The purpose

I spend an awful lot of time thinking about food. For most of my life these thoughts have centered around weight loss and maintaining weight loss (dieting, counting calories, how many grams of fat, etc.). Now, though I am still pretty obsessed with my weight (I'm ashamed to admit - it's just always going to be a part of me), I'm really realizing that I need to shift the focus. I have one child and during the pregnancy I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I'm not sure how much I believe in gestational diabetes as a condition (there is some debate between mainstream and alternative medicine) but apparently those of us diagnosed with it are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. I really don't want Type 2 diabetes. I'm also, of course, concerned about cancer and other diseases. All of this has gotten me thinking very seriously about what I'm eating. And then I have a 3 year old son and I'm very concerned about what I'm feeding him and how that will affect his future health. So, I'm thinking seriously about what I'm eating and I'm trying to make some changes. It's a journey, as they say. I'm starting this blog as a means of organizing my thoughts and hearing yours.

So, here is some basic info.

-I'm a semi-vegetarian. That is to say, I don't eat mammals or birds but I do still eat fish and shellfish.
-I try to buy organic fruits and vegetables. I say "try" because they are all very expensive! I've recently started using the "dirty dozen" as a guide. So, I buy the dirty dozen organic and all else standard (unless it's on sale). I also have access to a good farmers market with a few organic farmers so that gives me options.
-I'm trying to eat less sodium. I never really paid attention to sodium before but now that I'm giving food to my son I started looking at labels and I'm shocked at how much sodium is in canned beans, for example. So, I'm mindful of that now.
-I'm trying to avoid foods high on the glycemic index. Basically, I'm avoiding sugar, white flour and, I guess, white rice. That's the latest development. I know that the cheap bread I buy is empty calories (just a vehicle for sugar and probably salt). I'm thinking now I'll fork over the dough for some decent bread. My son eats toast almost every morning and I love bread so it would be worth it (as long as I can exercise self control and make the loaf last a week)
-I've always been big on exercise but sometimes life gets in the way so I'm really making an effort to fit it in.
-Oh, and perhaps the hardest thing, I've decided to once and for all give up diet soda. I didn't get any this week because I didn't feel like spending money on it. Now that I've been clean for a few days I think I can kick the habit. I hear all those artificial flavors and colors are bad for the metabolism.
-So, I had to give up coffee a few months ago because it bugged my stomach lining, I don't drink or smoke, I'm (almost) a vegetarian and now I'm giving up diet soda. What the heck is next? Well, I'm sure there will be relapses.

So, I have made several statements containing information that I heard or read somewhere. As I go forward in the blog, I'm planning to provide cites (and links) to support such things. I'm not bothering now because I'm getting tired.

In each entry, I'll answer the question "What did I do today to avoid diabetes (and other nasty diseases)?

-I rode a bike for 30 minutes at lunch time.
-I ate 2-3 servings of organic greens.
-I ate tuna salad, instead of a tuna salad sandwich in order to avoid the glycemic blast of my cheap bread.
-I stopped myself from stuffing cereal into my mouth after 1-2 hand-fulls.
-I ate a banana with (natural) peanut butter for an evening snack rather than toast or cereal or icecream.