Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Monday, June 6, 2011
You might be a junk food junkie if....25 signs you might need a change!
In keeping with the theme of "get off your butt and get healthy", I feel like I (the food Nazi) need to come clean...Saturday was spent in celebration of my nephews college graduation with family, fun, and of course food. I'm going to get right to the point and start off with the good...salad, fruit, water; now move to the bad...a hamburger, chips, artichoke dip; and now the ugly...lemon bars, chocolate chip cookies and pepsi. (did I just hear Linz gasp??) I'm admitting to this for two reasons,
1) to let you all know that my philosophy is NOT to eat so clean all of the time that you miss out on any good splurges (what is the point!)
2) to let you know that I felt like CRAP!
Our afternoon was filled with chasing kids around, laughing, and lots of volleyball. Normally when we play volleyball, I'm the last one standing, barely able to see because the sun is gone, begging everyone for one more game. Not today. My energy was zapped and I even noticed my attitude was totally bla!
I set up a little test below to see if you might need to look at your eating habits.
So here it goes...
You might be a funk food junkie if...
-You put whipped cream on your Starbucks triple mocha...and on your vegetables, and your salad and your chicken, and your...
-You eat donuts before your work out because you thing a sugar high will help you run faster
-Your pantry looks you just came home from a 10 cent top roman sale
-Your neighbors complain about the noise from your homemade cotton candy machine
-You think a farmers market is a place where they sell farms
-The last time you saw a piece of lettuce was when you passed by it in route to the fried chicken at the buffet
-You think "fast" food is actually a food group
-The only "fruit bowl" you have is the one where the fruit is painted on it
-The only fish you eat has "fillet of..." in the name
-You think chips are a health food because you dip them in salsa a guacamole (hey those are vegetables right??)
-Your kids think "fruit roll ups" are actually fruit
-Everything you eat has en expiration date of May 2095
-Your family would starve if you misplaced the can opener
-You pull up to the Taco Bell drive through and order "the usual"
-Your bread is the color of your husbands freshly bleached undershirts
-You count french fries as your daily vegetable
-Your salad looks more like a piece of lettuce swimming in a pool of white ranch dressing
-Your late night snack closely resembles an all you can eat buffet
-When making your own trail mix, you leave out everything except the M&M's
-Lunch consists of a glass of wine and a snickers bar...(wine and chocolate are healthy...right?)
-You think potato salad, pasta salad and Jello salad are actually salads!
-Aunt Jemima, The Pillsbury dough boy, Ronald, and Tony the tiger are your best friends
-The largest muscles in your body are in the hand that carries around that 64oz soda
-Your energy level is similar to that of a sloth
-You take the saying "life is short, eat dessert first" literally
Make sure to take a moment and let us hear from you...are you making any changes this month? Whats going on in your pantry and your fridge? Need to admit anything..or celebrate something??? Let us know in the comments below.
...and once more
Facebook Login Labels: food, funny
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
The "Food" Hangover... it's not pretty!
One of the things I love most about our little EMM blog is that you get to hear so many different perspectives from different mama's. Sometimes they make you think or laugh and sometimes they give you a sweet punch in the face and inspire you.... I'm so excited, I think we really do have something for everyone this month wether you're a food nazi and exercise fanatic, don't run unless someone is chasing you with a knife... or somewhere in between... this is going to be a great month on EMM!
Needless to say in the area of health, diet (as in the food we eat... not the swear word we're not saying this month) and exercise Gena and I agree on the basics. With autism taking up a permanent residence in my home, my pantry has been free of gluten, casein, dyes and most sugars. After facing some minor heath issues with my hubby a few years we ousted hydrogenated oils too... and that's about where the similarity train between Gena and I stops:) hehe
I happen to fall somewhere in between the "Gena food nazi's" of the world (those are her words:)) and a complete fast food junkie. I LIKE FOOD... I just do... no wait I LOVE FOOD. I love getting together with family and friends and enjoying cheese, butter, bread and wine... I love going to my mom's house for dinner and savoring every bite of her A-M-A-Z-I-N-G (and at times possibly a little orgasmic... ya I said it) cooking... I don't want to be on a diet!!! I don't want to give up the things I love so I can possibly fit into a size 8 pair of jeans or weigh 10 lbs less on the scales. It's just not that important to me...
