We are getting geared up for our second year of juicing through New Years. It occurred to me that lots of people juice through New Years - just a different kind of juicing.
Ours involves fresh made juices made from organic fruits and veggies. We will do a 3 day juice "detox" which consists of 5-6 juices a day for the three days. It can add up to around 20 -40 pounds of produce in the 3 days.
We will follow that with eating "plant based" through January. That isn't a big change for us as we eat very little animal protein right now anyway. What will change is the popcorn will have coconut oil on it, we will only drink wine on weekends, and no dairy at all.
We originally had thought about no wine at all, but I was over-ruled by Pam. It's not like I fought her really hard on this, and if I elect not to drink any I can and still allow her hers.
Last year we did the detox and then raw food only for 4 weeks which will make this easy. The raw food is tough because January is soup and chili month around here.
We start Saturday morning with the juice and finish that Monday evening. We'll provide stats on any weight loss we experience and any side effects. Last year we lost 10 or 12 pounds each and kept it off all year. That would be great, but I'll settle for feeling great.
I haven't had a cold or flu since I started eating clean and exercising. This time of year in the past my lower legs looked like a reptile because of dry skin and I have no such issue now.
Here's a recipe.
Bean Burgers
1 can organic beans drained and rinsed- Black or Kidney (If you soak dried beans just cook them 30 minutes)
1/2 onion sauteed
6 mushrooms sauteed
Salt and Pepper
Whatever you want it to taste like. For a hamburger taste add 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce. For more of an Italian flavor use Balsamic vinegar with some basil, etc.
Mash the beans by hand so there are some larger chunks. Chop about 2/3s of the onions and mushrooms and add to the beans. Add the other part of the onions and mushrooms in the blender with the Worcestershire or Balsamic and puree. Add to the beans. Salt and pepper to taste. Make into patties. Cook in a little Olive oil for a couple minutes per side - I like to cover them so they warm better in the middle. If the mix seems a little dry add a little olive oil and it it's wet add a little bread crumbs or flour.
Enjoy.
More soon....
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
The Map To The Minefield
Does demanding to know what is in what you eat and drink mean you are scared? Does avoiding things that are known to be bad for you make you a chicken? Does avoiding iffy things until some actual testing can be done make you undaring?
Is it possible that the most blissful person is not the ignorant one?
When the ignorantly blissful person runs across the mine field and loses a leg is he still blissful?
It seems that the one person with NO reason to be afraid is the person well armed with information on how to avoid the potential pitfalls of life. The guy who knows where all of the mines are can easily navigate the minefield - right?
I would say that the people who are armed with necessary information are the ones that can be the most at ease - the most empowered of people. Where the disconnect seems to come for those looking at the people with the information is when they choose to share it with those they know and those they love.
Labels then tagged on those that share their information include "Health Nut" , "Tree Hugger", "Anti Job Knucklehead", "Liberal" , etc. I am well aware of these because I have used all of them and more.
When people first began warning us about the deforestation in the Amazon rain forests they were tree huggers. We joked about spotted owls tasting just like chicken. The polar ice melt was an overreaction by more of those environmentalists.
You have every right to choose NOT to listen to someone who chooses to share their information and you also can feel free to label them as whatever you need to to maintain your own sense of personal security. Understand, though, that they are not the frightened ones. They are the ones with the map to the minefield.
More soon.....
Is it possible that the most blissful person is not the ignorant one?
When the ignorantly blissful person runs across the mine field and loses a leg is he still blissful?
It seems that the one person with NO reason to be afraid is the person well armed with information on how to avoid the potential pitfalls of life. The guy who knows where all of the mines are can easily navigate the minefield - right?
I would say that the people who are armed with necessary information are the ones that can be the most at ease - the most empowered of people. Where the disconnect seems to come for those looking at the people with the information is when they choose to share it with those they know and those they love.
Labels then tagged on those that share their information include "Health Nut" , "Tree Hugger", "Anti Job Knucklehead", "Liberal" , etc. I am well aware of these because I have used all of them and more.
When people first began warning us about the deforestation in the Amazon rain forests they were tree huggers. We joked about spotted owls tasting just like chicken. The polar ice melt was an overreaction by more of those environmentalists.
You have every right to choose NOT to listen to someone who chooses to share their information and you also can feel free to label them as whatever you need to to maintain your own sense of personal security. Understand, though, that they are not the frightened ones. They are the ones with the map to the minefield.
More soon.....
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
A Taste of Well Cooked Crow
As I get close to 2 years since my healthy light went on I have been reminded often of my old ways. I remember starting many sauces with bacon and fearing running out of bacon. Now I don't eat it at all and consider it poison.
I was no stranger to french fries either and now I am forced to agree with the likes of Jillian Michaels and say that they too are poison.
I drank too much and exercised too little and was sometimes even comforted with statistics that told of average yearly weight gain for men in the US.
I would sometimes Jones for Arby's Roast Beef sandwiches with Arby's sauce - 4 at a time.
I didn't eat nearly enough fruits and vegetables. My main vegetable was canned tomatoes in my meat sauces,
I ate my share and then some of cured meats laden with nitrates and nitrites as well as fat and scoffed at those who warned of the downside of that saying things like "We're all gonna die from something. I'm going to enjoy mt life."
Here is the result of that.
So now I promote healthy eating and exercise. I research food and nutrition in an effort to avoid as many trips to the doctor as possible. I have stopped eating red meat and I don't drink hard alcohol. I rarely eat chicken or turkey and, when I do, I eat organic. I eat wild fish only and not a bunch of it either.
Am I a hypocrite for this? I would be if I wavered. If I went back and forth or justified some things without any reason.
Do I eat crow for this. Yes I do! I earned a large plate of crow through years of avoidance of the facts. In an age of information we all have a higher level of responsibility to find information that is readily available. Sure there is some crow to eat sometimes but in some cases crow is a good diet food.
More soon....
I was no stranger to french fries either and now I am forced to agree with the likes of Jillian Michaels and say that they too are poison.
I drank too much and exercised too little and was sometimes even comforted with statistics that told of average yearly weight gain for men in the US.
I would sometimes Jones for Arby's Roast Beef sandwiches with Arby's sauce - 4 at a time.
I didn't eat nearly enough fruits and vegetables. My main vegetable was canned tomatoes in my meat sauces,
I ate my share and then some of cured meats laden with nitrates and nitrites as well as fat and scoffed at those who warned of the downside of that saying things like "We're all gonna die from something. I'm going to enjoy mt life."
Here is the result of that.
So now I promote healthy eating and exercise. I research food and nutrition in an effort to avoid as many trips to the doctor as possible. I have stopped eating red meat and I don't drink hard alcohol. I rarely eat chicken or turkey and, when I do, I eat organic. I eat wild fish only and not a bunch of it either.
Am I a hypocrite for this? I would be if I wavered. If I went back and forth or justified some things without any reason.
Do I eat crow for this. Yes I do! I earned a large plate of crow through years of avoidance of the facts. In an age of information we all have a higher level of responsibility to find information that is readily available. Sure there is some crow to eat sometimes but in some cases crow is a good diet food.
More soon....
Monday, December 19, 2011
Suntop Snowshoe
Something masochistic came over us so we chose to do a snowshoe trip to Suntop near Crystal Mountain yesterday. It ended up being 9.85 miles round trip with 2520 feet of elevation gain. That isn't much for us for a hike or later in the season snowshoe, but after a meager 4.75 mile snowshoe on Mt Rainier with little elevation gain it was hard.
It certainly didn't help that we were on a mucho rapido pace. We made it up - half way since it is an out and back trip - in 3 hours including a couple of 5 minute calorie stops after one and two hours. We hung out for a quick lunch - 25 minutes - and descended in under 2 hours.
After an obligatory and much deserved stop for a beer and some soup at the Naches Tavern in Greenwater we headed home. Nearly 2 hours drive each way put us home around 6 PM. We showered, ate, watched a little TV with a glass of wine and hit the sack.
When I woke up this morning I felt like I was on the losing end of a street fight - sore all over. It's not like I am so stiff I couldn't get stuff done, but it was done with more difficulty than normal. At least it was good exercise pain.
More soon...
It certainly didn't help that we were on a mucho rapido pace. We made it up - half way since it is an out and back trip - in 3 hours including a couple of 5 minute calorie stops after one and two hours. We hung out for a quick lunch - 25 minutes - and descended in under 2 hours.
After an obligatory and much deserved stop for a beer and some soup at the Naches Tavern in Greenwater we headed home. Nearly 2 hours drive each way put us home around 6 PM. We showered, ate, watched a little TV with a glass of wine and hit the sack.
When I woke up this morning I felt like I was on the losing end of a street fight - sore all over. It's not like I am so stiff I couldn't get stuff done, but it was done with more difficulty than normal. At least it was good exercise pain.
More soon...
Thursday, December 15, 2011
And Now The Beverages
Here are more easy ways to lose weight - this time with drinks. The ONLY liquid your body needs is water. Mine wants some red wine and occasionally a beer, but needs only water. We all like something different from time to time, but it is a good place to look for some easy pound savings.
Let's start with me. I like my red wine. An average bottle of wine is 750 ml or about 4 6 oz servings of 150 calories each. I generally have 2 glasses per night or 300 calories of wine. If I cut that to one glass per night I would save over 50,000 calories in a year or about 14 pounds.
Duck now my Rum and Coke drinkers. A Rum and Coke - 1 shot and 6 oz coke is 160 calories. I know you're not having one because that would leave a flat half a can of Coke. An easy switch is to wine or beer, but if it must be Rum and Coke make it diet and save 100 calories each drink. Since we know you are having 2 every night that means 200 calories or over 70,000 a year for about 20 pounds.
Margaritas used to be my favorite drink but they are 550 calories each. I was always good for 4 or so in a night, but luckily not every night. Since they are a once or twice a week drink lets count the benefits that way. If you switched to Bloody Marys you would save 475 calories each. A mojito will save you 300 calories each. If you have 2 a week and you switch to Mojitos you will save over 30,000 calories a year or 8-9 pounds.
If you are drinking Bud Light to try to save calories switch to red wine. At 120 calories per BL you are drinking tasteless crap for no apparent reason. The worse micro beer you can drink calorie wise is maybe 200. It seems hardly worth it to save calories there. Do this instead - swap every other beer with water and drink good beer. That will save you 20 calories and you'll enjoy the product better and NOT look like an advertising lemming.
The water switch every other drink is great for a ton of reasons. First, alcohol dehydrates you so the water helps there. Second, it is filling causing you to not eat or drink as much other stuff.
Just some ideas you might find useful - or not - your choice.
More soon....
Let's start with me. I like my red wine. An average bottle of wine is 750 ml or about 4 6 oz servings of 150 calories each. I generally have 2 glasses per night or 300 calories of wine. If I cut that to one glass per night I would save over 50,000 calories in a year or about 14 pounds.
Duck now my Rum and Coke drinkers. A Rum and Coke - 1 shot and 6 oz coke is 160 calories. I know you're not having one because that would leave a flat half a can of Coke. An easy switch is to wine or beer, but if it must be Rum and Coke make it diet and save 100 calories each drink. Since we know you are having 2 every night that means 200 calories or over 70,000 a year for about 20 pounds.
Margaritas used to be my favorite drink but they are 550 calories each. I was always good for 4 or so in a night, but luckily not every night. Since they are a once or twice a week drink lets count the benefits that way. If you switched to Bloody Marys you would save 475 calories each. A mojito will save you 300 calories each. If you have 2 a week and you switch to Mojitos you will save over 30,000 calories a year or 8-9 pounds.
If you are drinking Bud Light to try to save calories switch to red wine. At 120 calories per BL you are drinking tasteless crap for no apparent reason. The worse micro beer you can drink calorie wise is maybe 200. It seems hardly worth it to save calories there. Do this instead - swap every other beer with water and drink good beer. That will save you 20 calories and you'll enjoy the product better and NOT look like an advertising lemming.
The water switch every other drink is great for a ton of reasons. First, alcohol dehydrates you so the water helps there. Second, it is filling causing you to not eat or drink as much other stuff.
Just some ideas you might find useful - or not - your choice.
More soon....
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Huge Payoff Easy Changes
I realize that not everyone is going to eat mainly organic plant based food for their diet. Some of you - and you know who you are- are going to have your daily doughnut or your once a week Family Pizza Night or a trip to the fast food joint for a burger and fries.
Here is an easy way to make tiny changes that really add up.
Let's say you are the doughnut person. If you skip just one doughnut every week for a year you will save 15600 calories or about 5 POUNDS! You will also be nice to your body by not ingesting 850 grams of fat, 20,000 milligrams of sodium and 832 grams of sugar. If your favorite is the Maple Bar you save 24000 calories - 7 or 8 pounds, 1500 grams of fat, 27000 milligrams of sodium and almost 600 grams of sugar.
On Family Pizza night eat one slice less every week and you'll save another 15,600 calories - 5 pounds - 800 grams of fat, 38000 milligrams of sodium and 200 grams of sugar.
If you just skip a medium fry with your burger you will save 22,204 calories - about 7 pounds - 1200 grams of fat and 13520 milligrams of sodium.
Maybe you are all three of these guys and the maple bar is your pick. If you cut one maple bar, 1 slice of pizza and 1 medium fry a week for a year you save 61,724 calories or almost 18 POUNDS! You will also miss over 4500 grams of fat, 78000 milligrams of sodium and a bunch of sugar.
Without changing anything else or doing one jumping jack you could lose 35 pounds in 2 years! Is it worth it? Are YOU worth it?
More soon....
Here is an easy way to make tiny changes that really add up.
Let's say you are the doughnut person. If you skip just one doughnut every week for a year you will save 15600 calories or about 5 POUNDS! You will also be nice to your body by not ingesting 850 grams of fat, 20,000 milligrams of sodium and 832 grams of sugar. If your favorite is the Maple Bar you save 24000 calories - 7 or 8 pounds, 1500 grams of fat, 27000 milligrams of sodium and almost 600 grams of sugar.
On Family Pizza night eat one slice less every week and you'll save another 15,600 calories - 5 pounds - 800 grams of fat, 38000 milligrams of sodium and 200 grams of sugar.
If you just skip a medium fry with your burger you will save 22,204 calories - about 7 pounds - 1200 grams of fat and 13520 milligrams of sodium.
Maybe you are all three of these guys and the maple bar is your pick. If you cut one maple bar, 1 slice of pizza and 1 medium fry a week for a year you save 61,724 calories or almost 18 POUNDS! You will also miss over 4500 grams of fat, 78000 milligrams of sodium and a bunch of sugar.
