By Joyce Hodgson

We are our own worst critics. I know I judge myself harshly; picking on my faults and failures. Thinking I am never good enough, thin enough, smart enough, tough enough. Some days I really believe those words.

Im in training to hike the Appalachian Trail and no matter how much I train for it, I feel like it wont really happen. Something will stop me.

One obstacle that could prevent me from hiking the trail is my physical condition. Ive read stories about how some hikers never hiked a day in their life before completing the trail. Ive also read about middle-aged women hiking the trail and breaking a leg! So, to err on the side of caution, I decided to jump out of my comfort zone and join some exercise classes.

I dont exercise. Ill happily hike and walk outside all day. Joining an exercise class with a teacher in the front and strangers all around me while my fat bounces up and down is not what I would sign up for, but I did.

Our town has a community education program that offers a 20/20/20 class 20 minutes of aerobics, 20 minutes of weight training and 20 minutes of stretching and a yoga class.

Well, I missed the first 20/20/20 class because I had to go to the dentist. I was glad to go to the dentist because then I didnt have to exercise!

However, there was no dentist appointment or other good excuse for me to miss yoga class the next night.

So imagine my delighted surprise when I arrived and tried to open the doors at the school and found they were locked. I tried a side door. Also locked. Secretly, I was rejoicing that I could go home. But as I was walking back to my car, I heard a woman tell me that the door was now open. I guess I was going to yoga.

My self-criticism kicked into high gear. My clothes werent yoga clothes, my mat was too thin and I was too fat to bend the way I thought I should.

Then the instructor told us to breathe, so I did. I no longer thought about my T-shirt exposing my fat stomach. I doubled up my mat when my knees hurt and I just bent over as far as my body would let me.

Yoga is so peaceful. After class, I knew that practicing yoga would increase my flexibility, stamina and balance, all things I will need when hiking the Appalachian Trail.

The second week approached and yes, I admit it here, I actually called the woman running the program asking how I could get out of the 20/20/20 class.

She offered different locations and days, but advised me to go since my insurance covered the cost. So I went.

As the instructor began explaining the aerobic steps, I was swearing in my head. I was telling myself that I hate aerobics, I hate dancing, I hate the music shes playing and I hate the lighting in the gym. I was tired, hungry and getting a headache.

Then, to my surprise, I did it. I was doing aerobics, and dancing to the music I hated under bright lights with energy I didnt know I had while suffering from hunger and a headache.

Was I comfortable at the classes? Heck, no. My comfort zone was two time zones away!

As the class progressed, I laughed at myself when I was facing front instead of facing back and raising my left leg instead of my right leg. I made up my own steps instead of doing a step ball change. I was learning.

But learning to not be so hard on myself is tough. I doubt Ill ever succeed at that.

Joyce Hodgson lives in Alden with her husband and two golden retrievers. She intends to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in 2020.

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My View: It's good to jump out of your comfort zone - Buffalo News

Kathryn S. Kuhar Attendees of the 2017 Ivy League Vegan Conference, which was held from March 24 to March 26.

The purpose of the conference is to open up a dialogue about the potential power of plant-based diets to address the heaps of global issues, Nina Gheihman, co-organizer of the conference, says.

By Frank M. Cahill and Norah M. Murphy Mar 30, 2017

From March 24 to 26, Harvard hosted the 2017 Ivy League Vegan Conferenceand there wasnt a sign-wielding animal-rights picketer in sight.

We really are focusing not on trying to convert or influence peoples personal ideologies, says Nina Gheihman, a Ph.D candidate in Sociology and co-organizer of the conference. Instead, the conference presented itself as a platform for educational outreach and academic dialogue, attracting an audience less radical than one might expect: Students, academics, vegans, and non-vegans were all welcome at the event.

Vegan is not necessarily the best word because it does have this activist association, Gheihman says. The reason we use the word vegan is because its just the most familiar colloquially. Its a mouthful to say plant-based or bioethics.

For Gheihman, veganism is an easily accessible term to describe the intersection of many related fieldsamong them sustainability, environmentalism, animal rights, and food security. The purpose of the conference is to open up a dialogue about the potential power of plant-based diets to address the heaps of global issues, she says.

