If You Knew THEN what you know now about the relationship between the foods you eat and the impact it has on your body, your health and your mortality...would you have made better food choices?

I was recently working with some formerly fit Moms having a hard time getting the weight off.

When we were brainstorming ways for each woman to tap into her own personal motivations for losing weight...to start off the discussion, I asked them to consider applying some of the same mindsets and determination they used to eat clean during their pregnancies.

I encouraged them to think about how they rationalized feeding their first babies "perfectly healthy foods" and how they managed to come up with the energy and resources to do so.

I asked them to go back to that mindset, to go back to that place in their minds when they were making those decisions to take care of their bodies and their babies and to see if they might be able to come up with a way to apply some of those underlying principles to their bodies today.

After a room full of - you're a moron - blank stares, hoots, howls and lots of giggling - they let me know that since no one would be handing them a healthy baby at the end of this journey, they couldn't make the connection.

This was a very tough bunch. When you think about the food you're eating today, your weekly shopping list, the amount of exercise you average a week and your life and health TEN years from now...and the health of your children ten years from now, are there any choices you might make and if so why?

Of COURSE I'm working on a new project

I'm late to the party cuz I've been in Ohio for 2 weeks, but hopefully my reply is better late than never.

For me, what made the difference between my current journey (that began in 2003) and every other time I'd tried to lose weight is what I was using as motivation.

In my 20s and 30s, my motivation was looking thinner, being more attractive to men, wearing a smaller dress size, etc. In other words, all surface stuff.

In my 40s, I had a health scare, so that was the first time I'd tried to lose weight for health reasons...but I failed because I went WAY overboard (FOR ME) on strictness and was not able to maintain it because I was denying myself everything that I love. I demonized food and beat myself up for every misstep.

Finally, at age 50 1/2, I gave up dieting for good and began a lifestyle change that was predominantely about health. My doctor had threatened me with cholesterol-lowering drugs and I was adamant about not going on them, so I was motivated to try something different. I still beat myself up (though, with the help of this group, I was eventually able to get out of that old bad habit), but I had a new goal--living longer, being healthier, and showing the doctor that I could live without Zocor.

Six and a half years later, I'm still not at goal weight and I'm heavier than I was in 2004 or 2005, but not as heavy as I was. More importantly, my blood test results have shown that it is possible to eat in moderation and still maintain healthier cholesterol, blood sugar and triglyceride numbers.

I just returned from taking care of my mother after surgery to remove a substantial blockage from her carotid artery. She also has a blockage in her heart but surgery was unnecessary because her heart created new pathways around the blockage. Her doctor said this was in part to her working out regularly. This has shown me that you can work out 6 days a week, eat in moderation and STILL die from heart disease or stroke because of family history. This isn't happy news, but it provides even more motivation for me to live a healthier life.

I don't think you can motivate anyone by asking them to imagine life ten years down the road. It never worked for me anyway. I can't think back ten years either. That was me-then, not me-now. Whatever I work with has to come from who I am now. If I feel like death warmed over because of the way I live, then show me how I can feel better here and now as a result of better choices. Show me how to get more energy, get rid of heartburn, indigestion, shortness of breath. Show me how to enjoy food that makes me feel great. Hook me through immediate enjoyment and gratification.

That's motivation.

quote:

Originally posted by Coaster Girl:
Seven years ago, I was so mortified at my size that I did something about it.

I think that is the "secret" to weight loss motivation. Being mortified about size. Or cholesterol numbers. Or ________. And remembering how bad it was.

And then finding enough sustainable good habits to replace the bad habits.

Also, the only really good thing about 1 tsp of waffle syrup is when we start using a TBS... it seems like a LOT!!! But it is still half of a serving or 1/4th of a serving… something like that (I don't have syrup very often... not totally familiar with the serving size...).

quote:

Originally posted by kd:
If You Knew THEN what you know now about the relationship between the foods you eat and the impact it has on... your mortality...

There are statistics on a national or world wide level, but I’m having a hard time, in my own family or group of friends, seeing the connection between what or how we eat or what we weigh or how much we do or don’t exercise and mortality.

When it comes to dying… life (or more accurately death) seems inherently unfair.

I have one aunt who was a healthy weight all of her life and died at age 60something of pancreatic cancer. I have another aunt who is morbidly obese and doing “fine”.

