Going "Kelli" Green

The Vitamin K debate...

2011-05-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

When I found out we were having a girl I felt a sense of relief that we did not have to have the circumcision debate. In my naivety, I failed to miss there were other things that would occur at the hospital that I would have to make a decision about. These included eye ointment, PKU testing, cutting the umbilical cord, Heb B shot and the Vitamin K shot. Now, I could spend entire blog posts discussing each of those individually, but instead I'm just going to focus on the Vitamin K shot, because that was the one we struggled with the most. It was easy for me to say no to the eye ointment, to delay the PKU test, to wait to clamp the umbilical cord after it stops pulsing and to postpone vaccinations, but the Vitamin K really had me wrapped up.

It is said that newborns are born with lower levels of Vitamin K. It can take up to a week for their Vitamin K levels to increase. It is my understanding that this is part of the reason the people of Jewish heritage wait a week to circumcise. The reason Vitamin K is important is because it helps the baby's blood clot. Some babies have traumatic experiences at birth, heck the entire birthing process is traumatic, but some have even more trauma added when medical interventions such as vacuums, forceps or even just bumps and bruises occur doing delivery. When a baby has these things happen, it is important that their Vitamin K levels are solid in order to help their blood clot. If a baby's blood does not clot, then they risk death from hemorrhaging. Although it is believed that only 10% of babies born actually have to worry about undetected internal bleeding, I still did not want to take my chances by forgoing the Vitamin K shot. You're probably thinking, "OK, so what's the big deal, just give her the shot." Well, the big deal started at first with the idea that I did not want any type of vaccine and/or shot given to my baby in the hospital. I want her to not be poked and prodded after having just experienced a very scary process of leaving a dark warm womb and entering a bright, cold strange world. I started researching Vitamin K injections and realized that it can be done orally. I mentioned this to my midwife, who had not heard of this request before and said she needed to find out more information. When she got back to me at the next appointment, she said that they could administer the Vitamin K orally as opposed to IM. You would think this would solve all of my concerns, except it didn't. See, I'm naturally a researcher. I research everything. I was the kid in school that loved research papers and still do today. I actually miss writing research papers and if it weren't for the whole cheating thing, I would start a business in writing research papers for students. That being said, between the appointment where I first mentioned oral vitamin K to my midwife and the next appointment when she said it could be offered orally, I started to learn some things about the hospital's version of Vitamin K. First of all, it used to be linked to childhood leukemia. Fortunately, there have been many studies that do not support that link and therefore this was not a concern for me. It is however, linked to higher cases of jaundice, which may or may not be a concern for most people. The second issue with hospital Vitamin K is that it is synthetic. It is not real Vitamin K, but rather a chemical mixture meant to replicate Vitamin K and provide the same benefits that Vitamin K would provide. This became my problem. I'm not opposed to medicine, even though it probably sounds like I am. I believe that we are fortunate to live in a country that can provide medicines to help people feel better, but if something doesn't have to be synthetic, then I don't believe it should. I found out in Europe that most people administer real Vitamin K to their babies without the synthetic version even being offered. As I began to research this, I really felt inclined to do this as well. I believe that if we can offer our little girl real Vitamin K, then why do we need to give her the fake stuff? I went back to the midwife to ask her about the hospital Vitamin K to ensure that it was synthetic and that I wasn't getting false information from the Internet. She said she believed it was real Vitamin K, but would get back to me and let me know. When she got back to me she assured me that I was correct and that the hospital version of Vitamin K was in fact synthetic. She encouraged me to purchase my own Vitamin K, which is very difficult to find. I found a midwife website that sells it and decided this was the route for us to take even if it meant more time, money and responsibility. See, with real Vitamin K it's not just a one time deal. You have to administer it after birth, a week after birth and then a month after that. Because of my aversion to using the synthetic version, but still wanting to protect my child, my husband and I agreed this is the route we would take. We ordered the Vitamin K and it came just in time for my next midwife appointment. A part of me felt that my midwife would be upset we were taking this route, but when I got to my appointment she was very encouraging

The point of this blog post is not to encourage everyone to bypass the Vitamin K shot. Eye ointment, Vitamin K, PKU testing, Vaccinations, those are all personal decisions that people have to make for their family as they see fit. The only thing I would say is to not be afraid to research your options and to not be afraid to ask questions. This was a big deal for me and I was glad that I did do my research and did ask the right questions and in the end our baby is still going to get her Vitamin K, but she's going to get it the way that we feel will best suit her and our family.

Happy Researching!

I'm finally writing again...for now.

2011-05-05T07:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've blogged. I always have these great ideas to start a blog and stick with it and then I get so busy that I forgot it's been weeks, months even years since I've written. That being said, my life has changed considerably since I last wrote and I have wanted to talk about all of my new discoveries and have lacked the time to write. So, here is my latest updated:

1. We are pregnant and almost due. Our baby is due in June, so we are only 30 days out! This pregnancy has led me to a journey of self-discovery as well as a way to truly evaluate what are the best decisions (eco-friendly) for myself and my family.

2. What started as a journey about food has turned into a natural lifestyle journey. We have explored alternatives to medicines as well as cloth diapers and other eco-friendly/natural living choices. In fact, our birthing class was even a naturally inspired birth class, which incorporated homeopathic alternatives to medicines and pain relief.

3. I have realized how passionate I am about these choices and have been freely sharing this information with anyone who will listen. This is why I really should stay on top of writing this blog. As I learn more, I want to share with everyone, as I feel that majority of people are ill informed about topics that directly impact them.

In hopes to keeping up with this blog, I will make the best attempt as possible to share with you the things I am learning and my thoughts, ideas, opinions on those topics as well as elicit your thoughts as well.

Before I go, I would like you to notice the change in my blog background. This was created by a friend. If you like what you see and are interested in having her design your blog, let me know and I'll pass her information on to you!

Here's to hoping I do a much better job keeping up with this blog!

Polyface Farms

2010-09-19T19:25:00.000-07:00

My DH and I were discussing today, "How did this journey start?" To be honest, it was not one ah-ha moment when everything started and we entered "Crunchy" living. There were many factors that went into our journey. Ultimately, the defining moment came when we watched Food Inc. You may have remembered me mentioning it in a previous blog. In the movie Food Inc, there was a special little Virginia farm highlighted known as Polyface Farms. In our great adventure to living green we decided it would only be fitting to drive to Polyface Farms and take a lunatic tour. If you're not familiar with Polyface, you need to be. Joel Salatin, the owner of Polyface, has revolutionized farming in America. The way he does things makes so much more sense than what our giant industrial farmers are practicing. Just like any other green living practice, Joel takes it back to its roots. Everything on his farm does the work for him and it's so amazing to see how well everything functions. My words could never justify how awesome the trip was, but I will try to recap our adventure.

