Posterous theme by Cory Watilo
Katie

All Things Me

no real theme or direction...just a place to get out my thoughts, rant and share the occasional recipe!

Therapist, fighter of the system, hater of mean people, lover of all things good and kind, health-nut, cook, football fan, dog lover, news junkie...

Follow Me on Pinterest

internet rumors never die...

So a few months ago I heard about this email circulating on the internet about how a marine wrote to Starbucks asking if they would send coffee to the troops.  The marine stated that Starbucks refused saying they don't support the war.  I knew this was crap as I was in Starbucks almost daily and always smiled at the big bin of coffee that was set aside for the troops and the big sign urging customers to write notes for the troops to be sent with the coffee.  I did my best to denounce this rumor then but this morning I received a text version of the email from one of my oldest and dearest friends.  She is ex-military herself and a current military wife whose husband has done several tours in the middle east.  She is a fierce advocate for the troops and thus wanted to spread the word to boycott Starbucks.  I had to correct her and then went searching for some 'PROOF' online that Starbucks doesn't hate the military.  Interestingly there are several articles online dedicated to clearing this rumor up.  Here are 2 that explain it well...and one is the response on Starbucks' website:

http://www.boycottwatch.org/misc/starbucks2.htm

http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/pressdesc.asP?id=684

Apparently due to the way the corporation is set up...IRS and tax codes and stuff I don't understand...Starbucks is only allowed to donate AS A CORPORATION to Non-Profit organizations.  Individual military members and the US Military itself don't qualify as a non-profit obviously so to get around this Starbucks began encouraging its individual employees to donate the free pound of coffee they receive a week and began encouraging customers to donate as well.  They started a program called "Coffee for the Troops" and asked people to write notes to be sent with the coffee as I described above.  Starbucks then gathers all the donated coffee from employees and customers and ships it.  And just to be clear, this started BEFORE the stupid email rumor started circulating. 

I was sorta "in the family" with starbucks for a while and all I ever experienced was a company that provided amazing benefits (even to part time employees) and really good pay.  I also know they are involved in a great deal of charitable work as well. 

This all makes me think about the stupid "obama hates america and white people and he's a terrorist" crap that was going around on the internet.  And countless other emails encouraging people to boycott one brand/organization or another.  The internet is great but it is also a tool for propaganda and not everything you read is true.  Do your own research!

I'm going VEGAN! Here's why...

So as most of you know I made some dramatic changes to my diet back in July.  I have always been a healthy eater (or so I thought).  I never ate fried food or fast food, I ate tons of veggies, I avoided anything that wasn't whole grain, and I tried to eat low cal and low fat.  Then after an eye opening revelation about my health I had to make some changes which included cutting out all dairy, gluten and sugar...even fruit and sugar substitutes were off limits too.  I loved fat free ice cream more than anyone in the world.  I loved yogurt and cheese...I LOVED apples.  I remember that I sat and cried...literally...because of how hard this was going to be and how much I was going to miss those things in my life.  The day I cleaned out the kitchen of all the off-limit foods there was practically nothing left but produce.  I sat and read labels for hours and discovered EVERYTHING I was consuming was packed with sugar...especially the low fat/fat free stuff.  It was all processed and packed with chemicals too.  I couldn't believe it.  Even stuff that I thought was healthy (like veggie burgers or fat free yogurt) was loaded with bad stuff. 
 
So the journey began.  For all of my adult life I have been so obsessed with the calorie and fat content of food (mostly because I used to be so overweight)...but I had to throw that whole logic out the window.  By cutting out sugar, gluten and most carbs, I had to fill my diet with more nutritious, filling foods like avocados, nuts, and oils. I started eating only WHOLE foods:  fresh produce, meats, and nuts.  At first I was paranoid because of how many calories I was consuming...but I began to lose weight.  I feel amazing now.  Everything has changed...at first my body went through a detox type reaction but that has leveled off.  Now I feel great, I sleep better and have tons of energy.  I have more endurance and strength and I've lost 20 pounds.
 
I have now decided to take it one step further...I have decided to go Vegan...at least for a few weeks and see how it goes.  I have read ALOT about the effects of animal protein on the human body AND the effects of all of the hormones, antibiotics and chemicals that are pumped into the meat that we eat.  I try to buy only organic/free range/grass fed meat but it's not always possible nor economical.  I love vegetables and eat mostly vegetarian as it is, so why not give this a shot.  And just think of all the brussel sprouts, eggplant, broccoli and rutabagas I can buy for the price of one pack of chicken!!!  I have heard that vegan eating makes your body feel wonderful.  I am not doing it because I feel bad for the animals...I just know how good I feel after cutting out the other stuff and want to see if I can feel even better!  The hardest part is going to be EGGS!  I love omelets and I use eggs in alot of the gluten free baking that I do...so that's gonna be kinda hard.  But we'll see.  Wish me luck!