The Ivy League Vegan Conference is described by conference organizers as an event concept, meaning that there is no single event-organizing body. Instead, an affiliated organization at each participating school, such as the Harvard or Cornell Vegan Societies or the Yale Animal Welfare Alliance, spearheads the organization of each conference. The first was hosted by the University of Pennsylvania in 2012, and this years event, held at Harvard, was the largest yet with over 300 attendees.

The Harvard Vegan Society, a club open to students across all of Harvards schools, organized this years conference. Gheihman serves as the clubs president, and Matthew N. Hayek, who just completed a Ph.D in Environmental Science and Engineering at GSAS, is the clubs vice president. Both played a central role in organizing this years Ivy League Vegan Conference.

Reflecting the conferences mission, a diverse line-up of speakers were invited to discuss a number of topics pertaining to veganism. On Friday, Law School professor Cass R. Sunstein spoke on behavioral economics and public policy. Another Law School professor, Kristen A. Stilt, addressed export practices of farmed animals. Saturday and Sunday featured various presentations and panels exploring topics from aquaculture and ocean ecology to biotechnology and its effects on public health.

This year was the first year that sponsorship played a role in the conference, and it left a corporate fingerprint. Stationed at the conferences entrance in front of a shimmery pink curtain, Unicorn Goods, the worlds largest vegan store, sold clothing and accessories. Whole Foods provided lunch on Saturday and Sunday, and Purple Carrot, a plant-based meal-kit service, supplied dinner for Saturdays reception following a keynote speech by its CEO, Andrew N. Levitt. These sponsors, organizers say, are helping make the idea of a plant-based diet more visible in everyday life.

Right now, veganism is seen as this fringe movement and the [Ivy League Vegan Conference] is a really good concept to legitimize the idea of veganism and make it into a mainstream academic issue thats worthy of serious engagement, Hayek says. It was incredibly important for us to highlight for people what the future of food tastes like. It tastes great.

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More Than Just Tofu: The 2017 Ivy League Vegan Conference - Harvard Crimson

Students at Hyde School in Bath are eating record amounts of plant-based foods. This new development is no accident. The boarding school has been actively promoting vegan and vegetarian dishes for the past three years.

Hydes embrace of plant-based fare puts it ahead of the curve of most other independent college preparatory schools. Like their public school counterparts, private schools in the state are serving ever more plant-based food. The reason? Students are eating more vegan and vegetarian food than ever before.

Based on my invoices, were buying more plant-based food than we are any other food, Hydes nutrition director Michael Flynn said. He says on a given week the school buys 60 to 80 percent more vegetables, fruits, beans, grains and seeds than it did on the same week five years ago.

Were constantly looking at how we can increase the plant-based options so potentially theyll eat more, Flynn said.

Its easy to think Flynn and his sous-chef Donna Leonard want the students to go vegan. But thats not the case. Instead Hyde wants to occupy the majority of each students plate with plants, allowing a smaller space for meat and dairy.

Naturally, Hydes student body includes full-time vegetarians. But the number of students who select plant-based options each day far exceeds their numbers. Similar trends are evident at the nations restaurants and grocery stores, where non-vegetarians are buying vegan food at record levels.

Chef Pauline Barry, who runs the Waynflete Cafe at the West End day school, prepares hummus wraps a far cry from the late 1980s when bagels, pizza and grilled cheese were favorites with the student body. Photo courtesy of Waynflete School

One new plant-based dish winning over the students and faculty at Hyde School is the savory blueberry burger, made with Maine wild blueberries, quinoa, chickpeas, cilantro and red bell peppers. Other favorite veg dishes at Hyde include zucchini-crusted pizza with tofu, sweet potato hummus and Brussels sprouts salad.

Students reach out to us and say, We have a game this week. What will give us the most energy? Flynn told me. We encourage them to go raw, plant-based. There isnt a quick fix, but if you stick with that for the week youll have more energy for that fourth quarter.)

Hydes increased vegetarian options reflect the dining staffs awareness of the ever-widening body of medical evidence linking plant-based diets to disease reversal and prevention. Flynns background is in healthcare, and says he watched a lot of the patients have issues because of their diet. In his travels, he says he also saw how dietary customs affect health. You start to feel responsible if youre providing food that would put them in the hospital, Flynn said.

Over at Waynflete School, a day school in Portlands West End, the appearance of more plant-based fare reflects increased demand.

