Often I find myself wondering which came first, the Spot (bouldering gym) or the Whole Foods on Pearl St., conveniently located directly en route to my condo from the gym, and vise-versa.
Regardless... my name is Jessica and I am a Whole Foods addict.
I don't know when it started, but I can pin point the addiction to some time in the late summer months of 2008. Mostly this problem can be blamed, lovingly of course, on my bff who has dragged me down this slippery slope of healthy despair.
It's just SO easy. Here's how one gets stuck spending at least half of every paycheck at Whole Foods: After sitting in front of a computer all day, I practically strip clothes off as I run down the stairs to throw on running/climbing/hiking clothes to enjoy the last bit of sun. If the sun is already M.I.A., it's off to the climbing gym without fail. All of the socializing and the little bit of climbing for several hours really works up a hunger. But, looking at a large collection of extremely fit people doesn't bode well for burger joints. Therefore, making my own food is a much better choice ... or so it seems.
Whole Foods is literally a hop, skip and a jump away from the gym, and it has become a social hot spot for *ahem* Spot-goers when they can't possibly climb anymore but need yet more social interaction with the same group of people. Of course, I can't judge.
So, a simple, "Let's grab a Kombucha at Whole Foods" turns into, "The ten of us are going to Whole Foods and we're going to wander around for 30 minutes, sample everything we can find, not only buy dinner for tonight, but also pick up a few things. Maybe we can eat there too? Maybe think about the other things we forgot to get while we are eating so we can go in for round two?" You think I'm kidding, but this discussion has actually happened. Probably.
The real killer is that it is very possible to shop daily at Whole Foods and still starve to death. How is this possible, you ask? It's simple. Whole Foods is just SO big that it is easy to get overwhelmed and very excited about everything this wonderland has to offer the healthy-lifestyle-loving Boulderite. I often leave there, spending upwards of $40, with some protein powder mix (forgetting the milk to mix it in), organic hamster food, some eucalyptus face wash, a bar of XOXO chocolate with orange bits (delicious by the way) and a bag of celery. Now, as I'd love nothing more than to live on orange chocolate, one bar just won't cut it, and I hear celery actually has less calories than are necessary to eat it.
So there you have it. Because of Whole Foods, I am poor AND hungry. Neither trouble has anything to do with the economy, just the addicting natural food grocery store on my way home from the gym.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Capitalism and the art of humor
In a hilarious show of sportsmanship, The Outdoor Wire, which claims to be the largest online news source for the outdoor industry, has named President-Elect Barack Obama "Gun Salesman of the Year."
The reasoning: "It's credit where credit is due," according to Publisher Jim Shephard.
He said it is time the firearms industry recognizes the fact that without President-elect Obama’s frightening consumers into action, the firearms industry might be suffering the same sort of business slumps that have befallen the automotive and housing industries.
This is the kind of humor and good-naturedness that will get conservatives through the next four years, and I applaude their every action.
On the flip side, it must be noted that Obama, in this gun sales situation, has just been recognized for his (first?) inadvertent act of supply/demand economics. Perhaps his economic advisers should follow the scare tactic route and threaten to take away American-made cars or our homes -- through direct policy threats, not taxes this time. Perhaps pushing the American people into a 'last chance! buy now!' situation works.
Capitalism anyone?
The reasoning: "It's credit where credit is due," according to Publisher Jim Shephard.
He said it is time the firearms industry recognizes the fact that without President-elect Obama’s frightening consumers into action, the firearms industry might be suffering the same sort of business slumps that have befallen the automotive and housing industries.
This is the kind of humor and good-naturedness that will get conservatives through the next four years, and I applaude their every action.
On the flip side, it must be noted that Obama, in this gun sales situation, has just been recognized for his (first?) inadvertent act of supply/demand economics. Perhaps his economic advisers should follow the scare tactic route and threaten to take away American-made cars or our homes -- through direct policy threats, not taxes this time. Perhaps pushing the American people into a 'last chance! buy now!' situation works.
Capitalism anyone?
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Free Willy
In my last post, the idea of engaging in a 'no-carb' diet was a playful experiment meant to make my life a little bit more interesting. Two weeks wouldn't be that bad, correct?
