Boomers: Here are 4 Ways to Stay Spry

LAST OCTOBER, WITH A FEW UNREMARKABLE KEYSTROKES, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling took one small step for a woman and one giant leap for a generation.

Ms. Casey-Kirschling, who is widely considered to be the nation’s first Baby Boomer, became the first Boomer to file for Social Security retirement benefits.

What does this have to do with fitness, you ask? A lot, actually. It means that the Boomers are getting older. And, that means that in order to make the next phase of their lives as healthy and fulfilling as possible, they must do things a little differently when it comes to physical activity.

Does this mean that I’m going to recommend that you pick up a copy of Richard Simmons’s - Sit Tight: A “Sittin' Down” Workout?” “Now as you sit there, lift your can of lima beans up to the sky. Good. Good for yooou!”

No. I’m not going to do that, because the Boomers are marching into older age in far better physical shape than their parents.

First, let’s get clear on what “older” is and what it is not.

“Older” is a fact of life. Time passes, we age, and our bodies change. However, “older” is also an arbitrary designation based on an arbitrary number. Granted, sixty years ago, “older” meant “old,” because old people looked and acted…well…old. In 2007, that word has been rendered all but meaningless. Eighty-year olds are surfing and playing tennis and bungee jumping and completing the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon in 16 hours.

Here’s what “older” is not: It’s not a valid reason to avoid getting into stellar shape. It’s not an excuse to slow down, make concessions, do less -- and go gently into that good night.

Baby Boomers comprise the largest segment of the American population at roughly 80 million strong. But a recent study indicates that while Boomers may be strong in numbers, they’re not so strong in body. Injuries among Boomers -- torn ligaments, stress fractures and knee problems – are at an all time high. “Boomeritis,” as health professionals call it, cost an estimated $22.8 billion in 2003. That’s the bad news. Here’s the good: It’s easier than you think to get into great shape, and the scientifically-verified benefits of physical activity include: a better heart, a better mind, a better body and a better life.

We often forget how good it feels to have a fit and radiant body. We learn to accept less. If that sounds like you, stop that. Start demanding more, and you will experience the joy and passion of what it feels like to be fully alive. It all starts with moving your body.

Motivation Follows Movement

This may sound like more self-help ballyhooing, but it’s true: the motivation to exercise does not spontaneously occur. In fact, the less you exercise, the less you’ll want to exercise. You simply must start moving to get motivated to move. If you are out of shape, as little as three 20-minute workouts a week can have huge, positive effects on your physical and mental health.

Sometimes the notion of getting into shape after a long layoff can be so daunting that it discourages people from even starting out. Those people operate under the false assumption that it takes a series of one-hour leg-pumpin’, heart-thumpin’ spin classes to get back into shape. Here’s the trick: First, consult your physician and make sure your body is ready for a new exercise program. Then, when you start back to exercising, don’t focus on any numbers: no “workout time,” no “calories burned,” no “repetitions,” no “heart rate zones.” Just be smart, listen to your body and have fun with it. If, on your first day out there, you complete a five-minute walk, that is a terrific start. Once you generate a little momentum, it’s a difficult force to stop.

Bear the Burden

As Boomers age, it is estimated that half of women over age 50 will suffer a bone fracture caused by weakened bones, while one in eight men will suffer the same fate. While it’s important to take care of your joints and never overdo it, avoiding weight-bearing exercise, such as brisk walking, climbing stairs, resistance training, etc., can actually increase the risk of osteoporosis. Light jogging, if your knees can handle it, is a terrific activity for Boomers. Strength training is a must as well, since you can lose up to a half-pound of muscle tissue every year after age 35. Strive to incorporate some form of strength training and weight-bearing activity into your routine at least twice a week.

Your Body is Keeping Score

“You are more likely to be killed by your couch than by a stroke or an accident,” says Jim Taylor, Ph.D, author of The Prime Sport book series and a performance consultant in Greenbrae.

“There are 35 diseases, collectively known as Sedentary Death Syndrome (SeDS), associated with a sedentary lifestyle,” says Dr. Taylor. “Each year, about 250,000 Americans die from them. Since only 28 percent of Americans exercise regularly, an estimated 60 percent of the population is thought to be at risk for SeDS.”

It’s important to understand that your body is keeping score, right this moment, and every moment. Ignoring exercise is akin to accruing credit card debt; somewhere down the road your body will demand payment…with interest.

