This blog is the diary of a once skinny-turned-fat girl who wants to try to see if eating Organic, non-GMO foods will really make a difference in the way the body and mind performs.
After working a long, hard day in the office I decided it was time to take a break at the ping pong club next door called SPIN NYC. I had mentioned them in the beginning because they were the ones trying to accommodate my gluten free diet.
Much to my surprise they had added an organic wine to their alcohol list!!! When one of the owners of the restaurant saw me at the club and asked why I had not been there I told her about my organic journey. She said that actually a lot of what they source is local or what would be considered to be organic!!! She said she would sit down with me and go through the menu to show me what was organic. Yeah!
Some of the staff there said they also noticed that I was losing weight, especially in my face. One of the bartenders who is from Russia said that where she comes from in Russia (Siberia) everything is organic. She said she was super skinny in Russia. She also said they ate more in season which is what Alicia Silverstone talks about in her book the Kind Diet. I asked the bartender if she gained weight moving to the US and she said definitely. 20 lbs extra to her 100 lb frame. She attributes it to eating food in restaurants so she keeps it under control by preparing most of her own food so that she knows exactly what is in it.
Good info. Looks like I have a date with one of the owners at Spin to figure out what I can eat!!!
It has been 50 days on this journey of organic and today I have really reached a noticeable milestone with my body. I really had no idea what to expect on this journey. Even though I have not been weighing myself in pounds I have seen my bra go from a 44 C/D to a 42C. I have also been wearing a size 22/24 pant and now I am snugly wearing a size 20 pant!!!!!!! I am so happy! I NEVER get swelling in my ankles anymore which gives me the greatest relief! A few people gave me doubts along the way by saying I must be making other changes other than my organic sourcing (portions,etc). After eating endless amounts of butter, cheese, dairy, etc like it was going out of style I can confidently say that there has to be something definitely different going on with organic and what our body does with it! All in all I am very happy that I decided to embark on this project so far. Wonder what the rest of the year will bring, but I feel if I could survive this then I can manage the rest of the year. Holidays may be a whole other problem!
I am going to go ahead and publish this segment as I go along because there will be several parts to this entry and I didn't want to keep you waiting!!!
The trip to Kentucky and Chicago was NOTHING like I thought it was going to be!
So I got a little nervous about my journey and decided to purchase some organic gluten free bars just in case so I didn't starve! I also had breakfast at Organique before I got on the plane so I was at least set for a while.
When I landed in Chicago I jumped in my rental and began my 6 hour drive to Kentucky. Given there's mostly farmland between the two cities I expected to pass a ton of farms where I could buy my food along the way.
In the over 300 miles I traveled there was only ONE farm that I found along the way: Fair Oaks Farms.
It was like six flags over dairy!!! They produced all kinds of cheeses and dairy. I noticed there were no organic or USDA labels on their cheeses so I asked the sales lady if there were any hormones, antibiotics, or funky feed and she said no. I mentioned they should really advertise that more because it wasn't very evident to me. She said it was on the website,(but after my trip I still didn't find that info very evident).
I decided to buy some Cheddar curd (1st stage of cheese processing), the Sweet Swiss and the Colby cheese. They were divine! I got a chance to share it with my family over the weekend and they remarked on what a good cheese it was! Normally I can NEVER have that much cheese, but this cheese didn't really seem to bother me.
Further down my trip I ran across Donaldson's Fine Chocolates who I have bought from for years for client gifts. I knew he was using pure cane sugar so I thought there might be a chance he had something organic.
Mr. Donaldson is a trip. When I asked him if his chocolates were organic at first he got a little huffy and said they didn't have much of a call for organic chocolate. Then he got a little humorous with me after I told him and his staff about my organic project. He said he would be happy to sell me the chocolate and tell me it was organic like a lot of other people do, but he didn't. I thanked him for his honesty and went on my way. P.S. They still are some very good chocolates and it was a little difficult to leave that aroma empty handed! One thing I did find fascinating as I traveled down to Kentucky is the use of the land. Hundreds of wind turbines dotted across the land north of Indianapolis. It's nice to see farms and landowners making sound choices to make revenue. Sure beats a bunch of cell phone towers. I finally arrived to my childhood town of Louisville Kentucky where I remembered an abundance of fresh produce and foods. In addition we used to grow foods in both our garden and my grandparent's very large garden. I was also excited because my dad said one of his friends had started to raise his own chickens and he had a dozen eggs from him I could use to cook our breakfast that weekend. Little did I know what was in store for me.
