While I will definitely miss writing emails, looking up new recipes, finding new music, drooling over running elevation charts and stumbling upon wild tidbits of information, one specific song comes to mind when I look at this goal. RE-EVALUATING TIME has been such an important part of my year. Spending less time doing things that make me unhappy and don't fall in sync with my goals and spending more time doing the exact opposite.
How much time do you think you spend on the internet? How much productive? How much wasted? How much of that time would you rather spend outside? You've only got one shot at this thing and do you really want to spend it looking at a screen? What is that feeling you have when you stare at a computer screen for two hours straight? There sure is nothing natural about it. These are the questions I confronted myself with last November. I don't think the internet is a bad thing, if anything it is absolutely wonderful. Limitless information and the ability to read and acquire knowledge in your own home that used to be only available in advanced college courses or the ability to be inspired by a video at the click of a finger. Nothing wrong with that. I want to take a step back though. I want to see the internet as a privilege and stop viewing it like a readily available breath of air. I'm going to go the next two and a half months without it. It's going to be a challenge indeed, to be more creative, use a phone book (if I can find one) once in a while, and figure out road names and directions on maps to name a few things. My roommate Jordan has agreed to scan a written entry of my blog for the rest of the year and post it for me on here for anyone that would like to continue following along. This will be my last post and last time online for the rest of 2014. Goodbye interwebs. Last week really hit home the importance of what I put into my body on a daily basis and I can only begin to imagine the things I will learn about myself from the rest of the year from continuing on without sugar. It is pretty cool to be able to evaluate every single step of the day down to how eating a handful of grapes can effect my energy. This brings me to week 40 and the importance of the things that we constantly use around ourselves and come in direct contact with. The goal for week 40 was to no longer use chemical or synthetic cleaning agents but in writing the title I realized there was a way to put a more positive spin on it. This means I'm going to have to go through everything in the house that I use from dish soap and laundry detergent to bath soap, toothpaste and shaving cream. Deodorant? Who needs it? Just kidding, I'll have to look for another option for that too. Reaching week 40 is a huge milestone in the year even knowing the huge hills still left to climb. I am very excited to get started with this goal and although it may hit the wallet a bit hard I can't wait to use some Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap! So for the rest of the year I'll only use natural cleaning products. Goodbye Colgate, Irish Spring, Tide, Ajax etc. . .! End of Week Update
The switch has been made. The picture above shows my new supply of cleaners from the shower to the kitchen sink versus the ones I was using. Dr Bronner's plays a big part in the new scene. I found a common theme among most of the new products was that they were not tested on animals, which was a pleasant surprise as I was unaware that I guess all of the ones I had been using are tested on animals? I came into this week a little weary of the new products I was going to be using and how effective they might be and came out of the week feeling a bit upset that I hadn't discovered some of them a long time ago. I've been using Dr Bronner's to wash dishes and take showers and I don't think i'll be going back. The products on the right side of the picture here are actually not any more effective as I've experimented this week, they just spend millions of dollars convincing people that they are (enter, fancy packaging). Dr Bronners actually encourages people right on their label to not buy a new bottle but get a refill from a local distributor selling it by the pound, pretty cool. As a closing note, IF YOU HAVE NEVER WASHED YOUR FACE WITH PEPPERMINT DR. BRONNERS, DO IT! On to week 41! From Week 1, Give up Soda, to Week 33 Give up High Fructose Corn Syrup, I have finally come to my final resting point with sugar for the year. The details of what this will mean for me are as follows. I will no longer eat anything with sugar as an added ingredient. This includes white granulated sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, brown