Celebrate Your Fuel

There is no shortage of random holidays. Heck, Chase's is a whole book dedicated to every event, everywhere in the world, for every day of the year. One year my cousin Sarah and I were looking for something to celebrate on a whim and utilized Chase's book to come to the decision to celebrate Jon Stewart's birthday (which just happens to be November 28th).

I recently learned of a couple food related holidays. No, not Halloween or Thanksgiving. I may live under a rock, especially concerning pop culture, but I'm not that sheltered. The holidays that I'm thinking of are less about stuffing your face with food and more about putting some thought into what you are stuffing your face with. These days are Food Day, on October 24th, and National Eating Healthy Day, on November 7th.

Food Day dubs itself as "a national celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food." The idea to know where your food comes from is not a new concept nor is it exclusive to the yoga mat toting, patchouli wearing, bike riding/ hybrid driving population. Although your odds of seeing/ smelling at least one of those defining characteristics exponentially rises in a Whole Foods parking lot. Since authors such as Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser brought the idea of knowing where your food comes from, the "eat real food" concept has gained momentum. (Shocking this isn't common sense.)

More and more stores are offering natural, organic, and locally grown foods. Farmers markets have been popping up in city centers and people across the spectrum are drawn to them. Do you wonder how your diet stacks up to these ideas about healthy, sustainable food? Go ahead and take the Eat Real Quiz and see how your fare fares on it.

National Eating Healthy Day is brought to us by the American Heart Association. In 2010 the AHA launched a goal to get the nation on the road to better heart health. Their aim is to get more employers to initiate wellness programs. There's no reason though that we can't recognize this day as individuals.

The ideas that the AHA promotes are being aware of the difference between healthy fats and not-so-healthy fats and watching sodium in your diet as part of its eating healthy campaign. Healthy fats, for instance, are mono- and polyunsaturated fats that are found in plant products. These types of fats are found in olive oil, avocados, salmon, and nuts for example. As for sodium, many canned products contain large amounts of sodium. Try to look for "low sodium" on product labels or reach for fresh or frozen veggies rather than canned.

I would like to take the AHA's "eating healthy" concept a step further. A lot of chronic diseases, not just those that affect the heart like high blood pressure or high cholesterol, can be prevented with a healthy diet. Fruits and vegetables not only contain vitamins and minerals, but also phytochemicals which may reduce your risk for certain cancers. Check Eat to Defeat Cancer for a list of their suggested foods. Whole grains contain fiber which can help fill you up and has been linked to reducing cholesterol as well. To round out these additional eating healthy concepts, fat free and low fat dairy products contain bone building calcium.

But why limit yourself to celebrating these ideas once a year? Go ahead, you party animal you, and celebrate these days as often as you like. Your body, and the planet, will appreciate you for it.

Notice: Wearing one of these on your head while celebrating either holiday will hamper your ability to appropriately execute your celebration.