In recent years, Waynflete students have gravitated to salads and the healthier items, said Pauline Barry, who has run the Waynflete Cafe since 1989 when grilled cheese, bagels, ham Italians and pizza were top sellers. Recently Barry told me: The majority of the stuff I do is the salads and wraps.

The cafe offers three vegan salads harvest blend, Asian and Thai all of which can be served in a wrap. Other Waynflete veg favorites include vegetable sushi and hummus with avocado wraps.

At North Yarmouth Academy, a day school in Yarmouths village, favorite vegan dishes include the scratch-made hummus, veggie fried rice and California rolls.

Dining director David Daigle told me the population of vegan and vegetarian students changes from year-to-year, but The older kids are the ones that are more apt to eat the vegetables and vegetarian options. They have an environmental club and are more aware of how beneficial that food is for them.

At Gould Academy in the village of Bethel, just 20 or so students out of 250 are full-time vegetarians and vegans, yet to keep up with demand for popular vegan dishes roasted tofu with tomatoes and lentil loaf with homemade barbecue sauce, to name two dining director Brian Scheidegger makes 40 to 50 portions.

In the last five years the number of people taking the vegetarian and vegan options has gone up significantly, Scheidegger said.

Other student favorites at the boarding school include ripe plantain with black beans, pad Thai with tofu, quinoa vegetable pilaf, and fakin bacon with sliced jalapenos.

Were doing more with tofu and tempeh and were doing more with TVP (textured vegetable protein), Scheidegger said. We do a lot with bean and legumes. We use quinoa and wheat berries all the time now. We have organic brown rice every day. The kids really enjoy it.

Back at Hyde, senior Aaron Ayala is a vegetarian who appreciates the schools focus on vegetarian and vegan foods. There are consistently healthy, delicious options for me, he said.

Hydes dining staff is happy to oblige.

Avery Yale Kamila is a food writer who lives downtown Portland. She can be reached at:

[emailprotected]

Twitter: AveryYaleKamila

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Maine's prep school students are demanding more vegetarian, vegan options - Press Herald

Celebrity chef Chloe Coscarelli was pushed out of By Chloe after an arbitrator determined that she was being grossly negligent of the vegan fast-casual chain she co-founded, according to documents from the legally binding process including losing leases on new spaces and sabotaging deals with business partners.

The chef who rose to fame after being the first vegan chef to win a TV cooking competition founded the restaurant in 2015 with Samantha Wasser, daughter to mega-hospitality group ESquared CEO Jimmy Haber. The relationship unravelled last summer, and Coscarelli sued ESquared, alleging that Haber wanted her restaurants to serve meat.

The claim that they would serve meat is outrageous.

But Wasser says the claim is outrageous, and they never planned to stray from being vegan. She also alleges that Coscarelli has been less involved with the business and has undercut its success for some time. Wasser pointed to several pages of the arbitrators findings, the result of a 12-day hearing with some 4,000 pages of transcripts, more than 600 exhibits, and seven witnesses.

Legal documents shared with Eater show that the arbitrator thought several of Coscarellis actions qualified as gross negligence of the business, a term defined as an active failure to protect property.

In one case, Coscarelli halted a project where By Chloe would collaborate with other vegan chefs, according to Wasser and the arbitration findings. Wasser tried to get vegan chefs not employed by the company to publish their recipes on the By Chloe blog a situation she considered a win-win that would raise the profile of the chefs and help By Chloe develop a relationship with the vegan community, Wasser says.

But according to the arbitrator, Coscarelli interfered with the contracts, pushing two of the four chefs to back out of the project. The arbitrator considered it gross negligence of the business.

In another incident, Coscarelli did not act in a manner to try to save a lease that the company was trying to sign near Barnard College, according to the arbitrators findings. Wasser says that By Chloe was close to signing a lease for a space near the university, but after Coscarelli had a conversation with the landlord, they pulled out of the deal. It was not clear what happened or why the landlord ended the arrangement. The arbitrator wrote in her findings that Coscarellis testimony was less than candid in the matter and also labeled it as gross negligence.

Coscarellis lack of candor about the payment was troubling.