sugar, anhydrous dextrose, high-fructose corn syrup, fructose, confectioner's powdered sugar, lactose, malt syrup, raw sugar, sucrose, nectars, invert sugar, corn syrup solids, honey, molasses, pancake syrup, maple syrup and maltose. Thus leaving sweet potatoes and figs as my new best buddies. This made breakfast . . . pretty interesting. I woke up, and wasn't quite really sure where to get started. I walked upstairs for breakfast already knowing that I was going to have to walk by brownies and cookies. This was no problem because I knew it was coming. I then approached my usual breakfast cereals, no longer an option. OK, i'll just have some Granola and yogurt. I turned around and walked to the fridge. Vanilla yogurt, no longer an option. OKAYYY, so i'll just have an egg sandwich. I walked back across the kitchen to get some bread. Bread, no longer an option. OKAY. I ended up having to make a trip to the store to buy plain yogurt and tortillas. What I ended up with was a berry, kale, banana It brought me back to that wise saying, eat your colors, and not only felt and tasted good but renewed some confidence that this wouldn't be as much of a challenge as I have been making it out to be. So from here on out no more sugar for the rest of 2014! and yogurt smoothie as well as a tortilla, with egg, avocado and a sugar free hot sauce. Other than being quite tasty, the thing that stood out about this meal to me the most was that it was COLORFUL! End of Week Update I knew this goal would be very challenging but it ended up being even more so then I had imagined. It ended up being the closest I have come to quitting my project so far this year. Giving up meat, alcohol or really anything to date have nothing on this goal. Giving up Facebook and Walmart sort of sound like a joke now. What were those? By- weeks? It's sort of like if a football team played Division three teams all year and then played FSU. They'd have no idea what was about to hit them. Last Tuesday as my weekly donation I decided to donate blood. With my body being tired from this and trying to recover from the Barkley Fall Classic, giving up sugar starting Wednesday made things very challenging. I had weird headaches for the first two days. I see this as a result of the sudden diet change and not constantly feeding my body sugar. Slowly throughout the week I started to figure out that I was going to have to eat five to six times a day to keep myself energized. I've always heard that having three meals with snacks in between is the healthiest approach to eating. This of course does not mean eating McDonalds three times a day with two snacks of full size Doritos in between. So here is a little breakdown of what my meals looked like on Tuesday 6:30 AM - 10:30 PM Breakfast - Smoothie made with Yogurt, Kale, Chia Seeds, Banana, and mixed frozen berries Two eggs cooked and wrapped in tortillas with hot sauce and tomatoes Cup of tea 10:30 Snack - Pear Lunch - Tortilla (full banana and natural peanut butter), grapes and a glass of unsweetened almond milk and 12 oz water Dinner - Pasta with butter and a baked potato filled with onions and apples sauteed in balsamic vinegar and 24 oz water After run - 16 oz milk with 48 grams of Pea Protein Powder and 60 oz of water Now that the week 39 has come to a close and I have done some serious thinking on my diet and done a lot of talking with people about foods and health I am feeling a lot of confidence in this goal. The one MAJOR thing that this week really helped me understand was how people are a product of their environment. The three things that really made an impact on my week were working on and around vegetables at Glade Rd Growers, running into and chatting with a friend Micah at Eats and rewiring my brain to come to the realization that there were still tons of new meals and ways to be creative with cooking on what most people would consider a very limited diet. Thank you to those of you out there that made it easier! On to week 40! This is one that I can say I have never attempted before. It came as a challenge last year from my coworker Sage and I figured why not? We have a lot available to us in America in the snap of a finger, why not see what its like to live without it for a while. This goal will be very challenging for me but I needed to hold on to my car for a bit longer and I just can't fathom giving up processed sugar yet so cheese is out. This means So why should I stop eating cheese? Well other than just being a challenge there is some debate about whether cheese is really healthy for you, especially in large quantities. I like how this article tries to stress using cheese as a flavoring more so than a main ingredient. The article also had an interesting video by Michael Moss. It would be interesting to investigate just how much of what he presents here is actually true. Indeed it does appear from a lot of different areas online that the government stores food in caves in Missouri? Pretty strange. Anyhow, whether it be for just a challenge or to see how this effects my energy and mood I'll be staying away from cheese for the rest of 2014! NO MORE FREE CHEESE SAMPLES AT KROGER. I'm sure a few people will feel my agony in parting with this delightful experience. End of Week Update
