My parents had four mouths to feed by the time they hit 27. It is an understatement to say we were poor. Regardless, my mother always sat me and my siblings together to eat and we always had food, and it wasn’t crap food. She did her best with what she could get.
I swayed off course when puberty hit. I discovered Wendy’s .99 cent hamburgers and started working at Taco Bell. My ‘diet’ still wasn’t shot to crap, but quick and cheap was appealing since puberty was all about flying by the seat of your pants.
Read Ingredient Labels
I finally got it on track in my 20’s when ‘light’ and ‘fat-free’ hit the shelves. I got ‘skinny’ for the first time (metabolism still flying high from the hormone surge of puberty) and kept fat and sugar to minimums. This is my earliest awareness of being taught to always READ INGREDIENTS in food labels. I noticed these ‘light and fat-free’ products had ingredient lists a mile long. Ingredients I had NO clue what they were. Take the fat out but let’s add five different kinds of sugar? No Thanks. Fewer ingredients = Better. No ingredient list? EVEN BETTER, the BEST. I began, what my friend has referred to as, my ‘bark and berry’ way of eating. Only foods in their natural forms with as few ingredients as possible.
Luckily, I took nutrition in college from a very informed teacher. She showed us Diet for a New America, King Korn, and other documentaries that opened my eyes to the realities of our food supply.
Of course, I am an emotional eater. Sometimes after a long, hard day, nothing hits the spot like a bag of chicken strips and a can of Foster’s. So I have my days. I don’t call it a ‘diet’ because that word has just morphed off into something negative and restrictive. You need to see it as a way of eating and you need to have a positive relationship with food. We have to nourish ourselves daily with healthy choices. But we cannot deprive ourselves, or punish ourselves for our treats. Each meal or snack is an opportunity and tomorrow is always a new day.
Monsanto & GMOs
I’ve watched our food supply go to hell in a handbasket since those beginning years. Thank you, Monsanto, for slipping in the back door when people weren’t looking. Two of the largest GMO crops in the USA are corn and soy. If you read ingredient labels (and I urge you to develop this habit), you will see one of these in every single processed food out there, in some form. Even the animals people eat are usually fed this garbage too. GMO farms (using Monsanto seeds or “Round-Up Ready”) have taken over the mainstream supplies and put all the smaller farmers out of business. They initiated TONS of frivolous lawsuits against those saving seeds, something farmers have been doing for centuries. GMO farms sit next door to an organic farm and people don’t think about wind and the bees, and cross-pollination. I would never say a farm is organic if there is a GMO farm in the neighborhood.
Also, look around at the people you know with food addictions who are emotional eaters, how does their health look at this age? On lots of medications? Diabetic maybe?
Clean Eating
Today, I limit a LOT when I am in America. A lot of produce and veggies (despite the GMO’s) very very little animals, no sugars (if I can help it, can’t always!), and good fats. I keep my whole grains/carbs in the earlier parts of the day when I am more active. When I traveled around Europe, I was able to cleanse my body of all the American damage, and meat…and celebrated the lack of GMO’s and farmer’s markets. I was forced to return, and I am back to square one.
I eat some FUNKY dishes. But they are simple, healthy, and taste good. I will be talking about healthy eating, international foods, cultures and influences, and sharing recipes, tips, and hints. I also traveled around with very limited ‘kitchens’. I lived in a studio in San Francisco in a basement in which my ‘kitchen area’ consisted of a sink and a fridge. I managed to cook for myself (and others, once I cooked for eight other people) all the time. I will show you many ways to ‘cook without a kitchen’ or limited kitchens.
I will also show you how to clean up your recipes and other alternatives – in bark and berry form. But I do love cheese. And I am really in tune with my body, and it often tells me what it wants and needs. Natural food to me means how it was grown and given. Not processed alternatives. I rarely use things in a box (when I am alone, cooking for ME) or a jar, unless necessary. Or there are other people I am cooking for who don’t do this lifestyle.
A Word on Processed Alternatives
I am sorry but I do not believe processed soy alternatives instead of animals are healthier. Morning Star is one of the leading purveyors of soy alternatives for vegetarians and they are on the list of Monsanto companies using GMO’s. I also don’t get the concept if you don’t believe in eating animals for compassion’s sake, why you would eat a soy-product that is ‘flavored or substituted’ for said animal? I don’t judge. I just don’t get it. I eat animals when my body tells me to, and it is rarely COWS. Chickens yes. Eggs ALWAYS. And I still know that Pork.Fat.Rules. But TO A MINIMUM. I just believe soy-based alternatives are just another processed food in a box, even without animals in it. And nowadays, there are so many recipes you can Google and make yourself. Most people use the excuse they haven’t the time. Food and the tradition of sitting with your family for a wholesome meal is something that you should be MAKING time for. This is part of the positive relationship with food and making the time is necessary. Making excuses for any part of healthy eating puts it on the negative and sets you up for failure.
If I want eggs, I eat eggs, not EggBeaters. I make my own salad dressings. Except for Annie’s, ALL dressings have sugar, SUGAR, and more SUGAR! And soybean oils. I’d make my own mayo too because what is in this country is CRAP. Oil, egg, and an emulsifier are ALL you need to make mayo (aioli’s cousin) and the jarred crap is crap. I cut it out altogether years ago. I love yogurt too, but they involve cultures to make at home, using yogurt as a ‘starter’ or raw milk (hard to find) so I do have to buy Greek yogurt here (more protein and less fat than regular yogurt) and the occasional sour cream (plain greek yogurt works in place of that too).
The Future
This begins a more comprehensive food journey on my blog, and where I plan on going with it. Recipes, discussions, tips, and hints. While I am in the US, it might be limited to what I can scout out instead of creating myself, since I am at the mercy of someone else’s kitchen and food. But, once I get back out there…!!
When you create a positive relationship with food, you become more aware of your emotional eating. It is important to treat yourself, regularly and leave the guilt at the door. Pick back up the next meal or the following day. Guilt and shame keep you in the negative cycles. Focus on the positives you have done instead of punishing yourself for falling off the wagon.