28 October 2012

GMO Foods & Labeling


I have not given a whole lot of thought to this topic for a number of reasons. First, humans have been genetically modifying foods and animals since time began. Breeding only sheep that produce lots of wool. Breeding dogs for their looks or their tendencies. Breeding corn so it would last long, resist bugs, grow in winter, etc. As a scientist I see that we have always been modifying plants and animals. Humans modify everything they can. So that was my thoughts, we are not doing anything new at all.

What bothers me is why would the companies that do this not want to label it? That immediately raises a red flag in my mind. If you are not doing anything underhanded or anything that you wouldn't publicly talk about, why are you doing it? That's what bothers me. In what ways are you modifying this food and why is it such a secret???

As I make my way towards health and fitness I find this troubling. If I'm eating a tomato, I want to know it's only a tomato. I want to know that it's not loaded with chemicals and antibiotics and other nonsense. I buy most of my produce at a farmer's market or our local market that buys local produce, so I'm not too terribly worried about it. I'm also slowly making my way towards organic food, but it's a slow process convincing my husband that it's worth the extra money. He looks only at the money.

Anyway, in spite of being a scientist and not being against GMO foods, I am against people trying to hide things. So I think everyone should support Prop 37 in California. If California starts labeling GMO's the rest of the country will follow. And while I'm not against GMO's just to be against them, information is power and the more information the better.

Just One Day


In April of 2011 I came up with an idea that worked really well for awhile. I called it Just One Day. I would set goals or challenge myself for Just One Day. It worked really well for a while until I took it to extremes like I always do. But I think it's time to bring it back. I need to not look at the big picture -YET- and just focus on getting my good habits back. So, for now, I will do things Just One Day at a time.

Today I will eat Paleo all day. I want to do it for Just One Day to give it a serious try. There is a challenge starting on Thursday and I need to register on Tuesday so I need to decide if I can do it for a month. So for Just One Day I will do this.

Day 1 of serious tracking


I decided if I'm going to make a serious effort at this tracking, I need to be very, very honest and upfront about it. I also need to hold myself accountable not only for what I eat but also for not getting crazy about the numbers. If I look objectively at what I eat every day, I should be able to maintain some clear headedness and some focus.

So let's start with yesterday. Above is my day from Fat Secret. In an aside, I found this tracking tool to be the best. I have tried them all and I really like Fat Secret. It's easy to use, it has a huge database of food, and it's easily customizable. Having said that, here is what I did yesterday.

  • Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with cheese and a cup of coffee.  I was unbelievably hungry when I got up and could not wait to have breakfast. After eating this I was satisfied but not full. By the time I got to Crossfit I was starting to get hungry again. 
  • Lunch: 1 hot dog on a bun with mustard and some jalapeno pop chips. I did not eat this until almost 1:30 and my blood sugar had bottomed out. After Crossfit I wasn't that hungry so I drank a Snapple Iced Tea and considered it a snack. It worked. Unfortunately, after that strenous workout having only sugar was not the best idea. When my blood sugar bottomed out I needed something fast and a hot dog was the fastest thing I could find. After I ate this I felt stuffed and exhausted. I ended up lying down and napping on the couch. 
  • Dinner: Chicken thighs fried in olive oil with garlic, peppers, onions. Add Italian seasoning and some pasta and enjoy. This is one of my most favorite dishes ever. It's simple, quick, and healthy. After the lunch fiasco, I was determined to straighten out my eating. So I made this and ate it. I greatly enjoyed it, I felt very full but not stuffed and by the time I went to bed I could tell things were right in my body again. 
  • Snack: I already talked about the Snapple. Also over the course of the day I ate a bunch of Reese's Minis. I would eat them 2 or 3 at a time, so I'm thinking I probably only ate about 1 serving size. 
Total Calories for the day: 1765 Fat: 49% Protein 18% Carbs 33%  Not the best numbers ever but not as bad as they could have been. Time to move on.




Conversation with Hubby

 So yesterday morning I presented my idea of working out at home to the Hubby. Once I presented it to him, he said he was in. I told him I h...