Your Life Is Important to Me

Keeping Robynn's Ravings separate from 30 Day Throw Down! is my way of addressing two very important aspects of my life: humor and eating to optimize health and weight. The second of these isn't always funny. Well, the first isn't either. I have no idea what I'm talking about. Nevertheless, today my blogs must intersect.

Like all areas of our lives, things cross over sometimes. Your talk-til-you-drop pesky neighbor starts shopping at the same grocery store you do so you drive 40 miles to the next town to avoid hour-long conversations about her colonoscopy, with photos. Oh wait, maybe that's just me.

Today's info on 30 Day is SO VITAL to your well being that I have to send you there. PLEASE go. Never come by again if you don't want to but know I care about you and want you to thrive. Besides, who will comment if something happens to you? See? Altruism positively drips from me.

It will take about 10 minutes. And you can sit down and have a cup of coffee. Call it a prescription from the Village Medicine Woman. But please take this SHORT ten minutes, including the video, for yourself. If you have or know anyone who has suffered from heart attack, stroke, cancer, diabetes, or asthma it may be the best ten minutes you'll spend in the blogosphere. AND NO, I'm not selling ANYTHING because I don't have anything to sell. Except my old gym suit from junior high school. But I can't even sell that because it's my proof I was once skinny. So there you go.

And speaking of health.......

I wanted to give you all an update on my stepfather.
I have been spending most of my time at the hospital and must apologize again for not visiting you all. I miss our visits. They brighten my day. But there are only so many hours. We spent about five of them yesterday in two meetings with the funeral home.

He is down to his final hours, maybe days, and plans must be in place. Very surreal and macabre to sit with a funeral director in a convalescent hospital while your loved one is just down the hall. I almost threw up. But that wouldn't be fair to my mother who has to do this AND lose her spouse. So I perspired profusely instead. And twisted my hands. And sighed way too often, though involuntarily.

My blogs keep me connected to something other than death and difficulty right now, though finding the time to be here is hard. THANK YOU for caring and dropping in. Watching end-of-life issues makes a person even more committed to caring about health while we still have choices. Please eat well, visit 30 Day, and take care of yourselves.

With Love,

Robynn

Photo source: Internet Images

© 2009

An Interview With Our Winner – Joolzmac!

Unbelieveable soup recipe currently up on the 30 Day Throw Down blog. I call it Magic Soup. Feel free to kiss me for it the next time you see me. I kissed myself in the mirror just this morning. But it was after I brushed my teeth.

As many of you know, I started the 30 Day Throw Down blog on September 1st of this year. The purpose was to change habits that might be leading to less than optimum health, or at least the best health we can attain. We did that by eliminating fast food and highly processed foods for the first 30 days, and then continuing on as we added exercise beginning October 1st. We will continue in these 30 day increments keeping the new habits going and adding others each month. There are no hard and fast rules. Everyone works at his or her own pace and does the best they can. Mostly it’s about learning to eat REAL FOOD and keeping an awareness that food is fuel and you can feed or harm yourself through your choices. And when it has been chemically treated, adulterated and refined, changed through genetic modification (GMO), or sourced from animals living in unnatural conditions and fed a diet far removed from what God intended, it can have seriously detrimental affects on our health.

So we strive to eat REAL FOOD. That means food like your grandparents ate. Some are watching portions to lose weight, others strive to optimize health or recover from illness. But none of us do it perfectly. We are simply working at positive changes, knowing each one makes a difference. You can jump in and join anytime. Simply start with the first 30 Day focus of eliminating fast food and highly processed food. We will all learn together as we go along and encourage each other. Next month we’ll be looking at labels and what they mean, along with more info on food, recipes, and exercise.

And trust me, the exercise one is the toughest for me by far. I’m having a rough time fitting it in to what feels like a very packed schedule. I’m TRYING. And that’s what this is about. DO NOT THINK you have to work this perfectly to hang out with us. But come and be encouraged to feed and care for the only body you have.

And as a kickoff last month, I ran a contest for a $100 Amazon Gift Card. Our winner was Joolzmac at Simply Joolz, from the land down under. She brought the goodness of Australia to us with her delicious menus and beautiful presentations. I also promised the winner an interview here and I’m glad you get to meet her. I hope you’ll drop in to her blog and say hello!

So without further ado, I’ll let Joolz speak for herself.

1. How did you hear about the 30 Day Throw Down?

I think you commented on one of my posts or on another blog and then I went to Robynn’s Ravings for a look-see. I was hooked!