I found myself jetting around town this Wednesday and Thursday preparing for our departure to Frozen Head State Park for the first ever Barkley Fall Classic. As we left town Friday, Kroger cheese samples were the farthest thing from my mind, in fact the only thing I was thinking about was PASTA, PASTA, PASTA, RUNNING, PASTA, PASTA. Camping out for two nights was the perfect ticket to making this week easier than I had imagined. When you don't have cheese to eat, it's a lot easier not to eat cheese. In fact giving up cheese ended up not being a huge challenge . . .mostly because I was trying to figure out how to cut processed sugar out of my diet in the upcoming week. Learning to look ahead and formulate a plan about how I am going to accomplish my future goals has been an important and recurring lesson throughout this year. The weeks that have been the hardest have been the ones I have not payed a piece of mind to until Tuesday night (my weeks start on Wednesday since Jan 1st was a Wednesday). On the other hand, when I find myself focusing more on what I need to do next week or three weeks down the road it makes the current weeks goal seem much easier. Lastly I wanted to give a shout out to the six racers from Blacksburg that did something challenging for themselves this weekend. For me it will remain a very memorable one of carelessly running through beds of poison ivy and stinging nettle, making new friends, almost stepping on a copper head and sleeping under a shower of gigantic Tennessee acorns that bombarded our campsite constantly reminding us of the arrival of Fall. I originally had this as a goal for earlier in the year but it kept getting pushed around and finally fell into place here. Leaving me with about 110 phrases to learn in a language other than English by the end of the year. Why? Plenty of answers to that question, just pick a word from the image on the left. I'll try to concentrate mainly on Russian and Spanish as those are the two languages which I have a previous background and small understanding of. These sorts of goals found their way on to my yearly list after taking on the questions last year of 1. What types of things am I filling my brain with? 2. Which of these things would I like to change? 3. Which of these would I like to do more of? SO . . I thought it over. I could remember every house I had ever delivered flowers to, over 50 peoples specific orders at the restaurant, the names of streets all over the county and the price of PBR at every bar in downtown Blacksburg. I saw all this and plenty more as memory I could relocate. If I were to look at my brain as a computer it was as if I had a hard drive full of folders of information that just wasn't that cool while there was so much else out there to be downloaded. Time for a reformat. I thought things like gardening, language, and music were the perfect things to reformat with. Three things that have lasted through history and continue to provide good mental health and happiness throughout the world. I will get some of the End of the Week updates done today and tomorrow. Things are getting busy. More time outside, less time on the computer. Es hora de correr! End of Week Update
So here are my first seven, 1. Vamos a correr! - Let's go run! 2. Que hay para desayunar? - Whats for breakfast? 3. Vamonos de fiesta! - Lets party! 4. Ir pavos - Go Hokies 5. Eres el/la mejor. - You're the best 6. Si adelante no vas, altrasaras. - He who does not advance, goes backwards. 