Traveling without Falling Off the Wagon

I’m going to be honest here- now that I have changed my nutrition and exercise habits, going away for a weekend or on a vacation freaks me out a little.  It is not that I do not want to get away (trust me, I LOVE vacations and traveling) but I have gotten into such a dedicated habitual routine that going into a situation where I will not necessarily have 100% control over my food and exercise makes me a little nervous. The good news is that I have learned that it is possible to go on vacation or on a weekend getaway without sacrificing your entire diet and exercise routine!

Carrie's top ten tips for how to enjoy your vacation without completely falling off the wagon:

1. Plan ahead: Even though I sometimes drive my family crazy with this, I have found that if I plan ahead of time, I am able to have a much more enjoyable and relaxing vacation. I try to have a basic game plan of an itinerary that way I have an idea of which meals I will need to pack or what days I might have more time to squeeze in a quick run. Also, it allows me to look up healthy, local or organic restaurants I may want to try and have that information on hand so I do not have to waste precious beach time trying to find a place to eat!

2. Be flexible and adapt to the circumstances: No matter how much planning you have done ahead of time, you cannot control or plan for every situation. As an example, in February I was a chaperone at a youth retreat- since I would be missing running group, I brought my shoes and running clothes and planned to run the scheduled 5 mile run on the hotel treadmill.  When I arrived at the hotel, there was a big sign stating that the fitness center was under construction. Instead of letting this roadblock sabotage my run, I decided to run laps outside of the hotel.  Now was this the most fun run that I have ever had? Not by any means!  But I still did it and now every time my youth group goes on another trip, my youth girls always laughingly ask me whether I’m going to run laps around the hotel again- to which I respond, “yes, if that is my only option, that is what I will do!”

3. Make educated choices: If you are going on a business trip or vacation where you are unable to select the restaurant (or if you are at a convention where the food is served to you) do not worry, you do not need to starve yourself or only drink water. Most restaurants have their nutrition information online- so grab your smart phone and quickly look up some healthy options (fyi this might surprise you- I have found that a lot of the entrees I actually wanted were a lot healthier than the salads I almost ordered because I thought they were “healthy”). Simple choices such as only eating the chicken breast and vegetables and skipping the white bread dinner roll/margarine can make a big difference.

My pre-packaged and labelled snacks prepared for youth group convention

4. Pack snacks: This has been a huge life saver for me! Before I go on a trip, I make sure to stock up on some tasty snacks that do not require refrigeration.  That way, if I am faced with an unhealthy meal that I do not want or get hungry during the middle of the afternoon, I do not have to resort to the vending machine.  I try to find snacks that offer protein (for energy) and other nutrients that my body may not be getting while I am away.  Some of my favorite traveling snacks are pistachios, single serving packs of Justin’s almond butter, Suzie’s Spelt Puffed Cakes (like rice cakes, but packed with more nutrients- on a recent trip I would use these and the almond butter packets to make an almond butter sandwich as a meal replacement), granola, pita chips, sweet potato chips, Clif Mojo bars, and Lara bars.  Also, if you get the individual serving size packs of organic milk, they do not need to be refrigerated until you open them- so you can buy a couple of those and bring with you for cereal.

5. Pre-package/label snacks: Even when you bring healthy snacks, you have to be mindful of how much you are eating- but while I am on vacation I certainly don’t want to be measuring out my food or trying to figure out how many calories are in something.  So before I go, I divide and package all of my snacks into individual portion sizes and label it with the number of calories it contains.  Trust me the 30 minutes it takes to do this ahead of time will be well worth it!
 

Elizabeth and I- yes we did get up super early and run the next day!

6. Make time for exercise: Even if it means exercising at odd hours, do not sacrifice your exercise routine. If you can, connect with someone else who wants to get their exercise in- recently while chaperoning a youth convention, my friend Elizabeth and I got up 45 minutes early and went running together. Not only did we get our calorie burn in, we also got some extra time to talk and catch up! If you are not a runner, check out the fitness center at the hotel, bring a work out dvd to play in  your laptop, or if you are desperate walk up and down flights of stairs. As they say on Project Runway, “make it work!”

Eating Organic is Not Just for Hippies! A Review of “Organic Manifesto: How Organic Food Can Heal our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep us Safe.”