Without changing anything else or doing one jumping jack you could lose 35 pounds in 2 years! Is it worth it? Are YOU worth it?
More soon....
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Exorcising The Frozen Paperboy Inside
I can't remember exactly how old I was when this happened, but it stuck with me since. What I do remember well is that while the Post Office didn't deliver mail that particular day - so much for rain nor sleet - the Tacoma News Tribune trucks made it to the paper boxes so we were to deliver the papers.
In Tacoma snow usually doesn't last long. This day it had snowed for a couple of days and was warming up this day. There had been about 12-18 inches which was quickly turning to slush. We delivered the papers in the afternoon during the week then. There was no way to ride a bike and driving was treacherous so we slogged through the snow on foot.
A route that would normally take me maybe a hour was closer to 2 hours that day. There was no "getting used to it." It got colder and colder as I got wetter and wetter. It didn't make it better that I had a couple of brothers out doing the same thing on their parts of our route.
When the water finally wicked all of the way up my pant legs I still had a good third of the route to go and despair was upon me. Again, I don't remember exactly how old I was but I do remember crying most of the rest of the way home. Not that crying is a warming thing, but shaking and teeth rattling doesn't seem complete without crying.
Luckily for them none of my customers complained about their papers being a little late or a little wet. I'm sure I would have had a psychotic break and killed them if they had.
I got home that day and filled the tub with hot water and soaked, but I don't think I have ever really felt completely warm since. Because of that I have always avoided the cold for more than a little sledding.
Enter Pam and her buddies going snowshoeing and inviting me along. My excuse was always that day from my childhood.
Sunday it occurred to me as we snowshoed around Reflection Lake at Mount Rainier that my little cold paperboy had made his peace with the snow. I'm not sure he will ever get fully warm, but him and snow are OK now.
More soon....
In Tacoma snow usually doesn't last long. This day it had snowed for a couple of days and was warming up this day. There had been about 12-18 inches which was quickly turning to slush. We delivered the papers in the afternoon during the week then. There was no way to ride a bike and driving was treacherous so we slogged through the snow on foot.
A route that would normally take me maybe a hour was closer to 2 hours that day. There was no "getting used to it." It got colder and colder as I got wetter and wetter. It didn't make it better that I had a couple of brothers out doing the same thing on their parts of our route.
When the water finally wicked all of the way up my pant legs I still had a good third of the route to go and despair was upon me. Again, I don't remember exactly how old I was but I do remember crying most of the rest of the way home. Not that crying is a warming thing, but shaking and teeth rattling doesn't seem complete without crying.
Luckily for them none of my customers complained about their papers being a little late or a little wet. I'm sure I would have had a psychotic break and killed them if they had.
I got home that day and filled the tub with hot water and soaked, but I don't think I have ever really felt completely warm since. Because of that I have always avoided the cold for more than a little sledding.
Enter Pam and her buddies going snowshoeing and inviting me along. My excuse was always that day from my childhood.
Sunday it occurred to me as we snowshoed around Reflection Lake at Mount Rainier that my little cold paperboy had made his peace with the snow. I'm not sure he will ever get fully warm, but him and snow are OK now.
More soon....
Monday, December 12, 2011
Don't Hate The Player - Hate The Simple Carbs
Did you know that the ONLY food your brain can use is carbohydrates? Really. In this us v them world of low fat v low carb diets some sanity need to prevail.
What you need to know about carbs is that your intake of simple carbs which are essentially sugars even though they take the shape of white rice, white bread and flour, potatoes, etc., should only make up 10% or less of your total caloric intake. It's better to limit them to less than that, but 10% is the limit.
Most processed and fast foods are full of simple carbs which is only one reason why they suck as food. The other reason is that they have had their structure altered to the point where you get no real nutrition from them. They are also regularly LOADED with sodium.
Complex carbohydrates provide most of the energy that your body needs. They should make up 55 - 60% of your total caloric intake. They include fresh vegetables and fruits, brown rice, whole grains, beans, and other foods. They provide not only fuel but fiber which is necessary for a healthy digestive system.
Healthy digestion is the key to health as most of you ability to fight diseases is controlled by the health of your digestive system. Your "gut" is the first line of defense against diseases both seasonal and chronic. The fiber in complex carbohydrates works like a plunger to flush your colon and help keep you well.
The great news is that brown rice and wild rice actually taste better than the white stuff and the same goes for whole grain breads as opposed to the white stuff. Agave nectar and honey are better tasting than sugar too.
I promise that if you cut the simple carbs and sugars and bad fats for 2 weeks you won't miss them anymore. It's like cigarettes that way. You may be cranky and irritable for 2 weeks but you'll come around and be much healthier in a real and sustainable way. No more dieting - just a way to eat that works forever. Less meds and more energy! Sounds good, doesn't it?
More soon....
What you need to know about carbs is that your intake of simple carbs which are essentially sugars even though they take the shape of white rice, white bread and flour, potatoes, etc., should only make up 10% or less of your total caloric intake. It's better to limit them to less than that, but 10% is the limit.
Most processed and fast foods are full of simple carbs which is only one reason why they suck as food. The other reason is that they have had their structure altered to the point where you get no real nutrition from them. They are also regularly LOADED with sodium.
Complex carbohydrates provide most of the energy that your body needs. They should make up 55 - 60% of your total caloric intake. They include fresh vegetables and fruits, brown rice, whole grains, beans, and other foods. They provide not only fuel but fiber which is necessary for a healthy digestive system.
Healthy digestion is the key to health as most of you ability to fight diseases is controlled by the health of your digestive system. Your "gut" is the first line of defense against diseases both seasonal and chronic. The fiber in complex carbohydrates works like a plunger to flush your colon and help keep you well.
The great news is that brown rice and wild rice actually taste better than the white stuff and the same goes for whole grain breads as opposed to the white stuff. Agave nectar and honey are better tasting than sugar too.
I promise that if you cut the simple carbs and sugars and bad fats for 2 weeks you won't miss them anymore. It's like cigarettes that way. You may be cranky and irritable for 2 weeks but you'll come around and be much healthier in a real and sustainable way. No more dieting - just a way to eat that works forever. Less meds and more energy! Sounds good, doesn't it?
More soon....
Friday, December 9, 2011
Another Adaptation
It's been cold around here lately and that means one thing - comfort food. Since I don't eat junk anymore I have to reinvent recipes. My latest is Red Beans and Rice - the southern classic. The junk I needed to cut out are bacon and sausage. So here is what I did instead.
Rice and Four Beans
1 Medium Red Onion
1 Bell Pepper
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Tbsp Chili Powder - mine is a little hotter than most. If your sauce is too mild add cayenne
1 Tsp Cumin
30 oz Diced Organic Tomatoes
1 can Organic Black beans
1 cup Truroots Sprouted Bean Trio cooked per instructions
1 Tbsp Parsley
1 Tbsp Basil
Worcestershire Sauce to taste - optional
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Louisiana Hot Sauce
Steamed Organic Brown Rice - I use the Short grain organic brown rice from Costco.
Saute Onions and pepper in Olive oil for 3 minutes on high and then add garlic for one minute. Add Tomatoes and spices and cook for 5 minutes. Add beans and herbs and season to taste. Use Louisiana hot sauce for final heat adjustment. It should be spicy. Serve over steamed brown rice and warm up!
More soon....
Rice and Four Beans
1 Medium Red Onion
1 Bell Pepper
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Tbsp Chili Powder - mine is a little hotter than most. If your sauce is too mild add cayenne
1 Tsp Cumin
30 oz Diced Organic Tomatoes
1 can Organic Black beans
1 cup Truroots Sprouted Bean Trio cooked per instructions
1 Tbsp Parsley
1 Tbsp Basil
Worcestershire Sauce to taste - optional
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Louisiana Hot Sauce
Steamed Organic Brown Rice - I use the Short grain organic brown rice from Costco.
Saute Onions and pepper in Olive oil for 3 minutes on high and then add garlic for one minute. Add Tomatoes and spices and cook for 5 minutes. Add beans and herbs and season to taste. Use Louisiana hot sauce for final heat adjustment. It should be spicy. Serve over steamed brown rice and warm up!
More soon....
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Her Regal Highness
Athena was able to add fans this morning while dragging me 6.7 miles in 1:24. She has fans all over and peeps as well. The difference is that a fan is someone who has looked upon her regalness (regality?) and smiled. They become peeps when she has licked them and clowned on them.
She is convinced that cars that are slowing to stop at a corner are actually slowing down to gaze upon her and smile. She doesn't know - nor will I ever tell her - that the smiles are for her but the slowing is a function of driving.
This new system I have for walking with her has actually helped my posture and my core strength. As we blaze along at close to - and sometimes over- 5 MPH I actually have to resist her from going faster. With my leash belt set just above my waist I am forced to walk nicely erect and use my core to resist her.
I realize of course that this approach is no way to train a dog to walk on lead. I also realize that Athena is never going to be a dog that you would walk like that anyway. She overreacts to every dog, cat and squirrel she encounters along the way. There is no dog park in her future. She doesn't want to play with other dogs as much as she wants to take them on.
Our exercise program may not work for many people and their dogs, but people who run with their dogs would enjoy the freedom of having both hands free. Others who want to get exercise but have a relatively incorrigible dog should try this out.
Dogs walking at their own pace are blissful and appreciative. They relax after their workout and cut you some slack as well. Walking at a dogs pace takes some working into. You can't expect to jump right in and walk 5 MPH. I remember being so proud of myself when I was walking at 4 MPH regularly thinking I was fast and near the upper end of what's possible. I now think that 5.3 or 5.4 is possible without running.
I think I have some sort of sickness. Oh that's right, I'm obsessive.
More soon....
She is convinced that cars that are slowing to stop at a corner are actually slowing down to gaze upon her and smile. She doesn't know - nor will I ever tell her - that the smiles are for her but the slowing is a function of driving.
This new system I have for walking with her has actually helped my posture and my core strength. As we blaze along at close to - and sometimes over- 5 MPH I actually have to resist her from going faster. With my leash belt set just above my waist I am forced to walk nicely erect and use my core to resist her.
I realize of course that this approach is no way to train a dog to walk on lead. I also realize that Athena is never going to be a dog that you would walk like that anyway. She overreacts to every dog, cat and squirrel she encounters along the way. There is no dog park in her future. She doesn't want to play with other dogs as much as she wants to take them on.
Our exercise program may not work for many people and their dogs, but people who run with their dogs would enjoy the freedom of having both hands free. Others who want to get exercise but have a relatively incorrigible dog should try this out.
Dogs walking at their own pace are blissful and appreciative. They relax after their workout and cut you some slack as well. Walking at a dogs pace takes some working into. You can't expect to jump right in and walk 5 MPH. I remember being so proud of myself when I was walking at 4 MPH regularly thinking I was fast and near the upper end of what's possible. I now think that 5.3 or 5.4 is possible without running.
I think I have some sort of sickness. Oh that's right, I'm obsessive.
More soon....
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Soup Weather
We're nearing the shortest day of the year, and it's just cold outside. That means soup to me. I decided on making a soup I hadn't made before. Like all of my "test" recipes I made a huge pot full of soup. I might be a touch braver in the kitchen than most. Here's what I made.
Spicy Vegetable Soup
1 good sized Organic leek
6 stalks of Organic celery
6 Organic carrots
10 Organic Mushrooms
2 quarts Organic Vegetable Stock
16 oz water
1 can Organic Garbanzo Beans
1 Can Organic Diced Tomatoes
1 Tbsp Organic Turmeric
1 pinch Red Chili Flakes
1 Batch of Truroots Organic Bean Trio (1 cup beans cooked per instructions)
1 Batch of Truroots Organic Quinoa and Sprouted Rice Blend (1 cup mix cooked per instructions)
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Chop and saute the leek, carrots and celery in olive oil in a large pot for 2 - 3 minutes on high heat. add tomatoes and cook for a minute or 2 more. Add the stock, water, garbanzos and sliced mushrooms. Bring to a slow boil and reduce heat to medium low. salt and pepper to taste.
Prepare the Bean Trio and Quinoa/Rice blend per instructions. This will take about 1/2 hour to complete. When the beans and rice are done add the turmeric and red pepper flakes to the soup and then add the beans and the quinoa.rice blend and stir in. Allow to cook for at least 5 minutes before serving to allow the last ingredients to incorporate into the soup.
This makes a bunch of soup. Soup freezes well. If you choose to freeze some allow it to cool to room temperature, get as much air as you can from the container - ziplock- you are freezing it in and freeze away.
This soup has no animal product in it so it qualifies as vegan. You could switch the stock for chicken stock if you are offended by eating vegan soup. If you do reduce the salt you add. You could add green beans, corn, peas, etc as well. Only you know what your pallet wants.
The turmeric and red chili flakes give it a nice spicy - maybe light curry - flavor. It has a nice rich medium yellow color. You could also go more southwest and switch the turmeric for curry. If you wanted to go more Italian skip the turmeric and add lots of basil, oregano, thyme, and parsley.
That is about 6 soup recipes now.
The sprouted beans and the Quinoa sprouted rice blend are available at Costco - at least they are at my Costco. The brand is Truroots Organic. They can be found online as well at Amazon.com and others.
Stay warm and remember we are only a couple of weeks away from when the days will begin to get longer for a while.
More soon....
Spicy Vegetable Soup
1 good sized Organic leek
6 stalks of Organic celery
6 Organic carrots
10 Organic Mushrooms
2 quarts Organic Vegetable Stock
16 oz water
1 can Organic Garbanzo Beans
1 Can Organic Diced Tomatoes
1 Tbsp Organic Turmeric
1 pinch Red Chili Flakes
1 Batch of Truroots Organic Bean Trio (1 cup beans cooked per instructions)
1 Batch of Truroots Organic Quinoa and Sprouted Rice Blend (1 cup mix cooked per instructions)
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Chop and saute the leek, carrots and celery in olive oil in a large pot for 2 - 3 minutes on high heat. add tomatoes and cook for a minute or 2 more. Add the stock, water, garbanzos and sliced mushrooms. Bring to a slow boil and reduce heat to medium low. salt and pepper to taste.
Prepare the Bean Trio and Quinoa/Rice blend per instructions. This will take about 1/2 hour to complete. When the beans and rice are done add the turmeric and red pepper flakes to the soup and then add the beans and the quinoa.rice blend and stir in. Allow to cook for at least 5 minutes before serving to allow the last ingredients to incorporate into the soup.
