BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

I was a little crazed this morning to get my laundry done after I got a last-minute call to do something for the Tyra Banks show today. I was at the end of my cute clothes.
That being said there was only a very large corner deli available for me to get my nourishment from....especially at 8am.

I began to scour the store for organic products or even anything that would resemble something even healthy. I've found that most delis at least carry Stonyfield yogurt. I was a little disgruntled over the fact that the only thing that I found in the ENTIRE STORE was a honey Honest Tea. Nothing like having some organic cane sugar to start your day off right!

I have discovered most organic products that are conveniently available to me are prepackaged. I'm seeing a LOT of organic cane sugar in a lot of these certified organic products which is really not good for the insulin!!!! It's only going to spike it and make me gain weight with my already fragile metabolism.

The question is would you do the prepackaged organic products or the possibly GMO fresh foods? I would prefer fresh, but I'd rather speak to an expert about this.

To finish my story when I got to the cash register I looked at the bottle and told the clerk out of the 2000+ sq feet he has in that store only 1 product was organic.
He just looked at me a little puzzled and could only say "really?".

I wanted to say and by the way most of the rest of the store's products organic or not were garbage. But the reality is if people weren't making these choices they wouldn't stock their stores with this crap!

A 'CLEAN' PLATE

As of this saturday I am completing my third week of my organic journey. It's not easy here in the Big Apple! At this moment I am taking in information and looking for guidance in all sorts of areas! For instance my friend Lisa just told me Alicia Silverstone has a new book called The Kind Diet which sounds very interesting. She said it includes reasons we shouldn't eat foods that are not in season.

For weeks now a particular book has been staring me in the face when I check out at the register of Organique. It's titled Clean Plates NYC. I just purchased it the other day because I found out Organique was on the approved list. The book is by a Nutritionist, Jared Koch and Food Critic, Alex Van Buren. All of the 75+ Restaurants had to undergo certain criteria. Taste, Atmosphere, Type of Cuisine, Lifestyle, Geography, Healthfulness of ingredients, Food Source, High percentage of veggies on the menu, etc.

I truly applaud Jared for taking on such and ambitious and very necessary project. I was sad when I began to scan the book and didn't find Gustorganics. I immediately emailed Jared to ask why Gustorganics did not make the cut? Chipotle did, but Gustorganics didn't? He explained that Gustorganics is in the supplemental list as "Healthy, not Tasty".

Not tasty? I had to figure this out! Were my taste buds not fully operating? I decided to enlist my friend Lisa this evening for dinner because she always gives here unfiltered opinion to me (because we just have that kind of relationship). She (just as Maureen) was "blown away" and by they time we got to dessert, the organic chocolate fondue with organic fruits, we couldn't control the groans coming out of our mouths. It was like two women reenacting a scene out of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY! One of the hosts thought it was so funny he couldn't resist topping us off with a taste of organic champagne. The staff was quite amused.

Clean Plates NYC also puzzles me because I look at some of the places that made the list like Angelica Kitchen and feel a lot less inspired by their menu. Angelica's foods were heavy and dense for me, but it's been several years since I've eaten there. Quintessence is also not on the list. Quintessence does a raw menu that doesn't seem as taxing on the intestines as Pure Food and Wine (also on the list). This is Jared's book and not everyone is going to have the same preferences.

Whole Foods is also on the list which renders some questions. I was told only 15% of their food is organic. The Organic Consumer's Association has even posted a letter from Sept 2009 urging Whole Foods to straighten up their act.

Once again I am left with a lot of confusion and feel like I am just entering inside of a crossfire I didn't intend to encounter.

I wave the white flag and trust that this year the proof will be the changes in my own body, health, and mind. There's a lot of things brewing in my mind, but don't worry, I'll keep pushing forward!

INTEGRITY

When I decided to go into business for myself I told myself I would do it in a way that would not compromise integrity. It's almost impossible to find businesses that are honest with their customer out there. I hear that honesty doesn't make money, but I plan on showing the world otherwise.

