Day 8. Give up Fast Food

I am following THE FOOD BABE WAY, Break free from the Hidden Toxins in Your Food, And Lose Weight, Look Years Younger, and Get Healthy in just 21 Days!, by Vani Hari, as an effort to eat healthier and be more informed, and to shop and live sustainably.

This is the beginning of week two. Week one worked on healthy liquids to help me detoxify and week two is the beginning of healthy nutritious clean food. I would like to think giving up Fast Food won’t be difficult for me and that I don’t often partake in fast foods, but the truth is my family loves pizza, and when I am hungry I will definitely partake in a slice or two. Chapter 8 had some enlightening information about pizza. I am asking myself if our local pizza place, Mary’s, has the same bad ingredients in its’ pizza or raviolis. Another interesting fact was the pesticides McDonalds French fries are dowsed with in order to perfect that pretty unblemished French fry. My family and I avoid McDonald’s but if I were to be tempted it would be by their perfectly salty fries. No more. I love the information this book provides.

At the end of last week one of my challenges was the timing and preparation and this chapter addresses how to be prepared, using time savers, and making your own fast food to have on hand for those hectic times.

WEEK ONE. THE FOOD BABE WAY

WEEK ONE. THE FOOD BABE WAY.

WEEK ONE. THE FOOD BABE WAY

I am following THE FOOD BABE WAY, Break free from the Hidden Toxins in Your Food, And Lose Weight, Look Years Younger, and Get Healthy in just 21 Days!, by Vani Hari, as an effort to eat healthier, be more informed, and to shop and live sustainably.

Accomplishments for the first week is that I have picked up the following routines:

• I drink my morning lemon water
• I enjoy a green juice or smoothie
• I stopped drinking with my meals
• My dairy is less and organic
• I have found new alternatives for sodas
• I will only drink organic wine and pay more attention to any alcohol I consume (*beer from week 7)

I am equipped with the knowledge of what to look for and what to avoid.

I have worked on my shopping lists to become more organized to make eating healthy possible even during busy times. Do you remember my first meal? I went to the store three times. One morning when I didn’t have time to make my green juice, I ate the vegetables in the car on the way to work. Another morning I picked up a shot of wheat grass while shopping. I look for healthy choices when I need to grab something for lunch last minute. I am totally excited about my new shopping lists as this will help me target the healthy choices amongst the array of unhealthy ones in stores where I normally shop! I have entered my shopping lists on my phone! I have also taken a look into my caffeine/sugar habit and have taken steps to keep it within healthy limits. This is a great start for me.

What I have found challenging is the timing between the lemon water, green juice, and breakfast all between yoga and work, while still needing to pack lunch and have a dinner plan for after work; including planning my meals with options that the kids will eat.

I still need to look into our water. Our cooking and drinking water is reversed Osmosis but our bathing water is well water and I need to make time to check these out.

I feel good and empowered. I’m learning new recipes and options.

I am grateful to be learning new habits that are much kinder and successful than dieting. I am looking forward to week two.

DAY 7. Love Your Liver

Day 7. LOVE YOUR LIVER

I am following THE FOOD BABE WAY, Break free from the Hidden Toxins in Your Food, And Lose Weight, Look Years Younger, and Get Healthy in just 21 Days!, by Vani Hari, as an effort to eat healthier and be more informed, and to shop and live sustainably.

My days tend to stretch longer than 24 hours. Aren’t I lucky! As you may have noticed my Day 6 lasted 48 hours while I pondered my choices regarding my Caffeine/Sugar, which at times can take over my healthy choices.

Today being Day 7 is Love your Liver! This chapter has a lot of good information regarding alcohol and what is most likely in your beer or wine. I don’t drink much but this is a good reminder to choose organic wines with a nice list provided. I recently took my daughter Sophia, whose 11, and her friend’s out to Aqus café to listen to Beatle Songs. It was a Sing-a-long! What fun! I could of stayed all night! I ordered half of a beer. It came in a wine glass. This was out of the norm for me, but man was it GOOD! It had a peach flavor to it!

