Now, onto the real topic of this blog....food and nutrition. I'm no expert (obviously) but I have spent the last few years really researching and learning about food and nutrition. I am passionate about the local food movement and consuming foods with little to no pesticides, hormones or antibiotics. I am that girl that, during long road trips, listens to podcasts on fitness and American agriculture and farming instead of rocking out to tunes on my ipod. Yes, I'll take a moment now while you all go to Facebook and de-friend me for being such a nerd. Waiting...waiting.....ok done? Let's move on, shall we?
If you've visited the CrossFit Grand Rapids (CFGR) Facebook page, you'll see me post comments and links about local/organic food and why I think it's so important. If you haven't looked at our Facebook page, why not? Get your ass on there and do it - and come work out with us. CrossFit will change your life. But that's yet another post for another day. Today, I really want to stress why I care so much about the local and slow food movements. Our food today is produced so much differently than it was thirty or forty years ago. Our livestock is fed corn instead of grass, our supermarkets are filled with cheap food that is filled with high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives, additives, dyes and trans fats, our crops are so heavily sprayed that our soil is void of nutrients and what we fail to acknowledge is that this all goes INTO OUR BODIES. Is that extra dollar you save on conventional v. organic apples really worth it in the long run?
I lost my mother at the age of 19 to cancer. Diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 46, she went into remission for a short time before it came back and spread into her bones. Why did she get it? She had no family history and no indicators that showed she was susceptible until it was too late. I lost one of my best friends a few years ago to cancer that rapidly consumed his body in less than a year. He was 29 years old and one of the healthiest, most active people I knew. Why is this happening? I can't help but think there's a connection to the chemicals we consume through our food to this rapid increase of illness in what should otherwise be healthy Americans.
We spend so much time focusing on which "diet" we should follow - low-carb, high protein, paleo, primal, vegetarian, vegan. I say this - whatever you eat, make sure it's real. Make sure it's whole. Focus on organic. Focus on local. The closer you are to your food source, the less preservatives are needed to get it from the ground to your plate. Think about buying tomatoes in the summer from one of our many farmers instead of buying tomatoes from the grocery store in the dead of winter that have to be shipped from California. It's such a simple concept.
Here in Grand Rapids we have so many avenues for someone to get connected with healthy, whole local foods. The West Michigan Cooperative costs $35/year (with the first two months free). Each month members can order meat, produce, whole meals, cheeses, breads, dairy, household cleaners/products, grains, flours, etc. from local farms and producers. Though many of our farms haven't paid for the organic certification, most all of them humanely raise their animals without use of growth hormones, antibiotics, or feed. They allow them to roam free and feed off the grass like animals should. Does this chicken cost more than the $14 bags at Meijer? Yup. Is it worth every single dollar? Abso-fucking-lutely.
Fulton Street Farmers Market was rated the #1 farmers market in the midwest by HGTV. Seriously, check it out here. From May-December the market is packed with producers who sell everything from beef to lamb, honey to apples, duck eggs to baked goods. With one trip a week, you can get most everything you need for your family to have healthy whole meals and snacks. Yes, some of the producers spray their crops and while I try to buy strictly from organic or no-spray producers, not everyone has to. Remember, the closer the food is to the plate, the less spray is necessary to preserve it in transport. The best part? Our farmers are informative and ready to help. You can ask them anything and they'll tell you - whether they spray, how much, what kind, etc. Information is power.
During the winter months, I have started using a service called Doorganics. For less than $30 a delivery, they deliver a bin of organic produce to your doorstep. I chose the small bin and had bi-weekly deliveries and generally had enough in my bin to last me between deliveries (with the additional purchase of a few staples).
