-Waking up in the morning
-Having a job
-Having good health
-Opening your fridge and pantry to a buffet table of food
-Family, friends
-Our God
-Jumping in your car and driving wherever you want to go
-Saying what you want to, when you want to, how you want to
Okay, this isn't a "wish" list....this my friends is my "don't take these precious things for granted" list....
For starters, you get up each day (which in itself is worth a prayer of thanksgiving!!) and turn on the water to brush your teeth, wash your face and then GULP, jump into a nice long HOT shower....That is what we need to think and talk about...
Don't worry, I'm not EVEN suggesting you forego any of the cleansing activities....that would just be WRONG....instead, I want to share a few stats with you....
In the TRUE GREEN book, it reminds you of 100 everyday ways you can contribute to a healthier planet.....and yep, you guessed it, water is listed on several pages....why? because we don't really "get it" and we have definitely started taking the nice flow of H2O from our faucets to mean, the supply is endless - NOT! Read on please....
Showers -
How long is your shower? A family of 4, each taking a 5 minute shower 1 time a day, uses about 700 gallons of water every week! A standard showerhead, uses about 4-6 gallons of water PER MINUTE!!! If this same family of 4 used a "low slow showerhead", they would save up to 20,000 GALLONS of water , not to mention the energy used to heat that water!!! This also reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 300 pounds per year! So the message here is, every MINUTE you shorten your shower, you save 4-6 GALLONS of water! Just imagine how many zillions of people are showering each day and if each one of us, cut our shower down a bit, and didn't use such HOT water, we would make a HUGE impact!!!! Next time you take a shower, just time yourself - I think you will be AMAZED at how long (and how unnecessary) your shower is! Come on, scrub a bit faster - do it for the planet!!! Cutting your shower from 10 minutes to 5 mintues, over the course of a year, would provide enough water to fill a backyard swimming pool AND saving an extra 2200 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions just from the energy used to heat the water!!!! That 's over 4200 gallons of water you can save in that simple green effort!!!
Flushing it away - Okay, my sister lives in LA, and years ago, I remember being out there and California was way ahead of the rest of us, with its conservation efforts. I remember during my visit with her she told me, the motto is "if its pee, let it be, if it's brown, flush it down" - sorry, for the graphics, but that is really what the saying was....this was their daily effort at conserving energy and water.....I know, it's a tough idea to swallow and I'm not suggesting you do that, but just be aware...toilets use the most water in the home...Over 4.8 BILLION gallons of water are flushed down toilets EVERY DAY in just the US along, that equates to 9000 gallons of water per person every year! YIKES! Between the shower and the toilets, our "per person usage" is going up quickly!!! Older toilets use more than 3 gallons of water in 1 flush, vs modern reduced flow use a little more than 1 gallon....Keep that in mind during your next "toilet shopping spree" :)
Dishwashers and dishwashing - This accounts for 15 perscent of the household water use, not to mention HUNDREDS of pounds of greenhouse gases in hot water heating! The dishwasher can use more than 10.5 gallons of water per cycle, vs a newer model uses 1/2 that. Sooooooooooooo,
only run it when it is FULL and save 10-20 gallons of water per day! If you are a hand washer, that will likely use less, UNLESS you are one of those LET THE WATER RUN NON STOP people.... Remeber this is sending 2.5 gallons of water PER MINUTE right down the drain!!! And if it is HOT, you are emitting more greenhouse gases by the minute!
Washing machines - The average washing machine produces nearly 200 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions each year, but if you choose HOT water, it gets worse! Over 80 percent of the energy used to wash clothes comes from HEATING the water and a hot water wash generates 5 TIMES MORE in greenhosue gases than a cold wash! Choose cold and save 6.5 pounds in emissions FOR EVERY WASH! Be careful when adding your detergent also - for each 3.5 ounces of detergent, 3 pounds of greenhouse gases are generated!!! So remember, don't wash your clothes because you just didn't hang them up and you don't feel like it (come on, how many of you can relate to this!!) make sure they need washing and then only wash with a full load! I have switched to cold washes 98 percent of the time - and it works just fine! And hats off if you can do the line dry and save on the dryer!!
Water bottles - I know I have talked about this before, but sorry, I am very passionate about this one.....I too got caught up in the INSANE "bottled water" frenzy that caught on several years back! OMG, if we would just stop and think about it, it is insane. Especially considering the fact that many of the bottled waters have been tested and are NO DIFFERENT than our tap water! Buy a nice stainless steel water bottle - you will LOVE it and take it everywhere! Your beverage stays hot or cold for hours!!!! Remember, plastic comes from petroleum, a limited resource (like WATER!) and it takes over 1.5 MILLION BARRELS of oil each year, just to cover America's demand for bottled water!!! Converting this oil to gasoline equates to fueling 500,000 station wagons on coast to coast road trips!!!!! YIKES!!! Come on peeps, we can do this!!! I won't even tell you how many bottles are not recycled and could stretch across the globe and back as they litter our landfills and will be there long after we are "pushing up daisies" as they say :)
So, are you thirsty yet?! Hopefully there is still some water left, to quench your thirst!!!
So just for today, think about what you take for granted?!?!? And think about what you can do to make our planet a little better, a little less "gassy"......
Remember, we need to drink a lot of water every day, so save some from your showers, toilets, washing machines etc - so you can have your 8-10 glasses in your stainless steel mug :). Yikes, I just read that and want to reiterate, I'm not suggesting you drink from the toilet!
Here's to an H2O toast to our planet!
Have a great Sunday!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
I'm not going to tell you again....oops, I mean, I'm not going to tell ME again...
Yesterday was 1 of my old friend's birthday - 57 years old....by "old friend" I don't mean old either...come on peeps, give me a break, 50 is the new 40 and I'm going by that standard, so we aren't old yet.... Anyway, she has been fighting the weight battle for too long and we always try to "encourage" her whether she wants it or not. You know how we are, we WANT help, but then when we get it, we really don't want it so much. On Friday night, when you are eating and drinking, it is easy to talk about what you are going to do come Monday morning!!! Until Monday morning comes....
Anyway, her work has a "weight challenge" and I mean a BIG weight challenge - big contest with big prizes, etc - and I was trying to remind my friend, that she could WIN the whole thing! She lost 9 pounds at the first weigh in, without tremendous effort (she won't like hearing that) and this thing goes to JANUARY! HElllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooo
January is 2.5 months away!!! She could not only win the contest, but more importantly, win back her healthy life!!! After all, I did say, we are YOUNG,but we aren't getting any younger...and we are like cars at the 50,000 mile check up....parts start needing tune ups and replacements :).
So as she sat there with a beer, I was the cheerleader in her FACE, saying, YOU CAN DO THIS, this is your opportunity, you can change your life!!! Because clearly winning the prize would be great, but the biggest prize would be her new life as a healthy person. I have known this girl since we were in highschool - she WAS the jock, the petite but strong and healthy girl! I want that back so bad for her. But SHE has to want it back too. Most importantly, SHE has to be the one saying "I CAN DO THIS" and we aren't quite there yet......But I do understand why...it's tough - it is a HUGE decision and takes a tremendous amount of effort, courage and determination...I KNOW she can do it and will be praying that she realizes that. Because as Karen told me on the blog recently, and I love this...."NOTHING tastes as good as "Healthy" feels!!!" LOVE THAT ONE!
As I sat chanting "YOU CAN DO THIS" to my friend last night, I realized that I was not only reminding HER but also ME....I was thinking about it on my early drive to Body Pump this morning (I had to say YOU CAN DO THIS to me about 7a as I pulled the old body out of bed on Saturday to go subject it to pain :)).....
Remember that saying that "everything we ever needed to know about life we learned in kindergarten" - well I agree that we have learned so much from infancy on, but for some reason, we have to hear it over and over and over....seems the first 5000 times, just haven't sunk in....let me give you a few examples....
-I'm going to floss daily (RIGHT! That doesn't happen....then when I do, why am I surprised that I get a little bleeding?!?! Helloooooooooooooooooooo, 50,000 mile check up time, floss em while you got em!!!)
-I'm going to set the alarm early so I have more time in the morning ............No thank you, I would prefer to get up everyday and run like a gazelle through the house, trying to get the dogs fed, out, pilled, me showered, teeth brushed (can floss at night :)), and out the door with lunch in hand in time for my conference call.....
-I'm not eating BLANK ANYMORE! Or drinking BLANK ANYMORE? Yes, you are probably laughing at this one, because I'm sure you can relate.....sometimes, I find myself saying that as my spoon is dipping into the bowl :( and then when it is gone, I think, why in the heck did I eat that?!