This makes a bunch of soup. Soup freezes well. If you choose to freeze some allow it to cool to room temperature, get as much air as you can from the container - ziplock- you are freezing it in and freeze away.
This soup has no animal product in it so it qualifies as vegan. You could switch the stock for chicken stock if you are offended by eating vegan soup. If you do reduce the salt you add. You could add green beans, corn, peas, etc as well. Only you know what your pallet wants.
The turmeric and red chili flakes give it a nice spicy - maybe light curry - flavor. It has a nice rich medium yellow color. You could also go more southwest and switch the turmeric for curry. If you wanted to go more Italian skip the turmeric and add lots of basil, oregano, thyme, and parsley.
That is about 6 soup recipes now.
The sprouted beans and the Quinoa sprouted rice blend are available at Costco - at least they are at my Costco. The brand is Truroots Organic. They can be found online as well at Amazon.com and others.
Stay warm and remember we are only a couple of weeks away from when the days will begin to get longer for a while.
More soon....
Monday, December 5, 2011
We're Not Worthy
Scientists have found a new planet in another universe that appears to be habitable. http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/05/first-planet-in-habitable-zone-discovered/?hpt=hp_t2
Even if we could make our way there I don't think we should. WE"RE NOT WORTHY. I hate to quote Wayne's World, but seriously we can't be trusted with another planet. Just look at what we've done to ours.
Do you know that the Colorado River quit flowing into the Sea of Cortez in 1998. It just stops now. This isn't some little creek that quit making it to a river or something. This the the Colorado!
We all know that the fossil fuel age is ending and we do NOTHING but look for new ways to squeeze a little more from sources we all know are too dirty and destructive to use - oil sands for instance. Once we squeeze this crap from the sands - which is an environmental nightmare - we pipe it through virgin forests to the coast where tankers 10 times as large as the Exxon Valdez pull up to ship it off to the highest bidder - China. They won't crash and cause a spill - will they?
We are less than 50 years from running out of clean drinking water and yet we don't protect and rehabilitate the one basic necessity of life we license it to Coke, Pepsi and Nestle so they can package it in toxic bottles and sell it back to us at 1000% more than it costs from the tap. That way we can add another 25 billion empty water bottles to our already full land fills. We do recycle almost 20% of them - aren't we special?
Some of you are saying "what do you mean the one basic human necessity Paul?" I'll concede that we need food and shelter as well, but without water you cannot digest the food that you couldn't grow anyway so you won't need shelter either. Get it?
So, we should do the right thing if we ever get an opportunity to colonize another planet and leave it for a race of beings that has a little more respect and a little less sense of entitlement.
More soon....
Even if we could make our way there I don't think we should. WE"RE NOT WORTHY. I hate to quote Wayne's World, but seriously we can't be trusted with another planet. Just look at what we've done to ours.
Do you know that the Colorado River quit flowing into the Sea of Cortez in 1998. It just stops now. This isn't some little creek that quit making it to a river or something. This the the Colorado!
We all know that the fossil fuel age is ending and we do NOTHING but look for new ways to squeeze a little more from sources we all know are too dirty and destructive to use - oil sands for instance. Once we squeeze this crap from the sands - which is an environmental nightmare - we pipe it through virgin forests to the coast where tankers 10 times as large as the Exxon Valdez pull up to ship it off to the highest bidder - China. They won't crash and cause a spill - will they?
We are less than 50 years from running out of clean drinking water and yet we don't protect and rehabilitate the one basic necessity of life we license it to Coke, Pepsi and Nestle so they can package it in toxic bottles and sell it back to us at 1000% more than it costs from the tap. That way we can add another 25 billion empty water bottles to our already full land fills. We do recycle almost 20% of them - aren't we special?
Some of you are saying "what do you mean the one basic human necessity Paul?" I'll concede that we need food and shelter as well, but without water you cannot digest the food that you couldn't grow anyway so you won't need shelter either. Get it?
So, we should do the right thing if we ever get an opportunity to colonize another planet and leave it for a race of beings that has a little more respect and a little less sense of entitlement.
More soon....
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Hmmm Pancackes!
I woke up wanting pancakes. This was a problem because I perfected pancakes over many years. The trick is to use whole milk, butter, raw sugar and to separate the eggs so you can beat the whites and fold them in to make the batter fluffy.
Since I am not eating eggs, milk or butter I had to find a new way. I was able to make really good pancakes with whole wheat flour, brown rice flour, soy milk and olive oil instead. They were fluffy and light like you want and without the animal stuff I am not eating.
The recipe:
1 cup Whole Wheat flour - organic is best
1 cup Brown Rice flour - ditto
2 cups soy creamer
1 tbsp Agave nectar - you can use honey or maple syrup as well
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp water
4 tsp baking powder.
Stir together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another. Mix the wet in with the dry and don't over mix. Lumps are OK here. They will have a little time to go away.
Heat the griddle and oil lightly. Ladle the batter. Cook until good and tan - turn and wait until the pancake pops back when you touch it.
Enjoy them! You CAN feed your Vegan friends!
Last year Pam and I did a 3 day juice cleanse over New Years and then ate Raw food only through January. This year we plan to do plant based foods only. The difference is that we will be able to cook more than last time. We will abstain from alcohol and coffee as well. I'll keep you all up to date on what we are eating, etc. like last time.
More soon....
Since I am not eating eggs, milk or butter I had to find a new way. I was able to make really good pancakes with whole wheat flour, brown rice flour, soy milk and olive oil instead. They were fluffy and light like you want and without the animal stuff I am not eating.
The recipe:
1 cup Whole Wheat flour - organic is best
1 cup Brown Rice flour - ditto
2 cups soy creamer
1 tbsp Agave nectar - you can use honey or maple syrup as well
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp water
4 tsp baking powder.
Stir together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another. Mix the wet in with the dry and don't over mix. Lumps are OK here. They will have a little time to go away.
Heat the griddle and oil lightly. Ladle the batter. Cook until good and tan - turn and wait until the pancake pops back when you touch it.
Enjoy them! You CAN feed your Vegan friends!
Last year Pam and I did a 3 day juice cleanse over New Years and then ate Raw food only through January. This year we plan to do plant based foods only. The difference is that we will be able to cook more than last time. We will abstain from alcohol and coffee as well. I'll keep you all up to date on what we are eating, etc. like last time.
More soon....
Friday, December 2, 2011
Lesser Evils - Hey I Tried
OK. Family is in for the holidays or you are there and a captive. They want to go to breakfast at IHOP. It's not like you can just say no so you go. Here's what not to eat and what to eat.
Don't eat the Bacon Eggs and Hashbrowns with 2 Toast. That bad boy weighs in at 1160 calories with 67 grams of fat and 1880 milligrams of sodium. That is roughly 9 times as much fat as you should get in a day and nearly twice the sodium. If you're tyring to lose weight you will have eaten all of your daily calories more or less.
Do eat the Buckwheat pancakes at 110 calories with 4 grams of fat and 280 milligrams of sodium for a stack of 4. You will like yourself better.
If they drag you to Denny's don't eat the Bacon Avocado Burrito with Hashbrowns at 1010 calories with 59 grams of fat and 2200 milligrams of sodium.
Do eat the Fit Slam at 390 calories with 12 grams of fat and 850 milligrams of sodium. On second thought, feign illness and don't go to Denny's. 850 milligrams of SODIUM? REALLY?
Don't eat anything at Shari's. Every lighter choice there is heavily laden with sodium.
At Marie Callendars You can have Steel cut oats but only if you skip the pecans, sugar, and milk.
This is getting hard. I really wanted to provide better choices for each place, but they load the dishes with sodium if they aren't loaded with calories and fat. Offer to cook for them. Hit the store for some Buckwheat flour and some whole wheat flour and make them some Buckwheat pancakes. Add some fresh Organic berries and Pure Maple Syrup and they'll love you.
More soon...
Don't eat the Bacon Eggs and Hashbrowns with 2 Toast. That bad boy weighs in at 1160 calories with 67 grams of fat and 1880 milligrams of sodium. That is roughly 9 times as much fat as you should get in a day and nearly twice the sodium. If you're tyring to lose weight you will have eaten all of your daily calories more or less.
Do eat the Buckwheat pancakes at 110 calories with 4 grams of fat and 280 milligrams of sodium for a stack of 4. You will like yourself better.
If they drag you to Denny's don't eat the Bacon Avocado Burrito with Hashbrowns at 1010 calories with 59 grams of fat and 2200 milligrams of sodium.
Do eat the Fit Slam at 390 calories with 12 grams of fat and 850 milligrams of sodium. On second thought, feign illness and don't go to Denny's. 850 milligrams of SODIUM? REALLY?
Don't eat anything at Shari's. Every lighter choice there is heavily laden with sodium.
At Marie Callendars You can have Steel cut oats but only if you skip the pecans, sugar, and milk.
This is getting hard. I really wanted to provide better choices for each place, but they load the dishes with sodium if they aren't loaded with calories and fat. Offer to cook for them. Hit the store for some Buckwheat flour and some whole wheat flour and make them some Buckwheat pancakes. Add some fresh Organic berries and Pure Maple Syrup and they'll love you.
More soon...
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Anti-inflamatory Foods
One of the things that is now being recognized as a way to improve and protect your overall health is an "anti-inflammatory diet." It's got a big word so it must be good. What the heck does it mean?
Most problems in your body are due to inflammation. Most of the inflammation is due to diet and lifestyle. That means we eat bad and don't get any exercise. We also have no ability to de-stress properly. Our need to accumulate drives us to pack too much into our days. We have forgotten how to live healthy.
An anti-inflammatory diet is one step in regaining your ability to live healthy. What is in this diet? When I use the word "diet" I mean a lifestyle change and not a temporary fix. An anti-inflammatory diet is basically a mostly plant based diet with good lean proteins. It should be as organic as possible.
The plant based part is easy. Hit the organic produce section of the grocery store and stock up. Better yet, hit the farm or farmers' market and cut out the middle man. There are no lists necessary here. Buy and use as many types of fruits and vegetables as you can. Also eat as many of them raw as you can. Try making a broccoli salad instead of steaming or sauteing it. Toss fresh green beans with a little minced garlic, Olive oil and red wine vinegar. You get the idea.
The lean protein part is more difficult. The best way to go is high Omega 3 fish products like salmon and Tuna. These NEED to be WILD FISH! No farm raised "frankenfish." The bottom line is that the food you eat should be as natural as possible. If you need to add other animal proteins then Organic poultry can be added. You will not see pork or any red meat on ANY anti-inflammatory diet.
Plant based protein is better for you. Even the worst vegetable for protein - potato - has 10% of the calories from protein which is what you need. Great plant sources for protein are quinoa, beans, and organic soy products.
Your fats should come from Olive oil, organic canola oil, and omega 3 sources. You should never eat margarine or anything with margarine in it. The less dairy you eat the better, but if you have to eat dairy eat only Organic dairy products. You don't need the hormones in the regular stuff. FYI - the more dairy consumed in a country the HIGHER the rate of osteoporosis. Really! Check it out for yourself.
Basically, an anti-inflammatory diet is "eating clean." We all know we shouldn't eat fast or processed foods and yet people feed it to their kids. I know it is fast, but nothing worth doing is really fast or really easy. It just isn't.
More soon....
Most problems in your body are due to inflammation. Most of the inflammation is due to diet and lifestyle. That means we eat bad and don't get any exercise. We also have no ability to de-stress properly. Our need to accumulate drives us to pack too much into our days. We have forgotten how to live healthy.
An anti-inflammatory diet is one step in regaining your ability to live healthy. What is in this diet? When I use the word "diet" I mean a lifestyle change and not a temporary fix. An anti-inflammatory diet is basically a mostly plant based diet with good lean proteins. It should be as organic as possible.
The plant based part is easy. Hit the organic produce section of the grocery store and stock up. Better yet, hit the farm or farmers' market and cut out the middle man. There are no lists necessary here. Buy and use as many types of fruits and vegetables as you can. Also eat as many of them raw as you can. Try making a broccoli salad instead of steaming or sauteing it. Toss fresh green beans with a little minced garlic, Olive oil and red wine vinegar. You get the idea.
The lean protein part is more difficult. The best way to go is high Omega 3 fish products like salmon and Tuna. These NEED to be WILD FISH! No farm raised "frankenfish." The bottom line is that the food you eat should be as natural as possible. If you need to add other animal proteins then Organic poultry can be added. You will not see pork or any red meat on ANY anti-inflammatory diet.
Plant based protein is better for you. Even the worst vegetable for protein - potato - has 10% of the calories from protein which is what you need. Great plant sources for protein are quinoa, beans, and organic soy products.
Your fats should come from Olive oil, organic canola oil, and omega 3 sources. You should never eat margarine or anything with margarine in it. The less dairy you eat the better, but if you have to eat dairy eat only Organic dairy products. You don't need the hormones in the regular stuff. FYI - the more dairy consumed in a country the HIGHER the rate of osteoporosis. Really! Check it out for yourself.
Basically, an anti-inflammatory diet is "eating clean." We all know we shouldn't eat fast or processed foods and yet people feed it to their kids. I know it is fast, but nothing worth doing is really fast or really easy. It just isn't.
More soon....
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Good Juice - Bad Juice
Let's start with the bad. I know I've pointed this out before, but if you are drinking store bought apple juice or giving it to your kids MAKE SURE THE APPLES COME FROM THE US and preferably are organic. Apples from China and Argentina have wickedly high levels of arsenic. Yes I said Arsenic! Bad juice! Bad Bad!
I have also talked about juicing a little along the way, but I'll focus more on it here because a couple of friends are now jumping on the juice program.
Pam and I drink 2 juices a day as part of our diet. The "morning" juice is roughly 50% carrots with one red beet and its' greens, a 1 inch chunk of ginger, 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime. Many people just starting add an apple to that juice to make it a little sweeter. I use ONLY ORGANIC produce.
Our "afternoon" juice has spinach, kale, 1 golden beet, 1 inch of ginger, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 lime, a pear, and a good size chunk of fennel along with the stalk and greens.
If you add both drink we are eating the following:
10-12 medium Carrots
1 Red beet
1 Golden Beet
2 inches of ginger
1 lemon
1 lime
2 cups of Spinach
2 cups of Kale
1 Pear.
I'm pretty sure that is more than the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables.
Why juice? First. They taste great! The are an easy way to get the fruits and veggies you need. Since they aren't cooked, you get micro nutrients that are killed by cooking. Some sources refer to them as enzymes but the end result is the same.
