30 Day Throw Down!

It's Been A Year So, Here's The Report

2010-09-27T17:27:00.000-07:00

A little over a year ago I started this blog but realized it was more labor intensive than my life allowed.

I challenged myself, and anyone else who wanted to come along, to fore go fast food as much as possible and seek out real, whole food to optimize our health and weight. I had set a goal to be 25 pounds lighter when a year had passed. I didn't want to stay where I was.

I'm sorry to say that I didn't reach that goal but I am TWENTY POUNDS lighter than this time last year. I might have made the 25lbs. if I hadn't been lying around the last five weeks of my life recovering from surgery. But then again, that's probably a likely excuse. But the exciting part is I'm not 25lbs. heavier!

I'm thrilled with the 20 and now commit to being another 20 pounds lighter by this time next year. Yes, this is SLOWWWWW when you look at "Biggest Loser" and fad diets. But I have not felt deprived because I haven't been. I've just become more aware. Have I not eaten any fast food? Please. Life happens and yes, I have made that choice but I try to make it the exception and I really do attempt to choose healthier alternatives when there. Sometimes I throw caution to the wind and do whatever I want. But, apparently, not all that much based on the scale.

I DON'T exercise the way I would like and I want to push myself harder in this area as soon as I'm recovered from the worst surgery I have EVER had and will blog about soon in gory detail. Try to avoid that post.

I am SO PROUD of those of you who have written to me privately and made amazing changes in your life. YOU INSPIRE ME!!!! Just because I'm not writing doesn't mean I've given up. It just seems I can't manage all the blogs while living life the way I should.

Keep on keepin' on because doing the right and healthy thing is NEVER wrong. God bless all of you and thanks for traveling with me on the journey, even though our paths take us through different scenery. We're still arriving in the same place: respect for the bodies God gave us, gratitude for what they do by his divine creation, and maybe a little more peace with the reflection in the mirror. I still have a LONG way to go. But I'm traveling forward.

With Love,

Robynn

After My Alien Abduction

2010-04-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

It dawns on me that I never said, well, uh, anything about combining my blogs. I sort of fell off the face of the earth due to life and living and well, more life and then decided to just combine my thoughts on my main blog. I told everybody over there. But I didn't tell anybody here. Why?

That's perplexing. I guess I supposed that whoever followed me here just came over from my other blog. (I don't examine my blog rolls, only my fat rolls.) I had someone find me today who thought I had disappeared. She made a very salient point when she said she didn't know what happened to me but was glad to find me again. I was glad as well and all I have to say is: I'M SORRY!

I just found it to be too much because THIS blog took so much research. All good stuff but not something I really had time for. Which made my other blog suffer. And that's the main blog. So if you would like to come join us over there, PLEASE do. Don't let the fact that I am an idiot deter you. You probably already realized that long ago!

Are We Ready?

2010-01-06T09:59:00.001-08:00

And by we I mean me, myself, I, and you, of course. (I, in no way, resemble these swimmers. One of them lives inside of me but I have concealed her REALLY well.)

Are you on your way with New Year’s resolutions, healthy eating, active living? Are you a self-motivated self-starter or maybe you’re more like me – the cattle prod variety. When it hits us, then we move.

We can start something, slack off, fall by the wayside and then feel like giving up. But stopping isn’t quitting so don’t give up and neither will I. I think this month is a great time to refocus and go back to the beginning – the throw down of fast food and processed foods. Maybe we need a tune-up.

I was talking with a neighbor who is committed to all things healthy and has lost 25 lbs. He gave me a GREAT tip I’ll be implementing. He keeps cut up fruits and veggies - especially veggies – available all the time and MAKES himself eat them BEFORE his meals. They are his appetizer. It cuts down on the amount of heavier foods he ingests and helps to get those healthy benefits we all need from raw, fresh, local/organic food.

Then I met Heidi, a delightful woman my daughter works with who recently started reading here and she had lots of questions about what to eat. What kind of rice do I cook? What bread do we eat? How about potatoes? I directed her to the archives but I also realized maybe we need to talk about it again. And we will.

But the bottom line is this: buy food and eat food in its most basic form whenever you can. The less processed the better and organic helps you avoid genetically modified foods as well as many chemicals. Choose locally grown organic fruits and vegetables as your first choice. Next best, choose industrial organic if local isn’t possible. If that isn’t something you can do, choose ANY fruit and vegetable – organic or not – over fast food and highly processed foods. Avoid convenience and processed foods. Period. These almost always include fast food, many restaurant choices, and are all over the grocery store – even the healthier grocery stores. They are usually packed with additives and ingredients that can negatively impact your health, your weight, and your energy. And keep it simple because it is! Don’t overwhelm yourself.

Fruits, veggies, grass fed meats and free range organic eggs (if you can), wild caught fish (never farmed), whole grain breads, good water, NO artificial sweeteners (choose Stevia, honey, molasses, or even cane sugar over ANYthing artificial or anything with high fructose corn syrup in it), exercise (what works for you), and the occasional indulgence in chocolate or something sweet. But if you do choose a dessert, make it something worth having. Try not to waste your health or daily calories on something you only marginally enjoy – like a store bought cookie. My family and I also drink raw milk but that’s not easy to find at the store in all states. Second best would be organic milk but avoid any that is “ultra-pasteurized.” That’s NOT a bonus.

So that’s where we begin again if you need a fresh start and a refocus. I do. I need to clean out the fridge and stock up on the good stuff. We don’t keep junk food anymore though over the Christmas season cookies and fudge abounded, albeit homemade. We were gifted with cookies. I didn’t actually make one. But I made copious amounts of fudge. I managed not to gain any weight but I managed not to lose any either. And I need to. I’m still keeping my year-long goal at 25 lbs. I hope it’s more. It needs to be. But I want to have something I think I can truly achieve. And then I’ll set another 25 lb. goal for the next year. As I said at the beginning of this blog back in September: When was the last time YOU came to the end of a year 25 lbs. lighter or significantly healthier? It IS a big goal when you look at it that way.

How about you? What are your goals? Do you have health problems that need addressing? Do you need to lose weight? Is exercise more verbal than actual?

You’re in the right place. Don’t forget. Lest you think I’m some skinny-minnie guru, I’m not. I’m fat. No, I’m not chubby, I’m fat. But I’m not as fat as I was September 1st, 2009. And I’m not doing this because I’m thin and think I can tell you how easy it is. It’s sometimes VERY hard but eating REAL FOOD and eating WELL won’t feel the same as terribly restrictive diets and the better you eat, the less you crave. TRULY. TRULY. TRULY. REAL FOOD is the key. It’s like a magic trick. And if you need to work on health – and most of us do one way or the other – you need serious fuel for your body. You won’t find it at a drive-up.

Now let’s eat. FOR REAL!

Photo Source: Sacramento Bee

Even REAL FOOD Gets Stale

2009-12-23T08:55:00.001-08:00

And this blog has gone a tad stale in recent days due to increased Christmas activity.

Also, Real Food and Christmas, like feuding family members, tend to avoid each other at parties and get-togethers. I’d love to tell you how I’ve overcome all obstacles and have not touched sugar or a Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spiced Latte but I’d be lying and, well, then I’d have a fat conscience to go with my stomach.

But I HAVE made progress and progress is what we’re about here. I have eaten a little fudge but last year I ate a LOT of fudge. And to tell you the truth, fudge is a legacy in my house and NO Christmas will ever come that doesn’t include a taste of the stuff. Every bite connects me to the past 70 years in our family. It may contain sugar but it contains Lila, too. She was my great-grandmother. And the See’s fudge recipe was secretly bequeathed to the women of our family. It tastes EXACTLY like See’s. ZERO graininess, creamy beyond belief, and yet firm enough to cut and stack. It’s epic. I’m making more today because I have to. Friends, family, and neighbors expect it and even sneak around to ask for it. I’ve had surreptitious knocks on my door late at night asking me to slip more fudge – discreetly – to women without their husbands knowing so they can hide it and keep it all to themselves. I have complied. I am complicit.

If loving fudge is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.

But it IS a one-time-a-year event. And Christmas is the event. And I try to offset it with vegetables. I believe vegetables balance everything out. I NEED to believe this. I know there is faulty thinking in there but please don’t tell me that right now. I can’t take it.

So there, I’ve confessed it. Now, on to healthier subjects.

Currently, I am writing up the post on Great Harvest Breads. Have I told you (more than 80 times) how much I love this bread? I’ll go there again today. I may live there. I'm not sure. I’ll ask them today if they have any mail for me.

January will be our contest month for them. It will be a contest for each person who is a follower and blogs about this blog and mentions Great Harvest. They have GENEROUSLY offered to send a $50 gift card to two different readers. The winner will take the gift card to their nearest Great Harvest and redeem it for a basket of REAL BREAD or other items they offer. If you have no Great Harvest Bread near you, they will make you a LOVELY basket of mixes and ship it to you – anywhere in the world! Does it get any better than that?

So, watch for our January focus wherein most of us will need to breathe fresh life into our commitments to our bodies, our families, and our health. Mine will probably need CPR as well.

I’m saying goodbye until the first days of January so that I can focus on family, writing, and projects. May you ALL have a blessed season and may I direct you to Robynn's Ravings for a Christmas story? I hope you’ll drop by. It’s my Christmas gift to you. :-)

Now let’s eat. FOR REAL. (Even if it includes the occasional piece of Christmas fudge…..!)

And Finally……..

2009-12-10T08:34:00.001-08:00

Could the reality be as scary as the fiction?

It’s truly everywhere – High Fructose Corn Syrup. The best thing you can do for yourself when buying any processed food is read the label and know what you’re reading. A few examples of different additives:

In bread – HFCS

Yogurt that at least has sugar (source unknown) but felt compelled to add MSG in the form of Modified Food Starch. Who would think to look for this in their yogurt?

And finally, this delectable concoction. HFCS, Hydrogenated Oils (transfats), MSG (cornstarch-modified), Soy bean (remember 85% of all soybeans grown here and in Canada are GMO), Natural Flavor (another MSG possibility though not conclusive), Citric Acid (believe it or not, much comes from corn, not citrus), Xanthan Gum (corn based and not organic, obviously), Soy Lecithin (more soy), and lovely dyes. Who WOULDN’T want to treat themselves to this?

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt with raspberry & fudge swirls & chocolate flavored chunks.

Ingredients:

SKIM MILK, MILK, SUGAR, CULTURED SKIM MILK, CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CREAM, RASPBERRY PUREE, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), COCONUT OIL, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, VEGETABLE OIL SHORTENING WITH SOY LECITHIN (PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED PALM KERNEL, SOYBEAN AND COTTONSEED OILS), CORNSTARCH - MODIFIED, VANILLA EXTRACT, COCOA, GUAR GUM, BUTTER OIL, NATURAL FLAVOR, CITRIC ACID, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, XANTHAN GUM, SOY LECITHIN, SALT, PHOSPHORIC ACID, CARRAGEENAN, RED 40, BLUE 1.

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I was recently perusing the internet and came across a Consumer Reports article about high fructose corn syrup. Consumer Reports is pretty mainstream so I was interested to hear what they said. They were addressing the ad that began running about a year ago sponsored by the Corn Refiners Association. They want us to relax and enjoy HFCS just as we would cane sugar so they have us laughing at and pooh-poohing a concerned mom. Consumer Reports responds this way:

Let’s take the Corn Refiners’ points one by one:

"It’s made from corn." True. High-fructose corn syrup is indeed made from corn. But you won’t get the same beneficial nutrients in it that you would from eating an ear of corn. (True, but only if that corn is non-GMO. My emphasis.)
"Doesn’t have artificial ingredients." Partly true. The claim about artificial ingredients is a tricky one, since high-fructose corn syrup is processed using artificial agents. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has stated that if the final product has come in contact with synthetic agent glutaraldehyde, then it cannot be called “natural,” which they define as meaning no artificial or synthetic ingredients were added. But if the manufacturer uses the artificial agent in its production, and it does not come in contact with the corn starch, it can be considered a natural product. So its possible that some high-fructose corn syrups may be able to claim “no artificial ingredients,” according to the FDA, while others would not be permitted the phrase. It’s distinctions like these that lead Consumers Union to consider the “natural” label not meaningful. (If you are using corn that does not occur in nature – genetically modified corn – I would think that would qualify as artificial ingredients. Yep. Me again.)
"Like sugar, it’s fine in moderation." True. Most foods are fine in moderation. It’s too much or too little that causes problems. However, some would probably argue that with high-fructose corn syrup in so many products, to truly enjoy it in moderation you’d probably be better off leaving the “red juice” on the shelf.

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From Thorn In Paw:

“Never mind those horribly misleading ads on TV about High Fructose Corn Syrup being "OK in moderation" and "natural"??? High Fructose Corn Syrup, made from farmed corn, most of which is genetically modified to keep costs down, is further modified via a switch in the molecules, also to keep down costs. The result is a sweet preservative found in just about all processed foods, and if the molestation of nature doesn't scare you, you should ask yourself — if they cheaped the sweet in this product, what else did they cheap out on and should I put that *&^% in my body?”

To see in more detail how the industrial food complex conspires to put HFCS and other wonderful things like beef fed on the same modified corn, antibiotics and the fat of other cows, read Pollan's "The Omnivore’s Dilemma".

Still not worried about your yogurt, soda, ice cream, breakfast bar, lunchmeat or soup? Read the following article by the Washington Post:

MONDAY, Jan. 26, 2009 (HealthDay News) -- Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient, according to two new U.S. studies.

HFCS has replaced sugar as the sweetener in many beverages and foods such as breads, cereals, breakfast bars, lunch meats, yogurts, soups and condiments. On average, Americans consume about 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS, but teens and other high consumers can take in 80 percent more HFCS than average.

"Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply," the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies, said in a prepared statement.

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Time to wrap up our conversation on HFCS. But I’ll leave you with this quote from Michael Pollan’s Book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma:

“Step back for a moment and behold this great, intricately piped stainless steel beast: (He’s talking here about the wet milling process corn goes through to separate each molecule from another to be used for multiple purposes.) This is the supremely adapted creature that has evolved to help eat the vast surplus biomass coming off America’s farms, efficiently digesting the millions of bushels of corn fed to it each day by the trainload. Go around back of this beast and you’ll see a hundred different spigots, large and small, filling tanker cars of other trains with HFCS, ethanol, syrups, starches, and food additives of every description. The question now is, Who or what (besides our cars) is going to consume and digest all this freshly fractionated biomass - the sugars and starches, the alcohols and acids, the emulsifiers and stabilizers and viscosity-control agents? This is where we come in. It takes a certain kind of eater-an industrial eater-to consume these fractions of corn, and we are, or have evolved into, that supremely adapted creature: the eater of processed food.”

May it not be so for you, or me.

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Okay. Next up, let’s have some fun. It will be my pleasure to introduce to you a great company – Great Harvest Breads. We have one in Fresno and I was just there two days ago. They want to sponsor two incredible gifts for us and what better time to do that then the gift-giving month. December! Watch for details in the next several days.

Now let’s eat. FOR REAL!

When A Sweetener Is More Than A Sweetener

2009-12-07T02:33:00.001-08:00

Christmas and an upside down schedule are killin’ me. Are you feeling it too? My fruit and veggie consumption is down. I’m shopping Whole Foods because every Saturday, every DAY, has been full and I can’t get to the Farmers’ Market. And I’m CRAVING salad tonight because I NEED it. But there are a few things I try to be very diligent about and a big one is High Fructose Corn Syrup. But why? What’s the difference between that and sugar?

Believe me, I don’t think sugar is my friend. It’s more like a grouchy neighbor who doesn’t leave me a better person after we’ve interacted. But HFCS is my enemy. Study after study show a growing concern about how our consumption of this product is having dramatic effects on our bodies.

Here is a recent quote from “Cell Metabolism” as featured in an article by Dr. Joseph Mercola:

“Insulin resistance is a common feature of the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Both have reached epidemic proportions worldwide with the global adoption of the westernized diet along with increased consumption of fructose, stemming from the wide and increasing use of high-fructose corn syrup sweeteners.

It is well established that fructose is more lipogenic than glucose, and high-fructose diets have been linked to hypertriglyceridemia, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and insulin resistance.”

And that doesn’t cover it all. To begin with, most HFCS comes from genetically altered corn. And it’s used in so much processed food we’re drowning in it.

The good doctor goes on to tell us this:

“In fact, the use of high fructose corn syrup in the U.S. diet increased a staggering 10,673 percent between 1970 and 2005, according to the latest USDA Dietary Assessment of Major Trends in U.S. Food Consumption report. That too is no major surprise considering that processed foods account for more than 90 percent of the money Americans spend on their meals.”

Over 10,000 percent. Isn’t that mind boggling?

In addition, HFCS can make you fat far easier. Dr. Elizabeth Parks, associate professor of clinical nutrition at UT Southwestern Medical Center and lead author of a study on fructose, published this in the Journal of Nutrition just last year:

"Our study shows for the first time the surprising speed with which humans make body fat from fructose. Once you start the process of fat synthesis from fructose, it's hard to slow it down. The bottom line of this study is that fructose very quickly gets made into fat in your body."

I don’t know about you but my body can’t afford any more fat. I could donate to a fat bank for a year and still look UNpleasingly plump. And why DON’T they have fat banks? I mean, if we can donate blood every eight weeks, why not fat? I’ll plump your lips for you! Just ask for the “Robynn Special.” Want a rounder, fuller backside? No problem! You can have my stomach following along right behind you.

Unfortunately for now, we’re left with having to manage our burgeoning waistlines without being able to donate and I need my body to be functioning as optimally as possible to help me. If I’m feeding it a steady diet of unhealthy, genetically altered, processed foods sweetened with HCFS, my body can’t work at its optimum.

If I have to use a sweetener, and I do, I try to reach for RAW honey (not refined), stevia, organic unrefined cane sugar, or organic regular sugar. And yes, I still use regular cane sugar for baking some things. I make fudge every year and if I require my family to give up all sugar and never have fudge, I will be healthy ALONE. Remember, it’s about striking a balance and we’re all struggling to find it. December won’t be kind to most of us. But if we want to enjoy our month, stay healthy, and have energy for all the demands this month will bring, we will limit the sweets, know where the “sweet” in it comes from, and not further assault our bodies with GMO’s.

A Holiday Tip

If you love to bake and have traditional dishes you make each year, bake them, save a little, and share a LOT. Take them to potlucks and parties where they have to go far and no one person (like you or me) is getting overloaded with sweets by grabbing something each time we pass by. And congratulate yourself because making anything from scratch is still far superior than processed foods. But we (read I) can seriously overdo it on my own baked goods. Consequently, I have to severely limit my access to whatever I make. Wish I was stronger but you know what? I ain’t.

Like Paul Newman said in Cool Hand Luke, “A man’s got to know his limitations.”

I think I'd have to add that he also has to do the limiting. There's the rub. Dangit.

Now let's eat. FOR REAL!

Need some Christmas cheer? Calorie free? Come join me over at Robynn's Ravings for a down home, nighttime, electrical parade. So fun. :)

Food, Inc.

2009-12-03T22:14:00.000-08:00

The movie is out. It’s on my Christmas wish list. I’ll never make it until Christmas. Who am I kidding?

If you haven’t already done so, PLEASE see this movie. Rent it, buy it, share it with a friend. The trailer is only two minutes. Take a quick look. I am a huge fan of Michael Pollan who helped bring this movie to life. He is the author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and a compelling writer. I can’t put books like this down. In fact, his book opens with the story of CORN. And he teaches us about good old genetically modified organism corn. This AIN’T your mother’s corn. Your grandfather didn’t eat this. YOU are the lab rat of today’s chemically engineered corn.

As I’ve said before, 80% of all corn grown here in the U.S. is GMO. And with that huge factor comes the industry’s Golden Boy – high fructose corn syrup. HFCS. It sweetens almost all soft drinks, energy drinks, and electrolyte replacement drinks with it's Frankensteinian goodness. It enhances your bread, store bought cookies, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, and on and on and on. In fact, walk down any mainstream American grocery store aisle and try NOT to find it. Skirt the edges of the store and you might have more luck, but not much. It’s in your yogurt, frozen foods, ice cream. You could literally eat GMO corn every time you open your mouth. It’s unprecedented. No one knows all the long term consequences of changing food from the way God created it and people have eaten it for thousands of years, to fattening us up on this genetically altered cocktail. But we DO know certain consequences and I’ll be talking about them in the days to come and giving you ideas about healthier, REAL FOOD choices.

