1.  Pack your lunch. Make your sandwhich’s to include some lettuce, a tomatoe slice and some sprouts!

2. Add a handful of carrots as a snack.

3. Remember the celery & peanut butter snacks as a kid?

Try the update version and use almond or cashew butter-( go ahead and make some eyes on it with raisins)

4. Apples are natural and easy ‘fast’ foods. Take 1 with you on the go

5. Instead of chips, try crunchy peas as a evening snack.

6. Start the morning out right, dice up some bell peppers & onions in your eggs!

7.   Bored with carrots & celery-try jicama.

Jicama is a root that is sweet and crunchy to eat. It looks like a round brown ball in the vegetable section at the grocery store.

Just peel the skin off with a knife and you have a new and tasty veggie!

 With the cost of oil and energy on the increase, the cost of groceries have been getting higher as well. 

I have complied a list of coupon sites to help you save money! ~ Enjoy

http://www.grocerygame.com

http://www.mommysavesbig.com

http://www.couponmom.com

http://www.mygrocerydeals.com

http://www.stonyfield.com/coupons/signin.cfm

To say that I was disappointed is an understatement.   And this is embarrassing, the day after my 30th day I pigged out! Cake, ice cream, M& M’s, everything-it was no hold bars.

And as I laid in bed clenching my stomach it occurred to me that while I didn’t lose the 15lbs, I gained self control and the ability to recognize when I am emotionally eating.   That’s worth about 14pds.

I am going to try again. However, this time I am going to make more time to exercise and plan my meals better. 

 Check back to see my progress!

~ Melody

The O’diet by Missy Giffor with Center of New Beginning in Lake Oswego, Oregon is a wonderful book. 

Having met Missy personally and seen the results that she has gotten over the years from her 12 week Make over I knew that she was on to something good.  I mean every woman that walked in that door looked AMAZING and felt great 12 weeks later.

I had to buy the book.

This book teaches you all the benefits of eating preservative, organic and pesticide free.  I really did not understand that the preservative and pesticeds that I was consuming in my food was hurting my body so much. However, in the book ” The O’diet” I finally get why eating Organic is so good for you.

Anyways, I have almost finished the book and am anxious to start my 12 weeks.

I  didn’t sleep well so my usual fix is caffeine and sugar and while I can do the caffeine-I really want the sugar. haha!  W hich goes to show that I have eating and stress management issues! 

To be positive,  what I am learning from abstaining from sugar is that I eat sugar when I feel bad or am stressed or am feeling angst.   And this is good to know. Maybe now I can stop my emotional eating, overeating, cycle.

I have been reading  the book ” The O’diet” by Missy Gifford

and have been really interested in the success that she has had with people eating organic, preservative and pesticide free food.

Her theory is that our bodies are like cars and right now we fuel are car with food that is polluted, refined and devoid of nutrients.

This lifestyle of eating healthy foods as always appealed to me, however, my only concern is that I may be unable to eat 100% Organic, preservative and pesticide free food as we live in a very rural area.   Let me finish the book and see how I can make this possible!

The problem is me ( Yes, I am the problem)

 My exercise has not been regular and I have been eating more carbs I think to compensate for lack of sugar.   My PMS wasn’t bad and my overall mood has seemed to improve so giving up sugar has had some benefits, just not on the scale.

For the next 2 weeks I plan on exercising, M, T, Thursday 30 min of cardio + weights and Fri -Tennis.

I also will read labels more carefully.  I suspect that my carb choices are loaded with hidden sugars. 

Wish me luck as I continue on my journey of 30days with no sugar~ Melody

 Did you know that plastic bags take up to 1000 years to decompose on land and 450 in the water ?

Speaking of Water- there are more than 100,000 marine animals dying from our plastic bag fetish er uh..convenience.

 Let’s make a change-let’s stop using plastic bags, there are several viable alternatives.

1. Paper- paper is an option that seems viable and easy to do.  Most paper bags are made from recycled paper.  The benefits are that paper bags can be reused and hold more than plastic bags. 

2.  Switch to carrying re-usable canvases/mesh bags.  While I understand that it’s difficult to shop w/kisd and bring your own bags- I think that its a good start. 

Here is My Personal Challenge:  Use Canvas bags for Grocery shopping!

So here is my thought- I am going to try using canvas bags to carry my grocery for 30 day or 4 trips to the grocery store. 

I think that I will need at least 4 large canvas bags to take with my to the store.  Now remember, I have a 2yr  old-so shopping should be a fun experience! I will blog how my alternative to plastics trial goes.

Wish our planet well, one bag at a time! ~Melody

It’s almost like fighting a battle at the grocery store.  Even if you try to eat healthy buying fresh fruits and veggies-you have to hope that they don’t have dangerous bacteria on them.  Why do we as American consumers allow this to go on?

Eating fresh, healthy foods should be our right.  And it’s a shame that we have spend extra time sorting out what’s good for us and what’s going to cause cancer, hormone deficiencies, diabetes, etc.  It’s wrong really.

Never in our lifetime have so many Americans been on on medicine for diseases that are treatable with Gulp-diet and exercise.

What are the solutions? For the lucky few that live near organic farms, or have markets we can shop there. Others can shop at Whole foods or Wild Oats or other large healthier grocery stores.

 But what about the rest of us? those who are on a budget or live in the boonies (like we do) what are we to do?

 I’d like to hear from you-how do you think that we can get our grocery stores to only carry healthy foods?  That won’t cost you an arm & a leg?

Here are some cool links: http://www.thefutureisorganic.net/index.html

http://www.organicconsumers.org/