Munchy Monday

Please join me on Mondays for discussions on/about food.

The satire is not lost on me that as I pen about food and food issues I have splashes of salmon juice from my baked fish lunch spotting the front of my M&M Meat Shops work shirt...

Ever heard of Barbara Kingsolver?  Or her husband Steven L. Hopp or her daughter Camille Kingsolver?  Have you noticed the asian tweedish green cover of her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life poised on some bookshelf somewhere?  (You can even take an online tour of her farm at http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/)

An interesting read...eye-opening...

For instance, did you know that "The average food item on a U.S. grocery shelf has traveled farther than most families go on their annual vacations" (p.4)  & that "each food item in a typical US meal has traveled an average of 1500 miles" (p.5)

Kinda scary, hey?

Here's a review...

From www.kobobooks.com

Bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver returns with her first nonfiction narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat.

"As the U.S. population made an unprecedented mad dash for the Sun Belt, one carload of us paddled against the tide, heading for the Promised Land where water falls from the sky and green stuff grows all around. We were about to begin the adventure of realigning our lives with our food chain.

"Naturally, our first stop was to buy junk food and fossil fuel. . . ."

Hang on for the ride: With characteristic poetry and pluck, Barbara Kingsolver and her family sweep readers along on their journey away from the industrial-food pipeline to a rural life in which they vow to buy only food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. Their good-humored search yields surprising discoveries about turkey sex life and overly zealous zucchini plants, en route to a food culture that's better for the neighborhood and also better on the table. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle makes a passionate case for putting the kitchen back at the center of family life and diversified farms at the center of the American diet.

"This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals and vegetables whose provenance we really knew . . . and of how our family was changed by our first year of deliberately eating food produced from the same place where we worked, went to school, loved our neighbors, drank the water, and breathed the air."

Bravely Writing The Truth: Sisterhood Errors

I have survived the -23 degree assault on the few uncovered parts of my face as we trudged only a few blocks to school (parking a few blocks away and walking, cold-induced tears streaming down and freezing mid-way down our cheeks, as opposed to driving the entire way to school has to be worth something?), marched with a friend for an hour around the arena's indoor walking track, visited the police station to be told once again that my record check still wasn't complete (despite being started last August), mopped up the sugar-less coffee that I inadvertently poured all over our keyboard, desktop, and files, and JUST had a vivid realization that I am a terrible, terrible sister.

It's one thing to forget to pack a second pair of gloves into your child's backpack, or to fail to recall a library book's due date (or even where in your home that library book may be currently situated), or even, as frustrating as it is to other parties involved, to draw a blank about an appointment of some sort.

But to forget to arrange your schedule to be able to attend your sister's final wedding dress fitting...Yikes. 

Sorry, Treva.

Writing bravely means to me writing the truth.  Even when it is a horribly inconsiderate truth you wish you didn't have to share.

Munchy Monday: When Life Hands You...

Please join me every Monday for discussions on/about food...

"When life hands you lemons..."  What's the finale for that one?  Surely almost all of us have heard it?



"When life hands you lemons...MAKE LEMONAID"

But there's wayyyy more to make than just juice when given some of those lusciously tart orbs of lemony flesh...

When I started this getting fitter journey my sis forwarded me info on an eating programme she has been following: first thing in the morning involves a glass of warm water with a chunk of fresh. slightly squeezed lemon.

"Why?" I asked my mom as we headed down the citrus aisle in the Florida grocery store, seeking to buy a handful to share.  "Cleansing," she responded.

But, wait: there's more.  More than just cleansing our gut and liver expurgation (don't you just love that word?  Roll it over your tongue a few times...expurgation...and I mean expurging toxins not our liver...)  According to health-tipz.blogspot.ca here are just a few benefits of lemons

• give a healthy glow to the skin
• lower blood pressure
• fight infection
• "deactivates free radicals" and therefore prevents diseases such as cardiovascular, cancers, and strokes
• kills bacteria in seafood
• relieves asthma
• removes wrinkles [I always wonder why our society is so obsessed with ridding us of the signs of experience and memories and wisdom and maturity???]
• hydrates the lymph system

Those sour, seedy fruits sure pack a punch...

Ashley Pitman asks, "if you're already a lemon water junkie, what specific benefits have you noticed?"

I could list a dozen things I am hoping to notice...but first I am curious: where do lemons even come from?  (Perhaps that sounds a stupid question but one I have nonetheless.)

Here's what I found on http://wherefoodcomesfrom.com/article/5812/Where-Lemons-Come-From
Guess it's not exactly part of the 100 Mile Diet.  Oops.  Well, enjoy albeit...  And don't be surprised when I remark upon your radiant skin and sudden immunity to colds!?