I am wondering if it was brewed locally, what the Brand name was, and I wonder, the peach flavor, was it a “natural flavor”, hope not. Was it a craft or micro brewed beer? Did it have chemicals or GMO’S? As I learn little by little I will be more adept at knowing what I ingest before I choose.

I am also REALLY EXCITED about my new Food Babe Ultimate Grocery Store Guide. This simplifies my shopping Immensely! By ingredients, and by store! This helps me know what to look for and what to avoid.

YEAH!

DAY 6 CONTINUED…

Day 6 Continued…

I am following THE FOOD BABE WAY, Break free from the Hidden Toxins in Your Food, And Lose Weight, Look Years Younger, and Get Healthy in just 21 Days!, by Vani Hari, as an effort to eat healthier and be more informed, and to shop and live sustainably.

I’m really excited about a lot of things. One. I did not have coffee or sugar today.

This was not intentionally planned but I just opted for tea…MMmmmm. I like to mix Nettle Tea with Earl Grey. I love the flavor of the Earl Grey and Nettles are really good for you. I just add cream, no sugar.

Chapter 6 helped me to take a look at my habits for a moment and to make some choices. I decided to take the “Kind” approach regarding my caffeine/sugar habit provided that I can stick to it. I will allow myself up to 5 teaspoons of sugar daily for my coffee. The quantity of the coffee doesn’t matter. I am concerned with the quantity of the sugar. From there I can make adjustments to lesson the amount. If I can’t stick to 5 or less then I need to quit cold turkey. It sounds like a lot of sugar I know but I want to work with where I feel I can succeed. The other stipulation I have made is that I cannot have my coffee until 30 minutes after my breakfast. I need to eat a healthy meal to start my day and then enjoy my coffee.

The other good news is that the FOOD BABE WAY releases today. It is available for purchase here.

The reason I am supporting this book is because it is not only good for myself and for my family but it is the beginning of a food revolution. Below is the review I submitted to Amazon:

“The FOOD BABE WAY is the book I have been waiting for! I am a woman who has always been determined to eat healthy. I have spent many years learning to cook and have sought out healthy ingredients that appeal not only to my appetite, and senses, but also to my moral standard. As a mother of four children I have found myself feeling overwhelmed with my choices; and yet, lack of choice of modern living and grocery shopping to cook an average meal for my family. I feel bombarded by hype, dishonesty, and toxic food! The FOOD BABE WAY is great because the author Vani Hari has done the daunting task of investigating the ingredients of our food! The FOOD BABE WAY offers simple daily routines that can help people like myself bring our bodies back to health. She offers information so we can be informed of our choices. She empowers us consumers to hold corporations accountable and she offers healthy recipes and shopping lists. The FOOD BABE WAY is the book of this century and is one way that we, the people, can begin to feel united; through the simple act of caring for our own bodies. By caring for ourselves we can begin to care for one another, and our planet”.

Thanks for reading. I wish you a Happy and Healthy Day.

Day 6. No More Big Gulps!

Day 6. No More Big Gulps!

 I am following THE FOODBABE WAY, Break free from the Hidden Toxins in Your Food, And Lose Weight, Look Years Younger, and Get Healthy in just 21 Days!, by Vani Hari, as an effort to eat healthier and be more informed, and to shop and live sustainably.

I took the weekend off. I am still drinking lemon water in the morning, and a green drink. I don’t drink with my meals, and I still need to check into our water situation. I eat less and healthy dairy foods.

This weeks’ advice is at the crux of my weakness.

Lay off the sugary drinks.

For some it is Soda’s.

There is a lot of great information in chapter 6 regarding what is in your soda if you dare.