I directly arrived to my childhood best friend Chris's and found that they had already ordered pizzas from Pizza Hut. She had no idea I was only doing organic, but she wasn't concerned. She has been making a great effort to try to make sure that her family is eating either organic or natural. Even if they have Kool-aid it's the one without the dyes and the sugar she adds is organic. Little did I know how impressed I would be with her efforts to grocery shop until I ventured into the stores myself. In the end I enjoyed an Amy's organic pizza alongside while watching them inhale their Pizza Hut. For the first time I could actually say I was envious. Amy's is really not the tastiest food available!!!
The next morning I went with my brother bright and early to Kroger's so that he could pick up his groceries and baby formula while I gathered the items I would cook for breakfast. They actually had an organic section which was mostly either processed or dairy. Dairy. Dairy. Dairy! Why is it no matter where I go I can only seem to find organic dairy. What about potatoes? What about some organic meat at least? Rice? A few staples? So basically I was planning our meals for the entire trip based on what was readily available.
What I really love about this project is that it made my brother look at things a little differently. He saw the physical changes going on in me. During our shopping trip he even started looking at what was on the labels of some of the food. He picked up a bag of cheese that he found on sale and called me over to look at the ingredients on the bag. We were both mortified! It wasn't even cheese. It was imitation cheese that didn't expire for another 5 months! We couldn't pronounce most of the ingredients, but I kept in mind price was the initial lure for my brother and had I not been there he would probably be still walking with that cheese in his intestines for the next month.
We came back from our grocery trip and I immediately began breakfast. I used ALL organic products. I mixed together the eggs, milk, a WHOLE stick of salty butter, half a block of cheese from the farm and some frozen potatoes to accompany the eggs. I also was able to find some organic oranges. Everyone seemed to love the eggs AND even my picky 3 yr old nephew finished his eggs and asked for more which never happens.
The next day I had to go back and do it all over again for my dad, uncle, and stepmom. This time in a whole separate end of town I had to visit a Meijers, Walmart, AND Kroger just to get enough variety of foods to make breakfast. I cooked the same thing as before only adding fried polenta, avocado, cherry tomatoes, hemp granola, yogurt, agave, and acai juice to the menu. It went over really well. What was even more impressive is that I was using REALLY large amounts of butter, cheese, olive oil, and other rich ingredients and not gaining any weight!!!!! Hmmmmmmmm. I ended up having to get my own eggs instead of using my dad's friends. We got in a fight over the eggs after I found out that his friend had a contract with Tyson. I've already seen what some of Tyson's requirements are and so even if I wanted to use the eggs my dad already felt insulted.
Moving into the evening I knew was going to be difficult. My grade school reunion was going to be taking place at a bar and I assumed nothing there would be organic. I asked around to see if my family knew of organic liquor anywhere. Most of them had no idea organic liquor even existed. I decided to visit the liquor store next to my school and asked them if they had ANY alcohol that was organic. They said they weren't aware if they did have any so I decided to peruse the isles anyway only to find they did have Organic Vodka from a brand called Rain. One flask and one bottle purchase later I was on my way to the reunion. I felt equipped to handle people I haven't seen in 20 years! It was a wonderful evening even though I did go hungry for a bit, but I stopped at the store and picked up an organic yogurt. Again there seems to be no shortage of organic dairy anywhere!
Saying farewell to Louisville I drove back to Chicago with absolutely no food available. It was truly disheartening. Finally I passed a Meijer's just south of Indianapolis and decided to see what I could dig up there. It only took minutes to tell that I was located somewhere in Amish town. I felt like an old throwback of some sort with the bonnets and hats that some of the shoppers were wearing. I sooo wanted to ask to take their photos, but they were already giving me strange enough looks as it was!
In the aisles there were Amish cheeses and very little organic produce, but I was REALLY impressed with all of the Meijers brand organic products. That tells me that there is some sort of demand for these types of products.
In the end I was only able to pick up an organic yogurt, a brick of Meijers brand organic cheese, and a box of organic granola bars. Everything else would have required some cooking. The cheese was definitely not the quality of the Fair Oaks Farms cheese. It was VERY salty as well.
It looks like I get to take this Organic project on the road. I have my grade school reunion this saturday in Kentucky. I spent 9 years with these people! I'll be flying into Chicago in the morning and driving to Kentucky. I've decided to see if my journey will be one of starvation. I am going completely unplanned under the trust that I will find something organic somewhere.