2. What made you want to jump in with us?

I think because it was going to be the first day of Spring on Sept 1, (Joolz is in Australia) and it seemed like the ideal time to start a healthy eating plan. I referred to it as my LIVEit not my DIEt. Everything that you said made perfect sense to me and it was empowering and encouraging. I chose to go the low fat/sugar healthy eating road where others may have just embraced eating whole foods, grains, nuts, organic vegetables. Market fresh produce is not hugely available in our area so I had to rely on our stupid-markets. Don’t get me wrong, we still have fresh fruit and veg but the apples may have been picked 6 months ago and have been in cold storage and the carrots, well they probably can’t remember that dirty brown stuff they grew in. We have always used low fat, skim milk and low fat cheese so I didn’t start eating whole milk and full fat cheese. I ‘threw down’ cheese that was processed and wrapped in single plastic wrappers, stuff like that.

3. How did the first phase - leaving fast food and highly processed food behind - work for you?

We are not huge junk food eaters in our house anyway. Living in a small town of 5,000 people, we have a Red Rooster chicken takeaway (blech! don't go there, girlfriend!), a locally owned Chicken takeaway (hmmm, yep, yummy!), 2 pizza bars and a Chinese/Thai take-way and a couple of fish and chip shops but we don’t have McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc. etc. McDonalds, KFC and Hungry Jacks are 50kms away.

4. Did your family join you or did you do it on your own?

Neither Angus or Brianna need to lose weight but they certainly ate what I cooked. Angus likes to eat healthy anyway and Brianna has to have what we have or she doesn’t get fed. Breakfast is a personal choice and Angus always has cereal and fruit, juice, tea and toast. Always! Bri is more likely to eat a muffin heated up, or a …. chocolate cup cake heated up…. or a chocolate fudge brownie heated up…there’s a bit of work for me to do there! I always make/take Angus his lunch so usually it is a bread roll with meat (ham, beef, or turkey) and salad in it, a tub of yoghurt and an apple or banana. He is a healthy boy and only drinks water, no soft drinks (soda). In Australia we have things called meat pies and meat and vegetable pasties – very convenient food that you buy at the bakery in a paper bag. You push it to the top of the paper bag (hopefully it has tomato sauce (ketchup) on it and you can eat it – while walking, driving your car, watching the footy etc. Angus would not consider having a pie or pasty for lunch. I, on the other hand, love to do this. I also love small goods – salami, hot dogs, cabanossi, pepperoni. Junk food alert!! Please pass the carrot sticks! Where are my prunes?

5. What were your challenges?

The biggest challenge was being prepared and organized all the time. It’s easy to make a healthy lunch if there is the right food in the fridge. If there isn’t, that’s where bad alternatives sneak in. Into the 3rd week, I started to forget to cut up my fruit for fruit salad(melons, strawberries, apples, banana) so by the fourth week, I was only eating 1 banana a day instead of about 3 serves of fruit. I still haven’t had any real junk food (purchased) but I did have some ‘naughty’ food at the engagement party we went to. Not much, but some.

6. Do you think this has made you think more about caring for your body and your health?

Definitely! I am 45 years old and the kilos are creeping on and I have proved that they are very hard to budge at this age. Low fat, simple whole food is almost a necessity to maintain good health at this age. Exercise is harder because we are not as nimble as those 20 year olds, bouncing around at the gym. My joints creak and ache now so I probably have arthritis to look forward to later in life – I need to keep the weight off and keep my body moving to help in that area. I walk 5 kms, 5 days a week, rain, hail or shine and this definitely keeps my knees joints strong (I wear elastic knee braces on both for support) plus it’s good to get some fresh air in your lungs, feel the rain on your face (?) and feel the sun on your back (at 6am....pffft!). I have just bought a pedometer and some hand weights to strengthen my upper body.

7. Did you feel any better or are you noticing differences?

I do feel better. Although the scales said I only lost 1.5 kgs in the 30 days, I could notice a difference around my under-arms, my thighs and I lost a bit of my double-chin...I think! I need to do some tummy tightening exercises to tone up but, yup, I hate doing crunches etc. But I NEED to!