So, here’s the trailer. If at all possible, see the movie. It’s anything but dry. High fructose corn syrup will be our label focus for the next few posts. In the meantime, don’t eat it. Not the label, the HFCS. Well, now that I think about it, the label’s probably healthier.

MSG – Final Video and Personal Updates

2009-11-25T11:52:00.001-08:00

I guess I can’t simply slide in here and pretend I haven’t been gone. Because I have been. In nearly every area of my life. I can’t even find myself.

Let’s start with a confession shall we?

I’ve eaten terribly. Well, I haven’t darkened the doors of Taco Bell, Mickey D’s, or KFC, etc. I am still drinking raw milk, reading labels, and trying to cook sometimes. But the reality is I HAVE eaten at Panda Express and twice, in the last month, I’ve eaten pizza. And I haven’t been home very much so I’ve eaten what’s available. And we have done more snacking around – in place of home cooked meals – than I care to admit. My exercises have been mostly in the area of futility. And that may burn the soul but not so much the calorie.

The stress level has been off the charts and I wish I could tell you all the reasons but you might run screaming the other way and, because I care about you, I’ll spare you. It’s so much more than just burying my mother’s husband. It’s dealing with the living. And I haven’t figured out a way around that yet but if I do, I’ll let you in on the secret because I’m sure some of you could use the insider information.

I haven’t been on the scale and for me, that’s bad. My clothes tell me the news isn’t pretty which would be keeping with my reflection. I’m sure I’ve gained five pounds and there’s still Christmas to go but here’s the deal: I’m not giving up. Life happens. Death happens. And when we fall off the wagon we may need to lay there for a few minutes to catch our breath. But then we drag ourselves up and climb back on, even if we have to use our fingernails and ruin the manicures we wish we actually had.

Due to all this unforeseen bumpiness in the road, you haven’t gotten your label information. So, I will continue it through December. Come January 1st, we’ll move on to the next focus.

And December will bring the drawing for two giveaways from Great Harvest Breads that I can’t WAIT to tell you about. I was going to have it in November but with all that’s gone on, I wasn’t able to feature them in the way this outstanding company deserves. So, look for that and if you have a Great Harvest in your area, drop in. Let them help you with the holiday rush.

Now, here’s the final part of the MSG story – at least in this video series.

Oh! First – a P.S. One of the aforementioned pizza’s came from a prized pizza establishment in our area – Me ‘n Ed’s. My stomach swelled like a tick and this has never happened before. Apparently, MSG is now an ingredient in a sauce or ingredient they are using. What a hands-on reminder of why I try to eat REAL FOOD. We will see more of this with our economy as establishments attempt to increase profits and flavor while reducing cost and actual quality. Goodbye Me ‘n Ed’s. We’re through. You were bad for me anyway. And at my age, I should be done with bad boys.’

Okay, here we go……please note at minute 2:28 on this video you will hear the narrator tell you to buy milk which is pasteurized. They have to say this. But I’m hear to tell you we drink raw milk and have for years because it’s LIVE milk, not dead milk. Our milk has all the living, lovely bacteria that keeps your gut thriving and healthy. All pasteurized milk still has the same bacteria in it by the millions and even billions, too, but unfortunately, they’re all dead. So you drink millions of dead bacteria with each glass of pasteurized milk. To which I reply, no thank you very much. And the ironically funny part is right behind the reporter is a LONG shelf of Organic Pastures Raw Milk. Look for the white bottles, red caps, and pretty green and blue labels. Too bad those bottles couldn’t jump off the shelf and into their cart. Oooooh! They were SO close! DEFINITELY no MSG there. :)

May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I know I will be giving thanks for all of you who are on this journey with me. I’m ready to move forward, even through the holidays. Not too worried about MSG but I know sugar and I will be doing a few turns around the dance floor. Remember, it’s about what we do 80% of the time and we’re working toward progress, not perfection. Because for me, perfection cannot be achieved.

I know you’re shocked.

Now let’s eat. For REAL!

Almost There.....

2009-11-11T08:55:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone..... A quick note with an update.

Today's is the funeral. What a whirlwind dying is.

I had no idea and have signed a contract promising never to do it.

A. It's unbelieveably expensive

B. It's incredibly involved

C. We will have to revert to a funeral pyre for me because we would never be able to afford all the costs. (But that's only if I break my contract. Otherwise, I would be very irritated about being put on pyre.)

Like hospitals, funerals bring out the best and the worst. The worst has been minimal and the best has been abundant. God sent me a family friend to help out with everything. He's on leave from Okinawa and when there is time, I will tell you about him. But truly, he was a Godsend. Between his computer skills and Bo's, they have provided what ten people would normally do. I have wonderful, loving friends who are cooking for the luncheon today. They've also made us dinner and insured my kids are supported with overnights and distractions. Our own dear pastor and family are singing today for the services, even though my mother and stepdad weren't part of our congregation. My pastor has gone to the hospital to counsel with my mother and pray with my stepfather and was there just a few hours before he passed.

And you. You have sent me notes of support and blessings and love. And you've prayed for me. And those prayers have been answered in ways I could have NEVER forseen. Thank you seems so inadequate but it's from my heart.

There are still a few days of wrapping up but I expect to return here Monday. I know your lives are moving forward and I'm missing so much but I also appreciate your generous grace. You are in my prayers as well.

With Love, Robynn

Passages.....

2009-11-06T19:12:00.000-08:00

Hi My Caring Friends......... This is to let you know that my stepdad passed away last night just before 8pm. It was peaceful, he knew us up until the end, and when I asked him if he knew I loved him he squeezed my hand. He was with my mom and other people he loved as he drew his last breath.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your outpouring of love and prayers. Sometime I'll be able to tell you how very much I felt those prayers and how they were answered. For now, I will be helping my mother to move into this new place of her life. There is much to take care of and I will be absent for a bit but will return as soon as I can.

Blessings to you all.

With Love,

Robynn

MSG – More Deadly Than You Know

2009-11-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

Today’s video is VITAL to your health. MSG has been implicated in heart attacks, stroke, onset or worsening of asthma symptoms, diabetes, and called "FERTILIZER FOR CANCER CELLS" because it accelerates the cancer process. Even if you don’t have an OBVIOUS reaction, please watch this seven minute video to educate yourselves and change your health.

I am listing additional names by which MSG is known. Don’t be fooled when your product says, “No MSG.’ Read those labels. They can legally claim it doesn’t have MSG because it doesn’t have anything by the name “monosodium glutamate.” It’s a big loophole they jump through. It has many different names. Like I tell my kids, “I am your mom. You don’t call me Aunt Robynn. But that doesn’t mean I’m not also an aunt.” Of course, I don’t tie this in to any conversation about food. I just like to insert random statements into their lives so it keeps them nervous.

More Names for MSG

Natural Flavors, Flavors, Flavoring

Modified food starch

Protein fortified ANYTHING

Soy Sauce or Extract

Soy Protein

Soy Protein Isolate or Concentrate

Hydrolyzed ANYTHING

and the list goes on……..

For My European Friends

These are your numbers for glutamate containing additives:

620
625

621
627

622
631

623
635

624

Source: The MSG Myth http://www.msgmyth.com/hidename.htm

If you’re not super sensitive, one of these items in a product may not bother you (though it still wouldn’t be considered healthy). However, many times several of these items are used in only one product and that can add up to big time problems for those affected.

Another thing to realize is glutamic acid can be created by certain methods of processing foods and additives. One more reason to choose food in its unprocessed state as much as possible.

Now on with Part II in our series. By the way, I found these on Dr. Mercola’s site. He states this is part two but it says it’s part three. Not sure about the mix-up but the info continues. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WATCH. ONLY BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT YOU!!

Let’s eat. FOR REAL!

Pulling No Punches – MSG – Our Enemy

2009-11-02T06:47:00.000-08:00

Happy November my friends!

I’m coming to you armed to the teeth this month with what’s in your food, how to find it, and how you can turn your knowledge into powerful health for you and your family.

Let me give you an update on a few things first, though.

My weight loss thus far is 17 lbs. That’s only two pounds for the month of October. I don’t care. I’ll take it. I’m healthier, I have more energy, I’m coping with stress better, I’ve fought off two would-be colds, and I’m NOT 17 lbs. HEAVIER! You know my goal is 25 lbs. less by the end of one year. That means I only have to lose seven more pounds. But I NEED to lose a lot MORE than seven more pounds. However, I believe in attainable goals. And 25 seems reasonable, not to mention doable. Just between you and me, I’d actually LOVE to lose 60. And maybe I will. But we’ll see.

What will happen, without doubt, is my body will continue to regenerate and rebuild me according to my Manufacturer’s instructions, through every choice I make about what to eat or whether or not I move. And in one year I can be better and less vulnerable to illness, aging, and disease, or I can vote to accelerate all those processes. You have the exact same choices before you.

__________________________________________________

Every choice you make for today is also a choice for your future.

__________________________________________________

I believe this. That’s why I say it to myself and to you. But I don’t always do it. And chances are, neither will you. However, if we think and act and choose this way as much as possible we can see serious changes in our lives.

Our first heavy hitter this month is MSG, or monosodium glutamate. It is in so much processed food and fast food it could make your head spin like Linda Blair in The Exorcist, and it was definitely in the pea soup they used for her vivid prop because MSG is almost always in processed soups. Even when the labels say, No added MSG, or it isn’t listed as MSG on the label, it's almost always there. It has more aliases than a fugitive on the run. And I want you to know what those aliases are and how to avoid becoming their victim.

But why? What’s the big deal about MSG?

I’m so glad you asked (though that sounded distinctly like my voice.....I'm sure I'm wrong).

MSG is implicated in a great variety of symptoms, allergic reactions, and even disease. We’ll spend a full week on the subject. It’s that broad, compelling, and important. We’ll talk about the different names. And I’ll show you a series of videos that will explain much.

I first discovered I had issues with MSG 20 years ago when I found it triggered migraine headaches. If you’ve ever had a migraine, you never want to live through another one. But as of five years ago, I developed a particularly difficult and painful reaction to the stuff. When I eat it, my stomach swells SERIOUSLY. I mean, to the point I have gone to emergency twice and had CT scans because the doctors just knew I had ascites (fluid in the abdomen). My stomach swells that bad. When it happens it is miserably uncomfortable and I look about nine months pregnant instead of my normal five. It takes at least a day to resolve and sometimes three or four. So believe me, I’ve gotten GREAT at reading labels.

So you know what I did at Costco last week? I took a small sample of Progresso Soup EVEN THOUGH IT’S AGAINST ALL I STAND FOR! No, I don’t eat much in the way of processed foods but I actually had this thought, “Ah, three spoonfuls isn’t gonna hurt and I’m starving because I haven’t eaten yet today. This won’t be my meal but it will get me through.”

Two hours later, that tiny amount of MSG had me praying to deliver. I was nine months pregnant again. It was a miserable night. And it isn’t gas that it causes. It’s swelling of my tissues. The reaction is serious and I hope it doesn’t move to the next stage which could be anaphylaxis. And while my reaction may be out of the ordinary, physical reaction to MSG is NOT. It’s more likely the norm but you don’t realize it is contributing to your issues or even causing them.

A site I like called “Truth In Labeling” even has this banner today that reads:

Alert: H1N1 Vaccines:

MedImmune’s H1N1 vaccine contains monosodium glutamate, hydrolyzed protein gelatin, and various forms of phosphates. See section 11, page 13 of the package insert. For complete details, here’s the link.

http://www.truthinlabeling.org/

I hadn’t planned on getting this vaccine for many reasons but this is certainly another compelling one.

So let’s get started. This is a four part series, though I can only find the first three parts right now. That won’t stop me from showing them and I’ll keep looking. They are more of a time commitment than anything I normally bring you with the first clip running right at six minutes. But this is about our health. We need to learn and be committed to learning. I try to give you quick info that you can absorb and incorporate but I’ll ask a little more this month. And only because I truly care about your health.

Now that you’ve seen this, here are more of the names of MSG. The ones listed here have the HIGHEST percentage. I’ll be adding names MSG goes by as the week goes on but if you are especially sensitive or want to take the fast track, check out this link:

http://www.msgmyth.com/hidename.htm

Their list is amazing and complete. Many of the items that aren’t known to have as much MSG are still huge triggers for me. The information below is from their site.

The following substances contain the highest percentage of factory created free glutamate, with MSG containing 78%:

MSG
Gelatin
Calcium Caseinate

Monosodium glutamate
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP)
Textured Protein

Monopotassium glutamate
Hydrolyzed Plant Protein (HPP)
Yeast Extract

Glutamate
Autolyzed Plant Protein
Yeast food or nutrient

Glutamic Acid
Sodium Caseinate
Autolyzed Yeast

Vegetable Protein Extract
Senomyx (wheat extract labeled as artificial flavor)

BUT!!!!! This one is from ME. ALERT ALERT ALERT!

If you see “Natural Flavors” listed, AVOID. Natural Flavors can OFTEN mean MSG. I have had serious reactions to items with only Natural Flavors as the mystery ingredient. You will see that listed from this site and many others as well. I just don’t want you to have to wait to find out. It’s a BIGGIE.

And please come by in the next few days when I give the details for this month’s contest and introduce you to our newest 30 Day supporter, Great Harvest Bread Company! You will LOVE learning about them and what they have so generously offered to give.

Now let’s eat. FOR REAL!

(And please drop by Robynn's Ravings if you need a laugh today. There's a little story and photos that might give you a chuckle. :) )

Our Winners For October!

2009-11-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to DJan at D-Jan-ity who is the winner of our dinner for two at Chipotle Restaurants! This woman is amazing. She has jumped out of airplanes thousands of times in her skydiving adventures, hikes more miles in a day than I sometimes walk in a week, and takes life with the gusto of a twenty year old. And she's in her 60's. She is very inspiring and a great writer. If you've never had the chance to meet her, please drop by. You'll be hooked.

DJan, this dinner includes Chipotle's monster burritos, fresh chips with guacamole, and drinks. I checked and I think the closest restaurant to you is in Seattle or Everett. Hope that’s not TOO far! If you haven’t eaten there, I know you’ll love it. You can make your burritos 100% vegetarian. :)

Here’s just a sample of what’s available:

One of their chic restaurants:

Our second winner is Kate, at Tatersmama's Take on Things who wins Nina Planck’s book, Real Food or Real Food for Mother and Baby. I’ll let you decide, Katie. Just let me know.

Katie will keep you in stitches so go prepared to laugh and hear her tell it JUST like it is. She doesn't pull any punches. She has a heart the size of Australia, where she lives (though she needs to come back to California where she's from and where I live), and spends her days caring for kids with challenges. She has faced many herself and I am blessed to know her. You will be, too. Drop by if you haven't met her yet. Congratulations, Katie! You will really enjoy this book!

And this is the lovely author. She has had a profound influence on me and I appreciate her so very much.

My sincere thanks to our sponsors and to all of you for your fabulous efforts and encouragement - to me and to each other. Keep coming back. We have more contests this month with details to be announced tomorrow.

Let’s eat. FOR REAL!

Photography Source: Internet

Last Day – Contest Drawing at Midnight

2009-10-31T11:51:00.001-07:00

I love geeks. Just had to share the Death Star someone carved. But definitely not ME. I’m doing well to carve a couple of teeth into a pumpkin.

And then there was Dwight, from The Office. You either love this show or detest it. But Dwight is a personal favorite in our family.

And finally, this one because I’m daunted just trying to figure out how to make sure TWO pumpkins are carved today. I really have nothing in common with overachievers. But this IS UTTERLY AWESOME.

Today is the last day of our exercise focus. Tomorrow, November 1st, we will launch into learning about what in the world all those labels on our food mean. We'll also continue to eat REAL FOOD, exercise, and I'll be posting more recipes. Tonight at midnight - it IS Halloween you know - I'll draw the names of our contest winners. Dinner for two to Chipotle is one prize and the book "Real Food" by Nina Planck is the other. If you have commented here this month and are following, you are entered.

November will bring another corporate sponsor with a delightful giveaway. Can't WAIT to tell you about them!

Great job working at moving this month. Keep going!

Happy Halloween!

Boost Immunity Through Exercise

2009-10-29T08:18:00.001-07:00

Proof where there’s a will, there’s a way. I’m thinkin’ this guy’s is forward thinking, sorta. He realizes he’ll need this walker when he’s through.

Wouldn’t you know that the month I promote exercise is the very month it has been hardest for me to maintain? But I have to figure out a way to get back on track, literally.

I’m in and out of the hospital with my stepfather nearly constantly and, consequently, I’m coming into contact with nearly everything out there that can make me sick. And when you’re caring for others (and most of us are in some capacity or another), your immune soldiers have to prevail in all attacks.

Enter your lymphatic system.

The lymphatic system is made up of your tonsils, spleen, and thymus, along with lymph nodes throughout your body and a highly intricate network of permeable capillaries that keep it flowing and exchanging proteins and fluids. But did you know all this happens through movement? We are designed to exercise. We were not created to be sedentary. Our systems don’t function optimally when our muscles and joints aren’t pressed into action.

Here’s an excerpt from today’s Daily Health News, Bottom Line Secrets:

Healthy Immunity

In addition to flushing out waste products and microorganisms, the lymphatic system also helps maintain the body’s internal environment, including controlling immune traffic. "When the body perceives an invader, such as a virus, messages are sent via the lymph system to mobilize a response," Dr. Rockson explained. "Antibodies produced within the lymph nodes are released to attack the virus. When it’s working well, we stay healthy -- and if we’re sick, it helps us get healthy again."

A number of conditions, including cancer, autoimmune diseases, chronic infections, diabetes and other metabolic issues can impair the lymphatic system, in which case special care is required. Otherwise, it’s not really all that difficult to keep things functioning smoothly -- and good health and vitality are the rewards for doing so. Here’s Dr. Rockson’s advice on how best to keep the lymphatic system in optimal working order...

Exercise

While the cardiovascular system has the heart working on its behalf to pump blood throughout the body, the lymphatic system has no primary organ to circulate lymph, instead relying on the muscular contractions that accompany exercise and regular movement of the human body. Though I’d heard that rebound exercise (for instance, jumping rope or hopping on a trampoline) can be helpful in maintaining lymph health, Dr. Rockson told me that’s not necessary. In fact, he said, "jumping on a trampoline is no more effective than brisk walking. The key is to engage the muscles, joints and ligaments in regular exercise, which keeps lymph flowing through the body so it can carry out its job."

Nutrition

The lymphatic system is distributed throughout the entire body, which means that all components of a healthy lifestyle help it function well. This, of course, includes a healthful diet. Calling it "a basic anatomical function," Dr. Rockwell told me that in healthy people the lymph system pretty much takes care of itself. He points out, however, that flavonoids from fruits, vegetables and herbs, seem to have some "augmenting functions" related to the lymph system. Hydration is also important, as is doing all that you can to support proper digestion and enhance absorption of nutrients.

Doesn’t this last bit sound like us and what we’re already working to accomplish? But maybe, like ME, you need to pump up the volume on your immunity. That means making time to care for ourselves, through nutrition and exercise, so we CAN care for others. And as a mom, it makes me feel even better when I tell my teenage son to click off the computer or gaming console and haul his posterior outside.

Even though he’s reluctant to believe me, I keep telling him I’m right about everything. Well, now I have proof.

At least about nutrition and exercise.

Let’s move. And eat. FOR REAL.

A Walk On The Wild Side

2009-10-26T18:11:00.000-07:00

This should inspire us.

Your heart will definitely get a workout just watching. My stomach still hasn’t relocated itself to its proper position. Kelly at The Glass Dragonfly posted this and I had to share it with you. Suddenly, my sidewalk is looking inviting. But I can’t say it looks nearly as thrilling.

The Caminito del Rey is a walkway pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, near Álora in Málaga, Spain

Wikipedia has this to say:

The walkway has now gone many years without maintenance, and is in a highly deteriorated and dangerous state. It is one meter (3 ft) in width, and is over 700 feet (200 m) above the river. Nearly all of the path has no handrail. Some parts of the walkway have completely collapsed and have been replaced by a beam and a metallic wire on the wall. Many people have lost their lives on the walkway in recent years. After four people died in two accidents in 1999 and 2000, the local government closed the entrances. However, adventurous tourists still find their way into the walkway.

Happy walking!

To Be Or Not To Be……

2009-10-24T12:50:00.000-07:00

OBNOXIOUS.