In my mom’s group, we’ve had 3 parents die (out of 14). One mom committed suicide. One dad died of skin cancer. And a mom (who jogged and was a healthy weight and ate a lot of organic foods) just died of brain cancer. None of them were obese.

Honestly… rather than mortality and dying… I'm MORE concerned with morbidity and avoiding being chronically sick, if I can. Eventually, we are all going to die. But if I can avoid having diabetes for 20 or 30 or 40 years before I die… that would be good. Or if I can be healthy enough or thin enough that if I want to go for a walk when I’m 70 or 75 or 80… that will be good. Maybe if I can avoid a stroke…. That would be good… but that is harder to predict.

My mom eats mostly healthy and exercises. She had a hip replacement and recovered REALLY fast. She went on a 3 mile hike at Lake Tahoe up and down hills and on a dirt path 6 months later. OK… ideally, I’d like to avoid the hip replacement… but I’m not REALLY sure how to do that, but I’m guessing moderate exercise… but should I NEED one… I’d like to recover really fast.

But for the most part… even a huge health scare doesn’t change most people. And especially, most people do not change for 10 years or a lifetime. Lots and lots of people get out of the hospital after a heart attack and (eventually) go back to cigarettes and “bad” foods. Lots of people have diabetes right NOW… and don’t take care of themselves.

Just have to wait until every person comes to his or her own moment of mortification… and then once they do… give them the baby steps needed to keep it up for 10 years. Can’t scare a person into being mortified. It happens when it happens. For some people it is after gaining 20 lbs… and for others, it is after gaining 220 pounds. For some, it is after a good health scare.

But then WHEN it happens and they/we are struck by some mortified motivation… we need the tools to keep it up for a full 10 years. We don’t get that much in our society.

quote:

Originally posted by kd:
Of COURSE I'm working on a new project

I’ve always thought that is what you are best at, KD… laying out a plan that a person CAN do for 5 years or 10 years.

Also, MANY experts or doctors out there are giving plenty of guilt and warnings about the dire consequences ten years down the road of not eating right and/or being overweight. Dr. Oz comes to mind. He can tell you 296 ways you are going to die early if you don’t start eating right. However, HIS idea of eating “right” is so rigid; very few people can stick to it… not long term… not for 5 or 10 or 40 years.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GoingSkiing,

Ten years ago, the topic of my weight was not up for discussion with anyone. I was quite content eating with abandon and didn't care that I was so overweight.

Seven years ago, I was so mortified at my size that I did something about it and dropped 50 pounds in about 5 months. Being that mortified though, has stuck with me and I'm determined to get down into my healthy range and stay there. It's just taking lots longer than I want it to.

Since then I've had years where my weight didn't do much, and years where I've been able to take off a nice chunk, but only about 15 pounds. That appears to be life, and I am trying to live with it.

At this point, I am determined to not gain. I want to hit my goal weight and stay there. I'm willing to do the work, although I tend to get distracted when life gets insane for short periods.

I've tried to structure my eating and workout habits to be ones that I can sustain for a lifetime. Going mostly organic, getting into and then staying in half marathon shape, and finding cross training activities that I like are keys to keeping up my habits. (Once they're ingrained, they don't get changed since I'm a creature of habit who doesn't like her routine messed up.) But I figured that I will maintain what I like/enjoy.

Foodwise, I don't miss almost any of the "bad", high fat, processed foods that I used to eat all the time. Some of my old favorites (poptarts) come in organic versions, and by allowing myself to have them as treats on occasion and by establishing the "5 mile run or more rule" keeps them in my diet without feeling totally deprived. Otherwise, I am totally content with what I eat and (at least most of the time) the portions.

I'd like to think that 10 years from now I'll look back and say that I have really done myself proud and worked really hard to stay consistent with what I spent the last (now 7 then 17) years trying to establish.

My concern 10 years down the road is not how much I will weigh but how much I will remember. It was 10 years ago this month that I moved in here with cancer and mother was still in command of all of her faculities. She is not the same person now that she was then.

For as long as I can remember mother has made what we call "Juice Pie" using grape juice she put in the freezer from grapes she grew in the garden. I never really asked her for the recipe but I knew she poured the batter for the crust in the pan first and then poured the juice in on top of it. As the pie baked in the oven, the crust would rise to the top as it cooked.
Wednesday night Dena asked her how to make it because she wanted to make one to take to work on Thursday. Mother's response was that she had never made a pie where you put the crust in first.
On Friday I talked to my cousin's wife because I remembered that they discussed her pie years ago. That is how close we came to losing an old family recipe.