A ton or research has been done in the last decade focused on "Phytochemicals." They have shown the ability to both stave off and cure virtually every chronic disease including asthma and arthritis and virtually every cancer. We all know by now that a plant based diet will turn most diabetics around in about a month.
The phytochemicals that researchers have uncovered are changing the way we think about fruits and vegetables. Broccoli contains a substance that can prevent and cure breast cancer.
Citrus fruits make it easier for your body to remove carcinogens, decreasing the chance of getting cancer.
Grapes, beets,and leafy greens contain a phytochemical that protects each cells' DNA from damage.
The list goes on and on of produce and health benefits.
The Machine:
While it is hard to argue with Jack Lalane - he did live a long healthy life - his machine heats the produce because it runs at high RPMS. The other thing you can't do with those machines is greens. There is a ton of calcium and magnesium in leafy greens. That is the best way to get your calcium.
What we settled on is a low RPM single auger dual action juicer. Ours is an Omega 8003, but there are others that work the same way. The work by first slow grinding the produce and then pressing it to extract the juice. It won't make soup or ice cream, but the juice will be the most nutritious.
I'm not saying that you should juice all of your produce. There are benefits to eating an apple. The fiber is soluble that way as opposed to once juiced.
If you elect to buy non organic produce you must peel it. Citrus holds 90% of the pesticide in the peel. Strawberries grown with pesticides are not something I would EVER eat. The skin is way too porous so the pesticides get in and stay in.
On the other hand, if you buy all organics a quick wash is all you need. The citrus can be 100% juiced so you get the benefits of the zest as well.
There is a lot of talk these days about "detoxing." There is no better way to do this than juicing. We did a 3 day detox last year during New Years. We each lost weight, but the best part was the restart on your appetite and the instant adjustment your palate goes through. You lose the taste for fat, salty and sweet right away. We plan to juice through New Years again this year. I would be glad to pass on the program to anyone who is interested.
For a recent party we made an apple cranberry juice that didn't last long. The best part was no added sugar (most juice is laden with high fructose corn syrup) or chemicals.
Good juicers are $200 plus. They have 10 year warranties also. Here's a link to a site that has a bunch. We bought ours off Amazon. com. http://www.discountjuicers.com/
More soon....
I have also talked about juicing a little along the way, but I'll focus more on it here because a couple of friends are now jumping on the juice program.
Pam and I drink 2 juices a day as part of our diet. The "morning" juice is roughly 50% carrots with one red beet and its' greens, a 1 inch chunk of ginger, 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime. Many people just starting add an apple to that juice to make it a little sweeter. I use ONLY ORGANIC produce.
Our "afternoon" juice has spinach, kale, 1 golden beet, 1 inch of ginger, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 lime, a pear, and a good size chunk of fennel along with the stalk and greens.
If you add both drink we are eating the following:
10-12 medium Carrots
1 Red beet
1 Golden Beet
2 inches of ginger
1 lemon
1 lime
2 cups of Spinach
2 cups of Kale
1 Pear.
I'm pretty sure that is more than the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables.
Why juice? First. They taste great! The are an easy way to get the fruits and veggies you need. Since they aren't cooked, you get micro nutrients that are killed by cooking. Some sources refer to them as enzymes but the end result is the same.
A ton or research has been done in the last decade focused on "Phytochemicals." They have shown the ability to both stave off and cure virtually every chronic disease including asthma and arthritis and virtually every cancer. We all know by now that a plant based diet will turn most diabetics around in about a month.
The phytochemicals that researchers have uncovered are changing the way we think about fruits and vegetables. Broccoli contains a substance that can prevent and cure breast cancer.
Citrus fruits make it easier for your body to remove carcinogens, decreasing the chance of getting cancer.
Grapes, beets,and leafy greens contain a phytochemical that protects each cells' DNA from damage.
The list goes on and on of produce and health benefits.
The Machine:
While it is hard to argue with Jack Lalane - he did live a long healthy life - his machine heats the produce because it runs at high RPMS. The other thing you can't do with those machines is greens. There is a ton of calcium and magnesium in leafy greens. That is the best way to get your calcium.
What we settled on is a low RPM single auger dual action juicer. Ours is an Omega 8003, but there are others that work the same way. The work by first slow grinding the produce and then pressing it to extract the juice. It won't make soup or ice cream, but the juice will be the most nutritious.
I'm not saying that you should juice all of your produce. There are benefits to eating an apple. The fiber is soluble that way as opposed to once juiced.
If you elect to buy non organic produce you must peel it. Citrus holds 90% of the pesticide in the peel. Strawberries grown with pesticides are not something I would EVER eat. The skin is way too porous so the pesticides get in and stay in.
On the other hand, if you buy all organics a quick wash is all you need. The citrus can be 100% juiced so you get the benefits of the zest as well.
There is a lot of talk these days about "detoxing." There is no better way to do this than juicing. We did a 3 day detox last year during New Years. We each lost weight, but the best part was the restart on your appetite and the instant adjustment your palate goes through. You lose the taste for fat, salty and sweet right away. We plan to juice through New Years again this year. I would be glad to pass on the program to anyone who is interested.
For a recent party we made an apple cranberry juice that didn't last long. The best part was no added sugar (most juice is laden with high fructose corn syrup) or chemicals.
Good juicers are $200 plus. They have 10 year warranties also. Here's a link to a site that has a bunch. We bought ours off Amazon. com. http://www.discountjuicers.com/
More soon....
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Bottles Problem
Don't buy bottled water. Don't drink bottled water. Now that we have that established we can move on.
I know all of the reasons why you are doing it. Just don't do it anymore.
Water is a finite resource contrary to what most of us were taught. They are likely still teaching kids that whole story of the rain falling and refreshing the soil and then evaporating and the cycle starts over.
It is not true anymore. We have diverted,dammed, paved and otherwise blocked that process from working properly. We lose ground water sources regularly. The next time you hear about a sink hole opening and swallowing up a house ask what used to be where the sink hole was? That would be ground water.
To get all of that lovely water in the bottles they pump it from lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. When I say "they" I refer to Pepsi and Coke and the like. We went and got all conscious of what we were drinking so they moved to cover that need as well by selling us what we can pour from our own pipes at home. We are just lazy enough to follow them in a lemming line and pony up our dough for it.
This is the easiest form of water privatization for us to fight, and we NEED to fight corporate control of water. Watch "Water Wars" and "Thirst" for more reasons to worry about privatization.
Here are some practical considerations.
1. The water in the bottles is no different than your tap water. If yours needs filtering go get a Brita filter or a GE whole house filter setup from Home Depot. They take very little time to install and are less than $50 with filters being about $10 for a filter good for 90 days.
2. The plastic in the bottles and sometimes even the water is bad for you. BPA is often present in the plastic bottles as well as other chemicals that you likely don't want to consume or feed your kids. In some cases pathogens have been found in the water as well.
3. 2.5 Million extra pieces of trash in the US every year. That is how many bottles we are talking about. The landfills are full and they just pay lip service to recycling plastic. It can take as much as 7 times the amount of water to make the plastic bottle than the bottle can hold.
4. $$$$ Tap water costs $.0002 per gallon as opposed to up to $8.26 per gallon for bottled water.
What should you do? Go to REI or somewhere like that and buy a BPA free water bottle for everyone in the family. Other options include stainless bottles from Costco or wherever. Either add a home filtration system or use a filter pitcher setup if you don't like your tap water. Don't let our want of convenience override our sense of right and wrong.
More soon...
I know all of the reasons why you are doing it. Just don't do it anymore.
Water is a finite resource contrary to what most of us were taught. They are likely still teaching kids that whole story of the rain falling and refreshing the soil and then evaporating and the cycle starts over.
It is not true anymore. We have diverted,dammed, paved and otherwise blocked that process from working properly. We lose ground water sources regularly. The next time you hear about a sink hole opening and swallowing up a house ask what used to be where the sink hole was? That would be ground water.
To get all of that lovely water in the bottles they pump it from lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. When I say "they" I refer to Pepsi and Coke and the like. We went and got all conscious of what we were drinking so they moved to cover that need as well by selling us what we can pour from our own pipes at home. We are just lazy enough to follow them in a lemming line and pony up our dough for it.
This is the easiest form of water privatization for us to fight, and we NEED to fight corporate control of water. Watch "Water Wars" and "Thirst" for more reasons to worry about privatization.
Here are some practical considerations.
1. The water in the bottles is no different than your tap water. If yours needs filtering go get a Brita filter or a GE whole house filter setup from Home Depot. They take very little time to install and are less than $50 with filters being about $10 for a filter good for 90 days.
2. The plastic in the bottles and sometimes even the water is bad for you. BPA is often present in the plastic bottles as well as other chemicals that you likely don't want to consume or feed your kids. In some cases pathogens have been found in the water as well.
3. 2.5 Million extra pieces of trash in the US every year. That is how many bottles we are talking about. The landfills are full and they just pay lip service to recycling plastic. It can take as much as 7 times the amount of water to make the plastic bottle than the bottle can hold.
4. $$$$ Tap water costs $.0002 per gallon as opposed to up to $8.26 per gallon for bottled water.
What should you do? Go to REI or somewhere like that and buy a BPA free water bottle for everyone in the family. Other options include stainless bottles from Costco or wherever. Either add a home filtration system or use a filter pitcher setup if you don't like your tap water. Don't let our want of convenience override our sense of right and wrong.
More soon...
Monday, November 28, 2011
It Helps To Be Obsessive
It turns out I am obsessive. Someone who has worked in mental health for a long time told me that yesterday when we were discussing what is important when making life changes.
That lets everyone who isn't obsessive off the hook I guess. You can't be held responsible for your non-obsessive nature so you might as well not try to make any healthy changes.
Maybe big Pharm could make a pill to make people more obsessive. Surely one of their fashionable drugs for ADHD or some other ailment real or imagined has obsessiveness as a side effect.
Maybe we could make a bunch of money by creating a program to make normal folks more obsessive. The TOYS-R-US of life changes.
I have to figure this out now. I'm obsessed with it. For now don't just give up. Hang in there and try to stick with what you know is right.
Recipe:
Whole Wheat - Or Multigrain Bread
This recipe is easy and has worked both times I made it. The bread not heavy at all and it has no eggs and no milk so it would qualify as Vegan.
7 - 7 1/2 cups Flour You can use all Wheat or mix in some Brown rice flour or some rye flour or some raw oats.. I used 2 cups rye, 1 brown rice flour, 1 cup oats and the rest wheat.
2 3/4 cups Water between 100 and 110 degrees.
2 Tbsp Yeast
1 Tbsp Salt
1/3 cup honey or raw sugar if you want
1/4 olive oil
I bloomed the yeast in 2 cups water for a couple of minutes.
Add everything except the flour into a mixer. Add 2 cups of flour and mix well. Add the rest of the flour a little at a time - 1/2 cup or so - until the dough just comes away from the side of the mixer bowl. Switch to a kneading hook and knead on medium for 4 or 5 minutes. Oil a bowl and put the dough in and coat it with the oil in the bowl. Cover with a towel and allow it to rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Punch down and place in 2 oiled bread pans and allow to rise 30 - 45 minutes. Bake at 350 for about 35 - 40 minutes until it sounds hollow. Flip the bread out of the pans and onto a cooing rack. Go ahead and cut a nice warm slice. You earned it.
More soon....
That lets everyone who isn't obsessive off the hook I guess. You can't be held responsible for your non-obsessive nature so you might as well not try to make any healthy changes.
Maybe big Pharm could make a pill to make people more obsessive. Surely one of their fashionable drugs for ADHD or some other ailment real or imagined has obsessiveness as a side effect.
Maybe we could make a bunch of money by creating a program to make normal folks more obsessive. The TOYS-R-US of life changes.
I have to figure this out now. I'm obsessed with it. For now don't just give up. Hang in there and try to stick with what you know is right.
Recipe:
Whole Wheat - Or Multigrain Bread
This recipe is easy and has worked both times I made it. The bread not heavy at all and it has no eggs and no milk so it would qualify as Vegan.
7 - 7 1/2 cups Flour You can use all Wheat or mix in some Brown rice flour or some rye flour or some raw oats.. I used 2 cups rye, 1 brown rice flour, 1 cup oats and the rest wheat.
2 3/4 cups Water between 100 and 110 degrees.
2 Tbsp Yeast
1 Tbsp Salt
1/3 cup honey or raw sugar if you want
1/4 olive oil
I bloomed the yeast in 2 cups water for a couple of minutes.
Add everything except the flour into a mixer. Add 2 cups of flour and mix well. Add the rest of the flour a little at a time - 1/2 cup or so - until the dough just comes away from the side of the mixer bowl. Switch to a kneading hook and knead on medium for 4 or 5 minutes. Oil a bowl and put the dough in and coat it with the oil in the bowl. Cover with a towel and allow it to rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Punch down and place in 2 oiled bread pans and allow to rise 30 - 45 minutes. Bake at 350 for about 35 - 40 minutes until it sounds hollow. Flip the bread out of the pans and onto a cooing rack. Go ahead and cut a nice warm slice. You earned it.
More soon....
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
What My Drug Pusher Forgot to Tell Me
I got the hard copy of my Lipid panel test in the mail the other day. From the last test to this one - 6 months- everything came down that should come down and my HDL (good cholesterol) went from 34 to 54!
Somehow a nearly 60% increase in HDL wasn't worth mentioning. All of the natural treatment sources I researched used the ratio of HDL to Triglycerides as a measure of cholesterol risk so as long as your HDL isn't less than half of your triglyceride number you were a lower risk person. Since my number there is 75 with the 54 HDL I'm good by their standards, but whatever.
The fact that in 6 months I increased the number by almost 60% should have elicited at least a question of what I did to do that. I'm not looking for an atta boy, but someone who sees patients who have the same issues should be at least a little interested.
The point? I am ready to bail on corporate medicine. I am looking for a recommendation for a Naturopath in the Tacoma area if anyone knows of a good one. I've been eating and exercising with the goal of getting my body in condition to protect and heal itself. Now it's time to put my money where my mouth is I guess.
Please pass on any info you have on local Naturopaths and have a great Thanksgiving!
More soon....
Somehow a nearly 60% increase in HDL wasn't worth mentioning. All of the natural treatment sources I researched used the ratio of HDL to Triglycerides as a measure of cholesterol risk so as long as your HDL isn't less than half of your triglyceride number you were a lower risk person. Since my number there is 75 with the 54 HDL I'm good by their standards, but whatever.
