Why This Blog?

I've spent the better part of the last 15 years reading about every diet, fad, healthy lifestyle, whatever the current buzzword.  I read, I study, and I'm fascinated by the amount of information provided about health and nutrition. 

What fascinates me more is that more than half of Americans are obese.  Fast food, fast lives, easy-to-grab processed foods.  Our country has made them part of the lifestyle. 

I don't really remember which diet or book or magazine or documentary or TV show clicked on this obsession I have.  I think I've read and done them all.

I used to be a stick person.  Age, lifestyle, hormones, and a love of food have moved me out of stick person mode into what I consider fat.  I recognize it in the size clothes I wear and the periodic glimpses I catch of a reflection in a window or mirror.  I often don't see it day to day when I look in a mirror.  That's a challenge for me, because I forget I'm "fat".

I've tried (and failed) at almost every diet trend out there - for the last 20 years!  That's a lot of failure.  I do well for a few weeks or a few months, and then slide back into old habits.  Sound familiar?

I've continued to read and study.  A couple years ago I decided to hell with it.  I'm going to figure out what works for me.  I'm going to become in tune to what my body requires, and find a balance between that and what my brain wants.  Because want to be healthy, and I want to enjoy my favorite things from time to time.

My parents health is precarious.  Between the two of them, my brother and I have seen the results of being overweight, high blood pressure, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, stroke, migraines, blindness, high cholesterol, over-prescribed pain meds, and a strange little blood clotting disorder that creates lots of clots that clogs the arteries and causes blockages.  That's a hell of a lot for us to wrap our heads around.

We already struggle with our weight.  We have migraines (I've had them since I was 8 years old).  I have high blood pressure (since I was 25 years old).  Personally, I'm terrified of the next 20 years with our family history. 

In my research and self-experimentation, I have discovered that:

• processed foods make me have cravings for more processed foods, and never fill me up. 
• dairy makes me congested, is a headache trigger, make me bloat up like a blow fish, and cause my tummy to be unhappy. 
• a whole foods diet, with an emphasis on veggies, makes my body happy.
• it's not as hard to cut back on meat as I thought it would be.
• GMO's scare the daylights out of me (who wants to eat food created in a petry dish?)
• eating foods that come from places close to home is good for me and our local economy.

I am currently obsessed with documentaries about food in this country.  I recommend them to everyone I know.  I recommend books I've read (I have three books going right now, all food related).  I sometimes jump on a soap box and lecture, and my friends aren't always appreciative.

So not long ago, one of my friends who has the same concerns as I suggested, in jest, that I write a book.  We laughed about how it would be called The Armchair Nutritionist, the rants and ramblings of a girl obsessed by food and good health.  About a week later, I started this blog. 

Now I can rant without upsetting anyone (no one has to read it!)

So that's my story.  And this follows my ups, downs, results of experimentations gone awry, and maybe someday it will help one person find a path to better health.

The Evils of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) Part 1

I really hate the stupid commercial "Corn sugar is sugar".  BULL-PUCKY (as my mama used to say).  First of all, sugar SHOULD come from a sugar cane plant, on a plantation, in a tropical place like, oh let's say Hawaii.  Have you ever tasted sugar cane?  Mmmmmm....

Sugar should be pure, and unprocessed, and it certainly should not be white.

Sugar should NOT come from Genetically Modified (GMO) Corn plants in the midwest.  Sugar should not come from GMO Sugar Beets either.  What these products make is High Fructose Corn Syrup, and it's just plain wrong.

Personl experiment - Give up Diet Soda.  Gave it up fine, but immediatly went to the HFCS variety (otherwise known as fully leaded).  I lost 5 pounds giving up the other fake sugar, but gained it back with HFCS - and then some.  Discovered that both "diet" soda and full octane soda adds pounds and makes you hungry and crave more.

New experiment - Give up HFCS Sodas.  Amazing.  My weight dropped TEN POUNDS!!!!  From time to time I treat myself to Blue Sky Root Beer, made with Cane Sugar.  It's now a treat, not a daily craving.  In fact, all I crave now are bubbles, which I get with my seltzer waters (I love lime La Croix and Polar brands.)  And I drink a heck of a lot more regular old water. Crave it even.  Hmmm, I have a lot of cravings...

