Rewards That Don't Involve Food

As I've thought about my own struggle with weight it's become clear that I have an unhealthy relationship with food. One could reasonably say an addiction to junk food. This shouldn't be too surprising, it's well known now that food companies use flavors to hit the pleasure center of our brain, filling us with empty calories and leaving us a craving more. Our broken food system is only part of the problem for me and many others though.

For me, and I'm sure some of you and others you know as well, our unhealthy relationship with food also started in childhood when junk food was used as rewards or for special occasions. Our parents, rightly, didn't let us have these foods often, but when they did it was always a treat. We got to go out for dinner on the last day of school. We got candy for holidays. We'd get a gumball at the grocery store if we behaved well. We got cake or cupcakes for our birthdays. We got soda at big family events, like the Fourth of July picnic, or on those rare special occasions when we went out to eat. The circumstances of our treats added extra ties to the pleasure centers in our brains, above and beyond what was being created by the junk food alone. For me at least, later on in life, as I was able to make more and more of my own food choices, when I was (am) stressed out I crave those "good feeling" foods like cupcakes, cookies, brownies, chips, fast food and soda, all the more because I've treated them my whole life as a reward. So if I've had a really rough day I've "earned" that cupcake, or two.

In addition to serving "real food" to ourselves and our children, avoiding processed grains, sugars and industrial fats, I propose that we also need to re-think the mentality of junk food as a "special" treat. It is okay to have such things as a once in a rare while food - but I have come to believe that tying it to the idea of a "treat" may be as unhealthy for us as the food itself.

Simple Steps to Real Food

Simple steps? Yes, truly simple. Moving towards more real food has some hurdles, but I assure you most of them are psychological. Making the switch to real foods can be intimidating. Real food tends to be a little more expensive ("But I only have one income to feed a family of 4"), it may mean cooking more from scratch ("But I burn water"), and it may mean avoiding some foods you consider staples ("But I love ramen noodles and cheese puffs"). But it really needn't be as frightening as all that. You don't have to be perfect, just move in a positive direction, one simple step at a time. Taking just little steps towards real food is worth the effort!

If you're ready to take steps to improve you and your family's health - then you're ready to take some simple steps toward real food! And yes, I'm preaching this as much to myself as to any blog readers. I'm by no means an expert or perfect adherent to this crunchy lifestyle, but I'm working on it!

Foodie Fridays - Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets and Honey Mustard

I've made a commitment, in an effort to both save money and eat more healthfully (no cheats), to cook all my meals at home unless I'm out of town and unable to do so. Which means taking time to make things I'd get at fast food or out of a freezer bag from scratch. It is worth the effort, in my book, because I know all real food is going into my food and the flavor can't be beat.

One of the things I've often been tempted to just buy is chicken nuggets. Unfortunately, most conventional nuggets out of the freezer section or at the fast food place are full of gluten, fillers, hydrogenated fats and tried in unstable polyunsaturated seed oils. No thank you. So this is my real food spin on a classic.

Simple Living at the Library

Over the last several years I have worked hard at tackling my debt and living in a more frugal way. Living frugally is definitely one of the "crunchy" things I embraced pretty early on. On of the easiest ways I've found to cut back is on entertainment. Entertainment expenses can quickly absorb a lot of one's disposable income. There's the $60 internet/cable bundle with it's extra $30/month of equipment fees. There's your Hulu Plus, Netflix and/or Amazon Prime subscription on top of that at $10/month each. There's the monthly hockey game or football game during the season with tickets going for $45 or more. There's parking fees for a night downtown. There's bar tabs and dinner bills. The gas to get around. Ski passes, new books, gym memberships, etc. etc.

If you're really trying to live tiny, get out of debt or stay out of debt and build a more sustainable lifestyle, the library is your best friend. And this is why.