A couple of quotes I have kept in mind were "Behind every great fortune there is a crime."- Honore de Balzac and "Business is the art of extracting money from another man's pocket without resorting to violence"- Max Amsterdam.

Taking on a company that provides food that is either organic or locally sourced and the equivalent is a very daunting task especially in this economy. I am already starting to taste the differences in "organic" food in some places. I think I'm starting to pick up on what one business owner explained to me which is: a restaurant will call itself organic when it only buys a few organic chickens and the rest of the chickens they prepare come from industrial sources. I also know this is true. I have several restaurant owners around that source their food from the food industrial giant Sysco. They keep a lot of businesses running. That's what part of this journey is about figuring out our food and its sources.

On a different note here are a few more observations that I picked up in regards to my physical appearance. I know I picked up a bit of belly weight which that means it is directly from the food. I don't want to hear about the cortisol theory. I already know the culprit. The only thing that changed this week is I went three times to Gustorganics where the portions are MUCH larger than what I usually eat. One of their plates could feed two people comfortably which is also a greater value for your money.

The fact that I am able to weigh my food and use a particular container size at Organique really keeps me consistent. There is also a wider variety of vegetables like purple cabbage and eggplant. So the one thing in my diet that did change was variety. I still keep the ratios of meat and veggies the same. I don't do very much fruit. From time to time I will eat bread as part of a gluten-fee sandwich. I may have an acai juice here and there, but again NOTHING HAS CHANGED IN THIS PROJECT BUT THE SOURCE OF MY FOOD. That being said I have a very big trust issue about my food and as one writer put it "I'd rather go to the farmer's market and look him in the eye and know what I am getting rather than trust what I am being told that I am getting!"

Looks like I'm going to have to enlist one of my chef friends into this project if I can. On to the farmer's market!

THE FIRST LADY

I have to say I was both inspired by my interview with Alberto Gonzalez and invigorated by the food that followed. It has made me want to do food socials at Gustorganics. More to follow on that later.

I don't believe I've had as many compliments on my skin as I have today! Everyone including one of the girls that works with me wondered what I was doing with my skin. I said I have been doing the very same thing every day except changing the source of my food.

When one of my last clients of the day asked about my skin I told her about this organic project. I also explained to her that I want to go around to grade schools and high schools and educate kids about our food sources and create a grocery/menu for low to middle income families. She suggested I go straight to the top and make alliances with Michelle Obama who has a similar initiative.

As most people know Michelle Obama has been trying to increase the number of fruits and vegetables that kids eat to decrease the rate of childhood obesity. She started off by planting an organic garden at the White House. She also goes around to the schools and tells the kids "if you want to grow up big and strong like me you need to eat your fruits and veggies". Anyone out there know Michelle?

On a completely different note thank you Julie for the Organic Raisins! They're delish!

I HAVE A DREAM

......was the message the proprietor of Gustorganics, Alberto Gonzalez conveyed in our interview. As I said in a previous post, this native Argentinian has developed the first 100% USDA Organic Restaurant in the USA.

What I loved most about Alberto is that he built something based on an idea. He wanted everyone to see that we are killing ourselves with industrial food. The "Frankenstein" Mc-America-$5.00-meal that our government and corporations have created is killing us. We are one of the sickest, food-related diseased countries in the world. Alberto felt that if he made an example that showed it's possible for Americans to eat Organically and for businesses to profit, then his message could succeed. Alberto didn't set out to be a restauranteur. He set out to change the world.

As the interview went along further Alberto began to really show his sincere passion. I asked him questions like what is the difference between Gustorganics and Whole Foods? He said while they are making an effort that is needed in the food industry only 15% of Whole Foods is organic whereas his restaurant was 100% Organic. Alberto likes to source from local farmers for his food supply and encourages farmers with organic practices to get certified with the USDA. USDA is important to him because it is a good guideline to help make our food better.