Production Of Lemons & Limes By Country
	Country	Metric Tons	% Of World
1	India	3,098,900	22.34%
2	Mexico	1,891,400	13.63%
3	Argentina	1,113,380	8.03%
4	China	1,058,105	7.63%
5	Brazil	1,020,350	7.36%
6	United States	800,140	5.77%
7	Turkey	787,063	5.67%
8	Iran	706,800	5.10%
9	Spain	578,200	4.17%
10	Italy	522,377	3.77%
11	Egypt	318,111	2.29%
12	Peru	233,032	1.68%
13	South Africa	215,980	1.56%
14	Thailand	171,074	1.23%
15	Chile	155,000	1.12%
16	Syrian Arab Republic	142,200	1.03%
17	Lebanon	113,100	0.82%
18	Guatemala	110,600	0.80%
19	Pakistan	88,120	0.64%
20	Colombia	87,474	0.63%
World		13,871,976

Back From Florida...and Still Pumped

Back from a very different vacation than most years...

Oh, yes, the same holiday we are blessed to go on every year with my parents to a timeshare on the Gulf Coast of Florida and yet different because VOILA...EUREKA...this gal finally figured out that an attitude alteration was indeed a necessity.

I used to begrudge the fact that our children wanted to run the beach, swim for hours in somewhat frigid temperatures, and juts plain go go go...I just desired a good book, a comfie couch, and some alone time; for moi that added up to a restful time away.  It never, ever happened.  I was always disappointed.

This year involved the challenge of earning points for this blasted lifestyle change journey I have embarked upon.  And the point earned (from a walk, or some sort of recreational activity, for example) came with the bonus aspect of being an amazing amount of fun.  Pretending to be stingrays chasing each other about the pool or running (okay, jogging) through incoming foam-covered waves between quick bend-and-grabs for pretty shells about to be kidnapped by the current.

I EARNED points for drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day (sadly, previously drinking 2 in a day was a record), following the Canada Food Guide and recording what I ingested in a food journal.  Downtime before bed or reading earned me a point as did praying and spending more time with family.

I LOST points for the evening I had a couple of glasses of wine, and the afternoon ice cream sundae that just didn't feel like it was worth that point loss.  (And which, after finishing, our too-smart son eyed me up and asked, "so when are we going to go wear that off by getting another point?")

Now, don't get me wrong: as I sound all easy-schmeasy about it all, it was far from that.  I have been a woman used to over-indulging and justification. Sometimes I didn't want the 2 cups of veggies without the after-bonus of some overly-sweet and decadent dessert.  Some nights I didn't want to jog the five storeys of steps up-and-down 5 times, huffing and puffing and begging for survival (but thanks to my supportive husband I did, even on a couple of nights when he refrained from joining in - and by the end of the week we had even cut 1 minute and 20 seconds off of our time!).  Many times anything appeared better than blueberries and yoghurt and once during the travel time I wanted so desperately to get a Big Mac that I nearly caved (but the Asian salad wasssss good).

But I did it.

And I will keep doing it.

As I ran on the tread mill at the gym tonight I just kept going minute by minute...I knew I could make the 30 minute mark and I exceeded it by 3 whole minutes...

Baby steps.

Tonight I had to fight myself not to eat any, let alone all, of the four pieces of the leftover butterscotch marshmallow treats that my husband's aunt brought when she came for dinner.  I don't intend to fully deprive myself but I have to keep asking, "is it worth it?"  Did ten years of yes, yes, yes get me to where I want to be?

Baby steps.

Back from Florida and still Pumped!!!

Initial Assessment: Near Death

I have been informed that I tend to exaggerate?  Perhaps you won't fully buy in then to what I am about to share but....

Initial Assessment for the Lifestyle Challenge (formerly "The Biggest Loser")...weigh-in, measurements, gym orientation, and then...the Nine Minute Fitness Test...

Imagine in your head moi...bulging belly, heavy breathing when I jot downstairs and up with laundry, weakened muscles that clearly show off my driving children to school due to time restraints (so not the outdoor twice-across-town-and-back jaunts that usually accompany our days)...then couple this with 9 minutes of reps of kettle bell swings



interspersed with a routine of burpies


and running outside between poles...

Nine minutes may not sound like a lot - and to those of you who, congratulations-pat-on-the-back, have remained in tip top shape, it likely ISN'T a lengthy period - but....whoa....for me:

Near death.