We arrived at Polyface just before our 10:00am tour. We were a little unsure as to what to expect, but everyone else seemed that way too. At 10:00am sharp we all jumped on the hayride to tour the farm. My DH and I had front row seats to the back of Joel's head, which made it kind of fun when we were snapping shots of him up close. Seeing Joel in person was seriously like meeting a celebrity. Anyway, the first stop on the tour was to visit the pigs. Joel allows the pigs to graze in 3 different paddocks. As the pigs feast on the ground there, they are ultimately helping to keep the brush trim. They get a varied diet and more exercise. This makes for some yummy pork later... As the pigs finish grazing, they get moved to another paddock and start the process over again. After they have left their first paddock, that area then grows back for the pigs to eat again in the future.

We left the pigs and headed over to the chickens. I love chickens, I really do. I like roosters too although I don't have one and if I did maybe I would feel different. Anyway, the chickens are in movable coups that are moved everyday, so that the chickens can eat fresh grass. The laying hens are in the "Egg Mobile." They are moved to a new spot and then are allowed to roam free. In the area that the chickens are roaming, the cows have just left. The cows left nice little presents all over the ground for the chickens to dig through and kill all of the larva of the nasty flies and other insects, which means I did not get bit by a single bug in the middle of August on a Virginia farm. Amazing, isn't it? While the chickens are digging through the manure they are not only reducing the insects, but also are fertilizing the grass.

We left the chickens and followed the cows. The cows had just left the chicken field and now were grazing on a new area of grass. Yes, you heard me correctly...grass. Cows are not supposed to eat corn, contrary to what our government tells us. Corn is difficult for cows to digest and is not a natural food source for the cow. (If you haven't seen Food Inc, I can't stress enough how important it is to watch it) It was a little hot for the cows, so they were hanging out under the "Shade Mobile."

We left the cows to visit the barn. This is where the cows go in the winter. The barn had hay on the ground and the cows come in the barn and eat the hay that is in front of them in troughs. The troughs are on pulleys and raise up as the ground the cows are standing on raise up. You might be wondering how is the ground being raised? Well, as the cows drop their waste, another layer of hay is laid down as well as some wood chips/saw dust and corn kernels to keep the cows from standing in their manure (like they do on industrial farms). This process keeps going on throughout the winter. As the winter comes to an end the cows are standing much higher up than when they first began. This is when the pigs come in. The pigs, also known as the pigerators come in and pick through the waste and dig for the corn. As the pigs dig for the corn they are stirring up all of the cows waste as well as the wood chips and saw dust and making a really great compost to be used in the future.

I mean really...Joel is brilliant.

After our tour, we went to gift shop and purchased some meat, a cute T-shirt and some of his books on how to farm like he does. I'm not sure if we will ever have a farm like Joel's, but we can at least be inspired by what he is doing.

If you get a chance, you should visit his farm. It's such a great learning experience. Here is a picture of DH and me with Joel.

Organic Gardening!

2010-08-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

I apologize for my lack of discipline in keeping up to date with this blog. My life has been turned upside down this past year and it’s been hard to keep up, but nonetheless, here I am.

Back in March/April, my DH (dear husband, for those of you who do not follow women message boards) decided that we would use the land we were blessed with to start our own garden. This idea was so exciting and I couldn’t wait to get started. I mean living off your land, who would ever think to do that, right? What a novel concept. We realized how brilliant we were for thinking of such a clever thing to do, so we jumped in full swing. Will (DH), created this entire layout of 12 raised beds with crops all meticulously selected to be planted near one another in order to support, protect and serve each other. It was going to be fantastic. I mean who cares if we didn’t know how to garden …it can’t possibly be that hard! As the planting season began creeping up on us and then passing us we realized we hadn’t really planted anything. I mean we dug up the garden and it was beautiful and we ordered some compost from the neighbors and spread it all out, but it was May and we hadn’t planted anything! We kept justifying our procrastination by reminding ourselves that we have a little bit of a longer growing season in Virginia than most states.

Finally, towards the end of May we managed to plant a few veggies and flowers. As the seeds were quickly sprouting, so were the beautiful weeds! We couldn’t keep up, the grass was growing like crazy and suddenly we couldn’t see our crops anymore. I sure as heck was not going to use any type of spray, so I got out there every day and pulled a little bit up. This was great at first, but then there were too many weeds. It was out of control. At about the time the weeds were making themselves at home, we had to leave for a week vacation out of the country. We had our neighbor help us out by watering our garden, after all his garden is right next to ours, but while we were gone Virginia had some of its hottest June weather on record. We came back only to find that our garden was scorched. We were able to salvage some of the crops, but not enough. The lettuce was yummy and I believe we saved a couple of zucchinis and a few tomatoes, but otherwise our garden was a total bust.

Here is what we learned for next year though:

Start small: everyone warned us about this, but we fought back with go big or bust…or in our case go big and bust
Using compost that is full of goat manure could lead to an outbreak of grass in your garden. Our solution for next year is to use cardboard. We will place the cardboard down to prevent the weeds and hopefully that will help
Start early enough in the season, so that you can spread out your crops and don’t go on vacation for a week and expect to come back home to a beautiful garden
Love your garden and sprinkle her with showers
Don’t get frustrated when you are left with no crops. Everyone has to learn somewhere, so we will pick up the pieces and start again next year

Here are some pics of our garden when she looked beautiful…I’m not posting the ugly pics as I think she would prefer to be photographed at her finest!

Happy Gardening!

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

On this Earth Day, I thought I’d share a way that you can help save the earth and save your money.

In high schools, it was cool to go “thrifting.” That’s what we called it anyway. It was this idea of going to the thrift store looking for the best deal on nice clothes. My best friend and I would hop into the Two-Two (which was her car’s name) and go once a week on a mission to find used clothes for cheap that we could later show off to our other friends as the best deal in town. I thought of it as a talent and my parents were grateful because I would spend $10.00 at the thrift store and have 2-3 new outfits. At some point, I grew out of this phase. Maybe it was when my friend graduated (she was two years older), or maybe it was when I decided that I should dress more professionally. I’m not sure, but suddenly thrifting wasn’t cool anymore.

In college I got really into Ralph Lauren clothing, which is still, by far, my favorite type of clothing. It is pricey, but it is high quality and lasts throughout seasons. I love Ralph Lauren clothes, but I also realize that it is expensive. As summer has rolled around, I have really wanted to increase my skirts and dresses wardrobe, but have found it to be very difficult. First, I’m not willing to spend that much on new dresses and second, I can’t tell the difference between a shirt and a dress these days! It then dawned on me that I needed to be true to my green mission and go to the thrift store to see what I could find.

Over spring break, I jumped in my car (an improvement from the two-two, although has much less character) and I headed over to the Goodwill. Strangely enough, I was a little nervous about going in. I thought people would see me in my current clothes and wonder why I was shopping there and then a part of me felt bad, almost like I was taking away from people who really need it, but as I stepped in the store I saw other people just like me. Then I also realized that my purchase at the thrift store was donating money to a good cause as well as helping the environment by recycling clothes. So, nonetheless, I shopped. I found awesome deals. I got 3 new skirts for $4.99 a piece and 1 new pair of shorts for $3.99 and… the pair of shorts were Lily Pulitzer shorts!! Crazy!! I have since worn all 3 skirts to school and every single time I got compliments on my skirts. Everyone was like “Wow, I love your skirt!” It made me feel so good to know I have cute outfits and that I only spent $4.99 on them. I have also proudly shared with people where I bought them without embarrassment! I am now really excited to go back to the thrift store to see what else I can find.

