It’s no secret that food is the fuel of our bodies and eating habits, as a result, have become a difficult topic. Some people love to talk about them and even create entire careers revolving around teaching others about them. Some would rather they’re buried in a six foot hole and never mentioned ever again. I’m in the middle of both camps.
One thing we can all agree upon, is that food keeps us going.
Every person’s tastebuds are tickled by different flavours and dishes. Whether it’s a fresh, crispy and flaky pastry from the oven or a fragrant and creamy risotto, we all have our favourite foods and our cheekiest guilty pleasures. Every country has traditional dishes and unique ingredients that make their food stand out. My mouth’s watering just thinking about it.
But there is also a downside to so much access to information about food. As the world becomes more open and the business of what we put into our bodies more prevalent, I have found it increasingly difficult to know what exactly I should be eating. While most foods will keep me going in the short term, without a balanced and healthy diet, my body eventually says no more.
The problem is, what does a healthy diet look like?
If I’m being totally honest, I don’t have the answer.
There are numerous books, videos, articles, and specialists out there telling you which foods are best for your body. I’ve seen reel after reel with recipe ideas and health hacks aplenty. There is no shortage of advice on the topic. But how do I know which advice is the correct one to follow?
Protein, macronutrients, superfoods, free sugars, processed, preservatives. These are just some of the words that are bounced around by professionals and have meant a lot of researching on my part to understand what and how much of it is needed. Over the last few years, I’ve taken a more active approach to improving my diet as my body becomes less able to sustain the level of junk food I consumed as a teenager. But even so, I know for a fact I haven’t even hit the pinnacle of research around foods and it can feel a little overwhelming and daunting when I want to make myself a healthy dish.
Whenever I cook, I rarely follow a recipe to the letter. After the first attempt, keeping as accurate as I can to the instructions, I tend to alter on my next go around. My approach becomes more haphazard. I know what worked for me and what didn’t. I know what I needed more of and what needed to be reduced. This, to me, is what cooking is all about: experimenting. But when a recipe is designed to be healthy, something always makes me nervous about diverting from it.
The problem with having a range of advice, which is sometimes conflicting, is that it makes the idea of healthy eating more of a challenge than a necessity. You are often left to trudge alone through article after article to make sense of what you have been told.
And there are times when this gets even harder to manage.
When my injuries make it impossible for me to stand long enough to cook, or for me to go downstairs and grab food, those times I have to rely on others. My family are incredibly supportive and helpful, but it’s not always possible to provide truly nutritious or balanced meals when they are working or busy. At times, there is also a conflict in what I consider healthy versus the person providing the food, and the last thing I want is to come across as ungrateful.
This becomes harder when you are not feeling 100% as healthy food is even more important to help your body heal itself. It is very easy to get into a rut of frustration and self-admonishment when you eat all the food that is not good for you because it is sometimes the only option open to you. And while the hit in the moment can feel uplifing, the long term affects are much less positive.
What doesn’t help is that so many of the products that are quick and easy to eat are often the products that have the most addictive additives. Once you’ve had a couple, it is easy to want more and more until you become trapped in a vicious cycle that can leave you feeling so much worse. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, the only one who can break that cycle is the person stuck in it. This puts a lot of pressure on them when there is already so much going on.
You want to do better, but it sometimes feels like the world is conspiring against you.
In these moments, I try to remember that there is only so much I can do and control. I try to be kind to myself because if I’m not then it is even easier to spiral into a place that is harder to come out of. I do my best to offset the bad with healthier and better options where possible until slowly but surely, the unhealthier foods become less of a habit and more of a one off treat. And when I feel stronger, I do my best to reclaim a better diet with it.
My sister once said to me that she loves to see a rainbow on her plate. The more colourful a dish, the better. And it is something I love to implement in my own food. I love adding fruit and veg to make a meal more vibrant. Having a range of ingredients is the easiest way I have found to get all the vitamins and minerals I need in my diet. It’s not always easy and there are times when I have to trick myself, like I’m a toddler, into eating certain foods.
For example, I’ve never liked cherry tomatoes. Something about the way they burst in your mouth when you eat them is a big no go for me. My mum always said “if that’s what they’re doing to your tastebuds, imagine what they do to all the bad bacteria in your body”. Now, while the science probably doesn’t support that statement, as I don’t think tomatoes are a key warrior against bacteria (please correct me if I’m wrong), the sentiment, I believe, still stands. Not everything in life is enjoyable, but sometimes we have to push through what makes us uncomfortable to reap the rewards.
And while my food intake is nowhere near perfect with the odd packet of crisps (giant wotsits are a particular weakness) and a cheeky magnum here and there, I try to be as healthy in my choice of fuel as possible.
Food will always be a difficult subject, especially as more and more information becomes public about the food that we all love to eat. Every person is different and every body needs different foods to fuel them. I make no claim of being a food guru or of possessing the answer to a somewhat answerless question. And I don’t think my relationship with food will ever be clear cut and perfect, but as long as I am willing to keep on working at it, researching advice, and putting my health and body first, that is all I can ask for.
From just A Simple Writer.
