The Anatomy of a Craving

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This past weekend I did two of my favorite things:  spent time with my three best friends from college and rode roller coasters.  We were at Cedar Point, home of some of the top roller coasters in the world, and it was a perfect fall day.  Even though it was the busiest I have ever seen it at CP, the long lines did not deter us from having a great time.  We laughed, remembered old stories and told new ones, and for a while forgot how much time stretched between that day and our graduation.  It’s like that with great friends.  You can pick up where you’ve left off and the old and new mesh seamlessly.

Because of the ridiculously long lines, we didn’t want to waste any time on eating.  Our plan was to grab snacks (aka dinner) and bring them to line with us.  We checked out a few of the food stands and settled on the one with the most choices.  This is when I was brought to the harsh reality that I live in a sheltered eating world.  Sometimes I forget that the rest of the world just doesn’t care as much as I do about nutrition.  The main food  choices at the largest food stand included:  chicken fingers basket, cheeseburger basket, loaded fries (with some bright orange cheesy looking product and bacon)  or plain fries.  Let me tell you, the lines for this stand were looooong.  People were more than willing to wait for this crap they were passing off as food.  As I listened to some of the people around us, I realized that no one else was thinking about where on earth the chicken or beef may have come from or what it ate during its life, or the fact that the oil the potatoes were fried in was mostly likely filled with trans fat and from genetically modified organisms.  The majority of the people seemed excited to eat the food.  I was absolutely starving, so I ordered the plain fries and topped them with ketchup that I’m certain was not organic or without high-fructose corn syrup.  Since the fries didn’t come close to filling me up or satisfying me, later I had another serving of fries from a different vendor (again, my only choice, really).  These ones were a little better as they seemed to be hand cut from real potatoes at least, while the first batch was obviously frozen.  The second serving of fries held me over for a while, but I was starving later, so I had two slices of cheese pizza.  I was glad to find the pizza at a different stand so I didn’t have to eat another plate of fries, but it was topped with waaaay too much processed cheese product.  Bleh.

It was a disappointing realization that this is standard fare for many Americans.  It’s so easy to get lost in my own little world of a whole foods, mostly plant-based diet, reading healthy living blogs, and just forget that this is the exception, not the rule.  It made me feel a calling to do more.  I hope this blog is a small contribution to helping educate others on alternatives to eating the Standard American Diet.  This is a start, but I will be thinking of more ways I can help others understand the importance of nutrition.

There was another realization while I was pondering the menu.  While others seemed excited about the opportunity to eat junk food, I didn’t crave it at all.  Seeing all the junk food actually had the exact opposite effect on me.  I had a craving for a huge plate of roasted vegetables with a side of quinoa.  Seriously.  It’s not like I was chomping at the bit to eat the fries loaded with cheese and bacon but just ordered the plain cheese to save calories.  Calories were the last thing on my mind.  The junk food look, smelled, and tasted disgusting to me.  This is what happens when you eat real food.  Your body craves more of it.  It takes time.  I know there was a time when I would have certainly been enamored by the food choices and relished every bite.  It is not a time to which I ever want to return.

After I figured out my body was craving real food and rejecting the fake, junk food, I got a little excited.  I realized that by feeding my two-year-old Meghan fresh, real, unprocessed foods, she was developing a taste for the good stuff, and maybe, just maybe, she will also be disgusted by the junk food someday.  I truly believe that our bodies crave what is good for us if we choose to listen to our bodies and consistently feed our bodies what they are made to eat:  fresh, whole foods.

Speaking of fresh, whole foods, are you looking for a meal made with them that doesn’t break the bank?  I have a great recipe for a cheap, healthy (and delicious) meal that I’ll be posting tomorrow so stop by and check it out.