Why organic?

Why organic foods? What's the big deal? A veggie is a veggie and a fruit is a fruit, right? Let's try to break it down. There was a time, not so long ago, that our agricultural system did not contain these chemicals. Why would we need these in our foods today then? It's simple. It's profit driven, not health for the consumer driven. If a company can make some bread last a few years without molding (like McDonald's has with their buns), they can make a ton of money by not having to deal with that bread spoiling. So those chemicals (often on the product's ingredient list) are poured into and onto the product. And they get passed on to you and me for consumption! I don't want anything added to my food. Just like if I got it from the farmer directly, which you can at any local Farmer's market or local co-op stores, which I highly recommend.


Ranman lunch picture of the day: Lundberg brown rice pasta, cilantro, tomatoes and sliced almonds. All organic.

A world without junk food?

Sometimes we don't realize how biased we can be. Or what kind of patterns we have locked ourselves into. Eating habits are no different. For instance, if I told you to cut out the foods below, you'd probably think there is nothing else left to eat on this planet :) Of course, you'd be wrong, but it's a nice exercise to try nonetheless.

Just imagine for a moment that all these items are no longer available to you: White bread, pasta, white rice, sugar, salt, cream, cheese, ice cream, butter, eggs, soft drinks, chocolate, hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, pizza, steaks, macaroni and cheese. nachos, coffee, milk shakes, french fries, fried foods, bacon, sausage, donuts, cakes, candy, bagels, deserts and potato chips!

It's interesting to note that virtually all the food items listed above are readily available at junk food restaurants! And also at your local, neighborhood supermarkets :)

Ranman dinner picture of the day: Yukon potatoes, carrots, red onion, celery, barley, legumes, peas, pinto beans, garlic, thyme, oregano, Bragg's amino acids and filtered water. All organic.

A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step

Small, incremental change. A day at a time. A meal at a time. Find the little victories each day as you become more health conscious. Perhaps you use one lump of sugar instead of two. Maybe a little less ketchup today. Or you order a juice instead of a soda. One shake of salt instead of two. Even one healthy choice, no matter how small, starts to add up to a path in the right direction.

Don't get down on yourself if you didn't make any change. Just being aware of the process is great! And make sure to congratulate yourself for any healthy changes you do. Any kind of change starts with awareness. The mental aspect of becoming healthy is every bit as important as the physical one.

Ranman lunch picture of the day: Romaine lettuce, mixed Greek olives, baby shrimp, heirloom yellow tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, cashew nuts, avocado, blueberries, and balsamic vinegar. All organic.

Health hath no shortcut

Driving to the store. Buying the healthy food. Preparing it. Doing the dishes after eating it. It's definitely much easier just to pay for drive through or go to a restaurant or even get something to go. But what has the easy way out got us? America is the most diseased country on the planet. With skyrocketing rates of heart disease and cancer. How long can we continue to take the 'shortcuts' with foods that are making us sick?

Nothing is free, especially your health insurance. Catastrophic illness is the number one cause for bankruptcy in our nation. For the 30+ million Americans who don't have health insurance, this is akin to having one foot on the banana peel and one foot in the grave, financial wise.

Like anything in life, it takes work to achieve good health. And there is not shortcut to good health habits. But there sure is for disease.

Ranman breakfast picture of the day: Buckwheat pancakes with blueberries, raspberries, bananas, granola, maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg. All organic.

Taking personal responsibility

My friends know I am very quick to lay some serious blame on corporations like Monsanto, McDonald's, Pepsi, Coke, Frito-Lay and Tyson Chicken. I'm also quick to point fingers at pharmaceutical companies, doctors who do not include nutrition, supermarkets, government officials and agencies who are in bed with the FDA, school cafeterias that knowingly feed children unhealthy foods and our medical system here in the U.S., which almost completely ignores healthy food choices. There's enough blame to go around to last forever.

But there is also our own personal responsibility to own up to, as well. And we just aren't very good at that. Yesterday, I was in the waiting room to see my doctor. I saw a mother and daughter struggle past me to sit down. The could barely fit in the chairs. The mother was using a walker. Both were extremely overweight. The second they sat down, the daughter pulled out a bag of potato chips and started eating. Hmm. Nearby, a father tried to console his antsy little girl by stating 'we will go to McDonald's after this, ok'? Hmm. Next to them, a middle aged couple talked about where the vending machines were (in the hospital!) so they could get a 'snack' or some candy. Hmm. Finally, a gentlemen on a cane told me he had recently had heart surgery, was on a drug thinner medication, had high cholesterol, high blood pressure and had diabetes as well. He smiled when he said 'I can't wait to get home to eat the butterscotch cake I made this morning. I'll take all their pills, but I'll be damned if I will let them tell me how to eat, too'! Hmm.

Making the right health choices is always a choice. So is making the wrong ones.

Ranman homemade breakfast of the day picture: granola, bananas, almonds with cinnamon and nutmeg. All organic.

Pay it now or pay it (10 times more) . . . . later!

The doctor said 'you either pay it now or pay 10 times the money later'. We all remember the saying 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away'. Same rule applies. We can choose to eat junk food and get all those wonderful ailments and diseases until we have to go to the hospital and pay tons of money (like I did) or we can choose to take the preventative route.

