Forks Over Knives

This is a must see documentary! After hearing about this film from so many people I finally got a chance to sit down and watch it this weekend. Wow! It really drives home how unhealthy the American diet is by giving some starling statistics on where our national health stands in comparison with other nations, and perhaps most alarmingly, how drastically it has changed over a few short generations. The common thread seems to be the over abundance of animal products in our daily diet and meat in particular.

 My only pet peeve about this film is its scare tactic vegan slant that becomes annoyingly obvious towards the final half hour. I take that all with a grain of salt- its a shame that they had to go and mar an otherwise great film, however the overall message is still important and worth watching.

 I will say that I was afraid to eat anything for a day or so after watching the movie but I came to this conclusion regarding my personal feelings on vegetarian/ veganism: I am a firm believer in biology and believe that down to the core, we are the "human animal". I think much of our behavior can be traced back to "cave days" and cannot help but notice that we all have K9 teeth which in my opinion are there for a reason. Yes, we can subsist on an animal free diet, however, our own body is designed from the outward appearance of it to eat meat. Do I think the typical American diet has too much red meat-- yes. Going back to my "cave man" analogy, I'm sure there were periods when the hunt didn't turn out as well as everyone hoped and there was no wooly mammoth to bring back to the cave that month. ;)  My hunt to the grocery store is always successful on the other hand which is not what nature intended either. Everything in moderation and the truth is, eating meat with every meal is not moderation.  But I do not think the answer is to cut meat out entirely.

This back and forth argument in my mind regarding our meat eating habits solidified my view on where meat fits into my own families diet. It will always be there but maybe in a lesser role. Not every meal needs to incorporate an animal protein. Going vegetarian for a few meals a week is more reasonable and probably closer to what our body is designed for.

Watch the documentary yourself- see what conclusions you come to. It will make you think about food differently no matter what-- which is a great thing!

Hobo Pack BBQ

Day 4: 

I'm starting to really settle into this new way of eating and can honestly say I'm truly enjoying it. I am beginning to feel a little bit more adventurous as far as my cooking goes and have started to get more creative while sticking to organic and single ingredient foods.

 I wanted to post some pictures of the amazing dinner my husband and I made. I will post later on what we are eating on a typical day to help you get some ideas and to see how versatile whole eating really can be. 

Grilled Mahi Mahi "Hobo Bags", Veggie Skewers, and Baked Sweet Potato

* I tossed some cut up red bell pepper, onion, tomato and zucchini in a bowl with chopped up fresh dill, the juice from 1/2 a lemon and a cap full of olive oil, and a few pinches of sea salt for flavor and then made these AMAZING veggie skewers that Chris through on the grill! They came out so flavorful
 * Chris has become obsessed with making something he refers to as "hobo pouches". Now despite the unappetizing name, they are quite good. A "hobo pouch" is really just any combination of meat, spices, and veggies that you throw together and wrap up in aluminum foil to cook. Last nights hobo pouch was a fillet of wild caught mahi mahi, asparagus, fresh parsely, seal salt, paprika and a small pat of organic butter.
 * I also threw a few sweet potatoes in the oven that we topped with celtic sea salt and organic butter. Yum!

Charlotte LOVES Grilled Tomatoes! YUM!

Knowledge Tid Bit: The Liver

Understanding why it is important to rid your diet of artificial foods means understanding a bit about the anatomy of eating and in particular, the role that our liver plays in this process.

The liver is our largest internal organ and is responsible for controlling blood sugar levels, regulating fat storage, and most importantly it acts as a filter for the chemical breakdown of everything that we put into our bodies. Proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are metabolized and broken down to provide energy while toxins are filtered out into the blood stream. But, when overwhelmed with toxins (all substances not recognized by the body as nutrition) the livers functionality is compromised and it cannot effectively process nutrients and fats.

Our liver is also responsible for producing bile which breaks down fats and aids with metabolizing fat soluble vitamins such as D, E, K, and A. But when bile becomes full of these toxins that our liver is trying to rid itself of its ability to do it's primary job is hindered.