So, here it is Earth Day, and I challenge you to go to your thrift stores and shop for new clothes, but only if you need them. This is not only financially responsible, but also earth friendly!

Happy Earth Day and Happy Thrifting!

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” ~Native American Proverb

Radical Homemakers

2010-04-08T09:21:00.001-07:00

I have recently finished a book titled, Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture, written by Shannon Hayes. I discovered this book through an article that my husband sent me on email. He didn’t send it to me because he yearned for me to be at home, it was actually the opposite. I have been struggling for the past year on my role as a woman. I have always been driven in my career and anyone who knows me knows that coming across my path when I have a goal in mind is like walking directly into a tornado. I set goals and I reach them. That’s just who I am. However, in light of recent events in our family, I have started to feel this struggle between my role as a career woman and my role as a wife and one day as a mother. The career driven, B.A. degree in Government, Masters Degree in Education felt that I was going to go earn my PhD in higher administration and that I was going to be that career woman that everyone, including myself, wanted me to be. The homebody in me started to fear that my drive towards career was turning me into someone I never really wanted to be.

Let me give you a little background about my life to help you understand where I am coming from. When I was in fifth grade, I was selected to interview to be a part of a gifted school for art. I was accepted and every Friday I would leave “regular” school to go to art school. In addition, I was an excellent artist. I was the only 6^th grader who was placed in the advanced I art class with the big bad 8^th graders and I was only one level away from being at the highest artistic level of the school. As the school year went on, I decided that I was missing out on my friends on Fridays and told my mom I was not going to go back to the gifted school. My mom let me quit. I never did much with art after that until 11^th grade, when I took an art class with Mr. B at my high school. Again, my natural ability to draw was beginning to shine and Mr. B took a liking to me, so much that I was able to be his classroom assistant. One day the class was discussing, while we were drawing, where we thought we’d be as adults. Mr. B said to me, “Kelli, I think you’ll be a politician one day and I think you’ll be miserable. You’re going to miss your true calling because you’re so driven to be successful.” I never, repeat NEVER forgot those words he said to me. The funny thing about it is that throughout college that’s all I ever wanted to be, was a politician. I’d be lying if I said I don’t still have that desire, because a part of me still wants to run for state legislature, but it wasn’t the career choice that Mr. B said to me that bothered me, it was the word miserable. Would I really be miserable?

I gave up art and pursued my dreams of becoming a politician. I, however, have recently reached a crossroads in my life where I’m not sure what direction to turn, which brings us back to the Radical Homemaker. My husband and I live on a farm, no animals, just land with two barns and an old farm house (where we live). I have recently decided that I would take my green efforts a step future and explore organic gardening, canning and chicken coops. Fortunately, my husband is on board. During our research and reading, I realized that this farm is so peaceful. Being on the farm is so relaxing and I found that when I am home from school on break, I am such a nicer person than when I am working, which begs the question…Can women do it all?

I know, what I am about to say is contrary to the way I have always lived and I know many of you will be upset, but I have concluded that woman cannot do it all. After reading the previous mentioned book and exploring my life choices I do not believe woman can do it all anymore. I think if one woman could do it all, it would have been me, but I believe that when we as women take on homemaking (laundry, cooking, cleaning gardening etc..) and we take on raising children and we take on a successful career, something will be sacrificed. Now, to clarify, I believe that a woman can work and can raise children and can do homemaker stuff, but I believe that her time is so divided between all three that there is a possibility that something will be sacrificed. She may do well at all three, but think about how much she would excel if she did not have to focus on all three. I have also concluded that it is possible to make all three your career. What if your work came from home, or came from craft or came from your farm, then you can use your career minded self to excel as a “business woman,” a mom and a homemaker.

I’m not sure where this leaves me, I’m not sure this blog has really helped any of you or has more acted as a therapeutic way for me to analyze my life decisions, but I do know that I have reprioritized what is important in my life and now I am on a journey to discover how I can keep those things as my only focus. I hope one day I can work from home and create a working farm and raise children and get back to doing art, but before I can make those choices I have to clean up the mess I have made through my consumerism and pay off my debts.

I hope this blog post leaves you thinking about where your true position in life is and I hope that Mr. B’s thoughts of missing your calling will have you wondering about your true purpose in life. I also hope that as time goes on, I too, will find my true purpose in life.

Here’s to discovering our passions, pursing them and prioritizing what is most important to us in life!

“The sacrifice, which causes sorry to the doer of the sacrifice, is no sacrifice. Real sacrifice lightens the mind of the doer and gives him a sense of peace and joy...” Mahatma Gandhi

It's been a long time...

2010-03-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

Pardon me for having taken so long to update my blog. Things have been extra busy between commuting, exercising and getting to bed on time. My goal of late has been to get to bed before 9:00pm, which still is not early enough considering I wake up at 4:45am. I have been exercising on a regular basis and have started to see changes in my body. My arms are building up and my stomach is starting to flatten and tighten up. I’ve been enjoying Jillian Michael’s 30 day shred and Bob’s Power yoga. Some days I have more time and I do both, other days I only have a limited amount of time and the 30 day shred helps me squeeze in an effective 20 minute workout.

Exercising aside, I am writing to let you in on a little known book that I find truly beneficial. If you are looking to make food changes, but are having a hard time committing and/or reading there is an excellent book written by Michael Pollan. His book, Food Rules, is an easy book to read and understand. You can read a couple pages a day and still finish the book within a week. It’s almost a pamphlet size and is perfect for bringing with you to the grocery or to work. Pollan gives a very simplistic look at how to make good food choices and I highly recommend reading it!

Finally, I wanted to put this out there. My husband and I are starting an organic garden and we are looking into composting and rain collection. Anyone have suggestions of good barrels for us to use? Once we start the garden, I will be blogging about our experiences. We are laying out our plan now and are very excited about the process.

Thanks for sticking it out with me and I promise to write an update much sooner than before!

"Rule 7: Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce." - Michael Pollan

GM nO thank you!

2010-02-26T05:25:00.000-08:00

Ever look back at your college experience and wish you would have paid more attention in some of your classes? I certainly do. I wish I had the maturity and insight I have now back when I was in school. It would have not only made classes a lot easier, but also would have boosted my GPA. I bring this up, not to bore you with my “if only” moments, but rather to give you some insight into a class I wish I would have paid more attention to.

My senior year of college I took a Model EU (European Union) class. The way this class worked was that each college who was participating was assigned a country and within that country, each student was assigned a real Member of Parliament (MP) that they were to research and know everything about. All the colleges were given the same topic to study and were to spend the semester preparing to debate. Then in November, all of the colleges congregated in Washington, D.C. where we simulated the EU. Each student was supposed to accurately represent their MP all weekend. I truly enjoyed the event; however I knew nothing about the topic we were supposed to be studying. I never researched the topic for the class, I never really cared. Mostly because I was an excellent B.S.er, I felt that “these rules didn’t apply to me.” Looking back, I wish I would have taken that class more seriously.

