A video excerpt from “A Philosophers Notes” discussing the importance of paying attention to the fundamentals if you wish to achieve your goals.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The 30-Day Vegan Challenge: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Cleaner, Getting Leaner, and Living is a joyful literary chaperone through one month of veganism, covering every topic imaginable; literally no stone is left unturned!  In her characteristic up-beat tone Patrick-Goudreau holds readers’ hands throughout the 30-day period, answering every question and addressing every challenge anyone’s ever made while maintaining a nonjudgmental, encouraging tone and helping readers make the transition joyfully, healthfully, and confidently. The 30-Day Vegan Challenge includes chapters on everything from reading nutrition labels and mapping out a grocery store, eating out and packing lunches, celebrating the holidays, traveling, living with non-vegans to all of the individual nutrients people are concerned about: iron, calcium, protein, omega-3 fatty acids and more.  The recipes are simple and overwhelmingly delicious, with menu ideas for every day of the week.  What’s more, the book itself is visually stunning, with gorgeous photos and a colorful, reader-friendly layout.  It is truly the quintessential vegan lexicon for new vegans and vegan veterans alike; anyone who loves good food and healthy living is guaranteed hold this book near and dear.

Although I am not a Vegan myself, there are a myriad of reasons to adopt a vegan lifestyle – to improve overall health, shed a few pounds, demonstrate compassion for animals, or help the environment for example – and Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has outdone herself with a timely challenge for all earthlings to explore.

Watch the 2-minute trailer video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Another bite size piece of wisdom from philosophersnotes.com. This one is called Ink Blobs and Emptiness.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Another mini chapter from a Philospher’s Notes by Brian Johnson.

This one is called No More Ice Cubes, Please.

Brian Johnson from his Philosopher’s Notes. This one is called the 3P’s of Optimism, which is about disciplining our minds to create more empowering explanations about what’s going on.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Whether you are a local or a tourist, you know that New York City offers some of the best dining options on the planet. But what if you are looking for healthier, environmentally friendlier eating establishments? Where do you go in NYC to find meal options that are healthy, within your budget and lick-your-plate-clean delicious?

What you really need is a comprehensive lifestyle and dining guide to healthy, appetizing and sustainable eating. With Clean Plates Manhattan 2011, this is exactly what you are getting! Clean Plates is the only nutritionist and food-critic approved guide to over 100 restaurants in the greater Manhattan area that specializes in finding dining for every dietary preference. From delectable vegan dishes to juicy grass-fed burgers, this guide will point you to the healthiest and most sustainable food establishments in town. Whether you are looking for lunch on the go or a romantic night out, Clean Plates Manhattan 2011 provides you with plenty of options from fast food to fine dining, all of which use sustainably raised animal foods free of hormones and antibiotics as well as organic and locally grown produce.

Developed by Jared Koch, a certified nutritional consultant with a passion for healthy living and well-being, Clean Plates is available in compact book form, online with a detailed website and blog, as well as a mobile version. Jared teamed up with an experienced team of New York City food critics to hit the streets of vibrant NYC, where together they set out to, taste and critique the plethora of restaurants readily embracing sustainable and healthy practices. “The goal was to compile a list of the healthiest, tastiest and most sustainable restaurants that accommodate both vegetarians and carnivores and include a wide variety of
cuisines and price ranges,” explains Jared.

The Clean Plates’ screening process moves through a variety of stages, beginning with anonymous queries regarding sourcing methods and preparation implemented by the restaurants. Jared and the team of food critics have personally tasted and evaluated each restaurant’s offerings listed in Clean Plates 2011, basing their reviews on taste, atmosphere, type of cuisine, lifestyle categories, and health and quality of ingredients. If the restaurant is both delicious and nutritious, offering food options that are “organic” and completely antibioticand hormone-free, it deserves and receives a Clean Plates seal.

In addition, the Clean Plates website now offers “honorable mentions” for restaurants that offer a good option for diners without fully meeting the critics’ high standards. For example, you can find restaurants that are ”healthy but not as tasty” (i.e. they have done a good job sourcing and serving healthy food but are not up to the critics standards from a taste perspective) and “tasty not as healthy” (i.e. restaurants that are doing a decent job with quality of food from a nutrition and sustainability perspective but not as good as the approved restaurants). The website is kept up-to-date with current restaurant openings and closings as well as high quality advice on nutrition and eating healthier.

The phrase “you are what you eat” is paramount in today’s health-conscious society and tools like Clean Plates 2011 and www.cleanplates.com make it that much easier to take pleasure in maintaining this lifestyle. Whether you’re a vegan or a carnivore, a foodie looking for that perfect flexitarian balance (meat and vegetables), or you simply want to soothe a craving with naturally sweetened desserts or avoid gluten, Clean Plates 2011 is the eating guide for every body.

