We are actually still alive. Can't believe it's been a month since my last post. Spring is my busy time of year with work and other life events, and as a result my blog has been neglected. We are still here though and moving forward with our organic way of life. In the beginning, my goal was to add new foods every month, in a very structured way (haha)-however, things have not completely gone as planned. The first month we switched to all organic dairy and are still going strong with that. The second month we switched to all organic or grass fed meat and are still good there. The third month (March), we decided to gradually start bringing in new fruits and vegetables since produce is the most vast food group to make the change (and the most expensive overall change!). We have kept up with that commitment, but the biggest incentive for new foods is that Carter (my 13-month old) is all about trying food that is on my plate, but not necessarily if it is on his! So...my plate needs to contain "Carter-appropriate" food almost at all times-at least for the meals where we are in the same room! That has caused us to make more of a change with different foods that weren't part of the regimented plan I originally came up with :)   After all, if I am not comfortable giving him the food that I am eating, why on earth am I eating it!?!!? Just one of the beautiful things about being a parent.

I promised to send out the list of the produce that doesn't need to be organic (and why), so I commit to getting that info out by the end of the week. My apologies for letting life distract me for so long.

The other new thing I am going to do is start strictly tracking exactly how much money we are spending on our groceries this month. Starting Sunday (May 1st), I'll collect my receipts all month and report to you at the end how much we spent and update you throughout the month on good buys, etc. In the past, I've had difficulty coming up with a true grocery total since I often pick up household supplies when I get my groceries; however, this time, I will dissect the receipts and give you the true amount spent on food items. I am setting a goal of $500 for the month (we are a family of 3) and hope I come close to it. Prior to going organic, I would estimate that we would spend around $500 a month, so I want to try and do the same with organic food. Generally speaking, majority of our food comes from Costco, Trader Joe's and Earthfare (with a few items here and there from Harris Teeter, Food Lion & Wal-Mart). Watch out though because Charlotte is getting a Whole Foods and I couldn't be more excited!!

I look forward to keeping you posted on how the month is going and giving you a lowdown on the food I buy...if I get really crazy, I may even take pictures of my grocery buys with the total amount spent! We'll just have to see about that :)

Have a wonderful evening!

Well, apparently I am a blog slacker. I think when things are going great, I am much more motivated to write and when things aren't as great...I am unsure about what to say or what attitude to have. Regardless, it has been too long and you are due for a much-needed update.

We are still "participating" in the nutritional typing diet, but definitely not 100% the way it was intended to be followed. The main reason why (which I may have addressed last time) is the degree of preparation involved. It requires pairing freshly cooked protein with lightly steamed or raw veggies at every meal. That can be really tricky and also hard to have variety (which is an absolute necessity for me) with as much preparation as it takes. We do try to eat mostly whole foods and at least pairing appropriate protien and veggies at breakfast and for most dinners. I had no idea it would be this hard when we first decided to try it! Anyway...I can't say that we are getting the true effects of how the diet was intended unfortunately, but we've definitely learned some things and applied them to our diet.

On a brighter note, going organic is going well! We are eating all organic dairy. Our meat is all grass-fed, hormone free (sometimes organic) and our fish is wild (not farm raised). We are probably eating 50% organic for our "snack" food and 30% of our fruits and veggies are organic. March has kinda been a random month as far as what foods we've added to the organic list (if you can't tell already, March has been a CRAZY month in our house), but for April we are adding all of the "dirty dozen" foods to the list. I will write those up for you guys as well as the rationale behind why going with those foods is a good idea if you're going to just eat some organic foods.

We feel really healthy-that is for sure. No one in our household has been sick-hallelujah! I have had allergies, but not a whole lot can be done to prevent that. Carter had an ear infection at Christmas, but other than that, no illness...and Jude has also been healthy. With all the germs that Jude and I must bring in from working in the schools, it is truly amazing that we have managed to avoid all the sickness. I feel that our healthy diet has to be a factor.

So many more things that I could write about that I've been thinking lately in regard to eating healthy and living healthy...but I don't want to overdo it in one post :) I will try and pick back up the blog pace and keep you all engaged with what's going on in our life and the things we've learned.

Diet Update

We have officially been on the Nutritional Typing Diet now for 3 weeks! There are definite pros and cons to eating this way, but without hesitation, I would say that we will continue eating this way indefinitely. The main premise to the "diet" is being sure to pair protien and vegetables and follow them up with fruits/carbs as needed, but as minimal as possible. The diet also encourages excluding gluten for 60 days in order to help you determine your tolerance to it.

