My Truth About Sugar...

My uncle died when he was 52. He had severe diabetes and his pancreas was totally exhausted. In the end he was blind, had heart issues and was clinically obese. Before he took ill, there was a little joke in my family “he’s an eater!” They would say. He loved his desserts.

 I watched my grandmother check her sugar every morning and then take insulin shots- she looked like a junkie with her arm stretched out, I saw it so often it was the norm. She adored blueberry pie among other sweet things.

Sweets have had their pull on me too, at the height of my sugar addiction I was eating 5 candy bars a day, I was 11 years old. I was often alone and those candy bars were everything to me.

 Now at 41 my relationship is different. It is a balanced and healthy relationship, but it took a lot of work to get to this place.

I see the other part of the sugar story – there is so much love there. I asked my husband what he wanted for his birthday last week and he said, with a huge smile “a chocolate cake and some cookies… can you make me those?” “Of course” I said with enthusiasm.

As I mixed the batter, I remembered a love of baking, I remembered being 4 years old, before my father and mother divorced, before the fighting and turmoil, Mom and I would bake cupcakes. Just Mom and I, my brother was at school, my father at work, there just us two alone in the bright blue kitchen. We focused on nothing else but each other and baking… cracking eggs, creaming sugar with butter, looking at the clock for the big hand to move to the 3. We giggled, I got chocolate all over myself as I liked the wooden spoon and she adored how cute I was. There was so much love. 

So, as I mixed batter, cracked eggs and creamed sugar with butter for his cake and cookies, I thought about how much I love my husband. I thought about the joy in his eyes as he saw my finished sweets, I imagined him slumping back in his chair overcome with pleasure from my efforts. There I poured my love. And when the time came, after I lit the last candle … it was just as I envisioned, a huge response full of joy and mouth watering. I made him happy with sugar.

Sugar is like anything, some sugar is ok, too much can kill you. Some water is good for you, but too much water is called drowning. Sunshine is good for you, but have too much and you get hurt. One glass of red wine is great for your heart, but too much will reek havoc on your liver.

I know from years of study and a life of eating just how hard it is to navigate sugar. I know more than most just what it takes to actually have a safe and healthy relationship with sugar.

If you’d like to know more about how you too can develop a healthy relationship with sugar, and how to find some healthier versions of the sweets that have a hold on you now, I can help you. Join me August 21^st at 6:30pm for my SUGAR WORKSHOP and learn everything you ever wanted to know about sugar and some things you didn’t even know existed in the world of sweets. You’ll also learn how to side-step diabetes & manage it if you are in the throes of it. You will learn the truth about why you can’t shed those extra 10lbs, you will learn why your skin acts up and why you have mood swings, also, why you are so tired all the time.

Click here for more information and to register…

Here is my recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made:

4 ounces (115g) organic / pastured sea salted butter, at room temperature2/3 cup packed (110g) organic brown sugar1/2 cup (100g) date sugar1 large egg, at room temperature1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla extract1 1/3 cup (180g) oat flour1/2 teaspoon natural baking soda1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt or kosher salt1 1/3 cups (200g) coarsely chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate1 cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped or ground up 1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or by hand, beat the butter, brown sugar, and date sugar just until smooth and creamy.
2. Beat in the egg and the vanilla.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Stir the flour mixture into the beaten butter until combined, then mix in the chopped chocolate (including any chocolate dust) and the chopped nuts.
5. Cover and chill the batter until firm. (It’s preferable to let it rest overnight.)
6. To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
7. Form the cookie dough into rounds about the size of a golf ball Place the mounds evenly spaced apart on the baking sheets, and press down the tops to flatten them so they are no longer domed and the dough is even.
8. Bake the cookies for ten minutes, rotating the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies look about set, but are not browned.
9. Remove from the oven and quickly tap the top of each with a spatula, then return to the oven for two to five more minutes, until the tops of the cookies are light golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cookies cool.
Storage: The cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to five days in an airtight container. The dough can be refrigerated for up to one week or frozen for one or two months.    

 

My Momma said "CHILL!!!"

My Mom always says that God/ The Universe has three possible answers for you when you come for guidance

                            1)   YES

                                    2)   NO

                                        And…

                                                  3)   WAIT

                                                         

The third one can be maddening. As we sit and wait for… fill in the blank____________ it can seem like an eternity. I have a best girlfriend -best selling self help book author Karen Salmansohn  I love her. She likes to think that what you are bringing towards you is on the way, however, it’s simply “stuck in traffic”

We never know why things take longer than we think they should take. Mom also said “things happen in God’s time, not your time, so relax!”

