whole foods

8.04.2014

fridays are sacred at our house. it's "pizza and vino night" and we take it very seriously. andy gets the wine, i get the ingredients, then we meet back at home where we'll each pour a glass to sip on while assembling the pie. it's simple and it's lovely and i get ridiculously excited for it every week.

i guess you could call me a foodie, but i wasn't always this way. i mean, i've always enjoyed good food, but "enjoy" and "good" are both relative terms. 

about seven years ago, i chose to cut animal meat from my diet. i made the change to vegetarianism for various reasons, but one of them was that i was never that big a fan of meat. i have, however,  always been a fan of sweets. so i figured that by cutting out one food group, i would have all these extra calories to spend on another {it says it right there, at the top of the USDA pyramid: fats, oils, and sweets}. i'd eat loads of nutritious veggies throughout the day, but then they'd be totally cancelled out by the ENTIRE pint of ben & jerry's i'd have after dinner. i'm not even exaggerating to be dramatic. do you know how much sugar and how many calories are in one pint? (!!) i used to get away with that kind of diet when i had the metabolism of a twenty-something and was running over 70 miles a week, but if i tried to pull that kind of thing off now, i'd get night sweats and my stomach would make weird noises. why does something SO good have to be SO bad? 

"good" is all about perspective though. if i want immediate gratification, "good" is a pint of ice cream. if i want to get good sleep, not wake up drenched with sweat, and have the energy to play with august after finishing an eight mile run, then "good" is whole foods. 

a healthy diet is that backbone for general wellness so, to get back to basics, i think the best place to start is with nutrition. the times when i've treated my body the best, good food fueled my body not only to do great things, but to look its best too. i want that back. 

now that i have a better understanding of what's worked well in the past, here are the major points i've round up:
  • drink lots of water {there's a whole post worth of reasons to drink more water so: SPOILER ALERT!}
  • eat foods that are as close to their natural form as possible. that means less processed, less refined, and not from a box. a lot of things that are usually sold in packages can be made from scratch. while it takes more time, it tastes SO much better, and you get to choose the quality of the ingredients that go in the recipes. paying the extra cost for organic food is an investment in good health, spend the bucks now to save them on medical bills later.
  • reduce sugar intake. i have a huge sweet tooth and usually end every meal with something sweet. that might be a bit excessive, so i'm trying to limit to myself to one dessert per day, either after lunch or after dinner, but not both. 
i'm not perfect and i don't even want to try to be {that sounds like a lot of work}. i'll continue to have coffee, wine, bread, cheese, chocolate, and even ben & jerry's because i love them. but i also know that too much of any one of those will make me feel horrible. so i am trying to enjoy them in moderation now, savoring them slowly and REALLY taking them in with every sense.

salud!
this post was not sponsored by joel gott, i was just a little too deliberate with the staging of this photo

9 comments:

Ursula said...

Homemade pizza is unbeatable so I can imagine why it's a serious meal in your house. I love the tip of eating food as close to it's natural form as possible. It's the number one health rule in my books, although sometimes it's easier said than done. I used to get away with eating a lot more sweets but now need to be a bit more careful and to be honest, I am starting to think that just because my waist line doesn't reflect the bag of chocolate covered almonds I just ate, my internal organs and whatnot are not too happy it.


Last comment! Is disquis new on your site? How'd you set it up? I'm hoping to make the switch :)

Brikena said...

your fridays sound amazing. when Yll and I were living in Greece this past year... our whole weekend was pizza and wine (sometimes even beer haha)
i actually do all of those things.. and dont like sweets at all.. but if there is a bag of chips infront of me, i will devour it in one second lol.

xo, Brikena
www.jarofjoy.blogspot.com

Hannah Smith | fox and willow said...

that pie looks delish! also, completely agree about the importance of what we fuel our bodies with!

Petra said...

I'm with you. I can feel the difference from one day to the next if I don't watch my diet. my moods are also directly related to what and how much I eat (I tend to forget eating when I'm working... not good). in my experience, eating fresh and whole foods is also relatively easy, at least in Europe and Asia, not sure about the U.S., and I'm a bit tired of all the excuses people use to justify their poor eating habits.

lucinda said...

this pizza is one of our favorite: bbq sauce, red onions, rosemary, and mozzarella. it's AH-mazing!

lucinda said...

totally! it's funny how careful we are about what we feed our children but then when it comes to ourselves, we'll cut corners or skimp out. it's not until i see how much energy august has or how happy he is after a good meal that i realize, "oh yeah! i'd be that way too if i just ate as well!" hahaha!

lucinda said...

oh absolutely! my mood is definitely affected by what or how much i eat. my husband knows to be ware of a "hangry" lucinda. ;)

gillian claire said...

Just reading this post is making me want to be healthier! These pictures are fabulous. I love your "disclaimer" under the wine photo - heehee :)

Amy S. said...

I love this... It seems that starting with mostly whole foods is a really big key to an overall healthier lifestyle.
I didn't realize you were vegetarian though! It's something I've considered, because I'm not a big meat eater myself. I love most fruits and veggies (onions most of all... I'm drooling over that pizza!) but I'm pretty squeamish when it comes to meat.

 

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