It’s a fine line we walk when we learn something new or develop a healthy habit. We want everyone to know so they can go forth and do likewise, especially our families. But enthusiasm can cross the boundary into irritating nag or self-righteous bore. Ever had a lovely dinner party dampened into a wet blanket evening by the proclamations of someone on a new diet? Been advised as to what you should, or shouldn’t, order? Had someone wade into your moment with unsolicited advice? If so, and you know me in real life, all I can say is, “Uh, sorry……”

I’m a zealot.

I try to reserve my “enthusiasm” for the interested but, well, it doesn’t always work. I can get a little exuberant, if you will. Just ask my family.

Me to Bo one week ago:

Me: “Honey, what are you eating for lunch at college?’

Bo: ……silence……

Me: “Are you packing a lunch?”

Bo: “Well……….:

Me: “Honey, you can’t go all day without eating and then go buy something unhealthy. I’m sure you’re eating something. What is it?”

Bo: “Well, sometimes I buy a Poptart if I don’t pack my lunch. They’re only a buck and they actually don’t have that many calories.”

Me: “A POPTART?! A POPTART? They don’t have that many CALORIES?! Who cares about calories?! They don’t have ANY nutrition! THEY even know it. Their advertising only claims their food is ‘FUN!’ Even THEY know it’s junk! You know all these facts. You CAN’T feed yourself on a Poptart!”

These types of interactions always encourage full disclosure from your teens. It’s a gift. What can I say.

It can be the same with exercise for some. I’m a little more gracious here because I struggle mightily in this area. Exercise is the FIRST thing to go for me when my days are jam packed and time is tight. The family wants food so that’s a number one priority. They couldn’t care less if I walked, rode, or went to the gym. That’s me and me alone. But when I get really consistent – like one day in a row – I want everyone to be consistent with me. So when Sharon at Sharon Linne Faulk tweeted about an article on this subject, I had to read it. I must say, I wish I was so freakishly fit I could AFFORD to be this annoying, but the author draws a broad brush stroke so I knew I better listen up.

Here is an excerpt:

5. You're Inflexible

Some fitness freaks have an all-or-nothing approach to living healthy. Take it too far and you not only annoy others, you may not be enjoying life as much as you could. You might be inflexible if you:

Bring carrot sticks to every party - If you're on a special diet, that's fine, but turning up your nose at every dish might offend others.
Are the resident calorie counter - At a birthday party, you're the one who shouts, "I read that one piece of birthday cake has 947 calories."
Refuse to eat anything you haven't had analyzed in a laboratory.

Bend a Little

Being healthy means making healthy choices most (emphasis mine) of the time. However, allowing some indulgence from time to time can enrich your life and make you more approachable to others.

8. You May Be Insensitive

"You'd be beautiful if you lost weight - You have such a pretty face!" We've all heard that cliché, and fitness freaks can be just as insensitive sometimes by:

Oversimplifying - It's not helpful to say, "Why don't you just eat less?" to a person struggling with the scale.
Condescending - Saying, "You can't keep up? You really should work on your endurance," to your friend will not inspire more workouts.
Dismissive - If you get what you consider a silly question ("How do I use a treadmill?"), dismissing it ("What? Everyone knows how to use a treadmill!") ensures they won't ask another one.

We fitness freaks forget what it's like to be a beginner. Remembering our own struggles can help us empathize and give encouragement when needed.

To read the full article which alternately made me laugh and cringe go here: http://exercise.about.com/od/healthinjuries/tp/annoyingfitnessfreak.htm

I hope you know, wherever you are with exercising or eating, we are about TRYING here at 30 Day Throw Down. No one wins or loses based on pounds lost or miles walked. We all win when we make healthy choices meal after meal and mile after mile.

And I have to confess, this has been a horrid week for me for exercise. My schedule, like yours, has been very busy. But I have had care for my mom and stepdad inserted into my life. He has been in and out of the hospital and then went home last week. I have been the shopper, gopher, advisor, visitor, and last night, ambulance driver director as I told the emergency medical personnel what hospital to take him to. He fell. Again. He’s old and stubborn and won’t use the walker he’s supposed to. I’ll probably be just like him. But this time it cost him a broken hip. And his health is already extremely fragile and he is frail. Tomorrow they will operate. It’s likely my exercise will consist of running in and out of the hospital. I will take the stairs every chance I get but I need more. Much more.

However, this isn’t a sprint. 30 Day is a marathon. I’m not exercising for 30 days. It’s simply my 30 Day focus. I will continue to challenge myself throughout the year. I want to get better. I WILL get better. I know you will, too. And your stories encourage me. Please keep them coming.

And remember if you’re planning to invite me to any dinner parties, I can run off at the mouth. Keep a lot of food in front of me. I promise I won’t inspect its origins, at least out loud. :)

References: 10 Signs You Might Be an Annoying Fitness Freak by Paige Waehner for About.com

Magic Soup

2009-10-20T23:25:00.001-07:00

Okay. I told you about THE soup. I make lots of soups but this one is supernatural. When you look at it in the pot before you go through the final step, well, it’s not all that exciting. It tastes like a cream soup but has very few of the calories of a cream or milk based soup. Grizzly said I almost ruined it for him by telling him that healthy fact. So let me almost ruin it for you, too, because that’s what friends are for.

In my previous post I know I mentioned the rating system we use. One star would mean it should be thrown away before anyone dies and five star is almost once-in-a-lifetime food. Everybody gave this a four star. Grizzly downgraded it to three-and-a-half when he found out it didn’t have any actual cream but then I fixed the soup again last night. A double batch. And Grizzly ate so much I barely had leftovers. And he actually upgraded it to four-and-a-half. That’s when I dubbed it magic soup.

It’s actually called Winter Pottage. But I don’t think that’s a soup name. It’s more a description of what I usually become during the winter. But don’t let the name fool you. I adapted it from a cookbook a dear friend gave me for my birthday. The book is from Cooking Light and is called Cook Smart Eat Well. I’m systematically going through it and deciding what fits with what I’m doing and what doesn’t. One recipe called for Velveeta. Hmmm. Sorry Velveeta lovers but that was an instant reject. I grew up on Velveeta, the mystery cheese, and I thought it was gross even then. I never met a real cheese until we had a blind date when I was about fifteen. I fell in love and dumped Velveeta. No cheese should have a name that sounds like a star in a Mexican soap opera. If you can kiss it you shouldn’t top your spaghetti with it. That’s just a rule I live by. Feel free to make it your own.

As I was saying before I threw myself in front of my train of thought, you have to try this soup. Here’s what you’ll need:

I know why the Israelites complained about not having leeks and garlic when they wandered through the wilderness. I’m not saying they should have complained. But if I had been among them I’m sure I would’ve been the lead whiner. Most people go to the store when they’re out of bread and milk. I go to the store when I’m out of leeks, onions, and garlic. They cover a multitude of sins. Amen. Now join me in singing the hymn, “Bringing in The Sheaves,” which I actually thought was a song about toilet paper when I was little. “We shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves.” Don’t ask because I have no idea what the answer is.

All ingredients I list are organic unless otherwise stated, and the 365 brand comes from Whole Foods but there are lots of good sources, locally grown being the first and usually best choice. This is about REAL food after all. The book makes no such distinction but I think we all know it’s what we’re striving for. And this recipe is for 4 servings. I double it so I’ll have leftovers. Cooking twice as much of something you like makes two meals – and that’s half as much work.

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoon butter
1 cup thinly sliced leek (about 1 large)
1/2 cup sliced celery
6 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cups chopped broccoli florets
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1 cup frozen shelled edamame (fresh soybeans)*
1 cup frozen petite green peas
1 tablespoon rice, uncooked (I use brown)
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons organic chicken base (I use “Better Than Bouillon” reduced sodium)
2 1/2 cups water
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt (not organic because it’s sea salt)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Lemon wedges (optional)
Cracked black pepper (optional)

*Super important to use organic soybeans as 80-85% of all soybeans are genetically altered (GMO).

1. Heat oil and butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leeks and celery; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic; cook 1 minute. Add broccoli and next 5 ingredients. Stir in broth and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

THE MAGIC STEP:

2. Place one-third of vegetable mixture in a food processor or blender; process until smooth. Pour pureed mixture into a large bowl; repeat procedure with remaining vegetable mixture. Stir in lemon juice, salt, and 1/4 black pepper. Garnish with lemon wedges and cracked pepper, if desired.

Now, here’s how I cook. I swirl the olive oil bottle around the pan, slap a dab of butter in there, cut my leeks in half lengthwise so I can properly clean them, crush 6 cloves of garlic in my Pampered Chef garlic press, put more broccoli than it calls for, probably more spinach, too, definitely more red pepper, and DEFINITELY more black pepper. And when I blend the soup mixture, I only do it for short bursts checking to make sure it still has little pieces in it. I don’t want it to be perfectly smooth. I do this with every recipe. I always change it up and make it my own. So this is theirs and mine in a kind of cooking confusion.

I served this with quesadillas filled with a sharp cheddar and gruyere. The cheddar was not organic but the gruyere was raw. And gruyere is very strong so I used just a little. The flavor goes a long way.

Now I’m off to go have a bowl of leftovers for a way-too-late dinner but I had choir practice tonight where something happened that elevated me from idiot status to complete moron. But hey, promotions don’t come along every day. It’ll be on Robynn's Ravings very shortly.

But please make the soup. And don’t put any Velveeta in it.

Now let’s eat. For REAL!

I Did Nothing But Exercise The WHOLE Time

2009-10-18T17:08:00.001-07:00

Hi honey, I’m home! It’s official. Microsoft and Comcast kissed and made up so life will now resume as I know it.

And I made good use of my time and exercise goals by walking back and forth between the stove and refrigerator at least 500 times. And 400 of those times I was looking in the fridge for the chives. It’s a tad crammed in there.

Because while I was away I cooked. And cooked. And cooked. I owe you recipes. I have a soup you will SWEAR is cream of broccoli and it has nothing but INCREDIBLE ingredients to the tune of about 150 calories a serving. Had I told Grizzly this he would never have eaten it. I like to ask the fam to rate my recipes and he gave it four stars out of five. When I mentioned the “no cream” part he lowered it to three-and-a-half strictly on principle. (The kids stuck with a solid four.) And then there’s the Leek, Corn, and Red Potato Chowder. Did you know red potatoes don’t affect your glycemic index the way regular potatoes do? They are the stars of the potato family. Such good food. Such healthy choices.

Then I ruined it all with glazed orange and cranberry scones.

I honestly took the majority of them to our church potluck today but the family was ready to revolt if I didn’t make a weekend treat. And the occasional sweet isn’t what kills us. It’s a diet of sweets. I have a rule that the only sweet anyone can buy is ice-cream and that has to be made with REAL ingredients and only purchased occasionally. Everything else has to be labor intensive. It keeps us from reaching for quick junk food. Most of the time, after fixing dinner or lunches, no one is much inclined to cook again and make a mess just for a treat.

So, I’ll be back with the first of the recipes and photos hopefully tomorrow but right now, I have to go ride my bike.

I write a health blog you know.

Now let’s eat and exercise. FOR REAL!

Please stop by and visit Robynn's Ravings if your life feels too sane.

ALERT!!

2009-10-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

A quick note to say California and maybe some other areas are being tromped by our internet server, Comcast. I'm on a borrowed computer and service is hit and miss. Apparently Microsoft updated something yesterday and it has caused wide spread problems. The national news reports that all of Sweden lost internet connection today. So far, so good, Microsoft! And we thought Vista had problems. I don't know when I'll be back on but surely soon. Until then, maybe I'll get laundry done! I feel like I'm back in the dark ages. Maybe I'll light a candle and start chiseling out my next post.

How will I live without you?!

Goodbye! Hopefully not forever!

An Interview With Our Winner – Joolzmac!

2009-10-14T15:36:00.001-07:00

As you all know by now, Ms. Joolzmac was our winner of the $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway. You may remember I promised to interview the winner with a link back to her blog. (Oh, PLEASE visit!) Joolz gave such a fanTAStic interview that I’m posting it on Robynn's Ravings tomorrow, too. I hope you’ll visit her. She has a true gift for presenting her food in a beautiful fashion and kept great track of what she ate last month. I was always hungry for REAL FOOD after I left her blog. Mouth watering I tell ya.

So without any more blathering from me, I’ll let Joolz speak for herself.

1. How did you hear about the 30 Day Throw Down?

I think you commented on one of my posts or on another blog and then I went to Robynn’s Ravings for a look-see. I was hooked!

2. What made you want to jump in with us?

I think because it was going to be the first day of Spring on Sept 1, (Joolz is in Australia) and it seemed like the ideal time to start a healthy eating plan. I referred to it as my LIVEit not my DIEt. Everything that you said made perfect sense to me and it was empowering and encouraging. I chose to go the low fat/sugar healthy eating road where others may have just embraced eating whole foods, grains, nuts, organic vegetables. Market fresh produce is not hugely available in our area so I had to rely on our stupid-markets. Don’t get me wrong, we still have fresh fruit and veg but the apples may have been picked 6 months ago and have been in cold storage and the carrots, well they probably can’t remember that dirty brown stuff they grew in. We have always used low fat, skim milk and low fat cheese so I didn’t start eating whole milk and full fat cheese. I ‘threw down’ cheese that was processed and wrapped in single plastic wrappers, stuff like that.

3. How did the first phase - leaving fast food and highly processed food behind - work for you?

We are not huge junk food eaters in our house anyway. Living in a small town of 5,000 people, we have a Red Rooster chicken takeaway (blech! don't go there, girlfriend!), a locally owned Chicken takeaway (hmmm, yep, yummy!), 2 pizza bars and a Chinese/Thai take-way and a couple of fish and chip shops but we don’t have McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc. etc. McDonalds, KFC and Hungry Jacks are 50kms away.

4. Did your family join you or did you do it on your own?

Neither Angus or Brianna need to lose weight but they certainly ate what I cooked. Angus likes to eat healthy anyway and Brianna has to have what we have or she doesn’t get fed. Breakfast is a personal choice and Angus always has cereal and fruit, juice, tea and toast. Always! Bri is more likely to eat a muffin heated up, or a …. chocolate cup cake heated up…. or a chocolate fudge brownie heated up…there’s a bit of work for me to do there! I always make/take Angus his lunch so usually it is a bread roll with meat (ham, beef, or turkey) and salad in it, a tub of yoghurt and an apple or banana. He is a healthy boy and only drinks water, no soft drinks (soda). In Australia we have things called meat pies and meat and vegetable pasties – very convenient food that you buy at the bakery in a paper bag. You push it to the top of the paper bag (hopefully it has tomato sauce (ketchup) on it and you can eat it – while walking, driving your car, watching the footy etc. Angus would not consider having a pie or pasty for lunch. I, on the other hand, love to do this. I also love small goods – salami, hot dogs, cabanossi, pepperoni. Junk food alert!! Please pass the carrot sticks! Where are my prunes?

5. What were your challenges?

The biggest challenge was being prepared and organized all the time. It’s easy to make a healthy lunch if there is the right food in the fridge. If there isn’t, that’s where bad alternatives sneak in. Into the 3rd week, I started to forget to cut up my fruit for fruit salad(melons, strawberries, apples, banana) so by the fourth week, I was only eating 1 banana a day instead of about 3 serves of fruit. I still haven’t had any real junk food (purchased) but I did have some ‘naughty’ food at the engagement party we went to. Not much, but some.

6. Do you think this has made you think more about caring for your body and your health?

Definitely! I am 45 years old and the kilos are creeping on and I have proved that they are very hard to budge at this age. Low fat, simple whole food is almost a necessity to maintain good health at this age. Exercise is harder because we are not as nimble as those 20 year olds, bouncing around at the gym. My joints creak and ache now so I probably have arthritis to look forward to later in life – I need to keep the weight off and keep my body moving to help in that area. I walk 5 kms, 5 days a week, rain, hail or shine and this definitely keeps my knees joints strong (I wear elastic knee braces on both for support) plus it’s good to get some fresh air in your lungs, feel the rain on your face (?) and feel the sun on your back (at 6am....pffft!). I have just bought a pedometer and some hand weights to strengthen my upper body.

7. Did you feel any better or are you noticing differences?

I do feel better. Although the scales said I only lost 1.5 kgs in the 30 days, I could notice a difference around my under-arms, my thighs and I lost a bit of my double-chin...I think! I need to do some tummy tightening exercises to tone up but, yup, I hate doing crunches etc. But I NEED to!

8. What tips would you offer that were helpful to you?

Planning is key – have good food on hand otherwise it is too easy to grab takeaway. At the same time, make sure you have a variety of options for lunches – I found salad rolls etc get very boring after about 2 weeks. Look for other things to have as a light meal. Take healthy snacks with you – a small zip-lock bag of pretzels or 10 rice crackers to munch on while your waiting to pick the kids up (better than a chocolate bar), bananas and apples are very portable for snacking, keep a bottle of water always on hand. Find time to think about and prepare your food – I let half a pineapple and half a watermelon go to waste in the fridge because I couldn’t be bothered cutting them up, but I ate bananas because they are convenient and ready to go. Find recipes that you know you will like. Don’t try and eat foods you don’t like, just because they are healthy. I will not touch cottage cheese even if you tell me it is good for me! Yuck! The internet is a fantastic resource for low fat recipes, go buy some cook books and ask you friends what they like to eat when they are weight watching. Try to modify your favourite recipes by cutting down on the fat and sugar content. You can do a stir fry in a wok with 2 teaspoons of oil instead of 2 tablespoons – you won’t notice the difference when you are eating it. If a cake says to use 1 cup of sugar, try using ½ or ¾ of a cup instead. The kids will never know! Get into a routine that suits you and your family. I usually walk at 6am, home at 7am, pack Bri’s lunch box then Brianna is on the bus at 7.30am. I do a bit of housework then eat my breakfast at 8.30 and read the paper, after Angus has gone to work. My morning is then my own for other chores, then I shower and get ready for work by 10.30am. Any variation to this and I find I don’t eat breakfast then I’m hungry mid morning etc. It’s okay to use some processed foods – tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, stock powder.

9. Would you mind sharing a few recipes or meal ideas?

I think there are quite a few recipes in my Throw Down posts. I really liked the cannelloni and Rippa Rissoles are good. I have a low fat Bolognese recipe that I will post later in the coming week.
You have a phenomenal talent for making your food look delicious. I wanted to eat at your house many times during that first 30 days! What makes that important to you? Thank you! None of my photos are really staged, I just have it in my head that I will photograph what I am cooking and I always try to plate up a meal nicely. Angus and I love watching cooking shows (probably too much!) and we have lots of cook books so I guess it just sticks in your mind how things should/could look when plated up.
What would you like to see covered in a 30 day period? I think you are on the right track with Eating Healthy and Move It! Perhaps we could discuss family hobbies and things to do together as a couple or family (although my chickens have basically flown the coop), grief and coping with death (why is it such a taboo subject when it happens to all of us eventually?), women’s health in general, coping with stress, PMT etc.

10. Any advice for someone just starting to think about healthy changes?

Say NO to HI (Human Interference) and say YES to FRESH! I didn’t really touch much on this during my 30 days but it is a good philosophy. If a human has interfered with a product to change it from it’s natural form – don’t touch it. Eg. Say NO to cheese wrapped in individual plastic portions – say YES and choose to eat a chunk of cheese of a bigger chunk of cheese (you can still choose low fat). Say no to chicken nuggets that have been minced with fat and cereal and extenders and preservatives then deep fried – say YES to a whole free range chicken breast, cut into chunks, dipped in egg, flour and bread crumbs then oven baked. Yum! Fresh squeezed juices have so many more benefits than fake reconstituted, concentrated fruit juice ‘drinks’ – cut up 2-3 chilled oranges and squeeze the juice and try for yourself. Hey, that's what orange juice should taste like! Buy a juicer and give my 2 Fruit/3 veg drink a go. Your kids will thank you!

11. Did you ever swear at me during that first month?

No, how could I swear at someone with such a sweet, smiley face....though I thought about bludgeoning you in your sleep, maybe! Just kidding! Lol! No, you really did inspire me and perhaps I’ve relaxed my eating a bit in the last week or so – but I am still not eating processed foods, my snacks are healthy (like carrot sticks and salsa, prunes, cranberry ‘craisins’, etc)and drinking water too.