Now at this point, you’re probably wondering why the heck I am giving you flash backs to 6 years ago and how in the world my college experience could have anything to do with my current journey. Well, the topic for the Model EU class that year was Genetically Modified Organisms, also known as GMOs. Sometimes they are also referred to as GEOs (Genetically Engineered Organisms). Man, what I would give to rewind so that I could pay attention in that class now. Writer, Theresa Phillips describes GMOs in her article on about.com,

“GMOs can be produced by gene cloning methods in which a non-native gene is introduced and expressed in a new organism. Generally the new protein has also been somewhat modified, or engineered, for proper expression in the new host. In particular, differences between microorganisms and eukaryotic cells must be overcome, such as the presence or absence of introns, occurance of DNA methylation and certain post-translational modifications to the protein itself for proper transport within or between cells. The advent of PCR and gene sequencing methods have opened up the door to all sorts of manipulative techniques for changing the structure of proteins through genetic alterations.”

What does this even mean and why should I care? Well GMOs are not regulated by the FDA, unlike the EU, American food labels do not have to state whether or not the product is a GMO. In addition, some people argue that because GMOs are still relatively “new” to the scene, we do not actually know how these products will impact us in the long term. Some countries are beginning to refuse food aid from the United States because of their concern with GMOs. GMOs can often lead to an increase in food allergies and could decrease biodiversity. We also should wonder whether or not we can even consider a GMO real food. As I have learned, you will see that many organizations, particularly scientific and governmental organizations, will deny the negatives of GMOs. I would encourage you to research in more detail about GMOs to make a decision for yourself. It scares me to think that when we are consuming a GMO product, we do not actually even know what we are eating. If that is not enough to make you consider researching the topic for yourself, then keep this in mind, according to eathealthyfoods.com, “In Japan, a bacterium modified to synthesize amino acids, did a wonderful job of pumping out the amino acids, but it also made a new one not found in nature. The new amino acid, in a food supplement powder caused some deaths and a lot of irreversible mental and metabolic damage to hundreds of people until the product was recalled. Japan does not want GMO food.” We are creating new foods and new organisms that we do not even realized are being produced from a result of our cross breeding and genetic engineering!

It scares me to think that I do not know what I am consuming. It scares me even more that the FDA does not feel concerned enough to require GMO labeling and that I may have damaged my body by consuming products that I trusted to be safe and healthy. If you, like myself, are concerned about this I would encourage you to research GMOs in more depth, in addition you can shop at grocery stores like Whole Foods, who guarantee that their products do not contain GMOs. If you do not live near a Whole Foods, or you prefer a different grocery, here is a little tip to reading labels, “The stickers that contain the PLU code (Price Lookup Code) tell you if the fruit was conventionally grown, genetically modified, or organically grown. The PLU code for conventional produce has four numbers, GM fruit has five numbers preceeded by the number 8, while organically grown produce has five numbers, preceeded by the number 9. Organically grown fruit will not be Genetically Modified or contain pesticides. Look for the number 9!” (source)

I hope that this has encouraged you to research your foods before you consume them. I could confidential say this sure does put a new spin on the whole “you are what you eat.”

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Body Profile Update

2010-02-16T06:17:00.000-08:00

It is time for an update on my weight loss and commitment to change. I began this journey on January 1, 2010. Now, I’m not usually the kind of person that does something so cliché as to start a New Year’s resolution on the first of January, but it just so happened I was inspired right around the time the New Year began, so I went with it! I have learned so much about myself and the environment since beginning this journey and as a result of my research I am making healthy changes that are starting to pay off. It has been awhile since I have had an update about my journey, so I’d like to take the time to go over some of the things that I have been experiencing.

1. The one thing that I’m sure people are wondering at this point is have I lost weight? Well, the answer is yes, I have. It has been coming off slowly and steadily and sometimes frustratingly (if that is even a word). Since beginning this journey, I have lost a total of 6 pounds. Sometimes I step on the scale and it is 7 pounds, but in order for me to say that I have lost a pound, the weight on the scale must stay at that weight for 1 week before I consider it lost. I do this because I can fluctuate between 2-3 pounds any given day. This is the first time in my life that I am losing weight and not dieting. I have done all kinds of diets in the past, but this time I am losing weight just by making healthy choices, go figure! I don’t feel like I’m on a diet and believe it or not, I actually eat a lot of food, but I make sure that it’s mostly vegetables.

2. I have learned so much about food and how good vegetables can actually be, here is a list of meals that I have had:

· Vegetable Chili

· Homemade Tacos with Tofu and Vegetables Filling

· Vegetable Stir Fry with Tofu and Rice

· Vegetable Medley, including spinach, collard greens, broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, cabbage, eggplant and many more…

· Salad with homemade dressing

It has been a lot of fun trying new meals and truly valuing how good vegetables can be. This is coming from someone who couldn't wait to be an adult, so I didn't have to eat veggies!

3. We have made many green changes around our house. Recycling and switching out paper towels and napkins for washcloths and cloth napkins were some of the first changes, besides the light bulb change that mostly everyone has started to do. In addition, we have made some recent changes that were pretty significant. We finally got rid of all of our plastic food storage containers and switched to Pyrex glass food storage containers. We also just switched out our toothpaste for one that does not have all those icky chemicals in it and finally, we switched out our liquid soap for an all natural soap made by Dr. Bronner’s. Our newest idea that we are looking into is composting. We are still researching, but we know that this is something we would like to commit to, especially for when we start our organic garden.

So there you have it, my update. Things are going really well. I have even been exercising more and I feel so much better. I look forward to updating my journey profile soon and hopefully I will be much lighter when I make that post!

"Never consider the possibility of failure; as long as you persist, you will be successful."

-Brian Tracy

Body Profile:

Weight: 141

Height: 5’4

Body Shape: Pear

Exercise: Treadmill 20 min a day 5x a week, Wii Fit Plus 20-40 min a day 5x a week

My Chemical Romance...OK, maybe not.

2010-02-10T19:48:00.000-08:00

Let’s just be upfront and get straight to the point. I don’t have a clever introduction just a straight up fact: food allergies in children is dramatically increasing (and adults too for that matter). Before I elaborate on this post more, I would like to clarify that I am not a doctor, nor do I have children of my own and I do not have scientific research to back up my opinion. My opinion is just that, my opinion, so now that we’ve got that straightened out, let’s progress.

I don’t find this statistic shocking. The more that I read and understand about processed food and how much control our government (FDA) has over who can do what to our food, the less shocked I am when I read that children have an increase in allergies or that Americans are increasing in weight gain rapidly. I mean doesn’t it almost seem like there is this secret society surrounding us that knows all of the answers as to why we are seeing increases in weight gain, allergies and some would even argue autism? If we look back over the past 50-75 years, what has changed so much that would result in these statistics? Being a subtle history buff and a government major, I am always looking to the past to figure out how to make a better future, but this one has stumped me...until recently.