The point? We are lucky enough to have amazing food right in our neighborhoods and it takes us minimal effort to get it in our refrigerators and in our pantries. When you support local farmers, you support your community AND you fuel your body with the absolute best nutrients available. Food is not supposed to be cheap. Think about how much we pay for health insurance every year. Think about our deductibles, hospital bills and prescriptions costs. It makes the few extra bucks for organic, non-GMO food look a little more reasonable, doesn't it? Especially if it saves you from a future of doctor visits and drug consumption to keep your body operating in a way that it is naturally made to operate. And in case you still aren't ready to buy into my argument for going 100% organic (pesticide-free), here's a few tips on specific foods that I've picked up over the years.
Soy - Soy is one of our most heavily sprayed crops. If you're going to eat soy (soy milk, tofu, etc) it should be organic. Soy is also an estrogen rich food which is why I avoid it. With a history of breast cancer in my family, I don't want additional estrogen in my diet or my body. If that's not an issue for you so be it but at least think about where you buy your soy.
Dairy - Our cows (and most livestock) are raised in the most disgusting ways that I don't even want to get into it. There's enough information out there in books, articles, and movies for you to find out for yourself. Let's just say it ain't good. I stress this heavily - ALL DAIRY SHOULD BE ORGANIC. If you're not gonna go organic, you shouldn't be consuming dairy. I'm not fucking around here.
Almonds - Almonds are another super heavily sprayed crop. Almonds are amazingly good for you (think raw, non-salted and/or dry roasted) and almond milk is one of my favorite alternatives to dairy milk. But go organic people. Harvest Health carries mostly organic food products, almond milk being one of them. I don't know about you, but I can never find organic almond milk in conventional grocery stores so take a trip to HH and get some. Or try coconut milk (not the fatty canned stuff). So Delicious is great (try the vanilla and sugar free vanilla...YUM) and the great thing about coconut milk is that it's naturally organic because coconuts are not a sprayed crop. Yay!
Dirty Dozen - Everyone knows (and dreads) the Filthy Fifty. Thanks to Sam, we just did it a few weeks ago. Now think about this in terms of food. The Dirty Dozen is a list of the twelve foods that, when conventionally grown, were found to have the highest traces of toxins than any other produce. Chemical cocktail, anyone?? Always go organic with these.
A final shopping FYI - when you're purchasing produce at a store, check out the stickers on it. If the code has 4 numbers, it means it was conventionally grown. If it has five numbers and starts with an 8, it means it is genetically modified (GMO = BAD). If it has 5 numbers and starts with a 9 it's organic! Check it out next time you're shopping.
Look, I'm not saying I eat perfectly. Far from it actually. This is definitely one of those cases of do as I say and not as I do. Well, I take that back. It's not that extreme but frankly, I believe that if you're eating shitty food even once or twice a month, that's once or twice too much. So in that aspect, yeah..I need to do better. When "chicken" nuggets cost $1, burgers $2 and pizza $5, something is wrong. Food should not be that cheap and if it is...it's NOT FOOD. Stop eating that shit. Stop it! Right now! Think about the benefits that will come along with it. They say refined sugar, starches, and bad fats are addicting but that it's an addiction that you can break. With some time and withdrawal symptoms, your body will no longer crave that shit show you usually put on your plate and start wanting yummy things like fruit and veggies and other natural sugars. Really...I'm not kidding. Google it if you don't believe me.
So to end today's rant, I challenge everyone to spend one week eating whole local foods (no processed foods at all) and then let me know how it went. I promise you'll feel great about it.
To finish up, today's WOD was as follows:
5 HSPU
30 Back squats (75 lb)
10 HSPU
20 Back Squats
15 HSPU
10 Back Squats
20 HSPU
5 Back Squats
It took me 12:47 to complete using the prescribed weight and a bball for the HSPU. My wrists are a little sore but nothing too terrible. Tomorrow we're taking a gym trip to the gymnastics center for a super sweet gymnastics WOD. I hope there are some ball pits and lots of sweet trampolines! More than anything, I hope I can capture a video of Sam doing cartwheels. Classic, my friends...classic.
Hey, Michelle! Love the blog- I never knew about that labeling stuff...great info...I will definitely use it!
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