A New Year, A New Light
A Call for Help
It was a good year, 2011. Before New Years, the beautiful wife and I traveled to San Francisco for the 34th annual holiday dinner sponsored by my fancy sister. She might object to the term "fancy," but I make my case with this picture of her Christmas tree. Do you think 4200 lights a bit much? My sister doesn't.
After 34 dinners, it has become more than a tradition. Though the main topic is resolutions—reporting on last year's resolutions, and sharing next years—it's more a validation of our family. We're far from perfect, but we're immeasureably better for having shared our walk through life with each other. So most years the beautiful wife and I drive 14 hours, round trip, simply to share a family dinner.
When it came time to make new resolutions, my goal to double the Word of Wisdom Living audience in 2012 was challenged. “You should grow ten-fold,” they countered. So that’s our goal. If we make it, we promise to continue for a 3rd year. We need your help—we've invited all our friends, and a few strangers. So we’re asking you to spread the word and expand our audience—in December we averaged about 250 readers daily, so our new goal is 2500 per day.
Please become a partner in the food reformation. Make a difference by commiting to bring 10 friends or associates to Word of Wisdom Living, beginning right now. Each month I'll report on our progress. (One easy way to spread the word is to share our new Facebook page with your friends and family.)
Healthy Changes
The Healthy Changes are like resolutions, but better—they're done continuously, all year long, one each week. I measured our family's performance on the 52 Healthy Changes in 2011. Following the Healthy Changes has made a big difference in our health but we weren’t perfect—I put our compliance at 80%. The hardest part was eating five vegetable servings daily. So we square up our shoulders and resolve to do better in 2012. If we do this for three yars, I think we shall have mastered it.
Over the Holidays we worked on the 52 changes, keeping most, improving others, replacing a few. We didn’t invent these changes—we sorted through the available literature and distilled the recommendations of doctors, scientists, and journalists into 52 topics. It’s a good list, the fruit of 1000s of hours of study, but if you have health issues, follow your doctor’s counsel first. And we're always open to suggestions for Healthy Changes.
We're making some improvements to this site too, watch for them over the coming weeks. (If you view this blog through a reader, you might want to click over to the actual site to see how things are changing.) We've thought a lot about how we can improve things and have come up with an ambitious list that includes small daily tips, web videos that expand on posts, and recipes that can make the Healthy Changes a little easier. We hope you'll stick around to see what we're working on and let us know if you have other ideas that would make this site better.
Measure Your Progress
Through 2012 we’ll collect the Healthy Changes into a list with the idea that you can grade yourself monthly as the list grows. There’s a repeating seasonal pattern—each 13 weeks we cover the key themes of lifestyle and diet reform, each time building upon the prior changes. The themes include eating less sugar, healthier fats, whole grains, more fruits and vegetables, and less meat. Other themes are more exercise, better kitchen organization (menus, shopping lists), cooking, and special topics. Be patient: reforming one’s lifestyle in a year is an audacious project.
Worried that your life is already too complicated without adding 52 things? The big blessing is the 52 Healthy Changes actually simplify your life. Factory drinks like sodas are this week's subject. Drinking water—which is essentially free—is simpler and more natural than constantly buying soda or other drinks. When we get to factory-made convenience foods we'll make the same argument—home cooking done right is simpler and cheaper. There's a deep thought here, one worthy of Thoreau: Living more simply is the first step towards living more deeply.
Please Comment: Share your thoughts on how we can advance the food reformation. Whoever puts their shoulder to this worthy task becomes a light upon a hill.
Monday, January 2, 2012 at 11:00PM | by Skip Hellewell | 29 Comments | Share Article | in healthy change, nutrition, word of wisdom | Email Article
Reader Comments (29)
I'm looking forward to another inspiring year, reading WoWLiving. I have linked your website from my personal blog but will continue to mention by word of mouth, too. You work hard to share this information with us and it is greatly appreciated from this quarter! Thank you.
Happy to help skip since you've helped me out so much this past year! I posted over on one of my favorite forums: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/435214-of-baby-steps-and-motivation
And I'll be sure to post on my food blogs and poke my sister to post links on her sites as well. I'm totally looking forward to what you'll have to share this year. I think slowly but surely I'm getting my family involved. They take notice when I haven't had to visit the doctor for so much as a cold in the past year because of eating and being healthy! And yet I can still enjoy food and not have to count calories.
