Big News and Where's the Beef?

Big Day, Big Day, Big Day! It's measurement and weigh-in day!  Just like at the beginning of a game, when the possibility of winning far overrides the possibility of losing, I'm excited for the potential of good news after a month's hard work.  If it's bad news, this blog may go silent for a few days, and someone better bring me a truckload of chocolate and wine.  I hope everyone's measurements go well.  If you are happy with them, PLEASE COMMENT HERE!  Since I don't get to see all of you, I would love to hear about it.

Big News, Big News, Big News!  We all are hoping that by providing better fuel, we will not only feel better but perform more efficiently as well.  After two years of both valiant and pitiful attempts, I was able to pull-up, chin over the bar, TWICE yesterday!  Maybe now that my muscle and fat percentages are a bit more athletic, this has finally become possible for me.  I am so happy about this, because it has been an enormous mental and physical obstacle for me.  I realize that I still have a ways to go to be able to do multiple pull-ups, and for some reason Kipping is definately not like Skipping for me, but I'm really happy that I'm making measureable progress.

Now, on to today's topic.  We have spent the past 30 days carefully considering the fuel and nutrition we put into our bodies.  We are now looking at food differently, making sure the amounts and blocks will affect us in a healthy, positive way.  Now it's time to switch your thinking just a bit, and consider carefully the quality of the fuel you are using.  In addition to the thought processes you will hopefully continue regarding the amounts and type of food you eat, add to that the source of the food.  Beef, chicken, pork, eggs, and fish supply the protein you are generously giving to your muscles and brain.  What is the quality of the protein you are currently using to make yourself healthy?

This is a controversial topic.  I'm going to proceed everything I write by saying "This is MY OPINION." My opinion is based on information I have received over the past several years from various sources.  I have switched my purchasing habits based on the information I received.  Some of this will disturb you, but it's information that changed what I eat.  There are opposing opinions, and that's okay. They can write about it on their blog.  

How many times have you heard, "Food Industry?" We should not be lumping our health and nutrition in with "Industry."  But, that is exactly what it is.  Just like with clothing and homes, when food is mass-produced, the quality is diminished.  Food that comes from a caring, conscientious environment has better quality, and yes, costs more.  We already know the effects stress has on our well-being.  Animals feel stress also, and that stress creates biochemicals that affect their muscles, which becomes our meat.  Also, when they are mass produced, they receive hormones, antibiotics, and steroids to quicken their growth and plump them up, all for the purpose of getting more meat in a shorter life span.  Those medicines go into their muscle, and their muscle becomes your hamburger.

Forage-fed, local beef is much more beneficial than the cellophane covered Grade A Beef from your grocery store.  You will pay a bit more, but think of the impulse things you won't be buying during a trip to the farm or butcher like you might in the grocery store.  England Acres in New Market sells beef at their market every Saturday, or by appointment from their website.  Their steer roam acres of pastures, live long enough to mature at a natural pace, and eat everything from shrubbery, hay, and grass to weeds and flowers.  The meat that comes from these steer is lean and full of flavor.  She sells it by the quarter-side or half-side of beef.  A quarter of the steer will cost you around $250, and you will get a lot of quality beef for that.  Grass-fed is also healthy, but the meat tastes different.  You will notice the taste of grass, which is full-on evidence that what we eat goes directly to our muscles.   I have graduated from buying my meat from England Acres to buying it directly from the farmer.  Through word-of-mouth, by visiting the fair, and through local butcher shops you can be put into contact with the farmer of a local steer, and you can split the beef with another family or 3.  We split our steer with another family, and paid about $500 for a gigantic freezer full of premium, humanely treated, "happy beef"  which will last us more than 6 months.  This part of Maryland is full of farms.  Start with butcher shops, farmers markets in the spring, or the farms themselves and start buying better quality meat for your family.