So that "Corn sugar is sugar" crapolla is just that.  Thank goodness we have people looking out for us.  Today I saw this article on the Ban of High Fructose Corn Syrup's Facebook page.  In part it reads:

"The Food and Drug Administration has cautioned the corn industry over its ongoing use of the term "corn sugar" to describe high fructose corn syrup, asking them to stop using the proposed new name before it has received regulatory approval, The Associated Press has learned."

View the full article for the nitty gritty, and I hope that the continued pressure on the FDA will do away with this latest attempt to continue poisoning our country.

'nuff said!  Join the fight at http://www.stopcornsugarnow.com/

My First Raw Food Experience - Vida De Cafe, St Pete Beach Florida

Yup.  Went to a Raw Food Restaurant.  Kind of an oxymoron since nothing was cooked.  Well, cooked fully.

Vida De Cafe was pretty good.  A number of interesting, not too scary things on the menu.  Two of the people I went with were vegans, so they were in heaven.  My other friend is NOT, but she did pretty good. 

I opted for a large Green Juice and an Apple Avocado Salad, and two glasses of water.  It was filling enough, and very good.  The dressing for the salad was quite yummy!

My friends got crab cakes, tacos, the same salad I did, along with Key Lime Cheese Cake (which was unbelievable!) and a Fudge Brownie and Choco Chip Ice Cream (which I didn't enjoy as much as my two bites of the key lime cheese cake).

The gals working there prepared each item, and it was presented very well.  Below are photos of some of our meal.  I wish I'd taken a pic of my juice, it was soooooooooo good!!

Would I do it again?  Probably.  Once in a while.  Why not???

Cheese, Congestion, and the Migraine

This has been an excellent week for the great dairy experiment!  I've had lasagna, cheesecake, pizza, potato salad, chicken strips, and saucy things that I KNOW have HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), and who knows what else.

The night I had lasagna I got super congested, and got a migraine. 

The day I had cheesecake, pasta, and cold cuts, I got a migraine.

The day I had chicken strips with bbq chipotly sauce dipped in ranch dressing, I had some tummy distress.

Today I had pizza with feta as well as pizza cheese, and I had a bit of potato salad, and guess what....MIGRAINE!!!!

I truly find this facinating.  It's very interesting to watch how my body responds.  I doubt I'll ever give up these tasty treats completely, but it's nice to know I need to plan ahead.

Not a Nutritional Week

This week I became obsessed with salt, potato chips, candy, cookies, Taco Bell, chili dogs, corned beef, pastrami....yes, my first bout of PMPD in six months. That's PMS on steroids for those unfamiliar.
Not only that, I have pretty much been hungry since Monday. Chew my own arm off and dip it in Ranch Dressing hungry.
And we won't discuss the emotional side...or what I like to call Dr Jeckle and. Mr Hyde rides the scariest rollercoaster in the world.  Or the physical illness that accompanies that special time.
I had been on meds that wrapped my whacky cycle in a neat, happy package. Some months I didn't even realize it had happened. I went off them.  Now I remember why I went on them...
So now that I understand why I've lost all senses, I can get back on track. My goal is no meat until well into next week and tons of water. And nothing fried. And nothing with HFCS. Please wish me luck (and my cats who ran for cover days ago).

Today's Lunch

Today I had the most wonderful lunch!  Whole Grain Pumpernickle Rye bread, with guacamole, spicy mustard, organic spinach, roasted Hatch Chili, and hormone free/naturally fed and raised chicken.  It was soooooo good!

I had enough left over to make myself another one tomorrow!  All of the ingredients came from The Fresh Market, which I am so fortunate to have in my neighborhood. 

This is part of my mission to only eat humanely treated, naturally raised meat.  Otherwise, I'm just gonna have to skip it! 

Dinner at Chipotle

Chipotle is truly "food with integrity".  I love Chipotle, as it's one of the very few places that I can satisfy a hankering for meat with naturally fed and raised options.  No hormones, no GMO grains, no rBGH, no Frankenfood. 

Tonight I opted for the burrito bowl with Barbacoa, rice, black beans, cheese, and sour cream.  Yes, dairy, but dairy that doesn't contain the Frankenfood stuff.  Somehow my system handles that better than the alternative.

If you want to learn more about Chipote and thier impact on our world, click here

More info about about the naturally raised animals can be found in the movie Food Inc, available everywhere a DVD can be bought or rented (a must see, but more on that later)