I can live without soda, but for me it is coffee or tea with cream and way too much sugar. I suppose my addiction to sugar began with the sugary breakfast cereals I used to eat as a kid, and I have fond memories of walking down to the pharmacy with friends to buy up as much candy as possible with a quarter. I am dating myself I know but I believe if I worked it right I could get 5.  I am afraid my children have developed some of my bad habits. I break my addiction frequently and feel really good and eat more balanced meals, but with my coffee habit eventually the sugary coffee takes precedence over meals and I eat healthy but sporadic meals. This is where I am right now.

Chapter 6 has some great advice for curbing this bad habit, one being to be honest and actually calculate how much sugar calories and chemicals and money you are ingesting daily/yearly. Another is to put a scale in front of the fridge or the coffee pot to jolt one back to the reality of our choices. Another choice I like is to replace the bad habit with a good one with a list of healthy alternatives that look pretty appealing.

I know by experience that if I follow the advice in this chapter I am well on my way to my preferred weight and a healthier body with better energy and outlook, and much better meal planning because my hunger kicks in.

I also know by experience the commitment required on my part to be successful.

What I need to determine is whether I quit cold turkey, or whether I allow myself coffee on the weekends or a certain amount during the week. There are options in this chapter. Cold turkey is cleaner. I can’t trick myself into drinking more or blurring one cup into two. Two cups a day is kinder. I do so look forward to my coffee.

I am going to think this over and will blog it when I am ready.

P.S. I have decided that after today I will omit my blog from my Facebook in order to alleviate friends and family being pestered by my thoughts and opinions regarding food. It’s like talking Religion and Politics and I do not want to unintentionally offend anyone or at best, be a nuisance to those I care about. Those of you who care to spend time thinking about the food they eat or entering a discussion can follow the blog.

Day 5. Ease Back on Dairy Foods.

Day 5. Ease Back on Dairy Foods

I am following THE FOODBABE WAY, Break free from the Hidden Toxins in Your Food, And Lose Weight, Look Years Younger, and Get Healthy in just 21 Days!, by Vani Hari, as an effort to eat healthier and be more informed, and to shop and live sustainably.

There is a lot of good information in chapter 5 regarding Dairy and why Dairy is not always the healthiest of choices we have been brought up to believe it is.

One of my most embarrassing bad habits I have carried with me into adulthood from childhood is my love for chocolate milk. Seriously! A tall glass of milk with 4-5 Scoops of Nestle Quik. I don’t stir this all the way as I like to eat the extra chocolate from the bottom of the glass when I’ve finished the chocolaty milk….UMMMMM.

Grosse right? We’re talking GMO’S, TRANS FATS, ADDITIVES….

I learned some time ago that if I wanted to lose weight I needed to kick my dairy habit. As a kid I drank 2 – 4 glasses a day.

I have since found other indulgences to keep me satisfied and for the most part I can stay away from chocolate milk unless I am really having a weak moment.

I am very happy that Vani calls this chapter “Ease Back” on dairy. As much as I have kicked my Chocolate Milk habit, I would truly miss the pick me up of some healthier cheeses on salads or the blue cheese on my favorite polenta dish, or cream in my coffee. I also like being reminded why it is I am better off without the milk. I rarely buy raw milk. I agree that it is better for your health and I do not like the way we produce milk in this country. Not letting the calves nurse form their own mothers, taking them away to soon. Of course I would never purchase milk with the added hormones, especially RBHT. I buy Clover and not always organic so I need to check into what I just claimed. I tried raw milk for a while and will need to reconsider whether or not it is a viable option for the family. We are a family of six and go through the milk quickly. My children do drink milk. I purchase Organic at nearly 8 bucks a pop when I can but this is definitely outside our budget.

There is a balance between eating sustainably and the economics and politics of our time.

If you’ve read the “China Study” it recommends no dairy due to the link between the protein Casein and cancer. This is so contrary to what I was raised to believe. I just look at my children and think “Sorry! I didn’t know! The damage is done. They have been raised with milk and it is their choice now.