My mother has lived a long life filled with disappointment at one end of the spectrum and big, wondrous surprises on the other. She has had both failed marriages and great loves, she has experienced huge abundance followed by tearful poverty only to find herself flush with money again. She understands the flow of the universe. She knows when to tell her daughter to chill. I haven’t always listened to her.

 I remember one very painful conversation after a breakup. She got very soft with me and said simply

 “ I wish I had a time machine, I wish you could sit down with your future self, the one who already has all of the stuff that you want in life, the partner, the babies, the house, the great career… I wish that you could sit down with her so she could spread her arms open wide and say it’s all here for you, just relax and be patient… it’s on its way!”

 Or as Karen would say “Relax, it’s just stuck in traffic”

Can you be patient? Can you allow the universe the time to “cook” what you need in the oven of possibility, cook it until it is done to perfection and just as you ordered it?

Esther and Jerry Hicks’s Abraham talk about “allowing” can you take the white-knuckle grip off of your idea of how things are supposed to be and open your hands to how the universe will prepare them? Most often times they are even better and more fun that what is in your head, so why not?

I know how challenging this can be but what if they really are on their way?

 Of course you do all you can do, you visualize, you make sure that your language is in alignment with your idea for the future, you learn all you need to, write in your  journal, meditate etc. but then there comes a point when you just need to chill, relax and allow.

What can you do?

                 1)   Get still

                2)   Take 5 deep breathes inhaling for a count of four, holding for a count of four, exhaling for a count of four

                3)   Imagine yourself in a tranquil white room, a room full of light, a very cheerful room

                4)   Now imagine that you are sitting in a chair and there is another chair, empty right across from you

                5)   Imagine now that your future self comes to sit with you, take her/ him in… how does he/she look? What do they tell you? Let it be light and fun.

                6)   Write anything down that you have learned from this conversation

              7)   Chill, relax, and allow

 I have every confidence that we are all experts at the art of manifesting - all you are right now is a result of all you have done so far. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other. 

with love and light!

Donna 

Bringing in BIG Love

I just got engaged, it was a bazaar and wonderfully quick turn of events. We met at a spiritual workshop and merged at hyper-speed. Everyone thought we were nuts, until they sat down with us. One by one we have met with family members on both sides and one by one they all have the same reaction... "I totally get it!" "He is great!" "She is lovely!" "Seeing you two together makes sense." 

This seemingly quick union was a long time coming for both of us. We are both on “the path”, I started way back when I was about 22 with workshops and meditation and he has been entrenched in a thick love of all things spiritual – culminating in 2 years at seminary.

He is deep and I am deep.

I am 41 years old, I have almost been married 4 times, each time I just knew that the person sitting across from me, however awesome, fun and attractive they were… they were not “my person” my “orb of light” to travel this life with. And so, I let go of them in search of my true life-partner. Friends and loved ones would shake their heads at me “your too picky!” I would talk with my mother after dates “what’s wrong with this one?” she would ask, nearly fed up with the endless sea of suitors. Heck, I even went on a VH1 dating reality show, but, no matter what came up, how exhausted and depleted I got from the arduous task of finding “Him” I stayed the course. I knew that God/ The Universe (or whatever you find comforting as that energy) had a better plan for me, bigger and more fun then the one that lived in my head. I knew in my body and my bones that if I listened to others thoughts on my love life, I’d be in big trouble.

I did the work, attending workshops on finding love, creating the environment for love to come in, re-vamping my apartment with feng shui experts, if there was a book on love or a work book on bringing love into your life, I read it, I did it. Seemingly whacky rituals, became a part of my weekly practice, healers, clairvoyants and mediums, yes, I sought them out too.

Then finally, after yet another unsatisfying relationship and breakup, I gave up. That is not to say that I gave up on the hope that my partner was out there, I gave up on doing it alone. That is when I started my daily conversations with God.  The conversation started as a crying fit that left my eyes red and gave me the hiccups, there I was on my big white rug, on my hands and knees, and I just surrendered. With my face wet with tears I looked up at my ceiling… “I cannot do this alone anymore, I need you God, I need your help” then I got very still and what came out of my mouth surprised me, it was such a strong and powerful voice, a voice with such knowing – it was coming from me, but I was not talking, I was being spoken. This is what the voice said through me:

“God, I know that I am born for one man and I know God that you have born a man just for me, I know God that you are bringing us together now and when we do meet it will be fast and fun and full of wonder, I know that he will respect me and I will respect him, he is kind and thoughtful, we have abundance and great laughter, ours is a limitless love, we are both attracted to each other with such passion, he makes me smile, we create a life that is full of family and babies and health and joy! I thank you God for this and all you have given me already.”

