My Green(ish) Thumb

I've always thought that "Green Thumb" is sort of a gross phrase. I think it's the word "thumb." Just kind of grosses me out. Say it again. You'll see what I mean. But regardless, I guess I'm working on mine because a few weeks ago I tried my hand at planting a few herbs. It's not much, but I am seriously so excited about them! I thought about just buying the plants themselves from the grocery store, but I decided this would be more fun/rewarding. And hopefully it will be good practice for the real garden I'd like to start this spring in our back yard.

In all, I planted 6 herbs: cilantro, oregano and parsley are in one planter. Rosemary, basil and thyme went into another planter. We're still getting random surprises of like 6 inches of snow at a time here in good old Kansas City, so for now they're just happily growing near a window in our kitchen. Well, except for the rosemary and oregano. Those are the only two who've decided to skip the party. Of course one of them (Rosemary) is the one I wanted the most! Such bitch, that Rosemary. But in general, it has been really fun to watch them pop up and continue to grow! Here's to hoping that I don't end up accidentally murdering them all!

The Worst. Ever.

Ha, ok so that's an extremely dramatic title, but let me explain. My husband and I have really gotten in to watching documentaries about health and food on Netflix lately. We've watched Hungry for Change; Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead; and then last night we watched Forks Over Knives. I'd heard so much about Forks Over Knives from other bloggers, so I was really excited to watch it. It was, in a word, horrible. Now, since I've gotten in to the Paleo lifestyle, I will be the first to say I am biased. Probably hugely so. I admit that. However, the beef (pun intended) I have with this documentary is twofold.

1. All of the data and the research they presented was old. Like, super old. And I'm sure that certain points still hold up well today, but there wasn't one study or fact that was presented that was less than nearly 40 years old. What? You mean to tell me that nothing new on these topics you're presenting has been researched or reported since the 1970s? Nothing new? Really? It was just weird. And for me, it decreased their credibility and the validity of what they were trying to get across because it made it seem like they were just cherry picking random studies from years and years ago just to support their case, which let's talk about that.

2. So I understand what they were trying to say, and some of it actually resonated with me. For example, in one segment, they were trying to make the point that basically all of the government's dietary recommendations are fueled by the food industry and not at all based on what human beings need for proper nutrition. Yeah, duh. In addition, I agree that a whole foods, plant-based diet is a good thing. But this documentary seemed to pose the idea that it is our over-consumption of meat that is the root of absolutely all dietary evil. Well, that, and dairy. Which, ok, I kinda agree with that one. We don't NEED dairy to be healthy. But meat?? I mean, that's part of the food chain. We have evolved eating meat. (Again, I realize this is where my bias really comes in to play). But here's where it really gets kinda wonky for me. In the documentary they are following three people (surprise, actually in this decade!) as they transition to a whole foods, plant-based diet. And the people do make amazing transformations! But where the documentary kind of goes awry, for me, is that it basically blamed every health problem these people had on the fact that they ate meat. Really?! Because these people were also damn nearly consuming ONLY processed foods. The documentary seemed to think meat was synonymous with fast food. Every time they'd talk about meat, it was with an image of KFC, or Burger King or McDonalds in the background. Well of course if that's their source of meat (which let's be real ... is that really even meat?), as well as the basis of their diet, they're going to have health problems. But I don't see how that translates to quality-sourced, naturally fed, grass-grazing sources of meat. And they didn't present a single shred of research to answer that question. Nothing at all was said about the difference between meat that comes from a shitty, animal abusing, GMO corn-feeding hell hole vs a locally sourced, naturally fed cow or pig or what have you. (Can you tell I'm riling myself up here?! haha) But anyway, it was a completely one-sided argument that left me feeling incredulous that anybody could actually take what they were presenting at face value and use it as a basis for an argument for eating a plant-based diet. Again, I have zero qualms with eating that way if it works for you, but I feel this documentary failed to differentiate between fast food and meat as a real food.

Beauty

As I've gotten older, my definition of beauty has changed. I did gymnastics as a kid, and was always somewhat muscular. It used to make me really self conscious because, even though I'm a petite person, it made me feel "big." Especially as I went through high school, and I lost basically any definition I might have had while (obviously) simultaneously experiencing an increase in body fat, which is NORMAL for that time in a girl's life. However, as I've mentioned before in another post, my initial goals related to working out and trying to eat better had everything to do with being skinny and not so much with being healthy. Now, as I again strive to change the way I work out and eat, I have very different goals. I still want to look and feel good, but my vision of what that looks like is completely different. I think the ladies below (Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, Christmas Abbott and Jamie Eason) are fit, strong and beautiful. Being able to lift heavy is beautiful. And I think the more I focus on CrossFit and setting goals with my lifts, rather than worrying about appearances, the stronger I'll get. The body composition changes will take care of themselves.

