Healthy Living + Educating Yourself

I’ve been thinking a lot about living a healthy lifestyle lately. The more that I do my own cooking, the more I think about what exactly I’m putting into my body, and how what I consume effects how I feel and function on a daily basis.

It’s so hard when we live in a world where convenience is a high priority in people’s everyday lives. We all live a busy life where it’s easy to feel like we’re constantly in some sort of time crunch. I mean, why would I make pasta from scratch when I can buy it pre-made at the store and it takes a fraction of the time to make? Especially living downtown where literally everything is at my fingertips. There’s a pub that’s literally a 3 minute walk from where we live. It’s hard not to cave and give into temptation.

In a matter of seconds, it’s easy to say “Screw it! I’m going to treat myself” or “I’ve had a long day” Or “Insert any excuse that will work for you”. We don’t think about the long term effects, and why would we? It’s all about living in the moment, right? Meanwhile, we’re stuffing our faces and filling our bodies with saturated and trans fats, ridiculous amounts of sodium, and other harmful preservatives. Thus, increasing our risk for high cholesterol, obesity, clogged arteries, diabetes, heart disease, and other health risks. Not to mention less severe symptoms such as bad breath, migraines, acne, and increased stress.

One huge problem is that there’s so much information available to us and many times, it’s incredibly contradicting. One second caffeine is good for you, and can even lower your risk for cancer! The next, it’s the opposite – avoid it completely! All this flip-flopping is making me dizzy. Which is why when I came across this information about bottled water, I was fascinated.

We are made to believe that bottled water is the better choice for all of us. Me? Drink TAP water? That’s disgusting! Bottled or sparkling only, please. When in reality, the standards for tap water are actually higher, or you’re just drinking tap water in disguise anyway.

What’s worse is the effects the bottling process has on the environment. I mean, really? It takes three times the amount of water to produce the bottle itself than to actually fill it? Isn’t that borderline absurd? Aren’t we experiencing a global water crisis?

The only thing we can do is educate ourselves, and act upon what we learn. (And most importantly, do what feels right for you, not somebody else) even if it is difficult. Because even though I know that chocolate bar will make me crash after the sugar rush has ended, it tastes damn good. One thing I do know? My first step is ditching the water bottle.

(Via Fast Company)