I said some version of this every morning right about the time I started an intense daily yoga practice, mid-July. My morning prayers, my “talk with God” out loud in my tiny apartment, on my hands and knees. The conversation covered many issues, my deep gratitude for EVERYTHING, every stick of furniture, every item of clothing, each friend, every loved one, every client, the sunshine, the earth, clean water and a bounty of delicious food, I acknowledged it all even the bad dates that I had, focusing on how much fun it was to get dolled up and have men buy me dinner, I was grateful for their masculine energy, for the moments that I was not alone on a Saturday night. I approached my morning prayer with thanks and deep knowing that he was on his way, envisioning a life with him, breathing into it with security that it was already here, that I had already stepped into my life.

And then he showed up. Just like that.

Pretty soon into our relationship I let him know about my morning “conversations with God” I trusted him with my story of what I had been asking for. His smile widened as he shared with me that at around the same time (mid-July) he did the same thing – giving up, and seeing it and asking for God's help.

We all have the ability to manifest great love, it is not just for some of us, it is for us all. My mother always said “God wouldn’t bring you all this way to leave you all alone!” so, I believed her and I believe in my power to manifest.

Now I sit here in this new apartment that I am slowly bringing my belongings into as we plan our wedding. I’ve kept my yoga practice and each day I have my conversation with God. It takes only a few minutes but it sets everything in motion for the day.

What can you do?

          1) Start with gratitude – give thanks for all that you have and everything that is on its way

          2)   Bless the planet and your loved ones – each morning I send love to my mom in Florida, I send love to the ancestors who have passed on, I ask God to watch over family and friends

         3)    Focus on abundance and career with gratitude and knowing that more great things are on their way

         4) Get in your body, take some long deep breaths to center yourself for the day

        5) Ask for God's energy where you need it – If I have an intense cooking job I usually ask God to have my grandmother work through my hands to make sure everything is delicious

        6) share with God what you long for in a partner (some version of what I have written above) as you share, feel the feeling of him/ her already in your life, visualize waking up next to them, sitting to eat with them, walking with them etc. express gratitude for them in present time. Feel the feelings of love and joy, then, breathe them in.

        7) Imagine your future as if it’s happening in real time, where you live, who is in your house, your health, your job, your finances… this should be fun and only takes a few minutes

       8)  Give thanks one more time to seal your practice

I feel confident that with these tools you are now manifesting your partner!

With love,

Donna

what octogenarians & nonagenarians know about anti-aging...

Sometimes, it isn’t the food at all…

As a certified health coach for the past 7 years, I’ve been sharing my information about how the food we eat literally becomes the body. I believe this to be true and I feel that we, by our choices, create pretty much all the good, and all the bad that the body experiences. It was the sadness of watching family members struggle with obesity, diabetes, depression and high blood pressure that led me on this path.

One day, a few years back, I was watching an interview with anti-inflammatory specialist, Dr. Nicholas Perricone, in which he explained that aging and disease are 40% genetic and 60% lifestyle. This informed everything I did, knowing that I was more in control than I had originally thought.

 Every bite was bringing me closer to optimum health or nearer to the grave.

This Monday, however, I was reminded of something that supports the opposite view and it made me chuckle.

Lets preface this by saying that I have a deep affinity for the elderly.  Growing up, I spent a great deal of time with my Nana and her brother and sister.  My Nana lived to 85, her brother to 87 and my Aunt Bea to a ripe 95.  They were all healthy and vibrant with boundless energy, especially Aunt Bea. I recall their diet was pretty simple.  Aunt Bea and Uncle Charlie would file into the kitchen for a breakfast of fried Hebrew national bologna and eggs. Toward the end of their lives there wasn’t much disease.  Uncle Charlie actually died in his sleep, peacefully. Yes, they all grew up on a farm and spent the majority of their lives eating real food/ whole food. They were lucky, since chemicals didn’t make it into the food supply until the late 1960’s. They were all breast-fed because that is just what they did back then. So you could say that they were “set up” for a healthy life. Still, I remember us all gathering in the kitchen for ice cream sundaes on a regular basis.  The health coach in me balks at this steady use of nitrates and hard sugar, but it worked for them.

Their lives were rich with friends, culture and laughter.

This Monday I was in Fairway shopping for a client when a woman in her 90’s shuffled by muttering to herself, loud enough for me to hear… “I could walk around here all day and not find a damn thing!” She was adorable with her kerchief on her head, slightly hunched over her wagon.

“What do you need?” I asked. She replied very loudly articulating every moment of each word

“McCormick Baco-Bits!” we found them in aisle 2 all the way on the top shelf. As I reached for them she barked,

“Grab me two of them!”

