7/24 Wellness Wednesday

Kris gets ready to pull some big weight from the floor. 

Be a Locavore and Eat Your Greens! 

In 2007 my life changed when I read Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma. I realized, after reading the book, that most of our environmental issues were caused by our huge, bloated and totally inefficient industrial food system. Did you know it takes an average of 10 fossil-fuel calories to produce one calorie of food energy on an industrial farm? About a quarter of America's greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to how we grow, process and transport food. On average, our food travels 1,500 miles before it reaches our plate. 
After learning these things, and realizing I could have an immediate and direct impact on my personal health and the health of the planet, I made a personal commitment to eat locally. At the time I was living in Reno, Nevada, elevation 4500 ft, where we get an average of 8 inches of rain a year. No easy task.
Not long after I made this decision one of my favorite American Public Media radio programs, The Splendid Table, put out a call for volunteers for their Locavore Nation program. They wanted to follow people from all over the US as they tried to eat 80% of their food from within 500 miles of their home city. I applied.
The Splendid Table received 15,000 applications! They were totally overwhelmed. From those 15,000 they invited 150 people to write an essay as to why they should be selected for the Locavore Nation challenge. From those 150 applicants, 15 were selected and I was among them.
The Locavore Nation start January 1! Seriously, in the middle of winter, we started a local eating challenge. The best I could do was to make my own bread (ironically using Wheat Montana flour), yogurt from a friend who had a 4H dairy cow, goat cheese from the same friend with 4H goats, beer that James brewed and pickles I have made the previous summer. It was a pretty dismal start.
By the time the challenge ended, 365 days later, I was sourcing about 80% of my food from with 100 miles of Reno, much of it homegrown. My passion for growing my own and buying from local producers has not diminished. I am super excited to finally have a venue where I can, once again, encourage and support people who want to make growing, cooking, and eating a deliberate act of independence and self-sufficiency. 
The past two years I have offered a Locavore challenge in August. I encouraged everyone to eat food (at least the main ingredients, not necessarily oils, spices, etc) that was grown/raised from within 100 miles of home. While the Locavore challenge was fun, it didn't encourage everyone to eat more locally grown fruits, vegetables and meat and that was my goal. Instead, everyone drank lots of local beer and coffee, which is fabulous, but my original intention for the challenge was to get people to eat more fruits and vegetables. 
That's why this August we are doing the 800g Challenge. This challenge is all about eating more fruits and vegetables. However, I have also added a Locavore element to it. Much like challenges in the past, you will enter your score daily online and earn points. Here's the point breakdown:

• Eat 800g of fruits and vegetables - 4 Points
• Exercise - 1 Point

ONLY if you eat 800g are you eligible to earn the following extra points:

• Were your 800g from 6 or more different types of fruits and vegetables? 2 Points
• Did your 800g include the weekly bonus challenge? 1 Point
• Did any of your 800g come from within 100 miles of your home? 2 Points 

Our 800g Challenge starts Aug 5 and next Wednesday, July 31, I am hosting an info session at the gym at 6:30pm. I will also broadcast the session on Facebook Live if you can't make it to the gym. If you're ready to take the 800g Challenge, just email or direct message me, Coach Leslie, and I'll get you all set up. 

Click Here for The WOD

#800gChallenge Starts Aug 5 - Click Here to Sign Up