Posted by terrepruitt on March 11, 2010
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP) has come into the spotlight recently. There was recall of the product from a large manufacturer of it. One of my online friends wrote an article* regarding the recall and posted the link to it on FB. (In summary, the company (Basic Food Flavors Inc) KNEW the product was contaminated with salmonella but kept shipping it.) I read it, it upset me, so I reposted it. This led to someone posting something on my wall that had me looking up HVP.
HVP contains monosodium glutamate (MSG). I had not thought about that before. Honestly I had not thought about hydrolyzed vegetable protein at all, but now I am thinking about it. I know a handful of people that have bad reactions to MSG so they avoid food with it in it. So I kind of think that they might know that HVP contains MSG and they can either avoid HVP or be — at least — mindful of it. But it is frustrating when man-made products that we don’t even know what they are contain other stuff that we are trying to be aware of. If you know you have reactions to MSG you might know that HVP contains it. But if you are having a reaction you might not know that it is due to the MSG in the HVP.
Most people don’t Google every ingredient in their food. I don’t, do you? Are we going to have to start? Are we going to have to have an “alternate name list” on our fridge and right next to that a “recalled food” list?
As an individual, I can just not eat this stuff, but why as a group do we continue to allow so many chemicals to be put in our food. When something is taken from it natural form and processed into another form can that really be good for our bodies? Especially when it is in so many foods?
For those of you that are trying to avoid MSG, you might want to keep an eye out for HVP, if you aren’t already.
According to Wiki:
Acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or HVP, is produced by boiling cereals or legumes, such as soy, corn, or wheat, in hydrochloric acid and then neutralizing the solution with sodium hydroxide.
Monosodium glutamate, also known as sodium glutamate and MSG, is a sodium salt of the naturally occurring non-essential amino acid glutamic acid.
*I had a link to the article my friend had posted but the link no longer works so I removed it. Here is a link to a Washington Post article regarding Basic Food Flavors knowing they shipped a product containing salmonella: FDA says Basic Food Flavors knew plant was contaminated with salmonella March 10, 2010
Posted in Food | Tagged: Basic Food Flavors Inc, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, HVP, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, MSG, recall of HVP, salmonella, vegetable protein, Washington Post, Wiki | 1 Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 9, 2010
I don’t really like tomatoes. I have never liked tomatoes. I used to NOT eat pizza because of the tomato sauce. Spaghetti and tomato sauce? Forget about it. BUT . . . . tomatoes are really good for you. And so I try to eat them and I try them every once in a while.
Since they are good for you I think they make a healthy snack. This is what I had as a snack prior to doing a Nia workout.
I don’t really like them so I add a little special seasoning (pre-made garlic and salt mix).
Tomatoes contain antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium, and iron. They are even touted as having cancer fighting properties. Amazing for a fruit with so little calories. Do you like tomatoes?
Posted in Food, Fruit | Tagged: healthy snack, Nia, Nia workout, tomato, Tomatoes | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 6, 2010
I was trying to avoid Girl Scout cookies. When asked about purchasing some I went to the Girl Scout website to see if they contained High Fructose Corn Syrup and / or Partially Hydrogenated Oils. Well, according to the website, yes. So I said no. I have two boxes of Thin Mints in my freezer so I don’t need any more. I get enough HFCS and trans-fat in my diet even though I try to avoid it. I don’t need to add to it. But, guess what, my hubby came home with FIVE boxes of cookies. I don’t know who he bought them from, but . . . now we have Girl Scout cookies in the house.
So I was looking at the boxes to see if these were the ones with the HFCS and trans-fat in them because some of them had it and some didn’t, but the thin mints we got didn’t have them. I thought that I was mistaken, but instead of going to the website I went to my freezer. The two boxes in my freezer have HFCS but the one my husband just bought, does not. And it turns out that the baker is different.
