bigbassbrent's Journal, 02 June 2014

What is food? Food is defined as “Any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, promote growth, etc.”

Did you notice that the definition mentions nothing about taste? Are we as humans the only species that have taste preferences? Will a wild animal that is starving turn away from eating something that tastes terrible? More than likely they will not, since their instinct to survive is stronger than their taste preference. However, we humans will readily make bad food choices which do the opposite of sustaining life. These bad choices are actually killing us.

Humans in general seem to be picky eaters. You hear it all the time. “I don’t like steak.” “I love ice cream” “Seafood turns my stomach.” “I could eat cake for every meal.” I know for me, I didn’t necessarily dislike one option, I just much preferred some other option which was not healthy but better tasting to me. I think we all do this, don’t we? That’s how we became unhealthy and then lead us to our quest to be healthier. Right?

We are fortunate to have an abundance of foods to choose from. Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad-food choices out there as well. I challenge you to think a little deeper about your food choices, or non-food choices that you make. When I say non-food choices I am talking about foods that are not nutritious. If you will redefine food in your mind by massaging the definition a little bit, it may help you make better food choices during times of indecision.

Here is how I define food. “Any NOURISHING substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain AND IMPROVE life.”

See what I did there? Changed “sustain life” to “improve life” and I emphasize “nourishing” and took out the junk about providing energy and promoting growth. Who cares if your food provides energy or promotes growth? We can eat a cup of sugar and consider that a meal but it does nothing to improve your health nor does it provide nourishment. It may promote growth, but not in the right places. 

Let’s define nourishment really quick since it keeps coming up. Nourish is defined as “to sustain with food or nutriment; supply with what is necessary for life, health, and growth.” You see, nourish means to consume food that is healthy and necessary for life.

You already know that there are a lot of food options out there for us modern day humans. Sometimes we make wise choices and other times we don’t. If you will stop for a minute and redefine food in your head before you reach for that big bowl of ice cream (or whatever food weakness you may have), it may just help you to make a better choice.

This is the way I now view food (and non-foods). It has worked wonders for me. All the things I use to love to eat that were unhealthy, are no longer even consider food to me. They are non-foods that I now consider as unnecessary treats. Cake, ice cream, cookies, candy bars, sodas, pizza, hamburgers, bread, tv dinners, etc.

You might have noticed that all the foods listed above are basically food “inventions”. Food inventions are what I see as combinations of many different substances to make a food. (or non-food in most cases.) “Eating clean” means sticking to real foods and doing your best to avoid non-food treats.

I hope this has nourished your brain a little. Good luck with clean eating and making wise food choices!

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2026 kcal

Fat: 120.77g | Prot: 155.61g | Carb: 68.43g.   Breakfast: Now Foods Creatine Monohydrate, Now Foods Dextrose, Spectrum Spectrum Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, Coffee (Brewed From Grounds). Lunch: Ranch Salad Dressing, Boiled Egg, Baby Spinach, Trader Joe's Shrimp Cocktail Sauce, Shrimp. Dinner: Kraft 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese, Duke's Mayonnaise, Butter (Salted), Fat Bomb, Cooked Broccoli (Fat Not Added in Cooking), Smart Chicken Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Fillets. Snacks/Other: HEB Jumbo Virginia Peanuts, Miller Brewing Company Lite Beer (Bottle), heb greek yougart, So Delicious Coconut Milk Unsweetened Vanilla, Now Sports Whey Protein Isolate, McCormick Ground Cinnamon, Stevia, Hodgson Mill Milled Flax Seed. more...

3038 kcal

Activities & Exercise: Sleeping - 5 hours and 15 minutes, Weight Training (moderate) - 1 hour, Resting - 7 hours, Walking (brisk) - 4/mph - 30 minutes, Desk Work - 7 hours and 30 minutes, Driving - 1 hour and 45 minutes, Housework - 1 hour. more...