-I'm not going to procrastinate.....heck I do that with my blog all the time, waiting for the perfect "inspirational" story to pop in my head....sorry, folks, you know that hasn't happened!!! But procrastination just leads to so much stress in our lives.....
-Here's a good one....I'm not going to "judge people" or gossip - Geez, despite your best efforts, this is tough.....so if I do either of them, I'm going to just try to talk with Buster and Charlotte about this (my dogs :)), because let's face it, we shouldn't judge ANYONE except yourself! And gossip is empty energy that is painful and goes nowhere!!!
-I'm going to declutter - Yikes this is painful to even say outloud...although I do continue to chip away at this....even if I get it to 1 room, then I can make myself take 15 minutes a day to work on 1 area.....
So, all of those things, that you find yourself telling yourself OVER and OVER and OVER, what are they!?!?! Come on, share them with the rest of us!? Getting it out there in print is step number 1, plus it reminds us of all the things that we all do and need to face and conquer!!!
So just for today, think of 3 things that you tell yourself over and over and over, for the last "only God knows how many years", and write them down, say them outloud and find a plan to face them head on....we just can't keep using our energy up on recurring issues :)
Enjoy this magnificent weekend...and remember YOU CAN DO THIS (you have to fill in the "THIS" part!)
Anyway, her work has a "weight challenge" and I mean a BIG weight challenge - big contest with big prizes, etc - and I was trying to remind my friend, that she could WIN the whole thing! She lost 9 pounds at the first weigh in, without tremendous effort (she won't like hearing that) and this thing goes to JANUARY! HElllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooo
January is 2.5 months away!!! She could not only win the contest, but more importantly, win back her healthy life!!! After all, I did say, we are YOUNG,but we aren't getting any younger...and we are like cars at the 50,000 mile check up....parts start needing tune ups and replacements :).
So as she sat there with a beer, I was the cheerleader in her FACE, saying, YOU CAN DO THIS, this is your opportunity, you can change your life!!! Because clearly winning the prize would be great, but the biggest prize would be her new life as a healthy person. I have known this girl since we were in highschool - she WAS the jock, the petite but strong and healthy girl! I want that back so bad for her. But SHE has to want it back too. Most importantly, SHE has to be the one saying "I CAN DO THIS" and we aren't quite there yet......But I do understand why...it's tough - it is a HUGE decision and takes a tremendous amount of effort, courage and determination...I KNOW she can do it and will be praying that she realizes that. Because as Karen told me on the blog recently, and I love this...."NOTHING tastes as good as "Healthy" feels!!!" LOVE THAT ONE!
As I sat chanting "YOU CAN DO THIS" to my friend last night, I realized that I was not only reminding HER but also ME....I was thinking about it on my early drive to Body Pump this morning (I had to say YOU CAN DO THIS to me about 7a as I pulled the old body out of bed on Saturday to go subject it to pain :)).....
Remember that saying that "everything we ever needed to know about life we learned in kindergarten" - well I agree that we have learned so much from infancy on, but for some reason, we have to hear it over and over and over....seems the first 5000 times, just haven't sunk in....let me give you a few examples....
-I'm going to floss daily (RIGHT! That doesn't happen....then when I do, why am I surprised that I get a little bleeding?!?! Helloooooooooooooooooooo, 50,000 mile check up time, floss em while you got em!!!)
-I'm going to set the alarm early so I have more time in the morning ............No thank you, I would prefer to get up everyday and run like a gazelle through the house, trying to get the dogs fed, out, pilled, me showered, teeth brushed (can floss at night :)), and out the door with lunch in hand in time for my conference call.....
-I'm not eating BLANK ANYMORE! Or drinking BLANK ANYMORE? Yes, you are probably laughing at this one, because I'm sure you can relate.....sometimes, I find myself saying that as my spoon is dipping into the bowl :( and then when it is gone, I think, why in the heck did I eat that?!
-I'm not going to procrastinate.....heck I do that with my blog all the time, waiting for the perfect "inspirational" story to pop in my head....sorry, folks, you know that hasn't happened!!! But procrastination just leads to so much stress in our lives.....
-Here's a good one....I'm not going to "judge people" or gossip - Geez, despite your best efforts, this is tough.....so if I do either of them, I'm going to just try to talk with Buster and Charlotte about this (my dogs :)), because let's face it, we shouldn't judge ANYONE except yourself! And gossip is empty energy that is painful and goes nowhere!!!
-I'm going to declutter - Yikes this is painful to even say outloud...although I do continue to chip away at this....even if I get it to 1 room, then I can make myself take 15 minutes a day to work on 1 area.....
So, all of those things, that you find yourself telling yourself OVER and OVER and OVER, what are they!?!?! Come on, share them with the rest of us!? Getting it out there in print is step number 1, plus it reminds us of all the things that we all do and need to face and conquer!!!
So just for today, think of 3 things that you tell yourself over and over and over, for the last "only God knows how many years", and write them down, say them outloud and find a plan to face them head on....we just can't keep using our energy up on recurring issues :)
Enjoy this magnificent weekend...and remember YOU CAN DO THIS (you have to fill in the "THIS" part!)
Friday, October 8, 2010
You have IT...then you lost IT and try to get IT back!!!
Like ding dongs to a Hostess addict.......or dog hair to my ultra suede couch....some things just need each other......some things just stick together.....kind of like IT when you find IT.....
What is IT, you ask?
IT is that drive, commitment, unyielding and unwielding power of powers that you somehow mysteriously FIND and while it remains with you, you are invincible......
-You can fight off chips and ice cream with an easy NO WAY
-You can work through 5 workouts a week with no resistance from the "non exercising other personality in your person"
-You can stay dedicated and on the right track without someone watching your plate for you and asking "do you REALLY want that?"
-You can get on the scale each day, week or month knowing that the number is going down, down, down (without having to say a novena before you get on!)
-You can pass up those "stashes" of danger you have lurking in your house...in the freezer or in the diningroom hutch, without batting an eye..
-You live it, breathe it and LOVE it, WHY!? Because you feel so dang good!!!
BUT
Then as quickly and powerfully as it came, it disappears with a flash of an eye.....you barely remember what IT looked like, sounded like or felt like.....
-The sugar devils start hounding you and filling your thoughts with all kinds of dangerous sugar drugs.....you know what they are
-The exercise fairy is beaten up by the many couch potatoes that lure you to the tube with the remote in hand and put you in a "clicker frenzy" while you sit there instead of heading to the gym
-The waffle top comes back and wraps around your middle so as you sit and type you can feel it falling over onto the rim of your pants, what a lovely feeling that is.....
-You keep looking for IT over and over and can hardly remember what IT looked like, felt like or sounded like....
Do you know what I mean!?!?!
Well, there is 1 more stage to IT and that is.....
I found IT, I lost IT, I found IT, I lost IT, the kind of hide and seek IT mania, I call it.....
-You wake up in the morning, raring to go....only to be taken under by the kind looking, but sneaky pumpkin bread on the counter, calling your name
-You recover from the p bread and just say no to anything for the next few hours and head out for some running
-You try to run, you really do, but you find yourself about 1 tank short of oxygen, so you huff and puff as best you can, even though you really are thinking about the couch potatoes again, but you keep on moving....and feel good when the sweat starts dripping....
-You come home with good intentions as you dig out the fish and veggies for dinner
-You hear the ice cream calling and you justify it because you did some huffing and puffing and also had fish for dinner
-You plan a weekend full of exercise...
Ah yes, the found IT, lost IT syndrome.....you still know what IT is, you still see IT and you definitely don't want to lose IT....but yet there are those times IT slips away.....
So back in January, I started this LAT (Lose a Ton) challenge and managed to drop 30 pounds....
I don't want those pounds back, although I know a few have creeped back on.....I'm fighting it and don't want to lose and don't intend to! I just need to get IT totally back under control. Thank goodness I haven't lost IT totally. I just periodically lose IT and have to find my way back home.
So where do I go from here? It is all up to ME! I am the fool making the decisions, good or bad. I may be blaming this on my imaginary IT figure.....and what a powerful imaginary figure IT is - ha, but the reality is that IT is all in my own brain!!! Mind over matter....we have talked about this before....like when my brain had to tell my feet to keep moving....it was totally up to my brain, not my feet, but I had to realize that too. Just like I have to realize IT now....IT is in my own mind, and up to me to keep IT going!!!
So just for today and for this weekend, I am going to have a long talk with my old friend, IT. What have I got to lose, besides hopefully a few more pounds!!!
