Tuesday, November 27, 2012
A Happy Sight
Today when I was picking up some groceries I realized that the organic apples at Vons were only $0.20 more a pound than the non-organic. It's a simple equation of supply and demand; the more people choose organic, the lower the cost will go. Things they are a-changin'. Yesssssss!
Why this Household is Going Organic
I've mentioned that my house has chosen to go organic. And while I've brushed on some of the reasons why, I thought I'd delve into it a bit more. So, why go organic?
Isn't it funny that we all have a sense that organic is better for us, but we are not quite sure why? Well, slowly over the last couple of years I've been dabbling in buying organic. After having Landon and starting him on solids, I was adamant - ONLY ORGANIC! Well... Landon grew up. He no longer was eating out of a jar, but eating right along Nate and I. I started questioning more and more what "extras" I was feeding us by not going organic.
Alongside this, I've gotten more and more into cooking. I would say that I went from cooking a lot of our meals to now cooking most every one of them. The thing about cooking is that you are hands-on with the ingredients that are making up your meal, so shouldn't we know exactly what we are eating and where it is coming from?
And finally, a major switch happened when I attended the Stroller Strides conference awhile back. Speaker after speaker said it loud and clear, if we want ourselves and our children to grow up healthy and eating the best quality foods, we need to go organic. Now don't be scared off. Life is never black and white, and neither is eating organic. But when possible, eating organic is best.
Here is what I've learned about going organic. Dr. Alan Greene, author of Feeding Baby Green, pediatrician, and one of the amazing speakers at the conference, tells us that the nutritional quality of conventional agriculture has deteriorated over the last fifty years. Because of this, when comparing organic versus conventional crops, "Organic produce... averaged 25 more healthful nutrients per serving." 25 per serving! He also writes that "by choosing organic produce across the board you can slash pesticide exposure by about 97 percent." Isn't that crazy? This is also why my biggest change in going organic has been focusing on produce (remember the list from the last post?). It's definitely a good place to start, I think.
Along with produce, McKensie Hall says your best bets when going organic should also include dairy and meats, as well. One benefit to buying organic dairy and meat? Higher amounts of Omega 3s. Our house buys only organic milk, and we try and get organic yogurt when possible, but I'm yet to really see organic cheese options. Switching to organic meat is probably the hardest. Why? It really is more expensive... okay, a lot more expensive. We are buying our organic chicken from Costco, but as for other meat - I'm still learning.
I hope this has been helpful in giving answers to the "Why?" in going organic. As I've said, it's a learning process for me, too. I don't think change happens overnight, and in fact, I don't think it should. But if you can make organic work for you, I say go for it :)
Isn't it funny that we all have a sense that organic is better for us, but we are not quite sure why? Well, slowly over the last couple of years I've been dabbling in buying organic. After having Landon and starting him on solids, I was adamant - ONLY ORGANIC! Well... Landon grew up. He no longer was eating out of a jar, but eating right along Nate and I. I started questioning more and more what "extras" I was feeding us by not going organic.
Alongside this, I've gotten more and more into cooking. I would say that I went from cooking a lot of our meals to now cooking most every one of them. The thing about cooking is that you are hands-on with the ingredients that are making up your meal, so shouldn't we know exactly what we are eating and where it is coming from?
And finally, a major switch happened when I attended the Stroller Strides conference awhile back. Speaker after speaker said it loud and clear, if we want ourselves and our children to grow up healthy and eating the best quality foods, we need to go organic. Now don't be scared off. Life is never black and white, and neither is eating organic. But when possible, eating organic is best.
Here is what I've learned about going organic. Dr. Alan Greene, author of Feeding Baby Green, pediatrician, and one of the amazing speakers at the conference, tells us that the nutritional quality of conventional agriculture has deteriorated over the last fifty years. Because of this, when comparing organic versus conventional crops, "Organic produce... averaged 25 more healthful nutrients per serving." 25 per serving! He also writes that "by choosing organic produce across the board you can slash pesticide exposure by about 97 percent." Isn't that crazy? This is also why my biggest change in going organic has been focusing on produce (remember the list from the last post?). It's definitely a good place to start, I think.