Lastly, Joolz adds:

Something to think about - Why are we being forced to read ridiculous labels that nobody can understand, when the best foods in the world don’t have any labels? – Dr. John Tickell, author of The Great Australian Diet…the Atkins Alternative.

Thank you so much Robynn, it’s been fun and rewarding to do the September 30 Day Throw Down and I look forward to new, fun and interesting topics to discuss in the coming months.

___________________________________________________

Didn’t Joolz provide great information? And I LOVE her LIVEit, not DIEt. Inspired!!!

Want to join us? Want to be in the current month’s drawing for dinner for two to Chipotle? Would you love to receive one of Nina Planck’s books: REAL FOOD, or her brand new release, REAL FOOD FOR MOTHER AND BABY? Then jump in, sign up to follow the 30 Day Throw Down blog, and leave a comment saying you’re now one of us. “One of us” means you’re on a journey to health, 30 days at a time. We plan to improve habits and learn something new or challenge ourselves in 30 day increments for a year. How about you? Where will YOU be one year from now? Will you be a better you or will you find yourself WISHING you had done it and were now feeling great about your choices? This is GENTLE. It ISN’T a diet. It’s an embracing of delicious REAL food and waking up to what’s taking us down the wrong path to ill health, obesity, and limitation. And I’m not your skinny-mini fearless leader in any way, shape, or form. I started this because I need to do it. I’m learning and working right alongside you. Yes, I have years of information but what I needed was a way to put it all to good use. That’s what the 30 Day Throw Down is all about.

We’re in our second month and focusing on exercise but you can start NOW! Pop in and track along with us. Begin by saying no to fast food and processed food and yes to REAL FOOD. This is THE biggest key to regaining health. We’re not perfect – but we’re working toward significant changes. You aren’t judged. No one is a failure. We’re not here to beat each other up but to encourage one another to good works! We laugh, we confess, we celebrate success, and we get better. Hope to see you!

And THANKS Joolzmac!

(Photography by Bo….)

Exercise And Health Challenges

2009-10-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

“What can I do for exercise when I can’t do much?”

“I don’t have the physical health to exercise even though I want to.”

“I’m trying to regain health. I’m eating well but I’m not ready to hit the gym. What about me?”

“Shouldn’t I be pushing myself hard to realize any real benefit from exercise?”

These are questions I’ve heard from people by email and in person. (I’m amazed at the number of people I run into in my own circle who say they read this blog and I never even knew it – yes, hello, you know who you are. :) ) And they are questions I’ve dealt with in my own life as I’ve coped with challenging health issues.

Make no mistake: I’ve never been an athlete but I liked to be active when I was younger and played lots of racket ball, snow skied, water skied, and have always been as strong as a draft horse. And I like to think I weight lift – every time I get out of bed. But I also cut my fitness teeth during the period of exercise espousing, “No pain, no gain.” So what would be the point to a stroll around the block?

In our modern, industrialized society we have too often taken joy out of exercise and inserted work. Yes, normal day-to-day activity of yesteryear caused most people to move and exercise without thought AS they worked. It was the stuff of life. And now we often have to carve out time to challenge our bodies after hours of doing what I’m doing right now – sitting and working. But strolling and walking were also pleasurable activities in time past and done for fresh air, to enjoy the day or season, to talk or visit, or to clear the mind. Today, unless we are power walking or running, working at the optimum heart rate (which we are to check frequently), or completely exhausted when we’re done, we may think of ourselves as physical flops. We forget that there are lovely benefits in gentle exercise and, no matter what fitness level you’re at, peaceful movement can enhance health and recovery within the body.

Dr. Roger Jahnke says in his contribution to Optimal Digestive Health:

“It is not unusual for people to believe that more aggressive exercise equals more gain…..and yet many are unable to do vigorous exercise due to health limitations. The primary reason for modifying aggressive exercise to gentle exercise is this: When you do vigorous exercise you produce that fuel, that vital resource, but because of the vigorous nature of the exercise, most of that fuel is burned and expended by the muscles. When gentle exercise practices are done you still produce that fuel, but instead of spending it on the exertion of exercise itself, your body uses this fuel as a healing resource, literally an inner medicine.

So no matter what kind of exercise you have typically been doing or that you feel you should be doing, consider lightening the exertion a little and slowing the process down. Next engage the breath in a meaningful sort of way, in a kind of rhythmic, deep, slow, relaxed fashion. Finally adjust the mind toward a deep state of relaxation. By clearing the mind and refusing to engage in list making and worry, you curtail the adrenaline-based aspect of your nervous system activity. This activates a whole array of inner healing factors.”

(This is my inner silhouette. It’s deep inside. VERY deep.)

Our challenge this week? Do SOMETHING. And give yourself credit for it. Just as in our eating we are striving for improvement, not perfection, look for ways to move that are healthy even though they may seem too easy. Take a stroll, not a power walk, after lunch or dinner and count your blessings as you go. No matter what’s happening in your life, there are still things to be thankful for. Take time to stretch. I’m always amazed at how good stretching feels and I wonder why I don’t do it more. Practice deep breathing and letting your mind have a rest from worry and anxiety. I try to remember the verse from I Peter 5:7 “Casting all your cares on Him for he cares for you.” If I could remember to say this and do this a LOT more, my cortisol and stress levels would drop dramatically.

We were created to move and our bodies don’t function unless we do. (Did you hear that, Robynn?) So this week, learn to embrace and feel the effects of gentle exercise. If you’re in a vigorous routine to work at your optimum level of endurance, great! But don’t forget to take time to slow down and move for the sheer JOY of it!

Now let’s eat AND move. For REAL.

Easy Riders

2009-10-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

This highlights a few of the trails we like to take. Our area is blessed to have great riding paths which offers me ample opportunity to ride and hardly any room for excuses. I squeeze them in anyway.

The biker gang. And the biker chick DETESTS having my picture taken. But I do LOVE this rare family photo. I think I’ll get one made to actually hang on the wall. I have photos but none include me and the kids get incredibly aggravated about it. Besides, I want to remember the fun we have on these trails each time I see the photo. What I don’t want to remember are my arms. Or the sleeveless top. But I chose comfort over looks. You were probably aware of this immediately. And when I look at this, I can’t comprehend that at 5’ 6” everyone in the family is now taller than me. Years of raw milk went into these children – MY raw milk. And the family tree points to a few Vikings in our past. I’m a believer.

This is my double duty bike. I love my bike and panniers (bike bags) for grocery shopping. But I know with each pound I lose, it is GRATEFUL.

Bo is headed for a lovely tunnel.

This is how these two have always been – so sweet, so caring, so connected. Except when they’re killing each other. There really isn’t much in between.

Happy girl.

A break.

The Wild Man. That helmet has saved his bacon three times. It didn’t help his arm last year, though. That was broken in two places. However, it was very dramatic and cool and got a bright green cast. What guy could ask for more?

My two favorite men in the whole world.

Another tunnel.

A park along the trail. The kids still want to play on all the structures.

My goofballs.

The destination:

The goofballs danced in front of the store when someone pulled up with very loud music.

Don’t you think the expression on The Wild Man’s face closely matches the one on the woman painted on the window? I think they’re both concerned about the girl in the striped shirt.

Where our bread comes from. $2.99 for organic, sprouted wheat bread. There ARE deals to be had out there for REAL FOOD!

A different way home with another beckoning path…….

……..and a creek running right beside it. I walked this creek in the dry season when I was only five or six years old. I can’t believe it’s still here. The city has grown up around it.

And honestly? This isn’t much of a tree picture. But I had to include it because at this moment the kids dashed off for yet another park and Grizzly and I stopped to take pictures of the stream. He headed down while I paused and took in the moment. The sun was setting and the shadows behind me were deepening. I could feel the cool breeze blowing through my hair and it had a sweet smell. These trees were very gently rustling right in front of me and for that moment, time stopped. And I prayed. And I thanked God with a very full heart. Here we were, all together, all happy, able to ride bikes and enjoy movement and laughter and simply being together. And I wanted a picture of what I was gazing at when all of it felt indescribably complete.

Grasses that caught our eye.

And one more photo I played with because……I could. I wanted something vivid – like this day.

Thanks for riding with us. Please send in your comments and tell me what YOU’RE doing!

Now let’s move and eat, FOR REAL!

(If you enjoy these posts you might like my main blog, Robynn's Ravings The latest post: "And THEN It Ripped My Head Off.")

We've Got to MOVE it MOVE it!

2009-10-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

I worked in the yard yesterday - like this woman. Well, maybe I didn't have the chainsaw but I had clippers and rakes and bags, oh my. And I worked so fast and furiously my chubby legs and sausage arms were trembling with excitement - or lay-down-and-die fatigue - but I prefer to think it was excitement. Are you out of shape when two hours of vigorous yard work makes you feel like you've run the Boston Marathon? And I'm already so sore from the 28 miles we did on the bikes in two days that I could have actually flopped on the bed for a week and spent the time congratualating myself. But NOOOOOOOOOOO. I have YOU guys to answer to and write to and move for. So I'm MOOOving. Are YOU?

(This is something you're dying to know so I'm sharing. My backside is so sore from that bicycle seat I am currently perched forward on the edge of my chair to avoid all posterior contact with any hard surface. There. I am cleansed. Confession is good for the soul and bad for the reputation.)

I am buffet-ed - not buff. Grizzly says he is Flabio - not Fabio. But we are moving! Now it's YOUR move. Tell me what you're doing! We are going on a bike ride again. The weather says we have to. Pictures. There SHALL be pictures!

And don't forget to STAY AWAY FROM FAST FOOD AND HIGHLY PROCESSED FOODS! Reach for the good stuff. We are making progress. Walk, run, roll, reach, pull, push, swing, dance, whack, punch, kick, sweep, rake, wash, grab, throw, shoot, jump, pedal, and run-off-at-the-mouth, like me. But GO!

Now let's MOVE - and EAT - for REAL!

Are We Moving Yet?

2009-10-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here the bike does the work. It deserves overtime. Maybe even hazard pay.

Here the guy does the work. HE deserves overtime. And hazard pay. And avalanche pay. And impossible-feats-performed-by-humans pay.

There is a distinct difference in the body style of these two individuals. I wonder what caused it?

I’m afraid when I rode my bike today I may have resembled the guy with the gargantuan, er, profile, more than the guy with the gargantuan load. I would have taken pictures of myself but that would have required me to remember my camera. I was too busy figuring out how many groceries we could fit into the panniers (bike bags). We, the four of us, rode thirteen miles round trip to Trader Joe’s and did some shopping. We’re going again tomorrow. I promise to take the camera.

But I won’t look nearly as cool as this guy. I don’t have antlers:

And I’m thinking if the rides get very much longer, this could come in very handy:

I do notice the toilet paper holder is empty. I don’t care if the toilet seat IS pink. This is not owned by a woman. Women know how to replace the toilet paper. It is not a chore for the faint of heart. It cannot be performed by men or children. It you have either of these species living in your home you will testify that I am right. When I start riding this, it will have toilet paper. And it will roll over the top. And I’ll put an extra roll on the toilet tank. Oh. And I’ll flush.

Keep MOVING!

If you like it here you might also like my main blog, Robynn's Ravings :)

It’s EXERCISE Month at 30 Day!

2009-10-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer to keep myself legal: Please check with your physician before starting any physical exercise program. The 30 Day Throw Down! is not intended to diagnose, treat, or address health concerns best handled by your own doctor. So there you go.

Now………

Let’s keep reaching for the healthy food. We can’t quit! I’ll bet you’re craving less, enjoying what you eat more, and realizing some good changes. I would love to share them here. (Contact me if you’re interested in being a guest blogger for a post during this month.)

But now we add exercise to our healthy eating!

As for me, I’m dustin’ off my clodhoppers and trying to find two socks that match. I’m also deciding which top best covers all my fat parts but I’m not sure I won’t draw unwanted attention with a sleeping bag zipped up to my chin. And it gets so hot trying to walk in it. So I suppose I’ll have to hit the trail in my shorts and shirt and dark glasses. And I’ll try not to make eye contact with anyone who might remotely recognize me.

I need to do this. Telling you I that I will, that I am, makes me have to do it. Which makes me feel like kicking myself. But I’m not that limber anymore. I used to be able to kick my own rear end. Literally. Back when my legs were skinny and they stretched like taffy. Then I ate the taffy. Now they’re more like that hard Christmas candy nobody eats and it sits around in your grandmother’s house gathering dust. Except that’s a ridiculous simile. My legs are more jiggly than hard. Maybe I’m more like old jello. You wanna be me right now, I can tell.

This is our month to begin exercising. Some of you beat me to the punch and started pushing yourself awhile ago. Good for you. You are ahead of the game. I have walked a few times but with the weather near 100 all the time, it was too hot. That’s what fat people say (I know....I'm fat....I hear myself all the time!). Today it cooled off to 78. The weather isn’t even willing to aid and abet me anymore. I’ve come to the end of my excuse rope.

My exercise plan consists of several parts. I have been trying to make myself go to the gym but I have discovered I truly detest the treadmill. I really don’t mind walking but I like to do it outdoors. What I DO like about the gym is the weight machines and the sauna. Consequently, I will combine these two forms of exercise. That’ll work out for the dogs and I’ll get a dose of sunshine (which we’ll talk more about later). Occasionally, I’ll ride my bike and I’m hoping to get a Wii Fit game to go with our Wii console. Maybe I can even rent a few learn-to-dance DVDs. Not hip-hop dancing, I’m pretty sure. My parts could start flyin' up and down and if they made contact with my head, I could suffer a serious brain injury. I plan to avoid extreme sports like that for the time being. This too:

There have been great benefits to eating healthily and you deserve to know what they are. Mind you, I started getting serious about a month before I started the Throw Down so I was losing a little weight already. But since that time until now, I have lost 15 lbs. I’m happy I didn’t gain 15 lbs. but I’m not too excited just yet. This is because I have gained and lost 25 lbs. three times in the last six years. I won’t get myself all lathered up until I leave the 25 lb. mark. It’s like when you go on vacation and you don’t really feel like you’ve gone anywhere until none of your surroundings look familiar. But when I hit 26 lbs., you will HEAR from me.

Another benefit is a lack of headaches. Years ago I used to get migraines with the longest one lasting six days. Through the years they reduced in severity as I improved my diet and started taking a small dose of a beta blocker. But I still get those niggling headaches that I pop Excedrin for, and the migraine breaks through once in awhile. The downside is Excedrin has aspirin in it and that has prevented me from giving blood sometimes, which I believe I should do. Yesterday, The Wild Man (my son) and I were driving by the blood bank and I looked at him and said, “I’m stopping in to share a pint.” He said, “Cool. I can eat Twinkies.” He isn’t converted yet.

But I figured it was a great way to finish off an incredible period of healthy eating – whoever gets that blood from yesterday will get one heck of a healthy cocktail. And I realized nothing prevented me from donating because I haven’t had to take an Excedrin for a couple of weeks. And a pint of blood weighs one pound. Bonus!

So, ladies and gentlemen, start your engines. No matter what your condition, you can do something. If you have health issues you really should check to be sure you’re not harming yourself in anyway but even the bedridden can usually do something. Deep breathing – yes, that’s an exercise. Did you know it activates your spleen and lymphatic system, boosting your immune power? You can do isometrics by tightening muscle groups. Lift small weights. Lift one pound cans. Increase your housework. Start working in the yard (note to self). Go for a walk. Ride your bike. Dance. Head to the gym. Maybe you’ll work up to running four miles a day like my friend, Reginia. Maybe you’ll run a marathon like my friend, Christy. Maybe – just maybe – you’ll hike steep mountain ascents and jump out of planes THOUSANDS of times like my blogging friend, DJan, who is in her 60’s.

I think I’ll start with deep breathing. My spleen will thank me. It’s afraid of heights rights now.

And by the way, The Wild Man shoved in a chocolate Hostess cupcake before I could do anything but I stopped him cold in his sloshing-down-the-soda tracks. Even lying in a chair with a needle in my arm I have mother-vision. He got one sip and I made him throw it out and get juice. I know. I’m no fun. But he wants to be healthier and stronger so it was the least I could do. And I always try to do the least I can do.

Now let’s eat (AND exercise). For REAL.

We Have A Winner!

2009-09-30T17:16:00.001-07:00

WHAT A MONTH! What an inspiring group of people to travel with down this road to healthier habits. I wish every one of you could win the gift card.

However, one name has been drawn and it is: JOOLZMAC!!

Joolz, congratulations to you! Please email me at robynnsravings at gmail dot com to tell me how to contact you. I will be sending this directly to you through Amazon.

(I’m sure they would have thrown this party in your honor!)

I can’t wait to interview Joolzmac and find out about her month, her challenges, her successes, and her tips.

Don’t forget, tomorrow we start our 30 Day Throw Down! exercise focus. That will look different for each one of us. Mine might be aerobic crying fits while I MAKE myself do what I need to but we’re in this together. I won’t fail you!

Be sure to enter the drawings for October by signing up to follow, if you don’t already, and sending me a comment saying you’re joining or you’re continuing. Yay for ALL of us!

Drawing Tomorrow - Our First 30 Days!

2009-09-29T08:39:00.001-07:00

If you’ve been part of the 30 Day Throw Down! and you signed up to follow, you are entered in the drawing for the $100 Amazon Gift Card. The drawing is TOMORROW! The winner will be announced by 6:00p.m., PST. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, the 30 Day Throw Down! is about creating new habits that optimize health and, depending on how you’re fitting it into your life and working it, weight loss, too.

The program is designed to work in one-month increments for a year. Our first month focused on “throwing down” fast food and highly processed foods while reaching for REAL and WHOLE food. We have tried to make organic and locally grown choices, when possible. We will continue to leave the food behind that robs us of health and bring our new habits into our next 30 Day period. If you weren’t perfect through the first month (and who WAS? – we are all about changes and progress, NOT perfection!) you’re one of us and I encourage you to CONTINUE!

You have friends and fellow strugglers who want to jump into healthier ways of living rather than being the proverbial frog who is slowly boiled alive. Remember him? He starts off in a pan of cold water and slowly, tiny bit by tiny bit, the water is heated almost imperceptibly until it’s boiling and too late for the frog who never jumped out. We’re jumpin’ out – together!

If you weren’t ready or able to join us the first month, start with us on October 1st. I encourage you to begin with the basic first month of leaving fast-food and highly processed foods behind (you can access the archives at the 30 Day Throw Down! blog for good information and support). Since this will always run in one-month increments you can work with us from the beginning knowing we’re continuing to focus on that area, too. And although each month will feature posts about what we’re currently working on, food posts will be a consistent part because we eat every day, several times a day. We make choices about our health whenever we reach for food.

October will add the element of movement and exercise. Fall is in the air in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern. What better time to get outdoors and enjoy the weather? You can do both 30 Day periods together if you’re just joining us, but the philosophy of this program is to take one area of focus at a time and slowly add to it, in 30 Day (or one month) increments. This optimizes your chances of success. When we start with drastic changes everywhere, we rarely stay with it for long. Ask yourself how many weight loss programs you’ve started and stopped even though you KNEW at the beginning, this was IT? History and research show it rarely works. The 30 Day Throw Down! is a completely different approach. We slowly build in great habits while we work together, encouraging one another. And there is no weekly fee or pre-packaged food to buy because this isn’t a fad diet or a fast fix. This is a grass-roots way to add healthy changes to your life. It’s about getting back to basics.

In addition to community support, we will also have a drawing or two each month. October will feature dinner at Chipotle as well as book giveaways starting with Real Food and Real Food for Mother And Baby, both by Nina Planck, who has graciously and generously donated books to the cause. Chipotle has also donated meals to support our efforts here. If you don’t know, Chipotle offers a healthy menu of food from sustainable sources and animals raised in natural and humane environments. They are committed to doing business in a way that optimizes our food choices and actually nourishes us instead of simply filling our stomachs. They have restaurants in many locations (including one opening in London) but if they aren’t in your area and you happen to win, pop the certificate into a card and send it as a gift to someone you love (or who you’re hoping will love YOU!) :)

Congratulations to everyone who made the decision this month to optimize your health now and in the future. A gift certificate is great but health is better and lasts longer. We all win by taking care of the body God gave us. I thank you for jumping in with me for this first 30 Days! Let’s keep going and encouraging each other.

Now let’s eat. For REAL!

The Dirty Dozen – Don’t Miss This!