Hope you have IT under control!!! Enjoy your weekend!
What is IT, you ask?
IT is that drive, commitment, unyielding and unwielding power of powers that you somehow mysteriously FIND and while it remains with you, you are invincible......
-You can fight off chips and ice cream with an easy NO WAY
-You can work through 5 workouts a week with no resistance from the "non exercising other personality in your person"
-You can stay dedicated and on the right track without someone watching your plate for you and asking "do you REALLY want that?"
-You can get on the scale each day, week or month knowing that the number is going down, down, down (without having to say a novena before you get on!)
-You can pass up those "stashes" of danger you have lurking in your house...in the freezer or in the diningroom hutch, without batting an eye..
-You live it, breathe it and LOVE it, WHY!? Because you feel so dang good!!!
BUT
Then as quickly and powerfully as it came, it disappears with a flash of an eye.....you barely remember what IT looked like, sounded like or felt like.....
-The sugar devils start hounding you and filling your thoughts with all kinds of dangerous sugar drugs.....you know what they are
-The exercise fairy is beaten up by the many couch potatoes that lure you to the tube with the remote in hand and put you in a "clicker frenzy" while you sit there instead of heading to the gym
-The waffle top comes back and wraps around your middle so as you sit and type you can feel it falling over onto the rim of your pants, what a lovely feeling that is.....
-You keep looking for IT over and over and can hardly remember what IT looked like, felt like or sounded like....
Do you know what I mean!?!?!
Well, there is 1 more stage to IT and that is.....
I found IT, I lost IT, I found IT, I lost IT, the kind of hide and seek IT mania, I call it.....
-You wake up in the morning, raring to go....only to be taken under by the kind looking, but sneaky pumpkin bread on the counter, calling your name
-You recover from the p bread and just say no to anything for the next few hours and head out for some running
-You try to run, you really do, but you find yourself about 1 tank short of oxygen, so you huff and puff as best you can, even though you really are thinking about the couch potatoes again, but you keep on moving....and feel good when the sweat starts dripping....
-You come home with good intentions as you dig out the fish and veggies for dinner
-You hear the ice cream calling and you justify it because you did some huffing and puffing and also had fish for dinner
-You plan a weekend full of exercise...
Ah yes, the found IT, lost IT syndrome.....you still know what IT is, you still see IT and you definitely don't want to lose IT....but yet there are those times IT slips away.....
So back in January, I started this LAT (Lose a Ton) challenge and managed to drop 30 pounds....
I don't want those pounds back, although I know a few have creeped back on.....I'm fighting it and don't want to lose and don't intend to! I just need to get IT totally back under control. Thank goodness I haven't lost IT totally. I just periodically lose IT and have to find my way back home.
So where do I go from here? It is all up to ME! I am the fool making the decisions, good or bad. I may be blaming this on my imaginary IT figure.....and what a powerful imaginary figure IT is - ha, but the reality is that IT is all in my own brain!!! Mind over matter....we have talked about this before....like when my brain had to tell my feet to keep moving....it was totally up to my brain, not my feet, but I had to realize that too. Just like I have to realize IT now....IT is in my own mind, and up to me to keep IT going!!!
So just for today and for this weekend, I am going to have a long talk with my old friend, IT. What have I got to lose, besides hopefully a few more pounds!!!
Hope you have IT under control!!! Enjoy your weekend!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Let's Get Chemicaled.....(sung to the tune of "Let's get physical")...
"What does she have in her mouth"....watch it, she will choke on that......boil that plug, it just fell on the floor....don't let her play with that, she will put it in her mouth and swallow it"..... and on and on, go the sayings of watchful parents over their babies and toddlers....as part of parental caretaking 101, the primary task is to ensure that only "good & approved" things can go into their little children's mouths....
Then, we grow up....and that means, we have our own "mouth patrol and control"...that is, if we like it, if we want it, we eat it! We certainly know what is GOOD for us, don't we?!? Just in case we don't, we can read the fine print on the outside of the package.....because that is the truth, right??!?! Well, i'm afraid to tell you...............well, let's just start from scratch.....
The truth is...there are chemicals, toxins, carcinogens, volatile organic compounds (vocs), everywhere....let's just step back for a minute and go through our day and see what we put in our mouths and on our bodies that we THINK is GOOD for us?!?!
Let's back up a bit and start with a good nights rest - right?! Well....not so much.....
11pm - Time for bed - climb into that nice mattress full of polyurethane foam and particleboard containing formaldehyde (YEP YOU READ THAT RIGHT, YOU AREN"T DEAD YET, BUT ARE ALREADY GETTING SOME EMBALMING FLUID TO GET YOU READY!).....and if you have the bonus of "fire retardant" in your mattress, then you get some bonus chemicals such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) which accumulate in humans and may promote things such as breast cancer in woman and interfere with brain development in children. Some states have banned certain forms of PBDEs.....
Cold??? Next, cover yourself up with some nice sheets and if they aren't "organic", they are likely sprayed with 1.25 pounds of pesticides - YIKES! INTERESTING UNBELIEVABLE TIDBIT HERE - conventionally grown cotton uses 25 percent of the world's insecticides and 10 percent of all pesticides, which of course are carcinogens (i.e. cancer causing!) - PLUS BONUS, regular cotton sheets are also usually treated with formaldehyde (YEP MORE EMBALMING FLUID! So that is why they don't wrinkle~?~) which is also a carcinogen and can cause throat irritation and headaches among other things! So SWEET DREAMS...............go to sleep!!!
7A - Alarm clock rings - jump up and head to the shower......How about cutting your shower a little short...did you know that the average faucet runs through 3 gallons of water PER MINUTE!
So if you leave the water running, just while you are brushing your teeth for 2 minutes, 2 x day, that is 12 gallons a day, 4380 gallons per year. Beyond the whole "conserving water" piece, just think about all that water that literally had to be "treated" to just go back down the drain and the energy that took! 4380 gallons of water equates to 25 pounds of CO2 into the environment and that is just YOU brushing your TEETH! Turn off the water while you brush!!! You can only imagine how many gallons are going down the drain during our leisurely showers!!! How about shaving your legs before you shower, or turning off the shower, while you soap up!? I didn't say this was going to be easy....or fun.....
So on to your shower.....
get your shower gel or soap, shampoo, conditioner and lather up....oops wait a minute - more chemicals.....
Most body care products are produced in a lab and have harmful chemicals including 1) Phthalates (found in deodorants, baby wipes :(, baby powders :(, liquid soad, sunscreen, lotions, referenced only in the ingredient list as "other" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Scientists have shown they are probably carcinogens as well as "endocrine disruptors" which means"gender bender chemicals that make girls develop earlier and reduce testosterone levels in boys!!! Because of commercial "trade secrets", there is no need to list "phthalates" on the labels :( VERY SAD INDEED;
2) Next look for "parabens" which are chemicals found in most soaps and shampoos made commercially; whether they are shown as "methyl, prophy or butyl" they are endocrine disruptors;
3) Lastly, look for DEA, which is a wetting, thickening and foaming agent used in shampoos (including baby wash :(, liquid hand soaps, shaving products, deodorants....this group of chemicals interfered with normal brain development in baby mice when applied to the skin of pregnant mice based on a study at the UNC at Chapel hill - OMG!!!!!! Plus, bonus, DEA can react with other ingredients in a formula, whether on the store shelf or in your cabinet, to form extremely potent carcinogen called NITROSODIETHANOLAMINE (NDEA) which is readily absorbed through the skin and linked with stomach, esophagus, liver and bladder cancers!!!
Basically, try to avoid buying products with ingredients that end in the letters "eth", "oleth", "laureth", "ceteareth", PEG, "polyethylene" and "polyethylene glycol" or "polyoxyethylene" or "oxynol".......Even some of the "natural" and "organic" products have this stuff in them....Best idea is to use trusted info from organizations such as the Environment Working Group (EWG) online database of personal care items (http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/)...
Fragrance?? Buy things with the fewest ingredients listed, that are fragrance free or even make some of your own!!! Even toothpaste isn't free from these things!!!!
8a - Time to put on your makeup - yikes - what is in all this stuff we are putting right near our eyes and on our face!?!?! And what about your nails - do they need some polish!???
Avoid these 5 ingredients in makeup:
-formaldehyde
-parabens
-phthalates
-petroleum (adds moisture to skim, listed as "mineral oil" p"paraffin" or "propylene glycol" - besides petroleum being a "nonrenewable resource" i.e. limited quantity, this ingredient adds to "clogged pores" - just what we want - petroleum loaded up in our pores!
