The Forgotten Four-Letter Word of American Nutrition
Hello, my friends! I hope you are well. I am sure you might be scratching you head and wondering why I would promote such a “vulgar” title to today’s blog post. In truth, there is no way around it . . . I had to use it! America MADE me do it! As you know, I am not about excuse making, but when it came to naming this blog post, I had to face the facts and jot it down!
What am I speaking of? What is the forgotten four letter word of American nutrition? I hope you are ready for this. Please sit down for just a moment and get ready to hear one of the most vulgar, profane, and outrageous words regarding our own American nutrition. This word might take you off guard, so please make sure that your children are not in the room, and please be ready to put out the fires in your ears that this word will likely start. Drum roll please! The forgotten four-letter word of American Nutrition is . . . PREPARATION!
Quick! Cover little Jonny’s ears! We can’t have him hear such language! Coming back to reality, let’s put this into perspective. We live in a culture that is fast paced and has little time for food preparation. To compensate for this, capitalistic America has come to our rescue with fast food and processed food that is cheap, quick, and relatively inexpensive. If we were to take a snapshot of our day, we get up, go to work (or get the kids ready and get into “mommy mode”), and fly by the seat of our pants until our head hits the pillow.
Rarely do we actually take time to prepare our foods because it takes so much time. As the saying goes, “we worship at the altar of convenience and offer our health as the sacrificial lamb.” Don’t believe me? Then answer me this question: Why are natural whole and organic foods so much more expensive than the cheaper processed and fast foods? The answer is not more complicated than the simple economical law of supply and demand.
As Americans, we live in a constant state of irony. We KNOW what healthy foods are. We KNOW that we should consume them. We KNOW the consequences of consuming junk/processed food, but yet we persist. Why? The number one stated reason in America is lack of time. In reality, it is not a lack of time but rather a lack of preparation. We simply do not take the time to prepare our foods. Cooking, steaming, cutting, and packing have become a distant past time in our nutritional way of life.
Yet, if we expect to live a long, healthy, and nutritious life, we absolutely must take the necessary time to prepare our foods. This normally requires three practices applied with consistency:
1-Get to the grocery store on a weekly basis!
It is wise to make this the same day each and every week so that you become habitual and routine about it!
2-Pre-Prep Your Food
When you bring your food back from the grocery store, pre-prepare your food! For example, if you bought some veggies, wash them off, cut them up, and get them ready to be bagged up for the week! If you plan on having fish for some of your lunches throughout the week, you can get it cooked up and then put into the freezer until you are ready to use it. Bag up some nuts, thaw out some chicken, and make a big batch of rice or whatever else you have to do so that you have food on tap for the week! In essence, you are stalking your fridge and your pantry with clean, natural foods, and making sure that they are available to eat throughout the week so that you are not tempted to stop on the “golden arches” when you pass them!
3-Daily Prep
In addition to your pre-prep, you will also need about 15 minutes a day (yes, you can manage that) for getting your food ready for the next day. Say, for example, that your job has you in an office for the majority of the day. In this case, you would need to have something to transport your food to the office, such as a cooler. The rest should be easy as you pack it up with your pre-prepped food from step #2.I know that this sounds like a lot of time, and, to be sure, it will take some getting used to, but I can tell you without hesitation that those who don’t plan to eat healthy will fail every time. Period! I know this sounds harsh, but it is true. So, my challenge to you is to take the necessary time in your life to prepare
your food!
Life is good!
Griff