HFCS, preservatives, hydrogenated oil.... What's a busy girl to do?

Sadly I haven't been running as much as I'd like. I *have* been working out, quite a lot... a friend and I are doing Jillian Michael (from the Biggest Loser)'s Making the Cut workout book. They are really hard circuit training strength exercises that kick my butt!!! I feel like I am getting toned and in good shape, but I really need to up the pure cardio and running. It is so hard to fit in both. Today is a rare "off" day in the program so I am going to run 4 - 5 miles if I'm not too sore. We're in the middle of week 2 so I think now I can really start trying to incorporate running more miles like I was doing a couple weeks ago, *and* this strength workout I wanted to fit in back then. I don't think it has to be one or the other, but that's how it's turned out.

In other fitness news, I've decided to try to eat as healthy and naturally as possible. I've been frustrated because even though I run a lot and work out a lot, I don't really lose weight... more like, I flucuate between re-losing and re-gaining the same 3 or 4 pounds, when really I would like to lose a good 10 pounds and keep it off. I know it's all because of my diet, and if I can just be as discliplined and dedicated to that as I am to running and working out, I will be all-around healthy *and* I will finally get rid of these 10 extra pounds I've been carrying around for at least a year.

I've been focusing on that for only 2 days now but I already feel great. My skin gets softer when I drink more water and eat more fruits and veggies. During the day I have energy that feels so natural, and then at night time I am actually tired. So I am really, really liking it.

Last night I was headed to the grocery store and, lo and behold -- perfect timing -- on my liberal radio talk show, where they normally only talk about politics, came a guest speaker who was this guy called Chef MD who wrote a book about "culinary medicine". I guess he has a show called What's Cooking on Lifetime (but I've never seen it). Anyway, he is a doctor and a chef and he was talking about the American diet and why we are obese.

Since my new decision to eat natural, I have been trying to stay away from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and funny enough, he started talking about this on the show regarding his book. He said that today almost *everything* that Americans buy at the grocery store and eat has HFCS in it. In 1970, *nothing* Americans ate had HFCS in it. And it just so happens that the obesity rate in America has tripled since then.

So, after hearing that in my car and thinking about it lately, I went around the grocery store trying to find healthy food that didn't have HFCS in it. I was also looking to avoid preservatives and partially hydrogenated oils. It was honestly practically impossible. :cry: Even the bread I always eat, which I always thought was healthy -- Sara Lee 100% Whole Wheat -- has it. At home I looked at my shelves and sure enough, there was either HFCS, hydrogenated oil, or both in my Special K Almond cereal, some chicken soup (the generic kind, not the Healthy Choices kind), my Quaker Oats 90 calorie granola bar.... almost *everything*!

What's a busy girl to do??!?! I am honestly usually proud of myself just for going to the grocery store and buying stuff to take to work with me for lunch and snacks, instead of eating the unhealthy free junk at work or buying McDonald's or a burrito etc. Now I realize that the only way to really be natural is to go to the co-op and buy stuff with preservatives that doesn't last long, and cook it up right away... wow, so much work. But I guess that's what's become of the American culture, huh... I guess I fit right in and that explains why it's so "easy" for us to buy all of this pre-packaged stuff.

I have not come up with a definite solution but I need to find a way to be healthy, eat naturally, work out, *and* work, *and* have a life. I think I just have to get used to slowly making better changes. Like, I'm only going to buy Kashi Go Lean cereal and others that don't have artificial stuff in them. I'm going to make it a priority to bring my lunch and prepare food so that I don't have to stop and grab a sugar-sweetened treat or fast food. Eventually I want to get to a place where eating healthy and knowing what I'm putting in my body is second nature. At this point, though, I am just surprised to learn all of this! I may check out the book the guy on the radio was talking about, and I also want to read "Fat Land."

Some statistics and links:

America Scores: Statistics on Childhood Obesity 15.3% of children ages 6 to 11 were overweight in 1999 and 2000, more than triple the average of 4.2 percent from 1963 to 1970.

US Obesity Rate Map: State by StateAlabama has the highest obesity rate, at 30%, and Colorado has the lowest, at 18.7%... my state, New Mexico, is about in the middle, at 24%.

Alarming Obesity RateThis blog entry by Dr. Davis sums up the CDCP's statistics on the obesity rate, including the alarming facts that children between the ages of 2-9 have almost a 17% obesity rate and adult males have a 31% obesity rate. Dr. Davis recommends a plant-based diet... I love veggies but I also love me some chicken!!!

Chef MD This is the guy I heard on the radio last evening. He seems like a cool dude! I'm going to look into his website, TV show, and book.

Super Bowl Sunday 5K Race Result

I did it! I finished the 5K in my goal time of under 27 minutes. In fact, my time was 26:55. :)

It felt great. I definitely went out too fast the first mile -- 8:15! I need to run more on the road instead of on the treadmill so I can gage my pace. I just started off with the head of the pack and my Garmin said my pace was 6:30! I'd try to slow down and it would say 7:30! Crazy.

The second mile I did in 8:55 or so, which was slower than my 8:40 goal pace. The third mile I did in 8:35 or so, so it all evened out, but I really want to work on my pace. At the end I felt spent and was hoping I could crawl over the finish line in time. Ha ha.

I had a great time, my boyfriend came and took my picture so I'll have to post it. I am really excited to have run my first race of the year and to start working on improving that time. But it's a great starting time... fast for me!

Here's a link to the official results.