Freezer boxes: ABC Bakery (WITH High Fructose Corn Syrup AND Partially Hydrogenated Oil)
New box: Little Brownie (WITHOUT High Fructose Corn Syrup. But still contains Partially Hydrogenated Oil)
So, it can be done. Manufacturers CAN make products WITHOUT HFCS, we just have to make them do so.
Both bakeries use Partially Hydrogenated Oils, which we shouldn’t tolerate either.
Neither baker is near San Jose or California for that matter, so I don’t know why one baker is used over the other. But these are the Girl Scouts, I would hope that they were concerned about what ingredients are in their cookies.
So if you are interested in trying to avoid HFCS as much as possible check the baker and the box of your Girl Scout cookies.
Posted in Food | Tagged: ABC Bakery, diet, freeze Girl Scout cookies, Girl Scout, Girl Scout cookies, Girl Scouts in San Jose, HFCS, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Little Brownie, Partially Hydrogenated Oils, San Jose Girl Scouts, Thin Mints, Trans fat | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 4, 2010
Recently I have become curious about healing stones. I am wanting to learn more about Chakras and in doing some research about them I came across information about colors and gemstones that heal. It is all very interesting to me. I am at the point where I believe that everything holds energy. But how or if that energy transfers over from stones and has the power to heal, I am still iffey on that.
I have come up with ideas and reason where I can comfortably accept that this is possible so, I figured why not get some pretty jewelry to boot.
Here is my first piece of chakra jewelry. I have been told that silver has strong healing properties, but I just don’t wear silver, so in my search to find something that I would wear that was under $70.00, I found this. I thought it was gorgeous, so when I saw that it was under $30.00 I figured that I was meant to have it. I had been looking for weeks, so I was so excited to find this. When I received it, I was not disappointed.
CROWN CHAKRA: Amethyst for spiritual awareness, meditation & transformation
BROW CHAKRA: Sodalite for higher knowledge, intuition, wisdom
THROAT CHAKRA: Blue Agate for courage, strength, acceptance
HEART CHAKRA: Malachite for balance, peace, healing
SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA: Aragonite for truth, mental and emotional stability
PELVIC CHAKRA: Peace aventurine for prosperity, success & creativity
ROOT CHAKRA: Poppy Jasper for healing, grounding, and completion.
I believe it is actually “gold plated” wire, but it is awesome. I will continue to research this information and post as I learn and go along.
Posted in Chakras | Tagged: Amethyst, Aragonite, Blue Agate, brow chakra, chakra jewelry, chakras, crown chakra, grounding, healing gemstones, Healing stones, heart chakra, intuition, Malachite, Peace aventurine, pelvic chakra, Poppy Jasper, root chakra, Sodalite, solar plexus chakra, spiritual awareness, throat chakra, wisdom | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 2, 2010
A month or so ago I received a call and was told that there is a woman who is going to make a movie about making a difference in the world and that I had been picked to be a collaborator. I was intrigued. I was told it would be a two hour meeting in San Jose at which I would be told about the project and then I would have the opportunity to decide if I wanted to be involved. (This clued me into the fact that there was a price tag.)
Well, I went to this meeting. First of all, I hadn’t seen the information that might have been out there that it would be a small meeting. I also had not seen the website so I had no idea what The Difference was about. I was surprised that it was a small meeting. But for the small amount of people the energy from the women there was amazing. There were all types of different women who do different things to make a difference; there was massage therapist, psychotherapist, feng shui designers, personal assistants, energy workers, Nia teachers (ok, that was me!), etc. Jacqueline Bignell was leading the meeting and she spoke to us in a very conversational manner. She was amazing at presenting her passion. She was great at getting the group excited and yearning for more.
She is going to make a movie, a two-hour docu-drama that she believes will change the world, by providing answers to questions like the following:
–Why are you here?
–What do you think your life’s purpose is?
–What do you do in your life to be truly filled with love and joy?
