Toxic Friday

I bought some new vitamins last week and they came with a free book. The book is called Perfect Weight America by Jordan Rubin. The book really upset me a first. They first take your BMI. Mine is 23. A healthy BMI is one which falls into the 18-24.5 range. So, I am at my healthy weight right? No exactly, according to this book. I then had to measure my wrist where the hand meets and divide that measurement into my height in inches to determine my frame size. You may be surprised to learn that I have a very small frame according to those measurements. But I bet you will be even more surprised to hear that I am not at my "ideal" weight. I would have to lose 12 pounds at the very least to even fall in the range of my ideal weight. So naturally, I turned my brain off to these crazy ideas and tried not to think too much about it. Who needs another diet program anyway?

Then I happened upon another book at my parent's house. This book is totally insane! In fact I was rolling my eyes the first few chapters....but I couldn't stop reading. It was about natural cures. In this book they state that the sun is a natural healer of disease, and by keeping yourself from it, you disturb this healing process. Then it goes on to say that sunscreen, not the sun, causes cancer. Hmmmmm.

The main message behind the book is to avoid chemicals and chemically -altered foods, medicines, water, etc. As I read this I started feeling sick. #2 on the top 5 list of things to avoid is aspartame...a known carcinogen. Nice. I've actually known this, but I am addicted to diet sodas. And now I know why. Apsartame and other artificial sweeteners are highly addictive. I might as well be doing cocaine. I felt sluggish, greasy, and dirty after reading this book and asked my mom to watch the kids so I could walk through Sprouts (a local "whole" foods market). I picked up some things there to help ease my family into this huge transition. I had already decided to start "eating clean" last week after purchasing 2 of Tosca Renos cookbooks:

Now I am feeling the need to take this a step further. Both books were sending the same message. Eat clean, get rid of processed foods, and reduce the chemicals you expose your body to. They go as far as saying if you can't eat it, don't put it on your skin. It all goes into the same bloodstream. I know I can't rid my family of all chemicals and micro-manage everything they eat. But I can give them the tools to make the healthier choices. And maybe that weight range isn't so off target if I were to actually get rid off all the toxins trapped in my fat cells, and al the bloating that comes from eating processed chemical foods.

So today I am letting my kids and I clean out the toxic food. Drama had a chocolate Pop Tart for breakfast. Mmmmmmmmmmm......gotta love that high fructose corn syrup. And the girls are happily munching on goldfish as I type this. I will drink my last cold Diet Dr Pepper today...and then I am officially done with artificial sweeteners. If people can quit smoking....I can stop drinking poison.

I know this new lifestyle will come with a cost. And honestly, that scares me. I bought 5 things at Sprouts last night and my bill was over $40. But if we will all be healthier in the long run...even live longer...can you put a price on that?