Another good point that Alberto made is that a lot of people complain about the price of Organic. "Our portions in America are too large," says Gonzales. In europe they eat half as much food as we do. If America's portions were where they should be then it would not cost as much to eat Organic and the quality of life would increase.

I actually can second that theory. At the restaurant Organique where I eat all of my meals, they weigh their food by the pound at the hot and cold bars. My meals have been costing between $5-$8 which is cheaper than other restaurants for the same type of food! For lunch I had amazing chicken with brussel sprouts. Yesterday I had grilled salmon with quinoa and roasted tomatoes. I also find it's cheaper to eat that way in the end because the food is more satisfying.

In the end I played a little bit of a devil's advocate and mentioned that what if Organic is all hype? Maybe it's just the fact that Americans eat so much crap that it is really the cause to all of this sickness. BUT as a reminder this project is not about eating well. It is about ONLY changing the source of my food. In fact this morning I had an organic chocolate granola bar (120 calories).

After the Divine Eggs Benedict I had with Maureen two Sundays ago I couldn't pass up the opportunity to grab dinner there.

I decided to go all out for the skirt steak accompanied by broccoli and mashed potatoes. Alberto is from Argentina so I had to test to see if the meat was really that good.

It was unbelievable! It was so good it tasted like the food had a flavor enhancer. I savored the entire plate (which could have easily fed two), but I wanted to see what would happen if I finished my entire plate like I've always been trained to do.

On my very infantile organic food journey I give Gustorganics 5 stars!

In the meantime I'm so inspired by Alberto's mission that I'm going to try to see if he and Intelligent Nutrients could work together.....I love a challenge!

LET THEM EAT CAKE!

If someone had told me this tiny little cake was going to be split among over 20 people and that we would all be full off of it I would have thought you were nuts. Actually that's in fact what the baker told us.
This masterpiece called a strawberry shortcake is a raw cake. Raw means this cake has never been cooked. Given that the cake was so dense and satisfying the creator was correct. The entire room was bursting at the seams from this little cake..... and there were even three different kinds of cakes to try!
The icing tasted like cream cheese and the amount of strawberry flavor.....divine!
I was invited by Dhrumil, one of my organic/raw guides to attend a raw food gathering in Brooklyn New York at a new cafe that just opened called Sun In Bloom.
I had no clue what this event was going to be like. In general when I eat out at raw restaurants they go really heavy in the nuts which gives my stomach a really big workout, but this menu was really invigorating.
Meeting the "tribe", which consisted of people of all ages (but generally people in their 20's and 30's) was even more interesting.
I had a chance to ask people why they decided to go raw. Most of them answered that it was out of their own varied health conditions and concerns.
We spoke about food sourcing, the challenges of raw, the perceptions of vegetarianism, aging as a vegetarian, cleanses, and my project.
I expressed that for now I was still going to consume meat if my body craves it. Again, the only thing that is changing for this project is my food source.
We all left the cafe a little more nourished and a l myself a little more enlightened.
I must get the recipe for that Strawberry Shortcake!

TOMORROW'S FUTURE

Today I am very sad and even more determined to make sure what's in this photo that I found online does not become mainstream America!
Right now I probably know more people with lap bands and gastric bypasses than I do with cancer. There are all kinds of weight gain and weight loss theories out there. For me the ONLY thing I ever found to help me lose weight was the Elementals Wellness System. They have 30 programs for basically almost every diet type: vegan, kosher, on the go, but not the drastically-stressed-executive-that-doesn't-leave-her-office-but-to-go-home-and-take-a-shower meal plan! When I followed it I had lost 40 lbs in about 6 months. It was very easy, but I think that something even simpler has to happen to all of our diets. My theory still resides within the fact that our mass produced food might not be processing by our bodies.