I hear you Denise. What I was willing to do 7 years ago I'm not willing to do now. Balance means something totally different to me.

I think you also make a good point that at no matter what weight, one will never look 20 when they are 40. : )

Long and ramboling warning...

I guess this might be the best place to post this... since it pertains to change and the passage of time.

I've been struck in the past month or so how much I've changed from 5 years ago... and it isn't necessarily in a "good" way. I actually don't think of it in a "bad" way, either. It is just a "change" and neither good nor bad.

Then I read a couple of threads and was struck at a change in Brie. I saw in one post that she/you had planned a snack of Pirates Booty. Five years ago, I couldn't IMAGINE you planning out a snack of Pirate Bootie. And then I saw a TBS of waffle syrup... and I remember when you planning out 1 tsp of syrup.

This is a guess on my part... but I'm guessing that 5 years ago... you were ok with 5 drops of syrup... and THIS year... it is more like, "The heck with THAT! I'm having 15 drops". But I might be totally projecting on you.

But this past month... I’ve been struck by all kinds of changes in my mind, motivation and body. I’ve been reflecting on it a lot as I hit my 5 year anniversary at my WW’ers goal on Oct 15th. And I started losing weight 8.5 years ago…. So I guess 8.5 years is close enough to “10 years down the road”… ALTHOUGH… In another 18 months… I could very well be posting… who knows what???

I almost started a thread on the WW’ers board asking, “Anybody hit goal pre menopause and maintain thru it? What has been your experience?” but then it “cancel”. I figure, MY experience has been MY experience… and hearing about other people’s experience would be just that… so who cares if 3 people post that they gained 20-30 pounds and another posts that she lost 10 pounds… I’m having MY own experience.

For ME, I’ve been sort of struck that I’ve gained 3-4 lbs… and I just don’t seem to really care. I don’t feel ANY UGHHHH!!!! kind of thing. I really don’t really care much at all. There was a bathing suit thread over the summer and a bunch of us posted that “So what… I’m just another middle aged mom at the pool and nobody is comparing us to the 18 year old in the bikini”. Well, this is even MORE so after 50-ish. I might care if I hung out at the pool at the Princeville Hotel on Kauai or at the Hyatt in Incline Village... but I don't. The local Safeway... or band class... nobody cares that I weigh 4 lbs more... including me.

The “10 Years Down the Road” thing? Turning 42 isn’t THAT different from turning 32. However, I’m finding that turning 52 is WAY different from turning 42. And it is an entire generation away from 32 year olds. I’m old enough to have a kid that is 32. How weird is THAT? At 42, I used to see pregnant women aged 32-42 and feel some identification with them. Now I identify with the grandmas of the world.

I seriously doubt that there is anything a person can tell a 32 year old or even MOST 42 year olds… and have them go, “Oh WOW!!! I need to start preparing now for being 52!” I not sure anybody can prepare me for 62 or 72 or 82.

I’m like Brie with the TBS of syrup. I’m back to 2 cups of coffee a day. I had cut back to 1 cup (since coffee has an oil in it that raises cholesterol… and half and half has saturated fat, which raises cholesterol…), but now I’m back to 2. I still measure the half and half on the food scale… and I use 9 g. of the full fat in each cup and the rest fat free.

But I don’t think, “Oh… I should only drink one cup of coffee… because 10 years down the road X, Y, and Z will be happening with my cholesterol and health!” Or I don’t think, “If I drink ONE cup of coffee, I’ll cut 30 calories out of every breakfast… and 30x365=10,950 and that equals 3 pounds of fat… and I could lose this 3 lbs of fat!!!! How cool is THAT!!!” I used to think those things… but not anymore.

What I think today is, “Screw it. Life is too short to want a second cup of coffee and not have it. Screw it… it is 30 stupid calories and 3 stupid pounds. I’m drinking two cups”. So much for motivation 10 years down the road!

Of course, I’m not eating donuts with my coffee… yet. But, SHOOT… get back with in 10 years! Five years ago, I was COMMITTED to nipping 3 lbs in the bud. I was COMMITTED to one cup of coffee and switching over to tea for the rest of the day. This year, not so much. Who knows where I’ll be in 10 years.