8. What tips would you offer that were helpful to you?

Planning is key – have good food on hand otherwise it is too easy to grab takeaway. At the same time, make sure you have a variety of options for lunches – I found salad rolls etc get very boring after about 2 weeks. Look for other things to have as a light meal. Take healthy snacks with you – a small zip-lock bag of pretzels or 10 rice crackers to munch on while your waiting to pick the kids up (better than a chocolate bar), bananas and apples are very portable for snacking, keep a bottle of water always on hand. Find time to think about and prepare your food – I let half a pineapple and half a watermelon go to waste in the fridge because I couldn’t be bothered cutting them up, but I ate bananas because they are convenient and ready to go. Find recipes that you know you will like. Don’t try and eat foods you don’t like, just because they are healthy. I will not touch cottage cheese even if you tell me it is good for me! Yuck! The internet is a fantastic resource for low fat recipes, go buy some cook books and ask you friends what they like to eat when they are weight watching. Try to modify your favourite recipes by cutting down on the fat and sugar content. You can do a stir fry in a wok with 2 teaspoons of oil instead of 2 tablespoons – you won’t notice the difference when you are eating it. If a cake says to use 1 cup of sugar, try using ½ or ¾ of a cup instead. The kids will never know! Get into a routine that suits you and your family. I usually walk at 6am, home at 7am, pack Bri’s lunch box then Brianna is on the bus at 7.30am. I do a bit of housework then eat my breakfast at 8.30 and read the paper, after Angus has gone to work. My morning is then my own for other chores, then I shower and get ready for work by 10.30am. Any variation to this and I find I don’t eat breakfast then I’m hungry mid morning etc. It’s okay to use some processed foods – tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, stock powder.

9. Would you mind sharing a few recipes or meal ideas?

I think there are quite a few recipes in my Throw Down posts. I really liked the cannelloni and Rippa Rissoles are good. I have a low fat Bolognese recipe that I will post later in the coming week.
You have a phenomenal talent for making your food look delicious. I wanted to eat at your house many times during that first 30 days! What makes that important to you? Thank you! None of my photos are really staged, I just have it in my head that I will photograph what I am cooking and I always try to plate up a meal nicely. Angus and I love watching cooking shows (probably too much!) and we have lots of cook books so I guess it just sticks in your mind how things should/could look when plated up.
What would you like to see covered in a 30 day period? I think you are on the right track with Eating Healthy and Move It! Perhaps we could discuss family hobbies and things to do together as a couple or family (although my chickens have basically flown the coop), grief and coping with death (why is it such a taboo subject when it happens to all of us eventually?), women’s health in general, coping with stress, PMT etc.

10. Any advice for someone just starting to think about healthy changes?

Say NO to HI (Human Interference) and say YES to FRESH! I didn’t really touch much on this during my 30 days but it is a good philosophy. If a human has interfered with a product to change it from it’s natural form – don’t touch it. Eg. Say NO to cheese wrapped in individual plastic portions – say YES and choose to eat a chunk of cheese of a bigger chunk of cheese (you can still choose low fat). Say no to chicken nuggets that have been minced with fat and cereal and extenders and preservatives then deep fried – say YES to a whole free range chicken breast, cut into chunks, dipped in egg, flour and bread crumbs then oven baked. Yum! Fresh squeezed juices have so many more benefits than fake reconstituted, concentrated fruit juice ‘drinks’ – cut up 2-3 chilled oranges and squeeze the juice and try for yourself. Hey, that's what orange juice should taste like! Buy a juicer and give my 2 Fruit/3 veg drink a go. Your kids will thank you!

11. Did you ever swear at me during that first month?

No, how could I swear at someone with such a sweet, smiley face....though I thought about bludgeoning you in your sleep, maybe! Just kidding! Lol! No, you really did inspire me and perhaps I’ve relaxed my eating a bit in the last week or so – but I am still not eating processed foods, my snacks are healthy (like carrot sticks and salsa, prunes, cranberry ‘craisins’, etc)and drinking water too.

Lastly, Joolz adds:

Something to think about - Why are we being forced to read ridiculous labels that nobody can understand, when the best foods in the world don’t have any labels? – Dr. John Tickell, author of The Great Australian Diet…the Atkins Alternative.

Thank you so much Robynn, it’s been fun and rewarding to do the September 30 Day Throw Down and I look forward to new, fun and interesting topics to discuss in the coming months.

___________________________________________________

Didn’t Joolz provide great information? And I LOVE her LIVEit, not DIEt. Inspired!

Want to join us? Want to be in the current month’s drawing for dinner for two to Chipotle or win one of Nina Planck’s books: REAL FOOD, or her brand new release, REAL FOOD FOR MOTHER AND BABY? Then jump in, sign up to follow the 30 Day Throw Down blog, and leave a comment saying you’re now one of us. “One of us” means you’re on a journey to health, 30 days at a time. And I’m not your skinny-mini fearless leader in any way, shape, or form. I started this because I need to do it. I’m learning and working right alongside you.

My sincere THANKS to Joolzmac!

(Photography by Bo….)

© 2009

We Have A Winner!

WHAT A MONTH! What an inspiring group of people to travel with down this road to healthier habits. I wish every one of you could win the gift card.

However, one name has been drawn and it is: JOOLZMAC!!

Joolz, congratulations to you! Please email me at robynnsravings at gmail dot com to tell me how to contact you. I will be sending this directly to you through Amazon.

(I’m sure they would have thrown this party in your honor!)

I can’t wait to interview Joolzmac and find out about her month, her challenges, her successes, and her tips.

