“Gluten’s a vague term”
Whether you know what gluten is or not, you’ll agree that some food makes you feel bad, and other food not so much. We’re all learning. Thanks to nutrition being so boring, it’s hard to get the diet thing right.
To help myself understand what I was eating, I created a google doc and named it ‘Food’.
This was about two years ago. I’d just entered the workplace, and was a good year out of university, and the ’mi goreng diet’ that comes with it.
My goal was to eat food that tasted good and kept me from getting hungry. I didn’t want to get headaches, stomach cramps or sugar highs during the day.
The best way to learn new information is to practice it and to apply it directly to your life. Results are exciting, and motivate you to learn more. I sought advice from workmates, and because I was genuinely interested in what everyone was eating, they were happy to share their thoughts and tricks.
I worked in advertising at the time, so I was learning about quinoa and kale salads from account girls, freezing chicken breasts and protein shakes from account bros, and then forgetting everything when we drank fridges of beer together on friday.
Ever since, I kept updating the document, more and more infrequently as I’ve arrived at tenets that work and can easily be applied to a daily diet. A quick note on the word diet — everyone’s is on a diet: a diet is what you eat and drink.
The funny thing is, after all this time, I still don’t follow the rules.
I’m not vegan, or even a vegetarian. Or even gluten free. I woke up today, helped a friend make the greasiest of bacon breakfasts, and an hour later I had stopped to buy 2 glazed donuts from krispy kreme, like a zombie who had forgotten that it wasn’t even hungry. I microwave waffles, I eat pork belly burritos back to back. I eat shit, almost every day. And I fucking hate it when people preach the ‘clean’ way of life.
But, after letting this file float around in my subconscious, I’ve become more mindful about food. And really, I think that’s the best we can ask of ourselves most of the time. Because gluten’s a vague term.
************Food********
Eat mostly unprocessed, natural, fresh foods that humans are biologically designed to eat. Vegetables and a lot of animal protein.
AVOID SUGAR, SOY, GRAINS & DAIRY
- Plants: Anything dark green is best (collard greens, asparagus, broc, spinich, sprouts), carrots, beetroot, fermented stuff, frozen is good
- Animal: Any fish (salmon, tuna), all other meat, Eggs, Butter
- Legumes: Are all good, but the most boring to eat.
- Snack: Nuts (esp. almonds, cashews), avocados, bananas
- Drink: Black tea/coffee, water, wine and spirits over beer
- Supplements: Fish oil and Vitamin D if you must, the rest are bullshit