So what is a "toxin"? This word used to drive me crazy. It sounds so alarmist and my mom tells this hilarious story about how she was approached my an employee at Whole Foods who had the worlds worst acne that explained to her that the acne was the result of "all the toxins" being "cleansed" from her body. Gross! So this is what a dirty hippie is. Lol! But the word toxin really is a lot less pointed. It is just a coverall word used to describe all of the things we ingest that our body does not recognize as having nutritional value and must filter out. It would be too hard to list them all so simply referring to "toxins" is how it's done. Artificial sweeteners are one example. They have no nutritional value which is why they are zero calories, however they still must pass through the liver, as do all other synthetic ingredients, which is forced to filter them from our body.

So the lesson is: Be kind to your liver! Try to minimize the time your liver has to spend working on filtering out the bad stuff you put into your body so that it can concentrate on doing its other jobs.

Day 2: If It Comes From the Earth Or Has A Mother

Day 2:

Yesterday (Tuesday) was my first huge test to see how practical and sustainable this whole endeavor is actually going to be when it comes to incorporating "whole" eating into every day life. It was my sister in law Morgan's birthday and to celebrate we went out to this Mexican restaurant that I LOVE. I was a bit nervous and even thought about canceling (i know... crazy) because I wasn't sure if I would be able to find anything I could eat or worse, I might give up this early in the game and eat what I really wanted. What I really wanted was two crispy chicken tacos with rice and beans on the side and tons of guacamole. No way that was organic or single ingredient. But nothing at this restaurant I can almost guarantee you was organic. So what now?!?! I had to reevaluate a bit. Organic is ideal, however it wont always be practical. In my own home I can strive to purchase only organic foods for my family, however in public or at friends homes this is not always going to be possible. And to expect so would be plain weird and way too high maintenance for my taste. What is more important and can be done anywhere is making healthy food choices. The main principle behind this "real" food experiment is to try to eat things that are "whole" foods and minimally processed. A basic rule of thumb is "if it comes from the Earth or has a mother" then go for it. My two crispy tacos most certainty did not have a mother and I've never seen refried beans grow on a bush. But the halibut fillet and grilled veggies fit the bill perfectly so there you have it. Easy and it was so delicious.

This experiment is not about restriction or making food rules that are so difficult to stick to that you find yourself waving a white flag before you're even out of the starting gates. It's about getting back to the source of food and understanding where everything on your plate comes from. If it comes from the Earth or has a mother is the best place to start.

That's all for now. I'm going to be putting up another post in a few hours about some rules to live by and the science behind all of it so stay tuned.

Yesterday I said goodbye to all of my junk food favorites. I slurped down my last large diet coke along with a Carl's Jr. six dollar burger meal. The guacamole bacon burger with a side of fried zucchini (dipped in ranch of course). It was delicious. I don't normally eat this way however I thought if I'm going to be eating organic and ultra healthy over these next 30 days, I'm going out in style. I also imbibed in a few glasses of an absolutely wonderful bottle of Cabernet I picked up at Whole Foods as an impulse buy while I was grocery shopping for the organic produce I would need for today. This is going to be the part I will miss the most on this experiment. My red wine. Supposedly an occasional glass of organic red is permitted but that just sounds terrible. I'm sure I will post about that later but for now I have said goodbye to all of the things on the "no no" list and am ready to begin this experiment.

Day 1:

I am somewhat stocked up on organic produce and single ingredient foods after my Whole Foods trip from yesterday however the one thing I found it very difficult to get my hands on is grass fed beef. Whole Foods didn't have it so I'm stumped. They have beef that is called "Step 1" meaning it is 90% grass fed and totally organic (ie; no hormones, antibiotics, etc.) so I bought a pound of that instead cut into stew chunks.

