How to Not Eat Like a Trucker

Vacation ended for me on Tuesday, and I am so glad to get back to my 100% clean eats.  Yeah, I ate a couple of cheeseburgers, some waffle fries, a few cookies, and some ice cream on vacation, which had me feeling kind of slimy. But, I also packed my ice chest full of berries, clean-eating sandwiches, water, apples, and almonds for snacking and was able to eat pretty well on the road with a little planning and good old-fashioned stubborness.

 I can clearly remember the day I stopped eating fast food. I was in the car, in the Wendy's drive-thru, trying in vain to find something for dinner that wouldn't wreck my nutrition and make me feel gross. It wasn't possible, and I realized, "I could have avoided this if I had just made myself a *&%$ing sandwich."  (Sometimes I think in curse words even though I don't say them out loud.)  From that point forward, I was done with fast food, and I packed my ice chest of sandwiches, little baggies of snacks, and everything I needed to stay fueled on the road. That was about four years ago, and I haven't had fast food since.  Here's how:

1. I pack snacks.  It does take some planning and time, but before I leave on a trip I pack little ziplocks or tupperwares of berries, sliced apples, carrot sticks, raw almonds, etc. to snack on. I don't do this randomly: I think out how many snacks I will need in a day and make sure I have enough. I'll also make some little peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and put some natural peanut butter in a small plastic container that I can use for dipping my apple slices into. I'll also throw in a knife, a fork, and a cutting board just to be safe.

2. I look for restaurants that serve healthy or healthified food. If I have my big cooler with me and access to lots of ice I will go so far as to make salads and pack them with me. But, if not then I rely on some standbys for healthy or "healthified" foods: stuff I can easily modify to make healthy. These include Starbucks (they usually have fresh fruit, the egg white omlette isn't bad, and their oatmeal has saved me a number of times - SKIP the sugary toppings and stick with walnuts and raisins), Panera Bread (they have calorie counts on their menu, their salads are great, and they have fresh fruit), and McAlister's Deli (fresh salads and sandwiches, and a kid's menu that actually includes salad.  Whaaaat?). These are usually easy to find with a smart phone that has a map feature, and if there aren't any nearby, well aren't you glad you packed that cooler? :)

3. I don't consider fast food to be a splurge.  Sometimes people tell me that they "splurge" on fast food and I just shudder.  Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, there are times when I eat something unhealthy just because I am craving it or I want to (the chocolate frozen yogurt with little pieces of peanut butter cups in it wasn't exactly necessary) but I never consider it a splurge or a treat in any way.  Eating junk food is not a treat, it is a diversion, and one that should be taken with caution and a prepared mind.  Please please please don't trick yourself into believing that you deserve to eat junky food! You deserve good, clean, healthy food that will make you feel good!

My road trip was about 80% healthy thanks to planning and a positive attitude that I could do it. You can do it! Next time, I'll focus on keeping the kiddos healthy on the road.  That's a little trickier. :)  Until then, have a wonderful day and as always, get out there and get healthy!

McDonald's doesn't give a crap about your health. But I do.

Today I'm all jazzed up about fast food.  Specifically, the new "healthier" options that are offered by McDonald's.  Please, please, please don't fall for this.  Fast food is rarely, if ever, healthy and always, consistently and without a doubt, cheap food designed for maximum profit.

You deserve better than that.

I had heard recently that McDonald's was selling "oatmeal," in its stores and even saw on Twitter where someone exclaimed that their oatmeal had more sugar than a Snickers bar. I never went to find out if that was true, but then a friend sent me this article that explained the whole story.  Reading it made me angry, then sad, then resigned to the fact that if you want to eat clean and you don't want to just eat fruits, vegetables, and meat you kill on your own, reading ingredients is a way of life.

Luckily, it's easy.  Here's how you do it:

1. Pick up the item you are considering eating.
2. Flip over the package to see the list of ingredients.  Not the food label.  The actual items used to make the product.
3. Look for two main things: the length of the list and the pronouncability of the words. The list should be short, and the words should be actual foods that you would find in your kitchen.
4. Decide whether those are things you want to eat.

You can go crazy trying to decipher what some ingredients are, and that's primarily why I stopped eating processed foods. I have enough crazy in my life!  I keep it simple and eat a lot of real foods: eggs, vegetables, fruits, natural meats, and for grain products I primarily buy from Food For Life and Barbara's Bakery, both of which are found at most grocery stores.

People tell me all the time that they don't have time to eat healthy or figure out what's healthy and what's not. That's insane. It takes absolutely no time and very little energy at all to realize that eating produce and lean meats is healthier than processed foods.  They just don't want to.

And that's fine.  Just don't go around believing that just because a company tells you their product is healthy that it actually is.  Read the ingredients and decide for yourself.

McDonald's doesn't care about your health.  I do. Listen to me instead. :)

Good day!

How to Not Eat Crap

The new USDA Dietary Guidelines have been released, and what a shock, they're advising us to all stop eating so much junk.  Specifically, salt and sugar. I'm sure that next week Taco Bell, McDonald's, and all the others will unveil brand new menu items that are lower in salt and sugar, revealing what we've known all along but didn't want to admit:

It IS possible to eat healthy after all!  Whaaat?  I know, freaky! 

I know that for a lot of people, decreasing salt and sugar in food is scary because it means sacrificing taste.  And in a way, it does.  Food does taste different without salt and sugar. I think it tastes better, but that's probably because I've been doing it for so long that I've forgotten what crappy food tastes like until I eat it and feel sick. It was a serious adjustment at first. Salt was no biggie but sugar...woah. Sugar addiction is no joke and quitting it is HARD.  For real hard. Like, super difficult to the max. I am so not kidding.

But its really important and totally worth it.  Here's how to do it:

Stop eating processed foods.

I know, there should be more there.  There should be some kind of plan, right?  I could make one, but I'd just be fooling you.  The only way to cut your dependance on salt and sugar is to stop eating it.  It will suck really really bad at first.  Then it will be a little less sucky. Then it will become something you're glad you did. And after a few weeks, you will be building your soapbox and preaching on street corners about how you changed your life through clean eating. Or you'll start a blog, whatever.

The point is that the government has it right on this one - we need to eat better and the only way to do that is to eat better.  Here's the good news - your taste buds are like the honor society of your body. They're fast learners and they do their homework every single day!  They'll pick up really fast on the new and improved routine, they'll remember how great they felt when you fed them healthier food, and they'll begin to crave it after just a couple weeks.  So stop doubting them. They're smarter than you think.

Oh, and about those Taco Bell and McDonald's ads telling you about how suddenly their food is so healthy...they're just saying that so you'll buy it. 

Good day!