Spiral Findings

learn, share, grow

Food Journal

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I started a food journal recently.  I’ve done a few of these over the last couple months.  The first time it was just to see what I was eating so as to understand what types of proteins, carbohydrates, etc. I was ingesting.  It was eye-opening because I had recently learned that carbohydrates generally break down into sugar and I was eating a LOT of sugar.  It’s something really interesting to try if you haven’t already and I recommend the following resources:

  • Watch the movie “Fat Head” and/or check out the blog associated with the movie
  • I used the iPhone app MyFitnessPal to track my food.  It has a good library of foods so you usually don’t have to customize any food entry – something always pops up, and it also synced with the food diary functionality within the Fitbit app.

Just knowing what I was eating was half the battle of making a change in what I consumed.

The new food journal is a bit different.  I record the food I eat, but I focus on what I’m eating and the ingredients that make up that food, not the quantity.  This has been equally eye-opening.  I first got the idea for this when I heard an interview with Andrew Olson, the proponent of the One Ingredient Chef.  He looked into what comprised of the food he was getting at a local sub shop, and noticed that the banana peppers weren’t just banana peppers; they actually included 10 different ingredients.  The whole sub included about 100.

So when I started this journal, I was trying to figure out if there was a food or a preservative that was having a negative impact on my health.  I started to wonder, what is the reason to put thiamine mononitrate, disodium phosphate, and any number of things I can’t pronounce in my food?  I presume there is a reason, and it might have something to do with preserving the food.  I was much happier eating something that said on the package that it was: almonds or butter (contains milk), partially because it required me to write less down when I did my journal, and secondly because I knew what I was eating.  I might have to give some of these one ingredient recipes a go!

It is an interesting experiment to try – what are you eating?

Less

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I don’t need all the stuff I have.  I don’t need that bike in my living room that I rode maybe a handful of times over 5 years ago and moved across the country, to yet again, collect dust and not be ridden anywhere.  In fact, I kind of regret the reasons why I bought it in the first place.  I’ve been reading a lot about minimalism.  Although I’m not sure I can label myself as minimalist, I can definitely see the value of the idea of living more simply.  With less stuff, less processed foods, less distractions and more things I really want to focus on in life.

So, I’m going to do a little experiment.  I’m going to start getting rid of the stuff I don’t need anymore.  I’ve already taken at least 10 boxes of stuff to my local donation center this year, but there is so much more that I don’t need and I can donate.

And just so I have a little accountability, every time I get rid of something, I’m going to post a picture of it on Instagram.

If your curious about what types of things I’ve been reading re:minimalism, here are some links that inspired my transition:

Advertising

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I’m not all about advertising.  I think it makes sense to connect people with things that they need and build a genuine relationship between the provider and the user.  Over the last few months, I’ve been paying extra attention to how many different ways I get bombarded with advertising.  It’s a wonder any of us have any discretionary income because we are told to buy a new car, get that specialty luxurious spa treatment, go to this restaurant tomorrow, and make our teeth whiter with this toothpaste, all before we get out of bed in the morning.  It is really exhausting when you start paying attention to it.  Not to mention the message it sends that we need more stuff or aren’t good enough the way we are.

For your convenience and mine, there are no ads on my page.  I did sign up as an Amazon Affiliate, so if you see a hyperlink for a book I mention, it links right to Amazon where you can purchase the item.  Should your heart desire, feel free to use those links if you are interested in those products.

For those of you who have websites of your own, I recommend looking into Amazon’s program.

Update:

So far I haven’t gotten good traction using the Amazon Affliate program because I don’t have tons of subscribers, which is totally fine with me,  but doesn’t help Amazon so we disabled my account.  The links I provide will no longer be connected with my account – just regular, plain ol’ links.  It’s probably better this way anyway.  🙂

Mirror, Mirror, What’s my Passion?

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Having recently discovered minimalism through The Minimalists, starting with the blog and then following with a number of their books, I started to really internalize the ideas they had about living life intentionally.  Living intentionally meant focusing on 5 core tenets that bring them happiness and fulfillment: health, relationships, growth (which I interpreted as learning), contribution (giving), and passion.

I get the first 4, but passion…well that one threw me for a loop.  What’s my passion?  How do I go about finding it?  Can I ask some proverbial mirror on a wall what my passion is?  Do I have one or many?  Is my passion what I do for work or is it what I do outside of work?

So then, I did what any rational person would do – I researched as much as I could about the concept of passion.  The internet is wonderful for that kind of thing 🙂

I found tons of articles referring to Steve Jobs, information about how to sit and meditate on my passion, to regress to my childhood and see what inspired me most and maybe that was my passion, then I found an article by Cal Newport referring to passion which cited a video by Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs.  This one stopped me in my tracks because it talked about how maybe we don’t have a “pre-existing passion.”

So, maybe we don’t have a pre-existing passion?  For whatever reason, I couldn’t stop with that answer to my questions about passion.  So, I did more research.  I came across this post by Marie Forleo about finding your passion.  Stop searching for how to find your passion, and just try things.  Do you feel inspired, excited, engaged by what you are doing?

I think there is definitely more to learn about the concept of passion.