Eat Local Food Challenge

It’s probably been your goal at some time this past year, last month or even last week:

I’m going to eat healthier, I’m going to eat more vegetables, drink less coffee, quit picking up food filled with sugar (even though it’s packaged to look healthy) at the Starbucks counter, drink less alcohol, and maybe even exercise more.

So you head off to the grocery store, straight to the fruit and vegetables section, throw a few things that you know you should be eating in the cart, then head to the rest of the store to get your real food. Something that you can eat real quick like and fill you up while not being too bad for you.

It’s Processed

The truth of the matter is much of the “health food” we buy in even some of the natural food stores is really not doing anything about our weight, the way we feel or the underlying issue, our long term health. Most of the things we buy are processed.

It’s easy and it’s a habit. And we can kid ourselves that it’s really super healthy. Granted it’s much healthier than driving through the Big M and getting a quarter pounder and fries, but that is where the danger lies in our education. We think we are making healthy choices and we are not.

Consciousness | Keep it Local (in this case)

We eat the way we do out of habit. To form a new one, like eating healthier for instance, takes a commitment to change. To do something different. To learn something new and stop kidding ourselves. To quit saying we’ll start tomorrow when it’s today that counts.

Set a Radical Goal Today

Setting a goal or giving yourself a purpose and starting today to do something new is the best way without risking your friends or family rolling their eyes when you mention you want to lose weight, get in shape, or find the love of your life. So many times if we could hear ourselves we’d roll our eyes too since we keep talking about it. Months and years roll by and we are still talking about it.

Signing up for a 5K is pretty easy because there are tons available. But how about food events? These are few and far between unless you are talking one that is usually serving a lot of food that in fact does satisfy our processed food addictions but does nothing for our education or bodies in actually making healthy eating choices.

21 Day Eat Local Food Challenge

I first saw the “Eat Local Food” challenge earlier this month through Andrea Dean’s Blog and was enticed to create my own sense of purpose in the project.  Check it out to see her great videos and information on how to eat local and what it does for the community.

Though I truthfully believe it takes 6 weeks to really establish a habit so that it begins to be automatic, many studies claim that it takes 21 days. 21 days is much easier to think about doing and no one can get to 6 weeks if you don’t make it through 21 days.

Our household here on the Big Island Hawaii has committed to eating only local for 21 days. We are in day 3 and already feeling better about what we are eating, how we are spending our money and realizing just how much we kid ourselves about the foods we have been choosing and how good they are for us.

Please join us in our 21 days of eating local by creating your own food purpose:

• Buy locally grown food from Farmers Markets and local whole or natural food stores. (do a google search for local markets in your area)
• Try to do it for 21 days.
• It means you’ll probably have to pack food with you instead of stopping at Starbucks, eating at most restaurants, going through any drive threw food take out joints, or spending any money on happy hours.

If you make a mistake or just plain buy something that doesn’t qualify consciously don’t stop your 21 day challenge. Get right back on horse and keep heading towards the 21 days.

We live in Hawaii and access to fruit and vegetables grown locally, fresh local fish and local grass fed beef are all options. We’ve decided not to eat meat or beef after watching Forks over Knives so our challenge is going to be more like most anyone in the country.

Imagine what it would be like to eat real whole food and what that might feel like. Imagine the feeling of actually doing it and not saying it by jabbering about going on a diet to any one who you start feeling self conscious around.  Imagine not being really pissed that summer is over, you are bigger than last year and the holidays are already on their way.

What you do today counts.

Thanks for reading.  If this made you think about the food you eat and why please subscribe to Big Island Dog and follow me on twitter, Facebook and Google+