I Just Made It Harder On Myself

Since starting this food journey over 7 years ago, I've learned a lot. I've seen a lot. And I've been confused a lot!

It would seem just as I would learn about a new way of eating, there would be 20 articles about how that way isn't "the healthiest" "stay away from x.y.z." "Lose weight this way, easy and fast."

It took a while for me to shift my perspective from "losing weight" and "being skinny" to a more holistic approach of "being healthy" "maintaining my ideal body weight." But even with the new perspective my weight has remained a struggle.

So in an effort to help ensure my diet wasn't the cause (80% of the work is in the kitchen only 20% is in the gym) I tried to find some hard fast rules to follow when grocery shopping. After all, trying to understand and decide if something is good for you amongst the hundreds of options at the grocery store can make anyone just walk out from overwhelm.

So my hard fast rule that I have stuck with over the past couple of years has been, "Nothing from a box, can, or bag." So I avoided these things like the plague and tried to make everything from whole, raw, foods. Thinking if everything was made from scratch, in my own kitchen, it was somehow "healthier"

Making everything thing from scratch takes a lot. A LOT! of time! And who has that kind of time? Not in this season of life while I juggle a toddler, a pregnancy, a master's degree, growing my doTerra business, and earning my Holistic Nutritionist Certificate. Finding time to eat is a struggle, let alone spending hours in the kitchen...

When I learned that rule, it made sense when applying it to "processed foods." Turns out I didn't really have that great of handle on deciphering between processed foods, minimally processed foods, and whole foods.

I just made my life harder, in the hopes of avoiding the nefarious "processed foods." The foods I believed were causing my weight issues. My inability to lose weight. And my risk factors for developing health issues in the future.

No, you see whole foods can be summed up like this: "Nothing good taken out. Nothing bad added." So none of the health boosting nutrients removed and no things like sugar and oil added in. That is what we are after!

This opens up a whole new world of convenience! Today's lunch was amaze-balls!! I mean really! Take a look! And guess what, it broke every part of my rule. Frozen Kale was from a bag, Beans were from a can. Pasta from a box (more on why pasta is making a shocking return to my diet and how to find the right kind...coming up in a new blog post.) Hummus was from a container.

But you see, these things still meet the criteria of being whole foods. Nothing good taken out. Nothing bad added. And this whole, nutritious, flavorful, plant-based lunch was ready in less than 20 min! Yum!!