Along with produce, McKensie Hall says your best bets when going organic should also include dairy and meats, as well. One benefit to buying organic dairy and meat? Higher amounts of Omega 3s. Our house buys only organic milk, and we try and get organic yogurt when possible, but I'm yet to really see organic cheese options. Switching to organic meat is probably the hardest. Why? It really is more expensive... okay, a lot more expensive. We are buying our organic chicken from Costco, but as for other meat - I'm still learning.
I hope this has been helpful in giving answers to the "Why?" in going organic. As I've said, it's a learning process for me, too. I don't think change happens overnight, and in fact, I don't think it should. But if you can make organic work for you, I say go for it :)
Thursday, November 8, 2012
When We Can't Go Organic All the Time
As I've said before, my household is trying its best to go organic. In a nutshell, going organic means you will be getting foods that are higher in nutrients and contain less pesticides (promise to go more in depth about this soon). In other words, you get more nutritional bang for buck. But speaking of buck.... going organic can be expensive.
In San Diego, we have an amazing place called "The Fruit Stand" where they keep a warehouse full of local [mostly] organically grown fruits and veggies and sell them for a reasonable price. It's an amazing place, but I can only get there about once a week. So what about the other days of the week when you need to pick up some goods, but don't have time to hit up "The Fruit Stand"? Or, what if you don't have a "Fruit Stand"?
Fortunately grocery stores are catching on to the craze and offering more and more organic options. Even our Costco is surprising us every trip with more organic products. BUT they are more expensive. Therefore, I wanted to share a list given by McKensie Hall, RD of the most and least contaminated fruits and veggies. I'm trying to learn and memorize, so I know which fruits and veggies are more important to buy organic, and which, if need be, will do less harm to buy regular. So here we go:
Fruits & Veggies on the MOST contaminated list:
In San Diego, we have an amazing place called "The Fruit Stand" where they keep a warehouse full of local [mostly] organically grown fruits and veggies and sell them for a reasonable price. It's an amazing place, but I can only get there about once a week. So what about the other days of the week when you need to pick up some goods, but don't have time to hit up "The Fruit Stand"? Or, what if you don't have a "Fruit Stand"?
Fortunately grocery stores are catching on to the craze and offering more and more organic options. Even our Costco is surprising us every trip with more organic products. BUT they are more expensive. Therefore, I wanted to share a list given by McKensie Hall, RD of the most and least contaminated fruits and veggies. I'm trying to learn and memorize, so I know which fruits and veggies are more important to buy organic, and which, if need be, will do less harm to buy regular. So here we go:
Fruits & Veggies on the MOST contaminated list:
- apples
- celery
- bell peppers
- peaches
- strawberries
- nectarines
- grapes
- spinach
- lettuce
- cucumbers
- blueberries
- potatoes
- onions
- sweet corn
- pineapples
- avocados
- cabbage
- sweet peas
- asparagus
- mangoes
- eggplant
- kiwis
- cantaloupe
- sweet potatoes
- grapefruit
- watermelon
- mushrooms
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
"Diet is a Four-Letter Word"
- McKenzie Hall, RD
Recently I went to the 2012 National Stroller Strides Conference where I was introduced to amazing people doing great things in health and fitness. It was so motivational and influential, I want to share some of the information I learned.
One of the speakers I listened to was McKenzie Hall a Registered Dietitian and Nutrition Counselor. What I liked about Ms. Hall was that I really felt like everything she said was exactly how I felt about, and approached nutrition (said with more eloquence, of course). It was a nice feeling, and gave me a sense of confidence that there was a method to my madness.
While she had many things to say, what I wanted to share about today was her idea about "diets." As the title of this blog alludes (words from Hall, herself), diets are not the way to approach or improve one's health. Some of you may be rolling your eyes right about now. Like, "Yeah, yeah, we've heard it before. Life changes.. blah, blah, bleh." But here's the thing... I totally agree.