And in yet another incident, according to the arbitration testimony, Coscarelli was apparently paid to appear in a video sponsored by SmartWater and created by Vox Creative, the advertising arm of Eaters parent company. The sponsorship funds should have gone to By Chloe, but its not clear what happened to the money, according to the arbitration summary. The arbitrator did not consider this gross negligence but wrote that Coscarellis lack of candor about the payment was troubling.

Ultimately, the arbitrator agreed that Coscarelli could be removed from the company.

Coscarellis attorney Lisa Bloom said in a statement that the chef is a rock star in the vegan community who has been a true inspiration to all of us who love animals and care about healthy food and a sustainable planet. We will not stand for petty people trying to tear down the hard-earned reputation of this pillar of our community, the statement says.

Meanwhile, Wasser just wants people to know that she is committed to keeping By Chloe the same vegan restaurant that its always been. Since news broke about the split, people in the vegan community have allegedly been sending Wasser and ESquared death threats many under the belief that ESquared pushed Coscarelli out so that they could start serving meat products. She doesnt blame them for supporting Coscarelli but wants them to know her side, too.

The vegan community had been so critical to our success, she says. The fact that people think we would ever want to put meat on our menu is the most ludicrous thing.

During the legal process, By Chloe opened several more locations, including outposts in Brooklyn and outside of New York City. Wasser and ESquared, which is funding By Chloe, plan to keep expanding at the same rate, with the same vegan menu.

185 Bleecker Street, New York, NY

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By Chloe Chef Ousted For 'Gross Negligence' of Vegan Fast-Casual Company - Eater NY

FRESNO, Calif. It took just one documentary about animal agriculture to convince Ashley Hankins-Marchetti to become vegan. The documentary, Cowspiracy, raises the argument that livestock are harmful to the environment. Although there is still a lot of debate over the issue, Hankins-Marchettis mind was made up. No more meat for her.

After watching the movie, she and her wife, Ashlee Marchetti, removed all the meat and animal products from the fridge in their cozy home. They gave it away to neighbors. Gone was the milk, butter and veal shanks that they specially ordered from a local butcher shop.

People thought we were crazy for not eating meat anymore, Hankins-Marchetti says. As an animal lover and someone who cares about the environment, I wanted to change how we eat.

That was nearly a year and a half ago and Hankins-Marchetti remains a diehard vegan with a new passion: blogging about her vegan lifestyle.

An avid home cook, she created eatfigsnotpigs.comwhere she shares her recipes with thousands of followers. Describing her cooking style as vegan comfort food, shes garnered the attention of websites likefoodgawker.com, a curated photo gallery showcasing photos and recipes from food bloggers around the world. Several of her recipes have been published on the site. Her work also appears onthefeedfeed.com.

On the page, you will find delicious-looking dishes like vegan chilaquiles, chili habanero cauliflower wings and stuffed pasilla peppers filled with quinoa and soyrizo.

Marchetti says some of her favorite recipes are the Mexican food ones. There is a recipe for vegan menudo that uses snow fungus mushrooms, instead of tripe.

It even looks like tripe and is a little chewy, Marchetti says. It works.

Hankins-Marchetti says her goal with the blog is to show others that being vegan doesnt mean giving up on great-tasting food.

Both Ashlee and I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen and what we have learned is that with just a little extra effort you can create some amazing meals, Hankins-Marchetti said.

Marchetti, a culinary school graduate, said the fun part of adopting a new cooking style is discovering new uses for everyday ingredients like cashews. When soaked and put in a blender, the nuts take on a creamy texture that is perfect as the base for sauces, including their Caesar dressing.

Hankins-Marchettis street-style tacos will satisfy even the most devoted taco fanatic. She substitutes carne asada with textured vegetable protein, or TVP. The soy-based product comes dry and is soaked, well seasoned and then fried into crispy chunks. She packs the TVP into a warm corn tortilla and tops it with cilantro, lettuce, onion, a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of the spicy habanero pesto.

Food experts and chefs say theyve seen an uptick in people opting out of eating meat or animal products for a combination of reasons, including animal welfare, environmental and health reasons. Restaurants are also responding to the trend by offering more vegetarian, vegan and plant-based options.

Emerging research continues to support the importance of including more fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts/seeds, whole grains in our diets to both help increase nutrient quality of our diet, but also to help prevent the development of certain chronic diseases, says Kim Tirapelle, a registered dietitian in the bariatric department at Kaiser Permanente Clovis Medical Office. A plant-based diet is also found to be more environmentally friendly and sustainable for the long term than relying on animal sources.

