Sunday, March 21, 2010

Horrified.

I am absolutely horrified.

I just watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and its basically about a man from Europe, England I believe, who comes to America and goes to a town and tries to help them change their school lunches/ideas about food.

The reason I am horrified, is because it was such an eye-opener of the fact that many Americans are ignorant, set in their ways and don't give a CRAP about their bodies. This man goes into a school and shows them that what they are feeding their kids is processed CRAP and he brings in fresh food, within their budget, to show them they can do it. It was a teaser so we didn't see if he succeeded yet (premier is Friday next week at 8, 7central). But just the negativity he encountered FLOORED ME! He was trying to HELP them and they were being SO MEAN to him.

Not only can't I believe how absolutely close-minded and rude these people were to him... but I can't believe that our country actually believes what they are doing is good! I mean WTF? This guy goes into a school and they have pizza for breakfast, chicken nuggets and "potato pearls" for lunch, the next day they have pizza for lunch... its like what are we doing to our YOUTH?! No wonder I am fat - that is the SAME CRAP i ate growing up....all processed BULLcrap. Our bodies cannot process that stuff and I feel SILLY that I have been on this "eat low fat" crap. I am sorry. Carolyn you were right. We have to eat fresh, simple food to remain healthy and safe. One of the most hard hitting things he said what "I've been to African villages and have seen what they eat - and they eat better than American children... parents should be PISSED." Here is a link to the show and a commercial to it - http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution.

We just have SO many factors working against us. Healthy food is expensive. We are brainwashed to think that "diets" are the way to go, rather than making a REAL change. There is SO much crap out there about weight loss, being healthy, that we don't know where to start.... How can we fix these things?

1. For one - JT and I decided instead of going out to eat and spending on extras, we will invest that money into eating organic/unprocessed foods. We will budget it somehow, someway.
2. I will no longer diet. I know I keep saying this is a lifestyle change, but its REALLY got to be... I don't want my kids to be fat and miserable like i've been.
3. I will do what I can to find good information and share it. We can only go on what we believe... so we've got to learn as much as we can about as many aspects of weight loss and eating well and BEING HEALTHY as we can and decide what we believe.

I hope this is a good start. Because this journey has gone well... but its been BS that I haven't lost more weight and I don't feel as good as I did... WHY? you ask? Probably because we've been busy so I've been eating "Lean" pockets and processed CRAP that isn't helping me in any way. As Ive said before but not actually modeled - its not about HOW MANY calories you put in your body per se (well it is...but more importantly) its about the nutritional value of those calories.

I will not drink diet coke. I will not drink crystal light, I will not eat lean pockets, I will not eat "low fat" cheese unless its organic and naturally low fat. From now on my body is a temple. the end.

I would also like to bring up my question the other day about snacks. I suggest everyone read the book "The Abs Diet." Its not actually a diet at all really - but its a VERY informational guide, written by the editor in chief of Men's Health Magazine "David Zinzenko". I promise you will not be disappointed by this book - it tackles the evilness of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oil etc...and much much more. If you read this book for me, I will read ANY book you suggest.

In regards to snacks, I will give you a preview from the book in JT's words -

"1. 10 -30% of the calories you burn each day, get burned by the simple act of digesting your food.
2. maintaining a steady blood-sugar level prevents your body from slowing down its resting metabolic rate in order to conserve energy until the next energy source (meal).
3. Psychologically, you feel like you're getting to eat more food so you're less likely to binge on bad things (it matters WHAT the food is that you're eating more often...)
4. Its not 6 or however many meals - its six calorie consuming sessions for lack of a better term. Your body uses more calories to digest protein than fats and carbs - 25 cals burned for every 100 cals consumed of protein vs. 10-15 cals burned for every 100 cals of fats or carbs consumed. And those are JUST the calories your body burns in digestion - it doesn't even take into account how protein fuels your muscle repair and keeps you fuller longer.

Im telling you this book is great - I can't even begin to scratch the surface of all of this...

Thank you for reading. I really hope you got as much from reading this as I got from writing it! Love you guys! PLEASE comment as you see necessary.

4 comments:

  1. AMEN SISTER!!! I only caught the last 2 minutes of the teaser for Food Revolution last night, but I have a post-it up reminding me of the actual show airing this Friday. I absolutely think that you're on to something here, and I bet that eating clean will knock off serious weight for you. I heard on NPR - Eat whatever junk food you want as long as YOU make it from SCRATCH using whole, clean (organic, unprocessed) ingredients. You'll eat junk less often because you have to put the time and energy into making it, and when you do eat it, you control what's in it. I'm going to try and do the same thing. No more fast food - that's my downfall!!! Oh, and try stevia as a sweetener. It's natural, and WAY better tasting than the Splenda and the Blue and Pink packages. I use a scoop the size of a pencil eraser and it's about equivalent to 2-3 TABLEspoons of sugar's sweetness! Anyway, I'm going to do this with you! You're awesome Heather!!!

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  2. I have to say you're much stronger than I am! I LOVE my diet sodas! It's going to take a lot to get me to give those up (yes I know how bad they are for me, they are just SO tasty!) As for the book, You've got yourself a deal! I'll just have to pick a GREAT book for you to read... of course during the summer since right now your tight on time as is! The show was awesome! I'm glad I just HAPPENED to be on ABC at the time. Now the special report interrupting the show was less what I wanted to see, but the show itself has been needed in the United States for a long time, not to mention this "Food Revolution" he's talking about. I'm behind him the WHOLE way. And there's even the thought that maybe once we get into a school district we can become part of some committee and overhaul the school that we end up working in and help this Jamie fellow with the revolution our country so desperately needs. It's just kind of depressing he's on Friday nights which is the least watched of the days, not including Sunday. But I'm hoping it'll get transfered to a "prime time" spot and it takes off. Anyways I enjoyed your rant and think you and this Jamie fellow are really onto something!!!

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  3. Hey Heather! Great attitude :) So, Did you know Jamie Oliver already did this for the school system in England? I didnt watch the show, so Im not sure what they covered, but I am familiar with him. Hes fabulous in an eat- fresh sort of way. I live by a 'everything in moderation' motto. I make my own food, almost all of it healthy, but I keep chocolate around and snacks. I bake a lot from scratch- i eat those things for dessert or snacks. I eat cheese. I eat things that are incredibly high in fat, but I dont eat a ton of them- most of the time. I think the idea of eating well but not low fat is right on. But you do have to watch the fat a bit. A really super good for you recipe may have a half cup of olive oil in it....olive oil is GREAT for you, but its unnecessary in huge quantities. So just keep a little eye on things like that :) Also, I think you should allow yourself a cheat here and there. I sometimes keep wheat thins on hand- reduced fat ones- because i love them. But thats only a couple times a year and honestly, does that hurt? Everything in moderation baby! Even moderation!!!!

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  4. I loved this blog post! Very inspiring, Heather. It's funny, because we all know deep down that fresh and natural is really the best way to eat, but we fool ourselves into thinking that all this processed crap we have in abundance here in America will make us skinny, or tastes good. I set up that show to DVR and I'm going to check out the book you recommended.

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