Food has always been the centre of the world for me.
And still is, I should add. What should I eat, when , how much? My attraction to food goes far beyond Love and sometimes into the depths of hate.
Being a curvy, mid 20's girl. I do not feel the same pressure I did in high school for a slim body that looks perfect in anything from sweat pants to 'skinny jeans'. But those years of worry are still camped out in my brain influencing my opinions of myself even today!
More to the point, FOOD has given me my shape today. It is only over the past 5 years that I have learned of the plague of white flour and sugar that found its way into my system. So today, when I slave away at the gym 5 days a week, I am battling against years of built up weight. Sometimes I feel like saying "Where do I begin?" there is just so much to lose! Then I slap myself, and say "Thank god my biggest worry is how big my butt looks in pants" I have been 'blessed' with a healthy body and a healthy lifestyle.
Then why is it, I worry about food? Because it makes me... curvy.
If you want to be healthy today, on a minimum wage salary, you have to be educated. If I had to guesstimate, I'd say I spend at least 6 hours a day, reading, learning and practicing a healthy lifestyle.
FOOD, is in camouflage!
The camouflage is the packaging. And everything that is packaged, has been handled, processed in some way which takes time. Time is the enemy of freshness, so some man made ingredient usually gets sprinkled in.
Think about it, you are an animal. If you put something into your body that nature didn't make, than how is your body going to know what the hell it is? If it doesn't know what it is, it can treat it as poison, in turn releasing a series of side effects which you may not even notice. Like, energy loss, indigestion, fatigue, headaches etc. You may experience these effects all the time, would you ever link them to what you just ate?
What is bubbling away in your tummy right now?
These poisons have really fluffy names too, like Splenda! Doesn't it just roll off the tongue? You know all those ingredients you can't read on the label? Well if you're over the age of 12 and you can't pronounce something that is in your pudding cup, then its "poison". Its Man made, no good, skip it! Go to Google, type in Dairy free chocolate pudding, find one, get the ingredients, make it. ENJOY. Wow, that was way harder and involved more dishes then pulling off the lid of a jello cup. And here lies another stumbling point, and road block for those who say "I can't cook" or "I don't have time" Make time, its your fuel we are talking about!
I always had loads of problems with my tummy, which spurred my interest in learning about food in more depth. But what about those iron gullets out there, that find anything under the sun edible and good food? Those folks fuel the grocery store aisles! They buy the quick microwave meals, the Omega Fat infused Oreo cookies and forgo the ingestion of Vitamins or supplements, because 2 slices of Wonder bread have added vitamins and minerals, eat those instead!
I feel so strongly about eating the right foods, and yet I can say that I ate an A&W veggie burger and fries the other week and it was DELICIOUS! Crap! If this was a game show I'd be voted off for joining the other alliance and leaving my healthy food alliance behind!
Most animals won't eat crap they are not supposed to (some dogs excepted, Sherman, my parents dog, ate Venetian blinds once or twice) But seriously, why are we a species that shoves anything that smells good into our mouths? Why do we market food that is killing our species with obesity? On Wikipedia, I found this Stat. on mindless eating "People make nearly 20 times more daily decisions about food than they are aware of (an average of around 250 each day)." That's a huge amount of thinking, why not make those daily decisions positive ones!
Lets band together with the other millions of people who know that the "green health check" symbol on packaged food in bull s*%t! and that all other food propaganda in nonsense!
Grow a garden or join a
community garden! Limit your
Aisle shopping and stick to the produce section. Stock your pantry with spices, beans, grains, caned tomatoes etc. so you always have the ability to cook, and you aren't reaching for the take-out menu!
I think one of the major goals in my life is to learn as much as I can about healthy living and practice it every day. My mantra will be "What goes in my body feeds my mind, body and soul"
Here's to seeing through the Camouflage!
Cartoons Compliments of Shoe Box, a division of Hallmark.
Spicy roasted eggplant and green peppers!