Most of us require some form of tragedy to make a positive change. We’re comfortable with the status quo. We wait until something goes wrong until we decide fix it. The U.S. medical model works this way; it depends on the appearance of symptoms to prompt action. This is no way to live. Take action now and pursue a simple exercise program, and you can be healthy and strong all the way to the finish line. Investing in your body is arguably the best investment you’ll ever make. It's also important to do our best to eat well on a regular basis. The adage "you are what you eat" is true in a very literal sense. With our increasingly chaotic daily schedules, it can be difficult to eat healthfully on the go. That's where ORGANIC FOOD BAR comes in: it is the healthiest and most delicious 100% certified organic snack in the world. Pack several ORGANIC FOOD BARS in your car and at work, so that your "fast food" can indeed be "healthy snacks!" To learn more, visit: The ORGANIC FOOD BAR Web site.

Mix it Up

Who says you have to run on a treadmill to get into shape? Not me, that’s for sure. Set me loose on Mount Tamalpais, and I can scamper happily over hill and dale for three hours. Put me on a treadmill, and I start weeping after 11 minutes. We live in the world’s greatest outdoor gym: Marin County, California. You can pursue more enjoyable activities in more stunningly beautiful locations here than anywhere else in the world. Find your “fitness bliss,” and the calories burned will be a natural consequence of the fun, rather than the focus of the activity. That’s when it becomes easier, and more rewarding, to get into shape.

Boomers, some say you have the best years ahead of you. If you commit to staying in shape, and taking care of your body, I believe the years ahead of you can be your best ones.

Go rock it, Boomers.

For more healthly living tips and a podcast, visit: http://www.organicfoodbar.com.

How ORGANIC FOOD BAR Became the Best-Selling Organic Bar in the World

In 2001, Dr. Jack J. Singh, N.D., H.M.D. a board certified naturopathic physician and expert nutritionist with over thirty years of experience, set out to “raise the bar” in an energy and food bar industry beset with nutritionally poor products and disingenuous marketing tactics. The mission: create a non-allergenic, 100% certified organic, whole food bar of such uncompromising quality and unparalleled taste that one bite would change the way people feel, eat and live. He founded ORGANIC FOOD BAR.

It was the first organic bar in the world.

Now, it is the best-selling organic bar in the world.

ORGANIC FOOD BARS contain the freshest, 100% certified organic ingredients (USDA & EEC 2091/2092) from “the cleanest and most trustworthy food sources" in the USA, Canada and Europe. They are handcrafted fresh each morning in our own certified organic and kosher facility on site, rather than outsourcing this vital step like most other bar companies do. ORGANIC FOOD BARS contain no: refined sugars, hydrogenated oils, preservatives, dairy, high fructose corn syrup, rice syrup, gluten, peanuts, wheat or GMOs. (They do, however, contain “lots of love!”) Look for our new ORGANIC FOOD BAR KIDS, the first 100% organic SB-12 (School Junk Food Ban) compliant bar in America. ORGANIC FOOD BAR KIDS is the first bar that parents can trust and kids love. www.organicfoodbarkids.com.

We make organic, whole food products that we would (and do!) feed to our own families. That is why ORGANIC FOOD BAR is uncompromising in its ingredients. One bite, and one review of our ingredient list, will tell you all that you need to know.

To learn more about our full product line, to sign up for our new ORGANIC LIVING magazine -- or if you have any questions, comments (or kudos!), please call us toll-free at: 1.800.246.4685 or visit us online at: www.organicfoodbar.com. (You could win an all-expense paid trip for two to Pure Kauai simply by visiting!)

Best wishes of health from our family to yours!

~The ORGANIC FOOD BAR Family

Shifting to a Healthier Lifestyle

TODAY, A RECORD 68% OF AMERICAN ADULTS are overweight or obese. Seventy-eight million Americans—roughly one-quarter of the U.S. population—exercise zero times per year. Zero times per year! This widespread avoidance of physical activity, coupled with poor eating habits, have created an unprecedented health crisis in this country. The time for change is now.

If we accept that physical activity and healthy eating confer benefits such as a healthier weight, a more beautiful body, higher energy levels, more confidence, a longer life and a better life, why do so many people struggle to exercise and eat right?

