How I (mostly) Eat

This is a follow-up post from On Food, Exercise, and Knowing God. Read the first post to get the background to what I discuss in this post.
This is the post where I will talk about my continuing evolution from this:

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To this:

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I seriously have seen the gamut as far as diets and calorie counting go. To be honest, though, nothing has changed me like becoming a nurse. And I'm not talking about all the classroom mumbo jumbo they shoved down my throat (don't get me wrong, I loved that stuff too). I'm talking about watching people have heart attacks and taking care of young (and I mean YOUNG) patients with every ache and pain in the book and seeing people decide that they have no control over their health and well being. 

I truly believe we are seeing a generation succumb to preventable diseases (like heart disease, diabetes, and, in a lot of cases, cancer), simply because many individuals believe bad health is something that happens to them. "Well, the doctor says I have {fill in the blank}, so I guess I have to take this pill now." Believe me, I'm not saying that modern medicine is bad (and many conditions due necessitate medication). God has allowed us to live in an era of truly brilliant minds and incredible science. It would be stupid to completely ignore or abandon such things. But seriously? (And I am saying this to myself too.) Let's start being more proactive about our health!

My brother's argument is, "I'm not going to live forever anyway, so I might as well live it up now." I understand...I really do. These bodies are nothing but tents, and these tents WILL collapse. Death is inevitable. But I don't believe that God intended for us to live this life in misery, suffering from maladies that can be prevented by the way we eat. In short, even if I only live for a few years, I don't want to be miserable that whole time if I can help it.

So in the past several months, I have slowly been learning about food. Where does food come from? What process does it go through from tree or field or plant to the table? Will I really become protein-starved if I don't eat meat? How does what we eat contribute to the diseases and conditions we suffer with on a daily basis? I have asked so many questions, and found {a few} answers. My goal has changed. A good friend and I were recently talking about food and dieting...she couldn't have said it better: (paraphrasing) "I don't want my children to remember me as always being on a diet because I am never satisfied with how I look. I want to teach them what it looks like to be healthy."

Do I care how I look? Yes. {Um, doesn't everyone, to some extent?}  But more than anything, I want to feel good...I want to be healthy. Believe me, I am by no means perfect. Ahem. Just last night I consumed an obscene amount of chocolate. What can I say? I'm human! = D  {And I might add that I felt miserable when I woke up this morning}

That being said, here is what I have found works best for me:

~I no longer eat meat (my body feels and functions better without it). ~I try to limit my consumption of other animal products (dairy and eggs). ~I try to avoid processed foods as much as possible.  ~I try to make veggies and fruit the main substance of my diet. {I have become a big fan of the farmer's market. No kidding. It makes me giddy inside.} ~Because I really could stand to lose some weight (speaking purely from a health standpoint), I do try to monitor my total calorie consumption.

Sound crazy? Yeah, I get it. I would have thought it was crazy even 2 years ago. But when I follow these basic principles, I feel like the best version of me. And to be honest, I fall into various levels of MISERY when I don't follow these principles. Although I won't elaborate on specifics (you should thank me), my body really does function better when I am consuming a whole foods, plant based, meatless diet. 

Just in case anyone is interested in knowing more about what those specific guidelines mean and how I settled on them...Don't worry ; ) I will elaborate in the next few days. I may even share some recipes, as it seems like the most common reaction people have to what I just shared with you is Dear heavens, child, what CAN you eat?!?! Hopefully I won't bore you ; ) Any questions? What have you found to work best for you?