“What do you do with them?” I questioned.  She shook her head with a sigh as she tilted her chin up to me

“I nibble on them all day long… I know its no good for me but I can’t help it” We both laughed.

While you won’t find me exploring the pleasures of McCormick Baco-Bit nibbling, I have been known to indulge in a pig-in-a-blanket every now and again at a party and that’s OK. 

back to REALITY!!!

well folks,

after 7 weeks in New Orleans filming VH1's Tough Love AND 3 weeks up at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, I am finally home.

phew!

you will be able to watch my transformative stint as reality show star on Tough Love starting April 15th Sunday night on VH1 at 9pm. Also, you can find out the inside scoop and some show gossip/ cast photos by checking out my VH1's Tough Love -Donna Sonkin fan page on Facebook.

you can see all of my new techniques and fun recipes by checking out my Donna Sonkin Holistic Health Coach and Chef on my Facebook page or visit my website DonnaSonkin.com

as for my time in both places...

keeping to my simple daily yoga practice and meditation kinda saved me. Nothing too intense just about 5-30 minutes of yoga and a simple meditation that at times was only for 5 minutes- sometimes 20 minutes. It's stressful having cameras in your face 24 hours a day. Just as stressful living in close quarters with new people. I made some wonderful friends (please follow me on Twitter @donnasonkin for cast mate tweets) I LOVED these gals.

I also followed a pretty strict food plan of what I wouldn't eat - except of course on dates... you have to bend a little:)... there were times where I had literally nothing else to eat but pizza because that was the ONLY thing available. In those cases I ate the pizza.

Up at school it was even more of a challenge because I HAD to taste EVERYTHING ! I mean, I was at one of the top culinary schools in the world. I needed and wanted to learn through my taste buds and I did. Every cream sauce, all types of braised meats, anything fried, also there were many healthy items so I tried my best to fill my plate up with vegetables and just have bites of everything else. It was a wonderful experience.

here was my basic protocol for avoiding packing on the pounds when schedule and stress collide to create what could be the perfect storm of diet disasters:

I got these basic ideas from an amazing book that I read by Canadian N.D. Dr. John Matsen - the book is called "Eating Alive Prevention Thru Good Digestion" he talks about avoiding non-food items

• coffee
• tea
• white sugar
• chocolate
• alcohol
• artificial sweeteners
• preservatives
• iodized salt (good quality table salt OK)
• tobacco
• gluten and processed grain products (quinoa, brown rice OK)

these items tax adrenals and stress the body out. if you are going through stress you want to make it easy for the body!

I made sure that I slept as best I could, donning a sleep mask, using ear plugs and anointing myself with lavender oil. occasionally I would take Bach's sleep remedy spray or melatonan.

of course the easiest thing to do is drink a glass of water and take a deep breath.

having certain foods on hand will set you up for success as well:

• sardines
• kale
• some fruits
• sweet potatoes
• good quality animal protein
• naturally raised eggs
• all vegetables
• good quality spring water - in glass bottles when available (my favorite is Mountain Valley Spring water)

now that you have the basics... there is no excuse for letting stress get the better of you. If I could get through this mania anyone can:)

much love,

xoxo-Donna

Donna Sonkin HHC,AADP’s Top 5 weight loss tips

1. DON’T DIET!

Seriously, when you “go ON a diet” you are bound to “go OFF a diet” right???

2. SPOIL YOUR APPETITE!

When you wait too long between meals and are faced with too many options and choices you kind of go nuts and eat everything in site. When you show up to a party or dinner hungry but not ravenous you are less likely to stuff yourself, my recommendation is to have a small amount of fat/ protein / vegetables, so, fry an egg or have some steamed broccoli with pastured butter. You will enjoy yourself a lot more and be more in the moment with the other attendees instead of wondering what you are going to eat!

3. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY NOT MAIN STREAM MEDIA!

This is good advice, I cannot tell you how many times I have read some women’s magazine with some “bikini ready- in – 4 weeks” diet plan only to think “ how can they tell YOU what YOU need in your body!?!?!” makes no sense, some people need more food to lose weight, some people are really satiated by grains, some people get bloated when they eat grains, some folks can eat dairy, some become sluggish on dairy, some people feel really great and energized when they eat meat, some people become constipated. There are those who can eat tropical fruit and some who break out when they do. See what I mean? Listen to your body, see how you feel after you eat something, that will guide you… not some “diet” in the back of some magazine!

