MEM: Going Organic... Again



Welcome to another My Earth Monday!
This week's installment is not about starting something new but reintroducing a good green habit that I dropped, idiot that I can be sometimes. I will be going organic again.

Now, my real life friends (and maybe some of my online friends as well) might be surprised that I fell off the organic wagon in the first place.
But I did, around January after my short detox, when we all got sick and making the trip to my favourite organic store became difficult. Besides, we're on a rather strict budget, and I thought that a break from the more expensive organics would ease our finances a little.

Well, you truly cannot put a price on health. Over a period of 4 months, I've steadily felt more lethargic, developed worsening monthly cycles, had increasing insomnia, gained stubborn weight, and increased my bodyfat primarily in my middle.

The only thing I've changed is the origin of my food.
My average calorie intake has stayed the same, and I've even exercised more. Unless any of you have any other ideas, I'm willing to bet it's the organic thing.

And I'm not surprised. It's all over the news that North America has the most genetically-modified, hormone-injected, and pesticide-poisoned products in the world... and we also have the highest percentage of obesity.

And, of course, as we're poisoning ourselves, we're poisoning our planet.
By going organic, we're saying no to harmful pesticides and giving our thumbs up to healthier farming practices and local producers.

Two years ago when I started going organic, I lost a lot of weight, gained a lot of energy, and felt really good, and I maintained that until recently. So, I'm hoping I can replicate those results by going back.

If you think your health could use a kick in the right direction, I suggest you try going organic. And let me know how it goes!

6 comments:

  1. "reintroducing a good green habit that I dropped, idiot that I can be sometimes."....why is it so easy for us to drop good habits and so easy to fall back into bad habits????
    I never can figure this out.
    You are SOOO right about health being so important. AND about the crap that they pass off onto us as "food"
    But disciplining myself to stay on the really healthy path...whether it be CRON, yoga, organic food, exercise or whatever...once I fall off the wagon its easy to go astray!!!
    That is why I read YOU and others that are trying to be on the same healthy path. Love your blog...you make me look at myself and take notice!!!
    Excellent post!!! SO TRUE!!

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  2. Anonymous05 May, 2008

    Can you give some examples of how badly you "fell off"? I mean if the only thing you changed was from organic lettuce to regular, then that's alarming, but if you were eating chicken fingers from a box as opposed to organic bl/sl chicken breast, then the deep fried crap might be more of a culprit! You already said that you maintained calories, so I assume it's not that dramatic. Just examples of what I'm looking for.

    As far as the cost goes, somewhere, I've read of a hierarchy of "bang-for-your-buck" for organics (if it was here that I read it, my apologies! Can't remember/too lazy to find where - it might have been the paper) e.g. potatoes & other root vegetables aren't really worth seeking out the organic kind for, but some things (tree fruits w/o peels?) absorb more (and therefore take more into you). The point is, if you need to cut back, you could partially cut back, still staying at the higher-return end (or at least know what to avoid all together)

    Seasonal allergies? ;-) I've just discovered that I suffer from them, and I've decided to pin all my problems on that! I'm actually only HALF joking - with all the illness, you may want to consider it :-)

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  3. @gypsy girl -
    thanks for the kind words :) yes, it's a slippery slope once we fall, isn't it? but getting back on the wagon is so incredibly worth it.

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  4. @harmzie -
    Yes, I emailed you and the rest of the village a list of the most to least pesticide-riddle stuff. :)

    I already tried buying only the high risk foods organic, but it actually complicated things and didn't really make a difference in the budget.
    It was easier going full-organic and non-organic than going somewhere in between.

    I used to get all of our veggies, fruit, eggs, milk, rice... okay, almost everything organic every week. I'd order it online from EatIt.ca and pick it up.
    We only got chicken, soda water, juice, fish, and kids' treats from Sobey's.
    Falling off meant getting everything from Sobey's non-organic selection.

    As for the boy's recent bout... he just caught the cold from one of the kids in his class - there are a couple of them who are sick right now. The poor guy was up all night last night coughing. No allergies... :)

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  5. Anonymous05 May, 2008

    In addition to the health thing, you can't put a price on simplicity. If juggling figuring out what to buy where ("oh, that just looks soooo good!" wait, did I buy it already?) takes time & adds muddle to your life, then what have you gained?

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  6. @harmzie -
    oh, so true! I can't tell you how many times I've ended up with either no apples (because I thought I'd ordered it organic but hadn't) or too much (ordered online and shopped)... I'm just not organized enough to be on top of that all the time. :)

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