Up until a few months ago, I was pretty sure that only “hippy crunchy granola” types of people ate organic foods and that putting a “certified organic” label on a product was just a clever marketing tool used to justify a higher price.  However, after reading Organic Manifesto: How Organic Food Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep us Safe by Maria Rodale, I am more committed than ever to consuming mostly organic foods!

In Organic Manifesto, Rodale explores the historical development of synthetic chemicals, the current practices of both organic and chemical farming, and the detrimental impact that the increased dependence on synthetic chemicals in modern farming is having both on our health and our environment. While that may sound like extremely dry subject matter, the author's writing style makes the subject matter enjoyable and accessible; her analysis of even the most complicated scientific terms or processes seemed much more like a conversation than reading a scientific textbook. In fact, while reading Organic Manifesto, I “dog-eared” more pages than I have in any book since college!

Some of my favorite takeaways from the book were:

•  Pesticides are poisons. While they are manufactured and used to kill insects, rodents, fungi and weeds, they can also kill people. Organophosphates- one of the most common types of pesticide- were developed in Nazi Germany to be used as chemical weapons. It was only later that it was recognized that the  same sort of nerve gases formulated to attack enemy soldiers could be used against agricultural pests. Even low-level exposure to these chemicals can pose threats to our immune, hormonal and neurological systems.
•  Increased rates of autism, diabetes, asthma, ADHD,  and childhood food allergies correlate with the increased use of chemicals to grow our food. (This makes sense to me- when I was in elementary school, I did not know anyone with a peanut allergy and now it is so prevalent that kids have to be extremely careful with what types of treats they bring to school and some schools even have ‘peanut-free’ tables.)
• The Agricultural Heath Study has established a definitive link between pesticides and Parkinson’s diseases, certain cancers and diabetes and it is also believed that the increased use of pesticides is one of the causes for the recent rise of infertility rates in America.  
•  Atrazine, one of the most commonly used herbicides in the United States, was banned in the  European Union due to significant health risks. Farmers in Switzerland, where Atrazine's maker is based, are banned from using the product made it their own country, while in America over 76 million pounds of atrazine is still applied to fields each year. 
• The use of high fructose corn syrup and genetically modified organisms (GMO's) are banned in Europe because of concerns over the damage that these products have on humans and yet these same products have become staples in American food products
•  Surfactants in Roundup (and potentially other herbicides) allow the chemical to actually get inside the plant- thus you cannot just wash off the contaminants- you are ingesting them.  Despite research that shows that Roundup (glysophate) causes birth defects, 40% of farmers still plan on increasing their use of it!
• Monsanto started producing saccharin in 1901, followed by polycholorinated biphenyls (PCBS), Agent Orange, RoundUp, GMO's and invented bovine growth hormone.  According to Rodale, “every single one of the company’s lines of business have wraught disaster and yet it still survives and thrives.” In fact, Monsanto was named Forbes company of the year for 2009!
• Though obesity has become a worldwide problem, chemical and biotech companies still claim that there is not enough food to feed the world- and that the only way to feed the world is with chemicals and GMOs…yet the problem isn’t food scarcity, it is too much food! Even in countries where there are people who are starving, studies have shown that it is the instability in political systems which control the distribution of food that cause this problem, not an actual shortage of food supply.
• Without the farm bill and government subsidies, organic food would cost less than chemical food. Instead, the government provides payment incentives to farmers to keep growing crops like corn and soybeans chemically and they have made it almost impossible for farmers to switch to growing organic crops. 
•  Certified organic products are the only foods available that have a government-backed guarantee that no chemicals, antibiotic or gmos were used in growing or processing the foods and that risky  practices like feeding dead cows to living cows or applying contaminated sewage sludge to fields were not used.
•  Even the CEO of Monsanto, Hugh Grant, eats organic food!

One of the things that I really liked about Organic Manifesto, was that the author does not just leave you with a sense of doom and gloom, but instead suggests practical solutions and ways that the American agricultural system can be changed. According to Rodale, at the end of the day, “you have a lot more power to create the world than you think.  Every choice you make creates your world. Every purchase you make rewards either the good or the bad.  Every time you choose cheap, chemical food over organic, you are rewarding the bad. You vote with every dollar you spend.  Companies and governments count every purchase you make and make almost every decision based on your purchases.” 

