Little steps for health

This morning I watched a TV health show and it was about atherosclerosis and about the fact that the patients should embrace an almost vegetarian way of living, enriched with some fish. I just stood there and thought: how do people decide to change their life for the better, to change their food for a better health? I already know what works for me.

I usually take small steps, because I get scared easily :D and I do not want the hesitating part of me to rebel. It’s like having two personalities and the most determined and ambitious one is trying to fool the weak one. How can I exemplify this? With these little steps I’ve made for health:

- I used to be a great smoker, so, when I decided to quit, I told myself that I wasn’t going to smoke that morning (so that the part of me that usually would panic wouldn’t get scared: “this is my pleasure, what do you mean that I should never smoke again?”). Then, in the evening, I told myself that since I haven’t been smoking all day, I’ll save some money and smoke only the next morning, when the cigarette will be delicious with a cup of coffee :P. It’s like lying to yourself. The next morning, the same thing, day by day, until I began to set further milestones (“I’ll smoke next week”, or “I’ll smoke on vacation”, or even better “I’ll smoke after I’ll have a baby, so that I won’t go through this over again for a pregnancy”).

- About the saturated fat, the first decision was not putting sour cream over my food, like I used to when I was a child. Only after this became a habit (and I started to enjoy the real taste of food because they were not having all the same taste of sour cream) I completely gave up these unhealthy fats.

- Regarding the salt, again, the first step was that I quit adding it when it was in my power (over potatoes, salads, popcorn, for example). Then, I removed it from the cooked food too. And now, the taste of food is extraordinary. I can’t figure it out if it’s from the lack of salt or it’s because now I’m more creative in using spices and special seasonings, not just salt and pepper, like everyone uses on every food (or worse, that vegetable spice full of salt, sugar, colorings and other not healthy additives).

- I have to admit that I had to give up on potato chips suddenly about 15 years ago. I did not find any other indirectly way. I used to like them so much, that it seemed that trying some tricks would fool me for nothing.

- We all know that sweets are not healthy. But everybody likes them. So, again, I had to take more small resolutions: I did not eat any other chocolate that the one with over 70% cacao, I did not eat anything containing white sugar, then I quit the brown sugar too and especially I gave up on the artificial sweeteners (including the chewing gum). I’ve made all these in time, combined with the reducing of quantity. That means that if in the beginning I used to have something sweet every weekend, now I make myself something special only on holidays or special occasions (ice-cream made entirely with yogurt, fruits and stevia, or Floating Island (Oeufs a la Neige) sweetened with stevia, or sesame seeds mixed with nuts and honey as you can find in the stores, but those bought are full of sugar and other chemical useless stuff). So I don’t use flour or fat dairy, in order for the desert to remain healthy.

- I gave up on frying food. I rarely grill. Most often I steam, boil or bake in the oven. But lately I’m trying to eat more and more raw vegetables. Don’t get me wrong, in the last years it has not been a day without raw fruits and vegetables. But I would like these to be of a majority, because in the cooked food you can find less than 10% of the nutrients from the raw food.

- There would be so many more to say, that I don’t even remember, from the fact that I use only extra virgin olive oil to the fact that, even if I rarely eat bread, pasta or rice, when I do, I use only whole grains. I don’t even want to think about the times when I used to drink sodas and juices filled with sugar or other sweeteners. But that was a long time ago. Now I’m consuming about 1-2 times a year a glass of bottled 100% fruit juice. Because I think it’s healthier to eat the whole fruit, and if you really crave fruit juice, then you’d better make it yourself, fresh, at home, and so you know it has as many vitamins as possible.

But, like I said, I’ve made these decisions in time, and I didn’t give up. I used to take the next step only after I was comfortable enough with my new eating style. And I do the same when it comes to sport, or my decision of not eating after 6 o’clock.

For the ones that find this way of changing difficult, I have some advice, too. I’ve noticed it works for my family (and they are pretty stubborn and reserved when it comes to changing food habits… sorry mom :D) to state the situation differently: “you should eat more fish” instead of “don’t eat so much meat”; “you should eat more salads”, “this eggplant salad is more delicious with raw onion rather than fried”. So not only that you have to make positive statements, but also, by including more fish, fruits or vegetables, you will have you less room for unhealthy food. And believe me, after a good apple you will not want a cake anymore.