Day 134 Women Food God - Is it Fear?

So this Oprah show everyone is talking about...came on Wednesday. First 15 minutes...I wasn't buying it.
I really couldn't understand what the hell O and this woman Geneen Roth were talking about. I was in immediate denial. My guard was up. I was set in my mind that I had found a new way to eat, and that I wasn't officially dieting so I didn't really need this advice because I wasn't a binge eater or food addict (I'm a food lover remember?). But then O said something that made my ears perk up. She told the story of how she was upset by something and went to food to console herself but it wasn't cake or cookies or chips or lasagna she reached for...she reached for lettuce!

Now it was finally my turn to have an "AHA" moment.

The mere existence of this food/diet blog is proof that I have a strong relationship with food. I think about it ALL of the time; every waking moment (funny, I can't recall dreaming about food). I have said on occasion, that I am obsessed with food, but just because I'm changing what I eat, doesn't mean that I don't run to food when something in me needs to be fulfilled...thus the AHA!!!
I have been holding back on posting about portion control because quite frankly,I don't have it "under control". Doesn't matter what you eat people, more in and less out still makes the scale say "yeah...and?". And this my peeps is the thing, the door, the whatever that needs to be explored; my dependence on food for some deep seeded reason.
My first instinct is to be afraid of what I'll uncover, but to also quickly jump the gun and self-diagnose the "thing" to be fear. Maybe it is, but here's what I'm going to do. I'm actually going to follow along with this book/program (damn them for not being on the Kindle!!!) for two months and see what happens.
I'm scared, but I will keep you posted.

P.S. - still staying whole, natural, and minimally processed...just in case you were wondering.

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Guest Post - "Stop the Insanity"

Here's a post from a friend of mine who I invited to share with you all as well. He just started is own blog which you can find here:
http://firedupwellness.blogspot.com/
Welcome FiredUp!

This past January like so many of you, I decided to take a fresh new look at my wellness. No, I did not join a gym or start some fad diet. I fired my doctor! This was not a revelation, but a revolution that also prompted me to make changes that will put me on the road to health.

Being overweight is not new for me. I was a chubby kid, overweight teen and yo-yo'ed for much of my 20’s and 30’s. I had some successful weight losses. During my junior year of high school, I lost 70 pounds on one of those weight loss clinics that offer counseling as well as a food-based weight loss program. I did well. But over the next 4 years the weight came back. After college graduation, I lost weight again. This time through caloric reduction and intense exercise. I had a lot of free time then.

Fast forward ten years, a demanding career with a crazy traveling schedule I am at the heaviest I have ever been. How did I get this way? Well, I am just starting to figure that out. In the ten years, I have been to a nutritionist, personal trainers, weight loss providers and of course my doctor.

Here is a synopsis:

1. The nutritionist told me to “take a dinner plate and divide it into four parts – three of the four parts need to be vegetables”. Needless to my first visit was my last.
2. The personal trainer, at 10 years younger and 200 pounds smaller than me, saw a big guy and worked me too hard, to the point where I ended up bed ridden with a herniated disk for 8 weeks.
3. WeightWatchers, although helpful, sends mixed messages with counting calories instead of discussing quality and quantity of food. Besides the group counseling sessions are filled with mom’s struggling with their weight. That really doesn’t apply to my lifestyle.
4. My doctor of 10 years told me to get weight loss surgery, and pushed it pretty hard.

Through all this, I could not seem to get the mantra of that fitness and diet guru Susan Powter (you know the one from 1990’s with that white buzz cut) out of my head. Remember "Stop the Insanity"? Although maybe a little whacked out, she was kind of on to something. She mentioned that she too, went to the weight loss industry, the medical industry and the food industry all to help her lose weight. The problem is that none of them really want you to lose weight… or maybe better yet, they actually just don’t know how. Isn’t that amazing, they don’t know how. We have learned so many lies about food, our relationship with it, what is healthy and what is not, that even the experts do not know really how to keep us healthy. IF they don’t know, what are we supposed to do? Fire them all! And that is what I did!

Whole Wheat Cashews

Short tale for you all...
I am becoming more and more successful at brainwashing my children when it comes to eating right.
My daughter spots a package marked Whole Cashews on the kitchen counter and yells to me across the house "Ma! Where in the world did you find whole wheat cashews????!?!?!"
Ba-dum-dum.

KFC Buckets for the Cure

Not really sure where I should start here..
Is anyone else bothered by this bullshit commercial?
What speaks louder than the bullshit however is the ingredients list. But first! Let me list for you, the five ingredients for my grilled chicken:
Chicken, preferably antibiotic free and vegan fed (please, please, please, my vegan friends...do not abandon me. I still love yall, but I still love chicken too)
fresh lemon juice
fresh rosemary
Salt and Pepper

Now here's the KFC® Grilled Chicken ingredients list:

Fresh Chicken Marinated With Salt, Sodium Phosphate, and Monosodium Glutamate. Seasoned With: Maltodextrin, Salt, Bleached Wheat Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil, Monosodium Glutamate, Secret Kentucky Grilled Chicken Spices, Palm Oil, Natural Flavor, Garlic Powder, Soy Sauce (Soybean, Wheat, Salt), Chicken Fat, Chicken Broth, Autolyzed Yeast, Beef Powder, Rendered Beef Fat, Extractives of Turmeric, Dehydrated Carrot, Onion Powder, and Not More Than 2% Each of Calcium Silicate and Silicon Dioxide Added As Anticaking Agents.
Contains Wheat and Soy.

And if you're curious about what's in all of the other lovely menu items at KFC, feel free to visit their website here.

Nuff Said

Is it Enough?

Do I really need to rant about the transparent diabolical strategy behind this campaign? Do they really think we're that stupid? It's as ridiculous and surreal as watching, let's see...the Marlboro Man as spokesperson for the American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society.

Dear KFC,

Stop treating us like fools. I do not feel warm and fuzzy when I see this commercial. I feel sick to my stomach and extremely sad. I'm not sad because you're lying to me. I'm sad because I know that there are hundreds of thousands of people who are touched by your so-called efforts and don't realize the irony of this ridiculous attempt to glorify your brand image while heightening brand awareness.

Shame on you.

Sincerely,

Yo Mama!

Day 123 - The Dirty Dozen

If you don't mind roach spray on your fruits and vegetables, don't bother reviewing this list. This is the most informative resource I use when grocery shopping.

We don't have to buy everything organic, but those on the Dirty Dozen list warrant our attention.

You can find out more information by clicking here where you can also download a copy of this shopper's guide for yourself.

Good health to ya!

Note - the only objection I have to this guide is the listing of sweet corn on the Clean list. Conventionally grown corn is more than likely genetically engineered, so buying organic corn would be a safer bet.