Buy things "unscented" when possible, as the word "fragrance", innocent as it appears, indicates there may be formaldehye, phthalates or parabens present! Man, lots of sneakiness going on!!!
-toluene
Lipsticks are the worst :( - and that is bad because over your lifetime you eat pounds of lipstick! Estimated 4 to 9 pounds per person! They are often petroleum based and contain formaldehyde in the form of preservatives....but there are good ones out there.....i.e. lavera.com (haven't tried it yet, but plan on it!) and also Burtsbees!
Eye makeup - watch out for the lead (usually listed as lead acetate) because it is a "neurotoxin"..
I actually read (and someone from Holland on my recent trip to Curacao confirmed this!) that some makeup/perfume companies actually put certain things in their products for AMERICA that are actually BANNED in Europe!!! So they make up 1 "batch" for America and the other "batch" for Europe! That was shocking and made me sick!
Next up - time to get dressed! Opt for "organic cotton" when possible! Why? As mentioned above, conventional cotton crops use the most pesticide-intensive farming process in the world! Consider this - 3 percent of the world's farmland is used to grow cotton but 24 percent of all the insecticides IN THE WORLD as well as 11 percent of all the pesticides are required (which then permeate the air, damage the soil and seep into our water supply - YUCK!!!!!!!)
This translates to every POUND of cotton (which is about what it takes to make 1 shirt) is sprayed with 1/3 of a POUND OF PESTICIDES!!!! Smell your shirt now!? And if you have gone to the cleaners, they have added even more chemicals to your shirt! Really amazing that the cotton doesn't just disintegrate, isn't it!?!? And that material is right next to your skin - makes your skin crawl a bit doesn't it!?!?
So each cute little cotton tee, has about 1/3 of a cup of chemicals, including cancer causing agents! If you would have just bought organic cotton, there are no pesticides or chemicals used!
Wool isn't much better! Linen actually is made from the flax plant and doesn't get near the chemicals as cotton. And workout gear?! Well, most workout gear is made from nylon and polyester which are manufactured from petrochemicals, the creation of which releases nitrous oxide into the environment :(....Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that is 310 (YES 310!!!) times stronger and worse than carbon dioxide!!!
Good news - you can actually find lots of workout apparel made from ecofriendly fabrics, such as bamboo - believe it or not!!! Check out bepresent.com or patagonia.com..
Once dressed, time for a nice cup of coffee (never actually touch the stuff, never have, but most of my friends and husband do!!! So here's the dirt on coffee.........
Sorry to add 1 more thing to stir the pot, but coffee is 1 of the most chemically treated food crops ON THE PLANET!!! It is sprayed with 1) pesticides 2)grown with chemical fertilizers, 3) herbicides 4) fungicides......all those "cides" can't be good! Most coffee is imported from countries that use chemicals that are BANNED IN THE US! Yikes, bottoms up peeps!
And then there is the whole thing about coffee used to be grown in the shade of tropical forests, which provided habitat for over 150 species of birds and wildlife....but now we want faster, cheaper, so forests are cleared and coffee grown in full sun...no problem, right? WRONG!! What's the problem? Negative impact on the environment, and wildlife, when the birds are removed, more pests come in which equals, you guessed it, more chemicals!!!
So what to do?! Look for "shade grown" coffee - it's on the package! They use significantly fewer chemicals.....better yet, choose organic! BTW, Starbucks buys "certified fair trade coffee"!
Okay, enough for 1 day.....but just pointing out that while our bodies are STRONG, come on, we need to give them a break from SOME of these chemicals........I'm not suggesting you throw out everything in your medicine and food pantry! That isn't green either - use up what you have! However, every little change you make, makes an impact!!!
And speaking of "green"....not only are plants pretty, they also help ELIMINATE TOXINS in your home, such as formaldehyde, toluene, xylene and others.....for example
1. gerber daises - reduce formaldehye levels
2. chrysanthemums - reduce benzene and trichloroethylene levels
3. orchids - reduce xylene and toluene levels
4. english ivy - reduces benzene levels
5. bamboo reduces formaldehyde levels
So just for today.....what's 1 little thing you can do to start making this world a bit greener and YOU a bit less CHEMICALLY INDUCED!?!? GO FOR THE GREEN!
Then, we grow up....and that means, we have our own "mouth patrol and control"...that is, if we like it, if we want it, we eat it! We certainly know what is GOOD for us, don't we?!? Just in case we don't, we can read the fine print on the outside of the package.....because that is the truth, right??!?! Well, i'm afraid to tell you...............well, let's just start from scratch.....
The truth is...there are chemicals, toxins, carcinogens, volatile organic compounds (vocs), everywhere....let's just step back for a minute and go through our day and see what we put in our mouths and on our bodies that we THINK is GOOD for us?!?!
Let's back up a bit and start with a good nights rest - right?! Well....not so much.....
11pm - Time for bed - climb into that nice mattress full of polyurethane foam and particleboard containing formaldehyde (YEP YOU READ THAT RIGHT, YOU AREN"T DEAD YET, BUT ARE ALREADY GETTING SOME EMBALMING FLUID TO GET YOU READY!).....and if you have the bonus of "fire retardant" in your mattress, then you get some bonus chemicals such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) which accumulate in humans and may promote things such as breast cancer in woman and interfere with brain development in children. Some states have banned certain forms of PBDEs.....
Cold??? Next, cover yourself up with some nice sheets and if they aren't "organic", they are likely sprayed with 1.25 pounds of pesticides - YIKES! INTERESTING UNBELIEVABLE TIDBIT HERE - conventionally grown cotton uses 25 percent of the world's insecticides and 10 percent of all pesticides, which of course are carcinogens (i.e. cancer causing!) - PLUS BONUS, regular cotton sheets are also usually treated with formaldehyde (YEP MORE EMBALMING FLUID! So that is why they don't wrinkle~?~) which is also a carcinogen and can cause throat irritation and headaches among other things! So SWEET DREAMS...............go to sleep!!!
7A - Alarm clock rings - jump up and head to the shower......How about cutting your shower a little short...did you know that the average faucet runs through 3 gallons of water PER MINUTE!
So if you leave the water running, just while you are brushing your teeth for 2 minutes, 2 x day, that is 12 gallons a day, 4380 gallons per year. Beyond the whole "conserving water" piece, just think about all that water that literally had to be "treated" to just go back down the drain and the energy that took! 4380 gallons of water equates to 25 pounds of CO2 into the environment and that is just YOU brushing your TEETH! Turn off the water while you brush!!! You can only imagine how many gallons are going down the drain during our leisurely showers!!! How about shaving your legs before you shower, or turning off the shower, while you soap up!? I didn't say this was going to be easy....or fun.....
So on to your shower.....
get your shower gel or soap, shampoo, conditioner and lather up....oops wait a minute - more chemicals.....
Most body care products are produced in a lab and have harmful chemicals including 1) Phthalates (found in deodorants, baby wipes :(, baby powders :(, liquid soad, sunscreen, lotions, referenced only in the ingredient list as "other" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Scientists have shown they are probably carcinogens as well as "endocrine disruptors" which means"gender bender chemicals that make girls develop earlier and reduce testosterone levels in boys!!! Because of commercial "trade secrets", there is no need to list "phthalates" on the labels :( VERY SAD INDEED;
2) Next look for "parabens" which are chemicals found in most soaps and shampoos made commercially; whether they are shown as "methyl, prophy or butyl" they are endocrine disruptors;
3) Lastly, look for DEA, which is a wetting, thickening and foaming agent used in shampoos (including baby wash :(, liquid hand soaps, shaving products, deodorants....this group of chemicals interfered with normal brain development in baby mice when applied to the skin of pregnant mice based on a study at the UNC at Chapel hill - OMG!!!!!! Plus, bonus, DEA can react with other ingredients in a formula, whether on the store shelf or in your cabinet, to form extremely potent carcinogen called NITROSODIETHANOLAMINE (NDEA) which is readily absorbed through the skin and linked with stomach, esophagus, liver and bladder cancers!!!
Basically, try to avoid buying products with ingredients that end in the letters "eth", "oleth", "laureth", "ceteareth", PEG, "polyethylene" and "polyethylene glycol" or "polyoxyethylene" or "oxynol".......Even some of the "natural" and "organic" products have this stuff in them....Best idea is to use trusted info from organizations such as the Environment Working Group (EWG) online database of personal care items (http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/)...
Fragrance?? Buy things with the fewest ingredients listed, that are fragrance free or even make some of your own!!! Even toothpaste isn't free from these things!!!!