In skincare, a cancer practitioner named Denie Hiestand had explained to me that when the body can't process a chemical absorbed by the skin, the body wraps the chemical up with a tumor to protect the body from the chemical.
I have heard many others since say the same thing and thus the green movement in skincare right now.

Again I am very neutral on this matter. Hopefully in a year we will discover the answer together. The only thing that I can do is sit back and wait and be loyal to the organic journey....for the kids.

THE SHRINKING LADY!

We're approaching two weeks of TOTALLY organic now. Aside from one cup of questionable mint tea and the mislabeling of some pirate's booty (once again in too much of a rush) I have resisted the many temptations and social discomforts of remaining loyal to the project.

There are MANY things that I notice and that others notice in me as well. The first one is I have lost ONE FULL cup size in my breasts. Not funny!!! My hands and ankles are smaller. My stomach looks flatter. My face and neck are even a tiny bit smaller and it's only been two weeks and I feel like the shrinking woman. All of my clients are saying how good I look. The question is why am I losing this weight by only changing the source of my food?!? NOTHING else has changed in my diet. I'm taking the same supplements and still working out every single day on the eliptical for 200 calories.

I find that my body craves sleep more. I used to never need sleep. My mind is a bit clearer. There is an overall calm despite the chaos of the business world for me.

Several people have also asked me if I am hungrier or fuller these days.
At first I was really full after I ate, but now I find myself hungrier more often.
I also have this great satisfaction when I have eaten instead of wondering what else I should be eating. Hopefully that answers the question.

I'm still wondering if I'm going to continue to lose weight? I'll take it if that's the case.

Dhrumil is in town and has asked me to attend a group gathering of raw/natural foodies. I'm trying my best to fit it into my schedule so that I can learn from them and try to figure out how to make this whole Organic thing easier.

Thanks for reading!
MS

HAITI BENEFIT

Hi Guys!
Tonight I have to run to a last minute benefit for Haiti.
Got some interesting stuff to talk about tomorrow.
Please pray for the continued safety for everyone in Haiti and for all of those that are bravely going down to help aid and rescue!!!

INTERVENTION

Fresh Direct never replied to my comment about foods misplaced in their 'organic' category.

I decided before I start getting frustrated I need to call in some people that have been doing this a heck of a lot longer than I have. I need some tips on living organic. It seems as though this is not going to be an easy task for me to deal with.

First on the list is a very nice gentleman named Dhrumil Purohit. I think I first started following him on twitter around June of last year? What I liked about him is he doesn't preach raw and he seems very upbeat. I like that he relates to food as a full (mind, body, spirit) experience. It's very much a communal and social experience for him. You should check him out.

I love raw. I feel energized with raw foods, but when I don't get meat on certain occasions I don't feel balanced. It's not a discussion I want to have with anyone as of yet. The first focus of this journey is finding out if organic makes any difference on the body.

I'm hoping that Dhrumil will help open my eyes to new things on this journey. We've just met online so this is unfolding as I'm writing. I hope that he can help all of you who may be thinking of embarking on this kind of journey as well.

As a little side note some of my clients and friends are noticing that I am losing weight. Most of them don't know that I have started this adventure. I have not weighed myself, but I have lost the swelling in my hands, face, and some of my stomach. Oh, and my initial fatigue has lifted quite a bit. Still wondering what that could possibly be. It would be really scary to say I had to detox from my food!!!

VERBAL SPANKING

I am so angry right now! There is a company called Fresh Direct here in New York City that I just got a shipment from. I usually don't order from them because I can't stand how many boxes they go through without any sort of recycling program! Such a waste. I will admit they do have some of the higher quality produce and perishables in the city.

I had to order from Fresh Direct this weekend because Whole Foods ran out of their 365 Electrolyte water...indefinitely because someone can't get the bottle deposit sticker attached to their bottles that New York State Law requires them to have. Lame.

