(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

I had a lovely post planned for today, but I will be honest with you, I feel awful.  The sick has set in and I am going take another day of rest.

So in the spirit of other bloggers who embrace Wordless Wednesday, I am going to share with you some of my favourite pics and posts.

Self-Esteem and Body Image

Crazy Sexy Diet Review

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to win a copy of Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr from the lovely Natalie Duhamel.  I am feeling crazy and sexy this week and thought I would be fantastic time to share my thoughts on this book.

I have to begin by saying that I truly admire Carr.  In the face of illness, she took her life into her own hands and decided to clean up her act and her diet.  She has courage, passion and perseverance that we can all look up to.

Carr approaches this book with a sassiness and wit that makes it not only fun to read, but easy to follow. (Her language can get graphic at times.  I wasn't offended, but some may be).

She tackles a wide variety of topics including:

• The Standard American Diet and how it truly is SAD
• The importance of PH balance in the body
• How to use the Glycemic Index for healthy eating
• The power of organic fruits and vegetable

She enlists the help of many experts who are featured throughout the book and echos many of the ideas of Michael Pollen. However, Carr's views are a little more extreme.

The book strongly advocates a vegan diet.  While she does make room for omnivores, it is clear that Carr is against the consumption of meat and dairy products.  I believe their is room for all kinds of food in my own world, but reading her views reminded me of the lesson I learned in the vegan challenge.

I think my favourite part of the book is a chapter called "God Pod Glow". It is devoted to other ways to take care of our mind and body such as exercise, meditation, yoga and massage to name a few.  These are so important and often get neglected in "diet" books.

At the end of the book, she includes a 21 Day Cleanse.  If you are looking for 21 days of what to eat and when to eat it, you won't find it here.  It not a diet, per se, it is a way of life. I do love that in each day of the cleanse, she includes positive affirmations, tips and mind-body activities.

For the cleanse, Carr recommends to go vegan, include juices and smoothies into your diet and practice the 80/20 rule of eating (80% alkaline foods and 20% acidic).  She does provide a sample week menu and some recipes to get you started.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and the idea of eating real, whole foods just makes good sense.  While I don't necessarily agree with all of Carr's views, I feel this book is taking us yet another step in the right direction:

To make us more aware of how we need to change the way we look at food and how we eat to create a happier, healthier society.

Have you read Crazy Sexy Diet?  What are your thoughts on the book?  I would love to hear them!

Stay Healthy,
Tracy

P.S.  Did you enter my giveaway?  There is still time! :)

Going Vegan, Day 1: In Defense of Food

Welcome to Day 1 of the Vegan for a Week Challenge.  I still have to head to the store to pick up a few things, but I am raring to go!

I looked at my Inspiration Board this morning and had totally forget that I had included veganism as one of the things I wanted to try this year.  What great timing. :)

In preparation for this challenge, I mentioned that I was reading "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollen.  I had every intention of making detailed notes for my review, but I got so into the material that by the time I realized that I wanted to take notes, I was done.

I loved this book.

For those of you not familiar with the premise, Pollen feels that we need to re-think our current relationship with food and view it more as our ancestors did. We should be mindful about all the connections that have brought our food to the table; how the soil is connected to the plants, the plants are connected to us and we are connected to our culture.

We live in a society that views food in term of nutrients (i.e. low-fat, cholesterol free, high in protein, bad carbs etc) instead of looking at the food as whole.  The whole being much greater as the nutritional sum of its parts.  (Guilty, as I am sure many of you are.)

So what is his proposed solution:  Eat food.  Mostly plants.  Not too much.

He takes a very balanced approach when looking at food and his message couldn't be simpler:  Choose locally-grown, organic foods more often, plants are the best, but meat is beneficial too and always go for quality over quantity.

Many people (including me) were skeptical of the the benefits of organic.  It is costly and if I am eating plenty of conventional whole foods, what difference does it make if they are organic or not?  Well, as it turns out, a lot.  The richer the soil, the more nutrients and goodness in the plants and the animals who eat those plants. This results is a tastier food that is better for you and me.

I am a believer, all his connections just make good common sense.

I could go on and on toting the wisdom of this book, but I highly recommend that you read it yourself.  It will truly change the way you look at food.
 
Have you read "In Defense of Food"?  
What are your thoughts on mindful eating?

Stay Healthy,
Tracy