My former ideas of "healthy", what's yours?

[ellenalesa]

Good morning everyone,

I was just thumbing thru a book of my mom's, "Sensational Smoothies". The cover said these were all so healthy, so I couldn't wait to check it out, LOL. MUch to my disappointment, a lot of the recipes called for s/f f/f ice cream, splenda, graham cracker crumbs and other junk.

When I was just at the very beginning of my transition to high raw, my best friend (who sadly, is obese, even WITH her gastric banding surgery) wanted to meet me for lunch. I told her I was looking for a good salad. We wound up at Bennigans and I ordered a salad w/some cooked stuff on top. Well, it was one disappointing salad! The cooked stuff wasn't very good, the "salad" was nothing more than a pile of iceburg lettuce drowned in cooked, processed Ranch dressing w/who knows what kind of chemicals in it.

I got thru the salad, and vowed to start bringing my own food and taking better care of myself. The funny thing is, I used to think that was a healthy lunch!!!!

I'm so glad that I know better now.

I'm wondering what you used to think was healthy

[DavidZaneMason]

-Fried Tofu chunks with sweet & sour sauce. LOL. Mmmmm...fried....LOL!

-David Mason

[SNMB]

When I was a straight vegan, I had to force myself to eat cooked grains. Everything I read said that I should get 50% or some other ridiculously high percentage of my calories from whole grains. I would rather have eaten lots of fruit and sauteed spinach and things but I always had that number in the back of my mind.

[sport]

When I was a straight vegan, I had to force myself to eat cooked grains. Everything I read said that I should get 50% or some other ridiculously high percentage of my calories from whole grains. I would rather have eaten lots of fruit and sauteed spinach and things but I always had that number in the back of my mind.
This is the same thing that was said yesterday by Rawnorah on another thread about the mistake of listening to your mind instead of your body.
Before Raw all my food was "healthy" but when I think back now I am horrified.
Breakfast could be 2 slices of wholemeal toast with a thick spread of organic non salted peanut butter and topped with organic baked beans.
As a vegan I had no raw food in my main meals and just some fruit between meals.

[GaiaLyn]

When I was a little girl I thought the Southern foods we ate at my Grandma's farm were healthy...fried pork chops, green beans with bacon, mashed potatoes with huge pats of butter and meat gravy. :eek:

When I was a newly ovo-lacto-veg teenager, I thought anything that didn't have meat in it was healthy... including bean burritos from taco bell and fettucine alfredo :eek: :eek:

When I was a cooked vegan, I "knew" that anything I ate was healthy- even candy was healthy as long as it was vegan and from the health food store! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Then I went through a "mental health" phase where I became convinced by my abusive partner that my eating habits were disordered and I came full circle back to eating meats, fried foods, processed foods, all the while telling myself that I was more emotionally healthy for not denying myself the junk foods HE wanted us to eat... and I gained something in the neighborhood of eighty pounds during our five-year relationship, at least ten of which were after I had to have emergency gallbladder surgery because I destroyed my gallbladder bingeing on fatty foods.

So I don't worry about "health" anymore, because it seems that the more "healthy" I try to be, the worse decisions I make. I am just going on instinct now, doing what my intuition and my dreams tell me to do , because a lifetime of over-thinking things, second-guessing myself, and looking for affirmations of my physical and mental "health" from outside myself has taught me that for me, "healthiness" is not a healthy goal for me to subscribe to at this time :p ...so I'm working on instinctiveness, primalness, and intuitiveness!

[dreamrawalwz]

When I was little I thought milk was healthy, but I always hated it. My mom forced me to do it though. I think when I was about 3 or 4 I had a glass of spoiled milk. My mom made me drink it since she didn't believe me and then smelled the glass AFTER I was done. How rude! Anyway, I hated milk ever since so she make me use sf Quick nestle chocolate powder to get me to like it. It was like "would you like any milk with your quick?" lol. I also used to think anything fat free and sugar free was healthy (ff mliks specifically).

Hmm, after all those things were removed I used to think that lean chicken, turkey, and fish was healthy along with steamed grains and veggies.

[Lay-Lay]

I went through a spell when on Atkins that I thought that that low carb was the BEST way to eat. I ate meat and eggs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I ate about 1 serving of vegetables aday and 1 serving of nuts once or twice a month. I had 1 or 2 servings of cheese aday and drank tons of diet drinks (until my body started regecting them). How did I think ths was healthy. I read that stupid book and thought it all made since. I am glad, despite all the health issues the diet caused, that I did it because, although prior to Atkins I ate mostly raw veggies and fruit, it brought me to the knowledge of the full splendor of raw and living foods.

It really makes me laugh when I think I used to eat all meat and hardly any veggies and no fruit and now I eat no meat and all fruits and veggies.

[daylene]

Hah, hah, Lay-Lay, your post makes me laugh, because I know exactly what you're talking about!

I spent a good three months on Atkin's and lost 14 pounds, and during that time I was completely convinced that meat and cheese and cooked vegetables were the healthiest foods on the planet, and that fruit was a dangerous commodity that could send me wheeling into diabetic shock!

Ironically, when I decided to go OFF Atkin's it was over this fruit issue. I just couldn't make myself stupid forever! In the end I couldn't subscribe to a notion that the original food God put on this world for our norishment and enjoyment was EVIL or unhealthy, but killing animals and eating their carcasses was good for us!

