Final Reflection

Overall, learning about food and changing my diet has had a large impact on the way I eat. In my last blog post I discussed how I tried going back to my old way of eating. In doing so, however, I realized that I no longer wish to eat the way I once did. For example, I may drink a soda every once in awhile, but not every day. In addition, this project truly helped me to see how I can incorporate vegetables into my diet on a more regular basis instead of having french fries serve as my primary "vegetable." I definitely plan to maintain the changes I have made over the past few months, however probably not in such a rigid manner. For example, I may have the occasional soda or processed food, however, these things will certainly not make up a significant portion of my diet. Because I am a person who likes routines, I believe that I simply fell into a routine of eating what is known, easy, and accessible. By changing my eating habits, however, I have found a new routine that I am sure I will continue.

For others who are looking to eat in a healthier manner, I would recommend a few suggestions:

1) Like Pollan said, try to stick with foods that do not have too many ingredients.
2) Try to eat as much unprocessed food as possible. You will probably find that by following this recommendation you will start eating more fruits and vegetables as well.
3) Find a way to incorporate vegetables in every meal.
4) Stay away from products with added sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

I know that some of these changes will be difficult at first, but after about the first week, eating this way will become routine. I also have to caution that you will probably not always be able to follow these directions perfectly, but I believe that if you are doing your best 90% of the time, the other 10% won't hurt too much. The way in which we receive food in today's society does not always allow us to follow Pollan's suggestions perfectly. For example, you probably will have to eat foods with more than five ingredients, and there may be times when you are unable to incorporate as many vegetables into your meals as you would like. By remembering these key guidelines and making them habits, however, I think you will quickly see that not only do you enjoy food more, but you also feel better.

Overall, this has been a very rewarding project, and I hope that others will be able to see that while making these changes can be somewhat challenging, doing so is certainly worth while. In the long run, your body will thank you!

Back to Old Habits

In my original proposal, I discussed that I would be returning to my old ways and discuss the changes that I observed as I made this change. After eating following Michael Pollan's guidelines for about a month, I could see a clear change.

When I went back to eating the kinds of foods I had eaten before, I realized that they did not taste as good as I previously thought. I also found that I could not eat sweet foods or drink soda in the quantity that I did before starting this experiment without feeling a little bit sick. I also noticed that I felt sluggish after eating foods packed with sugar. I really do think that by eating healthier, I not only had more energy, but a more steady flow of energy.

Food Week!

This week, I will be sharing my meals on a daily basis, just to give you all (and myself) an idea of how much I'm eating and what I'm eating. Many updates to come!

Monday Update:
Breakfast: Yogurt and fresh fruit
Lunch: Salad with advocado, black beans, and corn
Dinner: Grilled chicken, broccoli, fresh fruit

Tuesday Update:

Breakfast: Whole grain cereal and a banana

Lunch: Tomato soup, grilled cheese, fresh fruit

Dinner: Quesadilla with black beans, chicken, cheese, corn, and salsa

Wednesday Update:

Breakfast: Whole grain cereal

Lunch: Peanut butter sandwich, yogurt, fresh fruit 

Dinner: Grilled chicken, salad

Thursday Update:

Breakfast: Whole grain cereal and a banana

Lunch: Chicken and yellow rice with peas

Dinner: Mixed vegetable soup

Friday Update:

Breakfast: Yogurt and fresh fruit

Lunch: Peanut butter sandwich, carrots, and orange juice

Dinner: Salad with advocado, black beans, and corn

Mostly Plants

Michael Pollan's third suggestion is to eat "mostly plants"

During college, I have definitely neglected the "plants" part of my diet. Part of the reason for this is that when you eat at restaurants, you may not have the option (i.e. Chick-fil-a sandwich and fries). If you do have the option, however, it is probably that the non-plant portion of your meal is much larger than the "plant" part. In order to try to increase my intake of plants this week, I will be a vegetarian for one meal a day. Hopefully by doing so, I will be able to learn how to incorporate a wider variety of fruits and vegetables into my diet!

I have successfully eaten "plants" for one full meal each day this week. I have noticed that I have actually started wanting to eat vegetables with each meal instead of trying to figure out how I can incorporate them in each meal. I have also noticed that while I still do eat meat, it has become a much less integral part of my meals. Overall, I think that this is an important shift in my eating habits that I will sustain into the future.

NOT TOO MUCH

Michael Pollan's suggestion is "not too much", but what exactly is "too much?"
Most of us probably think we don't eat too much, but are we really eating more than we should?

It seems that every day we are bombarded with things we need to eat less of: sugar, red meat, fried foods, fatty foods...the list seemingly never ends.

