How to get Ultra-Processed Foods Out of your Life

Hint: It’s a physical demonstration of self-care

It’s Monday morning, the start of a new week. You glance at the clock, you have one hour to get dressed, grab breakfast, and get to work. You’re up for this; it’s your routine, and you’ve been at it for a few years. Since the pandemic is over, you no longer work remotely, so you’re going into your office. The traffic, as expected, is annoying, but you’ve got this figured out too because your first stop before jumping on the freeway is to stop at the drive-through coffee shop for your first cuppa of the day, and since you’re a healthy eater, a cuppa oatmeal too. Now you’re set for the morning crawl. You switch on the news radio because you don’t want to be the one in the office that doesn’t know what’s going on, but as you adjust the radio, you spill your coffee, not on you, but all over the passenger seat, ughh. Then as if that’s not enough, your phone rings just as you’re spooning the food. It’s your bestie, and you want to get in a “good morning;” you push the answer button while simultaneously trying to get a mouthful of oatmeal, but the spoon misses your mouth and drips down your shirt. Great! What else can happen?

What if you could rewind and return to the weekend before this miserable Monday started? What if you wake up on Saturday and, after a leisurely breakfast, you walk over to the local farmer’s market? You notice the gorgeous day, the wind blowing, making the walk not hot or cold, but just right. As you approach the market, the laughter, chatter, and music make you smile. You pause to pull out your grocery list. On it are fruits, veggies, whole grains, and chamomile tea leaves. You spend the next two hours greeting friends, listening to vendor recommendations, and just hanging out and having an enjoyable time. Saturday happily slips away, and now it’s Sunday afternoon. Before shopping, you made a list of the meals you planned to prepare for the week. They don’t call you the meal prep guru for nothing. That’s right, that is who you are because you deserve it.

Meal prepping is one of the best ways to show yourself love and appreciation. It is an opportunity to plan and ensure you have whole, healthy foods on hand to stay nourished throughout the week. It is the ultimate form of self-care that puts you in control of your health and…