[Graciebeliever]

Man you guys are good today :) Such great reading !
I think today I should Breath deeply, relax, read and soak up all your thoughts, ideas and feelings. Yup a learning day for me :)

Btw I was a Professional Catering Cook and Wedding Cake maker for 13 years.
Do I EVEN need to say more? :eek:

[MangoMommy]

I used to think that as long as I exercised and took my whole handful of about 20 different types of vitamins, supplements & herbs I could eat absolutely anything I wanted and I would be the picture of health :eek:

[Rawkinlocs]

I used to think that eating Fruit Roll-Ups (the kind they sell in the box to kids in most grocery stores) was healthy when I was a kid.

I used to think if I ate a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast instead of cereal or bacon and eggs, that was healthy.

I used to think going to TCBY as opposed to Dairy Queen was healthy since it was frozen yogurt.

I used to think eating turkey-based lunch meat and bacon was healthy

I used to think all the soy meat analogues were healthy

I used to think soy milk was healthy

I used to think ordering a fruit punch beverage at the fast food joint was healthy compared to ordering a soda

I could go on and on...

[Live Free]

I used to believe that as long as I didnt eat any of the foods that werent considered food. Such as, chips, candy, and the foods from the freezer section that I was eating healthy.

I was always taught everything in moderation and well rounded meals are the best way to eat. A meat, a starch, a vegetable at dinner.

I am glad I am more educated about what I am feeding my body. I love to eat fruits and vegetables. I guess I just never thought you could live off just those foods. Now, I know different and I feel amazing.

I wish I could fully describe how I feel eating all these raw foods.

[JennaBoBenna]

Whole wheat breads! I finally just kicked the habit!

I used to think soy was healthy too, blech!

[Lay-Lay]

Hah, hah, Lay-Lay, your post makes me laugh, because I know exactly what you're talking about!

I spent a good three months on Atkin's and lost 14 pounds, and during that time I was completely convinced that meat and cheese and cooked vegetables were the healthiest foods on the planet, and that fruit was a dangerous commodity that could send me wheeling into diabetic shock!

Ironically, when I decided to go OFF Atkin's it was over this fruit issue. I just couldn't make myself stupid forever! In the end I couldn't subscribe to a notion that the original food God put on this world for our norishment and enjoyment was EVIL or unhealthy, but killing animals and eating their carcasses was good for us!

For real, LOL. I did this for a year and a half. I got sooo many people to go on it too. That makes me feel bad that I subjected others to the diet. Well I am so glad I woke up and saw what I was doing to my body. A friend of mine who is a vegetarian was on me all the time that I was going to kill myself eating all that meat. Sure wish I had listened.

[LeanAndHungry]

I used to think cold cereal was healthy.I ate a lot of it during middle and high school, often as a desert after dinner. My brother would say something like it can't be healthy to eat so much cereal. I would point to the side of the box where they showed all the vitamins and minerals that are in these cereals and say "Look how healthy they are." That was before I knew anything whatsoever about nutrition.

I used to think eggs were healthy as long as they were from free-range chicken. Same goes for milk, as long as it was unpastuerized and no hormones and anti-biotics and all that. I too believed in the low carb thing.

I've thought many diets were ideal, but raw mostly fruits instantly revealed it's superiority when I realized that is exactly what was available in Eden. And we weren't allowed to eat animals until after the flood(which really has shaken the hold the protein myth had on me).

[Coriander74]

Cereal with nonfat milk
soy anything
processed "veggie" burgers
fruits and veggies in cans and jars

I also did the atkins thing. thought all that "protein" was great for me UGH

salads covered in dressings
pasta

[JennaBoBenna]

I can eat as many popsicles as I want, there's no fat in them!!



:rolleyes:

[juliebove]

I used to eat an extremely low fat diet. I made muffins for breakfast that were a little bit of oatmeal and whole wheat flour with some applesauce, just a drop of oil and plenty of nuts and vegetables mixed in. Lunch was nothing but vegetbles. Dinner might be a single tostada very carefully planned out to contain a certain amount of beans, some lettuce, tomato, onion and a tiny sprinkle of cheese on it. Or salad consisting of only veggies. Never any dressing. The only snacks I allowed myself were little bites of a Slim Fast bar and only if I felt like I was about to pass out. I didn't necessarily think the Slim Fast bar was all that healthy but I could keep it handy at work if I needed it.

That was probably the most extreme of my diets. Overall, I think I ate a pretty healthy diet. Always ate a lot of salad and raw veggies. Not a lot of fruit and still don't eat a lot of that. I just don't like it. Never drank soda or sugary drinks. Never was much for sweets or fried foods. I did eat soy though. Thought that was healthy. Roasted soy nuts, Bocca burgers and sometimes Tiger's Milk bars.

I've always been one to read nutrition labels. Even before the food allergies. This annoys my husband no end. It can take me 2 hours to grocery shop because nothing goes into my cart until I'm sure it's something good for us. Unless of course it is something he specifically asks for. He doesn't care of the food is healthy or not!

I've always been a big veggie pusher. My nieces and nephews got to where they didn't want to spend all day with me at something like an amusement park because I'd always keep track of all the junk they ate. This is just the way we were raised. We didn't eat a lot of junk at home and there was no excuse to eat junk even when on the road, at a carnival, whatever. Yes, there were exceptions made. But if we ate one junky thing, that was it for the day! I'm still that way and if there are kids I am watching, I'm that way with them too. I remember my two nephews and their friend getting all screechy with me after spending all day at an amusement park. I refused to allow them to eat dinner there because there was nothing suitable. Nor would I allow them to stop for pizza for dinner. I insisted that we stop at a restaurant where they could get a salad. Heh! I lost out on that one because my husband was along with us. But I tried!

My daughter didn't stand a chance. The teacher even made a note on her report card about how good she was with food safety and nutrition.