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. my perfect, less-than-perfect diet .

November 19, 2012 by Amanda @ .running with spoons. 70 Comments

I’m starting to notice a recurring theme coinciding with the start of a fresh week. Last week, Monday brought with it a ravenous beast that decided to take up residence in my belly, and today it was more of the same. Whaaaaaaat is going on? I mean, I know my weekends have been getting slightly crazier, but what the eff? Someone please explain to me how I can basically eat all day without even making a dent in my hunger? Okay, maybe that’s not entirely accurate – I’m doing okay right now so I guess I’ve managed to make a slight dent after hammering away at it all afternoon, but I’m not expecting this satisfied state to last very long. Heck, I’m already starting to fantasize about dinner…

Sooooo, because food is pretty much the only thing I can think about right now, I thought it’d be fun to introduce you to some of the things that have been keeping me alive for the past little while [read: what I’ve been reading(??) eating]. Try not to scoff at the lack of vegetables and overabundance of breakfast/snack foods – I tried to be a grown up and eat more normal foods, but my body just wasn’t having it. Ironically, the healthier my diet became, the unhealthier I felt. The more veggies I ate, the more stomach problems I encountered. The more whole grains I cooked, the more lethargic I felt. The less junk food I enjoyed, the sadder I became.

True story.

It’s an unpopular thing to admit in today’s chia seed obsessed world, but the less wholesome my diet became, the more wholesome I felt. Does that even make sense? Not really. The point is, I feel really good. My diet is nowhere near perfect, but it works perfectly for me – maybe big bowls of quinoa and roasted veggies rock your socks off, but they pretty much just leave me rocking back and forth in pain. Enough chit chat. I’ve rambled long enough, and just like I predicted, the belly beast is beginning to make itself known. On with the show food [so that I can go eat]!

. – . – . – .

Greek yogurt…

Bananas…

Cereal…

Almond Butter…

Homemade applesauce…

Spelt wraps…

Toast…

Select veggies…

Baked chicken…

Pizza…

Waffles…

Watermelon…

Dried fruit…

Random snacks…

. – . – . – .

So there you have it. Truth be told, I struggled for quite some time with trying to find my place in the healthy living community. The majority of my meals come in boxes (oh hey cereal, waffles, and pizza!), I don’t go out of my way to eat any sort of superfoods or voodoo powders, and if we’re being completely open with each other, I can’t even remember the last time I turned on my stove – I wonder if it still works…

BUT! while my diet may not be as ‘healthy’ as it once was, my mind is infinitely better. I may eat too much sugar and not enough veggies, but you know what? I feel better than ever. And the more I think about, the more I figure that my inability to fit in with the rest of the community is exactly how I fit in – after all, someone has to show that you can be perfectly healthy without conforming to diet and exercise extremes, right? Right 😀

 . – . – . – .

Have you ever experienced the opposite effect when you tried something that was supposed to make you healthier? Veggies = pain, and drinking warm lemon water first thing in the morning gives me heart burn for the rest of the day.

Filed Under: Food Talk, Healthy Habits, Realizations Tagged With: food staples, healthy being unhealthy, insatiable appetite, lack of veggies, my perfect diet, struggling to find my place

Previous Post: « . first things first .
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mila

    November 23, 2012 at 7:09 pm

    Ah I love you so much for this! I’m the same way – every now and then I get obsessed with clean eating, forgetting that balance includes slip-ups. Ultimately the perfect diet is the one that makes you happy ^^

    Reply
  2. Irina @ Chocolatea Time

    November 21, 2012 at 6:50 pm

    Ugh once again you’re dead-on with your wise words! I found that my body functions best when I eat a bit of everything – meat, dairy, veggies (not too much), carbs, and sweets…plenty of sweets and candy. Too much veggies kills my stomach and too many carbs lead to extreme fatigue. The best “diet” is the one where we feed our minds, right? Eat what you crave – your body knows what it wants and it’s always letting you know. You just need to learn how to listen! I think you have the perfect relationship with food, you’ve come such a long way <3

    Reply
  3. Katy

    November 21, 2012 at 2:08 pm

    YES, I am exactly like this. I just do NOT want to eat veggies at the moment and when I do they don’t make me feel that great.

    It’s funny coz society tells us to snack on fruit and yoghurt and such but if I were to have fruit and yoghurt as a snack I would pass out an hour later. It is just not enough for me! I need sugar/COOKIES. Yeah…I NEED them. Medically.

    😉

    Reply
  4. Molly@This Life Is Sparkling

    November 20, 2012 at 6:33 pm

    Going to get a snack now because this made me so hungry….. 😉 Bananas+almond butter=heaven.

    Reply
  5. Ellie@Fit for the Soul

    November 20, 2012 at 2:18 pm

    I’m glad to know that you feel comfortable in your own skin as well as in your mind! After all, the mind has to be healthy in order for us to be healthy–as I always say, from the inside out. 🙂 And I want those watermelon slices! Has it been hard to choose good watermelon though, since the weather is colder? I had some like, 2 months ago and loved it, but now I’m afraid to buy it in case it’s really un-tasty. 😛

    Reply
    • Amanda @ .running with spoons.

      November 20, 2012 at 4:06 pm

      Actually, I haven’t really had a hard time finding good ones. Sometimes I happen across one that doesn’t taste so great, but for the most part I’ve been pretty lucky 🙂

      Reply
  6. Lisa

    November 20, 2012 at 1:43 pm

    Love to read something like this! It’s different from lots of other people, because it seems like a more normal relationship with food. Instead of being too focused on no grains, high protein, high fat, low fat, blah, etc. ha. You are such a great example of real healthy living! And not one diet will work well with everyone. We are all unique and different.

    Reply
  7. Allison @ Life's a Bowl

    November 20, 2012 at 1:35 pm

    To each his [or her, haha] own! Eat what you want, when you want, however much you want until you’re satisfied! If that means bowls of cereal and Greek yogurt and nut buttas so be it… That sounds heavenly to me! I have always been taht “weird” one aka veggie lova, but I eat them because I want them not because I should have them or think I need to have them to eat a balanced diet. IMO, wholesome is how you feel, not what you eat 🙂

    Reply
  8. Missy

    November 20, 2012 at 12:20 pm

    LOLed at the thought of someone actually reading a blog and “scoff at the lack of vegetables and overabundance of breakfast/snack foods.” Just….Really? LOL. Are there really people like that? lol.
    So I guess you HAVE found your niche because we all seem to be standing up an applauding…Health and Personal Nutrition have nothing to do with fads and trends.

    PS- Grains make me feel sluggish too…like pasta does for many. And I NEED my protein from fish and eggs. Could never do the vegan thing. Some people thrive though!

    Reply
  9. Liz (formerly VeggieGirl)

    November 20, 2012 at 11:22 am

    LOVE LOVE LOVE this. And yes – I can’t eat a lot of produce anymore; and when I do, it (a vegetable) has to be steamed very soft or a fruit has to be dried. Too much of “ideal health food” takes a toll on the body. But I do just fine with proteins.

    Reply
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Amanda

I'm Amanda - health coach, cookbook author, recipe developer, photographer, makeup junkie, and the blogger behind Running with Spoons - a blog dedicated to proving that healthy snacking doesn't have to be tasteless or boring, one delicious recipe at a time. More about Amanda →

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