Blog of the Month: Eating Rules

Blog Of The Month: Eating Rules

Wed 28 Nov 2012

Story by Andrew Wilder
 

Back in October, we posted about the ‘October Unprocessed’ challenge, led by Andrew Wilder at the ‘Eating Rules’ blog, this week we’re pleased to announce ‘Eating Rules – Three Simple Rules for Eating Healthy’ as our November blog of the month!

In early 2009 I had my “ah-ha!” moment. I was walking through a parking lot — on perfectly level ground — and realized I was tired and my body simply didn’t want to move. I felt as if I was walking through sludge, and I thought to myself, “Self, I’m thirty-two years old. I shouldn't feel like this.”

So I decided to try Yoga. Within just two weeks, I felt more limber and able to move more easily. I then started to wonder how many calories I consumed in a day. I had known for a long time that I should eat around 2,500 calories, but that was the extent of it. I had no idea exactly how many I was eating. So I found an iPhone app that let me track my weight, everything I ate, and all my exercise. I reduced my caloric intake to about 1,900 calories a day, and not surprisingly, those twenty extra pounds came off pretty quickly.

Over the course of that year, healthy eating and living became a huge topic of conversation for me. I wouldn't shut up about it, and realized that I needed to pursue my passion. I decided to start Eating Rules as a way to explore all of these topics, and to build a community and an audience. I didn't quite know where it would take me, but I've found that in the two and a half years since I've started the blog, wonderful doors keep appearing -- and opening -- and that this path is a terrific one to be on. So I keep running through them as fast as I can.

My three main rules for healthy eating are:

1. When you eat grains, eat only whole grains
2. Don’t eat high fructose corn syrup
3. Don’t eat hydrogenated oils, trans fats, or anything that has been deep-fried

I don’t claim them to be perfect – far from it! – but they’re a huge step in the right direction and I believe that everyone who follows these three rules will feel better and be far healthier.

Find out more about Eating Rules, and my diet, food or nutrition related posts that are interesting or useful and will hopefully inspire you, or simple show you something else that you hadn't seen before here.

October Unprocessed Challenge Results



As for the October Unprocessed challenge - it was a smashing success with more than 6,000 people signing the pledge and participating throughout the month. Everyone who takes the challenge starts in a different place when it comes to food, and it's inspiring to see what people discover and learn about food and about themselves throughout the month.

At the end, I asked people how it went, and their responses were so powerful: The comments on the challenge really showcase how transformative it can be.

Just some feedback from the challenge includes:

• Cindy “Like others, I realized that while I had thought I was eating healthily, I was actually eating a lot of processed ingredients. My family has made a number of positive changes over the course of October that we are taking with us into November and beyond. I am very appreciative of the October Unprocessed challenge because it gave me the impetus to try something I otherwise would not have tried. Thank you!”

• Rachel “My husband, I and our three kiddos were already on the 100 days of real food challenge, so this overlapped. Doing both of these challenges helped us see how poorly we were really eating and clean up our act. All of the articles, recipes, etc were great to keep our momentum going to make sure we finished both challenges well and are aware of what we’re putting in our mouths.”

Find out more about the challenge and read more testimonials from challenge takers here.

About the author: Andrew Wilder firmly believes that "healthy eating doesn't have to suck," and he writes about how that's entirely possible on his blog, Eating Rules. He leads the October Unprocessed challenge each year, and you can also find him on Facebook and Twitter.