I think the key to organics is sustainability, not necessarily some anecdotal health or quality benefit or a dogmatic adherence to "purity", both physically and philosophically. If chemical fertilizers damage the environment by killing the soil life, choking the watersheds, and resulting in more pollution, etc, then not only is it morally abhorrent, it just isn't good business sense or resource management. You kill your supply and potentially kill your demand (through systematic poisoning), you lose customers. But then again, I could go on about subsidies and lack of property rights that reduces these incentives, but I'll withhold. As for buying food, I think more emphasis should be put on buying local rather than the "organic" label, which probably was grown 3000 miles away in China by some dirt cheap labor and flown over with hundreds of gallons of gas, not to mention it probably isn't fresh. However, if people have chosen a lifestyle, for whatever reason, people should respect their choices and inquiries. I don't see many people mocking vegans for their lifestyle, claiming its a scam and marketing ploy which ultimately is futile.

We went to the movies last night and I packed myself some carrot stick and hummus and a big bottle of water, instead of splurging on a bucket of popcorn and diet soda. You know what, I didn't even miss it. But I will admit to buying a package of peanut M&Ms, but I only had them after the carrots, and I only had 10. :-) I'm still hovering around 27 lbs of weight loss. Still working on the last few pounds. I fell off the exercise bandwagon last week, but I going to get back on it this week.

Hellloooo Healthy Peeps! My exercise routine went to hell in the proverbial handbasket. DH and I bought a business in NH (we live in MA) and agreed to work at another location up there, as well as our jobs that we have here during the week. Add a concussed teenager who needs PT two times a week and the holidays..it has been ugly over here. The good news is that my weekend gig is busy and I haven't time to over eat. I do miss Crossfit a lot. In my new job I make Waffles and burned my hand pretty badly on some caramelized sugar. I was afraid that it would keep me from the gym, but it isn't as tight as I thought it would be, so I totally could have gone there this morning. I'm just so freaking TIRED! So I decided to just be kind to myself and take it slow. BIL told me that some people were asking for me which is nice. Someone on FB posted this post from Michael Moore, who I dont' always agree with, but it has stuck with me this week and I thought I'd throw it out there for you all..... I am now in Week 42 of my walks. Each day, 30 minutes, that's it. Thousands of you have joined me since that Sunday night on March 18 when, as a joke, I said I was going for a walk. I had read that morning in the paper that there were now more people in the U.S. on anti\-depressants than those who go to the movies. I tweeted out that maybe that's the problem \-\- perhaps if people got out and went to the movies more they might feel better. This unleashed a lively conversation about mood\-aletering drugs, the lousy movies these days in theaters, the rip\-off prices for 3D films, etc. Finally, someone wrote: "Sometimes I think what I need is just a brisk walk." I tweeted, "Hey, there's an idea! I'm putting my shoes on right now." I went out and came back home after 30 minutes \-\- and a few hundred of you had amazingly joined me where you live. So I went walking the next night, probably out of some sort of obligation because so many had written to say "please let's do it again tonight!" So I did. And the night after that. By the end of the week it was hard to determine how many thousands were now going out with me on these "virtual walks" in hundreds of cities and towns, but it had taken off like a rocket and so we all went walking every night from that point on. Now it's 250 days later. What a simple, great idea that person had! Some have asked, "Why are we walking?" "What's the cause?" There is no cause other than to go for a walk. We do it just because it feels good. We do it because we can. We do it because it's free and it takes no time. All you need to know is how to put one foot in front of the other (or, for the disabled who've joined in, by any means necessary). It's the perfect slacker/schlub activity. I am often asked "How much weight have you lost from all this walking?" For a while I didn't understand the question. I mean, why would I want to lose anything? I have enough trouble finding my keys! Then I got it \-\- skinny people (1/3 of the country) want us, the majority, to be like them. That's so nice of them. But the truth is, exercise does not work, diets do not work, feeling crummy does not work. Nothing works. My advice: Quit trying to be something you're not, be happy with the life you've been given, and just go for a pleasant walk outside. With me. Wherever you are. Get off the treadmill, stop drinking diet Coke, throw out all the rules. It's all a scam and it conspires to keep you miserable. If it says "low\-fat" or "sugar\-free" or "just 100 calories!" throw it out. Remember, one of the main tenets of capitalism is to have the consumer filled with fear, insecurity, envy and unhappiness so that we can spend, spend, spend our way out of it and, dammit, just feel better for a little while. But we don't, do we? The path to happiness \- and deep down, we all know this \-\- is created by love, and being kind to oneself, sharing a sense of community with others, becoming a participant instead of a spectator, and being in motion. Moving. Moving around all day. Lifting things, even if it's yourself. Going for a walk every day will change your thinking and have a ripple effect. You'll find yourself only eating when you're truly hungry. And if you're not hungry, go clean your room, or have sex, or call a friend on the phone. Without knowing it, you'll starting eating like the French (there is no French word for "fast\-food") \-\- and you will feel better. You do not feel better admonishing yourself or beating yourself up or setting up a bunch of unrealistic rules and goals with all the do's and dont's that are just begging to be broken. You wanna know something? I eat ice cream every friggin' day. I drink a regular Coke every single day. I put butter on things. But I also walk every day. Some days now, I walk twice. And now I've started to do some push\-ups and lifting stuff. It's building muscle, and in doing so, has created an extra furnace to burn stuff and create energy. Weird! That, in turn, makes me sleep 7\-8 hours a night which is another game\-changer. And all the walking and lifting makes me thirsty, so that makes me drink more water \-\- another huge plus! So, you can see from the photo of me up in the box that something has changed. I have no idea how much weight I've lost and I don't care. I don't care about that or diets or home gym equipment or rules about what I can or cannot eat or anything other than making sure I go on my walk today. That's it. That's the big secret. It costs nothing. I feel great. I can see my feet! There they are! Hello, feet! Wanna go for a walk? The feet say YES! Ask yours right now. And if you want, join me. But do NOT go on that walk with me if you are doing so to "get fit", "be healthy", or "lose weight". You are fine just the way you are. Only walk outside with me right now because you know it might just feel good, because it's a beautiful day, or someone is joining in with you, the fresh air is invigorating, you have to drive down to the drug store but you realize you can walk there, or simply because it's just nice to be alive for one more day. Walk to walk and nothing else \-\- and the other stuff will take care of itself. I'm heading outside in an hour. Join me. And let me know how it went! 18,068 Anyway, I'm going for a walk on the beach tomorrow. Even though I haven't set my business up in Quickbooks, even though I have a billion things to do. I'm aiming to get 8 hours sleep a night this week (without the "monkey brain" at 3 AM worrying about the proofing of a waffle or whether we have an employee or not) Beth P.