• Movies & TV - Libraries have DVDs of popular films, documentaries and more without the licensing restrictions of Netflix or Amazon. If you like binge watching TV series and are willing to wait until the DVDs are released, the library has your back. Even Netflix shows like House of Cards release DVD version of their full seasons. Some libraries even have streaming movies available online with your library card. And all for FREE! I don't pay for cable or Netflix anymore, I just use my library.
• Health & Fitness - Curious about the latest diet craze or want to try yoga? The library has you covered here too. You can check out the latest health book for FREE, and borrow your favorite fitness DVDs and books to build yourself an at home workout to rival any gym membership or system you have to pay for. You'll never get bored with all the variety available. Did I mention it's free?
• Internet Access - If you're really trying to cut back and even not pay for internet access in your home, your local library almost certainly has public computers you can use and probably free wifi as well.
• Free Programs - Many libraries host free programs on financial planning, learning to knit, adult craft nights, cooking classes, movie nights, yoga classes and even singles mixers. Have children? There are story times, book clubs, movies, craft programs, science labs, teen gaming nights and so much more for free, or at least very cheap, at your library.
• Magazines - Most libraries circulate copies of popular magazines such as Better Homes & Gardens, National Geographic and regional magazines like Zone 4. Many also make magazines available for free online in print through their database access, or even full digital version through Zinio for Libraries. Cancel your magazine subscriptions and get them for free at your library.
• Music - Want to listen to a new CD before buying it? Download music for free legally? Public libraries have you covered. Did I mention it's free?
• Special Collections - Some libraries have special circulating collections, maybe your local library has something like this or would be willing to start one. I have seen libraries that circulate cake pans, power tools, toys for young children, story time kits and science lab kits. Check at your local library to see what they have - for free!
• Books - Last but not least. Books are of course what libraries are known for. Rather than drop $24 for the newest bestseller that you'll only read once, why not check it out at the library? Before you commit to buying a non-fiction title for your personal reference, check it out at the library to see if it's really worth adding to your personal collection. There are ebooks you can borrow for free and audio books as well.

Can't find what you're looking for? Provided you're not wanting to borrow weapons grade plutonium, your library can often borrow copies of books, films and CDs from other libraries if they do not have them in your local collection. I have borrowed books from libraries as far away as Pennsylvania, Missouri and Texas thanks to this interlibrary loaning system. 

Do you regularly use your local library? What is your favorite resource they have?

Getting Debt Free

While real food, health and wellness are a big part of my journey to embrace the "crunchy", another important part is living within my means - rejecting consumerism, being a producer and living simply.

A huge part of simple living, or tiny living, is getting out of debt and staying out of debt. The average consumer debt is $15,000 per household in credit cards - that's not counting mortgages, student loans or other secured or unsecured debt. Add the $300K+ mortgage on a McMansion, a $200/month car payment on a newer model car and student loans of $20,000+ and it is no wonder so many people went into default during the recession. (Of course the spend, spend, spend model we see from our Federal Government is hardly setting a good example of fiscal responsibility).

For me, I got into credit card debt when my parents lost their jobs during my junior year of college. From the spring of 2006 through moving back to Colorado I worked part-time or full-time and lived cheaply, but still paid for many of my expenses with credit cards because my parents could not help me with them. On top of over $20,000 in credit card debt I was also $20,000 in the hole on student loans from my private Christian school undergraduate education. About a year after moving back to Colorado I had my own debt crisis when I was forced to shoulder the full monthly rent on a two-bedroom apartment when I could not find a new roommate for a few months. Doubling my rent quickly sent me into a spiral of late payments and underpayments. Something needed to be done. Here is what has helped and continues to help me chip away at my debt. I still have some debts, but paying them off is my top financial priority. After paying for rent I pay my debt - even before buying food!

How To Be Crunchy Checklist

As I mentioned in my introduction post, I have definitely got some latent crunchy/granola/hippie genes. I value real food, even if I don't always make food choices in line with those values. I value self-sufficiency, even if I can also be a pretty darn good consumer of things I could just as easily make myself. I value the great outdoors and conservation, but I do not always recycle or use the greenest products available to me. I value health, but I definitely have some chronic health issues common among populations in the developed world.

So how can I start living out these values I hold more consistently? How can I embrace my inner "crunchy earth goddess"? That is why I started this blog in the first place! To find out. To experiment. To try new things and to more fully integrate the beliefs I already hold into my daily life.

To that end, I have compiled a "Crunchy To Do List" of sorts. Compiling information from other natural and holistic health blogs, books I've read, etc. I have created a list of things to do to fully embrace my inner crunchiness. They fall into a few main categories: Food, Hygiene and Health, Household, and Lifestyle; though some could easily fit in more than one, and others don't quite fit where I've put them - that's where they are listed all the same. So here goes .....