2009-09-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

I got a phone call today from someone who said she was mad at me. I told her to get in line. She told me I had ruined her life. (Hey, I have purpose !) She, whose initials are HELEN, used to enjoy Diet Pepsi but now she’s drinkin’ lemon water. And it’s my fault. Hahahahahahahahahaha. I mean, “Oh, Helen! You poor thing!” Helen loves me. I am not fooled. I’m planning to stay with her when I get to Oklahoma one of these days so I want her to live long and prosper. She wants to hit me with a brick of Velveeta. Yep. It’s love.

Which brings me to my next topic……Lifestyles of the Poor and Obscure.

We are not people of means, as they say. In fact, my daughter interviewed me for a college paper last week and she asked me how I would classify our socio-economic existence. “Middle class,” I replied firmly. Then as I was driving along the other day, I started thinking about it at a red light. I wondered if I should have fudged and said, “Upper middle class” just to sound more important. Then, I wondered some more if that’s what it was called. Which led to further rumination about what the top class is called. High class? Sounds like a dame from a 40’s movie. Aristocracy? Too close to an animated Disney movie. Upper echelon? Seems like a good name for a car.

“Say, Robynn, what are you driving these days?”

“Well, Biff, I’m safely ensconced in an elegant new Upper Echelon!”

“Jinky’s, Robynn!”

“I KNOW, Biff!”

(If being in this class makes me have friends with pretentious names, I’m moving back to the ditch bank.)

I decided then and there, if I don’t know what the upper classes are called, I’m pretty sure I don’t belong.

Which also means, I may not be able to buy every single food item I need from an organic source. If I am forced to budget, and I am, or money is tighter one week than the next (like when your husband is sick with the swine flu and loses almost a week of pay), where do I stretch my dollars? Which items should be organic, if at all possible, and which can help me stretch my dollars while not compromising our health?

For a long time I’ve been aware of a group of fruits and veggies called lovingly, “The Dirty Dozen.” They first mutated into view through our local paper. The Fresno Bee ran an article outlining what the Dirty Dozen were and what local fruit stands had the highest or lowest pesticide load where these items were concerned (not counting, of course, organic and locally grown). Since then, I’ve done much more research.

You probably know by now, one source I check regularly is Mercola.com. Dr. Mercola is a smorgasbord of information and, frankly, you can get overwhelmed. So, I weed and sort and apply what I need and then continue researching so I can bring you the latest.

This is what Dr. Mercola has to say on the subject and I loved it because it’s easy and straightforward:

A 2003 study in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry, for example, found that organic foods are better for fighting cancer. And in 2005, scientists found that, compared to rats that ate conventional diets, organically fed rats experienced various health benefits, including:

Improved immune system status
Better sleeping habits
Less weight and were slimmer than rats fed other diets
Higher vitamin E content in their blood (for organically fed rats)

The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization that advocates for policies that protect global and individual health, produces the Shoppers' Guide to Pesticides in Produce. It is based on the results of nearly 43,000 pesticide tests.

Organic fruits and vegetables are by definition grown without the use of pesticides. But some find the expense of organic foods prohibitive.

Of the 43 different fruit and vegetable categories in the Guide to Pesticides, the following twelve foods had the lowest pesticide load when conventionally grown. Consequently, they are the safest conventionally grown crops to consume:

Broccoli

Eggplant

Cabbage

Banana

Kiwi

Asparagus

Sweet peas (frozen)

Mango

Pineapple

Sweet corn (frozen) – THIS DOES NOT FACTOR IN GMO CORN WHICH WE KNOW IS 80% OF THE CORN CROP IN THE USA, and 84% OF ALL CORN CROPS FROM CANADA. GMO’S SHOULD BE AVOIDED. ~Robynn’s note

Avocado

Onion

Of the 43 different fruit and vegetable categories tested, these 12 fruits and vegetables had the highest pesticide load, making them the most important to buy or grow organic:

Peaches
Apples
Sweet bell peppers
Celery
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Lettuce
Grapes (imported)
Pears
Spinach
Potatoes

Source: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/08/12/12-foods-you-don-t-have-to-buy-organic.aspx

If your memory is anything like mine, you won’t remember these the next time you’re at the store. I recommend you make a little card with this list and carry it with you. Or you could have your child wear a sandwich sign and walk through the store. Boy, if only I had the guts to make them do it! They’re so funny about being made into objects of mockery. I don’t get it.

But wouldn’t a T-Shirt like this be handy? If the 30 Day Throw Down expands, I think our first shirt should feature our logo with this printed underneath. What do you think?

I will also share another list my sweet friend, Kendra, gave me. It is from Alan Greene, M.D., FAAP, who wrote this for Kiwimagonline.com. I like his style because he tells you to start by taking these one at a time and adding more as you can. This is his list with excerpts:

1. Milk. Organic milk is made without antibiotics, artificial hormones and pesticides. (My note: he doesn’t mention raw milk and we all know how I feel about raw milk. By the way, Vicky, if it is done RIGHT, it tastes delicious. My first taste was from a sour bottle which didn’t hurt me. It was just on its way to becoming yogurt but it certainly wasn’t yummy. I drank it not knowing the difference. Boy, was I happy when I got a FRESH bottle!)

2.Potatoes. They are among the vegetables most susceptible to pesticide contamination.

3. Peanut Butter. Molds can grow on peanuts during growth and storage, so fungicide use in very common. Organic farming tendsto result in even less mold without the toxic chemicals. And you skip the corn syrup, sugar, and hydrogenated fats (read trans fats) often found in conventional options. (My note: Surprisingly, organic peanut butter is priced on par with a decent conventional peanut butter.)

4. Baby Food. Our brains grow faster in the first three years of life than at any later time. You can make your own! (LOOK FOR NINA PLANCK’S NEW BOOK – REAL FOOD FOR MOTHER AND BABY. GIVEAWAY COMING IN OCTOBER!)

5. Ketchup. When USDA scientists analyzed the antioxidan and lycopene levels of store-bought, fast-food, and packet ketchups and compared them to organic versions, they found that the organic had 57 % higher levels of lycopene (prevents damage to and heals cells) and double the antioxidant power.

6. Cotton. Less than 2.5% of the world’s agricultural crop is cotton, yet 25% of the world’s agricultural pesticide use is attributable to cotton farming. So why have I placed cotton on a grocery list? About two-thirds of cotton crops are actually used for food production, in the form of cottonseed oil. (My note: another good reason to use foods that are unprocessed or lightly processed. Cottonseed is listed as a vegetable oil. A vegetable. Really? When’s the last time YOU served a side of cotton with YOUR steak? Do you honestly think we are supposed to EAT cotton?)

7. Apples. One of the most pesticide-contaminated fruits, apples are a major source of organophosphate pesticide exposure—the chemical linked to decreased intelligence and increased attention problems in kids.

8. Beef. (The good doctor is worried about saturated fats so recommends grass-fed beef. I’m much more worried about what my beef has been eating. I want animals fed the diet they are designed to eat and to be raised in normal grazing/pecking/rooting conditions. Animals fed this way yield SUPERIOR meat that is leaner and healthier for you. This is the type of meat CHIPOTLE restaurants buy. GIVEAWAY COMING IN OCTOBER!)

9. Soy. In recent years soy has been the domestic crop most contaminated with organophosphate pesticides. To make matters worse, 80% of soy grown in the USA. is genetically modified. (My note: on par with corn.) Products made from organic whole soybeans (are healthier – my edit). Note to my soy eating friends: we will talk more about soy in the future and look at the good (it’s there!), the bad, and the really ugly. All soy (and it’s varying forms) is not equal.

10. Corn. You can read his comments about this on the website but I feel enough is said when 80% of all corn grown in the USA is genetically modified. (Please read labels and unless it says ORGANIC CORN avoid it.)

I thank all of you for your comments – they TRULY mean SO MUCH – your participation, and your encouragement. As Helen and I said today, we’re not perfect but we are progressing and thinking and CARING what goes in our mouths. It’s your fuel.

Don’t ask yourself, “What will my life span be?” Ask instead, “What will my health span be?” Let’s do all we can to maximize any health given to us and use the food God gave us to truly feed and heal ourselves.

Now let’s eat. For REAL.

Photosource: Flikr

Raw Milk And What About Soy?

2009-09-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

I’m diving right in today with another question.

You know I also intended to talk about what foods are especially important to eat from organic sources, and which foods offer a little more latitude. And I did. It was in this post. But you come here to read articles, not books. Consequently, I had to break this up into two posts. I’m answering the raw milk question first as it has been on the back burner too long.

Some have asked, “What is raw milk? How is it different from regular milk?” Excellent question and I am very happy to talk about it and share more REAL FOOD with you.

Raw milk is just that – straight out of the cow. Nothing happens to to change it and all its lovely life-giving properties are intact, waiting to nourish your body, exactly the way God created it to be.

When I first heard of raw milk I didn’t even entertain the idea. I had heard the hype and presumed it was going to sicken me and/or my family. Then a dear, fresh-faced young friend from our church started talking to me about it one day and I became intrigued. Her family couldn’t have been healthier and her children were bright and beautiful. She was from Russia and had grown up on raw milk. She wanted her options and her health back and sought them out. Her skin began to glow again and her weight righted itself (she had gained weight on the traditional American diet). At her urging, I decided to accompany her to her source, Organic Pastures Dairy Company near Fresno, where I met the raw milk evangelist, Mark McAfee, and I became a raw milk drinker. That was three years ago. And now, we are rarely without a bottle of raw milk in our refrigerator.

(Mark, his wife Blaine, and the ladies who give us the REAL milk.)

In fact, we drink so much raw milk I sometimes think I should own a cow. But the neighbors on my suburbian block would probably be unhappy about all the mooing. And having your own cow is a huge undertaking. You don’t decide one morning you’re too tired to milk her. And you know why, if you’ve ever nursed. YOU know the feeling of two watermelons on your chest nearing imminent explosion. Consequently, you can’t do that to your cow. And I do like to sleep in occasionally. I’d probably be a bad cow owner with huge teats. I mean the cows teats, of course. On the cow. (This is a great example of how you can get in trouble with a dangling participle. Perhaps I should just stop now. It might be getting worse.)

Mooooving on, I realize I haven’t explained much about raw milk other than I drink it and should, or should not, own a cow. And I’m also realizing this is a subject so near and dear to my heart, I could write about it for a whole 30 Day period by itself. But suffice it to say, raw milk is unpasteurized and is not homogenized. It is loaded with GOOD beneficial bacteria (read probiotics) that balance your digestive system. I’m sure we’ve all seen the ads promoting digestive function through the addition of bacterial cultures to the products being promoted. They usually add ONE bacteria type. That’s ONE tiny fractional amount of good bacteria to a pasteurized product. A yogurt I buy adds four. My milk? It contains dozens. And vital enzymes. And vitamins. And amino acids. And immunoglobulins (antibodies).

So, what’s so bad about pasteurization? Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures Dairy in California provides the following important information on his website:

What happens to bacteria in pasteurized milk after pasteurization?
”After pasteurization, bacteria found naturally in milk are killed. During the high temperature heating process, cell bodies of these bacteria are ruptured and their contents are spilled, releasing intracellular proteins. This causes many milk drinkers to suffer histamine or allergic reactions. Almost all of these same consumers can drink raw milk and not have allergies. The high levels of bacteria permitted in milk intended for pasteurization are still found in pasteurized milk; they are just dead and not removed by the process.”

What is homogenization?
”Homogenization is the process of destroying the natural butter fat cells found in raw natural milk. This process uses extreme pressure to break apart the soft buoyant fat cells, which cause the remaining small fat pieces to blend into milk and no longer float to the top making the cream line. Some European countries have studies that show that this process is dangerous and may strongly contribute to heart disease and arterial plaguing. Our FDA disputes these findings under pressure from the strong dairy lobby. Homogenization is not a required step, but rather a step of convenience to deny the consumer the ability to see how much cream is actually in the milk they buy.”

Dr. Tom Cowan at Real Milk has this to say:

“Fresh raw milk, from cows eating well-manured green grass is a living unprocessed whole food. Compare this to the supposedly "healthy" soy milk which has been washed in acids and alkalis, ultrapasteurized, then allowed to sit in a box for many months.” (My note: this doesn’t even take into account the overabundance of plant estrogens in soy and their impact on women AND men. I would never give my son soy unless it was fermented or in the occasional organic edame beans or organic tofu, the way Asian countries have enjoyed it for years.)

The following excerpt is the tip of the soy iceberg story from the Weston A. Price Foundation where much more information is available about soy, though their primary focus is the benefit of raw milk. From the Weston A. Price Foundation and Sally Fallon Morell http://www.westonaprice.org/press/press-13jul09.html:

“Soy is touted as a way to save money and to provide a diet lower in calories and saturated fat. However, soybeans contain plant estrogens and other toxins and anti-nutrients that make soy products unacceptable as a source of nutrition except in very small amounts. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lists over 200 studies showing toxicity of soy in its Poisonous Plant Database (http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~djw/pltx.cgi?QUERY=soy). Although the FDA allowed a soy-prevents-heart disease health claim in 1999, the agency is considering revoking that claim in the face of evidence that soy does not lower cholesterol and does not prevent heart disease.”

and…….

“Soy foods and soy milk contain plant estrogens that cause endocrine disruption as well as components that block the uptake of protein and the utilization important vitamins and minerals,” says nutritionist Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, author of The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food. “Consumed in large amounts, soy foods can lead to serious reproductive and thyroid problems as well as malnutrition. Soy is totally unacceptable as a major food source, especially for growing children. The Israeli Health Ministry in 2005 warned its citizens that children should not eat soy foods or drink soy milk more than once per day or more than 3 times per week. It also advised adult men to exercise caution because of adverse effects on fertility."

If you want to find out more, MUCH is available from the experts. Check out these links:

http://www.organicpastures.com/whyraw.html

http://www.realmilk.com/raw.html

http://www.westonaprice.org/

http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/raw_milk_health_benefits.html

Many of us here are already raw milk drinkers. If you would like to enjoy the benefits raw milk can bring during the 30 Day Throw Down! challenge, make sure you have a healthy source. What the cows are fed is essential. They should be organically raised on a grass-fed diet. Cows are HERBivores. They don’t eat corn, or cow feed, or whatever is usually thrown into the feeding troughs. They WILL eat it because they’re hungry but it isn’t the correct or healthy diet for them. They shouldn’t stand around in their own excrement like many commercial herds do that produce pasteurized milk. And you should have a dairyman you trust that cares about your health and the health of his herds. If you decide you want the lovely benefits raw milk provides, look for these basic standards in the milk you choose.

(Check your local laws on purchasing raw milk. It is readily available in some states and not in others and laws vary from country to country. Some people are so passionate about their raw milk they will buy it on the black market when it is not available. Yes. There is a black market for natural, pure raw milk. But you can easily get a prescription drug that may kill you tomorrow and is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.A., right behind heart attack, cancer, and stroke.)

The world is often upside down. Think for yourself and ask ALL the hard questions.

Now let’s eat. For REAL.

Be sure to drop in to Robynn's Ravings to find out what REALLY happens when you're cooped up with your husband, a teenage son, and the swine flu.

Is It Worth It?

2009-09-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

Monetize:

–verb (used with object), -tized, -tiz⋅ing.

1. to coin into money: to monetize gold.

2. to take a blog, put a PayPal feature on it, go to sleep thinking maybe someone, somewhere, someday will actually click it, wake up and then update letter to Santa Claus.

Now, I have to say though, I am FLATTERED beyond BELIEF that two of my friends who are working the 30 Day Throw Down! have suggested I add a feature monetizing this blog. Dee and Tatersmama? I feel LOVED!! But do you truly believe anyone would click that button?

I have button phobia.

I put one up at Robynn’s Ravings 9 months ago when I started just in case, I don’t know, Warren Buffet stopped by, or Bill Gates. What’s ten bucks to the likes of them? Or a million? But as far as I can tell the thing is rusted shut. No one has ever dropped in one thin dime or even a wooden nickel. If it was a pay phone, the company would have ripped it out by now. But I leave it up like a message in a bottle, hoping someday, somewhere, it’ll wash up on the shore of some lottery winner who will feel generous and say, “Doggone it, girl! You made me laugh today. Here’s the $1 I meant to shove in the Starbucks tip cup and forgot. All that guy did was slop coffee on my shirt sleeve!”

But you know what? I’ve never clicked anyone’s button either.

That’s the complete truth so I have to say it. I have sent things. I have taken my birthday and Christmas money given to me and had contests – it’s my money and I can do what I want with it so I have fun on my blog. I have forgone a contest I won because the folks had fallen on hard times and, well, I couldn’t take something from them even if I won it. I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy it. I have to have something guilt free or it’s pointless. And I’d feel guilty knowing I was enjoying something someone suffered for. So, why don’t I click THEIR buttons? It isn’t because they aren’t worth it. It simply doesn’t cross my mind as I’m reading their posts. I rarely peruse all the little sidebar gadgets. I’m happy if I can visit and read. I figure most everybody else feels the same.

But Dee and Tatersmama think the 30 Day blog offers valuable information. And they want to see me throw another bottle into the ocean. So, I am going to honor their faith in me and we’ll all stand on the shore together holding hands and hoping Warren Buffet’s yacht runs right into it. We can dream can’t we? So, by tomorrow night, maybe I’ll get my button up here and finish my letter to Santa.

Shhhhh. She’s nuts. Now go eat an organic carrot.

Okay. It’s Monday. We only have ten days to go, if you count today and I do, to finish our first month. Some of you may be lagging. Maybe you’re growing weary of well doing and want to give up and say it doesn’t matter. Don’t do it! It does! You do! I’ll be FAT without you! I AM fat. Don’t forget that. I’m counting on you for support. What happens if I turn on the computer, gaze into the blog and I’m the only one commenting to myself?

“Wow! Great post, Robynn. You sure inspire me. You had me goin’ there for a minute! I wasn’t sure WHAT you were gonna say! ROFL! Oh girl, why don’t you go click that Paypal button. You’re WORTH it! What a gal!”

You wouldn’t do THAT to me, would you?

We have to march forward. Toward health. And I’m happy to lead yet I’m remembering the old saying, “If you think you’re leading but no one is following, you’re really just taking a walk.” Not that a walk would hurt me. And we’re getting ready to walk, run, swim, dance, ride, crawl, lift, push, pull, or cross our eyes. Whatever it takes and whatever we haven’t been doing, we’ll be stepping up in ten days time to the next phase of the 30 Day Throw Down. We’ll take our new habits with us and, of course, I’ll continue to write about food. But we were made to move or else God just gave me muscles as a joke. I’m pretty sure He’s not laughing at what I’ve done with them so far, though I must admit they have given their ALL just trying to hold up my stomach.

Oh Lord, why did I start this? Now I HAVE to exercise. I guess that’s the point. So let’s buck up, Buckies. Let’s finish our first 30 Days strong! We are doing good things. We are learning, improving, making progress, feeding ourselves and feeding our families healthy food. We are a force! We are an influence! We are NOT quitters. We will be part of something bigger than any one of us by ourselves.

Next up, more questions and good info on which foods should really be organic and which aren't as vital.

Now let’s eat. For REAL.

Breaking News From The USDA

2009-09-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

When the USDA comes out and tells us we need to know where our food is coming from and they post it to YOU TUBE, the world may be coming to an end. This was posted a few days ago. Pass this along on your own blogs and spread the word my friends!

And yes, dear sweet Tatersmama, sister of my heart. THIS is a GROUP. (Tatersmama left me a comment about how good it is to have this group to help us all along. And then she said, “It is a group, isn’t it?”) Do you know how many times I think of YOU ALL when I’m making food decisions? Our efforts, together, give me strength. I never even sent anyone for fast food when we were coming down with this flu. No, friends, I stood at the stove with a 102 temp and made minestrone soup. All that’s really left after that kind of martyrdom is to be burned at the stake. I’m avoiding all open flames.

Be bold! Be strong! Heck, even the GOVERNMENT is starting to agree with us.

Now let’s eat. For REAL.

More Q & A And Insider Information

2009-09-17T13:36:00.000-07:00

“Every moment that we are alive we’re literally re-creating ourselves, and we do it a little differently every day-we don’t remain exactly the same. Because our world is always changing we must continually adapt, so one of the indications of disease is the loss of adaptability-when we’re no longer able to adjust comfortably and naturally to the shifting circumstances of our lives. The health of the digestive system is crucial to maintaining our ability to adapt and to be well, for a lifetime.”

