I was so lucky to be born with a mom who was into yoga.  I remember leaving for the school bus while mom practiced on the floor while watching “Lilias, Yoga & You” on PBS.

(and I was so excited to meet Lilias herself, who is STILL teaching, when I was at last year’s World Peace & Yoga Jubilee!)

I developed scoliosis (a spinal curve) in my early teens, but because I knew about yoga, and was encouraged to use chiropractors and massage periodically, my back has stayed in pretty good shape all these years.

So I’ve been doing yoga for almost 30 years…but I’ve never used a mat like this before!

Fellow Institute for Integrative Nutrition graduate Heidi Woschnak created MY MAT MY YOGA to help busy people who want to practice yoga on their own time, in their own space.

This extra thick mat is made from a high performance, extra quarter inch thickness, which my crunchy knees immediately appreciated!

The simple, elegant pose designs on the mat prompt you through a series of moves that allow you to enjoy the benefits of yoga no matter where or when you decide to practice.

I laid out the mat for my 4.5-year old son Laken and he immediately, instinctively started copying the pictures and created poses!

Laken does yoga on My Mat My Yoga

Kid Corps Pose

Heidi has gracious offered to give away one MY MAT MY YOGA to a lucky Delicious Vitality reader! (US residents only please)

Simply leave a comment here on my blog about why you want to win this awesome mat (by Friday, July 1st at 12pm EST) – and only enter if you haven’t won a prize from me in the last 6 months…gotta’ share the wealth!

If you loved the look of MY MAT MY YOGA, Heidi is offering readers of Delicious Vitality a reduced price of $69.95. This price is available until Friday 8 July, simply email info@mymatmyyoga.com and mention ‘Delicious Vitality’ in the subject line and you will receive an online invoice for $69.95 to pay. That’s $10 off!

Click Here To ReTweet This Blog & You’ll Be Entered TWICE To Win!

Alex Jamieson Hemp History Week

The point of Hemp History Week is to educate the public about the safety and benefits of hemp agriculture and usage, while renewing support to legalize industrial hemp farming in the U.S.

Hemp has gotten a bad reputation from it’s Cannabis relative, marijuana, and is actually free of psychoactive ingredients. Made illegal in 1957, Hemp is grown around the world for industrial and dietary uses. Hemp fiber is one of the strongest natural fibers on earth, and requires no pesticides or agricultural chemicals, unlike cotton.

Why is this movement important to me? Hemp represents agricultural, health, and sustainability issues all in one delicious package.

The U.S. is the world’s largest importer of hemp seeds, fabric, and oils, but farmers who want to grow this crop are still in legal limbo. Canadian farmers earn $200-$400 per acre with hemp crops, while U.S. farmers net less than $50 an acre for soy and corn. Legalizing hemp would be a huge boon to farmers in this country, as well as brining more production jobs stateside for the manufacturing of hemp fabric, seeds, and industrial products that could then be made in the U.S.

I’ll be talking more about hemp and its culinary uses and nutrition next week – and I’ll be giving away a box full of hemp products! Keep your eyes open for the contest on my blog. Also, be sure to come to the cooking class I’ll be co-hosting will Phil Lempert the editor of www.SupermarketGuru.com and The Lempert Report. We’ll be talking all things hemp at the Whole Foods on Bowery and Houston on Tuesday, May 3rd. To sign up for the class, go here:

Alex Jamieson Hemp History Week

The point of Hemp History Week is to educate the public about the safety and benefits of hemp agriculture and usage, while renewing support to legalize industrial hemp farming in the U.S.

Hemp has gotten a bad reputation from it’s Cannabis relative, marijuana, and is actually free of psychoactive ingredients. Made illegal in 1957, Hemp is grown around the world for industrial and dietary uses. Hemp fiber is one of the strongest natural fibers on earth, and requires no pesticides or agricultural chemicals, unlike cotton.

Why is this movement important to me? Hemp represents agricultural, health, and sustainability issues all in one delicious package.

The U.S. is the world’s largest importer of hemp seeds, fabric, and oils, but farmers who want to grow this crop are still in legal limbo. Canadian farmers earn $200-$400 per acre with hemp crops, while U.S. farmers net less than $50 an acre for soy and corn. Legalizing hemp would be a huge boon to farmers in this country, as well as brining more production jobs stateside for the manufacturing of hemp fabric, seeds, and industrial products that could then be made in the U.S.

