Wrong Week to be clean

So it turns out that I am a bit sick - not a great week to start a new chapter.  But nevertheless I am going to try to be good.  Yesterday my roommate and I made a trek to the farmer's market.  Oh my goodness I spent so much money and got some amazing stuff!!
Such great looking organic strawberries, asian pears, nectarines
and also green beans, mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, lots of mixed greens, and tomatoes So last night I made a tofu stir fry with some veggies, and tonight I grilled up some and threw it over an amazing blend of mixed greens (random greens I would never buy unless at the farmer's market - which is awesome) and added some tomato and oil/balsamic - so delicious!!
Of course today wasn't all good.  I bought a parfait at school - granola and yogurt and fruit - none of which was organic and I have no idea what the actual ingredients are.
For lunch all I wanted was PB&J - to make it better I used honey and asian pear instead of J.  The bread though - I noticed has a ton of ingredients that I don't understand.  And the peanut butter - although organic contained sugar!  what?!  isn't it supposed to be peanuts and salt??  where does this sugar come from?  But I ate it anyway.
So, not the best start - but Rome wasn't built in a day, right?

Getting Back on Track - Going Clean

How many times have I said I need to get back on track?
I recently picked up a book that I haven't looked at in about two months (various reasons.. mostly busy) by Michael Pollan: In defense of food.  I read a good section of it on the plane back from Vegas, after killing my body with too much food and alcohol, and it really helped me get motivated to get back on track.  I knew I was going to have to detox a bit, but this really helped me.
So according to the book, here are my new rules for a bit:

1.  check the ingredients and understand every one of them 
• So if I have to look it up on my phone - that isn't good
• it has to be pronounceable
2. No foods with more than 5 ingredients
• The example Pollan gave was bread that had more than 5 ingredients - in fact around 40 total..that makes sense - but am I supposed to give up chocolate?  even my organic chocolate has a few more than 5 ingredients: Organic Chocolate Liquor, Organic Raw Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin (Emulsifier), Organic Vanilla Extract, Organic Whole Milk Powder 
• Also I don't really know what Soy Lechithin is... Pollan talks about Soy and Corn being two ingredients we have way too much of in many forms.., but whatever, baby steps...I can't just cut everything out quite yet.
3. Don't buy anything incapable of rotting
• McDonald's fries do not rot - not that I eat at McD's, but they don't..eww!
• Also, if you have to wonder if it rots - don't buy it.
• I am extending this to expiration dates - if it doesn't have one or the date is super far in the future (canned goods? frozen foods?) don't do it.
4. Avoid foods that claim they are healthy
• no more lean cuisines, although I haven't had one of those in a while
• if you stick to healthy ingredients, your finished product will be healthy
• I like the line in the book - if food products claim to be healthy on the package they must first have a package
5. Get out of the supermarket
• I have always loved farmer's markets - the vibe and the food, so why haven't I been to one in months?  And the one or two I did go to within that time were amazing!
6. Join a CSA
• already looked into it.  Going to take the leap.  So excited, because sometimes you just can't get to the farmer's market but still need good organic food in the house, before going crazy.

So this is the plan, let's see how far I get...

Loco for Local!

Oh USF, good for you for getting on the bandwagon.  Even if that bandwagon is 10 x more expensive than the farmer's market!!  So, USF has started selling fresh local produce at the cafeteria!  Crazy!  Also stupidly expensive.  Though they know that the students don't care much about cost, mom and dad pay for the money on their id cards, so the kids just swipe away!  They also have certain meals that are made from produce grown within a certain amount of miles.  I have yet to try it, but good for you for trying to minimize your carbon footprint!  So I move into my new place this weekend!  So stoked.  Can't wait for fresh produce from farmer's markets!  And tofu, oh I have missed just eating tofu out of its box with soy sauce.  I know - weird.  I got use to making great delicious mostly organic stir fry and sandwiches before going to school, but now I have gotten used to take out and frozen foods.  Ugh!
Today's bus ride, besides crazy (some old homeless people were fighting and yelling...oh SF...) went through a farmer's market.  Had I not just been to the gym and starving I would've gotten off to peruse  the selection.  I am sure there have to be some better markets in SF than the one I went to, which has NO organic!  craziness...this is SF people!!  Live up to your green, hippie rep!
Off to do some homework.
ugh

So bad, can't wait to be good

Ok, so living in a hotel room is really difficult!  I can't keep good food in my tiny little fridge and I eat out a lot!  Ugh!  Besides gaining weight, I just feel gross!!  I an feel that this stuff is bogging me down and not making me happy.  So I came across a small farmer's market on Sunday, all excited about fresh organic produce - none!!  I did get some fruit, but it wasn't organic, but I didn't even have the option of organic!  So  disappointed.  There was another, much larger one, near my hotel - but I didn't have time to properly check it out.  I thought moving to SF would make this organic mission so much easier!  They don't even have many Whole Foods here, at least not convenient to me - I have only seen one.  OK fine, no WF - but what about an adequate substitute?  It's not like I have to go to WF, but I just know they have a great organic selection.
So I have also fallen back into my old ways of depending on my microwave.  I really don't think nuking an organic lasagna is healthy, but I guess it's better than grabbing tacos from the corner store.  So this just depresses me, I thought I was going to be healthier and happier in SF, but without a proper kitchen and knowing where I am, I am definitely not healthier!  And this makes me unhappy!  :(

Last week I ate a pre packaged salad from the grocery store - I felt so sick afterwards.  I need fresh whole foods, when "chicken" has more ingredients in it than just chicken - there's an issue.  Preservatives preserve food - I get it, but my body doesn't.

I am so excited for 10/2 when I have a great beautiful kitchen in which I will stock all the finest organic produce and get back to my salad eating ways!  I will be able to explore markets and enjoy buying foods again.

So, until then, I will eat from my microwave, but make sure the dinners are organic based, read the labels (found some delicious all natural granola bars and they are 70% organic! not bad from the limited walgreens selection!), plenty of fruit, and try to keep take out to a minimum (my wallet will thank me!)