{What is Important to ME???}
Not feeling like crap! I work out... enough... I eat decent 80% of the time... BUT, when I have a rough day... I binge... when I realize my checkbook is not in the condition I thought it was in... I binge... When I feel stressed or overwhelmed... you got it... I binge... when the weekend hits... it's an all out food orgy for like 72 hours... I have "food hang overs" that rival hang over hang overs... It's not pretty not pretty at ALL!
Food has been my drug of choice for too long. I want to stop abusing it AND my body. I want to start enjoying it again. And more than anything I want my kids to see a mom who is strong and healthy and even on occasion... balanced:) I want my boys to have a healthy body image and a healthy relationship with food... yes even us mom's of boys have to worry about the example we set in this department!
I know the power I let have food have in my life is bordering on the psychotic side and honestly... I'm just sick of it. I'm sick of feeling sick... I'm sick of having zero energy and being grouchy... FOOD Can't fix me... FOOD can't fill the voids I should be turning to God to fill... hopefully this month I can make my actions match my words.
Facebook Login Labels: big girl undies, dieting, exercise, food, food hangovers, lifestyle, moderation
Monday, May 30, 2011
It's time to "get off our butts and get healthy!" Four steps to begin this month long journey with the Earth Monkeys family!
I have been so excited for this post for a long time!
The idea has been brewing for a while and now the time is finally here!!!
We are going to spend the month of June focusing on a topic that we here at
Earth Monkeys have become crazy about...
GETING OFF OUR BUTTS AND GETTING HEALTHY!
"Diet"....this should be a four letter word. What you are not going to get this month are posts full of gibber jabber on how to "loose inches, shrink your waistline, or drop pounds". We won't offer you the latest fads, or give you a chart for counting calories. This month is about health, not weight. We are going to focus on our own health, our kids health, our mental, physical and emotional health. We want to motivate you to change your thinking on diets and food, we are talking radical here ladies! You are going to get so many different perspectives this month, that we are sure you will all relate on big levels. (I'm so exited I cant stand it!) Lets dive in!!
-On any given day in the United States half of all women are on diets, and 1 in 4 men are on a diet.
-2/3 of people who loose weight on a diet gain it back within a year,
and almost all gain it back in 5 years!
-Half of all 9 and 10 year old girls say being on a diet makes them feel better,
and 4 out of 5 children are afraid of being fat. (this rattles me big time!)
-Americans spend over 40 billion dollars a year on dieting or diet related products. (they should spend that on Earth Monkeys products instead!) ;)
-One in every 400 children now has type 1 diabetes...13 million men, and 12.6 million women also suffer from diabetes! This is crazy!
These stats are very disturbing to me. Not only does it prove that diets are basically not effective and are doing nothing to improve our health, but the fact that our kids even know what a diet is and feel better when they are on one, breaks my heart!
Somethings gotta change!
It may sound cliche', but think about the fact that you have one chance with this body on this earth, ask yourself: "is it more important that the food I eat taste super good for 10 seconds and wrecks my body, or that I nourish it with the best food possible so that it will last and serve me well?" I once heard a girl say "I don't eat to live, I live to eat". Let me propose...its time to eat to live! I'm going to ask you today to make some commitments. For some of you, I think you will feel a great sense of hope and a weight lifted with this clear direction and change in thinking we are proposing, for others, this may not be for you, and that's ok too.
LETS START NOW!!!
1) Remove the word "diet" from our vocabulary, lets break the cycle and make this a word our kids know nothing about. It's time to commit to "being healthy" NOT being on a diet.
2)Start moving. We will go into this more on another post, but for now, just Get off your butt and move ;)
3) Lets stop comparing our outsides to other peoples outsides. We are all different and it's time to stop thinking we all need to be stick thin super models. It's time to focus on being healthy, not skinny.
4) It's time for a full on pantry/fridge makeover! I'm going to give you a few things that we are all going to start with today, things we are feeding our families that are making us crazy unhealthy, and even killing people!
