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MEDIA
04.09.2008
BY ANNE
 What I want: a manual. A list of instructions on how to live a healthy life and take care of myself. Actually, what I want is someone to come to my house every day and walk me through each and every step, prodding me when I lag and presenting me with healthy meals, and the floss, and the glasses of water, and my running shoes, and et cetera. Not because I'm lazy--though I am, certainly--but because I am always afraid of doing everything wrong. Jane Clarke, in Bodyfoods for Busy People, makes me feel like I've been doing everything wrong, but that there is hope for me. So far, in the first half of the book, we've got a list of ten vital things to do in order to change your life and turn your health around--the principals of healthy eating. Top ten body-nourishing tips, she calls them. Each of these principals are extremely basic--drink water, eat vegetables and fruit, whole grains, avoid salt, avoid too much caffeine, etc. Then each are broken down in individual chapters. Here's how you fit grains in. Here are some recipes. Protein-rich foods are important! Here are some, for vegetarians and meat eaters alike! And a recipe. And so on. So basic, but hitting the fundamental core of insecurity in me and filling it up. Tell me what I need to do, and then tell me how to do it, exactly. I can follow instructions, especially ones that are so imminently practical and reasonable-sounding. Maybe it is because she is British. The British can strike that Yes, Mary Poppins, whatever you say, ma'am nerve. And Jane Clarke can make me feel like ten principals of living well are enough to change my life. What do you think? Can ten extremely basic principals of healthy living change your life? Is Clarke deliberately feeding into the anxiety of people like me, born with a common-sense deficit and who are afraid of doing things wrong? Do you wish we had come with user's manuals? What are your principals of healthy living? Tell me! 3 CommentsLeave a comment |
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I do wish that life came with an easy-to-follow instruction book, but since it didn't, here are my principals of healthful living. (And they are very boring, but they do work) 1. Get enough sleep. 2. Eat real, identifiable food, avoid processed and over-sugared junk - make it lean and clean. 3. Find an exercise that you will do and do it, faithfully. 4. If you fall down on any of these, get back up and go at it again. It's not how many times you falter, it's how many times you get up to try again.
Roxie, you are wise!
I think 10 basic principles can definitely change your life. If you get in the habit of applying basic healthy habits every day, other healthy habits will follow. I do wish we had a user manual. So much easier.
A big 'healthy change' for me has been cutting back on processed sugar, sweets, and store-bought baking. It was super hard at first (can you say cravings? And I'm not talking "I would like some cake..."; I'm talking "If I don't get a large, gooey, chocolate fudge cake right now, somebody is going to die a long and painful death.") - but after a week or so, I find I crave less sweets and more fruits & veggies.