Clean Eating

April 30, 2013

A couple of friends and I are running a 5 day healthy eating challenge on Facebook. Basically you commit to posting every day, following the meal plan, and cheering on your fellow participants. In exchange, you'll get a grocery list and menus/recipes for each day. Simple, right?

Sometimes when I do these things I spend a whole lot of time in self-doubt. Are the recipes too basic? Who needs this kind of information anyway? What if people can't find the ingredients, or hate them, or get lost in the cooking part? Who am I to think I can teach people anything about food, anyway?

There are 23 of us total (including me), now on day 2. People had to share concerns and excitement pre-Day 1 (that was the assignment), and most people wrote about time. Time to cook, time to shop, time to prep. Time to live life around this challenge.

The comments last night were fabulous. Besides seeing gorgeous photos of people's dinner, I loved reading notes. "I've not cooked with a lot of spices before, and as far as I'm concerned I have learned a lot of useful stuff already." "I wanted to lick the bowl but had to hold myself back since I was at work. Who knew something so simple could taste so delicious?" "I thought my family would demand chicken or steak - they never even mentioned it."

I learn something every time I try this kind of thing, mostly about my preconceived notions. Just because something makes such sense to me that I never even think about it any more, that does not mean everyone else feels the same way. I learn as much as anyone I am "teaching."

Being open to learning makes my day complete. How can I help you?