by: Allie Boudreau
It’s May, folks! The grass is green, the air is warm, and summer will be here before we know it. I have received many questions over the past couple months about protein shakes and other liquid forms of nutrition. I recently became inspired to write about the importance of eating real foods. Now let me first start off by saying this is not a paleo or any other fad diet rant. This is simply shining a light on the issue at hand.
In the year 2017 there are a countless number of “foods” that we can choose to consume. Grocery stores are stocked full of the latest, greatest, and tastiest items. However, my personal definition of food does not include 80% of what I see in these stores.
When people ask me what diet I follow, I simply say “if you can find it in nature, then I eat it”. Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, natural grains, beans, and spices/herbs are just some that come to mind. A typical set of meals for me looks like this (*Note: I eat more often with training and coaching)….
1. Ezekiel bread PBJ with natural PB and homemade jelly
2. Overnight oats (oats, banana, chia seeds, cinnamon, milk)
3. Pulled chicken, fingerling potatoes, broccoli
4. Grass fed beef, eggs, zucchini, tomatoes
Can you find All-Natural Snyder’s Pretzels in nature? No. Can you find Gatorade Recovery Shakes in nature? Negative. But you may say, “it’s natural so it must be okay!” or “it has no sugar and lots of fiber!”
Think about the cavemen. They did not have anything close to the technology and machinery that we have today to eat and survive. Somehow they managed to thrive without Halo Top ice cream or Luna bars. Apply what they did to your own lives and see how your body feels. I have no doubt that you will feel more energized, your skin clearer, your digestion regular, and you may even lose a couple lbs of excess body fat.
Drop the morning protein shake and instead make a natural shake of your own with milk, greens, fresh fruits, and nut butter. Instead of grabbing a bar out the door, prepare easy snacks with fresh vegetables and fruits. With the summer almost here, plan to start a garden! Might be a cool thing to do with the kids and to actually “hand-pick” the things you eat on a daily basis. And remember……
“You are what you eat – and perhaps surprisingly, you also are what your ancestors ate”