feeding your body, mind, soul

Food… the most fundamental element to life, yet every day millions of people are eating garbage; instead of nourishing their bodies people are poisoning their bodies, literally. What you eat directly effects so many aspects of your life. By changing to a healthy diet full of fresh foods you can can reverse Type 2 diabetes, obesity,  depression,  acne and other skin issues, and some doctors believe you can cure cancer (I absolutely believe this, yet the only treatments legal in the US is chemotherapy and radiation). 

As modern technology gets better and better each year, alarmingly high rates of diabetes, cancer, and heart disease to name a few are occurring still. We’re obviously doing something wrong and it has to do with the food we eat and the environment we live in. It’s time for a change! Aren’t we grossed out by fast food yet???? Who in their right mind eats at McDonalds and feels awesome afterwards? More like nauseous. Unlike late night excursions to Taco Hell, eating healthy and exercising never leaves you thinking it was a bad idea.

Now there are many excuses to why people don’t eat healthy: they don’t have time, they can’t afford it, blah blah. They are indeed excuses. Everyone makes time for what they want to make time for, I am making time by writing this blog post, others make time by getting on Facebook (creepbook) for hours, some make time to go and take their dog for a walk; we make time for what is important to us. Not being able to afford healthy food really is something that can be worked around. You don’t necessarily have to buy fresh foods every time (frozen vegetables are perfectly good for you too), look for veggies and fruit that are on sale, buy food that is in season, shop at farmer’s markets, but most importantly you can prioritize! You don’t NEED cable, you don’t NEED a gym membership (running outside is free and simply moving around is free too), but you do need health.

Every day we vote with our dollars, so let’s stop feeding ourselves and loved ones foods made from a science lab and start nourishing with REAL foods made from nature. Tips for a healthier you:

• Read ingredients, if you don’t know what it is, neither does your body. Here’s the list of America’s favorite… a Twinkie: Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour [Flour, Reduced Iron, B Vitamins (Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Folic Acid)], Corn Syrup, Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable and/or Animal Shortening (Soybean, Cottonseed and/or Canola Oil, Beef Fat), Whole Eggs, Dextrose. Contains 2% or Less of: Modified Corn Starch, Glucose, Leavenings (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda, Monocalcium Phosphate), Sweet Dairy Whey, Soy Protein Isolate, Calcium and Sodium Caseinate, Salt, Mono and Diglycerides, Polysorbate 60, Soy Lecithin, Soy Flour, Cornstarch, Cellulose Gum, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sorbic Acid (to Retain Freshness), Yellow 5, Red 40. Yep, let me go into my kitchen and whip up a batch of Twinkies with the above ingredients… unless you’re in a science lab I never want to see the above things in food.
• If you love your desserts, you can have your cake and eat it too! Just make them from scratch… you won’t find any Yellow 5 or Red 40 in my cookies.
• Don’t fall for labels on packages such as “made with ALL NATURAL ingredients.” All natural means absolutely nothing and anyone can use that term. Most of the time when you read the “all natural” ingredients it has high fructose corn syrup in it… and a lot of people say that because it comes from corn it is natural. WRONG.
• Cook. Nothing’s better than a home cooked meal or a home cooked meal by someone else. mmm
• Most importantly, don’t beat yourself up if you do eat processed foods on occasion (I can rarely control myself when my boyfriend brings home candy), just don’t make it an every day occurrence or even a weekly one.

HAPPY EATINGS TO YOU ALL!

what exercise and food mean to me

Okay I have a confession to make, I was once OBSESSED with exercise and eating a certain number of calories a day. I believed I was going to get "fat" from not doing my usual 4 mile run that day. I would in no way starve myself (I ate constantly because I was ALWAYS hungry from working out so much), but I would be paranoid about eating something "bad" and then feeling like I should go workout. This my friends is clearly unhealthy.

In January of last year I decided to cut out alcohol, soda, and fast food. I still do not drink soda or eat fast food but a few times a year. Not only that but I began working out, I'm talking full blown crazy amounts of calories burned by running and then lifting weights. Oh yeah, in no time I looked like a 12 year old boy who participated in body building competitions. This is definitely a good look, I mean who doesn't want to date a woman who has a 9 pack with no ass or boobs? S-E-X-Y. My lilbuttlilmelons (joke from 8th grade) became nobuttnomelons. Bathing suit tops were unflattering on my bony chest and the smallest of dress pants enhanced my shapeless body (think Black Swan Natalie Portman, yeaaaahhhh... gross). This is also in hindsight, at the time I seriously thought I looked good.

I was always running and constantly sore. My calves always felt horrible! Running was not fun anymore, it become a chore. I wouldn't order what I REALLY wanted at restaurants. I was eating plain oatmeal with banana for breakfast (BOR-ING!! love me some muesli, though). I finally started adding certain things to my life, butter and good beer, for example, and I also stopped my crazy obsessive workout regimes. Guess what... I have not become "fat."

I enjoy food, I no longer worry if food is "bad." I no longer torture my body and force it to "work out." I do not go to the gym anymore. I find pleasure in doing pilates, yoga, tennis, and running when I FEEL LIKE IT. If I want to sit on my ass that day and not lift a finger, than that is what I will do. On the other hand, if I have an urge to contribute to my deafness for when I get older (what can I say, I love loud music) while I run then I will do so too!

As cliche as it sounds, "everything in moderation" really is true. Too much of anything is a bad thing. Too much exercise can be a bad thing. Too much butter can be a bad thing too. Listen to your body, it is a smart thing. If you're sore, take a break, if you're full, stop eating, if you're hungry, eat. Why follow all these fad diets or crazy workouts telling us to eat every 2 hours, cut out carbs, eat lots of protein, and one of the best ones... the shake weight HAHA. I think too much thought is going into it. If you are pulling up to drive thrus and ordering the #2 on a regular basis then it will show. Eat REAL food. I think this is the main key. Read ingredients (if you're buying processed foods) and if you have no idea what something is, you probably shouldn't buy it. Don't beat yourself up if you eat a pint of ice cream in one sitting (true story every time I buy ice cream, I love you Haagen Daz). We should listen to our bodies, and my body never says no to ice cream, cue R. Kelly- my mind's tellin me noooo, but my body, my body's tellin me yes. Park further away from the door entrance and WALK, exercise your dog every day, go to the park, whatever you feel like doing. Don't go by a number on the scale, go by how YOU feel.

Now I enjoy food and am naturally active. Life's too short to spend the majority of your time working out and obsessing over the protein to carbs to fat ratio. A good thing that has come from me cutting back my exercise is that I am not hungry every 10 minutes anymore... now it's only every 30 minutes ;), oh and I can feel my boobies again!


Here's a picture from July 2010 and a picture of Cameron Diaz February 2011. She's the perfect example of someone going a little too far. Same no cleavage chest, different body. But forget the chest, look at her stomach!! I just barfed a little.