Before You Do Anything.....
The first step in being healthy is to think about the reasons why you want to be healthy. If you don't know, think about what your body wants and needs. Think about how your body houses your soul and if your soul wants to do a lot, then the body has to keep up. Once you feel the changes, especially from long-term habits, you'll understand that it isn't a bunch of crap. It's seriously a HUGE difference. These are the reasons everyone should be healthy......
- When you look better, you feel better.
- When you feel better, you have more energy.
- When you have more energy, you accomplish more.
- When you accomplish more, you have a better life in general.
When I was about 23 or 24 years old, I went to a Bible study every Tuesday morning. There was one session on what the Bible says about food. It was the best thing I ever did for myself, and it was a blessing to be present for that. Basically what the guy was teaching everyone is what I am about to tell you, and it's how I have eaten for a long time. The ideas are so simple, and yet, people don't know or understand because our country is so unhealthy, and if they do know, they assume they can't afford to eat well or it's easier to eat something processed. The ideas in this Bible class were basically what Michael Pollan says in Food, Inc. and they're also present in his books, like "Food Rules", and anyone who has read my blog for a long time knows how much I love Pollan. What I am writing about today, it is not a diet, it's just how you should eat. If I want a cookie, I eat a cookie, but I eat well and it's a way of life. That's the difference.
Where I have changed......
I have never been a huge food person; food just isn't something I have ever gotten excited about; I have been like this my entire life. Sure I have some favorite foods and restaurants, but I could take it or leave it, which is what I used to do. I used to eat cereal and Nutri-Grain bars, yogurt, and crackers when I was starving because I pretty much never ate because I would either forget or I just didn't feel like eating. My last semester in college ended that. I was taking 16 credit hours, 6 of which were English classes which required me to read 18 novels....on top of the rest of my classes and my lab. I scheduled all of my classes in TWO DAYS, and I literally didn't even have time to go to a vending machine......and I functioned! I would get grouchy and sick by the end of the day, except I was so used to my blood sugar being low and out of whack, I had no idea. I genetically have low blood pressure, so basically, picture a little waif walking around, feeling lightheaded and not even knowing she was close to passing out. That was me. By the end of the semester, I was white as a ghost, about 105 pounds, and really unhealthy. I still didn't realize it. I got pregnant that summer and ate like a pig, or at least like a normal person, and that was the end of the waif diet. After I had the boys, I decided to really learn about food, and food is fuel...that's all it is. I stopped skipping meals, I ate the right food, and I realized I had been running around my whole life basically accidentally anorexic. Also, instead of being skinny, I started working out and getting a lot of muscle tone. I now weigh my healthy and natural weight of 120, give or take a couple pounds, depending on how much muscle I lose and gain. Like if I get a cold, I tend to weigh less and I can tell by my clothes that I am losing weight. If I go hard core, I may weigh a little more because my clothes fit right. It's just a number and it doesn't matter though, so I never weigh myself. I know my body.
It's simple, I swear.
These are the easiest things to remember and will absolutely change the way you eat.
- Food is supposed to rot. This is THE SIMPLEST way to explain what you should be eating. If you ask yourself "will this rot" all day long, you are going to make wiser decisions. The fact that a French fry from McDonald's can look the same after a year under your car seat is extremely disturbing. Food is part of God's plan, and everything we need is in the things he originally created....not Little Debbie.
- Don't eat it if it's in a wrapper. I don't even really eat nutrition bars or granola bars or crap like that unless I really am in a jam, and at that point it's better than nothing, but I choose those wisely. The only thing I really eat in a wrapper are mixed nuts.
- The more ingredients, the worse for you. Cooking isn't difficult when you eat clean. My dinners are really easy because they are a piece of meat or fish with seasoning, and two veggies. My breakfast is eggs, maybe a vegetable, or fruit. Preparing food is super easy when you eat clean.
- If you don't know how to pronounce the ingredients, put it back.
- When grocery shopping, stay away from the inside aisles. The middle aisles are where people get into trouble. If you stick to the outer aisles, you'll get what you need.
- Don't fear fat if it's a NATURAL fat. I think the 90's really screwed people up. Fat is not bad, but there are different types of fat. Peanut butter, avocadoes, cheese....I eat all of that. Your body knows how to process natural fats rather than say, a bag of chips. I can't tell you the last time I looked at a label to see how much fat is in it, but then again, I don't eat foods that come with labels. Your body doesn't know what to do with all of those engineered ingredients, because God didn't design our bodies to process it. If you think about it that way, shopping is much easier.
- Choose the real thing over the fake. I cook with olive oil, but let's say that I am in front of the butter and margarine. I am choosing butter. If I am standing in front of the cheese, I choose the real stuff. Your body is better off eating something real than some engineered crap that some dude in Cleveland manufactured.
- Eat like a King in the morning, a Prince in the afternoon, and a Pauper at night. Your body is actually made to eat more in the morning and less at night. I have been doing this so long, honestly, I really struggle at dinner time. And I certainly don't need any kind of snack after dinner.
Why your diet is also political......
With every bite you take, you are voting.
You have to think about the economy and the government....what would happen if people demanded their food to be real food? Think about all of the companies that would go out of business and how many jobs would be lost. I realize that this is scary, but isn't it scarier knowing that the government thinks about this when making decisions about YOUR quality of life and YOUR lifespan? Think about it this way....when you eat junk food, you are just supporting some rich guy who eats organically on his private jet. No one wants to be farmers anymore, but if we demanded real food, maybe being a farmer would be like it used to be and farmers would get a better deal. They have no pull right now, so of course, people don't want to be farmers. The food system is SO political and people are sheep; they are part of a system and they don't even know it. If you don't want to change for yourself, at least do it to revolt against the bastards who are basically controlling you by what you eat. To go even further, we talk about looking good in a bathing suit, but we ignore the fact that if we were healthy, we wouldn't need insurance the same way that we do. Insurance has been a HUGE issue this year, and honestly, the way insurance companies operate DOES need to change. If we stop getting sick from things we can control, we have more power. We need to talk about preventative healthcare rather than what happens when we need the drugs. And don't even get me started on the drug companies. The whole thing is SOOOOOO messed up and I just wish that every single person would do something about it.
Follow the money.....the answer is always there. What you are putting in your mouth is more than likely making someone else rich....at your expense.
Tomorrow: The Domino Effect-Move the Way You Love
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