Her vision is to get 6000 people to collaborate on this, answering these questions. Their ideas, opinions, stories, etc. will be filtered up to a National Group who will filter it up to the World Group and they will filter it up to the script writer. The idea is to have four main characters in the movie. But the idea of the script is not quite formed yet.
Her mission is to touch the lives of 6 Billion people. The idea is that 6000 people can touch 60,000, 60,000 can touch 600,000, 600,000 can touch 6,000,000, and so on, multiplying by 10.
It was an amazing meeting. Her idea incredible, change the world with a movie. A movie collaboration of 6000 people, never been done . . . . .all amazing stuff. And the real idea is to have the 6000 people fund the movie, or at least pay to be collaborators.
In addition to being a collaborator you receive a lot of other things for your part in funding of the movie. Some incredible things . . . .to me what I think of it as is purchasing a self-improvement package where the end result is personal growth, a 6 minute interview on an internet TV show, inclusion in The Difference Website and The Difference Network, and bragging rights that you were a collaborator on this historic project.
But one of the big “sells” is that one’s self, one’s uniqueness would touch 6 Billion people. Now that is a great “sell” and sounds so very appealing, but with the filtering process I am not sure that it is an accurate selling point. I am not confident that my uniqueness, would actually get through the filters. My story could be the one that was filtered out. In addition, I am not confident that all 6 BILLION people will be “touched”. See what I am saying?
If you desire to become a collaborator and you are able, I have no doubt that if you actually participate in all that they are offering it will be an incredible experience. I believe that the training and mentoring that they say they are going to provide would be amazing . . .but you have to commit to do it. This is about a two year commitment.
I admire her for attempting this. I believe that it is an amazing idea.
I look forward to hearing more about this. I look forward to watching the end product. I look forward to seeing the difference The Difference makes.
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: change the world, collaborator, docu-drama, feng shui, Jacqueline Bignell, joy, love, Nia energy, Nia joy, Nia love, Nia San Jose, psychotherapist, purpose of life, San Jose Nia, self improvement, The Difference | 40 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 27, 2010
El Camino Hospital sponsored a Free Health Fair today (February 27, 2010). It was in one of the ballrooms at the Santa Clara Convention Center. There was various Health Screenings. I didn’t actually get any done because I just didn’t feel like waiting in the lines. Although there were plenty of people that were willing to stand in the lines in the interest of learning about their health.
There was various demonstrations and audience participation dances going on. On TWO stages. It was very interesting and very loud since they had the “main stage” and the “side stage” set up right next to each other.
I was able to do a little Zumba, which I have done before. But I didn’t have the right shoes so it made it difficult. I should have stayed to do the yoga that was on the stage right after us. But I didn’t want to keep my photographer waiting that long.
A fellow Nia teacher was invited to do a demonstration of Nia so she had asked people to join her. I am not sure how many people were there from her invitation or how many were there because they joined us, but I think it turned out to be a good crowd. I would say there was at least 30 people. So many so that they did not all fit on the little dance floor she was given.
It was a great thing. I believe that a lot of people were introduced to Nia. I am thankful to Anita for doing this for us.
My husband came along to get some pictures. He was taking pictures of me and we confirmed that our camera is not able to take good action shots in low light. Here are a few. Thank you for looking.
I hope that next year El Camino Hospital sponsor another Day of Dance and you come out to see that dancing is a great way to workout out and a very fun way to get your exercise on!
You can find information regarding my classes in San Jose and San Carlos on my web site (click here).