You're probably wondering why I'm even ordering bottles of water in the first place. New York law allows my business only to serve beverages in closed containers so I really don't have too many sanitary options. I also want to make sure our clients get enough hydration after our treatments so it's for their convenience as well. (We do hire a special recycling service by the way!!!)

Anyway back to the anger part. I went online to order out of the organic section.
I went to each category: beverages, snacks, etc and ordered baby carrots, Acai juice, KASHI bars, etc. I have never looked at a Kashi box so I did not know that it was not organic until I received my groceries. In fact only two of the 6 items I ordered were organic. What's really not so funny is when I got my packing receipt only the Kashi is listed in the organic and natural (love how they add the natural to the receipt) and everything else is listed in other categories. I went back to the site to see if I had accidentally gone to another part of their site and surely enough I was still in the "ORGANIC" section of the web.

I immediately emailed Fresh Direct and complained about their Organic section situation. I suggested to them that the certified organic should be separated from the natural. To me natural has typified bland anyway.

I have learned a very big lesson. It seems as though unless the word "ORGANIC" is in the name of the product it's not going to be organic. Even if organic is in the name it may not even be organic. This is such a pain in the butt!!!

I'll let you know if Fresh Direct decides to reply!

WHAT'S THE BUZZ?

So I'm sitting in a diner called Big Daddy's at 2am with a group of 9 people. I endured watching them eat gorgeous veggie burgers and drink their oreo milkshakes while I sipped on my organic chamomile-lemon tea. That was the ONLY organic thing on the robust menu and I once again didn't want to be a social downer.

The honey that accompanied my tea became the table's topic of discussion.
My beautiful tea package said "PURE" honey. It said that it's produced by the Dickinson family in Oxnard, California. Could this imply that it's organic even though the word organic is not on the label? Many people have told me that some farmers can't afford the USDA label but it doesn't mean that they're not organic.

Back to the honey... I am somewhat of an authority on bees and honey since my grandfather used to be a beekeeper (despite his risk of going into anaphylactic shock from a bee sting). I myself was part of the Beekeepers Association of Kentucky for a few years. I have always been conscious of where my honey came from, but these days you can never be too sure. I have always avoided honey from China (you usually see them in the squeeze bears) because they boiled all of the nutritional benefits out of it. In 2007 Chinese honey was so bad that it was banned in the US and so the Chinese would ship it to Australia and then to the US to make it look like Australian honey. The reason Chinese honey is now banned is because it now contains the antibiotic chloramphenicol which has been linked to cancer.

I would consider Canada a very clean, wholesome kind of landscape overall, but bees will pollinate a plant whether it has pesticides or not and Canada is not exempt from pesticides. The honey can't just be a candidate for organic just because of that. However a beekeeper can know the source of his honey just by looking at the color of the honey and knowing what plants are grown around him. For example honey that is lighter in Kentucky means it's usually coming from a clover flower. Those are great for tasting. Darker honey is great for baking.

While writing this entry I decided to look up the brand since I'm not familiar with them. I can assume they have the money to do Organic labeling because they have a line of Organic Jams with the USDA label. This particular container is distributed by Smuckers.

In addition they were kind enough to post the link for the USDA organic guidelines.

And that's all the "BUZZ" for today!

EAT FIRST. ASK QUESTIONS LATER.

I have this way of reviewing beauty products where I do a quick evaluation on the product's ingredients and the company's history and then I find someone to test the product on. I don't care about what the company claims. I look for my own results. Believing claims generally leads to a lot of disappointment.

Today I approached the restaurant Gustorganics the same way. On a fly by chance Maureen Choi (a very talented beauty editor and friend of mine whom I met through Bridal Guide Magazine) had asked if I had time to take a break and meet with her for some tea. I thought this would be a great opportunity to find out what Gustorganics is all about. She seemed game as well. I only revealed to her I was doing a blog and hoped that she didn't mind being victim of the organic experiment. The only thing I briefed her on was that the restaurant is the first USDA FULLY certified organic restaurant in the United States.