Not to mention… I can’t remember if I’ve posted this all before… of if I just THOUGHT about posting this before. My memory (and taste buds) are going to pot with the rest of me. Makes me want to drink 2 cups of coffee, while I still remember HOW to make a really good cup of coffee. Or while I still remember what a really great cup of coffee tastes like. Because, 10-20 years from now, I’m going to be making some brown crap and calling it “coffee”. That is what people do after a certain age. Everybody I know who is getting older… they start making crappy coffee. I can only conclude that I will, too. So I’m drinking two cups NOW… while I can still enjoy it.

I’ve also noticed this fall that if I slack off on exercise … I go to pot EXPONECIALLY fast. I didn’t have this problem at age 42 or even 48. So part of me is thinking… “Wow! I REALLY need to be more careful not to slack off!” and I just marked on my October 2010 calendar,” Just 20 mins a day!” to avoid going to pot next year.

But I also think, “Well DUH!!! Of course, you are going to pot!! Welcome middle age (you big dummy!). Did you actually think that you were going to hit 60 with the body of a 30 year old? Do you actually think you can STOP the clock??? How delusional are you (and your whole delusional baby boomer, health obsessed generation along with you!!!)”

I sort of envy my grandmothers generation… she was knitting at age 55… not doing some 30 Day Shred in some insane, misguided attempt to stop the passage of time.

AND I went clothes shopping last week. I was all excited because I realized that there are LOTS of cute clothes out on Veteran’s Day. I USUSALLY go shopping in January for my birthday, when everything is picked over and nothing looks cute. However, the first law of shopping still applies in mid-November and no matter what size I am… the size on the racks is something different.

ALSO, it would appear that sizes have CHANGED a lot in the past 5 years. 5 years ago, I bought 8 pairs of pants in a certain brand all in a size 6. It would appear that NOW I am physically the same size… but now I wear a size 2 in that same brand. However, there are no 2’s to be found. Lots and Lots of 10’s and 12’s or some 6’s and a very few 4’s. And I live in a part of the country where people tend to be thinner than in the Midwest or the South… If I’m having trouble in the Bay Area… must be harder someplace else.

This is also KILLING my motivation to lose 3 pounds. I tried on 20 pairs of size 4 pants in 9 different brands… and found ONE pair that fit. I didn’t see ANY 2’s… and will have to resort to shopping on line.

I’ve also had the experience that EVERY single person I know in real life has gained 10-20 lbs in the last 5 or 10 or 15 years. Every person that I THOUGHT was maintaining a healthy weight… has been slowly creeping up. I have to tell you… 5 years ago, I would have felt this resolve of, “THAT won’t happen to ME!!!!” This year, I feel like, “What makes me so special, and that won’t happen to me, too???”

Thus, I have very little motivation to change for my health 10 years down the road. And I have very little motivation for fashion reasons 10 years down the road.

I also have the “problem” that I don’t know how much my mind set is that I’ve been doing this for 5-8 years now. And I don’t know how much is going thru “the change” and my motivation and mindset is changing right along with my older body.

But I’ve noticed a lot of changes in the past 5 years… but I’m not sure it is what one would think or expect. I’m not thinking… “I’m getting older! I have to eat healthier for 10 years down the road”. I’m thinking, “Life if SHORT!” Or maybe it is EXACTLY what one would expect…

But 5 years ago, I thought that I would ALWAYS feel, “OMG… nip that 2 lbs in the bud NOW!”

And I guess I still do feel that way… but the 2 lbs are from 128 to 126… not 124 to 122.

Two pounds is “complicated”. Which 2 pounds are we talking about? I’ve had about a year of really not even knowing what I should weigh or WHERE the “red line” is. Which I find sort of humorous, in a way. It never occurred to me 5 years ago that if somebody said, “What is your red line weight?” my answer would be “126 or 128 or maybe 129… I don’t know… something like that… who cares?… anything less than 131, I suppose… but 125 is cool or 126… I don’t know… whatever…”

OK… off to do a 20 min Shred and to clean 5 trumpets. And the grocery store.

Mostly my thinking and planning are pretty local--- tonight I am thinking about the three lunches I need to pack for tomorrow morning. Fruits, veggies, snacks... I will be happy to avoid eating out and mindless snacking. For me, these small things take planning and lots of energy.

