I'll take that with whipped cream on top...

“I stand in the produce aisle before the pint of blueberries. They’re plump and beautiful…full of anti-oxidants which will help my family and I stave off various forms of cancer, jump start a cascade of anti-aging effects, help us avoid a wide variety of chronic diseases and handfuls of prescription pills…and they’re $4.00/pint!

What? We can’t afford that. I walk away, the blueberries still on the shelf. On the way home I swing through my local Starbucks for a venti (large) Frappacino.The cashier says “$4.25, please”. Without a blink, I hand her a five and tell her to keep the change.”

Hmmm...

Excuses, Excuses (boy do I have them)

I personally have often succumbed to the excuse that it is too expensive and too time consuming to consistently eat healthy. But as I traveled the country these past two years promoting Side Effects, I have been fortunate to meet some of the leading health experts in the country…and to get a huge personal wake up call. I quickly realized that I could not afford not to eat healthy (does that constitute a double negative?)

If I wanted to live a long enough life to enjoy my kids, my grandkids, and my great grand kids…if I wanted to set a great example for my kids and get them off to a healthy start and avoid the growing trends in childhood obesity, diabetes and heart disease…if I wanted to significantly increase the odds of growing old with my husband…if I wanted to avoid dependence on handfuls of prescription drugs, side effects and potential interactions that come from living a ‘just fix it when it is broken" mentality…then I needed to make some changes in our eating habits right away.

Learning how many aspects of my health I can control has been darned empowering. That said, I need to continue to find affordable and convenient ways to make this happen and I will share what works for us with you. Like most families, we’re not perfect (as can be attested by an occasional trip through the fast food joint or the family sized bag of Twizzlers)…but we are making progress.

Even if you hate to grocery shop...(like me)   One of my goals for the show is to dispel the myths and show you practical ways to make good nutrition a part of every day regardless of your budget and the amount of time you have for shopping or meal prep. If you want fancy recipes, I will have to provide you some links…but coming soon what you will find here are quick, practical ways to incorporate great nutrition into busy, everyday lives.