Food, Inc.

Has anyone seen the documentary called Food, Inc? Taylor and I just watched it this morning for the first time and it was fascinating. It went into detail about the Food Industry and the "veil" that is pulled over our eyes to keep us from knowing what really goes on to bring food to the grocery stores, fast food chains, etc. All I can say is GROSS. Please find it and watch it, I think it is so important that we know what bad things we are putting into our bodies without even knowing it. If you have Netflix you can watch it online. It's some serious stuff.

Happy Meal?

So a little while ago I posted about the experiment we were going to do with Happy Meals. We started it a few weeks late but it seems to be producing the same results as others have gotten. Nothing's happening to it, it's just drying out and getting stale-looking. I've come up with a few thoughts on it though. The problem with leaving it out where air can get to it is that it just dries it out. And isn't moisture the key to producing mold, etc? Well at some point we're going to try this test again but put it in a sealed container and see what happens with the highly processed food, compared to say a home-made hamburger. We'll try to keep you posted.

Getting on the ball!

Back in high school I found this exercise video at the Provo Library after getting my own exercise ball. After using it for a few weeks I felt GREAT and noticed good results. Two years later when Taylor and I were engaged I found it on Amazon.com and purchased it. Since then I've used it whenever I've felt like my body needs some extra strengthening. I should probably use it a lot more than I do but I am thankful for it whenever I actually get myself to use it. I'm about to go do it right now and that's what sparked my desire to blog about it. It's just a good way to strengthen your muscles and get yourself to feel good. Thanks for listening. :)

Not-so-Happy Meals

This is for everyone out there who eats, see's others eat and/or who's heard of McDonald's. So, basically everyone. Taylor found this on Yahoo news and he called me and had me read it. It is fascinating. Now I don't want to sound like a hypocrite, I eat fast food every once in a while and may even enjoy the occasional hamburger from one of the main fast food chains but in the end do I ever feel well after? I won't feel like going for a three mile run, that's for sure. And even if I don't feel too bad physically I don't feel like giving myself a pat on the back. Most of us already know what fast food does to our bodies and this article gives a perfect example of why the stuff really should be avoided. Sally Davies conducted an experiment by leaving out a Happy Meal to see how long it would hold up before molding, decomposing, etc. Here are two photos taken, one back in April when she first laid out the food, and the second 6 months later.
I don't know if I would have been able to identify which is which.

Here is a link for the whole article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101012/bs_yblog_upshot/mcdonalds-happy-meal-resists-decomposition-for-six-months

Taylor and I will be conducting our own Happy Meal test beginning today so if you want updates just check out this blog.

If you want any more motivation to stay away from fast food, try watching Super Size Me. It's a documentary written and directed by Morgan Spurlock who takes on the challenge to eat only McDonald's food for one whole month. It made me never want a fast food meal ever again.

I feel quite passionate about this topic and I think it is because I feel so strongly that the happiness and peace of Americans are crumbling because of such bad health. I could go into so much more BUT I will spare whoever is reading this. If you do feel like listening to more of my thoughts on this topic, I'm sure there will be more in future posts. I hope you find the info as fascinating and motivating as I did. :)

New Motivation

Yesterday was my 22nd birthday and my hubby and his family surprised me with gifts to boost my motivation to exercise. I'd been wanting running stuff for who knows how long but it's just one of those things where I have a hard time spending the money for. Finally I have actual RUNNING clothes and will no longer have to run in holey scrubs and other old things. They're the activewear brand Lucy and super nice.

I also got a really nice ipod holder that goes on my arm, AND the Nike+ SportBand, which is the chip that goes in the shoe and the watch/band that goes on the wrist. It'll track how far I've gone, how many calories I've burned, etc. I've wanted that for a long time too.

And on top of that my amazing husband bought me brand new really awesome Nike running shoes, which are so much better than I had. The Nike LunarElite+. Happiness.

What a fun surprise it was! I was always mentioning to Taylor how bad I needed real running clothes. He and the family sure went the extra mile! Thank you Taylor, Mom (and Dad, Morg, and Slade), Tammy, Galen, Jonathan, Adam, Hannah, Thomas and Mercedes! I love you guys! And I can't wait to work out!

DAGOBA Organic Chocolate.

For all you chocolate lovers out there, here's a yummy treat. Those of you who don't know, I LOVE chocolate and can't seem to get enough of it. Because of my intense love for chocolate I am trying to be more conscious about other aspects besides how amazingly wonderful it tastes. For example, I mostly love milk chocolate and haven't really cared much for dark. Dark chocolate however, has a higher percentage of cacao.

According to Wikipedia, "Chocolate and cocoa contain a high level of flavonoids, specifically epicatechin, which may have beneficial cardiovascular effects on health."

"Prolonged intake of flavonol-rich cocoa has been linked to cardiovascular health benefits, though it should be noted that this refers to raw cocoa and to a lesser extent, dark chocolate, since flavonoids degrade during cooking and alkalizing processes. Studies have found short term benefits in LDL cholesterol levels from dark chocolate consumption. The addition of whole milk to milk chocolate reduces the overall cocoa content per ounce while increasing saturated fat levels, possibly negating some of cocoa's heart-healthy potential benefits."

My mom loves dark chocolate and I remember how she would sometimes carry a dark chocolate Dagoba bar in her purse and pull it out whenever time called for it. I was thinking about this yesterday as I was heading to the health food store and decided I would like to follow in her steps and keep a bar of dark chocolate in my purse. I've had a few pieces and I'm starting to appreciate the flavor.

For more information on DAGOBA organic chocolate, check out their website! http://www.dagobachocolate.com/

And here's a little artwork I did to show my appreciation for chocolate. (There's a bit of a glare on the paint). They're hanging above our kitchen. :)

Thanks mom, for giving me a love for CHOCOLATE. :)

The health of America

Have any of you heard of the book The Crazy Makers by Carol Simontacchi? Well my grandma Slade had it on a night stand at her house when we visited her last summer and Taylor picked it up and started reading bits of it to me. Later we ordered our own copy and I'm just now reading it. I'm only at the beginning but let me just tell you, it is fascinating. It's all about how the food industry in America and the diet of America are slowly ruining the health of our brains. We are becoming more aware of what bad diet is doing to our bodies but have we really thought about what all of the chemicals, additives and just poor diet are doing to our minds? The first chapter labeled Our Food and Suffering talks about the increase in mental illnesses among the new generations and why this is so. Below are a few quotes I added from the book.

"Over the past century, the American food culture has gone through a transformation so pervasive and enormous that we have almost completely lost sight of what constitutes a normal diet. In our quest for convenience and shift in culture and priorities, we have pushed aside the notion that the purpose of eating is to provide energy for our day-to-day activities and to maintain the structure of our changing bodies and brains."

"Until the past few decades (since man started tampering with the food supply), we ate what nature provided, grew healthy brains, and never gave it another thought."

"Our new foods, however, are altering the ability of our brains to think. They are altering both the structure and function of our physical brains, leaving us less able to cope with stress and more susceptible to the forms of mental illness..."

Just like the explosion of physical illness, mental illness is becoming a plague of its own, all because of the chemicals we consume daily with the normal "American diet." As our bodies are polluted and become sick so do our minds, affecting the way we think, feel and perceive life. I know from personal experience and I'm sure that most people have felt the difference between how they feel when they are making a conscious effort to eat fruits, vegetables, protein and whole grains. Just interesting! Stay tuned, I'll post more about the book after I read some more. :)