Ways of Eating

Because I love all kinds of transformations…be they health, houses, clothes, hair, gardens, etc….I have been reading up on various ways of eating and looking at how people have healed themselves through food choices.

I’ve read about Paleo, Juicing, No Sugar Plans, Isagenix, Vegan, Vegetarian, Clean Food Detoxes, Anti-Inflammatory Cleanses and Diets, Raw, Smoothies,  etc.  You get the idea!

I just bought two cookbooks this weekend while away.  “the oh she glows cookbook”, which is vegan and “I Quit Sugar”, which leans towards Paleo.  They both had a lot of great recipes and ideas in them and although I saw how ironic my choices were, I bought them both!

I tend to be vegetarian but I can’t honestly say I’m fully so.  When I do eat meat, I have drawn the line of only buying organic and/or local meat) and eating very small amounts of it.

So, what I have enjoyed in all of the web sites, books or facebook groups are the before and after pictures!  I love before and after pictures.  I love that a person can not just lose weight, which tends to be the focus of many, but that they can list many many ailments that they no longer struggle with because of eating healthy, natural foods.

Regardless of the Program per se, what they ALL have in common are:  eliminating processed foods as much as possible, eating tons of fresh produce (focus on veggies, little bit of fruit and organic if possible), limiting meats even if Paleo, no fried foods, way less or eliminating sugary foods, less or no ‘bready’ foods, and so on.

It is amazing how much we can heal eating well.  Losing weight is not about looks – it is about health.  Not everyone needs to be (or should be) as thin as some naturally are.  Know your own healthy size.  Some people could gain some weight (Isagenix can help with either where some programs only help with losing weight).

I celebrate with all these people, and admire them!  Good for you!  Food addictions can powerfully difficult to break, especially because “nasty food” is all around us, always available.  Many of us grew up on processed foods and many are struggling with health issues as adults because of that but a lot of it can be reversed by changing our diets (which is nowhere near the same as dieting).

My son thought we ate really well (for which he complained endlessly at the time) but, looking at it now, I would change a lot and be a much better cook if I could do it again.  I can’t but I can continue to make better choices moving forward, thank goodness.

Grateful to all the pioneers out there who are changing the food landscape by encouraging others to eat a better way, regardless of what ‘plan’ they promote.