Don’t forget, tomorrow we start our 30 Day Throw Down! exercise focus. That will look different for each one of us. Mine might be aerobic crying fits while I MAKE myself do what I need to but we’re in this together. I won’t fail you!

Be sure to enter the drawings for October by signing up to follow, if you don’t already, and sending me a comment saying you’re joining or you’re continuing. Yay for ALL of us!

Copyright 2009

Yep…..Almost

If you’ve been part of the 30 Day Throw Down! and you signed up to follow, you are entered in the drawing for the $100 Amazon Gift Card. The drawing is TOMORROW! The winner will be announced by 6:00p.m., PST. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, the 30 Day Throw Down! is about creating new habits that optimize health and, depending on how you’re fitting it into your life and working it, weight loss, too.

The program is designed to work in one-month increments for a year. Our first month focused on “throwing down” fast food and highly processed foods while reaching for REAL and WHOLE food. We have tried to make organic and locally grown choices, when possible. We will continue to leave the food behind that robs us of health and bring our new habits into our next 30 Day period. If you weren’t perfect through the first month (and who WAS? – we are all about changes and progress, NOT perfection!) you’re one of us and I encourage you to CONTINUE!

You have friends and fellow strugglers who want to jump into healthier ways of living rather than being the proverbial frog who is slowly boiled alive. Remember him? He starts off in a pan of cold water and slowly, tiny bit by tiny bit, the water is heated almost imperceptibly until it’s boiling and too late for the frog who never jumped out. We’re jumpin’ out – together!

If you weren’t ready or able to join us the first month, start with us on October 1st. I encourage you to begin with the basic first month of leaving fast-food and highly processed foods behind (you can access the archives at the 30 Day Throw Down! blog for good information and support). Since this will always run in one-month increments you can work with us from the beginning knowing we’re continuing to focus on that area, too. And although each month will feature posts about what we’re currently working on, food posts will be a consistent part because we eat every day, several times a day. We make choices about our health whenever we reach for food.

October will add the element of movement and exercise. Fall is in the air in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern. What better time to get outdoors and enjoy the weather? You can do both 30 Day periods together if you’re just joining us, but the philosophy of this program is to take one area of focus at a time and slowly add to it, in 30 Day (or one month) increments. This optimizes your chances of success. When we start with drastic changes everywhere, we rarely stay with it for long. Ask yourself how many weight loss programs you’ve started and stopped even though you KNEW at the beginning, this was IT? History and research show it rarely works. The 30 Day Throw Down! is a completely different approach. We slowly build in great habits while we work together, encouraging one another. And there is no weekly fee or pre-packaged food to buy because this isn’t a fad diet or a fast fix. This is a grass-roots way to add healthy changes to your life. It’s about getting back to basics. Check it out at 30 Day Throw Down!

In addition to community support, we will also have a drawing or two each month. October will feature dinner at Chipotle as well as book giveaways starting with Real Food and Real Food for Mother And Baby, both by Nina Planck, who has graciously and generously donated books to the cause. Chipotle has also donated meals to support our efforts here. If you don’t know, Chipotle offers a healthy menu of food from sustainable sources and animals raised in natural and humane environments. They are committed to doing business in a way that optimizes our food choices and actually nourishes us instead of simply filling our stomachs. They have restaurants in many locations (including one opening in London) but if they aren’t in your area and you happen to win, pop the certificate into a card and send it as a gift to someone you love (or who you’re hoping will love YOU!) :)

Congratulations to everyone who made the decision this month to optimize your health now and in the future. A gift certificate is great but health is better and lasts longer. We all win by taking care of the body God gave us. I thank you for jumping in with me for this first 30 Days! Let’s keep going and encouraging each other.

Now let’s eat. For REAL!

Copyright 2009

The Feverish Mind

Sickness gave me time to gaze out the window.

Summer’s Tantrum

Summer has been a petulant child
refusing to loose its grip on the heat
of scorching sun.
It bullies the breeze and keeps billowy clouds hiding
in mountain shadows.

Summer will not let Autumn play.

But today, watching green leaves bounce in the wake
of a stealthy gust
I witness the Relentless lift its head
draw breath
and heave a sullen sigh.

Promised glimmers of hue and glow are heralded
on the stage of memory.
A timid cloud scurries across the sky and
escorts me toward my seat
to watch the scene unfold.

Autumn will have her way.

~Robynn (Copyright 2009)

Painting by John Everett Millais

1829-1896

New Post at 30 Day Throw Down! Please drop in and join us. I'm actually still a humor writer over there. But then, I presume a great deal.

The Swine Flu. Remember This Guy?

We’re pretty sure he’s visiting us.