Thank you for all you do.
I think it is important for people to know that healthy food tastes good. I have added green smoothies to my diet daily, but so many people won't even try it because they THINK it will taste bad. I am not sure how one gets past their fear of this. Many people I know put me down for talking about my food beliefs. I think it is important to spread the word, even when it isn't popular.
You have some great ideas Skip. I look forward to seeing and reading your blog this upcoming year. I know our family has gotten a little lax on our food goals this holiday season, but we are excited to get back on track. I have done my best to refer my family and friends to your blog, I think the discussion is great and the message of food reformation needs to get out. Thanks for all your hard work and effort!
Skip, I can't tell you how thankful I am for all the thoughtful, well-researched information you share. I can tell so much time and energy go into your posts, and I refer back to them often. My friend and I are planning on starting a casual educational group this spring, teaching people about real food and the dangers of the MAD/SAD. Thanks for providing further inspiration! I'm "liking" your FB page and will keep spreading the word!
Soda is not my vice, but forgetting to drink water throughout the day is my problem. I have a friend who doesn't drink water with her meals because she doesn't want to wash away or loose the enzymes from her meal. If I did this I'm afraid I wouldn't drink anything during the day. Any suggestions? Also, is there any truth in this idea that you wash away enzymes if you drink during or immediately before or after a meal?
I've loved reading this blog the past year. I love how you not only say what to improve on but the history and science behind everything. I do not have a family yet but I'm trying to learn and develop those habits now. Sometimes I wonder if it's harder cooking for one than six. There's only so many times you can have the same leftovers. Anytime I shop for bread products I look for the fiber to sugar ratio and tell all my friends about that rule.
Thank you for reading and learning so much about food and sharing. Your efforts are truly appreciated. I will definitely help expand your readership this upcoming year.
This is one of the best blogs out there and I love spreading the word about it. I love that you focus on both simplifying and eating better. A lot of times when I read about diet or whole food cooking (like when I read Nourishing Tradtions) I just feel overwhelmed and like I'm not sure I can complicate my life so much just to eat better.
Also, I'd love to see a post on eating seasonally. In our world of having everything available all the time, I'm not even sure what the season is for certain produce items (bananas, broccoli...). Is there any research out there on the subject? Also, what about the BPA in canned food? I use canned tomatoes all the time, but never really feel good about it.
Can't wait to keep reading!
Jamie, thanks for raising the issue of cooking for just one person. The single people I've spoken to agree with you: Cooking for one is difficult. And you're right about the leftovers—there's no one to help you eat. You're young; many older people, widows and widowers, share your problem. Here are three suggestions:
1. Organize an eating group, even if it's just for a few days of the week. Besides sharing the work, you get the joy of company.
2. If you read, check the book "The Pleasures of Cooking for One." It's written by the food writer Judith Jones, a widow. Her discipline about eating well, even if you're alone, is inspiring.
3. Use this time to polish your cooking skills. Some day there will be two of you, and then more, so this is your chance to acquire the skills needed for the health of your future family.
Happy New Year to you.
though it does simplify life to just have one person to please. In talks before single people
Lindsey, thanks for invoking BPA and seasonal eating in the same paragraph. You're right about food seasons getting longer, thanks to cross-equator shipping and storage technology. Eating local intuitively makes sense to we who are concerned about food, but I've always liked bananas and other tropical fruits. So there's this conflict.
At the end of the day, I think the extended food seasons are a blessing, a tender mercy, to offset deficiencies in our food supply, like pollution. To reduce your BPA exposure, eat fresh foods and try to get your tomatoes in glass bottles. (I promise to do a search for bottled tomato products. I recently searched for tomato ketchup in glass and couldn't find it though spaghetti sauce was available.)
In the new year we're going to provide more information about what's in season. Besides being healthier, seasonal foods are also cheaper. Best to you.
I truly share this blog with everyone I can think of that would enjoy it!! I am excited to go like your FB page. As you cover water, I hope you cover the pros/cons of tap water? I have heard terrible things, and don't understand all the mixed reviews. I really love your blog.