What I enjoy about this chapter is the Nut milk recipes, which I will be experimenting with! The more I can change my own diet and find healthy alternatives the more I can help my family to make positive changes.

Day 3 Stop Drinking with your Meals. Day 4. Be aware of what is in your Water

Day3-Stop Drinking with your meals.

Done.

Day 4.Be Aware of what is in your Water.

This is a very good point. My whole family got sick when we moved into our new home nine years ago. I thought it was the flu but two of the kids were sick, really sick with a parasite. It took a long time to figure out what was going on and it was extremely painful for them, and for me to watch helplessly. Now we purchase our water filtered with reverse Osmosis. This is a reminder to know what is in the water I buy for drinking. I need to review what is in our well water as well. The FOODBABE recommends a shower filter. I am sure this is not in our budget but I will take the time to look into what is available and what is in our water.

DAy 2. Lean Green Drinking Machine

Day 2 Be a Lean Green Drinking Machine

I drank my morning lemon water. It felt really warm and soothing this morning!

I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I also drank my green Smoothie.

I was feeling under the weather this morning and moving slowly. I had to push myself to yoga and I took it pretty easy today. I think my body is trying to fight the colds and flus that have been going around at home and at work. I didn’t drink my green smoothie until about noon which is a little later than usual.

Vani, aka the FOODBABE, has some green drink recipes on her website. Today I drank her Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie. Last week I made a big batch of her Hari shake. I also like to, on mornings when I don’t have to rush off make a fresh green juice. There are so many delicious recipes for smoothies, juices, meals, and desserts on this website.

The truth is however that even though I have followed the program through day 2 I am not a lean green drinking Machine. I appreciate these recipes and I am glad I drank my green drink. The drink and a salad are the only vegetables I’ve had today; that and a slice of apple. I returned home from work with an appetite and fatigue. I haven’t any beans or salad fixings prepared and the only thing I am craving at the moment is a hotdog and chips with a glass of chocolate milk. Seriously, and I am not even feeling well. This is my weakness, I spend time and money filling our pantry with ingredients for healthy recipes and then I am too tired or unorganized to cook and my kids and I eat comfort foods that are quick and familiar to me. At this moment all my ideals for healthy nontoxic food that is sustainably raised goes by the wayside.

Tomorrow is a new day.

On another note I learned from Food Integrity Now that a mother from the group called Moms Across America was allowed to attend a Monsanto Board meeting. Also if we buy organics for our families we can make a real shift in the economics of agriculture. I feel for the first time in a long time that possibly just possibly the people can feel empowered enough to effect change and begin to feel united. I am grateful for these groups, and for Vani Hari, author of The FOODBABE WAY.

Possibly we can get back to real food, real people, and community.

mess while cooking

compost

Green Smoothie

filled pantry

saving seeds for planting

A New Day 1!

Day 1 is easy.

I just needed to start my day with lemon water. Now I tried this drink in the past and didn’t like it, so this time I paid close attention to the directions. I didn’t use too much lemon or cayenne and I didn’t make the drink too hot. Today I found it very palatable and an easy thing to do each morning. I did set every thing up: the lemon, knife, cutting board, measuring cup, and pot the night before to make it very easy for me first thing in the morning. Yes, that’s 5:30 a.m. for a 6:00 yoga class. If you want to try it here’s the link:

lemon water drink

Let me know what you think. I will continue drinking lemon water for 21 days to see if I notice any changes.

As of today I weigh 167lbs.

My energy level seems fine first thing most mornings. I do however have 1-2 12 oz. cups of coffee with cream and sugar after yoga, which is a lot of sugar to start the day. I did drink a vegetable juice this morning, which means I am actually ahead of day 2. By mid afternoon I generally feel low in’ energy, and am definitely looking for a sweet fix.

Anybody want to try this with Me?

I would love to hear from you.

XOXO

Suzy

Aka: THE FOODBABE WAY