Once we sat down to our table and looked through our stylishly textured bamboo(?) menus, I explained "it's a shame to walk all the way to the restaurant for just a drink without sampling any food from the menu". Maureen agreed.

We asked the server what the best dishes were and both settled to share the eggs benedict. Maureen also ordered a mango smoothie. I went for the cappuccino.

Maureen's drink came out first. She took a sip and her eyes grew big. All she could say is "WOW!"....which translates into I've never had this experience before. Then Maureen offered me a sip of her Mango smoothie after which I felt like standing on top of my chair and announcing "people have you tried this???!!!!". My cappuccino came out and I took a sip. It wasn't as strong as I'm used to, but VERY smooth. I really enjoyed it.

Then our eggs benedict came out. They were a picture perfect sight. The taste? Amazing....so full of flavor. We were both in a bit of shock and bliss all at the same time. She then asked me if Organique gave me the same feeling? I explained that it wasn't quite as amazing, but I could definitely tell the difference between the quality and love in their food versus that of other regular restaurants. The whole meal knocked my socks off and Maureen said it blew her hair back!

Now it was time to ask questions. I went up to someone who worked for the restaurant and explained I wanted to interview the owner for my blog. I revealed a little about what I was doing there and how impressed we were. He agreed that the owner would be the best person to answer my questions because it was really the owner's vision to have americans eventually eat like this all over the country. He also added that even their electricity was solar and wind-powered. Their menus are printed on 100% recycled paper with soy ink. All very exciting.

We graciously thanked them for the experience and as we walked back into the NYC streets, Maureen and I commented on how amazing we felt.
She thought it would be a really great experiment to eat every meal there for the entire year, but unfortunately the budget will only allow me about once a week in this economy....(not that it was super expensive for the quality that we got). The bill came to $27.44 for both of us. That's $13.72 per person... AND a lot less expensive and more satisfying than some of the hyped up raw food restaurants around town. BUT my budget is $5-$7 per meal and I have to stick to it for the project's sake. Most Americans can't afford to eat out at those prices for every meal and I want to show that Organic can be affordable.

On a side note: even though I had the bread and it did cause a little swelling in my stomach, by the time I got back to my office I could feel the food moving through my system instead of just sitting in my stomach and collecting gas and giving me nausea. The allergic reaction to the gluten seems to be short-lasting.

I will let you know how the interview goes!

HAVE YOU HAD YOUR BREAK TODAY?

I have NEVER been a fast food fan or foodie, but sometimes when you're on long road trips and want to save time there always seems to be a trusty Mc Donald's or Taco Bell along the way.
The chicken wrap and coffee is what I will usually order at Mc D's and the chicken quesadilla is what I will have from Taco Bell, but after watching this VIDEO a while back it made me almost want to avoid ANYTHING from a fast food restaurant. The only reason I am thinking about this right now is because I was just reminded of the gradeschool reunion I will be going to in February. I will be doing several hours of driving on the road and will have to do a lot of planning ahead of time to make sure I don't starve from lack of organic along the way.

So what do you think of the VIDEO? Makes you sort of think huh?

SURFING

I can tell eating organic is going to be a daunting, social task. I have a birthday to go to tonight. I can't really eat or drink anything. Are people going to want to ask me out to engagements after this? Will they even notice if I don't eat or drink?

I decided to take my own initiative and surf the net to see what is going on in the Organic World in New York City. I ran across a REALLY cute place called Gustorganics. It is the world's very first USDA Certified Organic Bar! They also have a varied food menu.

Hmmmmm. Who do I drag to Gustorganics first? Guess it will make a good topic for tonight's party.

By the way had a wonderful meal at Organique once again of chicken with stewed veggies and brussel sprouts. Today for some reason I could taste the difference in the quality of the food. Hmmmmm(again).