7. ¡Atrevete! - to dare yourself, don't be afraid Fortunately the day after I began this goal I went for a group run with Ultra VT and met Felipe, a student from Ecuador that is studying abroad at Virginia Tech. I ran my new verses by Felipe and we quickly came to the understanding that first I am going to have to run my phrases through an online translator and second and most importantly through him to assure I am getting them correct. I am attempting to pick phrases that have some sort of relevance to my every day life so they will be easier to remember and more useful should we suddenly get invaded by Spanish explorers. In other happenings this week, I am at peace with the job searching process and have been weighing out my options figuring out what will be a new positive work environment that I will be happy with. All of End of Week Updates have been caught up on now and my second foot race of the season is quickly approaching. I'm trained and full of positive energy heading into it and looking forward to a fun race and spending time with some great people in Tennessee at the beautiful Frozen Head State Park. Here we come Barkley Fall Classic! Last November I began asking around to my family and friends for ideas to finalize my list of 52 changes for my project this year. My friend Jodie suggested that I keep a joke book, filled with inspirations, quotes or jokes from the people I know. It sounded like a fun idea and I figured that with all the change I would be taking on why not look to those around me that have a positive influence on my life and ask them for their advice, who inspires them, how they got where they are, and how they plan on getting where they are going. Along side of the good quotes and advice I thought the joke aspect of the idea added a nice balance to keep things light. Right around my birthday this year I received a package in the mail from Thailand with a handmade "joke book" and its first entry from Jodie. So prepare yourselves, chances are that if you are reading this blog that I will be looking to you for an entry in the near future. As much as I would like to mail it around and have everyone write in it I think to keep things cost effective I will ask people to send me little blips in the mail or possibly even in the comments of the blog. (I think handwritten ones would give the book a little more character) I'll then glue these into the book. What I'm looking for is your entry, name and age. I'm excited to see what everyone has to share and to keep this along with my blog as a memory of this wild, wild year. End of Week Update
The joke/quote book thus far has served as one of the more spontaneous and fun goals to date. Just from reading what the five people that have written in it thus far it has me very excited to see what everyone else has to share. The past two weeks without a job has been a roller coaster. After working for 70 hours a week for 4 years it has been a much earned and needed break. I have thought many times to the Mary Oliver quote, "You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves." We discussed this quote in depth in a Literature and Ecology class that I took years ago and to this day when I think of this quote it makes me reconsider just how exactly I am treating myself. Thinking separately about mind, body and soul and what things might just be to harsh for each one and then considering them collectively and how the world and people we surround ourselves with have such a heavy influence on this "soft animal". I found myself panicking in the first week without a job and in the second week I have found comfort knowing that I am in a mental and physical recovery period and that this is arguably the most important two weeks I have had this whole year. Once relaxed I found myself on a rafting trip with my father and two friends. One of the best trips we have ever been on. Nature ran its full course in that 6 hours on the Gauley. We saw wildlife (not referring to the raft guides), got soaked in sunshine and later torrential downpours so heavy that we could no longer see the river in front of us. We jumped out of the boat in class three rapids only to minutes later float silently revering the knobby mountains of West Virginia and how they swallow up all hints of civilization within. This trip only forecasting a growing bond with the outdoors that I will be making over the next few months, I ended the week revived and energized. End of Week 36 Totals Soda - 0 ounces Water - 130.24 Gallons Liquor - 0 shots Tea - 462 cups Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1) $ to support neighbors = $656.05 Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips Breakfasts eaten - 203 Pushups - 1300 Crunches - 1180 Days Flossed - 187 (missed two days) Coffee - 0 cups Sunrises attended - 33 Beers drunk - 0 Gallons of Trash Collected - 674 Items planted -12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache, 30 sensitive plants, 24 carolina reaper peppers, 12 ghost peppers, 31 scorpion peppers, 5 brussel sprouts, 12 tyria hybrid cucumbers, 14 congo watermelons, 6 hybrid prizewinner pumpkins, 45 devils