I’ll be talking more about hemp and its culinary uses and nutrition next week – and I’ll be giving away a box full of hemp products! Keep your eyes open for the contest on my blog. Also, be sure to come to the cooking class I’ll be co-hosting will Phil Lempert the editor of www.SupermarketGuru.com and The Lempert Report. We’ll be talking all things hemp at the Whole Foods on Bowery and Houston on Tuesday, May 3rd. To sign up for the class, go here:

I thought, now this is something I can get excited about! I got in touch with the company and they agreed to let me try the Fit Bit. I’ve been wearing it for about 2 weeks now, and I’m going to share my experiences via YouTube videos so you can see how it works and what I discover. Watch the first video here:

I’m announcing a special contest to win this awesome new gadget on my blog: Just leave comments here on this post about why you think a Fit Bit would help you reach your health and wellness goals by 5/14 and you could be chosen to receive your own device!

I thought, now this is something I can get excited about! I got in touch with the company and they agreed to let me try the Fit Bit. I’ve been wearing it for about 2 weeks now, and I’m going to share my experiences via YouTube videos so you can see how it works and what I discover. Watch the first video here:

I’m announcing a special contest to win this awesome new gadget on my blog: Just leave comments here on this post about why you think a Fit Bit would help you reach your health and wellness goals by 5/14 and you could be chosen to receive your own device!

Since my landlord wants the machine to stay, I’ve been using my microwave as a storage space.

What do you think?

my microwave

http://kissmyvegan.blogspot.com/2011/02/supersized-or-veganized-podcast-2-with.html

http://kissmyvegan.blogspot.com/2011/02/supersized-or-veganized-podcast-2-with.html

It usually comes over me when I pass by some fast food outlet and smell the fried food aromas drifting through the air. It’s amazing how long that food-programming lasts, considering the last time I really ate fast food was in high school. Sometimes when we’re having pizza and movie night on Friday’s at home (yes, I eat pizza and I love it! Pizza Plus in my Brooklyn neighborhood delivers the best whole wheat pie with Diaya cheese and zucchini slices you can imagine!) I’ll indulge in a frosty beverage, but it’s not the iconic red cans of dark cola I used to enjoy.

Coke, Pepsi, and other major colas aren’t part of my diet anymore. I learned that most sodas contain phosphoric acid, which can cause your bones to lose calcium due to the high acidity. Back in high school and college I would drink a Super Big Gulp from 7-11 several days a week, and most Americans can relate. Sodas sweetened with high fructose corn syrup make up the majority of American’s calorie intake.

I get a lot of questions from friends about whether they should avoid certain foods, and soda tops the list. Diet sodas seem to elicit the biggest worries, because they might have heard about studies linking artificial sweeteners to cancer, Alzheimer’s, or other health concerns.

I never liked the taste of diet sodas, and still find artificial sweeteners like Splenda and Equal to leave a funny after taste. My friend Val, belly dancer extraordinaire, described it perfectly: “This tastes like toothpaste!”

So I’ve decided to do a little experimentation and test out the new range of naturally sweetened sodas that are lining the shelves of health food store aisles these days.

My first taste test brings us to the world of diet sodas: ZEVIA.

http://www.zevia.com/products_natural.html

Including stevia, erythritol (a natural sugar alcohol that, like xylitol, doesn’t contribute to dental decay), natural caramel, natural tartaric acid, citric acid, kola nut extract, natural caffeine, annatto, and ginger root, Zevia offers several flavors including ginger ale, orange, cherry lime, and cola.

ZEVIA is sweetened with non-caloric stevia extract, which is derived from a South American herb also known as sweet leaf. Although it appears to be a new trend, use of stevia is not new. South American tribes have sweetened their diets with with leaves from the sweet leaf plant and attribute medicinal properties to the herb. Stevia has been used in Japan since the 1970′s when sugar-free sweeteners began to grow in popularity.

Stevia has been banned in Europe, and has been labeled as a dietary supplement, but not as a sweetener, here in the US for decades. It is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar and truly has virtually no calories.

MY TASTE TEST: I tried the cola, ginger ale and orange flavors from Zevia. The cola tasted exactly like my memory of Diet Coke! I have to say I haven’t had a Diet Coke in at least 12 years, so my tongue might have a different opinion from a regular drinker. The ginger ale flavor tasted more like tooth paste (thanks Val), and wasn’t very gingery. In fact, we realized that Tom’s of Maine ginger toothpaste has more ginger flavor than this soda! Finally, the orange soda was my favorite, which was a total surprise. I grew up playing soccer and our coach always had orange soda for our half-time beverage. Even as a sugar-a-holic young kid, I didn’t like orange soda because it tasted so thick and unnatural. But Zevia’s orange soda was lighter and clean tasting without being overly sweet.

So, if you like diet soda but want to move away from the artificial colors and artificial sweeteners, try ZEVIA. You can also try these packets of Stevia to take in your bag, car, or to your office – they’re just like sugar packets, without the sugar!

Next time I’ll talk about another brand of soda and how to make your own at home!