My food Philosophy

The other day, I was emailing with an accountant who works in my company. She offices in another state, and we work together daily, and through our emailing, we have struck up a friendship. It is funny, because I only know her name, I have no idea what she looks like, and I have only spoken to her on the phone maybe 5 times. We do all of our work via email. And we email a lot. The past 3 weeks, we have been emailing more than usual. It has been fun to get to know her, but it is also funny how different she is from me. We somehow got on the subject of food, and she told me for dinner she had 3 packs of string cheese, and some oreos. Her boyfriend came over, saw all the wrappers, and made her eat some cereal. Then she told me how much she loved Taco Bell. I decided right then and there she needed help. I ended up typing a really long email, and after I read it, I realized that is was my food philosophy. This is my view of food:


First, if I eat meat, it will be organic.



Second, I am trying to cut out the processed foods from my diet. For example, I like mashed potatoes. I used to go to the store, buy the box of potato flakes, put it on the stove, add some milk, and enjoy. Now, I buy 2 potatoes from the produce section, boil them, and make them from scratch. I does take a bit longer, but I am eating fewer chemicals, it is cheaper, and I feel better knowing exactly what is in my food.


Third, I am trying to cut out meat. I currently go 2 or 3 days a week without meat. I like how I feel and I like that I am doing something good for my body, and my budget.


Fourth, 80% of the food in my basket is fresh produce rather than boxes. That makes me feel good.


Fifth, when I look at the food I eat, I try to figure out if that piece of food could somehow reproduce. If I dug a hole, and put in a powdered donut or some mentos, would they grow into a plant? No. But, if I dug a hole and put the seeds from my apple into the ground, it would (technically) grow into a tree that could produce more apples.


Finally, I realized that food is fuel, and I want to feel good. I don't want to eat food that weighs me down, or makes me tired. I want the food I eat to give me energy to do all the things I love to do.



I fail at this all the time. As I wrote here, I ate way too much junk food. I do not have any training in food. I am not a master in the kitchen like Denise. But, I am learning and trying, and I like where this discovery is taking me.