Thursday, May 30, 2013

Documentaries that have changed our family. Part 1

Let me start by asking forgiveness for the typos?  I am putting this up in a HURRY today.  Too much stuff going on, but since I have been asked a bunch of questions I figured I would do my best to start answering some of them.  

Back in January my Husband and I knew we needed to make some lifestyle changes. Both he and I are the heaviest we have ever been.  I quite a few health issues I deal with daily and there have been a lot of sick people in my family. Obesity, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, Cancer, and a myriad of autoimmune diseases on both sides.

Chris and I have had a long drawn out love affair with food.  Every pound we have put on has been well earned.  Eating is what we do to celebrate, to relax, to "treat" ourselves.  We didn't have a proper understanding that it was the very thing that was making us sick.  We did know it was making us FAT!

Did you know that all autoimmune diseases need to be triggered by something?  Sure we can carry the gene, but it isn't "turned on" until triggered.  Stress, toxins, (especially smoke), and the processed foods and dyes we consume are all triggers.

 We were both  fed up, and wanted something better for the both of us and our children. We wanted to be able to be active Grandparents someday, and not pass on the bad habits and health issues to our kids.

Chris and I are currently juice fasting for two meals a day.  We have both lost 7lbs so far and it hasn't been a week.  The children are eating healthy diets of whole foods.  In other words food that doesn't have or need a label.  It truly is the easiest way to remember.  We try to buy organic when we can, and local.  Saturdays have become our date morning.  We head out to the Farmer's market.  Our meat and eggs are mostly free range and grass fed.  No growth hormones or antibiotics.  There is a great website if you are looking for local produce and farms.  It's called Local Harvest you just type in your zip code and it brings up a list.





 Surprisingly the bulk of  my shopping is done at Costco.  They carry many organic products and their Kirkland brand of meat is antibiotic and growth hormone free. Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and even your local grocery store all carry many good organic products, that are non GMO as well.  One last thing, I stumbled upon this app http://www.fooducate.com/.  It lets you put it on your smart phone, scan a product and give you a grade.  It tells you why it was graded the way they graded it, and gives you alternative selections.





 Okay, enough with all the tips and tricks.  Let's get on to the life changing knowledge!

 The first movies is a documentary called Fat, Sick, and nearly Dead. You can watch it in entirety below!



The next is a movie called Farmageddon
This movie is particularly eye opening as to why all of the food in our supermarket is so unhealthy.  It's a lot more sinister than you would think.

The next one you should watch is a movie called Fresh. It explains why all our food should be grown locally and without pesticides.


There are quite a few more, but I don't want to overwhelm you.  Start here and check back next week.  I will post three others.

All of these moves have websites and can be viewed on Netflix. 

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”

Hippocrates


 Blessings! Paula