Diet Coke free for 5 days!

I have been Diet Coke free for almost 5 days now. I have filled the void by drinking ALOT of water, a coffee in the morning (with organic half and half) and tazo hot tea when my cravings for diet coke get really bad!! I was sitting in class last night next to a woman who was drinking a diet coke and I actually thought about just taking a BIG SWIG out of her drink but I resisted. She actually noticed that I wasnt drinking my usual huge soda and I told her that I was trying to kick my habit. She then defended herself about her own habit saying she hadn't had carbs in years which I thought was hilarious because I definitely wasnt judging her diet coke I was JEALOUS!

Did you know that there are SEASONS for meat? I am new to this world of actually knowing that the meat that I eat has lived a humane life; free of antibiotics and hormones, gets to eat the way God intended them to and see the light of day so I never even thought about their being a season to buy meat. Luckily in this day and age there are freezers so we get to enjoy healthy pasture raised meat all year round but I am amazed that I never thought about why there is "fresh" beef chicken and pork in the grocery store year round!!

I have to be honest I never thought that I would be someone who would be considering being vegetarian because I LOVE LOVE LOVE steak, hamburgers and chicken wings but ever since I saw Food Inc. I have been basically repulsed at the idea of eating any sort of meat no matter how it was raised. My boyfriend and I tried some local pasture raised chicken, ground beef and eggs and they were all good but I am just still dealing with what I learned this past Sunday. I think I will get over this and will once again enjoy sitting down to a delicious meal complete with meat.

Grass Fed and Finished Pasture Raised Gal!

I am a junk food junkie. I love food and I love to eat. I talk, think, obsess, plan, & dream about food. I like to cook it, go out to eat it and have my wonderful chef boyfriend cook it for me. With that being said; it is hard for me to admit that until yesterday I honestly wasn't aware of the atrocities that are happening in America's food industry. I had a very dear friend try to explain it to me for almost two years but I didn't get it. I would like to think that I am a relatively well educated person but in respect to industrialized mass production farming I am the town idiot! I really thought that there were actual regulatory agencies to protect us from diseases and bad working conditions! I read the Jungle when I was in high school and I was horrified but I was able to tell myself that those things happened a LONG time ago, well I was wrong. Anyway if you stumble across my blog and you aren't aware that we should all be very upset about the way that meat (beef, pork and chicken) is being raised, slaughtered and processed please watch the movie Food Inc or visit their website www.foodincmovie.com

I am not a nutritionist or an investigative reporter. I am just a girl that is horrified about what I have been putting in my body for the past 28 years and I would like to make a conscious effort to change that. I hope to chronicle, in this blog, my journey from being an ignorant eater to a conscious consumer. I am going to support organic, locally grown (when I can- its COLD in Indiana at this time of year) produce. And I am going to buy grass fed and finished beef, and pasture raised chicken and pork. I also hope to not purchase food with a ton of preservatives in it. I recently read that the author Michael Pollan said don't eat anything that doesn't rot. Also I am going to give up diet coke, which is honestly painful for me to even think about because I am addicted.

In the weeks to follow I hope to tell you about how I feel once I am not pumping hormones and antibiotics into my body. My struggles with dining out and eating with my family. And the adventure of trying to buy things that are actually good for you! It is not going to be easy because the food industry has apparently worked very hard to make it almost impossible for Americans to eat well and feel good. I hope that this chronicle will end up looking Bridget Jones-esque with a little Eat, Pray, Love thrown in. :)