So the Reboot sort of tapered off as you might have noticed. Basically I learned one very important thing.
Rebooting isn't going to work for me. Doing a juicing fast/cleanse for a short period of time has the effect of creating a negative mindset for me. It got me back to the point where I am so desperate for 'normal' that I begin to pick up old behaviors I thought I had banished.
I'm sort of food soul searching right now. Trying to come to a place where I eat healthier, more locally, and more ethically. I just finished watching a Documentary called
Vegucated. It was an interesting documentary that showed me a lot more than I thought I was getting in to.
The fact of the matter is this - I'm almost thirty and I hate my relationship with food and my body. It's that simple. However, the more I look around and try to find information on what will work best, what's a more mindful diet - there are so many information sources that I have no idea what to try or what will work.
I know the most important thing for me right now is to STOP CONSUMING DAIRY! Especially Cow's milk. I seem to have a better time with Goat's milk, but I can't let that become a crutch. Otherwise I'll end up in just as much trouble. I know what I need to do, but I am having trouble making those steps because of any list of excuses I'll call reasons.
1) Not enough money - this one is the hardest to fight right now. It's so much 'cheaper' to go buy two dollar menu hamburgers than it is to go buy a salad. Yes I know all the reasons this logic is wrong. In the long run it's not cheaper, the nutrients are better from the salad, etc. But when you have four dollars in your hand, it makes a difference.
2) Time - this is a personal lie I keep telling myself. That I'm so busy. It's been working on me for exercise lately too.
3) I need protein - this one is hardest for me because I can feel my body craving animal based protein. Though I have turned away from red meat and am trying to find alternative sources. But this hints at a bigger problem I am facing.
- My body is programmed to need carbs (especially bread/potatoes) and meat (chicken is a big one). Especially to need them in improper ways like processed freeze dried instant potatoes and chicken fingers.
I am fairly certain I have had a dairy allergy my entire life. I can remember symptoms going as far back as when I was four years old and cream cheese gave me horrible headaches. But I grew up with parents who grew up in an era where drinking milk with dinner and clearing your plate were important concepts. I was kept well fed, never hungry, and am not complaining.
I can remember how sometimes the kids in the neighborhood would ruin our appetites for dinner by eating the citrus fruit off the trees that were abundant around us. Oranges, white and red grapefruit, kumquats, cherries, tangerines, and the list goes on. But something shifted as I got older and I moved into this dietary place I am now.
Fast food, processed packaged foods, and a generally hate/hate relationship with food and my body.
Now don't get me wrong, things have gotten much better over the course of the last few years. Thanks in no small part to Logician. I came to this college town from living with someone whose diet mainly consisted of Pepsi, red meat, fast food, and potatoes. A diet I easy adopted and had trouble breaking.
So things I really want to change (Or Goals for the next 3 months) -
1) Consume less meat - I want to consume less store bought, inhumanely gotten meat. I know sometimes this isn't the easiest thing to change. $3/lb for chicken versus the $1/lb is hard when crunching numbers.
2) No more soda - at all, zero. I've gotten myself to this place where clear soda is acceptable. It's time to nix that idea.
3) Have juice at least three days a week alongside or in place of breakfast.
4) Educate myself on how to get protein and nutrients from FRESH food - I see all these processed replacements for 'normal' food, veggie burgers, tofurky, etc. I want to learn to make my own options from the actual foods themselves. Dried, canned, or more enjoyably fresh.
5) Get outside - more often. I need to, period.
6) Cut down the food budget.
Thoughts on how to do this?
1) 'Chili' Sunday - With Logician's help (and really at his suggestion) begin preparing things to be cooked through out the week on Sunday. I can remember Dad and I doing this when I was younger. The entire stove would be covered with pots and pans preparing all sorts of things. A huge vat of tomato sauce that would then be divided to be spiced with Spanish spices for Stuffed Peppers and Italian spices for Spaghetti; goulash, etc. This will also help us beef up our freezer with option to cook for lunches and the like.
2) Meatless Monday - this is a trend that I am seeing all over the place, but I enjoy seeing the recipes
Reboot With Joe comes up with each week. Monday nights are a good night for us to do this, especially if we prep some of the ingredients on Sunday.
3) Leftover nights built into our schedule - this will help keep us from going out to eat. We've cut back a lot on our dining out, especially in the last month; and usually when I do convince us to go out we end up regretting it. So this will provide quick and easy nights where we don't have to worry about what to cook.
4) What's on Hand Thursday - I had this great idea, did it for two weeks and flopped out. Now I want to make it a habit. This will allow Logician and I to get back in the kitchen together and take prepared things (from Sunday), leftovers, and whatever else we might have on hand and flex our kitchen abilities to make something delicious.
5) Start using my library card to its' full potential - I live in an amazingly educated and read city. The libraries have an amazing variety of books. So I need to start actually reading the ones I check out, and checking out more.
So grand plans aside here's how I'm really going to try to get this going -
I want to start April 1st. A clean month.
I plan to start having some of these things now, like Chili Sundays. Then in April what I will do is start collecting our food receipts (all of them, even the ones from me at work) while trying to make healthier choices. This will give me a baseline to go from.
This also gives me time to build up a bigger collection of Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free recipes. I have some good ones but I need more. That way we can get clear of allergies in this house!
What are your grand plans for Spring?
