I love the taste of butter. It just has this amazing salty, slightly sweet, creamy way about it. It melts into my tastebuds like the grounds soaks up water after a rain. My love affair started at about age 10 when my Aunt Kimmy first introduced me. Before that, we had only had Country Crock in my house. I thought that butter always came in brown tubs. I literally had no idea that it didn't. It became my kryptonite. I wanted it on everything. Any time I get sick all I can think about is a delicious piece of toast with butter. Or noodles with butter. Oooh, or rice with butter and a splash of soy sauce. While others enjoy sweet treats, I tend to lean towards savory, salty, crunchy and creamy. Don't get me wrong, I like sugar just fine, but if given the choice between a dill pickle and a churro, I will pick the pickle any day of the week. We all have a guilty pleasure! I am grateful for my love of savory over sweet. Because of it, I tend to get far more fermented foods, nuts, but still consumed far too much of the high fat processed foods that are part of the everyday Western diet. Then, once adding into the equation I could not have gluten, my dietary habits changed significantly. No longer could I just eat what I had been.. every label had to be inspected for possible traces of gluten. And, the more I researched what the ingredients were, the more I learned how many trans-fats, added grams of sugar, and chemicals that I could not pronounce were in my foods. Even though I was feeling better overall, I was still not at optimal health. My body continued to have lots of inflammation and I caught almost every virus within the speed of light. My immune system was basically shot from nutritional deficiencies that come with having a damaged gut that cannot do its job, Fast forward to me starting my studies and the individual nutrients needed came into more focus. Even though I didn't really have a sweet tooth, my consumption of gluten free junk food was highlighted. At that point I realized that I needed to make more choices that had a fewer number of overall ingredients. Every bite I was taking had the ability to either make me feel better, or make me feel miserable. I was either fighting my disease and keeping it in remission, or feeding it. Every single bite was, and still is, a choice. Today, when I want something full of buttery goodness, I first reach for a handful of nuts to see if that satisfies my craving. When I want a sweet treat, I treat my body to fruit before I grab the chocolate. And, for every cup of coffee, I try to balance it out with at least one cup of water. I still love butter and salty, umami flavors, but strive for more of a balance diet. I might be a dietetics student, but we all have days where we falter and eat a giant plate of something that is "bad for us". The question is, are we conscious about these food choices, or are we on auto-pilot? Personally, I find that my awareness of my choices greatly influences my outcomes. Xo,
Michelle
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AuthorI'm Michelle, and I've got a full plate! As a full-time dietetics student, step-mom, wife, study coach, and tutor in my late 30's, some days I'm barely scraping by. But, no matter what is on my plate, it's always gluten free! Categories
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August 2020
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