When It Becomes Time to Re-Evaluate Your Eating Habits

When It Becomes Time to Re-Evaluate Your Eating Habits

“Youth has no age”– Pablo Picasso

For a 34 year-old, I consider myself to be fairly bright.  I try to keep up with current events, fashion, and what’s “trending” in the land of pop culture.  But nothing cuts me down faster these days than spending 15 minutes on Facebook.  Paleo, clean eating, inflammatory detox, gluten-free, juice fast.  I could go on, but it’s important that you keep reading.  My first reaction is to laugh at these often overused terms.  After all, people have been eating bread and corn for hundreds of years.  I’m pretty certain my Mom kept me alive on pancakes and apple juice for the first 5 years of my life.  And look at me, I turned out just fine.  Nice try health food marketers, but I wasn’t born yesterday.  But that’s just it.

I was born 34 years ago, and I’m not getting any younger.  In fact, I’ve felt noticeably older this year, mentally and physically.  Could it be the fact that I now have 2 kids thrown into the mix?  I’m sure that’s part of it, but It’s not the only factor.

Looking back on 2014, I’m forced to come to the harsh reality that I haven’t taken the best care of my body this past year.  Too many breakfasts have consisted of Diet Mountain Dew and the half-eaten Eggo waffle that my 5-year old left on her plate.  Lunch often consisted of coffee, and my exercise for the day was folding 4 loads of laundry.  Now, while I will say that is a valid workout, I consistently made excuses as to why my exercise routine rarely went beyond the daily chore list.  And now, all of a sudden, I’m feeling the repercussions. I get headaches now.  I never used to get headaches.  I wake up feeling exhausted more than I do energized, and I still don’t feel completely comfortable wearing my skinny jeans without a tunic.  Let’s be real ladies, the tunic has saved us all at one point or another, but it was never intended to be a staple.

So today, and tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, god willing…I’m taking back my body and fueling it with clean foods.  Kale, avocado, broccoli, cabbage, even (gulp) beets. What it all comes down to, is that I want to feel and look as good as 34 can and should.  Now, I’m not going to lie.  I will never fully be able to give up hot fudge malts and a medium rare filet.  Be it a blessing or a curse, I’m a self proclaimed “foodie,” and I too often put taste ahead of nutrition.  But thanks to all of the blogs and media shedding a new light on the importance of clean eating, I’m going to make a concerted effort in 2015 to put my health first and taste buds second.  (But hopefully that won’t always have to be the case!) Some of you may try to convince me that all of this talk of clean eating and detox diets is just a trend, but I’m not giving into that notion.  Not this time.  After all, I wasn’t born yesterday.

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-Susan Madden, Member, Mom, and Guest Blogger