In the past I tried restricting things I ate - no desserts, little to no carbs, and don't even think about eating that cheesy pizza you want so bad. But it NEVER worked. As soon as I told myself I couldn't eat something was the moment that thing became number one on my list of things I WANTED to eat. I remember about 6 years ago when I had a go at South Beach and "couldn't" eat sweets. I'm not even a sweets person, but because I couldn't have it, all I wanted was sugar. I remember the need became so much that I bought sugar-free candy and tore into the bag on the way out of the store. It didn't take more than a candy or two for me to realize that obviously this "diet" was not something I could keep up and am happy to say I chucked the candy and the diet, then and there.
As Hall says, "Diets set you up for failure." Instead she says she allows all foods in moderation. She even went so far to say that if you have to have a cupcake, eat that cupcake and get on with your day. Anyone who knows me knows that I will never miss out on a food I really want. One day it may be a quesadilla, another day it may be might be some delicious frozen yogurt from the amazing Bogurt Yogurt, but I eat it and get on with my day. As I like to say, I eat very healthy MOST of the time.
Along with these insights she gave an informal list of why diets don't work and I wanted to share. So, here they are. According to Hall (along with my commentary), "diets" are linked to:
I will be doing more posts on things discussed at the conference, including more from McKenzie Hall, RD, but if you would like to see more from her, you can check her out on NourishRDs.com
Recently I went to the 2012 National Stroller Strides Conference where I was introduced to amazing people doing great things in health and fitness. It was so motivational and influential, I want to share some of the information I learned.
One of the speakers I listened to was McKenzie Hall a Registered Dietitian and Nutrition Counselor. What I liked about Ms. Hall was that I really felt like everything she said was exactly how I felt about, and approached nutrition (said with more eloquence, of course). It was a nice feeling, and gave me a sense of confidence that there was a method to my madness.
While she had many things to say, what I wanted to share about today was her idea about "diets." As the title of this blog alludes (words from Hall, herself), diets are not the way to approach or improve one's health. Some of you may be rolling your eyes right about now. Like, "Yeah, yeah, we've heard it before. Life changes.. blah, blah, bleh." But here's the thing... I totally agree.
In the past I tried restricting things I ate - no desserts, little to no carbs, and don't even think about eating that cheesy pizza you want so bad. But it NEVER worked. As soon as I told myself I couldn't eat something was the moment that thing became number one on my list of things I WANTED to eat. I remember about 6 years ago when I had a go at South Beach and "couldn't" eat sweets. I'm not even a sweets person, but because I couldn't have it, all I wanted was sugar. I remember the need became so much that I bought sugar-free candy and tore into the bag on the way out of the store. It didn't take more than a candy or two for me to realize that obviously this "diet" was not something I could keep up and am happy to say I chucked the candy and the diet, then and there.
As Hall says, "Diets set you up for failure." Instead she says she allows all foods in moderation. She even went so far to say that if you have to have a cupcake, eat that cupcake and get on with your day. Anyone who knows me knows that I will never miss out on a food I really want. One day it may be a quesadilla, another day it may be might be some delicious frozen yogurt from the amazing Bogurt Yogurt, but I eat it and get on with my day. As I like to say, I eat very healthy MOST of the time.
Along with these insights she gave an informal list of why diets don't work and I wanted to share. So, here they are. According to Hall (along with my commentary), "diets" are linked to:
- disordered eating behaviors - maybe we've all seen this one
- low energy - yup
- suppressed immunity - Why, you ask? Because when following a diet you are most likely restricting some foods. Restricting foods means restricting nutrients, and that ain't coo'.
- reduced self esteem - "I need to lose this weight because I am a big ol' fat pig, and no one can stand the sight of me." I don't know if that's a direct quote, but I'm sure old Nikki has said that somewhere down the line.
- Irritability - Sooooooooo true
- Social Isolation - Hall made a good point here that eating is such a cultural thing. Removing yourself from social outings because of food isn't healthy. Or, for me, even worse, you're missing out.
- Depression
- Increased Risk for Obesity - Sad, really.
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