Thursday, August 4, 2011

The Ugly Truth - I Eat "Junk" Food All Day Long

Disclaimer:  This post is what I would consider controversial.  It is just my view on the topic.

This is and will never be a food blog. However, for a long time, I have felt compelled to write a post of this nature because I feel sad for and annoyed at society.  Why you might ask?  Because of the bad rap food has gotten lately.  Remember when you were young and you ate food just because?  If you liked it, great; if not, you spit it out.  No one yelled about calories or the fact that this food is good and this food is bad or that you were going to be so bad and splurge on food that you would later feel guilty about it.  But somewhere along the way, society changed, people changed….we became obsessed, and not in a good way.  All of a sudden, it became necessary to analyze every morsel you put into your mouth.  If you were hungry and all you had around you to eat was a Poptart than forget it, you would rather starve than put those calories in your body.  An ice-cream cone was something you had to earn by exercising hard and eating less.  And foods became good and bad – granola good, donuts bad.



Now, not all of these thoughts are destructive and some help prevent obesity and heart disease.  But they also have created a surge of other problems, anorexia, malnourishment and oh yea the concept of enjoying life.  I am not saying I am perfect. Far from it, in fact right now I find myself wondering if I really needed this extra bowl of Kix (my body was hungry, so I guess I did).  And for many years in my life I lived by the life that so many others do, I ate the “right things” the “good things.”  But I have come to learn something and I will let you in on this secret:




THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS GOOD AND BAD FOODS


I know this is a shocker and I will wait for everyone to calm down…..and I know you are now saying, this girl is crazy.  I don’t believe her.  But I am here to tell you it is the truth. Ready for this, you CAN eat ice cream every day of the week, you CAN have a donut for breakfast, and you CAN eat potato chips with lunch.  You can also eat fruit with peanut butter, granola, hummus and carrots, and Greek Yogurt.  I can say this because this is how I live.  On a normal day, I may have a Poptart with cottage cheese orange juice and strawberries for breakfast and a Panini with an apple and pretzels for lunch and chicken pot pie for dinner and round it off with a cupcake (oops I did not even share my daily snacks with you - animal crackers and Luna Bars - yum!).



Many people qualify this with, well you run so you can eat like this. But I have to tell you, it is not true.  This is how I would eat regardless (although my hunger level may be smaller but nonetheless this would be how I would eat).  I've come to live this way by doing a few things:

1)      The Exchange System – I do not count calories!!! I hate this, I will never, ever do it again. Instead I use exchanges, kind of like weight watchers (if you guys really care, maybe it will be tomorrow’s post)
2)      A good nutritionist – my nutritionist helped me understand what I needed based on my activity level
3)      Knowing my stomach is the best dietary guide possible
4)      Trust – this is the scary one, trusting the system. Trusting that I am doing the right thing and if not, it can always be changed.

So there you have it world… the UGLY TRUTH.  So now you know it I don't eat junk food.  Instead, I eat just what I need and want in the moment.  And in the end it all works out.  Sometimes my body craves and wants something sweet and you got to bet like hell I am opening up the first carton of icecream I can find but other times it wants the "good foods" and then I turned to my pantry stocked with Go Lean Crunch and Granola and mix in it with Yogurt and fruit.  And that my friends, is it.  It is just that simple....right?!?

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