Well who knew? If you asked me 5 or even perhaps 3 years ago if I ever would have imagined myself where I am today, where my diet and food choices are concerned, I am sure I would have answered very differently.
In the past two years especially, my diet and food choices have changed a lot. I wouldn’t say drastically, although some do see it that way, but definitely a lot.
As most of us go through life we adopt so many of our eating habits first from our families, then from our friends and of course along the entire way from society. And so we get to those points in our life, where we hold certain foods almost “sacred” to our survival and swear “we would die”, if we could not have them.
Well let me tell you, I was there and now I am still here, and nobody died. Aside from the many changes that have ensued in my diet over the past couple of years, like everyone else I had those “favorite foods” that I really thought I could not live without. Well I can, and I am doing better than ever without them. So today let me share with you 5 foods that I really thought I could not live without and invite you to share your stories about yours.
1. Cheese
I have to say this one takes the number one spot for me. Ever since I was a teen (can’t remember how it was before then) one could say I was a cheese junkie.
I loved all cheeses, cottage, ricotta, mozzarella, Camembert, brie, bocconcini, cheddar, cream, feta, and let us not forget cheesecake. When it came to cheese, you name it – I loved it! And really, up until about 3 years ago, I thought I was technically “doing the right thing” – you know getting “my dairy” servings.
Well let me tell you about the rude awakening I had, when in my mid-20′s I found out that I had elevated cholesterol. The cheese went, almost overnight. I had no doubt that was the culprit, and it was. For another year or so I ate trace amounts of it sprinkled on the odd meal and today I have evolved to being cheese-free!
The cons of the animal product, along with the saturated fat, trans fat and processing just completely outweighed the benefit of taste and that was that.
2. Shrimp
I was a great connoisseur of sea food and generally enjoyed all sorts of fish or squid, but nothing beat shrimp. I loved them plain, buttered, in coconut, as an appetizer or main meal. They were one of those foods that I really thought I could not live without.
Well I am sure they did not help my cholesterol either, but besides that I soon came to fully learn about the high contamination of all our seafood today, never mind the ethical treatment of animals.
So when all the “meat” products went, along with them went the shrimp and I have never looked back since.
3. Chocolate
Well I am sure many of you will share my love for this food – if we can even call it that. When I used to eat chocolate, it was not that I ate a lot of it, in fact I had great self-control when it came to it. It was instead about that feeling within, that comfort feeling that you got just knowing it was there, that feeling that made you think “you could not live without it.”
Up until about half a year ago, I thought I could find some “healthy” chocolate and enjoy it very sparingly and very responsibly. Unfortunately when I really looked into things, there is no such thing as healthy chocolate. I even examined the the ones that claimed to be 99% pure and didn’t even bother trying them, as I knew their deeply bitter taste would not make up for the saturated fat levels one bit.
My health than peaked a high evolution point, when a few months ago I decided to give up all refined sugar sources. The chocolate was a no-brainer at that point. And yes to my surprise too, not only CAN I live without it, I don’t even miss it – well perhaps the better word would be “crave” it. So yes for all of you who may think that it is impossible, there is life after chocolate.
4. Ice Cream
This one may not surprise many either. Most of the world after all is in love with ice-cream and many of those people I bet “feel” as if they cannot live without it. Well I was one of them too.
Ice-cream for me was such a seasonal food – ice-cream meant summer. It meant that delicious cold, sweet, creamy taste.
When I look back now, I have no regrets, I just realize how unconsciously many of us eat. We simply pick up the habits of all those around us and don’t stop to question whether a particular food choice is right for us.
When we look at ice-cream at its essence, we have highly processed cow’s milk with sugar and there we pick up fat, sugar and tonnes of nutritionally-deficient calories. So when I looked at it that way, it was just the logical choice to let it go and evolve to a new dietary lifestyle that I could start calling my own.
5. Cranberry Juice
Well really any fruit juice for that matter, but cranberry topped the list. I was never one for soda pop and for many years actually did not enjoy drinking plain water. When I went out to eat, cranberry juice was always the drink of choice. At home I would often have a glassful of that or of another berry or tropical blend of juice.
My reasoning seemed so logical too, I was getting the benefits of the cranberries and it was based on water right? Uh, not quite. One huge detail was missed in that picture – the added sugar. So the cranberry juice went and I scaled down to tropical juices with no added sugar, thinking that was a better choice. And as much as it was, it was not until last year that I realized that even when the sugar is not added, the fruits are obviously processed so much, where they are stripped of their fiber, that it ultimately still comes down to drinking sugar.
