I can’t argue that a vegetarian/vegan diet has the best impact on the environment. But it may not be the best diet for every person. One thing all these eating plans have in common is they can be made exponentially better by eating local.
Locavore diet is the only eating plan which is not a diet. There are no restrictions as far as WHAT you can eat. It only stresses the importance of WHERE you get your food.
My hope for the Conservation Fitness Head Start/Jump Start is not to tell you what to eat, or how to eat. I want to empower you with the information and let you decide what is the best lifestyle to follow. Whether you decide to follow Paleo, Vegan, or Whole30, I want to encourage you to eat as local as possible whenever possible.
The best way to make our diets environmental is to get our food locally. Cut down on the transportation. Reduce our carbon footprint. Support local farmers.
It can be tricky navigating a new eating lifestyle. This is why I created the Conservation Fitness Head Start/Jump Start. It’s why I included three (soon to be four) meal plans. To give you a taste for each diet and see how you fare through each of them. This week is meant to showcase how you can make your diet as environmental as possible. Go local.
I don’t eat 100% local every day, but honestly, I come pretty close. It helps that I have a garden and grow a lot of my own food. I also am very fortunate to live in a community which so strongly supports local producers. Not just food, but art, craftsmen, authors, music, wine, any business which has roots in the community.
Throughout this week, I’ll share more tips on how to stay local with your diet, whether you eat at home or out on the town. It’s not as hard as you think, but it does take a lot more effort than just grabbing the most convenient or cheapest product on the shelf.
All week, I am going back through the previous plans and showing how you can make each diet a locavore meal. Yesterday was vegan day, which was a great excuse to eat salad and my favorite winter time dinner, potato leek soup. Today was Paleo day, with no grains, legumes (still think they are okay to eat, but I practice mostly without), or dairy.
I also want to remind those who struggle with a new program, that many of these habits take time to establish. I don’t expect people who have never meal prepped, never read labels, and never really cooked a lot to be able to suddenly start doing everything after only a month. That would be insane.
But if you choose one habit to work on, say meal prepping, and practice it for over a month, you will get better at it. Once it’s established, and it becomes second nature, work on the next habit. And so on.
I think becoming a locavore is a lot like that. I didn’t become a locavore overnight. It took several YEARS of trying new things each year, becoming more and more reliant on local flavors. Try your favorite meal plans for a month to see if they are right for you. Then slowly begin to transition to a more locavore style of eating you preferred foods.
Everything in moderation. And small progressive steps. These habits will be building blocks for your health and well-being, and that of the planet.
Today:
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and bacon
Lunch: Turkey Meatballs- these turned out so good. It’s because I used local, seasonal flavors of kale, squash, green peppers, and onion. All of the veggies came from our farm share. And I love this dish because it’s a meat and veggies combined into one tasty package. A complete meal.
Turkey Meatballs Serving size~ 3 meatballs- 200 calories, Carbs: 12g, Fat: 8g, Protein: 25g
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 2 medium carrots
- ½ green pepper
- ½ yellow onion
- 1 small seasonal squash (such as zucchini in summer, or acorn squash in the winter)
- 2 tsp garlic salt
- 2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp parsley
- ½ tsp black pepper
Directions
- Combine all ingredients except turkey, in a food processor and blend until well chopped
- Transfer contents to a large bowl and add ground turkey. Mix together completely.
- Form meatballs and place on a large baking sheet. Set temperature to 350 F. Bake for 40 minutes or until completely cooked.
Dinner: Fruit-Spiced Pork Chops with Roasted Squash
Workouts:
Pilates in the morning
ZooFit Conservation Hero WOD in the afternoon- Lawrence Anthony Partner Pyramid
Mood- okay, I’m giddy with excitement. Not just because I’m down 4 pounds, but because of THIS! No, I didn’t write the story (I wouldn’t have misspelled “flamingo”), but it’s almost better! South Whidbey Record was interested in Sloth Army, so a reporter came out and interviewed me and some of my participants. It was so awesome! And the story! I’m so excited to see this story make local news. It does motivate me to do more stuff like this, and this program I’m working so diligently on is one of those things which can make a difference.
Challenges: Today was actually a decent day. I got a lot of stuff done, and even a couple extra chores. I mean, in regards to the program, not a very challenging day. The toughest part of my day today was having to walk a quarter mile to my car and back because they are working on the driveway. I know, cry me a river.