Pollan wants us to reign in our eating habits, and in order to help us do so, he offers a few keys:

• Pay More, Eat Less
• Eat Meals
• Do All Your Eating At A Table
• Don't Get Your Fuel From The Same Place Your Car Does
• Try Not To Eat Alone
• Consult Your Gut
• Eat Slowly

I can definitely see two that are going to be particularly difficult for me this week: Do all your eating at  a table, and eat slowly. Being a college student requires you to be in a wide variety places at a variety of times. I often find myself eating a quick meal at my desk while working on homework or doing some reading. In addition, I usually have to eat quickly before class, work or a meeting. I think the most important thing I have to realize is that no matter where I am in life, I am going to have the same struggles. Whether it's eating at my desk at work or grabbing something quick after a long day, I need to be more focused on the way I eat now so that in the future I can continue to have proper eating habits. I be posting updates in this post as the week progresses to discuss how eating "not too much" has affected my eating habits.

Eating "not too much" has been somewhat difficult. The main difficulty comes from the way food is packaged. It seems that often I may have food that is in portions which may be too lare, but what is left over is still too small to keep. I'm not sure how I'm going to confront this. Another difficulty I have had is not eating at my desk. With my busy schedule, it is extremely difficult to eat away from my desk. Although I haven't exactly always eaten away from my desk, I have focused on eating more slowly. I have found that this makes eating much more of a relaxing experience rather than simply eating for nutrients. I think eating more slowly has helped me also to realize how much I eat and focus more on eating "not too much"

THE GROCERY STORE

Last week I took on the challenge to shop at Publix with the following considerations in mind:

• Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as a food.
• Avoid eating products that contain products that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, more than five in number, or that include high-fructose corn syrup.
• Avoid food products that make health claims.
• Stay out of the middle of the supermarket
• Get out of the supermarket whenever possible

On the whole, I feel I was successful. I was not, however, successful in limiting products that contain ingredients that were more than five in number. I did limit myself to products where I was familiar with all of the ingredients. 

In my shopping experience, I did have one interesting find: the Haagen Dazs "Five" brand of ice cream.

Each of these flavors of ice cream contains only five ingredients which are clearly listed on the front of the carton. I wonder if Michael Pollan's suggestion of five ingredients had any impact on the launch of this product line. 

I must say that there's something different about knowing exactly what is in your food - It tastes better. Whether this difference in taste is psychological or an actual difference in taste, I'm not sure.

EAT FOOD

Week 1: Eat Food

In the first three weeks of my blog, I will incorporate, one by one, Michael Pollan's recommendations into my diet. This week I will focus on his first recommendation: Eat Food. While this first recommendation may seem to be a simple one, it is actually quite complicated. 


In today's world of buying food in boxes and eating at restaurants, most people are probably unaware of what they are actually eating. Pollan argues that there are all too many "edible foodlike substances." In order to ensure that we are truly eating food instead of these processed substances, he recommends the following:

• Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as a food.
• Avoid eating products that contain products that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, more than five in number, or that include high-fructose corn syrup.
• Avoid food products that make health claims.
• Stay out of the middle of the supermarket
• Get out of the supermarket whenever possible

This list is certainly not going to be an easy list to follow, but I welcome the challenge!

Well this challenge has certainly been more difficult than I thought it would be! I didn't realize the amount of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and caffeine was in so many of the things I consume daily. Needless to say I have been experiencing some headaches that are probably due to lack of caffeine and/or sugar intake. I certainly feel much more tired than usual today, but it's probably because I simply didn't realize how much I truly depended on sugar and caffeine to get myself going in the morning.

I think my main habit that I'm going to have to overcome is soda. While Michael Pollan does say that you can "cheat" every once in a while, I certainly do not just have a soda every once in a while. I definitely have at least one daily, and sometimes as many as three or four. For now, I'm going to give up soda altogether until I can trust myself to drink them in a more responsible manner. I'll let you all know how that goes...

AN INTRODUCTION

Michael Pollan's Book, In Defense of Food, begins "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants." With deceiving simplicity, he explains that this is the diet humans should maintain in order to be "maximally healthy."


When I read the introduction to this book, I quickly realized that my diet is not quite up to snuff. In Pollan's terms, my current would sound something like this: "Eat meat. A good amount of sugar. Not too many plants." Therefore, as a personal reflective assignment for my IDH3931 - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle class, I have decided to modify my diet to align with Pollan's recommendations. 


Over the next two months, I will update this blog with a variety of types of posts. During the first three weeks, I will dissect Pollan's three keys to eating properly. After I have done so, I plan to update this blog a few times to include my meals, thoughts on Pollan's recommendations, and how changing my diet has affected other aspects of my life.  At the end of these two months, I will treat myself as a human experiment. What will it be like to go back to the sugary, processed, vegetable-barren diet of old? How will my body react? Most importantly, how will I react when I fully understand the implications of what I put into my body?