Most puzzling is the quiet resignation of Americans, whose collective apathy towards exercise, and the disinterest with which we do it, marks the eye-popping escalation of obesity in this country. Some experts believe we are approaching a moment of unbearable physical crisis and that we are losing touch with our bodies and growing disconnected from our human nature. Many people are becoming imprisoned in their own bodies.

This problem isn’t limited to adults. According to The National Institutes of Health, one in five U.S. children is overweight or obese—and that number is rising precipitously. Perhaps most striking is that this generation may be the first in human history whose life expectancy will be shorter than that of their parents.

This obesity epidemic threatens to wipe out other improvements in our children’s health and safety over the past three decades, a new report says. “Childhood obesity has risen to a point that it can be considered a modern day epidemic,” said the report by Duke University researchers.

We know more about health and nutrition than ever before, yet we’re worse off than ever before. Each year, new diet and weight loss books flood bookstores with newfangled ways to lose weight and get healthy. Here are some examples for 2008: “The Ultimate Tea Diet,” “The No Crave Diet” and “How to Eat Like a Hot Chick” (I actually read it, and I really did feel like a hot chick when I ate! Amazing!).

But these, like most books, made big promises, and will likely fail to deliver lasting results to most of its readers (except maybe “Hot Chick”). Studies show that most people who undertake weight loss programs lose some weight only to put most, or all, of it back on once the diet has concluded. People want quick results, but look where “quick fixes” have gotten us. As a result of being more overweight, we are suffering more from diseases and diminished quality of life, and our health care system is in dire straits. We need permanent results. Starting now.

It’s time for a fundamental shift in how we how we eat, how we move our bodies—and how we live. We must abandon all notions of “quick fixes” and think in terms of an enduring lifestyle “shift.” It can happen in seven steps. And, it’s easier than you think.

It begins with making the time for your health.

“The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.” –C. S. Lewis

It is the one bonafide non-renewable resource in the world—and it is the one resource that most of us feel we don’t have enough of. Perhaps that’s why “lack of time” is the main reason why most people don’t exercise more or eat better.

Making the time to exercise and eat right is the foundation upon which this entire program rests. You must master this step, and consistently carve out the time for your health every week, in order to achieve a permanent shift to a healthy lifestyle.

Fortunately, we’re all on a level playing field in this respect. Regardless of who we are, where we live and what we do, there is one constant: We all have the same amount of time. Each of us has access to precisely 168 hours every week, and we can use that time any way we choose.

The differences between us start to show in how we use our available time. Our subtle choices each day create strikingly different realities. The perception is that busier people don’t have the time to exercise or eat well. However, research shows that people who consistently work out and prepare healthy meals are just as busy as those who do not.

Perhaps it’s not that you don’t have the time to exercise or eat right. It may be that you are choosing, consciously or unconsciously, not to make the time for these things. This is merely conjecture, but I want you to take a serious and hard look at how you spend your time each day. You may even consider keeping a “time journal” for three days to get a realistic view of where your time is spent. You might be surprised.

The first step to making more time for your body and your health is to decide that health is a top priority in your life. Then, you must create some extra time each week for yourself. Here’s how to do it:

TIP: Turn off your television.

This is the simplest, fastest and most surefire way to liberate more time for yourself, your health, your family—and your life. Admittedly, watching less television is exceedingly difficult to do. Television is an engaging media. The average American tunes in for a whopping of 27 hours every week. Programming is designed to keep you glued to the set, as often as possible, at all costs! For decades, TV has been a vehicle to sell products to a mass market, and it’s been carefully engineered to keep you engrossed. In order to “break” from TV, you must do it gradually. Start by choosing four days a week on which you can watch TV, and three days on which the tube stays off all day. This will give you more time to live your life more fully: you’ll have more time for your kids, more time for yourself—and yes, more time for exercise and healthy eating. Despite being on the air, I have been without television for over six years. At first, I developed an alarming facial tic by not getting my CSI, but it went away. Turning off the TV has vastly improved my family’s quality of life, and it has liberated more time than we could have imagined. And, I believe it would do these things for you as well.

TIP: Pay yourself first.