The best part about the diet that Jude and I have discovered, is the satisfying feeling of eating whole foods 90% of the time. We eat a lot of real, unprocessed foods and that feels really good. The goal is that the meals should be pretty filling and not leave you too hungry between meals. I am still getting hungry around mid-morning, so I'm guessing I should be eating more at breakfast...I just find that I feel full at the time,  but it doesn't seem to hold me more than about 3 hrs or so. And afternoons are another story in and of themself....who doesn't want something chocolate at 3:00???

The difficult part about the diet is the preparation that it takes. When you have a household as busy as ours with working full time (plus Jude working extra at night) and taking care of a 1 year old, it is hard to get all the food prepared all the time. There is always a lot of chopping, cleaning veggies, packing up lunches, washing lots of dishes, etc. Never do we just pour a bowl of cereal, eat it in 6 minutes, wash the bowl and call it a morning. Our breakfast routine is easily 30-40 minutes. I would say that the preparation component is what keeps me from following the diet perfectly. I still eat all the foods I'm "supposed" to, but maybe not always in the right order at the right timing....oh well, I have something to aim for in the weeks to come ;)  Here is our typical daily menu:

Breakfast:
-2 hard/soft boiled organic eggs
-2 slices of hormone free turkey bacon or 2 organic chicken sausage links
-steamed cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, tomatoes, etc

Snack:
-Vitamix shake (fruits/veggies)

Lunch:
-Salad with organic lunch meat, veggies, cheese, avocado, etc
-Fruit (apple with organic peanut butter, strawberries, etc)

Dinner:
-Grilled fish, organic chicken or turkey burger
-Steamed vegetables
-Sweet potato, acorn squash or brown rice

That's pretty much it...ocassionally we throw in some organic chips and salsa or some other snack, but that's the basic gist to our meals.

We both agree that we don't feel that we react negatively to gluten. After 3 weeks, we don't feel any different and when we "cheated" Sunday and had thin pizza crust, we didn't feel bad afterwards. We've decided to still try and limit our carb intake because we simply feel better without them, but gluten doesn't seem to make a huge difference for us as long as it is in small quantities. Despite this realization, we have still eaten gluten free the entire time, except for this past Sunday. Hey-you gotta give yourself  a break sometime!!

So there's where we're at with this aspect of our life! Jude is looking amazing! He was already in pretty good shape, but he is the thinnest he has ever been and feels the healthiest he has ever felt! He is such an inspiration :) I continue to follow his lead and attempt to follow his self-discipline with exercise and self-control with "treats", but I still have a long way to go in my efforts to achieve total health for myself. When I get bummed at times that I am not achieving the success at the rate that Jude is, I have to remind myself that we didn't start this journey at the same place and won't continue it at the same pace...but the important thing is that we keep going, not turning back and always aim for something bigger and better for our life. It's a beautiful feeling to be heading in the direction we're going and I love it!

New Challenges

It is amazing where the time goes between posts. Every day I have the intention of writing and then life gets in the way! Hopefully with the new challenges I've started, I'll have more motivation to get online and blog about our adventures :)

As I mentioned in my last post, Jude and I planned to start our Nutritional Typing diet on Valentine's Day...and we held true to our commitment! Don't worry though, we ate plenty of delicious food over the weekend during our "time away" while my sister kept Carter for about 24 hrs. We're back in the saddle now. Nutritional Typing is a concept coined by Dr. Mercola, whom Jude and I have come to respect a lot. The basic premise behind Nutritional Typing is eating food combinations that work best for your body. It helps you select foods that help you stay full and maintain good blood sugar levels throughout the day. Eating this way has excellent effects on the way you feel, the way you look and your overall health. Jude and I decided to give it a shot for the recommended 60 days to see how we like it. The main commitment you have to make is going gluten-free the entire time. You have 10% flexibility a day to eat things that aren't on the "list" but you still can't eat things that contain gluten. This may be one of the harder things to do as it is something I've never eliminated before for longer than a week (raw cleanse in January!). One of the best things about the "diet" is that it focuses on raw, organic, whole-food eating. I know to many of you, I lost you at raw, but when I tell you what a daily menu is like, you may change your mind. Here's an example of what we ate yesterday:

Breakfast:
-2 organic chicken sausage links with 2 organic soft-boiled eggs over sliced tomatoes & baby spinach, topped with fresh basil and olive oil. (We could have had 1/2 cup of oatmeal with cinnamon and vanilla, but we were stuffed).