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Anita Christensen, dance classes, dance exercise, Dance Workout, exercise, Nia Classes, Nia Dance, Nia exercise, Nia exericse, Nia San Carlos, Nia San Francisco, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, San Carlos, San Carlos exercise, San Carlos exercise classes, San Carlos Nia, San Carlos Workout, San Francisco exercise, San Francisco exercise classes, San Francisco Nia, San Francisco workout, San Jose exercise, San Jose exercise classes, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, San Jose Yoga, San Jose Zumba, San Jose Zumba classes, San Jose Zumba exercise, Yoga, Yoga San Jose, Zumba San Jose | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 25, 2010
I had an appointment this morning where I auditioned Nia in Palo Alto. (So I could be teaching a Nia class in Palo Alto in addition to San Carlos . . . interesting how it all unfolds.) On my way back to San Jose, I was able to stop and have lunch with a friend. I am so blessed to be able to spend the afternoon with a friend who so kindly made me lunch. She made an awesome pizza and salad . . . . a perfect meal in my book.
I didn’t know what to post today and so when I got home and had an e-mail from another friend I thought, “Perfect! People REALLY love the Marilyn Monroe Albert Einstein Optical Illusion. They will go crazy for these.”
So here you go:
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: Albert Einstein, baby, frog, horse, Illusions, Marilyn Monroe, Nia, Nia class, Nia Palo Alto, Nia San Carlos, Nia San Jose, Optical Illusion, pizza, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 23, 2010
When we do a Nia routine we set a focus and an intent. In my classes I set a class focus and intent but participants are always welcome to set their own. To focus on whatever they need at that moment. I am not sure if I have mentioned it before on my blog, but a focus and an intent can greatly alter the Nia routine. Recently I subbed a Nia class for another Nia teacher, in a different part of San Jose. I had planned and practiced the routine I wanted to teach. I had a feeling that the teacher had taught it because it is a new routine and a lot of teachers tend to start teaching those right away. When I arrived I announced to the class that I would be teaching Sexi. A few of the women, voiced some concerns. They mentioned that their shoulders hurt. They said that it was the routine that made their shoulders hurt.
Well, there is so much to be said about that. Nia is designed specifically NOT to hurt. So it could be that their shoulders had been pushed too hard, but not by the routine. 🙂 It could be that their shoulders weren’t injured but were just sore. Sometimes soreness, because it is a form of “pain”, is perceived as pain that one needs to be concerned about because there is an injury instead of just the “pain” that comes with moving a body part that has not been moved in a long time or has been moved in a way it is not accustomed to. And that is just a FEW things that can be said. At the beginning of a class where there is other classes that follow and a group of people to be attended it is not always possible to give each individual personal attention required—as they would get from a personal training session. So what I suggested was for them to NOT move so vigorously.
Before we started, I gave them the option of changing the routine. I would have gladly done a different Nia routine in order for them to have a good time in their workout and to not be doing a routine they were tired of or a routine they felt injured them. But they said that it was ok, I could do Sexi. And I was so happy, because I knew it would be different. I advised them that even though we were going to do the same routine, we were going to use a different focus.
The original focus of Sexi is the spine. When the spine is mentioned one thing people might think of is the back. Even though this routine employs many movements to move the spine, with the focus being the spine one might be thinking “back”.
Well, I changed the focus to the front. The focus I set forth was actually the Fourth Chakra, the Heart Chakra. And I read out of the Nia Technique Book, as Debbie Rosas is always encouraging us to do. The book states that this energy center is affected most by the motions of your rib cage and chest. With that information it moved the physical focus to the front.
So we danced Sexi. We danced Sexi sexy. Oh yeah. With our focus being the heart chakra and the intention being to allow a connection with love, compassion, joy, and sorrow–we danced.
While we danced I reminded the group to be aware of their shoulders and to try NOT to move them in the way that caused the pain. Afterwards, the ones that had voiced concerns said they were glad that we did it. They were able to do the same routine, but change the focus and therefore changing the routine. I love that about Nia. Because the focus is different the same routine is different. Because I am different the routine is different. Because the moves are basically the same, but the focus is different they were able to get an entirely different workout. Just another wonderful aspect of Nia.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: dance, Dance Workout, Debbie Rosas, focus and intent, fourth chakra, heart chakra, joy, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia routine, Nia San Jose, Nia Technique, Nia Technique Book, Nia workout, personal training, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class, San Jose Nia Workout, San Jose Personal training, San Jose Workout, Sexi, Sexy, workout classes | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 20, 2010
I subbed a Nia class in another part of San Jose today and so I had a different group of participants, and the routine we did today has a lot of bows in it. Watching the class do the bow stance made me think of how a bow is somewhat of a lunge. Reminded me how we really do work a lot of muscles in our Nia workouts with all of the different exercises we do. The bow stance is one of Nia’s 52 Moves.