tongue peppers, 14 black sea man tomatoes, 33 peruvian white lightning habaneros, 16 mammoth russian sunflowers, 30 big smile sunflowers, 100 zinnia's, 100 basil plants, 100 green onion plants, 12 chinese lanterns, 30 garden beans, a bed of mint, 50 Celosia flowers, 7 Red Maple Seeds, 30 brussel sprouts, transplant 34 pepper plants, transplant 13 sensitive plants and 3 watermelon plants, transplant 15 pepper plants and 6 sensitive plants, transplant 21 pepper plants, 12 sorrel seeds, 50 cilantro seeds, 50 sorrel seeds, 50 spinach seeds, 50 kale seeds, Letters written - 22 Meat eaten - none Donations made - Bike the US for MS, Personal Mission Trip, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Against Malaria Foundation, Deworm the World Initiative, Project Healthy Children, charity: water, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, YMCA Thrift Store, Volunteered at Plenty!, Against Malaria Foundation, Food supplies to Plenty! food pantry, Deworm the World Initiative, Edisto Island Preservation Alliance, Edisto Island Land Trust, Adopt-a-Nest Sea Turtle Program, Wikipedia, Project Healthy Children, Giving What We Can Trust, Movies watched - 0 Glasses of wine - 0 New dishes cooked - Vegetable Korma, Ukranian Vinaigrette, Lamb's Quarters Quiche, Thai Spicy Eggplant with Sweet Basil and a side of Bean Sprout Salad with Peanut Chili Dressing, Pan Bagnat with grilled peppers and basil vinaigrette and a side of Classic Gougères, Vegetarian Feijoada and Brazilian Bananas, Baked Eggplant Parmesan (mixture of this and this recipe), Somalian Fataa'ir Farmaajo and Barooddo Qudaar, Portobello Burgers and homemade pesto, Stir fried tofu with yellow curry powder, Okra Gumbo with Chickpeas and Kidney Beans, African Peanut Soup and Fufu, Vegetable Lasagna, Quinoa Bugers with Homade Rolls, German Chocolate Cake, Chana Masala, Miles ran - 655.20 Facebook and Twitter time = 0 minutes Books Read - The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter, The Other by David Guterson, The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf by John Muir, currently reading The Wilderness World of John Muir edited by Edwin Way Teale and loving it! Nights camped - 3 Ice fails - 1 Items dispersed - 56 Hours volunteered - 27.75 Piping Hours - 9 Week 35 brings back to the surface the idea of the "Look Up" video that I posted earlier this year during Week 23. My mom called me excitedly a few days ago with news that they had just seen two black bears in our field, something that happened because they weren't wrapped up in watching television or tinkering around on computers or phones. More of this, less of that is sort of what this year is all about. The process which I had to undergo to have my text messaging cancelled fell in at the top of the list of things that made me think twice about whether I should do it or not. Passwords, automated robots on the phone, more passwords, and five phone calls to Verizon later I finally got it sorted out. I will still be using my email for the next month or two before I cut out the internet. This goal brought to mind another short video that I enjoyed. Similar to the "Look Up" video, Charlene deGuzman brings up some good points on just how phones can affect every day social interactions. If there were to be a bible on "wireless courtesy" I think she did an excellent job with the first few verses. I feel I should be clear now that my goal here is not to become the North Pond Hermit (story courtesy of Paul R., thanks!) but to see a little less screen and a little more of the world. Although doubtless this will be inconvenient at times, I already feel I have loosened my technology cuffs a bit and I'm starting to enjoy it. So here is to cutting back once again and seeing how another ray of simplicity will shine on the rest of my year. End of Week Update
There was a total of about three times this week when a text message would have been more convenient. In the end, without a doubt, this was a good move. Not so much the not being able to "chat" with friends but more so the unleashing of the dependence on my phone. I even found myself sometimes during the week checking my phone. What for? I have no idea. Sort of like when I gave up facebook, the first few times I signed on to my computer I found myself on the the facebook sign in page without even thinking about it. A little scary indeed. In other events this week for some reason the idea of giving up processed sugar has been on my mind A LOT recently. I already did high fructose corn syrup, but sugar is coming soon. I even made a huge German Chocolate cake as my one new dish that I cooked this week. It