Chickens.  Oh my, take a deep breath.  Americans eat a TON of chicken, many of whom were born and raised right here in Maryland.  Purdue chickens come from Maryland's Eastern Shore, and claim on their website to be "specially bred to be the meatiest roaster on the market."  Most of these roasters are slaughtered between 4-7 weeks of age.  During their short life, they are kept basically immobile, and fed a specialized diet to plump them up rapidly.  When you drive past a long, chicken barn, know that there are HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of chickens in each barn.  Free-range chicken are kept in outdoor pens of varying sizes.  Most have to be contained somewhat to keep them from predators such as hawks and foxes.  It's more difficult to find chickens that are fed soy-free diets, but they are out there.  I met a chicken farmer from Jefferson at the Everedy Square Farmers Market in Frederick last year, who raises his chickens on soy-free feed.  I bought the chicken, cooked it for dinner, and we were all amazed at the moisture, the flavor, and the texture - it was noticeably different from the chicken we have eaten for years, and dramatically better tasting.  Most of the chicken sold at the Common Market and other health food grocery stores is free-range and humanely treated.  All of these factors provide a better end-result: quality, better-tasting meat. 

Hens lay eggs, usually about 1 per day.  We eat a lot of eggs, so in this country there are gabillions of hens laying gabillions of eggs every day.  If you have not started buying organic, or better yet, local, organic eggs, this needs to be your first step.  You will immediately notice the yolks are a bright golden yellow, and there is twice as much egg white.  When you cook these eggs, the high protein amount causes them to cook up fluffy and bright yellow.  Here's my egg horror story:  When my older boys were in pre school, we took a field trip to a local dairy farm.  This farm produces milk, dairy products, and eggs for areas around Maryland.  The kids got to see the dairy part of the farm, and then we went to the hen barn.  We toured the barn and the egg operation, and I didn't eat eggs or chicken for almost a year after that.  This was before I cared about my food, and we were a young family on a tight budget.  The hens were kept in a box the size of a shoe box.  They were on shelves stacked 8 or 10 high.  A conveyor belt ran under each hen, collecting the eggs.  The barn was kept between 105-110 degrees to increase egg production.  One worker walks the length of the barn all day, pulling out the dead hens, because their death stresses the other hens and affects production.  The barn was dark, hot, and smelled awful.  The eggs roll out one after the other into piles, where they are sorted, cleaned, and packaged into cartons.  Hell of a pre-school field trip, huh?

Now, over at England Acres Farm, you can buy eggs for $3/dozen.  The eggs are huge, and they come from hens roaming all over the pens, eating bugs and seeds, and the hens are watched over by an adorable Australian sheep dog.  Which eggs would you rather have on your plate for breakfast, feeding your muscles?

Finally, I have to tell you about tilapia.  If you plan on eating tilapia ever again, please don't read any further.  Here's my tilapia story:  I took care of a patient in the hospital 2 years ago.  He was a tilapia farmer.  When you take care of a patient for 3-4 days straight, you get to know them and their family fairly well, as you are spending hours each day in a room with all of them.  I learned all about farm-raised tilapia during these few days.  The take-home message is this: there is a reason farm-raised tilapia is dirt cheap.  Once their farm is set up, they are virtually costless to sustain.  Farmers often use the animal waste from their dairy farm (yes, poop) to nourish the rapid-growing tilapia.  Tilapia will eat anything apparently, including animal waste.  They grow quickly, reproduce rapidly, and sustain easily, making them a profitable product for the struggling farmers. If you eat them and they've eaten that, your nutrition is of that quality.  As a general rule, I stopped eating any fish that isn't wild caught.  Steel head looks like salmon, but is actually farm-raised trout, or lake trout wild caught.  It has no beneficial Omega-3 Fatty Acids like wild salmon does.  I have never seen wild tilapia, so it's not even an option in my kitchen anymore.  Include fish once a week in your diet, and make it a quality, wild-caught fish. 

Pay attention to the source of your food.  What they eat becomes your breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  Food industry is in the game for profit, not for quality fuel.  Start with organic, read the label, and educate yourself about the source of your proteins.