Jerry the Blogger

My family and I recently moved locally to a new (to us) house. The undertaking required so much more effort than I had ever imagined (hence, the long pause since my last post here on Mission: Nutrition). We learned a lot about ourselves and our stuff during the process.

One unexpected lesson was discovering how much food "clutter" we had in our refrigerator and pantry. How long ago had our spices expired? Why did we have so many boxes of food we didn't even like? How had so much frozen meat remained in our freezer -- as if anyone would want to eat it with all that freezer burn?!

Even though we weren't moving a long distance, we certainly didn't want to go to the trouble or expense of hauling a bunch of expired, unwanted, half-eaten food packages to our shiny new home. We pulled a lot of non-perishable, still-good items out of the pantry and donated them to a local food bank for the needy. Then, we filled several garbage bags and recycling bins with the remaining food clutter.

While we hated having wasted so much, I have to admit it felt good to be starting fresh in our new kitchen. We had a clean, empty refrigerator and cabinets to fill with new, fresh, nutritious options. Grocery shopping was actually kind of fun!

Now when I open the fridge or a food cabinet, I like what I see. I'm excited about the healthy meals I can choose from. There's no "junk" standing in the way -- just lots of delicious choices. It makes it a lot easier to live nutritiously.

Have you seen the new TV series Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, featuring celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and his quest to change the way America eats?

This impassioned chef is taking on obesity, heart disease and diabetes in America, where our children are the first generation not expected to live as long as their parents. It's pretty compelling stuff.

Oliver decided to start his revolution in Huntington, West Virginia, which has the dubious distinction of "unhealthiest city in America." You can watch him on the show as he takes on the community's nutritional ignorance and bad habits. He tries his hardest to replace the old ways of eating with a fresh, whole foods approach and healthier food preparation.

Some people welcome his brand of change. Others -- well, not so much. I must admit I felt sorry for some of the folks on the show as they defended their way of life to this British upstart who's telling them they've been feeding their kids all wrong. But I was also shocked at what I saw, such as a classroom of 6-year-olds who couldn't identify common fruits or vegetables and a family whose fryer was the main cooking tool in the kitchen.

Jamie Oliver definitely has his work cut out for him in his food revolution. But I applaud his efforts to improve the nutrition of our country's families--and so far, his show has gone a long way toward raising our national consciousness of food-related problems.

If you missed the first three episodes, you can watch them for free on the ABC website. And don't miss the remaining episodes on live TV, Fridays at 9/8c on ABC. You can also try out some of his fresh, flavorful recipes here.

You're probably being inundated right now with all kinds of books, videos, magazines and programs proclaiming the "ultimate solution" for weight loss. There are lots of possible ways to go about eating healthier and managing your weight -- and many of them don't cost a penny. Studies have shown that the specific diet or method you choose doesn't matter all that much. What matters is that you follow general nutrition guidelines and stick with a healthy lifestyle.

Soooo ... have you explored the Start Making Choices program lately? It really offers some incredible (free!) tools to help anyone who wants to manage their weight or just re-balance their mind, body and spirit. How can you turn down expert advice, easy-to-use tools, calculators, podcasts, recipes, articles and more?

Once you register, you can see where you measure up on the Balanced Life Index. It's a combination score based on your nutrition, activity and well-being habits, with recommendations on how you can improve. You can even share your BLI score on Facebook -- a good way to nudge your friends to join you in your healthy lifestyle.

As a Start Making Choices member, you'll also be able to access your daily and weekly planners. These are customizable for your goals and needs, and suggest meal ideas, exercise options and even ways to nurture your well-being. You can track what you do throughout the day and tweak it as you go along.

So if you want some help with your new goals or recommitment to old ones, register with Start Making Choices and see what it can do for you!