Archives: Shira Turkl-Rubin

Last week was the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. It completes the annual high holy days in the Jewish tradition and is a day where Jews everywhere repent and reflect upon the days past and the days to come.

Chad and I are traditionally Jewish and find that we continually take the holidays into our own hands bringing our own meaning to them.

Chad and I decided to do a juice fast instead of a full fast for Yom Kippur. I made all the juices on Tuesday night, put them in jars and had them all prepared when we woke up on Wednesday morning. When I drove Chad to work – just as he got out of the car he said: “thanks for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner!” This small act of appreciation made me stop and get excited that we were actually going through with our cleanse and that we were in it together!

It’s a great idea to cleanse with another person. Then you have the ability to call the other person up, complain that it’s challenging and then you push each other to keep going and hold off until you can drink the next juice!

I have to say that through this cleanse I didn’t get a headache once. My blood sugar was raised enough all day so that I didn’t have a serious crash. When I did feel like I was about to crash I started drinking my next juice slowly and it helped immensely!

If you’re planning on completing a cleanse, try doing it with someone else!

Cheers to an easy fast!

Shira

My sister Mika eating dinner at the amusement park

Do you have trouble finding healthy options when you travel? I know, it’s tough to keep to your same healthy food routine when traveling, but I have to say that it’s definitely possible. I’m not only talking about when you travel on an airplane going thousands of miles away, but what about when you go to I don’t know – let’s say an amusement park. What do you do when you know the only options will be pizza, French fries, burgers, hot dogs and all the gluten in the world, including fried dough?

Well – I was just put in this situation this past week and luckily I planned ahead.

The key to keeping your healthy diet is to plan ahead. That’s the trick!

What do I mean by this?

Let me explain. My sister and I were a part of an event that took place at an amusement park in Connecticut and it was an all day thing. I’m talking 7am – 11pm!

We spoke the night before and made a plan.

We both brought peanut butter and jelly on gf bread, 3 hard boiled eggs each (for dinner), baby carrots, cucumbers, cashews, dark chocolate and bananas.

I’m not kidding!

What a brilliant idea it was.

We didn’t end the day feeling like crap and I can’t tell you how happy I was not to leave with a stomachache.

This is an example of a day trip – but I’ve also traveled on planes where I pack a whole slew of healthy snacks ie: gf crackers, Larabars and any other fillers that I might need while on the go.

Just because you leave the comfort of your own home, or city does NOT mean you have the excuse to eat like crap. I don’t care if it’s vacation, don’t do it. Sure, have a margarita every now and then, but to eat junk for every meal while away is not ok for you and your body.

Take some time to plan ahead – your temple will certainly thank you.

Yours in health,

Shira

Today I passed a sign in New York City that said: At least Mike’s ban on sugary drinks doesn’t effect alcohol. Clearly they were referring to Mayor Bloomberg’s new ban on sugar filled drinks. The plan is to lower obesity rates in the city by banning large sugary drinks with more then 25 calories per 8 ounces.

Wow! What a statement he’s making.

I know there’s been a huge uprising about this and most people are not happy about it. I’ve got to tell you though – I’m thrilled. Those drinks are costing those who drink them thousands and thousands of unnecessary calories!

The obesity levels in this country have never been higher. Even children as young as 5 years old are effected and may not even see adulthood if a change isn’t made right now.

In my opinion, thank God for Mayor Bloomberg. He’s the only one in this country to make a serious change for the good of his people and actually see it through.

So far he has been an instrumental force for NYC and our health. He’s Required chain restaurants to list calorie counts on menus. He has banned smoking in parks and beaches and now he’s banning large sugary drinks! I know the argument here is that if you take something away from someone, they are only going to want it more, or they’ll find another way to get it – maybe that’s true. OR maybe this will open people’s eyes up to know and understand that they are drinking harmful calories which will cause harmful disease if it hasn’t already.

Watch this video here to learn more about the situation.

What do you think about the whole situation? Do you think this ban will help or hurt the city? I’m very curious to know your thoughts on this – please share your ideas by commenting on this post.

I’ve never been a science wiz – but when it comes to food and understanding how to make myself feel better, that’s where my wiz-ness comes handy.

I’ve officially up’d my fermented foods intake. Why you may ask? Well, the fermentation process creates loads of probiotics, which are the healthy bacteria that our gut needs to digest foods properly.

You can eat as many nutrients as you want, but if your body is not digesting them properly then there really is no point. Fermentation helps replenish your healthy bacteria. To me, it’s like eating/drinking tums or something else to help make the food settle easier.

