Hunting and Gathering

For the past year and a half I have attempted to prepare and eat "real food" - i.e., no more boxed meals, microwaved bowls, bars on the run, canned chili or soup, etc. Everything has to be made, although the ingredients can be frozen, pre-washed/chopped, or canned so long as they're whole ingredients and not fake/processed copies.

My hunting pattern at the grocery store consists of a wide loop around the outskirts, where the vegetables and meat lay, while avoiding the aisles upon aisles packed with variations of sugar and carbs. After awhile, shopping became less a leisurely, strolling activity and more a covert sting operation, darting in and out with my preset shopping list before dangerous temptations could lure me in.

This felt like a major achievement for me, shifting my dietary habits over and committing to cooking more meals.

Then I signed up for a fitness app paid for by my insurance....

I was tasked to log all my daily meals - not to count the calories, just to keep track of what I ate. I could even just take a picture if I felt too lazy to type details. My meal log would be checked / rated daily by an assigned fitness coach, to offer feedback on my choices.

HA! I thought proudly, I will rock this! And I began to put in my new, healthier meal plans.

I thought.

- There was a donut at work [fun coach tip: you should drink a glass of milk with sweets so the fat in the milk offsets the insulin spike]

- There was a chocolate at work (ok, maybe two....)

- There were several days of drinks, and not just a heart-healthy glass of red wine but a carb-heavy stout or two

- My Jamba Juice extra-protein smoothies were apparently just sugar, with all the nutritional content of the fruits removed beyond what designer whey protein powder could salvage [fun coach tip: nothing besides wheat grass shots is actually healthy at Jamba or any other trendy smoothie shop, you should just make your own smoothies]

- There were lazy pizza nights [fun coach tip: pizza toppings may be healthy but the crust destroys all that, it was recommended to scrape the toppings from one slice onto another and eat fewer slices that way]

- My rice crackers still counted as "carbs"

- There was sugar both in my whole milk AND my peanut butter

After the first month I felt a bit bewildered, but surprisingly I managed to drop a few pounds. Apparently, the little sugar indulgences I had always assumed as harmless actually added up quite a bit. Moreover, checking ingredient packages for sugar, I felt betrayed by the so-called "health foods" I'd snacked on for ages. Protein and cereal bars? Riddled with carbs and sugar - avoid them. Dried fruit/leather? Total sugar with all nutritional fiber content removed, nope. Salads? Rendered completely unhealthy by the sugar-packed dressing packet that made all those near-dead veggies edible. Whole grain? Still a grain - try again.

I ended up finding a few quick fixes that kept my coach happy : cucumber slices with tahin spice, rolled salami pieces with goat cheese, mini bell peppers straight outta the bag instead of crackers. I could eat dark chocolate in small quantities, so I stocked up on healthier trail mix varietals and used those in huge heaps while I fought my sweettooth.

It's still a labor of love, since none of this healthy eating comes with a drive thru or a delivery option. Most requires at least a little prep work, although I've gotten as creative as I can. Social outtings are all BYOD - bring your own diet. And I find myself craving old favorites somedays when the dry rice cracker substitutes just don't cut it.

One thing's for sure though - sugar is everywhere. I look at the grocery store now amazed that I only grew up moderately overweight. How the heck do families on a budget do this? How do you juggle screaming children and not grab a Go-Gurt? How do you find time to cook a meal - without pasta or ketchup - that children will eat after an eight-hour workday? How do you make it through the stress-inducing world we live in and not fall victim to the carefully curated halls of comfort carbs and Coke?

If anyone can answer those questions, you're a public health genius.

For now, I'm planning my next sting operation and might get some camoflauge grocery bags for the hunt.