Labels

Being a dieter and a vegan have made me realize the importance of label checking. Who knew that nearly every 'vegetarian' product is nowhere near vegan. Well, regardless... ill tell you who knows now.

OOOOOOO! Before i get to deep into the black hole of my mind allow me to let the flight attendant direct you to the link to the right ---->. Yes, yours truly is going to put the 'NO' in November when he takes down the Terminator... once and for all. Be prepared for a video that will make you laugh, cry, hurl, pass out, laugh again and leave you wanting peanuts for some reason.

Okay... back to labels. The are nowhere near as helpful as people wish they were, in my opinion. Yes, they are great in respect of telling what the ingredients are in foods. Heaven knows that there are enough allergies and intolerances in the world today without people needing to constantly worry about weather or not their bread contains something that will make them sick.

On the other hand.... there is an aspect of obsession. Horrible, nagging, thought-clouding and mind numbing obsession. I remember spending 2 hours in the grocery aisles looking at the differences between THIS bread and THAT bread. "Which has more protein. Whats the serving size? Is there enough fiber in this one?" Yeah... im a freak, or at least was. The only thing is you fail to see yourself in that way since the realm of thinking is: "They put the labels there, i HAVE to check them." This way of 'healthful thinking' would result in me spending 5-10 minutes looking at a label having an inner debate about whether or not i should eat something... later on, it evolved into weighing out apples and oranges and making sure the lighter ones were what i went with. And, sad but true, there was even a period where the food scale would come out and weight/measure bagged salad. Friggin iceberg lettuce down to the exact ounce. Good Lord, just saying it makes me wonder how something like that can be thought of as 'healthy'.

If your still hanging around, then mad props to you. Like i said here i feel the need to be more personal throughout the Panclayke-sphere... maybe to my detriment, but only time will tell. That being said, i dont think there is anything more personal than the contents of ones fridge/pantry.

Yeah... remember how i mentioned how labels suck? The tupperware is definitely insane, mostly homemade hummus but still. This leads me to my next challenge.... THE PANTRY CHALLENGE! Cleaning out the pantry the only way I know how... by eating it! (There is gonna be a LOT of hummus sandwiches) Now, there is still going to be trips to publix/whole foods for fresh things (fruit, bread, veggies, etc), but no other food will be coming in the house until the tomb is empty. Why do it... that brings me to my next point...

Okay, so ive been eating vegan for a while now. This, i find, works well since apples and sweet potatoes dont come with a nutrition label. I've learned to appreciate fresh food and respect it at the same time. Even though the tomatos on the vine didnt have a 'personality', there is still the inkling that it is helping me be better by nourishing me. Ergo... when said tomato goes bad i always feel guilty... almost ungrateful and disrepectful (i am SUPER-sensitive... hey, i have a super power!). There is also a more real guilt to be had... in the sense that many are going hungry in the world today. Now, THAT makes me sad... so, again, allow me to direct you to the donation icon at the top of the page. Feel free to visit the site or Email me to learn more but the readers digest version is that im going to take down the eating challenges of S. Florida as somewhat of a stunt to get donations for the 'Daily Bread Food Bank'. I encourage you all to help me kick hunger (mine and others) in the FACE!

Last, but not least, something uh-maize-ing happened today. I mentioned to my mum-zies that i was thinking about pulling my savings moula and buying a refurbished video camera so i could start some video postage (WHOOPS, Gave away the surprise) but, then she told me to wait before i went to Best Buy... left the room for ten minutes and came back with a SONY HANDY-FRIGGIN-CAM! This thing is like brand spanking new and is going to fuel some new realm of postage... and WAY better documentation of the 'challenges. Which, as of now, contain

• Terminator (pancake)
• 5 lb burrito
• the kitchen sink (ice cream)
• the Vermonster (<-- google it!)
• 5 lb burger.

Well my loves... thats all for this tired blogger. I am not off to enjoy some Neil Patrick Harris and a quilt with my name on it. Until next time, this is PanClayke reminding you that that people are like food and should not be determined as a 'label'.