What I thought was food poisoning for The Wild Man last week may have actually been the swine flu. Apparently, it is not unusual for kids to develop stomach issues along with this virus. I took him to the doctor yesterday after a week of this and he has upper respiratory involvement as well which wasn’t even detectable amid all the other symptoms. After hours searching through websites and the CDC and NIH about swine flu I discovered this:

Kids often have stomach involvement with diarrhea. A small percentage of adults may experience this as well.

You can have the swine flu and not have a fever, though TWM had a heck of a fever. That was an extremely baffling component of the outbreak in Mexico. They had people testing positive for H1N1 who were sick but had no fevers.

It can manifest itself differently in different individuals. At Bo’s college they had five kids test positive the first day. One left in an ambulance and others were mildly ill.

Monday, it took me about three hours to develop a horrid cough. Grizzly came home from work with the exact same symptoms. We literally got sick within one hour of each other. He spiked a high fever and looked like he was going to die. Had he gotten any more cantankerous, I might have accommodated him. We sound like a TB ward around here with all the coughing and hacking but I am less sick than he is. I just feel like a Mac truck hit me and want to lay down every minute and sleep. But we eat VERY well, take our vitamins, and are showing some signs of improvement today.

You can’t avoid this thing entirely. But you can eat well and take care of yourself so if it comes to visit, it doesn’t feel welcome to stick around. I can’t help you with your relatives.

Please visit me at 30 Day Throw Down! to join a whole lot of us who are eating for REAL. :)

Copyright 2009

Observational Twitter 21

Famous Quote:

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.~Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare

Obscure Quotes:

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them by people who claim they would do it but it isn’t their job.

There are no control freaks……only people who have to take over when everybody else drops the ball. ~Robynn’s Ravings

(And don’t be thinkin’ I’m talkin’ about myself. I don’t like control freaks and I’m makin’ it my business to do something about ‘em. Nobody else will!)

Please drop by and visit my other blog 30 Day Throw Down! :)

Copyright 2009

Grizzly's Asian Twin

This isn't in english but it doesn't need to be. Vigilant fathers everywhere speak the same language. It takes less than a minute but is even funnier the next time you watch it because you know EVERYTHING. I'm STILL laughing. :)

New post up at 30 Day Throw Down! Recipes, photos, and derangement await you. Don't forget to sign up to follow (and comment, letting me know) if you take part in the 30 Day Throw Down! challenge. It's your ticket to a chance at a $100 Amazon Gift Card!

Okay, It’s Official. I’m Insane.

New post up at 30 Day Throw Down! It has recipes and pictures, finally. Thank you, Grizzly. You are a photog extraordinaire. :) And I wonder who will make me turn 200? Whoever you are, you will make my day, my month. I will even rename the month in your honor.

I have decided I can do it all and look fetching at the same time.

I will now voluntarily operate TWO blogs. The official launch of the "30 Day Throw Down!" blog has taken place. (I actually typed lunacy just now instead of launch – I’m frightened.) Now you can find out all about everything we're doing in one nice, neat little package right HERE. And I can get back to writing about my other life.

The one where I make mountains out of mole hills, or laundry, or Q-tips I've discovered that Minky, my border collie, has been chewing the heads off of and hiding from me. She fishes them out of the garbage can in the bathroom. That has a huge "Ewwwww!" factor. I wish I had never known this. I wish you didn't either. But now you do and there's nothing I can do about it.

It's this type of richness you come for. I know that. And now I can get back to it. But while I do, I'll be eating real food. Good food. Excellent food. And I'll be reporting about it, and about you, and squeezing in more info and a recipe or two, and shooting photos, and contacting sponsors, and homeschooling my 14-year-old son, and trying to wash some underwear now and then and cook a meal. If you need me, I'll be on the closet floor resting. In the fetal position.

I'd hire help but the $22.00 I've earned from Ad Sense in the nine months I've been blogging is all I could offer. And it seems the truly competent people are looking for at least $23.00. So, it's me. And it's you. And I'm reclaiming Robynn's Ravings.

(P.S. If you love me, and you've proven over and over again that you do, despite very good evidence why you shouldn't, will you please sign up to follow over at the 30 Day Throw Down? It would be much appreciated! :0) ) The official new blog address is http://30daythrowdown.blogspot.com/

Copyright 2009

30 Day Throw Down! Begins Today!

If we are what we eat, and we’re eating real food, then we should become more real as time goes by. Real healthy, real energized, real connoisseurs of all things delicious and nurturing. (Please forgive my lack of suffixes in the preceding sentence – I’m running low and am forced to economize.) Yes, we will be partakers and makers of the delicious and nurturing. I want to be nurturing. I’m a mother. We nurture.

And if I eat fast food then I’ll be fast. And who wants their mother to be known as fast? Even if she’s a biker chick.