I think this change surprised me the most. I loved fruit juice and relied on it many times each day, and then one day I just did not buy it again, and guess what took its spot – water! It feels so good too! I know that with water my organs and body benefit multiple-fold and there are no unnecessary processed sugars going into my body. And if I ever want a fruity drink, I blend my own fresh fruits, fiber and all and make a fruit smoothie or better yet have the fruit itself!
Your Turn
So how about you? How has your diet evolved? Can you name any food items that you thought you could not live without and are actually thriving without?
It is always refreshing I find to reflect back on how far we have come and evolved in our dietary journey.
*Photograph provided by Whotheheckareyou
About the author:Evita Ochel, B.Sc., B.Ed., CHN - is a certified holistic nutritionist, biologist, educator, writer, researcher and speaker in the areas of health, science and holistic wellness. She is a nutritional science expert and her teaching and writing focus on natural, wholesome, plant-based and organic nutrition to achieve optimal health and longevity. Learn more about Evita Ochel or Follow Evita Ochel on Twitter.
15 Comments to “5 Foods You Thought You Could Not Live Without”
Hey Evita. Cheese is one of my big favourites too and at the moment it’s still quite a large part of my diet. I was never really that in to desserts so eliminating chocolate and ice cream was not really a big deal for me.
Yet another cheese fan here. Especially that pre-shredded kind that came in a bag – great for late-night quesadillas! Those days are over. So are the days of Velveeta Mac & Cheese, oven pizzas, fountain sodas and bagels.
@ TOM – Hi Tom, yeah cheese seems to be a big part of A LOT of people’s diets… at least in Europe, I am not sure what it is like in the UK, the cheese is still more pure and not as processed as it is in North America.
What some people consider cheese here is a disgrace almost to cheese ;)
You are a minority where the sweets are concerned – good for you! Sugar wreaks such havoc on our health, the less we eat, the better!
@ MONICA – You too Monica fell into the cheese clutches ;) Yeah it was such a comfort food I found as it really could go on anything!
Good for you for dropping all those others foods too! Most people have no idea how nutritionally empty and calorie rich bagels are – and they are so popular with so many who wonder where their weight is coming from.
It all just really comes down to being mindful of what we eat.
For me it would have to be pasta, and that could well have something to do with my Italian heritage. It would have to be something pretty dramatic that would cause me to give up my pasta. I could eat it 5 days a week no problem at all. In fact the wife would tell me off at restaurants as I would have one type of pasta for an entre and another for the main course.
Chocolate and ice cream were never really high on my list of favorite foods.
I thought I couldn’t live without bread and pasta, but it turns out I can. Happily! I live just as happily without sugar, soda, coffee and cigarettes.
I doubt that we’ll ever become 100% vegetarian, but we eat animal products so seldom now that we’re essentially living without it.
I need to work on the wine… not only because it upsets the endocrine system, but it causes me to eat things that I normally avoid. And I always have a headache when I work out the next day.
Great post!
@ SIRE – Very often we do fall really hard into the patterns or habits we are brought up with. First we become so comfortable with them and second we feel that it is somehow a “part of us” and so we want to carry on the tradition. That is all fine, but we have to make sure that those actions REALLY serve us and our well being.
Pasta can be enjoyed in a “healthy” way but only if it is made from whole grain sources and then it depends what we put on it…and then there is the portion size. It really all depends on what your health goals are.
If it is white pasta we eat, (I hope I am not bursting your favorite food here ;) but that acts just like sugar in our body and is pretty completely devoid of nutritional value, aside from the vitamins they artificially enrich it with, that they ripped out when they processed it.
@ HANLIE – Thanks for your addition Hanlie!
Isn’t it amazing how WELL we can live without those things that we thought we couldn’t :)
And wow Hanlie it seems like you took out the biggies that are most detrimental to our health.
As for the wine…have you seen the latest study from the UK, they have finally linked even small amounts of moderate drinking, whether it be the wine, beer or stronger to cancer. It isn’t about the type but it comes down to the fact that alcohol is toxic and really does do a few numbers on our system.
But again it is one of those things that we are really going to have to break through deep in society to open people up to a new way of thinking.
