This Post is 100% All Natural

There has been a lot of hype lately about truth in packaging, in specific the use of labels like, "100% All Natural", "Organic", or "Made with Organic Ingredients." 

     I've read it in Self Magazine, read it on Yahoo News. I'm sure you've read an article that tries to wade through the confusing packaging bullshit. Unfortunately, a lot of these articles themselves, are, well, confusing bullshit. 

    It's true, the label "100% All Natural" has no regulations on it. I believe it was Ben and Jerry's ice cream that stuck this label on its packages despite having ingredients like homogenized oils and corn syrup. Health advocacy groups made a big fuss and made them change their packaging, but the truth is, is that people who have done the research, know how to read labels. "All Natural" never means "Just trust the advertisers and buy this product without reading the ingredients." In fact, I'm kind of obsessive about reading the ingredients, no matter what it is, and even if I've bought the product before. 

     I remember one of the first grocery store visits with Paul, at the beginning of his conversion to truly healthy eating, we were looking for bread, and he picked up a loaf and said "this says 100% all natural" and I snapped back "no, that doesn't mean anything!" He was kind of defensive, like, it has to mean something, they can't just put that on the label, but the truth is that they can. I apologized, and explained to him that you should look for the organic label, but you can never ever ever not read the ingredients. 

     What really irks me about these articles is that, even though they are usually right about the dishonesty in the all natural logo, there are usually harsh on the Organic label, stating that while the "Organic" label does mean that 90% of the ingredients have to be certified organic, and that the "Made With Organic Ingredients" label means it has to be made with 70%, "there is no evidence that these foods are any more 'nutritious'". 

     The evil bastards behind labeling things as "All Natural" are also behind this idea of "more nutritious".  Organic food is more genetically diverse, comes from richer soil that is better for maintaining a healthy environment both in the farm and in your body, and most importantly, uh,  IT'S NOT POISONOUS!

    A recent british study found that, "There is no good evidence that increased dietary intake, of the nutrients identified in this review to be present in larger amounts in organically than in conventionally produced crops..." but they also, "did not compare amounts of antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, irradiation, genetic modification, or sewage sludge. They did not look at any of those things. They only looked at nutrients." This is an example of "nutritionism in action: looking at foods as if their nutrient content is all that matters - not production methods, not effects on the environment, and not even taste."

 The full article can be found at,  http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/blogs/healthy-food/organic-food-nutrition-47073102#ixzz15ULsnJyx

 http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/blogs/healthy-food/organic-food-nutrition-47073102#ixzz15ULYXuQ4

      Does organic food only have slightly more antioxidants, vitamins and minerals? Yeah. But the thing it is that "Organic" means that the crop was grown without thousands of toxic pesticides and herbicides which have been proven to be potent, cancer causing poisons. Just google "pesticides and cancer" or "pesticides and disease" and you will be bombarded by medical evidence of the link between pesticides and herbicides and disease. Some books that I recommend reading, and will back up my claims are, In Defense of Food; Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About; A Chemical Feast; Innocent Casualties: The FDA's War Against Humanity; Raw Foods:The Key to Eternal Youth; or The Maker's Diet, just to name a few, not to mention anything written by the Braggs.

     The sad fact is that every book about the topic, every honest, inclusive, medical study done, have all determined that eating non organic foods is essentially drinking anti-venom with your venom, does it help heal your body and remove toxins? Nope! Does it fill you body with even more toxic chemicals that will never be removed so long as you eat said conventional produce? Yep!

     See what I'm getting at here people?

     I give props to the media for finally beginning to admit that eating synthetic nonsense is bad for you, and promoting the idea of reading food labels, but what I'd like to see is the media finally admitting that non organic food is also toxic nonsense, disguised as healthy produce.

     In the meantime, I give you all these words of wisdom: Read Everything, Never Trust Packaging, and RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH! Remember, their number one goal of advertisers is to make money. I implore you to educate yourself and make food choices accordingly.

I'm only one stomach flu away from my goal weight

     I'm on this new diet, I don't eat anything, and then when I feel like I'm going to faint, I eat a cube of cheese. Its working! I'm only one stomach flu away from my goal weight!

     That's a line from the movie, The Devil Wears Prada, where the fashionable and thin secretary to a famous fashion magazine editor comically admits her struggle to be the kind of thin that the fashion industry pressures women to be.
The funny thing about this line is that stomach flus, and being sick in general, have always been an easy way for me to lose a few lbs, and when I stick to eating healthy and exercising I usually don't gain much back.
     Upon reading the book, "The Joy of Fasting" by health Guru and longevity expert Paul Bragg I learned that a cold is actually quite a healing miracle. He believes that a cold is your body telling you that you are too toxic, and with every nose blow your doing a serious detox and healing your cells. Bragg goes on to suggest that, to conserve energy to fight off the virus and continue the detox, you should eat little to no food, and try to just lie in the sunlight, sleep and drink water, lemon juice and detox tea. Colds are a natural healing process and instead of drinking more toxic poison in the form of cold medicine or ruining your digestive health with antibiotics, you should just go with it, take the day off, sleep and sweat it out.

so here I sit, warm, stuffy, runny, sipping hot vanilla herb tea with lemon.

