As I sit and
contemplate the challenge I made for myself to eat clean for seven straight
days as a part of my 40 by forty list I started thinking. I had pre-planned and put this challenge on
my calendar way back in February. At that
time the news about Subway using the same chemical used in yoga mats in their bread was making headlines. During that
same time I finally got around to watching the excellent Tom Hanks movie
Captain Phillips which is based on a true account. What do those two things have in common you
might ask? Not much to tell you the
truth except that this thought occurred to me.
What kind of world do we live in that the rescue effort displayed by our
government and how they spared no expense to save a ship’s captain held hostage
by Somalian Pirates it’s nothing short of heroic?
Yet that same government allows food regulations that make it okay for
the public to ingest harmful plastic and pesticides? Some of which are directly linked to certain
types of cancers and neurological disorders.
I guess the message is no one else can harm an American citizen or we’ll
come after you, but if we want to allow our own food industry to poison them well
then that’s okay.
So, to me, clean eating
sounds ridiculous. Essentially the term
is telling us that for the most part, we’re eating dirty, and it’s right. Yuck!
How is that okay? The norm has
become eating processed food to which we have no idea of its true
ingredients.
I won’t go on and on
about big business and how everything comes down to the almighty dollar. We all basically know that story. I won’t even go off on a tirade about how
absurd it is that we have to petition our government representatives to force
companies to label GMO foods. Mom always
told me if someone wants to hide something there must be a reason, right?
Well, yes, but instead of
heading down that road, I will focus on the challenge at hand. Item number 32 on my 40 by Forty list. I am planning to eat clean for an entire week.
Fervently, for the past
few days, I’ve been searching one of my favorite websites, Pinterest for clean
recipes and ideas in preparation for the challenge. The good news is I didn’t find my search to
be lacking at all. There is so much
great information out there I was swimming in it before long.
It didn’t take much except
some time and now I have 7 full days of clean meals and snacks planned out and
I’m ready to tackle this item on my list beginning Monday. Using the coming weekend to finish my
shopping and do some food preparation.
I have to say the
recipes which I will share a few of at the end of this post sound really
good. I’m fairly excited to start this
challenge and I know my body will feel better as I’ve dabbled in this arena
before. My hope is that during this year
in which I will eventually turn forty years old, I will finally come to terms
with the necessity of food as a means to take care of and fuel my body and not as
an instant pleasure. I know seven days
won’t be enough to right all the bad habits I’ve picked up over the past four
decades, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction. So, here I go to put one foot in front of the
other, leaving the processed boxes and bags of unhealthy industry food behind
and reaching out to local farmers and the co-op I belong to in order to cook up
some real food that came directly from its source like a vine or a tree. Imagine that.
You’d think that was the way the universe intended it to be or something,
ha!
Here are a few recipes
I can’t wait to try. Clean breakfast, lunch and dinner anyone?
I’ll touch base next
week with how it’s going. Ya know, reading labels, using fresh produce and not eating out ;-) I'll offer up some reviews as well as other recipes to
try. If you have any favorites to share, post them below.
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