My first reaction to shopping organic is how expensive it is! I spent over $100 for 3 bags of groceries. My stomach nearly dropped. But again, if I'm going to try this experiment I'm really going to do it right so no cheating. I will bite the bullet and spend the extra few bucks. Plus, here is the way I rationalized it: When I buy milk at the grocery store for Charlotte, I am paying about $3/ gallon for milk + added hormones and antibiotics. For $6 I am paying for and buying JUST milk. Same thing with purchasing organic bread. I may pay $2 for regular white bread at the grocery store however that stuff is hardly even bread. There is also all kinds of ingredients in there that are added to help the bread stay "fresh" longer so that it has a longer shelf life. I paid $5 for my Ezekiel sprouted grain bread at Whole Foods but here is what really shocked me: It was REFRIGERATED! WTH?!? Real bread molds in the absence of all those preservatives and thus must be refrigerated in order to make it last longer. So, paying for organic and real food may be more expensive however what you are receiving in return is REAL food. Kind of like buying gold- you pay more for the purest form. Makes sense to me and I no longer feel ripped off.

Here are some staples that I purchased yesterday:

-Organic Fruits & Veggies (Lettuce, Tomatoes, Apples)
-Raw Almond Butter
-Stevia
-Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Breads
-Raw Honey
-Organic Half & Half
-Fage Greek Yogurt
-Almond Milk
-Rice Crackers
-Cage Free Organic Eggs
-Organic Sweet Potatos
-Organic Butter

I have yet to try the Stevia but one of the things stressed on this program is NO articifial sweeteners. Stevia is acceptable as it is natural (it is made from crushed up leaves from the Stevia plant. You can even grow your own Stevia and dry and crush the leaves yourself if you are so inclined). As a perk it is low calorie. Splenda claims to also be "natural" however is actually not and apparently the center of a lot of debate because of those claims, so I will stay away for the purpose of this experiment and stick to Stevia.

My favorite item is the raw honey! So delicious and almost creamy. I will have to keep this away from Charlotte as it is not safe for children 12 months and younger (she is 16 months but I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this  "raw (unpasteurized) food" bandwagon yet so I am still going to only give her the regular honey we have at home).

I will post pictures and recipes later. I made an amazing dinner last night using the organic Step 1 beef and cut up onions, carrots, and squash and a organic baked sweet potato on the side. So yummy! The difference in the quality of beef is startling. It tasted like lamb almost.

I am going to try something crazy. I am going to eat real food for the next 30 days. I am going to cut out the processed junk and "food like substances" that make up the majority of my current diet and commit to eating REAL foods.

The foods that most of us put into our body are so far from the actual food item they resemble that its frightening. Take one of my current staples, non dairy creamer, as an example. What I thought was a healthy low calorie alternative to actual cream is anything but. The ingredients listed on the back of that bottle are not even food: water, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil, sodium caseinate, maltodestrin, dipotassioum phosphate, carrageenan, acesulgame potassium, etc. Ummm... what the heck have I been eating!?! It looks like cream, tastes like cream, but it is so far from being cream that its terrifying. As a "professional dieter" who has been on pretty much every diet you can name, I know how to eat low calorie but what I don't know how to do is eat healthy.

So, my challenge for myself (and my poor family who is along for the ride whether they know they signed up for it or not) is to attempt to only eat REAL food for the next 30 days. I want to to stick to foods that are "single ingredient" foods. That is if I am having a fruit and nut bar, the only ingredients in that bar better be "fruit" and "nuts". No shelf stabilizers or additives that I can't pronounce. 

Why am I doing this? Well, it simple really. I have a 16 month old daughter and I don't want her to have the same unhealthy relationship with food that I do. I want her to eat healthy foods that nourish her body. I don't want her doing what I have been doing for a majority of my life and eating ultra processed"diet" foods and meticulously counting calories. Life is too short and I'm sure she will have way better things to do. 

The model that I am following is based on the Beyond Diet program  (www.beyonddiet.com). Basically, this program emphasizes eating organic produce and grass fed meat, good fats such as olive oil, avocado, and organic butter, healthy grains such as quinoa, oats, and brown rice and lots of yummy organic fruits and veggies. Artificial sweeteners are a no no and instead stevia and raw honey is encouraged. As for dairy, only organic milk, butter, and yogurt is suggested. 

I plan on posting my daily meals and updates on how practical eating organic/real foods actually turns out to be on my blog over the next 30 days and hope that I might be able to encourage others to join me!