Purchase Clean Plates Manhattan 2011 here and for more information visit www.cleanplates.com and be sure to check out the blog for some informative insights into an eco-chic lifestyle.

Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles
Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D.

http://www.amazon.com/Future-Now-Timely-Advice-Creating/dp/1401923003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246224259&sr=1-1

The Biology of Belief is a groundbreaking work in the field of new biology. Author Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D., is a former medical school professor and research scientist. His experiments, and those of other leading-edge scientists, have examined in great detail the mechanisms by which cells receive and process information.

The implications of this research radically change our understanding of life. It shows that genes and DNA do not control our biology; but instead, DNA is controlled by signals from outside the cell, including the energetic messages emanating from our positive and negative thoughts.

This profoundly hopeful synthesis of the latest and best research in cell biology and quantum physics is being hailed as a major breakthrough, showing that our bodies can be changed as we retrain our thinking.

Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized authority in bridging science and spirit and a leading voice in new biology. A cell biologist by training, he taught Cell Biology at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine, and later performed pioneering studies at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. He has been a guest speaker on dozens of TV and radio shows, as well as keynote presenter for national and international conferences.
Website: www.brucelipton.com

This book will forever change how you think about your own thinking. Stunning new scientific discoveries about the biochemical effects of the brain’s functioning show that all the cells of your body are affected by your thoughts. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D., a renowned cell biologist, describes the precise molecular pathways through which this occurs. Using simple language, illustrations, humor, and everyday examples, he demonstrates how the new science of Epigenetics is revolutionizing our understanding of the link between mind and matter, and the profound effects it has on our personal lives and the collective life of our species.

HERE ARE SOME ENDORSEMENTS

“Bruce Lipton’s book is the definitive summary of the new biology and all it implies. It is magnificent, profound beyond words, and a delight to read. It synthesizes an encyclopedia of critical new information into a brilliant yet simple package. These pages contain a genuine revolution in thought and understanding, one so radical that it can change the world.”

— Joseph Chilton Pearce, Ph.D., the author of Magical Child and Evolution’s End

***

“Powerful! Elegant! Simple! In a style that is as accessible as it is meaningful, Dr. Bruce Lipton offers nothing less than the long sought-after ‘missing link’ between life and consciousness. In doing so, he answers the oldest questions and solves the deepest mysteries of our past. I have no doubt that The Biology of Belief will become a cornerstone for the science of the new millennium.”

— Gregg Braden, the author of The God Code and The Divine Matrix

***

“Bruce Lipton’s delightfully written The Biology of Belief is a much-needed antidote to the ‘bottom-up’ materialism of today’s society. The idea that DNA encodes all of life’s development is being successfully employed in genetic engineering. At the same time, the shortfall of this approach is becoming evident. The Biology of Belief is a review of a quarter-century of pioneering results in Epigenetics, heralded by the Wall Street Science Journal in mid-2004 as an important new field. Its personal style makes it eminently readable and enjoyable.”

— Karl H. Pribram, M.D., Ph.D. (Hon., Multi), Professor Emeritus, Stanford University

(Fireside) by Rob DeStefano, D.C. with Bryan Kelly, M.D. and Joseph Hooper

http://www.amazon.com/Muscle-Medicine-Revolutionary-Maintaining-Strengthening/dp/1416562567/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261328772&sr=1-1

You don’t expect a book with a subtitle touting a “revolutionary approach” to be modest. But amidst a sea of books promising that their particular brand of body therapy is the greatest thing since the invention of the theraband, what’s truly revolutionary about this book is its intellectual honesty. Although the book’s primary author, Rob DeStefano, is a sports chiropractor who uses a particular muscle therapy, ART, to address a wide range of common body problems, Muscle Medicine is a user-friendly synthesis of everything that he and his orthopedist co-author Bryan Kelly (they both consult for the New York Giants football team) know about why bodies break down and how they can be put to right. The big idea here is that muscle damage, which we usually experience as tightness and soreness, underlies most common musculoskeletal problems (lower-back pain, achy wrist, etc.). Even when damage to cartilage and ligaments inside the joint is the primary bad actor, it’s the health of the muscles, which should be addressed in surgical “pre-hab” and rehab, that mostly determines whether the patient returns to full function.