The fact that in 6 months I increased the number by almost 60% should have elicited at least a question of what I did to do that. I'm not looking for an atta boy, but someone who sees patients who have the same issues should be at least a little interested.
The point? I am ready to bail on corporate medicine. I am looking for a recommendation for a Naturopath in the Tacoma area if anyone knows of a good one. I've been eating and exercising with the goal of getting my body in condition to protect and heal itself. Now it's time to put my money where my mouth is I guess.
Please pass on any info you have on local Naturopaths and have a great Thanksgiving!
More soon....
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thankful Things For Me
This is what I am thankful for nowadays.
1. Having great taste is women or maybe blind luck. Either way I ended up with the prize of the bunch. Pam puts up with my insanities and shares my love of Wine, music, travel, dogs and food. She also attracts some of the best people who we are lucky to call friends.
2. Figuring out my health before it got any harder than it was. Lethargic and 270 is not a great way to move into your golden years. It may have taken a thorocotomy to get me moving, but it was worth it. The thing I didn't factor in then was that I would have to learn as much as I did about food to really protect what I was working on. I had no idea what a GMO was or why anyone would buy organic even as I changed my diet at the beginning of this.
3. Returning to a teen-like need to question authority. That sounds odd, but I now know that we must do our own research to protect ourselves from what I once took for granted. Two years ago if my doctor had told me I needed statins I would have gone like a lemming to the pharmacy and paid my copay for a jar of toxins. How are we supposed to react to a drug manufacturer who sets a penetration they want for their product even if they have to remodel the tests and alter the recommendations to get there? Trust me, I purposely use the word "penetration" here.
4. Having a young, energetic dog for a training partner. Athena keeps me moving - sometimes whether I like it or not. She has her little show to let you know she wants something and when she wants to go for a walk she licks her leash or harness. Even her need to patrol the yard regularly adds steps to the day.
5. Learning how to cook freely so that I can incorporate new ingredients into my dishes making them healthier without giving up any flavor. It's nice to know that Quinoia is a great protein and fiber source, but if you don't know what to do with it so what? Luckily, there are sources on the Internet for recipes for lots of great ingredients. Even my little blog here has some such recipes.
6. My blog readers. Knowing that you are all out there waiting to hear what I think is worth writing about keeps the pressure on to find a nugget to pass on regularly. I'm sure that last sentence was badly structured, but you get the idea. You all keep me honest especially when I'm always saying -
More soon....
1. Having great taste is women or maybe blind luck. Either way I ended up with the prize of the bunch. Pam puts up with my insanities and shares my love of Wine, music, travel, dogs and food. She also attracts some of the best people who we are lucky to call friends.
2. Figuring out my health before it got any harder than it was. Lethargic and 270 is not a great way to move into your golden years. It may have taken a thorocotomy to get me moving, but it was worth it. The thing I didn't factor in then was that I would have to learn as much as I did about food to really protect what I was working on. I had no idea what a GMO was or why anyone would buy organic even as I changed my diet at the beginning of this.
3. Returning to a teen-like need to question authority. That sounds odd, but I now know that we must do our own research to protect ourselves from what I once took for granted. Two years ago if my doctor had told me I needed statins I would have gone like a lemming to the pharmacy and paid my copay for a jar of toxins. How are we supposed to react to a drug manufacturer who sets a penetration they want for their product even if they have to remodel the tests and alter the recommendations to get there? Trust me, I purposely use the word "penetration" here.
4. Having a young, energetic dog for a training partner. Athena keeps me moving - sometimes whether I like it or not. She has her little show to let you know she wants something and when she wants to go for a walk she licks her leash or harness. Even her need to patrol the yard regularly adds steps to the day.
5. Learning how to cook freely so that I can incorporate new ingredients into my dishes making them healthier without giving up any flavor. It's nice to know that Quinoia is a great protein and fiber source, but if you don't know what to do with it so what? Luckily, there are sources on the Internet for recipes for lots of great ingredients. Even my little blog here has some such recipes.
6. My blog readers. Knowing that you are all out there waiting to hear what I think is worth writing about keeps the pressure on to find a nugget to pass on regularly. I'm sure that last sentence was badly structured, but you get the idea. You all keep me honest especially when I'm always saying -
More soon....
Saturday, November 19, 2011
We Hate Doctor's Appointments Because...
You walk in the door and the reasons to hate have already begun.
1. A week before this appointment you went to a lab where a vampire hits you for a couple of blood samples. You also have to fast for the bloodsucker so no food or drink for 12 hours.
2. You walk in and have to make your co-pay. When it was $5 I didn't hate them as much as I do now that they are $30 or something. The best part is that when their cortisone shot freezes your shoulder and you need to come back they get ANOTHER $30!
3. There are inevitably sick folks in the waiting room with you. That is why most people go to the doctor after all. They should have a sick patient area and a "just here for my yearly" patient area.
4. THE SCALE - your home scale has you 5 - 15 pounds lighter than the scale at the doctor's office. Now, we can account for 5 of them because we weigh ourselves right after we get up and go to the bathroom - naked. By the time we hit the scale at the doctor's we have a couple of pounds of clothing, shoes and breakfast in us. It's the other 5 - 10 pounds that we really hate. Is that supposed to be some kind of incentive plan for us? Are we supposed to redouble our efforts because the scale weighs us heavier.
5. The wait. The nurse takes you back close to your appointment time and takes your vitals. She asks a few more questions, leaves and then the loneliness begins as you wait for the doctor to make his appearance. If you are lucky the wait will only be 15 - 20 minutes.
6. Redundancy. The doctor repeats most of the questions the nurse asked before jumping into the test results.
7. Medical language. Your test results reveal that you have a sumpity sumpin score on your blasteosynthesis blah blah blah. What does it all mean? How about "You are fat and old and your body isn't happy with you." At least then you have some idea of what is going on.
8. The prescription pad. In our brave new world of a drug for every malady - real or perceived- there must be a prescription for every visit. There will not be a natural remedy for what is wrong with you. After all, when you have a sumpity sumpin score on your blasteosynthesis blah blah blah the answer can hardly be that you need to add more fiber or greens to your diet or some jumping jacks to your exercise routine.
9. You get to do this all again in 6 months to a year. Oh boy! Are we happy or what?
I usually try to have a solution for this kind of stuff since I try to live by the "If you can't fix it - forget it." program, but short of never going again - I got nothin'.
More soon.....
1. A week before this appointment you went to a lab where a vampire hits you for a couple of blood samples. You also have to fast for the bloodsucker so no food or drink for 12 hours.
2. You walk in and have to make your co-pay. When it was $5 I didn't hate them as much as I do now that they are $30 or something. The best part is that when their cortisone shot freezes your shoulder and you need to come back they get ANOTHER $30!
3. There are inevitably sick folks in the waiting room with you. That is why most people go to the doctor after all. They should have a sick patient area and a "just here for my yearly" patient area.
4. THE SCALE - your home scale has you 5 - 15 pounds lighter than the scale at the doctor's office. Now, we can account for 5 of them because we weigh ourselves right after we get up and go to the bathroom - naked. By the time we hit the scale at the doctor's we have a couple of pounds of clothing, shoes and breakfast in us. It's the other 5 - 10 pounds that we really hate. Is that supposed to be some kind of incentive plan for us? Are we supposed to redouble our efforts because the scale weighs us heavier.
5. The wait. The nurse takes you back close to your appointment time and takes your vitals. She asks a few more questions, leaves and then the loneliness begins as you wait for the doctor to make his appearance. If you are lucky the wait will only be 15 - 20 minutes.
6. Redundancy. The doctor repeats most of the questions the nurse asked before jumping into the test results.
7. Medical language. Your test results reveal that you have a sumpity sumpin score on your blasteosynthesis blah blah blah. What does it all mean? How about "You are fat and old and your body isn't happy with you." At least then you have some idea of what is going on.
8. The prescription pad. In our brave new world of a drug for every malady - real or perceived- there must be a prescription for every visit. There will not be a natural remedy for what is wrong with you. After all, when you have a sumpity sumpin score on your blasteosynthesis blah blah blah the answer can hardly be that you need to add more fiber or greens to your diet or some jumping jacks to your exercise routine.
9. You get to do this all again in 6 months to a year. Oh boy! Are we happy or what?
I usually try to have a solution for this kind of stuff since I try to live by the "If you can't fix it - forget it." program, but short of never going again - I got nothin'.
More soon.....
Friday, November 18, 2011
Some New Offenders
Here are some of the yummy things they have been advertising lately on TV.
Wendys Asiago Ranch Chicken Club weighs in at 690 calories with a whopping 36 grams of fat - 12 of which is saturated fat and an insane 1630 milligrams of sodium. That's not nourishment - it's punishment!
Weighing in at 440 calories with 16 grams of fat - 6 saturated- and 1370 milligrams of sodium is Subway's Flat Bread Steak and Bacon Melt. Again, punishment.
Taco Bell has been hitting the airways with their Triple Steak Stack which has 690 calories with 30 grams of fat - 13 saturated - and a heart stopping 1950 milligrams of sodium. And people wonder why I call this stuff poison.
KFC has their Mashed Potato Bowl that has 680 calories, 31 grams of fat - 8 saturated - and WAIT FOR IT 2130 milligrams of sodium! How is that even palatable with that much salt?
Luckily we can go get breakfast all day at Jack In The Box. For instance the Jumbo Breakfast Platter With Bacon has 657 calories with 37 grams of fat - 7 saturated- and 1300 milligrams of sodium. How do they do it with that little salt?
I think I'll settle on McDonalds Big Breakfast with Hotcakes and the regular sized biscuit which weighs in at 1090 calories with 56 grams of fat 56! - 19 grams of saturated fat - and 2150 milligrams of sodium.
OK. Let's try BK's Tendergrill Chicken Sandwich Meal - Small - with 1000 calories 33 grams of fat - 9.5 grams of saturated fat - and 1580 milligrams of sodium.
Maybe we'll just stay in and cook something.
You see all the sodium they add to this stuff. That is how you can make over processed - dead - food have some flavor.
More soon....
Wendys Asiago Ranch Chicken Club weighs in at 690 calories with a whopping 36 grams of fat - 12 of which is saturated fat and an insane 1630 milligrams of sodium. That's not nourishment - it's punishment!
Weighing in at 440 calories with 16 grams of fat - 6 saturated- and 1370 milligrams of sodium is Subway's Flat Bread Steak and Bacon Melt. Again, punishment.
Taco Bell has been hitting the airways with their Triple Steak Stack which has 690 calories with 30 grams of fat - 13 saturated - and a heart stopping 1950 milligrams of sodium. And people wonder why I call this stuff poison.
KFC has their Mashed Potato Bowl that has 680 calories, 31 grams of fat - 8 saturated - and WAIT FOR IT 2130 milligrams of sodium! How is that even palatable with that much salt?
Luckily we can go get breakfast all day at Jack In The Box. For instance the Jumbo Breakfast Platter With Bacon has 657 calories with 37 grams of fat - 7 saturated- and 1300 milligrams of sodium. How do they do it with that little salt?
I think I'll settle on McDonalds Big Breakfast with Hotcakes and the regular sized biscuit which weighs in at 1090 calories with 56 grams of fat 56! - 19 grams of saturated fat - and 2150 milligrams of sodium.
OK. Let's try BK's Tendergrill Chicken Sandwich Meal - Small - with 1000 calories 33 grams of fat - 9.5 grams of saturated fat - and 1580 milligrams of sodium.
Maybe we'll just stay in and cook something.
You see all the sodium they add to this stuff. That is how you can make over processed - dead - food have some flavor.
More soon....
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Was Poison Too Strong A Word?
When I called statins poison was I overreaching? Did I exaggerate?
Statins are an isolated poison from red rice yeast (Monascus purpurus). When introduced to the body the natural response is to create a chemical lovastatin which changes liver function. This change blocks production of cholesterol and also CoQ10.
Low levels of CoQ10 lead to muscle decline and pain (the heart is just a big muscle folks), amnesia, kidney and liver failure and more.
Since cholesterol is the "bad guy" it seems like a fair trade, but the fact is that people with low cholesterol and CoQ10 levels are approximately twice as likely to die as those with high cholesterol. ( Nicole Schupf. Rosann Costa. Jose Luchsinger, Ming-Xin Tang, Joseph H. Lee. Richard Mayeux. Relationship Between Plasma Lipids and All-Cause Mortality in Nondemented Elderly. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Volume 53 Issue 2 Page 219 - February 2005 doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53106.x)
I must have missed that part when the doctor was telling me about my future without statins.
I also missed the part about how cholesterol is key in fighting off infections.
So what is the point Paully? The point is that there is a healthy middle ground. Your body produces cholesterol whether you eat food with cholesterol or not. You should eat a high fiber diet, and if you don't like broccoli and nuts and beans and whole grains and apples and pears and oatmeal then take a psyllium powder supplement to compensate. I eat all of these but I plan to start the psyllium when it arrives tomorrow.
The research that Merck and their buddies don't want you to know about suggests that the real problem with arterial disease is not cholesterol but chemical and metal poisoning and DIET. I hate to take things away from you but red meat consumption has HUGE correlations with most chronic disease. Certainly heart disease, cancer and diabetes are the ones we all want to avoid. They are also the ones most closely correlated with high animal protein diets - and that includes dairy.
So, in conclusion, I wish there were a stronger word than poison that I could have used to describe statins.
More soon....
Statins are an isolated poison from red rice yeast (Monascus purpurus). When introduced to the body the natural response is to create a chemical lovastatin which changes liver function. This change blocks production of cholesterol and also CoQ10.
Low levels of CoQ10 lead to muscle decline and pain (the heart is just a big muscle folks), amnesia, kidney and liver failure and more.
Since cholesterol is the "bad guy" it seems like a fair trade, but the fact is that people with low cholesterol and CoQ10 levels are approximately twice as likely to die as those with high cholesterol. ( Nicole Schupf. Rosann Costa. Jose Luchsinger, Ming-Xin Tang, Joseph H. Lee. Richard Mayeux. Relationship Between Plasma Lipids and All-Cause Mortality in Nondemented Elderly. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Volume 53 Issue 2 Page 219 - February 2005 doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53106.x)
I must have missed that part when the doctor was telling me about my future without statins.
I also missed the part about how cholesterol is key in fighting off infections.
