"Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food."

-Michael Pollan

Food Rules

For the past month and a half, as many of you know, I have been working with a trainer in an effort to be more intentional about getting stronger, being challenged to break away from exercises that are too easy, and overall to just be more intentional about my overall health.

Fifteen sessions later, I am thankful and happy to say I am already feeling and seeing the results. Has it been easy? No, but it's definitely been worth it. Just the fact that more weight-lifting has been incorporated into my workout routine is in and of itself a huge accomplishment as I was always the person to default to sticking with the lightest weights that required the least amount of effort. Am I all beefed up like Schwarzenegger or Popeye? No and I have no desire to be because, truthfully, I kinda like having a neck. However, there's something rewarding about taking the weights up a notch and knowing it's also a great preventative method for us women, especially when it comes to risks of osteoporosis.

Logging everything I eat (including the occasional cookie or cup of ice cream) has also been tremendously helpful as it's made me more conscious about what I am putting into my body, if I'm eating out of boredom or stress, and if I am consuming a healthy amount of water on a daily basis. There's something eye opening about writing things out and looking back at it and a food journal is no different. If anything, it's simply made me more aware.

In a recent health workshop I attending, I was given a fantastic book called "Food Rules" by Michael Pollan. Is it chock full of bland and boring recipes? No. Is it saying to eat a salad for the rest of your life. Thankfully, heck no. (Because trust me, I'm a not a huge fan of that method either. I love me my hamburgers with fries once in a while, thank you very much.)

Rather, this book outlines a ton of simple and fun tips on how to make better decisions with what you buy at the grocery store, easy ways to remember what foods to avoid and why, and best of all, it's written by a regular journalist who simply saw the need for people to have simple and understandable guidelines on how to eat healthier in a world full of fad diets and confusing health advice.

Simply put, it's good. Go get it and read it. Your health will thank you.

Happy Wednesday!