Changing the way America eats

It’s that time of year again!  It’s ten days into 2013 and people everywhere are biting their nails and wishing for that one cigarette, that one beer, that ONE MORE GORDITA. Grrr.

I stopped making actual resolutions a few years ago when I realized that nothing I do is ever within a particular time frame.  Even with writing that sentence, I realize that I only have four months and two days to accomplish many of the goals on my “30 before 30 list!”  Upon looking at that list, I realize there is no chance for many of those goals to happen just because my priorities in life have COMPLETELY changed.

2012 brought forth a lot of changes in my life that mostly revolved around my visit to Europe in April.  While I was there, I got to experience how other countries are run.  The biggest difference that changed my prospective was the European food system.  The food was REAL.  People in Europe weren’t hobbling down the street in pants with an elastic waistband and I didn’t see a single billboard telling me to “Get hot.  Get fit. Get the elastic band” once!  I also didn’t eat a single tum while I was there nor did I once feel that I ate too much.

Unfortunately I had to come home after my three glorious weeks of country hopping and was immediately thrown back into my typical American way of life.  I drove the mile to the grocery store and I drank 32 oz. of soda as one serving.  As I continued to observe the rest of my fellow Americans live their lives in similar manners, I realized a few things.   I am truly the only one accountable for my unhealthy weight but I feel that if I lived in a country that didn’t make being unhealthy so easy, perhaps myself and the 65%+ of Americans wouldn’t be as overweight as we are.

Check out this awesome graph I found from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

It’s interesting that I base this comparison off my time in Europe since many of their countries are on this graph too.  The graph also fails to show the countries of Naura at 94.5% and Tonga at 90.8% of overweight population,  according to this article that quoted the now deleted Guardian survey. But the point is, America is covered with opportunities to being fat by the need for convenience of transportation and our food.   Who wants to spend time growing and preparing their own food in a garden when they can easily drive to the store down the street, buy lettuce chopped up and ready for us in a bag with dressing, croutons, cheese, and even dried sugary cranberries with only the effort of prying apart two thin sheets of plastic?

I do.  I know that I definitely do.  Being able to sustainably grow my own food is one of my most important life requirements.  That reason is exactly why I have chosen to spend 2013 making this the year that I learn skills that I can use for the rest of my life.  I’ll spend my three months of summer back in Europe learning the ways of the farm through WWOOFing, shoveling compost under the hot Portugal sun, and making the fat that has been hanging from my arms for 15 years slowly melt away like butter on a hot potato.

I shall return to this country of ours and do what I can to encourage people to start making the change from processed crap to whole foods that came from the ground, not the grocer.   I really want to use my education in agriculture to help make the changes that I think are necessary for our American citizens to live a healthy and sustainable earth.   So many of us are just so used to the way we have been doing things and then are still times when I find people who won’t eat “organic food” just because they don’t know what organic actually means.  I hope I’m able to work more with community gardens and organizations like Petaluma Bounty, that help provide produce for people in need.

You all will be stoked to know that I managed to lose 3 pounds this year already, as I am back on the weight loss wagon and working hard to stick to eating only whole foods.  I also finally utilized my free three months at 24 hour Fitness and have been going MILES while staying in the same place quite a few times now! Haha!

Gotta love cat memes.

I however still need to drop another 3 pounds to get back down to where I was before the holidays.  I bet within  the next two weeks I’ll get back down there and probably even lower than December!  Alyssa and I are both in a weight loss competition that the lovely KJpugs started so that’s helping me stay motivated besides the strong yearning I have to drop some serious pounds before my trip.

I hope you all have had a great year so far and thanks for reading!

Peace and monkeys,