So what is the point Paully? The point is that there is a healthy middle ground. Your body produces cholesterol whether you eat food with cholesterol or not. You should eat a high fiber diet, and if you don't like broccoli and nuts and beans and whole grains and apples and pears and oatmeal then take a psyllium powder supplement to compensate. I eat all of these but I plan to start the psyllium when it arrives tomorrow.
The research that Merck and their buddies don't want you to know about suggests that the real problem with arterial disease is not cholesterol but chemical and metal poisoning and DIET. I hate to take things away from you but red meat consumption has HUGE correlations with most chronic disease. Certainly heart disease, cancer and diabetes are the ones we all want to avoid. They are also the ones most closely correlated with high animal protein diets - and that includes dairy.
So, in conclusion, I wish there were a stronger word than poison that I could have used to describe statins.
More soon....
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
A Natural Alternative
So after my doctor suggested I take statins for a "high LDL particulate count" - not high LDL- I did some research and found a couple of things. First, psyllium powder, which is basically a really good soluble fiber source, has great results in not only lowering LDL and raising HDL but also reduces triglycerides and aids in weight loss without side effects.
Why doesn't my doctor know this stuff?
The second thing I found was that the "advanced lip panel" test was designed as a part of an initiative by our pharmaceutical friends to have a goal amount of us on statins by the end of the decade. Admittedly, the source is a little sketchy, but just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get us.
What makes me mad is that I had quickly turned around the levels on the old test which I guess had to make me a candidate for the new one. Right? It's just another case of the man trying to keep us down or something like that. It is at least moving the finish line after you've already crossed it.
Enough whining! I have some psyllium on the way and I will continue being walked by Athena and drug out on hikes and snowshoes by Pam - not that either of them has to work too hard to get me moving. I will also keep adding better ingredients to my dishes and subtracting the crap - although there isn't much crap left to ditch.
I'm not ready to give up my red wine. This is where I throw in some sentence that ends with "my cold dead hands."
When I go back in March or April for my doctor follow up I'll pass on the data.
More soon.....
Why doesn't my doctor know this stuff?
The second thing I found was that the "advanced lip panel" test was designed as a part of an initiative by our pharmaceutical friends to have a goal amount of us on statins by the end of the decade. Admittedly, the source is a little sketchy, but just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get us.
What makes me mad is that I had quickly turned around the levels on the old test which I guess had to make me a candidate for the new one. Right? It's just another case of the man trying to keep us down or something like that. It is at least moving the finish line after you've already crossed it.
Enough whining! I have some psyllium on the way and I will continue being walked by Athena and drug out on hikes and snowshoes by Pam - not that either of them has to work too hard to get me moving. I will also keep adding better ingredients to my dishes and subtracting the crap - although there isn't much crap left to ditch.
I'm not ready to give up my red wine. This is where I throw in some sentence that ends with "my cold dead hands."
When I go back in March or April for my doctor follow up I'll pass on the data.
More soon.....
Monday, November 14, 2011
Against Medical Advice
Since I began this journey a little less than 2 years ago I began going to the doctor for regular tests and exams. He started with a lipid panel that showed I had high LDL or bad cholesterol. I kept exercising and went back 6 months later to find that my LDL number had fallen to within the guidelines.
I was told to come back in a year for my physical and did. To my dismay he switched to a new test - an advanced lipid panel - that is supposed to be a better test. It said I once again had higher bad cholesterol than I should. I hadn't been exercising much because of a foot injury that I was told to rest and I had put almost 20 pounds on so I wasn't totally surprised by the results.
I got my foot right and got back to work and got back in today for my exam and now he says that while the LDL number is close to right some particulate count isn't. COME ON MAN! you can't just keep moving the goal posts on me!
He wants me to take statins which I am not willing to take. I tried the niacin last time and it made my heart rate jump by 20 beats per minute when I exercised so I quit it. I told him that I have no issues when I exercise so he hit me with the Jim Fixx argument. I told him that I wasn't aware of what Fixx' diet was and we agreed to disagree.
So I left without a prescription for anything. I know I may seem crazy about this, but I look at this as a slippery slope issue. You take a statin that gives you muscle pain and weakness as a side effect but you can't remember why because it also gives you memory loss. They give you a prescription for the muscle pain and another for the weakness and a third for the memory loss. The associated side effects of those drugs require a couple of more and so on.
So here I am - against medical advice - continuing MY health care program of eating a diet of nearly 100% organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes. We rarely eat any meat and when we do it is either wild fish or organic chicken or turkey.
If this isn't good enough I will likely not live to be 80, but the reality is that I have already outlived most expectations based on how I lived when I was young.
More soon....
I was told to come back in a year for my physical and did. To my dismay he switched to a new test - an advanced lipid panel - that is supposed to be a better test. It said I once again had higher bad cholesterol than I should. I hadn't been exercising much because of a foot injury that I was told to rest and I had put almost 20 pounds on so I wasn't totally surprised by the results.
I got my foot right and got back to work and got back in today for my exam and now he says that while the LDL number is close to right some particulate count isn't. COME ON MAN! you can't just keep moving the goal posts on me!
He wants me to take statins which I am not willing to take. I tried the niacin last time and it made my heart rate jump by 20 beats per minute when I exercised so I quit it. I told him that I have no issues when I exercise so he hit me with the Jim Fixx argument. I told him that I wasn't aware of what Fixx' diet was and we agreed to disagree.
So I left without a prescription for anything. I know I may seem crazy about this, but I look at this as a slippery slope issue. You take a statin that gives you muscle pain and weakness as a side effect but you can't remember why because it also gives you memory loss. They give you a prescription for the muscle pain and another for the weakness and a third for the memory loss. The associated side effects of those drugs require a couple of more and so on.
So here I am - against medical advice - continuing MY health care program of eating a diet of nearly 100% organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes. We rarely eat any meat and when we do it is either wild fish or organic chicken or turkey.
If this isn't good enough I will likely not live to be 80, but the reality is that I have already outlived most expectations based on how I lived when I was young.
More soon....
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Sure We Can, But Should We?
All of the reading and research I have done and subjected you all to leads me to this statement on American inventiveness and ingenuity - Just because we CAN do something doesn't mean we SHOULD.
We have factory farms that grow chickens to maturity in something like 7 weeks when naturally it would take much longer. They grow so fast that many of them can't support their own weight and suffer broken bones which requires the farms to add more supplements to their feed to strengthen their bones. Supplements that are not tested on humans prior to entering our food supply. That, along with the arsenic that they feed to cut down parasites and the antibiotics to fight bacterial infections that would be a problem when they are packed like sardines in huge, dark barns is what they CAN do to move the program along faster, but SHOULD they?
The beef feed lots feed antibiotics as well along with bovine growth hormones and some cow parts as well. When did cows become cannibals anyway? This stuff is included again to get them to size sooner. We pay subsidies on corn crops so that they can feed them for less than it actually costs to produce the corn. Again all of this is possible so we CAN, but SHOULD we?
Our water rights are no longer rights as our government entities sell the rights to companies who sell the water back to us thus converting a right to a commodity. At the current rate the planet is desertizing we have about 50 years of clean water supply left so the question is just because we CAN pass these rights to companies SHOULD we?
We all thought the Wall Street mess was bad, but the exact same issues exist in our food and water supplies. The difference is that the Wall Street crap can make you broke but it isn't likely to poison you slowly with arsenic and render us unable to fight off infections because of the antibiotic saturation in our food, water and air.
It might be time to Occupy more than Wall Street.
We all know the problem with politics is the corruption in the system. I submit that there is not as chance of corruption if you take the money out of the system so here is my plan. A seat in government that pays $200,000 per year for 4 years would allow the candidates to raise and spend exactly $800,000 running for that office and NOT A PENNY MORE. We let them raise MILLIONS of dollars for an office that never pays that much. CAN we allow this? SHOULD we?
Until we take the ability for Tyson and Monsanto to buy our elections and "representatives" we will continue having places in need of occupation, a scary financial system, and a food supply that is increasingly unfit to eat. CAN we stand up for ourselves and demand safe food? SHOULD we?
Later I'll tell you how I really feel, but this is it for now.
More soon...
We have factory farms that grow chickens to maturity in something like 7 weeks when naturally it would take much longer. They grow so fast that many of them can't support their own weight and suffer broken bones which requires the farms to add more supplements to their feed to strengthen their bones. Supplements that are not tested on humans prior to entering our food supply. That, along with the arsenic that they feed to cut down parasites and the antibiotics to fight bacterial infections that would be a problem when they are packed like sardines in huge, dark barns is what they CAN do to move the program along faster, but SHOULD they?
The beef feed lots feed antibiotics as well along with bovine growth hormones and some cow parts as well. When did cows become cannibals anyway? This stuff is included again to get them to size sooner. We pay subsidies on corn crops so that they can feed them for less than it actually costs to produce the corn. Again all of this is possible so we CAN, but SHOULD we?
Our water rights are no longer rights as our government entities sell the rights to companies who sell the water back to us thus converting a right to a commodity. At the current rate the planet is desertizing we have about 50 years of clean water supply left so the question is just because we CAN pass these rights to companies SHOULD we?
We all thought the Wall Street mess was bad, but the exact same issues exist in our food and water supplies. The difference is that the Wall Street crap can make you broke but it isn't likely to poison you slowly with arsenic and render us unable to fight off infections because of the antibiotic saturation in our food, water and air.
It might be time to Occupy more than Wall Street.
We all know the problem with politics is the corruption in the system. I submit that there is not as chance of corruption if you take the money out of the system so here is my plan. A seat in government that pays $200,000 per year for 4 years would allow the candidates to raise and spend exactly $800,000 running for that office and NOT A PENNY MORE. We let them raise MILLIONS of dollars for an office that never pays that much. CAN we allow this? SHOULD we?
Until we take the ability for Tyson and Monsanto to buy our elections and "representatives" we will continue having places in need of occupation, a scary financial system, and a food supply that is increasingly unfit to eat. CAN we stand up for ourselves and demand safe food? SHOULD we?
Later I'll tell you how I really feel, but this is it for now.
More soon...
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Wicked Fast
When everything is in balance Athena and I can go pretty fast. Today was such a day as we walked 6.61 miles in 1:18 or 11:48 miles! That is just over 5 MPH and our personal record.
She is sacked out on the bed and has been for hours. We may never walk that fast again, but it was fun.
More soon....
She is sacked out on the bed and has been for hours. We may never walk that fast again, but it was fun.
More soon....
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Dressing Undressed
If you are trying to lose weight you are likely eating more salad than you used to. If you dress your salad the way most restaurants do you might as well eat potato chips instead.
The serving size for salad dressing is 2 Tbsp. The average salad at a restaurant has twice that and if you get it on the side they will give you between 4 and 8 tbsp. The ranch dressing will average 200 calories for 2 tbsp with a a whopping 20 grams of fat and 1/3 of the sodium you should eat in a day. Overdressed as most salads are you are looking at 400 - 800 calories and a ton of fat and sodium.
Pam and I share one side of the vinaigrette and leave 2/3s of it in the container when we're done.
The low and non fat options generally contain MSG which signals your body to store fat which is not very helpful either.
At home I make all of the dressing we use so I can control what's in it and what's not. Dressing is an easy thing to make and it is fun to play with different ingredients to make a dressing you like.
Basically you have an acid and a fat and flavoring. Let's start with acids.
Your acids include citrus like lime, lemon, and even oranges and grapefruit. They also include vinegars. You will usually have less than 1/2 as much acid as fat in the mix.
Fats include oils and dairy. I don't use dairy in dressings anymore as I don't consider them to be a good fat. I normally use Extra Virgin Olive oil.
The main difference between a regular dressing and a vinaigrette is a vinaigrette generally has some good mustard included.
My Italian dressing recipe is as follows:
Spice Mix:
1 Tbsp Garlic powder
1 Tbsp Onion powder
2 Tbsp Dried Oregano
1 Tbsp Dried Parsley
1 Tsp Dried Basil
1/4 Tsp Dried Thyme
1 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 Tbsp sea Salt
This makes more mix than one batch of dressing!
Pour 1/4 Cup vinegar, 2/3 Cup Olive Oil, 1/2 Tbsp Honey and 2 Tbsp water in a jar with a lid and shake well. Add 2 Tbsp of the Spice mix and shake well.
I use either Apple Cider Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar.
Variation One:
Use Balsamic vinegar for 1/2 of the vinegar and you have a balsamic Italian dressing.
Variation Two and Three:
Add 2 Tbsp of stone ground mustard and you have a Vinaigrette. If you add this to the Balsamic Italian it's now a Balsamic Vinaigrette.
Variation Four:
Swap out citrus for the vinegar for a nice tart dressing in any of the above.
Variation Five:
If you want spicy stuff use hot sauce half and half with vinegar or citrus.
You get the idea. There is no real magic to this and I would be disappointed if you stuck with the herb amounts in the mix. Want more basil? Add more. If you like your dressing sweeter add more honey. Don't like honey? Use Agave nectar.
So the thing is to enjoy your salads so they become a sustainable part of your daily eating. Don't forget to add some different ingredients to you salads so they aren't boring.
More soon....
The serving size for salad dressing is 2 Tbsp. The average salad at a restaurant has twice that and if you get it on the side they will give you between 4 and 8 tbsp. The ranch dressing will average 200 calories for 2 tbsp with a a whopping 20 grams of fat and 1/3 of the sodium you should eat in a day. Overdressed as most salads are you are looking at 400 - 800 calories and a ton of fat and sodium.
Pam and I share one side of the vinaigrette and leave 2/3s of it in the container when we're done.
The low and non fat options generally contain MSG which signals your body to store fat which is not very helpful either.
At home I make all of the dressing we use so I can control what's in it and what's not. Dressing is an easy thing to make and it is fun to play with different ingredients to make a dressing you like.
Basically you have an acid and a fat and flavoring. Let's start with acids.
Your acids include citrus like lime, lemon, and even oranges and grapefruit. They also include vinegars. You will usually have less than 1/2 as much acid as fat in the mix.
Fats include oils and dairy. I don't use dairy in dressings anymore as I don't consider them to be a good fat. I normally use Extra Virgin Olive oil.
The main difference between a regular dressing and a vinaigrette is a vinaigrette generally has some good mustard included.
My Italian dressing recipe is as follows:
Spice Mix:
1 Tbsp Garlic powder
1 Tbsp Onion powder
2 Tbsp Dried Oregano
1 Tbsp Dried Parsley
1 Tsp Dried Basil
1/4 Tsp Dried Thyme
1 Tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 Tbsp sea Salt
This makes more mix than one batch of dressing!
