Healthy Eating (from a picky gluten-free eater)

 

Hey guys! Today’s guest post comes from Megan! Check out her adventures in healthy and gluten-fre eating today on RWS!

I’ll admit it. Growing up I wasn’t exactly the healthiest eater. I was also very picky (my parents wouldn’t even make us try dinner or clean our plates). If it looked gross, I wouldn’t eat it. If it smelled gross, I wouldn’t go near it. If it had a weird texture, I wouldn’t finish it.

Therefore, my eating habits were quite odd. My parents always said I could get by on bread and water. I also loved pizza, macaroni and cheese, hamburgers, muffins, chicken nuggets…basically the top of the food pyramid.

Fortunately my eating habits have changed. This was primarily due to some stomach and digestive issues I’ve encountered the past 6 years. Due to this, my body now craves fresh foods – and I’ve also begun to stay away from gluten.

 

However, there are still a lot of foods I won’t go near. Once a picky eater, always a picky eater…

So how does one eat healthy when you are picky and gluten-free? It’s actually not as hard as it sounds! I have found that when you find healthy foods you love, it’s okay to eat them regularly – and it helps to find new ways to make them!

Take ground beef for example. We are a family who buys the 4-H animals after the county fairs for our red meat. That’s right – this is the yummy, full-of-fat meat! My husband and I still use this meat for hamburgers, tacos, etc. – but now use ground turkey as well. We actually use ground turkey more often than ground beef – much leaner and just as yummy!

Or chicken. When it goes on sale, I stock up! We can cook it on the grill (with gluten-free seasonings), put it in the crockpot (with chicken broth or BBQ sauce), make stir-fry (chicken and veggies – yum) or even cut it up and make our own chicken nuggets (with gluten-free Rice Chex)!

Let’s not forget about a bowl of fresh fruit, steamed vegetables or a large salad. Sometimes that and some tortilla chips is enough of a dinner for me! Or even a bowl or two of cereal with some scrambled eggs. I’m an easy girl to please!

However, it’s important to indulge too – in moderation of course. Every Friday night, we go to a local restaurant for (gluten-free) pizza. I also have a bowl of Edy’s Slow Churned ice cream from time to time. (Oh who am I kidding – multiple times a week, especially during the summer!) Oh, and some dark chocolate…daily. Your body deserves the extra yummy things – especially when you are running or working out a lot!

Being a healthy eater just means being aware of what you are eating. I’ve limited the processed food, focused on the fresh food, allow those indulgences – and my body is happy!

Megan blogs at http://runningtowardtheprize.wordpress.com

@runningtoprize