8a - Time to put on your makeup - yikes - what is in all this stuff we are putting right near our eyes and on our face!?!?! And what about your nails - do they need some polish!???
Avoid these 5 ingredients in makeup:
-formaldehyde
-parabens
-phthalates
-petroleum (adds moisture to skim, listed as "mineral oil" p"paraffin" or "propylene glycol" - besides petroleum being a "nonrenewable resource" i.e. limited quantity, this ingredient adds to "clogged pores" - just what we want - petroleum loaded up in our pores!
Buy things "unscented" when possible, as the word "fragrance", innocent as it appears, indicates there may be formaldehye, phthalates or parabens present! Man, lots of sneakiness going on!!!
-toluene
Lipsticks are the worst :( - and that is bad because over your lifetime you eat pounds of lipstick! Estimated 4 to 9 pounds per person! They are often petroleum based and contain formaldehyde in the form of preservatives....but there are good ones out there.....i.e. lavera.com (haven't tried it yet, but plan on it!) and also Burtsbees!
Eye makeup - watch out for the lead (usually listed as lead acetate) because it is a "neurotoxin"..
I actually read (and someone from Holland on my recent trip to Curacao confirmed this!) that some makeup/perfume companies actually put certain things in their products for AMERICA that are actually BANNED in Europe!!! So they make up 1 "batch" for America and the other "batch" for Europe! That was shocking and made me sick!
Next up - time to get dressed! Opt for "organic cotton" when possible! Why? As mentioned above, conventional cotton crops use the most pesticide-intensive farming process in the world! Consider this - 3 percent of the world's farmland is used to grow cotton but 24 percent of all the insecticides IN THE WORLD as well as 11 percent of all the pesticides are required (which then permeate the air, damage the soil and seep into our water supply - YUCK!!!!!!!)
This translates to every POUND of cotton (which is about what it takes to make 1 shirt) is sprayed with 1/3 of a POUND OF PESTICIDES!!!! Smell your shirt now!? And if you have gone to the cleaners, they have added even more chemicals to your shirt! Really amazing that the cotton doesn't just disintegrate, isn't it!?!? And that material is right next to your skin - makes your skin crawl a bit doesn't it!?!?
So each cute little cotton tee, has about 1/3 of a cup of chemicals, including cancer causing agents! If you would have just bought organic cotton, there are no pesticides or chemicals used!
Wool isn't much better! Linen actually is made from the flax plant and doesn't get near the chemicals as cotton. And workout gear?! Well, most workout gear is made from nylon and polyester which are manufactured from petrochemicals, the creation of which releases nitrous oxide into the environment :(....Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that is 310 (YES 310!!!) times stronger and worse than carbon dioxide!!!
Good news - you can actually find lots of workout apparel made from ecofriendly fabrics, such as bamboo - believe it or not!!! Check out bepresent.com or patagonia.com..
Once dressed, time for a nice cup of coffee (never actually touch the stuff, never have, but most of my friends and husband do!!! So here's the dirt on coffee.........
Sorry to add 1 more thing to stir the pot, but coffee is 1 of the most chemically treated food crops ON THE PLANET!!! It is sprayed with 1) pesticides 2)grown with chemical fertilizers, 3) herbicides 4) fungicides......all those "cides" can't be good! Most coffee is imported from countries that use chemicals that are BANNED IN THE US! Yikes, bottoms up peeps!
And then there is the whole thing about coffee used to be grown in the shade of tropical forests, which provided habitat for over 150 species of birds and wildlife....but now we want faster, cheaper, so forests are cleared and coffee grown in full sun...no problem, right? WRONG!! What's the problem? Negative impact on the environment, and wildlife, when the birds are removed, more pests come in which equals, you guessed it, more chemicals!!!
So what to do?! Look for "shade grown" coffee - it's on the package! They use significantly fewer chemicals.....better yet, choose organic! BTW, Starbucks buys "certified fair trade coffee"!
Okay, enough for 1 day.....but just pointing out that while our bodies are STRONG, come on, we need to give them a break from SOME of these chemicals........I'm not suggesting you throw out everything in your medicine and food pantry! That isn't green either - use up what you have! However, every little change you make, makes an impact!!!
And speaking of "green"....not only are plants pretty, they also help ELIMINATE TOXINS in your home, such as formaldehyde, toluene, xylene and others.....for example
1. gerber daises - reduce formaldehye levels
2. chrysanthemums - reduce benzene and trichloroethylene levels
3. orchids - reduce xylene and toluene levels
4. english ivy - reduces benzene levels
5. bamboo reduces formaldehyde levels
So just for today.....what's 1 little thing you can do to start making this world a bit greener and YOU a bit less CHEMICALLY INDUCED!?!? GO FOR THE GREEN!
Friday, August 27, 2010
This little piggy went to the market......
Okay, how many times do you suppose you have read that nursery rhyme??? As a child, my sweet mom read it to me, as well as some of my siblings I'm sure...why not? I was the baby of the family so everyone likes to remind me that I was spoiled rotten.....
Then as a mom, I read it to my 2 sweet darlings....and now I have 2 precious granddaughters that I can read it to (okay, maybe via skype some of the time, but I guarantee you, I will be reading it to them!)
But I must say, I never really realized how SMART that piggy was? Why - you ask? Well, I have been going to the market (Ferguson Farmer's Market on Florissant road - AWESOME) on Saturday mornings every possible week I can and I am LOVING IT!
Why, you ask?! Well, besides the fact that it is just plain FUN, you can even pull your red wagon (there on loan for your shopping and to get your purchases out to your car!) and wheel it around to all the vendors and load up on all kinds of FRESH, UNSPRAYED food as well as cute little booths with jewelry and all kinds of stuff...Plus they always have some kind of fun entertainment going on...the 1st week we went they were shearing sheep! Yes, you read that right, that was pretty neat to see! Usually there are some fun musicians playing while you shop and you can even pull up a picnic bench and order an hot, fresh omlette! (Doug usually does this while I wheel around the wagon!) It is just a real "event" and one you shouldn't miss!
So you know I told you I have been reading up on some "green books"...and although I already knew "pesticides" were not good, the more I read, the more I realize that "not good" is seriously not strong enough! Why, you ask? Well, I'm glad to share.....
An interesting comment in 1 of the books talks about someone babysitting at the writer's house and telling her family how all of the food in the house is organic and "so weird"....well I can remember when the term "organic" kind of made me tilt my head and scrunch up my eyes and nose and wonder - hmmmmmmmmmmmm - what is that all about!? That has been many years ago, but now just wish I would have paid more attention a long time ago.....
Is it more expensive? Yes, sometimes it is, but if you go to the farmer's market, it is quite reasonable and that runs from May-Oct! Just remember to ASK and even if it doesn't say "organic" still ask if or what they "spray"...many small farms can't afford "organic certification" but they do not use the chemical pesticides on their crops.....and I have found that some of my "local farms" DO spray with pesticides - VERY DISAPPOINTING!
I think Chapter 1 in Supernatural Home summed it up perfectly....."imagine picking a fruit or vegetable from your garden, spraying it with bug spray , and then eating it! That's exactly what we do each day with store-bought non-organic produce even if we wash it."YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That should make all of us a bit queasy!
"Organic" means grown without pesticides, synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, fungicides or herbicides! OMG, you mean ALL that stuff can be on my "non organic" fruit and vegetables! That answer, I'm afraid is a big fat YES! Organic foods are minimally processed with no artificial ingredients, preservatives or irradiation. Unfortunately for us, chemicals in pesticides are ODORLESS, TASTELESS and INVISIBLE so the only way you know a food is grown without pesticides is to buy organic.... Sorry, but it gets a little worse...
For example, those red delicious NON ORGANIC strawberries (yes, I have bought them many times also.....) look and taste delicious BUT
-the red color is enhanced by a "fungicide" whatever the HECK that is!
-they are "infused" with methyl bromide, a gas injected by the tractor into the soil (OMG, that just sounds ILLEGAL!)
And that my friends, (fungicides and methyl bromide) do not wash off! How many times have you bought those strawberries, brought them home and ran them under the water before you started cutting and eating them!!! Me too :(
Then we have the fruits/veggies that FLY in from other countries (so besides the fact that in some countries ANYTHING goes in terms of pesticides), we have now wasted all that energy getting the dang fruits/veggies here! And the pesticides got a free ride into the USA too!
And PESTICIDES - REALLY!?! When I think about this, I'm embarrassed to think that it has taken me so long on this.....seriously, I'm OKAY with someone spraying CRAP on my food, this CRAP they are spraying is KILLING bugs, but I'm okay with that!? OMG, when you think about that it is quite unsettling....
