door to door organics & food revolution day

last friday was food revolution day and since i encouraged everyone out there to participate, i wanted to share a little bit on what i did to celebrate!

friday i received my first door to door organics delivery! its basically a subscription box of fresh, organic produce that can be delivered to you bi-weekly or weekly. my office set up a co-op with door to door, meaning all boxes signed up through my office will be delivered on the same day and everyone in the co-op will receive a discount. i like discounts and this was a service i've always wanted to try, so i did!

my first box came on food revolution day (well timed, eh?) and it did not disappoint! in fact, it was a little heavy getting it to my car and such, but totally worth it. the box was packed to the brim and i got way more produce than i thought i would!

this is all of the amazing produce that came in my
door to door organics box. so much!

four things i immediately liked about door to door organics:

1) their website tells you what produce you'll be getting in your up coming delivery. if you don't like anything you can swap it out with the click of a button. it was really, really easy. i ended up swapping something to get the sweet potatoes (because i can't get enough of sweet potatoes)! this is one advantage i immediately like over doing a csa option. with csas you typically don't have much choice over the produce you'll get in your stash. 

2) door to door gives you the option to buy other locally sourced food that can be delivered in your box. i almost picked up a pound of ground bison from a farm in indiana, but decided against it when i remembered i have a whole bunch of ground beef in the freezer waiting to be thawed. maybe next time!

3) produce is delivered straight to me. as much as i love the farmer's market and supporting a local farm, it was a hassle to make sure i could get there every weekend to pick up my csa. 

4) door to door organics is a subscription service that you can cancel and start back up at any time (even schedule a hold or vacation), making it incredibly cost effective and flexible. with csas, you usually have to pay ahead in a large lump sum and you can't cancel or get your money back once all is said and done.

each option has their advantage, so if you're interested in either, you may consider trying both out to see what you like. after trying door to door organics, i've decided i like both options but i like the convenience of door to door a tad bit more to wedge it out over a csa for this summer.

okay, enough about that. the other thing i liked about my door to door box is that it came with a top ten list of food tips, which was perfect for educating brandon and me on food revolution day! here are a few things i learned that i didn't know before:

• if greens wilt, you can trim them at the base and immerse them in ice water to revive them
• to store tomatoes, keep them at room temperature (stem end down) - tomatoes don't like to be refrigerated!
• you can sprinkle some water on slightly stale bread and warm in 400 degree over for 5 minutes to refresh
• banana holders help avoid bruising and are great for ripening at room temperature. if bananas are too green, place in a brown paper bag with an apple or tomato for a day or two

almost like letterman's top ten list, but more educational

we immediately made a fresh salad with the some of the goods from our delivery. i prepped the lettuce as suggested in the tips, too!

fresh. healthy. yum.

my food revolution day was all about trying a new method of getting organic and locally sourced food, as well as learning more about how to keep the food i'm eating fresh so i don't have to throw any away due to spoilage. eating fresh is one of my favorite things to do. its amazing how different (and how much better) fresh food tastes! and the cool thing is that i didn't spend an arm and a leg to do it. my door to door organics box only cost $20 and i can guarantee that if i had driven to whole foods and bought all the same things my cost would have been above the $20 mark. yay for saving money!

fresh food subscription services can be scary, but i think the right ones are worth trying out. after my first initial experience with door to door organics i would recommend them to anyone who may be the slightest bit curious! if you are interested in trying, current members can give new members 50% off their first box. if you'd like me to send you an invitation to get the discount, please let me know by sending me a quick email at curleyal@gmail.com! (note: i do not receive any compensation or benefit from inviting members aside from the joy i get by providing a discount and sharing the love of fresh, organic food)

now you tell me: would you ever try a fresh food subscription box? did you do anything to participate in food revolution day? any food facts up your sleeve you want to share?

food is fuel. food is fuel. food is fuel.

i wrote a week or so ago about my struggle with finding a nutrient solution/supplement for fueling my runs. the ingredients and nutrient components of a proper pre-run drink have been difficult (the right carb to protein ratio, no gluten, no soy, etc)... but there's another aspect that has been adding to this struggle that i failed to mention. that aspect is a mental roadblock.

