Or at least this is how I would like for it to be...
I've always liked healthy food, and for most of my life I've been a healthy eater. Most, but not all. Over the past probably 4 years or so, it's been fairly consistent. Moving out to Washington from the everything-fried-give-me-another-glass-of-extra-sweet-tea-Tennessee helped quite a bit. There's just an over all healthier culture there, and it makes it easier to eat healthy and be healthy. Even several local coffee shops offer healthier options, using organic, natural ingredients.
My version of healthy has changed quite a bit over the years. Like I said, I've always enjoyed eating healthy foods. I love fruits and veggies, and have no problem eating lots of them. But sometimes in my mind, healthy meant eating low-fat, low-calorie which often led to processed foods. My dear friend Hannah (in the photo with me below) really turned me on to eating healthy and making sure you are putting good things in your body.
I've learned a lot from Hannah about this topic of eating naturally and organically over our college years together. My interest in this increased, and I've tried to be more aware of what I'm putting into my body. When I moved to Colorado, I pretty much went totally organic. Part of it was a conscious decision, and part of it was convenience. There was a mid-size market just down the road from my and Jenn's apartment that was all organic. I loved this little place. I loved the fact that it was local, that it offered really healthy options at a very reasonable price, and that it was kind of small. It wasn't overwhelming to go to the grocery store; I didn't have to walk through aisles of stuff that I didn't want to buy. I took my little reusable sack and filled it up with what I needed for the week, and I was good to go. Fast forward.
I moved back to Tennessee and into my parents place. C'mon don't judge me; it's just until I get married, or maybe even sooner when mine and Joey's house gets finished. I digress. My folks are super sweet and I appreciate them letting me stay with them and eat their food; they always have all kinds of good snacks! My parents eat pretty healthy too when it comes to low-fat and low-cal. They're on the go a LOT and often eat those little Frozen healthy choice meals and fiber one bars. So I was eating the same; but I started noticing that I just wasn't feeling well. I decided to go back to the way I was eating before and after only a couple days felt MUCH better!
So this brought Joey and I into deeper conversation about how far we would and could go with Organics. See, Joey is a chef and loves using fresh food for cooking. Thankfully, we are pretty like minded in this. We want to do things that are good for our body. Joey is even all about home making as much as he can. I came home today in fact to find him researching kombucha, fermentation, and making your own soap. Loved it! We both would love to go 100% organic. Or maybe 99% organic, so we can still occasionally eat things like Raisinettes! But the thing is, it is so expensive. For the most part, my diet is pretty pure and simple food as natural as I can get it. The other things I'm trying to slowly switch to are things like soaps, shampoos, deoderant, toothpaste, etc. Some of these things have already made the transition; others are awaiting.
As far as food goes, this will be much easier and more cost-effective when Joey and I are married and living in our home. We have a huge backyard and the Mr. is planning on growing quite the garden back there for us. I couldn't be more excited!
We're still trying to decide what is do-able, what is live-able, and how to make those transitions. Ideally, at some point we will be all natural in the things that we use.
So, tell me. What are your thoughts on going organic? Do you see it as worth it, or not? How far are you willing to go with it?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Just don't take it too far Tif. You best not come to Christmas and smell bad because of your homemade, organic deodorant LOL.
On a serious note though, I do believe that eating healthier is the best way to go. It is however fairly expensive. Even getting healthier foods at walmart, that aren't organic, are more expensive than a box of Little Debbies. I can't imagine how much it would cost to purchase food from an organic store.
I applaud your efforts though. But don't go off and join the Earth Liberation Front or anything super leftist like that okay.
Luv ya Cuz!
Hahaha! You're right! Eating as fresh - even non-organic - is expensive. If you want to give the organic thing a go for free though Rusty, you should go check out @EarthFare down in Chattanooga. It's on Gunbarrel in the same plaza as Target. Before you go, if you go online, you can get a coupon to do a FREE pantry makeover. There are 5 specific normal non-organic items that you bring in from your pantry - peanut butter, jelly, cereal, soda, and salad dressing, and Earth Fare will replace it FOR FREE with organic items. The items you bring in can be full or they can have only a few tablespoons left. Just go to www.earthfare.com and sign up. as soon as you enter your info, you will be directed to the pantry makeover coupon. There are also some other great resources on the page as well! Give it a shot and let me know what ya think! And hey - I promise that Joey and I won't start stinking! :) Let me know how it goes!
Great tip on the Earth Fare! Adam and I do try to eat healthy and balanced meals of whole grains, lean proteins, fruits and veggies. reBut sometimes I have a hard time getting the veggies in and we add in some convenience foods but they are still the healthier ones like the fiber one bars and whole grain cereals etc. I would love to eat cleaner but sometimes I need my sun chips:) For us we do try to make as many things from scratch as possible and then add a few prepared things in from there. We have switched over to almost totally natural cleaning products which is great.
Post a Comment