Lunch:
-Salad with organic deli meat (turkey & ham), mushrooms, tomato, cucumber and hard boiled egg
-Handful of blueberries

Snack:
-Vitamix shake (mix of fruits and veggies)

Dinner:
-Baked salmon with Italian seasoning and lemon wheels
-1/2 cup of cottage cheese with fresh chives
-Steamed asparagus and red pepper with fresh avocado
(We could have had a sweet potato also, but we were full enough)

It really was a tasty day. It takes preparation, for sure, but we are learning that preparing fresh food is the big difference between eating for health and eating for convenience. I dare say, it's worth the extra time.

If you go on Dr. Mercola's website, you can take the Nutritional Typing test and find out what type you are and then you'll be sent info on your type, foods you can eat, meal ideas as well as a link to huge cookbook of tons of recipes. Best of all, it's completely free! Here's the link in case you're interested:

http://www.mercola.com/

I'll write tomorrow about our exercise challenge and progress...time has slipped away and I still need to get food ready for tomorrow!

Have a wonderful night :) Until tomorrow.....

Questioning Gluten...

Things in our house are going pretty well health-wise. We have been eating pretty well- probably about 50% raw on average and sticking to our organic dairy and meat so far. I think we are actually starting to notice a big difference in how we feel. For the most part, we've been feeling "good" for about a month. Sometimes you don't realize how you feel until you don't feel that way anymore...does that make sense? Here's an example-We had a Panera gift card from Christmas, so we decided to go there for dinner Friday night. Given that I eat an average of 1.5 salads a day, I did not opt for a salad. I totally could have, or even the healthy vegetable soup. Nope, didn't go that route. Instead I got broccoli-cheddar soup with a french baguette and 1/2 of a chicken panini. I know you're thinking "No wonder you didn't feel good after eating that!". Really though, I have eaten this meal several times (prior to this diet change) and have never noticed anything different about how I felt afterwards. Eating that way was always a "treat" and not the norm, but even so, I don't remember any changes in how I felt.  Now that we are preparing for the Nutritional Typing meal plan, we eat very little carbs, and most definitely not simple carbs like white sourdough bread. After eating that meal, I was sick for about the next 24 hours. I won't go into details, but the result was enough to deter me from eating such a carb-laden meal for a long time. The funny thing is, I am sure it was better than a "fast food" meal, yet I ended up feeling just as bad, physically. Jude also felt nauseated for the rest of the night after eating his meal (similar to mine) and chalks it up to the white bread and oil in the soup. It's amazing what consistent healthy eating will do to you-and how you feel when you attempt to return to eating the way you used to.

Part of the Nutritional Typing meal plan is to go Gluten-Free for the first 6o days and then re-introduce gluten to find your tolerance. I have been finding lately that whenever I do eat bread, I end up feeling a little queasy, so I wonder if I've had an issue digesting gluten all along and just didn't know it. It will be a challenge to be gluten-free for 60 days, but it seems that there are a lot more gluten-free options available than there used to be-in grocery stores and in restaurants. Plus, I have several friends who eat gluten-free due to other medical issues, and they are doing just fine with the adjustment. I am very curious to see how I feel and if it will be something I will completely eliminate. I doubt it-I just can't imagine going without it FOREVER-but I have a feeling I will cut back significantly when all is said and done.

Jude and I have been generously gifted 24hrs of baby freedom from my sister this upcoming Saturday and are staying downtown, going out to a nice dinner, etc. Knowing that it will be near impossible to stick to the Nutritional Typing diet during that time, we are opting to start it the following Monday (Valentine's Day!) so that we can commit fully to it and reap the true benefit. I will be sure to follow up with you often about what we're eating, more info on the diet, rationale behind it, etc.  Looking forward to continuing to share all of our experiences with you!

Back on the Saddle

Whoa. It has been a crazy time in the Johnson house lately-thus the deviation from my usual blog posting schedule. I find that when I am able to blog, I feel more on top of our nutrition and health-almost an imaginary accountability system. It's good to be back.

