Galantys Game Plan

Ever elusive to many, a restful night of sleep is restorative, rejuvenating and feels just divine. Humans and animals alike spend approximately a third of our lives asleep.  It’s actually a strange concept when you really think about it.  What happens when we are sleeping that makes it not only vital to our health and well being, but something our very existence depends upon? Read the rest of this entry →

Swiss chard is a very versatile, mild tasting, leafy green vegetable that is loaded with vitamins A and C. For those of us who are aspiring gardeners, it is quite easy to grow (even I managed not to kill it) and it lasts throughout the summer and into the fall depending on where you live. The soft, shiny green leaves are great in sautés, soups, salads, juices or smoothies and the stems can be used in soups or put through your juicer or in your compost pile (or in our case, fed to the guinea pig). There is a red variety of chard that can be used interchangeably with the green. It just leaves a red tint behind so you might want to avoid it in juices and smoothies, but the flavor is about the same.

Occasionally, I substitute swiss chard for spinach in some of my green smoothies just to mix it up a bit. You won’t taste the Read the rest of this entry →

We all know how easy it is to fall back into a bad habit…but did you have any idea how easy it is to create a new good habit? Research has shown that it takes 30 days to make something a habit. That is attainable for all of us. The reason most of us fail when we try to make changes in our lives is that we try to do too much at one time. A drastic overhaul of your diet and exercise routine is doomed for failure. New Year’s Resolutions are a perfect example. Every January 1^st, the gyms are packed with new and lapsed members. They all have good intentions…this is the year they are getting into shape. They show up five days a week for a month and then they disappear. Read the rest of this entry →

Cellphones, iPhones, laptops, game systems, digital cameras, camcorders, flat screen tvs, $200 designer jeans…where does it end?  I sat by and witnessed an 8 year old stop baseball practice to take a call on his cellphone.  It was his mother calling to tell him she would pick him up after practice. Way back when, in the dinosaur ages of my youth, it was sufficient for parents to tell their child as they dropped them off, “Johnny, I’ll pick you up after practice”. “Okay mom”. That was that. No further communication needed.  Nowadays, everyone seems to need all sorts of electronic gadgets to track their every movement and thought.  A parent wouldn’t dream of having their child be the only kid at school who is left out of the technological loop.  It might interfere with his chances of Read the rest of this entry →

Everyone has heard time and time again that a diet high in fiber is important to your overall health.  How do you know if you are getting enough fiber? A good indication is the size and frequency of your bowel movements.  Now I understand that your elimination patterns are not exactly water cooler conversation…even I draw the line there…but given the fact that you are probably reading this from the privacy of your Read the rest of this entry →

Getting refined sugar out of kids diets (or adults for that matter) is a major challenge.  You can have the best of intentions, keeping junk food out of your house completely, but unless your child lives in a glass bubble, they will be continually bombarded with it every time they leave the house. Birthday parties, play dates, class parties, movie theatres, stores…it’s everywhere and it is so enticing.  It is packaged so appealingly, it tastes good, and it is completely addictive. Kids are like a bunch of little junkies running around looking for their next fix.

When I first started introducing raw foods to our household, I decided to approach the kids from the sweet side.  If nothing else, if I can replace a refined sugar, white flour dessert with a healthy raw one that tastes just as good, I will feel as if I have accomplished something.  The battle isn’t won, but it’s a step in the right direction. Read the rest of this entry →

Each week I will challenge you to do something healthy for the entire week and take note of the effect it has on you.

Whenever I feel sluggish or want to strengthen my immune system, I turn to juicing. My monster size Breville juicer has a prominent place on our kitchen counter, right next to the sink, so it is always accessible and easy to clean…two key components.

Think of raw organic juices as nutritional supplements and preventive medicine. Drinking freshly made juices provides us with a concentrated supply of vital nutrients and live enzymes that we can’t get from eating alone; it’s just not likely that we could eat that much of a given vegetable at one sitting. For example, a 9 ounce glass of carrot juice has the same amount of nutrients as 18 ounces of whole carrots. That’s a lot of carrots. Read the rest of this entry →

I pack lunches for three kids five days a week approximately 180 days of the year.  Aside from the innumerable hours I put into planning and preparing those meals, the sheer quantity of plastic products I use in these lunch containers has become quite bothersome to me.  Although I do use reusable containers, there are many occasions where I still resort to Ziploc bags and saran Read the rest of this entry →

How do teenagers do it these days?  Just keeping up is a full time job.  Updating your Facebook page, tweeting away on Twitter, texting your friends your every movement and thought, participating in sports (both group and individual for a well rounded experience), performing community service, reading literary masterpieces, taking advanced AP courses so the college of your choice won’t think you are a lackadaisical loser, playing an instrument or two with the precision of a Read the rest of this entry →

Sea vegetables are nutrient dense treasure chests of vitamins, minerals and trace minerals and should play a much larger role in the American diet than they currently do. These superstars are very high in calcium and iron as well as B vitamins, including the ever elusive B12, vitamin A, potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, and iodine (great for supporting your thyroid). Read the rest of this entry →