I'm trying desperately to find this blog that I was reading yesterday but the internets aren't giving it up! In it, she challenged readers to take a hard look at their diets, and truly up their game for February. She was talking about a nutritional upgrade. Being vegan doesn't necessarily mean healthy. I can't tell you how many times times someone has told me that they used to be vegan/vegetarian but had to start eating meat because they got sick/didn't feel well/weren't healthy. Many times, this lies in the fact that whole nutrition isn't a given, and one can still find vegan options in most mainstream places that are devoid of anything good for you. The following things are vegan: French fries, potato chips, Oreos, pretty much all sodas, sour peaches, watermelons, cherry blasters, lots of dark chocolate, etc etc. The first time I went vegetarian as I teenager, add diet coke and you have just covered all my food groups. I am completely guilty of non nutritive eating still-I have a sweet tooth that rages inside me like a cracked out junkie. I'm constantly making sweets or thinking about making something sweet. I do try to give them away where possible and only eat things I make myself, but still. I keep making better choices as I learn how-and see my kids picking up both my positive and negative eating habits. Bean very much likes the analog products -fake meats, burgers, hot dogs and cheeses. Many new vegetarians use these products often for convenience and to continue cooking foods you and your family are familiar with. Over time, we generally learn new cooking techniques and rely less on these products which are both expensive and processed. For Bean's birthday this month, we had tacos made of fake everything. Turns out they made me feel awful. So I'm going to do it, February I'm getting serious. Whole foods, less packaging and eating foods with ingredients I can pronounce!
Where are you at in your food journey? Do you think you're where you'd like to be to look and feel your best? Where do you start? Where would you put yourself on a scale of one to ten? (One being: fast food frequently, soda, chips and packaged sweets are almost always on your grocery list. Five being: Pretty good. Indulge frequently and don't really pay much attention to labels/nutritional stuff. Ten is: Completely whole foods. You eat while levitating.)
My friend Tricia is a high raw vegan, which means she eats very little food that is cooked. This preserves it's nutritional integrity, and much to my surprise is really delish! I'll post more on raw eating at another time, maybe Tricia can even stop by some time soon. She calls eating raw a nutritional upgrade, and I think that's perfect. Every time you take steps to change your diet for the better-be it learn a new technique, choose to learn more about whats in your food, or try a new X-you've just upgraded baby! February for me means change and challenge! What does it mean for you?