Did you know you Quadriceps are made up for four muscles? Maybe, but since we always say, “quads” we might be thinking of them as one muscle. Of course, when we stop to think about it we understand that “quad” means four so it makes sense that quadriceps is four muscles.
Basically they work together. It is not as if you can work just one. Our quads extend the leg and flex the thigh. They move our thigh towards our chest and kick our foot out (as an example). Quads would be included in a “Push” workout. Lunges and squats target the quadriceps.
I am pretty sure you knew that the quadriceps were four muscles, but I thought I would just remind you.
Posted in Muscles | Tagged: bows stance, class workout, exercise class, exercise routine, lunges, Muscles, Nia class, Nia exercise, Nia routine, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, push workout, Quadriceps, quads, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, squats | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 18, 2010
Nia thinks of the pelvis, chest, and head as the core of the body. Nia is not defining the core muscles or a core muscle group, Nia just includes these three body weights as the core of the body.
The core is Nia White Belt Principle #8.
Alignment of these three weights affects so many things; energy, bones, muscles, organs. If the alignment is not as it should be all of these things could be affected.
Movement can help properly align these three weights. Often times some areas of our bodies are stiff and/or tight and by moving our body as it was designed to be moved the stiffness gets worked out and the tightness goes away. Sometimes that is what is needed to assist in proper alignment. Other times it might be strengthening or just moving your body in a way it is not accustomed to move.
As an example of how we guide a body to alignment, we utilize the bow stance in Nia routines. A great exercise while in the bow stance is to move the pelvis in all directions. Moving the pelvis in all directions while in this stance allows for the body to gain or retain mobility. Mobility in the hips and the spine. Movement of the pelvis releases energy and muscle tension. This type of movement also requires strength in the torso and leads up to the chest and head. While circling or waving the hips the body falls on and off balance and the chest and head must be used to stay upright. All of this contributes to stability, flexibility, and strength.
We often dance our chest in Nia. We move our ribs to open them and keep the muscles in between mobile. We breath deep. We makes sounds. We use our chest to guide us in our workout, giving us a different way to move. This releases blocked energy.
Nia encourages movement of the head in our routines. We are often moving our head on its own or to lead us through a move. We employ our hands and our eyes to help us move our head. Not all cardio workout classes employ the use of the head and it seems as if a lot of people are just plain ol’ not used to moving their head. So caution is always recommended. Since moving the head stimulates two chakras it is sometimes very powerful and some people get dizzy until they are used to it.
When these three body weights are in alignment sense calm. When our body is strong yet flexible and capable of mobility it assist us in keep our body weights aligned correctly even when we move we feel confident and have a sense of wellness.
The Nia White Belt Manual* has over 15 pages addressing the pelvis, chest, and head. I think that means that there will be more posts regarding the core and/or its parts, because Nia has a lot of information that I can share about the core.
*The Nia White Belt Manual was created by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas as was Nia (the Nia Technique). All of this information is based off of information from their trainings and the White Belt Manual and the Nia Technique Book
Posted in Core Muscles, Nia | Tagged: Bow Stance, Carlos AyaRosas, Carlos Rosas, chakras, core muscle group, Core Muscles, Debbie Rosas, flexibility, Nia, Nia and the Core, Nia routines, Nia Technique, Nia White Belt, Nia White Belt Manual, pelvis movement, Principle #8, strength, three body weights, White Belt | Leave a Comment »
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