~Dr. Efrem Korngold, a contributing author to the book, Optimal Digestive Health – A Complete Guide.

I started this book a couple of years ago and it has become a rich resource for healing. The above is a tiny snippet from a nearly six-hundred page tome that has proven invaluable. My digestive system, and especially my liver, have taken some severe hits over the years due to medications and a likely blood disorder. Doctors traditionally medicate. My liver needed to heal. It didn’t DO medication. They don’t have many answers for that. So I set off on a search to optimize my health. Healing my body by what I decide to put in my mouth seemed so fundamental. And I could be my own guinea pig. But was I really a guinea pig?

If I ate food in its natural and healthy state, the way God created it, did that, in fact, make me a lab rat? Or was the food being churned out and adulterated into something barely recognizable actually the stuff lab rats are made of?

I have been journeying to find out the answers and now I’ve come to a place I like and I’ve decided to build. That’s why the 30 Day Throw Down! began. These are my new digs. So, here's the insider information: My plans include turning this experience into a book. For those of you willing, I’ll share some of your stories, too, and where to find you in the blogging world. So keep commenting here and sharing on your blogs and please spread the word. We can maximize our health and encourage others.

This is doable, 30 Days at a time.

Now, more Q & A.

1. I’m afraid to come around here because I’m not doing this with you. Will you still love me?

YES! Please, do you know how long it took me to arrive at the point of walking down this path? And I don’t think there is anything more annoying than food police. You know the ones. We’ve all had the distinct pleasure of dining with them. They never miss an opportunity to talk about the 3oz. they need to lose, inform us of their cholesterol numbers, scrutinize our choices and inform us that we are not Weight Watching enough, or we’re eating outside the Zone, or we’re obviously at the North Beach instead of the South. Or they’re more subtle but we get their point, right in the eyeball. “Oh no,” they’ll protest. “I would never eat that. I’VE got to lose this 5 pounds for the next triathlon I’m in. But you go right ahead.”

Yeah, they’re gobs of fun. And we see right through them like an open window.

This is not a police state. This is for those of us who feel our time has come. Who need to make some serious choices for health and/or weight related issues. We don’t feel superior. We feel challenged. You might be one of those lucky individuals who is hale and hearty no matter what you do. I’m not. I’m a canary and always have been. I’m among the first to be knocked out when things go wrong. This program is not a value judgment and we’re all at different places for varying reasons. If I limited my friends to only those who share my exact opinions on everything I’d be lonely. I’d be RIGHT. But lonely. (And that was a joke. And they say if you have to explain something as a joke, you’re a bad joke teller. Okay. I can live with that.)

2. What if you aren’t fortunate enough to have a Farmers’ Market?

I realize living in a major metropolitan area, and especially California where we have crops year round, makes it decidedly easier to make healthy choices. And those beloved local, organic farmers who bring their bounty to us are revered. But you may not have that in your area. So make your best choices and keep up the fruits and veggies, wherever you buy them. Remember, fast food and highly processed foods are the heavy hitters for substandard nutrition and food filled with GMOs. Avoiding those is a HUGE improvement. Be proud of your efforts. If you WANT to have more choices you can think about starting a grass-roots effort.

I have noticed that major grocery chains are starting to respond to greater consumer awareness and demand. I don’t go into a grocery store that doesn’t have some kind of organic fruit and vegetable section. It’s still paltry but there’s an awareness. So ASK. Several times. Make phone calls. Think about creating a co-op with others for fresh fruits and veggies to be trucked in. I have an acquaintance here that meets a guy out on highway 99 on a regular basis who brings her grains and beans and other organic items from Oregon. And that’s hundreds of miles from here. But he has a customer base in our area so it’s worth his while. Nina Planck, author of Real Food and Real Food for Mother And Baby (recently released) started the first Farmers’ Markets in London when she lived there. One person can make a difference.

3. What about items you can’t buy locally like organic tea, or organic coffee, or organic soy based products?

I have some opinions on soy but they would best be discussed in a different month and focus. For now, let me say that most of us will need and purchase items that don’t come from where we live. Yesterday, I went to an oriental market and bought seaweed from Korea because I believe in the health benefits of sea vegetables. But I don’t live near the ocean and I haven’t seen anyone dragging around a stalk of kelp. Even at the Farmers’ Market. Make your best choices.

I do try to buy coffee and tea that are organic and fair-trade. Fair trade simply means that the farmers who are growing it are compensated fairly for their efforts and afforded a livable wage. They are not glorified slave labor working and starving while a huge manufacturer gets rich. I buy mine at Trader Joe’s. And the cans advertise it boldly. Starbucks claims that all of its coffees and teas are fair-trade. It’s not unusual. And it’s not too hard to find. We don’t buy coffee but we do buy coffee beans. We grind our own for that espresso maker that is Grizzly’s Other Woman. Hey, she fixes Americanos for me, too, so I’m not complaining. And I started my day off this morning with a great cup of green tea spiced with raw honey, cinnamon sticks, and cloves. What time is it? 1:17p.m.? Do not do as I do. I haven’t eaten yet. That’s bad. I’m telling you…..I STRUGGLE, TOO!! That’s why we’re in this together.

Now let’s eat. For REAL.

Please stop by my main blog and join the fun at Robynn's Ravings

Q & A – Round II

2009-09-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

You keep me searching for answers. I have to admit, I thought I knew quite a bit about food and its source but I’m finding more all the time. I don’t want to overwhelm you but I’ll pass along info as you ask. I have received a few inquiries about what an unknown item is in a food that was purchased. Also, some of you aren’t highly familiar with GMO’s so, today’s column will address those two concerns.

1. What is modified corn starch?

Regular corn starch is often used for thickening in soups and gravies and when heated you get the thickness you’re looking for. However, when reheated, cornstarch breaks down and gets thinner and sometimes a little lumpy. This isn’t desirable to food manufacturers so the cornstarch is modified to retain thickness and consistency. This modification can be done chemically or through other methods. It’s used in a number of processed foods that will be reheated, especially in the microwave (we’ll talk about that in a different 30 Day period), and also used in some dairy products to maintain the desired look and consistency manufacturers want. The problem with any corn product would be its likelihood to contain genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) if it’s not organic. Fully 80% of all corn grown in the U.S.A. is genetically modified and about 85% of all the corn grown in Canada.

2. What is GMO food?

GMO food is a created food. It doesn’t occur in nature. Your parents probably didn’t eat it and your grandparents certainly didn’t grow up on it, though they most likely are eating it now, unaware. It was created in a lab. A common slang name for it is “Frankenfood.”

The following is an excerpt from a website called, “Just Say No to GMO.” You can find them at http://www.saynotogmos.org/:

FROM “JUST SAY NO TO GMO”

Q: What is genetic engineering?

A: Genetic engineering involves taking genes from one species and inserting them into another. For example, genes from an arctic flounder which has "antifreeze" properties may be spliced into a tomato to prevent frost damage.

Q: Is genetic engineering precise?

A: No. It is impossible to guide the insertion of the new gene. This can lead to unpredictable effects. Also, genes do not work in isolation but in highly complex relationships which are not understood. Any change to the DNA at any point will affect it throughout its length in ways scientists cannot predict. The claim by some that they can is both arrogant and untrue.

Q: Isn't GM just an extension of traditional breeding practices?

A: No - GM bears no resemblance to traditional breeding techniques. The government's own Genetic Modification (Contained Use) Regulations admit this when it defines GM as "the altering of the genetic material in that organism in a way that does not occur naturally by mating or natural recombination or both".

Traditional breeding techniques operate within established natural boundaries which allow reproduction to take place only between closely related forms. Thus tomatoes can cross-pollinate with other tomatoes but not soya beans; cows can mate only with cows and not sheep. These genes in their natural groupings have been finely tuned to work harmoniously together by millions of years of evolution. Genetic engineering crosses genes between unrelated species which would never cross-breed in nature.

Q: Could this be dangerous?

A: Potentially, yes. In one case, soya bean engineered with a gene from a brazil nut gave rise to allergic reactions in people sensitive to the nuts. Most genes being introduced into GM plants have never been part of the food supply so we can't know if they are likely to be allergenic.

More seriously, in 1989 there was an outbreak of a new disease in the US, contracted by over 5,000 people and traced back to a batch of L-tryptophan food supplement produced with GM bacteria. Even though it contained less than 0.1 per cent of a highly toxic compound, 37 people died and 1,500 were left with permanent disabilities. More may have died, but the American Centre for Disease Control stopped counting in 1991.

The US government declared that it was not GM that was at fault but a failure in the purification process. However, the company concerned, Showa Denko, admitted that the low-level purification process had been used without ill effect in non-GM batches. Scientists at Showa Denko blame the GM process for producing traces of a potent new toxin. This new toxin had never been found in non-GM versions of the product.”

And From Dr. Mercola in “GMO’s: An Accident Waiting to Happen:

“Genetically modified foods did not exist prior to 1995. Ninety percent of the money Americans spend on food is spent on processed foods, and SEVENTY PERCENT of processed foods have genetically modified foods in them.

There have been NO STUDIES done with humans to show what happens when genetically modified foods are consumed. The FDA has ASSUMED that these modified foods are equivalent to the original foods and does not require any studies to have them approved, despite the fact that this technology has never before existed in the history of the world.

This is especially troubling in light of the United State’s federal track record on genetically engineered safety, which is terrible.

For example, genetically modified Starlink corn was approved for animal consumption, but NOT human consumption because of a concern that it could cause allergies in humans. However, Starlink corn wound up directly in the human food supply, despite FDA precautions.

This lack of regulation and total irresponsibility in using genetically modified foods is a disaster waiting to happen.”

Gee. This wasn’t all that funny today. Sorry about that. But people altering the genes in our food doesn’t have much hilarity to it. It IS a good reason to be patting yourselves on the back for choosing organic as much as possible and trying to eliminate highly processed foods and fast foods which primarily use highly processed food to begin with, commercially farmed foods, and meat from animals living in deplorably crowded conditions. And that’s crappy, if you know what I mean.

The biggest problem facing consumers is that GMO’s are rarely labeled on your food. But if 70% of processed food contains them, well, I may not be a scientist but even I can do the math on those odds. If I buy processed, unless it’s organic, I have a 70% chance of eating Frankenfood. No thanks.

Dear friends-o-mine, every reduction and thoughtful decision we can make about what goes in our mouths, and the mouths of those we love, makes a difference. Knowledge is not only power, it’s health. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed at times and think, “What’s the point?” But there IS a point and we’re progressing! And this is about PROGRESS and knowledge and daily decisions to eat GOOD, REAL FOOD, not an imitation. We vote every day with our food shopping dollars. Vote for health.

Now let’s eat. For REAL.

Please drop by and visit my main blog, Robynn's Ravings where I plug away at the humorous, usually.

The Simple Life

2009-09-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

(Photo by "Bo" when we were at the Farmers' Market last Saturday.)

It has been over a month since I have pointed the nose of my car, or my own nose for that matter, into the drive-through of a fast food outlet. I have not darkened a door, salivated over swill (isn’t that the best word and completely disgusting?), or pined for the polluted. Gee. When I put it in all these glowing terms, I’m not that surprised. Telling myself the truth is very appetite suppressing.

I thought I would find this swearing-off difficult. I have two teens. One of them, The Wild Man, is a 14-year-old boy and that seems almost synonymous with fast food. But I haven’t missed it and it hasn’t been hard. It has actually simplified my life in ways I didn’t expect.

Several times a week we either grabbed fast food for lunch or took the easy road for dinner. There was the typical casting around for what everyone wanted, or what was most economical, tasty, or desired. We had to eliminate what we were tired of, or sometimes debate between pizza and chinese. Then there was the dickering that sometimes ensued with The Wild Man over why we shouldn’t go to McDonald’s and how I might throw up if he made me. In front of everyone there. Just for effect.

All of this angst over which crappy food to eat.

But the coup de grace of the whole fiasco was mothering guilt. I knew I shouldn’t be caving. I knew I shouldn’t feed my growing kids food that came from God-knows-where, literally, with God-knows-WHAT in it. And because God knows, I seriously doubted he would offer his approbation. He would want better for us than junk, given the option. And I worried about what I was doing to my own body. If I felt horrid after I ate, I was relatively confident that was a bad sign and I certainly shouldn’t be feeding it to my family.

All that has disappeared.

Yes, my grocery bill has gone up. But my fast food bill has gone to zero. I spend no time in angst and there are no family debates about what or where to eat. Peace has descended. I do have to think about what to fix but that’s simple in comparison and it’s all guilt free. In fact, I feel jubilant every time I lay out a healthy meal in front of the fam. I know I’m doing a good thing.

The Wild Man knows, too.

Last week he had an opportunity to go to a party. And he got food poisoning. Probably from a hot dog. The CDC and FDA both make this recommendation:

“Do not eat hot dogs and luncheon meats, unless they are reheated until steaming hot.” When was the last time YOU had a steaming bologna sandwich? Mmmmm. And hot dogs are just long bologna. Or baloney. That must be why we use it in the euphemism, “You’re full of baloney.” It’s not a good thing.

The poor guy has had a headache, muscle aches, fever, and, well OTHER symptoms I dare not mention here in case he ever reads this and subsequently decides to terminate my power cord. He is improving, slowly. I am giving him healthy food as he can tolerate it. But he still went to bed with a headache and general malaise last night.

The good news? He said next time he wants to pack his own lunch. “You know Mom, I just can’t EAT stuff like that.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Let’s Eat. For REAL.

Stay tuned for more answers to your great questions and please visit Robynn's Ravings, my main blog. :)

Your Excellent Questions

2009-09-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

You have been commenting and emailing and even posting about the 30 Day Throw Down! and you amaze me with your efforts. So now, I’ll try and answer your questions which are well thought out and make ME think. I’m counting that as exercise this month. I’ve burned three calories.

1. Is this a diet?

No. And yes. Yes, in the sense that whatever you’re eating is a diet. Diet, in our society, has come to mean calorie restriction for the sake of weight loss. But it really doesn’t mean that at all. It simply means what you’re eating to feed yourself. So, if you ate nothing but anchovies, Twinkies, and an occasional bottle of horseradish, that would be your diet. And you would need professional help. And mouthwash. And friends.

Our diet here is simply what we’re eating and we are trying not to eat fast food/highly processed foods. We’re becoming aware of healthier choices through eating REAL food – food just as it comes to us in nature or, at times, is lightly processed - meaning you recognize what's on the ingredients label and nothing is a mystery. Food that, if possible or feasible for YOU, is grown locally and/or produced organically.

THIS ISN’T ALWAYS POSSIBLE. Remember what I tell you because it’s also what I tell myself – and yes, I talk to myself – I enjoy the ~~demented~~ intelligent conversation: Make your best choice and feel GOOD about it. Not everyone has family who thinks this is a great idea. Not everyone has an overflowing Farmers’ Market. Budgets are finite for most of us. But do bear in mind that eating poorly is not without cost. If affects energy level and productivity, susceptibility to illness, frequently adds weight, and can have long-term impact on overall health and vulnerability to serious disease. If you’ve ever paid even one hospital bill, you know that illness is a lot more expensive than eating healthily.

(Healthily – doesn’t that look wrong? It’s not. It is the appropriate suffix for the word. Most Americans say “healthfully” and I will continue to do so occasionally because I conform to non-conformity. But also, to tilt my axis, I will say “healthily” thereby proving I can. And then I’ll be all puffed up about myself.)

2. Don’t you think we should be exercising?

Yes. I think YOU should. I think I should put all my energies into excuse making. At least, that’s what I seem to do quite effectively. But not starting October 1st. That’s when our new 30 Day segment will begin and, in addition to continuing on with our healthy food, we will challenge ourselves to exercise at whatever level we can. THIS one is going to kill me. I’m doing it anyway. Remember, the premise of this whole idea is to make healthy changes simply, slowly, and in manageable increments. Most of us can’t, won’t, and don’t continue on with rapid and drastic changes. Especially if we’re starving. Which leads me to my next question……

3. Should I be losing weight?

That’s up to you. Portion control and the right balance of fats, proteins, and complex carbohydrates can impact your health and weight. We will take 30 Days to focus on this as well. This is a year-long program. In one year, our efforts and our investment in knowledge and health will add up to serious life changes. I’m thinking if I lose two pounds a month, I will be 24 lbs. lighter at the end of a year, without a fad diet. When was the last time you came to the end of a year 24 lbs. lighter without a serious "diet" during the year? Not very often, for most of us. And if we did, we were usually waiting ‘til the blasted thing was over so we could get back to the food we thought we wanted to eat. And when the weight came back it brought friends and then the 25 became 45, or 75, or more. Believe me, I know.

You may lose far more than that. I may lose more than that. Because the reality is, you cannot eat well, exercise, portion control, and a myriad of other things we will focus on, and not see an impact on the scale. If you don’t need to lose weight and are doing this strictly for the health benefits, there is no need to restrict your portions but you still want to chose well and feed yourself as if it mattered. Because it does. (By the way, I'm down 12 lbs. since starting to be truly focused two months ago. I'm thinkin' 24+ lbs. in a year is NOT going to be a problem. And I'm not STARVING. Quite the opposite.)

4. I cheated. I ate sugar. I ate chocolate. I ate pie (mmm…pie).

Cheating is not possible. Cheating would mean there is a big rule list and there are consequences for straying from it. No such thing exists here. We are making progress, not attempting to achieve perfection. If you eat healthily, or healthfully, 75% of the time, and that’s vastly different from what you were doing before, you are WAY ahead already. Guilt is counterproductive. Only we can assess our goals and ask ourselves if our choices are helping us reach them.

This is about freedom. Freedom to eat REAL food: butter, meat, eggs, honey, grains, fruit, vegetables, oils, milk, chocolate, coffee, tea, and the list goes on. Can you eat too much of some of these and keep yourself from hitting your health or weight target? Yep. I have to constantly remind myself to eat more vegetables, especially raw, and I struggle MIGHTILY in this area. Yes, butter is okay. Yes, chocolate is okay. Even the occasional sugar is going to find its way into my diet and yours as well, I would venture. But even if all those are from natural and healthy sources, I’m out of balance if I’m not eating off the trees and out of the ground, i.e., fruits and vegetables, (God’s fast food) and keeping up my protein.

My vegan friends may find this controversial and may insist we need less protein and that plant sourced protein is adequate. If that works for you, perfect. It doesn’t for me. I am not healthy or well without proper and sufficient protein, in the correct portions. I got away from it and that’s one reason I gained weight. Please read, REAL FOOD, by Nina Planck. She was once a vegetarian. I’m not trying to sway you but it will explain my own beliefs and experiences far better than I can. And she addresses veganism as a special concern for infants and toddlers in her excellent article from the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/21/opinion/21planck.html

More questions and answers to come in our next session………And please, if you think healthy eating is important to your well being, consider spreading the word to others and directing them here. I thank you and so will they.

Now, let’s eat. For REAL!

Need a chuckle about real life? Please stop by Robynn's Ravings. If you're a tad crazy you'll like it there.

The Farmers’ Market

2009-09-08T23:59:00.000-07:00

I want to introduce you to the place I’m sure I couldn’t live without. A spot on God’s green earth where his bounty is abundant and the people who feed us work close to the land. This is the main place I support my local farmer and nourish my local family. I come here almost every week, rain or shine, and buy what I need from people who have become my friends.

Yes, I still grocery shop but this is my first stop.

Always a hoppin’ place. Great energy.

And I go here before I go anywhere.

And buy this.

From them. On the far right is Michelle, owner of KMK Farms.(And I love the funny face her friend is making. Something cracked them up.)

On the left here is her darling daughter who is as bright and sunny as her mom. And looks just LIKE her mom.

We get to eat this stuff. We are incredibly blessed.

And look. It’s THE arugula made famous by Obama for being an elitist vegetable. Look at Michelle’s pricing. $1.00 a bunch. For organic arugula. The price cancels out the elitism. I put it in smoothies, the potatoes I featured here last week, wraps. Arugula and I are in love with each other. We refuse to be parted by Obama. Arugula slums around with the likes of me. How elitist can it be?

See these avocados to the right of the eggplant? You can eat them whole. The skin is very thin and tasty. Michelle has an avocado grove filled with lots of different types of this luscious treat. She and I have strolled the grove together through the shadows, crunching leaves as we walked and talked. She has entrusted me with the old knowledge of how the trees came to be. I prefer to think of it in these dramatic terms. It raises my worth. Too bad I’m not for sale by the pound.