When I had breast cancer in 1999/2000, I went to the LIvingston Clinic in San Diego to beef up my immune system between my surgery and before my radiation started (another scary decision I made!) There among other things, the diet was very clean and we were told to try to buy organic whenever possible, but if not possible, take all of your fruits and vegetables and put them in a sink full of water (now suggesting filtered water - if you don't have a BRITA pitcher, get one, it is better than nothing and affordable!) adding 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar (I buy Braggs organic - not expensive) - let the fruit/veggies sit for 5 minutes or so, then rinse with cold water. Obviously for some fruits (i.e. strawberries ) don't do this until you are ready to eat them. But for others, you can do it as soon as you get them home and just let them dry well before putting them in the fridge. You will be surprised how apples become "not so shiny" once they are in the vinegar water and rinsed off. But that is a good thing - as apples can have up to 50 (YES 50) kinds of pesticides sprayed on them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I could go on and on....I know organic can be more expensive, so another good thing to consider is to buy local....save the energy of shipping our food all across the country! But eat organic and local when possible -
The books I have been reading list the 12 fruits and veggies that you should buy organic. The list is based on studies by the Consumers Union and Environmental Working Group who have done analysis on the amounts and level of toxicity of the pesticide residues found in conventionally grown food samples by the USDA and the FDA....The reality is that in a "single dose", the "safety limits" (I.e. how much pesticide can you eat BEFORE your belly hurts?!?!?! or who knows what else happens!!) weren't "exceeded" however, most contain MULTIPLE PESTICIDE RESIDUES!!! i.e. 30 different pesticides on strawberries, 50 on apples...need I go on?
So the 12 fruits/veggies to definitely buy organic are:
-peaches
-grapes
-sweet bell peppers
-apples
-strawberries
-potatoes
-pears
-raspberries
-tomatoes
-green beans
-spinach
-cantalope
Wow, do you know HOW many many spinach salads with strawberries and raspberries I eat!!! YIKES! And we think we are eating so healthy and we are if we are CLEANING it well or buying organic. Trader Joes is another great place to buy things like organic spinach - very affordable there.
I'm sure you want to know the 10 "nonorganic" fruits/veggies with the fewest traces of pesticides too:
-onions
-frozen peas
-frozen corn
-asparagus
-cabbage
-avocados
-mangoes
-kiwis
-bananas
-pineapples
Another suggestion for cleaning the "conventional" fruit/veggies is something called "veggie wash" but it can be a bit pricey. And don't forget - you still need to wash the organic stuff too!
For those "eye rollers" out there, a few more interesting "organic facts to leave you with....
-If the entire planet did "organic farming", it would equate to taking 1.5 BILLION cars off the road!
-You can increase your antioxidant intake by 30 PERCENT by choosing organic - WOW!!!!!!!!
(Remember the antioxidants power off the "free radicals" that try to mess with your cells and when cells are compromised, things like cancer, disease, set in....Ok, I'm not a scientist, or biologist or doctor, but that is "my version"...you can get a medical book for the fancy version!)
and drumroll....LAST interesting fact...THIS ONE REALLY BOTHERS ME AND I HOPE IT BOTHERS YOU TOO!
-The average child in America is exposed to 5 pesticides DAILY in food and drinking water!!!
FEED YOUR BABIES REAL FOOD, not all this FAKE stuff in boxes and in dairy/frozen cases that are giving us "false hope" on what it really is!!! Read the ingredients...if it has more than 5 and if you can't pronounce them, do you REALLY want your children eating them! i.e. Goldfish are cute, but come on, what exactly are we expecting out of them!?
Lastly, I'm not suggesting that you forego all the good CRAP that we are all addicted to and have come to know and love, what I am suggesting is that you LOOK at what you are eating, make a conscious effort to eat some REAL food and CLEAN it somehow before you eat it! We can't or shouldn't change everything at once, but we can make those little changes along the way that will help not only our health, but also the health of our poor little planet! So come on peeps, head to the Market and have fun!
Until next time, what are your plans for your next meal!?!?
Then as a mom, I read it to my 2 sweet darlings....and now I have 2 precious granddaughters that I can read it to (okay, maybe via skype some of the time, but I guarantee you, I will be reading it to them!)
But I must say, I never really realized how SMART that piggy was? Why - you ask? Well, I have been going to the market (Ferguson Farmer's Market on Florissant road - AWESOME) on Saturday mornings every possible week I can and I am LOVING IT!
Why, you ask?! Well, besides the fact that it is just plain FUN, you can even pull your red wagon (there on loan for your shopping and to get your purchases out to your car!) and wheel it around to all the vendors and load up on all kinds of FRESH, UNSPRAYED food as well as cute little booths with jewelry and all kinds of stuff...Plus they always have some kind of fun entertainment going on...the 1st week we went they were shearing sheep! Yes, you read that right, that was pretty neat to see! Usually there are some fun musicians playing while you shop and you can even pull up a picnic bench and order an hot, fresh omlette! (Doug usually does this while I wheel around the wagon!) It is just a real "event" and one you shouldn't miss!
So you know I told you I have been reading up on some "green books"...and although I already knew "pesticides" were not good, the more I read, the more I realize that "not good" is seriously not strong enough! Why, you ask? Well, I'm glad to share.....
An interesting comment in 1 of the books talks about someone babysitting at the writer's house and telling her family how all of the food in the house is organic and "so weird"....well I can remember when the term "organic" kind of made me tilt my head and scrunch up my eyes and nose and wonder - hmmmmmmmmmmmm - what is that all about!? That has been many years ago, but now just wish I would have paid more attention a long time ago.....
Is it more expensive? Yes, sometimes it is, but if you go to the farmer's market, it is quite reasonable and that runs from May-Oct! Just remember to ASK and even if it doesn't say "organic" still ask if or what they "spray"...many small farms can't afford "organic certification" but they do not use the chemical pesticides on their crops.....and I have found that some of my "local farms" DO spray with pesticides - VERY DISAPPOINTING!
I think Chapter 1 in Supernatural Home summed it up perfectly....."imagine picking a fruit or vegetable from your garden, spraying it with bug spray , and then eating it! That's exactly what we do each day with store-bought non-organic produce even if we wash it."YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That should make all of us a bit queasy!
"Organic" means grown without pesticides, synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, fungicides or herbicides! OMG, you mean ALL that stuff can be on my "non organic" fruit and vegetables! That answer, I'm afraid is a big fat YES! Organic foods are minimally processed with no artificial ingredients, preservatives or irradiation. Unfortunately for us, chemicals in pesticides are ODORLESS, TASTELESS and INVISIBLE so the only way you know a food is grown without pesticides is to buy organic.... Sorry, but it gets a little worse...
For example, those red delicious NON ORGANIC strawberries (yes, I have bought them many times also.....) look and taste delicious BUT
-the red color is enhanced by a "fungicide" whatever the HECK that is!
-they are "infused" with methyl bromide, a gas injected by the tractor into the soil (OMG, that just sounds ILLEGAL!)
And that my friends, (fungicides and methyl bromide) do not wash off! How many times have you bought those strawberries, brought them home and ran them under the water before you started cutting and eating them!!! Me too :(
Then we have the fruits/veggies that FLY in from other countries (so besides the fact that in some countries ANYTHING goes in terms of pesticides), we have now wasted all that energy getting the dang fruits/veggies here! And the pesticides got a free ride into the USA too!
And PESTICIDES - REALLY!?! When I think about this, I'm embarrassed to think that it has taken me so long on this.....seriously, I'm OKAY with someone spraying CRAP on my food, this CRAP they are spraying is KILLING bugs, but I'm okay with that!? OMG, when you think about that it is quite unsettling....
When I had breast cancer in 1999/2000, I went to the LIvingston Clinic in San Diego to beef up my immune system between my surgery and before my radiation started (another scary decision I made!) There among other things, the diet was very clean and we were told to try to buy organic whenever possible, but if not possible, take all of your fruits and vegetables and put them in a sink full of water (now suggesting filtered water - if you don't have a BRITA pitcher, get one, it is better than nothing and affordable!) adding 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar (I buy Braggs organic - not expensive) - let the fruit/veggies sit for 5 minutes or so, then rinse with cold water. Obviously for some fruits (i.e. strawberries ) don't do this until you are ready to eat them. But for others, you can do it as soon as you get them home and just let them dry well before putting them in the fridge. You will be surprised how apples become "not so shiny" once they are in the vinegar water and rinsed off. But that is a good thing - as apples can have up to 50 (YES 50) kinds of pesticides sprayed on them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I could go on and on....I know organic can be more expensive, so another good thing to consider is to buy local....save the energy of shipping our food all across the country! But eat organic and local when possible -
The books I have been reading list the 12 fruits and veggies that you should buy organic. The list is based on studies by the Consumers Union and Environmental Working Group who have done analysis on the amounts and level of toxicity of the pesticide residues found in conventionally grown food samples by the USDA and the FDA....The reality is that in a "single dose", the "safety limits" (I.e. how much pesticide can you eat BEFORE your belly hurts?!?!?! or who knows what else happens!!) weren't "exceeded" however, most contain MULTIPLE PESTICIDE RESIDUES!!! i.e. 30 different pesticides on strawberries, 50 on apples...need I go on?