Here’s what I like to eat almost everyday:

-Lactose free kefir

-Raw miso that I’ve bought at the store to make soup (not from the Japanese       restaurant)

-Raw kombucha, G.T.’s brand with the least sugar is best

-Raw sauerkraut

-Tempeh (fermented soybeans)

-Organic yogurt

-Swedish Bitters

Sure I can easily take a probiotic vitamin, but who knows how much of that gets absorbed into my system. With eating these naturally fermented foods, I am sure that the nutrients are getting absorbed directly into my system, which in turn helps me to digest and makes me feel better all around.

Try adding in one fermented food product into your daily diet. I think kefir is a great option, it tastes like plain yogurt and it’s a drink. I usually drink 1 cup/day. Just make sure to read the label to see if there is any un-healthy ingredients. Buy organic. I like Green Valley Organics.

Fermented foods may help with:

IBD (crohns, colitis)

IBS

Acid reflux

Constipation

Have fun exploring this new diet addition. There are lots of options!
Stay healthy 🙂

Rice paddies behind me in Ubud, Bali

Meditation underneath the banyan tree

Yoga in Ubud, Bali

We just returned home from a trip to Asia. For the past 2 years Chad has gone to China for business. This time I went with him and we snuck in Bali and called it the 3^rd and final part of our honeymoon!

What an incredible place. Hong Kong was a beautiful city too. Most parts are modern, well taken care of, very up to date and super efficient! Most importantly for us – everyone spoke English! I can’t say the same for mainland China… it was quite a different place, lots of smog, smelly water and where we were in Guangzhou, which is southern China, not many people spoke English. Let’s just say it was the harder part of our trip – not to mention this is where Chad got sick. Yup, food poisoning… Which was bizarre because we were SO careful, only eating vegetarian for the entire trip, only drinking bottled water, the works. He still managed to get it… He recovered the next day and we moved on, but still, man was that rough!

Bali was my favorite part of the trip. We were completely immersed in their culture, which by the way is very centered around their faith. Mostly everyone we encountered was so nice that it felt like there weren’t any Balinese people out there who would hurt another soul – of course that’s not true, but that’s how it felt.

Being surrounded by a culture that is fully family centered, faith centered and truly believes in luck was eye opening. Most people are so thankful for their jobs and happy to help. It was a totally different world from our abode here in NYC and it was a fantastic break from everyday life. All in all, we absolutely loved it.

The best part about Ubud, Bali is that going out to eat for Chad and I was simple! There are so many organic & healthy restaurants that it was hard to choose which one to go to each night! We even found LOTS of gluten free items!! We were spoiled by the freshness, brightness and care that was put into the food.

My next post will be focused on the incredible food in Bali, stay tuned for the follow up.

Have you ever been on vacation or to a place where you’ve had to unplug completely? By unplugging I’m referring to no email, no phone – that kind of unplugging. If you know what I’m talking about – how great did it feel?! Sure at first it was a little scary, but didn’t it feel fantastic to not have any emails to respond to, or voicemails to call back.

Well, recently Chad and I took our yearly pilgrimage up to Kripalu for the weekend (which is a MUST for those who haven’t been) and even though it was tough, we did our best to unplug and turn off. We decided to tune into our bodies, meditate as often as we could and fully relax our bodies and souls – the best perk is that doing this is great for the environment!

IT WAS AMAZING!

It was so great that we are now talking about taking one day a month out of our regular busy schedules to completely unplug. That’s one whole day on a regular basis that we fully enjoy each other’s company, no distractions etc. Since it’s getting warm out this will be pretty easy – it’s in the colder months that it might be more challenging – but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there  🙂

What do you think about this? Have you ever made a commitment like this? Would you ever consider trying it out? It might be so liberating and stress reducing that we’ll consider doing it more often! I’ll keep you all posted.

With gratitude, love and light,

Shira

I officially got back on my mat. I took a mini hiatus and with that I completely realized all over again how much this path to health is not just about eating properly – it’s about quieting the mind, de-stressing and soothing your soul too.  Sometimes I forget… I’m only human!

Yesterday I was in meditation and as I sat there, focused, relaxed and feeling good the bell chimed for me to finish and I was completely surprised that 30 minutes had passed so fast! WOOHOO!! I wish for everyone to find that in their meditation. What I wasn’t expecting was as soon as I finished my full morning practice, my mind was back on the hamster wheel. Even though I took that hour and a half to chill, calm my mind, breathe and quiet down, as soon as I came out of it I was back to thinking, planning, figuring out what I needed to do next.

