HEALTHFUL PUMPKIN PIE WITH CASHEW WHIP CREAM

Whole wheat pie shell – 1 each

Tofu, firm – 3/4 lb

Pumpkin – 2 cups

Maple syrup – 3/4 cup

Canola or Sunflower Oil – 1/4 cup

Honey – 2 tablespoons

Real Vanilla Flavor – 1 teaspoon

Cinnamon – 1 1/2 teaspoon

Nutmeg – 3/4 teaspoon

Powdered ginger – 3/4 teaspoon

Mace – 1/2 teaspoon

Sea salt – 1/4 teaspoon

Remove pulp from pumpkin, bake at 325 degrees until browned, 45 minutes - 1 hour scoop our and blend all ingredients in blender. Fill whole wheat shell and cool, then refrigerate.

CASHEW WHIP CREAM

Cashews, raw - 1 cup

Purified Water - 1 cup

Sunflower Oil - 1 1/2 cup

Maple syrup - 4 tablespoon

Vanilla - 1 teaspoon

Sea Salt - pinch

Combine in blender cashew & water until forms thick cream, approximately 1 minute. Slowly add oil in fine stream until thickens, blend in remaining ingredients and chill and serve. It will thicken more when chilled.

DAIRY-FREE ROASTED GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

Garlic bulb, roasted

Potatoes, red

Purified Water

Olive Oil, Extra Virgin

Sea Salt

Pepper, fresh ground

Roast garlic bulb in oven in a tera cotta roaster or put in tinfoil with 2 tablespoons purified water bake approximately 30 minutes or until tender.

ZERO SATURATED FAT SHITAKE GRAVY

Purified Water - 1/4 cup

Kuzu (find in Asian section Health Food Store) - 1 tablespoon

White or yellow onion, diced - 1/2 each Garlic clove - 2 each

Shitake Mushrooms, sliced - 1/2 cup Miso - 1 tablespoon

Pepper - fresh ground

Saute' onion & garlic with 1/4 cup purified water, until water evaporates. Add mushrooms and saute' until mushrooms and onions are browned. Add Miso and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Mix water and Kuzu (as directed on package) and add to pan stirring constantly. Add pepper then remove once it thickens.

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I've worked with a couple athletes lately who train right, eat very well, supplement optimally and have become burnt out this summer. Many in the Type-A crowd push life to the fullest every day. It's not surprising that your system will fry out once in a while. Reflect on how often you sit in a chair and do nothing for 5 minutes during your day? Or sit around in the evening and look at the sunset from the rocking chair on your porch. Maybe you don't even have a rocking chair...or a porch. The modern society affliction is to 'relax' with more stimulation. Movies, parties and ball games are fun but they are not restful or restorative in the same manner that sleep, reading a book, or enjoying an evening stroll around the block with your dog. Maybe you don't even have a dog.

Everyone wants to go go go and make the most out of life but sometimes it's important to remember the balance. You have to get purposefully bored once in a while. I like to squeeze in everything I can every day - enjoy my family, keep in shape, build my business, watch the Daily Show with Jon Stewart on TiVo....but when I cross the line and drift towards burnout, the thing that makes me the most content is to go to bed with the kids at 8:30pm. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the instant gratification of stimulus to lead a healthy, balanced life. Remember that our lives are more stressful now than any other time in human history, yet we've had the same physiology for thousands of years. As cavemen, we thrived on blackberries and a simple lifestyle. Now we thrive on a different type of BlackBerry that is not necessarily healthy for our well being.

Athletes have the unique privilege of learning the lessons of balance in a graphic and dramatic manner. If you go to work a little burnt out, most of us can get away without anyone noticing, even ourselves. If you do a training session or race a little burnt out, there is a clock and perhaps a heart rate monitor that tells you just how far off peak performance you really are. When you can implement sensible training strategies that balance stress and rest, you open the doors to experience peak performance. Then you can apply these lessons to everyday life. Tell your boss to that you need a 20 minute nap every afternoon to perform at your peak in the work place, or that working from home on Fridays is more convenient and restful for you than battling the traffic for yet another day. Most people laugh when I say this and your boss might too...that's why you must keep a completely straight face when you announce your plans and have him sign that purchase order for a new laptop (for working at home on Fridays).

Meanwhile, Recovox can help your body manage stress optimally and moderate the risk of burnout, while my Power Month program can provide a fantastic foundation for leading a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Buy them NOW and send the bill to your boss for 'peak performance reimbursement'.

What it is:

This is the stress superstar. Phosphatidyl serine (PS, for those of us without the biology degree) is a naturally occurring phospholipid. Basically, PS is a compound of two fatty acids and a sugary skeleton (but a good kind called glycerol). It exists in the body in almost all cell membranes, but is particularly prevalent and critical in three primary places, which are all directly related to and impacted by stress: the brain, the muscles, and the immune system. We don't get much PS from our diets and our bodies don't manufacture much, so it is an important nutrient to supplement.

The stress effect:

PS is probably the most important nutrient you can take for fighting stress. Nevertheless, not many "stress-fighting" supplements contain appreciable amounts of PS, because it is such an expensive nutrient. PS not only enriches your brain's ability to fight stress, but it helps your muscles rebuild and nourish themselves, and PS supports your immune system in fighting infection. Significantly, PS has been shown to "blunt" cortisol and ACTH, two of the stress-related hormones that our bodies produce. More importantly, PS does not interfere with abnormally low levels of cortisol – only the unhealthy higher levels generated under stress. And it gets better: PS has also been shown in numerous studies to increase memory, concentration and cognition.

The studies show:

The side effects:

PS has no side effects. Recommended dosage is 100-500 mg per day for active adults, and up to 1000 mg for athletes during intensive training periods or for recovery from injury. Recovox provides 150 mg of PS in a recommended two-capsule serving (or 300 mg if you double the dosage).