Tirapelle says a plant-based diet is generally understood as incorporating the main components of your diet from fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts/seeds, whole grains. It also emphasizes fewer processed foods and more whole foods. A plant-based diet can allow for some consumption of animal proteins but on a limited basis, while vegan does not and a vegetarian can exclude meat but still eat eggs and dairy.

Shredded cabbage or lettuce

Corn or flour tortillas (I purchased the extra small street style tortillas)

1/4 cup vegetable oil, for frying

2 cups tsp or Soy Curls (textured soy protein, which we purchase at our local grocery store in the Mexican food aisle or at Whole Foods)

2 Not Chikn bouillon cubes (If you cant find these, you can use vegetarian chicken stock or vegetable stock in place of the water and bouillon cubes)

2 teaspoons ground oregano

1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce, optional

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke, optional

2 cups loosely packed fresh basil

1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro

1/4 cup vegan Parmesan shreds (we used Follow Your Heart vegan shreds)

2-3 habanero peppers, deveined of all seeds

6-8 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon Pink Himalayan salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

To make Habanero Pesto, mix all ingredients in a food processor and blend on high for about a minute. Store, covered in the refrigerator until ready to be used.

For the tacos, you must first rehydrate the tsp. In a large bowl, add dry tsp. In a small saucepan on high heat, add water and bouillon cubes OR vegetable stock. Once boiling, add to tsp mixture, set it aside to rehydrate for about 10-15 minutes. Add seasonings (oregano, cumin, liquid smoke, vegan Worcestershire) and stir to combine.

In a frying pan on medium high heat, add oil. Once oil is hot, fry rehydrated tsp, stirring constantly until browned and crispy, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer cooked soy curls to a paper towel-lined plate. Serve with warm tortillas and garnish with lettuce, habanero pesto cilantro, and lemon.

1/4 cup vegan Parmesan (store bought or homemade)

Sun dried tomato mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, finely minced

1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

4 white buns (free of dairy or eggs)

4 Portobello mushroom caps, cleaned

Roasted red peppers (canned or roasted yourself)

Vegan Gouda cheese (we used Follow Your Heart brand)

1-2 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Basil pesto aioli (recipe above)

Sun dried tomato mayonnaise (recipe above)

In a food processor,combine all ingredients for basil pesto aioli, blend and set aside. Combine ingredients for sun-dried tomato mayonnaise and set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a cast iron skillet, heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil on medium high heat. Add a slice of onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes per side. Set aside. Add additional 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and sear mushroom caps for about 2-3 minutes per side. Top mushrooms with two slices each of vegan Gouda cheese. Place skillet and mushrooms in oven and allow to cook another 7 minutes. While mushrooms finish cooking, toss your arugula in sherry. Remove mushrooms from oven and begin building your burgers.

Ashley Hankins-Marchetti

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Fresno food blogger takes vegan food to a new level - The Missoulian (blog)

Somewhat unexpected. Photo: Elmhurst

Last fall, New Yorkers got the sad news that the citys very last dairy plant was headed for the big pasture in the sky. Elmhurst Dairy, as it was known, was a century-old company whose milk could be found everywhere from Manhattan Starbucks cafs to 1,400 different public schools citywide. Until August, products were bottled for 80 years at the same facility in Jamaica, Queens. But as CEO Henry Schwartz told the New York Times at the time, the family-owned operation wasnt profitable anymore, and their plant had stayed open long past the years that it was economically viable mostly because hed promised his dad it would. More depressing, though, at least from a dairymans perspective, was what he said about his product: that milk has sort of gone out of style.

In hindsight, maybe that wasnt so depressing after all? Elmhurst (officially now without the Dairy part) has suddenly reemerged as, of all things, a producer of vegan nut milks. It quietly debuted four varieties almond, hazelnut, cashew, and walnut at the Natural Products Expo in Los Angeles two weeks ago:

Coincidentally, milk sales have been tanking in the U.S. for a while, so its hard not to read something deeply symbolic into this switch. Elmhursts redesigned site even offers an Our Story tab sort of a paean to its past that starts:

Of course, Manhattan farmland sounds hilarious now, and it looks like Elmhurst thought continuing to run a New York City dairy company in 2017 does, too. It brags its new nut milks are GMO- and gluten-free, kosher, minimally processed, sustainable, produce little food waste, contain no additives, and pack in more nutrition using a proprietary cold-milling technique.