I love your blog! I appreciate the thought and research that goes into your posts. I recently started reading a book called Wheat Belly. I didn't finish it before it was due back at the library. So, I intend to check it out again. While it was out-there as far as conventional thinking, it is thought-provoking--what I read anyway. If you have the time and inclination to read it, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. Some points that I got out of it was that wheat today is nothing like it was a generation ago because of hybridization/genetic modification. We don't really know how it affects our health. Wheat raises blood sugar more than table sugar (GI index). It is a very different train of thought.
Again, I love your blog. Thanks for all you do!
I look forward to your posts this year. I thoroughly enjoy your blog, and appreciate your wonderfully written content. I have liked you on facebook and I will spread the word on my social networking platforms. All the best to you!
I just wanted to thank you for this blog. I started reading at the beginning of last year and have enjoyed the insight and ideas to make life easier and healthier. I so look forward to continued inspiration in this new year!
Skip, thank you so much for all of your research and posts you have shared with us. I have been reading your blog regularly for about six months and have been an avid health researcher for the past two years. When I found your blog, I had already read a lot but your information seemed to sum up everything I had learned and I believe it is one of the best sites out there. Everything you write is what I have come to believe in and I share it with everyone I know. We have a little healthy eating blog of our own where I just posted the link to your new Facebook page as well: www.eatingcleaner.blogspot.com. Also, is there a list of all the healthy changes on your site, or do you just have to scroll back to find them? Again, thank you and happy new year!!
Kristen, thank you for the kind words. We are adding a list of the Healthy Changes for 2012, as they are introduced. The idea is you could go over the list periodically and grade yourself. It's easy for a good habit to get lost—life gets busy—so auditing yourself can catch that. Best.
Hello Skip. I found your blog last year and fell in love with the simplicity, common sense, and great information. I am excited to start on "week 1" this year, and reap the benefits of the entire program.
One tidbit...I have you on my google reader, and when I checked this morning, so do 1488 others. So I think you're closer to your 2500 readers that you think. Bravo!
Keep up the wonderful work, and thank you.
Eileen, thank you for the kind words.
The first Healthy Changes attack the most critical issues in nutrition. This week it's sugary drinks (coming out tomorrow), next week trans fats, and so on. We get to wheat next month and we'll talk about the problems some have with wheat. Basically, grains are the staff of life around the world—rice in Asia, corn in Latin America, and wheat in Europe and North America. Without these grains the world starves.
Scientists don't know why a portion of the people can't tolerate wheat. One theory is that wheat has been hybridized to a less digestible, high-gluten form. Another theory posits that the industrialization of food has not only made us subject to chronic diseases, it has also made us more vulnerable to allergies from foods that include milk, wheat, certain nuts, etc.
The bottom line is if you're chronically ill, it might be due to something you're eating, possibly wheat. This is not easy to diagnose, it takes a wise and skilled doctor. Most people can eat wheat, a few can't. No person should feel guilty about not tolerating wheat. Celiac disease is a serious health issue and must be treated carefully. We'll talk about this more in the future.
I just wanted to say thank you for the valuable information you have provided to me and my family the past year. I am thankful you are going to continue to edify so many of us. I've told lots of friends and family about you and I'm off to pin you on Pinterest to help spread the word.
Skip thanks again for such a great blog with great insight, it has really opened my world! So looking forward to 2012 on this site, and I will continue to share it as I am constantly mentioning it to friends and family.
I would like to make a suggestion close to Lindsy's above. You responded, but thought I would express my interest in this topic as well. As The Word Of Wisdom has asked us to eat what is in season I have felt very conflicted to this council as well. I do love my bananas and pineapple and would agree that having this variety is such a great blessing of our time. As the W.O.W. also says everything in moderation, however I do believe on an environmental level this advice may not be for our personal health alone as it may be for the health or our world. Please do consider this topic, I have given it much consideration, and do not have a conclusion other then to say that through what I have learned our eating habits are not only effecting our waste lines and health, but also our environment. GM foods, the cost of over fishing, meat production and the connection to algae fields in the ocean, etc.
Thank you so much for the time you give to this wonderful cause!