As you already know, Michael and I have been eating whole foods at our house since October. For a comprehensive definition of whole food if you're unfamiliar with the term, please see www.100daysofrealfood.com. We have both been impressed at the changes we have seen in our bodies and in our overall well-being. Let me just share some changes that Michael has experienced. When we got married in June 2010 Michael weighed 243 pounds. We began eating whole foods in October 2011, at which time he weighed about 228. In the 16 months that we had been married, he had lost 15 pounds. Today Michael weighs 207 pounds, a loss of 21 pounds in 5 months. He has gone from a size XL in shirts to a slim fit size L, is down from a 38 to a 34 in pants size, and is in a 42 suit jacket size from a 48. Simply from changing our diet to, well, a simple diet.
I'm not necessarily saying that switching to eating whole foods will make you lose weight. That has just been Michael's experience. I have not lost any weight, but I have maintained my ideal size and the number on the scale has stayed the same.
I say all this because I truly believe that what we put into our bodies affects our minds, bodies, attitudes, and overall health, whether for good or bad. The past 5-6 months have taught me that it is of utmost importance to be intentional about fueling our bodies with real, unprocessed, natural food rather than simply eating what is convenient, easy, or "good." It is crazy to say this, but even my definition of food that tastes "good" has changed. Now don't get me wrong, I still enjoy a warm chocolate brownie or a salty chip with my salsa every now and then. However, I no longer crave things I thought I'd never be able to do without. Diet Coke, for example. I no longer feel the overwhelming impossibility of cooking dinner without using highly processed kitchen staples. Cream of chicken soup, anyone? Velveeta cheese, Ritz crackers, hot dogs, cream cheese, Doritos, cereal (yes, even the "healthy" kind), dinner rolls, and countless other items that I can't think of off the top of my head are all items that I used to buy and use without any thought to how they are made or the ingredients inside of them. Nor did I consider the side effects of putting these things into my body. Now that I have experienced the before and after of such a lifestyle I want to advocate for the adoption of this way of life for others.
That being said, we are anxiously awaiting the opening weekend of our local farmer's market to purchase our fruits, veggies, and eggs. Weekly early morning visits to our farmer's market downtown was one of our favorite things to do together last summer. We'd don our flip flops and sunglasses, grab our fabric bags and a fistful of cash, and spend the morning perusing brightly tented vendors for the freshest seasonal produce for the week. There is nothing better than munching on a handful of off-the-local-vine blueberries or chopping some fresh tomatoes for a salad.
Since we have such a strong love for these types of staples in our kitchen, we have decided to start a small garden of our own. Last summer I tried my hand at growing a few sprigs of basil. This year we are expanding our collection of pots on the front porch to include dill, sweet basil, parsley, tomato, cucumber, banana peppers, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, and garlic. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these little guys will soak up the water and bask in the sun and grow, grow, grow so we can have some food from them this summer!
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