After winter, there is spring. After spring - if you are lucky enough to get one - there is summer. But really, the spring should be renamed into "diet" season.
Have you noticed how people get obsessed about their diet when the spring begins? Oh yes, because spring is a promise of the summer - a step closer to the short skirts, tank tops but most importantly - bikini time!
Now, the "diet" should really be called "weight management" because we have been misusing the word "diet" all along. Diet is the sum of food consumed. So when you are "going on a diet", you are really choosing a particular way of eating (or worse, not!) particular foods. By eliminating or reducing some, by augmenting others. And that's weight management. Yes, that's every woman's spring obsession. Every woman's but mine. Because let's be honest - what a frustrating world is that!!!
Let me assure you: No, I don't have a "perfect" body. But define perfect for me please and you will see that everybody's vision of perfect is very different. And so I have learned to appreciate mine the way it is. (Don't get me wrong - I'm still a girl and so I have my "bad body" days too!) I'm 35 years old, I'm 178cm tall and I weigh 64kg. My shoe size is 39, my ring size is 50, my wrists are rather slender... If you see what I mean! ;) I love to cook and I love to eat. I eat everything because everything gives me pleasure and satisfaction. Well, maybe everything except for raw oysters. And believe me, I gave them at least 5 second chances before I gave up on them completely. I don't drink alcohol, I don't smoke, I try to sleep as much as possible, I laugh and I love (you, life, this planet - you name it!). I am going to give myself a good conscience by saying that I walk (fast) a lot, I ride my bike when the weather's good, I take the stairs instead of the elevator. I do NOT believe in diets, I do not believe in miracle supplements nor do I believe the promises of the creams. But back to the satisfaction. For me it's physical, mental, spiritual, creative, it's very emotional. I eat various. I eat little bit of everything, meat and fish included. My apologies to my vegetarian and vegan friends. I eat chocolate and ice cream too because they are my drug and let's put it out there - I would be just too perfect if I didn't have a vice of my own, right?!
There are lots of different diets out there. There is calorie count diet. Pure protein diet. Low carbohydrate. Low fat. Speed diet. Fork diet. Bio diet. ABCD diet. And many more. Oh, and there is the famous "detox" too. Let's not forget the supplements that promise a miracle in 21 days AND the magical creams that melt your fat and cellulite in only 10 nights!!!
Sincerely, I admire those who understand fully all of the terms and food groups because I get very confused about it. I am curious (as you all know) and so I read a lot, I do research, I ask, and I'm a beauty therapist on the top of it too. But I still don't get it completely. Maybe it's because I never felt I needed to follow a trend instead of my intuition. Nutrition is a passionate subject to study but Oh my, could it be any more complicated? I've been hearing a lot "go seasonal" lately. Yes. But how do I know what is of the season? How come I don't know spontaneously such a basic thing. Because for as long as I can remember, everything is available all the time! You feel like eating strawberries in the middle of winter? No problem, there is always THAT shop you can find them in. Exemples are extensive. The concept of eating in season disappeared with the food supply and transport possibilities. To eat seasonal is fundamental and important because the body needs and craves certain foods depending on the time of year. And so when I'm confused due to the visual influence of the fruit and veggie display, I search again for the answers. There is no question - fresh is best.
As I read through some of the books that talk about healthy diets and clean foods, I am amazed by the depth of my feelings and the way the ideas seem to make perfect sense. As if I already knew what it is all about. Maybe that's what intuition is about. Food is indeed the key to lasting wellbeing. Food has definitely impact on our health. Tomatoes and cabbage can fight against the cancer. Garlic can lower blood pressure. Apple skin and onions can reduce the risk of heart attack. Food has an amazing power to heal. Remember the satisfaction I have talked about earlier on? Well, it largely depends on what you put into your body.
For many of us with busy lives and pressing schedules (believe me, I know what I'm talking about! and let me ask you - what's the RUSH all about???), what we put in are convenience foods which require the least amount of preparation and cooking. But are they healthy? I think not. And I have NEVER been a fan of convenience foods.
It appears that this all has begun about 100 years ago or so. It is kind of scary to see how different were the diets of our ancestors from our own diets today. Before massive urbanization led us to move far away from farm-fresh, natural foods (and pushed us inevitably toward modern, processed foods) our ancestors generally ate from the land and their immediate surroundings, benefiting from fresh and mostly organic produce.
When I was growing up, my parents had a garden. Or let's say (if I may), we had a garden. Since I labored in it too, along with my sisters. Back then, it was very uncool for us (the kids) to "waste" our precious time laboring the earth, planting plants and seeds, getting rid of the bad weeds and harvesting the fruits and veggies. Instead of going to the lake (that is) with our very cool friends, who did NOT have to labor in any garden. But there was more to it. After harvesting what the earth so generously gave us, we couldn't let it go to waste. And so instead, we would make all sorts of jams, we would make our own strawberry syrup, ketchup, we would dry the beans for colder season, we would put the peaches into a pot and save it for a fruit desert with whipped cream (yes yes, because nobody was obsessed with the non fat cream then!) during winter. We would pickle the gherkins. Oh my G, those sweet and sour home made gherkins! My mum would put all aromatic herbs into small plastic bags (that was before she became the Tupperware queen and the bad plastic turned into good plastic!) and we would have them all year through. What a bliss. I would go back in a heartbeat. Faster than an eye can blink. Those were some awesome times. Thank you mum, thank you dad.
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