4. SLEEP!

When you sleep your body reduces its production of the stress hormone cortizol for more wonders of sleep please read my article in Green Beauty Team this month.

http://greenbeautyteam.com/self-care/137-why-beauty-sleep-is-the-fountain-of-youth.html

5. LOVE YOURSELF NOW!

Loving yourself and finding what is good and beautiful about YOU as you are NOW will send a message to the universe that you are sitting in love and gratitude and are ready for beauty (see post below)

Beauty as Nature Intended By Donna Sonkin HHC,AADP.

What if I told you that you were amazing RIGHT now? Yes, we could all use some tweaking to be the BEST version of ourselves but, what if you already had all of that in you. What if you could just relax knowing that, like Dorothy’s ruby slippers you had the ability all the while. Through all of life’s ups and downs, through all of the anxiety and low self esteem days? Would you believe me?

I am here to tell you that you are a glorious creature that you have been given the perfect body, skin, voice, hair, talents that you need for this lifetime. The lessons that you must learn will turn about because of who you are and the vessel in which you travel. Sure Marilyn Monroe got a nose job – but I’ve seen the photos and I thought that she was gorgeous with her original nose.

I recently NetFlixed the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” I was blown away by all of the CGI (Computer-generated imagery) during the course of the movie Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchet’s characters go from 19 years old to 95 years old –they were pulled to look younger and had more than 5 hours of makeup a day to look older. Julia Ormond played Cate’s daughter and is 43 years old. The first close up that I saw of her bowled me over- “she is a goddess” I thought “ a radiant vision” I think that it was the first time in about ten years that I have seen a woman in the movies actually look her age. Every line , every wrinkle, the furrow of her brow. It made me feel good about aging gracefully without botox or fillers or peels. Without lying to my friends about some secret vacation when I turn 55 to go get pulled and nipped. To see an expressive face , a face with feeling and emotion. WOW! So many of us fall into the trap of being lead by the media – I actually dated a guy who had no clue that they airbrushed photos of women in the magazines and billboards-- he was really missing out on BEAUTY as nature intended it! I remember one of my students talking about her grandmother and how she loved her arm fat – how it was one of the few places that she felt safe, how she would not trade time in her grandmother’s embrace, snuggled into her bosom nearly suffocated by arm fat. Isn’t that worth something?

I read a great interview with Selma Hyack where she calls her stretch marks her “tiger stripes” just thinking of Selma Hyack with stretch marks makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

These imperfections will benefit someone along the way – it is up to us to figure out who and allow those people who REALLY appreciate us and our bodies to get to love us and be with us. In the movie Pitt’s character goes on and on about loving Blanchet’s smile lines, that alone is reason to forgo botox.

I am in no way saying that you should have globs of arm fat and weathered skin – I am saying that you can work with what you have and see the value in it . To love it as it is and then work at making it the BEST ever.

Here are some tips on working with what you’ve got:

Donna’s top 5 tips to loving where your at:

1. Figure out what it is that you need to work on, really. Find an honest friend who will lovingly and gently bring things to your attention- do you eat late night? Do you make dumb choices when it comes to relationships? Ask a friend and then sit back and LISTEN without judgment or fear.

2. DO something about it! Now that you have a basic idea of what needs work go out and DO! Is your apartment a mess? Call in a professional organizer. Do you feel stuck , get a life coach. Need some fresh energy in your life? Volenteer.

3. Make fitness a regular part of your life. Be consistent, finally! Enlist a professional to kick your butt and then make plans to keep doing it. Make work outs a fixture by literally scheduling them into your blackberry or planner. Nothing will make you feel better about who you are than a work out- you release hundreds of wonderful phyto- chemicals and endorphins.

4. Get OUT of your head! Are you trapped by your thoughts? Find your personal Zen place with classic meditation or one of the active forms of meditation. I call these “active” because they link the body/ mind and breath – any martial arts, yoga, swimming and running even a long walk in nature can bring you glorious inner peace. Even taking 5 minutes a day to quiet the mind and breathe can change your entire day and how you feel about who you are.

5. Get your food issues under wraps once and for all! Are you emotional eating? Late night eating? Have you no clue of what to buy, cook or what to eat? Do you look to magazine articles for your nutrition advice? Time to get real and figure that all out. First I recommend eating REAL food – this is food that is what it says it is, an egg is an egg, chicken is chicken, nuts are nuts, grapes are grapes etc. If you eat only this type of food you will avoid all processed food naturally. Also, listening to your body can be so powerful. So ask yourself before you dive into the buffet table at your cousins wedding “what do I really want?” “how hungry am I ?” if you eat when you know you aren’t hungry ask “what is on my mind ?” “what am I upset about –really”

I know that with these 5 tools you are well on your way to the kind of self acceptance that makes you appear to be more beautiful in all you do.