as someone with a body image disorder and with disordered eating, my food world revolves around "what can i or can i not eat so that i don't gain weight or so that i can lose weight." and 90% of the time, i'm thinking about the second half of that - what can i put into my body, or not put into my body, so i can lose weight. i've conditioned my brain very well to think "input needs to be less than output."

but wanting to lose weight and wanting to be a high performing endurance athlete are two very conflicting goals. for weight loss, you need a calorie deficit. for endurance sports, especially those at a high intensity, you may actually need to consume more calories than you think you would to fuel your body and maintain your weight.

for as long as i can remember, i've always thought about my workouts as a way to lose weight. even when my goal wasn't to actually lose weight, i always thought about the calories i was going to burn and my super secret goal was to make sure i didn't "cancel" those calories out by consuming the same amount of food as i had burned.

super secret goals like this are not always smart, and as i've been finding out over the past few weeks, super secret goals are counterproductive to the other goals i wanted to accomplish, like being super fast so i can break my 5k pr.

the truth is, your body, my body - all bodies - need energy. we need a base line of energy just to do our normal body functions and we need more energy to be physically active. we get energy in the form of food. and when our bodies don't have enough energy to do what it needs to do, or what we're asking it do to, it cannot perform.

and that's what has been happening to me. i have not been consuming enough calories or carbs to fuel my body for running. in the back of my mind, i think i knew that, but was too stubborn to admit it. 

i've literally been running on empty for too long!

for my last two runs, i changed my mentality and my pre-run fueling regime. i had nearly double the calories i had been consuming previously before runs, and i staggered them; 4:1 protein/carb ratio 45 minutes before the run, and a strong carb fuel 15 minutes before the run. the result? i haven't been gassed like i have on every run for the past few weeks. in fact, i've felt strong. i've felt like i can push myself. and i'm starting to feel confident as a runner again.

with my 5k race this upcoming saturday, i needed to feel confident more than anything.

i know this is a super long post, but its an important part of me figuring out how to be a healthy athlete. i need to think about myself more like a car  - if i don't have enough gas in my tank, i won't be able to make it down the road (let alone finish a 5k)!

so, repeat after me: food is fuel. food is fuel. food is fuel!

smiling and feeling confident after a 5 miler
this weekend. yay for proper nutrient timing!

food revolution day is may 17th! are you ready?!

food revolution day is a global initiative, a day of action, for people to make a stand for good food and essential cooking skills that can help them live healthier lives. this day is one component of the larger food revolution momentum spearheaded by chef jamie oliver. food revolution is his project to get america to change the way we eat. why the united states? because obesity, especially childhood obesity, is a war americans are losing and not enough is being done to stop it and reverse the trend.  

a few scary facts (from the food revolution website):

• elementary kids in the united states get on average 3.4 hours of food education each year
• one in three children is obese or overweight
• currently, obesity in the united states costs $10,273,973 per hour ($147b annually)
• severe obesity can shorten your life expectancy by 10 years 

if those few bullets don't startle some movement in you, let me know, and i'll personally find you more reasons to care and get involved!

i love the idea of a food revolution because it's a stand for real food and for better food education -  two components that i firmly believe make up a healthier lifestyle.

there are a ton of ways you can get involved with food revolution day, like hosting your own activity, or finding one to participate in (check out these awesome downloads, too). but you don't have to participate in an organized group activity to take part in the day. i think part of this food revolution starts small, with the direct connections you have, and ripples out from there. here are a few thought starters to get the ideas flowing:

• spend an hour of your day learning new, healthier cooking techniques (education has to start somewhere!)
• teach what you've learned to your kids, your partner, your roomie, your family, whoever (just get them involved!) 
• at your next pot luck, make a healthier recipe and include recipe cards for the dish, or, invite friends over for dinner (ask them to bring one ingredient for a meal) and figure out how to make a healthy dish out of it together
• arrange a tour of a farmer's market for your family or a group of friends (i love this idea as suggested on the food revolution site) 

food education doesn't have to be an hour long powerpoint you force yourself or others to sit through. food is fun! food is interactive! go out there and do something with it!

so, the real question is: are you going to do something to participate in food revolution day?? sharing the word about the day is a great first step! ;)