And so we will drive right by the fast, the easy (yeah, better leave that one alone too), and the nutritionally bereft choices that have substituted for real food. And we will feel victorious because we will be.

And guess what?

The more I find out about this company…….

…….the more I love them. They use fair trade beans for the beans that fill their burritos. They use meats from animals raised happily and humanely. They build restaurants with our neighborhoods and the earth in mind. Even their napkins are from recycled paper. They are a superb dining-out choice.

And now, MORE happy news to share.

Nina Plank, author of Real Food and a woman I have long admired, has generously offered to donate copies of her highly informative and compelling book for our monthly giveaways as we continue. She writes in a down-to-earth style that makes you feel like you’re hanging out with a good friend. I’ve given this book as a gift more than once because it’s an eye-opening page turner written in an engaging style. Barnes & Noble has this to say on their website:

“Hailed as the “patron saint of farmers’ markets” by the Guardian and called one of the “great food activists” by Vanity Fair’s David Kamp, Nina Planck is single-handedly changing the way we view “real food.” A vital and original contribution to the hot debate about what to eat and why, Real Food is a thoroughly researched rebuttal to dietary fads and a clarion call for the return to old-fashioned foods.

Nina Planck grew up in Virginia selling vegetables at farmers’ markets and later created the first farmers’ markets in London, England. In New York City, she ran the legendary Greenmarkets. Nina also wrote The Farmers’ Market Cookbook and hosted a British television series on local food. Her latest company, Real Food, runs markets for traditional foods in American cities.”

Can you believe she said, “Heck yeah!” and decided to bring her books to the party? Well, I’m not sure that’s exactly what she said but she’s so REAL herself, I’m sure it was along those lines. So not only will we feel better, look better, and BE better, we’re also headed for rockin’ good times around here. I’ll keep you posted as more sponsors sign on.

Okay. Go forth and conquer, and prosper, and digest, and ruminate on all your good choices. We’re in this together. Let’s eat – for REAL!

Copyright 2009

30-Day Throw Down!

BULLETIN UPDATE! How great to see so many coming in and wanting to do the healthy dance! Please don't forget if you've commented "I'm in," you need to click the "FOLLOW" button to be entered into the drawing for the $100 Amazon Gift Card (unless you already follow). If you're not sure, just click the follow button and it will let you know. THANK YOU!

__________________________________________________

So, I told you we were working on something. Here it comes. And I'm SO hoping you'll help me spread the word.

What Is It?

A challenge. And a chance at a $100 Amazon Gift Card.

Is It Complicated?

No, it’s simple and it’s free. It’s SO simple it’ll drive you crazy and you’ll want to add all kinds of rules and complicated information. I think simplicity is so simple it’s hard. Is that perfectly clear now?

This is a challenge for 30 Days – only 30 Days - to THROW DOWN FAST FOOD.

Launch Date: September 1, 2009.

(An “appetizing” example of the Not-So-Great American Diet.)

Are You Nuts?

Yes. Thanks for asking.

But we’ll eat healthier food, undoubtedly feel better, maybe increase our energy, or quit giving our scales a nervous breakdown every time they see us coming. Personally, mine is in therapy. It’s the least I could do after all the trauma I’ve caused it. I’ve also been known to avoid the doctor because people there insist on weighing me. Lately, I refuse unless they let me strip down to my underwear in the middle of the office. I didn’t eat my jeans. Why should I have to weigh them? Try it. They will never ask to weigh you again.

But I do realize I have a few issues. (See the answer to the question, “Are You Nuts?”)

Uh, How Do You Define “FAST FOOD?”

It isn’t only our favorite burger or taco place. It’s processed foods, too. Not swinging through “Big and Beefy – And That’s Just YOU!” doesn’t really work if we go home, throw a frozen dinner covered in plastic into the microwave, and slam a soda. That’s fast food from the grocery store.

My family and I wanted to see if we could MAKE ourselves, if only for 30 Days, know WHAT we’re eating and try to eat whole foods as much as possible. We already shop at Farmers’ Markets, buy locally grown most of the time, look for organic sources, and like to think we care about what’s going in our guts. Because trust me, when we look down, we realize…..they hold a LOT, so that’s important.

Okay, You Sound Holy. So, What’s Your Problem, Man?

We’re lying to ourselves. We are converts in our heads and total heathens in our guts. We still fast food it way too much. A pizza here, a cheeseburger there, a taco or burrito anywhere. And of course, my 14-year-old son’s favorite - imitation processed cheese product look-a-like that you pour over GMO (genetically modified organism) corn chips. (Any real relation to actual food is completely coincidental. Product restrictions may apply. Void where prohibited.)

