I graduated from SUNY Binghamton back in 1988 with an Undergraduate degree in Sociology and a Concentration in Human Services. Somehow, I managed to complete 4 years of higher learning without ever taking a science course. Several years later, my interest in healthy eating was growing and I decided to take “Introduction to Nutrition” at UMASS Boston. No one told me a nutrition class was not about health but about the science behind our food. I was in science phobia mode for much of the semester and don’t really remember learning anything about living a healthy life.
I graduated with a Master’s degree from Tufts University in 1999 with a degree in Occupational Therapy. I loved the idea of helping people recover from injury by engaging in functional activities. Once again though, I failed to realize that I would need to take several science classes to get into the program and a few more to get through it. I have spent the last few years listening to podcasts, reading books and checking out blog posts about health and nutrition. There is so much science involved, and I no longer have science phobia! Yeah me!
Ask 10 people what healthy eating means to them and you will likely get 10 different answers. Do a Google Search on the best diets and you will get a variety of answers that often contradict one another. I was a vegetarian for over 20 years because I thought that was the healthiest diet in the world. A few years ago, I completed my first Whole30 and since then, I include meat into my meals on a regular basis. I like to do a Whole30 once or twice a year and always feel really good during and after it. But it is not designed to be a diet you subscribe to and eat all of the time.
I have learned a lot about health and nutrition from all of my reading. I no longer tune out the science behind the information and get really psyched when I can follow Chris Kresser and his podcast guests “geek out” on the science. I have also learned a lot about myself and what works and doesn’t work for me in terms of eating healthy. For instance, personally, I function better with the increased protein and fat in my current diet along with the decrease in carbohydrates from bread and pasta.
I have learned that sugar and I have a definite love/hate relationship and that I need to be careful about how much I eat. I have thought about what to call my current way of eating and if I had to subscribe to one type of diet, I guess Paleo would be the closest to how I eat. But there is no one paleo diet and everyone has their own foods that they include or exclude.
The biggest lesson I have learned over the last few years is we are all different. What works great for me may not work for you. Being willing to experiment with different foods and different types of diets has left me with as many questions as answers! It is like my curiosity is continuously peaked and never fully satisfied. But that is okay because there is a never-ending supply of interesting blogs, books and podcast to devour on health and nutrition!
One thing I know for sure is that for the vast majority of us – Salad should be the main course. Salad! The more colorful the better. Every salad I make is different from the last one. I like to throw leftover steamed veggies from the night before on my salad. I top it with tuna, chicken, hard boiled eggs or salmon. I have taken to chopping romaine and tossing it over my meal and adding spinach to my smoothies.
Even if I never fully understand the science behind it, I know that increasing our vegetable consumption is an easy first step to improving our health. Keep in mind though, that store bought dressing is filled with cheap unhealthy oil, sugar and sugar substitutes. I haven’t gotten very creative with making my own dressing so I typically top my salad with a drizzle of olive oil and vinegar.
Other posts on this topic include: My Salad is Prettier Than Your’s, and Eat Your Veggies.
Lake Girl
Image by chiara tiberti from Pixabay