Off to go see how anti-social I can be now!

BUILDING A TRIBE

It's sort of funny how we as humans like to have others share our experiences. How many times have we heard someone say "this tastes horrible! Taste it"......why would you want to taste or smell something that another person finds revolting?

I was glad I had a chance to have someone else also sniff and taste my project last night. I ended my evening by grabbing a quick dinner with my friends Fiona and Jay in tow. They thought it would be a nice idea to eat organic for their dinners as well.

We all got the split pea soup. I didn't expect to hear how good the soup tasted. I'm so used to hearing how bland something is.

While we were eating I also discussed the fact that I feel sort of like an investigative reporter going behind the scenes of the organic/food industry. I'm personally at the age where I don't trust any company anymore. I have had more beauty companies change their formulas to benefit their bottom line than I can count on both my fingers and toes!

What's really our #1 problem is we think there is this imaginary consumer watch dog that is keeping us safe. We take for granted that if a company makes a claim and even builds a business around it such as organic then it's true.

The main focus of this journey is to see if eating organic and hormone free will even make any sort of difference. Both Jay and Fiona agreed that the change had to make a difference and a year would be more than enough time to tell.

I felt a little guilty not telling Organique about what I was doing so when I went to go pick up my mashed potatoes with salmon and broccoli this afternoon, I confessed to the guy at the register about what I was doing. He didn't seem to care one way or the other.
Well at least I have him fair warning. I know if someone was doing something on my business for a year I sure as heck would want to know!

p.s. Jay will probably kill me for saying this but I am proud he has lost over 80 lbs without surgery!!! by changing his meat intake and making adjustments in his diet.

Cheers to being conscious about what we eat!

Sorry if this sounds like a little food evangelism. I am strictly impartial in this project!!!!!

BON APPETIT!

Today was both an exciting and bittersweet day. I am finally less groggy and have a little more energy. Not all of it, but it's better. I also had to lay off of working out for a couple of days because I was that lethargic.
I also noticed that my hands and ankles are not as swollen as they usually are. Hmmmmm. Going to have to ask them what they do with the salt in their food (if they add any at all).

So back to the sad part I just ran into one of the owners of DUCKS, a very inventive restaurant at the popular ping pong club SPIN NYC (Susan Sarandon is one of the backers). For months I have been begging them to do a gluten-free menu. I pleaded with them to switch out their bread on their sandwiches for lettuce because I couldn't eat most of what was on their menu. I had been tested to have a wheat and possibly a gluten intolerance as well.

The minute I gave up hope of them changing the menu was the minute they changed the menu for ME and every other wheat intolerant person out there! So giving up DUCKs is going to be a big sacrifice for me on this organic journey. Who knows....with the farmer's market nearby maybe they can be inspired to change.

Back to the exciting. I had a wonderful lunch from Organique of tender beef with some colorful and crunchy haricots verts. And because it is Wednesday I indulged in their free wednesday organic coffee. Organic Lunch total? $6.87!

Sorry Ducks. I'm going to have to go with my health for now!

THE FIRST FEW DAYS

Four days before I started this blog I had already started to eat organically. Seeing part of Food, Inc made me want to play around with this thought a little bit. It wasn't until I saw that I could make affordable choices that I decided to go on this adventure.
I had already cut out ALL sodas and carbonated beverages almost 3 years ago (aside from the occasional soda around the holidays). I already try to stay away from most sugar except around that time of month (sugar ages you!!!!). Giving up sugar seems sort of easy since I had started an aloe juice drink last month which stabilizes the blood sugar and insulin.

Getting straight to the point I have been down right exhausted these first few days!!! Yesterday I had my aloe juice as usual for breakfast along with an organic gluten free banana chocolate granola bar. For lunch I had a thigh of chicken along with mixed veggies. By the time dinner came around I was hungry, but too tired to do the massive amounts of paperwork and research that I usually do so I went ahead and had more granola.

