Our world has become overrun with just about any product you can think of. From sweet delights to cheese covered goodness and lets not forget anything deep fried is usually devour worthy. So it’s not surprising a lot of us suffer from chronic illnesses, obesity and downright unhealthy habits. Lets take myself for instance… I’ve never been the skinniest girl in group but I was healthy & active. OK OK that was high school and college where it was far easier to stay in shape & my mother was regulating how much sugar/fat my sister and I ate.
Add 10 years… the older you get the easier it is to gain weight. Your body is getting older, more things can go wrong with it and here we are piling alcohol, fatty foods and chemicals into it. If you really get down to the core of it, we are continually putting chemicals that we can not even pronounce into our bodies. It’s not even about the weight (which is bad), it’s about not taking care of the only body we have.
I hate diets and I hate New Year Resolutions so this is NOT one. However I have made a decision to dedicate 2015 and beyond to loving my body. To me that means accepting the flaws I love to rag on, because we really all are beautiful creatures in whatever way the universe made us, remembering to spread love and light to those around me, and the biggest one… trying to remove processed crap from my diet. For me this is a mix of Paleo, whole foods & “cheats” that still contain beautiful REAL food. Do I want a burger sometimes? YES. Will I get it from McDonalds? NO. 
One of my friends was freaked out because she thinks I’ll never eat carbs again. True I have limited them quite a bit but trust me I will eat them sometimes. Bread isn’t the devil, yes maybe some people can’t process it completely but the bread itself isn’t the worst thing. An example I think works best was from when I visited France. There were bakeries, cheese shops, butcher shops and markets. When you walked into the bakery to buy that delicious baguette do you think the baker in the back was adding in ingredients to increase shelf life? Go to Safeway and pick up a loaf of WonderBread, if you look at the ingredients you’ll find 30+ ingredients on the label. WHAT? If I made bread from scratch it would have less than 7. THIS is what I’m talking about. It’s not always about the calories or the fat. If that label has something you can’t pronounce or has over 10 ingredients you need to put that thing back.
Ok end rant. Now living your life this way is getting easier because small Mom & Pop shops, Trader Joe’s, and even big name grocery stores carry items that work. It’s easier for me also because I live in California, where lets face it we are very into our food. So if you’re like me and realizing that you need to make a change come visit this page more. I’ll be posting where to find certain brands, best places to eat out and local shops that can and will provide you with healthy alternatives.
For more inspiration and recipes you can follow my Pinterest board on the topic as well!
– The Reportery
thereportery.com 