It does take work, that's for sure. It's easier to hit the drive through. But if you are willing to
start small, day by day and make improvements to your food habits consistently, amazing things can happen.
There is very much a feeling of well being, an energy level increase and more importantly, a lack of all the medications and astronomical doctor/hospital bills.

The United States spends an estimated $2 trillion annually on health care expenses, more than any other industrialized country. So much of our illness can be prevented and is, in my opinion, a direct result of the food we eat every day. I made the decision to pay for healthy food now so I hopefully, won't have to pay it 10 times more later. In a sense, that is my 'additional' health insurance coverage :)


Ranman homemade lunch of the day picture: shrimp, edamane beans, sliced almonds, corn, celery, red pepper and lettuce. All organic.

Workin' with the taste buds

It took me a few weeks to allow my taste buds to change and get used to (and really like) the organic tastes of fruits and vegetables. Once you are used to sugar, salt, white flour and fat, it's difficult to switch over. To me, those culprits are as powerful as any addictive drug. Fast food restaurants, especially, understand this truth. Being profit driven, their concern is not for the customer, but rather, their dollars. Once I understood this fact, I started my journey into organic foods.

One of the first things I noticed was how good the food actually taste! Then I started to notice I wasn't getting any more stomach aches and headaches (and didn't need to keep taking tums or aspirin anymore). Then I noticed my pants started to fall down without my belt due to losing weight :) Mentally as well, I started to feel more positive and hopeful.

I took complete responsibility for my food choices from that point on. And took it away from McDonalds, my old home :)

Ranman homemade dinner of the day picture: King Salmon with sliced almonds and basil, greek olives, red bell pepper and tomatoes. All organic.

Is organic more expensive? Let's do the math.

My step father says anyone can eat organically on $20 bucks a day. So we put that idea to the test. We went to a local Whole Foods market and bought $550 worth of groceries. That food lasted me almost one and half months! Comes out to about $12 bucks a day.

Now let's take the way I used to eat every day. A typical breakfast usually consisted of three eggs, bacon or sausage, hash browns and bagel, coffee and tip. About $10 bucks. Mid morning snack before lunch of croissant and another coffee-$4 bucks. Lunch, usually a sandwich from a deli, with chips and a soft drink-$12 bucks. Dinner, usually at a restaurant. Always over $15 bucks easy. Total daily cost for junk food? $41 dollars!

So, we've done the math. Whole foods on $20 bucks a day. Junk food/restaurants on $41 bucks a day. Sometimes, the perception of something is more pervasive than the reality.
Hmm. . . . . . . .

Ranman homemade lunch of the day picture: King Alaskan salmon, avocado, red raspberries, kalamata olives, cucumber, radish, brazil nuts, walnuts and lettuce. All organic.

Medications vs. natural foods

One of the statistics that blows me away is that half of all Americans are on 4.5 different medications a day! Arghhh! What's up with that? Why? Were our great grandparents on that many pills a day? Were their parents? Were there even those kinds of medications around 70 years ago? Of course not. And how much do all those pills cost? We all know the answer.

Soon after my blood clots were discovered, my doctor said these wonderful words, 'I think it's time we consider blood pressure and cholesterol lowering medication for life'! After I picked myself up off the floor and caught my breath, I demanded another test, because I had already started eating organic fruits and veggies, nuts, seeds, beans, fish and cut out all junk food. I knew my numbers were lower! My doctor gave me one month until another test. I'll let the numbers speak for themselves. Oh, by the way, I never had to take the medications :)

Blood pressure: 10/4/11-150/92
                              11/11/11 112-61 :)

Cholesterol:  8/11/11 total cholesterol 239/LDL 163
                       11/11/11 total cholesterol 206/LDL 139 :)

Ranman homemade lunch of the day picture: Soy yogurt, brazil nuts, walnuts, almonds, pear, banana, papaya, pineapple, raspberries and blueberries. All organic.

Welcome message/My story

Welcome to my very first entry on my Ranman's from junk food to health food blog!

About six months ago, I was the unlucky recipient of blood clots in both lungs. I remember one of the doctors telling me 'clots in your upper, middle and lower lungs'. This was the second incident of clots in eleven  years. That first time, I recovered and the decision was made to not put me on a lifetime of blood thinner medication. This time, however, I wasn't so fortunate. The doctors said, in no uncertain terms, that I was going on the drug immediately and forever. Sometimes, life has a way of giving us wake up calls, especially if your condition has a 50% immediate fatality rate, which mine does (pulmonary emboli). And this definitely caught my attention!

Lying in that hospital bed, the first thing I decided was that I needed to change my lifestyle in order to have a chance to return to full health. So, a quick review of how I ate, lived and thought were needed. The results of those intimate, honest observations within myself started with what kind of foods I was putting into my body. For I knew I had not been leading a healthy lifestyle food wise for many years. I decided to eventually post a health blog when I got back on my feet. And so, without further ado, I shall start posting dishes I make at home, that are all entirely organic and healthy! Complete with my very opinionated opinions about the road to healthful recovery! From junk food to health food, baby! And no lookin' back :)

Ranman homemade dinner of the day picture: shrimp, asparagus, avocado, cucumber, onions, greek and kalamata olives, brazil nuts, walnuts, tomatoes, blueberries with lettuce. All organic.