Thursday, October 30, 2014

It's only 21 days...

Friends. On Saturday (November 1), I will begin a three-week "cleanse". Now, I don't particularly care for the word "cleanse", because I think that has a certain stigma attached to it, so I'm going to refer to it as a challenge. Either way it's also going to be a chance for me to reset some of the bad habits I've picked up, like eating office-provided Cheez-Its for my 10:00 snack. Almost every day. 

Originally inspired by this book (which is much more than just the food part), I'm better when I am held accountable, therefore I've recruited a few friends to accompany me on this 21-day challenge. I also plan to share my progress through the blog, so knowing you'll be reading these posts will help me with my will power.

What are the rules?
  1. No alcohol
  2. No animal products (eggs, dairy, etc)
  3. No caffeine
  4. No gluten
  5. No sugar
I can still have fruit, vegetables, and things like brown rice, buckwheat, etc. that don't have gluten. I can have nuts, seeds, herbal teas, and still plenty of yumminess. I predict that the hardest parts will be the preparation so I don't get caught hungry and without a proper snack, and the temptation when I go out to eat. WHICH, will happen I'm sure at least once.

So, who wants to come on this journey with me? If you are, make sure to post in the comments of my blog posts over the next few weeks!

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Does your meat have the COOL factor?

If you're tired of hearing me talk about avoiding meat as much as possible, well, #sorrynotsorry. If you still choose to eat meat, I'm going to continue to post things like this article. #youarewelcome.

A somewhat recent blogpost by Marion Nestle covered what I consider to be one of those "duh" topics, that I think every American (and human in general) should have the right to know. Where our food COMES from. The Country-of-Origin-Labeling (COOL) law would require that meat products be labeled with the country where the food animal was born, raised, and slaughtered. People would know how far their meat traveled before they purchased it for consumption. You can understand why some in the business might not like this...

Related, is this article on 10 fish you should avoid (and why). The very first slide is regarding imported fish, that might come from a country with more lax standards on the types of chemicals and antibiotics that are used in raising. Some of these fish are over-fished, or just full of mercury. None-the-less, still a good resource.

Moral of this story? One you've heard before - come on - let's all say it together now... "Buy local and organic, whenever possible" :)