As our daily schedules grow increasingly hectic, it is vital to re-focus on our most important life priorities, such as: family, health, career, community, etc. Not exercising is tantamount to not paying your health insurance. You may be able to dodge bullets in the short term, but it’ll catch up with you. Financial experts say that the best way to save money is to “pay yourself first.” What do they mean? Our money is constantly being channeled away from us at breathtaking speed. If we don’t allocate money for ourselves first each month, then that money will somehow find a way to be allocated elsewhere (“But honey, iPhone is a need, not a want.”) Such is the nature of money. The same goes for time. If you don’t take the time for your health first, the day will likely get away from you. Studies show that people who exercise in the morning are almost nine times more likely to do it consistently than people who don’t exercise. If you aren’t a morning person, or simply cannot work out in the morning, then you must commit to exercising immediately upon finishing work.

TIP: Get more bang for your workout buck.

One way to effectively “expand” exercise time is to squeeze more out of your workouts. In other words, greater efficiency creates more results. Be smart and focused about how you work out; break down your aerobic exercise into four phases:

• Warm-up (5-10 minutes) – ease in to your workout to boost blood flow, warm up muscles and enhance flexibility;
• Listening (5-10 minuets) – tune into your body to decide how hard and how long you should exercise in that session;
• Main portion (15 minutes – 2 hours) – keep your heart rates in a comfortable, aerobic “target zone” and use good technique in whatever activity you’re dong;
• Cool-down (5-10 minutes) – use this time to allow your body to return to a more relaxed state. This flushes the body of metabolic waste from exercise and improves recovery time.

TIP: Set “business appointments” with yourself.

Once you’ve liberated some time and agreed to “pay yourself first,” lock in the time to do it every week. To shift, you must treat your workouts with the same reverence that you would an important meeting with your boss. You wouldn’t dare miss a meeting (career). Why then, do we cavalierly skip exercise (health)? It’s probably because if we neglect our jobs, we could suffer immediate consequences. The human body is resourceful, and we don’t immediately pay for mistreating it. However, skipping exercise and eating poorly is like accruing credit card debt: your body is keeping score, and one day it will demand payment—with interest. This is not an idle metaphor. You must begin to treat your workouts like “serious business appointments,” and do everything in your power to make those appointments. Without health, little else matters.

For more healthy living tips -- and to receive the complete book THE SHIFT, visit The ORGANIC FOOD BAR Web site.

The Myth of the "Energy Bar" as Optimum Sports Nutrition

PEOPLE OFTEN ASK ME how I can eat ORGANIC FOOD BARS during training and competition -- given their modest fat and fiber content. I got that question this morning, in fact, from a group of elite cyclists with whom I was training. It compelled me to post my answer here:

This notion that popular "energy bars" made from synthetic ingredients optimally fuel the body during exercise is nothing more than market-generated drivel. And, to be candid: after 10 years as a professional athlete and journalist, I've grown a little tired of the misinformation. Simply because the major players in the energy bar category have the most money, and can afford the most media impressions, does not mean that their messages are truthful -- or correct. In fact, often they are far from it. And frankly, their behavior is unethical given that we're talking about nutrition here, and that impacts people's health, which is their most precious asset.

Here is the indisputable fact based on sound nutrition and verified repeatedly by science: the human body responds most favorably to real, wholesome food free from synthetic ingredients, preservatives or unhealthy fats. Yet these ingredients are often found in products touted as "healthy energy bars." Some of these products still contain hydrogenated oils! The National Institutes of Health recently set a "safe level of consumption" for trans fats. Do you know what that is? ZERO! That means, that "no amount" of trans fats are acceptable in the human diet!

I find it more than mildly ironic that people who exercise in order to boost their health, wellness and performance are largely duped into consuming energy bars that are not good for their health, will not promote wellness and do not boost performance.

As a professional triathlete, I train 20-30 hours a week. I eat ORGANIC FOOD BARS exclusively during all of my workouts and all of my competitions. It is the "cleanest burning" and most "nutrient dense" fuel I've yet tried. And, I have never -- repeat, never -- bonked when fueling with ORGANIC FOOD BAR. That is where the healthy fats come into play.

(Before I continue, it is proper and necessary that I disclose the following: Yes, I am the ORGANIC FOOD BAR Media Director. But, I approached them. And no, I do not receive free product. I go to Good Earth Fairfax, Calif., and I buy my ORGANIC FOOD BARS full price, because I believe they are a gift of nature and worth every penny.)

