands still connected above your head, lean to your right side.

You should feel a nice stretch from your left elbow all the way down the left side of your back (your left latissimus). Hold for 5 breaths, breathing in and exhaling deeply through your nose. Try to go deeper into the stretch with each exhale. Then, repeat on the other side.

Standing Forward Bend

1. Stand up straight, with your feet pointed at 12 o’clock

2. Slightly bend your knees and raise your arms over your head

3. Then bend forward and touch your toes, keeping your head down

You should feel a nice release in your lower back. Hold for 5 breaths, breathing in and exhaling deeply through your nose. Try to go deeper into the forward bend with each exhale.

*if you cant reach your toes, then: A. bend your knees more or, B. pass a strap under the ball of each foot and hold the straps

Hip Flexor Stretch

1. Face your bed, standing about 2 feet in front of it

2. Place 1 foot onto the top of the mattress, with the bottom of your foot planted down on the mattress

3. Place both hands on top of the leg that is knee that is raised on the mattress

3. Slowly lunge your raised knee forward, however keep a little space between your torso and the lunging knee

You should feel a nice stretch in the hip flexor of your standing leg. Hold for 5 breaths, breathing in and exhaling deeply through your nose. Try to go deeper into the forward bend with each exhale. Then, repeat on the other side.

Hamstring Stretch

1. Stand with your legs hip width apart (6 inches or 2 fist lengths apart).

2. Slightly bend your right knee, and keep your left leg straight

3. Now bend forward and touch your toes, keeping the right knee bent and left leg straight.

You should feel a nice stretch in your left hamstring (the back of thigh), from your buttocks to the back of your knee. Hold for 5 breaths, breathing in and exhaling deeply through your nose. Try to go deeper into the forward fold with each exhale. Then, repeat on the other side.

Then, when you wake up the next morning… try these 5 morning stretches you can do in bed!!

5. Shut off phone, tv and computer 1 hr before bed

Rest and relaxation is a big part of the overall health and wellness…you need to rest both your body and your mind. So, 1 hr before bed shut off all electronics and just relax with a book, warm shower and some light stretches.

6. Make my Fountain of Youth Water and then drink the whole pitcher

Make my Fountain of Youth Water in the evening, let sit over night, then drink the entire pitcher the next day. It tastes great and helps to lightly detox the body…you’ll feel amazing!

Click here for the recipe

7. Eat a large green salad

By green, I mean a salad made of 2 big fist fulls of kale or spinach and/or arugla (or, any other dark leafy green besides Iceberg Lettuce)..mix in a tomato, fresh beets, onion, radish and cucumber and you have a good portion of your daily needed nutrients. The nutrients in the leafy greens are filled with vitamin K, C and A, as well as fiber, iron and manganese.

Also, HOLD the Ranch dressing…try olive oil, lemon, kosher salt and pepper.

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Everything about our modern culture is fast paced and full of distractions. We Americans tend to take so many things for granted…often forgetting that even during rough economic times we are still greatly blessed with abundant food, clean water and a sturdy home. I understand the importance of progress, but sometimes (and, more often than not) we need to take a moment to stop and smell the roses, be thankful for what we have and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

I understand that it can be challenging to carve out some “down time” to decompress, unwind and reflect…but, I challenge you to take some “you” time everyday. Take 30 minutes each day to enjoy a casual walk or sit still and rest without watching TV, checking your iphone or thinking about work.

The infographic below provides some incredible stats on American life and culture…some of which greatly affect our health.

You might think that some of the stats below are unrelated to your health…but, that would be wrong. Exercise, Nutrition, Rest and Personal Relationships are the cornerstone of our physical and mental health.

To some, personal relationships might seem odd to include, but it’s one of the biggest influencing factors on your health and quality of life. Strong relationships with your friends and family promote happiness. Dont forgot: strong body without strong mind = poor overall health

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Most people do not realize that sleep has as big of an impact on their health as food and exercise. Lack of sleep can lead to a poor physical condition, as well as many bad habits that do further affect your overall health, such as:

• increased coffee/caffeine consumption…a small coffee each day is OK, but too much can lead to dehydration and nutritional deficiencies. Also, forget about energy drinks…they are very bad for you
• muscle fatigue…muscles will not respond with as much strength or endurance if you are not properly rested
• poor food choices…when tired, most people will emotionally eat…choosing foods that are not as nutritionally dense, but give them quick bursts of energy, such as sugary foods (candy, cookies)
• laziness…if you’re tired, you’re not going to workout or exercise as much
• lack of alertness…your reflexes and concentration will be greatly diminished

So, read below…some very interesting facts and information regarding sleep and your health

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