I woke up with so many things on my mind today, things related to this blog and the reasons I started it, that I just had to share.
On the food front, I am still very much guzzling the purple kool-aid of the organic “real food” movement. There is a difference between organic and non-organic food, and I think it’s important to avoid chemicals, hormones and other awful things in food. I think the thing that makes it hard for people to embrace the “bad food” idea is that nothing bad happens to you immediately when you eat bad food. Any ill effects will be later in life, like cancers. And since you can’t point to it and say “Oh, I got that pancreatic cancer from eating _______ for 10 years,” then it just goes on and on. A friend of mine (to whom I’ve been talking about bad food for six months) said a couple of weeks ago (about some food evils), “This is really bad, these companies need to be held responsible, the government should be involved, people need to be told what’s going on!” And then I told him, people ARE being told what’s going on. But until having a healthy dinner becomes more important than getting to the kid’s soccer practice on time, no one will care. And then he said “No, I mean they need to REALLY be told, it needs to be all over the evening news and in the papers.” Well, guess what? It is! All of the bad meat stories, e-coli stories, food recalls, health issues, good documentaries, websites, groups — how many times and ways do people need to be told something before they HEAR the information? So then we concluded it does come down to taking care of your own family and conscious purchases/lifestyle. When enough people are doing that, then it becomes a real movement and creates real change.
So, I continue to beat my friends over the head on Facebook and Twitter, and use my dollars to vote at the checkout stand – my small way of trying to make change.
A fun thing I’m getting to do this week is to revamp a friend’s pantry. He’s finding it complicated to sort out his diet, and I’ve accepted the challenge. So I first assessed what he normally buys for home, and I’m going to have him replace his unhealthy choices with healthy ones as he needs to restock. I’m pretty excited about it for a couple of reasons: I can blog about it and help others do the same thing with their food, and it helps me document exactly how I eat. I’ll end up with a very good view of my exact food choices, something I’ve sort of internalized lately as it has become habit.
On the fitness front, I’ve joined a gym with a friend where I do stationary bike, rowing machine, a couple of arm machines, and a crunch machine that is KILLER. It’s a pay-as-you-go place, perfect for me when I just don’t want to work out at home or outdoors. I’m also still walking, my usual five mile walk a few times a week. I bought a Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred dvd and it punishes me regularly.
I have also signed up for a couple of challenges through Twitter this month, both for dieting and losing weight, to try to keep on track for a month at a time. Here’s what I’ve learned from that: if I think someone else is making me do something, or even paying attention to my success at all, I won’t do it. It’s a personal flaw, seems like. So, while I have slowly lost a few pounds, and while I am weighing on the scale more often which I think is a good thing, I think I am more successful when left to self-monitor and not report to anyone.
Which leads me to my next idea: I think I am reverting to only fruits and vegetables for the next seven days. Those of you paying any attention to me at all will remember I’ve done this before. My reasons are 1) it’s easy to remember what to eat and grab whatever I want, whenever 2) I get plenty of nutrition, while eating no wasteful calories 3) I LOVE fruits and vegetables, and I care less for grains and nuts and legumes. I have always been a bit of a hobbyist dieter, and evidently if I’m not manipulating, restricting, or otherwise jumping through some kind of food hoops, I’m not happy. This will keep me entertained for a while, and I hopefully will see some quicker weight loss. I only want to lose around 10 to 15 pounds, and you would think that would be the easiest thing in the world to do, but as I add muscle (just go along with it) my weight has reached a true plateau. So seven days of fruits and veggies it is!
And lastly, please friends, do everything you can to be more GREEN. Cut back on packaged products, try to use recyclable packaging, no plastic, and use responsible home and body cleansers. Bicycle and walk places with your friends and families. Buy local food to save on the transportation energy usage. Read, read, read online about being green and really implement the things you read about. The environment is not outside of us, it IS us.
And now I bid you adieu – I’ll be back in two weeks to pick up my regular blogging schedule. I hope you and yours are well. Big hugs to you all!
(Forgive any typos or nonsense, I’m on an 8″ netbook in a very cold coffee shop. )
14 Months to 50 