Food plan, courtesy of Women’s Health Mag, to start off your upcoming week . Trying to get in lean shape for Carnival? This is a perfect guide.
Eat right, lose weight!
Be informed- FOOD DOCUMENTARIES
So there is nothing I love more than a great documentary, well there are, but for all intents and purposes this is #1 for now.
When making a lifestyle change, the greatest difficulty most face, comes to food. One good way to change that would be to take an honest look at the foods we eat and the effect it has on our bodies. Who wants to keep eating corn, when “According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 88 percent of corn and 94 percent of soybeans grown in America are genetically modified”? There isn’t enough information out there on the long-term effects that GMO foods have on our body, so I try not to risk it. Furthermore, since here in the US GMO foods are not required to be identified, there is no way of knowing what I am really ingesting. So I try to avoid it as best as I could. Out of these 20 documentaries listed, I have only seen 5 so I still have some work to do. Netflix and Hulu, if you have them can be great resources. I watched the trailers of the one’s I haven’t seen, and they all appear to be must see movies.
Disclaimer – I am not endorsing one viewpoint over another. You can sift through the information and make your health decisions accordingly.
Happy watching!
- A Delicate Balance
This important movie is not for the casual beginner; it powerfully deals with the health risks of processed food and how that correlates to the devastation that has been inflicted on our environment. - As We Sow: Follow American farmers are they tell their stories of survival and failure in America’s heartland.
- Earth Voice Food Choice
This stunning documentary is again excellent for the family, and especially for kids in their formative years who also face the pressure from an unhealthy world of processed nutrition less food being marketed expressly to them. It explains how a mostly plant-based diet offers wonderful health, saves lives, and how it could also save the planet. - Fast Food Nation: Showing the dark side of the all-American meal, this film examines the local and global influences of fast food.
- Food Fight: Foodie celebs like Wolfgang Puck, Michael Pollan and Dan Barber talk about how food has changed in American and the growing organic-food movement.
- Food Inc.: This film touches on the politics of food production, farming, obesity and disease in our 21st-century diet.
- Food Matters: This film shows that what we eat really does matter and how it affects our health, mood and happiness.
- Food Stamped: Ever wondered how hard it is to eat well on a tight budget?
- Forks Over Knives: Despite our advanced technology, this movie investigates the “disease of affluence” that can be controlled or reversed by avoiding meat and processed food.
- Fresh: Urban farming activist Will Allen and Joel Salatin discuss how corporate America threatens our food economy.
- Ingredients: Inspiring and rich, INGREDIENTS unearths the roots of the local food movement and digs into the stories of the chefs, farmers and activists transforming our broken food system. It illustrates how eating seasonal, locally produced foods improves our health and the health of our community. The area in and around Portland, Oregon serves as the backdrop for this story and as a model for the revitalization of a local food culture.
- Killer at Large: An in-depth look into America’s obesity problems centered around a 12-year-old liposuction patient.
- King Corn: As America’s most subsidized crop, this documentary follows two friends who plant an acre of corn and track it from seed to shelf.
- Our Daily Bread: This unique no-narration film takes a look into industrialized food in Western Europe.
- Processed People
Another really good family flick that exposes how the accepted norms of all-American eating habits will send us to an early grave. - Super-Size Me: A fit man embarks on a 30-day challenge to eat only McDonald’s fast food.
- The Future of Food:A look into genetically modified food (GMOs) and the destructive path of the Monsanto Corporation. Watch it free on Hulu.com.
- The Garden: Latino South Central farmers fight for their right to grow food.
- The Real Dirt on Farmer John: Farmer John Peterson struggles to save his farm as America’s farming community declines.
- What’s on Your Plate?: This film follows two 11-year-old multi-racial city kids as they explore their place in the food chain.
Sources:
http://thegoodhuman.com/2012/04/17/top-10-food-documentaries/
http://www.organicauthority.com/foodie-buzz/17-must-see-food-documentaries.html
Transformation isn’t a future event, it’s a present activity.
As I stand her waiting for a train that’s late , which in turn is going to make me late for my class, the thought of going home came to mind. I’m still standing here, though, because I set a weekly goal for myself and if I don’t meet it, I can’t be mad at anyone but myself. Thus, the quote above !
There are always solutions to set backs. If I miss the 5:15 class – which as it stands I might since the train just came and its 4:59 am – I’ll just have to beg to get in the 6:15 am class. UPDATE: I was 5 minutes late, but was able to fall right in.