So, we made it through our first "organic" month. As many of you may remember, we are taking it slow by adding one food group a month throughout the year until we are 90% organic eaters. To give you an idea of where we were before this lifestyle change, we had already taken the 3 big danger substances out of our diet: artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils. We also aimed to buy most of our meat and eggs as hormone-free, anti-biotic free, etc. We drank organic milk, ate organic yogurt and fed Carter a 100% organic diet (minus his formula). While we like processed food as much as the next person, we have tried to buy less of that and more "real" food over the past year, but we aren't as successful at that as we'd like to be.

Anyway, January was "dairy" month. It was an easy food group to start with since we were already used to buying organic milk and yogurt. The main things that were new purchases were the organic cheese and eggs. From what I can tell, it seems that these items generally run 1.5 times more in price than the non-organic brands. When you're paying $4.00 for a block of cheese, you go through it a LOT slower! I think that I have uncovered what will come to be a common trend: When you have to shell out more money for an item, you tend to savor it and make it last-especially when it is a non-staple, such as cheese. I can't really tell how, or if, our grocery bill changed because we spent the month cleaning out our fridge and pantry and eating on food we had, in order to save money. I'll be able to let you know what our total grocery bill was at the end of February though. I am still a supporter of organic milk, yogurt, cheese, etc; however, I haven't had time to do much research on the egg debate I brought up a few weeks back. I am still going to look into that and report back what I find :) Part of my desire to go "non-organic" with the eggs is that we have a local farmer friend who sells his eggs-they aren't organic, but they are free-range chickens and eat a good diet. Again-I will be looking more into this area as it is of definite interest to me.

February is "meat" month. This will be a big change I think. We don't eat a whole lot of meat as it is, but still, the cost of organic meat seems pretty steep. I also want to research the difference between "grass-fed" beef and organic as well as free-range, all-natural, chickens vs. organic. I want to do what is best for my family, but also what makes the most sense money and convenience-wise. I know that I will have a much easier time buying local meat if I'm open to the "non-organic" grass-fed beef, so I want to really dissect the differences and make a good choice.  We also eat a fair amount of fish and have transitioned from the farm-raised fish to the wild caught fish-definitely a price difference, but well worth the health benefits.

After Carter wakes up from his nap, we are off to EarthFare and Trader Joe's for our first real grocery trip since Jan 1st! How great it will be to have food in the house again! Just a preview of the next few posts to come:

• Information on Jude's and my new exercise challenge
• Starting the "Nutritional Typing" diet
• A breakdown of the cost and health benefits of making your own organic baby food (I just want to educate parents and explain how easy it is, so that moms can decide for themselves if it's worth it!!).

Hope this finds you all doing well!!

Until next time :)

Fasting

Don't get all excited-we are not getting ready to fast. Although, we have contemplated it. I am reading this book entitled Hunger: An Unnatural History by Sharman Apt Russell. It is really fascinating.  The book discusses the role that hunger plays in our lives and how hunger, in and of itself, has had the power to heal and inspire.

Fasting is the main focus of the book so far...there was a story about a man who weighed 456 pounds and decided to complete a fast under medical supervision. He ended up fasting (going entirely without food) for 382 days and lost 276 pounds! I can not imagine how someone could go that long without eating. Apparently there is some truth to the idea that the more "padding" you have, the longer your body can survive without food. You actually start to break down the stored fat in your body and your body, in essence, lives off of it. Crazy.

The healing power of fasting is what amazed me even more...there are so many stories about people who fasted and rid themselves of a variety of diseases and medical conditions. Studies done on a number of animals, from mice to rhesus monkeys, showed that when given a limited amount of calories (though consuming all essential nutrients) animals programmed genetically to develop Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, developed the disease more slowly. The study also showed that calorie restriction inhibited the growth of cancerous tumors in animals genetically designed to have cancer.

I remember participating in a 30 hour fast for several years with my youth group as part of World Vision's effort to raise money for famine relief. It was pretty hard to get through those 30 hours, but we spent at least half of the fast in a lock-in, doing fun things with others going through the exact same thing...and then of course we pigged out when it was all over. If I were to do it now, I would be most motivated by the health benefits-and I hate to say it-but it is probably something I would only do for a lengthy amount of time if I was actually sick. In reading this book, apparently the first 2-4 days are the worst, but then the hunger feelings dissipate and you begin to feel very "alive" and energized with the fresh feeling of fasting. I wonder how I would manage to get through those days and still manage my daily responsibilities as a mom and school psychologist...not to mention my role as a responsible citizen and driving a car. Hmm... you never know where life may take you-the things you thought you may never do, may not seem so unreasonable after all.