Earth Day 2010

First of all, I would like to report on a milestone on my scale this morning.  I weighed in today at 249.8 pounds, which is officially 0.2 pounds less than my initial goal of 250 pounds!  I am so happy with this number, and I am now ready to set my next goal...in keeping with the "multiples of 25" rule, my next goal will be 225 pounds.  It feels SO AMAZING to have achieved something I have set out to do like this, and I find myself with renewed resolve as I head farther into this journey.

My Biggest Loser-inspired on-line weight loss challenge starts on Saturday, and I feel like I am in a great place for it.  When last we met, I had "finished" W1D1 of C25K, and I was discouraged by my experience.  I am happy to report that heading into the gym and onto a treadmill for W1D2 was the right thing to do!  By sticking to a slow pace of 4.3 MPH for the jogging segments and 3.3 MPH for the walking segments, I was able to jog all nine of the jogging segments.  I am much relieved by this because I really was feeling discouraged after that first attempt.  I am still planning to do W1 for two weeks in a row, as well as W2 for two weeks in a row, but I am looking forward to it now that I know I can do it.  W1D3 will be done at the gym tomorrow morning.  I am almost excited about it!

I have also been reading an inspiring book that will link this post to its title.  While rooting around on the "Health & Fitness" board on The Nest, I started hearing some rumblings about "clean eating."  I did buy a copy of Clean Eating magazine and do a little reading, and it's an interesting thought.  I don't know that I want to go completely "clean," but some of the information in the magazine was very easily translate-able to my life.  After looking through the magazine and then finding it available for my nook via the Free Library of Philadelphia, I decided to check out the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.  I have never read any of her books, but the premise of this one (a non-fiction account of a year that her family of four chose to move to a farm in Appalachia and become "locavores") seemed very interesting in light of the changes I am trying to make.

I have been devouring this book!  Some people have mentioned finding her a little "preachy," but I am not finding this to be so.  I have heard preachy before (I am talking to you, Jeanette Walls!), and this is not it.  It is, on the other hand, fascinating information that I have always probably been slightly aware of but have never taken the time to consider.

For instance, let's talk about corn on the cob.  Love it.  Could eat it every day.  When Florida corn becomes available, I start buying it right up.  Eventually, I shift my corn-buying to local farmstands, but I don't let my enjoyment of corn be dictated by where I live.  When it comes to the supermarket, I buy it, with little thought to the place it was grown, what kind of farming practices they use, and how much energy it took for that corn to get off the stalk in Florida and on to my plate here in Pennsylvania.  In the back of my mind, I had the information to make me realize this, but I had not put it all together.

Now that I have, I am making a pledge this summer to buy all my produce (and also as much of my meat and eggs as possible) from more local sources (within the Poconos and Lehigh Valley area, let's say).  I know of a couple of good sources for this stuff and have just found another that I am pretty excited about.  My husband is also on board with the  idea, and I am looking forward to exploring these places and really looking at what's in season here in Pennsylvania and planning my produce consumption around that information.  So I thank Barbara Kingsolver for explaining this in a way that has brought it to the forefront of my mind.  I can't wait to see how good local tastes!

I also have, saved on my DVR, another recommendation from a variety of sources, Food, Inc.  I am not sure I am ready to tackle this one yet, as I am concerned that I will never want to eat McDonald's again.  And I really like McDonald's...oh, well - baby steps, right?