Let’s face it, food is a paradox. There are dozens of different diets out there, each claiming to be the best for us – paleo, keto, vegan, carnivore, Weight Watchers, vegetarian, Atkins, gluten-free, grapefruit, Soylent, low-fat, South Beach, raw fruit, juice cleanses, SlimFast – the list goes on and on…how can we possibly know what’s right? This deluge of diets is utterly overwhelming, the research behind them conflicting, and the followers of them often cult-like in their adamance that x, y or z is the only way to eat. We’ve both found ourselves asking the same question – where is the joy in this?
If you follow a plant-based diet for your health, someone will always have a story of their grandmother who ate bacon and smoked cigarettes every day and lived to the ripe old age of 90-something without any health issues.
Or the friend of a friend who ran marathons, ate super clean and was the picture of health, and dropped dead of a heart attack at 45.
We can’t control our genetics, or what fate has in store for us, but we can be conscious of how we choose to fuel our bodies. Where are the stories of individuals who live life in balance, making healthy choices and yet indulging when it’s about more than just nutrition? The people who eat for the sheer joy of it, without compromising their health on a regular basis?
We chose to focus on food in February because we aspire to be one of these enlightened individuals. We want to eat to nourish ourselves so we live long, vibrant lives, without starving ourselves of the joy that comes from eating pizza with your friends on a Friday night, or a slice of Grandma’s chocolate cake that she made just for you. What joy is there in living a long life if you are constantly making yourself miserable over the battle of “Should I or shouldn’t I?” Being at peace with our choices would be a gift indeed, and it is a goal we’ve deemed worthy of pursuit this month and beyond.
To find joy in the daily rhythms of life is to know that making good choices sets a solid foundation for what’s ahead….and we are both still learning…there is joy in that, too.
In our next blog we will share what we are doing to move in the right direction – the books we’re reading, the foods we’re eating, and the choices we’re making on our journey to more joy and overall health, both physical and mental.
The Joyful Gingers 