seems like I am eating more sugar than I normally would just because I know I have to give it up. The psychology behind it is sort of boggling my mind. This was the first week I was not able to complete my goal of running a 5k six days a week due to an injury. It is a minor Achilles heel strain but I had to decide to take 4 days off and not run the race I was signed up for in order to heal properly and be ready in time for the Barkley Fall Classic. On to week 36. End of Week 35 Totals Soda - 0 ounces Water - 126.55 Gallons Liquor - 0 shots Tea - 448 cups Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1) $ to support neighbors = $648.30 Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips Breakfasts eaten - 196 Pushups - 1280 Crunches - 1160 Days Flossed - 180 (missed two days) Coffee - 0 cups Sunrises attended - 32 Beers drunk - 0 Gallons of Trash Collected - 637 Items planted -12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache, 30 sensitive plants, 24 carolina reaper peppers, 12 ghost peppers, 31 scorpion peppers, 5 brussel sprouts, 12 tyria hybrid cucumbers, 14 congo watermelons, 6 hybrid prizewinner pumpkins, 45 devils tongue peppers, 14 black sea man tomatoes, 33 peruvian white lightning habaneros, 16 mammoth russian sunflowers, 30 big smile sunflowers, 100 zinnia's, 100 basil plants, 100 green onion plants, 12 chinese lanterns, 30 garden beans, a bed of mint, 50 Celosia flowers, 7 Red Maple Seeds, 30 brussel sprouts, transplant 34 pepper plants, transplant 13 sensitive plants and 3 watermelon plants, transplant 15 pepper plants and 6 sensitive plants, transplant 21 pepper plants, 12 sorrel seeds, 50 cilantro seeds, 50 sorrel seeds, 50 spinach seeds, Letters written - 21 Meat eaten - none Donations made - Bike the US for MS, Personal Mission Trip, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Against Malaria Foundation, Deworm the World Initiative, Project Healthy Children, charity: water, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, YMCA Thrift Store, Volunteered at Plenty!, Against Malaria Foundation, Food supplies to Plenty! food pantry, Deworm the World Initiative, Edisto Island Preservation Alliance, Edisto Island Land Trust, Adopt-a-Nest Sea Turtle Program, Wikipedia, Project Healthy Children, Movies watched - 0 Glasses of wine - 0 New dishes cooked - Vegetable Korma, Ukranian Vinaigrette, Lamb's Quarters Quiche, Thai Spicy Eggplant with Sweet Basil and a side of Bean Sprout Salad with Peanut Chili Dressing, Pan Bagnat with grilled peppers and basil vinaigrette and a side of Classic Gougères, Vegetarian Feijoada and Brazilian Bananas, Baked Eggplant Parmesan (mixture of this and this recipe), Somalian Fataa'ir Farmaajo and Barooddo Qudaar, Portobello Burgers and homemade pesto, Stir fried tofu with yellow curry powder, Okra Gumbo with Chickpeas and Kidney Beans, African Peanut Soup and Fufu, Vegetable Lasagna, Quinoa Bugers with Homade Rolls, German Chocolate Cake, Miles ran - 609.20 Facebook and Twitter time = 0 minutes Books Read - The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter, The Other by David Guterson, The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf by John Muir, currently reading The Wilderness World of John Muir edited by Edwin Way Teale and loving it! Nights camped - 2 Ice fails - 1 Items dispersed - 49 Hours volunteered - 24.25 Piping Hours - 6 For those of you that played instruments when you were younger, I'm sure you can relate when I say I can't count the amount of times that I looked at a piano and said, "man, I wish I could still play." While creating my list last year I considered the topic of music, should it be something I give up? If we are talking about the newest Justin Bieber album, well sure, I should probably give it up. In general though music has been providing happiness and has enriched culture for thousands of years, so time to get back at it. In deciding what instrument to play I picked one that has always intrigued me. Playing this instrument it is recommended to take a two step approach. Below is the smaller/beginner version of the instrument that I have purchased and will begin with this week. Should I find myself as fond of it as I believe than hopefully later on down the road I will be able to purchase the real thing. Anybody have any guesses as to what it is? End of Week Update
