I guess the best way to ensure my journey is documented thoroughly is to capture where I am today.
Diet - Mostly vegetarian, as my husband is a vegetarian. He does eat fish, so we eat a lot of fish. Salmon in particular is his favorite. Just because I don't eat a lot of animal flesh, however, does not mean I have a particularly healthy diet. I try, but I'm easily tempted because I love food. I love to cook and try new recipes and I tend to eat restaurant sized portions - so basically way too much. I do find food very comforting & soothing.
I try to incorporate lots of "healthy" food into our diets. I eat a lot of salads, fresh fruit & vegetables, lots of legumes, whole grains. There is still lots of stuff that I'm learning needs to be eliminated from the cupboards in the way of processed foods. Also soy - we eat a lot of soy and I'm finding out more and more that there are as many reasons to cut out the soy as there are to cut out meat altogether!
We are not vegan - we do eat dairy, eggs, honey.
I'm understanding more and more that what we believe, or are led to believe are healthy foods are in fact nothing of the sort. Its not just what we eat, but where it comes from and how its produced that matters. I might think that I'm eating a bowl of nutritious cereal, but the milk is full of hormones from mistreated and malnourished cows, and the grains are genetically modified and nutritionally deficient.
Anyway - back to the task at hand, my current diet. In the summertime, I have a vegetable garden and I grow much of what we eat. Tomatoes, beans, peas, beets, lettuce, radishes, kale, cabbage. I preserve what we can't eat fresh. I live in an agriculturally rich area in South Western Ontario. We have a thriving farming community and a famous farmers market, so access to fresh, wholesome food is good most of the year. We do lots of 'pick your own' at local farms & preserve it.
Nevertheless, my cupboards still have crackers, chips, cheezies (my downfall - and what are they but chemicals and corn! I'm learning...), ice cream, chocolate, wine, rum, etc. I don't generally buy organic because we don't have a lot of money and its expensive. I am addicted to MacDonald's breakfast and eat that more often than I care to mention. We eat out a lot because we are musicians and are often on the road and meals are often a part of our 'deal' with the venues. Its hard to know where the food comes from in a bar. Generally I think - not a good place.
We've both successfully eliminated smoking (my husband 5 years, me 3.5 years) and coffee (2+years).
We both have a leaning towards nutritional, ethical eating, but never really did much research & are not well educated on it. We are becoming more so (which is what has spawned this blog in the first place).
I drink a lot of green tea (again, not organic, and as I write & think about what I put in my body I'm realizing all the things that need to change!), make my own sprouts (lentil, chick pea, mung bean, radish, sunflower, etc etc...), choose whole grain where I have control over it (ie: I can't control it in a frozen pizza, and yes, we eat them. I know.), I take a multivitamin, drink a smoothie with green powder and hemp seeds for breakfast.
So basically I'm thinking the diet is about 80% bad, but the intention behind it is about 50% good if we would just eat organic produce alone.
So that's move #1 on the diet front. Nothing more comes into this house that is not organic and/or that is genetically modified. I have to learn more about the gmo thing because I'm not sure about labelling in Canada & how that works. I think making the organic/non gmo change alone will be a significant step.
On the front of exercise, currently I give myself about a 6 out of 10. I am somewhat moderately active. I actually exercise, with the point of it being formally for exercise, about once per week. I do yoga, I'm starting to run a bit (though I'm not very good at it), and I like to ride my bike - trail riding mostly. I stay pretty active with yard work and house work otherwise. My husband and I walk a lot, particularly from about May through October before winter sets in. We still walk in the winter, just less. Our shows for music can be considered physical activity too. I would like to increase my physical activity for endurance, strength & flexibility. I'd also like to fit back into my size 6 clothes that have been packed away for 4 years.
That brings me to the measurement side of things. As much as I hate it, numbers are indicators of health. I'm not going to share the numbers - lets just say they are not where I want them to be. I will say that I want to lose 35 lbs and 3 to 4 dress sizes.
I am not looking at this as a weight loss program, though. This is a complete change in my lifestyle. This is digging out all the crap and becoming who I truly am. I am an ethical person. I don't want to support massive 'food' growing operations (animal or vegetable) that deplete the planet, mistreat and underpay workers, provide nutritionally deficient and even detrimental so-called food. I've just had blinders on - not wanted to admit what I kind of already knew, if only I'd do the work to learn more. I want to live a long, vital life, sharing my gifts and loving my friends and family. The weight loss is not what I am focusing on, though I believe wholeheartedly that it will be a side effect of the changes.
So that's the 'where I'm at' summary. This week's step is going to be to change the way I shop. Any food that is purchased and brought into this house will be organic. We can't afford to clean out the cupboards completely and restock them from scratch....we have to transition. I wonder how long before the turnover is complete?
Bye for now.
~SS
No comments:
Post a Comment