Hit by Bus!

This may be the most frustrating, disheartening excuse I hear from people.  It goes something like this: I could eat as healthy as possible and get hit by a bus and killed the following day.  While I agree that, any of us could die in a tragic accident at any time, it's not an excuse to justify eating like shit.  It's not fair to yourself or those around you.  We can't plan for accidents, nor should we gorge on junk food just BECAUSE we may or may not be hit by a bus.  Imagine if I used this excuse on my family in this scenario:  the husband/kids are out of clean underwear.  They come to me asking for clean laundry.  Well, sorry kids, mom might get hit by a bus tomorrow so I didn't want to spend today doing laundry!  Guess they're going to school commando.  While this might work once in a while for choosing to play with my kids over say, running errands or something, sooner or later, chores have to get done.

We spent a lot of time being ignorant about our food choices.  We spent many days scarfing Doritos, Diet Coke and candy.  Quite the example we were setting, eh?  Education was our salvation.  I encourage you to learn. LEARN.  You're never too old to learn something new!!  When you learn why the food you're currently eating is SO bad and what it does inside your body and what it does TO it, it's a lot more difficult to justify eating junk.  For example, did you know that grains and legumes are actually ANTI-nutrients?  They actually prevent your body from absorbing the nutrients it does need.  I was a person that never thought I could even try a low carb diet (when it was all the rage), because I loved bread too much.  Had I ever tried?  No.  Did I know why bread was bad for me?  No.  Did I try to find out?  No!   I am not sure if it's because I am a parent now, or just older and wiser, but I research everything before deciding one way or the other.  I don't just take people's word for it!  We've only got ONE life.  And ONE body.  And we just realized that we need to do everything humanly possible to take care of it.

Real food can and does taste good. We are not depriving ourselves!  Our bodies are getting the nutrition they need to fight illness, prevent disease, and be happy and truly healthy.  We opened up a world of adventure in trying new and different vegetables, even ones us adults had never had before.  Instead of craving greasy fast-food or Twizzlers, now I crave kale and macadamia nuts!!  We are literally walking billboards for a healthy lifestyle.  We walk barefoot in the grass, soak up sunshine for vitamin D, get exercise by playing outside games or bike riding as a family, and enjoy a healthy dinner of vegetables and grass fed meats.  And you know what?  My kids ask for more vegetables EVERY time!  Life is so good!

If you take anything from this post, please let it be to not make excuses.  Because if you eat that nasty KFC thinking you might not be around tomorrow, think instead, what if I am?  Will you regret it?  Let's face it, we are adults, we're not kids anymore and shouldn't act like it all the time.  We choose to make better choices now for ourselves and our kids.  Because you know what -- if I do get hit by that bus tomorrow, at least I will rest easy in my urn knowing I taught my children how to eat REAL food that nourishes their bodies.  And that, THAT is more important to me than anything and is my true legacy.