Thank You, Jamie

I normally avoid online petitions and the like, but this is one that I could not ignore. Getting a Kitchen Garden at The White House was another.

I was only able to catch one of Jamie's TV shows so far, but what he is trying to do seems to follow along the lines of what I have been reading from Michael Pollan. I applaud them for trying to make a difference, but the pessimist in me believes there is no way to get through to the American people as a whole. We want cheap. We want easy. We want a lot of it. That's the American way, right? Well, hopefully not for everyone.

I have been doing my best to follow along and eat very well. In the words of Michael Pollan "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." I have found that changing the way I eat is not all that hard as I had a pretty good basis of understanding going into it, and make minor changes as I am going along. One simple example is oatmeal. I enjoy oatmeal, but had become spoiled with buying organic pre-packaged, single-servings. These are loaded with sugar. Organic sugar, but sugar I don't need. So, I went to our local health food store (I hate to call it that, but that's the best description I can come up with) and purchased organic oatmeal sold in bulk. I scooped a bunch into a bag and at $1.54/pound I got quite a bit amounting to around $2.50. This will last me quite a while, even if I have some everyday. To add a touch of sweet to it, I use a dribble of agave nectar that I also purchased there. So far, so yummy.



Processed food products are addictive. Like cocaine addictive I guess. I have found it fairly easy to avoid the really bad things - cakes, cookies, pastries, bread (read the label sometime!), etc by simply looking at it as pure poison. Another process I use for these poisonous treats is, if I don't know where it came from (cake, brownie, etc), I imagine a 'cook' with unclean hands or poor hygiene. As a rule, if I don't know where it came from, it does not go in my mouth. Two things that are rather difficult for me to replace are corn chips (I try to buy ones that don't have too many ingredients) and other chips, but I think I am getting a handle on those. It's a process.

And it doesn't have to be about money. The fact is we eat too much, so spending more on healthier foods and eating less is not that hard.

The batch of granola I made - my second attempt - is by far the best. I added a good sprinkle of cinnamon to the mix and it makes it all the better. And no preservatives makes me a happy camper.

When I finally start running seriously again (this week, perhaps?) I will be interested to see how I do with eating. I was accustomed to taking a run or having a work out and then having any number of protein shakes or meal replacement drinks. Then I looked at the ingredients lists. Why on EARTH would I want to put that crap in my body anymore? I only hope that whatever damage I have done after many years of thinking I was eating correctly, and years before that of not eating well at all (cheap and easy) can be corrected.

Okay. Enough of that, for now.