That's Fit

Organic foods seem to be everywhere these days -- from the corner store to the grocery store, there are pesticide-free, unprocessed, free-range foods on every shelf. But could you live on nothing but organic foods? Think about it -- you'd only have a handful or restaurants to choose from, and you might have to give up on some of your favourite dishes altogether. Could you do it?

One doctor in California did, and he recently spoke to the New York Times about his experiences on the all-organic diet. "This isn't a way of eating I could recommend to anybody else because it's so far off the beaten food grid," said Dr. Alan Greene. "It was much more challenging than I thought it would be, and I thought it would be tough. There were definitely days where there was nothing I could find that was organic." Still, he thinks it has improved his health. Read the full story here.

Your thoughts?

If you buy the groceries in your house, you know that organic foods are a bit more expensive than non-organic foods. But a few extra cents and dollars here and there are a small price to pay for fresh, chemical-free foods, right?

Well, not exactly -- According to the New York Times, eating organics doesn't come at a small price. In fact, it can double your grocery bill. For the typical Thanksgiving day dinner: You'll typically be adding $100 to your final toll at the register. That's a bit of a hard number to deal with, particularly with the current economic situation.

This isn't to say that you shouldn't eat organic. Just shop wisely. Check out this post we did a while back listing what you should splurge on and what you should save on.

(via Calorie Lab)

It's inevitable. You go to the gym before work, shower, and put on your slip-on shoes. But then, halfway through the day, there's a distinct funk coming from beneath your desk -- you've got some stinky feet!

There are plenty of solutions, like wearing shoes with socks, or pouring powder into your shoes. However, I've found something better -- Verikira's Paraben-free Fresh Feet Foot Crème. It's 82 percent organic and contains vinegar, which is one of the best cures for funky feet you can find. But your feet won't smell like vinegar -- it also uses essential oils of patchouli, tee tree, thyme, basil, geranium, and cinnamon.

The best part? It totally works! I put it on in the morning, and then, whether I work outside, sweating in my dirty sandals, or hit the gym, soaking my gym socks with sweat, my feet don't stink. And, at the risk of entering TMI territory, let me say that this has never been the case for me.

Is it possible to eat for a dollar a day? Sure, with a little creativity and a lot of planning. But here's a more important question -- is it possible to eat healthy on a dollar a day?

You've probably noticed that the cheapest things in the grocery store or mall food court are the unhealthiest things -- items like potato chips, candy bars and deep-fried whatevers will run you far less at the till than things like fresh organic produce, salads and lean cuts of meat. One couple, trying to live on the dollar-a-day diet, is finding that out the hard way.

"We're used to eating some type of vegetable with every meal and fruit every day. Finding out there was very little way to fit that into our budget, that was a huge struggle," says Kerri Leondard of One Dollar Diet Project in the New York Times. You can read more about her struggle here.

What do you think? Is it possible to eat well on a really tight budget?

Fresh fruits and veggies are an essential part of a healthy diet. But once they're fresh, they're hard to keep that way -- know the rules of the produce aisle to keep your healthy snacks as tasty as possible:

• Store on the counter: Basil, cucumbers, peppers, watermelon, tomatoes.
  
• Store in the Fridge: Beets, blueberries, corn, radishes, raspberries, strawberries, yellow squash, zucchini.
  
• Store in a cool, dry place: Butternut squash, yams, potatoes, onions.
  
• Ripen on the counter, then refrigerate: Avocados, peaches, pears, kiwis.
  
  

Other things you can do: Keep produce in a perforate bag, and be sure to keep fruits and veggies in a separate drawer in the fridge. If you start to notice something close to spoiling, use it or freeze it.

Got any additional tips? Let us know in the comments.

Y Water is looking to tap into more than just the bottled water market by appealing also to the healthy and fit kids market and those shopping for ways to be friendlier to the environment. They offer four specialized low-calorie formulas to target the brain, muscles, bones, and immunity, plus once the water's gone, the leftover bottle (specially created by designer Yves Béhar) can be used as a building block of sorts to make toys and encourage creativity.

Sounds like a great way to get your kids to drink more water and get more vitamins and nutrients, all while helping the environment and stimulating their brains (or at least giving them a few minutes of entertainment).

Via Inhabitat

Eggs, the old standby breakfast food, are a fantastic source of protein. But figuring out what kind of eggs to buy is becoming more and more daunting. Labels boasting free-range, cage-free and fortified might leave you scratching your head -- luckily The New York Times in shedding some light on what they all mean. Here are a few pointers:

• Cage-free means the bird was kept out of a cage, but this doesn't mean they ever saw the light of day
• Free-range means they had regular access to the outdoors, but 'outdoor' could mean a parking lot.
• Pasture-raised means that at least some of their diet was natural (like greens and bugs.) But there's no regulation on how much of their diet needs to be natural.
• Animal Welfare Approved means they spent all their time outdoors in a pesticide-free pasture. They are bathed and not fed any animal byproducts.

Intrigued? Read more here.

(via Well)

Not only are we constantly barraged by noise and air pollution, we're regularly filling our bodies with garbage: chemicals, additives, even poisons. So it's never been so important to cleanse both our minds and our bodies of the toxins we can't seem to escape in our day-to-day life.

But detoxing doesn't have to mean forking out a small fortune at an uppity spa. Divine Caroline offers a number of ways you can give your body a break, naturally:

• Drink lots of water. It flushes the system.
• Sweat, either in a sauna or steam room, or through exercise.
• Meditate or pray regularly, and take deep, cleansing breaths when you do.
• Eliminate electronics from your bedroom.
• Cleanse your body with natural herbs like dandelion and ginger root.