I need to follow your lead Karen and not hop on the scale daily. It's really discouraging. I still have 4-5 lbs to go and now I'm getting really frustrated. Someone just asked me yesterday "but you've reached your target clothes size, right?" and that put it in perspective. I am officially in a size 6 jean. I need to shut up and stop complaining. I have lost 3 sizes (I was a 12) since January. I'd like to be in a 4 but I don't think my body type is such. Big hips and booty no matter how much I lose. So, I've decided it's not the weight that I'm aiming for, it's the tone. I just need to keep reminding myself of that. I think I need to put the scale away. It's in my kitchen!!! I went out and went crazy buying snacks from the bins at Sprouts for my 6+ hour plane ride coming up with DD. I want to have tons of stuff to entertain us. Crayons, coloring books, books to read (for her and me)... and snacks. I got dark chocolate covered raisins, jelly beans, salt water taffy, sugar coated peanuts, yogurt covered raisins. And two outrageously expensive dark chocolate organic chocolate bars. I'm planning to take a bunch of protein powder with me too so I can use that when I get hungry instead of relying on take out for when I'm running around with the bride. The hard part will be not overdosing on my favorite foods while I'm there. I have some serious cravings for home food, and none of it is diet friendly. Anyone have any travel food suggestions? I want food that will last, take up time, and be interesting. I plan on eating a big breakfast so I'm not hungry, but I'm pretty bored on planes!