Redefining “The Good Life”

I woke up this morning craving something fresh. I was going to make some eggs or just have a piece of toast with peanut butter, but I had this intense craving for something truly delicious and this morning, delicious meant fresh. Somehow, everything in my kitchen that came in a package was unappealing; I wanted to eat something juicy, colorful, and most importantly, something that made me feel good after I ate it.

In my search for all things health related, I have come upon several stories where people describe that after they start a healthy diet, their taste actually changes. They stop craving fried foods and chocolate cake and actually crave fruits and vegetables. Before Kevin and I started this diet, I didn’t really believe them. I mean, honestly, who craves asparagus? But this morning was the first time I was beginning to wonder if my taste buds were finally switching over to the dark side; I wanted fresh fruit and nothing else was going to cut it.

As strange as it sounds, I think this gives me hope for the future; hope that I can change how I define “the good life”. For many of us, when we think of truly delicious, satisfying food, the kind that sticks to your ribs and makes you feel like all is well in the world, we think of meat and potatoes, macaroni and cheese, chicken parmesan, and for me, chocolate cake. It’s those foods that we associate with celebration, joy, and fullness. To tell someone they can never eat those foods again is almost blasphemous and signifies that their life will always be a little bit worse. But, what if we were able to redefine which foods fell into that category?

I am wondering how we will change as Kevin and I keep at our healthy diet. Right now, we eat pretty well during the week, but on the weekends, we still go out to dinner (and lunch. And, sometimes breakfast 🙂 ) But I have been noticing that the things we order even when we eat out are starting to change. We order more salads, more fruits and almost nothing fried. We don’t stuff ourselves and don’t feel obligated to finish everything put in front of us. Without really realizing it, I think our tastes are starting to change. I am getting used to feeling so healthy and light when I eat fruits and vegetables and healthy proteins. I definitely notice that I feel significantly worse when I eat sugar and processed foods, and slowly both Kevin and I are starting to eliminate them from our diet.  We’ve even planted a garden in our back yard! I’ll put up pictures as soon as anything starts to grow!

I think the bottom line is that the more you treat your body well, the more is becomes accustomed to it, eventually making your healthy lifestyle a habit and not a chore.

Have any of you noticed this? How do you define “the good life?”

-Sara