So I have been unconsciously improving my diet.
My diet, on the whole, is fairly unimaginative. Five days out of seven I will have the same thing for breakfast (oatmeal, non-fat Greek yogurt, protein powder [One scoop] and coffee) and most of the same things for lunch (spinach, Granny Smith apple, almonds, dried cranberries, small cheese). Differences in lunch will typically be the seasonal - mandarins when in season for lunch or grapefruits breakfast as examples - and the main lunch dish will almost always be leftovers. Dinner is the unknown and the one least predictable, but will minimally include some manner of protein and vegetable (broccoli if nothing else).
What I have noticed - and maybe it has been there for the last few years - is that my consumption of processed foods in general and processed carbohydrates in particular has been dropping, now almost precipitously. It is better for me of course - I scarcely benefit from them - but never before have I been so conscious of it as choice. Over New Year's I indulged in some crackers. My body was none too happy with that.
And I am branching out as well. More protein - I really cannot seem to get enough at this point (for example, this snazzy eggnog recipe from The Art of Manliness. Yes friends, real eggs!). And adding more fruits and vegetables. Really making an effort to cut down on the sweets (my personal downfall). And less coffee (by less, I mean limiting to three cups a day).
We have moved from the unconscious to the conscious. I will be interested on seeing what impact it has on the rest of my life.
Talk about coincidence; as I read your post I was listening to "Old Hippie" by the Bellamy Brothers. ...So he grows a little garden in the back yard by the fence. He's consumin' what he growin' nowadays in self-defense" hit my ears at the same time your words were hitting my eyes. I guess that's what it's all about. The body gets older, and just can't take the pummeling of artificial ingredients and processed foods like it used to. Time to start eating what God put on the plate. God was right again...
ReplyDeleteWhat a fortuitous occurrence - and a great thought. I never really thought about the aging process making artificial what-have-you more difficult on the body, but it at least makes a certain amount of colloquial sense.
DeleteTB - you already know about some of our conscious eating decisions so i applaud you for considering your dietary choices. and by that - i mean just making conscious choices. we still eat meat and will never stop, we love all seafood and shellfish. but we have learned to incorporate more fresh veg, fruit, legumes, nuts and seeds in our diets and leave out refined sugars and processed foods. keep up the good work, my friend!
ReplyDeleteplease check out my latest blog post. you feature pretty heavily in it.
sending much love and strength and support for you meeting all of your 2017 goals!!! your friend,
kymber
Yes Kymber, you are probably one of the unconscious influences in this as well -your meals always look so yummy and you are doing so much of a better job of eating that which you can readily grow or access.
DeleteAnd wow - thank you for all of the kind words. You make me sound like a whole lot better of a writer than I am!
Much love, TB