Back to the point: If I can digest an ORGANIC FOOD BAR at 160 heart rate in the heat -- when the blood is being shunted from my stomach to working muscles and to the surface for thermoregulation -- surely ORGANIC FOOD BAR will work for most anyone, at any level, looking to boost their performance in an intelligent, healthful way.

Does this mean ORGANIC FOOD BAR is guaranteed to work for everyone during every workout and event? Certainly not. Does it mean that you should give ORGANIC FOOD BAR a try and compare it to your current bar? You'd be crazy not to.

I am going to name names here: Most Powerbars, Clif Bars and Balance Bars are not good for you. Just as Gatorade is not the best thing to hydrate your body, most of these highly-visible, slickly-marketed products are high-glycemic, low-quality fuel. These companies, regrettably, put more money into marketing their products than into making their products. Their success has been built primarily on the success of their promotion rather than on the integrity of their products. A simple review of their ingredient lists will tell you that.

ORGANIC FOOD BARS top-quality ingredients and healthy fats that boost energy and promote better health. Anyone who knows nutrition, and who reviews the ingredient list of ORGANIC FOOD BAR, will tell you the same thing. Real food is best whoever you are, whatever your background and whatever your health or athletic goals.

So, here is my challenge to you: incorporate ORGANIC FOOD BAR into your exercise or training regime and experience the difference for yourself. The body doesn't lie. Whether you're a "weekend warrior" or a serious competitive athlete, you stand to benefit enormously from consuming pure and organic food during and after workouts -- and during competition.

If ORGANIC FOOD BARS don't provide the best solid fuel for your longer workouts of any bar you've ever tried, then I'll buy them for you. How's that? (Just email me at eric@organicfoodbar.com and I will cut you a personal check for the amount you paid for your ORGANIC FOOD BARS.

In nutrition -- just as in competition and in life -- it's what's inside that counts. That's not merely ORGANIC FOOD BARS tagline; it's the company's value statement.

Now, go ahead, take the challenge. And, let us know how it goes!

For more healthy living tips, visit The ORGANIC FOOD BAR website.

10 Reasons Why Organic Food Bar is Best

AS MEDIA DIRECTOR FOR ORGANIC FOOD BAR, some people -- including journalists! -- often ask me what makes this bar so special. In the veritable sea of "energy and food" bars, why did I choose to work with ORGANIC FOOD BAR?

I've come up with 10 reasons. Here they are:

10. What you see is what you get.
These days, energy and food bars are like a “box of chocolates…you never know what you’re gonna get!” Companies make a lot of claims, but often cannot back up those claims. Not Organic Food Bar. They say they're 100% USDA organic – and they are. They say they don’t include refined sugars or preservatives – and they don’t. They say they're free of trans fats – and they are. At Organic Food Bar, they believe promises made should be promises kept…especially when it comes to your health.

9. Just like mom's fresh apple pie.
If you’re like most people, you’ve had this experience at your local grocery store: faced with myriad choices, you decide to choose a “healthy bar.” After all, you’re trying to be healthier! Outside the store, you cautiously, but hopefully, take a bite – and it tastes like you’re biting into … the sole of your shoe! As we like to say, your taste buds don’t lie. Organic Food Bars taste freshly prepared, because they are freshly prepared. Each morning, they whip up a fresh, new batch of delicious Organic Food Bars right there on site. Thenthey package them immediately to lock in that one-of-a-kind, fresh-made taste. These are the freshest-tasting food bars in the world. Bar none!

8. Better for the planet.
Organic Food Bar believes that organic farming is better for the environment because organic farms do not release synthetic pesticides into the environment; organic farms are better than conventional farms at sustaining diverse ecosystems; and, organic farms use less energy and produce less waste), which is better for producers. Even when pesticides are used correctly, they still end up in the air, underground water and bodies of farm workers. And, perhaps most importantly: Organic Food Bar believes without reservation that organic food is better for you. No study has shown pesticides to be healthy and almost all find them to be harmful to human health. Organic Food Bars are 100% organic. They always have been and always will be.

7. Better for you.
Organic Food Bar knows it's the healthiest food bar in the world, because they use the healthiest ingredients. Don’t believe it? Try this experiment: Visit your local grocery store. Stroll the energy and food bar isle. Pick up an Organic Food Bar and hold it in one hand. Now, pick up any other energy or food bar you see and hold it in your other hand. Compare the features and ingredients. Our bet is that once you see how much better they are – with your own eyes – you’ll put the other bar back and dig into the Organic Food Bar! (Um, just be sure to pay for it, first!)