So the 12 fruits/veggies to definitely buy organic are:
-peaches
-grapes
-sweet bell peppers
-apples
-strawberries
-potatoes
-pears
-raspberries
-tomatoes
-green beans
-spinach
-cantalope
Wow, do you know HOW many many spinach salads with strawberries and raspberries I eat!!! YIKES! And we think we are eating so healthy and we are if we are CLEANING it well or buying organic. Trader Joes is another great place to buy things like organic spinach - very affordable there.
I'm sure you want to know the 10 "nonorganic" fruits/veggies with the fewest traces of pesticides too:
-onions
-frozen peas
-frozen corn
-asparagus
-cabbage
-avocados
-mangoes
-kiwis
-bananas
-pineapples
Another suggestion for cleaning the "conventional" fruit/veggies is something called "veggie wash" but it can be a bit pricey. And don't forget - you still need to wash the organic stuff too!
For those "eye rollers" out there, a few more interesting "organic facts to leave you with....
-If the entire planet did "organic farming", it would equate to taking 1.5 BILLION cars off the road!
-You can increase your antioxidant intake by 30 PERCENT by choosing organic - WOW!!!!!!!!
(Remember the antioxidants power off the "free radicals" that try to mess with your cells and when cells are compromised, things like cancer, disease, set in....Ok, I'm not a scientist, or biologist or doctor, but that is "my version"...you can get a medical book for the fancy version!)
and drumroll....LAST interesting fact...THIS ONE REALLY BOTHERS ME AND I HOPE IT BOTHERS YOU TOO!
-The average child in America is exposed to 5 pesticides DAILY in food and drinking water!!!
FEED YOUR BABIES REAL FOOD, not all this FAKE stuff in boxes and in dairy/frozen cases that are giving us "false hope" on what it really is!!! Read the ingredients...if it has more than 5 and if you can't pronounce them, do you REALLY want your children eating them! i.e. Goldfish are cute, but come on, what exactly are we expecting out of them!?
Lastly, I'm not suggesting that you forego all the good CRAP that we are all addicted to and have come to know and love, what I am suggesting is that you LOOK at what you are eating, make a conscious effort to eat some REAL food and CLEAN it somehow before you eat it! We can't or shouldn't change everything at once, but we can make those little changes along the way that will help not only our health, but also the health of our poor little planet! So come on peeps, head to the Market and have fun!
Until next time, what are your plans for your next meal!?!?
Friday, August 20, 2010
Kermit says, "It's not easy being green".....do you agree?
Ok, folks - in my last blog, I mentioned I was back and excited to share some things with you.....well it all started a LONG time ago, when I first learned about recycling and quickly realized this was something I believed in and was in for the long haul "for my grandkids" is what I believe I thought at the time, since I felt like surely we had plenty of what we needed for "now".... but like everyone else, sometimes I got a little lazy.....then the "bottled water" craze hit (SERIOUSLY - WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THAT!?) and while we all thought we needed our own "plastic bottle full of water", little did we realize that we are just polluting this world even more...and fast forward a bit, here I am....
My oldest daughter Emily was visiting from Abu Dhabi this summer and happened to pick up a book called "SUPERNATURAL HOME" at the library....well it happened to be 1 of those books that you are so in awe of, that you READ ALOUD TO EVERYONE IN THE ROOM whether they want to hear or not....while some were not so excited by the time she read the 15th excerpt out of the book, I was FASCINATED! So excited that when she left, I rechecked the book out of the library along with 2 others....Turns out the author of SUPERNATURAL HOME had quite an amazing health revelation and actually spent some time at the Optimum Health Institute in San Diego - a place that my sister just happens to treat herself to for her birthday every year to unwind, recharge and just get healthier; anyway, the author of this book had amazing results at this health clinic......as she said "I discovered that the body is a self- healing organism if we just get out of its way and don't gunk it up with bad food and stress"...boy, she has that right!
So what is green about that?! Well it isn't just what you put in your PIE HOLE that you have to worry about! Global warming, remember that catch phrase, well it is real and all around us, and everything we do impacts it.....these are all the little things I can't wait to share. I don't think I realize the impact that I, singly, have on this big planet of ours, or that I, singly, can really make a difference in so many daily decisions that I make, the way I think, eat, breathe, drive, buy, etc.
Kermit the frog, sings, "it's not easy being green". He wasn't talking about our environment, but I am. There are a million ways you can be "green". And even if you aren't ready to go all the way, you can at least start to make a BIG difference today.....how?? That is what I can't wait to tell you, but of course I can't tell you everyone in 1 blog, I'll have to space them out a bit...but just to wet your appetite - just think about a few of these things for starters...
Let's just start with bottled water....
-8 out of 10 plastic water bottles used in the US end up in the dump! We consume so many bottles of water that we use about 1.5 tons of plastic in AMERICA;
-Studies show that even though we started drinking this water because we thought it was better, safer, etc, often the tests on bottled water show significant chemical or bacterial contamination! WHAT AND I"M PAYING FOR THAT?!?!?!
-Or that it isn't any different than your TAP water! If the bottle says "form a municipal source" or "from a community water system" it is coming from the tap!
-The bottle of water sitting on a shelf in the store is likely to now contain a chemical called antimony, a potential carcinogen that leaches from the plastic! PLASTIC is a whole other subject and scary one at that....don't worry, I'll cover that later....
-BPA (bisphenol-A) is often found in plastic and is a chemical that acts like estrogen when it enters the body and can get into the body by leaching out of hard plastic bottles as they age, or are heated (in microwaves or diswashers) - what about those long truck rides those cases of bottled water makes or how long they sit in the hot warehouses!? And estrogen?!?! HELLOOOOOOOOO - I had "estrogen receptor positive cancer" - don't need anything that looks or acts like estrogen, but believe me, there are many things we use everyday that come into our body that act like estrogen...more on that later too!
-Research from our MIZZOU professor, Frederick vom Saal, who taught Biology there, and happens to be a leading BPA research scientist, said that in lab studies with animals, BPA changed their behavior, decreased sperm count, stimulated prostate cancer and caused symptoms of attention defict hyperactivity disorder! YIKES! No bottled water for me please!
And I haven't even covered the greenhouse gas effect of all the fossil fuel to get this bottled water to the stores all over the country!
OKAY, HAVE YOU PUT THE DANG WATER BOTTLE DOWN YET?! Come on, how about this - instead of buying your next case of bottled water, go out and get a stainless steel water bottle that you can not only use over and over, it will keep your drink HOT or COLD and you can avoid all the nastiness outlined above! And Kermit will be sooooooooo happy that you are green!
-Remember this whole blog is about taking care of ourselves AND our planet and that all starts with little old GREEN YOU!
-Don't worry - i have lots more to share.....just be happy you aren't here with me, listening to me as I read these things outloud and just shake my head....
Until tomorrow, fill up your water bottle and just say NO to those plastic bottles!
My oldest daughter Emily was visiting from Abu Dhabi this summer and happened to pick up a book called "SUPERNATURAL HOME" at the library....well it happened to be 1 of those books that you are so in awe of, that you READ ALOUD TO EVERYONE IN THE ROOM whether they want to hear or not....while some were not so excited by the time she read the 15th excerpt out of the book, I was FASCINATED! So excited that when she left, I rechecked the book out of the library along with 2 others....Turns out the author of SUPERNATURAL HOME had quite an amazing health revelation and actually spent some time at the Optimum Health Institute in San Diego - a place that my sister just happens to treat herself to for her birthday every year to unwind, recharge and just get healthier; anyway, the author of this book had amazing results at this health clinic......as she said "I discovered that the body is a self- healing organism if we just get out of its way and don't gunk it up with bad food and stress"...boy, she has that right!
