We can all reap the benefits of healthy food, one way or another. I always have been conscious of what I was eating, though I would not refer to myself as always being a "healthy eater". When I went out to eat, I would order salads and drink water. At home I always tried to avoid making fried food, and ate things that I thought were healthy foods. At any one time you could find fat-free, low-fat, and organic foods all throughout my pantry and refrigerator.
In my mind I was eating good healthy food, so there was not a problem. Unfortunately my body told a different story. The body always tells the true story. I was not as active as I wanted to be or should have been. As it turns out, my daily eating habits were not made up of the things that would provide me the benefits of healthy food. I had the weight gains, and a variety of ailments (aches & pains, to cold & flu). Of course I would take the band-aid approach, as opposed to solving the root cause. If my weight was up, I would increase the exercise regimen, and watch my calorie intake. When I had a cold or a headache, I would take the appropriate measures to resolve that particular issue. That could be medication, or some natural remedy.
This pattern went on for many years. Then one year during the winter holiday season, is where I had a change in my thought process. I was reading a magazine that had various articles on making better food choices. My timing may not have been the best, since the winter holiday season is the time of year I love to cook and eat the most. I determined that at that point, when the New Year kicked in I was going to implement a healthier eating plan.
During the first week of that New Year, I followed through on the eating plan I discovered from the magazine. This plan involved eating 6 times a day, and eating wholesome foods. Upon first glance, I did not think I could eat that amount of food in one day. It looked very intimidating in the beginning. That did not deter me, and by the end of the first week I felt a definite difference. This encouraged me to follow through on the second week of the plan. By this point I was hooked on this new healthier eating approach. I learned it was not all about fat-free, low-fat, organic products, or calorie counting.
From that point, I had a huge appetite. That appetite was not only for food, but an appetite for learning all about healthier foods and nutrition. I was inspired also by a television ad for a weight loss program. There seemed to be some nutritional and scientific principles behind it, which inspired me to buy books to learn even more. All this time, I was not only reading about the benefits of eating healthy food. I was actually implementing them into my new healthy eating lifestyle.
Pretty soon the benefits of eating healthy food were becoming very apparent. For starters, I felt way more energetic and had fewer ailments. Including less aches and pains, and I managed to avoid severe symptoms during the prime cold and flu season. In addition to that, after a few months of keeping up the plan, I was losing weight. It was not even something I was consciously trying to do, but people who had known me for years kept asking the same question every time they saw me. "Are you losing weight?" My response was always "I guess so". I never weighed myself during the process. Though I knew how much I weighed prior to starting this whole process. When asked what I was doing to lose weight, I told everyone I was eating more food on a daily basis. Of course nobody believed me. In fact I was eating more than I ever had done in my lifetime. It was shortly thereafter that my clothes started feeling looser on me. This prompted shopping trips to find clothes that fit better. A trip I would gladly make at any time. Surely I am not alone in that feeling. This is another example of the benefits of healthy food impacting my life.
It does not take anything extraordinary to change your eating habits. I am not a nutritionist nor am I a classically trained chef. I am just an ordinary person who loves to cook, and loves to learn as much as possible about the benefits of healthy food. There does not need to be a compromise between the two. Some of the better dishes I have made over the past few years have been very health conscious and received rave reviews by others. One of the things I learned was that I did not have to give up all the things I desired to eat. Let’s be honest, we all have those indulgences that we feel we have to have (ice cream, cake, cookies, etc...). If I did give up something there always seems to be a healthier yet still fulfilling alternative. Healthy food does not have to mean a compromise in taste or variety. It just takes a little bit of knowledge and some ingredient watching. If you are going out to eat, the same knowledge combined with some menu awareness will yield the same results. Aren't you ready to experience the benefits of healthy food?
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