6. The finest ingredients.
At Organic Food Bar, they begin with what’s inside: they travel the world to find the finest, most wholesome ingredients to handcraft Organic Food Bars. All of their ingredients are certified organic, kosher and purchased as fresh as possible. They prepare our Organic Food Bars with lots of love in house. They don’t “contract out” the preparation of our bars, because they prefer to know exactly what goes on, at every moment, when Organic Food Bars are being made. That’s the only way to ensure the finest quality. Their ingredients are mixed, blended, packaged and stored at room temperature to preserve the natural qualities and enzyme activity of the ingredients. Making Organic Food Bars is like making a gourmet, wholesome home-cooked meal. It’s simply healthier because you have control over ingredients; it tastes better; and, it’s just got more heart and soul to it!

5. No GMO’s.
A genetically modified organism (GMO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using techniques in genetics generally known as recombinant DNA technology. Nobody can claim that they definitively know the long-term effects of GMOs on human health; there haven’t been any peer-reviewed long-term studies. So, Organic Food Bar prefers to play it safe when it comes to your health. Mother Nature knows best. In the past, we humans have gotten into trouble when we meddle too much with the natural order of things. At Organic Food Bar, they stick to all-natural, pure and unprocessed, organic whole food ingredients -- and by doing that they know they’re delivering the very best to you with no possible risks of harm to your health.

4. No refined sugars.
Fact: Americans are eating too much sugar. Way too much. Unbelievable as it may seem, according to the USDA, in 1999 the average American consumed the following: 134 pounds of refined sugar excluding honey, 365 servings of soda pop (638 cans per year for people aged 12-29), 200 sticks of gum, 22 pounds of candy, 63 dozen doughnuts, 60 pounds of cakes and cookies and 23 gallons of ice cream. While you are not likely “average” these numbers speak to the ubiquity of sugar in our diets. Organic Food Bars contain relatively small amounts of organic sugars, and those organic sugars are “slow-release” sugars from ingredients like organic premium agave nectar, which are a great deal better for your moods, your body and your overall health.

3. No hydrogenated oils.
Did you know that the National Institutes of Health recently set a “safe level of consumption” for hydrogenated oils. Can you guess what that is? “Zero.” In other words, no amount of trans fats are healthy. From the National Institutes of Health website: “Foods made with hydrogenated oils should be avoided because they contain high levels of trans fatty acids, which are linked to heart disease.” Read the ingredient list of many energy and food bars and you’ll see “hydrogenated oils” in most. Not in Organic Food Bar.

2. The Organic Food Bar family.
Working for this company is dreamy. It’s a team of talented, creative people dedicated to a common goal: producing the healthiest bar for you. The company is led by a man of manifest integrity, Dr. Jack J. Singh. He believes your health is your most precious asset. He believes everyone can improve their health and that the smallest changes can have profound impacts. And he believes many food companies, particularly in the food and energy bar categories put profits over people, and that some are indeed disingenuous about how they market those products to adults and children. It’s why he founded this company. Dr. Singh believed there was a better way. A much better way. That is why he brought the gift of Organic Food Bar to the world.

…and the #1 reason why Organic Food Bar is better than the rest (drum roll, please!):

1. It’s just “feel good food” -- and your body knows it!
Let’s face it: Most energy bars are little more than glorified candy bars. A simple review of the ingredient list will tell you that. The body tells the whole story. Listen to it. Eat a high-sugar bar, and within minutes you can feel that inevitable “energy crash.” Eat an Organic Food Bar, and you will feel balanced and sustained for hours. As we say: “Organic Food Bar: It's What's Inside That Counts.”

To learn more healthy living tips, visit: www.organicfoodbar.com.

Letter From the President

IN PREPARATION FOR the Emmy Platinum Lounge, we assembled "gift bags" for the tastemakers, influencers and celebrities who would be in attendance. Contained in these bags of organic bamboo (to tease SAHANA, our upcoming line of all-organic activewear), we included ORGANIC FOOD BARS and a letter from the founder and President of the company, Dr. Jack J. Singh -- a person of manifest integrity, class, elegance and unflinching vision.

I wanted to re-print that letter here, as I believe it beautifully embodies the ORGANIC FOOD BAR brand.

