Life should occasionally be shaken up . I love a good routine and the comfort that it provides but there are times to step outside of that with an eye towards betterment. Thus I am here, a few days past my 26th birthday, ready to shake things up. The plan? An all-out battle royale with the surreptitious evils of our world. That's right, I'm talking about processed "food," television, and
Food is a beautiful thing. Since I was a baby there was nothing I loved more than food. My father certainly didn't nickname me "hungry" because of my rabbit-like eating habits. As a result I have fallen into the same track as millions of people out there - the diet track. The roller coaster of weight loss, the hunger pangs, the guilty snacks - it's the same old story. I'm not incredibly overweight by any means, I just struggle with 10-15 lbs of extra weight that I would rather donate to the universe.
Well today I am going beyond trying to lose weight and into the realm of trying to really improve my health. The hope is that this will have the secondary benefit of helping me with those pesky extra pounds. So as of today (yes, I said TODAY) I am adopting certain rules of eating to go away from the overly-processed, preservative-laden, barely-fit-for-human-consumption foods that a person should never have began eating in the first place. There are certain truths to the universe. One important one is "food should rot." I also believe it should rot in a timely manner. I should not have a food product that I can keep for years and it still be edible. As with all rules, I must allow one exception - honey. If honey can survive from the time of pharaohs then I will certainly not hesitate to eat my all-natural honey years after purchase. Alton Brown created food rules for himself. Lists of items that he would eat all the time, eat in moderation, and never eat. In the same such spirit, here are my lists:
Foods for all seasons: Fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, leafy greens, smoothies, fish, seafood, nuts, complex carbohydrates, nut butters, hummus, salsa, guacamole, herbs, seasonings.
Foods in moderation: Salt, dairy, alcohol, coffee, oils, fats.
Foods that will make me burn in hell: Soda, chips, junk food, fast food, processed foods, sweets, desserts, meats, chicken, simple carbohydrates, anything with a long list of ingredients.
Did I mention that this was also a foray into pescaterianism? Which would explain why meat and chicken is in the naughty column. This is a choice that is partly moral and partly health related.
I would also like to point out that I do not mean to follow these three lists for the rest of my life. The plan is to stick to them rigidly until the end of March. Consider it a cleanse of sorts. Then, I would eat the things on the burn in hell list in very, VERY small amounts. Especially chocolate, I don't think I could live my life forsaking all chocolate.
As this post is now gotten out of control, I'll cut it off for now. More to come on the evils I will be seeking to confront. In the words of Micheal, "BATTLE!!!"