The instrument to the left is called a practice chanter! It is the second step to starting to play the bagpipes. The first step is to buy all of your roommates ear plugs. Much of my interest in this instrument comes from Rob Deane, a piper I met in college that would always accompany the football crowd on the march to Lane Stadium, it was my favorite part of the whole day if I got to run into him on the way. The first week has gone very slowly, working on scales, correct finger placement and hand positioning. Its been a get to know you type of session blowing out squeaky notes, trying to relearn how to read music and trying not feel overwhelmed or like I'm not getting anywhere at all. I've picked Amazing Grace as the first song that I will try to learn. Like most hobbies it is going to be most important to remember over the next few weeks that the more I practice the easier things will become and the more gains I will start seeing. End of Week 34 Totals Soda - 0 ounces Water - 122.86 Gallons Liquor - 0 shots Tea - 434 cups Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1) $ to support neighbors = $640.95 Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips Breakfasts eaten - 189 Pushups - 1260 Crunches - 1140 Days Flossed - 173 (missed two days) Coffee - 0 cups Sunrises attended - 25 Beers drunk - 0 Gallons of Trash Collected - 602 Items planted -12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache, 30 sensitive plants, 24 carolina reaper peppers, 12 ghost peppers, 31 scorpion peppers, 5 brussel sprouts, 12 tyria hybrid cucumbers, 14 congo watermelons, 6 hybrid prizewinner pumpkins, 45 devils tongue peppers, 14 black sea man tomatoes, 33 peruvian white lightning habaneros, 16 mammoth russian sunflowers, 30 big smile sunflowers, 100 zinnia's, 100 basil plants, 100 green onion plants, 12 chinese lanterns, 30 garden beans, a bed of mint, 50 Celosia flowers, 7 Red Maple Seeds, 30 brussel sprouts, transplant 34 pepper plants, transplant 13 sensitive plants and 3 watermelon plants, transplant 15 pepper plants and 6 sensitive plants, transplant 21 pepper plants, 12 sorrel seeds, 50 cilantro seeds, 50 sorrel seeds, Letters written - 20 Meat eaten - none Donations made - Bike the US for MS, Personal Mission Trip, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Against Malaria Foundation, Deworm the World Initiative, Project Healthy Children, charity: water, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, YMCA Thrift Store, Volunteered at Plenty!, Against Malaria Foundation, Food supplies to Plenty! food pantry, Deworm the World Initiative, Edisto Island Preservation Alliance, Edisto Island Land Trust, Adopt-a-Nest Sea Turtle Program, Wikipedia Movies watched - 0 Glasses of wine - 0 New dishes cooked - Vegetable Korma, Ukranian Vinaigrette, Lamb's Quarters Quiche, Thai Spicy Eggplant with Sweet Basil and a side of Bean Sprout Salad with Peanut Chili Dressing, Pan Bagnat with grilled peppers and basil vinaigrette and a side of Classic Gougères, Vegetarian Feijoada and Brazilian Bananas, Baked Eggplant Parmesan (mixture of this and this recipe), Somalian Fataa'ir Farmaajo and Barooddo Qudaar, Portobello Burgers and homemade pesto, Stir fried tofu with yellow curry powder, Okra Gumbo with Chickpeas and Kidney Beans, African Peanut Soup and Fufu, Vegetable Lasagna, Quinoa Bugers with Homade Rolls, Miles ran - 593.8 Facebook and Twitter time = 0 minutes Books Read - The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter, The Other by David Guterson, The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf by John Muir, currently reading The Wilderness World of John Muir edited by Edwin Way Teale and loving it! Nights camped - 2 Ice fails - 1 Items dispersed - 42 Hours volunteered - 19.25 Piping Hours - 3 There are plenty of arguments out there supporting the idea that high fructose corn syrup is unhealthy. Rather than getting into a bunch of supportive arguments about whether it is or not there is one thing for certain and there is one thing that I feel uncertain about. The one thing that is certain is that our country as a whole consumes too much sugar and this has caused increases in health problems such as diabetes and obesity. High fructose corn syrup is a contributor to this and as a consumer for the rest of the year I am going to hold myself responsible not to have any more. In the end what companies (such as Welch's along with many others) produce depends on what people buy. The one thing that I feel uncertain about is corn. Corn has been mutilated genetically and transformed into a staple crop in our diets. What makes me uneasy is that our bodies were never meant to digest all of corn. It seems much more logical (especially as a vegetarian) to ingest foods that our bodies will benefit 100% from during digestion. I'll soon be reading the Omnivore's Dilemna to help form my opinion about the matter but starting this week no more high fructose corn syrup for the rest of 2014. End of Week Update
