So I’ve never been one for New Year’s Resolutions. A few years ago I tried to plant 50 trees in a calender year, and honestly I can’t remember how many I planted. I know it was plenty.
Still, I always feel like the typical resolutions are things that are often lost track of. How many people do you know who actually accomplish their New Year’s Resolutions every year? I know one… maybe two.
I feel like, instead of making a New Year’s Resolution each year, I should start trying to set regular goals for myself that are wellness-centered. None of this beginning-of-the-year stuff… how about beginning-right-NOW and continuing for as long as I can manage.
So…
I was struck with this unbelievably strong desire to eat spinach today.
We had just taken my husband’s dad out to eat and I realized that, as this was the first time I’d eaten anything ” ‘Mercan Style” in a while (ie. chili fries, milkshake… pretty much everything out of a can or a bag…), eating typical processed food is not something my body can handle anymore. I couldn’t help but sigh out the window on the drive home… What I would give for a spinach salad topped with roasted beets and olive oil.
I’ve researched detox diets in the past and, like so many other dietary fads, found them for the most part to be decidedly unhealthy. I wish it was as easy as eating a grapefruit every day for a week, or fasting, or drinking lemonade… but the fact is, because of our awesomely bassackwards food systems often times we have to work to obtain food of value and to balance our nutrition.
Over the past few years I have worked to become a little more in tune with my body’s needs. I attempt to eat very little hyper-processed foods, and if the things I eat are fried, I check to make sure they’re fried in a healthy oil. I’m still struggling with the fact that I’m not a huge fan of drinking water… or liquid… or anything… ever… but beyond that I feel like I’m beginning to inherently know what I need.
I know when my body craves salt, it is in part because it’s well… salt, but also due to the fact that I forget to drink water and when I forget to drink water and then suddenly remember, I go “Aha!” and guzzle a bunch down, depleting my body of vital salts and minerals. Mmm. Salt.
I also know my body craves iron because I find myself fantasizing about spinach and red meats and… flintstones vitamins.
So my new goal is to take these cravings to the next level and to learn a little about what I really need in my body. I’m going to start to eat more simple foods that are known for high nutritive contents (I can’t tell you how awesome a bed of green spinach is topped with a scoop of tuna mixed with safflower mayonnaise). I’m going to start eating less food, aiming to follow Michael Pollen’s rule of leaving one’s plate unfinished at meals instead of dutifully joining the clean plate club.
I’m also going to start seeing a chiropractor regularly to take care of my wonky hips and, once I get snap-on fenders for my bike, I intend to ride at least 25 miles a week during the winter.
These aren’t resolutions. They’re goals, and they’re reasonable. I don’t plan to approach these with anything more than an intention to incorporate them into my daily life.
Except drinking more water… regularly. Maybe that should be a resolution.
Have you ever tried a detox diet, or an intense dietary switch? Was it successful? Did it last?
no detox diet, no resolutions for me. I tend to make changes throughout the year forming new habits as I go. In the summer I have no problem drinking enough water. In the winter it takes me a while to catch up and remember to drink or I get into trouble. My dietary switch from convenience and boxed foods was not super slow, I jumped in with both feet and did a bunch of changes right off the bat, then slowly got rid of things in the cupboard as we ate them or I gave them away. My body does rebel if I eat anything highly processed, just can’t handle it like I used to. I have been doing the same switch over with other things now like commercially made lotions as I try to make my own.
Great goals!
And I’m the same. I don’t think I could eat anything served at most mainstream restaurants. After spending a week with my family in Louisiana, all I crave are salads and vegetables. I’m so spoiled out here.
You need a Greek grandmother. If you clean your plate, YiaYia will assume you didn’t get enough, and will heap it up again. But if you leave one or two bites, that’s a sign that it was delicious but you just can’t fit in One More Mouthful.
Kind of in the middle of this myself right now. The first 19 years of my life was spent eating almost entirely food grown or raised on the farm I lived on. Then I left the farm to live in the city and switched almost entirely to a fast food, highly processed, fat and salt laden diet for the next 20 years. Now, my body has shown me that enough is enough and I am making the change to more fresh, more vegetables, more fibre, lower fat, lower sodium, etc etc. I’d been meaning to focus more on a better diet anyway.
Nice to stumble across this blog. I look forward to spending some time here.