Health kicks
July 7th, 2008
It’s been a few days since we last posted and I have to say that I feel better for it!
We decided that seeing our friends in America were celebrating a long weekend that we would take this time to relax and not work. I must say that recharging your batteries is something I highly recommend. I think that we, like our computers need to be powered down every now and then!
I woke up Saturday morning with a head cold and although I sounded snuffly, I felt really well. I half expected that I would have the cold for the mandatory week, that seems to be the rule of thumb with colds in my experience.
Surprisingly though, by around 7.00pm my blocked nose had cleared and that heavy feeling you get in your head was gone.
I can’t be certain but I believe that changes in my diet recently may have helped, generally I feel so much better and I really kicked that cold’s butt on Saturday.
So here is what I’ve done. I’m eating at least three meals per week containing no meat at all, just lots of veggies. I’m now eating more beans in my diet on a regular basis including garbanzo and kidney beans along with barley, split peas and lentils. It’s easy enough to include these if you make your own soups but there are plenty of dishes out there that call for some or all of these.
Juice, I am drinking grape and orange juices now on a regular basis. Water is also essential.
Red meat used to be something I’d consume probably 3 or 4 nights per week. Now I eat 1 serving a week and to be honest, I could live without it.
I still enjoy chicken and there are plenty of healthy, low fat recipes out there to keep me satisfied.
Fish, well I need to eat more. I am not a huge seafood fan but on the weekend my partner managed to convince me to try sardines. Surprisingly, I enjoyed them. That is great news because sardines are great for your omega-3 fatty acids and iron. We are now going to eat these at least twice a week as a snack.
No junk/fast food. We don’t eat much junk food actually so no change here really. This was partly lifestyle choice but also our concerns over what is actually in the food being manufactured along with conservation issues. Some products use palm oil which is having a devastating impact on wildlife including orangutans. For those interested to learn which companies are using palm oil, check out the Palm Oil Action Group. This is a win, win if you decide to stop buying these products, you help yourself and send a strong message to companies turning a blind eye to the plight of wildlife over profits.
Our vegetable budget has definitely gone up but the amount we spend on buying meat has dropped considerably so I don’t think our costs have gone up as a result of our diet changes.
We are very fortunate to have a quality local vegetable market down the road and buy all our fruit and veg there. I think I might hunt around for vegetable markets including farmer direct initiatives and post them here for those wanting to find alternatives to buying their fruit and veg from supermarkets. Given that so many supermarket chains sell produce that is old, like 6 months old in some cases, I think it’s much better to try and source locally grown produce if you can. It’s just another way to help yourself by buying quality foods and supporting your local growers..another win, win!
It’s all good!
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