I do not know about you, but I am willing to spend 10 cents more to eat an apple that has not been sprayed with deadly chemicals, especially considering the long term health costs!

Healthy Food and Cocktails for Summer Fun!

Summer cocktail in a size 6 sundress

Zinnias from my garden as decor!

While I am not always Suzy Homemaker, one thing that I really do enjoy is entertaining people at my house.  I love making my home feel cozy and welcoming and having it filled with laughter and good conversation.  So when one of my dearest friends Sarah (who is getting married in July!) asked if I would be willing to host a lingerie shower at my house, I was more than happy to oblige.

As I started planning this shower, I realized that my whole concept of eating and drinking had changed since my last party.  My standby refreshments had always been bowls of chips, French onion dip, pretzels, brownies, cookies, and 2 liters of soda.   Instead of feeding food to my guests that I would not eat, I decided to take on the challenge of throwing a clean and organic party, without sacrificing taste!

The plan was to have an outdoor evening gathering and so I decided to have the following “finger food” appetizers: 

Appetizers & Gluten-free cake made by Catie!

•    Sweet potato chips  with cinnamon yogurt dip 


•  I cheated and bought the sweet potato chips since I have yet to successfully make my own, but they were organic and only had 3 ingredients all of which I could recognize and pronounce.  The dip was awesome and so healthy/easy: 1 cup of organic non-fat plain greek yogurt, 1 tsp of cinnamon, and 1 tsp of vanilla extract.  If it is not sweet enough for you, simply add in a touch of honey or a packet of truvia. 
• Fresh Veggies/hummus 
•  I have found it is so much cheaper to make my own hummus- all you do is throw garbanzo beans, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, and tahini (sesame paste) in the food processor. You can add whatever spices you want to get different flavors- I love cumin in mine, but if you want spicy add some red pepper. 
•  Caprese bites
• Create a skewer by putting a fresh basil leaf, one grape or cherry tomato, and pearl sized mozzarella (use a toothpick to hold it together) and drizzle lightly with balsamic vinegar/extra virgin olive oil
•   Mixed Nuts
•  Cheese/Crackers
•   Sarah is allergic to gluten so we had NutThins almond/rice crackers- they were delicious! I just cubed some organic sharp cheddar and pepper jack cheese

Now for the fun part- summer cocktails! I am more of a cocktail girl than a beer drinker, but the problem is that so many cocktails can easily have 600-700 calories (not to mention sugar and other fake ingredients). Luckily, I found two delicious cocktail recipes that were both under 200 calories each!

• Southern Style Grapefruit and Gin Cocktail: who would have known that gin, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and mint could be so delicious! I have a huge sweet tooth, and even I didn’t need to add sugar to this recipe! Plus the lite pink drink looked super cute in the small mason jars I served them inJ This recipe from The Realistic Nutritionist http://nutritionfor.us/2012/04/drink-skinny-southern-style-gin-cocktails/ is definitely a keeper!
• Sparkling Strawberry-Mint Limeade: This creation by Kelly of   http://www.eat-yourself-skinny.com/ was fantastic and refreshing! Simply combine 3 c sliced strawberries, ½ c fresh mint leaves, ½ c fresh lime juice, ¼ c water and ¼ c agave in a food processor or blender until smooth. Take the strawberry mixture and mix it with a bottle of champagne; for 163 calories per serving you have the perfect summer drink!

First clean/organic party was a success!

Besides being fresh, healthy and delicious, the best part about these cocktails was that I could make up a bunch ahead of time, put them in labeled mason jars, and throw them in a cooler, which let me enjoy my guests versus having to constantly refill glasses!

What is your favorite healthy party food or beverage?

Adventures in Gardening Part 2: Planning, Planting and Playing in Manure!

Box #1 Strawberry Patch

Now that the location for my square foot gardens was chosen and the raised bed boxes were built (see Adventures in Gardening Part one) it was time to move on to the next steps in my gardening adventures: designing, filling, and planting the boxes!