The Maccioni familys iconic Manhattan restaurant is in very serious trouble.

He made off with 110 bottles worth an estimated $550,000.

These are the best 24-hour restaurants, for noodle-slurping, tabletop-grilling, and people-watching.

They fractured his trachea and made off with $1,800 in cash and foreign currency.

Elmhurst Dairy is now entirely vegan.

Little Tong chef Simone Tong has worked at wd~50 and 15 East.

Donations benefit nearly 150 local charities chosen by franchisees.

New Yorks original rainbow-colored pastry fascination is defined by delicate meringues and delicate fillings.

The chains newest campaign makes liberals and conservatives work together to unlock a gift card.

After a monthlong renovation, the meat-centric restaurant inside NYCs first Eataly is open again.

This officially makes the chain 100 percent preservative-free.

Waze and Dunkin Donuts have partnered to make this dream maybe held by somebody a reality.

A judge has mandated a label, warning benzoic-acid levels are too high.

The hearty seafood option is ubiquitous these are the versions that manage to stand out from the pack.

Its hemorrhaging millions of customers to the competition, which now even includes Kroger.

The worldwide restaurant ranking releases its picks for its annual extended list.

The exacting pie experts share their must-haves.

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New York City's Last Remaining Dairy Has Reinvented Itself as a Nut-Milk Start-up - Grub Street

Men's Health

This World-Class Soccer Player Credits His Comeback To a Vegan Diet Men's Health Last Sunday, 34-year-old Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe scored in England's 2-0 win over Lithuania in a 2018 World Cup qualifier, adding yet another gem to his abundant highlight reel this year. Despite his advancing age, Defoe has maintained his ... Euro heartache and vegan lifestyle fuel Defoe | Borneo Bulletin OnlineBorneo Bulletin Online all 84 news articles »

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This World-Class Soccer Player Credits His Comeback To a Vegan Diet - Men's Health

The Paleolithic diet, in recent years, has basically clubbed America upside the head and dragged many of us around by our hair. Swept us off of our feet, as it were. The idea of consuming a diet based on what early humans might have eaten has captured the imaginations and bellies of many, including the scavengers.

The Paleo industry is closing in on $300 million in sales annually, according to a trade group known as the Paleo Foundation. Paleo products include personal training and specialized gear like "finger" shoes, but most of the sales are in goods of an edible persuasion. They include a dizzying array of certified Paleo foods like granola, mushroom coffee, cold-brew wellness tea, Filipino pili nuts with Himalayan sea salt, skillet taco sauce I think you get the pictograph.

The Paleo Foundation website says there is even a growing Paleo/vegan crossover market. At first this sounds like a joke. Are we talking free-range tofurkey bone broth?

I guess that Ive taken it as a given that our ancestors were feasting on wild game 24/7. But in many primitive societies, past and present, anthropologists have noted that the village gatherers regularly outperform the hunters.

A collection of DNA, carefully scraped from the teeth of Neanderthals, tells a story of diet diversity that varied by location. Some of the teeth did indeed indeed display the microbial fingerprints of a meaty diet woolly rhinos and wild sheep, specifically. But bits of dental plaque from other individuals showed no evidence of meat whatsoever. Instead, they suggested a diverse diet of things like mushrooms, tree bark, pine nuts and moss.

It suggests fiber, in its many forms, might be an unsung player in a real Paleo diet, perhaps even swept under the rug by the certified Paleo steak and buttered lobster contingent. But it isnt hard to imagine that more plants than animals were eaten, day in and day out. Maybe the Paleo vegans were a thing after all.

The low-carb part of the Paleo diet is less up for debate. Prior to the invention of agriculture, processed carbs of any kind simply didnt exist. No Twinkies and pasta and sugary drinks, obviously, and even the fruit and berries they ate were less sweet than todays fruit. The Paleo diet is hardly the only one built on a low-carb foundation, but only Paleo can lay claim so perfectly to that theoretical underpinning.

Most Americans eat more sugar and processed carbohydrate than they need, which is why so many of them respond to a low-carb diet.

