A misconception I have encountered, is that I advocate a vegan diet. Which is true and false. Truth be told it is my belief that diet is something that is very personal. Only you can truly know what it is your body needs or does not need. If you know that dairy and meats are something you require to function on a daily basis, who am I to say otherwise? Understanding the nutritional needs of your body is a personal responsibility.
On the flip side of that coin, I do have opinions about what is labeled as disease and epidemics in our modern day American society. Are obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, something that are considered incurable because we don't have a pill to cure them, or do they exist because of our diets? Could removing the only source of cholesterol in our diets (dairy and meat) possibly help the epidemic of heart disease? I do not have the education to say, but I sure as hell have an opinion about it.
Is it possible that our only defense against cancers, our immune system, is weakened by the physical toll we put on our bodies by consuming animal proteins? I can not say. Is the obesity that is plaguing us and our children fueled by the combination of processed foods, saturated fats, cholesterol, and growth hormones we put in our bodies on a daily basis? Could it be possible that diabetics are put on dialysis because their kidneys can no longer tolerate the amount of meat that we try to digest? These are questions I think about every day.
If you have been plagued by some physical malady, be it weight, depression, acne, lethargy, high blood pressure or high cholesterol, insomnia, anxiety, or even PMS, is it worth waiting around for a pill or could investigating your diets effect on these conditions make a difference? From my personal experience, I can say that it did for me. I was dealing with every single one of these conditions, and each and everyone one was alleviated by a change in diet. Just some food for thought.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The Subject of Cravings & Comfort Foods
Cravings are such an interesting topic. A craving for comfort food is something that can cause you to throw all of your convictions and will power out the window without ever giving any thought to consequence. How many diets have we been on where we will do well for 2 or 3 weeks and suddenly start justifying the cheat with little to no regard of what we have accomplished and the damage we were about to do. And then we would do the deed and the diet would cease to exist.
So I'm sure you could imagine the question I get quite frequently is what do I do about cravings for meat, cheese, ice cream, chocolate, etc. Or I am told that I need to let myself eat what I want once and a while. And when I answer back that I don't really have cravings for my old foods and I do eat what I want, it catches a lot of people off guard.
I am not a doctor, dietitian, or nutritionist. However, that will not stop me from postulating a theory. Here goes:
It takes 3 weeks for your taste buds to forget and relearn. That is all, 21 days. My choice to change my eating habits to whole foods that were within a vegan diet was fueled by my desire to feel better and the immediate benefits of doing so. This made 3 weeks turn into months without ever feeling sad, deprived, or wanting. These little beneficial changes that were occurring within my health daily, drove me to learn more, be more active, discover new and interesting ways to eat and cook. The positive effects allowed my mind to embrace the lifestyle change with little to no resistance.
During the first few weeks, I began creating new associations with the food I was eating. Comfort food for me went from mac n' cheese to lentils, quinoa, and avocado (all of which are delicious on their own or mixed together). Breakfast went from scramby eggs to steelcut oats and fruit. I accepted these foods for their place in my life. Food went from a source of comfort to a source of fuel. And then I suddenly realized I had all the tools I needed to comfort myself.
Let me supplement this by saying sometimes your body truly does have nutritional based cravings which should not be ignored. It could be for fat, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, or minerals. These are all important to balanced nutrition and it is our responsibility to ourselves to satisfy those needs by consuming the healthiest, whole food we can get our hands on to maintain balanced nutrition and a stable blood sugar level.
So I'm sure you could imagine the question I get quite frequently is what do I do about cravings for meat, cheese, ice cream, chocolate, etc. Or I am told that I need to let myself eat what I want once and a while. And when I answer back that I don't really have cravings for my old foods and I do eat what I want, it catches a lot of people off guard.
I am not a doctor, dietitian, or nutritionist. However, that will not stop me from postulating a theory. Here goes:
- Cravings for junk and unhealthy foods are relevant to the emotional experiences (personal or social) those foods are linked to. You are not going to crave ice cream, cookies, and fried chicken because your body is crying out for nutrients from them.
It takes 3 weeks for your taste buds to forget and relearn. That is all, 21 days. My choice to change my eating habits to whole foods that were within a vegan diet was fueled by my desire to feel better and the immediate benefits of doing so. This made 3 weeks turn into months without ever feeling sad, deprived, or wanting. These little beneficial changes that were occurring within my health daily, drove me to learn more, be more active, discover new and interesting ways to eat and cook. The positive effects allowed my mind to embrace the lifestyle change with little to no resistance.
During the first few weeks, I began creating new associations with the food I was eating. Comfort food for me went from mac n' cheese to lentils, quinoa, and avocado (all of which are delicious on their own or mixed together). Breakfast went from scramby eggs to steelcut oats and fruit. I accepted these foods for their place in my life. Food went from a source of comfort to a source of fuel. And then I suddenly realized I had all the tools I needed to comfort myself.
Let me supplement this by saying sometimes your body truly does have nutritional based cravings which should not be ignored. It could be for fat, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, or minerals. These are all important to balanced nutrition and it is our responsibility to ourselves to satisfy those needs by consuming the healthiest, whole food we can get our hands on to maintain balanced nutrition and a stable blood sugar level.
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