There are plenty more tips where these came from -- head over to Divine Caroline for more detox data.

Our CSA Farm has begun to produce an abundance of tomatoes these past few weeks. Aside from eating them like apples, as my three-year-old often chooses to do, you can make fresh tomato salad, salsa, or fresh tomato sauce.

Our very informal uncooked recipe goes something like this:

• Chop a bunch of tomatoes and put them in a bowl.
• Add enough balsamic vinegar and olive oil to cover them.
• Stir fresh minced garlic and chopped fresh basil into the tomato mixture.
• Season with seas salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
• Let marinate at room temperature at least 30 minutes before serving.
  
  

This is such a refreshing summer meal when served on pasta with a green salad, or a tasty snack as a bruschetta topping.

I won't to lie to you -- I don't generally spend a lot of cash on makeup. I buy what you find at the drugstore, and even then, I look for a sale. My reasoning is simple -- I've never used something high end that felt like it was worth the price. If it's not all that different, why would I pay more?

There are reasons to pay more -- being particular about the ingredients is one, and of course, if it's can't-live-without-it amazing, I'm happy to save my pennies. But first, I need to know it's worth it.

I received samples of von Nature's Mineral Makeup Eye Colour, Sunset Light Face & Body Shimmer, and Magnolia Powder Foundation in the mail, and busted out my brushes immediately. For someone who is so involved in fashion and beauty, I have embarrassingly little experience with mineral makeup because it tends to cost more, and without trying it, I wasn't willing to spend the extra cash.

As Labor Day weekend platters of hamburgers, hot dogs, bbq'd chicken, corn, chips 'n dip, jell-o molds and brownies are shortly devoured, most will have no clue where the various foods come from. Also, the feast will likely be inhaled quickly so family members can return to the baggo game.

However the 40-50,000 people gathered for Slow Food Nation '08 in San Francisco this Labor Day weekend are doing things quite differently. Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic organization founded nearly 20 years ago to combat people's diminishing interest in the food they consume, where the ingredients come from, how food choices impact the globe, and even the disappearance of a slowly eaten, homemade meal around a sociable table.

Slow Food Nation '08 is the first-ever American gathering to support this nation's growing sustainable food movement, fostering the wider public's environmental connection to their food. Taste Pavilions feature food from across the country, leaders of the movement are sparking provocative learning and group discussion throughout the Food for Thought series and the Victory Garden is showcasing how World War II communities throughout America fed and supported themselves. Very cool. Here's the full schedule of eclectic events.

Our family's making a small contribution to the Slow Food movement -- my mom's making pesto right now with basil clipped from her garden as my niece tosses a salad with cherry tomatoes, peppers and green onions from our garden. I hope Michigan corn is on the menu tomorrow. Luckily we have no problem lingering forever tableside for colorful conversation, followed by a rousing game of midnight Monopoly ... after baggo, of course. Wishing you a memorable, perhaps slower Labor Day weekend everybody! Pic from slowfoodnation.org.

Has anyone else noticed that TV and movies are providing us with more strong, kick-ass female characters? There's Yvonne Strahovski, who plays spy Sarah Walker on Chuck, and we had Angelina Jolie carrying Wanted. And, you might not have seen her yet, but Gabrielle Anwar is just as tough.

She plays the trigger happy ex-girlfriend to the lead character on USA's Burn Notice, and while I wouldn't go so far as to call her character a role model -- she's a little too good at making bombs for that -- she holds her own physically, especially considering she's quite petite. To get ready for her action-packed role, Gabriella adjusted her diet.

She said she cut out "foods with ingredients that I need a dictionary to define. I find that the less animal products I consume the better my general health; the less refined sugars, the less I feel the energy fall out; and the more organic fresh produce I eat, the lighter I feel."

Broccoli is so nutritionally awesome, I dare say I am not going out on a limb by declaring broccoli the Supreme Ruler of the Veggieverse. Clearly you all are realizing right about now that I spend far too much time with my super-hero-obsessed son.

Pardon my digression, but I'm right, aren't I? If broccoli can be death-defying, cancer-fighting, calcium-rich and just plain yummy, then why shouldn't we put it on a well-deserved pedestal?

Try putting it on a plate instead -- with these three recipes: one easy, one cool, and one stealthy.

Have you jumped on board the "eat local" bandwagon yet? We sure have, and we are loving our CSA Farm for the second season this summer.

One thing I look forward to is getting a variety of salad greens throughout the season: Bibb, Boston, Romaine, and Red Leaf lettuces, and my bitter favorite: arugula.

This easy recipe, Garden Greens with Yellow Tomatoes and Peaches -- and I mean easy! -- combines your favorite greens with arugula, tomatoes and peaches, all in a balsamic shallot dressing.

What's the lowdown on buying organic? It's pretty hard to tell, with the mixed messages we are getting as consumers these days. The definitive study, though, tells us that not only is organic more nutritious, but it is better for the ground water and soil.

A few facts on organic foods:

• they contain up to 90% more antioxidants than conventionally grown food
• they've got higher levels of minerals
• as cancer-fighters, they win the race

Seems as though we should always buy organic, with those stats. Due to availability -- and our budgets! -- buying everything organic may not be an option, and if we're looking to do a real service to the environment, buying what's available locally is a better choice.