Today I feel the same. I had grilled salmon with kale for lunch.
It wasn't even 1pm today and I wanted to head off for a snooze.
In fact I am so tired that I want to save my energy for the rest of my business work.
I think I have at another 361 days to get acquainted with everyone anyway.

Yawn!

Oh p.s. The photo I included above is the one of my face at Day 1. I am taking photos of myself for another project so I figured this was a great way to monitor not only how I feel, but how I look!

THE PROJECT

So here it goes: I, Mary Schook intend to be conscious of all of the food that goes into my mouth and the sources of where they come from. My goal is to prohibit foods that are not raised "organically" or "cruelty-free".

I will do my best to document what I experience on my journey and hopefully at the end of the year I will be able to come up with the answer to the question: "Does the source of our food affect us?"

Without the help of the farmer's market in Union Square in New York City and a very reasonably priced restaurant, Organique I'm not sure I could maintain this goal.

My spending allowance is approx $5-7.00 per meal since I am keeping a tight budget.

Well see you on the other side!

HELLO!

This blog is inspired by the movie Food, Inc. Food, Inc wasn't the first time I had been introduced to the concept of what happens to our food. Back when I was a teenager I was in a Teen Modeling Association that required us to read Diet for A New America by author John Robbins. John Robbins is the son of the founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire! Later on I was introduced to THE MEATRIX (sadly hilarious), Fast Food Nation and probably the most influential film for me: The Future of Food.

As a little background I grew up as a pretty skinny kid in Kentucky except for a chub moment in 7th grade (which would still be considered skinny compared to today's youth).
My mother never let us eat any foods with chemicals or sugar unless it was our birthday or she wanted to bribe us with something. Our dad made a lot our bread with his bread machine and between the massive garden my grandparents grew and the one in our back yard we had a major portion of our veggies some fruits taken care of. The rest of our food came from Kroger or a food consignment shop called Aldi's, but those were usually our canned veggies since food actually grows seasonally. We NEVER ate fast food or ate out but maybe a couple of times a year. We just couldn't afford it.

It wasn't until I got to my second year of college (1995) and moved to Chicago that I began to pick up weight. Actually I wanted to gain weight at first but couldn't. I was trying to get bigger so I could be a plus sized model to pay for my college. Soon enough I was able to gain the weight, but one thing that I noticed is that the food that I was eating at the grocery stores just didn't taste fresh to me. I just attributed it to the fact that we didn't live on farms in the big city and that I would just have to trade in my fresh food that I was so used to. My weight wasn't the only change that I noticed. I began to get waves of depression. The school guidance counselor said that it was common in chicago because they have longer periods without sun. That made sense to me.

Eventually I got more weight on me than I wished for, but I eventually had the good fortune of shedding it when I went to go live in Italy for 2 years. I was eating Mc Donald's there which I would never touch in the states. The burgers were such a better quality of meat! The fish there was to die for. I seemed to eat more food in Italy, but was a lot hungrier. I eventually met someone who traded for McDonald's in Italy and he told me one of the differences in the meat at McD's in Italy and the US is they kill the animal in a high tech way which prohibits the hormone that toughens the meat when the animal is killed to be released. The explanation made sense to me.


So I came back to the states from Italy where I moved to NY. I had a HUGE struggle with my weight there and I HATED the produce (especially the fruit!). I also began to develop bad eating habits like eating one huge meal once a day. Even though I was boxing and eating better the longer I stayed in New York the worse I felt. Eventually I hated the food I ate in NY to the point that I just didn't care much about what I was eating until I got into a car accident and blew up 100 extra lbs overnight. Then I had to care.

I sincerely hope that all of these movies are hype. I'm not saying what happens to our food isn't happening. The question is if we are conscious about the food that we eat will it actually make a difference? Organic is such a loose term these days. Can a person really control where they get their food from?