The first change is our pantry/fridge makeover
(note: I am going to give you just a little bit of information on a few things that we need to wipe totally out of what we feed our families. There is a ton more information that is out there, I'm just sharing a small amount on each thing)
-Check the labels on all processed food and anything with Hydrogenated oils...put it in the trash! Let me tell you why...
These oils are put in our foods because they are cheap and they greatly extend the life of our foods.
The way they are processed makes the chemical makeup comparable to plastic and your body can't digest this. They raise bad cholesterol, and are linked to heart disease, Alzheimer's, encourage development of cancer, cause obesity, and cellulite (this should be enough for most of us ;). And this crap is in everything, so be prepared to trash a lot of stuff!! Nuff said???
Get rid of soda, diet and regular...
-It has NO nutritional value.
-It is linked to osteoporosis (by not allowing the body to absorb calcium) , obesity, tooth decay, and heart disease. (just to name a few)
-It has ove 100% of the USRDA of sugar which increases insulin, causes High blood pressure, causes heart disease and diabetes.
Did I just hear you say "well I drink diet"??? (uh ohhhh...)
-The artificial sweeteners in that diet soda are linked to 92 different health side effects (major gasp!) including brain tumors, birth defects, diabetes, emotional disorders, epilepsy, MS, lupus, fibromyalgia, depression, and seizures. It also doubles the risk of obesity and takes away your appetite for healthy foods. (note: you can find lots of information online for helping quit the soda habit. It is an addiction.)
Lets continue on with sweetners...
Think you are safe with Splenda? Well it is NOT natural. The FDA approved it without any long term studies even though it contains chlorine and the chemical makeup is close to pesticides. (need I say more?)
High fructose corn syrup...dont let the adds fool you, it is not safe. It is made from corn, yes, but it is overly processed and is 45% fructose which is related to type 2 diabetes, obesity, HBP, heart disease, liver disease, and kidney stones...and it's in a ton of things...get rid of it all ;)
Your safe because you replaced your bad sweeteners with Agave, right? Wrong. I fell for this one until I did some research and found out it is HIGHER IN FRUCTOSE than even high fructose corn syrup! It is overly processed with chemicals and is even connected to miscarriages! So not cool.
I have found that the safest sweeteners are small amounts of real sugar, raw honey (the thick stuff) and Stevia.
I have to quickly mention those "100 calorie snack packs"...seriously, they may be low in calories, but the ingredients are terrible! Lets start being more concerned with WHAT we put in our bodies and not just how low in calories it is..lets all get into the habit of reading labels, and researching before jumping onto the latest "new thing". My rule is, if I don't know what an ingredient is, I don't buy it. Really! You want a healthy snack? Eat something real...like a fruit or veggie ;)
A quick look at salt.
The amount that is suggested we eat in one day is equal to 1t and we as Americans are eating at least 2x that amount. Let's look at why this is so harmful...
-It is linked to heart disease, HBP, stroke, heart failure, kidney failure, kidney stones...
This means when we cook at home, we should add only small amounts to our meals, and take that shaker off of the table, because we do not need more added. This also means, if we are getting any of our meals at a fast food restaurant, we will NOT be able to stay within the RDA. (I have a million other reasons to avoid all fast food, but I wont go off on those today...)
This is only the beginning!
This is only the beginning!
I want to challenge you to do your own research on things like red dye, fast food, processed food in general, soy, corn...teach yourself to research things from every angle, and remember that if there is money to be made, of course that opinion will be for something. Dig deep. Let us know what you find! So lets clean it out...remember, we are not counting calories, fat or carbs...we are getting rid of the crap that is harming us and the rest will follow. Lets get our families out of this unhealthy rut that we are in as a nation.
This is in no way meant to sound "holier than thou"or preachy...its meant to be the start of a month long conversation with you all so that we can all learn and grow from each other. I am really hoping that this month will be totally interactive! What are you going to change to improve the health of you and your family? and What are you already doing in your lives to be healthy? Are you in it with us to "Get off your butt and get healthy"month?...are you committing to hanging with us and going through the process? Talk to us ;) Let us know in the comments beneath.
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