… And that quote in the heading? It’s one of my favorite lines from Jillian Michael’s Ripped in 30 workout.
I’ll leave you with one other thought; patience is key!! Even though you’re putting in the work , give yourself two weeks to see some slight changes and at least 4 weeks to see the transformation in motion.
That being said, I hope you have a productive day, because I will.
Modifying isn’t a bad word
Usually during my workouts, I often try not do the modifications, unless doing the advanced version will compromise my form. Yesterday, during the weight segment, I spotted one of the participants struggling with weights that were clearly too heavy for her thus compromising her form. Pride may have been the culprit there, because I know we sometimes try to keep pace with others in the class. Personally, I prefer doing 10 reps at 10 lbs correctly, than do 10 reps at 20 lbs incorrectly. Where I’ve preferred modifying, however, is when doing a DVD workout. I have gone back to Jillian Michael’s Ripped in 30, but there are some things that I needed to modify since my fitness level has changed. I have three sets of weights, 3 lbs , 10 lbs and 20 lbs, so I use them interchangeably throughout the workout, even though they use the 5 lbs consistently. I also utilize my resistance bands , (which btw is a great investment) for the in between weights.
What do I mean?
For the reverse fly in a chair position, I am not able to do that with proper form using 10 lbs dumbbell weights, and the 3 lbs weights are too light. This is where my bands make an appearance. I use the blue band – 10-12 lbs (which are somehow easier than the dumbbells). For the squat and overhead press and lunge into a bicep curl I switch to my 10lb weights. The dead lift and halo dips, call for my 20 lbers.
If you’re familiar with Jillian Michaels, then you should be familiar with her 3:2:1 system; 3 mins of strength, 2 mins of cardio and 1 min of abs for each set. What I prefer to do now, since I like having my heart rate close to max during cardio, I simply jump rope for the two minutes.
For the ab portion, I choose plank on my stability ball, since that’s better are fully engaging your core as balance comes into play. She also does a series of standard crunches, so I also do those on my stability ball as well. For the side planks, I do those as instructed. However, in the midst of writing this post, I discovered that I can replace those with stability ball oblique curls ; I’ll try that on Thursday.
So in either case, the need to modify isn’t a bad thing 🙂 . Are there any modification tricks that you can share? Do you often fall victim to your pride and refuse to modify, even though that’s the best option for you?
This is what I chose.
As I crawled out of bed this morning at 4am, I tried creating reasons/ excuses why I should cancel my 5am class. “I’m too tired” , “I’ll call and reschedule the class for later” , “my son needs me” then the final IDGAF – “I don’t care if I waste my money”. So I looked at the clock again and I realised that I wasn’t tired, and none of the excuses I created were neither valid, nor true. I remember someone telling me last week, after I ate not so clean, that I could simply work out off. My mind went back to that Brad Pilon video about how you can’t out train a bad diet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQbuzsY_34Q ( I may not necessarily agree that cardio is as much as a waste as he might think, but that’s another post) and then Jillian’s voice from her Ripped in 30 series , saying that you can eat yourself out of any good workout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbUXyaeX-BY . Which brings me to my point, for the last two weeks I have felt like a hamster on a wheel, trying to do the very thing I know doesn’t work and as a result, I feel bloated and icky. So today, I change ! I HAVE to ditch the sweets!!! I have to confess I have consumed more sweets in the two weeks, than I have in the 6 months preceding; Aye dios mio!
So back to my old eating habits , where my workouts aren’t based on what I eat and where I feel as though my workouts won’t be in vain. This is what I chose, and I need to keep working towards it – because I don’t like what I see right now.
Sandy and Me
For the past week, NYC has been dealing with the after effects of Hurricane Sandy . As a NYC employee, I was called out to “work” and engage in various volunteer activities during the week. The weather wasn’t the only thing that was overcast. I’ve been struggling with a lot of emotional eating this week and its down right depressing ( of course i’m being a tad bit dramatic, since their are much more things to be depressed over, given the situation many NY’ers are facing). Nevertheless, my workout routine was totally disrupted , so it subsequently threw off my eating routine. I’m accustomed to getting up at 4:30a , getting on the train at 5:45 to get to my 7a kickboxing class. Without that start to my day, I found myself just laying around just looking at the clock. By the time I psyched myself up to do a home workout, it was time for work. Thankfully, the trains are back this week and I hope to resume my workout schedule tomorrow. I start spin this week, so I look forward to that. It’s never too late to get back on the wagon.
More importantly, I pray that the people most affected by Sandy are able to get the help they need sooner than later.
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