I love organic, home grown tomatoes. That’s what Michelle sells. Home growns aren’t supermodels. We go together very well. We’re sincere and meaty and our skin isn’t perfect. But we’re flavorful and colorful. (Note to self: I think you are unwell.)

The nose test. It passed. But all this handling and smelling are good reasons to wash your produce when you go home. Use a natural veggie wash, available at most grocery stores. DON’T use dish soap to wash your fruits and vegetables.

Vince here, of Vince’s Organics, can be counted on for plums and nectarines and citrus. Remember how REAL fruit tastes? Not that pasty, picked-too-early, from green-to-rotten variety? Vince has the REAL thing. Farmers’ Markets frequently have the good stuff. But know who you’re buying from. Ask questions. Ask other people. Ask other vendors/farmers.

And the banner was absent today but this is where I buy my organic raw milk. We’ve been drinking it for three years. I have worked for and with Mark McAfee, the owner of Organic Pastures Dairy Company. We have fought hard in California to retain the right to drink raw milk and we appreciate Mark and his wife, Blaine, leading the charge. Mark has over 40,000 raw milk customers in California alone and we seriously care. We never want to lose our California Cocktail: raw milk. The health benefits are phenomenal.

And here’s my honey guy. Who is a honey of a guy. Everyone says so. We love Bob. I think he’s actually Santa Claus. Santa is known for bringing the good stuff. It fits. And I believe in Bob.

This is Maria who, along with Pete, sells sprouts of all kinds, wheat grass, and now beef from grass fed cattle. And it’s delicious. Delectable. I’m smelling it cooking in my kitchen right now as we prepare bagel pizzas on sprouted grain bagels. (The recipe is coming – Bo created it.)

And finally, the flower vendor brings beauty. He’s new. I need a lot more money. Because I want to fill my house with flowers. How about you? Do you treat yourself to flowers when you can? Does someone send them to you? I have been craving the smell of sweet peas. They aren’t in season here. And I LOVE them. But I’ll settle for gorgeous color right now. Here’s a beauty.

Thanks to Bo who shot all these photos for me. She had four days off and we had her most of the time. Yay for ME! She has her daddy’s talent behind the camera. This blogging thing has turned into a family affair. And that’s good. They work long hours and are willing to be paid in food.

Visit me at Robynn's Ravings for a taste of regular life and maybe a laugh. :)

Smart Chickens Refuse to Eat GMO Foods

2009-09-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

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Chickens Not Fooled by GM Crops

Posted by: Dr. Mercola September 05 2009

Chickens refusing to eat the maize they had been fed has led to the discovery that their feed had been genetically modified to include a well-known weed and insect killer.Strilli Oppenheimer’s indigenous African chickens were refusing to eat the mealies in the chicken feed bought from a large supplier. Concerned that the birds may be ingesting genetically modified maize, she had the maize tested.The results confirmed Oppenheimer's initial suspicion -- the maize had been genetically engineered to produce proteins that are toxic to certain insects and weeds.About her chickens' refusal to eat their maize, Oppenheimer said: "They're smart."

Sources:
GM Watch August 2, 2009

So, What Am I Eating?

2009-09-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

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Please click the follow button over there so we know you're here and throwin' down with us. :) And if you're new, I invite you to visit Robynn's Ravings my main blog. Thanks for dropping in!

It would seem to make sense that you would want to know what I’m having for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Some of you have asked me and are also looking for recipes. I hope to post more but I am a bad cook. I’m a bad cook in the sense that I throw everything into a pan or pot and cook it without regard to measurement. A seat-of-your-pants cook, if you will. I’m the one with the glazed over look when someone wants to know how I made something.

I am NOT that way when baking. I USUALLY follow recipes to a T. Or a tee. Or a tea. What the heck does this mean? I follow recipes to the point where they intersect with a dead end? * T * And then what? Do I turn right or left? I have no idea why I’m following this T.

For me, baking has to be an exact science. If I improvise, it goes as far south as Antarctica. That’s where they take my improvised baked goods. I’m pretty sure they throw them into vast ice crevasses so no one will ever risk tripping over one and breaking a toe.

For instance, I tried to change a zucchini bread two nights ago. I wanted to leave out the sugar so I added raw honey and WAY TOO MUCH CRUSHED PINEAPPLE. 11:00 p.m. cooked for one hour – not done. (It was supposed to take 55 minutes.) Midnight – not done. 1:00 a.m - turned off the oven and went to bed. 7:00 a.m. – removed over-baked door stops from oven.

My family is actually eating them. I’m not as brave. I called the Antarctica crevice squad.

I will try to get in the habit of paying attention to what I’m doing in the kitchen. I promise. You deserve it. Unless it’s zucchini bread. No one did anything bad enough to deserve that.

So, this is what we ate yesterday.

I didn’t take pictures of breakfast but I will and post them later. And I will always try to include where I purchased specific items if it’s not something you can find just anywhere. That won’t mean that’s necessarily the ONLY place you can find it, but it’s where I get it.

Breakfast: (Disclaimer - whenever I say "local" and "organic" I'm speaking of my ideal. I can't and don't always have that. Do the best you can. Remember - this month is about saying "NO" to fast food and highly processed food. Organic and/or local is a BONUS!)

I make smoothies for breakfast a few times a week. I literally just start throwing things into the blender. I even ground up the little plastic center thing you can remove to add food without taking the whole lid off, while you’re blending. Grizzly, my husband, had thrown it inside and I piled everything on top of it. Are you sure you want me to share my recipes?

Real Deal Smoothies: (Serves three)

1 1/2 - 2 cups organic, local fresh or frozen fruit – your choice – today I used strawberries and grapes.

1 - 2 cups of *local organic raw milk or kefir. Use more or less liquid depending on the consistency you like. You could also substitute half of it with purified water. We use a reverse osmosis system but a plain old Britta is good, too.

2 tbsp. *local raw honey

1 big handful of organic washed spinach or kale – if you make this fairly regularly, alternate different greens like romaine, wheat grass, or fresh cut sprouts of all varieties. This is a GREAT way to get greens into your kids – AND you. But kale can suppress the thyroid if used too frequently in its raw form. Cooking neutralizes this effect.

1 tsp. Trader Joe’s powdered stevia. Doesn’t have that funny taste stevia can sometimes have.

2 tsp. Barlean’s Fresh Flax Oil – purchased at Whole Foods

2 tsp. Udo’s Oil 3-6-9 organic blend Omega Fatty Acids – purchased at Whole Foods

2 scoops (scoop inside the container) organic sprouted ground golden flax – purchased at Costco

Three scoops (scoop inside the container) Jarrow Whey Protein – it is not organic but the organic is very difficult to find and costs about $40 for a small container. That’s prohibitive on our budget.

Blend all ingredients, except whey powder, and add ice if your fruit is not frozen. Blend to desired consistency and add whey powder. It will thicken it slightly but don’t over blend as the whole thing will become very frothy and have too much air in it.

Pour into tall glasses and enjoy your real food. Think about a fast food breakfast and what’s in it as you nourish your body. It will seem like these two breakfast choices come from different planets.

Lunch:

My son and I shared left over spaghetti from two nights ago, made with *organic grass-fed ground beef and lots of other healthy stuff in it. I reheat on the stove top and don’t microwave. If you microwave (and we’ll talk about why I don’t in a future 30 Day Throw Down month) please NEVER microwave in plastic. Always use glass and cover with a paper towel or paper plate.

I’ll share the spaghetti recipe another time but I topped mine with some mouth-watering, freshly grated gruyere cheese. You only need a LITTLE of this, it’s so flavorful. Rich flavor helps me with portion control.

Dinner:

Ah, dinner. After working in the yard today I sat in my upstairs bathroom window with one leg hanging inside the house and one leg hanging outside the house, and my big fat bum parked on the flower pot ledge. I had my reasons. I needed to clean the tiles on our roof with a spray nozzle. You can’t spray up on these tiles, from the ground. You always have to spray down, perfectly, hence the perching. The Wild Man said he should be doing it and lectured me that I was destined to plummet to my death. I defied the odds and lived to make dinner. Besides, I’ve been at this computer so much I forgot what the outdoors looked like. It felt good to accomplish something besides creating clicking noises with my fingers.

What do I call this dish? Somebody name this for me, please. I’ll give you the ingredients and the recipe here.

2 1/2 lbs. organic new red potatoes – cut into bite size pieces

2 *organic red bell peppers – sliced into strips

1 *organic green bell pepper – sliced into strips

1 *bunch organic arugula (lovely salad greens) - chopped

1/2 *large organic yellow onion – chopped

3 tbsp. organic olive oil

3 tbsp. organic canola oil – because I couldn’t quickly find my organic lard in the refrigerator and the pan was getting hot. I always cut olive oil with animal fat or tropical oils because olive oil is not a stable fat at higher heats. It changes molecularly in ways that are not as healthy as we might like. Animal fat is extremely stable at higher heat ranges.

Sea salt to taste

Organic black pepper to taste – purchased at Whole Foods

Trader Joe’s organic garlic powder to taste. (Because I forgot the fresh garlic – use that instead if you have it.)

Add oil to your pan over a medium heat. Chop potatoes and onions adding them as you go. Sauté until potatoes start to become slightly tender and onion is translucent. Add garlic and peppers, cooking until peppers are slightly limp but still have bright color. Add chopped arugula and cook for about two to three minutes more, or until the arugula is tender and limp. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 6-8. Heated leftovers in a wrap are awesome the next day with added fish.

I love fish. The Wild Man loves fish. We could be Eskimos and live on it. We are alone. Grizzly and Bo want to eat things that don’t know how to swim upstream or hang ten. But I still serve fish. Tonight is was albacore.

Albacore is a little dry but its very mild. And ours was purchased at Trader Joe’s, wild caught, off the coast of Fiji. I tend to really watch where our fish comes from. I only buy wild caught and never farmed fish. Farmed fish are not a healthy choice for our plan. Many are fed grain diets, like GMO corn. When’s the last time YOU saw a fish swimming through a corn field? It’s not what fish eat. Our lives get cornier all the time. It’s in EVERYthing. And good old home-grown organic corn is a wonderful thing. A thing of beauty with a rich, sweet, full taste. But that’s not what we’re talking about here.

So, I took my wild caught albacore and cooked it. Lightly. And it couldn’t be easier. A friend was over last week when I was cooking fish and commented that the house didn’t smell like fish. Here’s a tip you may already know: if fish is fresh it shouldn’t smell fishy. If your fish is pungently fishy, take it back to the store.

Most of the time my albacore comes packed two to a package and frozen if I get it at Trader Joe’s. And I buy ahead so I always have it in the freezer. Any leftovers are good for fish tacos or wraps the next day.

4 medium albacore pieces

4 cloves of organic garlic, crushed

3/4 stick of organic butter

Dry white wine – like chardonnay – mine wasn’t organic

Melt the butter over medium heat and add garlic. Stir constantly making sure the garlic doesn’t get too browned (reduce heat if it seems like it might). Add fish and cook for a few minutes, turn and repeat. I do this several times until the fish is done to our liking. We like it when it’s still slightly pink. But we’re also sushi lovers, especially ahi. Mmmmmmm. Ahi. There is a parasite risk when you eat raw or pink fish so proceed at your comfort level.

Remove the fish to a plate and add 1/3 – 1/2 cup white wine to the garlic butter in your pan. You can turn the heat up a little as you reduce the sauce. Pour over fish and serve immediately.

I think we were a little light on the raw veggies today and we should have had them for snacks. But snacking is hard for us. The whole family tends not to be snackers. We are meal people. But snacking on healthy foods keeps your metabolism revved up and we will try to snack on veggies more frequently. But hey, we didn’t eat FAST FOOD or highly processed foods! Good progress is being made. So, let’s eat – for REAL!

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*Many thanks to those local farmers who provide for my family.

Most of our veggies, and some fruit, come from Michele & Kyle, at KMK farms, via the Farmers’ Market. Michele gives me good food, good friendship, and hugs. She’s very holistic. She’s a whole friend. And I buy from many different vendors for other fruits.

My raw milk and raw cheese come from Organic Pastures Dairy Company. Raw milk keeps our digestive systems stoked, and our teeth and bones strong. Thank you, Mark & Blaine!

My honey comes from Bob. Bob the raw honey guy. I love your bees, Bob. I would kiss them but they need a shave.

My grass fed beef and sprouts come from Maria at the Farmers’ Market. She just started the beef portion of her business and we are her oh-so-grateful customers.

When we eat, we always feel like we’re dining with friends!

I'm Following Myself!

2009-09-03T01:20:00.000-07:00

If you don't know me, here I am, recently. And that's me over there as the first picture in the "Follow" box - hey, you can't see me any more unless you click on "more." Thanks for signing up so fast all y'all!. (It's older - I weigh 20 lbs. less - and it's an excellent example of false advertising.)

I followed myself because I thought I'd start the ball rolling and I hate to miss anything I have to say. If I wait 24 hours it's all new to me. Won't you be the next to sign up to follow? If you are joining the 30 Day Throw Down! and want to be entered into contests, you'll need to follow here or at Robynn's Ravings (and preferably both!). I've been seeing new folks coming in to join at Robynn's Ravings but not being listed among followers. Don't be left out of the good stuff! Now let's move on to what you REALLY want to know. All posts about the 30 Day Throw Down! will appear here.

Let Me Rephrase That.......

2009-09-02T12:13:00.001-07:00

In my last post I wrote about looking for canned food items made in the U.S.A.

I was laying in bed last night and suddenly thought about what I said. And then I obsessed. And then I couldn't sleep. And then I stood at the bathroom window, upstairs, listening to a neighbor have a very loud interaction with someone else while on a cell phone. It kept me entertained long enough to realize I'm not the only crazy person in the world.

But while I wasn't busy eavesdropping, my thoughts ran along these lines......

Would someone think I wouldn't relish a sumptuous french raw cheese, like gruyere?

I can't live without my British marmalade! Or lemon curd. Well, every once in awhile anyway. Yes, I will look for organic choices and I will portion control but uh, these will continue to be part of my life and no one can make marmalade or curd like the British.

Then there's the Danish Havarti Swiss cheese that must be had for life to go on.

Oh, and Belgian chocolate. Oh, dear Belgian chocolate. Did I speak against you, my own true love?

What I MEANT to say, if I was unclear, is that you might want to avoid food items coming from countries where known problems have occurred. Deadly problems. Problems that have taken out people and animals. And I think we all know now what I mean. So, if that rocked your world, go out and buy some organic Belgian Chocolate, savor it with an Americano made from fair-trade organic coffee beans, and try to recover from the trauma I inflicted. I will do the same. And yes, all these things are included in eating and pursuing REAL FOODS. I just want you to be careful of your sources and remember to try and buy local and organic whenever possible.

For now, I think I'll take a ten minute nap and maybe have another dream like the one I had last night while worrying about poor communication skills.

I dreamed I was traversing a mountainous field completely lost in the dark. Suddenly, lightening illuminated the blackened sky and I knew exactly where I was and where I should go. Oh, dreams. You are so comical. I truly wish I was a tad more complicated and deeper.

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(No one even wrote to scold me - you guys spoil me - but if the above items look absolutely delectable and irresistible, go to Lindsay & Edmunds and check them out. They are in Australia. And the owners are related to Cate Holst at "A Work in Progress." She is also a unique artisan creating lovely jewelry. You can find her and her ETSY shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5382454 (Due to pathetic HTML skills, I am unable to write a decent link for a store. I know you will forgive me. That's why I'm spoiled.)

The 30 Day Throw Down! Begins Today!

2009-09-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

(Comments to these posts appear at their original posting site on Robynn's Ravings. Please visit there if you would like to read them.)

If we are what we eat, and we’re eating real food, then we should become more real as time goes by. Real healthy, real energized, real connoisseurs of all things delicious and nurturing. (Please forgive my lack of suffixes in the preceding sentence – I’m running low and am forced to economize.) Yes, we will be partakers and makers of the delicious and nurturing. I want to be nurturing. I’m a mother. We nurture.

And if I eat fast food then I’ll be fast. And who wants their mother to be known as fast? Even if she’s a biker chick.

And so we will drive right by the fast, the easy (yeah, better leave that one alone too), and the nutritionally bereft choices that have substituted for real food. And we will feel victorious because we will be.

And guess what?

The more I find out about this company…….

…….the more I love them. They use fair trade beans for the beans that fill their burritos. They use meats from animals raised happily and humanely. They build restaurants with our neighborhoods and the earth in mind. Even their napkins are from recycled paper. They are a superb dining-out choice.

And now, MORE happy news to share.

Nina Plank, author of Real Food and a woman I have long admired, has generously offered to donate copies of her highly informative and compelling book for our monthly giveaways as we continue. She writes in a down-to-earth style that makes you feel like you’re hanging out with a good friend. I’ve given this book as a gift more than once because it’s an eye-opening page turner written in an engaging style. Barnes & Noble has this to say on their website:

“Hailed as the “patron saint of farmers’ markets” by the Guardian and called one of the “great food activists” by Vanity Fair’s David Kamp, Nina Planck is single-handedly changing the way we view “real food.” A vital and original contribution to the hot debate about what to eat and why, Real Food is a thoroughly researched rebuttal to dietary fads and a clarion call for the return to old-fashioned foods.

Nina Planck grew up in Virginia selling vegetables at farmers’ markets and later created the first farmers’ markets in London, England. In New York City, she ran the legendary Greenmarkets. Nina also wrote The Farmers’ Market Cookbook and hosted a British television series on local food. Her latest company, Real Food, runs markets for traditional foods in American cities.”

Can you believe she said, “Heck yeah!” and decided to bring her books to the party? Well, I’m not sure that’s exactly what she said but she’s so REAL herself, I’m sure it was along those lines. So not only will we feel better, look better, and BE better, we’re also headed for rockin’ good times around here. I’ll keep you posted as more sponsors sign on.

Okay. Go forth and conquer, and prosper, and digest, and ruminate on all your good choices. We’re in this together. Let’s eat – for REAL!

THIS IS IT. Are You Ready?!

2009-08-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

(Comments to these posts appear on their original posting site at Robynn's Ravings if you would like to read them.)

The 30-Day Throw Down! begins Tuesday, September 1, 2009.

DON'T FORGET! If you want to be entered into the $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway, you MUST sign up to follow this blog and write a comment letting me know, "I'm in and I'm following."

Here are your final details.

Our first objective: Say good-bye to fast food for 30-Days and get in touch with your inner healthy eater. Your body – MY body – longs to be fed. The fatter we are, the easier we get sick, or the less energy we have, the more likely it is we are starving ourselves. This may not be true in terms of food volume, but we are depriving ourselves of life-giving food filled with vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients (the stuff you get from all the gorgeous colors in fruits and veggies), enzymes, and trace elements that are essential to good health and well being. God created it without pesticides and chemicals and he created our bodies to extract every good thing possible. So with that in mind, let’s go.

One example of what not to eat:

THE MAIN THING:

MOST IMPORTANT – DROP FAST FOOD. Eat whole foods as often as possible. Make healthy choices when eating out.

ALSO IMPORTANT: Avoid HIGHLY (key word here) processed foods at the grocery store which are just fast foods, or convenience foods, we fool ourselves with by thinking they are healthy options or it doesn’t matter that much. We wink at the fact that they are full of chemicals, flavorings, additives, hydrogenated oils, dyes, emulsifiers, door knobs, and possibly, coat hangers. Okay. The last two were just to see if you were paying attention. For a more complete overview of how to make healthier choices at home and when EATING OUT, read THIS. In the next few days, I’ll be listing label examples of HIGHLY processed foods and the ingredients they include. I think it will be helpful.

DISCLAIMER; I DID NOT WANT TO DO A LONG “AVOID” LIST OF PROCESSED FOODS BECAUSE I DON’T WANT THIS TO SEEM OVERWHELMING. This is as short as I could get it:

Avoid products with MSG. In a different 30-Day period we’ll talk about why and all the different names for it but the BIGGIE is Monosodium Glutamate - MSG. Avoid sodium nitrates or nitrites (mostly found in processed lunch meats and some bacon), and trans fats/hydrogenated oils. Avoid foods that have long lists of ingredients, most of which you don’t understand. Buy organic – IF POSSIBLE and buy local – IF POSSIBLE. If not possible, make your BEST choices and feel good about it. These few changes will go a long way toward taking a load off your liver, or nervous system, and/or blood fats (bad cholesterol and triglycerides – those things the doctor is always on you about).