So what is green about that?! Well it isn't just what you put in your PIE HOLE that you have to worry about! Global warming, remember that catch phrase, well it is real and all around us, and everything we do impacts it.....these are all the little things I can't wait to share. I don't think I realize the impact that I, singly, have on this big planet of ours, or that I, singly, can really make a difference in so many daily decisions that I make, the way I think, eat, breathe, drive, buy, etc.
Kermit the frog, sings, "it's not easy being green". He wasn't talking about our environment, but I am. There are a million ways you can be "green". And even if you aren't ready to go all the way, you can at least start to make a BIG difference today.....how?? That is what I can't wait to tell you, but of course I can't tell you everyone in 1 blog, I'll have to space them out a bit...but just to wet your appetite - just think about a few of these things for starters...
Let's just start with bottled water....
-8 out of 10 plastic water bottles used in the US end up in the dump! We consume so many bottles of water that we use about 1.5 tons of plastic in AMERICA;
-Studies show that even though we started drinking this water because we thought it was better, safer, etc, often the tests on bottled water show significant chemical or bacterial contamination! WHAT AND I"M PAYING FOR THAT?!?!?!
-Or that it isn't any different than your TAP water! If the bottle says "form a municipal source" or "from a community water system" it is coming from the tap!
-The bottle of water sitting on a shelf in the store is likely to now contain a chemical called antimony, a potential carcinogen that leaches from the plastic! PLASTIC is a whole other subject and scary one at that....don't worry, I'll cover that later....
-BPA (bisphenol-A) is often found in plastic and is a chemical that acts like estrogen when it enters the body and can get into the body by leaching out of hard plastic bottles as they age, or are heated (in microwaves or diswashers) - what about those long truck rides those cases of bottled water makes or how long they sit in the hot warehouses!? And estrogen?!?! HELLOOOOOOOOO - I had "estrogen receptor positive cancer" - don't need anything that looks or acts like estrogen, but believe me, there are many things we use everyday that come into our body that act like estrogen...more on that later too!
-Research from our MIZZOU professor, Frederick vom Saal, who taught Biology there, and happens to be a leading BPA research scientist, said that in lab studies with animals, BPA changed their behavior, decreased sperm count, stimulated prostate cancer and caused symptoms of attention defict hyperactivity disorder! YIKES! No bottled water for me please!
And I haven't even covered the greenhouse gas effect of all the fossil fuel to get this bottled water to the stores all over the country!
OKAY, HAVE YOU PUT THE DANG WATER BOTTLE DOWN YET?! Come on, how about this - instead of buying your next case of bottled water, go out and get a stainless steel water bottle that you can not only use over and over, it will keep your drink HOT or COLD and you can avoid all the nastiness outlined above! And Kermit will be sooooooooo happy that you are green!
-Remember this whole blog is about taking care of ourselves AND our planet and that all starts with little old GREEN YOU!
-Don't worry - i have lots more to share.....just be happy you aren't here with me, listening to me as I read these things outloud and just shake my head....
Until tomorrow, fill up your water bottle and just say NO to those plastic bottles!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
I'm back! Did anyone miss me?!
Ok, so I have been a bit "in and out" the last few months....but I am BACK! Why?! For a few reasons...
-I miss blogging - I never ever realized how much I love doing this! This blogging is therapy not to mention loads of fun!
-I have so much that I want to share, I have been learning so much lately about so many things...(have I peaked your interest yet???) ....but the reality is when I'm blogging, no one really has to listen to me or read it...heck I'll never know, unless you mention you read it! So, I get to say it and I don't have to worry about whether or not anyone is really out there! (But seriously, I hope someone is reading this....at least a little bit :))
-We have goals to get to....come on, we are not QUITE where we want to be, are we?! Whatever your goals and my goals are, we need to keep pushing towards them - that takes a lot of time, energy and SUPPORT! Helllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooooooo....just consider this the 1-800- support line...
So what's new with me?
The good news is that I'm holding my own....I did notice I have picked up about 3 pounds from my goal weight, so I'm getting those back off, before all of their "friends and neighbors" try to hop back on as well...........been there, done that, DON'T WANT THEM BACK! So I have been refocusing on workouts and diet,.....never really lost my focus, just lost a bit of the TIME I had devoted previously. Working out 5 or 6 days a week is just about impossible, from a time standpoint, but trying to make the most out of the workout time I do carve out....
I think that I need to get back to my "trotting" a/k/a jogging.....I have been away from it for a bit - mostly due to excessive heat as I don't find the treadmill particularly appealing and have been caught up in all the fun classes (Body Pump - LOVE IT, Drills that make you sweat - LOVE IT thanks to my coworker Melinda, who kicks my butt every week at that class!) and those are just a few of the great classes at Club Fitness! But I'm going to try to get up early tomorrow and if the heat isn't totally oppressive as it is right now, I'm going to try a little trotting and get back into it...I think the running, jogging or whatever you want to call it, really helped me kickstart my metabolism more than anything else has done in the last 15 years! Believe me, I haven't ever felt the "runner's high" that I read about or heard about...ha, I'm far from that! But I will tell you that when you are done, and you are sweating, you feel good!
I reached out to my fellow LOSE A TON (LAT) ladies last week in hopes of getting us all back together......some are right on track and others are struggling.....so really want to see if we can get together periodically and work out.......it really is about SUPPORT and MIND SET.....you really need both, SUPPORT for those tough days and MIND SET to get yourself started....
So, I'm BACK.......My MIND SET is ready to go......I have my SUPPORT system fired up....
What about YOU!? Are you where you want to be? Do you need a little kick start? Are you ready to get back INTO IT!? After all, the holidays are coming up next - do we really want to go INTO the holidays with the extra weight or should we do something NOW to get rid of it and be ready for that tempting time of year, with a healthier, happier mind set and body!!?!?!
Hope you are BACK too!!! I've some some amazing things to share......
Until next time, find your MIND SET and get ready to roll...
-I miss blogging - I never ever realized how much I love doing this! This blogging is therapy not to mention loads of fun!
-I have so much that I want to share, I have been learning so much lately about so many things...(have I peaked your interest yet???) ....but the reality is when I'm blogging, no one really has to listen to me or read it...heck I'll never know, unless you mention you read it! So, I get to say it and I don't have to worry about whether or not anyone is really out there! (But seriously, I hope someone is reading this....at least a little bit :))
-We have goals to get to....come on, we are not QUITE where we want to be, are we?! Whatever your goals and my goals are, we need to keep pushing towards them - that takes a lot of time, energy and SUPPORT! Helllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooooooo....just consider this the 1-800- support line...
So what's new with me?
The good news is that I'm holding my own....I did notice I have picked up about 3 pounds from my goal weight, so I'm getting those back off, before all of their "friends and neighbors" try to hop back on as well...........been there, done that, DON'T WANT THEM BACK! So I have been refocusing on workouts and diet,.....never really lost my focus, just lost a bit of the TIME I had devoted previously. Working out 5 or 6 days a week is just about impossible, from a time standpoint, but trying to make the most out of the workout time I do carve out....
I think that I need to get back to my "trotting" a/k/a jogging.....I have been away from it for a bit - mostly due to excessive heat as I don't find the treadmill particularly appealing and have been caught up in all the fun classes (Body Pump - LOVE IT, Drills that make you sweat - LOVE IT thanks to my coworker Melinda, who kicks my butt every week at that class!) and those are just a few of the great classes at Club Fitness! But I'm going to try to get up early tomorrow and if the heat isn't totally oppressive as it is right now, I'm going to try a little trotting and get back into it...I think the running, jogging or whatever you want to call it, really helped me kickstart my metabolism more than anything else has done in the last 15 years! Believe me, I haven't ever felt the "runner's high" that I read about or heard about...ha, I'm far from that! But I will tell you that when you are done, and you are sweating, you feel good!
I reached out to my fellow LOSE A TON (LAT) ladies last week in hopes of getting us all back together......some are right on track and others are struggling.....so really want to see if we can get together periodically and work out.......it really is about SUPPORT and MIND SET.....you really need both, SUPPORT for those tough days and MIND SET to get yourself started....
So, I'm BACK.......My MIND SET is ready to go......I have my SUPPORT system fired up....
What about YOU!? Are you where you want to be? Do you need a little kick start? Are you ready to get back INTO IT!? After all, the holidays are coming up next - do we really want to go INTO the holidays with the extra weight or should we do something NOW to get rid of it and be ready for that tempting time of year, with a healthier, happier mind set and body!!?!?!
Hope you are BACK too!!! I've some some amazing things to share......
Until next time, find your MIND SET and get ready to roll...
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