Diet vs. Lifestyle #annrambles
What I have learned about food in the past 40 years…
We love what we grew up with. If your household had fruits and vegetables plus meat and fish- even if it was frozen fish sticks and home-baked goods- you will most likely still be enjoying these foods today. If, for various reasons, you did not grow up eating this way you may find it difficult to understand which foods are in season, where to shop, and how to prepare real, home-made, healthy food for yourself and your family. One might ask, what is real food? Well, it’s anything that comes from the ground, the trees, and two legs or four legs.
Before moving to the west coast, I grew up in the midwest in the ’60s, ’70s, and early ’80s. We grew up eating according to the season of which foods were available and grown at that time. In the summer and early fall there was plenty of fruit and vegetables but the rest of the months we consumed canned or jarred goods and sometimes frozen foods. Most of the time, we had meat, eggs, cheese, and milk delivered to our back door. Back then there were local farms all around us that we supported. I really didn’t have any knowledge about food except for my mother’s influence. My father called her “the chef and short-order cook” of our small family of 10!
“Indeed, it’s possible to eat real food all the time, but one might ask if this a lifestyle I adhere to every day? ”
I love making my family maple roasted veggies. YUM!
Until I moved to California I thought this was how all food came to be. But, here in California, not only do we have everything at our fingertips but it’s plentiful. All year long one can shop at mainstream grocery stores, organic small local shops, or even at farmers’ markets. Indeed, it’s possible to eat real food all the time, but one might ask if this a lifestyle I adhere to every day?
What has happened to our food in the last 20 years is convenience by way of preservatives, packaging, fast food, carbohydrates… all wrapped in a power bar. We have moved away from making food at home to “drive-by” eating. How do we find the time to shop, cook and eat our breakfast, lunch, and dinner? I have not always enjoyed eating; I find it boring, unfulfilling, task-orientated, and frankly a waste of time. I have said many times before that if I could be satisfied with a pill each meal that would be super! So I have struggled with eating “real food” except for salads as those have always been my easy meal.
So what do I do for my personal and family meals? A year ago I began working with a nutritionist, Joey Anderson, www.nutrientdenselife.com to explore how I can eat healthily and feel full after I eat, without loading carbs and spending lots of money and time in the kitchen. She is an expert in the field of “real food”. Joey Anderson offers solutions to you and how you relate to food. With her help, I now have a toolbox filled with information that helps make these choices. There are suggested real snacks and recipes that are super easy and delicious for myself and my family. We are not vegans and neither are the meal plans suggested by Joey. One big change that I still struggle with is cutting out sugar, those evil little white crystals...
My realization is that every day is a choice of what I put into my mouth- some days and weeks I am on a good roll, others I am not, and that's OK. But what keeps me honest is stepping on the scale and putting on my favorite pair of jeans! With lots of knowledge under my belt about nutrition from Joey, I am also able to further explore cooking, shopping for food, and looking up recipes online. I hope your takeaway from my ramblings about food is this: It’s amazing what happens to the mind and body when you pivot just a bit, explore just a little, you start to feel better, look better, sleep better. It's never too late to try something new, go for it!