Why Clean Eating?

In September 2010, my daughter Bridget came to me and asked if I’d join her in an 8 week program our chiropractor’s had designed- “The Biggest Winner”. Now, I’m no dummy and I know that anytime my 16 year old asks me to do something with her, I say yes (as long as the request is within reason, of course). There was a financial commitment, and Brig was willing to pay her way, so we signed up for what was billed to be a “jump-start” to healthier living.

Now, me being me, I signed up to “support” Bridget; I knew I had a handle on this healthy lifestyle. After all, I had my 5-6 day per week Bikram yoga practice, I had the food pyramid memorized, was careful to eat 5-7 servings of fruit and vegetables per day and only ate sweets every once in a while, well, unless I was baking cookies or there was a “need” to drive to Moomers. In my mind, I had this thing licked. I chose to ignore the fact that I had been on a plateau with my weight for over a year. Logic dictates that eating healthfully on a regular basis along with regular exercise would equal weight loss, right? Apparently I wasn’t doing as great a job as I thought. Reality can be painful sometimes.  

Clean eating can be described as eating food as close to it’s original form as possible: if it’s from a plant, eat it; if it’s made in a plant, don’t. I began to rid my diet of almost all refined products- especially prepackaged and canned, and started to read labels rejecting anything with more than 3-6 ingredients. By limiting the chemicals we ingest with our food, we naturally fuel our bodies at a higher level. Personally, I’ve found that I have more energy, my skin is clearer and food actually tastes different- BETTER. And I drink lots of water. And then a lot more. My body has thanked me by maintaining a higher level of functioning.

As we started the Biggest Winner program, I quickly saw that I was going to have to change my life a bit. I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to fit everything in on a daily basis- work, working out, cooking, sleeping- there just weren’t enough hours in the day. Though one of joys of the Biggest Winner was that we were given seven healthy dinner recipes every week complete with a shopping list, it was that precious time resource that I saw lacking.

Within a couple of weeks of starting the Biggest Winner, I found that to be successful I would have to take the time to cook where I had it- on the weekend. Over the past year, I’ve gotten into a groove of planning what I will cook on Friday afternoon, and adjust my shopping list to suit. Early Saturday morning, I’m up and shopping. By noon, I’ve got my plan of attack and have prepped my first dish. Not so oddly, I’ve found that I ADORE time in my kitchen making healthy meals. [It’s important to note here that the food pyramid has been redesigned in my mind to include vegetables at the bottom, then protein, fruit next & whole grains near the top.]

I’ve run through the Biggest Winner recipes and return to them often. I’ve also begun to “healthify” other recipes that I find online. As my taste buds changed I found that I didn’t like the bread that I could buy, so I started baking my own; same with granola. I’m so excited to cook that I share my joy via social networking- Facebook. Not long ago a few friends asked if they could cook with me. What a gift that request has been! While I’m no expert, I do know how I’ve been able to make this change in my life and am blessed to be able to share the experience with others.

Having become a bit of a food tyrant, I continue to educate myself. To start, I highly recommend any book by Michael Pollan, the movies “Food Inc.” and “Forks Over Knives”. Personal responsibility dictates that the more I know, the more responsible I become for my own health. My greatest hope is that more people will begin to make the necessary changes in favor of health. Our country has some staggering statistics in regard to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and several other crises that could be averted through lifestyle changes. It’s really very simple, however not easy. Change very rarely is. Bottom line- We’re only given one body; our job is to be good stewards of this gift.