Some human clinical studies suggest that following a diet low in processed carbohydrates produces better outcomes than a more typical high-carb diet. Diabetics, for example, have seen markers like insulin levels, insulin resistance and blood sugar improve.

A recent meta-study found that a Paleo-esque diet improves risk factors for metabolic syndrome, a constellation of chronic conditions including heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, belly fat and diabetes.

Movement and exercise is something that our Paleo ancestors had plenty of, but modern man tends to be more of a slacker. Some people climb trees or go to CrossFit class for their Paleo workout, but you cant get much more primal than foraging. It gets you moving in the fresh air, and engages your primal senses.

You approach the landscape differently when you forage then when hiking. More like a predator, and less tourist on a trail. More time crashing through the brush to where the landscape says you should go. More time staring at the ground, which is good because the plants you seek are probably under your nose. Keep a lookout for Paleo vegans. They are friendly but startle easily.

Springtime is an especially good time to forage, because the landscape is rich in edible shoots. Winter has historically been a tricky time to get your vitamins and minerals, and the young, often-bitter sprouts that push up through the mud have long been a source of a spring tonic.

Nettles are among the first edible plants to emerge. They evoke caution, thanks to their being covered with silica hypodermic needles full of formic acid, aka ant bite venom. Cooking them will take care of that problem, and what is left is a nutrient-dense plant full of forest umami and spring tonic. And fiber.

They hang out in spots that are moist but not wet, in areas that are open but not super-sunny. Deer tend to keep a wide birth, leaving the plants around nettle patches a bit overgrown.

When you find some, snip off the top few inches just above a joint, like topping a basil plant the tender part. Use gloves or scissors, or your bare hands, to put the nettle tip into a bag. The tingling isnt that bad, and vanishes quickly. Some people even think a few nettle stings can cure various ailments, like natures acupuncture.

A good way to start eating nettles is to first blanch them in boiling salted water, where after 90 seconds the formic acid injectors irreversibly wilt. Immediately transfer the blanched nettles to a pot of ice water to keep them bright green.

From there, any number of options await. Drizzle them with olive oil and soy sauce, or grind them into pesto.

Or make this nettle soup. It doesnt prove that Paleo-vegans exist, but it does prove that if they do exist, they eat well.

1 clove of garlic, grated or pressed

Chicken stock (or mushroom, to keep it vegan)

Slice the onions and sautein butter or olive oil (or both). When they are translucent, add carrots, celery and a quart or so of stock, and simmer with about a teaspoon each of cumin and garlic powder. Meanwhile, blanch and shock the nettles.

When the carrots are soft, add the fresh garlic, stir it around and kill the heat. When cool enough to blend, puree the whole thing. Puree the nettles separately and stir them in. Adjust seasonings and serve.

The addition of those nettles at the end transforms a relatively bland, pedestrian bowl of seasonal vegetable soup into something spectacular, primal and deep green. A little wild goes a long way.

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Flash in the Pan: Paleo-vegan nettle soup - The Missoulian

The Imperial Orchestra and the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority sponsor the weekly event from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each Monday from October through March.

LAKELAND Today is the last opportunity this season to start out the work week with Music Munndays, a lunchtime concert in downtown Lakelands Munn Park.

The Imperial Orchestra and the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority sponsor the weekly event from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each Monday from October through March.

Todays concert will be by Motett with Lemay Olano-James. Motett is a jazz trio featuring Davis Collister on bass, Jody Marsh on keys and Jean Bolduc on drums.Olano-James is a violinist.

Expect to hear some swing, foxtrot, rhumba and mambo.

The original ideain October 2015 was to provide a break for downtown office workers, said Julie Townsend, executive director of the Downtown Lakeland Development Authority.

Mondays kind of bum people out," she said. "This way they can start their work week out with a relaxing time in the park.

And it has been a way to promote the park, she said.

Instead of rushing by on their way to and from lunch, people can stop at the park with a blanket or sit on one of the benches and relax, listen to music and play board games or fill out one of the adult coloring pages available at a tent on the Kentucky Avenue side of the park, she said.

Over timethe office crowd morphed into more of a community crowd, Townsend said. Retirees and young parents with toddlers come from home for the free concert, bringing lawn chairs or blankets and lunch, Townsend said.