Pour 1/4 Cup vinegar, 2/3 Cup Olive Oil, 1/2 Tbsp Honey and 2 Tbsp water in a jar with a lid and shake well. Add 2 Tbsp of the Spice mix and shake well.
I use either Apple Cider Vinegar or Red Wine Vinegar.
Variation One:
Use Balsamic vinegar for 1/2 of the vinegar and you have a balsamic Italian dressing.
Variation Two and Three:
Add 2 Tbsp of stone ground mustard and you have a Vinaigrette. If you add this to the Balsamic Italian it's now a Balsamic Vinaigrette.
Variation Four:
Swap out citrus for the vinegar for a nice tart dressing in any of the above.
Variation Five:
If you want spicy stuff use hot sauce half and half with vinegar or citrus.
You get the idea. There is no real magic to this and I would be disappointed if you stuck with the herb amounts in the mix. Want more basil? Add more. If you like your dressing sweeter add more honey. Don't like honey? Use Agave nectar.
So the thing is to enjoy your salads so they become a sustainable part of your daily eating. Don't forget to add some different ingredients to you salads so they aren't boring.
More soon....
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Gnocchi Dokey
Maybe one of the easiest things to make that you don't need to tell anyone is easy is gnocchi. There are a ton of recipes out there for gnocchi. This is one I came up with.
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Gnocchi
2 3/4 cups Organic Whole Wheat Flour
15 oz Pureed Pumpkin - Savory NOT Sweetened( I roasted a pumpkin in large pieces brushed with olive oil and lightly sated and peppered at 350 for 45 minutes and then pureed it.)
1/2 tsp salt
Add salt to flour and mix. Mix in pumpkin until a soft dough is formed. If you need to add a little water or flour to get the dough right do it. Knead the dough in the bowl for a couple of minutes. Cut into fourths. Take each piece and roll it out until it is 1/2 inch thick. Once the dough is all in long pieces cut into 1 inch pieces. It should make about 72 gnocchi.
Add gnocchi to sated boiling water. Once the gnocchi are all floating at the top - boil for one more minute and then drain.
Done! Like I said, Easy!
You can sauce this gnocchi however you like. I just mad a Mushroom Ragout (pronounced ragu) for mine, but Olive oil infused with rosemary, sage or thyme topped with some good Parmesan or Romano is very nice as well.
Mushroom Ragout ala Paully
1 medium Yellow Onion
3 Cloves Garlic
Olive Oil
3-4 cups Crimini Mushrooms - I like to quarter them so they are nice and chunky.
28 oz of good quality Organic Tomatoes
1/3 cup fresh basil minced
Balsamic Vinegar - optional
salt and pepper to taste
Saute onion in olive oil and then add mushrooms. Mushrooms will squeak when they are cooked. Add garlic - minced - and then add Balsamic vinegar. Allow the vinegar to reduce by 2/3s . Add tomatoes and allow to cook until the sauce thickens to marinara thickness. Toss in basil and the cooked gnocchi and allow the pasta to cook with the sauce for 1-2 minutes. Serve with good hard Italian cheese. Enjoy!
If you don't like mushrooms swap out eggplant or squash or brocolette or whatever you do like.
More soon....
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Gnocchi
2 3/4 cups Organic Whole Wheat Flour
15 oz Pureed Pumpkin - Savory NOT Sweetened( I roasted a pumpkin in large pieces brushed with olive oil and lightly sated and peppered at 350 for 45 minutes and then pureed it.)
1/2 tsp salt
Add salt to flour and mix. Mix in pumpkin until a soft dough is formed. If you need to add a little water or flour to get the dough right do it. Knead the dough in the bowl for a couple of minutes. Cut into fourths. Take each piece and roll it out until it is 1/2 inch thick. Once the dough is all in long pieces cut into 1 inch pieces. It should make about 72 gnocchi.
Add gnocchi to sated boiling water. Once the gnocchi are all floating at the top - boil for one more minute and then drain.
Done! Like I said, Easy!
You can sauce this gnocchi however you like. I just mad a Mushroom Ragout (pronounced ragu) for mine, but Olive oil infused with rosemary, sage or thyme topped with some good Parmesan or Romano is very nice as well.
Mushroom Ragout ala Paully
1 medium Yellow Onion
3 Cloves Garlic
Olive Oil
3-4 cups Crimini Mushrooms - I like to quarter them so they are nice and chunky.
28 oz of good quality Organic Tomatoes
1/3 cup fresh basil minced
Balsamic Vinegar - optional
salt and pepper to taste
Saute onion in olive oil and then add mushrooms. Mushrooms will squeak when they are cooked. Add garlic - minced - and then add Balsamic vinegar. Allow the vinegar to reduce by 2/3s . Add tomatoes and allow to cook until the sauce thickens to marinara thickness. Toss in basil and the cooked gnocchi and allow the pasta to cook with the sauce for 1-2 minutes. Serve with good hard Italian cheese. Enjoy!
If you don't like mushrooms swap out eggplant or squash or brocolette or whatever you do like.
More soon....
Monday, November 7, 2011
Crosstraining?
So, Friday I get a call from a brother who was building a retaining wall and headed over to help. We only got an hour and a half in because of a buried stump that required more than brawn to be gone.
Saturday we lost our minds and helped a friend move. We loaded and unloaded one moving truck and loaded it a second time.
Sunday we headed out for a hike by Mowich lake on the Carbonado side of Mt Rainier. Our 6.5 mile fairly flat hike was aborted by a closed road so we hiked the Paul Peak trail to the Mowich river - all downhill and back up - 7.2 miles roundtrip.
Saturday we lost our minds and helped a friend move. We loaded and unloaded one moving truck and loaded it a second time.
Sunday we headed out for a hike by Mowich lake on the Carbonado side of Mt Rainier. Our 6.5 mile fairly flat hike was aborted by a closed road so we hiked the Paul Peak trail to the Mowich river - all downhill and back up - 7.2 miles roundtrip.
We knocked out the hike in 3 hours somehow. I was dying from carrying furniture upstairs on Saturday, but it didn't slow us down much.
Today I had to take Athena for her 6.7 mile route and she was ready to go fast. It was all I could do to keep her down to 4.6 + MPH so we did the 6.7 miles in 1:26.
I think tomorrow I will take a day off from exercise and embrace my soreness instead.
Next post I promise a recipe or two.
More soon....
Friday, November 4, 2011
Back To The Rescue & Great Movies
I have been asked what Athena actually does that helped "rescue" me. It is hard to verbalize some of it but this is what I can put into words.
Athena requires a lot of patience. She is strong willed and stubborn. In order to bond with her I had to learn to be much more patient than I was previously capable of. I still have work to do there, but then who doesn't need to improve their patience.
Athena is a clown in dog's clothing. She likely developed her act as a device to change bad moods of prior humans in her life. At first we thought she was trying to assert some form of dominance, but now I'm sure it is her show. She doesn't go a day without making us laugh, and laughter is the best medicine as they say. The only downside to her efforts to make people smile is that she will walk towards cars as they slow down so that the driver will notice her and smile. We're still working on that.
Athena is the best exercise partner you could ask for. She is always ready to go and she pushes you to go harder than you originally thought you could go. I'm sure I wouldn't be walking as fast as I am without her help.
She is a sensitive em path which requires you to stay more even keeled. She reacts badly to spikes in anger. When a dumb ass driver nearly runs us over I have to count to 10 instead of going off on them. She will yap at me otherwise - kind of a "let's just walk" yap that is high pitched. Our last dog - Tasha - was empathic as well. She used to stand between me and the TV during Seahawk games when things were going bad so I could calm down. It might just be a girlie dog thing.
Lastly, she likes to patrol the yard on a regular basis so I am required to let her out and back in later which adds steps to the day and keeps me fighting the good fight.
NETFLIX report:
If you haven't watched these 2 movies yet watch them as soon as you can.
River of Waste - A documentary on the factory farm
Forks over Knives - Great documentary with information on a huge study on diet with correlations to chronic diseases and cures.
More soon....
Athena requires a lot of patience. She is strong willed and stubborn. In order to bond with her I had to learn to be much more patient than I was previously capable of. I still have work to do there, but then who doesn't need to improve their patience.
Athena is a clown in dog's clothing. She likely developed her act as a device to change bad moods of prior humans in her life. At first we thought she was trying to assert some form of dominance, but now I'm sure it is her show. She doesn't go a day without making us laugh, and laughter is the best medicine as they say. The only downside to her efforts to make people smile is that she will walk towards cars as they slow down so that the driver will notice her and smile. We're still working on that.
Athena is the best exercise partner you could ask for. She is always ready to go and she pushes you to go harder than you originally thought you could go. I'm sure I wouldn't be walking as fast as I am without her help.
She is a sensitive em path which requires you to stay more even keeled. She reacts badly to spikes in anger. When a dumb ass driver nearly runs us over I have to count to 10 instead of going off on them. She will yap at me otherwise - kind of a "let's just walk" yap that is high pitched. Our last dog - Tasha - was empathic as well. She used to stand between me and the TV during Seahawk games when things were going bad so I could calm down. It might just be a girlie dog thing.
Lastly, she likes to patrol the yard on a regular basis so I am required to let her out and back in later which adds steps to the day and keeps me fighting the good fight.
NETFLIX report:
If you haven't watched these 2 movies yet watch them as soon as you can.
River of Waste - A documentary on the factory farm
Forks over Knives - Great documentary with information on a huge study on diet with correlations to chronic diseases and cures.
More soon....
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Stuff We Need To Know
By now you know that we try to eat as close to 100% organic as we can. I have reported to you our reasons for eating organic including better tasting foods, avoidance of genetically modified foods, pesticides, herbicides, hormones, antibiotics etc.
We eat less and less animal protein these days - mostly because the flavors of the food we cook are better. Some recent research I did validated what was a gradual and natural pullback from meat.
These are the things you need to know about commercially processed meats and their impact on our environment.
1. Factory animal farms in the US produce 1.3 billion tons of waste per year. That number is roughly 5 tons per human in the US and 100 times the amount of human waste generated per year. While we treat and deal with human waste the waste produced at factory farms is spread on the surrounding land. That may sound like fertilization but the amounts spread have more phosphorus and other material than the soil can absorb. The net effect is that the soil is killed and the excess runs off into the water supply.
2. 70% of the antibiotics used in the US are used in livestock. The bulk of them are used in the feed at factory farms. They use them to aid in the growth of the animals. Since the animal won't use any energy fighting off bacterial infections they can use the energy to grow to maturity faster. If you used this tactic with your child you would be have a 2 1/2 year old that was over 300 lbs! Does that sound right to anyone?
3. Arsenic is widely used in chicken feed at factory farms. The addition of arsenic in chicken feed fights parasites in the birds again so they can grow faster. As scary as that sounds for the meat they produce it is even worse than you might think as the manure from the birds has stable arsenic in it as well. It doesn't take much research to find cancer cluster near factory chicken farms as they are more than happy to spread the manure at schools and parks. Nice Huh?
4. Growth hormones are a staple food at factory farms. They also remain stable in the meat and in the waste. They are one of many Endocrine Disruptors which are known cancer causes. Other endocrine disruptors include pesticides. Just sayin'.
We have been overwhelmed lately with problems like MRSA and other antibiotic resistant infections and we have been told it is from over-prescribed antibiotics. While that is part of the problem it makes just as much sense that our food supply which is laden with antibiotic raised animals has a good part of the blame as well.
We are the only advanced country that allows antibiotic, hormones, GMO feed or arsenic in meat production. THE ONLY ONE! Why? Money of course. Beginning with the Clinton administration relaxing the regulations and continuing and expanding under Bush the EPA and FDA have been neutered in terms of enforcement while the regulations have been stripped of any real teeth.
I'd like to think we can just vote with our dollars and buy organic to fix this problem, but the reality is that water and air are not infinite resources. We need to vote with our votes this time. We need to install leaders with the moral will to overcome the political pressure to leave things as they are.
Maybe we need to occupy the FDA and EPA.
More soon.....
We eat less and less animal protein these days - mostly because the flavors of the food we cook are better. Some recent research I did validated what was a gradual and natural pullback from meat.
These are the things you need to know about commercially processed meats and their impact on our environment.
1. Factory animal farms in the US produce 1.3 billion tons of waste per year. That number is roughly 5 tons per human in the US and 100 times the amount of human waste generated per year. While we treat and deal with human waste the waste produced at factory farms is spread on the surrounding land. That may sound like fertilization but the amounts spread have more phosphorus and other material than the soil can absorb. The net effect is that the soil is killed and the excess runs off into the water supply.
2. 70% of the antibiotics used in the US are used in livestock. The bulk of them are used in the feed at factory farms. They use them to aid in the growth of the animals. Since the animal won't use any energy fighting off bacterial infections they can use the energy to grow to maturity faster. If you used this tactic with your child you would be have a 2 1/2 year old that was over 300 lbs! Does that sound right to anyone?
3. Arsenic is widely used in chicken feed at factory farms. The addition of arsenic in chicken feed fights parasites in the birds again so they can grow faster. As scary as that sounds for the meat they produce it is even worse than you might think as the manure from the birds has stable arsenic in it as well. It doesn't take much research to find cancer cluster near factory chicken farms as they are more than happy to spread the manure at schools and parks. Nice Huh?
4. Growth hormones are a staple food at factory farms. They also remain stable in the meat and in the waste. They are one of many Endocrine Disruptors which are known cancer causes. Other endocrine disruptors include pesticides. Just sayin'.
We have been overwhelmed lately with problems like MRSA and other antibiotic resistant infections and we have been told it is from over-prescribed antibiotics. While that is part of the problem it makes just as much sense that our food supply which is laden with antibiotic raised animals has a good part of the blame as well.
We are the only advanced country that allows antibiotic, hormones, GMO feed or arsenic in meat production. THE ONLY ONE! Why? Money of course. Beginning with the Clinton administration relaxing the regulations and continuing and expanding under Bush the EPA and FDA have been neutered in terms of enforcement while the regulations have been stripped of any real teeth.
I'd like to think we can just vote with our dollars and buy organic to fix this problem, but the reality is that water and air are not infinite resources. We need to vote with our votes this time. We need to install leaders with the moral will to overcome the political pressure to leave things as they are.
Maybe we need to occupy the FDA and EPA.
More soon.....
Monday, October 31, 2011
One Eyed One Horned Flying Purple People Eater
In honor of Halloween I dressed Athena as a fashionable dog with a nice, new fleece jacket and a homemade dog scarf who has humans who over-indulge her.
