Real Food Lifestyle VS. Diet

I think I have been doing you a disservice.  I keep talking about our Real Food journey and referring to it as our Real Food diet.  Diet?  Who wants to diet?  Not me!  Popular culture and the media has hijacked the word and now we only know “diet” as weight loss.  If I’m going on a diet I must be talking about only eating carrots, cabbage soup, weight loss pills, and being hungry all of the time.  Diet has always meant depriving myself of foods that I really love.

I’ve tried all different diets without much success.  I stick to their strict rules for a little while and then it becomes too difficult to actually stick to.  It wasn’t till I started thinking about overall health and less just about my looks that I finally truly committed to a Real Food lifestyle.

 

In Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, Michael talks about
our Western diet as being the cause of many of our society’s most chronic diseases.  Michael is talking about stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.  I then started reading about Leaky Gut Syndrome and all of the conditions that are believed to be related to leaky gut.  I don’t want any of this for my family.  I’m pretty sure you don’t either.  This knowledge was the life-changing turning point for me.  If I could have one more day with my family because I cooked a little more, spent more time reading labels, and yes, spent more money for quality food…………..then I would do it in a heartbeat.  It is no longer a matter of losing a few pounds for me.  I cook to preserve the quality and quantity of my family’s life.

The dollar menu no longer is a draw for me.  I don’t worry about the latest fad diets.  I don’t scour the grocery store looking for “low fat” or “enriched” foods.  Eating is much simpler.  I look for whole foods and foods with just a few ingredients.  I eat whole fat foods and even seek out healthy fats like coconut oil and avocado for my family.  I do watch portions and try to fill my plate with more fruits and vegetables than meat.  I realize that a variety of foods will give my family more nutrients and vitamins.  It is so hard to believe that a little over a year ago I didn’t even think about how poor nutrition would affect my family.

Most of the reasons my old self would have said I couldn’t eat a Real Food lifestyle turn out to be what I like most.  Planning………who has time for that?  I do and it saves me so much time during the week to know what I will be preparing for meals.  I no longer have to stare into empty cupboards or into the fridge and only see parts of recipes.  I don’t eat out as often.  Oh, those noisy fast food restaurants were such good times.  And eating in the car…………that was really awesome.  My favorite time of day is dinner with my family now. Most of the time it is a pretty simple meal, but it is always made with quality ingredients.  I don’t know enough about Real Food.  I’ve met so many wonderful Real Food friends since I’ve started blogging.  I’ve learned so much and I continue to learn more each day. Hopefully, I can be that resource and friend to you on your Real Food journey.

I have a photo of my four children on my desk at my insurance office.  There is a note on it stating they are my reason for owning life insurance.  I find this helpful when I have life insurance conversations with my clients at work.   They are also my reason for eating Real Food.  I want to be around to see all that they will accomplish in life and I want to be healthy enough to enjoy it all with them.  I want them to have long lives with their children and I know they will have a better shot at that if they develop a healthy Real Food lifestyle.

I can’t wait to hear from you. Leave me a comment here and I invite you to join the fun on our various social media. Just join us by using the various buttons at the top of the page. Lots more recipes, tips and fun to be had by all! If you are new to the blog……..I invite you to check out our Weekly Challenges. This is a great systematic way to to eat more of a Real Food diet and eliminate processed food. This is the approach my family took to overhauling our diet. Remember……small changes can create dramatic changes to your overall health. Good luck!