And sometimes school groups or community groups make a field trip out of it, she said.

The Imperial Orchestra arranges the musical entertainment, Townsend said.

As examples of the type of entertainment the Monday crowds hear, Imperial Orchestras Facebook page lists the entertainment for the month of March as an ISO Brass Quintet, Acoustic Dose (acoustic guitar and vocals), Jazzanovoa (Latin-influenced instrumentals) and todays entertainment by Motett with Lemay Olano-James (jazz with electric violin).

We try to mix it up, to expose people to different types of music, Townsend said. It is just a good time -- just a couple of hours over lunch to hang out, have a good time playing board games and relaxing with coloring while getting exposed to something you may not normally listen to.

Marilyn Meyer can be reached at marilyn.meyer@theledger.com or 863-802-7558. Follow her on Twitter @marilyn_ledger.

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Music Munndays is wrapping up the season with one last concert ... - The Ledger

Digital design studio ustwo best known for its mobile gaming chops is doubling down on a move into mindfulness and well-being apps in recent years, with the launch of a second interactive meditation app, called Sway.

This follows a journaling app (Moodnotes) with a cognitive behavioral therapy twist, which launched in August 2015, and a visually guided meditationexperience, called Pause, in October 2015.

All threeapps are collaborations with third partiesworking in the health and well-being space, with ustwo bringing in psychological expertise for Moodnotes via LA-based mobile app firm Thriveport, and working withDanish mental wellness company PauseAble onPause and now also with Sway.

Sway isvery much a continuation of the thinking behind Pause, which ustwo said was aiming to draw on ancient Tai Chi and mindfulness practice. That appinvolved guiding users to touch the screen of their device and move anamorphous blob around slowly as a way to slow down, relax and achieve a moment or two of calm.

With Sway, the movement element expands beyond just an on-screen movementto encompass the whole body, with users guided by on-screen instructions,music and moving visuals to focus their attention and make slow and gentle movements these can be whole-body movements or just moving the hand thats holding the phone.

Sway starts with a couple of minutes of guided swaying and gradually increases the time of each daily session until the user is clocking 20 minutes of movement per day. A series of levels are also unlocked as you progress, encouraging a range of different movements aimed at relaxing the user.

As well as displayingtext instructions to get sessions started, the screen of the Sway app is given over tosoothing visuals consisting of a generative soundscape of undulating hills in pastel-toned gradient colors that morph and change form and color whileyou moveback and forth. Users are encouraged to don headphones and soak themselves in the tranquil accompanying music.

After a few moments, the app also moves on toinstructing the userto look away from the screen so arelaxationsession can continue with aphone tucked entirely out of sight, in a pocket say, with justmusic and physical movement left.

If this is all sounding a bit too hippie for your tastes, ustwo is claiming it can back up itstheory of interactive meditation being effective for relaxation purposes, and more accessible and more effective in noisy environments than audio-guided meditations based ona series of studies it commissioned.

The basic argument being you might be able to more easily fit one of its interactive meditation sessions into, for example, your daily commuteor your office environs, where it might be harder to concentrate on a more traditional audio-guided meditation given all the distracting activity going on around you.

The studies were carried outby Professor Xiangshi Ren at the Center for Human Engaged Computing at the Kochi University of Technology in Japan, and compared ustwos earlierPause app with theaudio-guided meditation app Headspace.

However they only involved a small number of participants, and were not placebo-controlled. To date weve only focused on validating its functional effects, and not yet done any placebo-controlled trials this is something well definitely explore, saysa spokesman.

They also werent studyingthe effectiveness of Sway specifically but testing itspredecessor Pause. Albeit, ustwo is arguing both apps are essentially utilizing the same physically interactive approach to encouraging mindfulness and relaxation.

And, well, at the end of the day if an app ends up making some peoplefeel calmer because they think its helping them feel calmer its arguably doing something positive (even if not necessarily for the reasons claimed).

As with ustwos other mobile health apps, Sway which launches tomorrow will be a paid download, this time priced at$2.99.

The earlierPause app ($1.99) has had around 400,000 downloads to date, whileMoodnotes ($3.99) has clockedaround40,000 downloads on iOS, with an Android version also due to launch within weeks.

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Sway is another interactive relaxation app from ustwo | TechCrunch - TechCrunch