Where, When, How and What to Plant:

I quickly learned that growing vegetables is a science which requires a lot of careful thought and planning! A huge thanks to Katrina Boylan for answering all my questions and guiding me in the right direction.  Here is a list of some things I had to consider in designing my square foot gardens:

• Growing season: Certain plants thrive in cooler spring/fall weather and cannot tolerate heat, while others will die if planted when the weather is too cool
•  Location within the squares: tomatoes, pole beans and anything that requires a trellis need to be placed on the north side of the bed so that they do not shade the rest of the plants and shorter plants (lettuce, carrots) should be placed close to the edges so they are easier to harvest
• Seeds versus transplants: I chose to buy plants for the vegetables that required seed starting indoors (eggplant, tomatoes, peppers) and  for everything else I used seeds that could be planted straight into the garden
• When to plant: the traditional advice is to wait to plant summer crops until after Mother’s Day when there is less of a chance of frost, but since our weather in Ohio has been unusually warm I was able to plant a little earlier.
• Natural pest deterrents: Certain flowers such as marigolds and zinnias help deter pests (particularly rabbits!) so planting a few squares with these is a good idea if you want to have an organic, pesticide-free garden!

Finally, my major criteria in designing and laying out my beds was that I only wanted to plant vegetables that I enjoyed eating and which could be easily canned or stored if there was an overabundance. Here is the link if you want to see the final design of what I planted in each square: http://www.growveg.com/garden-plan.aspx?p=281648

Playing in Manure

One of the key aspects of square foot gardening is starting out with the proper soil mixture. To fill my boxes with the special “Mel’s Mix” that square foot gardeners recommend I needed 5 cubic feet of vermiculite, 5 cubic feet of peat moss, and

6 cubic feet of compost. One of my favorite things about the square foot gardening method is that I will only have the expense of purchasing the soil ingredients once- next year I will only have to add compost from my own newly started compost pile (look for a separate post on this soonJ ) to the already existing soil! To make Mel’s Mix you need to do the following:

•  Lay out a tarp near the boxes
•  Dump all of the bags of compost on the tarp (Mel recommends using 5 different types of compost to get the maximum nutrients, but I could only find 3)
• Use a shovel/rake to mix the compost- you want to keep mixing until it is well blended and uniform
• Next add the vermiculite and mix well (the vermiculite and peat moss are dusty, so if it is windy you may want to water it down a little or wear a painter’s mask)
•  Add the peat moss and mix thoroughly
• Fill the boxes with the  blended soil mixture (as Kate said, once you add the vermiculite and peat moss to the compost, it feels a lot less like you are playing in shit!) 
• Once the boxes are filled to the top, use a hose and lightly water the mixture down (repeat this step a few times until the boxes are full)
• Step back and admire your organic, nutritious soil and get ready to plant!

Brayden and I planting our carrots

Planting
Planting my garden was a breeze!  There was no digging in hard clay soil or pulling rocks out- seriously all we had to do was use our hands to scoop the soil apart, put the plant or seeds in, recover it with the soil, and then lightly water the base of the plant (I didn’t even drag the hose out- just used a bucket of water and a cheap water bottle!).  There are only a few things to remember when you are planting using the square foot method:

•  Know how many plants to put in each square: extra large plants take up the whole square, large plants are planted 4 to a square, medium plants are planted 9 per square, and small are planted 16 to a square
• If it is going to be a vegetable that requires staking or trellising, put the stake or trellis   in first so you don’t disturb the plants roots
• Consider staggering your harvest by planting some of your peppers or tomatoes now and another batch in two weeks- that way you have a continual harvest instead of everything ripening at once.

Boxes 2 and 3

I cannot tell you how surprised I was at how easy it was to get the boxes ready and planted! Instead of spending an entire weekend toiling away, I was able to get this accomplished in just a few evenings after work- a total of 4 hours MAX!


Check back in a few weeks for an update post on how my garden is growing and whether my crops are still alive!

Adventures in Gardening Part One: Can I really grow my own vegetables?