I have been asked, “What about flour? It’s processed.” And, “What about dairy? Same thing.” Or, “I just CAN’T give up my diet soda. Can I do this anyway?”

The answer to all these questions is, “I need a hair cut. I SERIOUSLY need a hair cut.” I scared myself this morning when I looked in the mirror.

But I’ll try not to think about it for a minute and address your concerns.

Here’s the deal: Remember the rules? “Do Your Best. No, REALLY, do your best.” That’s it. I told you that would be hard. Because your best won’t be perfection. Neither will mine and I’m not convinced they need to be. If we feed our bodies healthy, REAL food most of the time, they can stand up to the occasional assault of bad choices. Our problem, especially as Americans, is we often live the other way around. We eat pretty poorly, especially if we eat fast food a lot, and then think we can regain our health, or proper weight, if we throw in something healthy now and then.

QUESTION TIME:

What if I slip up and find myself at the drive through?

There are no cameras and no police to arrest you. YOU will be asking yourself, “Is this my best?” Only you can answer that. If you cave this time, keep trying! Did you know that research shows ONE MEAL can make a difference in your blood chemistry? For good or bad. Keep going and don’t let one bad meal make you quit. DON’T GIVE UP!

But, what if I can give up fast food and not my diet soda (or regular soda)? Do I even qualify to join you?

Of course! If you can give up fast food, you’re STILL way ahead of the game. Don’t count yourself out. After 30-Days of no fast food, you may find you have the willpower to say goodbye to soda, too. Keep the big picture in mind.

Okay, I gave up fast food but I’m not ready to worry about processed foods. Am I still in?

Again, YES! Because one good choice often leads to another and I’m betting you’ll start thinking more about what you’re feeding yourself.

But what about if I already eat well?

You’re WAY ahead of the game so start trying to find organic and locally grown as much as possible. And increase your veggies, especially raw. It’s where most of us are lacking even when we eat well.

And if I’m already doing all that?

Then start growing your own organic grains and grinding your own wheat and baking bread for the rest of us! And please ship us your grass-fed beef and free-range chickens! And weigh in here frequently and tell us how you do it all. Because you are much admired and I honestly have NO idea.

There are multi-levels and ways of doing this.

Will I buy flour? Yes. Mind you, I buy organic, and mostly whole-grain flour but I’m not growing and grinding my own. Don’t I think buying fresh, recently grown grains, and grinding them into the flour I will be using to bake our bread is the best way? Well ABSOLUTELY! It’s just that most of us will not live that way and don’t find it sustainable due to busy schedules and full, demanding lives. So then we quit in a puddle of failure, drive through “Diabetes R Us,” and give up. This isn’t “all or nothing.” This is a very healthy and balanced “SOMETHING.” And it is HUGE.

Will I buy milk? Yes. But I will, and do, buy organic milk. If it costs more, we drink less. And I supplement with raw milk which is readily available in California. We’ve also been drinking raw milk for over three years. Luscious. If you have questions about this, I’ll be glad to do a posting and send links to great sites.

Will I buy bread or bake it?

Yes. The End. We need bread. But when I buy it, and I WILL, I will look for organic bread, preferably with sprouted grains. Costco carries organic bread and Trader Joe’s carries organic, sprouted grain breads. Also, Trader Joe’s has committed to trying not to buy foods that contain GMO’s (genetically modified organisms). They will not guarantee that it never happens as there can be cross-contamination but that is their desire and goal in all their foods.

Will I drink soda? No. Not diet or anything else. And we don’t use any artificial sweeteners.

Will I eat sugar or chocolate? If the world continues to revolve in 24 hour cycles and does not come to a complete halt, then the answer is yes. If not, then I’m getting off anyway. Now mind you, it will be only OCCASIONALLY and I will TRY to substitute raw honey, or rapadura (raw unprocessed cane sugar – sort of powdery) but it won’t always happen and I will not consider myself a failure. When I eat chocolate – oh, chocolate, have I told you lately how flat, dark, and handsome you are? – I will use or eat dark chocolate, and if possible, organic. In other words, REAL FOOD, not food made to SEEM real.

Will I buy canned goods? Yes. Because I’m not making a pot of beans everyday, or canning my own tomato sauce. If you do, WONDERFUL! but I can’t manage it. So I will be buying organic and made in the U.S.A. (check all labels for country of origin where standards might not be as high as ours and THAT’s saying a LOT…ahem….I’ll stop there). Again, I’ll be showing some label comparisons in a few days but look for SIMPLE, EASILY RECOGNIZABLE INGREDIENTS. NO MYSTERIES. Your food should not be worthy of a C.S.I. episode.

To repeat: This is about making HEALTHY CHANGES. A little at a time. Slowly. In 30-Day increments. This isn’t about thinking of your food 24 hours a day. You know why? I’ve thought about food 24 hours a day. I’ve taken our family down to eating 15 different kinds of food for eight weeks to find out what we are sensitive to. It was hard. It was amazingly informative. What it wasn’t was sustainable.

As a VERY wise 19th century newspaper editor named George Dennison Prentice once put it: “What some call health, if purchased by perpetual anxiety about diet, isn’t much better than tedious disease.” I know that to be true.

SO LET’S NOT COMPLICATE IT!

30-Days from now we will move on to the next 30-Day phase which will be exercise. We will look at ways to incorporate a little or a lot, depending on our individual abilities. But we’ll get moving. And we’ll commit to each other to “DO OUR BEST” if we want to continue on.

My vision for this is a year of 30-Day increments where we change habits a little at a time, slowly adding up to big, significant changes that can impact our health, the health of our families for years to come, and the way we grow our food. But I simply CAN’T do everything all at once. I’m thinking it might be hard for you, too. I’m positive we’ll all be an encouragement to each other. You are not obligated in ANY WAY to continue on, but I think you may want to. I quit fast food three weeks ago – and so did Grizzly, Bo, and The Wild Man. We all feel better for it. We’re all committed to continuing.

And there will be incentives to continue! Even now, I’m negotiating with sponsors who will be supporting our efforts through great giveaways. A big THANK YOU to Chipotle who wants to support our healthy efforts by offering giveaways! They will not be shaping or dictating what we do. They will be supporting what we’re already doing.

One last thing……

PLEASE DO THIS: Make a few tiny notes (or huge long paragraphs if you’re desperately compelled to do so like, uh, certain people I may or may not know and who may or may not author blogs known as Robynn’s Ravings) about any positive change you see. It’s EASY to forget GOOD THINGS and think nothing is different. I have already noticed changes in my skin and weight, and a slight increase in energy (even though I had the usual reaction to medicine which ALWAYS impacts my liver and leaves me in pain and with a liver that doesn’t want to show up for work.) Write it down and share it with us along the way as well as your own readers, if you blog.

And share this with a family member or friend. Don’t become an obnoxious food nazi. But when they ask why you’re packing your own lunch or why YOUR food looks SO much better than theirs, tell them. Gently. Don’t do what I did to a sweet friend who recently asked a bunch of us about all these ideas. I think we opened up a fire hose of information on her. She went away shell shocked. I'm grateful she’s still speaking to me. Use me as a terrible warning.

Time to gird our loins. Time to put on the gloves. Time to kick some serious fast food booty. Let’s THROW DOWN!

(The 30-Day Throw Down! will soon have its own blog so that information about what we’re doing is readily accessible and you won’t have to hunt for back articles.)

30 Day Info Featuring Steve Ellis of Chipotle

2009-08-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

(Comments to these posts appear on their original posting site at Robynn's Ravings if you would like to read them.)

I contacted Chipotle about supporting our efforts during the 30-Day Throw Down. Our first 30-Days will eliminate fast food and highly processed foods. Our next 30-Days will address another aspect to be announced. And so on and so forth, taking us through a year of healthy habits. Chipotle contacted me and is very supportive. I will be talking to them more and finding out about their offer of giveaways. I will also be contacting other folks about participating in our efforts and hope to bring you reasons (besides FEELING better!) and giveaways that will encourage you to continue on the journey, 30-Days at a time.

I need this! I’ve been doing it for two weeks already and can attest to the difference I feel, and also the difference I feel when I don’t. I’ve been my own test subject with a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde thing goin’ on. Cambria was an eye opener but I’ll leave that for the next few days.

In the meantime, love yourself enough to spend 7 minutes to watch something that will educate you about a different way of doing business and growing food. Gear up to support your efforts and invest in yourself. Steve Ellis, founder of Chipotle was interviewed on “Nightline.” And I am highly impressed with what he’s doing.

By the way, their slogan? “Slow food, fast.” More and more of these types of restaurants will pop up when we, as consumers, vote with our dollars.

30 Day Throw Down!

2009-08-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

(Comments to these posts appear on their original posting site at Robynn's Ravings if you would like to read them.)

BULLETIN UPDATE! How great to see so many coming in and wanting to do the healthy dance! Please don't forget if you've commented "I'm in," you need to click the "FOLLOW" button to be entered into the drawing for the $100 Amazon Gift Card (unless you already follow). If you're not sure, just click the follow button and it will let you know. THANK YOU!

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So, I told you we were working on something. Here it comes. And I'm SO hoping you'll help me spread the word.

What Is It?

A challenge. And a chance at a $100 Amazon Gift Card.

Is It Complicated?

No, it’s simple and it’s free. It’s SO simple it’ll drive you crazy and you’ll want to add all kinds of rules and complicated information. I think simplicity is so simple it’s hard. Is that perfectly clear now?

This is a challenge for 30 Days – only 30 Days - to THROW DOWN FAST FOOD.

Launch Date: September 1, 2009.

(An “appetizing” example of the Not-So-Great American Diet.)

Are You Nuts?

Yes. Thanks for asking.

But we’ll eat healthier food, undoubtedly feel better, maybe increase our energy, or quit giving our scales a nervous breakdown every time they see us coming. Personally, mine is in therapy. It’s the least I could do after all the trauma I’ve caused it. I’ve also been known to avoid the doctor because people there insist on weighing me. Lately, I refuse unless they let me strip down to my underwear in the middle of the office. I didn’t eat my jeans. Why should I have to weigh them? Try it. They will never ask to weigh you again.

But I do realize I have a few issues. (See the answer to the question, “Are You Nuts?”)

Uh, How Do You Define “FAST FOOD?”

It isn’t only our favorite burger or taco place. It’s processed foods, too. Not swinging through “Big and Beefy – And That’s Just YOU!” doesn’t really work if we go home, throw a frozen dinner covered in plastic into the microwave, and slam a soda. That’s fast food from the grocery store.

My family and I wanted to see if we could MAKE ourselves, if only for 30 Days, know WHAT we’re eating and try to eat whole foods as much as possible. We already shop at Farmers’ Markets, buy locally grown most of the time, look for organic sources, and like to think we care about what’s going in our guts. Because trust me, when we look down, we realize…..they hold a LOT, so that’s important.

Okay, You Sound Holy. So, What’s Your Problem, Man?

We’re lying to ourselves. We are converts in our heads and total heathens in our guts. We still fast food it way too much. A pizza here, a cheeseburger there, a taco or burrito anywhere. And of course, my 14-year-old son’s favorite - imitation processed cheese product look-a-like that you pour over GMO (genetically modified organism) corn chips. (Any real relation to actual food is completely coincidental. Product restrictions may apply. Void where prohibited.)

And the reality is, when we do this, we don’t feel good. I mean, we REALLY don’t feel good. And why would we? What God put on this earth to feed us has been so adulterated, it’s hardly recognizable anymore.

Who Elected YOU The Big Food Sheriff?

I’m not challenging you because I have already arrived. I’m fat. I’m barreling down life’s highway seriously over the legal cheeseburger limit. I’m operating heavy machinery while in a pizza induced state. I’m driving while indoctrinated. I have allowed myself to believe that fast food and processed food can stand in as a decent substitute in a pinch. Well, I actually haven’t believed that for years but denial is a gift and it allows you to skip meal preparation or grocery shopping. And busyness and health issues offer yet more opportunities to fall by the wayside.

But this isn’t a beat-you-up, guilt inducing 30-day trek. This is a wake-up call. This is a belief that most of us can do almost anything for 30 days to improve our lives. Unless you don’t need to.

Maybe you live remotely and NEVER eat fast or processed foods. You are so far removed from this nonsense you can’t even identify with me. Maybe you grow your own food. If so, I’m in love with you and you have my undying admiration. May I stay with you for six months while I detox? It could get ugly. When do you want me?

But if your more like me than you want to admit publicly (and I am not offended if you prefer to act as though you’ve never even heard my name, not once in your whole life........including today), then you might want to do something about it.

The rules are amazingly simple.

Rules:

DO THE BEST YOU CAN. (But no, REALLY do the best you can.) And if no one will do it with you, do the best you can. See? Simple.

How Do We Pull THIS off?

The first question my son asked was, “What if I’m with somebody else and their parents take us to a fast food place?” We believe, for the most part, unless the meal is laced with out-an-out e-coli, mad cow disease, a known allergen, or arsenic, one meal probably isn’t going to derail you. However, we advised him to make as healthy a choice as possible. Choose a salad, see if they have fruit, opt for grilled cheese, reach for water, try the yogurt.

And we aren’t saying don’t eat out at all. But choose a real-food restaurant if you do. Opt for salads with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. Utilize real cheeses, not processed cheese products. Get whole cuts of meat instead of ground (at least it comes from only one source unless you know they grind their own on the premises). Go for the baked potato or wild rice instead of french fries. Avoid “farmed” fish and ask for wild caught. Share a fruit dessert or something dark chocolate. Or, in the interest of cutting down on sugar (another highly processed food), forego it altogether.

Daily, plan ahead with the old brown bag. Fill it with healthy, whole choices the night before. Include raw veggies and fruits. Choose organic and local, if at all possible. Say NO to soda, including diet. Drink filtered water or, if you just HAVE to, top it off with a little bit of fruit juice while you adjust to foregoing the soda. Cruise through your favorite coffee place and enjoy your daily cup-of-the-Joe, Americano, or tea, but blow off the cafe-latte-dahs and froo-froo drinks packed with sweeteners of all kinds.

Now, this is where it can get harder but, if at all possible, avoid factory-farmed meats and look to local growers, or those who farm sustainably and who have grazing cattle eating grasses and herbs, pigs that can forage and root, or chickens that are free-range. That’s how animals are designed to eat.

I realize this isn’t always possible with meat, due to costs. It isn’t for us either, believe me, but we try to eat meat like this if we find good bargains and sometimes we absolutely do. Every little change, and every meal, adds up – for your health…..or not.

THE KEY – ALSO KNOWN AS “THE MAIN THING”

Meal plan with fresh, whole foods as much as possible. Buy organic IF you can – buy local IF you can. The End. Keep it simple. If you can’t, make your best selections and say, “Yahoo!” because you’re still FAR AHEAD of the fast food game and your consistently moving toward better and better eating.

We can do this. It’s only 30 DAYS. Quit on September 30th if you’re suffering and feel miserable. (I’m betting you won’t be, on either count.) By the way, this isn’t a political idea. I have no hidden agendas. All my agendas are available for public viewing and parades, as well as limited soapbox and high-horse engagements. I am not a vegetarian and will not become one. You’ll go insane trying to convert me and I would hate that for you. I KNOW all the choices. This one is mine. But if you are a vegetarian, you are highly esteemed. Please send me recipes to make my veggies all that they can be and help them realize their full potential.

Contingencies

Now, if life happens, and it does, here’s your contingency plan: know in advance where you can find quick, healthier food vs. fast food. In some areas of California, Pizza Fusion offers organic pizza and sandwiches. Chipotle dishes up super fast service and healthy choices including offering meat from animals raised humanely and sustainably. (You’ll be AMAZED at their philosophy and their food when I post about it.) You might want to forego the white rice in their burritos and get more beans, peppers, onions, salsa, lettuce, and lean meat. And these burritos are huge. You can easily share one and cut your costs in half, though they are already extremely reasonable. Whole Foods has a salad bar with EVERYthing, though the prices can be a little steeper. Trader Joe’s has a salad-in-a-box for $3.00 or so. Look for organic any time you can. And these recommendations aren’t even the tip of the iceberg. Options are regional. Your thoughts are needed and welcome about what’s available in your area. Share what you find in the comments section or email me. I’ll post it here and we’ll help each other.

And if you’re concerned that you might find yourself caught between a rock and a cheeseburger, reference the advice to my 14-year-old son and then go one step farther: Plan ahead. Pull up the websites of the fast food restaurants you normally frequent and look at the calorie and nutrition content of their foods, ask where their meat is coming from, and find out how it’s prepared. Based on that, make healthier choices ahead of time.

These ideas will freak out the purists among us who won’t think this goes nearly far enough. But I believe in keeping the MAIN THING the MAIN THING. And this IS our main thing – for 30 DAYS. Nearly everything you read about healthier eating changes everything about your life almost immediately. Personally, that hasn’t worked for me. It’s often an “all or nothing” or “pass and fail.” But most of us can’t eat, won’t eat, or DON’T eat perfectly every day. This is a nod to real life. IT happens. If you fall off the wagon, RUN (you’ll burn a calorie), and get back on. Don’t let it leave without you. And if you fall off, you haven’t failed so DON’T give up. This is about the process. This is about 30-Day increments.

What Gave You THIS Hare-brained Idea?

One thing, among many others, was watching the movie “Food, Inc.” I highly recommend it and if it’s not already, it should be out on DVD very shortly. Through the years we’ve watched similar movies or documentaries and felt they were eye-opening. But in Food, Inc. I heard things I already knew, found out things I needed to know, and heard my own food beliefs echoed. I did chafe at an example they used which I felt was not well thought out. (I’ll talk about it and give them the FIX in my next 30-Day Throwdown! post.)

It got us talking and debating, and tickled our cerebellums, or amygdalas, or pre-frontal cortexes. Whatever it was, we found our brains still working and decided to utilize them. I required my kids to watch it as part of their school curriculum. I’ve been proselytizing about many of the ideas for years. But sometimes they (read I) need to see it and hear it from an outside source. It worked.

So, Is This a Food Blog?

Nope. Not even close. This is usually a humor blog, if I’m lucky. It’s about everything, and will continue to be. But every day of our lives includes food that fuels us, or not, so it seems relevant. And anytime we join together and support one another, it’s easier, more fun, and we’re accountable.

What’s In It For Me?

A healthier lifestyle. Being in touch with what you’re eating. Maybe losing some weight. Maybe not. You can still get fat on too much good, healthy food even though your body is better nourished. Trust me. I’ve gotten fat any way possible. (Considering portions is a good idea whatever you’re eating. And I’ve considered them. I just haven’t considered limiting them nearly often enough.) But this isn’t about changing EVERYthing. This is about changing a couple of things, making it doable, and taking first steps. When we end up evaluating ourselves at the end of 30 Days, we, our family, will continue on, adding more healthy habits in the aforementioned 30 Day increments.

You can come with us. In a year, we’ll be more aware, healthier, leaner, and we’ll even save a BOAT LOAD of garbage. (Think of how much we throw away with every fast food visit.) So it’s even a green idea.

Where Does The $100 Amazon Gift Card Come In?

If we do it, I truly believe we’ll all win. But one person, on October 1st, 2009, will win a $100 Amazon gift card. How you might ask? So glad you did.

1. Sign up to follow AND leave a comment saying you did. That’s a must. I’ll collect names everyday during our 30 Day Throw Down! and add them to the drawing. All you have to write is: “I’m following and I’ll do it!” Feel free to write more if you’re inspired. (The follow button is to the right – over the photos of other followers, and the comment button appears at the end of this post. Just click on it to comment. Sorry if that’s highly detailed but I’ve had people who truly didn’t realize how they CAN comment and I don’t want anyone left out.)

2. If you already follow, THANK YOU!! But you still need to leave a comment letting me know, “I’ll do it!”

3. If you BLOG about it on your site and link your readers back to this article by using this code http://robynnsravings.blogspot.com/2009/08/30-day-throw-down.html - leave me a comment with a link to your post and, I'll enter you again! (I hope you deem this worthy of sharing with your readers.)

THE WINNER OF THE GIFT CARD WILL BE INTERVIEWED HERE ON THEIR MONTH-LONG JOURNEY AND HAVE A POST DEDICATED TO THEM. (Privacy and identifying details will be respected unless you love the limelight! Then, I’ll link everyone to your blog, if you have one.)

That’s it. Let’s THROWDOWN!! For 30-DAYS!