Snacky Crazy!

Overdue, overdue!

This is my long-delayed Operation Consumption Liberation (OCL) update about how my month without sugar (January) went and what February's OCL challenge is all about. But it is February 16th.  I can hardly remember January, I think it might have snowed a bunch.   But the rest of it...big fat blur.

Snowy in Seattle: Ravenna Park

But I did survive No Added Sugar January redux.  Like before, it was challenging at times.  Let's reflect on what I wrote at the end of No Added Sugar January last year:

Confronting My Inner Ageist: OFL Week 4

Here's my Operation Fear Liberation (OFL) snapshot for the fourth week of January. Once again, I've forced myself to do something new. 

Week 4: Visit a life-care retirement community to attend a talk/conversation on ageism.

Why it’s on my list: My 70-year-old friend CD, who I met through a friendship-match program for isolated elders and people with disabilities called Elder Friends, asked me if I would like to go with her to this conversation café. Led by author Wendy Lustbader, the planned conversation topic for the evening was "Changing the Culture of Aging in the 21st Century."  C was clearly eager to attend this event, and since C has had several TBIs and is unable to drive, I knew she wouldn’t be able to do so without my help. Friends help each other out.

Since I’m in my mid-30s, I haven’t had many invites or reasons to attend a talk directed at a senior community. However, both of my parents qualified for full Social Security benefits last year and are by America’s standards officially senior citizens. When I consider of how very capable, active, and healthy my parents still are (in my view, anyway), this topic holds more intrigue for me than before. 

And I also have witnessed ageism in action on several occasions when I've been out on the town with C, or my 94-year-old grandmother, or my 80-something landlady, GK.  All three ladies are still more than sharp in the brains department, yet the moment salespeople see C's cane, Grandma's walker, or GK's white hair, there is a notable shift in their demeanor; they assume an ignorance on the part of my elder companion, a comprehension level on par with a kindergartener.  Often, while their speech becomes louder and slower (which, honestly, is helpful for both Grandma and GK), the salespeople's faces and gestures subtly convey increasing impatience and irritation.  C has made no secret of how much this condescension bothers her, and I can tell it frustrates my grandmother and GK too.  I don't like seeing any of my friends or family members have their feelings hurt, so I totally support changing the way this culture perceives our elders.

Plus, I am sure that I have unwittingly committed acts of ageism many, many times.  I don't want to be an ageist, so I thought this talk might enlighten me as to ways that I can avoid such ageist behavior in the future.

"Pop! Pop!" - OFL Week 3

Here's my Operation Fear Liberation (OFL) snapshot for the third week of January. Once again, I've forced myself to do something new.  This one was edible.

Week 3: DIY microwave popcorn in a brown paper bag

Why it’s on my list: I love freshly popped popcorn with tons of sea salt and butter.  I often pop it in a pot on the stove top, but I worry that I’m damaging the bottom of my pot when I jostle it on my stovetop’s coil burner. True, I could pick up the pot to shake it, but that takes so much effort.  Plus, I still have to clean the pot afterwards. 

 

And I’m not really that mad about packaged microwave popcorn.  It just doesn’t taste as good.  This may be related to the fact that I burn packaged microwave popcorn 70% of the time, but I still find something lacking in the flavor department during the 30% of the time when my packaged microwave popcorn emerges without char. Plus, there’s the whole safety thing: a FDA report suggested that the chemical coating in the bags breaks down when heated into perfluorooctanoic (PFOA)—a likely carcinogen, according to the EPA.  And then there’s the debate about diacetyl, an FDA-approved chemical often used in microwave popcorn’s artificial butter flavoring. The extended inhalation of fumes from this chemical cause the debilitating respiratory disease commonly known as “popcorn workers lung” due to the number of microwave popcorn factory workers afflicted. 

Considering all of that, I’ve seen this simple recipe for DIY microwave popcorn in a brown paper lunch bag at least a dozen times over the years in cooking and DIY magazines and online.  No chemical coating, no artificial butter fumes, no processed flavor, no pot to clean, no strenuous jostling.  Plus, it’s loads cheaper than buying boxes of Orville Redenbacher Microwave Popcorn. 

Let's Get Physical - OFL Week 2

Here's my Operation Fear Liberation (OFL) snapshot for the second week of January. Once again, I've forced myself to do something new (and let me tell you, this one took a whole lot of forcing). 

Week 2: Go to the gym before 8 AM. 

Why it’s on my list: I suspect that checking my workout off my daily to-do list before John in the Morning signs off would help me start my workday earlier and allow me to settle into freelance projects uninterrupted for longer stretches of time.  Plus, it might help wake me up. 

Hang Ups: motivation, requires advance planning (laying out exercise clothes and enough time to ingest and partially digest water, coffee, and a light breakfast), physical discomfort (prefer afternoon workouts), mental grogginess (and grumpiness). 

New Year! Challenges and Changes Galore!

Hello, 2012!  I am so pleased to meet you.  Don't get me wrong, 2011 was amicable enough, but man, that year could be a real pain in the neck - literally and figuratively.  It was definitely time to move on, to reset, to start anew. 

Before I jump into what we've got going on here in 2012, I suppose a brief Operation Consumption Liberation wrap-up would be good.  First, my gifts wrapped in old calendar pages were a huge success with my family, which is good because I have more where those came from.  And my darling mother jumped on board and wrapped all of my gifts in old newspaper.  The paper and packaging challenge is definitely one that I intend to keep practicing every single day, though I might cut myself a tiny bit more slack in the toilet paper department!

I've been reflecting on the twelve monthly challenges I took on last year.  Which one wins the titles of easiest and hardest challenges, which one had the most and least lasting impact, et cetera. Here are the results: