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Some of us come to the notion of real food organically (pun intended).
It’s what we saw growing up. It’s what we chose to surround ourselves with when we left home. It’s what we’re drawn to because when we consume it we feel better, have more energy and are simply more *ourselves.*
It’s less about the benefits of eating healthy and just something which feels innate.
We eat real food because it’s all we’ve ever done and it’s all we know.
And yes.
By WE I mean you.
The description above does not apply to me in the slightest.
I grew up in a time when it was pretty rare to focus on eating organic or locally grown foods. We ate lots of pasta, potatoes and pre-packaged items which were quick from cardboard to table.
This isn’t a criticism, it’s what everyone did back then (that’s a shout-out to you 1960s babies!). I knew one girl growing up whose mom grew fruits & vegetables and created healthy meals from scratch. We all felt sorry for that girl.
When I left my parents’ house my food intake became more ‘fake’ than ever. In college I subsisted on cheap, processed junk. After college, when I decided to shed my beer & pizza weight, I segued into Snackwell-ville (anyone else?) and other fat!free! fake food options.
I made no place in my food-plan for fruits, veggies, or other more natural weight loss foods. I was too busy doing what I’d always done: searching for the easiest & quickest.
I was tired.
I was rash’y (I was in need of a gluten free diet and didn’t realize yet).
I was skinny after a while on this food-plan, but I was also soft and not healthy looking.
I reflect back on the above and marvel I was able to carry out my day-to-day activities.
It sounds dramatic, yet the lack of real, quality sustenance in my system is *almost* laughable.
What prompted me to shift my habits was a short conversation with the man who is now my husband. It’s an exchange he doesn’t remember and one which transformed my eating habits swiftly and permanently.
I lamented the fact I worked out diligently and yet didn’t look as though I’d ever hoisted a weight.
He agreed (ouch) and continued saying: a calorie isn’t a calorie isn’t a calorie.
With those eight words it all clicked into place.
I consumed plenty of calories, but I was plenty eating processed.
Meal replacement bars. Protein shakes. Cheap cereals. Processed, processed grains.
My body wasn’t thriving (in any sense of the word) as I wasn’t providing it with the foods it needed and those which nature gives us. Plants, fruits, seeds, meats (ok, I was getting meats) eggs and products made using those ingredients.
That afternoon I created an entirely new shopping list and I’ve never looked back.
I feel better. I am able to think more clearly. My energy levels have soared. And I don’t miss my plate of processed. At all.
Have you always eaten healthy whole foods or did you, as I did, come to ‘real food’ eating later in life?
Be well!
Carla
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