And the reality is, when we do this, we don’t feel good. I mean, we REALLY don’t feel good. And why would we? What God put on this earth to feed us has been so adulterated, it’s hardly recognizable anymore.

Who Elected YOU The Big Food Sheriff?

I’m not challenging you because I have already arrived. I’m fat. I’m barreling down life’s highway seriously over the legal cheeseburger limit. I’m operating heavy machinery while in a pizza induced state. I’m driving while indoctrinated. I have allowed myself to believe that fast food and processed food can stand in as a decent substitute in a pinch. Well, I actually haven’t believed that for years but denial is a gift and it allows you to skip meal preparation or grocery shopping. And busyness and health issues offer yet more opportunities to fall by the wayside.

But this isn’t a beat-you-up, guilt inducing 30-day trek. This is a wake-up call. This is a belief that most of us can do almost anything for 30 days to improve our lives. Unless you don’t need to.

Maybe you live remotely and NEVER eat fast or processed foods. You are so far removed from this nonsense you can’t even identify with me. Maybe you grow your own food. If so, I’m in love with you and you have my undying admiration. May I stay with you for six months while I detox? It could get ugly. When do you want me?

But if your more like me than you want to admit publicly (and I am not offended if you prefer to act as though you’ve never even heard my name, not once in your whole life........including today), then you might want to do something about it.

The rules are amazingly simple.

Rules:

DO THE BEST YOU CAN. (But no, REALLY do the best you can.) And if no one will do it with you, do the best you can. See? Simple.

How Do We Pull THIS off?

The first question my son asked was, “What if I’m with somebody else and their parents take us to a fast food place?” We believe, for the most part, unless the meal is laced with out-an-out e-coli, mad cow disease, a known allergen, or arsenic, one meal probably isn’t going to derail you. However, we advised him to make as healthy a choice as possible. Choose a salad, see if they have fruit, opt for grilled cheese, reach for water, try the yogurt.

And we aren’t saying don’t eat out at all. But choose a real-food restaurant if you do. Opt for salads with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. Utilize real cheeses, not processed cheese products. Get whole cuts of meat instead of ground (at least it comes from only one source unless you know they grind their own on the premises). Go for the baked potato or wild rice instead of french fries. Avoid “farmed” fish and ask for wild caught. Share a fruit dessert or something dark chocolate. Or, in the interest of cutting down on sugar (another highly processed food), forego it altogether.

Daily, plan ahead with the old brown bag. Fill it with healthy, whole choices the night before. Include raw veggies and fruits. Choose organic and local, if at all possible. Say NO to soda, including diet. Drink filtered water or, if you just HAVE to, top it off with a little bit of fruit juice while you adjust to foregoing the soda. Cruise through your favorite coffee place and enjoy your daily cup-of-the-Joe, Americano, or tea, but blow off the cafe-latte-dahs and froo-froo drinks packed with sweeteners of all kinds.

Now, this is where it can get harder but, if at all possible, avoid factory-farmed meats and look to local growers, or those who farm sustainably and who have grazing cattle eating grasses and herbs, pigs that can forage and root, or chickens that are free-range. That’s how animals are designed to eat.

I realize this isn’t always possible with meat, due to costs. It isn’t for us either, believe me, but we try to eat meat like this if we find good bargains and sometimes we absolutely do. Every little change, and every meal, adds up – for your health…..or not.

THE KEY – ALSO KNOWN AS “THE MAIN THING”

Meal plan with fresh, whole foods as much as possible. Buy organic IF you can – buy local IF you can. The End. Keep it simple. If you can’t, make your best selections and say, “Yahoo!” because you’re still FAR AHEAD of the fast food game and your consistently moving toward better and better eating.

We can do this. It’s only 30 DAYS. Quit on September 30th if you’re suffering and feel miserable. (I’m betting you won’t be, on either count.) By the way, this isn’t a political idea. I have no hidden agendas. All my agendas are available for public viewing and parades, as well as limited soapbox and high-horse engagements. I am not a vegetarian and will not become one. You’ll go insane trying to convert me and I would hate that for you. I KNOW all the choices. This one is mine. But if you are a vegetarian, you are highly esteemed. Please send me recipes to make my veggies all that they can be and help them realize their full potential.

Contingencies

Now, if life happens, and it does, here’s your contingency plan: know in advance where you can find quick, healthier food vs. fast food. In some areas of California, Pizza Fusion offers organic pizza and sandwiches. Chipotle dishes up super fast service and healthy choices including offering meat from animals raised humanely and sustainably. (You’ll be AMAZED at their philosophy and their food when I post about it.) You might want to forego the white rice in their burritos and get more beans, peppers, onions, salsa, lettuce, and lean meat. And these burritos are huge. You can easily share one and cut your costs in half, though they are already extremely reasonable. Whole Foods has a salad bar with EVERYthing, though the prices can be a little steeper. Trader Joe’s has a salad-in-a-box for $3.00 or so. Look for organic any time you can. And these recommendations aren’t even the tip of the iceberg. Options are regional. Your thoughts are needed and welcome about what’s available in your area. Share what you find in the comments section or email me. I’ll post it here and we’ll help each other.

