Written by Dr. Mark
One of the cool things that happens when you’re on this path is that you will start to appreciate foods you typically don’t. At least this happens for me each time. I’ve never really enjoyed salads all that much, but find myself craving them at times when on this diet. Especially after a hard workout, I love viewing my food as a replenisher, when my body feels beaten down, and nothing gives me that satisfaction like some fresh lettuce, kale, and spinach.
Last night was a great example of this new appreciation for foods. Before we started this Amanda and I had put together a bunch of frozen crock pot meals. Yesterday we knew it would be hard to cook diner, so we resorted to one of these, which overall is not 60 Day approved. It was beef with carrots. We figure, we’ll eat around the carrots the best we can. However, that first bite of beef… the initial response we both had was, “did we add sugar to this?” It was incredibly sweet, and it was just the beef. Well obviously the carrots contributed to this. Which, this surprised me, because, well I’ve known carrots are sweet, but never really thought of them as that sweet. The point is that, when we’re eating a traditional, cultural diet, we, at least I, wouldn’t consider a carrot sweet. The same holds true for other vegetables and fruits as well, when compared to all the other ways we ingest sugar, they loose that. So when we eliminate those overly sweet foods it allows us to appreciate the candy that grows from the ground. I always find it funny when doing this diet, the things I start to really miss are things I typically wouldn’t eat that often when not doing it, like oranges and grapefruit. I think that is just part of my palate changing.
The other nice side effect I touched on up there also really helps me stay focused on what I’m doing. That’s viewing food as fuel to replenish, to build me up. Yes, it should be enjoyable but for me having that thought process can make that overly bitter smoothie “taste” great. One of the previous participants put it very well in her testimonial at the end, saying she learned that “food can either heal you or harm you.” Its good to just think about it before you take that first bite, is this healing or harming me?
Thanks for reading – Eat well.
-Dr. Mark