I was well aware that this ingredient was in A LOT of things in the grocery store. I was not aware that it was in just about everything at the grocery store. I made some veggie burgers and went to the store to get some buns and yes the ingredients listed on the back included high fructose corn syrup. Most of my trips to the grocery store now take a little longer due to the fact that I now check the label on just about everything I pick up. If I haven't left the store in ten minutes with a look of horror on my face then I probably am still in shock or asking an employee for a chair so I won't get weary reading over the extensive list of ingredients on a package of cinnamon rolls. To put these little breakfast treats into perspective, homemade ones use an average of about ten ingredients. Yeast, milk, flour, sugar, butter, salt, cinnamon, etc. . . All things we've heard of right? We picked up a package in the store and it would have taken an assembly of chemistry professors to figure out the 40-50 different items listed on the back. I wouldn't be surprised if those babies could outlast the person eating them as far as shelf life is concerned. IN OTHER NEWS this week, I have now quit both of my jobs. This was something that I wanted to make a goal this year but was not sure I would have the will to do it. In the end it appears that with all the other changes that I have undertaken that this became necessary. I like to look at work sort of how I look at sleep. If you are going to sleep 8 hours a day, then you should have a comfy bed in a clean room so you can start your day feeling good. If you are going to work 8 hours a day (A LOT OF YOUR LIFE) then you darned well better be in a happy, healthy environment where you can learn something new and keep your brain engaged. That is 16 hours of your day! Make em count! End of Week 33 Totals Soda - 0 ounces Water - 119.17 Gallons Liquor - 0 shots Tea - 420 cups Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1) $ to support neighbors = $601.60 Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips Breakfasts eaten - 182 Pushups - 1240 Crunches - 1120 Days Flossed - 166 (missed two days) Coffee - 0 cups Sunrises attended - 24 Beers drunk - 0 Gallons of Trash Collected - 568 Items planted -12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache, 30 sensitive plants, 24 carolina reaper peppers, 12 ghost peppers, 31 scorpion peppers, 5 brussel sprouts, 12 tyria hybrid cucumbers, 14 congo watermelons, 6 hybrid prizewinner pumpkins, 45 devils tongue peppers, 14 black sea man tomatoes, 33 peruvian white lightning habaneros, 16 mammoth russian sunflowers, 30 big smile sunflowers, 100 zinnia's, 100 basil plants, 100 green onion plants, 12 chinese lanterns, 30 garden beans, a bed of mint, 50 Celosia flowers, 7 Red Maple Seeds, 30 brussel sprouts, transplant 34 pepper plants, transplant 13 sensitive plants and 3 watermelon plants, transplant 15 pepper plants and 6 sensitive plants, transplant 21 pepper plants, 12 sorrel seeds, 50 cilantro seeds, Letters written - 19 Meat eaten - none Donations made - Bike the US for MS, Personal Mission Trip, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Against Malaria Foundation, Deworm the World Initiative, Project Healthy Children, charity: water, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, YMCA Thrift Store, Volunteered at Plenty!, Against Malaria Foundation, Food supplies to Plenty! food pantry, Deworm the World Initiative, Edisto Island Preservation Alliance, Edisto Island Land Trust, Adopt-a-Nest Sea Turtle Program, Movies watched - 0 Glasses of wine - 0 New dishes cooked - Vegetable Korma, Ukranian Vinaigrette, Lamb's Quarters Quiche, Thai Spicy Eggplant with Sweet Basil and a side of Bean Sprout Salad with Peanut Chili Dressing, Pan Bagnat with grilled peppers and basil vinaigrette and a side of Classic Gougères, Vegetarian Feijoada and Brazilian Bananas, Baked Eggplant Parmesan (mixture of this and this recipe), Somalian Fataa'ir Farmaajo and Barooddo Qudaar, Portobello Burgers and homemade pesto, Stir fried tofu with yellow curry powder, Okra Gumbo with Chickpeas and Kidney Beans, African Peanut Soup and Fufu, Vegetable Lasagna, Miles ran - 559.0 Facebook and Twitter time = 0 minutes Books Read - The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter, The Other by David Guterson, The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf by John Muir, currently reading The Wilderness World of John Muir edited by Edwin Way Teale and loving it! Nights camped - 2 Ice fails - 1 Items dispersed - 35 Hours volunteered - 14.75 |