--

You hold in your hands a gift from nature. A food bar of pure, radiant health.

In 2001, I set out to create a food bar so sublimely delicious and so soundly healthful that it would “raise the bar” in an industry that too often puts promotion over people. Health is our most precious asset, yet nutritionally, most food bars are little more than glorified, high-glycemic candy bars.

I have great faith in the inexorable paradigm shift underway in our world. We’re rethinking how the actions we take impact our planet. And, we’re rethinking how the foods we eat impact our bodies.

ORGANIC FOOD BAR is the best-selling organic bar in the world, not because we run slick ad campaigns, but because we were the first – and because we are the best: 100% organic with no refined sugars, hydrogenated oils, preservatives, dairy, high fructose corn syrup, rice syrup, gluten or GMOs. We travel the world to find the freshest, most wholesome, kosher and certified organic ingredients, and each morning we handcraft a fresh batch of ORGANIC FOOD BARS, with lots of love and soul – because we believe your health is your most precious asset. And, we want to honor that.

ORGANIC FOOD BAR: It’s what’s inside that counts.

To your health,

Dr. Jack J. Singh
President
ORGANIC FOOD BAR, Inc.
www.organicfoodbar.com

Organic Food Bar a Hit at The Platinum Emmy Lounge

[Melora Hardin, from NBC's The Office]

I JUST RETURNED from an Emmy "pre-party" atop the Luxe Hotel in Beverly Hills called the "Platinum Emmy Lounge." ORGANIC FOOD BAR was the official bar of the Emmy Lounge, where luminaries, tastemakers, influencers and celebrities sampled an array of outstanding brands from wine to technology to food.

The celebrities were particularly enthralled with ORGANIC FOOD BAR. Most lamented their hectic "on the go" lives that preclude them from eating as well as they should. Many celebs said that they "loved" ORGANIC FOOD BAR, and that the bars are their "saving grace" when they're on the road -- or on the set! In fact, one of our favorite celebs we met, Melora Hardin (who plays Jan Levinson-Gould on NBC's "The Office"), said that she keeps ORGANIC FOOD BARS in her car to feed her kids while on the go. She said it's the only bar she really trusts as a parent, and the only bar that her kid's will eat!

We had prepared a fresh batch of the Coconut Chocolate Raw bars that very day, and the celebrities were befuddled that a bar could be that fresh. I playfully (innocently!) derided some of the other bars on the market...that some brands of bars "made in the 1980's are still floating around out there being eaten by an unsuspecting public!" They got a good laugh out of that one. But, by and large, it's true. ORGANIC FOOD BARS are unlike any other: they're made fresh every day in a company-owned, certified organic on-site facility. In a world where uncertainties in product manufacturing abound, isn't it comforting to know and trust a brand like ORGANIC FOOD BAR?

What astounded the celebrities the most, however, was the taste of ORGANIC FOOD BARS. After coolly sauntering up to our booth, the celebrities' first moves -- after posing for paparazzi photos! -- were to examine the ORGANIC FOOD BAR ingredient list. When they learned how healthful the bars were, they thought that the bars wouldn't taste good. After all, many "good for you foods" taste ... well ... "reaaally healthy." The celebrities could not believe how sumptuous , moist and fresh the ORGANIC FOOD BARS were. Almost every celebrity sat at our booth eating an entire bar and not uttering a word: just chewing and smiling for the cameras!

Needless to say, ORGANIC FOOD BARS were a huge hit among an impossibly discerning crowd. I mention this, not because we ought to admire celebrities any more than any other group of successful people, but rather that celebrities have access to anything. We are fascinated by what celebrities use, I believe, because they can use anything. When a famous person chooses a product, and when they're brand loyal to that product in their private lives, it means that the product beats the competition by meeting an exceptionally high standard. It's clear that ORGANIC FOOD BAR meets those standards.

The Platinum Emmy Lounge was great fun. We'll post some terrific photos of celebrities eating, hugging and actually kissing (yes kissing!) ORGANIC FOOD BARS. So, stay tuned for that!

And remember, in Hollywood, the media often focuses on what's outside, but the fact is: It's What's Inside That Counts. It may sound trite and and cliché, but it's absolutely true. That's why we've made it our tagline.

For more information and health tips, visit us online at: www.organicfoodbar.com.