In my opinion, I believe that these are all a result of the chemicals we are exposing ourselves to every day. Whether it is chemicals in our food, chemicals on our counter tops or chemicals in our medications, we are constantly exposed to them on a daily basis. Let’s be honest with ourselves, how many more new products could possibly be made to keep our toilets cleaner, our counters cleaner, our clothes cleaner etc.? That doesn’t even include the pesticides that are sprayed on our food to keep nature from taking its course on crops, or the hormones that are pumped into our chickens and cows. What about the fertilizers that are used to promote faster growing of crops, so that farmers can keep up with the demands of the consumers. We are exposed to so many chemicals, but we don’t even realize it because we never took the time out to think about it, myself included. I just assumed if it is on the shelf at the grocery store or the local Target that it was safe for me to use, but maybe all this time I’ve been wrong. Maybe it’s not safe for me and maybe it’s not safe for anyone. It could possibly be that the chemicals that are incorporated into our daily life are harming us more than helping us.

I recently finished a great book titled, Super Natural Home, by Beth Greer. Greer has taken the time to explore all of the chemicals we are exposed to from our food to our bathroom, even our bedroom. I was surprised at the things she was able to identify that I had no clue were even bad for me. I’m starting to see that maybe all the time I spent making fun of “tree huggers,” was actually making me the fool, because now, the more knowledgeable I have become about my surroundings the more enlightened I am to the world of harsh chemicals, which I think “tree huggers” have always known. I hope that this will get you thinking about your surroundings more too and don’t get me wrong; I am so very far from detoxing my home, but let this be encouragement for you to start asking yourself some hard questions about what you are exposing yourself and your children too, or even your pets for that matter.

If you are interested in finding out more about chemicals around you, I really do love the book Super Natural Home and would recommend getting it. It’s a great resource book and I have found it very useful. Here is a link to her website: www.supernaturalhome.com

“For the first time in the history of the world, every human being is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the moment of conception until death.” –Rachel Carson

www.supernaturalhome.com

Exercising

2010-02-05T14:21:00.000-08:00

As the East coast has been bombarded with a lovely winter storm these past few days, I have found that I am enjoying being a stay at home wife for many reasons, mostly selfish. When you eliminate working from the equation, you are left with a large amount of time to accomplish the things you’d like to accomplish. Not only have I not been working, but I have not been commuting (it takes an hour to get to work). This has freed up approximately 10 hours out of my day, which has allowed for me to stay up late with my husband, sleep in past 4:30am, do laundry, read all of the books I want to read, cook healthy dinners and exercise. Yes, you heard me correctly, I said exercise. Most people would use their snow days as an excuse to sit around and do nothing, a mini-vacation and a reason to eat all the hearty, southern comfort food they can get their hands on, but I have decided to use my snow days to get my butt on the treadmill and finally whip myself back into shape.

Now, before you think I’m riding my high horse up to the self righteous land of “I’m better than you because I’m not being lazy on my snow day,” let me clarify that I do not actually like exercising. As a matter of fact, I hate exercising. The word exercise makes me cringe and gives me the desire to go back to bed. I truly do not like putting on my running clothes and getting on the treadmill, I don’t even like it when I’m finished. The only things I like about exercise is the feeling I get after I’ve showered and relaxed approximately 1 hour after I’ve completed my workout and my pants fitting again. Nonetheless, here I am spending my snow days exercising. I felt that it was important I write about this because even if I don’t like exercising, I still desire to do it because I know the long term health benefits are essential to longevity.

Eating healthy has been a wonderful transition and I have truly enjoyed the immediate health benefits of fresh produce and new vegetarian recipes, but I have not lost that much weight. The reason is because I have been lacking in the exercise department. It is truly important that we incorporate exercise into our daily routine to lose weight and to feel complete. According to the Mayo Clinic, exercise helps us sleep better, improves our mood and helps battle chronic illnesses. We know that it helps keep our hearts healthy and our minds clear and it boosts our energy levels making us more efficient in the workplace and better focused throughout our days. I would challenge you and myself to do our best to incorporate a minimal 20 minutes of exercise a day. I believe we would be surprised at the results if we are able to take 20 minutes from watching our favorite T.V. shows and devote it to exercise. If you’re like me and always busy and honestly trying to find 20 minutes in your day is next to impossible, here is a list of things you can consider exercise that may help you get in your daily dose of cardiovascular development:

1. Wear a pedometer and try to incorporate extra steps into your day as much as possible.

2. Take the stairs, whether it’s at home or at work. Try using the stairs as much as possible. I know someone who walks up and down her stairs during commercial breaks of her favorite T.V. shows.

3. When unloading your car with groceries, take the bags into your house one bag at a time. This will encourage more walking.

4. Walk your dog. This will not only benefit you, but your 4 legged friends will love it too!

5. If you live in an area that gets a lot of snow, shovel your driveway or walk laps around your house in the snow.

6. If possible, use an exercise ball at your work station. This will build up your core muscles as you learn to balance on it at your desk.

7. Spend 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening doing simple exercises like jumping jacks, crunches, push-ups, squats and leg lifts.

8. Park your car in the back of the parking lot at work, the mall or the grocery. This will help you get in a few extra steps.

9. If you like dancing put on some of your favorite tunes and dance around your living room for a bit.

10. Finally, get your housework done. You’d be surprised how much vacuuming your floor, picking up around the house, dusting and moping can give you a work out. For an added challenge wear ankle weights or wrist weights.

Lately, I have had time to incorporate longer workouts into my schedule. I have spent 20 minutes on the treadmill increasing my time at 2 minute intervals and decreasing my time at 2 minute intervals as if climbing a hill. This is very effective for weight loss, but not very good for endurance if you are preparing for a race. After I’m done running, I pop in my Wii Fit Plus game and do a 30 minute strength training and yoga workout. I’ve enjoyed this so far, but I imagine I will have to change things up in the future if I start to get bored.

Before I wrap things up, if you need motivation to exercise and to lose weight, I’m going to leave you with a small excerpt from Kate Geagan’s book, Go Green, Get Lean (the one that inspired this journey), “…Every 1-pound increase in the average per-passenger weight in America translates to approximately 39.2 million gallons of extra gasoline that are required to transport that extra weight. In fact, experts estimate that nearly one billion additional gallons of fuel are burned annually in the United States each year to tote around all our extra pounds gained since the 1960s.” (p. 164)

If that doesn’t get you thinking, I’m not sure what will.

“Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” -Edward Stanley

Update: Move Over Dairy Post

2010-02-01T07:24:00.000-08:00

As you know, this going green journey has been a learning experience for me. That being said, I have heard a response from a few of my readers about soy consumption. I would like to follow up with some information regarding my previous post about moving away from milk. Although, I do not consume much milk anyway (usually ½ cup a day with my cereal, if I even have cereal) I realize that many of my readers may actually consume larger quantities of milk than I. It was brought to my attention that consuming large amounts of products such as soymilk may result in digestive issues or other more serious issues. If you are a large consumer of milk products, you may want to switch to products such as rice milk or almond milk. I have only tried rice milk once and thought it was pretty yummy. I have not tried almond milk myself, but plan to try that in the near future, so that I can give a better review of the flavor. As the weeks go on, I will try a variety of alternative milk products and let you know how I like it, for now I’ll leave you with this article to decide for yourself if soy is the best alternative to your milk consumption: What about Soy?

