Wanting to eat well is noble. In fact, healthful eating is the cornerstone of Café Physique. However, lately we’ve seen an increase in people asking us about secondary and tertiary nutrition topics when they have yet to master the basics.
When my three year old asks me to help her write words like “envelope” and “hippopotamus” on her scratch pad, I do it. But inside I’m secretly thinking that she should just focus on getting her own name down before she moves on to bigger and better compositions.
And when someone who hasn’t had a piece of fruit in eight days asks me whether they should drink coconut water or aloe vera juice as a recovery drink after walking their dog, I answer. But inside I’m screaming, “Before you start worrying about the funky new drinks you saw on Dr. Oz this morning, why don’t you just start by eating an apple?”
I don’t completely understand why folks tend to obsess over which monounsaturated oil they should cook with while snacking on trans fats and drinking diet soda by the case daily (no lie). I imagine it has something to do with the fact that vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean meats, and water are not sexy.
I guess I get it. Kind of like how I get why Protestant girls get rosary beads tattooed on their feet as a Nicole Richie-inspired fashion statement. Not.
So here’s the deal…Use the K.I.S.S. strategy for determining your diet goals, and Keep it Super Simple. In my opinion, author Michael Pollan summarized exactly what we should be focused on in his book, In Defense of Food:
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Start there. And when you’ve made headway on those tasks, which is no easy undertaking given the typical American diet, THEN we can talk about the finer nuances of baby kale versus spinach or the best times of day to ingest kefir. But until then, just eat another apple and don’t stress about the small stuff.