Now that I am eating clean and organic, a large portion of my grocery bill consists of produce. This summer I knew that I wanted to attempt to get some of my produce locally and so I started looking into CSA’s (community supported agriculture) and farmers’ markets in the area. While I think CSA’s are fantastic, I decided not to purchase a share in one because I was afraid it would be a waste of money since I doubted I could eat a whole “share” and I was not thrilled with the idea of not being able to select which produce I wanted each week- I really did not have any interest in getting loads of turnips or radishes or other things that I do not eat regularly.  While there are a lot of farmer’s markets in the area, with my busy schedule I was not sure I would always be able to get there during open hours.   After dismissing the idea of growing my own vegetables about 15 times (after all, I am the girl who could not even keep the potted pansies on her front porch alive) I realized that it was ridiculous to not try something because I was afraid to fail so I decided to try it!

Next I had to figure out how to actually start and grow a garden! When I hear the word “gardening” images of little old ladies in big floppy hats snipping flowers with pruning shears pop in my mind. Needless to say, this is not the type of gardening I was envisioning! While I was excited to try to grow my own vegetables and herbs, I recognized that I did not have hours to spend every day weeding and watering and I was not convinced I wanted to rototill up a huge section of my lawn for a traditional garden. Luckily, a friend pointed me in the direction of Mel Bartholomew’s book “All New Square Foot Gardening.”http://www.amazon.com/All-New-Square-Foot-Gardening/

What is Square Foot Gardening?

One of my 4x4x6 boxes, my brother used twine to map out the 16 squares of the grid

The basic premise of square foot gardening is that the old traditional way of gardening is inefficient for individual or home consumption gardening. I love some of the questions Mel asked himself which led to his development of the square foot gardening method:

• Why do planting instructions on packages of seeds direct the gardener to pour out an entire packet along a row only to have you later go back and tear out 95% of the seeds you planted once they sprout? It is a terrible waste of seeds and time and work- all useless unnecessary work. (Amen, I thought as I read that) 
• Why plant an entire row of everything? Just because my garden is 30 feet long for example, do I really want or need a whole row of cabbages? Why would I want 30 cabbages to ripen all at the same time? How many people go to the grocery store and buy 30 heads of cabbage once a year?  (Not me!)
• When told that the reason that a 3 foot aisle was required on both sides of the planted row was so there was room to get into the garden to hoe the weeds, Mel  responded with “But I don’t want to hoe the weeds, that’s too much work.” (Preach on Brother Mel!:) 

Mel then used his expertise as an efficiency engineer to create the square foot method which has the following benefits::

View of the three boxes from my kitchen window

•    A square foot 4x4 foot layout produces 100% of the harvest in only 20% of the space
•    A smaller confined space drastically reduces the amount of weeds and the time needed to water, making gardening enjoyable and less of a chore
• You no longer have to spend years trying to amend your existing soil
• There is no need to use chemical fertilizers (so no ruining your nutritious vegetables with potentially cancer causing agents!). 
• By mapping out 16 individual 1x1 squares within the 4x4 box, you are able to grow a wide variety of plants, allowing for crop rotation, staggered harvests and three distinct growing seasons

This was exactly the type of garden I was looking for and after talking to one of my best friends Katie, we decided that we would attempt this endeavor together and start out with two 4x4x6 square foot gardens. I made a list of all of the things I needed to accomplish before I could actually begin to plant my garden:

Brayden helping to measure and tape the cardboard

•  Buy or build the boxes (These are super easy to make! My brother made me two 4x4x6 boxes plus a bonus 2x2x6 strawberry patch box for $31! Just remember to use untreated lumber, you do not want the chemicals from treated lumber to seep into the soil)
• Decide where to locate the gardens (I chose a location where they would get a lot of sun, but also where I could see them from my kitchen window so I could enjoy and monitor them easily) 
•  Make a cardboard barrier for the base of the boxes to prevent grass and weeds from creeping through (A great way to use up all of the extra boxes in my garage!)
• Purchase ingredients to make “Mel’s Mix” soil (peat moss/vermiculite/compost)
• Figure out what crops to plant and where to space them in the garden (will be discussed further in next week’s post)
•  Locate local farms and greenhouses where I could purchase seeds/plants (this was a great experience- I discovered an awesome family farm  The Feed Barn and a great non-chain local garden center Pipkin's Market) 

Once all of that was accomplished it was time to move on to the next step! Check back next week for Carrie’s Adventures in Gardening: Planning, Purchasing and Playing in Manure!