Love your food and it will love you

I don't know about you but the toughest hurdle I've had to overcome with my healthy eating lifestyle change was figuring out how to shop for healthy food and then prepare it.

It is difficult. Everyone who's attempted to eat right and stay off pharmaceutical medications can feel an invisible force making sure we keep loading our bellies with the products that will ensure that we end up on the "prescription subscription plan" - psp.

Marketing Guru's work long and hard hours to craft messages that will make their way into the tiny hollows of our mind, a suggestion stored for later retrieval. Marketers have figured out how the mind works, it's not too difficult, people are predictable.

We all like the "E-Z" way to do everything, always rushing to save some time so that we can rush off to do some other meaningless task.

Zipping through the supermarket on the way home we are bombarded with colorful boxes and piped in music that has a way of lulling us into a shopping coma. We buy the poisons that are disguised as food.

Think about it, the people with the money always seem to win. As consumers we hold the power in our wallets, not the narcissistic businesses who are only interested in making money. Businesses want to sell us something, they want our money, they want to take away our power.

The foods that we are being fed, keep us in an unhealthy mental state. Our thinking is skewed. We feel like crap. We see doctors who prescribe a new pill. We lose more of our minds. Our bodies become weaker. We eat the "new and improved" boxes on the shelves of a supermarket and before we know it, we have completely lost our minds, we are obese, depressed and left wondering how we got to this point of poor health.

I'm not talking shit here, I'm talking from experience. Personal experience. When I was eating the boxed "foods" that were supposed to be good for me, my blood pressure was elevated, my blood sugars were getting high and all my cloths seemed to be shrinking at the same time.

I also found that the more processed foods that I ate, the more I hated the good foods, the whole foods like Arugula, romaine lettuce, spinach and beans. It left me wondering if my taste buds had been ruined and if they'd ever come back to their intended state.

The answer is yes, our tastebuds can be "reset" to like the real food, the healthful foods that give more time to do more tasks, meaningless or not.

My mom's illnesses were intense to watch her live through, often I was left feeling helpless. I hated feeling helpless. Even worse, I knew I was looking at myself 30 years in the future. I needed to do something! Could I help my mom restore her health too? That was my big burning question that has gotten us to where we are right now.

Deep in my core, I believe that the body can heal itself. It is this belief that gave me the mental strength to keep on searching for answers to help my mom and in the long term, my family and me.

My mom and I were obese. I can't believe I am actually acknowledging that I was very fat, 245 pounds fat. My mom too.

I did "try" lots of diets and eating, but I was always left feeling unsatisfied. Mostly because I never knew how to shop. I'd go to a store like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods and I wouldn't know what to buy. I'd see all this stuff on the shelves and wonder how to cook with it. I had no idea.

One can only eat so many steamed organic vegetables before you find yourself running for the nearest box of "organic" cookies.

Just because something says "organic" or "natural" doesn't mean it's good for you. You even need to read labels in Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

So, what do you buy? How do we prepare nutritious foods that will keep us eating well and living healthy lives?

First, if you can grow your own food, do it. Buy from local farmers when you can. Avoid food with stickers that have numbers that begin with 3 and 4... stickers that begin with 9 are organic and your best choice.

Use herbs, fresh herbs. Chop, chop, chop. I find the art of cooking to be very therapeutic, chopping or pounding out chicken breasts helps to release tension. The aromas that come out of my kitchen and wharf into my mom's room also helps her to realize that she's home.

Thyme, basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro... all awesome tasting herbs. If a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of a dried herb, use about 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh.

Taking time to prepare food is rewarding in so many ways. For me, I'm dropping 1 pound a week, my mom has more and more good days, my mother in law is feeling better, my husband too.

We eat chocolate, ice cream and delicious fruit.

The only downside is when you begin eating REAL foods, nothing processed, nothing baked in the oven with baking soda or powder ... you won't be able to eat out as often.

Getting in the habit of cooking, learning the art of food preparation does require a mind shift. It takes a few weeks to build the habit, but once you do, you will begin to be excited for the next meal prep.

Now, meal time is a ritual for me. I think about life and sometimes I think about nothing. As a caregiver, preparing food is my meditation time. I put Reiki energy into the food I prepare for my family and I always put the most powerful ingredient in every meal, something that you can not buy in a box... LOVE.

Love your food and it will love you.