I just couldn't stand to bring anything prepackaged on the road with me. As I said a lot of packaged organic products seem to have organic cane syrup which I try to stay from to keep my insulin from spiking! I also didn't have time to get any fresh fruit, etc because I have been dependent upon the restaurants surrounding me. To say the least this is going to be very interesting. I'll take lots of photos.
In addition I've already warned my dad that I will be eating only organic while I am at home. He and my stepmother do very well with a lot of their foods since they grow so much in their garden. He also said he would have fresh eggs from his friend's chickens (which I can't wait to indulge in). I think in the back of his head he thinks that eating organic is a bit hokey though. I told him once he takes a look at me he can decide if organic is making a difference or not. I haven't seen him since christmas.
On a different note I was so upset I had to miss out on a major restaurant opening at Jean Georges. That was a REALLY big deal to turn down. I know a lot of fashion people don't eat very much, but when you are specifically going to a restaurant opening it's probably not the best thing to be a social outcast among that group. How upsetting. The person who invited me is a very well-known writer who thought it wouldn't be such a big deal to cheat on one meal. BUT to me I am remaining loyal throughout the entire year! I really must know for myself if organic is really going to make a difference!!!
As you can see I have also attached a fuller length photo taken of me this week from fashion week. I've had some inquiries at to what my body looks like right now. At the start of this journey the scales leaned towards 300 lbs! I would estimate here that I am about 265 lbs already! Mind you I was also still swollen from a wreckless doctor last year so I can imagine some of this loss is edema (water). I am not weighing myself until I am further along into this project. This is not about a weight loss. This is about observing BOTH the physical and mental changes going on from this journey.
Thanks to my friend Casey for shooting this photo of me.
By the way I doubt I will have the internet access that I need during this trip to update this blog so I will catch you on the other side of the reunion either feb 24th or feb 25th.
Thanks to Ameena Meer for sending this to me. Once again organic food is about trust.
Speaking of trust it's even difficult for the textile industry to regulate. What some textile people have told me is that companies that are "Fair Trade" or "Organic" actually will collect industrial materials from other companies and sell it under their certification!!!!
So the question here is are regulators understaffed or is there actually a conspiracy going on? Either way I like what one person said which was to try to buy locally so that at least one can look the farmer straight in the eye!
Ah....Fat Tuesday....Mardi Gras as some people know it. One of my friends and I made plans to attend my current stomping grounds, Gustorganics once again. We order a Hempenada, the Skirt Steak, mashed potatoes, tomato stewed green beans, salad, a champagne for myself, and she had a Sangria. Once again I had to keep a friend from moaning too much over the food. She loved it, but what she liked about it most is that it was the first meal in years that did not give her some sort of indigestion. She can't really tolerate dairy either and she was able to stomach the cheese in the hempenada. In fact she enjoyed dinner so much she insisted on paying the tab....second time this has happened to me! That never happens to me anywhere.
So after our delish dinner we whisked away to my friend D'Angelo's fashion party. D'Angelo had a beautiful spread of red velvet and other various cupcakes that I had to take a photo of. They were really a sight to behold, but not organic! In case you were wondering they came from Aunt Butchie's Of Brooklyn. The great thing was I WAS NOT TEMPTED! Maybe because I had just eaten a satisfying meal, but the old Mary would have still had room to try dessert. After all don't want to hurt anyone's feelings right? Look at that photo and tell me you wouldn't have been tempted.
Anyway it was another satisfying evening of organic with kindred spirits and slowly people are beginning to understand that Organic might actually make a difference!
In some ways I worry that I sound like an extremist with my Organic journey. Some people are jaded and have doubts about what I am doing. I am truly organic based on a trust system. I have to trust when the restaurants and farmers say they are giving me foods that not have been modified or hormone ridden until I learn to educate myself better.
But I can't deny the weight that I have been losing, the sleep that my body demands, the toxin bumps that are coming out in various places, the lack of a need to occasionally binge....all while under a great deal of stress. There has to be something said for that.
Eating Organic is only difficult now because there isn't a demand. People are sometimes afraid to demand what they think they deserve. I feel like I deserve to know what is in my food and make choices for myself. I shouldn't have to move back to Kentucky and start growing my own garden to know for sure what I'm getting.
The question is how can we make Organic practical? We are a society that has no time and fast food has made us lazy (not that I hardly touched fast food), but it's the other food that I worry about.
