Pay Up for Your Food

Picture of my grocery cart on 1-24-09

 

"Penny-Wise, Pound-Foolish"

It's a cliche but it's true - the human body is an amazing feat of engineering. It's made up of complicated systems, from vision to vascular, and it works remarkably effectively. It can absorb years (even decades) of abuse, and it has the ability to heal itself. But like any machine (think of your car), once one system starts to fail, other parts begin to fail too.  

It only takes four things to keep your body running - food, water, exercise and sleep. The better quality the inputs, the healthier you will be. Don't scrimp! It's like a car - if you cut the gas with cheap filler, it will save you money in the short run, but you are going to muck up the engine  and spend a lot of money fixing it - and in the end you're cutting the life of the car short anyway. The answer is simple. To run the best you can, eat high-quality food and exercise. It might seem cheaper and easier to fuel up at McDonald's on the dollar menu, but you are paying for it with your body. For those of you who are sick (with a cold, diabetes, a bad back, cancer, bad luck), you need to treat yourself well. You probably feel like your body has turned on you. It's the illness. Recruit your body as an ally. Feed it a consistent high-quality diet. Your body can amaze you, even though your illness is pissing you off. 

What to eat

Knowing what to eat is simple. You should eat high-quality, clean food. These are unprocessed "whole foods". Food that has not been refined - whole grains, fruit, vegetables, and meats in their natural state. If there is a food label (like on a jar of honey), you will only see a few non-chemical ingredients. In fact, the best foods have no labels (when is the last time you saw broccoli with a label on it?).

Eating at home

Eating healthy will take some work on your part. I recommend that you prepare most of your food at home and eat out less. That way you know exactly what goes in your food. This means that you will spend time in the grocery store. It's best to plan out your week's meals, and go to the store prepared with a list (saving you time and money). When you're at the store.

1. Shop the outside aisles. This is where most of the whole foods are - produce, meat, dairy - and where the majority of your food should come. The inside aisles are where the packaged, processed goods are. Stay away from the chips, boxed meals and processed crap. 
2. Look at the food label. Do not buy things with ingredients you can't pronounce and hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils. Put back anything that has sugar as one of the first three ingredients. Remember, fewer ingredients are better.
3. Talk to the person at the counter. They will know what the freshest seafoods and meats are.
4. Buy whole grains. Brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat bread. I love pasta, and after searching far and wide for a whole grain pasta, the only one I that I liked (even more than regular) was Whole Foods whole wheat spaghetti.
5. If it's fried, put it down. Stay away from fried foods, whether it's chips, chicken, or fries. 

Eating at restaurants

If you're eating out, be mindful of what you order. Treat yourself, but be moderate. Don't eat fried foods. Do a little research beforehand - look at the menu and determine what the healthiest options are, then feel free to ask your server questions when you get there. And don't feel compelled to polish your plate - you can always take home a doggie bag.

For pre-restaurant research, find comparable items at this great restaurant-specific guide, or by fast food type.If you have an iPhone, you must download the Restaurant Nutrition app - you will have nutritional information at your fingertips.

Buy the highest-quality food you can afford

Always go for whole foods. If you prepare meals at home, you will save more money than you will eating out. As you shop, you will notice that there are foods that are labeled organic, and these are more expensive than the conventional foods.  

Organic foods have been grown without chemicals. They are more expensive because:

1. It takes more labor to grow them. Growers can't use pesticides on the produce, and they can't use hormones or antibiotics on the animals.  That means they have to find alternatives which aren't as efficient as chemicals (which is why farmers used chemicals to begin with - they could produce more with less resources).
2. It takes longer to grow the food. Without using supplemental growth hormones, it takes ~20-24 months to grow beef cattle instead of ~16 months. That means the organic cow is taking up more rent, food and care than the unorganic cow. Same for veggies and other animals. 
3. They don't last as long. They aren't pumped full with preservatives so they have a shorter shelf life.
4. It's usually smaller scale. Many organic farmers are smaller operations than the large corporate farms, and they just don't have as much volume. It costs more to manufacture on a smaller scale.  

Now, if you're buying and eating whole foods, you are doing great. You don't need to buy all-organic. Buy what you can afford. But don't scrimp on yourself. If you're saving money on your food to fund a vacation, you are not really saving. Your body is taking the toll. For me, it's worth it to buy organic because 1) I don't like to have artificial things in my body (food or plastic surgery), and 2) it's better for the environment. I believe that supporting sustainable farming is just as effective as giving a donation to an environmental group. When I tally it up, I spend an extra $10 a week on buying organic (for a single person). That's the same as a movie ticket, taking my lunch to work twice a week or cutting out one restaurant meal a month. I could save the money for clothes, but I'd rather be healthy and look great in my current clothes than look unhealthy and chunky in new designer duds. However, if I lost my job tomorrow, you bet I would be buying and eating the nonorganic stuff without any second thoughts.

What I ate today: 1 slice banana bread, 1 coffee, 1 navel orange, 2/3 c. brown rice, salmon, spinach, shitake mushrooms, 6 squares dark chocolate, 2 clementines, 1 apple, 1 chip (bad), blackberry yogurt, roasted vegetables and pasta, 6 roasted brussel sprouts, hot chocolate, almonds, 50 oz water, 1 multivitamin

 

Exercies: None