Thinking Positively

The other day, after a WOD, I was talking with a fellow Caveman Clubber (Ha, the Paleo nutrition program that I'm participating in is called The Caveman Club), and I think we hit on something pretty important to this whole process of change and transformation. This friend has made an amazing physical transformation thus far. He really looks great, and everyone can tell. He however, made a comment about how when he looks in the mirror, he still only sees his flaws. When you see yourself every day, it's hard to see those little changes as they begin to sneak up on you and build into a larger overall change. So I responded with something like this, "Yeah, I totally understand! You only see what remains, not what you've lost." Which, I understand, isn't totally profound, but I think there's something to be said for that. It's so hard to look past the "flaws" that you, your biggest critic, still see in the mirror. I may have made bigger changes than I realize, but sometimes all I can see are those areas that I believe still need work. What I'd like to do is start thinking in terms of what I've gained. Since starting this program, I've:

1. Stopped drinking pop and starting drinking water ... lots and lots of water. Which is a good thing because while reading Hungry For Change by James Colquhoun and Laurentine Ten Bosch, I came across a crazy bit of info. Basically it said that aspartame, the artificial sweetener that made my beloved Diet Mountain Dew taste so good, is created by bonding two amino acids that don't normally bond in nature. And then when that bond breaks down in your body, it turns into methanol, which is transported past the blood-brain barrier and turns into formaldehyde in your brain! I was astounded. I mean, I knew it wasn't good for me before, but I guess I never really knew why. This did it. I don't really even crave pop anymore unless I see it in one of those damn coolers the checkout line at the grocery store. And even then I don't consider actually buying it.

2. Gained self esteem through treating my body well. I'm not the most confident or outspoken girl in the world, but knowing that I'm making changes for the better has helped me to feel good about myself in general. Or better, anyway! It's still a work in progress. But I've even noticed that when I go to CrossFit, I'm feeling less and less like the awkward goob in the corner, and more and more like I want to put myself out there because maybe I have something to offer. Too often I wouldn't speak up because I'd think that what I had to say was unimportant or irrelevant, but lately I've noticed I'm speaking out more freely. I can't help but wonder if I'm finally starting to feel like my opinions are important because I am starting to treat my body and my person as though it is important. Because it is! It's the only one I've got, so why not do everything I can to make sure I treat it right? I've also noticed that doing one good thing for my body makes me want to do more.

3. Strength. A part of this might just be that I've broken past a plateau to go up in weight on a few of my lifts by putting in the time. I've been doing CrossFit for 4 months now, so I'm still very new at it, but I would think that's long enough to see at least some sort of change from where I started anyway. But my back squat was stuck at 125 for a while. Since starting the nutrition program, I was finally able to break past that and move up to 145, which I've been ecstatic about! I've also been able to power clean 75 lbs consistently. I do notice that my form starts to suck (more so than normal, probably) when I get fatigued, so I still have a lot of work to do, but still! I remember the day I added weight to the bar for the first time, 10 lbs on each end of the 30 lb bar, and couldn't do it. So, busting past that by 25 lbs is super exciting for me!

The next time I look in the mirror and start critiquing myself on things I think could be better about my outward appearance, I'm going to try to think about what my body can do and how far I've come both outwardly and inwardly. It should be an impetus for me to think about the day to come and what I can do for my body during that time to return the favor.

Getting My Greens

I'm pretty sure every food photo I upload (at least for a while) will have these same placemats in them. My husband and I are fairly new homeowners, and I am currently finishing up a second degree = no money and/or time to be spending on making this house a home.

Anywho ... check out that breakfast!! I'm so excited that I've finally decided to put some effort into adding more greens to my day. It's one of those things where I know I should do it, but the actual doing is just slow to come around. I make the egg casserole (that awesome-looking yellow square) on Sundays so I can just grab a hunk and zap it in the microwave each morning. For the greens I'll throw two big handfuls in a bowl and pour about a tablespoon of olive oil over them. Then I'll kind of work the oil into the greens with my hands. While I'm doing this, I'm letting the pan I'm going to be using get warmed up over medium heat on the burner. Once the greens are good and covered, I add them to the pan without adding any extra oil to the pan. Then I basically just let them cook on the stove top until they're wilted and soft. About halfway through cooking, I'll add a bit of salt and garlic powder to taste. And about 3/4 of the way through cooking, I'll add slivered almonds. I continue cooking until the almonds start to look toasty (very precise, I know). In all, it probably takes about 10-15 minutes including the greens prep, but it's worth it. I end up feeling satisfied but not stuffed. And I feel good about making healthier choices. Win-win.