How am I going to live today in order to create the tomorrow I'm committed to? ~Anthony Robbins

Mooooove over dairy...

2010-01-30T13:15:00.000-08:00

I recently read an article about the dairy industry. I feel so ignorant to the dairy world and prior to this journey I was also ignorant to the meat industry and the government’s involvement with the process. The article, “Got Milk? A Disturbing Look at the Dairy Industry,” by Tara Lohan, explores this industry and opens our eyes to the incredible things that are happening to the dairy cows. Now, let me clarify, I’ve never really been much of an animal activist and it wasn’t until I recently got a dog that I even really thought much about animals, but I do believe that if we are eating animals we should still treat them humanely not only for their well being, but also for our own health once we consume the product.

Now, back to the idea of feeling ignorant to the dairy world; as I read this article I realized that I have no understanding of the biology of a cow. I mean I assumed there were dairy cows, which just produced milk all the time and non-dairy cow, which only offered meat. This is very similar to the thought process I had as a child where I believed cats were female and dogs were male. What I have come to understand, besides the obvious that dogs and cats don’t mate, is that a dairy cow’s body is tricked into being pregnant all the time, which is why it produces milk. In retrospect, that makes total sense, but I never took the time to think about how milk was produced. In order for farmer’s to keep up with the consumption of milk and cheese guzzling people, mostly Americans, they must keep the dairy cows in a constant state of pregnancy. I’ve never been pregnant myself, but I imagine it is not the most comfortable state for a woman to be in. I can’t imagine producing milk for the majority of my life and feeling comfortable in the process. This has really made me think that maybe I should move away from dairy products completely.

Prior to reading this article, I had just purchased my first container of soy milk. I had always been afraid of trying it, but it wasn’t much different from regular milk. I plan to continue drinking soy milk and now I will be challenged to give up all dairy products, or at least make sure I do my research as to how and where my dairy products are produced. I have learned that research is the most important part of this lifestyle choice and although it is hard at first, I’m sure that it will start to become so ingrained in my life that those choices will be obvious. I look forward to making a difference even if it is only one person at a time.

“Creative thinking may mean simply the realization that there’s no particular virtue in doing things the way they always have been done.” – Rudolf Flesch

Green Tip of the Day: Try soymilk and see if it works for you.

Week 3: Slow and Steady Wins the Race

2010-01-24T15:37:00.001-08:00

After many frustrations, I have finally seen results on the scale. I dropped 4 pounds total since beginning this journey. I’m thinking that the reason I wasn’t seeing results earlier is because my body was probably shocked at all of the healthy foods I was feeding her that it took awhile for her to adjust. I have truly enjoyed this journey of eating healthier. I’ve always wanted to eat healthier and a part of me was always jealous of the skinny ladies with 3 kids and workout clothes on that would go grocery shopping. I thought in my mind I could never look like them or have the discipline to shop the way they do, but I have come to realize I am one of those ladies. I mean, I’m not really skinny (yet) and I don’t have 3 kids, but I am filling my cart with more and more produce every week I go to the grocery store. When I’m shopping in produce I feel like I have some kind of secret that no one else knows about. The only thing is it’s never been a secret we, as Americans, have just chosen to ignore what our doctors have told us about fruits and vegetables. I think our parents were on to something when they told us to eat our veggies; the only thing they failed to tell us is to put down the junk food we eat after we finish our veggies. I can’t begin to tell you how often I ate my green beans for dinner (most of the time canned, not fresh) and then indulged in an oatmeal crème cookie afterwards. I mean don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame my parents for anything, they didn’t know either. Now that I know, I will vow to raise my kids, whenever I have them, on veggies and fruits and I refuse to bring them to fast food places or give them sugary treats. I believe I am making the right choice by doing this, I believe that 1 person can make a difference and I believe that the more people I enlighten with my journey the more people will change their habits too, even if it’s just something little. We all have a choice to make and we can lower our carbon footprint and get healthy by making simple changes. My overall energy level is still up and it almost seems that I can feel the organs in my body working better than they were prior to this journey. I encourage you to make simple changes and make sure you ease into it, don’t change everything at once. Start with incorporating more vegetables into your diet. Make it your goal for 1 week to have at least 1 serving of vegetables at lunch and 2 at dinner. I guarantee you will feel different after that week!

In addition to healthier living, my husband and I have been making changes around our house. One thing that we have been working on is recycling. I remember as a kid, the reduce, reuse, recycle campaign was huge and all the elementary schools were recycling and all the kids loved to be a part of it, but somewhere between the ages of 12-now we lost the understanding and enjoyment behind recycling. My husband and I decided we would invest in some recycling bins to help us sort out our cardboard, glass, aluminum and plastics. We have found it very easy to do and we keep it right near our trashcan. We purchased our bins at Lowe’s. They look similar to these:

You can check your local town, county or city to see what kind of services they provide. Some areas even provide magazine recycling, which is hard to come by. If you have children, get them involved. Recycling is such an easy thing to do. If changing your eating habits is out of the questions, then try your hand at recycling. I bet you will dramatically cut down on the amount of times you take out the trash.
Here’s to lowering our carbon footprint, eating more veggies and recycling our plastic containers.

"The ultimate test of man's conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard."
— Gaylord Nelson

Weight: 143
Height: 5'4
Body Type: Pear Shape
Activity: 45 min walking 1x

Dark Chocolate

2010-01-19T08:14:00.000-08:00

I love chocolate. As a matter of fact, I love anything sweet, which I’m sure you’ve caught onto by now. When my husband and I went on our honeymoon, close to 5 years ago now, I couldn’t wait for the advertised dessert bar. Oh, how I love dessert. Next to the beautiful beaches, the dessert bar was by far going to be the highlight of my trip. I had told myself that I would be allowed to splurge at the dessert bar and that I would worry about the results after my trip. This sounded like the perfect plan, until my perfect little situation turned sour, or should I say bitter. My indulgent dessert bar turned out to be a dark chocolate lover’s dream. Everything was dark chocolate, which I guess makes sense in the Caribbean, but I didn’t know that at the time. It was horrible! I watched as my dear husband savored every luscious bite of his dark chocolate desserts. How could he love this stuff? When I tried to eat it myself I pretended it was milk chocolate, which actually made it worse. To this day, my husband has been begging me to eat dark chocolate with him. He always buys fancy dark chocolates from the stores and he offers it to me regularly. You can imagine my disgust as he enjoys the heart healthy treats. It was not until this past Sunday, that some sort of chocolate miracle breakthrough happened to me. As I am retraining my palate, I have learned that my tea tastes better without sugar; my cereal taste better with raisins instead of sugar and fruit is beginning to taste too sweet sometimes. Feeling adventurous, my husband and I stopped by this cute little shop called Java Chocolate. I knew what was about to happen, my husband would pick 3 or 4 pieces of lovely chocolate that would look amazing to me, but taste like crud. I decided that I would try a piece, as a matter of fact; the employee behind the counter offered me a free piece to try. I tried to the dark chocolate Grand Marnier truffle. To my pleasant surprise it was amazing! I could taste the dark chocolate, but this time it didn’t taste bitter, it tasted fantastic! I ordered a second one and then I even ordered a different piece with champagne in the middle for later. Oh, how I’ve been missing out for years on such a wonderful treat! I feared giving up so much sugar because I recognized it was a problem for me, but now that I am transitioning my taste buds, I have come to realize that there are so many wonderful flavors out there that I never knew existed.

