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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nNo need for fancy fads or packaged health products when your diet is a variety of protein, vegetables, fruits, and some grains. And unless there\u2019s a specific medical need, good nutrition will negate the need for supplements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why is it so hard to stick to the basics?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Availability.<\/strong> There are people in my neighborhood who can walk to the dollar store as quickly as they can walk to a grocery. Both are filled with packaged products that will stay fresh for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Produce is available from the grocery, a community garden in the spring, and a farmers market spring through early fall. But the walk to fresh produce is longer and the food won\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fresh meat and poultry are only available from one store in walking distance. Without a way to comparatively shop, fresh meat may be deemed too expensive. Given the obstacles for procuring fresh food, it\u2019s no surprise the neighborhood is considered a food desert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For those of us who have reliable transportation, plenty of funds, and time to shop, it can be easy to overlook the ever-present gaps in availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Time. <\/strong>When you keep preparation simple, cooking doesn\u2019t have to take much time. But it\u2019s hard to do that prep when you\u2019re in your car chauffeuring kids to activities or parents to doctor\u2019s appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sugar, salt, fat.<\/strong> Processed food is chock full of sugar, salt, and fat. All of those may make you want more of all of those.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chemicals.<\/strong> If you\u2019ve ever switched from processed to fresh food, you may remember a gradual change that eventually allowed you to be able to taste the full flavor of vegetables. Ultra processed food has many additives that make you crave more of the same. Until your system resets, it\u2019s as if natural flavors have been muted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Procrastination.<\/strong> Preparing and cooking fresh food requires a bit of preplanning unless you\u2019re just peeling a banana or crunching an apple. Put off doing the dishes and you may not be prepared to cook. Hesitate and you may end up too hungry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Advertising.<\/strong> Let\u2019s face it, advertising can be effective. I saw a new restaurant I want to try in an ad last week. I\u2019ve been thinking about it ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Misinformation.<\/strong> Every fad will bring with it some sort of endorsement or study (perhaps not all that scientific) that shows it has the potential to deliver some miracle. It probably won\u2019t. If you can approach the same problem by getting back to basics, try that first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peer pressure.<\/strong> What we see people do regularly seems normal so we often do the same without giving it a second thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Habit.<\/strong> I grew up eating mostly fresh food. My sister grew up eating mostly processed food. We developed different habits and expectations for what constituted delicious food. Habits are hard to make and hard to break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The phrase back to basics sounds like simplifying down and making things easy. But we all know when it comes to a healthy diet, it can even be complicated to simplify. That doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s not worth it. Basics are best!<\/p>\n\n\n\n While trying to decide what to plant in my winter garden, I keep remembering basics are best! There\u2019s no reason to try to reinvent the wheel during a season that\u2019s tough on plants. Would I love some root vegetables? Absolutely, but I know that my rocky soil means waiting a very long time for dwarfed … Continue reading “Basics Are Best”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3734,3737,3735,1737,3736,48],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5701"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5701"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5705,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5701\/revisions\/5705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"ad\"](\"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/STC_ad_22_OL-9.png\")
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