Day two I went on a 5 mile run that I'd done multiple times before and found myself dogging it (if you will), and then went up the mountain to boulder around a little. After a few failed attempts at a project that I have been working on for quite some time, I just gave up and left. I called Mommy Dearest to complain about my poor performance and she asked me if I had been drinking a lot lately. I told her, "No, actually Jess and I are doing this no-carb diet." She told me I couldn't do that anymore and expect to have any sort of energy on runs/climbs.
That was all I needed to hear. Done. I went home and ate granola, happily.
However, doing further research, I found this article on low-carb dieting. The results of research on low-carb diets found that our brains do not function as well without a normal diet. So there you go ... cutting elements out of a well-rounded diet is not going to yeild any remarkable results. My findings: just eat less, play more.
Day two I went on a 5 mile run that I'd done multiple times before and found myself dogging it (if you will), and then went up the mountain to boulder around a little. After a few failed attempts at a project that I have been working on for quite some time, I just gave up and left. I called Mommy Dearest to complain about my poor performance and she asked me if I had been drinking a lot lately. I told her, "No, actually Jess and I are doing this no-carb diet." She told me I couldn't do that anymore and expect to have any sort of energy on runs/climbs.
That was all I needed to hear. Done. I went home and ate granola, happily.
However, doing further research, I found this article on low-carb dieting. The results of research on low-carb diets found that our brains do not function as well without a normal diet. So there you go ... cutting elements out of a well-rounded diet is not going to yeild any remarkable results. My findings: just eat less, play more.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The no booze cruise
The only diet I've ever been on is the "see food" diet (I see food, I eat it... ha ha, get it?). I remember eating an extraordinary amount of canned tuna during cross country in high school and calling it a high-protein diet, but in reality, I was just hungry so I ate tuna.
Today at work, I e-mailed my roommate Jess to see if she wanted to have a few martinis after work, as Tuesdays always require extra unwinding in the weekly newspaper business.
The speedy reply was... no. Jess is committing to a "carb flush" for two weeks, which includes all alcohols. Every single one of them. Even wine.
So I got to thinking about everything I'd had to eat today and realized that my daily intake is potentially only carbs (does coffee count as a protein since it comes from a bean?). This doesn't concern me in the least, but as my day-to-day life is a little boring lately, I told Jess I would join her in this self-inflicted brutality. After all, who wants to drink alone? Plus, roommates have to support each other.
Therefore, for the next two weeks I will be doing what I've never done before: restricting myself from eating an entire food group. Perhaps it will be good to test my will-power, especially when it comes to saying goodbye to granola. I may not get out of bed some mornings, as granola is my sole incentive to not hit snooze come 6 a.m., but maybe it will be easier to wake up, having not had several drinks before hitting the hay the previous night.
Will I loose weight? Probably not- I'm a health nut as is, so this might just make me miss mom's homemade bread. But it will certainly prove an interesting struggle.
As for the no drinking part... well, I will be blogging more frequently the next two Saturday nights.
Today at work, I e-mailed my roommate Jess to see if she wanted to have a few martinis after work, as Tuesdays always require extra unwinding in the weekly newspaper business.
The speedy reply was... no. Jess is committing to a "carb flush" for two weeks, which includes all alcohols. Every single one of them. Even wine.
So I got to thinking about everything I'd had to eat today and realized that my daily intake is potentially only carbs (does coffee count as a protein since it comes from a bean?). This doesn't concern me in the least, but as my day-to-day life is a little boring lately, I told Jess I would join her in this self-inflicted brutality. After all, who wants to drink alone? Plus, roommates have to support each other.
Therefore, for the next two weeks I will be doing what I've never done before: restricting myself from eating an entire food group. Perhaps it will be good to test my will-power, especially when it comes to saying goodbye to granola. I may not get out of bed some mornings, as granola is my sole incentive to not hit snooze come 6 a.m., but maybe it will be easier to wake up, having not had several drinks before hitting the hay the previous night.
Will I loose weight? Probably not- I'm a health nut as is, so this might just make me miss mom's homemade bread. But it will certainly prove an interesting struggle.
As for the no drinking part... well, I will be blogging more frequently the next two Saturday nights.
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