Healthy eating...such an important role in our overall well being.

As I have gotten older, I have come to realize the vital role that a healthy diet plays in everyone's lives. It isn't just to do with how we look on the outside, but how we eat is also a major factor in how we feel on the inside, and how we function in our day to day tasks.

As a teenager, food had one purpose, filling me up. It didn't help that I was raised in the 90's when we were bombarded with low-fat processed, chemical ridden microwavable junk somehow promoted as being healthy just because it was low in calories. I will admit I bought into the craze and ended up living off of lean cuisine, and "fat free" processed food such as deli meats and potato chips. I felt like crap most of the time, and when I felt low in energy, I used poor food choices to get my energy up again, only to have it drop again in a short period of time,

you get my drift?

Only once my Mom died of cancer did I realize how vital it is that I take care of myself. I have vowed to live the healthiest lifestyle possible not only for myself but for my daughter, (so I can be there for her and teach her good habits) and to other people in my life.

Sure its only a small aspect in our life but it makes a HUGE difference. Since I have cleaned up the way I eat I feel more energetic, more mentally alert, happier, and have better self esteem. The most important aspect I learned about healthy eating is that it doesn't have to taste bad to be healthy. Today I made the most delicious "pad thai salad" using all whole healthy ingredients, and I tell you it was much tastier than any of the pre-packaged crap I used to live on in my youth.

Instead of milk chocolate full of sugar and chemicals, try health food store purchased cocoa

Instead of doritos chips try kale chips

Instead of sweetening food with sugar, sweeten it with a natural sweetener such as Maple syrup, which tastes so much better.

Also, home made deserts made using healthy ingredients taste so much better than the store bought processed deserts with millions of ingredients that I've never even heard of.

My change in eating habits has helped me deal with my disability (I have asperger's syndrome) and also my depression.

Healthy eating is not about looking a certain way, it is not about being skinny or having the perfect body, it is about being the best, most whole and healthy version of yourself as you can be, whatever that may be.