You Are What You Eat

If you ask anyone, regardless of their age, sex, race, religion, creed or belief system, they will all agree on one thing: You Are What You Eat.

We all know that what we put into our bodies will dramatically help us both on the inside and on the outside.

Food is fuel for the body.

And the type of food we choose to put into our bodies is super-important to how it converts, stores and ultimately uses it for energy.

The father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, and whose name is part of the infamous,  Hippocratic Oath, which is the ethical code that many modern physicians agree to.

One of Hippocrates, most widely known quotes about food, was this:

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

The tricky part is among all the food choices how does one actually find foods that would qualify as “medicine”?

It’s a lot easier than you think.

Here’s what I do:

1. Read the labels.Read the labels.I read the food label first of anything that Ibuy, starting with the last ingredients first.Labels nowadayscan be extremely deceiving. Don’t fall for the package. Read the label. I always look at the label and most often ignore the packaging unless it has some keyword phrases that I liketo be on the alert for, like:
   1. Farm Fresh
   2. Certified Organic
   3. 100% Organic Ingredients
   4. Bio
   5. 100% Natural Ingredients
   6. Organic
   7. Fair Trade
   8. Non GMO
   9. USDA Organic
   10. Gluten Free
   11. Vegan
2. Buy things around the perimeter of the market. Have you ever noticed that the foods that are on the outside/perimeter of the market tend to be more alive and less processed foods? I am not sure why, but its pretty common. I tend to buy foods on the perimeter of the supermarket. The foods that have a longer shelf life are usually in the middle of the aisles because those foods have been so altered and lacking of nutrients that they could probably last longer than you and I.
3. Foods that have variety of colors. I like to see that my plate has a variety of colors. If you look at processed foods excluding the dyes that are added to create the illusion of color, most of the packaged and processed foods are beige, brown, white and just pure boring. In addition to lacking nutritional value. I like to have a rainbow of colors when I eat from foods that are alive. This ensures that I am eating a balanced diet and its also really fun.
4. Foods that are alive. If its alive and was grown in the ground, than there is a better chance it has some life to it. Going back to the beginning of this post, you are what you eat. If I eat only dead processed foods than I can’t really expect too much life in my food. Vegetables are green because of the Chlorophyll that comes from the sun. The plants take the energy from the sun and convert it to energy and in doing so produce rich and vibrant green vegetables. With that being said doesn’t it make sense to take in some of the sun’s life-giving energy? And if you can buy whole organic, do it.
5. Eat only foods and ingredients you recognize. If I can’t tell you what it is I simply don’t eat it. I keep it easy. Foods that I can recognize and spell I eat, like apple or spinach. It’s tempting to fall for the fancy and shiny packaging. I tend to not let a designer label dictate what’s healthy and what’s not. I trust that I will know what a banana looks like.
6. Plan ahead of time. I eat 5-6 times a day, every 2-3 hours. This is my clock, My routine and I plan accordingly. If I eat lunch at 12 PM and I know that afterwards I will be leaving the house for a few hours, I take a banana or two, and my Klean Kanteen of water with me. This way I am good for my next meal at 3 PM (remember I eat every 2 hours or so) and don’t need to think about what to eat until 5 PM. That’s a four-hour window, plenty of time to fuel up.
7. Be prepared. I just about always carry water with me so that I am properly hydrated. I also carry with me cash, coins, and of course credit/debit cards, so that when I am hungry and I need to buy something I am properly prepared. There are tons of local fruit stands where I live and they don’t all take credit/debit cards, so carrying coins and cash on hand makes for having a lot more options.
8. Know your surroundings. This is a good rule of thumb for anything in life. As it applies to eating clean and healthy, this means know where you are and where you will be during the course of the day. For example: I plan on going to Downtown Madrid in a couple of days for a business trip. I will bring with me a banana or two and a sandwich, as well as a smoothie. I plan on being there for 5-6 hours so I need to plan according (Step 6) and I don’t want to be running around Madrid looking for something to eat. In addition, I already know some good places to eat just in case things take a little longer than expected. I can grab some healthy food from the many stores that I am already familiar with. This is an example of know your surroundings.
9. Tell a friend or two or three. Reverse peer pressure as I like to call it. When we think of peer pressure we sometimes think of doing things we wouldn’t normally do nor want to do. Why not use peer pressure to your advantage? I let everyone in my sphere of influence know that I am a vegetarian. They also know I eat clean and healthy. I advertise this wherever I go by my food choices. I don’t necessarily vocalize my food preferences, instead I let my food choice speak for itself.
10. Choose from the healthiest options possible at the time. Sometimes we simply can’t find exactly what we would like to eat and we have to settle for the next best thing. That is perfectly alright. I just make a choice among the options available at the time. If there is no organic fresh food, maybe I can find dried fruits and nuts or an energy bar. Find the next best thing. You might have to look hard, but you will always find something somewhat clean and healthy to eat.
11. Stand your ground. It’s been said that the opposite of courage is not cowardice but conformity. If you are committed to your health and well-being than you must stay your ground and not budge. Don’t succumb to the pressure. Rather pressure other(s) to come to your side of the fence. You want to eat healthy, than so be it. Live and let live. If those around you, choose to eat unhealthy don’t let that effect your overall decision. Stay the course no matter how tough it might seem.
12. Ask for healthier options. We live in a world of 7 plus billion people. There are always other options, you just need to ask. I remember when I completed the Camino de Santiago, (a 1,000 kilometer walk through Spain) I was with my co-pilgrims. They knew about my diet (Step 9) and as such I was able to order a vegetarian “mixto” which included rice, peppers, potatoes, salad,I had know idea what a “mixto” was until I asked the waiter what did he have for vegetarians. Always ask. I realize this list might be long. But trust me the twelve things I do to eat healthy are pretty much on auto-pilot.Many of the items are just pure common sense.

In conclusion,  when it comes to eating healthy it takes practice, patience, persistence and a bit of creativity.