Forks Over Knives and Rambling Thoughts

I recently went to see Forks Over Knives at Whole Foods with my good friend Malini.  It was a great movie and I recommend everyone to watch it. As someone who is avidly striving to live a healthy lifestyle, I am open to differenct opinions in regards to what we put in out bodies.  There are so many diets out there right now;

• The Paleo Diet
• The Blood Type Diet
• Dr. Dean Ornish Diet - I actually did this one and it worked! Hard to sustain but good.
• Plant-Based Diet 
• Vegetarian Diet

I could go on and on because I haven't even spoken about the famous 10 Diets. I swear if you look hard enough there is a ton of stuff written and successful in regards how to eat to live. I do believe it is personal to everyone and what works for each individual person.

I am attaching a link about Forks Over Knives and I appreciated the approach on the whole foods, plant-based diet. I do think that we have become lazy as a society as we need immediate gratification on everything, including food.  If both parents are working, kids are in sports, school, etc. it can be difficult. I mean let's face it, there are very few families that have time. I think it is great that everyone is writing all these books but nobody is helping/teaching people HOW to do it.  These authors are showing people recipes and exercise but we are asking people to change habits and that can take a lot of work.  We need to teach people HOW and make it EASY for them and people will change.  There will be a time when Lays Potato Chips will be $5 a bag and broccoli .79 cents. Jeremy and I have incorporated this philosophy into our weekly diet for years and have invested a lot of time and money into living this way (sidenote from Jeremy: he loves Lay's Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips and hopes they never reach $5 a bag!). 

While I believe very strongly after reading about plant based-whole food diets, I also believe that animal protein is good in moderation AND it depends how that animal lived (but that is my personal opinion).  I know it can be expensive to shop for groceries at specialty shops but if you are going to the Wal-Marts and Sams Clubs you probably are eating factory farmed meat, make sure to get organic soy products, as most commercial soy beans today are genetically engineered to feed cows.mass-produced food that has a lot of chemicals in it. I eat a steak every once in awhile but the cow is grass fed. I will eat chicken from Jodar Farms or soon to be my own chickens, I think that you get my point.

Being a gardener, chicken farmer and huge supporter of eating local. I am a HUGE Joel Salatin fan and believe we can eat healthy as long as we know what we are putting in our bodies and where our food comes from. It can take a lot of work, investing in your groceries is like investing in stock. Here are a few things I do in my daily life:

• Be smart about how you shop.  
• Read labels. 
• Read cookbooks 
• Know your meat/fish (if you choose to eat meat). How did that animal live? How was this fish caught?
• If  you are going to be a vegetarian/vegan, take a cooking class and learn new and fun ways to make different types of food. Indian and Asian foods are super good and have a lot of vegan/vegetarian options. I am especially on a kick learning to make Indian food!

Here are some fun reading materials to check out that Jeremy and I have enjoyed:

• Feeding the Whole Family - I purchased this book a year or so ago and enjoy the recipes
• The China Study
• Animal, Vegetable Miracle
• Omnivore's Dilemma
• Farm City - This is just a cute fun read
• McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook  - great cookbook
• Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World 
• The Backyard Homestead

I have also been loving my IPhone and my new favorite app is "How to Eat Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman! Seriously just plug stuff in and WHAM! You have yourself a meal. 

Peace and Love