I dressed as an over-indulgent human who likes to be drug along at a stupid fast pace by a dog and I finished it off with my Alpaca wool Andean knit hat.
We then headed out for 6.7 miles in 1:26 so we could be seen because Halloween costumes must be seen and the I realized that we dress like this 3 times a week this time of year even when there is no holiday. I wonder how many people thought we were dressed up for Halloween.
Scary, Huh?
So you are asking why the One Eyed... Well, if I walk to the tempo of that song I average a little over 4.8 MPH. I need to find another tune with the same tempo. I'm tired of that one.
I decided to drop the yogurt from my diet since it has been making me flemmy and I replaced it with Almond milk which is easy to make.
You soak 1 cup of almonds in water for 12 hours, drain and rinse them. Then you put them in a blender with 1 1/2 cups of water and some soaked dates or raisins - 3 dates or 1/4 cup of raisins and 1/2 tsp or Vanilla and blend until smooth. Then add another cup of water and blend some more. Pour the whole thing through a fine mesh sieve and work the material with a rubber spatula until all of the liquid is through then toss the extra pulp. Done! Easy right?
More soon...
I dressed as an over-indulgent human who likes to be drug along at a stupid fast pace by a dog and I finished it off with my Alpaca wool Andean knit hat.
We then headed out for 6.7 miles in 1:26 so we could be seen because Halloween costumes must be seen and the I realized that we dress like this 3 times a week this time of year even when there is no holiday. I wonder how many people thought we were dressed up for Halloween.
Scary, Huh?
So you are asking why the One Eyed... Well, if I walk to the tempo of that song I average a little over 4.8 MPH. I need to find another tune with the same tempo. I'm tired of that one.
I decided to drop the yogurt from my diet since it has been making me flemmy and I replaced it with Almond milk which is easy to make.
You soak 1 cup of almonds in water for 12 hours, drain and rinse them. Then you put them in a blender with 1 1/2 cups of water and some soaked dates or raisins - 3 dates or 1/4 cup of raisins and 1/2 tsp or Vanilla and blend until smooth. Then add another cup of water and blend some more. Pour the whole thing through a fine mesh sieve and work the material with a rubber spatula until all of the liquid is through then toss the extra pulp. Done! Easy right?
More soon...
Friday, October 28, 2011
Convenient Garbage
When you walk along city streets it is impossible not to notice all of the trash along the road. You get to try to help your dog avoid broken glass while you look at the same garbage day after day.
Among the highest volume of garbage we see are fast food wrappers and cups, pop bottles and cans, energy drink containers, cigarette packs and butts, beer and booze bottles and bus schedules.
Except for the bus schedules I have a solution that would cut down the garbage and maybe stop it altogether.
1. We need to make it illegal to sell any beverage at a convenience store in a container smaller than say 32 ounces. They are too hard to drink from while walking or driving so they would be less likely to end up along the road.
2. We need to force the fast food shops to pack their food to go - Family Style - in one bag with the sandwiches stacked on one side and the fries on the other. That way if the food is consumed in the car there will only be one bag to end up on the road instead of 10. The soda should also be served in a large thermos with NO cups. I doubt anyone will bring their own disposable cups just to litter later.
3. Stop selling filtered cigarettes and instead let smokers buy their own like in the old movies where the chic smokers would have their own. Also allow no packaging for the cigarettes themselves. Let smokers get their own chic cigarette cases - again like the old days. That way there will be no butts or boxes along the road.
4. Cheap beer, wine and booze should also only be sold in 32 ounce or larger plastic containers so drunk nitwits don't drink while they walk or drive and then throw the container along the road.
5. Littering should be punishable by the loss of your driver's license for 6 months for a first offense, 1 year for a second and life for a third with community service cleaning the streets and parks in equal time amounts for the offense.
The truth is that I actually think these are reasonable ways to solve this problem. It helps that I don't eat fast food ever, drink soda or energy drinks ever, smoke or drink cheap beer, wine or booze ever.
Remember, it's not whining if you have an actual solution to the problem.
More soon......
Among the highest volume of garbage we see are fast food wrappers and cups, pop bottles and cans, energy drink containers, cigarette packs and butts, beer and booze bottles and bus schedules.
Except for the bus schedules I have a solution that would cut down the garbage and maybe stop it altogether.
1. We need to make it illegal to sell any beverage at a convenience store in a container smaller than say 32 ounces. They are too hard to drink from while walking or driving so they would be less likely to end up along the road.
2. We need to force the fast food shops to pack their food to go - Family Style - in one bag with the sandwiches stacked on one side and the fries on the other. That way if the food is consumed in the car there will only be one bag to end up on the road instead of 10. The soda should also be served in a large thermos with NO cups. I doubt anyone will bring their own disposable cups just to litter later.
3. Stop selling filtered cigarettes and instead let smokers buy their own like in the old movies where the chic smokers would have their own. Also allow no packaging for the cigarettes themselves. Let smokers get their own chic cigarette cases - again like the old days. That way there will be no butts or boxes along the road.
4. Cheap beer, wine and booze should also only be sold in 32 ounce or larger plastic containers so drunk nitwits don't drink while they walk or drive and then throw the container along the road.
5. Littering should be punishable by the loss of your driver's license for 6 months for a first offense, 1 year for a second and life for a third with community service cleaning the streets and parks in equal time amounts for the offense.
The truth is that I actually think these are reasonable ways to solve this problem. It helps that I don't eat fast food ever, drink soda or energy drinks ever, smoke or drink cheap beer, wine or booze ever.
Remember, it's not whining if you have an actual solution to the problem.
More soon......
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Everything In Moderation?
People often fall back into the comforting arms of the old saying "everything in moderation." On first blush it seems reasonable, but on further examination it makes little sense. I won't be ridiculous and talk about eating really nasty stuff, but if you liked to eat laundry detergent no amount would be OK.
Most of the stuff you need to avoid in any amounts are the "foods" from fast food places, processed crap, and fried foods. Most of these include an out of proportion amount of saturated fats. You need some saturated fats for normal body operations, but if you are the average woman on a 1600 calorie diet that amount is less than 10 grams per day. One chicken breast fried with the skin on averages 5 grams of saturated fat and 18 grams overall not to mention 850 milligrams of sodium.
If you choose chicken fried with the skin off it is about half the fat but the sodium remains over 700 milligrams. Unfortunately even the rotisserie chickens have 3.5 grams of saturated fat per serving because they are cooked with the skin on.
If you bake the chicken breast with the skin removed the saturated fat drops under 1 gram. That is the way to moderate your intake.
I like to grill my chicken with the skin and bone removed. To save time cooking you can also pound it to 1/2 inch thickness then grill it for 3 minutes a side then let it rest covered in foil for a couple of minutes before serving.
I now only buy organic chicken. That way I avoid hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, and genetically modified feed.
Exercise:
So far this week Athena and I have been out twice on our 6.7 mile route and have been over 4.8 MPH average both times. When we were in Yosemite I found a wide mesh belt. I loop her leash onto the belt and wear it a little higher than my waist. That way I get to move my arms and she can keep a little pace pressure on the entire time.
Recipe:
I made a bunch of pesto and portioned it and froze it. The other day I steamed some short grain brown rice and cooked some of the Truroots Sprouted Bean Trio. I mixed the rice and beans in pretty equal amounts, added some red onion and a medium tomato and then tossed it all with the pesto. It was really good and works as a bowl of warm food or added cold on a green salad as well.
It's nice when things that are good for you are great tasting as well.
More soon...
Most of the stuff you need to avoid in any amounts are the "foods" from fast food places, processed crap, and fried foods. Most of these include an out of proportion amount of saturated fats. You need some saturated fats for normal body operations, but if you are the average woman on a 1600 calorie diet that amount is less than 10 grams per day. One chicken breast fried with the skin on averages 5 grams of saturated fat and 18 grams overall not to mention 850 milligrams of sodium.
If you choose chicken fried with the skin off it is about half the fat but the sodium remains over 700 milligrams. Unfortunately even the rotisserie chickens have 3.5 grams of saturated fat per serving because they are cooked with the skin on.
If you bake the chicken breast with the skin removed the saturated fat drops under 1 gram. That is the way to moderate your intake.
I like to grill my chicken with the skin and bone removed. To save time cooking you can also pound it to 1/2 inch thickness then grill it for 3 minutes a side then let it rest covered in foil for a couple of minutes before serving.
I now only buy organic chicken. That way I avoid hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, and genetically modified feed.
Exercise:
So far this week Athena and I have been out twice on our 6.7 mile route and have been over 4.8 MPH average both times. When we were in Yosemite I found a wide mesh belt. I loop her leash onto the belt and wear it a little higher than my waist. That way I get to move my arms and she can keep a little pace pressure on the entire time.
Recipe:
I made a bunch of pesto and portioned it and froze it. The other day I steamed some short grain brown rice and cooked some of the Truroots Sprouted Bean Trio. I mixed the rice and beans in pretty equal amounts, added some red onion and a medium tomato and then tossed it all with the pesto. It was really good and works as a bowl of warm food or added cold on a green salad as well.
It's nice when things that are good for you are great tasting as well.
More soon...
Monday, October 24, 2011
We Brought The Sun Back With Us - OK Maybe Not
5400 miles later we made it home without any bad incidents. The RV is basically in tact though we had to replace the trap in the bathroom sink and the door handle in the bathroom.
The electric step decided it wanted to run even after it was totally retracted and broke the retracting part. When that didn't stop it running I had to cut the power to it.
A gentleman informed us at Arches that our rear lights weren't working. A shop in Moab quickly found that the fixtures were old and the lights had come loose. They tightened them up and the problem never recurred.
When we arrived at the Needles Outpost we were greeted by waterworks as the hose connecting the fresh water tank to the pump had come loose. Luckily they had water for us to use and the fix was simple.
Other things that came loose from vibration I guess were the crank handle for the antenna - twice- and the water connections under the bathroom sink - once.
The roof AC works great as long as it's not over 95 degrees. It is less effective then.
We learned that we didn't need to pack the BBQ and propane tank as we didn't use it once.
We ran a little short of oats and dog food.
We ate most of our meals in the RV. Other than the meals we made we had 5 dinners and one lunch out.
We had a great trip. The 5 weeks we were out really let us bond in a special way with Athena. While we weren't with her 24/7 we were close to that. She adjusted to the travelling in a week or so and actually came to notice the process for getting ready to go and would plop down between the seats and wait. That made it a little difficult to get seated sometimes but we also adjusted.
While she enjoyed the travelling and exploring, she was ecstatic when we came home Sunday morning. At first she was in a little disbelief, but after she inspected and reinspected the house and yard she piled up on the bed for a proper nap. After that she went through all of her little moves she uses to get treats and try to get us to play. Once she was done she was finally satisfied that we were in fact home.
More soon...
The electric step decided it wanted to run even after it was totally retracted and broke the retracting part. When that didn't stop it running I had to cut the power to it.
A gentleman informed us at Arches that our rear lights weren't working. A shop in Moab quickly found that the fixtures were old and the lights had come loose. They tightened them up and the problem never recurred.
When we arrived at the Needles Outpost we were greeted by waterworks as the hose connecting the fresh water tank to the pump had come loose. Luckily they had water for us to use and the fix was simple.
Other things that came loose from vibration I guess were the crank handle for the antenna - twice- and the water connections under the bathroom sink - once.
The roof AC works great as long as it's not over 95 degrees. It is less effective then.
We learned that we didn't need to pack the BBQ and propane tank as we didn't use it once.
We ran a little short of oats and dog food.
We ate most of our meals in the RV. Other than the meals we made we had 5 dinners and one lunch out.
We had a great trip. The 5 weeks we were out really let us bond in a special way with Athena. While we weren't with her 24/7 we were close to that. She adjusted to the travelling in a week or so and actually came to notice the process for getting ready to go and would plop down between the seats and wait. That made it a little difficult to get seated sometimes but we also adjusted.
While she enjoyed the travelling and exploring, she was ecstatic when we came home Sunday morning. At first she was in a little disbelief, but after she inspected and reinspected the house and yard she piled up on the bed for a proper nap. After that she went through all of her little moves she uses to get treats and try to get us to play. Once she was done she was finally satisfied that we were in fact home.
More soon...
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Back To Athena - For Dog's Sake
We crossed over the 5000 mile mark today and it struck me that Athena has invented her own RV groove. While she started out drooling and scratching the crap out of my legs she now has a calm and serene approach to RV travel.
What she wants from me mostly is to lay her head on my leg WITHOUT me touching her. If I touch her she grouses and moves to Pam's side. Pam can touch her, but I can't. I guess I don't do it right.
All of the packing seemed great until the last couple of days. Athena has had more of an appetite lately and we are now down to 2 days worth of food with 4 1/2 days to go. I hate to buy another 40 lb bag of food when there is half that much at home. I guess we are keeping her for a while longer.
We find ourselves in Coeur D'Alene Idaho tonight. We began at Bank's Lake Washington which was 30 feet low due to maintenance on the Grand Coulee Dam. We were told they only do it every 20 years so I guess we were lucky to see it - or not - I don't know.
The weather is nice - mid 60's and mostly sunny. That will hold us as we go back to Spokane tomorrow.
It struck me today that if you travel there from the right direction - say from Grand Coulee - Spokane can be seen as an oasis of sorts. The same will not be true from here.
More soon...
What she wants from me mostly is to lay her head on my leg WITHOUT me touching her. If I touch her she grouses and moves to Pam's side. Pam can touch her, but I can't. I guess I don't do it right.
All of the packing seemed great until the last couple of days. Athena has had more of an appetite lately and we are now down to 2 days worth of food with 4 1/2 days to go. I hate to buy another 40 lb bag of food when there is half that much at home. I guess we are keeping her for a while longer.
We find ourselves in Coeur D'Alene Idaho tonight. We began at Bank's Lake Washington which was 30 feet low due to maintenance on the Grand Coulee Dam. We were told they only do it every 20 years so I guess we were lucky to see it - or not - I don't know.
The weather is nice - mid 60's and mostly sunny. That will hold us as we go back to Spokane tomorrow.
It struck me today that if you travel there from the right direction - say from Grand Coulee - Spokane can be seen as an oasis of sorts. The same will not be true from here.
More soon...
Picture Post 7 - Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon North Rim.
And the South Rim.
Arizona does not do daylight savings time and we forgot about that. We headed out to get some shots on the South Rim and were lucky to get some quick sunset shots. Oh well. The shots I want to take I will when we hike the canyon from one side to the other.
More soon...
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