The other factor that people constantly bring up is cost. Well that I have found to be pretty simple. We eat too much here in the United States. What happened to quality and not quantity? I am satisfied with a lot less food these days than ever before. That is because my body is satisfied and doesn't feel the need to eat enormous portions. So far the cost of food comes out to be the same if not even less than I would normally pay!!!
Don't get me wrong. THIS IS A LOT OF WORK!, but if I feel like this is making a difference for someone like me then I don't mind doing the work for everyone else.
Just a quickie for you guys. At Gustorganics I have had the opportunity to test a few different desserts like the one pictured here. The best moment I love is a couple of days ago I had a chance to share a lovely organic chocolate fondue fruit plate with a friend of mine. And you know something? I totally forgot how fresh fruit ripens when it's organic! In fact right as my friend and I were speaking the bananas were turning brown right before our eyes!
The moral of the story is you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out if you're eating organic or not! Be in tune with your food!
Tonight was a great night! I met up with one of my really good friends that I haven't seen in a while because she's too busy flying around the world doing celeb hair and campaigns while I'm trying to run a business in a fragile economy.
We decided to meet at a Macrobiotic Restaurant in New York City. I wasn't sure if it was organic, but it was listed in Clean Plates New York City.
I ordered the macro plate which consisted of rice, beans, hijiki seaweed, kale, carrots, broccoli, and what I think was a yam or squash. The restaurant advertises online that it is organic, yet when you look at the menu only certain selections of their menu say organic next to the food item. Before I ordered I asked the hostess (that I have seen there for at least a couple of years) if their food was organic and she said she didn't think so. Then I asked her if the food was locally sourced and she said no, "it comes from all over". Hmmmmm.
Well I figured I would see what the difference was......the taste..... there was none. I know what organic vegetables out of my very own garden taste like and this was void of taste. If you blindfolded me and asked me to name what I just ate......I couldn't. That's how bad this was. I continued to eat to see how I would feel. I was content at the end of the meal, but not satisfied by the taste. My friend thought her fish was okay. If this is what organic was about I would never get anyone off of the crap they're eating now!!!
So the question is Macrobiotic just another word for tasteless food? I've got to find another one in the city to compare! In addition are they one of the restaurants that others have warned me about that buys only a few products organic so that they can call themselves organic? That's why I'm purposely withholding the name of this restaurant until I get down to the bottom of this.
Part 2 of the evening was much more successful. My friend and I decided to brave the snowy tundra of new york to meet her friends at a bar called Puck Fair. She was a little concerned that I wouldn't find anything organic there.
I asked the bartender if they had any kind of organic liquor and at first he didn't think he had anything, but then he returned with a bottle of Wiesen Edel-Weisse beer. My friend couldn't believe a place like Puck Fair would have a USDA certified beer. I finally explained to my friend my Organic project. At that time she told me she could not believe how good I looked. She said she wanted to mention back at the restaurant she saw changes, but the biggest change to her was evident in my hands. She said "your hands always looked swollen to me in the past, but today your hands...really all of you looks like you've really lost some weight". I knew she was sincere because for me the swelling in my hands and ankles had been bothering me for a while.
When the beer came I was curious to see what would happen. I don't have a good history with beer. I really swell up when I drink beer. I'm not sure why. I have been tested to have a wheat intolerance and this beer definitely has wheat in it. Much to my amazement I had no swelling! How can that be? Now I'm going to have to really figure out why this beer doesn't bother me. It's very sweet and smooth. I really enjoyed the beer.
So tonight I have two more assignments: try another macrobiotic location and figure out what makes me allergic to beer....except for this one!
Cheers!
p.s. By the time I got back to my office this evening I was really hungry. Generally the Organic Food I've been eating has left me quite satisfied for much longer periods. Hmmmmmm again.
I think the biggest question I've heard at least once a day over the entire month is "How are you able to afford Organic"?! "Isn't Organic expensive?"
In the very little time I've had with Organic I can firmly say with industrial food you are paying for quantity, not quality. Our portions here in the US are enormous. For some reason I always felt I had to eat so much more because I was just never satisfied with the food.
For example if you go to McDonald's you're getting a value meal of over 2000 calories for about $5-$7. The thing is if you ask most people who eat McDonald's or any other fast food they aren't satisfied with just the one meal for the entire day. People are packing on the pounds merely because the calories they ate didn't make them content!
With organic I have been able to actually spread my portions throughout the day AND pay even less for my food. As I also mentioned in an earlier post Alicia Silverstone also discusses in her book THE KIND DIET that eating in season and locally also keeps costs down!