I can’t wait to see where our health will evolve to in the next 3 or 5 years or so :)
I already knew that, but I’ve tasted whole grain pasta and it isn’t the same. If I have to work harder to or whatever, I ain’t giving up my pasta. You can have my chocolate, ice cream, sweets and you can even strip me of what little sex I get these days, but leave my pasta alone ;)
Well Sire, I guess there is not much more for me to say than… we all have to do in the end that we feel is right for us. You know I heard some people say the same about whole wheat, but really I personally did not see a difference. Maybe it is in the way people cook it. Whole grain has to be cooked a bit longer or it will be a little harder, but for me the taste and texture was the same.
Anyway, just as long as you are informed and okay with the way your body has to deal with it, then to each his own. and here I thought I could get another convert (LOL – just kidding ;)
No worries Evita, luckily for me I was born with an iron gut that can process almost anything, otherwise I would never have survived my wife’s cooking.
LOL ;)
Of course, that is between you and me as I still value my life, iron gut and all.
1. Cheese
2. Pasta
3. French Fries
4. Cheeseburgers
5. Chicken Paprikash (read: mega doses of sour cream and dumplings)
Seriously thought I would die without.
Seven months later, I am very much among the living.
Evita, darling, chocolate is a gift from the gods. Even a raw foodie like moi enjoys her chocolate on occasion. Gnosis Raw Chocolate is refined sugar, dairy, soy, cholesterol and gluten FREE!
@ EARTHMOTHER – Love your list!
Life does feel good when the body gets cleaned up from a lot of the things that society advertises at us to no end!
So EarthMother are you telling me there is in fact a healthy version of chocolate, now that I have packed away all of my chocolate dreams… ;) LOL
Really I have not found one yet that I was satisfied with from a health and nutritional perspective, but am going right over to see the link you provided.
It would be neat just to know about it if nothing else, as I have to tell you I have no cravings for it whatsoever any more, so it is not like I have been “depriving” myself all this time.
And I do not disagree to one extent about the benefits of the cocoa bean, it is just a matter of HOW the cocoa bean is served to us.
Anyhow thanks for the link :)
Wow, this is interesting. I’m not sure I could give up certain foods entirely. I mean, for me, life is about variety, and there is no bad or good foods. Everything should be done in moderation. If I’m going to diet, it will be with the power of small in mind. Slight changes in my diet and moderate exercise.
@ CHERIE
Hi Cherie,
Thank you so much for your comment and visit.
As a health educator who specializes in nutritional science however, I feel that we know too much today about the human body and how it functions to ignore many of facts of how health really works. There are certain things that our body needs and many things that it wants nothing to do with.
Hence I have to greatly disagree, as from a scientific standpoint Cherie, there are tons of “bad” foods – and bad here means foods that take away from the optimal functioning of your system instead of adding any benefit to it.
In fact some of the world’s leading doctors and scientists have already openly come forth and stated that about 75% of what an average grocery store carries is none other than “junk” for our bodies and provides more harm than good. Never mind the restaurants, etc.
It is not a coincidence that today we have soaring disease rates like heart disease, cancer and diabetes and most people are batting excess weight. These are all lifestyle related problems. And even the latest study which just came out this past week has shown that obesity has more to do with the patterns parents teach their kids than genetics.
So when it comes to eating in moderation, I actually wrote an article that you can read here, which may interest you in why we seem to use that phrase in society:
http://evolvingwellness.com/posts/53/everything-in-moderation-not-quite/
I truly believe we have to let go of that paradigm, as it has turned to be one of our worst nightmares. Biologically there are some things that our bodies want none of and the fact that they work hard to get rid of them, should not confuse us with the fact that they can handle them.
Ultimately my choices above are not any kind of “diet”. It is a lifestyle, a lifestyle where knowing what I know, I cannot ignore it, nor do I choose to. This is why I really want to share this info with others so that they too can enjoy a life in the best of health and weight.
I know Cherie that we each make our own choices and hence please understand that I am in no way trying to get you to eat or be one way or another. Simply put, I feel that first and foremost we need all the info on everything we put into our bodies and if after we know what we know, we are still ok to put them in, then so be it.
I agree with you that variety can be the spice of life and quite fun, but I think it is important to know what that variety consists of.
Ultimately Cherie, I hope for everyone to live out their best life in health and happiness, but we know without health, there usually is no happiness. Hence through education, information and personal accountability, we can make the best decisions for ourselves to have just that :)