     I find that, when I'm sick, a hearty veggie soup is pretty much the best thing in the world. It sticks with the idea of eating very little food, yet packs a ton of nutrients. It also, when sprinkled with chili pepper, helps clear the sinuses and fill my empty stomach. Below, I've shared a family recipe for a delicious, hearty, spicy and low cal soup that's perfect for more than just when your sick, but great all winter long.

     Red Russian Root Stew:

4 cans diced tomatoes

1 sm can diced green chilis

2 lg beets

5-6 Lg Carrots

2 lg red peppers

2 cups mushrooms (diced or whole, I love mushrooms so I make it with whole ones)

1 sm head or 1/2 lg head cabbage

water to desired thickness

Sea Salt

Any spices that you want, be creative

Dice all veggies, cut cabbage into strips, (cut beets last as they will stain everything red) put into x large pot and simmer until veggies are tender (bout an hour, maybe more. The longer the better). When finished, add cooked chicken if you want. Enjoy!!!

Okay

So not too much to say on this post, just read this terrific article. Super scary.
You all know that I choose healthy, organic food for more than just the reason of being low body fat. I also want to avoid toxic chemicals and addictive, cancer causing, brain rotting additives thrown in all of our food! Check out this article on what these corrupt food companies are doing:


http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/15-shocking-food-industry-secrets

Calorie Denial

Are you in calorie denial?
I am...
     Today after the gym, Paul and I visited Starbucks. Because of the energy that I used weightlifting, I felt that I deserved something tasty (read: carbs). I got my favorite seasonal treat, a pumpkin scone. Knowing it was high in calorie, I chose just a cup of coffee to pair it with. It was a bit too sweet for me, so I ended up feeding about half of it to Paul.
     When I came home, I googled the calories in said scone. 500. Thats correct, you read that right, 500 freakin' calories in one scone. Which means just eating half tacked on a whopping 250 cals to my day. Thats a mini meal! If I had eaten the whole scone plus my coffee it would be more than my regular meals! I would have felt so much fuller if I had eaten 250 calories in grilled ahi and brown rice with asparagus! (which was last nights 300 cal dinner btw) Instead, I got a sugar rush and my stomach felt achey and empty.
     The idea of "calorie denial" came from me realizing that I had been eating whole pumpkin scones a few times a week for years, thinking that they had about 350 calories. Now I wonder, how many other food choices have I undershot it my daily calorie total? Underestimating calories by over 500 could have resulted in the seeming impossibility of my weight-loss.
     Lesson learned? Read everything, portion everything, be honest with myself and the reality of what I'm eating. If I'm putting in so much effort, I might as well give it 100%!

Hypothyroidism and Weight

 

     So apparently, I have a mild case of hypothyroidism. Its a condition where your thyroid, which secretes the hormones that turns food, or fat, into fuel, works more slowly than it should. Making it slightly harder to lose weight, have energy, and even stay warm in cool weather.  Its an affliction that happens to all redheads, and has to do with the genetic mutation that causes red hair, which is an adaptation to cold weather.
     As you all already know, I have struggled with about 10% of my body weight my entire life, and this condition could be to blame. About 5-10% of excess body fat can be blamed on a sluggish thyroid. Am I stuck with these 10 lbs? No, but I have to work really really hard to get it off.
     I recently read an article that talked about the genetic link to obesity and found an unnerving stat. I learned that people whose close relatives that are overweight or obese, such as parents, have a 35% harder time assimilating fat, and can store up to 35% more of their food as fat vs people who don't have the "obesity gene", even when given the same diet and exercise program.
     So, looking at my genetics, I seem to have been dealt a pretty shitty hand.  My mom and dad both struggle with obesity and too much fat, along with honestly, the vast percentage of my family, and even though I love being a redhead, it seems that it comes at a price.
     This halloween weekend, I had a great time. I drank alcohol on 2 different occasions, but kept my eating healthy and worked out 2 out of the 3 days. Stepping on the scale this morning, I had gained 4.5lbs.
     For some reason, alcohol has an effect on my body unlike anything else. I can eat 2lbs of chicken and a bar of dark chocolate and wake up the next day the same, but if I touch alcohol or white, processed, carbs and dairy (like pizza) I blow up like a balloon.
     Its soooo frustrating to have to put in 145% whereas some people can give 50% for the same effect.  Why have I been dealt this unfair hand?  And is it worth having a good time, to gain so much weight, and put myself back by 2 weeks from 2 days worth of partying? Is there some way to change your genetics?