Normal People Steps to Better Health: Week 1

I'm in my third week of Nutrition School.  I am really enjoying the material and it is interesting to hear people with stories like mine.  I feel I have learned so much already and have so much I have yet to learn.  So, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be in this program.

I am not a foodie, a health nut, a gym rat or an activist.  I am just a normal, Nebraska mom who wants my family to be healthy. But, after what I went through, I feel I can never be normal again.

I still don't have a complete hold on it. But, I do know that the changes that we have made, have made my family healthier. We are sick less - WAY less.  I know there is something to getting off the system and cycle of conventional foods and medicine.

I know first hand it can be overwhelming to think about where to start.  My instinct, once I make a decision, is to make broad sweeping changes.  But the world I live in doesn't always support that since I live in a small town in a rural area of Nebraska.

I got to a point every time I went into a local grocery store that I would panic after reading several labels. I would get upset that there was nothing there I could buy to feed my family and then mourn that I was making life more difficult for myself.  It was frustrating. And when this happens to normal people, they tend to lose steam or feel there are too many road blocks.  They give up even though they do want to make good decisions on eating healthier.

So, the next logical step is to go to a specialty grocery store or health food store.  In my world, that is at least a 45-70 mile drive depending on what it is I am looking for.  This can be overwhelming, too.  There are so many things on the shelves that normal people have never even heard of.  And, as Joshua Rosenthal put it during a recent lecture, "Going into a health food market for the first time is like walking into a cult."  People are upbeat, extremely helpful and enthusiastic and the customers are talking about crazy things like spirulina and openly discussing their bowel movements or another topic best reserved for private discussion.

Maybe kind of like this:

I'm devoting this series on what "normal" people can do to make simple changes each week.  And please, let's have a bit of humor.  I use the word "normal"  for people who don't want to learn another language to have to decipher it all.  And also, for busy people who need simple small steps to incorporate into today's fast paced lives, or it just isn't going to happen.  And while I do use some of the products the crunchy mom in the video talks about, it was quite a while before it was mainstream in my home. 

For this week, I give you two small simple steps:

1.) Prepare more meals at home.
2.) I challenge you to make more vegetables and try a variety of vegetables.

Most of us aren't getting enough vegetable and this is a good time of year to experiment with the variety that is available.  So, add a salad to your next meal or slice up some tomatoes or even open a can of olives.  Just add more veggies to start, because chances are good you are not getting enough.

If you're feeling adventurous, find a farmer's market.  If you live in a place like me, only hippie liberals would be looking for a "farmer's market." (i.e. There are no farmer's markets.)  So, I stop at the side of the road often this year at tents, stands and pick up trucks.  Organic is best, but I don't always have that option and you can rinse your food.  If it's too cost prohibitive to travel just to spend more, local, fresh, frozen or canned will do just fine to get started. 

Ok, now go.  Did you find this post helpful?  Let me know in the comments below!

Move on to Week 2 and step out of the kitchen for a moment.