Eating Smart

Well, a few months ago, I picked up a magazine called Clean Eating for the first time. It was interesting, good recipes, and some new ideas. I wasn't familiar with the concept of clean eating. Basically, the "diet" encourages you to eat food as close to unprocessed as you can get it. Use natural, fresh ingredients to make your meals. No need to smother the food in heavy sauces or seasonings, just use good food and prepare it well.

So I picked up the latest issue, and barely a page went by that didn't extoll the virtues of how clean eating will help you lose weight. There was even an article on a woman who got back to her pre-baby weight! HALLELUJAH!

*Sigh*

Listen. I am so so SO tired of the world equating health with thinness. I go do aerobics and there is this tiny little girl in there who is falling down while I am sweating like a dog, but keeping up (barely, I'm not holding myself up as a bastion of fitness, either). But if the two of us were out side by side, even though she eats like crap and I eat fairly healthy and she's out of shape and I can kick her butt...Well, I'm fat and she's skinny. Guess who people thing is the healthier one?

Right. So, Clean Eating is a disappointment. Because rather than talk about health, rather than talk about WHY eating processed foods is so bad for us, it's all about weight. Eat more lentils and you'll be skinny! Eat these sugar substitutes and you'll be better off!

And let's talk about that for a minute. How is it okay to tout yourself as the Clean Eating lifestyle guide when promoting stevia, truvia, and everything else?

So, let's talk about health for a minute. If you fat, if you're skinny, if you're somewhere in between...take care of yourself. For some people that means losing weight. For some people (GAAAASP) that means gaining weight! For some it means eating better or exercising more (or at all).


So maybe instead of preaching the gospel of skinny, we should be talking about health. Eat BETTER food. Be more informed about your choices. And please, for the love of Pete, STOP worrying about pre-baby bodies and bikini bodies and celebrity bodies and if you have cellulite (you do, I do, the volleyball team, Kim Kardashian, some other hot chick...they all do. that's life.), and just try to take care of yourself!