I can't really go back with my mindset or motivation. Maybe it is because my life feels so different than it did 18 months ago. In most ways I can't even relate to some of my old thought patterns. Many have told me that losing a loved one (especially in an untimely, traumatic way) changes a person. I am starting to get it.

I made loads of food/health mistakes for many years. I don't regret the pizzas and chips and nachos. I think I just needed to move through lots of stuff related to overeating. And I am glad not to be there any longer.

I know I feel like crap when I eat junk and when I overeat. Usually that is motivation enough for me. I hate not sleeping well and feeling bloated and tired all the time. I love how I feel when I exercise and eat well.

quote:

Originally posted by GoingSkiing:

[...] There are periods of time when weight doesn’t come off. There are periods of time when we don’t really have a whole lot of motivation. Sometimes the best we can do is not gain more weight and just hang in there.[...]

{{{sigh}}} been there....(actually I still am )

I wish I understood more fully, way back when, the connection between depression and stress and my eating. I knew all about nutrition, and I was working out every day. But my marriage was empty. and my job was hell. and I worked way too many hours. And I was not confident as a parent. and all of this, and probably more, increased my clothing size 4 times.

I wish I had not spent so much time loathing myself, my body and my out of control behavior. I wish I had put that energy into "cleaning up" the mess inside of me, my heart, my mind, my spirit.

But as Denise says....I have no regrets. I can look back now and see why my life took a certain direction and how hard I had to work to get it back on track...but those struggles also make me who I am , and I am proud of who I am--kinks and imperfections and goofiness.

I can say, right now, i am not as tough on myself about the exercise and the eating, and I am trying to find a different balance that works for me. As brie says, that moderation. I figure --what I define as moderation and balance will change as I constantly change.

denise, i love a good healthy dump also. when i was little, and sick, the first thing my mom would ask is "when was the last time you went doo doo?" (Of course, she spoke Mandarin but...)

quote:

If You Knew THEN what you know now about the relationship between the foods you eat and the impact it has on your body, your health and your mortality...would you have made better food choices?

No. I’m probably in the minority… I don’t regret the bad choices I made. I don’t regret the way everything turned out. Of course, my health turned out pretty much ok. My body turned out pretty much ok.

My mortality? So far, so good. I’m not dead, yet. But a HUGE part of mortality is genetics and stuff we don’t have THAT much control over. And life isn’t always fair. Some healthy, thin active people get cancer and die too soon. No guarantees with eating healthy and exercise.

You go to college and do what you need to do… the end of 4-5 years, you get a degree.

You buy a house and pay the mortgage every month… the end of 30 years you own the house.

You eat healthy every day and exercise… you might or might not live to 70 or 80 or 52. Kind of a crap shoot. Thus, for most people mortality isn’t a huge motivation.

quote:

I was recently working with some formerly fit Moms having a hard time getting the weight off.

Yeah… it is HARD. It might not come off as quickly has they hope, want or wish. There are periods of time when weight doesn’t come off. There are periods of time when we don’t really have a whole lot of motivation. Sometimes the best we can do is not gain more weight and just hang in there.

quote:

I asked them to go back to that mindset, to go back to that place in their minds when they were making those decisions to take care of their bodies and their babies and to see if they might be able to come up with a way to apply some of those underlying principles to their bodies today.

We always have to be coming up with new motivations.

Motivations change. I think that it is really hard to go back to old motivations. Probably impossible.

A list of the “average” mom’s past motivations to eat healthier and/or lose weight:

To look good in my prom dress. To look good for the guy who dumped me and called me fat. To look good in a bikini on vacation. To look good in my wedding dress. My best friend is a vegetarian. To be able to run a marathon. To eat better while pregnant to have a healthy baby. To get the baby fat off. To save money while shopping. To look good for my 20th reunion. To leave a smaller carbon footprint. To get a better cholesterol number. Etc, etc, etc…

Asking moms to go back and remember being pregnant… is sort of like saying to 55 year old, “Remember when you wanted to look fantastic in a bikini when you were 19???? Find THAT motivation!!!!” Being pregnant is sooooo last year. Or last decade. It is a 9 month long motivation.

Motivations change.

And tastes change.

If somebody lost weight in 2003 and gained some back… they are often say, “Ughhhhh!!! I just can’t bring myself to do/eat what I ate to lose the weight the first time!!!” I know I’ve felt that way. You couldn’t PAY me to go back and eat like I did when I was eating at my “healthiest” in 1997. The food tasted like krap.

