I get asked about my diet…a lot. So much now that I’m creating this post just to send those who are curious to read about it so I won’t spend my precious time trying to dodge the questions. Seriously, it makes me uncomfortable and the subject bores me.

Here’s the thing: I used to discuss diets with my friends. I remember them discussing keto, gluten free, and clean eating….then as if that wasn’t enough, there was intermittent fasting. I was even in a group where everyone was fasting, some going as long as 5 days with NO food at all. There was one member who would fast all day and only eat dinner-for years!!!!

I remember asking a woman I admired at the gym about diet once. I was shocked when she vehemently responded that diets were stupid and people who followed them were idiots. Her body was perfection to me so her response caused me to re examine my role in the world where everything seemed to center around diets.

I realized the more we discussed diets, the more I thought about food, then the hungrier I would become. It became cyclical and I realized that this was a pattern I did not want to keep. So I tossed it.

I think the cycle of dieting making our bodies worse is explained very well in this article: https://aeon.co/essays/hunger-is-psychological-and-dieting-only-makes-it-worse

So I made a rule and drew my line in the sand: I no longer discuss diets. I don’t talk about what’s clean or what’s toxic, as I found that whole dialogue was kind of cultish anyways which can manifest into orthorexia. If you want to know about this, here’s a good article: https://www.thecrimson.com/column/hangry/article/2020/3/3/cadenhead-toxicity-of-clean-eating/

So what happened to me then?

I got into my routine of eating without thinking about it. Life is easier. I buy the same groceries and am able to buy more in bulk and stock up large supplies of food when it’s on sale so I am spending less time in the store. My body looks fantastic-and when I’m with my friends, we talk about fun stuff!

Anytime diets are brought up I leave the conversation. My friends caught on and don’t discuss them with me around because I will quietly retreat from the discussion.

This diet culture is a trap. It takes over our so much of our lives. At the end of it all we will all regret focusing on these dialogues rather than ones that truly benefit us and our friends….So just don’t do it.

Because people do ask me about my diet, I will share some of my routine with you. I’m warning you, it’s pretty boring, but here it is:

Breakfast

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I eat the same thing for breakfast every single morning: oatmeal. I buy the basic kind from Aldis that’s under $2 per box. It’s called Millville and it’s brown sugar flavored. I add an equal amount of hemp hearts to it that I buy from Costco. Then I add in Almond milk and a handful of frozen berries and microwave it for two minutes. Finally I add two scoops of collagen and that’s it.

Lunch

I do have some variety here.

First, I love eating apples with peanut butter and 2 cheese slices! I eat that a lot. Sometimes I eat prosciutto wrapped around cheese from Costco with apples and peanut butter. This is an easy lunch to take on the go or eat around my house.

Second, I can take slices of Turkey and place cheese and salad inside of the Turkey slices. I like to have this with a few Sunchips and humus.

Third, there are these plant based patties we buy from Costco that I microwave for 1.5 minutes and set atop of salad.

Fourth, I mix canned tuna with Mayo and add pepper for flavor. I then eat this with crackers and cheese.

That’s it. Like I said it’s boring however it’s delicious, nutritious, and satisfying.

Snacks

Sometimes I’m hungry and sometimes I’m not. So just in case I carry these shakes around. I buy them from Costco and always buy extra when they are on sale.

Dinner

We have simple meals because our kids are picky. I’m talking chicken nuggets, hot dogs and baked beans, ground chicken burritos, spaghetti and meatballs, crock pot chicken with stuffing and cheese, tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, fish and chips, and cauliflower pizza.

It’s nice to have relatively easy and quick dinners without all the prep. I actually used to cook amazing dinners that took a lot of time and preparation but my kids hated them so we are going the easy route.

Dessert

I really like milk chocolate and have dessert everyday.

My go to dessert is a bowl of granola, dried cranberries, almost half a bar of Hershey’s chocolate broken up into bits in it, with almond milk.

My other kind of dessert is to melt Hershey’s chocolate and dip figs and a sliced apple into it.

I don’t know why but I find both desserts to be fulfilling and delicious. Now on a special occasion I will enjoy desserts like cheesecake or churros but only on rare occasions because they make me feel ill after awhile.