A lot of healers in the body business would agree with that general assessment. But the books and web material they produce tend to be manifestos for their chosen school of muscle therapy: ART (Active Release Techniques), Trigger Point Therapy, Graston Technique, and all the rest. That may be fine for readers who already know which aisle they plan to shop. For everyone else, Muscle Medicine is the clearest layperson’s exposition of the musculoskeletal big picture I’ve yet seen. It guides the reader from the basic physiology of muscle, joint, bone and nerve to the disease processes that undermine them to an easy-to-follow discussion of the most common problems that crop up in the body’s “hot spots” (neck, shoulder, lower-back, etc.). The theory chapters are scrupulous about the limits of what we know and don’t know about muscle therapies. (Thanks to the medical-industrial complex’s near monopoly on research money, there’s no proof that one therapy is “better” than another; therapies with totally different rationales, like ART and acupuncture, can be productively combined.) The “hot spot” spot chapters are mercifully short on medical jargon and long on useful patient case histories. One example: the typist who discovers that her case of carpal tunnel syndrome, like so many other misdiagnosed CTS cases, is really a matter of an overstressed muscle in the forearm, the pronator teres, which can usually be brought back to health with a few sessions of muscle tension-releasing therapy.

Along the way, the authors provide three very nice background chapters on the relevant lifestyle issues:  mind-body, nutrition and general fitness. Again, the emphasis is on “news you can use,” no long-winded digressions or overly chatty tone. And yes, as with most any “revolutionary” health book, there is what looks to be a very thoughtful self-treatment program, modeled mostly on ART. But whether the reader chooses to follow that particular path or not, he or she will come away with the tools to find their own way through the maze of competing body therapies, even the “newbie” who only just suspects that downing Advils may not be the best way to deal with that chronically achy knee.

In this great book in which I am honored to have written the forward, Deborah Burnes blends her effervescent personality with true scientific knowledge and sends a hard knock message to the beauty industry – stop misleading us. Look Great, Live Green reveals the harmful truth about the many chemicals and toxins lurking in the thousands of beauty products millions use each and every day. Relying on her unending rolodex of tips, tricks and secrets, readers walk away empowered, educated and armed with solutions that are both natural and get results without harming them, their children or the planet.

Truth be told, you can look good, feel good, and do good- without sacrificing time, money or results. Since she was old enough to buy her first lip gloss, Deborah Burnes has been obsessed with beauty products. But as she worked as a model, trained as a cosmetologist and herbologist and began to raise a family, she became a much more savvy consumer.

Lipstick with lead, powders with toxic talc, silicone that damages pores… Deborah knew there had to be a better way.

“We buy these products because we want to look good and feel our best, but looking good shouldn’t make us, or the planet, sick in the process.”

So Deborah set about combining all of her research about what works and what hurts with an industry insider’s tips, tricks and techniques. She debunked inflated label claims and eliminated dubious ingredients. The result was her all-natural, highly-successful, skin-care line … and now her first book, Look Great, Live Green.

In these pages, with infectious enthusiasm and no-nonsense practicality, Burnes shares her secrets, shortcuts and even recipes. You learn to:

• de-mystify label claims and ingredients in everything from soaps, lotions, and toothpaste to deodorant, shampoo and makeup
• detox skincare at every age and stage – baby, kid, teen, adult
• enjoy natural and organic products on any budget

As Deborah says, once you are empowered with the green options and real-world solutions offered in Look Great, Live Green, “You save money, your skin, your health. You save the planet. That’s the best ending I could write.”

I highly recommend this great book on an extremely important yet ignored subject.

http://www.amazon.com/Look-Great-Live-Green-Choosing/dp/0897935217/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259929116&sr=8-1

Great book review on Jared Koch’s Clean Plates NYC.  Posted by Danny Jensen on the Take Part Blog (http://www.takepart.com/blog/)

Eating out in New York City is always an adventure, but navigating your way to a restaurant that’s both tasty and healthy can be an overwhelming challenge for even the most seasoned New Yorker, let alone a visitor. Fortunately the Clean Plates NYC guide has come along to help you find amazing food all over Manhattan that is both nutritious and delicious.

Thoroughly researched and tested by nutritionist Jared Koch and food critic Alex Van Buren, this concise, pocket-sized book will help you easily track down an awesome cross-town variety that will satisfy vegan, vegetarian and carnivorous appetites. Icons quickly help you identify the eating options and price-range of each restaurant. The one-page reviews of the 75 featured restaurants highlight the nutritional benefits, as well as vividly evoking the aromas, flavors and settings. It’s important to find food that’s good for you, but what’s the point if it doesn’t satisfy your taste buds.

Jared and Alex also let you know if the restaurant has “green” features such as recycled building materials and composting, or if the spot might be better for a business lunch or a romantic date. Many of the restaurants feature local, organic and sustainable ingredients, and range from inexpensive fare to upscale gourmet feasts. The guide reviews some of my favorite places, including Candle 79, Community Food and Juice, and Savoy, but there are so many others that I can’t wait to check out the next time I’m in New York. So whether you’ve lived in the city for years and think you know all the best places to nosh or your planning a trip and want to try the tastiest and healthiest eats New York has to offer, definitely pick up a copy of Clean Plates NYC.