Earth Day 5k: You Are What You Eat

A few years ago I heard about an archaeological dig in China that unearthed a Chinese woman in her fifties who was so well preserved by her cypress wood tomb layered with clay and charcoal that she was perfectly intact, including her last meal of honeydew melon, the seeds of which were still in her stomach.

As I’ve been exploring my health these last few months with my Earth Day 5k training, of course, my diet has come under some scrutiny. Sometimes I shudder to think of what future archaeologists would find in my stomach if I were to die suddenly: tortilla chips; a leftover Cadbury mini-egg from Easter; a sandwich from Jimmy John’s? On a good night grilled salmon, black beans, rice and kale from our garden and on a bad night, Thai takeout. Or perhaps they’ll find it empty and surmise based on a mineral analysis of my hair that this middle-aged American female circa 2013 survived on double tall lattes in the morning and a glass or two of red wine at night.

While I insist that my children eat apples as snacks and stay seated at the table until they’ve managed to gag down three mini-carrots or a spear of cucumber, my personal intake of fruits and vegetables has been lamentably low. Until now.

I’m really trying to turn it all around! We bought a juicer and I’m into it! It’s much easier to juice those green veggies than it is to eat them (did you know that flowering kale is actually sweet?) and all those apple cores from the kids’ apples end up in my glass rather than the compost.

I’ve stopped eating red meat, added grains and focused on drinking more water. Today my husband got up and made me the brightest green drink I’ve ever seen and you know what, it’s going to be a good day.

My peeps, if you’re with me on this journey to health, there is still time to sign up for the Earth Day 5k on April 20. It’s going to be awesome, I promise, with a flat course, free grilled flat bread courtesy of Whole Foods and Albert Lee, prizes, activities, a beer garden, King5’s Jesse Jones as MC and the satisfaction of knowing you got out there and did something really, really good for yourself.