All Hail Kale
Lately I’ve been having very odd dreams. I’m a very vivid dreamer as it is, but these dreams… wow… not as bad as Benedryl dreams but close. Some readers, especially one in particular, think that they may be caused by some of the strange foods I’ve been eating. So began the internet research just to make sure high amounts of kale juice weren’t the cause of these hallucinatory dreams….
While I didn’t find any proof that this King of Greens can cause colorful, interesting dreams, I did find plenty of information showing that adding kale to my diet can keep me dreaming well into my later years. Kale has between 10 and 15 glucosinolates (please don’t ask me to pronounce that in person!) which appear to be able to lower the chances of several different types of cancer, mainly Ovarian and Breast cancer. If that’s not enough, here’s a snipet of an article I read online -
“Sulforaphane, {again, don’t ask me to pronounce that} which is formed when cruciferous vegetables such as kale are chopped or chewed, triggers the liver to produce enzymes that detoxify cancer-causing chemicals, inhibits chemically-induced breast cancers in animal studies, induces colon cancer cells to commit suicide. Sulforaphane may also offer special protection to those with colon cancer-susceptible genes, suggests a study conducted at Rutgers University and published online in the journal Carcinogenesis.”
On a side note that is not scientific and completely self centered compared to the above paragraph — Since I started juicing and adding Kashi to my daily routines it appears my entire office is sick. There’s a nasty bug going around that seems to attack respiratory and gastrointestinal function all at once. A few times I thought I might be coming down with it, but I never did. I can tell at times that my body is definitely fighting something off. This could be because I keep a half gallon container of hand sanitizer at the end of my desk and added a “Be Wise, Sanitize” sign to my cubicle politely asking visitors not to bring germs with them. But, for blog sake, I’m letting the sludgy juice be the hero.
I think that’s about all the scientific news this blog can handle. Other fun facts about Kale — in parts of Germany annual fests are held where they actually name a “Kale King” and there are several social clubs that hold Kale Tours. Think of your local fish fry. Instead of fried fish and cheap keg beer causing flatulence, they gorge on kale, sausage and schnapps.
Beyond my new infatuation with Kale, there wasn’t much progress made in the health and wellness section of my life. This was intentional. I had a heavy load of homework this week and allowed myself to focus more on that than anything else. I finished my last assignment for the week last night, so today started a new week with time to focus on health and nutrition once again. Today started with cleaning. Isn’t it difficult to feel motivated to do much of anything when your surroundings seem so out of place? Ryan and I got a lot done, but I still feel like I have so much more to get through. I want to purge and organize every nook and cranny in the house. Over the next several weeks, that will have to be the goal. We never really finished “moving in”. We unpacked and stashed. Now that it’s been a year, it’s about time everything had a home.
Why am I mentioning this on a health and nutrition blog? I’ve given some thought to how my personality effects my weight. I was once someone who thrived on caffeine and stimulants. Now, after having to give up anything resembling a stimulant for the sake of my mental health a few years ago, I’ve become someone who needs a solid foundation and stimulant free living environment. I’m happier, more calm, and much less stressed when I’m not being assaulted from all sorts of abstract stimuli. Where there is less stress, there is less belly fat – or so the diet pill commercial has made me believe.
This evening I watched tv shows about super morbidly obese people. There was a man named Dave Smith who once weight over 650 pounds. Through the help of a trainer, he was able to get down to 220 pounds in four years. It was an amazing story. As you can imagine, that left him with a LOT of extra skin. They talked briefly about the skin removal surgeries he had to have. They didn’t talk much about that. In fact, none of the shows talk much about the physical pain these people go through. I’ve heard skin removal surgery is one of the most painful procedures you can have done. Obviously, it’s absolutely necessary, and perhaps the pain of that doesn’t come close to the pain of living (or dying) at 650 pounds. After watching parts of that, and then part of “Half Ton Mom” on TLC, I decided to go work out.
While thinking that slapping my DVD player into submission was actually going to work, I “einy meiny miney moe’d” a work out DVD. I landed on an unopened one titled, “Daily Stretch”. I ordered this from exercisetv.tv because it said it was for beginners. I would like to know what they mean by “beginner”. I would definitely consider my skill level at beginner. Apparently this was too advanced for me. I think I need to start with something that starts on 2 feet and doesn’t require too much movement above my head. Thankfully my Gaiam exercise mat broke my fall when I attempted to move my leg in a very unnatural position.
After that, I thought about driving to the gym and hitting the treadmill for awhile. Then I remembered how I left my car windows down all weekend. It rained all weekend. Not drizzled, poured. Thankfully Ryan saw that my windows were down this evening and rolled them up. I’m sure that’ll smell worse than Kale juice tomorrow morning. Since driving to the gym was out of the question, I decided to dust off our old Biggest Loser DVD.
After my tumor was removed and before getting pregnant with Noah, Ryan and I made a lot of changes to our lives. We were actually “healthy” and lived pretty healthy lives. We were making small changes and were feeling great. One of the workouts we would do together is the Biggest Loser Workout DVD. I HIGHLY recommend this to someone just starting out, no matter where they are on the scale. It doesn’t get complicated, and it’s darn near impossible to hurt yourself. Trainer Bob leads the work out and the “workout drones” with him aren’t shiny muscle-toned happy pill addicts, they’re people from the show. On the original BL Workout, some of the contestants are Suzy, Matt, Gary (remember Gary with that accent??!), Andrea, and Drea. There are modifications for almost every step. And, if you just can’t do something, it’s okay to go back to side stepping as long as you stay moving.
It looks so easy, but it’ll definitely make you sweat! So that’s what I did. I sweated it out with Trainer Bob. It was actually fun to do it again. I think this will definitely go back into the rotation of Things To Do To Not Be Fat Anymore.
During my workout tonight, I thought about all those people – over 2 million people in the United States – who are super morbidly obese. Could it be possible for someone like me to get like that? I think it is. After watching their stories and listening to their lives, it is absolutely possible for almost anyone to get into that state… to be bed bound because of a bad relationship with food and physical activity (or lack there of…). I felt a deep sense of compassion for those people. Even just last year, I didn’t think it would ever be possible that I would be back to the weight I am now. Just as some may be one sad event closer to be homeless, I was one sad event closer to losing complete control of my health.
I don’t know why I went so public with this when I started. It all started with a box of Kashi. I vowed to start eating organic/all natural at every meal. I haven’t completely hit that target just yet, but I’m really close. I’ve also made a lot of unintended self discoveries along the way. Probably most importantly, I discovered I definitely don’t like worms, or even the thought of worms, in my juice. Seriously, I think this week I re-learned that I don’t have to completely overhaul my entire life in one day in order to find health. That’s the habit that sets me up for failure each and every time. If I don’t do it completely, then I won’t do it at all. This time, I realized that I had to make my body better before I could expect much performance out of it. I started from the inside – out. So far, it’s been better than any drug on the market. I haven’t had big weight drops just yet, but that will come. In time.
(Oh, and Ryan? I checked… I have nothing. You’ve been so good this week, I got nothin’!!)