My Box Is Here!

My friend, Olivia, introduced me to FullCircleFarm.com for bi-monthly deliveries of organic produce. Look at this glorious feast of fruits and veggies! Tonight, I used the spinach to make lasagna and we'll be having baked "fries" made from the potatoes tomorrow. I HEART this program. They deliver a box every other Thursday (less or more, depending on your preference) about five minutes from home. For this small box, I paid $39. Which is AMAZING for produce in Alaska. Let alone ORGANIC produce!



For those curious about Water With Lemon, a quick Q&A session from my diapering forum:

Q: Is the "power of one good habit" in the book or is it something else? Another book?
A: It's in the book. The whole thing is how one good habit has the power to change your life. You only need to start with one habit, not learn a whole "diet plan" in a day and alter your life to make it work. You alter these habits to make them work in your life. And you don't need to buy anything (food, equipment, videos...) in fact, you don't even need to buy the book if you can find it in a library. But you do need to read the book. That is the hardest part. ;) It's a light read. I couldn't put it down one night so I got it done in less than a week.

Q: Does it give you things to change, or do you make them up?
A: It gives you guidelines. For instance, the character in the book LOVES pizza. I've yet to find a diet that encourages you to eat pizza. And if you are allowed to have it, you must severely limit your portions (which makes ME feel like I need to eat more. Just to show them that I'll say what I can and cannot eat. Ya know?) But this character has found a way to make pizza fit into his lifestyle by making his own using lowfat cheese, soy sausage, and making sure he remembers that the pizza isn't going away. Saving 6 of the 8 slices in the refridgerator doesn't mean he can never eat them again. Or even making two pizzas and freezing one so he can still have the instant gratification of a frozen pizza.

Changes that I've made are very very few. I do buy more produce than I ever have in my life. And it doesn't go bad, as it used to. On Weight Watchers, you must count points for fruit. I always found that ridiculous because fruit is a healthy choice. But if I had 2 points left in a day, and I could choose between a small bowl of ice cream or a piece of fruit, you KNOW I'm going to choose ice cream. Who wants to spend their last two points on fruit??

One of the habits is lowering/limiting fat and choosing good fat (in olive oil and avocado) over bad fat (in meat products and potato chips). Because I don't care for low-fat/fat-free cheese, I compromise with a half and half blend of fat free and regular cheddar. I buy a bag of shredded fat free cheese and then mix it with the block of cheese I shred myself. Half the fat, all the flavor. See? Not hard at all and I still get cheese - guilt free!

Q: Is drinking water with lemon really [a change] (haha.. but seriously.. is it?)
A: The water with lemon thing. That's this character's way of making sure he gets enough water in a day. One of the habits is water, but you don't have to have lemon. I thought I didn't care for lemon water, but now that my body has redefined "sweet" by having fruit when I'm craving a cupcake, I've found it very refreshing. I keep a pitcher in my fridge and find myself craving my lemon water.

Did you know that just one soda every day DOUBLES your likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes??? I had no idea! One character asks why that isn't printed on the cans. The answer is simple: an ommission is not a lie. There is no false advertising involved. They are no more required to inform their consumers of the risk associated with soda than a vehicle manufacturer is required to tell you "Hey... you could crash and die. Here's your keys."

Lemon water replaces the sweetness you crave in soda. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing switch. It can happen one glass at a time. Drink a glass of water (with lemon or without) THEN drink your soda. I'll bet you drink less soda. And less and less over time. Just one tiny habit, right?

Q: It does sound like a very good book. I like that they make it into a story so it becomes a fun and easy read. but are most of the changes common sense? I think we already know that that we should eat more good fat than bad, whole grains than refined, veggies than chips, fruit than sweets and water than pop. Is there stuff in there that most people really don't know?
A: Not exactly new stuff. If you've ever tried any kind of diet change, you've probably learned a few (if not all) of the tidbits they teach. But they break it down into easy to understand habits. 8 of them, to be exact. And it happens at such a slow pace that you're not even aware of the changes. They blend into the background and you adjust them to your life. I felt like I knew it all, but this book proved me wrong. (Like the soda thing. Just one of many tidbits of useful information)

My favorite part of the whole concept? It takes away ALL of the guilt associated with eating. Not just eating right, EATING. It's amazing. Truly a refreshing viewpoint on nutrition.

Want an update on weight? I've lost 8.5 pounds since Tuesday of last week. Where's my disbelieving drop-jaw smiley when I need him?? This weight loss was achieved JUST by incorporating the Power of One Good Habit into my life. I can honestly say that the changes are so small... I can barely detect them. And I don't feel cheated or restricted in any way. In fact, I had a pizza party last night. Yep. And I did not feel any kind of shame for eating pizza with the rest of the group. It was fabulous. I just want everyone to be able to feel this way!