Toward a Simpler Healthier Diet

Part of my journey to a simpler life involves making changes in how I eat and drink.  These guidelines

come from the hydration advisor at CamelBak.  I thought that they made a lot of sense and were stated

in an easy to remember format.

▪   Eat whole unprocessed foods, drink tap water.

▪   Enjoy a diet that has lots and lots of plant foods, with small amounts of meat and dairy products.

▪   Snack on real foods, not "snack food"

▪   Support local farmers and eat seasonally, locally and regionally to the extent you can

▪   Get cooking!

▪   Take less, waste less at the dinner table.

Some of these are things that I really struggle with.  It’s so easy to get caught up in what is “easy” and forgo the sound basics of nutrition.  For instance, when I was preparing for bariatric surgery back in 2011, I cut out all soda, including diet soda and switched to water and Crystal Lite.  I also dropped all caffeine except for one morning cup of tea.  I was able to stay soda free for two years, but lately I’ve gotten back into the diet soda (albeit caffeine free) habit.  I get so I just crave it and first thing you know, I’ve gone through 3 to 5 cans in a day.  The carbonation can stretch my stomach, allowing me to take in more food, and first thing you know, my weight starts creeping back up. 

How shocking to also realize that to put 1 liter of soda in my fridge from a water footprint and energy use standpoint uses the equivalent as 340 to 620 liters of tap water!  From an earth stewardship standpoint, that is not how I want to be wasting precious resources.  So a new goal over the next month is to get back to my 2011 habits of drinking tap water in place of diet soda.  I also hope tot drop the Crystal Lite as I just cannot believe that all these artificial sweeteners and chemicals used in such products are beneficial and healthy.  I also find the ongoing use of artificial sweeteners just seems to make me crave sweet things, and that certainly makes the struggle to maintain a healthy weight a more difficult one.

I do pretty well with the plant foods part, though I do eat a fair amount of dairy.  It's the snacking on REAL food and not on "snack" food that gets me into trouble and is probably the other big part of my struggle with weight.  I tend to crave salty things and most times, if offered a choice of candy or chips, would nearly always choose the chips.  There aren't a lot of "real" foods that I've found that can satisfy that salty craving, though I may need to look at home popped popcorn again (not the microwave variety).    

Some days I think it would be nice to simply step out of this current life and all it's issues and step into a new one, with all the foundation already in place ~ the clean minimalist house, the fresh, unprocessed food in the fridge and healthy meals and snacks already prepared.  But then would I learn what I need to along the way?