And if you’re concerned that you might find yourself caught between a rock and a cheeseburger, reference the advice to my 14-year-old son and then go one step farther: Plan ahead. Pull up the websites of the fast food restaurants you normally frequent and look at the calorie and nutrition content of their foods, ask where their meat is coming from, and find out how it’s prepared. Based on that, make healthier choices ahead of time.

These ideas will freak out the purists among us who won’t think this goes nearly far enough. But I believe in keeping the MAIN THING the MAIN THING. And this IS our main thing – for 30 DAYS. Nearly everything you read about healthier eating changes everything about your life almost immediately. Personally, that hasn’t worked for me. It’s often an “all or nothing” or “pass and fail.” But most of us can’t eat, won’t eat, or DON’T eat perfectly every day. This is a nod to real life. IT happens. If you fall off the wagon, RUN (you’ll burn a calorie), and get back on. Don’t let it leave without you. And if you fall off, you haven’t failed so DON’T give up. This is about the process. This is about 30-Day increments.

What Gave You THIS Hare-brained Idea?

One thing, among many others, was watching the movie “Food, Inc.” I highly recommend it and if it’s not already, it should be out on DVD very shortly. Through the years we’ve watched similar movies or documentaries and felt they were eye-opening. But in Food, Inc. I heard things I already knew, found out things I needed to know, and heard my own food beliefs echoed. I did chafe at an example they used which I felt was not well thought out. (I’ll talk about it and give them the FIX in my next 30-Day Throwdown! post.)

It got us talking and debating, and tickled our cerebellums, or amygdalas, or pre-frontal cortexes. Whatever it was, we found our brains still working and decided to utilize them. I required my kids to watch it as part of their school curriculum. I’ve been proselytizing about many of the ideas for years. But sometimes they (read I) need to see it and hear it from an outside source. It worked.

So, Is This a Food Blog?

Nope. Not even close. This is usually a humor blog, if I’m lucky. It’s about everything, and will continue to be. But every day of our lives includes food that fuels us, or not, so it seems relevant. And anytime we join together and support one another, it’s easier, more fun, and we’re accountable.

What’s In It For Me?

A healthier lifestyle. Being in touch with what you’re eating. Maybe losing some weight. Maybe not. You can still get fat on too much good, healthy food even though your body is better nourished. Trust me. I’ve gotten fat any way possible. (Considering portions is a good idea whatever you’re eating. And I’ve considered them. I just haven’t considered limiting them nearly often enough.) But this isn’t about changing EVERYthing. This is about changing a couple of things, making it doable, and taking first steps. When we end up evaluating ourselves at the end of 30 Days, we, our family, will continue on, adding more healthy habits in the aforementioned 30 Day increments.

You can come with us. In a year, we’ll be more aware, healthier, leaner, and we’ll even save a BOAT LOAD of garbage. (Think of how much we throw away with every fast food visit.) So it’s even a green idea.

Where Does The $100 Amazon Gift Card Come In?

If we do it, I truly believe we’ll all win. But one person, on October 1st, 2009, will win a $100 Amazon gift card. How you might ask? So glad you did.

1. Sign up to follow AND leave a comment saying you did. That’s a must. I’ll collect names everyday during our 30 Day Throw Down! and add them to the drawing. All you have to write is: “I’m following and I’ll do it!” Feel free to write more if you’re inspired. (The follow button is to the right – over the photos of other followers, and the comment button appears at the end of this post. Just click on it to comment. Sorry if that’s highly detailed but I’ve had people who truly didn’t realize how they CAN comment and I don’t want anyone left out.)

2. If you already follow, THANK YOU!! But you still need to leave a comment letting me know, “I’ll do it!”

3. If you BLOG about it on your site and link your readers back to this article by using this code http://robynnsravings.blogspot.com/2009/08/30-day-throw-down.html - leave me a comment with a link to your post and, I'll enter you again! (I hope you deem this worthy of sharing with your readers.)

THE WINNER OF THE GIFT CARD WILL BE INTERVIEWED HERE ON THEIR MONTH-LONG JOURNEY AND HAVE A POST DEDICATED TO THEM. (Privacy and identifying details will be respected unless you love the limelight! Then, I’ll link everyone to your blog, if you have one.)

That’s it. Let’s THROWDOWN!! For 30-DAYS!

Copyright 2009 - 30-Day Throw Down! Copyright 2009