The moral of the story is I am content when I eat my food. I don't eat and then think about when I'm going to have my next meal as I have done in the past. My mood and energy is better. I'm saving on doctor bills for health. Oh, and my weight is going down nice and gradually.
For a little comic relief I thought I'd attach this video I found. LOL!
It's been just over four weeks of Organic ladies and gents.
Guess what? I'm still losing weight. I went through a bad spell of detox bumps on my chest in the beginning. My sleep has improved. A photo speaks volumes so once again I'm posting a photo after a little over 3 weeks. I and others see more of a difference in person.
One big thing I noticed is now that I'm eating organic I don't have cravings or the desire to really overeat unless I'm out socially. I've had some major portions at Gustorganics to the extent we all rolled out of the restaurant, but it doesn't seem like portion has a significant role in this.
I had a chai tea tonight with friend that was probably not organic. It is my second beverage in four weeks that was not organic. We chose a place in Korea town because it was one of the few places that has a place where you can sit down and have a non-alcoholic drink on a Sunday night that was convenient for both of us. I felt it was important to hear what my friend had to say and didn't want to stress him out over my organic situation.
Besides that I have not had anything that was not considered certified organic or locally sourced. It's been a good balance of meat and vegetables.
I think after the second month I will be able to have a better evaluation of the effects of organic. So far....I like it!
Sorry I missed an entry day guys. I was on assignment for a project for Nightline that will be airing on the 22nd.
It just so happens I have a very heavy Jewish client base of which many are very strict Kosher. We were discussing if there was a difference between Kosher meat and Organic meat. Most of them did not think that there was a difference. Given that I have been doing work with some Rabbis for our Organic Chocolate I thought that this would be a great chance to get some information. Finding Kosher products is so much easier than finding Organic products at least here in New York. The Rabbi that we deal with is usually pretty busy so I did a little investigation online first. I think this answers a lot of questions. I hate to break it to my clients, but it seems as though Kosher is just not enough.
I was looking for some other restaurants to meet people at that carried organic alcohol and ran into The Organic Grill in NYC on 1st avenue. I haven't been there YET, but they did list on their website Organic Direct if you wanted organic groceries delivered to your home.
I checked it out and they have a wide variety of groceries, ORGANIC GROCERIES available from mostly local sources. Do I hear interview? Why am I just finding out about this? They also deliver to my office......for free!!!
I'm going to test them out to see what it's like and get back to you all, but after some of the disappointment I've had I am so happy to finally see an organic oasis!!!
p.s. for you New Yorkers they also have a great referral program!!!
p.p.s. Fresh Direct never got back to me about their organic section labeling. I always had a problem with them anyway. They use too many boxes with no recycling program even after all of this time!!
Given a need for continued discovery and research I decided to look at one of Jared's finds from Clean Plates NYC. Chipotle is actually one block down from my office. I went online first to check out what the story is with it's organic/resourcing status. I am quite impressed with the efforts that it has put in to make fast food healthy. It does show that healthier food can be done on a mass scale. The cheese is a vegetable-based rennet(vegetarian). 30% of their beans are organic. The chicken is raised with high standards....so I decided to indulge in the burrito bowl which consisted of rice, beans, chicken, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, and hot sauce. It's about an hour later and I am really feeling a bloat that I haven't had in a while. I'm also very thirsty.
While Chipotle's burrito bowl wins in taste, there's two things the bloat could possibly be: the beans (which I don't normally have that problem with beans) or the salt content. I would believe that the salt could be the culprit because I downed 1 quart of water in this cold weather a lot faster than I normally do.
Not sure if Chipotle is the place for me at this time, but I applaud their efforts and hopefully I will get a chance to ask the CEO about his thoughts on organic, etc. Here's a quick clip direct from the CEO about chicken and antibiotics.
Once again I was feeling a little disappointed after I tasted what distinctly resembled rubbing alcohol on my kale today. Kale was a big staple in my family and trust me I never tasted Kale like that before. The problem with me is I have a VERY sensitive palette. In fact there was a restaurant that I used to frequent that would have me taste test everything they made. They would try to trick me at times. It was a real struggle for them to trip me up because they really couldn't. It took them three years to finally give up.....or maybe I did.
Anyway I was a little sad until my friend Lisa brightened up my day with a very resourceful listing of grass-fed cows, etc. I think this will come in handy.