Not as near death as when I came within feet of plunging, in my car, off a mountain in the Rockies, but near death for proper, ladylike breathing, cough spasms, and sore muscles straining in response to unusual requests...

And that was yesterday.

And today I hurt all over.

Now I am inspired to an even greater level.

(Not to mention that I recorded all food intake, followed the Canada Food Guide and didn't take any sugar in my coffee...quite a lot for this poor, fat body in one 24 hour period...)

Ten years ago I ran 2 half-marathons out in Edmonton.  Surely there must be some sort of "muscle memory"?!? 

Again, I beg of you: cheers, loud and wailing, for me, pretty, pretty please!

Munchy Monday

Please join me every Monday for discussions on food...

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.” Charles M. Schulz


This may be true...that a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt...but it's no longer refreshing to hear "in moderation" because it's usually accompanied by an eighty calorie treat that doesn't satisfy at all but rather plants a nagging seed that grows and grows until one absolutely has to eat about six boxes filled with 80-calorie bags as well as a bag of chips and a few stray candies....sound realistic?  Yup.  At least I haven't yet resorted to hiding in closets with snacks...

Back to the point about moderation: simply stated in my world, self-control is not one of my finely-tuned gifts and so, alas, moderation is not often a word of use in my life or in my head....

So...my issue is that though a little chocolate now and then may not hurt, a lot now and often truly does...especially when washed down with something burgundy that was initially a grape.

So.  I am finally at an uncomfortable point of breathlessness and tight-shirted disgust when along comes a very exciting proposition....

Formally called "The Biggest Loser" but changed to "The Lifestyle Challenge" the challenge to lose, get healthy, and change your life once again hits MoFo.



And, I folks, am going to be this town's Biggest Loser...I mean, this town's Biggest Lifestyle Challenge Success...

"Always Under Construction" is certainly hitting the renovation stage....the deconstruct and rip things apart stage.  Lots of sweat.  Probably lots of tears.  And hopefully lots of shed pounds...

Cheer me on pretty, pretty please...this obese chocolate-loving maiden needs some healthy support!!!

What more need I say???

My shower companions for the last couple of mornings have been a Christmas tree stand and a well-used, desperately-needing-cleaning toilet plunger.  Better than a whole party's worth of naked barbies (fairly recently) or shredded bits of cabbage (long story...) I suppose?  Finally, finally, someone (me) took the hint and scrubbed them to near-sparkling...and now the shower will feel so ROOMY tomorrow!  What more need I say???

Compassion in a Pain-Wrapped Box

How do people who live with chronic pain do it?

It has only been a week of minor pain and then the last few days of a constant searing (it hurts to read, to type, to sit, to lie down, to stand) one that explodes in various parts of my skull.  I don't say this to complain.  But to honour those who live with this all of the time.

How do they survive?  Play with their kids?  Even listen to them when their tiny, normally adorable voices, drone like some sort of drilling machine that's targeting one's spine and it takes every bit not to tell them to go away?

It's amazing how much compassion develops when you suffer a similar, yet much less traumatic, set of symptoms.

A few months ago a very faith-filled woman in our community died.  It surprised many of us who knew her, yet not those close whom knew the true amount of pain she had been going through.  "Pain changes you," one woman who knew her well had shared, "constant pain can unimaginably change you".

I hadn't "got it" at the time.

I guess I sort of do now.

Happy New Year

Wow.  It's 2013.

A whole new year awaiting with only the Lord to know what will happen...

Today I am sick.  And bored.  My migraine has dulled to a skull-pounding headache and phlegm seems to erupt in less-frequent intervals during body-wracking coughs that my husband thinks are about to either burst a blood vessel, end my life, or send me sprawling in a heap of vomit on to the ground...

I wanted to be with Husband's extended family for our usual game-playing, food-feasting New Year's Day event but realized after attempting a shower that a mere falling-of-warm-water wasn't going to clean it all up and send it packing...

And alas, while they gab and enjoy, I have slept most of the day away.

And still feel pretty horrible.

And bored.

Sounds like a negative beginning to an exciting year but hey, it's the first day off I have had in about 2 months where something isn't overly stuffed into our schedule, and I (barely) made it through New Year's celebrations and while many today nurse a hangover headache atleast mine didn't come from an expensive bottle of  booze...

So it can't be so bad, can it?

Speaking of booze, we plan to experiment with making a batch of wine this coming year.  And what else awaits in 2013?  A trip to Florida, Jeff's hernia surgery, and my sister's wedding at the ice hotel in Quebec City.

What does 2013 hold for you?  Oh the surprises, the suspense...

Keep me posted!