Here’s to a wonderful dark chocolate experience!

“All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt!” – Lucy Van Pelt

Week 2: Frustrations

2010-01-14T06:02:00.000-08:00

I debated about writing this entry, as I was very frustrated, which is why I have been absent in my posts. I had a pretty frustrating second week, which is why I didn’t want to write, but I promised myself and all my readers that I would be honest and not hold back, so here it goes.
I gained weight during week 2. I gave up sugar, I gave up cheese and I ate more vegetables, so why does the scale say that I weigh 1 pound heavier than I did last week? I’ll tell you why!

1. No exercise, I always want to lose weight without exercising, but it doesn’t work. I am actually motivated to exercise this time, but I wake up so early in the mornings and I commute every day that by the time I get home from work I find that I never have time!

2. My sister’s 18th birthday. My sister wanted to go to a Hibachi grill, so I went and I ate everything on my plate. I am thinking there must have been some sugar in that meal, because it never tasted so good before.

3. Mexico. Not the country, but the restaurant. On top of already eating at a Hibachi grill the night before, we then proceeded to have lunch at a Mexican restaurant the next day. I thought I could handle it by eating the right food choices, but I stuffed myself instead, which resulted in a terrible stomach ache!

4. This was the first week I craved something sugary. I mean I wanted a chocolate brownie so bad. Even desserts that I never would have eaten in the past looked good to me. Very frustrating. On a positive note, I did not give into the sweets temptation. I kept moving forward.

So, needless to say, these are the reasons I had a terrible week. I am very frustrated because I feel like I have changed so much of my eating habits and yet nothing has happened with my weight. I know some of this is probably because I want instant gratification, which in the back of my mind I know is no way to lose weight. I am not going to give up on this, because even if I do not lose weight, I am still lowering my carbon footprint. I found it pretty satisfying when I went to Whole Foods on Sunday and there were only 3 packaged items in my entire grocery cart. I may not be achieving my personal weight lose goals yet, and I say yet because I know I will, but I am achieving my goal of lowering my carbon footprint. In the past I never would have even considered non packaged foods, but now that seems to be all we purchase. It feels rewarding.

I am still working on portion control this week and I am going to focus on the positives more than the negatives. I do believe this is the right choice for me and I am proud of my accomplishments in helping the environment, so for now I will forge on with my plan and hope to see a much more positive result this upcoming week.

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Weight: 146
Height: 5’4
Body Type: Pear Shape
Activity: None

Week 1: Complete, with no sugar withdrawals

2010-01-07T09:28:00.000-08:00

So today officially completes week one. I have been avoiding extra sugar to the max! At the beginning of the week, most of the foods I purchased without sugar tasted pretty gross, but now I actually really like the taste. I bought the Ezekiel 4:9 cereal because it was the only cereal with no added sugar. At first, I thought it was pretty dry and tasteless, but today I ran out and I thought, “Hmm, I should get some more of this.” I also ran out of raisins, pita bread and hummus. If you would have told me a month ago that I would be starting out 2010 eating like this, I would have laughed at the thought of me eating foods without sugar, but to my surprise I have not even desired sugary treats. I believe the fruit has sustained my sugar cravings. I have been loading up on apples, orange juice (100%, of course), raisins and bananas for my sugar needs and have found that they suit me just fine. I stopped adding sugar to my hot tea in the mornings, which was very difficult at first, but now I am actually enjoying the tea without the artificial sweeteners. I have also found that my appetite has lessened since starting this challenge, which is odd to me considering I have always considered myself a “grazer.” I am now starting to see that maybe all of those times I grabbed for snacks I was not actually hungry, but rather bored. I am also starting to see the American diet as an addiction to sugar. I’m looking at the foods others are eating around me very differently than I had before. I’m not being judgmental, just starting to notice how much sugar we consume daily! I would challenge you for one day to look at all the labels of anything you eat and see how much sugar you are actually consuming. If you’re like me, you probably have no clue. If you don’t see the word sugar in your label, be aware that there are still other words that mean the same thing.

Here is a list of added sugars:

(I am also including natural sugars like honey and maple syrup, but not natural fruits)

Source: http://www.fitsugar.com/810571

• barley malt
• beet sugar
• brown sugar
• buttered syrup
• cane-juice crystals
• cane sugar
• caramel
• carob syrup
• corn syrup
• corn syrup solids
• date sugar
• dextran
• dextrose
• diatase
• diastatic malt
• ethyl maltol
• fructose
• fruit juice
• fruit juice concentrate
• glucose
• glucose solids
• golden sugar
• golden syrup
• grape sugar
• high-fructose corn syrup
• honey
• invert sugar
• lactose
• malt syrup
• maltodextrin
• maltose
• mannitol
• molasses
• raw sugar
• refiner's syrup
• sorbitol
• sorghum syrup
• sucrose
• sugar
• turbinado sugar
• yellow sugar

You’re probably wondering at this point, did the first week payoff? I think this is a matter of perspective. I did lose 2 pounds on the scale, but that is nothing compared to how I feel these days. I feel healthier, I feel like I’m eating the right things and I feel like I have more energy. I do not have bloating anymore, like I used to have on a pretty regular basis and I find that I even drink more water. The water intake might be because I got a new water bottle or maybe it is a result of my overall desire to start living healthier. I have been eating foods I never would have tried a year ago, some of which I mentioned in my previous post. I have been enjoying dinners that include only beans and grains, such as millet and white kidney beans. I would say it has been successful whether the scale says so or not. I do hope I will see a change in weight soon and I think I will. My goal for week two is to watch how much I’m eating. This past week I did not pay attention to how much I was eating because I felt that cutting out sugar was enough of a challenge. Now that I have the sugar intake under control, I can focus more attention on portion control. I look forward to more changes.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” - John Quincy Adams

Green Tip for the day: Try switching your paper towels for washcloths and your paper napkins for cloth napkins, and then throw them in the wash when you have enough to create a load. You can find these pretty cheap at stores like Target and Wal-Mart.

Body Profile:
Weight: 145
Height: 5'4
Body Type: Pear Shape
Activity: Walking for 40 minutes (2x)

Day 4: Fill Me Up Veggies, Do Your Thing!

2010-01-04T17:48:00.000-08:00

Ok, so maybe it’s not just veggies, but all of these new foods are filling me up pretty well! I have tried so many new things that I never would have tried had I not taken on this challenge. So far I have tried brussel sprouts, spinach, broccoli and venison. I also have a new favorite snack, an apple with unsweetened peanut butter. I have found that I’m not nearly as hungry as I used to be when I filled up on junk. In addition I have also noticed that my energy level is much higher than it has been in the past. I can’t believe we live our whole lives thinking the things that advertisers sell to us are healthy. I used to have major stomach issues, but for the past four days I have felt healthy, happy and stomach ache free. I haven’t seen too much change in the scale yet, but hopefully after the two week challenge I will start seeing numbers fall.

