I gotta text from a good friend last night. A friend that I grew up thisclose with, a friend I got to stand behind at her wedding, and a friend who’s daughter is the cutest thing since puppies were invented.
pal:
“Read your blog. You need to read it starts with food. I did a whole 30 challenge in October. Lost 10 pounds. Was hard but worth it. You can do this.”
First off: Yay! Someone read my post! lol.
Secondly: How sweet to send me some encouragment!
Third of all: Wow. Can’t wait to hear more about it. She gave me the okay to post our convo, so here’s the email thread that ensued. (Is that a thing, an email thread? Whatever, you get the picture.) It contains some of those documentaries I promised and even a recipe that sounds pretty tasty!
pal:
it was hard – and sometimes my stomach was pissed off b/c I was detoxing but it was so worth it
I’m doing it again right now – well sort of – until after I get over this terrible cold or whatever I have – but I don’t eat dairy, sugar, grains, or even vegetable oils just everything in true form
so meat, veggies, and some fruit. You sleep better at the end of it and you feel better i also perform better at yoga when I do it.
Was it difficult to plan all these meals? Did the hubs do it with you?
Did you have a specific imbalance that needed to cut dairy and sugars (in grains and sugar form)? Do you eat legumes?
I watch these documentaries and have read these type of books in the past- I think they can get a little conspiracy theory, or a little extreme, but really, I do think we eat to much crap. And I’m on board for watching/reading this stuff if it gets us thinking and fired up to make a change. (That Jamie Oliver can grind on your gears because he gets overly theatrical and seems to exploit people, but hey- a wake up call, is a wake up call) I don’t think it’s necessary to juice everything that goes into your mouth, but I do eat WAY too much crap. And for people trying to figure out what’s going on with their bodies (like Joe Cross from Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead), I think it’s such a common sense approach to cut out everything, see if you feel better, and then slowly add stuff in. I know like 3 people that have discovered their gluten intolerance by doing that.
I went to the grocery store last night and bought some “health” foods: chia seeds, apples, spinach, organic milk, bulgar, real maple syrup (for sugar replacement), whole wheat english muffins and maybe a couple other things. It ran me like $50. It was just a few small bags and I was like, what’s wrong with our food system that it costs way more to eat foods that have less done to them. … Well actually I know why because I took a course on farm policies in law school, but it’s no wonder we’re all overweight and sick. I know that most of those things are cut from Paleo methods- I might do that sort of cleanse for lent. But right now I’m mostly concerned about isolated nutrients, preventative antibiotics, and added hormones… the hormones really freak me out.
What kind of yoga do you get into? With a group or at home?
… can I post our convo on my blog?
Miss you, hope the family is well.
Yea, I watched King Corn, read the Omnivore’s Delima and just some other articles and so forth in my Agriculture and Rural Lands Law class- so have a little bit of an understanding of the modified wheat thing. I mean, all that stuff seems like a good idea at first- more food, less $, more people eat. But now we are realizing that this stuff is having unintended side effects. I have a friend who’s involved in the agricultural world and she get’s upset when people attack modern farming practices because it’s necessary to feed everyone at the prices we’re accustomed too. And she’s partially right I think, we have to realize that we as consumers have somewhat chosen these practices, and most American’s cannot afford to eat whole foods like we’re suggesting. What really gets me up in arms is when food companies use science to trick and mislead consumers. So like, MSG making us fat, or using addictive isolates. As an aside, did you know one of the reasons corn is used in everything is because we subsidize it so much that big farmers are pretty much forced into using/growing it. And one of the reasons we subsidize it is because we are using leftover fertilizer (nitrogen) from the second world war. That stuff is pretty interesting.
Next summer maybe think about joining a CSA with [future hubs]- i’m sure your area has them.
I do mine all year round it just depends, but for example = for the summer – I pay a flat fee and go pick up fresh vegetables at a farm about 3 miles from my house. It’s great – CSA – community shared agriculture. I get some delicious local foods and don’t worry about pesticides etc b/c she’s an organic farm. http://www.localharvest.org/