As Simple as Good Food to Stay Healthy

I am no goodie two shoes when it comes to my eating habits, contrary to popular belief. So, I do have veggies at all three meals regularly, including breakfast but I still know how to find the best chocolate chip cookies I can eat even though I am gluten intolerant, and if I can’t source such a treat from one of my trusted supermarkets, I can always find the perfect recipe.

A few months ago, I made gluten free cinnamon rolls. Amazing!

But let me be clear—chocolate chip cookies and the likes are a treat for me nowadays, not a regular snack. Partially, I came to this conclusion because of my conflict with gluten but there is another reason I decided to relegate sweets to the back of my diet, only to come forward from time to time as a treat.

The answer is: I feel like a different person when I am not full of refined carbohydrates. I feel well, full of energy, ready to meet the day. It is as simple as that. Looking over my shoulder I do often ask myself, what took me so long to get this simple message. And here is what I stumbled on.

First of all, I didn’t have time to eat healthily all the time. Even as a teen girl, I was on the go. We had cheerleader practice, then choir rehearsal and all the rest, which sounds like a cake walk now compared to the schedule of my teenage niece. Still, I felt lucky to grab a pack of cookies, some potato chips (crisps) and maybe even a soft drink to keep going. I was young, my body could handle it. After all I would eat a nutritious supper that my mother prepared for supper. One good meal was enough, I rationed.

As a young writer, I carried on a bit with that same flawed thinking, too busy to stop to eat but I always had time for a cup of coffee, a cola, for energy that is until I got a headache, ill or something that put me out of commission totally.

Now when I find myself about to miss a meal, I always have a treat on hand—an apple, some pecans—until I can get a balanced meal. The key is planning and preparing, a point that Judit Ressinka makes in Episode 2: Your Body Inside Out. Admittedly, some days lunch is a little later than recommended but almost always it is the right fuel. The payoff for making the time is I get to carry on working, feeling really well and out comes a good result.

Next, I didn’t think I really liked what was called healthy food—a salad, beetroot, some nuts, etc… For many years I was sort of a meat and potatoes kind of girl and though no one loves French fries more than I do, they don’t necessarily serve me. Thus, I find substitutes that are equally as tasty such as sweet potato fries, parsnip and carrot fries and so on, and keep it moving and leave the real deal for a special treat. The key, however, is to keep the extra ingredients such as flour out of it, and roast or bake with a little olive oil. How tasty is that!

Finally, I thought I could eat what I wanted and just shake it all off in the gym. Admittedly, though the few extra pounds came off, I could never quite budge that heavy feeling. I learned rather quickly that weight is not just about what is on the scale, it is about everything that you are carrying inside. A lot of it is dead weight down to inappropriate food and unnecessary anxiety as well, some of it triggered by food. Though enjoying food is important, make sure you are enjoying the right food for you.

Now about those cinnamon rolls made back in October last year. Shush, don’t tell Judit Ressinka. Anyhow, they are ever so sweet as a treat from time to time. Notice I didn’t say were—they are (in my freezer in portions) because I do get it now, that eating properly is what it takes to feel well and full of energy. It is as simple as that.