What I realized was, without my sadhana my mind would be working to that capacity ALL the time! From the moment I open my eyes in the morning, to the moment I rest my head back down on the pillow. Phew…. That’s a lot of thoughts, planning, figuring etc…

I’m so thankful that I have come back to my sadhana. I wish that you too can find your own morning practice to take you to that place of real, deep relaxation. You deserve it. For all that you do, think and are throughout every single day.

Find time to soothe your soul. For us with digestive problems, it’s NOT only about food. You won’t realize that until you really make a change.

Work it…I know you can.

I leave you with my favorite quote by Swami Satchidananda:

“If you feel bound you are bound. If you feel liberated you are liberated. Things outside neither bind nor liberate you; only your attitude toward them does that.”

The Real Grandma’s Chicken Soup

This past week I was in FL visiting my Grandmother. She is this cute, small, Polish woman who is the strongest woman & survivor that I know. Both her and my Grandfather survived the Holocaust and their stories only get more interesting each time I hear them. Now that my Grandfather has passed away, only my Grandmother’s stories are left for me to sit and listen to.

When we’re not telling stories I like to pick her brain about recipes. Who better to ask then her?!

This time I got her chicken soup recipe and I wrote the whole thing down!

Mine is on the pot right now and it’s smelling up my entire apartment building. YUM

I’m a rookie at this so I literally got every bit of information that one could possibly need for this recipe.

Here it is – savor it!

2 packages organic chicken thighs w/ skin

1 package organic chicken breast w/ skin

2 leek, washed very well and chopped

1 rutabega, chopped

3 carrots depending on size, chopped

2-3 stalks celery, chopped

2-3 small potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 yellow onion

1 bunch dill

Start by cutting open chicken packages and putting all chicken into a large soup pot. Cover with water and let boil. Discard water and wash chicken very well. Keep the skin on. Put washed chicken back in the clean soup pot leaving the skin on – then fill with water until chicken is completely covered and about 1-2 cups more (this you can eyeball)

Take off the onion shell and out the whole onion inside the pot (don’t cut it up, it’s unnecessary).

Chop all veggies to your liking and place inside the pot.

Put fire on medium-high and bring it up to a boil. Skim the top of the soup when you see the fat rise to the top.

Once boiling cover halfway and turn fire to low.

Continue to skim the top as needed.

**20 mins before you turn soup off put dill inside the soup – keep it tied up.

Cook for about 1.5 hrs – test carrots and chicken breast to make sure it’s done.

Once you turn off the heat let it cool. Then strain the broth for a smooth consommé that you can add rice, noodles or whatever else you might like. As for the veggies & chicken, keep them on the side and either add them into the soup, or use them for another dish.

Once soup is completely cooled, place in containers and put in fridge. The next day make sure to skim the top of the soup as there will be fat that has risen to the top. Then place in freezer and keep for a rainy day!

Since you already know (if you read my blog often) that I’m constantly interested in changing up my routine and trying new things to help boost my health. Well the news on my end is that I’m in the middle of reading Kris Carr’s book Crazy Sexy Diet – which by the way is INCREDIBLE – and you should get out there and purchase it because she is a serious healing wellness warrior as she likes to say. Anyway, Kris also made a documentary, Crazy Sexy Cancer, filming her life after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that can’t be treated the typical way. I was so intrigued by her book that I ordered the movie on Netflix and watched it the same day it landed in my mailbox 🙂 Thank you Netflix!

After watching the movie I had to watch the extras (which in my opinion are the best part!) and in this particular film, there are lots of fun ones to see.

In one of the sections Kris makes her morning green smoothie, which I have now adapted into my own and am loving it as my breakfast! As she says (and I have always said too) that juicing/smoothies give your digestive system a nice break. For us ulcerative colitis sufferers, it’s best not to bombard the body with hard to digest breakfast foods first things in the morning.

So here’s how I’ve made this smoothie work for me – I use my Vitamix:

1 1/4 cup coconut water

½ organic cucumber (if it’s not organic then peel the skin off, otherwise leave the skin on for the nutrients)

½ organic avocado

1 bunch organic spinach

2 shakes turmeric spice

2-5 shakes ground cinnamon

Tiniest pinch of organic stevia – a very little bit goes a very long way

It’s SO yummy and is quite filling that you won’t need anything more for breakfast. You can even add unsweetened coconut flakes on the top and stir it in for some crunch.

As Kris says, enjoy your liquid sunshine. Don’t forget to check out her book, maybe even see the movie too, it’s definitely up-lifting.

With love,

Shira