On Saturday, my husband and I watched the movie Food Inc. If I was having any doubts about my decision to follow this new lifestyle of eating, Food Inc. confirmed that I made the right choice. I don’t want to spoil the movie, because I think it is worth watching, but I was intrigued by how much our advertising misleads us to think that certain foods, like high fructose corn syrup, are good for us. I mean in retrospect, I don’t know how I ever thought HFCS would be good for me, but I, like everyone else, believed the advertisements! I encourage everyone who reads this blog, whether you want to follow this plan or not, to at least learn to read labels correctly and figure out what you are putting in your body. Our bodies must carry us through our entire lives and if we want to have a long healthy life, we have to live independently of advertisers and understand what essentials we really need to live.

“To want to be, that is not enough. To know how to be, that is too little. To want, to know how, to determine to be, that is the way of all successful men. Primary to all of these is self-honesty. You can cheat others, now and then. You can rarely cheat yourself. You can never cheat nature.”
-- John B. Lust

Day 1: Sugar, Sugar Everywhere...No Wonder My Pants Don't Fit!

2010-01-01T18:46:00.000-08:00

Today was day 1 of my new adventures in eating. Let’s just put it this way, I never in my life knew how much sugar I consumed on a daily basis, some of which was brought on by low-fat and reduced fat products. I went to Whole Foods tonight. Excellent grocery store might I add. If you’ve never been, I highly suggest going at least once to have the Whole Foods experience. While I was there, my husband and I decided to grab a quick dinner from the food bars they had located near the bread department. I was doing my best to avoid all things with added sugar and found that it was rather difficult. I was left with quinoa, wheat berry, tempeh and tuna noodle. Now, you’re probably thinking, what’s wrong with that? I’ll tell you what’s wrong…I’ve never eaten this type of food in my life! I know that this was all part of the deal when I decided to sign up to take on a crazy plant-based diet, but it was almost like I went into shock when I realized what this really meant. I scooped up the quinoa, wheat berry, tempeh and tuna noodle and much to my surprise, I actually enjoyed every bit of it. After my meal, I grabbed my reusable bags and hit the grocery section in order to pile up on the new foods that I would need in order to complete the first 2 week challenge. Much to my shock, I observed the following:

1. Sugar is in everything we eat, no wonder we have so many obese Americans.
2. Reduced Fat peanut butter is full of sugar as well as regular peanut butter. I’m confused; I always thought peanut butter was just crushed peanuts. Now I kind of feel like an idiot for being so naive.
3. Every cereal I’ve ever loved, including “healthy” ones, have sugar in them. I settled on that Ezekiel cereal, which by the way is shocking to the taste buds at first.
4. Even the yogurt I thought was good contains a ton of sugar!
5. Crackers have sugar too.
6. Finding natural jelly, which doesn’t have added sugar is next to impossible, but alas I found some.
7. I found this great chocolate soy drink, which did not have added sugars, but still tasted great and helped satisfy my after dinner treat needs.

I look back at my grocery trip today and I laugh at all the Splenda, Equal and other artificial sugars I have had in my diet for so many years. All of this time I thought I was saving a few calories, by using no calorie sweeteners, when in fact I was taking in sugar from a million other sources. Why didn’t I just use the sugar in my tea in the first place! My perspective on food has already changed in one day just by giving myself a reality check of how much sugar I eat on a daily basis. Today was day one, which is usually easy when changing your eating habits. I am hoping that as this challenge may become difficult during the first 2 weeks, I will constantly remember this trip to the grocery store and use that as inspiration to keep going.

"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. "
-Confucius

The First Two Weeks

2009-12-31T13:42:00.000-08:00

The first two weeks appear to be the most difficult. I must temporarily give up beef, cheese and sweeteners (including artificial ones). Now, beef won’t be a problem for me, cheese could possibly be a problem, but sweeteners are going to be the hardest! I have always known that artificial sweeteners are bad for you, but they are my addiction and these next 2 weeks are going to be tough! I will get to incorporate beef, cheese and natural sugars back in my diet after the 2 weeks, but this part of the diet is to help me rid the things I am currently eating, which are either contributing to weight gain or contributing to my carbon footprint. I am starting my adventure into the flexitarian lifestyle tomorrow, January 1st as a way to start out my new year! I will periodically update my blog throughout the two weeks to let you know how I’m handling the immediate changes.

The more I have read this book, the more I realize I eat a lot more than I’ve ever paid attention to in the past. This new way of eating green has truly brought to light how much junk I eat on a regular basis as well as how important organic and local shopping is to our carbon footprint as well as to our health.

Below is a starting body profile, so that you can see the changes that going green is having on my immediate health. It has taken a lot of courage for me to talk openly about my weight, but I believe that this journey will help others too.

Height: 5’4
Weight: 147
Body Type: Pear Shape
Activity: Currently None (Used to be a runner and exercise enthusiast)

"The key to change... is to let go of fear" –Rosanne Cash

Who says you can't be a Republican and care about the environment?

2009-12-28T07:50:00.000-08:00

This blog is not political, I am a Republican, but you will never hear me talk about politics on this blog except for this one blog post title. I just think it is important, for mostly other Republicans, to know that it is OK to believe that global warming exists and believe we actually have a role in the outcome of our environment.

This blog, not politically charged, is actually a direct result of my new year's resolution. I have decided that it is time I stop thinking of myself and start thinking of the environment around me. I started to consider green options after a friend of mine had a baby shower. When I was purchasing gifts for her baby shower, I noticed she wanted cloth diapers, so I spent 2 hours reading about cloth diapers and the benefits to the babies as well as the environment. It got me thinking about other things I could do, since I do not have babies of my own, that could impact the environment as well. I made little changes like switching out the light bulbs and making sure that I turned off all the lights in the house that I was not using. In addition, I switched from using paper napkins and paper towels to using washcloths and cloth napkins and finally, my husband and I set up recycling bins in our house. These were pretty significant changes for us, but I still felt like I could do more. I recently received a book as a gift for Christmas titled, Go Green Get Lean by Kate Geagan. This book is excellent. It explores the food chain, the environmental impact of the foods we eat and the push for a “flexitarian” lifestyle. This means that you change your diet to mostly plant-based meals, while still splurging on meats here and there. This book has inspired me to take the challenge. Take the challenge of eating mostly vegetarian foods (making sure they are local as much as possible) as well as take the challenge of creating a better earth for future generations. I know, I sound like a hippie now and any of you who know me personally, know that this is out of character, but I believe the tree hugger bug has bit me and now I am committed to changing the things I do to have a greater impact on my personal well being as well as the environment around me.

I plan to use this blog as a way to document the food changes and personal changes in my life and the benefits that result from those choices. I may fail a few times, but I believe the failures are worth it if it means the successes have made a difference. I plan to be very personal and document my body profile, which is a very taboo thing for someone like me, but I also believe that if you see I am capable of making changes, you too will make the changes that are needed in order to benefit the world around us.

I leave you with this quote:

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not.

— Dr. Seuss, from The Lorax

The changes we make may be simple and seem insignificant, but if we all make them, we will see a difference.

http://kategeagan.com/