Whole Self

I've been thinking a lot about health (again) lately.  I've just started running again (on track for my at least 3 days/week so far!) and in doing so, I've been thinking about how I've been fueling my body.

And then this got me thinking about last year when I started eating a really healthy, mostly organic diet.  I remember feeling better, and what was even more evident to me at the time, was feeling SICK when I ate unhealthy food.  If you remember, last year we lived about 5.5 hours away from home, which meant we did a lot of traveling back and forth for weddings, holidays, etc.  Well, we'd always leave after Jake got off work and usually hit the drive-thru on the way out of town.  When I was in the thick of my mostly organic, healthy diet, these drive-thru trips would KILL me.  The fat, the grease, the salt -- ALL of it.  It gave me, shall we say, digestive problems.  It was so evident to me then that the foods I was choosing to eat were really fueling my body for it's best, while the McDonalds of the world just really runs down your body and makes it feel DIS-GUST-ING.

Well, I had another revelation a week or so ago while splitting chicken mcnuggets with Logan:  I'm not feeling as DIS-GUST-ING after eating them as I did last year while in my healthy months.  This only led me to the conclusion that my body must be USED to the chicken mcnuggets of the world.  Mouth gaped.  Scary thought.

So... with me starting to run and reevaluating my food choices, I reread some of my diet/organic posts of last year.  See these:

Going Organic

Tips for Going Organic on a Budget: The Dirty Dozen and The Clean 15

After reading these two entries, and remembering how passionate I was about it (not to mention the 18 pounds that I lost along the way!), I figured it was time to revisit my diet at those times.

So I've made the decision to go {mostly} organic again.  This forces me to make healthy choices and get creative with our meals.  Again, the budget is always in mind, but in rereading my posts, I remembered that if you really commit, there is not real difference in the amount of money you spend.  I've also been doing some research, coupon finding, and store searches, and I think I'm going to find some great deals when I go grocery shopping (either Sunday or Monday).  What else is fun?  There's now a Whole Foods 5 miles from my house.  YAY.

I've decided to start sharing my findings and experiences again, and pick up where I left off last year with this series of posts:

I'm just starting out again, and I'm sure I've forgotten a lot, but I'm excited to find my way again!  One of the starting points I'm beginning with is from one of my posts from last year.  I'm going to stick to the Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen list when I go out -- for reference, see below!'

So that is that!  I'm doing this again!  I know that if I keep up my running and start fueling my body better, I'm going to FEEL awesome again, and I'm going to SEE results!  I'm excited about it.

What about you?  Do you eat organic?  How do you keep in shape?  What are your tricks and secrets?  Please share in the comments!