Home, Home on the (Marshallton) Grange

What a gorgeous day today! Keep it coming Mother Nature! We love it!

This time of year sends me back to my childhood, to the simpler days of summer. Riding my big wheel, jumping rope, making mud pies, playing Little House on the Prairie- all on a breezy summer day.

It also reminds me of the Peach Festival. Every summer, the Marshallton Grange held its annual Peach Festival. It was a night filled with simple joyfulness. Bumpy hayrides that you wanted to go on again and again. The anticipation of the fish pond, throwing your clothes-pinned hook over the top, waiting for the tug to retrieve that special prize. The freshness of the peaches over melted ice cream. Picking a numbered pocket from the pocket lady’s apron, wondering what was inside.  Taking part in the cake walk, hoping that you would take the cake (hey- is that where that saying comes from?).  Playing hide and seek or catching lightening bugs until it was time to go home, and then begging that the hayride would run just one more time.

These are memories from a simpler time, life seemed much less complicated. Time stood still and those slow simmering summer days would go on forever.

It makes me wonder if we have over-complicated the whole weight loss thing? What if we looked at food in a much simpler way? What if food became a way to nourish our bodies? Not a reward, or a punishment; not something to control or lose control of- just plain ol’ nourishment.

Nourishment implies a simple goodness for our bodies. When we put good foods in, we get good things out- like improved health, increased energy, reduced medications, better sleep, glowing skin. It means going back to the basics- enjoying more fruits, veggies, lean meats/protein, low-fat dairy and water and less processed foods, fast foods, fried foods, soda and sweets. It’s going back to what nature has provided us in the purest form.  We know this right? It’s the food pyramid from WAY back in elementary school. Boy those food pyramid people must have been geniuses because it really does work (btw- I had to spell check genius, oh the irony).

It’s not the concept that’s difficult, it’s making it actually happen. It’s flipping the mental switch and then committing to the change.

But let’s not get overwhelmed here. If you begin to make small daily changes, great things will start to happen. Swap out an apple and peanut butter for your morning bowl of cereal. Have a side salad in place of french fries.  Have a half of brownie instead of a whole one. Swap out whole grain pasta for regular pasta.  Eat the chicken sandwich without the roll. Make slow changes that are maintainable and reasonable for the long term.

I challenge you this week to savor the simplicity of food by choosing foods that are good for you. PAY ATTENTION to the way your body feels after eating. Energized ? Healthier? Happier? STOP AND THINK about the foods you’re putting in your body. And I promise you, before you even know what’s happening, your life will start to change.  And your body, just like the hayride, will be begging you to do it again, one more time!

Make the choice, commit to the choice and continue with courage.

Hugs and friendship,

Tara