Thus we have to come up with new motivations and new plans. Doesn’t work for most people to say, “I’m going to do EXACTLY what I did 3 years ago, or 6 years ago or 10 years ago”. We change. The culture we live in changes. Looking back doesn’t work.

quote:

When you think about the food you're eating today, your weekly shopping list, the amount of exercise you average a week and your life and health TEN years from now...and the health of your children ten years from now, are there any choices you might make and if so why?

I had a kid who was obese with a BMI of about 40 when he was 10. That was sort of a wake up call.

But honestly, how many moms of toddlers think, “Oh man, it is going to SUCK if my kid is obese 10 years from now!!!”? Moms of toddlers think about toilet training… like, “Oh man, It is going to suck if I’m still changing diapers in 3 years” or “It is going to suck if the kid sticks a hair pin in the electrical socket”.

If they think about food… it is things like, “My kid likes white foods. That’s it. White food. What the heck is up with that?!?!?!” Grocery shopping revolves around finding white foods the kid will eat in 10 hours. Nobody is shopping for foods so that the kid will be healthy in 10 years. We are thinking ahead to breakfast…

Also, honestly, most moms assume that fat, unhealthy kids only happen to other people’s kids. It happens to kids with “bad moms”. Most people assume that they are “good moms” and feed their kids healthy food. Honestly, they aren’t too worried about the health of a kid 10 years out… because unhealthy kids happen to bad moms.

Also, I lost MY weight for ME. The health of my family or my kid… that is just ONE motivation. And it isn’t even my main motivation. It is like staying married “for the kids”. Sucky motivation. Every person has to do it for themself.

I also have a hard time shopping THIS week for benefits I may or may not see in my own health ten years from now. I have to tell you… my motivations to eat healthier are VERY short term… and not very glamorous. They are the opposite of glamorous.

Honestly, I shop for vegetable today… because I HATE being constipated. I eat vegetables or beans today, in part, because I want to go poo tomorrow. I swear, some of my “motivation” is really that “simple”. Of course, if I eat vegs today… yeah, HOPEFULLY my cholesterol test in 2014 will be good or not too bad. But, honestly, taking a good, “healthy” dump tomorrow morning is more immediate and more predictable. Nearly immediate gratification.

I eat healthy and decide not to have two bowls of cereal after dinner for a scale number 5 days from now. Or so I fit in my pants next week. Hard for me to imagine shopping today… because I’m going to be 62 ten years from now.

Welcome back KD! I missed hearing from you.
Hope you are well.

I'm in the same boat as Susan. In 10 years, I'll be an empty nester and dd will be a sophmore at college somewhere.

Like Susan, hopefully some of the healthy eating/active lifestyle will have rubbed off on her and she can avoid the Freshman 15.

As for me, I hope to still be very active, traveling, enjoying fine food every now and again and practicing moderation most other days.

Ten years from now, DS will be 18 and a freshman in college, assuming all goes according to plan. I hope I will have taught him well enough to make good choices on his own. (Actually, that applies to a lot of things, not just his eating habits!)

As for me, I guess menopause will be over by then (hasn't started yet), so I need to continue to focus on getting enough calcium in my diet. I want to be as active as I am now so I will continue to exercise as much as possible.

Hey!!
So glad to hear from you. I have been concerned by your silence.

"When you think about the food you're eating today, your weekly shopping list, the amount of exercise you average a week and your life and health TEN years from now...and the health of your children ten years from now, are there any choices you might make and if so why?"

Actually, I am very satisfied with what we are eating today and the amount of exercise we get each week so I guess I would hope that we would still be doing the things we are now in another 10 years. Hopefully, we will even be doing better than we are now.
If you had asked me that 10 years ago the answer would have been very different. Back then we were the queens of fast food and now I feel like we are the queens of the farmer's market.

Dena has been reading a book called "Plenty" by Alisa Smith and J. B. MacKinnon. The authors decided that for one year they would eat only food produced within 100 mils of their home. Dena says it is sort of a diary (or journal) of that year. The chapters give a month by month account of their insights and kitchen disasters. She says it is beautifully written.
There is a show on Planet Green that follows people in the town of Mission, British Columbia that agree to a 100 Mile Challenge for just 100 days and the challenges that presents.

And speaking of "shopping lists", I was just telling mother the other day that grocery shopping was a whole lot easier before I started reading labels .