Simple tips for the young and old
My mom is a 50-something, single, working lady. At 4 feet 10 inches tall and 90 pounds, she’s cute as a button in her 3-inch heels and sparkly outfits. Although she’s about as far from being obese as one can get, she’s started to have health problems relating to decades of poor eating and non-existent exercise. Just because you’re one of the few skinny people who eats poorly and never gains wait doesn’t mean that high blood pressure, heartburn and health problems won’t come knocking at your door as you age.
My mom’s favorite snacks are fried chicken livers from KFC, the “crunchies” (leftover fried dough bits) from Long John Silvers, sugar-free Red Bull, Oreo Blasts and chicken salad swimming in mayonnaise. Her excuses for her diet are: her busy, travel-filled work days, living alone with no one else to cook for and not knowing how to cook from scratch.
She’s not alone. 52% of Americans believe that doing their taxes is easier than learning to eat healthy, reported a survey by the International Food Information Council in 2012. These days, we eat more processed food than real food, eat more meals in our cars and in front of our TV’s than around the table, eat more take-out than home-cooked meals and eat more sugary, salty, fatty foods than ever. Eating this way has a big impact on our health.
Change is always scary whether it’s a new job, a new partner or new eating habits. When it comes to food, differing expert opinions and confusing research are impossible to wade through. What should you actually eat? Take a deep breathe and a step back to find the easiest solution– EAT REAL FOOD. That’s it, it really is that simple, and if you can keep that mantra in the forefront of your eating decisions, you will be rewarded.
Food trends fuel health magazines and headlines. This week chia seeds and juicing will make you live longer while quinoa and blueberries are so last year. And did you know that if you eat a handful of nuts everyday you are 20% less likely to die early than non-nut eating people according to the Harvard School of Public Health. I mean, if Harvard says it, then you’ve got to do it, right? Well…sometimes you feel like a nut and sometimes you don’t, sometimes you crave fresh juice other times it’s toast. So, stop listening to studies claiming you’ll live longer, be stronger or jump higher if you ______. It’s overwhelming and impossible to eat everything claimed by these studies in one day and everyday for the rest of your life. Just EAT REAL FOOD.
The easiest way to define what you should eat is anything that your grandmother or great-grandmother would recognize as food. No pop-tarts, frozen burritos or low-fat, artificially-sweetened yogurt. Real food doesn’t contain ingredients that you can’t pronounce much less know what they are–modified corn starches, yellow #5 or azodicarbonamide. If there’s less than five ingredients and you recognize them all, then it’s probably safe.
The obvious good choices for real foods are fruits and vegetables. They are all good for you, end of story. Avocados have lots of fat, but it’s good fat. Potatoes are starchy, but they’re better than potato chips. Beans, lentils, nuts and grains are all good for you if they’re not in a Campbell’s can or covered in sugar and salt. Meat, seafood and poultry are good for you if they’re not frozen tenders, nitrate-pumped deli meat or pre-stuffed baked crab. Bread, pasta and other “dangerous” carbs are fine. Just find the ones with simple, understandable ingredient lists.
If my mom can do this, so can you. Her heartburn is waning, her energy is increasing, and she’s starting to feel and look healthier. I’ve waited years for my parents to realize my eating habits stem from a deeper place than vanity. Mom still has lots of questions about what she should and shouldn’t eat. Change takes time and patience. Feel free to contact me with any questions you have at HYPERLINK “mailto:kpettigr@gmail.com” kpettigr@gmail.com.
